Monday Mischief: Out Takes--Who Says Modeling Is Easy?

Thought you might enjoy so comical header outtakes:

Wait Manny!  Don't go yet!

Why do we always have to be in the background, mom?

Spunky Doodle, look at the books!

Joining in with the Monday Mischief and Cats on Tuesday blog hops.

Monday Quiz About Us

Here are FOUR QUESTIONS that everyone can answer and then you have the option to add a fifth question of your own for those who are visiting your blog to answer in the comment section, along with commenting on the four standard questions you answered!

1. How often do you shop for groceries? Do you shop in one place or many?
We shop once a week at Giant Eagle.

2. How old were you when you had your first tast of alcohol?
Neither of us have ever tasted alcohol.

3. How much TV do you watch?
We watch football on Saturday and Sunday and a few favorite programs: Joel Osteen, Survivor (Karen), Parenthood, Once Upon a Time (Gerard), Army Wives, ESPN Magazine (Gerard), My Cat From Hell, Bad Dog, sometimes a movie  (Karen).

4. How do you relieve stress?
Gerard goes for a walk or works in the yard. I start singing praises or pet my cats and dog, sometimes listen to relaxing music.

For the 5th question I get to make up: What pets do you have and what are their names?

This blog hop is hosted by Acting Balanced.

Our Favorite Book Review In The Last Three Months (Blog Hop 9/10-9/13/10)

This week the book blogger hop is designed to get people to read a post other than just the blog hop post and leave a comment. We are supposed to post a link to a favorite post or book review that you have written in the past three months so here are some both Gerard and I liked very much:

These were all favorites of ours so take your pick:Pray For Silence by Linda Castillo
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
A Season of Life--A Football Star, A Boy, A Journey To Manhood by Jeffrey Marx 

 

Check out the book giveaway over at I Am A Reader, No A Writer for The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Join the Book Blogger Hop at Crazy For Books

Book Blogger Hop September 3-6, 2010

I missed participating last week so we'll answer both last week's and this week's questions sponsored by Crazy For books.

Do you judge a book by its cover?

Yes, I do if I am browsing in the library for something to read.  I definitely am attracted to read the summary on the cover jackets when the cover of the book appeals to me.  Gerard though pays no attention to the cover.  He goes strictly by titles and usually ones he is specifically looking for that he has heard something about.

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

 I only rate books when I do customer reviews on Amazon.  Gerard, however, has a sporadic rating system which changes from time to time.  Sometimes, he rates books 1-100, sometimes he becomes more traditional and used the 1-5 system but will often add plus signs when he really, really loved it.  He has also gone to a system 1-1000 for those very rare books.  For this blog, however, I have limited his highest rating to 100 stars.  Those are his outstanding books.

Be sure to visit others in this blog hop, it usually gets over 300 participants!

Book Blogger Hop Aug. 13-16: How Many Books On Your TBR List?

 This blog hop is sponsored by Crazy For Books where you can link up and visit LOTS of other book bloggers, over 300 participate!

This week's question is:  How many books do you have on your 'to be read shelf’?
Our answers:    
Karen = 2 (I like to browse in the library for books)

Gerard = 15

Whatcha Reading Wednesdays--Aug. 11?

This is how "Whatcha Reading Wednesdays" works this week...

Type in the first two sentences of the second chapter of the book you are currently reading. 

If it is a spoiler at all be sure to put **Spoiler Alert** at the top of your comment (like if the selection announces the death of an integral character or something).

Here are ours for this week: 

 Gerard's:  In my mind, President Snow should be viewed in front of marble pillars hung with oversized flags.  It's jarring to see him surrounded by the ordinary objects in the room. --Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

 Karen's:  "I saw Irving in a pet store window on Columbus Avenue," remember Margaret.  "There were several other kittens but he sat to one side on his own. --Cat People by Michael & Margaret Korda

This is part of Busy Mom's Who Love To Read blog hop. 

Do You Listen To Music While You Read?

This is part of the Book Blogger Hop at Crazy-For-Books.com.

The Question this week is:

Do you listen to music while you read? 
If so, what are your favorite reading tunes?

Sometimes we do.  If Gerard has music on and I want to read, it really doesn't both me but I don't put it on purposely while I read.  More often that reading while listening to music, I'll read while watching TV.  I can get a lot of reading done on commercials or during ballgames.  My mom always used to read while watching baseball games on TV.  What about you?

Whatcha Reading Wednesday Aug. 4 Blog Hop

This is how "Whatcha Reading Wednesdays" works this week...

Type in the first two sentences of the fourth chapter of your current book.

If it is a spoiler at all be sure to put **Spoiler Alert** at the top of your comment (like if the selection announces the death of an integral character or something).

Here is mine for this week: 

Margaret Frawley folded her hands around the steaming cup of tea.  She was so cold.

I'm currently reading Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark.  This is a very good book about Margaret's twin girls being kidnapped.   I'll have a review up by the end of this week!

This is sponsored by Outnumbered Mama

 

No-Go BlogHer Blog Hop

1. Answer the questions on your blog and then link up that post in the Linky that will be available on both ToBeThode or Musings of a Marfan Mom. (you only need to link up once)
2. Grab the button for the No-Go BlogHer party (it’s on my right sidebar) and place it on your sidebar during the duration of the party.

Here are the questions we want you to answer:

1. When did you start blogging?

We just started this blog in June of this year.

2. Why did you start blogging?

I started our book blog here for the following reasons:

• I wanted to delete some pages on my Personal News Network (PNN) Zemeks’ Updates blog to free up more space there.
• I also felt since Blogger had the affiliation with Amazon, that it made more sense to have my book blog on Blogger and make use of the Amazon ads, hoping to earn a little extra money blogging. It was an easy way to link to Amazon and get the picture of the book in the post.
• I was kind of bored and wanted to try out the new design templates Blogger now has available because I like to switch things up now and then. I feel sort of locked into my custom design at my personal blog.
• I really like being able to use my own pictures in my header and change it from week to week.

3. What is one thing you are going to do this week that is WAY cooler than going to BlogHer?

Spend time with my husband and our pets.  May go to the Browns Family Day scrimmage at the stadium or perhaps just to the park with our dog.

4. Share a post that you think says a lot about you or is your favorite.
About Us

Journey to Reading For Pleasure (Blog Hop)

<em><a href="http://www.ourstack.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh290/kzemek/ourstack_EC.jpg" ></a></em>

To get your children reading, make sure they can see.   I say this because when I was in first grade learning to read, I had a very difficult time.  My teacher kept a group of us who were not getting it after school for some additional help and she discovered my problem was that I just could not see the board.  Once she moved me to the front of the room and I got eyeglasses, I picked it up much quicker.


Naturally any mother who loves to read also tries to encourage her children to read too.  My mother was an avid reader and I remember her reading four or five thick books in just a week.  She took us to the library as kids in an effort to get us interested in books too, but it didn't really work.  I would rather go outside and play than sit around and read.  I did the required reading for school, some of which I just skimmed through and that was it. 


In school, whenever I had to do a book report, I would just choose the book by width.  Seriously, if it was a fat book, it would not be one I picked.  Consequently, I missed out on some really good books.  I first learned that a bigger novel is generally better than those little skinny books when I read Jane Eyre for a book report on my mother's recommendation.


In high school I was put into an advanced English class which I really did not want to be in.  To me, it seemed a waste of my time to have to do more homework including 12 book reports when I could get an easy "A" in the regular English class with less homework and only three book reports.  Now, for someone who does not like to read, guess which class I chose.  I got out of that advanced English class as fast as I could! 


Even in college, I read very little of the textbooks.  Mostly, I just took good notes in class, then typed them up and studied from that.  I maintained good enough grades that way to keep my scholarship for all four years.  I only actually read the books for courses I was interested in.  


It wasn't until I was married that I started to enjoy reading for pleasure.  My husband was a reader ever since elementary school.  It's funny though, he didn't go to college.  I think if he had gone, he would have learned more than I did.  He used to buy books but once we were married, I took him to the library and showed him how he could actually go online and order popular books that he wanted to read and they would send him an email when they came in.  When he read a book he thought I would too, suggested I read it.  I don't recall what the first book I read was that he recommended.


Mostly I still read when I'm bored, like while I ride the bus to and from work, or while waiting at a doctor's office, or during a lunch hour.  I seldom read at home unless I have a book that really is gripping and I can't wait to see what happens next or if I'm in a hurry to finish a book. 


We invite you to post about your journey to becoming an avid reader with a link back here and link up.  Copy the badge if you like. 


Related post:  Mary the Kay the Blog shares tricks she uses to teach her kids to read.

Check out Mrs4444 Saturday Samplings for more good posts.