Monday, August 29, 2011

Excitement and new books!

We had more than a little excitement, this weekend, as we were in Nashville for our son's wedding! Wahoo! We have a daughter-in-law! I can't even begin to tell you how happy we are that our little family has grown. We love our new daughter-in-law and her family. Here's a photo of the happy couple cutting the groom's cake (a TARDIS -- from Dr. Who -- which his aunt Karen slaved over to fabulous effect):

While we were in Nashville, we made a visit to Borders and snatched up a few bargain books. I keep telling my husband I'm so heartbroken about the closing that I feel compelled to take a piece of Borders with me. He says I've got enough pieces, now, thank you very much.

Top to bottom:

Guide to the Birds of East Africa - Nicholas Drayson
How to Write a Sentence - Stanley Fish
The London Train - Tessa Hadley
Reservation Blues - Sherman Alexie
The Bucolic Plague - Josh Kilmer-Purcell
The Borrower - Rebecca Makkai
How to Eat a Small Country - Amy Finley
The Last Letter from your Lover - Jojo Moyes

I'll still do my weekly update, tomorrow -- just wanted to share my joy with you! Hope everyone is having a fabulous Monday!

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

30 comments:

  1. Aw, congratulations Nancy and family! Weddings are so much fun. Great haul of books too.

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  2. Congratulations on the wedding! And on the new books :) I love Alexie's Reservation Blues and hope you'll get the same kind of (thoughtful, intriguing) kick out of it

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  3. Love the cake, beautiful picture :) Also, you can never have enough pieces!! I wish I could pick up a few more ;)

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  4. Yay! That's great, Nancy. Congrats to them and congrats to you on your family getting a bit bigger. :)

    And, new books is always nice, too!

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  5. Congratulations to your son and daughter in law! I wish them years of happiness!

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  6. That groom's cake is the total best! His aunt is amazingly talented! :--) And how wonderful for you that you like your DIL so much! Congratulations to you all!

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  7. Raidergirl3,

    Thank you! Yes, weddings are awesome. So much better than funerals. We've had a few too many of those, so it's been especially nice going to two family weddings, this year, and adding to the family, finally! :)

    I'm going to have fun with those books!

    Ali,

    Thank you! I do love Sherman Alexie, so I have a feeling I'll enjoy Reservation Blues. It'll be my third book by Alexie.

    Amy,

    Thanks! Isn't that cake awesome? Karen worked practically round-the-clock on it and you can tell. It was really amazing. Yes, I wish I could pick up a few more pieces, myself! Our Borders is looking pretty stripped, now. The one we went to in the Nashville area still had a shockingly substantial stock. I wish I could have gone back one more time before we left.

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  8. Such an exciting weekend, indeed! Isn't it lovely when your kiddos are so happy? Wonderful cake, too, by the way! :)

    Enjoy your books. I still have a soft spot for Borders, in spite of working for the competition. It was Borders that showed me how wonderful it is to work in the book biz.

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  9. Kelly,

    Thanks! I know you know how excited I am to be adding to the family. New books actually pale by comparison, but I'm thrilled to have them, too. I think I found some good ones. :)

    Kathy,

    Thank you! I'll pass your wishes on to them. :)

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  10. Congrats on both acquisitions. ;)

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  11. Anonymous6:52 PM

    Congratulations! On the wedding and the books. :-) The Borrower is an excellent piece of Borders to have.

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  12. Congratulations! Most of the books coming in my house right now are from PWS. I am still trying to get rid of boxes of them. I can't focus to read, some weeks I barely finish one book. I have discovered audio books though. Do you have any recommendations? :)

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  13. Jill,

    Isn't it spectacular? Karen't not only talented, she is focused. She was so determined to finish that cake and do it right that she got up early and worked all day in her pajamas!! My daughter-in-law is a pretty amazing woman. You can't help but love and admire her. Thanks!

    Les,

    Yes, don't we all live for that - just hoping our kids will be happy and healthy? The cake was awesome and it even tasted great!

    Thanks. I'll always have a soft spot for Borders, too, having lived in the city where they came into being. I will miss them like crazy.

    Jenny,

    LOL Thanks!

    Ms. Fizz,

    Many thanks! I've read some gushy-positive reviews of The Borrower. I wonder if yours was among them? I'm definitely excited that I found a copy in the 60%-off merchandise. Now, I don't have to wait for the price to drop or a copy to arrive via PBS.

    Brittanie,

    I'm about to dive into purging mode, again. Sorry you're having trouble focusing -- I know the feeling. This has been kind of a pitiful reading year for me, but it's been a really good travel year, so I guess it's a trade-off.

    I don't listen to audiobooks, but I've heard the books by . . . okay, drawing a blank. You know the Mma Ramotswe mysteries set in Africa, like Tears of the Giraffe? That author's books are supposed to be really good on audio.

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  14. I absolutely love the Tardis cake! If we were going to do a special celebration (for an anniversary or something) I'd have to copy that. :)

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  15. Alyce,

    That was one time-intensive creation, but the results were fabulous. I say go for it, if/when you have the opportunity!

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  16. Awwww, we never worked out how you could come through Chattanooga on your way home. I hope someday you will be able to visit me, and I'll show you all the touristy stuff in town -- or we'll just talk and visit.

    Congrats on having a new daughter-in-law. I hope yours is as fabulous as mine. I keep telling her (for 25 years, now) that she's my favorite daughter-in-law. She always grins and adds, "And the only one."

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  17. Bonnie,

    Chattanooga is way out of the way -- we go west through Memphis to get home But, we spent a day or two in Chattanooga (rode the steam train and visited that rock overlook -- Rock Mountain?) about 20 years ago and loved it. We'd both love to go back. Maybe we can work something out in the next couple of years -- prob. not next year, since we're already practically booked solid.

    Haha, Sarah's definitely my favorite daughter-in-law, since I only have one. But, someday I hope I'll have two favorite daughters-in-law. :)

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  18. Wahoo for building a family!!! May they find love, excitement and fun around every corner - and with a cake like that, they are on the right track! Thanks for sharing a piece of your precious life!

    Happy reading.

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  19. Gaye,

    LOL If they're not on the right track, a hop into the TARDIS might straighten things out (but I think they are doing fine). I've missed you! I'm glad you've survived all those horrid fires.

    Thanks and happy reading to you, too!

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  20. Congratulations on your son's wedding! I just love that cake and think that your sister did a great job on it. They look like such a happy couple as well! Wonderful, wonderful news!

    I have stayed away from the Borders sale so far, as I need no books to enter the house right now! I did go by a few times to take a peek, but didn't find all that much there to entice me.

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  21. Zibilee,

    Thank you! The cake was fabulous and Karen worked her socks off making it. We were so impressed. Yes, they're a very happy couple! And, we're thrilled that they've tied the knot. We've been looking forward to their wedding for a long time. :)

    Oh, you are strong. I'm more like, "For I have come to Borders and I am weak." I can't leave without at least a few books. But our local Borders is looking pretty puny, now. Not much left!

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  22. Yo, new mother-in-law, congratulations! Yippee! Love to hear that you love her and her family. Your son and his bride surely look happy. Joy to all from Illinois, and I'll try not to drool o'er your new books.

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  23. Bellezza,

    Thank you! Oh, yes, they're very happy! It was terrific meeting my new daughter-in-law's family. Eldest had told us how much he appreciates them and that they value the same things we do (family, education). Meeting them really brought that home. I couldn't be more thrilled for him.

    You can drool but just be sure to bring tissues. ;) I think I got lucky finding some really great titles. Now, if I can just get back to reading at regular speed. This has been a rather low concentration year, so far. Travel seems to totally whack up my reading. But, I'm having fun with the traveling, so I'm trying to just roll with it.

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  24. Yo?! Bellezza, you do not strike me as the type to say "Yo!" ;)

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  25. It's bigger on the inside! Love, love the cake. We are huge Doctor Who fans. I want to have my front door redesigned to look like the front of the TARDIS.

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  26. Holly,

    That particular TARDIS was actually smaller on the inside, thanks to the strategic use of a bit of styrofoam. LOL We're big Dr. Who fans, too. Hubby got me hooked when we were dating. New DIL had to explain the cake to her crowd, but the little kids were crazy about it. They actually tried to open the doors!

    You should definitely fix your door up to look like the TARDIS door. That would be brilliant!

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  27. Congratulations to the happy couple! What a great cake!

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  28. Thanks, Bybee!

    The cake was awesome. And, it actually tasted good! But, it was really hard to watch people cut it into slices.

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  29. Congratulations on your new daughter in law! I love it when people love their inlaws, I get so sick of the stereotype of hating them, blah blah. I think some people exaggerate for the (also fake) sympathy.

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  30. Congratulations to your son!!

    And great cake. I don't really get the draw of Dr. Who but my husband really enjoys the show so I recognized the TARDIS immediately. Bet it was yummy! ;)

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