The Reader's Review

The Help

2011-08-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

Violence: 2

Swearing: 2

Sexuality: 1

I was just bemoaning to my handsome husband (because husbands and children are ALWAYS perfect on blogs right?!?!?!) that it has been a seriously loooooooooooong time since I have read a book with that "Oh My Gosh I just can't stop reading this, or talking about it, or thinking about it" feeling, but The Help by Kathryn Stockett was aMAzInG!!! The voices, the characters, the plot, the everything was so well written it makes one wonder how she got rejected 60+ times before a publisher picked her up. So, now that it is a bestseller book AND movie, there are 60 publisher out there kicking themselves :) insert maniacal bwahahahahaha laugh here. So, get out there, buy this book (I'm not a huge proponent of buying books when you can get them for free from the library, but this is a book I want to re-read and want my kids to read and re-read, and want to force my handsome book-worm to read :) Let it engulf you and then I won't feel so silly that I was outright and alternately laughing, crying, and angry

So, for those who are "more sensitive" there is a little bit of swearing. I didn't think it was that bad. Nothing more than a few words in the entire book. But, I did have an aunt tell me that she wouldn't finish reading the thing because it was so profane?!?!?! Just goes to show that everyone has different tolerance levels. There is some violence in it, but avoiding violence during this turbulent time for Blacks in America would be like avoiding violence during the Holocaust...impossible. And it is portrayed very sensitively. A reader doesn't have to graphically imagine every lynching and shooting; rather, it is something that we are all made aware of and reminded that it happened.

So.........what are you still doing here? Go, Get It, and Tell Me What You Think (doesn't that seem more persuasive with caps:)

Who Moved My Cheese

2011-03-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

What would you do if you weren't afraid dear readers? Would you finally tackle Atlas Shrugged? Which, by the way, is a huge reading accomplishment so give yourself a pat on the back if you've read it :) But, Atlas Shrugged is for another post. Today's post is all about...ick...a business book! My husband is a businessman who reads boring business books - The Goal, Good to Great, The Art of Mastery...it's all there. And, occasionally, just to show him that I love him and am interested in what he does a good portion of every day, I will read one with him (insert the 27...that's right TWENTY-SEVEN business books I read out loud TO him while he was in grad school) and this week's read was "a gem - small and valuable". I mean that most sincerely. It was a fun, easy read with ideas and concepts that are applicable not only in the workplace, but in all facets of life. So, pick it up, read it, and decide for yourself to go and get some cheese. Because that's what we would do if we weren't afraid. I have always believed that people spend the first half of their life becoming what they think they should be and then the second half of their life becoming what they really want to be. Why not skip the first step, stop being afraid, and go for your own personal cheese now? I love Gouda, Edamer, Butterkaese, Havarti, Brie, Babybel, and Camembert...mmmm all with a really great bread or apples...I am getting so hungry! In life I love reading, music, running, hiking, and flowers. Most people see me as an under-achiever because I am intelligent, but choose to be a full-time mom. But, as we learn from all those LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME business books, you have to have the "right people on the bus" before you can go anywhere, so why would I entrust the teaching of my children to someone less-than-qualified? That's my cheese, man, and I eat it every day. Sometimes it's moldy and stinky (and oddly enough - covered in poop:) but most days its just cheese. Find your cheese baby!

The Keys of the Kingdom

2011-03-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Violence: 2

Swearing: 1

Sexuality: 1

Anyone else in the broad expanse of the blogging world also on a China kick?!?!?! I just finished The Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin. This is a classic read that should be on everybody's book list because it covers two very interesting subjects (at least for me anyway:) 1) China and its all-encompassing culture that correlates so very poorly with my own and 2) the Catholic Church. I know there are loads of catholics in this world, but as with any religion...no two catholics are quite like the others, so I enjoyed reading about the religion from a more over-arching viewpoint as opposed to the doctrines and ideas of the individual parishes. I, myself, am very christian and belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (insert "Mormon" nickname here :) I have attended Mass before, but as a much younger girl and did not absorb much. I was highly fascinated by the bureaucracy in the upper-echelons of the church as shown in the book. I'm sure that exists to some extent in each religion, but as an average member you don't see the vying and positioning that goes on. Also, paid religious service is a very foreign concept for me seeing as Bishops and members who serve in my church don't get paid for their work. Everything is done on a volunteer basis and in addition to regular work, family, and social responsibilities.

(for more info on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visit: www.mormon.org or post a question in my comments. I'd be happy to try and answer it for you:)

Well, enough on that for the moment...anyone have a new, great book to read? I've heard "A Reluctant Heiress" is good, but can't find it anywhere - any thoughts!?!?!?

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

2011-03-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

Violence: 2

Swearing: 1

Sexuality: 3

Woah - I think my brain just exploded! My reading group just read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See and I just don't know what to say. What an incredible read that transports you back to ancient China. Into the world of foot-binding, secret languages, and an over-arching exclusion of women that makes a woman's right to vote seem pretty inconsequential. How about the right to live and be treated as a human being of worth?!?!?! I'm not your average American that only has as much culture as the public school system and its field trips had to offer. I've lived in almost all the major areas of America, I've visited most of the nation's historical/national monuments, state parks, and almost all the states. I've also hit almost every major continent in my world travels and speak a second language fluently. This is no rose-colored bubble I live in. But, the orient....well that is another story. The majority of my Chinese history comes from the movie Mulan by Disney, Chinatown in New York and San Fransisco, and I personally know all of 4 people of Asian descent well. To read a book like this, even in fiction, was almost like reading a fantasy thriller. The culture seems so foreign, the language sooo not English. But it was well worth the read. I now have a sudden, burning desire to visit China, Taiwan, Japan...the list goes on and on. How have I not backpacked through the rice paddies of the interior of China? How have I not even seen the Great Wall of China (although the corresponding chocolate cake at P.F. Chang's is dIVinE!) I must try to understand this culture with its different customs, different food (do they even have Cafe Rio in Beijing?) and different language. What is it like growing up as a woman in an Asian family today; whether they are Asian-American or live over in that part of the world? Or dear readers, since my bank account is DANGEROUSLY low and won't support the funds for an extensive trip to China...maybe you could recommend some interesting reads?

Great Christmas Books for Children (and adults:)

2010-12-31T16:20:00.000-08:00

My kids (oh my goodness is it really plural now?!?!?) have a fabulous Grandma I call the book Grandma. Every holiday she buys books and so we have amassed quite the collection of fabulous Christmas books for children. Here are a few of our favorites!

Always a classic

Love this poem - and how everything comes full circle

Great Christian/LDS Christmas book - plus I love it because it talks about a German Christmas tradition and that helps me pass along German traditions with my little family

Gotta love fancy Nancy's Christmas decor

This book is a great way to teach kids the meaning of words like: appreciation, peace, harmony, anticipation, etc. mmmm cookies

We love the illustrations in this one!

An advent book that takes kids on a journey to Bethlehem. I would love to make an advent calendar that held ornaments that corresponded with all the days of the journey!

Also filled with beautiful illustrations

So head to Barnes and Noble and see if they have leftovers on sale! We read these EVERY day and the kids never got tired of them :)

The Wednesday Tales

2010-11-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

So...I just stumbled across this new series during my midnight jaunts of what I have affectionately termed "milking". Milking is an 'udderly' (ha ha I'm so punny today :) sweet time when small babies decide they need to eat between the unholy hours of midnight and 6 a.m. For some odd reason, this aggravates me in the extreme, so instead of getting angry, I whittle away at those hours of milking and rocking by reading. And this is what has currently kept me going, so without further ado...The Wednesday Tales series! P.S. I've been on a Junior Fiction jaunt lately, so the ratings have been pleasantly low. The books are more for "brain candy" than anything else, since I am in such a stupor of sleepiness that anything more intellectual would fry all leftover brain cells.

Profanity - 1

Violence - 1

Sexuality - 1

These are great reads for those junior readers in your home - especially boys! Lots of mystery, action, and humor surrounding an evil circus ringleader, a talking tiger, and angels. Quite the combo if you ask me. These books really spark the imagination and let fun fly rampant, so check them out from your local library and get to reading with those youngsters!

maternity leave

2010-10-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I had put myself on an official maternity leave for a couple of months. It was getting difficult to haul the little kid to the library, chase said kid around library, put kid in timeout at library for dumping all the books off the shelves, and then still find a book for me to read. But, the new and future library heck-mecker has been here for a few weeks and I now have a lot of hours at night to fill without going crazy. The best way - curl up with your less-than-adorable baby (cause really, who thinks their babies are adorable when you have been up all night long and its only 3 a.m.!?!?!?!) and a great book. I recently cried my way through this one...curse you post-partum hormonal havoc!

This doesn't even need a rating. It is, simply put, one of the most profound books I have ever cried through...I mean read. (Can you call it reading if you are sobbing so much that the tears blur all the words :) I was under the impression that it would just be a nice read; you know, the kind that makes you think. What I didn't know was how much it would help me discover about myself. For example, how truly terrified I am of death. Well, let me rephrase that. I am not scared of dying per se. I don't get scared for other people I know are dying. And funerals don't bother me. What really scares me is the pain associated with the death of someone really close; someone you can't live without. I've lost quite a few people in the short span of time my life has filled, but no one I have ever considered myself close to. Some of the deaths have been tragic (losing my 6-year old cousin in a 4-wheeling accident), others more expected (grandparents who are elderly and ill), but none have hit so close to home as to affect my immediate family - not yet anyway. And that, my dear readers, is what scares the holy bejeebies out of me. That excruciating pain of losing the people you love most of all and then having to somehow figure out how to live without them. It's scary because some people don't ever figure out how to live without them and then two lives are lost. How do I know I won't be one of those people? Maybe I won't have to find out. Maybe we can all just grow old together and then death will seem like going to the grocery store...I'll meet you there on the other side with a donut and some hot chocolate :)

the five people you meet in heaven

2010-06-24T17:41:00.001-07:00

the five people you meet in heaven

By: Mitch Albom (Mitch here didn't capitalize on his cover so I don't have to either)

Violence: 2 (War-related images)

Profanity: 1

Sexuality: 1

As a person who spends probably an inordinate amount of time wondering about death, the after-life, and how it will all coordinate with this life, I found this book stunning. I have deep-seated religious beliefs on what happens after this life, so I didn't necessarily read it to find spiritual satisfaction, but to satisfy my curiosity. I just had to know who Albom thought I would meet in heaven, and I wasn't disappointed. I'm a person who is normal in every regard. No off-the-charts intellect, talent, ideas, or even bodaciously curved body (unless round is a shape) to boast of. But, secretly, I wish I was important. I wish I was the kind of person that everybody looked up to, wanted to emulate, and if they met me, blogged about it as the highlight of the date they went on that evening. I would love to be an amazing leader/career woman. Heck, I would probably settle for being the richest woman in the neighborhood I live in :) Unfortunately, I am also a person that loves to live in reality. One of those "boring, practical" people that sets "achievable" goals...poohey. I settled down long ago to trying to make the most of the nothingness that I really am when it comes to all the billions and billions of people who live on this earth. Sometimes, ok a lot of the time, I wonder why certain things happen. Not because I'm pissed off about it, but because I am genuinely curious how that all works out in the grand scheme of nothingness, and after reading this book I felt hope for the first time that maybe all of the nothings I do every day...taking out trash, re-sweeping floors for the 800th time, or re-reading Brown Bear to my toddler for the 3rd time in ten minutes will add up to mean something and that somewhere along the way my nothings contributed to an important something. I hope Mitch Albom is right. I hope there are people in heaven who will show me how it all fits together and how my nothings created something wonderful. Otherwise, I'm going to bed early tonight, cause doing nothing of significant value all day can be really exhausting!!!

Percy Jackson

2010-06-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief

By: Rick Riordan

Violence: 1

Profanity: 1

Sexuality: 1

Harry Potter...meet Percy Jackson...Percy Jackson....meet Harry Potter. Did you know you're twins? Hahaha! So, I just finished the Percy Jackson series and found it highly entertaining. I enjoyed my mythology sections in high school and found this to be a great refresher course. But, there was just something about the books that nagged at me, and then I figured it out - these were Harry Potter gone toga party on me! Young Percy doesn't know he has magical powers, but strange things always happen around him...sound familiar? Percy discovers magical powers and goes to "special summer camp" where he is trained to use said powers...sound familiar? Percy discovers prophecy...woah this is getting freaky!!! Now Harry, sorry, Percy is the only one who can stop the most evil greek-ish thing ever...hmmm Did Rick and J.K. date in high school or something? (p.s. there is NO factual basis for that, just my own brain being funny :)

Altogether well written and a nice, safe read for the kiddos this summer. Especially for those young rascals out there who love, love, love to chop up monsters and wish that they had real superpowers and could go to a special school and not the lame school they attend (ummm...and yes I will admit. I was one of those Harry Potter/Percy Jackson fans who dreamt of going to Hogwarts and being a kick-A$$ witch as opposed to the loner/loser I was at my high school :)

Congrats Hubby!

2010-05-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

So - Congrats to the hubby for graduating from MBA school! For those of you who have read earlier posts, my husband isn't really into reading, but in the last year he has read 27 books and 10 reams worth of double-sided pages of paper. That's a lot even by my standards! But I love you babe and I respect the fact that you have now officially out-read me for the first time ever. XOXO Emily

The Last Song

2010-04-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

The Last Song

By: Nicholas Sparks

Profanity: 2

Violence: 2 for vandalism and physical violence

Sexuality: 2 for some teen sexuality

So, this was my very first Nicholas Sparks book. I had steered clear of his writing for a long time after seeing the movie "A Walk to Remember". You guys probably all remember that teen heart-throb of a movie where the guy makes all her deepest desires come true! It seemed a little too much to swallow, so I never read anything of his, but my little friend 'A' recommended The Last Song and I was pleasantly surprised! An overall good read, good plot, moves well, and has a great ending. There are some edgy scenes in it, but he is just trying to portray a teen who is going through an edgy phase and where some authors just feel they have to drop the f-bomb over and over and over again to add the cliche "teen/emo-edginess", Sparks is able to add way more depth to it through relationships, real dialogues, and incidents that are actually plausible and make the reader feel like the main character is someone they can relate to...so if you are up for a "lost sheep comes back to the fold" style book (I won't say anymore cause I don't want to kill the ending) then read away little worms!

In like a lion

2010-04-01T07:07:00.001-07:00

Hooray for me! I just put the finishing touches on my first children's book! I'll put up some storyboards later :)

Shiver

2010-03-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Shiver

By: Maggie Stiefvater

Language: 1 for minimal swearing

Violence: 2

Sexuality: 4 this is the highest rating I have ever given a book (from what I can remember disclaimer being placed right here :) and I am seriously disappointed it came from a book that was intended as young adult literature. This book has obsessive amounts of heavy kissing, making out, an illicit teenage sex scene, and plenty of references to pornography and male and female reproductive parts.

So, if Bella Swan had chosen 'Team Jacob' instead of 'Team Edward' the result would have been this fictional throw-up of rampant teenage hormones spinning wildly out of control and morphing into sex-hungry werewolves. That should pretty much cover the extent of the book...no real content, no real plot, character development, etc. etc. etc. Just another writer trying to capiltalize on the new trend of telling teenagers that love is a weird, emo, obsessive (and stalker-ish) feeling that will eventually lead them into bed with no regrets. I also find it highly offensive that writers these days portray the leading females as the sex-hungry, anti-chastity, come and get me types. It takes two to tango baby and I don't think all the responsibility should fall on either set of shoulders, but I especially dislike seeing teenage girls being written about as prositutes and then telling them it is ok. So, once again I am grateful for my library card that lets me read for free and the fact that I did not spend $20 on this. You may call me old-fashioned dear readers, but believe me I am not a compelete prude. I think sex should be an open topic in households where kids can feel comfortable enough to go to the right sources (meaning parents or other responsible adults). But I don't think sex should ever be a) portrayed as some weird obsession/addiction, and b) portrayed as ok before marriage...so there you go...my standards in a nutshell. I've always been a little sorry to see that readers don't always make the best writers (talking about myself here) because I would love to see awesome Young Adult books come out that can talk about these kinds of things like violence, social problems, and sexuality without seeming preachy and lame, but not condoning the issues either. If a writer like you exists...I'd love to read your book!

Love Affair

2010-02-13T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ah Valentine's Day! The holiday every guy dreads and every girl loves :) And in celebration of the fact that my Valentine took me out last night and is working tonight, I thought I might just do a post about the things I love about a good book (14 in all since the special day DOES occur on the 14th :)

1. Relaxation in the supreme - I love reading and taking a hot bath at the same time. You may wonder if the book doesn't get all wet and then don't I get all sorts of fines from the library for returning books with wilted pages, but I am very, very strategic.

2. Witty dialogues from charming leading males - a.k.a Mr. Darcy. I heart how Jane Austen wrote his character and I love that I married the real version of him.

3. Feet in the air - I don't like sitting in a chair. I love that foot on the desk, propped up on a pillow, feet in the air, elevated feeling.

4. Space cadet - Some people watch T.V. so that they can zone out. I read a book for the same reason...leave my world behind for a few minutes and just zone into the lives of other characters instead of worrying about mine.

5. Smell - Love, Love, Love the smell of library books!

6. Page turner - No not an action sequence, but have you ever seen these new books lately that are "old fashioned" and have their pages off-set and uneven? I'm totally a sucker for that selling feature.

7. Black and White - Pencil illustrations in young adult novels are the bees knees.

8. Happy ending - Also not what you would expect. A happy ending to me is not when things end up picture perfect happy, but when the ending is exactly how I think it should go and it, therefore, makes me happy :)

9. Re-read - A book is just a book (and not a great book) unless I want to re-read it.

10. Board books - These have saved my precious books from being "read" by my toddler!

11. Souvenir - When I travel, I buy a book of the city that I went to as my souvenir because I love to pull them out and look at the professional pics of the tourist sites I visited. I'll take that over a weird t-shirt any day.

12. Cuddle time - The hubby isn't a big reader alone, but he does like to listen and cuddle while I read out loud to him. I just have to work on getting him to let me read him the kinds of books I like too...business books are getting a little stale!

13. Learning - I love it when books teach me something and then I can impress someone with my random facts.

14. Transportation - I love it the most when books transport me (through imagination, not literally :) to another time, era, culture, place, restaurant, etc. Other people's lives are always so much more interesting than our own right? j/k

What do you love most this year?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2009-11-07T20:40:00.001-08:00

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

By: Roald Dahl

The most important thing we've learned, So far as children are concerned Is never, NEVER, NEVER let Them near your television set- Or better still, just don't install The idiotic thing at all. In almost every house we've been, We've watched them gaping at the screen. They loll and slop and lounge about, And stare until their eyes pop out. (Last week in someone's place we saw A dozen eyeballs on the floor.) They sit and stare and stare and sit Until they're hypnotised by it, Until they're absolutely drunk With all that shocking ghastly junk. Oh yes, we know it keeps them still, They don't climb out the window sill, They never fight or kick or punch, They leave you free to cook the lunch And wash the dishes in the sink- But did you ever stop to think, To wonder just exactly what This does to your beloved tot? IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD! IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD! IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND! HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE! HE CANNOT THINK - HE ONLY SEES! 'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say, 'But if we take the set away, What shall we do to entertain Our darling children? Please explain!' We'll answer this by asking you, 'What used the darling ones to do?' 'How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented?' Have you forgotten? Don't you know? We'll say it very loud and slow: THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ, AND READ and READ, and then proceed To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks! One half their lives was reading books! The nursery shelves held books galore! Books cluttered up the nursery floor! And in the bedroom, by the bed, More books were waiting to be read! Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales And treasure isles, and distant shores Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars, And pirates wearing purple pants, And sailing ships and elephants, And cannibals crouching 'round the pot, Stirring away at something hot. (It smells so good, what can it be! Good gracious, it's Penelope.) The younger ones had Beatrix Potter With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter, And squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland, And Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and- Just How the Camel Got His Hump, And How the Monkey Lost His Rump, And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul, There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole- Oh, books, what books they used to know, Those children living long ago! So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books, Ignoring all the dirty looks, The screams and yells, the bites and kicks, And children hitting you with sticks- Fear not, because we promise you That, in about a week or two Of having nothing else to do, They'll now begin to feel the need Of having something good to read. And once they start-oh boy, oh boy! You watch the slowly growing joy That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen They'll wonder what they'd ever seen In that ridiculous machine, That nauseating, foul, unclean, Repulsive television screen! And later, each and every kid Will love you more for what you did. P.S. Regarding little Mike Teavee, We very much regret that we Shall simply have to wait and see, If we can get him back his height But if we can't it serves him right. See?!?! Proof that reading is off-the-hook :) This makes me just drool over books, especially such classics as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It helps me continue to believe that being a good person will pay off.

New Favorite Author: Shannon Hale

2009-10-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

OK don't yell at me! I know I haven't been updating my blog...well ever, but I have been having so much fun reading that I haven't wanted to get on the computer afterwards and write about things. Oops! Didn't foresee that one coming :) I was recently introduced to a new author (well new for me...perhaps you already know of her). Great shout out to Lind-z for telling' me all about her! Her name is Shannon Hale and she writes Young Adult/Juvenile Literature and it is great work. Her books are practically rolling with imagination and creativity, but touch on topics of dress, demeanor, behavior, self-advocacy, bravery, and many other admirable attributes without seeming like a lecture, preachy, or self-righteous.

The first book I read was:

Book of a Thousand Days

Profanity - None!

Violence - 1 (there were some short-lived action scenes)

Sexuality - 1 (for nudity)

This is the kind of book where I would be thrilled if my daughter read it during the "tween" years. You readers well remember those years I am sure where you just had no clue where to fit in or if you could, should, or would fit in. And just like the characters in the book, it is life's experiences that help you solidify you place in the world...and sometimes it really does take at least 1,000 days :)

The next book:

The Goose Girl

Profanity: None!

Violence: 1

Sexuality: 1

Also a treat to read. If I had the money, or maybe I should dream big and say when I have the money, I would love to buy books and pass them out instead of candy at Halloween. How fun would that be to go Trick-or-Treating and come back with Harry Potter, or The Goose Girl, or for you older readers - Twilight :) lol. Hale has another female character searching for her spot in the world. What woman isn't searching for something? True love, a dream job...it seems like people are looking to find that one thing in life that makes them feel at home with themselves. Where they can finally look in the mirror and like who they are without pinching at those 5 extra pounds, pushing themselves to be perfectionists, or comparing themselves to everyone else. Wouldn't it be nice to finally look at a project you made, a meal you cooked, or your children for that matter and think, "Look how nice that turned out." instead of, "Well, it's OK, but so-an-so down the street did it this and this and this way which obviously means I'm a bad mom (wife, sister, kid, whatever)."

Just finished this one:

Princess Academy

Profanity: None

Violence: 1

Sexuality: None

I have to say that, although well written and still a fun book, this one was probably the least favorite of all of them. Maybe I was just experiencing a Princess-burnout, but I didn't get into this one as much as I did Goose Girl or Book of a Thousand Days. I can't pretend not to know why. I don't feel like the romantic interest resolved itself very well. I had such high hope for my little Miri flower, but then they were dashed by a late evening walk?!?!?! Who ends a romantic interest with an evening walk?!?!? I'm still going over the options in my mind. Maybe a walk means they just stay friends, maybe a walk means they went and hiked all over the hills and mountains until they had pounded out every detail of their future lives together, or maybe the goat just needed some exercise. Who knows? AND THAT, dear readers...is what I can't stand. Unresolved threads are like hems that are unraveling. Who knows how it will get pieced back together?!?! Hmmm I am having a post-read anxiety attack. Gonna sign off now... Tschuess

The Sound and the Fury

2009-08-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

The Sound and the Fury

By: William Faulkner

Profanity: 3

Violence: 1

Sexuality: 3

It took me a while. Every time I think back on this book all I can think of is that sentence..."It took me a while." Not just to read the book, but to figure out what was going on, and follow the plot, and figure out who was speaking. That was a hard read man. Just be aware, Faulkner writes each section of the book from each different character's point of view so that is why it seems disjointed and why it seems to re-cover the same material. There is a plot, a rather thin one, but a plot nonetheless and the first section of the book shows the plot being introduced by the handicapped brother of the other main characters. Now talk about confusing, but I was able to appreciate Faulkner's ability to try and portray how the mind of a person with disabilities would really work. So if you are able to figure out the plot within the first third of the book....congrats! I couldn't and I still feel like I am missing big pieces or have it all wrong. But, never fear. The last two-thirds of the book are told by the other siblings in the story and make a little more sense. Not much, but a little. As for me, there was way to much incest for me to really enjoy it. It was just plain weird, so even though I feel like I am missing some major points of the book, I am not going to go back a re-read it. There are no explicit scenes or anything like that, but it talked about sex and incest enough that I am done. Yucky yucky yucky...and ewww gross!

Pride and Prejudice

2009-08-19T13:10:00.001-07:00

Pride and Prejudice

By: Jane Austen (did I really even need to put that?:)

Profanity: 1

Violence: 1

Sexuality: 1

Ahhh! What year is really complete without having read Pride and Prejudice once. I always think about the part in the movie "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan is e-mailing Tom Hanks about reading Pride and Prejudice every year. She just loves that Mr. Darcy and know matter how many times she has read it, she still can't wait to see if they will overcome their individual pride and prejudices and get married. Sigh of bliss! I feel the exact same way. Then, the movie flips scenes and shows Tom Hanks trying to read Pride and Prejudice. He gets bored or frustrated or whatever and slams the book shut and then re-opens it and tries reading again and rolls his eyes because he probably thinks it is the lamest thing he has ever read and that makes me think of my husband...poor guy. I think I have made him suffer through about every film version of this book that there is (but fellow readers I have stopped the chick-flick carnage at the 6-hour A&E version...I just can't do that to him :). And then after reading Pride and Prejudice with all of its witty/sarcastic dialogues, insight into the caste system, old English culture, etc. I just think to myself, "When will there ever be other classics like this written?" Seriously, what book that has been written in the last five years is going to be such a favorite for the next 200? It seems like publishers are willing to publish such junk these days and people just eat it up and call it good. It's like eating an apple when what your soul really wants is fresh-baked, homemade, piping hot apple pie with cold vanilla ice cream and a tall glass of ice cold milk. So refreshing, so delicious, and one can appreciate all the work that went into it. Sometimes I feel like the books I am reading are just the dregs of someones imagination. No talent, sweat, blood, or guts went into it and yet they still got published. And then I see people who would truly love to publish and work so hard at their writing and get edited again, and again, and again, but never see anything come from it. Sorry to rant and rave dear readers. This really has nothing to do with Pride and Prejudice, I know, but when I read such a quality book as that, it makes it hard to go back to the pathetic novels of our generation. I wish I could write....I probably shouldn't be soo critical because I have no writing talent whatsoever. I have been trying to put together a children's story for two months now. It is a story my dad made up and I have been wanting to just write it down and make it into some sort of little keepsake for him, but alas! I have no talent for it. What a shame :)

Kim

2009-08-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

Kim

By: Rudyard Kipling

Profanity: 2

Violence: 2

Sexuality: 1

Kim was definitely a harder read for me. Maybe you breezed through it, but I found myself continually putting it down, picking it back up, putting it down, even fell asleep once, etc. The sad thing is that it is not even a boring book. I must just not really have been in the mood for a book like that is all I can figure. Looking back, I really liked it, but in the moment....snooze. Kim IS an interesting book. It is all about an Irish boy who is raised in India by an opium-smoking nanny. Where can one go wrong with a plot like that. The adventure in the story grows as Kim, who possesses a knack for intrigue, disguise, and espionage; joins the "Great Game". I liked reading all about how they trained him in the arts of disguise and spying, but I actually liked the sub-plot better. Kim meets up with a Buddhist who is looking for a special river that will heal him and together, they go on a journey to find this river. Kim spends quite a bit of time with him and becomes his disciple of sorts. The old Buddhist imparts much of his knowledge, wisdom, and learning on Kim and I found that all the more fascinating than the espionage games he played. Also, Rudyard Kipling used the book as a way to explore cultures in India and compare it against western-European Anglo-Saxon cultures. I love learning about new places, people, religions, and cultures so that was more to my fancy than anything else. I was less inclined to read during the parts where Kim was learning about the "Great Game" than when Kipling was delving into the cultures of the high mountain villages...do people really live up there and if so, how in the world do they survive? But Kim himself is a feisty, rascally sort of character who has a good heart, but tricky ways. I liked him a lot.

Emma

2009-08-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Emma

By: Jane Austen

Profanity: 1

Violence: 1

Sexuality: 1

I admit it without reserve, without shame...I love all things Jane Austen. I have read every book several times over. I think I have watched every movie version of each of the books (also several times over:) Nothing makes folding laundry fly by faster than a Jane Austen movie. And nothing makes a day more enjoyable for me, and consequently less enjoyable for Phillip, than reading a book by Jane Austen. I first read Emma in high school and although I enjoyed it, I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with Pride and Prejudice. It didn't seem to have as much going on, so I didn't pick it up again until just this year. I have to say, it still doesn't have very much going on as far as an exciting plot. One feels as if one is just living in Emma's daily routine, but what 'Emma' has going for it are the most witty, original dialogues I have ever read. As I read along, my facial expressions reveal what is happening in the book without my even knowing it. Smiles, frowns, and wrinkles of worry are all crossing my face and then I have to remind myself, "It is just a story, and knowing Jane Austen style of writing, it will have a happy ending." I read the introduction to Emma, written by who knows who (sorry, I don't have the book in front of me. It has been returned to the library). If you know me at all you know I never read the introductions to books. I don't like other people's opinions or summarizations of a book to influence my own, but I read it this time and came across a quote used by Jane Austen regarding this novel. She explains that Emma is just the sort of character whom no one could love but herself. Isn't it so true?!?!?! She is just so meddling and outrageous sometimes that you almost wish she would pick up scrapbooking or blogging or something to get her nose out of everyone else's business. But where would the fun in that be? Obviously most of the people on the planet seem to think that meddling in other people's business is fun, otherwise gossip wouldn't be such a huge problem. I am someone who always likes to know what is going on, but am trying to reform my ways after having felt the sting of gossip being spread one too many times. Maybe if I just don't participate it won't hurt as much if/when gossip about myself should start. It will be an interesting experiment.

The Magic Finger

2009-08-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

The Magic Finger

By: Roald Dahl

Profanity: 1

Violence: 1

Sexuality: 1

Disclaimer: There was absolutely no violence, profanity, or sexuality in this book. It is a children's book for cryin' out loud, so maybe I should amend my rating system to include 0 (zero) as well, but this little gem is fabulous and short so put it together and you have fabulously short, or shortly fabulous, or fabulous shorts...either way - cute cute cute book! I read it to the little kiddies in one sitting and mine lasted all the way until the last 5 pages and that is saying something since she is still into board books and the like. I do have to wonder though, after reading such a book, if Roald Dahl was an animal rights activist. This short story is all about a family of hunters who get the wrath of a girl's magic finger turned on them. The little girl ends up turning the family into the very same type of animal they were shooting at in an attempt to teach them how the animals feel so that they will never hunt again. So, would Mr. Dahl throw paint on all of the deer mounts that the hubby has in his parents garage? My husband is an avid big game hunter, and I have done a lot of bird hunting myself. The question is whether or not what we do is ethical. It is partly out of sport. The king of the castle got his last deer at 533 yards and was very proud of himself, so there is obviously some sport to it for us, but at the same time, we don't just kill to kill. We eat the meat, and whatever we can't eat, we share with family and friends. Venison burgers, venison tacos, venison meatballs in spaghetti; we eat it all. So, what is the difference then between eating steak and eating venison? Why is hunting so wrong and eating bacon and sirloin steak so socially acceptable by most (vegetarians aside)? I agree whole-heartedly that to kill animals just for skin or sport is wrong, but if one is going to use most of the animal, especially the meat and hide, I don't see any problem with hunting in season. I can either gather my food at the super-market or in the mountains. Either way, I gotta eat :)

The BBC Book List

2009-07-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

OK fellow readers. I was searching on-line for some book lists to help me find new books to read and I scrambled across the Top 100 Books list that the BBC put together. I guess they did a poll and these are the top 100 books that people came back and said they loved, but BBC claims that most people have only read 6 of them. I figured I had done way better than six, but was dismayed to find that...yikes! I have a lot of catching up to do! My realm of literature has obviously not been as all-inclusive as I had previously thought, but everybody needs a project right?!?!?! So, I figure in the course of my readings I will get through as many of these as I can in the hopes that maybe someday the BBC will discover me and do a story on how I am the most well-read person to have ever graced their news room. J/K Just a side note - by posting this list am I in no way saying, "All of these are appropriate to read and I loved them." Some of these books may have content I don't want to read, or some may be the best books I have ever read. It's a small risk to take; small risk as in these are the books that everybody else says are great...but who know until you read em right?!?!? So here is the list. One asterisk means I have read it in English and two means I have read it in English and German. 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen* 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien* 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte* 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling** 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee* 6 The Bible** 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens* 11 Little Women - Louisa May Alcott* 12 Tess of D'Urberviles - Thomas Hardy* 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller 14 Complete works of Shakespeare 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien* 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger 19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger * 20 Middlemarch - George Elliot 21 Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald* 23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis* 34 Emma - Jane Austen* 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen * 36 The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis * 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden* 40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown* 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 a Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery 47 Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel * 52 Dune - Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen* 55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafron 57 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon 60 Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck 62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas * 66 On the Road - Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding 69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens* 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett* 74 Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses - James Joyce 76 The Inferno - Dante 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal - Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession - AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte's Web - EB White 88 The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom * 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery** 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams 95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl* 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo I have read 20 of these...not too shabby! How bout you guys - how many have you read? Edited: P.S. Now I have read...26!!! Only 74 more to go :)

Twilight

2009-07-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Twilight

By: Stephanie Meyer

Profanity: 1

Sexuality: 2

Violence: 2

So, I finally jumped on the Twilight band-wagon and read the series, but am only posting on the first book for now. It was...let's just say I have mixed emotions on how I feel about this series. One part of me thinks, "Well it was obviously entertaining enough to read all four books. And, when given a chance, has a pretty decent (albeit underdeveloped) plot. There is even some humor, romance, and action." But the other part of me thinks a couple of different things:

a) You could chop 200+ pages out of each book and not miss ANYTHING. How many times does a reader really need to be told that Edward's hands are cold? I got the picture the first 14 times and after that...super repetitious. Maybe that's why, for the first time in my life, I liked a movie better than its book-counterpart. The movie edited out the 200+ pages that were...unnecessary to say the least, but most importantly, not well written.

b) Whatever happened to character development being a crucial factor in writing? Especially when said characters seem to go through such life-changing experiences. Shouldn't it do something or take the story somewhere? Shouldn't the personality improve or change in some way or maybe learn from their stupid mistakes? I guess I should be a little more specific. Bella, as we all see, is the little martyr of the story. Bad things happen to her, but she is stoic, impassive, and unimpressed. And so she remains through all four books. In the words of Kronk from 'Emperor's New Groove', "There's a wall there."

c) The writing itself is immature. Enough said. I'm not quite sure why every stay-at-home mom I know thinks this is the best thing they have read since 'Pride and Prejudice'. Jane Austen's dialogues are sooo much better. But, I can understand why each and every thirteen year old wishes Edward Cullen were real. 'Nuff said.

Other than that, I found it entertaining simply because I haven't really read a story like that before. I am impressed with what seems like an original plot - Readers correct me if I am wrong cause I know I haven't read every book in the world...yet, but is there another teenage vampire love story out there? Not too shabby. Plus, the writing in the book that is done really well are the awkward, tense conversations between Bella and Edward when they first meet. It shows how uncomfortable first aquaintances can be, but especially if the person you meet wants to kill you. I hate it when that happens :) But Meyer does a particularly good job helping the reader to feel this tension. I was feeling awkward and uncomfortable reading it and I like books that allow the reader to feel and/or imagine some of the same emotions a character is going through. I think it helps with the imagining part.

So fellow book-worms, Twilight is an ok read. On a scale of 1-5 I'd give it a 2 1/2 for being partially enjoyable, partially well-written, partially cool; but also partially annoying, partially lame, and partially immature. Keep Reading!

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel

2009-07-14T07:56:00.001-07:00

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel

Profanity: 5

Violence: 4

Sexuality: 5

Wow Wow Wow...that's all i can say...and not in a good way either. There is no way in #$^@ that this book should have ever been on The New York Times Bestseller List. Absolutely pathetic. This was the other book I splurged on for my trip to Brazil, and I have never been more disappointed. I didn't even finish reading it, for there is no need to fill my mind with trash, profanity, and garbage and pretend that it is wholesome, intelligent, and inspires me to improve my life in some way. I bought the book because I love history (especially any history related to WWII) and I lived in Germany for almost two years. I was excited and thought that the book would provide an interesting historical-fictional twist to the whole subject of the rise and fall of the Third Reich, the Russian front, the Holocaust, and WWII in general. Needless to say, this book was anything but that. All it did was F-You it's way through a lame story line that had no depth, acurateness, or character developement. If all I have to do to get published and even on The New York Times Bestseller list is to string together a long litany of profanities that end in rape then sign me up...except for the fact that I won't sell my soul to indescretion in order to be in a newspaper for a week, only to be replaced by next week's bestseller. What happened to needing talent in order to get published?

Ok so I have heard the other side of the argument that so and so presented such a thought-provoking, insightful image into the atrocities of war. I'm not trying to say that a book based on such subjects as WWII or the Holocaust is going to be all walks in the park with butterflies and the girl off of 'Enchanted' but I do say that such subjects as war, rape, murder, etc. can be talked about in an appropriate and dare I say - mature - way. Bad things, even atrocious things, happen. But do we really want to degrade it even farther by talking about it in a slimy, pathetic way...all in an attempt to sell a book? I don't think so. I won't waste any more brain cells on this, and I wouldn't recommend you waste any either.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

2009-06-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

By: Alexander McCall Smith

Profanity: 1 Violence: 1 Sexuality: 1 What a fun read! So, in preparation for my trip to Brazil, I splurged at Costco and bought the two cheapest, paper-back books there: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and The True Story of Hansel and Gretel. I had heard great things about both, but must admit that I only finished one...the other got sent straight to the Salvation Army (but more on that in the next post:) However, The No. 1 Ladies Detective agency was a delight to read. I love to travel and consider myself to be a pretty well-traveled person for how old I am, but if I can't go somewhere right then, I'm thrilled to have a book transport me there and this book takes you right into the heart of Africa, where the land is as wild and untamed as the animals who inhabit it. Alexander McCall Smith paints a picture of hot, sultry days where a woman named Mma Precious Ramotswe goes against the grain of traditional jobs for women and opens her own detective agency. Now granted, she is no Sherlock Holmes. She hasn't been trained in disguise, tracking, finding clues, or anything of the sort; but rather, has a great deal of common sense, and a knack for seeing things as they really are. I mean, in the book she is trailing a suspect and the suspect knows she is there and later confronts her about it, so if you are looking for something suspenseful, keep looking. But, Mma Precious Ramotswe's anecdotes are as funny and insightful as the book itself is well-written. I found myself wondering throughout the whole book what I could be doing to enrich my life and step outside my comfort zone...certainly not open a detective agency, but maybe a little adventure now and then would be just the ticket. If one is going to spend a lot of time reading, one should at least make an effort to get up off the couch every once in a while and do something right? What's the sense of being well-read if it is not going to enrich my life and help propel me into action. Just as a side note - can any of you use the word 'propel' now without thinking of the sport's drink? MMMM Propel. Well, drop me a line and let me know what adventures ya'll have been having the last month or so. For me - I moved to Texas and am fully fluent in using Ya'll as a regular part of my written & spoken vocabulary and am working on that southern drawl. A 9-year old told me yesterday "Lordy but ya should a seen them cockroaches a jumpin and a scitterin about like they was flyin..." Adorable :)

The Book of Mormon

2009-04-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Book of Mormon

Another Testament of Jesus Christ

Well my fellow book worms...I'm back!!! Sorry about the lull in postings. I went on a 10-day trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to pick up my little sister who has been serving there as a representative of our church. It was an amazing experience/vacation - partly cause I read a great book on the 15-hour flight over there, but mostly because of all the amazing things I saw and the outstanding people I met. But, I'll start my travel-blog later. What I wanted to post about today does have to do with my trip. You see, my sister was serving as a representative or "missionary" of our church - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der letzten Tage if your german :) One of her main responsibilities as a missionary was to share a book with people. It's called 'The Book of Mormon' and it is another testament of Jesus Christ. So she spent 18 months soley talking to people about Jesus Christ and 'The Book of Mormon'. I also did the same thing, but served in Germany. The reason I went and did this is because this book has changed my life and brought me closer to truth, knowledge, and God more than any other book I have ever read - and believe me...I've read hundreds.

But, The Book of Mormon is a sacred record written by several different people starting somewhere around 600 B.C. and spans clear until about 400 A.D. (give or take a few years) It is a record of a family that lived in Jerusalem, but was commanded by God to leave and travel into the wilderness where they then built a boat and sailed to the Americas. Once there, they grew into a large people. They had Christ's teachings and prophets just as the people in Jerusalem during Bibilical times did. They recorded their doings on plates of metal per commandment of God so that one can read this book in addition to the Bible in order to receive all of God's teachings. So no, members of this church or 'Mormons' don't only believe in this book, but rather, we believe it goes hand in hand with the Bible and we believe it is necessary to have both books in order to have all of Christ's teachings. We know that over the years and through many different translations, the teachings in the Bible have been changed and a lot of important doctrines have been lost - sometimes on accident and sometimes on purpose, but The Book of Mormon contains all of Christ's teachings. We have it today because in the 1800's, God started speaking to us through prophets again. He called a man named Joseph Smith to be a prophet and restore His church in its original form. Joseph Smith was also responsible to translate the Book of Mormon. Because it was translated by the power and authority of God, it contains all of His doctrines and hasn't been changed to fit the 'popular vote' so to say. So, if you have been looking for truth, or have questions about God and Jesus Christ; there is a challenge for you at the end of The Book of Mormon. The last chapter was written by an ancient prophet named Moroni and he promises us that if one will read this book, think about it and study it out, and then pray to God and ask him if it is true - God will give him an answer! Joseph Smith did the same thing in the 1800's. He didn't know what church to join, so he studied the Bible and came across a verse in Jacob that said, "if any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God". Well, Joseph Smith did that and the answer he recieved was miraculous. God and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him to join none of the churches, but instead, called him as the prophet who would restore Their true church again on the earth. Now, realistically speaking - that same thing won't happen to you, but God will answer you though something called the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is a spirit that speaks to us in our hearts and in our minds and will tell us truth in all things. That's how I found out that this book came from God. I read it (several times) studied it, and then prayed about it and the Holy Ghost helped me to know that it is true...and the teachings within have changed my life and continue to change it everyday. I find peace and stability when I read it. I find out how I can come closer to God now, even though I can't see him. I've learned how to raise a family that will function well and stay together in a time when it seems like everybody is divorcing....and the list goes on and on. It's not an easy read, but since when were the most worthwhile things in life the easiest?!?! Good luck my fellow book worms...happy reading!

p.s. To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its teachings, or to order a free copy of the Book of Mormon visit the official website at:

www.mormon.org

Life of Pi

2009-04-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

Life of Pi

By: Yann Martel

Profanity: 1

Violence: 2

Sexuality: 1

No, no, no, not 3.14! Different Pi :) This Pi is an Islamic, Hinduist, Christian...or is he a God-fearing, Islamic, Hindu? Well, at any rate, Pi is a God-loving boy and the son of a zoo-keeper. When he turns sixteen, his whole family (including the zoo) emigrate from India to North America. After a storm sinks the cargo ship, Pi is the sole human survivor and finds himself on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. This is his story of survival...and I was on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE time, clear up until after I finished reading the book because; well, you will have to read it to find out why :)

I absolutely fell in love with this book and probably spent a whole evening telling my husband about it - since he doesn't like to read :) And then discussing the crazy ending with him...I still can't figure it out! Plus Yann Martel puts in all sorts of random facts about animals and zoo life. The book itself is really a big plug for Zoo-friendly people. I had only ever heard about how 'abusive' zoos are to the animals, so I was very interested in hearing the other side. Funny how you can think one way your whole life (I always thought it was sad to keep animals penned up in cages - but not necessarily abusive as long as they are kept clean, well-fed, and have shade...and I really don't know why that last one always was important...not all animals like shade :) Anyway, I thought this way my whole life and now have a very different perspective to look at and think about. Happy Reading Book Worms.

P.S. Sorry it's been so long...went on a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And it was awesome, just in case you were wondering :)

The BFG

2009-03-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

The BFG

Roald Dahl

Profanity: 1

Sexuality: 1

Violence: 1

Can one really even put a rating on this book for those kinds of things? Not really! I only put a one because it's the lowest possible. This book is just fabulous. Great to read to kids or just to read for yourself. I am a 'grown-up' and still a fan. There is just something about Roald Dahl's writing that reminds me of all the fun things in the world; about the time in my life when the worst thing possible was a scary dream. That's how I want my kid's world to be; full of imaginary plane rides, cookie jars, "Big Friendly Giants", road trips to see old historical sights, $.25 ice cream cones at the grocery store, catching fireflies in Mason Jars...and on and on and on. All the things that kids need to experience before the world sets in to tell them that they are nothing unless they are skinny, rich, and sarcastic. And the best part is that books and reading can help people build the 'flotation devices' they need in order to wade through the drugery and muck of this world without getting it on themselves. Books teach kids to have a sense of humor, that the impossible really can be possible, or that a box is more than a box (it was a rocket ship when I was little :) Most of all, reading gives me self-confidence because it teaches me information I wouldn't otherwise know, for example: that horses aren't so many feet tall; but rather, so many hands high. I learned that from a book I read and it really impressed the boyfriend who took me horse-back riding when I asked him how many 'hands high' his horse stood and later he married me :)

Well, get ready for imagination station with the BFG or any other Roald Dahl books for that matter!

Memoirs of a Geisha

2009-03-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Memoirs of a Geisha

By: Arthur Golden

Profanity: 1

Violence: 1

Sexuality: 4

Don't be alarmed (or excited by the prospect :) at the high rating under the sexuality sub-heading. The pages of this book aren't dripping with hot, nasty sex scenes; but rather, are rated so high because sex, intimacy, beguilement, etc. are major themes within the book - hello it IS about Geisha! But all I have to say is that if Charles Dickens and Gray's Anatomy combined for a party in Japan, the result would be Memoirs of a Geisha. I spent the whole time I was reading wondering, "Could anything else go wrong for this girl?!?!". And then again, the love interests, triangles, petty jealousies, and vicious manipulations make Gray's Anatomy look like Sesame Street. So anyway, was the pre-World War 2 Japanese culture really this hyper-sexual; where every hair-do, pastry, and flick of the wrist was meant to turn someone on? Or is that just in the Geisha world?

On the up side, the intricacies of japanese culture are a great read. Arthur Golden also does a very convincing job writing the book from a fictional character's (Sayuri's) point of view, but making you feel like she was a living person. I had to remind myself after I finished reading that she didn't really exist, although with such a good ending, one almost wishes she had. Golden is also a very descriptive writer. I would loooove to see a real kimono. He makes them sound like artwork come to life. So, although seduction and intrigue definitely play the main role, I also found the artistic side of Geisha very interesting. I always thought of Geisha as classy-dressed prostitutes, but there is apparently an art behind it. This book did much to broaden my horizons in that aspect.

The Lonesome Gods

2009-03-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

The Lonesome Gods

By: Louis L'amour

Profanity: 1

Violence: 2

Sexuality: 2

This was my first-ever Louis L'amour read and I must admit that this book was WAAAAAY better than I expected it to be. I had always kind of shunned Louis L'amour books in the past because I figured they would read about as well as a poorly-written country song, i.e.: trucks and dogs dying all over the place, and women leaving cause they're fed up with the wife-beater wearin, tobaccy-chewin, beer-drinkin, no good, redneck husbands fishin all day instead of spendin time with them :) So, needless to say, it was a pleasant surprise to find that this book not only had a very well written plot, but that L'amour was rather insightful, as well as historical, on a variety of subjuects ranging from Native American culture to the natural beauties of the desert. Plus, there are the added benefits of "life's lessons learned" while I was reading. Many of L'amour's characters go through extreme circumstances and all of them find that they are able to accomplish more than they thought they could and were able to find great sources of strenght. Whether it was undying love, religion, courage, or miracles that saved them, the characters found 'anchors' so to say, that helped them hang on during life's storms. Isn't that what we are all trying to do in our own lives? There are good times and bad, but each of us will hopefully find something that helps us hang on and make it through to the end. Let me know what works for you!!!

I also enjoyed the sub-plots concerning the Native Americans (or whatever the politically correct term is). I found myself wondering how accurate L'amour's interpretation was of the culture, thought process, clothing, knowledge of the english language, etc. Guess that just means I have more homework to do :)

p.s. get your Spanish/English dictionary out...cause there are just enough words in spanish to make you want to know exactly what they mean.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

2009-03-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

By: Laurie R. King

Profanity: 2

Sexuality: 1

Violence: 2

A big shout out to Devron for introducing me to this book! It is now one of my favorites and I am bound and determined to read the whole series, plus all of the Sherlock Holmes stories...Well, I guess I better back up a little bit. King is a modern-day writer putting a new twist on the Sherlock Holmes stories. In this newer series, a semi-retired Holmes teams up with a spunky, witty, and just-as-intelligent-as-he-is American/British female named Mary. As they get to know each other, he begins to teach her his trade and they start solving mysteries together. But that's all I'm gonna say because I don't want to ruin the book. It is a must read! I really enjoyed King's take on Holmes, because I had previously never been a fan of the dryer originals, but now I am convinced they need a better looking over. Another high point in the book includes interesting chess-related and bee-related symbolism. It is also loaded with interesting tidbits, facts, and (although put in a fictional character's mouth) historical information. I have always been a big fan of media in any form that can provide learning opportunities without making it seem like a "learning opportunity" or a "lecture" or books that I can relate to real life and learn lessons from that help me each day to become a better person, employee, wife, mom, etc. (maybe stemming from my education background?) And although I wouldn't say that this book fell into the latter category of fabulous life lessons, I definitely know more about chess and bees than I did before I read it, and I may have to try and put some of that information to good use in my next chess match with my hubby Phillip, on the off-chance that he won't beat me quite so soundly as every other time we've played :)

The Jungle Book

2009-03-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

The Jungle Book:

By Rudyard Kipling

Profanity: 1 (On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the least amount possible and 5 being the most)

Violence: 1

Sexuality: 1

I started reading "The Jungle Book" because I wanted to see how closely it aligned with the kids movie that I know and love and I wasn't disappointed; however, I didn't find it quite as captivating (quite possibly because no animated snake was singing "trussst in meeee"). There were parts that really moved and left me wanting to read more, but quite often I found my mind wandering. It may be because of the usage of old english. For some reason I always read slower if I am wading through thy's, thou's, and thee's. Maybe it is because thou knowest such language is no longer used by thy kinsmen :) Hihihi But, interestingly enough, the book also includes 4 short stories at the very end: The White Seal, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Toomai of the Elephants, and Her Majesty's Servants. These were much more entertaining, especially Her Majesty's Servants. Kipling somehow managed to capture the voices of the individual animals. I guess what I mean is that if a seal could talk, I would think it would sound just like Kotick the white seal. I found myself chuckling right out loud...I guess if I were still 17 you would say I was lol-ing, but whatever :)

Fellow Book Worms

2009-03-16T07:12:00.001-07:00

Hello my fellow readers! Thanks for taking the time to visit. As an avid reader myself, I often fall into the trap of re-reading books several times over for several reasons. The most obvious one being: uh, hello, it was a really good book...obvious. Another reason is the fact that while some books are insightful, thought-provoking, funny, and overall; an excellent read - others are filled with what I deam "toilet paper". The only good use for it is to wipe my butt. Wading through the profanity, explicit sexual content, and raunchy violence isn't worth my brain cells. Not to mention the fact that you wouldn't need a romance novel either if your husband looked like mine :) So, I had this awesome idea (if I do say so myself) that as I read books, I will not only post my only little personal soap-box review, but also provide a rating of 1-5 for the following categories: Profanity, Sexual Content, and Violence. I do this in the hopes that people who are looking for a good book to read can come and check out my blog and read books that fit their ideals and standards. I do have a few disclaimers for my ratings: 1. It's totally my opinion - if you don't agree you are welcome to say so, but I think 'comment fights' are totally pathetic. Let's be adults and share our opinions in an appropriate way. I'm totally up for discussions on the books we read, so if you have ideas - let's hear em'. 2. My morals and standards are obviously not going to match everyone else's. There may be books that I think are a little too crazy that you are just fine with. Go ahead and read them it's your choice, but I get to choose not to read them. 3. If I haven't reviewed a book that you would like to read, leave a comment. I'll read it and post a review as soon as I can. I average 100 pages an hour, and read maybe an hour a day, so there's your time frame. 4. Last disclaimer - I'm no reading professional. I don't have a degree in literature. Quite to the contrary; I have a degree in education with an emphasis in Special Education Mild/Moderate Disabilities. As a teacher, one spends a lot of time reviewing books for content and educational value. It's now a hobby of mine and I thought I would share my work with you. Hope you enjoy! Look for a review of "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling...it'll be here soon!