Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

When Noel learns that his terminally ill one-night-stand is pregnant with his child, he agrees to take the child and raise her. As a single father, Noel needs help. Lots of help! Fortunately, he has a large caring and competent network of friends to help him. But, the nosy social worker needs convincing that this arrangement is in the best interest of Frankie. Interesting book! You should give it a shot!

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

I have the privilege of choosing our book club book for the month of October. I have decided to choose Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. I have started it and it is excellent! I'll have more to say about this book soon!

The Help, the movie!

Having read the book, I just HAD to see the movie! And it didn't disappoint! The movie was excellent! The characters were spot on, from Abilene to Mae Mobley. Ron Howard's daughter was Hilly. She nailed this part!! Might have to go see it again....

The Friday Night Knitting Club

Our next book is The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. I have started it and it seems to be pretty good!

Harry Potter 7 part 2

So now I have seen all the Harry Potter movies. This last one was very dark and intense. The most surprising character in this movie was Neville Longbottom! He really grew up! And he was brave!

I love the special effects in all the movies, but they were exceptional in this one! The fire, the giants, the death eaters, and especially the aging of the main characters. Very well done!

I am amazed at Snape's attitude and how his attitude shaped his actions all along. I guess a lost love can influence your entire life!

Now Potter mania is over and the next fad will be coming around soon. Wonder what it will be......

Next up: Sing You Home by Jodi Piccoult

My book club has chosen a Jodi Piccoult book for August. I bought it today to take on vacation. I'll let you know how it is.

Shelter Me by Juliette Fay

Four months after Janie's husband dies, Janie is still overwhelmed by grief and anger. But one morning she is surprised by the unexpected arrival of a builder who was hired months earlier by her husband. He had wanted to surprise her with a covered porch. Throughout the construction of the porch, Janie clings to the familiar which includes mothering her two young children, avoiding family and friends, and stewing in a rage that she can't seem to shake. Many breach her self-imposed isolation to help her discover how to navigate her future with those who love her.

This book was very good! I think that some things happened a little sooner than I would think I would have allowed them to happen if it had been me. But, I couldn't put the book down!!

This is my Book Club's book for July. Can't wait to get together to discuss it!!

Daniel Half Human by David Chotjewitz

In 1933 Germany, two boys, Daniel and Armin, swear eternal brotherhood by slitting their wrists and mingling their blood. While the scar is still healing, Daniel receives the life-altering news that he is half-Jewish. Knowing Armin is Aryan, Daniel decides to keep this a secret.

This is an outstanding addition to Holocaust fiction. This book describes Kristallnacht in chilling detail.

Hunger Games Cast

Click on this posts' title and go to the site that features the cast of Hunger Games! Can't wait to see the movie!

Looking for a good book?

World Magazine has a wonderful article on books! It uses the Dewey number as well as Genre name to categorize their reviews! Very helpful!

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/18214

Click on over and Take a look!

What are you reading?

You can read in the posts below what I've been reading! Let me know in a comment what you've been reading!

Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand

Louis Zamperini grew up in the 1920s. He was a hell raiser, who was more interested in a fight than in school or helping others. He was also known for grabbing things and running like the wind! His brother convinced him to use that gift of running on the track team. As a result he stayed in school and eventually ran track in college. His running earned him a spot on the 1936 USA Olympic Track Team. He went to the Olympic Games in Berlin and came in 8th. It looked like he was set to win the 1940 Olympics in Japan. He even got to meet Adolph Hitler! Instead, WWII happened and Louis went to war. He became a bombardier and found himself on a rescue mission over the Pacific Ocean. The plane crashed and only 3 of the 12 aboard survived. Louis and the other two found the raft and spent the next 200 plus days on the water. One of the men panicked and ate the only rations available, six chocolate bars. They survived on albatross and on the livers of sharks. Survival training taught them that shark liver was quite nutritious. Finally land was sighted! But it ended up being occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese eventually took them to Japan, where they were put in a P.O.W. camp that was run by The Bird, a cruel man with the last name of Wantanabe.

After the war, Louis came home and married. The war came back to him every night in the form of nightmares, which caused him to turn to alcohol. Then one day Louis attended a Billy Graham revival and met the Lord Jesus Christ and he was a changed man! No more nightmares;and
no more alcohol.

Excellent book!! I highly recommend it!!

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

I have not read this book yet. I have the book because my book club chose it for June. Anyone out there read it yet? What did you think?

Hunger by Michael Grant

I just started the second book in the Gone series. I am so fascinated by this series! I want to find out what the darkness is and where the adults and older teens have gone. This book starts with the death of EZ, a sixth grader who wants to go with Sam to investigate a cabbage field. Mutant territorial worms get a hold of him and... .I think I'll let you read about it! Sam is devastated by this turn of events. And on top of this, food is getting scarce. There are four books in this series, so hunger is not the end of them! Stay tuned!!

Gone by Michael Grant

Imagine being in history class, listening to the teacher talk about The Civil War. One minute it is the North against the South, the next nothing. The teacher has disappeared. In fact, everyone over the age of 14 has disappeared. Poof. Gone. Strange mutations are everywhere. Snakes with wings, coyotes that talk and the mysterious darkness in the cave cause fear and anxiety.

Days pass. Sam reluctantly becomes the leader and tries to protect the rest. Where did the older teens and adults go? What will happen when the 14-year-olds turn 15? How will they keep order and make sure everyone has the basics to survive?

I loved this book! This fantasy/sci-fi read is a page turner! There is talk of a movie. I would go and see it! If you like fantasy, this is a great book for you!

Book Club Tonight!!

Meeting at Rafferty's for book club tonight! Can't wait to talk about The Glass Castle!

So, Fiction or Nonfiction?

Do you prefer reading Fiction or Nonfiction? If Fiction, what kind? Science Fiction? Fantasy? Realistic? Historical? If Nonfiction, what kind? Biography? Memoir? Science? History?

If given the choice, I will choose a fiction book over a nonfiction book. Fantasy or Science Fiction is what I like best. But, recently I have read several nonfiction works in the form of memoirs. These being The Glass Castle and Three Little Words. One deals with homelessness and the other with the foster care system and adoption. I have commented on both of them in earlier posts.

But now I that I have finished them, I am back to Fiction: Gone by Michael Grant. Fantasy, of course. Looks interesting! I'll let you know!

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

This is a memoir about Ashley and her brother's trek through the foster care system.  She had over fourteen foster homes before she found her loving adoptive parents.  She also spent time in The Children's Home, waiting for the perfect family to find her while they went "shopping for a child." 

The three little words that are referred to in the title will surprise you.  They are not "I love you!"

I liked this book a lot.  Ashley is a memorable, likable person with a serious message for those of us who don't know anything about the foster care system.  

 

The Butterfly Effect How Your Life Matters by Andy Andrews

Have you ever heard of the Butterfly Effect? I saw part of a movie by that name. The main character kept going back in time and changing one little thing and when he got back to the present, things would be radically different. That is sorta what this book reminds me of. It is a small 109 page inspirational book that is quite moving. At least it struck a chord with me. It starts out with the story of a 34-year-old schoolteacher named Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. You may have heard of him. In 1863, he was the Colonel and leader of the 20th Maine at Gettysburg. It was his command to "Fix Bayonets and charge!" after they had repulsed 5 charges from the Rebel soldiers, caused him and his 80 men to fool the enemy and capture 800 men from the 14th and the 47th Alabama troops. Colonel Chamberlain knew that the Union Army would be defeated if he didn't stand his ground. Quite possibly the south would have won the battle and then the war. One man stood in the gap and helped the North win. Now that seems like a big thing to me, but the consequences of his one action helped win the war and keep the United States united. Can you imagine what would have happened in WWI and WWII if we had been divided and were not able to help conquer Hitler? The book is more than this story. Smaller actions are described later on, but I love this story! Colonel Chamberlain knew what he had to do and he did it! And he spurred others on to do what they had to do and we are still reaping the benefits! This book is worth the time to read it and more.

Jane Eyre the movie

I saw the movie Jane Eyre this past weekend. I really liked it! I could only find it at the Mariemont Theater. The scenery was beautiful! It had been a while since I had read the book, but I do think it was beautifully done. I plan on getting the book and re-reading it soon!

The Clone Codes by Patricia, Fredrick and John McKissack

This book is written by a husband/wife/son team!  Patricia is an award winning young adult author of mostly non-fiction titles, such as Sojourner Truth: Ain't I A Woman.  She is joined by her husband and son in order to produce this fiction work.  They have taken the general idea of slavery and applied it to a fictitious future (2170) of clones and cyborgs.  The Clone Codes state the rules that apply to the clones and cyborgs.  It follows closely the rules of slavery in America in the 1800s.  It is a fast moving story that throws in surprises and interesting ideas of how technology will be in the future. 

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

This is a Holocaust novel. It is a fictionalized account of the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations. During one of these roundups, eleven year old Sarah locked her four year old brother in a cupboard to hide him from the Nazis who had come for their family. She never dreamed she wouldn't be back to save him. In 2002, Julia Jarmond and her husband prepare to move into the apartment that Sarah had lived in those many years ago. Julia stumbles upon the story of the roundups and discovers that Sarah had lived in her new apartment. In the process she finds a secret that threatens her marriage.

Very intense novel. I did find that for me, it took a chapter or two to get into the story, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down! I learned a lot about WWII that I didn't know before. Reminded me somewhat of the Potato Peel Society! I liked it a lot!

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir! When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. He promised his daughter that they would build a glass castle in the desert.  Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family or holding a job.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing -- a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar, but loyal, family. Jeannette Walls has a story to tell, and tells it brilliantly, without an ounce of self-pity.

The Amanda Project

I usually don't read mysteries.  I started reading this book before I realized it was a mystery and by then I was drawn into the story and just had to finish it!  Now I am realizing that it the first of eight books!  It is quite the page turner, but I don't know if I want to commit to reading eight books! 

I am well into the book, being on page 223 out of 304, and Amanda is the subject of the book, but she has not shown up yet!  She has left clues and has brought three of her friends together.  Friends that didn't know she was friends with the others.  Quite a collection of different types of personalities! 

This book is recommended for grades 7--10, but I think adults who love mysteries would enjoy it too.

Same Kind of Different

Our book club is discussing Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore tonight at dinner at The Claddaugh Irish Pub on Mason Montgomery Road.  It is a book that causes me to have mixed feelings.  It almost makes me feel like they were using Deborah's illness to make the book famous.  But, then, that is what happened.  So, it had to be in there.  It had to be explained.

What are you reading?

I am currently reading a book that I don't particularly like. But, I do want to see how it ends. It is Before I Die by Jenny Downham. There's lots of rude language, sexual scenes and other questionable materials that I am sure parents would not be excited that their children are reading. But, I want to see how it ends. Does she finish her "list of things to do before she dies?"

Rachel's Tears: The Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott by Darrell Scott and Beth Nimmo

I have started reading Rachel's Tears: The Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott by Darrell Scott and Beth Nimmo. Let's face it, with a name like that, it has got to be a tear jerker! I've barely begun and I have needed the Kleenexes! Rachel was one of four children in the family, but her mother and father are divorced. Her stepfather, Larry, is a good guy and all of the adults in Rachel's life get along and try to do what is best for the children.

Imagine getting up one morning and thinking that this is a typical day and when the kids leave for school, they will come home, all safe and sound and in one piece. Then you hear the awful words about what is happening at their school. This is what Rachel's parents had to face. Fortunately, they received word from their son that he is okay, but what about Rachel?

Books! Books!! Books!!!

I have recently become aware of many books that I want to read. Here's some of them:

Mark Twain's Autobiography, Vol. 1

Rachel's Tears: The Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott by Darrell Scott and Beth Nimmo

The Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (13 Volumes!!)

Decision Points by George W. Bush

What are you thinking about reading? What do you think of my choices?

Right now I am reading Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand for my book club. It is an historical novel set during WWII. It is quite interesting. More on it when I finish the book!