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.