Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice by Lisa Genova was an interesting read.  I finished it about a month ago.  This is a book about a woman Dr. Alice Howland, a psychology professor at Harvard.  She is out jogging one day and forgets how to get home.  Somehow manages to find her way home and chalks it up to menopause "forgetfulness".  She doesn't tell anyone just yet.  She travels a lot for work and does public speaking.  It gets harder and harder to do.  Rapidly she declines, then finally a diagnosis, early onset Alzheimers.  She's barely 50.  This book breaks your heart for not only her but her husband and daughters.  She is able to laugh at herself sometimes, but ultimately this is a sad circumstance to be in.  This book haunted me for days.  I learned a lot about alzheimers, how it progresses, how it affects families and lives of those that are affected. 

The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins are my favorite books of 2010.  I'm a big fan, a big big fan!  I loved the Twilight Saga too.  These stuck with me like the Twilight books did.  I think of them a lot.  I want to read them again.  I can't wait for the movies.  These are addictive. 

The genre is young adult/science fiction.  Normally I would just pass these up.  But I heard the buzz about these and finally reserved them at the library.  I'm so glad I did.  I was sad when I finished them because I just wanted the story to keep going. 

The characters are very real.  The story is very imaginative and futuristic. 

If you are fan of these, tell me what you thought about them.  Are you super excited about the movies?

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls.  I didn't have high expectations, a memoir by someone I've never heard of?  But I liked the title so I picked it up at the library. 

All I can say is WOW.  This is a story worth telling.  Jeannette Walls is a fantastic writer and storyteller.  There are no lulls to this book.  It is just super interesting the entire way through. 

I wanted to scream at her parents for being so selfish and self centered throughout, but you don't come away with hatred for them, you just feel utter disbelief.  The dad is an alcoholic, a dreamer, that's where the title comes from.  He's super smart but can't stay anywhere long enough or work long enough to make anything happen.  The mom is an educated teacher, but doesn't want to teach, she wants to do art, she wants to paint.  She can't be bothered with working and she can't be bothered with really taking care of anyone but herself. 

It starts when Jeannette is in NYC as an adult, seeing her homeless mom on the street and ignoring her.  She is living in a fancy apartment.  So at first I'm like, ok, why is your mom homeless?  Then she starts her story.  It starts when she is 3 and burns herself cooking hotdogs on the stove in a trailer.  Let the adventures begin.  They start in the desert southwest and end up in CA, Nevada, Missippi.  They have no possessions and when they get them, they leave them behind to move on to somewhere else.  When they have money, they eat steaks, when they don't the kids dig out of the trash at school for food.  It's really horrific at times what the kids have to go through, no running water, no heat or electricity.  But through it all is a story of the sibling bond, coping with selfish parents, living in dire conditions and living the nomadic life with minimalist parents who don't believe in food stamps or government assistance but are ok with letting their kids go hungry and without clothes or proper shelter.  The parents simply fend for themselves for the most part, the kids all sort of take care of each other, this bond will eventually help most of them overcome the odds. 

Anyway, READ this!  You won't regret it.  It stuck with me.  I appreciate good writing.  Jeannette Walls has a true gift!  This is a fascinating, unbelievable and incredible story.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a fantastic read!  I really enjoyed it.  The characters were engaging, the storyline was interesting.  It's about a maid Aibileen who works for white women, raises their kids (in the book she's raising her17th white child) in Mississippi 1962.  She is good enough to raise a white woman's child but not good enough to use their indoor toilet.  Skeeter is a white woman who was raised by a black maid.  One day her maid Constantine leaves with no explanation.  Skeeter misses her dearly because she was like her mother.  Her own mother won't tell her anything about what happened to her.  She just wants Skeeter to get married and live a traditional life as a wife/mother.  Skeeter wants something different.  She becomes a writer, she gets an advice column in the local paper for household chores.  She knows nothing about any of that because she grew up with maids who did all that.  So she goes to the obvious source for the advice column, a black maid, and this is how she becomes friends with Aibileen.  Aibileen and Skeeter become fast friends, each helping the other with strength and courage to do what is right and to help change the extreme racist beliefs of the time. 

I could not put this book down.  I laughed out loud and felt sad, scared, all the emotions the characters felt.  It really brought you to another world and I love books like this.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

                                    

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society I just finished this up last night. I'd say out of 5 stars I'd give it a 3.75. I enjoyed this book. I feel like a better person for reading it. But at first it was hard for me to get into. It's a book about many characters which you get to know through their letter writing. So at first I found that a little overwhelming. It's also very smartsy fartsy, talks about classic literature alot, which doesn't always interest me. But the core of it, the characters, you do come to care about. It takes place after the German Occupation of a little Island called Guernsey. The people of Guernsey come to life slowly and their stories come out and some of the hardships they endure from the war. I found it riveting in the end. I also found that I still care about the characters after I read the book. Which is a very good thing. A charming little book. 

Coraline

The girls and I will be reading this after the Doll books. I can't wait. The movie will be out on DVD soon and that looks really good.

Coraline

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

I just finished this last night. It was really good. It's about a girl from Kentucky who's main goal in life is to get out of Kentucky without getting pregnant. She drives a beat up car west and decides to stop until it breaks down. Along the way she inherits a little girl, she calls Turtle. Turtle has evidence of sexual abuse, she's only 2-3 years old and catatonic. Together they continue on the road, with no real plan. The beat up car breaks down in Tucson near a "Jesus is Lord" tire shop, where she puts down roots and friendships develop. Out of 5 stars I give it 3.5.
Bean Trees

The Doll People by Ann M. Martin

I am also reading: The Doll People Series to my girls. So far this is very fun. We are still on the first book. Then we read, The Meanest Dolls in the World and The Runaway Dolls all by Ann M. Martin.

Doll People

The Meanest Doll in the World
Runaway Dolls