Another Great Book

We read this book together and finished it last week.  It was fantastic!!!  The entire time we were reading it, we were amazed at Louis Zamperini's story.  Without giving away too much, this true story kept us up late at night wanting to finish the "next section" and find out what would happen next.  It was just recently published late in 2010.  If you're looking for another great read, pick this one up--you won't be disappointed!  

I've also read 4 others and have a few more to go in that series, and am in the middle of another book, but I won't share any of those yet...

Life As I Know It

Here's a brief snippet of my week:

• When I picked K up from his nap this afternoon, he was in an especially cuddly mood, so I wrapped him in a warm blanket and we snuggled for a few moments.  He immediately fell right back to sleep in my arms for another 45 minutes.  The entire time, Baby #2 was giving playful little kicks and I was reminded that I am a mother to 2 very active, wonderful kids.  In those special moments I felt so blessed.
• Made quinoa and Black beans with vegetable quesadillas for dinner and spice cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert.  Won over the affections of my husband.  
• Made Indian lentil stew last night for dinner and won over my own affections.  I thought it was great!  My dear husband was not so impressed--neither was K.  Note to self--make that one again only when I'm eating alone or when I'm really mad at Kai ;-)
• Bought $500 in energy saving light bulbs and spent only $5.  Yes, it was a GREAT feeling once I assured myself that I was not actually robbing the store. 
• Ordered my Christmas cards from Shutterfly!!  Very excited to see them!
• Bought a gently used treadmill off of Craigslist and am loving it so far!!  Put it in K's playroom.  Tried to avoid stepping on the toy cars he kept launching down the center of the track amused by how they flew off the end.  

I've also been busy reading some more great books and thought I'd share:

Have a Little Faith 

This book was great!  I literally cried the entire last 2 chapters.  Pregnancy hormones?  Not sure.  Mitch Albom is a great author.  Tuesdays with Morrie was a previous favorite and I cried on that one too (and I wasn't pregnant then).  

The Secret Life of Bees

Another good book.  I felt like I was transported to the time and place in which the story was set.  Great story.  

Eat, Pray, Love

I'm in the middle of this one right now and am not sure yet.  I know they made a movie of it (haven't seen it), but so far I haven't been overly impressed.  I'm still in Italy though--1st of 3 countries.  Has anyone read this one and does it get better?? 

The Associate 

Not so good.  You wouldn't miss much if you never read this one.  John Grisham, you disappointed me this time.  

I'm also in the middle of another long series, but I'm not sharing the details about it because I don't want to be judged ;-)  

Amazon.com Giveaway

Lately I've read some great books and decided to offer a giveaway to my readers since it's been a while since my last one.  Here are some of the books I've read in the last 2 months.  The giveaway details are listed below.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:

A darker mystery with a lot of twists and unexpected turns.  Not my normal style of reading, but it did hold my attention all the way to the end.  

Hunger Games:  

Great book.  I was sucked in immediately.  

Catching Fire:  

The second book in the Hunger Games Series.  I could hardly put it down.

Mockingjay:  

The final book of the Hunger Games Trilogy.  My least favorite of them all, but it brought closure to the story.  I loved the first two.

Black Like Me:  

This one is an oldie, but a goodie :-)

The Heretics Daughter

I'm currently in the middle of this one, so I'll let you know more when I finish.  So far so good...

Giveaway Details:

Main Entry:  

Since I love reading, and am always looking for a great new book, leave a comment telling me the name of a good book you're reading now or the name of your favorite book.  You can list up to 3 separate books (in 3 separate comments please) for a total of 3 entries.

Additional Entries:

1. Become and follower and leave a comment.  If you already are a follower, comment and tell me. (Up to 1 entry for 1 comment)
2. Blog about this giveaway on your blog and include the link in 4 separate comments to receive a total of 4 entries.  (4 separate comments please)

The Bounty:

What you will receive if you are the lucky winner is any 2 of the books from the above list or a $20 gift certificate for Amazon.com so you can choose your own.  

The Conditions:

• Please make sure to follow the guidelines for the comments.  1 valid comment = 1 entry.  You can earn up to a total of 8 valid entries by leaving 8 total comments following the above guidelines.
• Please make sure all entries include a valid email address.  
• All entries will be verified.  Any unverified entries will be deleted.
• Giveaway ends September 21, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.  Winner will be chosen randomly via random.org and announced on September 22, 2010.  
• The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be chosen.  

Good luck!