Under the Greenwood Tree

Okay, okay. This isn't the cover from the book. It's the 2006 BBC version of the book. And it was good. Fancy Day moves to town to take care of her ailing father but soon finds herself with three different suitors. Each one offers her a different kind of life. Which one will she pick?!?!


This is originally a book by Thomas Hardy. But I haven't read the book. I only saw the movie and loved it. I thought you gals who like all the other BBC things (Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, etc.) would enjoy this movie. And it's only an hour and a half. Watchable in one night.

Delirium

This book by Lauren Oliver is AMAZING!!! Lena lives in a futuristic society where love is considered a disease. Once people turn 18, they can be cured from ever falling in love by having a portion of their brain lasered away. Lena can't wait to finally have the cure and be happy... until she falls in love just 95 days before her scheduled procedure. It is fast-paced, full of twists and turns, has excellent characters, and is super compelling. I couldn't put it down!

(I'll add a pic of the cover later if I remember - I'm uploading pics to my other blog right now.)

A Single Thread

I just finished reading A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick. It follows the lives of 4 main characters as they intertwine. It is told from the alternating perspective of two of the main characters. All four women start as strangers, but through a bout of cancer and a quilt circle, they end up becoming friends. It is very well-written, the characters are realistic and compelling, and I couldn't put it down until I finished it! In fact, I'm reading the sequel (A Thread of Truth) right now!

Missing May

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant is about a young girl, Summer, who is adopted by her aging Aunt May and Uncle Ob. Aunt May passes away, and Uncle Ob especially misses her. Together, Summer, Uncle Ob, and the peculiar neighbor boy named Cletus, learn to find strength from each other as they continue to live life all the while missing May.
It's a rill short book, but it's so sweet. I figure if Mom were to read it, she'd cry. That's why I posted it. Plus also, I read it for my Children's Lit class . . ..

Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting

This was a book I read for my children's lit class. Normally, I'm not a big fan of history non-fiction type books, but this book was very moving. The book begins by talking about the lead up to WWI and life in the trenches. Then it beautifully and poignantly gives the account of the Christmas Day Truce of 1914, wherein troops from both sides of the war caused a cease-fire for several hours and crossed enemy lines to celebrate Christmas Day together. I like the format of the book because there's lots of great photographs. There's actual quotes from soldiers, too, but they are seamlessly intertwined with the narrative.
Even if you don't like history or war, I would still recommend this book. It shows the human nature of us all, even in the midst of war. Personally, while I was reading it, I kept thinking, "Okay, so what happens next as a result of the truce?" Obviously, the war went on for a few more years, but I still think the Christmas Truce of 1914 was an important event in the war.

A Year Down Yonder

Mary Alice, 15, spends a year living with her eccentric grandma in a small country town. The adventures they have are absolutely hilarious as they cause town riots, find creative ways to make money, and otherwise either endear themselves or scare themselves away from everyone else in the town.
This is a feel-good book for sure, and it's real short, too!

Plus also, this book is a sequel to A Long Way From Chicago which is about Mary Alice and her brother Joey as they visit Grandma over consecutive summers. Also a good book.

The Help

This book is wonderful! It's about black maids and hired help during the 1960s. It outlines the story of three main characters-two maids, and a white college graduate - who work together to write their stories. It was such a good read, and I definitely gained a lot of appreciation for that time period and the unspoken racial social rules. I really liked what they included in their stories to "give it insurance" against the high society socialites. I give it 5 stars!!

I Sit All Amazed: The Extraordinary Power of a Mother's love

Written by Steve Mikita, this book talks about his life in a wheelchair because of a muscular disease. He reflects back on all his mother did for him during her life and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has sustained him in his trials and hardships.

A very good read! It's neat to see how this man has progressed beyond the slim prognosis of life expectancy and has done so many things with the necessary assistance from his mom and others & shows how determined one can be and how they can succeed when they work toward it.

Peace Like a River

This book, by Leif Enger, was recommended to me by a friend. It's about a family who is searching after their brother who has broken out of prison after being convicted of murder. Each character in the family has a special trait of some kind; the father, who in some ways is a miracle worker. The brother, Ruben, an asthmatic, who learns from experience how to make decisions even when there's no clear line between right and wrong. And the younger sister Swede, whose literary creativity weaves a web through the entire story. It's an interesting book; to me it's like a cross between a Western and an inspirational almost religious type book. There's alot of values such as family loyalty, honesty, and love which play a huge role in the book.
Admittedly, this was a slower-read for me, and the ending at first seemed a little unfulfilling. But after thinking about it more (and reading the suggested questions for discussion at the back of the book), I came to understand how the ending was rather fitting. But I think I would probably appreciate the whole book more reading it again after having read the ending.

Moon Over Manifest

Well, funny thing. I have NO IDEA why I got this book from the library! It is technically a juvenile fiction, and that's not a section I just randomly browse through. I thought that I had requested it from the library because someone had recommended it on this blog, but I can see that no one has. Reading the back and the first 20 pages, it did NOT seem like my cup of tea. But, thinking that someone here had recommended it, I persevered... and ended up falling in love.

So anyway... should you decide to check it out, don't get turned off by the idea of a medium. She's not all hoodoo the way it appears at first; she's just a vehicle to be able to tell a second storyline in the book. And I really enjoyed watching the two story lines weave together by the end of the book. Plus, it was fun getting glimpses of history since the book is set in 1918 and 1936.

Anyway, brief plot overview: Abeliene's father sends her to live in Manifest, the town where he grew up. She spends the summer learning about the town's history (through her friend Miss Sadie the medium, as well as through town newspapers and old letters), trying to learn more about what makes her father the way he is. She ends up learning about him and about herself. Wonderful and sweet story!

The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry is set in a control-based society where all decisions are made for you. The size and type of your family, your profession, your friends, etc. In such a controlled society, a young boy by the name of Jonas receives the assignment to be "The Receiver" wherein he receives memories and feelings from on old man called The Giver. Discover with Jonas the meaning behind color, feelings, happiness and joy, and the decisions we must make because we know these things.
This is a short book, and it's quite the classic, but I really enjoyed it. There's lots of symbolism as to how you can perceive the ending, but that's another thing I like about the book; its open-endedness changes the whole tone of the book.

Time Lottery

Nancy Moser is the author of this wonderfully thought-provoking book. (It is Christian, and hence clean, but the preachy stuff is very minimal.)

The idea behind this story is that a company develops the ability for one to travel back to an Alternate Reality, or a place where some decision s/he made changed the course of his/her life. Since this is done using their memories, the person's body remains in the present for seven days while they experience life as it would have been, almost in a vivid dream. At the end of seven days, they experience a time of Dual Consciousness, where they are simultaneously aware of the realities of each world and are able to choose which reality to stay in.

The company holds a lottery and chooses 3 people to participate. In this first book, you follow these three people back through their memories to find out what they ultimately decide. (I promise, the book is much more about the people's lives than about the science behind the time travel.)

I loved it and really enjoyed the concept behind it; in fact, I am currently reading the sequel called "Second Time Around." I hope someone else can enjoy this book, too!

Persuasion

This is the last book written by Jane Austen, and it wasn't finished being edited when she died. But, I still love this book! Anne Elliot is the middle of three girls and fell in love with Captain Frederick Wentworth when she was only 19 years old. Because he had no money and nothing to call his own and she was so young, Anne was persuaded by her friend, Lady Russell, a fill-in for her deceased mother, that it wasn't a good match.

Years later, Anne and Captain Wentworth meet again and this time their relationship grows slowly because of hurt feelings, and because of other suitors.

Of course, the two end up together, (seriously....I'm not spoiling this for anyone, because this story has been around forever), but I just love the way Jane Austen uses all of her characters in her books to further the plots. There are hardly any inconsequential people in her novels.

So, really, read this. And then read all the other books written by her because I LOVE them all!

The Lost Symbol

You guessed it. This is the third book in Dan Brown's trilogy, following Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code. I finished this book most recently.

I remember when this book hit the library shelves because I was in my advanced reporting class in the fall of 2009. For the first couple of weeks in the semester, I had a student in the beginning reporting class, Adam, shadow me to get the hang of shooting, editing, and writing a package. The story we looked into together was the higher influx of peeps heading to the library to avoid the costs of renting/buying movies (and books, but movies were mostly relevant because that's when Blockbuster started to close like a billion stores). Adam looked into The Lost Symbol on the library's system and found that it had more than 80 people who had placed a hold request on it.

Robert Langdon is slightly older, but still an intellectual giant in the world of symbology. There are a couple over-arching things about the third book that I liked a lot. First, the whole thing takes place in Washington, D.C., so for once it was my turn to enjoy the places mentioned and be able to picture them from the fam's east coast vacation in 1994. Secondly, the historical aspects of this book tie into Freemasonry. I still don't know a ton about the Free Masons, but a) I know Joseph Smith was a Mason, and b) National Treasure, one of my favorite movies, has a lot of ties to masonry, too. Overall, it's a group that intrigues me, if nothing else.

While Whitney and I agree that this book wasn't quite as satisfying as the first two because the whole clue-filled quest didn't seem to serve as much of an overall purpose, it was still a good read with some intense moments. In fact, I told Whitney not to read it right before going to bed because she often has nightmares, and there's at least one scene in particular that could be kind of scary. It is not, however, a scary book; it's just that the villain is quite a creeper.

The DaVinci Code

Part Two. This is the second book in the Dan Brown trilogy, after Angels and Demons. Again, it doesn't really matter what order you read these books in; I'm just posting about them in the order they were written. But, truth be told, this was the first of the three that I read.

I say 'read' loosely, for Whitney and I listened to it on CD way back in May 2008 while we drove from Provo to Midland and back for our wedding reception. I remember that the corresponding movie came out while I was on my mission. People in Argentina were outraged by the movie because they (the majority of whom are Catholic) didn't like that the book portrayed Jesus Christ as having been married during His life. But remember, this book is fiction tied into some real pieces of history. As far as I'm concerned, looking at it as fiction shouldn't cause anyone with a true testimony to waiver. Anyway, listening to the book sure made the 17-hour one-way trip a lot shorter (by taking breaks to listen to other things from time to time, the book CDs timed out perfectly; the book ended when we were about 45 minutes away from Provo on the return trip).

Robert Langdon is back in action, this time in Paris. Well he starts in Paris, but the whole book takes him through various European countries (again leading to Whitney's excitement). This time he's following clues left by artists (can you guess who one of them is?) and other great thinkers to ascertain the whereabouts of the Holy Grail. It's not as Indiana Jones-y as it may sound on the surface, but it is again pretty intense. There are moments when you pride yourself if you can figure out clues before Langdon does.

This is also a really good book, and we've also seen the movie, which did a pretty good job of matching up to the book.

Angels and Demons

Betcha didn't think you'd hear from me on this blog, did you? Well I do read. Occasionally. When I have time. And a good book. And this happened to be one such good book.

Despite what movie watchers may think, this is the first in a trilogy by Dan Brown (he has written two other books that I know of outside of the Robert Langdon series). It was made into a movie after the more famous movie, The DaVinci Code, but it was actually written first. The series is one of those where the plots technically did happen in a certain order, but it doesn't matter in what order you read them; they aren't connected in any way except that Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor and symbologist, is the main character in all of them.

This suspense-filled series ties fiction into many things that are quite historically accurate (okay, I didn't independently verify that it's all accurate, but Brown has short notes at the beginning of the books that tell the reader which organizations/events/traditions actually exist).

In Angels and Demons, Langdon is in Rome (and The Vatican City), chasing down the bad guys to try to stop the murderous intentions of the Illuminati, a science-based brotherhood that originated long ago to keep scientific discoveries protected from the Catholic Church, which tended not to be so accepting of worldly knowledge back in the day. Centuries after the church put great scientists and thinkers to death for their works, the Illuminati want revenge.

I usually only had time to read it a little bit at a time before bed, and there were some nights when I stayed up later than I should have because the book was so good. Whitney read it right after I did, and it was really fun to share our thought processes throughout the plot. Plus, she loves it because she's been to most of the places where things happen in the book.

The Story of Leslie Moore (abridged)

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful young lady named Leslie Moore who lived in Four Winds Harbor. She had lived a tragic life. When she was young, she witnessed her younger brother being run over by a hay cart. She was devastated, but her father was more so. He couldn't bear the thought of living without his precious little boy, so he killed himself. Leslie witnessed that tragedy as well. The next few years, she lived with her mother, who was a dear soul to her, if but a little . ..unwise. You see, the mother, Mrs. Lewis, was in deep debt. Well, so they lived. Leslie, as I said previously, was very beautiful. So much so, that she attracted the eyes of every young man in the harbor. Including Dick Moore, a pompous, proud man who was somewhat of a drinker. Unfortunately, the mortgage on the Lewis farm was in name of Dick Moore's family. He proposed an idea; he would lift the mortgage and pay all other debts of the Lewis family if Leslie agreed to marry him. Leslie wasn't really thrilled with the plan, for she did not (nor would ever it seemed) love Dick Moore. However, to please and relieve her mother's many concerns, she accepted. Leslie lived unhappily with Dick. Shortly after they were married, Mrs. Lewis caught typhoid fever and died, leaving Leslie alone with her bitter, drunk, and abusive husband. Shortly afterward, Dick decides to sail off to sea for some adventure. His ship never returns, and he his thought to be lost at sea. But, a few years later, the old sea captain of the Four Winds harbor happened upon the location of the lost ship. He decided to look up Dick Moore, for old time's sake. Well, he found him .. .somewhat. Dick had suffered a many hard years' time there, with drunken brawls and some sort of physical accident that now caused him to be somewhat childish, forgetful and dependent on others. He seemed vacant and lost, yet it appeared to be Dick in all other senses. Captain Jim brought him back to Four Winds where Dick's poor wife, Leslie was destined to take care of this poor incapable child of a husband.

Okay, that's the beginning of what of my favorite parts of Anne's House of Dreams (#5 in the series). This is the first book of Anne and Gilbert's married life, and it covers a span of about 3 years. I can't really do the story justice without including a description of the other characters that play a role . .. Anne, Gilbert, Miss Cornelia Bryant, Captain Jim, and especially Owen Ford. I think of all the Anne books, this one was my favorite so far. There are fewer characters, but each one has his or her own distinct personality and life stories. Believe it or not, there is a happy ending to Leslie's story, but it's something certainly unexpected. Would you like to know? Should I tell more? Maybe you should just read the book . . .or if you can't get through all the descriptiveness of L.M. Montgomery's writing, I can tell you what happens. But believe me, it doesn't do the story a bit of justice! I feel like I can't really disclose the end of Leslie's story without including the end of Captain Jim's life-story, or the adventures that befall Miss Cornelia and the Blythes. And you won't get a good sense of any character in the book unless you actually read it. So . . . .have a good read if you will! =)

Anne of Green Gables

Okay, everybody knows this one is a classic. If you're anything like me, the image that comes to your head is Canadian actress Megan Follows in the movie and her wonderful rendition of the spunky, stubborn, spirited, and very imaginative Anne Shirley. I read this book once upon a time in Junior High, but after seeing the movies again, I was motivated to read them again. I love it even more. Anne, for all her innocent mistakes and childish ways, and yes, even her big flowery words, has a wonderful way of squeezing her way into your affection. Just as her red hair distinguishes her and sets her apart physically, her excitement for life and learning bring a light to the lives of everyone around her. In reading the book, I also got a good kick out of Mrs. Rachel Lynde, the fat neighbor and gossip. She is once described as so fat that she waddles away instead of slipping away. I also loved Miss Stacy, the school teacher, and Mrs. Allan, the preacher's wife for their sensible wisdom and love they show not only to Anne, but to all the young folk. There's also the boy, Gilbert Blythe, with whom Anne is finally friends with by the end after 3 years of holding a grudge against him for calling her "Carrots." You can't help but feel the love of Matthew Cuthbert, who is so unbearably shy around women and always has a wonderful sweet way to "put his oar" into Marilla's way of raising the girl. And you even love the strict, severe, but endearing Marilla Cuthbert who, thanks to the young spirited Anne-girl, mellows out, and learns .. .little by little . .to love. Anne of Green Gables helps you to love people better, regardless of their flaws. And you learn from Anne that even if you feel like you can't love them, you can always imagine that you do. After all, "kindred spirits are not so scarce as you used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world."

Leadership and Self-Deception (by the Arbinger Institute)

This book discusses our relationships (work and home) and how we perceive people. We are "in the box" when we see people as objects instead of as people. When someone appears to be an object to us, we aren't reacting/acting toward them in the way we should or really want. The book teaches us what 'in the box' behavior is and how to get 'out of the box'.

Even though the book mentions leadership in the title, the concept is not just for leaders or the workplace. It can be applicable to anyone open to change.

This is an easy read that makes lots of sense as the topics are reiterated and explained to the point that you CAN'T misunderstand.

I read this book for my work's independent study program. My new director (6 months or so) wanted us to all read it because when she first came to our Head Start she saw that we were "in the box" as an organization and needed help! I read it for my quiz for the independent study, but I want to read it again without the need to look for answers and get more out of it.

Perfect timing for this blog, btw. I wanted to do a blog post about this book for you guys since I really liked it and think it'll be good for everyone to read (and apply).

Sex Has a Price Tag

Pam Stenzel is a name you'd recognize if you were going to teach health. Since I'm the only one in the family planning to do that, I'll just tell you about this book that she wrote. I read it for a class, and I chose it from the list of book options because it was a quick read. Basically the book talks all about why people shouldn't have sex before marriage. Great morals. The parts I didn't like included the fact that there seemed to be a bajillion typos (maybe just my edition of the book), when she would throw in scriptures and not really tie them in to her train of thought, and the fact that she is basically only writing toward people who believe (and fear) in God. Hopefully, all in this family still agree with the LDS doctrine, and we all know how much it is ordained of God to wait until marriage to have sex. So, in the future if you think your children should be reminded/taught about chastity from a source other than the church (as a back-up plan maybe?), have them read this book. You can't take everything she says at face-value, but it's generally a pretty good and what I thought to be convincing argument about staying morally clean. FYI, she also has a movie out with pretty much the same message. I've heard the movie is a little bit more applicable to all because it's not as much about God. In fact, the movie is often shown in health classes at junior highs and high schools here in Utah.

Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships

So, I am only on page 145 out of 380 pages, but even then, this book is FASCINATING! It explains some ways to learn and teach unwritten social rules to children AND adults with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Both of these authors have overcome their autism to have functioning relationships. It is quite fascinating because each author has a marked difference in the way they interpret the world. It illustrates two ways (of many) that autistic people think that are different from the way we think.

I'm really enjoying it and it's a fairly easy read even though it's long. I'd love to talk about it with anyone who reads it!

Running with Angels

After being bored for a while while Mom finished her mission responsibilities, I finally asked her if she had any books to read. Surprisingly, she did. Well, her apartment did. A previous senior (or maybe middle-aged) sister missionary who had lived in that apartment had left several sacks of novels in the closet, and Mom suggested that I search through them to find one that I'd like. Most of them were suspense novels such as Mary Higgins Clark. After reading the back of two or three of them, they all seemed the same to me, and I decided I probably wouldn't enjoy reading them.
Then I came across a thinner one called Running With Angels by Pamela H. Hansen. On it was a post-it note that said "Very inspiring and made me cry." It's a story of a lady who triumphs over personal and family tragedy to be able to lose weight and even run a marathon. I really enjoyed the book, because as the post-it said . . .it was very inspiring. Granted, I haven't ever been (nor hope to be!) obese like she was, but I certainly learned alot about how to accomplish larger goals by starting . . .one step at a time. Quite literally sometimes. It can be done.
We all have bad habits in our lives that sometimes get out of control. So if you're really feeling like for once and for all you'd like to change something, I suggest reading this book. It's very inspiring . . .and it might make you cry.
(p.s. Seeing as how the original owner of the book left it behind, I now have the book in my possession.)