The Writing Circle.. by Corinne Demas

Just finished this last night.  I loved the book, the characters were vivid and engaging.  The plot was well thought out and well executed, but (you knew there was a but in there, didn't you?) I was not happy with the ending.  I won't give anything away, but I closed the book feeling like I missed something, or more aptly, was left hanging.  There were too many ends which remained loose, too many questions unanswered for the novel to feel finished.

Overall, however, I would recommend it. 

Beth's Summer Reading Extravaganza

OK. So I read a LOT this summer. It felt so GOOD to read so MUCH. In previous summers, I was plowing through graduate school, so I was doing a lot of reading, but not much that others would enjoy.

But THIS summer!!!

So here's a list, along with a sentence or two about my impressions:

1. "Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace," by Ayelet Waldman. This is a collection of essays over all things motherhood. Waldman is known for her plain speaking about motherhood, both the good and the bad. One of the things she wrote about that really resonated with me was that we need to be the parents our children need us to be, not the parents that we wish we were or that we wished we had when we were kids. I have to keep that in mind all the time, because I'm all getting worked up over some perceived injustice regarding my kids that my kids don't really care about. So I have to restrain myself.

2. "Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans From Colonial Times to the Present," by Harriet M. Washington. I decided to read this book after reading "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which I reviewed previously. This book upset me SO MUCH. What in the hell makes people think it's OK to experiment on black people just because they're black? I was just stunned and shocked and pissed off.

3. "Columbine" by Dave Cullen. Another book that made me angry. The day that the Columbine shootings happened, I was six months' pregnant with Kyle. I am not pro-homeschooling for many reasons, but that day, that instant, I thought that all I wanted to do was keep my son in my house and not let him out for any reason whatsoever. This book was written with a journalist's eye and a lot of what I learned surprised me.

4. "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler. This was a desperation book. I had tried to read something by Sarah Vowell and it wasn't happening. So I read this one. I had heard that Chelsea Handler was hilarious, but I didn't really feel it with this book. It was OK.

5-7. "Poppy Done to Death," "Last Scene Alive," and "A Fool and His Honey," by Charlaine Harris. These are very light reading books, from the Aurora Teagarden series. They're mysteries and fairly enjoyable.

8. "Theater Geek: The Real Life Drama of a Summer at Stagedoor Manor, the Famous Performing Arts Camp: by Mickey Rapkin. This was pretty interesting. He basically gave the history of this drama camp, as well as followed some campers during their summer there. I enjoyed it.

9. "Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory" by Mickey Rapkin. A chronicle of four or so a cappella groups as they travel to nationals. Entertaining.

10. "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal" by Ben Mezrich. Follows the founding of Facebook from the college dorm room where it all began. It's a more complicated story than you'd think. It's relevant because the legal battle is still going on.

11. "Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook" by Anthony Bourdain. Yum! This was a collection of essays by Bourdain. I liked it, although I wanted MORE. He talked about a dinner he was invited to at a restaurant with a bunch of famous chefs. But he didn't talk about the chefs themselves or what they said.

12. "The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story" by Richard Preston. Preston relates the story of the summer of the anthrax attacks. Fascinating.

13. "The Cobra Event" by Richard Preston. OK. Preston is known for writing non-fiction about weird illnesses and biological terrorism and stuff. So I bought this book and started reading it, thinking it was the same as his others. Except I didn't recall any of these events happening. Yep, it was total fiction. Good thing, because it was damn scary. I liked it, though.

14. "Shiprocked: Life on the Waves with Radio Caroline" by Steve Conroy. I watched "Pirate Radio" about the pirate radio ships in the international waters off Britain and wanted to know more (the movie is really good, BTW). This book served as a reference of sorts to the people who made the movie. It was interesting, although I would like a little more background to the whole thing, some history.

15. "The Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People," by Tim Reiterman. I am fascinated by cults. I always wonder how people fall for that crap. Well, now I know. As I started reading this HUGE book, I was thinking, "Hmmm. Jones' ideas sound pretty good to me." He advocated socialism, which I'm actually a fan of, but then it turned ugly. Whenever you involve people, a pure idea always gets turned. Anyway, the whole thing was horrifying, but incredibly interesting. Sort of like a car wreck that you can't turn away from.

16. "Whip It by Shauna Cross. I love the movie, and this is the novel upon which it was based. It's very, very close to the movie, so it was OK. I would love to find a non-fiction book about roller derby. That's really what I was looking for.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

by Aimee Bender

Can a book be pretty good, but at the same time make you feel pretty bad? What an oxymoron, but that’s exactly what I thought as I read this novel. It pulls you in with its intriguing story line. You get pulled into the world of the pessimistic little girl, Rose, whose point of view the story is told from. Rose finds out on her ninth birthday that she has an unusual gift (or curse). She can taste feelings and emotions in her food. She knows immediately how the person preparing the food felt. She tastes sadness, depression, anger, loneliness and occasionally she can taste their joy. Its one thing to identify with someone’s emotions, but it’s a whole different thing to actually feel what they are feeling. The reader is swept up in waves of emotions right along with little Rose.

The characters in Rose’s family are an engaging bunch. There is her hardworking but distant father, her flighty mother, a sullen and mysterious older brother and her out of state grandmother who seems to be mailing her entire life away piece by piece. Rose, as a child, has to deal with all the emotional turmoil going inside each of them, understanding more about her parent’s true emotions and feelings in each of their relationships than any child should.

This seems to be a novel without an ending. There is no resolution or final wrap up. Things are just they way they are. It’s a journey and for awhile, you get to travel along with Rose on her journey and feel what she feels. She pulls you in as she deals with her unusual ability while juggling, school, friendships, work, and of course love over the years. Then the novel ends and you are still there - - feeling all emptiness and sadness long after the final page and in a weird way, wishing the journey wasn’t over quite so soon. The novel challenges you to think about those around you and what their true feelings may be under the mask of the smile on their face. It makes you examine your own life and your own relationships and try to taste the underlying flavors of the people that surround you every day.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

By Mary Ann Shaffer and Anne Barrows.  Dial Press, 279 pages

This was a tough book for me to get into, because it is unconventional in its presentation.  This story unfolds through letters written to and from the main characters.  Much like keeping the time-frame correct when reading THE TIME TRAVELERS WIFE, you need to be cognizant of the author of each letter, as well as its intended recipient.  There are holes in the story, which one would expect if only reading letters between people, and this made me a bit confused at times.

The story is, however, very worth the effort.  Its a lovely sliver of a view into the lives of people who lived on the island during the German occupation, their survival, and how they, through it all, never lost their sense of community, or their sense of humor.  There were times I laughed out loud at some of the exchanges.  I'd recommend this for times when you have both the energy and time to devote to getting into it.

The Island

by Elin Hilderbrand

I love this author - the penultimate in summer reading!  Her books are easy, fun, with dreamy settings in Nantucket that make this displaced Yankee long for summers by the rocky shores of Massachusetts.  In this latest novel, we see a weaving of four independent stories into one.  With a 3rd person omniscient point of view, we become voyeuers into their most private thoughts, and this leads to some very engaging chapters!

At its heart is a love story, or more accurately, four love stories.  There are some surprises throughout, there are areas of predictability, but overall this is a supremely satisfying summer read!  I loved it, and was very sorry to see the story end. 

Just Let Me Lie Down...

A very funny "dictionary" for working moms.  Written by the editor of REAL SIMPLE magazine (my all time favorite magazine E.V.E.R) she gathers together some commonly known terms (Getting to YES) and gives them definitions for the working mom.. or the mom who has committed herself to enough things that she is nearly crazed with stuff to do. 

The book is filled with quips and stories that will have you laughing out loud while nodding in agreement with her.  Seriously - I'd love to have a cocktail or two with this woman; I believe we are kindred spirits and would be life-long friends.

One of my favorites (or, one that is short enough to fit into this blog):  Technological Bipolarism: When you wake up in the morning and can't imagine how you would get through life without your Blackberry, but by bedtime you want to strap a bomb to it and blow it to smithereens.

Grab a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine.. this is worth savoring and is perfect for a good laugh.

Summer People

Again, I will say - I love Elin Hilderbrand!  Her books all have interesting and flawed characters, and her stories just flow.  They are easy, entertaining reads with enough romance and/or intrigue to keep you turning pages until the end.  

 

SUMMER PEOPLE is a term used by those who live in Nantucket year round, to describe the people who "come to the island, use it, and then leave".  It describes the main character's actions with people in her life, as well... she takes what she needs from them and moves on.  Only this time, she is faced with the consequences of her actions and the wake of those consequences.

It was a fun read - the characters didn't go where I wanted them to, but the novel was good, easy, entertaining.  It's a summer read - take what you need from it and move on...

Zeitoun

I just finished this book two days ago and am still thinking about it. I could not put it down and read the whole thing in 2 days. "Zeitoun" in a non-fiction novel following one family's experience living through hurricane Katrina in 1995. As I am not the most eloquent writer, I am including a review I felt summed up the feels I had about "Zeitoun":

"Imagine Charles Dickens, his sentimentality in check but his journalistic eyes wide open, roaming New Orleans after it was buried by Hurricane Katrina. He would find anger and pathos. A dark fable, perhaps. His villains would be evil and incompetent, even without Heckuva-Job-Brownie. In the end, though, he would not be able to constrain himself; his outrage might overwhelm the tale." TIMOTHY EGAN, New York Times

The Castaways

I love Elin Hilderbrand.  I have read many of her books over the last several summers - her books are the quintessential summer read.  Despite growing up in Connecticut, I have never been to Nantucket, but am quite familiar with its appeal and its lore, so I get a kick out of references to this magical (if too populated) island.   This story is a bit jumbled, however - the events take place chronologically after the death of the couple, but each surviving member of the group has his/her own sections which vascillate between flashback and current time.  I did find it challenging to track the love-triangles between the friends,  but all in all this was a fun, easy, perfect summer read.  I just prefer my summer reads to be, at times, even more brain-free than this one required of me.  I look forward to reading SUMMER PEOPLE by this author while I await my copy of FLY AWAY HOME by my other favorite summer author - Jennifer Weinner.

Best Friends Forever

After devouring the GIRL series that Beth has already reviewed, I needed something light, easy, fun and girly.  Jennifer Weiner never disappoints in that way - Her characters are never perfect, they are folks to whom you can relate easily, and her stories are fun. 

Beach Reading.. she is perfect for summer!

This story was fun, if not rather predictable.  However, even with its predictability, it is an enjoyable read from start to finish. 

Perhaps it is a kinship I feel with the author - we are the same age, and she grew up in the tiny neighboring town to mine in Connecticut.  The first book of hers I read endeared her to me from the start when she described places I knew all too well. 

Her stories will not inspire political debate, or hotly contested points of view, but if you want a feel-good, fun read, I'd highly recommend any of her books. 

Her latest, Fly Away Home, comes out this month, and I am anxious to download it!

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

This is the final novel in Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who..." series. Larsson was found dead in his apartment  in 2004. I believe from the ending of this novel, he did not intend on stopping the series here, but sadly, that is what happened.

If you remember correctly, it took me a while to get into "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." With "The Girl Who Played With Fire," I was invested from the get-go.

"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" required a lot more concentration and took a lot more out of me in the end.

It is, in essence, a spy story. I like those types of stories when I actually read them, but they're not my first choice. I've read three or four spy novels for my graduate classes in the past -- Graham Greene, John LeCarre, and James Clavell.

In all spy novels -- this one included -- I am completely befuddled until right before the big reveal happens in the book. I think that is the most amazing part of reading -- that an author whom you have never met before can manipulate your thoughts and bring you to where he or she is going.

This novel is tedious and takes its time getting to the point. But the end courtroom scenes are worth the trouble. I literally wanted to yell, "Hell, yeah!" when the climax of the scene happened.

The novel again involves Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. It picks up exactly where "The Girl Who Played with Fire" left off.

You need to have staying power if you're going to read these books. Larsson isn't going to hand you the story on a silver platter. He is going to parcel it out at an excruciatingly slow pace. I hated him for that, but in the end, I was smiling.

As a side note, this was the first novel that I pre-ordered from Amazon.com for my Kindle. Simply amazing. I ordered the novel about six weeks ago. It was due to come out on May 25. On May 25, I woke up around 2 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. I got up and checked my e-mail; Amazon had sent me a receipt for the novel. So I decided to turn on the wireless of my Kindle and sync it. Five minutes later, there it was!

Previously, if I wanted a new release, I'd have to give up my lunch hour to purchase it. I'd usually head to Target to see if I could get it for cheaper, and then end up having to go to Barnes & Noble to buy it anyway, THEN I'd have to run through the McDonald's drive-thru and end up eating at my desk. Because of my Kindle, I was able to take a leisurely lunch hour, something I really needed that day.

Life After Yes

I wanted to LOVE this book.  I've been following the author on her blog for some time now, and I find her witty and fun.  Someone I'd love to meet for coffee or a drink somewhere, and just chat...  I wanted to love it for all the hard work I know goes into writing a book, and this is her first novel..  She always dreamt of being an author (me too), and decided to just DO IT (like me) and I can only hope to be able to follow her path with my own book.

I loved the idea of the book - what happens AFTER you say yes to your future.  I didn't realize before reading it that the YES in question is the time between the proposal and the wedding; I expected it to be after the marriage vows were said and the guests all went home.

I wanted to love it, because I was so excited to read it.  But, I couldn't love it.  I liked it well enough, but the protagonist and I didn't jibe.  I could not understand her, or her choices.  I found her shallow, and I found the other men far more intriguing than her betrothed.  Now, all that said, I did cry at the end, and very much liked the ending, but I never felt particularly taken by any of the characters.  Maybe I am too old, maybe I am not from Manhattan, maybe engagement is too far a distant memory for me to relate to this, but I just could not buy her choices, while overall I loved the premise of the novel.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

I am still processing this book, 10 hours after I finished it.

This book, written by Rebecca Skloot, chronicles the story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who went to Johns Hopkins in the early 1950s to be treated for cervical cancer and ended up influencing the medical world in a grand way.

Henrietta was the source for the HeLa cells which are still today used in all parts of cell experimentation. HeLa cells are responsible for a large amount of cancer treatments used today and for medications used to treat conditions such as herpes and epilepsy. HeLa cells were used to test the Salk polio vaccine, and have also been used for gene-mapping.

One problem: Henrietta didn't give consent for her cells to be taken. She died of cancer in 1951, and her family didn't know that part of their wife, mother, sister and friend still existed in multiple petri dishes in laboratories throughout the world.

Skloot explains the importance of HeLa, and also tells the story of Henrietta's life and that of her family. The story is heartbreaking -- Henrietta's cells have provided valuable information to science, but her family members lived most of their lives without health insurance, waiting until an emergency situation occurred to seek medical help. Labs make money off of selling HeLa cells, but the Lacks family lives in poverty. The family tried at various times to sue Johns Hopkins and the lab where the cells were initially grown, but with their lack of education and funds, nothing ever happened.

Also included in the novel is a side story about Elsie, Henrietta's oldest daughter. Elsie was an epileptic and had some neuro-deafness. Henrietta and her husband, Day, were first cousins, and Day, a womanizer, brought syphilis home to Henrietta more than once; these two things probably contributed to Elsie's health issues. In the 1940s and 50s, epileptics were considered mentally retarded and they were committed. Elsie lived and died in the Crownville Negro Hospital for the Insane. She likely died due to neglect and being subjected to dangerous medical procedures. The chapter where Deborah, Henrietta's youngest daughter, finds out what happened to her sister had me in tears.

The story is sad enough, but the afterword caught me off-guard. Even after all the legislation and HIPAA , when you go to the hospital, any tissue removed from your body is the property of the hospital.

My daughter had her adenoids removed when she was 5. I assumed that her doctor examined them for abnormalities and then the hospital incinerated them. And in all honestly, that is likely what happened.

But what IF? What if the hospital sold or donated my daughter's adenoids to a lab? What if experimentation on those cells has resulted in a scientific discovery? I would want to know, absolutely, but according to current laws, the hospital or lab has no obligation to tell me. I always thought that if it came from my body or if it came from my children's body, it essentially belonged to me.

I guess not.

The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls tells a tale in this book that is hard to fathom being true, but you can tell from the matter-of-fact way she tells her story that it is, in fact, very true. Her parents, one an alcoholic and one an amazingly selfish and codependent person, brought their children up in abject poverty which could have easily been avoided. The children grew up quickly because they soon learned they would have to fend for themselves if they were to survive. What makes this book so amazing to read is the way Walls tells her story. She doesn't emotionalize what she is telling, much as you would imagine a child reacting to the conditions and situations she is conveying. The story manages to be uplifting as the children survive and even thrive in spite of the lack of almost every material thing, including the basics needed to survive. And, through it all, is an underlying theme of love and acceptance.

True Blood and Philosophy: We Want to Think Bad Things With You

I'm slightly obsessed with the HBO series, "True Blood." It doesn't follow the books by Charlaine Harris exactly, but I like the changes the series creator Alan Ball makes. It's racy and graphic, and most of the people in the novel seem to come out of my hometown (I live near the Texas-Louisiana border).

I took a Literary Criticism class last summer, and for my final paper, I did a Freudian analysis on "True Blood." I discussed how the vampires represent Freud's Id, Sookie represents the Superego, and Vampire Bill, ironically enough, represents the Ego. I got an A on the paper, and an A in the class.

So I thought this book would be interesting, and it was to a certain point. But there was really no middle ground in this book. The essays were either so deep that it was difficult to get through, or they were so simplistic that I wondered why the author wrote them at all.

I should have known better from the cheesy subtitle of the book. I have only myself to blame. I do not recommend this book.

This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cyberarians Can Save Us All

Small confession: Libraries and I do not mix. Kind of an odd revelation, considering how much I love books. I don't like that the number of books a patron can check out is limited. I don't like knowing that others have touched the books. I don't like the whole due date thing.

In short, I am a librarian's worst nightmare.

At the same time, I love libraries. I love research. At the university where I attended undergrad and graduate school, I LOVED walking through the stacks, just browsing. I'd go in for books on one subject (H.P. Lovecraft) and come out with six books on something else (Blind lesbian mystery poetry, anyone?).

"The Book is Overdue," by Marilyn Johnson, is a really great read. She discusses the different types of librarians. She discusses the different types of libraries. She talks about how libraries and librarians have adapted in the age of Google and economic downturn.

The part that I found most fascinating, however, is the story of how a group of librarians fought the government's request that they turn over their patrons' electronic card catalog searches. It was all very cloak and dagger, and I'd love to read an entire book about the event. It made me swell with pride to think that there are people in the world who still stand up for civil liberties.

Dead in the Family

I am a HUGE Sookie Stackhouse fan. I actually "discovered" the books before the brilliant HBO series came out, and I quickly read all the books (being in the middle of a hurricane helped). So I not-so-patiently wait every year for Charlaine Harris to come out with a new Sookie book.

The most recent installment was so-so. There were pages and pages of build-up, and then in the last 10 pages, everything was resolved. I hate that. In a class I took a year ago, we read "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John LeCarre, and he did the same thing.

I put off starting the newest Sookie book as long as I could, because I wanted it to last. So I'm reading and reading and reading, and then I realized that there were relatively few pages left and I thought there should be a lot more story left. I'll still read the Sookie books, but the recent ones aren't as good as the ones that came before. I'm a lot more excited about the beginning of the new season of the TV show these days.

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things

I am fascinated by hoarders. I don't watch the television shows about them because I believe it's exploitation of people who have problems they cannot control. I know they get help, too, but I think that's to manipulate the audience into thinking that the directors and producers of the show are doing this for humanitarian reasons.

But this book, by Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee passes my smell test. The authors are Ph.D.s who are researching the hows and whys of hoarders and how they can get "better."

The book uses case studies of hoarders to find the connection between OCD and hoarding (it's there). They talk about children of hoarders, and children who are hoarders. It is very interesting reading without seeming exploitative or manipulative. I saw some of myself in some of the hoarders -- I keep books and magazines and articles because I might want to read them someday or I might need them someday -- but somehow, my brain chemistry keeps it under control, while the true hoarders are unable to control their urges.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

So, about three seconds after I finished "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," I downloaded "The Girl Who Played with Fire" on my Kindle.

And I dove into it.

While I eventually loved "The Girl Who...," it also moved very slowly. I'm wondering if this is: a) an author issue; b) a Swedish issue; or  c) a translating-from-Swedish-to-English issue. I am not well-traveled, but in my imagination, life in Sweden moves a lot slower than it does here in the U.S. I don't know what makes me think that -- maybe all the snow?

Anyway, insights into my weird psyche aside, "The Girl Who..." was fascinating. It again involves Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, but also introduces a whole new list of characters, each with an amazing past, present and future (for some).

I was not satisfied with the ending of this book, because there was no resolution. I know it's coming in "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," due out on May 25, but do I have to wait that long?

Green

Green is subtitled "The Circle Book 0: The Beginning and the End" and is a late addition to Ted Dekker's Circle Series (formerly, Trilogy). The last book of the series was published in 2004. I read and loved the trilogy. I bought the first book, Black, for family members I was so impressed with it. When I saw that this book was being released last year I was anxious to read it.

Green is described as being either the beginning or the end of the series. Basically, for those of us who read the first three already, we are told we can go ahead and read this one now. For people who haven't, they can start here. Or end here. It doesn't matter. It's a CIRCLE.

As further background, Dekker is considered a Christian author. I've found his book to generally be non-preachy, edgy, suspenseful stories about the fight between good and evil. In the Circle series, Dekker tells the story of Thomas Hunter who is living two parallel lives after a head injury. In one life, he battles to save the world from a life-threatening virus. This storyline continues to develop through the three books in the series. In the other world, a more visceral battle of good and evil is constantly evolving from book to book. This was compelling reading as there was one thread that continued to tie the books together but the other thread more or less reached conclusion within a book. The series was much more sci fi/fantasy in feel than Christian but also has themes that were reminscent of C.S. Lewis' Narnia books.

I'm sad to report that I was very disappointed in this addition to the series. So much so, I'm going to go back and reread the original series to see if I am imagining that it was as good as I recall. I do know that if I was new to this series, I wouldn't read any more after reading this book because some of the violence and depravity in this book was stomach churning. The device Dekker sets up in this novel to make it both the beginning and the end to the series is clever and intriguing but, again, some of the gory (literally) detail in this installment made me glad to be done reading it.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Whew.

I picked up "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson, last November. I started reading it, despite the fact that I was finishing up my master's degree, teaching a writing class twice a week, teaching in a voluntary position once a week, and doing all the other stuff (kids, house, work) that comes along with being me.

I had to put it down. I don't know if I wasn't interested or if I was just too busy.

My life has calmed down a bit, so I picked it up again yesterday around 2:30 p.m. At 11:30 p.m., I finally made myself put it down so I could go to bed. I woke up this morning and finished it.

Masterful.

I think my difficulty the first time I tried to read it was that in the first four or so chapters, it's really difficult to see how all these people and all this information is going to come together. Last semester, I didn't have the time to weed through a book that was going to eventually have a big payoff. This time around, I did.

The book (the first of three; the second book is "The Girl Who Played with Fire," and "The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest" comes out in May) introduces Lisbeth Salander, a private investigator with a complicated life; Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist with issues; and finally, the completely crazy Vanger family.

There were times when I wanted the story to get going already, and then there were times when I wanted it to slow down so I could wallow in the plot development.

It's not the perfect novel. I think it could have been condensed a bit. I would have liked a map of Sweden so that I could refer to the places Blomkvist and Salander visited. I would have liked some sort of idea of what the dollar equivalency to the kronor is (I could have and probably will look it up, but when I was curled on my couch, I was curious).

But, it kept my attention. I'm glad I finished it, finally. And, as soon as I was done with it this morning, I downloaded "The Girl Who Played with Fire" to my Kindle.

If you read it, give yourself time. Get past the first 7 or so chapters before you give up. It was probably around chapter 8 this time around that I realized I was committed to this novel.

The Help

I just finished reading this book after staying up way too late last night. It is the first book I've read on my new nook, my birthday present. More about the nook later.

I can see why this book has been on The New York Times Bestseller list for as long as it has. The characters are so warm and vivid, they draw you in and make you care about them.

The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. It is the story of a young white woman who decides to tell the stories of Jackson's African American maids--the help--and their relationships with the families they serve. Sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, the stories are never boring, and neither are the people.

Even though I live up here in the great white North, several decades past the Civil Rights Movement, it made me think about the African American woman that essentially raised me and my brothers, and how she might have felt. I wish I could ask her, but she passed away several years ago. The book just made me miss her more.

Rules

An amazing young adult novel about a 12 year old girl who has an autistic 8 year old brother. A poignant story that was very enlightening, especially for me as the mother of a child on the spectrum. Catherine is probably the person in her family who most understands her brother. She is his greatest defender while at the same time a victim of it. The story does not just focus on this relationship, though, which is part of its strength. Catherine starts the summer hoping to develop a new friendship with a brand new neighbor. Instead, she develops another strong bond with someone else (I don't want to give anything away). She is an insightful girl and some of the observations she makes are heart wrenching in their truth. The way she and her brother communicate with words from Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad stories are so sweet. The way she communicates with her new friend is amazing and shows her maturity and understanding of others who are unable to be heard in the "normal" ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Very impressive first novel!

Diabetes Rising

A nonfiction book that takes a look at the history of diabetes internationally, and asks the question; in a world where we are seeing declines in all other major diseases across the world, why are the numbers of diabetics going up?

This book also looks at many of the different theories out there as to what causes this disease, and peeks into the possible future for both treatment and the idea of a cure.

Well written by a journalist, not a physician, it is easy to grasp, and his style keeps you going through any of the dry parts.  He will also include a little "English translation" for times when the medical jargon cannot be avoided. The author is, himself, a type 1 diabetic.  As the mother of one, I grabbed it and was hardly able to put it down.  There is no magic bullet, or silver coin at the end, but it does lay out some very plausible and interesting theories as to cause, and once that has been established, it is reasonable to assume a cure cannot be far behind. 

Stormbreaker

With a husband certified as an English teacher and in library media, I find my house filled with young adult fiction. Probably my first venture into the genre was the Twilight series. I've not looked back since. Well done YA fiction can be as compelling and interesting as any "adult" fiction.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz is a fabulous YA book and a super start to a series about a teenage boy who is forced to work for Britan's spy agency after his uncle is killed in the line of duty. Alex Rider is an instantly likeable hero and his story, unlike many first in a series, is a fast starting, action packed one. The author's premise requires little set up and this allows for the book to take off quickly. I look forward to reading more of these and will definitely recommend them to friends who have young adults in the house who liked other series like Percy Jackson, Gregor and Harry Potter.

Happens Every Day

Happens Every Day is a memoir of a former actress, turned college professor, turned, yet unknown.  I am not yet finished with the book.

The story is good, the writing engaging, and it is easy to read (very important for me as I read before bed and my over-taxed brain cannot handle actually THINKING at that hour.)

Isabel describes in detail her marriage to the most wonderful guy, her amazing life and her great kids, and how she lost it all without really noticing it was slipping away.

Overall it is a fine book.  Here is what BUGS me:  I don't think she had an editor!  Or, if she did, the editor should be FIRED on the spot!  There are glaring errors in grammar (Drives me INSANE when someone says they "feel badly"... UGH! She has said it at least a half dozen times and I am about halfway through) and then they slaughtered the name of MY BREED OF DOG!  Please note.. it is NOT a Burmese mountain dog.. it is a Bernese Mountain Dog.  All Three Words Get A Capital.  And the dog comes from Switzerland!!  Seriously, would it have killed them to check into these things???

Possession

When I read a book I enjoy, I tend to run the table on his or her writings. When I've read everything about and by the author, I move on to someone else.

When I was in graduate school, I took a class on the post-war British novel. One of the novels we read was "Angels & Insects" by A.S. Byatt. I was entranced and set on a quest to read everything she had ever written.

Along the way, I found "Possession." (My copy doesn't have the movie cover. I hate books that use pictures from the movie as its cover.)

It's a literary mystery and a romance. What could be better? The main characters are grad-school types, so I immediately felt kindred to them.  The novel does move back and forth in time, and that could be confusing at times, but I eventually got used to it.

My favorite part about any mystery is the moment when the reader "gets" what the author has been driving at all along. Words on a page -- written in the past, by someone I have never met -- cause my brain to go somewhere it has never been before and will never go again!

Amazing. Read "Possession." You won't regret it. The movie is nice, too, despite the presence of Gwyneth.

Born to Run

I love to read non-fiction, so most of my recommendations here will likely be from that genre. I find that life truly is stranger than fiction, and what better book to illustrate that fact than "Born to Run" by Christopher Macdougall.

In this book, Macdougall discusses the modern history of running, as well as explores what makes great runners great. He becomes involved with the Tarahumara, a Mexican tribe who can run 40 miles in a day without any physical repercussions. Along the way he discusses motivations and personality traits of ultramrathoners like Scott Jurek and others.

A runner myself, I was really surprised at the wealth of information (stats and studies) he relays about the effectiveness of running shoes and how they may harm more than help. I'm not ready to do barefoot running on the hot, concrete streets of Southeast Texas yet, but what I've learned in this book will figure prominently in the next pair of running shoes I purchase.

I am not finished with this book yet; it starts off slowly, but it is picking up momentum and I find myself not wanting to put it down.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

A middle aged apartment building concierge and the twelve year old daughter of one of the buliding's tenants... superficially, they would appear to have nothing in common. But their relationship goes beyond the superficial, as does this intelligent novel.

Originally published in French, the story seems to lose nothing in translation. The language is simple and beautiful, even when dealing with complex philosophical ideas.

Both of the novels main characters are overlooked by the far less intelligent people who surround them, Renee because of her station in life and Paloma because of her age. Their existence, in the background, allows them to see through the pretenses of the political and social heirarchy, even as they both believe they are trapped within in it. Paloma plans a suicidal escape, while Renee struggles to hide even the contents of her grocery bag, for fear of being found out. Their disguises start to fall away only when a wealthy Japanese man moves into the building and befriends them both.

This book will make laugh and cry, but primarily it will make you think. It is best read slowly and should be accompanied by wine and good cheese. You will be sad when all three are finished.

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

As a mom to a son with Asperger's, I was very interested in reading this book to see what insights an adult who has dealt with the disorder his whole life had to share. Mr. Robison did not find out what he "had" until he was a grown man yet learned to cope on his own with the traits that made socializing so difficult for him. His life, with or without Asperger's, is one worthy of a novel. He grew up in an extremely dysfunctional home, his father an alcoholic and his mother with mental illness. He left school and home at a young age and worked in some interesting jobs before opening the business that he is still in today. The stories he has to tell are interesting and funny. Throw in the insights about Asperger's and how he taught himself to overcome a condition that he did not even have words for until he was 30+ years old, and this book was an entertaining and enlightning read. I look forward to his next book.

Harvesting the Heart

"Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who abandoned her when she was five. Now, having left her father in Chicago, she dreams of art school, marries an ambitious doctor—and soon becomes a mother herself."

Harvesting the Heart is Jodi Picoult's second novel, released in 1993. As I am one-third into this book, I've noticed her character development is lacking/not as developed as her later novels. I want more, something to sink my teeth into, but it's just not there. This would be a great book for a read at the beach, but not much else.

The World According to Garp

This is one of my favorite books in the universe. I read it for the first time when I was about 17, because my mom had told me not to read it. That's how I discovered all my favorites!

I re-read it every single year, and love it more and more with each read.

The writing is beautifully done, of course -- John Irving is a master. The book is an odd sort to categorize: Is it a romance? Sorta. Is it a tragedy? Sorta. Is it a comedy? Sorta.

It's one of those books where you laugh and laugh and laugh and feel horrible for doing so. And then, 10 pages later, you're crying your heart out, not even remembering the previous laughter.

I identify with different parts of it every time I read it. That's one of the characteristics of a good book, I believe. If you can read a book every year and find different things in it, find different things in YOU, then the book can be considered a success.

"Garp" is one of those books.

The Monsters of Templeton

 It took me forever to finish this book, partly because I read, as a rule, right before I go to bed and I kept falling asleep, but partly it took me so long because it was not just an easy book to read.  The plot goes back and forth between generations, introduces characters who have no apparent relevance to the story, and has a MC (Main Character) who I find to be whiny and lost, rather than this "golden child returning to town" that everyone in the novel seems to think.

There is a family tree on the last pages that answer all the questions posed during the novel - had I just looked there FIRST, I could have saved myself much time! 

The only highlight for me in the story was the Monster of the Lake, its demise and the idea that there could, possibly, be an offspring.  The rest of it was uninspiring, and I'm curious how it ended up on the NYT Bestseller list.. other than the cool cover!

Monsters is by Lauren Groff, published by VOICE and is 361 pages long.  I am currently on page 127.

True Compass, A Memoir

It must be my year for autobiography--I have three of them on my nightstand right now. This one is the memoir of the late Edward M. Kennedy. It's been really interesting to read. If people were expecting to get a deeper look into his personal life as an adult, they'll be disappointed. It does describe his childhood in detail, and gives plenty of insight as to why he and his siblings turned out the way they did. What I've found most interesting so far are his accounts of his work in the Senate. The health care bill that just passed? He'd been trying to get something passed since the 1960s. It's amazing to me that we have the same problems now that we had in 1972! I'll update this post when I finish the book.