Bloggy Book Club Winner! Finally!

I lay around half of today with some undefined illness. I thought it was a cold, but then my skin started hurting. So then I decided I was dying. Maybe it's because I don't drink coffee. According to this article on coffee consumption, I no longer need to worry about my husband's several-cups-a-day coffee habit. Apparently, coffee is so beneficial, those of us who don't indulge should probably pay higher medical and life insurance rates. So now I have to worry about the fact that I cannot stand the stuff and am therefore more likely to suffer from heart disease and Parkinsons than is Larry. Somehow, that doesn't seem fair, as I am not the one with an addiction.

And this article is suggesting that we switch to a kangaroo-meat burger. The scientist pushing for the idea stops just short of saying that kangaroo tastes like chicken (but I'll bet he is thinking it). Unfortunately, the article features a picture of a mommy kangaroo with a joey in her pouch; so the whole idea comes off as seeming rather mean. Plus, I've read Katy No-Pocket a few too many times to think about slathering her kin in ketchup and feeding them to my brood.

And finally, the moment you have all given up waiting for...the winner of last week's (no, wait, 2 weeks ago) Bloggy Book Club giveaway is...Rebecca of...wait a sec...hmmm...I'm not sure.

(Give me a break - this is harder than it looks, okay?)

I think it might be Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm - no, stop that! - of The Upside-Down World. That's a Wordpress blog, but I let her win anyway. Because I'm honest like that.

Perusing Rebecca's blog (if this is indeed the correct Rebecca), you will find that she possesses an analytical mind which produces a well-thought-out opinion about absolutely everything. Her mental acumen impresses me, as I seem to have reached a point in my life where all I think about are blog posts, what to make for dinner, and how much longer is it until bedtime, anyway? So I read her blog and pretend I'm thinking about all that other stuff, too, just to make myself feel better.

I'm living a lie, I know.

So, Rebecca, if you wish to receive your copy of Leave The Building Quickly, just let me know your address, okay? And, really, I am going to mail all these books out this week. I have a plan.

And this week's book? Hmmm....how about Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott? (I know, I know, another memoir - I told you, I'm addicted to these things. Can't read just one!) Ms. Lamott is a liberal Christian writer (meaning that both those aspects of her personality are front and center in her writing). The stories of her life (her childhood as a tennis star, her alcohol abuse, her single motherdom, her conversion) make for some very interesting and entertaining reading - unlike, say, the stories of my life would make.

Tell me, am I the only person in the world who did absolutely nothing growing up besides go to school, visit the mall, and talk on the phone? Occasionally I'd mix it up a bit by going to a friend's house on a Friday night, where we would eat Doritos and watch The Loveboat - but that was as wild as it got.

Oh, and I went bowling once. I think.

Anyway, I have no hilarious/heartwarming/thought-provoking tales to tell of broken curfews, crazy parties, the fallout of divorce, or the like. None. Nada. Zilch. I blame my parents.

So I live vicariously (or, at least, voyeuristically) through Anne Lamott's stories. Some of the events described are pretty messed up (at least, that's the way they seem to a Miss Goody Two-Shoes like me), but the author tells them well with a sort of endearing, self-deprecating (but not deadpan) sense of humor.

I suspect the NY Review of Books is not going to be calling me anytime soon to write for them.

[Rules are as always: in the comments, tell me that you are interested in the book; I'll hold a drawing next week (or maybe I'll figure out that random number generator thing - miracles do happen). The winner is expected to review the book in his/her blog and then give it away to another blogger to do the same.]