Sometime last year I promised myself that I was going to get back into reading again. Wedding planning is a black hole, a vortex that sucks out all your energy and all the room your brain has for fun things. And for me that was reading. Lately I have been back at it and one of the things that has helped my transition back into “Reader” has been PaperBackSwap.com. This place is a wonder. A miracle. And I’m so sad I wasn’t introduced to it until a few months ago. But I jumped right in and started posting and receiving books. Let me tell you what I’ve received so far.

• The Birth House by Ami McKay
• The River Wife by Jonis Agee
• The End of Alice by A.M. Homes
• Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan
• Country Matters: The Pleasures and Tribulations of Moving from a Big City to an Old Country Farmhouse by Michael Korda
• Sarum by Edward Rutherford
• The Forest by Edward Rutherford
• The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherford
• A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
• The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
• And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer
• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

A few of those are epic sized. No idea when I will get to them, but I am slowly working my way through. During NaBloPoMo I will post my review of The End of Alice, but as we speak it is on its way to the next reader.

What are you reading lately? Are you a member of PaperBackSwap.com? If so, add me as a friend.

TOMORROW: Starting a series of posts covering our honeymoon trip up to Maine and Prince Edward Island, Canada. Long overdue, but I hope you’ll stop by. Lots and lots (and lots!) of pictures.

I know. You’ve been longing for one of these. Here goes.

• First off, question. Does anyone have a good pizza dough recipe to share? I’m trying to find one that my husband will like. I’ve been using plain old Pillsbury and I’ll be honest: it’s not the best. His issue is with the texture. Mine is with the sweetness. I want something that will provide a thin crust, crispy all over. Nothing doughy.
• Batman. Vanishing.
• This is one of my pet peeves as well. I sometimes wish that people who ask these kinds of questions could understand what it’s like to suffer from chronic health issues that don’t always manifest themselves in a way that is visible to the general public. I mean, I could make that happen, but seriously you do not want that. For the record, I would love to be able to participate in things every time a person asks me to. The issues I have suffered from are one of the reasons that I rarely, if ever, volunteer my time or spread myself too thin with obligations. You get really tired of disappointing people after a while.
• The aforementioned is another reason that I hate it when people flake out on plans with no reason.
• Great post from The Happy Housewife on surviving a deployment when you have small children. I have a few friends in this boat and I thought they might find the article helpful.
• While you’re over at The Happy Housewife, take a look at her recipe for Salmon Turnovers. I can’t wait to try these!
• This week I missed meeting The Pioneer Woman at her book signing in Oklahoma City. *cry* But watching this video made me feel a little bit better.
• A little shoutout to Miss Melissa and all the other NaBloPoMo participants joining in this year! I think this is my second year? Can’t remember. I’ll check my archives. Maybe I should have done that before writing this bullet point and floundering around like an imbecile. But that’s why you love me, right?