oh now isn't that sad!

I am a reader.

I am a reader.

I am a reader.

I repeat this to myself over and over. But right now it just doesn't seem to be true.  I have always been the type to have a book in the bathroom and one that I carry with me just incase I have a minute.  But right now I just don't seem to take the time to read.  

Last week or so I did allow myself to read Unbroken.  What an amazing story.  I was in shock throughout most of it...and the fact that it is a true story left me feeling heartbroken and grateful and in awe.  the Human Spirit is strong and amazing.  A person's character goes with them during joyful, happy times as well as those times when integrity is put to the test.

I have read WWII stories before, but most has taken place in Germany on that part of the war.  Not in Japan's POW camps.  Why can't people simply treat each other with kindness...imagine how different the world would be then and now if we were all kind.

As for the future of me reading...it doesn't look promising.  But I am hopeful.  Until that time when I have mutiple books open at a time I will keep repeating

I am a reader

I am a reader

I am a reader.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

What a vacation from reading I have taken.  Although vacation would imply I wanted to...I have missed reading, but I just haven't made the time lately to sit down and read.  I was so used to reading up a storm when I nursed Ryan that when I stopped nursing I also stopped reading.

Well I am back!

And what a book to start with!  This was a powerful read.  It is about two women who lives overlap for a while and as a result well never be the same.  It takes place in Afghanistan (did I spell that right?)  And the horrors that where described were mind blowing.  I knew that women were held in lower regard, but this was disturbing.  The rights that women lack are appalling and made me grateful for the choices I have...and it kind of makes me mad at the silly woman who think they are still being oppressed here in the USA.  The story starts in the 70s and end somewhere around 2005.

Mariam was raised believing she was an annoyance, a nothing, a burden.  Her mother had her unmarried, the father who already had several wives and children took care of the mother and daughter but didn't want them around to soil his reputation.  As a child Mariam worshiped the ground Jalil (her father) walked on and waited every week for his visit.  Mariam's mother suffered from some sort of mental issues and was mean spirited and cruel in her words and hopes for her only daughter.  Eventually Mariam marries a very old man and as it turns out life can go from hard to terrible.  After losing baby after baby Mariam's husband grows mean and abusive, quickly.  At one point he made her chew rocks...just the thought makes my teeth hurt.  Meanwhile the war in their city, Kabul, and surrounding areas raged during the 80's and 90's.

Laila was a little girl in the 90's.  She was the daughter of a father who believed in education, and thinking and a mother who was fierce...in all the good ways.  She was the type of woman who wore slacks and a blouse rather than the restrictions of their baroqs.  She grew up knowing she had the opportunities to go to school and make a difference in the world.  She also grew up in love with the boy next door. 

But the war raged on.  Through a series of tragic events Laila ends up married to the same old, terrible man that Mariam is.  And Mariam hates her for it...for a while.  The two women eventually form a bond of sisterhood.  Helping each other through the darkest of times and making a miserable life into something to be proud of.  I will not spoil the ending...

It is a story that should be read the hardest part was that some of the words where hard to pronounce and I would mix them up a bit, only a bit though.  This is a country that as Americans we dislike and hate for 9/11.  We easily forget that many of the people of this country are under much stronger and more constant attacks than the horrific one the USA endured.  After reading this book I gained a little more understanding of the people who we often assume as terrorist but are  women and children and men who are making it work in some pretty awful circumstances with extremely evil men making it harder and more awful to do so.

It is great to be reading again...and this was a great start.

Heaven is Here

 I am sure by now every Mormon Mommy and probably many other moms know who Stephanie Nielson is.      I first learned of her from a friend who followed her blog and I started following her as well shortly after her accident.  To say she is amazing is putting it lightly.

Her book was a wonderful memoir to read this month.  I read in a book review about the first part of the book being all rainbows and butterflies.  And it was.   It was kind of annoying until she wrote that one of her rules to her blog writing was to be positive and not complain.  So it makes since that her book would carry the same tune.  Obviously no one is immune to difficulty but how we decide to handle is an individual choice. Even as she talked about her pain and recovery it wasn't ever in the voice of complaint or anything just the facts of what she went through and the true emotions she felt at the time.

In the next 2 sections of the book Stephanie shows strength of character, testimony, body, mind and spirit.  I can't imagine, nor do I really want to, the pain and suffering she and the ones she loved most went through but I am glad she shared her story, thoughts and testimony.  She did it in such a way that I never once felt like she was a better mom that I will never be or that I stink because my trials seem so minor and I still complain and whine and feel ugly and all that.  She didn't once make me feel guilty for my short comings.  She instead was inspiring in a way like a cheerleader and sweet grandma sort of way.  Does that make sense?  I think that if I was to sit down with her she would hug me and then cheer me at the same time ....thus the cheerleader and Grandma mixture.

Anyway...it was a wonderful book, worth the money and time.  I highly recommend this one!  

Safe Haven

There is something wonderful about a Nicholas Sparks book.  Always so wonderful.

What a love story this was.  

Katie is running from a scary past, Alex is ready to move on from a past filled with love and loss and they do so together.  sigh.  Katie was in an abusive,awful marriage and thankfully she had the strength to get out.  Meanwhile Alex has 2 darling children who are without a mother.  He works hard and makes sure they are a happy family.

In all honestly this was a love story of different kinds of love: romantic love (duh) the love of a father, friendship, and the love of a wife.

Unlike some of Sparks' book this story has no naked scenes...oh wait...maybe one but it was short and horribly sad.  Nothing to keep anyone from reading this love story.

I liked this novel, it was an easy read, intense, sweet, and touching.  I can't wait to watch the movie...someday.

The Fragrance of Her Name

At first I thought this book was weird, then delightful, then way too long.

It is about a young lady named Lauryn who has been haunted all her life by her dead great uncle Brand, meanwhile a Brands great nephew is being haunted by Brand's dead wife Lauralynn who is Lauryn's great aunt.

Lauralynn's body was never found and there for she has never been at rest and Brand can't be at rest without his one true love.

After years of never knowing about each other Lauryn and Brant (the nephew) meet and begin their search of Laurlynn's body together in the hope of putting these two souls at rest and joined once and for all.

Sigh....what a book.

I am not sure if I had a hard time because it was so long (or at last felt like it) or if I made the mistake of starting Downton Abby while in the middle of the book.  Made it hard to focus on reading when I really just wanted to watch TV.

Anyway.  It is a good story, sweet love story (times 2).

The Heavenly Surrender

This has been bar for my favorite McClure book so far.  It was wonderful from the get go.

I no longer have the book so I have no clue the names of the people in them....deal with it.

The story goes...a young (obviously hot) Irish farmer puts a want add for a wife in the paper.  Not a romantic wife...a woman to work side by side to cook and clean for him.  Not kiss.  He expected and hoped for an older lady who knew what she was doing.  Instead he got a young beautiful city girl.

One of the great things about these romance novels is that you know exactly how it will end...the fun is how. This book was filled with passion (clean) and some really intense moments.  When I say intense I really mean bad guys trying to kill the good guys.

So the things I didn't like about this (and probably all McClure books for that matter)  THE LONG CHAPTERS are killing me.  There is no real good stopping place.  So annoying.  Also in the last pages of the book it was so intense...the kind of intense where I was ready to stay up until 1 am to finish it.  It became a nail bitter.  SO GOOD....until I realize the last pages where MISSING.  that has nothing to do with the author but so frustrating...although Dave and I did have a good laugh about it.

I have read 3 McClure books now and this is my favorite.

Dusty Briches

Ahhhh....nothing beats a story about cowboys!  Why is that?

Dusty is the daughter of the ranch owner and she grew up surrounded by ranch hands...many of which were very handsome (duh).  One of which she fell in love with as a little girl.  When she was 14 her cowboy (who was 20) left the ranch and broke her heart...instead of dealing with that heart ache like a normal person she mopped around until the banker's son started courting her and then he broke her heart and instead of dealing with it she grew bitter and angry and held on to her hurt day in and day out.  She had a father and sister who then had to deal with Dusty being a downer all the time.  And then on glorious day her cowboy came back to work on the ranch.  Would he want a bitter Dusty?  Would he help her find her true self again?  Would she be able to let go of all that ugliness inside her black whole of a heart to find true love once again in a pair of Levi's?

Oh man.  Did he. and oh boy did she (oh did I ruin it for you?)  I guess I should have said SPOILER ALERT...but in all honestly it is pretty obvious who is going to end up with who from the start.

I do enjoy a good western romance.  And this was a page turner...in fact I turned on the TV and instead of doing dishes I finished the book this morning.  GASP.  I am that way.  At times it was a little far fetched...but isn't that why we love them so much?

Here is what I didn't like about the book....I didn't know what year it was set in.  A silly thing really but it drove me nuts.  Also...they said things to each other that I doubt they would have said back then I always picture people back then a little more reserved and proper even on a rach....but that is most books.  If a book was written so that it matched real true life it would be slightly boring.  Right?  Ryder (the handsome cowboy) would sweep Dusty off her feet carry her to the barn and "kiss her lips raw."  I mean did they really do that?  The hired help making out with the daughters?  I bet so.  I think my biggest issues was how possessive the handsome cowboy was.  He would practically force the girl to kiss him.  Granted she wanted to and all that but did he have to hold her hands behind her back.  There were a few things that he said to her and did that I thought was a sign of a horrible future relationship.  Having said that....he is still a cowboy and there is something great about that.

I am glad I read this book and although it might seem like there was more wrong about it than right I liked it and would suggest it to others to read.  It was a page turner.  Also...it is a romance and since there isn't a sex scene that lasts pages like many romances it is clean with lots of wonderfully long kissing scenes.  And kissing passionately doesn't make me feel like I should be skipping it.  So that is a nice thing about this book.

If you have a week without anything to read pick it up...and be ready to fall for a cowboy...or at least start talking like one in your head.

The Best of Me

WOW!  What a great story.

I have missed holding a book and turning pages (I have been using the Kindle mostly).  So I was very excited to read this "real" book anyway.  But the story is amazing.

And unlike many Nicholas Sparks books there are pages of love making.

Dawson and Amanda couldn't come from more different worlds.  Dawson was born into a family of law breakers and drug dealers...although the apple couldn't have fallen further from the tree if the tree was on a hill.  Amanda came from a well known family on the right side of the town with all the comforts a girl could want.  In high school they were paired together in lab and were inseparably for the rest of the year and summer.  They fell madly and deeply in love and when their parents tried to pull them apart the grew closer together.

But as kids do...they grew up and events forced them to part.  Life took them in very different directions.  25 years later they find themselves back home for the funeral of a mutual friend.  Neither of them could realize what it would be like seeing each other again after so long...and what would unfold as a result.

Intrigued???

You should be.  And then you should read it! I have a copy if you want to read it.

I am a Mother

What a wonderful book.  I highly suggest all mothers take a moment to read it!  It is a very easy read, but it is a great one.  The author used to be an anchor or a new lady or something in the media and was moving up the ladder of importance in that area.  She was a little older when she got married and felt that she had to choose between being a stay at home mom or to further her career and keep going in that direction.  She chose motherhood.

It is Jane Johnson's story from choosing to be a stay at home mom, the reaction from her former colleges and decided that her job is "a mother" and not "just a mother."  She shares her testimony of the importance of mothers, and the influence we have on the world and future generations.  She also talks about the support we can be to each other rather than judging and comparing.

It is very well written and made me proud to say I am a mother....I always have been but even on the worse day this book helped me see that it is true no matter how many poopy diapers I have to change.

I'd rather be a mother than anyone on earth

Bringing up a child or two of unpretentious birth...

I'd rather tuck a little child all safe and sound in bed

Than twine a chain of diamonds about my [carefree] head.

I'd rather wash a smudgy face with round, bright, baby eyes

Than paint the pageantry of fame or walk among the wise

-Meredith Gray, from The Beauty of Motherhood

It is a blessing and honor to be a mother.  I have always known and felt this and this book teaches me the truth of that once again.  I love my children and the family my husband and I are creating.  What a wonderful life I am blessed to live.  

I am back!

So sad to think that it was NOVEMBER since I last posted books that I read.  What is even more sad are the books that I have read since then.

I was limited.

I have been reading books mostly in the middle of the night while I nursed Ryan.  Doesn't help me retain much of what I read.  But I do remember they were pretty lame.

I guess that is what I get for reading free books from my kindle.  Free sometimes means "awesome great deal.  its my lucky day"  or it means " we couldn't get anyone to spend anything on this...so here.  have it.  Please take it...by the way it is crap"

But at 1 in the morning who cares really?

Then my computer broke.  Awesome....or not.

But I am back now.  I am reading a great book and I have 2 more waiting to be read.  I am very excited.  I have been reading books mostly off the kindle for the last year and I have missed turning real pages.

So...for those three of you who glance my way...I have returned

All is right with the world once more.

Have you ever watched Castle the tv show?  Oh it is one of our favorites in the Stark home.  It is mysterious, funny, clever, and there is romance and fighting and chasing.  One of the main characters (Richard Castle) is a murder mystery writer and on tv he tags along with a detective for ideas.

I was curious if this was a real author or not so I looked him up and there are a TON of books by Richard Castle.  I bought and read the cheapest one...must to my disappointment it was very short but still very good.

It is about a man named Storm who was some kind of unknown agent, the kind that did the job without anyone knowing it was him and no one was supposed to since it wasn't always legal.  He is called back into work after a 3 year leave and has to solve a kidnapping case.  A congressman's son has been kidnapped and the father is a very hated man so the guilt party really could be anyone.  As Storm investigates he begins to see how far and deep this goes.  There are bombs that go off, and money burnt up and some flirting and all that good stuff.  It also takes place in Washington DC and that is always fun since some of the places I have been to and that is cool.

It was a tease of a book thought, it ended quickly with a note saying if I wanted to read part two I would have to buy it...

stink.

It was a good read, now I am trying to remember if there was a lot of swearing.  I don't remember.

If I could find these books at the library I would read them.  But I wouldn't spend money on them.

I then was curious about this lucky man who is a successful author AND has his own TV show.  As it turns out he is a fake and someone is ghost writing all this.  that was a disappointing.  I think that is a big reason why I won't spend money on it.

(I couldn't get the picture to download.  grrr)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Recently Amazon was offering two of President Uchtdorf's talks for free!  I realize that they are talks turned into books so what does that make them really?  But they are wonderful still.  It will be nice to refer to both of these talks on both good days and sad days.  And since they are talks and not beefy books it will be perfect for this busy momma.

If you have read them, do so.  What you get out of these talks will be different than what I do.  Just like every time I read them I will learn something different that is the gift of the Holy Ghost and the power of living scripture.  What a tremendous blessing it is to have living Prophets and Apostles on Earth today.

The Opportunist

This book caught my eye because it was $4 on my kindle and looked interesting.

(Can I just say one of the things I love the most about my kindle, besides being able to read in the middle of the night, is that I can tape on any word in a book and it will define it for me.  It has been wonderful to learn what these big words authors use actually mean.)

 

Anyway...this book is about a "damaged" young woman.  Her father left when she was young and only came back around when he was broke and would take whatever money her mother had made for food.  At times that left them eating nothing because daddy dearest took the last dollar and went to McDonald's for his own dinner.  Awful and sad.  At the age of 17 her mother died.  She is basically alone. 

 

The hunk of the book comes for booka-bucks and a mother that is a snob. 

 

Together they make one hot mess.  They might be in love but it isn't really a healthy relationship. 

 

I can't decide what I think about this book.  One on hand it had some language and a few sexual scenes that I could have done without.  On the other hand it was interesting to read about how messed up people can be without a moral compass.  When they aren't taught correctly what happens...

 

I am glad I read this book it was interesting and I wanted to know what happened to the characters in the end. 

 

 

 



Keeping Faith

Faith is a little girl in the middle of a horrible situation.  For the first chuck of her life her mother was a little too self absorbed for a mother and then one day they came home to find her father home with another women.  GROSS.  AWFUL. 

 

It sent Faith's mom into a spiral down into a deep depression as she dealt with the rejection as well as a divorce her husband was now filling.  Faith withdrew into her own world.  She didn't understand who the woman was and in her mind her Daddy left because of her.  She quites talking.

 

And then she begins to have an imaginary friend who teachers her scriptures and songs that her parents never taught.  In fact they never went to church or had any religious leanings.  How is this little girl doing this?  And then miracles begin happening.

 

In this day and age a little girl performing miracles will draw a crowd...and boy does it.  As the divorce goes from awful to ugly Faith's mom becomes the mother she always dreamed of...because she realized that motherhood isn't perfection, it isn't doing everything right while wearing the perfect clothes and beautiful hair.  It is loving completely no matter what and doing what is best for her child.

 

It was a good book.  Since I have very little knowledge about the Catholic faith or the Jewish beliefs I was learning a lot in this book.  It was interesting for sure.  Plus it was an amazing story.  Then again if you have ever read a novel by Jodi Piclout then you know that her stories have layers...many layers. 

 

There was some language but I would still say it was a good book and I am glad I read it.

Divergent

Oh man...this is a great book.  I mean GREAT!!

 

It takes place in the future, but it isn't so weirdo that it is crazy to believe it.

 

People are separated into factions (groups)...based on their talents or really their personality traits.  So the selfless live all together, the peaceful all live together, the intellectuals, and brave.  There might be one other but now I am not sure.  Living this way has kept the peace as people live together but separate.  All the groups need each other in some way or another and they have learned how to help each other without bringing out the negative sides of their factions.

 

The Prior family are Advergents which is the selfless group.  Beatrice has never felt like she fit in and so when she turned 16 had a choice to make.  See when kids turn 16 they can choose to stay in their current faction or switch.  Once they switch that is it.  No going back.  If the try they become factionless which is seen as worse then death. 

 

So Beatrice turns 16 her older brother is just 9 months ahead of her so he also chooses the same day. No one talks about it.  So no one knows what will be chosen until the very moment.  Intense.

 

It goes from there.  It is a great book.  Very interesting and I highly recommend it. I would tell you more...but I don't want to ruin it.

 

So I guess you will have to read it.

 

Go on. Read it now...because there is a 2nd book and I bet sooner or later there will be a 3rd.
(someone wants to be the next Hunger Games super star)

Insurgent

This is the second book following Divergent.  Just to give you a hint as two whether I liked these two books or not...I bought them both.  So that should be a HUGE clue.  I really enjoyed them and couldn't wait to figure out what was happening and what would happen to all the characters.  Love books that make me care.

 

 

I think what I did wrong when reading this was that I read it too quickly after Divergent.  So it was a lot of the same thing all in a short period of time.  Other wise this book is also a great one. 

 

 

I don't want to ruin book one by tell you what goes on in book two...which makes it hard to tell you what book two is about.

 

It is action packed and there is a bit of a love story. 

 

 

My beef with this book is that it is children that are doing the fighting and killing and protecting and all that.  There are adults in there too but for the most part it is kids doing all the dirty work.  I think in the first book there wasn't so much fighting and so it didn't bother me as much, but this book  was a little much.  Kind of like Hunger Games-at first I didn't think much of the main characters all being kids...but by book three it was kind of awful.  But it certainly doesn't change the fact that they are all great books.  See what I mean?

 

See why I think I should have taken a break and then read book 2?  I don't think I would have had a problem with it then.

 

 

I highly recommend this book.  It is great and I am betting there will be a book 3-which I will read as well.

 

Also in my looking around they have  a cast for the movie...not to be compared to The Hunger Games...but even though the stories are totally different they are kind of the similar.   

 

Here is the link: http://www.divergentthemovie.org/divergent-trailer/

Tales from the Crib

This is anoter free Kindle book. and it was well okay.  The story was interesting but there were parts that I was bothered by. 

 

 

It starts off with a couple who have been married for several years and have been unable to have a baby.  So sad.  The years have been hard and they were having some struggles in their marriage.  Well, the wifey finds out she is going to have a baby and is beyond thrilled to tell her husband and when she does he tell her he wants a divorce.  RUDE.  And then to add insult to injury he says that it would be cheaper to not do it.  To live as roommates raising their baby together they would keep their house and pay taxes together.  He would pay the bills and she would be a stay at home mom and they could date who ever.

 

I mean think about it a live in baby sitter.

 

How awful is that?  The poor woman didn't know what else to do but agree.  So as she get bigger and bigger with child she had to watch her fake ex-husband date other women.  So wrong.

 

 

Well, over time you can imagine that this situation wouldn't work out so well.  They eventually ummmm.....well I don't want to ruin it just in case you do want to read this middle of the road book.

 

 

There were some other interesting characters in the story that made the characters have some layers to get through.  It was interesting.

 

But it made me mad that people would actually think this would be a good idea.  It was interesting to say the least...



War Brides

What a delightful story!  Unlike most books that I have read from this era (WWII).  But this is the first one that takes place from the perspectives of the ladies left behind.  It has now been a month or two since I last read it so chances are I have forgotten some of the details  but here is the basic run down.

 

A handful of girls all find themselves in the same small English town waiting the war out as best they can.  Not planning on falling in love, but finding themselves madly deeply neck deep in some cases.  Some carry with them secrets of murder, affairs, involvement in the war and smuggling children out of a Nazi camp. 

 

This story is FULL of love, murder, mystery, and even a spy or two.  It took me a few chapters to figure out who was who...I mean really there were just too many characters...but there isn't a single one I would want to cut out.  By the end I cared about each of them.  It was interesting to read about WWII from the wives and girls left behind.  Very well written.  There were parts of the book I could have done without.  At times they would take breaks from the girls and see what their families where doing in Nazi camps and that was awful to read.  I don't enjoy that kind of reading...to real and heartbreaking.  I could have done without those chapters.  Otherwise it was nice.

 

It was a free book on the kindle and well worth the money and time I put into it.  

Sarah's Key

Sarah is a 10 year old in Paris happy with life...well that is until the French Police start making rounds gathering up the Jewish families.  She is taken with her parents in the middle of the night...in a a desperate moment Sarah wanted more then anything to protect her baby brother and locked him in the closet sure that she would be able to return later the next day to let him out when things are safer. 

Flash forward 60 years to Julia who uncovers Sarah and her story.  The people in Paris have tried to forget this ugly part in their history but Julia can't do that.  Julia's findings change her relationship with her family, with others and herself.  Thing won't be the same. 

It is a heartbreaking story...as most all of the stories from this time in history are.  It is gut wrenching to think that people could be so cruel and awful to other humans.  Disgusting really.  It is amazing the strength that people have as the endure things that I truly can't imagine. 

It is amazing story...one worth reading.

Flashback Friday

 

June 11, 2010

It has been a few years since I read this book...but I think I would still list it has one of my favorites.

 

Elantris

By Brandon Sanderson

I am the farthest thing from a SiFi fan. Up until now I have never even picked one up at the library to even look at the cover, in fact I pretty much stay away from that section...you know they are weird stories about weird people (if they are even people). But when a friend suggested I read this book, I thought "why not my last few books have been losers" figuring I would add to the list of books I never want to see again I went to that strange Science Fiction section and took the book home.

BOY OH BOY was I wrong. From the beginning the book caught my attention. If fact, this morning I was about 20 pages away from finishing and I almost skipped a shower to read. It has killed me this week to pay attention to my household duties and more than once Dave come home with no dinner ready, or even thought of. oops.

As far as SiFi goes its not as weird as you would think. In fact the weirdest thing were the names they came up with. It was such a fun book to read and I loved it right down to the last page. It is interesting and has a great moral.

 

I highly suggest you read this one! Even if Science Fiction isn't your thing, this is worth it.

*totally forgot that I read Ender's Game and the sequel in HS. It was long enough ago I should re-read them.