HappyLight & Happy New Year!

I've wanted one of these Full Spectrum Lights for several years and finally put it on my Christmas list this year.  And my son got it for me.  This lamp uses Natural Spectrum light to help with the symptoms of "Winter Blues" and SAD (seasonal effected disorder).  For years I've had a hard time dealing with the dark, gloomy winters we have here in the Seattle area.  I have no energy and my mood is borderline depression.  I blogged about getting one of these types of lights years ago but never got around to buying one.  I thought they were a bit pricey and I wasn't too sure they would work.  But this one was only about $50 at Costco so I thought it was worth a try.  Also this one is small (only 12" high) and fits almost anywhere. 

The package says that it emulates sunshine and will improve your mood and energy and help with your productivity and concentration.  You're supposed to sit in front of the light (between 6" - 24" away from your face) for 30 - 60 minutes in the morning with your eyes open.  They suggest reading or knitting or something or put it next to your computer while you work.   I put mine on the small table next to my comfy chair where I read.

I've have used is now for the past two days and I think I can feel a difference already.  I actually felt like doing stuff today. I put away all the Christmas decorations.  Amazing!  That usually doesn't get done until the last couple weeks of January.  A promising start.  We'll see how it goes in the next few weeks since they say you may not feel the effects for a month or so.

Recent reads:
 

Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

This is the 5th book in the Hathaway series which tells Beatrix's story and is my favorite book in the bunch. I loved Beatrix from the very first book with her quirky animal menagerie which includes a hedgehog and a ferret and other creatures who need her special care. She has a way with wounded animals and a tender heart.  Beatrix is the "baby" of the family and is now 23 y.o. All of her siblings are married and settled and she's feeling like she will never find anyone since she realizes how odd she is in comparison to most young ladies. Beatrix starts a correspondence with Captain Christopher Phelan who is fighting in the Crimean War.  However, Captain Phelan thinks he is corresponding with his love interest, Prudence, Beatrix's friend.  The letters are funny, charming, and touching at times.  When Christopher returns home from the war, he is suffering very badly from guilt and what we would call PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).  When he finds out that he has been exchanging letters with Beatrix rather Prudence, he feels betrayed and angry.  I loved Kleypas' writing in LITA and thought it was one of her best efforts since Devil in Winter.  Beatrix and Christopher were wonderfully drawn and made a perfect match.  LITA is not a DIK but it comes close.   
My Grade:  B+

My Best of 2010

I have a few 2010 books that I still want to read so this is just a preliminary list.  Only two were A reads, the rest were B+.  I have only reviewed one of these books.

There are four more 2010 books in my TBR and a whole bunch more on my wishlist. I'd better get cracking and get some more read before the annual poll at AAR.  I love to submit my yearly favorites for this poll.

I think my favorite of the year is Libertine's Kiss by Judith James.  An unusual book with a great hero and heroine set in an unusual time period (Restoration Period) - also very HOT.   James also wrote Broken Wing which is one of KristieJ's favorites. 

Author	Title	Grade
Balogh, Mary	A Matter of Class	B+
Bourne, Joanna	The Forbidden Rose	A
Carr, Robyn	Forbidden Falls	B+
Dahl, Victoria	Lead Me On	B+
Dreyer, Eileen	Barely a Lady	B+
Higgins, Kristan	The Next Best Thing	B+
James, Judith	Libertine's Kiss	A
Robb, J. D.	Fantasy in Death	B+
Ross, JoAnn	The Homecoming	B+
Singh, Nalini	Bonds of Justice	B+
Total		10

REVIEW: The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 393
SETTING: Contemporary
TYPE: Straight Romance
SENSUALITY: Warm
REASON FOR READING: I enjoyed my first book by Higgins - Just One of the Guys

SUMMARY:

Lucy Lang isn't looking for fireworks.
She's looking for a nice, decent man. Someone who'll mow the lawn, flip chicken on the barbecue, teach their future children to play soccer. But most important: someone who won't inspire the slightest stirring in her heart…or anywhere else. A young widow, Lucy can't risk that kind of loss again. But sharing her life with a cat named Fat Mikey and the Black Widows at the family bakery isn't enough either. So it's goodbye to Ethan, her hot but entirely inappropriate "friend with privileges" and hello to a man she can marry.
Too bad Ethan Mirabelli isn't going anywhere. As far as he's concerned, what she needs might be right under her nose. But can he convince her that the next best thing can really be forever?

THOUGHTS/OPINIONS:
Lucy had only been married 8 months when she lost her husband in a tragic car accident. This happened over 5 years ago and she still has not gotten over it, to put it mildly. In fact, in my opinion the girl could use some serious grief counseling. But as the story begins her sister has just had a baby and that starts her thinking and she has convinced herself she is ready to move on - she wants to meet someone and start her own family. Ethan is her dead husband's brother and has been a rock of support for her for the last 5 years. And with whom she enjoys "friends with benefits". This news was a bit of a shocker to me even though I had read it in the blurb. It's had to imagine women (and men) who actually think this is a good idea.

The story is told in a first person narrative and has the usual disadvantage of never knowing what Ethan is thinking or feeling. Lucy is one messed up person who seems to spend too much time playing the video of her wedding and crying. Normally I would be totally irritated with this type of heroine but I found myself very sympathetic towards her. Lucy works in the family-owned bakery with her mother and two aunts (called the Black Widows) who were also widowed at a fairly young age. These women seem to be content in their widowhood and cannot understand why Lucy wants to marry again. Why take the risk since all the men in the family die young. This is why I was so sympathetic of Lucy - working with these three was not a healthy situation. But there was lots of humor and some touching moments in this book which really balanced out the sadness. I cried along with Lucy and laughed too. But sometimes I wanted to shake her in her treatment of Ethan who was a wonderful guy.

The characterizations of the widows and Lucy's sister were well drawn. The sister is deathly afraid her husband will die young too like her mother, sister and aunt's husbands and has become quite neurotic. Just when I was starting to lose patience with Lucy she makes an amazing discovery about Ethan and my heart just melts. I loved the ending. I couldn't make up my mind on the grade for the longest time. But it's still so memorable after a couple months that I had to rate it pretty high.

GRADE: A-