30 Books in 2013: January - June

Last year my goal was to read 30 books in the year. And I did it.

This year I have the same goal and I'm currently ahead of schedule. Through the months of January to June I've read 18 books. I decided to break up my reviews since it would be too many books at the end of the year and this is more manageable. 

If you'd like more reviews you can read my 30 Books in 2012 Reviews and my Holocaust Novels Reviews. You can also follow me on Goodreads.

Mother Had a Secret by Tiffany Fletcher

This book was okay. I picked it because it's about a daughters point of view living with her mother with 15 different personalities and the effect it had on her childhood and their family. I usually enjoy stories like this from the phsychological aspect. While this book was enlightening about the disorder and seeing it from a child's point of view the story didn't really grab me. The fact that it's a true story though was intriguing.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This story started off so normaly for a while that I wondered what it was leading to. Sylvia's struggle to "snap out" of her depression soon emerged. I wasn't as riveted as I thought I would be given that it's a classic. In the end it was an enjoyable novel to read.

The Kitchen House: A Novelby Kathleen Grissom

This was truly an amazing story. I simply couldn't stop reading it. A white orphaned servant girl gets sent to a plantation in the South and put to work among the slaves. The characters are so well formed and the slaves and plantation owners lives often paralleled each other reminding us "we are all just people". Throughout the book you feel like you become part of the family and you learn the balance between love, loyalty, family and sacrifice. If you liked The Help, you'll like this even better!

The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

This book was recommended to me on Goodreads. It's the story after a beloved midwife commits suicide leaving a curious note that leads to a heartbreaking secret. The story follows her two closest friends as they try to unravel this web of betrayal and secrets their friend left after her death. You'll be blown away by the female relationships including mother/daughter bonds. I loved trying to piece together the mystery which made it a hard book to put down!

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

Another memoir. This one deals with Susannah, a journalist who wakes up to discover she's been hospitalized for a month and has no memory of that time. It was an interesting read about a rare autoimmune disorder that makes the body attack itself, in this case the brain. Terrifying and fascinating at the same time.

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

I picked up this book after reading her other two last year (Still Alice and Left Neglected). I didn't love it as much as the others but it did some serious tugging on my heartstrings. I've always had a pull towards learning about autism and how autistic kids function on the world. Two mother's meet at the crossroads in their lives and it shows their different struggles. I found the parts about Anthony the autistic boy to be the most captivating. How she gave us his perspective seemed spot on. It really opened my eyes to this neurological disorder.

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain

After reading The Midwife's Confession I knew I wanted to read some other Diane Chamberlain books. People are good but sometimes they are forced to do horrible things. That is what this book is about. CeeCee was naive and got herself involved in a botched kidnap attempt of a pregnant woman. I don't want to spoil the book so you'll have to read it to find out what happens. Loved the storyline.

Before The Storm by Diane Chamberlain

Laurel suffers from post partum depression and alcoholism and her son is born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Because of this he is taken into the system. Laurel fights to get her son back and continues to  try to make up for her mistakes in her life. But when her son is charged with arson in a church fire things start to unravel. Arson, affairs, and secrets from the past this is a real page turner. 

Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain

This is sort of a sequel to Before the Storm. You meet some new characters and there are some old characters intertwined in the story. More drama and affairs and secrets that will leave you stunned!  You get flashbacks from the first book but from different characters which is nice. I recommend reading Before the Storm first to get a better sense of the main characters and what is going on.

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch

"A historical thriller set in Germany in 1660" A secret peek into the life of an executioner of the times. A town horrified to find several murdered children with strange tattoos on their bodies and discover the possibility of a witch in their midst. They set out to punish the woman they suspect is the witch while the hangman (also the local torturer) is set on finding "the real killer". A fictional spooky mystery with some historical facts thrown in.

The Light Between Oceans: A Novel by M.L. Stedman

Sad to say but probably one of my least favorite books from this bunch. A lighthouse keeper and his wife live on a deserted island. After several miscarriages one day a boat washes up on their island with a baby and a dead man on it. The wife filled with heartache from her miscarriages decides to keep the baby and raise it. It was an entertaining book but it frustrated me because I wanted the characters to do the right thing and they didn't. I ended up feeling sorry for all the characters even the baby.

The Snow Child: A Novel by Eowyn Ivey

Jack and Mabel are farming the untamed and unsettled Alaskan frontier. They are an older couple with no children when one night they make a snow child in the magical snow and the next morning a real child appears in the woods. It's part fairytale and part sorrow and heartbreak as the child grows and becomes part of their life.

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris

A very quick read for the people who atheist. It's a pretty abrasive book and pretty extreme. It was an interesting read but read like a textbook to me with lots of information.

Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason Seth Andrews

The autobiography of Seth Andrews as he grows up as a strong believer in a Christian school/household and even becomes a Christian radio host until he started really questioning his religion in his 30's and became de-converted. Now he's the guy behind The Thinking Atheist podcast. I loved his style of storytelling and it's a fair assessment of religion without name calling or such. Great for anyone who is open minded.

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

Set in Ireland in the winter Chicky Starr renovates herself and an old house and opens a holiday hotel, the Stone House. The book chronicles the first house guests of the season. Each section is devoted to a different characters and told from their point of view. It was a cozy relaxing read with well developed characters but not much plot except for what happens the first week in the holiday hotel. 

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

I'm a huge Jodi Picoult fan (loved My Sister's Keeper, Perfect Match and Nineteen Minutes). That being said, this was hands down my favorite Jodi Picoult book thus far.  A jewish baker befriends and elderly man and then he shocks her by asking her to kill him. In a turn of events she discovers he's a ex Nazi officer and her grandmother is a surviver of the Holocaust. Such a riveting plot and you become so connected with the characters and really feel the pain during the WWII scenes. I have a love hate relationship with holocaust stories and this one really captures a good story.

Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay

A court room fictional drama. When a local teenager is murdered the district attorney is shocked when his son is named the main suspect. Of course the whole book is about defending his son, Jacob. Did he do it? Will he go to jail? How will this affect their family? This book has you asking a lot of questions and the ending will leave you stunned. When I read the last few pages and closed the book I seriously sat there and said outloud "what just happened."

Wedding Night: A Novel by Sophie Kinsella

Not my favorite Sophie Kinsella book. Cheesy while trying to be romantic. Fliss is interferring with her sisters quicky wedding and tries to ruin her wedding night so she can get an anullment. The main character Lottie just got on my nerves a lot. Maybe it would be a nice easy summer read.

Currently: May edition

Enjoying popsicles on every warm sunshiney day I get. This Sprite and gummy bear one was interesting.

Saying a lot of names out loud to feel them out for our little one.

Reading The Bell Jar. It starts out slow and then suddenly seems to take a turn towards weird. I'm about half way so far.

Pleased to have worked with The Shopping Mama website taking photographs.

Debating on taking a last mini vacation for the summer.

Driving a lot. To base. To school. To dance. To gymnastics. It seems like I'm spending so much time in the car lately.

Happy that Game of Thrones is back on TV.

Narrating the Magic Treehouse book series to Ariana.

Wondering if we should move on base.

Checking the calendar a lot these days. We've been so busy.

Preparing to make another photo book (similar to this one)

Wishing I had an iphone mainly just for instagram.

Loving caprese salads.

Watching our rhubarb grow.

Searching online for rhubarb recipes.

my one little word for 2013

 

I've never been involved in the one little word project before. But, this year the word help kept popping in my mind. It was like it was my inner self telling me that I needed to reach out and be more of a help to people around me. To be a helper.

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The definition of help from dictionary.com is as follows:

help

  [help] 

         verb (used with object)

1.

to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength ormeans to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist: He planned to help me with mywork. Let me help you with those packages.

2.

to save; rescue; succor: Help me, I'm falling!

3.

to make easier or less difficult; contribute to; facilitate: The exercise of restraint is certain to help theachievement of peace.

4.

to be useful or profitable to: Her quick mind helped her career.

5.

to refrain from; avoid (usually preceded by can  or cannot  ): He can't help doing it.

6.

to relieve or break the uniformity of: Small patches of bright color can help an otherwise dull interior.

7.

to relieve (someone) in need, sickness, pain, or distress.

8.

to remedy, stop, or prevent: Nothing will help my headache.

9.

to serve food to at table (usually followed by to  ): Help her to salad.

10.

to serve or wait on (a customer), as in a store.

verb (used without object)

11.

to give aid; be of service or advantage: Every little bit helps.

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"Every little bit helps"

I don't really know how this word will evolve over the next year but I think being a helper is important to our humanity.

I remember seeing the quote from Mr Rogers that said...

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

― Fred Rogers

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I've been thinking a lot on how I can be a helper more this year.

I want to help others and make this world a kinder, gentler, more accepting place. If you're my friend, or a random person I pass on the street, if you need it, I hope I can offer some help.

I hope to help create the world I want to see. A world I'm proud of. 

I feel like my one little word is a pretty big one and sometimes when I think about it, it's a little intimidating. What can me, one little person, do with one little word with such a BIG meaning. 

But, if you believe in something you stand up for it. That's what I want to do. I believe in helping, and that's what I intend to do in 2013.

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Do you have one little word? If so, I'd love to hear it and your plans for it.

On New Year Goals

I kind of hate New Year resolutions. I get them, but I don't think they are realistic. I mean I don't know the exact statistics, but the people I know NEVER seem to keep their New Year resolutions all year long. Most of them only last a few months. And I guess that's okay, at least you tried right?

 I'm a New Year's resolution failer too, don't feel bad. Keeping that in mind I've decided to only give myself 3 goals a month. Each month I'll have 3 new goals for myself in hopes that keeping it smaller will be easier and more achievable. And at the end of the year I'll hopefully have accomplished 36 different goals for myself instead of halfway finishing 1. I think it's a good plan. Yes, it's a good plan. Now onto the goals for this month.

***

January Goals

1. Yoga everyday

2. More water

3. De-clutter one space

Pretty simple right? I wanted to start simple and start with things I knew would really make me feel better inside and out. I've already been doing yoga every morning. The more I do it, the more I want to do it and actually the past 2 days I've done it in the afternoon too! I'm also drinking more water, it's a healthy body month. 

As for the de-cluttering, I have an idea of what I'm going to start with. Our guest room has become a "just throw it in there to sort through later" space and I don't like that. Time to do the sorting. While I'm at it, I'll probably do some de-cluttering in my crafty space too since it's in the same room. Too much yarn, too much paint, too much clutter. It's the harder of my 3 goals.

What is your take on New Year resolutions? Do you have any specific goals for this year, or like me, this month?