Book Review ~ 2014

Over the past few years I've really started to enjoy reading!  Now that I've joined a Book Club I read some books I probably wouldn't have before and I really like it. I'll probably be reading at least one book a month throughout the year so I thought it would be fun to keep track of all that I read this year.  Great idea, huh?  And then I can give my little reviews of them...not that they will be anything great or that anybody with care :)  So here we go:

The Book Thief  I really enjoyed this book.  It took me awhile to get into it, but I finally got to a point where it turned more into a story and it was great!  It is one of those books that made me appreciate living in America.  I also just liked learning more about that time during the Holocaust.  We are so blessed to have religious freedom.  I loved the examples of the characters in this book of how they risked everything to help another person that they didn't even know.  Great read!

To Kill A Mockingbird  Fantastic book.  It was a slow read for me (maybe because I'm just busy with a baby) but very good.  I don't know how I made it through high school without reading this book, but I'm so glad my Book Club chose it even though they had all read it.  I loved the very end: "Atticus, he was real nice..." "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."  Words to live by.  I love the perspective of children because they really don't see race, religion, gender, etc. unless is it pointed out to them by adults.  I feel such a responsibility to raise my children knowing how to love everyone, to look past the differences and see that we are all children of God.  This book has enriched my life.

Wonder  What a great, easy read.  This book had me laughing and crying and just feeling love.  It definitely makes you think about how you treat others.  One of my favorite quotes, "Kinder than is necessary.  What a marvelous line, isn't it?  Kinder than is necessary.  Because it's not enough to be kind.  One should be kinder than needed.  Why I love that line, that concept, is that it reminds me that we carry with us, as human beings, not just the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness."

The Gift  I read this book in two days.  It was a great story.  It helped to remind me of the purpose of life, to love one another.  It's one of those books that makes you think, "What would I do?"  The little boy in this story is very special and reminds us that we are given special gifts to bless the lives of others.  We must learn to share our gifts and help those around us.  Definitely a good, heartwarming and uplifting read.

My Story: Elizabeth Smart  Wow.  She is incredible.  She lived through a horrific trial and is such an inspiration.  Her positive attitude it amazing.  Reading her story makes me really grateful for all the blessings I have.  She talks about how she has moved on with her life after this trial and how much gratitude makes a difference.  Remember to be grateful for what you have because it could always be worse.  I also loved her perspective that when she wrote the book she was 25 years old.  She had lived 307 months, 9 of those were horrible, 298 were great.  Choose to remember the good times and make the choice to be happy.  Don't let those 9 months determine the rest of your life.  Like I said, incredible.  I'm impressed with all the work she does now to help those who need support.

The Secret Life of Bees  This was a bit of a slow read for me, but it was good overall.  We read it for Book Club and I missed the meeting (due to being home in Indiana) and I'm sad I didn't get to discuss it with the ladies.  They always have such great insight. I digress...  I enjoyed the story. I found their religious practices very interesting.  Normally I don't think I would notice it as much, but it was quite prominent in the book.  I love the faith that people have.  This book was so full of faith.  I really enjoy reading about Civil Rights and this didn't disappoint on that topic.  It was so great to see the reverse of what we usually see, to see a white girl join a black group. I love how they all just accepted each other as people.  I also loved the lesson of not living in the past but looking forward to the future.

Where'd You Go Bernadette  Fun read!  Adri recommended this book and it was great.  It definitely was not what I expected...in a good way!  Such a great twist on a "missing person" story.  Makes you laugh and smile and feel the love of family.  Great read!

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings  This book was one chosen for my Book Club and only one other girl showed up to our meeting and neither her or I (at the time) had finished it...so we didn't have much discussion.  I struggled through this book.  I renewed it once and still hadn't finished it (and it was the shortest one we've read!) so I returned it.  I started having remorse for not finishing it so I ended up getting it again and finally finished it.  I got the satisfaction of finishing it but not sure it was totally worth my time.  Anyway.  This book just didn't keep my attention at all and there wasn't really any kind of story line to keep her experiences pulled together.  I felt like she switched from thing to thing so quickly that it just kind of annoyed me.  I know many people like this book, but it just wasn't for me.  

The Fault in Our Stars  Funny and heart wrenching all at the same time!  I thought this was a great book!  I know there are people that don't like it, but I did.  It was a fresh new take on childhood cancer.  And yes, childhood cancer, and all cancer for that matter, sucks.  Here are some of my favorite quotes:  "That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt." "You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices." "I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly and then all at once."  Anyway, total tear jerk-er...and this was my second time reading it.  So was the movie, even though I knew what was going to happen! 

Edenbrooke  I really like this book, it was a fun, easy read.  And who doesn't like a good, clean romance every once in a while?!  I felt like I could relate to Marianne in her relationship with her sister.  Even tho I don't have a sister that I was close in age to, I felt like I took Marianne's role when it came to friends.  "At first it was only possessions we fought over.  But as we grew older, the list lengthened - talents, beauty, attention from boys.  I applied the lesson of the doll and decided it was better to want something different from Cecily instead of lose to her.  I learned to hide my desires, or to change them as soon as learning hers.  There was nothing I could do to become more beautiful than she was.  But when she excelled at singing, rather than trying to match her, I refused my lessons and turned my focus instead to painting.  When she proved herself a devoted flirt, I scorned such artifice and either avoided talking to eligible gentlemen or deliberately spoke my mind to them, which I discovered they did not like.  I had to be different from Cecily so I would not be inferior.  We could not occupy the same space together.  Like horses in a race, I was tired of jostling for position and losing.  I chose a different course so that losing would not be an option."

And Then There Were None  We read this for our October/Halloween Book Club.  It was a fun murder mystery!  It took me a little time to get into her writing style, but once I did I was able to breeze through.  It ended really abruptly and I was like, "WHAT???!!!"  But luckily there is an explanation in the epilogue.  Phew.  All in all, a good read.

The Storyteller  This book literally took me months to read!  I started and didn't get sucked in as early as I thought I would and then we started a new book for book club so I put this one down and started reading the new one.  I picked it up again and then got another new book for BC...I finally picked it up again and finished it this time!  It was really good, but pretty heavy and definitely pulled at your heart.  It is about the Holocaust and I was just amazed again at how horrible that time in history was.  This book provided me a new perspective of the point of view of a German during that time too.  It was intriguing.  I would definitely recommend it, with the warning that it is intense.  Jodi never disappoints!  Here are some of my favorite passages:  "Power isn't doing something terrible to someone who's weaker than you, Reiner. It's having the strength to do something terrible, and choosing not to."  "After I was dressed in the clean clothing - soft cotton and wool, as if I had been wrapped in a cloud - she brought another bucket of clean water, and a bar of soap, and washed my hair for me. She used her fingers to scrub out the mud, and she cut the mats that could not be worked free. Then she sat behind me, the way my mother used to do, and brushed it.  Sometimes all it takes to become human again is someone who can see you that way, no matter how you present on the surface."  "The skin on my face tingles, as if scars can recognize each other, even though the ones my grandmother has revealed this time have been invisible. I want to thank her for telling me. I want to thank her for surviving, because without her, I wouldn't be here to listen. But like she said, sometimes words are not big enough to contain all the feelings you are trying to pour into them."

Blackmoore  Another great regency romance.  It was a good, light read after the heaviness of The Storyteller :)  And I read it in 3 days...

The Glass Castle Another interesting read. I love seeing people rise out of their dysfunctional childhood. My mind was blown many times by the way these people raised their children and helped remind me I'm doing an okay job! This type of book always reminds me of how great my life is!