I have several books on the go at the moment because I am finding it difficult to concentrate on any one book for long. I am tackling Proust, and have read about 60 pages of "Swann's Way" (book 1 of "In search of Lost Time"). The writing is elegant, detailed and dense and I find I have to be wide awake when reading it so as not to get lost in the long sentences and paragraphs. This is an on and off read for me. I am liking it so far, but I feel I really should be reading it in French. I fear some of Proust's style has got lost in the Icelandic translation because of the different sentence structures of the two languages. I have finally started reading "The Kite Runner" and expect to finish it by Sunday. I am also reading (on and off) an old travel edition of Granta magazine with stories and book excerpts from several famous travel writers. And finally, my breakfast read is "Riding the Iron Rooster" by Paul Theroux, which is making me long to visit China. The guy may be a grump and a cynic, but he sure can write.

Have loved Gladys since the first read more years ago than I want to count. She was fascinated by zucchini. In the early 60's I found a recipe for Z bread, it hadn't reached popularity at the time. I mailed her a copy and she actually sent me a handwritten thank you on a sweet note card that I still have. This is a real long shot, but, speaking of old Women's Day mags, or it may have been Family Circle of that same era. There was a Christmas story about a man in NY who fed the birds and planted a little Ctree in front of his tenement. One Cmas it was festooned by beautiful birds. I saved the issue and every Cmas would read it to the family and pack it away the decoration. Some how it has disappeared. Does anyone remember this story I would dearly love to find a copy.

Sure, it's possible to self GC, but it will take a lot more time to do, and you really won't save that much money overall. The research that needs to go into this really cannot be accomplished by a novice in 5 months time, even with devoting full time to it. If you were talking 2016, then yes, you might be better prepared. But, I guess part of the fun for many owner builders is jumping off the high dive and not knowing the depth of the water. I self GC'd a major home addition that took forever, and I've got building experience and contacts in the trade. Didn't matter. Still took forever. Nevertheless, the best book that anyone can recomend is What Your Contractor Can't Tell You, by Amy Johnston. This IS a full time job, and you won't know what you don't know until the time for that decision is past, and you made the wrong decision. So, you'll spend some time correcting mistakes. Whether that's more or less mistakes than you'd have with a builder, that depends on the choice of builder. A good builder adds value to the equation. You don't have to spend every waking moment focused on the small details of the build. You can just focus on the bigger picture. If you don't have construction experience, and the ability to do quality control, and some existing relationships with some trades, it becomes that much harder. Construction has really picked up, prices have gone up, and if a sub is available quickly, it probably means you don't want to use him. The good ones are scheduled out about 2-3 months right now. That's going to be your most difficult challenge. Subs do not like working for owner builders because of the lack of construction knowledge and sequencing, and they do not give them their best bids. They reserve those for the contractors who give them repeat business, and who won't have them backtracking or performing another trades's job just so they can get started on theirs. Good luck with that high dive! The water is colder and more dangerous than you know right now. :) Here is a link that might be useful: What Your Contractor Can't Tell You This post was edited by GreenDesigns on Thu, Jan 15, 15 at 10:02

I've read, and loved, so many books, including The Metamorphosis. I've read and enjoyed Fyodor Dostoyevski and Louisa May Alcott, Stephen King and Edna Ferber, to name a few. My late husband had a large collection of sci-fi, which I read when he finished each book. Janie, it's nice to hear from another Heinlein fan. When I think of all time favorites, two come to mind. One I read when I was a child, Miss Hickory, by C.S.Bailey, and one about a child, Ray Bradbury's loosely autobiographical Dandelion Wine, specifically the chapter about the grandmother's kitchen. The latter is the book I've re-read most often, because it reminds me of my own beloved grandparents.