Doing Not Thinking Challenge

So an update on my progress for the Doing Not Thinking Challenge:
1. I am up to 96 books. (but not counted in there is all the repeat books...like Twilight and also Eat Pray Love which I just finished for the 4th time this year.)
2. Did a batch of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day dough and it didn't really turn out very well. But I figured out what was different from the other times I made it. I made it the first 2 times with unbleached bread flour and this time I made it with unbleached all purpose which is what the master recipe suggests. But I guess in higher altitude the protein in bread flour helps or at least something in the bread flour helped. The problem I had with the all purpose flour was that it didn't raise and it was too wet to handle.
3. Finally got around to this one and made some homemade hot dog buns. We ate them with brats on night for dinner last week. They turned out really well for a first attempt. (Pictures here)

Error in Recipe

I posted a recipe the other day that had an error in it. The Chicken Nacho Casserole...the chicken is suppose to be raw. I had it as cooked. I am sure it would work as cooked but might over cook the chicken that way since the rice has to cook all the way through so it needs an hour for it. I went to make it tonight and decided I should follow the recipe to make sure I got it all right since I do so many things from memory or just adding without measuring. So saw the error right away. ugghh! So sorry!

Blog Hopping

From A Study in Brown - Making the Most of What You Have (It looks like a blog that I will be adding to regular reads too.)

Creature Comforts - I don't like lots of ads on blogs. And more importantly I don't like lots of animated/blinking/moving ads (the web designer in me screams no don't do it). But I am linking to this entry because I love the simplistic decorations used in the top picture and then the next two. The top photo is of doilies with orange tacks arranged on the wall in such a great design. Then the next with the clip boards and pictures. I have 3 of those clip boards sitting in my studio as I was going to do something similar only I was going to do some mixed media art on them and then hang photos from it. But just the simplistic brown of the board looks great. (I got those clipboards at Dollar Tree and another great thing about them they have a little flip up hanger so easy hanging.) And then photos arranged in a heart above the bed. So nice.

Marc and Angel Hack Life - 30 Books Everyone Should Read Before Their 30th Birthday -- Well I am over 30 but there were some books on that list I haven't read and would like too.

Finally...

So one of the goals I made for the Doing Not Thinking Challenge is making buns. I make a few things that they can be used for....grilled brats, Italian sausages with marinaria and peppers, steak sandwiches (take steak or london broil and slice up and put in the crock with peppers and onions and serve on buns with cheese). Even chili dogs are something we crave every so often. So making buns instead of buying them I thought would cheaper but also healthier if I made them. I finally made it around to tackling that goal this week.

I did a recipe that I found in The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. It mixed the dough in the bread machine and then is taken out for the final steps.

For a first time I don't think they turned out too bad. Not all the same size but I am sure that will come with practice.

Michael was at a conference on Sunday and Monday but I couldn't wait to have one so I made myself a hotdog for dinner last night. And then tonight we had brats on them served with doctored baked beans. Michael raved that the buns tasted incredible so I guess that is a good thing!

Wet Dough

Well living in the altitude makes cooking an adventure...

I have made the master dough recipe from Artisan Bread Five Minutes a Day 3 times now - as of yesterday. And well this batch turned out totally different.

The first two times were pretty much the same. I had to use less flour and more water. This time I used more flour and I am still wondering if it is too wet. I haven't made bread from it yet. I will today so I will see how it goes. Oh and there is more of it in the container then there has been the other two times.

Picture of the wet dough...which is what they call it in the book so maybe it is how it is suppose to be...

Doing Not Thinking Challenge

Here are my Goals for the Doing Not Thinking Challenge:
1. I had a goal of 50 books for this year and passed it so to myself I had quietly said 100. So now out loud I say I want to get 100 books read this year.
2. Bake more bread instead of buying — I always have back up bought loaves in the freezer and somehow they always get used and then I get another. So I want to commit to making my own bread more often.
3. Which leads to this one — learning how to make buns — hamburger and hotdog buns. We eat brats and hot dogs quite a bit during the summer and although it is ending soon I have been wanting to make buns for a while. So maybe I can have them mastered by next summer. I found some good instructions in a Beth Hensperger book and setting this goal I believe will help me just do it!


So an update on my progress:
1. I am up to 94 books.
2. Another batch of the wet dough from the Artisan Bread book on the table as I write this
3. I have dough going for this also right now.

Book Review: Handbook for Hosts

Handbook for Hosts: A Practical Guide to Party Planning and Gracious Entertaining by Adam Bluestein

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It is a good go-to-book on entertaining. It easy to read quick reference guide when throwing a party. It is has helpful ideas on a preparing your food, table and home, being a good host, entertaining over night guests and also about being a good guest in other people home. It is a book I wouldn't mind having in my own library.

View all my reviews.

Redsigned....

Michael's political blog for him.


Spoon's Rant

Chicken Nacho Casserole

This is a casserole we enjoy. It is fairly easy to put together. We haven't had it in a while but I am craving it so I think it might be put on this weeks menu.

• 2 cups diced raw chicken - tossed with 1 tablespoon taco seasoning


• 2 cups uncooked instant rice


• 1 can rotel (tomato and chilis) undrained


• 1 small can diced chilis - optional - we like it spicy


• 1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup


• 1 can corn undrained


• 1/2 cup water


• 1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese


• 1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2-quart casserole (I use a 9"x13" glass pan) with cooking spray. In casserole, stir chicken, rice, rotel, chilis, soup, corn, water and 3/4 cup of the cheese until well mixed. Top with crushed tortilla chips.

Cover and bake about 1 hour or until rice is tender and mixture is heated through. Uncover and sprinkle remaining cheese on top of tortilla chips. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

We like to top it with some light sour cream.

Gratitude Friday

I am thankful for...
1. Seeing Obama here in Grand Junction on Monday! It was an amazing experience!
2. Ice pack for migraine cycle this week
3. Caesar taking his medicine so good
4. The Rachel Maddow Show -- I have always liked her thoughts and opinions and it is great to watch her TV show on MSNBC
5. For finding good deals on meat at City Market today.

I recognize that I have much more to be thankful for in my life

Blog Hopping

Mistreatment: Toppers and Valances - I like that last one with the door knob. I have been meaning to do new valance in the kitchen and dining room. I hope to have it done by my birthday just need to find some fabric. Maybe if I find the right fabric it will inspire us for paint in the kitchen and dining room.

Tossing Your To-Do List - with my never ending to-do list -- this is a good reminder

Bread and Butter - It is really the whipped butter I was looking at because in this time of rising food costs I am always looking for ways to save money. Plus it just looks yummy!

Fall Goodie Boxes - I think they are just so cute. Doing up some fall cut out cookies in little bags with ribbon would make such a cute gift.

100 Things | Politics

13. I am pretty much a bleeding heart liberal.

I am for people. I want to have equal rights for people all across the board -- orientation, gender, race, religion and so on. When bad things happen to people, I think we should help them. That is what neighbors do so why wouldn't our government help too. When a single mom raising 3 kids on her own has to work 3 jobs - 1 just to pay for daycare and 2 just to cover bills and makes it nearly impossible to raise her children why wouldn't we want to help send her to school to get a better job. When companies are downsized, plants closed, jobs sent over seas - shouldn't we help that man support his family by giving him new job training? Help with insurance costs? I saw a conservative blog ranting about that people that work 3 jobs should stop having 7 or more kids. I actually don't know many people who have 7 kids but I do know people with 2 or 3 kids working multiple jobs to keep things afloat. As Bush said 4 years ago it is uniquely American to work multiple jobs and I just don't think it should be uniquely American to have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet. It shouldn't be so hard.

When I was in college, I was involved in Amnesty International. A good friend started a chapter at our school it so I was like her co-chair. I also was involved 2 more groups one against the death penalty and other against nuclear weapons. I wrote letters and signed petitions and even canvased too. Now I get emails everyday from different groups to look over. I do lots of emails to senators and congressmen/women and esign online petitions.

I haven't always been as informed about politics as I should have been but being involved with Michael has changed that. One of his majors in college was political science and you can say it is one of his passions. He cares about America and is passionate about the issues that effect us daily. Politics is almost a daily discussion for us. He has a political blog so he leaves most of politics off here (otherwise you would see about 5 posts a day sometimes here on politics) but I do write about it once in a while. And with this election coming up I do see it becoming something I write about more. I read many a blogs where they say they aren't going to talk politics because it just isn't one of those things you should discuss with friends or family. Well this is my blog...I write about me and things I like, dislike, enjoy or care about. And being politically aware is a part of my life. As I said we discuss politics in this house daily. So why would I leave such a big part of me off my blog? So if you don't like it -- skip the posts.

When Bush ran the second time, I did a long list of reasons why I wasn't voting for him and included 2 to 3 sources for each reason. I have started that for McCain/Palin. I don't feel McCain/Palin represent me as an American or the issues I care about. I will have many reasons in my post why I don't feel they do. But I do believe Obama truly cares about the people of this country and our future. Hopefully I will get that post done by next week.

Monday we were up and out of the house fairly early as Obama was in our town. Which was a fairly big deal to me but also Grand Junction in general as Truman was the last democratic Presidential nominee that was here. We knew we wouldn't be able to do the standing in line to go to the event but we went to the airport. We got fairly close view of the his plane land and then we were about 20 feet from his car as it passed by and we got a clear view of him. I told Michael that if we had lived in a big city we never would have gotten that close. We came home and listened to some of his talk on a live stream of it on the web and then left again. A friend of ours was at the event and called us when Obama left the event. So we camped out on the route he would take back to get one more glimpse of him. And we did...just as close again. Michael even got a little shot of him as he passed. I know it was only a view a little glimpse of him but it still made me happy! History in the making right before my eyes. (I love this picture from the event as has a visible Grand Junction landmark in it....Mt. Garfield. It is something you can see from every spot in Grand Junction really and it isn't far from our home.)

So I decided to do as part of my 100 Things about me one on politics...as politics is something that is discussed daily in our house, a part of my life and I am pretty much a bleeding heart liberal.

Chasing Obama throughout Grand Junction

Yesterday was a really cool day for us.. Barack Obama came out to Grand Junction and riveted 6,000 folks..

We didn't go to the rally - but we did chase him throughout the grand valley..



We had fun -- it was very exciting and we were bit by the Obama bug..

more pictures here...

Book Review: The Host

The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I liked Twilight series. It is geared for young adults but I was one of the many adults that enjoyed it. I was worried Meyers wouldn't really capture an adult auidence but this story and how it is told is amazing. I am going to even go as far as saying it was better then the Twilight series and I am huge vampire fan but this book just nailed it on so many levels for me.

I read this book in two nights. I probably could have finished it in one night if I had started it a little earlier in the evening. It was a little slow and hard to follow at first but then it just pulled me into the story. It made me laugh, cry and really feel for all the characters.

Wanderer is kind and smart. She is emotionally and mentally strong. With a big heart...she doesn't want to hurt anyone. She thinks of others first. While she was the character that I liked the most, there are other characters great characters. Melanie is strong and tough - both physically and emotional. She is most like I think the average human. If in the same sitaution they would act like her. Ian was another character I enjoyed also almost more then any of the other male. Because he was able to see what the group was doing to Wanda. He changed and saw beyond the human's fears.

I felt the characters were developed well. They suffer and their core ethics and morality are tested but provide emotional release and show those better parts of ourselves. Love conquers all --- even across species. That isn't exactly a new theme, but Meyer really tells great story bringing the situation to life - transporting us through it.
View all my reviews.

Doing Not Thinking Challenge

Just getting to my update for my Doing Not Thinking Challenge because basically we have been following Obama all around town. He came to our little town of Grand Junction today - it was pretty amazing. I will write about that in another post though.

Here are my Goals for the Doing Not Thinking Challenge:
1. I had a goal of 50 books for this year and passed it so to myself I had quietly said 100. So now out loud I say I want to get 100 books read this year.
2. Bake more bread instead of buying — I always have back up bought loaves in the freezer and somehow they always get used and then I get another. So I want to commit to making my own bread more often.
3. Which leads to this one — learning how to make buns — hamburger and hotdog buns. We eat brats and hot dogs quite a bit during the summer and although it is ending soon I have been wanting to make buns for a while. So maybe I can have them mastered by next summer. I found some good instructions in a Beth Hensperger book and setting this goal I believe will help me just do it!

So an update on my progress:
1. I am up to 90 books.
2. We have been out of town quite a bit lately so I haven't made any bread but that is on my plans for tomorrow.
3. I still haven't made any progress on this goal but I would really like to make some this week as I have a big cheap piece of steak and steak sandwiches sound good. So maybe I will shoot for Friday for those.

Changing of the Seasons....

We're slowly descending into what is probably my most favorite season of all: the fall....

The nights are cool and brisk....
The days are mild and comfortable....
The colors in the trees....
The pitter patter of rain....
Football....
Chili....
Home baked bread (more often because it's getting colder)....

I could live in a perpetual loop of September, October and November -- being incredibly happy as a clam....

*finds a happy zone* :)

Updated Book List -- 88 books

This is my list of books read to date for 2008
1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (read 2 times)
2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (read 2 times)
3. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (read 2 times)
4. Marked (House of Night, Bk. 1) by PC Cast & Kristin Cast
5. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
6. Stolen by Kelley Armstron
7. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
8. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
9. Betrayed: House of Night, Bk 2 by PC Cast & Kristin Cast
10. The Fiery Cross (Outlander series) by Diana Gabaldon
11. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
12. A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander series) by Diana Gabaldon
13. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
14. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
15. Photo Decor by Donna Downey
16. Specials by Scott Westerfield
17. Designers' Stationery: How Designers and Design Companies Present Themselves to the World by Roger Walton
18. Visual Thesaurus: A Quick-Flip Brainstorming Tool for Graphic Designers by Chris Goveia, Hatmaker
19. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
20. The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
21. The valley of horses by Jean M. Auel.
22. Scrapbooking techniques for beginner by Rebekah Meier.
23. The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel
24. Tim Holtz Distressables 2 by Tim Holtz
25. What about Words? Creative Journaling for Scrapbookers by Memory Makers Books
26. The Plains of the Passage by Jean Auel
27. 601 Great Scrapbook Ideas by Memory Makers Books
28. The Shelters of Stone by Jean Auel
29. Scrapbooking Made Easy by Simple Scrapbooks
30. Creating Keepsakes' Encyclopedia of Scrapbooking by Tracy White
31. Keepers of the Light by Diane Chamberlain
32. Kiss River by Diane Chamberlain
33. Her Mother's Shadow by Diane Chamberlain
--- The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold -- didn't finish though
34. Acrylic Revolution: New Tricks & Techniques for Working With the World's Most Versatile Medium by Nancy Reyner
35. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
36. The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
37. Collage Unleashed by Traci Bautista
38. Courage Tree by Diane Chamberlain
39. Scrapbook Fundamentals: Your Guide to Getting Started by Memory Makers
40. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
41. Chosen: A House of Night Novel (Bk. 3) by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast
42. Stamp Artistry: Combining Stamps with Beadwork, Carving, Collage, Etching, Fabric, Metalwork, Painting, Polymer Clay, Repousse, and More
by Rice Freeman-Zachery
43. Designer Scrapbooks with April Cornell by April Cornell
44. Summer People by Marge Piercy
45. Handmade Greeting Cards by Maureen Crawford
46. Alphabetica: An A-Z Creativity Guide for Collage and Book Artists by Lynne Perrella
47. Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves me Back and How You Can Too by Shauna James Ahern
48. Beneath the Skin by Nicci French
49. How to Organize Your Scrapbook Workspace: Storage Solutions for Any Budget by Memory Makers Books
50. The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation by Paulo Coehlo
51. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
52. PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
53. Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
54. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton
55. Christopher Lowell's You Can Do It! Small Spaces: Decorating to Make Every Inch Count by Christopher Lowell
56. Bread for Breakfast by Beth Hensperger
57. The Book of Us: A Guide to Scrapbooking About Relationships by Angie Pedersen
58. Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell
59. The Altered Book Scrapbook by Susan Ure
60. Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn
61. Natural Cleaning for Your Home by Casey Kellar
62. The Decorated Journal by Gwen Diehn
63. Rightsizing Your Life by Ciji Ware
64. The Escape Artist by Diane Chamberlain
65. Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn
66. Handbook for Hosts by Adam Bluestein
67. Living the Creative Life by Rice Freeman-Zachery
68. Catch Me When I Fall by Nicci French
69. Killing Me Softly by Nicci French
70. The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook
71. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness by Paulo Coehlo
72. Decorating Small Spaces: Living Large in Any Space by BHG
73. The New Book of Table Settings: Creative Ideas for the Way We Gather Today by Chris Bryant, Paige Gilchrist
74. In the Royal Manner: Expert Advice on Etiquette and Entertaining from the Former Butler of Diana, Princess of Wales by Paul Burrell
75. Touch the Dark by Karen Chance
76. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
77. The Venetian's Wife: A Strangely Sensual Tale of a Renaissance Explorer, a Computer, and a Metamorphosis by Nick Bantock
78. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg, Zoe FranCois
79. The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
80. Brave on the Rocks: If You Don't Go, You Don't See by Sabrina Ward Harrison
81. 10-minute Decorating: 176 Fabulaous Shortcuts with Style by Susan Ure
82. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
83. Loving and Leaving the Good Life by Helen Nearing
84. Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger, Julie Kaufmann
85. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
86. The Host: A Novel by Stepenie Meyers
87. The American Century Cookbook by Jean Anderson
88. Kitty and the Silver Bullet (Kitty Norville, Book 4) by Carrie Vaughn

(reviews for most of them here.)

Book Review: The American Century Cookbook

The American Century Cookbook by Jean Anderson

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is not just a cookbook. It is contains history of food as well as little back stories or tidbits on recipes and products since the 1900's. All that and then some really great recpies too. I got it at a thrift store and it is one that I am thankful for I have in my kitchen. (reread in 2008)
View all my reviews.

Doing Not Thinking Challenge

Here are my Goals for the Doing Not Thinking Challenge:
1. I had a goal of 50 books for this year and passed it so to myself I had quietly said 100. So now outloud I say I want to get 100 books read this year.
2. Bake more bread instead of buying — I always have back up bought loaves in the freezer and somehow they always get used and then I get another. So I want to committ to making my own bread more often.
3. Which leads to this one — learning how to make buns — hamburger and hotdog buns. We eat brats and hot dogs quite a bit during the summer and although it is ending soon I have been wanting to make buns for a while. So maybe I can have them mastered by next summer. I found some good instructions in a Beth Hensperger book and setting this goal I believe will help me just do it!


So an update on my progress:
1. I am up to 86 books.
2. I used the last of the dough from my first batch of Artisian Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I really enjoyed the dough and just having it there in the fridge to use. It is a keeper in my book especially since it worked with high altitude cooking. It tastes good, looks good and is easy to handle.
3. I still haven't made any progress on this goal and I don't see that happening this week at all either.

**The photo - I like lighter crust but this could have been baked longer for a dark crust and been fine.

A Bit Sleepy...maybe more then a bit...

Okay so late Thursday afternoon we were suppose to leave for Denver. We were doing a live webcast on Friday for a conference. Michael decided to test one thing before we left...well...it didn't work. And it ended up messing up something else which would end up messing up something....you see the pattern right? So he spent all afternoon and evening trying to fix it. We were suppose to be setting up at 7am on Friday morning in Denver. We live in Grand Junction 4 hours away. So 10:30pm comes and I finally say that it is probably best we go to bed and get at least some sleep before getting on the road at 3am and lets pray for it to work in Denver. Michael agreed so we went to bed and slept until 2am. Got up - showered, loaded the car and started towards Denver. We got to Denver a little before 7am.

Michael figured out a way to patch things together to make it work for the conference. So we did the webcast until 3pm when the conference ended. We packed up all the equipment and got out of there about 4pm to head back to Grand Junction because we had a wedding to film on Saturday. We arrived home about 8:15pm on Friday and went to bed by 9pm. Saturday morning wedding day filming started with the being at hair salon at 10:30am to film the bride. So were up about 8am to get some things done before heading there. We then were on the go and working until 11pm last night.

So needless to say today we are kind of tired. We did manage to drag ourselves out of bed to go our favorite breakfast splurge that is only available on Sunday at Rockslide Brewery (they don't have a website or I would link to it). It has really good food fresh food. So we went there this morning and toasted with mimosas for surviving the weekend.

After we came home, I did a few chores (dishes starting to stack up from our grabbing quick bite and then running out again) and then I went to crash. I slept all afternoon. And really felt like I could have kept on sleeping but I worried that I might not sleep tonight. I made a lasagna the end of July and put half in the freezer - let me tell you how thankful I am for that lasagna today so I don't have to cook dinner tonight. We have a busy week ahead of us too so I am hoping that this day of rest helps me get through it.

Well, we made it!

It has been a very grueling 72 hour period -- we finally made it on the backside. We've known about this schedule for last month and we both knew it was going to be incredibly hectic..

It was..

A host of technical malfunctions didn't make things better, but we hung in there - the "no quit" attitude and kept focusing on the task while trying to resolve what we could..

Bottom line: we're both incredibly tired and very grateful to be home. We're taking the day off today before getting ready for next week's broadcast, so while the schedule should be easing somewhat, it will be better than it was..

Blog Hopping

Today is all about food....

Coconut Pecan Shortbread Squares

Jousting for Brownies

Not linking to the actual recipe because she talks about it 3 times...it is the Self-Frosting Pineapple Coconut Cake. I think I must be in a coconut mood. Of course Michael doesn't like coconut so I probably won't bake it because I would want to make something he would enjoy too. But it still looks good and maybe someday make it for someone.

Doing Not Thinking Challenge

Here are my Goals for the Doing Not Thinking Challenge:
1. I had a goal of 50 books for this year and passed it so to myself I had quietly said 100. So now outloud I say I want to get 100 books read this year.
2. Bake more bread instead of buying — I always have back up bought loaves in the freezer and somehow they always get used and then I get another. So I want to committ to making my own bread more often.
3. Which leads to this one — learning how to make buns — hamburger and hotdog buns. We eat brats and hot dogs quite a bit during the summer and although it is ending soon I have been wanting to make buns for a while. So maybe I can have them mastered by next summer. I found some good instructions in a Beth Hensperger book and setting this goal I believe will help me just do it!


So an update on my progress:
1. I am up to 84 books. I was hoping it would be 85 but just didn't happen.
2. I used the master dough recipe from Artisian Bread in Five Minutes a Day and I made 2 loaves of bread from it. And it worked really well even in with high altitude cooking. It tastes good, looks good and is easy to handle.
3. Didn't make any progress on this goal.

Late with my update because of the holiday yesterday. We had Michael's parents in for Labor Day so was being hostess.

Book Review: The Post-Birthday World

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I had heard some good things about "The Post-Birthday World" and I know many people enjoyed it -- I just wasn't one of them. Entertainment Weekly named this the best book of 2007 and I am trying to understand why. One word that sums up the book for me is depressing.

First going in I had no idea there was a dual story line. Time Traveler's Wife jumping between years was played out in a clever manner but the jumping between the 2 story lines in Post-Birthday world often left me confused. It wasn't until nearly 300 pages in that I understood how the author was jumping between the story lines. And by that time the story grows old and I know what is going to happen. To tell the truth I actually skipped about 150 pages and never felt like I missed anything. I went back and skimmed the 150 pages I skipped initially but I was thankful I had skipped it.

The reason it isn't getting one star is because I felt the plot line is hashed out well although boring, predictable and long winded. The characters were well developed though I never liked them and couldn't wait to finally be done with the book to get away from them. And the author is obviously a good writer - good at prose but she goes on and on and talks about things that aren't needed or things that don't make me interested in the story.

It is a good concept for a book the dual storyline but this was executed in a way that made me happy to finally be returning the book to the library.

View all my reviews.