#10 Multiple Choice by Claire Cook ***

From Amazon: A midlife back-to-school adventure propels a suburban housewife into an unlikely radio career in Cook's third novel, set on the South Shore of Massachusetts. March Monroe is the spunky protagonist who left college life behind to marry a civil engineer named Jeff and raise a daughter and son while working as an aerobics instructor, party planner and finally a life coach. With Olivia off to college and Jackson not far behind, March finally takes her husband up on his longstanding offer to send her back to school. The degree requires an internship, and when March explores her limited options she finds herself inadvertently working together with Olivia as fellow interns at a local radio station. Exploiting the friction between March and Olivia, handsome programming director David Callahan proposes that the two do a mother-daughter call-in show that quickly takes off and becomes popular.

03/31/06 This turned out to be a lite fun read. However, I did enjoy Must Love Dogs a lot more. However, worth a read in my opinion.

Reading Slump or would it be a Rut???

Life has been so hectic on a personal level I'm finding it terribly hard to focus on my reading. I've actually started three books and had to put them down and move on to something lighter and still just creep those.

Middlesex
The DaVinci Code
The Rock Orchard

All very good but I'm so distracted with life I feel like I have no clue of what I had read once I pick the book back up. I don't recall the story line and or who the characters are. It really gets me down when I feel like I'm not making any progress on the TBR shelf with 100 + books.

So I'm thinking the solution for now is to just not worry about. I'm going to forget about any "obligation" type reading like the author challenge and/or group reads for boards. Just going to read what ever strikes my mood and if it takes me a month to read 200 pages well so be it.

Hopefully, I'll be back on a reading streak before I realize it.

#9 Crimson Joy by Robert B. Parker ***

I've been rather distracted from my reading attempts lately. I'm putting aside The Da Vinci Code and going to read the quick Parker read. Spenser is always good to me. Hope then to pick back up The Da Vinci Code.

From Amazon: A husband murders his wife imitating the "Red Rose Killer," a serial murderer who has been leaving a rose on the corpses of his victims, middle-aged black women. When the spouse admits his guilt, government higher-ups assure feminist and ethnic pressure groups that the elusive maniac has been caught: case closed. But Spenser's friends in homicide, angered by the cover-up, enlist him and Hawk in an unofficial investigation that seems to implicate some of Susan's patients. Resenting the intrusion on her professional territory, Susan nevertheless cooperates. Spenser and Hawk, as guards, are therefore present during the psychologist's session with the dreaded but pitiable killer and the ensuing tense, final scene.

03/09/06
Fun Spenser read, as always.

#8 Godless by Pete Hautman *****

Godless will be the 4th shared read of the year for Layla and I. She is so hard to keep up with! This was my choice. I discovered while looking through the National Book Award site.

03/24/06 I finished this awhile back ago and just forgot to post on it. I really enjoyed this story. Great sense of humor and made a heck of a lot of sense to me! This is going down as one of my favorites of the year!

Long Way Round

I'm so glad I got to tag along via DVD on this trip with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. They left me wanting more!! I have had the book Long Way Round sitting on my shelf for quite some time and can't wait to get to it now that I've seen the series that I think premiered on Bravo. Makes me want to take on trip with friends and/or family myself. However, I doubt I'd take on such a huge endeavor as they did.

From Amazon:
This documentary series follows actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on a motorcycle trip around the world. The two friends will travel through such places as Siberia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Alaska, before finally ending the journey in New York. The filming will be done by on board cameras and one ride along cameraman.

Ideas for Shared Reading with Layla

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Godless by Pete Hautman READ

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Send Me Down A Miracle by Han Nolan

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Dicey's Song By Cynthia Voigt

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

Midnighters #1: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

#7 Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt ****

Layla chose Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt as our March shared read. However, she has already started so I want to keep up with her. I really like discussing the books with her as we go!

02/27/06 I loved this story and the characters. Look forward to reading Dicey's Song in the future.

#6 A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle ***

It was my turn to pick a book for my shared reading with Layla, my daughter. So I chose A Wrinkle In Time which I think was the most suggested book when I asked around for ideas about choosing a book both my daughter and I would enjoy.

02/15/06 I just loved the characters in this book! I'm not a huge fan of fantasy but this was a fun read. Layla felt it ended rather abruptly and I agree but doesn't bother me as much I guess.

#5 The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman ***

The Five Love Languages came highly recommend. I have gotten a copy for myself and my husband. So far I'm getting a lot from the book and hope my husband does as well. I'm giving him credit for at least giving it a try. I really do appreciate it. I hope he can read it from beginning to end! Also, check out other books by Gary Chapman. This book and others not only apply to marriage, family, and all relationships.

02/08/06 I think I did learn someething valuable from this book and will be better able to give more in all my relationships. I'm debating on getting The Five Love Languages of Children but don't really want something that pretty much goes over the same things as this book did. Maybe I'll check if the library has it.

#4 Girls in Trouble by Caroline Leavitt ****

From Amazon: Leavitt's uneven but earnest eighth novel examines the emotional price a bright Massachusetts teen pays when she chooses "open" adoption for a baby she gives birth to at 16. It's 1987, and smart Sara Rothman has fallen in love with "black sheep" Danny Slade. When he vanishes after learning she's pregnant, Sara gives the baby up. Leavitt (Coming Back to Me) poignantly depicts the consequences of that choice for everyone concerned: Sara, who misses her baby and Danny both; Abby and Jack, Sara's well-meaning parents; Danny, the young father; George and Eva Rivers, the attentive but naive adoptive couple; and Anne, the child. At first, Sara visits the Riverses daily-she loves Anne, and the Riverses had cared for her while she was pregnant. But her presence becomes intrusive, and eventually, Eva takes a stand: "We adopted Anne," she tells Sara. "We didn't adopt you." Sara then makes a desperate attempt to steal the infant, and when she's found, the Riverses move and deny Sara visiting rights ("Open adoptions are only enforceable in Oregon," a lawyer tells her). Fifteen years pass, and Leavitt's focus wavers; a fuzzy reunion between Danny and Sara is particularly unconvincing. The novel's portrait of dreamy, adolescent Anne and her relationship with the older Riverses is sharper, as is the realistic, bumpy reunion of birth mother and daughter. An unflinching depiction of maternal need and the dynamics of adoption, this tale is a sharp reminder of the importance of honesty in life decisions.

02/07/06
Finished this book up today and truly loved this touching story. I think Caroline Leavitt covered all her bases and left none of my questions unanswered about all of these truly endearing characters. I'd like to thank her for stopping by and posting a comment to this blog entry. Very cool! However, would love to know how the rest of Sara's life unfolded for her. I'm left imagining only bigger and better things.

#3 Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris ***

Me Talk Pretty One Day is the second book I've read by Sedaris. Also, read Holidays On Ice which was a nice fun read in between other reads. So I'm hoping for the same with this one.

So far my favorite chapter has been Youth in Asia. Funny and poignant in that Sedaris way. It's about pets. Coincidently, I'm having a struggle with some unnamed neighbor who keeps complaining about my dogs barking too much. I got my second notice from metro yesterday. I've kept them inside at night from 8:00 pm - 6:00 am. So today I let them back in before going to work and let them out for about 30 minutes at lunch. They barked more than they normally do in my opinion. Granted the mail came and tree service was across the street. Guess if I can't get this under control I'll have to consider the Youth in Asia. Maybe they'd like a couple of yappy Pomeranians.

02/03/06 I'd have to say that I prefer Sedaris in small doses. I enjoy him but prefer him here and there and will keep that in mind for the next Sedaris book I read. I think a chapter in between some more heavy reading would be just the thing.

#1 Must Love Dogs by Clair Cook ****

This book couldn't have came along at a better time! Claire Cook is a delight and I look forward to reading more from her.

From Library Journal: Sarah Hurlihy is 40 years old, divorced, and happily teaching preschoolers a multicultural curriculum. But her interfering, overzealous Boston Irish family thinks that she should be dating, and with much love she is pushed into answering a personal ad from a gentleman seeking a lady "who enjoys elegant dining, dancing and the slow bloom of affection"; the clincher is that he's a man who "loves dogs." That man turns out to be the last man on earth any woman would want to date, but Sarah pushes on, slowly falling headlong into the dating game with decidedly mixed results. Meanwhile, Sarah's widowed father has his own dating troubles, brother Michael is deep in marital problems, and sister Carol is having difficulty at home with her temperamental teenage daughter, who turns to her favorite aunt for comfort and body-piercing support. Somehow, they all seem to end up on Sarah's doorstep at the most inopportune moments, keeping the laughs going all the way to the not-quite-storybook-perfect ending. Suitable for all public libraries

01/20/06 This was just a delightful read I could relate a little and gave me a little hope.

Brokeback Mountain the movie*****

This was truly one of the best movie experiences I have ever had! The written story was powerful. The movie was extraordinary. How often can you say this?

Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger were incredible. Hopefully they were driven to do this movie for more than the Oscar potential. I feel they must have been in it for deeper reasons than that. How else could they pull off such an intimate and vulnerable look at a relationship.

Mostly women attended this movie and being from Wyoming there was a lot of chatter in the beginning when references were made to things that only we could appreciate. However, after the first "romantic" scene you could hear a pin drop. I'm not sure anyone was even breathing. Very fierce, compelling and again I have to say powerful.

Inspiring both on an emotional and creative level. I would so much love to talk to the actors and director to learn about their experience making this movie. Hope the DVD is packed full of special features. I usually think of the "movie business" as a fun and easy job. However, this movie must have been work though hopefully a labor of love, the best kind of work.

I could go on gushing about this movie for some time. I will say if you are uncomfortable with homosexuality this may not be the movie for you. Must see in my opinion. Also, I typically expect to be disappointed in a movie that gets the "Oscar buzz" this was not the case with this one at all.

#2 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld / Shared Reading with Layla!***

My daughter Layla and I have decided to start doing some shared reading and I'm really looking forward to this! She has chosen our first read, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. I'm already searching for our next read. I would really like to chose something that Layla will really love. However, it's quite overwhelming.

01/27/06 Finally finished this one and it turned out to be better than I expected! I look forward to reading the next book in this series, Pretties.

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx #54 ****

I was able to squeeze in one more read for 2005. A short story by Annie Proulx. This was a gift from my daughter Layla for X-mas. It is originally from a short story collection called Close Range.

I really loved this story! It reminded me a little of Cormac McCarthy's work (All The Pretty Horses).

Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer.

Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it.

On a side note regarding the movie. I was listening to the Jay Thomas show on Sirius radio and they have been discussing the movie. They actually interviewed the Mayor of Casper, Wyoming, Guy Padgett.

Author Alphabet Challenge 2006

An idea was suggested on The Fiction Lovers message board at iVillage that we try a "new to you" author challenge. The idea is to try to read one new author for each letter of the alphabet. So thought I'd give it a go and keep track in this post.

A
B = Beard, Philip Dear Zoe
C = Cook, Claire Must Love Dogs
C = Colas, Emily Just Checking
D = Dallas, Sandra, The Persian Pickle Club
E = Estes, Winston M. Another Part of the House
E = Erian, Alicia Towelhead
E = Evanovich, Janet One For The Money
E = Edwards, Kim The Memory Keepers Daughter
F = Flock, Elizabeth Me & Emma
F = Farmer, Nancy The House of the Scorpion
G
H = Hautman, Pete Godless
H = Hunt, Irene Across Five Aprils
I = Isaacs, Susan Compromising Positions
J = Jackson, Joshilyn Gods in Alabama
K = Keyes, Marian Watermelon
L = Leavitt, Caroline Girls in Trouble
L = Lindsay, Jeff Darkly Dreaming Dexter
L = L'Engle, Madeleine A Wrinkle in Time
M = Myers, Walter Dean, Monster
N = Nolan, Han Send Me Down A Miracle
O
P = Packer, Ann The Dive From Clausen's Pier
Q
R = Rosoff, Meg How I Live Now
S = Spark, Muriel The Finishing School
S = Sandford, John Rules of Prey
S = Saul, John Perfect Nightmare
T = Tucker, Lisa Shout Down The Moon
T = Tropper, Jonathan The Book Of Joe
U
V = Voigt, Cynthia Homecoming
W = Westerfeld, Scott Uglies
W = White, Kate If Looks Could Kill
W = Weeks, Sarah So B. It
W = Wilde, Oscar The Importance of Being Earnest
W = Wiesel, Elie Night
Z