not exactly book related....

One of my friends introduced me to this fabulous photo editing website! 

AHHH, I am obsessed. 

www.picnik.com

Some of the features cost money, but some are FREE. 

The polaroid frame is free and it's like the best one! 

Enjoy. 

say goodbye to the ladies of vows.

Let me just start by saying that I HATE when a series I love has to end. I know endings are a part of life,  but I feel that Norah Roberts could have turned her Bride Quartet series from four books into, well, more. I just finished the final book, Happy Ever After, and I am sad to say goodbye to such a funny, honest and ballsy group of friends.  

I have reviewed the previous three titles in the series, Vision in White, Bed of Roses and Savor the Moment, and was very excited to read about our fourth and final female, Parker Brown. You get to know the other girls in each book, even if that particular story is not based around them. I have been dying to hear Parker's story since book one.

Parker is the glue that holds Vows together. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Vows is the wedding planning company Parker and her three friends, Mac, Emma and Laurel, own. It is very successful in their small Connecticut town, but the difference is not only is Parker planning weddings for clients, but also her three best friends.

Malcolm is not a stranger to the series. He has been involved with this group of friends in some way since the first installment. He is a rough around the edges, car mechanic, not exactly Parker Brown, of the wealthy Connecticut Browns, type. They've had some sexual tension for a while, and its Parker's turn to try out her hand at love. Taking a chance worked out well for the other three, but will Parker be so lucky?

greg heffley = funny. all of the time.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is absolutely hysterical. I adore Jeff Kinney and his portrayal of Greg Heffley and his pre-teen angst. As a substitute teacher, I know for a fact that middle school aged kids enjoy reading this series. I know this because they tell me, and whenever there is a book fair at the school, all the Wimpy Kid books are gone by the end of the first day. 

In the latest installment of the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, Greg goes through a lot of changes. In school, they are starting to show him all of the "you and your body are growing up" videos, which freaks him out on so many levels. Everyone is trying to talk to him about his new responsibilities, and his future. Although he does enjoy the boy/girl party aspect of growing up, he wouldn't mind if everyone just chilled out a bit.

Greg and Rowley are on the outs, which is not abnormal. This book goes deeper into Greg's relationship with his family, and the other kids at school. It's funny, mildly sarcastic, and shows the real, and ugly truths of growing up in junior high school. My favorite part? When Greg's mom hired a maid and forced everyone to clean the house BEFORE the maid came over so she didn't think they lived in a pigsty. Oh, and when Greg's mom bought snacks for the maid, and wouldn't let anyone else eat them. Oh ohhhh, and when the maid got fired for inviting all of the other maids in the neighborhood to come over and watch soap operas in the middle of the day.

Good stuff, Jeff Kinney, good stuff.

a great tribute to our fallen stars.

There have been numbers of musical geniuses and beloved artists who have died too young. A well-known example: The Forever 27 bunch, including Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimmy Hendrix, all died at the age of twenty-seven. It's sad to see such talent leave this world, especially when it could have been prevented. These four icons, along with the memories of many others live on through records, CD's, music television and books like, Thomas H. Green's Rock Shrines: Where the Myths Begin and the Stars Become Legends. 

In Rock Shrines, Green does not only show us the shrines of those who lived and breathed rock 'n roll. Included are a variety of genres, like John Lennon, Michael Jackson and Tupac. Each of the book's nearly two hundred individual entries is illustrated with beautiful photographs of both the stars and the shrines, along with a brief, but usually very complete composite of the artists' work and impact in both life and death. The photography is unreal and the memorabilia included is unlike anything you have ever seen before. 

Yes, some of these musicians did become even more famous after death, but what a shame it must be to have missed it.

For a chance to win a copy of this book, e-mail your name, address and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com

Paying my respects to Jim Morrison at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

relationships between humans and animals.

I am really weird about animals. I can enjoy meat as food when I don't think about it too much, but as soon as my jungle of a mind starts going, the thoughts are hard to digest. I was the little girl who saw a bird with a broken wing on the side of the road and would take it home to Daddy to fix - and if it was a lost cause, I would cry for a week. Yet there is this other side of me that can scarf down a cheeseburger like no other.

What makes any society have feelings for one animal and not another? I am not talking about just Americans, but people around the world as well. Why is an animal a pet in one country, yet dinner in another? Hal Herzog has given us some answers in his latest book, Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard To Think Straight About Animals. 

This book way more serious than I would have thought. For example, Herzog considers the various theories of animal rights, from an absolutist vision where choosing between saving a baby or a hamster in a fire is equivalent, to considering an animal's ability to suffer, its level of cognition or cuteness factor to decide whether one can kill or eat an animal. Also, Herzog sees the hypocrisy of trying to make cockfighting a felony while permitting wholesale torture for food production - though he disagrees with both. There are less intense issues discussed as well, like why a certain breed of dog becomes more popular than another?

Such an interesting book is a must to add to your collection.