Monday 5 List #27-Time

I've heard it said that time moves faster as you get older. I agree. At this stage in my life I'm the busiest I've ever been. Between work, professional commitments, my personal life, my Etsy business, and things I enjoy such as travel, reading, movies and gardening I feel like I have little time to catch my breath. In fact as I write this post I am simultaneously listening to a YouTube video, checking online auctions and cooking risotto. So for today's Monday post, here are the 5 things I try and catch up on when I have time.

1. YouTube. I am a YouTube junkie. I subscribe to 6 channels, mainly on fashion or travel and I try to stay current with the channel uploads. See video below. 
2. Travel Planning. Paul and I are leaving in a few weeks for an extended trip to California. We will be flying into San Francisco and then spending a few days exploring Napa and Sonoma before driving down the coast and spending a few days in LA. I've been to California many times but this will be my first trip to wine country and I am so excited. When I have a few moments I am trying to research vineyards and places to stop along the coast such as Hearst Castle. I really want to see the Library there. 
3. Once Upon a Time. Now that Downton Abbey is over for another season (can you BELIEVE the ending, poor Matthew!) I watch the ABC program Once Upon a Time. The series is in it's 2nd season and I love the way they mix up classic fairy tales with a modern and rather twisted spin. Thank goodness for my DVR, being able to record TV allows me to skip all the commercials. 
4. Sleep. Seriously I can sleep. I have new room darkening heavy drapes in my French style bedroom and if I have a morning off I can easily sleep 12 hours.
5. Google Reader. I, like millions of other people was caught off guard when Google announced last week that they are closing down Google Reader. I've been using Google Reader for years to organize the dozens of RSS feeds I subscribe to from my favorite websites and blogs. I have no idea what platform I am going to move to when it shuts down on July 1 but I'm trying to keep up with my feeds until then.

So whatever you do when you have free time. I hope you spend it doing something that makes you happy. If you have 10 minutes of time, here is a must see video, it will make you smile and maybe cry too.

Monday List #25-For Voyeurs

On the web? Of course you are. Phone, tablet, whatever, you're out there.

Today's Monday 5 List is for the readers who are voyeurs like myself. You like to look.

So the next time you're sick on the couch with your iPad or taking a break from answering email at work, here are 5 websites I recommend for visual goodies and inspiration.

1. Pinterest. I've been browsing this website for awhile but only started "pinning" a few months ago. Not familiar with pinterest, it's a virtual pin board, you see an image you like on the web, you pin it to your collection of boards, clicking on the image once pinned takes you to the source of the image (blogs, websites, flickr accounts etc). Others can re-pin your pin, you can re-pin other's pins and on and on and on. I use it for recipes, style and great vintage sources. You can find me on pinterest here.
2. StyleLikeU. A great site for browsing people's closets. Yup, photos and interviews with everyone from celebrities to designers, shop owners, musicians, writers etc..I love the images of messy closets, cluttered bedrooms, cherished mementos and the stories behind the clothes they wear and the trinkets they have in their homes.
3. Flickr's What's In Your Bag Group. Completely. Addictive. Thousands of images from people all around the world of the items they carry in their purse, tote, backpack, carryon etc... Hover over an image and see little popups about the items. Fun, cool and sometimes shocking what people carry in their bags.
4. Apartment Therapy. You can dig and dig in this website and always find something inspiring. Want to see the inside of tiny apartments in New York City. They're in here. How about clever ways to decorate on a budget? Its in here too. It's a time suck, beware.
5. Hooked on Houses. Have a favorite movie or television series house? Good chance it's on this fun website. Some of my favorites are on here including the house in Something's Got to Give, Practical Magic, Under the Tuscan Sun and Kate Winslet's house in The Holiday. Celebrity homes and featured homes about the world are here too. The movie homes I am waiting to see on this website are Harry and Sally's apartments from When Harry Met Sally.

Virtual Chicago

"It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago - she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time"

Mark Twain "Life On The Mississippi," 1883

Whether you are a new resident or a lifelong Chicagoan like myself, there is always something to discover here.

Here are a few of my favorite websites that report on, explore, challenge and inspire Chicagoans or anyone who loves this City:

• Chicagoist -A great all around website for everything Chicago
• ChicagoNow - Some of the best bloggers in the City
• Chicago is the World -A mix of news and exploration
• Chicago Public Library - Explore the collections, find exhibits, research and more
• Daily Candy -This website has gotten better with time, a Chicago girl must
• Everyblock - Live within the City? Then check out what's happening on your block
• Family Farmed - Eat better, support local farmers and responsible restaurants
• Metromix - For when you are looking for something to do
• Roger Ebert - The movie critic and Chicagoan at his best
• Windy Citizen - Pulls Chicago content to one place

Looking for more? Then check out Chicago Magazine's list of 171 Great Chicago Websites.

Learning to Cook By Book and Blog

Regular readers of this blog know that I have a wee addiction to cook books. Yes it's true...I read them like fiction. So a couple of years ago one of my New Years Resolutions was to FINALLY learn how to cook. Well it's probably one of the only NYR I have ever kept, not only am I still learning but I'm enjoying the process!

You might be wondering how I've managed to raise a 17 year old, 6'5, 170 pound son without learning to cook until recently. Early on I mastered simple meals such as sandwiches, tacos, salads, homemade mac and cheese, omelets, rice dishes, pasta and soup. Plus as a vegetarian I've always prepared a lot of fresh fruit and veggies. In fact I made my own baby food for my son when he was small! I've very proud to say he never ate anything Gerber, EVER. Now that my son is older and usually grabbing a bite with his friends, I'm entertaining more than ever. For my family, myself and my guests I really wanted to learn how to cook healthy, delicious, sustainable, locally grown meals without using processed foods that included microwave instructions. (In our house we've been happily microwave free for almost 4 years).

Thanks to my cook book obsession I've cultivated a few recipes, tweaked a couple to make them my own and regularly experiment with fresh local ingredients. I also follow a few excellent cooking blogs including:

Dragon's Kitchen
Elle's New England Kitchen
Great Depression Cooking With Clara
He Cooks, She Cooks (by one of my bestest friends Heather!)
The Left Over Queen
Pioneer Woman
Poor Girl Eats Well
Recipe Girl
Tamra Davis Cooking Show

A few months ago I took an Italian cooking class and while we were sampling what we made, I was more interested in the chef's cooking tips. My favorites:

1. Buy fresh Italian parsley in bulk, wash it, chop it and store it in a canning jar in the fridge with a bit of oil to keep it moist. I have it on hand to toss in homemade tomato sauce, eggs etc...

2. Ditto with fresh onion and garlic. I find throwing together a quick pico de gallo, omelet, couscous, etc is so much easier now that I have fresh chopped ingredients ready to go.

3. Keep stocked with pantry staples like olive oil, cans of diced tomatoes, jar of chipotle peppers, chickpeas, whole wheat pasta, canned pineapple, dried or canned beans, tuna, brown rice, etc...

Last night I made a quick meal for my son and I. Here is the recipe:

Shannon's Miso Tilapia with Couscous and Lemon Parmesan Asparagus

Fish:

2 pieces fresh or thawed tilapia or other mild white fish

1/4 cup mirin sauce

1/2 cup mild yellow miso paste

Couscous

I use whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe's.

I added some fresh pico de gallo I had in the fridge to the cooked couscous.

Fresh Asparagus (a large bundle, approximately 20 stalks)

1 large lemon
3-4 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (grate your own, don't waste your time with the junk that is made by Kraft)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk the mirin and the miso paste together. Wash and pat dry the fish fillets. Spray a small glass baking dish with non stick cooking spray. Coat the fish with a thin layer of the mirin/miso mixture. I brush it on both sides. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. The sauce will slightly caramelize on the fish.

While the fish is cooking prepare your couscous. (The Trader Joe's whole wheat couscous takes about 5 minutes once the water has boiled) While couscous is cooking, wash and pat dry your asparagus. In a large skillet add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat (I drizzle 3 times around to coat the bottom). Add the asparagus and toss to combine in the olive oil. Cover and let simmer until the asparagus starts to soften slightly. While cooking, wash and dry the lemon and grate the peel (carefully, not the bitter white pith beneath, just the yellow peel). Slice the lemon after grating the peel. Check on asparagus, it should be slightly browned but not overly limp. (How I test my asparagus, grab a piece at the bottom of the stem, if it still stands up fully it's not done enough, slightly drooping at the top is how I like it). Toss in the grated lemon peel, squeeze in the lemon juice from the entire lemon and add the Parmesan cheese. Toss to combine flavors before you turn off the heat.

Remove fish from oven and serve with a large scoop of the couscous (with what ever you have added in to flavor the couscous like pico de gallo, fresh herbs, peppers, spinach etc. Although my son prefers his couscous plain) and the asparagus. I also heat up fresh pita bread which is a handy and yummy way to scoop up the leftover caramelized miso paste and couscous off your plate.

Enjoy!

P.S. The miso fish recipe was adapted from a recipe I saw Gwyneth Paltrow make on Oprah. You can buy mirin sauce in the Asian aisle of larger grocery stores or at stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Miso paste is usually in the refrigerated section of specialty food stores. I purchase from my local Mitsuwa Market.

Fascinating Blog on "Oddities"

I don't know if there is a weirder or more fascinating blog than this one, Oddee.

Here is a recent entry on the 10 Most Fascinating Castles and Palaces. Why not? And after you've read about castles you can skim through blog entries on everything from tattoos to cruel wives. I kid you not, it's a lot of fun. Kinda like News of the Weird and Ripley's Believe It Or Not rolled into one.

Home Views

Here is a little secret... I am the daughter and sister of 2 women who like myself, are home spys. (Oh and cemetery lovers, but that is another post.) To summarize a trip with my mom and sister, we shop, eat, wander through cemeteries and tour homes. During our trip to Charleston last month we toured a number of historic homes and gardens organized by the Historic Charleston Foundation. Here is what I found interesting about Charleston homes.

• The kitchen is not the heart of the house. In the Old South, kitchens were often separate buildings in the yard due to residents fears about fire. As kitchens were moved inside the homes they were almost an afterthought. In the dozen or so homes we toured, we never saw large kitchens or open concept living. There were no kitchen islands or great rooms, but small rooms which flowed into one another. The kitchens are often small and in the middle of the house, surrounded by cozy libraries, formal dining rooms, expansive entry ways and almost always surrounded by large verandas and porches. I found it fascinating that the hostess wants to be out of the kitchen, mingling with her guests outdoors or enjoying formal dining. A very, very different style from the Midwest and one I really liked. It created a much cozier atmosphere, but also one of formal living, where guests still dress up for parties and enjoy a cocktail in a library not standing around a kitchen island and the hostess mingles with her guests throughout her home and garden.
  

Last year during the weeks I spent at Oxford (my mom was my companion for the trip) we had a nightly ritual. First we enjoyed a delicious meal with friends at our college dining hall and then we walked. We wandered through the streets of Oxford, often at dusk, just as people were arriving home from work, sitting down for dinner or relaxing in their gardens. Dusk...just as the lights come on but it's not quite dark...is the perfect time to glimpse the way people live.

However because I don't want to get arrested for being a "Peeping Tom", and a glimpse into a house when walking by is a quick fix, I feed my home/real estate addiction through films, TV and the Internet. It should come as no surprise that I religiously watch HGTV's House Hunters and House Hunters International. And then there are my 2 favorite websites dedicated to all things home spying. I've been reading The Real Estalker for a couple of years and love it. Hysterically written and always full of big, beautiful usually celebrity homes. Recently I found the site Hooked on Houses, the perfect mix of regular homes, before and after pictures, featured celebrity homes and the houses, brownstones, vacation getaways etc we love from our favorite movies. There are dozens of your favorite film homes listed on the site (Father of the Bride, The Holiday, Notting Hill, An Affair to Remember, Twilight) but my favorite movie house of all time, is Diane Keaton's beach house in Something's Gotta Give. You'll find a few movie homes adapted from novels such as Atonement, Brideshead Revisited, Chocolat and Gone with the Wind. Enjoy the tours!

Ever wonder if we are too plugged in?

I am heading to Charleston South Carolina in a few days for a long girls weekend and anticipating the charm of the Old South and the delicious taste of a cold mint julep. I am also looking forward to turning off my laptop for a few days.

Like so many tech junkies I have a daily routine, mine begins with enjoying a cup of tea while checking my email. Some mornings while perusing my email there may or may not be cold leftovers from last nights dinner or if I am lucky some fresh bread from the farmers market toasted and smeared with goat cheese. After I quickly check my multiple email accounts, 3 with Comcast (down from 5), 1 with Gmail (a new account) and 1 with Yahoo (a very old account) I am ready to check the rest of my online accounts. Daily I usually update Facebook, send a Tweet to Twitter, try and blog here on Blogger and read my latest feeds with Google Reader.

Weekly I try and update my Goodreads account to track what I am reading, check Instapaper and or SpringPadIt for articles I want to read online and check eBay for auctions I am watching or bidding on. Too much? Ummm ya. So how do we disconnect or can we?

The library where I work no longer carries copies of tax forms. Patrons can access the Internet from within the library and print out any forms they need from irs.gov and il.us. Last year in an effort to Go Green I canceled my subscriptions to my local paper and the Chicago Tribune and instead visit their websites when I need a news fix. My investment reports and bills are online and any appointments I have are scheduled with Google calendar or Microsoft Outlook. I'm trying to think of anything besides books I actually read on paper anymore and any services that haven't gone electronic.

So is it possible to disconnect completely? When I am teaching my beginning email and Internet class to patrons, a few people are completely new to the Internet, some have an email address but don't know how to use it and then there are the patrons who have never used the computer and are still learning to use a mouse. As I show them how to access and navigate the Internet and how to open and send an email I always get the same questions. They want to know why they can't call a company anymore for customer service, why they instead have to send an email or fill out an online form. They are frustrated that coupons they used to get in the paper are now online and that when they buy an appliance or an airline ticket they have to provide an email address for a warranty or to print their ticket. It's a fact, in today's society it's almost impossible to disconnect.

In the next 48 hours as I prepare for my trip I will check in for my flight online, hire a cab through online reservations, make dinner and tour reservations online and check my flight status from my phone. Once I get to the airport I will check my email and update my Facebook and Twitter status from my phone and then hopefully....disconnect. At least until I get to Charleston when I have to check my email for dinner reservation confirmation, use the GPS on my phone to navigate the historic district and send pictures to my online albums documenting my trip. Seriously, maybe I will just leave my phone at home...

Blogs I Love Right Now

I love when I stumble across a fantastic blog. I read each of the blogs listed below as they are updated thanks to the magic of Google Reader. I've included a brief description of each and why I heart them. You might like them too. Happy Reading!



The photographs on The Sartorialist are gorgeous. Real people in real locations. The fashions inspire me and the people make me want to travel, drink red wine and wander the cobbled streets of Paris and Milan.
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Over at Poor Girl Eats Well blogger Kimberly is a young, single woman living in California who shares her struggles to eat well on a very tight budget. She's creative, funny and inspiring. I've been broke, like really broke when I was a single 22 year old college drop out with a new baby. I get her desire to eat healthy and keep food on the table but I wasn't half as creative as she is with $25 and a grocery list. I like her moxy.
http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/

And then we have Clara at Great Depression Cooking. She's 94 and cooks from the heart. Love her and her great home cooking videos. I think she knows the secrets of life. She's also got a great Facebook page and YouTube channel.
http://depressioncooking.blogspot.com/

At Sea of Shoes our blogger is a Texas teenager who debuted in Paris last year at a debutant ball. She seems to have an unlimited budget for clothes (how many teen girls do you know who wear Chanel and Prada?) and a passion for fashion. Her photographs are divine and inspire me to think outside the box with clothes and costume jewelry. Oh and her Mom blogs too at Atlantis Home. I want to live in her closet.
http://seaofshoes.typepad.com/sea_of_shoes/
http://atlantishome.typepad.com/

And finally my favorite blog of the moment and shockingly by another teenage girl. Clothes, Cameras and Coffee is charming, ethereal and whimsy. Her name is Roz and I don't think she is even old enough to drive. She lives in rural England, recruits her family and friends to take pictures of her dreamy thrift store/family heirloom clothes and jewelry and the locations are drop dead gorgeous. Like Alice in Wonderland meets Jane Austen. Oh and her love of reading inspires her looks. Love watching her grow up through her photographs and rambling writings.
http://clothescamerasandcoffee.blogspot.com/

Have a blog recommendation, share it in the comments!

Create Your Own Photo Videos

A couple of years ago I started using Animoto, a website that allows you to create short videos from your photo and video clips. You can add music from Animoto's music library and chose from their consumer or commercial collections. I'm considering paying the yearly fee in order to create more personalized and longer videos. Currently as a free user I am able to create an unlimited amount of videos but only at 30 seconds each. Below you can watch the first video I created in 2008 using pictures of my family, it does include music. Animoto is easy to use and a fun tool to replace boring slide shows.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Ten in 2010 Challenge

Over on The Recipe Girl blog is a challenge to get fit (or fitter) in 10 weeks. After my friend Heather, (her food blog is a fav) told me about it, I signed on too. Like so many people I've made a New Years resolution to eat better, get more exercise and just live healthier and also like so many I find it's easier with a little encouragement from others. Some of the great things about the Ten in 2010 challenge is the flexibility to set your own goals, the choice to share your struggles and triumphs (or not) and the opportunity to network with other people who want to make a healthy difference in their lives.

In case you are interested and as a little reminder to myself here are my goals for the Ten in 2010 challenge.

1. Eat healthier
2. Expand my vegetarian cooking
3. Practice yoga 3-4 times a week
4. Stretch and lift arm weights daily
5. Give up alcohol for 6 weeks and then drink less throughout the year
6. Detox on a regular basis
7. Maintain a daily food and exercise diary
8. Take a regular array of vitamins
9. Drink more water
10. No late night eating

If you are wondering how I'm doing since I started on January 1, pretty darn good if I do say so.

1. I'm a healthy eater to begin with, being a vegetarian helps but I am cutting back on my weaknesses like chips and salsa, salty snacks and unbalanced meals. I've swapped eating out at Italian restaurants (the bread gets me every time) and instead chosen Japanese and Korean restaurants for sushi and banchan (Korean side dishes like kimchi and namul).
2. I've cooked 2-3 new recipes a week including a cauliflower soup, tortilla soup, a new spinach salad and various vegetable dishes.
3. I'm practicing Hatha and Yin yoga by following a 45 minutes routine by instructor Patti Asad and a group class in a friend's basement.
4. Stretching daily and lifting 5 lb arm weights has been a breeze. I spend 15-20 minutes a day doing this while watching tv in the evenings.
5. Ya this one is tough, especially socially. I've been to a party and dinners out and have declined all alcohol. I miss a glass of wine or a cold beer on the weekends but am enjoying trying new teas like roasted barley tea.
6. I'm planning my 1st detox of the year for the 4th weekend in January.
7. This has been easy, I use the Lose It app on my iTouch. This great app is easy to use and has a terrific library of searchable foods and exercises.
8. Daily I take a multi vitamin, fish oil and vitamin C
9. Drinking more water has been easy with the great variety of stainless steel bottles I have. Also adding lemon or sliced cucumber is delicious and helps get more than 6 glass a day down.
10. I don't touch anything except water after 8 pm. This has been easy so far because I don't crave things after dinner but I think it will get harder on the weekends especially if I'm not going out until later in the evening.

If you are interested in joining the Ten in 2010 challenge than visit The Recipe Girl's blog and sign up. Whether you do or not, I'm interested to know what your healthy New Years Resolutions are and how you're doing.

Let's Say Thanks

During this week of Thanksgiving there is a great website for saying "Thank You".
Let's Say Thanks, allows users to submit a message of thanks to US troops overseas. Your message will be printed on a personalized postcard and mailed to servicemen and women.
I've always been a believer in the power of the written word, especially a thank you card. This website shares the message.

Salon's Literary Guide to the World

This website is just downright cool. Described as a "literary journal" this site allows you to navigate the world and find the best literature about a destination or travel virtually. My favorite literary destination right now, Gypsy Europe, totally fascinating look at a misunderstood culture. You can check out the Literary Guide to the World here.

Librarian Trading Cards

I'm a trading card! Check mine out here: http://librariantradingcards.blogspot.com/2009/08/51-lively-librarian.html
This very cool idea is from The Original Librarian Trading Cards website and you can request your own by emailing Amy at libserves@gmail.com. You can also visit the site by scrolling down this page and clicking on the link to the website under my list of favorite blogs.
WOW, I feel like a superhero in the library world now!

Daryl Hannah's Eco Green Website

I discovered Daryl's Hannah's website through a link on Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Cancer site and am now a regular browser. Her site is here and is an eclectic mix of video blog, green news and earth friendly products. Her lovelife goods page has a great selection of items in 4 categories, everyday essentials, fantasy playthings, home-body and kids& pets. The stainless steel food and beverage carriers and kitchen compost bucket are an excellent price and a must have. I've just ordered an organic sunscreen and am thinking of buying the cozy and soft bamboo surfer robe. I've also got my eye on a piece of jewelery made from recycled gold.
Hannah besides being a respected actress is a keen environmentalist and her sustainable solution blogs are worth a watch. She's definitely on my list of the people I want to share a meal with.

Do You Know What's Going Digital?

The cover story of the Friday May 8 issue of The Wall Street Journal (titled The Next Age of Discovery) is about the race to digitize precious items from the past. Scholars, scientists, librarians and others are using digital technology to preserve rare manuscripts and artifacts from collections around the world. As I prepare to leave for London in a few days I have been searching the digitized collection of the British Library and have found wonderful images of works by Leonardo da Vinci and Jane Austen. The Library of Congress has an amazing collection called "American Memory" that includes slave narratives, maps, recordings and thousands of images. One of my favorites are the images of the contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets on the evening he was assassinated. For a glimpse, click here.
How much more fascinating is the study of the past when you can see it? Here is a list of websites to browse compiled by The Wall Street Journal:
The British Library
The Library of Congress
The World Digital Library
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri at Oxford
Codex Sinaiticus
The Archimedes Palimpsest

Must Have Gadgets for the Office

Obviously I can live without everything on this list, but some of these gadgets are so fun I just have to have them (especially the USB Coffee/Tea Warmer and the USB Humidifier with Aromatherapy).
http://thehottestgadgets.com/2008/09/19-really-cool-gadgets-for-your-office-or-cubicle-001534

Great Magazine and Website-Lucky

So I'm a wee bit fashion obsessed. Not go-into-debt-have-to-buy-that-new-Fendi-bag obsessed but a healthy I-like-a-challenge-to-find-it-on-sale obsessed.
I'll admit I have too many bags and coats (my addictions) but I pride myself on being a smart shopper. I teach an online shopping class at the library and with the magic of the Internet rarely pay full price (except that Louis Vuitton purse I bought in Europe, but it's an investment bag!) and enjoy showing the patrons how to save a buck.
One of my favorite magazines and one of only 2 I still subscribe too (besides Vanity Fair) is Lucky. This fun magazine includes a pull out sheet with little flag stickers that say maybe or yes that you can use to tag the items you want to buy. Stocked full of style tips, great bargains and profiles it's a great mag for the fashion lover. The Lucky website is equally fun to browse through with even more features than the magazine.
Check out the website here: http://www.luckymag.com/

Do you Skype?

A couple of years ago friends in the UK told me about the website Skype. I remember thinking "a website that allows you to make calls from your computer, how cool" and then promptly forgot about it. I've regularly used Yahoo instant messenger as my IM and video chat of choice but recently downloaded the free Skype software in order to video call my sister and new niece in Denver. All I can say is it's magic. I'm now a regular Skyper to my sister and other family members and am ready to toss my land line phone in the trash.
If you haven't used or seen Skype in action on Oprah or other tv shows then check out the website to see what a wonderful tool Skype is. You'll need a video camera (inexpensive at most retailers like Best Buy or Amazon and easily installed by plugging into a USB port) and a microphone (most are built into your computer or to the video camera) and you will need to set up a free Skype account and download the free software. That's it! The picture is so clear it's almost unbelievable and the sound quality is excellent.
During my recent Christmas trip to Florida my family Skyped my sister in Denver and enjoyed an evening of holiday tales and laughs with my sister and 2 month old niece, it was the next best thing to having them there with us.
http://www.skype.com/
If you want to add me as a Skype contact I'm under Shannon.Distel.Scanlan, Skype you soon!

Author Websites

One of my favorite things to do after immersing myself in a good book is to search the internet for the author's website. A few of my favorite authors have great websites that I have been known to spend many an hour losing time in. I enjoy uncovering new facts about favorite characters, reading the author's inspiration for the story or viewing pictures of real life locations that inspired the fantasy.
Here are a few of my favorite author's websites:
Anne Gracie's website is a gem. The site here http://www.annegracie.com/index.htm is full of great pages for each of her books with collages of pictures and items that inspired her characters and their stories, photographs of the locations where she sets her books and historical information on causes and issues of the historical period.

Elizabeth Boyle is a writer of historical romance and her fun website includes FAQs, her blog, family trees of the fictional families and tidbits on what inspired her to write her stories.
http://www.elizabethboyle.com/index.php

Tom Bullough author of The Claude Glass has a great website here http://www.tombullough.com/index.html Tom's site is so personal with information on his life, his writings and his passions. I especially enjoy his blog although I wish he would update it more often.

Julia Quinn's website here http://www.juliaquinn.com/ is full of information on her books, the characters, what she's working on next and includes deleted book scenes and her blog.

One of my favorite authors Anne Rice also has an interesting website which is beautifully designed and loaded with information. Years ago I used to love discovering new things on Rice's site such as pictures of her doll collection or the homes she owned in New Orleans...But since Rice found her religion, I've avoided her website and it's over emphasis on her return to Catholicism. Little creepy... and not in a good way.

Well what ever you are reading, take a look at the author's online home and you'll be delightfully surprised at what you may find.

Got Library Journal?

Check out the online home of Library Journal here:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
I check LJ frequently for the latest news, updates, book reviews and to peruse their blogs.
It's worth a gander, check it out.