My Book Retreat

I'm very late with my weekly recap this week, but I had a busy day at work and then had a Book Blogger Appreciation post to write!

I've had a busy week on the blog. It started with a review of Sitting Kills, Moving Heals by Joan Vernikos. Then I also posted a guest blog by Vernikos.

I wrote about some upcoming blog events, and I posted that BBAW appreciation post I mentioned above. Tomorrow I'll be interviewing Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles, and she'll be interviewing me.

As far as reading goes, I finished The 13th Target by Mark de Castrique, which was an interesting thriller.

My son is still reading The Genius Files #2: Never Say Genius by Dan Gutman. He also read The Secret of the Fortune Wookie by Tom Angleberger. He's really enjoying both of these series.

Currently Reading
I'm now  reading Play Him Again by Jeffrey Stone. I also started reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which I have on my phone so I've been reading it when I'm stuck som…

Today is the start of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and the daily theme for today is Appreciation. We're asked to share the book blogs we read on a regular basis and why we read them. But I have to admit that I am rather sporadic in my blog reading and commenting. Every year I set a goal to get better at it, and every year I seem to fall short.

So today I wanted to show my appreciation to those bloggers who seem to have this whole reading and commenting thing down. These are bloggers who consistently comment on my blog. Most of them visit and comment at least once a week. And I don't have a lot of opportunity to show my appreciation to them for that. So that's what I'm doing today. These are all great blogs that I highly recommend you check out!

Sue at Book by Book
Nise at Under the Boardwalk
Marce at Tea Time with Marce
LindyLouMac at LindyLouMac's Book Reviews
Lindsey at Literary Lindsey
Lori at Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
Thank you to all of you for…

September is a busy month in the world of book bloggers. Last year, I didn't really participate in the two big events that take place during this month: Book Blogger Appreciation Week and Bloggiesta. But this year I plan to. So here's some information in case you'd like to join me!



Book Blogger Appreciation Week starts next Monday and runs from September 10 - 14. It's all about appreciation and community building within the book blogger community. There are daily blog topics, which I hope to participate in, and also an interview swap. This year, I'm interviewing Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles!



Next up is Bloggiesta, which I really need! This is a weekend event (Sept 28 - 30) during which bloggers can spend time doing all those little things they need to do on their blogs but never get around to doing. Bloggiesta is hosted by There's a Book and It's All About Books. Here are some things they say you can do during this event: to spend time that weekend…

Today, I'm featuring a guest post by Dr. Joan Vernikos, author of Sitting Kills, Moving Heals. I reviewed her book yesterday (read my review). Now, she shares a some thoughts on the importance of movement in everyday life.

Are you worried about your health or that of someone dear to you? Look no further. Helpful solutions are at hand.

The deteriorating health epidemic in the US has been attributed to too much sitting. Modern technologies and the conveniences they have afforded have accelerated this trend by encouraging, sometimes requiring us to sit for long hours at a stretch. We sit in our cars or commuting, at our desk or meetings and in front of the TV or computer when we get back home. These long hours of sitting are now shown to increase the risk of breast and colon cancer.  They have been shown to lead to a broad variety of other health disorders as well. Regular traditional exercise alone has not reversed, nor prevented this downward trend in health in people who, like mos…

Astronauts suffer a great deal of physical deterioration when in space. They lose bone density rapidly. Their muscles become weaker. Their immune systems are suppressed. Their sleep is disturbed. Many of the symptoms experienced by astronauts are similar to those associated with aging on Earth. It seems the absence of gravity that causes physical harm in space is often replicated on Earth by lack of physical activity. When we live a sedentary lifestyle, we are not using gravity to our advantage. This is the focus of Dr. Joan Vernikos's book Sitting Kills, Moving Heals: How Simple Everyday Movement Will Prevent Pain, Illness, and Early Death - and Exercise Alone Won't.

Vernikos devotes half of her book to the science behind the effects of gravity and its relationship to the sedentary lifestyle common in today's world on Earth. Many modern advances have provided conveniences that mean we don't have to get up and exert ourselves as much as our ancestors did. While techno…

Good morning! I hope all my US friends are enjoying this Labor Day. It's cloudy and dreary here, so I'm very glad we spent a few hours at the pool on Saturday before this rainy weather arrived. We aren't planning any cookouts today, but we are happy that my husband is returning from a hunting trip with his friend. He's been gone since Friday, which means I've been doing a ton of reading! That's the one benefit of being left home alone with the kids for three nights!

I read two books this past week. First was The Mine by John A. Heldt, which I really loved. It's a mix of time travel and historical romance. Although I have a backlog of reviews to write, I am thinking of writing this one up this week while it's fresh in my mind.

The other book I read is Sitting Kills, Moving Heals by Joan Vernikos. I'll be posting that review tomorrow for the book tour, and then I have a guest post from the author going up on Wednesday.

My son finished Justin Case: Sc…

I haven't written about what my daughter, M, has been reading in a while, so I thought I'd share some of the books she's been reading lately. We have gotten back into a routine of visiting the library just about weekly, so we've been getting new books to read.

One of the series she has been enjoying is The Pet Club series by Gwendolyn Hooks. This is a very cute set of books that are around mid-1st grade reading level. They are what I consider just-right books for M. She needs help with one or two words in each book, but otherwise is able to read the stories on her own. All of the books in this series feature the same characters, a set of kids with pets who have to solve a mystery. This week, we have The Cat Food Mystery. Someone is stealing Kayla's cat's food and the Pet Club needs to find out who is doing it. M really enjoys this series. The illustrations take up most of each page, and are vibrant and fun. The only issue I have is that there are several names…