The Shack

The Shack

by: William P. Young

Even Money

Even Money

by: Dick Francis

If this is really by Dick Francis....oh, I don't believe it! He may have written the title, but the insides are just not like his real "Dick Francis" books.

This book deals with bookkeeping. A lot of book keeping, like bookies and betting. There is a long lost father and death and mystery.

It was readable, but barely.

Good in Bed

Good in Bed

by: Jennifer Weiner

I have never read this author before. I don't know if I will again.

The book is not necessarily what the title professes. It does start out funny; a woman who is curvaceous and has some extra weight on her breaks up with her boyfriend who then writes about personal life in a magazine. She is horrified and embarrassed. It makes her look at her life, her weight, her self image and decide what she wants to do about it.

It was ok. I really enjoyed the beginning. It was funny. Then it began to drag. I did finish it, I will say that. I don't know that I recommend it though.

Twenties Girl

Twenties Girl
by: Sophie Kinsella

This is not the usual Kinsella book. It was ok; readable.

It starts at a funeral of a great aunt that is VERY old; like 102.
That aunt comes back as a ghost and haunts and helps the main girl in the book.

The characters are sometimes not likable, but I read through it. I give it a 6-7 out of 10.

Molokai

Molokai
by: Alan Brennert

I enjoyed learning about something I had never heard of, other than that, the book was ok. It was not as riveting as my last book....The Distant Land of my Father. I still enjoyed it though.

It is the true story of Leprosy in Hawaii! I knew nothing about this. The actual book is fiction, but the historical facts are true.

When people were found to have leprosy in Hawaii, they were taken to this island, no matter their age. It was an interesting tale.

The Distant Land of my Father

The Distant Land of my Father

by: Bo Caldwell

One of my top 10 book ever.

It is an amazing story of a man that is raised by American parents in Hong Kong. He gets married and brings his American wife to live in Hong Kong. They have a daughter. That is all just the beginning. The book is really about the relationship between the daughter and the father.

It is powerful, thought provoking. It's about how we live our lives, who we need to forgive, do we need to ask forgiveness; falling in love, choosing to marry, divorce.

It's very good.

Fatally flaky

Fatally Flaky

by: Diane Mott Davidson

Ok - your average, usual detective story. The twist here is the person doing the detecting is a caterer and she includes a lot of her recipes. She makes all the cooking seem so easy and effortless. It's not, really.

I liked it fine; not great.

The caterer deals with a difficult bride. People die. She finds out why.

The Help

The Help

by: Kathryn Stockett

I thought about this book long after I read it. It was VERY good, very thought provoking.

This one I highly recommend!

It is set in 1962, in Mississippi. Everyone had a maid and they were treated just like "the help". The time period is the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.

It has great insights into the lives of The Help, the people that hired the Help; their families, their children.

I really liked it!

Read it, then comment! Let's talk.

Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls
by: Lisa See

I REALLY liked this book. I also really liked the book this author wrote before...Snowflower and the Secret Fan. Excellent!

Shanghai Girls is set in Shanghai, 1937. These 2 rich girl's lives get torn apart when they discover that things were not as they seemed. Their father did not have the money they thought.

They are thrown into arranged marriages. I hate to give anything away. This is a very interesting book, lots of insights into the lives of girls living in China and in the U.S. at that time.

What do we become when hard times and trouble come our way?

This is a good one!

Perfect Fifths

Perfect Fifths
by: Megan McCafferty

This book looked SO promising. I thought I would really enjoy it.

The language was VERY bad. It was embarrassing! I had to stop reading the book and hide it until I could get it back to the library!

I wrote the author and told her I wished she would write without that language!

She wrote back and pretty much said that that is how she thinks people in real life talk. Huh?? Not me and not my friends.

Really, let's all try to raise the bar; not see how far we can sink. It will make the world a better place.

Dead Lucky

Dead Lucky

by: Lincoln Hall

I have a fascination with Mount Everest.

I don't want to climb it.

I really like to read about it!

This book takes place in 2006, mount Everest.

Lincoln Hall had an amazing, scary, death defying trip on that Mountain.

I CAN recommend this book. Really interesting.

4 Books!

The Piano Teacher

by Janice Y. K. Lee

Hong Kong, WW2 time period, what happens to people before, during after the war. Affairs, mean. I wished it was better.

The Reliable Wife

by: Robert Goolrick

Wished this was better too! Great story idea. WAY too sordid for me. Man writes an add for a reliable wife, she is a con woman who answers; eventually they fall in love.

Ultra Violet

by: Nancy Bush

This is like a Janet Evanovich book. Woman detective, a husband with 3 ex-wives is killed, she solves the mystery. It was ok.

Holly's Inbox

by: Holly Denham

This is written all like e-mails. It is a VERY thick book, but a fast read. I wished it was better.

It has some adult themes.

I was bugged. I really wanted to really like this book. I didn't.

Crazy for the Storm

Crazy for the Storm
by: Norman Ollestad

Ok, this book I got for FREE in the mail! Very exciting. I signed up for a book give away, and apparently I was selected. I had to read it and give my opinion, which I did happily.

It's a memoir, which I think means, this is how Norman remembers these things, not all certain fact. Norman is 11. His father has taught him how to play hockey, ski, surf. His father was a big force in his life to over come your fears, push through, keep trying. Sometimes to the frustration to Norman, well a lot of times his frustration. His parents divorced when he was 3; but his father was always there, always loved him. Norman won a skiing competition in Big Bear. The trophies would be given out the next day. They drove home (Topanga Canyon) only to fly back the next day for the trophy ceremony. The dad chartered a small plane. There was the dad, his girlfriend, Norman and the pilot. They flew right into the mountain, killed his father and pilot on impact. The girlfriend died later on the mountain. Obviously Norman makes it down the mountain; he wrote the book.

I enjoyed reading about his life. He is only a few years younger than me; lived within 100 miles of me, yet he lived a totally different life than I did. His father loved him and showed it, but was also hard on him.

I would recommend it. I would also tell the author to take out the few swear words he chose to put in the book. I do think that is how he spoke, but it is not ok.

AustenLand

Austenland

by: Shannon Hale

Apparently, Shanon Hale is great friends with "Miss Twilight" Stephenie Meyer. So, I thought I would give her a try.

It was fine...here is the premise:

The woman (age 32?) was given a trip in the will of her aunt to Austenland. That is a place in England. People there act as if they are in a Jane Austen novel; Regency period. They dress and act like them. There are people there who are paying for the vacation, and there are actors there to help move the story along. You stay for 3 weeks.

Ok, the thought is interesting; different vacation, BUT the people come here to fall in love, like Jane and Mr. Darcy! I don't get it. Why try to fall in love for pretend? The people you would fall in love with are actors. Makes no sense. The author presented the case that rich people come here to just have an affair for 3 weeks, then go on with their regular life. Really, how gross.

I'm on the fence if I should recommend or not. I would read another one of her books, maybe this was not her best work.

5 Books; To Read or Not to Read?

This is a "catch-up" of the books I have read, but NOT blogged about...

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
By: David Wroblewski

I really enjoyed the beginning. The middle was fine. By the end I was just quickly reading to find out what happened as long as I had invested so much time in the story! It is a LONG book.

Parents have a son. He should be able to talk, but he can't. He and his parents learn sign language. The family raises and trains dogs. It is set in (from memory now!) 1930's.

It IS an interesting story. I enjoyed learning about the dog business, the deaf son was an interesting part too. I just think the story was TOO long. There is mystery and intrigue.

If you usually like Oprah's book picks, you will like it. I have learned I don't usually like her book picks. I have tried many.





Ricochet
By: Sandra Brown

I really can't recommend reading this book. I have tried this author a couple of times, but I just don't care for her writing. Her stories are fine, but she has way too much R++ goings on in her books. It makes me feel like I need to read with one eye shut.

HER story is interesting. I enjoyed that, just that other was WAY too much.

A judges wife is accused of murdering a burglar in her home. She is married to a judge. The judge just let a murderer off in his court room. That made the detective mad. There is the mystery.

Rough Weather

by: Robert B. Parker

Robert Parker, at his best, is an easy read; does not tax the mind. It is not bad, but you can't eat cotton candy all day.

This one is worse that usual. I liked the book because the pages are thick, you can really tell when you turn a page. There are not too many words on the page. It is a fast read. Especially coming off that Sawtelle book (like reading the Bible), it was nice to feel like I was moving through the book. That is the best I can say for this one.

Go and read a different Parker book. He has way better ones out there.

If you want to know, Spencer (Parker's character) is asked to be a body guard at a wedding of a very wealthy woman. It is the woman's daughter that is getting married. At the wedding, the daughter is kidnapped, her very new husband was murdered, several guards were murdered. Things don't seem right to Spencer. He finds out why.

The Middle Place

by: Kelly Corrigan

Non-fiction! I really enjoy the Non-fiction variety. This one I liked, but the subject matter may throw some people off...Cancer.

She discovers she has a lump in her breast, it is cancer. The book shows how she deals with it, her marriage, her relationship with her brothers, parents. I enjoyed it, especially after I read the ending just to ease my mind.

Shockingly, her dad (I loved him!) ends up getting cancer too!

People can go through very traumatizing situations and come out the other end a better human being.

I am not really sure why it was called The Middle Place. I think she felt like she was in the middle of feeling like a mother and a daughter at the same time, and then feeling like she needed to parent her parents a bit.

I liked it.

The Last Town on Earth

by: Thomas Mullen

This book review should be written by my dad! He told me about this book, he REALLY enjoyed it. I did too. It was about something I really knew very little about. The flu of 1918; the end of WWI, unions and strikers. This book has all this as its background. True events, fictional people/town.

The town, Commonwealth, is set about 15 miles away from any other town in the state of Washington. The people wanted to have a different kind of town. They are loggers. No need to lock your house, very little crime. It was a good town. The flu started

spreading through the United States, through all the neighboring towns. Commonwealth was not affected, yet. They wanted to keep it that way. They decided to quarantine the town, no one in, no one out. They made a sign at the road to the town to let all people know.

What happens when the guards see a soldier coming to enter the town anyway. They tell him to go back. They hear him cough. What do the guards do?

It is an interesting study on human nature. Good book.

The Lace Reader

The Lace Reader
by: Brunonia Barry

I am sure I got this book because I saw it on some list that it was good. Well, the author of that list and I apparently have two different ideas of good. It is really good if you like a headache! Ugh!

I am just glad it is over. Do not read. But just so you know, it is about a woman who grew up in Salem, abusive father, crazy mother, had Aunt raise her as her own. In the last 3 pages of the book we find out that she is a bit crazy. We have been reading about her twin sister who killed herself as a senior in high school. Apparently that twin sister was born dead. Whatever.

I got very frustrated with all the domestic abuse. You don't really read about it, but it is there and annoyingly frustrating. As Oprah says, "if he hit you once, he will hit you again".

In the end, the woman is seeing 3 different psychiatrists. Let's hope she gets better.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet

by: Jamie Ford

Very Interesting!

This book is set during WWII - it is about a Chinese boy that meets a Japanese girl just before all the Japanese people were taken and put in Relocation Camps. They are 12 and 13 years old. They learn so much about life and fairness, cultures.

This book jumps back and forth between 1942 and 1986 - you see what happened and what is currently happening in the current time of the book.

The setting is in Seattle Washington and the Japanese are relocated to Idaho.

The book is fiction, but is very much about real events. I really enjoyed learning about this event. I believe my mother lived right across the street from a Japanese relocation camp! Please tell us more stories!

What a hard time in US history. We do you do, stand by, watch, be active, stand against? Questions we all need to have ready.

The Sweet Potato Queens First Big-A** Novel

The Sweet Potato Queens First Big-Ass Novel
by Jill Conner Browne

I can't believe I haven't posted a book since October!!!

Okay. This book is NOT for the weak-of-heart. There is some pretty forthcoming language. But it is HILARIOUS!! I found it in the library because the author's name is Browne and this book was right next to Sandra Brown (a favorite of mine) on the shelf.

Five misfits meet up in High School and decide to go ahead and live their lives and make great memories even though they are NOT in the popular crowd. The book covers two decades or so of their lives. "Are Queens born or are they made?" the narrator asks. And then proceeds to show how they are born AND made.

This is the first fiction book written by Miss Browne, but apparently she has like 5 nonfiction books out there. I have already requested a couple from the library. She has quite a huge following of Queens and Wannabes and Spud Studs all over the country.

The Associate

The Associate
by: John Grisham

This does read somewhat like The Firm; which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I liked The Firm.

There is a guy, at the end of law school. He gets blackmailed to spy. The usual Grisham stuff ensues.

The very beginning was good; the story got too tense; I didn't like the subject matter; didn't know if I could keep on, so I read the end!
Yes, i did, and I am glad. It helped me to feel better, understand, I kept reading and really enjoyed the book. Kerry is so against reading the end of books (at the beginning of your reading), but I really don't like the tension. I like to fast forward in the tense part of movies.

If you are a Grisham fan, you will like this book.

The Sleeping Beauty Proposal

The Sleeping Beauty Proposal
by: Sarah Strohmeyer

I didn't enjoy this book as much as my last Sarah Strohmeyer.
This one was readable, ok.

This 36 year old woman has had the same boyfriend for 4 years. Desperately wants to marry him. He proposes on National TV! But the proposal is for someone else. He has been cheating on her.

She chooses to pretend to everyone that she really is engaged. It drives her ex crazy. It is a funny (kind of) premise.

The Cinderella Pact

The Cinderella Pact
by: Sarah Strohmeyer

I found this book to be funny and refreshing. I knew nothing about this author, so I was pleasantly surprised.

It is about 3 girl friends, all over weight. They all decide to really lose the weight and they all do it in a different way. It is written with a lot of humor and reality. The main character is also a writer for a magazine and feels discriminated against until she "applies" for a job as someone else and gets that job also. She ends up being her own editor of her made up job applicant.

Easy, light, entertaining read.

Band of Brothers

I had to read this book for a technology leadership class. I had to pick 2 out of a list of 10 or so, and this looked interesting. HBO also has a series of about 7 episodes that I have heard are very good of this movie.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. It gave me a good appreciation for what soldiers went through in World War II to keep the world safe, and I got the feeling that the author worked really hard to get all the details as accurate as possible. It comes highly recommended.

My suggestion is to read the first couple pages or so. If you don't like it, then you probably won't like the rest of the book. His style of writing stays pretty same through the whole thing.

The Summer Guest

The Summer Guest
by: Justin Cronin

I really enjoyed this book.
Easy read.
Each chapter is from a different character's perspective. I really liked that.

At the end of WW2 a family buys this huge "camp". It stays in the family. People frequent this camp year after year. It does not make tons of money, but barely enough. Now the Vietnam war is an issue, the son has been drafted, but because his father is very powerful and begs the boy not to go, his father sends him to Canada.

There are many interesting stories in this book. I would recommend it.

It does end too abruptly for me, though. Be ready.

The Christmas Sweater

The Christmas Sweater

by: Glenn Beck

Yes, THE Glenn Beck, interesting, huh?

It was good. Very much like Richard Paul Evans.

This is based on a true story of Glenn getting a knitted sweater one year for Christmas. The story jumps off from there. It has interesting insights; some good lessons.

I really liked at the end where he explains what was real and not and why.

If you know of a troubled teen in your life. Read this book, it could help you to understand their moodiness.

The Outcast

The Outcast

by: Sadie Jones

It had such potential!

It was so full of sadness, wickedness, more sadness, yuck!

I finally skipped about to find out what happens in the story.

I wish at the back of books there would be a simple plot line! If you liked the book, it wouldn't hurt. If you didn't like the book, it would help you hurry through it.

Sadly, for Sadie, don't read it.

Ok, a little plot: a boy loves his mother; father is just coming home for WW2, boy doesn't remember the father, the family has a hard time getting along, life gets worse, the mother drowns, the boy gets more frustrated and depressed, the father remarries, things get worse, the boy goes to jail, things get worse, eventually the boys goes to some form of "the army", and another sad girl goes away to boarding school.

Hmm, why did I pick up this book?

Friday Night Knitting Club

The Friday Night Knitting Club

by: Kate Jacobs

I thought my review would have been great.....but sadly, it is a disappointment.

I have learned how to knit in this last year, I heard lots of whisperings about this book, so I got it. The first 50 pages were a bit blah, it took a while for me to find interest in these characters - but then I did and I really enjoyed what I was reading. I also enjoyed the knitting aspects.

The problem came with the end, which was like being slammed into a cement wall that you don't see coming. Why, why would the author do this? It just yanks on your emotions for a thrill for the author. Makes me mad! Then come to find out that there really is a walker and daughter place in Manhattan, there is a web page. Then you wonder, oh, my, do these people really exist?? I am now thinking NO! The author just wanted to write a book with a shocking, movie ending (think steel magnolias). Then make sure there is a website to get more people involved in the fictional life. Really, it would have been much better to have a different ending, to be able to expand the story in subsequent books.

Just so you know: it is about a young girl, finds she is pregnant, the father runs away, she is left to figure it all out. She loves knitting, does projects for people, opens up a shop, things go better. She is a hard working woman. She meets other women in her yarn shop - we get to know all those women. The story continues.....until it yanks your head back.

There is a sequel.

But don't worry. Julia Roberts has bought the rights to this movie, and I believe it is supposed to be out 2010. I don't think I will watch it, or I will, I'll just leave early. I don't enjoy crying at movies.

Betrayal

Betrayal

by: John Lescroart

I have read all of his books. They are usually very good. The front half of this one - HARD - but by the back half, all the front half was helpful in the understanding of the plot.

This was a hard book. the first 2/3's are all about the War in Iraq; the soldiers, the people who are over there trying to rebuild, getting contracts to do so. It was not a nice look at any of it. There was some information that I didn't want. I would like to know if it is true. Obviously, the author was VERY against the war and what has happened after. But, how much of what he wrote is true, and how much is just his opinion? That was a bug.

Then the last 1/3 of the book, we finally get to his usual characters. There is a crime, a lawyer. Will it all be soved correctly?

I enjoyed that last part of the book, but because of the hard first part, I can't reccommend it. Who wants to read about people doing bad things, taking advantage, wasting our money. It was sick.

Rush Home Road

Rush Home Road
by Lori Lansens

I really enjoyed this book. It takes you to another world and place.

You get to hear the story of an old, black woman who lives in a trailer park. She has a neighbor, a little girl, whose mother really doesn't want her. The two are put together and a sweet love and friendship begin. I really enjoyed reading this story.

It is about choices we make, what love can overcome, choose the right, choose to be kind. It is never too late to reach out and be there for someone else.