Fun Reads

Here are some books I read recently. For those that read my personal blog I am sorry for the repetition. --Valerie



The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne - This was a pretty good book. It is about a girl that starts a service for men where she helps them buy gifts for family, or helps them buy clothes and other things. She creates a different person named Honey for her business. Of course she meets a man that she falls in love with but he doesn't know who she really is. Nothing I would write home about but I did enjoy it.



Roise Dunne by Cecelia Ahern - This was written by the same girl that wrote P.S. I Love you. I personally thought that the story line dragged on for too long. It is about a girl and a boy who are best friends when little. As they get older they realize they love each other but things like marriage and having kids gets in the way.




A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austin - This was a good book. It is about a girl in the late 1800's and how she goes about to find her mother who abandoned her as a child. In the process of looking for her mother she uncovers many secrets about her family and meets several young men that seek her hand in marriage.


Beauty by Robin McKinley - I loved this book, enough to added it to my personal collection. It is basically a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I have heard some of her other books are really good as well.



Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale - I really liked the Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and have been disappointed when her other books have not been as good. However I was not disappointed by this book. I loved it. It is written by a maid who is locked in a tower with her lady because the lady refuses to marry the lord from another land.

Great Books

Great Books--The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia (Three books in a series)
Author Megan Whalen Turner
If you enjoyed Goose Girl, you may enjoy these young adult books. I loved these--Sarah Jane

Fabulous Chic Lit Authors!

Here is a list of some of my favorite chic lit authors:

1. Sophie Kinsella
2. Jennifer Weiner
3. Emily Giffin
4. Hester Brown
5. Lauren Weisberger
6. Marian Keyes
7. Jane Green
8. Meg Cabot
9. Madeleine Wickman
10. Whitney Gaskell
11. Adrianna Trigiani
12. Jenn Lancaster

Special Note* These authors might have some content that you might think is questionable: ie.. cursing/language or a little bit of risque sitations. But in general they are silly funny and just plain hilarous! I have read almost everything from each of these authors, so if you have a question about a book and its content let me know! ENJOY!

Jessica Potter

Sequels to "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

I had a chance this weekend to read "The Gathering Blue" and "The Messenger" by Lois Lowry and found them both to be very disappointing. For those who don't know these are books 2 and 3 of The Giver Series.

The real let down was that these books really had nothing to do with the original book "The Giver". I wanted so much more of that story and other than an occasional reference or drop of a name you really couldn't tell that these books were related.

Book 2 had absolutely nothing to do with the original other than a reference to a boy with blue eyes at the end. Book 3 was a continuation of book 2 that included an older Jonas (which was never even referred to by that name) who had very few similarities to the character that I loved so much in book 1. Gabe was only mentioned once in passing in book 3.

The storyline of both books were interesting enough to keep me turning the pages in anticipation of more. Instead of satisfaction I was left frustrated by the huge gaps of information that the author decided to leave out and weird random details that she decided to throw in for no apparent reason. The book left a lot of loose ends and felt rushed. It was almost like the author wasn't creative enough to connect the dots of the plot so she left everything up in the air for you to do it yourself.

To which I say "GOSH DARN IT!! YOU'RE THE AUTHOR NOT ME".

-Kristy

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

This is a book I read over the Christmas break. It is based in Great Britain about 1985. In the book time travel is routine and cloning is a reality and literature is taken very seriously. The main character is Thursday Next who works as a Special Operative in literary detection. Her uncle is an inventor and invents a machine that can take you into a novel. An evil man gets a hold of the machine and kidnaps Jane Eyre who then Thursday Next must rescue.

It was a fun read and there is a whole Thursday Next series.

Valerie

List of Books to Read for 2008

Okay here is a list of all of the books that were discussed at book club on Thursday. The first list is the books that people brought to swap. I included who brought the books in case you want to ask to borrow it down the road. The second list is books that were talked about. We talked about a lot of books so if I missed any or wrote them down incorrectly please update the list.

Books Recommended

Cari Thompson

• The Greatest Salesman in the World by O.G. Mandino
• The Greatest Secret in the World by O.G. Mandino
• The Greatest Miracle in the World by O.G. Mandino
• Guide Me to Eternity by Christine Tutle Monsen
• Rebecca by Orson Scott Card

Brenda Baker

• Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindebergh

Denette Ashcraft

• Molly Brown, Kristen Iversen

Jen Schaff

• Julie by Chaterine Marshall
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Lacy Gatherum

• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Jessica Potter

• A Lady of High Regard by Tracy Petersen
• How I Live Now by Meg Rosof
• The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

Jessica Rawson

• Roots by Alex Haley
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
• Bread Givers by Arizia Yezierska

Kristy Egan

• InkHeart by Cornelia Funke
• Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer
• Gone with the Wind by Margeret Mitchell

Valerie Halladay

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

List of Books Discussed

• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
• Jurrasic Park by Michael Crichton
• Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
• A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austen
• Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
• The Big Stone Gap Triology by Adriana Trigiani
• The Zion Convenant Series (1st one Vienna Prelude) by Bodie Thoene
• The Zion Chronicles by Bodie Thoene
• Scarlett by Alexandria Ripley
• Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
• Excessively Diverted (Pride & Prejudice Sequel) by Juliette Shapiro
• The Seat Beside Me by Nancy Moser
• Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (Sequel to the Giver)
• Messenger by Lois Lowry (3rd in Series of the Giver)
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
  
• Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
  
• A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  
• The Chosen by Chaim Potok
  
• My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
  
• The Pact by Jodi Picoult
• Wednesday's Letters by Jason F. Wright
  

Now this should keep you busy reading through the end of the year and then we can do it again in January! Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

The History of Book Club

Here is a list of the books we have read since book club was started.

1. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
2. Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
3. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
4. Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
5. Assagination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
6. 1776 by David McCullough
7. Running with Angels by Pamela H. Hansen
8. Witch a Black Bird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
9. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
10. At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
11. Watership Down by Richard Adams
12. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
13. Artimus Fowl by Eoin Colfer
14. Follow the River by James Alexander Thom
15. Cane River by Lalita Tademy
16. Summer of the Monkey's by Wilson Rawls
17. Ender's Game by Orsen Scott Card
18. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
19. Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
20. Christy by Catherine Marshall
21. These is my words by Nancy Turner
22. A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George
23. In Hidden Places by Lynn N. Austin
24. The Memory Keeper's Daguther by Kim Edwards
25. The Final Detail by Harlan Corbon
26. The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
27. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
28. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowlings
29. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingslover
30. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
31. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
32. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
33. The Giver by Lois Lowry
34. A Midsummer's Night's Dream by William Shakespeare