It's been a little quiet on the blog this week, but I couldn't leave my co-host and followers without a Five Things link up post, now could I?! However, I am a little stuck on what five things to write about today. I was on vacation last week and haven't been too inspired to get back into the swing of things. Where do you find inspiration when you're not feeling the need to write? 

1. Five Things link up is posted every Thursday at Midnight EST. Share any five things that are on your mind right now. Whether it's something you are obsessing with on Pinterest, a new and exciting event going on in your life, or even sharing five of your favorite books; it's totally up to you. 

2. Please put the Five Things button on the post you're sharing for the link up; sharing is caring, the more players involved the more fun we'll have.

3. Please follow both your hosts Diana from The World Around Her and Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama via Facebook {here and here} and/or Twitter {here and here}. As it’s not mandatory it is greatly appreciated.

4. If you tweet about your post or Instagram it, feel free to tag me or Tairalyn and use the hashtag, #FiveThingsParty

5. Check out the other bloggers who have linked up, show them some love and comment on at least one other bloggers link-up post.

Shall we get the party started...

1. Is it too early for me to retire and become a beach bum for the rest of my life...who is with me?!

2. So remember how I stressed the use of sunscreen two weeks ago? Well, I did make sure to use it before we went out onto the beach, but I guess I forgot to reapply... because I got burnt! ( Not as orange as Anne Hathaway, but still pretty red!) It's really important to reapply, friends. Don't just put it on in the morning and think it will protect you all day long...like I did! Put it in your bag if you intend on being out all day, like I should have done!

3. Just before vacation our local library hosted a book sale and I scored three books for a $1.00 each! I whizzed right through the first book "Glimmerglass" by Jenna Black. My step-daughter recommended it and said it was a must read. It's actually part of a trilogy and while I wait to get the second book in the mail I started on Nicholas Sparks' "The Best of Me". I don't want to make this post too long, so I'll save the book reviews for next time! (PS, I LOVED "Glimmerglass" and I'm really getting into "The Best of Me")

4. Last year I learned about the local non-profit organization Worthwhile Wear and how they help women and children, locally and overseas, escape human trafficking. I wanted to do more than just purchase the handmade items that Worthwhile Wear sells, I wanted to pitch in. With help from my girl Monica of East Coast Creative blog, who is good friends with the non-profit's executive director Dan Emr, I was able to physically help with Worthwhile Wear's new housing project The Well. She is helping with the makeover of this safe house and needs more than just local hands who can paint. So if you would like to find out more on how you can get involved with this incredible project stop by EC2 and read all about what she's doing to help fight human trafficking. I gathered a few volunteers from my local women's group, and together we painted a bedroom and made over a bathroom vanity.  The fight against human trafficking isn't an easy one, but together we can make life better for women and children who are either at risk or have escaped. Please considering joining the fight. 

5. Well, how can I sweat the small stuff when there are victims of human trafficking, victims of domestic violence, people battling cancer and other diseases, and just people in general who are depressed or angry from the moment they wake up in the morning? Sometimes we let the little things get to us; like rush hour traffic, a bad hair day, gaining a few unwanted pounds, etc., but I'm determined to not let these things I cannot change get the best of me. I don't have to be happy and cheerful every second of the day, it's okay to express other emotions. However, I will not let silly little things bother me any more. END SCENE!! 

Well, for a person who wasn't in the mood to write at the start of this post, I sure did find a few things to discuss! Now it's your turn...

Five Things: A Few of My Favorite Female Writers

When I heard the news yesterday that author and poet Maya Angelou passed away it made me think of high school and college, and of all the great female writers who influenced my career path. Not too long ago it was still difficult for women to publish books or screenplays, become news anchors on TV (which is what I thought I originally wanted to do!), or work as newspaper or magazine reporters or editors. I studied Journalism in college and took many English lit classes where I was introduced to many of these women who made a mark for themselves and paved the way for the rest of us. As I continue my journey in writing, I continue to be inspired by strong, independent women in the field (If you didn't know already, I work for two awesome women bloggers!). So here is my tribute to Angelou and to a few other female writers who inspire me. 

1. Five Things link up is posted every Thursday at Midnight EST. Share any five things that are on your mind right now. Whether it's something you are obsessing with on Pinterest, a new and exciting event going on in your life, or even sharing five of your favorite books; it's totally up to you. 

2. Please put the Five Things button on the post you're sharing for the link up; sharing is caring, the more players involved the more fun we'll have.

3. Please follow both your hosts Diana from The World Around Her and Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama via Facebook {here and here} and/or Twitter {here and here}. As it’s not mandatory it is greatly appreciated. 

4. If you tweet about your post or Instagram it, feel free to tag me or Tairalyn and use the hashtag, #FiveThingsParty

5. Check out the other bloggers who have linked up, show them some love and comment on at least one other bloggers link-up post.

Shall we get the party started...

1. Maya Angelou was so much more than a writer and a poet; she was an activist, a college professor, a director, actress, and was even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She inspired the world with her words and one poem of Angelou's that always stuck with me is "Phenomenal Woman". Because no matter our size, our shape, our color, no matter what, we are all Phenomenal Women. Thank you for leaving your imprint on this world, may you rest in peace. 

2. Toni Morrison's book "Beloved" scared the crap out of me! It's very dark and twisted, but sadly there is truth behind the story of what the main characters went through in the real lives of slaves. The imagery that Morrison's words formed in my mind frightened me. The first time I was introduced to the book I was in high school. My English teacher read it to us and played a few scenes from the film that was inspired by the novel. The second time I was in college and actually read the book myself and realized why we probably weren't allowed to read it ourselves while in high school! From a teenager to a young adult, and now a grown woman, Morrison's book has stayed with me and always will. If you haven't read Beloved, I highly suggest you put it on your Summer reading list, it won Morrison a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and The Nobel Prize in Literature. 

3. You may not recognize her face, but you probably know her name and one or more of her books. The novel that author S.E. Hinton wrote that sits high on my book list is "The Outsiders", which she wrote while she was still in high school in 1967. That's a pretty amazing accomplishment to achieve at 17 years old, which is probably the age I was when I first read and fell in love with her book! Did you know that Hinton played a nurse in the film adaptation of "The Outsiders"? I bet she was pretty excited to play alongside Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, and the rest of the cast! In 1988 she was the first to receive the Margaret Edwards Award, which is given by the American Library Association for authors' outstanding work in young adult literature. 

4. For many of us Elizabeth Gilbert didn't hit the map until we heard about her novel, "Eat, Pray, Love" in 2006, but her first book, "Pilgrims", was actually published almost ten years earlier in 1997. For me, Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" and "Committed: A Love Story" are books that I will always cherish because my husband and I read them together. Yes, they are great reads, but when you can connect a book with a person you love, it makes the book and author even more special and memorable. "Eat, Pray, Love" was published around the time we started dating and "Committed" was released just before we said 'I Do'. So as we were following Gilbert's journey to find herself and find love again, we were on a journey together building our own love story! (AWW...haha!) Right now I'm on a Nicholas Sparks kick but I have her new book, "The Signature of All Things" on my 'books to read' list!

5.  I was a junior in college in 2004 when Emily Giffin's book "Something Borrowed" was published and wasn't really thinking about wedding bells at the time! The title didn't register with me until I heard about the film adaptation years later in 2011. By then Giffin had released four more novels; "Something Blue", "Baby Proof", "Love the One You're With", and "Heart of the Matter". In 2012 I finally got around to picking up my first Giffin book and was immediately hooked! I pre-ordered "Where We Belong"  that Summer and it was on my door step just in time to take to the beach! Her latest release, "The One & Only", just hit bookstores last week. I can't wait to pick up a copy. I was going to pre-order it, but I'm currently reading Sparks' newest novel, "The Longest Ride" and still have Gilbert's newest on my list to purchase, but then again when you're an avid reader your list just keeps getting longer! 

So this was probably a little too wordy, but it is what it is! This list is only short to go along with my link up party, but it does by no means reflect the list of female writers who inspire me. 

There you have it, now it's your turn to link up with us! 

Good Books to Read

I don't know about you, but for me, if an author wants to make my list of good books to read, then s/he must grab my attention from the very first page. I need to feel engaged and connected to the character or it's a bust. So, I'm not sure if it's because I'm a big fan of Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, or because I just didn't enjoy the writing, but I couldn't get into Veronica Roth's Divergent...gasp!

For me, the first few pages of Divergent read too similar to The Hunger Games; talking about their mothers, their hair, the "big day"... on the service both books are about a teenage girl fighting back against society. I know I can't really go on too much about one versus the other since I haven't read Divergent yet, so I'm asking you what your thoughts are if you have read both. Are you a big Katniss fan, but have also found a love for Tris? Do you already have your tickets for the Divergent movie premiere this weekend? I plan on reading Divergent so I can better evaluate and discuss the differences, but right now I am really into Nicholas Sparks. So, it may also have been the fact that at the moment I'm in the romance novel zone and not really in the mood for a sci-fi thriller! Tris, I shall come back to you!

Speaking of Nicholas Sparks, have you read any of his novels or do you only watch the movies based on them? A few years ago, shortly after watching The Notebook, I read Three Weeks with My Brother, which is a memoir Sparks wrote with his brother Micah Sparks. My husband and I read it together and really enjoyed learning about the history of Sparks' family and were inspired by the journey he took with his brother around the world to the Mayan ruins, Easter Island and beyond. 

Believe it or not, when I read Three Weeks with My Brother, it was the first and only Sparks novel I had picked up. It wasn't until this year that I would finally return to his novels and obsess over the need to read them all! I was writing a post for AWS, 7 Best Nicholas Sparks Inspired Movies, when I was inspired to read A Walk to Remember. I had seen the movie starring Mandy Moore and Shane West, but not until I wrote the post did I learn how different the setting of the book was and felt that it was imperative that I truly learned the story of Jamie and Landon. The film is set in the 90's, while the novel was set in the 50's, which is the era I believe I should have been born in! 

I just recently finished True Believer, and after you have seen all of Nicholas Sparks' inspired movies you have this fear that one of the main characters is going to pass away. I was on the edge of my seat thinking, "Please no one die, please stay together and have a happy ending!" It was a unique story about science versus mystery, or fact versus faith. If there isn't any scientific fact to back up what is happening, what others are saying, do you still believe, do you have faith that it's real even if science says otherwise? What happens when one person, Jeremy, believes in discovering the truth using science, while another person, Lexie, just has faith and doesn't need science to back up the feeling that she believes is real? Well, you'll have to find out for yourself when you read True Believer! 

Next, still sitting closed on the side of my bed since I purchased it last week is Sparks' newest release, The Longest Ride. As I was standing in Barnes & Noble, I was again captured by the very first page, like all of Sparks' novels I have read so far. So, why is it still sitting closed, well life gets in the way of a great book sometimes! 

If you have ready any of Nicholas Sparks' books, which one is your favorite? I dare you to pick up just one of them and not want to continue reading more! 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 

What are you reading?

I just picked up a new book, "The Nine Lessons" by Kevin Alan Milne. It's about a young man who is surprised when his wife of seven years becomes pregnant...surprised because he always said he didn't want children. She is just as surprised and excited, but a little hurt by his reaction. The young man didn't have the greatest relationship with his father and he doesn't know how to be one himself. Because of this he actually turns to his father for advice and receives nine lessons. I'm only at chapter 2 but already I can see that it's going to be a great read.


Source


Before "The Nine Lessons" I finished "Sunday's at Tiffany's" by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. I bought this wonderful book while we were on vacation and I finished it on the ride home from vacation! Such imagination is used in this complicated love story about a young girl who finds friendship in an imaginary friend because her mother is too busy being a broadway producer. The complicated part comes when her imaginary friend finds her years later and everyone in the book can now see him. It's a funny love story but a romantic one that kept me reading till the end!

Source