What are people reading?

In order to keep the Blog active while school life keeps me busy and out of my pleasure reads (sure, I am enjoying Double Fudge with my 2nd graders) I am striving to find new ways to post about books in between my book log entries!

So here we go....


What are you reading? What books are waiting on your bookshelves? Comment and lets get a good list of book picks going! There are MANY waiting in my bookcase, on my Amazon.com Book Fanatic Wish List and even more on a list generating and growing by the hour on my Facebook page!

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

“You’re reading a Nicholas Sparks book?” asks my sister Rachel curiously looking up from her book Slummy Mummy (Fiona Neill, July 2008).

I picked up this book from a crowded bookshelf in my grandparents basement. Their basement has two bookcases that I am amazed have not fallen over from the weight of so many books! The receipt from Borders Book Store in Troy remained inside the book jacket, purchased October 31, 2006. Realizing that this was the same book that was now showing as a major motion picture in theaters, I thought it might be a good read for my upcoming trip to Florida. Upon arriving in Florida I saw the exact same book on the blue couch in our family room, my Mom was reading it too! Not familiar with Nicholas Sparks’ books, I pressed on.

The story begins in North Carolina prior to 9/11. John Tyree, 23, is a young man searching for his identity when he gives up on the lifestyle he has chosen (nights of binge drinking) and enlists in the U.S. Army. Upon returning home from Germany for a scheduled leave, John struggles to relate to his socially different father (he has Asperger’s syndrome and is the only remaining family that John has) and decides to walk the beach one day after surfing instead of returning home. He comes across his “damsel in distress”, Savannah Lynn Curtis. Savannah’s purse has fallen off of a dock and into the ocean. John jumps over the ledge in order to rescue the purse and charm this new lady.

The story unfolds of a long-distance romantic relationship separated by the Atlantic Ocean as John continues to fight for his country and Savannah works on educational degrees at the University of North Carolina. Just when it looks like John’s time in the army is nearing an end, 9/11 happens and John feels the inner desire and passion to re-enlist in the Army. At this point, he receives a letter from Savannah beginning, “Dear John…” (symbolic in many ways) and the rest can be found within the book!

Dear John is an easy but enjoyable read. I’m curious to see the movie now and wonder if the ending will change at all as it was not the ending I would have hoped for from Nicholas Sparks.

Will I read more of his books? Yes, probably… Grandma wouldn’t let me leave with only one!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

“We are just two people. Not that much separate us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought.” (p. 451)

There’s nothing better than finding a book with characters so real that you feel as though you may know them. At times these characters feel as real as the person sitting next to you. While Kathryn Stockett says, “The Help is fiction, by and large” one is left wondering if many of the stories told and retold in this book shed some light on the good and the bad times in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi.

The story is set in Jackson during a time of segregation in the South and Martin Luther King Jr. marching at the capital in D.C. Stockett being from Jackson has knowledge about the town, the high society and the history behind African American workers in the south. In particular, Stockett has background knowledge about the African women who worked tirelessly for the white women and their families. One of the leading characters, Aibileen, explains as the book opens:

Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August, 1960. A church baby we like to call it. Taking care a white babies, that’s what I do, along with the cooking and the cleaning. I done raised seventeen kids in my lifetime. I know how to get them babies to sleep, stop crying, and go in the toilet bowl before they mamas even get out a bed in the morning. (page 1)

The storyline is told through the perspectives of two different African American women, Minnie and Aibileen, and from a white woman, Miss Skeeter. Skeeter works underground to make life better for the African Americans as she comes to realize all that has happened within her own community between the black and white relations (in the workplace, in homes and in their own community). Skeeter compiles the stories of the working “help” all to pay tribute to the lady that “raised” her, her black Mammy, Constantine.

I came across this book at Costco but had heard some about it at a recent book club meeting (we did not pick this one, but now I think I may need to suggest it). I took this heavy yellow book with me to Florida for Mid-Winter Break and noticed something throughout my time in Orlando and West Palm Beach. The Help was everywhere. It was on the bookshelves of several stores I passed in the airports, the mall, the airplane and even resting on the lounge chairs around me at the pool! I made new friends along the way as many a person told me, “I just finished that book!” or “Don’t you just love The Help? Stockett tells the story so well!” Most often I was responding that I was either in the midst of the book and was enjoying it, and at the end I was agreeing with others, that “Yes, this was a really good book and it left me wanting more!”

This is a book that will consume you and you will not want to put it down! This being said, it’s also a book that will leave you wondering about the future of the characters when it ends… and it leaves you hoping for more!

On a side note, I had a personal connection to this book that made me stop many times and think about along the reading journey. When I was growing up there were two African American ladies that worked for my Nana and Grandpa as well as my parents. Tommie came a few days week and did our laundry, folding and ironing. Many times she would stay at night to watch my sister and I while my parents were out. We loved finding ways to entertain her and make her laugh. She loved my sister and I and showered us with smiles, hugs, winks and laughs. The second lady, Elizabeth, might as well have been another Grandma to me. I can to this day remember telling my friends at recess that I did have three Grandmas and I always included Elizabeth. Elizabeth was around when my Mom was a child and took care of my Mom while her parents were away as well as running the kitchen in my grandparents’ home. Elizabeth could make a mean chocolate soufflé or recite a recipe off the top of her head. I have often thought about Elizabeth (she passed away many years ago) and the love, support and influence she has had on my life. Elizabeth was special… she made you feel good, she took you fun places, she babysat when my parents were gone at night or for a long period of time. I always thought Elizabeth would be around when I was little, always. I can only hope that all I knew about Elizabeth and Tommie as a child and young adult was true… they were well taken care of when they came to work, they were shown much appreciation and gratitude for all that they did and they received financial support they were unable to work. I can only hope that we gave them as much love as they gave us.

It's been awhile!

I realize it has been a while since I have posted info on new books... Truth be told, I've been abandoning books left and right! We teach our second graders in the beginning of the year that it's "okay" to abandon books along the way if they are not "just-right" or are not interesting to us as a reader. Rather than give a bad review to the books I have put down, I'll just say there have been three!

I'm finally hooked on Kathryn Stockett's "The Help" and am hoping to have this book completed in the next few days. Stay tuned for a post - and thanks for being patient!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

January 2010

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.” ~Isola to Juliet p.53

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the second book we have read for our newly formed book club. Having just read about the German Occupation in France in Sarah’s Key, this was a slight transition to the German Occupation of the Channel Islands, Guernsey in particular in June of 1940 until December of 1944.

The story unfolds about a writer named Juliet looking for a new edge to write her latest novel about. Having written articles under the pen name Izzy Bickerstaff during the war, Juliet had become a well known-writer across England and the surrounding area. The story begins with Juliet making rounds for a book tour across England and Scotland.

Along the book tour Juliet receives a letter in the mail from a man named Dawsey Adams who has come across a copy of a book belonging to Juliet by Charles Lamb. Dawsey lives on the island of Guernsey. He writes about his love for Charles Lamb’s work, his desire to read more about Lamb, and instantly a pen pal friendship is formed between the two. Dawsey soon tells Juliet about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the books they were reading and discussing weekly during and after the German Occupation on the island of Guernsey. Juliet, intrigued by this, asks to hear from more of the members of the society about this group they have formed during a period of four years when the island of Guernsey was literally shut off from the world, and all that was happening with the war.

Be prepared to be lost amongst correspondence between the members of the Society to those connected to the editing company Juliet works for in London. Following Juliet to Guernsey, you will want to be along side her as she is introduced to the people and a place she already feels a part of.

This was one of those books that I had a very hard time putting down! Many times I feel a sense of accomplishment upon the completion of reading a book, yet in this case, I still yearn for more information about Juliet, her publisher Sidney, and all of the people I’ve come to love living on Guernsey!

In order to fully enjoy this book, I would have one piece of advice! Get out a blank notebook and create a web using the names of the characters as they are introduced. By the end of the story, you will feel as though you know the characters personally, however to get going in the beginning, this helped me tremendously.

The late Mary Ann Shaffer, author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society acknowledges in the end of the book:

If nothing else, I hope these characters and their story shed some light on the sufferings and strength of the people of the Channel Islands during the German Occupation. I hope, too, that my book will illuminate my belief that love of art – be it poetry, storytelling, painting, sculpture, or music – enables people to transcend any barrier man has yet devised.

-December 2007

One of my favorite books of the New Year - 5 out of 5 stars - It's a MUST read!! :-)

New Year... New Year Goals!

Every year we set goals that are most often un-obtainable. This year I am striving to set a goal for myself of exploring new books and new genres. My goal for the new year is to read more for pleasure!

What books are you reading right now?

Do you have an old-time favorite you can recommend to others?

Comment away! :-)

Photo Credits by bluemarla uploaded on August 30, 2006 to flickr.com

One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

December 2009

Let me begin by declaring Candace Bushnell’s "Sex in the City" as one of my all-time favorite television series. Hence, I had a lot of big hopes when deciding to read some of her books, as my sister recommended. I picked up One Fifth Avenue at Costco and began reading it for fun this past summer. Trips up north I would pick up the book and read, but then books for school got in the way and eventually the beginning of a new school year stopped me at about 200 pages in – or around halfway.

With Winter Break here I decided to re-read what I had already read not remembering in its entirety the 200 or so pages I had read. What a HILARIOUS book! I cannot believe how many different plots were running at the same time yet they were all interlaced and each reflected another. The characters were hilarious while being devious and often very much up in one another’s business. For a light-hearted enjoyable read, I’d recommend this book. Having just read Sarah's Key, I needed characters like the Mindy Gooch and Schiffer Diamond who all live at the One Fifth Avenue building. It’s important to pay careful attention to the characteristics of each person in the story as picture as you visualize some of the crazy scenarios and antics they were often tangled up within.

This book gets a 4 out of 5 stars for me. I think it’d be ranked higher if I had sat and read it all from the beginning one time. Having totally forgot what happened after a few months, I can’t give this book a higher ranking since I try to read books "I will remember"!