Forking Summer

Last week we had to kiss our summertime goodbye.  I am so grateful to have a job that I enjoy that allows me a couple months every year to reclaim my sanity and spends lots of quality time with my little bear.  However, it is far from easy to hang up my full-time mommy hat and put on my working mommy hat.  In fact, my mom had to come back in town just to make the transition a little more manageable for everyone.

                                       

John Thomas got his back to school haircut, so he at least looked the part on Tuesday when I dropped him off.

I had my official book signing at Cedar Springs last Saturday.  I was incredibly nervous!  I think my biggest fear was that no one would show up.

 Boy was I surprised! By three o'clock, all the cookies I brought as well as all the books the store had were all gone!  The book was actually purchased by complete strangers--which is awesome, because I'm pretty sure all of my friends and family have their own copies by now :).  Thanks again everyone for all your support! If you still don't have yours, you can use the Paypal link on the blog, go to Cedar Springs or Amazon.com.  If you go to Amazon, you should know that this book is in no way affiliated with the rapper, Lyfe--so please be careful not to accidentally purchase his CDs. :)

Speaking of books, I lucked out and stumbled onto some great summer reads (besides LYFE of course :)).  My first book was Tina Fey's autobiography, Bossypants.  The first half of the book was so funny, I laughed out loud every other page.  The second half of the book was slow--but I would still recommend it.  

The next two books were based on the true life of the Walls family over the course of the 20th century.  They were awesome and I would recommend them to anyone.  

 Per the recommendation of several friends, I finally picked up The Shack.  I was a little unnerved at first, but I found it to be a provocative story that had several moments of sage, earnest wisdom that you can hang your hat and your faith on.

I thought that I'd lighten up the content and read Girls in Trucks next.  Well, little did I know, I would be challenged, just in a different way.  Set in Charleston, mostly, it is a tale of the trials and tribulations of a southern girl/family.  A coming of age kind of story that resonated with me a little too closely at times.

 After finishing Girls in Trucks in a couple days, I was still thirsty to quench my summer reading thirst. Because I liked the cover, the feel of the book and what the back of the book said, I bought The Alchemist.  It was the most beautifully written book I read all summer.  It is one of the few books I've ever read that I know I will reread one day.

The last book I've picked up is Redeeming Love.  I was hooked after the prologue.  No joke.  I'll let you know how it goes whenever I get the chance to finish it.

Just in case you didn't understand the title, it was supposed to be a pun about summer being done, so we were sticking a fork in it.  A for effort, right?