Sunday Salon: Reading, Read, To Read #6

Happy Sunday everyone! Few things would inspire me to wrestle with my Mac's in-built camera...but a new haircut is one of them. For those few friends in my life who saw my untamed mass of hair, this is a fun after shot. It was rare for me to deal with my untamedness--so I pretty much spent eighteen plus hours a day with it in various hair clips. Most never knew just how long my hair was getting. But I did end up getting around ten inches off yesterday. My hair hasn't been this short in a good while.

I have changed (at least temporarily) my profile picture. I still like the old picture, but that one is really, really old. As in five years old this coming Saturday. Maybe you can tell from this bigger shot of it, but the picture was taken at David's Bridal. So you can see racks of wedding gowns in the background. And I believe you can see the teeniest glimpse of my sister in the background trying on a dress. Taken the same day--and actually one that I found to be more expressive and reflective of my mood is this one. It's not that I didn't love my sister--or my soon-to-be-brother in law, it's just that dress shopping is...well...dress shopping.
Mom reminded me it will be five years this Saturday. You see, she 'found' the dress on Valentine's Day. But this also happened to be the day--the big day--that it snowed. In Texas. An event that isn't all that common. The bear was my Valentine's day present from my dad. The tree in the background is my tree. A cedar tree I planted when I was just a wee little thing. I used to be taller than it... But it has definitely soared above me now!

Now down to business....

There is still a week to enter my current giveaway. I'm giving away to one lucky winner a copy of Model Masters: Dragons, Explore Within a Medieval Castle, and Safari Animals.

I began the Do-Re-Mi Challenge. You can sign up (if you're so inclined here).

What I read in a previous week, but reviewed this week:

Lyn Cote's The Desires of Her Heart 2009. Avon Inspire.
Philip Reeve's A Darkling Plain. 2006. HarperCollins.

What I read this past week and reviewed:

Amjed Qamar's Beneath My Mother's Feet. 2008. Simon & Schuster. (YA Realistic Fiction)
Wynton Marsalis' Jazz ABZ. 2005. (Poetry/Picture Book)
Leo and Diane Dillon's Jazz On A Saturday Night. 2007. (Picture Book)
Karen Ehrhardt's This Jazz Man. 2006. (Picture book)
Matthew Van Fleet's Cat. 2009. (Picture Book)
Diane Landolf's What A Good Big Brother. 2009. (Picture Book)
Langston Hughes' My People. Photographs by Charles R. Smith Jr. 2009. (Picture Book).
Bill Staines' All God's Critters. Illustrations by Kadir Nelson. 2009. (Picture Book)
John Piper's John Calvin And His Passion for the Majesty of God. 2009. (Nonfiction)

What I read this past week and haven't reviewed yet:

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. 2009. Bloomsbury. 280 pages. (YA Fantasy)
Mothstorm by Philip Reeve. 2008. Bloomsbury. 387 pages. (YA Science Fiction/YA Adventure)

What I've read and really really need to review:

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. Patterson, James. 2008. Little, Brown. 238 pages (YA Science Fiction/YA Adventure)
Winnie's War by Jenny Moss. 2009. Walker Books. 178 pages. (J Historical Fiction/YA Historical Fiction)

What I'm currently reading:

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil G. Brinton

My plans for next week--Introducing Jazz Week-- I'll be reviewing jazz-inspired books both fiction and nonfiction all week long. The first three titles I've read are:

Wynton Marsalis' Jazz ABZ. 2005. (Poetry/Picture Book)
Leo and Diane Dillon's Jazz On A Saturday Night. 2007. (Picture Book)
Karen Ehrhardt's This Jazz Man. 2006. (Picture book)



© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews