Top Ten Tuesdays: Ten Websites I Love That Aren't About Books

This week the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish are asking us to share our top ten favorite websites that aren't about books. It's fairly shocking that any of us have time to have ten favorite websites that aren't about books given the number of websites we visit that are about books. Let's be honest, there's no way I have time to visit most of these sites, or the book blogs I follow regularly. But I do like to check in for inspiration!

1. The Inspired Room - Melissa blogs mostly about home decorating and design, often what she's doing in her own home with a lot of resources for the ideas she's tossing about. But she also shares other homes, sometimes food, and often organizing and decluttering posts.

2. The Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond came on my radar a few years ago when book bloggers started talking about her blog and her cookbooks. But I had no time to add anything more to my plate and steered clear of the bandwagon. Until one day when I caught her show on the Food Network. She's just a whole lot of fun and the food she made looked so good. I had to check it out. Now I'm hooked. I have not made one of her recipes that didn't turn out as promised (and if you cook, you know that's a rare thing); some of those recipes are now big family favorites.

3. Real Simple - My favorite magazine, the website also gives information about food, home, style, life and holidays. You can find recommendations for all kinds of products, recipes, and advice about etiquette, technology and travel. It's a go-to site for everything!

4. The Huffington Post - I do have some issues with how they pay writers (or don't) but it's a site that covers everything from politics to entertainment to health. 

5. Reddit - My boys love Reddit and talked me into giving it a try. If you want to talk about it, you can find it here. One caveat - there is a lot of crazy going on on Reddit. It's definitely a site where you want to remember that not everything on the web is true. 

Nesting Place

6. Nesting Place - Myquillan, her husband and three sons moved to a fixer-upper farm a few years back. She and her husband are big DIY'ers but she talks a lot about living in less than perfect spaces and rooms that are in limbo. You know, real life. She shares links to other articles every weekend, decorating ideas, and talks a lot about living with what you have.

7. Magnolia - Joanna's Blog - Everyone's favorite home renovation show, Fixer Upper, has it's web home here. Joanna shares her recipes, organizing tips, updates on their projects, and posts about their latest t.v. episodes. On the main web site, you will also find links to all of the products you've fallen in love with on the show.

8.  Eclectically Vintage - Kelly shares her own home but also takes readers along to a lot of other wonderful homes filled with beautiful rooms. She also shares directions for a variety of projects, links for shopping, and advice on collections. I always love the homes she shares.

9. Pinterest - Duh. Remember when you used to need an invitation to join Pinterest?

10.  Gretchen Rubin  - She of The Happiness Project and the Happier podcast. She's kind of my happiness guru now and even though I haven't plunged all-in on her ideas (yet), I've taken a lot of inspiration from her, including my word of the year, "happier."

What websites do you love to visit that I should be checking out?

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Sparks
Published 1961 by McMillan
Source: my audiobook was purchased at my local library book sale
Narrator: Nadia May

Summary From bn.com:
At the staid Marcia Blaine School for Girls, in Edinburgh, Scotland, teacher extraordinaire Miss Jean Brodie is unmistakably, and outspokenly, in her prime. She is passionate in the application of her unorthodox teaching methods, in her attraction to the married art master, Teddy Lloyd, in her affair with the bachelor music master, Gordon Lowther, and—most important—in her dedication to "her girls," the students she selects to be her crème de la crème. Fanatically devoted, each member of the Brodie set—Eunice, Jenny, Mary, Monica, Rose, and Sandy—is "famous for something," and Miss Brodie strives to bring out the best in each one. Determined to instill in them independence, passion, and ambition, Miss Brodie advises her girls, "Safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth, and Beauty come first. Follow me."

The many covers of
The Prime of Miss
Jean Brodie

And they do. But one of them will betray her.

My Thoughts:
I've been aware of the movie adaptation of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie for as long as I can remember (in no small part because it stars Maggie Smith) but have never seen it and wasn't even aware of it being a book until several years ago. Maybe Maggie Smith played a part in my deciding to "read" this one; after all, if it was something she thought was good enough to be a part of, then it must be something worthwhile. It was.

Maggie Smith as Miss Jean Brodie

Miss Brodie thinks quite a lot of herself as a teacher but the reader quickly picks up on the fact (as her girls eventually do) that Miss Brodie's avocation is less about bringing out the best in each of "the Brodie set," and more about making them into her mirror images.

As young girls, Miss Brodie's girls fix on her every word but as they get older they begin to see that Miss Brodie's stories seem to take on the characteristics of whatever is her current fancy and they begin to question both Miss Brodie and the things they have learned. While she has, commendably, exposed her girls far more to the arts and beauty than is strictly within the school's curriculum, she has also extolled the fascism. It will be her undoing as one of her girls will use it, eventually, to have her removed from her teaching position. That betrayal will haunt her to the end of her life.

Miss Brodie is an unusually interesting character, inspired by one of Sparks' own teachers. She is a woman driven by her belief that her fate is predestined, leaving her the ability to live her life with her own set of morals. "Watching" her girls learn from her, grow away from her, then, eventually, recognize her influence on their lives was truly enjoyable. Nadia May does a terrific job of narrating; I'll definitely be looking for more books narrated by her.

Now to watch the movie! It appears, from the trailer I watched, that Miss Brodie may come off as slightly less self-absorbed. I wonder if I will enjoy her quite as much?

On a side note, you know how when you pull up a book on the Barnes and Noble website it shows you other books you might be interested if you're interested in the one you pulled up? For this book, they assume you'll also be interested in an Amy Tan book, The Light Between Oceans, The Baker's Daughter, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Mrs. Dalloway, and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Yep. If I haven't read them (and I have read most of them), they are already on my wish list. Looks like the Barnes and Noble algorithm is working!

Life: It Goes On - May 8

We have a graduate! If you know me in real life, you know I'm a crier. So it won't surprise you to know that teared up a bit Friday as we watched Mini-me receive his degree. I was so touched by how excited Miss S was for her guy; they are so cute together! We couldn't be more proud of Mini-me and the man he's become!

This Week I'm:

Listening To: I may have done some extra driving this past week just to finish John Boyne's The Absolutist. Wonderful book and fantastic narration. Tomorrow I'll start The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. That one will help me #readmyowndamnbooks since I've had a print copy on my shelves for a long time.

As for music, I've been listening to the ladies more this week: Adele, Lorde, Sia, Florence, A Fine Frenzy, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Alanis, and Dolores O'Riorda .Me

Watching: We're still watching "Mr. Selfridge" on PBS but I'm starting to grow tired of it; good thing it's on its final season. We've have been enjoying "Grantchester" leading into it, though.

Reading: I started The Bookman's Tale the other day and am enjoying it although I haven't had a lot of time to read this past week and will have even less in the coming week. On my nightstand, I also started The Year of Reading Dangerously.

Making: It's been all about easy this week - tuna salad, pizza, pasta salad. Friday night I just put out a board with a French boule and butter, some divine cheese, and fresh raspberries. My kitchen focus has been entirely on next weekend. This weekend I made Emeril LaGasse's coffee ice cream, cooked up some chocolate syrup and caramel sauce, carved turkey breast, baked & carved a ham, baked two loaves of banana bread and a raspberry coffee cake.

Planning:  Not so much planning the graduation party any more, as implementing the plan. Some more food to prepare, curtains to finish (because why wouldn't I decide Mini-him's room needs new curtains before Miss S's mom stays there?), flowers to buy.

Thinking About: Smash Your Stack hosted by Andi of Estella's Revenge and Melissa of Scuffed Slippers and Wormy Books which is just the kick in the butt I need to read my own damn books in May. Check out the details here.  I had a review book this month, my book club read, and a couple of books I needed to read from Netgalley but I'm still shooting to read at least four of my own books in May.

Enjoying: Other than graduation, I enjoyed an evening on the patio with Miss H, my sister, and my niece the other night. It was our version of therapy filled with time to vent, more than a few drinks, and a lot of laughter. We even let Mini-him and The Big Guy crash the party to add to the fun.

Feeling: Remarkably calm - much more so than I usually am this close to a party. The yard is in order, the groceries are mostly all bought and I have a menu planned for the entire time Miss S's mom is here. I'm sure I'll melt down sometime between now and then and bite someone's head off unnecessarily, because that's how I usually roll, but they're all used to it by now so it'll be fine, right?

Looking forward to: Miss S's graduation, the party, meeting Miss S's mother, and spending the afternoon with my girl, her bestie and bestie's mom at the ball park. We're headed off shortly to watch the K. C. Royals' Triple A team, the Omaha Stormchasers, play ball to celebrate Mother's Day.

Question of the week: What are you looking forward to this summer?

Lit: Uniquely Portable Magic

Cleaning up the rest of my bookish saves on Facebook this week (and trying to move the rest of them to Pinterest because I'm tired of trying to remember where I've saved things!). 

• From Off The Shelf, comes this list of 11 Binge-Worthy Literary Series: included are the usual suspects (Outlander, My Brilliant Friend, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) as well as some I've never even heard about. Any here you've read and would recommend?
• Over on Pop Sugar, Reese Witherspoon recommended 14 books. Y'all know Reese has excellent taste in books and that there's a good chance if she loves it, you might just see it being made into a movie. 
• Flavorwire's got 50 Gripping Books to Read while Traveling but you don't need to wait for a trip to pick these books up. I've got a lot of these on my shelves and I'm thinking I could make a might good reading list from this for #readmyowndamnbooks this month!
• Amanda, at Book Riot, put together a list of 115 Reading Recommendations for Books By Women. How's that for an idea for a year of reading? Hmmm......
• AbeBooks.com gives readers 40 Classic Books and Why You Should Read Them, including classic nonfiction which I'm almost entirely unfamiliar with. 

• You might not usually look to Good Housekeeping for literary advice, but they've gathered a list of 80 Books Everyone Should Read In Their Lifetime as recommended by eight female "literary powerhouses." 
• 21 Books From The Last 5 Years That Every Woman Should Read is brought to us by Huffpost Woman. I've read six. How many have you read?

I had ten, yes ten, lists of the best books from 2015. I'm working my way through those to make sure I haven't missed anything I should read and then I'm all caught up. For now. Because, as you know by now, I'm a sucker for lists!

When The Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi

When The Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi
Published July 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers, paperback edition April 2016
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher and TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
Mahmoud's passion for his wife Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she's ever known. But their happy, middle-class world—a life of education, work, and comfort—implodes when their country is engulfed in war, and the Taliban rises to power.

Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba has one hope to survive: she must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister's family in England. With forged papers and help from kind strangers they meet along the way, Fereiba make a dangerous crossing into Iran under cover of darkness. Exhausted and brokenhearted but undefeated, Fereiba manages to smuggle them as far as Greece. But in a busy market square, their fate takes a frightening turn when her teenage son, Saleem, becomes separated from the rest of the family.

Faced with an impossible choice, Fereiba pushes on with her daughter and baby, while Saleem falls into the shadowy underground network of undocumented Afghans who haunt the streets of Europe's capitals. Across the continent Fereiba and Saleem struggle to reunite, and ultimately find a place where they can begin to reconstruct their lives.

My Thoughts: 
So you know how publisher's summaries generally give you maybe a third of the story? Yeah, this one goes much further than that. So, if the summary intrigues you, add it to your list then don't pick it up to read the book until you've forgotten what you read here.

The other interesting thing about this summary is that it doesn't start at the beginning of the book. It's Fereiba's early years that color all of her choices - the death of her mother at her birth, a father who cannot stop grieving and can't face Fereiba without thinking of his dead wife, a stepmother who gives her just enough to make Fereiba hope for a mother's love but not much more, and an angel, who promises to watch over her through her life. For the first half of the book, the story is Fereiba's - a story of longing, heartache, anguish, fear, and hope.

Once Fereiba and her children are forced to flee Afghanistan, the story shifts and becomes more and more Saleem's story. Told from the third person, although Saleem's life is more desperate and more reflective of the trials of refugees, it becomes more distant and harder to connect with the story. Because Hashimi wants to leave her reader with hope, things never quite become as tense and horrible as they might have. Still, with the continuing refugee situation in the Middle East (and world wide), it's important to put readers into the shoes of the disenfranchised, to make those of us sitting in our comfortable homes understand how hard life can be and to, hopefully, become more compassionate.

You know how much I enjoy books set in the Middle East and this one was no exception. Hashimi does a wonderful job of immersing readers into the culture of Afghanistan and making them understand life, particularly as a woman, in the region. The book could have benefited from more editing where it sometimes became repetitive, but I became caught up in Fereiba's story, the story of a mother who is fighting to make a better life for herself and her children.

Thanks to the ladies at TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour. For more reviews, check out the full tour.

Nadia Hashimi’s parents left Afghanistan in the 1970s, before the Soviet invasion. She was raised in the United States, and in 2002 she visited Afghanistan for the first time with her parents. Hashimi is a pediatrician and lives with her family in suburban Washington, D.C. Find out more about Nadia at her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

She is the author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, which I enjoyed and reviewed here. As long as Hashimi continues to write books about the women of Afghanistan that make me think, I will continue to read them.

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
Published May 2016 by Simon and Schuster
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
London, 1939.

The day war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up.

Tom Shaw decides to ignore the war—until he learns his roommate Alistair Heath has unexpectedly enlisted. Then the conflict can no longer be avoided.

Young, bright, and brave, Mary is certain she’d be a marvelous spy. When she is—bewilderingly—made a teacher, she finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget.

Tom, meanwhile, finds that he will do anything for Mary.

And when Mary and Alistair meet, it is love, as well as war, that will test them in ways they could not have imagined, entangling three lives in violence and passion, friendship and deception, inexorably shaping their hopes and dreams.

My Thoughts:
If you ask me if I'd like to read a book set in Europe during the Second World War, I'd likely say "no." It so often feels that there cannot be a stone left unturned in the story of that war. And knowing that any such book it likely to be devastatingly sad, I find it hard to do that to myself. But Chris Cleave won me over with Little Bee so I was willing to take a chance. Cleave has become something of the master of combining humor with crushing sadness.  

In Everyone Brave Is Forgiven, Cleave as found a way to bring those elements together in a completely different World War II story. While Mary stays in London, volunteering, she faces the day-to-day hardships of the Blitz but also unexpected racism. Alistair finds himself stationed on Malta, an island that the Axis powers lay siege to for more than two years, trying to break the people on the strategically important island. There is no shortage of the gore and desperation of war here but the emphasis never veers from the characters.


What first grabbed my attention was the witty dialogue between characters.

"Mary frowned. "You are a mousetrap of a friend, all soft cheese and hard springs."
 Hilda beamed. "I use you for practice. One day I'll have a husband."
 Mary took a second envelope from the tray. "God help the poor man."
 "God will take my side," said Hilda. "He's only human, after all.""

And what great characters they are! Filled with kindness, melancholy, jealousy, anger, bigotry, love, hope, hopelessness, disgust, and sorrow. I became so attached to Mary and Tom and Zachary and Alistair that at times I could hardly keep reading, so unable was I to keep "seeing" them hurting.

Of course, I couldn't stop reading. Cleave's writing grabbed me and held onto me with its honesty, intelligence, and emotion. More than once, I found myself thinking "oh, please no" and just as often "oh, yes, this."

Cleave's grandmother, Mary

"Even as she railed, a hollow feeling grew that perhaps life would turn out to be like this. No, after all, the effortful ascent to grace that she had imagined, but rather a gradual accretion of weight and complexity - and not in one great mass that could be shouldered as Atlas had, but in many mundane and antiheroic fragments with a collective tendency to drag one down to the mean."

"There in the sweet sacking smell of the mailbags he understood that he was dying, and it pleased him that he was going in the company of so many soft words home." 

Cleave's grandfather, David

"I was brought up to believe that everyone brave is forgiven, but in wartime courage is cheap and clemency out of season." 

"The quick bright shock of the light between the cloud and the eastern horizon: an unimagined thing, thought Mary, a life. It was an unscrewing of tarnished brass plaques. It was one tile lost to the pattern. It was a world one might still know, if everyone brave was forgiven."

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven is loosely based on Cleave's own grandparents lives during the War. The idea for the novel was given to him by his grandfather when Cleave's grandfather asked Cleave to transcript his handwritten memoir into one computer document. The true story is included in the book as well and is every bit as interesting.

Life: It Goes On - May 1

Happy May Day! After all of these years of not doing it, it still seems strange not to be putting together May baskets for the kids to deliver to friends, neighbors and classmates.

May here is coming in exactly as April left us - wet, wet, wet. I'm so ready for some sunshine! We had box seats at a baseball game today but, sadly, it was rained out.

This Week I'm:

Listening To: We've been back at the gym this week so I've been listening to more podcasts, several episodes of NPR Books and two episodes of Nerdette. I finally set up my own Pandora account so I've been listening to a lot of different music as I've done that: Alison Krauss, The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlisle, Chevelle, Florence + The Machine, Incubus, musicals, Nina Simone. I've been all over the place!

Watching: Miss H introduced me to The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, I finally caught "Love Actually," and we're catching up on BBC's "Luther." Love me some Idris Elba!

Reading: On audio, I'm listening to The Absolutist by John Boyne. So good and so well narrated! In print, I finished When The Moon Is Low and Why We Write About Ourselves yesterday. Today I'm starting Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman and my new nightstand book is The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller.

Making: Chili (it's been that chilly lately - ya' see what I did there?!) and cinnamon rolls yesterday and today I'm making a breakfast souffle and french toast for brunch.

courtesy of the MeanStreetsOmaha
Twitter account

Planning: It's all about the graduation party and our upcoming house guest. Since Miss S's mom will be staying in Mini-him's room while she's here, Mini-him will need to stay in my office for several days. That meant I finally had to buckle down an get that room cleaned up. I found my bookshelves again!

Thinking About: How lucky Omaha was the other day. The weather became unexpectedly severe and a couple of tornadoes touched down (one not too far from my office). Minor damage, no injuries but impressive footage. Got home to find we'd gotten a fair amount of pea-sized hail but looks like all of our plants survived that.

Enjoying: Brunch today with Miss S and Mini-me. Miss S has been in Fort Worth for four months for a school rotation and we are so glad to have her back!

Feeling: Productive. I could have spent the afternoon reading since I wasn't planning on doing anything around the house but, instead, I've been deep cleaning the kitchen. No one else may notice that the cupboards look cleaner, but I do!

Looking forward to: Mini-me's graduation on Friday!

Question of the week:  With a party just around the corner, I'm using that as an excuse to get some projects done around the house that we've been putting off. Is it just us or do you do that, too?