Well, honestly the more books I read by this author the less impressed I am. I just don't get why it was a Newberry book???
This was an unusual book, like most of the books he writes. It just didn't quite get deep enough to really grab you and teach you something...I guess a good word for this book is "shallow".
Skip it...
Healing book
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
This was a bit different and mysterious. Also a tiny bit dry. It also received a John Newberry Medal. I don't know much about the ancient Indian people of Peru so it was interesting to have a little bit of history. I don't know if it is true or not. They worship the sun. It makes sense in the story, the sun gives life, light and grows the food...
The story is about a little boy. He is a Llama shepherd. He doesn't know what he wants in his life and feels something is missing. He goes on a little quest. He finds his answer and comes home. It took a whole book for that to happen and there are a bunch of riddles about the boys life spun all around the story...it didn't really make all that much sense but it was a nice little story. I was confused about he time period but I found out later that is part of the whole plot...
Whole book
The story is about a little boy. He is a Llama shepherd. He doesn't know what he wants in his life and feels something is missing. He goes on a little quest. He finds his answer and comes home. It took a whole book for that to happen and there are a bunch of riddles about the boys life spun all around the story...it didn't really make all that much sense but it was a nice little story. I was confused about he time period but I found out later that is part of the whole plot...
Whole book
Monday, January 28, 2008
Rules by cynthia lord
Newberry Honor Book...it was cute. I cried in one part but it wasn't a sad book. The little girl makes friends with a boy in a wheelchair. They discover that they have a lot in common and can communicate. He has a word book that he points too and she is an artist. She sees that he needs better words and more color so she makes really cool words for his book with pictures too. Like: Awesome, Gross and Run...
She also has a very autistic brother. She is always trying to teach him what he should do and what he shouldn't do...like not put toys in the fish tank and not to take off his clothes in public...
Anyway it is a cute book and I like the way the author uses the play on the rules...the girl discovers rules for herself. In life her friendships aren't always what she dreams they will be...she really finds her true self in ways she can't imagine...
Whole Book
She also has a very autistic brother. She is always trying to teach him what he should do and what he shouldn't do...like not put toys in the fish tank and not to take off his clothes in public...
Anyway it is a cute book and I like the way the author uses the play on the rules...the girl discovers rules for herself. In life her friendships aren't always what she dreams they will be...she really finds her true self in ways she can't imagine...
Whole Book
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Joseph Smith the prophet by Trueman G. Madsen
And you were beginning to think I didn't read anything but Fiction. This was such a good book. I haven't read anything in a long time about Joseph Smith Jr. besides the stuff at church, just a quote here and a quote there. NOW this years manual for RS/Prsthd is The Teachings of the Presidents of the Church Joseph Smith! It is huge and will last two years...who wants to pack the book around for two years? Okay that is different story...if I didn't bring so much stuff for the baby and the kids and my calling then that book would be no big deal but it adds like 2 lbs to my scripture bag.
Truman G. Madsen has such a way of sharing his knowledge...he took history, which sometimes I find to be dry and boring but not useless, and he added the little details and blurbs from journal entries of actual people that were there with Joesph Smith. It added color to the retelling of brother Joseph's life. Plus his spiritual insights were amazing. He really looked deeper then just the surface of this man's incredible life. He tried to present ten characterizations of the prophets that are typical in Judeo-Christian literature.
Joseph Smith was a mighty prophet of God, in the latter days. His life was part of a bigger plan. He had a divine destiny to restore Christ's church here on the Earth. Building temples and receiving the keys to the priesthood alone is a huge feat but he also translated the Book of Mormon, received revelation, did missionary work, performed miracles with the power of God, had a family, faught off the adversary at every turn, was persecuted, tared and feathered, and one of the highlights...he saw God the father and his son Jesus Christ in the living flesh. It is awesome that he did all this and more in 38 years. He wasn't much older then me!
Whole Book. It was really worth my time to read it. If you would like to borrow my copy let me know.
Truman G. Madsen has such a way of sharing his knowledge...he took history, which sometimes I find to be dry and boring but not useless, and he added the little details and blurbs from journal entries of actual people that were there with Joesph Smith. It added color to the retelling of brother Joseph's life. Plus his spiritual insights were amazing. He really looked deeper then just the surface of this man's incredible life. He tried to present ten characterizations of the prophets that are typical in Judeo-Christian literature.
Joseph Smith was a mighty prophet of God, in the latter days. His life was part of a bigger plan. He had a divine destiny to restore Christ's church here on the Earth. Building temples and receiving the keys to the priesthood alone is a huge feat but he also translated the Book of Mormon, received revelation, did missionary work, performed miracles with the power of God, had a family, faught off the adversary at every turn, was persecuted, tared and feathered, and one of the highlights...he saw God the father and his son Jesus Christ in the living flesh. It is awesome that he did all this and more in 38 years. He wasn't much older then me!
Whole Book. It was really worth my time to read it. If you would like to borrow my copy let me know.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Aesop's Fables retold by Ann McGovern
CLASSIC!
Did you know that Aesop was a slave that lived in Greece over 3,000 years ago? Some have said he helped his master with wisdom and since this was admired most by his master he set him free. He also became the honored guest at many kings throughout his life.
Aesop's fables have become a part of our daily language and how we express ourselves. My favorite is "don't count your chicken's before they hatch."
Aesop never wrote any of these stories down. He told them to people who passed them on and 200 yrs. after he died the first collection of fables showed up. There are lots of versions of these tales and they are translated into many languages.
I think I am going to work on these wise words,..."Where force fails, patience will often succeed.". AND " When you try to please everyone, you end up by pleasing no one."
WHOLE BOOK
Did you know that Aesop was a slave that lived in Greece over 3,000 years ago? Some have said he helped his master with wisdom and since this was admired most by his master he set him free. He also became the honored guest at many kings throughout his life.
Aesop's fables have become a part of our daily language and how we express ourselves. My favorite is "don't count your chicken's before they hatch."
Aesop never wrote any of these stories down. He told them to people who passed them on and 200 yrs. after he died the first collection of fables showed up. There are lots of versions of these tales and they are translated into many languages.
I think I am going to work on these wise words,..."Where force fails, patience will often succeed.". AND " When you try to please everyone, you end up by pleasing no one."
WHOLE BOOK
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
Oh so funny! I did not know this book has so much controversy surrounding it until I looked at the comments on Amazon.com. Some librarians won't even let it in their libraries....does that make you curious and do you want to read it? Ha! Wait till you hear why...the story starts out with a little girl in a remote CA town Pop. 43 in the dessert. She is listening in on a AA meeting through a whole in the wall. Someone tells a story about how he found his higher power and it involved his dog almost dieing because he got bit by a rattle snake in his....okay here is the controversial word..."scrotum". When I read it I was laughing so hard. I didn't even think it was a bad word or something kids shouldn't hear. I was more concerned about the AA meeting with all the people addicted to things and how children would understand something like that.
Anyway, I thought the book was very thought provoking and I loved the way the little girl is trying to find her "higher power" and working through things in life, like being excepted by her guardian and dealing with the death of her mom. It was written with depth. There is a little boy that likes to get cookies from everyone and have them read him a story. He ends up being a key character. He is only five but deals with hard things in life too in his own child like way. The girl has a survival backpack with the best things for survival in there. She has little containers to catch bugs and she is always restocking her backpack to go with how she is feeling and what she thinks will come next in life. There are lots of special characters in the book that keep you on your toes, like the short cowboy guy that fries everything and the French guardian lady and the bus driver that is mean. Ilike her best friend the boy that ties knots all the time and I bet he will be President when he grows up.
I think it was a great Healing Book. Short read and worth it.
Anyway, I thought the book was very thought provoking and I loved the way the little girl is trying to find her "higher power" and working through things in life, like being excepted by her guardian and dealing with the death of her mom. It was written with depth. There is a little boy that likes to get cookies from everyone and have them read him a story. He ends up being a key character. He is only five but deals with hard things in life too in his own child like way. The girl has a survival backpack with the best things for survival in there. She has little containers to catch bugs and she is always restocking her backpack to go with how she is feeling and what she thinks will come next in life. There are lots of special characters in the book that keep you on your toes, like the short cowboy guy that fries everything and the French guardian lady and the bus driver that is mean. Ilike her best friend the boy that ties knots all the time and I bet he will be President when he grows up.
I think it was a great Healing Book. Short read and worth it.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Which High School Musical Character Are You?
I can't believe it. I didn't even answer any of the questions with things about Sports. Troy? I wanted to be the cute little music writer girl. She is cool.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Books Read in 2007
Well, I reached my goal to read 55 books this year. I actually ended up reading 65. Of Course now that I look back on the list there were about 7-8 children's chapter books. They count but the number isn't as impressive. What is impressive if the time I wasted on some of these books! Golly! I need to pick more books of deeper substance for 2008, I am living in a fantasy/fiction world!
Overall it was fun and I finished a few series and jumped on a few themes, like Black History/slavery, Women's movements in America and China, Jane Austen!, the The Great Depression and dust bowl area, Middle Eastern conflict (fictional accounts), Dragons, and quite a few classics! I am glad to say that I read mostly WHOLE BOOKS but sad to say that I read a few broken and just plain evil bent books for a book group, yuck.
Hooray! 2007 (favorite books in bold)
1)INKHEART by Cornellia Funke
2)The Anybodies by N.E. Bode
3)The Grim Grotto #11 by Lemony Snicket
4)The Dragons of Blueland by Ruth Stiles Gannett
5)Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
6)Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers by Jean Fritz
7)Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
8)Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
9)A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle
10)Northanger Abby by Jane Austin
11)Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
12)Emma by Jane Austin
13)Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
14)Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
15)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
16)My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
17)Ultra Marathon Confessions of an all-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes
18)Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry
19)Because of Winn Dixie
20)The Sign of the Beaver
21)The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
22)Little Britches by Ralph Moody
23)Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
24)Onion Tears by Diana Kidd
25)Silent to the Bone by e.l.konigsburg
26)The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
27)Freedom Walkers The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman
28)The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
29)A Cricket in Time Square by George Selden
30)Special Men A LRP's Recollections by Dennis Foley
31)The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice
32)A Final Farewell by Patricia Wiles
33)Austenland: A Novel by Shannon Hale
34)The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
35)The Virginian A Horesman of the Plains by Owen Wister
36)The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Hearts and Homes by James L. Ferrell
37)Abraham Lincoln the Great Emancipator by Augusta Stevenson
38)Four Perfect Pebbles a Holocaust Story by Lisa Perl and Marion Blumenthal Lazan
39)Beauty by Robin McKinley
40)Dyslexia by Paula Wiltshire
41)Incident at Hawk's Hill - A Novel by Allan W. Eckert
42)Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
43)Home Ranch by Ralph Moody
44)Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Rk Rowling
45)Mansfield Park by Jane Austin
46)Dragonsong by Anne McCafferey
47)Under the Same Stars by Dean Hughes
48)Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
49)Eight Cousins by Alcott
50)Gap Creek The Story of a Marriage by Robert Morgan
51)Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater and Florence Atwater
52)The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
53)a Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
54)The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
55)The 13th Tale by Diane Sutterfield
56)The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
57)Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
58)A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
59)Crime Files: for-Minute Forensic Mysteries by Jeremy Brown
60)The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
61)Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
62)Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
63)Your Mother Was A Person: A Work In Progress by Louis M. Palmer
64)Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
65)The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
This is the 2006 completed book list back in Jan. blog, just in case you are wondering what I read last year compared to this year.
Overall it was fun and I finished a few series and jumped on a few themes, like Black History/slavery, Women's movements in America and China, Jane Austen!, the The Great Depression and dust bowl area, Middle Eastern conflict (fictional accounts), Dragons, and quite a few classics! I am glad to say that I read mostly WHOLE BOOKS but sad to say that I read a few broken and just plain evil bent books for a book group, yuck.
Hooray! 2007 (favorite books in bold)
1)INKHEART by Cornellia Funke
2)The Anybodies by N.E. Bode
3)The Grim Grotto #11 by Lemony Snicket
4)The Dragons of Blueland by Ruth Stiles Gannett
5)Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
6)Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers by Jean Fritz
7)Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
8)Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
9)A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle
10)Northanger Abby by Jane Austin
11)Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
12)Emma by Jane Austin
13)Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
14)Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
15)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
16)My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
17)Ultra Marathon Confessions of an all-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes
18)Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry
19)Because of Winn Dixie
20)The Sign of the Beaver
21)The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
22)Little Britches by Ralph Moody
23)Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
24)Onion Tears by Diana Kidd
25)Silent to the Bone by e.l.konigsburg
26)The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
27)Freedom Walkers The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman
28)The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
29)A Cricket in Time Square by George Selden
30)Special Men A LRP's Recollections by Dennis Foley
31)The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice
32)A Final Farewell by Patricia Wiles
33)Austenland: A Novel by Shannon Hale
34)The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
35)The Virginian A Horesman of the Plains by Owen Wister
36)The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Hearts and Homes by James L. Ferrell
37)Abraham Lincoln the Great Emancipator by Augusta Stevenson
38)Four Perfect Pebbles a Holocaust Story by Lisa Perl and Marion Blumenthal Lazan
39)Beauty by Robin McKinley
40)Dyslexia by Paula Wiltshire
41)Incident at Hawk's Hill - A Novel by Allan W. Eckert
42)Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
43)Home Ranch by Ralph Moody
44)Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Rk Rowling
45)Mansfield Park by Jane Austin
46)Dragonsong by Anne McCafferey
47)Under the Same Stars by Dean Hughes
48)Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
49)Eight Cousins by Alcott
50)Gap Creek The Story of a Marriage by Robert Morgan
51)Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater and Florence Atwater
52)The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
53)a Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
54)The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
55)The 13th Tale by Diane Sutterfield
56)The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
57)Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
58)A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
59)Crime Files: for-Minute Forensic Mysteries by Jeremy Brown
60)The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
61)Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
62)Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
63)Your Mother Was A Person: A Work In Progress by Louis M. Palmer
64)Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
65)The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
This is the 2006 completed book list back in Jan. blog, just in case you are wondering what I read last year compared to this year.
Your Mother Was A Person: A Work In Progress by Louis M. Palmer
I love this book more then any other book I read all year! I don't know if maybe I'm a bit partial because I know the author but maybe that just made it all the more well rounded when I could hear the person reading it in their own voice as I read it.
This book was written by a friend in my book group in Castro Valley, CA. She is getting on in years and actually is almost the oldest person I know but she earned every wrinkle on her beautiful smiling face! She is a grandmother now and wanted to share some of her childhood memories with her own children and grandchildren. She took a community college writing class a few years back and had quite a collection of stories. One time at our book group she shared a few with us. They were some of the funniest and best stories I had heard in a long time. Everyone started to give her advice on how she could get them published. She kind of just humbly blushed and didn't pay any attention...but one of my Friends just didn't give up the idea. She and her daughter convinced her to give it a try. They worked long and hard to organize and make the cover and all the other things you need to do to get a book published, which I can't even imagine. Then just before Christmas they announced it was really going to happen and we could all pre-order our books. There is even a website: http://www.yourmotherwasaperson.com/index.html
I had to wait till after Christmas to get my copy because I was out of town, when I got back I was so glad when my friend called and said I could pick it up. I did right away and didn't put it down until I had read the whole thing!
I love it!!!!! I learned that you can't judge people from what you see now. Everyone has gone through so much and people you think you know actually have very interesting pasts and experiences that help make them who they are today. I loved the stories told from a child's innocent perspective. Like the movie star glasses and the doll that was so ugly, I loved the funny car stories as different people learned to drive. I think the saddest yet insightful story was one told later after surgery and how the drugs played tricks on the mind. The poems are refreshing and fun to read. I also liked the historical perspectives and information on the area in Southern Utah where most of the stories took place.
The book has inspired me to try to write some of my memories before they are gone and can't be shared again.
This book was written by a friend in my book group in Castro Valley, CA. She is getting on in years and actually is almost the oldest person I know but she earned every wrinkle on her beautiful smiling face! She is a grandmother now and wanted to share some of her childhood memories with her own children and grandchildren. She took a community college writing class a few years back and had quite a collection of stories. One time at our book group she shared a few with us. They were some of the funniest and best stories I had heard in a long time. Everyone started to give her advice on how she could get them published. She kind of just humbly blushed and didn't pay any attention...but one of my Friends just didn't give up the idea. She and her daughter convinced her to give it a try. They worked long and hard to organize and make the cover and all the other things you need to do to get a book published, which I can't even imagine. Then just before Christmas they announced it was really going to happen and we could all pre-order our books. There is even a website: http://www.yourmotherwasaperson.com/index.html
I had to wait till after Christmas to get my copy because I was out of town, when I got back I was so glad when my friend called and said I could pick it up. I did right away and didn't put it down until I had read the whole thing!
I love it!!!!! I learned that you can't judge people from what you see now. Everyone has gone through so much and people you think you know actually have very interesting pasts and experiences that help make them who they are today. I loved the stories told from a child's innocent perspective. Like the movie star glasses and the doll that was so ugly, I loved the funny car stories as different people learned to drive. I think the saddest yet insightful story was one told later after surgery and how the drugs played tricks on the mind. The poems are refreshing and fun to read. I also liked the historical perspectives and information on the area in Southern Utah where most of the stories took place.
The book has inspired me to try to write some of my memories before they are gone and can't be shared again.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
I am smarter than 29.53% of the rest of the world.
Hardest Quiz Ever
Okay I know that is nothing to brag about but just try to beat it!
Hardest Quiz Ever
Okay I know that is nothing to brag about but just try to beat it!
Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
This was the third book in the Harper Hall Trilogy. I loved it! The ending was a bit rushed but I think there are some other books that take off from the end so that is okay.
I love all her dragon books. They are very fun to read and full of adventures. This one was about a boy. He is kind of like a spy for the main guy at Harper Hall. He also has to be sneaky and some of the other drummers are jealous at the privileges he gets and because he learns the cadences really fast. In the end he ends up going on the biggest adventure ever and finds his place in the world.
Fun read. Healing book not quite Whole because of pre-marital sex...now really, she could have left that out and the book would have been all the better for it!
I love all her dragon books. They are very fun to read and full of adventures. This one was about a boy. He is kind of like a spy for the main guy at Harper Hall. He also has to be sneaky and some of the other drummers are jealous at the privileges he gets and because he learns the cadences really fast. In the end he ends up going on the biggest adventure ever and finds his place in the world.
Fun read. Healing book not quite Whole because of pre-marital sex...now really, she could have left that out and the book would have been all the better for it!
Three Cups of Tea
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
This was a very fascinating book about a journey of one man making a difference in the lives of millions. It takes place in Pakistan. Part also takes place in Afghanistan.
It is a true story about a culture very misunderstood in America. Practicing devote Muslims. NOT TERRORISTS!
This guy named Greg was going to climb a mountain called K2. He didn't make it and ended up in a little village in a remote part of Pakistan. The people there saved his life and helped him get home. He promised to return and help them build a school for the girls in the village that had to meet outside in the cold for lessons and use sticks to draw in the dirt instead of pencils and paper. NO one thought he would keep his promise but through much sacrifice and enduring all the odds stacked against him he raised money and eventually fulfilled his promise.
BUT his story doesn't stop there it only gets started! He builds many more schools and provides humanitarian aid to many people. He builds relationships even amongst a nation in war and as distrustful to Americans as you can get. He makes a huge difference and gets many to join his crusade.
Read it, it will be well worth the time.
Healing Book
This was a very fascinating book about a journey of one man making a difference in the lives of millions. It takes place in Pakistan. Part also takes place in Afghanistan.
It is a true story about a culture very misunderstood in America. Practicing devote Muslims. NOT TERRORISTS!
This guy named Greg was going to climb a mountain called K2. He didn't make it and ended up in a little village in a remote part of Pakistan. The people there saved his life and helped him get home. He promised to return and help them build a school for the girls in the village that had to meet outside in the cold for lessons and use sticks to draw in the dirt instead of pencils and paper. NO one thought he would keep his promise but through much sacrifice and enduring all the odds stacked against him he raised money and eventually fulfilled his promise.
BUT his story doesn't stop there it only gets started! He builds many more schools and provides humanitarian aid to many people. He builds relationships even amongst a nation in war and as distrustful to Americans as you can get. He makes a huge difference and gets many to join his crusade.
Read it, it will be well worth the time.
Healing Book
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
After reading the last book I needed something a bit lighter. I found this book in the stack my son said I have to read because it was so good. Well, it turned out to be short and light yet intense in it's own basic way. It didn't have the happiest ending either.
A little boy's grandfather gets sick and he needs to earn money so they don't loose the farm. He does everything he can and eventually enters a dog sled race. He races against an Indian that has never been beat before. THEN right before he crosses the finish line....ha ha I'm not going to tell you.
Good Whole Book
A little boy's grandfather gets sick and he needs to earn money so they don't loose the farm. He does everything he can and eventually enters a dog sled race. He races against an Indian that has never been beat before. THEN right before he crosses the finish line....ha ha I'm not going to tell you.
Good Whole Book
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
This was a very disturbing book. I was also educational and well written. I am so glad I live in America with the freedoms that I take for granted and enjoy every day. I would not survive very long in Afghanistan and especially not in an arranged marriage or with an abusive husband.
The book is about two women. They begin there lives in very different ways and the story is in two different separate parts but they eventually come together in a most amazing friendship. They endure more then any human being should endure in life. They are abused and scared and pushed to the limits and over.
The History of this country is interwoven in the story. Luckily unlike the kite runner it ends happily ever after and I think I literally gave a sigh of relief. It was that intense to read this book.
Broken/Bent/Healing
The book is about two women. They begin there lives in very different ways and the story is in two different separate parts but they eventually come together in a most amazing friendship. They endure more then any human being should endure in life. They are abused and scared and pushed to the limits and over.
The History of this country is interwoven in the story. Luckily unlike the kite runner it ends happily ever after and I think I literally gave a sigh of relief. It was that intense to read this book.
Broken/Bent/Healing
Friday, November 09, 2007
Crime Files: for-Minute Forensic Mysteries by Jeremy Brown
I used to be a CSI TV series gunky...way back when we actually had TV. Well, the shows have progressively become worse and more graphic I hear. I'm glad I am not watching them anymore. I did like the mystery and suspense and of course the unique cases they came across.
This book was like CSI but for kids. It is a collection of short stories with a silly quirky kid humor twist to them. Easy to read, sometimes a bit gross but most of them are based on true crimes solved by crime investigators. Kept me on my toes but I don't think I will have nightmares like some of the shows gave me!
Healing book
This book was like CSI but for kids. It is a collection of short stories with a silly quirky kid humor twist to them. Easy to read, sometimes a bit gross but most of them are based on true crimes solved by crime investigators. Kept me on my toes but I don't think I will have nightmares like some of the shows gave me!
Healing book
Thursday, November 01, 2007
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
Wow, this book was actually pretty good. I couldn't put it down. It was written in such a style that you couldn't wait to see what would happen next in the little girls life. Her family was poor, starving and surviving. They were so dysfunctional they are off the charts. It is an amazing story from the little girls perspective.
Her mom was a bit loony and tried to be an artist. Her dad turned out to be an alcoholic, brilliant but always going on a binge. I guess the best way to describe their lives would be eccentric.
This autobiographical account made you think her life was hard yet easy. She usually described tragic events that would have been huge stumbling blocks in most peoples lives as humorous and not a big deal.
Her first memory was from three years old having an accident with boiling water, hot dogs and her tutu catching fire. She was in the hospital for a very long time. The book starts out with her wondering if she is over dressed driving down the street in a Taxi then she looks up and her mother is scrounging through a dumpster. Her mother thinks being homeless is such an adventure. Her parents even after having four children didn't become conventional. They were a matched pair even to the end.
The little girl was starving and smelly yet she survived the hardest life and even turned it around to become a very successful writer in a big city. You would have thought they all would have perished long ago but all the kids keep on trying and pulling together despite their parents and situation.
Broken and Healing book - not recommended for children
Her mom was a bit loony and tried to be an artist. Her dad turned out to be an alcoholic, brilliant but always going on a binge. I guess the best way to describe their lives would be eccentric.
This autobiographical account made you think her life was hard yet easy. She usually described tragic events that would have been huge stumbling blocks in most peoples lives as humorous and not a big deal.
Her first memory was from three years old having an accident with boiling water, hot dogs and her tutu catching fire. She was in the hospital for a very long time. The book starts out with her wondering if she is over dressed driving down the street in a Taxi then she looks up and her mother is scrounging through a dumpster. Her mother thinks being homeless is such an adventure. Her parents even after having four children didn't become conventional. They were a matched pair even to the end.
The little girl was starving and smelly yet she survived the hardest life and even turned it around to become a very successful writer in a big city. You would have thought they all would have perished long ago but all the kids keep on trying and pulling together despite their parents and situation.
Broken and Healing book - not recommended for children
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater and Florence Atwater
Have you been day dreaming lately? Do you want to be somewhere else? Have you seen all the places you wanted to before you got married, had children and went to work everyday? If you answered yes to any of those questions then this is the book you can relate too.
I read this book to my second child and the 1st child took it and finished it way before us. It is a very silly book about a man that wants to explore the poles. He gets a penguin and the next thing you know he has 12! They have some adventures and travel all over the USA. In the end this ordinary guy, Mr. Popper, has his wishes come true. Almost made me cry...just kidding the book is too funny for tears!
Great read out loud...Whole BOOK.
I read this book to my second child and the 1st child took it and finished it way before us. It is a very silly book about a man that wants to explore the poles. He gets a penguin and the next thing you know he has 12! They have some adventures and travel all over the USA. In the end this ordinary guy, Mr. Popper, has his wishes come true. Almost made me cry...just kidding the book is too funny for tears!
Great read out loud...Whole BOOK.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
This is a book about a crazy women that hates the wallpaper in the room she is "forced" to stay in. Okay it is about a bit more then that but not that she actually leaves the room...but the wallpaper is like an allegory of her life. She is feeling coddled and belittled by her husband and other Doctors and professionals. She feels caged in as her life gets so boring she starts hallucinating. She goes completely crazy in the end. The wallpaper peels and fades and gets ripped...
It takes place in the 19Th century when women were just supposed to fit stereo types of the good housekeeper, wife and mother and do WHATEVER their husbands want them to do without question. The lady in the book couldn't even be herself around the person that was supposed to be her best friend, her husband. She got tired of always faking the happy face when she wasn't really happy. I thought it was a pretty weird book but I am glad I read it despite the unhappy ending...actually the ending leaves you a bit hanging...I hate that. Gilman is a total feminist...I might read more of her short stories sometime, I hear they are interesting too.
The Afterward was also stimulating reading as it explained a bit more about the author and her mind. The afterward was almost longer then the actual story.
VERY BROKEN BOOK I think on the border of HEALING if you add the afterward which was by Elaine Hedges.
It takes place in the 19Th century when women were just supposed to fit stereo types of the good housekeeper, wife and mother and do WHATEVER their husbands want them to do without question. The lady in the book couldn't even be herself around the person that was supposed to be her best friend, her husband. She got tired of always faking the happy face when she wasn't really happy. I thought it was a pretty weird book but I am glad I read it despite the unhappy ending...actually the ending leaves you a bit hanging...I hate that. Gilman is a total feminist...I might read more of her short stories sometime, I hear they are interesting too.
The Afterward was also stimulating reading as it explained a bit more about the author and her mind. The afterward was almost longer then the actual story.
VERY BROKEN BOOK I think on the border of HEALING if you add the afterward which was by Elaine Hedges.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
a Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
This was a nice short read, okay so I skimmed the first three chapters but I read the rest of the book. It isn't very long, in fact it is an essay. Virginia Woolf wrote this book in 1929. She analysis women in fiction or women writing fiction. Did you ever wonder why there wasn't any great writers from Shakespeare's area that were female? I didn't but it was interesting to find out through the eyes of Virginia what she thought.
The thing I mostly gained from this book was that if a woman had a room of her own she could write great things, lots of great things. Throughout history she rarely had time to take a bath let alone write something down and she hardly ever had money for paper too. And it is all the fault of oppressive male dominance or something. Read the book and see what she means. She also discuses Jane Austin and the Bronte sister's works. It was quite humorous and a nice walk through history looking at women in writing.
Whole Book
The thing I mostly gained from this book was that if a woman had a room of her own she could write great things, lots of great things. Throughout history she rarely had time to take a bath let alone write something down and she hardly ever had money for paper too. And it is all the fault of oppressive male dominance or something. Read the book and see what she means. She also discuses Jane Austin and the Bronte sister's works. It was quite humorous and a nice walk through history looking at women in writing.
Whole Book
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