News

I've been busy with various projects lately and haven't updated - but I'm still plugging away at A New Earth. I must say, while I wasn't sure what to expect since this is the first book I've read in this genre, it takes me awhile to process what I read. I've been using my new favorite book accessory - Post It highlighter pens - so that has helped. Is anyone else reading this?! I need to talk about it before Oprah's live web event starts on March 3.

One of the projects I've been working on is my business journey (if you've never checked out my business blog, click here) because a business blog I regularly read featured my start-up story on their blog. How exciting, right? Click here to read it. :)

Oprah's book club pick

So I decided to give it a go. I'm reading A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle, and I joined Oprah's online class which begins on March 3. I am currently on page 49, and I have already highlighted so many points. It's amazing to me how much common sense is written here, just in a different light. Anyone who has read The Secret or other spiritual books can probably find the similiarities.

I have to finish this book before the class starts so I need to find more time to read! I'm also hoping to squeeze in Garden Spells before then too.

The Flawless Skin of Ugly People - Doug Crandell

I can't think a good summary for this book; it was a strange read, and I can't remember what possessed me to buy the book in the first place. While I ponder my review, here's what others are saying about it.

From Publishers Weekly "Hobbie, the narrator of this endearing debut novel, prefers the company of his beloved mutt, Terry, to the companionship of most humans. Hobbie, who has a blistering case of chronic acne, and Kari, his obese girlfriend of 20 years, continually aggravate their situations: Hobbie picks at and further inflames his bad skin while Kari eats in response to a shared tragedy from their youth. When the novel opens, Kari's ensconced at a weight-loss clinic hundreds of miles from their temporary north Georgia home, and Hobbie lives like a hermit until he's attacked by a bear. While recovering, he's sucked into the messy world of Kari's father, Roth, and slowly, clumsily becomes part of Roth's family once Kari goes missing from the clinic. Crandell has an exquisite eye for small details—Kari's letters home are written on lined paper, the same kind we wrote love notes on—that lend a tender feel to what could easily be overwrought. Though the novel turns on some unconvincing plot twists (particularly in the concluding section), the characters and situations are so simultaneously moving and unique that a bit of contrivance doesn't sink this tale of misfit love."

"Full of insight (and) emotionally satisfying. A sweet natured misfit...takes heroic steps to gain control of his life after his girlfriend takes up residence at a fancy fat-farm." -Kirkus Reviews

"A strange, tender novel about love and shame and the multitude of ways in which people come to care for one another." -Tom Perrotta (Little Children and Election)

Love, Rosie - Cecelia Ahern

I started this book on Saturday and finished it this morning - all 431 pages of it. This novel, which was previously published as Rosie Dunne, is such a great, fun, page-turning read. It's a different format than most books as well; it's written as a series of letters, e-mails, and instant messages and covers nearly 50 years of friendship. It is a quick read, but not necessarily a light read. I wanted to feel sorry for Rosie - a lot actually - but for all that continued to go wrong in her life I recognized my sarcasm in the character. I honestly laughed out loud several times while reading this! The one thing I didn't care for was the obviously similarity between mother and daughter, and anyone who has read this book can probablyl attest to that.

I loved P.S., I Love You, the author's first book, and this was a great second read by Ahern.

Crow Lake - Mary Lawson

I finished this book last night and can still remember it today, even after I started reading another book. The story is a sad one - four children struggle to grow up after their parents are killed in a car accident - but it sure made for a good story! The narrator, Kate, looked up to her brother Matt most of their lives until a shocking event turned Kate's world upside down. The story moves between present and past and it takes over half the book to reveal that event that sent Kate's world into a tailspin.

The story takes place in Ontario, Canada, and I think this is one of the very few - or maybe the only - book I've ever read from this region. I'm sure much is different between the United States and Canada, but looking at the education system and small-town farming communities presented in Crow Lake, it doesn't seem all that much different.

This book was a Today Show book club and author Mary Lawson's debut novel.

Oprah's book club

I'm almost halfway through Crow Lake by Mary Lawson; and so far I'm liking it. It was a book club pick on the Today Show, but I've heard very conflicting reviews of the book.

If you noticed on my list of 101 books, I do have a few older and more recent picks from Oprah's book club on my list. I'm a faithful viewer of her show, and when she announced her new pick on the January 30th episode - A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle - I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it. Then I thought well, I really wanted to challenge myself this year, so I picked up the book today, and I already joined the online class that she and the book's author, Eckhart Tolle, will be teaching on Mondays beginning March 3. I must say, her choices are getting more and more eclectic, but that's okay. I really think people should step outside of their normal genre every now and then and really challenge themselves. Will anyone else be reading this pick and joining the online class?

Family Secrets by Judith Henry Wall

My first thought about the book was that it wasn't what I expected. Sure, the story itself was a great idea - three sisters fly across the country in search of their long-lost grandmother, the woman who had given birth to their late father - but the grandmother's story seemed far fetched (as one of the sisters thought at one point). But I really liked reading about the relationships between the sisters - and as anyone with at least one sister can attest - they can be complex. The girls, with their underlying issues, chose to take on something as enormous as meeting a relative for the first time, and in doing so, learned more about each other and how to deal with their father's death as a family. I will agree that there is nothing like a cross-country trip to change one's perspective, as I myself moved from Michigan to Florida and life has never been the same.

The title really does sum up the story - family secrets are certainly revealed; the grandmother's story from rags to riches and her reasons for staying mum all her life are definitely not how I pictured the story unfolding, but I understand why she wanted to keep the secret. Should anyone ever set out to find someone who has so clearly tried to bury the past and start anew?

You'll have to read for yourself to discover the secrets. I assure you, it's a good read, it just wasn't what I expected. But then, isn't that what makes a book good sometimes - the 'wow' factor?