A Quick Library List

HiYa!!! I thought I'd share some of my favorites as of late from the library!  Instead of my normal "Literally on Hold at the Library" list, these have already been viewed and read and loved by me.  So here we go.

Stacey Little's "Southern Bite" Cookbook is wonderful.  I have to admit that I am a frequenter of his website recipes also!  I checked out his cookbook from the library (and also intend to buy it) and I am obviously not the only one because the pages are "literally" falling out!  I really like the Chicken and Dumplins Casserole, Smothered Pork Chops, and Old Fashioned Banana Pudding was made for Shaun's birthday last week and will be my go-to banana pudding recipe from now on!!

I'll take any book from Mary Emmerling!  I love her style and can spend LOTS of time thumbing through the pages of colorful pictures and stories in her books.

Where the Crawdads Sing.... I LOVED THIS BOOK!  My sister Mary Evelyn suggested that I read this one.  I was on the hold list at the library for three months!  It is truly a wonderful read!  I'm not telling you anything about it.... just read it!

As you know, I always like to have an "TV of DVD" series going in my kitchen.  Cheers has been the one for some time now.  I'm actually on season five right now.  The library lends them for 21 days per check-out so I can take my time with them. 

I just watched Death at a Funeral this week at the suggestion of my mother.  Let me say that this British comedy made me and Shaun both laugh out loud.  I watched it twice and enjoyed it and laughed both times.  Thanks Mom!

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Ah The Grand Budapest Hotel.  This is a coffee table book I can't wait to thumb through!

Pistol Annies… Interstate Gospel... been on the wait list for this cd for a while now.

Flavia De Luce and I have a long term relationship.  This is Alan Bradley's newest book and will probably take less time to read than the time I've been waiting on it!

Inheritance... I normally can't get into the majority of books on the best sellers list.  Judging the reviews I'm gonna give this one a good shot.

Riverdale... only because a character on a tv show I watch talks about this series.  I don't have a clue what it's about... I like it that way.

Girl, Wash Your Face..., my niece Lacey loved this one.  I've been on the hold list a couple of times.  Highly popular at the library.

Have a wonderful day!

literally on the library hold shelf

Aaah a library list. Yes I still frequent the library.  Sometimes I leave with so much stuff that I don't remember requesting it!  I've been getting a lot of movies lately.  Especially of the Alfred Hitchcock variety.  Rear Window remains my favorite.  Also... did you ever see the movie Mr. Brooks?  Oh my.  Good flick.  Here's what I'm waiting for currently.

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Yay!!  A library list from Laurie!!!  I know that's what you're saying. 

Here's what's on hold at the library.... actually not true at all.

I already have the Alan Bradley book, the Marie Laveau and Joss Stone's album which I LOVE.  Oh and the final season of Girls and P&R season one.  Okay!!!  I only don't have Adele yet.  But I currently have them all but in my possession.  Truly.

Alan Bradley and the famous Flavia DeLuce.  I have been in love with this series since Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie when I blogged about it in 2012.  Just type in Bradley in the search on the right to see what I said about them all.  You may run into a post about Bradley tomatoes... just sayin.  This is his eighth book in the series.  I honestly have not read 7.5 but its a digital version that the library has and I don't have a kindle.  I'm more of a for real page turner anyway.  I'll get a hold of it one day.

I started watching Girls and few months ago and truthfully I didn't much care for it at first.  Millennials I thought.  Which is true.  But as I started following their lives from episode to episode I fell pretty hard.  I just finished the final season and can't believe it's over.  Six seasons.  It is HBO pals so beware if you don't like hearing the F word or seeing people's butts and boobs.  Lena Dunham is a genius and I would love to have a piece of her brain.

Adele 21.  I have a special place in my heart for Adele.  I mainly want to listen to these songs at home very loudly and anytime I want.

AND Joss Stone.  Can I say on the internet (uh yeah) that when I first heard her voice I would have put money on her being a much darker skinned individual.  She's white and I'm shocked.  I thought only a voice like that could belong to Aretha Franklin and Jennifer Hudson.  Dang.  I'm in awe and I love her.

Knowing that my seasoned love of Girls was about to be over I decided to look up a few TV on DVD shows that I've never really watched because seriously it is so much better without commercials.  I rarely watch normal TV.  Parks and Recreation I started Sunday and watched a couple of episodes.  It made me laugh a time or two.  I finished the season tonight after work and immediately got on the library's website to get the next two seasons.  It's not my all-time favorite but it'll do and it is funny which I like.

Oh VooDoo Dreams.  Even though this is mainly a fictional story... Marie Laveau was an actual person and the actual VooDoo Queen of New Orleans.  I don't mind whipping up a spell for fun every now and then but I ain't eatin no raw chicken heart.  Nu Uh.  I'll just read about it.  I think the story will be a tad fascinating.  I've read the first few pages and haven't forgotten a thing but have to finish my Flavia book first.

been watchin lately

Lately... I have been a movie renter from the library like crazy! 

Here are some of my latest rents and what I thought.

Fantastic movie!  Twists and turns that I was not expecting.  Well played!

I watched this movie three ties last weekend... maybe more.  I love Shirley Maclaine and Jessica Lange both and them together in a movie was fantastic.  Very cute movie.

Did you even know there was a remake of Steel Magnolias??  This is a very cute version but not as good as the original. 

Hunt for the Wilderpeople was pretty cute.  Comic Dynamite???  I didn't think so.  It did make me cry at one point.  Worth the watch.

Charles Dickens Bleak House was absolutely top drawer!  Three dvd's was like a good book I didn't want to put down. 

This movie was funny... even Shaun laughed at this one.  I watched it in the kitchen and decided to share with him.  There is nudity but this being set in the seventies make it really great.

Captain Fantastic I really liked.  I was on the wait list at the library for a few months for this one.  I once started to cancel the hold and am so glad that I didn't.  Really good.

I truly hope you weren't expecting me to tell you what these movies are about.  I don't roll like that although I wanted to.  I like to let you see for yourself.  Kid of like me... I hardly ever read what the movie is about.  I don't want to know what to expect at all.  I don't read the covers of books either.  If I begin reading and don't like it or can't follow it then I put it down.  But I don't like to know anything about  it or I will form my own assumptions ahead of time. 

Here's what I am currently on the wait list for.

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Hello friends and Merry Christmas!  I have recently found a few likes at the library.  It excites me so.  My favorite new passion is for Christy Jordan's southern cooking cookbooks.  I just got Southern Plate over the weekend from the library and have already made five recipes out of it.  All of them turning out fantastically.  I have to share that tonight I made the squash casserole and steak and milk gravy.  The casserole was awesome but when I drizzled the gravy over  broken up white bread it truly brought back memories of my Mom making gravy with supper.  Oh the way that tastes is shear heaven on a plate.  If you are in a bit of a cooking rut... making the same things mainly because you can remember all of the ingredients by heart and make the dish without a recipe... not that that ain't good... it may be time to shake it up back to your roots.  Grab one of her.  You will not hate yourself I promise.

I've also taken to watching Modern Family in my kitchen nook.  I've seen several seasons sitting here on the counter.  I think Phil is just about my favorite character.  I do love them all.  Sometimes I wish I could remember some of the funny stuff they say and apply it to some conversation to make someone laugh but I never can.

M.C. Beaton... not long ago I was really into reading the Hamish MacBeth stories by M.C. Beaton and still am!  BUT... recently, while browsing the author's books for something centered around Christmas, I checked out on of her Agatha Raisin mysteries instead of my Hamish ones.  I lack finishing the last chapter right now and even though Christmas is just this weekend I will still love the next one I have ready for pick up right now.

The author, Christy Jordan, is apparently good friends with the author of the other cookbook listed... The Southern Bite.  I can only assume at this point what this one is about.  Hopefully it will be just as good as hers and every bit as inspiring.  I love a good cookbook that gives new life to ingredients I normally have on hand.

Botanical Style... I really can't wait to gawk over the pictures in this book.  I forgot until tonight that I had it on my wait list.  I can't remember what blog.... wait... yes I can... nope.. wrong.  I thought it was THIS one.  I love her gift guides.  Anyway.. maybe it will at least inspire me to water my plants more and give them more love.  It's like this.. I've had some of them for so long I think they are old enough to water themselves.  At least Juanita lets me know when she's thirsty.  I have seriously had that plant for twenty three years.  There's a picture of her HERE oh and apparently I forgot at some point that her name was Lola... I've called the dang thing Juanita for the last four I know... HERE she is getting a new pot.  What an oddball!

I seriously hope you each have a wonderful Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!! 

literally on hold at the library

Coming soon to a library shelf for me...

Well hello again!  I was just on the library website, making my requests, and thought... I used to share this stuff with my blog peeps. So I thought I would right now. 

Ghostland by Colin Dickey is a compilation of ghost stories so I've heard.  I am fourth on the list so it looks doubtful that I will get it before Halloween.

We were eating at Cracker Barrel the other day and I thumbed through Ree Drummond's cookbooks there.  So instead of buying it "yet" I will test drive it from the library.  I have loved her recipes and spunk for several years.  I'd love to see her cooking show but alas we don't have cable or fancy TV.  I'll just have to read all about it.

I have gotten hooked on M.C. Beaton's, Hamish Macbeth series... bigtime.  I first checked out "Death of a Witch" and luckily it kept my attention and I finished the book in a couple of weeks.  I like to take my time.  After I finished that one I checked out another one.  That one was Death of a Kingfisher.  I'm now on Death of a Scriptwriter and will pick up Death of a Nurse this week. 

When I was browsing for more Hamish Macbeth stories I noticed that they made a television series.  I have watched the first two seasons and will pick up the third series this week.  It is all based in a village in Scotland and the author does very well at writing in the accents.  I have found myself using words like "dinnae" and "thon".  If I start answering people with "aye" we might should worry.

Have a wonderful week!

literally on the library hold shelf

I haven't done one of these in a while.  Doesn't mean I stopped going to the library!  I haven't been much in to reading novels lately but yesterday I came across a list of books and picked a couple that the library had.  They aren't far, one in Madison and one in Inglewood, so maybe they will get here by Saturday when I go to yoga.  I haven't watched many movies since my Wes Anderson click... I'm still not over the Moonrise Kingdom movie and I've rented it three times.  I wanted to rent Raising Hope which is a TV on DVD thing but they don't have it.  I settled for My Name is Earl and also found a Carol Burnett dvd there.  Our new station on TV that airs older shows actually shows Carol Burnett reruns but it comes on pretty late.  The other book Pretty Happy by Kate Hudson I am hoping will be a "feel good" book.  I just love her... probably because of who her parents are but she is precious!  I have been on the wait list for this one for a good while but I'm now #1 next in line for it!  Have a good weekend!!!



literally on the library hold shelf

I got an email from Goodreads wanting votes for the best of the best 2015 books.  While there aren't a whole lot of new releases that I can vote for, mainly because I haven't read a ton of new releases, I found it a fantastic place to find new items to check out.  You can find the fabulous link of the Choice Awards books HERE.

And now I will share what I quickly went through and picked for myself as I scramble to the library website to get on the hold lists.  I literally probably won't see any of these books until after the first of the year.  So I am all set for winter time fireplace reading for a while.

 

 



literally on the library hold shelf

Y'all, I am going to admit that I am so excited for Thanksgiving.  I love getting together with family, eating wonderful food that you just don't get all year long, and listening to the parades on TV because I am always too busy to watch, being off work... the whole manila.  There is a warmth that comes up in my heart when I know Thanksgiving is coming soon. 

 

Today, I researched Thanksgiving at the library, well on the website, to get some things on order for myself and the day care.  It's funny that if you don't get items on hold soon enough you will miss them because so many others are on the wait list as well.  I always seem to be too late and it's barely November.  So I am on the wait list for several items that will hopefully find their way to me before November is over.  Luckily I have a few weeks before it gets here.  Ideally they would get there the week of Thanksgiving when we will be hot and heavy into Thanksgiving talk at the day care. 

 

Here's a peek at a couple of things headed my way.

 

 

In my opinion, Thanksgiving cooking and decorating wouldn't be complete without consulting Martha.  She gives me a feel good attitude about cooking and such.  I would invite her to lunch with us but she'd probably show us all up with her holiday magic!

 

Charlie Brown is also a staple at heart when it comes to holidays.  We have channel 2 to thank for that!  There's no telling how many are on the list for this one but eventually we will be watching it at the day care.

 

Turkeys, Pilgrims, and Indian Corn, the story behind Thanksgiving symbols.  I thought this sounded interesting.  I mostly just figured they were symbols because of the time of year Thanksgiving is celebrated.  We will see what she has to say.

 

The Thanksgiving Story I hope will shed good light on the holiday itself.  I know what we were all taught in school but a part of me can't help but feel sorry for the Indians.  I am sure there were a few who threw up their hands surrendering to the newcomers and breaking bread but not all, as we are led to believe, were a part of the first meal. 

 I plan to pass on the normal Thanksgiving story to the kids here. 

 

A Catered Thanksgiving, because my mind will need a Thanksgiving-related murder mystery that includes recipes.  Who's doesn't??



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YES! Another library book post!!! 

I can feel that you are equally as excited as I am to see what I've got on hold at the library!  I don't blame you.  How else are you going to know what to pick up when you go?  I know I'm not the only library go-er.  There's other people in there every time I'm there.  This time I've been in the mood for a little murder mystery since Halloween is coming up AND I have a four wheeling trip coming up.  Not that I can read in the truck on the way there without getting nauseous or like we will have time for me to lie in the hammock at the beach cause duh!  We're not going to the beach.  We will be on the trails where no book should ever be!  Unless you call the trail map a book... then that's ok and much needed at times.  Nevertheless, I want a fun, fast, dolled up, chick flick kind of murder book and here are my four picks that I literally... wait for it... have on the hold shelf at the library.  Wow.. that literally came out of no where!  I am so making fun of myself in this post and need to stop!  I love sharing my library lists with you...  literally. 

 

 

Don't you just love my little witch trails!  I'm so witch crafty.  I know you also love how I get out of doing book reviews the correct way by sharing what's coming to me from the library that I haven't read yet.  You so often don't know if I liked the books or even looked at them.  And why, do you ask, do I need four murder mystery books at one time?  I reckon because I can and I have the fear that if I only get one I won't like it and wish I had gotten a different one that I could "get in to".  So, literally (here I go again) I have one book to read and three on back up... literally.  Makes total sense to me. 

 

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It seems nowadays and especially since I don't have my Fridays off anymore that I don't have as much time to library.  I have been skipping yoga on Saturdays it feels like every other week.  My holds have been put back on the shelf at times.  The library is closed on Sundays and during the week I just don't have the energy or interest to drive to Goodlettsville to pick up my stuff on the two days during the week that they are open past six.  But... with the new season almost upon us, seeing that October is already here, I have a totally different interest in what to order and pick up from my favorite free supply store... the library. 

This post is about a few of the items I have ordered for the kids at the day care.  I have plans for each one of these books that will include coloring and/or crafts to go with reading aloud.  I also have a few movies with some of their favorite characters.  I have already strung Halloween lights at the day care in two rooms and we've done a fall craft or two.

Here are a few titles of what our next week has in store for us... provided I don't flake out of going to the library.  I have good intentions this week of going!



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I love the library but truthfully I haven't been going much lately.  Lately I have only wanted one book to just read before bed or during naptime at the day care.  I have also only wanted one video.  That being some sort of sitcom to have on while I am working in the kitchen.  I admit, when I saw that the library was getting The Wiz, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, I got a little excited.  I watched it growing up and still have certain scenes permanently engraved in my mind and some of the songs!!  Ease on down ease on down the road!  I think I might have mentioned The New Bohemians interior book on a previous list but I'm still waiting on it.  And I am hoping the either The Marriage of Opposites or A Window Opens will keep me captivated long enough to finish them.  I loved the last book I read, Bloodroot by Amy Greene, but the second book I got of hers, Long Man, I can't get into for some reason.  I find myself wondering if it can really last that long and just want to know if the chick and her kid in the town leave before they block off the water to the new dam and flood the town.  I have skipped forward I admit. 

 

I also admit that I have taken bike riding back up.  Please don't get an image of me in your head in spandex on some expensive bike blocking half of a lane of back roads getting in the way of passing cars.  I just truck around the shop.  I've gotten quite good at dodging the camper, trucks, stray motors and air hoses and can get pretty good speed up if I've got the right music in my ears.  I think Shaun likes the company and sometimes when he drops a tool while working on his trucks I'll just glide over, scoop it up and hand it to him and be on my merry way while we can still chat yet I'm really not in the way.  Plus I get a little exercise.  I bet I rode that bike for two hours last Sunday... maybe more.  Here's a picture of me on the Vista Sophisticate.  That's when we went camping last year.  I love the last picture of Shaun with Katie Bug in that post when it was raining and we had to stay inside for a while that morning.

 

 

 

literally on the library hold shelf

 

rethink: I have been waiting for my library to get this book for a long time it seems.  I actually haven't checked in a while to see if it was there.  Now that it is I am on a wait list. 

 

wild: I don't know much about this movie.  Only that I'd like to see it.  So it's waiting on me now.

 

the bee cottage story: One of two home interior books on my list right now.

 

the stuff of life: The other one.  Although I'm not really in to redecorating.  I haven't had much interest in that for a while.  I do however enjoy keeping up with styles and both of the design books I have here are 2015 and may have some great ideas.

 

the girl on the train: I admit I have already read this one.  To boot, I picked it up Tuesday night before yoga and read a few pages before going to bed.  Then wound up finishing it by noon on Thursday.  It completely captivated me.  I never read books that fast!  I guess I do now!  The story and the characters and the "up in the air" / "I don't know what's going to happen" feel of the book I loved. I truly enjoyed it and wanted it to last longer. 

literally on the library hold shelf

 

My library list today consists of a few finds and one old favorite.  The first one sparked my interest while reading a list in the New York Times on great gifts for college graduates.  I didn't feel that  my college graduating niece would be the slightest bit interested in this book but thought maybe I would.  I did read some reviews on Amazon and one said that cities are more big cites and not off the beaten path type stuff.  I don't know which I would be more interested in anyway.  I more like Waymore... drinking and dreamin, knowing damn well I won't go.  Until the Provost comes into play someday.  But then it will be campgrounds and such.

If you saw my post from Tuesday of this week then you know why I want the Tennessee wildflowers book.  I found a few new blooms in the woods this year that I've not seen before and am interested in finding out what they are.  

The Golden Girls I've seen bunches of times in the past.  Both when they were prime time and reruns on Lifetime.  Since we have an outside antenna for our television source and no cable or satellite to watch reruns, if they even still show them, I resort to my beloved library.  I have a tv in the kitchen that is not hooked up to the antenna but does have a dvd player so that's where I watch my old sitcoms and favorite movies over and over again.  I will switch it on in the mornings for a laugh while making coffee and cooking breakfast and in the evenings if Shaun is watching something in the living room that I'm not particularly interested in... which most of the time involves Dirty Harry or Burt Reynolds. He's old fashioned too... just in a different way.  I even sit on the countertop where my tv is in the kitchen to watch it and lately I've noticed that over the last six years I've worn the color off of the drawer handle by putting my foot on it.  

I have seen and loved the movie Practical Magic for many years but have never taken the time to read the book.  So often or maybe every time, the book is better than the movie and I am really hoping so in this case.  I adore the kitchen and plant room/conservatory in the house and hope to goodness the author explains these rooms in detail so my imagination can run wild with it.  Here is the movie version.

 

Gasp!  What I would give for that room.... and that enamelware bin under the table!

 And the kitchen...

 And let us not forget the outside of the beautiful Victorian home and the garden that surrounds it.  

OK.. enough day dreaming already!  I've got library books to pick up!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  I plan on doing some reading in the Oasis! 

p.s. Practical Magic pictures found on pinterest

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I love putting together my library lists and sharing them with you!  I am constantly around the web looking for new books that interest me and requesting them from my library.  

I have been on the list for The Blender Girl by Tess Masters for weeks now.  I adore my Vitamix and having a good smoothie for breakfast and am always looking for variations and new combinations to try.  This book also promises meals and desserts!  Only eleven people in front of me in line to get it now!

One of my very favorite and go to baking cookbooks is Back in the Day Bakery cookbook by Cheryl and Griffith Day from their bakery in Georgia.  This is their newest cookbook and I can't wait to get my hands on it!  I'm second in line with this one but the library doesn't actually have it yet.  If they order more than one copy I will be sure to get a brand spanking new on to look at!  Woo Hoo!

I have been a big fan of the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley.  He puts out a new book in this series each January.  This is the newest one and I actually got it faster than I thought.  I read it in about ten days which is fast for me.  It says something about a fast and easy read if I take it to the day care and opt for reading instead of internet surfing during nap time.  I really enjoyed this book just as much as the others.

The Book of Life on dvd is on hold at the request of one of my kiddos at the library.  I will be picking it up for nap time watching next week. 

And a few pictures of books that I like.

Photo found on: http://frommoontomoon.blogspot.co.uk/                       

Books from our outing at Miss Lucille's.

Found on flickr.com   

This is my cookbook collection before I moved residence and decided I had too many.

        

Happy Birthday Marty!!

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1. Collected by Fritz Karch.  I have actually already checked out this book but I will tell you that I really enjoyed thumbing through the pages of items collected and ogling at all the stuff.  I did learn a few things too.  For instance, I have some vintage linens that have the name Vera in the bottom corner and I learned that it is Vera Neumann and some other interesting things.  

2.  Modern Pioneering by Georgia Pellegrini.  I already rented this one too.  I will admit that at first glance through the pages I wasn't too impressed and set it back down for a few days.  When I did pick it back up and really looked at it I felt differently.  She has some good tips on cooking and gardening and some pretty good looking recipes.  I really like the small tips in the corners and plan to write several of them in my journal for later.

3.  Captain Phillips dvd.  My sister Mary Evelyn actually recommended this movie telling me that she and her husband were on the edges of their seats through the whole movie!  

4.  Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.  I am currently hooked on Mo Willems children's books.  The kids loved this book and I love any book that makes them laugh.  And laugh they did at this one.  It says at one point that the monster wants to scare the tuna salad out of someone.  They thought this was the funniest thing they had ever heard.  I have more Mo Willems books on the way.

5. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.  I am on the wait list for this one and it is only available on over drive from my library.  Meaning it is a downloadable version that will have to be returned too.  I normally don't like renting books this way because downloading it eats up our internet time.  So I am thinking about buying the actual book.  Anything that can make cleaning up feel like magic sounds good to me.  I am looking forward to a different approach at being a tidy person and it making total sense.  Things like that generally stick with me.  

P.S. I do take suggestions on reading and movies. If you have seen or read anything good lately please let me know!