The Hunger Games

So, who has read this book?

I absolutely didn't know what it was about at all, and had I known, I may have passed up reading it.  

But, you know what?  I read it and couldn't put it down...read it beginning to end.


Here is a brief synopsis:

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

Not usually my cup of tea...and they say the book is geared towards young adults, too.  Oh, well, I'm not so young, but hey...!  Now, I will have to read the other 2 books in the trilogy.   I was surprised that I liked it.   Did you read it?  Did you like it?

Heaven is For Real

I finished reading Heaven is For Real the other day.   It was a quick read, and I highly recommend it.   This is a brief description!

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Plus, he's from Imperial, Nebraska, bringing it closer to my heart.  

Enjoy!

Book Review...

I just finished reading a book by one of my favorite authors...Jodi Piccoult. I am reading House Rules.

She once again did not disappoint me!

Book Review

I just finished reading the book "The Lovely Bones" yesterday. My mom and I share books, and she recently gave me three more bags to go through. This is the second one I read out of the most recent sharing. I had read "Fatal Mercy" before this. It was a good read, as well.

"The Lovely Bones" is a movie that was released in 2009, so I am glad that I have read the book before I watch it! It is a good book, with an interesting view on how a young girl who was raped and murdered watches over her family and friends from heaven. It is unique and makes you really think about things. I liked it and recommend reading it!!!

Other than that, it sure is a nice weekend, and the dogs and I enjoyed an after supper walk. Sammy was not too happy about being on the coupler leash with Sissy, but he survived! I have got most of my chores done, and went to the Y yesterday too! So all in all, so far, so good!

New Book

I started reading the book The Secret .

Have any of you read it?

I am not sure if I am grasping what I am to get out of it yet. Any suggestions?

A Good Read

Last night I finished the book, The Shack. Have any of you read it? It was different from most books I read, but I highly recommend it. It gives a very unique perception of our relationships with God. If you have read it, please comment below and tell me your thoughts. It was very much a thought provoking book, don't you think?

Have a good day!

Mama's Book Club

Lauren over at Mental Pause Chronicles is hosting a book club. The first book is Twilight. My 19 year old daughter started reading this and was totally enthralled with it. This was strange in that she HATES to read. But, I figured what the heck, and just listened to her go on and on about it. Later, her friends were reading it and telling me how great it was. So, curiosity got the best of me, and I started reading it. I couldn't put it down. I read all four books as quickly as I could. They just capture you. I believe Twilight is my favorite of the four books. I haven't seen the movie, but I will. I know it won't capture me like the book did, but I have to go see it.

Put your doubts aside, and give it a try! You will be surprised, as I was, that you enjoy it!

Oh, and by the way, to Lauren (Mama)...I too remember watching Barnabas Collins on Dark Shadows. I know it dates me as well, but hey, those younger just will never know what they missed!!!

I got my birthday gift from Tina last week, and loved it:

I read the whole book the night I got it! It was so good. I read the blog every day, and if you haven't, you should really check it out: The Daily Coyote. I really enjoy getting the updates and daily photos of Charlie (the coyote).

I was really glad to get the book, as, being from Wyoming, I had tried to figure out where she was living and describing, etc. I really enjoyed it!

Here is a review of the book:
From Publishers Weekly
This moving account of writer/photographer Stockton's first year with her pet coyote, Charlie, expands on her popular blog, the Daily Coyote, but newcomers and the authors many fans will find that this memoir offers a complete—if not yet completed—story about love and life in a small Wyoming town. On a cross-country move from San Francisco to New York City in 2005, Stockton fell in love with the beauty of Wyomings Bighorn Mountains and decided to settle there. She found new roots and a new boyfriend, a government trapper whose job was to protect livestock by killing coyotes. When he finds an orphaned coyote pup, barely 10 days old, he gives it to Stockton, beginning an adventure that moves human and animal from a blissful open affection (the authors photos of baby Charlie are as adorable as they are beautifully composed) through a period of reconsideration after Charlie bites her to a breakthrough realization that Charlie needed a much more structured alpha attitude from his owner. Stockton's journey of sharing her life with a wild animal and providing training while respecting Charlies unique nature makes for a fascinating and rewarding read.

Book Review

I finished reading Mercy by Jodi Piccoult. It was not my favorite book .. of all of hers I have read, this has been my least favorite. I still think her books are really good, and will continue to read them. A couple remain all time favorites.
Synopsis

What would you do for someone you love? Would you lie? Would you leave? Would you kill? These are just some of the questions confronting the characters in Mercy, which follows the path of two cousins driven to extremes by the power of love.

Cameron MacDonald has spent his life guided by duty. As the police chief of a small Massachusetts town that has been home to generations of his Scottish clan, he is bound to the town's residents by blood and honor. Yet when his cousin Jamie arrives at the police station with the body of his wife and the bald confession that he's killed her, Cam immediately places him under arrest.

The situation isn't as clear to Cam's wife, Allie. While she is devoted to her husband, she finds herself siding against Cam, seduced by the picture James paints of a man so in love with a woman that he'd grant all her wishes… even the one that meant taking her life.

Into this charged atmosphere drifts Mia, a new assistant at Allie's floral shop, for whom Cam feels an instant and inexplicable attraction. While he aids the prosecution in preparing the case against Jamie, who killed his terminally ill wife out of mercy, Cam finds himself betraying his own wife.

Woven tight with passion and a fast-paced plot, Mercy explores some of today's most highly charged emotional and ethical issues as it draws toward its stunning conclusion. When you love someone, where do you cross the line of moral obligation? And how can you commonly define love and devotion to begin with? Long after you have turned the last page, you'll still be thinking about this rich novel, as well as questioning your own beliefs about love and loyalty.

Another Book Review

Talking of reading, my 19 year old talked me into reading the Twilight Series. I never thought in a million years I would like reading novels about vampires, but this series was gripping. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed reading about Edward and Bella. If you think it would be not your cup of tea, give it a try anyhow! There are four in the series:

• Twilight
• New Moon
• Eclipse
• Breaking Dawn
  

and, coming soon:

• Midnight Sun

The first book is going to be a movie soon, and my 19 year old is already in love with Edward. It will be released on November 21. She's already planned to go. I may have to go with her, since I became so enthralled with the series as well.

Book Review

The other night, I read Nights in Rodenthe by Nicholas Sparks. It was really good. I read it all in one night. I usually do like any books by Nicholas Sparks, and this was no different. I am now reading yet another Jodi Piccoult book, Mercy. It's starting out a little slow for me, but I do usually really love her books, so I'll keep at it. I know I'll get into it once I just relax and read.

So far, my favorite Piccoult book remains My Sister's Keeper. I have read

• Nineteen Minutes
• Change of Heart
• Harvesting the Heart
• Tenth Circle (also saw the movie on Lifetime)

Have you read any?

A Good Book...

I read this book Sunday night after my pie making.

My mom loaned me this book. It was awesome, and I recommend that you all read it! THANKS MOM!!!

This review is pretty much right on:


"If you had the chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it? And if you did, would you be big enough to stand it? Mitch Albom, in this new book, once again demonstrates why he is one of my favorite writers: a fearless explorer of the wishful and magical, he is also a devout believer in the power of love. For One More Day will make you smile. It will make you wistful. It will make you blink back tears of nostalgia. But most of all, it will make you believe in the eternal power of a mother's love."
--James McBride, author of The Color of Water