Best Wintery Reads for the Bookworm

I get A LOT of my reading done in winter. Every year I set a goal of how many books to read and I probably accomplish 2/3 of my goal during the winter months! I compiled a list of some wonderful books to curl up on the couch with this December!

1. Heidi is a childhood favorite for me! I love the setting and the time period! The scenes in the mansion she goes to live in make me feel cozy! (I know it's not under the best of circumstances, but I can't help but picture Christmastime around that big house!)

2. The Golden Compass is almost completely set in the wintertime snow, so it makes the imagery extra vibrant! All the snow, polar bears, and arctic adventures are so thrilling!

3. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia is also a classically wintery read! Not to mention Mr. C.S. Lewis and his Christian wiles set a wonderfully warm path of symbolism to our Saviour, Jesus Christ! There's nothing more Christmasy than that!

4. The Princess Bride is just a good, old fashioned, lighthearted fairy tale! All the adventure, action, fantasy, and love make for the perfect all-encompassing story for a snowy day inside.

5. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, I've heard, is THE best holiday book in the YA section you will find. Just all around, gosh-darn sweet! The collaboration between the authors makes for a faceted but complementary patchwork of Christmas magic.

6. The Bridge is Karen Kingsbury's latest book set against a Christmas plot backdrop. The cover is dreamy and makes me feel all warm inside. The love story and self-discovery is heart-warming as well!

7.Sweetly by Jackson Pearce isn't a winter, Christmas, or holiday book of any kind. But seriously-- it is CHOC FULL of sweets, treats, and chocolatey goodness that reminds me of a gingerbread house of deliciousness. Not to mention it's a retelling of a classic fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel, so that makes gives it an age appropriate nostalgia that you can't replicate. Mmmm.

<3
E

Blogger Book Haul

source 

I realized the other day that I haven't blogged about BOOKS for awhile which is crazy for me because I'm always reading SOMETHING. So I thought I'd post a little "book haul" if you will of all the pages I've been eating up lately. These are the books I've bought recently and I've been working my way through them diligently.

*Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
*Empty by Suzanne Weyn
*Willow by Julia Hoban
*Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
*Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
*Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma 

Some others on my radar that I'm looking forward to buying are:
*Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux
*Winning Balance by Shawn Johnson
*Sweetly by Jackson Pearce (which I already own)

 You seriously don't even KNOW how many books I have on my shelves that I haven't read yet, so I really don't need to be buying more, but I can't help it! If I see one that I think sounds awesome, sometimes my faint heart just can't resist! What's a bookworm to do? I'm always open for recommendations, so hit me up with your faves!

<3
E

February Stack

I've had the reading bug for months now and so far in 2012, I've devoured 5 books. My goal is to read 50 by the time the year is over, so if I keep up at this pace I should make it! Here's the stack for February:

*Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
*A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
*Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
*Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
*Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kahling
*The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
*Annexed by Sharon Dogar

I'm excited to really dive in. I've already started Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and so far its SO witty and well-written.

Today was another day off for me and I spent it doing... drumroll please... absolutely nothing. HA. Well that's not entirely true: I did some art journal pages, showered, and a few other things but basically nothing. I fully anticipate a similar day tomorrow including another blog post.

Well, back to my evening of cherry Kool-Aid and our marathon of It's Always Sunny in Philedelphia!
<3
E

New adventure in Literature

Hey pretties! I wanted to introduce to you my new blog: Between the Covers! It's NOT a replacement blog for this one or a continuation of any kind! It's a completely separate blog all about reading! I'm an avid reader that devours books on a weekly basis, and since I've got so much free time from school and wedding, I've become utterly obsessed! To feed this obsession, I started a book blog for all of you readers to follow and comment on!

The blog is going to feature things like:

*book reviews (obviously)
*my normal Kindle Kontents posts
*features on authors
*some videos
*features on illustrators
*book hauls
*and much more!

Anything reading related, you'll find it on Between the Covers! I want you to know that I will still be posting my occasional book posts on this blog as well, but the new blog is going to be SO much fun! So become a follower or just head on over to check it out! I have a welcome post up as we speak and my first book review will be popping up tomorrow! If you aren't a reader yourself, but know someone who is, tell them to come visit! *So* fun to start new adventures and find friends to share it with!

<3
E

Kindle Kontents: May

I'm back with another Kindle Kontents post!


1. Critical Care by Theresa Brown was one of the most raw and honest things I've ever read. It really made me appreciate the job that they do and it proves that it takes a truly special person to do that job. Through the tales that she tells in the book, you get a very raw introduction to Theresa's nurturing personality and brave take on healthcare. The story is refreshingly candid and truthful when presenting all things that go on inside a hospital. Overall, the book tugged on my heartstrings while still being educational and tactfully truthful.

2. The book I'm currently reading now is Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Many people read this as a required book for high school, but since I was in the Honors program, it wasn't required for me. I decided that I should read it since so many people find it a good and interesting read. I'm not very far into it at all, but so far it seems very strange. I'll keep you posted because it should be a very quick read.

3. Next up on the reading docket is House Rules by Jodi Picoult! I love love love her books. Always have. I own pretty much all of them! My Mom got this book for me as a gift last summer and I still haven't read it. It centers around a boy with Autism that the community believes may have committed a murder. She always reels me in. ;)

To top off this little post, I thought I would do something a little different. I know a lot of you are readers, so I did a tour of my bookshelf and did mini reviews on a few of them inside. It's a little unconventional, but fun! Give it a watch if you want! (The camera is a little shaky because its my first time using our new video camera. Sorry about that!)



<3
E

Confidence through Christ

This is kind of random, but this is what my nightstand looks like right now:


medicines
glass of water. always.
Mr. Prickle Pants (from TOy Story 3. Funny gift from Ian)
Victoria's Secret lip balm
watch
pineapple lotion
Tiffany's pendant and earrings
Sharpie Pen
handmade journal by Allie
daily devotions book

By the way, I recently started that devotions book, New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer. It's too soon to form a definite opinion, but it's been very positive and uplifting so far! I can tell you that I would recommend! I'm always loving good devotions books!

Today's devotion was about not letting Satan tell you you're worthless. Even if we aren't all that self confident, we don't have to be because we have confidence through Christ. "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me." -Phillippians 4:13 God is so good!

<3
E

Kindle Kontents: April

1. I started reading the first book in the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot: Shadowland. It's pretty good so far! It's a very easy read and I'm enjoying it for that face value. haha I need something brainless right now after the heavy stuff I read last month. It's about a girl that can communicate with the dead and it makes her life really hard. I think there might be a love story attached too between her and a ghost, but I haven't read far enough to tell. haha

2. I finished The Hunger Games in a day and it was fantastic! A few of my friends (including Allie) have been raving about the series by Suzanne Collins and they weren't kidding! I've had the book hiding on my shelf since November and just hadn't gotten around to reading it. I hope the whole trilogy is as good as the first book!

3. Which leads me to Catching Fire! This is the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy and I'm STOKED to keep reading! I know I'll get a lot done on our car ride to Monticello tomorrow and I'm eager to see what unfolds in this one. If you haven't already, you've GOT to check out the plot summary at the bottom of this page! It's gripping!

I heart reading SOOOOO much and I love when I'm just surrounded by books upon books for the taking. PLUSS I FINALLY got my library card for our county today! I've been meaning to since I got my name changed, but it's been craziness. So now I have a whole library in front of me! *love* You should go check out the amazing list that Janel has read this past year! It's incredible! I wish I had a list that long to show off! haha I love reading SO much!

<3
E

Kindle Kontents: January Part 2

I WAS going to make this a monthly feature thing-a-ma-bob but I've been through more books than I thought I would! haha So here we go with round 2!



1. I read Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli because i kind of have a thing for Word War II fiction. It's a much younger reading level than I'm used to, but sometimes it's nice to find a good book like that. Following the story of the orphaned gypsy during the Holocaust was one of those stories that I couldn't wait to see what happened next. While hardly any WWII books have a happy ending, some journeys are so inspiring you just can't wait to read them!

2. I found Agathe Von Trapp: Memories Before and After the Sound of Music on Goodreads.com after our minister spoke a sermon about Maria Von Trapp's life-long evangelism. She was such an inspiring person! The book I originally wanted to read wasn't available on Kindle, but I found this one written by her eldest daughter instead and it did not disappoint! I learned so much about the REAL story of the Von Trapp Family, logistics from both World Wars, and the differences between the movie and the actual events.

3. I just started Barbie and Ruth today! I stumbled upon it at Barnes & Noble last summer and it has been on my list to read ever since. I've been on a biography kick lately, so I'm eager to delve into the story of Ruth Handler and her invention of one of my beloved childhood playthings.

Do you have your nose in a book too? There HAVE to be other compulsive bookworms like me out there! Speak up and let's geek out together!
<3
E

Kindle Kontents: January

Welcome to a new feature on my blog! I set no specific times for the few features I have, I just bring them back when I'm in the mood to do them. Since I got an Amazon Kindle for Christmas, I have been reading NON STOP. I know that Janel has one and she said that it makes reading so much more convenient. She's totally right!

A little background: I have ALWAYS loved reading for pleasure. When I went to Kindergarten, my mom says I came home crying the first day because I was bored and I didn't learn to read. haha I ALWAYS had my nose in a book and my parents had to sign me up for a reading club through the mail because they couldn't buy me books fast enough! I used to get in trouble for taking books into restaurants and reading at the table and my parents would ground me from reading instead of the phone. If I had a nickel for every time I read "illegally" under the covers with a flashlight, I'd be a VERY rich girl. haha


1. The first book I read on my Kindle was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum! It was such a GREAT relax book from what I've been reading lately! I read it in the 6th grade and I loved reading it again. I downloaded the entire 15 book Oz series!

2. I JUST finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak last night and it was really amazing! I don't think I enjoyed it AS much as most of America did, but it was very very moving. Highly recommend!

3. Now I'm continuing the Oz series with The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It's cute so far and very interesting to be reading about Oz where Dorothy isn't the protagonist!

So what are you reading now? Fill me in and send me recommendations!!!
<3
E the bookworm

Bon Appetit!

Everyone has those few AMAZING thrifted finds that they're SO proud of. It's like finding a rare gem amidst a pile of gravel. Like finding a 4-leaf clover. Like finding the limited edition Carmen SanDiego decoder ring in the cereal box before your brother does. This weekend, Ian found something for me at a garage sale that I've been seeking for almost a year: Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking!


It is an ancient 10th printing and it was only 25¢! BOY what a find! It still had crumbling remains of the dust jacket too, with a picture of the 3 authors cooking on the back: Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. But the real gem is the first recipe I looked for inside: her famous Boeuf Bourguignon.

Quoted from the cookbook:

"As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf borguignon. Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man."

I have to say that my admiration of Julia Child grew first after seeing one of her original filmings in my sophomore science class, then more after seeing Julie & Julia. It was such a cozy wonderful hug of a movie (especially since the main character is a BLOGGER!! HA!).


I'm not sure if I'll ever be the one to cook gourmet creations out of this cookbook, but Ian is a wonderful chef and I can't wait to see what he does with it. haha

As Julia Child would say,
Bon Appetit!
<3
E

summer book*worm

weheartit.com

I haven't posted a crafty thing on here in OVER A MONTH. Gah. It's wretched. I've been so focused on getting moved out of the dorms and job hunting that I haven't had a spare moment to create anything very wonderful. I HAVE been reading though. And I purchased a load of lovely books to fill my time with too.

I've already read 2 books in the past week:


The Boy in the Striped Pijamas and Water for Elephants. Both were very very good. I thought Water for Elephants was EXCEPTIONAL! Such a grand story about being swept away with a dangerous circus during the Great Depression. *sigh.* The other book was very touching and eye-opening, although rather juvenile in writing. It is told from the eyes of a nine-year-old boy. Both very good.



I'm also in the middle of reading The Diary of Anne Frank and Lucky. Honestly, I can only read a little of Anne Frank at a time. It's so profound and heart-wrenching, but an inspiring story nonetheless.


On my list of books "on deck" to read in the coming weeks are:



The BOok Thief by Mark Zusak
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

As you can see, I'm very into fiction novels set during WWII. I find them very interesting. I love reading about the concentration camps and find the struggle of the Jews strangely inspiring in the sense that they had SO much to overcome and were still able to live their lives. If anyone has any recommendations of anything they read that was absolutely AMAZING, hit me up! I have a whole summer ahead of me! (Not that I don't have a wedding to plan and a thesis to do, but you know. haha)

Loves to you all and I hope you have the time to get your nose in a book as well. ;)
<3
E

as*promised

this is my new word for the summer. Explore my surroundings. explore the unknown. explore the ordinary. explore even when I'm standing still. I think it will help make my mundane workdays more exciting and thrilling.

You guys should head on over to Scrap Outside the Box and check the newest challenge! CLOTHING TAGS! love it. I'm going to say that my DT girls never fail to make me jealous. haha
Here's what I busted out a few days ago! It's a work in progress and not yet bound but I'm loving the creative mood it's put me in lately. So sunny and wonderful.


I also made this little guy this afternoon while listening to Harry Potter book on tape. (I've read it a million times, but Ian has been wanting to listen to it and i love it, so... haha) I just thought this tied in nicely with my new word for the summer. I'm going to tuck it in my moleskine (Drawing Book No. 3) as a reminder I think.


some untraditional materials include cardboard, plastic packaging, confetti, and masking tape)

This is the masking tape I used! I got my happy tape in the mail WEEKS ago and am JUST NOW blogging about it!? what's this about!? It's soooooo amazing. I got it here and am 100% completely positively satisfied and I want more. for sure. I want other color combinations. Mmmmmm


This lifelong book fetish is getting out of hand I think. I bought Along for the Ride and Peter Pan over the past few days. I really need to get a move on reading both of those.

Another new obsession? GOODREADS.COM!

so if you have an account, ADD ME AS A FRIEND!!! yay. love*love

alrighty. well there's the post I promised. <3 i hope you're all inspired and working away on something wonderful. What's inspiring you lately? tell me. :]

Everything's*right*tonight

I'm getting closer and closer to being back in the groove. Every day I'm feeling more and more up to making things. Today was a breakthrough art-wise. This meaning... I actually made some things for some challenge sites, etc. i feel bad because I've been neglecting some of my other projects, but i'm just happy I'm getting in the mode again.

This is my project for The Art is Found. The prompt this time is MOBILES! There are some really really sweet projects going around and all different facets. It's so interesting to see!
I made this cute little coral, blue, and buttercream mobile to hang on my mirror. It says "One day at a time" to remind me to take this new lifestyle and year day by day. :]


Also, here's my project for Work Your Soul this time around! I decided to give it a try some this year! Go check out the latest prompt! I created this cute lace cuff bracelet from a pattern from the Elsie*cake class i took. I love it! I was going to put some jewel heart charms on it, but i thought it had more charm left as it was!



Here's some sketch journal layouts from lately too for good measure!




I also wanted to share some good reads I've been into lately! Here's my huge stack of lovliness that I've been into lately:


Books I'm currently reading:
How To Be Lovely:The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life
Anne Frank:The Diary of a Young Girl
Eat, Pray, Love
Books I Have and am Wanting to Read:
Alice in Wonderland
Water for Elephants
The Devil Wears Prada
The Tenth Circle
Jane Eyre
The Nanny Diaries
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters

and as Miss Kara would say, "sighpants."

Furthermore, check these awesome etsy sights I've spotted and made careful note:
Studio Mela:

Drenched in White:

and i also found lots of fun ACEO's here.




SO much fun and so original! Check it.

I know what you're thinking. "But I'm in the need of some other random inspo before you go!" alright well luckily I had a few more things bookmarked. :]
*GO here at Design Sponge for some fun and bright decor inspiration. I love the colors and icons involved and everything about it!


*GO here on flickr for some SERIOUSLY wicked sweet art journal inspiration.


*GO here to Hella Art for just good clean art inspo.


Alrighty, well to close, I wanted to remind everyone that Craftcake Designs has some cute new Valentine's Products up in the ole shop just waiting to be adopted! Go check it out for sure!


Get a really good start to your week, y'all. It's going to be a great one. MAKE it a great one. :]

I know I'm going to...