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.