A New Start

So, I've made some changes to my blog, even the title which I am much happier with!

In my last post I had started reading the Maze Runner by James Dashner. I finished it in just a couple days. It is a young adult fiction book but kept reading until 3 in the morning! It is about a boy in post-apocalyptic Earth who is sent into the middle of maze with other young boys to figure out the way out and back to civilization. Or back to what they hope is civilization waiting on the other side.

I have also finished reading A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire. It is the third book in the Wicked series, the book the Broadways musical is based off of the story of the Wicked Witch of the West. This book chronicles the life of the cowardly Lion and his trials. Is he truly cowardly or simply the victim of life's certain ups and downs that we all must see ourselves through? Maguire has continued his spellbinding view of the land of OZ and has once again turned that classic upside down.

In addition, I have also begun reading Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund. I received this book from Bethany House Publishing to read and write up a review for. It's an old fashioned love story and I can't wait to get into what promises to be a great story.

Next Batch

I'll take a couple minutes now to catch up on my past month of reading. Working doubles constantly has pretty much kept my reading to a minimum. I finished reading Big Fish by Daniel Wallace which also happens to be one of my favorite movies. Truth? It was one of those rare cases where the movie is actually better than the book. It was an extremely disjointed story with very little linking between tales.

Better was The Divide by Nicholas Evans. This was a suspenseful murder mystery that follows the story of a girl in her twenties from an upper class family as she begins to explore the world of environmentalism and begins the decent into eco-terrorism. This book explores family relationships and what traumatic events can do to even the best people and ruin the closest relationships. It is also a story of repairing bonds and coming full circle in one's life. Once, I got into this book I could hardly out it down.

Currently I am reading Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James, a spin off sequel to Pride and Prejudice. for my local library's book club. As an avid Jane Austin fan I am thoroughly amused by the rewrite. However, I will say that the writer;s attempt at Austen's writing style and use of the English language was somewhat of a fail. It is quite a bit easier to follow for the modern reader than Austen's writing style though. For those who have not read the original this book does skim over important details of the characters' repertoires to give the reader somewhat of a background.

Well, that's all I've got for now, plus that stack of books from the library. Happy Reading!

How far will you go for your own Happyness?

 

Last winter I joined my local library's book club. Sometimes we all read the same book but some months we just pick a topic or genre and we each get to share a different book. This month the genre was biographies. I chose to read The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner. It is now a major motion picture from 2006 starring Will Smith. The book starts off by describing Chris's childhood growing up in the 'hood of Milwaukee, WI one of the country's most segregated cities. It takes the reader through his struggles of growing up without a father and the cruel behavior by an ever present alcoholic stepfather. Chris finally makes his way into the military where he ends up station at a VA medical facility in San Francisco. In this bright California city Chris ultimately decided his life path is pointing toward the stock market and Wall Street, a high aspiration who has found himself homeless, on the street and with a young toddler son to raise as a single dad. The Pursuit of Happyness asks the question, "How far will you strive and how hard will you work to get those final results you know you can achieve?"

Not only did this book keep me wanting to read more and find out how Chris Gardner went from a homeless single dad to the owner of a multimillion dollar corporation, it also answered that mysterious question that the movie never even alluded to. Why is Happyness misspelled?

Just Wanted to Share my Favorite Blog!

Woah! Major Catch Up!

Wow! It has been a long time since I've written on here. But I think I've finally gotten a hold on this whole logging network and linking up with others so I'm going to give it a try. Here is an update of the majority of the books I've read in the past year:

Handle With Care - Jodi Picoult
Cinncinnatus: The Secret Plot to Save America - Rusty McClure
The Sweet Potato Queens - Jill Connor Browne
Stalemate - Iris Johanson
Bungalow 2 - Dannielle Steele
The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare
The Host - Stephanie Meyer ( I know I was reading this 2 years ago but I couldn't get into it so I gave it another shot and it's actually quite thrilling)
The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins (OH my mind! Obsessed!)
The Girls Of Murder City - Douglas Perry
Behind the Scenes of the Museum - Kate Atkinson
When Madeline was Young - Jane Hamilton
There's No Place Like Here - Cecilia Ahern
A Salty Piece of Land - Jimmy Buffet
Starlake Saloon and Housekeeping Cottages - Sarah Rath
Forever - Maggie Steifvater
Dakota - Martha Grimes
Sisterhood Everlasting - Anne Brashares

I'm sure there have been a ton more but I can' think of them off the top of my head. Currently I am reading a historical fantasy book entitled Ysabel. by Guy Gavriel Kay. It is possibly one of the most thought provoking books. You need to really be committed to understanding the plot of this story and allow time to wrap your mind around how a story happening in today's world can be so interlocked with the history of twenty five hundred years ago. The whole story is seen through a teenage boy's eyes as he tries to make sense, not only of adolescent but this unbelievable bit of modern history he has stumbled into. I can barely put it down long enough to type up this entry.

Movies and Books

One of my favorite authors, Nicholas Sparks has recently put out two books that have become "major motion pictures"! His books, Dear John and The Last Song have been made into movies and I can not wait to see them after completeing the books.

Dear John is an addicting love story about a marine before and after the devastating attack on NYC on 9/11. Home on leave, he meets the southern belle and beauty, Savannah and immediately falls for her. This books follows their love affair over anumber of years and multiple deployments to Iraq. Their love branches across oceans and continents but can it branch the ocean of time? I could not put this book down and I'm dying to see the movie.

The Last Song, while not quite as riveting as the previous one was sitll a great read. This book was definetly directed at a younger audience about a new high school graduate, Ronnie. With no direction to her life she is sent down to North Carolina to spend a summer with a father who has been distant and covering up family secrets. Through meeting a new boy, Will, who is completely not her type and a new found relationship with her father, Ronnie learns how there are so many perspectives and sides to a single story. There were so mahy emotions played through this books and will catch any young woman's attention.

Finally!

So after almost six months I finally finished Bill Buford's Heat. Clearly not my type of books. I soley reccommend this book for someone who must know every small detail there is to know about food preparation namely pasta and butchering. I'm a vegeterian. This was not for me.

Better though, I also finished reading Emil Bronte's Wuthering Heights. This book followed the love affair of Heathcliff and Catherine through two generations with absolutely so solution seemingly in sight throughout the entire book. The reader could not have guessed how it would resolve until the very end but it did end...perfectly!