Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See

I've always been a war buff. I think it's because I grew up with a Dad who had volumes on fighter planes in the basement and who let me watch The Great Escape at a young age. WWII is a vein that flows through every countries history. It's a tragic common history. This is a book to add to my list of historic fiction that I've read from that time frame. Usually these books are told from a child's perspective. A la The Book Thief. This one is told from the perspective of a young blind French girl and a young German boy. The book cycles through their two time lines beginning at the time of the invasion of Austria. Marie-Laurie is our voice of innocence. She can't "see" the war but she talks of the emotional aspect of it. Where Werner shows us how a society could get duped into Naziism and how he was trained from a young age. We also see eventually how their lives intersect. I have to say though, one of my favorite things was the way Doerr describes things. Especially how he had Marie-Laurie make sense of the world. Beautifully written. Beautiful escape.

Book Review: Busy Months Reading

As a teacher, January to June is crazy-bananas time! I read when I can. My book club keeps me a bit accountable. Here is what i've had my nose in the past few months:

WHY NOT ME by Mindy Kaling - Goodness I love this woman! I've already blogged about the first book, and Tom got me the second one for Christmas. As like all sequels, not as good as the first, but still worth a read. I especially love her quips about body image. She "wishes she could be thin" but says she doesn't "wish for it with all her heart. Because my heart is reserved for more important things."Not to mention her commentary on ordinary life things that just slays me.

STUFF CHRISTIANS LIKE by Jonathan Acuff - I used to follow his blog before he turned it into a book. Hilariously funny! Some zingers like "how metrosexual is your worship leader" "the side-hug" and "being slightly nicer than mormons". Basically any silly thing you have thought in church he has taken and made 1000 times funnier. 

THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton - We picked this for book club even though everyone had read it. Mind you it has been probably 13 years since I had last read it. We decided to meet up at the end of the month for appies and to watch the movie. I finally understand "stay gold pony boy". I wasn't very deep in high school. 

THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simsion - As someone who works with children in the public school sector, i've had my own first-hand experience with people with Aspergers. They are endearing. I absolutely adore Don. Can't find a woman? Make a survey! Trying to get into a fancy restaurant? A windbreaker is a "fancy jacket". Someone disrespect you? punch him. He's logical but not socially aware. I sometimes feel like that too. Also, Rosie is a hot mess. Who doesn't like reading about a hot mess, but an endearing hot mess! I have The Rosie Effect sitting on the bookcase and am going to get to it soon.

LITTLE BEE by Chris Cleave - It seems that every time I do a massive book review list there is a book that broke my heart. This book broke my heart. Little Bee is a victim. A victim of bad politics, greed, and the facelessness of immigration. She snuck into the UK and was put into a facility for two years. It was impossible for her to have her voice heard. It is only when she meets up with a family that is intertwined with her past that she can start to heal (but not really). There is a quote from the book that is fabulous:

"We must see our scars as beauty. This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived."

LAUGH YOUR WAY TO A BETTER MARRIAGE by Mark Gungor -Don't bother your husband. He is in his "nothing box". He is literally thinking about nothing. You are a woman. You are always thinking about, at least, 20 things. Tom and I read this book together, and it was quite the eye opening experience. It just felt like sage advice from your crazy uncle. I would highly recommend it to any newlyweds so they can better understand what makes the other gender tick.

READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline - I grew up with an original Nintendo in the house. I sucked at it. I would always fall into the hole on the very first level of Super Mario Brothers. So, I can safely say that I am not a "gamer". This book though was relatable. So relatable. In fact, it made me worry about the future. The characters log into this alternate reality called the "oasis", and the whole population spends most of their life plugged in. Not to sound all conspiracy theorist but I can see that happening in our society. We are all so plugged in that our online presence is basically our entire personality. It's freaky! Anyway the main character is this overweight, poor, geeky guy who you can't help rooting for to win the prize. You go geeky guy!

Book Review

Good-Ol' Paper Books:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
I love Mindy Kaling. I'd totally want to have a cocktail with her and complain about random things i.e. people who block aisles in the supermarket. As for her first novel, I chuckled the whole way through. I love that she is kind of like her character on The Mindy Project, but also just very real.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
This was not my first reading of this book. In fact I went to see the movie with my step-mom, read the book again, and then went to the movie again with Tom. It is not my favourite of the series. It's just a tad too political for me. But I feel it gave Katniss a good end to her story.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan
I read this book with some friends. I really enjoyed the videos that go along with this, and I definitely recommend reading it with a bunch of people.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
Another instance where the book far surpasses the movie. I have it on good authority that it's pretty good at portraying Newfie's, minus all the incest talk. The author has this beautiful way of setting the scene, and you actually feel like you are there.

Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
This was one of my high-school bestie and I's favourite movies. The book is great in that it really gives you the clinical aspect of the whole thing. It has her actual paperwork in it so you can see how her stay develops. It's not just Susanna though. Polly breaks my heart every time. It's a short read, but an awesome one.

On Kindle:

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
I loved the beginning of this book. Hadfield talks about his dreams and inspirations and how he advanced to become an astronaut. I just couldn't get through it though. It was just a little too much. He saw an opportunity, applied, worked hard, got the job, and then rinsed and repeated. The loveable bit of him that you see when he speaks in public, or his videos from space, is lost in print. It's worth a read for the first few chapters, but if you don't finish it I don't blame you.

Fishbowl by Bradley Somer
Flipping awesome! Yep! It doesn't sound like it would be great. I mean some of the story is an inner dialogue of a fish falling from the 27th floor. But it works somehow. It's kind of like Love Actually. There are all these people who don't seem to have anything in common except for their housing situation. As you read you see how some of their lives intertwine. As with Love Actually, no one is perfect. In fact they all have "flaws". But it is their quirks that make them so darn interesting. As for my readers who are a bit more sensitive, the use of the F word is applied liberally so that may be a game changer. Still, I think I may purchase it in paper form and read it again.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
I FRIGGIN HATED THIS BOOK! It's just on this list so I can rant. For some reason it is okay to talk about a castrated sociopathic murder. Actually usually I don't have an issue with this. It's just that this character is a teenager. That really bothered me. And he tortures animals. Yep. After he tortured his third one I was so done.

Book Review: I Haven't Done This In FOREVER Addition

Now because of my full-time teaching gig, reading for pleasure is really a summer time occupation. Don't get me wrong, I read, but finishing a book take a long time. This summer I binged. Here are some thoughts:

Chocolat: I had seen the movie a long time ago, so I had a little idea of what to expect. It was a cute and easy read. I really liked how they had the Priest as a sort of nouveau-Philistine. A Philistine who ends up rolling around in chocolate like a PMS'ing woman. I also like the liberating of the woman from the abusive relationship. 

And Then There Were None: I read this book when we were at the cottage. Which was a hilarious coincidence as we were on an island, and the whole book is an island murder mystery. I looked at Tom sideways the whole time (that's a bad joke by the way). This is quite possibly one of my favourite books. I have read it several times. We did a book report on it in High School and I remember it completely fooling me the first time I read it. A fooled me, need to reread some of it to fill in the blanks, wonderful twist. I love that Vera Claythorne isn't your typical smelling salts/swooning girl of Christine's other books. She is a fighter who isn't too afraid to stand up to a murderer. I won't say too much about the plot, as I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone.

Not Quite the Classics: Tom and I watch a lot of Whose Line on YouTube. I love me some Colin Mochrie. This is an improv meets classic literature delight. He takes the first and last sentence of famous books and rewrites the middles. Whether it's Conan Doyle's "Study in Scarlett" being about Sherlock Holmes learning what funny means, or "The Cat in the Hat" about surviving the zombie apocalypse, I giggles the entire read through. Plus, they are short stories, so you can enjoy it in small doses. I will definitely read this one again.

Happy Handmade Home: This is a crafty book written by the talented bloggers at A Beautiful Mess. It's all about special touches you can do to make your house unique. I'm definitely going to be trying out some when we finally buy our own place.

Boneman's Duaghters: Oh Ted Dekker. You spooky spooky man. I've been reading his books for probably 10+ years now, and I love it. I describe him as the "Christian Stephen King". This one is about a serial killer who kidnaps teenage girls and breaks their bones to kill them if they don't prove to be a loyal "daughter". The main character is Ryan, who is just back from Iraq where he had a traumatic hostage experience. His daughter gets taken by Boneman, and he tries to save her. The FBI start to think that he might be Boneman, and well, it gets complicated. As per usual I finished this in a few days as I just could not put it down. 

Book Review: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

Let me just start by saying that if you are a true Austen fan, do not read this book. You will get angry. If you mildly like Austen than go for it. There is such a zombie fad going on right now. Both of my brothers are currently obsessed with The Walking Dead. Calgary is all about the zombie walk for such and such a charity. Well this dude totally jumped on the bandwagon. Really with Elizabeth's personality it is not far fetched to think that she could slay the undead. She's independent and feisty. The only bit that I didn't really think translated well was the whole plot with Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Other than that it is a fun little twist on the classic. Good for a read. Not good enough to make it to my bookshelf. I'll probably update this post tomorrow when I discuss this guy with my book club (yes we read books like this in our book club).

Book Review: The Great Gatsby

Here is another book that Brittany read in High School and had NOOOO idea what was happening back then. To say I was immature in High School is putting it lightly. They made us read these novels in English and we had no idea what anything meant. We couldn't relate anything to our own lives. I'm not mad at my teachers. That would be wrong. I just wish curriculum had dictated some books that teenagers could relate to. That being said I have not magically morphed into a Pre-WWII flapper girl in the past 10 years. But I understood the love, wealth, power, and identity issues now more than I did back then. Gatsby is a bleeding heart. Daisy is a bubble head. Nick is just straight up confused. Tom is a jerkface. Jordan needs to get over herself. (Yes I know I just sounded so deep there). You live a short life with these people. You feel for them. Then you've got a big ol' let down at the end. American classic, yes. A time-piece, yes. Something that changed my life, no. Read it say you read it. Watch the 1974 movie with Robert Redford. And then move on!

Book Review: To Kill A Mockingbird

I have a confession to make: I was about as deep as a puddle in high school. I know most of us shake our heads at our teenage selves. Just wanted to get that out in the open first. Now I harken back to 16 year old me because I was forced to read this book. Just as I felt when I reread Lord of the Flies, I so was not emotionally prepared for this book in highschool.to me it was so annoying kids with a lawyer father. But no. It was a perfect way of contrasting and emerging justice with an outdated way of looking at things. Scout was the cry-out to hold on to new morals. To love and understand just for the sake of it. To realize that you need to put yourself on someone else's porch for a different point of view. No, the second time around I loved this book!

Book Review: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I always get into a funk when I read sad novels. This one was exceptionally poignant because the author really explains these characters. You get a backing story. Not long, drawn out backing stories - it's almost as if you are reliving the memory of these people. As if you've always known. You feel their anxiety. You understand and empathise with their mistakes. Through all these mistakes is Phoebe: the little girl with Downs Syndrome that is a beacon of hope and purity. I felt like I lived a lifetime in a book. But redemption is possible for the characters and the funk lifts when you finish.

Book Review: Bossypants

I love me some Tina Fey. Oddly enough not the SNL Tina Fey. I love me some movie Tina Fey. Mean Girls means something to people my age. We relate. Maybe I would love SNL Tina Fey if I were American... all the political Weekend Update things go RIGHT OVER my head. I barely get my own countries political system. ANYWAYS...
This book is good. Not fabulous raving fabulousness, but good. It was interesting to get a taste at what a successful comedians upbringing looked like. Plus the somewhat feminist side of me was all about her overcoming being a female in a male dominated industry. Also, Tina Fey has been known to be a funny person, so there are some random bits it here that had me giggling as I read it in my Mom's spare bedroom on vacation (took me two days). So read it if you want some good throaty chuckling. Maybe don't get all excited if you hate American political commentary as it's laced throughout.

Book Review: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Interesting... very interesting. I'm such a giant nerd and I love leadership books. I wouldn't say that I'm actively involved in any sort of business sector that has traditional leadership roles, but I feel like you learn so much more about yourself from these books. You flush out your bad habits. You figure out how people will actually listen to you.
These are really nicely written because John C. Maxwell is an ex-pastor. Not an ex-CEO. Therefore you get a more human perspective. It's not about how you can make more money, but how you can positively influence people. And I like that.
The good thing is that each law is a few pages so you can read it in little chunks. I find this is the way I like my non-fiction books. Short and to the point without silly little stories placed for filler. 

Book Review: Vinyl Cafe Notebook

It's no secret I have a crush on Stuart McLean. This man is just so incredibly eloquent! This is yet another book I picked up at Second Story in Canmore (I mentioned it here). I thought it would be further tales of Dave, Morley, Sam and Stephanie. I was wrong. Pleasantly so. It is a collection of Stuart McLean's ramblings about life. Much like myself, he loves to write about things that perhaps not many people will care about. He writes them to get them down. He writes about Canada. You feel connected to the land, people, and the history. Mr. McLean tells tales of unruly rug and chair battles, summer jobs, and unknown curling rinks in rural Manitoba. I felt like he was inside my head when he spoke of not being able to get rid of books (even going so far as to pick them up from the side of the road). I laughed at how he didn't understand why people used bay leaves, and his thoughts on chewing on them like tobacco. Really he just touched my heart with how he can look at life through the scope of a writer. Above all it made this girly want to JOURNAL!

Book Review: Water for Elephants

Whelp... I now know what goes on in the head of a boy around my age... SEX! I'm probably not going to use that word too much on my blog. It just seems to strange to type it S-E-X. WHEW! Anywho let's just say I spent a lot of this book clutching my metaphorical grandmother strand of pearls and going "oh my". This is one of the issues in reading a book. Sometimes you get to deep into characters heads. This guys looses his parents, drops out of Ivy league, and hops on a train. A train that just happens to be a circus when he was going to College to be a vet. COINCIDENCE? My cynical mind says NO! He spends this book pining for the girl he loves but can't have because she's married to a psycho. A "i'll throw you off a moving train" psycho. I actually did feel for the two of them though. They were meant for each other. I'm not going to give away too much of the book because I honestly would recommend it. From a historical look of circus' through the depression it is fantastic! What I am going to do is rant like I did after I watched the movie. Firstly, it is altogether creepy to watch Reese (pointy-chinned but beautiful) Witherspoon hit on the sparkly guy from Twilight. Secondly, they erased the owner of the circus Uncle Al and thus changed how we looked at her evil husband: driven by money not by Marlena obsession. Thirdly, they made the Marlena into a sad orphan, when in the book she left a pampered life to join the circus, thus giving her the gumption to be able to do that rather than tossing her into something she had no idea how to handle (sorry for the run-on sentence but it is pivital in a rant). Fourthly, the elephant was not mischevious enough. DANG in the book that elephant got into some shenanigans. So what I would say is read the book or watch the movie but heavens to betsey don't do both or you'll turn into a maniac like me!

Book Review: The Glass Castle

SAD! Seriously... that's what this book is. And unfortunately it is a memoir! BLAH! She is an amazing woman, but her parents make you want to hug yours tight and tell them how amazing they were with you growing up. Imagine moving place to place on a whim. Imagine not having indoor plumbing and peeing in a bucket in your kitchen. Imagine having only 4 dresses to your name. Imagine loosing respect for your parents. Imagine watching your parents become squatters while you became a newspaper editor. This lady went through all of this and more. You just get so frustrated listening to what they would do next. It was a real eye opener and I encourage you to read it if you want a reminder to be thankful for what you have and what you have went through. The most surprising part of her whole journey is she writes without a shred of bitterness. I must say she might just be a better human being than I am.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

I know what your thinking... what hype! I would say though that this is the first craze i'm gonna jump into with both feet. All this girl's gonna say is:

Read It

Book Review: Wuthering Heights

For years I've been swearing to myself to read the classics. Why is there so much hullabaloo about certain things? Why have they stood the test of time? Plus, I loved Jane Eyre so I thought I'd give Charlotte Bronte's sister a chance. They both must of had some life because this stuff is DARK. I had a conversation with a friend while I was finishing it and asked if it were possible to like a book when you hate every single one of the characters. I think I'll go with yes. The hate is what makes you like it. These people are despicable. They have every quality that makes humanity difficult to love. This I could bear with if they had some redeeming qualities. Nope. They do horrible things and die/run away. It is the perfect example of the fawning, fainting, fear of the 1800's. But Emily is such an amazing writer. She makes you feel like you are there. You feel each gut wrenching pain of every character. Read it but don't expect to feel all warm and fuzzy afterwards.

Book Review: Home

Home: A memoir of my early years by Julie Andrews
It all started with Mary Poppins being on TV during Christmas vacation. Watching it in my PJ's having breakfast with my family brought back so many memories. Particularly how my personal copy had been taped from the television (VHS BABY) and I remember having the daunting task of fast forwarding through all of the commercials (particularly this horrible McDonald's one with clapping hands that irritated 5 year old me). I realised how much I loved Mary Poppins. She was really practically perfect in every way.
A wise man once told me to read biographies of people you admire. Figure out how they got through troubles and triumphs. How they learnt and grew. To me Julie Andrews is the epitome of grace, poise, and gentleness. Seriously... gimme some of that! So I ordered this from my local library and got introduced to the start up years of her amazing career. I'm not sure what I expected to read. Perhaps stories of an amazing childhood baking cookies and riding unicorns. That was not what I got. Julie Andrews had a very sad and difficult upbringing. Her mother was into Vaudeville in WWII and wasn't really around. She had to live with a horrible stepfather when she had a perfectly good father within driving distance. She was sucked into Vaudeville to help support her family because of her amazing voice. She essentially took jobs to ensure her family didn't loose their home. She had boys that loved her, but she was shy and "bandy kneed." She was the original "My Fair Lady" before the movie on Broadway. Really I could type about this for hours, but I'll just say READ IT! It will help your girl crush on Julie Andrews grow. She is and was one amazing woman.

Book Review: Liz Curtis Higgs

That's one handsome looking dude eh? Oh random people who pose for cover art. As cover artists go I would say that this guy is like the Fabio of Christian novels! Anywho! This was a three book series: Thorn In My Heart, Fair is the Rose, and Whence Came a Prince. I didn't expect to commit to a new series when my stepmom handed me the first one. I was kinda hooked after that... which wasn't great because each book is about 500 pages. You know after three books I now feel like a few friends are gone (I'm sappy I know).  Essentially it is a retelling of the story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah from the Book of Genesis but set in 18th Century Scotland. It's all about boy falls in love with girl, but secretly get married to her sister (who isn't as pretty), and then a whole lotta heartache. Basically you are upset the whole time you read the books, but have no fear as last few chapters make you feel better! Oh Love! Oh Scotland! Oh descriptions of pretty clothing! I'm not sure I sold it well, but seriously... read it!

Book Review: Vinyl Cafe Stories by Stuart McLean

I've had a few friends lately who've been asking me what to read. I picked this up at a cute little used book store in Canmore called Second Story. It has an inscription from the proprietors inside and a coffee ring on the front. I love books that have a little added character.

I've always been in love with Stuart McLean's recordings and decided to try him in print. I must admit the stories lack a little something without his monotoned wit, but it's the same Dave, Morley, Sam and Stephanie. If you like family quirks with little doses of Canadiana I'd totally recommend him. 

As an added bonus he is coming to Calgary in December. I NEED to snag some tickets!