{"id":14806,"date":"2013-11-18T15:29:13","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T20:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankymouse.com\/?p=14806"},"modified":"2013-11-19T10:29:49","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T15:29:49","slug":"tea-time-and-books-worth-reading-lipton-tea-k-cups-keurig-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/2013\/11\/18\/tea-time-and-books-worth-reading-lipton-tea-k-cups-keurig-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Tea Time and Books Worth Reading {Lipton Tea K-Cups Keurig Giveaway}"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s cold, so I’m drinking tea and reading books, plus a fun Lipton K-Cup and Keurig Platinum Plus Brewer Giveaway for you provided by Lipton (opinions and drivel to follow is my own)!<\/em>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n
Once the cold hits, I pull out my fingerless gloves. They quickly become a part of my work uniform, their knit wool attempting \u2013 often in vain \u2013 to hold some miniscule bit of warmth next to my skin. My legs tucked under me, keeping all extremities close to the core to conserve heat.
\n
On the desk in front of me you’ll find notebooks open to lists and schedules and pens stacked in a hand-thrown bowl my sister made in college. My sadly scratched glasses sit atop a pile of mail, business cards stand at attention. A mason jar with a stainless steel straw occupies the far right corner, filled with water from the day before. Directly in front of me is a 13-year-old mug filled with tea, still hot enough that steam escapes from the surface, wisps reaching upward to the ceiling. Except when that mug is filled with coffee or it is located on my lap while I sit on the couch clutching a book.
\n
I like warm drinks, and I tend to vacillate between tea and coffee as my keep-me-warm beverage of choice with wild abandon. No matter the beverage of choice or locale, I find they are increasingly necessary during the winter months as I work and read and read for work.
\n
Spurred largely by Kristen from Dine & Dish<\/a> and her Connect Through Reading posts, I decided I should own up to my bookworm moniker and share what I’m currently reading on my couch and in bed when I should be sleeping. <\/p>\n

What I’m Reading:<\/font><\/h2>\n

\"Tea
\nI have a very large area of my heart that is occupied by Joan Didion, and this year I’ve taken to rereading a few of her books. They serve as a good reprieve from life, as well as being intellectually stimulating. I am always mesmerized by her voice, and I find myself rereading specific passages and marking quotes along the way. I’m currently making my way through Slouching Towards Bethlehem<\/a><\/em> one more time. I like it because it is broken down in easily digestible essays, which makes it prime for airplane reading or nightly bedtime stories read to myself.
\n
If you haven’t read Didion before, I suggest you do so. Play It as It Lays<\/a><\/em> for a novel, the above title for a collection of essays, and The Year of Magical Thinking<\/a><\/em> for grief and loss. Then you can attack the rest of her work, of which there are many volumes to choose from.
\n\"Tea
\nI knew within the first page of Blood, Bones, and Butter<\/a><\/em> that I would enjoy the book thoroughly. This isn’t necessarily because I have a direct interest in the workings of a professional kitchen or the education one gets in the catering business, but because Gabrielle Hamilton’s descriptions of her childhood home hooked me instantly. It is ever apparent that she knows her way around a sentence, and that is reason enough for me to see this book to its end.
\n\"\"
\nI’ve been taking a Coursera class because…well, really because I would like to go back to school, but seeing as how I have four children eating up my time and resources, I’m taking classes online instead to expand my brain and keep it lithe and functioning. I try to alternate between food-related courses and lit courses for my continuing education.
\n
Presently that means I’m reading a lot of fantasy and science fiction as I work through my literature course syllabus. This week’s reading includes quite a bit of H.G. Wells, including The Island of Dr. Moreau<\/a><\/em> and The Invisible Man<\/em>. I was telling Ole that my first experience with Dr. Moreau was the film version back in 1996, which was around the same time I read A Streetcar Named Desire<\/em> in my high school English class and subsequently viewed the film. Both films star Marlon Brando, and the takeaway from the entire thing for me was that he had not aged well. I’m working on taking away a bit more this time around.

\nUp Next<\/strong>: I’m trying to decide between Night Film<\/a><\/em> by Marisha Pessl and A Land More Kind Than Home<\/a><\/em> by Wiley Cash to keep me company while I sip tea and hunker down for the chill this week promises to bring.<\/p>\n

A Giveaway:<\/font><\/h2>\n

Lucky for me and those like me who can’t choose between coffee and tea, Lipton is now offering K-Cups<\/a>, which means your Keurig Brewer<\/a> has become a teapot, too. This is brilliant for those of us who can’t seem to decide one or the other, allowing us the flexibility to be indecisive and even encouraging it.<\/p>\n

Lipton’s K-Cups:<\/font><\/h3>\n