Bittersweet

So I made a LAME attempt at joining a book club that ended with me not attending a single meeting in nine months ... mainly due to traveling for work ... However, I did manage to read most of the assigned books.

Despite the appearance of nonparticipation, I'm going to consider this book club adventure a success!!

I read several books that I would not normally have picked up and really enjoyed myself.

This is the latest read ...

I read it straight in one day.

I teared up multiple times.

Such a beautiful story of friendship and loyalty and love.

The history of the Japanese camps during WWII is almost hard to believe.

Give it a try .. and let me know what you think!!

Between Sisters

An older sister ... workaholic lawyer, slightly overbearing, kind of bossy ... and her baby sister, who drops out of college to build a rental property on a lake and decides to marry a guy she has known for about two weeks. What could possibly go wrong?

I LOVE stories like this! It is such a great opportunity to think about your own family and relationships. As the slightly bossy oldest sister ... it can be such an eye opener to think about how important it is to love and support people even though you may not agree with the decision. :)

The Forgotten Garden

So, my sweet friend Marla talked me into joining this book club. Well, to be exact ... they sent me a list of books and told me I was presenting in December ... which is kind of the same thing! ;)

This was the first book. When I first started it, I was not too excited about the new book club adventure. The story begins back in the early 1900's ... there is an Authoress who writes slightly disturbed fairy tales. However, by the end of the book, I was seriously hooked. Hooked like ... stay up until midnight reading even though you have to be up at 5am ... kind of hooked.

It was a great story that spans several generations of a family, with a series of secrets that makes for an interesting puzzle to solve. Not the kind of book I would normally be drawn to, and I really enjoyed it. Maybe this book club will be a good thing after all ... now if I could just manage to not be traveling and attend!

The Water Is Wide - Pat Conroy

I finished this book ... and I LOVED it! There is a little language and they use the "N" word a bit, which I am not generally a fan of, but the story is fascinating.

Conroy wrote the original book in 1972 and is in autobiographical. He spends a year teaching on Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. All of the students are black and descended from slaves. They have minimal to no contact with people on the "mainland" and know little about life off the island.

As Conroy soon learns, his students range in age from 10 to 13 ... and the majority are illiterate. Some can't count to ten. He struggles with ideas and techniques on how to reach these children. They have no idea what the capital of South Carolina is or who is the current President of the United States.

Several moments stand out in the book. He brings in music and spends an entire day moving through different music and evoking emotion on each one. Later in the book, the kids are treated to a concert from a pianist who goes through the songs they learned. They giggled and shouted in unison ... Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms. Conroy brings animals, maps, countries, world leaders, and more into the classroom. The previous teacher is continually irritated because he won't teach the assigned curriculum. Yes, because that has been so successful!

The best part of the book for me came when he took them to the mainland to participate in a Halloween carnival. Costumes were found. Rides were offered. Families opened their homes and made sure these kids LOVED their first ever Halloween. Remember ... in the South in 1972 ... this was not the norm.

It can be so amazing to see things through the eyes of a child ... and he does a fantastic job allowing you to see and hear these children as their eyes are opened to the world.

An Hour to Live - An Hour to Love

At some point, I am going to learn not to read this stuff on airplanes!!  People stare when the tears start and I have to go back to a People magazine.

 

I LOVED it - such a great reminder to take advantage of every day and not put off those things that are the most important.  It is an interesting thing to think about --- If you knew you only had one hour to live.....Who would you call?  What would you say?