The Book Thief, and Five Quarters of the Orange

I decided to write about these books together, only because I read them back-to-back, and they both take place during WWII. Other than that, they don't have too much in common. This book takes place in France, where an older woman flashes back on memories from her troubled childhood. It focuses on her relationship with her stern, and headache stricken mother, her older siblings, and a young Nazi officer. I found that I enjoyed the older woman much better than the little girl, who seemed to be quite conniving and selfish. I liked the story and would recommend it to any searching for a beautifully written book.
I enjoyed The Book Thief much more than the previous book. It takes place in Nazi Germany and is narrated by Death. Death tells Leisel's story based on her writings that he picks up along his many journeys to her hometown. Leisel is given up for Foster Care and finds she truly loves her foster parents, especially papa. He teaches her to read, and they hide and care for a Jew in their basement. This was such a compelling story, that I could not put it down. It is a very sad story, but also one about survival and understanding what is most important in life. I would definitely recommend this book!

Breaking Dawn

I hesitate to write this review because I think that it may be very unpopular with many of my friends. I decided to give this book a three out of five. I think I was being pretty generous too. I've been thinking a lot about this book so I'm going to try to list my thoughts about it and hopefully explain the rating I gave it.

The book is broken up into three separate mini books. I actually enjoyed most of the first book entitled Bella, though I thought it was a bit predictable, and even a little corny. While reading the second book, Jacob I found myself liking hearing Jacob's thoughts. It was refreshing to read from the point of view of a different character, and I thought Meyers did a good job of capturing Jacob's voice. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Bella and Rose. I thought it was funny to see them working together and taking care of each other.

Now, brace yourselves, because I'm done with the compliments for now. First of all, the book is riddled with typos. It absolutely drove me crazy. It's not just one or two, but many! I know this is a problem with editing, but really!

I absolutely hate Meyer's love scenes. This stems all the way back to the first book, Twilight, when Bella and Edward had a romantic tryst in a clearing in the forest. I just think that she belabors details and I can hardly stand to read them. I didn't totally hate all of the love scenes in this book, but there is a scene (which is NOT a love scene) at the beginning of the third section that made me want to tear my hair out. It was nasty to read, and it just kept going and going.

I don't understand the relationship between Bella and Edward. My sisters-in-law and I decided that they have an unhealthy relationship. He's bossy, and controlling, and she has to change to be what he wants her to be in order for them to be together. Also, I have no idea why they are in love, it honestly just seems that they are simply infatuated with each other. I don't feel like Meyer's ever really explained why they are in love, just that they had an immediate connection. I want more of a reason than that.

I also thought the ending was a bit disappointing, with things resolving too easily and too perfectly.

Now, I know that I have written quite a few negative things about the book, but in many ways I did like it. I couldn't put it down while reading it and a lot of things went neglected around my home. I have been thinking a lot about it since I finished it, and that tells me that I was engaged and interested. So this is why I have given the book a three. Despite my qualms about the book, it did capture my attention.

What did you think?

Plain and Simple

Ah yes, I am FINALLY getting around to writing about our MAY book club book. I actually finished it a while ago, and I have been thinking about it ever since.

It is about a woman, Sue, who leads a frazzled and busy life. One day she sees a quilt made by the Amish and is struck by the simplicity, yet ultimate beauty of the pattern. She then documents her journey to live with two different Amish families and how she struggles to calm that frenzy inside herself.

I really enjoyed the book. I thought it was thought provoking and touching, and even funny at times (I loved how she couldn't stand how the first family ate, pure carbs and junk). I kept drawing comparisons between what she wrote about the Amish traditions and beliefs, to that of my own LDS religion. There is not a whole lot similar between the religions (except the fact that both are Christian beliefs), but I was struck with the similarities of being a "peculiar people" and having outsiders struggle to understand my beliefs. I know I am not conveying this as well as I could. It was more feelings that I struggle to put into words.

The book focuses mostly on Sue's journey. She learns to take joy in all the small, day-to-day parts of life. I thought this was interesting. How often do I try to quickly get through the house work and chores in order to have time for fun later? Sue realized that the Amish took joy in everything they did. It was all truly a labor of love. I'm not sure how much Sue changed. She still seemed to be frazzled by the end of the book (though it would be hard to completely change your habits and views from two short visits with an Amish family), but I think she learned some new ways to look at life.

I liked this book. I would recommend it to others for a quick, and insightful read. Thanks Rach for recommending this one!

Prince Caspian

After seeing the movie recently, I couldn't resist re-reading this book in order to compare. There were so many things happening in the movie that I just didn't remember happening in the book, but it had been a long time since I had read it.

I really like this book, though not as much as The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. It takes place hundreds of years after the first time the Pevensie's are in Narnia, though only a year in their time. They are called back to Narnia to help put Prince Caspian in his rightful place on the throne.

It is hard for me to admit this, but I like the movie better then the book. I thought the characters where darker and more developed in the movie and the action was more interesting. The move takes some liberties and changes some time frames and a bit of the story line, but I like these changes. In the book, you miss a lot of the action because it focuses on the girls flitting about the town with Aslan. I have to say that it is such a strange part of the book and I really hated it. Luckily, this does not happen at all in the movie.

So, go see the movie. I do like all the books in this series because I think the parallels that can be drawn to our world are very interesting, but the movie is definitely a must see.

Bella at Midnight

I found myself in the mood to read something fun and someone recommended this book. I thought it seemed like just the thing that I needed. It is a twist on the Cinderella story. I have read many of these kinds of fairy tale books and I found that this was not one of my most favorites. I enjoyed it for what it was worth; a fun, fast read. I did not like the ending, and I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters, but it did fulfill my desire for a more relaxing book.

Artemis Fowl

I recently re-read all my Artemis Fowl books in a row. I was glad I did this because I had forgotten a lot of what happens and it was nice to see how it all unfolded instead of reading them when they were coming out separately. I absolutely LOVE these books. I think they are the best example of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre I have ever read and I think they are great books to turn kids, especially boys, onto reading. I found myself laughing out loud at many parts and reading them to my husband. It was a bit much to read of Artemis' adventures constantly for a few weeks, but I had nothing else to read and I had a lot of fun. There is a lot of humor, adventure and excitement in these books. I definitely recommend them to anyone in need of a good, quick no-brainer.

Peace Like a River

Ok, I know I said that this was the April book, and here we are in May, but let's just pretend that I'm not such a procrastinating slow poke.

It has been a while since I read this book and many of the details have left me. So, I decided to check out what other people thought about it on Goodreads. I realized that you either love this book or you hate it. There's no in between. I actually really liked it. I loved the sibling relationships, especially that of Rube and Swede. In fact, I absolutely loved Swede. I loved reading the excerpts of her Western story and thought that the parallels between her hero and villain to her older brother Davy's experience breathtaking. I truly loved how Enger wrote this book. I did think the miracles performed by the father were a bit hard to believe, and I believe in miracles, go figure. Anyway, there's a lot more I could say about this book, but I'll stop here since it's late and I don't have the book in front of me. What did you think?