My Reading Spot And A Package Arrives

Today's been the perfect, gloomy, RIP reading day and I spent it finishing up Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box. I'll post my full review later. It was my least favorite of my RIP reads so far, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a good book. It started off kind of weak for me, but it got progressively better and it really hooked me about half way through...but like I said, full review coming later. Anyway, I thought I'd share my reading spot with you and invite anyone else who would like to to do the same...because, well...I'm a bit of a voyeur when it comes to people's books and anything associated with them :p

My new reading spot is one of my favorite things about this house that we're renting. For the first time in my life, I have a back patio. I've always wanted one. It has a tin roof, and on a rainy day like today, you just can't beat the sound of soft rain on a tin roof for reading weather. We have a Wisteria vine that is sadly not in bloom starting off and I'm hoping that it will vine itself throughout the wooden beams of the patio and there's a Bougainvillea behind the swing that you can't see in the picture. We have two swings which is odd, but I like to read on the swing that I took the picture from where the little skeleton guy is sitting. Part of the reason is because our neighbor is a garden freak and I like the view of her plants and the birds that visit them. So here it is, my reading spot...complete with hanging eyeballs and a skeleton for Halloween.

So onto the package arriving. No, it was not a package of books! It was a package from Lisa Snellings-Clark..I know, another shocker. I am so pleased with this purchase! They're amazing. It's a pair of Harlequin candlestick holders painted in shades of blue and gray and they are so much more beautiful in person than I imagined them to be. They're huge! About 18 inches tall. She offers these in bronze and silver sometimes during her sales for $30 a piece and after actually seeing them, this is an amazing price. So I highly recommend them next time they're available ;)

OK, that's it for me until it's book review time. Off to get ready for the Saints game...God I hope it's better than the last two...I can't take any more games like those.

Rainy Days And Mondays

Don't always get me down. How's that for a clever title for a post. Oh brother :p There's something that I just love about the rumble of thunder on a summer afternoon. It's the most relaxing sound in the world. Especially when I can enjoy it at home underneath the patio with a book. I love the rain. I always have. I'm one of those strange people who love thunderstorms. I know there's plenty of you out there like me. I just find the rain to be very relaxing and the power of nature just never ceases to amaze me. I also have a strange fascination with hurricane season which is now upon us. I certainly don't love hurricane's after what I've been through with Katrina, but I'm fascinated by them. When there's one out there, I'm constantly glued to the weather channel. I know for a fact I'm not alone in this one...Jroy, represent!

So anyway, that's exactly what I'm doing this afternoon...enjoying a book with the sound of thunder in the background. I'm STILL reading A Game of Thrones though it's going much quicker now and I'm reading about 100 pages a day. It's much more gripping towards the end. I've never taken this long to read a book! I started on May 18th and took about a 15 day break from it. Then I'd only read 2 or 3 chapters at a time because it just wasn't catching me. Now it's got me and I'm really enjoying it. Hopefully it keeps me in it's clutches. I really hope to finish these 2 challenges this month. I think I'll manage...I hope!

One other quick thing. I wanted to point everyone in the direction of Endicott's site. There are 3 new Terri Windling prints available and they are beautiful! I think I'm going to be picking up 2 of them for myself and possibly a third as a Christmas gift. Very early shopping! The first one that I want is "From the Shadows." It's a beautiful print and features lyrics from Tori Amos' song "Girl" from my favorite album of hers, Little Earthquakes. The other print is just stunning and is entitled "Coyote Woman." The money goes to support Endicott and two children's charities and all prints are signed by Terri Windling.