Stories I Only Tell My Friends

This is the July book club book.  I love a good biography, autobiography, or memoir.  {Let's be honest, I even like mediocre ones ;)}  So again I had high hopes.  Once again it lived up...  So in June I was 2/2!  Thank goodness!!

Anyway this is the story of Rob Lowe, from his childhood days in Ohio to life as an actor in Hollywood.  He just seemed so down to earth to me.  I have always thought that he's a hottie so maybe it was just easy to read about him {since he's also easy on the eyes!}  I did not realize that he has been married for 20+ years.  That's awesome in middle America these days... unheard of in Hollywood.  This was a fun peek into a world that is so foreign to mine and super easy to read.

If you want a fun summer read, and like Rob Lowe, I say go get this bad boy.  :)

Read: June 2012
Pages: 352

One Thousand Gifts

This was the June book for Book Club.  I have been really excited to read it.  A little over a year ago a friend (who rarely reads) read this and l.o.v.e.d it!  I had high hopes since the last two books I have tried have just not resonated with me.  Well this lived up to all I hoped for it!

This is a book about a farmer's wife who begins on a journey to thank God for 1,000 gifts in her life.  She thanked him for all sorts of miniscule things... (many of my book club friends didn't really care for this part).  While in my personal praises and thanksgivings I am not so detailed I really appreciate the book.  I could relate to her in so many ways:  trying to trust God, trying to find him in everyday life, being transformed by thanksgiving.

I thought it was easy to read and the chapters were nice and short.  It took maybe a week or two to read, just reading a few chapters each night.  {These are my favorites....  short chapters, can read a little each day...}

I recommend it {I may just read it again, believe it or not}.  :)

Read: early June 2012
Pages: 240

Bossypants

So this was our May book club book.  Only two of us read it because we are just in some sort of book club funk...  It's really more of a dinner club lately.  ;)

This is another one that I wanted to hold off on writing about because I really, really wanted to finish it.  I kinda quit In the Woods so I could jump into to this one.  I had really high hopes.  It was cute.  But I don't really know that much about Tina Fey and just wasn't totally feeling this one...  I read about 3/4 of it though.  So my recommendation is that if you really like Tina Fey read it...  if you don't then don't!  :)

And just so you know I am really digging the June book club book so far.  ;)  So hopefully I will be writing about it very soon!!!

Read:  May 2012
Pages:  304

In the Woods

So I have been totally slacking lately...  mostly because I have had a lot of trouble finding a book that I love...  I have avoided posting about this one because I really wanted to finish it... alas, I haven't and have officially given up!

This one had an interesting story line...  but it was a little too much for me... it is the story of two Irish detectives who are investigating the death of a twelve year old girl.  One of the detectives had been involved in a similar tramatic event in the same woods.

It went back and forth between the two stories and was just too long for me.  For some reason I just couldn't get into it...  but you may be able to...

Read:  May 2012
Pages:  429

Trucktown series

About a month ago, James found this book at the library (he literally walked over to me while I was looking for a different book and handed it to me....  I guess the boy knows what he likes!)  This book quickly became his favorite.book {of the week ;)}.  We had to read this book literally every.single.night until it was time to go back to the library.

I was very excited because it is a series so there would be more Trucktown books that we could get from the library.  And yes we did.  :)  Here is the newest favorite.book.of.the.week:

Y'all these are seriously cute book if you have a little boy (or girl) who loves trucks!  The Truckery Rhymes is essentially Mother Goose made with the Trucktown trucks as the characters.

James has been reading some of these books!  What?!?!? This kid seriously shocks me all the time.  And by reading I mean memorizing certain words/pictures and telling me what it said.  After all the first step in learning to read is memorizing text.  YES, this is considered reading!  I am proud of my little man.  But mostly just happy that there are good books out there he likes to read!

So please, please, please give these ones a try!

James' age:  3 years 1 month

Outliers

This is one of those rare non-fiction books that I LOVE!  This book is all about how successful people become successful.  It is so interesting!  I love that the author gives the story of a successful person (The Beatles, Bill Gates, etc.) that we all know and then he digs a little deeper.

If you read any of Malcolm Gladwell's other books or Freakanomics, you will most likely like this one as well.  I really liked this one because it gave lots of personal stories, which I always love!

I suggest you read this one.  :)

Read: April 2012
Pages: 336

Little Bee

I found out about this book through a blog.  Then I read the back of the book.  It just seemed so interesting.  It basically says that two womens' lives were changed one day 2 years ago and now what is happening to them.  That's it...

What I will tell you because I don't want to be a spoiler is it is pretty heavy.  I liked the book and it made me think, it's just really heavy.... and I am not sure I loved the ending.

If you are feeling ready for a deep read, I say go for it.  If you want a beach read, this is not it.  :)

Read: April 2012
Pages:  288