Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Next Month's Pick and Review Time for January

Ok so next month's pick will be Room by Emma Donoghue. Also when would be a good time for review for everyone? I know we discussed it, but did we finalize? I know I mentioned that Tuesday's would be better for me then monday, I also wonder if that would be better since Monday's often fall on long weekends and holidays. Does Tuesday work for everyone? and do we want to do 2nd, 3rd or last tuesday of the month? (I can't do first). Ok let me know your thoughts! Thank you!

Friday, December 17, 2010

February Pick

Hi everyone...I was thinking it was time to choose our next selection since our review of  Thorn Birds is coming up in January. I was also worried some of you may  need a new book to read ;) I have recently read 2 amazing reads, seriously both 5 stars. So here's your pick:

In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue's Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances. A stunning and original novel of survival in captivity, readers who enter Room will leave staggered, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time.


I read Room in 3 days...it's a very compelling and easy read, and although you may think it is too sad to read, its not. Jack is happy and knows no different life, he isn't abused in any way. He's smart, funny and one of the best things about this book is its told from Jack's 5 year old's voice. I absolutely loved this book!


The second choice is Same Kind of Different As Me. Switching back and forth in short segments, two narrators portray authors Hall and Moore in memoirs that begin in distant walks of life and intersect in a homeless shelter. In the charming accent of an unschooled black man with a deep, scratchy voice, narrator Barry Scott recounts Denver Moore's life of hardship and misfortune, starting on a Louisiana plantation. In contrast, the subtle Southern accent of Dan Butler speaks for co-author Ron Hall, an educated white gentleman of comfortable means. The narrators play their parts of the drama so well that listeners will believe they are hearing the men who lived the story. In the end, the two individuals form an unlikely friendship resulting from charity and challenged by tragedy.


This is the type of book that stays with you. It's an amazing story and definitely challenges you to want to be a better person. These are amazing people who really made a difference in many people's lives. I think its one of those books everyone should read at some point. 


Vote is at the side..... and ends next Friday :)