Two books...one AWESOME...one pitiful

This book is one of my all time favorites! I really really loved it. An awesome love story and it stretches the imagination beyond belief. I highly recommend it. Not to Bumble, because it is not his style, but for the rest of the free world. Read it now!



This books sucked. Big time. I never quit on a book, and I stopped reading this one. Don't waste your time.

The Dirty Girls Social Club and The Island

A quick review on two books I've recently read.


The first was The Island, which was a different book. But, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others to read. Not at all what I expected. One part both Bumble and I remarked on after reading...when she was talking about the Greeks and their love for Nescafe coffee. We had to laugh, for our Greek, Stravos, got me hooked on it years ago!

The second was The Dirty Girls Social Club. It started out I didn't like it. You know...one of those books "Should I finish it or not". Consequently I didn't pay as close attention to detail as I should have. Then all of a sudden, whammy, I was hooked. But, I'm not a repeat offender, so it goes against my nature to backtrack and reread anything. (Maybe that is why going to school was such a drag for me.) In the end, I managed to piece it together and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

The Last Summer (of You & Me)

A great summer read. Surprisingly thought provoking at times. Maybe because I felt connections here and there. It has been a few weeks since I finished it, but I did save some of Bumble's and my favorite quotes.

"Alice sensed that young children instinctively preferred the life inside a small house to a big one." This one rung true.

"Sometimes you couldn't face the sadness of being forgotten until you felt the comfort of being remembered again." This was a great line.

"Here she was walking around like any other person, like it was any other day. 'Do you have any idea what happened?'" This one I felt a strong connection to...it was almost exactly what I said after J died.

The book was a easy read. One I would recommend.

booksprice.com

This is a little something for my book reading fans (ie my only fans...my family). I have found this site that has saved me money. And that, in the words of the devil, is a good thing.

Recently I ordered this book, Understanding Exposure. At the time of this posting, the price at Amazon was $16.47 plus $3.99 for shipping and handling, which totals $20.46. (For my part, they could cut out all the handling...just muss my book up is all it does...and then they charge for that!)

But, here is where the tale takes a twist!! I didn't order it from the almighty Amazon like I normally would have. Shocked? Instead I plugged in the info, which was the title of the book, to booksprice.com and it did a little search for me. The results show, among other little tidbits, the price, shipping and total cost of a gazillion places I can buy that book, with the least expensive at the top.

Guess what? I ordered it from deepdiscount.com (don't judge me) for the grand total of $15.34. That little search saved me umm...let's see...4 from 6 is 2...dang, I need a pencil. Anyway, it saved me $5.12!!!

Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers

This book is nonfiction. But, the story line was riveting! Single handed this book saved Photoshop from becoming one of the programs on my computer that gathers dust bunnies.

If nothing else, it has taught me how to use levels. With a click of the mouse an image improves instantly. I know this little box with a graph like image in it doesn't look like much, but it makes a world of difference to an image.

So, even if I only walked away from this book with only that one bit of information, it would be worth the $19.99. (Oh, and the book was on sale...regular $39.95. I LOVE a bargain!) There was far more I learned from reading this book, but I won't bore you to tears with the painful details. It is bad enough I made you look at the Levels dialog box.

The Kite Runner

I could not get enough of this book. I anxiously turned each page. I wanted to read it, and yet I didn't want it to end. I didn't want to know what was going to happen, but I had to know.

This book will rank among my most favorite of all time. It was compelling and haunting. Hard lessons. Extremely hard to read at times. Often I had to put it down, or break down and cry like a baby in the break room at work. (Never a good thing.) I re-examined my own life and reasons for what I do.

Let me say that while reading this book I had a love hate for the main character, Amir. He was easy to dislike because of his self-centered ways. Later, I realized why I disliked him and it wasn't his fault. My heart ached for him with each discovery he made.

And Hassan. I had nothing but love for him from the beginning. He was so pure. So simple. So good. My heart ached for him for completely different reasons.

While reading this book I felt a surge of patriotism for my country in our efforts in Afghanistan. It gave a face to people I didn't know or understand. People I hope will find peace in their land and never have to fear the Taliban again. I know I lead a protected life, so much of this was shocking. The most shocking part is it is happening in our time.

I don't want to give out any more details. Because I know the bungle heads in my family haven't read this wonderful book yet. I don't want to spoil it for them.

But, when you do read it, let's talk.

Memoirs of a Geisha

This book cast a spell on me as I read it. It had all sorts of things going for it.

1. It was in Japan
2. It made you feel and smell and taste all of that time
3. It was a romance
4. It was happy
5. It was sad

I love reading anything about the far east. This book put me in a place I never thought I would be...a geisha house in Gion. It was nothing as I thought it would be. Of course, it probably is light years from the actual truth, but still an intriguing tale.

A friend of my daughter told her that it was similiar to A Fine Balance. The only similarities I could tell is that they both made you feel like you were there. Great detail.

I wondered after reading the book...What if Pumpkin had brought Nobu, as instructed, to the meeting place instead of the Chairman. I think that Sayuri would of been doomed to a life without the Chairman. She would of had to find a way to let the Chairman know how she felt, and I didn't see that occurring. As it turned out, the Chairman knew her well enough to know what she was trying to do. That is all I'm saying in case someone hasn't read the book.

I really did enjoy reading this book. It had a happy ending, which never hurts.

My latest read

This was my first book by Gregory Maguire. I have to say, it was enchanting. I was completely caught up in it.

Saying that makes me feel bad after my review of the last book I read. Dang. I have to get better taste. I feel like a literary backwoods redneck.

But, I did enjoy this book more. It took something that I grew up with and gave me a whole new way of looking at it. As a matter of fact, it showed me that what is presented is not necessarily the whole story. Actually I always knew this. I just never applied it to fairy tales.

This book, other than making me feel like apologizing profusely for my lack of good taste, opened my eyes to the unexpected. Not that this book is in bad taste. It just isn't a pulitzer prize winner. I would nominate it. Maybe under a whimsy little category...inside fairy tales. Of course, there is no such category, so I shall go on reading what I like and apologizing as I go.

The Sheldon Story

The natives (ie family) are restless. "I check your blog everyday...why haven't you posted?" Well, my life has been meaningless drivel for the past 3 days. Work and all. So, to please my fan base, here is an update.

While at work, on my break and lunch, I read, and finished, "A Lesson Before Dying". It was a thought provoking read. I liked it, but I don't know if it merited a Pultzer Prize nomination. Maybe I just couldn't concentrate enough in the break room while reading it. What with all the distractions. But, it was pretty good.

We did have a bit of excitement this week. Enter Sheldon...the rat. Yes. A rat. But, OMG, the cutest little pink nosed, pink eyed, whiskery, adorable ears, white with tan spots rodent you could ever want to meet.

Here is the story. Enjoying a peaceful evening, watching TV when out of the blue, Stinky Pete went off the deep end by the back door. Nikki ran out and saw a white rat. She ran back in, commandeered my tupperware cake saver and went on a rat hunt. Much to her surprise, there were two! She was finally able to catch one...Sheldon. Leonard is still at large. Of course, she went to all the neighbors to try and find the owner. No one confessed. But, on the up side, they wont' be wanting any cake from us anytime soon. The rest of the night was a blur of Walmart trips and getting Sheldon in an appropriate setting.

Now it is getting to know Sheldon time before someone answers the ads to find a new home. sigh. She (we named her before realizing our rat is a female) loves carrots, sugar peas, bananas, crackers, dried cranberries, and various rat treats.

This puts me in the mind of when I was a little girl and I traded a stack of comics for a white 'mouse'. My Minnie. She was a rat. A lovely rat. Rode in my jacket pocket everywhere on my bike with me...her little head sticking out and her nose twitching in the breeze. All I ever fed Minnie was crackers and she lived in a wooden cupboard outside our door. A tarp was her home. She tunneled and made a nice nest for herself. When I opened the door and called her name, she would always come running.

So, you can see I have a fondness for little white rats. It makes me sad to think of giving her away, but Bumble is pretty firm on this.

I love you guys!

What I Would Like to Read

What I'm reading

The first book is what I'm currently reading, or just finished. The books following are previous reads.

If you click on the Books label in the sidebar, you can read my reviews of the books I've finished. Or, click on Reviews. Ha...I'm doing book reports!