Have a Little Faith, by Mitch Albom

The other book I've been working on isn't a sit-down-and-read-till-yer-done-book, so I decided to squeeze in another one for fun.  :)

Mitch Albom is one of the best authors I have ever read.  I've read two of his other books, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and "Tuesdays With Morrie".  I loved "Tuesdays With Morrie".  Mr. Albom really knows how to portray a person's personality through his way with words.

This book held true to his form.  I consider myself to be a fairly religious person, but this book gives a whole new light on the subject on what being religious really means.  This book was compiled over a span of eight years, after Mitch's rabbi approaches him with the question, "Will you do my eulogy?".  Mitch felt in order to be able to do this, he had to get to know the man.  In the process, his reader has that blessed opportunity, as well.  I truly wish I could have known "the Reb" in real life.

One of the things Mitch does in his free time is to help people through his charities.  To do this, he investigates the place he wants to help to make sure they're legit.  This is how he meets Henry, the other character that graces us through the pages of this wonderful book.  Henry had a rough life, mostly due to his own choices, but turns it all around to become the pastor of his own congregation.

Through his visits with these two men, he learns more about himself than he ever thought he would.  He learns what it means to know there's something or someone bigger than him in the universe.

And he takes his reader right along with him on this magnificent journey, one I will truly cherish being able to go on. 

I highly recommend reading this book, as well as his others.  This book is one I'm hoping someday to purchase, as I only buy books I'll read more than once.  There was so much wisdom packed into those pages, I can't help but want to revisit them over and over again.  :)

Winds of Change...

I am now in possession of these books, plus some others. 

I am currently reading Body Clutter with a friend of mine and we're making some huge progress, if I may say so, myself.  I'm excited to share my final results!

I have put the other book I was reading on hold for the moment, as it isn't due back to any library anytime soon.  :)

Happy reading!

What's in store...

My library decided to buy this book!! Woohoo!

And, my birthday's coming up, so I'm pretty much guaranteed this book.

The book I'm reading now is good, it's just not one I want to sit down and read.  It's a short one, too, so I should just commit and give it some of my time so as to make room in my busy schedule for some books that I'm so excited might be in my near future.  :)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney

AND

My son acquired these books over a series of birthdays and everyone in my family has read them at least once, so I thought I'd find out first-had what all the laughter was about.

I have to say, except for a few parts, I didn't think they were that funny.

First, I've seen the first movie and after I've seen a movie, the book sometimes just isn't that great.  That held true, in this case. 

I definitely read things from an adult's point of view, which, I believe, is why these books just weren't that funny to me.  Mostly, they were a quick read, slightly entertaining, and one of them (the yellow one) was really obnoxious.  Greg Heffley is obnoxious.  He's so full of himself! It's no wonder Rowley doesn't want to be his friend! (hee hee)  As I read these as a parent, I couldn't help thinking, "I sure hope my kids don't try this crap".  I know, I need to lighten up, they're meant for the younger readers in my house, not for me.  And my kids love them.  When I said they've read them at least once, it's more like 3-5 times PER BOOK.  They LOVE them.  From an adult's point of view, though, I give them a "meh" with a simultaneous shoulder shrug.  ;)

But, now I can say I've read them and I know what my family (husband, included) is talking about when they say things like, "Remember when Greg tried to use the force to elevate the remote control from the coffee table to his hand?" or "Wasn't it funny when the one kid played the tuba behind the curtain?".

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

Best. Book. Ever.

Ok, well, one of them.  This book was lent to me by a co-worker of my husband upon learning that I love WWII books.  I am so glad he did and was patient with me borrowing it for so long whilst I completed my gardening course and previous book.  I am so so so very glad I kept it instead of returning it upon the realization that I wouldn't be getting it to it as soon as I had hoped.  This was, by far, one of the most excellent books I have ever read.

As it says on the cover, it's a story of survival.  Louie Zamperini didn't just survive, though.  He conquered; conquered life, the enemy, and himself.  One reason I love reading about these people who've faced such great trial in their lives is how they come out in the end, how they're determined to come out in the end when everything in between is doing its best to break them.  Amazing.  This man is one I'd have at my "if I could invite anyone over to dinner" table.  The things he had to endure, the attitude of optimism he kept, the life-altering choices he made because of it and ability to forgive his enemies truly leave me in awe. 

I don't want to give away too much of the story when I do these reviews in hopes that it'll entice you to read it yourself, if you haven't already, but one thing I learned from this book was something I now long to learn more about:  the Japanese side of the war.  I've focused so much on the Holocaust part of it that I never gave the other side much thought.  I knew they bombed Pearl Harbor, but I didn't know why.  Now I do.  The Japanese leader, at the time, had the same notions Hitler had.  He thought he could rule at least all of Asia and that the Japanese were the superior race.  In the POW camps held by the Japanese, the treatment wasn't unlike that of the ones in Europe.  My grandfather, who died almost 10 years ago, served in Okinawa during the war.  I interviewed him when I was in Jr. High... oh, how I wish he was still alive so I could re-do that interview and ask better questions.  It really makes me want to go down to our local Senior center and find someone I could talk to about the war.  Real people's stories are so much better than fiction!

If you haven't read this book, do.  That's an order.  ;)  You'll thank me later, I promise.

Another new book out you might like...

I have to get to my library to request they buy it, but I saw that it's out earlier than I thought it would be! Woohoo!

If you've read this, this or this, you may be interested is this, Michelle Moran's newest book! I've been looking forward to this for a long time! Yay! I thought it was coming out April 6th, but I guess it's already in stores! Score!

It's almost here!

April 5th is vastly approaching! Have you preordered your book? I haven't... yikes! The book I'm currently reading (see right) is going so much more faster than the last one, so I should be done in no time.  :)

Letters My Mother Never Read, by Jerri Diane Sueck

After 3 renewals (at three weeks each), plus the original time I had it (also three weeks), plus the five day grace period, I finally found time to finish this book!!

It was good.  ;)

I won't just leave it at that, though. 

This is one young woman's story of survival.  She lost her mother when she was eight to a fire, was abused by her grandmother for two years, separated from her brothers when her own adoptive father abandoned them at an orphanage on Christmas Eve, and faced further abuse from foster parents.  My favorite part about this person is how she not only survived, but triumphantly so.  She found God and chose to never give up though there were many who constantly told her she wasn't good enough and never would be.  She lived most of her life in an orphanage, overcame her cleft palate and speech issues on her own, was never told about how a woman's body changes during puberty and faced those challenges alone, and dealt with her inner turmoil without the aid of others.  She more than succeeded in school, earned her Master's degree and went on to become a nun as a way of saying "Thank you" to her Maker for always helping her through life.  Included in this heart-rending book are letters to her mother asking questions she never got answered, begging for the nurturing and love she so craved, wondering how she could've died and left her alone. 

I think it would be awesome to meet this woman.  She's amazing. 

I've been told by three different people that now I have to read "A Child Called It", as it's a similar story.  I love reading real stories from real people.  The book I'm currently reading (see right) is another one.  :)

Happy reading!

Gardening Know-How

Since I haven't been reading actual books, lately, I wanted to share some things I've learned from my info-packed class I've been taking.

Like, for instance:

• In Wyoming, if you think you have crabgrass, you probably don't.  We generally don't have crabgrass, here.  It's quackgrass.  So, if you live here (at least in my area), and you've been buying the fertilizer that also kills crabgrass, you, my friend, have been wasting your pennies.
• If you read the ingredients to the bag of grass seed you just bought and skimped a little on the spending, you may find a percentage of WEED seeds included.  Nice, huh?
• I can look at a flower and tell you if it's a boy, a girl, or both.  ;)
• Trees never really "heal" their wounds, they just cover them up.
• Yes, you can just plant seeds and let them grow (they make their own food).  But after that, you have to feed them.  ;)
• The soil in Wyoming stinks.  Oh, wait... I already knew that.
• Certain veges like to grow next to other certain veges.
• When you mow your lawn, you should only mow 1/3 of it's length, and it should always be about 2.5 - 3 inches tall for optimum light, nutrient, water absorbency.  And it's more aesthetically pleasing.  :)
• You should wait till evening to transplant an already growing plant... and if you are looking to buy a fruit-producing plant that's already grown a little, don't buy one that has fruit on it.  It'll die.  Buy them young.  I've seen first-hand that this is, indeed, true.
• Weeds are pretty much inevitable.  Seriously.
• Some weeds are actually desired.
• Pesticide isn't just for bugs.
• Kentucky Blue Grass is the best for my area.
• Soil can be damaged.  Tilling isn't always a good thing.
• Compost and organic matter are a gardener's best friend.
• Gardening can be as complicated or as simple as one makes it. 
• Anyone can be a gardener and I'm so excited to start mine this spring!

I've learned so much more and have a handful of classes yet to go, and these are just a few things off the top of my head.  I've learned SO MUCH.  I love it, too! It's just soaking right in! (It's almost as if my brain is one big patch of sandy loam!) Sorry, garden humor.  Yeah... I don't think even someone who knows what that means would find it funny.... ;)

On Becoming a Master Gardener

I'm still reading the book I have to the right... and I had a book that I borrowed from someone, and have since returned UNread due to my newest acquisition:  Master Gardener course! I have homework... for the first time in YEARS.  And it's all reading.  Juggling that, my kids, my house, my babysitting, my chores, and the occasional shower, has left me virtually no time for reading.  But, I'm working on becoming more organized with my time so that all of the above happens. 

Now, it's off to shower! ;)

P.S.  The book I borrowed was called Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand.  I hear it's quite good, and as you can see from my reading history, I like these sorts of books.  Can't wait to borrow it again!