The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine

I recommend buying this book the minute you find out that you're pregnant. It tells you all the "lies" of pregnancy (lamaze works, you won't gain weight in your face, etc) & all the things that the doctor won't tell you. I laughed out loud many times while reading this book. It really makes you more at ease about pregnancy because Vicki doesn't take herself too seriously. So many pregnancy books focus on all the "do's & don'ts" of pregnancy and can be really scary. This book is more of a "relax, we realize you feel like aliens have invaded your body but it's going to be okay......really!".

5 stars.....highly, highly recommend it!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

"The Lovely Bones" was our latest Book Club read. It is a difficult book to read emotionally, though I think it is well written from a different perspective than most books on death. This is the story of a 14 year old girl who is murdered. The story is told from her point of view. She watches from heaven as her family tries to deal with the tragedy that has fallen upon them. She also has to deal with the realization that she will never get to grow up.

I would definitely recomend this book though it is quite depressing at times.

Sorry it's been so long

I've read lots of books.....I just haven't posted them yet. I promise to work on getting some of them up here soon! :)

"Not Your Mama's Crochet" by Amy Swenson

I decided to try my hand at a new hobby. I bought a "Learn to Knit" kit which basically taught me that I can NOT teach myself how to knit. Claire (my MIL) is a big knitter & crocheter so I asked her which is easier. She recomended trying crochet. She even brought me a beginning crochet book. Since I was heading to Nashville, I went to my local yarn store to pick up some supplies. I also picked up a book written by the lady who owns the store. I bought enough yarn to make a purse & a scarf. I've started the scarf (after lots of practicing) but we'll have to see how it ends up. I may end up pulling it all out and starting over. Either way, it's a fun thing to keep my hands busy while watching TV.

The book I'm learning from is called "Not Your Mama's Crochet" by Amy Swenson.

"The Birth House" by Ami McKay

Diana picked this book for our book club to read this month. I had never heard of it before but I'm really glad she picked it. It's gotten a bit "baby crazy" around book club b/c at least 4 of us are actively trying to get pregnant (Diana is one of them).

"The Birth House" is set in the first part of the 20th century. Dora Rare is the main character. She is the only girl in a large family of Rare children. Her family doesn't know what to "do" with her b/c her father thinks she is around her brother's too much. He decides that she should go live elsewhere b/c of this. She goes to live with Miss Babineau who is the local midwife (that some people call a "witch"). Dora starts learning to be a midwife. Unfortunately everyone is not happy with this decision. A doctor has moved into the area and is pushing all the women to take advantage of the "new technology" in childbirth. What ensues shows the difficulty that women had during this time when everyone (their doctors, their husbands, their church, etc) tried to control their bodies.

A very good book. I give it 4 stars out of 4.

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

"Life of Pi" is a book about the survival of a 16 year old Indian boy, Pi Patel. His family owns the Pondecherry zoo. He lives an interesting life amoung his favorite animals (rhinos, orangutans, etc). There's even a large Bengal tiger.

One thing leads to another his family decides to move from India to China. His family & most of the animals board a large ship to head off for their new lives. The ship sinks (I'm not spoiling the book....you get more than this from the write-up on the back). Pi ends up adrift on the ocean with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena & a tiger. The rest is pure adventure.

This is a wonderful story of survival. You're never sure exactly what is fact or fiction but regardless it's a great read. I give it 4 stars out of 5.

"Ask Me Anything" by Francesca Delbanco

Rosalie Preston is a wanna-be actress who lives in New York. She works at GirlTalk magazine answering the "Annies Answers" column. She belongs to an acting troupe called "First Born" but feels like she's not a "real actor" because she has her job at GirlTalk. She's not really suffering for her art. As some of the others in her troupe become more famous, she has to come to terms with her own jealousy.

One way she deals with it is to start a slightly inappropriate relationship with her friend's married father. She withdraws from her group b/c of both the relationship and her jealousy. There's more but I've told enough.

Yet another "coming of age" book. Not sure how I keep picking them! This was a pretty good read. Rosalie is a decent person but she gets a little sideways every once in a while. We've all been there....your friend gets ahead and you get jealous. She knows she shouldn't be but she can't help it.

I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

"Goodnight Nobody" by Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner is also the author of "In Her Shoes" and "Good In Bed". I've read both of them so I knew this was a safe bet when I saw it on sale at Costco. This is the story of Kate Klein, a mother of three who had recently moved into the 'burbs. To say she hated it would be a vast understatement. All the women were super-fit, perfectly dressed and fed their children only organic snacks (all while she tried to dig a breathmint out of the bottom of her purse for her snack-less kids). Then she happened upon a murder scene and her life turned upside down. I'll stop there b/c I don't want to ruin it for you. This is a story about a woman trying to define herself after children. She feels like there has to be more & sometimes like she's disappearing. I really enjoyed this book. It was different than the Jennifer Weiner books I've read before since this is her first "mystery" book. It had great twists and turns while staying true to the story of Kate and her path of self discovery. Literature it's not but it is a great read. I'll give it three stars.

"Hitching Rides With Buddha, A Journey Across Japan" by Will Ferguson

Will Ferguson is a very well known humor writer in Canada. I have also read his "How To Be a Canadian" which was awesome.

"Hitching Rides With Buddha" was also published in the US under the name of "Hokkaido Highway Blues".

This book made me want to go to Japan (which I never really wanted to visit before). Will lived in Japan for two years before deciding to hitchhike across Japan to follow the Cherry Blossom "front". Every year in Japan people track the "front" of the blossoming cherry blossoms complete with cherry blossom blooming forecasts on the nightly news.

Along the way Will meets many people who try to convince him to take the train because "Japanese do not pick up hitchhikers". This conversation was usually had right after the person speaking picked Will up off the side of the road.

Will has a wonderful knack for describing the people of Japan. He met many interesting people and recording them well. It almost makes me want to hitchhike across Japan (but just almost). It does make me tell you to DEFINITELY read this book. I give it 4 stars out of 4. Loved it!

"The Last of The Golden Girls" by Susan Swan

Okay before we start....this book was in the bargain bin. I bought it anyway. I should have known better.

This book is divided into three parts: Losing, Winning and Summer is Ended. The first two parts were okay but the last part was really freaking weird. Jude aka Dinger is the focus of the book. The first part takes place when she is 14. She and her family spend the summer at a cottage on the beach. Her family is different from most of the other families that stay near the beach b/c they are not as wealthy. This part is a decent "coming of age" story that deals with growing up, sexuality & dealing with the "haves" and the "have nots". The second part takes place back at the shore when she is 16. She is hanging out with the same two friends from Part 1. Unfortunately something happens that makes her realize that maybe they're not quite the friends she thought.

I won't even describe Part 3 except to say that it's weird.....very weird.

I would give this book 1 1/2 stars. I definitey wouldn't recommend it.