I've been busy

Yep, I have been reading. Fear not, my habits will not be contained by Christmas celebration! I just haven't had a chance to post due to Christmas celebration. So, forgive me and let's get right down to business. "The Distant Hours" by Kate Morton. So, after reading "The Forgotten Garden", I was on a Morton kick. Everyone tells me they loved "The Distant Hours" more, so I bought that and settled in for a GOOD read. I gotta say, I loved the other more! Call me crazy, but I could not get into this one like I could the other. That being said, I really did enjoy the characters in this book as well.
This is the story of three aging sisters that live in a rather famous castle with secrets galore. They ask a young journalist (with a family history woven into the castle) to come and do a piece on the castle. This book again goes between the past and present to unravel a story that will keep you reading long past bedtime.
Very clean book again. No sex, language, etc... Good read

"The Christmas Carol". Need I say more? A quick read that was perfect for the few days before Christmas. You all know this story but may not have read it. (I hadn't.) Very descriptive writing style. Awesome!

"When Parents Text"

I think I got this free or really cheap on the Kindle because it is no literary award winner. However, it is one of the funniest thing I have ever read! These gals stared a blog with the funny things their parents text them and then decided to print it. Hilarious!!! There is a lot of language and body humor so I would not recommend this to a young reader or someone who is offended easily. But, don't worry, I left it on the "hahaha" collection in the Kindle, just so I can refer back to it when in need of a good laugh.

This was a freebie as well. "Leaving Paradise" was an easy, quick little read that is like foreshadowing Heaven! I pretty much knew what would happen from the 2nd chapter. I think it is meant to be a young adult book, but it is anything but. There is a lot of language and adult issues.

Maggie and Caleb's lives are changed forever by one senseless act that left Maggie hospitalized and Caleb in jail. A year later, Caleb is back and hoping to reclaim the life he led before the incident, while Maggie is still picking up the pieces of her shattered body. Nobody seems to realize that things can never be the same. This was an ok one timer.

Soooooooo, I am in need of good books people!!! How many can we read this year?! Anyone have any resolutions? Mine might have to be....to actually make it into a 2nd chapter of a Jane Austen book.

The Forgotten Garden

Must read! Must read! If you loved "The Thirteenth Tale" as much as I did, this is the very next book you should read. This is an amazing book filled with characters you love and hate, places you wish you could visit and a story that you have a horrible time pulling yourself out of. Kate Morton's ability to capture your interest is unbelievable!
The story begins with a small girl docking in Australia all alone in the early 1900's. Her story continues when she finds out she is not who she believed she was. Then it is her granddaughter that continues the search for the truth. The book goes back and forth through time to capture the discoveries each on of them makes. It is a story of love and loss. Beautifully written to the end.
Very clean book. Just recommended it for my book club. Someone PLEASE read this and lets do lunch to discuss it:)

Ellen Foster

As soon as I read the first line on the back of this book, I knew I would read it.
"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy." Now, nobody panic. I do NOT want to kill my daddy. I quite like my daddy. (Just to clarify.)
It has actually been on my "to read" list for quite some time now, so when I saw it at The Paperback Book Exchange, I was pretty happy. I've got to say, it was not what I was hoping for. It was a somewhat difficult read because it is written in first person of a little southern girl. I also thought it was unique though, in that it was wise and funny and yet it was a heart wrenching story about this neglected little girl.
It is a short pretty quick book with some language. I don't see a younger person staying engaged in the book long because of the style of writing. I really don't know how I feel about this one. Anyone read it?

The Seventeen Second Miracle

Another good read people. Uplifting and inspiring to the end, Jason Wright does it again.

Seventeen seconds can change a life forever as Rex Conner learned on a tragic day as a young man. Cole, his son, still feels the percussions years later. As a teacher, he invites struggling teenagers to attend his discussions on the Seventeen Second Miracles. Before the book is finished, the students are tested and Cole learns several things himself. This could be a life changing book for some. It certainly has me thinking a little differently. It is very clean and I would recommend it to anyone.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

Wow, another great read! I am on a roll! So this book is a bit like "These Things Hidden". It's kind of a murder mystery novel.
In the 1970's, Larry and Silas were childhood pals from 2 different worlds. Larry, the son of middle-class white parents and Silas, the son of a poor black single mother. Then Larry takes a girl to the drive-in and she is never heard from again. He doesn't confess and was never charged, but lives as a recluse as he is presumed guilty by the entire town.
Now twenty years have passed and another girl has gone missing forcing these unlikely friends to come across each others paths once again.
This is another book that I would recommend to most. It does have a very foul-mouthed character in it, so I would advise that you be able to handle language. Some sexual and rape references as well. Overall a very good book. I own this one and plan to read more of Tom Franklin's novels.

Not Without My Daughter

Imagine being taken to a foreign country where you couldn't speak the language, adapt to the customs or even walk the street without fear. Where you are treated as nothing and have no way of getting home. This is the true story about a women taken on a short trip to Iran with her Iranian husband and her daughter. This book is quite long and goes through her grueling agony of trying to flee her captors. It is a pretty clean book but has some violence. I read it for my book club and don't know that I would read it again. But I have never been more fond of my toilet than after reading the horror stories of Iranian bathrooms:( It really made me appreciate being an American. This book is suitable for anyone. If you are curious about Iranian culture or treatment of women, this is pretty straight forward.

The Soldiers Wife

I like this one. I wasn't sure what to expect, but saw that it takes place on Guernsey and I couldn't help but read it. (And plan my next vacation to this paradise.)
So this book is also about the German Occupation of the island. While her husband is off fighting at war, this mother and caregiver finds herself in love with a German soldier. This is a story of love and compassion, war and adapting to it. It was well written with good characters. It is pretty clean being about the passions of war. Its sensual scenes are brief and not very detailed. I may still not recommend it to younger readers, but only because its topics are adult in nature. I would probably read it again. It held my attention to the end which I am torn about. Someone please read this so we can chat.

These Things Hidden

I love and hate a good book. Do you ever get done with a book and think there is no way I can top that with anything in my pile of books to read? This is one of those books. I read it in 2 days and my arms literally ached this morning. So intense too.
This book is about a girl convicted of a murder, her sister that suffers the consequences, and a family living in fear of having everything taken from them. This is written true Jodi Picoult style. My favorite. Mostly in 1st person.
Allison is living in a halfway house after serving her prison sentence, her sister, Brynn wants nothing to do with her. Charm is a nursing student that carries a secret and Claire is the adpoted mother of Joshua, the little boy that is the center of each of thems world.
There is same language in this book and it deals with adult topics of murder and some sex. Very good though. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good intense read. No teenagers though.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Once again, Lindsay comes through. (Lindsay got me to read a silly story about teenage vampires that don't suck human blood.) Don't worry. This is not a vampire story. Mostly...
This is a non-fiction book people. I don't read many, but this one sucked me in. This is the story of a black woman in the 50's that dies of cervical cancer. Before she passes away, doctors take a sample of her cells and notice that they multiply quickly and can be kept alive very easily. This woman's cells become legendary. They have been instrumental in many medical studies and are sold around the world. They estimate that if you put them all together, they could circle the earth 3 times. Here is the crazy part. Her family of uneducated tobacco farmers, cannot afford health insurance.
This is a nail biter from the beginning. It really made me think that every time I take a pill or hear about some medical breakthrough, that it most likely happened because of Henrietta Lacks. Appalling! Read it! and let me know what you think!

Shadow of the Wind

Yippee!! Another good read! What great luck I have. So my BFF Blythe recommended this book to me and as usual, never a disappointment. I had a little bit of a conflict in that I don't know why I loved this book. It's one of those books that you can't leave alone but you're not sure why.
So, this one is about a boy that finds a book in a cemetery of forgotten books. He is intrigued by it and goes out in search of the authors other works only to find everything ever written by the fella has been destroyed. AND mysterious characters keep popping up....ohhh. I love it. This is a somewhat long story so don't get into it unless you have time. I would recommend it to most people, but not young folks. There are a few bits of language by the stinky villain. Overall a nice bit of literature for sure.

Divine

Again, couldn't put a darn book down. It certainly wasn't the best book I have ever read, in fact, it was down right depressing at times. Some parts hard to read, but it was as clean as it could be given the story.
So, it is a book that goes between past and present stories. It is about a woman that runs a women's shelter, but has her own story to help her clients get back on track. It also is all about coming to Jesus. (Not in an LDS way.) But I love the way that she really puts it out there in Gods hands.
Good story. Not for kids even though it is an easy read. Adult topics and some major child abuse. I would maybe not read it again, but it was a good one-timer.

Seriously

Does no one read? People I need a phenom book please.
Cough up your favorites here....
Right away
Before I go into withdrawal
You know the kind that comes on the heels of a fabulous read?
Yep, that kind
Please
Help a sister out

Unbroken

By far, the best book of my year!!!! Unbelievable! Unbroken is an absolutely true story of courage, resilience and endurance. I seriously read this book in like 3 days and it's a biggie. It is beautifully written and easy to read.

This is the story of Louie, an Olympic hopeful that's plans are derailed by the Army Air Force. I do not want to go into too much detail and ruin a good book for you all, so I won't go much farther than that. I will say that Louie goes through some of the most horrific things I have ever read about. This book does have a lot of history in it. (The whole last 25-30 pages are resources.) The details and the numbers of Americans affected are staggering.

Hillenbrand does a fine job of writing a clean book out of not so clean material. The only cussing in this book comes as direct quotes or names given to Japanese soldiers. Very clean. It is about war however and younger readers may find it boring or hard to follow some parts.

Please somebody read this book!!! Let's talk about it!

Will read it again and again!

The Girl With The Pearl Earring

I wasn't so sure about this book for a while. I have had it on my "to read" list and my bookshelf for some time now. I finally picked it up the other day thinking if nothing else it would be a quick read. It certainly was. Once again, I am forced to starve my family and leave dirty laundry strewn about. I don't know why I liked it so much. Not the most engaging story by any means. And I still haven't figured out if it is based on true accounts or totally fictional. A girl, Griet, is hired by an artists family to be the maid. She ends up intriguing the artist, his purchasers and the local butchers son. An easy, pretty clean read. If anyone knows if this is a true story, do tell.

The Things That Keep Us Here

I could not put this book down! My friend, Laura, brought it over and told me not to start it till I had plenty of time to read it. So, of course, I picked it up that very night and that is what I did for spring break. So, really...don't start until you have a minute or two.
This book is strangely enough, about the bird flu. I know...its like a book about teenage vampires that don't drink human blood or something. However, the story focuses on a family that has to quarantine themselves from the flu, the weather and the psychos that will do anything to save their families. Just when you think things can't get worse for them, it does! It really made me think about how unprepared I am for a host of problems that could arise. Needless to say, when I wasn't reading, I was making Sterling shop with me for supplies.
It doesn't help that right when I got to a part about being without power for days, our power went out and I was reading by flashlight.
This book had a very small foreplay part, and 1 f-bomb, but other than that, pretty clean read. I mean, it is not meant for a teenager or younger person to read. There is some gore. But I liked it. It was a good one timer!

Testimony

Whoa Nellie!! This was a page turner. But it wouldn't be for everyone. It starts off with a bang and never stops with the fireworks. It was actually a little difficult to read. Why? The whole book is about a sex scandal at a private school, with young people, caught on video, did I mention with young people? So, it is written a little Jodi Picoult style, which is for those of you that haven't read anything by one of my favorite authors... a little diary-ish. She jumps from the stand point of person to person. It was certainly not one of my favorites, but I also could not put it down til I was done with it. So, read at your own risk.
Lots of young sex, a fair amount of language and very adult issues. I most likely wouldn't recommend this book to a soul I know.

The Color of Heaven

Very good book here people. I am not sure where to start about it though. I am tempted to copy and paste it book description.

Ok, so I don't recall any language or sex or anything too in inappropriate. It is not a teen fiction book so it may appeal more to an adult though.

So, woman goes through horrific loss of child, deception of husband and a horrible car accident. She then decides to go on a little search of her past. This includes some time jumping into the life of her mother. She needs some answers I guess. Don't we all....

This book reminded me a lot of "The Notebook". So if you loved that one, this is a great follow up.

The Protector

Intense!! This was a long book and I stayed up late and woke up early to read it. (Thank you Kindle.) I hauled this one everywhere! This would make a great movie, maybe already is? OK, so crazy cop chick goofs up a case where a little girl dies, then is given the job to go into hiding with another little girl, (different case) that was witness to her own parents murder. You with me? Now, this lady is hardened! This book has a A LOT of language! Not for the faint of heart for sure. But I really enjoyed it. However, I hate when I have the case figured out when I am only 46% into the book! I still couldn't put it down. The little girl that she is protecting is so cute and you just really see the cop chick soften up. I will read the next book she wrote for sure.

Enthusiasm

So when my book club drew this book to read, I was not thrilled. Right in the front cover it talks of being a modern day Jane Austen. BLAGHHHHHH!!!! Those of you that know me know that I cannot do Jane Austen! Someday, when I get smart, or turn English, I might try again. But for now, I was less than excited about reading this book. However, I stuck it out and finished it. and do you know.... it was OK. Definitely a young adult book. But OK.

Story about a girl and her enthusiastic friend that is always coming up with crazy ideas. this book focuses on her obsession with Jane Austen and how she thinks they can go crash a dance at a boys only school and find their soul mates. It was cute. I probably won't read it again or anything like that though.

You know who would LOVE this book is my niece, LA! It's all about drama and acting and stuff that she likes. (Pick it up L)

No language, sex, violence or any other despicable things. (Maybe that's why I..... just kidding.)

I'm reading a great new book

And I will give you a hint as to what it is...
Check out my blog list to the right!
Awesome!

Saving Rachel

OK, so here again, another jacked up book that I could not put down to save my soul! This was like a suspense novel on a roller coaster! Wow! First, let me warn. This book was full of violence, some language and references to sex. That being said, I liked it and found myself wanting to read another book by Locke. I don't know what it was about it, maybe the suspense and unknown elements. There were plenty of them. This book has more twists and turns than Payson Canyon!

So, basically, rich man, wife and mistress all become subject to a scheme to get his money. Wife doesn't know about girlfriend, girlfriend doesn't know about wife. Then rich guy has to pick which one to save......AAUUGH!! And that's just the ending. If you are looking for a good, fast moving, somewhat disturbing read, this is the one. And then let me know what you think.

The Hangman's Daughter

By Oliver Potzsch
As far as gruesome, somewhat gross and otherwise disturbing books go...
I liked this one! It wasn't so gross that I couldn't read it, but it is about a Hangman after all. this book takes place in the mid 1600's. It was a time when anyone could be accused of being a witch. However, this time it is the midwife of all his children's births that is accused. The Hangman, being the big ol softy he is, becomes something of a detective in a quest to prove her innocence. I love the characters in this book. It does talk about witches, torture, death and a host of other somewhat adult topics. It has some language and references to sex. So, I would say it is an adult read. I couldn't put this one down.
One quote I loved:
"If you want to know who is responsible for anything, ask who benefits from it."

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I forgot how much I LOVE this book!! One of my all time favorites for sure.

It takes place in the 1940's and is a book of letters. At first it is hard to adjust to the style, but certainly worth hanging in there for. It is witty and full of humor. It is very clean and I would recommend it to anyone, however young readers may be bored by it.

So, the main character, an author named Juliet, has a little writers block when she gets a letter from man on the island of Guernsey that was captured by the Germans during the occupation. The island, now liberated, is home to a delightful bunch that send letters to Juliet as well. It's a story of finding yourself and making friends in unlikely places.

So cute. I will read it again and again.

In starting with a new tradition, here is a quote or 2:

"That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive- all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment."

"I much prefer whining to counting my blessings"

Oh, you have to read this book! So good!

Matched

OK people. Here is a good read that combines all the good stuff of "Hunger Games" and "The Giver." I liked it. No loved, but liked. This is a local (SLC) author and I am pretty sure this is her first book. There is a waiting list at the library for it and I guess it was worth the time. I am fairly certain that this is the first book of a series as it leaves you totally hanging.
This is another futuristic America book where we have managed to destroy our world. So this book takes place in a "Society" where everything is decided for you, (because we were to dumb to do it the first time around.) You don't choose your meals, your career or even your spouse in the Society. Problem? (Cause every good book has one?) The girl in this book isn't sure of the match they make for her. YIKES! DRAMA! OK so it is a young adult read obviously. So no sex, language or anything else that would keep me from recommending it to the young women.
I have got to quit reading this type of book however. They freak me out. the whole government control thing hits a little close to home sometimes. It seems they always think they know how we should live and aren't afraid to impose rules and laws to make sure we do. So, yes, these books are a little creepy that way. Warn me if you intend to recommend on to me.
I need a good old fashioned, can't pull my nose out of, my poor kids are starving kind of book!

The Last Lecture

By Randy Pausch
This book ranks right up there with the "Four Agreements" to me!
What an incredibly motivating book. This is a non-fiction book that Randy Pausch wrote after giving his "Last Lecture".
Randy was a professor at a university. The faculty there were sometimes asked to give a lecture as if you were dying. Crazy thing? Randy was dying. He had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given 3-6 months to live. Randy was married and had 3 kids under 6 years old.
His lecture was not what you would think. He focused on living out your childhood dreams. And he did live his out. He was incredible! The way he lived his life before and after his diagnosis was remarkable. It left me in awe. I will buy this book. I maybe will read it daily to remember how I would like to live my life.

Ps If you have an hour and a few minutes, watch his lecture online on youtube. Fabulous!

Gathering Blue and the Messenger

I finished the series! It was good. I couldn't put it down. Clever story.
So book 2 is totally unrelated to Book 1, but book 3 ties them all together. Book 2, Gathering Blue is about a girl living in a different place with other rules while realizing she has a gift. She and her friends are special and thus, treated differently. Book 3, the Messenger, tells you what happens in the end of book 1. I know, confusing. But this series was an easy read. No language, sex or any graphic violence. I am glad Koy read it. I think it was a good book for him also. Definitely not his favorite, but he enjoyed it for sure.
So, now I have a list a mile long of books that sound great, but which to choose???
It needs to be something fantastic! An ideas?

The Giver

This was a surprising read to me! Koy read this book for English and at first he didn't really like it. However, I was intrigued because of how quickly he read the series. In the end, I think he enjoyed it.
The book is about a futuristic time when everything has become quite primitive. There are a lot of rules and no emotions. People just going through the motions of life. One boy, however is given a unique job upon turning 12 years old. He is to meet with The Giver and "receive" memories. It had sort of a "Hunger Games" feel to it but whole different story.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It is a youth book I believe. No language. No sex.
This book does end with you dangling from a cliff though and the second book has NOTHING to do with the first, but Koy tells me it all comes together in the end.
Good book. Enjoyed it. Almost done with the next.