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:

It’s an old question, but a good one . . . What were your favorite books this year?

Top o' the Heap(Best of the Best)
Silas Marner by George Eliot

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

And the winner is....

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.

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.

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.

Few new books get hailed as the next series in the classic tradition of Betsy-Tacy or "B" Is for Betsy , but Grace Lin's first novel, the The Year of the Dog,

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.

As an elementary librarian one of my challenges was finding nonfiction trade books to support the curriculum, and one of the more difficult areas was in Kindergarten and Grade 1 science, particularly in the areas of physics and biology.

The terminology required to describe, for example, the physics of light, sounds like something from a high school textbook--reflection, refraction, spectrum, shadow--and such complex concepts require good supportive materials for their initial introduction to young children.