Dorothea Benton Frank

Y'all, I love to read. I've said this before a million times, but this summer I've been able to really get into a few books and have most recently (meaning in the last 6-ish days) found such a fun writer: Dorothea "Dot" Benton Frank! On my second to last day at the beach I finished this book, Lowcountry Summer and definitely recommend it! Sweetly southern, fun, and a quick read, this book had everything I wanted to read about during the summer...AND made me majorly crave fresh biscuits and be back at Carolina!

I connected so much with the characters, most of which hail from Charleston, and some even go to USC! Dot often writes about Columbia, Charleston, Folly Beach and a few other South Carolina hot sports! All the titles are different places in South Carolina or topics related to SC. Everytime I would read about USC I'd flat out squeal on the beach. This writing reads just like she's talking to you with funny asides and comments about characters.

Two days ago I started Bulls Island and I'm about 90 pages in. This one is far more dramatic but still has a lot of the charm and wit that Lowcountry Summer had too! Momma found it hardcover for just $7 while we were at the beach and I wasn't about to let it go! We also picked up another book, but it immediately took the backseat to Dot book #2! 

Ever read a DBF book? I'm a new fan but can't WAIT to read more!!

xxKatie

Beach Bound: Books, Nooks, and Everything in Between!

Books are an absolute must have for me while I'm at the beach! Like I said a few days ago, I tend to get a little bored along the coastline because I'm not a good beach napper. There is decent people watching and I always laugh when the lifeguards signal each other from stand to stand. A million years ago when I was a little kid, we joked around that they were all putting in their lunch orders!

"I'll take a cheesburger, no mustard!"

Anyway since I like to hang out on the beach and manage my tan, I enjoy bringing books with me on my trips! I currently am reading 2 books (which is rare. I always read one and go onto the next one after I finish completely!) but they're very different. One is all about economics and why people make some of the decisions they make while the other is about a woman in South Carolina beginning to re-evaluate her life upon the arrival of her 46th birthday.

Nudge is my economics book that I mentioned. I'm about halfway through, but the information is pretty dense so it's not exactly pleasure reading. I'm learning SO much from it and I really enjoy econ. If you're interested in business/economics/reading as an undergrad, my professor from the spring semester made sure to tell us to check it out!

Lowcountry Summer is the second book I talked about! I knew I was going like this book when they said that the son in the novel went to the University of South Carolina along with his cousin! Obviously it's going to be a good read. I'm only twenty-some pages into this guy, but I'm excited to see what other SC references are in it!

Now I haven't quite jumped on the bandwagon of e-readers, but I'd definitely suggest these two books for download as well as The Art of Racing in the Rain, which I read earlier this summer. That was an easy read and would make a good beach book for sure! 

What summer reading have you done? Anything I have to add to my lists? Do you like to read on the beach or are you a napper? Let me know!

xxKatie

Vacation Book Reviews!

So over spring break I ended up reading 3 books and knocking out a lot of my Economics homework!

The first one I read was The Secret Lives of Dresses. I would TOTALLY recommend this book, 5 out of 5 stars. I even made my Momma read it and she liked it. It was SO cute and I think you all should go out and buy it/download it/ebook it! This was such a cute, quick, light-hearted read that it's so worth it and you'll want to pass it onto your friends!

Next I read There's Cake in My Future. 5 out of 5 stars...not so much. This book is why books like He's Just Not That Into You were written. It was too "ladies novel" and cheesy. I do like the idea behind the cake pulls and it really had a lot of potential, but the characters were pretty silly and boy-obsessed. Wouldn't necessarily recommend this one, but I did finish it.

Finally I ended up buying House Rules right before I left from our school bookstore. This is the 10th Jodi Picoult book I've read and definitely one of the best. For the first time I saw the end coming because you get a "preview" about halfway though. This book has a longer lasting trial portion than most of her books, but if you're an avid Jodi reader, this is definitely a good one.

Anyone have any suggestions for my next reads? I'm not planning any trips soon, but I'm certainly up for any recommendations!!

xxKatie

Spring Break: Books

Little known fact: I LOVE to read. I read tons of books over the summer and I hate that I can't really read during the school year. I take complete advantage of any break and extra time that I get apart from school to read a bunch, this spring break isn't any different. The Target book section isn't huge, so I was a little bit nervous about my prospects when I went shopping there a few days ago. I browsed and browsed and was lucky enough to find two books that sound SO me:

1. The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean

I know you're never supposed to judge a book by its cover...but come on! Just the title drew me in! It sounds so cute, and takes place in North Carolina! Even on the cover it says, "Never underestimate the power of vintage...", naturally I was sold!

2. There's Cake in My Future by Kim Gruenefelder

Anyone remember Southern Weddings Week? I did a post all about the southern tradition of cake pulls, and that's what this story is all about. A bride carefully organizes all the cake pulls to go to certain people for specific reasons, but somehow it gets all mixed up! I'm really looking forward to this beach read! 

Anyone read either of these? I can't wait to dive in! Both have 4.5 star ratings on Amazon so I'm pretty excited! Less than a week until SB2011!

xxKatie

No School for South Carolina!

Best post-birthday news ever: Because of winter weather conditions, the University of South Carolina Columbia campus will be closed Monday, Jan. 10. Please monitor this site for updates.


No school for me for a snow day! I wasn't even taking the "threat" of a wintry mix seriously because it wasn't like freezing yesterday. It's going to be a great little day before the semester starts!! Now I get to prepare my room, try to meet with teachers, and look up my future Westie all day long! I'm quite the lucky girl (along with 28,000 of my good ole' Gamecock friends) aren't I?!

xxKatie

P.S.: I was a big Peter Rabbit fan (thanks Dad!) when I was little, so I couldn't pass up this picture!

A New Gatsby?

If the new Nick Carraway looks anything like this guy, sign me up. So attractive. I originally saw the Robert Redford version of TGG in 11th grade and just about fell in love with him. Whether he's like that in person or not, I have no idea, but Nick Carraway a la RR, you're delightful.

I feel like this movie will be very hard to top. Scenes like this will be very hard to replace and they'll have to do one STELLAR job to convince me.

Rumor is that Leo DiCaprio (speaking of him...did anyone catch Titanic over the weekend...? I always get sucked into it and it starts SO late on TNT.) is set to play the new Nick. Personally I think Brad Pitt should be the leading man...RR and BP look so much alike! Agree?

I just think it's a very risky endeavor (that I will more than willingly go see several times) to take on such a classic movie. It was made in 1974, and that's nearly 40 years later and movie making has certainly changed. I wonder what it'll be like. 

Whew...he's so good looking. I have absolutely no idea how old he is now though (oops!). I'm very interested in any more rumors of a new Great Gatsby movie. This will probably call for reading the book again. It's definitely one of my favorites from high school! I am very much pumped about this new Gatsby! I can't wait to find out the cast and preorder my tickets!!

xxKatie

Great Gatsby Inspired!

I finished this book about a month ago and I have to say that I enjoyed it! It's a light beach read and is nice for the summer. The story is about two half-sisters sisters who are reunited after growing up apart by the death of an Aunt who was very close them. Aunt Lydia owned "Fool's House" in the Hamptons with quirky neighbors, that was utterly falling apart. Through the story the sisters grow much closer, have love interests and learn a lot about one another. "The Great Gatsby" is one of my favorite books, but doesn't have much to do with the rest of the novel. I'd recommend this book if you want to read something fun and light and enjoy a fun story about vacationing in the summer!

Speaking of "The Great Gatsby", Kate Spade has recently debuted famous book clutches. A fun addition that would have been perfect for the first party thrown in "The Summer We Read Gatsby" that the sisters attended! I don't know how much use that this clutch would get in my wardrobe, but it is certainly a conversation piece!

xxKatie

Lilly and Books

Today my Momma and I were out shopping and strolling for the early afternoon and we eventually made our way into Barnes and Noble. My mom is quite the reader and she was looking for a few summer books. I saw this fabulous display while I was perusing the shelves of the goodies B&N has to share:

How cute is all their Lifeguard Press stuff? I love that it's all centered around the "Essentially Lilly" book too! I'm a huge fan of reading especially during the summer, so I wanted to compile some of my good (and maybe some preppy) reads!

What I've read recently/want to read:

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

So I was recommended this book by a fellow co-worker of mine and was really excited to read it over spring break. It was a very interesting novel, and apparently based on the life of Laura Bush, but unfortunately I found (or felt like) that the author had an agenda. I would recommend the story to people, but read it as fiction and not based on the life of a first lady. 

Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

I am a HUGE JP fan especially for summer reading because you can get sucked in SO fast. I've read 6 (I think...) books that she wrote and liked very many of them. This was the first one she wrote, and it's clear that she was just getting started since some of the other books I liked better. I liked this book, but if you want to read one by her and haven't read My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes. I read Ninteen Minutes in 1 day it was so good!

Social Climbers by Beth Dunn

Beth is one of our own preppy bloggers, so I had to add this to my list. I've never read it myself, but she actually handed a copy to a co-worker of mine! How sweet! I'll most likely be adding this to my list over the summer if I can squeeze it in!

The Official Preppy Handbook (by a collection of folks)

I was actually given my copy of TOPH by my godmother who found it used (in unbelievably amazing condition condition) and sent it to me. I think it is such a fun book to have and I love the old fashionedness of it. The drawings of all the different things have to be my favorites too! 

True Prep by Lisa Birnbach

I can't wait to check out this one! I've heard so many reviews of it and love that it's the sequel of TOPH. I'm very excited to see how things have changed and truly how "it's a whole new world" as the cover says. And I know they say "never judge a book by its cover" but this one is just too cute! I'm sure you all would agree! (Plus on Amazon, I checked out what other readers have read section along the bottom and tons of Jodi Picoult are listed, so these readers have some sense!!)

Any GREAT book recommendations? I'd love some ideas!!

Happy summer reading (which ironically I used to hate in middle school)!

xxKatie

Read Up: A Guide to Books on Preppy-ness.

Alright, so we've all heard about the Preppy lifestyle. But how does it get passed down? From grandmother to daughter to daughter to daughter Preppy has been and will be around for generations. (Mark my words!) But besides word of mouth, is the life of a Preppie recorded anywhere? Well, to answer the question yes, in many places. Or should I say pages?

Thankfully, someone had the brainy idea to start publishing books on how to be preppy. (Note: I've only read a couple of these myself, I found the rest on the web!!) Some titles include:

• The Preppy Handbook (Duh. Will be abbreviated from now on as TPH for future refrences)


• Tipsy in Madras: An 80's Guide to Preppy Drinking (by Johnnie and Mitzy-kind of a sequel to TPH- and I just love the title)
  
• Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Entertaining (written by THE prep herself, or highess, Lilly Pulitzer, but is extremely sincere, since it is written more like a diary then anything else)


• Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Holidays (A guide to throwing parties?!? I want to buy this one! The Christmas season IS coming up everyone...)
  
• A Privlaged Life: Celebrating WASP Style (Maybe, I don't want to read this one..., it does however, come "Highly Recommended" from Gail on Amazon.com)


• The Catcher in the Rye (Holden Caulfield was the original preppy bad boy)


• A Seperate Peace (basically the written-but-unwritten code of rules for boarding school- just remember: don't push your friends or break their legs.)

Also, a preppy characterisic is liking to read. This is supposed to be ground into you in high school, but some HS's don't. TPH says, "The school hopes that, upon graduation, you will be a well-rounded young Prep, familiar with the right vacation spots and customs, articulate and witty in conversation, understanding of literary and historical refrences [Holden Caulfield is one of the MOST referenced characters in all of Literature, in my opinion], proficient in the Prep vocation you pursue, capable of making at least one astute comment on any given subject [leave that to your liberal arts colleges, that's why they have a core curriculum...right?]--in short everything necessary for membership at a good country club". Cute right? (Preps know how to write EXTREMELY long sentences...)

Try one of these books anytime soon. If your high school didn't prepare you for the real world, hopefully these books might. Give TPH a look first and it should guide you for awhile, if not forever, and embrace your inner prep!

xx Katie