I was excited when my friend Jessi gave me this book. I got hooked on the online version of the famous Pioneer Woman's love story but I never got around to finishing it. I love the Pioneer Woman - her cookbook is phenomenal and her blog is one of the best out there.
The book did not disappoint. I stayed up late to read it several nights. The book is light, easy reading. It is full of witty remarks and hilarious stories. I found myself wiping tears away a few times from laughing so hard.
If you want a fluffy love story that is actually true and contains hilarity along with some serious moments, put this one in your stack. You won't be sorry!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Book Club Review: The Map of Love
I was so excited to read this book...but I think I'll have to give it a mixed review.
I enjoyed the imagery in this book and the overall storyline...two love stories that entwined with a shared history. In light of all that is happening in the Middle East currently, I found it fascinating to read of Egypt's history. And I always enjoy reading books about other cultures and those set in times and places that I haven't read much about. I also really liked the parts showing the roots and connections of the Arabic words - something I know nothing about but find interesting. I also liked how the book was divided into sections: A Beginning, An End of a Beginning, A Beginning of an End, An End - very clever.
However, I got really bogged down in the middle of this book. I considered not finishing it, but I have such a hard time doing that and I am glad I stuck it out. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if there had been a bit less political and historical information and more development of the characters. The back of the book makes it sound like it is about the characters' love stories while it seemed to be more about the political situations. And I suppose given the nature of the tale, the characters' stories were incomplete without a description of the times they lived in. The other thing that frustrated me - I didn't discover until I finished it that there was a glossary of terms in the back that would have really helped me.
Overall, it was an interesting book, but not one I'll ever feel the need to read again.
I enjoyed the imagery in this book and the overall storyline...two love stories that entwined with a shared history. In light of all that is happening in the Middle East currently, I found it fascinating to read of Egypt's history. And I always enjoy reading books about other cultures and those set in times and places that I haven't read much about. I also really liked the parts showing the roots and connections of the Arabic words - something I know nothing about but find interesting. I also liked how the book was divided into sections: A Beginning, An End of a Beginning, A Beginning of an End, An End - very clever.
However, I got really bogged down in the middle of this book. I considered not finishing it, but I have such a hard time doing that and I am glad I stuck it out. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if there had been a bit less political and historical information and more development of the characters. The back of the book makes it sound like it is about the characters' love stories while it seemed to be more about the political situations. And I suppose given the nature of the tale, the characters' stories were incomplete without a description of the times they lived in. The other thing that frustrated me - I didn't discover until I finished it that there was a glossary of terms in the back that would have really helped me.
Overall, it was an interesting book, but not one I'll ever feel the need to read again.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Falls
I love me some Joyce Carol Oates. It amazes me how she churns out the books and all that I have read, I have liked.
Her books are mostly dark. But, she deeply psychologically mines her characters. I think that is what I love the most. If you are at all interested in character development and character driven writing, Oates is your gal.
Ariah is honeymooning in Niagara Falls when her husband throws himself over the railing, leaving her the "Widow Bride of the Falls". Ariah determines that she is damned. Enter Dirk Burnaby. He is a well liked and rich man from Niagara Falls and falls inexplicably in love with Ariah. They marry and have a few years of happiness and three children. Dirk then becomes involved in "Love Canal", a lawsuit against toxic dumpers in the area. The waste is making people sick and Dirk becomes consumed with the case. The Burnaby children and their eccentric mother, Ariah, are left to deal with the aftermath of the case.
If you like Oates, I'd recommend this book. If you are new to her, start with We Were the Mulvaneys.
Her books are mostly dark. But, she deeply psychologically mines her characters. I think that is what I love the most. If you are at all interested in character development and character driven writing, Oates is your gal.
Ariah is honeymooning in Niagara Falls when her husband throws himself over the railing, leaving her the "Widow Bride of the Falls". Ariah determines that she is damned. Enter Dirk Burnaby. He is a well liked and rich man from Niagara Falls and falls inexplicably in love with Ariah. They marry and have a few years of happiness and three children. Dirk then becomes involved in "Love Canal", a lawsuit against toxic dumpers in the area. The waste is making people sick and Dirk becomes consumed with the case. The Burnaby children and their eccentric mother, Ariah, are left to deal with the aftermath of the case.
If you like Oates, I'd recommend this book. If you are new to her, start with We Were the Mulvaneys.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Little Golden Books
We've received two of these Golden Book Collections as gifts. They are probably geared towards kids more in the preschool age range, but there are a few stories that Caleb likes. Each collection has nine classic Golden Book stories, all bound into one big book.
And guess who showed up a few times in each book? Margaret Wise Brown. I think we have most of her books now. The Wonderful House and Home for a Bunny are probably my favorites in these books. I've starred all the books by MWB.
Animal Tales includes: The Saggy Baggy Elephant, The Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse, How the Leopard Got Its Spots, Mister Dog*, Animal Friends, The Big Brown Bear, Home for a Bunny*, How the Camel Got Its Hump, Tawny Scrawny Lion.
Sleepytime Tales includes: The Poky Little Puppy, Baby Dear, The Color Kittens*, Good Night Little Bear, The Wonderful House*, The Sleepy Book*, The Three Bears, The Boy and the Tigers, How the Turtle Got Its Shell.
See any that you loved growing up?
And guess who showed up a few times in each book? Margaret Wise Brown. I think we have most of her books now. The Wonderful House and Home for a Bunny are probably my favorites in these books. I've starred all the books by MWB.
Animal Tales includes: The Saggy Baggy Elephant, The Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse, How the Leopard Got Its Spots, Mister Dog*, Animal Friends, The Big Brown Bear, Home for a Bunny*, How the Camel Got Its Hump, Tawny Scrawny Lion.
Sleepytime Tales includes: The Poky Little Puppy, Baby Dear, The Color Kittens*, Good Night Little Bear, The Wonderful House*, The Sleepy Book*, The Three Bears, The Boy and the Tigers, How the Turtle Got Its Shell.
See any that you loved growing up?
Friday, April 8, 2011
Little Blue Truck
We love Little Blue Truck. Our wonderful library has many of the picture/kids fiction books in bins by author last name so you can just flip through them without taking them off a shelf.
I usually do judge a book by the cover...if it has an appealing cover, I'll grab it and scan it to see how much text there is. If it looks like something that will hold Caleb's attention, I get it. I often pick books about things he is interested in - animals and vehicles primarily.
Little Blue Truck has plenty of both and it's a feel good story with a little moral. It rhymes and has a rhythm. Little Blue Truck Leads the Way takes the hero of the first book in to the city.
"Little Blue Truck rolled into the city. Beep! Beep! Beep! Isn't it pretty?" How can you not like a book that starts out like that? If my kids needed any more books for their personal library (ha!) then I would definitely purchase these!
I usually do judge a book by the cover...if it has an appealing cover, I'll grab it and scan it to see how much text there is. If it looks like something that will hold Caleb's attention, I get it. I often pick books about things he is interested in - animals and vehicles primarily.
Little Blue Truck has plenty of both and it's a feel good story with a little moral. It rhymes and has a rhythm. Little Blue Truck Leads the Way takes the hero of the first book in to the city.
"Little Blue Truck rolled into the city. Beep! Beep! Beep! Isn't it pretty?" How can you not like a book that starts out like that? If my kids needed any more books for their personal library (ha!) then I would definitely purchase these!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Freddy and Fredericka
This book has been the bane of my existence for the last couple of weeks. Probably not the best way to start a book review...let me explain.
My feelings about this book were all over the place. It was so difficult to get into. The first chapter was tedious and wordy. I flew through the second chapter actually laughing out loud. And so the book went, from tedious to delicious and back. There were many times that I was going to put it back on the shelf. The last time I thought that I was on page 426, so I thought I had a bit invested in it. I should see how it turns out.
Freddy and Fredericka are the prince and princess of Wales (fun to read and think about with the upcoming royal wedding). They are constantly getting into trouble and embarrassing for the crown. Freddy comes off as a bumbling fool and Fredericka wears plunging necklines. The part of the book describing Freddy's antics made me laugh so hard.
The Queen decides to teach them a lesson and literally drops them from the sky, naked, into America. Thus begins Freddy and Fredericka's real education. It was fun to read about them taking real jobs and living on and with nothing. And then discovering their love for one another and their resulting acceptance of what their royal life needs to be like.
And all through the book it was love/hate. I'd love one part and be so carried away that my heart would break when I got to the next tedious part. It is an amazing read if you love language and play on words and grammatical play. It was a fun read if you like imagining what a royal life is like.
Give it a shot and let me know what you think. I think this book would make an amazing movie...
My feelings about this book were all over the place. It was so difficult to get into. The first chapter was tedious and wordy. I flew through the second chapter actually laughing out loud. And so the book went, from tedious to delicious and back. There were many times that I was going to put it back on the shelf. The last time I thought that I was on page 426, so I thought I had a bit invested in it. I should see how it turns out.
Freddy and Fredericka are the prince and princess of Wales (fun to read and think about with the upcoming royal wedding). They are constantly getting into trouble and embarrassing for the crown. Freddy comes off as a bumbling fool and Fredericka wears plunging necklines. The part of the book describing Freddy's antics made me laugh so hard.
The Queen decides to teach them a lesson and literally drops them from the sky, naked, into America. Thus begins Freddy and Fredericka's real education. It was fun to read about them taking real jobs and living on and with nothing. And then discovering their love for one another and their resulting acceptance of what their royal life needs to be like.
And all through the book it was love/hate. I'd love one part and be so carried away that my heart would break when I got to the next tedious part. It is an amazing read if you love language and play on words and grammatical play. It was a fun read if you like imagining what a royal life is like.
Give it a shot and let me know what you think. I think this book would make an amazing movie...
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Known World
Our library is great. It is well-stocked, new, cool to be in, and has its own children's room with toys and activities and a pet fish named Blueberry. There are many programs if you want to be involved from reading with your dog to books & babies to traditional storytime. There is even a great coffee shop where we often stop to get a treat. They have lots of healthy kid-friendly snacks too. And Big Train chai. And, you can take your drink into the library.
On one of my stops into the coffee shop, I inquired about the books on the shelves around the shop. I found out they were used books that had been donated and were for sale; all profit from their sale goes to the library. I pulled this one off the shelf, excited to read it because of its content and the fact that it won a Pulitzer.
This book was so hard to get into. I bet I started to read it a half dozen times before I really got into it. Mostly because I had a few brain candy books I was reading and whenever I picked this one up it took so long to remember the context, I could only read a few pages before drifting off. But once I finally got into it, I enjoyed it.
The book's timeline is fluid as are the characters. The central event is the death of Henry Townsend, a black slave owner (I learned there were African Americans who owned other African Americans). The story shuttles back and forth among the slaves on his plantation, his early days as a slave himself, the story of his parents, his owners, the local sheriff, and numerous other characters. That was part of what it made it difficult to get into. I think if I read it again, I will see how beautifully woven the story truly is. It is a remarkable story of human character and the things that we both need to see and shudder at. If you've got some time to sit down and read it, do it...but this is anything but brain candy...consider yourself warned.
On one of my stops into the coffee shop, I inquired about the books on the shelves around the shop. I found out they were used books that had been donated and were for sale; all profit from their sale goes to the library. I pulled this one off the shelf, excited to read it because of its content and the fact that it won a Pulitzer.
This book was so hard to get into. I bet I started to read it a half dozen times before I really got into it. Mostly because I had a few brain candy books I was reading and whenever I picked this one up it took so long to remember the context, I could only read a few pages before drifting off. But once I finally got into it, I enjoyed it.
The book's timeline is fluid as are the characters. The central event is the death of Henry Townsend, a black slave owner (I learned there were African Americans who owned other African Americans). The story shuttles back and forth among the slaves on his plantation, his early days as a slave himself, the story of his parents, his owners, the local sheriff, and numerous other characters. That was part of what it made it difficult to get into. I think if I read it again, I will see how beautifully woven the story truly is. It is a remarkable story of human character and the things that we both need to see and shudder at. If you've got some time to sit down and read it, do it...but this is anything but brain candy...consider yourself warned.
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