Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, by Jeff Kinney

This is Kinney's most recent addition to his much-loved series.

I read it because I read the other ones and I'm anal enough to have them all read. 

I think this one was my favorite in that it was the least obnoxious.  It wasn't the funniest one, though.  It's a quick read, does have some funny parts, and will surely be a favorite to your son or daughter if they liked the other ones.  :)

Matched, by Ally Condie

This, I guess, is the first of a trilogy... of which I will not be finishing.

It was an ok book - took me a while to get it read due to my having a baby (!!!) and not being that interested in it.

It greatly reminded me of the Hunger Games - taking place in the future, a girl who has to choose between two guys (one she's paired with, one she's not), an all-powerful government that pretty much controls everything that happens because of chaos that happened in the past resulting in war, teenagers rebelling against the system, everyone being seperated into districts or providences... VERY similar. 

It's about a girl who's matched with a guy, her best friend.  But, she falls in love with someone she's not supposed to fall in love with and wants to rebel and make her own choices.  The government she has to answer to controls everything - from the food they eat, the songs they listen to, to when they die.  It was mildly entertaining, but not enough to get me to want to finish the series to find out what happens.  Maybe some day.  Who knows.  :)

It's a Book, by Lane Smith

This is one of the best books I have ever read.  Not kidding.

It's a children's book that my husband found at our local library... it's perfect for this day and age, he says.  So, I read it.  And laugh... and laugh! It's perfectly cute and funny and just perfect.  ;)

If you want to read it, click here - I highly recommend that you do, it'll only take you two minutes.  **You have to read the very first page it shows for the ending to be as funny as I thought it was.

Love it!

Lost December, by Richard Paul Evans

This book came out November 11th - the day of my last posting.  I didn't even get it until some time after that - and then I put off starting it because if you've ever read one of his books you know that they're super fast reads - and I just didn't want it to end so quicky!

This was a good one, of course.  It's a modern day story of the prodigal son.  It has your life lessons, your quotes you'll want to write down and remember, your deep and profound thinking, and of course, your love story.  It's a book about harsh reality, love and forgiveness.  You'll want to keep reading it as soon as you start.  And the ending - totally rocks!

I have to say, though, towards the end, it almost seemed as though he realized he was getting carried away with the story and tried to shorten the good parts just so he could get them all in before he hit a certain page number.  It was a very good story, though, and very well-written, otherwise.  :)  I hope he never stops putting these babies out.  ;)

The Shepherd's Song, A Christmas Story by Larry Barkdull

I found this little jewel among my own collection; though, where it came from, I do not remember.  (Probably my mother-in-law.)  Whatever the case, I'm glad it was there for me to find, it was needed at this time in my life.

Mostly, I'd say this is for the religious person, as someone who isn't Christian might not appreciate it as I did.  It's just a short, sweet story about a shepherd, Joshua ben Levi, going through the hardest trial of his life.  His wife is eight months pregnant, has been bleeding, her water has broken and she's in heavy labor.  The baby hasn't moved for two days.  The midwives don't look hopeful for either life at stake.  Amid serious and painful contractions, Joshua's wife tells him he has to pray.  God will bless them this day. 

He gathers his sacrificial lamb and reluctantly leaves his wife to walk to Jerusalem to the temple there to pray.  Before he leaves, his father offers him words of comfort as he, too, lost his wife during childbirth.  He tells him God did not abandon him that day, but the question remained - would he abandon God? Even now, as I type this, I cannot think of this without tearing up.  This was read in a moment in my own life when I was facing a trial that I felt I was alone in facing.  I refused to pray as I didn't feel I was getting any help.  After reading this, it was as if my Heavenly Father was reminding me that He really was there, but I needed to ask myself that same question.

*sniff*

Anyway, he travels to Jerusalem and ends up facing a journey he had not anticipated.  I'm not going to give it all away because, really, this book is worth seeking out and reading.  Truly. 

Deep and Dark and Dangerous, by Mary Downing Hahn

This one was better than the last one I read.  Although, it was strikingly similar to the one I read when I was in 5th grade.

Both stories had two girls, somehow related, who were being torn apart by a ghost girl, who drowned.  This one might have scared me a little when I was younger; it was well-written in the mystery and horror (if you will) area.  I got it for my kids, along with several other Halloween books appropriate for the season, but this one was neglected.  I had nothing else to read, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  It was decent, considering.  ;)  If you have kids in, I don't know, grades 4-6, maybe, and they like a good thrill, this would be a good book for them. 

A Three Dog Life, by Abigail Thomas

Have I mentioned how much I love memoirs? ;)

First, a little tidbit of information I learned from my husband and this book (he told me this before I read it on one of the first few pages):  Australian Aborigines slept with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a "three dog night". 

- Wikipedia

I've read about women losing their husbands to death, but this woman lost her husband to brain damage.  He was hit by a car, one night, and lost the front part of his brain, therefore losing any short term memory storage.  He lives in a nursing home that cares for TBI patients and she visits him once or so a week.  In this book, she comes to terms with life, who she is, what she wants, if it's selfish to not bring him home and care for him, herself (I'm with the decision she made, by the way), who her husband has become, and how to cope with the present, not paying any mind to the past or the future.  She talks about guilt, healing, living, and being happy in spite of her circumstances.  She finds simple pleasures in art, her friends, her husband, and yes, her dogs. 

I love the way this woman writes - so honest and raw.  I say raw, because she doesn't mince words, she doesn't go back over what came out on the paper and sugar-coat it.  It's real.  I feel like I was given a glimpse inside her soul, how she sees herself and probably would hope others see her.  Her writing reminded me of how I want to be able to write, or how I maybe even do write, but only in places no one else can read.  And maybe even how I sometimes write on my blogs.  Either way, I felt connected to her because of how open and real she is in this book.  I can't say enough how much I loved reading her life.  I can't imagine having to go through something like she is going through.  I'm glad I found this random book that I otherwise might never have noticed.  A real story from a real person.  Love it.  :)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

I had this one on hold for quite a while, and finally got it and finished it a week ago.

It was definitely a peculiar book, that's for sure.  I have to wonder where some authors get their ideas - did they have a bizarre dream that, when written down with detail added, turned into some sort of novel?

This book had a mix of past, present, real, not real, and unreal, with a touch of weird.  A boy loses his grandfather, ends up in therapy about it because of the circumstances of his death, which bring out the stories he was told by him as a little boy... which leads him to the island his grandfather did most of his growing up on.  There, he finds the stories are real, that he's actually part of them, and has to choose to stay in the real world or the world he's discovered.  It pretty much leaves one hanging, almost as if there were going to be a sequel.  I doubt there will be, because it also had a sort of finality to the ending... and even if there were a sequel, I wouldn't read it.  The book was interesting enough at the beginning, but once the mystery was unravelled, the story seemed to drag on and lose its pull on me.  I finished it simply because I wanted to see how it ended, which, in my opinion, wasn't great.  The most interesting part, I'd have to say, is how the author weaved authentic, vintage photographs into the story.  I wouldn't say don't waste your time, because it might appeal to some, but I find my taste is for more realistic circumstances, and this book was full of fantasy.  Oh, well.  Not a complete waste of time.  ;)

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

This book was well-worth the wait!

I found it appropriate that I should read this book after the last book I just read.  Also, I found it interesting that it took place 100 years after the last book and showed that these issues were still, well, issues. 

This is a fictitious book, but it's based on how things were once upon a time (and still probably are, in some areas, unfortunately).  It switches between the points of view of two black women and a white woman.  The two negro women are maids for white folk, and are asked by the white woman to give an account of what it's like being a maid for white people for a book she's endeavoring to write.  The white woman, Skeeter being the name she goes by, also gets the stories from more black women.  She surprised to find that they're not all bad.  I really don't think I can do this book justice by telling you what it's about.  It's probably a fairly accurate dipiction of what life was like in the south in the early 1960's, for black woman and white woman.  What I can say is it's full of emotion, so enjoyable to read, and is one I'm going to own in the future - that's how good it is. 

I waited two months for it to become available at my local library - and I'm glad I did.  I'll be seeing the movie, but I would recommend reading the book, first, as the book usually is better.  :)

Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers, by Jean Fritz

Between my computer breaking, the book I finally got from the library that I couldn't wait to start and have hardly been able to put down since, and life, I'm just now getting this review done.  I finished last Saturday, so it hasn't been too long. 

I was one of the people who vaguely knew who this woman was, knew that she had written a book (Uncle Tom's Cabin - on my list of to read) that I may or may not have read once upon a time in Junior High, and that's about it.  I thought she was African-American - that's how little I knew about her.  I wanted an autobiography or biography to read while I waited for the above mentioned book, and I couldn't be happier that I chose this one.

Harriet Beecher Stowe lived in the era of the Civil War.  She was raised by a well-known preacher who wanted his sons to be preachers, too, since daughters weren't good for much outside of marrying them off or them becoming teachers.  Harriet felt oppressed by this her whole life, felt there was fire burning within her that she didn't know what to do about, since her options were so limited.  She married and had kids, just like any woman should've done in those days, and even became a teacher at the insistence of her oldest sister.  This never made her happy - in fact, she was prone to depression, like most of her family.

She always opposed slavery, but didn't become an actual abolitionist until later in her life.  She helped with the finances by writing articles for the media.  Then she got an idea of writing something that helped the fire she felt burning within - a book about slavery.  It started as magazine articles that she couldn't get published fast enough, because her readers longed for the next edition.  She used fictional characters that were based on people she'd met and based the events in the book on stories she's heard from people, both black and white, over the years of her life.  The book was an instant success in both America and England.  She was very well-known in that time period for this book and her views as well as her speeches (that were delivered by men, since it was considered improper for a woman to speak to the masses), although a lot of people in the South, after realizing what the book was about, didn't like her.  She was an advocate of Abraham Lincoln, but only after she met him personally to make sure he really would sign the Emancipation Proclamation like he said he would. 

She and her family played huge roles in the Civil War.  This woman is my new hero, next to Mother Teresa.  She rocked the literary world and lived a stellar life.  I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a quick book, one that tells an excellent story about an excellent woman.