I Haven't Done THIS in Awhile Either!

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

I haven't done THAT in awhile!

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.

Thanks! And Library Visit Review

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.

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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!

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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!

Library Visits

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

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!

Reading Update

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!

Confessions of a Slacker Mom

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.

Velvet Elvis

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.

Winter Wheat

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

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.

The Amateur Marriage

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!

The Time Traveler's Wife

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

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.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

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

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

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

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

Scoop

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.

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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

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

With Love, Libby

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