Another Award

Mrs. E over at Easy Street has done it again.  She gave me an award.  This time it is a PRINCESS award.  See there is somebody out there besides me who believes that I am a Princess. 

Thanks for the award Mrs. E.  I am a book freak.  Can't find me in a store?  Look in the books.  Dream day activity?  A day in the bookstore or excessive amounts of time on amazon.com, barnes and noble.com or even half.com.  I love to read and most everyone who knows me knows that reading is my first choice of a leisure activity.  I have been a reader for a lifetime.  It came easy for me as a youngster and books let me go places I would never get to go.  The other bonus:  if I had a book in my hand my brother left me alone.  ALONE.  He hated to read or anything to do with reading.  I can remember staying up late reading when I was a teenager and getting up the next day to read.  Oh wait I still do that. 

I LOVE this award because it is largely about reading.  Here are the rules for the princess award:

1. Name an author you love.
Lauraine Snelling.  She writes christian fiction.  Mainly historical fiction.  She also wrote my most favorite books in the whole wide world....I have read this series all the way through at least 3 times.  The Red River of the North series.  She has at least 4 series that branch off  from the family that the book is centered around.  The Bjorklund Family.  The series begins in Norway where a family has been saving to send their people to America.  2 brothers and their wives embark on this journey.  Once arriving in America, they travel west to the Dakotas to establish farmsteads. It just goes from there....both brothers die the first winter and the women (as always) are left to establish the homesteads. 

It's funny that Mrs. E gave me this award this week because last night I thinking that I was missing Ingeborg and that  a reread would help me thru the winter.

But I also love Jeffrey Archer, Terri Blackstock and Kristin Hannah.  Oh and Barbara Delinsky, Nicholas Evans and Susan Wiggs.  Wait, there's also Jennifer Chiavarini, Tatiana Rosnay, and Sarah Guern.  But what about Pearl S. Buck, Lorna Landvik and Maeve Binchy?  So many authors, so little time..... 

2. Name an author who highlights your personality.  
Probably it's more of a character than an author.  But the author created the character, sooo cart or horse?  Anyway, it's Lauraine Snelling's main character, Ingeborg Bjorklund who is headstrong, opinionated and kind-hearted.  She wants to do the right thing for her family and her community but when darkness threatens to overtake her, she reaches for her bible. 




3. Name some books you love.

To Kill A Mockingbird--if you haven't read this, take the time to put this in your book stack.   Gone With the Wind, Kite Runner, Friday Night Knitting Club, Cane River, As the Crow Flies, The Elm Creek Quilt Series, anything by Jeffrey Archer, The Good Earth, The Geometry of Sisters, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Little House on the Prairie and The Long Winter, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwieler, Otis Spofford, Ralph S. Mouse, and The Horse Whisperer.  


I could go on and on.


On a side note--I read around 50-60 books a year--usually 30+ during the summer. And I know this because I write down in a journal each book I read.  I have some gaps in the journal but for the most part I have done this since 1996.  I started the journaling after I kept checking out books I had already read. 
 

4. Something that always excites you.

Sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine.  I love sunshine--and I am not just saying that because it has been days since we've seen the sun.  I love 95 degree days......with sunshine.



5. Something you hate.
Lying.  Just tell the freakin' truth already.  Quit the sugar coat and spill it.



And now I'm passing this award on.  All they have to do is nab the Princess button above, post answers to the questions above, and pass the award on. 

These are some Princesses in my opinion:

Erica at The Craig's

Arianne at The Pfizenmaier Tales 
Linda at The Kansas Cook 
Bridgette at The Rankin's

Thanks again, Mrs. E and I am off to read my book, just sayin'.