A great reader?

I have always wondered what that quote from Pride and Prejudice is all about:

"Miss Eliza Bennet," said Miss Bingley, "despises cards. She is a great reader, and has no pleasure in anything else."
"I deserve neither such praise nor such censure," cried Elizabeth; "I am NOT a great reader, and I have pleasure in many things." 

Was there such a thing as a "nerd" or a "bookworm" back in the Regency period?  For why else would Elizabeth quickly dismiss herself as a "great reader"?  I ask this only because I find that I love to read and would take praise in such a comment.  I was musing the other day on how many books I've read this past year (yes, I'm referring to a year ago to date) and I was able to count 11, possibly forgetting one or two.  And in thinking about the books I read I thought it would be nice to share my top three.  So here goes:

This book epitomizes my favorite style of book:  historical mystery.  It was beautifully written and threw in some fun twists and turns.  I've since by trying to find as many books like it, but so far none have measured up.  Thumbs up to you on this one, Ms Setterfield.  I hope she'll keep on writing!

I'm sure this one is a no-brainer, but just in case some of you book lovers out there have not read this, do so now!  It was insane, amazing, inspiring, and at times disturbing.  The fact that it was a memoir made it all the more awesome.  I was pretty much reading it all the way through with a completely astonished look on my face like "I can't believe this is all TRUE!"  nuff said.

Last but certainly not least, I bring you Flipped.  Yes, it is a young adult book, but the message it gives will be worth it for anyone to read.  I think I read it in 3 days, but I wish it lasted longer.  It just makes me smile thinking about how sweet this story is.  And an added bonus is that Rob Renier was filming the movie version near by last year.  We snooped around hoping to a part of the film but with no luck.  I can't wait to see how the film turns out, I have high hopes!


Ok, well, that's my little musing on books.  If anyone has any recommendations, I sure would love to know them.  I just picked up The Help, which I know is a best seller.  So far so good:)  Hope y'all have a happy weekend!! -S

Road Trip!

 The past few days have been spent touring the mid-west on a mini road trip.  I really needed to get the heck out of the chilly Michigan weather so we headed south to Bloomington, In.  It was soo lovely and hot!!  85 degrees, that's what I'm talking about!  We did some very fun exploring, I'd never been there before so it was fun to check out a new town.  Leiza and Tom were looking out for some very cool historic farm houses.  The picture below was a very typical thing to see them do on the trip.  

On our way back, we headed towards Ohio by way of the Ohio River where we stumbled upon the town of Aurora.  It was founded around 1815 and the architecture just blew my mind!  I wish I took more pictures.  This large mansion was called the "Steamboat Captain's House".  It sit atop of the hill and overlooked the river and the town.  Amazing. 

These were just a few snapshots of the trip, but I'm very sad I forgot to take more.  Another stunning house we explored had original painted linolium floors.  Has anyone seen that before?  We also stopped in to a couple kick-ass antique stores where I stumbled upon some great finds.  Please check out our etsy site to see some of the new treasures.  Cheerie-O! -S