Books and Hooks

Another new blog!

2008-09-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

The new blog replaces the other new blog I just started. LOL So if you want to go to my "OLD NEW" blog to find out why I started a "NEW NEW" blog, you can read my post at:

CoffeeBean's Corner

and then put my (final? it better be!) new blog in your Bloglines or whatever you use:

Eileen's Blog (I decided not to spend the time thinking of a catchy title, what can I say).

Hope to see you there! Please leave me a comment if you visit!

My new home!

2008-08-25T08:56:00.001-05:00

I started my new blog. Come visit me at CoffeeBean's Corner!

It's going to take me awhile to get things just the way I want them but I hope you will come and say hi. Please comment here or there and let me know if you stopped by!

Changes brewing...

2008-08-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

I have 4 blogs right now - this one, one for general family news, one for knitting, and one for sewing. I can't keep up with any of them. LOL I'm sorry I haven't been posting here or commenting in other blogs much lately. Life has just been busy and as usual I am so behind on everything. I am still reading your blogs though!

Anyway....

In September I will start homeschooling Lindsey (Kindergarten), and I've been thinking about doing a blog with more of a homeschool focus - what we're learning, accomplishments, struggles, and misc. ramblings. But I still want to write about reading, knitting, and occasionally sewing so I've decided to combine everything into one blog. I've decided to start this blog at Homeschool Blogger. I haven't decided on a name yet so I don't have a specific URL to share with you. I would LOVE suggestions on what to call this new blog! I am so uncreative. I don't want the word homeschool in the title since the blog will be about more than that. The same goes for any one subject such as reading, knitting, etc.

I'm thinking I may lose some readers when I go to this new blog but I may gain some too. I would love to have you follow me there, but I understand if you're not interested.

I hope to have my new blog started in the next few weeks and when I get a URL I will let you know! Thanks to the faithful readers/commenters of my many blogs.

Books In, Books Out

2008-07-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I finished New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I liked it a lot until about 3/4 of the way through and I liked the ending but I don't like the intense vampire battle stuff. :-) Not my thing. I like the relationships aspect of these books more than the vampire stuff. I already put the next book on hold at the library though. 4/5

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - I wanted to like this - it looked fascinating and interesting. I just couldn't concentrate or something though so I put it down. Maybe at a later date....

Busters Diaries: a true story of a dog and his man as told to Roy Hattersley - Didn't finish

Laughing in the Dark: A Comedian's Journey Through Depression by Chonda Pierce - Started out okay but I got bored and skimmed to the end

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - reading this one next....

KnitLit: Sweaters and Their Stories.... by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf - then this one after that....

Went to the library again yesterday and got:

Things I Learned from Knitting - Whether I Wanted to or Not by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - This is her newest book and my library didn't have it yet so I requested they purchase it, and they did! This isn't the first time they've bought a book I asked for - did I ever mention how much I LOVE the library? :-)

Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn - I've really liked all these books except one. I don't remember why or which one but there was one I just didn't like as much as the others.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Yikes! This one is almost 1000 pages! I've heard so many great reviews of this book and can't wait to read it. I hope it isn't another one of my "couldn't get into it, didn't finish" books. We'll see.

I also got 4 knitting magazines to browse through. :-)

More Books

2008-07-15T13:26:00.000-05:00

I go to the library so often and get more books before I finish the pile I have - it's making my "great idea" (ha!) of listing the books I get on each trip and then reporting on them when I'm done somewhat difficult. So I think rather than list the books I get on each visit, I'll just take a few at a time when I get a chance and give my thoughts or whatnot. I'm a horrible reviewer - I wish I had the talent that many of you have. So you'll have to settle for "I loved it" or "I hated it" or maybe a bit more occasionally.

The last 2 books I had mentioned that I hadn't read were Embrace Me by Lisa Samson and The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I loved the first book I ever read by Lisa Samson which was The Church Ladies. After that I started to like each book by her less and less (while still enjoying each one to some degree), with the exception of Quaker Summer which I liked a lot. Embrace Me was just okay for me. 3/5

I read a few chapters of The Lace Reader and couldn't get into it, so that one goes into my ever growing "didn't finish" pile.

I just started New Moon by Stephenie Meyer this morning. I'm sure I'll like it.

Other books in my pile right now:

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Busters Diaries: a true story of a dog and his man as told to Roy Hattersley

Laughing in the Dark: A Comedian's Journey Through Depression by Chonda Pierce

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

KnitLit: Sweaters and Their Stories.... by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf

Two More

2008-07-07T08:16:00.006-05:00

I am now down to 2 books in my library pile (Embrace Me and The Lace Reader) but I'll be going to the library later today which means my pile will most definitely grow again. :-)

I am 1 for 2 with these last 2 books:

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans - I'm not really sure how this ended up on my TBR pile. I usually try to write next to the title where I got the book idea from (usually a blog! or from my friends on the Sonlight Bibliovores group). The blog I had next to this one wasn't the right one. Anyway, this book was too strange for me and I only read one chapter. Didn't finish

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty - LOVED this one! After the first chapter I was thinking maybe I wouldn't like this book and about 2 paragraphs after thinking that I started getting hooked and I couldn't put it down. 5/5

Happy reading!

Four More Books

2008-07-03T07:38:00.003-05:00

I'm finished with the next 4 books from my last library visit:

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - I liked the first chapter and thought it was going to be good then I lost interest quickly. Didn't finish.

The Interloper by Antoine Wilson - This was a strange book, a little creepy. It was okay. 3/5

The Speed Queen by Stewart O'Nan - I liked his book The Good Wife which is the only book by this author I've read. This one is about a woman on death row - after the last book I was in the mood for something more uplifting so I didn't get past the first few pages of this. I skimmed through it though and I'm glad I didn't read it. I still want to try some more of his books.

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson - I started this last night and laughed out loud already in the first chapter. But I quickly got bogged down and didn't feel like reading it. I think this would be a great book to listen so I'm going to see if the library has an audio version. But for now I'm not going to finish this one either!

I also paged through the socks knitting book. I have enough sock patterns to last me a lifetime so I don't think I'll ever buy this one but you never know. There was one really complicated pattern with a really crazy chart to follow. It just boggled my mind!

So nothing too exciting to report today. I hope I can really get into one of the four books I have left from my last big list.

Two Done and Two More in the Pile :-)

2008-06-29T08:28:00.010-05:00

I finished 2 books from my last library visit:

The Kid Turned Out Fine - This was a little more of what I was looking for in the book about toddlers I recently read. A few more war stories in this one. :-) 4/5
We have had to resort to duct taping our daughter's diaper on at naptime and nighttime otherwise she is taking it off every time and peeing on the floor or in her bed. It.is.maddening.

Doesn't She Look Natural? - Finally another book by Angela Hunt that I loved. Almost exactly 2 years ago I read her book The Awakening and I loved it. I then read 2 more that I liked fairly well, and since then have tried 4 or 5 other books by her that I just couldn't get into. This one ended that streak thankfully. I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the sequel. 4.5/5

I also paged through 2 of the 3 knitting books I got on my last visit. There really wasn't anything in the book Two Balls or Less that I would want to make, but I really like Soft and Simple Knits for Little Ones. I might consider buying that book in the future.

Two of my "hold" books were in again so I picked those up a few days ago:

Embrace Me by Lisa Samson

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Happy Reading!

I Got Nuthin

2008-06-25T07:36:00.008-05:00

I didn't like any of the last 4 books I checked out!

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos - didn't like the writing style (hope you like both of your copies though, Jane! LOL)

Fireweed by Mildred Walker - LOVED her book Winter Wheat - couldn't get into this one

A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua - Didn't grab me

Matrimony by Joshua Henkin - Too strange for me or something

As you can see now that I'm doing these library visit reviews, I probably start and DON'T finish more books than I DO finish. Is anyone else like that or is it just me? I know some people can't bring themselves to put a book down once they start it - I obviously have no problem with it. :-) I figure I am probably missing out on some really great books by abandoning them so quickly, but on the other hand there are SO many books out there that I do love right from the start, (I'll never run out of great books!) it's a chance I'm willing to take. (One of my favorite books of all time, Some Wildflower in My Heart by Jamie Langston Turner, was a book I *almost* put down after about 50 pages. Good thing I stuck with it!)

So I took those 4 books back and got these:

The Kid Turned Out Fine: Moms fess up about cartoons, candy, and what it really takes to be a good mom by Paula Ford-Martin

Doesn't She Look Natural? by Angela Hunt

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The Interloper by Antoine Wilson

The Speed Queen by Stewart O'Nan

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

And these 3 knitting books:

Two Balls or Less by Jenny Hill

Soft and Simple Knits for Little Ones by Heidi Boyd

Socks, Socks, Socks by Elaine Rowie

I think I will just review 2 or 3 at a time as I finish them so it's not forever before I post about them.

Happy Reading!

June 21 Library Visit

2008-06-22T15:53:00.001-05:00

I only checked out 4 books this time.

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos
Fireweed by Mildred Walker
A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin

As always, I'll let you know what I thought of these when I finish them!

June 4 Library Visit Review

2008-06-22T15:51:00.000-05:00

I finished both of these.

Toddler: Real-life stories of those fickle, irrational, urgent, tiny people we love
I didn't like this one as much as I had hoped I would. I was really hoping for lots and lots of stories of people struggling with their toddlers as much as I am**. :-) 3/5

Still Alice by Lisa Genova - LOVED this book! Thanks Lynne! The book is about a 50 year old professional woman who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers Disease. Each chapter is another month in her life so you really see the progression of the disease. So sad. The book really fleshed out for me what this would be like, moreso than if I just read an article or something about the subject. I highly recommend this book - 5/5

**As I was writing this post, my 2 year old woke up from her nap. I opened the door to her bedroom to find her stark naked. She had taken off her clothes and diaper and peed on the floor (NOT for the first time, sigh). She had also taken all the clothes and pajamas out of 2 of the dresser drawers. Sometimes I wonder if this 43 year old mother will survive the toddler years. :-p

That Was Easy (June 12 Library Visit Review)

2008-06-21T10:11:00.006-05:00

On June 12 I checked out two books that had come in off hold. Both were short loans (2 weeks instead of 4). It wasn't hard to finish them by the time they were due (6/26) because I didn't get into either of them.

The first one is The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. It wasn't bad but it just wasn't grabbing me. It was moving too slow or something. I gave it a good 100 pages but then decided I just wasn't that interested. Again here's a book I expected to like, I wanted to like, but I didn't.

The next one was The Appeal by John Grisham. I used to love his books. Maybe I've read too many, maybe he wrote too many. :-) It just didn't feel that original and didn't grab me.

So I moved on to Still Alice by Lisa Genova (recommended by Lynne) which is a fictional account of a 50 year old woman with Alzheimers. I'm really enjoying this one. It's really giving me a good insight into what it would be like to be diagnosed with this disease, especially at such a relatively young age.

I'm going to the library later this morning, can't wait! :-)

May 19 & 27 Library Visit Review

2008-06-17T17:09:00.003-05:00

I just finished Twilight, and have one more book from these trips to read yet, but I think I will post about that one separately after I finish (or don't finish) it so I can finally post about these. I feel like I finished some of these SO long ago! Carrie you asked what I thought of Twilight - I literally finished the book, checked my email and saw your comment. My brief thoughts about it are below.

So here are my ratings of the books I checked out on May 19 and May 27, in the order I read (or didn't read) them:

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer - 4/5

Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson - As I wrote before, I didn't care for this book very much! Once again I didn't agree with all the great reviews I'd read. 2.5/5

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky - This is the first book by Delinsky that I've read. Any suggestions for another good one by her?4/5

An Absolute Gentleman by R.M. Kinder - I couldn't get into this one. I think at a different time maybe I could have, but I tried to read this in the middle of a difficult time (my dad died on 5/30*) and it just wasn't the right book.

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood - I didn't understand all of this! I certainly did not really understand the ending. I liked the book though and would have rated it a "4" if I understood it better. 3.5/5

Skin by Ted Dekker - I read 2 chapters then quit. First of all I was a little spooked from reading The Ghost Writer, my husband was out of town, and it was pouring rain and storming like crazy the day I started it. I decided it wasn't the right time to read this. :-) Also, I think after The Ghost Writer I wanted something a little lighter to read.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - I didn't even give this one a chance. I think I quit reading after 5 pages. :-) I think I may have checked this out once before and didn't read it. First of all, sci-fi isn't really "my thing". I really prefer a story about something that really did or really could happen. But once in awhile I will read a book that doesn't fit this bill and really enjoy it. But again, after reading The Ghost Writer and then starting Skin, I realized I wanted to read something lighter, something that didn't require me to think so hard about who was who, and how everything might fit into the storyline, and find a book that I could just "read" and enjoy, if that makes sense!

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan - THIS fit the bill! I loved this from page 1! I had to put it down after reading the first 3 chapters and go to bed (it was already late and my husband was out of town all week and I knew I needed all the sleep I could get to take care of my very active little girls by myself for a week!). I probably could have read it cover to cover in one sitting if I had the time. This book replaces Year of Wonders as my favorite read of 2008 so far. 5/5

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - I really enjoyed this book. I read so many great reviews on it, but as Carrie from Mommy Brain said about her reaction after reading the reviews, "I just shrugged. Not my thing." I've never read a book or seen a movie about vampires. But after reading Carrie's review along with so many others, I decided to give it a try. I thought it was very good, I can't wait to read the sequels! 4.5/5

Parenting is Heart Work by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller - This is the one I didn't read yet.

So there you have it, I *finally* wrote about these!

**********

*I hate to just mention my dad's death in passing like this, but as this is my book blog I didn't know how to bring it up here. I blogged more about it on my family blog. His passing is certainly not just a "blip in my life" as it seems to come across by the way I mentioned it above. He was the most wonderful dad, I loved him so much and I miss him dearly. I am so blessed to be his daughter. My parents gave me and my sisters an idyllic childhood and have been very supportive as we've become adults and have our own families. My mom died last July so this has been a hard year for my family. Thankfully I have 3 sisters, we all live near each other, and we have each other to lean on. My dad wasn't much of a reader though! Nor was my mom. Not sure where I got it from. :-) I love you mom and dad!!!

June 12 Library Visit

2008-06-17T12:31:00.008-05:00

My husband was out of town all last week and my sister said she would come over for awhile on Thursday night and watch my girls so I could get a little break. So where does a book lover go? To the library of course! :-) Actually, I hadn't planned to go. Instead I was going to run to a few stores and then to Starbucks for a frap (and a book !) But then I realized Lindsey's videos were due and once again I had books on hold that had to be picked up by the next day, so I decided to go to the library. I only got 2 books for myself, the ones that were on hold:

The Appeal by John Grisham
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

I am almost done with the May 19 and 27 books, 50 pages left in Twilight and the whole book Parenting is Heart Work. I just keep piling up more books without finishing any one trip's worth! I'm going to try to finish one stack before starting another. But that's hard when books that I've put on hold come in and need to be checked out by a certain date. I'm sorry if I'm boring you with all this!

Big Dog, Little Dog

2008-06-10T10:16:00.006-05:00

I never talk about children's books here, although I read a TON because every night I read to Lindsey for 15-30 minutes and we read about 4 or 5 books a night. We've progressed way beyond simple board books, but we come back to this one every once in awhile because they are SO CUTE and FUNNY. I'm talking about the Big Dog, Little Dog series by Dave Pilkey. There are 5 different books in the series:

Big Dog and Little Dog
Big Dog and Little Dog Making a Mistake
Big Dog and Little Dog Going for a Walk
Big Dog and Little Dog Getting in Trouble
Big Dog and Little Dog Wearing Sweaters

There is also The Complete Adventures of Big Dog and Little Dog (all 5 books in one) which is what we have out from the library right now. One of my favorite parts is in the "Getting in Trouble" book, they want to play but have nothing to play with. Then, "Big Dog and Little Dog are playing. They are playing with the couch." They rip it all apart, get in trouble, but then..."Big Dog and Little Dog are sorry. They will be good from now on." The looks on their faces are so cute.

Let me know if you've read these!

P.S. I am LOVING Mudbound!!!!!

June 4 Library Visit

2008-06-09T08:26:00.001-05:00

I still had a stack of unread books when I had to make a library trip last week to return some videos and get more books for my daughter (again!). There were 2 books in that I had reserved so I had to pick them up:

Toddler: Real-life stories of those fickle, irrational, urgent, tiny people we love

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I have 2 or 3 books to finish before these, will be reporting on those soon!

May 19 & 27 Library Visits

2008-05-28T09:18:00.003-05:00

I forgot to post the list of books I checked out on May 19:

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer
Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson
Parenting is Heart Work by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller
An Absolute Gentleman by R.M. Kinder
The Ghost Writer by John Harwood
Skin by Ted Dekker
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

I finished The Lost Boy but none of the others yet.

Then yesterday I got 3 more books! LOL First of all Lindsey was out of books and her videos were due back yesterday, so I had to make a library trip. I had these 3 books on hold and they were in so I had to pick them up too:

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I'm currently reading Astrid & Veronika and, well, um, I don't care for it that much! Once again I read great reviews but it's not living up to what I expected. It started out okay, but by about halfway through I was wanting to stop reading it. But I really want to find out more about their "secrets" so I'll finish it. But I'm not loving it or even liking it all that much.

Happy reading!

May 12 Library Visit Review

2008-05-24T14:52:00.001-05:00

I finished these 4:

The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth - As I said in an earlier post, the book called The Ghost Writer on my TBR list is actually written by John Harwood. I got the wrong book. :-) But it had great reviews on Amazon so I decided to give it a try. And try I did, but I couldn't get into it.

Consider Lily by Ann Dayton and May Vanderbilt - LOVED it! It had a few flaws, but overall it was great. 4/5

London Holiday by Richard Peck - Couldn't get into this one either.

Knitalong - Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larisa Brown and Martin John Brown - I love everything about knitting....I love reading about it, listening to podcasts about it, talking to others about it, thinking about it, and of course actually knitting. :-) This book was just "ok" for me though. 3/5

May 6 Library Visit Review

2008-05-20T13:40:00.000-05:00

My review of the books I checked out on May 6:

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee - I was interested in this book since I have 2 daughters from China and I've been there twice. I couldn't get into it though, and didn't finish. I do NOT like Chinese food. :-) One time for supper, during our second trip to China, I had a donut and some french fries. :-) One time this was my meal while most of the rest of our group had the Peking Duck Dinner. The plate was about 8 inches in diameter if I remember right. In other words, this was not a big plate of food. LOL

The Challenging Child by Stanley Greenspan - I just skimmed this book. I have a hard time getting into this type of non-fiction book sometimes. This one is pretty long. It probably has a lot of good info I could use though.

A Child Call "It" by Dave Pelzer - Difficult book to read, left me with many questions. The author says questions will be answered in the next 2 books. I'm not sure if the questions I have are the ones he answers. I'll be checking out the sequels soon and find out. 4/5

The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer - I really enjoyed this book. (I know, not much of a detailed review, LOL!)4/5

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - I really wanted to like this book since it got so many good reviews. I'm not a fan of fantasy though, and I couldn't get into it. It started out okay and I thought maybe I could read this one. And maybe at another time I could, but right now I just didn't feel like continuing with it.

Forever Lily by Beth Nonte Russell - This book made me very MAD. The author goes along with a friend to China to adopt a child. The friend doesn't want the child from the very beginning and her attitude made me so mad, as if this wasn't a child's life, as if you "shop" for the perfect baby and if you don't get exactly what you wanted then you can just put her back. I admire the author greatly for loving this baby and eventually adopting her when they got back to the U.S., but I didn't agree with much of her assessment of China and some of her own attitudes. Also she was into mysticism and other things I totally do not agree with. A big part of the book is dreams that she was Chinese in a past life (if I understand that right - I skipped most of the dream parts).

A few other quotes that bothered me:

"The Chinese government insisted on thousands of dollars for a baby that someone had literally thrown away. What, or whom, was the money for, exactly?"

The author is referring to the $3000 orphanage "donation" every adopting parent is required to make. This money goes to the orphanages. I look at it as payment for all the things they did for my daughters up until we adopted them, and for the children who currently reside there. Sure maybe there are corrupt officials here and there who misuse the money, but for the most part, the money goes to help support the orphanage and the children there.

"I look at the label; it reads MADE IN CHINA. Isn't everything? They are exporting everything, including their unwanted girl babies."

I think that is a crass way to look at it and I don't agree with that attitude.

But at least she understood this much:

"Besides, I think, anyone adopting from China knows that sometimes you do not get the individual baby that has been promised to you; you don't choose. It is part of the deal to accept that there will be unknowns."

I could go on and on about the things I didn't like about this book, but it might be more appropriate on my adoption blog rather than this one. But if you want a good overview of what adoption from China is like, there are much better books than this one. One of these days I will post a list of my favorites.

Rating: 3/5

China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage - MUCH better than Forever Lily! I enjoyed this book. 4/5

I Haven't Done THIS in Awhile Either!

2008-05-13T08:11:00.004-05:00

In fact, I don't think I've ever done this. What is "this" you ask?

I cried when reading a children's picture book to my daughter!

I could barely choke the words out. The book is The Forever Dog by Bill Cochran. It's about a little boy named Mike who gets a dog, Corky, as a puppy. He teaches and trains the dog and loves him as his best friend. "One day Mike and Corky made a plan. Mike told Corky that the two of them would be best friends forever. Anything and everything that Mike did, Corky would do with him. Forever. That was the plan."

After a few years, Corky gets sick and dies. Hence my tears. Maybe it was because my sweet dog was on my lap while I was reading? Maybe it was the adorable illustrations? Mike's sadness just did me in! And he is angry at Corky for breaking his promise about their "Forever Plan". In the end Mike's mother helps him see that Corky will be with him forever in his heart. Mike cries some more, tells Corky he's sorry he was angry with him, and the lets Corky "all the way into his heart. And it felt warm inside." What a sweet book.

Lindsey was out of library books so we made a trip last night to get more. The Forever Dog was one of them. Of course I couldn't go to the library and not get a few books for myself! I'm not done with my latest library pile, so I just got 4:

The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth (Oops! This is the wrong book. The book on my TBR list was written by John Harwood. I'll try this one anyway!)
Consider Lily by Ann Dayton and May Vanderbilt
London Holiday by Richard Peck
Knitalong - Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larisa Brown and Martin John Brown

May 6 Library Visit

2008-05-09T20:25:00.001-05:00

I thought I posted this! I guess not. Here's the latest group of books I checked out:

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee
The Challenging Child by Stanley Greenspan
A Child Call "It" by Dave Pelzer
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Forever Lily by Beth Nonte Russell
China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage

Report to follow when I'm done with all....

April 18 Library Visit Review

2008-05-08T08:16:00.001-05:00

Here are the library books I checked out a few weeks ago with my report on them:

Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn - Couldn't get into, didn't finish

Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson - Couldn't get into, didn't finish

The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook - I loved the storyline of this book, but sometimes got bogged down in the reading of it. One of the characters, now an old man, is looking back at the time when he was in high school and a crime was committed. Through these flashbacks you kept getting bits and pieces of what happened back then. This is obviously done on purpose to add to the suspense and mystery of it all. But by page 100 or so, I just felt like GIVE ME THE DETAILS ALREADY!!! I would sometimes get so impatient to get to the bottom of it all that I would skim parts of the book. There was one last twist at the very end that surprised/shocked me. 4/5

March by Geraldine Brooks - Really loved parts of it, bored with others, not nearly as good at Year of Wonders. 3.5/5

A Vineyard in Tuscany by Ferenc Mate - Couldn't get into, didn't finish

The Book of Jane by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt - Loved this book! I'm looking forward to reading the other 2 books by these authors (although one of them got some bad reviews on Amazon.com) 4.5/5

Gluten-free Girl by Shauna James Ahern - This book was pretty good. I'm not allergic to gluten or anything, the book just appealed to me. However I HATE to cook! This book would probably inspire most people to want to cook, but not me. :-) She certainly has a way of describing food. 3.5/5

After I checked these out, I also got Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Noble and Have You Found Her? by Janice Erlbaum. They were both holds that came in. Eat, Pray, Love was for a book club I am in with my 3 sisters, my cousin Lynn, and one other lady. If the book wasn't for the club, I would NOT have continued reading this book past the first few chapters. I didn't like the author at all and disagreed with just about all her beliefs and philosophies. I read the first 1/3, the part about when she in Italy. I skimmed the rest of the book.

Have You Found Her? is the sequel to Girlbomb that I read in early April. Despite the frequent use of the "F word" (I'm sorry but I just hate that word! It's so vulgar) and the disfunctional lifestyle of the author, I enjoyed Girlbomb. I liked Have You Found Her?just a bit better. The back cover promised a "bombshell" near the end and there definitely was one. I didn't expect it. 4/5

I haven't done THAT in awhile!

2008-05-05T08:09:00.000-05:00

What is THAT, you ask? Read a whole book, cover to cover, IN ONE DAY. I often read a book in 2 or 3 days, but rarely in one. I could be wrong, maybe forgetting a book or two, but the last book I remember reading in one day was a non-fiction book called Blackbird by Jennifer Lauck - 406 pages. That was in June 2003, before I had the girls ('nuff said).

Even with the girls, I did manage to read Whispers of the Bayou by Mindy Starns Clark, yesterday. I read it on and off in the morning amidst the girls running around. Jay took them outside for awhile late morning and I read then. I read during naptime. Then I read from about 8:15 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. and I was DONE! Obviously I really enjoyed the book.

The first book I read by Mindy was The Trouble with Tulip, the first book in a 3 book "Smart Chick Mystery Series." I really enjoyed that one and the sequel, Blind Dates Can Be Murder. But then for some reason I could not get into the last book, Elementary My Dear Watkins. (My youngest sister, who has the same taste in books as I do, really enjoyed it so I'm not sure why I didn't.) She has one more series "The Million Dollar Mystery Series" that didn't grab me either. But I LOVED Whispers of the Bayou. I hope to read more books like this one from Mindy.

We interrupt your reading....

2008-04-30T08:38:00.007-05:00

...to bring you a cute baby picture. I am still working through my pile of library books and will post about them when I'm done with the whole list. For now I thought, "why should the readers of my family blog get to see all the cute pictures, why not my book blog friends?" LOL so here's a picture of my youngest daughter, taken on the evening of the day she was first placed in our arms (10/30/06 at age 12 months, 2 weeks, 5 days) - known in adoption circles as "Gotcha Day". It's a controversial term, some people don't like it, but I think it is just fine. I posted this picture on my family blog and I thought I would share it here too.

Have a great day!

Thanks! And Library Visit Review

2008-04-18T09:42:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your kind comments encouraging me to continue blogging! I think I will do that, and just post when I can. I decided to just make some time right now to post (even though I should be doing other things! like getting the girls teeth brushed and their hair combed - well at least they've had breakfast and got dressed! Fyi it's 9:27 a.m. as I type this.)

Anyway......I've been to the library a bunch of times since I posted my list on March 1, but I'll start with the ones I listed then. I'm not going to be able to go back and catch up on books I've checked out since then, but I'm hoping to get my act together and keep current on this from now on (no promises of course LOL). Here are the books I had just checked out at that time:

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
Blessed are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
Peony in Love by Lisa See
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Snitch by Rene Gutteridge
Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin' by Paula Deen with Sherry Suib Cohen
Knitspeak: an A to Z Guide to the Language of Knitting Patterns by Andrea Berman Price

I loved Year of Wonders and The Virgin Blue! YOW is probably the best book I've read so far this year. The Paula Deen book wasn't bad, I enjoyed that one fairly well. All the rest I scrapped after anywhere from 10-50 pages or so. I loved so many of Rene Gutteridge's books, especially the Boo series, and I liked Scoop (the book before Snitch). So I don't know why I didn't care for Snitch.

*********

I made it through the, I hate to say this, somewhat boring books of the OT in The Message Bible, and am now in Psalms. MUCH better!

*********

These are the library books I have in my TBR pile right now:

Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn
Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson
The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook
March by Geraldine Brooks
A Vineyard in Tuscany by Ferenc Mate
The Book of Jane by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt (currently reading)
Gluten-free Girl by Shauna James Ahern (currently reading)

I WILL make time to report back on these books when I'm finished with all of them! :-)

Happy reading!

Still here!

2008-04-17T09:02:00.004-05:00

Hi loyal readers! Are there any? If not I don't blame you for giving up on me! If you are there, can you let me know?

I am SO sorry I hardly post anymore. I do keep up with all your book blogs even if I rarely comment. I have been seriously thinking of ending all my blogs. But I can't quite bring myself to do it either. I type SO many posts in my head but they never end up on my blogs! I just rarely have the time/energy/ambition to actually post them. So I've been thinking of just scrapping everything. But I don't think I want to. I don't know! I guess for now you'll just have to settle for an occasional post and maybe some day I can get things going again. I have been keeping my sidebar current though with what I am reading and what I have read so far. I have read some great books this year.

I really do want to post about my library visits - what I check out and what I thought of those books. I was so excited to do that. But that fell by the wayside before I barely even got started. Again maybe someday! But for now, hang in there with me please! I will try to at least comment more often in other book blogs.

Happy reading!

Library Visits

2008-03-01T07:57:00.001-06:00

Once in awhile I list the books I got from the library on my blog. I thought maybe I'd make that a regular thing - I'll post what I get each visit (well whenever I can, I may not always have time to do this). And then I'll post again and let you know what I thought of each book. It probably won't be more than a rating or a brief comment, but I'll do what I can.

The last time I listed my library books I had checked out:

Broken for You - Kallas
The Giver - Lowry
The Stone Diaries - Shields
Design on a Crime - Aiken
Desperate Pastors Wives - Kolbaba & Scannell
Julia's Chocolates - Lamb
Love Me if You Must - Young
The Horizontal World - Marquart
Hattie Big Sky - Larson
10-20-30 Minutes to Sew for Your Home - Nancy Zieman

It wasn't a very successful library trip! As I posted last time, I wasn't all that crazy about Broken for You. I liked The Giver well enough and rated it a 3.5/5. I didn't like The Stone Diaries, Design on a Crime, Desperate Pastors Wives, Julia's Chocolates, Love Me if You Must, The Horizontal World, OR Hattie Big Sky ! I only read anywhere from a few pages to up to 5o pages in each of these and then scrapped them. This one, 10-20-30 Minutes to Sew for Your Home, was just something to look through which I did and then returned it.

After that visit I picked up a few other books: Catch a Rising Star by Tracey Bateman. It was...."eh". I loved her Claire series but I wasn't really crazy about this one. I read it all in one day, toward the end just to get it over with. Also when I was getting a parenting book off the shelf, I saw the pretty pink cover of a book so I took it off the shelf to look, never heard of it before. It was called You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again by Suzanne Hansen. She was a "nanny to the stars" in Hollywood. I loved the book! I thought it was so interesting and well written.

I had reserved a few books for my son's research paper from another library, and when I went to pick them up when they came in, of course I had to get some books for me. LOL They are:

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
Blessed are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
Peony in Love by Lisa See
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

So far I haven't started any of them except Year of Wonders. I am about halfway done with it and I LOVE it! I will be rating it a 5/5 at the end of the month.

Yesterday I was at the library again. Since I still have that stack of books waiting to be read, I only picked up a few that I had placed holds on:

Snitch by Rene Gutteridge
Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin' by Paula Deen with Sherry Suib Cohen
Knitspeak: an A to Z Guide to the Language of Knitting Patterns by Andrea Berman Price

I'll do an update on all these books after I'm done with them. Whew!

Edited 3/2: Yesterday we had family over for my husband's 45th! birthday. My fellow bookaholic sister told me that I called the book by Rene Gutteridge "Stitch" and it is actually "Snitch" (I have knitting on my mind all the time, what can I say?) As she said that I was taking a bite of pizza and I laughed and a whole section of cheese and sauce (HOT!) flipped off and landed on my chin. Owwww! Don't know why I shared that but it is sort of related to books. LOL)

Broken for You

2008-02-17T11:02:00.004-06:00

Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos was loved by Small World and Mommy Brain and Musings of a Bookish Kitty. I liked it in some ways, but overall I didn't care for it that much! I thought it was sort of strange, I didn't quite "get" most of the characters, I couldn't relate to them. When I had just over 100 pages left, I just wanted to finish. I give it a 3.5/5 stars. I like so many of the books the above bloggers recommend, I don't know why I have such a different opinion this time. I guess we can't always agree.

I started a more fluffy book this morning, well fluffier than Broken for You anyway - Catch a Rising Star by Tracey Bateman. I loved her Claire series, so far so good with this one (but I'm only on page 26).

Perfect day for reading today, they are predicting blizzard-like conditions today with up to a foot of snow. Just want I want after a very long winter already. Yeah right. Gotta just hang in there a little while longer! Spring will come eventually.

Have a great day!

Winter Wonderland

2008-02-03T10:22:00.000-06:00

Here's what my street looked like after the snow we got yesterday, the snow that was falling when I went to the library. Isn't it pretty? (But I'm ready for it to all go away! Spring can't come fast enough this year!)

1 Kings and Library Visit

2008-02-02T14:22:00.000-06:00

So I finally finished 1 Kings. Of course then ahead of me is 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. Can't say I'm super excited about this! I know all of the Bible has value and there are parts of these books that are very interesting. But there are other parts, well not so much! But I plod on.

I am really enjoying Split Ends.

I went to the library today and checked out 10 books - 8 fiction and 2 non-fiction. They are:

Broken for You - Kallas
The Giver - Lowry
The Stone Diaries - Shields
Design on a Crime - Aiken
Desperate Pastors Wives - Kolbaba & Scannell
Julia's Chocolates - Lamb
Love Me if You Must - Young (eeek, sounds like a trashy romance novel but it's not, LOL. It's a mystery written by a Christian author)
The Horizontal World - Marquart
Hattie Big Sky - Larson
10-20-30 Minutes to Sew for Your Home - Nancy Zieman

Most of these were recommended on various book blogs and a few of them I saw in CBD's Christian fiction catalog.

If you've read any of these books, tell me what you thought!

I actually made 2 trips into the library, first time I've ever done that. First I loaded up my book bag with books to read to my girls, and a few CDs for Lindsey. I checked those out, took them back to my car, then went back in and loaded my book bag up with books for myself. The same guy checked me out both times. He noticed it was me again the second time, LOL.

I had to laugh, as I was driving there I was thinking of my southern friends, and how the tiniest bit of snow shuts everything down. Here, it was snowing pretty good, and there was just as much traffic as always. It certainly wasn't going to stop me from making a trip to the library by myself! (HEAVEN!!!) When I got to the library I couldn't even find a place to park! It was packed! No, things do not shut down here in Wisconsin unless it's a blizzard. LOL

Happy reading!

Reading Update

2008-01-29T17:29:00.000-06:00

It's been a rather humdrum sort of reading month for me. I read 2 books I really loved - The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out, and The Kite Runner. I started and quit 3-4 books I couldn't get into. Then I read some okay books - Every Sunday, How Strong Women Pray, and Broken on the Back Row.

Oh, one of the books I started and quit, that I mentioned before, was Queen of the Oddballs. It started out good, and then I found out the author is a lesbian. I don't automatically say no to book with a homosexual author, character, whatever. (I do believe the Bible says homosexuality is a sin and I make no apologies for that, nor will I debate that here on my blog.) But when she started getting into the details of her first "relationship" - well no thanks.

I did finish I am the Messenger. I thought it was just "okay". The swearing (tons!) combined with the sexual references, I didn't like that at all. Because of that I can't believe it is for young adults. I wouldn't let my young adult read it!

Then there's the 2 non-fiction books I just finished - How Strong Women Pray and Broken on the Back Row (Sandi Patty's story of adultery and lies, and healing and restoration). The first one was okay. So much of it was just surface-y about prayer, and I didn't agree with some of the things the author talked about in the chapters about her own life story (I don't feel like getting into details!). But it did get me thinking about prayer in a few new ways. Sandi Patty's book was okay reading, it wasn't a riveting story or anything. But the themes of repentance and grace and forgiveness are excellent.

Next up is Split Ends by Kristin Billerbeck. I'm not expecting deep reading but I've enjoyed her other books so I'll probably like this one too. I hope anyway! I am in desperate need of a really, really, moving, awesome, riveting, can't put it down book - ANY SUGGESTIONS?????? My TBR list for 2008 is already a mile long so hopefully I can find some good ones off of there when I go to the library on Friday.

I'm really embarrassed if any of you have noticed in "What I'm Reading" in my sidebar that I have been stuck on 1 Kings in The Message Bible for months. For the record, it's not the only Bible reading I do (though certainly I don't read it as much as I should or aspire to). I was only reading from that Bible if I read in bed right before I go to sleep. I don't do that very often anymore so it was sort of forgotten. But I don't want to take 30 years to finish it (and I have this self-imposed rule that I'm going to read it from beginning to end). So I am going to start reading it whenever I read my other books.

What I have been doing is listening to a Bible in a year podcast. There is a reading from the OT, NT, Psalms and Proverbs every day. I'm enjoying that. I really need to get into more deeper Bible studies using the methods in the book that I really love, Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods. I was doing so good with that for awhile then it dropped off. Story of my life unfortunately.

Supper's almost ready so I have to run! Happy reading!

Sigh

2008-01-21T08:19:00.000-06:00

Back to your regularly scheduled reading....

I'm so disappointed that the Packers lost last night. Sadness in Packerland this morning. Hats off to the Giants though who deserved to win, and I hope they crush the Patriots in the Super Bowl. What a horrible game. They couldn't move the ball and they couldn't stop the Giants. Except for the 90 yard TD by Driver the whole game was miserable. But, life goes on. We didn't expect this season to go the way it did, we had a blast, it was a great ride. Too bad it didn't end better but what can you do.

I'm actually reading 4 different books at the same time right now. I used to do that quite a bit, at least have one fiction and one non-fiction book going. For the last several years though I've only liked to read one book at a time. But here's why I'm reading more than one. First of all I'm reading Every Sunday by Peter Pezzelli which I won from Lynne (thanks again Lynne!). I like it well enough, but I'm not enthralled with it. So I started reading other books along with it. Two of them I didn't keep reading, but then I read The Kite Runner. I loved that one so I wanted to read another great fiction book right away. So I started I Am the Messenger by Zusak (which is pretty good, I can't stand all the swearing though). I had another book in my TBR pile called Queen of the Oddballs that I just felt like starting. I like that one since she's talking about growing up in the 70's as I did (60's and 70's) but there are some things about it I don't like. I'll finish it though. Then a book I had put on hold at the library came in, and it is a short loan so I thought I would start it so I can finish it on time. That one is How Strong Women Pray by Bonnie St. John.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Sorry to bore you with all those details! I have to do something to work off the frustration of that game last night. :-) Or I could just yell......

THE PACKERS LOST!!!
I'M SOOOOOO MAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDD!!!
THEY COULD BE HEADED TO THE SUPER BOWL RIGHT NOW!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

Okay, I'm better now (not really). Happy reading!

WAHOO!!!

2008-01-14T10:56:00.000-06:00

We interrupt this book blog to bring you breaking news......
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THE PACKERS ARE IN THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AND IT'S COMING TO LAMBEAU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!GO PACK GO!!!!!

Books Read in 2007

2008-01-01T16:55:00.000-06:00

2007 Reading Year in Review

At the beginning of the year I was on pace to read over 100 books. Sigh, I missed it by 8 books! I guess that is my reading goal for 2008 then, to read 100 books.

I participated in one challenge in 2007 - the Non-Fiction Five Challenge sponsored by Thoughts of Joy. At first I was really gung ho about participating in challenges, but as the year went on, I realized I just don't have the time to devote to them. This year will probably prove to be no different, but as my kids get older, maybe in future years I can be in a few more.

I had my own challenge to myself, to read book titles from A-Z. One look at my sidebar and you can see I didn't accomplish that, but I came close. I probably could have made an effort to find titles with the missing letters but I never got around to doing that. (Note: story of my life right now is I never get around to doing 9/10 of the things I want to do. (Case in point: my very infrequent posting to this blog.) I had an only child for almost 14 years, and now I have 2 little girls, and life is just so different. Wonderful, but crazy! End of note.)

So here is my list of books read in 2007, organized by the following rating system (borrowed from Carrie at Mommy Brain, I hope you don't mind Carrie!):

1 star - Terrible

2 stars - Just Okay

3 stars - Good

4 stars - Very Good

5 stars - Brilliant, Wonderful, Excellent, Fabulous

(There are actually no books listed under 1 star because if a book is a 1 star in my eyes, I don't keep reading it.)

5 Star Books

Fiction
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
With Love, Libby by Roxanne Henke
The Remedy for Regret by Susan Meissner
The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle
Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson
Winter Birds by Jamie Langston Turner

Non-Fiction
Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods by Rick Warren
A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot
Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

4 Star Books

Fiction
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Dear Enemy by Jack Cavanaugh
The Secret Life of Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Scoop by Rene Gutteridge
I Love Claire by Tracey Bateman
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Sisterchicks in Gondolas! by Robin Jones Gunn
Perfecting Kate by Tamara Leigh
The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker
Black Ice by Linda Hall
Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
This Heavy Silence by Nicole Mazzarella
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
A Girl's Best Friend by Kristin Billerbeck
Renovating Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck
The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling by Neta Jackson
Death Comes as Epiphany by Sharan Newman
The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood
Calm, Cool, and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck
Winter Birds by Jamie Langston Turner
Summer of the War by Whelan
The Trophy Wives Club by Kristin Billerbeck
The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
The Good Wife by Stewart O'Nan
The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock
The Cure by Athol Dickson

Non-Fiction
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krause Rosentahl
Arctic Homestead by Norma Cobb
The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer
An Innocent, A Broad by Ann Leary
One Small Boat by Kathy Harrison
The Color of Water by James McBride
How to Help a Grieving Friend by Stephanie Grace Whitson
Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy MeadbyFerro
Confessions of a Slacker Wife by Muffy MeadbyFerro
The Joy of Knitting by Lisa Myers
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Nordies at Noon by Balwanz/Carlos/Johnson/Peters
Mason-Dixon Knitting by Gardiner/Shayne
Stitch N B---- by Debbie Stoller
For the Love of Knitting by Kari Cornell, editor
Stitch N B----Nation by Debbie Stoller
Not Tonight Darling, I'm Knitting by Hosegood
We Remember by Jeanne Marie Laskas
Don't Bet Against Me by Deanna Favre

3 Star Books

Fiction
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg
Clay's Quilt by Silas House
Showdown by Ted Dekker
Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Head Game by Tim Downs
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier
Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Vreeland

Non-Fiction
Night by Elie Wiesel
Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes in you and your kids! by Scott Turansky/Joanne Miller
A World of Love by Conroy
Winterdance by Gary Paulsen
Bryson City Secrets by Walt Larimore
Candyfreak by Steve Almond
To Love, Honor, and Vacuum by Sheila Wray Gregoire
Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry

2 Star Books

Fiction
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
Saint by Ted Dekker

Non-Fiction
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax
Dear Exile by Liftin/Montgomery

*****

I finished the first book of 2008 already, The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out by Neta Jackson. I loved it as I did all the Yada Yada books. This is the last one in this series. I rate it a 5.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T09:07:00.001-06:00

2007-12-13T12:56:00.000-06:00

November Reads

Sorry this is late! All fiction this month:

- Summer of the War - Whelen; 3.75
- The Trophy Wives Club - Billerbeck; 4.0
- The Patron Saint of Liars - Patchett; 4.0
- The Good Wife - O'Nan; 4.0
- The Dogs of Babel - Parkhurst; 3.75
- Me and Emma** - Flock; 4.0

(Totally unexpected ending in that last book! Even though I was prepared to expect the unexpected, it still surprised me!)

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

October Reads

2007-11-02T08:01:00.000-05:00

All I can manage to post lately is my monthly reads. Sorry about that, and sorry I haven't been commenting much in your book blogs either. I am in a very busy season of my life - homeschooling the senior year of my son and deciding on college for next year and preparing myself for him leaving me (sob!); chasing around a very smart, active 4 year old daughter and a busy, "gets into EVERYTHING" 2 year old daughter; taking care of house and home and trying to fit in some time for myself - reading, knitting, crocheting, computer, friends, etc. I thought about ditching my family and book blogs altogether, but I will hang on to them, post when I can, and hope that some day I can devote more time to them again. With that said, here's my list of October reads:

FICTION

Calm, Cool, and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck - 4.0
Winter Birds by Jamie Langston Turner - 4.5**

NON-FICTION

For the Love of Knitting, A Celebration of the Knitter's Art - Kari Cornell, editor - 4.0
Stitch N B---- Nation by Debbie Stoller - 3.75
Not Tonight, Darling, I'm Knitting by Hosegood - 3.5
Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair (The True Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After he Split) by Laurie Perry - 3.25 (I love a good glass of wine but she drinks a ton! Also I can't believe people share with the whole world about their s*x lives outside of marriage.)

It was a weird reading month. I read like normal the first half then not much the second. We went to visit friends in NC for just over a week and I didn't read at all while we were gone. I feel like I haven't read anything outstanding lately. Been reading a ton about knitting the last few months as you can see but am running out of those types of books. I'm so in the mood for a good, uplifting, doesn't have to be Christian fiction necessarily, redeeming read. Usually Jamie Langston Turner's books fit that bill perfectly for me, and while Winter Birds was very good, it wasn't the same as the last 4 I read by her.

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

September Reads

2007-10-02T09:03:00.000-05:00

FICTION

Death Comes As Epiphany by Sharan Newman - 4.25
The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood - 4.0

NON-FICTION

Confessions of a Slacker Wife by Muffy Mead-Ferro - 3.5
The Joy of Knitting by Lisa Myers - 3.75
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - 4.0
Nordies at Noon by 4 women - 4.0
Mason-Dixon Knitting by Gardner/Shayne - 4.5
Dear Exile by Liftin/Montgomery - 2.0 YUCK
Stitch "N B---- by Debbie Stoller - 4.0
At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - 5.0**

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

Dear Exile

2007-09-25T08:25:00.000-05:00

My last book for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge was Dear Exile by Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery. I really liked the first book I read by Liftin - Candy and Me - so I saved this one for last in the challenge thinking I would like it too. Well all I can say is YUCK! I didn't care for this book at all. The book is "The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) By an Ocean." Hilary lives in New York and Kate, in the Peace Corps, is in Kenya for a year with her husband. The letters from Kate were somewhat interesting - she talks a lot about the terrible living conditions and the harshness of the schoolmasters, but I didn't really like her writing style. The letters from Hilary are filled with her casual sexual exploitations and other things that didn't interest me in the least. I am just shocked that in today's day of STDs and AIDS that people sleep around like this, and then actually make it all public in a book! I don't want to read about it, thank you very much.

Back to my knitting books!!!

Harry Potter, one more time

2007-09-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

I finished the first book last month and although I liked it okay, it didn't really thrill me all that much. (Controversial stuff aside, it wasn't that, I just really didn't care for the book that much.) I decided to at least read one more and decide where to go from there. Well I'm about 1/3 of the way through the second book and I still don't care for it. It just doesn't interest me.

So....one more time.....do you think there is still a chance I will like it eventually, should I keep plugging along for awhile yet? OR, if I don't like it by now, do you think I probably never will?

I know you can't know for sure if I will eventually get into it or not, but, take a guess! :-)

EDIT: Thanks to all who commented for your input on my questions. I think I will indeed bring this book back to the library unfinished. Maybe someday if I'm stranded on a deserted island with nothing but the Harry Potter series, I will read it then. Thanks again!

August Reads

2007-09-02T14:02:00.000-05:00

FICTION

-Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier, 3
-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, 3
-The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling by Neta Jackson, 4
-The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, 3

NON-FICTION

-Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Ferro, 4.0
-To Love, Honor, and Vacuum by Sheila Wray Gregoire, 3.5
-Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, 5 **

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

Hilarious Book!

2007-08-29T08:30:00.000-05:00

If you are a knitter, you have to read this book! It's called Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot Unravels the Mysteries of Swatching, Stashing, Ribbing & Rolling to Free Your.....(the library put their sticker over the rest of this text!). It's by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a/k/a The Yarn Harlot.

I've laughed out loud so many times. She has some other books too. One is called At Knit's End, Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much. I read parts of it at Barnes & Noble, very funny too.

I am slowly learning to knit. Still struggling with each stitch at times, other times things feel like it's going smoother. I still have a long way to go. You can visit my knitting blog if you want to see what I've made so far.

To Love, Honor, and Vaccuum

2007-08-27T08:45:00.000-05:00

I decided to make To Love, Honor, and Vacuum (when you feel more like a maid than a wife and mother) by Sheila Wray Gregoire my August selection for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge. I don't read very many Christian living/parenting/homeschooling books anymore. It seems like once you've read a bunch there is "nothing new under the sun" anymore to read about these subjects (there are exceptions of course!) I wouldn't say this book is a huge exception to that, but there were a few different perspectives on the subject of housecleaning/marriage/parenting that I gleaned from the book. I guess they didn't make too big of an impression on me though because I can't really recall much about the book! ROFL (I finished it over a week ago.) But I will just share this quote:

Speaking of "the good old days" such as the 1950's:

"Obviously we cannot return to that time. But it is useful to look at what was good about it, and how things have changed both positively and negatively. As we launch into our investigation of the problems of women's work today, let's remember some of these lessons. one of the reasons you're feeling stressed is because things are more difficult than they were when our mothers were young! It's not that your mother and grandmother did a better job than you do, but that they did a different job. Women in earlier generations weren't perfect. They just had different things to cope with, and had more community resources to help them along the way. When we realize this, we can move on to practical solutions that will help us in our lives today."

Shameless Plug!

2007-08-19T12:31:00.000-05:00

I started another blog, because I'm learning to knit! It's called N-E-W-Knitter. I also updated my sewing blog. Go have a look!

N-E-W-Knitter

Eileen's Sewing Journal

Harry Potter....so far

2007-08-13T09:39:00.000-05:00

I posted this to the Sonlight forums and thought I'd do the same here.....

I'm almost through the first half of the first Harry Potter book. So far I'm not all that impressed! I was hoping to love this book and feel better about my misgivings about "should a Christian read these books?" If there wasn't such a hubbub (sp?) about these books, if I had never heard of the book and all the hoopla before I started reading it, I probably would have shelved the book by now.

I'm still wondering about all the witches, spells, robes, potions, magic, etc. in the book. I was led to believe this wasn't as big a part of the book as the naysayers think, that the book is more about character development and all those things. But so far I think the book is quite filled with all the "magic" stuff! I'm just not sure about this yet. I will finish the book and decide after that.

Please understand I'm not accusing or anything regarding the controversial aspect of the book. I'm seriously trying to understand how this is acceptable as a Christian. I'm still not sure!

Also, I am one chapter past where they got to the school and were sorted into houses. Will it pick up more from here? If you're a Harry Potter lover, did the book grab you from the beginning or did it take awhile to get "hooked"?

Confessions of a Slacker Mom

2007-08-07T23:20:00.000-05:00

LOVED this book. The author is Muffy Mead-Ferro. I agreed with just about everything she said, and laughed out loud while reading the chapter about scrapbooking. I DONT'HAVE TO SCRAPBOOK!!! Wahoo! My kids aren't going to be scarred for life if I don't document their lives in a scrapbook. I'm lucky if I get the pictures off my computer, print them and throw them all in a box, much less do fancy scrapbook pages. I think scrapbooking is great, hats off to you if you do it, but I'm just glad I don't have to!

As much as I agreed with most of the book, I totally disagreed with her chapter entitled "Now all you need is a village". (She is a career woman, I am a SAHM and make no apologies for feeling that moms should stay home with their kids.) I won't get into a debate about it or discuss the chapter beyond that. I certainly respect others choices and ask that they respect mine (which I believe the author does but we still have opposing viewpoints on what is best).

I also have Confessions of a Slacker Wife checked out, wonder if I'll like that one too. I have my own (non-feminist LOL) opinions on that, so we'll see.

Library

2007-08-02T11:20:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I was reading The Secret of Us by Roxanne Henke, got halfway through and just couldn't finish it. I loved her Brewster series (with the exception of Finding Ruth) but this one just didn't grab me. I tried for an entire half of the book! Oh well. After that I tried EIGHT more books and couldn't get into any of them! I am now 5 chapters into Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier (remember I really enjoyed Girl With a Pearl Earring, much to my surprise) and this one is pretty good so far too. But don't be surprised if I don't finish! I just don't know if it's the books, or if it's me, that I can't get into any books. I think it's the books but not sure. Well anyway.........

.......I went to the library last night, took back those 8 books and got a bunch more. These are the books I checked out:

-A Woman's Place by Lynn Austin (for my book club)

-To Love, Honor, and Vacuum by Sheila Wray Gregoire (funny title!)

-Firebird by Kathy Tyers (sci-fi, not usually my thing but it was recommended)

-Spirit and Flesh: life in a Fundamentalist Baptist church by James M. Ault, Jr.(I may use this as my substitute Non-Fiction Five Challenge book for August

-The Frazzled Mother's Guide to Inner Peace by Pat Baker

-The Tree of Red Stars by Tessa Bridal (recommended by BeckyB)

-Death Comes as Epiphany by Sharan Newman

-Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Ferro

-Confessions of a Slacker Wife by Muffy Mead-Ferro

-Kids Knit!: simple steps to nifty projects (I am going to learn to knit! I decided to get a kids book to make it easier LOL)

AND....yes I am finally going to see what the craze is all about....as a Christian I wasn't sure how I felt about these books, and they didn't really interest me that much anyway...but after reading various comments about the latest book including thoughts by Mommy Brain....I decided to give it a try (ready whenever you are BookBelle!)....

-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I'll post again after I read or don't read all these books and let you know how many I actually read all the way through. One never knows..........LOL

JULY READS

2007-08-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

My slowest reading month all year....

FICTION

-A Girl's Best Friend by Kristin Billerbeck, 4 **
-Renovating Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck, 3.5

NON-FICTION

-Candyfreak by Steve Almond, 3.5
-How to Help a Grieving Friend by Stephanie Grace Whitson, 4

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

WOW

2007-07-29T22:58:00.000-05:00

Wow, look what they're giving away at 5 Minutes for Mom!!!!!!!!!

Oooh I want to win that! I'm sure you do too! If so, just visit the 5 Minutes for Mom blog, leave a comment, and link to the post about the giveaway.

How to Help a Grieving Friend

2007-07-15T15:30:00.000-05:00

My July book for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge was How to Help a Grieving Friend by Stephanie Grace Whitson. I started to read Word Freak for my July book but it was just too long and very interesting in parts and not in others and I just can't finish it. So I'm going to have to pick a new book for my fifth one of the challenge, if that's okay, Joy? I know it's a challenge but with all that's gone on in my life this past month I just can't muster up the energy to slog through a book I don't really care for.

Anyway, funny that I picked the book I did when I made my initial list. I am the grieving friend right now. Probably less than an hour after I wrote my last post last Sunday about my crocheting, I got "the call" that I knew was coming at some point. My sister called to say my mom wasn't doing well. My mom passed away the next day, Monday, July 9. I actually read the book Wednesday or Thursday of this past week (it's a really short book).

I really liked the book and recommend it to anyone. It will help you know what to do and what not to do when someone is grieving. Stephanie lost her best friend and both parents within a short time of each other, but most of the book is how she dealt with the grief of losing her husband of 27 years 5 years later. So my feelings aren't exactly the same as hers, losing my mom is incredibly hard of course but losing a spouse is a whole other ballgame I think.

There is one thing she said not to do that I disagree with. She said "Skip inviting our family to organized family events for awhile. They are just too hard. We don't feel like a family anymore." I would just change that to something like please invite us but please understand if we don't feel up to coming. That way the grieving person can make the decision whether or not to attend something.

I learned quite a bit about what to do and not to do through my own grief this week.

-Send a card! Send a card. Send a card. It's something simple but means so much.
-If you don't know what to say, a hug and I'm so sorry is enough, it means a lot. You don't have to have any elegant words.
-Bring over a plate of cookies, a pint of ice cream, some simple meals like buns and lunch meat, anything little like that is appreciated. "Comfort food" was what we all seemed to crave.
-Offer to watch someone's young kids if they have any. I had some neighbors who came through for me big time with my 2 little ones. I can't thank them enough.
-Any little thing you can think of to bless someone is appreciated. My hairdresser not only came in early one day so I could have a fresh haircut for the funeral, but she didn't charge me for the cut and style. That was a huge blessing.

I know I have probably missed many opportunities to bless a grieving friend or family member. I feel so bad about that. You don't have to even be really close to the deceased or to the survivors, a card still means a lot. You may already know this but I guess I was pretty clueless - I always felt like unless I knew the deceased personally, I didn't need to attend the visitation and/or funeral. But I realize now that if I know one of the survivors, I should still attend for just a little while if possible, and if not, again SEND A CARD.

I hope you don't mind my putting my own thoughts out there relating to the subject of the book.

Crocheting again

2007-07-08T16:40:00.000-05:00

I got the crochet bug again! When I started this blog I was in the mood for crocheting (hence the "Hooks" in the name of my blog). I learned to crochet about 10 years ago and crocheted A LOT for about 5-7 years. I crocheted a few afghans for Lindsey (first of 2 beautiful, wonderful, sweet, little girls adopted from China) while we were waiting for her. Once she came home I finished an afghan I had started for myself, but then haven't done a whole lot of crocheting since (hmmm, 2 little girls, age 4 and 1, plus a husband and a teenager, plus my love of reading - wonder why my crochet time has been so minimal????? LOL). I did crochet an afghan for Allison while waiting for her to come home.

Anyway the other day I was straightening up the living room and saw the afghan I made for myself on the back of the couch....

...and I decided, I want to get into crocheting again! We recently put up a swingset for the girls and I can crochet in between pushing them on their swings (as well as other times of course). I made this dishcloth* while doing just that...

...and also this....

It's a toilet paper cover, a little old fashioned but I like it!

So the last few days I've been going through my zillion patterns and picking out some more things I want to make. I hope I have more pics of finished items to post in the coming weeks.

Anyone else into books AND hooks? :-)

*I really don't even like using crocheted dishcloths. LOL They fade really quickly and I prefer to use a regular cloth. But they're easy and quick to make.

June Reads

2007-07-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

JUNE READS

FICTION

-Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, 4
-This Heavy Silence by Nicole Mazzarella, 4
-The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson, 4 **

NON-FICTION

-The Color of Water by James McBride, 3.75
-Bryson City Secrets by Walt Larimore, 3

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

Velvet Elvis

2007-06-30T11:05:00.000-05:00

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell is my June book for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge. I loved it! I agreed with so much of, if not everything, he wrote. I like his philosophy on what a Christian is and does and what the church is. A Christian follows the teachings of Jesus! Duh, sounds obvious, but I don't think that is emphasized enough. I really want to do an in-depth study of the Gospels and apply more of what Jesus taught to my life. I am still studying misc. verses/chapters using the methods in Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods book. I'm only on the third method and using the "assignments" he gives for what to study. I think I'm going to change that to just studying the Gospels using the different methods.

I am not a great book reviewer but I will share some of my favorite quotes from the book:

"Somebody recently told me, "As long as you teach the Bible, I have no problem with you." Think about that for a moment. What that person was really saying is, "As long as you teach my version of the Bible, I'll have no problem with you." And the more people insist that they are just taking the Bible for what it says, the more skeptical I get."

"I have heard people say their church is growing because they "just teach the Bible". As if other churches don't."

"We have to embrace the Bible as the wild, uncensored, passionate account of people experiencing the living God."

"Jesus is the arrangement. Jesus is the design. Jesus is the intelligence. For a Christian, Jesus' teachings aren't to be followed because they are a nice way to live a moral life. They are to be followed because they are the best possible insight into how the world really works. They teach us how things are."

"Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love people and build relationships in order to convert them to the Christian faith. So there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it isn't really love, is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to surrender our agendas."

Those are just a few of my favorite quotes, there were many more. Rob Bell also has a series of short videos where he talks about many of the things he wrote about in this book. We are watching them at our small group Bible study. They are excellent. They are called Nooma videos.

Note to the 2 or 3 people who read this blog: My mom was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and we don't have much time left with her. So I probably won't be posting much this summer. Please check in once in awhile anyway! I will check in with your blogs when I can.

I don't usually quit at this point....

2007-06-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

I was reading the book All the Numbers by Judy Merrill Larsen. I wasn't loving it but I liked it well enough. But I got about halfway through (HALFWAY!) and I realized I really didn't care what happened to anyone in the book anymore. Sounds horrible since the book is about an 11 year old boy who gets killed by a jet ski that got too close to shore, and the family dealing with their loss. (That's not a spoiler, it says as much on the back cover) So I feel bad in a weird way, that I don't care, but I just lost interest. So it's on to the next book....This Heavy Silence by Nicole Mazzarella. Wonder if I'll finish that one...:-)

(One of these days I will post a list of all the books I've started but not finished this year, there are quite a few. I am not one who will finish a book no matter what.)

May Reads

2007-06-02T00:19:00.000-05:00

FICTION

-Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, 3.5
-Perfecting Kate by Tamara Leigh, 3.75
-The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart, 4.0
-The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler, 4.25
-Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker, 4.25
-Black Ice by Linda Hall, 4.5 **
-Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard, 4.25

NON-FICTION

-A World of Love by Maggie Conroy, 3.0
-Winterdance by Gary Paulsen, 3.0

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

Winter Wheat

2007-05-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

Last week I read a wonderful book, Winter Wheat, by Mildred Walker. The cover was not appealing, the look of the text inside was not appealing, and after reading a few pages I almost decided not to read it. But as with many other books where I felt this way at the beginning, I'm so glad I kept reading. The book is about 18 year old Ellen Webb in 1940. She lives with her parents in a rural Montana community on a wheat farm. Sounds exciting, huh? :-) It's just a really wholesome book with great characterization and wonderful descriptions of wheat farming and the landscape around them.

I love this quote about Ellen's parents: "They had love that was deep-rooted and stronger than love that grows easily. It gave me faith for my own life."

I highly recommend this book!

Rating: 4.25 / 5

Winterdance

2007-05-21T10:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I finished Winterdance by Gary Paulsen, my first book for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge. The book was about the author's experience training for and running the Iditarod.

I didn't like it as much as I expected I would. The book never really captured my attention. I never felt like I was inside the author's head. I didn't get a real sense of his relationship with his dogs. I don't have a really good mental picture of what the actual race is like. I don't know how to explain it, the book just didn't interest me all that much. The first half of the book was all about the events leading up to the race - how he got involved with dogs and preparations made for the race. The second half talked about his running the race. I may have liked the book better if more of it was devoted to the race itself.

I did enjoy some parts of the book. But I think I really just wanted to finish it and get back to Winter Wheat! I stopped halfway through that book so I could read Winterdance and write about it before I leave on Thursday. I am really enjoying Winter Wheat! I haven't seen it mentioned on any blogs. I got the recommendation from this site. It's a list of books recommended by author Roxanne Henke (she wrote the Brewster series including the first book, After Anne). I've gotten several great book ideas from her list including The Kindness of Strangers and The Amateur Marriage.

I rate Winterdance 3/5.

I LOVE THE LIBRARY!!!!!!!

2007-05-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

I went to the library tonight to return Lindsey's videos which were due and to pick up 2 holds (one for me, one for the girls). Even though I have 5 library books at home already in my TBR pile, I HAD to get more! Once in awhile I just have to return things and don't have time to get any more books and it just kills me to leave the library with nothing. LOL I just love, love, love checking for available books online before I leave home, making a list, then going to the library and browsing the new books besides looking at the ones on my list. My book bag is usually quite heavy when I'm done. I always think to myself how I, once again, got more books that I can possibly read in a month's time (or more). I have a ritual of what I do with the books when I get home, that's for another post. :-)

So besides the books already in my pile, I now also have 6 or 7 more books, including:

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

The Berenstain Bears and the week at grandma's (oops, that one's Lindsey's!)

I also picked up from on hold, Winterdance by Gary Paulsen (my first book for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge). I'll read that one as soon as I finish my current read, Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker (good so far!). I read about 100 pages of Sassy Cinderella that I wrote about in my last post but it never really grabbed me so I quit.

Next week Thursday-Sunday I'm going to North Carolina to visit a friend and attend the state's homeschool conference with her. I can't wait! I'm going alone, never done that before! The book I plan to bring along for the plane is Black Ice by Linda Hall. I love her books! I hope one book is enough. :-)

Happy reading!

The Amateur Marriage

2007-05-15T19:32:00.000-05:00

I just finished (like 5 minutes ago!) The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler. I loved it! I really enjoyed the last book I read, The Myth of You and Me (thanks for the rec, BeckyB!) and I really wanted to read another book right away that I could just lose myself in. At first I thought The Amateur Marriage wasn't going to be that book. It was a little slow moving at first, and in a way the whole novel was slow moving. I guess it was even depressing in a way, but for some reason I just loved it. I loved how each chapter started a whole new time in the life of the characters (like years later). I loved the images I got in my mind of life in the 40's and 50's (the book goes all the way into the year 2001). I really feel like I got to know the characters well.

I think I tried another of Anne Tyler's books at one time but couldn't get into it. I wonder if I just didn't give it enough of a chance or if she's not one of those authors where you tend to like every book they write. I can't even remember which book I tried before. I definitely want to go back now and try a few more of her novels. Which Anne Tyler books have you read and did you enjoy them?

The one thing I hate about finishing a book I loved, is I'm always afraid the next book I read just isn't going to measure up. Sometimes I will find another good one right away, sometimes it takes awhile, but I guess I've read enough awesome books that I'm sure there are more out there! My next book on the stack is Sassy Cinderella and The Valiant Vigilante by Sharon Dunn. It's a sequel to Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves which I read over a year ago with my book club. I remember I liked that book but don't think I loved it. After this I'll be reading Winterdance by Gary Paulsen for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge. I wanted to read Velvet Elvis first, since it's first on my list, but I have a hold on it at the library and 2 people have it on hold ahead of me. I won't even get it in the month of May I don't think.

Happy Reading!

April Reads

2007-05-01T10:11:00.000-05:00

Fiction

-Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier -4-
-Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson** -4.5-
-Sisterchicks in Gondolas! by Robin Jones Gunn -3.75-
-An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor -3.5-
-The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -3.75-
-Head Game by Tim Downs -3.25-

Non-Fiction

-An Innocent, A Broad by Ann Leary -4-
-Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax -2.5-
-Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes in you and your kids! by Turansky/Miller -3-
-One Small Boat by Kathy Harrison -4-

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

Non-Fiction Five Challenge

2007-05-01T09:58:00.000-05:00

Here is my final list for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge sponsored by Joy at Thoughts of Joy:

1. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

2. Winterdance by Gary Paulsen

3. Dear Exile by Hilary Liftin

4. Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis

5. How to Help a Grieving Friend by Stephanie Grace Whitson

The Time Traveler's Wife

2007-04-23T12:17:00.000-05:00

I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger this morning. Funny thing, I tried to read this a few years ago and couldn't get into it. But it was this month's pick for my newest book club so I decided to slog through it if need be. This time I loved it! Okay, I ADMIT IT, I read it quite a bit this weekend when I should have been doing other things. LOL But what can I say, I had a hard time putting it down.

That said, I did NOT care for the zillion uses of the "F word", ugh. DO PEOPLE REALLY TALK LIKE THAT??? No one that I know talks like that, uses that word all the time, no one! No one I know ever uses it at all, not in front of me anyway. Maybe I'm sheltered. :-)

The other thing, I hated the s-x scenes, HATED them. It makes me SO uncomfortable, I do not care to read that stuff, the book would be just fine without them. I NEVER EVER want to read another book with that kind of stuff in it, EVER. I am going to have to do a very thorough job of investigating any secular fiction book from now on before I read it because I just don't want to encounter this ever again. Did I make my point strongly enough? LOL

Also recently finished An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor. I enjoyed it, not as much as Carrie did, but it was pretty good. At times I was bored though. I read One Small Boat by Kathy Harrison in one day and enjoyed that one too. It's the second book I read by her, about foster parenting.

Next up.....Reluctant Burglar by Jill Elizabeth Nelson. This was actually read by my Christian fiction book club last fall, and the author came to the meeting I believe. But I think the meeting was when we were leaving for China in a week and I wasn't able to attend. (Edited to add: I couldn't get into this book, and started Head Game by Tim Downs instead - much better. Have you read his "bug man" novels? They are good!)

Have a great reading week!

So far behind.....trying to catch up a little

2007-04-13T17:32:00.000-05:00

I've read a bunch of books lately but I haven't had time to comment on them. See this post for a partial explanation as to why (okay and some pics of the 2 most beautiful girls in the world).

LOVED Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson, really spoke to some things Jay and I have been feeling for a long time.

Loved An Innocent, a Broad by Ann Leary. In 1990 at about 5? months pregnant she went to England with her (now famous, I guess, though I've never heard of him) comedian husband, Dennis Leary. Her water broke and she had the baby there and had to stay awhile. It was interesting and funny. I want to go to England!

Enjoyed Sisterchicks in Gondolas (I've read the whole series so far). Somewhat lighthearted book with good messages. Now I want to go to Italy and have gelato!!!!!

Plodded through Homeschooling for Excellence. I had read it before, don't know why I felt the need to reread it or even finish it, but I did. It was written quite awhile ago so much of the information is outdated and I didn't really care for the writing style or something. Some great points about homeschooling made of course. All 4 of their boys were homeschooled and went to Harvard.

Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining...etc. was pretty good. Not the practical help book I was looking for but instead probably addressed a deeper issue (honor) and I took some helpful notes.

Tonight I'll start The Witness for my book club meeting on Monday night. I think I've tried this author (Dee Henderson) before and didn't care for her but I'll plod through the book if need be. Who knows, maybe I'll like it. I'm going to pick it up at the library later today.

I also have these books waiting to be read:

*One Small Boat by Kathy Harrison (non-fiction, read another book by her and loved it)

*The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (for other book club, tried this book once but couldn't get into it but I'll force myself through it this time if I have to)

*A World of Love by Maggie Francis Conroy about a family who adopted several special needs children internationally (a subject VERY near and dear to my heart of course, and a book I've read before)

And holds waiting for me to pick up at the library:

*An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

*Reluctant Burglar by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

*The Waiting Child: How the faith and love of one orphan saved the life of another by Cindy Champnell (another re-read, again about adoption, hmm, can you tell what's been on my mind lately?)

I'm sorry I haven't been to any of my fellow book blogger's websites in over a week. I keep wanting to but.....soon! I want to see what everyone else has been reading.

Nahhh!

2007-04-03T23:08:00.000-05:00

I read a few chapters of Keeping Faith and then decided to scrap it. Not my cup of tea again. I should probably give up on Jodi Picoult. :-)

So now I'm reading Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson. MUCH better! Loving it so far!

Girl with a Pearl Earring

2007-04-01T22:15:00.000-05:00

I just finished Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier this afternoon. I have seen this book on people's lists for quite awhile, but it never appealed to me. The cover didn't do anything for me, a book set in the 1600's - ho hum, the descriptions of the book I'd read didn't excite me either. I don't know what made me finally decide to read it, but I'm glad I did! I liked it a lot!

Now it's on to Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. I'm not sure if I'm crazy about the subject matter, but for some reason I want to at least give every one of Jodi's books a try. I really liked My Sister's Keeper and started another of her books but quit that one after just a chapter or two (subject matter). I can't remember the name of it offhand (I posted about it in February I think). I also read Vanishing Acts and liked it well enough to finish but it wasn't all that great.

I have Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson on my TBR pile - can't wait to get to that one! I've loved all her books except Straight Up

Happy reading!

Books Read - March

2007-03-30T22:40:00.000-05:00

I'm doing this a few days early since I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to type it up, and I won't finish any other books this month. Here's what I read in March:

Fiction

-Showdown by Ted Dekker -3.5-
-Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout -3-
-Saint by Ted Dekker -2.5-
-The Remedy for Regret by Susan Meissner -4.5-
-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time -3-
-The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle ** -4.5-
-Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm -4-
-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak -4-

Non-Fiction

-Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krause Rosenthal -4- Very funny!
-Arctic Homestead by Norma Cobb -3.5-
-The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer -4-

**Favorite book of the month

(Ratings on a scale of 1-5)

What I've Been Up To

2007-03-24T11:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. :-( I started this blog to record what books I'm reading and comment on some of them. I have a few book reviews rolling around in my head but I'm having a hard time writing them down - I'm finding I'm not good at book reviews. I just don't have the way with words like so many of my fellow book bloggers have. I don't know how often I'll do much on this blog except update the lists on my sidebar, but I'll check in when I can.

Someday I really would like to review Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods because it has really helped me and I highly recommend it. Even though I've been a Christian for over 20 years, and I try to read the Bible every day (and don't always do that, sigh), I've really only done sporadic Bible study over the years. In my head I know of different ways to study, but this book has really helped me to get motivated, organized, and more consistent. He gives 12 different ways to study the Bible, from the least complicated method to the most in-depth. I'm going through the methods one by one. I'm still on the first one, LOL. But since the emphasis is on application I'm meditating on what I've learned from one passage for awhile before moving onto the next. I'm doing the passages/chapters/books that he gives as "assignments" at the end of every chapter. I wasn't going to do that, I was just going to study what I wanted, but I decided to use the ones he laid out because I think that will keep me more consistent. I won't spend time waffling back and forth, trying to decide what I want to study, I'll just do the next thing he lists. Some of the things I've been meditating on since starting this are the tongue and how we speak of other people, praising God, and taking refuge in Him. There, I just did a mini-review. :-)

I've been sick all week (still not feeling good today) so I haven't done much this week but read. I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time in one day (Monday/Tuesday). Then I read a 390 page book, The Kindness of Strangers, in one day (Tuesday/Wednesday). Then I needed a break! The last book, by Katrina Kittle, was excellent, but a very heavy book. It deals with some difficult, disturbing subject matter and I think it will stay with me a long time. I couldn't put the book down (and didn't much of the time!) I did take care of my kids, didn't neglect them so don't worry! It also had quite a bit of swearing in it and other things I don't agree with, so that is also why I needed a break after reading it. I caught up on some magazines and my Sonlight catalog (I got it last Saturday - woo hoo! - and read it cover to cover this week). Thursday evening I had a little energy so I headed to the library because I was out of books! I started The Nazi Officer's Wife that night and finished it last night. So that's 3 different books I read in 24 hours each. I have been on a reading frenzy this year but that takes the cake! Today I'm starting a lighter book, a YA book called Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm. I also started Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes...in you and your kids! by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, and Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos by Susan Straub. I'm still not feeling too good so I won't be surprised if I finish all three of these books by the end of the weekend! I hope I can get back in the swing of things next week and get some work done around here. I just haven't had the energy all week to do anything but basic housework and childcare. My poor Allison has a cold too and a fever on and off, and chucked up her bottle this morning. :-( Lindsey has a cold also but it's not too bad (so far) and Ben is feeling miserable with a cold too. Jay is feeling so-so. Obviously you don't want to visit my house right now! Have a great weekend!

Books read in January-February

2007-03-07T10:46:00.000-06:00

I plan to do this at the end of every month but I'm behind. I don't have time to comment on every book I read but I can at least list them all,. (They're also all on my sidebar but I want to put them in a post each month, with ratings.) I'm mostly a fiction reader but two of the best books I read this year are non-fiction. One I read in February, Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods and one in March which I am actually re-reading now and highlighting, and taking action on the things she talks about. It's called A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierot. I will post about these 2 books at a later time.

So here are my lists:

JANUARY

Fiction
-Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 4
-The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 4.5
-Crow Lake by Mary Lawson ** 4.5
-The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 3.5
-Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 4
-Dear Enemy by Jack Cavanaugh 3.75
-Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult 2.5

Non-Fiction
-Night by Elie Wiesel 3

-Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller 2
-The Innocent Man by John Grisham 4

FEBRUARY

Fiction
-The Secret Life of Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck 4
-With Love, Libby by Roxanne Henke ** 4
-The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg 3
-The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards 4
-The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne 4
-Clay's Quilt by Silas House 3.5
-Scoop by Rene Gutteridge 4
-I Love Claire by Tracey Bateman 4

Non-Fiction
-Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods by Rick Warren 4.5

**Best book read that month

Towel Toppers

2007-03-07T10:28:00.000-06:00

So I started this blog at the beginning of the year and this is the only thing I've crocheted since that time:

Two towel toppers

They take about 15 minutes total to make. Definitely doing more reading than crocheting!!! :-)

She sews too

2007-02-25T13:14:00.000-06:00

I recently decided to start sewing again. I used to sew about 8 years ago. I still consider myself a beginner. I started a sewing blog to post about what I'm sewing. I decided not to make up a fancy name, just your basic Eileen's Sewing Journal.

I'm hoping to do some crocheting today - what else can you do on a day like this (well yeah, you can read of course):

Sorry about the lack of crocheting posts. I probably should have named this blog "MostlyBooksAndALittleBitOfHooks". :-)

So Many Books!

2007-02-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

I don't like to read more than one book at a time. Often I will have a fiction and a non-fiction book going at the same time, but I don't really like to do that. I tend to read the fiction book 98% of the time and only pick up the non-fiction occasionally. The exception would be books like my current read, The Innocent Man by John Grisham, or a really good biography or memoir, but if it's a Christian living or parenting or other such book, it takes me forever to read it if I have a fiction book going at the same time.

So what happened? You'll notice I have 7 books in progress right now (one is a magazine). I also have 2 fiction books waiting to be started, At the Scent of Water by Linda Nichols, and I Love Claire by Tracey Bateman. I can't let myself start either one of them until I finish up at least 2 or 3 of the other ones I have started. Yikes, I just remembered I have another book coming any day now from overstock.com, A Mother's Rule of Life* by Holly Pierlot, and 2 holds at the library which could come in anytime - Stop Dressing Your Six-year-old Like a Skank : and other words of delicate Southern wisdom by Celia Rivenbark and When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin.

So many books, so little time.

*I saw this book recommended here at The Common Room blog and it sounded like something that might help me to get my house in order, both physically and spiritually. I'm not Catholic but she says you don't have to be to appreciate this book. Oh that word "sloth" sure is convicting for me. I hardly ever buy books but they don't have this one at my library and on a whim I just went ahead and ordered it.

Scoop

2007-02-20T11:15:00.000-06:00

I finished Scoop by Rene Gutteridge yesterday afternoon just in time for my book club last night. This is the second book that I chose for our club, that both my sister and I loved and the other members.....well not so much. :-) What's up with that? (FYI, the other book was Home to Harmony by Philip Gulley which was a reread for me. The Harmony series books are some of my favorite books of all time! I think both the Harmony books and Scoop are funny books with a message and I like that.)

The message that I took from the book is about sharing my faith. There is one character in the book, Hayden Hazard, who is more bold about sharing. She will come right out and tell you she is praying for you, she did not hide the fact that she was praying at times, things like that. Another character, Ray Duffey, is also a Christian and people know he is, but beyond that he doesn't really say anything about his faith. While I may never be as bold as Hayden, I don't want people to just know I'm a Christian because they heard me talking about going to church or something, but otherwise I look no different than the next guy. What about my life tells others about the love of God and salvation in Jesus Christ? Something I've often pondered.

One of the funny lines - when things are going crazy, Ray is falling apart and Hayden is her usual calm "trusting God" self. Ray says to her,

"Look, Hayden, you're an extraordinary person, okay? I recognize that, and so do half the people here at the station. You live your faith. You believe God, you take him at his Word. I'm not like you, though, okay. I have doubts. Lots of them. Almost all of the time. Yes, I pray and go to church and read my Bible. But sometimes I shake my fist at God. It's not the picture of peace, I realize, and I certainly make no claims of wearing the armor of God. I'm lucky if I can get the underwear of decency on, all right?"

I can really relate to Ray. :-)

I rate this book 4/5. I also loved her Boo series: Boo, Boo Hoo, and Boo Hiss.

******************************

Other books read recently:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne 4/5

Clay's Quilt by Silas House 3.5/5 (I thought I saw this book in the CBD catalog, but once I started reading it, ummm, no didn't hear about it there. Lots of swearing, lots of drinking and honky-tonkin', but not really objectionable, they were a real part of the story. There were Christians in the book who were loved and respected and portrayed in a very good light. I thought it was a very good book and I'd like to read more by this author.)

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

2007-02-13T08:35:00.000-06:00

I stayed up late last night to finish The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I really liked the book a lot. The ending was just okay, although I don't know what the author could have done to make it better.

I found a typo at the beginning of the book, page 11. "More nervous than his in first anatomy class...." Shouldn't that read "More nervous than IN HIS first anatomy class..."? Hmmmmm. I forgot to mention I found a typo in The Secret Life of Becky Miller also. It was a word (don't remember what) that had a number in the middle of it. Weird.

Rating: 4/5

How many men read books?

2007-02-12T08:33:00.000-06:00

My husband, Jay, and I were talking yesterday about how many men read books - including general non-fiction, biographies, novels, etc. I said maybe 2 out of 10 and he thought less. He named 8 guys he knows including himself and only one of them (not him, sigh) reads books. Jay likes to read the newspaper online, articles online, and magazines such as Business Week. But he rarely reads a book.

What do you think?

With Love, Libby

2007-02-08T23:05:00.000-06:00

With Love, Libby is the fifth and last book in the Coming Home to Brewster series by Roxanne Henke. The five books in order are After Anne, Finding Ruth, Becoming Olivia, Always Jan, and With Love, Libby. Funny I liked them all except Finding Ruth. I'm not sure why but I couldn't get into that one.

I'm not good at writing reviews so I will just share some of the truths about our walk with God and our relationships with each other that were reinforced to me through this book.

Be humble and admit when you're wrong.
Show mercy and compassion toward others when they are caught in a sin.
Respond with love and not anger when someone you love disappoints you.
The importance of communication with our loved ones, don't let things unspoken come between you
Allow your children to make their own mistakes, to live out their own dreams and not what you think their dreams should be
Don't force them into your mold.
You will just push your children away if you do the above, and no one "wins", you will both be hurt.

These are all things we all already know, but I love when things like this are fleshed out in a book and really speak to my heart and encourage me to be a better person.

I don't think the plot is totally original but I like the way the book is written and I really cared about the characters. In the book, Olivia (Libby) is writing a letter to Anne (who has passed away) and when I read the final words from Libby to Anne, "With Love, Libby" I got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I could just feel the love and deep friendship that Libby still has in her heart for Anne.

Roxanne has a website http://www.roxannehenke.com/ and a new book out called The Secret of Us. I haven't read it yet.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series. Rating: 4/5

Blue Like Jazz

2007-02-06T18:15:00.000-06:00

I finished Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller a few days ago. I don't have much to say about it. It started out okay but after awhile I was just reading it to finish it. Honestly I'm not quite sure what the point of the book is. I'm not quite sure what he was trying to say half the time. There were a few good quotes, one that convicted me was:

"If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus."

That's about all I have to say about the book. I give it a 2/5.

Next post: a review of With Love, Libby by Roxanne Henke

Non-Fiction Five

2007-02-04T17:51:00.000-06:00

Yea! My first reading challenge! I just started my blog last month and I've been dying to get in on a challenge (I'm easily amused, LOL). I am happy to be a part of the Non-Fiction Five Challenge hosted by Joy at "Thoughts of Joy".

The challenge is to read 5 non-fiction books, one each month from May to September. We are supposed to vary the type of non-fiction books we are reading and stretch ourselves a little. I'll do my best on both counts. The thing is if I try to stretch myself too far then I'll be miserable trying to finish a book that I don't care for.

Here are my tentative 5 choices:

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Winterdance by Gary Paulson
Dear Exile by Hilary Liftin
Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis
How to Help a Grieving Friend by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Other possible choices are:

The Darwin Awards by Wendy Northcutt
An Innocent, a Broad by Ann Leary
Candy Freak by Steve Almond
I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This by Bob Newhart
Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak

Reading Day

2007-02-04T13:25:00.000-06:00

Before I had the girls, when Ben was old enough to be able to read and keep himself occupied, we used to have "Reading Day". It started out to be me, my husband, Ben, and my sister Ginny. After one or two reading days it ended up to be mostly me and Ginny. Every few months we would designate a Saturday for reading. We made special treats, put on comfy clothes, got out our blankets and settled in with our books. We usually started mid-morning and ended in the evening with a trip to Barnes & Noble, with a little more reading at home afterward before ending the wonderful day. So much fun! Well it's impossible now to do something exactly like that now that I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old!

I finally decided it was time to do it again, modified a little. Instead of having it here at my house, I went to Ginny's house. (She's single with no kids, human ones anyway. She has 2 kitties though!) Instead of having it last all day, it was from about 10:30 - 5:00. We didn't go to Barnes and Noble at the end (too cold anyway!). But all in all it was WONDERFUL!!! I really needed that break, and I even took a little nap too. :-)

I read The Message Bible, Blue Like Jazz, and With Love, Libby. We took a little break for lunch and another to talk about the Super Bowl* and what teams we like and don't like. Of course we're die-hard Packer fans! We agreed that the 3 teams we absolutely cannot stand are the Vikings, the Patriots, and the Broncos. Okay so I'm still holding a grudge against the Broncos because they beat the Packers in the Super Bowl 9 years ago. What can I say.

Anyway back to Reading Day. In 2006 we both had a book lovers tear off calendar . We saved all the pages and then yesterday we went through them all and decided which ones we want to read and which ones we don't. We have no timeline in mind for reading these, it will probably take us years to get through them all.

So that was Reading Day! I hope to do these every few months and eventually my daughters can join in.

*Go Colts! Down with Da Bears! LOL

The Secret Life of Becky Miller

2007-02-02T22:18:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I finished The Secret Life of Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck. I really enjoyed it! Becky Miller is a young mom of 3 who wants to be "super mom" and do big things for God but feels like she's failing. Things are falling apart around her: her husband loses his job, things don't work out like she had hoped in the women's ministry at church she started, the washing machine breaks down, the baby is sick. The author does a good job of realistically showing the struggles and joys of a stay-at-home-mom.

Several excerpts from the books:

Once when her husband tells her at the last minute that he won't be able to make it home for dinner, she says "Never mind. I'll handle things. I always do." I couldn't believe those sarcastic words shot past my lips." Ummm.....I've mumbled those words under my breath a few times. LOL

"I cherished every moment with my email. Kevin called it an addiction." No comment from me necessary!

"This probably wasn't the best time to bring up my yearning for another new baby in the house. Crazy to contemplate, when our house bulged at the seams and my fatigue stretched to the limit. Yet each child amazed me, and I often wondered what a fourth would be like. "Financially we can't afford to adopt again (pregnancy would take a miracle), hubby would never agree to it, and I don't know that I want any more children anyway. I am pretty content and thankful for my 3. But, I think there will always be that wondering and that longing for one more child. Anyway, Becky Miller is only 30....I'm 42. :-)

Toward the end of the book when things come to a head for Becky, her friends try to help her, sort of like Job. She describes the different types of comforters:

Pity Pats: One elderly woman rested a hand on my head and sad, "You poor dear." Her soft tone was overlaid with condescension and the subtext, "I'm so glad it's you and not me."

Comparing Cathys: "Becky, I was thinking of you all week. I know exactly how you must feel. I had a broken toe once, and it was excruciating."

Lecturing Linda: "You should really drive down to the Mayo Clinic. They have the best doctors" etc.

I think sometimes what we need in times of crisis is someone to listen and cry with us and not try to have all the answers.

So those are my thoughts on the book. I would recommend it, and give it a 4 out of 5. There's a sequel called Renovating Becky Miller. I'm looking forward to it!

Next post: Reading Day tomorrow! More on that soon!

Vanishing Acts

2007-01-30T20:12:00.000-06:00

I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult in 2005 after hearing so many good things about her books. I really liked it and looked forward to reading more books by her. I didn't read another one until a few weeks ago when I tried reading The Tenth Circle and I didn't even read very far, didn't care for the subject matter. I just finished Vanishing Acts yesterday. I only give it an "okay". It started out pretty good, but when I was halfway done I really didn't care if I finished it or not. It's about a woman named Delia Hopkins who is planning her wedding to her 5 year old daughter's father when she finds out she was kidnapped by her father when she was 4 years old. The story is told by various characters including Delia, her fiance Eric, her father, and her best friend Fitz. I think I liked it best when it was Delia or Eric talking. What I didn't like about the book: the descriptive scenes from inside the jail (yuck, I don't need to hear about all that), the swearing, the Native American mysticism , some of the wording of their thoughts was sappy (sorry I don't know how to describe what I mean), just so many things I don't agree with. I would not recommend this book at all.

So, Jodi Picoult fans, since I really liked My Sister's Keeper, and didn't like The Tenth Circle or Vanishing Acts, which other books by her do you think I might like?

Another No-Go

2007-01-21T15:03:00.000-06:00

I just read through a bunch of reviews of The Shell Seekers on Amazon and they were almost all 5 star, glowing reviews. Hmmmm.....I really didn't give it much of a chance, I'll admit (2 chapters plus the prologue). But, it just wasn't doing a thing for me. Maybe I'm just not in the right mood? If anyone tells me I just HAVE to read more before giving up on it, I'll try it again at a later date. But for now, it's going back to the library and permanently off my TBR list. I'm reading Anne of Green Gables then I'll go on to my new pile of library books. (I read Anne in late junior high, the first 2 books, then the whole series in my early 20's - so this is a re-read for me.)

Now I'm off to watch the football games. GO PACKERS! (oh that's right, they're not playing, sigh) Go Saints! Go Colts!

Crow Lake and My Week of Reading

2007-01-20T11:07:00.000-06:00

THANKS Becky! I loved Crow Lake! It's my favorite book read this year (though I've only read 4 so far!)

This quote really has nothing to do with the plot of the book but it stood out to me. "Considering that he's only thirty-four, he's very unfit. He has the kind of lean build that never runs to fat, but thin isn't necessarily healthy."

My sister and I have heard this silly comment many times when we have mentioned needing to exercise more: "YOU don't need to exercise!" They say this because neither one of us is overweight. As if the only reason to exercise is to lose weight. Everyone needs to exercise!

Anyway that is what I thought of when I read that quote. :-)

***********

I am currently reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I read this in grade school and I loved it. I read it again to Ben when he was in grade school (homeschool). I've never read the rest of the series so I plan to read them this year. I started the book yesterday and will finish it sometime today.

***********

I also read Night by Elie Wiesel the other day. I bought it years ago at a used book sale or something and had never read it. I read it in one day. It was, good? It's hard to say a book like that is good, it's sad. It's similar to other books I've read on the Holocaust. Maybe it's good to read one once in awhile to remember.

***********

So yesterday morning I took my girls to storytime at the library. I didn't get myself any books because I had several library books at home yet waiting to be read, and also have Anne of Green Gables which I own on my TBR pile. I try not to check out more books until my TBR pile is down to one or two books, otherwise I want to read the new ones I just checked out before the ones I already have. But then I quit reading The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (read a few chapters, turned off by the subject matter) and couldn't get into one other random book I picked off the library shelves and I was halfway through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe already and that left just The Shell Seekers and Anne. I decided I had to go back to the library. My husband says "You were just there this morning." I told him if my TBR pile gets too low I get the shakes. LOL So I went back and checked out 7 books:

Vanishing Acts - Jodi Picoult
The Secret Life of Becky Miller - Sharon Hinck
A Vow to Cherish - Deborah Raney
Dear Enemy - Jack Cavanaugh
The Art of Mending - Elizabeth Berg
Dancing at the Rascal Fair - Ivan Doig
Something Beyond the Sky - Siri Mitchell

After I finish my current book, I can't decide if I want to read The Shell Seekers or not. It's been on my TBR list forever but now that I finally have it I'm not sure if I want to read it or not. I'm not sure if I'll like it. Guess I should read it and find out! Then do I read Anne of Green Gables, or move on to my pile of library books? Decisions, decisions!

Have a great day!

Books Not Read

2007-01-15T08:55:00.000-06:00

I think my list of books *not* read is way longer than my list of books finished. I will not continue reading a book I cannot get into. Sometimes I can tell in the first few pages that it is not a book I'm going to like, sometimes it takes a bit longer.

My first unread book of 2007 is A Bride Most Begrudging by Deanne Gist. Just not my cup of tea. I had to skim to the end though because it is this month's book for my book club (meeting this Thursday night).

The next book to bite the dust is The Justice by Angela Hunt. I got all the way to page 110 and then I lost interest! The first book I read by her was Unspoken in 2005, for the book club. I really liked it. In July 2006 I read The Awakening and I loved it! So I made a list of all her books and decided to try them all. The next one I read was The Debt and I liked that one well enough. But then there was The Pearl and The Note and The Novelist and I couldn't get into any of those! So now after this latest non-read I'm going to leave her books alone for awhile. :-)

I am now reading Crow Lake by Mary Lawson, recommended by Becky at In the Pages.... I hope this one is good Becky! :-)

Blog Links

2007-01-13T14:17:00.000-06:00

I just added some links to blogs I've visited, I have more to add. If you want me to add yours, please let me know!

books and HOOKS

2007-01-09T14:10:00.000-06:00

So for the "Hooks" part of my blog, I thought I'd post a few pics of things I have made - afghans for the girls and a few doilies. Right now I am just working on a few towel toppers and plan to do a few other smaller projects like dishcloths or coasters for awhile. I don't have any big projects in mind right now.

Ooops how did that picture sneak in there? LOL

Another one! Who's messing with my blog? :-)

First book finished in 2007

2007-01-05T17:10:00.000-06:00

I finished my first book of 2007 - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I really liked the book even though it is so not like what I normally read. It was an interesting book, though I could have done without a few scenes near the end and I totally did NOT like the ending at all. I thought it was very abrupt and I'm confused by the epilogue. I read some of the reviews on Amazon.com and it seems that many others felt the way I did about the ending. All in all I enjoyed it and rate it Very Good.

I'm now reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield that I've seen mentioned everywhere in the blogs. I actually never heard of it until recently. I'm only on page 22 but liking it so far.

I'm also reading The Message Bible from start to finish. I started it at the end of November and am just about 10 chapters into Exodus. I've read the Bible through maybe 3 times in my life. I've never read this version before. I have no goals as to when I'll finish it. It's not a Bible for serious Bible study but I'm reading it as an overall flavor of what the Bible has to say. I know some people are against this Bible - I look at is as no different than hearing a preacher or a commentary expound on different Bible passages. People put the Bible into their own words all the time.

Books Read in 2006

2007-01-02T10:35:00.000-06:00

I read 62 books this year - 35 fiction and 27 non-fiction. I think my favorite book of the year was The Swan House. My least favorite was definitely Chloe by Lyn Cote. It was for my book club, I skimmed a lot of it, I really didn't like it at all. The leader of the book club, Linda Wichman, is an author herself http://www.emeraldrose.net/index.html so she personally knows some authors and was able to invite a few to our meetings. We were blessed to have Kathryn Springer and Maureen Lang come the months we read their books. Thankfully I loved both of the books! I think it would have been awkward to talk to them if I didn't. :-) Last year one of the books we read was Death Watch by Jack Cavanaugh and Jerry Kuiper, and Jerry came to that meeting. Counting Linda then, I've met 4 authors of books I read. Cool!

Here's my list for 2006, hope to top it in 2007!

FICTION

Excellent
The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser
Leave It to Claire by Tracey Bateman
Front Porch Princess by Kathryn Springer (met the author!)
Home to Harmony by Phillip Gulley (a re-read, love this series)
Eventide by Cindy Martinusen
River Rising by Athol Dickson
She's All That by Kristin Billerbeck
The Awakening by Angela Hunt
Dark Water by Linda Hall
Pieces of Silver by Maureen Lang (met the author!)
Almost Friends by Philip Gulley

Very Good
Chop Shop by Tim Downs
The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough by Neta Jackson
Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson
Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
Where the River Runs by Patti Callahan Henry
Blind Dates Can Be Murder by Mindy Starns Clark
The Dwelling Place by Elizabeth Musser
With This Ring I'm Confused by Kristin Billerbeck
House by Frank Peretti/Ted Dekker
The Debt by Angela Hunt
We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg
Claire Knows Best by Tracey Bateman
Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught by Neta Jackson

Good
The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
Dying for Chocolate by Diana Mott Davidson
Plague Maker by Tim Downs
The Final Crumpet by Ron and Janet Benrey
A Window to the World by Susan Meissner
Sisterchicks Say Oooh La La by Robin Jones Gunn

Okay
The Assignment by Mark Andrew Olson
Cape Refuge by Terri Blackstock
Savannah from Savannah by Denise Hildreth
Straight Up by Lisa Samson (can't believe I'm rating her book "okay" - usually love her stuff)

Did not like
Chloe by Lyn Cote

NON-FICTION

Excellent
This Day in the Life – Diaries from Women Across America (24 Hours of True Life Stories)

Very Good
I Am a Pencil by Sam Swope
The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura
Material World – A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel (really cool book!)
Marley and Me by John Grogan
Attending Children – A Doctor's Education
Bryson City Seasons by Walt Larimore
On Call, A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency by Emily Transue
Growing Girls – The Mother of All Adventures by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Good
South of the Clouds, Exploring the Hidden Realms of China by Seth Faison
The Girl from Purple Mountain by May-lee Chai and Winberg Chai
Candy and Me (A Love Story) by Hilary Liftin (someone who loves candy more than me!)
Looking Back by Lois Lowry
Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother by Wolf
Against Tall Odds – Being A David in a Goliath World by Matt Roloff (love the TV show!)
Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker

Okay
Loved by Choice, True Stories That Celebrate Adoption
Joel by Joel Sonnenberg
Yao – A Life in Two Worlds by Yao Ming w/Ric Bucher
A Not Entirely Benign Procedure, Four Years as a Med Student
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret

No Rating – Either skimmed or read for info only
Talking with Young Children About Adoption by Mary Watkins and Susan Fisher
The No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers by Elizabeth Pantley
Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son by Kay Johnson
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Weissbluth
Homeschoolers College Admissions Handbook by Cafi Cohen
When Your Kids Push Your Buttons by Harris

Happy New Year! and Hello!

2007-01-01T10:45:00.000-06:00

I am so excited to begin this blog! I am trying to spend less time online these days, so I'll probably keep this simple. Don't look for anything fancy. I still have some work to do on the look of the blog and will do that when I have time.

If you don't know me yet, I'll give you a brief intro. I've been married for over 19 years and have 3 wonderful children. Ben is 16, Lindsey is 3 1/2, and Allison is 14 months. My 2 girls were adopted from China. We just adopted Allison 2 months ago. I love my life! I love to read and crochet (duh) and also I love love love football, especially NFL, especially my Green Bay Packers (who beat Da Bears last night, woo hoo!), but I can watch any football game, anytime. I also love coffee, chocolate, and my dog, a 6 year old Westie named Chester. He's the best dog in the whole world! I live in Wisconsin and love it here. I homeschool Ben which I love (most of the time!) and plan to homeschool the girls too. I am learning Latin along with Ben and I love that too. My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I actually love doing the homework along with Ben.

Okay so now on to the purpose of this blog, which is books and crochet! The focus will be books but I'll start with crochet for now. I learned how about 10 years ago, maybe a little more. I've made tons of afghans, tons of dishcloths and coasters, quite a few doilies, and many other miscellaneous things. I enjoy crocheting both with yarn and thread. The first thing I made besides maybe a dishcloth, was a green/gold ripple afghan (which ended up wider on one end than the other, LOL, but not bad for a first big project), and the last thing I finished was a purple and white baby afghan for Allison. Soon I'll take some pictures of some of the things I've made and post them here.

Books! I love to read! I love to play on the computer too which causes a conflict - sometimes I spend so much time online reading about what other people are reading when I could be reading myself! My favorite thing to read is Christian fiction (What is "Christian fiction" anyway? I guess I would describe it as fiction written by a Christian with a Christian theme - how would you describe it?) I will read "secular" fiction too as long as it doesn't have too many objectionable elements in it. I also like non-fiction but prefer fiction.

I've kept a notebook with all my books read since 2002. Just this year I put them on the computer too. I rate them Excellent, Very Good, Good, and Okay. If it's worse than "Okay" I don't keep reading it. I'm not one to finish a book I don't like or can't get into. Sometimes I will keep reading and just skim if I really want to know what happens in the end, or if it's for the book club I'm in (through my church, we only read "Christian Fiction"), and many non-fiction books.

Some of my favorite authors are Jamie Langston Turner, Lisa Samson, Cindy Martinusen, Brandilynn Collins (mainly her Bradleyville series), Linda Hall, Philip Gulley, and many others. My favorite book of all time is The Family Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss. I've probably read it about 50 times and I own 3 copies. Some of my recent favorites (past 5 years or so) are Some Wildflower in My Heart by Jamie Langston Turner, The Church Ladies by Lisa Samson, the Harmony series by Philip Gulley. Those are just a few.

I hardly ever buy books (gasp!). It seems most book lovers on the blogs I have read buy most if not all of their books. I can't afford to do that. Besides I love love love going to the library and picking out a bunch of books! Also because I start so many books that I can't get into and put down, I can't afford to buy them and not read them. I save purchases more for non-fiction books I will reread, or occasionally a book from a favorite author that I know I will like and want to reread in the future.

My next post will be all the books I read in 2006 with ratings. Happy reading!