Bi-Monthly Book Reviews

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  Below you will find my bi-monthly book list and brief reviews with 5 stars being the best.

BOOK REVIEWS

When She Woke, Hilary Jordan - 5 stars
I found this to be a RIVETING, creative novel based on the book The Scarlet Letter.

Getting Past Your Past:  EDMR (which stands for Eye Desensitization Movement and Reprocessing) by Francine Shapiro - 2 stars
EDMR is something that I've been working on personally.  The whole concept is extremely complicated and someday I'll share my experience.  This book does a decent job explaining the process.

Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosney - 5 stars
I LOVED this book about the French involvement in the concentration camps of World War II - great book.

12 Tribes of Hattie, by Ayana Mathis - 3 stars
This is Oprah's Book Club current pick, but the book focuses on 12 different characters and I really wanted to know more about each one so I felt a bit frustrated but the book was well worth my time.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon - 4 stars
This is our book club pick for March and I thoroughly enjoyed this book about a female entrepreneur and her family in Kabul, Afghanistan.  I feel like I learned more about the Afghan culture and it was non-violent as compared to 10,000 Splendid Suns and the Kite Runner (amazing books btw).

MY NEXT READ:

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I'm excited to delve into this novel.

Thank-you to Lit Lovers for the adorable cartoon

My St. Patrick's Day was full of house chores and a great ski with my friend Colleen.  How was your St. Patrick's Day?  What book do you recommend?  If I had to pick a book from above I'd pick Sarah's Key first with When She Woke as a close second.

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

P.S. - I heard Gail Francis speak this week about her adventurous hike along the entire Pacific Crest Trail (California to Canada) and her presentation was amazing and inspiring - she's writing a book too.  I bring this up because I want to remind you about the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed which I still highly recommend if you haven't read it yet.

Bi-monthly Book Bash

"So many books, so little time" said Frank Zappa and I couldn't agree more.  Even though I haven't read a ton over the past two months, I've read some really good ones.  I'm blessed with a snow day today so I plan on finishing up a great book, finishing up my kitchen project and playing with my kids outside!

Graham, Festis, Greta and Gustaf enjoying the snow!

RECENT READS

• The Four Agreements - 2 thumbs up
• Four basic principals that if you follow can enhance the quality of your life - love this book!  I love this book so much that I will be dedicating a blog post about it sometime in February.  In fact this book is so powerful for me that I incorporated into my 7 resolutions for 2013.
• Mudbound, Hilary Jordan - 2 thumbs up
• The story of 2 families struggling on a Mississippi farm in 1946  - easy read and excellent!
• A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle - 2 thumbs up
• I've read this book 3 times and every time I learn something new.  This book helps you succeed in living in the moment without the misery of the ego messing up your day (life).
• A Christmas Jar, Jason F. Wright - 1 thumb up
• A feel-good story about a jar used for coins given away anonymously the week before Christmas. 
• When She Woke, Hilary Jordan - 2 thumbs up
• A very creative take on the world when religion and state lines are blurred.  I haven't finished this book but I can tell you that it is AMAZING.
• Apple Cider Vinegar, Miracle Health Systems, Braggs - 1 thumbs up
• Interesting read about the benefits of ACV on your entire well-being.

As I mentioned in earlier blogs, I prefer to read one fiction and then one non-fiction book.   If you would like one recommendation from this list I would recommend MUDBOUND first and then WHEN SHE WOKE - same author but completely different subjects and styles of writing.

For more book reviews, I like to check out recommendations from one of my favorite bloggers from Girl Evolving -she does some serious reading:  Girl Evolving Books.

Reading on my snow day with Chewy the cat

FUTURE BOOKS

Next on my list to read is the Twelve Tribes of Hattie recommended by both Oprah and my mom (my mom is a fierce book critic and LOVED it).

Here's a list of our next few books for book club:

• Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
• A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
• The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

What are you reading?  I'm so grateful for a snow day today so I hope to finish up When She Woke and figure out how to borrow 12 Tribes of Hattie from my mom's e-reader onto mine.  Do you like to read real books or books on an e-reader?  At this point I like a mixture of both but I've been mostly getting my books from the library.

Kristin