The Christmas Sweater

I must admit, I love a good and even a bad Christmas story. I totally enjoyed this one, "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck. It's a quick read, so if you have a few extra moments sit down and enjoy.
Based on events that happened in Glenn Becks life, it tells of boy named Eddie, who expects a bike that he thinks he deserve but instead receives a home made sweater. This starts a series of events in which he learns some truths about life. We become who we are based on events that happen in our lives, but we don't have to remain that person. In order to not remain in stagnation, in order to be the best person we can be, we must face the demons of our pasts & be prepared to face the demons that will come our way in the future(the storm in the story). Forgiveness and redemption are underlying themes. In the book, this takes place over a years time, but in real life it took Glenn a lifetime to learn this.
At the end in the post-log he makes an important statement that defines or wraps up the Christmas to Easter concept. "Without his death, the birth would have been meaningless." (p. 271) Something to think about.

Our Luck

Preston spent a large portion of his Saturday detailing the inside of the van. He literally cleaned every nook and cranny. We joked that every time he washed the outside it rained ( a rare thing in Arizona) and we wondered what would happen to the inside now that he scrubbed it...

Well, I will tell you what happened. Less than 48 hours later Tyler, who is almost 4, threw up for the first time in his entire life all over the inside. Seriously I couldn't stop laughing, poor guy was barfing and I was in hysterics. I think the van must be cursed - and we will have to buy a new car...I'm thinking this one would do just fine

Christmas was fantastic...we had a good time this year enjoying Preston's time off work and eating ourselves into a stupor. Here are a few of the events of our Christmas...
1.The Spaghetti Factory. A Golding Family Tradition to eat Spaghetti Factory every year during the Christmas Season.

Notice the cheese caked on Tyler's Face...yummmYeah, he's licking the parmesan cheese off the table...what can I say? He's an animal.

On a side note...Spaghetti Factory is having adult entrees for $2.35 and Kids meals for $1.99 on January 6th...just thought you might like to know.

2. Baking, Eating, Baking and Eating some more.

Santa's Dipped Oreos...I don't know for sure, I mean, I didn't get to talk to him BUT I think he LOVED them!

3. Preston as King Herod...what more can I say? Priceless!

This was his, "no more paparazzi" look

4. Having a sit down with Santa

You can see the panic in his eyes

This is the first year he's sat on Santa's lap without serious amounts of screaming!

Although I know it's not true...when I look at this one I think he and Tyler look like old friends-possiblly discussing the "good ol' days" in elf school.

5. Irony

This picture was taken on Christmas Eve....a Valentines display !!!

6. Presents...
Preston putting a toy together with real tools and Tyler helping with his new tool set.

Ethan's favorite present - Light Bright
Tyler's favorite present - Bud's Ark. We are still trying to convince him that it's "Noah's Ark" but he swears the bearded man's name is Bud...

7. 24

Rented on Netflix...they have taken over our evenings. Go Jack!!

8.The Coolest Aunt EVER!!!
Check out the gift my sister Lindsey bought the boys...she now goes down as the coolest aunt in the history of aunts!

A Karaoke Christmas

Grandma Nori bought us a Karaoke Machine this year and it has been so much fun. Fun for us...the neighbors may not agree. Seriously the best gift ever. We are in love
We're going to have a big Karaoke Party soon...if you live in Arizona you should come...if you don't get some plane tickets - the laughs will be worth it!!


Coming Soon: Ethan and Tyler Rock Out

The Newest Member

Hi! My name is Beverly, and I'm excited to be a part of Andrea's blog.  I love to read (when I can find the time)- and am always looking for new good books to read. I'm the mom of 6, and I've known Andrea for a long time. She was one of my favorite babysitters when we lived in Illinois, and she watched my two oldest when they were between the ages of newborn-4 yrs. old (they are now 14 & 12).  I'm currently PTA pres., and a radKIDS instructor, so finding time to read is difficult for me. I love 'get aways' with my husband for that reason, because then I can read, read, read - it drives my husband CRAZY! A few of my favorite books are The Book Thief, The Red Tent, and The Year of Magical Thinking.  I am currently reading Identical Strangers - which I am finding very interesting because my two youngest girls are identical twins.  It is the story of two women (identical twins) who were secretly separated at their adoptions, for a nature vs. nurture 'study', and find each other at age 35. Extremely interesting. I look forward to finding some great book recommendations here. Thanks, Andrea, for letting me be a part!

This picture looks creepy. The movie is much better!

I just watched part 1 of the Masterpiece Theater adaptation of Jane Eyre and it was so so good. I loved the book and I was sure that any movie would fall so short and leave me disappointed BUT this so far has been amazing. I love it. I rented it from Netflix so - I am waiting for disk 2 to come! I can get the whole miniseries on Amazon for 15 dollars...Preston - my birthday is in March!!

At this moment, I feel completely hopeless. I am so ashamed of myself and what I have allowed myself to become. I want to be someone else. I hate that I hit him. I hate that I let myself go that far.
I hate that he said F. you. I hate that it hurt me so much.
I want to run. To sit in a cabin in Colorado -mountians all around me - and a house full of books. I want to avoid life. Core belief stuff...I can never trust anyone. Never with my heart. Never to see the best in me. Never to protect me. I can't trust anyone, not even myself.
I want to live in isolation because then I can never hurt them, and they won't hurt me.
Never
Never
They deserve better. They shouldn't even know that this stuff happens in the world. Their minds should be filled with magic.

It's A Girl.........

We adopted the sweetest four year old Lab today. It's nice to not be the only female in the house...about time!

The History of Love

The History Of Love
by Nicole Krauss

Thank you Lynsey for lending me your book, " The History of Love." This book was beautifully written with real characters that made you laugh and think and cry and hope and when the whole thing was through you want to start it over again. Sometimes you are in the mood for a light book, one that makes you laugh and one that requires as little thinking as possible...this is not that book...it does make you laugh - at times I was laughing out loud and Preston was looking at me - but it's a book that forces you to think and to feel...two of my favorite ingredients in a book.

Praise for The History of Love

"Ingenious." - New York Times

"At least as heartbreaking as it is hilarious." - Washington Post

A significant novel, genuinely one of the year's best. -- New York

Brilliant. An achievement of extraordinary depth and beauty. -- Newsday

Confirms the depth and breadth of her talent. -- Vogue

Wonderful and haunting....Deftly layered …with deceptively nimble humor and unsentimental tenderness. -- Miami Herald

Next up Edgar Sawtelle...have you guys started yet?

we have a CHALLENGE!!

hi there ladies, andrea asked if i would do

this month's challenge.

since i am out of ideas of subjects to read & branch out to, i thought maybe we could do something a little different...don't be scared. we can do it together. how about we all read the same book, and then have a little online discussion (a friendly one, of course) about the book??

it just seems like sometimes (in my last posting) i read a book and really, REALLY want to talk to someone about it but don't know anyone who has read it. so i am stuck talking to either myself, or then re-telling the book to my husband in hopes of getting any further enlightenment...and we all know that how that goes.

so what do ya say? i think if we start now and give ourselves until after the first of the year to finish, then that should be plenty of time, right?

i had a request for this book:

"the story of edgar sawtelle" by david wroblewski. i have never heard of it so i am not sure of the content, but i read the reviews on amazon & it sounds really interesting.

it's available on amazon & ebay for sale or can be checked out at the library.

you don't have to participate if you don't want to but i thought it might be fun. i can post some discussion questions after we are all done reading it & then we can each write our answers either in comments or as a posting. if you've already read it, then maybe get together some ideas/questions you want to discuss.

leave a comment letting us know who's in on this & we can get started!!

ps-in honor of thanksgiving i would like to say that i am thankful for books. and thankful for this book club!

the history of love.

"Nicole Krauss's The History of Love is a hauntingly beautiful novel about two characters whose lives are woven together in such complex ways that even after the last page is turned, the reader is left to wonder what really happened. In the hands of a less gifted writer, unraveling this tangled web could easily give way to complete chaos. However, under Krauss's watchful eye, these twists and turns only strengthen the impact of this enchanting book."

i finished this book a week ago but ended up re-reading most of it after i had finished. i think my mistake was that i took too long to read it the first time, so i would forget what was going on and just try to read through it anyway.

this book to me was like intermingled poetry, and was written very deeply and the reader really needs to pay attention. if you're not in the mood for a "deep" book, then i don't recommend it. it is also one that doesn't wrap up in a nice, neat little package...which is something i actually love about it. i'm going to order the author's first book, "man walks into a room" because i heard it's another amazing novel.

i ended up really enjoying this book and it was one i thought about for days afterward. i'm hoping that someone else has read it because i would love to have some sort of discussion & hear another's opinion about it.

***another interesting fact, it's been translated into 25 different languages. now that's something.

just for fun, i'm posting a picture of sarah jessica parker reading it. not sure if that adds credibility to the book, or takes it away. depends on your opinion i guess. :)

Drowning Ruth
by: Christina Schwarz
Synopsis:
“POWERFUL . . . SUSPENSEFUL . . . RICHLY TEXTURED . . . [A] CHILLING, PRECOCIOUSLY GOOD START TO A BRIGHT NEW NOVELIST’S CAREER.”
–The New York Times

“[A] gripping psychological thriller . . . In the winter of 1919, a young mother named Mathilda Neumann drowns beneath the ice of a rural Wisconsin lake. The shock of her death dramatically changes the lives of her daughter, troubled sister, and husband. . . . Told in the voices of several of the main characters and skipping back and forth in time, the narrative gradually and tantalizingly reveals the dark family secrets and the unsettling discoveries that lead to the truth of what actually happened the night of the drowning. . . . Schwarz certainly succeeds at keeping the reader engrossed.”

I really liked it, kept me up reading it. I liked how the author told the story from several different perspectives it made it a fun read and keeps you guessing until the very end. You get little bits and pieces of what happened that night until it is all made clear. I haven't read any books worth blogging about for awhile. Really enjoyed this one though!

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

I liked this book. I hate to use words like "liked" or "enjoyed" when refering to a book. For me, books should be much more than that. I like books that I can't stop thinking about, that days after I've finished I find myself thinking of those characters, people who are very real to me. I love books that make me so nervous and make my heart break, books that challenge my way of thinking and ask tough questions. So...this book was a "nice" read. I "liked" it. I "enjoyed" it. Get my drift....

Amazon.com Review
It's 1906 and 16-year-old Mattie Gokey is at a crossroads in her life. She's escaped the overwhelming responsibilities of helping to run her father's brokedown farm in exchange for a paid summer job as a serving girl at a fancy hotel in the Adirondacks. She's saving as much of her salary as she can, but she's having trouble deciding how she's going to use the money at the end of the summer. Mattie's gift is for writing and she's been accepted to Barnard College in New York City, but she's held back by her sense of responsibility to her family--and by her budding romance with handsome-but-dull Royal Loomis. Royal awakens feelings in Mattie that she doesn't want to ignore, but she can't deny her passion for words and her desire to write.

At the hotel, Mattie gets caught up in the disappearance of a young couple who had gone out together in a rowboat. Mattie spoke with the young woman, Grace Brown, just before the fateful boating trip, when Grace gave her a packet of love letters and asked her to burn them. When Grace is found drowned, Mattie reads the letters and finds that she holds the key to unraveling the girl's death and her beau's mysterious disappearance. Grace Brown's story is a true one (it's the same story told in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy and in the film adaptation, A Place in the Sun), and author Jennifer Donnelly masterfully interweaves the real-life story with Mattie's, making her seem even more real.

Mattie's frank voice reveals much about poverty, racism, and feminism at the turn of the twentieth century. She witnesses illness and death at a range far closer than most teens do today, and she's there when her best friend Minnie gives birth to twins. Mattie describes Minnie's harrowing labor with gut-wrenching clarity, and a visit with Minnie and the twins a few weeks later dispels any romance from the reality of young motherhood (and marriage). Overall, readers will get a taste of how bitter--and how sweet--ordinary life in the early 1900s could be. Despite the wide variety of troubles Mattie describes, the book never feels melodramatic, just heartbreakingly real.

Reconstructing Natalie by Laura Jensen Walker

Reconstructing Natalie is a book about a single, 27 year old girl who finds out she has breast cancer. She can't work, her boyfriend leaves her, and she has to have a double mastectomy. But she is so funny and has a way of talking about the darkest things in life and finding the silver lining. There is humor, death, religion, sickness, and romance. It is a quick read but a good one for all women to read. And you learn a lot about cancer when reading it, so you can be more of a comfort to those you may know who go through the disease.

The author's mother had breast cancer, so she knows what she's talking about, too.

Excited to be here/Christmas Jars

Hi - my name is Wendy and I'm so excited to join the book club. I love to read and am so excited to try some of the books I've already read about. I'm Bonnie B.'s sister, wife to one, and mom to an energtic little two-year-old (almost three). He keeps me extremely busy. We love to read together in the moments when he's still enough to listen and look. I also enjoy scrapbooking and cardmaking (theoretically anyway). My husband tells me we have enough stuff to open our own store, but he never sees any creative output from me. I must admit, I love shopping for the stuff. :)

Anyway, I actually just finished a book that I'd like to recommend, especially this time of year. I was wandering around my house writing down titles of all the books I wanted/needed to read that I hadn't read yet and I came across a copy of Christmas Jars that I wasn't even aware I owned. Which tells you how many books I own - instead of a clothes horse, I'm a book horse.

Anyway, I started this book last night and finished it this morning - a very quick read. I thoroughgly enjoyed it. It made me want to start a Christmas Jar of my own. It reminds of the kindness and goodness and decency of people, and of what Christmas really should be about, and how to keep it in your heart all year long. I'm so glad I found it in my stash.



From Publishers Weekly: In a plot reminiscent of Penelope Stokes's The Blue Bottle Club and Angela Hunt's The Note, a journalist happens upon a human interest story that winds up teaching her lessons about love and forgiveness and renewing her own faith in human kindness. On Christmas Eve, twenty-something Hope Jensen is quietly grieving the recent loss of her adoptive mother when her apartment is robbed. The one bright spot in the midst of Hope's despair is a small jar full of money someone has anonymously left on her doorstep. Eager to learn the source of this unexpected generosity, Hope uses her newswoman instincts to find other recipients of "Christmas jars," digging until her search leads her to the family who first began the tradition of saving a year's worth of spare change to give to someone in need at the holiday. Wright commits some rookie mistakes in style and pacing; the novel veers heavily toward melodrama at some junctures, and he tends to show us and tell us about his characters. Still, the heart of this novella is its transformative message about the power of giving, a compelling theme that calls to mind books like Pay It Forward and The Kingdom Assignment.

The Secret Diary of Brett Colten

This has to be my favorite book of all time. It is so sad, the only book I have EVER cried at. You will definity have to be prepared to cry but this book puts a whole new outlook on like. I don't know if I would ever get tired of it. The characters are so vivid and it makes them so real that you almost start to believe they are a part of you. And it does have a romantic story line in some ways (:.

The Amazon Review:
Kathy Colton can’t stand her brother, Brett. Her family talks as if he were perfect! All Kathy knows for sure is that Brett is dead. He died of leukemia when he was sixteen and she was only two. But when Kathy turns sixteen, she discovers her brother’s hidden journal – a journal written especially for her - and learns about the brother she never knew. At the same time, Kathy is mortified by an assignment to tutor the popular high school quarterback Jason West, a football jock who, even worse, is a Mormon. Author Kay Lynn Mangum brilliantly weaves the dual stories of a dying brother and a coming-of-age sister who learn the importance of loving our family and our friends and nurturing our faith.


For all of you who want to read this book I have a copy of it. Just ask me. A must read!

Consider Lily

Cute book. This book is written by two 20-something Christian girls. Their website is actually goodgirllit.com so I decided to check out this book because I knew I wouldn't have to worry about swearing or other annoying things that clutter up other girl books. And I actually really liked it.

Summary from back of book:

Lily Traywick thinks she must have been adopted. It’s easier than believing she’s actually related to Jane and Roland Traywick, her power-couple parents who own Traywick’s of San Francisco, the most chichi department store on the West Coast. While her parents party with Muccia in Milan and Gabbana in Paris, Lily hangs out at home in ratty jeans and an old T-shirt. She loves softball, and guys, and she’s eager to make her own way in the world.

Feeling that her life is on hold, she turns to her best friend Reagan. Reagan, a fashionista who has it all, offers just the solution: a major life makeover.Lily is soon dressing in the latest must-have fashions and pursuing a writing career. She’s even dating the “perfect” guy. But does he love her for who she really is? And will he be able to resist the tempting seductress who has her eye on him? As Lily’s old friends question her new way of life, and public scandal, family drama, and technological disasters add to her confusion, Lily is forced to consider whether her quest to have it all will cause her to lose everything that matters.

So if you want a quick, cute, and clean read, Consider Lily. (ha- see what I did there. That was funny).

The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks

This is my first Nicholas Sparks book (he also wrote the Notebook and A Walk to Remember-both movies). I heard they were good, so I thought I would give them a go. I had mixed feelings about it.

Summary: A single mom raising a special needs child gets rescued by a fireman when her car crashes. Typical romance ensues only said fireman also is carrying a lot of baggage and can't commit.

My opinion: Sad. I know the Nicholas Sparks books are often sad, but I almost think he was being sad for the sake of being sad. Let me give an analogy: I dislike when comedians are dirty not just because I dislike dirty jokes, but because they aren't really clever. I think good comics are the ones that make everyday stuff funny because that is clever. 12 year olds can think of dirty jokes, it doesn't really take talent.

That is how I thought of this book- to just kill off a few characters to make your story 'heart warming'. Like the shock value of killing off characters you wouldn't expect would make the book popular or something. I have read some sad books I really liked, but this one just seemed a little forced or something. And even though the ending is sort of good, it doesn't really make up for all the sadness. But there were some really good characters and conversations, so someone with different taste will probably like it a lot.

I guess I prefer sad books to be nonfiction. When it actually happened, that is one thing. But when you just make up a really sad story, I'm not a huge fan.

Austenland By Shannon Hale

I have been meaning to do this but lately just haven't had the time. A few weeks ago I finally got around to reading Austenland by Shannon Hale. It's been on my summer reading book list for awhile now, So I decided it was time. I had heard some pretty good reviews from various friends and was looking forward to sitting down for a light fun read. Austenland is a story of a 30ish single girl who was left a trip to England by an Elderly Aunt {who recently passed away} to join a 3 week, step back into time resort. There you must dress, act, and do all the activities and life events as one would have done if you had lived in 1818. From there the best way to sum it up is if you've seen Pride & Prejudice, then your all set.

Now, before I begin let me note that I had read Shannon Hales blog on "How to be a Reader" and I 100% agree with her that, to be a good reader you have to be open to the writers style and remember that this is the author's story to tale. Here's a little bit of what Shannon Hale had to say on how to be a good reader & so forth.

"You are half of the story. But in order to participate, you need to give up some control. You can't force the characters do say different things, do different things, be different people--you can only control your own interpretation and reaction to them. You need to allow the author to tell the story she's trying to tell. It may not be a good story, it may not be your kind of story, but if you don't try to play along, you're not giving the story a chance. And in the end you might not like it--there are an infinite number of reasons why this might be. But the author didn't fail you--the author just wrote a story that didn't click with your internal reader at this point in your life. You are responsible for half of that story. So you go find the next book, the next author that works for you, and as a team, you and the author tell a new story together. "

Again, I agree 100%. So as for my review for Austenland. This was just not my idea of a "fun" light read. ****SPOILERS*** First , I did not like how Jane, the lead heroine just HAD to get over her fascination with Pride & Prejudice and the whole Jane Austen world. What's wrong with it? The whole "Let's make out with Martin the Gardner" was just plain stupid & silly. I did try to make an effort in liking it BUT I found that I just could not like the lead character Jane. Yes, it did follow the whole kinda Pride & Prejudice feeling BUT Elizabeth Bennett would not have gotten up when board and decided to go make out with the Gardner.

So, I will try another Shannon Hale book later. To me, it just wasn't that cute or funny as I have heard others call it. If your looking for a light read, with a really cute love story to hold your interest, where the lead characters are at the center of the book, This is NOT your book.

The Thirteenth Tale
By Diane Setterfield

Everyone has their idea of comfort. Maybe it's laying on the beach sipping pink lemonaide, maybe it's a log cabin - complete with mountains and snow, maybe it's a warm blanket, a fire and some hot chocolate, or maybe it's sitting inside your house during a hot Arizona summer - sweating and grouchy...well maybe not that one. For me, my idea of real comfort and tranquility involves quiet(something I rarely experience) cozing up with a soft balnket and a good book. It just doesn't get better than that!!

And that's just what happened this last week. I cozied up in my favorite chair, with my favorite blanket and read, no more like devoured this book. I devoured every page and then licked up the crumbs. I love good stories. I love when a book takes you into another world...A world that once you discover it you have such a hard time leaving...it stays with you - because you really did go there. I love witnessing talent and in this book you do. Diane Setterfiled is and AUTHOR. And I decided...if I am ever an author...if I ever write a book ...I would rather write one great book, one piece of art, than a 100 mediocre novels. Well done Ms. Setterfield!

Night
by Elie Wiesel


Beautiful, gripping and utterly horrific. This book was difficult to read, it's difficult to know these things happened in OUR world. The same world that I live in now. The same world that I brought two innocent children into. It's difficult to learn and know these things....and yet I feel it's absolutely necessary. We need to know. We can't let their lives and voices be ended. We must give voice and thought to their lives. That's what I would want...if I were them.

Amazon.com Review

In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? There are no easy answers in this harrowing book, which probes life's essential riddles with the lucid anguish only great literature achieves. It marks the crucial first step in Wiesel's lifelong project to bear witness for those who died.

Newbie

Hi there. My name is Bonnie. I'm Melanie's sis-in-law. I LOVE to read, just like all of you. I have 5 kids, ages 12,10,7, 4 and 5 months. We are a busy but happy little group. I just finished reading the Fablehaven series, again. Love those books. Now I'm looking for something new to read. I think my next book will be Wicked. Have any of you read it? I'll let you know how it goes!

The Ultimate Gift

I have really not been reading lately and I have started several books, just to put them down and not finish them. My sister saw this movie and recommended the book and so I sat down to read it. It is a quick read, doesn't take a lot of time but the lessons I have learned from this book I will remember always. I only wish it went into some more detail about his experiences, that was the only drawback.
The book is about an older very rich gentleman who has always given his family everything they wanted. When he passes away he divides his assets among his family, but to his selfish, self-centered nephew he gives what the uncle calls the ultimate gift. Through a series of requests and actions, the nephew does receive the ultimate gift from his great-uncle which is worth more than all the money in the world....
Now I gotta go check out the movie, see how it stands up to the book.

So Brave, Young, and Handsome By Leif Enger

I loved Enger's first book Peace Like a River, adored it. So I hoped as much for his second book, So Brave, Young and Handsome. But it was very hard for me to get into...just didn't captivate me like Peace Like a River and sadly I didn't even finish it. Things are too crazy right now to read books that I'm not loving. Too bad.

The Thirteenth Tale

READ. THIS. BOOK.

That is my review, plain and simple. How could I have missed this book?! Why didn't someone tell me about it sooner?! It is fantastic. It takes a little bit to get into it, but then it sucks you in. The kind you stay up all night reading and don't even care when you doze off three or four times the next day.

Summary:

Vida Winter is an incredibly famous writer who has published countless books. She is very mysterious and no one knows anything about her or her life before she was famous. Every time someone comes to interview her and ask her personal questions, she makes up these fabulous tales because she claims that no one wants to hear a true story, only fiction. Well, she is dying and now it is time to tell this final tale. So she asks a young woman, Margaret, who works in her dad's bookstore and also writes biographies to be the one to write her story. Margaret sits all day and listens to a master storyteller tell her life story. It is so good because you are trying to solve a mystery, only you aren't quite sure what the mystery is. If you like serious plot twists, you will love this book.

When I finished it, I just wanted to start over again. I think it may have even jumped onto my top ten books.

This is exciting!

Hey everyone. My name is Melanie and I am new to the book club. I was browsing blogs today and came across this one. I absolutely love to read--when I can find the time. The books on here look great and I am anxious to get started. Right now I am in the middle of The Host. I am a stay at home mom of three little munchkins. My oldest is 6 and starting Kindergarten (sniff) and my youngest is 2 months. I used to teach 2nd grade for 6 years before my husband finally finished school and is now supporting us. Because of my background in elementary education, I have read a lot of young adult novels. I am really trying to branch out and try adult literature! With things finally winding down this summer, I am excited to start to read and share with all of you. You are welcome to visit my blog: http://www.melandgus.blogspot.com Leave a comment so I can get to know you all more! Happy reading!

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Summary: Odd is a twenty year old short order cook who sees the dead. Think 'the sixth sense' meets 'medium'. He helps the dead solve the crimes that led to their death and tries to prevent tragedy. It is very clean in the no swearing/sex part, but does have some creepy value based on the ghosts and the violent crimes in it. But the books are actually quite funny and I laughed out loud quite a few times. And you just really love Odd by the time the book is over- he is a very optimistic and innocent character who you just want to see happy. I even cried a little at the end.

New York times review:
While still sustaining the requisite level of creepiness, Mr. Koontz manages to tell a breezy, overtly inspirational story that should attract a few fans of its own … Odd Thomas walks a very thin line between the exploitation of horror and the feel-good religious optimism that transcends the darkness -

Dear John

I have never read a book written by Nicholas Sparks, until this week. I shamelessly took time to just sit and read, someting I haven't done for months. I loved Dear John, despite the ending. This is a story of true love.

From the jacket: "An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read...and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love--and face the hardest decision of his life."

I won't hesitate to recommend it to the students at school.

Breaking Dawn

I will describe my feelings toward this book in one word. And that word is:
DEVASTATION.

A Death in the Family

"A death in the family" was a 1958 Pulitzer Prize winning book, awarded post-humorously to James F. Agee. Why would I chose to read a book published in 1957? First, it is on a recommended college read lists of which I have only read five books so far. Secondly, we, James Agee and I, share common ancestry, so I thought it would be a good one to check off the list. This is not a high action or deep drama book. It' main theme is the role of religion and a child's perception. Much of the narrative is told from the point of view of children, mostly through the eyes of Rufus. Rufus is a young boy who idolizes his father. Through the book, in flashbacks, he shares stories of their relationship, as only a young child can tell. The story is somewhat autobiographical as he describes the death of his father. It begins with Rufus sharing an evening with his father, who is called away later in the night to check on his own ailing father. He fails to return when expected, and Mary, his wife and mother of Rufus, learns he has been in a serious car accident. She prepares the house for him to come home assuming he is only injured, but soon learns he was killed almost instantly in the accident, when he hits his head on the steering wheel before being thrown from the car. It is excellently written, describing the feelings of a child, not understanding all that goes on around, the mourning, the explanation of death, the wake and burial, and his mother tries to cope and explain God's role. This is not a quick read, and I would only recommend it to someone who is serious about going to college. It is definitely a Pulitzer Prize book.

Warning: Contains Spoilers!!!

Ok, Amanda pretty much summed it up. I loved the Twilight Series and this book( though I don't know it it deserves that nice of a title...more like this trash) was terrible. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Kinda like drinking warm donated blood through a straw, oh wait Bella did that in this book. Here is a list of the disasters that I can't get over

1. Bella, I faint at the smell of blood, Swan starts drinking blood by the cupful? Are you kidding me. And she used a straw... please! If your gonna drink blood, gulp it don't don't savor it slowly with a straw.
2. Edward's personality becomes as hard and cold as his stone body. He isn't there. Stephenie...where have you hidden Edward? We miss him!
3. Bella and actually all the characters lose their personality. The go from these awesome 3 dimensional characters that we fell in love with to these boring personality-less shadows.
4. Nessie or Renessmee...worst name in the history of literature. But she could have named the stupid half vampire Andrea and I would have still hated the book!
5. Jazz gets the award for the worst nickname ever!
6. Bella's pregnancy went from something that could have been so special between she and Edward, I can just see Edward getting excited and buying his daughter her first car before she's born, to a big disgusting mess. When the baby started clawing it's way out...that's when I knew Stephenie Meyer was being possessed by some sort of alien body snatcher. You would have to be alien to write that kind of junk!

I had a bigger list...anyone who's read the stupid book has to have a list a mile long but I just can't go on...it's making me too depressed. What a sad sad day August 2nd was. It will be a black day in literary history!

BD should stand for BIG DISAPPOINTMENT

Ugh.

What to say? Well, first thing is that I am writing this as a true twi-hard fan. I have read and reread twilight, new moon, and eclipse more times than I would care to admit. I regularly visit forks, WA when I need an escape and feel like Edward, Bella, and Alice are my close friends.

And unfortunately, none of them made it into this book. I'm sorry Stephenie, but this book was a literary train wreck! And it isn't just that it was hyped up and didn't live up to the hype, it was terrible. I felt like my heart had been broken. None of the characters acted as they should, everyone had strange nicknames, and the ending was all wrong. I still can't believe that Stephenie wrote this book. I won't go into detail about ALL of the things wrong with this book since some of you might still read it (though you can get on any website and read all of them if you are actually curious).

I'm thinking of walking around for the next week wearing a T-shirt that says "Friends don't let Friends read Breaking Dawn". I feel people should be warned so they don't go into and get their heart smashed by these fake characters. The real Edward never would have broken my heart this way.

Running With Angels by Pamela Hansen

On a beautiful April morning in 2001, Pamela Hansen decided to do something she hadn't done for a very long time. She took a walk. That first walk, which lasted just 10 minutes, was the beginning of an amazing journey that ultimately led to a 100-pound weight loss (without surgery or pills) and the fulfillment of her dream to run a marathon-all in just over one year.

In Running with Angels, Pam shares an honest and open portrayal of both her struggles and success with weight loss, using a marathon race as a metaphor for facing life's challenges. She candidly discusses the pain of living life as an obese person and the hopelessness that accompanies it. More importantly, she offers practical suggestions for anyone trying to reach a goal, particularly a goal of weight loss, and shows how small steps over time can help you realize your dreams.

This book is more than a book about overcoming obesity...it's a book about a woman overcoming heartbreaking trial after heartbreaking trial. Her faith is inspiring! This book was a gift from Lynsey and I loved it. Thanks Lyns!

Where are you now?

by Mary Higgins Clark

A girl is trying to solve the mystery of her missing brother who disappeared ten years before. When other girls start going missing, the police suspect her missing brother may be the killer and she is trying to prove that he isn't.

My thoughts:

This book was different from her other books. It didn't follow really one character a whole lot. It jumped around a lot to various people. Really good mystery- I didn't guess who the bad guy was so I was surprised. It was a short read and kept me entertained. My only complaint is that there was an overload of characters. I had a hard time keeping them straight and each chapter would skip to another person and I would have to go back to remember who everyone was. By the time I had a handle on it, the book was over.

But a good, clean, and mysterious read.