It's Monday 4/25! What Are You Reading?

Good morning and happy Monday!  I hope you all had a nice Easter.  Ours was a bit odd - spent in the car mostly - but we arrived in Oklahoma in time to have a nice Easter dinner with my father-in-law.  The kids got their Easter baskets in our camper in the morning in Arkansas!

With all the work of packing up last week, then 3 1/2 days of driving, my husband and I haven't had much reading time (I get sick if I read in the car), but between being sick all last week and having 8 hours a day on the road, my oldest son has been reading non-stop!

• I am still reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.  It's a hefty one!  It's different than I expected, but I am engaged by the story now and enjoying it.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading Eyes of the Innocent by Brad Parks, from our library.  This is the thriller that's been compared in style to Janet Evanovich, so he's enjoying it very much.
• Jamie, 16, has been on a reading marathon, reading about a book a day!  While sick last week, he read three books in the series by Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide.
• Still sick, Jamie decided to take a break from the Ender's Game series and comfort himself with some old favorites from the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.  I haven't tried to keep track of the titles, but I think he's now on his 4th Redwall book since we left home!  It's probably the third time he's read most of these.  He says he has two more that he brought along with him before he resumes newer books.
• We've all been listening to Sapphique by Catherine Fisher in the car.  Last spring break, we listened to the first book in the series, Incarceron, on our way to Louisiana and loved it!  The sequel is excellent so far.
• Last night, we began reading the book from Craig's Easter basket together, 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson, a middle-grade novel about kids finding alternate worlds through cupboards in their attic.  We've just started it, but it sounds intriguing. 

Last week, I posted reviews of The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton and a middle-grade novel, The Kind of Friends We Used to Be by Frances O'Roark Dowell at Great Books for Kids and Teens.  I also posted a preview clip for the movie adaptation of The Help - I can't wait to see it!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Fiction Review: The Forgotten Garden

My book group met last week to discuss The Forgotten Garden, a novel by Kate Morton.  When I first picked up my copy from the library and saw the title and the cover picture, of a classic English garden, I worried that I wouldn’t like it very much – sounded sort of boring to me.  So, when I opened up this more than 500-page novel and started to read, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was almost immediately swept up into an exciting story.

The Forgotten Garden is part-mystery and part-family epic, spanning several generations in both England and Australia.  It begins in 1913 with an unknown and very young girl alone on a ship bound for Australia.  The dockmaster finds her after the ship gets to its port, with no sign of who she belongs to, so he and his wife adopt her.  The only clue to her identity is a beautiful book of fairy tales she carries with her in a tiny suitcase.  Right away, mysteries and secrets abound.  Who is the girl?  How did she come to be on this ship by herself?  What will become of her?

From there, the novel moves back and forth between the girl’s (and then woman’s) life as she grows up and has her own family; the earlier 1900’s following the author of the fairy tale book; 1975 when, as an older woman, she returns to England to search for her roots; and her granddaughter in the present day, trying to unravel her grandmother’s secrets.  If that sounds confusing, well…it is at times but well worth it, as the mysteries in the book come to light a bit at a time, and the reader tries to piece together the whole story from each of the character’s perspectives.

It’s a clever and engaging way to tell this multi-generational story that shows how an action made in the past can continue to effect family members for many, many years into the future.  The novel also weaves the fairy tales found with the little girl into the story, with their actions and characters offering clues to its author and her connection with the lost girl.

Everyone in my book group enjoyed this unique novel that features many unexpected twists and turns.  I am definitely interested in reading Kate Morton’s first novel, The House at Riverton.

549 pages, Atria Books

 

The Help Movie Trailer

BookPage posted the just-released trailer for the movie adaptation of The Help.  I can't wait to see it - this August!  It looks so good!!  What do you think?  Check it out:

 

It's Monday 4/18! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday!

I have two boys home sick today.  Just a flare-up of their chronic illness, the result of too much fun this weekend.  Jamie went to his prom Friday night and stayed out until 2 am, and Craig had a sleepover at a friend's house Saturday night.  Hopefully, they will both recover quickly.

Another busy week coming up - lots of work to do, plus spring break preparations.  Good thing we have lots of good books to read as well:

• I finished The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton but not in time for my book group!  That was OK since I was almost finished and had already figured out the ending.  Everyone in my book group loved this novel that is part mystery and part family epic.
• Next, I finished a book I'd started last week and had to set aside to read my book group book:  The Kind of Friends We Used To Be, a middle-grade novel by Frances O'Roark Dowell.  I enjoyed this book very much, even though it's a sequel and I hadn't read the first book, The Secret Language of Girls.
• Now, I am reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.  This one has been sitting on my shelf for awhile, and I thought it would be a good one to bring along for spring break, since it's so long.  I'm finding it a bit slow to start, but I've heard so many great things about this novel, I'm sure it will pick up soon.
• On my iPod, I am listening to Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton.  I'd heard a wonderful review of this memoir on my favorite podcast, Books on the Nightstand.  It's excellent so far.
• My husband, Ken, finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and enjoyed it.  He says he learned a lot about Japan's role in World War II (me, too).
• I grabbed some more books for Ken off the new release shelf at the library, plus a stack of used paperbacks they were selling.  He's now reading one of the new releases, Eyes of the Innocent by Brad Parks.  The inside flap describes it as "an engaging mix between Harlan Coben and Janet Evanovich" and Ken agrees.  We're both Stephanie Plum fans, and Ken says he sees why this new thriller author is being compared to Janet Evanovich.
• Jamie, 16, is continuing his Orson Scott Card marathon.  He finished reading Ender's Shadow, and we were both excited to hear that there is a parallel series about Bean with three more books, so I requested the next one from the library for him.
• Meanwhile, he reread Ender's Game and is now moving onto the rest of the series.  He's on the couch reading Speaker for the Dead now.
• Jamie is also reading The Scarlet Letter for his American Lit class.  
• Craig, 13, is still reading Tom Sawyer for his English class, but - miracle of miracles - this morning he decided to read a book just for fun!  It's been a while since he's done that, so I am thrilled.  He said he was in the mood for a mystery like The Hardy Boys, so of course, I jumped up and found him a half dozen choices (I've been waiting years for him to ask me for reading suggestions!).  He has settled on The Slave-Girl From Jerusalem, from The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence.  Since these wonderful books are like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys in ancient Rome, I've been trying to get him to try them for years.  Though he's fallen asleep in the recliner right now (again!), I know he'll enjoy this book.

I didn't have a chance to post any reviews last week, but I did have fun putting together two lists of Top Ten Books I'd Like to See Made Into Movies, both here and at Great Books for Kids and Teens.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Top Ten Books I’d Like to See Made Into Movies

 It's Tuesday and that  means it's time for a Top Ten list, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Great topic today!  Lots of my favorite books have already been made into movies.  Look at this list of my 10 Favorite Novels from two years ago – half of them have already been made into movies!

Here are some other books I'd love to see made into movies:

1. Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books – this is sort of a cheat because I heard these are already being made into a movie, but they’ve cast Katherine Heigl in the lead role.  I just don’t see it and still want to see the movie made with Sandra Bullock as Stephanie and Queen Latifah as Lula – wouldn’t they be perfect?
2. Replay by Ken Grimwood – my all-time favorite book would make a great movie!
3. China Run by David Ball – this out-of-print novel about being on the run in China with an adopted baby would make an excellent thriller.
4. The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper – a memoir, not a novel, but it would make a terrific movie – part thriller, part biography – set in both Liberia and the US.
5. The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar – the setting in India would be fabulous, alternating between the Slumdog Millionaire-type slums and the upper-middle class homes.
6. The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks – would make an amazing, Oscar-worthy epic movie.
7. The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent – about the Salem witch trials could be a chilling drama. 
8. The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel – a nonfiction book but it would make a good movie, switching back and forth between the 80-year old woman now and her life as a young girl.
9. Any novel by Nevada Barr (like Blind Descent) – I love her mysteries set in National Parks – the visuals would be awesome in a movie! 
10. Still Alice by Lisa Genova – would make a great tear-jerker! 

How about you?  What books would you like to see made into movies?

It's Monday 4/11! What Are You Reading?

Monday already?  Where did the weekend go?  I wasn't quite ready for it to end.  I spent much of the weekend planning our spring break road trip (to Oklahoma to visit my father-in-law) and our big summer trip (to California).  I want to keep thinking about vacations, but it's time to get back to work now.

This is a really busy time of year for us - the kids' soccer season began last week (my husband coaches), lots of school functions going on, plus the trip planning - but we still found time to read last week:

• I realized early last week that I have a book group coming up this week, and I didn't even have the book yet!  How do I keep getting into these messes?  You'd think I'd learn.  So, I made a trip to the library and have been reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morgan.  This is a book that did not sound at all like my cup of tea, but I am really enjoying it - that's the beauty of book groups.  I still have hundreds of pages to finish before Wednesday, so wish me luck!
• I finished my latest audio book, Always Looking Up: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox, and immediately wrote a review - a rare accomplishment for me, so that gives you an idea of how inspired I was!
• My husband, Ken, finished The Ascent by Ronald Malfi, a pick from the recent release shelf at the library.  It's about a climb up the mountains of Nepal that turns dangerous...with an element of mysticism.  Ken said it was unusual, but he enjoyed it.
• Ken is now reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - he's been waiting for me to finish it so he could read it.  He must be enjoying it because he took it with him on a trip this morning, and he usually avoids traveling with large hardcovers!
• 16-year old Jamie finished Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull, a new series from a favorite author (author of the Fablehaven books).  He said it was great, just as good as the Fablehaven series.
• Jamie and I recently read (and loved) Orson Scott Card's newest teen/YA book, Pathfinder.  That put him in the mood for more Card.  He only recently found out that there is an entire series that follows Ender's Game (and we have them all here), so he decided to reread Ender's Game and then read the other three books.  Only one problem - we couldn't find Ender's Game last night, so he decided to read Ender's Shadow, a parallel novel to Ender's Game (and very good!), instead.
• Craig, 13, is still reading Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain for his English class and enjoying it very much.  He's alternating between reading it and listening to it at a free online site.

Besides my review of Always Looking Up, I also  posted a summary of Books Read in March and a review of the teen thriller The Chaos (sequel to Num8ers) by Rachel Ward at Great Books for Kids and Teens.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Memoir Review: Always Looking Up

When Michael J. Fox’s voice broadcast out of my iPod saying, “This has been a Hyperion Audio production…,” I called out, “No!  It’s over?”  I loved Michael J. Fox’s second memoir, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, and never wanted it to end.

His first memoir, Lucky Man, detailed his experiences with Parkinson’s disease – his first symptoms, his long period of denial and struggles with alcohol, and his eventual diagnosis and acceptance.  I have a special interest in Fox’s experiences because my mother-in-law recently died of Parkinson’s disease.  She and I both enjoyed and appreciated Lucky Man.  In addition, both of my sons and I are living with a chronic illness, so I feel some connection with Fox’s experiences with denial, diagnosis, treatment, and acceptance.

This book, however, is about so much more than chronic illness.  Certainly, his Parkinson’s is like an extra character in the memoir, always present, but it is by no means the main character.  I was attracted immediately by the title of the book because I would describe myself as an incurable optimist also.  This memoir is a collection of stories from Fox’s life, loosely bound together by his positive life view.

I often found myself either laughing out loud or tearing up as I listened to this audio read by the author (since I listened to much of it while walking around my neighborhood, my neighbors probably think I’m nuts by now).  I wasn’t moved to tears by sad tales of life with chronic illness but by Fox’s ability to find universal truths in his own experiences.  You don’t need to be ill to relate to what he writes about: family, marriage, being a parent, and losing someone you love.

Of course, there are elements of his celebrity – it is, after all, an integral part of his life – that add a fun peek into the lifestyles of the famous: his experiences filming Spin City, rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful, and a hilarious recounting of watching the Tour de France with his friend, Robin Williams. But there is just as much, if not more, time devoted to every day life, describing road trips with his family, the amazing miracle of watching children grow up, and his own search for spirituality.

So much of what Fox said resonated with me.  As much as I enjoyed hearing the book read by the author (he is, after all, an actor, and does a marvelous job), there were many times when I wished I had a hard copy of the book as well so that I could re-read and write down some of his quotes.  In any format, Always Looking Up is an inspiring and uplifting book.

Hyperion Audio

(Michael J. Fox won a well-deserved Grammy award in January 2010 for Always Looking Up.  I didn't realize there was a Grammy category for audio books - will have to pay more attention from now on!)

NOTE: Some of the book is political, as Fox describes his activism over the issue of stem cell research (obviously, he is for it).  If this is something that offends you, consider yourself forewarned.

Check out the audiobook and listen to a sample (read by him) or the print book.

Books Read in March

Wow, the first quarter of 2011 is already over.  I'm still writing 2010 on my checks.

Ah, well.  It was a good reading month in terms of quality, if not quantity.  I read 5 books in March:

• Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran for one of my book groups
• Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card, a teen/YA novel
• 365 Thank Yous by John Kralik on audio
• Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay, a teen/YA novel on audio
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

 As you can see by the links above, I did much better this month at keeping up with reviews, so that's progress! 

I read a nice mix this month:  1 adult novel, 2 adult nonfiction books (one a memoir), and 2 teen/YA novels.  Two of my five books were audios.  My favorite book of the month?  Do I have to choose?  It's a pretty tight contest between Pathfinder and Unbroken, so how about if I choose 1 favorite fiction book and 1 favorite nonfiction.

Where Are You Reading update:  I added several new locations to my map this month, though I had to skip Pathfinder since it's science fiction, and its location is unclear at the start of the book.  My new tallies:

7 U.S. States (really hitting the "M" states hard):

• Pennsylvania
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• Connecticut
• California

Plus:

• UK
• Afghanistan
• Pakistan
• Rome, Italy

All in all, a good month for books.  What was your favorite book read in March?

It's Monday 4/4! What Are You Reading?

Wow, April.  Spring feels like it has returned today - no snow at least!  I'm glad to see spring but am a little stunned that it's April already - that means the first quarter of the year is already over.  Yikes.  I have so many goals I haven't even started on yet!  We did finish our tax returns this weekend, so that's a big weight off my shoulders.  Now spring break is only 3 weeks away, and I haven't even begun to plan our trip!  Well, at least my reading is progressing:

• I finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, an intense and compelling story of an Olympic runner who lived through unbelievable ordeals as a Japanese POW during WWII.  A stunning story, both in its content and the way it's written.
• It's been a while since I've read a kid or teen book, so after finishing Unbroken, I picked up a teen/YA book I've been dying to read: The Chaos by Rachel Ward, sequel to Num8ers, which I loved.  This is a fast-paced thriller about a boy who can see the date a person will die when he looks in their eyes, set 15 years in the future in London.  Book 2 lived up to my expectations - I could hardy set it down this weekend!  I just finished it at bedtime last night, and I haven't chosen my next book yet, but I know I have to get moving on my book group book for next week...as soon as I get it from the library (oops).
• I'm listening to Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox on my iPod and absolutely loving it so far.  His first memoir, Lucky Man, was fabulous, and I knew I'd like this one, too.  He's funny and smart and very inspirational.
• My husband, Ken, finished a new sci fi release we found at the library, Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova, and enjoyed it.
• Ken has moved onto another library find from the new release shelf, The Ascent by Ronald Malfi, an adventure novel about a trip up into the mountains of Nepal that turns dangerous.  It sounds like it has some elements of mysticism in it.  Anyone else familiar with this author?
• Jamie, 16, is reading Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull, a new series from a favorite author (author of the Fablehaven books).  Last week's BookPage newsletter featured a review of The Beyonders and an interview with the author.
• Jamie is also reading The Red Badge of Courage for his American Literature class.  When my husband asked him about it yesterday, he said with surprise, "You know?  It's actually pretty good!"
• Craig, 13, is reading Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain for his English class and enjoying it very much.  What's not to like?  He's alternating between reading it and listening to it at a free online site.

Last week, I posted reviews of 365 Thank Yous, a memoir I really enjoyed, and a fabulous new teen/YA novel, Pathfinder, by Orson Scott Card, one of my favorite authors, at Great Books for Kids and Teens.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Free Classic Audio Books!

My son is reading Tom Sawyer for his 7th grade English class, and his teacher told the class they could also listen to it on audio and gave them the web address for Free Classic Audio Books.  This site is so cool!  Just as the name suggests, it includes a bunch of audios of classic books, available for free (notice there are multiple pages).  Thanks for the tip, Mrs. Hall!

Nonfiction Review: 365 Thank Yous

As soon as I heard about John Kralik’s new book, 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life, I wanted to read it.  I’m a big fan of gratitude in general and thank you notes in particular.  But this book is no trivial handbook on writing thank you notes.  Kralik tells his story with surprising depth and emotion and describes how his life was really transformed over the course of a single year by a simple (yet difficult) change in perspective. 

Kralik’s story begins at a low point in his life, a time when he felt as if his life was falling apart, and he was mired in despair.   His law practice was in the red, his personal finances drained, his two previous marriages broken up, and even his latest girlfriend had recently broken up with him.  After a thoughtful walk in the mountains on New Year’s Day and spurred by memories of his grandfather (and perhaps a bit of divine intervention), he comes up with a plan: to write a thank you note every day for a full year.  He doesn’t expect a lot from this project, but he has a vague sense that it will help him to be more grateful for what he has and perhaps, as his grandfather tried to teach him, will result in gaining more of what he wants.

His project begins slowly, with a few thank you notes written for Christmas gifts, and he wonders how he’ll ever find 365 things to be thankful for.  I won’t tell you what happens next and spoil the book for you, but this silly little project turns out to have quite a profound effect on his life over the next year and beyond.

I listened to the book on audio, read by the author (as I think memoirs should be).  Kralik has a quiet, somewhat monotonous voice, but I came to really enjoy listening to him.  He is obviously a good, kind person who had fallen on hard times, and I enjoyed his dry sense of humor throughout the book as well.  His book tells an engaging story, but it is also inspiring.  Even though I was already a thank you note enthusiast (my kids have been sending thank you notes for birthday and Christmas gifts since they could first hold a crayon!), Kralik’s experiences and his kind, gentle manner motivated me to find more ways to express my gratitude to anyone who has made a difference in my life.

Thank you for reading my review!

Hyperion Audio

Listen to a sample excerpt from the audio book.

Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition

Today's topic over at The Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition.  It took me a while to make my list - a lot of books I have read recently have been by well-known authors - so I had to go back a little.  Here's my list of lesser-known authors who deserve some attention:

• Alice Kuipers, author of Life on the Refrigerator Door - I never would have guessed a novel written in short notes could make me sob!
• Ken Grimwood, author of Replay, perhaps my favorite book of all time, sometimes ignored simply because it's classified as science fiction (it's about a guy who keeps reliving part of his life).
• Jennifer Haigh, author of Baker Towers and Mrs. Kimble and The Condition (I loved the first two and have the third on my waiting-to-be-read shelf).
• Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of Encyclopedia of an Extraordinary Life, a very fun and funny memoir and also author of numerous wonderful essays.
• Thrity Umrigar, author of The Space Between Us, a novel my book group loved.
• Mark Childress, author of One Mississippi, one of my favorite novels - I'm not sure if he's written anything else.
• Catherine Glidner, author of Too Close to the Falls, a wonderful memoir.
• Jenna Blum, author of Those Who Save Us, a complex and thought-provoking WW II novel.
• Roland Merullo, author of Breakfast with Buddha, a thought-provoking novel I was just recently thinking I'd like to read again.
• Kristin Hannah, author of Firefly Lane, again I'm not sure if she's written anything else, but I loved this novel.

How about you?  Which authors do you think deserve more recognition?


(If you're interested in my Top Ten list for kid/teen books, check out Great Books for Kids and Teens).

It's Monday 3/28! What Are You Reading?

Monday already?  We spent the entire weekend working on our tax return (and still haven't finished) - doesn't feel like we really had a weekend at all!

I had to take a little break from blogging the second half of last week - just too far behind in too many things and feeling overwhelmed.  So, I apologize if I didn't get a chance to visit your blog last week.  I'm hoping this week will be better, in many ways!

We did manage some reading last week, though:

• I am still reading Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, a fascinating and compelling story about an Olympic runner who was a POW in World War II Japan.  Besides being captivated by the tale, I'm learning a lot - I really knew very little about Japan's role in WW II.
• I finished listening to 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life by John Gralik on audio.  I really loved this book and hope to review it here soon.
• My husband is on a sci fi run lately.  He first read an old favorite, Riverworld by Philip Jose Farmer.  He told me a bit about it - a world of resurrection, where every person who has ever lived goes after death - and it sounds interesting.
• He's now reading a new sci fi release we found at the library, Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova.  This was just a spontaneous pick from the library's new release shelf, but he says it's pretty good so far, a classic life-on-another-planet sci fi story.
• Jamie, 16, read Goldstrike, the teen techo-thriller sequel to Icecore by Matt Whyman, and loved it.  I'll have to check that one out, since I enjoyed Icecore, too.
• He's now reading Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull, a new release from a favorite author (author of the Fablehaven books).
• Jamie is also reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane for his American Lit class.
• Craig, 13, is reading Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain for his English class - now there's a school assignment anyone could love!  We've listened to some great audio books of Tom Sawyer, but this is the first time he's read it on his own.

Before I went into overload and had to take a blogging break, I posted a review of Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran and my list of Top Five Bookish Pet Peeves.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  Thanks for giving me something to look forward to on Mondays, Sheila!)

Fiction Review: Cleopatra’s Daughter

One of the things I enjoy about book groups is that they often result in reading books that I normally wouldn’t pick up myself.  Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran is just such a book.  I guess I still have this idea in my head that I don’t like historical fiction (probably left over from not enjoying history class in school!), even though my book groups have now introduced me to plenty of it that I have enjoyed.

Cleopatra’s Daughter is, quite obviously, about the only daughter of Cleopatra.  It takes place just as Marc Antony’s rival, Octavian, captures Egypt, and Antony and Cleopatra take their own lives, leaving their twin 10-year old children, Selene and Alexander, orphans.  Octavian takes the twins as prisoners and brings them back to Rome with him.

Once he has paraded them through Rome in his victory celebration, they aren’t treated as prisoners, though.  It’s really quite fascinating.  The children lived in Octavian’s sister’s (Octavia) home and were raised alongside her children and Octavian’s and treated mostly as equals to them, attending school together, eating meals together, and becoming friends.  The story, narrated by Selene, continues through their adolescence.

The novel feels very much like a Young Adult novel, since it is narrated by a young girl, focused on the details of her daily life, her hopes of returning to Egypt someday, her fears of what Octavian might do as they grow up, as well as the concerns of every teen girl: boys, clothes, love, and her future.  Selene and Alexander are both very likeable characters, as are most in Octavia’s household, and the historical details are fascinating.  Moran must have done meticulous research.  In fact, we learned in the author’s notes at the back of the book that truth really is stranger than fiction!

My only problem with this novel was having trouble following it in the beginning.  There are many characters to keep track of, often with similar names (Octavia and Octavian aren’t the only ones), plus the Romans of the time tended to divorce and remarry multiple times, with children resulting from each partnership so it was tough at first to remember which children had which parents – lots of mix and match.  Moran includes some helpful references at the start of the book – a historical timeline, two maps, and a list of characters – which I found myself flipping to constantly during the early chapters.  Once I got further into the story and more familiar with the characters and events, it got easier.

Everyone in my book group enjoyed the novel very much, and it sparked lots of great discussions on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the history of divorce to the role of religion in ancient cultures to foods and other details of daily Roman life.  If you enjoy historical fiction (and maybe if you think you don’t), you’ll enjoy this engaging look into growing up in Ancient Rome.

416 pages, Crown Publishing Group, Random House

 

Top Five Bookish Pet Peeves

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Today's theme is Bookish Pet Peeves.  Since I only thought of five, my list is my Top Five Bookish Pet Peeves:

• Cover art that doesn't match the book.  Confession:  I read this one over at Books Kids Like, but it's been a peeve of mine ever since I read The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue, a novel where the cover picture had absolutely nothing to do with the novel itself - that really annoyed me.  Can't the publisher be bothered to tell the artist what the book is about??
• Poor editing.  This should really be #1 and now that I think about, it covers peeves #6 - 10 since lots of problems result from it.  Sometimes, you can just tell that the book wasn't well edited, and it really bugs me.  I once read a memoir about hiking the Appalachian Trail.  It was interesting but was so filled with horrible, obvious grammatical errors that it made me grimace through the whole book.
• Everything has a sequel now.  This bugs both my husband and I.  It seems there are few stand-alone books anymore.  Everything is now part of a series.  I just don't have the time to commit to reading a whole series every time I pick up a book!
• Plot inconsistencies.  This just happened to me recently, though I can't remember exactly what it was.  Sometimes, you read something and know it was different earlier in the book.  How could both the author and the editor miss this??  (see #2 again)
• Using $1 words when 5 cent words would work just as well (or better).  My husband contributed this one.  He says Dean Koontz often does this - tends to use big, flowery words that no one understands.

How about you?  Do you have any Bookish Pet Peeves?

It's Monday 3/21! What Are You Reading?

Happy Spring!  Pouring rain here today, so it sure feels like spring.  And the thunder last night woke us all up and shook the house.  At least the weekend was nice and sunny.

Busy week here (aren't they all?), but we enjoyed some good books:

• I finished Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card, his latest sci fi novel for teens/YA.  Jamie and I both LOVED this book!  Even though I finished it a few days ago, I keep thinking about it.  I cheered when I read in his acknowledgments that there is a sequel!
• Now I'm reading one of my Christmas gifts, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  She's a hero to me, since she has written her two amazing books while completely disabled by the same chronic illness I have.  She is a remarkable, inspiring person, as is the subject of her latest book.
• My husband, Ken, read a nice, lightweight paperback last week since he was traveling: Indigo Slam by Robert Crais, one of his favorite authors.
• Jamie, 16, is rereading Icecore by Matt Whyman, in preparation for reading its sequel.  He and I both enjoyed this teen techno-thriller.

Last week, I posted a review of The Three Weissmanns of Westport, an audio book I enjoyed.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

A sure sign of spring spotted in my neighborhood yesterday:

Fiction Review: The Three Weissmanns of Westport

After hearing multiple positive reviews of Catherine Schine’s novel, The Three Weissmanns of Westport, I was intrigued.  So, when I saw the audio book sitting on my library’s new releases shelf, I checked it out, figuring I might not ever get around to reading this book, but I might find time to listen to it.  I’m glad I did.  This is the sort of book that grew on me; the longer I listened, the more I liked it.

It’s the story of a mother, Betty Weissmann, and her two grown daughters, Miranda and Annie.  Betty’s husband – and the girls’ beloved stepfather – has left her after almost 50 years of marriage for the clichéd younger woman (though Betty doesn’t know about Felicity yet).  Miranda, who runs a successful literary agency, finds herself in dire straits when one of her memoirists turns out to be more of a novelist and is exposed on national television (sound familiar?).  Annie, who is divorced, lives a quiet, monotonous life working in a library.

When Betty is turned out of her fancy Manhattan apartment and Miranda can no longer pay her own lease, all three women take up a cousin’s offer to move into his beach cottage in Westport, CT.  The girls are, in part, trying to be supportive during their mother’s crisis, but all three are in need of a place to hide out and lick their wounds.

At this point, it sounds like a pretty depressing book, right?  That’s how I felt at the beginning, and though I felt sorry for Betty, her daughters seemed a bit whiny to me.  But I stuck with it, and I began to appreciate the subtle bits of humor and irony in the story, sometimes laughing out loud.  I also began to care about all three of the main characters, as they each struggled with loves past and potential and with trying to put their lives back together.  The novel also brought me to tears with its surprising warmth.

All of the reviews explain that Schine’s novel is a clever modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, but I can’t really comment on that, as I’ve never read the famous novel…or for that matter, anything by Jane Austen (I know, I know…it’s on my list.)  Perhaps The Three Weissmanns of Westport will serve as the impetus to finally drive me to read an Austen novel, just so I will be able to see the parallels.  In any case, I enjoyed the novel very much, without benefit of this background, so I imagine it will be even more satisfying to fans of Sense and Sensibility.

Where Are You Reading 2011:   Finally, an easy book location to figure out - it's right in the title!  This novel takes place in NYC and, primarily, in Westport, CT.

 

It's Monday 3/14! What Are You Reading?

Ugh...I hate Spring Forward.  And my husband is out of town today, so it was a double-whammy for me:  I had to get up at 6 am to get the kiddos off to school AND it felt like 5 am!  I don't like getting up when it's still completely dark outside!  On the other hand, I did enjoy a walk yesterday at 5 pm with the sun still shining...

Well, my older son returned to school last week, and my younger son ended up missing the whole week because of a severe case of bronchitis and a sinus infection!  Today is the first time in weeks that they've both been in school (hurray!) - I am really looking forward to life returning to normal this week (or as normal as it ever gets...)

• I finished reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran and enjoyed a very lively discussion with my book group last week.  Everyone enjoyed it.
• I am now reading Pathfinder, Orson Scott Card's latest release for teens/YA.  So far, it is just as good as Jamie told me it was!  It's a time traveling story with lots of secrets and twists from one of our favorite authors.
• I just started listening to 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life by John Gralik on audio.  I'm only on chapter 2, but it has already grabbed my attention.  I'm a big fan of gratitude :)
• My husband, Ken, finished Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton.  This was Crichton's last published novel; the manuscript was discovered after his death.  Ken said it was good but different than the typical Crichton approach of taking some new scientific tidbit and building a story around it.  Instead, this novel is an old-fashioned pirate story.
• Jamie, 16, continued reading some old favorites with The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book Three: Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud.  He loves this series.
• Craig, 13, was very sick all last week but started working on make-up work this weekend.  He's reading an O. Henry short story, A Retrieved Reformation, for his English class.

With another sick week here, I didn't have much spare time for either writing or reading blogs last week, but I did manage to write two reviews:  Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson and  an excellent teen/YA audio, Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay at Great Books for Kids and Teens.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

The only good thing about turning the clocks ahead?  It means spring is on the way, as do these snowdrops blooming in my neighborhood.  Now can I go back to bed??

Nonfiction Review: Stones Into Schools

I recently read Greg Mortenson’s second book, Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for my library’s monthly discussion group.  I previously read Three Cups of Tea, his first book, and although I was fascinated by the subject matter, I didn’t think it was very well written.  That first book had been written with a co-author, a journalist, while Stones Into Schools is written solely by Mortenson and is a much better book, as everyone in the book group agreed.

Here’s some more insight into why this book is better, in Greg’s own words:

In addition to being a profoundly bewildered man, I am an incorrigible introvert.  I am awkward, soft-spoken, ineloquent, and intensely shy.  I do not enjoy speaking in public, posing for photographs, or asking other people for money.  I dream of privacy, I revere silence, and I loathe any action that involves drawing attention to myself.  (Even creating these pages was painful: It took a supreme effort on the part of my wife, Tara, and my editor, Paul Slovak, to force me to agree to write it in the first-person – an approach that is emphatically not my cup of tea.)  In the Christmas pageant of life, the characters I admire most – and the only roles for which I would ever consider auditioning – are the ox and the donkey.

As this single paragraph showcases, Mortenson writes with intimacy, warmth, and wit, and the decision to write from the first-person was absolutely the right one (nice job, Tara and Paul!).  As with Three Cups of Tea, the subject matter of the book is riveting and enlightening.

Mortenson describes his continuing efforts to build schools for children, especially girls, in the most remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan through his non-profit group, Central Asia Institute (CAI).  He tells of their efforts in a very engaging way, focusing on stories of individual people who have been involved with or helped by CAI, as well as the often-fascinating paths that led to building schools in the most remote regions.  His tales are heartwarming (sometimes heart-breaking) and inspirational, especially the lengths that he and his colleagues are willing to go to provide education to children that have long been forgotten by the rest of the world.

This wonderful book provided excellent fodder for discussion among the diverse attendees at my library’s book discussion.  Its stories are enhanced by many maps and photographs (I especially enjoyed the photos of schools and children).  Stones Into Schools is engaging and instructive, illuminating a world that is completely different from our own but is linked by the same human longings for education, wellness, and a better future for our children.

379 pages, Viking Penguin

NOTE:  Interestingly, at the same time I was reading Stones Into Schools, I was also listening to a fictional teen/YA book set in rural Afghanistan about two young girls attending a new school built for them by an American non-profit.  I highly recommend Thunder Over Kandahar for a fictional perspective of the same region.

To learn more about CAI or to donate, you can visit the CAI website.

Where Are You Reading 2011:  Although CAI has built schools all over Pakistan and Afghanistan, I chose to put my pin on Bozai Gumbaz, Afghanistan, site of the most remote school built to date (what they had to go through just to get building materials there is awe-inspiring!) and a story thread that flows throughout the book.

It's Monday 3/7! What Are You Reading?

Happy Mardi Gras!  Well, Mardi Gras Day is actually tomorrow, but we're in the midst of the height of the celebrations.  We used to live in New Orleans, so Mardi Gras is one of our favorite holidays.  We had a small party Saturday night, including several friends who used to live in New Orleans when we did, and have been enjoying jambalaya, red beans & rice, shrimp, bread pudding, and King Cake all weekend!

All the party preparations (plus two kids home sick most of last week) didn't leave much time for reading, but we did manage some:

• I am reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran for my neighborhood book group this week.  I struggled with it a bit at first because I couldn't keep the characters straight (lots of similar names and lots of changing partners!), but I am enjoying it very much now.
• I finally finished Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay, a teen/YA audio book that I've been listening to for quite a few weeks, about two young girls in Afghanistan.  It was absolutely wonderful, one of the best teen books I've read/heard in years.
• Jamie, 16, finished The Awakening by Kate Chopin for his American Literature class.  He said it was terrible - I guess a passionate story of female awakening just isn't his style!  He also said he didn't like the ending.
• While home sick, Jamie turned to some comfort reading - re-reading one of his all-time favorite series, The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.  He read Book 1: The Amulet of Samarkand and Book 2: The Golem's Eye and is moving onto Book 3.
• Craig, 13, prefers TV to books when he is sick!
• My husband, Ken, is reading Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton.  He says it's good but not the typical type of Crichton novel (the back cover says the manuscript was found after his death, so who knows what his plans for it were!)

Last week, I posted a review of Between Home and School: Letters, Notes and E-Mails by Bill Harley, a slim but wonderful book about a boy growing up and a review of Blank Confession by Pete Hautman, a teen/YA suspense novel at Great Books for Kids and Teens.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)