#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

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Temporarily put on hold, will get back to this one soon.
This will be my first fiction read of 2006. I'm very anxious to get to it; heard a lot of good things about this book.

From the back cover: Middlesex tells the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family, who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibiton-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of 1967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American Epic.

Start Where You Are by Pema Chodron

Hope to get back to this one!

This is going to be my first nonfiction read of the new year.

Pema Chodron is a Buddhist nun for regular folks. Having raised a family of her own, she doesn't shy away from persistent troubles and the basic meatiness of life. In fact, in Start Where You Are, Chodron tries to get us to see that the faults and foibles in each of us now are the perfect ingredients for creating a better life. No need to wait for a quieter time or a more settled mind. The trick Chodron says is to repattern ourselves, to transform bad habits into good by first opening ourselves to the groundlessness of existence. When the cliff dissolves beneath our feet, fear has a way of actually lessening. Fearlessness opens the way to recognizing our pushy egos and that rather than being cursed with original sin, we are blessed with an original soft spot--the squishy feeling inside that we all have, that is the seat of true compassion, and that we all do our best to armor over. Chodron is the kind of teacher who has seen it all and keeps pushing us back into ourselves until there's no one left to wrestle with but a certain recalcitrant image in the mirror. Excerpt from Amazon

Worst Reads of 2005

The Genesis Code by John Case. I think this was suppose to ride on the coat tales of the DaVinci Code which I haven't read yet. Actually a good story idea but too much filler stuff. If your main character is going for a jog they need to have some really insightful thoughts or earth shattering break through that is relevant to the story.

The Five People You Meet In Heavenby Mitch Albom. Sorry this just didn't do it for me. I can see how some people found it touching or inspiring though.

Haunted by Heather Graham. I have read Graham in the past; back when I wasn't so cynical about love and romance I suppose. Back then she wrote "historical romance" which were fun but I quickly out grew. So I thought I'd give her a try since she appeared to do a genre switch as many romance authors have done. So, Haunted was about a contemporary haunted house that, get this, was haunted by civil war ghosts. Doh! Same story just different place and different time. This kind of thing really bugs me for some reason. I suppose that there will always be an audience of this genre and author, however, you'd think she would want to grow along with her readers.


The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky. *yawn* The title and cover didn't live up to my expectations. I nice sweet book I think my mother would have liked to read.

Whispers by Dean Koontz #53

Synopsis from Amazon

This is a highly suspenseful book, written in clear, spare prose. It is an easy read and a definite page turner. It is a plot driven book, however, with little character development.
The plot itself is simple. A beautiful screenwriter, Hilary Thomas, is confronted in her own home by an intruder named Bruno Frye. It seems that Mr. Frye has been stalking Ms. Thomas in the belief that Ms. Thomas is his long deceased mother, Katherine, who has ostensibly come back from the dead in order to kill him. He feels that he must kill her, before she kills him.

Of course, Ms. Thomas has no clue as to why Frye has singled her out. She is aware only of his murderous intent, and she is afraid, very afraid. On Frye's first go around with Ms. Thomas, she survives. On the second go around, Frye does not. Thinking herself to be safe, as Frye has seemingly gone to his maker, she is shocked when he, yet again, confronts her with deadly intent.

Why this is happening and how, will certainly keep the reader turning the pages. Some of it is predictable, but it, nonetheless, makes for an absorbing, easy read. This is one of the author's better, early efforts. Readers who enjoy suspenseful novels will not be disappointed.

12/20/05 Quote Eugene Tucker: "You aren't a man until you accept responsibility for your life. A lot of people never do." Makes me think of my 18 year-old son. Looking forward to the day he will get this!

12/28/05 Aaack! I'm really trying to like Dean Koontz. This was better than the first book I read, Watchers. I find his characters a little too perfect. Meaning they are sensitive and good. Readily admit to there faults; that really aren't faults at all. Martyrs. Also, Koontz holds the readers hand too much. Some things the reader needs to figure out on their own. Repeating detail over and over is just a waste of space and time. I get that Hillary had a bad childhood and this is revisited several times. I'm going to give Icebound a try by Koontz and if it doesn't do it for me I'm going to pass on Koontz.

Proof a play by David Auburn #52

Synopsis from Amazon

Adult/High School-Twenty-five-year-old Catherine, who sacrificed college to care for her mentally ill father (once a brilliant, much-admired mathematician), is left in a kind of limbo after his death. Socially awkward and a bit of a shut-in, she is gruff with Hal, a former student who shows up even before the funeral wanting to root through the countless notebooks her father kept in the years of his decline, hoping to find mathematical gold. On the heels of his arrival comes Claire, Catherine's cosmopolitan, blandly successful, and pushy sister, with plans to sell their father's house and take Catherine (whom she's convinced has inherited a touch of their father's illness) with her back to New York. Catherine does not want to leave, and things become more complicated as she and Hal tentatively begin to develop a relationship. She gives him the key to a drawer in her father's desk, where the "gold" waits-in the form of a notebook filled with the most original and astonishing mathematical proof Hal has seen in years. Thrilled, he wants to take immediate steps to have the proof published in her father's name, until Catherine shocks both him and Claire by declaring that she is its author. Hal's harsh incredulity pushes Catherine into an indifferent funk, sorely disappointed by the insult of having to prove her honesty to a friend she had trusted. There is much to appeal to YAs in this Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, which crackles with subtle wit while tackling large questions

The Kitchen Witch by Annette Blair***

#51
Amazon book description:
Set in Old Salem around the Halloween season, this charming romantic comedy features a wacky, if good-hearted, self-proclaimed witch and her upstairs neighbor, a reformed bad boy trying to be a responsible father to his adorable four-year-old son, Shane. Needing a reliable baby sitter, Logan Kilgarven agrees to an exchange: he will find a job for Melody at the local TV station, where he is a producer, and she will be on call to baby sit Shane as needed. Melody, however, spurns his offer of a secretarial position, countering with a bid for a cooking show. The catch? Melody can't cook. At all. But with a combination of sex appeal and well-developed marketing skills, she sells the station owner on the concept, and several spicy encounters in elevators and on counters and desktops are the inevitable result. With both of them fighting their feelings, and several matchmakers as well as one marplot stirring the cauldron, Blair has crafted a fun and sexy romp. Lynne Welch

12/09/05

Well I haven't read a book like this in a long time. I have since become a bit cynical in regards to love and romance. However, it eventually sucked me in and turned out to be fun read.