RRRRRRRRRR

My computer is messed up!!! Can't do a darn thing! I am at a friend's place posting this!! Hopefully, I am able to get my computer up and running again in the next day or two. If not, maybe I can get online somewhere else, and schedule a post or two until I can get back online at home!! If you read my previous post, you will understand that not knowing what is wrong with it is a HUGE problem for me! I will try to figure it out, but it doesn't look promising! Looks like I either have to reinstall windows or take it in to get looked at. In either case, chances are I will lose EVERY picture I have on it! Which means I will lose all of my son's baby pictures! OH I AM SOOOOO ANNOYED!

I really liked this........

                     

Sally and the Buccaneers by Judy Lunsford

SYNOPSIS (from goodreads.com)
While in her grandmother’s attic, 10 year-old Sally finds a trunk that transports her to a hidden kingdom. There she discovers the kingdom is about to be attacked by pirates. With the help of a faerie, Sally must unravel the mystery of who she really is and the secrets contained in the Trunk of Alexia, while fending off pirates and saving the royal family. But the true question is, will Sally be able to get back home?
In Sally and the Buccaneers, book 1 of the Trunk of Alexia series, meet Sally, Abby, Layla, and the faerie Alexia. Join them on their first adventure!
What did I think of it??
As the mother of a young girl, I tend to check out books geared to this age range.  I generally don't read the whole book.  I tend to skim them pretty  quickly just to see if I feel that it it is appropriate to purchase for my daughter or as a gift for another young girl.  Sally and the Buccaneers
I did not skim this book! I read this book in a little less than an hour. I did not put it down until I finished it. I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be sharing it with my daughter, and more than likely purchase it as a gift for a couple other young girls I know.  
I would say that Sally and the Buccaneers is  a great choice for someone in the age range of  7-10 years old to read on their own.  It could also be enjoyed by children that are even younger if a parent/caregiver read it with them!   
This book is the first in The Trunk of Alexia series.  I look forward to reading the rest of the series.  Judy has finished writing " Book 2", and is almost done writing "Book 3".  The Trunk of Alexia series will be published as a single book trilogy.  There is no release date set yet, but she is hoping to release it at around Christmastime!!  
To learn more about Judy and her books check out her website at www.JudyLunsfordBooks.com.
Readers can  purchase Sally and the Buccaneers  from Judy.  On the right-hand side of her website there is a link to  TMD Books which is her online "used" bookstore through Amazon. If you order a copy of the book through that link it will be new, but cost a little less, AND she will sign it for you!   

Book Beginnings on Friday

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by  Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence. 

Swept Aside  by Sharon Sala

"Sunday Afternoon- Bordelaise, Louisiana"

"A storm is brewing, and Nick Aroyo could tell, even from inside the Bordelaise Police Department that it was going to be a strong one."

Swept Aside  is the third book in Sharon Sala's Storm Front trilogy. The first book, Blown Away, was released in June, the second one Torn Apart was released in July, and Swept Aside in August.  The books do have the same setting, and some of the minor characters in common, though each book has different major characters. One of this book's main characters was a minor character in the first two books of the trilogy.
Each of the books could be read as a stand alone novel. They don' t need to be read in order, but I would suggest reading them in order. I mean, you might as well, since in all likelihood, if you read one, you will read the other two!  They are great reads!
I am so happy to finally have this book in my hands!  The first two in the trilogy were great!

YES!!!! I DID IT!!

WHOOO HOOOOO!!!  I DID IT!! I DID IT!! HOORAY!!!!

Check out the left sidebar!!!  What do you see?? Right there above my followers!!

Yeah, it's a blog button. A button, and a link code!!! Fellow bloggers could copy that code, paste it into an html box on their blog, and my button would appear. If someone clicks it, it links right back to my blog!!( I love buttons! I will be adding some other blogger's button's soon!)

WHOO HOOO!!! Phew... I am so glad I finally figured it all out!!!

You see, I have this problem. If I can't get something to work, I need to know why it isn't working. If I can't figure out why it isn't working, I will just mess around with it until it does! I can handle something not working, IF I know exactly why it isn't working. If not, I need to figure out why it doesn't work, or make it work. Then I can stop dwelling on it! This can be very annoying!  Or it can be helpful like it was last year when my washing machine stopped working and I had no idea why! It was making me so mad because I didn't know what was wrong with it. So, I took it upon myself to try to figure it out! I'm still not 100% sure what the problem was, but taking off all the hoses and rinsing  and reconnecting them, along with pulling out the agitator and then putting it back in , in hopes of figuring it out, fixed it. So, I no longer cared what the problem was, as it was no longer a problem!! (Still works too!)

Book Beginnings on Friday

 I love reading the memes on blogs that I follow. I decided I am going to participate in another meme this week!

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by  Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence. 

                          The Truth About Delilah Blue   by Tish Cohen

                                                                 

I have decided to post the first sentence of the prologue, as well as the first sentence of Chapter One.

"Prologue
June 6, 1996

The smell of asphalt and dandelions and the last days of school made the air tingle with summer promise: fireflies in applesauce jars, bare toes in the sand at Kew Beach, and leisurely decisions at the ice-cream truck about whether or not to chocolate dip."

I like the sentence , though I feel it is a bit on the long side.  I think it captures the innocence of childhood.

Chapter One
"September 4, 2008

The only thing that stood between Lila's naked body and twenty-seven art students was a stiff brown robe that reeked of every petrified model that had come before her."

I like it. It captured my attention, and made me read on.  I am the type of reader that needs my interest captured fairly quickly in order to want to continue.

So that was my book beginning! What was yours?  Feel free to leave a link to your Book Beginnings on Friday post or leave your book beginning in the comment section.

Hmmmmm....I wonder if this works!

I think I did it!!    Maybe someone would be kind enough to try posting it on their blog  to see if it works!  I am hoping that if someone copies this code below the image and puts it into an html/text box in their sidebar, (Thanks Josetta!!  LOL! )that this button will show  up! If/when someone clicks it, it will link to my blog! 

<a href="http://s997.photobucket.com/albums/af100/lulumomoftwo/blogbutton/?action=view&current=buttonforblog.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af100/lulumomoftwo/blogbutton/buttonforblog.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

If it works.....YAY ME!!! If not......BOOOO!!!



UPDATE  :  It does not work!  Oh no! Here I go! I will make it work!!

Ok here's a rant!!

I figured I would try to make a blog button! I read a tutorial, and thought, oh I can do that!! Let me say I was not totally right about that! As I was creating a button, I am thinking to myself, this is as easy as it seemed! What I was attempting to make was a pretty basic one. I took a rectangular photo, edited so it was all green, the same green used on my blog. Simple! I added the name of my blog in the dark orange rusty colour, and some speech bubbles and TAA- DAA I had a picture to use for a button!

Here is what it looked like

 I thought it was kind of cute! Or at least not too bad for a first attempt, right?

I then uploaded it to photobucket successfully on my oh, I don't know, 30th attempt. I then got a html code for the picture! Other than taking so long to finally get it uploaded this still seems pretty simple. LOL!! Seems is the keyword!! Creating the 'link to me" code was what ruined it for me! I had the little box thing and a code, just needed to add the picture code and my blog url, but no matter what I did, it would not accept the code!!
So,after about 2 hours of playing around with it, I don't have a blog button! I have come to the conclusion, that as much as I would love to have one, I won't be making a blog button! Too bad I didn't think of that until two hours later! What a waste of time! Time I could have spent reading! Or sleeping? (note the timestamp on the post!)

Wondrous Words Wednesday!

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted at bermudaonion.wordpress.com.  Every Wednesday we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered while reading.  If you want to play along, grab the button, and join the fun!  Leave a link to your post in the comment section!   Don't forget to head over to burmudaonion.wordpress.com and leave your link there too!

I came across a couple new to me words this week. They are both from  the book   The Truth About Delilah Blue by Tish Cohen.

Besenji –noun

one of an African breed of dogs having a chestnut coat with whitepoints and a curled tail, characterized chiefly by their inability to bark.

actuary  -noun

a professional who calculates financial values associated with uncertain events subject to risk, such as insurance premiums or pension contributions.

So, this week I have come across 2 new to me words. It is likely that I will never use these words in my everyday life!

Hello!

I have been following quite a few blogs for a while now. I love reading them. I have started communicating with a few other bloggers via comments on their blogs, and have had a few ask me for a link to my blog. Well, now I have one I can give them!!
I suppose I should introduce myself, right?
My name is Marilu, but you can call me Lu! I am in my thirties. I have been with my common law spouse(thought that sounded better than boyfriend...lol) for over 17 years. We have two beautiful children - a toddler, and a tween!! When I have some time to myself, I enjoy reading.  I love to read! When I am not reading a book, I am reading someone's blog! Maybe, just maybe,  a few people out there will  read mine too!
I haven't really decided exactly what I will include in my blog, but as you can probably guess from the title, there will be some raving, and sometimes there may even be some ranting!  I will likely rave about my children and books I am reading. It is also quite likely I will rant about those same subjects!!!
Well, that is it in a nutshell!  Since I am VERY new to this, if you are a blogger and have any words of advice for me, feel free to comment! Or you can email me at lusravesandrants AT gmail DOT com .