Book Review: Like Sweet Potato Pie

It's safe to say I'm behind in my goal of reading 52 books this year. The year is still young, so maybe I'll catch up.

I would like to highlight one book I finished last week: Like Sweet Potato Pie by Jennifer Rogers Spinola.

I loved it!

I read Southern Fried Sushi last fall when it came out and fell in love with it. I was anxiously awaiting the release of Like Sweet Potato Pie, the next  book in the trilogy.

I do wish I had re-read Sushi before diving into Pie but only because it was twenty-five books ago. Spinola did a great job of recapping vital parts of Sushi without making me feel like I was reading the same book or being talked down to. Like Sweet Potato Pie is predictable at times but some parts were so off the wall that you never would have seen them coming.

I love Spinola's writing style. We can all learn from her similes and metaphors! Her plotline moves, and there's no lack of humor, especially for someone like me who lives in the South but didn't grow up here.

Like Sweet Potato Pie is definitely worth reading (but read Southern Fried Sushi first).

Be sure to check out the interview I did with Jennifer Rogers Spinola last year.

<>< Katie

PS: This book was provided to me for the purpose of an online review, but all opinions are entirely my own.

Book Review: Just a Minute

My goal for 2012 is to read 52 books. I'm already behind so I was especially grateful for the easy-read entitled Just a Minute by Wess Stafford, president of Compassion International.

It's a book of stories, stories of "just a minute" moments from people like you and me, from former sponsored children, and from well-known names. Stories that enforce the idea that a child is like wet cement, it only takes a moment to make an imprint but once it hardens it takes a chisel to change it. This can be good or bad, used for good or used for harm. Every moment matters.

The only criticism I would have was that the book almost seemed to be too many stories. I would have preferred for the concepts to be more developed in between stories rather than brief transition paragraphs.

Luckily, I don't think I was the first person to have these feelings because the conclusion goes more in depth and asks you to not put the book down and be the same person you.  Instead, you're invited to notice those little moments, take the time to affirm and encourage a child, and to realize that it only takes a minute to make an impact that can last a lifetime.

Just a Minute changed the way I look at life, both my own history and the little moments in the people around me. Not only at the breakfast table but anywhere where I cross paths with children (and really anyone since we all need to be encouraged). It brought to mind this story Andy told me about how he compared badges with a little boy in the mall.

"I have become convinced that if God stands a child before you, for even just a minute, it is a divine appointment. You have the chance to launch a life, if you will. You never know when you are making a memory." - Wess Stafford (page 14)

Do you have a minute? Pop over to justaminute.com to read an excerpt from the book and share your own "just a minute" story.

<>< Katie

PS: My copy of Just a Minute was complements of Compassion. However, all opinions are entirely my own. If you'd like to borrow it, please let me know.

A Year in Review: Books Style

My goal for 2011 was to read 25 books. Well, I blew that out of the water and read 45 books. Since I figured you don't want to read 45 reviews, I'm posting the list of what I read, highlighting a few of my favorites, and the rest of the reviews can be found on my bookshelf (see the bottom of the blog). There are other books I started and didn't finish, but we'll save those for reviews if/when I finish them.

As always, I love to hear your suggestions.

Happy reading!

<>< Katie

1. The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino

2. Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman with Ellen Vaughn

3. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

4. Lifestories by Mark Hall with Tim Luke

5. Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Ghately
This was good. It broke my heart, too.

6. Forgotten God by Francis Chan
Love it!

7. Navigating Rough Waters by Marcia Meier

8. Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

9. A Loss for Words by Lou Ann Walker

10. Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins
I loved it! Maybe it was my pre-existing interest in Lyme disease or how well the book is written, but I devoured it in three days! My only real criticism would be that during the most intense moments of the story, it seemed Jannie's Lyme symptoms were ignored or forgotten. The plot line is a lot of building and then a quick ending but it wasn't necessarily bad.

11. Friendship for Grown Ups by Lisa Whelchel

12. Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels

13. Saints at the River by Ron Rash

14. Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows

15. Crazy Love by Francis Chan

16. The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

17. Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
Wow! An easy read that's worth your time. (My dad even read it).

18. The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers

19. Radical by David Platt
If you only read one book from the list, make it this one.

20. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

21. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

22. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

23. Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

24. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
Read it. Really.

25. Closer than your Skin by Susan Hill

26. Eli the Good by Silas House

27. SHE by Rebecca St. James, Lynda Hunter Bjorklund

28. Letters from War by Mark Schultz with Travis Thrasher

29. Southern Fried Sushi by Jennifer Rogers Spinola
I loved this book! It had excellent hooks (especially towards the beginning) but it was predictable at times. The book is full of beautiful langauge and analogies, cultural aspects, and questions left unanswered for Sweet Potato Pie (book two of three to be released in the spring). Definitely a must read. I can't for the next book in the series, Like Sweet Potato Pie, to be released in March

30. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

31. God's Story; Your Story by Max Lucado

32. What Women Fear by Angie Smith
I read this book with a highlighter in my hand. I love the way Angie vulnerably shares her own heart and uses scripture to battle fear. It's definitely worth reading (more than once).

33. One Perfect Day by Lauraine Shelling

34. Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

35. Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes

36. Providence by Chris Coppernoll

37. Composing Amelia by Alison Strobel

38. Networking is a Contact Sport by Joe Sweeny

39. {W}hole by Lisa Whittle
I was almost in tears in the very beginning of the book. Lisa shows you her broken heart, her holes and invites you to journey with her to wholeness. I found myself in this book.

40. The Write Practice: 14 Prompts by Joe Bunting (eBook)

41. The Writer's Manifesto by Jeff Goins (eBook)

42. The Wedding Invitation by Alice J. Wisler

43. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

44. Words by Ginny Yttrup
A good book is any book that gets be writing. So far, this one has. (Not quite finished yet).

45. The Well by Mark Hall with Tim Luke
(ok, I really got this for Christmas but hope to finish it before Jan. 1).

Six Month Update: Books Style

In January I set the goal to read 25 books this year.  So far, I am ahead of where I was last year at this time. 

1. The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
This easy-read is a fictional story with religious undertones.  It's a good book but not to be considered the answer to all things.  (Of course, I like Jesus and He's only a minor character here).

2. Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman with Ellen Vaughn
Some people write because they like to write.  Some people write because they have a story to tell.  Mary Beth is the second.  Choosing to See does have a mixed feeling of "I'm famous, so I wrote a book" and "I'm doing this because my counselor told me to."  But she's very vulnerable with her audience and honest about her battles with depression and the horrors of losing a child.  As a Steven Curtis Chapman fan, reading some of these stories was almost like hearing a retelling of my own family's stories in that parts were familiar and just as funny or sad as I remember them.

3. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
This novel is really hard to write about in one paragraph since I used some of its themes to write a twenty-five page thesis.  Alavrez does a great job of opening up to the readers the world as seen by Dominican emigrants and their challenges in living in the United States, both cultural and familial.  It's written reverse-chronologically which is interesting but not necessarily a bad thing.  Definitely worth exploring.

4. Lifestories by Mark Hall with Tim Luke
Mark Hall is a youth pastor first and the lead singer of Casting Crowns second.  His book, like all of their CDs, reflects this.  It tells the stories behind the songs on the Casting Crowns and Lifesong CDs, but it's not a "sit back and have a story told to you" book.  It's a "sit, read, reflect, and grow spiritually" book.  The only thing I would have done different would have been to include the song lyrics with each corresponding chapter.  I think you're supposed to read the chapter then watch the music video.  I know better than to put down a book to turn on the computer...

5. Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
This novel tells the story of an ER nurse who moves to Afghanistan through Aide du Monde (ADM).  It talks about her transition to working in an Afghanistan hospital, her struggle to get to know the culture, and her effort to build relationships with the people there.  Even though parts of it broke my heart, I definitely enjoyed this book!

6. Forgotten God by Francis Chan
This is a book I'm going to have to read again I enjoyed it that much.  Chan takes a look at the Holy Spirit, or the aspect of God he declares "forgotten."  Really, how often do you give credit to the Spirit?  Check it out!  Definitely a must read!

7. Navigating the Rough Waters of Today's Publishing World by Marcia Meier
If you're clueless about today's publishing world, this book is a good resource.  If you have some background knowledge in writing and publishing, this book doesn't have a lot of new information.  However, it was interesting to get Meier's opinion on the situation.

8. Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
This novel is the story of a psychiatrist who is being blamed for a teenager's shooting spree and suicide.  She essentially loses her practice the same time a mysterious lost child appears in her hometown where her sister is the police chief.  It's a story of questioning one's self-esteem, perseverance, and courage.  I found myself in this book in several different situations.  I'm not really sure what the title has to do with anything and the "strained family relationship" mentioned on the back cover isn't as strained as one would expect.  I enjoyed this book but I did find parts of it to be predictable. 

9. A Loss for Words by Lou Ann Walker
Lou Ann Walker is a CODA (a Child of Deaf Adults), so I picked up this autobiography to see a slightly different perspective on Deafness.  Parts of the story broke my heart in how her parents (and her entire family) were treated. Parts of it I enjoyed and parts I thought droned on too long.  Walker's a journalist so sometime she just wrote what happened and didn't drawn any conclusions which frustrates me as a writer.

10. Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins
I won this book from a blog giveaway, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I loved it!  Maybe it was my pre-existing interest in Lyme disease or how well the book is written, but I devoured it in three days!  It has a lot of good information about Lyme and isn't too technical while also telling a compelling story.  My only real criticism would be that during the most intense moments of the story, it seemed Jannie's Lyme symptoms were ignored or forgotten.  The plot line is a lot of building and then a quick ending but it wasn't necessarily bad.  Of the novels on this list, I think this one was my favorite.

11. Friendships for Grown-Ups by Lisa Whelchel
This book holds hints of, "I'm famous, so I wrote a book about my life" but it also have some very helpful information regarding friendship in adulthood.  One thing that I found especially useful is the resources at the end containing practical tips about being intentional with friendships and building relationships.  Sometimes Whelchel went into what I would consider to be superfluous details with each relationship scenario that I felt could have been summed up with an, "Every relationship is different."  But I know some people want that kind of detail and information regarding the differences in relationships.

Current Moving Bookmarks:
Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels
Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado
Saints at the River by Ron Rash

Reading Wish List:
Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado
Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
Eli the Good by Silas House
I own books 2-10, so if you want to borrow them, please let me know.

My parents bought a Kindle they're going to let me take to China, so I need to make a list of what I want to read on the plane.

What have you been reading lately?  What should I check out?

<>< Katie

A Year in Review: Books Style

I started 2009 with a goal of reading 13 books, one a month and one more.  Since books for class don't count and I took three literature classes in 2009, that was a feasible goal.  I read 14.  So my goal this year was 17, and I hit 22.  I think that means in 2011 I have to read 25...

1. Five Love Languages: Singles Edition by Gary Chapman

2. The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

3. June Bug by Chris Farby

My thoughts on books 4-9 and some more can be found here

4. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
A must-read if you like historical fiction and/or Latina America.

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Historical fiction set in the Jackson, Mississippi, during the Civil Rights Era

6. The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright
Laura, my dyslexic sister, devoured this book.

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Houssini
Christina, my other dyslexic sister, is eager to read this book.  It's a must read if you like historical fiction and Afghanistan.

8. Invisible I by Stella Lennon
Part of The Amanda Project

9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My boss asked me to read this book.  I never would have done it on my own, but I enjoyed it!

10. Unspoken Lies by Darrien Lee
I went to Barnes & Noble looking for a short book and bought this one just because it fit that description.  Honestly, the only reason I kept reading this book was because I liked the exposition.  I was not impressed with the dialogue, storyline or ending.  The whole story revolved around the characters having affairs and getting away with it, and the ending seemed like a cop out.  I don't recommend it, sorry.

11. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
I read this book as a writer and it was good.  I would love to go back and read it again, this time just as a person.  My roommates and I have embraced his idea of filling life with memorable moments.  Our first Memorable Moment was putting birthday candles in Amy and Melia's chicken breast instead of in their cake.  I do recommend this book but take your time reading it.  Let everything sink in before you move on to the next chapter.

12. Fearless by Max Lucado
I didn't realize how much control fear has in my life until I read his book on how to get rid of it.  I love all Max Lucado books, but this is definitely one of my favorites.  If you're going to try Max for just one book, pick this one.

13. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
I was promised I would love this book.  And I did.  It did take me awhile to get into it, though, because I was coming off a long stretch of historical fiction books.  All of my other thoughts about it are in a Writer's Notebook at school, sorry.

14. A Novel Idea
A writing book I highly recommend if you're interested in writing Christian fiction.  I took notes.

15. "Unveiled," "Unashamed," and "Unshaken" part of A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers
They are three fictional short stories looked at the lives of nonfictional Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth.  Francine Rivers brings Bible characters to life in a way I've never experienced before.  I had a hard time getting into these stories at first, but I was disappointed I couldn't finish the book (I borrowed it and had to return it).  Although, if you're going to read Francine Rivers you have to read Redeeming Love.

16, 17. Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Books two and three in The Hunger Games series.  When I read the first book, I criticized Collins for dragging the story out through three books rather than just ending it.  Maybe it's just my dislike for sequels.  I still understand why I argued that, but I'm glad she didn't ask my opinion before writing books two and three.  The books are considered young adult fiction, but I've heard of a lot of adults thoroughly enjoying them.  Elizabeth and Andy kept pestering me to read and finish them so we could all talk about them.  Catching Fire I read in one weekend, but Mockingjay I spread out over months just because it was that time in the semester.  They're not hard reads, and Mrs. Mary says her seventh graders are devouring them.  Maybe a good book for a middle schooler to read with a parent.

18. Cast of Characters by Max Lucado
This is kind of like Lineage of Grace in that it takes Bible characters and focuses in on their lives.  The way Max (can you call the author by his first name when you've read 15 of his books?) brings the characters to life forced me to think about them in ways that had never crossed my mind before.  It's also a devotional so you can see trends between their lives then and ours today.  Are they really that much different?

19. One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash
I love Ron Rash.  I'm a little biased because I've met him twice but that's besides the point.  I prefer Serena, but I enjoyed One Foot in Eden, too.  It doesn't have the "typical Rash body count" (Rash); only a handful of (creative) deaths.  Every section is written from a different character's POV and in their voice.  I liked the overlap, hearing the same story told in two different points of view.  If I wrote it, I would have ended it one section sooner.  Actually, if I get to meet Rash again, I want to ask why he did it the way he did.

20. Grace: For Those Who Think They Don't Measure Up by Bob Lenz
Another author I've heard speak many times.  Bob writes just like he talks which was a bit of a deterrent for me since I am a writer.  The tangents he takes in real life work well.  The same principle doesn't work as well in writing.  I started reading this book years ago and just now finally finished it because I'm not his target audience.  It is a great book for youth struggling with the ideas of grace and faith.  Not so great for a 20-something confident in her faith.

21. Flight
Not a published book yet but when it does become published you can say I told you about it.  One of my friends send me the novel of another friend and asked for my feedback.  I enjoyed it, I learned from it, and I gave constructive criticism.  I look forward to seeing it on a shelf in Barnes & Noble one day.

22. The Bible
For the second year in a row I did a "Read the Bible in a year" thing.  If you've never read the Bible in a year (or ever), I recommend using this one.  It's challenging but doable.  For me, I wasn't very diligent about getting into the Word but this helped a lot.  I did spend a lot of time behind but (unless something changes in the next two days) I'm finishing on time.  I don't know if I'm going to do it again in 2011 just because after two years it's kind of assignment-like rather than a desire to seek Him.  We'll see if I can dig in without the accountability...

What have you all been reading lately?

I'm ringing in 2011 with a moving bookmark in A Love With Giving (Max Lucado) and How the Garcia Girls Lost the Accents (Julia Alvarez).  What else should I add to my list?

<>< Katie

Reading My Summer Away

Of course, now it looks like I'm just copying Keith.  I'm not.  It's time to give an update on what I've been reading lately.

Native Son by Richard Wright
My adivsor has this habit where almost every day in class he says, "Every English major should read this book" and then lists a book or two (or ten or twelve).  Well, Native Son is a book I believe all people must read.  The historical fiction book takes a look at the enslavement of Bigger Thomas in Chicago in the early to mid-1990s.  It looks at the social constraints, personal choices, and repercussions Bigger faces being a black man in a white-dominated society.  Definitely a must read but not for young audiences.

Serena by Ron Rash
This is a dark book with bizarre injuries and a lot of murders.  I don't normally like those kinds of books, but I liked this one.  I will admit I am a little biased, but this fictional novel about forestry in NC/TN in the 1920s and 1930s is just starting to become popular and I want to be the first to tell you about it.  Serena is a malicious woman who has literally burned her past and looks forward in life, aiming for complete domination of the lumber industry, worldwide. She's will to do anything she can to get there. I'd venture to say she and her counter-part, Galloway, are sub-human.  She and her husband Pemberton eventually become the sole owners of Boston Lumber Company.  The darkness and pacing Rash has written in this novel will keep you reading all the way through the end and vital coda.  Read it!

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Hosseini exposes readers to a world many of us know little about: Afghanistan from the 1970s to the present.  He follows Mariam and Laila through a variety of different situations, most of them unpleasant, as the government changed incessantly.  I got lost in this book, the womens' struggles, and the culture differences.  Due to the horrific experiences the characters had, I cannot call this a "great book" but it is definitely worth your time.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Apparently I was on a historical fiction kick.  This book looks at race relations in Mississippi in the early 1900s.  It raises a lot of questions.  Can a white woman accurately represent/ write from the point of view of two black women (and a white woman)?  I would be willing to say yes.  Is Miss Skeeter just another white woman trying to make a buck off of a blacks?  I would say no.  Read the book, look at the culture, and see how (if) things have changed.

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Another historical fiction book that takes a look at life in the Dominican Republic in the 1950s and 1960s, under the reign of Trujillo. The Dominican author wrote the novel in English (with periodic Spanish words thrown in) to enlighten the English speaking world to the horrors Dominicans faced under Trujillo and to glorify some of their national heroines, the Butterflies. These three sisters fought against Trujillo and the novel talks about their plight, fight, jail time, and death. Switching points of view between the three Butterflies and the fourth sister, the novel provides several different glimspes and thus opinions on these challenging times. Another book not for young audiences but definitely worth your time.

The Shack by William Paul Young
Another book I'm a little biased about.  It was written just for Young's kids in order to attempt to explain how his brain works.  No one would publish it, so his friends started a garage publishing business and boom.  I think it shows God in a way He (She?) has never been shown before.  It may not be the answer to everything, but a lot of the things Young writes are Biblically accurate.  Be prepared to cry, laugh, think, and ponder.  Also be prepared to read it all the way to the end.

Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado with Max Lucado
I stopped reading this book halfway through.  Not because it was bad or anything but because I didn't fit the target audience, but my sister did.  This book is aimed at preteen and teenage girls in order to help them realize that they are beautiful, inside and out.  Since I didn't read it all the way through, I don't know if it was clean or not, but I'd say it's worth the of teenage girls (and maybe their parents).

Invisible I by Stella Lennon
Part of The Amanda Project, another young adult literature book.  This one is radically changing the way people look at literature.  Each book in the series is written by a different author and told from a different character's perspective.  Readers also get the opportunity to write their own endings to the story through the interactive website.  Great for younger readers and (as far as I can remember) clean.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I was worried about this book simply because I'd read a review and expected it to be graphic.  Then I remembered I watch House and read Harry Potter, I could probably handle it.  It wasn't as graphic as it could have been, which I respect Collins for since it's a young adult book and therefore her target audience doesn't need to be exposed to nastiness.  However, I don't like the way Collins ended it, but the book is part of a series.  Personally, I would have made it a single book and been done with it.  I did find parts predictable, but there were unanticpated twists, too.  If you like young adult fiction (or are a young adult), I'd read it.  There is some kissing and a romantic relationship, but it's mostly clean.

The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright
This tells a very sweet, romantic story about a husband's love for his wife.  It also promotes the importance of forgiveness and family.  As a writer, I'm not really sure who the protagonist of this novel is, but I did enjoy the third person omniscent POV.  Laura absolutely LOVED this book.  It's an easy read, too.

What have you all been reading lately?  My bookshelf is getting empty and I see a trip to Barnes & Noble in the near future.  Anything I must read?

Back to the books!
<>< Katie

Book Review: June Bug

We've got a lot of bizarre rules in my house: no snacks after 4pm, no showers after 9pm, no talking about cars...  My least favorite is: no books on vacation.  Lucky for me, this rule is not strictly enforced.  This is especially lucky since the only fun reading I do during the school year is blogs.  Spring break seems to me to be the perfect time to catch up on all of the books I've purchased lately and haven't had the opportunity to open.

Although it was my most recent purchase, when I scanned my bookshelf prior to leaving on spring break, June Bug by Chris Fabry caught my eye.

The basic storyline is about a nine year old girl who lives in an RV traveling around the country with her "father".  They live out of Wal-mart parking lots which becomes a problem when their RV breaks down leaving them stranded in Colorado facing the possibility of having their "home" towed and empounded.  The whole book kind of left me with an "everything's going to turn out alright" feeling while I was reading, so I wasn't shocked when the protagonist and her father were saved from the jaws of a bad situation.

Aside from not having a mother, a steady income, and never knowing where she's going to wake up, June Bug's biggest problem is the fact that she spotted herself on the missing persons list in the Wal-mart vestibule. This leads to incessant questioning about her history.  Questions her father cannot (or will not) answer.  The story of her disappearance seven years earlier also re-surfaces and once again becomes national news. 

Farby shows the emotions and feelings of everyone involved in the situation especially the devistated family, the police officer leading the investigation, and June Bug.  One thing I found interesting in that the book is written from a third person perspective except for when June Bug is present.  If she's present, it's first person from her perspective.  This seems like a weird perspective-jump that would be criticized in my creative writing class.  I also wish he had perhaps used a different font or told you when she was telling the story of that chapter because it could be confusing.

I did buy this book at a Christian bookstore, but unlike most Christian novels God is not forced into the book.  Sure, He makes appearances but a little bit of editing and He could have been easily removed to make the novel "suitable for secular publications."  This thought, of course, left me pensive about God's placement in novels.  As a Christian and a writer, I like to think I would never write Him out just to please a publisher.  However, it makes me wonder if He has to be a character in everything I write.  These thoughts could lead to a whole different blog, but I'd love to hear your opinions.

This is another book that doesn't land on my "everyone must read" list, but it was not a waste of my time either.  Over all, I'd give it a four out of five.

<>< Katie

Book Review: Orchid of the Bayou

While my friends were enjoying the snow, I was trying to devour Orchid of the Bayou: A Deaf Woman Faces Blindness by Cathryn Carroll and Catherine Hoffpauir Fischer. I'd heard good things about this book and was really excited to be able to read it for my ASL class.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Since the subtitle of the novel is "A deaf woman faces blindness" I thought it would be about, well, a deaf woman going blind. True, the first person protagonist has Usher Syndrome, the leading cause of deaf-blindness, but beyond some poorly-used foreshadowing, she doesn't address her visual problems until page 216 out of 253!

She spent two chapters, a total of about fifteen pages, talking about her narrowing field of vision. The entire rest of the book left me made me glad I'm a hockey fan because I'm good at screaming, "WHO CARES?!" Eventually, I stopped screaming it in my head and began to write it in the margins. At one point I even drew a box around the words "that's what she said" because reading those words in print was more exciting than whatever the "she" in the novel had said.

The book is not poorly written but the co-authors aren't wordsmiths either. Grammatical errors are few but hilarious nevertheless because they are mistakes those of us who can hear the English language can hear but the deaf cannot. Although, the book does include a plethora of useless fact detailing the lives of every single person the Kitty, the protagonist, encountered.

More than a deaf woman facing blindness like the title suggests, this novel tells the lifestory of your typical deaf woman. Sorry to take the Deaf way and be blunt. Diagnosed as mentally retarded, deaf, and dumb, Kitty Hoffpauir spent her childhood struggling to communicate with her family, learning to balance her residential school life with her home problems, and proving that "deaf" does not mean "dumb." Eventually she makes her way to the top of her class and is eligible to attend Gallaudet University (think Mecca for the deaf). Washington, DC creates a culture shock for this Acadian Southern deaf girl. Eventually she learns to embrace the multiculturalism that exists in her life and be content with who she is.

It is finally at this point in the book that she addresses her sight problems. She says, "I didn't mind being deaf. Although deafness took away hearing, it gave me community--and that community was based on sight" (232). A book detailing these challenges would have been more entertaining and appropriate with the title. Oh, well.

It was interesting to read her take on being deaf in a hearing family, being deaf and raising hearing children, watching deaf interact with each other, and the communication challenges she faced throughout life. I loved noticing how some of her family members were able to see beyond her deafness and understood her need for alternative communication while others preferred to force her to try and read lips or took to kicking her to obtain her attention.

Over all, I give this book a 2 out of 5. It could have been a 3.5 without the misleading subtitle. I think it's a good read for anyone who wants to know more about Deaf culture but don't expect a lot about deaf-blind or Usher Syndrome.

<>< Katie

Book Review: The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

I wasn't going to post another blog today, but then I realized I'm only a week in to 2010 and I've finished reading two books. True, the first one was mostly completed before 2010 starts, but it still counts. At the rate I'm going, this'll be a good year! (Yeah, right, I'll get back to school and not read for fun again for three months).

Oh, and warning: this book review includes a bit of a spoiler. Sorry. One thing wasn't right at the end and it bothered me. It would make for a great discussion in an English class, actually.

After finishing The Condition by Jennifer Haigh I am left with mixed emotions. The novel isn't so much about Gwen McKotch and her Turner's Syndrome but rather about the entire McKotch family and their peculiar lives. Apparently Haigh is known for her family stories and that's exactly what this is: another family story. The 390-page novel details the lives of five separate adults bound together by blood, not love. It provides the back story for every single detail rather than employing a need-to-know mindset. Honestly, who cares about some of these obscure characters the family encountered thirty years ago? On the contrary, those stories that would be helpful (for example, more about Paulette's relationship with her late boyfriend Donald who left her a significant sum of money) were vague. In Haigh's defense, these characters are well-developed and sometimes creative yet also sometimes stereotypical.

In the end, she creates a picturesque finish, almost too good to be true. I kind of wanted to say, "And they all lived happily ever after." Except I was too busy wondering about those things not tied neatly into a bow. (Don't say I didn't warn you; skip to the next paragraph if you plan to read this book, sorry). For example, is Ian's (or Scotty's) ADHD ever officially diagnosed and treated? Where does Ian go to school? Does Scott find a new job (carpentry?)? Why couldn't Gwen drive a midsized car at Christmastime but had no problem getting behind the wheel of Rico's truck? How did Billy and Sri get back together? Why don't Gwen, Rico, and the boys travel to the states to visit her family? If the family is all together reunited picture-perfectly why is Gwen in the Caribbean? Does this mean she's been ousted from the family? I don't know but that's how I was left feeling.

I do know that this is the kind of novel I want to write, yet this is the kind of novel I don't want to write. Can I achieve both? I love the character development but there is a fine line between enough and too much. A line I'm trying to find. A line Haigh has crossed. As a writer, the book was inspiring and it taught me a lot. As a reader, it seemed to drag at times; I often wondered why I was reading this and who cares.

I'll say a 7 out of 10. Not a must read but still enjoyable.

<>< Katie
"If I stopped to think about how my editor (or a reviewer or my mother) would react to a particular scene, I wouldn't be able to write at all." - Jennifer Haigh

Book Review: Love Languages

I asked for the Five Love Languages for Christmas. Grandma thought it sounded dirty but didn't consult my mother before buying it. She figured the singles edition would be cleaner, so she made the executive decision that I needed The Five Love Languages: Singles Edition.

Ouch!

Upon further investigation, I realize I do fit the target audience.
Adult? Check
Single? Check
I could not help but laugh to myself because receiving the singles edition of a book is in stark contrast to the Christmas with the other side of the family the night before ("Katie, any cute guys at your school?"). The irony is that the stalking-family doesn't invite boyfriends/girlfriends to Christmas and the book-gifting side included four boyfriends in our midst. Mixed messages here, folks.

I put the "You're going to be single for the rest of your life" condemnation aside and read the book. Enjoyed it, too.

Gary Chapman analyzes five ways people feel loved:
1. Quality time
2. Gifts
3. Acts of service
4. Words of encouragement, affirmation
5. Physical touch
He argues every person enjoys all five but has one specific love language they need in order to truly feel loved. I struggled to figure out my own primary love languages but had no trouble discovering the love languages of those around me. It was actually really fun to think about the important people in my life and how I can best express my love and appreciation to them.

Even though I am not currently in a romantic relationship, I feel this book was worth my time. I'd recommend reading it (singles edition or normal edition) to anyone who interacts with people on a regular basis. Chapman is not humble when discussing how the concept of the five love languages has saved countless marriages. I don't know if this is true or not but I can see how it could be helpful between couples, struggling or not. I would love to someday read it again with my fiancé prior to our marriage because I think it's an area where we should be on the same page.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the singles edition isn't actually cleaner but neither book is dirty. I've read things in class that are dirtier than this (BEFORE I took an entire semester of Beat Lit).

One book down for 2010, meaning 14 to go!
<>< Katie

A Year in Review: Book Sytle

Another year has come to a close and I feel some sort of end of the year reflection is necessary. I almost feel like my year can be categorized by what state/country I was in at the time. Between my family of five we visited 6 countries and almost 15 different states. Wow! However to blog about our 2009 adventures seems a bit braggadocios despite most of our trips being academic.

My goal for 2009 was to read 13 books--one for each month and one more. It seems like a small number, but when your schedule already includes several literature classes it's hard to read for fun, too. The rule was if I was required to read a specific book it did not count but if I could read a book from a list or a book in a specific genre it did count.

Here are my books from the year and my thoughts on them:
1. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
I opened it expecting a novel, and that's not what I got. However, it was a nice read while on a cruise. It definitely challenged me and I need to read it again.

2. She Said Yes by Misty Bernall
A simple novel written focused on Cassie Bernall, one of the students who died in the Columbine tragedy. Unlike most biographies of the dead (especially those written by parents), this one does not paint Cassie to be unrealistically perfect. Her mother depicts the mistakes they made as a family and mistakes Cassie made herself. Definitely a touching novel.

3. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch taught American how to die. The end.

4. Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer
An inside look into Big Idea, the man and the company behind VeggieTales. It also shows flaws and shortcomings in addition to successes. Highly technical at times but very interesting. Did you know the original lyrics to "Where is my Hairbrush" was "Where is my razor" but they figured parents would not want their kids running around the house frantically searching for razors?

5. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Dan Brown is a fantastic story-teller, that is for sure. I read the book after seeing the movie, but, as always, the book is better. I also read this book in English while living in a Spanish-speaking country, so any story I could understand without trying was very welcome. Read it as fiction and it's fascinating.

6. Every Young Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge
Please don't let your daughters read this book. Highly graphic, incredibly biased, and very condemning, yet it was interesting.

7. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Yes, this novel made me cry. A well-written story of a girl with leukemia and her genetically designed sister conceived to be her donor. As a writer I am prone to guess the end of novels before I get there and this one I did not successfully guess. Definitely read but have tissues handy.

8. Faking Grace by Tamara Leigh
This one I did guess the end. A highly predictable Christian novel but still enjoyable.

9. Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage
Don't waste your time. The dirt and grime covers up the story-line.

10. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Wow! A retelling of the Biblical story of Hosea and grabs the hearts of female readers. Yes, I fell in love with a fictional character.

11. Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Interesting blend of Catholicism and Buddhism. This book challenged me a Christian, but I'm not a big fan of Kerouac because I don't think his novels have a plot and that annoys me.

12. Mistaken Identity by Newall, Colleen, and Whitney Cerak, and Don and Sue Van Ryn
Another heart-wrenching true story. Several college students are in a bad accident killing many of them. One survivor is slowly recovering and it is months before they realize she's being treated under a false name. A family who was grieving their daughter's death receives a midnight phone call announcing she is still alive while a family who has been sitting at their daughter's bedside for months watching her condition improve realize their daughter is dead and this is someone else's daughter. Oops and wow!

13. A Thousand Tomorrows by Karen Kinsbury
Check out the book review I wrote on this book for all of my thoughts. It's a story about how a girl with Cystic Fibrosis and a cowboy who struggles with abandonment put aside themselves and learn to love.

14. The Bible
For the first time in my life I read the entire Bible, and I did it in a year. If you don't have a copy, please go pick one up!

Happy reading!
<>< Katie
PS. Except for Angels and Demons, I own all of these books, so if you want to borrow one let me know.

Redeeming Love

I just finished Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and I agree with the general population that everyone should read this book. The book takes the Biblical story of Hosea and presents it in California in the 1850s. Although there are times when the book drags on, it is definitely worth all 464 pages. Be prepared to fall in love, get angry, feel forgiven, and to truly understand God's love for you. Let Him use Sarah and Michael to speak to your heart, and then go read the original story, too.

<>< Katie

Book Review: The Last of the Mohicans

I think I will be labelled an even bigger nerd should I choose to post any more homework on facebook. However, I have chosen to take a stand and assist anyone contemplating the reading of The Last of the Mohicans by James Fennimore Cooper.

Prompt:
The Last of the Mohicans, Introduction by Cariss Karatin has just been released. As a reporter for USA Today, you need to do a book review to help the general American public decide whether or not this is a book worth buying.

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fennimore Cooper is an American classic that should be owned by every household. That is not to say everyone should actually read this novel. Rather it would be the perfect book to sit upon a bookshelf and collect dust along with the Tales of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain. After all, periodically brushing dust off of these fine novels is considerably better than attempting to actually read and understand them.

In all actuality, if the reader enjoys Indian tales and is willing to chop through an overgrown forest of verbosity in order to understand the story, then this is the perfect book. If the reader enjoys old literature with a classic love scene where the beautiful Cora must choose between death or the bed of her enemy, then this book is worth pursuing. However, if the reader prefers a straight-forward, easy to read story, then this is one of which to steer clear. Perhaps anything would be a better choice.

Should the reader be brave enough to open the cover of this book only to close it again once the book has been completed: more power to him. Actually, should the reader ever successfully finish the novel with the slightest understand of its plot, the reader has gained bragging rights over a majority of American society.

Over all, The Last of the Mohicans: The Cariss Karatin Edition earns two starts out of ten for its compelling and intriguing introduction, only to be followed by a let-down of a novel.

I either need to go to bed, find some hobbies, go hang out with friends, or (d) all of the above.
<>< Katie

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children." Ephesians 5:1