Janet's Book Nook

I am in the process of buying Christmas gifts for my family right now. I love to get gifts but the economy really puts a damper on shopping. I know what I want to buy for everyone but the costs associated with some of the gifts makes them not practical for our budget. I have children mostly complete. My girls are going to be having another American Girl Christmas with dolls and clothes and movies and accessories. I also am buying them each a cute outfit. They are at the age now where they like trendy clothes so I guess I will checking out Justice or something similar. Gone are the days of Gymboree. My son is getting more Imaginext things this year. You really can’t break those toys and he loves to pretend. He is getting the new remote controlled dinosaur. He is going to love it! I am also considering buying him an MP3 player. The problem is there are so many different types of Mp3 players that I just don’t know which one I should get him. He is only 5 but he walks around with my Ipod all the time. I don’t think he needs anything fancy. Just something to hold his Miley Cyrus, Dora the Explorer and Chicken Little songs. I don’t want it to be too small though or it will end up getting lost in his room. The rest of the gifts are where I am starting to have issues. I know who I need to buy for I just have to find the right gift at the right price. Thankfully I usually find good prices through my rewards site I do, Sunshine Rewards. I really wish I had a money tree…it would make gift giving so much easier. What are you doing to help pay for Christmas gifts this year?

Most of you know how much I love my orlando vacations. I have a hard time imagining a year going by without being able to go to Disney and spending time at my favorite place. My last trip was in January this year when I went with a large group of my friends for the Disney Marathon. At the time I thought we would be back this year in October with the kids. Well the economy made that an impossibility. I was heartbroken to have to cancel my reservations but it had to be done. Well, I am so happy to say that I am now planning our next trip. We are going to Orlando in October 2010. We will spend 9 days and we are determined to make this the trip of a lifetime. I know…I say that for every trip. Every time pull up to my favorite place on earth I really can’t imagine never coming back. So, now the planning can begin.

I think I love the planning as much as the trip. I am awaiting my latest copy of Passporter. I already have my TourguideMike membership. I am in the process of trying to decide if I want to make the girls outfits or if I just want to buy them. I have to decide about costumes since we are going during the Halloween party. I also have to decide what special things we want to do with the kids. I am so excited. I expect that this year will drag by but I know I will have fun planning all year long.

I just finished this latest book from James Patterson. I have mixed feelings about the book. I like this new character Michael Bennet. He is interesting and has so many faults but he is likable and easy to root for. I like his family of characters that surround him. I thought the storyline for this book was interesting. The "Teacher" is a unique and unusual killer and I truly wouldn’t have considered where the storyline was going. Patterson wraps up the story very well and really in the end you feel a little sorry for the killer. In the end I enjoyed the book and I was ready to see where it was going to go. That says something since I haven’t found a book I have really liked in quite a while.

What didn’t I like? I think as a whole I am getting over James Patterson books. They all seem so repetitive. Single fathers with wives who died who are raising kids on their own with the help of strong women. Serial killers who terrorize everyone in their path and in the end get nabbed by the heroic policeman. You could have very easily exchanged Alex Cross for Bennet, Nana for Mary Catherine, John for Semus and any of the psychos Alex Cross has fought for The Teacher. It is the same story with the details changed. While they do keep me entertained and I get through the books easily it is just starting to feel redundant to read his books. Does anyone else get that feeling? Is anyone else starting to think it might not be worth reading his books anymore? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

For those of you who don’t feel the same as I do about the books as a whole I have to say it was a good book and a likable character. 

It won’t be long now! In just over a month, on November 20th, 2009 the movie edition of New Moon will be coming to theaters. I thought this was a good time to get you guys talking about New Moon again. I had to go back to read my previous posts about New Moon from when we did the book club discussions. I thought I remembered hating New Moon and feeling totally let down after reading Twilight. So much so that I almost didn’t move on to the last two books. When I went back and read what I had posted at the time of the discussion I realized that I might have actually liked New Moon the best.

Why would I like New Moon the best? Well I am in the Team Jacob site and I love that New Moon is so much about Jacob and Bella and not as much about Edward. I remember hating that Bella had all but given up her life after Edward left but I now I realize I like the Bella that was left behind much more than the one that was with Edward.

Here is the real question though…Will New Moon the movie be as good as Twilight if they stick to the book and Robert Pattinson doesn’t have a big role in the movie? I mean Edward was gone for much of New Moon so he certainly can’t have a huge place in the new movie. Will Taylor Lautner be able to carry New Moon the way Pattinson carried Twilight? I think he can. I think people were dying to love Jacob in the first one but he just didn’t have a big enough part. If they do this movie right they could have another mega hit!

What parts of the book do you hope to see in the movie? Are there any parts that you can’t imagine how they will pull off in the movie? I never thought I would want to talk about any part of Twilight again but I am interested in what you guys think about this new movie coming. So let’s hear it!

Hello American Girl fans! I am so excited to say that two of my favorite merchants are once again teaming up for some great deals. QVC will be featuring the American Girl doll collection on its show and online on October 25th, 2009 from 6-7am and also from 1-2pm. I have to say though that you have to be open to check the online site throughout the day because I have found the products released online early every time so far.

These QVC sales have been very good for myself and my 2 AG loving girls. We have gotten something from the last 3 shows that QVC did and always have gotten a good deal. You won’t find all product that AG sells on the shows. What you will find are really great sets that you can’t find on the AG site. We have gotten sets with the dolls, accessories, books and outfits. Some have 2 outfits and some have 3. Some have really special accessories and some have 2 books. We have bought sets with Kitt, Mia, Elizabeth, Julie, Molly and Carissa. I don’t know who will be featured this time but I would bet my money that Kristen will be part of the show since she is being discontinued. I know last year they featured Samantha right before she was put in the archives. I can’t promise she will be on there but I would bet she would be. In September they featured Julie and Molly so they could also be back. They do usually have some sort of Bitty Baby Sets.

Mark you calenders and make sure you keep checking back here. As soon as I find out more information about what may be featured I will be sure to let you guys know! Once the day arrives the best way to see what they have is to click the link below and then type American Girl in the search box on QVC. This way it will bring up everything QVC is selling that is related to the American Girl product. Good luck!