I have been trying hard to resist joining any new challenges. I have my work pretty much cut out for me for 2008. But when Michelle at 1morechapter.com announced her Pub'08 challenge to read at least 8 books published in 2008, I couldn't resist. Here is what I am planning to start with:

My reading time has been limited today. I have several chores that, despite my best efforts, seem to be left waiting for me on Sunday. I am always trying to multi-task though and so I did manage to listen to a bit more of The Poet by Michael Connelly. This is another one of the books on the list of Agatha/Anthony/Edgar Award winners and is therefore apart of my quest to read all the winners. I finished The Chatham School Affair on Friday which is also on the list. I didn't love it as some reviewers have but I did end up enjoying it after a rough start.

It has been a pretty good reading week at my house. Because the weather has been bitterly cold, we have limited our activities to only those that are absolutely necessary.

I was able to finish and review two books for challenges. I read People of the Book and The Septembers of Shiraz. Hopefully, this puts me in a pretty good spot for my January reading goals.

Today, everyone was feeling under the weather so we decided to stay home from church so as not to share our bug. That means it should be a pretty good day for reading for me.

Booking Through Thursday

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

Thanks to a bright ERR reader, I was alerted to yet another new Rachael Ray cookbook coming out in 2008. Last year, Rachael said she'd be doing only one cookbook a year after Just in Time was released, but it appears that's not the case! Of course, Rachael recently released Yum-o! The Family Cookbook , with all the profits going to Rachael's charity organization.

This Sunday morning has been a little more hectic than most but this afternoon promises to be a quiet one for reading.

I only managed to finish one title this week. I had been looking forward to reading it for quite a while since I enjoy the urban fantasy genre from time to time for a little fun & light reading.

Anna Broadway is giving away copies of Sexless in the City written by her! Enter before April 15th!

You can order copies too:

Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it, for starters, with pre-order discounts till Tuesday.

Reviewed by special guest blogger Shmoo.

Lately my favorite non-dairy frozen treat is a simple frozen fruit sorbet: I push frozen bananas, pineapple, and strawberries through my Champion Juicer, and out comes perfect, creamy sorbet with no added sugar.

Okay, I'm starting to miss cooking. Think I can get my act together to cook a meal this week? Maybe I should make that my goal this week (in addition to the usual one of not dropping the baby). This week's Roundup has a bunch of my favorite posts - recipe reviews. They are the whole reason I started the Roundup in the first place.

Here are some Rachael Ray posts from around the blogosphere this week. If you see a post that you think would be good for the Roundup, or you write one yourself, e-mail me so I can be sure to include it.

Sighting One: I have just been informed that there are 5 new copies of the original, self-published edition of Vegan Lunch Box available for sale in the UK and Europe. You can find the book along with Laptop Lunch Boxes and more at Becky and Lolo.

I'm sure you've all seen this little pink cookbook winking at you from store shelves everywhere. Deceptively Deliciousis so popular that even now, almost eight months after its publication, it is still a "7 Day Only" loan at our library. Well, this week I finally got a chance to check it out myself!

The basic idea here is that if you want to end the struggle over vegetables at mealtime, start sneaking vegetable purees into foods your kids love, like mac and cheese or brownies. Then sit back and smile to yourself as they eat their vegetables in blissful ignorance.

Alright people, I'm definitely in Babywatch 2008 mode. I'm at 8.5 months now, which means baby could arrive at anytime [insert dramatic music here]. My cooking has reduced even more than it was last week, mostly because of running around trying to tie up loose ends. If I could just find a lamp I like for baby's room, I think I would be golden.... Enough about me, on to what's up with Rachael Ray!

Here are some Rachael Ray posts from around the blogosphere this week. If you see a post that you think would be good for the Roundup, or you write one yourself, e-mail me so I can be sure to include it.

I got a fun email this week from Tammy, who appeared on Rachael Ray's talk show last March with her dog, Spudgy. They were featured in a segment called "Famous YouTube Stars." Tammy said the experience was a great one, from the staff all the way to meeting Rachael.

According to Tammy: "Rachael is stunning in person and just as nice as she portrays on TV." She also said that being on Rachael's talk show was one "of the best experiences ever and she and her staff are the best!"

Here are some Rachael Ray posts from around the blogosphere this week. If you see a post that you think would be good for the Roundup, or you write one yourself, e-mail me so I can be sure to include it.

Since we are entering the last quarter of the year, I thought it might be a good time to look back over what I have read so far and take a look at the books that I have loved the most in 2007.

It appears I have had a pretty good reading year. I hope I find more to add to this list.

Here they are in the order that I read them this year:(click for reviews)

Here's another new vegan product I picked up while on vacation: Road's End Shells & Chreese.

And the winner is....

When she cooks on her daytime talk show or on 30 Minute Meals, Rachael often uses what she calls a Moppine. In my house, it was always a dishtowel, but I'm not Sicilian. They sell them for 9.99 each at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. According to the description, this is a 2-in-1 kitchen item, since it is both an oven mitt and kitchen towel. It has "heat resistant pockets for easy and safe handling of hot items. Simply hang it up to dry after using it on wet items." It's 100% cotton, measures 28" L x 18" W, and is machine washable.

Breakfast with Al Bano. Actually I was planning to go somewhere else for breakfast, but the place was closed and there I was in Larkspur. So I decided to try Cafe Lucano's breakfast offerings. I asked what the smooth Italian music was and I was shown an album of the popular singer "Al Bano". Giuseppe was serving this morning, one of the family who make your visit so friendly with his ready smile.

As part of her Just in Time book tour, Rachael made a personal appearance at an NYC Barnes and Noble, which Barnes and Noble has kindly posted here.

Well, there's big news in Rachael Ray's world today. Rachael's Ray's magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, has itself a new Executive Editor. Silvana Nardone, who is the magazine's Editor, said: “Theresa shares our sense of humor and our fun, flirty attitude. We can’t wait to have her join the party at Every Day with Rachael Ray,” said Ms. Nardone.