The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prome number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched and detests the color yellow.

This very well might be the funniest book I've ever read. It's a murder mystery about a dog that Christopher finds one evening in the front yard of one of his neighbors. He decides to write a detective novel and this is his book. Because he is "special needs" his father told him that his mother had died from a heart attack when in fact she ran away with the neighbor's wife (yes, the one whose dog was murdered). Turns out that Chrisopher's father is the one who did the murdering. This comes on the tails of christopher finding letters from his mother that she wrote to him every week since she left.

Christopher decided to go in search of his mother, because his father is a murderer and a liar and can no longer be trusted, and if you know Christopher, traveling is not his thing so he pulls out his Swiss Army Knife on several people on his journey. He finally reaches his mom and she moves back home with him.

He is really good at math and all of the chapters are numbered in prime numbers. I have several favorite quotes but this one is my all time favorite:

People often talk using metaphors. These are examples of metaphors:

I laughed my socks off.

He was the apple of her eye.

They had a skeleton in the cupboard.

We had a real pig of a day.

The dog was stone dead.

The word metaphor means carrying something from one place to another and it comes from two greek words, the first which means from one place to another and thee oother which means to carry, and it is when you descrobe something by using a word for something that isn't. This means that the word metaphor is a metaphor.

I think it should be called a lie because a pig is not like a day and poeple do not have skeletons in their cupboards. And when I try and make a picture of the phrase in my head it just confuses me because imagining an apple in someone's eye doesn't have anything to do with liking someone a lot and it makes you forget what the person was talking about.

Now that's some funny shit. I definitely recommend. And, he has footnotes to explain which of his phrases are metaphors and which are similes.

Nineteen Minutes

Okay, I spoke too soon. Jodi Picoult has failed me. This was a fantastic book, don't get me wrong. There just wasn't a twist and I had anticipated every single way this book could turn out and it just didn't twist. Damn.

This book was about a boy who in 19 minutes shot up his high school, killed 10 people and wounded 19 others.

And, well, that's pretty much it. He gets convicted. The storyline is mostly about him being bullied in school and finally retaliating. Moral of the story children? Violence is never the answer.

You would think after 477 pages, I would at least have one quote. I don't though, other than "don't read this book, it's not her finest work."

Sail

I gave up on the James Patterson series at number 6. When I was in the bookstore today, I see that he's up to number 9. Blech. I don't even know why I bother with him anymore. Especially when his books have a co-author.

This book was about a family who goes on a family trip on their boat. The boat explodes and they end up on a deserted island. The Coast Guard tries to find them but eventually gives up their search. Then, a fisherman catches a giant fish and when it was being weighed, a bottle falls out of its mouth with a letter from the family saying they're still alive. Yay! How convenient.

The husband, who conveniently stayed behind has orchestrated the whole thing so that he can inherit his wife's fortune. Once he finds out that they are still alive, he begins his own search and finds them. He wants them dead so he raises his gun to his sleeping wife and the son strikes him with a log.

He's convicted and everyone lives happily ever after.

Vanishing Acts

Jodi Picoult never seems to fail me as an entertaining read. Her storylines hit home and there's always a twist that you can't predict even though you know there's going to be a twist.

Delia Hopkins has lived with her father sincer her mother died when she was a young child. She works search-and-rescue with her dog and is always being called out to find one lost child or another. She has lived a charmed life with the undying love of her father. THEN, one day while she was visiting her father with her daughter, a police officer knocks on the door and arrests her father for kidnapping. That's right, KIDnapping! Turns out Delia was the one he kidnapped some 30ish years ago.

Her father is brought back to Arizona where the original crime took place. Delia follows and finds out that her mother is still alive and begins to develop a relationship with her and her husband Victor. Her father is now on trial and begins to tell the story of why he kidnapped Delia so many years ago.

Her father and mother were split up. Her mother was a raging alcoholic. When her father, Andrew came to pick up Delia for visitation, her mother was passed out on the couch in her own vomit and there was feces all over the floor. He had also had suspicions that Mom's new boyfriend was being a little too friendly with Delia. All of this combined, let Andrew to take his daughter across the country and raise her without abuse, with constant love and devotion.

Eventually, given the circumstances, Andrew was acquitted and Life returns to normal. They all go back east to their homes and live happily ever after. This was a very compassionate novel. Here's my favorite quote: "You think you k now the world you are living in. If you can feel it, and touch it, and smell it, and taste it, then it must be so. You tell yourself that you would bet your life on the simple fact that the sky is blue. And then one day someone comes along and informs you emphatically that you're wrong."

Great book!

Drop Dead Gorgeous

This was one of those books that you don't realize is part of a series until you're 100 pages invested in it. It was very easy reading but Linda Howard totally wishes she was Janet Evanovich. It's the same type of storyline. Girl continually finds herself in precarious situations and a dude comes to the rescue.

Blair is being stalked by someone and it's not just the kind of stalking I'm used to, it's the kind where someone actually wants to kill her. They do this by running her down in a parking lot, setting her house on fire and finally coming after her with a knife. Wyatt (stupidest name ever) is her fiance who is also a cop and doesn't believe her.

Who is this cunning wanna-be killer? Wyatt's ex girlfriend! No suprise there. I definitely give this book a thumbs down. Maybe if I had realized it was a series before I started reading it, it might have been more interesting. All it makes me want to do is count down the days until the new Janet Evanovich book comes out. 27 days BTW. . .

Change of Heart

Was a fantastic novel. I am so out of my reading "rut" that I haven't even changed the 'what I'm reading now from "I am Charlotte Simmons." If you went to college, got high and had random sex, then you've not only read Charlotte Simmons, you've lived it. I moved on after abour 100 pages. . .

This book is about a woman who has a child and a husband. Her husband was holding her child when they were in a car wreck and her husband was killed. The officer (Kurt) who told her that her husband was dead and extracted her and her daughter from the car, eventually fell in love with her. And vice versa. June found out that she was pregnant with Kurt's baby and they were married and moved in together. They were building a nursery for the baby and Kurt became very involved with his work as an officer/detective.

One day, a man comes to the door and sees that they need work done and offers to help. The next thing you know, June comes home from an OB appointment and finds her daughter and her new husband murdered. It only can be assumed that the Shay (the alleged perpetrator) had murdered the husband and daughter.

A jury convicted him. And he went to jail. Then a sort of 'Green Mile' thing happened where he resurrected a bird of one of the inmates. Then he cured his cell neighbor of AIDS.

Then. June's new daughter, eleven years later needs a heart transplant. Who's a perfect match? Shay. He volunteers his heart and bangs his head against a food tray until he starts seizing. When that doesn't work, he petitions to be sentenced to death by hanging where his vital organs can be salvaged. Eventually, his petitions won.

In the meantime, we find out that Shay had come back to the house to find that June's husband was sexually molesting her daughter. Shay and Kurt engage in a physical altercation and Kurt fires his gun and it his the daughter. Then, Shay steals the gun and kills Kurt.

Ultimately, he is sentanced to death by hanging and June's daughter is given his heart which happens to be a perfect match.

Her daughter is getting ready for some dance at school and notices that her dog is sleeping when he shouldn't be. Weird. Searching for some resemblance between her and her doner, she reaches for the dog and it jumps to life, even though it is listless and cold.

Justice served, I guess. That's the lesson of Change of Heart.

Sea Glass

This was actually a pretty good book. I should pick through the last books of the year before the book sale before I start re-reading what I already know is going to be bad. I generally don't like those books that start with "in 1929. . . ." This is an exception. It was about the recession, but it was more about friendship, love, betrayal and loyalty.

Honora has married Sexton after only dating for a few weeks but that's how it goes in those days. They move into a beach house that is very very very run down but she sees the potential and begins to work on making this house their home. She scrubs the walls, the windows, decorates on their extremely thin budget. And, in her spare time, she scours the beach for sea glass.

Down the beach, Vivian has occupied the residence of her boyfriend because in the crash of the stock market, he has lost it and she buys it so they can have a home. However, her boyfriend cannot live in a house that a woman owns. Obviously. That would make you inferior. Dumbass. Anyhoo. Vivian and Honora become friends.

Sexton was a traveling salesman. He sold typewriters. Because of the depression, he was let go from his job and he worked in the local mill for money to support he and Honora. He was overheard by a radical one day talking about a copiograph that he had, and because mill workers were organizing for fair wages, living conditions, etc. McDermott asked Sexton to join their cause.

He agreed and their home became the new local meeting point for the organizers of this cause. The workers would go to the mill during the week then return to the beach house on the weekends to print paraphenilia and such. The weekends are filled with drinks, food, laughter and good company, all provided by the rich neighbor, Vivian. As the weeks go by, Honora finds that she is not so much in love with her loser husband as she is with the cause organizer, McDermott.

They exchange glances. They talk. Blah Blah Blah.

One day, their operation was intercepted by the union police and everyone was killed except Honora, Vivian and a boy(Alphonse) who had been running back and forth between his own life as a teenager and trying to be part of something radical. It was at Alfonse's house that the "take down" occurred. At which point, his mother was killed.

Sexton was injured. Seriously, he was taken to the hospital and saved. On day 10 of his recovery, he up and left town. He's a traveler, you know. Men and their callings. Ech. After Sexton leaves, Honora finds out that she is pregnant. Alfons is sent to live with his uncle but the doesn't want that so he begs to live with Honora and Vivian. Honora can't afford to keep the beach house so she moves in with Vivian. Honora has her baby and they all live happily ever after.

Daughter's Keeper

I picked up this book last year at the VNSA book sale. At the time I read this book, I was getting ready for the book sale again and my supply was running low. I haven't had much luck with books lately and I aimed for something on the bookshelf that I had never heard of, hoping for satisfaction with the unknown.

I found it! This was a really good book. It was about a girl, Olivia, who traveled to Mexico after taking a couple semesters off of college. She wanted to find herself and instead found herself in love. She thought her summertime affair with Jorge would end with her returning to her home and writing love letters back and forth. . . well, Jorge had a different idea. While Olivia viewed their "affair" as something fun and entertaining, something she could look back on and *sigh*, Jorge spent all of his family's money and payed the coyotes to bring him to Olivia. She couldn't turn him down! Especially after he had traveled all that way just to be with her.

As time goes on, Jorge has a hard time finding work. Olivia pretends to be in love, if for no other reason, than to spite her controlling mother. Because Jorge can't find legitimate work, he enters into a drug deal with one of Olivia's friends. Olivia was furious to find this out and forbid him to do it again or he would leave her (which is what she hoped would happen). Instead, while she was at home, she answers a phone call with instructions for Jorge to carry out the drug deal. She left the message for Jorge and left to go stay with her mom.

Jorge got busted and Olivia was woken up in her sleep as and convicted as an accessory to something-to-do- with-a-drug-deal. While she's living with her mom, she undergoes the trials and tribulations of facing a 10 year sentance. Oh, and did I mention she just found out she's pregnant? Shiiiiit.

The trial goes on and on and on and on and on. Olivia falls in love with her layer, or better, her layer falls in love with her.

Eventually, Olivia is sentenced to 4 years in prison. Jorge, gets 18 months. Awesome. She has her baby and her mom comes through and agrees to take care of it while Olivia is in prison.

This was a great mother/daughter story. Very entertaining and well worth the read.

The Good Guy

Timothy likes to have a beer after work at his friend's tavern. He blends in and is noticed by no one and he likes it that way. One evening a stranger approaches him and gives him an envelope full of cash and a picture of a girl. The other man mistakes him for a hit man who was hired to kill this woman. This ordinary man gets swooped up into a world of murder, chaos and adventure trying to save this woman who was marked for death.

He takes her and races around whatever city they're in and time and time again, saves her from being killed. Eventually, the bad guy is caught and the girl lives. Oh, did I mention they fall in love and live happily ever after?

Blah.

The Rescue

I finished this book sometime last week. I've really been slacking on my blogging lately so I'm trying to get caught up tonight. We'll see how that goes. . .

The Rescue was basically a love story. Woman in peril. Man in uniform. Man saves woman. Man is confused. Can't figure out whether or not its related to being faced with a commitment or whether or not he remembered to put deodorant on that particular morning. Nonetheless, love prevailed, as it always (never) does.

I needed a feel good novel on account of having the blues lately. All this book did was make me cry or make me mad. By the time I was on page 17, I could see exactly what was going to happen. Unfortunately, I had already cried once and was emotionally invested in the book. I finished it. It wasn't BAD, I just hate hate HATE it when men write novels about love and women. And the way they make women act is so degrading and insulting. Like all real women want is a ride to work and someone to play catch with their son. Blech.

I should have known better. Nicholas Sparks, you don't know shit about Xs and Ys. Maybe someday, a woman will take a frying pan to his head and then he'll have a better perspective. I'm just sayin'.

I did have a favorite quote, though. NS isn't all that bad, I suppose. "People come, people go - they'll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, comlete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past." I don't necessarily agree 100%, but it sure does make me feel better about those people that have drifted in and out of my life. Maybe, just maybe, I offered something to their life. . .

Best Friends Forever

I like Jenifer Weiner. She's a talented writer and writes about everyday happenings in a way that allows the story to be believable and entertaining. Kind of like if you take my life and take it down one notch :) I finished this book a couple weeks ago as I was returning from a flight from Sacramento.

I didn't laugh outloud. I didn't cry. I wasn't grasping at every page, excited to see what came next. I was, however, drawing parallels to my life and the lives of the two girls in the story. These girls were the best of best friends. Something happens and Valerie thinks she's accidentally murdered someone and runs to the side of her long lost best friend Addie. Reluctantly, because Valerie has hurt her in the past, jumps on board. They embark on a somewhat Thelma and Louise run from the law.

All in all, it was a big misunderstanding and everything worked out okay and Valerie and Addie remined best friends until all eternity. What's even better? Addie falls in love with the FBI agent following them. Bonus!

I have one favorite quote from this book. Only because it puts into words what I have been feeling over the last several weeks, and months, really. "At some level underneath conscious thought, a place down in my cells where, the scientists tell us, memories reside, I'd been waiting for hears for that knock, waiting for the feel of my feet moving across the floor and my hand on the cool brass knob. " This can be interpreded in two different ways. My reunion with my new dad, and my reunion with D. Either way, I have been waiting.

Water For Elephants

I wish I could remember the date when I finished reading this book. I know it was somewhere between moving into this new house and hanging wallpaper in the babies' room, which they immediately tore down. I can't remember who recommended this book to me. I can't believe that I would find a book about a circus entertaining in the slightest. I hate the circus. I hate the way they treat animals and the last thing I wanted to do was read about it.

I did, though. And it was very entertaining. I even accidentally dropped it in the jacuzzi and read wet pages for the next week. The circus part was circumstantial. It was a love story about two people who wanted to be together and an abusive man (both to women and animals) stood in their way.

Has anyone read this book? I'm a little confused. The opening chapter reads as if Marlena was the one to kill her husband, with her boyfriend, Mr. Jankowski (can't remember his younger years name) seeing the whole thing happen. The end of the book reads as if her husband was killed by a stampede started by a disgruntled and abused elephant. So, WTF? I can't tell what happened.

The bottom line is that it was entertaining. Reading about this elephant. Who only responded to speak in Polish. She was abused and hit and tortured by Marlena for not responding and when Mr. Jankowski started talking Polish and the elephant responded, she was then, the star of the show. Until she started a stampede. And that's where I get confused. Input, please. . .

The Bone Collector

While on vaca in Santa Barbara this past week I finished The Bone Collector. It sure has taken me forever to read this book. Mostly because I don't sit in the jacuzzi at night anymore on account of it being one hundred million degrees outside.

It was a good book. I've heard good things about the Lincoln Rhyme series so I decided to give it a shot. The fact that it is a series kind of ruined it for me because I knew that Lincoln wasn't going to kill himself at the end, which is one of the major plot elements.

With that being said, this book was about a former detective who was injured on the job and becomes paralyzed from the neck down. He is asked to help out with a case because he's ridiculously knowledgeable about forensics and the city (New York, I think).

Someone is kidnapping victims and leaving them to die and at the scene there are clues leading to the next victim. Sometimes the victims are saved and sometimes they are not. Turns out the killer is Lincoln's doctor. And one of the victims who was saved ends up blowing up a building at the end of the book and they ask Lincoln to stay on the case to try and find her.

I'm guessing this is where the next book picks up. . .

Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Tonight I finished this book. I don't know why this series entertains me so well. But it does. The characters are absolutely hilarious and I found myself laughing out lout, at least twice.

Lula is an ex-ho turned to working for a bounty hunter as a file clerk. She sometimes fills in with Stephanie to attempt to apprehend the bad guys. Stephanie is a terrible bounty hunter and relies on her relationship with a local cop or her relationship with another bounty hunter. Raaaaanger. He's finger lickin' good if you ask me. But you're not, so we'll move on.

Some killers are in town to assassinate the cook who will obviously win the barbeque cookoff. Lula witnesses the murder, then they come after her. She and her entourage enter the cooking contest and everything goes awry. The canopy catches on fire, the ribs fall on the ground, blah blah blah.

Ultimately, she catches the killers and everything right is restored in the world. The hamster is still alive. And Grandma Mazur is still alive. There have been FIFTEEN books, I just can't see how this is happening, but I'm enjoying it all just the same.

Especially coming off of My Sister's Keeper. If you read the book, go to the movie and leave about 20 minutes before it ends or else you'll need restraints to settle down your fury. If you watch the movie and don't read the book, call me, I'll tell you how it really ends. . .

I do have a quote. It made me laugh. Don't know if it will do the same for you but it was funny as shit when I read it. And again, just now to make sure it was funny:

"I thought back to Ernie as a kid. 'I can't remember him setting fires, but he did a lot of weird things. One time, he entered a talent show and tried to burp The Star-Spangled Banner,
And then he went through a period where he was sure he could make it rain, and he'd start chanting strange things in the middle of arithmetic. "Oowah doowah moo moo hooha." '

"Did it rain?"

"Sometimes."

"What else did he do? I'm starting to like this guy."

"He took a goat to the prom. Dressed it up in a pink ballerina outfit."

Now, that's funny. I took a goat to the prom too. Except I called him my boyfriend at the time :)

Why We Suck - A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid

I'm not finishing this book. I read exactly 39 pages and decided it was time to move on. I like Denis Leary, really, I do. As an actor and as a comedian, he's absolutely hilarious. As a writer? He kind of sucks. I'm sure it has mostly to do with the content of this book. He wrote it very well, although he makes it very clear that he just threw out the ideas and left if up to his staff to put it into words.

I don't need a guide to staying fat and stupid. Actually, I'm quite the opposite. I'm not sure what type of audience this book was written for, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't care to specify or narrow it down any. Therefore, it was written for no one except Dr. Dennis Leary. That, my friends, is called a journal.

And, unless you're Anne Frank, Marilyn Manson, or Anna Nicole, I have no interest in reading your journal.

I find nothing funny in making fun of children with autism. I find nothing funny in making fun of working moms. And, I take personal offense to criticizing overweight mothers, doing their absolute best to raise decent children, with their weight being the least of their concerns.

I'll use his own words when explaining why you should not read this book. I only wish I had started reading it before the 7-day-return-rule had been enforced by Barnes and Noble:

"Put this book down. Right now. Do not buy it. Stop reading. Now. . . I am here to debunk and decalssify and otherwise hold up a brutally hones mirror to our fat, ugly, lazy American selves."

While I tend to agree with most of his points (in the one chapter that I actually read), I think that if you don't like America, GET THE FUCK OUT!

I'm moving on to better and brighter things. Denis! Stick to acting. And, if you happen to read this, I want my money back.

My Sister's Keeper

Holy crap! *warning* I will tell you how this book ends in this post, so if you have any interest in reading this book, or seeing the movie. Please, do not read any further. . .

All of the books I have read in the recent year or so have been very entertaining. However, that's just it. That's all they have been. Entertaining. This book, by the end, had me crying. And not just the teary-eyed crying. I'm talking full on sobbing.

Anna was created based on her genetics so that she could be used as a donor for her already born sister who has lukemia. As soon as she was born, Anna started the donation process with her cord blood being infused into her sister's body. After that, there were numerous procedures, invasive ones, that she continued to participate in.

When Anna was 13, she decided to sue her parents for medical emancipation. Not wanting to be a donor for her sister anymore. This action shook her family to its core. What you don't know, until the end of the book, is that it was her sister who asked her to do this. That she didn't want to continue to live the way she had, with most of her time being spent in the hospital, sick and always on the verge of death.

Ultimately, Anna was granted medical emancipation. Her parents left the courthouse to go to her sister's side in the hospital and Anna was asked to stay behind and fill out the paperwork. On the way home, her and her lawyer were in a car accident. Anna was killed. Her kidney was donated to her sister.

I can't believe that I have to wait almost a whole week to see the movie. If it is half as good as the book, it will be an awesome movie.

Watchers

I took a sick day today. I'm not feeling well and after I realized this stupid cold isn't going anywhere, I decided to succumb and stay home with some thera flu and my book. I finished Watchers by Dean Koontz today. His books are known for having that supernatural element. But, he writes it in a way that it is believable.

In this book a genetic company had altered DNA to create two super human animals. One good, one bad. The good one was a dog with human-like intelligence levels and the other was created to create mass hysteria. It had the same intelligence level, but it was hideous looking and not so nice.

Both the dog and the other escaped the lab and the dog found Travis and became his pet. The other spent all of his time outside of the lab tracking down the dog to kill it, murdering several innocent people and animals along its way. The dog could sense when the Outsider was coming and would warn Travis using a ridiculous Scrabble-tile-dispenser to spell out words for his owner.

Finally, there was a big showdown. The Outsider was killed, the dog was hurt but survived and everyone lived happily ever after. I read the afterward by the author and he claims this to be his best work ever. I'm thinkin' not so much. It was good, don't get me wrong. It was hard to put down during the last 50 pages or so, but definitely not his best work ever. I was a little disappointed probably because this came off of the tails of my last book where the central theme was also genetic engineering. A topic which is of absolutely no interest to me.

Oh. I almost forgot. My quote: Most people believe psychoanalysis is a cure for unhappiness. They are sure they could overcome all their problems and achieve peace of mind if only they could understand their own psychology, understand the reasons for their negative moods and self-destructive behavior. However, in spite of that understanding, most people do not change their behaviors. See, now I think that's just a bunch of crap!

Don't worry, I joined book club. Maybe if someone tells me what to read, I will start having better luck. Look forward to future posts of doves and daisies, my friends.

The Third Twin

This book was by ken Follett. I have read a few of his books and they were pretty good. I let Jim pick it because I was having such a hard time getting back into reading. I just seemed like everything sucked! It was pretty good, though.

It was about a young scientist who was doing research on identical twins raised apart. The age-old nature versus nurture question. She develops a search engine that can track them based on their medical history. Dental records, echos, thumbprints, etc. She finds a set of twins that meets her criteria. she begins to question them. One an upstanding citizen. The other a criminal.

Turns out she embarks on a journey to get to the bottom of some deep mystery buried under the CIA, Senators and CEOs of genetic research companies. They don't want her to find out their secret. Which is that 23 years ago, back when fertility treatment was an experimental phenomenon, they developed a method to split embryos who had desirable qualities. Basically, neo-nazis dressed up as leaders and contributors to our society. Blech. They split one embryo seven times and implanted eight unsuspecting women with these embryos who were undergoing fertility treatment at one of the facilities involved.

Ms. Super Scientist figures it all out though. They fired her, ruined her reputation and had the life of one of the "good" twins (octuplets) hanging in the balance.

Ooooooh. Then, the plot thickens. She falls in love with the good one and this gives her more ammunition to expose these people. In the end, she does. All the women are compensated and she and the good twin live happily ever after.

It was a good book. Entertaining, but clearly written by a man. I just don't think that the lead figure should be female if the book is written by a schovanistic male as Ken Follett clearly is. The undertone of his writing infuriated me. The way women were portrayed, their desires, etc. was borderline offensive.

I did pick out a quote. "If we're all aggressive, obedient soldiers, who's going to write the poems and play the blues and go on antiwar marches?"

I'm looking forward to my next book. The Watchers by Dean Koontz. A friend of a friend said it was sooo good that she was reading it while she was brushing her teeth. Now, THAT'S a good book!

A Complicated Kindness

Tonight I finished A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews. I thought If I picked a book at random, it would break me out of my reader's block. Unfortunately, it did not. It's not that this wasn't a good story. It was. A good story. I just think it would have been a better short story rather than a novel.

The novel is about Nomi, who lives in a Mennonite town. She is an outcast teenager in an outcast town, struggling to find her place in the world that doesn't even allow her to find a place in her small community. Her mother and sister left her with her dad when she was a young girl. Much of the book was devoted to her reminiscing about her life with her mom and sister before they skipped town. She is also struggling with what she wants to do with her life after high school. Tradition suggests that she will take a job at the local slaughter house and murder chickens for the rest of her life. This doesn't sound appealing to her, but neither does leaving her religion that she almost, but not quite, but by default, believes in.

Ultimately, her father also leaves. She finds out through letters left in her mother's underwear drawer that her mother had had an affair with her English teacher who had been badgering her to finish her final writing assignment. Everything she turned in denounced her religion and was returned to her with failing marks. Her graduation depended on this assignment. After her father left, she wrote her fourth or fifth, and final, writing project on how her teacher broke up their family. Forced her mom to be excomunnicated and therefore resulted in her leaving town.

Once her father leaves, she has plans to pack up the car he left her, sell the house he left her and live in New York City. We never find out if she does. She is always torn between living her life and serving her church.

And that's where the book ends, my friends. Very anticlimactic. I have asked Jim to pick my next book. Since I can't do it myself, perhaps he can choose something that interestes me. I really want to get started on the Jeffrey Deaver series that AK referred me to (she would be excommunicate me if I used her real name), however I cannot locate The Bone Collector for the life of me...

Onto the quote. I earmarked three pages of this book but this one is my favorite. Not quite as morose as the last quote. Perhaps I'm on the road to recovery :)

"She (Nomi's fourth grade teacher) said life was not a dream. And dancing was a sin. Now get off it and sit back down. It was the first time in my life that I had been aware of my own existance. It was the first time in my life I had realized that I was alive. And if I was alive, then I could die, and I mean forever. Forever dead. Not heaven, not eternal life on some other plane... just darkness, curtain, scene. Permanently. And that was the key to my new religion, I figured. That's why life is so fucking great. . . There's no other place to be. This world is good enough for you . . . Go ahead and love it."

London Bridges

Tonight I finished reading London Bridges by James Patterson. Mark your calendars. I'm very serious about this. I will NEVER pick up a James Patterson book again. And not because I've read them all. I haven't. However, I have read enough of them to know that I never want to read another one again!

I shouldn't dread my glass of wine and 30 minutes of alone time in the jacuzzi with my book. I should't rejoice in the nights I don't have time to read, thinking "thank GOD I don't have to read that stupid book tonight!"

This book was just like any of his other books. Good, until you reach the half-way-mark and from there on out, absolutely dreadful. This book was about some Russian Mafia guy blowing up cities around the world. Specificly, bridges. In London. Hence the title London Bridges, I suppose. The Mafia guy's code name is The Wolf. Alex, the detective in all of James Patterson books I think, is on assignment to capture this man.

He catches him, but it's not really him. Then he catches her and it's not really her. Then he catches him and it's really him. But wait. No it's not. Then he catches him again, then FINALLY, the book ends.

I've been having reader's block lately. Nothing seems to be a really good read. Another one of the mothers in my twin's club suggested reading some Jeffrey Deaver so I think I'll give him a try. I bought enough of his books at the book sale to keep me going for a while so we will see.

Maybe I'm just being cynical. I try to pick a quote from every book that I read that I find moving. I simply fold down the corner of the page and read it after I finish the book and see what I think. See if it still hold some meaning. As I turn to the page I ear-marked, it's weird to see that I picked such a morose quote from this terrible book...

"All bets are off nowadays. Anything can happen, and sooner or later, it probably will. We don't seem to be getting any smarter as a species, just crazier and crazier. Or at the very least, a whole lot more dangerous. Unvelievably, unbearably more dangerous."

Holy crap! Looks like my next book needs to be The Complete Idiot's Guide to Happiness. Does such a book exist?

The Reincarnationist

Tonight I finished reading The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose. I figured after about 5 years of reading books that are easy to read I should start to read ones that get the wheels in my head turning again. I've been out of school for a while now and it's difficult to find that intellectual connection when I'm surrounded by all these kids, all these kids' books, all these redundant work reports and all these kids. So, I decided to read what I though would be an intellectually stimulating novel.

It was. Intellectually stimulating in some parts. In other parts it was the same old murder mystery, and in other parts the reference to religion prior to 450 A.D. was, quite honestly, a little bit over my head.

I'm familiar with the fall of the Roman Empire somewhere around this time. Not a fanatic, but I've heard of it so I was able to keep up with that part of it. The part that really confused me was the reference to the Catholic religion and reincarnation in its earliest form. Whoa, what? Catholics at one point believed in reincarnation? I'm not so sure about that....

Anyway, this was a story about a man named Josh (Julius and Percy in past lives), and his quest to find out if the visions he is having are really his past lives reliving themselves or if he's just off his rocker.

Turns out he's not completely insane and reincarnation does exist. I really need to talk to someone who knows about early Catholocism and get all the kinks worked out. I guess if I just looked at this from a novel standpoint and not one where I'm looking for intellectual stimulation, it would have been a good book.

It was a good read. Interesting. Well thought out. But I must tell you, I totally predicted the ending waaaaay before I was supposed to. And to those of you who might read it. Malachai is the one who orchestrated the whole thing.

Sorry, ruining books is part of the fun of this blog.

I Couldn't Possibly Name All the Books I've Read Over the Past Few Years. Here Are a Few of My Favorites...

Fearless Fourteen

How sad that the first real book on my book blog is "Fearless Fourteen" by Janet Evanovich. All I can say in my own defense is that I started reading her series after I had Jocelyn and needed some easy reading. Easy reading I received, that's for sure. Aside from not stimulating my brain in the slightest, the series has brought me some much needed laughter.

This book is about Stephanie Plum. A broke girl who turns to bounty hunting so that she can earn some quick cash. She falls in love (with two men) and always catches the bad guy. Not by relying on her bounty hunting skills (or lack therof), instead on pure luck.

I'm not sure how many more books Ms. Evanovich can write in this series. Grandma Mazur was old when I read One for the Money. You can only imagine how old she is now. I can't even believe she's been kept alive for so long. I'm sure, however, I'll see this one through.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

On December 4, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

Today I finished "Are You Afraid of the Dark" by Sidney Sheldon. This book was about a man named Tanner Kingsley who somehow figured out how to control and manipulate weather. He owned a grant corporation filled with scientists working on various projects. The ones working on weather control all mysteriously die right before meeting with senators in Washington to tell them what Kingsley Internation Group had them working on.

The story focused on two of the wives of these individuals, Kelly and Diane. They went in search to find out why their husbands really died. The who time, being tracked down by assassins in KIG to supress what they had found out. And that's pretty much it. Tanner doesn't get away with it though. A tornado is created by the machine he made which kills him and his girlfriend, one of the senators in a plane wreck and Kelly and Diane begin their lives together without their husbands.

I really need to get away from murder mysteries. They seem to be the same old thing, no matter who writes them. It's hard though because I'm just buying one book at a time because all my books are packe in boxes. Our new house closes on December 30th though so hopefully I'll be alble to read some of the others that I can't get to right now.

Through Violet Eyes

On November 13, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

Ok, she's back to sleep. After "Murder List" I read "Through Violet Eyes" by Stephen Woodworth. Jim picked up this book at the grocery store and it was actually pretty good. There are these people called violets and they can communicate with the dead. Actually, they summon someone who is dead by using a touchstone, something the dead person has touched and they inhabit the body of the violet.

There is some sort of violet governing agency called the Corps who schools all violates and places them in jobs, usually in government where they can summons someone who has been murdered and tell a court who their killer was. A violet has a very hard life because they are always summoning people who have died brutal tragic deaths and reliving the even through the mind and thoughts of that person. Very stressful.

In this book, a certain violen is killing other violets. His name is Evan and he is doing it to save them from this horrible life of never being happy or living a normal life. They are all bald and have violet irises so they are ostricized by the public as being freaks.

Again, there is a detective who is assigned to protect a certain violet because the Corps is sure she is next on the list. This book doesn't have the happily ever after ending though. They do fall in love, she gets pregnant and he gets shot in the head. The violet is able to summns him, though, with the ultimate touchstone, their child. Not a bad book but not a great one either. I really need to get away from the murder/victim/detective books. Maybe my next one will be a little more lighthearted. I sure hope so. Sorry it took so long to catch up.

Murder List

On November 13, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

After "The Exile" I read "Murder List" by Julie Garwood. It was a good book. Another one about a detective and a murderer. This one was about a girl named Regan who is very wealthy. Her family owns a hotel chain and one of her brothers is a famouse race car driver. The murderer, I forgot his name, and his wife were in an accident and the wife lost her legs. They were in the accident with Regan's brother. Although he didn't cause it, they were furious and spent the rest of their lives seeking revenge because he was famous and untouchable. So they decided to go after his sister. Regan went to a seminar where she made a list of people the world wouold be a better place without. The killer turned this into the murder list and started killing those people.

In the end the killer is caught by Alec Buchanan, the detective assigned to protecting Regan. They fall in love and live happily ever after. Not a very deep book but it was good. Baby is awake now, I have to go.

The Exile

On November 13, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

After "The Taking" I read "The Exile" by Alan Folsom. I picked up this book at Costco. We have sold our house and moved into a rental until our new house is finished. Because we will only be here a few months, all my boods are packed. So, not having anything to read, I grabbed a few books while we were out picking up diapers and formula.

This was a very long book. 702 pages. But it was well worth the time. I was very disappointed after the last book and thought that nothing would ever measure up to "The DaVinci Code." This book was really good. I have never heard of the author but I really enjoyed this book.

It was about a detective who is trying to catch a serial murderer. There were so many stories and plots and people that it was sometimes hard to keep track. The killer escapes him in L.A. so even though the detective was kicked off the force because the guy killed his leader, the detective follows him to Europe to track him down and get his revenge. In the meantime, the criminal, I think his name is Alexander seduces the detective's sister after he had plastic surgery so he couldn't be recognized.

After the detective finds out who he is, he traps him and his new partner kills Alexander. The sister is distraught until she finds out his true identity and then lives happily ever after. Sounds stupid, I know but the author is a very good storyteller. I definitely had a hard time putting it down when it was time to go to sleep.

The Taking

On November 13, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

I'm writing today to try to start to catch up. I've read 4 books since my last entry. With a baby, it's hard to find time to dedicate to writing in this journal. She is sleeping now but I don't know how long that will last. We'll see how far I get. On August 26, 2004 I finished "The Taking" by Dean Koontz. I've read others of his books and this book is not a very good reflection of his other work. Maybe it's because it is the first book after I read after "The DaVinci Code" which is the best book ever, but I didn't like "The Taking" very much. It was an end of the world story about aliens who took over the world, fed off our planed for a while then left. It reminds me of "The Stand" how only certain people survived and were then responsible for starting the world over again.

There was one couple, I can't remember their names who's job was to find all the children and get them to a safe place. The book is mostly about their journey and all the demons and aliens they encounter. They survive in the end and meet up with others who had the same task of finding children. Not a very good book. I would definitely recommend other Dean Koontz books over this one.

The Divinci Code

On July 14, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

On 7/6/04 I finished reading "The Divinci Code" by Dan Brown. This book may be the best book I have ever read. It was a wonderful story with interesting characters and an incredible plot. The book claims that all the rituals, secret societies, etc. are all true. The story, is of course fictional, but if the latter is correct then I don't know how this book even got published. It really attacked Catholocism and even Christianity at its core. This book claims that Jesus Christ was a mortal, not some super-human-god like creature.

It also claims that the Hold Grail is actually the deceased body of Mary Magdelene. The story was about a cryptogropher and symbologist who were left a "treasure map" to the hold grail. Their quest for it was trailed by scholars and officers. This is a book that will make you question your faith. I am not a very religious person but I would am anxious to see what a devout Catholic has to say about some of the claims the author makes against the church.

I have a very dear friend Cheryl who read this book the same time I did and she is extremely religious. She has many other things going on in her life b ut it seems that the words of this book have rocked her boat a little. She doesn't like to talk about it though. I am curious as to whether DiVinci's work depicts Mary magdelene at the last supper. I'm sure all the claims in this book are one of many theories, just like the Bible or any religion for that matter. They did find the Holy Grail at the end but we never get to find out for sure what exactly it is.

Mercy

On June 5, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

Today I finished "Mercy" by Julie Garwood. She's a romance writer, which I'm not a big fan of whom I got sucked into while substitute teaching a few years ago. When all the kids were in detention, I picked up a book in the teachers desk called "For the Roses." And that was that. Needless to say, I stole the book. It was good and when I saw this book at the book fair I picked it up for a couple of bucks. What a bargain!

Mercy was about a doctor "Doctor Mike" who does emergency surgery on this guy Theo. When Theo sees Michelle, he falls in love with her and follows her to her home town. There is a club called the Sowing Club who has murdered Michelle's aunt. The aunt knew her husband, who is part of the club was into something bad and before she died, she sent Michelle copies of the club's transaction records. The club is trying to get these papers from Michelle and will stop at nothing.

The majority of the book is about Theo and Michelle dodging bullets and trying to solve the murder all while they are falling in love. It all works in the end. Theo and Michelle end up together. The murder gets solved and the members of the Sowing Clug all get killed in a big shootout at the hospital. Pretty much your basic cheezy romance novel. It was very entertaining though and very captivating.

With everything goigng on in my life, I need boods that are very easy to read and I can pick them up in 10 minute increments and not be lost. In this way "Mercy" served its purpose. It was kind of confusing tough. There were a lot of characters and it was at times difficult to figure out who was who. Other than that, it was good. I'm sure I'll read more of her books.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

On June 5, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

I know, I said I would finish writing about three books last time and I got sidetracked. Now I have two more books to catch up on. It's just so hard with our new baby to write about every book I read. Reading now has become a very special time for me. After my little angel has gone to sleep for the night, I love to sit in the jacuzzi with a glass of wine and read a chapter or two of my book. I look forward to it every day. So when I finally finish a book, the last thing I want to do is write about it. Usually, I just want to go to sleep. But I promised and so on nights like these, I just have to play catch-up on the books I haven't written about. Jim is out of town with Jocelyn. The minister who married Jim and I passed away so they went to go to the memorial service. I couldn't go because Sheila is in town visiting for the weekend. So we are having a lazy night and while I wait for Jim to call and let me know the baby went to sleep ok, I'm playing catch-up with my journal. Ok. Back to the task at hand.

Some time last month I finished "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris. I believe David is writing about his own life. Like Tim Sandlin David Sedaris has an amazing sense of humor. David knew from the time he was a little boy that he was gay. He blames it on his lisp and says that since talks like a gay person, he might as well be gay. I know it sounds harsh but it's actually very funny.

He takes us through his life, everything from the guitar lessons with the midget instructor who wants him to name his guitar after a woman because if you name your instrument after a women you love then you will love playing that instrument. David names his guitar Joan because he know that's what the instructor wants to hear. But he's gay and really wants to name his guitar Jeff. Needless to say, guitar lessons were a bust and David's dads dream of starting a family band was quickly coming to an end. David really wanted to play the flute but his sister got that.

After that he finished school, went to college, wrote a couple of really bad plays, had a couple shitty jobs and the rest of the book was about when he moved to Europe with his boyfriend. THat's pretty much where it ended. I definitely was left hanging with this one so I went and bought all his books. I don't like taking chances with aughors I don't know much about but with this guy, I'm glad I did.

Honey Don't

On May 1, 2004 I wrote this in my book journal:

I finished reading "Honey Don't" by Tim Sandlin some time in March or April. I can't really remember. Now that I'm not in the book club anymore, I can read whatever I want and I like it better that way. Everytime they picked a book I wanted to read everybody groaned and then we met to discuss it and either no one read it or everyone hated it. This book is by one of my favorite authors. He has a wonderful sense of humor that it is so captivating that I find myself wondering what is real and what is in the book.

He does a great job of relating to the reader and I always want to know more about what happened to the characters after the book is finished. I have read others by this author and although this isn't my absolute favorite, I still loved it.

Honey is a girl who is having an affair with the president of the United States. Her boyfriend comes home one day and finds her and the president together in bed and while chasing him around the apartment, the president trips and hits his head on a decorative flamingo and dies. The rest of the book is about how Honey, her boyfriend, a stranger and Honey's gay football star friend dodge the police, hold the president's body hostage for randsom all the while avoiding the mob. It sounds crazy, I know, but like I said, Tim Sandlin has a way of making even the craziest plot seem like reality.

Nobody liked the president anyway and in the end a homeless man ends up with his head. Honey gets her man (not her boyfriend, he gets taken by the mob). The gay football star also gets his man and they live happily ever after.

The Lovely Bones

Sometime in November, 2003 I wrote this in my book journal:

At some point during November I finished reading "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Seibold. I didn't write in this journal because I was planning for our new baby. She finally arrived November 19th, 2003. It is the day after Christmas now and I'm finally getting around to writing about this book. We have had a log going on so hopefully it won't become a habit. The Lovely Bones was about a girl... Now it's may 1st and I still haven't finished writing about The Lovely Bones. We have been consumed by our beautiful new baby Jocelyn and it's hard to find time to write. I'm determined though, to finish writing about that book and two others I have finished since then.

The Lovely Bones was about a girl who was murdered. She was young, about 13 or 14 years old if I remember correctly and she was lured into an underground fort (for lack of a better word) by a man who raped then killed her. I know it sounds very tragic and greusome and it is. The focus of the book though, is that the girl is in heaven watching her family and how they cope with her death. In heaven, you are able to watch everything until you are ready to leave it behind. She watches her family for several years. Her sister tries to catch the man who everybody knows killed her but can't prove it. This fails and the man moves far far away.

The mother has an affair and moves to California until she can handle her family without her daughter being a part of it then moves back home. This book was entertaining and kept me reading. Mostly because I had nothing better to do. I had insomnia right before Jocelyn was born so I found myself reading just about anything. The man who killed the girl, although he died later in the book, was never found. So, for a fictional story, I don't think it really served its purpose. The writer, I'm sure, would argue that that wasn't the point anyway. I see that but I still would have liked to see this man hunted down and punished for what he did to this girl. I just don't feel like justice was served.

Her body was never found so the family never really had any closure. It was on "okay" book, but I don't think I'll be recommending it to any one of my friends.

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

On August 19, 2003 I wrote this in my book journal:

Tonight I finished "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" by James Patterson. this was a very moving book about a woman who keeps a diary for her son. Telling him stories about how she and his father met and have such a wonderful marriage and family. Every entry into her journal is filled with words of love for her husband and her son. Suzanne has a heart condition though and one morning on her way to run an errand she has a heart attack and crashes. She didn't survive and neither did her son Nicholas who was with her. This book is mainly about her husband healing from the pain of two losses. He eventually is able to come to terms with it and shares this diary with his girlfriend.

I think this book was so moving for mr because I am pregnant and cannot bear the thought of losing my husband and child. What a terrible thing to have to endure.

My favorite quote in this book is really not a quote at all. It's a lesson that Suzanne refers to in her diary to her son several times. Life is like juggling 5 balls. The balls are work, family, health, friends and integrity. One day you finally have to understand that work is a rubber ball, it will bounce back. The other 4 are made of glass. If you drop one of these it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.

An important lesson, I think. Especially since "family" has taken on a whole new meaning for me lately. I hope that I love my baby as much as Suzanne clearly loved Nicholas. And I hope that Him and I continue to have the wonderful relationship/marriage we have after this exciting new addition is finally here.

The Sisterhood

On March 15, 2003 I wrote this in my book journal:

Today I finished "The Sisterhood" by Michael Palmer. I started reading this book a long time ago and have picked it up now and again between other books that I happen to be reading. It's not that it's not a good book. There are just usually other that I have to read. When I decided not to read this month's book for my book club, I made it a point to finishe this book.

This book is about a group of nurses who "believe in preserving the dignity of human life." They do this by assisting in suicide before they face the painful death coming to them. That's the basic premis of the book but the story is about a doctor who has been framed by the sisterhood so it looks like he murdered a lady. When he gets too close to finding out about the sisterhood, they hire a hit man to hill him. So the reas of the book is really about him and a nurse hiding from the man who's trying to kill them.

In the end everything works out and the sisterhood is dismantled and the doctor and nurse live happily ever after. Very entertaining but low on substance. No quote this time.

Animal Dreams

On February 27, 2003 I wrote this in my book journal:

Today I finished Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver. I'm really indifferent about this book. I didn't love or hate it. It was a very easy book to read but it didn't really capture me and keep me from wanting to do anything else like some books do. The story overall I think is about love and finding acceptance with the one you do love.

Codi was the main character who had grown up in a town call Grace in Arizona with her sister. They were both raised by their father after their mother died shortly after her sister, hallie was born. They moved away and lived as roommated in Tucson. Codi went to medical school and when she was almost done, decided that's not what she wants to do. Her sister was an environmentalist and went to Nicaragua to work on their deteriorating crops. Then Codi got news that her fater was ill and moves back to Grace. She meets a man Lloyd and falls in love.

Her sister is kidnapped and killed in Nicaragua and her fahter passes away from some unspecified mental condition. But her and Lloyd live happily ever after. I am more interested in the author than this particular book. She wrote another novel called "The Poinsonwood Boble." Some people say it has changed their lives so maybe I'll read that one.

The author is an environmental biologist and writes short stories and essays. One in particular about the inevitable extinction of bananas. I ought her book Small Wonder so maybe that one will shed some light on thie banana crisis. I think I'm going to start this new thing where I pick my favorite quote from each book and share it with you. My favorite quote from this book is: "what you do determines your soul." How true.

A Map of the World

On February 2, 2003 I wrote in my book journal:

I read this book because I had read another book by Jane Hamilton last year called The Book of Rugh which I thought was an inredible novel. The cover of this book states :Jane Hamilton has removed all doubt that she belongs among the major writers of our time." I'm not sure what that means. I didn't know there was any doubt. Her first book was fabulous and so was this one.

There is something about her writing style that captivates me. She develops her characters very well and the stories are not so far removed from reality that they could happen to you. This book was about Alice and her family. They lived on a farm and while babsitting her friend's daughters, one left the house and drowned in their pond. While Alice was trying to recover from the guilt of this trafedy, she was accused of sexual abuse of 4 boys who attended the school where she worked as a nurse. Clearly brought on by the fact that a neighborhood child had drowned while in her care.

While the death of her friend's daughter and the accusation were the main events in this story, the book is really about relationships and forgiveness. While in prison awaiting trial, she explores her feelings for her husband, friend and children and learns to accept them and forgive them for their flaws. She also learns to appreciate what used to irritate her about them. Her daughter's temperment, even her husband's smell. She was eventually acquitted but although her friend had forgiven her they lost touch.

I think the moral of this story is that even in tragedy, a stronger, better person evolves. Like I said before, the story was very "real" which makes it heartbreaking. The fact that it all worked out well in the end is what distinguishes is from reality.

The Great Train Robbery

On January 20, 2003 I wrote in my book journal:

I also read this book as part of my book club but when our book club met I had only read about 3/4 of it. I have since finished it and I think this is one of the most well written books I have ever read. Crichton did a wonderful job of developing the characters. So well, that even though this book is listed as non-fiction, I'm convinced it's true.

It is about a train robbery in England in the 1850's. The main character Edward Pierce masterminds the entire plan for stealing gold from a train. He planned the robbery for over a year. Working out all the details and solving any problem that presented itself. The robbery went off without a hitch. They layed low for a year and a girlfriend of one of the men involved in the robbery told the police what she knew. The men were all convicted and sentenced but Pierce and two of his accomplices escaped on the way to the prison from the courthouse. They, nor the money was ever found.

This was a good book, well written, entertaining and very clever. I only wish all the books chosen by our book club were this fun.

In the Time of the Butterflies

On December 18, 2002 I wrote in my book journal:

It is unfortunate that the first book for my new journal is one that sucks. Today I finished reading In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. This book lacked any substance of a piece of literature. It was a good story or should I say, it could have been a good story but the way in which it was told made the story lose meaning. This book was about 4 Maribal sisters who lived during the time of the refolution in the Dominican Republic. They all joined an underground refolution to overthrow a dictator named Trujillo. All of them except Dede that is. They were a well-to-do family who suffered because they questioned the ways of their ruler.

What the people of the Dominican were subject to is absolutely horrible. People were arrested and excecuted for no reason. They were tortured in prison, their land, homes and belongings stolen by the government. The Mirabal sisters wanted more for their country and began to plan a revolution to assassinate Trujillo. Two of the sisters were caught though and thrown in prison for 9 months. Their husbands and the husband of a third sister were also put in prison. The two sistere were tortured and one was forced to miscarry while in jail.

When they got out, they were placed under house arrest and were only allowed to leave to visit their husbands, shop, etc. While on the way hom from visiting one day. Three of the Mirabal sisters were stopped in their vehicle, forced out, beaten to death and thrown off a cliff with their vehicle and their driver. Their family was told they were in a car wreck, but they knew better.

Trujillo had ordered them killed. Their assassins were sentenced to 20-30 years but were exiled after the revolution where Trujillo was also assasinated. This could have been a great story but I told it better in the last 4 paragraphs then the author did in her 300+ pages of nonsense. First of all, the story was told in 1st person by each sister. It was difficult to follow who was narrating. She also did not assign any physical attributes to any of the characters. The reader could only recognize them by name.

I read this book for my book club. We choose a new book every month. I hear that a movie was made by showtime of this book that came out last year sometime. I would be anxious to see this same true story told in a different way.