House Rules by Jodi Picoult - Book Review

House Rules by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eighteen-year-old Jacob Hunt has a passion for forensic science. Everyday at 4:30pm, he watches his favorite tv show, "Crime Busters", and takes detailed notes of each episode, and the case it covers. Jacob eats only yellow foods on Mondays, and will wear only the color blue on Fridays. He does not like for his routine to be disturbed. Jacob has Asperger's syndrome.

Jacob's mother, Emma, and 15-year-old brother, Theo, are accustomed to his unusual behavior. Emma has spent 15 years helping Jacob to connect with others.

Trouble begins when Jacob is linked to a homicide crime scene. Traits that are typical for someone with Aspergers syndrome, such as failure to make eye-contact, only further incriminate Jacob. His interest in forensic science is also suspicious. But is he guilty?

"House Rules", though fictional, was a fascinating and enlightening account of living with Aspergers. Told from the point of view of 5 characters, including Jacob himself, the reader finds out how this disorder can affect every member of a family.


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True Grit by Charles Portis - Book Review

True Grit by Charles Portis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl who is determined to avenge her father's murder. She sets out to find Tom Chaney, the man who murdered her unarmed father and fled with all of his possessions. She hires Rooster Cogburn, a federal marshall known for his "true grit", to help find him and bring him to justice. So begins a journey that proves Rooster is not the only one who has grit - Mattie seems to have quite a bit of it herself.

I wasn't as fond of this book as I hoped I would be, given all the hype about the movie. But it was decent story and a nice, easy read. I expected more excitement, and there were parts where things got a bit hairy, but it was mostly predictable. It read like a typical western, which is not exactly my favorite genre, but it was a nice change from what I usually read.




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The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - Book Review

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book grabbed my attention from the very beginning. While it started out a bit confusing, I caught on to the format rather quickly. It tells the story of Henry, a time traveler, and Clare, the love of his life. Clare first meets Henry when she is only 6 years old, but Henry does not meet Clare until she is 20 and he is 28. I know, confusing, right? The story weaves between 1963 and 2008, with Henry occasionally jumping from the past to the future and back. It's a love story with a sci-fi twist.



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The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larson - Book Review

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I thought I would never finish this book. It took me nearly 6 months to read it, and it felt like even longer than that. It was the book cover that initially caught my attention. I found it for $1 in the bargain bin at Borders (say that 3 times fast), and it looked very unique and interesting.

The plot was intriguing: A 12-year-old boy, who happens to be a child prodigy in the area of cartography, hitchhikes his way across the country to accept the prestigious Baird Award at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. The committee giving him the award is unaware that he is only 12 years old, and have based their decision solely on his work in cartography. T.S.'s parents are unaware that he is leaving. And so, Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet finds himself on an adventure of a lifetime.

Unfortunately, I was mostly disappointed with the book. The story was all over the place and the writing was unnecessarily verbose. The sidebar illustrations, while unique and imaginative, did not add much to the story and ended up being nothing more than a distraction. The author completely changed direction in the middle of the book, and began telling a story of T.S.'s great-great-grandmother. The story ended abruptly without resolution, and went back to T.S's adventure. Overall, I was not impressed.



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Thunderstruck by Eric Larson - Book Review

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Thunderstruck tells the story of two men: Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy, and Hawley Harvey Crippen, the man convicted of Britain's second most famous murder. Larson weaves back and forth between the two stories, ending with Crippen's capture on a ship named the Montrose with the help of Marconi's wireless telegraphy.

I was quite excited about reading "Thunderstruck", as I was completely fascinated and enthralled with Larson's "The Devil in the White City". However, the magic that I found in "The Devil..." was missing in "Thunderstruck". While I loved the parts about Dr. Crippen, I found myself bored with Marconi's story, and even irritated when the author switched back to him. This book contains a fantastic historical account of both men, but it was not as gripping as I had hoped.



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One Day by David Nicholls - Book Review

One Day by David Nicholls

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I don't read much chick lit anymore, so I thought this would be a nice departure from the heavier things I've been reading lately. The book was an easy, quick read and it had a unique format which I enjoyed. But I can't say the same about the content or the characters.

One of the main characters, Emma, was mostly likable in that she was smart, responsible, and caring. But what frustrated me about her was that she seemed to spend more time feeling bad about her circumstances than she did changing them. The other main character, Dexter, was nothing more than a selfish, egotistical a-hole who took his friendship with Emma for granted.

I can't say much more about my opinion of the book without giving away some of what happens, but I'll just say that I wasn't sure until the end whether I was going to like it or not. And it turned out that I was disappointed.



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The Suicide Shop by Jean Teule - Book Review

The Suicide Shop by Jean Teule

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Without a doubt, this is the weirdest book I have ever read. The Tuvache family reminded me very much of the Addams Family, or even the family who parodied them, the Munsters. Their idea of "normal" is very different from most. They live in a dark world, many years in the future, when it rains sulphuric acid and suicide is not only common, but accepted. The Tuvache family runs The Suicide Shop, where they sell paraphanalia to patrons who want to end their lives. They sell anything from poisons to nooses. Lucrece and Mishima have 3 children - Vincent, Marilyn and Alan. Vincent and Marilyn are "normal", in that they never smile, are always depressed, and have a very dark outlook on life. It is their youngest son, Alan, who worries them with his smiles, laughter, singing and happiness. His mother worries: Is he contagious?

The Suicide Shop is the most unique story I've ever read. Though the content sounds disturbing, the book was surprisingly funny and enjoyable to read.



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Beach Music by Pat Conroy - Book Review

Beach Music by Pat Conroy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Beach Music is the first Conroy novel I have read, and I did enjoy it. Conroy is definitely a good storyteller, but I felt this book was a little bit all over the place at times. While I definitely liked the book as a whole, I do have some criticism.

1. Leah's age was a point of confusion for me throughout the book. The timeline indicates she would be about 7 years old. Shyla apparently killed herself before Leah was 2 years old, and Leah and Jack were in Rome for 5 years. I don't know how much time passed during the trial with Shyla's parents. I feel Leah is portrayed as much older than a 7 year old. She behaves as if she is at least 11 or 12, going on 21.

2. In the epilogue, Jack makes the comment that he cried every time he read Shyla's letter. But throughout the book, he continuously talks about how the "tears never came" after Shyla's death. This was a major inconsistency.

3. Shyla references something in her father's past in her letter to Jack, though she supposedly never knew the story of her father's past. I forget the exact comment she made, but it referenced some of the things her father had to do to survive during the war.

Despite this, I was impressed with Conroy's ability to introduce a character in one way, then change your entire perspective of that character when he told their back-story. I felt particularly this way about Father Jordan. It did not seem as though the priest in Rome could be the same boy that showed up in Waterford 20 years prior. It gave a whole new dimension to his character, and that was very impressive.

Overall, an enjoyable read, even with the difficult topics it covered (i.e. suicide, abuse, the Holocaust and the Vietnam war).



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Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - Book Review

Brimstone by Douglas Preston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I wanted to give this book 5 stars, but it lost one due to the ending. I did not want to put it down, and for that reason I consider it a fantastic read. However, the end left me both disappointed and confused.



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Catching Moondrops by Jennifer Erin Valent - Book Review

Catching Moondrops by Jennifer Erin Valent

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Catching Moondrops is the last book in the Calloway Summers series, and it does not disappoint! Jessilyn is about to turn 19 years old, and her love for Luke Talley has only gotten stronger over the years. A new young doctor, Tal Pritchett, has arrived in town, and when Mrs. Cleta becomes ill, he's the only doctor she's willing to see. The only problem is that Tal is a black man, and prejudice still runs rampant in Calloway. Hate flares up again, and Jessilyn finds herself lost between her craving for revenge and doing what is right.

I can't say much without ruining the ending, but I will say that Valent's final chapter in the Calloway series does not disappoint. I have thoroughly enjoyed this entire series, and would highly recommend it!



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The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - Book Review

The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Th Devil in the White City is, hands down, the best non-fiction book I've ever read. Every American should read this book! It tells the most fascinating tale of 2  men: Daniel Burnham, the lead architect in charge of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and H.H. Holmes, a convicted serial killer who used the fair to draw victims to his World's Fair Hotel. Larson manages to pull history of the time from every corner of the nation into this superbly written novel, from Frank Lloyd Wright to Susan B. Anthony and Buffalo Bill. He writes a haunting account of H.H. Holmes, a man who had the charm and charisma to attract women in droves, but an evil streak that puts Charles Manson to shame.

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 was a turning point in American History, and this book describes that event and its effects in spellbinding detail.



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Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Book Review

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Florentino Ariza fell in love with Fermina Daza as  a young boy. When she marries another man, he dedicates his life to one day winning her back. Fifty years later, the opportunity arises, and Florentino will profess his love for her again.

I really thought I would like this book. I held out hope up until the end that I would find some redeeming quality about it. It's a "modern classic", and was picked for Oprah's book club - it HAD to be good, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong. This may actually qualify as the worst book I've ever read. Perhaps that is a harsh statement, but I can usually find SOMETHING in every book that I enjoy, even if its not my favorite.

The writing style is too verbose and makes for a difficult read. Despite that, I felt that important information, such as a well-defined setting, was lacking. It took me a while to figure out the time-period and location of the story. (Turn of the century, Carribbean.)

The main characters in the story were not at all likable. Fermina is cold and distant, and not worthy of the love that Florentino holds for her. She is a bitter woman who seemingly treated her husband with hostility rather than love. Florentino is worse. Though the author wants you to see him as a romantic and a poet, he comes across as a desperate man with no morals - his way of proving his ever-lasting love for this woman is to spend half a century sleeping around with other women, one of whom was a 14 year old girl. He's nothing short of a pedophile. The only thing I enjoyed about this book was finally finishing it.





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Lottery by Patricia Wood - Book Review

Lottery by Patricia Wood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I picked up the audio book version of this book at the library to listen to while on a business trip. What a great choice!

Perry L. Crandall (the L stands for Lucky) has an IQ of 76, but he is not retarted - he's just slow. His Gram taught him some important things when she raised him: learn 5 new words from the dictionary every day (he's somewhere in the P's), don't say bad words, and most importantly, always play the lottery. Perry continues to take his Gram's advice after she passes away, and soon finds himself the winner of a $12 million lottery ticket. It doesn't take long for Perry's estranged and distrustful family to come knocking on his door. Fortunately, Perry has 2 friends he can trust: his best friend, Keith and his boss, Gary. He knows he can trust them, because his Gram told him so.

Perry L. Crandall is wiser than most people with an IQ of 120, and his story will warm your heart.



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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Book review

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The country of Panem, located in what was once known as North America, consists of 12 Districts ruled by the Capitol, an intimidating and controlling government. Every year, each District is required to send one boy and one girl, between the ages of 12 and 18, to The Hunger Games - a fight to the death. Only one of the 24 contestants will return home the victor. When her younger sister is randomly chosen as the female competitor for District 12, sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her place.

I was surprised to find this book was written for youth, considering the subject matter. However, it was one of the most engaging books I've read in some time. It was suspenseful up until the very end and I'm anxious to read the next two books. It's difficult to review, as the ending leaves much of the story unresolved, which is entirely due to the fact that this is the first book of a trilogy.



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Mommywood by Tori Spelling - Book Review

Mommywood by Tori Spelling

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I thoroughly enjoyed sTori Telling, so I was excited when I heard Tori Spelling was publishing her second book, Mommywood. I bought the audiobook and listened to it on a day-long business trip. It certainly made the trip go by fast, and I loved hearing the "real" story behind things I'd read int he tabloids, but I found myself confused about the timeline. It seemed that the book jumped back and forth - one minute, it was Liam's first birthday, the next he was 4 months old. I think it could have been edited in a way that it flowed more smoothly, but overall, a very interesting read.



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The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaefer - Book Review

  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Juliet Ashton, a writer living in post-WW2 London, receives a letter from man in Guernsey named Dawsey Adams. Dawsey found Juliet's name and address in a book by Charles Lamb that previously belonged to Juliet. Dawsey would like to know if Juliet can find more books by the author in London, as he would like to read them for his book club,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Intrigued by the unusually named group, Juliet begins corresponding with Dawsey and eventually other members of the society. Through this correspondence, she learns how the group came into being, how it obtained its bizarre name, and what life was like on the island of Guernsey during the German occupation.

Mary Ann Schafer's epistolary novel combines historical fiction with romance, and keeps the you turning page after page until the very end.

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Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Book Review

  Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! Gregory Maguire is quite the story-teller. Wicked, as the full title clearly states, is the story of Elphaba, known to most as the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum’s classic story, The Wizard of Oz. Starting at her birth, and ending in the same spot as the classic tale, Maguire takes you through a journey through Oz, a place that turns out to be quite different than you would expect. Not only do we meet Elphaba, a green-skinned outcast who dislikes the Wizard’s regime, but we also learn more about Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (who may not be as perfect as she seems) and Nessarose, the Wicked Witch of the East, tragic victim of Dorothy’s house, sister of Elphaba, and original owner of the infamous ruby slippers. If there is anything that Maguire wants you to understand, it’s that every story has two sides, and things are not always what they seem.

My only confusion was that the story does not seem to tie in exactly with the movie. This is possibly because the movie was changed from the original story, but I will have to read it to find out.

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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!