A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White - Book Review

A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
A Soft Place to Land tells the story of two half-sisters who, at the beginning of the book, lose their parents in a plane crash, and are then separated. This seemed like a great premise for a good novel, but in a nutshell, this book was just very boring.

Throughout the first half of the book, I was still trying to figure out where the story was going, and what the plot centered around. Ultimately, it was just about the relationship between the two sisters. The sisters seemed so self-absorbed, they were hardly affected by their parents death. Neither was likeable, which made it hard to care about their relationship, and thus made the book a slow, anticlimactic read.

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Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand - Book Review

Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Vicki, Brenda and Melanie all come to Nantucket for the summer, each with their own problem: Vicki has been diagnosed with cancer, Brenda lost her job as a professor after having an affair with a student, and Melanie is finally pregnant after several rounds of in-vitro, only to learn that her husband is having an affair. Josh Flynn, a responsible and good-hearted young man, is on summer break from college, and working with his dad at the Nantucket airport. Bored with his job, he hopes to find some excitement this summer in Nantucket. Upon seeing three women walk off a plane, he believes they may be the answer. As it turns out, he's right. A great summer read, Barefoot makes you want to feel the sand between your toes, and the ocean breeze in your hair. This novel offers the perfect mix of love, scandal, and tragedy, while still remaining a light and uplifting read.

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Tomatoes and Babies and Car Shows, Oh My!

Hello Again!

I really need to be more consistent about my posts. I'm currently on a once-a-month schedule, which is not so good. I apologize, but the truth is that since I started my new position at work, I simply don't have as much time to blog during working hours. Not that I should be doing that anyway, but hey.

I promised to keep you up-to-date on my Topsy Turvy tomato plants. They are doing great, and I have REAL TOMATOES growing! Check it out:

It's gotten pretty huge, right? And here is a close-up of some of the tomatoes that are growing:

They have actually gotten even bigger than that since I took the pictures. I'll have to take a couple more this weekend.

So what else is new? WELL, I'm happy and elated to announce that my first niece entered the world on May 4th, 2010. She was obviously anxious to meet us all, because she came 6 weeks early, weighing in at just 4lb 0oz and 17 inches long. Little Savannah is such a bright light in all our lives. She's the first grandbaby in the family, and she's as precious as she can be!

Work has kept me super-busy for the last few months. I consider that a good thing, as I was quite bored in my previous position. I've been doing a bit of traveling here and there, and learning all kinds of new things. It's been great.

The Big Car Show was 2 weeks ago, and it went great. My husband had his car ready just in the nick of time, and the weather was perfect all weekend. Not a drop of rain until we were ready to leave on Sunday. We got to spend time with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and my nephew. My nephew, Benjamin, is now 9 months old and cute as a button. He had is own car for the car show - one of those ones he sits on, and you push him around. Everyone agreed he had the best ride of anyone at the car show. Ha! Here is a recent pic of my hubby's GTO.

The Hubby also hit a big milestone in the last couple weeks - he turned the big 3-0. We had a party for him over the weekend.

We haven't done any home projects recently, as hubby had been busy preparing for the car show. This weekend, I hope to do some landscaping - I will let you know how it goes!

Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco - Book Review

Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman's Inspirational Story by Jodee Blanco


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love a memoir, so I was anxious to read "Please Stop Laughing at Me". The book has two great simultaneous messages, one for the bully and one for the victim. The Bully reading this book may be enlightened as to how his/her behavior is affecting their victim. The Victim reading this book may realize there is hope, and there is a bigger life out there beyond high school.

I only gave this book three stars. I began to feel that the author was talking a little too highly of herself, which made the book less believable. It's not that I think her claims are false - they are probably all sadly very true. But had she been a bit more humble and honest about her own faults, it may have given a stronger message. She talks about being "different", but she doesn't say exactly how she is different, or why she is shunned by her fellow students. Nor does she offer advice to others on how to deal with bullying if they find themselves in that situation.

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