Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer---**** (4 stars, out of 5)

Oskar is not your typical 9 year old. He asks LOTS of questions, retains knowledge about everything, and is a avid inventor. On Sept. 11th, his life comes crashing down when his father is killed during the 9/11 terrorist attack. A year after his fathers death he finds a mysterious key among his belongings. He sends himself on a quest to find the lock to the key throughout New York. The quest takes him to many places and different people, including a long lost grandfather.

I picked this book up after seeing and hearing about the upcoming motion picture based on the book. I was surprised to find that it wasn't exactly as I thought it would be, however it made it that much more interesting. The book is difficult to read, especially at first. The chapters written from Oskar's point of view are very jumbled with lots of run on sentences. Other chapters are written from other characters point of view through letter form, with some being written 40 years prior. It can all be a little confusing. While some might find it too hard to follow and give up, I found it interesting and wanted to know how it was going to come together in the end. A definite heartfelt book with so many underlying meanings and feelings. If you can get through the confusion, I would highly recommend the book. Looking forward to seeing how the movie compares.

"The Last Song"

"The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks---*** (3 stars)

Ronnie & brother Jonah are sent to North Carolina to spend the summer on the beach with their father. Three years prior, their parents divorced causing a great amount of friction between Ronnie and her father.

Ronnie is not happy about spending the entire summer away from her life in New York and does everything she can to show how upset she is. However he father takes it all in stride and is extremely patient and understanding.

The book is written in 4 different perspectives---Ronnie, Steve (father), Will, and Marcus. Each perspective gives the reader a little more incite into the plot and characters.

In the end this book was more than just a summer romance book. It's about change, learning to love yourself and others around you, and building lasting relationships. It left you with a renewed sense of wanting to take moreI time with those you love. I would definitely recommend it to others.

"The Cinderella Deal"

"The Cinderella Deal" by Jennifer Crusie--*** (3 stars)

The story starts by introducing Daisy Flattery and Linc Blaise, apartment neighbors who couldn't be more opposite one another. Daisy is a free spirit, animal loving artist. Linc, a history professor with cold sterile furniture. While interviewing for a new job, Linc is found trapped in a lie that may cost him the job. He turns to Daisy to help him out.

I like to call this a "nice and fluffy" book. A very romantic comedy of sorts. Follows along the lines of a modern Cinderella story. Excellent read if you are looking for something lighthearted and witty. Super quick read!

"The History of Love"

"The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss--** (2 stars)
"The History of Love" travels through time following a manuscript. We are introduced to a man, Leo, who writes a novel for his long time love, Alma. Now many, many years later he is alone and struggling to survive day to day life. He even makes up ways for people to notice him--spilling coffee, posing nude for an art class, etc. Meanwhile, a 14 year old girl is on a mission to find her mother a mate. Alma finds herself trying to solve a mystery involving the book her mother is translating--The History of Love.

While I only gave this book 2 stars, I did find it very interesting. Each chapter was written (in various styles) by a different character in the book---all revolving around "The History of Love" manuscript. Because of this, the first half was very difficult to follow---moving through time spans, people, places, etc. By the end everything started to come together and I understood how everyone was connected in some way through The History of Love. The manner and wording that the author uses is very brilliant. Some people may like it better than others.

"The Other Boleyn Girl"

"The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory --** (2 stars)
A friend of mine passed this book along to me, knowing that I like to read historical fiction books. Since I haven't read any books during this era I was anxious to read it. However, I found myself really uninterested and disappointed.

This book revolves around Mary Boleyn---"an innocent girl of fourteen" who catches the eye of Henry VIII. Mary finds herself in the center of her families great plan to become part of the royal family. However, each chapter finds the family deeper and deeper into lies, scheming, and betrayal.

While the story itself sounds like a page turner, I found myself reading just to finish the book. Maybe it was the evilness of the family, the length of the book (which was just insanely large considering the story), or poor writing. I just never really got into this book. I'm amazed that it went as far as becoming a movie! Maybe I'll see it, maybe not. At least it would only be 2 hours of my time instead of two weeks!

"Still Alice"

"Still Alice" by Lisa Genova---**** (4 stars)
Harvard professor, Alice Howland, is a leader in the psychology field. She travels all over the world delivering speeches for thousands of professionals. She has three grown successful children and a brilliant biologist husband. Her life was perfect is almost every way. Then one day while out for a typical jog around the neighborhood, she found herself lost and disoriented. She also finds herself forgetting words and small little things everyday. She visits her doctor and finds something she had never expected.

This book takes you through a journey of a women in her early 50's experiencing early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Having a loved one dealing with the disease in my own life, this book really touched home for me. The book was very well written in the perspective of Alice. Watching her deteriorate throughout the book was almost more than I could handle. I found myself extremely overwhelmed with emotion several times. A definite must read!

"Summer Island"

I finished another book!!! After reading "Those Who Save Us", I decided to read a lighter, easier read. My friend had loaned me the book "Summer Island" by Kristin Hannah. This past fall I read "Firefly Lane" by the same author and loved it. I thought I'd give it shot!


"Summer Island" by Kristin Hannah--*** (3 stars)
This story starts out with a mom and a daughter. Nora, the mother, is living the high life as a successful radio and newspaper advice columnist. She is loved nationwide! Meanwhile her daughter Ruby struggles day-to-day as a comedian/waitress in Hollywood. An ugly divorce in Ruby's teens had separated mother and daughter long ago. A scandal is unleashed on Nora and sends them both back to their cottage retreat on "Summer Island", forcing them to face issues that were buried deep in the many years that separated them.

Love, family, heartache, forgiveness, and death are just a few issues dealt with in this book. It really made me stop and look at just how important my family is--no matter what struggles they have been through. While I never really felt a deep connection with any character in the book, it keep me interested and turning the pages. As with other Hannah books I could sense what was about to happen, but not exactly. It left me with a positive feeling, something that makes you feel happy after you read a good book. I look forward to reading many more books by Kristin Hannah!

"Those Who Save Us"

In 2009 I got back into a long time hobby of reading again. I've even joined with a few friends and started a book club! I'm finding it so relaxing at night to wind down with a book. Prior to kids, I was mostly a mystery book reader---Grisham, Patterson, etc. But, now I'm really trying to push myself to read ALL types of books. I've found that I really enjoy reading historical fiction books. Usually these books take me much longer to read, but it's made me to want to learn more about different events/people in history (I've never been a history buff, so it's all new to me!).

While I'm not really good at writing reviews, I'm going to attempt to give a brief synopsis of each book I read this year. I'll rank each book on a 1-4 scale with 4 being the highest rating. This is a great way to keep track of the books I've read and give others some book suggestions. So here it goes, my first book of the year........

"Those Who Save Us" by Jenna Blum--*** (3 stars)
I decided to start off the year with a historical fiction book centered around WWII in Germany. This book was written in the prospective of two women growing up in Germany during WWII. It switches back and forth throughout the book from present day and early 1940's. The 1940's portion of the book travels through the war with Anne, a German girl in her late teens and early 20's. Anne endures some very VERY troublesome times trying to raise her daughter alone amist the war. She does whatever she can to ensure her daughters safety and survival. On the flip side we experience the present day, Trudy, Anne's daughter who despretely yearns to learn about her past.

While many parts of this book were difficult to read, because of the nature of the content, I found it very interesting to read about this time period from a women's prospctive---especially a German women's prospective. I can't even imagine going through any of it and surviving. A very powerful book. I would definitley recommend it to all women.

Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln

Mary by Janis Cooke Newman

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It was a very long book, but well worth the read. It has sparked my interest into learning more about Abe & Mary Lincoln--and finding out what truths were actually told in the book. I liked how the book moved back and forth between time periods. Definitely recommended especially to those who are into history (or historical fiction).


View all my reviews.

Ghostgirl

ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
This book was about as I expected--nothing spectacular, average teen book. I would have loved this book if I was 13. Loved the design and look of the book. Loved the quotes and references to music throughout the book. I feel like this book would make a good cartoon. Whether that's a good thing or not.....?


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Confessions of a Shopaholic

Since I don't have any new creations to show you, I thought I'd give a brief book review instead! I haven't done a review in awhile and I've been reading up a storm lately. Yesterday I finished the book "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella. This is just one of Sophie Kinsella's books about Becky Bloomwood "American's favorite shopaholic". This was a fun, quirky, easy read--I think I read it within 3 days. Becky narrates her misadventures with credit card debt and her obession with shopping. This book definitely made me chuckle and wonder--what is she doing?? I'm anxious to read Sohpie's other books within this series! I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a lighthearted, easy book. Another plus---read it quick, because it is soon to be a movie! Here's a link to the movie trailer: Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Marley and Me

I finally finished another book! This month I read "Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog" by John Grogan. It was a good book. I had a hard time getting through the first half of the book, but the last half went very quick. It captures the life of Marley, the authors dog. Marley is a dog with a zest for life. But with that zest also comes a lot of trouble.

Growing up we never had a dog. My husband, on the other hand, always had a dog. After we moved into our first house the question of owning a dog started popping up here and there. After 1 year, I finally gave in and we welcomed Jack into our family.

Marley & Me is a great book for dog owners. More than once I found myself saying "Jack does that too". I even found myself crying at the end of the book. A very heartfelt book for any pet owner. It makes you stop and think about how much your pets mean to you and how much they are a part of your family. Check it out!

Journal Revolution: Rise Up and Create!

Quick post before I head out for my weekend scrap retreat.....


I just finished the book Journal Revolution: Rise Up and Create by Linda Woods & Karen Dinino. This is the February book at Big Picture Scrapbooking in the Reading Room. This is the first "scrapbooking" book that I've read. The book was very inspiring. It really made me stop and think about how I put my feelings into my work. I've never been one to journal. I never kept a diary while growing up. Blogging has been the closest I've ever been to creating a journal. The basis of the book is to create your very own art journals. This could be something that you share with others or keep private for yourself. An art journal could be a way to get your feelings out. There are no rules or techniques that are required. Get messy!

Overall I thought it was a good book. A good motivator to step outside your boundaries and put your feelings on paper with paint or whatever craft supplies you may have. While, I don't know that I'll be journaling on my bras (yes, that's one of the projects in the book!), I will try to step outside the "scrapbooking rules" and put more feeling into my creations.

The Kite Runner

I finished another book today--2 in one month!!! I know it's not a lot, but for me it is. I'm really trying hard to find time to read more. So far so good!

Since I liked A Thousand Splendid Suns so much, I decided to read Hosseini's other novel--The Kite Runner. Although not quite as gut retching as the other novel, this was also a very good book (don't get me wrong there were many many moments of sheer horror in this one too!). I feel like I have learned so much about the Afghan culture by reading these books. I know that they are fiction, but there is so much truth in the actions and politics of the books. I would definitely recommend both books.

I don't go out to the movies very often but I just noticed that The Kite Runner is out in the theaters right now. Unfortunately it is not playing in Cedar Rapids. I will have to check it out once it's out on DVD. I'm sure I'll like the book better (it's always better in the book!), but I would like to see it anyway.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I just got done reading this book today by author Khaled Hosseini. This book was amazing. So many emotions ran through me while reading it. The book tales the life of 2 women and their journey through life in Afghanistan. I can't even begin to imagine the struggles they went through. There were many moments while reading that I had to put the book down because I was so overcome with emotion and sadness. I am SO thankful for the choices that I am given to me as an American, a women, and a wife. Read this book.

Big Picture Scrapbooking (yes, my favorite site at the moment...) is running a book club throughout 2008. Each month they will highlight a different book. This is a free "class". Once registered you can enter the Reading Room and discuss the book with others. Although I didn't put it on my list of New Years Resolutions, I'm adding to it---read more books! Hopefully this book club will encourage me to read more often.