Reflections of Me

Mini Posts

2009-04-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, since I am now officially REALLY behind on my reviews, I'm going to make these short and sweet. I have read 11 books since my last post (this does include a few from the read-a-thon), so here goes:

Title: Absolute Power
Author: David Baldacci
Pages: 480

Can the most powerful man in the United States, the President, get away with murder? As this story unfolds you being to wonder where the lines are drawn with the man who has everything at his fingertips.

This was Baldacci's first novel, and although I can tell a difference in his later writings, this book is still action packed, suspenseful, and character driven. It's kind of crazy to find yourself rooting for a thief, but compared to what he's up against it just feels right. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good page turner.

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Title: Miles From Nowhere
Author: Nami Mun
Pages: 304

This was the original pick for our March Book Club, but after the hostess read the book, she felt awful and picked something different. I had already made it through this book but it was definitely not an easy or uplifting read.

The story is about a young Korean girl whose family has moved to the United States. Her father is very unhappy about being in New York and is often running off to be with the flavor of the week. Her mother, always in tears is begging Joon (the daughter) to go after him and bring him back. At the young age of 12, Joon, tired of all the fighting and craziness of her household, decides to run away. While on the streets, she meets up with an older girl named Knowledge and a young man, Wink who is a male prostitute.

I kept hoping this book would have some uplifting ending or that the story would just get better but sadly enough it did not happen. Although there were several very dark spots in this book that I had a hard time getting through, I can see where it would be a good pick for a book club, since there are definitely several things there to discuss.

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Title: In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis & the Extraordinary Story of It's Survivors
Author: Doug Stanton
Pages: 320

I happened upon this book in the library and have to say I was totally captured by the cover. I can honestly say I do not remember ever hearing this story and am shocked and appalled that it is not more known. I can see why the Navy would want to keep this under wraps, but I think it is more important that they learn from this mistakes in hopes that it never happens again.

The story is told through the eyes of 3 survivors, Captain McVay, Lewis Haynes (the ship's doctor) and Private Giles McCoy. After setting out from Guam on their way through unknown hazardous waters (since those in command did not feel the Captain was important enough to know what really lay ahead of him and his men) to join up with another unit in Okinawa. During the middle of the night, their ship was hit with a Japanese submarine's torpedo, killing 300 men instantly and sinking the ship within a matter of minutes. Those who survived, totalling 1,196 jumped into the water on the morning of July 30, 1945 and were left to fend for themselves for 5 days. During this time, hundreds of men were attacked and eaten by sharks, others developed symptoms from being in salt water for so long, which were quite gruesome.

After finally being spotted 5 days later only 321 men were still alive, 4 of whom died shortly after being rescued. To cover up their mistakes, the Navy blamed everything on the Captain and had him court martialed. Several of the men that survived fought long and hard to have Captain McVay's record expunged. At the time of the printing, they had made some significant steps in the court system, but sadly enough not before McVay took his own life after living for years with nightmares of what happened to him and his men that one awful night.

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Title: My Father's Secret War
Author: Lucinda Franks
Pages: 320

This book has gotten several bad reviews, and although I did find it interesting, it was definitely not one of my favorite memoirs. After believing for years that her father was a secret agent for the OSS she begins not only pushing her father to spill his secrets, but also begins snooping through his things to find proof. She does find a Nazi cap with the insignia and some other documents that do prove he was in Germany during the war. As the story progressed, I began to feel very badly for her father. Here was a person who proudly served his country and whatever the work he did may have been, he was strictly asked to never repeat any of it. As he gets older he developed dementia only to have his daughter who is a reporter for the New York Times interrogating him constantly and trying to pull from him secrets that he long ago buried.

Some things should just be kept in the past where they belong. Pulling whatever knowledge she did out of her father did nothing for him, but only served her own purposes. What does this teach the children of today??

Hours 19 & 20

2009-04-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's almost 3:00 a.m. here and I'm starting to get a headache. I'm in the middle of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and I'm really enjoying it, so I'm trying to stick it out. I'm also getting really close to my goal of reading 1,000 pages, I only have 51 more to go!!!

So, my updated page count at this time is: 949!!!!

Hours 16-18

2009-04-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished my third book and I'm getting ready to start Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (I absolutely LOVE the movie), and since I usually read books before watching the movie I'm curious as to how this will go. I can't believe that it's already 1:30 in the morning here. I'm starting to fade a little, but getting up and moving around does seem to help. I may even take another little nap, we'll see how it goes. I'm not ready to give in and actually go to bed, but my eyes would probably really love me if I gave them a small rest!

Here are my stats so far:
Pages: 1 - Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Time: 1:34 a.m.

Totals so far:
867 pages read
835 minutes reading
135 minutes blogging
3 books finished - Matrimony, Sunday's at Tiffany's, A Cut Above
2 1/2 carbonated beverages
2 mini-challenges
1 trip to IHOP

How is everyone else out there doing? Are people hanging in and having a good time???

Hours 14 & 15

2009-04-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Took some time out to meet up with some friends at IHOP, yes pictures are included. Thanks to Krystal for coming to cheer us along tonight and for all your comments.

I didn't get as much accomplished in the past 2 hours, but now I'm back home, armed with a large drink from Sonic and ready to get back to reading. Hope everyone is having a great time and reading some great books.

Stats so far:
Pages: 59 of A Cut Above
Time: 7:42 p.m.

Totals so far:
659 pages read
610 minutes reading
115 minutes blogging
2 books finished - Matrimony, Sunday's at Tiffany's
2 1/2 carbonated beverages
2 mini-challenges
1 trip to IHOP

There is nothing like having a good breakfast for dinner :)

Mid-Event Survey

2009-04-18T17:54:00.001-07:00

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? A Cut Above by Ginny Aiken (first book by her, we'll see how it goes)

2. How many books have you read so far? 2 (Matrimony and Sunday's at Tiffany's)

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Either Wishful Drinking, The Shack or Happiness Sold Separately

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Nope, free as can be.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
A few. Just had to stop and handle some things, and then I was ready to jump back in with my reading bells on :)

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
How amazing and encouraging everyone has been. There are so many people out there, I just love it!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope, I think everyone has done a wonderful job putting this together! You guys are GREAT!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
Nothing I can think of.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
Just commenting on as many people as possible. Something I need to be doing even more of. So many wonderful blogs out there to discover! Way to go everyone!

Hours 11-13

2009-04-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm finished with book 2 and already into book 3 - A Cut Above. I've never read anything by Ginny Aiken before so we'll see how it goes. I'm getting ready to join some friends and other R-A-T's at IHOP for dinner, so I'll be MIA for a little while. Hope everyone is having a great time! I am definitely enjoying my first experience.

Here is my count so far:
Pages: 38 of A Cut Above
Time: 7:42 p.m.

Totals so far:
638 pages read
580 minutes reading
105 minutes blogging
2 books finished - Matrimony, Sunday's at Tiffany's
2 1/2 carbonated beverages
2 mini-challenges

Bought some baseball ticket's for my Dad's upcoming birthday... he's going to be super excited!!! Hopefully the weather will be nice, I hate going in August when it's like 110 (YUCK).

Hours 9 & 10

2009-04-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

All those dark clouds, but no rain yet. I love rainy weather it's perfect for curling up with a good book and just getting lost in the story. I'm almost finished with Sunday's at Tiffany's and loving it!!! James Patterson is a wonderful author and very easy to read.

Here are my updates so far. Everyone keep up the great work and HAPPY READING!!!

Pages: 236 of Sunday's at Tiffany's
Time: 6:04 p.m.

Totals so far:
527 pages read
520 minutes reading
95 minutes blogging
1 books finished - Matrimony….almost 2!!!!
2 carbonated beverages
2 mini-challenges

I'm almost 1/2 way to my goal... gotta keep it up!!! Maybe I'll run a few laps and then it will be time to focus focus focus. I've enclosed a picture of me... and one of the clouds clearing up.

Hours 7-8

2009-04-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's already been 8 hours. Oh how I would love to just spend my days lounging around reading :) But since I can't (work pays the bills), I am so happy that there are things like this out there to participate in and meet other people who are as excited about books as I am!!

Well, I'm about half way through my latest book and really enjoying it. Did a few things around the house so that I'm not trying to play catch up tomorrow when I'm sure I'll be needing some sleep! Looks like it could start pouring here any minute, which would be great!!

Hope everyone is having a great time and keep up the great reading!!!!

Stats so far:
Pages: 141 of Sunday's at Tiffany's
Time: 4:21 p.m.

Totals so far:
431 pages read
400 minutes reading
75 minutes blogging
1 books finished - Matrimony
2 caffeinated beverages
2 mini-challenges

Update

2009-04-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

Decided to sit on my bed for a while with turned out not to be such a great idea, since I ended up taking a little nap, but I did finish my first book... Matrimony! I really enjoyed it and found the writing so flowing and easy to read. It took me a little longer than I thought, but no fear, it's only just now hour 8! Plenty more time to read.

So here are my stats so far, and of course I've added a couple of pictures finally! One of my cat, Gizmo, upset for being disturbed from his window watching and a picture from this morning of all my books :)

Hours 5-7
Pages: About to start page 1 of Sunday's at Tiffany's
Time: 2:06 p.m.

Totals so far:
291 pages read
360 minutes reading
65 minutes blogging
1 books finished
1 carbonated beverage
2 mini-challenges

Hope everyone is having a wonderful time so far!!!

Hour 5

2009-04-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are at hour five and I am still going strong! Sat outside and listened to the soft rain for a little while. I'm one of those people that needs it to be pretty quite when I read, but listening to the rain was so soothing and I just got lost in the story.

Here are my stats so far:
Pages: 85 more pages from Matrimony
Time: 11:03 a.m.

145 pages read
210 minutes reading
30 minutes blogging
0 books finished
1 caffeinated beverage
2 mini-challenges

Hour 1 Questions

2009-04-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone!!! I have now been reading for about an hour and a half, and since I was at a good stopping point, I decided to head on over and see what our wonderful hosts and cheerleader had for us to do for Hour 1. Below are some questions that are being used to help us all get to know each other.

So here goes....

Where are you reading from today? I am reading at home today, in a town right outside Dallas, Texas.

3 facts about me …
- I of course LOVE to read and have ever since I was little.
- I was a wedding planner for 3 years, but now work for a small insurance company in Dallas as a Jr. Account Manager.
- I am a native Texas (except for my 5 year stint in Oklahoma for college and work)!!

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
I have 11 books in my pile! There is no way I will read them all, but I wanted to have options if I picked up a book that just wasn't working for me. Instead of having to scrounge around to find something else, I can just go back to my pile and try again.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I am an optimist, so I'm hoping to last the full 24 hours, but we'll see! My page # goal is 1,000 and I'm hoping to comment as much as possible! When I first started blogging, I was (and still tend to be) shy about posting comments on other blogs. I read several of them, but don't always leave anything. My goal today is to overcome that and really encourage other people on and get involved!!

Stats from hours 1&2
Pages: 60 pages (from Matrimony by Joshua Henkin)
Time: 8:45 a.m.

Totals so far:
60 pages read
90 minutes reading
20 minutes blogging

HAPPY READING TO ALL!!!

Read-A-Thon

2009-04-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

For some reason this year, I just cannot seem to keep up with my blogging. There are still several books that I have read and would love to talk about that I have not yet gotten to. Well, all of those wonderful books will just have to wait a bit.

I am participating in my first ever Read-A-Thon today and am really looking forward to it. I have listened to Trish and Laura talk about this for a little while now and they made it sound so wonderful that I just had to check it out myself!

So wish me luck, because it is now 7:00 a.m. and I am off to read!!!!

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

2009-03-21T16:07:00.002-07:00

Title: The Things They Carried
Author: Tim O'Brien
Pages: 246

I have been wanting to read this book for a while after a family friend and I got to talking about it. I have always found it interesting what soldiers carry with them. Things that they are required to have, but what other little things to they keep close to them to keep them connected to loved ones they are separated from?

The writing style seemed so broken and scattered, but as I continued to read, it started to make sense as to why it was written that way. Things in times of war are not logical. Bad things happen to those around you and there are times when you have to distance yourself from them. Memories come back in splashes of images and are not usually conjoined in perfect form. This is kind of how the story was presented. He did have a great explanation of why he writes the stories he writes -

"I feel guilty sometimes. Forty-three years old and I'm still writing war stories. My daughter Kathleen tells me it's an obsession, that I should write about a little girl who finds a million dollars and spends it all on a Shetland pony. In a way, I guess, she's right. I should forget it. But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget. You take your material where you find it, which is in your life, at the intersection of past and present. The memory-traffic feeds into a rotary up on your head, where it goes in circles for a while, then pretty soon imagination flows in and the traffic merges and shoots off down a thousand different streets. As a writer, all you can do is pick a street and go for the ride, putting things down as they come at you. That's the real obsession. All those stories." Pg (34-35)

The only thing that started to aggravate me was trying to figure out which pieces of the stories being told were things that actually happened to Mr. O'Brien while he was serving his country and which were figments of his imagination. All that aside, it was a wonderfully told story of the things that become important to a soldier while he is in a combat zone away from his family, friends and loved ones. The things they carried, were often times of significance to them, or things they would need to do their jobs and survive.

"The things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition. Lieutenant Cross carried his good-luck pebble. Dave Jensen carried a rabbit's foot. Norman Bowker, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a thumb that has been presented to him as a gift by Mitchell Sanders. The thumb was dark brown, rubbery to the touch, and weighed 4 ounces at most"(Pg. 13).

After the things that soldiers see and experience during a time of war, the smallest memento or memory from home can be a powerful thing. This was definitely a eye-opening book, and being a war story, there are some very descriptive parts and some that just made my stomach ache. It also made me appreciate even more the things our soldiers do to protect us back home.

Tim O'Brien really puts you on the front lines of action, has you holding a weapon that just ended the life of an enemy, that upon further reflection was just doing their job,too, all the way into the mind of someone who is juggling with the idea of being drafted into something he doesn't believe in or taking that step to dodge and run for the Canadian border. No matter where each chapter drops you, you always feel as though you are right there with them. Experiencing and seeing whatever they happened to be a part of at the moment.

Definitely a good read for anyone interested in Vietnam, or any war for that matter.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

2009-03-21T16:07:00.001-07:00

Title: The Historian
Author: Elizabeth Kostova
Pages: 909

This was not a typical book for me. I have never really been one to be super interested in witchcraft and Dracula and other mythical characters. When I was younger I watched Buffy a little, but just never really felt drawn to it. After being given a short synopsis from a friend at work, I knew it was something I had to at least try to read. Well, I can definitely say that I was completely surprised by how facinated I became with the story and how much I've wanted to read Bram Stoker's Dracula since I finished.

The descriptions in this book are wonderful! They are so vivid and alive, that you feel like you are standing there with the character, seeing everything around them for yourself. There are some places that were mentioned in the book that I would love to travel to. The writing flows so smoothly that you do not get caught up in the number of pages that are just flying by. Large books can often times be daunting, but I believe that a good writer can make you forget about the number of pages, because you become so wrapped up in the story being told you forget about the number and often times end up wanting more at the end.

The way that she used letters, journal entries and research to reveal details about the story as it was unfolding in both the past and present was very entertaining. The story unravels over four decades, from the 1930's to the 1970's as the main character learns about her father's most precious secrets. Traveling all over Europe to find his missing mentor, who was also a recipient of the special dragon book. Pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place, but will they be able to solve their mystery before it's too late?

Here is one of my favorite passages:

"Looking back at that moment, I understand that I had lived in books so long, in my narrow university setting, that I had become compressed by them internally. Suddenly, in this echoing house of Byzantium - one of the wonders of history - my spirit leaped out of its confines. I knew in that instant that, whatever happened, I could never go back to my old constraints. I wanted to follow life upward, to expand with it outward, the way this enormous interior swelled upward and outward. My heart swelled with it, as it never had during all my wanderings amoung the Dutch merchants." (pg. 258-259)

I was kind of disappointed in the ending, but I'm also a little confused by it. I'm just feel like there is something there that I'm not completely understanding. This is definitely one of those books that I wanted to keep going. I do love that in this book Dracula himself has quite a literary collection. I find it amusing that he would have such a love for books.

This is a great book that I would highly recommend to anyone who has not yet read it!

The Woman in White by Wilke Collins

2009-02-09T13:28:00.001-08:00

Title: The Woman in White
Author: Wilkie Collins
Finished: February 2009
Pages: 564

This was the January pick for the IRL book club that I am a member of, and I have to say that I am so grateful to have been exposed to this particular book. It was some rough going at the very beginning (since it is a Victorian novel that was written in the 19th century), but once I got the rhythm down, it was incredibly enjoyable! I love the way the book is set up, with the story being told by different narrators. This is such an interesting concept, since not everyone is privy to every aspect of every storyline in real life. You also learn along the way which narrators you trust and those you question. Did things really happen they way they are being portrayed or was this their own personal manipulation of the other characters involved?!?! Very interesting to say the least!

Laura Fairly is a young maiden, striving to uphold the wishes of her father on his deathbed. One of his last acts was to betrove her to marry Sir Percival Glyde. In a perfect world this would be a magical thing, with him being a Sir and all, but what is a young woman to do when she discovers that her heart belongs to someone else? Luckily she has her best friend Marian there by her side helping her through life's obstacles.

Walter Hartright is asked to come to Limmeridge (the Fairlie's mansion, to teach Laura and Marian to paint. On his last night in town Walter encounters a woman dressed in all white strolling the streets in the middle of the night. She appears to him out of no where and asks him to point her in the right direction towards London. Once they get closer, he finds her a carriage and she is whisked away. Moments after her carriage leaves, another set of horses enters the street, looking for a woman dressed in all white. Walter is hidden from view as these men inquire about the woman in white, only to overhear them say she has escaped from an asylum. From this moment on, their lives and fates and very much intertwined.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery! My only words of advice and to know up front that it may take some pages to get used to the language and really get into the storyline, but it is very much worth the time!! I thought this was a great pick for a book club because of all the wonderful aspects that are there to discuss!

There are so many wonderful things about this book that I would love to share, but I wouldn't want to spoil the story for anyone who is interested in reading it. I feel like this is one of those books that I will pick up again in a few years to re-read and will probably end up finding it even more enchanting and find things that I possibly missed the first time.

Split Second by David Baldacci

2009-02-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

Title: Split Second
Author: David Baldacci
Date Finished: January 2009
Pages: 512

Split second... that's all it takes to ruin the careers of two Secret Service agents. Sean King's story takes place a few years back but is still talked about around the Service. His fallout occurred when the Presidential candidate he is protecting is shot while King was momentarily distracted at a meet and greet in a small town. Michelle is living through her career ending moment right now, when her presidential candidate is kidnapped right under her nose at a funeral home.

These two "scapegoats" join forces to find out who is behind the killing and kidnapping not knowing at first that they could be connected. Michelle was new to the Secret Service about the time of King's exit and she does a little research to better acquaint herself with his situation. There is something about that day that really disturbs Michelle, but she cannot seem to put her finger on it, and Sean King is definitely not talking about it. Another important character comes into play as the story progresses, Joan. She was not only an agent herself, but has now left the Secret Service and started her own detection agency. When she asks Sean to help her find the kidnapped presidential candidate, he eventually accepts.

Baldacci was in fine form again, twisting and turning his plot to keep you guessing and surprised. I'll admit, some of the story is a little far fetched, but isn't that the beauty of fiction. What about all those people out there who still question the conspiracy behind the death of JFK??? Having not read the series of King and Maxwell in order, it was nice to see how their broken pieces became a deep connection for a partnership. Definitely a good read for anyone who is willing to let go for a while and enjoy the roller coaster of a plot that is split second.

Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies

2009-02-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

Title: Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family
Author: Miep Gies
Finished: January 2009
Pages: 272

I first heard about this book from Trish's blog as a book giveaway. After reading this blurb and talking to her, I knew this had to be on my list of books to read. It has been years since I've read the Diary of Anne Frank, but I remembered how much it touched me as a child, and how interesting it would be to hear another person's perspective who was also there at the time.

Miep comes to know the Frank Family before they go into hiding, as an office worker for Anne's father, Otto Frank. Miep earns the trust of Mr. Frank not only in the business aspect, but also as a friend. When it comes time for the Frank family to go into hiding, Miep is one of the workers that is in trusted with this important information. Miep is the one who is in charge of gathering food the for families hidden upstairs.

The stories that she shares of the Frank family give us a more intimate look at not only Anne, but the other family members as well. It is obvious that Miep adores Anne, and she gives the reader a different glimpse than that in the Diary of Anne Frank. When reading of such a tragedy, it is often easy to forget that Anne was only a child when all of this happened, and how hard it must have been for those in hiding to remain so still and quite throughout the day for fear of being detected. Children long to run and play and sing and dance around, but while in hiding, there was not space or time for the joys of childhood to play out.

Miep does a great job of telling you not only the story of the Frank family but of her own life as well. During this awful time of war, Miep falls in love and marries a wonderful man, who is also a helpful in hiding the Frank family and coming to visit with them when he can. Miep also gives you an idea of what it was like to be a Jew in hiding by sharing with us her experiences. Anne so desperately welcomed when Miep or one of the other workers came up to visit that Miep and her husband were asked to stay the night one night. Staying late int he office after everyone else was gone, they snuck up the staircase and were treated to a wonderful dinner by the families in hiding and were given Anne's room to stay the night. When morning came, Anne was curious as to how they slept that night. Needless to say, sleep was not easy, there were lots of sounds that kept them awake, as well as being fearful of being discovered. Her description of the night spent up in the office gives you a first hand experience of what it must have been like for them day in and day out for years.

When reading stories that occurred during World War II, I often wonder what I would do in their place. Everyone likes to think they would be strong enough to protect others without regard for what was to become of themselves, but if we were actually put in that position, what would happen? I think it takes amazing strength and courage to do something like this. Miep knew what the punishment would be if it was discovered that the Frank family was upstairs, and when they were found, it was her courage to say a few words to the guard that kept her safe.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who, like myself, was touched by the Diary of Anne Frank.

Last Man Standing by David Baldacci

2009-02-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

Being a part of the HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) an elite branch of the FBI, means putting your life on the line every day in hopes of taking out the bad guys and saving the good. What do you do when your entire life changes in a matter of minutes. Web London, for some unknown reason, freezes as his team rushes a courtyard, only to watch them all be gunned down. As he deals with the loss of his friends who were as close to him as brothers, Web is also left to wonder why not him, and what after all these years caused him to freeze?

As Web tries to discover what happened in the courtyard that day, he is faced with three separate tasks. Finding out why his team was set-up and who is behind it; finding out what caused him to freeze up after years of being a member of the HRT and always putting his life on the line, and discovering what happened to the only other survivor that day a 10 year old boy who has since disappeared. The family members of his fallen comrades are grieving themselves and lashing out at Web who is also grieving.

Knowing that something isn't right, but not knowing who is friend and foe makes Web's job that much harder as he searches not only for the missing boy, but for answers to all his questions. After finding out the identity of the child (little brother to well known drug lord), Web is even more determined to find him. Drugs, money and territory all have a large role in this plot, but will Web find the answers he needs before those looking for the lone survivor find him?

David Baldacci has quickly become one of my favorite authors. His books are very detailed but give you that "edge of your seat suspense" and keep you guessing until the very end. I would definitly recommend anything by him if you are a suspence lover like me.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

2009-01-18T16:25:00.000-08:00

This book was the January pick for my IRL book club. I have had this book sitting on my shelf for the better part of a year, but had yet to open it. I followed some of the hype that was generated by this book and was deeply saddened to hear that Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008 leaving behind a wife and three children.

I was not sure going in, if I was going to like this book. I had heard some very mixed reviews and admit I was hesitant. Knowing that this book was written for his children, I started to think of what I would want to leave behind for my children if I knew that my days were very limited and coming to and end quickly. Would my thoughts be profound and have an impact on them when they got older, or would they shrug them off, would they be meaningful, or would they have preferred I spent my time differently... so many thoughts and I don't even have children yet.

I very much enjoyed this book, and hope that as Randy Pausch's children grow up, realize what a wonderful and loving father they were blessed with, who was taken away from them too quickly. There were moments in the book when I was get irritated with his arrogance, or lack of flexibility, but I never once doubted the love he had for his family. His lessons for life were pretty straight forward, but the stories he used to explain them made them great! Easy to understand and also motivational at the same time. It made me think about the things that I do, and why I waste time on the small things sometimes, without looking at the bigger picture.

Realizing that the theme of his book is about achieving your childhood dreams was a little far fetched for me. I think that some of the dreams I had as a child were good for me to have, but to actually do them all seems very unrealistic to me now. I think it's amazing that he was able to do so many of the things he dreamed about as a child. That shows great determination and perserverance.

There were two things that really resonated with me. The first was that he got married later in life. He was ambitious in his career and had just not found the right person yet. I think sometimes there is this untold pressure to marry young and start having children at a certain age and when that doesn't happen, it can cause disappointment and many questions. Not being married yet, I could appreciate his wanting to wait to find the right person, yet while he was waiting for that to happen, took that opportunity to do things for himself. Get himself the jobs he wanted and do some of the things he wanted. He was able to be a good uncle to his sister's children, and take them on small vacations and just spend time with them in general. This was important to me on a personal level, because I had an uncle like this. Who got married later in life, but was there with my brother and I as we were growing up. He was there to play with us, and take us with him to do things, and now that he has passed, we are able to tell his children about him. Which is both sad and a blessing. Like Randy, my uncle was taken early from his children and they may not have very many memories of him, so it is our job to tell them what he was like and share our stories with them. The second thing has to do with his niece and nephew. Right before taking them on vacation with him, Randy's sister was telling them not to spill anything in Randy's new car. Well, while this was happening, Randy turned around and poured a soda all over the backseat, explaining that it was just a car, and that it wasn't a big deal. This turned out to be a great thing, since on the way home, his newphew got really sick and threw up all over the backseat. Another example is when his wife backs into his car in the driveway and he explains that they don't need to get the scratches fixed, it's just a car, that gets you from point A to B and it's not how they claim their social status.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and for those of you who read it, hopefully you are able to connect with one of the many stories that he shares. There were so many great ones that I didn't even mention but connected to. I have a feeling that this book with stay with me for a while.

(224 pages)
January 2009

Echoes by Danielle Steel

2009-01-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

This was the first Danielle Steel book that I have read in quite some time. It was recommend to me by a friend, and I have to admit, I loved it! I didn't want to put it down. It's a story about a German Jewish girl, Beata, who falls madly in love with a Catholic French man, Antoine, during World War II. Both of their families banish them when they want to get married. Hoping that as time passes their families will once again accept them, they give in to the strength of their love and decide to get married.

As their lives progress and they have children, they do not tell the children that they are 1/2 Jewish, considering the times and that all their lives they have been Catholic. Beata converted before they were married, and with everyone knowing that Antoine was Catholic, no one ever suspected differently. As the Germans start deporting the Jews, Beata reaches out to her family only to be denied access to them by her father, who said she is dead to them.

Beata's oldest daughter decides to enter the convent and when her mother refuses, she tells her she has been called and knows that is where she belongs. Soon after entering the convent, another sister is moved because she is a well known Jewish activist. She is considered a threat to the Germans and is moved in hopes of protecting the other sisters at the convent.

It is a very touching and heartbreaking story of trying to make it in a time where you religious denomination meant life or death. I have been on quite a war kick lately and this just happened to fit right in. There is also a hint of a love story for those of you who enjoy love stories. I myself love a good love story, but it's not a genre I could read every day.

(464 pages)
January 2009

Witch Hunt by Ian Rankin

2009-01-18T15:38:00.000-08:00

What if the only person in the world who could answer the one question you have is a female assassin you have been tracking for years? If and when your paths cross again, will you be given the answer you so desperately desire to have, or will you not have that storybook fairytale ending? So many possibilities for Dominic Elder, who has come out of retirement to help the British police in their latest search for the woman known as "the Witch."

After making herself known to be in the area (blowing up the boat and crew who brought her to shore) all authorities are on alert. With the upcoming summit bringing several Heads of State to London to have dinner with the Queen, everyone is convinced that one of these diplomats is the intended target for the Witch. In the past, she has often followed through with the target she is given, and then once she has enough money, goes after a target of her own. Will this encounter be the same, and is her own personal target going to be Dominic Elder?

Dominic is given a chance to help educate a young and ambitious officer who is tiring of paperwork and ready to be in the field. At the insistance of Elder, the young officer is put into the field and sent on missions to find out any relevant information that was possibly missed. The young officer is greatly appreciative, but does not realize that he is in turn being used by Elder who since having retired from the force no longer has the power and insightes that he once had.

This suspenseful novel by Ian Rankin keeps the readers attention and has you trying to figure out when and where the Witch will strike again. As the story unfolds, twists and turns are presented to keep the reader on their toes and suspenseful awaiting the ending. This was my second book by Ian Rankin and I really enjoyed it.

(512 pages)
January 2009

Wedding Belles by Haywood Smith

2009-01-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

Wedding Belles was a book I picked up at the library for some fun, light-hearted reading and I loved it!! If you are looking for a funny, easy read about love, friendship and family, you should pick this up.

When your daughter tells you that she is getting married, it should be an incredibly happy time for you both, especially in the South! 27 year old Callie is thrilled to have found the love of her life and cannot wait to tie the knot. However, her parents are having a harder time wrapping their heads around the idea since her soon to be groom is her father's best friend.

Back in the day, Wade (the soon to be groom) was a wild man and an alcoholic, and the ladies of the Red Hat Club (Georgia, Teeny, Diane, Linda and Pru) know all about his wild man shenanigans, and conquests of the past, as well as the fact that he is an alcoholic with children who are not too far from Callie's age.

When your in love, does age really matter? How do you explain the connection you feel to someone else? How far will the ladies go to try to stop Callie from going through with this marriage?

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

2009-01-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

This book was my pick for my IRL Book Club and I have to admit a part of me was really disappointed after I finished. Since around middle school, I have been very fascinated with the Holocaust and World War II. Not because I think what happened was good, but more along the lines of, how could something so incredibly awful happen and go unnoticed for so long. How does someone get away with trying to rid the world of an entire set of human beings because of their religion? I have so many questions and since I did not live during the time this happened, I rely on books, both fictional and non to try to gain more of an understanding to what really went on during this time.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the insight into the Polish view point. With the zoo being not far from the Warsaw Ghetto, it gives a different prospective than any other book I have read before. Diane Ackerman does a wonderful job describing the animals in this book giving you a connection to them. Her being a nature writer was great for this part of the story. However, this is also where I found the biggest disappointment to be. Her writing of the actual zoo owners (Jan and Antonina) is very lacking. You feel no emotional connection to the couple and their child as they harbor Jews and other people trying to escape the horrors of the Nazi Germans. Using the zoo as a safe house, was an ingenious idea and also very risky.

The relationship between Antonina and her husband Jan was kind of frustrating. He would go out of the house each day and work in different parts of the town making connections and helping to send signals for those who were needing a place to hide until further transportation was available. However, when Antonina did heroic things and stood in the face of a German and was calm and collected, he has no respect or praise for her. It always felt like he thought he was the only one out there doing anything or sacrificing himself that was so incredibly untrue. Even when Antonia is bed ridden with illness, she is still strong and in charge of the house and zoo where people are hiding.

Using the diaries from Antonina was a wonderful idea, but the information was put forth so harshly that you do not really get much insight into what was going on in their minds or hearts. Every item is just a fact. Don't get me wrong, I love facts and they do help to keep the story accurate, but it just left me feeling cold and disconnected with the story. As things were happening, I felt no connection to the character or what they must have been going through, which is something that I enjoy in books.

So, as a whole, the story in itself is a very powerful one. This family risked their lives to help others on their way to safety from the Germans during a time when being caught meant death. They knowingly sacrificed themselves for the greater good of others and that is a very admirable thing. All the lives that were saved because of people like them is wonderful.

Closing up the Book on 2008

2009-01-10T19:14:00.001-08:00

Well, here I am 10 days into the new year and I'm finally ready to close the book on 2008. Getting sick is never fun, but when it happens over the holidays is can really be a bummer. I was sick through both Thanksgiving and Christmas, which in turn caused me to become delinquent with my library books. I cannot even remember the last time I had to pay a library fine.

2008 was a very big year for me in my book reading. I started blogging and actually made it through the whole year keeping a list of all the books I read. However, I did not write a review for each and every book, but will try to in 09 even if it's a short little blurb. I had always been curious how many books I read during a year, and this year was a big one. I ended 2008 with a total of 93 books. As much as I love reading, this kind of got to me. I was actually embarrassed to tell anyone how many books I had actually read. I have vowed this year to continue to read (because I love it), but to also make sure that I get out more and do more things with friends and family. For me, reading has always been a pleasure. It is relaxing and I love getting caught up in the descriptions and stories that are being told to me. Just something about turning the pages of a book that I love.

There are still a few books that I would like to review from 2008 that I thought were great reads. But for now, here is my list of book from 2008... all 93 of them!

1. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
2. If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern
3. Rosie Dunne by Ceceila Ahern
4. Missing Persons by Stephen White
5. Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
6. Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
7. Five Things I Can't Live Without by Holly Shumas
8. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
9. Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown
10. Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
11. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
12. Interview With the Devil by Clay Jacobsen
13. The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer
14. Dead Watch by John Sandford
15. Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell
16. Trace by Patricia Cornwell
17. The Last Precinct by Patricia Cornwell
18. Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell
19. A Brother's Blood by Michael C. White
20. Blinded by Stephen White
21. Songs Without Words by Ann Packer
22. Something Blue by Emily Giffin
23. At Risk by Patricia Cornwell
24. Predator by Patricia Cornwell
25. Hornet's Nest by Patricia Cornwell
26. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
27. You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs by Laurie Graff
28. Black Notice by Patrica Cornwell
29. From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell
30. Fame (Series of 5 by Karen Kingsbury) *Part 2 (which I accidentally read first)
31. Forgiven
32. Found
33. Family
34. Forever
35. Redemption (Series of 5 by Karen Kingsbury) *Part 1
36. Remember
37. Return
38. Rejoice
39. Reunion
40. Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell
41. The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen
42. Dry Ice by Stephen White
43. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
44. All That Remains by Patrica Cornwell
45. War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
46. Without Warning by Eugenia Lovett West
47. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
48. The Inner Sanctum by Stephen W. Frey
49. Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
50. Fresh Disasters by Stuart Woods
51. Tell No Lies by Julie Compton
52. True Evil by Greg Iles
53. Where Yesterday Lives by Karen Kingsbury
54. Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury
55. Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
56. Final Betrayal by Elaine Taylor
57. You've Been Warned by James Patterson
58. The First Patient by Michael Palmer
59. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
60. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
61. The Celestial Bed by Irving Wallace
62. Fatal by Michael Palmer
63. Blacklist by Sara Paretsky
64. Conversations with a Fat Girl by Liza Palmer
65. Silent Treatment by Michael Palmer
66. My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young
67. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
68. On Every Side by Karen Kingsbury
69. Bitter Medicine by Sara Paretsky
70. Miracle Cure by Micahel Palmer
71. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
72. Sala's Gift: My Mother's Holocaust Story by Ann Kirschner
73. Ride the Wind by Lucia St Clair Robson
74. The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer
75. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
76. The Hot House - Life Inside Leavenworth Prison by Pete Earley
77. Nothing Lasts Forever by Sidney Sheldon
78. Stone Cold by David Baldacci
79. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
80. Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell
81. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
82. A Vengeful Longing by Roger Morris
83. The Wolves at the Door the True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy by Judith L. Pearson
84. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
85. A Good Hanging by Ian Rankin
86. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
87. The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen
88. Simple Genius by David Baldacci
89. The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
90. Wedding Belles by Haywood Smith
91. The Collectors by David Baldacci
92. Dead Time by Stephen White
93. Hour Game by David Baldacci

There you have it folks! My list of books from 2008!! There are some really great ones in this list that you should pick up if you haven't had the chance! My bookshelves are overflowing with many more to recommend and hopefully 2009 will be just as great of a reading year as 2008 was.

So long 2008!

The Keepsake

2008-12-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

I was very proud of myself for pulling my nose out of my books to spend some good quality time over Thanksgiving with my family! I did end up finishing one book, but only read a night before I went to sleep, so it took a little longer than it normally does. Tess Gerritsen is one of my "go to" authors when I want a good mystery. Her stories are always very captivating and her topic are very attention grabbing.

Here is a clip from the first chapter:

"My daughter, Nefertari, is the one and only treasure that I brought back with me from Egypt. And I am terrified of losing her. Tari is so much like me. It's as if I am watching myself sleeping. When she was ten years old, she could already read hieroglyphs. At twelve, she could recite all the dynasties down to the Ptolemys. She spends her weekend haunting the Museum of Man. She is a clone of me in every way, and as the years pass there is no obvious trace of her father in her face or her voice or, most important of all, her soul. She is my daughter, mine alone, untainted by the evil that fathered her" (p.7)

This book has all the great characters that I have come to love from Tess Gerritsen, Maura Isles the Medical Examiner, Detective Jane Rizzoli and her partner Detective Barry Frost. Jane, just back from having a little baby girl is quick to jump in and trust her instincts. I really like the way that Gerritsen has developed her character and allowed her to not only be a kick butt detective, but also a loving mom and friend as well.

An Egyptian mummified body is found in the basement of Boston's Crispin Museum during an inventory project. Dr. Isles is called in to observe the CT scan to determine how old the mummy, named Madam X by those in the museum, actually is. While the cloth used to preserve the mummy is authentic and very old, the body preserved inside is not. The cloth tells a story of it's own and has the word "Medea" connected with it. This causes one of the characters in the book, Josephine, some obvious discomfort and obviously has some significance to her. As the story unfolds, two other bodies are found and although they are not mummified like Madam X, their bodies have also been preserved in various ways.

As leads are tracked down and connections made, it becomes apparent that one of the museum's own is very deeply intertwined with this investigation. Dr. Josephine Pulcillo, who has not been with the museum for very long, is closely watched by Jane as she discovers that pieces of her past do not seem to fit together as perfectly as they appear. When she receives a cryptic message with geographical coordinates, she takes off on her own and discovers her missing keys hanging on a tree limb. Using her keys, she opens the trunk to her car and finds the second body has been stored there.

Another lead takes the detectives to Texas to speak with a very wealthy man whose son is considered a prime suspect, but no one seems to know where he is. His mother is deathy ill, and as more evidence comes to light, the family is quick to surround themselves with a team of lawyers.

Archeology has always been something I find interesting. It is amazing to me what is buried underneath us. How societies have been preserved and are there to tell us their story. The descriptions of the excavation sites in Egypt are great and really make me want to hope a plane to Egypt.

The plot thickens when Josephine herself disappears at the hands of the killer, and it is up to Jane and Dr. Isles to find her before it is too late. Will she be the next victim to be preserved??

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery. It is not easily figured out and Tess Gerritsen provides twists and turns up until the very end, keeping you on your toes!!

Title: The Keepsake
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Date Finished: November 28, 2008
Pages: 368

The Secret Life of Bees

2008-11-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

Title: The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Date Finished: November 24, 2008
Pags: 336

I know that this book was recently made into a movie, but I have this thing about trying not to see movies until I have read the book. This has kept me from seeing some movies that I really want to see, but I have just found over time that I enjoy the book more if I allow my mind to create the characters, instead of seeing whomever was cast in that particular role. Since I am trying to cut down my book buying, I borrowed this book from a friend and could not put it down.

The story of Lily is a very powerful one. Granted she's only fourteen, and how much can a fourteen year old really know about life... but her courage and determination is so powerful and motivating, and you just want to wrap her up in a hug and tell her that everything will be okay. The images she has of her mothers last day on earth, just break my heart. No really understanding what happened, but knowing there is a chance she was the one holding the gun eats at her as she gets older. She refers to her father as T. Ray instead of "Dad, Daddy, or Father," and this holds a great deal of significance. She does not see him as a father figure, just someone who is there, that punishes her and is always yelling at her.

Her friendship and love for Rosaleen allows her the courage to do crazy things, like break Rosaleen out of jail to keep her from being killed by the white man whose shoes she spit on. Sue Monk Kidd does a wonderful job of showing how segregated the whites and blacks were during this time period. Even though blacks were given the right to vote, it did not stop whites from protesting and doing anything in their power to keep them from registering. What really pushed Lily over the edge was her father telling her that her mother never really loved her, and that she was running away from her, which causes Lily to run away from him. On her way out of town she heists Rosaleen from the jail and they set off to Tiburon, South Carolina. What significance this town holds is yet to be known, but Lily found it on the back of a picture of a Black Madonna with her mother's items she keeps hidden in the pasture.

Upon arrival in Tiburon, Lily enters a store to buy some food and sees that very same Black Madonna on a bottle of honey. After inquiring about it from the store owner, Lily and Rosaleen head off towards the pink house in town that is the residence of May, June and August Boatwright. The "calendar sisters" take Lily and Roasleen in with very few questions and the story begins to unfold. You get the impression that August knows Lily is lying to her about having no family and heading to Virginia to stay with an aunt, but she lets her open up in her own time.

Lily becomes friends with Zach, who helps August with the bees. They struggle with their feelings for each other and the feelings that soceity says they shouldn't have. Him being a black man and her being a white woman is frowned upon. Both of them realize this and have several talks about it, but Zach wants to be a lawyer when he grows up and he promises Lily that when he's made a palce for himself and they have worked through this color issue, they will be together. Watching their relationship blossom makes for a beautiful love story. Being there for each other as their story unfolds is a true testament to friendship outside of skin pigment.

I loved this book and feel like it really had a big impact on me as I was reading it. I felt for the characters and the tragedies they experienced along the way. I'm not sure how much people remember from their younger days, and how unanswered questions can haunt someone as they get older. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a story about friendship, compassion, and the path to finding the truth.

I cannot wait to see the movie and have heard some really great things about it. Like most books that become movies, I'm sure there will be things that are left out, but I know this story will stay with me for a while. It has also made me a little more interested in bees.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Art of Racing in the Rain

2008-11-15T08:47:00.001-08:00

Title: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Author: Garth Stein
Date Finished: November 8, 2008
Pages: 321

This book was the November pick for my IRL book club. I can honestly say that if this book was not picked for me, it would have probably taken me a while to pick it up on my own. Don't get my wrong, I would have eventually picked it up, but not so quickly. I tend to shy away from books that are about animals. They often a)make me sad; b)make me want another animal; and c)turn me into a blubbering mess complete with the red nose and tissues strewn all about.

This book was no exception, there were tears in the first chapter, which prompted me to call up my friend that picked this book and ask her if I was going to be able to read this at the office on my lunch break, or if this was something I should just read in the privacy of my own home! She assured me that I would be okay until the last chapter or so, and that I should really try to save that for home. So, I kept reading.

Garth Stein does a great job of making this book unique. The point of view in this book is that of the dog, Enzo. (Side note: I'm really liking books lately where the point of view is that of an unobvious character... like The Book Thief.) Enzo is a lab, who believes that some terrier is mixed into him, that was picked up as a puppy and adopted by Denny Swift. Denny is a race car driver trying to make a place for himself in the racing world.

"Very gently. Like there are eggshells on your pedals, Denny always says, and you don't want to break them. That's how you drive in the rain." (p.13).

From the very beginning Denny talks about racing with Enzo and explains all the life lessons that he has learned from the track. He even leaves the t.v. on for Enzo while he is at work, but only if he will not just lay in front of the t.v. all day, but be responsible and only watch for a while. Enzo's world changes a little with the addition of Eve and then later on Zoe. Enzo immediately feels protective of Zoe and would do anything for her.

"Gestures are all that I have; sometimes they must be grand in nature. And while I occasionally step over the line and into the world of the melodramatic, it is what I must do in order to communicate clearly and effectively" (p.1).

Enzo, after watching so much t.v. realizes that he is a unique dog, who is ready to leave his dog shell and come back as a human. He wants so badly to communicate, especially as Denny's world falls in around him. He wants to be able to tell Zoe that something is wrong with her, but cannot. He understands how important it is to have thumbs.

Through Denny's hard times, Enzo is always there by his side, listening to what he says. He points out that as humans, we often do not listen to each other, but are always interrupting to tell our own versions of stories. We never stop and really listen to each other. Being a dog, Enzo is always listening and even though he cannot answer out loud, he does the best he can with gestures.

The hard times that Denny falls on started to become a little overwhelming for me, it seemed like the poor guy was never going to catch a break. I know that people fall on hard times, but it was one thing after another. Luckily during all of his trials and tribulations, he had Enzo by his side. Although I am not a big racing fan, I really appreciated all of the racing/real life analogies.

Garth Stein did a wonderful job with this book, and I would recommend it to others. You do not have to be an animal lover or racing fan to enjoy this book. I think the heart of this story is very captivating and will really make you wonder if you do have pets, what it is that they really understand or are thinking.

I myself have a cat, and often times find myself talking to him like he's a person. When I have a bad day, or just want to chat, he's always there to listen and even though he can't speak back, it's nice to know he's there. Does this make me crazy? Maybe! But I'm okay with that. I've noticed that when I'm sick or sad, he's always by my side and very cuddly, which says to me that on some level they understand, whether by actions or tone of voice what we are feeling. I will leave you with these words from Enzo...

"I know this much about racing in the rain. I know it is about balance. It is about anticipation and patience. I know all of the driving skills that are necessary for one to be successful in the rain. But racing in the rain is also about the mind! It is about owning one's own body. About believing that one's car is merely an extension of one's body. About believing that the track is an extension of the car, and the rain is an extension of the track, and the sky is an extension of the rain. It is about believing that you are not you; you are everything. And everything is you" (p. 314).

Book of the Dead & A Venfeful Longing

2008-11-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

Title: Book of the Dead
Author: Patrica Cornwell
Date Finished: November 5, 2008
Pages: 528

Kay Scarpetta is one of my favorite fictional characters, and she "won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author" (from the back flap). I have read several of Patricia Cornwell's books and have really enjoyed watching the characters in her Kay Scarpetta novels experience so much in the realm of emotions and experiences. All main characters will go through trials and tribulations, but this book really changes my perception of one of her main characters and I'm not sure I like that.

The book opens with a scene in Rome where a young girl is being tortured in a bathtub of cold water. Her captor is asking questions and having her drink from a tumbler filled with vodka. Once her body is discovered, Kay and Benton are called to Rome to help solve the case, since the victim is sixteen year old American tennis star, Drew Martin. Several questions come up at this point, such as, why was a sixteen year old in Rome unchaperoned, why did she leave the states when she should have been preparing for her next tennis match, and was she an intentional target or just an unfortunate soul?

As the story unfolds, there are several other deaths, and Kay beings to wonder if they are all connected. Granted they do not all happen in Rome, but the circumstances behind them cause them to intertwine. This is the first book of hers that seemed to really jump all over the place. She has three locations where deaths happen and at times, it was hard to keep the different inspectors from those locations correct. Cornwell still provides a very entertaining murder mystery to solve, but something was missing.

The ending was left as a cliff-hanger, which does make me want to read the next one, just to figure out the unanswered questions.

Title: A Vengeful Longing
Author: R.N. Morris
Date Finished: November 12, 2008
Pages: 316

I found this new author in my typical way of roaming through the library and seeing what titles caught my attention. I had big expectations of this book after reading the short synopsis on the front flap.

"In the middle of a hot, dusty St. Petersburg summer in the late 1860s. A doctor brings home a fancy box of chocolates for his wife and son - a strange gift on a scorching Saturday afternoon. Within an hour, both mother and child die an excruciating death, and the doctor is immediately arrested, suspected of poisoning. As investigator Profiry Petrovich concedes, in such cases the obvious solution often turns out to be the correct solution. And in the city's sweltering, oppressive atmosphere, even he lacks the energy to delve any deeper.

But when further, apparently unconnected, murders occur on the other side of town, a subtle and surprising pattern starts to emerge. Porfiry is forced to reassess his assumptions and follow a tenuous, uncertain trail that takes him into the hidden, squalid heart of the city and brings him face-to-face with incomprehensible horror and cruelty." (front flap)

After reading that, I was hooked. However, I was kind of disappointed in the actual unfolding of the story line. As always, I enjoyed trying to figure out the answer before it was actually presented, but it was not a book I loved. There were parts of it that were very capturing and others where I just wanted to skip ahead. I don't know if it's a combination of being busy at work and trying to prepare for the upcoming holidays or if this really is an author I will not enjoy. I may try to read something else by him, but it will probably be quite a while.

Stone Cold

2008-10-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Title: Stone Cold
Author: David Baldacci
Date Finished: October 26, 2008
Pages: 544

David Baldacci is one of those authors that I have been meaning to pick up for quite a while, but always seem to end up reading something else. I was looking through our work library the other day and happened upon one of his books. So, I quickly picked it up and carried it to my desk. I usually try to find the first book that an author has written so that I don't miss any character development, but this time, I just decided to jump in wherever the book took me. Although this book does pick up in the middle of a series, I did not feel like I was missing any pertinent information that would hinder me from understanding what was going on. David Baldacci does a great job of character development and keeping the reader informed.

This book involves the elusive Camel Club members who are headed up by none other than Oliver Stone. This however, like several characters in this book, is not his real name. So many secrets are kept in this book, not only between friends, but between families as well. If government secrets, assassins, and mystery solving are of interest to you, I would highly recommend picking up this book.

Let me take a step back. The Camel Club consists of Oliver Stone, Milton Farb, Reuben Rhodes and Caleb Shaw. Each of these individuals plays an important role in the Club and are a unique piece of the puzzle. Some other star characters are Alex Ford (a Secret Service Agent), Annabelle Conroy, her father Paddy (who are both con artists), Carter Gray, Roger Simpson (both political figures), Ray Solomon (deceased), Harry Finn (complex individual living a double life), and a casino owner named Jerry Bagger.

Caleb works at a rare book store and gets a visit from Jerry Bagger while he is trying to find Annabelle. Caleb recognizes Jerry, but does his best to keep his cool and appear aloof. Meanwhile, Milton and Reuben are sent to Atlantic City to sniff out Bagger, not knowing he is in Washington D.C., on his own mission. Milton and Reuben, although trying to stay inconspicuous, end up drawing quite a bit of attention to themselves, and barely escape Atlantic City alive.

The Triple Sixes were a group of US Assassins, who in terms of public knowledge do not really exist. Some of their key members were Ray Solomon and Oliver Stone. The other members of this elite killing squad are being individually picked off and killed. What is the reasoning behind them being killed and why is the last thing they see a picture of them as a whole group? Carter Gray's house is blow-up a few hours after Oliver left. It is widely known that they are not on friendly terms, but did Oliver have something to do with the devastation? Did Carter really parish in the fire? A grave is dug up in Arlington's Memorial Cemetery and the name on the headstone is John Carr. Why is this significant to the Triple Sixes and what does this mean for Oliver?

While the Camel Club is trying to solve this mystery, they are also being used on another front to help Susan (whose real name is Annabelle) hid from the casino boss, Jerry Bagger that she just stole 4 millions dollars from. What past event drives Annabelle to put together such a detailed scheme again Jerry Bagger? Is there something in their past that links the two people together? Enter Paddy Conroy, Annabelle's father, who also conned Jerry Bagger in his past. Why does Annabelle hate her father and will they be able to make amends before one of them is taken away?

Although Oliver is the one who asked Annabelle to stay and fight back, he ends up having to abandon her when his own issues appear. Feeling bad about not being able to keep his word, Oliver calls his trusty friend and Secret Service Agent Alex Ford to come in and help her. There are not many people who know the true story behind Oliver Stone, but Alex does. They have worked together before and would trust their lives in the hands of each other, which in their world is a huge leap of faith. A Secret Service agent and a Con artist. You know that has to create a little bit of drama!

Harry Finn (also not his real name) has been brought up hearing bits and pieces about his fathers death. His mother, a Soviet spy, is hiding out in a nursing home, speaking incoherently when other are around, but speaks perfect Russian to her son. What caused her to go into hiding and what secrets does she know and has she told any of them to her one and only child? When a Soviet spy and an American spy get married, and you toss love into the mix of training, loyalty and honor, who converts to the other side and becomes a double agent? Could this have been the cause of his death? Treason is punishable by death in most places, back during this time.

Dirty politicians taking matters into their own hands. Nothing like that would ever happen, right? Ha! Both Carter Gray and Roger Simpson were involved in the spearheading of the Triple Sixes during and after the Vietnam war. Who used their political power to accomplish their own personal goals? Were the higher ups aware of what was playing out under their noses? Although this book poses lots of questions, each one of them is answered in due time. The drama that unfolds will leave you turning pages as fast as you can to find out what will happen next.

I will definitely pick up another one of David Baldacci's books, but I'll try to get them in order next time!

Nothing Lasts Forever

2008-10-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

Title: Nothing Lasts Forever
Author: Sidney Sheldon
Date Finished: October 22, 2008
Pages: 400

This was my first book by Sidney Sheldon and I have since added a few more of his books to my TBR pile! This author was recommended to me by my Dad, who has very similar taste in literature as I do. I have had this book sitting on my shelf for a while, like several others, and I finally took the time to pick it up and open it and boy am very glad I did. Mr. Sheldon's writing style is very easy to read and flows like silk. He gives great picturesque descriptions of his characters and keeps the pace up so you do not lose interest in the story unfolding before you.

I love a great mystery and the storyline was very intriguing. I loved the way he made the majority of the story a flashback. Like with movies I watch, I always try to figure out who did it before the answers are revealed. The story opens in present day in a courtroom, with Dr. Paige Taylor standing trial for the death of a patient. The catch is that when her patient died, he left her a very large sum of money, and cut his wife out of the will. She claims it was a mercy kill and that her patient begged her to help him end his life, but did she help him reach the other side out of compassion or greed? The question on everyones mind is, did she kill the guy for his money? It is said around the hospital that this patient greatly disliked Dr. Taylor and was often very critical of her skills. Was she taking out her revenge on a unruly patient, or helping a man find peace and comfort?

From there, the story flashes back five years, to when Dr. Paige Taylor and two other women, Honey Taft and Kat Hunter, are the only three females in a group of new residents. The girls quickly form a bond and their lives are dramatically changed. They are constantly harassed by the male doctors, who are always hitting on them, and criticizing their skills, making it known that they think a woman's place is not in the OR with the men but at home cooking and cleaning.

Kate "Kat" Hunter faces her own set of issues being that she's a black doctor trying to pave a way for herself while always taking care of her delinquent bother. Being traumatized (molested) as a child by her step-father, Kat eventually ran away from home and moved in with a relative. Having left her brother in that environment she felt it was her job to care for him in any way she can. Kat is always sending large amounts of money to bail her brother out of whatever new situation he has gotten himself into. This becomes a huge issue as the story unfolds.

Betty Lou "Honey" Taft came out of medical school with incredibly high scores and has great letters of recommendation in her file, so why is it that she's always messing up with diagnoses and recommendations during rounds? These errors only seem to occur during the morning rounds, so what is she doing differently during the day to improve?? There is a hint of a scandal in her past that you are given sneak peeks of throughout but what could a nice person like Honey have done to be run out of her prior town? Honey comes from a career driven family that includes several other doctors. While in school, Honey mentioned to her father that she would like to be a nurse, since she has such a caring and giving nature, but this infuriated her father and he basically told her that Taft's were not nurses, they were doctors. Does her family have something to do with the situation she is currently in??

Dr. Paige Taylor spent her childhood growing up in Third World Countries while her father was a doctor with WHO (World Health Organization) along with another family. She grows up with Alfred Turner who promises her that they will be together some day when they grow-up and he finishes his work in Africa. As Paige anxiously awaits his return so they can get married, she ends up quite surprised when she opens her front door. Has he come back to claim his childhood love??

If you are interested in a murder drama with a mixture of romance and suspense I would recommend putting this book on your list! The characters are very likable and provide the right amount of drama to keep you turning those pages.

Giveaway Alert!

2008-10-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Giveaway alert!!!

Trish is giving away a copy of Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies. Click (here) to be entered. You can be entered up to three time by following the instructions on her page. The drawing will be held on Thursday, October 30th at 6:30 a.m. (Central Time).

If you have not read the Diary of Anne Frank, I would very much recommend it. It is a heartbreaking book written by a young girl as she is experiencing life as a Jew in Germany during World War II. The different between this book and others that have been written is often times, the other books are written after the war is over and take on a more reflective tone, where as this was writting while it was happening in the diary of a young woman. Her family goes into hiding and are there are eight people sharing a very small space for quite some time. Always having to keep quite and not being able to play outside with other children would be a very hard thing for someone young to endure.

Good Luck to you all!!!

The Hot House Life Inside Leavenworth Prison

2008-10-20T10:45:00.001-07:00

Title: The Hot House Life Inside Leavenworth Prison
Author: Pete Earley
Date Finished: October 19, 2008
Pages: 441

I have really been on a non-fiction kick lately, in hopes of expanding my reading base. It has always been so much easier for me to pick up a fiction book and get lost in whatever world the story puts me in. For non-fiction I have this horrible idea that it's going to be a harder read and I won't enjoy it as much, which is completely FALSE!!! At my office, you get a sense of what genre's people like by what you see them reading in the lunch room. About a year ago, I noticed that one of the girls always has non-fiction books based on prisons, true crime, and maybe even a few biographies. I have always been intrigued by these topics, but wasn't really sure where to even being to find a good/interesting book. So, the other day, I just asked her if she had a favorite book, or how she went about choosing the ones she reads. She happened to have one of her favorites sitting on her desk and let me borrow it!

I did not want to put this book down. It was so interesting, and I just got caught up in their world, or at least as close as my mind would allow. Obviously this is something that you would have to have experienced before to really understand, and I can thankfully say that I have never, nor ever plan to be part of the prison crowd. Let me just say that Pete Earley is a very brave man. He spent two years, 1987-1989, going into Leavenworth Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas without protection, to get the "true stories" that he shares. Some history that I was able to pick up on Leavenworth, it was built to resemble the Capitol in Washington D.C., and has a dome and all, obviously it is not made out of the same material. This was the first federal prison built, and is a level 5, Maximum security prison. The inmates are all males, and the majority of the prison staff are male as well. Those females that do venture to work there, are often times kept in assistant/secretary/school teacher type roles, and not guards.

Pete Earley not only interviews the inmates, but the guards as well. Some of them tell about their crimes and their lives inside the prison, others talk about their families and their lives before prison. One of the big controversies that first happens in this book is that the newly appointed warden is a black man. This upsets not only the AB (Aryan Brotherhood) inmates, but also those guards who are resistant to be taking orders from a black man. Some of the inmates that Earley talks to are: Carl Bowles, Thomas Little, Thomas Silverstein, Dallas Scott and Norman Bucklew (whose name was changed to protect him). The guards and other prison workers were: Warden Matthews, Eddie Geouge, Bill Slack, and Elke Shoats.

Thomas Silverstein was one of the most talked about prisoners during this two year period. He was kept in an isolated cell, with no human contact (solitary confinement) and the lights were kept on 24 hours a day. The only human interaction would be with the two guards that are posted outside his cell, but because he killed a guard, they will not speak to him. Although a very creative artist, he is denied drawing materials for quite some time as a reminder of who is in charge. There is a picture of one of this sketches in the book, and I was incredibly impressed with his artistic ability.

As I was reading this book, I kept thinking what life would be like to be a guard at a prison. From the accounts that are shared with Pete Earley, it sounds like there is a fine-line between home and work life, that is quite often blurred. One account, the guy ends up being shot, with a shotgun, by his own children. As the story unfolds it turns out that he was very abusive at home, and the kids finally got sick of it and took matters into their own hands. When you are constantly trying to prove your authority and keep others in check, it would be hard to turn that off when you weren't on the clock. It would be hard to leave this kind of work "at the office" at the end of the day. You would almost be inhumane if you were able to do that on a daily basis and not let the work effect you.

Carl Bowles, one of the inmates, has been in prison for the majority of his life, and is very respected/feared within Leavenworth. He likes to pick new inmates and take them under his wing. The guards and other inmates will often snicker that Carl is only picking the new meat so that they can be his "wife" on the inside. Carl talked to Thomas Little when he arrives and makes it clear that if you don't want anyone to mess with you there are three things you can do. You can team up with someone for protection, let them mess with you, or kill them. Thomas decides to take Carl up on his offer and they form quite a friendship. Carl explains to Thomas, after he hears other inmates calling him Carl's "wife" that after spending so much of his life in prison, he is just looking for someone that he can form a tight bond with. Of course he has sexual desires, but those can be taken care of. It is much harder to connect with someone on a more intimate basis while in prison. Someone you can talk to, and share things with, someone who really understands what you go through on a daily basis, and he found this companion in Thomas Little. Carl also goes out of his way to help have Thomas transferred to a lower level prison. Thomas is a first time offender and his crime was a bank robbery. Carl, after coaching Thomas what to ask, finds out that Thomas has been listed as an escape risk and that is why he was sent to Leavenworth. Apparently at the jail Thomas was being held in, the guard allegedly found Thomas' cell bars had been sawed through, and instead of proving that Thomas was the one that did it, they just made a note in his file and off to Leavenworth he went.

It was interesting to see what the different guards and inmates chose to talk to Pete about. Even though some of these guys are very dangerous people and have committed heinous crimes, they were very open and honest with Pete in regards to a variety of topics. Some wanted to talk about their families, or how they were better suited in prison than the outside world. Inside, they knew the rules and how to handle themselves, but if you open the gates, it becomes a whole new ballgame. Most of the inmates that were released ended up back inside within a year or two. Sometimes when you've lived one way of life for so long, it's hard to reprogram yourself and adjust to being a part of society again. There were even a few guys who preferred being behind bars than out on the streets.

This book was very much outside of my usual realm, but it was very mind-opening and I know it will stay with me for quite some time. I would really like to read something else along these same lines, and if you have any suggestions, they would be much appreciated. If any of this interests you, I would really recommend picking up this book. It is an eye-opening experience and a great read!

The Book Thief

2008-10-17T09:17:00.001-07:00

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Date Finished: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Pages: 576

I was told about this book from a friend of mine, Trish, (here) a couple of months ago and after hearing about it decided that it would be a great book to add to my list for the Bang Bang Challenge (which is my first challenge ever!). I have to admit that it took me a couple of chapters to really get into the book. The more I read the more I enjoyed the unique writing style of Markus Zusak. For those of you who are not familiar with this book, I would most definitely recommend it if you are interested in the World War II era, or if you are intrigued by the idea that the narrator of this book is Death!

Death first encounters the book thief when she is 9 years old, when he comes to take her brother on a dreary train platform. The children were being escorted by their mother to a small town in Germany where they would be passed over to Foster parents. Even though he is not there to take her, Death becomes fascinated by the book thief and is there to witness her commit her first act thievery when she picks up a book that fell from the pocket of one of the gravediggers from the cemetary where her brother has just been laid to rest. At this point in her life, Liesel Meminger, cannot yet read the book she has picked up, but wants desperately to know how. This book holds a special place in her heart, because it reminds her of her brother.

Liesel forms a strong bond with her foster dad, who plays the accordian and teachs her to read. There is quite a story behind her dad playing the accordian and it eventually causes some difficulties for her family in the future. Being persued by Rudy, her neighbor, Liesel is always turning down his requests for a kiss when he does something to help her. She grows to be very fond of Rudy, but will he ever get that much anitcipated kiss from his love?? While helping to deliever and pick up laundy for her mother from the townspeople, Liesel develops an interesting relationship with the Mayor's wife. She allows Liesel to eventually come into her home and the first place she takes her is into the library. Liesel automatically assumes that the books are the Mayor's, to which she is later proven wrong.

After yelling at the Mayor's wife after her mother's services are no longer needed, Liesel with the help of Rudy, decide to go back to the Mayor's house and steal a book. The book thief appears several times, but only takes one book at a time. One day, when they ride up, they notice that there is a book propped against the window where they enter, and it happens to be a dictionary. Another time, there is a plate of cookies that has been left in the library, and Liesel suddenly realizes that the Mayor's wife knows she has been entering the library and has left these items for her on purpose. Will she eventually approach the Mayor's wife and thank her, or will she continue to sneak in and out of the window with her newly chosen book?

As the book begins to come to an end, Death gives you some information ahead of time, in his mind to help soften the blow of the information. He is at times very compassionate, espeically when the air raides are happening and he is having to gather several children in his hands. This time period was a very busy time for death and he was often working days on end without a break.

I found Death to be quite commical at times, and really enjoyed hearing his point of view. I love the importance that is placed on words during this book. Especially in a time when words could really impact those around you. As the story progresses, Liesel continues to hear the word "Communist," but every time she asks someone what that means, she get a run-around answer. As she continues to piece together a definition, she realizes that her own mother was one, and asks her foster father if this is the reason she was seperated from her mother. Not wanting to ever lie to her, he shakes his head yes, and another mystery is solved.

I will not give away any spoliers, but I did want to share one of my favorite parts of this book with you. I love the way that the book ends. It is a short sentence by Death that pretty much sums up everything. "I am haunted by humans." (p.550) This sentence continues to give me chills, but I feel that it is a very powerful sentence. I fell in love with the characters in this book and was continuously surprised by Death's reactions and point of view throughout the story. When I first learned that the narrator was going to be Death, I expected a very dreary and heartbreaking book, but I was very happily surprised when I learned that was not going to be the case. If you get a chance to read this book, I would definitely recommend it!

This book was also reviewed by:
Laura, Trish, (if you have one, please let me know!)

Ride the Wind

2008-10-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

Title: Ride the Wind
Author: Lucia St. Clair Robson
Date Finished: October 4, 2008
Pages: 562

When I found out that this was the next book my IRL book club was going to be reading, I was needless to say, less than thrilled. I honestly cannot tell you the last time I read a book that dealt with American Indians or even that time period. I learned about Quanah Parker while I was in school, but never really knew anything about his family. So, I sucked it up, opened the book and started reading. The first part of the book, had me furious and almost in tears. Lucia St. Clair Robson starts the book off with a raid on the Parker family stead and is quite graphic. I remember making a comment the next morning about how awful the Indians were to the whites and how I just did not understand their savage like qualities. But, I kept reading.

It took me a day or two to really stop and think, reorient my brain to how things were back then, to really understand and sympathize with the Indians. Before white man came over, they were free to roam the plains, feed their families, and live life as all those before them had. When the white man came over, with them came diseases, new weapons, and a whole new way of life. The Indians respected Mother Earth and were always careful to not destroy her, where as when the whites came over, they were harvesting and building houses and towns on top of what used to be acres up acres of rolling plains.

Lucia St. Clair Robson is a beautiful writer. Her descriptions are picturesque and so detail oriented that I felt like I could close my eyes and be standing there right beside them seeing the same things they were seeing. Her words were hypnotic and once I really got into the storyline, I could not put the book down. You really get to know the main characters and I found myself cheering them on, and worrying for their safety while they were on raids, or hunting for food in the winter for their families.

The prologue ends with "Not much happened in 1836," but for the Parker family, this was where their story really began. Cynthia Ann Parker was nine years old when she was taken from her white family by a young Comanche Warrior named Nocona "Wanderer." She was taken to replace the child that Sunrise and Takes Down the Lodge had lost, and they loved her like she was their own. Upon her arrival into their camp, she became immediate friends with Star Name, another girl fairly close to her age. Star Name was very patient and would pronounce every item she touched for Cynthia to repeat and answered all the questions she could. Cynthia's brother John was also taken captive and ended up living with another band, under Old Owl, whom her family wintered with.

Wanderer, true to his name, came and went from Cynthia's band, often rejoining his father, Iron Shirt's band. Cynthia who was named, Naduah "Keeps Warm With Us" was taught the importance of names from her Grandmother, Medicine Woman. Each of the warriors were named as a child, and then after they had their vision, they were given a new name in regards to their medicine, or spirit. As she grew up Naduah grew to love Wanderer and was always happier when he returned. She had a special way with his horse and he knew that she was something special. After getting a horse of her own, she learned how to communicate with her horse without vocal commands. The Indians were great riders and Wanderer, being the best, taught her how to teach her horse to give her signs, and to react to commands she gave with her legs to keep her hands free to protect herself. Learning how to mount a horse from different angles gave them more flexibility when engaging in raids, or when being attacked.

Eventually, when she is old enough, Wanderer comes to buy his bride with 100 horses. This was a huge statement of his love for her, since the people of his father's time had purchased their brides with two horses and some blankets. The majority of the War Chiefs had several wives to help with all the chores and also to allow some of them to join their man on raids. Wanderer, however, only wanted Naduah. Some of the other women gave her a hard time and told her that he didn't love her enough if he wasn't willing to marry others to help her with the chores. Naduah and Wanderer never saw it that way, and were quite happy with the way things were. After having Quanah, it was five years before they had another child. After giving him a second son, Pecan, she would have one more child, a daughter nicknamed Flower.

As families died off from cholera or small pox, those left behind were taken in by the remaining ones. Not only were a large percentage of their People dying from diseases they had never seen before, but as more people migrated to Texas and then on to California, the white men were killing off the buffalo's with their new gun and after skinning them, leaving them to rot in the fields. The "People" were very resourceful with the buffalo and every part was of significance to them. It became impossible for them to provide food for their families, because the guns were scaring off the remaining buffalo and those that were killed were wasted rotting in the elements.

There is a great amount of character development throughout the book that made it very enjoyable. I am very glad that I read this book and would recommend it to everyone. Even though it was not my usual cup of tea, it was very enjoyable and somewhat educational. I enjoyed Lucia St. Clair Robson's style and plan to pick up another book by her in the future.

Change of Heart

2008-09-26T08:18:00.001-07:00

Title: Change of Heart
Author: Jodi Picoult
Date Finished: September 24, 2008
Pages: 464

This was my first Jodi Picoult book, after hearing such raves from my friends about her writing. I have to admit, I was very impressed. I was skimming through the new books at the library and happened upon it, so I figured it was a good place to start. This book deals with religion, death row, protection and the grey area between the lines in life. Jodi Picoult does a great job dealing with such a controversial issue, religion, and does not press or support one religion over another. I found myself doing quite a bit of life reflection after reading this book, and enjoyed thinking through some of the issues she presented.

The book opens with one of the main characters, June, tragically losing her husband. She is left behind with a daughter to raise, Elizabeth, and actually ends up falling in love with the police officer who was at the scene of her husbands death. They in turn get married, and while she is pregnant, she comes home to find that the carpenter she hired to finish adding a room on for the nursery, Shay Bourne, has killed both her second husband and her daughter. To make matters worse, her daughters underwear was found in the Shay's pocket. At the trial he is sentenced to death by lethal injection, which is the first case in quite some time in this town.

To complicate matters even more, Clair, June's second daughter, is in dire need of a heart transplant. Shay who exhibits Messiah like qualities wants to donate his heart, but only if it will go to Clair. June is furious when she hears this and will not allow that man's heart to be placed into her only surviving child. Enter two other main characters, Father Michael, who becomes Shay's spiritual advisor, and Maggie Bloom, who is a lawyer for ACLU and is trying to change Shay's method of death to be hanging instead of lethal injection so that his heart can be donated. Father Michael has a secret that he is too scared to share with Shay and Maggie for fear that it could drastically effect his credibility with the court.

Upon entering I-tier, the only place to keep a death row inmate, Shay exhibits Messiah like qualities by turning the water into wine, healing a pet bird of one of the inmates, distributing gum to each of the other I-tier occupants while only having one piece, apparently curing his cell neighbor of AIDS, and quoting scripture from a Gnostic book the Gospel of Thomas. As news travels of the supposed miracles of I-tier, people travel from all over with their sick, dying, blind, etc... loved ones and line up outside the prison in hopes of having them healed by Shay. This creates quite a ruckus, and those who are opposed line up with signs and protests as well.

June is faced with the ultimate decision. Does she lose her only surviving child by rejecting the heart of the man who took her family from her, or does she take the heart and save her child? As the story unfolds, you get caught up in the drama and action in each of the characters lives and find yourself holding your breath in anticipation of what will happen next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will be sure to pick up another Jodi Picoult book in the future. There were many plot turns in this book that kept you on your toes anticipating which direction the story would take. There were some things that I figured may happen, but for the most part, I was happily surprised by the outcomes. I would highly recommend this book if you have not yet had the chance to read it.

Eat, Pray, Love

2008-09-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

Title: Eat, Pray, Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Date Finished: September 9, 2008
Pages: 331

This work of non-fiction by Elizabeth Gilbert was the third book for my IRL book club. I was a little advantageous before starting this book because of the varying opinions I had heard from others. There are some people that really love this book and others who do not. After finishing the book, I feel like I would fall in the category of "liked" more than "disliked." There were several things that I could really connect to, and others that I felt were out of my league, but on a whole I really enjoyed the story of her journey for love, balance and enlightenment.

After ending up on her bathroom floor in tears night after night, Elizabeth Gilbert finally reaches her breaking point and calls out to God for some help. She has been married for 10 years, is approaching the age of 30, and realizes that she does not want children, or to be married to this man any longer. Eat, Pray, Love is about her year long journey across Italy, India and Indonesia in search of good food, love, and the pursuit of balance in her life. While going through her divorce, she throws herself into an on-again, off-again affair with a man named David. With the advance that she gets on a book deal, she decides to travel and in each of the three "I's" she is determined to get something from them. Her plan is to spend four months in each location, in Italy she will learn to speak Italian and eat wonderful food; in India she will stay at an Ashram where she will learn to meditate and get in touch with herself; in Indonesia she plans to seek out the "medicine man" she met there two years ago who then predicted her return to Indonesia and learn to ultimate balance in life.

I loved how she broke down the book. There are three sections to represent the three locations she will be staying in. But further than that, each section is broken down into thirty-six (36) chapters who relates to not only to her age, but is representative of the traditional beads that are worn in India that have 108 beads.
"Amid he more esoteric circles of Eastern philosophers, the number 108 is held to be the most auspicious, a perfect three-digit multiple of three, its components adding up to nine, which is three threes." (p.1)

I would have to say that my favorite section was Italy, but I really enjoyed the others are well. I have always wanted to go to Italy and her descriptions throughout the book are wonderful. Upon arriving in Italy, she connects with a set of twins who would like to learn English in exchange for teaching Italian, which is exactly what Elizabeth is looking for. She fantasises about falling in love, or in bed with Giovanni, one of the twins, but has promised herself that she will remain celibate throughout this year of searching for enlightenment. While she is in Italy, you learn the story of her divorce, and her relationship with David. I love how she is able to make friends no matter where she goes. She does not do much sight-seeing while in Italy, but when she does travel around she always asks for the best place to eat when she gets there and goes straight there and asks for their best dish. I love how adventurous she is with food. There are so many times when people travel to another place, but do not want to actually experience it because they are afraid, or picky, or it just looks weird.

The journey to India was interesting in that her goal there is to go to the Ashram and dive into meditation in the pursuit of devotion. I have never been one for deep meditation, especially with how hard it is to quiet the brain just to sleep. While Elizabeth is in India she meets Richard, from Texas. He is probably one of my favorite characters in the book. While they are at the Ashram, it is a place of quite, soul searching, meditation and there he is cracking jokes with her, calling her "Groceries" and making fun of her reactions when she is not able to meditate properly. He is great comic relief for a very intense section of the book. Although it takes her a while to finally be able to meditate and know that there will always be thoughts running through your head, you just have to ignore them. Before Richard left to go back home he had something to share with her "And, Groceries? Do me a favor? Move ahead with your life, will ya?" "I am." "What I mean is - find somebody new to love someday. Take the time you need to heal, but don't forget to eventually share your heart with someone. Don't make your life a monument to David or to your ex-husband." (p.188-189).

The part of this section that really touched me the most was Richard's description of the word soul-mate. "Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it." (p.149).

Her last leg of the trip was to Indonesia. Right before she left India, Elizabeth realized that she had no idea how to find this "medicine man" of hers, or even if he would remember her. Upon arrival, she is informed that she is only allowed to stay for one month, which totally disrupts her plan, since she was intending to stay for four months. But, not letting this discourage her, she finds a hotel to stay in, and eventually finds her "medicine man." Much to her disappointment, he does not remember her at first, and even when he does, he does not remember offering her a place to stay. She forms a bond with him, and he considers her a true friend. Even though she does not end up teaching him English, like originally discussed, she learns a great deal from him. Not only about what he does as a "medicine man," but also about those who come to see him.

While in Indonesia, Elizabeth does eventually fall for a man named Felipe. Having a hard time letting go of her promise to stay celibate for the entire year, she eventually opens up her heart and lets Felipe in. Although I was happy for her finding someone to love, I could not help but wonder what her trip would have been like had she ended it completely on her own. She made some good friends while she was in Indonesia, and even had help from her friends in the stats to get one of them enough money to buy a home for her and her children.

I really did enjoy Elizabeth's journey and hope that she was able to continue her meditation and enjoyment of life once she was immersed back into her daily life in New York. It is often much easier to focus on something if that is all you do all day. In a different environment where you do not have the same distractions or commitments you do back in your own reality. I have heard that some consider her selfish for taking the time away to write this book. I would have to disagree. I think we all need to take the time to focus on ourselves once in a while, and to do that, yes, you do have to be a little selfish, but in our society, I think it is much needed. We are always willing to help other people, and often times we forget to help ourselves. It is hard to admit when we are depressed and need help, but it is something that lots of people go through, and there is nothing to be ashamed about. We need to be able to pick ourselves up, and get the help that we need. If that makes us selfish, then so be it!

My Enemy's Cradle

2008-09-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Title: My Enemy's Cradle
Author: Sara Young
Date Finished: September 5, 2008
Pages: 384

I have been wanting to read this book for a couple of months now, and had actually considered it for my selection in my IRL Book Club. However, when a friend told me about the Bang Bang Challenge, I decided to hold off a little bit and use this as one of my five choices. I have always been a fan of War book and movies, which being a girl will often get me strange looks, but I am particularly interested in World War II and anything that has to do with the Holocaust. In school, this was one of the most interesting topics for research and discussion for me and continues to make me wonder how things like this were allowed to happen.

Cyrla, who is half-Jewish, half-Dutch, was sent to live with her late mother's relatives in Holland when things in Poland were threatened by the Germans during World War II. Having her mother's blond hair, Cyrla's father believes she would be safer living with her mother's Dutch family than remaining in Holland with him and her two brothers. She and her cousin, Anneke, become like sisters and are always sharing things with each other. Cyrla is somewhat jealous of Anneke and the way she commands attention when she enters a room, how she can get the attention of any may she desires and how much simpler her life seems since she is not Jewish. To Anneke, the fact that Cyrla is half-Jewish does not really register, because for her, it is a moot point. They are family and that is all that matters. Anneke's father on the other hand, is very quick to point out that Cyrla could bring them problems with the SS since she is staying in their house.

Anneke falls in love with a German soldier, Karl, who is not really a Nazi sympathizer. Anneke becomes pregnant with Karl's child and after telling her parents is forced to be tested by the doctors at a Lebensborn, which is a home for women who are pregnant with German children. If a father is named, he is given rights to the child. If he is married, then the child is taken into his home and raised by his wife, if he is not married and does not wish to keep the child, it is put up for adoption and placement in a German family. The mothers are not allowed to keep the child for fear that they will take the kid back to their hometown and raise it to be an enemy of Germany or eventually birth children who will be enemies of Germany.

After some heartbreaking pages, Anneke is found dead by Cyrla and her aunt. Anneke's death is blamed on her father for wanting to send her to a Lebensborn and he disappears into the night. Cyrla's aunt decides that it is no longer safe for her and so she is urged to use Anneke's name and go to the Lebensborn in her place. Cyrla and Anneke are so identical they could be twins, but Cyrla fears that she will not be able to fool the doctors, nurses and other expectant mothers. The most obvious reason being she is not pregnant. Upon coming to live with her relatives, Cyrla made friends with a young Jewish man named, Isaak. Cyrla has very strong feelings for him and so she approaches him with her problem and he is willing to help her.

Cyrla will not leave Isaak without making him promise that he will come get her before she delivers the baby (since it will not be German) and he eventually promises to do so. Upon her arrival at the Lebensborn, Cyrla realizes that she has been taken to another location, inside Germany. With no way to relay this to Isaak, she becomes desperate to keep her identity hidden from those around her. Cyrla makes friends with some of the girls in the house, and one of the nurses, who she realises is not like the others. Even though she must keep her identity a secret, she longs for companionship and compassion. Not being able to communicate with her family, or even knowing where they are weighs heavily on her and keeps her constantly on her toes.

Karl appears at the Lebensborn one day after being informed that he has a pregnant woman there with him listed as the father. Upon seeing Cyrla instead of Anneke, Karl does not blowing her cover, instead he waits until they can speak privately to find out where Anneke is and what is going on. After delaying as long as possible, Cyrla finally decides to tell Karl the truth. He did not know that Anneke was pregnant and told Cyrla the story of what really happened the last day he saw Anneke. Not knowing that she was coming to tell him her big news, he had his own big news to share. He was not in love with her, but was actually falling for her cousin, Cyrla.

* Spoilers ahead*

Having a hard time believing anyone who wears the German uniform, Cyrla tries to ignore the kindness that Karl is bestowing on her, and for quite some time, she lies to him and denies anything he offers her. Eventually, she realizes that he really does care about her, and not just because she is Anneke's cousin, but for who she is. They fall in love in a time of war and hardship and both suffer great losses before the war is over. Not only does Cyrla lose her cousin, she finds out Isaak was killed in a concentration camp, possibly along with the rest of her family. Karl suffers a great deal too, he lost a child he did not even know about and when he helped Cyrla flee the Lebensborn, he was sent to a concentration camp himself and they removed his hands, since his pleasure in life was making boats.

This story, like many others during this World War, break my heart. I am always amazed at the strength some of those people portrayed, and hope that if I were ever put in a similar situation, I would be able to bend and not break. Sara Young does a wonderful job with the characters in this book and you feel as if you are there with them, helping them fight their battles, and hoping that she is never discovered.

Conversations with the Fat Girl

2008-08-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

Title: Conversations with the Fat Girl
Author: Liza Palmer
Date Finished: August 28, 2008
Pages: 328

Have you ever found a book that you related to on so many different levels that you just did not want to put it down? I will be honest, chick-lit is not one of my favorite genres, but when I read the synopsis of this book I felt an immediate connection to the main character and her trials and tribulations with her best friend. Having just gone through very similar experiences, I found myself anticipating the outcome and wondering if it would be similar to my own.

Maggie and Olivia have been best friends for years, having bonded in middle school because they were both overweight and outcasts. The girls fantasize all throughout high school about big events in their lives and how everyone will realize that these girls really are great and want to be a part of their lives. Years later at the age of 22, Olivia being the bigger of the two, decides to undergo gastric bypass surgery. After becoming a "skinny girl," Olivia falls in love and become engaged to Dr. Adam Farrell. Upon visiting them on the east coast, Maggie discovers that they sleep in their own double beds in the same room, Adam is obviously repulsed by overweight girls, and seems to be looking for a trophy wife to show off on his arm.

Maggie finds herself discontent working as a barista in a coffee house along with the one man she cannot stop thinking about, Domenic, the busboy and doll maker. Domenic (whose real name is Domenico) works in the family doll making factory, where he is in charge of making the small hands and feet for the dolls. Maggie finds herself always acting awkward around him and not confident enough to tell him how she really feels. The two dance around the topic of a relationship the entire book. The question of whether they would become a couple or not, started to get on my nerves, but I really appreciated that this book did not focus solely on her finding a boyfriend, but on finding her own self.

Maggie was chosen to be Olivia's Maid of Honor and bends over backwards throughout the whole book to do everything she can to make this event as special and meaningful as possible for her best friend. She also sees it as her own personal reward, because years ago, they were both just fat girls who no one liked, and here they are 15+ years later and one of them is marrying this handsome doctor. What Maggie seems oblivious to is the fact that her best friend really hasn't been a friend for several years. Ever since becoming skinny, Olivia has hidden the fact that she was ever fat from all of her new friends, and seems to have made up this really great past that Maggie knows is no where near the truth. Olivia is constantly disappointing Maggie, and cannot seem to find time in her busy schedule to actually call her back, but does have time to talk to her new friend Gwen, who is also quite rude to Maggie. Even though Maggie is the MOH, Gwen is determined to have a special spot in the festivities, and is always monopolizing Olivia's time, which seems to be of no concern for Olivia.

Things really start to come to a climax at the Bachelorette party in Las Vegas. Wanting to make this day as special as she can, Maggie has set up to have drinks with just Olivia before the festivities start. Hoping to rekindle the friendship that seems to be missing, Maggie wanted to spend some quality alone time with her best friend before her big day. After three unreturned phone calls to confirm, Maggie goes out with her sister Kate, whom she brought along for support on this trip, to wait at the restaurant where all the party goers are suppose to have high tea. When the other guests start to arrive it becomes very embarrassing for Maggie that the Bride and Gwen are the only ones not present. Thirty minutes later they do finally show up and Maggie finds out that they had flown in early and spent the whole day together shopping, getting pampered at the spa (which was Maggie's birthday gift to Olivia) and just hanging out. Feeling frustrated, Maggie chooses not to say anything and they move on to the next activity. Feeling more confident, since she has lost a size, Maggie grabs her new outfit and cowboy hat as they head to the bar. Gwen makes a nasty comment which riles up Kate who in her drunken haze, confronts her. When it becomes apparent that Olivia is not going to do anything to stand up to her friend, Maggie, on the verge of tears, pulls her sister out of the bar and heads back to the hotel. At three a.m. Maggie gets a call from a desperate Olivia who wants to meet. Maggie sneaks out of her room, where her sister is sleeping, and meets Olivia who is in tears and feeling bad about not defending her at the bar. She gives Maggie her birthday gift, which is a beautiful necklace with an M & O on it, and begs Maggie to promise she will still be a part of the wedding.

After telling herself that she just would not know what to do without her best friend, Maggie once again gives in to Olivia, and wants to still be a part of her big day. When she tells her family, Kate is obviously upset and feels betrayed that she stood up for her sister only to have her go running back to the person that was so openly mean to her in public. The worst for Maggie is when her mom tells her she will not accompany her to the wedding and that she wants her to realize that Olivia is not a real friend. Feeling like she is being let down, her mom explains to her that she loves her and is tired of watching her continuously hurt by the same person.

It is wonderful to watch Maggie become more confident in herself as the book progresses, she finally does something with her degree that she loves, she starts taking better care of herself by going to a personal trainer, and she stops allowing herself to be used by others. Having that defining moment where you realize that you do have the power to make changes in your own life, and you actually take back control is a great thing.

The day before the rehearsal Maggie finds out she is no longer a part of the head table with Olivia and in fact has been banished to the furthest table from them, Table 9. Olivia's mother asks her to take the pictures Olivia has selected to a place that can put them together as a slide show. Instead, Maggie volunteers and says she will do it on her computer. The night of the rehearsal dinner, Maggie confidently walks to Table 9, where she is the only person, since everyone else who was suppose to sit there has grabbed a chair and moved closer. When it is time for the slide show, the guests finally get to see the real Olivia. Maggie has gone through and added in slides of the two of them when they were younger, and some of the fun things they did together. Olivia freaks out, and begins screaming at her mom for adding in pictures that she did not pick. Maggie walks over and tell her that she is the one who put the pictures in, because these were some of the best times these two girls had growing up. Realizing that Olivia has drastically changed and really is not a friend, Maggie walks out. On her way out, she runs into Gwen who makes some comment about seeing her the next day to which Maggie finally makes a comment she has been wanting to make to Gwen for a long time.

Maggie does not end up stand up next to Olivia as her Maid of Honor, but does learn some great things about herself. Through this trying time in her life, she has discovered who her real friends are, found confidence in herself and allowed herself to look past the body type and realize that she has the power to be the person she wants to be. In our society today, the majority of the population is overweight, and it is due to lack of activity, giving in to high calorie foods, the convenience of stopping for fast food instead of cooking a healthy meal, and portion size. I myself struggle with weight, but I know that all I have to do is take back control. I have the power to control what I put into my body, when I work out, what other activities I participate in, and how motivated I am. I really enjoyed this book and the journey that Maggie had to endure.

It is truly heartbreaking when a friendship dies, but friendship like so many other things work both ways. To have a good friend, you need to be a good friend and when one person is doing all the work, something is wrong. Sometimes we hold on because we are afraid of not having someone in the "best friend" role in our lives, but that is no reason to hang on to something that has been gone for a while. I know it was hard for Maggie to walk away from Olivia and her wedding, but she is a better person for it, and without Olivia there to hold her back she will continue to succeed, rebuild confidence in herself and really enjoy life. I loved this book and hope to see something else by Liza Palmer soon!

Blacklist

2008-08-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Title: Blacklist
Author: Sara Paretsky
Date Finished: August 23, 2008
Pages: 480

Lately, I have been trying to expand my reading boundaries and have been picking up several new authors to try. So far, I have yet to be disappointed. I tend to walk along the aisles of the local library until I find someone who has several books and then I pick one up to see if it interests me. This is how I found Sara Paretsky, who writes about a private investigator by the name of V.I. Warshawski (a.k.a. Vic or Victoria). I was not able to find the first book of the series, but the title of this one caught my eye and after reading a quick synopsis, I was hooked.

The story is about a 91 year old wealthy white woman, Geraldine Graham, who lives in a fancy retirement home with a room that overlooks her old mansion. Geraldine believes that she has been seeing a light on in the attic of her old home, but every time the police go out to inspect the premises, they turn up with nothing. The house was abandoned by the family that bought it from the Graham's and has been sitting vacant for a while. Geraldine's son believes his mother's sightings at night are actually a ploy for him to come over and spend more time with her, but to appease his mother, he hires a private investigator that he has on retainer to investigate, Ms. V.I. Warshawski.

Vic is anxious for work, or anything that will help her keep her mind off her lover, Morrell, who is on assignment in Afghanistan and possibly in quite a bit of danger in the post 9-11 war zone. As Vic searches the house one night, she encounters a young girl, who offers no explanation as to why she is there, but Vic ends up getting her hands on something as the girl dashes off into the darkness. Vic then stumbles upon more trouble as she trips on a stone in the path and falls into the pool, where she encounters another body, however, this one is dead. Marcus Whitby, a young African American journalist who Vic discovers in the pool was writing a book about a blacklisted African dancer and anthropologist who is intertwined with the families she encounters throughout her research. Using the article she was able to take from the young woman she met at the house, Vic finds the mysterious late night girl is none other than Catherine Bayard, whose grandfather owns a large publishing company and is Vic's hero and has been since she heard him speak to one of her classes in college.

A young Arab, who was washing dishes at Catherine's private school has since disappeared and is wanted by several branches of the government and National Security under suspicion of being a terrorist, after it was discovered that the mosque he attends is very politically active. Vic soon discovers that the person hiding in the old Graham house is none other than Benji, the Arab, and he is being looked after by Catherine, who is lying to her grandmother and sneaking out at night to take food and companionship to him. Catherine is able to enter the house and bypass the alarm because of a key that her grandfather has had for years, that no one else seems to remember him having.

Paretsky does a great job of explaining that during the McCarthy Era many people were labeled as "Communist" whether they actually were or not, just by the people they kept company with, their skin color, or the ideas they shared with those they felt they could trust, and in turn were blacklisted. Many authors, publishers, performers and so forth were unable to find work after being labeled as Communists. It was quite similar to the Salem witch hunts, where people were sought out and punished for what others believed them to be. I have always been fascinated with the McCarthy Era and felt this book did a good job of bringing some of the ideas of those days to light.

As the story continues, we learn about the death of another man, who was once a neighbor of the Graham's and Vic discoverers that this is the man that Marcus Whitby may have possibly seen before he was killed and put into the pool. Vic does not feel that the local police are putting in enough effort to find out why a young, black journalist was found dead in the pool of an abandoned mansion in a very wealthy, elitist white neighborhood, so she continues her own research and is determined to find out what happened to Marcus and any connection that the Bayard family may have to his murder.

The deeper she digs the more Vic learns about the families that used to live on this block and how her own client, Darraugh Graham, is involved and has been keeping things from her. His father is not the man that his mother was married to and he idolized all those years, in fact the dad he had was actually a homosexual and was having a relationship with another man in the neighborhood. Darraugh's birth father is none other than Calvin Bayard, the publisher whose own wife has taken over the company and lied and cheated her way to the top. Knowing that she butted her way into Calvin's life, Renee will do anything to protect her family and her husband's reputation. But would she be the mastermind behind all these deaths?? Guess you'll have to read it to find out who actually did the killings and why they were done.

I really enjoyed this book by Sara Partesky and have since learned that this is her 11th novel featuring the main character of V.I. Warshawski. As the story comes to an end, Sara does a great job of wrapping up all the lose ends she created, but leaves you wanting to know more about Vic and what will become of her and Morrell. Is he safe? Why hasn't she heard from him in so long? So many questions that I can't wait to discover the answers to.

Fatal

2008-08-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Title: Fatal
Author: Michael Palmer
Date Finished: August 18, 2008
Pages: 544

Having really enjoyed the first Michael Palmer book I read, I was very anxious to try another one, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Fatal was just as interesting as The First Patient, and actually dealt with some issues that I think are really important. I almost gave up on writing this review since I was having such a hard time committing myself to actually sitting down and writing it, but I felt very strongly about some of the issues that it dealt with and wanted to share those.

This book starts out with a doctor, Matt Ruttledge, being summoned in the middle of the night from a nurse at the hospital. Since he has such a hard time waking up, the nurses have been instructed to ask him a series of questions to make sure he is really awake and will not immediately go back to sleep after hanging up. Throughout the book, Matt ends up encountering several people who seem to have gone mentally crazy, and have large lumps similar to that of "Elephant Man."

Matt is on a crusade against the local mining company, Belinda Coal and Coke Company, for the loss of his father in a cave in, and for the death of his wife by a rare cancer that he feels is a direct correlation to the mines unsafe disposal of waste and toxic chemicals. Trying several venues of complaints, Matt has become a joke for the local police and a nuisance to the townspeople. With the mine being a big source of income for most of the residents, they are doing everything they can do shut him up.

Palmer does a great job of developing several story lines within this book by giving you enough details and background information that make them all easy to follow. Even though different chapters may take you to a different place or character, you never feel confused. As the story progresses and the different lines intersect, you see the pieces fit together to become a whole.

In Washington, D.C., Ellen is struggling with her decision of whether or not to pass the newest megavaccine, Omnivax. The group she is a part of consists of several doctors and scientists who have been meeting for three years to discuss the ramifications of the vaccine and why they should support it. The First Lady is heavily influential in promoting the vaccine and has her own reasons for wanting it passed. Ellen struggles with being the only member of the group who is hesitant, which stems from the fact that her granddaughter, who was perfectly healthy as a baby, now suffers from side effects of a childhood vaccine. The percentage of children that are effected by vaccines is astonishing. Some development disabilities such as diabetes, ADD, ADHD, where others can result in death. This knowledge drives Ellen to make right choice, not just for her granddaughter, but for all those who will be administered the megavaccine.

In Boston, Nikki Solari, who is a musician as well as a pathologist watches her friend and fellow musician succumb to delusions that she is being chased and they they are trying to stop her music. When she is finally found, she has passed on and is covered by those mysterious lumps that Matt has seen as well. Attending her friends funeral in Belinda, Nikki meets one of the head policemen who seems to fancy her and asks her several questions regarding her friends death and all the events leading up to her death.

Matt, Ellen and Nikki team up to uncover what is really going on in the mine as well as with the new megavaccine. Realizing that the vaccine was originally tested on residents on Belinda several years before, those who are invested in the drugs passing, will stop at nothing to eliminate those testers who are slowly dying off. All three end up with several others in what appears to be a mine cave-in that was actually set up as a trap to keep them from discovering the truth. After barely escaping Matt finds himself yet again in trouble. Being helped out by the family in town that everyone is afraid of, Matt finds true friendship, respect and most importantly the answers that he has been desperately searching for and allows himself to once again feel love.

This book really effected me in the sense of how many big companies do not follow safety procedures. There have been several cases of groundwater contamination, toxic fumes, etc.. that are released into the environment because big companies want to cut costs, so they cut corners. Often times when something like this happens, the people who work there are too afraid to say anything because of the repercussions. Especially in situations like this book, where the entire town profits off the mine and that is where the majority of them are employed. I realize this book is a work of fiction, but the topics that are discussed are very real.

Another issue in this book is the side-effects and possible long term disability or death from immunization shots you receive as a child. How many people really know what the shots are for, or if they have been tested by the CDC and FDA efficiently. Why don't we question doctors before submitting our children to shots? Humans tend to be quite inquisitive, but there are some things we don't question, that we might need to rethink. How much of a push are the doctors receiving from the drug companies on a specific medication? How do we really know that this one is better than another one? I know that the majority of vaccines are in place to help protect our children and hopefully keep them from experiencing some really bad diseases, but should we really stop asking questions??

The Celestial Bed

2008-08-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Title: The Celestial Bed
Author: Irving Wallace
Date Finished: August 13, 2008
Pages: 304

The story behind me picking up this book is actually quite funny. My Dad and I often recommend authors to one another and Irving Wallace came very highly recommended. So, last week I went to the library and there were two books there by Mr. Wallace, one was quite large and the other fairly short. I decided to pick the smaller one, just in case I was not a big fan, not really knowing what it was about. After getting about half way through, I called my Dad to see if he had actually ever read this particular book. When I informed him of what it was about, he seemed a little embarrassed and mentioned that this was not one he had read. Although it was quite different from anything I have read before, I did enjoy it.

The story is about a psychologist, Dr. Arnold Freeberg and his unique style of treatments. After realizing that for some people, talk-therapy was just not going to help cure his sexually dysfunctional patients, he modeled his clinic after another couple who had been quite successful with the use of sexual surrogates. After being run out of Arizona, Dr. Freeberg packed up and moved his family and practice to California, but only after being assured by his old college roommate and lawyer that this type of therapy was more openly accepted. The one and only sex surrogate that Dr. Freeberg had used in Arizona, Gayle, was just finishing up college and promised to join his new practice after graduation. While waiting for Gayle to join his team, Dr. Freeberg hired 4 other females and one male surrogate, who endured a vigorous 6 weeks of training and teaching before being allowed to interact with a patient.

The description in this book was often times quite graphic, and took me a little while to get used to. I found the story line quite suspenseful and was anxious up to the end to see how the characters would handle moral situations. The receptionist in the Freeberg clinic recommends her boyfriend, Chet, to seek the help of a surrogate from the clinic, not realizing that he is an aspiring newspaper writer who is looking for that big break into the newspaper business. After hearing what it is the surrogates do, Chet contacts a religious fanatic that he has done some research for in the past, and pitches the story to him. The religious fanatic has some ties in with the DA and after some encouragement, everyone is on board to make an example of Dr. Freeberg and his main surrogate by charging them with pandering and prostitution and sentencing them both to prison time.

As Chet's therapy progresses with Gayle, a behind the scenes romance beings between Gayle and Paul, the only male surrogate. This was one storyline I was not a fan of. After two casual meetings at a restaurant the characters are proclaiming their love for each other, and each time they meet to consummate their relationship one of them freaks out and feels like the techniques they use on their patients are being used on them and always end up storming out. To me it came across as a very badly played out soap opera.

It was interesting to watch the patients that sought out help from Dr. Freeberg and his surrogates progress and eventually overcome their troubles. Although this is not something I had heard of before, it was very educational. I would not consider this one of my favorite books, but I think I will read something else by Irving Wallace.

The God of Small Things

2008-08-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Title: The God of Small Things
Author: Arundhati Roy
Date Finished: August 10, 2008
Pages: 321

I put off writing this review yesterday in hopes that my feelings and impression of the book would become more defined. I still have mixed emotions about this book, but our book club is meeting tonight, so I'm hoping that by writing this I can work a few things out.

I would say that the most important thing for a reader to have with this book is patience. It took me the first 85 pages (2 chaptes) before I really felt like I had a sense of what was going on. The writer, Arundhati Roy jumps back and forth from the 60's to the 90's quite frequently, and often without any warning. The story is is about a pair of fraternal twins, Rahel and Estha, their mother, Ammu, and other family members in Ayemenem, India. The resounding theme of this book is that anything can change in the course of a day.

I think the biggest disappointment for me was the conclusion to the much anticipated story of the death of Sophie Mol. (Mol is used for young girl, and Mon is used for young man throughout this book). Sophie is the twins half-white cousin from England who comes over to visit for Christmas with her mother after her step-father dies. Roy does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what exactly happened to poor young Sophie that took her life. You get the sense early on that her death has had a tremendous impact on the lives of the twins, but it is not until close to the end that you actually find out what happened. For as much build-up as Roy gives to the death of Sophie, I would have hoped that her explanation would be much more in-depth. It basically boils down to the fact that the three children were crossing the river in a boat in the dark of night, and when the boat tipped, Sophie was pulled by the current and unable to resurface along with the other children. With it being so dark out, the children are not able to search for her. All of this is explained in not much more than a page.

I do love the story line of Ammu and Velutha, her untouchable. The caste system is made up of "touchables" who are of a higher class and prestige and "untouchables" who are the lowest caste group and are treated like slaves. It breaks my heart when Velutha's father in a drunken stupor tells Ammu's mother of their unrequited love, and she in turn locks Ammu in her room and has Velutha banished. When the children ask their mother why she is locked up, she blames them for all of her problems. The children, feeling less loved by their mother decide to run away. During their escape is when they lose dear Sophie. Ammu's mother, after hearing of Sophie's death, runs to the police and accuses Velutha. In her mind, there is nothing worse than loving beneath you. She cannot accept the fact that her daughter has had an intimate relationship with an untouchable and will do anything to keep them apart,which in turn makes them star-crossed lovers.

After the accident the twins are separated, Estha is sent to another town via train to live with his father and new wife. Rahel stays with her mother, who has a hard time finding work after being shunned from the family, eventually dies and Rahel leaves for the US. While in the US Rahel marries, divorces and eventually returns to Ayemenem. Baby Kochamma, the grandmother, is scared for the twins to be together because she knows that eventually, they are going to figure out what she did, and her only hope of them not being able to put all the pieces together are to keep them separated. Baby Kochamma's resentment of others finding love stems from her own "unobtainable" love. Father Mulligan caught her eye at a young age, but was never available for Baby Kochamma like she wanted him to be, even in death.

The language that Roy uses is absolutely beautiful, and even though my frame of reference for India is embarrassingly minute, I felt like I could picture the scenes she laid before me and could feel like a part of the background. Even now, I still have mixed feelings about this particular book. It did win the Booker Prize in 1997 (a literary prize awarded each year for a full-length novel written in English). There seem to be quite a mixture of reviews out there, some love it, some hate it, some fall in between. Even though I would not consider this one of my favorite books, I am incredibly happy that I read it. Thank you Trish for recommending this book!

The First Patient

2008-08-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Title: The First Patient
Author: Michael Palmer
Date Finished: July 30, 2008
Pages: 384

Before reading this book, I had not heard anything about Nanotechnology, but found myself very intrigued as the story progressed. Not being very medical savvy, this book opened my eyes to something new that I would consider to be a topic of sensational medical research.

A definition from the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology lists: "Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, 'nanotechnology' refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products." More on this later.

The story begins in picturesque Wyoming, with Gabe Singleton, a doctor and former Naval Academy cadet, sitting atop a horse watching a helicopter land. This particular helicopter happens to contain the President of the United States, whom they have given the acronym "POTUS", Andrew Stoddard. Gabe and Drew are longtime friends having been both cadets and roommates at Annapolis. The reason for Andrew's visit is to recruit Gabe to come with him to Washington to be his personal physician. The man who had held this position, until recently, seems to have vanished along with his college-aged daughter. Although reluctant to leave his life in Wyoming, Gabe agrees.

While getting dressed for his first political dinner, Gabe is summoned up to the President's quarters to find him having what appears to be a psychotic episode. After stabilizing Drew, Gabe is informed that this is not his first episode and all the test results from his previous episodes have disappeared along with his doctor. After some talk about invoking the Twenty-Fifth Amendment (which deals with removing power from the President due to disabilities, and giving the power to the Vice President) Gabe agrees to keep this Presidents secret and not let on to anyone that something is amiss.

Within the book, Nanotechnology has been used to give an unknown source power over the President without his knowledge or the knowledge of those in his immediate cadre of secret service agents, family or close personal friends. By pushing a button, chemicals within the President's brain react and cause him to have what appears to be a psychotic episode.

There are two powerful women in this book that both have major roles. The first is Allison Cromartie, whom Gabe believes to be a nurse, but after saving his life by rear ending him while someone tries to shoot into his car, he discovers that she is actually an undercover Secret Service Agent. The second woman owns a large pasture with stables outside Washington and ends up being a key figure in the unfolding drama. With both of these women working within the medical field or scientific research, it leaves you wondering how far they would go to emphasis their presence in a man's world.

I really enjoyed the way that Palmer keeps you guessing throughout the book. I always enjoy a good mystery and find myself trying to figure things out before they are revealed. As the story began to wrap up, I felt very proud of myself and was almost certain I had figured everything out... then the ending came, and there was a very unexpected and delightful twist. Palmer really does bring the story full circle at the end and things that happened throughout came together perfectly, like putting in the last piece of a puzzle.

I happened to pick this book up at the library on a whim after my attention was caught by the title. This previous week, I attended a local book sale (Thanks Trish and Laura for taking me along) and happened to come across another book by Michael Palmer, which I quickly picked up and put in my bag. I am always looking for new authors to read, and feel like I have found yet another one I can enjoy!

Where Yesterday Lives

2008-07-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Title: Where Yesterday Lives
Author: Karen Kingsbury
Date Finished: July 18, 2008
Pages: 416

If you have never read a book by Karen Kingsbury before, I strongly suggest you pick one up. I was introduced to her books a couple years ago and every time I read one, the same thing happens... I cannot put it down. I started this book Friday evening and was so involved in the world of the Barrett family, that I did not want to leave, so I continued to read page after page until I finally finished somewhere around 2 a.m.

Before I go into all the reasons why this book touched me so, I would like to tell you a little about the author. Karen Kingsbury is a Christian writer and puts not only her love for the Lord in every book, but really tries to connect with readers on a personal level. This particular book was her first novel, and with it being so, happened to be somewhat autobiographical. For those of you who are hesitant to read any book that is labeled "Christian" for whatever reason, I would ask you to give this author a chance. Not once have I felt like her books were preaching at me, or trying to make me believe a certain religion is better than another. They are just stories that make you remember that God is good, and he does good things in our lives, and no matter how far we've wondered, or how big our problem may seem to us, they are never too big for Him in all his mighty power.

This story begins with John Barrett the father of Ellen, Jane, Megan, Amy and Aaron collapsing from a heart attack in the hallway. His last minutes are spent looking up at the pictures of his children hanging on the wall. As the family comes together to mourn the loss of their father, they are struggling to make it through one week together as all their past demons resurface. Throughout this one week, temptation, old sibling rivalries, and hidden secrets are keeping these five children and their mother from offering each other the kind of comfort and emotional support they are all looking for.

Ellen, the oldest daughter, is struggling to find the outlet to grieve that she desperately needs, only to be brushed off by her husband because he is busy with work and does not like funerals. As the week begins and she is constantly being snubbed and criticized by her next sister, Jane, she find herself turning to her first true love, whom she never really stopped loving. Having him drop everything to be by her side almost proves too much for Ellen to bear as she watches her family fall apart around her.

Jane, being the only sibling to have children of her own, is struggling with an emotionally scarring secret that she has never before shared with anyone. Right before she leaves to join her family for the funeral preparations, she finally tells her husband why it is that she does not feel anything about the death of her father. My heart breaks for Jane as she is constantly attacking Ellen, much to the other's dismay for what seems to be for no particular reason.

Megan, still living in the same town as her parents offers to let Ellen, Jane and her children stay with her. Trying to be the referee and keep the girls from each other's throats proves to be an emotionally draining task for Megan. She is just trying to abide by their mothers wishes that for one week, they act like a family who cares about each other.

Amy, the youngest girl, has always felt like she is being ignored and cutoff by the others, and does not go anywhere without her husband. As the story progresses, you see a transformation in Amy, as she starts to stand up for herself and show the others that she is an adult just like they are.

Aaron, being the only boy in the family has a rough time showing his emotions. Whenever he is confronted, Aaron become violent and then abruptly will disappear in his car.

As the funeral approached, their mother asks each of them to write a few words about their father for them to read at the ceremony. Ellen, being a writer has no problem with this, and takes the time to help some of the others who are struggling with what to say. The purpose is to share with everyone what their father meant to them, and their family. The ending to this book proved to be very emotional for me on several levels. As each of the children approach the podium to share their stories it becomes clear that each child saw their father in a different light. For each of them, he was the man they needed him to be. Whether that be a cheerleader, an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, or just a friend, John Barrett was that for each of his children, loving all of them equally in the way that was most important and meaningful for them.

Anyone who has ever lost a family member, or had a fight with a sibling will find someone in this book that they can relate to. It shows how wonderful the power of family can really be, and that in the end, you can always turn to your family for support, no matter how far away you've drifted over the years. There is something very special about the bonds of a family intertwined with the power of prayer.

Book Club

2008-07-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Having never been a part of an official "Book Club" before, I was surprised and very excited when the company I started working for a little over a year and a half ago said these very words to me while interviewing "We have a book club here, as well as a small library in the back where you can check out or donate books for others to share and enjoy." My attention was completely captured and I knew I was going to join immediately if I got the job.

The first meeting was very exciting for me. I even made notes on the characters so that I wouldn't forget the points that I wanted to make during discussion time. We stayed in the office for this meeting, so everyone brought snacks and drinks to share. The turnout was pretty good, there were about 10 people, and from what the others said, it was probably the biggest meeting yet. The book was Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner, which I thoroughly enjoyed, this having been my first Jennifer Weiner book.

So here I was, finally in a real book club, which is something I probably should have looked into before since one of my greatest passions is books, and I geared up for the next meeting which was another Jennifer Weiner book, Good in Bed. Someone had put almost all of her books on the list and we were slowly making our way through them. I was kind of disappointed that we weren't meeting very often, and since I read more than one book every quarter (probably more along the lines of 20 or something embarrassing like that) I found myself waiting until the last minute to read the books. I am really bad about remembering what happens in each book, and since I read so many, I did not want to get them mixed up.

(Side note: I have decided that from now on, with the books that I own, I am going to write a short synopsis, including my feelings/emotions after reading a book and put it in the front cover. This way, if I ever want to glance back without rereading the book, I will be able to remember what my thoughts were on that particular book.)

Over time the book club basically became a social gathering instead of an actual book discussion, and we started losing quite a few members. Not long ago, I was put in charge of the club, and went about restructuring. My first suggestion, since people would come having not even opened the book, was to only pick books that were also movies. That way, if someone ran out of time, or was not interested in actually reading the book, they could watch the movie and then we could discuss the differences between the book and movie, since we would have a mixture of people that had done both. Well, we did not even make it to the first meeting before people started saying that they could not make it. So, I yet again restructured the meeting to where it would actually resemble a Book club. Having only members that wanted to meet and talk about the book we had read. Each person was designated a month, and on their particular month they would be the host. By being a host, you picked the book, the meeting location, and were in charge of facilitating the discussion. We decided to meet on a monthly basis, and had our first official meeting on Monday. There were only 4 people that attended, but I feel like we had a pretty good discussion, and afterwards, instead of just social chit-chat, I was amazed to find us still talking about books in general. How we find new authors, where we shop for books, our bookshelves and home and the amount of space our books take up, as well as what we do with our books after we finish them.

Overall, I think that this newest edition of our book club has a real chance of being a success. It's nice to actually be in a group where you feel comfortable talking about a book you read, and if for some reason you did not enjoy it, or thought it was going to be one of your all-time favorites, you have people to share this with. Our first book was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I really enjoyed the book and will post a review soon. I am really looking forward to our next meeting, and my hope is that overtime, our club will expand to include more book lovers, but if for some reason it does not, at least I know that those who are there want to be there, and they are the ones I can go to in the future for referrals, or just to share insight into something interesting I read.

YEAH for books!!!

Birthdays

2008-06-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

Birthdays have always been important to me. A way of celebrating the beginning of another year of life with family and friends. It's like starting a new chapter in a much loved, don't want to put down book. Growing up, I had some of the greatest parties. My mom was really big into cake decorating, so one year, she found all these little doll heads and made these enormous cake dresses around them and then we had a game of "musical chairs" so to speak and the winner of each round got to pick the doll they wanted. I think the best one was my 17th when we had two slip and slides in the back yard and we were having races down them. After a while we got smart and put them together and made one long slip and slide which was a blast! My poor Dad was so upset, because it kind of ruined his yard the next year.

Last year, I hit the big 2-5 and was not really interested in celebrating or even admitting to anyone that it was my birthday. As a child you have all these lofty ideas of what your life is going to be like when you hit your mid twenties, and the reality does not usually add up to the fantasy. Here I was, thinking about all the things that I felt like I was missing out on, when I should have been celebrating all the things I had accomplished in 25 years.

So this year, I have taken a more positive outlook on being 26 and instead of thinking about all the "what if's" and whatnot, I'm thankful for not only another year, but hopefully being another year wiser. I have a great family, wonderful friends, and a God that is showing me all the things that I can be and do through him.

Children having Children

2008-06-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

As I sit here at work and stare off into space, thoughts are running through my mind so rapidly, I figured the best way to start sorting them out was to write them out in front of me. I received an e-mail from a friend today was was suppose to appear on a show and discuss the article that is attached below. There is a group of girls in Gloucester that made a pact with each other to get pregnant so that their children would grow up together. Sounds nice doesn't it? Well... too bad the majority of these girls are not even 16 years old yet. This epic seems to be happening more and more these days, young kids giving birth to kids? What happened to the sanctity of marriage? What happened to waiting until you were in a serious, committed relationship before you even had sex? How can you even begin to possibly understand the ramifications of how this act will change your life, open you up to the possibilities of any number of STD's, and put an abrupt end to your childhood. These girls are bringing another human into this world and they cannot even drive, let alone vote, buy cigarettes or alcohol, or even enter a rated R movie. How can they be expected to take on the responsibility of an other's well-being when they cannot drive to the store to get the basic items a child needs. They have not even begun to experience life and all the great things that graduating from High School, and College and entering the professional realm have to offer. Having a baby at such an early age robs you of your adolescence. I would not trade the experiences that I have been able to have throughout my childhood, adolescence and now adulthood. Going to the prom, your first college relationship, your first final, picking your major, your first fraternity party, having your heart broken only to realize that you can pick yourself back up and keep going no matter how much it hurts, falling in love again, graduating, having that first steady pay-check in the "real world," your first promotion, etc.

I keep asking myself why this is happening? Is this age group just looking for someone to love them, are they being influenced by something that is happening around them in society, are we just promoting sex more these days? I know that as I've gotten older, I've watched the younger girls skirts get shorter and shorter and their shirts get higher and higher. Then I realize who their role models are: Brittany Spears, Jessica Alba, Ashley Simpson, who are out there getting pregnant and then starting to talk about marriage. Have our values really changed that much in the past 10-20 years? It has been proven time and again that having a baby will not solve the problems of a married couple, but when there are children out there having children, who ends up raising them, and how does that affect the realtionship of the new found grandparents? Do the newly found "grandparents" take care of the child, and if so how does that dynamic effect them when they are older? Do they call them "Grandma" and "Grandpa" or whatever term of endearment they decide to use, or do they think of them as more of a "Mother" or "Father"? How do you explain as you, the mother of the child, that you were not able to take care of you child when you first had them because you had not yet figured out how to take care of yourself? Will this continue to create even more of a fatherless society than we already have? I have always felt very fortunate to have both of my original parents, but that genre is quickly going out of style and has been for years. When I was a child, the majority of my friends had a step-parent. This effects me even now and I come into the age of getting married and wanting to have my own family. What are the chances of me finding someone to marry who has not already been married before, or has a child with another person? This cause and effect will be detrimental to our society for years to come, until something happens that will stop it and put it in a different motion. I do not claim to have any of the answers, but I sure do have quite a few questions.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/19/teens_had_pact_to_get_pregnant_report_says/