Beach Trip, Beach Reads, AND a Give-Away

A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.  

 ~Robert Orben

And that's the truth! 

And that's what Donald and Harley and I are looking forward to in just a few weeks.

Vacation.

A whole week of . . . .

            no firm plans

                   no firm schedule

                           loads of leisure time

and lots of reading . . . .

And we'll be doing it at the beach.


Some of you have been kind enough to listen to me moan and groan about vacation since this past winter when it snowed practically every single day for weeks and weeks and weeks.  And if we weren't getting snow we were getting ice.  I was pretty much a wussie about it all and started my beach vacation count down as soon as we put the Christmas decorations away.  

Thank you all for being so patient with my whining.   Good things come to good people, you know.  And to thank you for being such good people I'm having a give-away.  


But first you have to allow me to squeal about our upcoming vacation!  otay?!


Hey - I'm not above a little blackmail here.  LOL!

“Don't grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach.”

-- Michelle Held

“Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”

--Robert Henri

“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

--Jacques Cousteau

“The waves of the sea

Help me get back to me.”

--Jill Davis

“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.”

--Isak Dinesen

We're headed back to one of our favorite places on God's green earth

- Topsail Island, NC

We've rented the same house we stayed in last year.

AND -  we'll be celebrating 24 years of marriage. 

We both love the beach, and both feel a primal connection to the water that is impossible to explain to someone who doesn't feel it.  Not everyone loves the beach and not everyone feels the urge or understands the need that Donald and I both feel when it comes to the water.  His comes, I guess, from being born an Aquarius.  Mine comes, I suppose, from being born and raised on the water.  As much as I love our little mountain home, I miss being on the water and have this deep and constant need to travel to the coast and wiggle my toes in the waves.

So, this is a vacation that will also include . . . .

              long walks on the beach

                            long naps 

long periods of time just sitting on the deck watching the waves

and lots of reading

 And we'll pick up pretty shells and sea glass

and we'll eat when we want, maybe  probably at odd times

      and we'll have lots and lots of seafood (and continue our lifelong hunt for perfect pizza)

             and we'll take little trips to explore the island

                  and we'll rent movies to watch on TV and

we'll read

And we'll watch gorgeous sunrises from our deck

and gorgeous sunsets along the sound

and we'll probably play Canasta

                and Scrabble

                            and we'll watch Harley being silly

and read

lots and lots of reading . . . 

oh boy.

I  love having a stack of books with me while I'm at the beach.

This year at the top of the stack is Anne Morrow Lindberg's "Gift from the Sea."  This is the only "old" book I'm taking with me.  It's a book I re-read often, and can't imagine not having it close at hand.  Anne Morrow Lindberg wrote this eloquent book of essays while at the beach; Captiva Islanda, FL.  She writes about solitude and her contentment with it.  There are passages about the ocean and about the beach, and about things every woman thinks about and ponders; age, marriage, relationships, etc.  The gifts from the sea are the shells she collects - “One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach; one can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few."  

I think women universally can feel an attachment and an understanding to this lovely little book, and if you're in love with the beach, and feel the need to renew yourself there, as I do  - the connection will be even stronger.

And some of the other books I'll be dragging along with us are some new ones by some of my favorite authors.  Lucky me that so many were released just in time for our trip to the beach! Yay!

Here's some that I think will be going with me, unless I give in and read them before we go . . .

Book 18 in the China Bayles Series by Susan Wittig Albert

Book 18 in the Mrs. Murphy Series by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

A "new to me" writer - Dan Chaon.  A highly recommended book by a couple folks I trust.

Stand-Alone by Harlan Coben

Book 16 in the Inspector Lynley Series by Elizabeth George

Book 22 in the Richard Jury Series by Martha Grimes

Book Three in the Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts

Tenth Book in the Mary Russell Series by Laurie King (I was a lucky winner of an ARC for this - Yay!!)

Book Five in the Monkeewrench Series by P. J. Tracy (its been four years since the last one!)

Tenth book in the Bay Tanner Series by Kathryn Wall

and a book that's getting lots of attention.  I had several people recommend this one  -

by Helen Simonson

Will I read them all while we're gone?!   Probably not - but, maybe.   Who knows which I might be in the mood for - different books do fit different moods after all.  And then too - it could rain every day . . .   Laws, I hope not!  I don't mind a rainy day or two while we're at the beach, but not a whole week's worth!  Cross your fingers for us that that won't happen!

And now . . . . . 

Our Give-Away!

Yay!

Leave a comment telling me what you're looking forward to reading this summer, along with your email address, and I'll toss your name into the virtual hat.  

The winning name wins . . . . . 

Jan Karon's HOME TO HOLLY SPRINGS.

I loved this book.  It's the first of the Father Tim novels -  not one of the Mitford series.  It's a little different  from Ms. Karon's usual fare and has Father Tim facing some tough stuff from his past.  Some things he's had a difficult time facing head on, but finally decides he needs to come to terms with.   And I wish she'd hurry on with things and give us the next in the series - I am hooked!

I'll draw the winning name this Sunday evening, April 25 - check back here to see who the winner is.

FCC Disclosure

this copy of

HOME TO HOLLY SPRINGS

is one I bought.
I have not received a copy of this book from the publisher or from the author or from any other interested party.