The Fault in our Stars

I don't even know how I feel about this book.  It was underwhelming.  I felt like it had great potential to be really inspiring but it didn't reach it. There was a lot of angst in this book...whether because the main characters are terminally ill or because they are teenagers I'm not really sure...but I didn't appreciate all the swearing and such.  The love story part of this book felt fake to me somehow, almost like they were more concerned with not dying virgins than actually loving each other?  I don't know.  The lack of parental guidance bothered me...letting dating teenagers go on an overseas trip where they spend a lot of time alone doesn't bother anyone else?  It was interesting though. If there was more belief in something beyond themselves I think this book could have been really great and inspiring...but for me it fell short. My favorite part was where they go to the Anne Frank house and watch this video where Anne's father talks about how he feels like parents don't really know their children...I liked that because it made me feel like I want to make sure I take the time to really know my children. But overall there were no tears shed and I wouldn't recommend this book.

The Jewel

I started reading this book and right away it felt like a mix of The Hunger Games, and The Selection.  But with this weird twist that instead of being chosen as a possible princess, or a tribute...you are chosen as a surrogate mother. Because of that, at first this book was just weird to me.  But then it got interesting.  All of the girls who become surrogates have this magical ability called augury where they can change things...it costs them physically, but they can change the color and shape of things and can make things grow.  This enables them to be the perfect surrogate mothers for the rich people who for some reason can't have their own children. But the surrogates are treated as property, they are given a rank on how well they did in their augury training and talents they have and then sold in auctions to the highest bidder.  After being sold, they are kind of treated as a pet...put on leashes when going on, dressed up and shown off to all the others to flaunt their surrogate being the very best.
As Violet is sold we start to learn of the hidden cruelty and backstabbing among the royalty.  She finds an ally and also (of course!) develops a forbidden romance with someone who sees her as herself...and not just as property or the surrogate. Overall I enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down!  It definitely has a cliff-hanger ending and I was so disappointed the next book isn't out yet!

The Phoenix Files #3: Mutation

One thing that is a little bit confusing for me with this series is that each new book (so far) is told from the point of view of a different character.  The second book was really confusing to me until sometime by the end of the first chapter I figured it out.  I wish these books gave some sort of sign ahead of time about that.  Oh well.  This one was from the point of view of the female main character: Jordan.  This book has been my least favorite of this series so far. Unless there have been Australian swear words that I don't know, this one contained the first swear word...and that was disappointing to me.  There was also more violence and the bad guys are taking more drastic actions.  While I would be fine with my kids reading the first and second book in this series, I think this one is a little more mature.  Anyway I still enjoy the series and want to know how it ends, but it sure seems like things keep getting worse and more people are dying because of the evilness (is that even a word?) of the "villians."  There is a lot of confusing things going on too that I hope will be explained as the series goes on.

The Phoenix Files: Contact

I couldn't wait to read this book!  It was just as exciting as the first one for me.  Maybe even more so, because now the three friends sneak into even higher security places...and they get caught. After barely making it out alive, I'm quite baffled as to how they are going to be able to do anything to save the world now...

The BFG

Sophie wakes up one night and peeks out the window to see a giant across the street!  She is then taken and learns about the world of giants. I just finished reading this book to my boys and it was such a fun book to read!  A little terrifying as there are humongous giants who eat people! The first chapter they were both a little scared, but in the end they loved pretending to be the BFG and even learned to talk like him which was so funny to me.  I had never heard of this book before this summer but thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Even if I hadn't been reading it to my boys I would have enjoyed this book. It goes to show that no matter how little (or big) you are, you can make a difference!

The Phoenix Files: Arrival

This is another book I read because of signing up as an Usborne consultant.  My first thought on learning Luke moves to Phoenix was Phoenix Arizona but this book is from Australia...the author is from there, it is set there, was published there.  It was interesting because there were a couple words I'm not familiar with that must be Australian words.  It talked about seeing kangaroos...so weird to me!  But the Australian aspect was fun.
It starts off by telling us Luke's parents are recently divorced and his mom takes a job in this middle of nowhere new town called Phoenix.  They arrive and find out there are no cars, (everyone rides bikes instead) the phone service is down, and the internet doesn't work. Luke quickly feels trapped and isolated and everything about the town seems off somehow.
He makes a couple friends and receives a strange message that the world is ending in 100 days for everyone outside of Phoenix.  This book is mostly about their trying to figure out if this message is for real and once they decide that it is they want to get outside the town and warn someone or try to get some help.  It was a great suspenseful read.  There were two violent scenes in the book that I'm not sure I would want my younger kids to read...I kind of skimmed over them since I don't like violence.  I don't think it was too awful, but I wouldn't let kids younger than 12ish read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it though and can't wait for the next one!

Splintered

I was at girls camp a few weeks ago and one of the girls talked about this book and how much she loved it...so when I got back I looked it up and put it on hold at the library right away!
I really enjoyed this book although it reminded me a little of Twilight with the weird over the top teenage romance.  It is clean but there are kissing scenes that I think are a little too descriptive if you were younger than 12-13. What I really loved was the fairytale part of this story, how Allie comes to know herself through this book and knows/remembers Wonderland.  Some of it was really bizarre but it was really interesting to me to see the twist on Alice in Wonderland.  Overall I loved it!  Definitely a great summer read.

What Alice Forgot

This book was recommend to me by a friend, and I was warned there was language, however I was under the impression it was used by Alice who wakes up in the gym having forgotten all the memories from the last 10 years of her life. But I don't actually remember her using bad language except in her thoughts remembering other people using it towards her and wondering why, etc.  There are quite a few f-bombs and especially right upfront in the beginning.  This almost turned me off from reading it.  I read a couple of chapters and then wasn't going to finish it because of all the language!  However, over the course of the week I discovered some friends of ours had gotten divorced in the past couple of months.  This was such a shock to me and left me feeling so sad that for some reason I was drawn to this book again and other than trying to avoid the bad language, I really enjoyed this book.  It left me thinking about who I am, and what my decisions lead me to become, and if I'm becoming who I want to be.

Alice wakes up in the gym after falling off her bike in spin class and believes herself to be 10 years younger newly married and expecting her first child.  So imagine her shock to find out she is turning 40, has three children (none of whom she can remember) and is divorcing her beloved husband Nick!  They had bought an old home with plans to fix it up...and she goes home to find out all the things they had planned for their home have been done!  Now she has a beautiful home, has gained some fashion sense, lost weight, eats healthy, and is busy, busy, busy!  She finds out she doesn't seem to like who she become 10 years later, having lost touch big time with her family, friends, neighbors, and even her husband.
She longs to get back together with Nick, who reassures her when she gets her memory back, she won't want that anymore. Through the course of the book she questions and wonders what drew them apart, only to find out it wasn't just one thing but maybe a whole bunch of little things. She told her personal trainer that her marriage was failing because of lack of sleep. I also noticed it seemed to be the things they noticed.  They started focusing on the negative instead of the positive, joyful things...so that was all they could see until they turned that into disgust for each other that was reflected in how they spoke to each other, how they looked at each other.  It made me think of how I treat my husband?  Do I belittle him for not doing things right when he helps around the house or with the boys?  Do I thank him for things he does?
I thought of our friends who got divorced...if they could have gone back in time 10 years and seen themselves now through that perspective, would they still have chosen what they did? Would their younger selves fought harder?  Our marriages and our families are the most important things in this life.  Nothing from this life can go with us after we die, except for the things we have learned...and our families if we have kept our covenants.  This book made me think of a song I love, particularly the lyrics "Will my life become a legacy of the things that matter most to me?  Will my fire of faith burn bright as I grow old?  And will I want to be the person I've become, when all is said and done?"

The final verse of that song says "When all is said and done when my eyes can finally see, will I glory in the sweet release and will mercy fill my soul with peace, will I kneel in wonder at the Savior's feet?  will I hear him say 'well done' when he sees who I've become, will I live with him when all is said and done?"
My favorite scripture is Moroni 7:48...it talks about when Christ comes again  that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.

That is one of the things I want most--to be like Him.  This book made me think about how I am doing that.  It's not just a grandiose idea, it is a reality in everything I think and say and do every day I am becoming more like him or father away. I want to like who I am because I am becoming more like Jesus Christ and drawing others to me, not pushing them away because of selfish desires. 

My Mother's Secret

My Mother's Secret by J.L. Witterick was another very quick read but very different from the last one.  This one was based on real people who lived in Poland during WWII.  The mother and daughter hide two Jewish families as well as a German officer who doesn't want to fight.  It has five parts to the story, each told by the perspective of someone different in the story starting out with the daughter who with her mother hides everyone.  I enjoyed seeing how all of these people were intertwined beyond just the fact they were living on the same farm especially because none of those in hiding knew of anyone else in hiding. I loved reading about people who were good and even in dangerous circumstances were able and willing to help others who would have not survived otherwise. There were heartaches and joys and I was left wondering how I would measure up. Would I do the right thing even if my life as well as those I loved were on the line? How often do I turn away and not do a good thing because it is inconvenient or hard?  I think this is a great book for older children and teens wanting to learn more about the Holocaust but not wanting anything graphic. This little book was filled with love for others and I highly recommend it.

Conspiracy 365

Almost two months ago I signed up as an Usborne books consultant and so I wanted to read some of the teen books just to know what they were like when I recommend books for people.  This was the first one I got from the library and I was excited to read it!  This book was action packed right from the get-go.  For me it was unbelievably action packed.  But it kept me reading and wanting to know what the mystery is!  On New Year's Eve Cal Ormund gets a strange warning from a drunk right before the paramedics take the drunk away.  He is told he needs to hide for a year because people will be trying to kill him.  His father had died months earlier and been unable to share a secret that was worth a lot of money.  He is left with drawings done by his father as clues to this secret and is being chased by multiple people asking him about the secret.  He has multiple near death experiences and by the end is on the run because everyone believes he shot his uncle and hurt his sister.  The cliff hanger ending will leave you needing to know how he escapes from this last attempt on his life...as obviously it doesn't work since it is the first book in the series.    Not believable at all but it was a fun, very quick read!

Stella by Starlight

Stella by Starlight came out this year and I really enjoyed this book.  Set in the south during the 1930s, Stella and her little brother see the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross in the middle of the night.  They are terrified and wake up their parents.  This book is all about how they keep going in the face of adversity, the whole community and their family. I enjoyed seeing Stella's growth throughout this book and viewing things from a different perspective--a black girl living in the 1930s.  I know about the KKK and some of the awful things that happened because of racism, but I never would have thought about how hard it was for them to live day by day--to have to work for white men for little pay, to look in catalogs and see only white people, etc. I don't understand the cruelty of men and was saddened by that in the book.  One man in particular we find out is just filled with hate...for everyone, especially blacks. I enjoyed the reminder to cherish the people in my life, especially my husband and sons and not things. Despite the hardships in this book they were able to find joy in the end and really that is what life is all about.

The Widow of Larkspur Inn

I read this book because a friend of mine chose it for our book club.  The beginning was the most intense part of this book in my opinion, it propelled me to want to keep reading even through the slower, long middle section of the book.  Julia Hollis's husband has died.  He was a surgeon and three weeks after his death she discovers he has gambled all of their money away and everything they own will be sold to cover his debts.  The only thing they have left is an old inn that the bank didn't want, so she takes her three children and has to make it work for them to survive, even though she has never worked a day in her life.

I really enjoyed the contrast between her neighbors in the city and her neighbors in the country as well as her life and her relationship with the 'serving class' in the two different settings.  One of my favorite quotes of the book she says something along the lines "maybe this financial ruin happened to save us spiritually."  She realizes that she has unknowningly never been involved in the life of her children because that was the custom...the nanny put them to bed and took care of them.  Her husband never had time for them and was always away either gambling or working as a surgeon.  The message that I took away from the book and loved so much was that our families, our marriage and our children are so important.  Do you recognize the things that pull us away from them?  They want us to be present with them, to interact with them. Husband and wife should be best friend, not just someone to show off on your arm.  Children need their parents love and undivided attention.  And hopefully I don't have to lose everything to recognize that.

Traitor's Wife

Oh. My.  This book was so enthralling! I didn't want to put it down!  I had to know what happened next! I love historical fiction and it was so interesting to learn more about someone real-- Benedict Arnold and his wife Peggy...who seems like she was the one who really was in charge of the treachery.  It was interesting to watch the characters unfold and see the different personalities in the book. The book is seen through the eyes of Peggy's ladies maid Clara and even though she is a fictional character I enjoyed her character and seeing her grow throughout the book. I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of the two female characters Peggy and Clara. I was really struck reading this book with being "without guile" and being someone of integrity.  It was interesting to see someone who isn't that way and someone who is. Anyway, loved this book so much! If you like historical fiction...read it!

Esperanza Rising

Although I have heard of this book I probably would never have read it except for the fact that our library had "A Blind Date With a Book" around Valentine's Day.  They had books wrapped in brown paper with a brief description and age...children, young adult, adult.  Since I love to read very clean books, and because of the darling brown paper, and the description... I picked this book.  I unwrapped it at home and then didn't pick it up again.  I kind of got in a reading lull and just wasn't interested in it, and I haven't had time to read despite having 5 books from the library all waiting for me to open them.

This weekend I finally felt like I had time...nothing waiting for me in the mornings and I was feeling the itch to read again.  I picked up this book and finished it quickly.  I have always loved the Spanish language and Hispanic culture so I really enjoyed this book. Esperanza has the perfect life in Mexico until tragedy strikes and her world comes crashing down.  Her family leaves for the USA and have to start over as poor workers.  This story tells how she deals with that and grows as a person.  I want to read this with my boys when they are a little older...maybe 8-11 years old.  I think it would provide a lot of opportunities to discuss things such as learning to appreciate what you have, not judging others, and learning that even if bad things happen to you, you will be all right.