Janet’s Book Nook

I came across a lot of chatter lately about the children’s book series titled "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" written by Jeff Kinney. I thought it might be a good recommendation for some of my readers that are moms. This series is meant to be a diary of the main character Greg Heffley. Greg writes about his life as a bullied child. He is bullied by his brother and also by some of the older kids in school. Right now there are two books that have been released with another set to release in January 2009. The titles of the first three books are:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Last Straw (releasing January 2009)

From what I have read and seen these books are filled with drawings and doodles that younger children will find amusing and will help keep their interests. On the other spectrum the writing style and hijinks of Greg will be enjoyed by older children. The first book is #2 on the Publisher’s Weekly Best Sellers List and the second is #3 so I would think that says volumes about the quality of the books. Enjoy!

I have been checking around today because I checked my Christmas Club Savings Account and I noticed that I am going to be getting a good bit to spend for Christmas this year. I decided that I should start looking for gifts to purchase and finding good deals. I heard about this site called Collectible Today through my rewards site I do and I decided to check them out today.

I have a few relatives that I could get gifts for from this site including myself. I found some beautiful Thomas Kinkaide Christmas Trees for my mantel. I have been trying to stock up on quality collectible Christmas decorations the past few years. I would love to have items that I can pass to my kids that they will remember as being part of their Christmases during childhood. Since these trees are part of the Bradford Edition Christmas collectibles I know they are quality pieces and will last a lifetime.

They also have some pretty amazing Disney items. They have a beautiful Tinker Bell pendant and also a Disney Charm Bracelet that I would love to have or to get for my girls. They also a bunch of Nightmare Before Christmas items which is my mother in laws all time favorite movie. I might get her a charm bracelet from the kids for Christmas.

I think I could find a gift for everyone on my list at this place because they carry dolls, inspirational items and collectibles of every type. I am going to be keeping an eye out as we get closer and get together my list of gifts I need.

I found this pair of books through one of my book clubs and I thought that they would be a terrific set to recommend. Nic and David Scheff are father and son and they have each written a book. Nic’s book is titled "Tweak" and David’s is titled "Beautiful Boy" and they are two sides of the same story. Nic started abusing at the age of 11 when he was drinking excessively and continued on this path for years as he progressed to smoking pot, ecstasy, cocaine, crystal meth and heroin. His book tells the story of his addiction and the places it took him including to the brink of death. David’s book tells the story of a father riddled with guilt over what he believes is the part he plays in causing his son’s addiction. He tells of his heart break at seeing his son so close to death. The endings are the same because Nic finally gets help and gets clean and then almost loses it all to a relapse that he eventually rebounds from but the emotions are very different. Amazing story that so many families in the world could relate to. Enjoy!

The very last thing my husband and I did before Gustav interrupted our lives was to attend a New Orleans Saint’s Pre-season game. We both love the games and we were discussing how we would love to be able to get season tickets for the whole family. Unfortunately there are 5 of us and it just isn’t feasible right now. However, I think we can swing tickets for a game or two this season.

I decided to check on a new site I found called Stubpass.com to see if they have any tickets available. You can go to their site and check by event type and also check by team. You can get  New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers Tickets. You can check by game and they give you the prices and the number of tickets available at that price. I really like that they give you the section where the seats are located and also a map of the stadium so you can see where the seats are located.

 I have been trying to hard to find things that we can do as a family. We love to watch the games on television and I can only imagine that the kids would have a great time seeing one in person. I don’t really think it matters how close the seats are because the excitement of a game is enough for them to have a ball. As a matter of fact, when we went to the last game we used tickets from my husbands company and they were suite tickets. Well it was hard for me to enjoy and follow the game because I couldn’t see the big screen that shows you all of the information. I kept having to ask my husband what happened.

As it turns out stubpass.com has a bunch of tickets available for the game this Sunday in the Superdome between the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. Most of them are up in the Terrace but they do have some of the better tickets available too. I would love to do this game but I think we may have to plan ahead and do one of the next games because we are still getting things back in order from the storm. I am glad to know that there is a place to go to find tickets and they have a guarantee that the tickets will be valid and that you will be refunded if the event gets canceled. This is a much safer way to buy tickets than to do it through one of the auction sites where you never know if you are getting tickets that are good. I think I will plan this as a surprise for my husband and kids and buy them all outfits for the game too. I can’t wait to see their faces.

James Patterson is giving non-fiction a try. His latest book titled "Against Medical Advice" and is a true story based on the life of Cory Friedman who woke up one day and found that his body was no longer under his control. He began to experience tics and urges and say things that he couldn’t control. It was eventually discovered that he was afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This book tells of his journey through doctors in an attempt to control his symptoms. His frustration occurs when the drugs that are intended to help his symptoms cause ones that are as bad if not worse than the ones he originally had. This child goes through 12 years of living in the hell of his own body and his inability to control it. I will be getting this one once I am finished with my Twilight Series. Enjoy!