Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire - By the author of Wicked, our Rival Reader book club recently chose this book as a selection. I was, at first, a little skeptical of their selection as the language and the content seemed way too different from our usual reads. However, having read Wicked, I knew the story would be good and was thus excited to get my read on!

The story of Cinderella from one of her "wicked" step-sister's point-of-view, the book unfold and gives us a new version of an old tale. What if the "wicked" step-sisters weren't really all that bad, and what if Cinderella really did all those house chores and dressed in rags out of choice? Well, then, we'd have a completely different story, wouldn't we?

I really enjoyed this book and contemplated, at length, about perspective and point-of-view, not only as far as a novel goes, but as it occurs in life in general. Thought-provoking about the aspects of love and beauty, among a wide array of other things! I'd certainly recommend this book to anyone and, watch out for his new book, a re-telling of The Wizard of Oz through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion!

It's Not About the Bike - Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins - I've really been more interested in cycling (not biking!) as of late, and I'd heard really great things about this biography. I finally decided to shun book club titles while recovering from a recent surgery, and I was very pleased with the choice! This book briefly recounts Lane Armstrong's rise to cycling fame but then focuses most closely upon his fight with cancer and his quest to not only defeat the disease but to also regain cycling glory by winning the Tour De France as a cancer survivor.

I think I enjoyed this book so much because it talks so intimately about overcoming obstacles, not just in sports, but also in life. It really put my measely ankle surgery in perspective!

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I struggled with actually being able to type what I am about to type. As a librarian, the words that follow carry a weight outside of themselves when I repeat them to others, so I do not use them lightly...this book is, quite possibly, the best book I have ever read. It was difficult for me to get into this book, to really sit down and embrace it, as I was busy and distracted throughout the first half. That is never the way to read a book. This one deserves to be savored, each and every word of it, and I fully intend to go back and read it in order to give the parts I took lightly the respect I failed to give them initially.

I can't really even describe what this book is about as it is about so many things, it is the story of so many people, and it is the story of a city...Barcelona. On the facade, it is a book about a book. But, once inside, the reader finds that it is really a book about how books affect us, emotionally, spiritually, and physcially. How a book can reach out and grab us and take us down an entirely different road than we had anticipated. That is all I am going to give you about the plot of this book...if you don't take my recommendation simply on its own merits by now, then anything I write about the book won't sell it to you. READ THIS BOOK....

Run by Ann Patchett - Our first Rival Readers' novel of the year was a well-written dissappointment. Although the author has a wonderful skill in portraying her characters almost perfectly through her prose, she failed to capture my attention by making the plot too uneventful and predictable.

The story of twin brothers adopted from poverty into prosperity, Tip and Teddy Doyle grew up in the priveleged atmosphere of Bostonian wealth. Their adoptive father Bernard Doyle, a mayor of Boston in their youth, gave them every opportunity to excel, and excel they did. The book, which takes place over a 24 hour period, finds them in the midst of their college years, each finding his own path. An eventful car accident on a snowy night throws the Doyle family into turmoil, something they've not had to experience. A mother, a sister, and a long-lost brother all join the book during the short night. In the end, we find out more about Tip and Teddy's past, but all in an unremarkably uneventful way.

Hopefully, our second book, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory McGuire, will be much more interesting!

Back to Work, Back to Reading...

Since school has been back in session I've had the opportunity to commit myself to reading a little more. Here is a brief snippet about each book I've read during the first month of the new school year:

1. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult - As much as I couldn't wait to read this book, I was a bit dismayed that I could see early on how it was going to play out in the end. Usually, Picoult is able to maintain the suspense up until the very end and this is the first book I've read in which that hasn't been the case. Nonetheless, the plot and the characters were classic Picoult...controversial and well-developed. The issues of the death penalty, organ donation, religion, and child abuse are all masterfully combined in this book. Once again, Picoult alternates points-of-view with each chapter, revealing the story through the eyes of each character and bringing it, again, to one controversial and regretable end.

2. I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder - YA title written in verse, it has been highly popular with my students so I thought I'd give it a quick read. Although nothing I got excited about, really, the message of love and loss was a poignant one for young adults. What happens when the love of your teenage life dies? Does the world stop or does it move on?

3. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones - I picked this book up simply because Great Expectations is one of my all-time favorite books and this one had Pip in the title! Once I got into the book, I struggled a bit to see the correlation between the Dickinsonian life in London and the small, desolate island environment in which the plot takes place. I was a bit confused at many points in the book but did take away a very important lesson...books can transport you anywhere, from a remote island to London, when you immerse yourself in them and allow yourself to listen to what the charactes have to tell you.

4. Eleven Seconds by Travis Roy - Recommended by someone who means a lot to me, I actually read a book about HOCKEY...and enjoyed it! This is a memoir written by Travis Roy about one tragic event, a span of only 11 seconds, and how it changed the course of his life forever. An outstanding hockey player at Boston University, Travis sustained a spinal cord injury in the first, and only, game he ever started...and in just the 11th second. His hopes and dreams has been pinned on getting to the NHL and making a name for himself. His entire life revolved around the sport. In this book, Roy documents his childhood as well as his injury and recovery. Although devasting his physical aspirations, Roy portrays the spirit of a fighter and retakes his life and, at the end of the book, is back in school at Boston University.

This book made me curious about where he is today...I may need to do some further research!

Long Summer....Few Books :(

This summer was filled with lots of writing and lots of dog-sitting, but not enough reading for my tastes. However, just to keep you up-to-date, I will tell you a bit about the books I did get the time to read...

1. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Our Rival Readers Book Club Summer Selection, this book seemed like a daunting endeavor when I began because it was 1,000 pages long! Even so, Follett introduces so many different characters up front in his novel that the reader wonders how in the world he is ever going to weave them together into one story. However, he does it and does it amazingly well. The story, set in 1200s England, tells the tale of many people, from the prior of Kingsbridge Priory who is struggling to build a cathedral, to the many knights, builders, and common people of the day. Follett provides the reader with a lens that transports them back in time and envelopes them in the medieval lifestyles that led to our current day architecture and culture.

*** I am now reading the follow-up to this story, World Without End. It's also very long, and a little intimidating, but so far the writing is just as masterful!

2. Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash - Oye. Not my favorite book as I saw from chapter 3 exactly what was going to happen. I HATE that when it happens! I endured only because it is the first book for our new book club...Wonder Writers and Rebel Readers. I'm excited about our new adult book club, even if I wasn't so thrilled with the first book!

3. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster - IMHO, Jen Lancaster is the funniest person on the face of this planet. No Lie. This memoir, written as she struggles to lose weight...specifically for the book. Her accounts of attempting first Jenny Craig and then Weight Watchers is nothing short of bitingly brilliant. I was in stitches the entire time I was reading, at times because I could relate and at time because I was dumbfounded at her antics!

Diary of a Wimpy Kidby Jeff Kinney - Okay, so not something we'd hold in high esteem if we were judging LITERARY value, but, hey, the kids are reading it so I did, too.

I could not help but think of any one of a number of past students as well as my nephew Sam when I was reading this book. If one was to split open the head of a pre-pubescent boy, I bet something much like the contents of this book were what would come sloshing right out. Innocent and devious at the same time, the main character, Greg, lets the reader see the ins and outs of daily life as a not unpopular yet not cool middle school boy. The layout of the book is unique as well. Not quite graphic novel, the book looks like the reader is actually opening up an actual journal, complete with lots of handrawn pictures and comics throughout the text.

I can certainly see why this book has become a #1 New York Times Bestseller and why it sold like hotcakes at my recent book fair. I'd recommend this book to any middle school boy...or girl...or high school students looking for a light and fun read to fill the time.

Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck - Another light and inspirational book chosen especially by my Inspirational Fiction girls. The book, although eerily like many of the others they've chosen this year, ended quite unexpectedly for me.

The main character, Caroline, always seems to feel responsible for others, often sacrificing her own goals and happiness in order to help others or do what she perceives to be the "right" thing. This is what leads her to the Frogmore Cafe, whose owner's recent demise causes her to become the owner of the dilapidated cafe that has become a local icon. Turning down the opportunity to pursue her own dreams in Barcelona, Caroline stays to save the cafe and its loyal staff from disaster, while at the same time facing the return of her first love, country boy turned Nashville star Mitch. As Caroline and Mitch are reunited, she faces her insecurities about her past, love, and her faith in God. In the end, as the reader would suspect, Caroline again does the "right" thing, but the reader is pleasantly surprised with just what that "right" thing is.

I really enjoyed this book as it didn't really fit the cookie cutter form of many in this genre. The choices Caroline makes throughout the book are admirable and often self-sacrificing. However, the point the author makes with the ending is that there comes a time for everything....and everything happens according to God's time, not ours. How very, very true.

Bird By Bird by Ann Lamott - I've read this book, or at least parts of it, a long time ago. I even had my own copy. However, when I was given a new copy to read for an upcoming class, I figured I'd better re-read it. A practical guide to the craft of writing, Lamott, herself an acclaimed author, gives useful, witty, and often downright hilarious advice on everything from creating characters to getting published. She minces no words and doesn't try to sugarcoat anything. Writing is hard. It is lonely. It is an obsession. Often, it just sucks. However, everyone has a story and everyone has the ability to tell that story. Will everyone be published? No. Should everyone be published. HECK NO. But, that is not the point of writing. The point of writing is to tell the story that only you can tell. And that is worth more than anything being published could every hope to do for you.

The Penny by Joyce Meyer - I was very interested in reading this inspirational fiction title after hearing Sue talk about it. My book club girls decided to switch books with Shoals' girls to save some moola so I had the pleasure of actually, for once, reading a book I wanted to read for work!

The book is truly a gem. Not only does it have a compelling plot, but it is also well-written and offers the reader periodic nuggets of quotable wisdom...my favorite! The main character, Jenny, is a young girl in a tough spot. Living in the more economically depressed part of St. Louis in the 50's, her family situation leaves much to be desired. She has an abusive father and a mother who refuses to confront the abuse within her own family. When Jenny stops one day to pick up a penny...a simple penny, her life changes forever when she sees how much life can change in the blink of an eye. The simple act of stopping to pick up this penny brings Jenny a friend from the "wrong" side of the tracks and the opportunity to see what the "right" side of the tracks looks like when she is hired by an eccentric socialite to work in her jewlery store. Throughout the book Jenny learns that "People who are hurt are the people who hurt others," and that her life is indeed worth fighting for...and saving...one penny at a time.

I would recommend this book to anyone (my mom has already read it, even!). The message that God sees no one as inconsequential and is always acting in your life no matter what your circumstances is a valuable lesson for everyone.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf - Not the type of book I would pick up if I were choosing for myself, but since I was reading it for a book club, I was a lot more open-minded, and, honestly, I am glad I was.

Set in rural Colorado, the setting was foriegn to me. Farm life influences all of the characters, and the author does a great job of describing, in too much detail at points, the day-to-day things farm life brings. Written in successive chapters from different characters' points-of-view, we see how the surroundings affect everyone, from Victoria Roubideux, a pregnant 17 year-old girl turned out by her mother, to Ike and Bobby, two young boys also abandonded by their mom. Through the quirky yet sincere love of two old bachelor brothers, the McPheron brothers, Victoria finds a true home for the first time in her life, and Ike and Bobby find a stronghold in the face of uncertainty.

Written without quotation marks for dialogue, it was hard to get a grasp on the action of the story at the start. However, the language and descripton Haruf uses puts the reader at ease and makes a real connection between the reader and each and every character. It is very apparent, in retrospect, why this book was nominated for a National Book Award. Well worth your time...with an open mind!

Although I have not read it yet, I cannot wait to read Change of Heartby Jodi Picoult. By far the most popular author with my students, Picoult rocks the writing world right now. So, you can imagine my excitement when, for my birthday, I receive a package with a personally autographed copy of this new book from my best bud Jessa who lives in NYC! Now, if I can just find the time to read it!

Below is a picture of J at the book signing:

No Need for Speed by John "The Penguin" Bingham - Geesh...has it been a long time since I've read a running book or what? With all of my book club books this semester, I've had no time for reading for my personal enjoyment let alone for my addiction to running. This book, although filled with lots of tips for first time runners, was great for renewing my spirit and reminding me just what running SHOULD be about. Since I've started this marathon thing, I've lost a lot of my perspective on running...constantly training and losing the sheer enjoyment I used to have when I laced up my shoes and headed out to run. Bingham reminded me that my goals should be realistic, that frustration leads to improvement, and that failure is often an illusion that results from unreal expectations. With the Indy Half-Marathon sneaking up on me and the Chicago Marathon looming in the fall, these bits of information in this book will go with me on the road...literally!

Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz - Sometimes, you pick up a book and feel as if the author did his or her research by spying on your life. It is just like reading a chapter from your life with each turn of the page. This book was just that experience for me. Chosen by my Inspirational Fiction book club, I wasn't sure I'd get into it as scrapbooking is one of the major themes that runs throughout the book. Anyone who has met me knows I am in no way crafty, and each "scrapbooking" experience I've had has been nearly disasterous.

However, as I read and the plot unfolded, I began to feel the eerie feeling of connecting with a book so completely that it was frightening. The main character, the same age as me, returns to her hometown to find her high school beau has also returned from the military and started a business. As their new relationship unfolds, they find out that although they are nothing like the teenagers they once had been, they still are the loves of one anothers' lives. Pair that story line with an untraditional family (parents with four adopted daughters from tough backgrounds....and different ethnicities), and you're awfully close to what my life looks like at this moment.

I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy Karen Kingsbury or any type of inspirational fiction in general. The author does not brow beat you with the faith and religion aspect of the book, but weaves in the importance of faith and family well along the way.

Chance Murphy and the Battle of Morganville by Josh McClary - Although cussing like a sailor and an opening scene in church do not necessarily seem to go together, McClary makes it work and, in the process, provides the reader with some gut-busting laughter to get his novel off to a rip-roaring start.

Chance Murphy has some issues...okay, lots of them...but it's his idiosyncracies and, mostly his down-right crazy hate for all things German (err...Hunn) that make him lovable to me. Growing up in small-town Indiana made this book real for me, and Chance's obession with Bob Knight and Indiana basketball made this book a hands-down winner for me.

Honestly, reading this book made me feel like the author took any one of many of the boys I've taught over the years, cracked his head open, and laid out all his thoughts, uncensored and as real as they get. From Chance's description of his father's girlfriend ("trash") to his detest for his best-friend's girlfriend, it just feels real and unscripted.

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - Although I'd seen the movie quite a while ago I needed to read this book as my English Academic team is reading it for our upcoming competition. And, much to my surprise, the movie doesn't even hold a candle to the book. I enjoyed the movie so I knew I'd enjoy the book. However, the writing and the language in this book is so outstanding that, with each turn of a page, I feared getting to the end. Frazier paints picture after picture of nature, each clearer and more precise than the one before. He addresses so many issues, from Civil War to friendship...lost love to respect for nature.

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend doing so. The literary value alone is well worth the experience!

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard - This book is one that once you start reading, you just won't be able to put down! It took me a mere two days to fly through it, unprecedented for the usually slow reader. A very well-written and suspensful mystery, Pickard creates compelling and believable characters that her reader can't help but come to love. Her small-town setting, where everyone knows everyone, lends itself to the intimacy and closeness of all the characters. Each action of each character results in profound consequences for the others.

Set in Kansas, this is the story of many people. Rex, Abby, Mitch, and "The Virgin". Upon the discovery of the naked girl, dead, in a snowstorm one dark night, the town of Small Plains is changed forever. No one knows who she is, but the town embraces that and gives her a proper burial. Eventually she comes to be revered as a miracle worker who heals those who petition her. Many years later, old wounds are opened, questions begin to be asked, and the identity of the girl is revealed at a high price to many....especially those you would never have suspected.

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer - This book affected me more than any book I have read in as long as I can remember. With highlighter in hand, I found myself marking passage after passage, from quotes by Thoreau to incredibly poingant lines of text from the author. Although I've lived a relatively unadventurous life, I've WANTED to live out many adventures and still have hopes of doing so. This book made me really think about what it takes to actually throw caution to the wind, to disdain the opinion of friends and loved ones, and strike out on a "great" adventure of one's own.

This book is an eloquent and engrossing narrative about the perils Chris McCandless, a stubborn and idealistic young man who takes nature head on and loses. Not just a book about McCandless, the author documents other fool-hardy men who have done the same and attempts to draw both parallels and differences between them. Truly a gripping account of misplaced genius and idealistic misfortune that will put your life, the good and the bad, into perspective.

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney - The first book that my Young Hoosier Book Club chose was a fun, witty, and adventurous one. Set in post-9/11 New York City, I enjoyed reading about places I've been...Columbus Circle, the Upper West Side, Riverside Drive, the Hudson River. I was envisioning the setting without having to make up anything as I went along!

Mitty, the main character, is an unambitious high school student who goes to a yuppy private school. He's very priviledged and wants for nothing. When he's assigned a research project on infectious diseaes, his life is turned upsidedown when he actually chooses to do it. He chooses to research vitriola minor, or smallpox, and at once his life is thrown into a spiral when he risks infection and, ultimately, worse danger than he had ever imagined.

This was my first Caroline Cooney book, and I can see why she is so popular with young adults. Her book left me wanting to read more!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick - This year's Caldecott Award winner, this is, hands down, one of the most enjoyable books I have read in my life. Not just a book, more than just a story, Selznick uses words and pictures to tell a fantasic story set in turn-of-the-century Paris. The black and white pages with sketches that not only illustrate the story but ADVANCE it, are artfully drawn and are interspersed at just the right time.

The story is of a boy, Hugo, who is an orphaned clock keeper inside a Paris train station. His quest to find not a way to fix an automoton that his father had once attempted to fix leads him to a filmmaker, his god-daughter, and, eventually, a home.

READ IT. Sure, it looks like a kid's book and it is. However, no adult should miss out on the experience this book creates.