16/25: French Women For All Seasons

The last of the WBC books!
I finished the 25 point task for "Read a book and then cook based on it."
This book goes through each season and includes recipes and fashion for each.
It was a very interesting read, and one that I will probably go through again and again depending on the season I'm in. The numerous ways the typical French Woman wears a scarf is imcredible. I see the draw towards them.

I cooked a leek soup from this book. It was ok. My FI ate a few bowls of it (I froze it in portions) but that was it. I threw out the majority of it.

The one thing I did love about this book was the menus. Every breakfast included coffee. Every supper included wine. Can't go wrong with that!

Endings are New Beginnings

(yes I'm aware it's April Fool's Day, and no I don't pull pranks and I dislike when they are pulled on me)

Yesterday marked the end of the Winter Book Challenge from The Nest Book Club.
I finished with 170/425 points. Since it was my first challenge, I'd say that's pretty good. I'm not a fast reader, and with having little time to read other than on my commute, I don't get a lot of books read. I'm proud of my first crack. 15 books in total! I'm well on my way of reaching 25 books in 2010. I may have to up that to 50.

Today marks the beginning of the Spring Book Challenge. Another 3 months of completely different tasks.
I have a bunch of books picked out, and I'm working on getting through them one at a time. I think that will be much more effective.

15/25: Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

A coworker lent me this book. I devoured it in a couple of days. Very easy read, very entertaining. It was mindless, but I enjoyed the break from the more in depth seriousness of the books I have been reading lately.

I won't write too much about it, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone who plans on reading it. The basic idea is that the Greek God Zues has his Lightning Bolt stolen. Percy is sent to find it. He travels through Hell and back (literally, meeting Hades is not something everyone gets to do) and is an amazing hero. He has ADHD and dislexia. A fantastic book for those kids that think they are different. It really gets you to believe that being different is a good thing! Something a lot of kids could use these days to tell them it's ok not to be perfect, just be who you are.

I don't know if I'll read the rest of the books. It didn't pull me in enough to make me want to grab the other 4 books. Perhaps on a day when I don't have 12 sitting on my desk waiting to be read.

I used this book in the WBC for the task of "main cahracter goes through a major life change". I'd say it's a pretty big change to find out you're a demi-god.

14/25: Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

This book gets 4.5 stars.

I did not want to finish this book because it was so good. I didn't want it to end! Kvothe is a character you really get into and feel for. Everything he feels, you feel. I kept forgetting he is only 15 years old. The amount of life experience that he went through over the course of the novel was incredible. The only thing that kept me thinking he was young was his continuing conflict with Ambrose and how naive he was around women.

The story pulled me in again and again. I would breath fast at the climatic parts, I would laugh at the humourous parts, and I would feel sorrow at the sad parts.

Praise for Patrick Rothfuss writing Name of The Wind.His writing style describes in detail the scenery and the characters. He leaves little cliff-hangers within the book and gives you a break as you read the next chapter, only to pull you back in after the break is over. I found this mildly annoying yet it was such a good thing. I was constantly reading 'one more chapter' just to find out what happens!

I appreciated the fact that he never let you forget Kvothe was remembering his life. The breaks that brought the reader back to the present were greatly appreciated and reminded me that Kvothe survives. That he makes it through all the trials and tribulations.

This book counted for 15 points for the task of "Read a book over 600 pages"

13/25: Swimming to Catalina by Stuart Woods

I finally got through this book. It was very entertaining, as Stone always is. Swimming to Catalina is the fourth installment of the Stone Barrington series. He is a cop forced into retirement in his early-fourties turned lawyer/PI. In this book, he goes to Hollywood to find his missing ex-girlfiriend who's new husband has called Stone for help. Messed up situation, I know.

He winds up in LA, acting of all things, and getting involved with some down and dirty people.

Just another day in Stone's life.

For the WBC, I read this book for 15 points. Task: read a book who's author lives in a state you'd like to live.

12/25: Complete Idiots Guide to Puppies

Yes you read that right. I have completely read the entire book and hoping that it helps.

We are getting our puppy this week (day TBD still). I figure that the best thing my fiance and I can do it prepare ourselves with as much information as possible. Weeding out the useless information where possible.

This book was simple to understand, and easy to learn from. I think I've got a good idea on how to train Beta her basic commands. I feel a little more prepared for our lives to change drastically. There will be tons of triumphs and tribulations and they will blogged on.  The most important thing I learned from this book is that puppies have a very short attention span. 5 - 10 minutes a training session is about all they are able to handle. They need to play, but not too much since their bones and ligaments are still young. They need attention and love. I think we should be able to do all these things.

I will be keeping this book around for a while and not shelving it because I think we will be referring to it often. I realize it's dubbed down, but for a first time puppy owner, it's exactly what I need.

11/25: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

"Catching Fire" is the second Hunger Games novel. It picks up about 9 months after the first one and is the same whirl wind excitment as the first. I refuse to give spoilers for this series, so this review will be short and sweet.

The characters are wonderful and I could relate to them. The new characters pulled me in, and the old characters surprised me and made me fall more in love with them all. The story was incredible and took a turn I did not expect. "Catching Fire" was a wonderful second book that set up a whole third story to take place.

If you have not read the Hunger Games, I suggest reading it asap and buying the second one at the same time. But remember, the third book doesn't come out until August 2010!

10/25: Stiff - Mary Roach

I finished reading this book and I will be participating in an online discussion of it next Tuesday.

My overall impression of this book was good. I enjoyed it, but I highly suggest not eating meat, french fries or fruit while reading it. Just my opinion....

Mary Roach gets down and dirty when it comes to her novels. She researches the heck out of them and goes deeper into her subjects than most authors I've read. For a non-fiction, research novel, I loved it.

Never will I think of the dead in the same way. I don't even see my own death the same. Not the dying part, but the being dead part. This book put a different spin on things and really makes you think about what happens to your body.

The history and awful things that cadavers have had to and still do endure amazes me! Who knew 'crash-test cadavers' were/are really used! I had no idea that throughout history, experiments on the dead were done to the extent that Roach uncovers.
I learned a lot of interesting facts that someday I hope to use in conversation somewhere and not appear like a complete weirdo. Until that time comes, I will hope a question about disection or cremation comes up in Trivial Pursuit and I can put my new knowledge to the test.
On another note, "Body World" was mentioned in the book and I am completely enthralled with finding out when the show will be in Calgary or Edmonton soon. I plan to go when I find out now that know exactly how the bodies in the show got there.

9/25: 300 - Frank Miller

I read "300" for the "read a graphic novel" task in the WBC. This isn't so much a book review as it is a book vs. movie review

I have seen the movie adaptation of this book at least 6 times and can't get enough of it. The story, the graphics, the actors ;)!! I thought I'd pick this particular novel mostly to see how different the story was from the movie.

I am IMPRESSED! Ready the novel was like watching the movie in print. I could not believe that the filmmakers honoured the novel so closely. They even honored the way the characters locked. While I was reading it I told my fiance that it was as if they took the novel and put it right into a screen.

Since seeing the movie for the first time, I knew that picking this book I would love the story anyway. I read it mostly just to see what the differences were, and I couldn't find too many. Obviously the movie added in some entertainment value and extended this seems a little bit, but the basic storyboard is the same.

I must make time this week to watch the movie again.

8/25: The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I read this book for the WBC for the task "read a book written in letter form".

It took me a little while to get into this book. There's nothing fancy about it. Nothing that will suck you in and hold you. I enjoyed reading it because it was light and quick. The letters were interesting, and written in a time well before mine, the end of World War II.  I felt like this book was a part of a bigger story, but I was happy with that. There was a little piece of someone's reality that I could share in. The letters back and forth were filled with deep relationships. Most of the relationships were built on a single letter that turned into something great.

If you're looking for a quick read, I would recommend this one. It's funny, heartwarming and easy to get through.

7/25: The Hunger Games

:O that's the best emoticon I can make on the keyboard to describe this book.

It is indeed a Young Adult fiction novel, but certainly (for me anyways) on the older side of YA.

Set in the future, there are 12 districts surrounding the Capitol that send a boy and a girl to the Hunger Games each year. A fight to the death in an arena. Sounds morbid, and it is, but the story is amazing.

Katniss pulled me in from the beginning. She shows a battle of wills and smarts. I don't want to go into much detail of the book because it's so amazing I couldn't forgive myself if I ruined it for someone.

All I can say is this... My FI disappeared for the two days he read this book. Never have I seen him ignore everything just to finish it. He's done the same thing for the second novel, and I'm sure when the third one comes out (in May), I will not see him for 2 days again.
I disappeared from life for the two days I read the first book. I plan to spend Friday and Saturday reading the second and want to pre-order the 3rd already.

I read this book for the WBC because my fellow Nesties voted for it on my book poll. Thank you so much Nesties!!!! You have officially got me addicted to another series.

6/25: Dead in the Water - Stuart Woods

I picked this book for the 5 point task of "read a book by your favorite author."

"Dead in the Water" is the 3rd Stone Barrington book in the ever expanding series. I believe there are currently 17 books that are a "Stone Barrington Novel".  I love his character. Stuart Woods takes a man, strips his job, his girl(s) and puts him in unpredictable law scenarios. His police background really gives him the upperhand when it comes to representing a client.

In Dead in the Water, he is vacationing in St. Marks, awaiting the arrival of his live-in girlfriend. Aside from the girlfriend not coming because of weather in New York, Stone finds himself representing a widow being tried for the murder of her husband. She sailed into port without her husband, after sailing from another island with him. In St. Marks, there is a capital punishement for murder, and it's a completely different legal system from that in North America. Stone finds himself trying to save the woman, representing her in a place where he feels out of place in the courtroom, not something he's used to.

I liked the story, I liked the characters. I did find Allison (the widow) a little transparent. A great quick read, and one that transitions nicely into the 4th book "Swimming to Catalina", which is next on the list of to-read.

5/25: The Lost Symbol

Another Dan Brown novel with Robert Langdon.

This one follows after "The Da Vinci Code". Set in Washington, Robert is trying to save his friend, and solve a mystery. The main focus is on the Ancient Mysteries that is a secret protected by the Masons.

I found the book slow to get into. I loved the chapters that were about Robert, but found the ones about Kathrine boring. After about page 100, the action got started, and continued almost to the end. Dan Brown wrote about Robert in the same fashion as the other books. Robert was chasing clues, figuring the mystery out, and giving insight to ancient secrets.  After the excitment ended, I found it very hard to finish the rest of the book. I believe it was because I was so tired from travelling all day and not the book itself.

I gave this one 4 stars

4/25: In The Woods

Our January Book Club book was "In The Woods" by Tara French.  I also counted this book towards the WBC task of a book written in Ireland.

Basic story is there is a murder of a young girl at an archeoligical dig. The detectives Cassie and Ryan are investigating it.

The book was slow to get in, and never really picked up for me. I got about halfway through and they still had no leads, no suspects. Finally there was a break, and it seemed like this book was going to pick up and get moving. I was thoroughly disappointed with the ending, and feel the book was very anti-climatic. It seemed like there was no point to the whole thing by the time you got to the end. I was left disappointed, and feeling like I shouldn't have used my time to read it.

3/25: Still Alice

My sister had read this and said it was good. I needed a book for the WBC that was about someone living with an illness. A book about alzheimers never struck me as something I would read, but this was a powerful book that I will remember for years to come.

Lisa Genova is a genius in her writing of this book. Alice is a 48 year old woman who is diagnosed with early-onset alzheimers disease. The book journey's through the diagnosis, the denial, the early signs, and through the few years it takes the disease to fully develop.  The book goes through not only Alice's feelings, but also through those of her family and collegues.

What struck me most about this book was that it was told from Alice's point of view. I had to read several pages again, because there were repeated conversations, but when you start to realize that's because she can't remember having it before, you're heart-strings pull.

The hardest part of reading this book was not the parts of life that Alice forgot, but the parts she KNEW she would forget. The part I will forever remember is when she tells her daughter if she (Alice) doesn't recognize her (daughter) tomorrow, that she loves her.

A fantastic read!

2/25: Touch of Dead: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel

I have read all the previous Sookie books. I bought the whole box set, read them all in a matter of a few weeks. Touch of Dead is the latest in the series. I waited on the library queue for this book for several months, and it finally came in!

The book consists of 5 stories that the author wrote to give the reader a bit of background on Sookie and some of the other characters. They were short, to the point, and entertaining as always. I would almost recommend reading each story right before or after the book it goes along with. That way, you're not digging out the book the story is related to and trying to remember what that book was about.

Good book, not my favorite of the series.
This book counted for the Winter Book Challenge for "Read a book with a woman as the main character"

Winter Book Challenge

On the Nest Book Club, there is this thing called the Winter Book Challenge.
There are a series of tasks worth points and we read one book per task over the winter season (first three months of the year)
So far I have read 2 books! The tasks they counted for add up to 10 points which is pretty good for my first week. I'm very excited about this. It will give me a chance to broaden my book reading genres and really get back to reading.
I have read so far:
Dance to Despair by Rebekka Stathen Black
Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris

1/25: Dance to Despair

I had received this book a few Christmas's ago and never got around to reading it. It's fairly short, so I decided it use it as the "read a book curled up in bed" task on the Winter Book Challenge.

This book was eye-opening. This woman wrote about the adult industry through her life and it's affects on her. It's written as a memoir and wow did she ever go through a hard life.

I don't have much else to say about this book. I enjoyed reading it, it didn't profoundly change my life.