April 02, 2012

THIS AND THAT AND BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Has it really been that long since I blogged last?

Life is on full speed. Five kids.
count 'em.

1.2.3.4.5.

That is a lot of kids.

And I am so outnumbered!!

To be honest, I've been going through this crazy funk. I just don't want to do anything. I don't want to clean. I don't want to cook--let the kids have cereal every night. There's some nutritional value in there, right? I think I'm just trying to tread water these days but it's not that it's been bad, in fact, it's been good, it's just crazy.


I need to take the moments to just record life. Before it's gone. Because I will forget.

And in this crazy, chaotic life, I've found time to read. {A-MAZ-ING huh?!}

I am always up for book recommendations, so I'll give you mine.




*Divergent, by Veronica Roth





Amazing! {Thank you, Kari friend!} I don't want to write a novel, so just go to Amazon or Goodreads and read the customer reviews. I am eagerly awaiting book 2, Insurgent, coming out in MAY!!




*Birthmarked, by Caragh O’Brien






LOVE. And I'll tell you why. The protaganist isn't your usual chick. She's a strong, independant heroine, but she doesn't know that she is. I love that her...physical ailment...isn't a limitation. She doesn't allow herself to be marred by it. She accepts herself for who she is--and how brave the author is to write a lead role the way Gaia has been written. She doesn't fit the typical mold that all heroine's fall into. I wish there were more lead characters like her out there. And I LOVE that the first book isn't a love triangle. She likes one boy. And that is refreshing. AND he loves her for who she is. Inside and out. He overlooks her imperfections and loves her. And can I say yummy and swoon-worthy leading male to boot? Go to Amazon and read the reviews to find out more. I am loving this trilogy!




*Unearthly by Cynthia Hand



This one surprised me! I actually fell in love with this! I haven't read the second book--but the first book is good. I was torn between the two guys and who to root for. This one deals with angels--and I haven't read anything with angels, so it was refreshing from the typical paranormal vampire/werewolf/whatever-the-crap- paranormal-thing-is-wrong-with-them-to-make-them-super-covetously-awesome.






*Dustlands, Red Blood Road, by Moira Young




Okay. This dystopian was a mixed bag for me. In hindsight, I. LOVED. IT.

Warning: It reads like no other book you probably have ever read before. The first 50 pages were so obnoxious, I closed it and refused to read it. But all the reviews boasted how "awesome" it was and that left me in a stupor. Why? Why freakin' why was this book so great?

I couldn't place this book. I waited for dialog. I thirsted for it. And then 20 pages into it, I realized, it's full of dialog, it just didn't have the "quotation marks" I am so used to seeing to know when a character is speaking. So it confused me. {Which is an understatement}. I thought they were aliens on another planet and speaking to each other through their minds. I though the author didn't know how to write past a 3rd grade level. I thought she never cared to go through her manuscript and check "spellcheck". I thought the author somehow published the book without getting the manuscript edited and cleaned up. And then I became envious because if she could get a book in print without spellcheck with rave reviews and be on the bestseller's list--then that lowered the bar for my standards--not to mention it somehow elevated my hope--that I could get a book published!

Then I realized--her writing, her prose--it was intentional.


This makes you want to run out and read it right?


But I was wrong. Way wrong!!


I picked it back up and FORCED myself to page 50. And then something happened. I figured out the lingo, toughed it out--and you know what? It's probably one of my all-time favorite books! No, really! It was so hilarious, so fun--I want to read it again. Saba is a strong, independent heroine. The romance in it had me laughing all the way to the end. Jack just knows how to push her buttons. And he's good at it!

Seriously. Read this book. It is so incredibly good! Once you get past the page 50 mark, you forget everything and can just enjoy the read. I'm so glad I did! And I finished the book realizing the author is a sheer genius.

I highly recommend it!

I'm anxiously awaiting book 2! And the cover page is yummy, I won't lie. :)




Does anyone have awesome book recommendations? I'm always trying to add to my library! Which books are your favorites? Which book do you always go back and read over and over again?








3 comments:

Jesmyluk said...

Your break was not as long as mine. Life just became too much & I couldn't keep up with it all. During those rare moments when I really should not have had responsibilities, I crawled inside my shell & just pretended to sleep, when no one actually needed me but yet was still calling for, yep you guessed it, me. I heard a lot of loudly whispered, "Mom's asleep." And then they'd slam my door shut & go bug their dad.

I love book recommendations so I will definitely be checkng these out on Goodreads & adding them to my list of "to read". Welcome back. Missed your funny posts. <3

Anonymous said...

A bunch of my friends posted about Divergent on FB so I picked it up a WallyWorld the other day. I haven't started it yet but I'm getting more and more excited every day :)

One thing you should know about me, I love, love, LOVE to read. The books I always go back to are John Grisham novels. No matter how many times I've read Runaway Jury, I will read it again and again. PS: It's So different from the book.

I just finished Stephen King's 11/22/63. You should know I don't read Horror AT. ALL. This wasn't horror. It's historical fiction and it was hard for me to put it down. I actually can't wait to read it again.

If you need more recommendations, just let me know :)

MommyMert said...

hehe... LOVE DIVERGENT... Going to buy the second here in a bit. :) Thanks for book reviews, you know I love them. I think I am going to add them all to summer book list. Ive been in a funk lately too. Miss you. Oh, and I will be calling you today. Or texting... depending on the Dubs craziness too. :) Kindergarten registration! ha!