Off The Shelf

As you can see from opening the page, Off The Shelf has gotten a bit of a re-design! I have been trying to make some changes to the site for some time now, but the Blogger Template was being quite temperamental. I was unable to make small changes (font color, text size, etc.) in the template I had previously been using. In that case, I decided it might be time to try something totally different. Upon scrolling down, you will notice all of the regular features of this blog can still be found where they had been. The sidebar on the right is still filled with lists of my favorite authors, book suggestions and links to other great book blogs. I'm not sure I am totally in love with it yet, so the look might be a little different the next time you visit. (For those of you that view my blog via email, make sure to visit the actual webpage to see the changes!) What do you think? Let me know in the comments... In order to make my book reviews more helpful and direct, I have decided...

 {The sun sets at the closure of another month} Things in the literary world have been very, very busy lately - with everything from new publications to leaked pseudonyms and discoveries made about chocolate. The following are a collection of the most popular headlines buzzing around the Internet at the moment.   To start, have you been reading what you should this summer? With only a month left to go, you might want to check out The Huffington Post, as they have revealed the  7 Must-Reads of Summer .   There are only 10 more days until the highly-anticipated fourth and final installment of Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It series is released on August 13th! Have you pre-ordered The Shade of the Moon yet? You can do so  here , here  and here!   The biggest hype in the book world currently is most certainly the surprise that  J.K Rowling can write a crime novel...who knew? In April, Rowling wrote The Cuckoo's Calling u...

Life: An Exploded Diagram Mal Peet 385 pages At this point I need to take you on a short detour. I'm very much a cause-and-effect sort of a fellow. I'm fascinated by the way things fit together (and come to pieces). And if we were to take what eventually happened to Frankie and me and drew something like a flowchart of how it came about, one of its arrows would lead us into the darkness of a Caribbean night. Clem Ackroyd, the son of a war veteran and a careful bookkeeper, is a working-class boy hoping to one day scrape together the funds to go to art school. Frankie Mortimer is the daughter of a wealthy land owner, living in an inherited estate. Soon, in Norfolk, England, the two will embark on a relationship that must be kept a secret, and if found out, their world could be blown apart. Little do they know, that John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khruschev are about to do just that, as the event later known in history books as the Cuban Missile Crisis begins to unfold. Life: A...

{I can't possibly have a cookie without milk!}   When the forecast promises clouds and a possible thunderstorm, I usually know right away the day will be one dedicated to reading. (Especially when I'm finishing up a book as good as Life: An Exploded Diagram ) But this past Tuesday was a different kind of rainy day. Instead of reading, a friend and I indulged in another hobby: baking.   This recipe for S'mores Cookies was super easy, and absolutely delicious! They are the perfect substitute for when the inclement weather prevents the toasting of marshmallows on an open fire.   I think the baking time for this sweet treat is very dependent on your own oven. We ended up baking ours for quite a bit longer than what was called for because after the instructed time, they were not as golden as we would have liked.   S’mores Cookies Adapted from the blog  Erica's Sweet Tooth 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour 1 cup graham cracker crumbs 1 tsp bakin...

{6. Hydrangeas}   I thought I would blog only once on this vacation, but I couldn't help but share five more things that help make Cape Cod so special for me.   In the backyard here, there are several hydrangea bushes. The blue ones are my favorite, but there is a house around the corner with vibrant purple flowers, and a white one with yellow hues.   After getting ice cream this evening, we visited The Brewster Store. This general store is always filled buckets and baskets of odds and ends - wind up cars, refrigerator magnets, soaps, maps, and greeting cards. It's the perfect place to buy a souvenir or a kitchen item your rental house seemed to neglect.    {7. The Brewster  General Store}   {8. Harbors}  {9. The Cape Cod Rail Trail } Besides the beach, the CCRT is probably the one place on the Cape where I have spent the most time. The rides are always incredibly scenic, whether you are passing the cranberry bo...

{1. Lighthouses} For as long as I can remember, my family has been coming to Cape Cod for our summer vacation. Over the many years of staying in homes anywhere from Harwich to Orleans, there are many things I have come to love. The following photographs are five of these things.   Usually the mornings here are foggy and a little chilly, but this week the temperatures are much warmer. This hotter weather has certainly not kept us indoors though! We kayaked yesterday to the Stage Harbor Lighthouse (shown above), and this morning rode our bikes to the  Hot Chocolate Sparrow for lunch by way of the Cape Cod Rail Trail.    {2. Fishermen's Cedar Shake Sided Shacks  }   {3. Local Farm Stands}   {4. Cranberry Bogs} Along those rides we passed numerous cranberry bogs, each very green and very picturesque. As we shifted into higher, and faster gears, we whirled past small ponds and thickly settled cottages, a rustic general...

The Future of Us Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler 356 pages Josh and Emma have been best friends and neighbors for as long as they can remember. When Josh's family receives an American Online CD-ROM in the mail, his parents have him bring it over to Emma's so she can install it on her new computer. Upon installing the program, Josh and Emma are automatically logged onto Facebook. But there is only one issue...The year is 1996, and Facebook hasn't even been invented yet. The two friends find themselves looking at their profiles fifteen years in the future - their spouses, careers, homes - it's all there. These unexpected discoveries will force Josh and Emma to re-evaluate what they are doing right, and wrong, in the present. The Future of Us was an incredibly creative story: the plot premise is certainly out-of-the-box and is relevant to today's teens. Emma, Josh and their friends were readable characters, and each of their quirky characteristics brought them to ...