Saturday, January 2, 2016

Do You Have a 2016 Reading Wish List? I Do!





Every year, I add a bunch of books I would like to read onto a yearly "To Read" list. As it happens, I never actually read them all, but it forks for me to keep some sort of guideline.

Do you do anything similar?

Here is my list for 2016:


  • Audrey Niffenegger - Raven Girl
  • Abigail Tarttelin - Golden Boy
  • Anthony Marra- A Censtellation of Vital Phenomena
  • Kate Avelynn- Flawed
  • James Patterson- Private Berlin
  • Jenny Milchman - Cover of Snow
  • Mark Owen- No Easy Day
  • Linda Lafferty- The Bloodletter's Daughter

  • Jay Asher- Thirteen Reasons

  • CS Lewis- The Screwtape Letters
  • MArgaret Atwood- The Handmaid's Tale
  • Jodi Picoult - The Storyteller
  •     - The Pact
  •     - 19 Minutes
  • Tatiana de Rosnay - Sarah's Key

  • PC Cast - Destined and  Hidden
  • Truman Capote- In Cold Blood
  • Diane Setterfield - The Thirteenth Tale
  • Mark Hadden- Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time
  • Lauren Grodstein- A Friend of the Family
  • Nicholas Conde- The Religion
  • Jonathan Safran Foer- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

  • Wally Lamb - I Know This Much Is True
  • Lois Lowry- The Giver
  • John Boyne- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
  • Ishmael Beah- A Long Way Gone
  • William Faulkner- The Sound and the Fury



You will notice, most are not newer books. In fact, my list is generally a reminder of books I have missed out on reading.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Little Known Amazon Hacks - Maximize Your Shopping





Amazon is such a vast marketplace, that in searching for what you need, you may be missing out on some key features!  Some will save you money and some will just add some great perks to your experience.

Many of you may be familiar with these, but for the rest of you here are some great perks:
  • Coupons- yes, Amazon has coupons in their grocery section! To be sure not a ton of them, but wuite a few make for some great deals. Check them out when you log in. They do change often.
  • Box Tops For Education Shopping- You can find all products that offer Box Tops in One Location
  • Use your credit card's cash back to shop- I have a Discover card and Amazon allows me to use my earned cash back to pay for my purchases.  This can be done with American Express, Chase Ultimate Points, and Citi Thank You points.
  • Amazon Smile- Use this as your default Amazon Search and when you make a purchase, a portion goes to the charity of your choosing! 
  • Subscribe & Save- When buying basics for your home such as Toilet paper and Laundry Items (among thousands of other items) see if they are Subscribe and Save eligible. You will save money and can either tweak your shipments or cancel.

Don't forget, you can earn Amazon Gift Cards just for searching the internet using Swag Bucks! You are going to search anyway. Might as well get something for it!