Touch Blue

Tess and her family live on a small island off the coast of Maine. Tess has always loved island life, and when the state threatens to close the island school due to a lack of students, Tess is upset to think she may have to leave the only home she has ever known. However, the residents come up with a plan: families on the island will take in foster children, boosting the population of school age children. When Tess finds out that they are going to have Aaron as their foster child, she has visions of Anne of Green Gables or Gilly Hopkins dancing in her head. The reality is somewhat different. Aaron has been moved around a bit. He lived with his drug and alcohol addicted mother until he was five, then lived for six years with his grandmother until she died. He has been in two foster homes in two years' time, and wants his mother to be able to take him back. Tess works hard to make friends with Aaron, and when he asks her to keep a secret for him, she agrees, even though it may not be the best idea.

I loved the setting of this book and hearing about the day to day activities on a small island. I loved the little superstitious sayings that Lord begins each chapter with. While this book is a good story, there are also a lot of good messages within this story- lessons on friendship, families, love, belonging, and differences.

Touch Blue is a wonderful middle grade novel that I will be sharing with many of my readers this year. Fantastic!

With Friends Like These

Sally Koslow's newest novel, following The Late Lamented Molly Marx, was an entertaining read. Although I loved Molly Marx a bit more, I really enjoy Koslow's writing and found this story of four friends to be fun- hard to put down- as I witnessed the train wreck they were creating in their lives.

Quincy, Jules, Chloe and Talia all take turns narrating this story. Each is a unique character, living in New York City in their early forties. While three of the friends have a great deal of money, Talia works part-time while her husband Tom teaches. Quincy and her husband are trying to buy a house, Jules is dating Arthur, a man a decade older than her - someone she isn't all that sure she is serious about. Chloe and her husband Xander appear to have it all, her main concern is getting her son into a good preschool. As life unfolds these four friends take each other for granted, and even knowingly backstab one another in order to get what they want. Koslow kept me interested, knowing exactly when to end each chapter and creating a bit of suspense as I wanted to know how each friend's scheming would play out. The girls do eventually realize that their friendship is something they don't want to lose, yet I wouldn't put anything past these four in the future, either.

I enjoy books about a group of female friends, and this one is a great addition to the growing number of books that fall into that category. Koslow has once again entertained me and I will be watching for more work by her.

Visit Sally Koslow's website.

Sunday Salon

Today is my youngest daughter's fourth birthday. Unlike previous birthdays when she was somewhat oblivious, this year she is all over it. She has been counting down for days and greeted me this morning by asking if today was the day...and wondering about her presents. Right now she is trying to play with her new loot, and her sisters are trying to get a look at it without getting scolded. The present they are all trying to get to are the Squinkies that we gave her. I must have had a weak moment since these things are so tiny I am sure I will soon be irritated at them lying around the house.

Other things I need to do today: clean, clean, clean. Cook and plan our meals for the week so I am not without a plan when I get home from work. I should finish up Sally Koslow's new book and review it later today. I also have a library book due later this week and I am getting slightly panicked because I cannot find it anywhere. The normal safe spots have been explored along with some not so likely locations and it still has not turned up. My husband told me he is trying hard not to say anything. :)

I survived my first week of class and have a few things to work on for school this week. My list of books I want to order is growing each day. I love that kids are requesting books that they want, but I wish my budget was bigger that I could get these books in their hands...to do that I would have to be able to buy multiple copies of certain titles. My strangest request this week was a fourth grade girl looking for a copy of Eat, Pray, Love. I am guessing she knows about the movie and that is why she wants the book. She looked a bit amazed when I told her it was really a grown-up book.

I enjoyed Diane's post at Bibliophile By the Sea....I am also planning on walking with a co-worker over our lunch break. It won't be a long walk, but the weather is beautiful and it is preferable to sitting around. Like Diane, I, too need to go through my closets. I have so many things I am no longer wearing that I should get rid of to eliminate some clutter. Since our town-wide garage sales are in a few weeks, it would be a great time to go through things.

Hopefully this week sees a bit more reading time as I am getting used to being back in the school routine. I'm ready to enjoy this beautiful Sunday and upcoming week!

Friday Finds

Once again I am a day late in posting my Friday Finds hosted by Kate at Kate's Library.

I tried to do a better job this week of keeping track of things I had read on different blogs, instead of trying to remember them after days had passed.

1. Once again I must be in the mood for cookies. This great recipe was posted a while ago on Coffee Tale Reviews. Since I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate together this one looked awesome to me. I tried making it on Thursday night and absolutely love them. I sent some to school for my girls to give to their teachers, and then froze the rest so I don't gobble them all up right away.

2. I always find myself checking the Indie Bound website. Now the Autumn 2010 Kids selections are posted and my wish list is growing longer.

3. The Reading Ape has written a post about The Textually Diseased. The comments people have made make me laugh out loud - and know I am not alone in my book obsession.

4. Ti at Book Chatter writes about her poor planning on the day Mockingjay was released. Looking at the picture of Mockingjay loaded on her Kindle made my day. I was lamenting not having pre-ordered the book myself, never even thinking of just having it delivered to my Kindle!

5. Travis at 100 Scope Notes posts a video clip of Beverly Cleary talking about Beezus and Ramona. I love the Quimbys!

The Water Seeker

Earlier this summer I checked out The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt after hearing that Holt was publishing a historical fiction novel. I tried reading it on two different occasions, but just never could get into it, and had to return it to the library. Then I read a review by The Fourth Musketeer that sang its praises. I felt compelled to try again. And this time, I loved the Water Seeker. I am not sure what the difference was this time around. I did get a better chance to start the novel with no interruptions, and I was better prepared for the slow pace of this book, and perhaps I was just in the mood for this type of historical fiction.

The Water Seeker begins in the 1830s as Jacob and his wife Delilah are making a life for themselves. Jacob is a dowser, someone who is able to find water for those looking to dig a well. This is a gift he was born with, something Jacob does not always embrace as he would rather be out hunting and trapping. Life is hard in the 1800s and when Delilah and Jacob have a child, Amos is not raised by his parents, but instead by his uncle Gil and his wife, Rebecca. While the first half of the novel is full of hardship and loss, the second half focuses more on the time Amos and Jacob spend on the Oregon Trail (and also more hardship and loss). Amid the struggles of daily life, there is still happiness and hope, and Holt has added some humor and made some interesting connections as well. The characters in this story made me want to laugh at times, but each was so likeable that I instantly fell in love with them all and wished for them to find happiness.

Unfortunately I can't see many children or young adults picking up this novel. I think as Margo at The Fourth Musketeer points out, the slow pace would cause young readers to give up fairly early on. I am so glad I decided to give this book another try. I have loved Holt's books in the past and this latest work is definitely a winner! I will be passing this title on to others looking for interesting historical fiction titles, hoping to entice others to give this one a chance!

Read a review of the Water Seeker by Margo at the Fourth Musketeer.

Blogger Hop!

It's Friday - time for another Blog Hop hosted by Jen at Crazy for Books.

This week's question:
Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

This is something I have thought a lot about and have considered it several times. However, the teacher in me sees attaching a number/grade to anything as rather subjective. What makes a book 3 stars instead of 2.5? Or 4 instead of 5? I still like seeing how others rate books, but it doesn't seem like there is any real way that the points awarded can be justified - it's just based on your own feelings about a book. With reading for pleasure that is fine, but I recall the one time I filled out report cards for my first grade class (before I was a teacher librarian I spent seven years in the classroom). I ended up re-doing one of the report cards because I couldn't find it even though I had filled it out. Eventually it resurfaced and I had the two report cards to compare. While many of the "grades" (in first grade there are no letter grades, just E, S, N and I) were the same, there were some that were different. It made me realize how arbitrary grades like this can be. Much like rating a book. Part of it depends on your mood, the time you had to think about it before writing a review, if you were in a rush, if it is about a topic you are interested in, etc. There are certainly books that I didn't love, but that I knew were very well written, or that I thought about a lot after finishing and grew to appreciate more and more as time went on. The point value I give a book may or may not influence someone else to read a book or not, and I would just rather give my thoughts on what I think are a book's strengths/weaknesses than attach an arbitrary number to it. I also think that as a person who reads many, many reviews on books, I don't usually pick books that are awful. By the time I have done some research about a book I generally have some idea about this book and whether or not I will like it. I don't read many books that I would attach a "1" or "2" rating to - those books would probably be ones I abandon long before I finish them.
Who knows? Someday I may rethink my feelings on rating books, and I do look at other bloggers ratings, but right now I won't be jumping on starting a rating system on my blog.

Check back later today! I still need to link some of the new blogs I have found via the Hop and add them to my blog roll. I will also be writing a review of The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt later tonight- a book I started this summer and couldn't really get into, and then started again yesterday and just can't put down. Not sure what changed for me in that time, but I am loving this one!

The Dog in the Wood

I must be in the mood for books set during World War II, because just this morning I read a middle grade/YA book set in Eastern Germany in April 1945. Although I grew up when East and West Germany existed and remember the Berlin Wall coming down, I never really thought about how the two countries came to be, and that Germany was at one point prior to World War II, not divided.

Fritz is ten years old, living in Eastern Germany after the war. He wants to be a farmer like his grandfather when he grows up, and loves gardening. Fritz's grandfather was a vocal Nazi and when he finds out that Hitler has been defeated, he is unable to cope with reality. Fritz, his mother, and sister Irmi are left to await the coming Russian army. Lech, their Polish farmhand, also assists them in their struggle to survive, as many of the Russians try to exact revenge on the Germans. The new Communist policies that are put in place make survival very difficult for Fritz and his family and they are left with little, forced off their farm and away from the life they know.

Schroder's novel is based on her own father's childhood in Germany. Although he was younger than Fritz in this novel, there are some details he recalls of this period. Schroder has developed a novel that gives a glimpse into what life was like for the children growing up in East Germany after the war, and how this traumatic event shaped a generation of children who "were pawns in the events (163)."
Yet another extremely interesting young adult historical fiction account of a population affected by World War II. An amazing story of survival and resilience.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick:

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

To Be Released in March 2011

Taken from Bookreporter.com:

Jude Farraday is a happily married, stay-at-home mom who puts everyone’s needs above her own. Her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill enters their lives, no one is more supportive than Jude. A former foster child with a dark past, Lexi quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi, and the three become inseparable. But senior year of high school brings unexpected dangers, and one night, Jude’s worst fears are confirmed: there is an accident. In an instant, her idyllic life is shattered and her close-knit community is torn apart. People --- and Jude --- demand justice, and when the finger of blame is pointed, it lands solely on 18-year-old Lexi Baill

The Bear Makers

Set in post World War II Hungary, Kata Steiner and her Jewish family have survived the Holocaust, but are still finding life difficult. Kata is only eleven years old, still very much a child, forced to face some grown-up problems. Her father lost the factory he once owned, and is finding life difficult under the control of the Hungarian Workers Party, suffering from depression. Kata's mother tries to help the family by selling stuffed bears that she sews for customers - something she must do in secret. And Bela, Kata's brother disappears mysteriously, a fact the family must keep secret.

Sprinkled throughout this story are Kata's memories of her life during World War II, when she and her brother were sent to live in the country with their aunt.

While the end of World War II did bring an end to the fighting going on in Europe, it certainly did not bring an end to the suffering felt by the citizens. Cheng's novel explores another aspect of life during this time period and how Hungary's citizens were affected by the war.

I wish Cheng had provided more closure for these characters; I am still wondering how events in their lives played out as more time passed and they continued to work toward regaining some normalcy and freedom.

Teaser Tuesday

I haven't participated in a Teaser Tuesday for most of the summer. Guess it's time to get back in the routine! Miz B of Should Be Reading hosts this weekly meme. To play along do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"True, Karena wasn't able to save him from the dislocated shoulder, but that wasn't her fault, and if Charles had succeeded in taking Frank's car then, things could have been so much worse. It's common knowledge that Karena is the only one Charles listens to, the only one who can calm him down (205)."

The Stormchasers by Jenna Blum

A Fierce Radiance

This month I have been busy with school, getting ready for school, and finishing up the end-of-summer errands -all which have been very time consuming. My reading totals don't look so great this month, yet the books I have read have been very good-hard to put down.

This past weekend I read A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer and will be talking and thinking about it for some time. Set during World War II, Claire Shipley is a photographer for Life magazine. Her ex-husband is the famous war correspondent, Bill Shipley. While married the couple had two children together: Charlie, and Emily who died of blood poisoning when she was three. Claire is sent to do a story on the promising new development of an antibiotic that could prevent such needless deaths. While there she becomes acquainted with James Stanton, one of the doctors and his sister, Tia Stanton. As the story unfolds so does a love story between James and Claire, as they try to weather the many challenges set upon them during this turbulent time in history.

It was amazing to me to realize that prior to World War II, penicillin did not exist. Belfer has created an amazing drama around the discovery of this drug as companies and individuals fight over who will get the profits from this life changing discovery. I loved every word of this book. I love the 1940s and the way Belfer was able to create a story centered around events of this time period - with the invention of penicillin, but also by developing a character who reported actual events that occured and were featured in Life magazine. I am famous for reading quickly, not always taking time to savor each and every word, yet with this book I did read carefully, not wanting to miss anything. This book was absolutely fabulous!

Same Kind of Different As Me

A few weeks ago my friend Krismar and her family were over for supper. In addition to having children who are all roughly the same age (and play very well together), Krismar and I also share a passion for reading. A large portion of our time when we get together is spent talking books. I have a few friends whose recommendations I take, and Krismar is one of them. The Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore came highly recommended by her, and the next day I made sure to hunt for this book so I could begin reading it immediately. I have been in sort of a funk when it comes to finding a book to read while running on the treadmill. I like running - mostly I like how it feels after I have finished- but I really like having a book that I am into and wanting to read, making my time on the treadmill fly by.

The Same Kind of Different As Me kept me interested right from the first page. This memoir is narrated by two very different men: Ron Hall, a multi-millionaire art dealer, and Denver Moore a homeless black man. The two share their life stories, which eventually converge as Ron and his wife, Debbie, volunteer at the local homeless shelter where Denver eats his meals. Debbie is a woman with a strong faith in God and a personal relationship with the Lord, an example to many. While it would be easy for her to throw some of her money at problems such as homelessness, Debbie invests more than money - she invests her time and gives selflessly to those less fortunate than she is. She also is certain that her husband is meant to befriend Denver, who is not exactly looking to make friends with these rich do-gooders. While Ron initially thinks that he will be able to provide Denver with experiences that are new to him, helping him to learn more about the world, it is actually Ron who receives an education from Denver. When struggles come Ron and Debbie's way, Denver is right there for them, sharing his wisdom and faith in God.

As a memoir-lover I had looked at this one before, but never actually heard much about it. I have seen it around the blogosphere a bit, usually to rave reviews, as bloggers exclaim over how life-changing this story is. I just handed the book off to my mother this evening, and predict she will really enjoy this one. She is a part of a book club that I could see reading this one as well, so I will have to check back with her soon to make sure this hasn't gone to the bottom of her TBR pile (which is significantly smaller than mine).

I did really like this one....maybe didn't love it, but found so many good lessons in Denver and Ron's story. This book did a good job of curing my treadmill reading funk because I actually looked forward to reading more of this book enough to actually want to run! Krismar has also encouraged my husband to read Same Kind of Different as Me, and I will be interested to hear his reaction to this book.

Same Kind of Different as Me is definitely worth your time - a book you will remember and learn from.

Friday Five -on Saturday

I had such good intentions of participating in the Friday Five hosted by Kate at Kate's Library, but with school starting, working at the library on Saturday, and doing a last minute shopping trip to buy a birthday present for a party my oldest daughter was invited to today, I ran out of time. My other excuse is my own fault: lack of organization. I see and read a lot of great posts during the week, and will bookmark them if I remember to, or will write down the URL on a random piece of paper. When Friday rolls around and I want to share these great finds, I can't find them again! ARGH!
Here are some of the great things I've come across this past week:
1. As a librarian, I enjoyed reading the Huffington Post article sharing eleven famous librarians from movies. After looking through the list, I realize how very out of touch I am in this department. I rarely watch movies unless it is with my kids.
2.Here I have been trying to eliminate sugar from my diet - some days I do better than others- and have run across a yummy looking cookie recipe. Breakfast Cookies look like something my daughters and I would love to try out!
3. This is a fun game to play- at least for book lovers! See how many titles you can name by seeing a portion of the cover.
4. This article in the New York Times addresses how e-readers have once again made reading cool.
5. I'll be starting my library classes on Monday, and while the first few visits will be taken up with learning rules and routines, I have been looking ahead to find some new things to try. I am planning on reading The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda by Tom Anglebergerto my fifth graders, and found this great website about the book.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender is one of those books that I have read glowing reviews about, and then have heard from two close friends of their own disinterest in the novel. My own thoughts on it are somewhere in the middle. I am not gushing, but I did enjoy it. The one thing that I most noted about this book was the writing and the way in which Bender was able to describe things- I could easily picture in my mind what she was writing about and she was so adept at describing minute details of everyday life.

Rose Edelstein is just a child when she discovers a strange talent: she can taste emotions in the food she eats. If her mother was unhappy while preparing her food, unhappiness is what comes through when Rose eats what her mother has made for her. Every morsel that crosses Rose's lips provides this bizarre experience. Rose's brother has his own peculiarity/gift as does her father. And it is from her mother's cooking that Rose first learns of her mother's dissatisfaction with her life. While this book seems to tell a story that is one of fantasy, and truly could never happen, it reads like realistic fiction.

Reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake got me thinking about my own eating experiences. I don't claim to have the fantastical gift of tasting emotions in my cooking like Rose, but the skill she had of dissecting the flavors from the food she was eating was such an interesting idea to me. As someone who often rushes through meals, it has made me stop and think a bit about the foods I eat and their origins.

Great writing, interesting topic - a unique selection for book clubs to discuss.

Book Blog Hop

Jen at Crazy for Books hosts the Book Blog Hop each Friday. Visit her website and check it out. It's a great place to find other interesting and new blogs.

I can't believe it's Friday already - I almost forgot about the Blog Hop until I started reading other blogs. This week's question: How many blogs do you follow?

I don't necessarily follow a ton of blogs, but I have almost 150 blogs on my blog roll. For me that is an easier way of following a blog. I know immediately if they have posted something new, and by putting a blog on my blog roll it encourages the people who visit my site to look at these blogs, too.

Since I a m back at work I will have to wait until this evening to hop around. Sounds like a great Friday night activity!

The First Day of School

Today is my first day of school with students - at least there are students who will be at school. I start library classes on Monday, so have a few days yet to prepare for them. I have been busily racking my brain trying to figure out what I want to do with each grade this fall. I know I will need to go over rules and procedures, but after five years, I don't know if I necessarily want to read the same books to each class that I have read over and over and over again.

I visited University Book and Supply last night, dragging my daughters with me. As I predicted they loved the store - so many great educational games and fun teacher stuff. My oldest daughter asked if we could come back again sometime. And I found a book that will be perfect for starting out my year: This School Year Will Be THE BEST! by Kay Winters. Each page depicts something a student is looking forward to in the upcoming school year, helping to make the year the best ever. From snow days to class pets to class plays, there is a wide variety of events these students are looking forward to.

The other random item I found at University Book and Supply that I really want to buy, but have no need for is the new Legos series: Lego Architecture featuring different famous structures in the United States like the Sears Tower, the White House, the Space Needle.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick: Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan

Published: September 7, 2010

Description taken from Amazon:

An exuberant return to the four unforgettable heroines of Waiting to Exhale--the novel that changed African American fiction forever. Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale was more than just a bestselling novel-its publication was a watershed moment in literary history. McMillan's sassy and vibrant story about four African American women struggling to find love and their place in the world touched a cultural nerve, inspired a blockbuster film, and generated a devoted audience. Now, McMillan revisits Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine, and Robin fifteen years later. Each is at her own midlife crossroads: Savannah has awakened to the fact that she's made too many concessions in her marriage, and decides to face life single again-at fifty-one. Bernadine has watched her megadivorce settlement dwindle, been swindled by her husband number two, and conned herself into thinking that a few pills will help distract her from her pain. Robin has an all-American case of shopaholism, while the big dream of her life-to wear a wedding dress- has gone unrealized. And for years, Gloria has taken happiness and security for granted. But being at the wrong place at the wrong time can change everything. All four are learning to heal past hurts and to reclaim their joy and their dreams; but they return to us full of spirit, sass, and faith in one another. They've exhaled: now they are learning to breathe.

I loved Waiting to Exhale when I read it many years ago, and I am anxious to read this next installment and find out what the girls have been up to.

The fall is also a great time for childrens books, and one I am looking forward to - and so are my daughters- is a new book by David Shannon.

It's Christmas, David by David Shannon is due out September 1, 2010.

Doesn't this one look cute? I have such a hard time keeping No, David by David Shannon on the shelves - even now - years after it was published that I already know I will need to buy several copies of this one!

What are you waiting on this week?

Neighborhood Watch

I picked up Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern from my stack of library books as one I wanted to take with me on our weekend getaway. Lucky for me I had it along because the book I started out with ended up being one I abandoned. And also lucky for me that Neighborhood Watch hooked me right from the first page.

Betsy Treading is just being released from prison where she has spent the past twelve years, convicted of murdering her neighbor Linda Sue, a crime she confessed to, but does not remember committing. While almost everyone on her old block is gone, Roland and Maryanne, a couple who lived there when Betsy did, have agreed to take her in after her release, since Betsy has nowhere to go. Back at the scene of the crime, Betsy is encouraged by her attorney to poke around a bit and see if she can find out a little bit more about Linda Sue's murder and who may actually be guilty. McGovern moves back and forth in time, using Betsy's memories of her life prior to the murder and of her life now. While this was necessary to the plot, at times I found it confusing, not sure if I was reading about something Betsy was remembering, or something that was happening in the present. In the end I decided that despite my confusion, the time period didn't really matter all that much, and I enjoyed the backstory. Neighborhood Watch was suspenseful, but not creepy - another plus for me. I was interested throughout the novel as to how McGovern was going to tie things up with Betsy and the true murderer.

This book kept me up far longer than I should have let it, but I couldn't stop until after I was done. Neighborhood Watch is a fast, suspenseful read- good entertainment, full of twists and turns and revelations.

Sunday Salon - Our Last Hurrah!

Tomorrow we are re-entering the real world of having a schedule, a regular work week, and running around like crazy. Part of this will be great, but a part is hard to get used to. I am anxious to see the girls off to school since they both love it and have some fun things to look forward to in first and third grades.

This past weekend we were busy getting the most out of our summer. On Saturday morning we headed off to Dubuque and an overnight at the Grand Harbor Hotel and Waterpark. We also visited the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, and took a ride down the Mississippi River on the Miss Dubuque. Since our oldest daughter turned nine years old today, we had supper at Happy Joe's in Galena last night and finished the evening off with icecream from Culvers.

Our trip home included a stop off at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, and a drive through Amish country. The Field of Dreams move site was a last minute decision based on the fact that my daughter kept whispering, "If you build it, they will come," to us from the back seat. She has just recently seen the movie (which I have never seen, shame on me!), so was very excited to see this in person.

I did start a book on the trip that I just cannot get in to. I decided to return it to the library - there are too many on my TBR stack right now for me to keep reading something that is not appealing to me at almost one hundred pages in. So, instead I picked up Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern and am loving it. I would really like to finish it tonight, but will probably have to opt for sleep over reading, and can read it on the stairmaster tomorrow morning.

I am hoping for a great first day back, seeing old friends, and meeting people new to our building, beginning to organize things for a new and exciting school year!

Sea Escape

Sea Escape by Lynn Griffin has been on my pile for a while. I had read several favorable reviews of it, and then one not-so-favorable one by Natasha at Maw's Books. So, I wasn't sure what to think as I began reading. In fact, I had to start this novel twice before getting into it. I can honestly say that I'm not sure why I wasn't in to it the first time- I am pretty sure my mind was wandering toward thoughts of school starting and all I need to get done-and since I was just beginning this book I needed to devote a little more attention to it in order to get to know the characters and what was happening.

Sea Escape ended up being a great read for me. Griffin explores the mother daughter relationship between Helen and her daughter, Laura, a nurse and mother. When Helen suffers a stroke, Laura must take over the role of caregiver to her mother, despite not feeling close to this woman. Helen's story is told as well, giving insight into how, perhaps, her relationship with her daughter developed and changed from that of a close and loving one to one of distance. Laura had always felt that her mother's greatest love was the one she had for her husband, Joseph. This is revealed in the many letters Joseph sent to Helen as he worked around the world, reporting much of the time from Vietnam.

What readers eventually discover through these letters is that Helen had a few secrets that her daughter did not know about until after she had her stroke and Laura began reading them at her brother, Holden's insistence. Perhaps if these secrets had been out in the open earlier Laura and her mother's relationship would have been different.

The relationship between mothers and daughters is complex, and Griffin creates an interesting, complicated one between these two women. Creating a portion of this book that is Helen's story, helps her become a likeable character despite how distant she was in her later years. Reading of her romance with Joseph made it easy to see how unique their love story was. The events that occurred in Helen's life changed who she was and how she treated her daughter in later years. The bitterness she felt toward her own father was especially interesting to me as Helen found herself in a situation similar to her mother's many years later.

This book had my attention until the end, and while some of the secrets that are revealed were not unexpected, Joseph's secret took me by surprise.

A great women's fiction selection, I will be looking for more of Griffin in the future.

Amazing Faces

Amazing Faces by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Chris Soentpiet is a gorgeous book of poems sent to me by Lee and Low Books to review. As I read through these poems I was instantly impressed with them, finding many ways to use them at my school and for pleasure.

The artwork in this collection of poetry focusing on children experiencing a wide range of feelings, features a wide range of cultures. (The cover is one example of this). Because each poem focused on an emotion that someone may be feeling there are many ways that these poems could be used as discussion tools in schools. Poems are written by well known authors such as Pat Mora, Nikki Grimes and Joseph Bruchac as well as authors that were lesser known to me. Common events in life are depicted in the pictures and poems adding to the book's appeal as readers will be able to easily identify with the poems and illustrations.

This book is a fabulous addition to any collection. I have read through these poems as have my children, and each time we are able to enjoy the poetry and illustrations and find something new to talk about.

Book Blogger Hop

Another Friday - my last Friday before school starts- which means it's time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jen at Crazy for Books. This is a great way to find other blogs, so check it out!

This week's question:

How many books are on your TBR pile?

Pile? I have books on shelves, under my bed, in boxes - all that are still TBR. I think I literally have thousands of books I need to read. Right now I have 40-ish library books waiting for me to read them, too. The good news is I am not going to run out of something to read anytime soon. How many books are on your TBR pile?

Happy Hopping!

My Life With the Lincolns

As a young elementary student, I was very intrigued by Abraham Lincoln and his family. I enjoyed reading books about him, and to this day, still feel a special interest in this particular president. Gayle Brandeis' book My Life With the Lincolns is about a girl, Wilhemina, who also feels a particular bond to the Lincolns. In fact, she thinks she is Lincoln's son, Willie, reincarnated. Her father runs Honest ABE's, a furniture store, and dresses up as Abe Lincoln from time to time. Wilhemina knows the fate of the Lincoln boys and Abe, and is especially worried about not not letting history repeat itself. In addition to this, My Life with the Lincolns takes place in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement. Mina becomes involved in the Civil Rights movement with her father, who sneaks off and lies to his wife about where he is going when he heads into Chicago. She is uninterested in giving blacks equal rights, while Mina's dad can't get this off his mind. However, I was often irritated by the methods he used to "help" the blacks, like firing their cleaning lady, claiming he was empowering her. Despite the fact that the cleaning lady was devastated and had no way to pay her bills, Mina's dad insisted he had actually helped the woman. The Vietnam angle is explored to some extent as the family's neighbor is called up to serve his country, leaving a worried wife and two sons who play war with Mina and her sister, Tabby.

This book had a lot going on, addressing some big issues in history. Somehow Brandeis was able to bring the various plots together, and has created an entertaining and informatiive book about the 1960s. I will have a fun time sharing this one with my older elementary students.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick:

At Home by Bill Bryson

Due out: October 5, 2010

Product Description taken from Amazon:

“Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.” Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.” The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has fig­ured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture. Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an occasion for the most diverting exposi­tion imaginable. His wit and sheer prose fluency make At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.

Sunday Salon

This past week has rushed right by, and I have no doubt that this coming week will be the same - or perhaps worse. My first contract day of school is August 16, and I have things I need to work on before then, final trips to the swimming pool, shopping trips, and a weekend trip for the family planned. And then, reality will hit me. I have to be on a schedule. Get up early. Go to bed early. Have meals planned out ahead of time. I do enjoy parts of this, but it is so hard to get used to.

Last week I managed to reconnect with my childhood penpal. The two of us wrote to each other from 1984 (I think) until we lost contact in 2001. I have searched for her before, and she has looked for me, but finally I found her on LinkedIn, and she then was able to find me on Facebook. I have loved looking at pictures of her and her family. Seriously, this has been such a thrill for me.

My reading is slowing down. I have more little cleaning projects I want to get done, things I want to organize, and that is taking the place of some free reading time.

My husband is on a five day kayaking trip to the Upper Peninsula. He has called a few times and is totally enjoying himself. I thought I could do some deep cleaning and surprise him when he returns, but I haven't been very successful yet.

Tonight as a treat I took the girls to Tokyo's, a Japanese Steak and Sushi Restaurant where they make the food right at your table. They were totally impressed with the big fire our server lit for us and loved the food. I feel a return trip in our future. I suggested this as a possible birthday party destination for my oldest daughter and two or three friends. She turns 9 on Sunday and we are trying to think of something unique to do instead of Chuck E. Cheese (which we have never done).

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things

I will admit that I have developed a fascination with hoarding after having watched an episode of Hoarders on TLC. I rarely catch this show, but am totally absorbed by the people featured on it when I do catch it. The condition of hoarding has been getting a great deal of attention lately and Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee has been a popular book at the library as well. I have been waiting for it for a few months now.

Frost and Steketee share a great deal of research they have accumulated about hoarding as well as many case studies. These case studies are fascinating, as is the information.

A few things I now know about hoarding:

* the condition of hoarding is related to gambling and kleptomania

* hoarders are often highly intelligent and/or artistic

* hoarders find comfort in posessions

* hoarders suffered a loss or a traumatic event

*there is a genetic component to hoarding
I wavered between fascination and disgust, and also between finding ways I am like a hoarder, and then ways where I certainly could tell that my idea of clutter was nowhere close to that of the cases presented. I could also recognize some behaviors in others that was documented in this book, yet I cannot say those people are true hoarders. It seems the difference is that hoarders are unable to lead a normal life because their things get in their way.

Stuff opens with a completely fascinating case. The Collyer brothers were wealthy hoarders, recluses who rarely left their home. When rumors circulated that one of the brothers had died, authorities eventually went in to the house. Or they tried to go in to the house. After attempting to enter through several doors and windows, they were finally able to gain access through an upstairs window. There they found newspapers stacked eight feet high, leaving just two feet of crawl space between them and the ceiling. Eventually crews were hired to clean up the mansion. The figures are staggering. Fourteen grand pianos, an automobile, and many more mountains of trash were thrown out.

Just recently has this behavior disorder come into the limelight. While I am sure some people view this as an entirely controllable type of behavior, Frost at one point likens it to a drug addiction, and research does show that there is a way that people who suffer from hoarding can be treated for their disorder.

After reading this book, I would like nothing more than to begin eliminating my own clutter.

While the cases shared in stuff are amazing, they are also frightening, and I have no desire to ever have a problem such as this.

To read more about the Collyer Brothers click here.

Father of the Rain

I've been on a roll of reading and enjoying some great women's fiction, and Father of the Rain by Lily King is another great example of a satisfying and entertaining women's fiction book.

Beginning during Nixon's presidency, this novel spans several decades, ending with Obama's election, and following the life of Daley and her relationship with her father. At the novel's beginning, Daley is eleven years old and her mother is leaving her father. Her mother asks Daley to go away with her for the summer, and despite Daley picking out a puppy with her father just days before, she does not tell her father of her mother's plan for them. The two leave, and when they return, her mother has rented an apartment in town. Thus begins a very complicated relationship with her father. Perhaps Gardiner felt rejected by his daughter or betrayed. His feelings are never fully revealed, as the story centers around Daley. However her father may have felt, his outright rejection of his daughter upon her return is evident. Already by summer's end he has found a woman to replace her mother, whose daughter has already moved in to Daley's bedroom.

As an adult about to embark on a career as a professor at Berkeley, Daley is summoned home to help her father who has let his alcoholism take over his life when his second wife leaves him. Putting her own plans on hold Daley goes home for what she initially believes is a short stay, but ends up altering her own plans as her father's selfishness creates a guilt in Daley.

King does a superb job of realistically portraying the ties of a family. While Daley's father was not a very likeable character, I could understand Daley's tie to him and her need to attempt to help him, even at the risk of losing something she had worked hard for. She was still seeking her father's approval years after she was initially rejected by him and would do anything for him in order to gain that approval.

Daley's boyfriend, Jonathan, is so likeable and such a balancing force in her life, that I was rooting for them to find happiness with each other, despite setbacks.

The third section of Father of the Rain jumps forward fifteen years, allowing us to see how Daley's life moves on and what has happened to the relationship she had with her father. King is able to resolve the lifelong struggle Daley and her father's relationship brought them.

Readers won't be disappointed with this story. I stayed up late into the night reading just to find out how things were resolved.

New To Me

While Jana over at Milk and Cookies is busy with her self-imposed ban on adding to her TBR pile (a mighty wise idea, I might add), I visited one of my favorite Barnes and Noble stores this week while visiting my sister. So many books that I wanted! I found a few birthday gifts for my oldest daughter, but I walked away with a few new things, too:

Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson

Starting From Scratch by Susan Gilbert-Collins

The Sisters From Hardscrabble Bay by Beverly Jensen

Mentor: A Memoir by Tom Grimes

Now my TBR stack is so tall, it actually toppled over as I was trying to pluck these from the top. I may have to join Jana on her ban because my stacks are out of control!

Book Blog Hop

Jen at Crazy for Books hosts the weekly Book Blogger Hop, a great place to find lots of new and wonderful book blogs.

This week's question: Do you listen to music when you read? If so, what are your favorite reading tunes?

I don't listen to music when I read. There seems to often be a lot of background noise going on in my house when I am trying to read- the hazard of having young children. However, I would never turn on music while I was trying to read, and relish the quiet time I can find to just read without distractions.

I'm off to do some back to school shopping, and then will be hopping around to some other blogs. Happy Friday!

Backseat Saints

I loved Gods in Alabama, Joshilyn Jackson's first novel that was published in 2004, featuring Arlene Fleet, a girl who left her Southern roots for the Windy City, bargaining with God to keep her secrets safe. Now, in 2010, Jackson has returned telling the story of a minor character from Gods, Rose Mae Lolly. Rose Mae's abusive husband seems to be an extension of her childhood and the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. Rose Mae's mother left her family when Rose was only eight, and Rose has had her eyes out for her mother ever since, along with her ex-boyfriend, Jim Beverly (a character in Gods in Alabama). Thom, Rose Mae's husband has a great deal of anger in him, and isn't afraid to use Rose Mae as his punching bag. When Rose Mae has her fortune read by a woman she believes to be her mother, she knows she must choose to save her own life, or lose it by staying with her husband.

Today I finally had a chance to sit and read for a long while without being interrupted. I fell in love with Jackson's writing all over again, laughing out loud at the way she is able to use similes and metaphors in her writing.

Just a couple of examples:
"I'd thought Clarice's smile was both too dim and friendly and too wide and white, so that she looked to me like the love child of a cannibal and a Labrador retriever (157)."

"She'd smiled at me, and the skin around her eyes had looked like ancient paper, so folded and creased that it might have been used to make a hundred different origami cranes (24)."

I loved Rose Mae Lolly and all of Jackson's characters. I also loved that Rose Mae was introduced in Gods in Alabama, and Backseat Saints is an extension of that book. I now want to go back and re-read Gods just to be able to recall that story, instead of having five years time in-between the two.

Even the cover of Backseat Saints is beautiful. Women's fiction fans, book clubs....Backseat Saints is a great book for many readers.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick:

Swim Back to Me: Stories

By Ann Packer
April 12, 2011

This book isn't coming out for such a long time, there isn't much information out there yet. And while I don't normally love stories, I do love Ann Packer and am excited to read anything she has written.

Surviving the Angel of Death

With each Holocaust book I read, I am always amazed by the many, many perspectives shared from various groups of people and backgrounds who experienced this tragic time period. Surving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccieri is another memoir of the Holocaust experience, narrated by a survivor of Josef Mendele's experiments. Eva and her twin sister Miriam, along with two older sisters and her parents were living in Transylvania during the beginning of Hitler's rule. Given an opportunity to leave the country and find safety, Eva's mother opted to stay put, ending her family's chances to find flee before it was too late. As happened to so many other Jewish families, Eva and her family were transported to Auschwitz where they were seperated from each other. Because Eva and Miriam were twins, they were selected to be a part of Mendele's research projects as he studied the effects of some of his experiments on twin subjects. While I have read other accounts of life in Auschwitz, hearing Eva's story was still interesting and amazing. Despite her youth, she and her sister were able to survive after having been separated from their parents. Eva was the leader of the two girls, and had a strong will to survive. She recalls making a conscious decision to work hard for her survival and planned to leave the concentration camp alive with Miriam. However, despite Eva's own determination, luck also played a part in her survival. Mendele conducted experiments on twins, injecting one twin with a deadly virus, while leaving the other twin alone. Then he was able to study the effects of the disease on both twins - the one who died of sickness, and the healthy one who was killed to provide further research of an identical body. While Eva was once injected with a virus which was intended to kill her, she miraculously recovered, and she and Miriam continued to live at Auschwitz until the war ended.

Eva recounts what happened to them after the war, their search for their family and the homes they made in various countries. Eva continues to speak and write about her experiences and started an organization for the many children who survived life as one of Mengele's test subjects.

This memoir was uplifting, yet horrifying. That any child should have to endure the suffering that Eva and Miriam experienced continues to sadden me, no matter how many Holocaust memoirs I read.

Kor's determination to survive and her ability to move forward after losing nearly her entire family is inspiring as is her desire to use her experiences to benefit others.

Sunday Salon

Time is flying by! It's August already! ARGH! That means in just two short weeks I will go back to work. From now until then I have packed in a lot of different activities we have been meaning to do all summer that have just waited til the end.

I can also see my leisure reading time slowly dwindling right before my eyes. I still read a lot during the school year, but I have so enjoyed staying up late and reading and sleeping in a bit later, reading first thing when I get up. This week we are off to see my sister for a day. My mom always goes with us and we usually manage a trip to the zoo, Barnes and Noble and the mall. This year my oldest daughter also wants to see the state capitol, which shouldn't be too hard to do. Unfortunately, I am the driver on this trip, so there won't be any reading going on.

The only good thing I can find about it being August already is that the new IndieBound picks for the month are up, and there are several that look really good. While July was not a stellar reading month, I did get through lots on my never-ending TBR pile. Check out my reading list for the year.

Tonight we are having company for supper - a family that has three boys close to the same age as my girls, and a mom who likes to read as much as I do. I love getting together with them so we can talk books (and lots of other stuff, too).