Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

I read this one for my women's book club. I'd heard of Cheryl Strayed from her book Wild. But I didn't know she wrote for an advice column. That's where this book comes from. This book contains letters from people asking her advice and her responses. She also throws in a lot of life stories, so I'd almost call it a mini memoir.

It's pretty fabulous. I only have a couple of gripes that I'll throw out quickly. Her advice never really takes into account mental illness, but she does make it clear that she is not a psychologist/therapist and that her advice is opinion only in the introduction. I also realize that the people she gives her advice to wrote into her asking for her advice...But still. There's quite a bit of "have some will power and get off your lazy duff and if I can do it so can you" rhetoric. Some was needed and others? Well.....and the If I can do it, you can too is a bit much towards the end...

But really and truly most of her advice is pretty fabulous. She really talks about making the most of your life no matter what you've been through. That's powerful and much needed.

I'm just going to post a few of my favorite quotes throughout the book for the rest of my review :)

A woman who lost her baby six months into her pregnancy writes in about how to get through her grief, how to get unstuck.

(p. 22) "This is how you get unstuck...you reach. Not so you can walk away from the daughter you loved but so you can live the life that is yours--the one that includes the sad loss of your daughter, but is not arrested by it. The one that eventually leads you to a place in which you not only grieve her, but also feel lucky to have had the privilege of loving her."

Advice in love: (p. 18) "...Don't be strategic or coy. Strategic and coy are for jackasses. Be brave. Be authentic. Practice saying the word 'love' to the people you love so when it matters the most to say it, you will."

"Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Make it yours. Feed it to yourself even it feels impossible to swallow. Let it nurture you, because it will." (p. 133)

"When it comes to our children, we do not have the luxury of despair. If we rise, they will rise with us every time, no matter how many times we've fallen before. I hope you will remember that the next you fail." (p. 348)

This is definitely my favorite of 2013 so far.

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver opens her book with a delightful and imaginative first chapter. I was really drawn in. What did Dellarobia actually see? We finally find out that her "vision" was a completely natural, or at least one that shouldn't be natural. Butterflies have landed on her family's land when they're actually supposed to be hanging out in Mexico.




Kingsolver really combines the consequences of climate change with how it effects those who still make their living on the land. She gives us characters to love, who change, reflect, and think ahead. She mixes a story of faith and science and how the twain can meet. And for that reason alone, this is a book worth reading.

But alas, I only give it a 3ish star because it wasn't a page turner. It took me awhile to read the book and it dragged in the middle. So I didn't love it but I like it and it was worth reading because it's an important topic and needs to be addressed.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"Hester wasn't the only one living in fantasy land with righteousness on her side; people just did that, this family and maybe all others. They built their tidy houses of self-importance and special blessing and went inside and slammed the door, unaware the mountain behind them was aflame." p.22-23

"But being a stay-at-home mom was the loneliest kind of lonely, in which she was always and never by herself." p.59

"When she walked among these girls (ewes) they parted slowly like heavy water and looked up at her with an outlandish composure, their amber eyes eerily divided by horizontal pupils." p. 332

"...citizens of their own cheerful universe despite their full awareness of its unraveling." p. 341

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Source

Neil Gaiman takes the African god of mischief and mayhem, Anansi the spider, and takes him and his family into modern day. Neil Gaiman has an obsession with all things mythological, I think. This book is no exception. Fat Charlie (who's not fat) has always been down on his luck and embarrassed by his father all his life. When his father dies, he soon learns that his father was a trickster god and that his unknown brother got all the awesome god powers. His brother Spider comes into life and starts to mess it up even more. Spider moves in and begins to steal his fiancee, his job, etc. Fat Charlie decides to get revenge which ends up messing up things even more.

It's pretty light-hearted, for the most part. But I have a hard time with characters that get oppressed and oppressed for too long. Charlie didn't get redeemed til toward the end. And overall, I just didn't care a lot about the characters.

I love what Neil Gaiman's trying to do with his books. They make for some interesting stories, for sure. But I haven't been able to really get into his books, yet. I'm working on American Gods right now....

I read this for one of my book clubs and used a library copy.

Room by Emma Donoghue

Genre: contemporary fiction,
FTC Disclosure: bought from Barnes and Noble
Published: 2010
Pages: 210
Content: abuse theme, psychological trauma


 There may be a spoiler or two in here! Sorry!

I went through a lot of emotions with this book, and I think that makes for a great book in the end. The whole story is told through the eyes of Jack, a five-year-old boy. His whole world is contained within a tiny room with only his mother for company. We soon learn that she was kidnapped at age 19 and has been held captive for seven years in this tiny room...after two years she had Jack.

The book goes through so many themes/ideas. One that struck me was this woman's relationship with her son Jack. She worked really hard to make his life as normal as possible given the circumstances...I kept thinking what I would have done in a situation like that. She said that Jack was her miracle. I think it was her way of being able to hold on and keep her own sanity. But that also got me thinking about what that really means...she had Jack for purely selfish reasons...and it shows after they escape and start to integrate into the real world. But that's what makes this book so intriguing. There are just so many emotions that run. I have no idea what I would really do in a situation like that, but I can tell you what I'd think I do. And isn't that what we always do when we here about other people's experiences and situations?

One thing I didn't like was the perspective of Jack. The storytelling was distracting from his point of view even though it also made it different. There were some inconsistencies as well in his dialogue...like he'd know a word at one time and then not know it later on. It was kind of weird. Also a few plot holes, too.

I thought the last half of the book really picked up after they try and reintegrate. We see how Jack's mother completely loses it after having kept it together soley for her son during their captivity. I liked how Jack was able to slowly start opening up to his other family aka grandparents, uncle, aunt, cousin. I'll admit, though, it was brutal to see how Jack's mother treats him after their escape. That's where the selfish part of her comes in. Since the book was written from Jack's perspective, he is the one character I truly care about. So I found myself really getting angry with his mother when she starts shutting down and not paying attention to him for a bit...but then I would think about what she went through...yeah, it's understandable.

Whew. Basically, this book made me think. I got really mad at times and then wondered why I was mad. I had to think from so many different perspectives...mine, mother, Jack, his grandparents. It's a journey that tears you down and then builds you back up.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Genre: memoir
FTC Disclosure: bought from Dragons and Fairytales
Published: 2006
Pages: 288
Content: Violence and language

Summary: Jeannette Walls puts all her childhood memories into a book and explores the good and the bad of growing up with crazy, crazy-smart, and crazy-negligent parents.

Review: Jeannette describes her crazy, poverty-stricken childhood. Her parents were definitely off their rockers and were pretty much horrible parents. Her mother hardly seemed to care whether they were there or not and pretty much left them to raise themselves. Her father was overly paranoid, an alcoholic, and put his kids in a lot of dangerous situations.

She starts off when she was three and was making herself a hotdog over the stove and her dress caught on fire and she received third degree burns. She writes from an unemotional distance. It's like she was separating herself from the traumatic events of her childhood. I thought this was a little off-putting and one in which I couldn't quite connect with her or her family. She does put a few quotes in or lessons she learned after the crazy stuff but not much...in the end it just was done. I expect a memoir to be a bit on the uplifting side and this one just didn't pack the emotional oomph I was looking for.

The kids turned out OK, but I'm not sure what she was trying to tell us about her story. "Look how crazy my family was and how I turned out???" Maybe she just wanted it told and that was that. I don't know, maybe I was expecting too much from this one.


But overall, it was a fascinating and yet horrible story. It was like a train wreck...you just couldn't look away.

Rating: 3/5 stars 


Other covers:

I like the car jumper! It definitely pops the story for me.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

*My copy

Genre: Modern classic, Jane Eyre-inspired, mystery
FTC Disclosure: bought second-hand.
Published: 1938
Pages: 380
Content: PG for mild violence. Nothing really offensive.

Mrs. de Winter lives in the shadow of the former Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca. She thinks everyone loved her more, especially her new husband Maxim. But she soon learns that all is not what it seems, especially Rebecca and her housekeeper Mrs. Danvers.

Pros: The mystery was excellent. Who was Rebecca? What really happened to her? Mrs. Danvers? Yup, it was good. I definitely saw the Jane Eyre influences throughout the book, which was also fun. Du Maurier really had a way of describing the setting. I could see the big house they live in, the garden and ocean, etc.

The main thing I enjoyed was her moral ambiguity at the end...SPOILER ALERT....................................................................................................................................................................










Maxim is not a very likable guy either. He's mean and brutish and moody and demanding but he seems like a decent enough person....and then you find out he really did kill his wife. I kept thinking it would be some sort of accidental death by him or Rebecca was so devious she convinced him that he had done it when she really had just killed herself...but, nope, he did it and he wasn't really sorry about it.  In order to avoid the awful controversy of divorce with his sociopathic wife, he'd rather just kill her instead. Granted, it wasn't premeditated murder but he still brought the gun and shot her dead. So I was left to ponder some things. Was what he did really justified? No. He should definitely have gone to prison for what he did. But you kind of feel for him and his new wife and they painted such a horrible picture of Rebecca so you don't feel too bad she died....but still. Anyway, good stuff.





END SPOILER ALERT!

The ending was just kind of left in the air...what happened? She never wrote a sequel...sigh. Good stuff.


Cons: I just had a hard time caring about our protagonist Mrs. de Winter...she was just so timid and shy and didn't seem to have much of a backbone. She was always whining about trying to please her husband all the time...would he like this, is he mad about this, etc. I understand why she was like this...but this didn't make her sympathetic. Maxim wasn't likable, either. I kept thinking he was kind of a pedophile, I mean, he kept referring to her as a child and treating her as one...petting her head, making her feel stupid, etc. She was half his age, but still....kind of creepy.

But overall, a great classic mystery! And is definitely worth a read!

Rating: 4 stars

Other Covers:

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I wish I had gotten my hands on one of these editions! I really like them both but the blue R-ed one really stands out to me.

*Image Source from Yet Another Wordpress Blog.
+Image Source from Book Stains.
=Image Source from The Bookish Type.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Genre: contemporary fiction, social commentary
FTC Disclosure: bought from Target
Published: 2008
Pages: 266
Content: There is some language, violence, and sexual situations.

In a Line: I liked it! I really liked it!

I just really enjoyed how Cleave was able to tell the story by using two completely different women. I loved each woman's perspective. They each had something to learn and something to share.

Little Bee is a refugee from Nigeria fleeing for her life. Sarah is a magazine editor who has just lost her husband. Little Bee seeks out Sarah since she is the only person she knows in England after she leaves the refugee center. Sarah struggles with mourning her husband, raising her son Charlie, and figuring out how to deal with the skeletons in her closet. Little Bee has secrets too...But they both learn how to forgive, to move on, and to love.

Sarah isn't perfect, far from it...but it made her more real, a deeply flawed and human character but one that can rise above it all and live. Little Bee is young and yet so wise beyond her years. She is able to sense what is needed and provide it. The bond that forms is truly remarkable.

The story is horrific and beautiful and I really enjoyed being along for the ride. This is an important story to be told on immigration and refugee centers as well as commentary on how Africa continues to be forgotten. It's a beautiful wake-up and I recommend it for everyone.

Quote: I felt my heart take off lightly like a butterfly and I though, yes, this is it, something has survived in me, something that does not need to run anymore, because it is worth more than all the money in the world and its currency, its true home, is the living. And not just the living in this particular country or in that particular country, but the secret, irresistible heart of the living. I smiled back at Charlie and I knew that the hopes of this whole human world could fit inside one soul.

Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox

Genre: teen fiction, fantasy
FTC Disclosure: bought from Amazon.com
Published: 2007
Pages: 464 
Content: PG

One line review: Fantastic writing but a rather odd ending.

Elizabeth Knox really has a knack for drawing you in and getting you excited about this world and its characters. I really enjoyed this one, overall, better than the first book. Events and plot moved along a lot faster this time around and I really enjoyed that. We learn more about the Place and why it appeared and how Laura and her family are connected. There's also an evil plot afoot from a someone in authority that needs to be dealt with. She also explores faith and unbelief and power and control. And I definitely was not expecting the ending. She had be guessing for quite awhile. Sometimes I would stop and think after a chapter and ponder what was really going on and make my own guesses.

But the ending!!! Yikes...we've got time travel, a time paradox and some slightly odd relationships going on in the end...really odd, actually...disturbingly so. I'm not sure why she had to write it like this. But I don't want to give it all away and may have already if you decide to read both books.

I loved the series. It was different and interesting. I cared about the characters; they were real, and the writing is just fantastic. But the ending was a huge disappointment. Others may feel differently, though. So go ahead and give it a try.

My review of Dreamhunter is here.

Rating: 4/5 stars

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Genre: Modern classic
FTC Disclosure: bought from Target
Published: 1943
Pages: 430
Content: PG-13

One Line Summary: A beautiful coming-of-age story.

From Goodreads: The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience. 

I enjoyed reading about Francie and her journey with her family in Brooklyn. Even though our childhoods were completely different I still felt like I could identify with her struggles. I could see pieces of me growing up with siblings, the wants and longings of our childhood hearts.

It was amazing to find myself in her neighborhood, what it was like growing up in that era where everyone knows everyone, for good or bad. I loved how Francie loved to read and learn and was able to finally move forward on her dreams. I was also shown the deep love a child can have for her father even when he is less than perfect. Even though Francie's father was an alcoholic, he was still a loving father and enjoyed his children. There are many scenes in the book that really make you think about your worldview and to reexamine yourself accordingly. That's what a classic is supposed to do...entertain and make you think. This one does both in abundance.


Rating: 5/5

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Genre: dystopia, young adult
FTC Disclosure: bought Costco
Published: 2010
Pages: 398
Content: PG-13

In a Line: Slow start then raced to the finish line.

It had been a year since I read the first two books in the series...not a good idea. I really need to wait to read series' until they are all out...there was a lot that I couldn't quite remember from the first two that would've made the reading of the last book a bit more enjoyable.

The third book started off really, really slow for me. Then the ending went up in smoke and I had to reread parts just to make sure I got them.

The descriptions of the rebel district were fascinating. It sounded very Big Brother communism. Everything's the same and everyone. Each had their own part whether you liked it or not. So it got you thinking about what kind of place the rebels would be replacing...Why were they really rebelling? Was it for the people? Or was it really for power, power for President Coin? I didn't like where that plot line was leading. They want to replace one crappy government for another???

I also felt that Katniss was just lead along and not really proactive in her life. She kept getting blown up or almost assassinated in every chapter. She was just a pawn for everyone else. But I guess that was the point. She just went along with everything until it really mattered and that's when she takes everything into her own hands. She's a survivor and that's what she does.

I think Collins does a pretty good job on talking about the horrors of war and the reasons for it. She may have hit it over our heads a bit too much in the last book, but overall I think the theme is an important one. I really just wanted more. The book was too short and short on the details. I have so many questions about the Hunger Games world. Maybe she'll come out with an encyclopedia of their world and satisfy my curiosity. But the ending really was done too fast. It took awhile for her to build up to the last battle and then it was over and done with before I even blinked. It was like she had a deadline and she rushed to keep it.

The first two books were better, but overall I was satisfied with this one.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

Genre: historical fiction
FTC Disclosure: bought from Barnes and Noble
Published: 1996
Pages: 448
Content: PG-13

This book is based on the myth of a woman pope who reigned for a few years in the early Middle Ages. Cross found what she could on this legendary character and weaved a beautiful story around her. What were her origins? How did she get her learning since females weren't allowed to learn much if anything? How did she rise to the position of the pope? These are many of the questions that she answers.

I loved reading about Joan. She's a strong female character, one that stands up against any age. She grows from a small girl who is abused by her horrible father and escapes with her learning, falls in love with her care taker, and eventually disguises herself as a man.

Cross really knows how to tell a story. I was enthralled and horrified from page one. The last 1/4 of the book slows down a bit, but that's to be expected.

The parts that really spoke to me were Joan's ability to think rationally as possible and sort through problems and come up with solutions, especially in a time so full of superstition. She had doubts about God and her faith and that was OK. The way she handles what life has to throw at her is something, I think, we can all aspire to.

Rating: 5/5

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Genre: classic, historical fiction, Victorian England
FTC Disclosure: bought from Barnes and Noble
Published: 1854
Pages: 422
Content: PG

Gaskell gives a beautiful and poignant look at the merchant sector of the time in England. Margaret is from the South and a lady and is forced to move to Milton with her parents due to his loss of faith as a clergyman.

Margaret soon learns to see things from a different perspective as she lives among those who aren't of her "class."

There also is a bit of romance in here between her and the local cotton mill owner Mr. Thornton...!

The characters are engrossing. The story moves along at a steady pace. The only thing that was irksome were all the literary references that I have no clue about! It's only due to my own ignorance, though. Luckily, my copy had a few endnotes to help me out!

I can see why this is a classic! Oh, and the movie is superb as well, if anyone desires to see it.

Rating: 4/5 stars

I also recommend watching the newest version of North and South by BBC. It's brilliant!

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Genre: southern fiction
FTC Disclosure: bought used from Amazon.com
Published: 1987
Pages: 416
Content: PG-13 for violence, language, and adult themes
  
While I enjoyed the movie better, the book is still a beautiful tale of women finding out who they are.

I fell in love with the town of Whistle Stop. It's the kind of town you just wish you'd been apart of.

We follow Evelyn in the present time as she meets Ninny Threadgoode who begins to tell her about Idgie and Ruth and their times in Whistle Stop. Evelyn, throughout the story, makes her own journey like Idgie and Ruth to find herself by taking her own life into her hands, to make her own fate instead of others deciding for her.

The novel jumps around a lot from the POV of different people in Whistle Stop through newspaper articles as well as third person narrative as well as Ninny's narrative. Sometimes it got a bit confusing since there were so many characters to follow.

There are also plenty of themes running through the book: lesbianism, sexism and women's rights, racism, etc. I didn't agree with everything Flagg had to say, but I enjoyed the journey of listening to it anyway.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale by Donna Jo Napoli

Genre: young adult
FTC Disclosure: bought from Amazon.com
Published: 2007
Pages: 320
Content: PG for violence/adult themes.

Hmmm....I liked the idea behind the story. But I felt that this one could have been done so much better. This story should've been told as a regular historical fiction novel and not as youth fiction.

We follow Mel, an Irish princess, as she is kidnapped and sold into slavery as a concubine. She's abducted with her sister as they are traveling to safety while their father is attacking some Viking royalty at home. They are to return when they here all is safe.

This is told in first person present tense, which is really difficult to write, in my opinion. And, for me, the story was hindered by it. We only get Mel's perspective and it's very splotchy. The story moves too fast and then too slow. I don't really feel like I get into her head with this perspective. Plus we never learn about others' thoughts and feelings within her world. We never learn about what happened to her sister when she escapes or if her family was killed in that attack. Also the story just ends. I want to know more about how she handles being in a home where she's a concubine, where she has to deal with his wife and how she handles having a child with this man who has raped her over a course of three months. I just felt it would have been a better story in a more adult context. I wanted to know her nitty gritty details about how she was handling all of this horror from being pampered royalty to becoming a slave and then to becoming a sex slave.

It does make you think about slavery and history and women's rights, etc, but not too much. It just could've been handled a lot better.

Rating: 2/5

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: young adult, historical fiction, slavery, Revolutionary War
FTC Disclosure: bought from Dragons and Fairy Tales
Published: 2008
Pages: 300
Content: PG for violence and war
Reading Challenges: Women Unbound, A to Z Challenge (Title C), 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge, Black History Month mini reading challenge

One Line Summary: Which side to join? The patriots or loyalists when one is a slave.

I liked this book. It was a little slow to start with but picked up towards the middle. We follow slave Isabel and her little sister Ruth from the death of mother and her mistress to being illegally sold to a Loyalist family in New York.

Isabel reaches New York just a couple of months before independence is declared in July of 1776. Her goal is to survive long enough to escape with her sister back to her home of Rhode Island. But now she's caught between to wars and oppressors vieing for her loyalty. Her only friend is fellow slave Curzon whose master is a Patriot. She agrees to spy on her master in order to gain her freedom.

This was a great introduction for early teens/preteens to get into historical fiction and slavery. Things move along at a pretty fast rate and lots of information is thrown in too. But as an adult I found it a bit too simplified and not enough character development. I wanted to know more about Isabel, but Anderson just didn't share enough. I wanted more details, etc. But like I said it's a great intro for kids into this material. And it opens up plenty of discussion about the Revolutionary War and slavery so that's always a good thing.

I picked this one up for my book club; it was my turn to pick a book and thought this would be a great one for Black History month and since the main character is a woman I also felt it would go right along with my Women Unbound Challenge as well.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Genre: historical fiction, romance, epistolary
FTC Disclosure: Bought from Amazon.com
Published: 2008
Pages: 274
Content: PG for adult themes and war imagery.
Reading Challenge: A to Z Challenge (Title G)

Summary: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Thoughts: First thought....it was beautiful, fun, romantic, sad, hopeful, and captivating. This is my second epistolary novel and I love them. The authors weaved a beautiful story all from letters. Letters convey such a different emotion...it feels so personal, like these people actually exist and we're sneaking in on their personal lives by reading their letters. It was like coming across some old letters of my grandmother's in the upstairs attic (don't have an attic, but you get the point!).

We learn all about Guernsey island during the German occupation of World War II. I'm sure I learned at some point that some part of England was occupied, but if I did it never stuck...I had no idea that these islands had been taken by Germany. It was a new experience for me to learn how some of our allies fared during the War. What makes it even more poignant is we learn about these experiences from people that we come to love and care about in the novel. So when they laugh, we laugh; when they cry, we cry.

If you haven't read this one, do! Pick it up! You won't be sorry!

Rating: 5/5!!!

Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox

From Goodreads: Laura comes from a world similar to our own except for one difference: It is next to the Place, an unfathomable land that fosters dreams of every kind and is inaccessible to all but a select few, the dreamhunters. These are individuals with the ability to catch larger-than-life dreams and relay them to audiences in the magnificent dream palace. People travel from all around to experience the benefits of the hunters’ unique visions.
     Now, fifteen-year-old Laura and her cousin Rose, daughters of dreamhunters, are old enough to find out if they qualify to enter the Place. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to discover. In the midst of a fascinating landscape, Laura’s dreamy childhood is ending, and a nightmare is beginning.

I had a feeling I was going to love this book when it was suggested for my book club. I'm a big fantasy and YA junkie so this seemed like the perfect fit for me. This is unlike any book I've ever read before. I was drawn into Laura's world of the dreamhunters. This takes place in the early twentieth century and has a steampunk feel; an alternate history since the dreamhunters entered the world. I enjoyed the struggle Laura felt as she has to grow up once she realizes she is also a dreamhunter like her father. Her cousin is not and she has to do things on her own in order to find out why her father disappeared and what The Place actually is.


The relationship between Laura and her cousin is beautiful. Even though Rose couldn't go with Laura into The Place she was still there for Laura. Their relationship is one I wish I could have with my own sisters.

It's a unique and interesting story; I loved it! January I start reading its sequel, Dreamquake!

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

What makes a great book? When you are yelling at the characters while reading! Yes, I did this. Katniss and the rest of the districts are slowly rebelling against the evil Capitol...President Snow retaliates by sending all the previous victors of the Hunger Games into the arena to fight it out. Can Katniss save Peeta or herself and thus her family?

This is an excellent series and I can't wait for the third book! Katniss is an unassuming hero and that's why I love her. She knows what's good and right and she doesn't even realize it. We also have another love triangle with Katniss and her two guys Gale and Peeta. We love them both! Well, I do anyway.

The world of the Hunger Games is just scary. Could our society ever become as debase and freedomless as this one?

This series is definitely one I'll repeat again and again!

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Seedfolks follows the perspectives of various people within a community. It starts of with little Kim trying to get her seeds to grow in a vacant lot right outside her apartment building. With each new perspective we see this little garden grow and how it brings together a small and diverse community. We see hate turn to love and to respect. Instead of phrases like "that Chinese woman" turns into "the school teacher." It's little things like this that make this short story so magical.

Character observations: Gonzalo: "The older you are, the younger you get when you move to the United States."

Wendell: "There's plenty about my life I can't change...But a patch of ground in this trashy lot--I can change that. Can change it big."

Nora: "Yet we were all subject to the same weather and pests, the same neighborhood, and the same parental emotions toward our plants...We, like our seeds, were no planted in the garden."

Amir: "The object in America is to avoid contact, to treat all as foes unless they're known to be friends."

Each character has these little quotes and observations as they each partake in some way of the community garden. It's full of life's rich lessons and one I will continue to read to my child.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss is one of those beautiful characters that doesn't realize how great they are! She lives in a brutal post-apocalyptic world where the government uses brutal hunger games to keep the population in line. It reminds me a lot of the Running Man type reality. It's brutal and horrible. I feel it's kind of a social commentary on where our world could be heading...It's the first book in a trilogy and it doesn't disappoint!