Check In

Hey everyone! Just wanted to drop you a line to let you knew I'm still here. I am in Florida, alive and well and enjoying the trip very much, which is a big deal for me, I'm such a homebody. And when I get home, I have three or four books to tell you about, so check back in this Sunday or Monday for my first of two vacation posts. I've been reading some good ones!

Coming Fall 2013

Some of my favorite emails to receive are Amazon's book suggestion lists and preview lists. This week's Fall Books Preview has quite a few titles to keep in mind as September and October approach. Of course, I'm going to share the ones I'm most looking forward to here! (And of course, all quotes and pictures come from Amazon book descriptions...follow the title links).

Salinger, by David Shields and Shane Salerno

Hardcover: 704 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Release Date: September 3, 2013

ISBN-10: 1476744831

ISBN-13: 978-1476744834

J.D. Salinger, known for his wide-read book The Catcher in the Rye, has always been an enigma. A recluse of sorts, he refused to interview, appear in public, or sell movie rights to his book. Eight years ago authors Shields and Salerno began the process of discovering Salinger. This biography will be "published in coordination with the international theatrical release of a major documentary film from the Weinstein Company." 

Over the past eight years, and "especially in the three years since Salinger’s death, the authors interviewed on five continents more than 200 people, many of whom had previously refused to go on the record about their relationship with Salinger. This oral biography offers direct eyewitness accounts from Salinger’s World War II brothers-in-arms, his family members, his close friends, his lovers, his classmates, his neighbors, his editors, his publishers, his New Yorker colleagues, and people with whom he had relationships that were secret even to his own family. Shields and Salerno illuminate most brightly the last fifty-six years of Salinger’s life: a period that, until now, had remained completely dark to biographers. Provided unprecedented access to never-before-published photographs (more than 100 throughout the book), diaries, letters, legal records, and secret documents, readers will feel they have, for the first time, gotten beyond Salinger’s meticulously built-up wall. The result is the definitive portrait of one of the most fascinating figures of the twentieth century."

If this doesn't make you literary types' mouths water, I don't know what will. I'm thinking of making this one a "Happy Birthday to me" purchase.

David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company 

Release Date: October 1, 2013

ISBN-10: 0316204366

ISBN-13: 978-0316204361

You may know Gladwell from his numerous best selling hits Outliers, Blink, The Tipping Point, and What the Dog Saw. I personally am a fan, so I was excited to see a new title coming out soon. As usual, Gladwell uses historical points (both specific and general) and psychology to delve into the human psyche and pull together another view of what it means to be human.

"In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages-offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks...all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity. "

I am interested to see how, or even if, Gladwell addresses the faith side of this topic. The book begins with a focus on the story of David and Goliath and moves onto modern day, parallel examples. A miracle is a miracle, so my curiosity wonders if the faith/God side of this book's subject will be ignored, dismissed, or even given notice. Honestly, I think God uses suffering and adversity to create beautiful things, so if Gladwell's research at least walks that path, I'll be satisfied. I'm already looking forward to discussing this one with my book buddy, RD. Her mind finds angles mine doesn't, plus we hold common beliefs and she's a Gladwell fan. Can't wait!

Sycamore Row, by John Grisham

Hardcover: 464 pages

Publisher: Doubleday 

Release Date: October 22, 2013

ISBN-10: 0385537131

ISBN-13: 978-0385537131

Here is Amazon's rather lackluster blurb: "For almost a quarter of a century, John Grisham’s A TIME TO KILL has captivated readers with its raw exploration of race, retribution, and justice. Now, its hero, Jake Brigance, returns to the courtroom in a dramatic showdown as Ford County again confronts its tortured history. Filled with the intrigue, suspense and plot twists that are the hallmarks of America’s favorite storyteller, SYCAMORE ROW is the thrilling story of the elusive search for justice in a small Southern town."

Okay, so I guess John Grisham and his wildly popular book/movie A Time To Kill have enough notoriety  to sell on such a vague description. I'm sold. I don't recall actually read A Time to Kill, although I own two copies of it and my "have read" list says otherwise, but I've seen the movie numerous times and Brigance's closing remarks in the case of Carl Lee Hailey guarantees goose bumps every time. Generally, once I see a movie, I don't read the book and my Grisham streak ran dry long ago; however, I think I will read both A Time to Kill and Sycamore Row against these two usual-alities. What can I say? The first is iconic and hopefully the second measures up. Besides, as long as Grisham sticks to law stories, you can't lose.


Woo hoo! Good reading on its way. Any of these sound good to you? Are there any new releases you are excited about?

Bout of Books (read-a-thon)

Source: boutofbooks.blogspot.com

It's that time again! Bout of Books is back and I am signing up. See the information below to sign up and meet lots of great readers. The Twitter chats are great for meeting all kinds of people and talking books and bookish things! "See" you "there."

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 8.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I Can't Get No...Satisfaction

Source: keepcalmprints.com

How long is your to-be-read (TBR) list? If I count both books I've bought and ones I haven't, my list is probably two hundred. If I only count the ones that are mostly on my mind, stacked by my bed, or at the top of the wish-list, then the list is cut in half.

I'm always reading something, but life does require many other things. As a wife, teacher, mother of three, friend, and volunteer I find myself short on time to read. This is fine because I'm at a point in life where these things (specifically my family and career) need to have my focus. Seasons of life come and go and sooner than I can imagine my kids will grow and lead their own lives, I will retire, volunteer work will become more prevalent in my life, etc. and reading will always be fit in between these focuses as they come and go.

Thankfully, God has given me two abilities to supplement my love of reading: I read fast and I'm a night owl. Aside from some years where I had actual problems sleeping, I've always been a natural night person. In high school I'd read or do whatever until 3am and get up at 7am for school, no problem. Fifteen years later, I can only pull this off during the summertime and holiday vacations, but it is prime reading time. From 11pm - 3am no one needs my attention or my help. There aren't any obligations or appointments. Just me and my book. (It's also prime writing time for me...most of my blog posts are written on the note section of my iPad between midnight and 2am. It's 12:22am right now.)

And maybe a third ability that works to my reading advantage is organization and planning. I always carry a book in case of unexpected down time and always look at my upcoming schedule with times for reading in mind. For example, my car is getting waxed this week and I was told if I can't get a ride, I would be in their waiting room for two hours. "Really?! You promise?"...my mind immediately thinks..."Two hours of reading time!" 

I have noticed though that even when I've gotten some prime reading time in, I don't feel like I was able to read as much as I wanted. I almost always look back over a month and think I didn't read as much as I could have. The ever growing TBR list doesn't help. 

Maybe that's part of what keeps me reading? Knowing there's so much more out there to read and that all I can do is keep plugging away! Anyone else think this way? How do you think about your TBR pile and reading pace?

The Count of Monte Cristo

Source: paperbackswap.com

(No Spoiler Alerts! This is more about the experience.)

It is finished! I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo (aka CMC) on July 6th and finished it 19 days later, on July 24th. My goal was to read 100 pages a day to finish it in two weeks, so I wasn't too far off. What's an extra 4-5 days for a book the size of four or five books? It is definitely faster than I read Les Mis, by about two weeks! I really enjoyed the story. From the very beginning you follow Edmond Dantes on an unbelievable journey that begins with false imprisonment and ends with the most elaborate revenge scheme known to man. This book captivates and reads as easily as people say.

The first thing I liked about CMC is that the action picks up right away. The very first chapter finds one character already opposing another, with chapters two and three immediately adding to the mounting character opposition. If doorstop size classics scare you, this one should be an exception. Unlike Dickens's works or even Les Miserables (which I loved and wrote about here by the way), CMC overdoes neither description nor background information. You are given what is needed to imagine the scene and follow the action, of which there is plenty. (I recall maybe two or three side stories that end up being stories within the main story, but they relate directly to the overall story as well.)

Another seeming obstacle with classics is the language. Of course, this often depends on the translation you read - all translations are not created equal and, unfortunately, I know little about French to English translators. I read half of CMC from my paperback copy, which is from The Modern Library Classics (specific translator not given). However, because of the physical size of the book, it was hard to always read when I usually would - like when snacking at night or laying down before bed. So, half of the time I read from a free copy I found on my iPad's iBooks app. The iBook edition has a generic cover and no publishing information is given at all. I did a comparison beforehand and found that although a few chapters had different titles and parts of the two texts translated into more or less detail than the other here and there, the meaning aligned. What can I say though, in both versions the book was smoothly read and easily understood. Within the first 10-12 chapters (approximately 130 pages), the story has already unfolded and you can only wonder what the next 1,300 pages might bring!

If you've been meaning to read this, keep it on your radar. It is a great, easy to read classic!  Which classics and/or "big books" have you been reading lately?

BFFs & Mean Girls

Source: barnesandnoble.com

Talking with Your Daughter About Best Friends and Mean Girls, by Dannah Gresh

Harvest House Publishers

Released: August 1, 2013

Category: Christian

I received an e-version of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

As a mother of two daughters, now twelve and fourteen, I find myself increasingly aware of the world around me. I've worked in a grades 7-12 high school for ten years and have witnessed the anything and everything of adolescence. (And I work in a country setting!) Two thoughts continually cross my mind: 1. I need to talk about usual teenage problems with my girls ahead of time and 2. My girls need to know they can come to me about anything and everything.

This is what I thought when I saw the title Talking with Your Daughter About Best Friends and Mean Girls. First of all, this book is definitely better in physical paper form. There are pictures, graphics, and headings that throw the text off in the electronic version...it was very distracting. Also, the book is meant to be used as a workbook, so the physical book makes this possible. The book contains 8 dates for a mother to plan with her daughter. Some can be done with friends and their mothers, most dates could be done on your own with your daughter. The date topics are as follows:

1. True Friendship in God's Eyes

2. Friendship with My Neighbor

3. Friendship with Mean Girlz

4. Friendship with My BFF

5. Friendship with My Parents

6. Friendship with My Siblings

7. Friendship with God

8. Friendship with Boys

Each date gives the mom some background information about how to set the date up (for example, one is a slumber party, another a shopping spree, etc) and what to discuss. The activity for each date lends itself to discussion of the topic of the date. There are girl talk and journaling opportunities and even mp3 downloads where popular Christian singers share their experiences. Near the end of the book, the author shares other books about daughters and answers some often asked question about when to let your daughter date, wear make up, etc.

My daughters did not end up reading this book with me as planned and I did not go through with all of the dates or even step for step on the dates I did like. This was simply because I think the book is better suited to younger kids. Yes, the majority of the book is review and set up information for mom, but the age and maturity level of your child will determine whether or not they'd go along with it. As I began reading, I realized my daughters would laugh and maybe do some eye rolling if I said, "Ok, we're going on a date and..." You get the picture. However, if I took the information about the topics of discussion and presented them casually while simply driving somewhere or sitting in Barnes and Noble's cafe, I was much more likely to get their attention and keep it. The best aspect of the book for me was the Biblical alignment it provided for each topic.

So I would suggest this book for people with younger daughters, possibly ages 9-12. I'd also say the opinions and results of using this book would vary greatly on your and your daughter's personalities. For example, I'm not a big "plan an event" type person, so some of the dates' prep work was excessive to me. So I have to leave this one up in the air. Another benefit to getting the paper version is you can look through it first and see what you think!

Husbands...Need I Say More?

Source: reformed4christ.files.wordpress.com

I received both of these titles from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Husbands. I could make all kinds of jokes here, really. My wit totally lends itself to that direction. However, it would demean my purpose for asking NetGalley for advance copies of these books. My husband is by far a better person than me. It's not a new revelation, I've known this, but it's taken some time and maturity to see that I should perhaps follow his example in some of his ways. He is humble and endlessly unselfish, two hard to find and seemingly impossible to gain traits, if they don't come naturally. He is also, well, a guy, so we have many misunderstandings and miscommunications based on typical male/female thought processes. So I was happy to see that this summer Harvest House Publishers releases two books focused on helping wives better understand their husbands. As a person always wanting (and needing) to better the relationships in my life, especially with those closest to me, I requested and read them both.

Source: barnesandnoble.com

The first to hit the shelves (August 1st) is 52 Things Husbands Need from Their Wives by Jay Payleitner. The book is literally 52 short chapters that discuss one topic per chapter that a husband needs a wife to do, be, or understand within their marriage. There were quite a variety of topics presented, all ending with a small tidbit called a "Takeaway" and a scripture verse. 

Topics covered on the light side of marriage included: know his likes and dislikes, show him love in little ways, don't nag him too much, and don't let him beat up on himself too much. There are many more that lead up to tougher topics, such as decision making and the true meaning of submission in Ephesians 5:22.  Also, Payleitner does not stray from the more embarrassing or touchy topics, as he also discusses "making marriage sexy again" and "the slippery slope" he calls porn. A really good point Payleitner makes throughout the book is the need for realistic expectations. Anyone in any relationship has to expect that there will be hard times, experiences will change us for better and worse, and that no one is perfect. To expect these things to rarely or never happen sets the marriage up for failure. Establishing realistic expectations of your husband and working together is the key to success.

Payleitner has a whole series of these relationship advice books, including 52 Things Daughters Need from Their Fathers and 52 Things Wives Need from Their Husbands. If there is a relationship you are interested in improving, these books give quick, easy to understand pieces of advice that help you change the way you think and act toward that important person in your life. After all, you are the only person you can change.

And change is hard indeed, especially when it's about you. But looking for change in yourself is exactly where our second book takes us. Getting Your Husband to Talk to You by Bob and Cheryl Moeller, is due out September 1st. The authors are not only a couple themselves, but they have also counseled many marriages over the years. My interest in this title stems from the fact that I am a very out spoken wife and my husband is pretty quiet. As a matter of fact, the more vocal I get, the quieter he gets! So how do I get him to speak up when it really counts?

Source: www.mardel.com

Using many different sources, the authors explain how males and females are wired differently in communication purposes. For example, women thrive on discussion while men don't. Conversation IS the activity for women, while men have to have another purpose in order for communication to take place. Using this basis and drawing on their vast experience, they then talk about common mistakes wives make in trying to communicate and key points that will improve communication. 

This book is big on understanding yourself too. Sometimes we hold issues we do not understand or do not even realize and these issues largely affect our relationships with others. You can only change yourself and that is always the best place to start. To help the reader get started, the book ends with two tests: One to determine which things have hardened your heart (such as bitterness, control, rejection, etc.). The second determines the types of sin issues you deal with (malice, envy, arrogance, etc.). Both tests are excellent and accurate in my opinion. 

 I think this book has been by far the best one I've read on the related topics of understanding husbands, changing yourself, and improving a marriage. (It seems geared toward couples who have been married, although I think those starting out can learn from the mistakes of others and prevent a lot of trouble.)The information is easily accessible through both the writing and organization. The points are clear, make sense, and seem totally valid; however, putting them into action is another story. I just keep in mind what Frederick Douglas said: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." 

Change is a crazy topic. What's your favorite quote about change?