2017 Challenge - Book #48 - Columbine

Today's review is for the book Columbine

This was under the cateogry:  A book someone says "Changed Their Life"

This is the story written from the point of view of the author - who was a journalist on the scene the day the shooters attacked Columbine high school.  He spent 10 years going through 1000's of pages of notes, interviews, videos, and talking with the families and victims.  He spoke to the families of the killers.  He wanted to bring out the truth and debunk some of the mysteries behind "why" the boys killed their classmates, and what happened to the victims who survived.

This was a great story.  For me - I remember the shooting - it was the worse school shooting in history at the time.  Now, 18 years later, you mention Columbine and everyone knows what you mean.  There were things that I believe about the stories the media told that were not true.  It was well worth the read.  I learned a lot about the killers and their motives and it opened my eyes to how easily warning signs can be missed or overlooked when they are spread out to lots of people.  It made me angry that a family that reported the criminal behaviors of one of the killers no less than 14 times to the police and they were almost always ignored.  You wonder if the whole tragedy could have been avoided if the police would have followed up and put the killers in juvenile hall.

Check out the book. I guarantee you will learn things that you thought you knew about the situation were not what they seemed.

Stars: 4 1/2

2017 Challenge - Book #47 - Orphan Train

Today's Review is for

Orphan Train

This is under the category: A book recommended by your oldest family member

This is the story of two people - Molly (a foster care kid that has been troubled her whole life) and Vivian (a kindly old woman who is looking for some help around the house).  Molly gets caught stealing a book from the library and is sentenced to community service hours.  Her boyfriend gets her a job helping Vivian clean out her attic.  During the clean out, Vivian begins to tell Molly her story of being an orphan on the orphan train in the 1930s.  Her entire family was killed in a fire and she was sent on a train to the midwest to be adopted by a family.  What ended up happening is she basically became a slave for families who were looking for help.  She meets a young boy her age on the train and helps care for a small baby.

Her life for a few years is very hard.  She finally is adopted by a nice family and marries, has a baby, and has a wonderful life.  But she never forgets what happened to her.  Molly and Vivian share a common background, and Molly soon finds a deep friendship with Vivian that she has never had with anyone else.

This was a fantastic book.  I love true stories, and this is a historical fiction story related to the actual orphan trains of the 20s and 30s.  Most of those kids who were not babies were taken into families to be laborers, maids, or store workers.  They were not adopted to be loved and cared for and they had hard lives.  Many ran away or were killed or abused.

I highly recommend this book.  Check it out.

Stars: 5

2017 Book Challenge - Book #46 - A Clash of Kings

Holy Moly it has been a long time since I have posted.  We spent the entire month of July getting our house ready to rent and then we moved to Switzerland.

But now I am back on track.  So today's book I am reviewing is

A  Clash of Kings

This was under the category:  A book over 500 pages

This is book two in the Game of Thrones series.  At this point, King Joffrey is the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.  Because he is still a boy, his mother remains Queen Regent.  Joffrey remains cruel and is holding Sansa hostage at King's Landing.  Now that Sansa's traitor father is dead, Joffrey and his mother refuse to let her go home.  Sansa's sister, Arya is posing as an orphan boy and trying to get back to Winterfell.  Sansa's brother, Robb - King of the North - is battling to rein the seven kingdoms.  Danerys is trying to get to Kings Landing so she can become the rightful Queen of the seven kingdoms.

This book was as good as the first.  RR. Martin is a very talented writer.  There are 1000 characters, and you sometimes get a little lost on who belongs to you, but it doesn't distract from the story.  Even though he writes about a fictional world, he doesn't make up words just to make them up.  He makes those 1000 pages fly by.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next.  If you haven't tried this series yet, I highly recommend it.

Stars: 5

2017 Challenge - Book #45 - The Fifth Letter

Today's review is for

The Fifth Letter

This was under the category:  A Book Published in 2017

This is the story of 4 best friends who have been together since high school.  Every year they get together for a long weekend - just the 4 of them - to enjoy time away from life, kids, husbands....and to just rekindle their friendship.  At the beach house, Joni decides it would be fun if each woman writes a letter - anonymously - about a secret that none of them know.  They would read one letter a night at dinner.  There wouldn't be any judgement, just advice from friends.

As each letter is read, the women try their best not to judge and to just give advice and support.  Joni, though, when cleaning out the fireplace discovers the left over pieces of a letter.  She does some tracing on the house computer and finds that someone wrote a fifth letter and then destroyed it.  This letter is filled with hate for someone in the group and it worries Joni.

When the girls get back home, Joni tries to discover who wrote the letter.  It wasn't until one of the girls in the group hosts a party that the truth comes out and Joni knows their friendships will never be the same.

This is a great summer read.  It was easy to read and moved a long nicely.  I like how this author wrapped up the characters at the end - showed them a few years in the future since their friendships changed.  I always want to know what characters might be doing a few years in the future when the story "officially" ends, so this was great.

Add this to your list this summer - you won't be disappointed.

Stars:  4 1/2

2017 Challenge - Book #44 - At Home In Mitford

So....we are moving so I have had to slow my reading.  It is making me crazy that I can't take these lazy days of summer and just read and read.  Instead I need to pack and paint and do boring stuff.

I am sneaking in a few minutes to read, so today I am going to review

At Home In Mitford

This was under the category: A Book With A Map In The Front

This is the story of Father Tim who lives in the small town of Mitford.  He is the beloved pastor of a local church who cares about everyone in town.  He often is left feeling that he wants something more.  Soon a homeless dog becomes his closest companion, and a young 11 year old boy comes to live with him while his grandfather recovers from being sick.  He meets an attractive new neighbor that he quickly becomes smitten with.  All of this while trying to manage a thief who had been living in the bell tower of his church, and helping to build a nursing home for the town.  Father Tim soon lets his own health go and almost dies in the process.

This was a really cute book.  It was an easy read and a sweet story.  Every town needs a Father Tim - someone who they can count on to help them when they are in need and to tell their problems to.  Most of the characters were likable and the author did a good job fitting them all together.

Enjoy!

Stars: 4

2017 Challenge - Book #43 - Life of Pi

I forgot about one!  I read 8!

This book is :  Life of Pi

It was under the category:  A Book You Read ALoud to Someone Else

This is the story of a young boy from India who is moving with his family to Canada.  In Indai, his father owned a zoo, and they are transporting many of the animals that have been sold to Canada.  They are on a large ship sailing across the pacific when tragedy strikes and the ship sinks.  The lone survivor - Pi - is telling the story to an author who wants to write his story.  Pi tells the story of how he spent 277 days on the ocean with a 450 pound Bengal tiger before they hit land in Mexico and were saved.  He loses his whole family when that ship sinks, and now as an adult, he recollects his experience with a fantastic story of survival.

This is a great book.  I have seen the movie, but have never read it.  My eldest daughter - who is 14 - had to read this book for school, so we decided to do it together.  I enjoyed that as much as I did the book.

This book is well written.  It has funny parts, and the story is truly griping.  My daughter was sad when the story ended because it really is a fantastic tale.  A must read.

Stars: 5

2017 Challenge - Book #42 - Walden

Well - I only made 7 books this month.  Now that the weather has gotten nicer, I have a harder time reading.  My yard is huge and needs quite a bit of tending in the spring.  Once the kids are out of school, I hope to pick up again.

Today's review is for Walden

This was under the category:  A  Classic You Haven't Read Before

This book is Thoreau's reflections on the time he spent in a home he built on Walden Pond.  He lived in a cabin in the woods for 2 years, 2 months and 2 days.  He wanted to spend the time reflecting and learning to understand society.  He also wanted to see if he could mainly be self-sustaining on the land.  He was in the middle of Concord, Massachusetts, so not necessarily in the wilderness, but off the beaten path to the point where he was 2 miles from civilization.

This book was....interesting.  First of all, Thoreau is a rambler.  I would guess, though, that any of us keeping a journal of our day to day routine would be too.  I learned about every bird in the woods.  What temperature the pond was compared to other ponds near by.  When the pond froze for the winter, how he built his house, how he kept warm, and who he talked with while he lived in the woods.  The book could have been about half the size, but he liked to talk for paragraphs about each and every animal or situation to the point of my losing interest and wanting to skim.  I did finish it, but it was trying.  I do have to say, though, on the bits that I did enjoy, he was telling.  And interesting.  And sometimes even funny.  It had its moments.

I have never been very good with the classics.  I am starting to think it is a personal problem I have - I am just not in the mindset for this type of writing.  It isn't my cup of tea.  BUT - I will continue to struggle through them because I am interested in seeing what makes them classics.  Maybe one day, I will come by one that I truly love.

Still looking

Stars: 3