Little House in the Big Woods

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyed studying this with my Littles. Somehow I think I missed reading these as a child!

Beautiful Affliction

Beautiful Affliction by Lene Fogelberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the poetic and lyrical style of this memoir written by a woman born with a congenital heart defect that went undiagnosed for 30 years. Incredible story.

When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow. One of the most worthwhile things I've read.

El Deafo

El Deafo by Cece Bell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deserving of its Newbery Honor, for sure.

As the Waltz Was Ending

As the Waltz Was Ending by Emma Macalik Butterworth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Incredible true story of a young ballerina in Vienna during WWII. The writing wasn't fantastic, but the story was raw and engaging. Worth tracking down a copy.

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story gets 5 stars. The writing wasn't the best though. Love him.

Priceless

Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've thought about and referenced this book a lot more than I expected I would. Really quite interesting.

The Book of Mormon Girl

The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith by Joanna Brooks
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

She makes some valid points, but she strikes a self-righteous tone that I had a really hard time with.

Carry On, Warrior - TLC Book Tour

Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Melton

Publisher: Scribner
Publication date: April 2, 2013
Hardcover: 288 pages
Price: $25.00

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Perhaps like many of you, I read Glennon's essay in the Huffington Post as it made the rounds through Facebook last year. I felt like she was writing things I have thought in a way that I wish I had 1/100th of her talent to express.

I am delighted to be on this book tour. The book combines many of her essays from her blog with a few new items so that the book flows and carries some important threads throughout.

I really loved this book. Not because I agreed with everything she said, because I didn't. But she is refreshingly honest and true to herself and her readers. She made me think about how I view myself and others, and especially about my relationships with my family. And while a lot of the book is pretty serious, there are some essays that had me laughing so hard I couldn't wait to share them with my husband. And then we laughed together some more.

Connect with Glennon at Momastery.com or on the Momastery Facebook page.
 Check out the other great reviews on this tour!

Source: I received this book from the publisher as part of the TLC Book Tour.

Born to Run

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
 
On the library shelves: Adult Non-fiction
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Christopher McDougall liked to run, but he kept sustaining injuries. After visits to numerous doctors, he went on a quest of sorts to Mexico where he met the Tarahumara Indians. He was shocked to discover the tribe runs for days on end, for FUN. They are a peace-loving people with incredible stamina who run wearing sandals made from tires.

McDougall went on to research the world of ultramarathoners, learning about the personalities and drive of those who are drawn to the sport. He also investigated the science behind human running and put forward the notion that we evolved to run.

McDougall formed a special bond with an American man known as Caballo Blanco who lived among the Tarahumara. The book culminates with a race Caballo organized between some of the best ultramarathoners and the Tarahumara. Caballo Blanco died recently, making this a timely book to read and consider. Check out this article from the New York Times.

I am not a runner. Reading this book did not make me want to take up running, but I found it fascinating nonetheless. I think the science aspect was a little one-sided and I would have liked the author to have presented more about the alternative points of view. But my book club found lots of topics related to this book to discuss including physical and mental health and consumerism. I personally really enjoyed this book--part science, part memoir, part biography--and came away with lots of interesting things to think about.

Also reviewed by: I Am A Reader, Not A Writer ~ Your link here?
Source: Library

Watch Christopher McDougall speak at TED here:

Heaven Is Here

Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy by Stephanie Nielson

On the library stacks: Adult Biography
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I should say up front that I know Stephanie and her sweet family. We lived in the same area in New Jersey for a couple of years and we went to church together. In August 2008, Stephanie (a popular blogger), her husband Christian, and their friend and flight instructor Doug were in an airplane crash. Doug passed away after a short time, Christian broke his back and has burns on 30% of his body, and Stephanie has burns on nearly 80% of her body.

This book starts out talking some about the crash. Then it goes back in time to Stephanie's upbringing, her love story with Christian, and then chronicles their life together until the time of the crash. After the crash, Stephanie discusses how hard it was to accept her new self, to connect with her children again after being in a coma for months, and to move forward in a different life to the one she had planned.

I think the highest recommendation I can give this book is that I can hear Stephanie's voice throughout the book. Not only is it well-written, but the sentiments are authentic and genuine. I read the book in one sitting, both laughing and crying as I read. I think this would make a great book club pick and a great gift. I've already purchased one for a friend.

Source: Library

Tuesdays with Morrie

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

AR Book Level: 5.5
On the library stacks: Adult Biography
Awards: ABBY Children's Award/Honor Book; Christopher Award

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For those who aren't familiar with this book (or the movie) this is the story of the last days of one of Mitch Albom's professors, Morrie Schwartz, who passed away from Lou Gehrig disease. Mitch visited Morrie for 13 Tuesdays and recorded the life lessons Morrie taught.

Nothing in the book was really new or earth-shattering, but it's a book that is a good reminder about the important things in life. It's a sweet story and I was surprised at how emotional I got at the ending. I think I liked The Last Lecture better, but this is a quick read and well worth the time.

Here's my favorite quote:

Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, it's also the positive that you understand that you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it...if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more.

Source: BookMooch

The Ditchdigger's Daughters

The Ditchdigger's Daughters: A Black Family's Astonishing Success Story by Yvonne S. Thornton

AR Reading Level: 6.4
On the library stacks: Adult Non-fiction
Award: Society of School Libr. International Best/Honor
Appropriate for: High School +

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My book club was choosing our books for the new year and my husband chimed in that we ought to read this book. He had read it in college and thought we would like it. I think he was right!

Yvonne Thornton is one of 5 African-American daughters born into poverty in Long Branch, New Jersey. Her parents were determined that the girls would rise above the preconceptions of others based on their gender and race. Yvonne's father told the girls that they were all going to be doctors. The methods Donald Thornton used to encourage his girls may be up for debate. But the results are not.

While all the girls do not ultimately become doctors, they are all successful women. Yvonne is one of the premier OB/GYN specialists in this country. This book is fascinating and inspiring and very well-written. It was published in 1995 and I was happy find out that Yvonne published a sequel more specifically about her journey as a doctor in 2010.

Source: My husband brought this one into the marriage. That's almost 14 years in my TBR pile!

Refuge

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a naturalist, Terry Tempest Williams takes a special interest in the birds that live and migrate seasonally in the area of The Great Salt Lake. In 1983, she learns that her mother, already a breast cancer survivor, was dying from colon cancer. It is during this same season that the birds' refuge becomes threatened by rising water levels. Terry beautifully weaves these two events into a memoir that is richly descriptive and quite emotional.

I loved how each chapter focuses on a specific type of bird. Either Terry describes that bird and it's habitat or characteristics, or she relates it to something specific happening in her life. I went to college in Utah, so I enjoyed reading this book set in an area familiar to me. And yet the way this book was written, I also felt I was able to see it through new eyes.

The way Williams chooses to live and express her feelings about the Mormon faith made me a little uncomfortable. But I was so intrigued by this author that I even did some further reading online to get a sense of what she has done since this book was published in 1994. Williams definitely has a great passion for those she loves and for her life's work.

Source: BookMooch

Under the Tuscan Sun

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

On the library stacks: Adult Non-fiction
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I remember watching this movie years ago and enjoying it. I traveled to Tuscany as a teenager and I felt the cinematography brilliantly captured the essence of the beautiful landscape. The book, however, is very different from the movie--in large part, because there really is no plot to the book.

In 1988, Frances Mayes was a divorced professor, living in the Bay Area. In 1989, she and her partner Ed, decided to purchase a 250-year old farmhouse named Bramasole in Cortona, Italy. The book is really a somewhat random collection of her thoughts as they go through the decision to buy the home, perform the much-needed restoration, transform the land, play tourists, and host dinner parties. Some chapters contain recipes, in some we follow her footsteps as she explores a nearby town, and in others she explains the the difficulties inherent in such a huge undertaking.

For me, the book moved really slowly. It's the sort of book you can put down and pick up at any time. Mayes does a nice job describing the land, the food, the weather and the house. But because the book is a compilation of sorts, some things got repeated and the word "Etruscan" was overused. I really wanted to connect more with Frances, Ed, and her daughter Ashley, but I felt like there was a wall put up between us and she wouldn't let me in. Perhaps travel/home remodeling memoirs are just not for me.

Also reviewed by: Silly Little Mischief ~  Bermudaonion's Weblog ~ Book Nut ~ Your link here?
Source: BookMooch

The Tennis Partner

The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese

On the library stacks: Adult Biography

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Long before he wrote Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese, an internal medicine physician and professor, wrote this memoir. This book covers the short period of time in the mid-1990s when Verghese moves to El Paso, his marriage ends, and he strikes up a tennis-centered friendship with one of his medical students.

Verghese noticed David Smith right away. He was a foreigner, like himself, and a little older than the other students. Verghese had heard that Smith once played on the tennis pro tour. Against his better judgment, he asks David to hit balls one night, and their friendship begins. What Verghese doesn't know at the time, is that David was a recovering intravenous drug addict. But their bi-weekly tennis dates ground both men as they struggle through some big changes in their respective lives.

This book is a somber, but well-written account that includes tennis-as-life analogies, Verghese's impressions of the dichotomies of the city of El Paso, the dark world of drug addiction, and reflections on some of his patients, particularly those suffering with AIDS. This book was definitely eye-opening for me, but also heart-wrenchingly sad. I think this book would appeal to readers who are interested in the medical field and/or love tennis. But don't expect this book to be a pick-me-up. It's honest and raw and left me with a tender heart for those who suffer in both body and mind.

Source: Borrowed

Inconceivable - TLC Book Tour

Inconceivable by Carolyn & Sean Savage

Publisher: HarperOne
Publication date: February 14, 2011
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN: 9780062004635
Price: $26.99
On the library stacks: Adult Non-fiction

This is the incredible true story of a botched IVF that resulted in a woman pregnant with the wrong couple's embryo. Even though I knew from the beginning that Sean and Carolyn Savage decide to carry the baby to term and give the baby to the biological parents willingly, I was still thoroughly engrossed in their journey.



Told from the perspective of both husband and wife, the book is absolutely heart-wrenching and honest. I respect the Savages not only for their profound gift of love, but also because they don't gloss over the ugly parts that might not put them in the best light. Their feelings are tangibly real and their decision to share their thoughts at every stage of their pregnancy takes amazing courage.

I can't remember the last time a book affected me so profoundly. I hurt for the Savages, I tried to put myself into the shoes of the biological couple, I wrestled with some of the religious predicaments and pondered God's will and role in all of it. Have tissues handy for this one.

The Savages can be found online:

• On their website
• On their blog
• On Facebook

Other book tour stops:

February 25th: Good Girl Gone Redneck
March 1st: A Birth Mother Voice
March 2nd: Heart Cries
March 3rd: After ‘I Do’
March 8th: One More Ladybug
March 9th: The Privileged Infertile
March 10th: Book Club Classics!
March 15th: 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
March 16th: Football and Fried Rice
March 17th: Luxury Reading
March 18th: Take Me Away

Source: I received this book from the publisher as part of the TLC Book Tour.

Guests of the Sheik

Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea

On the library stacks: Adult non-fiction

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is the fascinating account of a newly-married woman who lived with her husband in a remote Shiite village in Iraq from 1957-58. Elizabeth's husband Bob was doing graduate work studying anthropology both in Baghdad and a rural community called El Nahra. In this book, Elizabeth details her time in El Nahra among the women.

While Elizabeth thought her presence might cause envy among the women, instead she found that they actually felt sorry for her. The city of Baghdad was much more progressive than the outlying areas during that time period, and Elizabeth did not wear the veil, or abayah, while she lived there. She was determined to stay true to herself and her cultural identity when they moved to the village. But after being stared at and somewhat ridiculed, she changed her mind and wore it all the time.

I love how this book made me think about how many of my strongly-held ideals are a function of my cultural traditions and how they could quite possibly be completely irrational in a different setting. One thing that really stuck out to me is how being separated from one's mother, either by death or by distance, was considered to be a life-altering sadness. I also liked when the women of the village came to stay by Elizabeth's bedside the whole time she was sick. To them nothing was worse than being alone while unwell. But really, Elizabeth just wanted to be left alone.

This book is written in a casual tone that I really liked. I enjoyed getting to know Elizabeth and the women of the village who became such an important part of her life. (She even named one of her daughters Laila after one of her new friends.) Elizabeth thought she would be teaching them her modern ideas, but instead her time there became a journey of self-discovery as she allowed them to teach her.

Source: Kindle purchase

Brainiac

Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs by Ken Jennings

On the library stacks: Non-fiction
Recommended for: Trivia fans

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't even watch Jeopardy! (don't forget the exclamation mark) nor did I see Ken's historic 74-win run. But I do like trivia and since Ken and I went to the same college at about the same time, I thought I would give this book a try.

I got an unexpectedly delightful surprise on the first page when I realized that I knew the friend that Ken drove down to the Jeopardy! try-outs with! In fact, I have a picture of him playing a rousing game of Spoons in my college apartment on my 20th birthday. (Katie: It's EARL!) I'll admit that frequent mentions of his friend Earl throughout the book really tickled me, but I would have liked the book without them.

Set against the backdrop of Ken's $2.5 million stint on national television, this book explores the history of trivia. We learn about how trivia has become more popular in recent years first through books and newspapers, and then radio and television. We learn about pub trivia and the cutthroat world of high school and college quiz bowls. And there are thoughtful discussion of if/why we should even care about trivia.

I thought this book was fascinating and funny. I laughed out loud numerous times and I loved the trivia questions sprinkled through each chapter. This is a fun book that's a quick read (and you may even feel a little smarter when you get done with it!).

Also reviewed by: A Reader's Journal ~ So Many Books, So Little Time

Book 82 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge, Book 55 of 55 for the Countdown Challenge (2006), Book 37 of 50 for the RYOB Challenge, Book 48 of 50 for the New Author Challenge

Source: Purchased at my library book sale

Summer at Tiffany - TLC Book Tour

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: First published April 2007, Avon paperback published March 30, 2010
ISBN: 9780061189531
Pages: 290
Price: $12.99
The Author's Website

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 1945, Marjorie Jacobson was a sorority sister studying music at Iowa State University. The small-town girl and her best friend Marty decided to spend the summer working in a department store in New York City, and raised their train fare money by collecting Coke bottles on campus. But when they arrived, the jobs were taken and they went from store to store looking for work. Eventually they landed a job as the first-ever women pages at Tiffany.

I thought this book was utterly charming and entertaining to read. I loved the comical mishaps of Marjorie and Marty. Even though I've lived in New York City myself, I found her observations of the city during that time period in history fascinating and saw everything anew through her eyes. I loved her descriptions of the parade for President Eisenhower, the plane crash at the Empire State Building, and being present in Times Square for the Japanese surrender of WWII.

This truly was the summer of a lifetime for Marjorie and I thoroughly enjoyed the short time I spent with this book. I think it would make a nice book club selection or even a fun beach read.

Other tour stops:

Wednesday, June 2nd: Heart 2 Heart
Thursday, June 3rd: Til We Read Again
Monday, June 7th: Reading on a Rainy Day
Thursday, June 10th: Lisa’s Yarns
Tuesday, June 15th: Chocolate & Croissants
Wednesday, June 16th: Couture Carrie
Monday, June 21st: Grayson: A Different Shade of Gray
Tuesday, June 22nd: Beauty Parler
Wednesday, June 23rd: Dress Design Décor
Tuesday, June 29th: Solo Lisa

Book 51 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge, Book 31 of 50 for the New Author Challenge, Book 40 of 55 for the Countdown Challenge (2007)

Source: I received this book from the publisher as part of the TLC Book Tour.