Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

This book was a bestseller for many weeks. This book is a must-read for any American. It is inspiring. In 1993, Mortenson gets lost after attempting to climb the mountain, K2 in Pakistan. He ends up in a tiny rural village, Korphe where he meets an elderly man who nurses him back to health. Mortenson promises to come back and build a school when he sees that the Pakistani government hasn't been able to get to their village yet. It takes Mortenson about 3 years to get all of the funding and building materilas, but he manages to build a school for this village. He especially wants the young girls to have an opportunity at a secular education.

In no way does Mortenson push his Christian beliefs on the Muslim peoples in the rural regions of Pakistan. He believes that if we educate the girls it will build a strong foundation in these countries. Girls will bring their sons up to get a good education and not resort to the madrassas (the training schools for the Taliban and the like).

The book takes us through the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Mortenson was kidnapped by the Taliban for 8 days in a rural area in Afghanistan. This was prior to 9/11 however it must have been a hair-raising experience that he will never forget.

Mortenson has founded the Central Asia Institute of which he runs and has built schools all over this region of the world. He has accomplished so much in 15 years it's unbelievable.

A must-read.

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner and The Shack by William P. Young

This was the sequel to "Good in Bed", Weiner's first book. I have to say I was a little disappointed by the ending. There's a twist that I wasn't expecting and I didn't feel like it furthered the plot along, however all in all I enjoyed where Weiner took Cannie and her character. It was fun to see Cannie as a mom and to see how she meanders through life with an almost 13 year old daughter.

The Shack was about a man, named Mackenzie having an experience finding God. He turns out to be a middle-aged large black lady named "Papa". Jesus is a Middle-Eastern young man who is a you-guessed-it carpenter. The Holy Spirit is an Asian woman, Sarayu who you can't really see or tell if she's hugging you. It was an easy read and very interesting point of view of the Trinity and Young's version of Christianity. I did feel like he was saying churches shouldn't be relevant in your relationship which to a certain degree may be true. Maybe Young was saying that it doesn't matter which church you go to which I do agree with. It was a good read--I would recommend it.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

I really liked this book even though what Briony did to her sister and family friend was despicable, it was an interesting setting (late 30s in Great Britain), very well written and kept me interested through the last page.

It's an intriguing name for the novel since in my opinion since Briony never really acquires atonement for what lies she has told. What a spiteful character.

Wow--I was not expecting the ending on this one. I had to read the last couple of pages again just to make sure I understood what the author said. I'm anxious to see how the movie is with Kiera Knightly and James McAvoy.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This is a classic--really an insightful story about a poor family living in Brooklyn in the early 1900s. It was interesting to get a glimpse of how it must have been to scrounge up enough money to make it through the week. I loved Francie, the main character. She is 10 when the book begins and turns 17 at the end. So we walk with her through her childhood and her finishing grade school. She and her brother are the first in the family to graduate from grade school. She has to go to work when her father passes away, but eventually she finds her way back to school. Oh and meets a boy of course.

I strongly recommend reading this if you haven't.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

This is the book club pick for November. This book was way better than I thought it was going to be. It was engaging, entertaining and really taught me a lot about the caste system in India. It's about a man named Balram who is a driver for a wealthy man, Mr. Arok (I think...can't remember exactly now). The format of the book is a lengthy letter to this Chinese diplomat. So he (Balram is narrorating the novel) tells you about the small village he grew up in and how he becomes a driver for this family. Well you know that he commits a murder right from the get-go, but it's how the story is woven together that I think is the neat part about this book.



I highly recommend this book. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and you should be able to find it at your library or local bookstore. Check out our bookclub blog for the future post of our discussion on this: http://lovestoeatlovestoread.blogspot.com

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The 4th and last book in the Twilight series. See other posts for the basic gist of this series. I won't give away too much, but Bella ends up a vampire in this book just like she's always wanted. Of course there are some very big things that happen to her prior to that happening, but again I won't give away anything in case you are at all interested in reading the series. It was fun, entertaining and worth reading this series.

Digging to America by Ann Tyler

I listened to this book. I've never read anything by Tyler before but she is a popular contemporary fiction author. The story was about two families who adopted little girls from Korea. They meet at the airport when the girls are arriving from Korea. This starts their relationship with each other and over the years the two families grow to be very good friends. One family, the Yazdans are Iranian-American and the other is your typical caucasion family of European descent. You learn about some of the traditional customs in Iran, but mostly the book is about how the characters relate to each other. It was short and entertaining.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

I listened to this book. It's the first in the series. It's about a lady detective (duh, the title) in Botswana. I was expecting it to be about one long mystery, but she actually works on about 5 different cases through this book. It was entertaining and I would definitely read more of this series. You learn a lot about the culture in Botswana too.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

The third book in the Twilight series. Wow, things can only get more complicated for Bella Swan in this book where she has to choose Edward or Jacob. It was fun to learn more about Jasper and Rosalie and how they came to be vampires. It was was interesting too to learn how the werewolves evolved in the Quilite tribes. Meyer's has an excellent ability to transport you to another world that isn't anything like we know. This was fun.

I also mention the book that our book club read this month: Couldn't Keep it to Myself: Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters by Wally Lamb. Wally Lamb teaches writing to women inmates at a prison and this book is a compliation of stories from several of the inmates. Our book club had a good discussion which revolved around: abuse, childhood, writing with Wally Lamb. I haven't finished this yet, but it was very interesting to read about these women and we all agreed that Lamb has given these women a voice and the tools to share their experiences.

Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella

SK's books are so funny! I like listening to them in the car because if I zone out a little chances are I haven't missed an important twist in the plot. The main character in this story is in a car accident and wakes up not remembering the last 3 years of her life. She comes to find out that she's turned into a total you-know-what at work and married to this gorgeous guy. In the end all turns out well and she ends up with the right guy and fixes things at work, but the adventures she goes through are hilarious and certainly entertaining!

How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else by Michael Gates Gill

This was a really cute memoir that can be appreciated by any Starbucks addict/lover. The book is about a man who had it all--great job, family, and lots of $. Well he loses his job and makes a poor decision which ends up ruining his marriage. He's trying to pick up the pieces of his life when he decides on a whim of course, to apply for a job at Starbucks. In the book, he talks about the lessons he learns while working at Starbucks and you get peek into what it might be like to work for this company. Parts are kind of cutsy and cheesy, but that's why I liked it. It was fun, quick and made me want a grande non-fat pumpkin spice latte really bad!

sTori Telling by Tori Spelling

This was a fun read--I almost didn't want to post it for fear of people asking me why I would be interested in reading a book about Tori Spelling. Well this summer I got hooked on her show and well I was curious about what happened between her and her mom. It's in the press that Tori didn't receive much of an inheritance from her dad and her mom got everything. It was a fun read--really easy as I finished it in two days. I don't envy her living in the public eye and having to deal with papparazzi. I am happy that she's finally found love and has been able to start the family she has wanted all of her life.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

This is the 2nd book in the Twilight series. Bella and Edward break up! He breaks her heart and leaves her severely depressed. She finally brings herself out of her depression by becoming better friends with Jacob Black. Jacob is a warm, understanding guy who Bella sees as her best friend--not in the romantic way. I won't give away anymore of the story because it would ruin it for you if you are interested in reading these. It was fun and quick despite the 500 pages. The Twilight movie comes out in November--yea!

Home: a memoir of my early years by Julie Andrews

I listened to Julie Andrews' autobiography. She actually performed the narration for it which was really neat. One of my all-time favorite muscials is "The Sound of Music" so I couldn't resist listening to this one. It's fun to learn of her childhood and how she first began singing with her mom and dad. She goes into great detail about her run as Eliza in "My Fair Lady". She ends at the point where she's almost ready to film "Mary Poppins". I hope she's not finished because I would love hear about her adventures filming MP and Sound of Music. If you're a fan of Julie's, I recommend this one.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Wow. Picoult's books are so intense. She's a great story teller and weaves such great stories. They are always on the ethical line and in most cases cross the ethical line many times over. This book is about a small town in NH where a school shooting takes place (mimicked after Columbine). The shooter who is a student, Peter, doesn't end his own life and is tried by the courts.

Picoult takes you back and forth through time to when Peter was little and shows a lot of his experiences through school. Of course he's constantly picked on and bullied by the other kids in school and he's a loner and likes video games. You also get to see his mom and dad's point of view. It's heartbreaking for them going through this and the mom keeps racking her brain as to what she could have done better. Picoult has obviously done tons of research on bullying, the court systems and traumatic events like these.

I won't give away more details in case some of the gals in book club read my blog before we meet in a couple of weeks. We'll have tons to talk about. I will say, get out your box of tissues and get ready for an emotional roller coaster ride.

This book made me reexamine Columbine and Ron and I actually went to the Columbine Memorial which is in Clement Park off of Bowles in Littleton (right by the school). It was moving--I couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face. Talk about powerful...

Columbine for me will be like the assassination of JFK for my parents and now what 9/11 is like for our generation as well. You remember where you were when you found out about these events. I'll always remember watching on TV the images of kids running out of the school with their hands on top of their heads and just how shocking the whole thing was for not only the Denver community and the state of Colorado, but for our nation. It used to be that schools and churches were safe places to go, unfortunately that's just not the case anymore.

It was an intense read and I'm glad I read it.

"Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

This is one of the most popular book series for teens right now. I had to give in and read it. It's about a vampire named Edward Cullen and a human girl, Bella Swan. Bella is in high school and has moved to live with her dad in a small town in Oregon. She meets the Cullen family who all eat by themselves at lunch and are kind of standoffish from the rest of the school. Then Bella meets Edward in her biology class and he's very different from all the other boys. Well you can guess she figures out that he's a vampire and so is the rest of his family. She ends up falling for him and well... guess you'll have to read it if you want to know more.

I liked Meyer's style--very conversational and contemporary. I can see why these books are such a hit with teens and adults right now.

The movie comes out in November (it's taking Harry Potter #6's spot since it's release was postponed to next July). I'm looking forward to the second installment called "New Moon". First I'll be reading or rather continuing with "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Piccoult (book club pick for September).

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

I have to say, I wasn't really that impressed with this installment of the Stephanie Plum series. Sure there were some funny parts, but overall the plot was pretty thin and wrapped up quite nicely. Evanovich has had better plot lines in the previous books. It makes me wonder if she's on some pretty strict deadlines with these books afterall I think she cranks out about one every year. It's hard to stay original when you've had 13 previous installments. It was a quick read though.

On to "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Piccoult, our next book club pick.

Summer of Audiobooks

I finished listening to "Peony in Love" which was really good. I enjoyed Snowflower more, but Peony was worth reading or in my case listening to. Women in China had it pretty bad, but they learned to enjoy life through painting, writing, playing musical instruments and embroidery. They found activities to make life fun. They were so suppressed though--that part was sad to me. And what pressure to have sons!

After Peony, I listened to "Beach Road" by James Patterson. It was a short, predictable story. It was a story that takes place in the Hamptons and a young black athelete is accused of murdering his three friends. The lawyer who takes the case teams up with his ex--another attorney. They end up winning the case and the athelete gets off, but of course there's a twist at the end which you can see coming. Towards the end it seemed like Patterson just wanted to hurry up and wrap up the story which was a little dissapointing, but overall it was entertaining.

I'm now listening to Eric Clapton's autobiography, "Clapton". He grew up not knowing that his mother was actually his grandmother and his aunt turned out to be his mother. He talks about the affects this had on his childhood and how he really started to get interested in music in his pre-teenage years. So far it's good.

I finished reading "Echo Park" by Michael Connelly. This is the book club book for August at Jaci's house. This is actually a book in his Harry Bosch series. Harry Bosch is a detective on the LAPD and this book follows him through a case that originated in 1993. There's an inmate on death row who confesses to murdering the victim of the case in 1993 and well it goes on from there. I won't spoil it for anybody from book club, but I couldn't put the book down once I got to the confession part. I liked this mystery and would read more of Connelly's books in the future.

I never usually have more than one book going at a time, but at the moment I have three and I'm listening to one on CD.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson: I've written a little about this book before because I actually started it way back in January. It is interesting, but I've been in the mood for some fiction this summer. I will finish this book--it's fascinating.

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster: I recently watched the Masterpiece Theatre version and wanted to read the book--I know I'm doing it wrong. You're supposed to read the book before the movie comes out. Oh well. It's actually not that hard of a read, but I got sidetracked and started on...

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (AKA HP#6) by J.K. Rowling: one Saturday I spent watching HP movies and crocheting. I haven't read 6 and 7 but one time and I couldn't remember many of the details. So I am a little over halfway through this one. it's very entertaining and this book has a lot of little side stories about the crushes that Harry, Ron and Hermione have on various people. It's fun, easy and perfect for summertime and the week of your sister's wedding! :)

And finally, I'm listening to Peony in Love by Lisa See. She wrote Snowflower and the Secret Fan (see blog from last October). The story follows a girl who is betrothed to a man. She doesn't find out who he is until it's too late. In the meantime she meets a poet and falls in love with him, she becomes lovesick for him and well I won't spoil anymore of the story. It's well-written just like Snowflower and again I'm learning even more about Chinese culture through this book.

The Last Summer of You and Me by Anne Brashares

Anne Brashares is the author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. I loved this series which is for young adults.

The Last Summer is her first adult fiction book. The book is about two sisters, Alice and Riley, that go to their beach house somewhere on Long Island New York during the summer months. They have known Paul a boy their age ever since they were little. It soon becomes apparent that Alice is in love with Paul and so begins their summer romance. It all but starts to get going and then we find out that Riley is sick. She and Paul are best friends and Alice has a hard time telling her about her relationship with Paul.

This book was a fun summer read and really made me wish I had a beach house to go to during the summer! Too bad there's not an endless supply of money out there for me. This is a great book to take with you on a summer vacation.

"Winter Study" by Nevada Barr

Finally the next installment of the Anna Pigeon series is out! I waited awhile for this book from my library. It was worth the wait. AP is up in Isle Royale which borders the US and Canada and is in the middle of one of the Great Lakes (I'm having a brain fart as to which one it is). She is called up there to help monitor a wolf study that occurs during the winter months when the National Park is closed. Of course, things don't go as planned and she is off on another one of her adventures. A great mystery which is sometimes like an exercise for my brain. I

f you're looking for a good series this is a good one. It starts with "Track of the Cat" which takes place in Mesa Verde, CO. Part of the fun is getting to read about the different national parks in which Barr's books take place. I also recommend listening to them on CD. Get the Recorded Books unabridged ones that are narrorated by Barbara Rosenblat. She's excellent.

On to the book for book club: "The Devil in the Junior League"

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I know I say this sometimes here, but it's really no wonder that this book won the Pulitzer. It has presented a lot of unanswered questions in my mind. This book is thought provoking in so many ways. You want to know what happened to the world, but we never find out. It's left up to the imagination of the reader. I like how McCarthy doesn't spell it all out for the reader--it does make you think.

The relationship between father and son is fascinating and so real. I found myself feeling scared while reading this book because the little boy is scared of what they will encounter as they travel the road to the south for winter. I was scared along with him. The landscape is godforsaken and they never know if they are meeting "good" people or "bad" people.

Thanks for the recommendation Emily!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I love HP! I had an itch to read something familiar and something fiction. I forgot how much of a main character Neville is in #1. I mostly remember the movies even though the books are much better and of course have a lot more detail! It was fun reading the first one again after having read #7 last summer and knowing Harry's fate.


Emily told me about a book she was reading called "The Road" by Cormac McCarthey ("All the Pretty Horses" and "No Country for Old Men"). I picked it up from the library last week and started it a couple of nights ago. It's about a man and his son traveling a road in (I'm assuming) America after some kind of apocalypse. I don't know what's really happened and I'm sure it will come together or be revealed in bits and pieces, but it is a fascinating story. It kind of has elements of sci-fi to it.

The Tender Bar (ctd)

I just finished reading "The Tender Bar" by JR M (whatever his last name is...).

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I have been reading more non-fiction lately and I was ready for some fiction, but did check this book out of the library. It was delightful! Well ok, maybe getting drunk night after night is not a delightful thing, but the way JR talked about his relationships with people and his struggles growing up--it was a refreshing style. On some level I think he makes any reader relate to his own journey through life. I want to go to Manhasset NY and find where the old Publicans bar used to be. (It's something else now.) Thanks Sarah for a good pick for book club! :)

The Tender Bar and also Shopoholic and Sister

The book that Sarah chose for book club is called "The Tender Bar" by JR Moehringer (sp?). It's a memoir about a boy growing up in Long Island w/o a dad. His surrogate dad is the guys at the bar. It's an easy read, but I'm afraid that I might not get it finished before book club next Sat night.

I've been listening to more books on CD lately. It really does pass away the 1/2 hour commute for me. I've recently listed to "The Body Farm" by Patricia Cornwell and "Hard Truth" by Nevada Barr. These are two books that I've read before, but I wanted to listen to again.

I'm listening to "Shopoholic and Sister" by Sophie Kinsella now. This is the 4th book int he Shopoholic series. It starts with "Confessions of a Shopoholic" then goes to "Shopoholic Takes Manhattan" and then "Shopoholic Ties The Knot". Becky Bloomwood is the main character and sometimes she grates on my nerves, but she always manages to redeem herself in the end. This book has made me belly laugh out loud and then cry too. I can't wait to see how it ends. These books are the light reads you need in between the heavy ones! :)

Hi Fellow Readers!
I started "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett in mid-March. I am intimidated by the number of pages in this book--a whopping 1000 pages. I am about 200+ into the book and while the story is good, I'm finding that I have to force myself to read it at the moment. So...

I'm moving on to "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson. This book came highly recommended to me by friend Emily. It's nonfiction about a man, Greg Mortenson, who is climbing the mountain K2 in Pakistan. He gets lost and finds himself in this village of people. He sees the need for a school and so begins his mission in life. I am told that this is a very inspiring story and am so far enjoying this book.

My book club met last night and discussed "Eat, Pray, Love" It was a fruitful discussion in which we talked about talking with God, meditation, love and first kisses, food and much more.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I finished Eat Pray Love last week and have been meaning to write about it, but you know how it is when you get busy... This book was really good and I really enjoyed the Italy and the Bali part. I'll admit that I was losing interest in the middle (India) part, but I really did enjoy this book. If you haven't heard about it, you need to check it out. A woman in her mid 30s goes through a terrible divorce and gets a book advance in order to travel around the world. I know, nice, huh? She re-connects with herself with the backdrop of Italy (pleasure), India (meditation/soul), and Indonesia or Bali to be exact (the common ground between pleasure and the soul). It was very easy to read--style was great. I'm anxious to see what everyone in my book club has to say about this book. :)

I'm currently reading "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett (at a whopping 980 some pages it's going to take me awhile to get through this one!). It's excellent so far.

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

This is the sequel to "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. The story continues from TOBG and explores Henry VIII's relationships with his next two wives: Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. This was a fun story, but quite long (over 500 pages). Gregory's writing is easy to read and follow. I liked that she explored these three women (I forgot to mention Jane Boleyn who was Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law) and talked about how mad some of them were. It was a fun read, too bad I wasn't at the beach for the last half of the book.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

If you haven't already seen the ads, PBS is airing productions of all of Jane Austen's novels on Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday nights. You'll have to check your local PBS station for times. It inspired me to read the rest of her novels--something I'd like to finish in 2008. I have "Mansfield Park" and "Emma" left now.

"Northanger Abbey" was the first novel that Jane wrote although I think it was published posthumously. It is a fun tale of Catherine Morland and how she falls in love with Henry Tilney. Of course Catherine is from a "lower" middle class family and has hardly any fortune and Henry is very well off, indeed! Catherine is very obssessed with the gothic novels of the era (think "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley) and has a very over-active imagination. It almost ruins her changes with Henry, but alas it all works out in the end.

This book was definitely the most light-hearted of the Austen novels that I have read so far. Definitely worth the time though to read it.

The PBS version of this very fun--so if you missed it, I'm sure it will be out on DVD any day now. The gal who plays Isabella Thorpe was also in the Keira Knightly version of "Pride & Prejudice"--she played Kitty Bennett. (Thanks Jennie for that little fact!)

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

This is the book that Nancy chose for our next book club meeting. I read it when it was first out in paperback so maybe in 2003 sometime. I had forgotten a lot of the plot and all I could remember was that it ended up being Pi and the tiger, Richard Parker on the lifeboat.

I won't go into great detail on the plot just in case someone from book club actually reads my blog and hasn't finished it yet. But, basically Pi and his family are going from India to Canada along with several animals from their zoo on a large ship. The ship sinks and Pi is the only human survivor. He ends up on the lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan and a Bengal tiger. You can imagine what happens.

The writing style is easy to follow, but some people might find it hard to get going in the book. It was a quick read and interesting, but be prepared for some gory scenes and honest detail about how Pi survives for over 5 months at sea.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Happy New Year fellow readers!

I recently read "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez for my book club. I didn't finish it, but was filled in by Cynthia in my book club on the ending. This is currently the Oprah Book club selection. I have no idea why! The writing is all prose--not a lot of dialogue. This book has been translated from Spanish into English so we all wondered if there wasn't anything lost in translation. Apparently there wasn't. The plot didn't move forward in the middle of the book and the only reason I kept reading was for book club. The characters didn't have a lot of depth in my opinion--the main male character, Florentino was a pervert and obsessed with sex. He was promiscuous which all of us had a hard time with and when he finally ended back up with the woman he's loved for over 54 years, he complains about them both smelling "old." I didn't think this was a romantic story at all. Overall, I could have lived without reading this book.

I would not recommend that any of you read this book. I'm hoping that the reason Marquez won the Nobel prize is based on his other works.