The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dr. Andreas, a professor and expert on Shakespeare, named his three daughters after three of Shakespeare's heroines: Rosalind from "As You Like It", Bianca from "The Taming of the Shrew" and Cordelia from "King Lear." The family is obsessed with books, which I loved, and watching television is forbidden - I'm good with that, too. Dr. Andreas dubbed them "The Weird Sisters" - also from Shakespeare. This is the story of how they come back to Barnwell as adults to care for their mother who had developed breast cancer. Rosalind is the older, stable one who takes care of everything and everyone. She is a professor at Barnwell along with her father and engaged to a wonderful man who has been given an opportunity in England. She has to decide whether to go or stay and whether her loved ones can survive without her. Bianca was fired from her job in New York City for stealing from the company and she is the wild one. Cordy has been all over just traveling around hobo-like and has come home pregnant - although she doesn't tell anyone right away. We learn a lot about the girls' childhood and watch them grow through their difficulties and become the women they are at the end of the book. I normally don't enjoy contemporary novels that much, but this one was interesting and I liked the way everything turned out - not all of it was as expected!


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JANE BITES BACK
by Michael Thomas Ford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although I got teased by my family, I rather liked this book. It was funny and the influx of famous (granted they are dead, or supposed to be) authors was amusing. The pace was good - there was always something else happening to further the story. It was usually outlandish which made it laughable. So it isn't a classic! It is a fun read and sometimes girls just want to have fun!


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A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my book club's May selection. We wanted to read a classic and only one if us had read it before. I found it very interesting and it gave me a different perspective of life in Brooklyn in the early 1900's. it is remarkable how people managed to survive and even thrive in those conditions. The forward included in the version I read let me know that this work was actually the author's autobiography, but her publisher recommended having it published as fiction to sell more books. Having read that before I started the novel made it an entirely different story. I really liked Francie. She was so determined yet kind of innocent. When my daughter, the English major, read the cover of the book and asked what it was about, she said, "Is it about a tree?" I told her not really. There is a tree, but the story is more about Francie. "Then Francie is the tree?" she said. Leave it to an English major to come up with that without even reading the book! Yes, Francie was the tree. They tried to cut herdown and keep her from growing, but just like the tree that kept coming up through the cement, she kept trying and finding ways to survive. This is truly an Amefican classic and one everyone should read at least once.

The Classics Club Spin Number is 6!

That means I get to read "Orlando" by Virginia Woolf. I've been wanting to read that book, so I'm ordering it today!

What is book #6 on your list?

It’s time for another Classics Spin for any who are interested. What is the spin?

 

It’s easy. At your blog, by next Monday, May 20, list your choice of any twenty books you’ve left to read from your Classics Club list – in a separate post.

This is your Spin List. You have to read one of these twenty books in May & June. (Details follow.) So, try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)

Next Monday, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by July 1. We’ll have a check in post for July, to see who made it the whole way and finished the spin book.

Do you have that?

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• Go to your blog.
• Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.
• Try to challenge yourself: list five you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)
• Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by next Monday.
• Monday morning, we’ll announce a number from 1-20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted, and select the book that corresponds to the number we announce.
• The challenge is to read that book by July 1, even if it’s an icky one you dread reading! (No fair not listing any scary ones!)

Here's my list:

Five books I've been looking forward to reading:

1. A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
3. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
6. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
7. Armadale by Wilkie Collins
8. Animal Farm by George Orwell
9. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
10. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Every 5th unread book on my list:

11. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
12. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
13. Agnes Grey by Ann Bronte
14. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Burns
15. The Cantebury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
16. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
17. The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
18. Birdsong by Sebastian Foulks
19. Daisy Miller by Henry James
20. Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis

Okay, I'm going with that. We'll see what Monday brings.

MONTHLY MIX-UP MANIA 2013 - 2015

Here we go again! I really enjoyed this challenge the last time - this time it is for TWO YEARS!
I may be able to get a bunch of "Y" books read in that time! There are new rules - well kind of...

What: To read a book for each letter in the year. That's right, a title for the J in January and the A in January, etc.... 74 books total!

Official Start date: April 1, 2013, because we're fools to try this but any book read since 1-1-13 that you didn't already use for the 2011-2013 edition counts ;)

End date: March 31, 2015, yes, two years, because well, we have other challenges to do ;)

Guidelines:

• only one letter per book
• books can be moved around if it fits better somewhere else after you've read it
• the letter doesn't have to be the first word, just the first letter of a word in the title (a, an, and the do not count)
• reviews aren't necessary but a quick "I read for letter... it was about... I did/not like it" would be nice and can be left in the comments.
• if you decide to join in, create a post on your blog telling others then come back and link up (to the actual post, not just your blog's home page)
• a blog is not necessary, just comment on that month's post.
• if you get stuck, an author's name will do in a pinch but try to have more titles than names, nope, just titles.
• the most important thing is to have fun!

Go on over to this site to SIGN UP!

 

 

Time for a new 4 Month Challenge!

This challenge lasts from May 1st to August 31st, 2013. You can sign up HERE.

 

5 Point Challenges

Read the second book in a series

Read a book with water on the cover

Read a book with a colour in the title

Read  a book set in the 1900′s

Read a book whose author name begins with M (First or last)

10 Point Challenges

Read a book published during your birth year

Read a book with a door, lock or key on the cover

Read a book with a flower/flowers on the cover

Read a book with something ‘hot’ in the title (sun, fire, heat, etc)

Read a book whose author name begins with J (first name only)

15 Point Challenges

Read a book currently on a bestseller list

Read a book that shows a woman from behind

Read a book with a moon or stars on the cover

Read a book with an adjective in the title

Read a book whose author name begins with J (last name only)

20 Point Challenges

Read any book in one weekend (Friday to Sunday)

Read a book with a child on the cover

Read a book with over 400 pages

Read a book with an animal on the cover

Read a book whose author name begins with A (first or last)

 

I'm in, are you? I got 145 points on the last 4 Month Challenge!

Don't forget, you can sign up HERE.

 

The Waiting Booth by Brinda Berry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is another one of those e-books that I received to review a while ago. I'm sorry it has taken so long. This book is about a young girl - a high school student - whose Mother left the family and whose brother has disappeared. She lives with her father in Whispering Woods. She is working on a science project collecting data on the affect of the phases of the moon on nocturnal feeding patterns of wildlife. She does this by setting up cameras in certain wooded areas around her home. One night she gets a surprise slide of two men who seem to just appear on the film. It turns out these two are agents from a different dimension and the portal they use to get to Earth is beside her Waiting Booth (where she used to wait for the bus). The men are supposed to be working with Pete, her brother, to keep the Earth safe from beings that want to infiltrate and spread disease. The girl, Mia, and her brother Pete have a gift for seeing emotions and vibrations around people and things in different colors. Since Pete is gone, the inter-dimensional organization wants Mia to take his place. Mia reluctantly gets involved because she thinks the two agents can help her find Pete. The book moves along quickly and Mia, her friends, and the two agents have some interesting adventures. Of course, it wouldn't be a young adult book If it didn't involve some kind of romance between two of the characters, but I'm not telling which ones. I liked this book. It moved along and I found myself wanting to keep reading to find out what happens. The end could have been the end, but I believe there is a sequel and I believe it is on my Nook at this very moment. I'll get back to you when I finish it. A good read.


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Train Station Bride by Holly Bush
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book to review by the author last April. Sorry it took so long for me to read it, but I did enjoy it. This is the story of a young woman who was raised by a rich, restrictive family in the East who answers an ad for a mail-order bride and steals away to South Dakota by train. When she arrives in South Dakota, she is mistaken another mail-order bride and ends up marrying the wrong man. That "wrong man" turned out to be the "right man," of course. Jake, the man in question, is an honest, hard-working farmer who has raised his two sisters since their parents died. He sent for a mail-order bride as a helpmate and to give him a son as an heir. In one respect, it is a typical romance novel, but on the other hand, there are interesting aspects of the story. Julia has been made to think she is fat and undesirable, but of course Jake doesn't think so. She isn't exactly made for farm work, but she makes a valiant effort to adapt. I loved these characters. I loved Julia's efforts to make herself into a good farm wife for Jake. I loved Jake's honorable actions. He vowed to protect Julia when she became his wife and he never stopped doing that even when things got questionable. He was a real hero - one any woman would want. A side note that made a difference to me - there was sex involved. I got worried a bit when I realized how quickly it came in to the story, but it was handled very well. It wasn't explicit at all and I can handle that. If you love a good romantic story, this is the book for you.


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The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have had this book on my shelf since 2010 as is the case of several of my books. I am trying to read through them in a timely fashion, but I'm always getting new books. Anyway, this book was worth the wait. It is about a woman who becomes a chef - we learn her background in the first chapter - and eventually opens a restaurant. She conducts exclusive cooking classes on Monday nights when the restaurant is closed. We get to experience several of those classes throughout the book, but we also get to know each of the students as well. Lillian, the chef, has a very different way of looking at food and she has a talent for knowing just what a person needs to experience. Each chapter in the book tells one of the student's story. The students get involved with each other in special ways and the outcome of the book is very satisfying. As you can tell, I really enjoyed this book. It isn't a "women eating bon bons" kind of book. The situations are very realistic. A great read.


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