June!

Okay, I am totally behind a book. Everything is so busy with end of the school year things that I haven't even been on here for a few weeks. We get out pretty early out here so school ends this Friday! Yahoo! Then my plan is to catch up on all my reading. So I think it's my month to choose a book, right? I have one all ready that I'm pretty excited about actually, but I wanted to check before I posted it.

these is my words + a new book for May

So I just barely checked out These is my Words at the library like last week and I zoomed through it. I really liked that book. There were just a few things I didn't enjoy.

1. It was pretty dang predictable. I mean, I was just waiting for Sarah's first husband to die because of course she was going to end up marrying Captain Elliot. So who didn't see that coming?

2. The book was a little depressing. There was a lot of dying and creepy people trying to rob/rape people.

3. The character of Sarah herself really got on my nerves at a few points in the book. She was always so worried about being viewed as a "wanton" woman. She was also really annoying when it came to "do I love him or don't I love him? I do...I don't!" Kind of got old.

Other than those things, I thought it was a good story. And I didn't have any problem following the narration even without great punctuation and stuff. I think that's because, for me, as you read it, it's like she's just talking. That's kind of how are brains work anyway, right? There is not a lot of punctuation in our heads. So, her style of writing felt pretty natural. That may sound weird, but that's how I felt. Also, I'm really grateful that I was born during a time that is a little bit more advanced than that (to say the least). Having babies like they did does NOT sound to enjoyable to me. As I read the book I just felt like they were probably always dirty. ha.

Also, I was thinking a lot about how the military aspect is pretty similar to today. Living in Anchorage, Alaska, we new A LOT of military families. Anchorage has a huge Army and a huge Air Force base right in town. Our first ward covered half of the bases, so most families were military. I am grateful for all the people who are serving our country, but I am also grateful that my husband is not one of them. All of these military wives, just like Sarah, have to live a pretty unsteady life. Not really knowing how long they'll be somewhere, when they'll see their husband next, or if they'll see him again at all. It's hard to watch those mothers have to be a single parent basically for an unspecified amount of time and I know they get tired frustrated just like Sarah did in the book. In fact, Mike's brother is in the Navy and he's shipping out in July for 18 months and his wife just had a baby a few months ago! I can't even imagine.

Anyway, here is the book I have chosen for May:

I read this book a LONG time ago and, frankly, I don't remember what it's about. I remember I liked it and that people generally love it, so let's give it a try! Here is a synopsis:

Francie Nolan, avid reader, penny-candy connoisseur, and adroit observer of human nature, has much to ponder in colorful, turn-of-the-century Brooklyn. She grows up with a sweet, tragic father, a severely realistic mother, and an aunt who gives her love too freely--to men, and to a brother who will always be the favored child. Francie learns early the meaning of hunger and the value of a penny. She is her father's child--romantic and hungry for beauty. But she is her mother's child, too--deeply practical and in constant need of truth. Like the Tree of Heaven that grows out of cement or through cellar gratings, resourceful Francie struggles against all odds to survive and thrive. Betty Smith's poignant, honest novel created a big stir when it was first published over 50 years ago. Her frank writing about life's squalor was alarming to some of the more genteel society, but the book's humor and pathos ensured its place in the realm of classics--and in the hearts of readers, young and old.

May Day!

Alright, ladies, who is in charge of May's book? Randi, is it you?

Also, I want to know your thoughts on These Is My Words.

the beekeeper book

I feel like this book's title is misleading or something. It has nothing to do with the book as they talk about Sherlock Holmes' bees for about 3 pages.

Anyway, I actually really liked this book. It took a little while to get into it because Mary Russell bugged me so much at first but, honestly, after a couple chapters, I really started to enjoy it.

While I was in the middle of the book, Mike got the movie Sherlock Holmes on Netflix and it was fun to watch that while I was reading this book about him. It also made me want to read some real Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I don't have a lot to say about the book because it was all that deep or anything, I just found it really interesting. I do have one thing to say that will probably creep you guys out and I'm sure non of you will agree with me. I know it's weird, but I kind of wanted them to hook up and get married or something. I know I know, he's like 3 times her age, but I can't help it! I mean, back in the day older guys married super young girls all the time, right? She seemed a lot more mature than 18 or 19. Ok, I'm just trying to convince you. I know it's weird, I just liked them as a team/couple.

One more thing, I thought the writing was really beautiful in the chapter about them in Palestine. It was a nice little aside from the rest of the book and I liked all the Hebrew and the Jewish references. It was interesting.

Anyone else really like the book?

Aprils Pick!

Happy Spring! Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for the lack of picking/communication on my part. Here's April's book:
"These is my Words" by Nancy E. Turner. This is a recommendation from my roommate Lauren who just devours books. She said this is her favorite as of late. Summary below.

"These Is My Words" by Nancy E. Turner is in diary form and spans 20 years.

Sarah Prine is a teenage girl traveling with her family to make a living in Arizona Territory. Indian attacks, disease, death, and other hardships force Sarah to grow up face. When members of her family die and she is forced to take a significant role in careing for her family the strain starts to be overwhelming. One night, she breaks down crying in her wagon to be discovered by the arrogant, commanding, hard, and handsome army Captain that served as their wagon train guide, Captain Jack Elliot. She spends a night in his arms - nothing more than sleeping - and fears that she will be a ruined woman. Jack comforts her.

When her family leaves the wagon train to settle down a friend of the family shows up with a heard of horses, planning to start a horse ranch not far from their peach orchard. Jack, still on army duty, can only come by occasionally and still passionate embraces with Sarah. Too late, does he find Sarah married to Jimmy Reed, the family friend, out of a misguided sense of friendship. A short while later Sarah finds herself a young mother and widow - Jimmy being thrown from his horse and dragged at full gallop. Her husbands dying words were confessing his love for a woman he left behind - he married Sarah as a sort of "back up plan."

Jack appears in Sarah's life again, and his love for her and her daughter is stronger than ever. After courting for a while, they marry. The rest of Sarah's diary is her life with Jack and their trials. Growing into middle years, troubles with a sister in law, and the difficulties of raising children in an army fort.

NOTE: As it is in diary form there are many spelling and grammar errors, therefore, it takes a little bit to get used to the format. Probably the thing that throws people off the most is that there are no quatation marks. As assinine as this may sound, after a short time of getting into the book (a very easy and delightful read) one forgets those things. "

Happy reading!

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

So, I decided to give Deb another month to think things over. The book for the month is:

(image from amazon.com)

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

I mentioned this on my last choice, and since the last one I chose was a bit boring, I've decided to go with one I've read. Since it's based off Sherlock Holmes it still fits with your expectations that I'll choose a classic ;)

Here's the description Amazon used from the School Library Journal:
At 15, Mary Russell is tall and gangling, bespectacled and bookish. In 1915, the orphaned heiress is living in her ancestral home with an embittered aunt she has plucked from genteel poverty to act as a guardian until she reaches her majority. In order to escape the woman's generally malevolent disposition, she wanders the Downs. On one such outing, she trips over a gaunt, elderly man sitting on the ground, "watching bees." This gentleman turns out to be Sherlock Holmes, and the resulting acquaintance evolves into a mentoring experience for the young woman. The story is well written in a style slightly reminiscent of Conan Doyle's, but is also very much King's own. The plot is somewhat predictable, but the characterizations are excellent and the times and places are skillfully evoked.

I will say that you don't really identify with her, and the feminist/erudite undertone is a little over the top, but it's an entertaining mystery.

Who is supposed to pick the March book? I'm ready for something new to read.