1,000+ Books Read

Read June 23, 2005

Yea!  Time to celebrate.
I have now recorded my
1000th book on Goodreads.com.  
I still have more to add, but this is a milestone.

Read Sept. 24, 2011

I am not only recording the books I am finishing now, but going back in my archives to add books I read in the past.  The earliest year I had documented in my records was 1977.  There are about 60 books that I know I have read, but do not have a documented date.  There are more without a date...I have read all the books written by Nora Roberts, Jude Deveraux, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie, Janet Evanovich...may or may not post all of them.


I have always recorded the books that I have read in an Excel spreadsheet.  I read so many books that I do not always remember what I have read and not have read.  I also read a lot of series books.  When there is a year between books published, I like to refresh my memory before I start the newest book.  I recently lost my spreadsheet and it dawned on me that I was keeping two sets of records....one on Goodreads and one in Excel...a duplication of efforts that was unnecessary. I gave up the spreadsheet even though I recovered it later.


If you read a lot and need to keep track of the books you read, Goodreads is for you.  How many times have you started to read a book only to find after a few pages that you have read it but don't remember the end so you read it again?  Goodreads gives you a short synopsis to remind you of the plot.  Then, you can add your own notes and review to that book.  I also like the ability to connect to my reading friends and keeping a list of my favorite quotes.


I am happy that I found Goodreads **!!!  


**I promise they are not paying me :)

Nancy Drew..Who Knew?

What is there not to like about a Nancy Drew mystery? I found this one in the sale room of my library and couldn't resist reading it for old times' sake. It was published in 1955 and has the yellow spine.  I cut my "reading" teeth on Nancy Drew mysteries...the blue ones published in the middle to late forty's. They hooked me for a lifetime of reading mysteries. 




Right now I am hooked on historical fiction, mainly the Regency Period in England.  However, I will always take a break and read the latest Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich.  Others that I enjoy are any Agatha Christie book, M.C. Beaton's, Hamish Macbeth and Lilian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who..." books.  A patron at the library where I work has recommended Anthony Eglin's, An English Garden Mystery series.  It is next on my list.


As you know, Nancy Drew has kept up with the culture and dress of the times. I will always prefer the Nancy Drew of my "time". 



 They are like comfort food which brings back memories of good times past.  I remember lying on my twin bed by an open window reading a Nancy Drew mystery until the end.  Times never change I still have trouble putting a book down until I find out how it ends. Ah-h-h-h!  I love remembering!

Seven Days in Utopia

Well...being a "golfer" wanna-be married to a "real" golfer...I went to see Seven Day in Utopia with my husband, the "real" golfer.  He is also my teacher and has been for the last four years.  I know, I am a slow learner.  Not only that, but he wants me to go to movies with him.  I am particular about the movies I watch.  I want a "feel good" movie...no angst, no violence and hopefully, not a lot of sadness...happy tears are okay, but not sad ones.  I do not want to dream all night about a movie that I have just watched.


This movie is a "feel good" movie.  True, it is about a young man's journey to become a winner at a significant golf tournament.  However, there is a life lesson for everyone, not just golfers.  I don't think anyone will go see it that isn't a golfer...just because they aren't!

Clockwise: Lucas Black, Robert Duvall,
Deborah Ann Woll, and Melissa Leo

Of course, any movie with Robert Duvall can't be bad.  It wasn't. I don't think it will win any Academy Awards, but I was glad I went to see it.  However, if you aren't a golfer or a golfer wanna-be, you might want to save your money and check it out at your library once it was been released on DVD.

Hot Springs Village Revisited

West Entrance

A mini-vacation...we are at it again.  We have been "trying on" Hot Springs Village (HSV) for the last ten years to see if we want to "retire" there. By the way "retire" to us means staying active not sitting in a recliner watching TV.  We subscribe to the theory if you don't use it you lose it...life included.

The first time we went we stayed in a rented condo for three days to see how it felt.  It didn't feel right at all.  The second time we went contacted a real estate agent and looked at a few houses.  It felt better, but felt we weren't ready for a change.  We have been to play golf together on Tuesday or Wednesday when we are off from our part-time jobs.  Chuck goes to play with a group of fellow golfers on Tuesday's and Thursday's.  

This time we went for seven days.  
It felt better.  
We rented a house on 
one of the Isabella golf courses.  

Lake Hamilton

We did all the things that might give us a feel for life in HSV.  We went to church, had latte at the most delightful coffee/gift shop  (Company's Comin'), bought groceries at Cranford's, ate out with friends in Hot Springs and in the Village, commuted back to Little Rock to our jobs, visited friends on Lake Hamilton, played golf, did nothing.  

It was not exactly like living there, but as close as we could get without moving there.  We looked at property to buy, to rent and lease with an option to purchase.  

We liked it and felt like we would enjoy living there.  Now it is a matter of it being the "right" time.  Is it or isn't it?  Both of us like our small town within our larger town and our jobs in Little Rock.  It is now time to put the pencil to the paper and see what the $'s say.