It's Monday and I have a giveaway for you!

Hello guys and gals! How ya doing?

It's been a good week here. We are of course doing lots of adjusting with an infant in the house, but I think we are all doing admirably considering that some of us are sleeping more than others!

I'm excited to have a lot of new books friends come in to the house this past week or so.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter (from a friend)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (from library book sale)
We Were The Mulvaneys (from library book sale)
Sight Reading (for review)
The World's Strongest Librarian (for review)



Also, I have to direct your attention here. I have a giveaway going on through Friday. Don't miss it!


Read this Week:

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on love and life from Dear Sugar
By Cheryl Strayed


A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
By Brigid Pasulka

Post from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Reviews of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Life After Life, and Sleeping in Eden
Sleeping in Eden Giveaway!

Reading Now:

The Ask and the Answer
By Patrick Ness

Up Next:

Sight Reading
By Daphne Kalotay

What are you reading this week?

Review: Sleeping in Eden (with a giveaway!)

Sleeping in Eden

By Nicole Baart

Howard Books May 2013

368 pages

Received for review from publisher

Lucas Hudson is a small town doctor filling in as the coroner. Lucas' friend Alex, the police chief, expects that the man hanging in his own barn will be a quick open and shut case. But when the investigation reveals a body buried beneath the barn floor, Lucas has the sinking feeling that he knows the victim. Could the young woman be the girl who brought Lucas' wife such joy and sent cracks through their marriage?

This book has dual storylines. The second revolves around a teenage girl named Meg Painter. Meg also lives in the small town of Blackhawk, Iowa. She is a bit of a rebel who prefers learning tricks on her bike or starting a girl's football league to worrying about boys. But when she becomes friends with the new boy in town, it's not long before their relationship becomes more.

The stories of Lucas and Meg work wonderfully in tandem. With Lucas, we follow a man who is holding on to his marriage by the skin of his teeth. We know from the beginning of the novel that he and Jenna are on the rocks, but the reasons for the rift are revealed slowly. In contrast, Meg is experiencing love for the first time. She finds herself unexpectedly torn between a friend she has known for years and the enigmatic new boy who she can't seem to ignore. Meg experiences surprising challenges with both boys and learns that love is never as easy as we hope.

The driving force of this book is the mystery. Who is buried in the barn? Lucas thinks he knows from the beginning and I thought I had the mystery figured out two or three times before Baart finally brings all the threads of the story together perfectly. While trying to figure out the puzzle will leave readers flipping through the pages, Ms. Baart doesn't skimp on character or description. Her characters often make poor decisions, but you can always understand their motives. She depicts the small town of Blackhawk beautifully, noting those little details that bring a location to life for a reader. Sleeping in Eden is a twisty mystery entwined with a story about love - first love, love for family, and the love that we will fight to keep.

To the ladies and gents of the FTC: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Giveaway Time!

I am thrilled to be able to offer a copy of Sleeping in Eden to one reader who lives in the US or Canada. To enter, just leave me a comment.
The contest will run until Friday, May 21. 

Review: Life After Life

Life After Life

By Kate Atkinson

Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown, and Co. April 2013

525 pages

From the library

This book has been the darling of critics and readers since it came out. Does it deserve all the hype? Check out my review at the Atlantic Highlands Herald here. 

Review: Blink

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

By Malcolm Gladwell

296 pages

Back Bay Books April 2007

Borrowed from a friend

Malcolm Gladwell opens the book with the story of a statue acquired by the J Paul Getty Museum in the 1980s. The statue, a kouros or nude male, was verified as authentic by a vast amount of data. But when experts looked at the piece, they could immediately tell that it was a fake. They couldn't say why exactly, but they were sure. Blink is about the two ways that we make decisions. In the first, we gather up as much information as possible in an attempt to make the best choice. When we use the second method, we make snap judgments about people, products, and even books. 

Gladwell writes about our adaptive unconscious, "You may have done the same thing, whether you realized it or not, when you first picked up this book. How long did you hold it in your hands? Two seconds? And yet in that short space of time, the design of the cover, whatever associations you may have had with my name, and the first few sentences about the kouros all generated an impression - a flurry of thoughts and images and preconceptions - that has fundamentally shaped the way you have read this introduction so far. Aren't you curious about what happened in those two seconds?" 

Mr. Gladwell previously worked as a science reporter at a newspaper and it's evident in the way that he writes. He has a thorough understanding of scientific concepts, but he presents them in ways that makes the non-scientific reader feel quite intelligent. The examples he uses throughout this book are extremely varied. He writes about couples counseling, war games, improv groups, sports, and fighting fires. Each of these people make decisions based on less or incomplete information and often have difficulty explaining why they did what they did. He excels at bringing these people and circumstances to vivid life and making you feel like these things are important to your life too. 

As I read, I really appreciated that Gladwell recognized that our subconscious can make bad decisions as well as good ones. At its crux, it comes down to our experience and training as well as the situation at hand. There are times when our gut reactions serve us well, but there are other moments when it is better for us to make the well-informed decision. The important part is learning which is which. 

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is a fascinating look into the way our minds work. Malcolm Gladwell is a very accessible writer who will make you re-evaluate the way our culture views choice and decisions. It's a great science read even for those of us who don't feel very confident in our scientific knowledge. 

It's Monday and baby is here!

Hi everybody! How are you?

I'm thrilled to introduce the newest member of the literary family, Miss Rebecca Grace:

She was born Friday night and we came home Sunday around noon. So now we are slowly easing into life with an infant and a five year old and...well, the rest of life! I do have some review pre-written for this week, so I won't be falling off the map quite yet. Actually I'm going to do my best to still find the time to read and tell you all about those books. We will have to see!

Read This Week:

Sleeping in Eden
By Nicole Baart


Seating Arrangements
By Maggie Shipstead


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Wednesdays with David: The World According to Humphrey
Reviews of Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? and Fever


Reading Now:

A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
By Brigid Pasulka


Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
By Cheryl Strayed

What are you reading this week?

Review: Fever

Fever

By Mary Beth Keane

Scribner March 2013

306 pages

From the library

In 1907, a cook is dragged away from her place of employment. She is a young Irish immigrant working in the kitchen of a wealthy family. A doctor has determined that she may be the cause of an outbreak of typhoid fever that has claimed the lives of several of her employers. Mary Mallon can't believe that she can be the cause - she has never had typhoid fever. But Mary is forcibly removed and made to live in quarantine on an island of tuberculosis patients. She finally finds a lawyer who will fight her case. Can she be cut off from society forever because of a disease that has never made her sick?

While Keane's book is a novelization, Typhoid Mary was a real person who lived in New York City in the early part of the twentieth century. She was isolated for years by the Department of Health who identified her as the first healthy carrier of typhoid fever. Historically, she has been remembered as a crazy woman who fought the health officials every step of the way. When she was finally released, it was with the condition that she never cook again....an edict which she flagrantly ignored. Keane imagines what Mary might have been like, creating a woman who doesn't understand the way disease is spread and can't imagine a life where she does not pursue her passion to cook. 

The story jumps around a bit in order to give us a really full picture of Mary's life. While moving around in time can sometimes be confusing, it works very well in this case. The first chapter begins with Mary being removed from the house where she works and quarantined. We observe her anguish in quarantine as she misses her boyfriend and wonders when she will be released. When she begins working with her lawyer, she recalls the events that brought her to this point. It is here that we learn of her long journey from Ireland to America and the way in which she worked her way up to become a cook, as she had always dreamed of doing.

Fever is an engaging read. Keane has provided a new angle to the story of a woman who had no power over her own life. In our modern age, this type of treatment would create huge outrage. But because Mallon was an immigrant, an unmarried woman, and a servant, few people were willing to fight for her. Mary is a fascinating character, in part because of her stubborn nature and fierce temper. Reading this book will give you new insight into New York of long ago, the history and evolution of medicine, and one woman who was vilified for all of time. 

Wednesdays with David: The World According to Humphrey

The World According to Humphrey

By Betty G Birney 

Puffin Books 2004

124 pages

A present from Grammy 

The story: Humphrey the hamster is despondent. It seems like no one will ever come to take him away from the Pet-O-Rama until one wonderful day, a woman buys him and takes him home. He soon discovers that his owner is Ms. Mac and he will be the class pet for Room 26. Humphrey loves learning, loves the students in his class, and loves Ms. Mac most of all. But what will happen to our beloved hamster when he discovers that Ms. Mac is only a substitute teacher and Mrs. Brisbane doesn't like animals? 

Mama opines: We're back! Hi there, everyone. Wednesdays with David has been on a bit of a hiatus because David didn't want to talk about his reading for a while and I didn't want to push it. I also had realistic expectations about the number of times you wanted to read about The Magic Treehouse series or the Boxcar Children.

In the interest of full disclosure, I read about 1/3 of this book with David and he read the rest on his own. Humphrey is a charming hamster. He makes friends with the students. Once he starts going home with them on the weekends, he is able to help them with their problems at home. Humphrey is smart and fun. We are looking forward to reading more of Humphrey's adventures! 

Thoughts from David: I like it because it has a hamster in it. I also like it because the teacher and children love Humphrey and that's funny.

Favorite part: When Ms. Mac comes back and she'll come back again too! 

                                                                   Happy Reading!