The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

This would be a book I would read to my kids one day. (10-12 year old kids) I loved it. Plus it has been added to my favorite books.

David's mom has just die and while he still mourns, his Dad remarries and he finds himself with a stepmom and a new baby brother who he despises. He only finds comforts in his books who whisper to him. When he moves into his stepmother's house, he adds to his book collection. These new books add a layer of mystery to the house.

The book takes place during WWII in England. One night a plane crashes at the house and David finds himself in a new world. This world is a combination of fairy tales with a twist. The way original fairy tales were written. As David travels to see the king, he meets lots of different characters.

The combination of all the fairy tales is what I love. Plus it has a good moral of the story, as all good stories do. I would suggest it to anyone.

Have yourself a Blue Bell Country Day

If you have yet to try Blue Bell ice cream, you are missing out on life. It is delicious. If you live in a non Blue Bell state, you can have some at Outback Steakhouse. When we lived in Utah, we went there frequently to get our Blue Bell fix. And for some good steak.

Before I eat it, I always try to remember what it tastes like. And then I bite into it and it tastes so much better than I imagined.

Over spring break we went to tour the Blue Bell factory in Brenham, Texas with Sammie and her old roommate who was visiting her from Utah.  The tour last maybe 25 minutes and I love watching things like How It's Made, so I was pretty fascinated. After the tour is over, you get a scoop of ice cream. So... it was pretty much awesome.

Pride and Prejudice

I read this my freshman year of high school. I didn't really get what the big deal was. It was an okay story, but it was tough getting through all of it.

I was just in the mood to try it again. I love it the second time around. It gets a spot in my favorite books of all time.

This time around I highlighted my favorite lines. I'll share them now.

After Mr. Collins has been rejected in marriage by Elizabeth a few times.

Mr Collins: "When I do myself the honour of speaking to you next on the subject, I shall hope to receive a more favourable answer than you have now given me; though I am far from accusing you of cruelty at the present, because I know it to be the established custom of your sex to reject a man on the first application."

Mr Bennet: "Your mother will never see you again if you do NOT marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you DO.

Elizabeth: "Mr. Collins is a conceited, pompous narrow-minded, silly man; and...the woman who married him cannot have a proper way of thinking."

Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy: "You could not have made the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it."

And my favorite

Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth (towards the end of the novel): "You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. MY affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever."

3 Books

Overbite by Meg Cabot

This was sequel to a book I read about a year ago. I just happened to be checking the Meg Cabot section our in the library and I saw it.

I liked the first one better. It continues the story of Meena who has decided to get over her dead vampire boyfriend and now works for a special group inside the Vatican that hunt supernatural creatures.

While the first one seemed to mock other vampire love stories, this one just fell right into the mold. It was kind of predictable and I just wasn't feeling it. Lets hope her next sequel to Size 12 is Not Fat does not fall like this one.











The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta




Weird book. I almost had to force myself to finish it because I kept waiting for the climax and it never came.

3 years ago, something like the Rapture occurred all over the world. Except there was no rhyme or reason to the people who disappeared. Now everyone is just trying to get back to normal and some cope better than others. The book follows at least 6 characters, a small family and a few other people. Each person has dealt with the Sudden Departure in their own way.

The thing that bothered me the most was that the book just ended. Most of the characters didn't have any wrap up, which bothered me.









Build a Man by Talli Roland

I got this book for free for my Kindle. It is the first free book that I have started and finished on there (besides Pride and Prejudice, but I feel like that is in another category.)

Serenity is an aspiring tabloid writer. (I have never heard of anyone wanting to be a tabloid writer. That seems to be a career that people settle for.) She works for a cosmetic surgery practice and gets a brilliant idea to write an article about a male client in secret. She tricks him into answering questions by pretending to be a free life coach provided by the clinic, she hides the fact from her boyfriend (the doctor) and you can see how all of this would unravel.

I almost stopped reading because I cannot handle tense situations were people are lying and you know they will be discovered. Hence, why I do not lie. I would be too anxious to handle it. I gave it 2 out of 5. It was just meh.

Caught Reading

My partner teacher came to my classroom the other day and asked if I could take a picture of one of our students. I was expecting someone sleeping in class, but instead I found this. It is pretty cute. 

Trials

Our Relief Society lesson today was about trials and waiting patiently on the Lord. Sometimes I feel like I have a lot of experience waiting patiently.  I found this quote I saved almost a year ago.

"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility, ... It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire."

Orson F Whitney

It isn't always easy to go through trials. But I know what good they do us.

A Long, Long Sleep by Ann Sheehan

This is a retake on the story of Sleeping Beauty. I love fairy-tale retellings and just eat them up. But it also had a dystopian twist on it which made it even better.

Rosalinda was woken up one day by a boy trying to give her CPR. He found her in the basement of a building as he was exploring. As she wakes, she learns she has been asleep for 64 years. Everyone she has every known is gone but she the heir to her parent's company.

As she tries to adjust to her new life, she starts to learn things. While she was sleeping, the world around her turned apocalyptic. She wakes up to new technology, new species, and new vocabularies.  She learns more about what her parent's company does and she tries to understand why her parents left her. The more she digs, the more she questions everything about who she was/is.

This book had a love triangle (what YA novel doesn't) but it was different than the others. It had all the ingredients for my favorite book, and it does rank up there. I hope there is a second one.

Moving

1. Moving and being without internet for 2 1/2 weeks means lack of posting. It is going to take a bit to get back in the habit.

2. I have unpacked most of the boxes, but now there are the last few that I am procrastinating. 

3. The Hunger Games comes out this weekend. I have re-read all three books in the last week so I am ready. But I won't being seeing it at midnight on Thursday. No way my old self can handle that with work the next day.

4. Spring Break officially ends tomorrow. I've been back at work for two days, but tomorrow the masses (kids) return. 

5. I have a lot of TV to catch up on. Those boxes are going to have to wait some more.