Eat Pray Love--My Initial Response

So, have you heard of this book--Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert? I just started it last night while Derek was sleeping. I should've read a lot more given that after I turned out the lights, I laid there for two hours and had really creative and productive thoughts that I can't really remember right now. In fact, this blog post was going to be humorous and clever and well, it'll probably be neither to be honest.

I really appreciate a well crafted phrase--don't we all? You know, a quote that just says exactly what you want to say or makes you chuckle? Her book is full of those. Yes, chock full of those as well as thoughts that come across as sidenotes and you KNOW I love sidenotes. I think I pretty much only think in terms of sidenotes--I'm what you would term a detail person.

Let me share a couple of my favorite phrases:

"God never slams a door in your face without opening a box of Girl Scout cookies (or however the old adage goes)."

"But why must everything always have a practical application? I'd been such a diligent soldier for years--working, producing, never missing a deadline, taking care of my loved ones, my gums and my credit record, voting, etc. Is this lifetime supposed to be only about duty?"

I'm probably really making you all think how totally lame this book is, but if you like a novel where it feels like your best friend just called you up and is telling you the latest, this is such a great book for you. Now, remember I'm like 50 pages into this thing which isn't much--but can't those 50 pages make or break a book for you sometimes? Although I do think that I'm a bit of an overeager optimist when it comes to books. I'll hear friends discuss a book I loved and hear them confess how it started out slow and I'll be thinking, "What? Are you crazy? What did you expect the author to do kill someone in the first 50 pages?"

A new book--a GOOD, new book--almost as exciting as chocolate, but better in some ways because you don't have to exercise it off later.

Tag: Out of the Best Books

I was tagged recently, so here goes. Read to the bottom to see if I tagged you!

List 10 books you've read recently that you'd recommend to others. (One stipulation--you CAN'T list any of the Twilight series books.){In no particular order}

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner-Written by an Arizona author and tells a fictional life of a woman living in the Arizona territories in the late 1800's. Every single person I know who has read this book has liked it--everyone.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult-I love Jodi Picoult, some of her books more than others, but I really like the research she does on her topics. This book dealt with the Amish culture and I learned tidbits about their religion I didn't know before. Although, since I recognize she's a real plot twister, I actually figured out the ending in the first chapter or so.

Nickel & Dimed on (not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich- The author attempted to live on minimum wage at various locations around the country. The book really helped me to see how you could get stuck in your circumstances and not be able to rise above.

The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton- This book is a sad tale, but one that is told from a main character who doesn't recognize her own strength and abilities. Her life is incredibly unfair, but she's always willing to see the other side of things. Another book that makes you less quick to judge the other person.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini- This author has the ability to create characters you can feel a part of whether that be a positive or negative relationship. He explores the lives of women in Afghanistan, something I was not terribly familiar with before. I've talked to some people who liked the Kite Runner and loved this book and others who felt this was a let down. I love them both.

Austenland by Shannon Hale- I only heard about this author just last year and was excited to read this book. This book is a hilarious, light read told from the perspective of a woman who has an obsession with Jane Austen's fictional characters. While I absolutely DETEST Jane Austen novels, I loved this book.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult- I realize this is the second mention of Picoult, but this novel was so impactful to me that I thought about the characters and their decisions for about three days non-stop. It deals with a high school shooting and how teenagers feel in their "roles" in high school. It made me question if I could've been nicer to someone or how my influence affected those around me.

Honestly, I'm falling short of listing 10 books simply because I can't think of recent reads that I would recommend. There are several books that I love, but haven't read recently (East of Eden by Steinbeck, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, etc.) You can see the list of books I've read recently over on my Shelfari shelf, but I wouldn't recommend all of them as great literature.

There are some books I really want to get to, but still haven't. Two kids, swim lessons twice a day and pre-school three times a week is filling my schedule lately.

So, let's see...who to tag? I tag Stephanie, Lolly & Tina. What have you ladies read that you loved?

Books for Christmas!

So, my wonderful husband sends me articles from the NY Times, so that I can be semi-aware of the world happenings around me. We never watch the news at our house because it is so incredibly depressing and disturbing. The most recent article was about the lack of pleasure reading that is going on among youth and young adults. Click here for the whole text.
Some of the sad statistics that this trend is causing (according to the article):

• Reading test scores are declining.
• Employers are rating workers deficient in basic writing skills.
• FEWER THAN HALF of Americans over age 18 read novels, short stories, plays or poetry. (Okay, poetry???--I rarely read that stuff either unless it's cited in something else I'm reading.)

I don't want to be redundant with my thoughts here seeing that I recently spoke about reading for fun, but seriously, less than half of our population ever picks up a book and reads for fun? Do people just veg out in front of the TV or computer as their sole source of satisfaction? I mean, Harry Potter books, love 'em or hate 'em, brought back a plethora of youth, and adults, to the love of literature.

I just can't believe that parents are allowing their children to play on the computer, or video games or whatever else it is that they are doing without somehow ever picking up a book. Being that I had no siblings to play with during my childhood, books were such a blessing in my life. I would escape for hours on end in the pages and feel the emotions of the characters and let my imagination create scenery and faces from the text. I suppose that most of these youth and young adults mentioned are still reading, they are probably reading various things on the internet, some of it's even worthwhile...like my blog! I just think we should consider stretching ourselves a bit more than a two page internet article.

The article also mentioned that ours is not a society where the love of books is promoted. Seriously, when's the last time you turned on the TV and saw an author (other than JK Rowling) as the main guest on The Tonight Show or any other program that would draw a younger audience. It's really sad too because I belong to two different book clubs and I love discussing the literature and seeing the book from each person's perspective.

We are seriously seeing such disturbing trends in our culture--we're fatter than we've ever been and now we read less. Seriously, what's next...

Books on Tape

So, I've been getting Derek books on tape to listen to in the car while he drives to and from work. He always has aspirations for reading more, but never has the time to accomplish the goal, so I thought this would be ideal. I also like being the one to pick the books on tape because I usually choose books I've read and then we can talk about the books later.
The first book I grabbed him was called Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi. I haven't read this book in several years, but I did remember that I liked it and the main character was a female dwarf. He enjoyed the book and thought it was well written.
The second book I grabbed him was a book I recently finished called A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (the author of The Kite Runner). It was a very sad book, but so powerfully written. He told me he enjoyed it as well, but that he definitely needed a cheerful novel next.
Well, I didn't get him a cheerful novel, but I did grab him a classic that I love...East of Eden by John Steinbeck. If you haven't read it, you should. I read it after my friend Tina and I absolutely loved the story.
So, I have been doing the same thing with Ryanna. You'll notice my "shelf" of books in the sidebar of my blog and you'll see that it lists The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. I thought that would be a book a bit above her reading level and would be good for her to listen to as we drove. Truthfully, I didn't know if she'd want to listen, but to my delight, she demands to listen to her books on tape every time we get in the car now.
So, after the first, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, I went to Ralph S. Mouse, also by Cleary. She seemed to enjoy both books and did pick up a bit of the story. I didn't know how well she'd follow because she's often busy looking at the scenery as we drive or daydreaming--something she does a lot. However, I figured even if she gets only tidbits of the story, hopefully, it's enjoyable and she's developing a love of literature.
Our latest book is Matilda by Roald Dahl. I was excited to get it because I didn't grow up reading Dahl. I read Cleary and Judy Blume mostly. My husband had been really excited to have her hear it. I have to say that I've been really shocked at the violence and the language. It's a children's book, but Ms. Trunchbulll (spelling is a guess since it's a book on tape), is quite a villian. It talks about the Chokey where she imprisons children for whole days or hours at a time...and the way she talks!!!!
She calls the children "stupid, little blisters, gobs of glue" (those are the phrases that are fresh in my mind from today's drive anyway). The way the parents treat Matilda and speak to her is appauling. I don't know, I am pretty disturbed by the whole thing really. It's making me worry that Ryanna's going to be afraid of school and start using some of the language that is repeatedly spewing forth from the Headmistress and the parents.
I'm still a little up in the air about how I feel about the whole thing. Not to say that the books I'm intrigued by don't have images that are violent or contain bad language in some spots, but I'm not choosing to read those books to my four year old.
Any of you who grew up reading Roald Dahl, what do you think????

Take a Look, It's in a Book...

• This morning I went to one of my favorite activities--book club! I actually belong to two different book clubs, one made up of women in my new ward and the one I went to today which is composed of women from my old ward. It used to be one of our interest groups for the ward, but was removed as an interest group...not a subject I like to discuss.
  
  The last two times we've gathered we've done a brunch theme where each of us brings a brunch type item and we talk about life, kids, etc. and eventually discuss the book as well. It's a lot of fun to hear people's perspectives on the book that month--what they loved, what they didn't like, how they felt about the characters, the symbolism they found in the book.
  
  Seriously, how can you not love to read? I know there are people out there who don't read. Why? I admit that I don't read a lot of self help or hard science type books, but I do love to read pretty much everything else. Admittedly, there is a lot of trashy literature out there, but there is so much interesting and thought-provoking material as well. I never understand how people can't get into books. I think I average reading a book about every week and a half.
  
  I always get really excited when I finish a good book, I want to share it with other people. I love to talk about it and see myself or my life experiences in the book. I love to learn about the author and see how their life is reflected in the book as well.
  
  I have a lot of areas in my life that I need to improve and that includes reading certain books. Some of the books I haven't read, but want to get around to are:
• Anna Karenina and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo (We're reading it for this month's book club!)
• 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriela Garcia Marquez
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (Did you know he wrote this? Did you know he grew up with Harper Lee who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird--already read it.)
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

So, what other suggestions do you have out there? I have read a lot of books, but am always looking for more suggestions. Feel free to leave yours.