September Book Pick

I know you all have been on the edge of your seats waiting for the sequel to The Hunger Games to come out, right? Well.....Erin and I have been. We both finally had to order it from Amazon since our library waiting list is a mile long and we couldn't handle it. I did go to Target yesterday when it came out but..... nope! Target would not be getting it in. I was sooo bummed.

I am dying to know if we find out if Katniss goes with Gale her hunting buddy or Peeta her "boyfriend" from the Hunger Games. I for one want to her to be with Peeta I loved that he was so sweet to her. It melted me that he took a beating from his Dad (or was it his Mom?) so that he could sneak Katniss some bread knowing that her family was starving. I guess I will have to wait since Amazon doesn't deliver my book until Thursday. I know I will read it in one day just like I did The Hunger Games.

August Pick

Darci and I have been talking and we decided that at least through the end of the year we're going to start doing 1 book pick a month instead of our normal 2. We both are HUGE readers and both sometimes read more than 2 books a month ... but with both of us being pregnant & being so busy in both of our lives we're going to cut down the book that we read for this blog to just 1 a month. We hope that you continue to read along with us! We've got some good picks coming soon .... including the sequel to the great book Hunger Games!!!



For August I picked out "Domestic Affairs" by Eileen Goudge. My mom always gives me big stacks of books, mostly crime or mystery, which I really haven't been in the mood for lately, but I spotted this romance/drama/betrayal book and it looked pretty good. I know nothing of the author but apparently she has written other books too. I'm a few chapters in so far and it's a pretty easy read - and a pretty good story so far. Nice and no-thinking reading for me - exactly what I need when I'm 3 weeks away from having this baby!

I hope you'll read along with us ..... especially now that you have a whole month long to get the book and read it. Book review coming at the end of the month ....

July 1st pick

Hester Browne wrote a series of books that I LOVED called, The Little Lady Agency. There are 3 books in this series and I just found them to be so fun, funny and very entertaining. If you want to read some great books pick them up! They reminded me a little of Bridget Jones Diary.

I was really excited to hear that Hester was writing a new book. This one sounds completely different then The Little Lady Agency series, but equally compelling. Here is a little bit of what the story is about:

Twenty-seven years ago, an infant turned up on the Academy's doorstep, with a note tacked to her blanket by an elegant golden brooch -- Please take care of my baby. I want her to grow up to be a proper lady. Loved by Lady Frances Phillimore and her kindhearted staff, Betsy grew up aspiring to be an Academy girl. But when Franny and her husband, Lord Phillimore, advise Betsy to instead hone her considerable math skills at college, she brokenheartedly leaves behind the only family she's known.

Hopefully this book will fit my mood of light and funny and a book that I will want to read again and again.

June 15th pick & review

Yes it is almost the end of June but I couldn't let the month end without posting about this pick -- Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I really liked this book. It was kind of dark and morbid - but at the same time it did give hope and showed you that people can prevail even during the most trying times.

Just a little synopsis -- a random meteor hits the moon and causes it to be knocked off kilter a little bit. Because of this all sorts of natural disasters start happening - changes in the seasons, giant tidal waves, etc, and it is affecting mankind all over the world. We get to watch and see how one family handles the disaster and following months into winter with little heat, almost no food, sickness, death and worse.

It's eye opening and frightening and amazing all at the same time. I'd really recommend it. It's a young adult book so it's a quick read, also, like The Hunger Games was.

Handle with Care - review

I really don't know what to write about this book. It really disturbed me. The ending was terrible, and in my opinion just like her ending in My Sister's Keeper. After I read the book all I could think of was, can she think of anything else? Even my husband, who I shared the story with, said the same thing since I had told him about My Sister's Keeper back when I read that book.

It just seemed pointless to work hard and have all of this drama, but then right when it gets taken care of, something happens that makes it all pointless. (I am trying not to give any spoilers). Needless to say the ending really made me unhappy.

I also did not like that Jodi Picoult did not have any "good" stories going on in this book. If you have read her books before you know that each chapter is written in first person from someone in the story and tells the story from their perspective. Everyone's story in this book was sad and depressing. Usually in Jodi's books there is a story that you really like, someones life that is finding love or happiness, but not this book. I would have liked it a whole lot more if there had been happiness in one of the stories going on.

What did you all think???

On another note My Sister's Keeper is coming out in the theaters on June 26, I can't wait!

The Hunger Games - review

Soo .... The Hunger Games. What did everyone think? I posted that little snippet the other day saying how much I loved it -- and then I went and read it for the 2nd time -- and realized I LOVED it even more!

I think one of the reasons it's so enjoyable is that it's a very quick read and the plot of the story moves pretty quickly. You're wanting to know so badly what is going to happen to Katniss at different points in the story -- if she's going to be chosen as the representative from her District -- if she is going to even be able to survive the first days -- if she's going to be able to actually win the Hunger Games and be the last person standing -- that you literally can't put the book down and are thankful that it's such a nicely constructed book that there's not a lot of "extra fluff" bogging down the pages.

The author really strikes a great balance of what is right and what is wrong -- all throughout the book Katniss is presented with choices -- does she do the right thing or does she do the thing that will help ensure her survival? She knows there can only be one victor in the Games and that sometimes by being too compassionate she'd be putting herself in danger of being killed off. She does manage to make allys along the way, although these relationships are unfortunately short-lived, as in 12 year old Rue, that reminds Katniss so much of her little sister.

And of course weaved throughout the novel is the blossoming relationship of Katniss and Peeta -- who we learn has adored Katniss for years. But Katniss first only saw him as another opponent in the games, someone she'd have to kill. Even at the end when they're both declared the winners -- she's hesitant of him and still thinking about Gale, the boy back in her District.

The book ends so abruptly that you're just aching to know what is going to happen next. What will happen when Peeta and Katniss get back to District 12? How will their lives change? How will Katniss' relationships with Peeta and Gale both develop? And most importantly - what does The Capitol have in store for them - we're left to believe that they are not happy that there are 2 winners of the Games that seem to have outsmarted them - I have a feeling they're going to have some frightening plans for our two heroes.

Excited to hear what you all thought!

June 1st pick

Erin and I have read a lot of Jodi Picoult books and have really enjoyed them. I did learn that her older books were not my favorite, she had a different style of writing then. Handle with Care is her newest novel to come out, Erin and I each had an easy time getting it at our library's without having to wait.

Here is a short synopsis:

When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer.

I guess we will have to read to find out what happens. Jodi Picoult's novels always have a story that gets you thinking about the tuff choices that some people have to make and make you wonder if you would have done the same. I can't wait to see what this book makes me feel. Anyone else with us?

May pick

So, another extended break. Hey, that's what a crazy holiday season and then both of us getting pregnant within a few months of each other will do to us! We're both now (mostly) over the first trimester exhaustion and are both ready to get in some good summer reading.

The book we're jointly picking for May (since we're halfway through the month already) is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.



I read about the book first on my friend Erin's blog, and it sounded really good. Then reviews of it started popping up everywhere with people saying things like "better than Twilight??" and "an amazing book that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time". When I went online to put a hold on it so I could pick it up at the library, I was shocked to see that I was #98 in line - in our library system that had over 50 copies of the book! Since that was 2 weeks ago and I've only moved up a few spaces in line, I finally broke down and just ordered online. Darci has already read it (in less than 24 hours) and said it was great - so I knew I would want it eventually.

I hope that you'll be able to find a copy and read it with us! It's the first book of a trilogy, with the next installment due to come out in September. From what I've heard most people that finish the first one are dying for the next one to be released! I can't wait to get it in the mail!

The Time Travelers Wife - review

** REVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS **

What to say? I loved reading this book, but now that I am finished I am mad at the book. I am getting tired of people always dying and there being sad endings. Why must that be? Can't anyone write a really great book and it have a happy ending? What is wrong with a happy ending? NOTHING.

Enough of that. OK. This book was really good. Claire and Henry are so cute together and I loved all the time that they spent together when Claire was younger. Sometimes I got confused when the "Henry's" would met up and be together and talk about everything, but it made for an interesting point of view. It was kind of cute to see Henry when he was little.

The love that Henry and Claire had for each other was palpable. I was totally drawn into it. They really were meant to be together. Everything that Claire knew about Henry, she knew him since she was 6, still made her want to be with him and not want to fight the system. What is love if not that? I don't know how I would feel being told and always knowing that I would be with this person and feeling like the choice was taken out of my hands, but Claire did not feel that way. She wanted Henry from the first time she saw him, which is really sweet.

Poor Henry. Having to lose your feet because of a time travel gone wrong, when he always would tell Claire that his feet is what saves him, without them he would be nothing. Little did he know that he would eventually be without them and this would be his downfall. How can you escape when you can't get up and run, only crawl away? You can't. It was a little weird to find out that he was shot and killed my Claire's own Dad in a hunting accident. You wonder if her father knew when he met Henry (once they met up in real time and were dating) that this the the man I killed when Claire was younger??? We will never know. Interesting though.

This book will hold a little place in my heart. I really liked that it was different, but I might be upset for awhile about Henry dying in the end. I wonder if I will want to see the movie when it comes out since I know the ending is really sad? I don't like sad endings.

September 1st Pick + From Page to Screen

I picked the Time Travelers Wife because I had heard about it for a long time now and it always sounded like my kind of book, but I never read it. It is about a Chicago librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder. He disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life. Apparently this causes problems with his marriage, what wife wouldn't be upset if her husband kept disappearing? It is a love story that I am really excited to read. I really hope that it doesn't have a sad ending like the last love story that we read, we will have to wait and see.

From Page to Screen:

I found out that it is being made into a movie and it is supposed to be released this December! It stars Eric Bana & Rachel McAdams. I am so excited to see it, I should probably wait until I read it to say that though. I always try to read a book before I see the movie, so this is perfect timing for this months pick.