By Book or by Crook

I've Moved!

2011-07-25T21:50:00.002-05:00

If you're looking for me here, you've come to the wrong spot. Please update your blogrolls to this: By Book or By Crook, come visit and subscribe so you don't miss my reviews on Faith by Jennifer Haigh and The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamara Myers coming up later this week!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

2011-07-17T21:30:00.008-05:00

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a chance for all to share what they accomplished reading wise last week and what your reading plans are for the upcoming week. Join in with Sheila at Book Journey so we can see what you are up to!

I just got a nook a couple of weeks ago as an anniversary gift from my husband and I am so excited to start using it. BUT, I still have three books checked out from the library that are bordering on overdue so that is where my attention will be focused this week.

First up, Faith by Jennifer Haigh:

It is the spring of 2002 and a perfect storm has hit Boston. Across the city's archdiocese, trusted priests have been accused of the worst possible betrayal of the souls in their care. In Faith, Jennifer Haigh explores the fallout for one devout family, the McGanns.

Estranged for years from her difficult and demanding relatives, Sheila McGann has remained close to her older brother Art, the popular, dynamic pastor of a large suburban parish. When Art finds himself at the center of a maelstrom, Sheila returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation. What she discovers is more complicated than she imagined.

Her strict, lace-curtain-Irish mother is living in a state of angry denial. Sheila's younger brother Mike, to her horror, has already convicted his brother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who persistently dodges Sheila's questions and refuses to defend himself.

As the scandal forces long-buried secrets to surface, Faith explores the corrosive consequences of one family's history of silence-and the resilience its members ultimately find in forgiveness.

Then, if I can stay out of the lake long enough during this super hot and humid week I will also start The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamara Myers:

In 1945, an infant left inadvertently to die in the jungles of the Belgian Congo is discovered by a young Bashilele tribesman on a mission to claim the head of an enemy. Recognized as human-despite her pale white skin and strange blue eyes-the baby is brought into the tribe and raised as its own. Thirteen years later, the girl-now called "Ugly Eyes"-will find herself at the center of a controversy that will rock two separate societies.

Young missionary Amanda Brown hears the incredible stories of a white girl living among the Bashilele headhunters. In the company of the local police chief, Captain Pierre Jardin, and with the witch hunter's wife, the quick-witted Cripple, along as translator, Amanda heads into the wild hoping to bring the lost girl back to "civilization." But Ugly Eyes no longer belongs in their world-and the secrets surrounding her birth and disappearance are playing them all in far graver peril than anyone imagined.

So, that's my week in a nutshell. Now I'm off to see yours!

Saturday Snapshot June 18, 2011

2011-06-18T09:54:00.001-05:00

Alyce from At Home With Books hosts a weekly meme called Saturday Snapshot. To participate all you have to do is post a photo taken by you (or a friend or family member.) Please make sure it is clean and appropriate for all eyes to see and leave a direct link to your post at the Mr Linky on Alyce's blog.

Last October three of the Boy Scouts in my patrol were working on their lashing skills. My husband helped them cut down a few small trees and they lashed together this clothesline to hang dish towels and the like on.

Last weekend the Boy Scouts were back for another Backyard Campout and the same clothesline had withstood the winds and snows of a Minnesota winter. But look at it now...!

How does that happen? The tree has been cut down for almost 8 months! We were all amazed. We were careful not to let any of our wet swimsuits and towels break off the branch that is now growing. I'm excited to see how big it will get and how long it will live with no water supply.

Carpal Tunnel Got You Down?

2011-05-27T20:59:00.003-05:00

I am going to be taking a little reading vacation. I am currently trying to get through The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It's a good book, not fast moving by any means, but very interesting. The problem with the book is not its content, but its heft. I have the hardcover 369 page edition of this book and the weight is proving too much for me.

I am having a flare up of my carpal tunnel. Several years ago I was diagnosed with the syndrome and told I should prepare for surgery. Well, I hate doctors and I hate medical bills even more so I've kinda been putting it off...for 11 years. Most of the time I do okay, but when it flares up I can't hold a book for more than 15 minutes before my hands go numb and sleep is pretty much non-existent until the braces I wear at night start doing the trick again. So for a few weeks I will have no more reviews to post. maybe now is a good time to get back into audio books?

What do you think? Is it time for me to bite the bullet? Have you had the surgery? How long does it take to heal and was it really worth it?

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian Review

2011-05-15T17:39:00.000-05:00

"There," says Alice Hayward to Reverend Stephen Drew, just after her baptism, and just before going home to the husband who will kill her that evening and then shoot himself. Drew, tortured by the cryptic finality of that short utterance, feels his faith in God slipping away and is saved from despair only by meeting with Heather Laurent, the author of wildly successful, inspirational books about...angels.

Heather survived a childhood that culminated in her own parents' murder-suicide, so she identifies deeply with Alice's daughter, Katie, offering herself as a mentor to the girl and a shoulder for Stephen-who flees the pulpit to be with Heather and see if there is anything to be salvaged from the spiritual wreckage around him.

But then the state's attorney begins to suspect that Alice's husband may not have killed himself...and finds out that Alice had secrets only her minister knew.

Secrets of Eden is haunting in its complexity. Chris Bohjalian writes his novel in such a way that only tiny pieces of information escape a little at a time. Important clues as to what has happened so you know what is coming up...but yet you don't. Because Bohjalians twisted course coils and snakes its way around to make you wonder if you knew as much as you thought you did.

Secrets of Eden is a compelling and disturbing look into the lives and deaths of Alice and George Hayword through the eyes of three very distinct characters; Stephen Drew, their pastor, Heather Laurent the "angel" author, and Katie Hayward, their teenage daughter. Each person voices their fears and suspicions about what probably happened that night and who most likely was involved. In Bohjalian's way, however, you don't find out what happened until the very end. As in the very last line.

But don't go thinking you can pick this book up, flip through the pages to find that last line and read it before you read the book in its totality. Not only would that be cheating, it would be cheating the author and yourself of the brilliantly flexuous way your mind will need to work to absorb this evocative thriller. 3.5/5 stars

Saturday Snapshot May 14th

2011-05-14T11:46:00.003-05:00

Happy Fishing Opener from Minnesota- the Land of 10,000 Lakes!

Library Loot May 11th, 2011

2011-05-11T12:01:00.005-05:00

I only have two titles that I checked out this week because a few in my TBR pile are a little bit lengthier and deeper then normal. Of course I do still have my fair share requested from the library that have not come in yet! the two I chose this week are:

Haunting Jasmine-Divorcee Jasmine Mistry is intent on restarting her life when she gets the chance to do just that. A call from the past brings her home to Shelter Island, a green dot in the middle of Puget Sound, to run her beloved aunt's bookstore. The familiarity is heartening-the rocky beaches, pewter skies, country boutiques, and above all, Auntie's Bookstore, nestled in a quaint Queen Anne Victorian, and believed, not incidentally, to be haunted.

With that knowledge, Jasmine embarks on a mystical journey, urged along by her quirky family, guided by the highly emotional spirits of long-dead authors, and moved to heal her broken heart when she unexpectedly falls in love with an enigmatic young stranger. He knows about blurring the lines between reality and illusion. He opens new doors between truth and fantasy. In redefining the meaning of everlasting love, he urges Jasmine to reinvent herself in a place she calls home. All she has to do is close her eyes and say yes.

13 Little Blue Envelopes-Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket. In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat. The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist. Because of envelope 4, Ginny and her artist, a playwright/thief/bloke-about-town called Kieth, go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous-though utterly romantic-results. Ginny isn't sure she'll see Keith again and definitely doesn't know what to think about hm. Could the answer be in the envelopes?

Ginny doesn't know it, but adventures in Rome and Paris are in envelopes 6 and 8. the rules are that she has to open one at a time, in order, so perhaps it isn't surprising that she discovers things about her life and love one by one. Everything about Ginny will change this summer and it's all because of 13 little blue envelopes.

Saturday Snapshot May 7th, 2011

2011-05-07T18:00:00.004-05:00

My son's Boy Scout troop took part in a community service project last weekend in Wadena, Minnesota. Last summer an F4 tornado took out part of the town, lots of trees, and the high school. Replant Wadena 2011 was a huge community effort to replace the trees that were lost. Boy Scouts from all over the state spent the weekend digging holes, planting trees and bushes and wrapping the new trees to guard them against critters. It rained on our tents the whole night before and it was windy and rainy most of the morning but together they planted over 2500 trees! I'm so proud of the hard work they did to help a community that was not even their own! As a Scout they learn what it means to be a good citizen, and this past weekend they put it into practice.

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo Review

2011-05-06T20:51:00.004-05:00

I'll admit. I am a very skeptical person. It's not that I don't have faith, I believe I have a lot of it. The times in my life I have gotten on my knees and asked, believed and received are numerous. But when I am looking at a book written by the father of a then four-year-old who claims he met relatives in heaven he had never seen or heard of before, a father who is faced with more medical bills then he can pay, all I can think of is what a great way to make some money and save himself from bankruptcy!

After reading this book, my viewpoint has changed...somewhat.

Colton Burpo's father, a small town pastor in Nebraska, tells the story about Colton's miraculous visit to heaven during emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix. Colton was a very sick little boy, but there was never any mention by the doctor that Colton had "died" on the operating room table, nor is there any medical proof that he had. But Colton can accurately describe what his parents, in two separate rooms in the hospital, were doing when he floated out of his body.

Colton does not tell his parents immediately what happened. Instead, over the course of months and years little snippets of revelation comes out. Finally piecing everything together and checking what their son says against what is written in the Bible, things a four-year-old can not possibly know, they come to believe that a miracle has indeed occurred. And I believe too.

What I am still a little skeptical about, however, is whether or not little Colton was led to any of the answers he gave when he was questioned by his father. Todd Burpo admits he may have asked a few leading questions when he first started examining what Colton was saying, but after realizing he was doing so made sure he asked open ended questions instead. I'm not so sure about that. A few conversations throughout the book still made me feel he was leading Colton down a particular path to get the answer he wanted to hear.

That said, there are definite descriptions of heaven and of Jesus himself that were not forced out by leading questions. Spoken simply, like a four-year-old would, Colton talks about what Jesus looked like, and how he had "markers" on him. It takes a little bit of deduction to figure out what "markers" would mean to a preschooler. Asking where the "markers" were, Colton points to the palms of his hands and the tops of his feet. The family, not being Catholic, were not exposed to the crucifix, or the crucified Christ, more often seeing only the cross hung in their church and home. It stuns Todd that Colton was so specific about where the "markers" were.

This book should give anyone who is on the fence about whether there is truly a heaven real hope. And without hope for a wonderful afterlife filled with beautiful colors, visits with our dearly departed family members, and hugs from Jesus what are we truly living for? 3.5/5 stars

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? May 2nd, 2011

2011-05-01T21:08:00.006-05:00

I had a terrible book reading week last week. I pledged to read 2 books and instead I only got about 50 pages into the first! This week all that will change because I'm on vacation!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a chance for all to share what they accomplished readingwise last week and what your reading plans are for the week. Join in with Sheila at Book Journey so we can see what you are up to!

This week I WILL finish In the Woods by Tana French. I have put Love Has a Face on hold since that one was from my own bookshelf and a couple in my TBR pile need to get back to the library. So instead I will be reading:

The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman

In the third trimester of her pregnancy, Baltimore private investigator Tess Monoghan is under doctor's orders to remain immobile. Bored and restless, reduced to watching the world go by outside her window, she takes small comfort in the mundane events she observes...like the young woman in a green raincoat who walks her dog at the same time every day. Then one day the dog is running free and its owner is nowhere to be seen. Certain that something is terribly wrong, and incapable of leaving well enough alone, Tess is determined to get to the bottom of the dog walker's abrupt disappearance, even if she must do it from her own bedroom. But her inquisitiveness is about to fling open a dangerous Pandora's box of past crimes and troubling deaths...and she's not only putting her own life in jeopardy but also her unborn child's.

And Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren't expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed-a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy's trip to heaven and back.

Colton, not yet 4 years old, told his parents he left his body during surgery-and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in his life, sharing events that happened before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how "really, really big" God is, and how much God loves us. retold by his father, but using Colton's uniquely simple words, Heaven is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, "Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses."

So that's my reading week! What does yours look like?

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Review

2011-04-26T03:00:00.001-05:00

A girl you knew, a girl you had once kissed, has just committed suicide-and you're one of the reasons. How does that make you feel?

For Clay, one of the main characters in Thirteen Reasons Why, it makes him feel fearful, sickened and morose. Clay Jensen has just received a package at his front door with no return address. He opens it to find seven audio cassettes. Curiously he inserts the first tape, presses play...and hears the voice of Hannah Baker, a girl from school who had just killed herself.

Hannah shares with her listeners the thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Thirteen people who set off a chain of events that Hannah could not recover from. Actions and words that made her feel smaller, laughed at, used and insignificant.

Reading this book made me think back to my junior high and high school years. Were there times I ignored people when I should have said hi? Times when I should have reached out instead of pushing away? Did I ever become part of a chain of events in somebody else's life? God, I hope not. And if I did- please know that I am truly, truly, sorry.

Jay Asher's debut novel is an excellent view into the life of a teenager on the edge of despair. A teenager who with one kind word could have had a shot at life. I loved this book and have encouraged my sixteen-year-old son to read it. I want him to understand how powerful an encouraging word or a small act of kindness can be in the life of someone who so desperately needs it. 4.5/5 stars

Cul-de-Sac by David Martin Review

2011-04-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

Donald Growler didn't do it. And he's trying to kill everyone who says he did.

So begins David Martin's frightening and mysterious Cul-de-Sac, a suspense-filled triumph of degradation, desperation, and deceit. The scene of the crime is a humongous, dilapidated mansion in Maryland known as Cul-de-Sac, once the scene of a grisly murder, which Paul and Annie Milton are trying to renovate. When Growler-toughened by years of jail time served for a crime he didn't commit-begins stalking the young, attractive couple, Detective Teddy Camel is summoned.

Camel, once known as the Human Lie Detector, is officially retired, forced out for having broken as many departmental rules as homicide cases. But as a favor to Annie-his onetime lover- Camel reenters the fray and uncovers a trail of corruption and death leading all the way to the society's elite. How Camel tracks down Growler, untangles the real story behind his hideous vengeance, and finally discovers the secret prize all the players have furiously sought makes for a novel of unforgettable twists and psychological insights.

Gives you the chills doesn't it! It's been a long time since I have read an honest to goodness suspense filled page turner, and this one would definitely qualify. I started reading this one afternoon after I had put ribs in the oven to slow cook for 3 hours. Usually I am eagerly awaiting them coming out of the oven, falling off the bone, hunger pangs having beaten against my stomach for a good hour of their cooking time. I was literally shocked when the oven's buzzer went off!

This was a fast paced, albeit a little squeamishly violent, book that I could not put down. This book is rated solidly at 4/5 stars and probably would have rated higher had my stomach not flip-flopped at some of the gruesome images. Those who know me, know that I give only 2 or 3 books a year a rating of 5 (yes, I'm that tough,) so this is, after all, a pretty darn good book!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4/25/11

2011-04-24T20:33:00.012-05:00

Monday! What Are You Reading is a chance for all to share what they accomplished readingwise last week and what their reading plans are for the week. Join in with Sheila at Book Journey so we can see what you are up to!

Last week I finished:

1. Tiger, Tiger

2. Thirteen Reasons Why (review coming)

3. The Long Walk (review Coming)

This week I go back to work after a week's vacation so I will have a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully I will still have time to do some reading. The books I will be reading this week come from my own bookshelf! I try to get to at least one down from those dusty ol' shelves once a month and this month I went for broke and grabbed two. After all, our book club's charity book sale will be coming up in a few months and I have to have something to contribute!

Three children leave their small Dublin neighborhood to play in the surrounding woods. Hours later, their mother's calls go unanswered. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children, gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, Detective Rob Ryan-the found boy, who has kept his past a secret-and his partner Cassie Maddox investigate the murder of a twelve-year-old girl in the same woods. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him, and that of his own shadowy past

Born without her left hip and leg, Michele Perry is no stranger to seeming impossibilities. So when she arrived in war-torn southern Sudan, with little more than faith in God's promises, she did what everyone told her was crazy: She opened a home for the orphaned children in guerrilla warfare territory.

With a deft pen, she recounts unforgettable stories that capture the stark realities of caring for more than one hundred little lives in the middle of a war zone-and the love and mercy of God she's found there.

Well that's it for this week. I hope the rest of you have a super week planned!

Sunday Confessional April 24, 2011

2011-04-24T09:07:00.000-05:00

I confess. It's Easter Sunday and I would much rather be spending time with my family then writing a blog post, so that's what I'm going to do. I hope everyone has a very blessed Easter!

Book Beginnings April 22, 2011

2011-04-22T05:45:00.002-05:00

How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.

My opening lines come from The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz:

It was about nine o'clock one bleak November day that the key rattled in the heavy lock of my cell in the Lubyanka prison and the two broad-shouldered guards marched purposefully in. I had been walking slowly round, left hand in the now characteristic prisoner's attitude of supporting the top of the issue trousers, which Russian ingenuity supplied without buttons or even string on the quite reasonable assumption that a man preoccupied with keeping up his pants would be severely handicapped in attempting to escape.

I loved the opener of this non-fiction book because it took me immediately into the story without having to go through pages and pages of introducing characters and setting up the storyline. I'm a little more than halfway through and I'm still loving it!

Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir by Margaux Fragoso Review

2011-04-22T05:45:00.000-05:00

I finished this book just minutes ago and realize I have a huge headache. I believe it's from furrowing my brow so intensely in horror and disgust...

Tiger, Tiger is an incredible story but one not easy to read because of its subject content. At turns both sickening and fascinating, I found myself riveted even as I was repelled.

Margaux is a troubled seven-year-old girl when she meets fifty-two-year-old Peter. Saddled at home with a mother who suffers from mental illness and a controlling, egocentric father, visits to Peter's house are a vacation from rules-a carefree time of make believe.

Peter is the father Margaux wishes she had. The one who doesn't yell when she twirls her hair and doesn't criticize her for what she eats or what she says. Peter is patient with her and kind. He listens to her stories, admires her drawings, and plays with the paper ladybug set she makes just for him. And he takes pictures of her-lots of pictures. He singles her out and wants to spend individual time just with her.

The basement becomes their special place. While Margaux's mother watches movies or goes to the store, Peter teaches her how to Eskimo kiss, then fish kiss, then kiss long like adults do, then finally, the Bazooka Joe kiss- which is the kiss where they pass gum from her mouth to his. She doesn't like this kiss because their tongues touch and that's ishy.

By the time Margaux is eight, Peter tells her his birthday is coming soon. He knows she doesn't have money so he'll ask instead for a very special gift that won't cost her anything. The day of Peter's birthday, Margaux gets a tummy ache. She doesn't feel well at all. Her mother tells her if she's sick she can't go to Peter's house to celebrate his birthday. Margaux cries. She really wants to go but she's afraid she'll disappoint Peter because she hasn't bought a present for him...

Reading this story I was shocked by how little I understood about pedophiles and their behavior. I knew enough to know they don't all look like monsters and you can't pick them out of a crowd, but what I didn't realize was how slowly and insidiously they could worm their way into your life.

Margaux's mother, partly because of her mental illness, either didn't see or ignored the signs. Her father's suspicions he disregarded because drink, his job, or his girlfriend always seemed to come before his daughter.

Peter and Margaux's relationship went on for fifteen years. Their unusual bond was a hard one to break although both at times seemed like they wanted to. Margaux was all Peter had. And Peter? Well, he had been such a big part of her life for so many years she didn't know how to exist without him.

I have never read a book where the character's relationships with each other were so complex. Margaux had such a love-hate relationship with everybody involved it's hard to imagine how she could feel anything at all-and sometimes she didn't.

I know this book stirred up a whole gamut of emotions within me: terror, revulsion, violation, incredulity, distrust, dismay, fury...and the feeling that I had consumed an important book for Margaux to write and a significant book for me to read. 5/5 stars

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley Review

2011-04-21T06:28:00.000-05:00

Flavia de Luce is quite the little busybody. It is the summer of 1950- and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of events: A dead bird found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he makes his dying breath... Immediately enthralled with the mystery of murder Flavia decides to go about solving it. This eleven-year-old is a precocious chemist in the making who uses her scientific mind to follow the clues...and it sometimes gets her in trouble. Disparagingly looking down her nose at her two older sisters, for which she has no love, she sets out on her bike (which she has named Gladys) to begin her investigation at the library. Upon finding it closed "CLOSED? Oh Scissors!" she exclaims before coming up with this perfect thought that each book lover here will agree upon: "As I stood outside on Cow Lane, it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No- eight days a week." And that's where I fell in love with Flavia. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was a fun, fun book. I loved the way Flavia gets into trouble no matter what she sets out to do. In fact at one point in the story Inspector Hewitt remarks: "There are times Miss de Luce, when you deserve a brass medal. And there are other times when you deserve to be sent to your room with bread and water." There is not much I can say without giving away the mystery of the murder that is the center of the book. What I can say is if you read this book you will like it and you will absolutely adore wicked little Flavia! Author Alan Bradley shines as he pins down her scheming mind and sarcastic tongue and wraps the whole book up with a whole lot of humor that had me laughing out loud at her hijinks and predicaments. I would definitely read another Flavia de Luce mystery! My rating 4/5 stars!

Library Loot April 20th, 2011

2011-04-20T06:55:00.001-05:00

Library Loot is a weekly event co hosted byMarg from Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and Claire from the Captive Reader that encourages bloggers to show what great books they were able to check out from their local libraries. I love this event because I see books that I know are readily available now not something I will have to wait weeks for to come out.

My bookbag was a little light as I left the library this week. For one thing, I have way too many checked out now that I need to catch up on. And, I have quite a few reserved that just haven't come in yet. So without further adieu...

Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multi-million dollar industry. More than twenty years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same.

I have thought about checking this book out for quite some time. I read enough non-fiction that I didn't know if I wanted to add another one or not. But this story has so many legal, ethical & moral questions that just beg to be explored I had to give it a shot.

So, that's it! That's the only book I came home with this week. You might scoff at my wimpy Library Loot week but I was actually quite proud of my restraint!

Have a good week all, and keep those pages turning!

Little Princes by Conor Grennan Review

2011-04-19T05:00:00.004-05:00

Most children in America don't know how good they've got it. Fed three times a day in a comfortable heated home in which they stay with one or both parents, they are oblivious to how children a half a world away are living. Now, I realize we have poor and underprivileged kids right here at home in our own backyard, but even the majority of them are never exposed to what children in countries like Nepal live with.

Conor Grennan opened my eyes to the heinous crime of child trafficking. I had heard of it of course, but never really absorbed what it meant to these children and their families.

Little Princes tells the story of Golkka (even his name sounds evil) a notorious child trafficker who preys on the poor families in the far flung regions of Nepal and convinces them for a fee, which is usually most of their life savings, he will take their children out of harms way during the civil war that rages in their country and keep their children safe. And after receiving this exorbitant sum he demands, he does indeed take the children-and then sells them into slavery, thus profiting twice off these children, some of whom are only five years old.

These children were forced to work for up to twelve hours a day washing dishes to earn their keep in small, dark, lice infested rooms where they were underfed and malnourished until someone came along to rescue them.

Little Princes starts out as a story about eighteen children in an orphanage in Godawari who are really not orphans at all but children rescued from child traffickers. The book changes about halfway through to the story of seven children that Conor and another orphanage volunteer named Farid try to rescue from traffickers. They are literally hours away from doing so when Golkka learns of their plan and moves the children and they disappear again in Kathmandu, a city of one million people.

The search to find these seven children becomes an obsession to Conor. He is riddled with guilt. After all, he had promised the seven that he was coming for them and they would once again be safe. His days are filled with thoughts of what he can do for them. He knows he has to find them and reunite them with their parents but he doesn't know how.

The answer finally comes to him. He will start a non-profit agency to do exactly that. He spends weeks on the computer researching how to set up a non-profit organization and months raising money and planning a rescue mission to the Humla region of Nepal and finding a home to shelter these children until their parents can be found. Thus Next Generation Nepal is born.

Conor Grennan tells his story with such honesty, admitting that he volunteered at Little Princes for one selfish reason-to "impress people." Laying bare his feelings of ineptitude, weakness and fear, you can't help but fall in love with this man who is adept, strong, and brave. Conor, it is easy to see, is a very humble man. A few lines from the book clearly demonstrated this to me. After finding out one father had walked three days to make a phone call to his son he hadn't seen in three years Conor says-

"Having no children myself, I had completely underestimated the lengths to which a father would go for his son."

But what you don't know unless you read the rest of the book is the lengths Conor went to make this phone call from a father to a son possible. Written with a lot of humor, Little Princes was not the intense, depressing read I thought it would be and for that I am thankful. Too often books that are written about heavy topics such as these can be hard, emotionally, to get through. But Conor never lets its light-hearted tone underscore the seriousness of what is happening in Nepal and undoubtedly other parts of the world.

I thank God for people like Conor who can do the things I wouldn't have the courage to do. People who are risking their lives to make a difference in other's. I encourage you to read this book and I implore you to check out Next Generation Nepal's website and make a donation. No child should have to go through what Madan, Bishnu, Navin, Dirgha, Samir, Kumar, Amita, and so many others have went through. And if you want to impress people, tell them you made a donation and why. 4/5 stars

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? April 18th, 2011

2011-04-17T22:31:00.011-05:00

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a chance for all to share what they accomplished readingwise last week and what their reading plans are for the week. Join in with Sheila at Book Journey so we can see what you are up to! Last week I finished Little Princes and started Tiger, Tiger. Not much accomplished at all. This week I will be busy doing some spring cleaning and running a lot of errands getting ready to have Easter dinner at my house. But, I am on vacation again so I'm thinking I might be able to squeeze in some reading time. Here's what I'm planning: Finish Tiger, Tiger which is a memoir about a girl and a pedophile and the curious bond that they have. Start The Long Walk. In 1941, the author and six fellow prisoners escaped a Soviet labor camp in Yakutsk-a camp where surviving hunger, cold, untended wounds and untreated illness, and avoiding daily executions were everyday feats. Their trek over thousands of miles by foot-out of Siberia and through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India- was a remarkable journey through some of the most inhospitable conditions on the face of the earth. This is a true story that inspired the film The Way Back starring Ed Harris and Colin Farrell.

I also hope to get a start on Thirteen Reasons Why. This one I checked out on audio once and never got around to it.

You can't stop the future . You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret is to press play.

Clay Jensen doesn't want anything to do with the tapes Hannah Baker made. Hannah is dead, he reasons. Her secrets should be buried with her. Then Hannah's voice tells Clay that his name is on the tapes- and that he is, in some way responsible for her death. All through the night, Clay keeps listening. He follows Hannah's recorded words throughout his small town...and what he discovers changes his life forever.

I'm curious if anyone has read The Long Walk or seen the movie made from the book. I know a lot of you have read Thirteen Reasons Why, tell me what you thought of it!

(Sorry about this mess of a post. Sometimes I can not get Blogger to do what I want it to do. I still have so much to learn! Does anyone else have problems getting pictures where you want some times? Or the spacing to go right? GRR!)

Sunday Confessional April 17th,2011

2011-04-17T09:41:00.002-05:00

I confess. I hate to clean. While other people spend hours tidying up and putting things away, I spend hours trying to figure out how to get out of it.

That's why I cringe at the thought of starting my Spring cleaning. I know it has to be done. And with Easter being next Sunday and me hosting the meal it has to get done soon! Luckily I am on vacation this week so I'll have time to do it. Time I would rather spend reading or roaming the blogosphere or just being outside and enjoying the nice weather that will surely come anytime soon. (I hope!)

What about you? Are you a neat freak or do you only pick up the clutter and leave the rest? What is your least favorite cleaning chore? (I HATE mopping the floors) Share with me, please tell me I'm not the only one!

Saturday Snapshot April 16th, 2011

2011-04-16T23:22:00.003-05:00

While at the airport working on the Aviation Merit Badge for Boy Scouts, I snapped this pic of my son sitting in a Blackhawk helicopter. You can tell by his expression he was amazed at all the switches and controls in there!

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson Review

2011-04-14T06:18:00.001-05:00

Jane Margaux is nine when her heart is broken for the first time. Her imaginary friend Michael, who is there for her all the times her mother is not, has to leave. It's in his "contract". Imaginary friends can't stay with the children longer then that. So on her ninth birthday Michael leaves her alone and sobbing with the promise that she won't remember him at all tomorrow. That's just how it works.

But little Jane is different from all the rest of Michael's children. She does remember him and longs for his friendship all these years. Then one day, in the restaurant they frequented, where Jane's favorite dessert was coffee ice cream with hot fudge sauce, she spies someone at the next table that reminds her of Michael. The smile was unmistakable, he was as good looking as ever and he had the same amazing green eyes...could it be?

And the most important question. Was she going nuts, a little crazy, hopping off the deep end? Was he imaginary? Or as she had always suspected...real?

Sundays at Tiffany's is the story of a little lonely girl who grew up to be a big lonely girl who once again meets the perfect man. But this time will he stay?

James Patterson is always an easy read for me. His short chapters and writing style generally make for a book that I can move fairly quickly through. And like the others, this one did just that. But I really felt that this one lacked a little of the substance that I have gotten from his other books. If you are looking for a nice and easy love story you would probably really like this book. If you are looking for more depth and more thrills then pick up something else.

Library Loot April 13,2011

2011-04-13T22:24:00.008-05:00

In the past when I went to the library I was like a kid in a candy store. I would grab off the shelves left and right- after all, they were "free!" Sadly, I would reutrn a good portion of those unread. Now I'm a little more sensible in how many I check out. While I still check out to many- they're "free!"- I am able to read nearly all I bring home BEFORE their due dates.

Here's what I chose this week:

No drinking. No smoking. No cursing. No dancing. No R-rated movies. Kevin Roose wasn't used to rules like these. As a sophomore at Brown University, he spent his days drinking fair-trade coffee, singing in an acapella group, and generally fitting right in with Brown's free-spirited, ultra-liberal student body. But when Roose leaves his Ivy League confines to spend a semester at Liberty University, a conservative Baptist school in Lynchburg, Virginia, obedience is no longer optional.

"There," says Alice Hayward to Reverend Stephen Drew, just before her baptism, and just before going home to the husband that will kill her that evening and then shoot himself. Drew, tortured by the cryptic finality of that short utterance, feels his faith in God slipping away and is saved from despair only by meeting with Heather Laurent, the author of wildly successful, inspirational books about...angels.

Heather survived a childhood that culminated in her own parent's murder-suicide, so she identifies deeply with Alice's daughter, Katie, offering herself as a mentor to the girl and a shoulder for Stephen- who flees the pulpit to be with Heather and to see if there is anything to be salvaged from the spiritual wreckage around him.

But then the state's attorney begins to suspect that Alice's husband may not have killed himself...and finds out that Alice had secrets only her minister knew.

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

With humor and insight, she chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from pop culture about how to be happier.

Each month she tackled a new set of resolutions: give proofs of love, ask for help, find more fun, keep a gratitude notebook, forget about results. She immersed herself in principles set forth by all manners of experts, from Epicurus to Thoreau to Oprah to Martin Seligman to the Dalai Lama to see what worked for her-and what didn't.

Her conclusions are sometimes surprising-she finds that money can buy happiness, when spent wisely: that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that "treating" yourself can make you feel worse; that venting bad feelings doesn't relieve them; that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference-and they range from the practical to the profound.

Have you read any of these? Let me know honestly whether you liked them or not!

The Post in Which I Amend a Book Rating...

2011-04-13T06:05:00.004-05:00

I am starting to realize it's not a good thing to write a review immediately after reading a book. Up until now that is what I have tried to do- write a review while it's still freshest in my mind. But I've come to the conclusion that like good chili, it's best if I let it simmer all day, bubbling around in my mind.

A week ago I wrote a review on Room by Emma Donoghue. I liked the book and I gave it a 3/5 star rating, but I fear I did it an injustice. Since reading the book I have not been able to quit thinking about it.

The longer I ruminate on Room the better I like it. It is a very thought provoking book. So thought provoking in fact that I decided to nominate it for our May book club read because I wanted to explore this novel with others and hear their opinions on it. Luckily it made it's way through the vote up against other great sounding reads so I will get the opportunity to hear what my fellow Bookies opinion of the book is.

My amended rating? I'm moving it from a 3 star book to a 4 star book. It didn't initially blow me away like a 5 star book needs to do, but it is definitely 4 star material.

I'm interested in your thoughts. Do you write posts on your books right away or do you let them brew for a while? And have you ever changed a rating either up or down on a book you've read or reviewed?

brave girl eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia by Harriet Brown Review

2011-04-12T06:51:00.001-05:00

The demon's voice has come again. "Why are you doing this to me?" it screams in a high pitched voice, tongue flicking in and out like a serpent. This was not Harriet's daughter speaking. Kitty wouldn't say this, this was Not-Kitty, the part of her daughter that would take over when her caloric intake would drop to low.

brave girl eating like the subtitle clearly spells out is about how a whole family struggles with anorexia. How it takes over each and every waking moment of their day. How Harriet, Kitty's mother has to be the food police and sit with her daughter while she eats to make sure she's eating everything set before her. How Kitty's dad Jamie has to be near her for an hour after every meal to make sure she doesn't escape to the bathroom to throw it all up. About the Brown's other daughter, ten-year=old Emma, who has to listen to the fights and the begging and the pleading to get through every meal and how she misses out on so much because of her parent's need to not let Kitty out of their sight.

As a treatment option the Brown's chose FBT, Family Based Therapy, instead of sending their daughter away to an inpatient clinic. What they chose was a much harder option but one with significantly higher recovery rates, almost 90 percent! They had a good support team behind them but the struggle was all their own. Harriet was consumed with fitting in as many calories in every meal as she could, "refeeding" their daughter, sometimes as much as 4,000 calories a day to get her up to a target weight and then being able to back off a little and let Kitty have a little control over her eating habits.

Kitty was diagnosed at the age of fourteen. At eighteen and very close to her target weight they let Kitty go away for a bit to prepare for college life. In one month she lost fifteen pounds, had relapsed, and had to return home. Kitty is still not recovered from the disease. She doesn't feel hunger and maybe never will, but Kitty's family is determined to stick by her because that's what families do.

brave girl eating is a fascinating novel about a mysterious disease. And when I say fascinating I don't mean this definition: a feeling of great liking for something wonderful and unusual. I mean this definition: the state of being intensely interested (as by awe or terror). Awe of what this horrific disease can do to the mind and the body, and terrified of every seeing it rear it's ugly head in somebody I love.

This heartbreaking novel was a real eye opener to me. Aside from a couple of chapters filled with a little too much research and studies on weight gain and loss it moved fairly quickly. I would rate this book 3.5/5 stars.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? April 11, 2011

2011-04-10T22:15:00.003-05:00

I didn't get quite as much read last week as I had hoped but as Meatloaf sings (much better than I) "two out of three ain't bad."

I finished Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and Sundays at Tiffany's. Still on my list for this week is Little Princes.

The only other book I am adding for this week is Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir

One summer day, Margaux Fragosa meets Peter Curran at the neighborhood swimming pool, and they begin to play. She is seven; he is fifty-one. When Peter invites her and her mother to his house, the little girl finds a child's paradise of exotic pets and an elaborate backyard. Her mother, beset by mental illness and overwhelmed by caring for Margaux, is grateful for the attention Peter lavishes on her, and he creates an imaginative universe for her, much as Lewis Carroll did for his real-life Alice.

In time, he insidiously takes on the role of playmate, father and lover. Charming and manipulative, Peter burrows into every aspect of Margaux's life and transforms her from a child fizzing with imagination and affection into a brainwashed young woman on the verge of suicide. But when she is twenty-two, it is Peter-ill, and wracked with guilt- who kills himself, at the age of sixty-six.

Told with lyricism, depth, and mesmerizing clarity, Tiger, Tiger vividly illustrates the healing power of memory and disclosure. This extraordinary memoir is an unprecedented glimpse into the psyche of a young girl in free fall and conveys to readers-including parents and survivors of abuse-just how completely a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him.

Wow! I didn't realize until now that these two intense books where stacked right next to each other on my TBR pile! Maybe I should restack my pile to make sure a light comedic book is up for next week. Looks like I'll be needing it!

Sunday Confessional April 10,2011

2011-04-10T06:59:00.004-05:00

I confess. I love a good thunderstorm. And while a violent, windy, booming thunder and cracking lightning type of storm may strike fear in the hearts of some- I relish them. So when I heard one was in the forecast for last night I got a little chill. I was excited.

At my home I have two covered decks where I can sit outside safe from the rain and the hail and watch as the rain pours down and the sky lights up around me. I can rock on my porch swing and feel the cool, damp air wrap its arms around me. I can safely enjoy watching God at work.

Last night, however, proved to be a disappointment. I was inside when I heard thunder rumble in the distance. A few minutes later I could hear the first drops of rain on my skylight. Ooooh, this is it, I thought. With ears perked I listened for more...(crickets chirping) and held my breath and waited...(silence.)

Last night's "storm" was a bit of a disappointment. But I will keep waiting. Another one can't be far behind this one. And as long as everyone's safe and the storm doesn't spawn a tornado I will keep enjoying them.

Your turn to confess. Do thunderstorms give you a thrill or do they strike chills down your spine?

Saturday Snapshot 4/9/2011

2011-04-09T07:19:00.004-05:00

It's finally getting nice enough in my neck of the woods and get out an do some bike riding. This week I have posted a picture of a bike I saw a young man riding downtown last summer and I had to stop him and ask if I could take a picture of it. This is a project he has been working on for several years. He sends away to California for these gold parts he has put on this bike. He still has more to do but it is looking close to completion. More then the bike though- was the way he rode it down the sidewalks with his nose in the air looking for all the world like he "owned" it, you know what I mean? lol He was a great! And by the way- isn't the spare tire on the back awesome?!

There are No Accidents: In all Things Trust in God by Father Benedict Groeschel with John Bishop Review

2011-04-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

After the impact of the car shattered his body on the evening of January 11, 2004 the hospital trauma-unit staff offered little hope that Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.FR., would survive. Then the news spread. And the prayers began.

There are No Accidents is a book in two parts. The first part of the book is a lengthy interview Father Benedict did with John Bishop before his accident. In this section Father Benedict gives his opinion on the state of the Catholic Church in society today as well as his opinion on such topics as 9/11, abortion, atheism, clergy and the sex abuse scandal, Mother Theresa, and the poor.

The second part of the book is reflections from Father Benedict while he was recovering for months in the hospital and, later, in the nursing home. He reflects on subjects like gratitude, progress, hope, keeping faith , visiting the sick, and death is never far away.

I found this quiet, simple, humble man to be quite profound in his wisdom. One thing he repeats throughout the book is- "No plans, be led." He speaks about not making plans because if you start making plans you start thinking they are God's plans. Instead, just let him lead you to whatever he wants you to do,

He talks about always knowing what God wanted him to do. He was seven-years-old when he decided he was going to be a priest! He watched as one of his teachers, Sister Teresa, everyday after school would go a deliver a tray of steaming food to an old lady on the top floor of a tenement building in a poor neighborhood in Jersey City. He was curious to see what this old lady looked like so he snuck up the fire escape of the building one day and peeked in her window. Three inches from his face was the face of the "wicked witch" from Snow White! He was so frightened he scrambled down the fire escape, ran to the church, threw himself down in front of the statue of Our Blessed Mother and prayed. He asked "How come the witch doesn't kill Sister Teresa?" Then he said to himself, "Maybe it is because Sister is nice to her. And if people were nicer to witches, maybe they wouldn't be so bad." Even at the age of seven, he was quite the thinker!

I enjoyed this short read of Father Benedict's. I found his insight after his accident to be very revealing of the way he lives his life every day, as one that is truly happy, loves to serve others, and is totally devoted to God. I rate this book 3/5 stars.

Library Loot April 6-12

2011-04-06T06:16:00.015-05:00

This is what I checked out this week:

It is 1875, and Anna Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and and outcast, Anna Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family's polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.

Colton, not yet 4 years old, told his parents he left his body during surgery-and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in his life, sharing events that happened before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how "really, really big" God is, and how much God loves us. retold by his father, but using Colton's uniquely simple words, Heaven is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, "Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses."

That's what came home in my book bag this week. What came home in yours?

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue Review

2011-04-05T05:00:00.001-05:00

Jack is 5. Mr. Five now since he's just had a birthday. It's now time for Jack to grow up and find out there is more to the world then just Room. He doesn't understand anything about the world since he's never seen it, only on TV which he thinks each channel is a different planet, it's all fantasy. He was born in Room and besides his Ma and mean Old Jack, that's all he's ever seen. He's comfortable there...it's his home.

But Ma yearns for the life she had before Room. The life her JackerJack has never seen. And one night she comes up with a plan...

Room was a very unique story. I really enjoyed reading about the life Ma had created for her and Jack within the confines of an 11 x 11 room. The importance she placed on cleanliness so they wouldn't get sick, the Phys Ed they did so their bodies wouldn't atrophy, the games she invented and the stories she told to keep their minds sharp. She loved Jack immensely- he was all that she had.

Made up almost entirely of dialog, Room is a quick read once you finally get the rhythm of the way Jack speaks, as it is him that is telling the story from his own perspective. For the creative way Ms. Donoghue chose to tell Jack's story I give this book 3/5 stars.

**My friend Sheila from Book Journey has a great review of this book as well, with a Spoiler Button page to fully discuss the book without giving things away to those still reading it. Check it out here!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2011-04-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

Hello! I'm a newbie here! I have fun following this meme weekly but I have never participated. My schedule is crazy and I'm lucky if I can post once or twice a week. BUT, I was on vacation this week and even though I was gone Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday when I finally got around to reading I finished 4 books in 4 days! AND had time to schedule some future posts! I am so psyched about that! Can you imagine what I could accomplish if I didn't have to work?

That's right, absolutely nothing!! lol

Anyhoo- as I understand it It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a chance for all to share what their reading plans are for the week. Join in with Sheila at Book Journey so we can see what you are up to!

I will be going back to work ...Boo! And even though I won't be getting through 4 books in 4 days I do plan on reading these:

I just started this this morning and I'm loving it. Very cute and quirky!

This one is a book club read and I heard it's a quick read so I just might be able to get to this next one-

I've heard great things about this and until a few days ago it was halfway down my reading pile. I will not finish this one, but I should get a good start.

So that's my week! Now I'm going to go visit yours!

Sunday Confessional April 3, 2011

2011-04-03T05:00:00.001-05:00

I confess. My bookshelf is a mess. Weighted down with books, not in any order, some vertical, some horizontal with no more room to cram another book. Not one! Am I compulsive book buyer? Not really. At least not anymore.

Several years ago I snapped up any book I could find. Book sales? I was there all three days. Rummage sales? A perfect way to get them cheap. Birthdays? I asked for gift cards to the local book store. But lately, nah, not so much.

Why then, considering how many books I read, are my bookshelves sagging in the middle? It's because I don't read my own books. You darn book bloggers are making me "see" books I have to read! Books I might not have considered in the past but you, yes YOU, make them sound oh so good. It's terrible! I see a book that you gave a great review to and I hop onto my library's website to request it. I can't see buying any more when I have so many left unread at home. Besides, a due date makes me get to them that much quicker.

So how do I solve this unsightly mess in my bedroom? I have made it a goal this year to read 1-2 books off my own bookshelf each month. I take them down from the shelves, dust them off and insert them into my TBR pile. So far it's working. Eye Contact reviewed a couple of weeks ago is one of these and Cul-de-Sac (review scheduled) is another. At this rate I might actually have 5 or 6 to bring to our annual Book Club book sale later this year!

Saturday Snapshot April 2, 2011

2011-04-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

Alyce from At Home With Books hosts a weekly meme called Saturday Snapshot. To participate all you have to do is post a photo taken by you (or a friend or family member.) Please make sure it is clean and appropriate for all eyes to see and leave a direct link to your post at the Mr Linky on Alyce's blog. Was searching for something on the ground when this bird started making a terrible fuss. It was then that I noticed the eggs she was protecting. (You can see them in the photo right behind her legs.)

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage Review

2011-03-31T05:00:00.000-05:00

A young couple, strung out on drugs and one dying of AIDS decide to give up their infant daughter in the hopes of giving her a better life. And all seems to go well for Willa as she grows up. Her parents are wealthy and able to give her what she wants and they love her very much on top of it all.

Her biological father, Nate, now clean from drugs and living a respectable life as a teacher and struggling writer has a yearning to get close to her. He doesn't want her to know who he is, he just wants to be able to see her and reassure himself that she's doing okay and he's done the right thing. He accepts a position as a teacher at the same private school that Willa attends. In fact, she is one of her students.

But Nate is not the only one at Pioneer Academy that has secrets. And some secrets could be deadly!

Somebody Else's Daughter was not what I had thought it would be about. I was hoping for more of a focus on the father/daughter/biological father relationship as the dust jacket had hinted. Instead I was broadsided with something I was not expecting about halfway through the book. It made me squirm... it was a little uncomfortable... and quite graphic but having already invested enough time to get halfway through I decided to stick with it and see where it was heading. I still don't believe the book needed this "secret" to get to where the story needed to go and because it was not a subject I felt comfortable with I chose to give this book 2/5 stars.

Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern Review

2011-03-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

Two children disappear into the woods beside Woodside Elementary School. Hours later one of them, nine-year-old Adam, is found alive, the sole witness to his playmates murder. But Adam is autistic and can say nothing about what he saw. Only his mother, Cara, has the power to penetrate his silence. When another child goes missing and Cara's unsettling past emerges from the shadows, she has to ask herself whether her efforts to protect her son have exposed him to unimaginable danger.

Cara has tried to protect her son all of his life. When he has a fear of digital clocks, she tries to walk ahead of him and cover up the ones she sees before he does. When Adam is upset by the erratic movements of skateboarders, she drives blocks out of her way to avoid the places they tend to congregate. Cara works for hours teaching him to make eye contact, to answer people's questions and to try to make friends even though "friend" is a concept foreign to Adam. But when a murder happens just outside the school in the woods next to the playground, Cara wonders if she should have done more. Has she, in her eagerness to help Adam verbalize his thoughts and to trust in people because they want to help you taught him the wrong things? Like maybe you shouldn't talk to strangers? That possibly there ARE bad people that could hurt you?

The author, Cammie McGovern, is the mother of an autistic child. She knows the ins and outs of the autistic mind and how thoughts can take different pathways to get to the same conclusion that we would come to. Her insight is what made this book so real. I have read a couple of books featuring autistic characters and none of them came close to helping me understand the complexities of the human mind and the difficulties that the children and their parents face on a daily basis. The fact that parents of autistic children have to learn the subtle cues of facial expressions, for instance the raise of an eyebrow or the slight tilt of the head, as a form of communication was incredibly revealing.

As a murder mystery, Eye Contact starts out strong. There are a number of characters involved who could have done it, and at various times you are convinced they have done it. The conclusion of the book however gets a little confusing. The story took so many different twists that I found myself getting a little lost and at the end not really caring that much who the killer actually was.

It's strength instead is in the relationship between single mother Cara and her son Adam. The love with which Cara will do or try almost anything to draw Adam out of his silent shell is potent. For that reason alone I give this book 3/5 stars.

Saturday Snapshot March 26th, 2011

2011-03-26T19:37:00.003-05:00

Alyce from At Home With Books hosts a weekly meme called Saturday Snapshot. To participate all you have to do is post a photo taken by you (or a friend or family member.) Please make sure it is clean and appropriate for all eyes to see and leave a direct link to your post at the Mr Linky on Alyce's blog.

My husband has seen a couple of robins in the last week. I haven't seen a one but I am so ready for spring that I thought I would post this picture in the hopes it would "call" one in!

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Review

2011-03-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Four slave women meet up every year at a resort called Tawawa House. Brought as mistresses by their slave masters, these ladies share a special bond. Not only are they faced with the same circumstance, but they finally have someone they can talk to who understands the different role they play in the lives of their masters.

More privileged than the field slaves and more special than the other house slaves, the mistresses are resented not only by their master's wife, but by some fo the other slaves as well. Their children, being part white are not accepted by the other slave children, and not quite accepted by their own father's as well.

Wench is the story of Lizzie, Sweet, Reenie and Tawu who spend 3 months each year sharing their hopes and their dreams for the future. The dream of one day being free. The dream of their children not having to suffer the same indignities they have. The dream of never having to suffer at the hands of their masters again. But just how far are they willing to go to make their dreams come true? And what will happen if they try?

Wench is a uniquely different angle to the slave sagas I had read in the past. It is one that was seldom written about or talked about but most certainly existed. It is a story that touched me deeply as I read about each character's tragic and confining life.

The book club that I am in reviewed this in March and I think most of the women were pleasantly surprised by the book. To see another review, and to see how our book club puts a fun spin on the books we review go to my friend Sheila's website Book Journey. The club's overall rating was a 4, my rating 4/5 stars.

Unsolved Crimes by John Wright Review

2011-03-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

True Crimes. Is there anything that makes your hair stand on end like a true crime? How about a true unsolved crime with the murderer still lurking about?

Unsolved Crimes, a Reader's Digest Book written by John Wright is filled with the creepy and the mysterious. Broken down by sections like Murders, Assassinations, Kidnappings, Robbery's, etc., John Wright gives a detailed background of the victim, the evidence (or lack thereof), the list of suspects and an included sidebox of lingering doubts.

The lingering doubts section really intrigued me because it drew on what was known of the murder or suspects and asked some additional tough questions that haven't been answered, and probably never would be. Filled with the well known- Jon Benet Ramsey, the Black Dahlia and D.B. Cooper, as well as some not so well known victims from all over the world, Unsolved Crimes is a detailed account of some of the most famous crimes of the century. With photographs and information on DNA processing John Wright had me transfixed from the very first page. 3/5 Stars

Saturday Snapshot March 19, 2011

2011-03-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Alyce from At Home With Books hosts a weekly meme called Saturday Snapshot. To participate all you have to do is post a photo taken by you (or a friend or family member.) Please make sure it is clean and appropriate for all eyes to see and leave a direct link to your post at the Mr Linky on Alyce's blog.

Our Boy Scout Troop has an annual St Patrick's Day party where everybody is encouraged to bring a "green" dish to share. This is a picture of my Corned Beef Casserole. I put green food coloring in the water when I boiled my noodles. Trust me, it tastes a lot better than it looks!

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza Review

2011-03-15T05:00:00.002-05:00

Growing up, Immaculee never realized she was different from some of her childhood friends. During ethnic roll call in her school one day she was asked to stand up and proclaim whether she was from the Hutu or Tutsi tribe. She couldn't respond because she didn't know. Her parents had never taught her the difference, because to them there was none. People were people and God loved them all.

Unfortunately, not all Rwandans felt the same way, and by 1994 after the death of their Hutu president a genocide of the Tutsis started that would last a little more than three months and would leave over 1 million of her friends, neighbors and family members dead.

Left to Tell is the horrifying account of how Immaculee spent 91 days hiding in a pastors bathroom with 7 other women while Hutu rebels hunted for them right outside their door. Immaculee's courage as she prayed, read the Bible and even learned English during her "captivity" is an incredible inspiration.

Even more inspiring is how she has put her life back together after her parents and 2 brothers were brutally murdered and how she has helped people get back on their feet and continues to help them today.

Imaculee is an amazing woman who has put God in the center of her life and has become richly blessed because of it. This Lenten season, if you're looking for a book to fill your heart and enrich your soul I recommend you read about Immaculee's harrowing 91 fear-filled days. You won't regret it. 5/5 Stars

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris Review

2011-03-13T23:36:00.005-05:00

Framboise's tale starts decades ago, in the village of Les Laveuses during the German occupation of France. Masterfully, she tells us about her childhood, playing along the river Loire with her brother Cassis, her sister Reinette, and her childhood friend Paul. She describes her obsession with catching Old Mother, the large pike rumored to curse anyone who sets eyes on it, but if caught will make your wish come true. Days are long, but happy until the darkness that is their mother envelops them.

Framboise's mother, Mirabelle Dartigen, is a widow struggling to keep the family orchard going after her husband is killed in the war. She's a stern, unyielding woman who is plagued by intense migraines that start with her smelling oranges, real or imagined. She is not loving or comforting to her children and that's why Framboise feels no shame in hiding orange peels around the house to help trigger one of her mother's migraines. The quiet, idle time while their mother recuperates is one they look forward to.

But just how do they spend their days alone? And with whom are they secretly meeting? And how does this mystery figure play into the war, the deaths of 10 people in the town, and the public outcry of the rest of the townsfolk while at Framboise's door with torches and rocks? And why, after 55 years, is Framboise still desperate to hang onto this secret?

The tragedy that weaves itself throughout this book will have you turning page after page to get to the end of the mystery that is Mirabelle Dartigen, and maybe more importantly, who is Framboise.

An excellently crafted story that flashes subtly from present day Les Laveuses to past, Joanne Harris is an author whom I have never read, but am now eager to explore. 4/5 Stars

Sunday Confessional February 27th

2011-02-27T16:08:00.002-06:00

I confess. I hate TV. If it weren't for my love of hockey, mainly the Minnesota Wild, I wouldn't ever turn it on. Regular TV shows, movies, and series do not appeal to me.

Part of the reason, I'm sure, is because I work in the electronics department of a big box chain. from the time I get to work until the time I punch out I am listening to TVs, stereos, cell phones, portable DVD players and video games. When I get home I CRAVE peace and quiet.

Books are my love partly because they are quiet! Another reason for my love of books over TV is that books don't seem to slam you in the face with sound effects, crass characters and bright imagery. Books slowly unpeel layer after layer of a character and take their time to vividly describe that characters surroundings and environment.

Nope, I will take books any day over TV. How about you?

Saturday Snapshot February 26th

2011-02-26T13:42:00.007-06:00

I took this picture during a Boy Scout weekend two years ago and it reminds me of the famous Robert Frost poem The Road Not Taken.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that, the passing there

Has worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel Review

2011-02-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

Lilly and Val are young friends who write back and forth about their hopes and dreams, their loves and losses, their families, their friends, and recipes.

The Recipe Club takes the two friends from 1963-2003 in the epistolary style that I so enjoyed in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. What starts as a young innocent friendship turns into almost a competitive, resentful relationship between the two.

Lilly's mother is a mostly absent, self absorbed woman who has multiple affairs throughout the book while Lilly's father spends the majority of his time with Val's mother trying to cure her of her mental illness. This leads to Lilly being jealous of the attention Isaac (her father) lavishes on Val, and you see how Lilly easily turns into a spoiled, demanding young woman who just like her mother can easily drop relationships when she has nothing more to gain from them.

Val, who's agoraphobic mother loves her but is never there for her in other ways (piano recitals, school conferences) strives to hold onto the friendship she has with Lilly, the one person she feels has always been there for her. As Val excels in school and love- Lilly competes for her attention yet at the same time leaves her hanging in things they have always done together.

To me, Lilly did not seem like a friend I would want and Val's neediness and dependency on Lilly's friendship began to irk me. The one redeeming factor of this book were the recipes. There were a lot of recipes sprinkled throughout the book and while not all of them were much different from what you find in any other average cookbook, the names given to them were lighthearted and fun.

By flipping to any recipe in the book I can tell you what happened in the preceding chapter by the name given the recipe. Lovelorn Lasagna, Conspiracy Apple Pie, Diploma Dip with Veggies, Confetti Spaghetti, and First Kiss Caramel Almond Kisses are all recipes that reflect their feelings or what was going on in their lives at the time.

While not a great book, it was an easy read so I'll give it 2/5 stars.

Sunday Confessional

2011-02-20T23:11:00.004-06:00

I confess. I hate getting my hair cut. I'm one of those people who are usually doing two things at once. When I'm cooking supper I'm also reading the paper. When I'm playing cards I'm writing out my menu plan while my son shuffles and deals. I can't stand sitting in the chair at the hair salon and doing nothing for a half hour except look at myself in the mirror. So I put it off for so long that my family is about ready to put a leash on me I look so shabby.

Once cut I have another problem. I am going prematurely gray. I'm only 43, I shouldn't have a head of gray hair but it's starting to go that way and after it's cut the shorter look just emphasizes it. So after the cut I head for home to color it, which I confess, I also hate. I don't like the look of my hair when first colored because it seems so one dimensional. After a few days the different colors start coming through but at first...bleh! I told my son one of these days I'm going to get the guts up to do something really daring- at least for me. I saw a young lady the other day with short semi-spiky black hair and a patch of neon pink right up by her bangs and I loved it! So next time you see me I just might look like this:

Saturday Snapsot

2011-02-19T08:55:00.006-06:00

I took this picture on Round Lake in Minnesota a couple of years ago. It makes me laugh because it's hard to tell the birds legs from the sticks!

One Second After by William R. Forstchen Review

2011-02-16T00:49:00.000-06:00

One Second After is a horrifying novel about life after an EMP.

John and his family are surviving. John has started moving on after the death of his beloved wife Mary four years ago to cancer. He is raising his two daughters Elizabeth and Jennifer with the help of his mother-in-law Jen, who is also finding a way to adjust to life without her husband who is now in a nursing home.

Life is good. It's not easy, but it's good. That is until the day America collapses from an EMP strike. EMP-Electromagnetic Pulse is a high altitude explosion caused by the detonation of a nuclear bomb in the atmosphere. Anything electronic can no longer operate. This means more than TV, video game systems and radios. This means electric stoves, refrigerators, cell phones and even automobiles.

Suddenly John's little mountain town of Black Mountain is cut off from the rest of the world. Once word gets out to the residents that this is more than your average power outage, people begin to panic. They loot the local grocery store and raid the pharmacy to get supplies knowing this could last not only for weeks, but possibly months or even years.

Eventually the food starts to run out and the town is put on rations. Plans are made to not only determine how to survive for an extended amount of time with no food being shipped in, but how to grow a new food supply, prepare for the future, rebuild, and protect the community from other desperate citizens of nearby areas who are in the same boat as they are and are also starving.

One Second After is chilling. Even the book's Afterword gave me goosebumps. It's so chilling because this absolutely COULD happen. How prepared are we to handle a catastrophe of this magnitude? 4/5 Stars

Sunday Confessional

2011-02-13T01:15:00.001-06:00

I confess. I'm not a romantic. At least not nearly as romantic as my big teddy bear of a husband. He always can find the perfect gifts and say the sweetest things. But when it comes to Valentines Day, I dominate!

I love Valentines Day. Like the commercial on TV says- Valentines Day is for not only saying I Love You, but I Love Us. I plan for months what small (we never spend a lot because it really IS the thought that counts) gift I can get him. I read through racks and racks of cards to find the one that says exactly what I feel. And I cook! Again, it's all about the food.

A lot of couples choose to go out to eat for Valentines Day, and while that's okay for them, it doesn't work so well for us. First, it's expensive! Secondly, no matter where we choose to go, we wait forever in lines. So a few years back we decided to do the extravagant meal at home, spend our time with the kids and save a lot of money.

The same meal is made every year. I think my family would protest if I ever tried to change up the menu! The only thing that varies is dessert. I always make Steak with Parmesan Crab Sauce, Crab Legs with melted butter, baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, a side salad, Tuxedoed Strawberries, Jello Hearts, and dessert. I usually keep the dessert simple since everything else to prepare keeps me busy. These Cake Truffles look easy or I might just go with one of my faves- Praline Cheesecake.

How will you be spending your Valentines Day this year?

Saturday Snapshot

2011-02-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Alyce from At Home With Books hosts a weekly meme called Saturday Snapshot. To participate all you have to do is post a photo taken by you (or a friend or family member.) Please make sure it is clean and appropriate for all eyesd to see and leave a direct link to your post at the Mr Linky on Alyce's blog.

I decided to participate because everyone who knows me knows I either have a camera in my hands at all times or one very close by. Everyone complains because I'm taking pictures all the time, but everyone likes to see the ones I have on my family blog or on my computer.

Today is Scout Sunday. This is a chance for the Boy Scouts to practice the "A Scout is Reverent" part of the Scout Law. Usually, our Troop hands out bulletins, greets the people coming in to the church and attends the service at Trinity Lutheran Church, our charter organization.

This year, they decided to thank them for their sponsorship by making pancakes and sausage for the members of the church. The boys did an awesome job and everyone seemed to enjoy their breakfast!

Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately Review

2011-02-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

Elsa wants to help. In her young life she has already went through a lot with her own family, and now that they are all gone she wants to reach out and take care of someone else. Seeing an ad in a magazine for Aide du Monde, a relief organization, she decides to give them a call. But what she lacks at this point as a young nurse in the local hospital is experience. Not giving up, she joins the ER/Trauma unit and not only gains experience, but confidence as well. Six months later she gets her assignment- Afghanistan.

Then, 9/11 happens and her assignment is put on hold. She's crushed but lets them know she's still interested in helping out and she would still go to Afghanistan if called. The following spring that's exactly what happens.

Dropped off by jeep in the dusty mud plastered village of Bamiyan, Elsa begins her year of working with the sick and the injured at the little clinic. At first, met with resistance by the male Afghani doctor, she quickly gains friends and respect as she treats the patients and vllagers with love.

Then she meets Parween, and though they are world's apart, they become fast friends. She's with Parween when Parween loses her dear friend Mariam, and Parween is there when Elsa falls in love with Mike, a soldier close by on assignment.

This novel starts out so realistically I had to keep looking at the back cover to see if it was autobiographical, and indeed, it just might be. The author Roberta Gately served as a nurse and humanitarian aid worker in third world war zones ranging from Afghanistan to Africa. But I believe, realistic as it sounds, it is just a novel with some very real touches from the author who lived what she writes about.

I enjoyed this journey to another country and another culture. Gately writes well and I grew to love her characters, especially Parween. 3/5 stars

Sunday Confessional- Super Bowl Sunday

2011-02-06T18:09:00.004-06:00

I confess. I love Superbowl Sunday. I don't like football, nor do I care what teams get there. Some people watch it just for the commercials or the half-time show. I don't watch either. Why then do I love Superbowl Sunday every year? The food of course!

Every year someone in our family decides to throw a Superbowl party and everybody brings an appetizer type item. There's always such a fun variety of foods and new recipes to try out. During the afternoon the die hard fans watch the game. The rest of us play cards. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to go home a few dollars richer, always I go home a few pounds heavier.

This year the extended family wasn't able to pull a party together due to snowbirds being gone and my mom staying with her father to take care of him, but I still decided to have a little party just for my immediate family. I made ham & turkey sandwiches, baked beans, hamburger spread for french bread, bean dip, jalapeno poppers, crab spread, chips and dip and salsa, crackers & cheese, and cereal bars. Even with the small group I have it's still all about the food!

What about you? What do you enjoy most about Superbowl Sunday?

Sunday Confessional

2011-01-30T17:49:00.003-06:00

I confess. I am a coupon freak! My kids tease me, my hubby shakes his head, my parents laugh and some of my coworkers are in awe of the coupon deals I come home with. I can't help it, I'm hooked.

I have dabbled with it a time or two in the past but last August I got looking around the Internet and found some websites that not only told me where to find the good deals, but linked me to the coupons to get them! No work for me to do, no thinking, everything was there for me.

I decided to start my stockpile then and there. My hubby works on commission at his job and due to the number of resorts on his route, and the bareness of those resorts in the cold Minnesota winters his paychecks are a LOT smaller in the 9 months of cooler weather. It seems like we use his bigger summer checks to save just to get us through the winter and we never seem to get ahead. I figured if I could take a month or two and start building a stockpile of items bought for a little bit of nothing it would carry us through the smaller winter paychecks.

Even though I got a late start, my stockpile in just 2 months was pretty impressive. I had purchased for pennies (or got FREE) enough laundry detergent, air fresheners, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, razors, candles, dental floss, mouthwash, toothpaste, deodorant, body wash, pain reliever, and cold medicine to last us until June.

On the food side I had enough cereal, pasta, rice, tomato sauce, cream soups, mini raviolios, spaghetti sauce, instant oatmeal & tomato paste to get me at least until March if not later.

The couponing is helping a lot and I like having a full pantry. Some weeks if hubby's check is smaller then we thought it would be we can plan enough meals using pantry items that all we have to buy is fresh meats, fruits and veggies. It's a good feeling to know I'm taking care of the family and I plan on being even more prepared for next winter.

I Am Hutterite by Mary Ann Kirkby

2010-11-20T20:03:00.003-06:00

I love reading books about different religions, cultures, and peoples. So when I saw a review for a book about the Hutterites in Canada I had to reserve it at my local library.

Mary Ann (or Anne-Marie as she called throughout her childhood) takes us through her life in a Hutterite community. She loves the feeling of family and togetherness as everything done in the community is done together. Women work for a week doing all of the cooking for the community and then they are off the next week. If you want a pie you just go to the community kitchen and pick one up for lunschen- the meal that family eats together at 3 in the afternoon.

She talks about happy carefree times with her young cousins between the hard work days and the church services every evening. She is happy.

But her father struggles with some of the rigid rules he faces from the preacher in charge. Not being allowed to own a vehicle, he must borrow one from his brother-in-law Jakob, the leader and preacher of Fairholme, their community near Portage La Prairie. Ann-Marie's sister is asthmatic and has to visit the doctor often. Jakob thinks it's just an excuse for using the Econoline van and starts to deny their requests. When a younger brother comes into Ann-Marie's family and has complications that require surgery their request for the van is again denied. This time with fatal results. The Dornn family decides to leave the community.

Ann-Marie and her family struggle in forging a new life on their own. All the work that was done with the help of a community must all now be done on their own. Her father has never had a real job, in the community he was in charge of the chicken barn. He has never had a bank account or a loan since in the community all the money earned from the sales of vegetables or farm animals was put into the community coffers. Their clothing is outdated and plain, not the mini skirts and nylons the others are wearing.

This part of the book was great. I got a real feel for life in a Hutterite community and the challenges faced when leaving one. Mary Ann Kirkby describes it vividly. However, the subtitle of the book "The fascinating true story of a young woman's journey to reclaim her heritage" hints at something more. I kept waiting for that journey, but I feel as if she missed the bus. She does go back- more for a visit than anything else. I didn't see the journey and I didn't see any heritage reclaiming and for this I feel the subtitle was misleading and should have been left off the book.

That being said, I did enjoy the book. And while it wasn't an exciting or great read I did like it and learned a lot about a group of people I knew nothing about. My rating? 3 out of 5 stars

Due to Temporary Insanity this Blog is Closed Until Further Notice

2010-08-30T00:55:00.003-05:00

I love this book blog, I really do. I have had a ball reading, reviewing, and chatting with all of you. Book bloggers are such a great (and supportive) community. Thanks for that!

Life, however, is getting in the way. My son recently had some reconstructive surgery done to his knee and physical therapy will be a daily occurrence. Add to that- my grandma is in hospice care and I have been helping take care of her. Her health is to the point where I will be spending nights with her because my grandpa is not able to do it by himself. I hope to eventually get to the point where I can start this up again, but it's kind of hard to take care of a book blog when you haven't (gasp!) finished a book in over a month.

Until I meet with you again- happy page turning to you!

Flower Children by Maxine Swann Review

2010-07-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

A swing hangs in the middle of the living room. The house was built by the parents. The children- two girls and two boys- run free all day, dance naked in the rain, climb apple tress, ride ponies, press their faces into showers of leaves, rub mud all over their bodies and sit out in the sun to let it dry. When their parents invite other adults for skinny-dipping in the creek, the children memorize all the body parts to discuss later among themselves.
Maxine Swann's Flower Children is the intimate, shocking, funny, heartrending, and exultant story of four children growing up in rural Pennsylvania, the offspring of devout hippies who turned their backs on Ivy League education in favor of experiments in communal living and a whole new world for their children. The children, in turn, find themselves impossibly at odds with their surroundings, both delighted and unnerved by a life without limits. But as the parents split, and puberty hits, the ground seems to shift. The children's freedoms have not come without a cost to their innocence.

Based on the author's childhood, Flower Children was originally a short story. Now expanded to include many vignettes of the children's early life, we come to know the four siblings throughout their teen years as well.

What most kids these days would have thought of as an ideal childhood with no rules was at first a wonderful exploration period for Lu, Maeve, Tuck & Clyde. But upon entering school, the older children realize they know more then they should at such a tender age. They have been exposed to naked bodies being-allowed to take baths with their father and pot smoking parties. This embarasses them once they realize other children do not live like they do and they become shy and keep things to themselves.

Flower Children was an interesting account of an alternative lifestyle that I have not been exposed to before. That being said, I did not like the book. I can't give you a good reason why, it just was not what I thought it would be. 2/5 stars

The Boy on the Bus by Deborah Schupack Review

2010-07-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

I wish I knew what to say about this book, but I don't. I wish the author knew where she was going with this story, but she didn't. I wish there had been a satisfying conclusion to the story, but there wasn't.

I was very disappointed in The Boy on the Bus. This short novel starts out with a mother who is waiting for her son to come home from school. But when the bus pulls up to her house, the boy on the bus is not her son. At least that's what the mother is sure of. He acts different, he seems strangely unfamiliar, and he even looks a bit older and more robust.

The author then takes us through a few days in their life as her and her partner Jeff and her daughter Katie try to know sort out what is going on. Jeff is away for months at a time at a job site in Canada- would he know if his son was acting different if he hasn't seen him in that long? Daughter Katie, away at boarding school gets called back for her opinion. She just thinks Charlie's acting weird.

Mother, Meg, left at home to shoulder the load of taking care of the household and her sickly, asthmatic eight-year-old is a little overwhelmed with life. She doesn't know what happened with her "real" son but she is determined to find out.

If this book would have been a mystery like it implied it could have made a good one. But the story went nowhere and with no resolution I was left hanging and a little stumped. Did I miss something? Did I not get it? More confused after I finished then when I started I would only give this 1/5 stars.

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain Review

2010-07-12T05:00:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago when I was looking for a shorter books to read for an all day reading marathon I came across a classic called The Postman Always Rings Twice. Never having read it, watched the movie, or read anything by this author, I pulled it off the library shelf.

The back cover proclaims it was "banned in Boston for its explosive mixture of violence and eroticism." Written in 1934, I was curious to see what made this book so controversial it had to be banned.

This short novel is about Frank, a bum who never stays in one place for long, and Cora, the wife of a Greek restaurant owner. The two fall in love and can't keep their hands off each other. Theirs is a violent love full of ripped blouses, bitten lips and deliberate punches. It's a love you know can only end the way it started.

Cora can't stand being married to Nick Papadakis, especially when Frank enters her life and she sees what passion is. Frank and Cora come up with a plan to murder Nick and make it look like an accident. But when their plans are foiled and a local cop gets suspicious, Frank decides the best thing for him to do is to leave town and try to get Cora out of his system for good. Unable to forget about her, he returns and the affair picks up again hotter and wilder than before.

Again they come up with a plan. This time it's foolproof. It's the perfect murder. The Postman Always Rings Twice is a dark book full of cheating, lies, passion, murder, blackmail and double crossing. The violent tendencies during their lovemaking scenes were disturbing and I can understand how, in 1934, this book would have shocked a lot of people. That being said- I can honestly say I enjoyed this classic and would even consider nominating it for our book club's classic read month in October. 3/5 stars

The Girl in the Photograph by Gabrielle Donnelly Review

2010-07-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

To meet Allegra O'Riordan of Chicago, you'd think she was like anyone else- a modern single woman in her thirties; a more or less lapsed Catholic; more or less gainfully employed; urban, independent, irreverent, and smart. But there's a hole in her life, and it doesn't really show until, going through her late father's effects, she comes upon a photograph of her mother. Now, her mother was a prim, unsmiling woman who died when she was three. But this is something- someone- else, a laughing, beautiful, sexy girl, who inscribed the picture to someone Allegra's never heard of.
Astonished and intrigued, she returns to her hometown of Los Angeles to find out more about this mother of hers, only to be met with smiles and evasions and a definite sense that people are keeping something from her- and of course, that only makes her more determined to find out what it is, even though she's beginning to suspect she's not going to like it one little bit...

Yes, Allegra O'Riordan sets off for Los Angeles to find out more about the mother she never knew. But what Aleegra doesn't count on is that nobody wants to talk about Theresa Higgins O' Riordan.

Certainly not her Uncle John and Aunt Katherine. Every time Allegra brings up the subject of her mother, Katherine clams up- not very talkative, is she- and herUncle John changes the subject. Allegra knows there's a story there somewhere and she's determined to find it.

With the help of a young, hot neighbor, Scott, and her cousin Jimmy they start to piece together a few clues but Allegra is frustrated to the point of giving up when she asks a kindly old priest at a family birthday party if he remembers Theresa Higgins and watches him turn cold at the sound of her mother's name.

"No one," said Father Carroll, "in the diocese of Los Angeles will forget
Theresa Higgins."

"A sin," said the priest, "is a sin."

Allegra shivers in the sunshine of the birthday party, and as the priest shuffles off she knows the answer she seeks might change her life forever. 3/5 stars

more than it hurts you by Darin Strauss

2010-07-05T05:00:00.001-05:00

Josh Goldin was savoring a Friday afternoon break in the coffee room, harmlessly flirting with co-workers while anticipating the weekend at home where his wife, Dori, waited with their eight-month-old son, Zack. And then Josh's secretary rushed in, using words like intensive care, lost consciousness, blood...
That morning, Dori had walked into the emergency room with her son in severe distress. Enter Dr. Darlene Stokes, an African American physician and single mother whose life is dedicated both to her own son and navigating the tricky maze of modern-day medicine. But something about Dori stirred the doctor's suspicions. Darlene had heard of the sensational diagnosis of Munchhausen by proxy, where a mother intentionally harms her baby, but she had never come upon a case of it before. It's rarely diagnosed and extraordinarily controversial. Could it possibly have happened?
When these lives intersect with dramatic consequences, Darlene, Dori, and Josh are pushed to their breaking points as they confront the nightmare that has become their new reality.

Emotions are churning within me of which I cannot even begin to describe. The characters- all so well drawn, so lifelike, each with a heaviness all their own...

Dori- the mother accused of Munchhausen by proxy syndrome- of hurting her baby for the attention it will create. Dori is galled that anyone would think she could hurt little Zackie. After all, no one could love him more than she does. And she does love him immensely. She is burdened by the investigation by Child Protective Services and the need to prove she is a good mother.

Josh- the sometimes inattentive, but still loving husband and father is saddled with feelings of not being competent enough. Of not knowing enough "medical speak" to understand what's going on. Josh blindly trusts in his wife and creates a united front against their accusers.

Dr. Darlene Stokes- a black doctor who worked her way up from a fatherless home to become a respected doctor and head of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of St Josephs hospital is targeted for reverse racism against this young Jewish family and is weighed down with the battle between hospital politics and the diagnosis she made without any proof but which she is sure is correct.

More than it hurts you is a thought provoking novel of right and wrong, good and bad, fair and unfair, conceptions and misconceptions. A novel that leaves you thinking about it long after you've put it down. 4/5 stars

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Review

2010-07-01T05:00:00.004-05:00

In 1851 Bishop Latour and his friend Father Vaillant are dispatched to New Mexico to reawaken its slumbering Catholicism. Moving along the endless prairies, Latour spreads his faith the only way he knows- gently, although he must contend with the unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Over nearly forty years, the two friends leave converts and enemies, crosses and occasionally ecstasy in their wake. But it takes a death for them to make their mark on the landscape for ever...

I have been trying to add more classics to my reading list lately. Other than Pride & Prejudice which is one of my all-time favorite books I am not a big fan of the classics. When a friend of mine told me this was her favorite Willa Cather book I thought I would give it a try. I think one of my main objections to classics is I get too caught up in the language style they are written in and the antique quality of the words and it becomes too much of a distraction.

Willa Cather does not write like this. Written in 1927, this classic at no time feels like a book that was written over eighty years ago. The words and phrases she uses, while simplistic, are very relatable. But just because her writing style was very easy to read does not mean I enjoyed the book.

This book, I am sorry to say, was boring. I did learn a lot about the early Catholic Church and the French missionaries who helped to spread the faith in its infancy in New Mexico, the hospitality of the Mexican people and the way the Indian peoples were very devout to both God and their own superstitious pagan ceremonies.

The reason I did not like it was that nothing happened in the book. Each chapter within the nine books of the novel was about a different person or event that took place. It seemed more like "Do you remember when we did ________?" or "Did I ever tell you about_______?" There was no plot, no suspense, no storyline; nothing to keep you wanting to read on.

It wasn't a terrible book, just not one I would highly recommend. 2/5 stars

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer Review

2010-06-28T05:00:00.001-05:00

Eighteen years ago, Billy Peters disappeared. Everyone in town believes Billy was murdered- after all, serial killer Arnold Avery later admitted killing six other children and burying them on the same desolate moor that surrounds their small English village. Only Billy's mother is convinced he is alive. She still stands lonely guard at the front window of her home, waiting for her son to return, while her remaining family fragments around her.
But her twelve-year-old grandson Steven is determined to heal the cracks that gape between his nan, his mother, his brother, and himself. Steven desperately wants to bring his family closure, and if that means personally finding his uncle's corpse, he'll do it.
Spending his spare time digging holes all over the moor in the hope of turning up a body is a long shot, but at least it gives his life purpose.
Then at school, when the lesson turns to letter writing, Steven has a flash of inspiration... Careful to hide his identity, he secretly pens a letter to Avery in jail asking for help in finding the body of "W.P."- William "Billy" Peters.
So begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. Just as Steven tries to use Avery to pinpoint the grave site, so Avery misdirects and teases his mysterious correspondent in order to relive his heinous crimes. And when Avery finally realizes that the letters he's receiving are from a twelve-year-old boy, suddenly his life has purpose too. Although his is far more dangerous...

Blacklands was an interesting book in that it was written from a different point of view that most authors don't explore. In the author's note, Ms. Bauer explains about wondering how a murder impacts a family. Not just the victim's parents, but a whole generation of other victims, like in this novel- the grandson of a woman whose son Billy was murdered many years ago.

The loss of Uncle Billy, a boy Steven never knew is still a deep loss. The feelings of loneliness and pain that Steven feels are palpable. His life is always a shadow of what it could have been had his nan given him some attention rather than waiting at the window for Billy to come home from school, or if his own mother hadn't harbored such bitterness over feeling she was never cared for because nan neglected her childhood to wait by the window. All Steven wants is a happy, normal childhood. He longs for laughter, hugs, and approval.

That's why finding his Uncle Billy's body has become such an obsession. If Billy can finally be put to rest giving his nan some closure, maybe- just maybe- his family can move on.

The cat -and-mouse game that ensues as Steven starts writing letters, and letters from the prison start coming back is compelling. Steven is desperate to fulfill his mission and excited about figuring out the clues within them. Looking into the mind of a serial killer is always disturbing- particularly those of a sick and twisted rapist and murderer of children. But, I found Blacklands to be a book that made me look at things in a whole new light and any book that stretches my mind to wrap around a different image or feeling than one I'm used to conceiving is one I have to recommend. 4/5 stars

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman Review

2010-06-24T05:00:00.001-05:00

Bestselling author Susan Jane Gilman's new memoir is a hilarious and harrowing journey, a modern heart of darkness filled with communist operatives, backpackers, and pancakes.
In 1986, fresh out of college, Gilman and her friend Claire yearned to do something daring and original that did not involve getting a job. Inspired by a place mat at the International House of Pancakes, they decided to embark on an ambitious trip around the globe, starting in the People's Republic of China. At that point, China had been open to independent travelers for roughly ten minutes.

Armed only with the collected works of Nietsche, an astrological love guide, and an arsenal of bravado, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads. As they ventured off the map deep into Chinese territory, they were stripped of everything familiar and forced to confront their limitations amid culture shock and government surveillance. What began as a journey full of humor, eroticism and enlightenment grew increasingly sinister-becoming a real-life international thriller that transformed them forever.

Backpacking is something I have always been interested in- although a world traveler I am not. I would rather live vicariously through someone elses exploits. This book allowed me to do that.

Traveling through China with Susie and Claire was thrilling, exciting, and at times very scary. Culture shock was something I experienced right along with them as the author described eastern hotels infested with cockroaches, hospitals with chickens running rampant amongst the patients, and public toilets consisting of only a trough to squat over.

Although I feel a couple of pictures would have added to the overall experience- as they do in any memoir- the duo's camera broke at the beginning of the trip, so I had no photos to relate to people's faces or famous Chinese locales, but Susan Jane Gilman's memory and powerful storyteller's "voice" helped flesh it out for me.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is an incredible memoir of her harrowing ordeal in a country light years away. 4/5 stars

The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian Review

2010-06-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

John and Ella Robina have shared a wonderful life for more than fifty years. Now, in their eighties, Ella suffers from cancer and has chosen to stop treatment. John has Alzheimer's. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed "down-on-their-luck geezers" kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives to steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery.

With Ella as his vigilant copilot, John steers their '78 Leisure Seeker RV along the forgotten roads of Route 66 toward Disneyland in search of a past they're having a damned hard time remembering. Yet Ella is determined to prove that, when it comes to life, a person can go back for seconds- sneak a little extra time, grab a small portion more- even when everyone says you can't.

John and Ella have a beautiful and timeless love for each other. Even amid all John's confusion and Ella's "discomfort" they cling tightly to each other because they're all that they have.

Ella is determined to have one last vacation together while they can. Packing up their RV they head out on Route 66, a trip they have taken before in another lifetime. Determined to reach the end of the road, they plug on a few hours at a time before they get tired and have to stop for a rest.

John likes to stop at McDonalds. He loves burgers. But Ella, weak and nauseous from the cancer can't hardly stomach them anymore. Sandwiches and soup back at the campsite is more her thing.

When evening comes they drag out the old projector and watch slides of old trips on the side of the RV. John doesn't always remember his children's faces but he has to smile at the happiness of the family projected before him.

I recognized so much of my parents in this book, and sadly, even though my husband and I are in our early forties, much of ourselves too. This book tugged so tightly on my heartstrings I felt I was being pulled by some unseeable force.

Liberally sprinkled with humor over the many pratfalls, hijinks's, and mayhem they get into on the open road, The Leisure Seeker is a bittersweet love story of two wonderful people in the twilight of their lives. 5/5 stars

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano Review

2010-06-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

When Melody Grace McCartney was six-years-old, her parents walked in on a mafia hit and walked out as someone different. Entering the Witness Protection Program they left behind all they had- home, job, and normal lives for supposed security.

But a life on the lam is no life at all. Melody exists but is afraid to form bonds knowing that at any time those tenuous ties can be ripped away.

When she meets Johnny Bovaro, the son of the man she is hiding from and the one sent to kill her she is drawn to him and him to her. To him she is the girl who has dominated his family's every waking thought. To her, he is the man with whom she can finally be herself. And when he whispers her name- her real name- she falls in love.

The girl she used to be is a thought provoking novel about freedom and those who will reach for it at any cost. 4/5 stars

Library Loot

2010-06-16T17:00:00.001-05:00

Since their mother's death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children- all his children- safe.

Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Run takes us from the museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard to a home for retired catholic priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you've never even met. As in her bestselling novel Bel Canto, Ann Patchett illustrates the humanity that connects disparate lives, weaving several stories into one surprising and endlessly moving narrative. Suspenseful and stunningly executed, Run is ultimately a novel about secrets, duty, responsibility, and the lengths we will go to protect our children.

Oil is king of East Texas during the darkest years of the Great Depression. The Stoddard girls-responsible Mayme, whip-smart tomboy Jeanine and bookish Bea- know no life but an itinerant one, trailing their father from town to town as he searches for work on the pipeline and derricks; that is, when he's not spending his meager earnings at gambling joints, race tracks, and dance halls. And in every small town in which the windblown family settles, mother Elizabeth does her level best to make each sparse, temporary house they inhabit a home.

But the fall of 1937 ushers in a year of devastating drought and dust storms, and the family's fortunes sink further than they ever anticipated when a questionable "accident" leaves Elizabeth and her girls alone to confront the cruelest hardships of these hardest of times. With no choice left to them, they return to the abandoned family farm.

It is Jeanine, proud and stubborn, who single-mindedly devotes herself to rebuilding the farm and their lives. But hard work and good intentions won't make ends meet or pay the back taxes they owe on their land. In desperation, the Stoddard women place their last hopes for salvation in a wildcat oil well that eats up what little they have left...and on the back of late patriarch Jack's one true legacy, a dangerous racehorse named Smoky Joe. And Jeanine, the fatherless "daddy's girl", must decide if she will gamble it all...on love.

TempleGrandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the Untied States. She also lectures widely on autism- because Temple Grandin is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us.

In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world. What emerges in Thinking in Pictures is the document of an extraordinary human being, one who, in gracefully and lucidly bridging the gulf between her condition and our own, sheds light on the riddle of our common identity.

Which of these have you read and were they any good? Or, did I strike out in this library loot?

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish Review

2010-06-14T05:00:00.001-05:00

For Katherine Givens and the four women about to become her best friends, the adventure begins with a UPS package. Inside is a pair of red sneakers filled with ashes and a note that will forever change their lives. Katherine’s oldest and dearest friend, the irrepressible Annie Freeman, left one final request–a traveling funeral–and she wants the most important women in her life as “pallbearers.”From Sonoma to Manhattan, Katherine, Laura, Rebecca, Jill, and Marie will carry Annie’s ashes to the special places in her life. At every stop there’s a surprise encounter and a small miracle waiting, and as they whoop it up across the country, attracting interest wherever they go, they share their deepest secrets–tales of broken hearts and second chances, missed opportunities and new beginnings. And as they grieve over what they’ve lost, they discover how much is still possible if only they can unravel the secret Annie left them....

The book sounded great. Fun. Great fun. Okay, it didn't get my vote at book club, but it did sound pretty good and had potential to be a good discussion book. So when I got the book I quickly finished up what I was reading and tore into the first 10 pages of the book...and stalled.

I really struggled with finishing this book. It was not my type of writing style and a little to far out for me. In fact, I finished the last 6 pages of the book only a few minutes before leaving for book club.

Our book did, as always, have a good discussion on traveling funerals, friends of ours as pallbearers, and important places in Annie's life that she wanted her friends to be a part of. The general consensus our the book club was that it was a less than average read.

I did like that the book made me explore my feelings of life and death, and brought to the surface many fond memories of my own good friend- a former member of our book club- who lost her battle with cancer 1 1/2 years ago. In fact, after Bookies a few of us walked to the nearby cemetary to vivit her place of rest.

Karen was as much a free spirit as the main character, Annie was. She touched my life deeply and is very much missed. Karen would have loved the idea of a traveling funeral- she may even have liked the book. 2/5 stars

Myself, Lori, Bernice, and (center front), Karen just 3 months before her death.

Where Hell Freezes Over by David A. Kearns Review

2010-06-10T05:00:00.002-05:00

I love stories of adventure and survival. For some reason, even though I hate cold weather I also love stories of survival in Antarctica. That's why when I heard about this book I knew I had to reserve it.

After a plane crash strands the crew of the George 1, a plane on a mission to fly over the desolate white continent and take pictures and coordinates for mapping, the five surviving crew members have to get by on what they can salvage from the wreckage until they are rescued fourteen days later.

Lieutenant Bill Kearns, co-pilot and the man at the helm when the plane crashes, is ejected out of the windshield and lands head and shoulders in a snowbank. With a dislocated shoulder and his arm broke in three places he is better off then some of the others. Two crew members are killed instantly and one moans in pain until several hours later he mercifully dies.

Making his way back to the wreckage he hears screams of pain coming from the burning fuselage. Lieutenant Ralph "Frenchy" LeBlanc, pilot, is caught within the burning wreckage. Other surviving crew members help Kearns drag him to safety. Frenchy is severely burned and the others doubt he will live.

Kearns helps Frenchy along- melting snow for him to drink, mixing milk with sugar to give him strength, and staying by him night and day. Living off rations of canned Spam, canned peaches, peanut butter, bread and pemmican, they wonder how long it will be before they have to search, hunt and fish for their next meal.

Much credit is given to Captain Henry Howard Caldwell for keeping their spirits up and their faith alive. With a cracked vertebra in his neck, a sprained ankle and a broken foot, he takes a walk to try to get to a higher level to more correctly determine their location. But with no trees or other landmarks for a point of reference, what looks to be water only a short distance away is actually 20 miles across the barren landscape.

Filled with stories of playing Salvo, an early version of Battleship, telling stupid jokes to pass the time and daily journal writing, Where Hell Freezes Over is an amazing tale of bravery and survival. 3.5 stars

Library Loot

2010-06-09T17:00:00.001-05:00

Maxine Swann's Flower Children is the intimate, shocking, funny, heartrending, and exultant story of four children growing up in rural Pennsylvania, the offspring of devout hippies who turned their backs on Ivy League education in favor of experiments in communal living and a whole new world for their children. The children, in turn, find themselves impossibly at odds with their surroundings, both delighted and unnerved by a life without limits. But as the parents split, and puberty hits, the ground seems to shift. The children's freedoms have not come without a cost to their innocence.

The story: Patsy MacLemoore, a history professor in her late twenties with a brand-new Ph.D from Berkeley and a wild streak, wakes up in jail- yet again- after another epic alcoholic blackout. "okay, what'd I do?" she asks her lawyer and jailers. "I really don;t remember." She adds, jokingly: "Did I kill someone?"

In fact, two Jehovah's Witnesses, a mother and a daughter, are dead, run over in Patsy's driveway. Patsy, who was driving with a revoked license, will spend the rest of her life- in prison, getting sober, finding a new community (and a husband) in AA- trying to atone for this unpardonable act.

Then, decades later, another unimaginable piece of information turns up. For the reader, it is an electrifying moment, a joyous, fall-off-the-couch-with-surprise moment. For Patsy, it is more complicated. Blame must be reapportioned, her life reassessed. What does it mean that her life has been based on wrong assumptions? What can she cleave to? What must be relinquished?

On July 24, 1984, a woman and her infant daughter were murdered by two brothers who believed they were ordered to kill by God. The roots of their crime lie deep in the history of an American religion practiced by millions...

At the core of this book is an appalling double murder committed by a pair of Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. beginning with a meticulously researched account of this crime, Krakauer constructs a multi layered, bone chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, and unyielding faith. In the process, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest growing religion, analyzes the abduction of fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart (and her forced "marriage" to her polygamous kidnapper), and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

Why does it seem like sometimes the books I choose have a common theme without me even trying to do it? (communal living, murdered Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormon violence...all religious in nature)

Anyhow, have you read any of these and if so what did you think of them? If you haven't read them, do any of them look interesting to you?

wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson Review

2010-06-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her stepmother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way- thin, thinner, thinnest- maybe she'll disappear altogether. In her most emotionally wrenching lyrically written book since the National Book Award finalist Speak, best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson explores one girl's chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia.

095.00 094.00 093.00 Lia can see her weight going down on the scale. As she hits each new goal weight she feels stronger, hiding from the family her pain.

Lia has been in inpatient treatment before. She does not want to go back. So she hurries downstairs on Tuesday mornings- weigh in day- and sticks her head under the faucet and gulps water until her stomach bloats and sloshes around and adds extra weight to the scale.

She puts a blob of food on her plate, squeezes ketchup on top, and leaves it in the microwave long enough for the smell to waft through the house and the ketchup to splatter in the microwave before she dumps it down the garbage disposal.

Her family thinks she's making progress. They do not know she gets up in the middle of the night to spend 2 hours on the stair stepper hoping to burn off the apple she ate for lunch. Nor do they know she sees the ghost of her ex-best friend Cassie everywhere she looks.

Lia's haunted by the fact that on the night of her death, Cassie called Lia 33 times and Lia never answered the phone.

wintergirls is a distressing/sad/tragic/sob/heartbreaking//: story of two girls with eating disorders who couldn't fight the demons of body images and family relationships.

A.D. 62: Pompeii by Rebecca East Review

2010-06-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Miranda offers to be part of a time travel experiment. An expert in Greek history she is the perfect candidate to travel back in time and return with data from the past.

Implanted with a signaling device in her arm, she needs only to press on it to return to her own time. However, the signaling device malfunctions and she finds herself stuck in the past and sold as a slave to a wealthy family.

Losing her freedom and everything she always felt she was, she has to learn to exist in a time when slaves had no freedom or regard and women had just as little. She questions the rights she has and boldly starts to exert a little power when most have none.

In the process of finding out who she can be, she starts to fall in love with her master Marcus. Unwillingly to be just another concubine she sets out to make him fall in love with the person she really is- and under her terms.

Rebecca East- a pen name- is not an experienced author. I could tell as soon as I started reading, and I contemplated more than once in putting it down. But the premise of the story was interesting to me and I really wanted to know the choices Miranda makes and how she finds her way back

I'm glad I continued reading just for the historical aspect of it. Ms. East knows her history and the culture of ancient Pompeii which is so fascinating to me. While she repeats her motives and observations a little too much throughout the book making me feel like the author thought I was too dense to get it the first time, I did enjoy what I learned. I wish the author comtinued luck as she hones her craft.

Library Loot

2010-06-02T17:00:00.001-05:00

In April 2002, Janine Latus's youngest sister, Amy, wrote a note and taped it to the inside of her desk drawer. today Ron Ball and I are romantically involved, it read, but I fear I have placed myself at risk in a variety of ways. Based on his criminal past, writing this out just seems like the smart thing to do. If I am missing or dead this obviously has not protected me...

That same spring Janine Latus was struggling to leave her marriage- a marriage to a handsome and successful man. A marriage others emulated. A marraige in which she felt she could do nothing right and everything wrong. A marriage in which she felt afraid, controlled, inadequate, and trapped.

Ten weeks later, Janine Latus had left her marriage. She was on a business trip to the east Coast, savoring her freedom, attending a work conference, when she received a call from her sister Jane asking if she had heard from Amy. Immediately, Janine's blood ran cold. Amy was missing.

Helicopters went up and search dogs went out. Coworkers and neighbors and family members plastered missing posters with Amy's picture across the country. It took more than two weeks to find Amy's body, wrapped in a tarpaulin and buried at a building site. It took nearly two years before her killer, her former boyfriend Ronald Ball, was sentenced for her murder.

The year is 1570, and in the convent of Santa Caterina, in the Italian city of Ferrar, noblewomen find space to pursue their lives under God's protection. but any community, however smoothly run, suffers tremors when it takes in someone by force. And the arrival of Santa Caterina's new novice sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the convent to the core.

Ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, sixteen-year-old Serafina is willful, emotional, sharp and defiant- young enough to have a life to look forward to and old enough to know when that life is being cut short. Her first night inside the walls is spent in an incandescent rage so violent that the dispensary mistress, Suora Zuana, is dispatched to the girls cell to sedate her. Thus begins a complex relationship of trust and betrayal between the young rebel and the clever, scholarly nun, for whom the girl becomes the daughter she will never have.

Hobbie, the narrator of this endearing debut novel, prefers the company of his beloved mutt, Terry, to the companionship of most humans. Hobbie, who has a blistering case of chronic acne, and Kari, his obese girlfriend of 20 years, continually aggravate their situations: Hobbie picks at and further inflames his bad skin while Kari eats in response to a shared tragedy from their youth. When the novel opens, Kari's ensconced at a weight-loss clinic hundreds of miles from their temporary north Georgia home, and Hobbie lives like a hermit until he's attacked by a bear. While recovering, he's sucked into the messy world of Kari's father, Roth, and slowly, clumsily becomes part of Roth's family once Kari goes missing from the clinic. (Publisher's Weekly)

The dust storms that terrorized America's High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since, and the stories of the people that held on have never fully been told. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and author Timothy Egan follows a half-dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, going from sod homes to new framed houses to huddling in basements with the windows sealed by damp sheets in a futile effort to keep the dust out. He follows their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black blizzards, crop failure, and the deaths of loved ones. Drawing on the voices of those who stayed and survived- those who, now in their eighties and nineties, will soon carry their memories to the grave- Egan tells a story of endurance and heroism against the backdrop of the Great Depression.

That's what I picked out this week. If you have read any of them what did you think? If you haven't which one sounds the most interesting?

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf Review

2010-06-01T05:00:00.001-05:00

Two parents in two separate households not that far apart wake up to find their seven-year-old daughters missing.

Calli is a selective mute. She stopped speaking at the age of four and no one knows why. Petra is her best friend and her voice. The friendship shouldn't work or be that close but it is. The girls spend most of their time with their heads bent together- Petra coming closer to hear, maybe, the thoughts in Calli's head. She seems to intuitively know Calli's likes and dislikes, feelings and fears better than most.

When it's discovered they're missing a police search is formed right away, a clue left behind suggesting that someone was involved- that the girls didn't just wander out to play.

When Calli runs out of the forest behind the girl's homes bruised and bleeding and clutching Petra's necklace she mutters just one word and the search picks up. Calli's mother can't get a hold of her father to tell him what's going on and he's not where he said he would be. Does he play some role in this taut mystery?

Calli is taken to the hospital to be checked out and the police desperately want to talk to her. But even though she has broken her three-year-silence to utter one word, she can not bring herself to push out more.

Recommended by my friend Lori from Books Are My Magical Escape The Weight of Silence is an excellently written book that is edge of your seat worthy.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti Review

2010-05-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

Twelve-year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is one of the mysteries that Ren has been trying to solve his entire life- as well as who his parents are and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony's Orphanage for boys. When a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren's long-lost brother, his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand persuades the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and gives Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? As Ren is introduced to a life of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves, he begins to suspect that Benjamin holds the key not only to his future but to his past as well.

The Good Thief was a dark and fantastical fireside tale. With similarities to the depressing elements of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett, the cold dreariness of this book makes you feel like it's one to be taken in by the hearth of a warm crackling fire just so the lack of warmth doesn't invade your bones.

But just because the book is not a happy one does not mean it's not a good one. Full of harelips, dwarves and a giant killer dug up from the dead this is a book you can really escape into. Ren does get his answers, and while I still don't know if it was the answers he seeked or if he welcomed them I do have to say I enjoyed this despairing, unfulfilling book.

Library Loot

2010-05-26T17:00:00.009-05:00

On a property in western New South Wales a man named Holland lives with his daughter, Ellen. Over the years, as she grows into a beautiful young woman, he plants hundreds of different eucalyptus trees on his land, filling in the landscape, making a virtual outdoor museum of trees. When Ellen in nineteen, he announces his decision; she may marry only the man who can correctly name the species of each and every gum tree on his property.

Suitors emerge from all corners, including the straight-backed Mr. Cave, a world expert on these famous Australian trees. And then one day, walking down by the river where silver light slants into the motionless trunks, Ellen chances on a strange young man resting under the Coolibah tree. In the days that follow, he tells her dozens of stories-set in cities, deserts, and faraway countries

Eucalyptus is at once a modern fairy tale and a marvelously touching love story, played out against the spearing light and broken shadows of Australia- its land, its history, its people.

Astonished and intrigued, she returns to her hometown of Los Angeles to find out more about this mother of hers, only to be met with smiles and evasions and a definite sense that people are keeping something from her- and of course, that only makes her more determined to find out what it is, even though she's beginning to suspect she's not going to like it one little bit...

Meg Landry expected it to be a day like any other- her asthmatic eight-year-old son would step off the bus home from school. But on this day, the boy on the bus doesn't seem to be Meg's son. Though he shares Charlie's copper hair, tea-brown eyes, and slight frame, there is something profoundly, if indefinably, different about him. In the wake of Meg's quiet alarm, her far-flung family returns home and unease sets in. Neither Charlie's father not Charlie's rebellious teenage sister can help Meg settle the question of the boy. They look to her for certainty- after all, shouldn't a mother know her child?

Julia and Valentina Poole are semi-normal American twenty-year-olds with seemingly little interest ion college or finding jobs. Their attachment to one another is intense. One morning the mailman delivers a thick envelope to their house in the suburbs of Chicago. From a London solicitor, the enclosed letter informs Valentina and Julia that their English aunt Elspeth Noblin, whom they never knew, has died of cancer and left them her London apartment. There are two conditions to this inheritance: that they live in it for a year before they sell it and that there parents not enter it. Julia and Valentina are twins. So were the estranged Elspeth and Edie, their mother.

The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders the vast and ornate Highgate cemetery, where Christina Rossetti, George Eliot, Radclyffe Hall, Stella Gibbons and Karl Marx are buried. Julia and Valentina come to know the living residents of their building. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword-puzzle setter suffering from crippling obsessive compulsive disorder; Marijke, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's illusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including- perhaps- their aunt.

What do you think of my loot this week? Anything you've read that you are raving about- or not? Or, does anything look interesting to you. Let me know what you think!

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins Review

2010-05-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

The second book in The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire had a lot to live up to.

The Hunger Games was so thrilling what could Suzanne do in the second book to keep the momentum going? But keep the momentum going she did. This book was just as exciting as the first one.

As I waited for my son to finish the book so I could start it I kept saying "surely they wouldn't..." and "surely they wouldn't..." but he wouldn't breathe a word about it He kept me in suspense so I could experience it just like he did.

Again he urged me to hurry up and finish it so he could talk about it and enthusiastically I picked it up at every opportunity.

While not as heartstoppingly as good as the first (sequels never seem to be) I wouldn't rate it much lower. It kept my interest and the characters were as true as what they were in Hunger Games. You definitely do not want to miss this book nor, I suspect the next to come.

Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins Review

2010-05-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the edges of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before- and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Katniss Everdeen is a fighter and a caretaker. Evident from the very beginning in the way she risks her life daily to sneak out of her fenced & controlled district to hunt for meat to feed her mother and her sister, it comes as no surprise when she volunteers to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games- an annual fight to the death survival game which is used to show the people in outlying districts the power of the Capitol to control their lives.

So not my type of book at all, I had resisted reading it even after reading numerous reviews telling me it was one I shouldn't miss.

I finally put it on reserve at the library, picking it up with about a dozen others and promptly placing it at the bottom of the stack as one to be read if I got around to it, so sure I was not going to like it.

Being a YA book, I suggested my son should give it a try one day when he was looking for something to do. My fifteen-year-old son Zachary, is not an avid reader. It's very hard to find a book that interests him. Many books are started and put down a chapter later never to be picked back up again. But when he does find one he likes he absorbs it voraciously. I knew the next day when he was 3/4 of the way through this book I needed to rethink my reading pile and the placement of this book.

Zach begged me to read it right away so he could talk to me about it. Being the type of mom who can't say no to their children I picked it up the minute he put it down and read it just as quickly.

I loved the fact that even though it was set in the future (a definite turn off for me in book genres) it never felt futuristic. A little fantastical yes, but never overtly science fictiony.

Katniss' strength and will to survive so she could continue to help those she held dear were uplifting at an age when so many are so egocentric. The characters were likable (even some of the unlikeable ones like Haymitch) and believable.

I loved this book and couldn't wait to get my hands on the second one which my son was already halfway through with.

Library Loot

2010-05-19T17:00:00.002-05:00

Hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at ReadingAdventures,

Library Loot is a fun weekly meme that allows others to peek in your bookbag to see what you came home from the Library with this week. Here's what's in my bag:

John and Ella Robina have shared a wonderful life for more than fifty years. Now in their eighties, Ella suffers from cancer and has chosen to stop treatment. John has Alzheimers. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed "down-on-their-luck geezers" kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives to steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery.

With Ella as his vigilant copilot, John steers their '78 Leisure Seeker RV along the forgotten roads of Route 66 toward Disneyland in search of a past they're having a damned hard time remembering. Yet Ella is determined to prove that, when it comes to life, a person can go back for seconds- sneak a little extra time, grab a small portion more- even when everyone says you can't.

But her twelve-year-old grandson Steven is determined to heal the cracks that gape between his nan, his mother, his brother, and himself. Steven desperately wants to bring his family closure, and if that means personally finding his uncle's corpse, he'll do it.

Spending his spare time digging holes all over the moor in the hope of turning up a body is a long shot, but at least it gives his life purpose.

Then at school, when the lesson turns to letter writing, Steven has a flash of inspiration... Careful to hide his identity, he secretly pens a letter to Avery in jail asking for help in finding the body of "W.P."- William "Billy" Peters.

So begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. Just as Steven tries to use Avery to pinpoint the grave site, so Avery misdirects and teases his mysterious correspondent in order to relive his heinous crimes. And when Avery finally realizes that the letters he's receiving are from a twelve-year-old boy, suddenly his life has purpose too. Although his is far more dangerous...

When Miranda first hears the warnings that a meteor is headed on a collision path with the moon, they just sound like an excuse for extra homework assignments. But her disbelief turns to fear in a split second as the entire world witnesses a lunar impact that knocks the moon closer in orbit, catastrophically altering the earth's climate.

Everything else in Miranda's life fades away as supermarkets run out of food, gas goes up to more than ten dollars a gallon, and school is closed indefinitely.

But what Miranda and her family don;t realize is that the worst is yet to come.

Which of these have you read- and did you like them? If not, which one looks the most interesting?

Blog Tour: Life, In Spite of Me by Kristen Jane Anderson with Tricia Goyer

2010-05-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

Overwhelmed by wave after wave of emotional trauma, Kristen Anderson no longer wanted to live. One January night, determined to end her pain once and for all, the seventeen-year-old lay across train tracks not far from her home and waited to die.

Instead of peace, she found herself immersed in a whole new nightmare.

Before the engineer could bring the train to a stop, thirty-three freight cars passed over her at fifty-five miles per hour. After the train stopped and Kristen realized she was still alive, she looked around- and saw her legs ten feet away.

Surviving her suicide attempt but losing her legs launched Kristen into an even deeoer battle with depression and suicidal thoughts as well as unrelenting physical pain- all from the seat of a wheelchair.

But in the midst of her darkest days, Kristen discovered the way to real life and a purpose for living.

Life, In Spite of Me recounts in riveting detail the trauma of her suicide attempt, the miracle of her survival, and the life-tansforming power of hope in Christ.

Kristen should never have lived to tell her story. That much is evident from what the paramedic who was at the scene told her and what a train engineer explaining the physics of a train described.

But Kristen has done more than just live. She has fought, excelled, learned, inspired and reached out to others in similar situations- all with the help of God. I am reminded of one of my favorite sayings when I think of all Kristen has accomplished so far.

"You alone can do it, but you can't do it alone"

Kristen's story is an inspirational message of hope to those who suffer from depression and thoughts of suicide. There are people who love you and want to help. You don't have to travel the road alone. 3.5/5 stars

Suicide Warning Signs: (from Kristen's book)

appearing depressed or sad most of the time
having no hope for the future
feeling hopeless, helpless, worthless, or trapped in a situation, and having excessive guilt or shame
talking or writing about death or suicide
withdrawing from family or friends
acting recklessly or impulsively
a change in personality, sleeping or eating habits
decreased interest in most activities
dramatic mood changes
giving away prized possessions
writing a will
poor performance at work or in school
strong anger or rage
abuse of drugs or alcohol
self-harm
self hate

View the video of Kristen Jane Anderson on Life Today. Or, download the first chapter of her book here.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett Review

2010-05-17T05:00:00.003-05:00

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Reserving a book at the library just because numerous book blogs rave about it is usually- for me- a recipe for disaster. The book gets set up in my head to be a fantastic life altering tome. reading it is usually deflating and disappointing.

While I wouldn't say The Help was disappointing, I would say it was not near what I hoped it would be, although I do think it would make an excellent choice for book clubs.

Prejudices. The Help is full of them. Set in the south in the 1960's, slavery is no longer permitted. But similar to slaves, the black servants and housekeepers of the well-to-do housewives who employ them are treated just as bleakly.

I was really naive to believe that in the 6o's- the decade of peace and love- the attitudes towards blacks were better then this. I knew blacks were still segregated to a certain extent but the ignorance and small mindedness of the families featured in this story was unbelievable.

Bathrooms being built in garages or outside for the help so diseases wouldn't be caught from them sickened me. These were the housekeepers who cleaned their homes and raised their children and yet were considered unclean themselves. How degrading it must have felt for them to be viewed as no better than animals.

And the prejudices didn't stop there. Minnie's white boss deals with prejudices of her own, being misjudged because of where she lived or what she wears.

Skeeter decided to take on prejudices by writing a book about it and opening the eyes of the town in which she lives.

The Help was an eye-opener for me, and for that it deserves a higher rating in my book then I would normally have given it. I didn't love-love it, but it was an excellent story and one worth my time as well as yours. 3/5 Stars

Blog Tour: Indivisible by Kristen Heitzmann

2010-05-14T13:30:00.006-05:00

An Inseparable Bond.

An Insatiable Force.

Battling his own personal demons, Police Chief Jonah Westfall has experienced the dark side of life and is committed to eradicating it. When a pair of raccoons are found mutilated in Redford, Colorado, Jonah investigates the gruesome act, seeking to unmask the perpetrator before the crime escalates and destroys the tranquility of his small mountain town. Jonah fights for answers- and his fragile sobriety- amid a rising drug threat and never-ending conflict with Tia Manning, a formidable childhood friend with whom he has more than a passing history.

But he can't penetrate every wound or secret- especially one fueled by love and guilt teetering on madness.

Jonah Westfall's pull to Tia is painful. He has loved this woman he can't have for many lonely years. He can't make himself move on- he really doesn't want to. Tia's loneliness is evident from the very beginning. Shunned from her family and townsfolk, it takes a leap of faith to form a friendship with Piper- the new girl in town with family problems of her own.

Tia's penance of running into Chief Westfall in the small town they both share is one her wounded heart must bear. They share a painful past with no hope for a future. Despair drains her. Enter Piper. Perky and enthusiastic she settles into her new life, makes friends and fills Tia's need for companionship. For Tia, life is working but it is not fulfilling nor is it her life- the one she would have chosen for herself- instead it's the life that was chosen for her.

Indivisible is a novel about relationships and ties that bind one person to another. From the back cover, the mystery that was written of is very secondary to the book and too hidden in its pages. I was hoping for more of a mystery then I got but I finished the book not disappointed from the lack of a more thrilling tale, but with the satisfaction of a well woven story or love, friendship, and taking risks to achieve what you really want.

Kristen's characters are familiar which is why I enjoy her writing. Piper feels like my best friend. What she says and does are familiar to me. I understand Tia's ache for Jonah and Jonah's loneliness, pain, and struggle to overcome his addiction.

I enjoyed Ms. Heitzmann's Diamond of the Rockies series more, but this novel stands on its own and is a well written addition to her bibliography. Download Chapter 1 for free by clicking here.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Library Loot

2010-05-12T17:00:00.001-05:00

That morning, Dori had walked into the emergency room with her son in severe distress. Enter Dr. Darlene Stokes, an African American physician and single mother whose life is dedicated both to her own son and navigating the tricky maze of modern-day medicine. But something about Dori stirred the doctor's suspicions. Darlene had heard of the sensational diagnosis of Munchhausen by proxy, where a mother intentionally harms her baby, but she had never come upon a case of it before. It's rarely diagnosed and extraordinarily controversial. Could it possibly have happened?

When these lives intersect with dramatic consequences, Darlene, Dori, and Josh are pushed to their breaking points as they confront the nightmare that has become their new reality.

Bestselling author Susan Jane Gilman's new memoir is a hilarious and harrowing journey, a modern heart of darkness filled with communist operatives, backpackers, and pancakes.

In 1986, fresh out of college, Gilman and her friend Claire yearned to do something daring and original that did not involve getting a job. Inspired by a place mat at the International House of Pancakes, they decided to embark on an ambitious trip around the globe, starting in the People's Republic of China. At that point, China had been open to independent travelers for roughly ten minutes.

Armed only with the collected works of Nietsche, an astrological love guide, and an arsenal of bravado, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads. As they ventured off the map deep into Chinese territory, they were stripped of everything familiar and forced to confront their limitations amid culture shock and government surveillance. What began as a journey full of humor, eroticism and enlightenment grew increasingly sinister-becoming a real-life international thriller that transformed them forever.

At the tail end of 1946, the United States Navy sent an expedition into the stark cold of Antarctica to photograph the terrain from the air and lay claim to the huge continent at the bottom of the globe. Many of the navy's men on the expedition were fresh from service in the recently ended World War II. This is the story of nine of those men, facing an enemy of another kind.

As their plane flew above the most desolate part of that continent, the weather threw a "whiteout"- a combination of a slanting sheet of ice on the land and low clouds that makes it seem the air ahead is clear when it is not. The blinded plane slammed into a mountainside and exploded. Three men were killed; all the others were injured, most of them seriously. Their only shelter was the badly damaged fuselage. They had a food supply intended for a few day's trip, and no way to communicate with their would-be rescuers.

For thirteen days the men waited for discovery- or death. Even when they made contact with another seaplane, which led them from the air, they had to struggle, wounded, several miles through blizzard winds, snow, and ice to reach safety.

Still trying to keep my library books to a minimum so I can get through the pile before its due date. Have you read any of these and what did you think? If you haven't- which one sounds the most interesting?

Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison Review

2010-05-10T05:00:00.002-05:00

Helene Zahari's politician husband keeps her on a tight leash and cancels her credit cards as a way of controlling her. Lorna Rafferty is up to her eyeballs in debt and can't stop her addiction to eBay. Sandra Vanderslice, battling agoraphobia, pays her shoe bills by working as a phone-sex operator. And Jocelyn Bowen is a nanny for the family from hell (who barely knows a sole from a heel but will do anything to get out of the house). On Tuesday nights, these women meet to trade shoes and, in the process, form friendships that will help each triumph over their problems- from secret pasts to blackmail, bankruptcy, and dating. Funny, emotional and powerful, Shoe Addicts Anonymous is the perfect read for any woman who has ever struggled to find the perfect fit.

I picked this up at the library several weeks ago at the same time I picked up a lot of heavy war-themed books. I figured a little levity to balance things out would be much needed and that is just what I got.

Shoe Addicts Anonymous is the humorous tale of four women addicted to shoes- expensive shoes, and not the means to purchase them.

Lorna is debt-ridden by bills she ignores a little too long. Electricity is cut off and car in danger of being repossessed just so she can buy another pair of shoes. Helene is the wife of an ambitious politician who cuts off her credit cards when he catches her in a lie. Sandra is an agoraphobic phone sex operator who tries to keep her clients on the phone as long as possible to be able to afford the newest pair of shoes she's salivating over. Jocelyn is the young nanny who is looking for a way to get out of the house to keep her insufferable boss from finding her more work to do that is not in her contract.

When Lorna realizes she needs to quit spending money on shoes she can't afford she comes up with a plan. She organizes a Shoe Addicts Anonymous group for the "sole" (pun shamelessly intended) purpose of trading designer shoes with others.

What she and others get though, is more than a new pair of pumps. This mismatched group form a lasting friendship that fills the ache of loneliness and encourages recovery.

A delightfully and sometimes wickedly funny tale that kept me laughing at the end of a hard day. I listened to this on audio format in my car. Because of the language sprinkled in here and there I did keep my windows rolled up but the chuckles definitely outweighed the winces!

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman Review

2010-05-06T11:51:00.003-05:00

Jan and Antonina Zabinski were Polish Christian zookeepers horrified by Nazi racism, who managed to save over three hundred people. Yet their story has fallen between the seams of history. Drawing on Antonina's diary and other historical sources the author recreate Antonina's life as "the zookeeper's wife," responsible for her own family, the zoo animals and her "Guests"- resistance activists and refugee Jews, many of whom Jan had smuggled from the Warsaw Ghetto. Ironically, the empty zoo cages helped to hide scores of doomed people, who were code-named after the animals whose cages they occupied.

The Zookeeper's Wife is a true story of a Polish family who were involved in an underground effort to hide Jews from the Warsaw ghetto during their escape from the Nazi Germans.

Jan, Antonina and their son Rhys ran and lived at the zoo. They loved their animals and took good care of them. During the holocaust the zoo was shut down and the animals were transported to other zoos around the country.

Jan was the head manager of the zoo who had to find another job when the zoo closed. His job on the outside brought him in close proximity to the Warsaw ghetto and he is single-handedly responsible for transporting hundreds of Jews out of the prison that was their former home.

Antonina had to be on constant alert in the villa they lived in. Any knock on the door could mean detection of the Jews she has harboring or death for her and her family for abetting their escape. Because of her background caring for animals and learning their subtle cues and behaviors she became adept at reading homo sapiens as well. When suspicion was aroused she easily deflected it, coming up with an alibi or excuse that was easily accepted by the German's living in a camp based literally right outside the fence of the zoo. What daring and bravery it took to run this underground movement right under their noses!

Rhys, their young son, was a smart boy who never questioned the appearance or disappearance of various "guests". Often bringing plates of food to the "animals", (families who were given animal names like the Sables, the Mink, or the Badgers depending on which cage or house of the zoo they lived in) he kept their living their a secret.

I was interested in this book because of it's very different spin on the horror of the Holocaust. They German's were so anti-Jew and anti-Polish that not only did they want to eliminate all their people, but their culture, plants and animals as well because they were not considered pure enough.

The descriptions of trying to breed backward a purer horse to get back to more ancient genes instead of one that had been bred with Polish horses was fascinating. Ripping up beautiful rose gardens within the zoo because they were Polish hybrids was too small-minded for me to understand.

With language woven so poetically throughout the book, Diane Ackerman weaves a tale that seems too unbelievable to be true, but one that really hit me in the gut. A fantastic non-fiction find!

Where Have I Been?

2010-05-02T06:00:00.004-05:00

Maybe you haven't noticed, but I have been gone. My last post was a month ago. I did a disappearing act one day...POOF!

Traditionally, March is always my busiest month of the year. I don't know why it works out that way but it does. This year, March was even busier than usual

and I became extremely overwhelmed. Aside from my fulltime job and this blog, I also have my life blog which I keep up for my brother in California and a few sisters-in-law that read it, and a Boy Scout website that includes a blog as well as their advancements and ranks. There was zero time to give my book blog anything...so I didn't.

This blog is only a few months old and I had been trying to keep up with other bloggers out there who are career bloggers posting every day or several times a day. I admire you, I don't know how you keep up! I have decided that I can not do that and keep my sanity. I enjoy blogging about the books I have read, sharing my opinions with others and reading all of yours so I will not give it up- I will just be a little more low key posting only once or twice a week rather than daily.

I have a few reviews to catch up on, for even though I was really busy I only quit blogging not reading! These are a few I have read that I will start reviewing soon:

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Little Bee by Chris Cleeve

The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

A.D. 62: Pompeii by Rebecca East

by the time you read this by lola jaye review

2010-04-01T05:00:00.002-05:00

When he discovered that he had only six months to live, thirty-year-old Kevin Bates picked up his pen and wrote The Manual- advice for his five-year-old daughter, Lois, to live by, laugh at, and follow from twelve until thirty. Seven years later, when Lois is given The Manual, she can barely bring herself to read her father's words, the pain of his loss is still so raw. Yet soon Kevin's advice is guiding her through every stage of life from teen angst to career arcs, to knowing when she's at long last met "the one." While The Manual can never substitute for having Kevin back, the words left behind become Lois's steady support through all life's ups and downs, and prove invaluable to unlocking the key to happiness.

On the eve of her 12th birthday, Lois' aunt Philomena visits her to give her a very special present- a present from her dead father. Running up to her room she reads The Manual in private, explicitly following the directions to only read the entry for her birthday that year. While the temptation would be to sit and absorb every page her father has written, she knows that if she does that this gift will be over. She wants her father to be a part of her for a long, long time...so she waits.

Scattered with a miscellaneous section of advice from things like job interviews, first kisses, and possible new siblings, Lois has a manual for just about anything that happens in life. She starts to feel like her father is the perfect dad and man and no one else can live up to him. Her happiness is tied to The Manual and living it out as her father thinks her life is going. Without The Manual and her father's "presence" in her life, she doesn't feel like her life has meaning.

With the potential to become a cheesy, sappy book I was glad to see the author did not take it in this direction. Kevin Bate's advice to his daughter was matter-of-fact and relevant to what she would be encountering at various stages of growing up. It was heart warming- not heart wrenching, which definitely moved it up a notch in my opinion.

What advice would you give to your child that would help him/her with life's trials?

Library Loot March 31st, 2010

2010-03-31T05:00:00.008-05:00

Starting to gradually catch up to my large, looming stack, I requested 10 books at the library today for upcoming weeks. These, however, are what I found on the shelves today.

Seen on book blogs everywhere, no further description needed. Usually I read books in the order they were checked out so I'm not stuck with having overdue books. However, since there are still many people waiting for this one, I will be reading it immediately following the book I'm reading now.

Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her stepmother is clueless. And the voice iinside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way- thin, thinner, thinnest- maybe she'll disappear altogether. In her most emotionally wrenching lyrically written book since the National Book Award finalist Speak, best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson explore's one girl's chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex or anorexia.

Being bad never tasted this good... With hundreds of recipes for mouthwatering candies, chocolates, pralines, cremes, fudges, toffee, holiday treats, and no-bake cookies, this step-by-step candy bible for beginners and accomplished candy-makers alike covers everything from the traditional to the exotic. (our family is notorious for their sweet tooth. Couldn't pass this one up!)

Now all devoted Fluffernuts can expand their repertoires with the most complete collection of Marshmallow Fluff dishes ever. The Marshmallow Fluff Cookbook offers over 110 delicious and easy recipes, and you'll be making homemade Chocolate Cheesecake, Never-Fail Fudge, and Fluffy Blackberry Sorbet in no time. Also included are brand new recipes like Fluff-filled Chocolate Madeleines and Mocha-Almond Fudge contributed by contemporary chefs and food experts who love Fluff. (Seriously? A whole recipe book devoted to Marshmallow Fluff? I had to check this out just to see what it was about. The ONLY thing I have ever used Fluff for was Peanut Butter Fudge, but there is a recipe for brownies in this book that looks pretty darn good!)

How about you? What is your favorite thing to use Marshmallow Fluff for? Enlighten me. Then tell me what you think of this week's loot!

The Geurnsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Review

2010-03-30T05:00:00.001-05:00

I am enchanted. I want to grab my passport, hop a ship (yes, a ship,). and sail to the Channel Islands. I want to live in Guernsey.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society has become my favorite book so far this year. A very rare 5 star book.

The novel, written entirely in letters, starts out with Juliet conversing with her best friends Sophie and Sidney. Sidney is Sophie's brother and Juliet's editor who has sent her on a book tour.

Then a letter comes from Dawsey in Guernsey, a fan of Juliet and a fellow admirer of author Charles Lamb. Having something in common, they start to write each other quite often. In Dawsey's letters he writes about a society he is a member of- The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. Juliet is intrigued and wants to know more. Dawsey convinces other members of The Society to write Juliet to tell her about how a group of people during the war came to become a book club of sorts. The Society's members not only inundate Juliet with letters they encourage her to come for a visit.

Feeling she has found new friends, and wanting to learn more about the Island, it's inhabitants, and its German Occupation during the war (could there be a book in it?), Juliet consents.

The characters in this novel were so well drawn I felt like I had known them for years. They felt like my friends. I found myself cheering them on, hurting for them when they were grieving, and laughing at their antics. I loved Dawsey, the quiet, reserved, gentle man whom Juliet first encounters; Kit, the wary 4-year-old; Elizabeth, Kit's mother who was so brave and full of love for everybody; and especially Isola, the quirky, neighborhood busybody who made me laugh throughout the novel.

I was saddened to come to the last page of this book and leave my friends behind but I was so glad I had finally decided to read it.

If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and do so right away. I know you will love these wonderful people of Guernsey just as I did.

Angel's Crest by Leslie Schwartz Review

2010-03-29T00:37:00.000-05:00

Ethan is a single father who has fought his alcoholic ex-wife for custody of his young son Nate, and won. Ethan is a good father who loves his son and takes care of him very well.

One chilly day while out driving, Ethan sees some deer entering the woods. Enchanted, he parks the truck, gets out of the cab and watches them. Soon, he's left his sleeping son to follow them a short ways down the trail. Soon, the short jaunt becomes a longer distance until he realizes he's been absorbed with watching the deer for too long and has wandered farther then he should have. He hurries back to the truck only to find it empty. Nate is gone.

The search for Nate begins. Townspeople, friends and strangers join the local authorities to find Nate. Nate is found. He is dead, the chilly temperatures to blame. Tired, Nate laid down and went to sleep, the bottoms of his footed pajamas worn through from walking.

I did not give away a spoiler. The reader is prepared for this. Now the book can begin. Because the book is not about Nate. It's about how lives in a small town can alter and take on new meaning when a tragedy like this occurs.

The characters in this story are unique and filled with enough pain of their own. We come to know Angie, whose daughter left her child on Angie's doorstep to raise. Glick, the man who was falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Roxanne, whose father abandoned her, and Roxanne's lesbian lover Jane who had abandoned her won child. And Jack, a judge whose son Monty steals from him. Each character's problems are unique, and while they aren't resolved, they learn to live within their lives.

I got this copy from the library as an audio book. It seemed to take me an extraordinary amount of time to get through. At first I was disappointed in the story because I thought it would be more about the search for Nate and the trial that ensues, but that was not the case. The book was good but for me it did not work in audio format. The reader's voice did well on the female parts, but the children's voices all sounded like high-pitched old people and the men all sounded constipated. If interested, check out the novel, pass on the audio book.

The Friday 56

2010-03-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

Rules:

*Grab the book nearest you. Right now.

*Turn to page 56.
*Find the 5th sentence.

*Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

*Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

My excerpt today comes from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows:

Dearest Sidney,

I haven't heard from you in ages. Does your icy silence have anything to do with Mark Reynolds?

I have an idea for a new book. It's a novel about a beautiful yet sensitive author whose spirit is crushed by her domineering editor. Do you like it?

Love always,

Juliet

Dear Sidney,

I was only joking.

Love,

Juliet

I had to take a few liberties with this Friday 56 since these were the only words on the whole entire page!

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler Review

2010-03-25T05:00:00.001-05:00

Liam Pennywell is not the sort of man to argue...about anything.

He doesn't argue when his sister offers to bring him a pot of stew even though he hasn't eaten red meat for months, and he doesn't argue when he loses his teaching job to someone with less seniority. He just accepts.

But there's one thing that Liam can't accept, and that's having no memory of the brutal attack that left him bandaged and in a hospital bed.

Liam see this incident as a hole in his life. While others remark how he is lucky not to remember, Liam views the attack he can't remember as something that was taken from him that he wants to recover. He becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why bits and pieces aren't coming back to him. Shouldn't he remember a voice, a sound, a physical characteristic?

Then he meets Eunice Dunstead, a professional "rememberer" that he brings into his life to help jar his memory. Falling in love with this dumpy, overweight, bespectacled younger woman causes him to remember, but not in ways he would have thought.

This book was a welcome diversion from the heavier books of late. It was not a book I felt I had to concentrate too hard on. It just kind of flowed. I thought the characters were well developed- right down to his teenage daughter Kitty and her "praying mantis" pose that had me laughing as I had used that same "please, please, please" position on my parents when I was but a teen.

A good book, not action packed, but enjoyable.

Day After Night by Anita Diamont Review

2010-03-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Day After Night is based on a true story of an escape October 10th, 1945 of over 200 Jewish immigrants from Atlit, a detention center in Israel.

Anita Diamont spins the tale of 4 young women, each very different but now sharing a common experience. Shayndel is a Polish Zionist and is somewhat of a war hero who unconsciously reaches for the holstered gun on her shoulder that's no longer there. Leonie is a French beauty who used her looks in ways no girl should have to. Tedi is a Dutch girl who was hidden during most of the war and Zorah is a concentration camp survivor who is ashamed of the numbered tattoo on her arm and hides it every chance she gets. Each of these girls did what they had to in order to survive and each waits for the day when they will be free from the barbed wire that surrounds their lives.

With the help of the Palmach an escape is planned. Each of these girls has a vital role to play in getting everybody out as quickly and safely as possible. Once on the outside, they board buses to be taken to a kibbutz, a Jewish collective community, where the fences are used to keep others out instead of keeping the Jews in.

I was very interested in reading this since it was about an event I once again knew nothing about. I had read Anita Diamont's The Red Tent several years ago and loved it. I was hoping for the same reaction to this one. It was a very good book. It was well written and researched. However, I never felt like I connected with the characters. I was left wanting to know more about each of them, and I felt more time could have been spent deepening their friendship while inside Atlit. If you are going to read this one, read it for the war story or because you like books about true events, don't read it for a story of female friendship or you might be disappointed.

Library Loot 3/23/2010

2010-03-23T05:00:00.001-05:00

I'm still being very restrained. I'm desperately trying to get caught up with my huge pile of TBR books sitting on my coffee table that my two sons keep teasing me about.

An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution- a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve. First published in 1934 and banned in Boston for it's explosive mixture of violence and eroticism, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. (I felt it was time for a classic. I have never read this or seen the movie so when this one caught my eye on the shelf I figured it was high time I did)

In 1996 a rare book expert is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of a mysterious, beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain and recently saved from destruction during the shelling of Sarajevo's libraries. When Hannah Heath, a caustic Aussie loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in the book's ancient binding- an insect-wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair- she begins to unlock the mysteries of the book's eventful past and to uncover the dramatic stories of those who created it and those who risked everything to protect it. (I nominated this one at book club a year or two again and alas it didn't make the cut, but the story still intrigues me so I finally had to pick it up.)

Retired to the English countryside, an eighty-nine-year-old man, rumored to be a once-famous detective, is more concerned with his beekeeping than with his fellow man. Into his life wanders Linus Steinman, nine years old and mute, who has escaped from Nazi Germany with his sole companion: an African gray parrot. What is the meaning of the mysterious strings of German numbers the bird spews out- a top-secret SS code? The keys to a series of Swiss bank accounts? Or do they hold a significance both more prosaic and far more sinister? Though the solution may be beyond even the reach of the once-famous sleuth, the true story of the boy and his parrot is subtly revealed in a wrenching resolution. (Sounds different enough to maybe be good!)

Well, that's it for this week. How were my choices? Which can you recommend, and which can you recommend I stay away from?

The English Major by Jim Harrison Review

2010-03-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

A former English teacher turned farmer, Cliff, recently divorced from his wife of over 40 years and now homeless due to a shrewd move his real-estate ex-wife made has decided to tour the country on a journey to rename all 50 states and state birds.

Armed with a childhood jigsaw puzzle of the states, he leaves Michigan and begins his quest. His first stop is to meet up with a former student of his where he begins an affair that threatens his sanity and the health of his body at the hands of sex-crazed and cell phone addicted Marybelle.

When Marybelle's manipulations become to much for him he drops her off with her husband in Montana and heads to California for a visit with his son Robert. Along the way he learns a little about himself as well as the scenery of the states in the process.

After a few of the emotionally disturbing books I had been reading lately I thought this book sounded like an easy summer road trip. While it was easy enough to read and the language (country bumpkin hick adages) was fun, I did not feel connected at all with the story. I grew bored with the ramblings of Cliff and his sexual exploits. I came to view the author as a "dirty old man" since everything that Cliff did reminded him of sex. Even stopping at a place called Notch Bottom was enough to stir him sexually.

I was hoping Cliff would come to a conclusion about his new lot in life and be transformed but that didn't seem to happen. I was disappointed in the storyline and the lack of a life altering event.

Are there any Jim Harrison fans out there who disagree with me on this one? Please let me know.

Library Loot 3/16/2010

2010-03-16T11:34:00.004-05:00

I still have so many out that I might have to renew, I kept my loot only to titles I had already requested a while ago.

Hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at ReadingAdventures, Library Loot is a fun weekly meme that allows others to peek in your bookbag to see what you came home from the Library with this week. Here's what's in my bag:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker- his classmate and crush- who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice explains that there are thirteen reasons she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself- a truth he never wanted to face.

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn's shimering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night. Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on bytragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler. Calli's mother Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marraige to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in the marraige has cost her more than her daughter's voice. Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disapperance was discovered. Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor. Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.

A twenty-first century woman is stranded in first century Pompeii when a time travel experiment goes awry; she is sold to a wealthy family as a house slave. This provides her with an intimate, upstairs/downstairs perspective on household life in ancient times. At first she does menial work, but she improves her situation by telling stories and making prophecies. As her influence grows, she wins the love of her master and his daughter and provokes the vengeful jealousy of his wife. In this gentle fable about the power of stories to change people's lives, the heroine uses sources that include fairy tales and great works of literature to argue for women's rights and the humanity of slaves, and to inspire herself and others to be resourceful, courageous and independent.

That's it! One of these books I have seen on multiple blogs, one was recommended by a friend and fellow bookie Lori, and the other I saw somewhere out there on the blogosphere but don't remember where. Have you read any of these books? Let me know your opinion!

Petals From the Sky by Mingmei Yip Review & Giveaway!

2010-03-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

When twenty-year-old Meng Ning declares that she wants to be a Buddhist nun, her mother is aghast. In her eyes, a nun's life means only deprivation- "no freedom, no love, no meat." But to Meng Ning, it means the chance to control her own destiny, and to live in an oasis of music, art, and poetry far from her parent's unhappy union.

With an enigmatic nun known as Yi Kong, "Depending on Emptiness," as her mentor, Meng Ning spends the next ten years studying abroad, disdaining men, and preparing to enter the nunnery. Then, a fire breaks out at her Buddhist retreat, and Meng Ning is carried to safety by Michael Fuller, a young American doctor. The unprecedented physical contact stirs her curiosity. And as their tentative friendship grows intimate, Meng Ning realizes she must choose between the sensual and the spiritual life.

On the evening after her thirteenth birthday, Meng Ning is accidentally bumped into and she falls into a deep garbage well. Onlookers call for help and family and neighbors gather around at the top of the well yelling words of encouragement to her until help can arrive. Frightened, she prays to Guan Yin the Goddess of Mercy to protect her. Feeling something graze her head she finds someone has thrown down to her a pendant of Guan Yin and as she clutches it she looks up in time to see the bald head of a Buddhist nun as she leaves. This event is what precipitates her decision to live a spirital life as a nun.

During a spiritual retreat when a fire breaks out in the monastery, Meng Ning meets Michael a neurologist in America. They spend some time together, have a whirlwind affair and fall in love. By the end of the retreat, Michael proposes. Meng Nin, still unsure of her future declines the marraige proposal. She is determined to follow in the footsteps of her mentor Yi Kong who has always taught her that men are evil and not to be trusted.

Meng Ning agrees to travel to America to stay with Michael to learn more about him. She is very confused with the feelings she begins to have for not only Michael, but another man she meets. Where are these feelings, so long buried coming from? Could Yi Kong be wrong about men? What of her vow to be a Buddhist nun?

I enjoyed reading about the Buddhist way fo life which I knew nothing about. I loved the conflict of the heart that Meng Ning goes through although I did find Michaels reactions to things that happen along the way to be a little creepy where Meng Ning thinks they are a beautiful testment of his love for her. I learned a lot about Chinese art and learning something new is always a good thing. While I would only give this book a rating of 3 out of 5 stars, it was a high 3 rating. Well worth the time I spent on it.

Want to know how you can win??

You must be a follower of my blog to enter. Let me know if you already follow and how.

+1 additional entry for commenting about what interests you about this book.

+1 additional entry for blogging or tweeting about this giveaway

WOW! Three chances to win! (open to US only, giveaway ends March 31st). Good luck!

Push by Sapphire Book & Movie Review

2010-03-14T13:54:00.002-05:00

Push is the story of Claireece Precious Jones. Precious has been sexually abused by both her father and her mother from a very young age and is now pregnant with the second baby by her father.

Expelled from school for being pregnant, Precious finds herself enrolled in an alternative education class called Each One Teach One. Her teacher Blue Rain pushes her to write, learn, and realize her potential.

I picked this book up at the library the evening before the movie Precious came out on DVD. I cannot see a movie based on a book until I have read the book. I'm glad I read this first. The book, though short, was not a fast read. I figured at a little over 200 pages I would have it done in less then 2 hours but it took me longer then that due to the fact that it is written as Precious talks. Words like "muhver" and "fahver" were words that made me stop mid sentence so my brain could translate before moving on. I found the book to be sickening and heartbreaking.

The next morning I stopped at Red Box and rented the movie Precious. After book club that evening I popped it into the home theater system to watch it. I had wondered throughout the day how the book was going to be adapted to a movie. Incest is a very touchy, taboo, subject that would be hard to film. The movie did gloss over it to much. It was only hinted at with the image of a tatooed arm and a few spoken words. In fact, a sexual abuse scene with her mother that happens in the movie you wouldn't even realize what had taken place had you not read the book. While I'm glad these scenes weren't graphically portrayed, they were so central to the book and to what makes Precious who she is that I wondered if they should have been a little more out there.

The book Push is written from the what goes on inside of Precious' mind, and thoughts and feelings are very hard to translate to film. I was very disappointed in the film version, and am surprised by the acclaim it has received. There was truthfully only one scene in the movie where I thought the emotion was spot on. (The scene where Precious is wondering "why me?" Where she says she is "tired." Where she sobs "you don't know what I've been through.")

The book- 4 stars. The movie- a disappointing 2.

For those of you who have read Push and watched Precious, what are your thoughts on the two? Where you blown away by the book, by the movie or both? I would love to hear your thoughts!

The Twelve by William Gladstone Review

2010-03-13T07:39:00.000-06:00

How many of you have read this novel by William Gladstone?

The Twelve is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel about a most unusual and unsuspecting hero. As a child, Max lives in a world of colors and numbers, not speaking until the age of six. As an adult Max ventures on a journey of destiny to discover the secret behind the ancient Mayan prophecy about the "end of time," foretold to occur December 21, 2012. At fifteen years old, Max has a near-death experience during which he has a vision that reveals the names of twelve unique individuals. Max's voyage of discovery begins, as he strives to uncover the identities and roles of the twelve individuals he will meet during his journey toward truth. All of The Twelve seem connected, and all of them are important to what will happen at the exact moment the world as we know it will end.

If you have read this book, please let me know what you thought of it. I have never read a book like this before and I was wondering if this is the authors writing style on all of his books. I found it to read almost like a non fiction book with the narrative style, but I also found it to be so random it was almost like reading Mad Libs, you know, those games where you input a noun or adjective and they put your words into a story that turns out to be quite humorous?

In this novel Max has a near death experience that reveals to him 12 names, except he can't remember them. He goes through life and many years later is introduced to someone whom he recognizes as the first of the names. Sometimes he meets two of the names in quick succession and other times he goes 8 years or more before encountering one of them. They seem to have nothing in common. He can't figure out a link between them he just knows they are important to him in some way.

Through the years Max has many jobs/careers. Some of these names offer him a job or a postion on the board even though he has little or no experience. He travels the world and coincidentally meets the rest of the names he had been revealed to in the past. I won't tell you what their link is. For that you will have to read the book to find out. I hate giving away to much of the book whether I liked it or not.

And I didn't, by the way.

By Book or by Crook

I've Moved!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Saturday Snapshot June 18, 2011

Carpal Tunnel Got You Down?

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian *Review*

Saturday Snapshot May 14th

Library Loot May 11th, 2011

Saturday Snapshot May 7th, 2011

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo *Review*

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? May 2nd, 2011

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher *Review*

Cul-de-Sac by David Martin *Review*

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4/25/11

Sunday Confessional April 24, 2011

Book Beginnings April 22, 2011

Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir by Margaux Fragoso *Review*

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley *Review*

Library Loot April 20th, 2011

Little Princes by Conor Grennan *Review*

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? April 18th, 2011

Sunday Confessional April 17th,2011

Saturday Snapshot April 16th, 2011

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson *Review*

Library Loot April 13,2011

The Post in Which I Amend a Book Rating...

brave girl eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia by Harriet Brown *Review*

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? April 11, 2011

Sunday Confessional April 10,2011

Saturday Snapshot 4/9/2011

There are No Accidents: In all Things Trust in God by Father Benedict Groeschel with John Bishop *Review*

Library Loot April 6-12

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue *Review*

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Sunday Confessional April 3, 2011

Saturday Snapshot April 2, 2011

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage *Review*

Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern *Review*

Saturday Snapshot March 26th, 2011

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez *Review*

Unsolved Crimes by John Wright *Review*

Saturday Snapshot March 19, 2011

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza *Review*

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris *Review*

Sunday Confessional February 27th

Saturday Snapshot February 26th

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel *Review*

Sunday Confessional

Saturday Snapsot

One Second After by William R. Forstchen *Review*

Sunday Confessional

Saturday Snapshot

Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately *Review*

Sunday Confessional- Super Bowl Sunday

Sunday Confessional

I Am Hutterite by Mary Ann Kirkby

Due to Temporary Insanity this Blog is Closed Until Further Notice

Flower Children by Maxine Swann *Review*

The Boy on the Bus by Deborah Schupack *Review*

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain *Review*

The Girl in the Photograph by Gabrielle Donnelly *Review*

more than it hurts you by Darin Strauss

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather *Review*

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer *Review*

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman *Review*

The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian *Review*

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano *Review*

Library Loot

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish *Review*

Where Hell Freezes Over by David A. Kearns *Review*

Library Loot

wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson *Review*

A.D. 62: Pompeii by Rebecca East *Review*

Library Loot

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf *Review*

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti *Review*

Library Loot

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins *Review*

Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins *Review*

Library Loot

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian Review

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo Review

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Review

Cul-de-Sac by David Martin Review

Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir by Margaux Fragoso Review

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley Review

Little Princes by Conor Grennan Review

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson Review

brave girl eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia by Harriet Brown Review

There are No Accidents: In all Things Trust in God by Father Benedict Groeschel with John Bishop Review

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue Review

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage Review

Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern Review

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Review

Unsolved Crimes by John Wright Review

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza Review

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris Review

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel Review

One Second After by William R. Forstchen Review

Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately Review

Flower Children by Maxine Swann Review

The Boy on the Bus by Deborah Schupack Review

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain Review

The Girl in the Photograph by Gabrielle Donnelly Review

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Review

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer Review

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman Review

The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian Review

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano Review

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish Review

Where Hell Freezes Over by David A. Kearns Review

wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson Review

A.D. 62: Pompeii by Rebecca East Review

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf Review

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti Review

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins Review

Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins Review

The Help by Kathryn Stockett Review

Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison Review

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman Review

by the time you read this by lola jaye review

The Geurnsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Review

Angel's Crest by Leslie Schwartz Review

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler Review

Day After Night by Anita Diamont Review

The English Major by Jim Harrison Review

Petals From the Sky by Mingmei Yip Review & Giveaway!

Push by Sapphire Book & Movie Review

The Twelve by William Gladstone Review