END OF THE YEAR CELEBRATION

I am sorry, we will not celebrating our reading project tomorrow, December 28 at planned.

We will celebrate instead on Monday January 10, 2011 at 6 pm.

The library will provide a sandwich buffet and door prizes.

You will be invited to share a few of your favorite reads from the year and to reflect back on what you learned about yourself in recording what you reading.

I want to hear from you about how useful the blog was and to share a new idea – Shelfai as a way of sharing books.

Hope to see you on the 10th and bring a friend.

Elaine

WOW! The girl with the dragon tattoo

Wow is right! What a page turner. Mystery, suspense is all in this book. I am not going to give even a teaser because it could ruin the story. It is a bit graphic and has some rough language. The second book (The girl who played with fire) is even better (if you can believe that) than the first. I don't want the book to end. I am relieved there is another book in this series (The girl that kicked the hornets nest) Mr. Steig Larsson is the author of these exciting books. Check out the library website to put your name on hold for them TODAY! And hold on, YIKES is the word!

Stepping Into The Sunlight

Author Sharon Hinck has written a book that captures the reader and gives them an insight into post traumatic stress.

I think this book has been beautifully written. A story about a woman who has faced death, whose husband has been deployed, who has become a temporary single mother, has to face the nightmares of a near death experience and questions where God is in the midst of her world that is caving in.

I had a hard time putting this book down and the lessons on trust and faith and what they mean when bad things happen to good people are valuable.

Have a Little Faith

This book by Mitch Albom is a gem. It has quickly become one of my very favorites and I believe I will read this book every year.

Have a Little Faith is a book about two very different men. One, a Rabbi, who has asked the author to give his eulogy at his funeral. The other man, just a man who is seeking God in the midst of pain and suffering. Neither of the men know (or knew each other) but both men had a huge impact on the author.

This book was fantastic!

A Few More

The Husband Habit by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
I love this book. The main character is a chef and as she described what she saw or felt it was always in terms of food and it made my mouth water...but besides that it was a good read.

Candles on Bay Street by KC McKinnon
This was a good read as well.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
This book was fabulous and beautiful! I didn't want this to be over. I was intrigued by all the characters and did not see the end coming! I will read this again!

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I do not ever want to be in a blizzard (or an entire winter) like this ever. It was a relief when spring finally came.

Too Many To Write About

I have read too many books to write about them all in detail. So I will just give a rating for each book: 1 being don't even try to 5 being absolutley worth it!

That Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers Rating: 5
Gap Creek: The Story of Marriage by Robert Morgan Rating: 5+ (This book is a total must)
Unafraid by Francine Rivers Rating: 3
Dear John by Nicolas Sparks Rating: 2.5
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket Rating: 4
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle Rating: 3.5 or 4
Harry Potter and the Order if the Phoenix by JK Rowling Rating:4.5
Sisterchicks in Gondolas by Robin Jones Gunn Rating:4
No One Noticed the Cat by Anne McCaffrey Rating:4.5
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (read this with my 6 year old) Rating:4

If you have any questions about any of these, feel free to ask!

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

This book is about the earth in the future, when all sadness is engineered out of society. Below is my post for the book club (although this was my own choosing, not on the book club list).

I really enjoyed this book. The first chapter especially was a little creepy when they were describing how they engineer society, but beyond that the story was very interesting. The idea of a "happy" society that has no troubles or cares sounds nice, until you realize that they have all lost their free will. Being engineered to a certain class, trained up from birth to like what you do, and being drugged to continue to think there is nothing wrong with that. It's very interesting.

I thought the contrast between Lenina, Bernard, Helmholtz, John (the Savage), and Mustapha Mond was interesting. They represented the different people in the society, the different levels to which they fit into that society. Lenina represented the majority of people, going along with what they had been taught, not wanting to see any of the bad, and willing to take "holidays" as often as possible. Bernard and Helmholtz were on the fringe, having minds and ideas of their own, not wanting to just go along with everyone else. The difference, however, between Bernard and Helmholtz is that Bernard, I think, was just tired of not fitting in, being made fun of and spoken of negatively, and used that as an excuse to be a renegade, whereas Helmholtz truly did not go along with society and was not afraid to speak out and be different. He didn't care that he didn't fit it. I think deep down, Bernard really just wanted to be like everyone else and was upset that he wasn't.

John was raised outside of the society, always dreaming of being a part of it. Since his mother was from the civilized world, but he was born as a savage, he was rejected by the people he grew up with. When he did make it in to civilized society, he found that he didn't want to be there. Because of the works of Shakespeare he had read, he thought civilized society was what it was before they all became happy and productive. John was looking for what the world used to be, when people had real feelings.

The character that surprised me the most was Mustapha Mond. He had the knowledge that Helmholtz and John had, but he declined the opportunity to go to an island to be with people like him in order to keep society the way it was. I thought that decision was intriguing.