I love to read.  I am a member of the online book swap club at paperbackswap.com.  On this site, you post the books you have available to mail to other members.  Other members post their books.  When you find a book you want, you request it.  The owner then normally accepts your request and mails out the book to you.  You can ship books through the post office as media mail and save a little on shipping.  You pay for the shipping when you ship your own books.  When I receive a book that I have requested, I go to my account and mark that I received it.  This gives the person who mailed it 1 credit.  As you accumulate credits, you can request books from other members.  Right now I have 27 credits built up and about 4 books waiting to be read.  As I see books that I want to read or hear about them, I go to my account and add them to my wish list.  Then, as these books are posted by other members I am notified that they are available to request.  That all sounds very confusing, but basically you’re getting an almost new book (most of the time) for the cost of shipping, around $2.40.

The following three books are ones that I recently received and read in the past month or so.  I am a huge fan of anything Stephen King, and “Under the Dome” by Stephen King did not disappoint.  It is huge, over 1000 pages, but I could hardly put it down.  It is a great read with fun, complex characters.  It reminds me of “The Stand,” with a lot of characters and a lot going on.  And this is NOT horror.  Almost every person that I talk to about Stephen King only thinks he writes horror and they say, “Oh, I don’t like him.”  But this is a great story, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a good old fashioned story!

I saw a review for “A Happy Marriage” by Rafael Yglesias in People magazine.  This was fantastic.  I just finished it on vacation last week and read it in just a few days.  A great story of long lasting marital love, through the good and the bad.  I recommended this book for our August book club, we’ll see what the ladies in the group have to say.  I admit, I cried through the last chapter of this book, it was quite touching.

And finally, “Wesley The Owl” by Stacey O’Brien.  This has been on my wish list for well over a year.  I love any and all birds and was intrigued by a true story of a female biologist and her pet owl.  This is a great read also.  Small and easy to read, great for vacation or a trip.  Animal lovers will definitely shed tears with this one, but well worth the time to read.

I’d love to hear from all of you and hear what’s on your summer reading list.  Leave a comment, help me find some new books for my wish list!

As most of you know, I earn my living as a photographer.  I love my job and have a real passion for wedding photography in particular.  Most of you also know I love food.  I love to bake, cook, try new things and most of all eat.  I also love to read, watch movies, scrapbook and watch HGTV and the Food Network.  I spend a lot of time with our twin 4-year old boys and our 8 year old.  Sundays are the most important day of the week for me, as I spend them at church in the morning with my family and at my parent’s house afterward for lunch and fun.

Spread the word to friends and family, tell them to check out my new blog.  I will blog about photography, food, family, hobbies and more.  Leave comments and let me know about topics you’d like to see covered.  And check back often as I will hopefully be posting daily.