40/100

But Inside I'm Screaming by Elizabeth Flock

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
For some reason, I found this book to be fluffy. A woman tries to commit suicide and then winds up in a mental institution. She fights everyone that tries to help her because she doesn't think she should be there. It vaguely touches on her abusive relationship with her husband and her troubled childhood but I felt like it never really delved into enough depth. The scenes in the institution did not really seem deep enough either.


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39/100

Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I choose this book because it was recommended as an audio book. I thought it was a cute who-done-it that was not as good as a Stephanie Plum book, but of the same vain.



Hannah Swensen owns a cookie shop. A famous tv cook is found murdered in Hannah's shop and this forces her to close down until the murderer can be found. Rather than sit by and wait, Hannah chooses to investigate herself and finds more dead bodies along the way.



Again, it was cute and when I went home I found myself wanting to go back in the car to see what happened. I found the reader's pronunciation of "cookie" really annoying for some reason. The story was also pretty predictable.


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38/100

The Hour I First Believed: A Novel by Wally Lamb

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to start by saying I LOVE Wally Lamb. His novels are some of my favorites, and a new one has been a long time coming. With that being said, this book was my least favorite of his three.



I took this book on a trip with me as the only book I was bringing, so I first looked at the reviews to make sure I would like it. I couldn't agree more with the person who said the book completely changed when it hit page 400. In the first 400 pages, a huge focus was on Columbine and its effects on its victims, including the main character, Caelum's wife, Maureen. Although Maureen did not actually get shot, she suffers terrible Post Traumatic Stress from the ordeal.



Once page 400 comes around, a whole new story begins about Caelum's family history. To be honest, the story within a story is my least favorite part of all Wally Lamb novels. I found myself disinterested in the back story. The names (Lily, Lydia, Lizzie) were also confusing and hard to keep track of. After this point in the story, there were just far too many things going on at once. The book was still engaging, but not as good as it could have been. Despite not loving the book, I will still be a dedicated Wally Lamb fan.


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37/100

Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was about a single father raising his two teenage children. One night, he get a phone call that he daughter Kat is "in trouble." When Tucker goes to rescue his daughter, he winds up seriously injuring one of the boys at the scene. I like the premise of this book a lot. But to be honest, I found the character of Kat to be extremely annoying and ungrateful. I also found Tucker to be a bit of a jerk at times. But by the end of the book, I really wanted to finish it to see what would happen.


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36/100

Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I read The Girl Who Stopped Swimming and I wasn't really impressed. I decided to give Joshilyn Jackson another try, and I think that will be my last.



I liked how the book started out. Teenager Hazel Crabtree, runs from home and gives birth at Bernese's house, even though no one knows she is pregnant. Bernese's sisters Stacia and Genny are there for the birth and deaf (and almost blind) Stacia decides to steal the baby.



Then the book fastforwards 30 years and the baby is now 30-year-old Nonny Frett. There has been an ongoing battle between the Fretts and the Crabtrees. I think the whole book I was kinda thinking, "what is the point?" There is a weird bug museum. Weird doll heads. Weird feuds. I honestly just was not feeling it at all.


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35/100

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be hokey. It was talking about how this woman could create dishes, using plants, that would alter their moods. Oye. But as it turned out, I really wound up liking the book.



Claire Waverly lives in her little town that she has always lived in and runs a catering business where she influences peoples moods through plants in the food. One day, her sister Sydney shows up at her door with her daughter Bay. Sydney swore she would never come back, but because of an abusive relationship, she went back home. Claire can tell something is up but the sisters do not talk,as their relationship is rocky.



Eventually, the sisters work together to create a better relationship for themselves and their love lives. I really liked the character, Evanelle, who would basically get visions of what people "needed" and she would give them this object, even though they didn't really know why they needed it.




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34/100

The Other Queen: A Novel by Philippa Gregory

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I felt like this book was going back to a regular Phillipa Gregory format in a way, so it was better than the last one. But it was still only 5 CD's long and I think that is a good judge of quality for these books.

This is the story of Mary Queen of Scots and her feud with Queen Elizabeth. I recognized a lot of the voices from previous PG books so that was good, although maybe a little confusing.

More and more PG's books make you despise the Tudors and most of the people surrounding them. Your heart goes out to all that suffered because of them. However, I didn't think this had as much depth as, say, The Other Boelyn Girl or The Boelyn Inheritance.


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33/100

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Warning: This whole review is basically one big spoiler alert.

Going in, I knew this was the book in the series that most people loved, or hated. I was one of the lovers. I thought it was the best in the series, maybe because it was the most grown up.

We start off with Bella and Edward planning their wedding. They get married, go on a honeymoon, and FINALLY have sex. Unfortunately, Edward is a little too strong and winds up injuring Bella, so he decides they can't do it anymore. Before long, Bella starts to feel ravenous and then nauseous. Uh oh. Sure enough, Bella is pregnant with a spawn.

The baby turns out to be too strong for Bella and is basically killing her. She needs to drink blood to stay alive. Eventually, they need an emergency C-section to get the baby out and Bella is on her deathbed. Edward injects her with his venom to turn her into a vampire.

I think I liked this book because there was more action than the other ones. I am still not a fan of Jacob and I found his portion a little annoying. I also thought the ending left a lot to be desired as it was kind of a whimper instead of a bang. But at least they lived happily ever after.


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32/300

The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was given to me by a coworker who recommended it, so I thought I would give it a try. It is the story of a high school senior who accidentally kills a girl while she is driving. The girl and her mother never had the best relationship, and this sort of takes off after the accident and how their relationship is now basically in ruins.

I liked this book because it kept me turning the pages, but I felt like a little something was missing. It was a quick read, and I would recommend it to others.


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31/100

A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
I tried this as an audiobook after someone recommended it and I just couldn't get into it. It was too much like Lost without any of the sexiness and excitement. It took place in Ireland and I found the narrator's accent to be incredibly annoying.

It is the story of Sandy Short, a woman who is obsessed with finding things. She even runs an agency to find missing people. One day she is running and poof! she is lost. She winds up in a place where all the missing things go. Think the land of left socks with no rights. It was just too out-there for me, and I think my mind was too preoccupied to pay enough attention to it.

I gave it a 1 because after the library emailed to tell me my new PG audiobook was in, I returned it about 3/4 finished.


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30/100

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
After I finished this book, I thought about what I would write for a review and realized I wasn't really sure how this book possibly took up 600 pages. All I really remember is the climax. Hmm.

I liked this book better than Twilight, but probably less than New Moon. Jacob continues to treat Bella like absolute crap, even forcing himself on her, and she continues to feel torn between him and Edward. It is starting to get old.

Edward tells Bella that in order for him to make her a vampire, she must marry him. She says they must have sex first so she can experience life fully as a human. I don't think this is too much to ask, but it hasn't happened as of yet.

Bella's arch nemesis Victoria is killed without even much of a whimper. The Volturri show up and don't really do much. There is a lot more violence in this book with vampires being ripped limb from limb. Other than that, a lot of the same ole vampire-werewolf drama. The last book is up next and I hope it resolves everything somewhat neatly.


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29/100

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I got this book on audio and I absolutely love it. It is told from the perspective of a dog, Enzo, who goes through trials and tribulations with his master. I was really nervous from just the first chapter, because I was afraid I would wind up bawling. The book begins at the end of Enzo's life as he is looking back on everything he and his master Denny have been through together.



When Denny gets Enzo as a puppy, he is single. Eventually he meets and marries Eve, and has a daughter, Zoe. Before anyone is aware of it, Enzo sniffs out a brain tumor in Eve. She eventually passes away and Denny (and Enzo) must fight to keep the family intact. The book is really heartwrenching at times, but it is always wonderful. The love Enzo has for his people is amazing and I love his omnipotent presence. I highly recommend this book.


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28/100

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I like this book much much more than Twilight. At the beginning of the book, Edward's brother, Jasper, has a bad reaction to seeing Bella's blood and tries to attack her. This makes Edward realize that Bella is not safe hanging out with a bunch of vampires, so he basically decides to dump her and move away. Bella goes into a deep depression and basically gets a death wish, so she starts doing crazy things. One of those things is buying a motorcycle. She takes the motorcycle to family friend, Jacob, to be fixed and they become best friends. She starts to feel alive again.

Jacob is obviously in love with Bella, but Bella's heart belongs to Edward. They have a functioning relationship until Jacob basically goes crazy and refuses to talk to Bella anymore. Naturally, this is because he is a werewolf. And werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies. But I digress.

In the middle of it all, Victoria, the vampire who's boyfriend was killed by Edward last book when he tried to kill Bella, is back, trying to kill Bella. Jacob, and his werewolf pack try to protect her. Bella gets overwhelmed and decides she wants to jump off a cliff for fun. Alice sees this as her committing suicide so Edward thinks she is dead and decides to commit suicide himself, the only way a vampire can: he goes to Italy to have the Volturi, a band of vampires, kill him.

Alice and Bella jet to Italy to save Edward. For whatever reason, the airline speaks in French, even though they are in Italy. Maybe I need to get out more because I didn't get this. Anyway, they manage to save Edward but they have to promise the Volturi that they will make Bella a vampire. Everyone returns to Forks and Charlie is pissed that Bella left and he is still mad at Edward for making Bella sad so he hates Edward now.

I liked the book because I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen. Obviously, I still think the premise is a bit ridiculous. The spelling mistakes also drive me a little nuts (to vs. too? Seriously???) But I am glad I continued to give the series a try and I will finish it.


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27/100

The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Blech. This was so so so not the normal Philippa Gregory book. It just was not interesting. This was another audio book for me and it was only 5 CD's compared to the usual PG 16. It was just not a developed book and I did not care about the characters. The audio quality was also pretty bad with cheesy music and the same guy, yes guy, reading all the characters.



This book begins right after the death of Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) and after her sister, Elizabeth, takes the throne. Elizabeth seemed very weak and always at the helm of a man, be it her longtime adviser, Cecil, or her lover, Robert Dudley. Dudley is Elizabeth's first lover and she swears up and down that he is her longtime love. Dudley is already married, to Amy, and he seeks to get out of his marriage in order to marry Elizabeth. Poor Amy, who has stood by Robert through thick and thin, constantly tries to win back his love, but Robert continues to be a bitter jerk to her.



SPOILER-

At the end, Elizabeth basically throws Dudley under the bus and ruins his life. So much for love. Poor Amy pays the ultimate sacrifice. I appreciated the book's chilling ending.


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26/100

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I requested the entire Twilight series from the library thinking that it would take forever to come in. The hubbub over this book is amazing. I think it is safe to say that it is the new Harry Potter. Keeping in mind that I never like Harry Potter, I stupidly thought I would love this series as much as the next person.

I read the first couple chapters and kept thinking, pretty soon I am going to get drawn in and not be able to put the book down. It never happened. The book was okay. Just okay.

It is the story of Bella Swan, a girl who needs to get away from her life in Arizona since her mom has remarried and she feels like she needs a change. She goes to Forks, Washington to live with her dad, Charlie. While there, all of the high school boys fall in love with her. Chaos ensues. She is smitten with the unattainable Edward Cullen, a boy that is constantly described as beautiful. Long story short, Edward loves her too but he needs to keep his distance because...wait for it...he's a vampire. Yup, a vampire.

Over 500 pages, Bella loves Edward, Edward loves her back and Bella meets the rest of his vampire family. None of Edward or his family eat people because they are "good." But there are bad vampires and a couple of them decided they want to eat Bella. Naturally, Edward comes to the rescue and everything is hunky dorey.

I didn't really understand why Bella freaks out over blood or why she is clumsy, and accident prone, and hates dancing. I felt like Stephanie Meyer was hinting that she had some sort of weird disease or something but nothing ever materialized. I found Bella kind of annoying and it also bothered me how Edward never listens to her and instead decides that he knows what is best for her, regardless of what she wants.

I know that I am the minority in not liking this, but it just was not for me. I am hesitant to read the rest of the series, but since I already have it I am going to give it a try.


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25/100

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have tried reading JSF before and I couldn't even get passed the first couple of pages. But I was drawn to this book because of its September 11th storyline. Since I wasn't a fan of JSF's previous work I decided to try an audiobook. This is my first audiobook that was not Phillipa Gregory.



Oscar Schell was living a contented life as an 8-year old with a father he loved unconditionally. Sadly, his father was at a meeting in the World Trade Center the day of September 11th and he perished in the building. Oscar is desperate to have a lasting link to his father and his wish is granted when he finds a key in his father's closet. The key is in an envelope marked "Black." Oscar tracks down every "Black" in the NYC phone book and meets with all of them in order to find the lock that fits the key.



While we learn about Oscar's story, we concurrently learn the history of his grandparents' relationship.



I was going to give this book a four, but the grandmother's voice and story really annoyed me at times. Such are the drawbacks of an audiobook. I was also really annoyed with the whole description of how the grandfather refused to speak. He gets words tattooed on him and writes everything else. I felt like it got really old after a while.



This was a really heartwrenching book at times. The sadness you feel for Oscar is really palpable. And since Oscar rarely gets along with his mother or grandmother, you don't really feel the happier times very often.


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24/100

The Girls by Lori Lansens

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
When I started reading the first page of this book, I realized that I was reading ANOTHER book about conjoined twins. This is right after reading Geek Love, mind you, so I was skeptical. But this book was very different. It was the story of "The girls" a pair (obviously) of conjoined twins born in a small town. At the beginning of the book, the girls are the oldest living cranial conjoined twins - about to hit their 30th birthday. The story is mainly told by Rose, but at times Ruby steps in to tell her side. I really liked this book at first, but after a while it just seemed long winded. I felt like it could have been at least 40 pages shorter and eventually I was just looking for it to end. It wasn't a bad book, though, and I was glad to read something a little different.


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23/100

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Dear Melissa,

Stop reading short stories. You don't like them. You never will like them. Regardless of how catchy the title may be, you are still going to hate the book. Stop wasting your time.


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22/100

Smart Vs. Pretty by Valerie Frankel

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I chose this book because I was interested in one of Frankel's other books and I wanted to check her out. I thought this book was pretty pointless. It was like an unfunny early Janet Evanovich novel. The title didn't really make sense since the whole smart vs. pretty thing was rarely touched on and I didn't connect with any of the characters. I didn't really care what happened to them, and that is rare for me. I am very skeptical about trying the other book now.


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21/100

Geek Love: A Novel by Katherine Dunn

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
Let me start by saying I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked this book up. I was under the impression that geek was synonymous with nerd. I thought it would be some light, entertaining reading after some books I didn't particularly like. Boy, was I wrong. I was quite surprised when the first page started talking about biting chickens heads off.



The book is more or less about a circus family who look down upon "norms." The weirder you are, the higher your stature. The mother takes various drugs to try and make the most screwed up children she can. Now I know some people could be disturbed by this. I was okay with the concept, but a boy with flippers, conjoined twins and a hunchback just weren't that entertaining to me. I could not get into the book AT ALL. I know people who love it draw parallels to the world and how normalcy is overrated but I just thought it was annoying drivel. I skimmed through a lot of it just to finish the book.


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20/100

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation by Elizabeth Berg

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
The title of this book got me hook, line, and sinker. It sounds like my ideal day. And while I did enjoy that particular story, and the other ones about weight, I could not get into any of the others. I just kept thinking, what is the point of this story? Safe to say, I was not a fan at all.


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19/100

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love this series. As mentioned before, I just listened to The Constant Princess on audiobook so I decided to order The Boleyn Inheritance and listen to it was well.

The story is told from the perspective of 3 people: Anne of Cleves (who becomes King Henry's 4th wife), Jane Boleyn (who was married to George Boleyn and was Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law), and Katherine Howard (who becomes Henry's 5th wife).

It is easy to love Anne because she seems like a down-to-Earth person who has just been down on her luck for her entire life. You just really feel sorry for her. Although in the audio book, I hated how the speaker would spit out "ANNE!" whenever it was her time to tell her story.

I didn't like Jane Boleyn at all. From TOBG it seemed like she was against George and Anne and now all of a sudden she misses them so much and is so sad about their deaths. It sort of becomes clearer towards the end, but I still thought that was a little weird.

I thought Katherine Howard was annoying at first, but then I grew to like her. She was funny at times, and you just feel for her for being so very young.

The end of the book was heart wrenching, especially since I was hearing it all play out. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.


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18/100

Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman's Inspirational Story by Jodee Blanco

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Let me start by saying that I am a special education teacher and my brother was constantly teased because of a physical disability. With that being said, I thought this book was just annoying.



The story is about a girl who moves through school after school after school and continues to be tormented by her classmates for various reason. And by tormented, I mean physically assaulted on a daily basis. The kids were downright evil, the teachers were nasty, and her parents seemed like morons.



I honestly have a hard time believing the responses that she got. She wrote the part of a martyr, basically constantly sticking up for the little guy, while she was tormented for no reason by heinous people. Teachers laughed at her and sided with tormentors. Her parents sent HER to a shrink.



I felt like the whole time, she wanted people to tell her how wonderful she was. There was constant foreshadowing of, "But they never knew just how wrong they were" or "who knew it would almost cost me my life" and stuff like that. And her mom called her "Angel" probably half a million times. Obviously, I was not a fan.


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17/100

Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have always like Emily Giffin and maybe that is why this book is getting 4 stars instead of 3. The story is about a newlywed woman who runs into the love of her life who she broke up with 8 years prior. From there we see her struggle with what could have been and what she currently has with her husband and new life. I think it was almost disconcerting because it was so easy to relate to. It made it uncomfortable to think of being in her situation. This was a good, quick read and I look forward to more Giffin in the future.


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The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman (16/100)

The Lake of Dead Languages: A Novel by Carol Goodman

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I had a hard time getting into this book. I think it may have to do with the sort of blah main character. She doesn't really seem to have much enthusiasm for life, and that is hard to get into. I also might have had a hard time with all the Latin / classics references. But once I got a little into, I really liked it.



It is a sort of whodunit where the past comes back to haunt someone. Again, I thought the main character could've used a little more pizazz, but I found myself really wanting to pick the book back up to see what happens.


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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (15/100)

I chose this book because of raves on the nest. It is about Lily, a young girl in ancient China, who is paired up to be life time best friend of Snow Flower. The book talks of the trials and tribulations of growing up as a girl in China. It was a good book, and my heart was beating really fast when they were talking about foot binding. It was heartbreaking and painful to be a woman in China. I thought it was a bit slow though, and I didn't think it was nearly as good as Memoirs of a Geisha. 3 stars

Graditude Part 1

I have not started my gratitude journal yet so as I was thinking of things that I am happy about just now, I decided to write them down. There will most likely be a lot of these since I want to get 1,000 and I don't want to just write things down for the sake of coming up with numbers. I want to write things as I think of them.

So, in no particular order.
I am grateful for:
1)Books. I was thinking about how happy reading makes me and I am so grateful for being able to lay out on my deck swing and read with Daisy
2) The library. Holy cow I have really killed them this summer. I have gotten every book I could have dreamed of and all for free!
3) Knitting. I am so happy I learned how to knit. It frustrates me at times but it is great to be able to produce something.
4)My job at Re/Max. Seriously, could I have gotten anything better? Well, sure I would like to be paid more, but do you know where I am right now? Work! Doing what I want. And getting paid for it.
5)Target. In Manahawkin. With a Starbucks. Heaven.
6) My relationship with my father. I love him so much. Truly. He is one of my best friends.
7)The shopping day I recently had with mom. It was actually fun. I am so glad we had a good time together.
8)Game night. The whole reason I decided to start this post right now was because I was excited for game night tonight. And best of all, it is free!
9) My in-laws. I really lucked out and got wonderful in-laws.
10) My stomach growling. With my new diet plan, I am really glad my stomach is growling to tell me that I am hungry. Therefore I am not just constantly shoveling food in my mouth all day.

Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison (14/100)

Ahh adolescence. This book reminded me exactly why I am so glad to not be a teenager anymore. However, it was sort of like reliving the most awkward parts of my own adolescence without any of the fun. I thought the book was going to be funnier than it was. Maybe I am too old for young adult reading, so it may not be fair to rate it, but I wasn't really amused. 2 stars

The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle (13/100)

Finally! After reading some books that were a chore to get through, I FINALLY found a book that I couldn't put down. I absolutely loved this book. I began reading it after work and ate up 200 pages before bed. I finished it within 24 hours of starting. Warning to the faint of heart: this book deals with VERY heavy material (incest, child abuse, etc.) but it still somehow comes out on top. I loved the 3 characters chosen to tell the story from their perspective.

The story is about a boy who tries to kill himself but is saved by his former best friend's mother. At the hospital, it is discovered that he has been the victim of sexual abuse. His father flees and his mother is jailed as an accomplice. The woman who rescued him, Sarah, who also happened to be best friends with his mother, takes him in as a foster child. Everyone involved is torn over their prior relationships, and try to mend for the future.

My only complaint (although a minor one) is at the end. I don't really understand why the younger brother wound up being gay. I just didn't think it was necessary and didn't really add anything to the story (in my perspective at least) so I thought it could've been left out. But it didn't affect anything in a major way, so it wasn't a big deal. Overall, one of the best reads this summer. 5 stars

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella (12/100)

Sophie Kinsella is a huge British chick lit author that I am pretty sure I tried before but did not like. This book was long-ish but it was a quick and easy read that I finished within a couple days. At first, I thought it was way too hokey - amnesia, wakes up to the perfect life, etc. On page 178 I told Dave that it must all be a dream and that was how it was going to end. Luckily, that was not the case. Overall, it was cute, and I liked the ending. 3 stars

The Constant Princess by Phillippa Gregory (11/100)

This was my first foray into audiobooks (stupid broken Ipod) and I actually enjoyed it. In my new quest of (sort of) reading for the satisfaction of finishing a book and adding it to my list, I have been staying away from books that have more than 350 pages. Therefore, an audio book was a perfect way to get in some Phillippa Gregory. I loved TOBG and The Constant Princess was a sort of prequel to it that explained the life of Queen Katherine and the childhood (and then adulthood) of King Henry VIII. Although it was long (16 CDs!) I thought it was very well done, and I hope to get the third in the series, The Boleyn Inheritance on audiobook as well. 4 stars

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (10/100)

So I started reading the prologue for this book and just kind of skimmed through it and thought, I am going to LOVE this book. The author has such a sense of humor! Well, not so much. I felt like I was reading a rambling, incoherent stream of consciousness. Sometimes he would be describing what he would do in a hypothetical situation only to find out like two pages later that the hypothetical situation had actually happened, and we are past it. Or on one page, his brother is 15 and the next he is 12. Just totally not my thing. AT ALL. 1 and a half stars

Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger (9/100)

I thought that I would like this book after starting to read another book I was despising (more on that later) but I wound up really kind of hating it. It was SOOO predictable. Not to mention I really REALLY hated the characters. They just kind of made me mad. They were so self-absorbed and just plain rotten. The only parts of the book I really liked were Bette's time in her hometown, away from the nastiness of New York City. 2 stars

MySecret: A Postsecret Book by Frank Warren (8/100)

I don't know if this book should really count, since it has so few words, but after realizing that my goals seems to be overly ambitions as far as the # of books I am going to read, and since it is a real book, I am counting it.

I think the author of this book is a genius, really. What a great idea, to have people write down their deepest darkest secrets, and submit them anonymously. With that being said, I think the need for a book is a little excessive. I mean, this started as a grassroots Internet project. Why shouldn't it stay as one? Does one really need to purchase the book? But I did enjoy reading the stories. 3 stars

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (7/100)

I had previously read her second memoir and thought it was funny, but just kind of eh. But I decided to give her another chance because she loves Target and Trader Joe's so I know we are kindred spirits. I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. I found it hilarious and I didn't want to put it down. For some reason, my library does not have Bitter is the New Black but I am going to try to get it elsewhere so I can complete the trio. 4 stars

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charles Perkins Gilman (6/100)

I am not sure if it is even fair for me to rate this book. It is only 26 pages long, and it is a tiny book as it is. The only reason I read it was because it was on the list of "1,001 books you must read before you die" and I wanted to try out their recommendations.

Stupidly, I read it a page or two at a time, so I thought maybe by the end I was missing something. But no, that really was all there was to it. I think I will stick to the nest for my book recommendations more than listening to books to read from the 1800's. I don't care that much about enlightenment.

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (5/100)

I really really love Jodi Picoult. She has the type of book that you can read 100 page and it feels like 20. You just want to keep going. I also like the fact that her books are thought provoking. In the middle of reading this, I explained the premise to my husband (who normally couldn't care less about what I am reading) and we had a good conversation about capital punishment.

The premise of the book is that a man is on death row for murdering a man and his young step daughter. The wife/mother of the victims was pregnant at the time of the murder and now (11 years later) the new daughter needs a heart transplant in order to live. The man on death row volunteers his heart and says he needs to give it to the girl in order to find salvation.

The only reason I am not giving this book a 5 is because I felt it was fairly predictable and I was not really a fan of the "supernatural" type occurrences (although I guess they could be classified as religious miracles, I am not really into that type of thing). 4 stars

Madness by Marya Hornbacher (4/100)

I read this book because mental illness has touched my life before and I wanted to try to get a better understanding of bipolar disorder and those who suffer from it. Before reading this book, I thought bipolar simply meant being depressed sometimes, and then quickly having "high" moods. I was entirely wrong.

The author of this book actually didn't seem to experience depression too often. Instead, she was gripped by madness and bouts of mania. It wasn't a high mood like I thought, but basically insanity, not knowing who you were, what you were capable of, etc. There was hospital stay after drugged up hospital stay.

Some pages were hard to read because sentences lasted nearly the whole page. I can only imagine if it was that hard to read it, how it feels to think that way all of the time. I really hoped for a happy ending, but as I neared the end of the book I realized that truly wasn't possible since the disorder was managed but never cured, and the next bout of madness could easily be around the next corner.

At first I wanted to read her previous memoir about her eating disorder, but now I am not sure that I do since I know what happens "after" and it is not a happy ending, or an end to the eating disorder. I feel for the author and truly, anyone who has suffered with this disorder.
3 stars

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch (3/100)

I am not the type of person to cry and at a book or movie. I don't really have a book or something that has "changed my life." But I can honestly say that now I think I have. The subtitle for this book says, "A recovery book for the chronic dieter. Rediscover the pleasures of eating and rebuild your body image." If I had to sum up the concepts behind the book, I would simply say, "Eat when you are hungry. Stop when you are full." This may seem like common sense to most people. But as a person who has been dieting for half of her 26 years on this planet, it truly means a lot.

I saw this book recommended on the Health and Fitness board and figured what do I have to lose? I have been counting points for 3 years now (hard to believe isn't it?) I have had food struggles for as long as I can remember and more often than not, I put my weight far before my health. Now I am going to do my best to be a healthy person, not a thin person because my quest for thinness is also making me a miserable person.

While reading this book, I literally gasped out loud several times because what it was saying literally spoke to me. My first thoughts upon waking up are now things like, "I can have milk in my cereal! I can enjoy my coffee! I don't HAVE to order egg whites for every breakfast!" I am almost ashamed at how much I have let food rule my life.

The Epilogue says, "This may be the end of the book, but if you choose to become an Intuitive Eater, it becomes a new beginning." I hope that this is true for me. I am going to try and listen to my hunger for a month and see where that takes me. In the meantime, I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever thought twice about how much they weigh and what they eat. 5 stars

The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve

65 pages into this book, I decided I wasn't really feeling it. I didn't like the way it kept flipping between the past and present without so much as a space in the lines. There were very few chapters or page breaks and I think it made everything feel longer. A woman is supposed to take pictures where a murder happened a hundred years prior. She discovers the secrets of the murder. I felt it was fairly obvious as to who actually murdered the women, and was not shocked at all by that aspect. However, I was shocked by the incest, lesbian tendencies and death of an innocent child. I wanted to keep reading to finish the book, but I would not recommend it. 2 and a half stars

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich (1/100)

Whenever I get one of these books, I usually finish it within 48 hours of it being released. This time, I had a ton of library books so it just set on my bureau for a while. I jumped into it yesterday, and as usual, it was a super quick read and over in less than 30ish hours. I wouldn't say it was the best of the series, but I enjoyed it. The Stephanie Plum series never lets me down. Some quotes that I liked:

Stephanie: "I'm yelling at you."
Zook: "I didn't notice. It sounded like dinner at my grandma's house."

Grandma Mazur: "We're not in the Stone Age here. I blog and everything."

Crud, I had other quotes posted but it didn't save for some reason. Let's just say one had to do with a vagina implant. I also laughed out loud during the Cluck in a Bucket incident and at some other times, like always with her books. Time to start the countdown until the next one comes out!

Things I Want My Daughters To Know by Elizabeth Noble

I ordered this book on the pretense that it was a true story of a woman who was dying and decided she had life lessons for her daughters. Instead it was a novel. Not what I had in mind, but totally my fault. Anyway, I thought the book was okay. I had a hard time keeping some of the characters straight. I kept confusing daughters and boyfriends/husbands/stepdads. I didn't think there were really any lessons from the mom per se, just family information that helped them grow. Oddly enough, it had the happiest ending of a book I have read in a while. 3 stars

101 Things in 1,001 days

This is not a book post really, but it needed somewhere to go. Therefore, this challenge will also be a part of this blog.

You can find more info about 101 Things in 1,001 days here:

http://www.triplux.com/dayzero/

So here is my list. I probably should have spread out the time it took for me to write it instead of basically spending an entire work day doing it, but I really wanted to get it done. I was going to start August 1, but since we are going on our trip next week, I think I am going to start today.

Start date: July 21, 2008
End date: April 18, 2011

Some of these *may* be subject to change but at this time, I plan on trying to do all of them. And awaaayyyyyyyy we go!

Self:

1. Have a baby

2. Get published

3. Enter a contest that requires a skill

4. Make 1,000 entries in a gratitude journal

5. Redo a piece of furniture

6. Go to 10-year reunion and look fabulous

7. EDIT: Complete one month of "Intuitive Eating" starting 7/26

8. Turn down something I don’t want to do without unnecessary excuses

9. Stand up for myself

10. Do something I have never done before (St. Maarten April 2009)

11. Do something out of my comfort zone (Faculty Basketball game, ROBMS May 2009)

12. Get together ten outfits I love and feel completely great in

13. Write a letter to myself at the end of each month to be read at the end of 1001 days (4/33)

14. Find hair happiness (2009 - thank you Chi!)

15. Complete an entire day without saying anything negative

16. Go one week without cursing

17. Go one week without being judgmental

18. Carry a goal list with me (done! in my planner)

19. Be a generally happier person at the end of this project than I was at the start

Family:

20. Do something nice for Dave without him having to ask

21. Throw dad a party

22. Write a journal for my children

23. Give mom a break (success! 7/23/08)

24. Do something nice for Matt

25. Find a new food that Dave will eat

26. Get Dave the planned 30^th birthday gift

27. Establish a holiday tradition

28. Cook dinner for someone (Marty's birthday)

Others:

29. Volunteer for something I want to do / help with (Courage for Kyle 5/2/09)

30. Support Amy in Diabetes Walk (done! 10/4/08)

31. Raise $200+ for Diabetes Walk (did it...barely! 10/3/08)

32. Surprise someone

33. Stand up for someone

34. Send 10 “Just Because” pieces of snail mail (1/10)

35. Write a positive service letter

36. Donate to Locks of Love

37. Give a really good tip (Phoenix Diner $50 tip on $90 bill 01/19/09)

Health:

38. Drink 64 ounces of water every day for one month

39. Use sunscreen religiously

40. Floss every day

41. Go to dentist every 6 months

42.Take a CPR class (Feb 2010)

43. Maintain a healthy weight

44. Take vitamins every day for 30 straight days

45. Go one month without soda

Money:

46. Pay off all debt that is not student loans or mortgage (May 2009)

47. Save $10,000

48. See a financial planner

49. Sell elliptical machine (June 2009)

Learning / Professional:

50. Complete my last class (done! Dec 2008)

51. Complete my thesis (April 2010)

52. Get my Master’s degree (May 2010)

53. Take a class that is not degree related (dance April 2009)

54. Learn sign language

55. EDIT: get a tattoo (Aug 2009)

56. Touch a student’s life (done 2008-2009)

57. Coach three times (Track 2008, Volleyball 2008, Dance 2009)

Travel:

58. Scrapbook all states completed (done 8/15/08)

59. Visit Alabama

60. Visit Alaska

61. Visit Georgia (completed 7/30/08)

62. Visit Kentucky

63. Visit Louisiana

64. Visit Maine

65. Visit Massachusetts

66. Visit New Hampshire

67. Visit North Carolina

68. Visit Ohio

69. Visit South Carolina (completed 7/29/08)

70. Visit Tennessee

71. Visit West Virginia

72. Go to at least one state on the west coast

73. Update my passport (done, 1/22/09)

House:

74. Stop leaving clothes around in the bedroom – put them away immediately

75. Organize Roo’s closet (done! 7/26/08)

76. Organize Daisy’s closet (done 8/2/08)

77. Plant an apple tree (done 6/1/09)

78. Clean out car. Keep it clean and organized. (done 8/2/08)

Earth:

79. Use reusable grocery bags (did it yesterday, and plan on continuing to do it 8/18/08)

80. Recycle (doing good!)

81. Successfully freecycle 10 things (1/10 entertainment center 7/23/08)

Fun:

82. Win something (gift certificate basket - 1/24/09)

83. Go to 5 new local places (4/5 TuGo's 7/26/08, Mac's Shack 8/8/08, coffee shop in Mystic, bagel shop in Tuckerton, Buckalew's LBI 5/30/09)

84. Do a Murder Mystery dinner

85. Be an extra in a movie / TV show or audition for something

86. Go to a taping of a live TV show

87. Eat food from a different culture (Indian with Shelley - March 2009)

88. Pick my own fruit (Apples - October 2008)

89. Bake something beautiful

90. EDIT: Redo my whole wardrobe and sell/donate old clothes

91. Read 100 books (100/100)

92. Read 200 books

93. Read 300 books

94. Read 400 books

95. Read 500 books

96. Meet a favorite author (Janet Evanovich June 23, 2009)

97. Walk in the rain (got soaked with family and laughed our butts off 8/14/08)

98. Knit a scarf (knitted several for Christmas 2008)

99. Knit something I would be proud to give someone (blanket Christmas 2008)

100. Try a new food (completed 7/30/08 - fried green tomatoes)

101. Develop a signature dish

50/101 = 49.5% complete 08/22/10

The Land of Mango Sunsets by Dorothea Benton Frank

This is another book I just added to my TBR pile since it was on the nest. I started reading it and just wasn't feeling it, so I read Lucky instead. Then I went back to TLOMS and was feeling just so so for a while. I am not sure what happened, but all of a sudden I couldn't put it down. One morning, I just read 200+ pages because I wanted to finish it.

The basic premise is that it is about a woman who lives alone (except for her talkative parrot) in a townhouse in NYC. She rents out the other two sections of the townhouse to her best friend, Kevin, and a man who dies at the beginning of the novel. Her and Kevin have auditions for the free room and wind up renting it to a woman (Liz) who turns out to be having an affair with the husband of one of Miriam's "friends." Miriam is disgusted by this since her husband left her for "the other woman."

I think this may have been the point that the book truly turned around on me. Miriam spills the beans about the affair and Liz winds up getting horribly beaten by the man she was sleeping with. Miriam feels horribly guilty and this starts the gears in motion for her making things right in her life. She fixes the broken relationships she has with her sons, gets over her husband's betrayal, spends important quality time with her mother, and finds love and a more fulfilling life. It, too, was sad in the end (seems to be a trend in the books I have been reading) but it was still uplifting. I really wound up enjoying it. 4 stars

Lottery by Patricia Wood

I looooved this book. It is the story of Perry L. Crandall (his Gram tells him the L stands for "lucky"), who is NOT retarded. His IQ is 76 and in order to be classified as retarded, it must be 75 or below. For some reason, I really enjoy books from an autistic / mentally challenged perspective. This was a super quick read - I finished it within 24 hours.

Perry's Gram taught him everything. One of those things was to play the lottery. After Gram dies, Perry wins $12 million. All of his unscrupulous and uncaring family members begin coming out of the woodwork and try to take advantage of him. I laughed out loud when his "cousin-brother" left him at his house (while trying to get him to sign Power of Attorney) and Perry is trying to hide dog poop under his couch.

I didn't really love the ending and I thought it was sadder than it really had to be, but that may be what the author wanted. I was upset that his family got any money but I guess that is what makes the story even more heartwarming, since Perry didn't actually need the money to be happy. 4 and 1/2 stars

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

I decided to read this book because it was on a list of "New Classics" and also on the list of "1,001 Books you Must Read Before You Die" and because it was recommended from the nest. When I started reading it, I decided I hated it. It was very "smart." It is about a guy who leaves California because he hates his parents and chooses to go to college in Vermont simply because he liked the picture in the brochure. I can respect that.
When he gets to Vermont, he wants to take Greek because it was what he had studied in California. However, the Greek professor is very choosy and only has a group of 5 students. Well this man Richard, finally persuades him to let him join the bunch. I say that the book is "smart" because it is full of Plato and Aristotle and gin and bourbon, and suit jackets and expensive dinners. But by the time I was halfway through it had sucked me in.
4 of the original 5 had murdered someone (although I was a little confused by the details) and they were worried that the 5th would turn them in. Eventually, they killed him too, with the help of Richard. Subsequently, everything falls apart. The story was haunting and deep. I liked it but did not love love it. I would say 3 and a half stars.

1,000 White Women by Jim Fergus

I had been hearing about this book for ages, although don't ask me from where. It kept going back to the library when I didn't pick it up. I was afraid it was too intellectual or something. But when I went to the library one day it was waiting for me, even though I didn't know it was going to be there. The book is a collection of fictional journal entries from May Dodd, a woman from the 1800's who was committed to an insane asylum for being too promiscuous. At first I thought it may be a true story and I actually had to go back and reread the beginning to learn that it was all fictional. It was more entertaining than I thought it would be, but still a slow read. An Indian Chief asks the US to provide 1,000 white women to marry their tribesmen and produce partially white children (this part claims to be true). Being a bunch of great guys, the US decides to accept but only send insane women (not true, but certainly believable). The women go, bear children, and then die at the hands of the very US that sent them. Rings a bit true, don't you think? Overall, it was a good book, and I would give it 3 stars.

Baby Plays Around by Helene Stapinski

I added this book to my TBR pile because it was recommended somewhere on the nest. As soon as I saw the book and read the jacket, I knew I would hate it. But I tried to read it anyway. It is (I believe) a non-fiction story about how a woman is able to accomplish her life-long dream of joining a band. I am not really into music, per se, and therefore was not really into it. However, it was slightly better than I thought it would be. I think I liked her style. And the subject matter picked up a bit when she found out her husband was having an affair. But I was disappointed that she eventually decided to stay with him and he just seemed like an idiotic twit. 2 stars

The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais

Standard who dunnit, this time with corrupt cops thrown in the mix. On the day that Max Holman gets out of jail, he finds out his long lost son was murdered. The book is a quest for him to find the truth about why his son (an LAPD cop) was killed, despite no one wanting to give him answers. A good book, I finished it quickly. 3 stars

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

I started reading this book 3 times before I finished it. Not because it was bad, just because I kept finding something else. I really really really love the title of this book. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to the title, not to mention the title didn't really make sense. It wasn't really that she stopped swimming, it was just that she couldn't swim. I like it better when thinking of stopping swimming as a choice, more than a force. Anyway, the story is that this woman Laurel wakes up in the middle of the night because she sees a girl floating in her pool. At the beginning there is a big focus on her sleepwalking but then that never really comes up again. The girl is a friend of her adolescent daughter and she winds up drowning. The rest of the book is basically trying to find answers as to why she died. It somehow wasn't really a who-dunnit though. I wasn't a hue fan but once I got started, it was a pretty easy read. 3 stars.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I chose this book because it was highly recommended on the nest. It is a story about a woman obsessed with books, who writes biographies of the dead. She receives a letter from mysterious Vida Winter, who asks her to write her biography, even though she has never told anyone the truth about her past. Vida's story begins with her grandparents, then her mother, and then the story of two twin girls. The reader is led to believe that Vida is one of the twins. Somewhere towards the end of the book, there is talk of a ghost, which then leads to the discovery that there were 3 girls: the twins and a cousin that looked like them. Vida was the cousin. Another twist is that the twin that was saved from the fire was actually the wrong one. I think. I found the last quarter to be confusing. It was a good read, but not great, and quite frankly, I don't see what all the fuss was about. 3 stars

The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman

This was one of the books recommended to me on The Nest Book Club. I liked it in a way that I continued to read it hungrily but as I neared the end I realized what the problem was. There was a tremendous amount of sadness in the book, yet I really didn't feel all that sad reading it. So I suppose I was not really touched by it and that might be the problem. I enjoyed the time travel (in a strictly non sci-fi way) and the interconnectedness but I feel like if you weren't completely paying attention, you may have missed some of the connections. I may have missed some of them that I don't even know about. I may have liked it more if it went from the past to the present instead of the opposite way, but who knows. 3 stars.

Are you kidding me??

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

Acchhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! I don't even know what to say other than that. Another gem by Jennifer Weiner, as good as Good in Bed (it is the sequel to it in fact) but Achhhhh! 40 pages before the end of this 382 page book, something ridiculously tragic happens and it sort of changed the way I felt about the whole book. I still liked it a lot but geez! WTF?! 4 stars

Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen

Liked it, but maybe not as much as Flying Changes. I didn't like how the mom/grandma seemed like such a nice person in Flying Changes but such a bitch in this one. Not nearly as good as Water for Elephants and not really memorable in any way, but an enjoyable read. 4 stars

The Concrete Blond by Michael Connelly

Mystery, decent but not as good as Jonathan Kellerman. I was a little confused with names sometimes but maybe that's because I wasn't devoting enough attention to it. Liked it just fine. 3 stars

Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume edited by Jennifer O'Connell

Just awful. Completely hokey and "Judy Blume taught me to love myself" and "Deenie this and Deenie that" So contrived and so difficult to get through. 1 star

The Beginning - June 2008

So I have recently added reading 10,000 books to my list of things to do before I die. In order to do this, I need some way to keep track of the books I read. For this, I am using goodreads.com. I am not a huge fan of the site, so I am using this blog to actually keep track of the books I read and when I read them, as well as a review of sorts.

Using the Goodreads approach, I am using the following rating system:
5 stars : best of the best. A book I would want to read again.
4 stars: great book. really liked it and didn't want to put it down but will most likely not read it again.
3 stars: good book but lacking something.
2 stars: didn't like it but finished it anyway
1 star: despised it

So far in June I have read the following books:

Flying Changes by Sara Gruen
I picked this novel because I really liked Gruen's Water for Elephants. It took me a little while to get into it but once I did, I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I was 250 pages in before I discovered that this was the sequel to the other book I had taken out by Gruen. So I am reading the two books entirely out of order but I still like them. They are pretty fluffy but I don't want to put them down. I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Naptime is the New Happy Hour by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
I like everything about the concept of this book. However, I really felt that something was missing. I liked the style of her humor but I wasn't enraptured by the book. I felt it could have been a lot better. 3 stars

Places I Never Meant to Be Edited by Judy Blume
I am on a bit of a Judy Blume kick again because I discovered some books centering around her. I was not a fan of this one. I generally do not care for short stories because I feel like just when you start getting into the story, it is over. The stories in this book were not that gripping anyway. And I was really disturbed by the one at the end where a girl puts a ferret in a microwave. Yuck. 2 stars.