Show Us Your Books Anniversary Edition - What I Read in September

Today is a very special Anniversary Edition of Show Us Your Books - Jana and I are giving away a $50 gift card to Amazon and Bookwormboutique merchandise. There will be two winners - an Amazon winner and a BWB swag winner. You do not need to link up to enter. The giveaway can be found at the bottom of the post after all the links. Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed this link up along with us, whether you've silently been taking notes on your next books to read, commenting with what you've liked recently, or linking up and doing all of the above...thank you. It's been awesome.

Linkup Guidelines:
1. Please visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me
2. Please display the button or link back to us on your blog post
2. Please visit a few other blogs who've linked up and get some book talk going!

Here's what I read since the last linkup. 

Engrossing Reads

Law of Attraction by Allison Leotta - This was fast paced and required a little bit of suspended belief in the legalities of it all, but I was definitely drawn in. A little legalese, a little D.C., a little love, a little violence, a little psychosis. It's a recipe for a winner for me.

The One You Love by Paul Pilkington - Let me come clean immediately and say this book infuriated me and I felt like punching many of the characters and calling them dumbasses as well as punching the author for ending it on a cliffhanger because I will have to read the next one...the almighty BUT here is that regardless of those things I couldn't put the book down and had to stay up until after 1, knowing I'd get less than five hours of sleep, in order to finish it. There's something to be said for that. It's a quick read so I anticipate the next one will be as well. Edited to add: thanks to Michelle in the comments for letting me know this is still free for Kindle. Always good to read the comments on posts like these friends!

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer - I was totally into this story, and I even got MFD to read it too. Well, to start it anyway. Thanks to Kathy Biatchi for this recommendation. It's an age old tale of two rises to the top - one born of privilege and one who had to claw his way there - a few fatal soap opera misunderstandings, and a lot of good stuff along the way.

The Betrayal by Laura Elliot - This book ensared me. The tagline is something ludicrous like a gripping novel of psychological suspense and hot damn, it was. I thought the past that they alluded to was a little wimpy at first, then I was like ohhh. I gobbled it up front to back.

The Doll Maker by Richard Montanari - Recommended by a co-worker, I did not want to put this book down. I read the first book in this series about Philadelphia Homicide Detectives Byrne and Balzano a while back and never picked up any others. This sucked me in immediately. It was extremely creepy. A good candidate for you mystery/suspense fans.


Passed the Time Just Fine

Never Buried (Leigh Koslow Mystery #1) by Edie Claire - This reminded me a little of the unassuming Aurora Teagarden mysteries by Charlaine Harris. A very mild character and a very mild storyline. I think I read another reviewer call them "cozy mysteries" and that's just what they are. I won't run right out to read more, but I didn't mind reading this one.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald - I got this from Netgalley in exchange for a review. I liked the characters and liked the idea of a dead town being revived by books and sheer will. As a reader, I also love the references to books and how the author wove them into the story. The love story in the book seems really underdeveloped, which is a shame. Regardless, this left me with a feel good feeling like I used to get after reading Fannie Flagg books.

Whistling Women by Kelly Romo - Another freebie from Netgalley in exchange for a review. I didn't know much about this book. I liked the cover and the title, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked the story and how it unfolded too. I detested Mary and her speech patterns but enjoyed the other characters.

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C.J. Box - I picked this up in Grand Teton. It's about a Wyoming Game Warden. I was like oh, why not. He was a bit of a wimp sometimes, and I don't really like that. His young daughter also played too heavily in the story too, I don't like that either. I liked this book okay and am curious to see how the character might develop further, so I might give another book in the series a shot.

Girl Defective by Simmone Howell - I very rarely remember who recommended what to me but for some reason I know I saw this on Erin's blog. Maybe because it's an Aussie book? I liked the writing here (some snippets felt lyrical), as well as the characters. I think the story could've been sharper and deeper. There were a lot of interesting plot threads, none of which were done justice I don't think. But it was a fine read as it was.

Hard No

N/A, thankfully. No non starters this month!

This link up happens the second Tuesday of every month. The next one is Tuesday, November 10. 

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Non-bloggers, what have you read recently? Let me know what you recommend and what to stay away from. Bloggers, link up your posts below.

An InLinkz Link-up

One year anniversary giveaway! Two winners. One prize is a $50 Amazon gift card and the other prize is a mug & 8x8 print from bookwormboutique both seen below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TWTW - the one with the old school and the old fools

Friday night was gym, tanning, laundry. Minus the gym and tanning and plus frozen treats a la MFD. MFD: are you taking this picture to shame me? lolol and no.

Saturday morning I went to Lola's house, then I got my nails done and picked up a wallet to replace mine that was lost in the great purse water spill debacle of 2015. You see the ziploc bag there? That was my wallet for a while. hahahaha. I also cleaned the kitchen, read, and hung out with los perros.

Saturday night was our 20th high school reunion. MFD and I headed down to the city with Kim and Christy to meet up with friends for drinks at the Twisted Tail before we set sail on the Spirit of Philadelphia for the reunion. I had an absolute blast. While it's easy to see what many people are doing on facebook, actual face time is irreplaceable. We graduated with over 600 people and knowing everyone in school was impossible. I can't shit on facebook though as I actually know some people better now than I did then, which is awesome. So I spent Saturday night hanging out with my friends who are in my life regularly now, reconnected with some old friends, and made some new ones. MFD and I didn't get a picture together and barely saw each other all night. That's okay...we see each other a lot.

We unveiled our time capsule, which was quite popular. As you can see, MFD's sense of humor is the same.

MFD's note to himself says fart dart doodle, which is still said in our house to this day.

Philly looked good from the water.

We went back to the Twisted Tail after the boat docked, more fun ensued as well as a celebration of Melissa's birthday. My fun, beautiful, full of huge amounts of life friend. Happy happy.

Sunday I woke up not feeling too terrible, thank God (and a late night Wawa stop and water). Kim went to have lunch with her family and Christy headed home. For the first time in a very long time, I found myself with a day spread out before me with no plans. So I laid on the couch and read the rest of my book. It was glorious. Sometimes you need a do nothing day. I so rarely get the opportunity so I snatched it right up.

Otherwise I changed sheets, did some laundry, wrote some blogs, and made dinner. MFD headed down to the shore and Kim and I laid around on the couches like lazy old ladies. I was asleep before 9.

Weekly food prep sans photos because I only have a pic of oatmeal (who wants to see that? No one): this week's breakfasts are oatmeal. Lunches are spinach salads. Dinners are spaghetti & meatballs, honey dijon chicken with rice and steamed broccoli.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary linkup of Show Us Your Books. Jana and I are doing two giveaways to celebrate the occasion - you don't have to link up to enter. See you then! 

I don't have today off. As a matter of fact, I have a day full of meetings. Pray for me. 

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending

How to Make Wild Game a Part of Your Family's Diet

Saturday in the hizzy. Non-meat eaters, this post is not for you. I'll see you back here Monday! Today Jessie Hughes is back with some words on something that's been on my mind lately since we ate our share of wild game on our wild west trip. I also have a love of wild turkey since my uncle has caught some wild turkey for our Thanksgiving table, and I enjoy venison and especially venison jerky as well. 

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It's always fun to take your palette on an adventure when you're at a restaurant that features wild game, but few of us are bold enough to take the plunge in our own kitchens. But if you hunt or have a hunter in the family, you know that you don't need a Michelin star to work wild game into your weekly meal plan and that experimenting with a new type of meat can be the perfect solution to the age old question "chicken...again?" The good news is that even if you don't have an expert marksman providing you with fresh caught meat, you can hunt down wild game from friends with excess (a sizable deer can yield over 50 pounds of meat), through specialty markets, or even buy it online. Here are a few tips and ideas on how you can stop thinking of wild game as a rare treat and start incorporating it into your family's diet.

Jerky: the Perfect Protein Punch

Making your own jerky is one of the easiest ways to begin experimenting with a range of game meats. All you need is any type of game (venison, elk, buffalo, duck, alligator, etc.), seasoning and a dehydrator and you are on your way to making a fantastic healthy snack. First, prep the meat by cutting back any excess fat. This is an important step because fat will not cure and can make you sick. Next, cut the meat into thin strips. You'll make that job much easier if you freeze the meat for a few hours before slicing. Finally, after marinating the strips in a resealable bag for three to six hours using your favorite flavor combination, simply place the meat in your dehydrator and walk away. When you come back, you'll have a protein-filled snack.

Ground Game: Spicing up Your Old Recipes

Ground meat is another way that beginners can include wild game into their repertoire with confidence. If you're not up for grinding your own meat, take it to your local butcher and have him do it for you. Ground game can generally be used in place of ground beef in any recipe. Instead of your traditional chili, try using ground moose or venison. Spice up your burger night using bison or elk instead of beef. The main thing to consider when replacing ground beef with wild game is the game meat will generally contain less fat, but with the right techniques it's easy to avoid dry or chewy meat. For example, when grilling ground game, reduce the cooking time, because the leaner meat will generally cook faster. Also, you can add additional fat, such as bacon, or use a mixture of game and beef to keep your ground meat moist.

Wild Birds: Nothing Fowl About It

If you are already cooking meals using chicken or domestic turkey, although there is a difference in flavor, the preparation of wild birds like turkey, pheasant and quail will feel familiar. In general, like most wild game, wild birds are leaner animals and their meat has a stronger, or "gamier," flavor. For a quick meal that is sure to please everyone in the family, make sliders using quail breast. For something more formal, roasting a whole wild turkey makes for an impressive, yet not labor intensive, dinner.

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Are you into the wild game?

We all read different books

One of the things I love most about reading is how intensely personal it is.

We all have preferred book types we like to read. Sometimes we have similar interests in books as friends of ours.Even when that happens, we never read the same book as someone else.

A book hits you differently based on where you are in your life and what's going on around you. Since no two people have identical experiences, memories, or associations, we interact with books differently. Hell, I interact with books differently based on my life stage.

Books I read when I was 18 are different books when I reread them at 38. I think it's wonderful how our brains and hearts react and interact with material and characters and how that changes based on our life stage. We look at old favorites with new eyes and have new experiences to apply to things that happen in the book. I can recall where I read certain favorite books of mine and still see myself there, reading them in my mind. I remember what I felt when I read them for the first time. I remember being that girl, and I remember all the years and miles between then and now. Some things in that book look different to me.

Just something I find interesting. My favorite book can be one you hate, and neither of us are wrong.

Hope to see you link up on Tuesday, October 13 for Show Us Your Books with me and Jana of Jana Says. To thank you for reading, loving books, and linking up if you have, we're giving away some prizes in honor of the one year anniversary of this link up. You will not need to link up to be a winner.

Have a great weekend mon frers! I'll be attending my 20 year high school reunion. No shit.

Road Trip: Grand Teton

If I had to use word association for this trip, I'd say Badlands = vast, lonely, fierce; Yellowstone = science, move, cool; Grand Teton = beautiful. Like so beautiful it hurts your soul a little bit. Grand Teton seemed to be less about the see and more about the be. It was for us at least.

By the time we left Yellowstone, I was ready to relax. Maybe it was because we didn't have as much on the agenda here, or because we spent the first day basically eating and lounging simply because we were too beat for anything else. Or maybe because I had it in my head after reading Trip Advisor that many people retreated to the Tetons to just be after tearing ass around Yellowstone.

Fall was much more apparent in the Tetons than it was in Yellowstone, and the atmosphere in general was very laid back. It was a nice coasting ride into the park. 

Fall splendor entering the Tetons, lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge, a stop at Chapel of the Sacred Heart

Our place to just be was Signal Mountain Lodge - I did a lot of research and am so glad I chose this one. We had lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge and were in the Jenny Lake Lodge area and none of them had better views than we had or proximity to the lake. Signal Mountain had a great down to earth vibe.

I really loved the staff at Signal Mountain Lodge, the rooms themselves, their commitment to sustainability, the food in the Trapper Grille (we ate there for two dinners, a lunch, and a breakfast), and the toiletries, believe it or not. I ended up hunting them down online and ordering them. The room was pricey for my standards ($374/night), but it was for our anniversary and it was worth it. I'd save up to stay there again in a heartbeat.

Thursday morning we took a scenic cruise ($70/PP) on the Snake River run by guides from Signal Mountain. Chris was informative and funny. We were on the cruise with a couple of ladies from Kentucky who were smart and witty and a retired guy from Long Island who was a freaking forensic scientist when he worked. I tried to keep the CSI/Criminal Minds questions to a minimum as he was out trying to enjoy nature and not discuss dead bodies, but I couldn't resist a few. He did say Patricia Cornwell has it pretty realistic. Anyway great group, lots of conversation, plenty of laughs, and phenomenal views.

After that, MFD suggested we do a little hike. We ended up taking the boat across from Jenny Lake and hiking up to Inspiration Point. We are novice hikers. I thought I'd die on the way there. But we did it, and we made the boat back by the skin of our teeth. It was exhilirating and really tiring. I took zero pictures the entire time but MFD snapped a few. At least the views were really beautiful when I had to pull over and rest every 50 yards. High altitude is no joke. I don't do well in it. I loved how I felt at the bottom though - loose and on a natural high.

Boat ride over / me at the top of Inspiration Point / Jenny Lake

We tooled around after that, stopping at overlooks to marvel at the grandeur of the Tetons from all angles.

We headed out of the park to get to Mormon row. The infamous barn roof is under construction as you can see in the first shot. Can you imagine settling in the backyard of the Tetons? Yeah this spot looks good.

We ended the day by driving up to the summit of Signal Mountain. Wonderful views of the valley and glimpses of the sun setting behind Grand Teton.

And saw this show back at our room:

On the way out we stopped at the Menor homestead and saw a moose! MFD almost crapped his pants he was so excited. I had tears as we were leaving. I was just so grateful for everything on the trip, and to end it in a place of stunning natural beauty was just the absolute icing on the cake.

Last photo bottom left - Moose! Directly next to that is the cabin where Grand Teton National Park was voted into conception, and the rest of the photos are Menor's Homestead

The Dirty Details: 
Days 7 & 8: Grand Teton
Hotel: Signal Mountain Lodge Upper Lakefront Cabin ($374/night tax included)

Day Nine: Teton checkout and day in Jackson
Hotel: Elk Refuge Inn ($207/night)

I definitely expected things in Teton and Jackson to be further apart based on how far things were in Yellowstone. That was not the case. We definitely could've stayed another night at Signal Mountain and made our way to the airport relatively easily, although it's a little less of a straight run than it was from Jackson. It is also definitely feasible to stay in Jackson and go to the park each day without missing much in terms of drive time.

All posts in the Road Trip series:
Badlands, The day we saw it all, Little Bighorn & Beartooth Highway, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson Hole

If you've read the road trip series all the way through, thanks for traveling along with me. If you're considering any portion of the trip and would like to discuss hotel or money particulars, let me know. I am going to do an overarching National Parks trip blog about things that were important for me to know or things I didn't know and wish I did sometime in the future, so look out for that.

MFD tagged me in a post with this quote on Facebook, and it can sum up this trip perfectly:

“The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown.” ― Paul Theroux