i love to travel, but i prefer to keep my romance american.

In Pam Houston's fictional travelogue, Contents May Have Shifted, she names her main character Pam, which makes me think that this novel is actually light on the fiction and heavy on exerts from Houston's travel diary. I don't blame her for leaving readers to wonder what is fact and what is fiction, I would do the same. I actually plan on doing the same...someday. Speaking of travel, Monday I leave for my trip to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day and then to London for a few days after. It's okay to be jelly.

Pam travels from Davis, California, where she is a professor with a flexible schedule, to Creed, Colorado, where she owns a small piece of property, and then sets out to various locations around the world: Alaska, South Asia, North Africa, and then back to the States to New Mexico,Wisconsin and Texas. It is rather Eat, Pray Love-ish, beginning with Pam running away from her disastrous ex, Ethan. During her travels she gets to know the locals, enjoys the local food and usually has a lively adventure or inner awakening, the difference is this character never really settles down and Houston's writing focuses more on the nature of these locales, which I love.

I have never been to any of the places Houston writes about, which honestly made me like this novel more.

dear reptile nerds, this one's for you.

Crotalus is a genus of venomous pit vipers found only in the Americas from southern Canada to northern Argentina. Twenty-nine species are currently recognized. In America, most of these snakes are located towards the west coast. South-central Arizona, the gulf California, some branch out to Nevada, Idaho, Texas, New Mexico and Oregon also. I am feeling pretty safe over here in western New York, but I have traveled to and hiked in Arizona (circa 2009) and it was a good thing we had been drinking, or I may have been worried for my safety.

Venomous Reptiles of the United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico: Crotalus (Volume 2) by Carl and Evelyn Ernst is the most accurate and interesting view of North America’s rattlesnakes available to us. In this guide to everything crotalus, Ernst and Ernst include interesting stories as these rattle snakes are carefully described; what they eat, who preys them, how they function, etc. Those of you who live or travel in the above mentioned areas...hide ya kids, hide ya wife...rattlesnakes are gonna find you, they're gonna find youuu, so you can run and tell that, homeboy. (Those of you who do not see the humor in that last sentence need to watch more YouTube videos).

sure cookbooks can be sexy, why not?

I enjoy a bit of sass with my books and my meals. Nadi G's Bitchin Kitchen: Cookin' for Trouble covers both.  Some of you may recognize Nadia Giosia from her Bitchin’ Kitchen TV show on the Cooking Channel. She's a smart, savvy and sassy chef who knows what's up in the world of fabulous recipes.

It's funny, including chapters titled (Dysfunctional) Family Pizza Night (we have ours on Sundays), Nonna Recipe Showdown (come on, we all have been there with grandma), Gluttony G-Style, Makeover Meals, and Bitchin' Booty Camp Xtreme. There is also some dietary advice thrown in here and there.

 (here's a link to the recipe: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/nadia-g/buttermilk-popcorn-chicken-recipe/index.html).

And if buttermilk popcorn chicken is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

if you like gardens and you like intrigue.

The recipe for the perfect novel: A base of historical fiction, which most of you love. Throw in some romance for you saps. Add a pinch of espionage and a faster pace for the ones who prefer to be on the edge of their seat....and WALLAH! You have Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series (see The Orchid Affair and The Mischief of the Mistletoe also).

The latest installment of the series, The Garden Intrigue is set in 1804. Our heroine is New York born Emma Delgardie and she is living in Paris, France. As a young widow, Emma enjoys the Paris salons and an intimacy with Napoleon Bonaparte's inner circle. Our hero, Augustus Whittlesby has been in deep undercover in France for over a decade. He's been there for so long, he's no longer considered as a threat to Napoleon. It is only when Augustus is forced to spend time with Emma when he needs to get an invite to Malmaison that a relationship develops and the real story begins.

The close look at the home life of the French characters and the historical details of American involvement in French politics at this time was such an interesting aspect of this historical novel.

learn something today.

My main goal with this blog is to assist those of you who have days where they ask, "does anyone know of a good book to read?" Being an English teacher wannabe, I also want to take the time to review educational books when possible. Not to bore you to tears, but because I think they are super interesting, and this isn't all about you, selfish.

Diversity's Promise for Higher Education: Making It Work by Daryl G. Smith includes 40 years of diversity research and is obviously designed for those of you who educate. Each generation is becoming more diverse than the previous, that being said, even you that teach in rural or suburban communities will benefit from this book. The way we approach diversity in schools should be ever changing. Our strategies need to be constantly changing, especially at the college level, because students, their families and their communities are constantly changing. Get the paperback to save some cash flow.

nerd alert!

In an attempt to become even freakishly closer than we already are, I have recently asked my grandmother to teach me how to knit. Alice and I are pretty much the exact same person birthed fifty years apart, that being said, our knitting lessons usually include mild yelling and an occasional throwing of the knitting needles, but they always end in a hug. Kidding, we are definitely not huggers.

I got the hang of a few stitches and have been really enjoying myself while knitting. I recently received Knits for Nerds by Joan of Dark (ummmm..) a.k.a. Toni Carr to read and review, and it couldn't have come at a better time. This book is filled with 30 knitting projects, focused on recreating superhero/fantasy character type clothing and accessories. No lie. There is a Fantasy section, Science Fiction section and Comic Book section. Sooooo nerdy, I eat this stuff up. Some of the projects that I actually understood include: Trek girl dresses, space princess hats (with the princess Leia buns on the side), and baby elf beanies (which are really cute). The directions for every project are included with materials and row instructions. When to knit, when to purl and all that jazz. Super cool book for nerds, dorks and regular people alike. I mean, Halloween does come once a year.

happy hunger games.

When I get hooked on a book, or heaven forbid a series...everything in my life is affected. My work ethic (which has never been particularly good), my relationships, my eating habits. I don't talk to anyone. I eat finger foods as to not disrupt my reading, utensils simply get in the way. This has been the past 48 hours of my life reading the first installment of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I have heard about this trilogy for a while now. I was in a school district last year that had reading workshops and many students chose The Hunger Games to read, so I got the scoop from them. I finally broke down and sent a copy to my Kindle so that I could see what all of the fuss is about. I can't have my students thinking I'm a pussy and can't handle kids fighting to their death for show like some morbid Olympic games. Psshhhh. I can handle this. (I cried at least three times while reading).

For those of you who are grossly out of the loop, here is the deal. Katniss Everdeen is sixteen, she lives in District 12 (there are twelve districts in this little country, each has a job, hers is one of the poorer ones, as they make the coal). She lives with her mother and little sister, Prim as her father died in a mine explosion five years before. She illegally hunts outside of the marked territory of their little district with her best friend, Gale. This is how she trades for money and other things/feeds her family. Once a year the Capitol, which is like the government, chooses two children (called tributes, one boy and one girl, ages 12-18) to participate in the Hunger Games, where they basically fight to their death and the last one standing wins. They do this to remind their people of their control, so that they never revolt, again. On "reaping" day which is the day each person is chosen for the games, twelve-year-old Prim was chosen as tribute. Katniss volunteered in her place, which is allowed. She goes off to fight with the baker's son from their community named Peeta. Twenty-four participants all together, and there can only be one winner.

The writing in this story is absolutely exquisite. I honestly think that Collins could right about anything and keep me on the edge of my seat. I cannot wait to begin the second book, Catching Fire, and I am counting down the days until the movie comes out at the end of this month. From what I have seen so far, the previews are identical to the storyline.