Bout of Books goal post

I am attempting to read at least one book a day. I hope for more but my reading has slowed down as I get older so I try to keep it reasonable. I will be updating mostly on twitter. My twitter handle is purplemoonmyst if you want to follow me.

I have not yet decided on which books. I am just going to go with the flow. I may post here once a day to show my progress for that day.

I also hope to network with other bloggers during this event.

The Half Stitched Amish Quilting Club

This was from the publisher via NetGalley.

 

Widow Emma Yoder needs money so that she can support herself and not feel like a burden on her family, she puts up ads for a quilting class. The resulting motley crew is not what anyone expects but she believes that God brought them to her for a reason. Everyone in the class has their own problems. As the class progresses the problems come up and Emma with her faith and patience helps people to resolve them.

One thing I loved about this book was that the problems that are featured here are problems anyone could have in real life. For example a couple that comes to class has a troubled marriage and another woman feels like she does not fit in anywhere.

The plot is excellent. There are no quick fixes but rather we watch as the charecters grow and grapple with their issues. Emma uses her faith to reach out to the students in her class. It was not preachy or anything like that. It was a simple and profound faith that showed in her words and actions. This is what I like best in Christian fiction. There are some book that come off overbearing and once people find their faith all their problems are solved. That is not the case with this book. The problems are still there but with help the characters get past them.

Another thing I love about Wanda Brunstetters novels is that she portrays the Amish and the Amish faith in a positive and accurate light. There are many misconceptions that people have and it is refreshing to see someone who knows the Amish faith tell about it in her novels. I have always been fascinated by this group and Brunstetters novels help satisfy that curiosity.

The Boy In the Suitcase

 

From Goodreads:

Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can't say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive.
Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy's are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.

My Review: I first read Scandinavian Crime Fiction with the Millmum Trilogy. Ever since I have been curious about others in the genre. I first heard about this book on a blog (I forget whose) then when I saw it in the library I decided to give it a chance. I was not disappointed.

When reading crime fiction it is important to me that the crime and the resulting story be believable. I am willing to suspend disbelief to some extent but if it is really out there then it pulls me out of the story. This book was written so that one could easily picture this sort of crime happening.

I could relate to the main character Nina Borg. Her actions were on par to what a “real” person would do. Her fears of not knowing what would happen to the boy if she returned him, the way that she went about trying to find out where he was from all flowed together seamlessly. I was rooting for her to solve the mystery of where the boy came from from the beginning. The other characters actions flowed with the story also. There is nothing worse than reading a character that does not act according to the plot. It draws one out of the story and can ruin the entire book. Even the setting was outstanding in this book. I could picture the Denmark that the authors were describing. It was if I was there watching the story unfold.

I really enjoyed this book. I think most people will so get it today!

 

April 2012 Readathon Intro

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Northeast Ohio
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I am just picking books at random today. I used to pick out books but I always changed it so today I am trying out the random thing.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Fried Green Beans!!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am a grad student in a MLIS program.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

Like I said above, I am trying to just go with the flow with the books I pick.

Freedom

I get that this book is supposed to be about freedom and the consequences thereof, but seriously it just felt sloooooow and nothing happens for pages and pages.
This is like the epitome of character driven novels. Frazen goes into detail about each character and why they do the things that they do. I understand that this is central to the plot but seriously throw some action in there with it.
I stuck with it because it is supposed to be this “great novel” and I was hoping it would redeem itself in the end. I started to see beauty in the way it seemed that everyone was decaying but then Frazen had to go and tie it up in neat little ways. So even the end disappointed me.
I could not connect with any of the characters. I felt like punching each one and tell them to do thing differently. Especially the main character Patty. I was like what IS her problem? She spends most of the novel falling in love with her husbands best friend and wishing her husband was better in bed. I was like make up your damn mind. And this goes on for PAGES. There is a whole section where we are subjected to Patty’s thoughts on the two.
Then there was her son who I hated. He seemed stuck up and to think he knew best about everything. I wanted to punch him in the face and tell him to get over himself.
The parts I like about this novel was the talking about the issues. There was talk of overpopulation, environmental issues among other things. That was the one redeeming feature.
Just because I hated this novel does not mean you will. Most people at Good Reads liked it. So If you like long character driven novels that talk about important issues then this might be for you.

From The Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant- A Review

From GoodReads:

High fashion and homeland security clash in a masterful debut.
Boyet Hernandez is a small man with a big American dream when he arrives in New York in 2002, fresh out of design school in Manila. With dubious financing and visions of Fashion Week runways, he sets up shop in a Brooklyn toothpick factory, pursuing his goals with monkish devotion (distractions of a voluptuous undergrad not withstanding). But mere weeks after a high-end retail order promises to catapult his (B)oy label to the big time, there's a knock on the door in the middle of the night: the flamboyant ex-Catholic Boyet is brought to Gitmo, handed a Koran, and locked away indefinitely on suspicion of being linked to a terrorist plot. Now, from his 6' x 8' cell, Boy prepares for the trial of his life with this intimate confession, even as his belief in American justice begins to erode.
With a nod to Junot Diaz and a wink to Gary Shteyngart, Alex Gilvarry's first novel explores some of the most serious issues of our time with dark eviscerating wit.

My Thoughts: This is a book that packs a political punch. We get the story from Boy perspective and we are left wondering if he is really that naïve or did he know and just did not care?

I did not agree with the whole Gitmo debacle and this book in its sometimes light sometimes dark meanderings shows why. It is easy to see how one can so easily get caught up in the wrong people and take the fall.

This book is not preachy but rather through excellent storytelling shows the reader what happens when one gets caught up in dubious circumstances. While one thinks that in America we have our freedom and protection in reality we can fall victim to circumstances.

I found myself invested in the story. I could understand that Boy wanted to realize his dreams and when the opportunity for money came along he took it. I think this is a decision that most of us can empathize with. The plot is believable. It flows effortlessly from one event to another. It gives a face to those we find ourselves criticizing.

When the story starts Boy is a strong character who proclaims his own innocence. As the story progresses we see how the system breaks someone down to the point where Boy no longer is sure of his innocence. He becomes a broken man.

This book is recommended for no other reason than this issue is one that needs to be discussed. If you like issue books without being preachy then I would recommend you read this book.

Bloggiesta Finish Line

                                      

First of all I want to thank Suey and There's a book for hosting Bloggiesta. I had tons of fun meeting new bloggers and learning a lot about blogging. The one thing I learned was how to implement SEO onto my blog. I had no idea what SEO even was. I spent 14 hours on that task alone on Friday!. I already cant wait until September for the next bloggiesta!.

Here was my tasks that I set out to do:

Add SEO to my posts

This took me 14 hours on Friday but it got done!
Update my Review Database

I will work on this on my own as time permits.
Update my Goodreads

I updated my reviews on Goodreads. Here is my profile if you want to be friends with me there.
Get Caught up on My Reviews

I will do this today ot tommorow. I have 6 books that I have read and not reviewed yet.
Figure out how to link my reviews with Pin Interest

Here is my PinInterest if you want to be friends there!
Visit other blogs

I am bad about commenting so this weekend and from here on out I am going to make a special effort to comment, comment, comment. This was alos the most fun. I loved looking at other blogs to get ideas for my own.

I did not do very many many challenges. I will next time hopefully. I read them all though and learned a lot!