The Lost Symbol

Tawny, I hope you are reading this: If you can, get your hands on this book and read it at night while you are still in Washington DC! It will give you a whole new outlook that I wish I'd had while I was there. And for heaven's sakes, take time to go to the top of the Washington Monument. I am KICKING myself that we didn't.

I LOVED DC and when the book described some random fact about a place I had been I would occasionally say out loud "OH, I want to go back to DC." Sometimes I would say this to whichever dog happened to be sleeping next to me (I like to prop my books up on them) and sometimes I would say it while Collin was there. I got the same "whatever" response no matter whom my audience was. Anyway, that factor of the book made it really personal for me so I enjoyed that.As for the story, what Dan Brown book would be complete without twists and turns and controversy? And Dan Brown did not disappoint. I saw some of it coming, but was really thrown off by other plot twists. Anyone who has read more than 2 of his books will think "Boy, that Dr. Langdon sure does get around. Not only the globe, but with women." His new lady love, Katherine, is by far the smartest woman who he's chased down lost symbols (ha ha) with. I liked her.The mystery is all about Masonic symbols scattered throughout DC and a madman's all too evil and all too literal translation of those symbols. They mention the "Mormon's" a few times, but always in a good light and we are in no way central to the story; just passing elements of Robert Langdon's colloquial (point out the OBVIOUS) lectures Dan Brown is famous for.It's a fun read. I don't think it will be as controversial as his other books. Then again, it doesn't make any claims that would tick off Christianity.And, just in case anybody is interested, I really want to go back to DC.

October 15th it is...

If you are participating in the Book of the Month have Hunger Games read by October 15th.

Thanks -Management

The Book Thief

I finished this book 4 days ago (I know, it has taken me a while to get it posted on here, I've been busy) and I can't shake it. In fact, part of my brain kind of thinks I'm still reading it and I have to go back and finish it. I wish I was; it was such a beautiful book. There were parts where I cried so hard I couldn't read. I put off reading this book for a long time because it has to do with the Holocaust. Somehow my husband and I went through this phase where we watched a ton of movies that were Holocaust related and then we went to the Holocaust Museum in DC in January and I read two books that were about it (although I didn't realize that when I started them) and I kind of told myself "Enough, you know what happened, you know it was sad, you know it was horribley wrong, you don't need to keep reading/watching about it to remember those things for the rest of your life." But I am SO glad I made an exception for this book. Just when I thought I couldn't see another point of view this book comes along and changes everything. The narrator is death itself and is told from a German family's point of view. I won't say anymore because I think everyone should read this book not knowing anything when they go in.I will say this: it was depressing but hopeful at the same time. You get the feeling that the main character, Leisel, is a symbol of the goodness and beauty you can find in even the most gruesome and horrific situations. And it makes you realize how hope can make you resiliant to pain and sorrow.

Book of the Month

As you can see I added a "Book of the Month" to the side of this blog. Joy and I thought it would be fun to all read the same book and discuss it. We still want to discuss all the great and not so great (ahem, Mr. Darcey Vampyre) books we read.

When should we have it finished by? Your thoughts?

PS: I know that the "nose in" list is not current so I am just going to go ahead and grant you all admin privleges (I just realized I could do that) so you guys can update your own books. If you need help let me know and I can post instructions.

PPS: Be sure to label all your posts with the name of the book for easier reference.

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Sigh. I should have known this book would be dissapointing. I shouldn't have expected much, but i did have a very small morsel of hope inside of me that this book could be a good one. It wasn't. It was a reach out to those girls that loved pride and prejudice and those that loved twilight. Yes, I want it to continue where Jane Austen left off, and some parts were pretty convincing as to why mr. darcy was so strange in pride and prejudice, he was a vampire! But there were just too many holes in the story. The real Elizabeth Bennet wouldn't have been so clueless about so many things. And COME ON a bat? There was a bat flying outside of her window. Am I supposed to believe that is Mr. Darcy? Then the book doesn't ever mention it again. I can't even talk about the ending. How ridiculous!! grrr. That's all. Don't read it. But if you want to, you can have my copy.

3 books, one post

This book made me go into a kind of funk. Normally when I read I just flow along the pages and get lost in a book but I didn't with this one. Maybe it was that it hit too close to home a few times (the same night I read about a dog fight in the the book my own dog was attacked by a German Shepherd) but I just wasn't happy reading this book. Then, about half way through, a friend (who has very similar book tastes to me) said she hated the ending, so I was dreading that. I can't go into the story without ruining it, but I will say the one redeeming factor of this book was how poetic the language was. The chapters told from the dog's point of view were beautiful. So I would recommend it and would give it maybe 3 stars.

Tawny, I think you'll like this one. The writing style was very similar to The Time Traveler's Wife. I also found a lot of similarities in the story. Same kind of relationship (little girl having a friendship with a middle aged man who she ends up falling in love with years later when she is an adult). Same sense of "yeah right" (instead of the man being a time traveler he is an imaginary friend). And, just like I liked The Time Traveler's Wife, I really liked this book. It had some language and 1 sex scene that was quite tame.The story: Jane is a little girl with a father who doesn't see her often and a mother who sees her but doesn't pay attention to her. So she has an imaginary friend, Michael, who she eats ice cream with and who is kind of a father figure to her. Then he leaves and tells her she won't remember him but she does. Years later, when she is in her 30s, he comes into her life again. And that's where the love story begins. Really sweet, really thoughtful, a good read.

I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about President Jackson. Like, did you know that he actually killed a man in a duel over something the man had said about his wife, Rachel? And that him killing a man wasn't what made him lose the presidency the first time he ran?So the story: Rachel is in a crappy marriage but is stuck because it's illegal for a woman to ask for a divorce and even if it hadn't been it was literally unheard of for people to even get divorces and even then they had to be due to something really bad like adultery. So Rachel is stuck in this marriage and then she meets Andrew Jackson, who pretty breathes awesomeness. So then she does get divorced but only because she admits (falsley) to being and adultress. Crazy, I tell you. So the book is basically the story of their marriage and his rise to the presidency and the effects her first marriage has on said rise. Some of the passages got flowerly and mushy so I skipped over them (try reading just the adjectives, you still get the gist without the gag), but I liked the book as a whole. The ending will bring you to tears.

My Life in France

I'm done with My Life in France. I loved this book. With a few exceptions of when she would talk about french named dishes for multiple paragraphs, i found the book very entertaining. I loved how upbeat and positive she was about life, and food. She sounds like she was a very funny character. She and her husband never sent out Christmas cards, they sent out Valentine cards instead. One year they set up the camera to take a picture of themselves in a bubble bath! How funny (and weird!) It was interesting to hear about how life was in the 1940s - 1960s AND how France was (which I imagine a lot of it is still very much the same) I was shocked to hear about all the alcohol and smoking going on in her life. But living in France I guess that is the norm. I remember a story my mom told me about asking for water (instead of wine, scandal!) at a restaurant in France. The waiter turned up his nose and said, "Water, is for the ducks!" haha! Julia has given me a renewed zest to take a little more care in the kitchen and try new recipes every once in a while. Merci, ma cherie!

The Time-Traveler's Wife

I wanted to post my own review:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I always enjoy movies and books when they become applicable to my own life--you may wonder HOW time-traveling becomes applicable when I write, NO, I do not have my own Delorian or genetic disease---but I think this books gives us added perspective. If you were able to travel back and forth what would you want to know? To go even deeper--what does this book tell us in respect to the past and what we cannot change, and the choices we make followed by the consequences. All this is very deep, but I thought it was an excellent book. I loved how she wrote from both perspectives. I just wish the movie would have been able to show Claire's perspective more.