Books, Beth and other Bits

Still not reading...but I am getting ready for baby!

2008-10-22T15:01:00.002-05:00

Ok, that heading isn't entirely true (at least, in regard to reading). I did manage to finish one book last week - Before the Storm by Diane Chamberlain. Great premise (involved a boy with FAS), horrible execution. I only finished reading it because I paid full price for the book and I needed an escape from all of the yucky stuff that was happening. I have been re-reading a random Sandra Brown that I found in a box, but I've been going at it pretty slow because it's so freaking uncomfortable to sit for very long.

However, fun pregnancy things have been happening in the last week or so. David and I had all of our baby classes last week - Baby's First Weeks, Preparing for Childbirth, and Basics of Breastfeeding. Let me tell you - before the classes, I wasn't too scared of labor, but I was terrified of breastfeeding. Now my feelings are COMPLETELY reversed. Breastfeeding looked like a cake walk compared to all they made labor out to be. Yikes! Part way through watching the video of the unmedicated labor, I turned to David and said, "This baby is staying in me." I'm a wuss. :)

We are getting closer and closer to being ready for this baby, though. It's so exciting. We have a list of things to buy before he gets here, but otherwise we are ready! We have a ton of cloth diapers (yes, I still plan on doing that) and last night David and I decided to road trip it to an outlet mall about 45 minutes from our house to buy some baby clothes. Oh. So. Cute. I can see how people can spend SO much money on baby clothes. Currently the rest of the clothes that we bought are in the dryer. Once they are all washed and put away, I'll have to snap a picture and post it. Oddly enough, my favorite article of clothing for our baby so far has been all of the pajamas we've bought. Love baby jammies.

Grandma :(

2008-10-14T13:48:00.004-05:00

My grandma passed away last Friday. I am so sad, but at least I know she's with Grandpa now.

Toothless Wonder and Chunky Monkey

2008-10-05T12:09:00.003-05:00

Would you believe I haven't finished a book in almost a month? I have been in such a reading rut lately. I've started 3 or 4 books but just haven't been able to get through them. I haven't loved them, I can't fully concentrate on them, and worst of all, I can't really get comfortable while reading. It makes me sad, because I know once the baby comes (60 days!!) I really won't have time to read. Oh well.

I just had to make a post about my two current kids. See this picture of Gabby?
Don't her fangs look awesome? Well, now imagine this picture without her top left front fang. Yes, that's right, she lost her tooth. :( She had been having mouth issues for a couple of weeks (we even took her to the vet for it one day...I was a mess, thinking she had a tumor or something). They didn't find anything wrong, although later in the day David said he thought he saw her front fang tooth go sideways, leading us to believe she had a loose tooth. The vet did say she has pretty bad teeth, so we decided to switch her to an all wet food diet, which she of course LOVES. She has been devouring her wet food four times a day, and while we noticed she was still acting a little funny with her mouth, it didn't stop her appetite or her meowing.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess - it was probably bothering her quite a bit) she ended up loosing her fang tooth on Friday. I was on my way home from my Grandmother's and David called to say he found it on the floor. Poor little girl. Luckily, she's still acting fine and eating normal (or, like a pig - she ate 5 times yesterday). I imagine it's a relief for her to finally have it out.

Of course, Gabby getting wet food means - Toby now gets wet food as well. When we are giving out food, Gabby gets a nice sized portion, while Toby gets what amounts to a taste of it. Unfortunately, Toby has suddenly developed a LOVE for wet food. He doesn't beg for it like Gabby does, but now he devours it - his portion, and then he moves over to help Gabby with hers. David kept swearing over the phone while I was gone that Toby, our little Monkey, had gotten fat, but I kept laughing it off, because I was gone for 3 days only.

Of course, then I walk in the door and realize - holy cow!! Toby is bigger!! Poor little guy is definitely getting rounder in the mid-section. We'll have to keep an eye on him now when they eat to make sure he's not eating all of her food. So now our little Monkey is now our Chunky Monkey. Silly kittens.

Currently they are curled up together next to me sleeping. Gabby's even snoring a little. An example of how cute these two can be:
Aren't they cute little bookends? Too bad they aren't always that sweet...

Book Updates

2008-09-22T18:58:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm taking the lazy route again. I haven't updated on the last few books I've read, so I'm just going to lump them together.

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - I love me some Stephen King. This wasn't my favorite story of his, but it was exactly what I expected - typical Stephen King. Actually, there were a couple of things in this book that surprised me a bit (that I can't really mentioned without spoiling it). It was a "comfort" read for me. Three stars.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - I'm pretty sure I saw this movie way back in the day, because some of the story seemed familiar, but I really didn't remember much of it. It was a good novel, but I had a hard time following it sometimes. I wasn't fully concentrating when I first started reading, and kept getting confused when it would jump times (past and present). Three stars.

The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory - I think this is the only book of Gregory's that I hadn't read yet. I was mainly pissed that the back of the book gave so much away - I literally spent the entire book waiting for Amy Dudley to die, since the back of the book says "When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival." Yeah, this happens with about 20 pages left in the 400-some page book. Granted the book his historical fiction, so maybe I was supposed to know more about the story, but the back of the book is pretty deceiving, since the story really isn't about their struggle for survival, it's more about what led up to Amy's death. Anyway, besides that annoyance, the book was just too long and drawn out in general. Not my favorite of Gregory's by far. Three stars.

The Appeal by John Grisham - Ok, a small confession. Remember this post? Refer to number #6 and my books all being the same. Well, this time around, I broke tradition. All of my Grisham books are in paperback - I always wait for it in paperback so I can be consistent. However, I was browsing the clearance section of Half Price Books recently and found the hardcover of this book for only $1! This book was just released in hardcover earlier this year, and paperback probably won't be out for another few months. I'm assuming it was a mistake that the book was marked to a dollar, since it was in fabulous condition, so I had to snatch it up. Of course, a year from now I'll probably replace it with a the paperback version, but in the mean time, it was a sweet find.

Anyway, this book was typical Grisham. I felt like it was moving really slowly at times - it wasn't quite as action-packed as some of his other novels. I also felt like the twists and turns were a little more subtle than the usually are. Still, it was a decent read - more "comfort reading" for me. Three stars.

Hannah's Dream by Diane Hammond - I'm just going to come right out and say it - this book was a huge disappointment. I believe the cover says something along the lines of "If you liked Water for Elephants, you'll love Hannah's Dream." Of course, that should have been my first clue, since I didn't love Water for Elephants, but this was an even bigger disappointment. The characters felt too one-sided, like the author was trying to fit each one into a particular mold, and some of the characters were absolutely pointless and really contributed nothing to the story except to make it longer. Two stars.

Cloth Diapers

2008-09-09T19:29:00.003-05:00

Well, it's official - we are going somewhere I NEVER thought I'd go. David and I have decided to use cloth diapers for our little guy.

I'm not going to get into it a ton, but I have done SO much research (it can get really overwhelming after awhile) and it really seems like this is a great idea for us. We are excited about the cost savings, the positive impact that this will have on the environment, and most importantly - how freaking cute our little guy will look in them (ok, maybe that's not MOST important, but I still can't wait).

We've gone back and forth trying to figure out what first steps we want to take to get started. The cloth diapers that I tend to really like (All In Ones - they are a lot like disposables, which is in part why I find them desirable - the convenience factor is still there) can be pretty expensive. However, we were able to find some pocket AIO cloth diapers on ebay for a very reasonable amount, so I bought them last Thursday. They arrived Monday (positive feedback for that seller!!), and I can't believe how cute they are. Even though they are all the same - plain green - I can't stop touching them and imagining what our baby will look like wearing them.

The best thing about this is that David is completely on board with it as well. I was a little worried about how he'd feel, but he's been so positive and supportive. I think he was sold the minute I told him how much money we'd save. :)

This will be a bit of a trial for us - we've both agreed that if we absolutely hate it and it just isn't working for us, we'll go to disposables. We're keeping a completely open mind about it, which I think is helping us get so excited about it. Yay!

Oh yeah - and according to my handy little ticker on my desktop, only 86 more days until my EDD. Wow, time has flown by!

Baby's Room

2008-09-05T14:37:00.009-05:00

I am so excited - we are done with all of the big stuff in the baby's room, and it is officially my favorite room in the house!

David painted the walls about two weeks ago (a color I originally thought I hated when he first started painting - now I LOVE it!), and we put the crib, dresser, and nightstand in that weekend. We finally got the chair in the room last week, and earlier this week we hung the wall decals that match the bedding. I am loving the room, I can't stop going in there to look around. :)

View of the room when you first look in. I love the wall decals. And how cute is Toby laying in the sun? This is the first time he has really gone in there by himself since the room was completed.

Same view, but now you can see the window with the decals around it (and the blue painters tape that David hasn't removed yet).
View from the corner by the crib. The basket of clothes will eventually be washed and put away, and David and I are going to buy a little man chair to set in the corner. In the mean time, we'll keep the basket of clothes where it is, Gabby likes to go in there to stretch and scratch. :)

(The kids apparently like being in as many shots as possible). The door and closet, with a few decals above them. David got a little sick of the decals, otherwise I would've went crazy and put more above the dresser.
And, ta-da! A close up of the crib. Love the bedding, and we have the cutest stuffed animals for our little guy. A Bedtime Bear Carebear (every child needs one of these), a stuffed Hippo from Uncle Bob and Aunt Nikki, and 3 toys that David and I bought. The little green guy says "Blah!" every time you squeeze his stomach. It's hilarious, although I'm not sure how a kid would feel about it. Cookie Monster and Elmo are awesome. You shake them (or just open their mouth) and they say the most hilarious things. David and I can't go near them without giggling. I'm pretty sure Cookie Monster will have to have his batteries replaced before the baby even gets here.

So, that's our little guy's room. There is still SO much more that we need to get, but we are loving what we have done right now. Best room in the house, by FAR!

Blood Memory by Greg Iles

2008-08-27T18:41:00.005-05:00

Blood Memory by Greg Iles
800 pages
Finished 8/25/08

Iles writes pretty good mystery/suspense novels - he's an author that I've added to my mental list of authors I tend to like, so I look for his books more when I go to the book store.

I feel like it would take a novel just to give a synopsis of what this book is about (mainly due to the twists and turns), but this book is about a forensic expert named Cat that has had an incredibly messed-up life, beginning when she was 8 years old and her father was murdered. She is an alcoholic and has a married lover, and after having some black-outs at the scene of the crime of multiple homicides that are the work of a serial killer, returns to her hometown to escape. Of course, once there she only finds more mystery, and the story then follows both the mystery of her father and her childhood, along with the serial killings that are going on.

The story itself is pretty interesting (heck, I think I just made it sound a little more interesting than it was!). Unfortunately, the main character is one of the least sympathetic characters I've read in awhile. It just seemed like she had little redeeming qualities, and if I had a nickel for every time she blacked out or almost blacked out, I'd have...a handful of nickels. :)

The plot did wrap up nicely after a zillion different twists and turns, and it wasn't the most predictable read, so that was nice.

Three stars.

Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge

2008-08-27T18:30:00.003-05:00

Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge
352 pages
Finished 8/20/08

You know it's a bad sign when you can barely remember a book you finished a week ago, but unfortunately that is the case with this book. Granted, I've completed one other book, and am half way finished with another in that time, but still.

This book is a fiction novel about a woman released from prison after a nine year stint for attempted murder (she tried to run down the man who killed her son) who comes back to her hometown, an extremely small island. She tried to get re-acclimated with the world and her family. At the same time, a man comes back to the island after the death of his grandfather, and the two connect. The story follows what they go through, and it also follows a back story of their grandparents during WWII. (And yes, I just had to look at the back of the book to get this refresher on what it was about)

Overall, the story was a little weak, but I did remember what exactly I hated the most about this book. Apparently it had little to no proofreading done, because there were typos galore throughout the thing, and it drove me nuts. I noticed two within the first 35 pages or so, and that was enough to make me almost quit right there (missing quotation marks was the biggest offender, along with missing capitalization and some spaces issues).

It was a very fast read though, and not as entirely horrible as I've made it sound. I think the typos and the fact that I can't remember much about the book has made the review a little more negative than it would have been if I would have written it last week.

Two and a half stars.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

2008-08-27T18:14:00.003-05:00

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
447 pages
Finished 8/19/08

The Devil in the White City is a true story about the World's Fair that happened in 1893, and tells two stories - the bringing of the World's Fair to Chicago and the building of it, along with the story of a serial killer operating in Chicago at the time.

Unfortunately, I found that the story revolving around the main architect and the building of the fair so incredibly boring. I had to fight my way through it, and only kept reading to get to the parts that mentioned the serial killer. Until the fair was actually built and running, the story was so dense and uninteresting. The story of the serial killer, on the other hand, was extremely interesting. I would have preferred to read a book about the killer than the combined book that I read - it felt like two completely different stories that didn't totally intertwine as well as it should have.

Two stars.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

2008-08-20T20:31:00.005-05:00

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
496 pages
Finished 8/14/08

Those Who Save Us tells two stories - one set in modern day Minnesota, and focusing on Trudy, German native who was brought out of Germany by her mother at the end of WWII when her mother married an American soldier, and the other set in WWII that focuses on Trudy's mother Anna and the decisions she made in the war to support her infant/toddler daughter. In Trudy's storyline, she is working on putting together a history of WWII survivors (mainly German) by interviewing them.

While Anna's story was a pretty compelling one, I found Trudy's to be a little boring and forced. I'm not sure if Trudy was supposed to be a sympathetic character or not - I wavered back and forth while reading it. To be quite honest, I found her more pathetic than anything. It seemed there was a lot that went unexplained in her history that perhaps could have made her a stronger/more likeable character, but it was never really delved into enough to make me care too much about her.

Overall, I found the book very enjoyable until the last 40 or so pages. Then I found that the book made a predictable turn that I was praying it wouldn't make, and it ended up making me feel really let down. Would you believe I was let down because the book gave some closure? I really felt that this was one book where a "happy ending" wasn't necessary, and I was disappointed to find the author went that route anyway.

Still, Three stars.

No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

2008-08-20T20:20:00.002-05:00

No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
309 pages
Finished 8/11/08

I picked this book up for a couple of reasons - one, I LOVED The Road by the same author, and two, I vaguely remembered that this had come out as a movie last year, and I thought I remembered that it got great reviews.

I'll start by saying what I didn't like about this book, and that is the author's writing style. While I found McCarthy's quirky style very fitting for The Road, it just seemed too off in this book. I wasn't able to get past that while reading, and so I don't think I was able to fully get into the book as much as I'd have liked to.

That said, it's still an awesome story, no doubt about it. The coolest part when reading the book, though, was realizing when I got to one scene..."Holy cow, I remember seeing this scene in a preview for the movie!" I was then able to place the book to the movie and realized that not only did it get great reviews, but it also one an Academy Award or two (I'm pretty sure it won for Best Actor).

I did some research after reading the book and found that the movie follows the book VERY closely, at times even word for word. That actually sounds great - the book/storyline/characters were overall very good, and I can't wait to see how it translates on screen. This is a movie I actually can't wait to see (which is good, considering how much I hate watching movies).

Overall, I give the book Three stars.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

2008-08-13T12:56:00.003-05:00

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
768 pages
Finished 8/4/08

I've been putting off writing this review for awhile, mainly because I'm still not sure how I feel about the book. This book is the fourth and final installment in the series (following Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse). As you can see, I had varying degrees of liking the first three books, and this book was no different.

I didn't like the beginning of Breaking Dawn. It tried too hard to be cheesy and romantic, and I just wasn't feeling the G-rated loving that was going on. Yes, I know, this book is written by someone who is highly religious, and the book is for teens, but still.

The problem with this book is that it takes an unexpected twist in the beginning, and the book isn't the same again. By unexpected, I mean...illogical. I saw the twist coming right away (the author tries a little too hard with the foreshadowing), but the twist doesn't make sense. (Wow, it's hard to write this review without giving away a major part of the plot!)

The book gets better as it goes, and I was pleased with the ending (although I know some people definitely are not!).

Overall, I would say three stars. The author wrapped up Bella's story nicely, but also left it open to continue on if the money and demand is there. :)

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter

2008-08-07T19:40:00.003-05:00

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter
608 pages
Finished August 1, 2008

This book is the sixth book in a series about Georgia pediatrician and medical examiner name Sara and the police chief, Jeffrey. The books can probably be read separately, but I really recommend reading them in order. They are decent mystery/thriller books, although for the strong characters (Sara), the books do have their share of weak characters (Lena, another police officer).

This book centers around Lena and something that happens to her while she is visiting her home town. Sara and Jeffrey rush to her rescue, and have a mystery to unravel.

I will say - I knew a MAJOR spoiler of the book before I read it, and I was still excited to read the book. The ending was fairly shocking, but well worth it.

I definitely recommend checking out the series (starting with Blindsighted).

Three stars.

Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley

2008-07-30T19:15:00.004-05:00

Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley
313 pages
Finished 7/27/08

This book is one of the reasons I LOVE Half Price Books. I got the hardcover of this book for only $1, and it was well worth it!

The story revolves around to boys raised as brothers until they were six years old - one black, sickly, and unlucky, and one white, rich, with a golden touch. After the boys are separated, their lives take drastically different turns, and we follow them through their late teens until they are able to meet back up again.

Overall, I loved the book. It was a really fast read, and I had to make myself put it down the night I started reading, otherwise I would have been up until midnight finishing it. There were a couple of things that bothered me a bit about the characters (I think the author went out of his way to make one boy so unlucky & hapless while making the other boy seemed like he could do no wrong in the eyes of everyone around him), but overall it was a really touching story.

Three stars.

Pink Ice by Susanna Carr

2008-07-30T19:09:00.005-05:00

Pink Ice by Susanna Carr
304 pages
Finished 7/20/08

Boy, am I glad I only paid 75 cents for this book at a local thrift shop! The book has four short stories that center around 3 sisters and pink diamonds that they bought. Apparently there is supposed to be some mystery/suspense in the story, but it is seriously lacking. The sisters are apparently all gorgeous and well educated, but don't have a man until they have the FABULOUS pink earrings.

It could have been not so eye-rolling if the author stretched out the stories a bit, but she tried to jam them in so quickly that you were left wondering what exactly the men saw in the sisters that made them fall in love so quickly and wrap up each storyline.

Two stars.

Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger

2008-07-30T18:55:00.003-05:00

Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger
384 pages
Finished 7/20/08

I bought this book at one of my Goodwill excursions because I had read The Devil Wears Prada and didn't completely hate it (good reasoning, huh?). I'm not usually a big fan of this type of chick lit because they all seem to follow the same format (girls gets fabulous new job, finds true love, loses true love, loses job, finds herself, gets true love back) and there is no imagination in most of the these books.

That said, I didn't completely hate this book. I was actually pretty amused by it, although probably not for the right reasons. I typically get annoyed with books that name drop celebrities, and I think this book showed why my annoyance is so justified. The main character works with famous people, so she puts together a fabulous party, where Ja Rule is in attendance (a name I haven't heard in years), Ashanti is the surprise guest (yay! three years ago...), and Hef is there with his 6 or 8 girlfriends.

It was a quick, mindless fluff read. Moderately amusing. Ooh, and VERY predictable.

Two and a half stars.

Deception Point by Dan Brown

2008-07-28T08:19:00.005-05:00

Deception Point by Dan Brown
752 pages
Finished 7/18/08

Oh, Dan Brown and your simple novels that seem so smart. The only other Dan Brown book I've finished is the much-hyped The Da Vinci Code. I really liked that book the first time I read it, and the second time...not quite as much.

Deception Point would probably have the same affect on me. I didn't really like the book, but I liked it enough. It was interesting and well-researched (either that, or the author is such a good bullshitter that I can't tell the difference. Either way!). It's a very easy read, and even though it is mammoth (752 pages!) I was able to get through it pretty quickly.

My biggest complaint is that the book read a bit like a movie. It was a bit like the author was thinking "Ok, what can I do now to include another action sequence? I know, snipers on an iceberg!" Combine that with a love story that doesn't totally make sense (I have no idea what is actually attracting the two main characters to each other) and you have all of the fixens for a Dan Brown blockbuster movie!

Three stars. But don't make me re-read it, or they will probably drop!

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni

2008-07-28T08:07:00.005-05:00

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni
384 pages
Finished 7/11/08

I can't even begin to tell you how long I waited to read this book. Actually, you can probably guess - ever since it came out! I have this weird book quirk that generally has me buying only like books. I bought The Kite Runner in paperback, so I have been waiting what seems like forever for ATSS to come out in paperback. However, like The Da Vinci Code before it, it seems the publishers have decided to milk it in hardcover for as long as possible. Grr. I finally broke down earlier this month and bought it.

Overall - I loved it. It was a great story, heartbreaking and eye-opening all at once. Scary to think that all of that really HAS happened in modern day Afghanistan. At times I was reading it and thinking "How could they do that? Women would never stand for it!" But unfortunately, there was just nothing they could do. So sad.

My only complaint about the book is that I actually felt it was too easily written. It was an extremely fast read, even for me, something that The Kite Runner wasn't. It felt a little like ATSS was missing some depth that could have been there. It's a little hard for me to articulate what exactly I thought was missing - blah, me, at a loss for words?

Overall, though, the book was worth the wait, and yes, even worth purchasing in hardcover.

Four stars.

Shh...the baby is sleeping...

2008-07-12T10:51:00.004-05:00

I think I've mentioned before that Toby is just about the neediest cat ever. A typical Saturday involves either David or me sitting on the couch with him, because otherwise he walks around the house meowing/screaming. Constantly.

Today we don't have a ton going on - David is going to work in the basement for awhile in the morning, and then we're going to go on a book hunting extravaganza (he's taking me to some thrift shops/used bookstores - yay!). Before David went down to the basement, he asked me to please not take a shower until he was done down there for the morning. I figured he was going to be doing something that involved him turning the water off. Uh, no, he just wanted to make sure that I could keep Toby occupied so he didn't sit at the top of the stairs and meow for David.

I came up to the office to do some nerdy things (fine, I'm updating my book spreadsheet with the newest Baby-sitters Club books I've bought), and that just wasn't acceptable for Toby. He spent literally a half hour walking around the house meowing (mainly standing in the living room, almost like he was beckoning us to the couch). I kept calling for him, David came up at least once to try to get him to be quiet. And yet he continued.

Finally, I think he exhausted himself, because he came into the office, curled up on one of the cardboard boxes littering the room, and finally has fallen asleep. Yay!!

Of course, now the issue is that I don't want to leave the office to take a shower, because that means I will wake the beast, and the vicious cycle of him standing around meowing will start again...

The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks

2008-07-11T12:50:00.003-05:00

The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks
432 pages
Finished July 9, 2008

The Dark River is a sequel to The Traveler. These books are part of a trilogy. The first book, The Traveler, was beyond fabulous. I think the books can be considered dystopian - people aren't living in poverty, but the world is constantly being watched by Big Brother. Everywhere you go, you are on The Grid.

The Traveler follows a Harlequin, Maya, who is out to avenge the death of her father. Before doing so, she must first protect Gabriel, a man who has essentially lived off of the Grid with his brother since they were children. A Traveler is a person who can leave their body in spirit and travel to other realms.

I was so anticipating this second book in the trilogy - the first book was fabulously written, intense, and very imaginative. Unfortunately, I felt like most of the second book (the first quarter, for sure) moved very slowly. I was anticipating a fast moving novel, but it seemed a little lacking at first (with an exception or two).

Luckily, the book picked up, and the ending...WOW. Let's just say I can't WAIT until the final novel in the trilogy comes out (whenever that may be). The end definitely made up for what the first part of the book was lacking, and it definitely made me (as the reader) incredibly anxious for the last installment.

I would definitely recommend checking out this trilogy - I probably didn't do the book justice trying to describe it. :)

Also, one other note - after I read the second book, I started to look up information on the author, and it seems his (or her) identity is a secret. Allegedly even his editor has never met him. The author contacts his editor via a satellite phone, which is not traceable, and also uses a voice scrambler so the voice can't even be recognized. The author also claims to live "off the grid." Crazy - it makes the story even more interesting to me!

Four stars for The Dark River.

Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy

2008-07-11T12:42:00.003-05:00

Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
608 pages
Finished June 29, 2008

I love Binchy's books. They are all about the same (set in Ireland, lots of characters, lots of conflicts, and usually a woman with an unfaithful lover), but that's what I like about them. All of her books read the same, so it's like visiting a comforting friend when I read her books.

Penny isn't her best book, but it still sticks with the same formula, and I really liked it. It did end/wrap up abruptly, but after 600 pages, it was probably time to end it anyway.

Three stars.

Oh. My. Gosh.

2008-07-02T17:51:00.005-05:00

David and I have been trying to remember to take weekly shots of me so we can see the ever changing stomach I have going on. When David got home from work today, one of the first things he said was, "Holy cow, you actually look pregnant." Lately I've been wavering between occasionally looking pregnant and usually looking just down right tubby.

Since today is the day we try to take pictures, I ran for the camera. Um, wow. I realized that I was wearing the same outfit I wore the last time (ahem, ONLY time) I posted a belly shot on my blog. Just to refresh your memory, here is what I looked like at 10 weeks, 6 Days:

Cute, and not at all scary, right?

Now, here is what I look like exactly 7 weeks later at 17 weeks, 6 days:

It's like a freaking different person! I think that part of it is bloat today, but there is definite baby involved these days. I am a stomach sleeper, and it is already getting really uncomfortable to do - I feel this hardness when I lay on my stomach, and it just gets in the way. And to think, I still have 22 weeks to go!

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

2008-06-27T13:54:00.004-05:00

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
400 pages
Finished June 22, 2008

I have always been a Jennifer Weiner fan, ever since I read her first book, Good in Bed (which is also the prequel to this book). I LOVED Good in Bed, it is by far my favorite book by Weiner (the 12 year old in me is giggling).

I thought this book started out slow. It follows the main character from Good in Bed, Cannie, 12 years later. The beginning of the book wasn't very good - I was annoyed by the main characters (it seems like the author was trying too hard to make them funny/witty), and I was bothered by the lack of communication between Cannie and her daughter. Ha! Of course, I'm not the mother of the a thirteen year old girl, so what do I know? :)

Anyway, the book was an extremely fast read (I finished it in a day), and it definitely got better in the end. I actually was impressed with the end - I liked that Weiner took it where she did, although I will say that it I totally saw it coming within the first chapter of the book (because I'm that good...or I read WAY too much).

Overall, it was decent, but not nearly as good as Good in Bed.

Three and a half stars.

After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell

2008-06-27T13:41:00.004-05:00

After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
384 pages
Finished June 22, 2008

This book had been on my amazon.com wishlist for quite awhile. I always passed it up for one reason or another - the book looked good, but there was always some book that looked better. I found this at Half Price Books last week and picked it up - and I even started reading it right away, while I was sitting in the truck while David shopped at Menards.

The book was fair. I was annoyed by constant changing in the book within chapters. Within every chapter, time changed constantly - at one point we'd be seeing what was going on real time, a few paragraphs later we'd be years back to when the main character was a little girl, then it would jump to the main character in her twenties, and then back to real time. Not only was that not constant, but the narrative also changed from first to third person within the chapters. So annoying.

I may have been able to get past those things if the book was great, but it wasn't even good. The characters were not developed very well (especially the main character's mother - I wasn't sure where most of her actions came from). It was such a disappointment!

Two stars.

Dirty Rotten Blogger

2008-06-21T09:53:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's me. I've been horrible about keeping up lately, I know. The good news is that things should be slowing down now (I'm back from FL and my brother's wedding, which was awesome - will post some pictures).

I'm not going to do a full review of the books I've read, but I do want to say that I have read some really good books lately. They include:
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle
Five Fortunes by Beth Gutcheon

Unfortunately, with the good, there is always some bad (or, some not-so-great). Luckily I only had a couple of those:
Lost & Found by Jacqueline Sheehan (and can I just say - what a disappointment! I thought this one would be so good)
The Vision by Dean Koontz (a typical comfort read that didn't turn out so well)

I've also temporarily set aside a book that I know is extremely popular and has gotten rave reviews - I just haven't been able to get into it. That book is Peony in Love by Lisa See. I'll pick it up again eventually.

Meanwhile, yesterday I went to Half Price Books and got five books that I can't wait to read (all for about $20 - and this includes 2 hardcovers, including the new Jennifer Weiner - Certain Girls). Yay!

In my life, things are going great. Baby seems to be doing fine. I have my 16 week appointment this Thursday (when I'll actually be 17 weeks - oh well), and then coming up on July 15th, we find out the sex! So exciting! Hopefully soon I will be able to update more on Baby Hipolito. I haven't been updating because there hasn't been much to say - I still feel fabulous, I'm starting to show a snitch (ie, I look fat, especially at night), and we are seriously slacking in the buying for baby department. On my list of things to do today is to search online for some potential cribs, all while checking with Baby Bargains to see how they rate (Simplicity got an F? Those cribs are everywhere!).

I promise I'll try to update a little more regularily now. Hopefully I can keep up on that - since I seem to have been promising that a lot lately. :)

Anonymous Tip by Michael Farris

2008-06-01T18:14:00.003-05:00

Anonymous Tip by Michael Farris
470 pages
Finished 5/23/08

I found this book on a fabulous shopping trip to Savers - I ended up getting a total of 7 books (3 of them Baby-Sitters Club) for under $6! Who knew Savers was so cheap? Anyway, I just skimmed the back of the book, and it sounded really interesting - a bitter ex-husband calls in a (very false) anonymous tip to an abuse hotline that his ex-wife is abusing his daughter. It results in some extremely over-zealous child protective agents filing false reports of abuse against the mother, and the book follows what happens after that.

The thing that I really liked about the book is that it moved really quickly - I was surprised at how fast some things happened, which was nice. It really helped to move the story along. However, it was also very predictable, right down to the ending, which really had me rolling my eyes.

The thing that really drove me nuts, though, is that I discovered a little way into the book that I had bought yet another Christian legal thriller. Turns out it said it was on the back of the book, and I just hadn't read it. I really need to start paying better attention - I had a hard time with a lot of the book, including one of the main characters because of the Christian factor. It was entirely too preachy, even for a book, for me.

Two stars.

Keri Arthur Novels

2008-06-01T18:06:00.003-05:00

Last month I updated on two of four books in a Vampire/Werewolf series by Keri Arthur. On 5/13/08, I finished the third novel, Tempting Evil, and on 5/16/08 I finished the fourth, Dangerous Games. I'm not going to lie - the books got progressively worse and worse. In some cases, it just seemed like she was throwing in random characters to keep the storyline moving (or to give the book an actual storyline).

The worse thing, though, was that everything was not wrapped up at the end of the four-part series (as it was originally billed). Turns out there are at least two more books out there now, which annoys me because I just it all to be done. I probably wouldn't have read all four books if I had realized that there were actually more. Bitches.

I won't be reading the rest of the books. I gave the last two books two stars.

A Bay-Bay

2008-05-15T09:37:00.003-05:00

I haven't put this on the blog yet, but I'm excited to announce that David and I are having a baby! Yay! As of today, I am 11 weeks along and my estimated due date is December 4th. We are pretty excited, although since it is so early, it still doesn't really seem real. We already had one doctor's appointment (when I was 7 weeks, 5 days) where we got to see the little guy and see his little heartbeat. I have another appointment on the 27th - hopefully then I'll get to hear the heartbeat! Plus, the doctor told me he'd get me better baby shots then. Can't wait!

So, to answer a few of the many baby questions that come:

1. Yes, we are sure we aren't having twins. Like I said, we already got to see the little guy, and he was the only one in there.
2. Yes, we will find out the baby's sex - on July 15th.
3. Yes, we have names picked out. No, we will not tell you them. You will find out when the baby is born. Until then, you may refer to the baby as "Hipolito"

David and I have been (trying) to remember to take shots of me to track the progress of my big stomach. Here is me as of last night. The little bump on my stomach is not baby, nor is it really bloat. It's more just the chunk I like to carry along to keep me warm. However, I am pretending it's babe, because it makes me feel better. :)

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster

2008-05-12T19:12:00.003-05:00

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
finished 5/11/08
400 pages

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Jen Lancaster is definitely a girl you want to go have drinks with. In her newest memoir, she tackles her weight, and then publishes for the world to see. I found with this book, that while I love Jen and the person that she is (or should I say "character"?), this book definitely wasn't as good as the first two. I'm not sure why - in some parts it just felt a little forced, like she was trying too hard to be witty (which really wasn't necessary, since she's pretty darn funny in her own right).

There were a few parts that I had to read out loud to David - a part where she talks about how she can't be held responsible for her actions when she is tired or hungry, a part where she discusses The Real World/Road Rules Challenges, and a sentence where she mentions looking at a website for hours that has pictures of cats with funny sayings (!!). David immediately asked if I was sure I didn't write the book.

Still a good book (light-hearted and amusing) and she definitely makes some good points about losing weight (basically all that I tend to agree with). Definitely a funny read, but I would recommend checking out her other two books first.

Still, three and a half stars.

Six Book Updates

2008-05-12T18:41:00.003-05:00

I know I typically put books into their own separate posts, but I'm so far behind and I just don't have the energy to type up six different reviews on books. Sorry. The good news is that I will give one recently read book it's own post. The bad news is, as mentioned, six are combined in this post. Here's a shortened version, and hopefully I'll be back on track.

Insomnia by Stephen King (finished 4/26/08) - Meh. Unfortunately, there is not much to say other than it is a typically Stephen King book. Quirky characters and out there ideas. Because not much can diminish my SK love, I still give it three stars. It started off slow, but got better in the last half of the book.

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur (finished 4/27/08) - A pretty fast read about a women who is half werewolf, half vampire. The book is also supposed to be erotic and sexy, but it was definitely lacking in that department. Still, the book is the first in a series of four, and it definitely leaves more questions than answers (meaning that I now feel compelled to finish the series. I am currently on book three). Three stars.

L.A. Connections by Jackie Collins (finished 4/29/08) - A HPB dollar bin find that lived up to it's expectations - very fluffy and trashy, and quite the fast read. (I think the book was originally published as four separate stories). I will say I was curiously unsatisfied with the ending, because it didn't end the way most books of this type do (and usually, I like books that go against the grain. Oh well). I still gave it three stars, although I really don't remember why.

The Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen (finished 4/30/08) - How sad is it that I barely remember this book, and I finished it what? two weeks ago? I do know that the whole time I was reading it, I had a sense of deja vu - I'd either read the book a long time ago and couldn't remember the details, or it was so generic it felt like a book I've already read. Either way, it was just an ok read. Three stars.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (finished 5/9/08) - Yay! Finally, a really good book. I loved it. I found this book in a box of books my mom gave me and decided to check it out because the name was familiar, and it wasn't a book I'd typically read (as you can tell by the 4 books mentioned above, I have been in a bit of a book rut). I ended up loving it, it was really good. Set in Australia from 1915-1970 (or therebout, I don't remember the exact date), the story follows on family. It was a really good book - a little long-winded in places, but still a great story. I'm really glad I picked it up, I feel like it got me reading again (there's something else that got me out of my rut, I'll follow up more below). Anyway, I give this book four and a half stars.

Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur (finished 5/11/08) - The second book in the Riley Jenson series (mentioned above). Not quite as good as the first in storyline, although a little bit better in the erotic parts. Still has me hooked, and like I said, I'm currently reading the third book. I give this one three stars.

Whew. I just have one more book to update, and then I will finally be back on track. Yay! One thing I realized over the weekend - one, that I miss reading really good books, and two, that there is nothing like being able to share your love of books with a good friend. I met my best friend from middle school/high school for a bagel Saturday morning, and it was so nice to be able to talk about great books that we've read lately (and some all time favorites). The whole conversation made me want to read a ton (in fact, I went to HPB that night and picked up a bunch)! Of course, while I still miss reading quality novels, I have still somehow dedicated myself to finishing a series on a vampire/werewolf.

I guess you can take the girl out of the trailer, but not the trailer out of the girl. :)

Bad Me!

2008-05-07T08:00:00.004-05:00

I know I've been really bad about updating lately, but I'm planning on doing some new updates this weekends. The updates should include some books I've read (I finally started reading again near the end of the month), plus an update on life in general...

In the mean time, here are two pictures of the cutest kittens ever.

Toby chillin' on the couch

Gabby hanging out in the hall (probably pulling out her hair)

How bad am I?

2008-04-25T13:22:00.002-05:00

Since my last post, I've completed all of two books - Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs, both by Jenny McCarthy. They were both very fast reads, and they were both fair. Amusing, funny, and a little crass (of course, I like crass), but still not quite as good as I was expecting from the reviews I've read.

Otherwise, I have not finished any other books. I've been working on Insomnia by Stephen King, but for whatever reason, I just haven't been into reading lately. I'm hoping my purchases last night will help pick me up - I bought a bunch of books at HPB, including Tuck Everlasting (which I remember reading as a kid and really liking) and the second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Golem's Eye. So, now all I have to do is finish that Stephen King book, and hopefully I'll be back on a roll!

Many DNFs

2008-04-07T20:35:00.005-05:00

Whew. I finally finished updating the last four books I read. I knew I was slacking, but I hadn't realized that I had that many to catch up on. Of course, it didn't help that I was on a reading tear and read them all within a few days.

In the past month or so, I have also given up on quite a few books. I know I'm missing a couple, but a few I've recently quit are:

Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot - This was seriously one of the worst books ever. I don't always love chick lit, but I didn't expect to hate this book like I did. It was so freaking repetitive - I can't even tell you how many times the main character repeated "Size 12 is not fat!!" (really? Is that the title of the book or something?)
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin - I loved the only other book by him that I read, so I thought I'd try this. Not so much.
I Loved You All by Paula Sharp - I've wanted to read this for a long time. I actually ordered it from amazon.com a couple of years ago, but then it was out of stock and I cancelled the order. I found this book in the dollar bin at HPB, and was so excited. I think I made it 5 pages into the book - for some reason, I just could not get into it. I'll probably try reading this some other time, when I'm in a different frame of mind.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - A children's classic that I never got around to reading as a kid (because I thought it looked boring). Turns out I was right. It started out good, but I completely lost interest about a third of the way through it.

I think there are a couple of more, but those are the only ones I have handy. I was going to start Anna Karenina today, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready for it, so I'm going for an old stand-by...yes, ANOTHER Stephen King book.

The Trial by Robert Whitlow

2008-04-07T20:25:00.004-05:00

The Trial by Robert Whitlow
464 pages
Finished 4/3/08

This book ended up being a huge disappointment for me. It's about a trial lawyer whose wife and sons had died in a car accident years ago. In the beginning of the book, he's considering ending his life when he gets a call from a judge, asking him to represent a man accused of killing a local heiress of a powerful man in town.

I had quite a few problems with the book, one of them being (and I'll admit this isn't a huge thing) that the book is called The Trial. The trial only takes place in a few chapters of the book - it's covered pretty quickly. There is a lot leading up to the trial, and more following the trial.

My biggest gripe has to do with religion. I don't mind reading Christian novels (I've read most of the Left Behind series), but no where on the book did it mention that it was a Christian novel. When the main characters started quoting scriptures (including the lawyer to his client!), I started rolling my eyes. Almost every single main character in the book had a deep faith and were constantly expressing it, and those that didn't have a strong faith in the beginning did by the end. Really? I didn't read the book to be preached to, I wanted to read it for the "court room drama." I was really disappointed in the book, and the fact that it was not promoted or explained on the jacket as it should have been. I probably wouldn't have bought it if I had known.

Two stars.

Anthem by Ayn Rand

2008-04-07T20:16:00.003-05:00

Anthem by Ayn Rand
272 pages
Finished 3/31/08

I had no idea how short this book was when I first picked it up. I didn't realize that the copy that I bought included the short story, as well as (to quote amazon.com) "a facsimile of the British version, which bears Rand's handwritten alterations for its American debut."

I'm a pretty big fan of dystopic novels, and this was no exception. The main character is named Equality 7-2521. He lives in a world where there are no individuals (the word "I" is not in their vocabulary - everything is plural "We"), there is no electricity, and you are assigned your job and housing after some schooling.

It was a fast, thought-provoking read. I really liked it. I also really liked seeing Rand's original version, and the edits made to it for distribution in America. It was pretty cool (although a little hard to read at times).

Three stars.

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz

2008-04-07T20:07:00.005-05:00

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
496 pages
Finished 3/31/08

On the day Jimmy Tock is born, his grandfather predicts that he will have five dates in his life that will contain terrible events. His grandfather even predicts the dates of the said events. After detailing the incidents surrounding Jimmy's birth and his grandfather's predictions, the book basically follows these five days (all falling between ages 20 and 30).

To be honest, I thought the book started out really good. The circumstances around his birth, along with other things that happened at the hospital, made me really get into the book. Unfortunately, the book pretty much fell off there. I think the main characters (including Jimmy, his parents, his grandmother, and wife) were supposed to come off as quirky and funny, but they just came off to me ridiculous and annoying.

The five events were present in a weird manner as well. The first two were incredibly drawn out. There was a car chase that seemed like it was 23 chapters - I had to start scanning because it wouldn't end. It seemed like the last 3 were thrown in there in the last few chapters. It seemed really disproportionate.

It was too bad the book went downhill, because it had started out so good.

Two stars.

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi

2008-04-07T19:57:00.004-05:00

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi
689 pages
Finished 3/30/08

I've always wanted to read about this book - I've heard so much about it. I discovered it at Goodwill one day a month or two ago and bought it. Of course, I didn't take a look at the book until I picked it up late last month to read it...and discovered that my book starts on page 11. So annoying. Why don't I check these things out ahead of time? Luckily, that was all that was missing, and it was pretty easy to pick up on the book there.

Helter Skelter is the story of Charles Manson and the Sharon Tate murder. The book is authored by the prosecutor in the book. I think he does a really good job of telling to story - the book is long, and it took awhile to get through, but there is so much detail needed that I couldn't imagine the story being any shorter. It was very interesting, in-depth, and chilling.

Four stars.

One Reason

2008-03-23T19:24:00.003-05:00

Just one reason why David is pretty much the best husband ever:

Saturday morning I woke up around 3:30 am and couldn't fall back to sleep. I had Toby laying between my legs and Gabby laying in my arm, and was so hot and uncomfortable. I spent the next two hours tossing and turning - I got Gabby to leave the bed a couple times, but she's like a boomerang - she just keeps coming back. By 5:3o am, I was still awake and very whiny. When Gabby jumped up for the millionth time, I finally said something to David about how I couldn't fall asleep and I had no room because the cats were hogging the bed. He's so cute he offered to move to the couch in the bedroom to sleep to give me (and the cats) the bed. I felt a little bad for taking him up on the offer, but I was so tired that I was pretty desperate to get some sleep. I had considered moving to the couch myself, but the reality is that if I would have moved to the couch, the cats would have moved with me (especially Gabby).

So, David is so sweet that he got out of bed Saturday morning to go sleep on the couch. Aw.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

2008-03-21T10:41:00.003-05:00

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
462 pages
Finished 3/19/08

I like to judge books by their covers - so I picked this one up based on it's cover only. I had never heard of the book (and certainly hadn't heard of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, which is the first book of).

It's very easy to see how this book is compared to Harry Potter. This book follows the story of a novice magician named Nathaniel, and what happens when he summons a djinni (or demon) named Bartimaeus to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from a magician that had once humiliated Nathaniel.

The book switches back and forth between Nathaniel and Bartimaeus, but it's definitely Bartimaeus that steals the show. He is shown as a smart, witty, and very self aware. His sections are littered with footnotes to further explain what is happening. I personally love the footnotes, and think they are great - especially when Bartimaeus explains his reasoning for them part way through the book.

I will definitely be looking into the next two books in the trilogy - I have no idea what they are about, but hopefully they will be as good as the first.

Four stars.

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

2008-03-21T10:25:00.002-05:00

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
365 pages
Finished 3/14/08

I've been wanting to read this book since the movie came out years ago - the movie looked fabulous, but I thought that I should read the book first. Fast forward how many years, and I still hadn't read it.

The book is told basically in two views - the first, Colonel Behrani, an immigrant from Iran struggling in America with his wife and teenage son. In Iran, the Colonel was a wealthy, well respected man, but in the US, he is just struggling to make ends meet while his wife still spends and tries to maintain the air of their old wealth. The Colonel buys a foreclosure house at the beginning of the book, and quickly moves in. The second view is that of Kathy, the person whose house was foreclosed on her. She is a recovering addict, and the selling of her house was done due to a tax problem with the county - something that was not her fault. The story then alternates between the two, as Kathy tries to get her house back, and the Colonel tried to regain his pride while keeping the house he bought in good faith.

To be quite honest, I kept going back and forth with this book. I loved the Colonel's story, and whenever it focused on him, I was really into the book. When the story went to Kathy, and her new relationship with a married sheriff, my eyes glassed over and I tried not to fall asleep. Kathy just wasn't an interesting or likable character.

The best part of the book by far was the last 50 pages or so. The ending was awesome - I honestly didn't see it coming. It was great, and that's really what made me end up liking the book overall (and give it a better rating than I was planning for the first 300 pages.

Three stars.

Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore

2008-03-21T10:00:00.003-05:00

Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
322 pages
Finished 3/10/08

This is my second Christopher Moore, after first reading (and LOVING) Lamb. The title of this one is pretty...interesting, and the premise of the book is just an interesting. A pilot name Tucker takes his boss's pink plane (his boss is Mary Jean of Mary Jean Cosmetics Corporation - remind you of another company?) on a drunken joy-ride and ends up crashing it. While recovering from injuries to his very special place, he gets an interesting job offer - a pilot for a medical missionary on a small, secluded island that is controlled by a high priestess.

The first couple of chapters were a little hard to get into. Once Tucker left the States to make his way to the island, the story really picked up though. Moore is an extremely witty author and his humor can be so subtle sometimes. Moore also created some great minor characters - my favorite, by far, being a talking bat named Roberto.

The only thing that bothered me about the book is that I felt like I was reading constant product placements - Cheetos, Budweiser, US Magazine were just a few that were mentioned. Still, it was a minor annoyance in an overall very good book.

Four stars.

New Me!

2008-03-18T19:41:00.009-05:00

So, I've been a little bad at updating my books. I've finished a couple that I'll get to...eventually. Hopefully tomorrow or so, I'm already beginning to forget them.

Anyway, my big news is that I finally went back to blonde! I suffered through over a year of being a brunette, and while it didn't look horrible on me (because, as we all know, it's my natural color), brown hair just doesn't quite look right on me.

So, here are some before and after shots -

I think we can all agree that I look so much cuter now, right (with the exception of my not-so-great posture)? Brown hair makes me look all white and pasty. Blonde hair makes me look pink and fresh. :)

Tagged (on myspace)

2008-03-12T15:55:00.007-05:00

I was tagged on myspace by my friend Kristi to give 10 facts about myself, so I thought I'd post them over here as well. At first it was hard to think of any, but then once I started I realized that I have way more quirks than I thought - and then it was hard to narrow them down. Ah, well, it's what makes us unique, right?

Here's what I had posted:

1. OK, y’all probably know this one, but I am insanely addicted to chapstick. I have a tube near me at all times. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I’ll roll over to put some on. Sometimes I think that I’ll try to stop, but 20 minutes later my lips are dry and feel like they are cracking and I just can’t go on without lube…

2. I am beyond embarrassed that NASCAR is officially my new favorite "sport." I love to be able to relax on Sundays and watch the race. I just don’t want to tell anyone that’s what I’m doing (even though I’m effectively putting it out there right now).

3. Before I go to sleep each night, I have to crack my back, my neck, my knuckles, and my toes. It’s gross.

4. I am very particular about the way my dishes are put away. We have two different color plates and bowls – a blue set and a green set. The dishes MUST be put into the cupboard every other color. If it somehow ends up when I’m putting dishes away that, say, two blue plates would have to be next to each other, I’ll leave one of the plates on the counter just so I won’t have to have the two colors next to each other. This has been troublesome lately, since I’ve broken 2 green bowls. I asked David if I could break a blue bowl to help out the numbers. He said no.

5. I won’t eat food if I don’t like the way it looks. I frequently reject bagels and refuse to eat them if they are "shaped funny." Don’t ask what that means, I just know it when I see it.

6. I like to read a lot. Ok, that’s common knowledge. What you may not know is that I will only read series books (and usually, author books) if they are the same book type as my other books. For instance, if I started reading a series in paperback, I’ll only read the rest of the series in paperback. If I started reading the series in hardcover, I’ll only read the rest of the series in hardcover. It’s a pain in the ass when I am anxious to read a new book, but have to wait months for it to come out in paperback.

7. According to my excel spreadsheet, I own 670 books (not nearly enough, I might add). This is not counting my 80 Baby-Sitters Club books (um, and there are 5 more in the mail on the way) and a couple of box full of young adult books from my youth.

8. I spend most of my "extra" money on myself – massages, pedicures, getting my hair done, etc. I would take a pedicure over buying a new shirt any day. Maybe this is why I hate my wardrobe?

9. I hate wearing shorts. In fact, with the exception of playing kickball, I don’t think I’ve worn shorts in public in the past 2 years. I would rather wear a dress or a skirt any day.

10. I am addicted to gossip websites and all things reality. Ask me what’s going on in a particular celebrity’s life, and chances are good I’ll be able to tell you. And no, this is not something I’m all that proud of. I’d like to think of it as just who I am - I'm a naturally nosy, gossipy person. :)

BSC book buying spree!

2008-03-10T18:38:00.004-05:00

So, the last few weeks I have been going on major book buying sprees. I decided that I need to complete my collection of The Baby-Sitter's Club. When I was a kid, I was beyond obsessed with those books - I read and re-read my copies about a million times. A bunch of moving around caused me to lose track of my books, until a few months ago when I finally found some in a storage room my mom had rented. Yay!

Except it turned out that I was still missing a ton of books. I figure that I used to have at least 1-40 (if not more), plus a bunch of the Super Specials, and a Mystery or two. I was able to find about 20 books total. I have no clue what happened to the rest of the collection (my guess is they were stolen...er, something). Because I was missing so many, I made it my mission to buy BSC books.

I bought a ton off of Ebay - there are a lot of people selling them in lots, so I bought one or two. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I realized that Goodwill is a fricken GOLDMINE for BSC books. I made David take me to two of the three Madison Goodwills, plus when I was in EC visiting my mom, I drug her and my brother to four or five different bookstores trying to complete my collection. It was a blast. At one store, I was able to get eleven books for 50 cents each. Amazing. There is just something about bookstores...ah.

Anyway, once all was said and done a couple of weeks ago, I had 67 of the 131 Baby-Sitters Club books, plus a few more of the Super Specials and Mysteries. I basically made it my new goal to get at least the first 50 books in the series. As of Saturday morning, I was missing just 5 of the first 50. As of a couple of minutes ago, I am missing...uh...none. Seriously, I am moderately obsessed. I just bought the last one on amazon.com and I bought the other 4 on Ebay the past couple days. And now I'm going to have to step away from Ebay for awhile, before I decide that I need to get the next 50 or something.

Oh, and in case anyone cares, this book was the first BSC book I ever read.

It is basically my favorite one ever. And I'm pretty sure I only picked it up in the first place because the girl's name was Stacey, and I always wanted that to be my name.

After by Claire Tristram

2008-03-09T19:27:00.002-05:00

After by Claire Tristram
208 pages
Finished 3/9/08

I am so, so glad that I got this book as a bargain book on amazon.com. It was actually a book that I had wanted to read for quite awhile. It's basically about a widow whose husband died as the result of a terrorist act made by Muslim extremists. On the one year anniversary of her husband's death, she takes a lover - a Muslim man. The book basically follows their 24 hours together at a hotel.

The premise for the book is way better than it actually was. The book was supposed to be both dark and erotic, and it was neither. I'd classify it more as disturbing and boring. It got a little interesting near the end, but it wasn't enough to make me care about either of the main characters.

One lame-ass star.

Beautiful Child by Torey Hayden

2008-03-09T19:09:00.002-05:00

Beautiful Child by Torey Hayden
400 pages
Finished 3/8/08

This book is a touching true story about a teacher working to get through to a seven year-old girl named Venus. Torey is teaching a special needs class, and Venus stumps her - the little girl is completely unresponsive to others - whether it's elective mutism or something deeper, they are not sure.

This was a quick, very touching read. It was so hard to read about the little girl, and all of the issues she had with her home life. I'm interested in reading more of the author's works. It sounds like she has written a number about some of the more remarkable special needs students she's worked with.

Three stars.

The Girls by Lori Lansens

2008-03-09T18:57:00.002-05:00

The Girls by Lori Lansens
368 pages
Finished 3/7/08

I loved this book. A lot. Seriously. It wasn't what I expected at all. To be quite honest, I wasn't sure what to expect at first.

The novel is about conjoined twins. It is written in the voices of both of the twins - Rosie, the thinker of the twins, who has always enjoyed writing, and Ruby, the beautiful sister, who is writing because Rosie wants her to.

It's really nice having the two different voices telling the story - Rosie really tells her story with a lot of detail and back story, while Ruby is very blunt, straight to the point, and fills in some blanks that Rosie omits.

Like I said, I did love the story. My only regret with the book is that I really wasn't reading it very closely at first, so there were a couple of times when I got confused - I couldn't remember if some of the details had been revealed by Rosie or Ruby.

Five stars.

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume

2008-03-07T07:18:00.004-06:00

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume
298 pages
Finished 3/2/08

I'm always on the hunt at the used bookstores for books that I loved as a kid, so one of the authors I always look for is Judy Blume. Ah, memories. I found this book while I was on my book excursion in EC a couple weeks ago (I don't think I told you about it - it was fabulous. Maybe later today). I hadn't read it before, so I picked it up.

The book is set post WW2, in 1947. Sally moves to Miami Beach with her mother and brother, while their father stays in (New Jersey? I'm already forgetting the book) to keep up with his dental practice.

I went back and forth in this book - in some ways, Sally reminded me of myself when I was younger. She does a lot of daydreaming and is constantly making up stories in her mind. In other ways, Sally seems so young for her age. There were a couple of moments in the book where I thought to myself, "Really? A fifth grader acts like that?" I did have to keep reminding myself that the book was set over 60 years ago (wow!) - of course children weren't as worldly then as they are today, simply because of television, Internet, etc.

Three stars.

True Evil by Greg Iles

2008-03-07T07:07:00.003-06:00

True Evil by Greg Iles
640 pages
Finished 3/1/08

Every time I read a book by Greg Iles, I think to myself, "That was pretty good. I should read his books more often." Then I promptly forget about him until the next time I am browsing the clearance section at Half Price Books (or, actually, in this case, when I am browsing the books at Goodwill - so cheap!).

True Evil is about an FBI agent named Alex who is haunted by her past and the recent death of not only her father, but her sister. Right before her sister dies, she tells Alex that her husband is the reason for her death. This leads Alex to do some research and find a divorce attorney who seems to be connected through business transactions to a number of clients whose spouses have all died. Alex reaches out to Chris Shepard, a doctor whose wife has just visited the divorce attorney - Alex fears Chris is the next target.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it read almost like a sequel. As I started reading, I wasn't sure if there had been a previous book that featured Alex, the way they were alluding to an accident that she had. It turns out that the author just wasn't great at revealing a story piece by piece - the writing is just a little too awkward.

I still liked the mystery behind the story, and there was a slight twist that I hadn't seen coming at the end, which always makes me happy.

Four stars.

Answering an age old question...

2008-02-29T19:27:00.006-06:00

Yes, that's right, I am using my blog to answer an age old question - if a Killer Whale and a T-Rex were to meet in a battle, who would win?

A few years ago (ok, it was in 2003) my friend Matt and I had this great debate. He was convinced that a T-Rex had powerful jaws that would be able to pick up a Killer Whale (much like a person bobs for apples) to kill it. I was convinced that a Killer Whale would be too large for the T-Rex and would get away no problem.

Fortunately, discovery.com knew that we had this question, and quickly answered it for us**.
This is the T-Rex (that looks curiously like an alligator) approaching the tank of a killer whale (that looks curiously like a shark).
Oh no! And this is the alligator/t-rex picking up the shark/killer whale and devouring it! I would have never believed it to be true, if not for the discovery.com logo on the image.

**Clearly, this is not from discovery.com. This is Matt's attempt to prove his point. But I have to admit, it was fricken hilarious to receive at the time. So I saved these ridiculous renderings for almost five years (sad...) until I wised up and decided to post them on the world wide web.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

2008-02-26T18:44:00.002-06:00

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
240 pages
Finished 2/24/08

I found this book while browsing a local Goodwill for books. It caught my eye because it said on the cover that it was a "companion" to Lowry's book The Giver. The Giver is one of the best children's/young adult book ever, in my opinion. I had no idea that Lowry came out with a companion book - so it was even more interesting to learn after reading Gathering Blue that she had created a bit of a trilogy - The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger (which I've yet to read, but is added to my wishlist).

Gathering Blue is not nearly as good as The Giver was. Gathering Blue is set in the future - a future that is actually much like the distant past when everything was extremely basic. The men hunt for food, the women raise the children in their huts, and any person born with a defect is typically left out to die in the burial field.

I am interested to read Messenger now, because I really felt like Gathering Blue ended in an extremely abrupt way. There were so many things that were not explained, and it looks like Messenger follows some of the characters that were in Gathering Blue.

I still gave it three stars, because Lowry rocks. Mild bias, of course.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

2008-02-19T18:33:00.005-06:00

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
311 pages
Finished 2/18/08

Ah, Flowers for Algernon. One of those books that it seems like everyone and their brother read in high school. Well, I didn't, so lay off! This is one of those books that I added to my amazon.com wishlist years ago (fine, it was May 28, 2004, to be exact) and then promptly forgot about. I found it the other day while on my magical trip to Half Price Books (which, by the way, was followed up by an equally magical trip to Goodwill, where I found tons of Baby-Sitter Club books. Because I'm 12).

For those that don't know, Flowers for Algernon is basically about a man named Charlie with a low IQ (around 70) that has an experimental surgery to increase his intelligence. The surgery has already been performed successfully on a mouse named Algernon. The story is written diary style by Charlie.

I really went back and forth with this novel. I loved it in the beginning - Charlie just seemed so sweet and delicate that I really cared about him, and how the surgery would go for him. Once the surgery happened, though, I got more and more annoyed with Charlie. He was so negative. During this period of the book, his high points are with Algernon (who is not mentioned nearly enough, in my opinion). It was the ending of the book that made me really love the novel in the end, though. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but in a way, it was the perfect ending to this book.

Flowers for Algernon brought up a lot of great questions for me. How do you relate to Charlie on any level, both pre- and post-surgery? What would this book be like if it was written today, in 2008? Has anyone read it and care to discuss? Anyone?

I give it Four Stars. There is so much to think about...

Nightshade by John Saul

2008-02-19T18:23:00.003-06:00

Nightshade by John Saul
399 pages
Finished 2/18/08

So, you probably don't know this, but John Saul's Suffer the Children is one of my most favoritest (yeah, I said it) books of all time. I first read it when I was young - probably around 5th grade or so, and the only reason I really remember it is because it is one of the first books that truly terrified me (um, maybe because I was way to young to be reading this crap?). Anyway, since I adored that book so much, every once and awhile I'll pick up another John Saul book to see if it will get me the way that first one did.

The answer? Not so much. It's hard to describe what this book is about, so go to the amazon.c0m link above and read about it. Yes, I'm feeling lazy tonight. Especially because I have another book to talk about that is WAY more interesting than this one.

Bottom line - I skimmed most of this book, just to get to the ending and feel a little dirty for reading it. It was no Suffer the Children, that's for sure.

Two stars.

Open House by Elizabeth Berg

2008-02-17T09:56:00.003-06:00

Open House by Elizabeth Berg
241 pages
Finished 2/16/08

Open House is about a woman (Sam) who separates from her wealthy husband within the first few pages of the book. She has a preteen son to raise, and once her soon to be ex-husband cuts her off financially, Sam must find a way to be able to keep her house and maintain her sanity. She lets out rooms to a few characters who both help and hinder her growth as she comes to grips with being left after 15 years of marriage.

I thought the start of the book was awful. I think Sam was supposed to come across as a sympathetic character devastated by her separation, but she just came off as neurotic, needy, and pathetic. As the book wore on and Sam started to get a backbone and some independence, I started liking the book more and more. There were a few touching scenes, including Sam's Thanksgiving. I did think the ending of the book was a little abrupt - there were some things that could have been explored a little more, including a conversation that Sam has with her ex.

Overall, I thought it was an ok book - I liked it, but I didn't love it. And I don't really understand how this was an Oprah pick, but whatever.

Three stars.

Needful Things by Stephen King

2008-02-17T09:45:00.001-06:00

Needful Things by Stephen King
736 pages
Finished 2/16/08

Needful Things is subtitled The Last Castle Rock Story. It's set in Castle Rock (clearly), the same town where a number of other Stephen King books have taken place - The Dead Zone, Cujo, The Tommyknockers, and The Dark Half. You don't absolutely have to read those books before reading this one, but Needful Things does give away the endings to a couple of those books (although you might not realize it at the time).

Needful Things is the name of a new store in Castle Rock that everyone checks out - and almost everyone purchases something. The store has something for everyone - baseball cards, vases, sunglasses. And the prices are pretty cheap - the proprietor will sell the items for a dollar amount that you can afford, plus he will require you to play a "prank" on someone else in town. However, these pranks aren't as innocent as they seem, and they set off a huge chain reaction in the town.

There isn't much that I can't say about this book that I don't say about King's other work - it's consistent, it's reliable, and it's so familiar it is comforting to read (at least for me).

Three stars.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

2008-02-10T13:54:00.001-06:00

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
480 pages
Finished 2/9/08

I have read all but one of Jodi Picoult's novels - I think the only one I haven't read was her very first book. Since I've read all of her books, I've found that most of them follow the same formula, with a "surprise twist" at the end of the book. This formula obviously works for her, as she's sold a ton of books, but as a reader it gets a little annoying.

The story is about a pretty sensitive matter - a 17 year old boy brings a gun to school, and ends up shooting at killing 10 people. The story jumps back and forth after the shooting - it goes from 17 years before the shooting, to one month after the shooting, to 11 years before the shooting, etc. I like this way of telling the story - it interweaves the characters and the story and gives you a good feel for the characters.

I liked the book, although, as I mentioned before, Picoult's books all seem to follow the same formula. That said, I figured out what the surprise twist would be almost immediately - it was pretty obvious to me within the first couple of chapters. The ending also seemed a little off - the last paragraph seemed a little thrown together, with not enough detail about certain characters, and other characters seemed to have their story wrapped up with a little bow (a little too happy of an ending).

I did have a little bit of problem with some her her timelines - maybe I was reading too fast, but in one part of the book, the storyline said that two brothers were starting school a year apart - one was starting kindergarten when his older brother was in first grade. Later in the book, it was mentioned that they were two years apart (10 & 8), which still makes it possible to be a year school-wise apart. However, later on in the book, it talks about one year before the accident, and I understood it as the younger brother was in 9th grade, and the older brother was somehow a senior. Maybe I don't get it, but it was a little confusing.

One thing that I like about Picoult's books is how she uses some of the same characters - in this book, there are at least 3 people that have been the main characters in some of her other books (The Pact, Perfect Match, and Salem Falls). You don't have to read the other books before reading this one, but it is helpful, especially since this book gives away relationships that are in the other books.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good book.

Three stars.

Thinner by Stephen King

2008-02-10T13:46:00.000-06:00

Thinner by Stephen King
318 pages
Finished 2/7/08

Still on my quest to read all Stephen King books. This book started out a little slow for me. The story is about an overweight lawyer that accidentally hits and kills a Gypsy that crosses the street in front of him while he's in his car. After getting off very lightly due to connections with the judge presiding over the case, Billy (the main character), runs into another Gypsy, who touches him on the cheek and says "Thinner." Billy is soon drastically losing weight.

The novel really gets going about a third of the way in, when Billy starts to look for the Gypsy that cursed him. It's a great story - face paced with a lot of things happening. The best part of the book was the ending - I didn't see it coming. There was a feeling of horror as I read the last few pages...it was sort-of like, "No way!" I was liking the book quite a bit, but the ending actually brought it up a notch for me.

Four stars.

Tat Update #3

2008-02-09T10:27:00.001-06:00

David went in yesterday for another round for his tattoo. I had thought they were going to finish it yesterday, but they did about 3 hours and he still needs one more session. Yikes! Yesterday they added some color - red, green, and orangish. I'm still not able to picture what the final product will be, but it's looking pretty cool.

Here's a pic from last night (taken with my brand new pink camera). There's a glare on the photo because I had just put tattoo goo all over David's back.

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy

2008-02-07T17:33:00.001-06:00

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy
537 pages
Finished 2/5/08

There is just something about Binchy's books that I love. They are all exactly the same - the books will center on a number of people that are linked by some random way, and there are always multiple storylines to follow, but it's always a nice read. You know what you are getting when you read her books.

This book revolves around a number of people that are taking an evening class that teaches Italian. It focuses on about 5 or 6 people actually taking the class, as well as a few people who are linked to the class in other ways.

I really liked this book, but then, I've liked all of Binchy's books. One thing that I really like is that you often see some familiar names pop up - names of people that are in other Binchy novels. It's nice - like visiting an old friend.

Three and a half stars.

Hockey!

2008-02-05T12:58:00.000-06:00

Since I moved to Madison, I've really gotten to be a bit of a college hockey nut. David and I go to as many games as we can a year - this year we've gone to 5, which is about average for us. I finally took some pictures at the game we went to on Friday (the Badgers won!). Our seats were pretty good, but most of the pictures have the net in the way, which is a bit of a bummer. Of course, we could have moved to take the pictures, but we were a bit lazy.

Here are some shots of the players warming up before the game:
Of course, anyone who knows me knows that pretty much my favorite part of the game is Bucky. He's hilarious. Last week he pounded on the glass next to a lady who had her back to the rink, and she just about hit the roof. I was hoping to get a picture of Bucky doing a headstand, but the first time he did it, I was in the bathroom, and the second time I didn't have the camera ready. Instead, here is Buck using his stick as a guitar while sliding across the ice...

We have such a blast at the games! I am sad, because I don't think we are going to any more this year. Can't wait for next year!

Icebound by Dean Koontz

2008-02-05T12:47:00.000-06:00

Icebound by Dean Koontz
408 pages
Finished 2/1/08

This book is quite different from typical Koontz books. There I think it was one of the first books he published (although I could be wrong). It was originally published in the '70s under a different title (and under a pen name), and was brought back in the '90s with some updates.

Icebound doesn't have the creepy, horror feeling that most Koontz books have. This book was about some scientists trapped on an iceberg that is set to explode in less than 12 hours. To be quite honest, I was pretty bored by the book, and skimmed most of it. This book is probably my least favorite out of all of his books.

Two stars.

The Regulators by Stephen King

2008-01-29T20:49:00.001-06:00

The Regulators by Stephen King
512 pages
Finished 1/29/08

In case you can't tell, I am on a bit of a Stephen King tear. I'm trying to build up my collection - I've always been a King fan, but haven't read much of it lately. Thanks to Half Price Books, I'm now all over it.

Anyway, at one of my last trips I picked up Desperation, and I liked it quite a bit. I had seen on the book that there was another book (The Regulators) that I thought was a sequel of sorts. Turns out the books are more "companions" of each other. You can read them completely separately, and really aren't missing anything. I got David to take me to HPB again this past weekend, and decided to check out the Stephen King section again for funsies (even though I had picked up a couple of King's books already from the dollar section). I saw The Regulators and snatched it up right away, even though I honestly had forgotten about the book.

The coolest thing about these two books are the characters - simply because the characters names, and a number of their main traits, are recycled between the two books. I didn't realize this when I first started reading Regulators, and I actually had David go grab Desperation for me out of the office so I could compare names (and yep, they matched). It was a little confusing at first, and then I realized that I had to separate the two stories - just because someone was a bad guy in one book, didn't necessarily mean he/she was a bad guy in the other.

I really liked Regulators - more than I liked Desperation, even. I was reading some other reviews, and it sounds like most people think Desperation is the better of the two, but I'd have to beg to differ on this one.

Four stars.

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

2008-01-29T11:06:00.000-06:00

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
340 pages
Finished 1/26/08

This book is your typical chick lit - career woman falls madly in love with the man of her dreams, only to find that things aren't as peachy as she thought it'd be. In the case of this book, the main character, Claudia, has always maintained that she didn't want children - ever. She eventually meets a man that feels the exact same way about that (and, apparently, everything else under the sun). They get married, and after a few years of marriage, one of them eventually decides that hey, maybe they do want kids.

This book is exactly what I envision most chick lit to be - simple, predictable, and an easy read (I read in a day, no problem). It wasn't a great book, but I didn't despise it. I'd probably read other books by the author (as long as I found them in the dollar area at HPB).

Three stars.

The Innocent Man by John Grisham

2008-01-26T10:55:00.000-06:00

The Innocent Man by John Grisham
435 pages
Finished 1/26/08

I've always been a big John Grisham fan - I've read all of his fiction books, and I was eagerly waiting for this book to come out in paperback ever since I first heard about it. Of course, I could only get it in paperback since all of my other Grisham books are in paperback (consistency people!). I happed to see it the other day while wandering around in Target - David must have been in a good mood, because he let me buy it. :)

The book centers around the true story of a man wrongly convicted of murder in the late '80s. It's a pretty compelling story in itself - ex small town hero turned bad guy turned not so bad guy. It was a little weird reading the book though, because there were a few times that I forgot that I was reading nonfiction, and would think I was reading one of Grisham's thrillers - maybe that's a good thing? Overall, I liked the book. Reading Grisham is a bit like comfort food - very familiar.

Three stars.

The Alibi by Sandra Brown

2008-01-26T10:51:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to say much about The Alibi by Sandra Brown - I pulled it off of the dollar shelf at HPB because it looked kinda interesting. I realized about five pages into it that 1) I had read this book before, and 2) that it is a horribly written book. I was not a fan.

Two stars.

Desperation by Stephen King

2008-01-26T10:45:00.000-06:00

Desperation by Stephen King
547 pages
Finished 1/21/08

A week or so ago, David and I were going to run into town and do some errands. Since we are had to go to Home Depot, the common compromise is to go to Half Price Books (yay!). I decided to take a look at my Stephen King collection, and pick up another book of his that I haven't read. I ended up writing about 6-8 books down before we left.

Turns out Desperation wasn't even on that list, but I knew right away I hadn't read the book. I really liked it - in typical Stephen King fashion, the story revolves around a ton of characters that all end up being pulled over and abducted by a crazy weird cop in Desperation, NV. The coolest thing about the book is that it looks like there is a bit of a sequel called The Regulators that was written by King's alter-ego, Richard Bachman. I can't wait to read that one, too.

Three stars.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

2008-01-21T09:21:00.000-06:00

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
236 pages
Finished 1/16/08

I had a really hard time getting into and then through this book. It is an autobiography (really?!) of a woman who had cancer when she was a child. As a result of that cancer, she had to have part of her jaw removed, leaving her disfigured.

The first thing that bothered me is that I wasn't a huge fan of the author's writing style. I know what she was going for with the visualizations, etc, but it just seemed like she was trying too hard. That wasn't the biggest thing that bothered me, though. The whole time I was reading it, I was annoyed by the lack of family relationships that were mentioned. She talked some about her father and her mother, but her twin sister was barely mentioned. It just felt there was this huge aspect of her life that was missing while reading the book.

I did find the afterword written by author Ann Patchett really interesting - it really shed some light on Grealy and her thoughts behind the writing of this memoir.

Two and a half stars.

Also, is it bad that every time I see the book, I kept thinking "So's your face!" (an insult from Scrubs) and then will usually start singing Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face"?

Amazing Race Genius

2008-01-21T08:24:00.000-06:00

Can I just say how proud of myself I am for picking the winners of the Amazing Race 12 after watching the first episode? Granted, I didn't do much better in picking any of the other positions (um...Jason and Lorena in second? Not so much), but I am happy that for once my favorite team was able to win it. The last roadblock was awesome, although a little confusing.

On a sad note...of course the Packers lost last night. David and I ended up watching the second half of the game in bed (he's pretty sick right now), and I turned the TV off with two minutes in regulation and the game still tied. I was way too nervous to keep watching. Of course, about 15 minutes later I went online to check the final score, and saw that it was in OT. I ended up turning on the TV again just in time to see the Giants kick a field goal and win it. Ouch. Brutal. I so hope Tom Brady kicks Eli Manning's ass in the Superbowl.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

2008-01-16T18:14:00.000-06:00

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
331 pages
Finished 1/13/07

I'll admit, I had pretty high expectations for this book. Everything that I have read has given this book RAVE reviews. To be quite honest, I probably would have liked it more if 1) I hadn't heard everyone gush about how great it was and 2) I hadn't read Geek Love a couple of months ago (which is seriously one of the best books ever). In the end, while I thought it was a decent book, I really don't think it lives up to the hype.

The book's narrator is a man in his 90s who lives in a nursing home. The story alternates between present time, and the time he joined up with a circus in his early twenties.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think this was a bad book by any means. And for a couple of paragraphs near the end of the book, I was really into it. But for the rest of the book (the whole beginning, and then again at the end), I was just kind of going through the motions while reading it. It held my interest, yes, but I don't think that the book challenged me in any way. It was also a very quick read - I read it easily in a day.

Three stars.

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

2008-01-12T11:21:00.000-06:00

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
219 pages
Finished 1/11/08

Ah, the mix tape. I was a big fan of the mix tape when I was younger - my choice tape was what the author called "The Radio Tape." I always had a tape handy, ready to record my favorite songs when they were played on the radio. And the funny thing is, when I hear certain songs, I still hear the DJ's comments on the song, from the tapes that I played over and over. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I only made 1 mix tape specifically for a person - my friend Minta when we were in 8th or 9th grade. It was a damn good tape, too, with plenty of Boyz II Men and other sap songs (we were getting over boys at the time, of course).

This book actually hit me pretty hard - I was teary through most of it, and full on crying at the end. The author writes about his relationship with his wife, and how she died in his arms after only 5 years of marriage. I was reading it and thinking through out the whole thing - I cannot imagine losing David. Hate the thought of it. It doesn't help that he is gone for the weekend, either.

Anyway, the coolest thing about this book are the playlists that he gives at the beginning of each chapter. I admit, I'm not familiar with 80% of the music - it's a lot of underground, alternative 90's rock that really wasn't my thing. Still, it was cool to read about music and how it influenced their relationship. And I was a little giddy when I got to the chapter titled "The Comfort Zone" because that playlist had my type of music - Kris Kross, Paula Abdul, TLC, Hi-Five, and tons of other early 90s Top 40 goodness that I enjoyed.

Funny thing about the book - I never looked at the back cover to see the picture of the author. I knew his name, of course, and that he was an editor for Rolling Stone, but I didn't realize until I finished reading the book that this was also one of the guys that is always on those VH1 shows - I Love the 80s, I Love the 90s, etc.

Four stars.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

2008-01-09T07:48:00.000-06:00

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
983 pages
Finished 1/8/07

Wow. This book is absolutely amazing! Definitely the best book I've read in 2008. :) I had never heard of it before (until a few weeks ago), and I'm still trying to figure out how I was able to make it this long without reading it.

I actually picked up the book solely based on recommendations - I literally had no idea what it was about when I started reading it. When I saw that the Prologue took place in the year 1123 (the book spans 1123-1174), I was a little nervous, simply because I don't always dig historical fiction. Luckily, I was engrossed in the book from the first page. To be honest, I think I liked it more because, while it's set in the 1100's, the dialog in the book is fairly modern - I typically go crazy trying to read old fashioned writing.

Anyway, it is seriously an awesome book. I can't wait to read the sequel (I didn't even know there was one)! I will have to wait awhile, though - since I didn't know there was a sequel currently out in hardcover, I bought the mass market paperback version of this book. Since my series books have to match, I'll have to wait until the mm paperback is released of the sequel (or upgrade my current book to hardcover...hmmm).

One other thing - I have no idea what rock I've been living under, but I had no clue that this book was chosen as one of Oprah's book club picks. This is particularly disturbing since I get automatic emails regarding her choices. I admit, I've just been deleting them for months now without paying much attention to them...I guess from now on I'll research the book a little before deleting her emails.

Five million stars. Ok, just five stars.

Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane

2008-01-06T10:47:00.001-06:00

Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane
412 pages
Finished 1/4/08

I was about 5 pages into the book before I realized that the two main characters in the book (Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro) are the main characters in a series of other books - and I was, essentially, reading the fourth in the series. I almost put the book down then (because I really hate reading books out of sequence), but decided to go on anyway.

Overall, I thought the book was pretty good. Great mystery with a lot of twists and turns, and there were a few that I didn't see coming. I didn't love the characters of Patrick and Angie, though - I was actually annoyed with how "soft" they were in a few places. I guess I like my detectives gritty. :)

I liked the book and the characters enough that I would consider reading more books that feature them, although I most likely won't read the first few books in the series, since the outcomes are referred to a number of times.

Three stars.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

2008-01-04T13:14:00.000-06:00

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
629 pages
Finished 1/2/08

This book is the third in the Twilight series. The good news is that it was (slightly) better than the second book. The bad news is that it was no where near as good as the first.

This book dealt with more of the same - we are supposed to believe that Bella is such a strong character, when she is constantly standing in shock, feeling nauseous, or nearly passing out from being soooo tired.

The best part of the book was again the ending, although there were a few things that made me roll my eyes. I like the addition of the love triangle to the book, even if I don't like the person it is centered around (Bella). It actually a bit of a bummer that I've found myself disliking the main character so much.

Regardless, I'm sure I will pick up the sequel when it comes out later this year.

Three stars.

Christmas Picture

2008-01-03T10:26:00.000-06:00

Thought I'd post my favorite Christmas picture of David and me. We spent the weekend before Christmas drinking a lot of Boones Farm (I think I mentioned that already). It was a blast!

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

2008-01-01T14:32:00.000-06:00

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
563 pages
Finished 12/31/07

What a disappointment! I was a little worried this would happen - it seems like teen authors are trying so hard to become the next JK Rowling, and it's just not happening. New Moon is the second book in the Twilight series, and to be quite honest, I thought it was pretty bad. I'm trying to put into words my distaste for the book without giving much of the plot away, and it's hard. (I don't want to give up the plot because I know how annoying it is to read information about a second novel in a series when you haven't read the first - too spoilerish).

My biggest issues stem from the main character - she absolutely drove me nuts. She's so melodramatic about everything! I don't think she has a ton of redeeming qualities, and yet somehow every guy she meets is drawn to her and in love with her. It was forced a little too much in this book.

The last quarter of the book was by far the best part, and that really wasn't good enough.

Two and a half stars.

Last Post of the Year...

2007-12-31T09:40:00.001-06:00

...And I decided to use a tribute to two of my favorite things this year...an LOL cat (courtesy of http://icanhascheezburger.com/) and Scrubs!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2007-12-31T09:22:00.000-06:00

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
498 pages
Finished 12/30/07

To say that this is a fast read would be an understatement. I began reading this book yesterday afternoon, around the beginning of the 4th quarter of the Packer game (Go Pack!). I finished it by 9 last night, and I was definitely not reading the entire time (took some time off to make dinner, drink some wine, and put the book down every 3 minutes or so to meow at David. Which he didn't find annoying. At all.).

I was throughly absorbed and addicted to this novel. It is a young-adult novel about a high school junior named Bella that moves to a new school and falls in love with a vampire. It was easy to see why/how a teenage girl can get swept up in it - what heterosexual teenage girl didn't day dream about the perfect guy falling for her and whispering sweet nothings to her? I thought it was a very romantic novel when looking at it from eyes of the teenage girl I used to be.

Of course, other things drove me nuts - things that were unexplained (Edward, the vampire, can read everyone's thoughts...but Bella's), Bella's ridiculous outfits there were supposed to be cute (floor length khaki skirt? Really?), and even the sexual tension got a little annoying. It was all too pure. The two barely ever kissed!

Either way, I still really liked it, and I am already reading the second novel, New Moon. I'll let you know how I feel about that one.

Four stars.

The Unholy by Michael Falconer Anderson

2007-12-31T09:11:00.000-06:00

The Unholy by Michael Falconer Anderson
223 pages
Finished 12/30/07

I found this book in a box of my old books that I got from my mom - the box had some of my Baby-Sitter Club books, a bunch of teen angst books, a few romance book...and then there was this one. The book is in horrible shape - bent, sun faded, and it looks like part of it had gotten wet, but I was desperate for something to read a week or so ago (before I went to the bookstore and ordered from Amazon).

The back of the book makes the story sound really freaky and disturbing, but the story was actually a bit of a disappointment for me - I didn't get the chills I was expecting when reading it. It seemed a little rushed in places, and a little drawn out in others, and sometimes details were mentioned that just didn't fit with the storyline, and had me going "Huh?". Ug, plus, the other thing that annoyed me was that the f-bombs were edited. Really? Why have your character speak them if you are just going to type it "F..."?

Two stars.

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

2007-12-30T10:37:00.000-06:00

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
752 pages
Finished 12/28/07

Considering I've read most of Stephen King's books, I'm not sure how I missed this one, but I did. I had a hard time getting through the first 200 pages or so - it was pretty slow going there for awhile, with all of the back story on Bobbi and Gard. Once it picked up, though, I really enjoyed the book. I liked King's writing style in this novel, and I loved how the storylines were all intertwined. It was cool to see the story from on angle in one chapter, and then see it from another view the next.

Overall, I'd say the book could have been better if it was about 200 pages less, but I still liked it.

Three stars.

December DNFs

2007-12-27T11:36:00.001-06:00

December was a seriously depressing month for books. I wasn't all that into reading in the first place, and it didn't help that the books I had were not that great.

The good news is I can only think of three books that I actually quit:

Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Hayes

The first two books I read (maybe) 30 pages of each before quitting. I just couldn't get into them.

The third book is actually one that's been on my shelf for years. I've tried reading it a couple of times, but could never get into it. Turns out I still can't, so it goes back to the shelf as a Did Not Finish.

Anxiously awaiting UPS...

2007-12-27T11:17:00.000-06:00

Whew, so my moodiness from the last week seems to have gone away for the most part. Must have been PMS.

Right now I am terribly excited because the UPS driver is on his way to my house. Yes! He is coming with a box full of books from Amazon.com. I ordered the books on Christmas Eve - as soon as I got some money for Christmas, I told David to get ready to deposit it into checking, because it was going straight to Amazon. So, I have the following books on the way to my house:

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane (author of Mystic River)
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Plus, since I knew I couldn't wait until the books came today, I had also picked up a couple of books at HPB on Monday...Tommyknockers by Stephen King (I have no idea how I've never read this book before) and A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. I'm currently reading both of these books (although I'll probably just go to Tommyknockers tonight so I can concentrate more and get them both done!).

So, overall Christmas was a whole lot of awesome. David and I had a great day together on Saturday - we ate some pizza, did some cannon balls (involves chugging Boones Farm), drank some beer, opened some presents, and watched my favorite movie - Love Actually. Sunday was spent with David's parents and grandmother. We turned off the Packer game early (it was wretched), and played some dominoes before David and I made our fish dinner (which I ended up not liking). On Monday we drove up to EC with my brother Bob and his fiancee Nikki and opened presents with my mom and Grandma, and then Tuesday we had to stop by both sides of my family for Christmas.

As usual, the Present Game at my mom's side was a lot of fun, although it seemed to drag on FOREVER. Everyone was fighting over a few specific gifts, mainly because we knew they contained alcohol. :) David and I had a good giggle once the game was over - we didn't end up with any alcohol (it was Boones Farm and Asti!) but we got off pretty easy - two things of candy, a book (Nicholas Sparks - I'll read it eventually), and a hideous bracelet that will go in the game next year. David and I played the game well and were pretty proud of our (lack) of gifts.

This is how I'm feeling today...

2007-12-21T16:19:00.000-06:00

Cranky

2007-12-20T16:18:00.000-06:00

I've been really crabby the last few days...heck, even weeks it feels like. I'm seriously hoping Christmas will make it better. I'm in such a rut - nothing that I usually do sounds very fun. I'm sick of reading crappy books (I've been reading Mirror, Mirror for over a week now and am literally 30 pages into), I haven't been into TV (I somehow still have the last two episodes of Heroes on my DVR, among others), and I have even looked at EVERYTHING on the Internet. Almost.

David and I decided that it's probably because I haven't been drinking very much lately. That, and of course our usual reasoning - I'm not blonde. I was always more fun then.

So, anyway, thank goodness for this weekend - on Saturday David and I are doing Christmas together. We decided to have our Christmas dinner together be Pizza Hut (so nerdy), and I'm going to enjoy a Pina Colada (or two) with a tasty Red Vine straw. Sunday we are going to do our Christmas with David's family, where I plan on enjoying multiple glasses of Prosecco. Yumm...

And to demonstrate how cute my hair looked with blonde highlights, I'll take you back to October 2006 with I first met little Raina:

Dinner Drama

2007-12-16T20:08:00.001-06:00

There is a reason I don't cook. Ok, there are actually a lot of reasons why I don't cook, but the main reason seems to be my lack of attention to detail.

A few weeks ago David and I were making pancakes for dinner. We bought one of those easy little plastic containers - just add water! I seriously read the instructions 3 times - and then proceeded to fill the container to the top, rather than the fill line. Needless to say, we did not have pancakes that night.

Tonight David and I were making Four Soup Casserole. David was browning the hamburger, while I was mixing the soups. I read the instructions over a few times. "Brown hamburger and drain. Mix soups together. Lightly mix soup & noodles together; add beef." I thought it was a little weird that I didn't have to cook the noodles, but since we had only made this meal once quite awhile ago, I couldn't remember. I added about half of the (uncooked) noodles to the soup when I read the instructions (again). "Brown hamburger. Cook & drain noodles. Mix soups together." Whhaaa? How did I miss the "cook and drain noodles" the first 15 times I read it? Grr. David had to throw on shoes and drive to the grocery store for more soup while I finished browning the hamburger and (oops) cooking the noodles.

By the time David got back, the noodles were cooked, the hamburger was browned, and I was ready to mix the soups. Except...instead of a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of cream of celery, David came home with 2 cans of cream of celery and no mushroom. There was a bit of dramatics in the house then - David was pissed that he had bought two of the same soup and was convinced dinner was officially ruined, and I was pissed that he was pissed about something so stupid. Good times. We finally got everything in the dish and into the oven, with me saying all the time "I don't remember putting cheese on it last time" (as the recipe calls for).

Forty-five minutes later, it came out of the oven and was actually really good. I am completely convinced that last time we didn't put cheese on it, which is weird, because I'd top everything with cheese if I could. David can't believe we made the casserole twice and haven't done it correctly yet. Oh well. It still ended up being delicious.

I had been feeling ambitious before we started making dinner, and had planned on making chocolate chip cookies after dinner. Not any more.

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman

2007-12-15T21:28:00.000-06:00

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman
262 pages
Finished 12/15/07

There was a sticker on the cover of this book that claimed "If you like Jodi Picoult, you'll love Alice Hoffman." I like Jodi Picoult OK (although the last two books of hers that I read, Vanishing Acts and The Tenth Circle were not very good), so I thought I'd pick this one up. Plus, I've read at least one of Hoffman's books, and while I don't remember loving it, I certainly don't remember hating it.

And hating it is exactly how I felt about this book. It was bad from page one. Her writing style drove me nuts, and the characters all were so weak and unbalanced. I barely finished it - I basically just started skimming and reading every few pages, and then, with about a quarter of the book to go, I skipped to the last 20 pages or so and read them. Turns out I didn't miss much.

One star.

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

2007-12-15T21:19:00.000-06:00

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
291 pages
Finished 12/11/07

When I saw this at HPB, I snatched it up right away, even though it was a brand-new hardcover. I didn't know this author had another novel out. I had read her two previous books - her memoir, Lucky, and her first novel The Lovely Bones, and I adored them. I figured this would be the same.

Except, yeah, not so much. The main character (Helen) was disgusting. The book starts out (the first sentence) with Helen proclaiming that she killed her mother. The book follows the next 24 hours as she tries to decide what to do next. I'm not sure if Sebold's intention was to make us feel empathy for her, but whatever the plan was, Helen came off as a serious lunatic. And she didn't really have any redeeming qualities, and yet it seemed like everyone in her life (especially the men) would do anything for her. Unfortunately, whatever they saw in her doesn't come across to the reader.

An utterly disappointing Two stars.

Good news...(relative)

2007-12-13T18:49:00.000-06:00

I haven't said anything about this on here because there was no new information for so long, but now I have some news...

David and I were making dinner tonight around 5 or 6 when the doorbell rang. It was Benjy, our neighbor, with the best news we've heard from him in a long time. His and Erin's daycare provider was just arrested tonight in the death of their son Lincoln. She was charged with 1st degree reckless homicide. Benjy wanted to give us a heads up since everything will be on the news tomorrow - just in case news vans start showing up in our driveway.

I'm glad that this is finally happening for them. Lincoln was only 4 months old when he died on September 11, so it's news Benjy and Erin (and everyone who knows them) had been waiting awhile to hear.

Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell

2007-12-12T13:13:00.001-06:00

Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
435 pages
Finished 12/11/07

So, a funny thing happened this morning as I was watching my DVR'd from last night Biggest Loser (which, side note, can I just say how annoyed I am about an all-Black Team finale? Grr, Bill or Hollie better win, because I will be so annoyed if either of the blondes win it). Anyway, as I was fast-wording through the commercials (and half the show, really), I saw Brooke Shields on my screen, so I rewound a bit because I like her. Turns out it was a promo spot for the new TV show she is in...called Lipstick Jungle! I had no idea this book was being made into a TV show. Apparently it starts in February. Yeah, I'll probably watch it (I'll probably be starved for new TV, what with the writers strike and all).

Ok, on to the book. My first feeling when reading this was extreme annoyance. One thing that it always seems about chick-lit books - the main characters always have ridiculous names. The three main characters are Victory, Nico, and Wendy. Ok, Wendy's not bad, but the other two? Come on! (Although, there was a two week or so period in 6th grade where my 3 bestest friends were Danette, Minta, and Windy, so...)

There were a few things that made me crazy - mainly, the lack of details. The timeline drove me a little nuts - it seemed like it went from around the Oscars (February) to Cannes (May) within a few pages, when it had taken 200+ pages just to get to the Oscars. The author tried to run all of these parallel storylines, but it just seemed like she had so much going on (and the book was getting so long) that she decided to say fuck it and started chopping out parts. The ending was crazy - it was all wrapped up neatly with a bow within 10 or so pages, and it didn't make sense. Without going into detail, one of the main character's storyline went from pretty good to over in a matter of sentences. Grr.

Three stars - but that's on a curve, taking into a count that it's a chick lit book, and not literary genius. Off topic a bit - this author is the same author that penned Sex and the City. I've never watched the TV show, and I didn't know it was based off of a book. Curious.

Come Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine

2007-12-11T19:30:00.000-06:00

Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back by Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine
306 pages
Finished 12/9/07

This book is a memoir written by a mother and daughter. The book tells of their struggle with Mia's (the daughter) addiction and the steps her mother and step father took to get her to rehab.

Overall, I thought it was a great book. Both Claire and Mia's stories are inter-mixed throughout the chapters, so you get to see/hear both sides of the story while it's happening. They are very frank and honest about a lot of things - their shortcomings and the huge circumstance in their life that was the catalyst in Mia's addiction.

My only complaint is that it seems like some important information is either left out or suddenly sprung on you. It made it feel a bit like a novel when I was reading those books - the story is compelling enough without throwing these "surprises" in.

Still, it was a great book, and I was happy to see that this book had a happy ending. And no, I'm not ruining the book by saying that. I mean, come on - it's written on the back of the book, nevermind that Mia's telling the story herself. Like a junkie could/would do that.

Four stars.

Amazing Race

2007-12-10T09:18:00.001-06:00

Just a quick note to say how excited I am that TK and Rachel are still in the race! I just got done watching last night's episode. They are still my #1 pick to win this (and I still haven't read spoilers, either, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed)! My other new favorites are Nick and Donald, the grandson and grandfather. They seem to work well together (it is adorable that Nick is always carrying his backpack). I still like the Goths, although Kent is much less tolerable than Vixen.

On the other hand, I can't believe Ron and Christina are still in this thing. They drive me nuts. I am so sick of hearing her call him Daddy - you are a grown woman! And while I don't want Jennifer and Nate to win, I still want them on my TV, for pure entertainment value. Their fights are highly amusing.

Christmas Kittens

2007-12-09T18:56:00.000-06:00

Well, we've had the tree up for about a week now, and the kids are finally getting into it a bit.

Last night I was doing dishes in the kitchen when I heard Gabby playing in the living room. (How sad is it that I hear a cat playing and can automatically tell which one it is)? I did assume that she was playing with her pink mouse, but that was not the case.
Turns out she was having a field day with the blue bulb that had been on the tree. She was having a blast with that thing - once she got it off the tree (and posed for this adorable picture), she batted it around the living room for a good 10 minutes (an extreme work out for those of you that know Gab).

Meanwhile, Toby gave us a bit of a scare today. David and I were making dinner tonight (ok, David was making dinner, while I sat on the counter drinking a Captain and Coke). David gave Gabby a little brown mouse, since her pink one is MIA. Usually when Gabby gets a toy, Toby is there within seconds to snatch it from her. This time, Gabby was able to enjoy the toy without interruption. This actually gave us cause for concern - Toby is such a bully that it was unusual that he didn't appear. I went upstairs to look for him and couldn't find him. Then, Gabby and I (she's so nosy) went down to the basement to look for him. I was mildly paranoid when I couldn't find him (my first thought was - did he go hide somewhere to die? So morbid). While we were down there, David yelled "I found him!" and I immediately knew where he was - hiding under the tree. Sure enough, there he was.

How cute is the little black blob? He must have been loving the warmth, because that's where he's been all night. So adorable.

A bit off topic, but I just got done reading an awesome nonfiction book. I'll post a review tomorrow. I loved it!

Tat Update

2007-12-06T16:02:00.000-06:00

David went in for Round 2 last Friday. His session was about 3 hours long. The black shading has been completed! Still no actual color yet - red is just the irritation still.

He now needs to heal completely (about 4-6 weeks) before finishing it up. He has about 3 hours left to go. I haven't seen the drawing of what it will look like once it's done, but David's pretty excited.

Lolcat #2

2007-12-05T12:09:00.000-06:00

My new favorite one. It is cute and funny all at once. Love it.

Rosie Dunne by Cecelia Ahern

2007-12-02T19:07:00.000-06:00

Rosie Dunne by Cecelia Ahern
431 pages
Finished 12/1/07

This book has an interesting gimmick - it is written as a series of letters, emails, and instant messages. To be quite honest, if I knew that was the case, I might not have picked up the book (although, since I found the hardcover for a dollar at Half Price Books, who knows?).

I was a little annoyed by the format, mainly because nothing is dated. The book spans 40+ years of Rosie's life, and the letters can jump a year (or more) on the same page. I was also a little confused by some of the time line, because certain things just didn't always seem to add up, especially when it came to Katie, Rosie's daughter (are one year olds still considered colicky? Shouldn't a three year old have said "Grandma" a long time ago?).

Overall, though, it was a really sweet book, and you couldn't help but root for the two main letter writers to get together. This is definitely a chick lit book, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

Three stars.

Free Cat

2007-11-29T13:46:00.001-06:00

Anyone want a free cat? He's 13 years old, litter trained, all black, very cute, very cuddly, and EXTREMELY needy.

I'll even throw in the pink mouse in the back ground for free. It's a steal.

Ok, obviously I'm not really giving him away. But he is driving me nuts today. He is being a shadow - I can't go anywhere without him following. Run downstairs for a bottle of water? Follows. Go to the bedroom to get some socks? Follows. Oh yes, he's even there when I try to go to the bathroom.

Oh, Tobias Cat.

Babyville by Jane Green

2007-11-28T12:51:00.000-06:00

Babyville by Jane Green
438 pages
Finished 11/28/07

I am having pretty mixed feelings on this book. I am not typically a fan of chick-lit, and this definitely fits into that category. The novel is about 3 women, in different stages of their lives - Julia, who desperately wants to be pregnant, Maeve, who is single and loving it and unexpectedly becomes pregnant, and Samantha, married with a new baby.

So many things about this book drove me nuts. First, the fact that it is a British novel, so there a bunch of phrases and words that I'm not familiar with. There weren't so many that I couldn't understand the story (actually, I could pretty easily figure out what they meant), but they still drive me nuts. And yeah, I knew that would happen going into the book, because I've read the author before, but still... Second, I couldn't stand (or understand) the three female characters and their relationships with the men in their lives. I seriously cannot imagine anyone being that blind, dense, and crazy - and that goes for all three of the ladies.

Reading my review and thinking about all of the things that bothered me about the book make me feel like I should be giving it less stars than I am. No idea why I feel inclined to give it the stars I am - probably because the bottom line is that this is a chick-lit book, and it was exactly what they all typically are...mindless "brain candy" that you don't read for intellectual reasons, but more to escape.

Three stars.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

2007-11-28T09:38:00.000-06:00

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
294 pages
Finished 11/26/07

This is a young-adult novel - the first in a series. It was also made into a movie awhile back (a year or two? I'm not sure). I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard good things about the book/series, and decided to pick it up.

It was really cute, and actually pretty surprising in a couple of aspects. Sure, the characters were somewhat cliche - the rebel, the jock, the shy one, the "mother" of the group, but what wasn't so cliche is that they were all friends - best friends. It's a cute story about four friends who find a pair of "magic pants" - pants that fit all of them, even though they have different body styles. The girls spend the summer apart (their first summer in years), but have the pants and their letters to keep them connected.

Like I said, I thought it was really cute. I will probably read the rest of the series eventually, and want to watch the movie now (although chances are pretty good I won't get David to watch it with me...)

I give it three stars.

On This Day by Melody Carlson

2007-11-26T09:21:00.000-06:00

On This Day by Melody Carlson
329 pages
Finished 11/25/07

This book was a pretty quick read, even at 329 pages. I actually started it late yesterday evening and finished it in bed before 11. I'm not going to lie, I did some skimming, because it wasn't the most interesting or well written book.

The biggest issue was how it was the writing style. The book follows 5 different women during the course of the day - they are all guests at a wedding with some relation to the bride and groom. The author wrote each chapter so that it was in the "voice" of one of the women - a first person account of what they are thinking, feeling, etc. The problem is that the author really didn't have the ability to distinguish these voices - the 20-something maid of honor sounds exactly like the 80-something grandmother of the bride, who sounds exactly like the 40-something over-Botoxed drunk family friend, etc. It takes a pretty good author to pull this type of book off, and I just didn't think this one cut it.

I gave it two stars.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

2007-11-26T09:14:00.000-06:00

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
288 pages
Finished 11/25/07

Yet another challenged book from my bracelet that I decided to pick up. I can't believe I haven't read this book before - it seems like a pretty obvious book to read. I also realized that I never saw all of the movie. We started watching my freshman year of high school in our English class, but when we went back the next day to finish it, we were informed some parents complained and we wouldn't be watching the rest of it. Challenged indeed...

This book actually had a lot of surprises for me in it, especially because I really didn't know what it was about (I can't remember the movie to save my life, except for the fact that I knew Oprah was in it). First - the book is written in letter format. Letters to God and between the sisters. That was a little surprising, simply because I had no idea. Second - there was a lot of slave language in it that I had a hard time understanding at first. I guess this was surprising because, again, I really didn't know what the book was about. As I started getting into it, it was much easier to understand/comprehend. Third - it was evident from (literally) the first page why this book has been challenged. I really wasn't expecting the language that was on the first page, and coupled with the sexuality that continues through the book, I can see why objections were made (not that I agree with it).

Overall, it was a surprisingly good book, but I wasn't bowled over by it.

I give it three stars.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

2007-11-21T11:28:00.000-06:00

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
234 pages
Finished 11/21/07

I'm not going to lie, I only picked this book up because it was on my banned books bracelet, which is my new favorite piece of jewelery - here's the link: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog&_pn=product_detail&_op=2151

Anyway, I actually really didn't know much about this book until I started reading it. It's essentially a love story about two high school students - both female. It is a young adult novel and was written and published in the early '80s (1981 or 82, I can't remember).

In some ways, I think the story was extremely well written. The blossoming love between Annie and Liza was sweet, and I honestly think that anyone who reads it will be able to relate to the feelings they have - nervous, unsure, etc. On the other hand, there were little things about the characters and the story that drove me nuts - mainly the constant foreshadowing ("And by the time the whole thing was over with, I wished she'd known..." and "But, oh, God, neither of us had any way of knowing that I would do something..." are just two examples from the first quarter of the book).

I can definitely see why this book has been challenged, although there are no overt sexual scenes in the story (there are probably more explicit things shown on prime time television).

I give it two and a half stars.