Peace Like a River

Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

Dear Mr. Enger,
I've never written a letter to an author and so this experience is very foreign to me. When I closed your book yesterday I knew with certainty that I would be writing you. Each page in your book brought me to my grandmas warm country home in the Midwest, me curled up on her couch with a homemade quilt in front of the old wood burning fireplace, grandma cooking some Midwestern delicacy in the kitchen, and grandpa hunting squirrel. Your book visited none of those images and yet it was like visiting the most warm, comfortable and familiar places I'd ever been.
SWEDE!!! What can I say about little nine year old Swede. She's what I wish I could be. You created the most real characters and as I write this I am positive that there was a mistake at the library, this isn't a novel it's non-fiction, because I can't imagine a world that Swede, Reuben, and Davy don't live in. Thank you for this book. It's one that will stay with me and that I will think of often. Oh, how I would love to live one day in your mind...what fun you must have just thinking!!!
Sincerely and with Admiration
Andrea Golding
PS. What ever happened to old Valdez!!!

Dear Bookclub Friends,
READ IT! Please!
Thank you,
Andrea

A Child Called It

I don't have a picture of this book. I would like to review it, though.

I don't know where you begin with this book. It is a horrible tale of a abused child. It really makes you think about what if you were like that. Some of the things him mom doe =s is make him throw up everyday after school to see if he has eaten, "The mirror treatment", shuts him in the bathroom and makes him clean it with a mixture of ammonia and clorox, doesn't feed him, and doesn't consider him a part of the family. It's a trilogy. It is so sad. It is the best child abuse book you can ever read. You definitely HAVE to check it out!

Katie

My Sister's Keeper

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life… even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less?

This was an amazing book! One of the best I have read this year. I could see both sides of the story and cried my eyes out through the end. I am a big Jody Picoult fan and am reading more of her books. Great read!

Children of the Promise Vol 1-5

Children of the Promise Series by Dean Hughes

I read these books this summer but wanted to list them because I enjoyed them so much. I love history, romance, action and suspense and so it is no surprise that I loved these books. They combine all of that and more. This series is set during World War II and revolves around the Thomas family who find the war affecting each of their children in different ways. I liked that you get to see the war from all points of view, you see what life was like for German soldiers, American Soldiers, Prisoners of War, a Pearl Harbor nurse, Mormons and Jews in Germany and the people left back at home. Good easy reads!

Ok here we go again. I just typed this long thing about this book and went to publish it but it said, "ERROR!" Ok so I hope that this works this time. I am going to copy and paste before I try to publish.

Ok I loved loved loved this book! It's about a girl who always blamers herself for her sister's, andrea, murder. She thinks this because she knew where to tell the police where to look and she didn't because she promised she wouldn't. When she finally did it was too late.

Later when the person convicted of her sisters murder is questioned again about whether to let him out or not she feels it is her duty to make sure that he stays in prison. She doesn't realize that by doing this she is putting her life in danger. (It's called this because andrea was her dads little girl and he is mad at the main character and blames her and they loose touch.

This book is a great book. I would recommed this to anyone who likes mysteries and who doesn't because it is a mystery but then it isn't. It tell the great bond that you share as a daughter and father. I hope that you will read this book and love it!

Katie

the hiding place

this book was amazing and changed my life! i know a lot of people read it during high school english. somehow that class passed me by, i ended up having to read lord of the flies 3 times! whatever. anyway, this book takes place in denmark, in the 1940's during the rule of the nazis. it is the true story of corrie ten boom and she is the narrator throughout the book.

corrie is a 30 something lady living with her father and sister, betsie, who runs the home and helps with the watch shop that is connected to their house. as the nazis continue to harm corrie's fellow villagers and they begin to "disappear" suspiciously, corrie finds herself helping jewish friends and eventually hiding them in a secret room in their home. she is set up and turned in, along with the rest of her family. after solitary confinement and continual mistreatment, she and betsie eventually end up in a german concentration camp for women.

what amazed me was betsie's outlook on life. she continued to be grateful for all of the small blessings that were in her life and share her love of God and the bible with others to give them hope to keep going and survive the nightmare they were in. there was one specific incident was when betsie prayed for the "bedbugs" that were driving them insane. corrie couldn't believe that she had done this and basically thought her sister had lost her mind. well a few days later, while all the women were gathered around the "forbidden" bible, a guard was going to come in and they were going to get in trouble. guess what stopped her from coming in? the bed bugs! corrie was amazed at her betsie's faith and soon her outlook began to match her sister's.

the fact that corrie survived this horrible ordeal and then began to travel around speaking about faith, blessings and the pure love of God inspired me. she and her sister were such an example to me and made me re-evaluate the blessings in my life.

the first 1/3 of the book is pretty slow but overall i absolutely loved it. i would recommend it to anyone!!

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I find myself this morning a bit sad that this book is over. I now understand why first published in 1847, not only never has been out of print but is still widely read and considered a classic. I finished reading this book last night( well actually this morning at 2:30 a.m.) and found my dreams afterward were filled with the beautiful language of the era. I heard myself say, "I am much obliged to you," and "His temperament is much disposed to contentment." This book was such a contrast to her sister, Emily Bronte's Book, Wuthering Heights. Wuthering heights was a dark considerably ugly novel filled with hate, revenge and the weirdest most bitter love I have ever read. Contrastingly, Jane Eyre is filled with beauty, love in it's most selfless forms and a heroine in Jane. I am now sure that if I ever( keep your fingers crossed) am lucky enough to have a daughter her name must be Jane. Jane Eyre who was often noted as being plain and dull looking, had a beautiful mind and pure spirit that made her irresistible to those she was with. I don't want to say too much about the story because there are quite a few surprises and plot twists but I was amazed at Charlotte Bronte's ability to describe and create characters that you fall in love with, and create a novel that is unpredictable and engaging. This is a book you own and read over and over. It left me with a desire to be more like Jane - smart, thoughtful, morally strong, fair, and loyal. It is rare to find a book that inspires you to rise higher...it will definitely be on my Christmas list this year(hint hint Preston!) Thanks Ms. Charlotte Bronte for this brilliant classic!

Ok so many people have posted about this book and I feel that I should post about my thoughts on this book. It was a spectacular book and in my opinon was MUST read! It's a very very sad story and kinda depressing but it opens your mind about the horrer of going through what she did. Her family took it pretty hard and that is understandable. She was tough through and through and it shows that not all deaths have to be painful.

I think that every girl and women she get the chance to read this book. It will change your life I swear to it. It's the clostest I've every came to crying at a book. (I might add that I have never even thought or felt like crying at a book but this one got to me.)

This author is a wonderful author and I look forward to reading more books by her. I love her writing techniques and skills. Except for a couple of bad scenes and words this was an exception book. I look forward to rereading it many many times!

A Thousand Splendid Suns

"Both born in Afghanistan a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are brought together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them -- in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul -- they form a bond that will ultimately alter the course of their lives and the lives of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival."

This author also wrote Kite Runner, but I liked this book better out of the two. Because it was centered around women and their interactions and relationships, I could relate and understand it better. I cried a few times at what these women went through. Knowing that things like this did and are still happening around the world was just too much to take in. It was a great book that made me appreciate the respectable men I know and strong female bond I have with my girlfriends.

Rating: PG13 for sexual content and violence;
Nothing too graphic or raunchy, but there are some sexual encounters

P.S. I'm Lindsay. Lynsey's friend from college...thanks for the bookclub eVite!

the secret life of bees

"The Secret Life of Bees has a rare wisdom about life--about mothers and daughters and the women in our lives who become our true mothers. A remarkable story about the divine power of women and the transforming power of love, this is a stunning debut whose rich, assured, irresistible voice gathers us up and doesn't let go, not for a moment. It is the kind of novel that women share with each other and that mothers will hand down to their daughters for years to come."

okay, so i have yet to do a post on a book that i don't like. i think it's because i get so enveloped in any story that i end up liking at least something out of it. this one i also really enjoyed. it's a story about a young girl named lily who loses her mother in a tragedy at a young age. she runs away with her "stand-in" black mother, rosaleen and they end up staying at a home owned by 3 beekeepers & honey makers. it is a story about overcoming racism, and coming to terms with your past and taking responsibility for your future. it took me a couple of chapters to get into it, but i ended up loving it. i also read about how handy beeswax can be. who knew you skin and hair care could get so creative? go burt's bees chapstick!

the memory keeper's daughter

"This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins.
His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love."

Basically that just gave away the entire story but it really is worth reading. You start out despising the father, asking how he could make the decision he did. Then you begin to see how it changed another character's lonely life for the better. You are able to go through a span of around 20 years to read how one person's decision can devastate one and heal another. All in all, a book I would recommend. I read it a while ago and can't remember if there are a lot of curse words or not, but I am 99% sure there are no "spicy" scenes. Sorry, Ms. Golding, I know you love your spices.

WELCOME!!!!

I would like to welcome all of our new Book Club contributors. It's soo exciting to have all these new friends to share their books with us! So don't be shy...just start blogging away!

I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This

Well I am currently reading I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This by Bob Newhart. It is really good. It is kinda a memoir or autobiography thing but not exactly. This book is HILARIOUS!! Throughout this book you will find many funny things. He has lots of his routines in this book and my favorite is the Mrs. Webb driving one. If you love funny people and funny books you will die from laughing in this book. There is not many curse words and the ones that are there are not that bad. It's a book anyone in your family who understads standup can read!

Team of Rivals

TEAM OF RIVALS by Doris Kearns Goodwin

"An elegant, incisive study....Goodwin has brilliantly described how Lincoln forged a team that preserved a nation and freed America from the curse of slavery."

- James M. McPherson, The New York Times Book Review

"Goodwin's narrative abilities...are on full display here, and she does an enthralling job of dramatizing...crucial moments in Lincoln's life....A portrait of Lincoln as a virtuosic politician and managerial genius."

The New York Times

"Splendid, beautifully written....Goodwin has brilliantly woven scores of contemporary accounts...into a fluid narrative....This is the most richly detailed account of the Civil War presidency to appear in many years."

Los Angeles Times


"Endlessly absorbing....[A] lovingly rendered and masterfully fashioned book."

The Wall Street Journal

This book was an experience! I was a History major, so naturally I was drawn to this book, but I know that history lovers and those will little interest in the subject will love this book. It is the first history text that I've read that has the feel of a novel. You know how the story will end and yet your filled with suspense. As I read this book I fell in love with Lincoln- Goodwin gives such a fair and clear picture of this extraordinary man. READ IT!!!!

Rebecca

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

OK I always get nervous reviewing books because if I say I love something I don't want people to read it and then hate it. But I will have to be brave and say that I LOVED this book. It was on a list of top ten books to read and I thought I would give it a try.
The book is about a nameless young woman( we never know her name) who falls madly, desperately, head over heels in love with a charming older man. He is widowed, his wife Rebecca drowned in a sailing accident the prior year, and after a brief courtship they marry and return to his legendary estate, Manderlay. This young girl who has lived her whole life with nothing is now the Mistress of the most famous estate in England. She finds that she pales in comparison to Rebecca who is still loved and honored by the servants, home and husband she left behind. Your heart breaks for this girl who so desperately wants her husband to love her that way. There are some shocking twists and revelations and you discover this book is not only a romance but a mystery and thriller as well.
It was written in the 1930's so the language takes a bit of adjusting to but it is clean and I really loved it. One of my favorite reads this year!

The Lovely Bones......my review

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Lynsey reviewed this book recently so...on my most recent trip I came home with five new books to start reading and THE LOVELY BONES was on the top of my pile.
Since Lynsey did an AWESOME review and explained the book perfectly I will just add a few things.
This book is original; it left me feeling many different emotions from sadness over the loss of Susie's stolen life and all the experiences robbed from her and those who loved her to fear and finally peace. I love reading well written books,Alice Sebold is a gifted writer and this beautifully created book was a great read! Thanks for telling us Lynsey.

I've Heard that Song Before

This book was really good, just as all Mary Higgins Clark books are. This one is a little different because it is written in the first person, unlike her others. It also jumps around to different characters too. I had a tough time getting into it at first, but by the end I couldn't put it down. Great if you are looking for a good, clean, quick read.

Here is the jist from publisher's weekly:

Kay Lansing recalls her first visit as a six-year-old to the Carrington estate in Englewood, N.J., where her father worked as a landscaper. Twenty-two years later, she returns to ask the present owner, Peter Carrington, if she can use the mansion for a fund-raiser. The two fall madly in love, and after a whirlwind courtship, they marry despite the shadow of suspicion that hangs over Peter regarding the death of a neighbor's daughter two decades earlier and the drowning of his first wife four years before. After an idyllic honeymoon, the couple return to New Jersey, where a magazine article has caused the police to reopen the cases. The subsequent discovery of two bodies buried on the estate causes even Kay to doubt her husband's innocence. Clark (Two Little Girls in Blue) deftly keeps the finger of guilt pointed in many directions until the surprising conclusion.

The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride
S.Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
by William Goldman

Loved it! I absolutely loved this book. I saw the movie, countless times as a child, and so when the book was recommended to me I was not too interested. I know what that book is about...I am not really into that kind of stuff.

Well, I am so glad that I decided, on a whim, to check the book out. I loved it! I loved the humor, the love story, the heroes, the villains, everything. Everything except the ending. I wished it went on and on. It was a fun read, very different and refreshing from the books I usually find myself reading. In one of the reviews I read on the book, Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight Series said that The Princess Bride should be a required book for everyone in the English language. YES!!! She is right. I will read this book again and again!

Positive Discipline for Preschoolers

Positive Discipline for Preschoolers- Raising Children Who Are Responsible, Respectful, and Resourceful by Jane Nelsen
(click the title to see the book on Amazon)

This book was recommended to me years ago in college. I checked it out at the library and loved it so much that I had to buy it. It is DEFINITELY a life saver in my family. Every so often I notice my four year old getting a bit too unruly and have to pull this well loved book off the shelf and revisit the principles that work so AMAZINGLY!! If you have children or work with children this book is a must!

Digital Fortress

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

I finished another book last night. It is written by Dan Brown, the author of The DiVinci Code. After reading it I feel like I could go interview for the CIA or create the world's most complicated computer program. It's a technological thriller that is written for those who know everything and nothing (ie: ME) about codes, virus's', and the world of computers. He took a subject that could potentially be very dull to the masses and created a fast paced addicting thriller.

BUT... all of that being said I personally wouldn't recommend this book or read it again, due to the fact that is was filled with profanity. I hate how authors do that. I read for three reasons. To be entertained, informed, and escape reality. Profanity is definitely not entertaining, informative and I hear it enough in the real world that...the last thing I want is to have it forced on me in my attempt to escape reality! Grrr... one day when I own my own publishing company things will be different! HaHa.

the kite runner

this book was amazing & hard to get through. it is about a young boy growing up in afghanistan before the rule of the taliban entered the country & then what happens to him & his family afterward. i honestly wasn't excited about it when i read the back & what it was about but i'm so glad that i read it. it didn't end how i wanted it to but it ended how it should & made a deep impact on me. it has some very difficult parts to read through that are sometimes graphic but overall, the way the author writes is awesome. he's come out with a new book that i hear is really good too & want to get it. hey is it okay if i invite a couple of people to this blog? i was thinking of my sister lauren & old roomie lindsay. ahhh! then there will be three of us! attack of the lindsays. ok back to the book. this is another one ben & i read together & we both loved it. i literally cried during one part and if you know me at all, i don't cry too often. in fact, the only time i usually cry is during books because i get so into them that they practically become reality. so read it!

***also becoming a movie i might add. i love it when that happens because i like to see what other people imagine, even though the movies are never better than the book. here's a preview!

Two Little Girls in Blue

Before leaving for a black-tie affair in New York City, Margaret and Steve Frawley celebrate the third birthday of their twin girls, Kathy and Kelly, with a party at their new home in Ridgefield, Conn. Later that night, when Margaret can't reach the babysitter, she contacts the Ridgefield police. The frantic couple return home to find the children missing and a ransom note demanding $8 million. Though the Frawleys meet all the conditions, only Kelly turns up in a car along with a dead driver and a suicide note saying that Kathy has died. But Kelly's telepathic messages from her sister keep telling her differently, and Margaret won't give up hope. Even the most skeptical law enforcement officers and the FBI, who pursue suspects from New York to Cape Cod, begin to believe Kelly is on to something. Clues from ordinary people lead to a riveting conclusion. Rivaling Clark's debut—Where Are the Children?—this suspense thriller is certain to send terror into the heart of any parent.

This book in my opinion is very good. It really makes you think about children more and about things they say. It makes you think of things that you never would have thought about before and the meaning to it. I couldn't put it down. It's exciting and suspencful. Mary Higgins Clark really knows how to write a good book. She is my favorite author. This book will keep you wanting to read more and turning pages like crazy!!!!!

I am currently rereading this book because it's been a couple of months since I've read it so I from what I remember there is a few curse words but not terrible ones. I mean all curse words are bad but it wasn't like the F word or the B word- they were like the d word and the h word. If there is anything that I didn't remember that's bad I'll make sure to tell you. I hope you read this book!

Katie : )

the lovely bones by alice sebold

ok so i read this book twice. once on my own and then one more time because it was my recommendation for a book club in utah. the second time i read it out loud to ben & wasn't sure what he'd think but he liked it a lot also. it's a strange premise, and the first couple of chapters have some harsh stuff to read through but the author's writing style is really cool.

it's about a teenage girl who is murdered by a neighbor. it is told from the dead girl's point of view while she is up in heaven, looking down. it follows her family's story for about 10 years, what happens to them after her death. it also follows her murderer, and you get to see how he ends up.

i'll also warn you that there is a PG-13 rated 'scene' in it (not the murder scene) that you can just skip over which unfortunately is a really cool part of the book. it's your choice!

all in all, i loved the book & would recommend it.

PS-they are filming the movie right now starring ryan gosling, susan sarandon, rachel weiss & directed by peter jackson (lord of the rings) i'll be there opening night!

Can we include short stories? If so, Hemingway's "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" is my favorite short story.
Also, JD Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is interesting. You can find it in "9 Stories," a compilation of Salinger's short stories. Also in "9 Stories" is a story entitled "For Esme - With Love and Squalor." Both stories (A Perfect Day for Bananafish and For Esme- With Love and Squalor) transpire during World War II and focus on the effects that combat has on young soldiers. The two men in both stories are strikingly similar, yet their lives have very different outcomes.

Bananafish:
http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/perfectday.html .

For Esme - With Love and Squalor
http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/squalor.html

A Clean Well-Lighted Place
http://www.mrbauld.com/hemclean.html

The Twillight Series

Alright...this is slightly embarrassing. But I feel brave due to the fact that I know I am not alone in my love for these books. Now for the really embarrassing part. I read all three books consisting of 1800 total pages in 4 days. Don't judge me! Preston was on a scout camp out and I couldn't resist. I am actually posting a picture that my sister took of me at a Kirby Heyborne concert reading the book instead of listening.(But wouldn't you rather read a book than listen to Kirby? Sorry Lindsey!)
I felt like a teenager again. I don't think my review will do this addicting, heart pounding, romantic series of books justice. I am now beginning to realize that professional book reviewers have hard jobs. So... I will post this review from Publishers Weekly:


Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife — between desire and danger.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

I know the whole vampire thing sounds weird(well, it did to me) but Stephenie Meyer is so creative that the book feels completely impossible and completely possible at the same time. You know this couldn't happen and yet you completely believe it did. I loved them.

The Glass Lake

The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy

This book was a joy. I think I loved it the most because Maeve Binchy is an expert at character development. When I finished reading I felt like I had know these people and lived in their town my whole life.
The book is set in a small town, Lough Glass, in Ireland. The story is filled with moral lessons without preaching. You can draw your own conclusions. The book is fairly clean in exception to one very naughty word used on page 468( just skip that page...it's not too important).
I plan on reading this book again. Maeve Binchy is such a talented storyteller and I hope to read many more of her books!


Book Synopsis
Night after night the beautiful woman walked beside the serene waters of Lough Glass. Until the day she disappeared, leaving only a boat drifting upside down on the unfathomable lake that gave the town its name. Ravishing Helen McMahon, the Dubliner with film-star looks and unfulfilled dreams, never belonged in Lough Glass, not the way her genial pharmacist-husband Martin belonged, or their spirited daughter Kit. Suddenly, she is gone and Kit is haunted by the memory of her mother, seen through a window, alone at the kitchen table, tears streaming down her face. Now Kit, too, has secrets: of the night she discovered a letter on Martin’s pillow and burned it, unopened. The night her mother was lost. The night everything changed forever…

Wuthering Heights

OK so I have a lot of books to post right now...I have read a lot this summer mostly due to the fact that it was 288 degrees in Arizona and I didn't want to have a heat stroke! The most recent book I finished is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I am not really sure what to say about this book. Anyone who has read it will probably agree that it leaves you speechless. It's considered an English classic and I want to read all the classics so I embarked a week ago on this book. I have to say that it did captivate my attention and that the story was so original that I had to keep reading to see the end but...I didn't love it. Heathcliff was evil and Cathy selfish. There were a few lines that were memorable

1. Heathcliff speaking about Cathy said, " I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!
2. Cathy speaking of Heathcliff "If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it.

Some pretty romantic quotes but really just read those and you get the only romance the book has to offer.
I wouldn't read this book again...too depressing.

Bookclub

I am always looking for a good book! I came across a bookclub blog the other day and I thought it was good idea...I will post books I read and review them and then you guys can post books you've read and then we will all know the good and not sooo good books to read. Do you wanna do it? If you want to just leave a comment with your email address and I will add you as an author.