#14 Another Part of the House by Winston Estes ***

Another Part of the House was given to me back when I was participating in bookcrossing.com meet ups. Been on my shelf for quite awhile and I look forward to finally getting to read it.

From the back of the book: The dustbowl years were hard in Texas, but for a boy growing up, family love tinged them with magic. For young Larry Morrison these were times of untarnished happiness: cliff-hanging serials at the movies, stickers caught in the feet, swimming down at the pond. But there's pain and loneliness in growing up, too, made bearable only by togetherness. Larry's family is poor, like everyone else in Wordsworth. Then suddenly, death strikes the most loved member of the family and out of his pain and sadness Larry takes the first step toward manhood, as the people and adventures he has known reveal to him the treasure of the vanished innocence of boyhood.

04/27/06 Enjoyed this very much. Sweet and nostalgic. Estes did a brilliant job of depicting depression era Texas.

Loved this quote from the book: "Both of those terrible things had happened in our own family right under my very nose, and here I was still living, eating, sleeping, playing, breathing, and walking around on two legs. Maybe I had been dealing with them all along, as Papa said, and didn't know it. Maybe the dealing with them is what makes the jagged edges smooth and the sharp points dull." The "things" referred to are death and betrayal.

#13 Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt *****

It is set in southern Illinois where Jethro Creighton, an intelligent, hardworking boy, is growing into manhood as his brothers and a beloved teacher leave to fight in the Union and Confederate armies.

My daughter recommend Across Five Aprils to me and I have very high expectations.

04/21/06 My expectations were met and then some! I fell in love with this family that was good and honest during one of the most difficult times our country has faced. Reminded me of why Lincoln is one of my favorite presidents. Oddly felt that this book is very relevant today in regards to the war in Iraq and actually helped me have a bit of a different perspective on views that differ from mine. Not bad for a young adult book.

Audio Books

I am not a big audio book fan because I'm just too easily distracted. However, I've been listening to Dear Zoe by Philip Beard and am really enjoying it. I really thing what is making the difference for me on this one is the reader. So I've decided to start a list of books I'd like to get on CD. I figured here is the best place to compile it so it can easily be referred to. Much easier than some chicken scratch that ends up wilted in my purse after a few months to be finally discarded.

Memory of Running by Ron McLarty/Read by Ron McLarty
Peace Like A River by Leif Enger/Read by Chad Lowe
White Oleander by Janet Fitch/Read by Oprah Winfrey
Narnia Series /BBC version
Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo/Read by Ron McLarty
The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks/Read by David Carradine
The Miracles of Santo Fico By Dennis L. Smith/Read by William Hope
Murder on a Girls Night Out by Anne George/Read by Ruth Ann Phimister
Missing Mom by Joyce Carol Oates/Read by ????
Hunting Fear by Kay Hooper

#12 Island of the Sequined Love Nun by C. Moore ***

Pilot Tucker Case has a weakness--well, Tuck really has two--and the combination of drinking and sex in the cockpit of the pink Mary Jean Cosmetics Learjet puts him on the front page of papers all over the planet. But he finds another job with a mysterious employer--someone with a brand-new Lear 45-- who's willing to pay Tuck generously and ask no questions about his record. The jet and job are on Alualu, a speck in the Pacific Ocean, and Tucker has nowhere else to go. But first he has to get to Alualu, and once there, he faces a hurricane, Shark People, atypical missionaries, and boredom ... and the responsibilities assigned to him by Capt. Vincent Bennidetti, U.S. Air Force, deceased bomber pilot and present-day deity of the Shark People.

#11 Dear Zoe by Philip Beard ***

A 15-year-old girl struggles to cope with private grief in an age of public catastrophe in this awkwardly conceived but sweet, sure-voiced debut. When her little sister, Zoe, dies after being struck by a car on September 11, 2001, savvy, self-aware Tess DeNunzio works through her grief by writing letters to Zoe. Tess's candid observations about her feelings of guilt (she witnessed the accident) and her mourning process give warmth and clarity to her descriptions of daily life in the aftermath. Not sure how to deal with her bereaved mother and uncommunicative stepfather, Tess moves across Pittsburgh to live with her real dad, an underemployed weight lifter with a good heart.

04/12/06 I really enjoyed this audio book. Think the reader was excellent. Never did check out to see who it was and I'm sending it off to someone at paperbackswap.com.

#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.