If you're wondering why you have not heard me speak that much of my New Years Resolutions, don't think it's because I've given up already. Number one, I don't want to bore you with the things I've been eating every day (why would I, when I already bore you with the things I've been doing every day? Hee!) and number two, some people would just be not interested at all. No worries. I've found another outlet for that. Just rest assured that I am ON MY MISSION, people.

Mum and I went for a super speedy shop in the afternoon yesterday; Jason's parents had given me a $50 bookstore voucher for Christmas, and I wanted to look for a pair of sneakers to take to New Zealand. Want to see my purchases? What's that? You do? Fantastic! I love me some blurry photos!

It was really hard explaining to mum what I was looking for. Not joggers, I have those. Not sandals, I have those. Just something more casual. I don't usually like the slip on kind, but it was these or paying an extra $20 for laces. Umm. Yeah, we'll take these thanks.

Who's got sexy knickers? Aly has sexy knickers! There was a bra sale on, so I got some nice boring ones for New Zealand. Oh, I also replenished my Bonds supply - their Contour T-Shirt Bra is so lovely! Worth every penny. (gulp)

I bought a strange selection of books: The Odyssey (Teacher Jane, I totally blame you!), The Lamplighter - Anthony O'Neill (it was on special, and the blurb sounded good) and Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer (I have his other book coming from Amazon, it's somewhere unknown right now.) Not pictured is also the 80/20 cookbook I found - it says you should eat well 80% of the time, and indulge 20% of the time. Ha. Well, it had nice recipes.

Onto my books for today. Not those three up there, geez, I may have started reading The Odyssey, but I'm not THAT good.

Book #4: The Taking - Dean Koontz
I think I blame my momma for my love of thriller type books. She had a whole shelf full of Stephen King books which I started reading pretty young, and loved. Dean Koontz was another one I picked up and loved. I find his books really fast reading; they can sometimes be a bit repetitive though. This is my favourite of his. Absolute favourite.

I don't know why I liked it so much - maybe because it all could be so real. It's a bit War of the Worlds-ish, but not. Well, I bet that description has you running to buy a copy, haha. Imagine waking up one night to rain, but not normal rain - rain that spooks wild animals, has a strange smell and sound, that makes you uneasy. The rain is bringing something down with it, but you'll have to read to find out any more.

Book #5: Magician - Raymond E. Feist

Jason doesn't read very much, but what he does read is fantasy. He told me about the books he liked to read and I turned my nose up. A book about a magician? Come on. You can't be serious? He said to read them. So I did. In fact, I took this book on Contiki with me to Europe, for reading on the plane, on the bus, in the hotels, anywhere. In fact, once I started, I couldn't put it down.

It's a great tale, fantasy fiction yes, but really interesting. It jumps about a bit, but once you get to know the characters, it's easier to follow on. It's the first book in a series - there are a couple of others too which are good, but not as good as this one, in my opinion. If you want something different, try this.

Book #6: The Guardian - Nicholas Sparks

This isn't a life changing book or anything, but it's really quite sweet and touching. The main character's husband died suddenly, the last gift he gave to her was a dog - this animal is the focus of the story. I'm not saying a single thing more, except I possibly cried when I read this. I even possibly cried a bucketload.

But you know. It's only a possibility. (snort)

A nice, simple book I'm glad I discovered.