2005 SGBC Awards

Tomorrow is 2006, so it is as good of a time as any to reflect on books read during 2005. Again, these books are not the best books of 2005, but the best books I read during 2005. I will be interested to see if the other Snotty Girl will post her 2005 favorites soon.

I read 41 books in 2005 and looking at my list, a few stand out and just thinking about them, they make me smile, even though its been months since I’ve read them. A truly good book is priceless and I am always amazed by what I can learn, or how I can be drawn into a carefully woven story.

The Best Book I read in 2005:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Honorable Mentions for 2005:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen
Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell

It would be easy to pick either the western or mystery I read for the Summer Reading program at the library for the worst book of 2005 honors. But pretty much I don’t like genre novels like that, so the books should hardly suffer for my snottiness.

Therefore, the Worst Book I read in 2005:
The Master Quilter: An Elm Creek Quilters Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini
for its repetitiveness, ridiculous mystery and silly one dimensional characters (and so many of them!)

One of my New Year’s resolutions? Read more.
Here is to another year of good books!

Who Us?

No, we aren’t obsessed with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, why do you ask? We watched it a few weeks ago and I was a little suprised at the progress (albiet somewhat hidden and only hinted at) messages. Its okay if you look different because our differences is what makes it all work. And it is okay if you are gay, er, I mean a dentist at heart. Because the differences is what makes it work.

Tim and I are staying here for the holidays, getting the little things done that we’ve ignored, and generally having a low pressure, fun relaxing holiday. I’ve got craft projects lined up (some knitting, embroidery, softies, quilts, etc), some recipes to tackle, books to read, movies to watch. Currently slightly obsessed (though much later than the rest of the world) with watching the BBC version of The Office. Which of course led to the look up of the Mahna Mahna song that is stuck in my head. Doo Doo do do do (mahna mahna).

Oh, and speaking of obesessions, if you are obsessed with blogs like me, and don’t know about RSS feeds, call me. I can tell you about my love of Bloglines. Call me.

Cedar, Again

Came back from lovely temperate Florida to be struck down with my seasonal cedar allergies. Yes, in the middle of winter. The trade off to it being in the upper 70s here in December is that I can’t go outside to enjoy the mild days. Actually, staying inside doesn’t help either. I am all about the Claritin, Vicks and the nose strips, which are incredibly sexy but work wonders!).

Florida was lovely, easy days of sunshine, the beach, palm trees and down time. We went to one of my favorite places, the Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island and the Edison-Ford Winter Estates. Both were beautiful and amazing, but you can really tell that there has been a lot of hurricane devestation to the flora. Dead trees, stripped of their leaves, or at the Edison Ford Estate, stumps litter the grounds. Sanibel Island in general isn’t as lush as it once was. I can’t imagine how long it will take to all grow back again.

Finishing up my Christmas shopping…it is so close all of a sudden! I sent out about 1/3 of my gifs to friends, including hand knit scarves and the cowboy quilt (which I will post pics of soon!). I am slowed a little by an achy shoulder (aye, my bursitis ), but still making some plans for the days off I have around Christmas….

Naughty or NIce

I love when you are shopping for gifts and the exact perfect gift almost leaps off the shelf at you. It is like the gift was made with one specific person in mind, a person who happens to still be on my to-buy-for holiday list. Too bad it can’t happen everytime, and I shall not even dare to hope for the perfect-gift-nirvana moment everytime because I might ruin it entirely. My holiday knitting is also done, washed and pretty much ready to go. And the one christmas quilt is in its finishing stages.

Tim and I are pretty much coasting through…we’ve done all our decorating. The theme is a mix between stockings, Star Wars ornaments and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (old school style). I am on the look out for more push puppets…you know the small wooden toys where you push the bottom and they fall over. I love those.

And now the sad news, I am no longer “supposed” to “blog” at “work”, which is really going to hinder my “regularly” scheduled posts. Same goes for IM, which is actually really sad because I do regularly communicate with through yahoo with a few of you. But I will be online more often in the evenings, so we can chat then.