More Books

You can tell I'm on Spring Break with all these blog updates, huh? I'll be back in hibernation in no time.

I'll begin with my favorite: OK for Now. I absolutely LOVED this book. It's probably the best book I've read for awhile. The story is told from the point of view of a thirteen year old boy (the voice in this novel is outstanding!) The books begins as his family moves to a new town. He tried to fit in, but he came from a rough home and the new town seems quick to judge. While it may sound like a downer, the book is full of light and goodness. I was moved to tears (both happy and sad) multiple times. The book is insightful, funny and warm. LOVED. IT.
Chains is another young adult fiction. Set during the Revolutionary War in New York, Chains tells the story of a young slave girl and her disabled little sister. It's a quick, easy and insightful into both the American Revolution an the issue of slavery. I was most fascinated to learn about the role of the slave population in the Revolution. It's the first in a series, and I do plan to pick up the next one. I liked it!
Sopie Kinsella does it again with her novel Twenties Girl. I've read most of her books and thoroughly enjoy them all. Twenties Girl follows a young woman who finds herself able to communicate with her recently deceased grandmother. Obsessed with her past, a young version of grandma harangues her living granddaughter into following her orders. Light, fun, cute, mind candy.
Before I Go to Sleep reads like a mystery. Due to an accident, the main character of this book wakes up every morning not knowing who she is. Every day she meets her husband for what feels like the first time. Everything is new. Every day. But she has started to keep a diary and begins to piece her life together. She's never really sure who to trust and things come to a dramatic climax. It was compelling and captivating. (Although the F word is thrown around quite a bit).

A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True is two stories in one. Both set in Poland, the first story begins in the mid 1930 in one of the mountain villages. The second story is set in modern Poland and partway through the book the two characters collide. I found it interesting to see how Poland has dealt with all the suffering that nation has endured. This is the author's first novel, and while I didn't love it, it was a solid read.
We read Outsiders for book club this month and I found the book to be lovely. I had read it as a teenager and enjoyed it just as much the second time around. The themes are timeless and the characters are great. It's hard to believe this was written by a sixteen year old!

The Brothers is a book intended for a Mormon audience. It's set in the premortal world (before we came to Earth) and focuses on the War in Heaven. It felt very Utah-centric. I just can't imagine that 'heaven' feels so twenty-first century and includes a version of Utah Lake or a look alike of Mount Timpanogos. Seriously, so weird to me. That said, it was an interesting take on the premortal existence, and for that insight it was probably worth reading.
Another thumbs down goes to Tending Roses. It's like reading a Hallmark movie - blech! Tending Roses follows a new mother who spends a lengthy visit with her growingly incapable grandmother. Grandma mysterious leaves these little stories around that provide insight into her granddaughters problems. The relationships were flat, the advice was trite (with occasional moments of decent) and the story was predictable. Skip it.
I heard about Thirteen Reasons Why from TZ. The story unfolds as the main character receives a shoebox full of old cassette tapes with messages recorded by a young girl who just committed suicide. She uses these tapes to explain why she opted to kill herself. Each side of the tape is directed at one person at school that somehow contributed to her suffering. It was a really interesting look at the darker side of high school and I found it very telling.

I also reread New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker. But since I've already reviewed it, I'll skip that. But I will say it made for an amazing discussion at book club. Some opted out, which I totally understand. But for those who read the book and came it was a fabulous night.

The best of this group? OK for Now, Twenties Girl and Chains. Next on my list? The Immortal Life of Henrietta Laks.

Books

It's seems as if World War II is the theme for about half of these books. You have to realize that I taught history, and my favorite era is WWII, so I may be a bit biased...


New York times #1 best seller Unbroken, tells the true story of Louis Zamborini who was first an Olympic athlete to Berlin in '36 and then a pilot in the Pacific during the war. But that's only the beginning of his story. When Louis' plane crashes he manages to survive for weeks on a drifting life raft, only to be picked up by a Japanese ship and made a POW. The horrors of the Japanese prison camps are almost nauseating, but I was left inspired by how Louis maintained his dignity despite his situation. His is a story of courage and strength and individual power. It's long (and you could probably skip the first 75 pages) but I found his story amazing and ultimately uplifting.

Written by the author of Devil in the White City,Larson's In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, tells the true story of the American Ambassador to Berlin the mid 1930s. While the author stays completely faithful to history, he manages to provide the details and dialogue that makes Garden of Beasts feel like a novel. It's crazy how you can see things start to happen and feel the devil taking hold. Ambassador Dodd struggles to maintain diplomatic relationship with these evil personalities and all the while you know that it's going to end badly. It really gave a sense of the time period and you can see these historical figures as real people. There was sex and power and intrigue. An excellent book!

The Spy Wore Red is the third of the nonfiction World War II reads. This autobiography follows a young American women who becomes a spy for the US in Spain during WWII. It was interesting to learn about life as a spy and to see the role Spain played in WWII. At times her story feels a little exaggerated, but it was still a good story.


OK, enough of WWII. The premise of Life As We Knew It is that an asteroid hit the moon, which forced the moon closer to the Earth with disastrous results. The bulk of the books follows a single mother with her three teenage children as they try to survive. It's like The Road lite. The author does a good job capturing the voice of a teenage girl (the book is set up as her journal - whiny at times, emotional at times, strong at times.) It was a quick and interesting read, leaving me thinking about what I would do in such a situation.

I had seen the Hitchcock movie Rebecca, and loved it and so I was excited to read the book for our book club. The story is great - as a young bride settles into her new life she finds herself dwarfed in the shadow of her husband's dead first wife. It's a bit creepy - a perfect read for fall. It was a bit long, but if you haven't ever been exposed to Rebecca, at least rent the movie.


In my continuing effort to read the classics, I picked up The Secret Garden. What a sweet little story! Spoiled rotten Mary comes to live with her uncle in England and as she begins to explore the grounds she discovers a locked up and neglected garden. What is great about this story is how she, and others come to life as they spend time working and cultivating the garden. I love the idea of how being outside and getting wrapped up in nature allows for growth, healing and happiness.


Me Talk Pretty One Day was a crack up! It's a funny, witty autobiography that was perfect for reading over Christmas break. There are a few shady moments (I skipped the entire chapter about his brother,) but otherwise it was really clever and very enjoyable.


If I didn't end up hating this book I probably would have really liked it. Big Boy #1 had to read Homeless Bird for school and answer a million ridiculous and annoying questions about it all. It wasn't even my homework, and it annoyed me! Thirteen year old Koly is forced into an arraigned marriage only to find herself widowed shortly thereafter. She ends up struggling to survive in the big city in India. Really, if I wasn't for the schoolwork BB#1 had to suffer through, I really would have liked it a lot.

I have a whole list of books to read right now - and lucky me, I got a Kindle for Christmas to read them on! I'm so excited! I love it when there are bunch of books I'm anxious to read. Yay!

One of My Favorite Things

One of my very favorite parts of being a mom is watching my kids learn to read. There is something magical about hearing "cccc-aaaa-ttt, CAT!" and it makes me swoon just a bit. I love watching the world open up as they begin to see words around them and discover the joy of reading.

This summer the Caboose has entered that world. And we owe it all to these little jars of pennies.


When I was a little girl, my parents paid me a penny a page to read. I vividly remember sitting at the kitchen table, reading Hop on Pop and deliberately dropping a shiny penny into a custard dish page after page. While we didn't adopt that strategy with the first two, this summer we started paying the Caboose one cent for every page he read. He has been so motivated to read and earn some cash that over the summer he would pour over simple beginner books for hours on end with those little jars of pennies tucked in next to him. We have gradually introduced more complex books and it has been amazing to see him growing as a reader!

I LOVE reading, and seeing that love blossom in my kids is absolutely a highlight of being a mom. Love it!

Summer Reading

My favorite time of the year to have a good book in hand is summer. I just LOVE the utter relaxation that comes from mixing sunshine, a diet Coke and a great read. This last batch has some goodies!

This was hands down my favorite of this batch of books. I could hardly put it one down. Tiger Mother is the autobiography of a second generation Chinese immigrant who insists on raising her children in the traditional Chinese way. Amy Chua is tough, occasionally to the point that I would consider abusive, but she makes some fabulous points about the weaknesses of Western parenting. It was a book that gave me a lot of think about and probably even changed my parenting style just a bit. Really, really great.
Tracy recommended Escape on her blog and I found it to be a fabulous book. Escape is another autobiography, but this was of a women who lived under the Warren Jeff's polygamist rule. Carolyn Jessop tells about her life growing up in a polygamous community, her marriage to a powerful church leader and her eventual escape from that life. I can get really, really agitated by the topic of polygamy, and I was a bit hesitant to even read Escape, but for some reason the book didn't leave me feeling anything but fascinated. I liked it a lot.
I didn't see the movie, but all the hype had me reaching for Water for Elephants. I have to give a disclaimer that because the book follows the life of a circus troop it's a bit rough. There is the violent animal master, the drunken exploits, the description of the peep show, etc. The heart of the story is a love triangle between the star performer, her abusive husband and the animal veterinarian. It was really interesting to learn about circus life and I found myself anxious to see what was going to happen next. It's not for everyone, but I found it really compelling.
My friend Danae recommended this one on her blog. It tells the story of four generations of women in rural Appalachia. There's a bit of a slow start, but it picks up steam with story of a set of young twins and their emotionally disturbed mother. It's almost a mystery as the book explores how the disturbed mother become so unstable. As the story revealed itself, my interest grew and by the end I was totally engrossed.


I know I'm a bit behind the curve on this one, but I just finished reading the Last Lecture. It's about a 47 year old college professor who, after finding out that he is dying of pancreatic cancer prepares for and delivers his last lecture to his students at Carnegie Melon. Randy Pausch makes no qualms about the fact that the whole thing is really about leaving a series of life lessons for his three young children. While there were parts of the book that were way too cheesy and other parts were he came of as way too vain, it was still a touching book that left me in tears on more than one occasion.
Ahh, Sophie Kinsella... It's all fluff, but I love me some fluff - especially in the summertime. Mini-Shopaholic continues the series that began with Confessions of a Shopaholic. In this latest addition, Becky's bratty little girl Minnie causes all kinds of grief for her parents while entertaining the reader. It's not great literature, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When the BBC came up with its list of 100 Books to read I felt a bit of a compulsion to start checking items off my list. Reading The Adventures of Sherlock's Holmes came from that urge. I was a bit surprised to realize that the book is a series of vignettes about the famous detective, as opposed to some overarching plot that wove through the story. I had it on my iPod, which really was perfect for that kind of thing. I could read a tale or two, then put it away until the next time I had some time on my hands. The book itself was find enough. I didn't LOVE it, Holmes was a bit too smug for my tastes, but it was good enough for me to spend some time on.

Skipping a Beat is a solid chic-lit read about a high school sweethearts that became extremely wealthy, but emotionally distant. They get a wake up call when the husband has an unexpected heart attack. I found it a bit predictable, but did make some good points about what truly is important in a relationship.I have to thank my fellow bloggers out there who also share what they are reading. So much of what I read comes from recommendations from others. Thanks!

Books

OK, so maybe I was JUST complaining about how busy I am, and then I go and post a blog about all the books I have read over the last couple months. I still maintain that I was busy. However, having books on my iPod has really made all that time waiting in the car much more productive. Plus? most nights I read with the boys (as in, we each read out own books, as part of homework/bedtime routine.) Anyway, here are the latest...

The White Queen was a fascinating book. The book peeks into the power-hungry British monarchy during the War of the Roses, as told from the perspective of the queen. The problem I have is that the main character really bugged me. I didn't like her - at all. Plus her husband was a jerk. I enjoyed the book, but I'm not quite sure how to like a book while hating the main character. These books are a series, so I might pick up the next one, The Red Queen.

Elephant Run is one of my favorites of this batch. It's an historical fiction that tells of a young British boy who leaves the German bombings in London for his father's Burmese elephant-run timber plantation. The plantation is soon taken over by the Japanese and Nick is left dealing with the complexities of war while immersed in a foreign world. It's youth fiction and so some of the awfulness of war (particularly the maliciousness of Japanese POW camps) is muted, but the flavor is there. I really liked it.

The Mennonite in the Little Black Dress is an autobiography of a woman who goes home to her Mennonite roots after a rough divorce. It made me laugh out loud and I really liked her. She was a bit crass, but I appreciated how she managed to both love her Mennonite background and distance herself from it. There was something about her story that I resonated with me, but I am still not totally sure what. Maybe it's the way I embrace my faith, but get irritated by Mormon culture? I don't know.

Wednesday Letters was a book club book. It was a sweet little story about an older couple that died and how their adult children discover a lifetime's worth of letters their dad wrote to their mom. It's fluff, but I'll all for fluff now and again.

It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I had never read Pride and Prejudice before. After all the hype I was expecting to be disappointed. I was not. Although I did keep waiting for Mr. Darcy to go swimming in a pond (I guess that is a scene only in the movie version?) I found the book funny, charming, frustrating and interesting. No surprise, I would recommend it.

I have a hard time figuring out how to review The Girl Who Played with Fire. It's not a book I would ever feel comfortable recommending; it's too yucky. That said, it was also a really compelling, thinking, mystery kind of book. The first third was all foundation, and the second third was fine enough, but by the last third I couldn't put it down. The problem is that there is rape and violence and torture and all kinds of nastiness. That's why I could never fully endorse it. But it was so good that I was driven to read the second in the series.

Now this book I would NOT recommend. As much as Dragon Tattoo was yucky, at least the nastiness forwarded the plot. The Girl Who Played with Fire had all kinds of purposeless raunchiness. The author was Swedish, and his, um, liberal sensibilities were obvious. I did read the whole thing, however I blame that on my strange compulsion to finish books once I begin them. (How else can you explain reading all 945 pages of Lonesome Dove the summer of '89?) But really? Played with Fire wasn't worth it. Sorry.

Now, in contrast, I DIDN'T finish Three Cups of Tea. See, there is one caveat in my whole "have to read a book to completion" obsession: the library. If a book that I'm not enjoying has to be returned before I can finish it I won't check it out again. I have heard so many people rave about how fabulous Three Cups of Tea is, and I thought I would be a total fan; building a school to educate young girls in Pakistan? That has my name all over it! But I just couldn't get myself to really care. It was too slow, too wandering, too lame. I tried, I really did, but I simply didn't like it. And lately, there has been all kinds of controversy over exactly how legitimate his story even is.

Dear John was a book I picked for my trip to Florida. My standards for vacation reads are very different than regular reading. Dear John met my holiday standards: a fluffy, easy, light read. I don't know that I would read normally, but it was nice enough for my purposes.

Well, that's it for this batch. I'm trying to mix in more classics with my reading. Next? The Adventures of Sherlock's Holmes. So far so good. Enjoy!

Book Review

This last batch was much better than the previous group. Here goes:

The best line of this memoir was "An Amber is like a Heather, only she 's attacking your spiritual worthiness and your dress size at the same time." (Genius!!!) My friend TZ read The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance and didn't really like it, but I couldn't put it down. TZ's not Mormon and I'm guessing the non-stop references to the Church and it's doctrine were a bit too much for her. I, however, found it totally compelling and super funny - probably because I could relate to so much of it. Elna tells of her experiences being a single Mormon woman living in New York City. Caught between two worlds in her quest for a husband Elna nailed a whole lot of what I experienced growing up. It's not for everyone (I think the typical Mormon may find it a bit crass, and if you aren't LDS, it may come off as too preachy) but I loved it.

While so much of I Am Number Four follows that irritating teenage formula (ya know, superpowered teen falls in love with a moral while the bad guys are after him and the fate of the world depends on his success, blah, blah, blah) I actually liked this one. Somehow it didn't feel quite so trite. It's fluff for sure and the ending was way too sci-fi for my taste, but I enjoyed it. It's being made into a movie, due to be released next month.

While I didn't see The Lovely Bones movie, it did inspire me to read the book. It's an intriguing concept - a teenage girl is murdered at the beginning of the book and the rest of the story is her watching from heaven as her family copes and adjusts to their loss. There were parts that had me aching for the family and other parts that had me furious at the killer. The ending was lame but it was still worth my time.

This memoir tells of an adopted woman who meets her birth mother only to discover she was the product of an extra-marital affair. Everyone involved is a bit unstable and watching how they interact with one another in the midst of these dramatic changes is unsettling. There were some parts that kinda bored me, but overall The Mistresses Daughter is an interesting look at adoption, family and stability.

I almost quit The Road about 30 pages in, but somehow the story took hold of me. In a post-apocalyptic world a father and his son wander while trying to survive. The tone and pace of the story were both very bleak - but that is exactly what the author was trying to do. McCarthy's writting is incredibly well done. The Road is a downer for sure but the kind that left me feeling incredibly blessed to have plenty of food and a warm bed at night.

I only read A Christmas Carol because it was a free download on my I-Pod plus I figured if I wanted to consider myself well-read I probably should read it. Dickens is a fabulous writer and I was surprised by how funny it was. There is a reason this is a classic.

A woman in our book club has been making her way through some list of young adult fiction. The Witch of Blackbird Pond came from that list and I agree that it was good read. Set in Connecticut in the years prior to the American Revolution, the reader follows Kit as she adjust from her plush life in the West Indies to the Puritanical strictness of New England. Witch is an insightful look into that period of history.

My favorites this time? Mormon Halloween and I am Number Four - bur really, they were all pretty good.

I've got a trip to the beach planned next month and I already have three books lined up; The Mennoite in a Little Black Dress, The White Queen and Pride & Prejudice. I can't wait!!! Reading a good book by the beach is about as good as life gets!

Reading

I've heard rumblings that the third book in the Hunger Games series wasn't as light or as fun as some may have hoped, but that is exactly the reason I LOVED it. This book would be a fabulous high school English read, full of great themes to explore: power and fear, scarcity and excess, war and sacrifice, not to mention the influence of the media. I was fascinated by the rich symbolism: parachutes, wolves, food, etc. Even the names: Snow (can look beautiful, but covers up the underlying filth) Two-sided Coin, Primrose (true, hearty beauty unlike Snow's roses), etc. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read, but there was depth to it. I have been craving something meaty like that for awhile. I really do wish I could sit in a classroom and examine it all. A fabulous book!

If I read another book about a teenager finding out they have magic powers with which they must fight the dark side, I may just scream. I probably would have liked City of Bones if I hadn't already read this book a MILLION times. Magic? Yup. Vampires? Of course. Werewolves? Who can write a book without them? There was nothing new, nothing that made me think, nothing that moved me in any way. That said, if you love the tried and true teen novel formula, City of Bones will not disappoint.

My sister in law recommended Charms for the Easy Life. It tells the story of three generations of women as they deal with one another and interact in their communities during the Depression and into WWII. It was a fun, light story, and I quite enjoyed the characters within it.

I loved Ender's Game so much that I figured I would try Ender's Shadow. Shadow follows the story of a young boy named Bean, one of the kids that Ender trained with in a futurist space school to fight the "Buggers" for the salvation of the Earth. I totally preferred Ender's Game, but I did find Shadow interesting enough. I wish I had read the books closer together - so that the details would have come together better.

This is a book that Big Boy #1 was reading and I had heard was pretty good. Al Capone Does My Shirts tells the story of the children (of the prison workers and guards) who lived on Alcatraz. But the heart of the story is that 12 year old Moose's sister is mentally challenged. The reader witnesses how the family is consumed with caring for Natalie, and how Moose manages to negotiate his desire to be a normal kid in such unusual circumstances. The ending was darling, but my favorite part was his non-fiction summary of life at Alcatraz in the appendix. It was a quick and easy read - I liked it.


This is the first book in a sequel series to Children of the Promise. Written by a Mormon author for a Mormon audience, Writing on the Wall follows a Mormon family in Utah living in the 1960s. While Hughes does a good job of exposing self-righteous and hypocritical behaviors, there is still a certain tone to the novel that drove me crazy. A bit too "Utah" for me. Nonetheless, my favorite genre is historical fiction, and I have always enjoyed learning about this time period, so I would certainly pick up the next in the series. Anyone have a copy I can borrow?

\ I have never before read any of Agatha Christie's books and I was excited to read Murder on the Orient Express, just for the sake of it. It was a nice little mystery novel. There were a lot of characters that I had to keep track of, but by the end it did all make sense. It was a quick read, and worth my time, just to be familiar with the legend of it all.

Overall, this last batch wasn't too exciting. By and large these books passed the time nicely enough, but other than Mocking Jay, there really wasn't anything that rocked me.