A Man Named Dave By Dave Pelzer

Good Afternoon,

Last night I spent a bunch of time planning some blog posts and in my book of all things blog I came across a note that I had made to talk about this book and somehow I forgot, big surprise. I haven't reviewed many books here lately although I do read a lot, for awhile I was reviewing so many that I thought everyone must be getting tired of it so I stopped.

I am 12 books away from my goal of reading 50 books this year and I feel really good about it, taking part in Good Reads book challenge is something I definitely plan on doing next year as well.

Anyways into the book! A Man Named Dave, by Dave Pelzer. This is actually the last book in a series of books about a terrible mother and the sons that endured her horrific abuse for years of their lives. The series begins with A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer, The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer as well as A Brothers Journey by Richard Pelzer. This is the final book in the series by Dave Pelzer and although the other books were hard to read, and extremely well written this one really stuck with me.

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I have to say first and foremost that this man truly is amazing, to endure the things that he endured and then have the courage to put it all out there in hopes of helping someone else. I believe the first books were cathartic for him, telling his horrific story and clearing his conscience in a way.. he really struggled with why his mother treated him the way she did and what he could have done to prevent it. This book however was coming to terms with the reality that was his childhood, how it affected him as an adult in his everyday life and relationships and how he had to forgive to move on. 

I cant even begin to imagine how he came to terms with forgiving the women who almost killed him, his very own mother. I really think he got to a point where he truly believed he exhausted all options in getting answers from his mother, he learned more about her and her upbringing and not that it excused her behavior but I think it allowed him to understand that although a large part of this was mental illness a big part was also a bad pattern of learned behavior. 

Its sad to think that back then things were so different, that child abuse wasn't as acknowledged and the hands of teachers and other adults who were well aware of the situations were tied. To know that a child is suffering at the hands of a parent and not be able to say anything, to make it go anywhere is a horrific thought. 

This book isn't about the abuse though, its about overcoming it and learning from it. Its about allowing yourself to be vulnerable and to get the answers you need no matter what the cost. Its about being embracing your self worth and knowing what it is. 

Dave Pelzer took the horrific experiences of his childhood, made himself a hardworking and admiral person but most of all he made himself an amazing father. He learned from his childhood and didn't continue the pattern and become it. He worked hard, he hit low lows and he absolutely deserved the highs. 

This book is truly inspirational and I am all the better for reading it. I would highly recommend that if you get a chance you read it too! 

I hope you are all having a great day! Thank you as always for stopping by! 

Last Order By Graham Swift : A Book Review

Good Morning,

I hope you all had a great weekend! I thought I would start off the week with another book review because I  will most likely have another one later in the week and I didn't want to have them back to back!

Sadly this is another book that I didn't love but none the less I thought I would write about it because there was a lot of mixed reviews... a lot of great reviews so I really do think its the style of writing that wasn't for me.

Since being here I also read Graham Swift's The Sweet Shop Owner and I didn't review it I believe because I was reading a bunch of books at the time and reviewing them all I didn't want to include one that I wasn't crazy about! I don't know where I got all these Graham Swift books from and although I think he is an amazing writer I must say its not my style and it makes it really hard for me to get into the books. Lets talk about Last Orders.

Last Orders By Graham Swift

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Reading the synopsis of this book it sounded like it would be right up my alley, something I would really love. 

This is the synopsis from www.goodreads.com:

Winner of the 1996 Booker Prize, and now a major new film starring Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren and Michael Caine. Four men once close to Jack Dodds, a London butcher, meet to carry out his peculiar last wish: to have his ashes scattered into the sea. For reasons best known to herself, Jack's widow, Amy, declines to join them. On the surface the tale of a simple if increasingly bizarre day's outing, Last Order is Graham Swift's most poignant exploration of the complexity and courage of ordinary lives.

Obviously this book is well written, it won the 1996 Booker Prize and that it no small feat! Like I said above it just is not my style of writing and I have a really hard time getting into it. You get to know the characters really well throughout the book and about their lives, how the past, present and future is all but one basically. The idea behind the book is fabulous I think but for me you kind of get lost in the rambling. 

When it says in the synopsis "exploration of the complexity and courage of ordinary lives" complexity is basically hitting the nail on the head. The writing is complex, as is the relationships and I think in trying to define that it becomes very convoluted.

Again this is just my opinion, I read a huge variety of books but at this point I think its Swift's style of writing is just not for me. I think I would still recommend this book because I really did think the story behind it is great and maybe some of you would really enjoy it! 

Have you read this book? Is it just me feeling a little baffled? Let me know what you think!  

The Ha-Ha by Dave King: A Book Review

Well hello there, long time no see!

I had intended to come back here on Tuesday and tell you all about our trip home and review a few books and get back in the saddle basically, but that didn't happen. I do plan to tell you all about our trip home and so on but its just happening a little later than I had expected.

Tuesday wasn't exactly the greatest day, being back here obviously SUCKS and we got some news about work that I am not overly thrilled about but I will tell you about that tomorrow probably. Right now I thought I would review a book I finished while at home and try and get caught up on those things!

I hope you guys all had a great weekend and I hope all of you Canadians had an amazing Canada Day yesterday!!

Lets get into the book shall we?

The Ha-Ha By Dave King

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I remember getting this book years ago and being really excited to read it.. but I guess I didn't because while reading it nothing sounded like I might have read it before. The idea of the book is really great but I wont lie.. I wasn't overly impressed with it. 

This is the synopsis as you can find it on www.goodreads.com:

Rendered unable to speak, read, or write after a Vietnam War injury thirty years earlier, Howard Kapostash feels trapped by his disability until his high school sweetheart, recently forced into rehab, asks him to care for her nine-year-old son.

I believe there is more on the actual backside of the book, I'm sorry I don't have the book with me though. Basically that's the run down though and it leaves you wanting to read about what this 9 year old boy would teach Howard and improve his quality of life, right?

That's basically what I expected to find reading the book and I cant say that was the case. I wasn't impressed the way they talked about how he inquired his injury and I don't want to ruin the book and give away everything but he was on patrol in Vietnam and was high on weed? Really?

Obviously Howard's life is hard, he is completely nonverbal and throughout the book I never understood why he decided not to help himself, not to try therapies, not to do everything he could to find a way to communicate somehow, especially when they constantly display his frustration.. then Ryan comes into the picture and I suspected that because he couldn't communicate with Ryan he would make the effort. Nope. 

Basically I felt there was no resolution to the book, nothing changed from start to finish really. I have to say other people obviously felt differently because when I went to rate the book when I was finished a lot of people gave it a much higher rating, so maybe I was missing something? I honestly wouldn't recommend the book. I didn't finish it really liking Howard at all. 

I still think its important to review books no matter what I think because maybe you would feel differently if you read it. My opinion is strictly my opinion and I'm obviously not going to like every book that I read, which sadly has actually been happening a lot lately. 

Have you read this book? If so what did you think?

I am almost finished all the books I brought here to read which is a good thing, but that also means I will have a few more book reviews coming in the next week or so! 

As I said I hope you guys had a great weekend, I plan to be back tomorrow to tell you all about our trip home! 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!! 

Hannah's Gift: Lessons from a Life Fully Lived By Maria Housden - A Book Review

Good Morning,

I started writing a book review for a book that I recently read and I got about half way through if not more and decided the let it be for awhile because I think the book itself could be a little controversial as well as my thoughts on the book so I decided to hold off for awhile. But no fear I have been flying through books and therefore I have a back up ready to go.

I will tell you right off the bat if you read this book you will sob hysterically, I speak from experience. None the less I actually think it is a book worth reading and I am about to tell you why.

Hannah's Gift: Lessons From a Life Fully Lived By Maria Housden

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Here is the synopsis from goodreads.com: 

Every once in a while a book comes along that can change your life–a book so special, it is destined not just to be read but to be cherished, to be passed from one reader to another as a precious gift. Filled with wisdom and grace, tears and laughter, Hannah’s Gift is one such book. Within these pages Maria Housden shares the transformative lessons in living she received from her three-year-old daughter Hannah, who brought courage, honesty, and joy to her struggle with cancer. 

During the last year of her short life, Hannah was fearless in the way she faced death–and irrepressibly joyful in the way she approached living. The little girl who wore her favorite red Mary Janes into the operating room changed the life of everyone who came in contact with her. Now, in a book that preserves Hannah’s indomitable spirit, Maria Housden offers the gift of her daughter’s last year to all of us. 

In a lyrically told narrative, both moving and unforgettable, Housden recounts Hannah’s battle with cancer in simple, straightforward language that transcends grief and fear to become a celebration. From Hannah’s story emerge five profound lessons–of truth, joy, faith, compassion, and wonder–that have the power to change our lives. 

During her illness Hannah showed how we can truly live in the moment and break free from lives suffocated by too many unlived joys. Even more memorable is the message Hannah delivered after her death to those she loved–a message of hope for anyone faced with the deepest questions of life and death.

Hannah’s Gift nourishes the soul with an ageless wisdom all the more invaluable for having come from someone so young. A remarkable story, remarkably told, it will bring comfort to anyone touched by loss, and renewed faith in the 

power of love.

Closing her eyes and extending her arms, Hannah began to dance. Oblivious to everything but the shoes on her feet, she skipped and clicked across the floor, twirling in circles, faster and faster. There was something about her pure joy and the defiant nobility of the red shoes that caught everyone’s attention....

The true measure of a life is not its length but the fullness with which it is lived.

I'm not going to lie I don't have a clue where I got this book from and when I picked up up out of the box of books that I have here I knew it was going to be trouble. Its a really quick read, I read it in a couple of hours and let me tell you.. while reading it I literally felt my heart breaking. 

I considered taking a picture the other night while reading it because it was almost comical.. Jason was sound asleep curled up beside me and I was sitting in bed with my book light hysterically sobbing, I kid you not. In the end I decided that I should be thankful I was alone in my ridiculousness. 

After reading the above to paragraphs you are already thinking "why would I read this book?" but you really should. This book is raw and real and takes you insides a families struggles that maybe we could never relate to and might also sadly hit too close to home for you. There is no sugar coating the bad things that happen to this family but there are lessons to be taken from how they band together to deal. 

I have to say I admire the honesty of this family, they never lied to their son about his sisters condition nor did they lie to Hannah who was only 3 about her condition being fatal and the things she was about to face. As parents I'm sure it was their first instinct to protect Hannah and their son Will from the harsh realities of their life but in the end they decided on honesty, they decided Hannah deserved to live her time here on earth knowing it would soon end and that Will deserved to make the most of every moment he had with Hannah, just as they were. 

Although the book is narrated by the mother and therefore her perspective of their lives at this time Hannah was the most amazing presence, for such a young child she handled every obstacle thrown her with will elegance, class and maybe a little bit of sass. This child was wise beyond her years and left an unimaginable impression on all of those who were lucky enough to meet her in her short time here on earth. 

Hannah's death was a tragedy, an unspeakable loss that sadly too many parents face. The book not only depicts the struggle of Hannah's cancer diagnosis, her battle and death but also the real struggle her parents endured after losing her. The how can I live without her, the on the floor in a ball crying until you run out of the tears, and the I can do this because as long as I keep her alive in my heart and home she'll always be with me. 

Is the book sad, hell yes! Will you cry your face off? I would pretty much bet on it. Will you finish the book feeling you are so glad you read it? Absolutely. 

This book was so eloquently written and what a strong woman Maria Housden is for writing it, I finished this book feeling so much admiration for the amazing woman and mother she is. You have no idea what you would do when faced with a situation like this and I pray none of you are.. but this woman did the best she knew how and I think she was incredible!

I hope you guys had a great weekend! Thank you as always for stopping by! I am going to try and get some posts written early this week because we are heading home for a long weekend this weekend and I couldn't be more excited!!!! I am sooo over this freakin' job and a little southern livin' is exactly what this girl needs! 

The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy Seal Sniper Corps & How I trained America's Deadliest Marksmen By Brandon Webb. A Book Review

Good Morning,

I actually wrote this post yesterday as soon as I finished the book because I was so excited to talk about it! If you have been around here for awhile you know that I read Chris Kyle's book American Sniper, you can read my review HERE, as well as Marcus Luttrell's book Lone Survivor which you can read about HERE. I loved both of those books and so quite awhile ago when we were at BJ's and I saw this one I had to grab it, I put it to the side because I had so many other books to get through and wanting to read this one so much would give me motivation to push through the ones I was less interested in. I finally picked it up last week and I have been so into it ever since.

Generally when I love a book this much I will finish it in a day because I cannot put it down, and I definitely could have done that with this books but oddly enough my days have been flying by and the only time I have managed to pick it up has been at night before going to bed. In a way I suppose I prolonged my enjoyment and really learned soo much! So before I give everything away here lets get into it.

The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy Seal Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen

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Now before I get into it I bet you are wondering if all three books are basically the same because they were all written by Navy Seal Snipers and to answer that question all the books have been extremely different which is another reason I have loved reading them so much. Everyone touches on the training they endured (and I mean endured) to because a Navy Seal but each persons experience and interpretation is completely different. In this type of field and training personality plays a big role and in this book Brandon Webb touches a little on the personalities of both Chris Kyle and Marcus Luttrell who he worked with as well as opening up himself and letting us get a peek inside his world and who he was and became to accomplish so much. 

The synopsis on goodreads.com reads as follows:

BEFORE HE COULD FORGE A BAND OF ELITE WARRIORS… HE HAD TO BECOME ONE HIMSELF.

Brandon Webb’s experiences in the world’s most elite sniper corps are the stuff of legend. From his grueling years of training in Naval Special Operations to his combat tours in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan, The Red Circle provides a rare and riveting look at the inner workings of the U.S. military through the eyes of a covert operations specialist.

Yet it is Webb’s distinguished second career as a lead instructor for the shadowy “sniper cell” and Course Manager of the Navy SEAL Sniper Program that trained some of America’s finest and deadliest warriors—including Marcus Luttrell and Chris Kyle—that makes his story so compelling. Luttrell credits Webb’s training with his own survival during the ill-fated 2005 Operation Redwing in Afghanistan. Kyle went on to become the U.S. military’s top marksman, with more than 150 confirmed kills.

From a candid chronicle of his student days, going through the sniper course himself, to his hair-raising close calls with Taliban and al Qaeda forces in the northern Afghanistan wilderness, to his vivid account of designing new sniper standards and training some of the most accomplished snipers of the twenty-first century, Webb provides a rare look at the making of the Special Operations warriors who are at the forefront of today’s military.

Explosive, revealing, and intelligent, The Red Circle provides a uniquely personal glimpse into one of the most challenging and secretive military training courses in the world.

This book was incredibly well written, not only does he give you insight into his life starting at a very early age, he gave you hope that even with no direction and no encouragement if you set your mind to something you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Brandon didn't come from a well to do family with every opportunity handed to him he worked hard and decided that he was going to make something of himself, he looked at everything in his life as a learning opportunity and the harder it was to achieve the more drive he had to exceed the expectation of the task at hand. 

In this book he doesn't leave you feeling like he's a narcissist wanting you to sit here and read all about his accomplishments he teaches you. I think that is the difference from this book and all the others I have read just like it, I learned SO MUCH! He doesn't just teach you about being a sniper he was search and rescue before that and he teaches you about the water, the wind and how they affect each other. When he talked about guns it wasn't just aim and shoot it was about ballistics, the inner and outer working of your weapon and how things you didn't even realize would ever come into play (the earths rotation) could affect your accuracy and more importantly why. This guy doesn't talk about what he learns he gives you an education right along with him! 

If he can teach me as much as I felt that I learned by reading his book I cant imagine the instruction he was to the many men he trained to go out and defend this country. Brandon Webb took what he learned good and bad from all the training he had been through (which was a lot) and used it to develop a program that would train guys in the best way to be the best they could be. He saw great leadership and he kept that with him, he saw terrible leadership and he learned from it.. he stood his ground when he knew he could help others regardless of the consequences and made the best changes he could to provide an amazing education. This education, this training helped save lives including that of Marcus Luttrell who credits Brandon Webb and all the extra time he spent with him while in his "stalking" phase of training with saving his life on mission Operation Redwing when things went terribly wrong. 

Maybe it seems weird that I am so interested in all this and in a way its mostly about taking advantage of any opportunity to learn something and these books are FULL of information about the troops out there fighting for this country, their training, politics and experiencing war from a completely different side of things. We see what the media portrays on TV and its not that I am discrediting any of that but lets be honest we see what they want us to see. Don't get me wrong these books are only allowed to delve into so much for security purposes and I'm sure political reasons but none the less they give you a way bigger picture of what is really going on out there, how it starts and the actions they are permitted to take to eliminate a threat while maintaining as much peace as possible. 

The reality is this country is at war and it affects each and every one of us, some more and some less.. why not be more informed? 

It is definitely my intention to scope out more of these books the second I get close to somewhere that sells them, but in the meantime I cannot recommend this book enough! I called my Mom yesterday and short of demanded she find it and buy it for my Dad, I cannot wait for Jason to read it so we can talk about it (he just finished American Sniper). Get your hands on this book, I promise if you don't enjoy this kind of thing you may be surprised and if you do and really sit down and get into it you will come out with a wider perspective on so much and an education on so much more! 

Thank you guys as always for stopping by! I hope you are having a great day, if you would like to read more about Brandon Webb you can do so HERE at his website which also lists many other books that he has written (and that I cant wait to read!). 

Doctor Dealer: The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire By Mark Bowden - A Book Review

Good Morning,

Here we are with another book review.. I am seriously going to be out of books far quicker than I had expected. On a good note though I am kicking but on my goodreads.com yearly book challenge.

Now I will first say that I actually read this book years ago, and I loved it so much that I decided to keep it because I thought that I would read it again. When I was going through books at home to bring back here I didn't actually plan to bring it back until Jason said that he wanted to read it. As I was flying through books I figured why not read this one again because it was different from the kinds of books I had been reading and then I figured once Jason read it we could get rid of it!

I'm not going to lie I didn't enjoy the book this much as I remember loving it before and that's not to say that the book isn't as good as I once thought it was, its still a very captivating tale but I think it could be that I had read it before and the element of surprise and urge to continue reading to find out what happened just wasn't there. I suppose some books just aren't meant to be read more than once and for me this one falls into that category. Although that was the case I still read it again and I still think it was worth reviewing here because I would recommend this book!

So lets get into it.

Doctor Dealer: The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire By: Mark Bowden

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Lets just get it out of the way in the beginning.. dealing cocaine is illegal! But let me tell you this book will lead you to believe that Larry Lavin is a freakin' genius, and he very well could be.. illegal activity or not! He managed to run a coke dealing ring that averaged $60 million a year in income all while running under the radar and not getting caught! Sadly that made him willing to risk more and more.. which is never wise. 

Larry Lavin was raised in a very modest upbringing and was a hard worker, always the first one to do chores for the neighbors and odd jobs so he had a little extra cash in his pocket. He did well in school, super smart kid and ended up graduating with a dental degree! You're probably asking yourself with so much going for him, why would he risk it all? I suppose you will have to read to find out! 

Honestly the first time I read this book I absolutely could not put it down, I was so intrigued by the story and always wondering what was going to happen next. The book is extremely well written and makes you want to get inside the head of this mastermind. I feel the depiction of Larry Lavin makes you want to get to know him more, makes you think that although this guy is a common criminal you could see yourself being friends with him because hes such a nice guy. 

The Good Reads Synposis reads:

Doctor Dealer is the story of Larry Lavin, a bright, charismatic young man who rose from his working-class upbringing to win a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, earn Ivy League college and dental degrees, and buy his family a house in one of Philadelphia's most exclusive suburbs. But behind the facade of his success was a dark secret -- at every step of the way he was building the foundation for a cocaine empire that would grow to generate over $60 million in annual sales. Award-winning journalist Mark Bowden tells the saga of Lavin's rise and fall with the gripping, novelistic narrative style that won him international acclaim as the author of the New York Times best-seller Black Hawk Down. "Immensely readable . . . eye-popping . . . a smoothly crafted, exciting, can't-put-it-down book." -- Louisville New Voice

Larry Lavin's life wasn't just about the drugs, he was married and had children, had a thriving dental practice.. I'm not sure anyone outside of his drug ring would have ever thought that this nice stand up guy could have been a part of something so dangerous, illegal and overall HUGE! 

Like all secrets they cannot go on forever, Larry's secret life was bound to catch up with him and you wont believe what happens when it all does. Guys pick up this book and read about the Fall of the All-American boy and what his life becomes!! 

I highly recommend this book, I so thoroughly enjoyed it the first time I read it and although I didn't enjoy it quite as much the second time I do believe that is because I already knew what was coming and the intrigue was gone! 

If you have read this book please let me know what you thought, I am looking forward to Jason reading it and finding out what he thinks! 

The Gatecrasher By Madeleine Wickham

Good Morning,

Alright guys, as I have said I am just pulling books out of a box all of which I put in there while I was at home going through my other boxes of books. There is a bunch of different genres in there and most of these books I have had for years and either haven't read because they got lost in the chaos or I figured I might like to read once more before I get rid of them.

Speaking of getting rid of them, I absolutely hate the idea of throwing books out.. I just wont do it. I much prefer to donate them or give them to someone else who would enjoy them and turns out the maids at the hotel we are in are beyond grateful to have something new to read, so I am absolutely loving that!

Anyways I grabbed this book out of the box and hadn't realized that Madeleine Wickham is actually the real name of the women who wrote the Shopaholic Series named Sophie Kinsella. I guess she uses that name as a pseudonym but decided to write others under her actual name, I'm not entirely sure why but there you have it!!

So lets get into this book.

The Gatecrasher By Madeleine Wickham

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I must say I love the authors style of writing, I absolutely LOVED all the Shopaholic books. She is British and that translates in her writing and she is ever so humorous. Her books are absolutely hilarious and although the story itself is a little pitiful I could appreciate the message it conveyed in the end. 

The synopsis from Goodreads.com shares:

Everything's coming up roses for Fleur Daxeny, as she goes through more rich men than she does designer hats... if that's humanly possible. Beautiful, charming, and utterly irresistible, her success at crashing funerals to find wealthy men is remarkable. But behind Fleur's Harvey Nichols wardrobe, is a woman with a mysterious past.  

Fleur wastes no time in seducing her latest conquest, the handsome and rich widower Richard Favour, and she swoops into his life like a designer-clad tornado. His children are caught up in a whirlwind as their father's new girlfriend descends on the family estate leaving chaos and excitement in her perfume-scented wake. Soon, more than one family member is suspicious of Fleur's true intentions.

Fleur is not one to wear her heart on her Chanel sleeves, but she soon finds herself embracing Richard and his lovable family. But just as Fleur contemplates jumping off the gold-digger train for good and enjoying the ride of true love, a long-buried secret from her past threatens to destroy her new family. Fleur is thrown into a race against time to prove herself to Richard before it's too late.  Can she trust her heart or will she cut ties and run away as fast as her Prada pumps can take her?

Take a wild and marvelous ride with The Gatecrasher, whose clever, chic, and sassy style will leave you desperately wanting more wonderful Wickham!

I really enjoyed this book, again like the last its a quick read but its super fun and I found myself wanting to continue reading to find out if Fleur followed her heart or her head, was it able for her to put aside her unfortunate belief that money was more important than anything else and do what was best for her and her daughter. 

I will say I wasn't too keen on how it ended, I hate when things are left unanswered and you aren't able to form really accurate idea of how life continued on after the book ended. Silly maybe but I like to finish their lives off in my head otherwise I am left wondering. This book left me wondering and as far as I can tell there is no sequel, although I might do some more research to be sure. 

I don't know about you guys but summer time is a great time to read, by the beach or pool, suntanning or while enjoying your coffee on the deck in the morning. This is a great read to pass the time, and I highly recommend checking out all of Sophie Kinsella or Madeleine Wickham's books!

I am going to try and grab something that is less of a girly book out of the box for the next one so y'all don't get bored of these book reviews too quickly, I have a feeling there are going to be quite a few of them!

I hope you guys are having a great week and enjoying the weather, its been absolutely gorgeous here but so freakin' windy all the time. If Chicago is the windy city I cant imagine what the wind is like compared to here because here its constant!

Thank you as always for stopping in, Have a great day!!

In Her Shoes By Jennifer Weiner: A Book Review

Good Morning,

Yes another book review, I told you to expect a lot of them.. as you can tell I go through phases with books and sometimes I review them and sometimes I don't. Right now my life is lacking content therefore the blog is lacking content and so book reviews it is! Sorry if its not you're thing, I promise to change it up as much as I can!

In the meantime although I really don't know what to say about this book I thought I would stop by and share as much as I could.

In Her Shoes By Jennifer Weiner

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First off let me just say that I had no idea until today that this was actually made into a movie in 2005 with Cameron Diaz playing the roll of Maggie! I honestly cant say I have ever heard of it, having said that though I don't remember buying the book so maybe when I did I was thinking I would enjoy the book more than the movie? The movie didn't get terrible reviews, so I guess that is something. I may have to watch the movie to further my opinion because when I finished the book and decided I was probably going to review it (for blog content and all) I had no idea what I was going to say. 

This is the synopsis that you can find HERE on www.goodreads.com:

Rose Feller is thirty; a successful lawyer with high hopes of a relationship with Jim, Mr Not-Quite-Right, a senior partner in her firm. The last thing she needs is her messed-up, only occasionally employed sister Maggie moving in: drinking, smoking, stealing her money - and her shoes - and spoiling her chance of romance. If only Maggie would grow up and settle down with a nice guy and a steady job. Maggie is drop dead gorgeous and irresistible to men. She's going to make it big as a TV presenter, or a singer...or an actress. All she needs is a lucky break. What she doesn't need is her uptight sister Rose interfering in her life. If only Rose would lighten-up, have some fun - and learn how to use a pair of tweezers. Rose and Maggie think they have nothing in common but a childhood tragedy, shared DNA and the same size feet, but they are about to find out that they're more alike than they'd ever believe.

I'm not sure the end of the synopsis really depicts the book accurately, after reading it I don't know what exactly they find out that leads them to believe they are "more alike than they'd ever believe". Reading the book start to finish I think you would be wondering if they were actually related because they are polar opposites, which I suppose isn't so uncommon for siblings. But as the book goes on nothing that took place changed my opinion about that. 

As you read you learn more about the sisters as individuals and how a hard childhood brought them together in an odd way but I wouldn't say necessarily made them close. They were essentially each others ally because they had no one else. Losing their mother at a young age changed their family dynamic greatly and having very few answers surrounding their mother as a whole or her death left them with a lot of questions, a lot of mystery in their life. 

I enjoyed the book, it felt long while I was reading it and for someone who is not a reader that can be a complete turn off. You never want to feel as though a book is dragging on and although I appreciated the story I really felt that way. 

I cant say I have a real opinion about the book, I definitely wouldn't read it again that's for sure although as I said I may just watch the movie for kicks. I gave it an 2 star rating because when I was done I felt like I really didn't have anything to say about it (although maybe I proved myself wrong, this post is longer than the two lines I expected). The overall rating on Goodreads is mixed and again books are interpretive so just because I didn't like something doesn't mean you wont! 

I will say this is not a book that I will miss or wonder about the characters now that I am done! Moving on to bigger and hopefully better books friends!

Thank you as always for stopping in! And again please feel free to share what you are reading these days as I would absolutely love to know! 

Summer Rental By Mary Kay Andrews: A Book Review

Good Morning,

If you follow me on goodreads.com you probably know what I've been reading but you may also know that this year I decided to partake in the Good Reads 2015 Reading Challenge. At the beginning of the year I challenged myself to read 50 books this year and so far I have read 19 books and good reads says I am on track! Everyone choose their own challenge, you could always do less or more and you just track your progress on your Good Reads account and they will let you know if you are ahead of the game, trailing behind and by how many books and if you're on track! I am a total bookworm and this was right up my alley. So although I have trailed off a little with my book reviews I thought I would hop back on that train!

So this is the most recent book I have finished.

Summer Rental By Mary Kay Andrews

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I honestly don't think I have read anything from this author before, although that also may not be true. I grabbed this book at BJ's while we were still at the apartment because I needed something to read and their books are so cheap! I knew it would be a quick read although FYI it is 486 pages!

The book is about 3 best friends who are now adults and all facing some sort of turmoil in their life, they no longer live close together and decided that getting together only for weddings and funerals was just not enough, so they books a cottage in Nags Head, North Carolina for the month of August and couldn't wait to spend a month with one another! 

I really enjoyed this book and the way it was written, she really dives into each character so that you feel like you know them and when their issues in life are revealed you are almost sharing in it with them. 

Throughout the book they/you meet an unsuspecting character who becomes a friend although with a very shady story, her problems soon become the problems of all the women in the house in danger ensues. The women come together as one to protect their new friend from the hand of danger, which said so much about all of their character! 

This book is fun, witty and so enjoyable.. a great read! If you are interested in the synopsis you can click HERE and also add it to you reading list! 

Naturally this book wont be for everyone, its basically a chick flick in book form but I really enjoyed it!

If you have read this book or happen to do so please let me know what you think! As always if you are reading a bunch of books right now, or a book let me know what it is and what you think of it! I am always looking for suggestions on what to read next!

Thank you for stopping by today!! Have a great day!! 

What I've Been Reading Lately

Good Morning Y'all!

If you happen to follow me on goodreads.com then you know I have been reading a lot lately, just trying to get rid of all the books I have here before we move so I don't have the drag them all around. I was really flying through the books and although I enjoyed most of them I decided not to review them all around here like I have been doing book reviews, but instead I thought I would do an overall review in a shorter manner.

As you know this week is going to be quite busy getting ready to move and then actually getting on the road so I thought this would be a great post to write ahead of time and be able to post so I wasn't MIA the whole week.

So lets get started!

The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve 

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I really really liked this book a lot! Immediately into it I couldn't put it down, I so enjoyed the style of writing and right off the bat I knew the story was going to be so good. Turns out it was even better than I could have imagined... her husband leads a secret life that she had absolutely no idea about and when tragedy strikes more is revealed about her husband than she ever could have imagined, and to say she didn't deal well is an understatement. If you are looking for a book that will peak early and keep your attention the entire time I highly recommend checking this out! If you are interested you can read the overview HERE. 

Escape by Carolyn Jessop & Laura Palmer

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I honestly think I got this book years ago when I was part of a book club that sent you books every month and I guess I never read it because I nothing seemed familiar when I was reading it. Tales of a book hoarder, you have so many you forget to read some until years later. Anyways I was intrigued when I read the synopsis of this book and found that I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. You may be familiar with the story of Warren Jeffs and his polygamist community, more so about the abuse that took place in these communities. Warren Jeffs is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for the assault of underage girls, amongst other things. 

This is a story of one woman's life growing up in this community and being married off at a very young age to a man much older than her, having 8 children and their escape from a life that no one should ever be forced to live. I was more than intrigued with the story and how although she was raised in this community her entire life how different her childhood was to that of her marriage and raising her own children. This is an excellent book about one woman's strength and courage to give her children the best life they could possibly have. Until reading this book I was aware of why polygamy was widely frowned upon and a little about Warren Jeffs but this book was full of information about a life I could never imagine. 

You can read an overview of the book HERE, and if you get the chance I highly recommend reading it for yourself! 

Fall on your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

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I really enjoy a wide variety of books, I don't tend to read only a specific genre but this book was definitely not for me. I felt like the book was constantly dragging, especially at the beginning. I read on and on and waited for something good to happen and it just seemed to take a long time. Honestly I don't have much to say about this, I just did not enjoy it. The reviews online were really mixed which is not surprising to me, people compared the writing style to that of a grown up VC Andrews who I am not very familiar with. You can read the synopsis HERE on good read, but sadly I would not personally recommend it. 

We are the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

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I actually read some of the reviews about this book before reading the book itself and I came across a lot that weren't very good but I wanted to read it anyways. Books are super subjective and I truly believe that even people who like to read the same type of books can feel differently about books, so if you are thinking about reading a book and find bad reviews I would say read it anyways, you might be missing out if you don't! 

Anyways I really liked this book, even though I hated most of the characters. The book is told through the eyes of the youngest brother of a farm family; early on the only daughter suffers a terrible tragedy and it affects the family in a way that I would like to think no one would expect. The book details how their lives play out after this event, and how one life event can change so much about the course of a persons life. Although this book didn't seem widely popular I really enjoyed it and would absolutely recommend it. 

If you would like to read the synopsis, you can do so HERE.

A Dirty War by Anna Politkovskaya

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If you're not much for history and war stories this book probably isn't for you, but I have to rave about how well written it is regardless. I will say that I haven't read all that much about the Chechen War or truth be told don't remember hearing much about it on the news. This book is a first hand account by a Russian woman about the Chechen War and how although it was said to be ending the conflict was still very real and intense. 

This book is raw and real and goes deep into not only the war but the Russian governments attempt diminish the cause and effects of this war. Sadly Anna Politkovskaya who was a journalist, author as well as a human rights activist was murdered in October 2006 in her apartment elevator under a contract hit and although 5 men were sentenced to prison for her murder in June 2014 it is still unclear who ordered her murder. 

If you are a war buff, I highly recommend reading this book. If you are interested in reading more about the book you can do so HERE, and if you are interested in the author Anna Politkovskaya you can click HERE to read more about her as well. 

So those are a few of the books that I have been reading lately. I think when I am binge reading this is a better way of reviewing books than dedicating an entire post to each book, let me know what you think! If you are reading anything good please do share as I am always on the hunt for a good book! 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you guys have a great day!!

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty: A Book Review

Good Monday Morning,

Is there really such a thing? For me yes because we are just days from heading home (Wednesday) and I am SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED! That may account for my sleep issues this week, who knows.

Last week Tanya and I were wandering around BJ's and we decided to check out the books, if I haven't mentioned it before they really have a great selection there of books and they are really cheap! I actually went in looking for a book that I had saw there a couple of days before but of course I couldn't find it so I settled on the one I am here to tell you about, so let's chat about it.

The Hypnotist's Love Story

By: Liane Moriarty

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The following is the synopsis taken straight from the goodreads.com website, you can find it HERE as well. 

For fans of Emily Giffin, another wonderful book from the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, THE HUSBAND’S SECRET...

Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk.

Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, Actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.

Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.

I will say off the bat that I didn't really love this book all that much, it was extremely long but with no real climactic action if you will. The story is based around a stalker so it keeps your attention because you keep waiting for some big event, and I suppose that kind of happens but not at all in the way I suspected... or maybe truthfully the event was minimized in the book and therefore I didn't feel like it was made as big of a deal as it should have been. 

I liked the fact that it was based in Austrailia, the language or "accent" if you will reminded me a lot of reading British authors which I enjoy but this is where I struggled. There were a few references/comparisons that I found kind of offensive and they were closer to the beginning so they threw me off a bit, threw me off the book and writer. I'm not easily offended but I thought they were kind of insensitive and basically just plain rude. If you are offended easily this book is not for you. 

I don't feel like the book is a waste of time, I enjoyed it despite what I have already mentioned, I don't plan to keep it around to read again though. You're not going to love every book you read but I don't count this as a total fail. 

This author actually has quite a few books that can be found HERE, there are a few on the list that I have seen other people reading recently so I would definitely give a few a try. Have you read any books by this author? What did you think?

I hope you all have a great week and your Monday's fly by! Thanks for stopping in!

Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel: A Book Review

Well... I did not think I was going to make it here today!

As you know we have been having computer issues and finally on Saturday I took it into Geek Squad and begged them to fix it. When Jason got a call last night that it was done, I woke lie I was extremely skeptical. Mostly I wondered what they would do differently in store than when they accessed my computer remotely in the past. I was anxious to get over there today and pick it up. When I got there the wait was absolutely RIDICULOUS, word of advise.. if you have to go to Geek Squad, Make an appointment. Anyways when they came out with the computer I insisted we open it up and check it out. What do you know, same issues! I ended up being there FOREVER and after trying a few more things we seem to be on a good path. I brought it home and hopefully we have fixed the problem.

Besides that its an absolutely GORGEOUS day here, just like Spring and I was so excited to get out and enjoy it. First stop of our leasing office to GIVE OUR NOTICE!!!! Two months and we are moving out!! YAY!! I am seriously counting down the days! It also means that we go home at the end of the month and then again in a month after that!!! Things are looking up people!

Anyways now that I have rambled I have a bunch of blogs planned for this week so stay tuned. Today I thought I would stop by now that I have the computer back unexpectedly and share a book review because there hasn't been one around these parts in awhile!! Lets jump in!

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This is a synopsis taken directly from the goodreads.com website:

Twin boys grow up in the same family, in the same town. Dramatically different, they become bitter enemies, even as children: one good, one bad. One leaves his peaceful hometown, but when all else fails, the prodigal son returns, twenty years later, moving into his parents' lakeside cottage. But the reunion of the brothers, sweet and healing at first, exposes shattering revelations...

I know what you are thinking, another Danielle Steel.. get use to it guys! I really like her books and really we should be giving her props for banging out a new book what seems like every single week! 

I really enjoyed this book, I found it to be slightly different from her usual writing style. There is very rarely a villain that plays such a large role within her books. Not to mention that you would never expect, it was funny although so much was insinuated while reading it was in such a slight way that I wasn't entire convinced he would end up being such a horrific character! 

The book is quite sad, so many tragic events and tragic lives but so real at the same time. There were obvious main characters but even secondary characters were felt to play a major role and you got to know them which I really enjoy in a book, I feel that its more well rounded. 

If you are looking for a new book and this is your style then I would highly recommend checking this out! I believe it just came last week so I haven't seen it in stores yet but I know you can get it for e-readers! 

This book marks the 8th book towards my goal of reading 50 books this year! This puts me at 16%, not too shabby!!

I am off to get things done around the apartment, I didn't plan to be out all day today so some chores around here have fallen to the wayside! I hope you guys all had a great weekend, and are lucky enough to be getting this wonderful weather we are!! 

Thank you again for stopping by!

Lone Survivor By Marcus Luttrell: A Book Review

Good Morning,

First and foremost guys Tanya and I will be at Live with Kelly and Michael this morning so flip it on at 9:00am EST and look for us!

I haven't finished some of the posts that I have started, my bad.. the last few days have just gotten away from me or I have had my face stuck in a book and not made blogging as much of a priority as I have wanted to/should. Whats worse is I am still having issues with my blog and computer! I have gone through Geek Squad again and contacted Lisette at Northern Belle Diaries and honestly I don't know what to do. I am not technically savvy by any means and most people who work with website specific viruses only do it when you own your site, such as wordpress. Ugh! I'm still trying to figure it out so it you have any suggestions than please comment with some ideas!

Anyways as I mentioned before I ready American Sniper which I reviewed Monday I believe and afterwards I had to read Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. I have seen the movies quite a few times actually but I was confident that the book would be different but I honestly didn't expect just how different it would be! The book was so extremely detailed in the ways that the movie wasn't at all, there was so much more information about Marcus' family and his training before Operation Redwing ever took place.

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This is the synopsis directly from goodreads.com as you would find it there:

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive.

This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers.

A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich , moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

This book took me forever to read because I was really trying to absorb all the information he was sharing, all the facts of the war, his training and basically everything he went through. He wrote this book to give you all the facts, to make sure that when you were done you were informed and educated on a broader spectrum. He definitely gave his opinion on some things that you may not agree with but I must say his opinion comes from experience, seeing things first hand and as we say everyone is entitled to their opinion. 

I really enjoyed this book and at the end I kid you not I sat and sobbed like a baby, I Kim Karashian ugly cried through the last 20 pages and let me tell you how glad I am that I was alone to do so. I really enjoyed this book, more than I can say, and I highly recommend all of you read it, not just for his account of the worst days of his life but for the facts as he saw them. 

I promise you the book is nothing like the movie and in my opinion 1000 times better and I truly did love the movie. 

Have you read the book already? If so what did you think?

Any recommendations on books like this? I am always looking for something to read!!

As always thanks for stopping by!

American Sniper By Chris Kyle: Book Review

Listen guys we might as well establish something here, for awhile there are going to be a lot of book reviews, if you don't want to read them I totally respect that but I am reading a lot as you can tell and I feel the need to share. I am trying to change up the genre of the books that I am reading to keep it interesting around here but there are going to be book reviews here and there, I'm sorry if its not your thing.

As you know reviews of the movie American Sniper are absolutely everywhere, not to mention the horrific story of how Chris Kyle's life was taken far too soon. I see it on the cover of every magazine in the supermarket, its on every entertainment show and naturally curiosity got the best of me and when Jason and I were at Target the other night I bought the book. I know the movie is the hot topic but I prefer to read the book first on most accounts and having thought about that the other day I was quite amused yesterday to wake up and find Helene over at Helene in Between had wrote THIS post. She makes some really good points, I like to read the book because I want to decide what the characters look like, see the whole picture in my head exactly as I think it is because of what I have read. Now obviously I could only do that so much with this book as I have seen Chris Kyle and his wife Taya's face everywhere.

The book in my opinion is ALWAYS better than the book, always.. so I knew I had to read this book before I saw the movie, and I am anticipating the movie to be epic.

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This is the synopsis directly from the Good Reads website, exactly as you would find it there. 

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

A native Texan who learned to shoot on childhood hunting trips with his father, Kyle was a champion saddle-bronc rider prior to joining the Navy. After 9/11, he was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror, and soon found his calling as a world-class sniper who performed best under fire. He recorded a personal-record 2,100-yard kill shot outside Baghdad; in Fallujah, Kyle braved heavy fire to rescue a group of Marines trapped on a street; in Ramadi, he stared down insurgents with his pistol in close combat. Kyle talks honestly about the pain of war—of twice being shot and experiencing the tragic deaths of two close friends.

American Sniper also honors Kyles fellow warriors, who raised hell on and off the battlefield. And in moving first-person accounts throughout, Kyles wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their marriage and children, as well as on Chris.

Adrenaline-charged and deeply personal, American Sniper is a thrilling eyewitness account of war that only one man could tell.

I truly couldn't put this book down, I know there are mixed reviews as to why Chris Kyle wrote this book but regardless I do believe his story deserved to be told and as he said it, why better to tell it than he who lived it. 

I know there are mixed reviews about this book, there is a lot of talk about Chris Kyle glamorizing war and although I respect everyone's opinion on what they read I honestly didn't see it that way. Here's the thing, I feel like in order for me to judge his truth I would have had to live it, I get that he comes across cold but I find it hard to believe you wouldn't having seen the things he has seen. When acts of terrorism happen we are angry, we are sad that the world we live in leaves us with worries such as this but none the less that is the world we live in. It makes us angry and sad. Chris Kelly saw terrorism everyday for 8+ years, he walked the streets with his fellow American's everyday in a place where they were target, literally with bounty's on their head. Wouldn't that make you a little biased? a little cold?

This book was hard to read, the gratefulness we have for the men and women who serve our country in those terrible awful places just doesn't seem like enough. They truly risk their lives and sadly sometimes lose them all for the greater good of us and our daily lives. 

I felt horrific sadness reading this book all the while knowing that this man served his country, had many close calls, came home struggling to find a balance between what he had been through and what his life had been to being home in a completely different world trying to find normalcy in a life that didn't make sense to him anymore had died in such a horrific way. This man served his country in the most courageous way and came home looking for a way to serve his country while still being a father and a husband and he died at the hands of a fellow veteran. It makes my heart ache. 

Even if you've seen the movie, read the book. 

I was sad for the book to end when I was done, and although I have seen the movie a couple of times I went out and bought Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. Marcus and Chris were both SEALs and Marcus was mentioned in the book, reminding me of my love for the movie and how I hadn't read the book. So stayed tuned for a review on that!

Happy Reading!!