Before I started law school, I went to lunch with my brother’s high school girlfriend (a lawyer) and I asked her for book recommendations. At the time, I liked to read Important Books with Big Ideas of the Nonfiction variety. She said that by the time her day ended at the office, she wanted an escape and she tended to read mysteries. At the time, I didn’t get it, but now I do. I have no interest in the giant history tomes that my husband reads. Of course, this is reflected month-to-month in my reading selections.

I read 14 books in April. Here are my thoughts. These aren’t in depth reviews, but you can probably get those if you click over on the Amazon affiliate links (which are the book cover pics). You can also check me out  on GoodReads, where I track everything with stars.

A Catered Murder by Isis Crawford

While wandering around the library, I saw this series and figured I would give it a try. Typical cozy mystery series with small town caterers who fight crime. It’s fine. Out of the cozy mystery series that I currently read (5 including the Stephanie Plum books), I rank this one as tied for 3rd. If you like this style of book, it’s not bad. One of the sisters spews a lot of useless trivia, which is either very annoying or mildly interesting. I haven’t decided which.

A Catered Wedding by Isis Crawford

Second in the Mystery with Recipes series. It’s fine. I’ll read them until I run out. Also, it involves caviar barons. I know, that hooked you too.

The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham

Since I didn’t like one of the Madeleine Wickham books last month, I was a little worried about this one. She redeemed herself. This is more of the style that I’ve come to expect from Wickham/Kinsella. If you need a quick and easy read, it’s good. 

Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson

The first in the Goldy Mysteries. It’s amazing that I kept reading after I figured out that the main character’s name is Goldy Bear. That’s simply awful. The series is fine. It is tied for 3rd in the series that I read.

Sleeping Arrangements by Madeleine Wickham

Not my favorite by Madeleine Wickham, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as A Desirable Residence. I’m glad that she ended it the way that she did, which I thought was realistic. I would have been disappointed if the characters had gone the other way.

Something Blue by Emily Giffin

I honestly thought that I had already read this, but I picked it up in the library and it didn’t sound familiar. I really like Emily Giffiin. I will admit it; I had tears in my eyes at the end of this one. It’s a sequel to Something Borrowed, so if you have read it (or even seen the movie), you will probably like this. Giffin does a great job with all of her characters.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Another cozy mystery series. This is currently my second favorite series. (Lucy Stone is my favorite.) I don’t care at all about the recipes, but the story is good and I didn’t figure it out immediately. 

Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson

The second in the (ugh) Goldy Bear mysteries. I liked this one slightly better than the first one. I’m hoping that they will continue to improve. Otherwise, we might have to break up. 

Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes

I love the Walsh Family series. It starts with Watermelon and this is the fourth in the series. When I was in Barnes & Noble recently to pick up a gift, I saw that there is a new one out, so I need to get on the library waiting list for it. Each of these books is very different from the one before it. They’ve also been a bit more dramatic than I expected each time. This is my favorite so far.

Thin Rich Pretty by Beth Harbison

April took a turn for the worse with this book. I’ve liked every one of Beth Harbison’s other books. I remember seeing this in the store and thinking, meh, I don’t want to spend the money on this. Since the library is free, I figured I should try it. No. Bad choice. It was so predictable. I felt nothing for the three main characters. Not one that I would recommend. 

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

A Stephanie Plum book. It’s the latest release in the series, so I figured that I should read it and stay up to date. Bad decision. This is now on my list with the 16th as being the worst in the series. Absolutely awful. I have to stop thinking that maybe things have changed and the series will be good again. It’s not. I think we have to break up.

Dune Road by Jane Green

One of the worst books that I’ve read in recent history. It was fine until page 100 or so. Then it took a ridiculous turn and never recovered. Things that tried to be exciting twists failed. The characters were very one dimensional. Not the Jane Green that I have enjoyed in the past.

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

The newest by my second favorite author, Sophie Kinsella. (Jennifer Weiner is the first. Sophie Kinsella is followed by Emily Giffin.) The plot is absolutely farcical at times, but I laughed and it was well executed. After reading three crappy books in a row, it was an absolute delight. Plus, a main character is named Fliss, which is close enough to Liss for me to feel happiness when I see it. 

Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

The second in the Hannah Swensen series. I definitely like the series, although it has really cemented the idea in my head that I’m never going to Minnesota during the winter. (I don’t fully understand why they are plugging in their cars, but it makes me think it is abnormally cold there.)

As usual, I’m running out of things to read. If you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them. In May, I need to re-read The Great Gatsby (my favorite book of all time) before the movie comes out. We are still trying to wrap our heads around the fact that it is in 3D. I also want to read Brothers Emmanuel because Carla has recommended it. Anything else I should check out?

Oh, April, you had highs and lows. Let’s discuss.

Goals:

1. Get better at using my camera.

No progress here, but no real effort made. I will get on this.

2. Read at least 75 books in 2013.

I don’t think it is a secret that I have a serious book addiction. I’ll do another post on everything that I read in April. The grand total came to 14 books for the month. That brings me to 40 for the year. I’m crushing this goal.

3. Garden.

This goal is no more.

4. Stay organized.

Oh, I’m on this. I still need to get the books to the library for donation. After that, I will declare the office and bedroom as the most organized areas that I’ve ever lived in.

5. Create a fitness routine.

This one was horrible because of my new friend sciatica. I am estimating that I have had four days without really significant back pain this month. (It’s really fun when it gets numb and tingly.) I have tried to scale down all fitness so that I can figure out what the issue is and if there is something specific that I’m doing to trigger it. (e.g., sleeping in a weird position, a certain type of workout, the way I sit at my desk, etc.) Since the weather isn’t completely unbearable yet, I try to walk in the morning. I want to get back on my FitnessGlo routine, but I need this to clear up so that I don’t add any additional strain. I did go to the dr and he gave me some muscle relaxers to try when it interferes with my sleep. They are helping, so I’m hopeful. All of the massage therapists that I saw this month are blaming lunges. I will not be sad if I say goodbye to lunges. (My weak ankles lead to poor form, I’m sure.)

6. Save more.

This is going well, although I would like to save more. April was a very expensive month due to an allergic kitty in need of the vet and an unreasonable amount spent on dealing with the sciatica. (Relax the Back is a very expensive store.) Hopefully things will calm down this month and I can get more into the bank.

Success. Joy. Balance.

All of my theme words for the year are still on track. I’m getting much better about balance and trying to carve out time for family and myself on the weekends.

How are your goals for the year coming?

I know you’re all, duh Danielle, of course you like the cats better. Cats rules.

Yes, you are right about that. However, the rabbit has earned the honor of being the worst pet in the house for a number of reasons, which I will outline below.

Poor Design

Look at the sleek design of Elmo. His long lines. His beautiful coloring. His nearly hair free state of being.

Now, look at the ridiculous rabbit with his giant ears and gross fluffy fur.

Poor Decision Making Skills

The rabbit has chewed a hole in the carpet. He nibbles on furniture. He regularly mistakes my blonde hair for hay and starts eating it. Then, when I was trying to take his photo, this happened.

He took the glasses off my face and thought he might snack on them. (I had to take a photo to prove the rabbit’s insolence to my husband.)

Food Snob

This rabbit eats better than most people with a selection of treats like kale salad, mixed greens and spinach on a regular basis. But the rabbit becomes angry and tosses things all over when he is served spinach for dinner. There is no need for that behavior. The cats happily eat what they are given.

Deceptive Practices

The rabbit regularly pretends to be dead in his cage, and has caused me significant alarm on more than one occasion. (My husband claims he is sleeping. I don’t buy it.)

Poor Social Skills

When I ask Elmo and Tiki to pose, they do it, regardless of whatever I might be interrupting.

The rabbit, on the other hand, does stuff like this.

And this.

In addition, he doesn’t get along with others. Look at Tiki recoiling. It’s like he is trying to become a turtle cat so that he can get away from the rabbit’s touch.

Worst pet in the house.

After I engaged in some smack talk with my piriformis, my body has decided to kick things up a notch. Full blown sciatica. It’s been really bad for the past week or so. This weekend was awful and I spent a fair amount of time in bed with my BFF Heating Pad, because the pain was so severe.

I’ve done the following:

• Foam Roll
• Tennis ball for trigger point release
• Sooooooooo much stretching. (Elmo loves when I stretch because he thinks it is time to snuggle.)
• Reflexology
• Three massages in the past three weeks. One was on Saturday.
• Taking walks to help it stretch. Plus, it’s kind of warm now, so I assume that the dry heat of my desert residence could help.
• Heating pad
• Ice
• Baths with epsom salt
• Bought slippers so that it would hurt less when my heel makes contact with hard floors so there will be less searing pain shooting up my leg
• Gave up and went to Relax the Back. Spent obscene amount of money for a chair insert so that I can attempt to work at my desk until this goes away (Although, determined that kitchen counter is a good height, so I can work there when sitting becomes too painful. Standing on a pillow since the pain shoots down my legs and that hurts on tile flooring.)
• Soma and percocet. (Percocet did nothing. The soma helps, but it is more of a bandaid so that I can sleep and not constantly cry because it hurts when I lie down/sit down/stand/walk/move/think about moving.)
• Sombra, which just feels weird since I am basically applying it to my butt and then my butt tingles.

This week, I am making an appointment with a new chiro who helped a friend when she was dealing with severe sciatica. When I had chronic lower back pain prior to my gallbladder diagnosis and subsequent surgery, it hurt, but it didn’t interfere with my life that greatly.  This weekend, I was able to function on a very minimal level, usually in the morning. Sitting up, cooking, grocery shopping – all basic stuff, were intensely painful.

Has anyone experienced sciatica? What helped you get things back on track? Is this something that should start to feel better with the chiro and a few more massages? If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them. Definitely making an appointment with my doc to make sure I cover all my bases.

I’m not a runner. But so many of my people are runners. The people who dazzle me every day and come together in a fierce community.

I don’t have a lot to say about the tragedy that hasn’t been said better by others. But I wanted to take a moment in this public space to remember, show support and grieve.

My heart hurts.

We started meal planning late last year. Since I work from home, it makes sense for me to get a lot of the meals ready so that we can eat shortly after my husband gets home. 

We ran into one little problem – I’m not a good cook. I know how to make a very limited number of dishes. Most involve excessive amounts of spice and hot sauce because they are the only flavors that I know how to improvise with.

Needless to say, by April, the same 6 meals were getting boring.

I like using the slow cooker since we can get everything ready the night before and it’s easy for me to start when I come downstairs for lunch. I hit up my arsenal of cookbooks and decided that it was time to take some chances on new recipes.

First, I bought another slow cooker. The one we have is a 7 quart (I think) and it is huge. It’s great for roasts and soups, but it’s way too big for smaller meals for just the two of us. I got a smaller version from Kohl’s for about $30 with a coupon.

Next, I meal planned with the new recipes. I had to stock up on some spices that I don’t normally use. (Which is basically everything but salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne.) I even bought a can of Amy’s Organic Cream of Mushroom soup to use. Because it doesn’t get much more hardcore than slow cooker and cream of something soup.

Most importantly, this week, I learned that anything you make with slow cooker chicken thighs is heavenly. Once the current supply is depleted, I am breaking up with boneless, skinless (tasteless) chicken breasts for good.

I’m sure you’re expecting photos of the masterful creations that I made this week. No. Everything that I have made looks like slop, but it tastes delicious. Add that to my poor photography skills and you will leave this repulsed, rather than slow cooker inspired. If you want slow cooker recipes, I like the ones on this site.

Do you use a slow cooker? What are your favorite recipes? Do you think I should apologize to Jay-Z for the photo?

I like TV. Before we broke up with cable, I watched a lot of TV. If I was downstairs, the TV was on and it often became background noise. The Food Network, preferably during the 50% of the day that didn’t involve Guy Fieri, was my favorite option. In our new land without cable, we only watch what we really like. There are no more conversations about shows that we need to dump because they aren’t funny/good/keeping our interest. (I’m looking directly at you, Mike & Molly and White Collar.)

Here are my thoughts on shows that we watch.

Law & Order

If there is nothing new on Hulu, we watch old episode of Law & Order on Netflix. We started at the very beginning, but I became incredibly annoying because I didn’t think they were worth watching without Detective Lennie Briscoe. We quickly moved along to Season 3 so that I would stop whining. Law & Order always had a successful formula, so there are quips and teaching moments. But there is also amazing 90s fashion and the teaching moments involve scary new technology like computer viruses that will kill you with too much insulin. In Season 3, you can also play games called “Count Detective Mr. Big’s plaid ties” and “spot the famous guest stars.” I love this show, but it’s mostly because of Detective Lennie Briscoe. I lose interest as soon as we shift from the law to the order.

Law & Order: SVU

This show stopped being good on a consistent basis years ago. I blame Speed Weed. But I still deeply love Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler. We occasionally watch the old episodes and hope for the best that we get a good one.

Revenge

I remember reading all of the hype about this show last year and how good it was. I tried one episode with my husband. He feels that the one word shows like Deception, Scandal and Revenge are all shows that are better watched without him. So that’s what I do. I have four episodes left of last season. I’m not sure if I should be concerned that the only character that I like is Nolan. I’m not sure that it is a good show, but I’m emotionally invested now, so I need to finish out the season and evaluate from there.

Glee

I broke up with Glee after season 2. When I had the flu this year and was confined to bed for several days, I got caught up on last season on Hulu. It seems that we got back together because now I look for new episodes. I do skip over a lot of the singing because I do not care if Lea Michele is Torn and singing a duet with herself.

New Girl

When this show is on its game, it is the funniest thing on television. “Winston said you make fun of my gremlin toenails. That you call them clickety-clacks or centaur boots.” I don’t really care about Nick and Jess. But Schmidt might be my second favorite character on tv. (Det. Lennie Briscoe is forever first.)

The Following

Let’s be clear – I don’t like to be scared. I won’t see scary movies on purpose. I don’t read scary things. Yet, I am watching the scariest show I can think of. It’s super violent, but I keep coming back to it. I feel tense for hours after watching it. But most importantly, it has given me a greater appreciation for Kevin Bacon. (Other than his brilliant performance as Ren McCormack.)

Mad Men

We watched the season premier on Monday night. I read some recaps on Tuesday. Based on the recaps, I don’t think I’m smart enough to see everything that’s going on during this show.

What shows are you watching these days? I can’t wait for the return of Breaking Bad. I miss Jesse Pinkman.

The problem started on March 20th. Pain so severe that I could not walk. My lower back felt like it was on fire. Every time I tried to walk, it sent a radiating pain down my leg and impact on a heel-strike was a festival of numbing, tingling and flashes of white hot pain. Best part: I thought it was cramps. But then it kept happening. For days.

The first day included some pain pills and I strongly considered going to the ER. (But then I decided not to. What were they going to do? Give me morphine. No thanks. I’ll take the percocet leftover from surgery.)

The next day, I could walk again. But, a couple of days later, the pain started again. I figured out that it was my piriformis. (For those who aren’t familiar, that’s a butt muscle.) I’ve been stretching, rolling and heating. (The cats love when the heating pad comes out.) Ice doesn’t help.

The pain wasn’t consistent. On Easter, I did a quick workout. Shortly after that workout, I realized that the pain was back. More intense. The next day, it was bad again. I went for a massage. That stopped the pain from referring and made walking less painful.

But it kept coming back. One night, it was so bad that I couldn’t get comfortable in any position to sleep. I gave up and got a Soma. (I try to avoid them because it makes me loopy and gives me a serious medicine hangover the next morning.)

It was okay the following day. But, by the weekend, it was on fire again. Yesterday, I made an appointment for a massage for later today. I took some extra strength tylenol and went to bed around 10.

I woke up at 2:30 with the searing pain. I tried every possible position and my body is  not interested in cooperating. At 3:30, I gave up and got out of bed because I am sure that I was driving my husband crazy with the constant tossing and turning. (Way too late to take a Soma since I need to function today.)

Here I am. I will wait patiently for the massage this evening. I’m probably going to spend most of the day enjoying 20 minute intervals with my bff, the heating pad.

After more than a decade with fibro, I’ve accepted that my body takes an abnormal time to heal from muscle strains and I do my best to rest them. Since last week when the strain got bad again, I haven’t worked out. I’ve been really careful. But this one is starting to drive me crazy. If it persists, there will be a visit to my doctor in my future.

Which seems like a line in a bad joke. Doc, I’m here because I have a pain in my butt that won’t go away.

Have you ever dealt with piriformis pain? What did you do? Is there some magical option that I’m missing from the stretching/rolling/massage/tylenol combo?

Last week wasn’t great. It started with a strained piriformis and didn’t get much better as the week progressed. During weeks like that, I try not to let it drag me down. I’m a big believer that your attitude is everything.

I have an arsenal of easy things that always make me smile and instantly improve my attitude.

Baby Animal Videos

I often send them to my husband with the title “Important: you must watch this.” He believes that I’m not familiar with the definition of the word important. But, smiling is important and these should make you smile. Here are a few of my favorites.

Play with Pets

When I am feeling grumpy or stressed, it’s time for a kitty break. Studies have shown that petting a cat lowers blood pressure. Since Elmo and Tiki love nothing more than a little snuggle time, that works out well for me. Plus, how could you resist this face?

Reading

My love of books is well documented on this blog. It always makes me happy to curl up with a good book.

The Great Outdoors

Before the Vegas weather gets to melt-your-face-off temperatures, going outside always makes me happy. We live close to the mountains, so I love being able to walk along that area. This time of year is perfect. Last week, I took a book and sat on the new bench on the patio. It was a perfect way to let go of some stress.

The world’s cutest video

If none of the other methods are working, I like to bust out one of the world’s cutest videos. I can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard. It makes me smile every single time I watch it.

What do you do to make yourself smile on bad days?

Last month, I reviewed the books that I read in January and February. I thought I would keep the tradition alive and review March’s selections too. It helps keep me accountable for my goal of reading 75 books during 2013. Plus, I love talking about books and I like to hear about what you are reading! As always, I am also on Goodreads and you can follow me there.

In March, I finished 9 books, which brings me to a total of 26 for the year. If you want really thorough reviews, check them out on Amazon or Goodreads. There are my general impressions.

A Royal Pain by Megan Mulry

Generally, I really liked this book. It was like a grown up version of The Princess Diaries. If you like to avoid any sort of adult relations in books, skip this one. It’s not 50 Shades, but it is a little racier than the average chick lit. (Best analogy that I can think of is that it was a little more Jackie Collins at times than Danielle Steele

Still, the story was good and I did not hate the characters. It was very predictable, but brain candy books often are.

Back To School Murder by Leslie Meier

Another Lucy Stone mystery. I started this series last month and I like them. They are available on overdrive through the library, so I am slowly making my way through the whole series. If you like light mysteries, I definitely recommend the series.

Valentine Murder by Leslie Meier

The next in the Lucy Stone series. Like usual, I liked it.

Sad Desk Salad by Jessica Grose

I really had high hopes for this book. It was about a blogger who deals with a hate website and a scandal. It seemed like something that maybe I could related to on some level. No. You see, I’m old. In fact, I believe that I am officially a grown up. Based on that, I don’t get certain things anymore. It started with the show Girls. I really tried. But I don’t get it. I hated all of them and felt no empathy regarding their collective tragedies.

That’s kind of how this book went. I did not find the main character sympathetic. I wanted to stop reading it at one point, but I was so far in that I figured I would finish it. If you are a young person, perhaps you’ll like this one. Not for me.

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

A Stephanie Plum book. After #16, I needed a break from this series. At that point, I couldn’t handle the excessive number of typos and the repetitive plot. Like NCIS: Los Angeles, I slowly became convinced that I had the plot outline down and could write my own Stephanie Plum adventure.

I picked this one up at the library because, well, I hadn’t read it and I was looking for books to occupy myself. I took enough of a break that this didn’t annoy me as much as the last one did. It was still the same plot and characters, but I didn’t mind it. It’s an easy light read. I wish that Evanovich would let the characters move forward so that it didn’t feel quite so repetitious.

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

A Stephanie Plum book. I have one more to read and I am caught up. Same as the comments on the one above. It was fine, although predictable. An easy, light read.

A Desirable Residence by Madeleine Wickham

Madeleine Wickham and Sophie Kinsella are the same author. I LOVE Sophie Kinsella. Next to Jennifer Weiner, she is my favorite. I have read some of the other Madeleine Wickham books and they were good. I really didn’t like this one, which surprised me. I have two other Madeleine Wickham books from the library right now, so I hope they are not disappointing too.

For this one, the characters were really annoying. Again, I didn’t feel anything when bad things happened to them. I am really surprised that I stuck with this one.

Turkey Day Murder by Leslie Meier

Another Lucy Stone book. I love that the characters progress and get older. I am really enjoying this series.

The Start of Everything by Emily Winslow

I found this while I was searching the library’s online collection and put a hold on it. I liked it. I enjoyed that it was told by multiple characters. The plot twists weren’t too far out there, but they still weren’t easily predictable. I definitely recommend this one.

This month, I’m going to finish a stack of library books, which contains a couple of titles from another cozy mystery series. I also started Lean In in March, but I’m usually slow to get through non-fiction. Sophie Kinsella also has a new book out this month called Wedding Night. Depending on the waiting list at the library, I might have to buy it.

What are you reading? Have you read Lean In? Did you like it? I’ve heard a lot of great reviews.