A Year of Books

Well, it's happened. 2013 has slipped away into 2014, and I reached my goal of reading 52 books in one year. (I have simple goals, really.) Most of them were new, not too many re-reads, which makes for a change from a few years ago when nearly everything I read was a re-read. Here's how the year looked, book-wise...

1. Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer
2. The Sisters by Nancy Jensen
3. Re-read

4. Son by Lois Lowrey
5. Eva's Story by Eva Schloss
6. Re-read
7. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
8. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
9. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
10. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehanne

11. Cemetery Girl by David Bell
12. The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner
13. Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide
14. Circles of Time by Phillip Rock
15. Lay Me Out Softly by Francesca Lia Block
16. Re-Read

17. Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer
18. The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood
19. Fly Away by Kristen Hannah
20. Re-read
21. Re-read
22. Telling the Bees by Peggy Hesketh
23. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
24. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
25. He's Gone by Deb Caletti

26. The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro
27. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
28. The Pact by Jodi Picoult
29. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
30. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
31. Night Road by Kristen Hannah

32. Desire to Inspire by Christine Mason Miller
33. 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz
34. Dear Lucy by Julie Sarkissian

35. Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer
36. The Mourning Hours by Paula Treick DeBoard
37. Re-read
38. The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards
39. Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell
40. The Brave by Nicholas Evans
41. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snickett

42. In the Woods by Tana French
43. Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
44. Dream with Little Angles by Michael Hiebert
45. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
46. True Believer by Nicholas Sparks
47. Magic Hour by Kristen Hannah
48. Mercy by Jodi Picoult

49. The Memory Thief by Emily Colin
50. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
51. A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd
52. Stella Bain by Anita Shreve

53. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - another re-read, but who cares

Left unfinished: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

What I've noticed while typing out this list is that I read a lot of dark/crime novels, and also a lot of lighter books (Nicholas Sparks, I'm looking at you). Maybe I'll have a slightly more refined palate this year, but you know what? If I don't, who cares? It's who I am.

So here's to 2014 - may it be a year filled with new literary loves!

November Reading

At this point, I only need to read 4 more books to hit my goal of 52 in a year. Small goals, I know. Here's what I got up to last month:

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

True Believer by Nicholas Sparks

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

Mercy by Jodi Picoult

I really shouldn't have read Dark Places. I found it incredibly disturbing and difficult to get through. I've been reading Dean Koontz since I was in junior high or earlier, and even dipped into Stephen King at that age, and I now read a lot of crime novels and others that could be considered "messed up," so I'm not a stranger to disturbing subject matter. But this book...wow. I had to skip parts because it was just too...I don't know. I'd like to read Gone Girl, but I think I'll have to wait a little while before I do, in case it's as dark as this one.

So it's no wonder I needed to lighten up a bit with Nicholas Sparks and Kristin Hannah. (Really enjoyed Magic Hour.) I kinda swerved back onto the darker side with Mercy, but I don't think I'm staying long. I'm loving the book I'm reading now, but, as it belongs to December, you'll just have to wait until the end of the month to find out what it is!

And, speaking of books, the 22nd Annual Children's Book Illustration Art Show & Book Signing is this Saturday!!! I can't believe it's already been a year since the last book show at Chemers Gallery (a year ago today, to be exact). We will be hosting 5 incredibly talented illustrators and 3 fabulous authors at Saturday's show: Michael Hague, Brett Helquist (whom you may recognize as the illustrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events!), Molly Idle, Stacy Innerst and John Parra, plus Kathleen Hague, Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer. Such amazing talent all gathered under one roof!

This week will be crazy - more news to come after December 7th.

Life is what happens

Seal!

Jellyfish!

Turtle!

James and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a day out at the Aquarium of the Pacific. I think we looked at everything there was to see, including a tank of super-awesome nautiluses! (Yes, I like putting "!" after every kind of animal.) Our day out in Long Beach was really restful. On our actual anniversary we went out to dinner and both had kind of weird food combinations. I don't really think the restaurant got it right when they were coming up with their menu. Here's a hint: if you offer a "warm potato salad," most people will assume it's like a German potato salad with vinegar and bacon, NOT potato salad made with mayonaise served hot. (Gross.) At least we both had semi-questionable meals.

Chemers Gallery was honored this week at the Orange County National Philanthropy Day luncheon, which was super exciting! We were chosen as Outstanding Small Business, and were nominated by Chapman University and The Wooden Floor, both of whom have been beneficiaries for our annual children's book illustration show. There were 8 honorees altogether, and over 900 people attended. What an amazing day!

Speaking of the children's book illustration show, this year's happens in less than two weeks...OMG.

All You Need is Love

James and I attended a wedding over the weekend in Topanga Canyon for our friends Kayla and Chris. There is nothing like an outdoor southern California wedding - the weather was beautiful, the setting was restful, and looking at what everyone else was wearing was fantastic! Kayla's sister, Carly, got married earlier this year, and although they used a few of the same touches, this wedding definitely had Kayla's stamp on it.

The lovely couple, waaaay up there

Kayla and Chris were married in an oak grove at the Ribbit Plant & Tree Nursery. Chris looked happy and relaxed, and Kayla looked stunning. There were all sorts of great personal touches - Kayla was hidden from view until she reached the aisle by her dad's 4 closest friends, who were each wearing a piece of her dad's suit. His presence was definitely felt and missed by all, as it was at Carly's wedding. Kayla wore the flower crown that her mom wore at her wedding during the reception. One of the bridesmaids read this fabulous poem called I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg - it was just so them.

And then, it was party time.

Ryan was the DJ, I was just there

Joe and James

Ain't no party like a west coast par-taaay!

It was a great day, full of fun, friendship, laughter, and Mason jars practically filled with wine. Plus, our taxi actually showed up to take us back to the hotel after the festivities, which did not happen at the last wedding in Topanga Canyon we attended. (We caught a ride from some of the guys who worked at the venue, I was convinced we were going to be abducted.) So, all in all, good times were had!

And, speaking of weddings, today is our 5 year wedding anniversary! This marriage thing is pretty great, and I've gotta say, I'm a fan.

Congratulations, Kayla & Chris!!

October Reading

I've gotten "behind" on my reading. I blame The Shipping News. I spent most of October trying to get through it, and I couldn't, I just couldn't. I'm sure it's a great book for someone, but not for me.

No.

Here's what I finished this month - apparently I'm really into crime novels right now.

In the Woods by Tana French

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton

Dream with Little Angels by Michael Hiebert

And right now, I'm struggling through another crime novel that I'm sort of wondering why I'm reading. But, I need to know whodunit. I enjoy trying to figure it out before the characters in the books do, and I'm usually pretty good at it. I want to know if I'm right this time.

Presenting: A Snapshot

Hooray! At long last, Domino is back in print! How did I find out about it? Good old Pinterest.

 Nothing too exciting going on around here lately. Unless you count the republication of Domino Magazine. (Why was it ever out of print in the first place??) Which I do. I got my copy the first day it was out. Thank goodness for Pinterest, otherwise I would have had no idea.

Train derailment by skeleton

James and I drove to Griffith Park to ride on a tiny train. Like, knees up to your chin tiny. And, being close to Halloween, the entire place was decorated to the theme of "spooky." Run entirely by volunteers, LA Live Steamers was definitely a guy's kind of place. Where else can you look at model trains and actually bring your own tiny train to ride around the tracks??

The larger train is what we rode on. The smaller ones were privately owned & operated. (Photo from Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum Archives)

 And then I had to go shoe shopping. Had to. For sparkly shoes, of course.

Shoes! Lovely shoes!

What have YOU been up to lately?

September Reading

Hello, October, where did you come from? 

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell - I started this while riding on a bus through Stoke Newington in the middle of what for England could be called a heatwave. Imagine my surprise when one of the characters in the book began his walk home through Stoke Newington and my husband's local park in the middle of a heatwave...totally surreal.

You would think right about now that I had chosen my books specifically for the key on the front cover. This would be an incorrect assumption.

The Brave by Nicholas Evans - see? No key.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket - call it research

And now begins my favorite time of year at work - the preparations for our annual children's book illustration show! We will be featuring 5 children's book illustrators and their original artwork, plus providing books to pre-order for signing and dedication by these illustrators. This all culminates in a day-long opening reception on December 7th, where about 100 original illustrations are displayed on the walls AND the illustrators (and even a few of the authors!) will be in attendance to sign books, give talks, demonstrations and lectures!

Can you guess how excited I am?