Books I've read: Part 2

It's June!  So I'll make another list of what I've read since January.  You can read what I read the second half of 2012 here.

1.  The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan   A 37 year old writes of her battle with cancer as her beloved dad fights bladder cancer at the same time.  It is a memoir of her childhood and her relationship with her dad growing up juxtaposed with their current battles.  It was not depressing, just touching and funny and wonderful.  It made me want to call my dad and give him a virtual hug.  I recommend!

2.  Winter of the World, by Ken Follett   This is book 2 of the series...Fall of Giants was #1.  It follows the same 5 families through WWII.  Not nearly as good as Fall of Giants.  But good enough that I will read #3 when it comes out.

3.  Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell   A non-fiction book looking at data surrounding human success stories or outliers from the norm.  I found the first few sections really fascinating, but it quickly got repetitive.  Not great, but an interesting quick read.

4.  Sophie's Choice, by William Styron  No, I had never read this book before (or seen the movie).  Yes, I rather liked it.  A young writer meets a Holocaust survivor and her mentally ill boyfriend...we learn her stories in pieces through their summer together.  Sophie's downfall is her unthinkable choice she made while at Aushwitz.  And now I finally know what people are referencing when they say Sophie's choice.

5.  Have a Little Faith, by Mitch Albom  Non-fiction.  Albom discusses his meetings with his childhood rabbi after the rabbi requests he write his eulogy.  There is also a parallel story about a really influential and unique pastor of an inner city church in Chicago that Albom gets involved with during the same time period as he is meeting with his rabbi.  It was really funny, very touching, thought provoking...I highly recommend.

6.  Fragile, by Lisa Unger  Psychologist is at the center of things when her son's girlfriend goes missing and it dredges up a mystery from long ago.  That is the description I wrote in my journal.  I have basically no recollection of the book other than that.

7.  Then Came You, by Jennifer Weiner  I keep trying her books because I see her name everywhere.  I need to stop.  This is a very contrived story of intertwined lives..egg donor, surrogate, and step-daughter of the people who hired the surrogate.  Boo.

8.  The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton   My favorite book of 2013, so far.  A fantastic book.  A woman explores her mother's secrets from the past after her mother turns 90.  Book jumps from the daughter's perspective with the present day investigation to her mother's perspective during 1940s.  Wild twists and turns and really really fun to read.  Highly recommend.

9.  The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green  I think this would have been my favorite book if I hadn't read it just after The Secret Keeper.  It is the story of a young girl with terminal cancer who falls in love for the first time.  Sounds depressing, but it is funny and wonderfully written.  You will cry many times, but you will also be glad you read it.

10.  Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes   A young woman takes a job as companion to a young quadriplegic.  Turns into a love story.  Funny in parts and sad in parts.  I liked the main character.  I probably would have liked this even more if I hadn't just finished #8 and #9 on this list.  Good books are ruined by even better books.  ;)

11.  A Widow for One Year, by John Irving   The story of a girl left by her grieving mother at the age of 4.  Then it jumps to her story as a 37 year old writer.  Then it jumps to her story as a 40 year old widow.  Well done.  A bit drawn out.  If you like John Irving you will like it.

12.  Little Face, by Sophie Hannah   A mother swears her newborn has been switched with another.  Lots of family secrets are uncovered as the family is investigated.  It was okay.

13.  The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman   A childless lighthouse keeper and his wife keep a baby that wash up on their island and pass it off as their own.  There are devastating results when they take her back to the mainland for a visit and their secrets begin to unravel.  I finished this book unsatisfied.  However within a few hours, I decided I liked the book.  Each character is likable and unlikable...which is quite a feat.

14.  Beautiful Lies, Lisa Unger   A woman discovers her entire past is a lie and uncovers the truth bit by bit.  A typical thriller.  A bit predictable.  I think I am done reading Lisa Unger books.

15.  The Hangman's Daughter, by Oliver Potzch   A 1600s hangman searches for killer of 3 children when the midwife is accused of using witchcraft to do it.  I just didn't like this.  I wanted to, but the characters were too one-dimensional, and I found it trying too hard to be surprising and thrilling.

16.  Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple   An agoraphobic mother with a famous past goes missing on the eve of a trip with her family.  I didn't like this book as much as other people.  I just didn't enjoy the story premise or something.  But I did like the style of the book, as much of it is written in letters and e-mails.  It was funny and entertaining...I guess.

17.  Defending Jacob, by William Landay   A D.A.'s son is accused of murdering a classmate.  This follows the whole process from when the kid is found murdered to after the trial is over.  Frustrating and yet riveting, I would love to discuss this book with a group.  Lots of issues to mull over once this book is finished.

18.  Blessings, by Anna Quindlin   A caretaker for a giant estate finds an abandoned baby on the steps one morning and secretly keeps it...even after the 80 year old owner finds out.  She helps him and remembers her past at the property.  Kind of boring.

19.  The Last Talk With Lola Faye, Thomas H. Cook  A man has a chance meeting with his murdered father's alleged mistress and rehashes his troubled youth in a small town.  Oddly enjoyable.

20.  Bel Canto, Ann Patchett   Terrorists take over a private party and keep the guests hostage.  It is all about the bonds that form between the people involved and also a lot about opera music.  I think I just don't like Patchett.  It was...okay.  I finished it.  But...sigh...I just...this is exactly how I feel after every book of her's that I've read.

21.  The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker   An 11 year old girl describes her life after the earth's rotation begins to slow.  Interesting to read/ponder about all the effects of the rotation slowing...but the story was a bit contrived and many leaps of faith had to be made.  Meh.

22.  The End of Your Life Bookclub, Will Schwalbe   True story of a man and his dying mother discussing books and using them to bridge conversations about dying.  As someone who has read a lot and values books above much else, I really enjoyed their perspective on books and was touched at their relationship.  But while I thought I might get a lot of ideas about books to read...there were lots of spoilers :)  Oh well.

23.  The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, Jan-Philipp Sendker   A girl travels to Burma to find her father who disappeared 4 years earlier.  She finds a man who tells her a story...about her father's childhood.  It is very much like a fairy tale.  This book was easy to read and satisfying...although the ending was a bit different than I would have liked.  I think...although I can't think of another ending that would have worked.

Trudging to the end

One thing that really stinks about having friends all over the country?  School lets out WAY earlier.  So as I read happy facebook posts about last days, first day/last day pictures, enjoying summer freedom...we still have NINE DAYS left...not 9 calendar days, but nine actual school days.  Andrew still has homework every night and I am supposed to help keep him on top of reading logs and projects and...DEAR GOD IT IS JUNE.

And yes, YES, we go back to school later.  But that is not a good thing.  By the end of August, everyone is ready for less together time.  So I'm jealous then too.  Next year, our first day is September 3rd!  But then we have off the 5th and 6th for Rosh Hashanah.  Urgh.

Whatever.

Michael is having a blast, at least.  His preschool ended May 30th...3 full weeks before the other 2.  So we decided to have him spend a week, all by himself, with Grandma and Grandpa.  He is doing all sorts of fun things, and even got to spend the night at Memere and Pepere's too.  But don't expect any pictures of those trips.  Grandma and Grandpa guard their pictures like Fort Knox.  Sometimes I'll be at their house and see an absolutely adorable picture hanging on their fridge.  They like to keep the cuteness to themselves ;P

All teasing aside, Michael has done spectacularly well.  He never shuts up and is just fine all by himself, thank you very much.  He does seem to miss Andrew and Lily more than he misses Jeff and I.  On the phone he tolerates talking with me for a few seconds before requesting to talk to his brother and sister.  And the sweet and caring way that Andrew and Lily ask him what he is doing melts my heart.  They really really love each other.

In order to facilitate the hand off of Michael, we planned a day at the zoo in Pittsburgh...which while not quite halfway (6 hours from us, 3 hours from them), was way more fun than what is actually halfway between us (farms, windmills).

Lily was quite the poser at the zoo.

 Getting the 3 of them in one shot was nearly impossible.

 That is not me in the black shirt.  But Lily is doing such a cheesy smile, I just had to add it anyway.

 The log ride that you had to be "shorter than this" to ride.  Michael was THRILLED.  Finally!  A ride that catered to his smallness (relative to Andrew).

 Michael had a natural ability on these things.  His brother and sister COULD. NOT. FIGURE. IT. OUT.  Funny.

Back here at the ranch, we had school.  And more school.  And Lily got to practice eating lunch at school (very exciting).  Andrew had Market Day, the culmination of a 2 month economics lesson that 3rd grade does.  Each class is a country, and each table group is a state.  Each student had to apply for a job in their state (Andrew was treasurer), which they got paid for each week.  Each state had to pay taxes and got bonuses for various things.  Each student had to create a product to sell on Market Day.  They had to pay rent for their set up spot, got to set the price and adjust as supply and demand required.  I also got paid as a helper in the production of the product.  It was really really cute.

Andrew did "Geography Fun Fact" sheets.  His idea.  His original idea was to do 2 countries for each continent.  Then after he did all the research and typed up the sheet for his first country, he decided to do just one country from each continent.  And then after spending HOURS doing a few more, he decided that 4 countries was just fine.

One side had pictures and the other side had basic facts and fun facts.  We printed them on card stock and laminated them.  Every other kid made things like pet rocks or rubber band bracelets.  Not my little nerdlinger.

Oh!  And then my new washer and dryer!  Most life changing event in recent times.  Below is how I was drying my clothes in the last few weeks.  If I machine dried it, each load was taking 90-120 minutes to dry.  And this is a house that does 9-10 loads a week.  It was MISERABLE.  But with my new fancy washer and dryer, not only to the clothes come out dry, they are such a higher capacity that I am only doing 5-6 loads a week.  CRAZY!

Shadow.  Turns 11 next month.  Crazy.

Some random shots of playing in buckets before Michael left.  We are so classy.  Our new neighbor (a 2nd grader), was so confused.  She came over and kept asking, "Wait.  You are playing in buckets?  Don't you have a pool?  Why are you playing in those?  How long will you be playing?"  I finally had to shoo her back to her house...she clearly couldn't comprehend playing for hours in these things (which Michael and Lily ended up doing).