Saturday, January 28, 2012

Book Review: Midnight in Austenland

Midnight in AustenlandMidnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not a fan of Jane Austen, despite my English-major background, but I am a fan of Shannon Hale, especially her children's/YA novels. She didn't disappoint me with this thoroughly entertaining grown-up novel. Charlotte, a successful businesswoman and mother of two whose unfaithful husband recently divorced her, decides to take a well-earned vacation to Austenland, an estate in England where the Regency period is re-created and the guests can play along. It's certainly a full-immersion experience until a pretend mystery game leads Charlotte to an all-too-real corpse, and her vacation turns entirely too Gothic for her taste. Throw in some self-empowerment and romance, and even readers like me who care little for Austen will be happy to spend time in Austenland.



* An e-galley of this book was provided to me for review by the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.



View all my reviews

Monday, January 23, 2012

Babble's 10 Worst Books for Toddlers

While I actually like some of these classics (Runaway Bunny, anyone?), I found the commentary pretty funny. Read it here and discuss amongst yourselves.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Evan Fall 2011

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterflys award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Another Stab at Nursing

I am already planning to nurse baby number two if at all possible. (Some of you may recall my difficulties with baby number one, but my doctor assures me that this does not doom my chances with number two; number two should -- please, God -- be a less traumatic delivery.) However, if it doesn't work out, this article makes me feel so much less guilty about it. It's from 2009, but I had never seen it until a fellow mom posted it on Facebook today. If I had read it when I was struggling with Evan, I might have saved myself a lot of grief.

Click here if you'd like to read it, too. What do you think?