Wednesday, January 17, 2007

They say it's my Birthday :)

It's my birthday!!! Happy birthday tooooo meeeeee!

If I hadn't promised THAT DOG that we wouldn't get a monkey, I'd ask for a visit from this Chimp, whose first act upon seizing her freedom was to clean the bathroom. That's what I like to see in a pet - initiative! (THAT DOG is staring at me, as if to say, "I have no thumbs - how much cleaning can I possibly do???")

Putting my monkey dreams behind me, I'm heading over to Amazon to buy myself a little something from my wish list. I started this tradition a few years ago, when life was pretty grim and the prospect of another year wasn't something I necessarily wanted to celebrate. So I'd force myself out to the bookstore and pick out a book to encourage me to keep on keepin' on. One year it was about writing. The next about developing good character (instead of living life as if I was a character, trapped in a sitcom where bad things just keep happening). Last year my birthday kicked off my memoir craze, and I double-treated myself to the stories of a rocker chick (I even went to her launch party) AND a starving kid from West Virginia who grew up to be a NYC gossip columnist. This year...well, I already feel extra birthday celebrated because an advance copy of this delicious-looking novel was in the mailbox yesterday :) As for my trip to Amazon, it will be fun to see what jumps out at me and announces, "I am your birthday book for 2007!"

Any suggestions????

11 comments:

Jess Riley said...

Happy Birthday!!!! I just ordered a bunch of books from B&N and I can't remember a single one. Oh well, this way it'll be a surprise when they get here. (I think one was "The Book Thief.")

Speaking of, you should get that so we can discuss it later.

Enjoy your day!!

Anonymous said...

You know That Dog cleans everything with her tongue. Can you blame her for shooting you a dirty look?

Happy Birthday!!!

Alyssa Goodnight said...

Happy Birthday!!
What better present than a trip through Amazon's well-stocked aisles...except maybe a bathroom-cleaning chimp. Having cleaned the bathrooms myself today, that sounds like a VERY attractive quality.

So glad you've stepped out of the sitcom world!

xxxx said...

Oooh, birthday girl! I love birthdays. What a fun tradition ... although I don't have any books to suggest off the top of my head! I hope you had a fabulous day!

Karen said...

Happy Birthday!! I've read a couple of novels by Meg Wolitzer recently (The Position and The Wife) that I really enjoyed - funny, great dialogue, but poignant and "true" in many ways too. Or how about a fun collection of cartoons like Roz Chast's "Theories of Everything?" Hope you have a great day! :)

Kari Lee Townsend said...

Happy B-Day. I need to spend my gift card and Barnes and Noble soon. Been too busy lately to do any reading anyway.

Stacy said...

Happy birthday! Or I suppose it is a late birthday now.

Gosh, book recommendations. I can't ever think of anything unless I am in front of my bookshelves. I guess I could look at my sister's bookshelves, but I haven't read a lot of those books.

Okay, just asked the sister. She can't think of anything either.

LEstes65 said...

I will spare you my list of favorite books as they are never in your genre and are often just wise-ass replies. But thank you for your sanity saving recommendation for my reading pleasure. And I got the book you sent me yesterday (even on day 3 of the ice storm). I did what you said and started saving my emails on The Subject and will one day write a book you can buy on your birthday. Can't wait to buy yours! Then I'll fly up to BeanTown to have you sign it!!!! I'll send you a pink floppy bow for you to wear to all of your book signings.

Deb R said...

HappyHappy Birthday!

Have you read Replay (Ken Grimwood)? The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield)? Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen)? gods in Alabama or Between, Georgia (Joshilyn Jackson)? I'd highly recommend any of those if you're in a novel-reading frame of mind.

I don't read much non-fiction, so I'm not much help there. :-)

I love your book-buying birthday tradition!

Anonymous said...

I rarely comment, but since it is your birthday, I'll come out of my state of lurking and wish you a very happy birthday! My suggestions: Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos or An Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

Michelle O'Neil said...

Happy B-day a little late!