Book Updates

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.