Friday, September 14, 2012

Gone Girl

Story about about a wife who goes missing on her 5th wedding anniversary.  Husband is of course the prime suspect, but he's such a dufus, so you keep wondering what really happened.

Great book for a couple different reasons.  First the vocabulary was beyond my scope so I really enjoyed all the new words for me.  Second, I loved how UN predictable it was.   Great story because of that.  Third, I liked the ending.  Very fitting.

One word of caution, it has a lot of swearing.  Mostly just one word over and over.  It didn't really like that part, but kept reading because the story was so good.

Really enjoyed reading it.

Monday, August 27, 2012


Title:  The Tiger’s Wife                        
Author:  Tea Obreht                        
Read:  Aug  2012             
rating: 5 ok

Wanted to like this book; parts I did like, but mostly it was a hard slog. The author would go into other stories and parts of people’s lives in the community that I did not care about. I just wanted to know about the main people, the Tiger’s Wife. This book did not appeal to me; did not like the writer’s style either. Sorry.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I've Got Your Number



Title:  I’ve Got Your Number        
Author:  Sophie Kinsella          
finished:  Aug 12             
10 LOVED

I really enjoyed this book – back to the old writing style! This book has the main girl lose her phone, she finds another phone in a wastebasket; takes it, but it really belongs to a high powered business man. Weirdly, they share the phone until She can figure out getting another phone. Funny, cute, predictable; easy, enjoyable read. I liked all the text messages.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Title:  Joy for Beginners                       
by:  Erica Bauermeister      
Finished:  July  12            
8 fine
Book starts out at a dinner party for a group of girl/women friends. One, Kate has had cancer and they are celebrating another good/healthy exam. Kate challenges them all to do one thing that will get them out of their comfort zone, but also be good for them. Each of the following chapters is about each woman and their challenge. It held my attention. It was fine, but not gripping.


Title:  March                              
Author:  Geraldine Brooks               
finished:  July 12             
9 LIKED

About the father of the “little women”. Interesting premise. He joins in the civil war; his experiences. The story is told by jumping from present to past. Good story. I liked it.


Title:  The Woodcutter                 
Author:  Reginald Hill             
Finished:  July 12             
9 LIKED

Interesting story. Hard for my to qualify. I liked the weave of the story; it was sometimes quite dark; it had interesting messages. I would read this author again, BUT this book was on the verge of the characters being almost over the line of too immoral to want to read about. The main character had such stamina, strength, ability to push through the insurmountable. I think that is why I kept reading, what I liked it. VERY wealthy man has it all, wife, child, business, then he is accused of a terrible crime, he is innocent, but his life takes a terrible turn.


Title:  A discovery of Witches
**I keep reading bits and pieces in between the other books I am reading. Just can't quite fall for it. I will keep trying. I'll let you know what happens...


Title:  Blame                               
Author:  Michelle Huneven      
Finished:  July 12             
9  LIKED

REALLY liked this one. Told from point of view of young woman, alcoholic; very high functioning; college professor. She has gotten drunk and awakened in jail before. This time she wakes up; wondered what she has done this time; finds out she ran someone over with her car; has no memory of doing it. Her life changes. She goes to jail. The book takes us on a 20 span of her life. I loved the perspective. I will never go to jail; never know what that is like; I appreciated her telling of the story. It is a FICTION tale; don’t mistake my meaning. Highly Recommend!



Title:  The Scent of Rain and Lightning  
Author:  Nancy Pickard   
Finished:  July 12             
6-7 ok

Found this book so average. Usual drama story; dorky names which I can’t even remember weeks later as I write this. Rich farm people, there is a murder; all the town thinks they know who does it; prejudice. Eventually he gets out of jail. Blah blah. I know other people that really liked this book. It just did not appeal to me.



Title:  A vintage Affair                 
Author:  Isabel Wolff              
Finished:  Aug  12            
9 LIKED

REALLY enjoyed this book. About something I know NOTHING about. In fact, I see I really like books that are outside of my realm, what I am living. A woman LOVES vintage clothing. I know nothing about vintage clothing. I very much enjoyed learning about it; why people like; how it is found. She opens a store to sell her clothing. Finds and befriends a very old woman with a story to tell. The woman also has a story to tell. They help each other. I highly RECOMMEND!



Title:  Hemlock                           
Author:  Kathleen Peacock               
Finished:  Aug  12            
4

Too much like a “teenage read”. It was in the teenage section. Town, Hemlock, has a werewolf virus going around. Town filling up with werewolves and murders. Book is told from a girl’s point of view; can’t even remember her name. She is a senior in High School. 4 friends, very close; one is murdered. Book tries to solve murder. Too dorky; don’t read.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

What am I reading now??

Want to read what I am reading now??

Joy for Beginners
author:  Erica Bauermeister

I am on about page 120. Enjoying it.
Give it a try, then let's talk!!

Read June 2012

Objects of my affection               
author:  Jill Smolinski             
finished:  June  12     
8 pretty good

She helps clean out an old and famous women’s house. The woman hardly wants her house cleaned; it is her son that wants to work done. The woman is also dealing with a drug addicted son and a boyfriend that she loves but is no longer with. It was good enough.


Unraveling                
author:  Elizabeth Norris                 
finished:  June  12
Young Adult    
9 REALLY LIKED**

World is coming to an end; very sci/fi. Girl starts her junior year in school an she is suddenly hit by a car. She feels that she dies, then suddenly is is alive and she feels that it is all because of the help and healing of the boy! I did like it, but, by  the end of the book, the writer really starts using bad language. That didn’t need to be so.


The language of flowers       
author:  Vanessa Diffenbaugh
finished:  June 12     
9 Really Liked

I think I really loved this book. I loved the information about flowers. The story is about the foster care system. A young girl is in the system and ages out. She chooses to become homeless; she finds a job with a florist. Working with flowers is the thing she loves most. She rediscovers a boy, friend, and they help each other heal. The part I did not relate to was she had a baby and had a very hard time adjusting to her baby. Maybe that’s what “no parenting” does for you.



The year of wonders          
author:  Geraldine Brooks               
finished:  June 12      
9 Really Liked

This was VERY good too! About the black plague in the 1600’s. The town decides to cut itself off from the rest of the area so they won’t spread the sickness. The town is mostly puritan. Their preacher is everything to them. The last 35 pages is where suddenly the story takes an unbelieveable turn. The rest of the book did not go with the last part; that was my only problem. I WOULD recommend this book though.



Insurgent                          
author:  Veronica Roth           
finished:   June 12 
Young Adult     
9 Really Liked

2nd in a series. First is Divergent. It was a good “next” part of the story. A war starts in this America. They discover that there is more outside the “fence”. The end of the story is: I am Edith Pryor.



The Cat’s Table                 
author:  Michael Ondaatje      
finished:   June 12     
DNF

This was supposed to be so good. It just went no where for me. A young boy is sent on a ship across the ocean. It is a 21 day voyage. The table he is assigned to sit is called the Cat’s Table because it holds all the misfits. There just did not seem to be a story. It went no where. I was not enjoying it. I read pass the 100 page mark.

Cry, The Beloved Country   
author:  alan Paton                
finished:  June 12     
DNF

A recommendation from a friend. Her book group read it. I don’t think she loved it, but wanted me to read it. I REALLY tried. I read past page 100. It just did not keep me. I got to where I did not enjoy my reading. I had to move onto a book that really grabbed me. This book is about South America and Apartied.



Before I go to Sleep            
author:  S.J. Watson                       
finished:  June 12     
10 LOVED

Every morning, the woman (Christina) wakes up and has no idea who she is! The man she sleeps with tells her he is her husband, they have been married for many years. She may ask questions, learn some things about her life. She goes to sleep and she wakes up the next morning not remembering anything! Shocking. Very good.

This book really got me to thinking about what I would write. I have mostly stopped blogging; I feel like my life has turned into "same old thing". What different was there to write about. But Christine cherished every little thing she did every day and loved to read what she did the day before. Maybe what I do is not boring, but I shows what mothers do day in and day out. It doesn't have to be boring, ugly  or frustrating. It is satisfing knowing I have satisfied my family, and yes, myself too. There; I have now updates some blogs!! Thanks S.J. Watson.

Read May 2012

The Good Earth         
author:  Pearl Buck                         
finished:  May 12  
9    REALLY LIKED

Back in the 1800’s (?) china; poor man gets wife; she is needed to do cooking, cleaning and child bearing. Story about their life together. Shockingly, I really liked it!!



Dust and Decay         
author:  jonathan maberry              
finished:  May  12
Young Adult    
9 Really Liked

2nd in series...about the kids that go out to the rot and ruin; what happends to them; what happened to the world; what disease happened. I like it!


The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe  
author:  gayle tzemach lemmon  
N/F         
finished:  may  12            
8 LIKED

It wasn’t written in the greatest style. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a long (sort of) boring newpaper article instead of a book. I liked the information, though.



The Brave                 
author:  Nicholas Evans                  
finished:  May  12    
REALLY LIKED!!

An 8 year old boy, raised in London, is being sent off to boarding school that in Latin is called the brave. He is scared; he wets the bed; he did get terribly teased and sometimes beaten for punishment. Later it is discovered that his sister is his mother! The book is written in the style of starting from the end of his life now, then back to the beginning, then each moving toward the other. I really liked it. Very full story.

Read April 2012

Little Princes: One man’s promise to bring home the lost children of Nepal
author:  Conor Grennan                
finished:  April 12 
NF 9 Really Liked

Guy takes a break from working in Germany for 8 years. Going to travel for 1 year. Starts off by volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal. Loves the work; kids; the helping. Eventually re-unites kids and parents. Really interesting!


Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter  
author:  Tom Franklin                   
finished:  April  12      
8/9       Liked

Takes place in Mississippi. Guy accused at 18 of raping and killing a neighborhood girl. It is never proven, just what people believe. He is shuned; unwanted in community. He has a hard father; he makes friends with a black boy; that boy eventually ignores Guy too. Very hard, sad life. The real story unfolds as you read the book. I liked it; but it is a little slow and is a very dark tale.



Before the Poison                       
author:  peter robinson                   
finished:  april 12     
7      ok

Really, can hardly remember! In know I finished because I started. Ok..man’s wife dies. He buys a house in England, finds out the earilier occupant was killed by the Country because she “murdered” her husband. Man investigates the “murder”.

Spoiler: wife did kill husband. Husband was very bad/cruel/making chemical warfare. She hated that. So, he had a heartatack..died..I think she may have given poisen.



The Hunter                               
author:  John Lescroart                   
finished:  April 12    
8      fine

Usual lescroart book. Was a “Hunt Club”.  The main hunt guy, lets call him Will, learned about this biological parents. He knew he was adopted and was prompted to discover the truth about his bio parents. His mother was murdered and his father was tried for the crime. In the end, Will cleared his fathers name.



Hide                        
author:  Lisa Gardner                             
finished:  April 12     
6     hardly

abandoned Massachusetts mental hospital, the gruesome discovery of six mummified corpses; Annabelle Granger has been in hiding for as long as she can remember: reads in paper that she is “dead”. Her father had them constantly moving and changing names. As an adult she tries to find out what really happened. Her crazy uncle was after them; ruined their lives. Weird, crazy, unfulfilling, disturbing book.


The Divide               
author:  Nicholas Evans                   
finished:  April 12   
9   REALLY LIKED

Family goes to same dude ranch for many years for vacation; I think it is called The divide. They love it. Husband falls in love with other woman there. What happens to family, why he fell in love with other woman. REAL THINKER!

Read March 2012

Forbidden lessons in a Kabul guesthouse 
author:  Suraya Sadeed       
finished:  Mar 12   
NF   7/8 interesting

An Afghanistan woman has a charity and collects money and distributes goods right to the people who need it most.


The Thirteenth Tale            
author:  Diane setterfield                 
finished: Mar 12           
OK – 5

Ok story, rambled on.



A secret kept                     
author:  Tatiana DeRosnay              
finished:  Mar  12            
4-5

Held my attention for awhile.....realized it was a book about depressed and sad people who had secrets...their mother was gay..i began skip reading.



Unorthodox the scandalous rejection of my Hasidic Roots    
author:  Deborah Felman                
Finished:  Mar  12    
NF   9 Really Liked

Very interesting book about the Hasidic religion. I really enjoyed this book!      



The Affair                         
author:  Lee Child                          
finished:  Mar  12    
9 Really Liked

Good Jack Reacher book. This explains why he left the army and started his vagabond ways. His (last) assignment in the army...go to a town, find out why a woman was murdered. He finds 2 or 3 other murders; falls for the beautiful town sheriff; says in a hotel; works with the army.


Read February 2012

My Name is Mary Sutter    
author:  Robin Oliveira                                         
finished:  Feb  12    
VERY GOOD  9

Great book about a woman that wanted to become a surgeon during the time of the civil war. Woman just did not do that. She persevered. She WAS a midwife. Very good book about what the civil war was about; about women’s lives during that time. I really enjoyed the education!


The Taker                                 
author:  Alma Katsu                               
finished:  Feb  12         
LOVED **

Sometimes “way out there” books appeal to me. This is one. It is a more adult book with adult themes. The book goes back and forth between the current day and the 1800’s. An ER doctor comes into the hospital. Works with a girl that has just been accused of murder. Through the visit, she tells the doctor her story and that is when the book begins looking in the 1800’s. This is a bit dark, but I was very sucked in.


The Train of Small Mercies   
author:  David Rowell                   
finished:  Feb 12              
7

Was a fine book. About the Train that took the body of RFK from one state to Washington for his burial. It has a lot of difference story lines, many different people.  What bothered me was that we just a got a glimpse into their lives, but not ending to the story.

Mudbound                        
author:  Hillary Jordan                   
finished:  Feb 12              
LOVED
set in the 1940's, kind of during and after WW2; a woman raised in Memphis meets a man, they get married, live their first year or so of marriage in a big city. The husband then goes and buys a large farm in Mississippi. The house has no plumbing, electricity, no windows. It does have an outhouse and a woodburning stove! The book is told from several character's perspectives. There are also some black character's in the book and they deal with so much racism. It all makes me so grateful to have been born during these times!



Rot and Ruin                     
author:  jonathan maberry              
finished:  Feb  12
Young Adult     
9 Really Liked

Apopaliptic time period. There was a terrible virus that killed most the people in the U.S. Few are left. They live behind heavily guarded gates to protect them from the zombies. Really, it's a good interesting story. I read the 2nd in the series; watiing for the third.


Divergent                          
author:   Veronica Roth                   
finished:  Feb  12 
Young Adult     
9 Really Liked

Apopaliptic time period.  These people must chose their group during their teen age years. There are 5 - 7 different groups to choose from. Don't make me name them. I did really enjoy the story. I reccomend!

Books Read January 2011

The Marriage Plot              
author:  Jeffrey Eugenides                               
finished:  Jan 12            
DNF

I was hoping to like this book, but I didn’t. It just meandered, then it would start to move for a few pages, then stall out again. It made me crazy so I skipped 600 pages to the end, and at the end of the book, the people are pretty much in the same place where the author started the book. Glad I didn’t waste my time!
**My husband DID LISTEN to this book on tape. He enjoyed it. hmm...different tastes...

How I Got This Way          
author:  Regis Philbin                             
finished:  Jan 12   
LOVED

LOVED this book!


What Alice Forgot              
author:  Liane Moriarty                  
finished:  Jan  12     
LOVED

Alice was in a very acrimonious divorce. Been married about 12+ years. She fell, hit her head. When she woke up, she did not remember any of the last 10 years. To her: She loved her husband, they were expecting their 1 child, they were very excited and loved each other completely. This is the way she acted and treated her husband. At first everyone was a little put off, including her husband. It is a great question in life; what would we do/act if we could not remember any of the bad/upsetting stuff?


The Last Anniversary          
author:  Liane Moriarty                  
finished:  Jan  12               
7/8

This is not a married anniversary. A bit of a trick. It is about the anniversary of a “murder” on a small island that has now become folklore. This is the story of a family; they live on this small island. There is also a story about a woman trying to find love. This book is fine; acceptable.


2011 Wrap Up!

I looks like 2011 was the year of the Non-Fiction! My most loved books fall into that catagory!
I have 4 Fiction books that I really loved, and even one of those has issues (language >: /)  If you want more information on the book, go down in the list where it was originally written up.

Still Missing                                       
author:  Chevy Stevens            
finished: May 11            
rated: 9*  language issues...

A State of Wonder             
author:  Ann Patchett             
finished:  July 11              
10 LOVED

Dreams of Joy             
author:  Lisa See                             
finished:  August 11               
10  LOVED

Left Neglected
author: Lisa Genova
finished: Sept 11
10 LOVED


Now these are the 6 books I really liked...not quite loved:


The Nobodies Album         
author: Carolyn Parkhurst 
finished: Mar 11              
9 really liked!

The Peach Keeper                                                                 
fauthor:  Sarah Addison Allen
inished:  August 11               
9 LIKED


The Forgotten Garden
author:  Kate Morton                             
finished:  August 11               
9

Minding Ben                     
author:  Victoria Brown                  
finished:  Sept  11               
8/9 Language

The Buddha in the Attic              
Author:  Julie Otsuka                      
finished:  Sept 11       
9

Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children   
author:  Ransom Riggs      
finished: Sept 11  
Young Adult
REALLY LIKED   9



I mostly LOVED these 9 Non-Fiction books:

Infidel                      
author:  Ayaan Hirsi Ali                  
author:  Feb 11                      
9

The Memory Palace   
author:  Mira Bartok                      
finished:  April  11        
8/9

Confections of a closet master baker     
author:  gesine Bullock-Prado  
finished:  May 11     
8/9

Peace from Broken Pieces   
author:  Iyanla Vanzant   
finished:  June 11                     
NF 8/9

My Korean Deli                 
this book brings up happy memories of floating while reading out in the pool...ahh
author:  Ben Ryder Howe               
finished:  July 11      
N/F  10 LOVED
A Paper Life              
author:  Tatum O’Neal           
finished:  July 11      
NF    9 Really LIKED
The Other Wes Moore        
author:  Wes Moore                                       
finished:  Sept 11  
NF  9
The Orchard                     
author:  Theresa Weir                             
finished:  Oct 11  
NF  9
Don’t Leave me This Way   
author:  Julia Fox Garrison                        
finished:  Nov 11     
NF   10 LOVED