Shutter Island

This is now a movie, and the previews of it (with Leonardo DiCaprio) did not appeal to me. It just seemed scary. But a woman in my book club said that it was a GREAT book, so I figured I would read it. IT WAS REALLY GOOD. I would highly recommend it. I am not sure what the movie will be like now, because I now know all the twists -- but at least I know it's not a horror movie. The ending was completely unexpected. I love books like that -- where you are like, wow, didn't see that coming. At all.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

After reading the first two reviews of this I of course had to go read it as soon as possible. I did this and ended up reading the entire thing sitting in Borders this weekend. Haha, it's a very quick read (prob took me 3 hours) but it was very good. The style of writing is not very common but it worked very very well for this situation. I liked how the guy portrayed his thoughts and opinions no matter how offensive they might have been. There are def some controversial issues that are mentioned but you don't end feeling angry or hurt. The ending is a trip as well... still not sure exactly what I think about it! lol

Talk Nerdy to Me

I had to read this book as soon as I saw it because of the title. I mean I am a huge nerd, spent four years at an incredibly nerdy college. I have actually participated in and love discussions with my friends based on machinery and math. So anyway I had to read this book and unfortunately it wasn't the best writing nor the greatest plot line. It was about this model who is inventing a hovercraft in her garage and she gets an engineer to start helping her and you can probably guess the rest. The talk nerdy parts are so incredibly nerdy it even made me cringe but it is a cute idea. Fun summer beach read.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

LOVED this book, as recommended by Tomasen. I downloaded it during the couple's figure skating at about 10:00 the other night and stayed up until Jimmy Kimmel was on (not sure what time, but it was late!) and I FORCED myself to stop reading. Then picked it up the next morning and finished it. I was very bummed about the ending. Loved the style in which it was written.

HALLIE AND EMMA YOU MUST READ!

Weekends at Bellevue

I read this for book club, and I did get into it. It gives you a glimpse into a world I know very little about. What is sad is that despite the fact that she is a psychiatrist, she does very little actually helping (or fixing) people. As the weekend attending doctor her job is to T & R patients as they come in. Which means treat and release. Treat the surface symptoms that is -- which can be drunk, high, delusional or suicidal. Suicides get to stay overnight, but the rest get kicked back out onto the street. Because most of the people who end up at Bellevue are being escorted in by the police for one reason or another. It is all very sad. So Julie Holland would journal her experiences after she got off a shift to try to shift gears and return to her "normal" life during the week. Eventually she quit her job and wrote this book!

Would I recommend it? I don't know. I would as a book club book, definitely, because it has rich content to be discussed.

HALLIE: I read this not really understanding what I was getting into. It was interesting to hear about her experiences, as well as very sad and horrifying to hear how common an occurrence these crazy people were! I thought the book itself focused too much on her own thought process on whether she was crazy or hardened for being able to work in a place like Bellevue. Basically I liked the story she was telling but didn't care so much for the inner thoughts part of it.

White Oleander

I picked this up at a thrift store one day, hadn't ever heard of it, and a little skeptical becuase I usually am not a huge fan of Oprah Bookclub books, but I ended up loving it! It's about this poor girl whose mother murders a lover who spurns her and goes to jail and the girl ends up going through foster home after foster home. The way she describes her life and experiences and the writing all combine together to leave you feeling the strength and committment the girl had to have to survive through the many obstacles of her life. It also ends on a great note with her finding a great guy and a city to live in which she loves. I would def reccomend this book.

AND it's a movie! who knew... off to see where I can get a copy of that!

Sarah's Key

I read this because it was recommended by, Hallie I thought...but then she corrected me and lo and behold it was Lisa who loved this book. Not that it matters as it seems we all have similar tastes in books and I too read this in one day. Alas, I was able to because I was on the couch after having four teeth pulled, but I would have to agree with Lisa that it is a fabulous read and it opened my eyes to the fact that the French police were involved at all at rounding up the Jews and sending them to camps. I guess I never really even thought about it and this is part of the beauty of this book as it brings you there through a modern day character. Agreed...it is a great read!! Thanks Lees!!

This time I chose the smallest picture I could find!!

The Horse Whisperer

I'm a weirdo who likes to reread books that really effect me. This is one of the best books I have ever read (granted that list is long), but every once in awhile I like to pick it up and read it again. Actually now that I think about it, when I first read it I believe I reread it immediately because of how amazing it was! Anyway, it is such a touching story about how even though you can go to hell and back, you can experience the absolute worst nightmare and your life can be completely unrecognizable to yourself. There is a point where you will reach the edge and chooose either to give in or to accept and bring back your life with that acceptance. Plus I love horses and it's amazingly well written.

For some reason, I always manage to forget the end as well. Which is weird becuase of how momentous it is... won't tell cause it will ruin the story but anyone and everyone should run out and read this!

TThis book was UNBELIEVABLY written!! I can't even write about what it is about because that is part of it's charm...that you figure it out as you go along. All I have to say is that you HAVE to read it. It is a short read, but one that you can't put down. I will also say that I tried to slow myself down because I didn't want it to end!! Check it out!!

Gourmet Rhapsody (deliciously amusing)

Emma got me this book for Christmas because I LOVED another book by this author, The Elegance of a Hedgehog. This book, translated from french is delightfully written and while I did not love it like the other one, I did enjoy picking it up between other books just to read the descriptions of food and the delicacies of the life of a food critic who is on his death bed and in search of that one particular "taste" that he cannot seem to put his finger on. I will warn you...it will make you want to cook and eat!! It sent me into some experiments in the kitchen myself and I don't really LOVE to cook!!