August Book Update #1

We are well over half-way through August and I've only one book to show for it so far. This has been a crazy month, one that involved perhaps my biggest work project of the year and considering how much of my life it consumed, it's a miracle I was able to finish a book at all.

When I was at my parents' house recently I came across a set of Jan Caron's Mitford books. I grabbed the lot of them and took them home. So far, I've read the first one. When I started the book, I felt about 25 years too young to be reading it. But then when I really got down to the meat of it, I found the book suited me perfectly. I'm a sucker for a story set in the south and being the daughter of a pastor, this book appealed to me all the more. Father Tim's adventures with his parishioners made for such an entertaining read. But it wasn't all fluff. At many points throughout the novel, Caron delves into faith and its role in our lives. I found it to be a very satisfying read and I'm very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

July Book Update #3

On this the last day of the month I am happy to report a final book update. I started a (really) long book while we were at the beach. I made it a good way through the book but then life began again in earnest once we returned home and I hadn't been able to pick it back up.

It's called Cutting for Stone. I found it at out used bookstore and the blurb on the back was enough for me to pick it up. The author is a physician who, strangely enough, was a leading AIDS researcher for a time in the Johnson City up where my parents used to live.

Anyway...back to the book.....it's unlike anything I've ever read. It is set largely in Ethiopia and is the story of twins born to a Catholic nun and British surgeon.

It explores what it means to be a family and how homeland plays a vital role in the people we become. I was fascinated by all the medical knowledge included in the book. Sometimes it made my eyes glaze over when he would use a paragraph full of medical jargon but his writing was so compelling I wasn't able to walk away for long. It's one of those books that covers a very large period of time which contributed to its length. So glad I chose something outside my comfort zone! I was rewarded page after page.

Also before the month ran out I was able to read my mom's latest book in the Wolff Mountain series that comes out in September. You can pre-order it now! (And you should!)

July Book Update #2

I recently finished a wonderful book about a whaleship that sailed from Nantucket in the early 1800's. I'm quite unfamiliar with the maritime history of New England so I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. It is the true story of the Essex as it sailed (and later sank) to the South Pacific on a whaling expedition.

It reads like a novel although it is chock full of history, including fascinating pictures of artifacts and paintings from the period. It also offered plenty of maps to show just how far the sailors traveled. Only eight of the crew survived the aftermath of their ship's sinking and when you think about the lack of technology on those little lifeboats adrift in the vast ocean it is truly unbelievable that any of them made it. If you're into adventure stuff like Into Thin Air, then this one is probably right up your alley!

July Book Update #1

Technically I've not completed a book this month, but in the absence of a new book review I decided to post about one of my favorite books....EVER.

My mom introduced me to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon more than 10 years ago. They are responsible for my strong desire to travel to Scotland and the reason I married someone named Jamie (totally kidding!). The books are epically long and follow Jamie and Claire Fraser across the decades. If you've never picked these books up, do so...immediately. The 8th book is due out late this year, but those first seven should keep you occupied until then!

June Book Update #2

In a shocking turn of events, I managed to squeeze in another book this month. I grabbed a Jennifer Weiner book at the library the other day. I've read pretty much everything she's written. They are usually 300+ pages, but I typically can't put them down.

This one was...less than exceptional. I had the plot figured out right away which is never very fun. It was a good little read, just not up to par with her usual stuff.

Meanwhile...I also downloaded a short story of hers that was free on iTunes. I LOVED that and apparently it was made into a book that comes out this week. I doubt I'll be able to score that one at the library so I may have to break down and buy it.

Now I just have to decide which book I won't have time to read while I'm at the beach.....

June Book Update #1 (And probably the only one)

Just like on spring break, my reading has dropped off significantly now that the kids are on summer vacation. Typically I used Allie's naptime to read but since the older girls are no longer napping, I use that time to do things with them.

That being said, I am reading. Just not a lot. A few weeks ago I picked up a book that our team of pastors gave us when we joined our current church. (Please don't tell them it's been on my bookshelf that whole time....) It's called Psalms for Praying.

I've been reading one Psalm each night before bed. It's a calming way to start my prayer time and close the day. And since there are 150 Psalms...this book will last me for quite a while!

In addition to that book, I've been reading some short stories out of Going Long. It's a collection of stories that have run as a part of Runner's World magazine over the years. I'm a subscriber and have probably read a lot of these, but having them all in one place is pretty neat.

The ones I've read so far are amazing stories of runners who had to overcome adversity to continue the sport. My favorite one was on Team Hoyt. I knew their story, or at the very least thought I did, but reading more about this father-son team was no less inspiring. Because even though people assume because I run marathons I have motivation by the truckload, there are some days when I don't want to run. Days when I want to lose the key to the treadmill and not think about that next race looming in the fall. That's when I pick up this book and select a short story to read.

May Book Update #2

This week I've already read two books! Hooray! Up first was my mom's Wolff Mountain series has a new book coming out in a few weeks, but the perks of having your mom as the author is getting an advanced reader copy.

Impossible to Resist is the story of the third Wolff brother, Jacob. It is largely set in Antigua, a spot my parents visited on an anniversary trip when I was a child. I've long raved about my mom's work and this new book is no different. I blew through it in less than 24 hours. Great story, great characters. I ignored laundry and postponed the updating of my photo albums to finish this book. I cannot WAIT for the next one.

After mom's book I picked up Nights in Rodanthe.

I've never read a Nicholas Sparks book and I've never even seen "The Notebook." (Which apparently means my woman card is going to be revoked...). It's not that I had deliberately avoided his books, I had just never had the overwhelming urge to pick them up. I recently grabbed Nights in Rodanthe at the used bookstore. To be honest, the only reason I selected it was for the setting. Rodanthe is on the North Carolina coast, the heart of the Outer Banks, and is one of my very favorite spots on the planet.

It was a quick read and a good story, but I wasn't really overly impressed. I know that all of his books are MAJOR bestsellers and it was a page turner, but I didn't really feel a major impact when I was done. So I guess it was just so-so. I'd like to read another of his just to see if they all follow the same formula.

Onward and upward to the next book!

May Book Update #1

I'm still trying to make good on reading more in 2012. Our May schedule is INSANE but I'm trying to squeeze in some pages where I can. Last week I read a book given to me by a co-worker. It had a big Oprah's Book Club stamped on the cover so I started to turn up my nose. She promised me that it was worth the read, Oprah-approved or not.

I'm not sure where I've been for the last 5 years or so because apparently the book was made into an award-winning (an Oscar for crying out loud!) movie that I had heard nothing about.

But I digress. I truly enjoyed The Reader. I found it to be so beautifully written. It deals with the relationship of a 15-year-old boy and an older woman in post-WWII Germany. I can't really do the book justice here on my measly little blog. But I feel like it's one of those Holocaust pieces that everyone should read, like Elie Wiesel's Night and The Diary of Anne Frank. So do yourself a favor and pick it up at your library. It was a super quick read and well worth my time.

April Book Update #3

I just finished my latest book. I opted for non-fiction this time. Partly because reading should not just be about escaping the world we live in to a place of imagination, but it should also be about enriching the knowledge we have of the real world. I also opted for non-fiction because my sister let me borrow the book and had been harassing me about actually reading it.

It's called Breach of Faith and is written by a newspaper reporter from New Orleans. It chronicles the events leading up to and following Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005. I vividly remember watching those events unfold on television here at home and at work. Bus loads of refugees showed up in our towns and we rushed to secure cots, food, and bottled water to ease their burden.

So yes, I knew the story of Katrina, or at the very least thought I did. Then I read Breach of Faith and realized I had absolutely no idea what had gone on in the Crescent City when that storm blew through. The writer interviewed dozens upon dozens of people to put together the book. Their stories are told throughout, tied together with the common thread of Katrina.

America knew this disaster happened. America could flip on CNN and see people being plucked from rooftops and waving their fists in the SuperDome at the help that was, ultimately, too little too late. Reading this book horrified me. It disgusted me that such atrocities were allowed to happen in my country in this new millennium. We have a tendency to relegate the awful disaster responses to third-world countries with corrupt governments and aging infrastructures. Places like Haiti. But the reality of it is, it happened here - and it begs the question not if it will happen again, but rather when and where. Could those things happen here if my community was faced with an epic natural or even man-made disaster?

The book explored everything from race to the levee failings. It looked at the science and sociology that played into the flooding of the city. But the stories of the people who were there, the ones who really lived (and died as the case may be) through Katrina kept my rapt attention. I cried at the end of the chapter about Charity hospital. Hundreds of staff and patients were trapped their, many in critical care before help finally came.

This was not a "feel-good" book. It was certainly not fun to read, but one I am glad I did. It's the story of a great American city that almost didn't survive. It's a story many of us would like to forget now that the beignets are cooking once again and the Mardis Gras parades are rolling back down Canal Street. But it's a story worth repeating and worth learning from.

April Book Update #1: Slacker Edition

I had a really good start on this whole reading thing in 2012. And then March happened. My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer and my kids were home on spring break for about 16 days. I was lucky to get dinner on the table, let alone read a book. Only yesterday did I finally finish a book I started last month.

It's a historical account of the Pilgrims coming to America. I enjoyed the book...for about 200 pages. Then I got really bogged down. I pretty much skimmed the last 75 pages or so. I knew that the account of the Pilgrims that we learn in elementary school is pretty inaccurate so I enjoyed learning the "real" story. I've never been a big fan of that time period, but I learned so much about that first winter and the settlers relationship with the natives already living in New England at the time.

The book includes photographs of actual Pilgrim artifacts as well as plenty of maps to show what the area looked like in the 1600's. I love a good map, so it helped me visualize where the Pilgrims set up their towns and where they lived in relation to the indians. Anyway....I finally finished it and picked up my next book. I must confess that it is a quick read and I've already blasted through more than 100 pages. Here's to actually reading more than one book this month!

March Book Update #1

I read more than a dozen books in February and here it is three weeks into March and I've read ONE. One measly little novel. Of course my kids were home on spring break and I spent 15 and a half days being an activities director, so there was little time for lounging around with a book.

My one achievement thus far in March is called Three Junes.

I borrowed it from a co-worker after declaring I had exhausted all my books in the onslaught of reading in the new year.

The book opened in Greece and I was immediately sucked in. But then the book shifted, both in setting and in narration and I didn't find it as compelling. The final section changed narration and setting again and was much more enjoyable. After the first section I completely understood why the book won several accolades, including a National Book Award. But at the end, I was just glad it was over. I was hesitatn to re-shelve it though, because I felt felt honor-bound to finish it. Kind of like a bad movie that you felt like you should stick out because you paid full-price for the ticket. Overall, I'd say it is my least favorite book of 2012. Here's to hoping my next conquest is a little more enthralling.

February Book Update #5

February has come and gone and so has my last book of the month. It was historical fiction based that's been on my bookshelf for years. Dad let me borrow it when I ran my first race down at Chickamauga in 2007. I've since done two more races there, including a half-marathon there last fall.

The north Georgia battlefield has always had a special place in my heart, long before it hosted my very first marathon.

I've been climbing on cannons there before I could even say the word "cannon." It's a beautiful place. Beautiful in that haunting way though, because you know just how much was lost there.

But I digress....the book was A Mockingbird Sang at Chickamauga.

I really enjoyed it. It begins in the summer of 1863, in the weeks leading up to the battle in mid-September. It intertwines the stories of several soldiers, the majority of whom fought for the south (after all, the writer was from Kentucky). Having grown up in this area, the author's description of places was so easy for me to visualize. Of course I see them with 21st century eyes, but I've seen enough photos from the Civil War to have a good idea of what it looked like in the drought-stricken summer of 1863.

You wouldn't think that a book about 150 year old war would be a real page turner, especially considering I knew quite well the outcome of this particular battle, but I blew through the pages. And speaking of pages....I love reading an old book. The smell is so intoxicating. Yes, I'm one of those weirdos who will stick her nose in the middle of an old book....just to inhale its musty scent. I won't go so far as to say that I will *never* own an e-reader, but I can't imagine giving up the feel of a page between my fingers.

February Book Update #4

The good thing about being trapped at home with your family and a stomach bug....you know what? Actually there is no good thing about all five members of your family being sick. But while we were all down for the count I did manage to do some more reading.

I polished off a really great historical fiction novel, Shashenka.

A friend had said it was a wonderful book and I, trusting her advice, picked it up. It certainly wasn't a book I would've found on my own so I am grateful for the recommendation. It was unlike anything else I had ever read and I couldn't put it down. It begins in Russia in 1916 and ends in 1994. I was completely sucked in by the story despite being very ignorant about Russian history. I knew the basics of course, but learned so much from the book!

Up next was another of my mom's books. (As an aside...my mom just landed a FOUR BOOK contract...so expect to be seeing more of her!!)

I loved this story so much. It didn't hurt that a large part of it takes place in Key West which was just the escapism I was looking for in the midst of a stomach virus epidemic! Her writing took me back there, in fact to many of the very same places Jamie and I visited last summer. I loved it!

Also this week I read Born to Run.

It was really slow at first, but once I got into it, I enjoyed it. It examines why we run and how we run. It centers around the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and the isolated life they lead while being perhaps, the world's greatest runners. I appreciated the science of this book that has me thinking about various aspects of my running and how I can improve. I love inspirational running books like this because it always makes me want to get out there and run!

February Book Update #3

My next book for 2012 was Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway.

I will be honest and say, I didn't get it. I know it is hailed as a brilliantly written satire, but sadly that was lost on the likes of me. I need to do a little research to learn more of the background of the book. It was a short read though so I didn't toil very long over its pages.Suffice it to say, it is not my favorite Hemingway.

My next book was one that has been on my bookshelf for over a decade. I purchased it on a trip to Jamaica in 1999. It's a small paperback originally published in the 1920's that I picked up in the gift shop at Rosehall Plantation.

It's a fascinating spot that sits high on a hill overlooking the ocean. And just like all good historic spots in the West Indies, it is rumored to be haunted, this house specifically by Annie Palmer. She was the mistress of the house who (after going through three husbands in rapid succession that she is believed to have killed) was killed by her slaves during an uprising.

The book is an account of the weeks leading up to Ms. Palmer's death. The opening sentences of the novel transported me back to the gates of the grand estate where in front of you the house rests on a hill far above while the ocean waves crash at your back. My friends and I had a wonderful day exploring Rosehall, a trip that included a stop at Annie Palmer's grave. Under the shade of palm trees we stood by her stone tomb as our native tour guide sang "The Ballad of Annie Palmer" that Johnny Cash wrote. Despite the insane heat of that day I vividly remember getting goosebumps during that song. Anyway, the book was pretty good. The language was that of a novel written in the early 1900's and I got a kick out of the vocabulary and the sex scene...which was a sex scene...without saying it was a sex scene. It was a quick read that gave me plenty of nostalgia for Jamaica. I even pulled out my photo album from the trip.

So for those keeping track...that's ELEVEN books for the year so far. Not too shabby!

February Book Update #2

I'm already up to nine books for 2012.I'm sure that number will drop off drastically, but for now I'm going to keep plugging away it and enjoying each turn of the page.

After the Pioneer Woman's book, I borrowed Bossypants from my sister.

I've always enjoyed Tina Fey's comedy and had heard that I should really read her book. I will say, I was a bit disappointed. There were certainly moments that I laughed out loud, but overall I found the book to be pretty bland. The anecdotes seemed jumbled and disorganized. I'm not sure what I was hoping for, but it just really wants as funny as I thought it would be. I guess I give it an "okay."

After an easy, light read from Tina Fey, I opted for something a little more substantial. The book was South of Broad.

I had read his Beach Music a long time ago so I knew Conroy's work pretty well. I've got a thing for Southern writers. I always have. From Eudora Welty to William Faulker. Wilma Dykeman to Margaret Mitchell....I just love them all. Pat Conroy does not disappoint in this regard. The book is set in Charleston, a city I've loved since I was a child. That alone was enough for me to pick it up at the used book store recently. (Translation...I begged my children to let me have 3 measly dollars of credit so I could get it.)

South of Broad is a hefty 500+ pages but by ignoring my chores and my children, I was able to finish in record time. I was so invested in the book and its characters that I failed to notice that a large portion of the book was set in the summer of 1989. Not sure if you know what happened in Charleston in September of that year, but suffice it to say there I was mourning the death of one of the characters when BAM! Conroy hit me over the head with Hurricane Hugo that I should've seen coming miles away as it gathered strength in the Atlantic.

I truly enjoyed this book not only for its setting, but for its characters. It's not a "beach read" though and tackles topics like faith (specifically Catholicism), marriage, and the AIDS epidemic of the late 1980's. It also takes friendship head-on and explores the many ways our friends shape us and change us as we grow from teenagers to adulthood. I was very sorry to see this book come to an end yesterday afternoon. I am going to head to the library this week and see about getting another one of Conroy's books. But until then...it's time for a book by my old stand-by favorite - Ernest Hemingway.....

February Book Update #1

It's only one week into February and I've already blown through the Hunger Games Trilogy.

I will say I very much enjoyed the books. The second one was my favorite though and I found the third one to be a little slow. I'll be interested to see how they do the movies because, although they are considered to be young adult fiction, they are quite gory, especially the conclusion of the series. Anyway, if you're looking for some action and some quick reads...these are your books. Pretty serious stuff though and often not what I wanted in pre-bedtime reading.

Up next was....The Pioneer Woman's book.

I've followed her blog for several years and I LOVE her cookbook. This is the story of how she went from an L.A. girl to the wife of a rancher and the home-schooling mom of four. It's a very easy read. Nothing complicated or controversial. I knew a lot of the story ahead of time, but it's fun to read a little more than what she's posted on the blog. It's certainly not the best book I've ever read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I love that I am really carving out time to read. It's not been easy with our family's schedule, but I'm seeing all the places that I waste time and can now use for reading so it's been a very positive change for me this year. What books should I be reading? What's on your bookshelf this year?

2012 Bookshelf: January Edition

The first month of 2012 is almost in the books so I thought what better to talk about than - books!

I'm really wanting to read more this year but I stopped short of setting a goal of an exact number of books. I started off the year with my mom's latest book. It's the first in a series.

Let's just say that it is a darn good read. I know she's my mother, but apart from that....it's a great story! You should really read it. You can buy it at Amazon at all those other places that you typically buy books. You can get it for your e-reader, too!

After mom's book I read The Help. I know it's like three years old but I had just never gotten around to reading it. Plus, I wanted to read it before I saw the movie.


The book is long coming in at over 500 pages, but I polished it off in under a week. It was fascinating and well-written. In many places I felt like I was reading about my parents' childhood as they both were growing up in the years that this book takes place.

The third book I have picked up so far this year was the second book in my mom's Wolff Mountain series. You can't buy it yet, but she gave me one of her advance copies to read. I loved it and really think it's her best book yet.

Now I've moved on to the Hunger Games.