INKSPIRATIONS: FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Coloring Book

INKSPIRATIONS: FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Coloring Book.
Coloring Designs to Nourish You with Love, Joy, Faith, Peace and More.

I love to color. Don't you? I only wish I had more time in my busy day to sit down and color.

Coloring is therapeutic and an enjoyable way to spend time listening to an audio book and/or unwinding with your children or grandchildren after a stressful day of work.  I love to color outside for about 10 minutes a day right befoer the sun sets for the day.

Inkspirations, fruit of the spirit coloring book is lovely.  The illustrations are two page spreads and include Bible verses from the New Testament and Old Testament on every page.

It is a peaceful setting to spend with your colored pencils.  I like to color with markers and they bleed to the other side.  This is not an option with this coloring book because the drawings are on both sides of the page.  Use colored pencils or pens not markers within this coloring book.

What I really like about this coloring book is that you can finish a page coloring in about an hour. There is a lot of beautiful detail with Inkspiration but it is not overwhelming and you can feel like an accomplished artist and make beautiful colored pictures in no time at all.

Happy Coloring to you all.

Book Gifts

Book Gifts.

Last year, I received 6 books for book gifts and I made a goal for myself to read all them by the end of 2014.  I read 4 of them and plan to read the 5th next week.

So often I receive a book and then I add it to my shelf full of books to read and then it lingers there on the shelf for way too long.  So I am determined to read these books this year and I thought I would do a post on it to hold myself accountable.

Here I the books I received for the Holidays and plan to finish reading in 2015.

1.  Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward.  I loved Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Dogs.  It is one of the best books I have ever read and I can't wait to read this memoir.  I received this book from my Secret Santa Carol from the blog http://carolsnotebook.com/

2.  The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.  My Secret Santa, Carol also bought this for me.  This
book looks like an adventure and I can't wait to dive in.  Reading is so much fun!
Thank You Carol.  I love my new books and can't wait to read them.

The next three books, I received from my 2 teenage children and my husband. I'm super pumped about reading these books this year.

3.  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  This book is topping all the best of 2014 lists.  It is a WWII novel set in Paris.  Historical fiction is my absolute favorite.

4.  The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.  Another book
topping all the best of 2014 lists.  I love books about books and I can't
wait to read this.  I'm seriously jumping up and down.  Reading makes me so happy.

5.  Neverhome by Laird Hunt.  I met Laird Hunt in October at the Twin Cities Book Festival and heard him speak.  Neverhome is about a female soldier during the Civil War who disguises herself as a man.  I am choosing to read this as my first book of 2015!  Happy Dance!

My Mom and Step-dad got me three different types of cookbooks.  I won't necessarily read them in the same way I would a novel but I pledge to cook out of them for a year, at least one recipe a month.

Here are my three new foodie books.

1.  Water Infusions.  Refreshing, Detoxifying and Heathy Recipes for your Home Infuser by Dr. Mariza Snyder & Dr. Lauren Clum.  Yep I got a water infuser and I am loving it.  I made Pear and Cinnamon water last night and it is delicious.  Tomorrow, I am making something with Mint.

2.  The Green Smoothie Bible.  Super-Nutritious Drinks to Lose Weight, Boost Energy and Feel Great by Kristine Miles.  I love smoothies and make them almost every day of the week for breakfast.  I am looking forward to trying some new varieties and getting more green in my shake.  Yum.

3.  My Prairie Cookbook.  Memories and Frontier Food from My Little House to Yours by Melissa
Gilbert.  I LOVE Little House on the Prairie books and the TV show and I'm excited to read and cook out of this book.  There are lots of pictures and memorabilia included in the book too.  Double Yummy.

I love all my new book gifts.

What books did you receive as gifts??

Book Love from Book Riot Quarterly

Book Love from Book Riot Quarterly

My box of book love from Book Riot Quarterly arrived on Saturday.  I've been lying low, literally, because I fell Thursday night down the stairs and sprained and bruised the heck out of both of my feet.  So both my feet are up and being iced to reduce swelling and I can read all I want to.

This is my second box (I didn't subscribe to the first one) but Book Riot's 3rd, and I absolutely loved it.  I loved this month's theme and the small details and personalization that came with each book.  So cool.

First I read the letter and did not peek inside the box.  I highly recommend this as the anticipation is awesome. I'm totally saving all my letters.  Their theme this month was to give readers the chance to expand their horizons.  So they picked three genres of books that readers have expressed they are reluctant to try and gave us each one book from that genre.  Yay!

So here are the books and the genres

1.  First up is the Young Adult category.  Well I love this category and the book love inside the box is Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King.  I have only read one book by A.S. King and it was my favorite summer read of 2013, Ask the Passengers.  After I read it, I fell in love with A.S. King.  Yep, all it takes is just one book to fall in love with an author.  I am excited to read Please Ignore Vera Dietz and her other books too.  Oh and included in the book is a original flowchart from A.S. King.  How cool is that?  I love the personal touches.

2.  The second category is Sci-Fi/Fantasy.  I tend to like this category too but I don't read a lot of books in this genre and so I am glad to be introduced to a new author.  The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin looks awesome.  Inside the book is a hand written note from the author.  Love it!!

3.  The third category is Romance and here is where I wrinkle up my nose usually and my Booksnob qualities come out.  I think I read too much romance in my younger days and so now I don't want to read it. But I am thinking I will give this a try.  A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah Maclean.  This is the first book in a series.  The publisher (Avon/HarperCollins) created a poster that lists the 10 Reasons to Read Romance and it was included in my box of book love.

Here is the top ten reasons.
1.  Because life can be difficult, and books should be fun.
2.  Because love is the oldest story, and it's the only one everyone wants a part in.
3.  Because duke or vampire, cowboy or billionaire-the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
4.  Because in a genre for women, by women, the heroine always wins.
5.  Because bodice ripping isn't always a bad thing.  In fact, it can be a very good thing.
6.  Because sometimes the guy gets the girl.
7.  And sometimes, a girl has to take matters into her own hands.
8.  Because romance is the chocolate truffle of the literary world... and don't we all deserve a treat now and then?
9.  Because a perfect match takes time, and a great book is good company.
10.  Because everyone deserves a happily ever after.

I think I will hang this in my classroom.  Yep, I'm gonna try to add some Romance back into my reading life.

I also got a I Read YA button, a set of Literary Aces playing cards and Out of Print Library Card pouch.  It is kinda like a big coin purse.  I really like the Out of Print company and have several of their T-shirts.  I also got a 2 month subscription to the Oyster Ebook Service.  I am excited to try this.  I did not get any extra lottery items in my box this time but that is OK.  I love everything that was in my Book Riot Quarterly box.

OK, so now it is time for me to go forth and read.  Ouch, my feet hurt!

Book Gifts

This year I made a goal for myself to read all the books I received as gifts during the Holidays.  So often I receive a book and then I add it to my shelf full of books to read and then it lingers there on the shelf for way too long.  So I am determined to read these books this year and I thought I would do a post on it to hold myself accountable.

Here are the books I received as gifts and that I plan to read in 2014.  Note:  Two of the books I bought myself as gifts while Christmas shopping so I am also counting them.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is a Secret Santa gift from Caitlin at http://cookingandcomposition.wordpress.com/  

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King is also a Secret Santa gift from Caitlin at
http://cookingandcomposition.wordpress.com/  A.S. King is a new favorite author of mine.
Thank You Caitlin!!  I love my new books and can't wait to read them.

For Christmas, my son Max picked out this book:  The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo and I am reading it now as my first book of the year!  I am loving it.














My Mom and Step-Dad got me Dr. Zhivago for Christmas and I am looking forward to reading this around March for an online Literary Event, hosted by 3 amazing bloggers (myself included).  (announcement to come later).

I bought myself these two books and when I saw the price I couldn't
resist.

Wonder by RJ Palacio.  I have heard wonderful things about this book and I figured I needed to read it for myself to see what everyone is talking about.















The Gendarme by Mark Mustian is another book I am reading for the online Lit Collective Reading Retreat.  The theme is World War I and this book was at half-price.  The cover photo is just stunning of this beautiful girl.

So there you have it.  SIX books I received as gifts and plan to read in
2014.

What books did you receive as gifts??