I sit all amazed

This is our book club book for this month. It is a short read and very good. This is the story of Steve Mikita's conversion to the LDS church and his struggle with life in a wheel chair. His perseverance is incredible. This book reminds me of how good my life is. This man has had such a difficult life, and is so positive! He shows that you really can do anything you set your mind to, no matter the circumstances.

Shanghai girls

So I am not going to sugar coat this book. It is disturbing. I am still disturbed by it and it has been 3-4 months since I read it. It is about two girls that grew up wealthy in Shanghai. However when china fell in 1937, the girls discover that their father has lost all their money to gambling and they are forced to flee china to the US with no resources. They experience trial after trial along the way. Only to go to the US and be bound to husbands they don't know or love. I love the history that this story brings to life. But it is disturbing, and terrible to imagine living through. This book also leaves you hanging. I am not sure if their is second, and even if their was I am not sure I could stomach it.

Fablehaven

So this series has become as beloved as Harry Potter in our home. I have been reading it to my six year old for the past 6 months. (that's about how long it takes to read to my six year old at 5 pages a night) This series is about a boy and girl who go to visit their grandparents. Once they arrive they discover their grandparents are the caretakers of a magic preserve with all types of creatures. They work with their grandparents to save the preserve and the world from the release of the demon prison. Each book is a new adventure that bulids into the main 5 novel story.
I have loved this series it is pretty clean, we edit some of the deaths. But for the most part is wonderful.

The winter of our disconnect

THis is one of my all time favorite resources. This story is a true story about a mother who pulls the plug on all screens in her home, as a research project for this book. She then studies and documents so much research on technology in our homes and how it affects our children. It is truly fascinating I read it all with a highlighter. I want to look and read all the studies that she quotes from. I think this should be a must read for parents. It was an eye opener for me, and we are a home with no cable and limited screen times. This would be a great book for book clubs.

Paranormalcy

Just finished this book. There is no series to wait for. Hurrah! Very cute book. The main character catches paranormal's for a company because she can see through their glamour. Only after something starts killing paranormal's does she start to question what she has been doing and who she is. It also doesn't hurt that she falls in love with a paranormal. I really liked this book it is a fast read, and a great story. She also manages to keep it pretty clean and lighthearted.

Once a Witch/ Always a Witch

I just read this short series. It was really cute, and both books were out. Which is a big plus in my world of trying to remember what I have and haven't read. This story is about a family that has special talents (witches). All except one who has no talent at all. She grows up as an outsider in her family and longs to leave and be normal. Only when she does leave she realizes that not only in she talented, but she is the only one who can save her family from destruction. Really cute story, even a cute side love story. Very clean, non satanic witch story. I really enjoyed both.

Way Behind

So I didn't stop reading, I just procrastinated my blogging and now I am so far behind that I don't know if I will ever catch up. So I will blog what I remember and then try to stay on top of it.

Matched

So this is my new favorite book of the month. If you are a fan of The Giver, you will love this story. It almost feels like it could be another part of the city in The Giver. This story is about a girl who lives in a time where cities are controlled, chance and choice have been removed. Even who they love is a pre-arranged choice. Except she want to make her own choices. She wants to pick her job, her location, and who she will love. But the Society will try to stop her every way they can. I finished it tonight and I am so sad I can't get the sequel "Crossed" until tomorrow at the library. It is a must read, it is also very clean and though provoking.

The Beyonders

This Author wrote one of my favorite children's series Fablehaven, so I had to try out his new book. This book starts out really slow. I had no idea what it was about, so that didn;t help. I didn't really get into it until it was about half over. The story is about a boy who gets sucked into another dimension of sorts, where evil reigns and heroes have been blotted out. He then chooses to be a hero and fight the evil instead of returning home. Great action scenes, not much romance, very creative. There are of course more books not yet out so you may want to wait a bit. I think it is a perfect novel for a 12 year old boy.

The other Boleyn Girl

So this book was a train wreck from start to finish. I could not put it down or look away. I don't know if I should tell everyone to read it or not. It is extremely well written, and really transports you back to the courts of Henry the 8th. I feel like I understand the history of that time from reading this story. But it is very trashy. It has everything it it, homosexuality, murder, adultery, incest, and more. You name it and this book has it, and it's actual history which is why it is hard to look away. It is actually the second in a series. I plan on reading the whole series after how well written this one was.

Ophelia

This book is wonderful!!1 What a great way to enjoy Shakespeare. If you have read Hamlet you will love this point of view. If you have not, you now will want to read Hamlet. This story is the story of Hamlet from Ophelia's perspective, with some twists. It is written in modern language, but still has a little hint of the Shakespearean play in it. My favorite part is the ending...which may surprise you if you are familiar with Hamlet. This is a great book, I want to read more of her books. She also has written one called THE DAUGHTER OF MACBETH. What a great way to introduce Shakespeare.

A Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet

So this is one of our book club books that I was really excited about. The story takes place in Seattle, when the United States removed all the Japanese to camps. I think that this is a subject matter that should be shared. This book is not a biography it is a novel,which may have made me lose some interest as I got reading. While the history is very sad and interesting the novel itself is a little slow. The story line for me just did not keep my attention. However, my interest is peaked to read more about this historical event.

Memoires of a Geisha

This book is on our book club list for next year so I decided to get an early start on it. For those that don't know a Geisha is pretty much an expensive and talented Japanese prostitute. Most are sold into this position at a very young age and trained in the arts of music and dance for years before becoming a geisha. This story follows the life of a geisha. It was very fascinating to read about the culture and Japanese culture. While this book is written about an unpleasant life style it is written very tastefully. I really liked most of the book, but the ending was just sad to me. It seemed like she never found happiness to me, even after a very challenging life. But maybe my idea of happiness and the authors idea of happiness differ.

The 17 second miracle

This was our book club book for this month. It is a quick read with a great story in it. It would be in the inspirational fiction category. The story is about a tragedy that is then changed into many miracles. It is really one of those warm fuzzy books that you should read when you are having a bad day. It also has a great idea in it too keep your spirits up.

Firelight

This was a really cute story. It was clean, but had love and adventure in it. The main character is part Dragon, and is taken away from the other Dragons to live with regular humans. There she falls in love with a hunter of Dragons. Great plot. But this is only book one. My prediction is that this story turns out a little like Twilight. First book in love with Dragon Hunter, Second book in love with her betrothed dragon. Third book The choice. We will see if I am right or not, but it is one I would recommend to any young adult fiction lovers.

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.