Reading List

Here is a list of books which I have read recently. I don't want to do individual posts about books I have read in the past I would rather focus on future books. If its highlighted in pink I LOVED IT any other color has no significance I just felt like using that color (and this is my blog so I get to do what I want so ha!). If you would like to know my opinion about these books drop me a comment and I will gladly give you my extremely important thoughts.


Books are in no particular order.



Island Beneath The Sea - Isabel Allende

What The Night Knows - Dean Koontz

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Come Closer - Sara Gran

Edge - Jeffrey Deaver

Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen

The Girl Who Chased The Moon - Sara Addison Allen

The Sugar Queen (I just finished this book I will post my thoughts soon) - Sarah Addison Allen

Already Dead - Charles Huston

The Passage - Justin Cronin

The Life of Saint Theresa of Avila by herself

Ghosts of The McBride House

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger

Under The Dome - Stephen King ( I am a huge King fan and have read every one of his books )

Barefoot - Elin Hilderbrand

Those Who Save Us - Jenna Blum



Books I have read aloud to my son (he will be 9 in April)

Harry Potter Series (7 total)

The Lightning Thief Series (5 total)

Redwall

Maximum Ride

Disclaimer Alert

******I wanted to add a little disclaimer********

I am NOT by any means a literature expert. I am NOT a professional reviewer/critic. My knowledge of the publishing industry is non-existent.

I AM an avid reader. I have read many books in varying genres. I have an opinion. I personally do not take book recommendations from professional book critics. I get my recommendations from either reading the summary located directly on the book, from family, friends, blogs and occassionally Book Radio which I listen to in my car.

What you can expect from me is how I truly feel about a book. Written in the same way I would say it to a friend. If your interst is in how the author felt when writing the story or in depth character analysis you will not find it here. Simply because that type of information does not interest me.

This is what interests me from a "review" perspective:

Did you like it?
Did you care about the charaters?
Was the book hard to put down?
Did your children go for days without food because you were so engrossed in the book?
Did you nod your head in agreement to things while reading that you normally would not agree to but you were completely ignoring the person and only agreed so he/she would go away?
And MOST imporatantly
Will you read other books by this author?

If you are like me and are drawn to a book by real life opinions and not a bunch of fancy intellectual analysis then that is exactly what you will find here.

Now if you will excuse me I must retire to my library where I will don my smoking jacket hold my pipe loosely in my hand while sitting in front of a roaring fire contemplating the existentialism of Nietzsche.

10 Things About Me

1. I've been called weird so many times that I am starting to believe it is true
2. I hate my job
3. I have an extreme clown phobia
4. Everyone called me Jenny when I was young and I hated it but now I wish people would call me Jenny.
5. I am overly confident in how great my children think I am
6. I have been writing since I was very young but I have never finished a story completely
7. I LOVE Hot Tamales Candy
8. I have Panic Disorder
9. My Dad told me I could be anything I want to be.....but I didn't listen.....I wish I did
10. My children are my motivation, my inspiration, my love, my reason for living and my headache...what? they aren't perfect but who is?

My Mom, Sister and I went out to one of my favorite antique/flee markets. I have been on the hunt for an old typewriter since forever. And today I found one!!!! I was so excited I was even able to pretend that the price wasn't that bad (which it was) but I really wanted it. The little tag said it is from 1914 they had another one that was from the 1940's but this one was so much more interesting looking.

So now its mine and I can't stop looking at it. While staring at it with a childish gleam in my eye my son was trying to show me something he learned at hockey and I was like oh yeah thats great Amber which obviously isn't my sons name. He didn't take to kindly to being ignored so now I may have to carry this thing with me for fear of retribution.

So what am I going to do with this thing? Well write the next great american novel of course. No that isn't true but it is really sweet isn't it?

Between two books

I am in between two books right now. Fall of Giants and the The Sugar Queen. Fall of Giants I am reading for my book club so it was picked for me as opposed to picked by me. I have to say that I am enjoying The Sugar Queen more. Maybe it is all of the candy the author talks about or the light and airy feel of the book. I am so enchanted by the characters one of which is basically being stalked by self help books which pop up in unexpected places, like her box of cereal. The flow and use of words that the author, Sarah Addison Allen, is so well done that I can almost swear I smell the food she is describing. Because I often crave the candy which is named throughout the chapters and as the chapter names themselves. I have begun to keep a bowl filled with candy next to my reading chair. Ms. Allen should receive some sort of compensation for the increase sale of SweeTarts, Sugar Daddys and Now and Laters. I have read three of Ms. Allen's books so far and I have enjoyed each one immensely. I find myself wondering about the characters long after I have put the book down. This is how I usually judge a book. If I am thinking about the book and the characters when I really should be doing something else......like reading Fall of Giants then it is a good book.

Fall of Giants is......well not as good as Pillars of the Earth. I am struggling to get through this book. I find that their are too many characters. In fact the beginning pages of the book consists of a list of all of the characters. I am constantly flipping back to the list to remember who is who. I am very nearly done with the 985 page monster. The truth may be that I am just not in the mood for this type of book. I pick it up and frown at it like its homework. It could be that I am intimidated by the immensity of it, I really don't know.

I do know when its time to pick up The Sugar Queen, Sarah Addison Allen, makes all the unhappiness of war, met between the pages of Fall of Giants, fade away in a delicious fog of candy infused magic.

My Fantasy Library

WHAT two posts in one day? Unheard of. I want a home Library. I felt this needed to be shared. Any of these libraries will do.

First Post

Let it be known throughout the land.......... that this is my first ever blog and my first ever blog post. So here is the plan. The purpose of this blog is to share my love of books, life and family with as many people as I can possibly reach.

First let me introduce myself I am Jennifer. I grew up one of eleven children in a home filled with love and chaos. My father loved to read and he infected me with this addiction at a very early age. My favorite book as a child was Edith and Little Bear which I actually stole from the public library when I was four.....but shhhhhhh don't tell. I have read many books and I love to read aloud to my children ages 19 and 9. Well not the 19 year old anymore but my 9 year old loves it still. So I don't want to give too much away in my very first post but I hope you will come by and take a peek into my little world on occassion. I promise it will be magical!

Serendipity - An Aptitude for making desirable dicoveries by accident.