Hey everyone! Sorry I'm late to my own party. Childhood friend + last minute visit = night of drinking. Anyway, I hope you have your books handy 'cause I really need help.

The book we're reading now for Book Club, Love Monkey by Kyle Smith, just isn't doing it for me. I should like it. It has funny parts and Smith really has a way with words, but so far I just can't into it. It's about a single guy, Tom, who lives in New York and writes the headlines for a tabloid. He's single and still hung up on his ex.

This synopsis is from Google Books:

"Many men aim high; Tom Farrell dares to be average. While his friends accumulate wedding rings, mortgages, and even, alarmingly, babies, Tom still lives alone in his rented apartment with nothing but condiments and alcohol in his refrigerator. He spends Saturday mornings watching cartoons and eating Cocoa Puffs out of an Empire Strikes Back bowl, and devotes the rest of the weekend to his other favorite hobbies: sports and girls."

There are parts that made me laugh out loud. I really should like this book. But I don't. So, please tell me what you're reading. On this post or on your own site using Mr. Linky, give us the title and author, a review and three sentences from page 38 (I used the length of Love Monkey - 336 pages - to choose the number).


"Now Eli's in the Zone with Hillary. I confronted him about it one night. They had been making cute little call-me-later gestures at each other across the newsroom as I was stuffing my backpack with stolen office supplies, and when I left, he and his gonna-get-some-tonight smirk followed me onto the elevator."

My hope with this carnival is that one of you will get to post three really exciting sentences from your book that make me want to read more. And then I can go to my next book club meeting armed with awesome suggestions and everyone will love me and think I'm brilliant and well-read. So have at it!

If I Had...

If I had one of these:I could have better captured my son's first solo experience at boogie boarding last week. I could show you how grown up he looked heading into the water carrying his board over his head. I could show you how he went out too far, but I didn't call him back because he was having so much fun following the big kids. I could show you the gorgeous Southern California weather with the water the same color as sea glass.

If I had one of these: I could have captured his best wave of the day. You would see his little body tense with anticipation as he watched the water over his shoulder. You would see him take off at just the right moment. You would see that look, the look of pure joy kids get sometimes when they are having "the best day ever!" And that other look, the look of pride on their little faces when they realize what they've just done "all by myself!"

If I had one of these: I could have sat next to the campfire and created a flowchart for Drama Kid to help him follow how "all these people" were his first and second (possibly third) cousins and great aunt and uncle. And I could have immediately uploaded the great photos and video so you could see it "live" and then go back to my s'mores and hot cocoa. Oh well.

Here's the best shot of the day

Thank you to Drama Dad's large, Irish family for letting us crash your party again this year! We had a great time last week and can't wait until next summer!