Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

This is the only adult book I have read by Judy Blume, and I was pleasantly surprised. I really loved this book. I love books that wrap you up in the character’s world and really make you feel all different kinds of emotions.

The book takes you through the ups and downs of two girls’ friendship. They are two very different girls who, almost by luck end up becoming best friends. They consider themselves “summer sisters” since they spend every summer vacationing together and this impacts their lives in very defining ways.

During the course of this book I couldn’t help compare the two girls to one of my best friends and myself. I think anyone who has had a really close friend would enjoy this book because it really brings you back to those days. I will say, I thought the ending was a bit weak, but the rest of the book made up for it.

I give it 4.5 stars and consider it one of my favorites.

Bridge to Terabithia

I never read this one as a kid so I decided to pick it up the other day. I have seen the previews for the movie and because of that I was under the impression it was a fantasy book, but it wasn’t at all.

I’m really not sure how I feel about the book completely. It left me feeling a bit depressed. The book was well written and interesting, but it wasn’t very satisfying for me. I do understand it is a “teaching” type book, that is trying to bestow understanding to young kids, but it just left me feeling rather empty. Maybe I would feel differently if I was under 14. Or I could feel differently after a few weeks; it does seem to be one of those books that sticks with you, so maybe it will grow on me after I dwell on it for a couple weeks.

3.5 stars on initial read, subject to change.

My Sweet Audrina

My Sweet Audrina, the first book by V.C. Andrews  that I ever read.  I was in 7th grade, twelve years old. My memory of the book had faded, but do remember liking it very much and it introduced me to the world of V.C. Andrews. I continued reading her books for a couple years, including the Dollanger, Casteel, and Cutler series’. The Cutler series being my favorite.

I enjoy re-reading books from my youth and picked this one since it was the first and only one not part of a series.  So… how did it hold up after all these years? Lets just say I won’t be re-reading  Dawn anytime soon. 

My Sweet Audrina is about a young girl who cannot remember anything before her seventh birthday. She “loses time” frequently and is constantly reminded of her dead sister who was the “best” Audrina.

Through the entire book you are trying to figure out why she has no memory and what secret everyone is keeping from Audrina. Unfortunately it was very easy to “figure out” and it seemed to drag on longer than needed. The book had horrid and mean characters, strange authority figures and much tragedy and death. All in all your typical V.C. Andrews book. It just wasn’t as mysterious and shocking as I remembered. Even if I had not read it when I was young I think I would have felt the same disappointment.

So… as a teen I give it 3.75 stars as an adult I give it 2.25 stars.

Our Town

Somehow I have never read or seen the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. I have seen clips when performed in various movies or TV shows, but I knew very little of the story line. Over the weekend I decided a classic was just what I needed. It’s an extremely quick read, around 100 pages, and since it’s a play it reads very quickly. If you’ve never read it or seen the play, it’s definitely worth reading.

The book makes you ask yourself questions. Do humans ever realize how wonderful life is while we live it? Even the mundane everyday tasks are beautiful. Life is a gift and so many of us don’t realize how truly wonderful it is till it’s over. The ending had me in tears and really made me reflect on how much of my life I take for granted.

I also want to mention one of my favorite parts of the book. In Act II when they are discussing a soon to be wedding.  The stage manager says:

    ” George and Emily are going to show you now the conversation they had when they first knew that… that… as the saying goes… they were meant for one another.

      But before they do it I want you to try and remember what it was like to have been very young. And particularly the days when you were first in love; when  you were like a person sleep walking, and you didn’t quite see the street you were in, and didn’t quite hear everything that was said to you.”

As soon as I read that I was reminded of the way I was when my husband Jeff and I first told one another how we felt about each other. It really described me so perfectly, I clearly remember his family teasing me because I seemed dazed all the time, and I never really seemed to hear them when they were talking to me.  I really love how he captured “young love”.

This book is a classic for a reason and I highly recommend it… 5 stars.

MiddleSex

I finished Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, about a week ago. I mentioned before that I was reading it and how much I was enjoying it. It’s taken me about a week and still all I can seem to say is ……Wow! Really, this is a book you just need to read. There is so much to the book, so many facets, so many themes, that I am having a difficult time putting my thoughts on the book into words. 

   

The story is about Calliope who is an hermaphrodite, but grows up not knowing. She “is a girl” for 14 years until she finds exactly what it is that she/he is. She narrates the story in memoir form, yet gives insight to what other characters were thinking and feeling even before she was born. It tells her story, but also the story of her parents, and their parents. It takes place a cross the globe, but mainly in Detroit and Turkey. Everything is beautifully woven together, and it’s one of the books that just becomes part of you. 

  

I have always been interested in the stories of those born ambiguously gendered. So this book was fascinating to me, but there is so much more to the story than that alone. I really can’t say enough good about this book, and highly recommend it. I give it 5 stars.

Do you finish books you don’t enjoy?

For years I would finish a book even if I hated it. Once I started a book I had to finish it. I know this is common among book enthusiasts, though I’m not quite sure why. Regardless of why I felt compelled to finish every  book I started even if it felt like torture, it was something I did ever since I was a kid.

I am happy to say I am no longer in bondage to the “having to finish” syndrome. In the past couple years I have come to the conclusion that life is too short to read bad books. There are hundreds if not thousands of books I would like to read, why waste time reading a book I hate?

So if every turn of the page feels like a tedious chore. Stop, put the book down, and go read something else. No reason to feel guilty, your not a failure, in fact I think you might be smarter than most in doing so.

Romance for Valentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day approaching I thought this would be a good topic. What are your favorites?

A recent favorite of mine is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I don’t know how someone could read this book without falling in love with Edward Cullen. Sure a man like him probably doesn’t exist in real life (putting the vampire aspect aside) but he really is what a lot of us always dreamed of when we were young. The feelings of the new love and relationship very much reminded me of how I felt when I was young which is probably why I enjoyed it so much.

       

Twilight is also a part of the ever popular vampire genre, but even if vampire novels don’t appeal to you, I think you might like this one if you love romance. Oh, and I absolutely love the book cover.

       

Another favorite of mine is The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffeneger. I think this was one of those “you either love it or hate it” type books. It did take me a while to get into it, and I almost gave up on it after 50 pages, but I continued and ended up loving it. I like books that really develop their characters so I loved this aspect about the book. Yes, it was confusing at times, but the story line is so original. It’s one of those books that definitely is worth a few readings. Oh, it seems they will be making it into a movie soon too.

         

Of course I can’t talk about romance without mentioning a classic: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Beautifully written and wonderfully romantic. If you are apprehensive about reading a Jane Austen novel try a movie first and see how you like it. I recommend the A&E miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, the one starring Colin Firth. It’s a perfect movie to watch for Valentine’s Day.

        

So what are your Valentine’s Day recommendations. Leave me a comment and let us know.

Middlesex

I started reading Middlesex yesterday. I like it a lot so far. I wasn’t sure how I would like it and was kind of anticipating a boring read, but I’ve been enjoying it since the first page. It’s kind of nice since the last few books I’ve read have taken around 50 pages for me to get into it.

   

 I’m only about 80 pages in so far, but the story is very engaging. It’s about a girl, who was born as a female, but they find out later she is also a male. I’m not sure how that all works since I’m only 80 pages in and so far it’s all back-story. I’ve seen PBS documentaries about this before and it’s always intrigued and baffled me.

    

I also received My Sweet Audrina in the mail yesterday from bookmooch.com. I read this book back in Jr. high, and I loved it. I’m curious to see how well I like it 16 years later. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler 

“My mother is a wench. It says so on her w-2″ and so starts this quirky novel. 

Calliope and her mother are on the move a lot. Her mom makes jewelry which she sells at Renaissance Faires along with serving as a wench. They have a very strained relationship, to say the least. Cal’s mom, Delores, has the tendency to run from things. She packed Cal up a few years back, taking her from her loving father and stable home life.  Cal has been taking care of Delores ever since.

Eliot lives with his mom and dad outside of Asheville, NC. They run a  “Christian” weight-loss camp.  “The Dad,” as Eliot calls him, broke his back years ago and from that experience he turned to Jesus.  Eliot and his mom have been basically unhappy ever since. Their family life has deteriorated. The fun care free times are gone.  His dad has cashed in on Christianity and now everything is about making more money.

When Cal and her mom move to the Asheville area for a Renaissance Faire, Eliot and Cal meet and they connect immediately. Their love story is very sweet. They help one another through the turmoil of being a teenager in an adult controlled world.

 One aspect that I thought was interesting, without giving too much away, was it showed how in many situations parents create the illusion that their children have some say in important life matters, when in actuality the parents have already made up their minds and have no intention of hearing what their children have to say.  I think it’s interesting and wonder why a lot of us parents don’t listen to our children more often. 

 I really enjoyed the narration from the point of view of both Calliope and Eliot. Each chapter switches from one character to the other and it makes for good reading.

I think a lot of teens would enjoy this book and I give it  3.75 out of 5 stars.

I love YA books.

Yes, I am 28 years old, not exactly considered a “young adult” by the book industry, but I have discovered YA fiction once again.

I’m not sure how old I was when I stopped reading YA. I started reading adult fiction when I was about ten along with YA fiction. I guess I was somewhere around 15 when I started phasing YA fiction out. I’m sure it had to do with the fact that at that age I wanted to be older and wiser; I longed to be an adult. So out with the old and in with the new, and I let go of my favorite authors like Christopher Pike, Lois Duncan and Barthe DeClements.

Then about a 6 months ago I was at the library (trying again to read borrowed books and not my own) and I picked up The Giver by Lois Lowry. I have always wanted to read it, mainly because of the controversy surrounding it, and I loved it. Alas, my love affair with YA began there.

Since then I have read some really great YA books, and added many to my TBR (to be read) pile. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is one of my all time favorite books now and I cannot wait to read the rest of the trilogy. I loved Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and I thought Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was excellent with a good message and great sarcastic humour.

So if you see me reviewing books that your kids are reading, now you know why, and you might want to pick them up and read them too.