Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Tenth Circle


Ok "L", I'm reading it now...and I cant put it down....


It's very engaging so far...Check it out!


Review by: Amazon.com
Bestselling author Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle is a metaphorical journey through Dante's Inferno, told through the eyes of a small Maine family whose hidden demons haunt every aspect of their seemingly peaceful existence. Woven throughout the novel are a series of dramatic illustrations that pay homage to the family's patriarch (comic book artist Daniel Stone), and add a unique twist to this gripping, yet somewhat rhetorical tale.

Trixie Stone is an imaginative, perceptive 14 year old whose life begins to unravel when Jason Underhill, Bethel High's star hockey player, breaks up with her, leaving a void that can only be filled by the blood spilled during shameful self-mutilations in the girls' bathroom. While Trixie's dad Daniel notices his daughter's recent change in demeanor, he turns a blind eye, just as he does to the obvious affair his wife Laura, a college professor, is barely trying to conceal. When Trixie gets raped at a friend's party, Daniel and Laura are forced to deal not only with the consequences of their daughter's physical and emotional trauma, but with their own transgressions as well. For Daniel, that means reflecting on a childhood spent as the only white kid in a native Alaskan village, where isolation and loneliness turned him into a recluse, only to be born again after falling in love with his wife. Laura, who blames her family's unraveling on her selfish affair, must decide how to reconcile her personal desires with her loved ones' needs.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Keeping a Princess Heart in a not so Fairy Tale World....


In my women's group this month (Everywoman) we are celebrating the Princess in each of us. One of the wonderful women in the group suggested this book for this month's theme, so of course i had to get it...
It is a great book! (I'm on chapter 4 and can't seem to put it down) it addresses all those hopes and dreams we all had as kids, and makes the connection for me at least...
Let me know what you think!
Here is the blurb from the back cover and you can purchase it by using the link at the bottom! Happy reading!
Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Every little girl grew up hearing the stories of "happily ever after," but is that the world in which she exists today?
Living in this not-so-fairy-tale world, you are torn between everything you longed for and everything you live with.
You wonder how your heart will survive, because what you have isn't even close to what you hoped for.
Hang on! Real hope is found in the tension between the two-in an invisible kingdom.
This place is where you discover the true heart of a princess-one full of dreams, wonder, delight, and joy. And you learn to keep it alive, even in the midst of this crazy, disappointed, hard-to-understand world.

Monday, April 21, 2008

I couldn't put it down

ok, The Truth Teller was so awesome! I couldn't put it down...but I cant continue the review because i dont want to give away anything...the only thing I will say, is Lara turns to connor for help as she discovers the true destiny for her baby...or what Devin is planning...suspense, intrigue, murder, and a very unexpected ending. I completely recommend this book! Wow!!!

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Truth Teller Continued....


oh my gosh...this is a page turner!!!! Lara is due in a few weeks, and Devin is busy making plans for "his" perfect son...he's prepared a nursery of purified rooms, "his" child will not be influenced by environmental factors...Dr. Helmut is starting to have second thoughts... Lara is blissfully unaware of what is about to happens, while she grows closer to Connor...


Stay Tuned!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Truth Teller...By Angela Hunt



OK, so "The Friendship Test" went by the wayside, because two days ago I received this one from Amazon.com, for 3.93 +shipping!!! Oh Boy, you must read this!!! I am on the 6th chapter I think...and it is amazing so far! Here is the synopsis:



THE TRUTH TELLER is a fast-paced race to outrun evil and discover truth. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Book Description
A five-year-old boy can sense who is telling the truth...and who isn't. It's a gift some will do anything to silence and a mother will do anything to protect.
Lara Godfrey desperately wants to have a child--a living legacy from her late husband. Placing her life in the hands of a doctor she believes she can trust, Lara doesn't realize a web of deception is being woven around her. An unseen voyeur, with dreams of immortality, plans to use the child for a test--an unbelievable experiment that could have genetic consequences not only for Lara's baby, but for the entire human race. In the face of danger, Lara must make impossible choices. That's why she flees the clinic before the baby's birth. It's why she changes her name and hides. She knows she must protect this gifted child who can see through lies and identify truth. Yet how can an innocent truth-telling boy survive in a world that wants to destroy truth at any cost?

OK, It is one of those books where each chapter unfolds one part of the story...It starts with the discovery of an iceman, who by estimates is 51 centuries old. The evil billionaire talks a couple of foolish scientists into selling him a small section of the skin from the "Iceman". The scientists who are speculating on whether or not they will be discovered by the authorities (for selling a piece of the iceman", they open the gift from "Devin" - a box packaged as rare wine...ends up as something else entirely.....

The billionaire, Devin...believes the "Iceman" was the epitome of human perfectness...and holds the key.....


Flash to : Lara, a very spiritual woman, who has just lost her husband to cancer. She prays and prays to the Lord, desperately wanting to mother her deceased husbands child. (he froze his little guys at a cryo bank before his treatment). She asks the Lord for a sign, and receives it...

She is Physicians Assistant, (conveniently working for the wife of a famed geneticist "Hemlut").

She approaches her boss, "Olivia", and her mother-in-law "Eva" asking what they think of her becoming a mother...they strongly disapprove of her decision to have "Michael's" baby..."Olivia" because she doesn't want to lose a valued employee, and also believes Lara is substituting the baby for Michael... and "Eva" because she is scared of losing another loved one (she lost her husband and only son within a few years of each other).

Don't be fooled though..."Eva" seems very shallow. She is a society climber who is worried what "others" will say, she just wants to forget all her loss, and move on. She is self-described as "not mother material". She had a child because it was impossible to be accepted in proper society without one, and she worried about her son everyday until he left her house, "too much" according to her. Her husband was a wealthy architect, while her son was an "artist". She actually accused Lara of wanting a stake in her family fortune...(Lara was disgusted by the accusation and actually never gets the courage to tell her the IV took.)

When MIL stops by unexpectedly after returning from the summer in Europe, she is definitely not prepared to find a 5 month pregnant Lara when she arrives. She also sees Conner (the next-door neighbor who was "Michael's" friend). He was helping Lara carry in groceries, so Eva assumes that He is the father...She leaves in a huff.

Connor senses Lara awkwardness with her MIL, (something Michael never did, "sensed how she was feeling")and he brings her flowers to cheer her up and she reacts negatively (she was caught off guard). She hasn't felt anything for a man since Michael. She rationalizes it, and after some thought, she goes over to apologize to Connor and offers to cook him dinner.

So..a few chapters pass as Lara prepares for the IV (invitro fertilization) procedure...while "Devin" also prepares Helmut...

Lara had to promise her boss and her MIL, that the "specimen" will be checked for genetic markers (for possibility of passing on the "bone cancer" gene from Michael) Helmut checks and finds the marker (gene) (per Devin...he will replace the "flawed" DNA with the Iceman's DNA)...while Devin tells him that Lara will carry his genetically altered "son". He promises...Lara will NOT be harmed...

Devin has set up a new children's hospital, for genetic research. This is the cover up!!! He pours tons of $$$ into this new "hospital" designed to help those less fortunate, all the while "Devin" plans on creating a new form of humankind...better, stronger, smarter than ever before.

So Lara, is now carrying Devin's genetically altered child...(unbenownst to her...but who signs blank forms????? An intelligent woman, who works for a Dr??? - that one I'm still wondering about.. when she is filling out the forms for the genetic testing, she comes to a blank piece of paper and asks about it, but Helmut reassures her that it's just for any tests he's not sure she will need..."wouldn't want something to happen just because I didn't have the proper form, right?" She signs it, only thinking of the baby...not realizing she has just signed a consent form to be a surrogate for the billionaire!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

More to come!!!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Friendship Test...

I've just begun reading:


"The Friendship Test" by Elizabeth Noble (Author)


Here is a review of it...I'll report back as soon as i'm finished!!!

From School Library Journal:

Adult/High School–Freddie, Tamsin, Sarah, and Reagan met at Oxford and quickly forged a bond that continued through careers, marriages, and children. Fast-forward 18 years to the day that Freddie gets a double whammy: her husband tells her that he is seeing someone else and wants a divorce; hours later, her fathers housekeeper calls from America to break the news of his death. So begins a story of friendship that captivates readers from the outset. Certainly, it is formulaic in places: as Freddie tries to come to terms with jarring life changes, she finds herself depending more and more on Sarahs widowed husband. But for the most part, Noble bestows enough imperfections in her characters and twists in the plot to take the story beyond typical romance fare. Readers will enjoy the appealing sketches of London, Cape Cod, and Boston as the friends travel across the Atlantic to help Freddie sort out the ramifications of her parents death.

Nobles second novel solidifies her reputation as a graceful and stylish writer with the ability to blend the humor and complexities of everyday friendships.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

"Scandalous Grace" - Julie Ann Barnhill

I first heard Julie speak at my first Hearts-at-Home conference 5 years ago...she is funny, passionate and so friendly!!! She moved me with her workshop on "She's Gonna Blow!: Real Help for Moms Dealing with Anger"...

Get your hanky ready...and not for tears...(unless you are laughing so much, it makes you cry...) enough said...you have to read it to know what i'm talking about...

Are you tired of struggling to please everybody - most of all yourself? I was...

Are you secretly afraid there's no way God could really love you? I did...

You must Read this book! Julie puts God's grace, tender mercy, and overwhelming love in language any woman can understand and relate to.

Beware - the grace Julie writes of may sound too good to be true.

But if you'll allow for the possiblilty that God really does love YOU like this...

This book will start you down a path toward true intimacy with God. This is not a deeply theological book. This is one woman writing about her Beloved and inviting you to join in.

With passion, she introduces women to the realities of unconditional grace and gives them examples of how to live in the light of such extravagant love.

And to quote Julie "I am a mess of magnificient proportions!!!" and I'm geting to the point where I am ok with that...becasue God Loves me anyway!!!

Monday, March 31, 2008

The Elegant Gathering of the White Snows

Description: Eight Women on a Journey That Will Change Their Lives as Lovers, Wives, Mothers, Daughters, Friends

Just after midnight in a small town in Wisconsin, eight women begin walking together down a rural highway.

Career women, housewives, mothers, divorcĂ©es, and one ex–prom queen, they are close friends who have been meeting every Thursday night for years, sharing food, wine, and their deepest secrets.

But on this particular Thursday, Susan, Alice, Chris, Sandy, Gail, Mary, Joanne, and Janice decide to disappear from their own lives.Their spontaneous pilgrimage attracts national attention and inspires other women from all across the country. As the miles fall away and the women forge ahead on their backroads odyssey—leaving small miracles in their wake—each of their histories unfolds, tales of shattered dreams and unexpected renewal, of thwarted love affairs and precious second chances.

In luminous, heartwarming prose, Kris Radish deftly interweaves the women’s intimate confessions into the story of their brave, history-making walk. A breathtaking achievement, The Elegant Gathering of White Snows tells an incomparable tale of friendship and love


I'm not sure why... because it is a really good read...but for some unknown reason...i keep misplacing this one, I will keep you posted on this one...as soon as i finish it...

Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn - Kris Radish

Naked....yes...i said naked...not the naughty kind of naked...well ok, once you start reading...but not porn naked for goodness sake...a good kinda naked...

I love Kris Radish...this was the second book i have read and she just gets better and better...although if you researched it...this one came first i think...but whatever, i digress...this one was even more fabulous (i seem to be using that word alot lately and am not sure why...but anyway!)


Dancing starts out with quite the hook...(i use hook because that is what my 7th grader is using when writing papers and stories for class...in jr high)

Everything changes and the very foundation of her life comes into question when Meg witnesses her husband having sex with another woman on her bed in her suburban Chicago home.

I dont think i could have been as cool as she was...but maybe when you are in a situation like that...that is what is warrented for the moment...

In order to find her way to a new life, Meg, along with three friends, re-creates the journey to Mexico that her favorite aunt took as a young woman. Her aunt's influence is still visible in remote Mexican villages, and the journey becomes spiritual as well as geographical.

I will someday take this journey...the one she takes to mexico...or to somewhere...

As Meg finds out more details of her aunt's life, she wonders why this wonderful woman's influence on her never took hold before she went into crisis.

I long to find a few more of these women...i have already discovered a few...I love how Meg learns what she needs and what her friends need and they provide it for each other when they can, and when they cant they kick each other in the pants and tell the other to "go for it"

Then, when she returns to Chicago, Meg finds kindred spirits who have felt lost and oppressed but who now may be willing to let go and even dance naked.

Once again Radish sings the praises of sisterhood by creating an enticing world of women helping women to become the empowered individuals they were meant to be. Patty EngelmannCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

LET me know what you thought of it...if your local, you can borrow it anytime...if your not...check out amazon...or the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Naked-at-Edge-Dawn/dp/0553382632/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral - Kris Radish

I was in borders with my mom waiting for a dr appt and we had some extra time...and honestly...i bought this book because i loved the cover...yes...i am that superficial, shallow, whatever sometimes...but isn't it well...FABULOUS???

Anyway...I started reading and I couldnt put it down...is it historical, NO.....Is it educational NO....It is just, well how I hope my life turns out...

Here is a breakdown of the book without ruining it for you:

Annie passes away at the youthful age of 56, leaving her high-school friend, Katherine, responsible for organizing her traveling funeral. Katherine receives a UPS package with Annie's favorite pair of red high-top sneakers, which contain her ashes, and instructions to contact four other women who played pivotal roles in her life. All of the women either have met or heard of each other through Annie, and all agree to fulfill her request that they fly across the country together and disperse her ashes at places meaningful to Annie. The women encounter beauty in unlikely places and people who either knew Annie or were somehow touched by her, causing the women to miss Annie all the more and reevaluate themselves and their missed opportunities. The funeral party turns into a true celebration of the deceased and her wonderful life. Once again, Radish celebrates women's inimitable friendships in an ode to sisterhood that will make her many fans rejoice. Patty EngelmannCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

How great would that be...to be at the end of your life...and have such wonderful women friends that you got it right with...

This book made me want to live fabulously right now...and i've been looking for a pair of red sneakers ever since...

favorite books and hooks

why favorite books...well because i love to read and frankly, i'm tired of reading and only knowing what i read and having no one to share it with...i read because i love it and because sometimes i'm bored and sometimes I just want to...

so for our first selection...