4th of 52 books in 52 weeks- Ms.Taken Identity review

Ms.Taken Identity by Dan Begley is chick lit with a twist, the main character is a man and the book is written by a man.

Mitch Samuel is a young English college professor, working on his PhD and also on a deep, literary masterpiece that he cannot get published.  As the book progresses, he slowly realizes how pretentious and uppity he is, as are all the girlfriends he selects.  A sequence of hilarious man-tantrums leaves him face-to-face with a famous author of chick-lit.  While formulating the perfect uppity put-down, he somehow ends up telling her about his cousin who is trying to write a book in the chick-lit genre and the author offers to help sell it.  Mitch, thinking that trash/formula chick lit would be a slam-dunk project- tries to write one, and cannot.  His research into the female mind leads him into a different world, new friends he would have passed by before, new love- and a web of lies he must untangle.

This was a very fun read, a lighthearted look at life through a guy's eyes.  Mitch was very endearing, but also very dense at times.  It was satisfying to follow his adventures as he 'grows up' in some things. 

A fun read, I recommend it. :)

*you can join up with the 52 books in 52 weeks here

3rd of 52- Dune Road book review

I have joined up with the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. Here is my 3rd book...

Dune Road by Jane Green

Fiction, a fun read, but a tad deeper than chick lit.

This is the story of Kit, newly divorced mom of two- living in a town full of wall-street families.  Their coastal town of Highfield is close enough for the high-powered wall-street bankers to commute...leaving their beautiful mansions and families behind during the day, visiting/playing on weekends.  Kit was one of these banker's wives, till she decided her marriage was dead, and that she did not want the lifestyle anymore.

The beginning of the book follows Kit as she enjoys her new-found freedom, her comfortable down-scaling, and finding a dream job as an assistant to a famous writer.  We meet her friends, and get drawn into a bit of mystery...something you don't usually find in chick lit.  Kit struggles with missing her husband, realizing he is her best friend and the person she turns to for safety.  She gets thrown several family/friend complications, it keeps you guessing and hoping for a happy ending for her. 

It was a fun read, and made me thankful for my husband- my best friend and the person I turn to.

52 books in 52 weeks: 2nd of 52

 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- review:

I heard an intriguing talk-up of this book on the radio one day, the story of the author-convinced by a loved one to finally submit his story and then dying before it was released, never knowing what a huge hit it became...hooked me.  Also that it has been translated many times, is a best-seller and has already been made into a movie overseas- with plans to make a movie here in America- and it has sequels....sounds like a must-read. 

It's got action/adventure/mystery/intrigue/sex...not my usual genre, but every once in a while I enjoy such a book. 

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist- headed to a short jail stay for libel, is hired to solve a 40 year missing person mystery by the head of one of Sweden's wealthiest family.  40 years ago, at a family gathering on an island, a young niece disappeared- 40 years later, no body, no answers.  Her aging uncle wants peace before he dies.

Lisbeth Salander- the girl with the dragon tatto- petite, much younger looking than she is- the perfect victim..as her concerned boss thinks of her- is hired to help Blomkvist.  Lisbeth works for a security firm, as the book unfolds, it is revealed that everyone, including her boss, severely underestimates her abilities.  Lisbeth as a character is a mystery- but she has this underdog quality and you find yourself liking her. 

This book had disturbing story lines of abuse, bondage, torture, murder.  I read around these as best I could-trying to not lose too much of the story...any lesser of a book, I would have walked away- but even though I was repelled by some of the story content, I really liked the two main characters- and the mystery was irresistible.  This book was definitely a page-turner, very hard to put down. 

As the book was ending, I struggled with myself, trying to decide if I would continue with the series.  I truly liked the heroine, Lisbeth, and wanted to see what happens to her in other books..but I was wary of more disturbing content.  I was hopeful that the content was story-driven, and that perhaps the other books would take a different turn.  However, the end of the book provided a teaser excerpt from the next book, and it was, disappointingly, more bondage/abuse.  Decision made, I will not be reading any more of the series.

This book was very well written, likable characters, despicable villains..but pretty disturbing. 

52 books in 52 weeks: 1st of 52

I am joining up with the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  If you are interested, you can go to the
52 Books in 52 Weeks blog and link up.  You can join up at anytime.  I love to read, I usually have more than one book going at a time...but, there are times I read in spurts.  The challenge for me will be to finish a book every week and to then take the time to blog about it.

Here is my first book of the year:

Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing our children from birth to seven
by Barbara Patterson and Pamela Bradley.

This book was recommended on several Waldorf homeschool blogs, I had looked at it a year or two ago, and did not order it because my kids are on the older end of things, my baby is 9. sob, sigh.
I tend to like a lot of bang for my book buck....

I ordered it this time, and found it pretty informative.  It explains a lot about Waldorf schooling, something of which I knew a little, but this book connected some dots for me. I was interested mostly in learning how to create gentle, rhythmic order for my kids day- this book was helpful with that. 

The chapter titled "Creative Discipline" was the most informative for me, the sub-chapters included;
*Clear Messages and Limited Choices, *Rhythm, *Imitation and Self-Discipline, *guidance.  I was pleasantly surprised to agree with and have used some of the disciplining philosophy in our own parenting.  We've always been kind of old-fashioned/no-nonsense as far as parenting- I have read and explored many of the more popular child-rearing books out there...and frankly, I don't gel so well with the ideas of reasoning with your toddler, etc....I was pleasantly surprised to read this Waldorf teacher's views on limited choices, something we practiced with our very young children.

All in all, I did enjoy this book and found much to ponder on.  I think anyone desiring a more gentle/creative atmosphere in their home would benefit from this book, as also would parents wanting to know more about Waldorf education and how it all works.