Houston Public Library book sale

Yesterday I stopped by the Houston Public Library's annual book sale - they get rid of all the extra or worn out books in their libraries inventory...and if you go on Sunday morning of the sale, everything you can fit in a brown paper shopping bag is $10.

It's pretty awesome. But it's also a lot of sorting through 10,000 Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts novels to find those rare gems you might never have come across otherwise.

I didn't find quite as many gems this time around, but I still had a full bag and decent haul. A few music books, lots of new fiction. All in all, worth the trip, time and $10 - plus is supports the library.

I always seem to have a theme when I go bargain book shopping. Yesterday's? Books set in the 50s, 60s & 70s.

Here's what I scored:

Fiction
Scoop by Kit Frazier
London Calling by Deborah Grabien
The Seance by John Harwood
Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan
The Man Who Would be F. Scott Fitzgerald & The Woman Who Fell From Grace by David Handler
Scrapped Princess by Ichiro Sakaki
The Unquiet Night by Patricia Carlton
The Red Devil Battery Sign by Tennessee Williams
Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes (my obligatory chick lit purchase...)
The Ruins of California by Martha Sherrill
Hotel No Tell by Dahne Uviller
Town House by Tish Cohen
The Muse Asylum by David Czuchlewski


Nonfiction
Inventing Late Night: Steve Allen and the Original Tonight Show by Ben Alba
On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word - ed. Simon Frith and Andrew Goodwin
The Show I'll Never Forget - ed. Sean Manning

The Help

 I was home sick with the flu last week. For most people, being home sick means lots of movies and TV. For me, it's always meant time to read books.

I'm already on my fourth book of the year thanks to last week. I finished the third Nikki Heat/Castle book (my one word review: eh) and decided I should finally read "The Help" - mostly so I can return it to the friend I borrowed it from and get back the books she borrowed in return.

About 10 pages in, I started wondering why in the WORLD I waited so dang long to read this gem. I'm always a year ahead or two years behind the curve when it comes to what's trendy reading. I remember my mom flying through this book when she read it in anticipation of seeing the movie.

I did the same. I couldn't put it down. Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter were such compelling storytellers, and though I could not accurately gauge for you whether their voices were legitimate in the troubled South at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I can tell you this - they made me want to soak in every last word and keep reading to find out what happened to them. They reminded me why I love southern literature so much.

They became my friends.

I'm a third of the way through my next book, but I'm still thinking about these women. I feel like I haven't left Jackson yet. It's one of those books that sticks with you. I can't wait to read it again.

The Casual Vacancy

I cannot believe it has been more than five years since I held a new J.K. Rowling book in my hands. I love this woman's ability to write characters so compelling you fall in love with them - even the antagonists.

More to come when I finish this. Can't decide if I want to dive in and read it straight through or take my time and enjoy every word...

What's up Wednesday

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It seems like every blogger in the world makes up some silly weekly blog thing, so here's mine: What's up Wednesday. Why? Because this is all I have time for, and despite not writing for nearly a week, I'm still trying to keep up with writing daily. So here's what's been up in the last week:

• I gave up on the "swim" prompts from NaBloPoMo because they digressed into stupid "who would you want to eat lunch with?" type questions...BOR-ING.
• I practically had a meltdown Saturday evening at a show. It was like every last word Andrew McMahon was singing was a sword cutting through my heart, and it was all I could do not to be reduced to tears by it. Thank god for Katie. She not only knows why, but I'm sure she knows exactly which lines and she made it better with side-hugs and dancing. I'm so thankful for the friends I have who speak music too.
• I've now seen Harry Potter three times, and it just gets better each time. This final movie is absolutely perfect.
• Today I went to a Facebook marketing seminar for work. About a third of it was things I already knew, but it was a nice break from the office and I got some good information out of it. I love print media so much - I felt lost without it - but I think I could go into a social media position and enjoy it just as much. Perhaps I'm more of a people person than I think.
• My mother has been in Wisconsin for nearly a month. I kind of really miss her. But I also don't hate the bachelor lifestyle with my dad.
• I finally started watching season 5 of "30 Rock." My transition to Liz Lemon became official when she announced "And I didn't pack all grey underwear!" regarding her trip with her boyfriend. Overshare? Oh well. When you share undergarment habits with LL, there really is no hope for you.
• I've been reading "Valley of the Dolls," and I'm sort of struggling to finish it. When I'm reading it, I love it. I don't want to put it down. But once I do put it down, I find it hard to convince myself to pick it back up and read. Perhaps a switch to a nonfiction book after this is due. Either "Columbine" by Dave Cullen or "Dead Certain" by Robert Draper.

And that's what's up.

YA Saves

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For as long as I can remember, I have been an avid reader. Some of my best summer memories are from staying up late under the covers with my flashlight, flying through page after page of a good book. As I grew older, I began devouring young adult novels left and right, expanding my horizons and discovering more about the world around me through the pages of a book than life itself.

Top Books of 2010

Around the start of the year, my friend Rhiannon asked me to make a list of my must-read books (or something to that effect) from 2010. It's taken me awhile to get around to it, but here are my favorite reads from the past year:

Waiting: True Confessions of a Waitress
By Debra Ginsberg
I picked this up at a Half Price Books in Austin shortly after moving back home to Texas. This "part memoir, part social commentary, part guide to how to behave when dining out" intrigued me because I've worked in food service through the years. When I was younger, I also loved the idea of becoming a waitress when I was old enough to work a part-time job...the closest I got were my two jobs in bakeries.

Aside from amusing anecdotes about her wide variety of waitressing jobs, I also felt like I got an excellent perspective of what it's like to be a waitress - the good and the bad. And it definitely makes me think twice how I act towards a server who may not be top-notch. People are HORRIBLE and sometimes as a customer you're just caught in the aftermath. It happens, deal with it.

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

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I'm kind of happy 2010 is over.

Don't get me wrong, the year gave me lots of great things: I got to see Conan O'Brien live, I traveled to Chicago to see Hanson and Rooney with my girls, I get to MEET my beloved Alton Brown, aka my Food Network Husband. Oh, and I got a real job back in print, which at the end of the day still makes me very happy.

But the whole year felt like a roller coaster ride as I worked two jobs, cut hours back at job #2 and then left completely to pursue a full-time print position...which I found just when I was about to give up. Between the exciting moments, there was lots of confusion, frustration and some crying. More than anything, I wanted to put myself back together.

And, for the most part, I feel like I have. I work for a beautiful, well-respected magazine. I have an awesome music blog that's just beginning to take off.

I'm ready for you, 2011!