Adult Book Reviews in Brief

Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A fun cozy set in the library world. A children's librarian is suspected of murder! (And the author actually knows her library stuff, which I truly appreciated!)

Swift Justice by Laura DiSilverio

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this fast-paced mystery. Not exactly a cozy, but plenty of humor and enough twists to keep me guessing.




Semi-Sweet: A Novel of Love and Cupcakes by Roisin Meaney

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Like a Maeve Binchy -- small Irish town, multiple points of view -- with sex. And cupcakes.


*I was provided an egalley of this book by the publisher for review.


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Loving My Top-Loader

So it's really hard for me to pinpoint my favorite feature of our new home. Pantry? Closet space? Did I mention Evan has his own bedroom? Definitely in the running is the washing machine, which is an old-school (though fairly new) top-loader. Not only does that mean shorter cycle times, it also means less rinses since it uses enough water in the first place to get the soap rinsed out of Evan's cloth diapers. Plus, it has a much larger capacity since it's not a space-saver.

At the condo, I had a front-loader. Shortest cycle (delicates): one hour and three minutes. And that didn't include extra rinses (another 21 minutes each); I did three or four for each load of diapers.

All this means I am spending waaaay less time doing laundry. Which, in turn, means I really should have time to start exercising regularly again.

I'll get back to you on that.

P.S. We'll be back to your regularly-scheduled book reviews soon.

We Moved!

We're moved in! It's hard for me to believe, but praise the Lord, we are now homeowners (well, times two since I can't sell the condo) and Evan has his own bedroom! Being approved for the mortgage was a harrowing process, and uncertainty prevailed until about a day before the closing, but I am so grateful to report that we now have breathing room as well as a yard -- and really, really nice neighbors (my parents live a mile away in the same sub).

We closed on Wednesday and spent the next few days moving in, then had houseguests (Mike's parents, sister, and two nieces) from Friday to Monday, so I'm not feeling very settled yet, but I cannot complain.

Just give me a few weeks, and then stop by. :o)

Happy First Birthday, Evan!

Very Brief Book Review: Troublemaker by Andrew Clements

So, we've been out of town since Wednesday (just got back last night, which means I just recently crawled out from under the pile of laundry we generated while away) and downloaded books to my Kobo for the trip. However, most of our travel was on my dad's single-engine Cessna, which Mike flew, and sometimes small planes are not the best for reading, so I only got a few magazines and a book and a half read. Here's my review for the one book I read. Keep in mind that the author, Andrew Clements, wrote one of my all-time favorite middle-grade novels, The School Story -- I promise you, it will only take you an hour to read but it will make you cry.

Troublemaker by Andrew Clements

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Not my favorite Clements, but another decent school story, and one with boy appeal.

* I was provided a free e-galley for review by the publisher.



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Migraines, Anyone?

Any migraine sufferers out there? I've been one since my first migraine hit when I was in 3rd grade. However, many of you know that a few years ago I took part in a clinical trial exploring the connection between migraines and a common, often undetected heart defect called patent foramen ovale (PFO). To make a long story short, I was one of the "roll-in" patients for this area, so I knew for sure that I got the PFO closure device when I went to St. Joe's for my catheterization procedure. Unfortunately, due to lack of money, the trial was shut down soon after that. Though I still get the occasional migraine, I don't get nearly as many as I used to. I believe that closing my PFO eliminated one of my triggers. The jury is still out, but the research is promising.

Lately I've been seeing ads on TV for a similar trial. Just thought I'd mention it, so if you'd like more information, go to http://www.premiumtrial.com.

And if you'd like to hear more about my experience with the procedure, I'm happy to share!

Cloth Diaper Update

So, we had a cloth diaper crisis recently. ALL of my microfiber inserts (which make up the majority of my stash) were repelling, and I tried every method known to man to strip them, including taking the whole lot to my mom's to use her top-loader for extra water power. To no avail. So I had to buy a whole new supply of inserts (which was only around $35) and I'm praying that they don't acquire too much build-up in my dumb front-loader before (Lord willing) we move and I will have a top-loader of my very own!

Recently, I've been really loving my GroVia. Not only are they super trim, I am impressed by the absorbency of the snap-in cotton soakers. Who knew cotton could work so well for my heavy wetter? (And no repelling!) I'm less impressed by the disposable soakers (I've had leaks with those) but even with the inconvenience of carrying around wet cotton soakers, they are my favorite travel diaper.

I also only have one Thirsties DuoDiaper, but I really like it and I'd love to own more. So I'm entering the Thirsties Thursday Giveaway. Head on over here for your chance to win!