I listened to Mindy Kaling’s audiobook, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns).  That was a fun audiobook because she reads it herself so it’s a lot like listening to a cool friend chat to you about her life. It made doing the dishes and cleaning the house seem way more exciting.  My favorite parts were hearing about her early ( Read more... )

Books:
Title: Fantasy Baseball
Author: Alan Gratz
Published: March 2011
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Ages: 8 and up
Format: Read eBook on Kindle for Droid Phone

Alex Metcalf doesn't know how he ended up on a bus full of almost forgotten storybook characters who have formed a baseball team.  Here in storybook world, characters whose stories are no longer read vanish ( Read more... )

TV Quote (from The Big Bang Theory):
Stuart the comic store owner: Can I help you find anything?

Amy: A comic that depicts a woman whose bosom can't be used as a floatation device.

Books:
Title: Glow (Sky Chasers)
Author: Amy Kathleen Ryan
Year Published: 2011
Rating: ***
Ages: 12 and up
Format: Read in eBook format on Nook for Droid

Fifteen-year-old Waverly ( Read more... )

TV Quote (from the Big Bang Theory):
Mary Cooper: You have any idea what's going on with those two? (Asking about Sheldon and Amy)

Leonard: It's kind of like the Loch Ness monster, maybe there's something there, maybe there isn't.  We'll probably never know.

Books:
Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Year Published: 2011
Rating ( Read more... )

TV Quote:
"I never understood that relationship.  It was like oil and ...  a Martian." Seymour Birkhoff on Nikita

Books:
Title: Suite Scarlett
Author: Maureen Johnson
Year: 2009
Rating: *** 1/2
Ages: Clean cut YA chick lit for ages 13 and up
Format: Read this YA novel in eBook form on Kindle for Droid

Suite Scarlett is a fun YA chick-lit novel about a 15- ( Read more... )

TV Quote (from Parks and Recreation):
Tom: You gotta throw some cold water on this situation.  Start talking about nerd stuff.
Ben: You know, nerd culture is mainstream now, so when you use the word "nerd" derogatorily, it means you're the one that's out of the zeitgeist.
Tom: Yeah, that's perfect.

Books:
Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences ( Read more... )

Quote of the Week (From The Good Wife)
Will: "But let's not expose ourselves on a subway platform unless we have to."
Diane: "Oh, what a colorful and pointless metaphor."

Music:
Wyclef Jean, The Carnival Volume II (Memoirs of an Immigrant) [2007] (***); Greatest Hits [2003] (***) -  Wyclef Jean sings hip-hop with a healthy dose of social commentary and ( Read more... )

TV Quote of the Week: "Just because I tell you things doesn't mean you're allowed to know them," Caroline on The Vampire Diaries.

My Life:
 I like having one of my kids at college.  The daughterling gets to enjoy the benefits of being an only child (something my son got when he was young), and I love texting with my son and reading about his new ( Read more... )

I didn't listen to a new album every week, but I listened to one at least every other week. Though, I mostly kept to safe choices that fit in my music comfort-zone this summer.

Albums  Listened to This Summer:

Vanessa Carlton, Be Nobody [2002] (****), Heroes & Thieves [2007] (*** 1/2), Best of [2011] (****)
Vanessa Carlton is a piano playing ( Read more... )

Sherlock
Year: 2010
Genre: Three 88-minute murder mysteries
Format: Available on Netflix Instant Viewing
Rating: ****

This excellent updated version of Sherlock Holmes takes place in modern-day London.  Holmes describes himself as a "high-functioning sociopath" and  Watson is a medical doctor and veteran of the Afghan war.  The three murder mysterious ( Read more... )