The Burning Time

I thought this book would be about the Salem witch trials, but it was about witch burnings in England instead. Still a grim time period in history and this book really brought out the fear and the reality of what it was like for just a simple country girl. Awful, really awful, but the book was written well and kept my interest, or was it being 9 months pregnant and just wanting to lie down that kept me reading it?

Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire

This is such a fun how to book for teaching children. It is a non-fiction book about a teacher in Los Angeles. I recommend it to any teacher, public school or homeschool, as long as they realize that this is one of those take from it what you can and leave the rest or you will be overwhelmed. It really seems humanly impossible to do what this man has done in one lifetime, but he has, just not while raising 5 kids, serving in young women's and running a household all at the same time.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

I started reading this book, another one on the BBC "classic" list that I got from the library. I don't remember exactly what happened but I know I stopped reading it, gave it a one star and got rid of it immediately, so I'm assuming it has some illicit content and that as soon as I came across it, I closed the book and was done.

Knife of Never Letting Go

The librarian recommended this book after I told him that I liked The City of Ember, he said it was another dystopian society book that a lot of the teens like. I started it and really liked the story, but I really didn't like the language, so I stopped reading it after a while. I actually got fairly far into the book, because I liked it, but I just didn't like bad language, so it just didn't work for me.

Sarah's Key

I thought that this book was typical of most contemporary literature. It takes a subject that should be interesting in and of itself, assumes that the reader will not be interested in the subject, and then proceeds to fill the book full of attention seeking drama to pull in the interest of the reader. A subject like the holocaust does not need the added topics of divorce, threatened miscarriage, affairs and such to make it interesting. I liked the idea that the story was told by the point of view of a journalist investigating the events of the Vel d' Hiv roundup in France. I enjoyed learning more about these events and I even enjoyed some of the characters, like the daughter of the journalist, but overall, I thought that the author could have left out all the modern drama.

The Hiding Place

I have wanted to read this book ever since college and finally got around to it. It was very good, very inspirational. I knew it was about Corrie Ten Boom surviving life in a concentration camp, but I had no idea how spiritual of a message it contained. I love to read books that I feel change my life and make me a better person and I feel like this is that kind of book. It has been helpful as I have been struggling with the uncomfortable pains of pregnancy to be reminded that no trial I ever face will compare with that of those who survived the holocaust. This reminder makes me grateful for all my comforts in life and especially for a God who loves me and watches over my family daily.

The Prisoner of Cell 25, Michael Vey

My friend recommended this book and I decided to read it, but had no idea what it was about. I thought it was an adult non-fiction book about a man in prison, boy was I wrong! This is a teen book and a fiction for sure. This was a fun and easy read. A typical wimpy-kid-turns-superhero type book. I had a little bit of a hard time getting past the shallow way the teenagers talked, but I guess that's actually more realistic than I'd like to believe. Still, I find it difficult to believe that these kids who can't even carry on a single conversation without insulting each other can hop in a car without telling their parents and drive across 5 states to an unknown designation without a map and then all of a sudden become experts at tactical warfare. Come to think of it, my son will probably love this book, every boy's dream right?

These Is My Words

This book was recommended from a friend/author who said that it is one of the best books she has ever read for character development. I would have to say that I agree wholeheartedly. I also enjoyed this book for it's rugged adventure, heartache and sorrow followed by life consuming happiness, and events that can be applied to my daily life for strengthening in tough times. I kept finding myself referring to "the book I'm ready right now" in conversations with friends about life struggles. The only part of the book I couldn't get used to was the romantic undertones. I don't read very many books with romantic scenes and there were a few that made me blush in this book, not that they were inappropriate, I'm just not used to it. There are some violently graphic scenes that might bother others, but didn't phase me a bit, so to each his own. Also, as an avid journal writer/blogger, I enjoyed the journal-style of the writing. There were a few times when I felt like the entries were unbelievable, but that's fiction right? Overall, I really liked the book.

Heidi

This was one of my favorite books as a child and I loved sharing it with my kids. They loved it. It has some great themes to talk about as a family and gives a beautiful depiction of life on the Alps. Plus we got to eat goat cheese at book group and it was so yummy!

Unbroken

This book was so inspiring. I can't believe what these soldiers had to endure. It seems humanly impossible. It really makes me think twice about judging those vets on the side of the road. Also, if I could just remember this book, I will never feel like I have problems in my life. Because of this book, I have started recording my own trials (not that they compare) and my road to overcome them hoping that some day my stories could help someone else like this story helped me. Although this is non-fiction, it is very riveting and kept me interested from page 1 to the end. I have recommended this book to many and find myself referring to it often.