Sitting Practice by Caroline Adderson

Lately I've been relying mostly on recommendations and fellow book bloggers reviews before I pick up a book to read. But I happened to come across this one in the library and thought that both the cover and the premise were quite intriguing. It didn't take me long to become completely absorbed in the character's situations and emotions, and as much as I really wanted to like this book, it left a sour taste in my mouth by the end.

I was pretty bummed out by how crass the author would get with the language, it is just is a total turnoff to me when foul language is used too often. To be honest, the F word is not romantic in any way whatsoever. Any even apart from that, I really started to care about this newlywed couple who had suffered such a tragedy, and the way it ended was so dissatisfying! Sure you might say, well life doesn't always include a happy ending, but at least leave the reader with some hope, or a silver lining. The book jumped around so much between the past & present that I didn't really understand the point of it. Every time there was a flashback to their wedding, I thought, yes - because that was this all comes down to, their committment to one another. But no, not really, I guess it was more to talk about his catering?

I was left with this pit in my stomach and thought, yuck. And I'll just leave it at that.

Description: It only takes a moment for your life to be changed forever—as the characters of this darkly comic novel discover early on. The fateful moment for the newlyweds Ross and Iliana comes with the freak automobile accident that leaves Iliana paralyzed, Ross grief-stricken, and both of them struggling to come to terms with a married life nothing like they originally had in mind. As the usually affable Ross struggles with guilt and with finding ways to cope with his newly fractured life, Iliana gets used to her unwelcome existence as a wheelchair-bound wife, to her husband’s growing sense of alienation, and to their awkward new lack of intimacy.

What ultimately happens with Ross and Iliana is as unexpected and surprising as the fateful mishap that sets the events in motion in the first place. Sitting Practice is a clever and insightful study of love’s collision with harsh reality, told by an author with a remarkable instinct for the workings of human nature, a nimble gift for language, and the ability to find humor in the oddest places.



Recommend: Nope

Rating: **

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

At last! I brought this big ol' mama-jamma book with me on our trip to California and had the toughest time putting it down! I was anxious to see how it all ended and found myself as pathetically wrapped up in this series as everyone else I knew who had read it. It truly was a great series and I'm truly amazed how someone can create such a world on paper. Fantasy is typically not my thing, so I really thought this would be a stretch for me, but it was so easy to get wrapped up and now I'm waiting along with so many others with bated breath for the next film based on the series to come out in theatres!

I'm still a bit in awe that I read this 756 page book within a week's time. That sucker took up more than half my carry-on! And I loved how it ended, I thought it was perfect.

As far as recommending this series, there are people I work with who ask me if I would recommend this series to their kids. My response is, if it was me, I would ask my child to wait till they were 16 before reading it, because I feel the nature of the content can be a bit intense and mature for anyone younger than that. And if I were a parent who had a 16 year old interested in this series, I would first want to read the books myself, so that I could sit down with my child and have a conversation about what they thought of it. This series is so popular amongst our youth and I don't feel that by not allowing my kids to read the series is going to protect them any. I would hope that my kids could read a series like this and filter it through the belief systems they've been brought up with so they view these books through a healthy and balanced worldview. There are definite parallels I found myself aware of through this series that I felt related with my Christian walk, and those are the types of conversations that I hope book series like these will someday spark with my own children.

Description: When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

Recommend: 16 and Up!

Rating: *****

Things I Want My Daughters To Know by Elizabeth Noble

I have two younger sisters, Kris and Kati. So naturally, when I come across a story that delves into the sister relationships and how they deal with a difficult situation I'm naturally drawn in. I fell in love with this family and was extremely intrigued by how they dealt with the loss of their mother to cancer. I myself have never really lost a loved one before, so I have no possible way to imagine how painful it must be. But the way Elizabeth Noble pulls you in, you feel as though your walking in each of their shoes. Yet at the same time there was a great balance with humor so it wasn't overly depressing.

But I do have just one teeny complaint, and that was that I had a hard time with a lot of the British slang. I wish there was an index in the back that explained what they all meant.

So all that to say, I will be adding Elizabeth Noble to my list of authors to keep an eye out for!

Description: How do you cope in a world without your mother?

When Barbara realizes time is running out, she writes letters to her four daughters, aware that they'll be facing the trials and triumphs of life without her at their side. But how can she leave them when they still have so much growing up to do?

Take Lisa, in her mid-thirties but incapable of making a commitment; or Jennifer, trapped in a stale marriage and buttoned up so tight she could burst. Twenty-something Amanda, the traveler, has always distanced herself from the rest of the family; and then there's Hannah, a teenage girl on the verge of womanhood about to be parted from the mother she adores.

But by drawing on the wisdom in Barbara's letters, the girls might just find a way to cope with their loss. And in coming to terms with their bereavement, can they also set themselves free to enjoy their lives with all the passion and love each deserves?

This heartfelt novel by bestselling author Elizabeth Noble celebrates family, friends...and the glorious, endless possibilities of life.

Recommend: Yes

Rating: ****

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Ahhh......there's no satisfaction quite like a Nicholas Sparks book. Ever since I fell in love with the movie Message In a Bottle years ago, I had to get my hands on anything Nicholas Sparks had ever written. And I have never not enjoyed one of his beautiful love stories. My sister Kati and I are even known to mark our calendars the day one of his new novels is marked for release. I would love to even meet him some day and have him sign one of the books I own.

So back to The Lucky One. The novel centers around U.S. Marine Logan Tibault and the picture of a beautiful woman he stumbles upon while on tour in Kuwait. Logan comes to believe that this picture is his lucky charm as it carries him through many near-death experiences. I won't say much more about it, because I hate to give anything away. If you enjoy Nicholas Sparks, you have to put this one at the top of your list, and if you've never read him before this is a great one to start with!

I was also very excited to recently learn that not even weeks after the book release of The Lucky One, Warner Brothers purchased the rights to make the movie!!! I actually haven't even seen Nights In Rodanthe yet, but I'm hoping to rent that one as soon as it comes out in Netflix. What can I say? I'm a total sap and he's my fav :-)

Description: When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket. Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck—winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph—his lucky charm.
Back home in Colorado, Thibault can’t seem to get the photo—and the woman in it—out of his mind. Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina—Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son—to be the girl he’s been waiting his whole life to meet.

Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart—destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, THE LUCKY ONE is Nicholas Sparks at his best—an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the power of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love.

Recommend: Absolutely!

Rating: *****