2015 Book Review

Another year down, another 40 books read.

Anolik, Lili - Dark Rooms

Beaton, M.C. - Death of a Celebrity*

Beaton, M.C. - Death of a Hussy*

Beaton, M.C. - Death of a Kingfisher* 

Beaton, M.C. - Death of an Outsider*

Beaton, M.C. - Death of a Scriptwriter*

Beaton, M.C. - Death of a Witch* 

Christie, Agatha - Death in the Clouds*

Christie, Agatha - Elephants Can Remember*
Christie, Agatha - Hallowe’en Party*
Christie, Agatha - Taken at the Flood*
Christie, Agatha - The A.B.C. Murders*

Gabaldon, Diana - Drums of Autumn* 

Gabaldon, Diana - The Fiery Cross* 

Gaiman, Neil - The Graveyard Book*

Galbraith, Robert - The Cuckoo’s Calling* 

Galbraith, Robert - The Silkworm

Grahame-Smith, Seth - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter* 

Harkness, Deborah - A Discovery of Witches
Harkness, Deborah - Shadow of Night
Harkness, Deborah - The Book of Night
Hawkins, Paula - The Girl on the Train
Hornby, Nick - Funny Girl* 

James, Henry - The Turn of the Screw* 

James, P.D. - Death Comes to Pemberley* 

Jones, Owen - Chavs 

Kondo, Marie - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up 

Moran, Caitlin - How to Build a Girl

Poehler, Amy - Yes Please*

Pressfield, Steven - The War of Art 

Ronson, Jon - So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed 

Ronson, Jon - The Psychopath Test* 

Rowling, JK - The Casual Vacancy*

Rosenberg, Liz - The Moonlight Palace

Russell, Alan - Guardians of the Night

Sandberg, Sheryl - Lean In 

Sharpless, Andy - The Perfect Protein 

Slaughter, Anne-Marie - Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family

Strayed, Cheryl - Tiny Beautiful Things

Strayed, Cheryl - Wild 

*Audio Book

Total: 40

GoodReads Challenge

Monty the Mustang -- is mine!

Today's a big day for me -- after years of paying monthly, the Mustang is mine!

Proof!

Here's the only picture of me with my car:

And my German friend Philip, too.

Finally paying off my car is also on my 30 by 30 list (owning a car is kind of a big deal, you know!), so I'm thinking I'm off to a good start!

28

Today is my 28th birthday! I feel like it's a BIG DEAL year so I'm really happy that it's starting off in the best possible way. My friend took me to a bakery for delicious cupcakes last night, I've received 3 bouquets of flowers here at work today (making working on my birthday not so bad at all, actually) - and even some chocolate-covered strawberries.

Feeling loved with some Big Sugar Bakeshop cupcakes

I think it's normal to use your birthday to reflect on the past year (and the whole of your life, really - Wendi Hansen wrote THIS spot-on article just today about her life lessons learned by 28), and to put down in words your hopes for the future. But, really, I don't even know where to begin! What do I hope the last years of my 20s will bring? I'd like to keep learning new things, to love deeply, and to see more of the world. I'd like to really feel like I'm making a difference in my community, that my career is growing in the right direction, and I'd like to say yes to every opportunity that comes my way. I want to live without regrets, and I'd like to learn how to make Eggs Benedict. 

My life has been such an adventure -- I couldn't have predicted my life would turn out this way. If you'd told me 10 years ago (or even 3 years ago!) that I'd be living in Los Angeles working in TV, I'd have called you a beautiful dreamer. And yet, here I am. (So thank you, beautiful dreamer!) 

Still, I've got to say, 28 is shaping up to be the greatest year ever. I've got 3 big trips around the US and Europe coming up before the leaves even change. I'm going to be able to see friends and family that I haven't seen in years -- and even be able to watch a very good friend get married to the man of her dreams in August. I'm going to keep taking my tap classes, and I'm going to take a few more acting workshops. Maybe I'll relearn how to sew or to make sourdough bread. I'd like to get back into writing and I'd like to try everything the world has to offer.

The sky's the limit -- and life is really good. Here's to high hopes for a good year!

2014 Book Review

I'd wanted to read 40 books in 2014 - and ended up reading 50, thanks in large part to books-on-tape (AKA the commuter's saving grace) and a newfound Agatha Christie obsession. It was a good year!

Abani, Chris - GraceLand 
Barbery, Muriel - The Elegance of the Hedgehog*
Bardugo, Leigh - Ruin and Rising
Barnes, Jonathan - The Somnambulist
Barry, Max - Company 
Brown, Pierce - Red Rising 
Castle, Richard - Heat Rises* 
Christie, Agatha - And Then There Were None* 
Christie, Agatha - Appointment with Death* 
Christie, Agatha - Crooked House* 
Christie, Agatha - Endless Night*
Christie, Agatha - Murder at the Vicarage*
Christie, Agatha - Murder on the Orient Express*
Christie, Agatha - The Body in the Library* 
Christie, Agatha - The Mysterious Affair at Styles* 
Christie, Agatha - The Pale Horse*
Cleave, Chris - Little Bee* 
Connolly, John - The Book of Lost Things
Donally, Claire - The Big Kitty 
Eckel, Sara - It's Not You 
Eugenides, Jeffrey - The Marriage Plot* 
Flynn, Gillian - Gone Girl
Gabaldon, Diana - Dragonfly in Amber* 
Gabaldon, Diana - Outlander* 
Gabaldon, Diana - Voyager
Gaiman, Neil - The Ocean at the End of the Lane 
Green, John - The Fault in Our Stars* 
Greenwood, Kerry - Cocaine Blues* 
Hirahara, Naomi - Summer of the Big Bachi
Hyman, Mark - The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet 
Jamison, Leslie - The Empathy Exams: Essays 
Moore, Christopher - Fool* 
Nicholls, David - Us*
Niffenegger, Audrey - The Time Traveler's Wife* 
O'Connor, Joseph - Redemption Falls* 
Orlean, Susan - The Orchid Thief
Potzsch, Oliver - The Dark Monk
Quick, Matthew - The Good Luck of Right Now
Rilke, Rainer Maria - Letters to a Young Poet
Saunders, George - CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
Semple, Maria - Where'd You Go, Bernadette* 
Sestero, Greg - The Disaster Artist
Shteyngart, Gary - Absurdistan*
Simonson, Helen - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 
Smith, Jennifer - The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight 
Tartt, Donna - The Goldfinch* 
Thomas, Dylan - Under Milk Wood*
Thomas, Rob - The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
Wolitzer, Meg - The Interestings*
Yoshimoto, Banana - N.P.
 
*Audio Book
 
Total: 50

GoodReads Challenge

Chuck Connors - Believe It Or Not!

Exciting news -- Ripley's Believe It Or Not! published my very own father's submission today!

Ripley's Believe It Or Not! November 10, 2014

My dad (DC from Miami, FL) submitted the above "Believe It Or Not!" about "The Rifleman" Chuck Connors, the star of one of dad's favorite childhood TV shows; an actor, professional basketball player AND a professional baseball player -- talk about a triple threat!

Pretty Great -- Opening to "The Rifleman"

My dad and I share a great love for the weird and wacky ways of the Ripley's Empire, so my dad getting a submission into the "Believe It Or Not!" comic is pretty great news.

One of my favorite books of 2013 was Neal Thompson's A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It Or Not!" Ripley. It might just be one of my favorite biographies I've ever read -- it's totally inspirational, insane and, yes, beyond belief. 

What a life Robert Ripley lived -- and what a legacy he left behind. One that, I'm proud to say, my father has now helped grow by making sure Chuck Connors gets his due!

#TBT - GTN's Mental Minute

C.S. Lewis: "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."




This is something I did way back in 2012 -- but, positive thinking is always in style!

Why, hello there!

It's the end of 2014 and I am ready to join the information age -- hello, Blogosphere (it's cool that I call you that, right?), my name is Diana Copeland and I'm very happy to meet you.

A few things about me: I live in LA now but grew up in Miami and have lived in Austria, China, Japan and England (and maybe a few places in between). I'm a great fan of traveling and exploring new cultures -- and when I can't catch a flight to learn about new countries, I'll pull up a recipe and try my hand at voyaging via cuisine.

I used to work in publishing (cook books, to be exact) and I've had a handful of odd jobs since then (producing plays, teaching English, website developer, social media marketing, baking wedding cakes, spreading cheer as a professional Christmas Elf -- you name it, I've probably done it) but am now working happily in television.

I'd like to use this blog to meet new people who share my interests, but I'll also post recipes now and again, and probably a few news articles I think are important, or just videos that make me laugh.

This will be great fun, I just know it.