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 :)

February Choices

Hi Ladies, I'm very excited about our new book club, and anxious to post February's choices for those ready to start a new book. Anyhow, here are my choices:

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Part of the growing trend toward Urban Fantasy in Young Adult fiction, The Mortal Instruments series is dark, edgy and has more than a few neo-gothic horror overtones. Clary Fray, a seemingly normal teen from Brooklyn, realizes one day (or actually, one evening) at a teen club that she can see things, things that should not be real, that her friends cannot see. In the blink of an eye, Clary is knee deep in a reality that includes demon-hunters (and demons, of course), vampires, warlocks and werewolves - and the truth is that it's the same reality she has lived in all of her life. She just couldn't see it all before because someone or something was preventing her from seeing it. As Clary learns more about the world of the Shadow Hunters (descendants of angels who hunt demons) from an enigmatic boy named Jace, she also discovers the dark secrets of her own family's history and the true nature of her place in the world.

I have not read this, but have heard good things about it from those that have.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer

Jeffrey Archer has woven a thoroughly enjoyable tale of a scoundral - Harvey - who cheats anyone anyway he can. Through an innocent third party, he manages to dupe four men out of a total of $1,000,000. One of these, a university professor, determines to follow his father's motto: don't get angry, get even. The professor puts together a dossier on Harvey and contacts the three other men and convinces them to come up with a way to get the money they lost back. (They had all invested in north sea oil shares that turned out to be worthless.) The schemes they develop and carry out are not only brilliant, but also very humorous reading. The delightful twist at the end had me laughing all through the last chapter.

Jeffrey Archer is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, I have not read this one, but I hear its the one to read. My favorite was As the Crow Flies, and I highly recommend it. The thing I love about Jeffrey Archer is that he seems to be able to write in all genres, but most of his books seem to be historical epics.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The epic tale begins when Claire Randall, a young combat nurse in World War II, moves to Scotland with her beloved husband to re-ignite their marriage interrupted by the war. Hiking one day, Claire accidentally passes through the stones of an ancient stone circle and wakes up to find herself in 16th century Scotland. Lost, alone, and confused (yet, determined), Claire's path crosses, and is inextricably linked to, a young Highland warrior, James Fraser. (The kind of man women want, and men want to BE.)The story that ensues would make Shakespeare proud--danger, suspense, passion, betrayal, true love, and tragedy. Gabaldon is a master story teller. She shrouds her fantasy in just enough reality as to completely seduce her readers.

I may have been the only person that hasn't read this book yet, that is why I'm dying to.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

This is a story told by Death. An interesting point of view perhaps, but as it is set in Germany during World War II, perhaps it is entirely appropriate. It is also a story of a young girl, who in spite of having a life that no one would wish on anyone, still manages to have glimpses of pleasure through many small things, including the few books that she manages to acquire (or shall we say, steal).

I actually read this and loved it. Very endearing read, and it makes for a good discussion.

Ok so there you have it girls. I will put the vote on the side and you have one week to place your vote.