I guess I have been a slacker!

Now that speed reading champion Jennifer is out of school it seems I have to pick up the pace. I will point out that I have been waiting for her to finnish the Percy Jackson series. Like her I really enjoyed it. I like how you got a mythology lesson in every book. The one thing I got from the book that I think it is important for children to learn is you can't choose your family but you can choose how you react and interact with them. After Percy found out who is family was it took some time to adjust. He had uncles that would try to kill him and a father who could not be a father. Later on he learned he had a brother who by birthright was an outcast. Over all he learned to love them all and except who they were. I really enjoyed the book, it did not dawn on me that something was missing until I read The Chronicles of Nick. It has the same vibe as Percy Jackson except on crack. When I started to read the book and Nick the main character was a teenager I realized his characteristics were of a real teenager. Trust me I should know those, I have a 15year old and an 18 year old. Both of them boys and we have a rotating troop of others coming through the house. By nature they are sarcastic smart mouths. They can't help it, it is like there is a dormant gene that activates when they are 13 and de-activates when they finaly get a clue. So once I started reading about Nick it felt real. Like I can see my boys reacting like that. That is when I compared it to Percy who had a great personality but seemed to polished. So if you like the Percy Jackson series I would recomend The Chronicles of Nick but I warn you it does have cuss words. I look forward to the next book in her series. The auther is Sherrilyn Kenyon. This book is labled young adult and I think it is pushing it. Kenyon has a series that is called the Dark Hunters that leads into this book. You can start with this book and not be lost. It did make me curious about some of the characters so I thought I would read the Dark Hunter series. By my guess I don't think she meant it to turn into one, the first book is a little racy for me and the reviews are mixed. I will let you do your own research if you are interested. But check out Nick. I am currently reading Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. Jennifer recomended it to me so she may have some coments about it when I am done. Well that is all I have.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I just finished reading this FANTASTIC book yesterday.  I have had this book sitting on my Kindle for a while, and I don't know why it took me sooo long to read this.  It was awesome.  Not the fastest read in the world because of the nature of how the book is set up, but it was such a good story.

The book takes places in the 1940s, just after the war has ended.  It is written in the form of letters written between all the characters.  I found all the stories easy to follow and wanted to know more of what was happening.  I loved being able to read the story from all different points of view.  Juliet is the main character.  She is an author who receives a letter from Dawsey from Guernsey.  The island was overtaken by the Germans during the war, and through the letters, we see how that occupation affected everyone on the island.

The Red Tent

I read this book on the way down to Florida.  It was recommended to me by a cousin of mine, and it was one of the most interesting books I have read in a while.

Here is a review:

"The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob's daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent. In a confiding and poetic voice, Dinah whispers stories of her four mothers, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah--all wives to Jacob, and each one embodying unique feminine traits. As she reveals these sensual and emotionally charged stories we learn of birthing miracles, slaves, artisans, household gods, and sisterhood secrets. Eventually Dinah delves into her own saga of betrayals, grief, and a call to midwifery.

"Like any sisters who live together and share a husband, my mother and aunties spun a sticky web of loyalties and grudges," Anita Diamant writes in the voice of Dinah. "They traded secrets like bracelets, and these were handed down to me the only surviving girl. They told me things I was too young to hear. They held my face between their hands and made me swear to remember." Remembering women's earthy stories and passionate history is indeed the theme of this magnificent book. In fact, it's been said that The Red Tent is what the Bible might have been had it been written by God's daughters, instead of her sons. --Gail Hudson"


I really enjoyed this book.  I had to ignore the fact that the book does deviate from the Bible a bit, and recognize that it is written from a different point of view.  It was really neat, though, to see the biblical times from the point of view of a woman.  The book moved well and kept me interested.  I recommend this book to anyone.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians Series

I am sure Diana had thought I had given up on this series at this point, but school just got super busy in the last few months.  Now that summer is almost here (I have one more workday), I have had more time to read.

As a reader of Harry Potter books, I had a feeling I would like this series as well.  I wasn't disappointed.  Here is what Wiki says about the series:

Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a series of fictional adventure and fantasy books authored by Rick Riordan. Set in the United States, the books are predominantly based on Greek mythology. The series consists of five books, as well as spin-off titles such as The Demigod Files and Demigods and Monsters. The Lightning Thief, the first book, is the basis of a film called Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which was released in the United States and Canada on February 12, 2010.

The protagonist is Percy Jackson, who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes. He learns that the legendary beings of Greek mythology still exist and have always existed, including monsters, cyclopes, empousae, Titans, and the Greek Gods (Olympians) themselves who dwell in Olympus, which is now situated at the mythical 600th floor of the Empire State Building. Percy is frequently attacked by monsters because he is a child of one of the "Big Three": god of the gods and the god of the sky, Zeus, the king of the sea, Poseidon, and the leader of the Underworld, Hades, who made a pact after World War II to not have any more children because they were too powerful and unpredictable. Percy meets many other young demigods, both friendly and hostile, who are also in the process of discovering their ancestry and powers. The only other known demigod children of these "Big Three" in the series are Thalia Grace (daughter of Zeus), Nico di Angelo (son of Hades), and Bianca di Angelo (daughter of Hades).

As of May 28, 2010, the series has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for children's books for 150 weeks.^[1]

  

This series was a quick read for me.  There were times where it was a little predictable, but then again, there were times where I was surprised.  I was glad to see the amount of action, even though the constant battles with new monsters sometimes got old.  I am surprised this series hasn't caught on as well as Harry Potter did.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but the whole time reading the books, I could easily see this being a great movie series, and hope they keep going with the whole series.

All in all I really enjoyed this series of books.  As a teacher, I want to have my students with learning disabilities read it, because they often referred to Percy's difficulty with school and how that ended up being a good thing.  I try to teach my kids to learn strategies to deal with their disability instead of being hindered by it.

City of Ember Series.

I guess I will start us of with what I am reading. I am reading The Diamond of Darkhold which is the 4th book in the City of Ember Series by Jeanne DuPra. I started reading this series because of my youngest Kyle. When he was in the the 8th grade his class read The City of Ember. I have felt the easiest way to help my children with book reports or to understand the book is if I have read the book. I enjoyed the first book. The premise is that there is a city that is built under ground and I is slowly dieing. The food supplies, electricity ... is running out. It is interesting because this city has been self sufficient for over a hundred years because of rules. Everything had it purpose, everyone had their jobs and every one did what they needed to help the city survive. There is so much more to the book. I highly recommend it for preteens. It really gives them an idea of what it means to be an individual as well as part of a community. The second book, The People of Sparks goes on after the people of Ember find a way out of underground and are in a post disaster era. This book really helps show the dynamic of getting along and being an understanding person. I really not doing the series justice. It really makes you think. I just finished the 3rd book, Prophet of Yonwood. Oh my goodness! This one is deep. The first thing that annoyed me is, I don't like it when you are in the series and all of the sudden there is a time warp and you go back in time before the other books. I understand it is a tool to fill in the blank but really I missed the Lina and Doon. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I did not want to go back in time first and learn about how simple mis-understandings can cause problems. I understand what this book is trying to make you think about but when the busy body announced that everyone needed to get rid of their dogs because we should give all of our love to God and the dogs were keeping us from from doing good. I was mad. But it all worked out in the end and the dogs got to come home. So that brings me back to the 4th book. So far it is good. I will fill you in when I am finished.

Getting to know Diana!

So it is my turn to share a little about myself. You will learn quickly that I am not as photogenic as Jennifer and I may not be as articulate. I think Jennifer explained our situation very well. I think it will be very interesting for us to continue our conversations about books in this medium. I agree that because of our different experiences and common interests we can see different sides of the story and sometimes we agree 100%.( We will never agree on Edward and Jacob.) We come from two totally different backgrounds, we both share January birthdays, we were born in the same decade however on opposite ends, we both love crafts, we both married military men, she works with children and I am bombarded daily with the drama of children. That is just a few things about us. So now I will answer the same questions that Jen did and you will definitely be able to tell who is older, especially it you are blind and can't tell by the pictures.

• Who was your favorite celebrity as a child? Lief Garret. I had all of his cards that you got out of teen magazines.


• What type of pets do you have? I have two dogs, Brownie and Fluffy.


• What is your favorite color? Green, because it's not easy being green.


• What is most memorable about your high school years? Not much, I just tried to blend in and get by.


• What word best describes you? Conundrum


• What is your greatest accomplishment? I could say my kids but they are a work in progress. I could say my marriage but once again a work in progress. I think that my biggest accomplishment is that I am still here, I still get up every morning and I give 110% of myself to everything that is important to me.


• What drives you every day? What drives me is the fact that there is more for me to do.


• What is your favorite food? I am torn on this one. If you look at my picture, food is my friend. I can eat shrimp all day.


• Where do you want to retire? Any where on a nice beach.


• What is your business goal for this year? Going a different way, my goal is to learn to mind my own business and not to put my self out there as much.


• Where do you vacation? Our vacations are usually to visit family. We like going to Maine.


• Who do you admire? I admire those who put others before themselves.


• What is your mission? As soon as I find Captain Picard, I will let you know.


• If you were invisible where would you go? I would go to a Boston game and mess with the players. This in turn would really mess with my husband.


• What traits are you attracted to in others? Selflessness, genuine, honest, generous.


• What was the kindest thing anyone has done for you? Listened


• How do you want to be remembered? Not sure. I know how I don't want to be remembered, Wow she really knew how to screw things up.


• What would you do with a million dollars? Pay off debt and invest for my children's futures.


• If you were on an island, who would you want to be with?Why? Jennifer, because she can motivate me to do just about anything.


• You have a 10 minute speech to give at a high school, what is it about? Get over yourself. It is not all about you. There is life beyond this building.

Getting to know...Jennifer

I thought it would be fun to answer some random questions!  Maybe Diana will join me and answer the same ones too!

• Who was your favorite celebrity as a child?  My favorite celebrity as a child was Kirk Cameron.  I adored him!
• What type of pets do you have? I have a dog, a Westie named Tessie.  She is ADORABLE!
• What is your favorite color? Blue
• What is most memorable about your high school years? Probably all the time I spent in Colorguard.
• What word describes you best? I hate this question...really?  One word to describe me?  How about...indecisive?
• What is your greatest accomplishment? Finding love
• What drives you every day? The idea that I can choose my dreams and whether they are fulfilled.
• What is your favorite food? A good hamburger and fries!
• Where do you want to retire? Hmm...Ireland would be nice.
• What is your business goal this year? Hahahahahahaha...to start one. :)
• Where do you like to vacation? I would love to go back to London.  But, typically, anywhere where family is.
• Who do you admire? All men and women in the military
• What is your mission? To be content.
• If you were invisible, where would you go?  To a bank vault.  Just keeping it real. 
• What traits in others are you attracted to? Kindness, humor, and generosity
• What is the kindest thing anyone has done for you? Picked me up when I needed a friend.
• How do you want to be remembered? As a sweet person who lived a great life.
• What would you do with a million dollars? Pay off debt.
• If you were on an island, who would you want to be with? Why? Diana, because she knows how to cook and makes life fun!
• You have a 10 minute speech to give at a high school, what is it about? That everything you worry about in high school won't matter in 10 years.  Heck, even 2 years.

Here we are!

Hi There!

Diana and I (Jennifer) got the idea to start this blog for several reasons.  Buckle your seatbelt!

1) We are best friends.  We met in Texas through our husbands who were in the army.  We have been through a deployment together.  Diana has saved my life in more ways than she will ever know.  (I know...awwww.)  She was even at my wedding and allowed her boys to get dressed up in tuxes to stand by us. :)  After our husbands were out of the army, we continued to be together nearly every weekend at her house.  We would chat in the kitchen about everything (GOSH, I miss those days) and endure the silliness that comes from Ryan and Marty and the boys.  Well, lo and behold, life changes, and Ryan got a great opportunity for school and that landed us in North Carolina.  So,                                                               there's the separated by miles.

2)  We have kind of known all along that we both like to read, and would discuss books from time to time. We like the same kinds of books, and they are generally all different kinds.  There really isn't anything we won't attempt to read.  Some of our books are geeky, some are popular, and some are just great reads.  We started recommending books to each other and then would talk about them.  One really cool thing about us though, is the fact that sometimes we read the EXACT same book and see entirely different people.  I love that.  Case in point.  The Twilight Series.  Diana is Team Jacob, all the way.  I am Team Edward, all the way.  While the popular world has merchandise that advertises that very fact that some people would be for one over the other, Diana and I find it very interesting that we are reading the exact same story, but see totally different things.  I think we would both agree that it is our life experience and what our personalities tend to be.  So, I find that very neat to read the same thing, and get totally different views.  So, there's the joined by books.

3) Starting in April, lasting all the way until October, Diana and I become baseball widows.  Red Sox baseball widows to be exact.  Every game, Ryan and Marty talk through the entire game, so Diana and I thought we needed something to connect us too.  So, there's the blog and the baseball background :)

We plan on giving book reviews on this blog, with maybe an occasional movie review if it comes from a book.  But, everything is book related.  We read all kinds from kids' books to chick lit to mysteries to serious books.  We might add a craft blog here and there, since we both love to do crafts as well!