You Know When the Men Are Gone

I picked this book off the shelf while spending a rare hour in Barnes and Noble by myself. 

I quickly settled in and hated to leave it behind when my time was up.  I had read so intently that I hadn't even noticed the man sitting across from me had left while I had been sipping my toffeenut latte and reading, something that rarely happens when I read in a place with distractions.  I found it at the library and finished it in one sitting.

A collection of short fictional stories that share a common theme and events, this book is a fascinating look at life on a military base during a time of war.  Each story is really about the women left behind to continue their lives yet is pivotally dependent on the men that leave them.

This book is poignant and painful, more about brokenness than reunion.  While uniquely military, the stories contain the same elements of love, pain, betrayal, and hope that mark all human relationships.  Definitely a good read.

The Thirteenth Tale

Don't pick this book up unless you want to give up extrarraneous activities and sit and read for hours.  It will draw you in and keep you turning pages until you get to the end and feel disappointed that it is over.

A bit of a ghost story (which I don't normally like) and a mystery quite unlike those typically in that genre, it tells the story of a strange place called Angelfield, a set of twins, a biographer dealing with her own grief and a story that once it is told, changes everything you believe at the beginning of the book.

Pick it up and read it but don't expect to get much done until you turn the 408th page.

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

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!

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.

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.

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?

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!