tis the season...

i hope this finds you happy and still revelling in the joy of your Christmas, Chanukah or even just a few days off!

my friend, Dr. Curtis Smith has won the prize for the interim title--notice it's gone back to working title... which is still the also the name of the film company who brought us Four Weddings and a Funeral and more recently Burn After Reading, and you know how much we love that good stuff! Dr. Smith didn't get the promised free book, but he did get a much coveted TIKI! TIKI! TIKI! t-shirt from the IFPL reading program... it will complete his collection. it's so interesting how a person without a library card can have a t-shirt from every program?

well, anyway, as you can see from the previous post, The Shack is quite a book. it's taking me a long time to read, because i feel the need to reread full chapters, make little notes, journal the parts that pierce my soul, and sometimes, i just have to set it aside. i'm not ready to discuss this one just yet...

however, at the last swim meet i read Lorna Landvik's new book, 'Tis the Season... this is one of those books that you can read at a swim meet because the story is told through emails and letters, so it's easy to follow even when you have to put the book down occasionally.

we have a celebutante who needs to battle her alcoholism and the demons of paparazzi to become her own person--not the one who everyone sees on the cover of the Star magazine while waiting in line at the market. or maybe i'm the only person in the world who finds the longest line at the wal-mart (sorry, guys, it's the only game in town) so i can read the magazines while i wait.

anyway, while i think that this book was a push for the holiday book market sales by Landvik's publisher and nowhere near her best work, it made me think about when i was in Washington DC two summers ago, watching Paris Hilton's release from prison. as i sat on my king-sized bed alone, i said to my self, "Self, why are you watching this? do you even care about this?" and yet i was drawn to the drama... as if my life doesn't have enough drama?

so then i waiver between pity and disgust. perhaps, i do feel like these girls are treated unfairly by the media--i mean, should my life be constantly photographed and criticized, i'd be a whackjob too! but then again, i usually wear underwear when wearing skirts, i try very hard not so sound stupid when i speak with people, and... well... this whole supposition is so ridiculous.

if you want to read something by Lorna Landvik, try Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons... and if you've read that, here is a list of her other stuff--it's all good!

oh, speaking of Christmas reading, i also started Christmas Letters by Debbie Macomber... anyone have any thoughts this one? i have never read anything by Macomber, but i know the gals at the library are crazy about her.

one more thing... can i tell you how irritating B&N is to me? since we are reading the Outlander for my book club, i went to the bookseller to buy the book and they don't have any of the books in the series! they have the newest books by Diana Gabaldon, the Lord John series... and according to fantasticfiction, there will be a new book in the Outlander series in 2009. maybe because i did my time in the slavery of the retail book hell, i'm hypersensitive to the fact that they rarely have the things i'm looking for! ugh!

enough ranting, it's the holiday season... so happy reading until next time!

three in one...

what would you do if you received a cryptic note from God asking you to meet him in the shack where your youngest child was brutally murdered?  

and what if you went to the said shack, and met a large african-american woman, a small asian woman, and a middle eastern man dressed as a carpenter... 

and when you asked them, "which one of you is God?"  all three of them said in unison, "i am."

this is where i am in this book by william paul young.  he's not the narrator, but a outside friend to mack who has just met God.  the description of his first meeting of the three was one of those things that bring tears to the eyes and goosebumps all over. 

of course, i'm sure there are sticklers out there questioning the doctrine of the whole personified trinity, but i can't imagine anything would be better than being enveloped in a warm and welcoming hug from a big woman who will hold me when i hurt, knows all of my sins and still loves me without judgement... unconditionally.

to me that is God.

how much hot water does it take to finish a book?

i simply had to finish this book.

i sent my kids away(thank you, jacquie and curtis), and i went into the tub until i was pruny; and luckily, i didn't run out of hot water while finishing Testimony.

i know i said that it was bugging me, but "bugging" isn't the right word. it was like a foreboding feeling that was lingering constantly in the back of my mind. in this book we are looking at 5 families that are forever altered, if not completely destroyed. a reader has to step back and ask:

how would i respond?

is there something that a parent could do to let a child know that there is nothing they could do that would make the parent not love them? how do you ease the guilt off their shoulders when they realize that one decision has forever changed their own future, as well as that of the parent?

on the other hand, is there something a child might do that a parent couldn't forgive? and altho that seems like conditional love--is it possible to be so disgusted with your kids that your love is shadowed in that disgust? God, i hope not.

then, how can you let these "young immortals" know that every choice has a consequence--whether it be good or bad? and no matter the consequence, the path veers one way or another. as adults, it's easy to see the path you've taken to get you to today; teenagers don't necessarily see that... it's almost like they are looking at the horizon of their future, without remembering the course that brought them to the cusp of tomorrow. i've been on that precipice, and maybe that's why i'm always walking around with a safety net for my boys.

at powells.com, there is a video of anita shreve talking about the book. it's always interesting to see what the authors have to say about their work...

i'm wondering if i should again request a little help on this title... at this point i kind of like working title--but i'm still open to suggestions, and i really will send you a book. really!

also i'm sitting at the library typing away--what a great job i have--thinking about doing a rating system... but i think not. i'm not really a reviewer, and i think that books strike people in different ways on different days. i would hate to dissuade a book from being read just because i didn't like it. i mean, really, that would wipe out most of the world's great fantasy and sci-fi novels. the last thing i want is a bunch of readers freaking out on me because i gave a bad rating for newest Mercedes Lackey book... which i wouldn't even read in the first place... all of this rambling over a moot point. so, no ratings.

i did like Testimony tho... it's new and by Anita Shreve... maybe your local library has a copy...

i hated that title...

if anyone has a brilliant title for my self-indulgent blog, leave me a comment. if i like your suggestion, i'll rename the blog and i'll send you a book as a boobie prize.

okay, so i'm about half way thru Testimony, and i have to be honest... it's kind of making me feel creepy. Anita Shreve is weaving this story around these basketball players at a private school who are caught on tape with a fourteen year old girl.

two things are bugging me:

1. shreve is bringing everyone involved in the situation into the story--including the boys' moms. i can't imagine how they feel knowing their sons are involved with this kind of a thing. as a mom of little boys, i will always see them as naked babies running around fresh out of the tub... the last thing i ever want to see is them on a sex tape. i don't even want to face that reality. i'll live in that delusional world that my grandbabies were immaculate conceptions, like i was.
2. shreve is writing this from all points of view, and i'm not sure who is to blame. on the onset, you know the girl is no angel, and is said to have had "prior practice" by the show of skill on the tape. but as i get to know the boys and the girl, and their families; my judgement is becoming blurred. thus, making this another book, i can't put down!

so while dave is away, in wyoming this time, i spend my nights wrapped up with the electric blanket and my books--unfortunately, not my text books!

holy cow...

cow?

okay, so it's not my normal expletive, but i think my mom and grandma might read this blog. and even tho they know i unfortunately use said expletive, they don't need to read it, right? plus, it appears i've passed the f-torch to son-number-two.

so anyway, i was reading the other blog today, and i saw that the author of the book i was reading left me a comment!

how cool is that?

i just had to blow the whole 'books on the family blog' thing, and concentrate on yet another blog about books...blog. so here it is! and i'm adding this disclaimer: i'm a professional reader, not a professional book critic. i love talking about books, and sharing titles... feel free to share with me--just be nice.


let's talk about the fact that Cornelia Read, author of The Crazy School stopped by and thanked me for reading her book! read my bio, and you'll see i hardly have the time to read a novel in 3 days... but i couldn't stop myself on this book. not only did i love the mystery looming the in the background that BOOM came to the forefront unexpectedly; i loved the characters who reminded me of people i hung out with in high school! but i went to finish high school--contrary to the book--at a private school to away from my troubled friends. i thought we were all perfectly normal and just bored with arvada suburbia...


anyway, this is what powells.com says about the book:

Madeline Dare has finally escaped rust-belt Syracuse, New York, for the lush Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. After her husband's job offer falls through, Maddie signs on as a teacher at the Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for disturbed teenagers. Behind the academy's ornate gates, she discovers a disturbing realm where students and teachers alike must submit to the founder's bizarre therapeutic regimen. From day one, Maddie feels uneasy about smooth-talking Dr. Santangelo but when she questions his methods, she's appalled to find that her fellow teachers would rather turn on each other than stand up for themselves, much less protect the students in their care. A chilling event confirms Maddie's worst suspicions, then hints at an even darker secret history, one that twines through the academy's very heart. Cut off from the outside world, Maddie must join forces with a small band of the school's most violently rebellious students — kids whose troubled grip on reality may well prove to be her only chance of salvation.

and library journal said: "Read's novel is fast-paced; once the action starts, don't even think about putting it down. The motives behind the murders are complex, and the ultimate heroes and bad guys are a total surprise. Strongly recommended."

give this book a shot-- you'll be sucked in!