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.