Second Hand Charm

This is a darling children's story. It is a fairy tale, but a new one. It is very original and refreshing. There are princesses, sea serpents, dangerous events, while still keeping it child friendly. I liked that this author did not just take a spin off of an old fairy tale. The story is completely new, and easy to read. I hear that this book is not as good as her first book (which I just got.) So read this one first then you will like it. I would say 6 and up would enjoy this story.

The Good Earth

This book was given to me by a friend after she heard of my love for China. It was very fascinating to me, I couldn't put it down. But I don't know if all would feel that way. This story takes place in China and follows a poor man throughout his life. He lives through much adversity and suffering, only to become a rich lord. It was very interesting to read about their customs, and their hardships. The treatment of women was very sad to me, even though he was not a mean hearted man. It was also interesting to read the cycle of poverty to wealth. If you love china I highly recommend it, if you don't you may find it a little slow. I do think though that it would be a good book club book. There were a lot of issues to discuss.

The Glass Castle

This is one of the few books I have read twice. I read it about 3 years ago, then after reading Half-Broke Horses, I had to read it again. I was hoping the second time it would be less disturbing after knowing a little more background. I was wrong. It was still just as disturbing. This is a true story written about the author's childhood in extreme poverty. She spent her childhood with a crazy mother, and a drunk father. They moved from place to place until she was 12 and they settled in a small town in West Virginia. Food was rare, as was clothing or heat. The most disturbing part of this book for me was the choices made by her parents. It was self imposed poverty. The mother owned a 2 carat diamond, and a house. She also inherited property worth a million dollars, with oil rights. She had a college education, and inherited a large sum of money when her parents died. She had more given to her than most people accumulate in a life time, and yet she still choose to let her children starve and freeze. After reading how hard it was for the mothers family, and how she was raised (in Half -Broke Horses) it has really made me ponder the whole nature vs. nurture. It is a hard to read story but it is one of the most well written and thought provoking stories I have ever read.

Half Broke Horses

My new favorite book of the week. This is a True story written as a novel. If you have ever Read the book "Glass Castle" then you will already be familiar with the characters. This is about her grandmother. It is not hard to read like the "glass Castle" is. This is not a story of abuse or neglect. This is a story of an amazing women that lived 100 life times during her life. She started breaking horses at 5. She lived through drought, floods, tornado's, prohibition, womens rights, and the depression. She never lost hope, her story is one of pure inspiration. I could not put it down. This is a wonderful, wonderful book. A must read.

Devoured

This is another play off of a fairy tell. This time it is snow white. It was a very interesting idea, but a darker story than most fairy tale remakes. This starts with a girl in modern day that sees her sisters ghost. She starts working at an Fairy tale amusement park to be with her boyfriend. When her sisters ghost goes crazy. She has to find out what her sister is trying to tell her, while dealing with boy problems. Doesn't sound much like Snow White I know, but if I tell you how it ties in it may spoil the story. I put it on my alright list. Not for kids under 16. Multiple references to sleeping with the boyfriend and 2 F words. Kind of sad they had to put that in there. Also it is a little on the creepy side.

Forgive my fins

This was a cute teenage version of the little mermaid in modern day. It took me a little be to get into it, but once I did I read it pretty quick. It is clean and pretty cute. The high school Drama was a little much for me. But all in all I liked it.