A House is not a Home without a Dog

Old Dogs are the Best Dogs by Gene Weingarten is photographic book with short entries describing the old dogs pictured. The dogs are at least 10 years old and the book celebrates their age while sometimes reminiscing about their younger years.

Personal favorites: Lexie, Chester, Hank, Chelsie, Buffy, Blue, Lucy, Magic, and Jake.

If you are a dog lover and have ever watched a dog grow old, this is a lovely book to pick up.

Another Dose of Optimism

I did this backwards but after reading his second autobiography I decided to go back and read Michael J Fox's first. Lucky Man describes Michael's life up until diagnosis and immediately after. It was interesting to get a closer look at a man who usually keeps his life so private. I so appreciate Mr Fox being willing to share such intimate moments in his life. I continue to find him to be a remarkable man and hope only the best for him and his health.

A British Booky

I can't quite explain what it is I like about Russell Brand but I guess it's mostly I just find him to be a genuine person. Perhaps it's all an act but he seems to be a good man. He seems to have learned from his mistakes and doesn't try to lie his way out of anything. He shares openly his life lessons and the tough roads he took to get there. When I saw that he had a book out I had to read it. Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex Drugs and Comedy was a wonderful read as I suspected it would be.

Brand shares childhood memories, career adventures, and addiction missteps. He keeps the reader entertained throughout it all. It's also quite a coincidence that I find out about this book and while reading it realize that a second part is due out the next week. Look for an entry in the next few days hopefully as I plan to read book 2 very soon.Save Now

New York New York

The Perfect Manhattan by Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey was a great light summer read. The novel shares the story of a young woman just out of college and trying to find her way. She winds up becoming a bartender (believing it will help her pay off her student loans) and then winds up spending most of her summer tending bar out in the Hamptons among the elite rich crowd.

There are lots of funny twists and turns and also of course a summer romance thrown in with a happy ending. Lessons learned, growing up and into the adult world, and direction found. Not the greatest book I've ever read of course, but it was a fun flirty summer read.

Hiding Pregnancy

Here's a secret about my listening to books on tape, sometimes I can't wait to get to the next disc and know it's taking too much time so I'll try to see if the library has a copy of the book I'm listening to. At my current library this means walking through the teen section sometimes to get to the fiction area. This is where/how I stumbled into After by Amy Efaw.

The titled caught my attention as it begs the question, after what? After a teenage girl leaves her baby in a trashcan moments after giving birth. The story starts with the main character, Devon, being arrested though she continues to maintain she didn't have a baby even though all evidence points to the fact that she did. It's interesting to see the book through Devon's perspective after the pregnancy is over. The reader gets to decide along the way if Devon is a cold hearted teen or in such deep denial she never acknowledged her pregnancy.

It was very interesting to read this short novel and my only wish was that it had been a little longer to add some more detail. It felt like some piece of it was missing and I still can't decide if it was missing the pregnancy part which was sort of the whole point, or if it really was missing something the reader actually needed.

Oops

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this but, my desk hasn't been cleaned since August (*hides head in shame*). My poor desk also always seems to get so much clutter added to it. I tend to just pile junk on it so the floor stays clean. So today (to avoid writing a paper) my apartment got cleaned up as did my desk. In doing so I found the post it with the reading list from August and realized I had missed 3 books to blog about. Whoops! So this entry and the next couple are way out of sync but I guess that serves as a lesson to clean a bit more often, just don't tell my mom I said that, she won't let me live it down ;)

The Weight of Silence by Heahter Gudenkauf was added to my list after the cover caught my attention at work someday. It sounded slightly scary (for a wimp like me) but also intrigued me. I really enjoyed the book and found it unique enough to keep my interest. I have a bad habit of continuing to try to guess how books are going to end, particularly suspense books such as this one, but I honestly was wrong every time I made a new guess.

There are definitely some scary and sad parts of the book but the conclusion more than makes up for it and overall I was quite happy that even though I shouldn't, I had judged this book by it's cover.

Last McPartlin for awhile

Alexandra Gone by Anna McPartlin is the last book I read by McPartlin. Since I think at this point I'm through all the books released in the U.S. this will be the last entry on McPartlin, at least for awhile. I really enjoyed this last read of hers. I loved the beginning. The ending I wish had been a bit happier or for some reason a bit undecided, left up to the reader if you will.

In any case the story is about the search for one of the characters wife's who disappeared. As always McPartlin gives many characters a voice and the reader sees the effects of this tragedy through many characters eyes.

I highly recommend McPartlin's books to anyone looking for a new author!

Everything

Nothing by Robin Friedman shares the story of a young man battling an eating disorder. The book is split with both Parker, the main character, sharing his side of things, and also with Danielle, his little sister sharing her perspective. Easy, quick read. Liked finding a book about eating disorders that had a male character as males are often overlooked in this disorder. I enjoyed that the character was Jewish as well though I did feel a little too much explanation was given, ie the author explains several terms especially in the beginning. Maybe because I knew them I thought it was silly to be explaining but even so in any other novel your not going to get an explanation of "Christmas" or "baptism" While I appreciated the authors efforts I thought it was a bit unfair. If someone wanted to know what one of the terms meant the reader should have to go look it up. I think too I am forgetting the book is meant for a teen audience and perhaps it was better to have the explanations in...

Anyways, good read on a subject you often don't hear a male perspective on.

Current Read: Alexandra, Gone by Anna McPartlin

Tea

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin has been on my to read list for some time now. Each time it came in at the library the cover intrigued me greatly. The book was also quite popular and I now know why. What an amazing story.

A general overview (which does not do this story justice so go read it!) of the book is that it is the story of how Mr Mortenson began on a lifelong mission to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The story begins long before 9/11 and continues to this day. Oddly enough in my mind I kept thinking wow this is going to end after 9/11 happens and yet the story does not end. Mortenson continued on with his life work and continues to do so to this day.

I love the reasoning behind the title too. At one point Mortenson is having tea with one of the men he works with abroad and the man tells him the first time you have tea with someone it is as a stranger, the second is as a guest, and the third is as family. The man goes on to say that once you are family people will give their lives to protect you.

Mortenson seems to be an amazing man. I'd love to write on and on and on about the book but honestly the message and stories told within it are worth reading.

Current Listen: I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

Good Wife

I have liked Jennifer Weiner as an author since reading Good in Bed and In Her Shoes a few years ago. Her newest book, Fly Away Home tells an all too familiar story in not such a familiar way. The novel is about a politician who is caught cheating on his wife and giving a job to the much younger woman he cheated with. The story is told from the perspective of his wife and also of his two daughters. One of whom is currently having an affair and the other who is recently out of rehab for a drug problem.

I enjoyed the book though at first it was a bit slow paced and I was tempted to put it down. I loved that the novel was told from the three women's perspectives and the reader never got to hear from the husband. Though I'm not thrilled how the story ended, I as always enjoyed Weiner's writing. The subject matter is so current too and it was interesting to see it play out in a fictional setting.

invisible

I am more or less still on this new author find, Anna McPartlin, kick. Finished Apart from the Crowd most recently. I enjoyed the book and felt it was a little more what I was expecting from the author than my last read of hers. The story is of a woman who has had many losses in her life and a rock star from New York that winds up living next to her for some time. I am noticing that McPartlin always shares other characters perspectives and usually there are family members introduced as well as friends. Although love is a common theme in her novels as well, this one had a love story brewing for most of the novel.

I enjoyed the book but this time didn't rush to start another one of her novels. I will keep reading my way through her list though as I do enjoy her writing.

comedy vs tragedy

When doing some research I came across a book about eating disorders that was a 741.5 call number. After many years working at the library I can't say I memorized the entire system but I do know 741.5's are graphic novels. I was curious about a graphic novel on such a serious subject so I reserved it thinking if I didn't like it I would just return it.

Tyranny by Lesley Fairfield is that graphic novel, and I did not put it down. I read it in one sitting which admittedly didn't take too much effort. Even so I really enjoyed it. It sort of reminded me of Glamour magazines comic strips by Marisa Marchetto. Marchetto wrote Cancer Vixen, comic strip about her battle with breast cancer. Serious subject matter turned into a cartoon. Tyranny is done in the same way and still hits on the serious subject matter and gets its point across.

All in all I think it was a worthwhile read even if it wasn't on my list to read and set me back a book ;)

Nothing is Certain

I'm still loving author Anna McPartlin, but I didn't enjoy As Sure As the Sun nearly as much as I'd have liked to. I think because it was borderline mystery it didn't appeal to me as much. I still love the author though and her writing style. And to be able to come up with this storyline was pretty amazing. It just was too mystery novel and unrealistic for me I guess.

Current Read: Apart from the Crowd by Anna McPartlin

For My Girls

The Girls From Ames has been on my to read list for much too long. I'm so glad I finally read it. The amazing story told by Jeffrey Zaslow really hit home for me. The true story is of 11 girls who stayed friends from high school. The "girls" are now in their 40s and the book highlights moments throughout their lives.

I enjoyed reading the story and the hope it provided that my own little group can survive too. Their group has had falling outs and their fair share of sorrow but there has also been much joy. They have experienced lost, sadly one of the 11 passed away in their 20s and another's daughter passed away. There have been illnesses, two have battled breast cancer. But they each have 9 other people they can count on through the divorces, losses, and pain. It was amazing for me to read and was a constant reminder of my girls.

I feel so fortunate to have left high school with 4 of the most amazing women I know. This book showed me that its okay to love all of my friends differently but equally. I love my college friends and the new friends I have made in ways that are very different from the bond I have with my girls. It isn't a more or less, it is just different. The Ames girls describe this much better than I am.

In any case, I feel truly fortunate to have each of my friends in my life. We will go through our ups and downs as we have always but no matter what at the end of the day when you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to laugh and giggle with over nothing, there is always someone to count on.

The story of the Ames girls made me take some time to reflect on the GPCDHE that has been so important to me. It had me look at the other friendships in my life as well. The memories bring so much emotion but for the first time in a long time, they also brought a sense of peace that though a lot was wrong, so much stayed right.

This entry may not make a lot of sense as my thoughts are a bit jumbled but for anyone out there that has a special group of friends or feels as fortunate I do to have people like the GPCDHE, my boo, my wife, MP, and dear old friends I don't see nearly as much I'd like to, you will enjoy this read I promise!

Optimism

I have always admired actor Michael J Fox. I grew up watching the reruns of Family Ties and there was always just something special about him. I was so sad years ago to learn of his Parkinson's diagnosis. My grandmother died with Parkinson's and I saw firsthand what a terrible illness this is. Fox could have given up his place in the acting world and sunk away to deal with his illness on his own with this family. Instead he has created a foundation and advocated for a cure.

Always Looking Up is his most recent book. I enjoyed the divisions in the book with each section being written about certain parts of his life. The central theme of a hope for a cure ties each piece of the book together. I'm curious now to read some of his other books so they've been added to my never ending list.

Lastly, Fox's current family dog is named Daisy... This made me smile big time...

Heart

What originally drew me to author Emily Giffin's books were the covers. I'm well aware you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover and all but they were just so simple and cute. I read her first three books over the same weekend and now I read her new ones as they come out. I didn't even know she had a new one out but happened to chance on it at the library and then in a sleepless insomniac night, finished it in one read.

I found Heart of the Matter to be different then what I'm used to getting with this author. Different in a good way. It seemed to me that the author has grown a bit as a writer. I enjoyed the lessened fairy tale details that are usually tucked into the pages of her books. I always find the books to be quick reads and a nice escape. This time I enjoyed escaping into a bit more of a realistic picture but still an escape.

Seattle/Portland Column

Before I left on my long vacation I picked up a stack of books at the library. I happened to find Savage Love by Dan Savage on display somewhere along the way to picking up my reserves. I thought it looked cute and that maybe it would be a book that the girls and I would read in the car at random. I ended up not having room for it in my suitcase (oops) so it never made the long journey with us. I thought it was kinda cool though after the fact that Savage's column is in the paper out on the west coast where we had just been. The books slightly outdated but the information is mostly still accurate I'd say.

Savage is a gay man giving sex/love/relationship advice in a newspaper column. I'd never heard of him before and while I don't think he has all the answers, I like his writing style and his witty responses. The book is worth even just browsing through to get a few laughs.

Can Anybody Hear Me

I've always liked actress Marlee Matlin so when I saw she had written a book about herself I was curious enough to add it to my list. Marlee is deaf and though I am not deaf I am hearing impaired and I've always sort of floated between the deaf community and the hearing community, yet another place in my life where I'm stuck in the middle.

I've always sort of viewed Matlin as this deaf actress and commended her for whatever it took for her to get where she is today. I never knew that half of it. I had no idea she had an addiction problem and the many more obstacles she faced. I'll Scream Later shares her story and keeps readers interested with the hopeful and inspiring message she provides.

My one and only complaint about the book is that it reads a bit like a resume in the sense that Matlin takes readers through each of her jobs and why she took them and information that just didn't always flow. Other than the star resume hidden within the pages, I enjoyed finding out more about a person I've always admired.

Luna

You'll have to forgive me that these entries are a bit out of order because I keep having to go back and check my book list. I'm working on the whole not being perfect thing though so I'm not fixing it. Pack up the Moon by Anna McPartlin is the book I read on the return trip. Loved this book. It had me laughing, had me with tears in my eyes, and had me hoping it would never end and wanting to get to the end all at the same time. It had a few similarities to P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern but I may have just read that into it. Plus overall it was very different and so very much so its own book.

The story's main character is a young women who loses the love of her life tragically. The story shares how their group of friends pick up the pieces and how she moves on in her life. The individual characters are each interesting and as a reader I wanted to continue to hear their stories as much as the main characters. The end of the novel (no I am not spoiling it this time, it's worth reading on your own!) also shocked me in a good way. At the very end of the edition I had there was a Q & A with the author which allowed me as a first time reader of hers to get to know her better.

I love this author and will happily add more of her books to my list.

90210

I can't really explain why I like Tori Spelling but I just do. I like her reality show and I've actually enjoyed her books. I guess to me for someone who grew up so "privileged" she just seems pretty down to earth. Maybe I'm being played but she seems genuine.

Uncharted TerriTORI is her third book. I have to say I enjoyed it. My one and only complaint would be that it followed much too closely to the last season of her show. I knew what was coming next. That said there were some behind the scenes or added stories that didn't disappoint. Oh and I really don't like the cover, it's a bit creepy. Wait and also I wish they would stop throwing TORI in the titles in some cutsey spin, it was okay the first time but we get it now, enough. Other than that, fast easy read and good to see mending of some relationships. Not sure why the rest of the 90210 cast seems to hate her and it would be interesting to get some of that gossip haha.

more romance

Read book three of the Bride Quartet series by Nora Roberts Savor the Moment. Cute, predictable, have to finish the series cause I'm weird like that but theres really nothing great about the books. Nothing terrible but just cute fluffy story lines with an ending you know is going to happen. And also spoiler alert do not continue if you plan to read this series...

The four friends own a wedding venue where they host weddings and each of them provides something for it, business management, flowers, cakes, and photography. Thats great but the fact that each of them is single to begin the series but by the end is going to be happily engaged or married (fourth one is out in November) is just to unrealistic for a realist like me.

I do enjoy the escape though into fantasy romance land I suppose, otherwise I would stop reading and getting so upset at knowing this could never really happen.

Thin?

The idea of ending dieting and all the body hatred and forgetting about the pounds is... well it's a dream come true for all women no? So I was very intrigued by Valerie Frankel's book Thin is the New Happy (side note: I don't think I've linked to Fantastic Fiction before and want to take a moment to talk about how awesome this site is. It really lives up to it's name and it's a not so secret reference tool librarians are using all the time!)

Frankel describes her decision to give up the weight war and just eat when shes hungry stop when she isn't and forget about the numbers on the scale. And get this, she loses weight! She gains confidence and style! She inspires!

I don't really want to go on and on about this book but it was pretty awesome. The reader is certainly able to relate to the story. It's not a sad depressing woe is me and weight war kind of story though, there is a lot of humor and hope woven in. I absolutely loved listening to it!

Cover with a Dog

A few days after my birthday last month I left on an amazing journey with two of my best friends. We traveled far far away and spent two weeks in a car with each other without causing any harm. Two weeks of laughter was just the stress relief I needed. This is also partly why entries are a bit behind. When I first packed my suitcase I had 18 books with me (yes 18!). Then I narrowed it down to 11 (only so I could take more shoes!). Final count was 6 (although I didn't have a carry on so it could have been less and I was not to know, thanks C!) My mom (silly sometimes) assumed I would need some reading for my trip so she was kind enough to buy my a book for my birthday. I'm fairly certain she didn't mean to pick up a borderline romance novel such as Stay by Allie Larkin, but it had a dog on the cover and it was blue so I'm fairly certain it was entirely judging a book by its cover.

Flash forward to plane ride one (before all that driving we had to fly far away) silly me didn't bother to get a book out of the shared carry on. What was I thinking? By flight two (though I mostly slept on flight one since it was much too early) I was craving a book in a serious way. I was in the middle so I asked one of my awesome travel partners to go grab a book out of the carry on for me and when asked which one I said ANY! probably a bit too harshly. Stay is what what was returned to me.

Though it was a bit too borderline romance novel for me (nothing against them, just not my cup of tea), it was the perfect plane/vacation book. A cute love story with a dog that plays match maker. It also featured a friends wedding, which was the main reason for our trip. The story was predictable and very cutesy but definitely a relaxing light read which is the perfect way to start a vacation!

Generations

Three Women by Marge Piercy is a novel told from three characters in the same family spanning 3 generations. The story is told through the eyes of Beverly (grandmother), Suzanne (mother), and Elena (daughter). The women share their family stories from past and present. Each character is unique and I loved that grandmother and granddaughter had so much in common, more so than the mother and daughter pairs.

I can't say I didn't enjoy parts of the book or that I regret reading the book, but it didn't really live up to my expectation. The storyline sounded much more interesting that it actually became. It was more of a leisure read too where I didn't really care if I finished it but I wanted to finish it to move on on my list.

The concept was great, but the book fell a little short on delivery. That said I've never read anything by this author before and I would definitely give her another shot.

SATC

I read The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell with a bit of hesitation. I have to say that though I love the TV show Sex and the City, I tried many times to read the book and failed. The book just didn't appeal to me for whatever reason. That being said I wanted to read The Carrie Diaries and decided if I didn't like it I'd just put it down like I had all those times with The Sex and City novel.

Instead of hating it though, I loved it. It worked because it fit right with the Carrie character. There was a flow to it that you could see that yes this could have been her adolescence and how she turned into a writer and moved to New York and met these other girls.

I was hurrying through the book to get to the ending but also not wanting it to end at all because it was so good. To me this is the sign of a good read.

Believe

Wally Lamb is an author I enjoy reading. I read his first novel She's Come Undone way before it got popular and Oprah decided it was cool. I think it was the very blue cover that caught my attention some day in my teens when I was browsing our local Borders with my dad. The book was good. Long, intimidatingly long at the time, but good. Lamb's other novels have been on my list and I'm glad I finally got to listen to The Hour I First Believed.

The jacket description of this book does not do it justice at all. The jacket describes it as another Columbine novel, and yet it was so much more. The main character is a teacher at Columbine and his wife is the school nurse. His wife is there on that tragic day and he is not. The story takes the husband and wife couple through their marriage and the impact of these events on their lives. I have to say I found a few parts to be unrealistic (which if you haven't guessed by now is not a positive in my book) but overall you could really see most of this unfolding.

Columbine really affected me as it happened my freshman year of high school and changed our school lives for ever. It was sort of like Virginia Tech in that you could look at the students on the news and they looked no different than you and your friends at the time. That's really the only explanation I have for why these two shootings in particular affected me.

Back to the book though, Lamb takes the reader beyond Columbine and through the after math which also includes Hurricane Katrina. I found it interesting he choose to focus on that tragedy and not as much on 9/11. 9/11 is mentioned but just barely. This book is long too, it seems the author is not a fan of shortening his thoughts, but well worth reading.

Current Listen: A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire

Another Wedding Book

Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham was a strange book. Very predictable and oddly written if you ask me. Wickham is a pen name of Sophie Kinsella author of the shopaholic series. The shopaholic books weren't necessarily bad, but not the greatest books ever. The library really sucked me in on this one though by featuring it on the website and making me think it would be good. The plot just jumped way too much and was too unbelievable. The main female lead was also not a strong character and this bothered me greatly. Overall a quick read so not upset I read it, but not really worth the (even limited) time it took to get through.

Current Read: The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

A Famous Author

Until now I had never read a Nora Roberts book. When I worked at the library though, I think she had the most shelf space of any author. I may be exaggerating, but honestly I can't think of another that took up as much space as she did. So I thought I needed to add a book or series of hers to my list. I saw the bride on the cover of Vision in White and thought that would be a good one if I felt like I needed to read a Nora Roberts book. A friend saw it on my list and thought I would like the series as well.

I happened to be reading this a couple weekends ago while visiting my mom. She saw the book and asked if I liked the author and explained she had always heard the books read like romance novels. I hoped she was wrong as that is just not a genre I enjoy. She was kinda right though. Not entirely I guess, but to some extent it was more or less. I guess the best description is that it is a very well written romance novel. It's not all bedroom scenes and thesaurus overuse. I am going to go ahead also and read the rest of the series, though I expect they will all be sappy romanticy novels. Oh well, I now need to know what happens to the other three women. Series is clearly unrealistic and all, but right now that is just fine by me.

Current Read: Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham

L.A.

Finished listening to Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey. I have to say I have a love hate relationship with Frey. I read his first novel A Million Little Pieces a few years ago. I started it on our plane ride to Paris and remember being super jet lagged when we got there but not being able to put the book down so I finished it up when we got there instead of taking a nap. I loved that book. It was one where you rush through it but then are sad when you get to the end. Obviously though a few months later I was very disappointed? when the controversy of this book arose.

Either way though I think Frey is a great write. Which is really why I didn't understand why he couldn't be honest with his first book. Whether it was fiction or non fiction (or as wikipedia says in the link above "semi fictional") it was a great book. I do have to say though I was mostly disappointed in the second book Frey authored. My Friend Leonard wasn't exactly bad, just not near as good as Frey's first book.

Still when I saw a third novel was out I added it to my list and BSN did not disappoint in the least. I was hooked from the beginning. The novel's central theme is Los Angeles and is told in two parts woven together. Los Angeles history is explored throughout the book as one of the parts. Additionally short stories taking place in L.A. makes up the second part. Most of the short stories are a few pages long and then that's it for the characters. There were however a handful of stories that we got to find out more about throughout the story. These were the characters you were routing for to succeed. Some did and some tragically did not. I've never been to L.A. and I don't have any real passion for the city, but this book made me fall in love with L.A. More so though it just makes you take a look at the intermingling of our lives and the history of time and where it can take us. I highly recommend it.

Current Listen: The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

not so perfect fifths

Read the last book in Megan McCafferty's series about fictional character Jessica Darling. Perfect Fifths disappointed me big time. I was pretty bored by it and it took awhile to be able to get through it. I don't necessarily regret reading the series as it was on my list and all, but the series started out strong and empowering for teens and turned into a fairy tale romance series. Pretty lame if you ask me.

There was really nothing I liked about the last book other than it the was the end of the series so I wanted to see how things turned out for the characters. The format, the story line, and the actual end of the series just didn't connect for me. It was almost a whole new series or just a separate book with the same characters.

I am possibly being too harsh, but I just wasn't impressed.

Current Read: Vision in White by Nora Roberts

Movie versus Book

Finished listening to The Reader by Bernhard Schlink . This doesn't happen very often, but I have to say I enjoyed the movie version better. The book wasn't bad by any means, and perhaps it is because I saw the movie first and then read the book (hate doing this), but it lacked so much of what the movie had. It just didn't paint the picture as wonderfully as the movie had. I still enjoyed it and it was a quick listen, only four discs, so I don't regret sticking with it, but I do feel a bit disappointed.

That said, the concept of this fiction book is pretty amazing. I can't imagine how the writer came up with this story and put it to paper. It is a well written book and I can easily see why it was picked up to become a movie.

Current Listen: Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey

Son of a Witch

Finished listening to Gregory Maguire's Son of a Witch. I guess I foolishly thought I would get the happy ending missing in the first book Wicked. No such luck at least for the main character Elphaba from the first book. I'm still extremely confused on how the book evolved into the play. Either way I'm still drawn to this series for some reason. The second book about the son of Elphaba was just as odd as the first. It also continued to remind me of the Harry Potter series in some subtle ways.

The book is a bit more gruesome then the first in describing a dragon problem across OZ. There are several images I could have fast forwarded through and still been okay with what was going on. The ending however was more optimistic then I had anticipated which has made me want to read the next one in the series A Lion Among Men though I have no idea what more needs to be said about the world of OZ.

Current Listen: The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Laugh

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang is the newest book by Chelsea Handler. I have to say I really like Handler a lot. I tend to fall asleep with her show on these days. I like that she is a strong female and has such confidence in herself. Sometimes I find her jokes to take it a bit too far and sometimes she is a bit too vulgar for my own taste. That said though if she were a man no one would think twice of her vulgarity so I tend to keep that in mind and continue to be a fan of hers even when I don't necessarily like everything she does/says.

I first fell for Handler a few summers ago when her first book My Horizontal Life The book appealed to me because of the original concept and because I didn't think anyone could seriously write an entire book on his or her one night stands. Handler not only wrote an entire book on her one night stands, but she wrote a hysterical memoir on an unusual concept. It was easy to relate to the book even if the reader couldn't fill the book the same way. Ex's and friends stories seemed evident in the chapters.

Her next book, Are you there Vodka? It's me Chelsea was also good but not quite as good as her first book. At his point she was also on TV and I was getting my fix weekly so perhaps that contributed. I still liked this book a lot though which is why I was looking forward to a third book.

I hate to say this, but the newest book was pretty disappointing. I'm almost at the point where I don't know how much of what she writes is for comedic affect and how much is actually true. Either way the newest book didn't really have any flow. I enjoyed most of the stories but it seemed a bit forced. It seemed as though she felt she had to put out a third book and they couldn't come up with a real concept so they threw a bunch of stuff together and bound it.

I'm still a big fan of Chelsea Handler, really wish I could see her live sometime, but I hope if she does put out a forth book she goes back to her old creative energy instead of this newer busy and lacking energy.

Current Read: Perfect Fifth's by Megan McCafferty

Fourth is the Worst

Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty is the fourth book in the Jessica Darling series. So far my least favorite and I'm kinda glad to almost be done with this series. Jessica's boyfriend proposes to her and the book is about the week after while she decides what answer to give. It's another journal style book but written to the boyfriend to capture the past few months and current week and reasons she gives for her answer.

If you want to read the book stop reading here...

The only good part was that she doesn't end up saying yes. The character is a strong feminist in the first three books and not that feminists can't get married but it would have been very disappointing if after three books of her commitment to herself and her dreams to realize she gave them all up to move away and marry a boy.


That's really all the time I want to spend capturing the book.

Current Read: Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler

Thirds

Finished the third Jessica Darling book by Megan McCafferty, Charmed Thirds. Overall I enjoyed this more than the last. I don't know what it was about the second one that wasn't as interesting, perhaps the super slow predictable plot to start, but I think the third book has brought me back to wanting to finish the series. The third book was much faster and covered more time than the first two. The first two covered Jessica's last three years of high school and this book covered her entire college career. The ups and down she experienced seemed accurate and the beginning and end of friendships and relationships were very similar to what everyone goes through. I don't really have much else to say about this one, though the ending was a bit off putting so I am not sure what to expect from the fourth book. Guess I'll find out this week.

Current Read: Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

Cupcake

A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown is a wonderful memoir. This true story is heart wrenching and hard to read/listen to. I have been listening to it for a long time now and finally finished it this week. I had to continually turn off the CD and listen or read something else to be able to get through it. It is a great book in that it makes you laugh, cry, smile, and think. The entire time I was reading it I was routing for a happy ending. I had a feeling there was one as Cup is now a successful attorney and public speaker, but it took long hard work to get to that point for her.

Brown is one of the strongest women I have ever read about. She is a true survivor and an inspiration. This book was listened to at a time that I think was right for me to be listening to it. I have no idea how it ended up on my list but reading it, especially as a social worker, was very informative.

Current Listen: Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

JD

Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty was the second book in the Jessica Darling series by this author. The book was a quick easy read. Honestly it could have just been added into the first book and then heavily edited. It wasn't especially interesting to read. The story followed main character Jessica Darling as she made her way through her last year or so of high school. It also picked up where the first book ended but not really as dramatically as the first had ended. The plot was a bit slow and quite predictable. The fairytale ending was also a bit cliche. All that said I still picked up the third book so clearly McCafferty is hooking me somehow.

I also related to the story because of the character being the same age as me. She graduates in 2002 from high school, same as I did. The books are set up to be main character Jessica's journals and the divisions occur with each new month or time frame. September 2001 obviously already occurred when the book was published, but I found myself wondering if the author had it in her original draft or had to go back and add it in. Jessica describes her morning and the weeks that follow and although so many of my recent books mention 9/11, which seems odd but really isn't, it was in a way that seemed much more vivid to me since she was describing it as a high school senior which is where I was in life when the tragedy occurred.

Firsts

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty is a cute teen book. This is the first book in the Jessica Darling series. I can't remember why I first added them to the list but I know they came from working at the library. At some point or another the cover or amount of times I saw the book must have gotten my interest.

I liked it because it was more real than most teen novels tend to be. I also like how strong the main character is for a teen. Because it's a teen book it was a bit annoying at times. The language made me feel a bit old as well as I couldn't understand a few of the slang terms she was dropping. The problem for me is that it wasn't a great book, though it was good, but it's a series and now I feel the need to read the rest of the series. Thankfully they are quick reads.

Current Read: Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty

Match

So last week I finished So Many Books So Little Time by Sara Nelson. A couple weeks ago I went home to take care of my mom after her minor foot surgery and this book was waiting for me on my nightstand. My mom had picked it up at the library for me saying it reminded her of what I was doing. I hurried through it to get it back to her by the next weekend when I would return home.

It wasn't the most fantastically written book ever or anything but I really related to it. The authors goal was to read a book a week over the year. Mixed in with some of her reviews are stories from her personal life about her husband, a worker for SNL, and her young son. It was a cute read and overall interesting to me to see if she met her goal. I like how she answers this question as a yes and a no.

No idea yet if I will make my goal but I know I've been slacking the last few weeks so it's time to start up again. My book basket is pretty full too so I have plenty to keep me going.

House Rules

I love Jodi Picoult. This love started a few years ago when Lifetime aired the movie The Pact. I didn't even really like the movie so much but I saw at the beginning that it was based on a book and I could see how it would have been a good book. I looked it up to see who the author was, Picoult, and then bought the book from Borders the next time I was up there with my dad. It was amazing, and so much better than the movie. After reading it I really didn't like the movie at all. Anyways, that's how my love of Jodi Picoult novels began. I immediately starting reading all her other novels. At some point I caught up and now I have to wait till March to get the newest book. All that said, this year I was pretty disappointed.

I still think Picoult is an amazing author, but House Rules was just not my cup of tea. It would be a lot of peoples though. The story follows the trial of Jacob an 18 year old with Aspergers which is a disorder that falls on the autism spectrum. Jacob is obsessed with CSI work and ends up being the suspect and on trial for the murder of his tutor. The concept is still amazing to me and the book is well written and interesting as all of Picoult's novels are.

The problem for me is that I am one of 5 people in the world who hate CSI and turn the show off if it ends up on my tv screen by accident. The details and CSI info were a bit much for me since I am not into this stuff at all. Anyone who is though would probably love the book. Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as her other novels, I will still continue to list Picoult as my favorite author and continue to eagerly await a new book each March.

Secret 2

I had the last post secret book on my to read list but when I went to look it up I found out there was an even newer one. PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God by Frank Warren. I actually liked the format of the newer one much better than the last few. It was smaller and more to the point and had some blurbs in between with interesting stories.

I guess the thing that draws me to this community and its books, is that its so universal. I look at some of the secrets and they make me think wow that is so sad, wonderful, unusual. Then there are others that I look at it and I think, hmm did I send that one in and forget? I've never sent one in, possibly because I'm so indecisive I could never really decide which secret to send. Either way I recommend the books and website, they are thought provoking.

Current Read: House Rules by Jodi Picoult (LOVE HER! new book every March!)

Secret

So Postsecret came about when I was in undergrad if I'm remembering correctly. At the least that is when I started to notice it. The concept is pretty cool, write down your deepest darkest secrets and send them in to a PO box. I recently read the two most recent post secret books. The Secret Lives of Men and Women by Frank Warren is one from 2007.

Overall a quick easy read and shows some fascinating secrets. Was more or less like the first two books though so slightly disappointing. If you've never checked out the website, it's pretty cool.

Save a Life

I promise I am not as far behind in books as I am in blog entries. I thought once finals were over I would have more time but somehow I am more busy than ever. Okay so the first one I finished awhile ago was To Save a Life: Stories of Holocaust Rescue by Ellen Land-Weber. It's a pretty amazing book. It was mentioned in my Jewish Studies class last quarter and I was curious enough about it to add it to my list.

It was tough to read and I found myself having to take long breaks from it. The stories are amazing but also heart breaking. I've had losses but I can't imagine losses such as the ones described. It was tough to read to and realize that there were some incredible survival stories, but mixed in there were some pretty horrifying details.

Rise and Shine

Finished listening to Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen. I have read other books by this same author and I enjoy the author, but I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I was anticipating I would. It wasn't terrible by any means but there was no real substance to it. The story never really went anywhere and then went to four years later in the last 15 pages to sum it all up.

I did enjoy that the main character was a social worker. I related to her work and found just listening to her work stories kept my attention. I also enjoyed that it took place in New York. The characters were interesting as they always are in Quindlen's books, but I just never really got into the book.

It tells the story of two sisters who lost their parents at a young age. One of the sisters is a world famous New York tv personality and the other is a social worker. The sister in tv says something on air she should not have and the book explores the way it changes the life of the family. I guess I didn't quite get what I expected to based on the summary. It was a good read, just not a great read and took some time to get into.

Current Listen: A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown

Singlehood

Finished laughing my way through Couplehood by Paul Reiser. I was a big fan of Mad About You and that might be why this book made it's way on the list. The book is very funny and I laughed at something on almost every page. I will say it's a bit outdated which is strange to say. The author discusses his frustration at new technology, the VCR, which would now be blue ray or DVD issues. The other thing that shows how outdated the book is, is that it is all about male female couples. I think had the book been written ten years later there might have been some same sex couple jokes included as well. Perhaps not but it was noticeable to me that it was written without these.

I recommend the book whether your in a couple or not. As I said it is a bit dated, but it's still a fun read that will keep you laughing.

Current Read: To Save a Life Stories of Holocaust Rescue by Ellen Land-Weber

9/11

The Whole World Over by Julia Glass was my latest listen. It was a long one, 19 discs. A great book though. I ended up having to get a copy cause one of the discs didn't work at all. I tend to do this with the ones I'm listening to. Sometimes I don't have the patience to wait until I'm in the car to get further in it.

The story was hard to follow in the beginning but the characters kept me interested in knowing what would happen next in their lives. I also somehow forgot that at some point the book would work its way to 9/11. If I have any criticism of the book, it's that this did not happen until almost the very end. At the same time, at first this bothered me, but the more I think about it, the author may have known what she was doing with this placement.

The book begins by introducing Greenie, one of the main characters. As readers we learn about her family and some of her friends. There are about half a dozen characters we get to see the story from. All the characters lives intertwine in a unique way and at the end of the book we see the affects of 9/11 on these characters lives.

When I started the book I knew 9/11 would be in there somewhere. Since I was mostly listening to the book though, I forgot this information until it came up in the book. Then I literally sat up and (was reading it at the time) started frantically flipping the pages. I was taken back to my senior year of high school during homeroom when we got the news of what was going on. I wasn't close to being in New York and yet I felt scared. I felt nervous for my cousins and uncle, my cousins living in New York and my uncle in DC. I felt sick, knowing and loving New York and not knowing what was happening. It all seemed so insane that day and the days that followed. About a month after 9/11 my family and I unfortunately had to travel to NY for a funeral (unrelated to 9/11 but a tragedy for us the same). I saw ground zero around 2am as we drove in sleepy and sorrowful. I think we will all carry our own memories of that day/time with us forever.

This book put me back in that place for a moment. Back when Sister C came on the speaker and we all thought she was joking, about to say something about a chocolate bar fundraiser or something else she would normally be talking about. Seeing it through fictional characters eyes who were actually in New York was almost as scary as hearing from those I knew in New York. It was an odd place to go back to, even if for just a few pages.

Excellent read if you have the patience for a longer book.

Current Listen: Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen (also 9/11 related I believe)

Siblings

Finished reading Fourteen: Growing up Alone in a Crowd by Stephen Zanichkowsky. Overall a good read. Zanichkowsky shares his life stories about being one of fourteen children who were all abused by their parents. He decided to write the story after his father died and then his mother died 11 months later. After his mother died and her will was read, the siblings find that they have been left with nothing from their parents. The reading of the will solidified for the author and some of his siblings what they had always thought, that their parents did not love them.

It is a sad and also hopeful story. The author is now a middle aged man looking back at his childhood and how it brought him and his siblings to their current places in life. In the current age of the Duggars and the Jon and Kate's I was drawn to this book because of the amount of siblings the author had. I think the situations are entirely different though as in this book the children were abused horribly throughout their childhoods.

I have no doubt that the Duggar kids are loved, but Zanichkowsky makes some excellent points about the effects of a larger family. Still not really my place to say how many children is too many, but it is something to think about.

Lastly, I was surprised in reading to learn that Zanichkowsky's family was Lithuanian. Thought by the last name they were Polish so it was surprise. I related to some of the Lithuanian information he shared, as my background on my mother's side is Lithuanian.

Current Read: Couplehood by Paul Reiser

Another Dog Book

So during yesterday's snow day I managed to finish How to Understand Men Through Their Dogs by Wendy Diamond. It was a quick read. I'm pretty certain it was reviewed in People or some other magazine awhile back and my mom read about it and found it interesting to pass along to me to add to my list. There is also another title How to Understand Women Through Their Cats by the same author. This one is also on the list but my library doesn't have it for some reason.

The book was cute but not really what I expected. I liked the first chapter which gave a history of dogs particularly as domesticated pets. I also enjoyed the "success stories" chapter which shared cute stories of men proposing to their women using the dogs in their lives. Cute way to propose! The last section of the book is a list of shelters in each state to find a dog to adopt. Excellent to have the list in their but it wasn't very comprehensive.

The middle of the book was where I was bored. The author lists each breed and then describes men who would own that breed. It was a bit boring and way overemphasized. Plus it only had the most popular breeds. Honestly, it was also somewhat degrading to men. I thought the book would be cute and funny about similarities between dogs and men or something along those lines. It was instead overpopulated with the references of men as dogs. I'm a feminist and often a bit bitter about the men who have been in my life, but I still think it was too much. I almost wished the whole book had been cute stories like in the success chapter.

Current Read: Fourteen: Growing up Alone in a Crowd by Stephen Zanichkowsky