Water for Elephants

Just finished book number 1 for book club! It was a really good read and a very interesting story, and although there were parts that alarmed me, overall I really enjoyed it.

Review: {no spoilers!}Naturally I love it because it's based in the era of the Great Depression, and has old-fashioned undertones. It's basically about a Cornell veterinary student who is about to graduate from college and join his father's veterinary practice. His parents are suddenly killed in a car accident and he finds out that his family was broke-they had taken out a mortgage just to put him through school. Knowing he has nothing and nowhere to turn, he jumps a train hoping it will take him somewhere better than where he came from. It happens to be the train of a traveling circus, and the start of a whole new life for him. Now that I know the part that Reese Witherspoon will play in the movie, I'm not sure she's the best choice for the role {even though I love her as an actress!} but you bet I'll still see it!....on to book number 2, firefly lane by Kristin Hannah.

Book reviews

The reader is weird don't read it. I read it because I heard it was a controversal book & a golden globe winning movie. I never saw the movie but I picked up the book and thank goodness I only paid $1.99 for it. I didn't know what it was about but everyone was making such a big deal about the movie that I thought I would check it out. I should have known because golden globe nominations are usually for strange movies. But, sometimes I like to watch them to stay cultured. Plus, if I have a feel for what the critics like it gives me an edge on beating Jay in picking golden globe winners ;)
Dragonfly in amber=much much better! I liked this one better than Outlander (it's 2nd in the Outlander series) I still don't like parts of her writing & style but it kept me on the edge of my seat and ended with a huge cliff hanger. Parts of the middle were slow but I read fast through them & the story is getting more complex & interesting. I just love the kind of books that make you want to run to the store as soon as you finish one to pick up the next....and these are totally it! I'm already onto book three.

Sacred.

Jay & I finally started Sacred Marriage together...we have heard so many good things about it & we ordered it months ago but never cracked it open. The message of the book asks the question what if marriage is designed for God to draw us to holiness instead of an instrument used to bring about our own happiness? This really hit me deep, because naturally as humans we are always looking for others to fulfill us & make us happy & that is why we are continually searching-because it starts (& ends) with God. It puts the meaning of marriage in a whole new light. I am so lucky that I have a husband who desires to grow in our relationship & more importantly strive for a relationship with God. When I got home tonight, he met me at the top of the stairs, barely holding back his excitement to share his day with me. I silently smiled & thanked God for him as he told me all his news for the day. He sure is wonderful. On that note, I'm off to bed! More feedback on the book to follow!!

Outlander

A few pages into this book & I was snoozing....but I kept reading because I hate leaving books un-read. Half way through the book I could not put it down, and began to think, what have I gotten myself into? I'm hooked...and of course it's a six book (soon to be seven) series. I will warn you to keep reading when it seems like it's a dud, because it does start off slow but the end is worth it! From the back of the book: In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war & reunited with her distant husband on a second honeymoon-when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an "outlander"—in a Scotland torn by war in the year of our Lord...1743. Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny is soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie & the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lords & spies that may threaten her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce & a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives. I loved it mostly for the love story. It did take some getting used to the Scottish accent & some of the parts of the story were disturbing (they were pretty barbarian back then!) & some parts I could have done without, but that's with every book right? Overall it was really entertaining & I am already on book 2.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This was a quick read but started out slow. I will warn you the entire book is written in the form of letters, which I didn't know prior to picking it up. It got more & more interesting as I got further into it & the ending was great. It was not at all what I expected but was a good book overall. Very sweet & innocent. It's about a Secret Society that formed during the German occupation & how it changed their lives. It tells stories of Germany & the war. From the back of the book: January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

The Memory Keepers Daughter

This was an interesting book. I don't really know how to explain how I feel about it. It's about a doctor who has to deliver his own twin babies in the middle of a snow storm in 1964. His son was born perfect-but his daughter was born with down syndrome. He makes a split second decision to take her to an institution & gives her to the nurse to deliver her there, telling his wife she had died at birth. The nurse ends up keeping Phoebe (the baby) & raises her as her own. The doctor, his wife & son stuggle their entire lives over the missing girl. At parts the book was really long & depressing-the mother still so deeply affecting by her daughter's death 5, 10, even 20 years later. The marriage between David & Norah (doctor & wife) was really annoying to read through. There was a wall between them & they lived seperate, miserable lives, and yet they stayed together most of the story...even though Norah had numerous affairs that David was well aware of. It was exhausting to read. The ending really didn't bring closure for me, but it definetly kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen to the crazy family.

The time traveler's wife

I read this book in two days, and it immediately went to the spot on our bookshelves that hold my favorite books. It's an incredible love story about a man with a genetic disease that causes him to involuntarily time travel. He can't control where or when it happens. It's one of the most creative & imaginative books I've ever read. The story was so emotional & touching that I could not put it down. They are coming out with a movie later this summer based on this book... I can't wait to see it because my favorite actress, Rachel McAdams, plays the main character & love interest Clare. She is the perfect character for the part! It will be interesting to see how they portray the story on film. I highly recommend this book!

My sister's keeper

This one's a tear-jerker. I read in while on our trip, it's a long book but it's hard to put down. It's about a family of 4 who learn that their oldest daughet Kate is diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 3. In order to find the perfect donor, Anna is conceived to be her perfect bone marrow match. Her purpose in her short life has been to undergo countless surgeries, shots, procedures & transfusions in the hopes of prolonging her sister's life.
Without giving away the ending, Anna makes a life altering & heartbreaking decision that could potentially put her sister's life at stake and ruin her family. I really enjoyed this book because it seemed very real-a struggle that could happen to anyone & a difficult situation to be put it. They are releasing it as a major motion picture later in June, and I'm glad I had a chance to read the book first because the books are always better. I am looking forward to the movie too though!

The Moonlite Cage

Over the weekend I finished the Moonlit Cage. I really enjoyed this book. It's the story of the life of Darya, an Afghani woman-a story of love, loss & redemption. The first few pages captured me.

"I have always been told I was wicked.

This is my story, then: full of my wickedness and my attempts at goodness, of power found, lost, and found again. Of beliefs destroyed and rebuilt, of faith in oneself and in others. The strength carried in poetry and fables, in dreams and desires. It is a story of love and of hatred, all the contrasts you know, and have already experienced; all the pieces that make up the whole, make up a life— intricate as the veins in a leaf, the patterns of the stars, the seeds in a pomegranate."

- from the "The Moonlit Cage"
I found this story really interesting because I enjoy learning about other cultures & customs not familiar to me. She had a very very hard life-which I think is what got myself thinking about happiness and how we are lucky when we can find a piece of it, others are not so lucky. The text is rich & I like how the author writes. I really could relate to character she develops in Darya & I became attached emotionally-wanting so badly for her to find the happiness & freedom she is looking for. I'm looking forward to reading her other books but I'm out of material so it looks like another trip to the library is in store!

Eat, Pray, Love

Now this was an interesting book for me, I hated it & I loved it. Basically it's about a woman in her thirties who realizes one day that her life is not satisfying, and starts out on a journey to find herself & God. She travels to Italy, India & Indonesia on a whim. She meets many interesting people & experiences life-changing moments. I love the part about her travels, & coming to love & accept herself. I think we've all been on a similar journey (although maybe not so many miles from home). I loved her free spirit & admired her ability to be able to drop everything & leave for a year. In that way I could completely relate to her. But-there is a basic underlying principle in Christianity that Jesus is the only path to God and eternal life, & she does not believe this. She believes there are many paths to God & practices several different religious ceremonies and rituals on her way to finding inner peace. Those parts were harder for me to swallow, but I could still appreciate the happiness she was finding. I found myself routing her on, I wanted her to find what she was looking for & finally find peace. I know what it's like to have inner turmoil. At times I found it a little slow-last Monday I finished the Book Thief, so it took me a week to read. If it's a good book I can fly through it. Overall though it was a feel-good, interesting read.

The Book Thief.

Best book I've ever read, hands down. I'm not sure how else to start this post. It was fantastic. I stumbled across an online book review, and knew I had to find this book. I've read my fair share of disturbing plot lines & horrific stories. I was a psych major for my first year & a half of college, and even then it stayed my minor- so I'm used to a fair degree. I found myself gripping this book and turning page after page, barely gasping for air to finish this heart-wrenching, gut churning story. I'll give a little synopsis without any spoilers (you can find the same info on the back of the book-but in much, much better writing :) A little girl named Liesel & her brother are being given to a foster family by her own mother-she can't afford to keep them. On the way to Himmel Street her brother dies. The book thief is born. She steals her very first book that night, as he is buried in a hole of dirt next to the train station. Her life on Himmel Street is torturous at first. She's haunted by her mother leaving & her brother dying. The war is going on & Hitler is in full force. She finds comfort in her quiet but loving foster father, while her foster mother loathes them both. Eventually a Jew travels to live with them, hiding in their basement. The relationship they develop is undescribable. It is such a touching & heartwarming story, although a time of severe hardships and losses. The book theif eventually realizes that words are so powerful-they can change a person, a life, a world. Words are so precious to her because she cannot read. Once she learns, she becomes obsessed with them. The book is written from Death's point of view, as if Death were a character. At the end of the book, I was crying so hard I could barely see. I find myself wanting to visit Germany & find 33 Himmel street. You'll have to read the rest of the book to see what happens. Markus is an exceptional writer. The way the book is written is brillant. I highly recommend it if you enjoy that time period in history (Nazi Germany, concentration camps, the Jewish struggle, war, etc.)I'm afraid to read another book after this one-for fear of disappointment. This marks my third book on our list so I am slowly making my way! Speaking of said list, yesterday we went on a crazy cleaning spree and I tackled round one of cleaning out our closet. I HATE doing this. Not only do I hate dealing with laundry & organizing clothing, I am really bad at getting rid of things. I tend to convince myself that I will someday wear every item in my closet. Even if it's been sitting there for years, I hate it, & it doesn't fit me. So yesterday I went through everything ::sigh:: and got rid of a huge garbage bag full of stuff (think those large heavy duty black garbage bags) yay! Afterwards it felt great. We are donating everything to the Lupus Foundation because they so conveniently placed a bag on our front porch & asked for it to be filled. Sometimes God is sooooo humorous :) But it was perfect. So I filled the bag yesterday & tonight Jay is going to go through the rest of his stuff and add to it. It's nice because they will take any household items as well, so I am going to try and go through that stuff in time to send it off with the clothing. That means I get to tackle our hutch next....which is completely packed with crap. We don't have much storage, and instead of getting rid of more "things" ...we stuffed them into the house. I can't wait to cleanse our house of unneccesary crap. Ok, sorry about the boring post! sometimes life is just boring like that =)

Twilight

I just finished reading Stephenie Myer's first book of the Twilight series...and I thought it was really good. I'm not sure if it's better than Harry Potter, but it was entertaining! I usually don't read fictional books, but I really got into HP so I thought I would give Twilight a try. Plus, I have a 16 year old little sister who loves these kinds of books..so I'm always tempted! Anyways, one of my New Years resolutions for 2009 is to read 25 books this year. It's not a lot, but I'm really busy and I know it is reachable. I will give any book a chance, although I don't like cheesy romance novels...I think they are a waste of time. I think there is something to be said about a book that can inspire change in you. A book with substance like life lessons. One of my favorite books I've ever read was the Kite Runner, because it's such a moving, inspirational story. It was actually an incredibly sad story, but that's real life...not all stories have happy endings!

Last week I finished reading A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey, a book that was supposed to be based on his life story (we've since learned some parts were fabricated). It had really harsh language that I didn't like, but besides that it was an intriguing and moving story about his struggle to free himself from a life of addiction to drugs and alcohol. I thought it was really well written (besides the language!!) and had a lot of life lessons whether you are an addict or not. It's definetly worth a look at. So far this brings my count to 2 this year...and I'm starting a new one tonight!