The Changeling by Kate Horsley

I was excited to read this book because I had liked her other book, Confessions of a Pagan Nun, so well. I was slightly disappointed however. It's still a pretty good book, but it wasn't nearly as engaging as the other one. It also didn't have the same bluntness that I loved in Pagan Nun; the bluntness that just laid out the facts regardless of who might be offended. Still a good read though, and it probably would have been better if I hadn't run out of time and had to put it down so much and for so long.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was definitely different, and not the kind of book I would normally pick up, but it was definitely intriguing and quick to read. I wanted to pick it up and finish it and not put it down. It was our book club book for this month and most of the rest of the book club members liked it too. We had an interesting discussion about autism, which is apparently the boy's condition. I found it very interesting how the boy thought. It made a lot of sense in a very strange way how he took everything at face value and actually saw every single thing. It made me think about how much I miss in life by not paying closer attention. But at the same time I can see how noticing every single thing would be a complete sensory overload. Overall, good book, I'd definitely recommend it. Also, I loved how the chapter numbers were all prime numbers! Yes, geeky me.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

This is our latest book club selection and I just sat down and read it in about 5 hours today... all 335 pages of it. So, either it was an interesting read that wouldn't let me put it down, or I was bored and had nothing better to do. I think it was mostly the first, although I was thrilled to not have anything else that I absolutely had to do.

This is a novel about a circus veterinarian back in the days when circuses traveled around by train from town to town. It gives a very interesting look into an insider's life and the politics to be dealt with when part of a train circus.

Catch up time...

So, I'm a little behind here. Since there's no way I could write something about each of the books I've read since I last blogged, I will list them as many of them as I can remember below in no particular order, since I can't remember the order I read them in!

The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson (an interesting version of the story of Marie Antoinette, from her perspective)

Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley (Book Club choice - I loved this book... quick read and a good one to think about)

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean (Book Club choice - interesting, but not really my type of book)

The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillipa Gregory (the latest from this author, and very good)

I think that's all of them (except the latest, which I'll write a separate blog about)... busy season at work got in the way of reading much more.

Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchill by Susan Holloway Scott

I really enjoyed this book. Not necessarily because it was well written, but because the main character was so determined.

This book, as the title suggests, is about the life of Sarah Churchill, a woman who lived in the late 1600's and early 1700's in England. She grew up at court and was determined to become far more than just a duke's mistress. So she set her eyes on John Churchill, a "dashing young military hero". Both of them had started their lives with nothing, as common folk. But neither of them stayed that way for long. John won his political and military battles over and over, while Sarah won the lifetime (nearly) friendship of Princess Anne, who eventually became queen. Over time they continuously moved up in the ranks, until eventually they gained a dukedom. Even after attaining this rank, Sarah was still not satisfied with sitting still and just enjoying it. She became very outspoken politically, despite the challenges of being a woman, and managed to make many friends and enemies. But she was always true to what she believed, and in the end, it all worked in her favor.

Avalon by Anya Seton

This book has nothing to do with Avalon, as you would think of it from books like The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, but it is still a pretty good book. It's set in the dark ages in England, when the Vikings were exploring and/or pillaging anything and anywhere. There are kind of two main characters, a prince named Rumon and a beautiful girl named Merewyn. It's not exactly a typical romance, as they manage to keep missing each other when it comes to love. The author seemed to be more interested in focusing on what really happened in that part of history, rather than changing history to make it a typical love story, which I greatly appreciate.

The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis

I'm not sure there's anything particularly interesting to say about this book, other than it was a good read. I am very partial to historical novels though, so if I ever find a historical novel I don't like, you will be sure to know. I had to put this book down at about 3/4ths of the way through it so I could read The Freedom Writers' Diary (see previous blog entry), which of course made it a little more difficult to remember where I was and what was going on when I did get back to this one, but it wasn't too difficult. Overall, good book, intriguing and hard to put down.

The Freedom Writers Diary by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell

This book is basically a compiled diary of the journal entries of 150 inner city students over the course of 4 years of inner city high school english class with their teacher, Erin Gruwell. The entries talk about the lives of these teenagers, such as dealing with drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, abusive parents, and the list goes on. The entries also help tell the story of how they grew over the 4 years and the different events and accomplishments they made, both group and individual.

Overall it tells a story of learning tolerance in a very intolerant culture. It does a pretty good job of this. It's very choppy though, since the whole thing is journal entries by many different students. You don't get a very smooth telling of the current events that happen through the book. But it is amazing to read how this one teacher was able to motivate so much change in so many students.

This was our book club book for this month, but I was only able to finish half of the book before the meeting. There were only two others who had actually finished the book, and one who had read about 5 pages. No one else had read it. So our discussion about the book itself was rather brief, however it did lead into many other interesting topics. We discussed education, writing, family issues, and much more. As for the book though, no one was very impressed by it, although they generally thought it could have been a lot better (i.e. it had a good premise) if it had been written or organized differently.

Zipporah Wife of Moses by Marek Halter

This book is about Zipporah (from the biblical story). She is a black woman in a white world, loved by her adopted father, hated by one of her adopted sisters, and loved by Moses, the man she loves. She is demanding, in what is probably a good way, by refusing to marry Moses until he agrees to fulfill his destiny of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt.

I liked her determination to get Moses on the right track and help him in any way she felt she could. Otherwise, overall it was pretty good, but not something I would likely read again.

I should explain. I am a rereader. If I loved a book the first time, I will totally want to go back and read it again, and again, and again. The series I've probably read the most times is The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. If I had to guess how many times I've read those seven books... well, probably at least 8 to 10 times all the way through. So, if I say I probably wouldn't want to read a book again later, it doesn't mean it's a bad book, it's just not a really great book.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

This is a book about relationships and how to love. Melissa recommended it to me and I thought it was very good. I was able to determine that my love language is Quality Time. Basically that means that I need John to spend time with me when we're not distracted by other things. Since we're in a long distance relationship right now, that is kind of hard, but even a phone call every day or two where I can tell he's actually paying attention to me only and not his homework or the tv or whatever else. Unfortunately I'm not actually getting quite that kind of attention right now, but hopefully John will also read this book, like I suggested to him, and he'll figure out what it is I need. Don't get me wrong... I have asked for this kind of attention, many times. But sometimes guys just don't get it.

I'd also like to find out what John's love language is. I think part of the problem with a long distance relationship is that I don't know him as well as I'd like to, so I can't figure it out as easily as I might be able to if he were actually around a lot of the time.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is in a relationship or might want to be in a relationship someday. Heck, anyone else too. I saw some things that made my reactions at work make a lot more sense too.