Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

I love www.goodreads.com with all my heart. Not only is it an amazing place for storing my book lists, reading reviews and checking out what friends are reading but they have giveaway's for free books! This morning my inbox included one email from GR informing me that I'm a winner of this book:

Mothers and Other Liars by Amy Bourret

Here is the synopsis from GR:

How far will a mother go to save her child? Ten years ago, Ruby Leander was a drifting nineteen-year-old who made a split-second decision at an Oklahoma rest stop. Fast forward nine years: Ruby and her daughter Lark live in New Mexico. Lark is a precocious, animal loving imp, and Ruby has built a family for them with a wonderful community of friends and her boyfriend of three years. Life is good. Until the day Ruby reads a magazine article about parents searching for an infant kidnapped by car-jackers. Then Ruby faces a choice no mother should have to make. A choice that will change both her and Lark's lives forever.

I can't wait to get this in the mail and check it out, it sounds great!

Review - Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

From www.goodreads.com: Before Barack Obama became a politician he was, among other things, a writer. Dreams from My Father is his masterpiece: a refreshing, revealing portrait of a young man asking the big questions about identity and belonging. The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama recounts an emotional odyssey. He retraces the migration of his mother's family from Kansas to Hawaii, then to his childhood home in Indonesia. Finally he travels to Kenya, where he confronts the bitter truth of his father's life and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

My review: This is another book that I have wanted to read for a while but I mentally moved it up on my TBR pile when he was elected President. I felt a sense of patriotic duty to read the words written by our President. Silly, probably but still how I feel. I found this book very interesting in parts, and very mundane in others. It gave a great description, full of stories and well described characters, of President Obama’s childhood and young adult years. I felt slightly boring surrounded by my suburban home with my plain/boring suburban family, as I read about his inner city work, his monetary troubles and his travels around Africa. His family history is full of drama and eccentric people, all struggling with their own demons in a rapidly changing world full of racial tension, gender tension and socio-economic tension. His family in Africa was an interesting set of people, some fully lost in the cultural environment of their heritage and those struggling like President Obama, to figure out just where they belonged. He had his own struggles (and I am sure those continue today) with “who is was” as a person, as a culture and as a race. He struggled with how to remain true to the Black race, but reconcile that with his White mother and grandparents, being bi-racial came with its own set of guilt and apprehension. This book brought me a new appreciation of the President and his past life before the politics with suits and ties.

Grade: C.

Finished: May 27, 2010

2010 Count: 38

It’s Friday! What I am Reading – May 28, 2010

I am still plugging away on Gone with the Wind…well, actually I haven’t read a page since last week. I have excuses…I mean reasons, though! I had a slew of library books to get through before they were due (ie, yanked from my nook) and I HAVE to start this one at lunch today…I just HAVE to:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millenium, #3) by Stieg Larsson

Booking Through Thursday – May 27, 2010

From: http://btt2.wordpress.com/ - What books do you have next to your bed right now? How about other places in the house? What are you reading? 

My response – I actually don't have any books next to my bed. This is one of the great benefits of my nook…my library is all within the nook. Of course, I have bookshelves on the wall with our favorite books that we keep. The books to read, are 99% e-books on the nook in our house now. For what I am reading…check back tomorrow for my usual Friday – What I am Reading post!

Review - The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

From goodreads.com: A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses. Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.

My review: First off, my disclaimer – I saw the movie long before I read the book so I might be jaded by the order of events. I really only thought this book was ok…just ok and nothing more…maybe a little less even. Andrea was not all that friendly before she joined the Miranda Priestly regime. Nor did she seem like a small town girl fresh out of college, maybe her drinking habits were fresh out of college but her familiarity with New York didn’t lead her to feel like a small town girl. I didn’t really feel a connection between her and Alex even though they had been in a relationship for years before she took this job. The pre-Miranda era seemed too rushed and downplayed to get a feel of the pre-Miranda Andrea. The differences between the book and movie were what really caught my attention and for the first time, I might just like a movie more than a book. (eek!) There was more Alex and Andrea relationship time in the movie to really demonstrate the shift in Andrea. One of the sub-plot lines seemed much more appropriate in the movie whereas the book seemed too cold and too isolated. The ending of the movie was better than the book with a more full-circle ending.

My grade: D

Finished: May 23, 2010.

2010 Count: 37.

Review: Princess in the Spotlight (The Princess Diaries, #2) by Meg Cabot

From goodreads.com: Fifteen-year-old Mia Thermopolis, the witty, lovable star of Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries, has had it with princess lessons, also known as torture sessions: "Do they really think anyone in Genovia cares whether I know how to use a fish fork? Or if I can sit down without getting wrinkles in the back of my skirt? Or if I know how to say 'thank you' in Swahili? Shouldn't my future countrymen be more concerned with my views on the environment? And gun control? And overpopulation?" To make matters worse, she's getting these lessons from Grandmère, a rather judgmental woman who dresses her pet in chinchilla bolero jackets and has eyeliner permanently tattooed on her eyelids. Princess in the Spotlight further records Mia's path to princessdom: her artist mother's relationship with her algebra teacher (how awkward), her forced television interview, broadcast to all of America (how humiliating), and her crush on her best friend Lilly's brother Michael (how excruciating). The result is another thoroughly entertaining diary of a very human, very self-deprecating, very unprincesslike princess. (Ages 12 and older) --Karin Snelson

My review: Since the entire series is in my library's ebook selection, I had downloaded the first two. After the first one, I probably wouldn't have gone on to the second book if I didn't already have it downloaded on my nook. Don't get me wrong, it is a cute series, but just not cute enough for me to keep reading at this time. I am sure I will finish it up since the books are free from the library. I really enjoyed the romantic twists in this book over the first book. This one had much more real love interest drama, at least form my recollection of high school. I must say that the Algebra teacher is one of my favorite characters in the book, nerdy and sports guy all in one. I also love the pro-feminist and pro-tree hugger/environmentalist personalities in the book...awesome to see these girls with these attitudes in high school. I wish I had been more aware in high school!

My Grade - C.

Finished: May 20, 2010. 2010 Count – 36!

Review: The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries, #1) by Meg Cabot

From goodreads.com: Mia Thermopolis is your average urban ninth grader. Even though she lives in Greenwich Village with a single mom who is a semifamous painter, Mia still puts on her Doc Martens one at a time, and the most exciting things she ever dreams about are smacking lips with sexy senior Josh Richter, "six feet of unadulterated hotness," and passing Algebra I. Then Mia's dad comes to town, and drops a major bomb. Turns out he's not just a European politician as he's always lead her to believe, but actually the prince of a small country! And Mia, his only heir, is now considered the crown princess of Genovia! She doesn't even know how to begin to cope: "I am so NOT a princess.... You never saw anyone who looked less like a princess than I do. I mean, I have really bad hair... and... a really big mouth and no breasts and feet that look like skis." And if this news wasn't bad enough, Mia's mom has started dating her algebra teacher, the paparazzi is showing up at school, and she's in a huge fight with her best friend, Lilly. How much more can this reluctant Cinderella handle? Offbeat Mia will automatically win the heart of every teenage girl who's ever just wanted to fit in with as little fuss as possible. Debut author Meg Cabot's writing is silly and entertaining, with tons of pop culture references that will make teens feel right at home within her pages. This is a wonderfully wacky read. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

My review: I thought the movies looked cute, but never actually watched one but when I saw this series in my library’s e-book selection, I thought I would try the first two. They were cute and funny and full of teenage, life-ending drama and who doesn’t love a little over-exaggerated teenage drama distraction? For the first half or so I had a hard time dealing with the end-of-the-world attitudes, but after that I got caught up in the story and characters and that helped. I did find it a little hard to believe that Mia accepted the Princess fact as truth so quickly. I think I would have demanded proof...some sort of fine print on my birth certificate or my name in on the Royal birth list or something!

My Grade: C.

Finished: May 19, 2010. 2010 Count – 35!

Children's Books into Movies - Article

This is a great article on some classic children's books and series that should be turned into movies.

Forget Harry Potter: 10 Other Kids’ Book Series That Should Be Movies

A few of my favorites -

Lurlene McDaniel's books...I just posted about these on my BTT this past week!

The Boxcar Children and Judy Blume's books - we just bought a bunch of these for Sam's bookshelves a month or so ago!

I would love it if these were made into movies...we could read the books with Sammie (at the appropriate age, of course) and then watch the movies! It would be a great springboard for discussions on growing up and life.

It’s Friday! What I am Reading – May 21, 2010

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – I’m still plugging away on this one…and I am enjoying it. I was having troubles with getting a few library e-books on my nook but after I figured out what I was doing wrong, I had four e-books that I have checked out only for around 2 weeks. So I pushed this book back (since I own it) to read some of my library books.



The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger – This is a free e-book from the library that got bumped up over GWTW that I just started last night…as in, read the first few words and then crashed into bed. Therefore, I don’t really even have comments on it so far!

Changes...

I made a few changes to the blog tonight include a fancy new template...I am still looking for "the right one" but for now, this will suffice! Let me know if you like it, don't like it or have any suggestions! :)

Booking Through Thursday – May 20, 2010

From: http://btt2.wordpress.com/ - What's the most useful book you've ever read? And, why? 

My response: I hate when I have to narrow down my reading experiences to one selection…it is always so hard. This choice is especially hard because there are a few books that were extremely useful at different times in my life, depending on where I was in my path at the time. So, I am rebelling against the only one answer! :) 

Teenage Years: Don't Die My Love by Lurlene McDaniel – This was crucial for my teenage life because we had a student die every year of my high school time, except for senior year. Reading about teenage death just helped me feel a little less alone. 

College Years: I didn't recreational read much while in college because I just didn't have time. Well, that and the fact that I would pick a fun read over a textbook anytime, which causes problems in the grade department! I remember one book in particular that kept me looking forward to the end of college so I could read again – Intensity by Dean Koontz. 

Pre-Baby Years: This would have to be the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling – It was such an amazing world that I could get lost and lost in Hogwarts and never want to come out. I loved seeing a female main character, Hermione, who was brainy and funny and pretty! 

Baby Years (Current): Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers by Doug McGowan – These books gave us amazing resources in raising our child to be a freethinker and critical thinker. The resources, suggestions, games, books and other material presented in these two books will aide us in parenting throughout Sam's childhood and into her college years.

B&N Love

Brett and I had a few hours of Sammie-free time on Saturday to enjoy coffee, reading and B&N! :) We had a great time, but of course, spent most of our time talking about Sammie! :) We even left with 6 new books for her...none for us!

One of the millions of reasons why I love my nook involves free food when you are in the store with your nook. So we each got a fabulous 7 layer cookie/cake thing that was delicious!





We tried out the Read In Store option B&N has available to nook owners too. You are allowed to read an e-book in the store for free for an hour. I started two books that are on my TBR list...and then decided to remove them from my list...bleh! Brett read the first few chapters of the first Sookie book...I'm trying to get him hooked on them! :)



I look absolutely ridiculous in this photo because I am trying to look natural but I'm laughing about it and I have snot all over my shirt and jacket from Sammie.

Attn: Parents - Free Book Alert!!

Borders is doing a summer book challenge for children 12 and under! Fill out the form showing that your child has read 12 books, and you get to select a free book from a list of 10! Woot!! I love free books...and summer challenges that encourage children to read! We are planning on doing this will Sammie this summer since we read each book about 100 times, I figure it's close to a school age child's time for reading a book once! :)

Have your children check it out and earn a free book!

Review - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

From www.goodreads.com: It is the world of the near future, and Offred is a Handmaid in the home of the Commander and his wife. She is allowed out once a day to the food market, she is not permitted to read, and she is hoping the Commander makes her pregnant, because she is only valued if her ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she was an independent woman, had a job of her own, a husband and child. But all of that is gone now...everything has changed.

My review: For the first half of this book I was so confused and lost as to what was happening and how society/government got to the point of control that was exerted in the story. By the time I reached the 3/4th point I was finally putting the pieces together as to what happened. This is a story of history repeating itself for the sake of the “quality” of life for all citizens. A mass attack on the government followed by systematic and plotted changes in control slowly ease their way into the homes of everyone ending in a forced assignment of duties, class and a long list of forbidden actions, behaviors and possessions. Yet, with most societies that are full of oppression and control, the elite find ways around such mandates, keeping the goods that are considered so evil for the masses. Those things that make life worth living including reading, conversation, pleasure (both in sex and friendship) and the ability to trust and love. I fell for Offred’s heartbreak and her sob story because I just couldn’t imagine knowing what life used to be. I could feel her yearn for the past and her desperate attempt to hold on to her memories, those that the government couldn’t take away, but time could still erase. This was an amazingly written account of the internal struggle one might feel when they have been stripped of their personality and individuality but are so desperately trying to hold to something in themselves.

Finished: May 12, 2010. 2010 Count: 34.

Review - Escape by Carolyn Jessop, Laura Palmer

From www.goodreads.com: The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn’s heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband’s psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy. Carolyn’s every move was dictated by her husband’s whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse—at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife’s compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name. Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop’s flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs.

My review: Revolted. Disgusting. Horrified. Depressed. Nauseous. Embarrassed. These are all words that convey the emotions I felt when I finished this book. They overpowered me so much that I almost couldn’t feel the awe for Carolyn’s determination to get her and her children out of the FLDS. The absolute despicable power religion and alienation from “outsiders” can rein over people made me sick and physically shaky. I wanted to scream over and over while reading this book that it was so wrong, wrong, wrong! I think even more horrifying than Merril’s rein of terror on Carolyn was Barbara’s. For a community that places all authority in the male gender, she sure had Merril in her grip something fierce. The attitude between the wives was brutal and in an environment that they could have found strength in each other, they instead found hatred and nastiness. The “community leadership” actually rewarded such behavior and violence, because it would keep their followers on the toes. As a new mother, I could not comprehend having to watch my children be beat and abused in the manor that was so common in the Jessop home. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it or my emotions, it just confounded my reality of parenting. The sheer since of hypocritical behavior was alive and well, as it is in many communities that set restrictive rules for the “greater good.” I found many underlying themes of religion in general so while this was an “attack” on the FLDS, I could see much of the same turn a blind eye attitude from other religions and faiths. I feel so sorry for the children raised in such a lifestyle of as the FLDS and similar mindsets because their freedoms and childhood of imagination and discovery is squashed the minute they are born.

Finished: May 9, 2010. 2010 Count: 33!

Review - Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, #10) by Charlaine Harris

From www.goodreads.com: Sookie Stackhouse has finally settled into a relationship with the Viking vampire Eric, and her errant brother Jason seems to have his life in order, too. But all the other people in Sookie’s life – Eric himself, her former lover Bill, her friend and boss Sam – are having family problems. Eric’s maker shows up with Eric’s ‘brother’ in tow, the ailing Bill can only be healed by a blood sibling, and Sam’s brother’s marriage is about to take place... or will it? The furor raised by the coming out of the two-natured has yet to settle; some people are just not ready to sit down to dinner with a man who turns into a dog. And Sookie herself is still recovering from her last ordeal. She’s definitely improving, physically and mentally, but she’s always going to have some dark moments now. The werewolves tell her that there have been strange and ominous passers-by in the Stackhouse woods; now Sookie is about to come face-to-face with one of her more distant relatives...

My review: I flew through this book for two reasons: I had to know what happened and I missed the characters and environment so much I just couldn’t let them be. As with most of the Sookie books, the ending was smooshed into about 40 pages, which drives me bonkers. I always finish these books wanting more of the ending, instead of so much beginning. I wish Charlaine Harris would add a bit more finish to the “after battle/drama” part of the books as it almost feels like a cliff. The reader is just left to fall without details to catch us. The actual storyline was full of Eric, Eric and more Eric…which was paradise for this reader! I was a big Bill fan until the last few books and this book definitely had me on Team Eric! Of course, in my long term Sookie plans, she will be with Sam as a happy family in Bon Temps. The arrival of Eric’s maker was interesting but felt flat. It wasn’t fully explained, especially with the hype and prestige that a maker’s arrival comes with. The reasons and explanations just didn’t seem big enough. The new characters were interesting and expanded the supernatural world Sookie lives in even further. I think the breadth of this world Charlaine Harris has created is deep and ever expanding. This is one of the things I love most about these books, the world as you know it is never really as it seems. Even when you think there can’t be more supernatural, there is!

Finished: May 7, 2010. 2010 Count: 32!

It’s Friday! What I am Reading – May 14, 2010

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Confession – I don’t think I have ever watched this movie and it is my first time reading the book! {sheepish shoulder shrug} After a few of my NBC ladies were talking about how good of a read this book is I made a mental note to read it. When I saw it on sale for under $7 on Barnes and Noble’s website today, I purchased it and downloaded it to my nook while I heated up my lunch! It fits right into the historical fiction kick I am on currently! I am only 60 pages in, but so far it is pretty enjoyable!

What are you reading today?

Booking Through Thursday – May 13, 2010

From: http://btt2.wordpress.com/ - Are your book choices influenced by friends and family? Do their recommendations carry weight for you? Or do you choose your books solely by what you want to read? My response – Most definitely! I am constantly adding books to my TBR shelf on GR from recommendations from family, friends and my online peeps! I am part of the Nest Book Club message board on www.thenest.com and I find the best book recommendations from there. I also love how GR emails me the books my friends add to their shelves and their reviews so I that I get recommendations in that manor too. The definitely carry weight, some more than others of course but I love reading reviews from blogs, goodreads, or on the NBC. Not only does it give a little insight in the poster, it also can give me a feeling on whether I will enjoy the book or not. I select the book I am going to read next in a variety of ways, depending on my mood. In some cases I may have a specific genre obsession (currently it is Historical Fiction), sometimes I post a poll on the NBC and go with the majority and sometimes I pick based on the cost to download on my nook (I am a cheapskate!). My enjoyment in book recommendations and reviews is precisely why my TBR shelf on GR has over 300 books!

Review - The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal by Lily Koppel

From www.goodreads.com : Rescued from a Dumpster on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a discarded diary brings to life the glamorous, forgotten world of an extraordinary young woman. For more than half a century, the red leather diary lay silent, languishing inside a steamer trunk, its worn cover crumbling into little flakes. When a cleaning sweep of a New York City apartment building brings this lost treasure to light, both the diary and its owner are given a second life. Recovered by Lily Koppel, a young writer working at the New York Times, the journal paints a vivid picture of 1930s New York—horseback riding in Central Park, summer excursions to the Catskills, and an obsession with a famous avant-garde actress. From 1929 to 1934, not a single day's entry is skipped. Opening the tarnished brass lock, Koppel embarks on a journey into the past, traveling to a New York in which women of privilege meet for tea at Schrafft's, dance at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and toast the night at El Morocco. As she turns the diary's brittle pages, Koppel is captivated by the headstrong young woman whose intimate thoughts and emotions fill the pale blue lines. Who was this lovely ingénue who adored the works of Baudelaire and Jane Austen, who was sexually curious beyond her years, who traveled to Rome, Paris, and London? Compelled by the hopes and heartaches captured in the pages, Koppel sets out to find the diary's owner, her only clue the inscription on the frontispiece—"This book belongs to . . . Florence Wolfson." A chance phone call from a private investigator leads Koppel to Florence, a ninety-year-old woman living with her husband of sixty-seven years. Reunited with her diary, Florence ventures back to the girl she once was, rediscovering a lost self that burned with artistic fervor. Joining intimate interviews with original diary entries, Koppel reveals the world of a New York teenager obsessed with the state of her soul and her appearance, and muses on the serendipitous chain of events that returned the lost journal to its owner. Evocative and entrancing, The Red Leather Diary re-creates the romance and glitter, sophistication and promise, of 1930s New York, bringing to life the true story of a precocious young woman who dared to follow her dreams.

My Review: I was really looking forward to this book. I love memoirs, especially when it involves long lost diaries. I have a fascination with dairies and writing from years gone by. It might have something to do with destroying my own diaries when I graduated high school. I was purging my life of the routine guys I kept bouncing between and I wanted a clean slate. Most days I still support my purging, but there are days when I wish I could go back and re-read my thoughts. I still have a lot of my poetry and writings from my teen years and one powerful literature/writing class in high school so that gives me some solace. Going into this book with my experiences, I was expecting a lot of emotional teenage angst.

What I found was a random, confusing story told partially by the diary but mostly by a reporter who tried to intertwine her life with the young girl in the diary. I couldn’t quite connect with the young girl in the diary as she was written so harsh and brass and the storyline was hard to follow. The dairy only had a few lines for each day, so it was more of a date book, than a place for deep thoughts and emotions. The story didn’t progress in a functional timeline, instead jumping between years for the young girl in the diary and between the author’s own life experiences. It was written very dry and without a lot of details. Florence was emotional and had a lot of emotional relationships and interactions with her friends, lovers and family. I would have loved to have more of her heart details rather than facts and descriptions. I understand the young girl was nearing her life end when the author found her, but I just kept reading in search of emotion rather than descriptions. I just never found that in the book so I was left disappointed and never really felt that I liked or disliked Florence. She was just there. For a bird’s eye view of New York in the past, this would be a decent read. Otherwise, I would skip it.

Finished: May 6, 2010. 2010 Count – 30!

Review: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

From www.goodreads.com : In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

My review: I had high hopes for this book but finished feeling a little let down and a little sick to my stomach. While I understand the culture and respect the ways of their past, I was unable to read about the foot binding rituals without feeling nauseous and angry. So much of my life experiences have caused me to develop this disgust for such practices and I just couldn’t imagine forcing my daughter into this ritual. That said, I didn’t live then and in the culture so my position is so different than the woman that lived during that time. Many of the explanations and reasons behind many of the cultural expectations, including the foot binding, made me cringe inside. Knowing that they would pass that “gospel” generation through generation just broke my heart. Women were blamed for bearing a daughter instead of a son but now we know that it is actually the semen that provides that genetic code. Reading about women beat, abused and shunned for bearing only daughters was so sad.

In terms of the actual plot, I felt the ending was rushed and after one major event time passed until one major event. There didn’t seem to be much middle and I really wanted there to be more of Lily with her daughter as she grew and more about her life with her husband.

Finished: May 4, 2010. 2010 Count: 30!

Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

From http://www.goodreads.com/: A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned--a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.

My review: I have heard so much turmoil over this book but I never really understood why, based off my limited understanding of the plot. While searching around on my library’s e-book list I found it and decided it was time to figure it out for myself. I found myself cheering for the animals for revolting against the cruel treatment from the humans and then wondered how they would make it on their own. I found it enlightening that they taught themselves to read and created a credo to help unify the new “Animal Farm.” However, I soon started to smell the stench of greed and power lust within the new establishment.

The parallels between the animal’s behavior when faced with fear and human’s faced with fear is astounding. Orwell was not attempting to write in an obscure or understated manor, most definitely. People have been manipulated and brainwashed by fear and lies for centuries, but reading about the same thing happening to cute farm animals made it seem even more crude and oppressive. I think this novel should be required reading and would be an excellent companion to history classes in middle schools through colleges. It would have added a depth to discussion regarding major governmental overthrows and tragic portions of the world’s history. Everyone should read this at least once!

Finished May 2, 2010. 2010 count – 29!

Review: The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street Series #1) by Debbie Macomber

From goodreads.com: There's a little yarn shop on Blossom Street in Seattle. It's owned by Lydia Hoffman, and it represents her dream of a new life free from cancer. A life that offers a chance at love . . . Lydia teaches knitting to beginners, and the first class is "How to Make a Baby Blanket." Three women join. Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as a gesture of reconciliation with her daughter-in-law. Carol Girard feels that the baby blanket is a message of hope as she makes a final attempt to conceive. And Alix Townsend is knitting her blanket for a court-ordered community service project. These four very different women, brought together by an age-old craft, make unexpected discoveries -- about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to friendship and more . . .

My review: This was Barnes and Noble’s free e-book of the week and I love free e-books so I thought I would try it out. I had never heard of the series or the author before and didn’t even read any reviews before downloading it. That’s what free e-books due to me; I throw caution to the wind! Good reads has this down as a Harlequin book, but it didn’t really feel that way at all. Of course, the last time I read anything near a Harlequin I was in high school so maybe the years have lowered my expectations of what “racy” is. I found this book to be more about relationships and fining oneself than romance. The four women who are brought together over a knitting class have very little in common, yet they grow close to each other through life events and time. Each woman is fighting to maintain an image, while trying to figure out who they really are and what they really want to be. I found Jacqueline to be very rude to her daughter-in-law and couldn’t understand why she was so angry all the time until some events came to light in the book. While I still found her to be rude, I at least understood her history and reasons. I thought the ending was a little too perfect, especially with out rough everything started out. It was a decent novel but I don’t feel a strong enough connection to read the rest of the series.

Finished May 1, 2010. 2010 count – 28!

Linger Trailer - Check it Out!

Not only is Maggie Stiefvater the amazing author of Shiver that I reviewed here. She is quite handy with the video and music. Check the trailer out for Linger...the sequel to Shiver...that I.can't.wait to read!!!!

Trailer on YouTube

It’s Friday! What I am Reading – May 7, 2010

Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, #10) by Charlaine Harris

I have been patiently awaiting this book. Ok, so not so patiently. Ok, well not patiently at ALL but on the point at hand. It is here!!!!!!!!!! I downloaded it on my nook today, started reading it over the lunch hour and already love it! I had forgotten how much I loved the world Charlaine Harris creates in the Sookie novels. I foresee a few late nights of reading. Ok, well maybe only two REALLY late nights to finish it but who is counting…except maybe Brett who I am sure will be overly annoyed with my bedside light on until the wee hours of the morning. He can get over it.

Booking Through Thursday – May 6, 2010

From http://btt2.wordpress.com So … you're halfway through a book and you're hating it. It's boring. It's trite. It's badly written. But … you've invested all this time to reading the first half. What do you do? Read the second half? Just to finish out the story? Find out what happens? Or, cut your losses and dump the second half? Don't forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don't have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves! (A post inspired by the fact that it's my half-birthday … I'm not the only person who remembers celebrating these when I was a kid, am I?)

My Response: How ironic...I am in the middle of such a book right now. Oh, this is such an easy response for me…but painful. See, I would LOVE to be the person that can stop reading a book when it isn't good. You know those people that live by the "Life is too short to read bad books" mantra. I just can't do it…I can't stop seeing that book as an outstanding item on my to-do list or be ok with not moving it to my read shelf on GR. I must finish the story, which means there is a lot of skimming combined with a lot of deep sigh's and eye rolls because I am mad at myself for not being more relaxed with my reading. I am working on coming to grips with my inability to relax in such things like this. It just is who I am: Finisher of Blah Books!

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Forever Young

Review: Honolulu by Alan Brennert

From www.goodreads.com: "Honolulu" is the richly imagined story of Jin, a young 'picture bride' who leaves her native Korea - where girls are so little valued that she is known as Regret - and journeys to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life. Instead of the prosperous young husband and the chance at an education she has been promised, Jin is quickly married off to a poor, embittered labourer who takes his disappointments out on his new wife, forcing her to make her own way in a strange land. Struggling to build a business with the help of her fellow picture brides, Jin finds both opportunity and prejudice, but ultimately transforms herself from a naive young girl into a resourceful woman. Prospering along with her adopted city, which is fast growing from a small territorial capital to the great multicultural city it is today, Jin can never forget the people she left behind in Korea, and returns one last time to make her peace with her former life. With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawaii far off the tourist track, "Honolulu" is a spellbinding story of the triumphs and sacrifices of the human spirit that is sure to become another reading group favourite.

My review: As I wrote about for my Friday, What I am Reading post, this book was pulling me into the story. I enjoyed reading more about the origins and beginnings of the place I would consider paradise. As all things in life, an ugly reality can almost always be found even in the most beautiful places. The heartbreak I felt over Jin’s young life in Korea and her strained familial relations, even though it was common in her culture. I didn’t expect the “picture brides” that met on the boat traveling to Hawaii to continue their relationships and yet, they became life long friends. The story of mail order brides has always been a sad one, in my opinion but the poverty Jin arrived to when she had been told such a different story, just made the situation that much dire. While she is a young girl when she firsts arrives in Hawaii, she realizes the depth of her situation and becomes a woman to reckon with and I loved being able to “witness” this transformation. This is a great story, with well-written characters that connect to you and won’t let go!

Finished April 30, 2010. 2010 count – 27!

After a few Border's gift cards started to burn a whole in our pockets, we decided to spend them on improving Samantha's personal library. Instead of books for now, we decided to buy her a dozen or so books for when she is 8-9 years old! We bought a bunch of the classics from our youth, books that we remember reading, and loving as kids!

Judy Blume's Fudge and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Judy Blume is a must have!

The first four in the Boxcar Children series. I remember dreaming of living in a boxcar too!

Four of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books. Oh, how these made me giggle!

Two of the Ramona books. I just loved Ramona's take on life!

Six Great Sherlock Holmes stories in one book. I don't think either of us have read this one, but it was only $1 or $2 so I had to buy it!

Hopefully her love of books will continue to blossom so she can enjoy these books as much as we did growing up!

Happy Birthday Nancy Drew

As a girl who loved Nancy Drew growing up, I felt I had to take a moment out of my time to say a big, “Happy Birthday” to Miss Nancy Drew!!! She celebrated her 80th birthday this week! I have been looking online for a complete set of the series but they are so darn expensive! I really want the set for Samantha when she gets to that reading stage because I loved them so much. While writing this post I decided to check PBS available copies of the first few in the series and ordered the first 6! This will get Samantha started when she hits the age for Nancy Drew! I remember picking up one of the couple Nancy Drew books my Mom had from her childhood and being swept up in the mystery and suspense. It might have helped navigate me to my love of mystery novels!

I just loved this article about Nancy Drew turning 80 and agree with the author's comments on the stories and content of the novels: Shelf Life.