still reading…

I’m still reading…

I do realize that I really need to stop after I read a book and write a bit about it.  Instead, I keep a list on Goodreads.com and I have a “draft” post here on WordPress that includes my list of books to write about.

Someday, I will perfect my system and blog about the books I read…one at a time (that day is not today).

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis was a great book.  It was written from the view of twelve different people.  Hattie’s people.  I have goosebumps just typing about this book.  It was amazing to see how a mother, a single person, can affect the lives of her children… just by things she does or does not do.  It is all in the perception of each word or act or silence.  I loved this book.  Glad to have read it.

Goodreads describes the book:

In 1923, fifteen-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment and watches helplessly as her firstborn twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have prevented.  Hattie gives birth to nine more children whom she raises with grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave.  She vows to prepare them for the calamitous difficulty they are sure to face in their later lives, to meet a world that will not love them, a world that will not be kind. Captured here in twelve luminous narrative threads, their lives tell the story of a mother’s monumental courage and the journey of a nation.

Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks was a quick book to read.  I was recommended this book by someone at work who told me the ending!  I still read the book, but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I could have.  Why on earth would someone recommend and book and say “Oh, and by the way… here’s the ending!”  Ugh.  Still, this book was pretty incredible to read.  It is the diary of a teenage girl on drugs.  Sad, eye-opening and heart wrenching.  Even if you’ve heard of this book and know the ending it was quite incredible to read Alice’s words.

Goodreads describes the book:

After you’ve had it, there isn’t even life without drugs….

It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth — and ultimately her life.

Read her diary.
Enter her world.
You will never forget her.

The Wife’s Tale by Lori Lansens was a tiny bit disappointing to me.   I don’t necessarily need a happy ending, but I’d like the story wrapped up and finished.  I felt like this book was unfinished.   Maybe there will be a second book or maybe I didn’t understand the author’s lesson (or maybe I just need to get over it and the ending was the ending).  If you read this book or have already read it — please let me know what you thought of it.  This is one of the many reasons I love bookclubs… everyone has a different view and opinion of the book.  You may look at the book a little differently than when the bookclub discussion started.

I did love hearing about Mary Gooch and her life.  She was stuck and did not know how to regroup.  Interesting to hear her “tale.”

Goodreads describes the book:

On the eve of their Silver Anniversary, Mary Gooch is waiting for her husband Jimmy–still every inch the handsome star athlete he was in high school–to come home. As night turns to day, it becomes frighteningly clear to Mary that he is gone. Through the years, disappointment and worry have brought Mary’s life to a standstill, and she has let her universe shrink to the well-worn path from the bedroom to the refrigerator. But her husband’s disappearance startles her out of her inertia, and she begins a desperate search.

For the first time in her life, she boards a plane and flies across the country to find her lost husband. So used to hiding from the world, Mary finds that in the bright sun and broad vistas of California, she is forced to look up from the pavement. And what she finds fills her with inner strength she’s never felt before. Through it all, Mary not only finds kindred spirits, but reunites with a more intimate stranger no longer sequestered by fear and habit: herself.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was a book I did not appreciate while I was reading it.  I think I may have missed the point of the entire book.  Then, I discussed it with someone else who had read it who absolutely loved it.  They could not understand why I did not enjoy it as much as I should have.  Apparently, I need to appreciate the journey… I may have to read it again at some point.

Goodreads describes the book:

PAULO COELHO’S enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom points Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transformation power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.

Guilty Wives by James Patterson was an entertaining book.  I read it in two days.  It is my neighborhood bookclub’s next book to discuss.  It was a murder-mystery, a quick read, nothing too deep to think about.  Always nice to read a quickie that does not require much effort in between “heavier” books.

Goodreads describes the book:

Only minutes after Abbie Elliot and her three best friends step off of a private helicopter, they enter the most luxurious, sumptuous, sensually pampering hotel they have ever been to. Their lavish presidential suite overlooks Monte Carlo, and they surrender: to the sun and pool, to the sashimi and sake, to the Bruno Paillard champagne. For four days they’re free to live someone else’s life. As the weekend moves into pulsating discos, high-stakes casinos, and beyond, Abbie is transported to the greatest pleasure and release she has ever known.

What happened last night?

In the morning’s harsh light, Abbie awakens on a yacht, surrounded by police. Something awful has happened—something impossible, unthinkable. Abbie, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah are arrested and accused of the foulest crime imaginable. And now the vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime & for survival. GUILTY WIVES is the ultimate indulgence, the kind of nonstop joy-ride of excess, friendship, betrayal, and danger that only James Patterson can create.

A Child Called It by David Pelzer was such a sad book.  It came across as recommended to me on Amazon.com based on other books I’ve read.  I decided to buy the Kindle version.  I read it very quickly.  It was so shocking and sad that anyone, especially a parent, could hurt a child.  Most of us spend all of our time trying to build up our children’s self esteem, give them nourishment, and at the very least… our love.  This poor child was denied all of that (and then some).

Goodreads describes the book:

This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games–games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother’s games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an “it.”

Dave’s bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive–dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son

Wallbanger by Alice Clayton was hilarious.  I laughed out loud several times reading this book.  Think along the lines of 50 Shades of Grey… with humor.  Funny and entertaining book, glad to have read it!

Goodreads describes the book:

Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a KitchenAid mixer, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O.

Adding insult to O-less, since her move, she has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Each moan, spank, and–was that a meow?–punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has, yep, you guessed it, no O.

Enter Simon Parker. (No, really, Simon, please enter.) When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has, well, mixed results. Ahem. With walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick…

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn was another great book (she also wrote Gone Girl, which I posted about last year here).  I have no earthly idea how this author writes her books and thinks up her story lines.  This is a dark, dark tale of an unbelievably dysfunctional family.  Interesting book from beginning to end.  It was hard to put down… I wanted to know what happened next!

Goodreads describes the book:

WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.

NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.

HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

Every time I saw a posting about “funny” books on Facebook, Goodreads, or Amazon the author Stephanie Plum always came up (always).  So, I read One for the Money by Stephanie Plum.  I have to admit it was a fun read!  Again, this is one of those fun, quick reads that you can just sit, read, and enjoy.  I plan on reading more in her series… Two For the Dough is next!

Goodreads describes the book:

One Fine Mess
Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash – fast – but times are tough, and soon she’s forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family…

One False Move
Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie’s bail bonding company. She’s got no experience. But that doesn’t matter. As does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants, to the time Steph hit him with her father’s Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water-wanted for murder…

One for the Money
Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn’t. Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she’ll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight – and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man…

Bossypants by Tina Fey was funny.  I like her humor and I’ve watched all of the episodes of 30 Rock available on Netflix.  The book sort of felt like a repeat of that show, but I still enjoyed it.

Goodreads describes the book:

Before Liz Lemon, before “Weekend Update,” before “Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

yup, i’ve been reading…

I’ve been reading (and not blogging) and now it’s time to play catch-up and recommend some books!

I will start with the best books I’ve read recently and work my way downward:

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick was a great book.  I was surprised by the twists and turns and completely enjoyed every moment reading this book.  I would have never guessed the beginning, middle, or end — glad to have read this one!

Goodreads describes the book:

Rural Wisconsin, 1909. In the bitter cold, Ralph Truitt, a successful businessman, stands alone on a train platform waiting for the woman who answered his newspaper advertisement for “a reliable wife.” But when Catherine Land steps off the train from Chicago, she’s not the “simple, honest woman” that Ralph is expecting. She is both complex and devious, haunted by a terrible past and motivated by greed. Her plan is simple: she will win this man’s devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is that Truitt a passionate man with his own dark secrets has plans of his own for his new wife. Isolated on a remote estate and imprisoned by relentless snow, the story of Ralph and Catherine unfolds in unimaginable ways.
With echoes of “Wuthering Heights” and “Rebecca,” Robert Goolrick’s intoxicating debut novel delivers a classic tale of suspenseful seduction, set in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis.

Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons was a great book, as well.  I’ve read other books by Kaye Gibbons and loved them (Ellen Foster and A Virtuous Woman) and I was not disappointed with this one either.  I loved hearing the story of three generations of amazing and interesting women and how they lived their eccentric lives in rural North Carolina during WWII.

Goodreads describes the book:

A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina. Radiant, headstrong Sophia and her shy, brilliant daughter, Margaret, possess powerful charms to ward off loneliness, despair, and the human misery that often beats a path to their door. And they are protected by the eccentric wisdom and muscular love of the remarkable matriarch Charlie Kate, a solid, uncompromising, self-taught healer who treats everything from boils to broken bones to broken hearts.

Sophia, Margaret, and Charlie Kate find strength in a time when women almost always depended on men, and their bond deepens as each one experiences love and loss during World War II. Charms for the Easy Life is a passionate, luminous, and exhilarating story about embracing what life has to offer … even if it means finding it in unconventional ways.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin was a really good book.  It was available for “immediate download” on my Kindle from our public library, so I decided to borrow it.  It was interesting and detailed and I’m glad I read it — enjoyed it thoroughly!   I thought it was a horror book because of the name — nope, I’m just slow — the book is based in Mississippi.

Goodreads describes the book:

Tom Franklin’s narrative power and flair for characterization have been compared to the likes of Harper Lee, Flannery O’Connor, Elmore Leonard, and Cormac McCarthy.

Now the Edgar Award-winning author returns with his most accomplished and resonant novel so far; an atmospheric drama set in rural Mississippi. In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas “32″ Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county—and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town.

More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they’ve buried and ignored for decades.

The Expats by Chris Pavone was a good book.  This is not a genre I normally read, but it was a nice change.  We are reading this for my neighborhood bookclub.  It was  a quick and fun read.  There is nothing to re-read as you go or think too hard about.  It was a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed it.

Goodreads describes the book:

Kate Moore is a working mother, struggling to make ends meet, to raise children, to keep a spark in her marriage . . . and to maintain an increasingly unbearable life-defining secret. So when her husband is offered a lucrative job in Luxembourg, she jumps at the chance to leave behind her double-life, to start anew.

She begins to reinvent herself as an expat, finding her way in a language she doesn’t speak, doing the housewifely things she’s never before done—play-dates and coffee mornings, daily cooking and unending laundry. Meanwhile, her husband works incessantly, doing a job Kate has never understood, for a banking client she’s not allowed to know. He’s becoming distant and evasive; she’s getting lonely and bored.

Then another American couple arrives. Kate soon becomes suspicious that these people are not who they claim to be, and terrified that her own past is catching up to her. So Kate begins to dig, to peel back the layers of deception that surround her. She discovers fake offices and shell corporations and a hidden gun; a mysterious farmhouse and numbered accounts with bewildering sums of money; a complex web of intrigue where no one is who they claim to be, and the most profound deceptions lurk beneath the most normal-looking of relationships; and a mind-boggling long-play con threatens her family, her marriage, and her life.

Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky was another book that was available for “immediate download” from the library, so I borrowed it.   It was a quick read.  The premise of book is a pregnancy pact between 17 year old daughters.  I have three daughters of my own, so it was a bit traumatizing to think about.  This may be a good book to discuss at bookclub and get other people’s thoughts about how to prevent something like this from happening, were the mother’s (and father’s) at fault, why did the teens think this was a good idea, etc…

Goodreads describes the book:

When Susan Tate’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and herself.

Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lily’s best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school, she has always been held up as a role model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughter’s pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-fought-for dreams are all at risk.

The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother?

Riversong by Tess Thompson was a book I got for free from http://www.bookbub.com.  It sounded interesting, so I downloaded it.  It was a bit predictable, but it still has some good merits.  It is a quick read and I don’t feel like I wasted time by reading it.  Unfortunately, I have read a few books that I was happy to be finished and I was disappointed I read it — this was not one of those books.

Goodreads describes the book:

Author Tess Thompson assembles a colorful cast of endearing small-town characters and takes you on a journey that will make you believe in the possibilities of life – even in the face of overwhelming adversity and unimaginable grief.

Lee Tucker is the kind of woman you find yourself rooting for long after the last page is read. When her husband commits suicide, he leaves her pregnant and one million dollars in debt to a loan shark. Out of options, she escapes to her deceased mother’s dilapidated house located in a small Oregon town that, like her, is financially ruined, heartbroken and in desperate need of a fresh start. Lee’s resilience leads to a plan for a destination restaurant named Riversong, to new chances for passion and love, and to danger from her dead husband’s debt as her business blooms.

A surprising mix of romance, humor, friendship, intrigue and gourmet food, Riversong entertains while reminding you of life’s greatest gifts.

Good Grief by Lolly Winston is a New York Times Bestseller.  It makes me doubt every book on that list.  It is about a woman who looses her husband and it is supposed to be a comedy…?  The things that happen to the main character and the situations the author tries to portray as funny — were absolutely not funny to me.  When your spouse dies and you can’t regroup… there is nothing funny about that.  The book takes a turn and I was able to appreciate it more, so I ended up being okay with the book and actually enjoying it towards the end, but I didn’t love it.

Goodreads describes the book:

Thirty-six-year-old Sophie Stanton desperately wants to be a good widow-a graceful, composed, Jackie Kennedy kind of widow. Alas, she is more of the Jack Daniels kind. Self-medicating with ice cream for breakfast, breaking down at the supermarket, and showing up to work in her bathrobe and bunny slippers-soon she’s not only lost her husband, but her job, house…and waistline. With humor and chutzpah Sophie leaves town, determined to reinvent her life. But starting over has its hurdles; soon she’s involved with a thirteen-year-old who has a fascination with fire, and a handsome actor who inspires a range of feelings she can’t cope with-yet.

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

to kill a mockingbird…

Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, was honestly one of the best books I have ever read.

It was truly amazing to read about racial inequalities and social justice (and injustice) from a child’s point of view.  The innocence of their thought process, not swayed yet by bigotry and community pressure, was incredible to read.  These children judged the people around them by their actions and asked questions if they were confused.  They wept when people were wronged simply because of the color of their skin.  If we all could only take lessons from this book.

I was also amazed that an author could capture a child’s voice and thoughts so vividly.

I applaud this book… I simply loved it.

Goodreads describes the book:

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior—to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story, by a young Alabama woman, claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society…

Another book I read recently (and loved) that I neglected to add to my blog was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. 

I borrowed this book from the library on a whim and absolutely loved it!  So happy to run across it! 

The  interesting thing about this book was it is written as a series of letters.  You hear the story told back and forth from many different points of view.  I laughed.  I cried.  This was an incredible book! 

Goodreads describes the book:

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

life of pi…

I just realized that I never recommended Life of Pi by Yann Martel on my blog!  This was an amazing book that I highly recommend.

I read this book for my neighborhood book club.  It makes for a great discussion.  Not all books are fun to talk about, but this one was an exception.  It was very interesting to hear people discuss their idea of the book and the ending.  Everyone had a different perception of the book.   We were all surprised to hear the reasons we all came to a different conclusion.

Great book – read it! 

Goodreads has an incredibly long description of this book.  Here is the last bit:

As Yann Martel has said in one interview, “The theme of this novel can be summarized in three lines. Life is a story. You can choose your story. And a story with an imaginative overlay is the better story.” And for Martel, the greatest imaginative overlay is religion. “God is a shorthand for anything that is beyond the material — any greater pattern of meaning.”

In Life of Pi, the question of stories, and of what stories to believe, is front and centre from the beginning, when the author tells us how he was led to Pi Patel and to this novel: in an Indian coffee house, a gentleman told him, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” And as this novel comes to its brilliant conclusion, Pi shows us that the story with the imaginative overlay is also the story that contains the most truth.

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

dirty little secret…

Another great bargain book has been read!  I read Dirty Little Secrets by C. J. Omololu yesterday.  I would absolutely recommend it, not only because of the price ($1.99 through a bookbub.com email), but it was a great book!  I literally could not put this book down.

The book is about a teenage girl that lives with her mother who is a hoarder.  I’ve watched many TV shows about hoarders, so I could completely picture their living conditions (although, the author also does a great job of describing it – no need to watch bad TV to enjoy the book!).

The girl has spent her whole life hiding their “secret” from the rest of the world.

I am trying to get my daughter to read it next.  This book can easily span all age groups.

Goodreads describes the book:

Everyone has a secret. But Lucy’s is bigger and dirtier than most. It’s one she’s been hiding for years—that her mom’s out-of-control hoarding has turned their lives into a world of garbage and shame. She’s managed to keep her home life hidden from her best friend and her crush, knowing they’d be disgusted by the truth. So, when her mom dies suddenly in their home, Lucy hesitates to call 911 because revealing their way of life would make her future unbearable—and she begins her two-day plan to set her life right.

With details that are as fascinating as they are disturbing, C. J. Omololu weaves an hour-by-hour account of Lucy’s desperate attempt at normalcy. Her fear and isolation are palpable as readers are pulled down a path from which there is no return, and the impact of hoarding on one teen’s life will have readers completely hooked.

(For those who have finished DLS, there is an “AFTER” chapter on the website www.cjomololu.com. Contains many spoilers, so only for those who have read the book).

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

before i go to sleep…

I just finished reading another great book!  A real page turner, if you will.  The book is called Before I go to Sleep by S. J. Watson.  I’ve had this on my “to-read” list for a while.  Recently, a fellow blogger (thank you, aworkingmum!) recommended a website called Bookbub.com.  This site shows many book deals and book freebies from a variety of different sites.  I found this book for $2.99 (yay!).

This was a quick, easy read.  I found myself thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it… wondering what was going to happen next.  Love it when I find a book like that!  I just started it yesterday… that should tell you something!

Goodreads describes the book:

‘As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I’m still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me …’ Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love—all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine’s life.

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

the handmaid’s tale…

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood was an incredible book.  I read this book in 2 days — I couldn’t put it down.  Now, I can’t stop thinking about it.

This would be a really great choice for a book club discussion:

What would you do if you were a handmaid, a wife, an aunt?  Or even, a commander?

Goodreads mentions the book as “funny” but I did not find one humorous thing about the book, so take their synopsis with a grain of salt.  Horrifying, yes.  Funny, not so much.

Goodreads describes the book:

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining fertility, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…

Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.

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fried green tomatoes…

I just finished reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.  This was a great movie.  It is also a great book.  If you’ve already seen the movie you don’t need to shy away from the book.

While the book and the movie are obviously very similar, the book has so many more details.  The story goes back and forth between current times and the 1920′s and forward.  You hear from the voices and perspectives of many different characters.  I loved how the book showed loving, family-like relationships between white people and black people in the 1930′s… how each would literally put their lives on the line for one another.

This book was very well written.  I enjoyed every moment of it.

Goodreads describes the book:

It’s first the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women — of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth, who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder.

Please view “reading now” for current and past book postings.

lit: a memoir…

Well, I fell for another Kindle Daily Deal.  Apparently, I am their target audience!!  I read quite quickly and can’t spend $12.99 on a new book all the time, so I buy the Kindle Daily deal for 99 cents!  Although, I do borrow e-books from the public library they don’t have all of the books on my “to read” list.  Hence, the Kindle Daily Deal purchases. 

I bought the book Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr.  She is the author of The Liar’s Club which is a popular book with good ratings, so I decided to give “Lit” a try.

Lit is a memoir of an alcoholic mother and her recount of raising her son and her relationship with her husband while she was drinking.  She talks about her mother and father, who were also big drinkers.  To me, it raised the question about nature or nurture.  It seems a bit of both played a part on her road to alcoholism.  It was an interesting read.

The Kindle Daily Deal worked in more ways than one on me… I am now intrigued enough by the author’s story that I plan on reading “The Liar’s Club” as well (which is not available as an e-book at the public library and sells for $12.99 at amazon.com).  Darn Kindle Daily Deal. 

I gave the book 2 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com simply because I was a bit bored by the end of the book.  But, I thought it was interesting enough to want to read other books written by her.

Goodreads describes the book:

Karr’s longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can’t outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in “The Mental Marriott,” with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, “Give me chastity, Lord–but not yet ” has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity.

“Lit” is about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother by letting go of a mother; learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr’s relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up–as only Mary Karr can tell it.