Saving CeeCee Honeycutt – Beth Hoffman (June 2010)

“Hello. My name is Cecelia Rose Honeycutt, and I live at 831 Tulipwood Avenue. The preacher on the radio said if we opened our hearts and asked, we’d be saved. He said it was that simple. So I’m asking, will you please save Momma? Something’s wrong with her mind and it’s getting worse every day. And while you’re at it, will you save me too? There’s nothing wrong with my mind, but I sure could use some help down here. I’ll do anything you say. Thank you. Amen.”   (15)

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is by far at the top of my "Summer Favorites"!  In fact, just before finishing this book I was checking out the “big” (not really) sale at Border’s Books and checked the shelf for more books by Beth Hoffman. Little did I know that this was her first and what a gem! I have to say, I haven’t been this excited about a book since I finished “The Help” (2009).

You will fall in love with 12-year-old Cecelia Rose Honeycutt. Being raised by her Mom, Camille, in Willoughby, Ohio, she lives a life that is anything but normal. Her mom appears almost bi-polar at times, having several different personalities. Her father, Carl, is never present as he is a traveling salesman. We learn later, he travels so that he can stay away from his wife…  This leaves CeeCee to keep her Mom in the house, to remind her Mom how to act, to tell her mom “it will all be okay” when she falls into yet another depressed state of mind and essentially, act as the adult in the relationship even at such a young age. Imagine if your Mom was the laughingstock of your town?

How can I describe Camille? She was the 1951 Miss Vidalia Onion Queen and her personality seems to have withered and morphed after coming to Ohio. Camille parades around in prom dresses from the local Goodwill Store. Camille is laughed at by the neighbors and called names to her face. Her over-done makeup, pearls and furry high-heels are only just a small piece of the big picture! CeeCee is constantly picked on because her Mom is “crazy” and this poor little girl is left to hide between the front and back cover of books to avoid dealing with the life she’s been dealt. As a result of her embarrassment and shame, she spends all of her spare time working on her schoolwork or at her neighbor, Mrs. Odell's house.

When Camille is hit and killed by an ice cream truck, CeeCee’s father will hand her over to her great-aunt Tootie who still lives in Savannah. CeeCee is afraid and anxious about leaving one person in Ohio, Mrs. Odell, her next-door neighbor. The old lady is truly the only friend CeeCee has that would never judge her because of her mom. They share Sunday breakfast at Mrs. Odell’s, garden together, listen to church services on the radio and spend a lot of time just being together. The embrace they share when CeeCee leaves for Savannah is one that makes you tear up just thinking about happening.

Life in Savannah is one of privilege and eccentricity! As  CeeCee begins adjusting to a completely new lifestyle she begins to understand her great aunt that much more and learns a lot along the way.  Aunt Tootie talks to CeeCee about passion and fire. She explains that everyone has a passion as she shows CeeCee an old, yet antique-like home that was nearly demolished but saved by her and a group of ladies who raise money to save the original houses of Savannah . “Everyone needs to find the one thing that brings out her passion. It’s what we do and share with the world that matters. I believe it’s important that we leave our communities in better shape than we found them” (101). Aunt Tootie helps to build CeeCee’s confidence by telling her that, “ ‘It’s what we believe about ourselves that determines how others see us’” (249). CeeCee is in fact a very bright girl with a great deal of potential. Hoffman does however tempt this girl with the notion that she too will go crazy like her Mom as she grows up, but never fully develops this possibility (thank goodness).

We also come to love Oletta Jones, an African American woman working for Aunt Tootie that falls hard for CeeCee after losing her own daughter at age 13 to viral meningitis. Oletta teaches CeeCee to be brave and to face her fears. She teaches CeeCee to be accepting of all types of people and even teaches her how to swim in a neighbor’s pool (there’s more to the story, but I can’t tell you everything!). She tells her about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the work he has done to build equality amongst blacks and whites. Oletta is the first person that CeeCee truly understands that she "loves".

Wacky, extreme Southern neighbors also star in Cecelia’s “Life Book” as Mrs. Odell calls this journey on earth, coming and going as fast as butter fries on a hot pan! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself… I’m going all Southern here). But few will make a bigger imprint than the women she meets in Savannah and the way her life changes for the best as the biggest summer of her short life comes to an end.

I would highly suggest this book – it was perfect in every way! While I know sequel's can rarely live up to the high standard set by the original text, I'm going to hold out hope for a sequel, so we can learn about CeeCee and her first year in an exclusive private school for girls in Savannah!

Healer – Carol Wiley Cassella (June 2011)

When I chose this book I knew that it would be a different read for me! I was grappling between two books about "friends on a beach in the summer" when I saw this one on the enormous book table at Costco. Reading the back of Healer I was curious to read a story with something in addition to romance, it had the story of a woman who had given up her medical career to raise her daughter, going back to work after 15 years in order to save her family and her marriage. I was intrigued and I was sold (or so the book was)!

I have to be honest… this one was not my favorite of the summer, yet when I approached the last 80 pages, I could not put it down. I had to know what would happen to the Boehning family. Let me explain…

Claire and Addison, our two main characters, fell in love when Claire was in med school and Addison was a genius biochemist on the brink of developing something big, a treatment for ovarian cancer. With the success of the drug, the couple was thrust into a lifestyle lived by the “rich and famous” of Seattle. Money was never an issue and it was spent freely. Their one and only daughter Jory had everything a teenager could imagine: popularity, good looks and a talent for ballet.

Soon the family would fall upon hard times as funding for a new cancer drug in a trial phase was cut upon the revelation that test mice were developing liver damage. Addison’s struggle to convince any major drug company to buy the formula and create the medication meant that his family would have to sell their large home (moving out the day after Christmas) and move to their crumbling vacation home in rural Hallum. Claire and daughter Jory spend their initial weeks in Hallum simply coming to grips with the severity of the situation. When the propane tank runs out of gas (mid-winter) they fear they may freeze to death as credit cards have been cancelled and bank accounts are empty to pay bills. Claire even mentions paying credit card bills with other credit cards.

The story twists as tension builds in the Boehning’s marriage amidst: financial problems, a depressed teenager who has not fully been told that her family is broke and Claire’s new profession at a clinic treating some of the neediest people with some of the more primitive health care equipment. This story really makes you question the power of money and the impact it can really have on a marriage, on happiness and most importantly in this story, on trust.

Summer Rental - Mary Kay Andrews (June 2011)

This was the second book I read on the iPad2 and I chose this one after seeing it at the top of the list on iBooks! I downloaded the sample first (a really COOL feature I may just have to use for any book I want to buy – digital or paperback) and about 10 minutes later I was purchasing the rest of the story.

Taking place on the Outer Banks of North Carolina we are introduced to three friends with a past dating back to their days in private Catholic school together. They come to North Carolina from across the globe, to spend one month together in a rental house soaking in the rays of the sun on the beachfront property. Each of the three ladies comes with their own story as does the rental home: Ellis (unemployment), Dorie (dealing with her husband’s infidelities with another man) and Julia (anxious and afraid to settle down and marry the man of her dreams). Following the story of the ladies, you too will want to pack up for a month and head somewhere new with your closest gal pals in tow!

As the story progresses we come to learn more about Ty Bazemore, their attractive landlord, a day-trader by night as well as a mysterious woman named Maryn that the ladies feel compelled to take in to their rental home and their curious imaginations! Reading this story you too will be drawn into each character and their “baggage”, which unfortunately, must catch up with all of them by the end of this novel.

Mary Kay Andrews’ made me laugh and also made me cross my fingers for a future blockbuster! Periodically I would even stop think about which Hollywood celebrity could fill the part of each character. A younger Meryl Streep would be perfect for Ellis!

Girl in Translation - Jean Kwok (2011)

 Wow! Girl in Translation has definitely gone on my Top 10 List as I read this book cover to cover (iBooks kind of have covers right?) in less than 72 hours after I downloaded it! Kimberly Chang and her mother leave life as they know it behind when they move from Hong Kong to live in the United States. A life full of hard times, including her father's death as well as her mom's health scare with TB, brings the two to the U.S. in search of the "American Dream". 

Kim and her mom are able to come to America by having their way paid for by a relative in the states (as well as many more things are covered by this relative... as you'll see in the story).  They are given an apartment (of which they slowly pay back their family for the costs) and employment in a sweatshop run by the same relative. They are guilted into accepting the crummy living conditions of an apartment with broken windows (garbage bags are used to replace the missing glass) as well as sharing residency with mice and roaches as they are continually told that they would not be able to afford better. Continually Mrs. Chang thanks her sister for all she has done. As culture teaches, one should be grateful for all that is given to them. Kim is the one who truly sees what her aunt is really up to. There's more to the story, but I don't want to ruin everything when it comes to the strained relationship between the two sisters.

In Hong Kong, Kimberly was one of the top, if not at the top of the class academically and was praised by her teachers and administrators. In America she is given a "fake" address so she is able to attend a decent school, yet she struggles academically as little support is in place to help her learn to speak English. This once highly motivated student comes to decide that rather than feel embarrassed and shamed at school, she will skip school for several days.  Once she returns to school things begin to look up as she shines in mathematics and a scholarship opportunity comes that will have the chance to change her life forever! Kim makes the conscious choice that her and her mother deserve better, and that her academic success is the only way out of the slums.

I loved this story, despite the hardship the Chang's faced, the barbaric conditions described in the sweatshop and the fact that children, including Kimberly herself, were forced to work in the sweatshop to help their parents earn pennies in wages. The title "Girl in Translation" means so many things to me metaphorically. Kim is truly a girl in translation as she learns to become "Americanized" while feeling like she only ever comfortable within the confines of the crowded Chinatown restaurants. She is lost in translation when the English dialect and culture make little sense to her and all she has come to know in Hong Kong. She is in translation when she leads two separate lives - one as a bright young student and another that secretly works in a sweatshop by nightfall.

With a mix of romance thrown in for the full effect, this story is a keeper in my treasury of favorites!

Kate Jacobs - Comfort Food (May 2008)

I received this book from two good friends and really appreciated the thought that went into picking it off of my "Books in the Bookcase Waiting to be Read" list, my own personal reading wish list on the blog! This is a list of books I want to read, but do not own...

Having just finished reading the HUGE and INTENSE Ken Follett book, World Without End, I was eager to find a good chick lit! Kate Jacobs is one of my favorites because I was ready a few years ago to move to New York and join The Friday Night Knitting Club! Comfort Food provided comfort to me, no brutal 12th and 13th Century lifestyles with unnecessary violence!

You will want to get to know the main character of Jacob's novel personally, Augusta "Gus" Simpson, as she tells most of the story from her perspective recalling tragedy that befell on her young family and how that propelled her to be everyone's provider and protector! Not only wanting to solve all of her daughter's problems, she looks out for her work colleagues, extended family and closest friend, next-door neighbor, Hannah.

Gus is a national name on the CookingChannel, one of their biggest celebrity chefs, complete with her own line of cookbooks and cooking utensils! As reality TV mixed with big names of Rachel Ray and Emeril begin to break through in popularity in TV ratings, Gus feels the world she once knew as secure, slipping away. Having two grown daughters who clearly need their space from mom but love her dearly, as well as an upcoming 50th birthday, Gus questions everything.

Her TV show Gusto with Gus has slipped in the ratings and Gus faces her biggest challenge from the Network President when he gives her a co-host and changes her pre-recorded 30 minute shows to one-hour shows taped live from the grand kitchen in her extravagant home.

You will want Gus in your life as you read her story! I even told my husband tonight how sorry I am that the book was only 330 or so pages that ends with a conclusion that leaves little room for a sequel!

Thank you Angie and Joyce, this was just the Comfort Food I needed, without the dairy or calories!

Ken Follett - World Without End (Hardcover 2008)

Let's be honest, last summer I was captivated with the fictional English town of Kingsbridge and its' citizens like Tom Builder, Jack, Prior Phillip and many more as they were determined to build the Church a cathedral. I spent days and weeks engrossed in The Pillars of the Earth. Shortly after posting my blog review, a parent-volunteer in my Kindergarten classroom asked if I had plans to read the sequel! Having just started Follett's Fall of Giants, I was hesitant to take on the task of another "big book", but felt torn because I really did want to go back to Kingsbridge! The next day one of my kids came bouncing into the room with a thick package, "a gift from Mom" he said!

The sequel was just as addicting as the first, and with a two week trip to Northern Wisconsin and Northern Michigan, there was ample time to dive headfirst into this storyline. The text opens with four kids sneaking away from the Kingsbridge Cathedral to a nearby woods where they witness the murder of two men. Each character, Caris (a girl with ambitions to be a doctor), Merthin (young boy who desires to be a master builder), his brother Ralph (purely a bully at this point) and Gwenda (a thief at a young age) will take something different from this episode in the woods. Their stories are intertwined throughout as they grow up in a time of greed, lust, romance, perversion, war, plague, and with the dynamics of royalty and politics.

As time passes, readers will ultimately take sides with their favorites and wish evil upon their fictitious enemies! My husband is currently reading the story on his Kindle and it's been fun to hear him get angry at characters who already hold a place on my "Jerk" list!

Without giving too much away, I really loved the mastermind of Follett here as he constantly threw curveball upon curveball followed by jaw-dropping twists and then of course, romance! You never quite know what will happen next, and it is this intrigue and desire that made me read this story cover to cover in less than a week.

P.S. Via Ken Follett's web site, an 8-hour mini-series for "World Without End" will begin taping this July in Hungary! If Starz is going to show this mini-series I highly suggest keeping an eye out for this mini-series in the future months to come, the mini-series for Pillars of the Earth was phenomenal!

Something Borrowed & Something Blue both by Emily Giffin

I read these two books in order in hard copy simultaneously with Jen Lancaster's Bright Lights, Big Ass (May 2007) on my iPad! Transitioning to books on the iPad has been an event that I could not take lightly... I love the feel of a book in my hand and the emotional satisfaction of turning a page or completing a chapter! I enjoy putting a book back up on the shelf, completed. Hence, I read Something Borrowed with lightning speed and then progressed on to Something Blue, the sequel to Something Borrowed while my book on the iPad sat waiting on the coffee table.

You will fall for these characters. You will choose Team Rachel or Team Darcy. You may even go between the two, rooting for the original plan or rooting for what fate has in the works for these two ladies. You will take sides and then question what if this happened in your own life? You will want to see the movie just to see how Hollywood portrays these characters.

It's New York City and two best friends since elementary school have well established lives and routines. Rachel, single, is a practicing lawyer at a big firm downtown and Darcy, is a popular publicist also in the city. Darcy and her fiance Dex have plans to marry in the summer and of course Rachel is Darcy's Maid of Honor. To know how the relationship has worked for decades, you must understand that Darcy has always outshone Rachel, and Rachel has accepted the role of living in Darcy's shadow.  While growing up in a small town in Indiana, the girls remained tight while Darcy was always popular and well liked, and Rachel remained in the background, the brains of the duo. This all changes when they get drunk on Rachel's 30th birthday party and what has seemed right, Darcy and Dex, may no longer be the case!

Instead of feeling guilty about what she has done, Rachel comes to realize that she's only really ever loved Dex, and that she is "good" enough to have Dex over Darcy.  A surprise twist at the end will make you gasp at Darcy's reaction... definitely not what I was expecting. And good enough to make me want to read the sequel RIGHT AWAY!

I would like to blog more about the sequel, but here's the dilemma... If I say anymore, such as, "here's what happens in the second book..." I will be giving away the ending of the first. Look at the titles, Something Borrowed and Something Blue. If you can't figure it out, it's time you pick up these books! (20% off at Target stores)

And now, it's time to get a friend who has my copy of Something Borrowed  to hurry up because there's a major motion picture in theaters to be watched!

Little Giant of Aberdeen County - Tiffany Baker (2010)

I liked this book. I really liked this book. I found this one at a Borders Books sometime last year on the table where if you bought one, the other was 50% off. This was my 50% off and I am genuinely sorry that I waited so long to read this story! It was touching and at times, heart breaking. You will fall in love with Truly, a woman with a heart to match the size of her body, enormous, or as her teacher once told her, “giant”.

Truly enters the world in a precarious situation as her birth kills her mother. Left with her father and her sister, Serena Jane, for the first 12 years of her life, Truly is raised by her father, to the best of his abilities. Truly is born large and continues to grow uncontrollably as the result of a pituitary gland problem. Her sister, Serena Jane, is everything that Truly is not. She’s petite, beautiful and garners a lot of attention from other adults, especially women. After the passing of their father, Serena Jane is taken in by a family of upper class in Aberdeen. Truly is sent to live with the Dyersons on the outskirts of town at their farm. She wears boy clothes and outgrows them weekly. She stops attending school for a time period and helps with chores on the farm in the barn. She quickly forms a friendship with the Dyerson’s daughter, Amelia, a social outcast who stutters and has difficulty talking.

As Truly grows up she will come to live with Dr. Robert Morgan, her sister’s husband, and their son Bobby.  Living with the Morgan’s Truly discovers a secret within the house, the combinations Tabitha Dyerson used long ago to treat the ill. She was suspected to be a witch and Truly begins to conjure up many of the mixtures to help ailing citizens of Abderdeen.

Without giving too much of this story away, I would suggest this book for an individual read or a book club read. In fact, my copy had several questions in the back that could be used for a fantastic book club discussion. So much emotion comes out in this story as Truly is constantly ridiculed and teased about her size, yet she outlives most of the characters in the story and does so in a proud manner. You will love Truly and you will wish you could be her friend!

Furthermore, you will wish for a sequel!

Bitter is the New Black - Jen Lancaster (2006)

My sister told me about this author that made her laugh non-stop while she quickly read through her books. After reading Pillars of the Earth this past summer (and its 900+ pages) I found myself in the Book World store on Bridge Street in Charlevoix looking for a good summer laugh. I had passed this store many times on walks into town and noticed the one copy of Lancaster’s book displayed prominently in the front window. Figuring this was my “fun summer-make you want to laugh-easy read” book I plucked the novel from the window, paid my “not-so-Costco-discounted” full price and headed home!

Yes, it is March and I am just now blogging this story, but I really did finish it in February! This was an easy read and one that I read on and off as more Ken Follett passed through my hands. Lancaster is hilarious. She’s got a witty way of analyzing people, expressing her opinion and telling you through the use of footnotes, how she really feels. Going from a six-digit paying job to unemployment we watch Lancaster transform into someone who is bound and determined not to let society ruin her life. She explores the complexities of large corporate businesses and their lack of concern for those who apply for their job openings. She finds that many times she is too qualified for positions and is refused at the first interview. Anyone that says they will be in touch with her for a second interview is sure not to call back. Even her husband, Fletch, ends up in the unemployment line with her and falls into a great depression as they move from their “dream” apartment into one in a mixed neighborhood (I say that lightly… Surely Lancaster would have a better way of describing the crowd!).

I have to say, this was probably the funniest book I have read in a very, very long time. It was amusing, clever and well written. I now follow Jen Lancaster on Twitter (@altgeldshrugged) and am planning on purchasing the next book as soon as my birthday present iPad arrives! If you are looking for a good laugh in the ‘chick-lit’ category, check out Jen Lancaster.

Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Triology – Ken Follet’s (2010)

After completing Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth I moved right along to this huge, hardcover copy of Follet’s book, Fall of Giants (September 2010) that I had picked up at Costco this past fall. It was daunting to carry this nearly 1,000-page book with me to Florida for vacation in December! (My Dad even asked if the book had an “ON” switch and was safe to read outside). Little did I know that I would fall in love once more with a collection of the stories of five families during World War I in Russia, England, France, Germany, Wales, and America.

 I will be the first to admit that prior to this book I knew very little about World War I, and I have learned more from this book than any textbook in my high school history class!

The story begins with the story of Billy Williams, a young boy growing up in a mining community under the authority of Earl Fitzherbert. We learn of the Fitzherbert’s through Billy’s older sister Ethel as she works for the Earl at Ty Gywn (the largest private estate in Wales with 200 bedrooms) despite the protest of her father (a character who gets limited attention but represents the mining union workers and has a major role and influence in his family). Ethel and the Earl (who is married to a Russian princess named Bea) fall hard for one another and the result is a pregnant Ethel being disowned from her family and her being shipped by the Earl to London to raise their child alone. While feeling for Ethel, we learn of a feminist movement brewing in London as men are being drafted and put into military ranks for the oncoming war. We learn of Fitz’s sister, Maud, who is working with his Aunt Herm to bring equal rights and voting privileges into power for women across England. 

Readers are also introduced to the Peshkov brothers, Lev and Grigori. Having grown up in a lower class society in Russia, the brothers have grown accustomed to living meal to meal as Grigori worked to provide for his younger brother. Both of their parents are killed early in their childhood as the result of clashes with authoritative figures from the controlling Russian government.  Grigori works hard to save some money for a ticket to America and his hopes of leaving Russia are dashed with Lev gets into legal trouble and must take Grigori’s passport and ship ticket out of Russia, leaving Grigori behind with Lev’s pregnant girlfriend Katerina. Keep in mind that Russia as well is now heading to war and will soon face its own revolutionary war later in the book!

Then there is Gus Dewar, an American born son of a Senator, working for President Woodrow Wilson in the White House in Washington D.C.. Dewar is a character who gives the reader insight about the President’s actions, his participation in the war, rallies at home and the peace treaty Wilson creates with 14 points of pride to help end World War I after over four years of fighting. We hear from Dewar about the League of Nations that forms while he is in the trenches fighting with the allies for an end to the war.

The last story is that of Walter von Ulrich, the son of a powerful German diplomat. Romance and love grows between Walter and Lady Maud prior to the War when the Germans and the English could travel between the countries easily. Fearing separation from one another as the two countries would go to War, Walter and Maud are married secretly and spend only one night together before Walter goes off to battle for Germany and Lady Maud is left to wonder in England about the safety of her beloved.

There is so much more I could tell about this story, but then you would not need to read it. Amazon readers only give this book 3 out of 5 stars. I loved the story, I loved the romance, I loved the mental images Follett creates of the men at war. The only fault I could find to this story is its length. There were times when the book seemed “long” yet I found it hard to put down. In a time when life has been busy, there was always time for some Fall of Giants at night. This book gets a solid five out of five stars from me!

The second in this trilogy will be published in 2012 as it chronicles the stories from the kids of the characters in Fall of Giants through the Depression and World War II. Below is a link to author Ken Follett’s web page.

http://www.ken-follett.com/home/index.html

This second link provides useful background information about World War I. This helped me to connect to the book and to better understand the historical information Follett explains with precision and detail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett (1989)

I picked up Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth while at Costco this past summer. 973 Pages of action adventure set in the 12^th Century seemed way out of my standard reading genre, so I jumped in, head first!  A fellow friend of mine as well as her husband had both read the book a few summers prior (when I had my head stuck in the vampire drama unfolding in Forks, Washington) and were constantly talking and citing this book as one of their favorites.

I was instantly engaged in the story of Tom Builder and his family setting out with nothing on their backs, in search of a cathedral looking for a master builder and later in awe of the series of events that would unfold over four decades that were filled with love, hardship, politics and jaw-dropping twists and turn of events! This was the first of Follet’s books that I had read and I was amazed at how easy it was to keep the story straight between the characters of Prior Phillip, Aliena, Richard, Jack, William Hamleigh, Ellen, Remigus, Bishop Waleran and more. I was more impressed with the detail in the text used to describe the events within the story. From Aliena’s rape, to William’s attempted destruction of Kingsbridge and the market to the completion of the cathedral in Kingsbridge, the picture Follet creates is so detailed, you feel as though you are actually there, and will feel a mix of satisfaction and loss as the tale winds down at the very end.

This book will surprise you... You will want to celebrate victorious battles, drop your jaw at the treachery and rape while shedding a tear when favorite characters come to meet their fate!

I would highly suggest this book and throw in a disclaimer that Starz has done a remarkable job with the “Pillars of the Earth” series (Fall 2010) however, nothing can replace the attention to detail that Follet has provided for his readers within this novel.

My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

My Sister’s Keeper… What a book! I had to type this blog entry exactly 35 minutes after finishing this book because once more, Jodi Picoult has stunned me. Is it funny that I will not just buy her books on my own, but tend to have them loaned to me? This time I made a swap with a good friend giving up my Steig Larsson trilogy for two of her Picoult books she had read over this past summer. Why did it take me so long to read this book? Why did it take me until now, the end of December, to sit down and read? I will tell you why…

Jodi Picoult has a way of letting her readers into the minds of all of her characters. You hear the story told from many perspectives so that you are able to form your own opinions about the characters, as you hear from them each in first person narration. It can take some time to get used to as a reader, as most novels are told from one perspective, yet as each story unfolds you find a certain character you can relate to and sympathize with on many levels. My Sister’s Keeper is a book that tugs at your heart and makes you wonder, what really is the right decision for Anna?

You have the story of a family, the Fitzgeralds, who spend the course of 14 years in and out of hospitals as their eldest daughter, Kate, battles a rare form of leukemia, depending heavily on her younger sister Anna, a genetically engineered sibling, with the exact DNA as Kate. Just as you begin to side with Anna, you feel for Kate and long for her to lead a “normal, healthy” life. Furthermore you question Campbell Alexander, the attorney Anna has chosen to help her receive medical emancipation, allowing her to make all decisions regarding her health and medical care, as he totes around a service dog, but for what reason? You read about an ever growing divide between Sara and Brian Fitzgerald, the legal guardians and parents of the children. Not to mention, you watch Jesse, the Fitzgerald’s son, self-destruct as he searches to find a meaning for his life and existence in a family where most actions revolve around Kate’s health.

I can’t recommend this book, because I know that it will rip at the heart of anyone who reads it. I can tell you, it is a well written book (slow at times, but that seems common in Picoult books as the plot has to thicken first) and you will need to be certain to set aside time to be engrossed in this book, taking only a few breaks when Kleenex is necessary.

Will I watch this movie? That has yet to be determined… Perhaps on a day when I feel like having a good, cleansing cry! Here's the trailer that came out in 2009 via YouTube.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

After finishing the first of Larsson’s trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I was eager to start reading the second book while enjoying our honeymoon in Puerto Rico. Vacationing with Dan was the perfect setting for starting the second book (while enjoying the sun, frozen drinks and cool waters of Palomino Island). Fanatics of Larsson’s first work will find that the sequel is more thrilling, addictive and filled with the same intriguing lead characters from the first book.

The sequel pairs up the trilogy’s lead figure, Lisbeth Salander, once more with journalist Mikael Blomkvist as the two work to investigate Sweden’s sex trafficking ring of young women by abusive men (many who hold respectable jobs in the police, security or political fields). Blomkvist is made aware of such dealings by Dag Svensson, a freelance journalist, who plans on publishing a story for Blomkvist that will expose many of the important Sweden participants. Svensson and girlfriend Mia Johansson, have spent many months researching into the abusive and sickening ways young women, many still considered “girls”, had been forced into sexual activity and then brutally murdered and disposed of. Weeks before the story is published Svensson and Johansson are found brutally murdered in their home and the fingerprints on the weapon? They match those of Lisbeth Salander.

This second of the three books was probably my favorite. You will want to keep reading as this book moves at a faster pace than the first. Now that the background is known about all of the characters (minus Lisbeth… that’s still to come), you will find as a reader that it is easy to get into this book and want to keep reading until the very end. I found that the end of this book did not satisfy me completing, as it left me WANTING, and IMPATIENTLY DESIRING the third book.

My advice? When you buy the second book, buy the third one as well! If you are checking them out from the library, burrow them both! You will HAVE to keep reading!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Be prepared to be addicted to this book. In fact, if you read the first book, you might as well purchase The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest because you will shortly after reading the first book pick up the second book and continue the saga. Conclusion? I found the book series I was DESPERATELY searching for. The downside? The Introduction to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2008) reads:

Stieg Larsson, who lived in Sweden, was the editor in chief of the magazine Expo and leading expert on antidemocratic right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the third novel in the series.

Looks like there will NEVER be a fourth in the series. Here's to enjoying these three thrilling works of art in my literary world!

You will wonder what the story is about, begin reading, get used to the names of the towns and cities of Sweden and constantly wonder just what the girl with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, will do next. “She’s an extraordinary character you’ll fall for,” a lady told me at the hair salon upon seeing me reading this book. At that point, I was only about 20-25 pages in and had just begun to see the developing plot consume my interest and curiosity.

The story unfolds around the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, a relative of one of the most prestigious families in Sweden, over 40 years ago. Mikael Blomkvist is hired by Harriet’s uncle, Henrik Vanger, to do undercover work and investigate the case of his missing niece. Blomkvist is to tell the many Vanger relatives and curious citizens he meets of the small island-town of Hedeby that he has been hired to spend the year there to write a biography of Henrik’s life for him, and of course, one of those chapters will have to deal with Harriet’s disappearance. While many of the Vanger relatives feel that Henrik is often obsessed and suffering from a compulsive disorder because of his fascination with this case, Blomkvist comes to quickly agree with Vanger that there are details surrounding the disappearance that are missing and must be identified before finding Harriet’s whereabouts, presuming worse-case, that she has been murdered.

Lisbeth Salander’s story is intertwined in the complex plot as readers learn some, but not all, of the story behind her childhood and her current status in Sweden of being “incompetent” and by having this title, having to have a guardian at the age of 26. She has little family to depend on and many who meet her find her reserved and quiet, yet her outward appearance is more of a tattooed, punk rocker teenager. She stands under 5 feet tall and weighs only 90 pounds. Salander is a prodigy in many ways and her talents will come in to play when helping Blomkvist to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Harriet.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book – I loved it! I am not typically a reader who picks up a mystery book filled with suspense and drama, yet I read this book and the second book in less than 10 days. I probably could have had the third book read as well except I was on my Honeymoon in the Caribbean and could NOT find the book anywhere on the islands we visited by cruise ship!

Tomorrow, I will have to pick up a copy of the DVD and see if it is HALF as GOOD as this book!

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

As a huge Harry Potter fan, I have often wondered, so what will be the next young-adult series that I will read, LOVE, re-read, see the movies the day they come out and still enjoy watching them on television. Then I discovered the Twilight Series (2005) where I was transformed into a vampire and werewolf loving teenage reader falling madly for Stephenie Meyer’s characters. Lately I had begun to wonder, what next? I can read Jodi Picoult books (but they are not a series) and I can read other popular best-sellers, but what I really love is a good book series. Over Spring Break my best friend’s daughter was glued to Percy Jackson books and knowing her daughter to also be a lover of Harry Potter, I was curious as to what Percy Jackson was all about.

Now let’s be honest here, there were countless similarities between The Lightning Thief and the Harry Potter Series (1998) as I often found myself stopping, laughing, and being reminded of something or some event I had enjoyed in Rowling’s works. Will I read the rest of the books in this series someday? Yes. Tomorrow? No.

Percy Jackson is different than other kids and not just because he suffers from severe dyslexia, but because he is the son of a Greek god. Unaware of his mythological connections he finds that he has been kicked out of several different schools in the New York City area including the latest, a boarding school. He has behavior problems, very few friends and begins to have illusions or dreams with mythological monsters. His Mom, who becomes a major part of Percy’s quest (yes, this action hero also goes on a quest like Potter and the vampires in Twilight), seems at times to be the only person to truly care and love for Percy. She attempts to take Percy away for a weekend and thus the action begins as mythological characters, both gods and monsters make appearances in an attempt to get Percy. Percy begins to connect the characters to those right out of the pages of his Greek Mythology textbook and classroom lectures.

Percy arrives at Yancy Academy where he meets many of the half-bloods (does this sound Rowling-esque as well?) like himself, children of the Greek gods. At the Academy Percy begins to settle in and adjust to his new life just in time to be given a quest. Along with his friends Annabeth and Grover (part boy – part donkey) they attempt to return Zeus’ stolen master lightning bolt while dealing with a father who has abandoned him (Poseidon – Greek God of Seas, Storms and Earthquakes), solving the riddle of the Oracle and rescuing his Mom from the underworld.

This story starts out exciting right from the beginning, but as a reader, I would suggest this book only for being who are interested in reading fantasy where Greek gods and monsters are discussed in detail, their lives and their importance.

The movie comes out on June 29, 2010. You better believe I’ll be this one at the top of my queue on Netflix!

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

Talk about a remarkable book! This one ranks close (but not quite) up there on my list with Kathryn Stockett’s The Help for my favorite reads of 2010! The Postmistress was given to me for my 28th birthday and it was the first time I received an “adult” book as a present! Knowing this book was a gift from a like-minded reader to myself as well as from one of my closest friends in the world, Laura, I was eager to jump right in headfirst!

Sarah Blake’s novel follows the intertwined stories of three women…

Frankie Bard is the voice on the radio that comes into the U.S. homes during World War II from the heart of London and France during the bombings known as “The Blitz” as well as the exodus of the Jews across Europe. Uncommon for a female to be an on-the-scene reporter, Frankie comes into many U.S. homes nightly giving them only a brief piece of the action across the ocean. Frankie often faces a difficult realization that she is simply there to “tell the story” and not to “create a story”. She struggles with the treatment of those fleeing Europe by train and then boat as well as those that have held been captive in what would become known as the Concentration Camps. She comes in close contact with several different characters; they are people that you too will grow close to quickly and wonder, what will become of them and their families. As a reader you will connect instantly to Frankie and her desire to let the Americans back in the States (who seem to be leading normal lives going about their normal routines) realize what is happening in Europe in hopes that they would come together to fight for a change. She will question her own values and aspirations as she struggles to be an unbiased American reporter during a very difficult time in Europe.

Iris James is the Postmaster in the town of Franklin, Massachusetts, located on the furthest tip of Cape Cod. James takes her ‘federal’ employment as serious as one could and places a high value on her importance to the residents of the town. While the summer vacationers come and go, James has the responsibility of making sure that mail is delivered to year round inhabitants in the small town. Her role will intertwine with Frankie as she listens to her accounts of war activity on the radio daily and connects with the stories of the people that are told. Iris goes against her beliefs when she holds onto an important letter longer than she should that comes into her possession early on in the story.

Lastly we have our third woman, Emma Trask, wife of the town doctor, Will Fitch. After period of time when Fitch questions his talents as a doctor as the result of a lost pregnant woman he decides to go off to England to see where he can serve the U.S. in the medical profession. Emma struggles with his decision while he hopes to feel as though he has made amends for his error in judgment with the failed delivery. She goes as far as to have her house painted bright white in hopes that Will can see it from across the ocean and know exactly where to come home. Emma spends much time listening to Frankie on the radio and connects with her stories as she begins to question the purpose of the war, the purpose of Hitler and his actions as well as secretly hoping to hear something about her husband and his heroics overseas.

This book gets a 4.5 out of 5 on my rating scale… any day! The next task on my list is finding a book that keeps me engaged after coming off of this fantastic read. A definite must read!

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

I am here to make an announcement! As a lover of great books and a frequent reader, this was my FIRST Jodi Picoult book!

Many of my friends have said, “You have to read Jodi Picoult books!” or “You mean to tell me YOU, have never read a Picoult book?” and in truth, I hadn’t explored this latest craze in the world of popular authors! So there I was in December in Belleville, Michigan at the Scholastic Warehouse buying books for my classroom when I wandered into the “Adult books” section (no, not Adult Entertainment, it’s a book fair for kids) and found this story. As I have said many times before, I prefer to read books that I will remember long after I put the book down and in this case, Change of Heart is one I will probably never forget.

Picoult tells the story through the help of many of the novel’s characters. We follow June Nealon, a mother who has lost her daughter and second husband to homicide. Their killer you ask? Well, he is another one of the Picoult’s narrators, Shay Bourne. As Shay spends his eleven years on execution row we hear from other prison inmates like Lucerne, an AIDS victim who Bourne appears to help medically from his prison cell. We hear from Maggie Bloom, Bourne’s attorney from the ACLU and we hear from Father Michael, a priest assigned to help Bourne prepare for his execution.

Picoult has an amazing way of telling a dark story with a complicated web in a way that makes a reader want to keep reading. You want to hear Shay Bourne plead his case in court, not for survival, but to donate his organs. You want to hear June Nealon tell about her daughter Claire’s worsening health condition as her heart begins to fail. You want to know if Maggie Bloom will be the lawyer that will convince a judge to grant Shay a hanging instead of lethal injection so that he may attempt to fix a wrong in having killed one Nealon daughter years back, now fighting so hard to have his heart transplanted into Claire, to save the other Nealon daughter. You want to know if Bourne’s organs will instead be lost as it appears he will be executed through lethal injection. After following Shay as our narrator you will long to hear him tell his side of the story, of the night a young girl and her stepfather cop were killed. You want to know how this story ends.

Your daughter needs a heart transplant to live, would you take the heart of a convicted killer? Would you take the heart of a man who killed your husband and eldest daughter?

Your eyes will pop when the story ends and you may even shake your head in disbelief…

What a book! What a storyline! This was intense to read and kept my mind racing at night. I will read more Picoult books, but if they are all this intense, I may need to spread them out with other books in between. Picoult truly has a talent.

Have a little faith by Mitch Albom

In the midst of a busy month for work and fun, I found time to read Albom’s latest book and read it in under a week. Have a little faith tells two stories, in two different worlds about two different religions that come together in the end as our author writes about his own struggle with his faith.

One is the story of Albom and his beloved 82-year old Rabbi, Albert Lewis (a rarity to have one Rabbi in your congregation for your whole life), who asks of him to deliver his eulogy. Such a request is astounding to Albom as he has looked up to his “Reb” his whole life and cannot imagine such an enormous task of eulogizing someone so highly regarded in his hometown community.

To be able to give the Reb the eulogy Albom felt he deserved, Albom spent many hours with him in his office and home. Keep in mind that the Reb was living in Albom’s hometown in New Jersey while he currently lives in Detroit. In one discussion when the Reb’s health has begun to decline he states, “ ‘Getting old, we can deal with. Being old is the problem.” (p.125) When talking with the Reb another time about war and its’ existence because of religious beliefs, the Reb responds, “ ‘That is not faith, that is hate.” He sighed. “And if you ask me, God sits up there and cries when that happens.” (p.161) Many similar conversations are help between the pair as Albom continually inquires more about Rabbi Lewis as his health begins to fail.

The second story is that of a man Albom meets in his hometown, a man who was once a convicted drug dealer that is now the preacher of a struggling local church known as Henry. The preacher’s church has a decaying roof that eventually becomes a large hole in the roof and ceiling of the chapel. For a time being as well, the heat is shut off in the church.

Albom learns of Henry’s faith bringing him back to reality after several drug related altercations that began to impact the safety of his family, his wife and child. Despite disparaging conditions at the church and the members’ inability to help financially, Henry never loses hope or faith that his church will not survive. Instead, Henry continues to take in many homeless people to provide them shelter and food that they need to survive. Henry strives to offer them a place of safety, one he could have used himself earlier in life.

As a reader this book will take you on an incredible journey – one that links two different religions, two different ethnicities and two different men to one common belief, their faith.

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!