Queen of the Road — Travel Memoir

I’ve been seeing alot about this memoir throughout the blogging world.  I think I saw it first at Booking Mama (where I find lots of good recommendations for reading).  Then, my friend Stephanie offered to lend me one of the copies she received from the author.  I snapped it right up.

Doreen Orion, a self-proclaimed “Princess of the Island Long,” embarks on a year-long journey with her husband Tim in a converted Provost bus.  Doreen, a psychiatrist who doesn’t like to have to leave her house (except maybe to shop), was not looking forward to spending a year in such small quarters, on the road with her psychiatrist husband. But, she agreed and off they went.  It was a year of change, for everyone.

I really enjoyed this book.  Doreen is funny throughout the book and doesn’t take herself too seriously.  She did change, as did her husband, but still remained, at the core, herself.  Throughout the book, Doreen makes fun of herself, her husband, and the people she meets.  But, she does not do it maliciously.  I found myself laughing with her many times. 

The manner of the book is conversational.  It was more like listening to a story being told than actually reading it.  Sometimes, I did have trouble following some trains of thought, but not for very long.  Doreen included lots of information about the places they visited and even provided some history facts that I was not aware of.  I was never interested in visiting some places until I read her descriptions of some things she saw.  I want to convince my husband to read this because I think he would like the travel points of interest.

Of course, Doreen does provide some original recipes for cocktails that she uses to self-medicate her “bus phobia” throughout the trip.  I think I may have to try a few.  Another plus, is a list of books she and her husband read during their year-long trip that they would recommend.  I’ve read some, but have now added a few to the TBR list. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  It has a lot to offer.  Sometimes, I find memoirs boring, but not this one.  It is told in a fun, easy-to-read manner and it is not depressing at all.  The author recognizes how lucky she was before the trip and also sees the need for some positive changes in her life.

I haven’t checked them out, yet, but I am planning on it.  The author has a couple of websites that offer more information about her trip and what she’s been up to since.  The book website is http://www.thequeenoftheroadthebook.com and the author website (which may include her blog during the trip) is www.doreenorion.com .

Shopgirl — Novella vs Movie

 

I promised a review of Shopgirl by Steve Martin, so  here it is.  The novella is about a young woman living in LA, working at a fancy department store, trying to make it on her own.  She is an artist who doesn’t do much with her art and she easily gets depressed.  She has trouble connecting with people and is desperate for a connection.  A wealthy, older gentleman (in his 50s) whoos her and they start an affair. 

This novella is definitely about its characters and their journey through life.  It is also about relationships and how people approach them differently.  There are miscommunications, hurt, love, and sadness.  Overall, I enjoyed the character and relationship development.  I have to warn you that the vocabulary is sometimes difficult.  I should have had my dictionary nearby, but I just kept plugging through using context clues as best I could.  After reading the novel, I definitely wanted to see the movie and I put it to the top of my Netflix list.

The movie, starring Clare Danes and Steve Martin (himself), generally followed the novella.  There were some minor changes, as always, but the main story remained true to the book.  I guess it helps when the author of the book also stars in the movie.  I have to say that I didn’t think Steve Martin was a good pick for the older gentleman in this story.  He just wasn’t what I pictured in my head while reading the novella.  Plus, I just don’t see Steve Martin as a serious character.  Nevertheless, he does do an adequate job with the role.  Clare Danes was a good choice, I thought.

So, overall, I would recommend the book and the movie.  Although, if you’re looking for action, just skip it.

I Am Way Behind

Well, I just got home from a week in Cape Cod.  It was excellent!!  I have to say it is up there on the list of best vacations our family has taken together.  The kids were well behaved (for the most part), the weather was perfect, we visited with old friends, and relaxed.  And, of course, read! 

When I came home and went to my book log to add my latest reads, I’ve realized that I haven’t been keeping up with my reviewing.  And, I’m starting to forget.  So, I’m just going to give a few thoughts about some books I’ve read this month without doing full reviews.

First off, I read two other Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella.  I read the first one a couple of months ago and reviewed it here.  I found the first one just an okay read so I’m  not sure why I decided to read the next two, except I thought they would probably be nice, easy summer reads.  And, that’s what they were.  Although, each one got more ridiculous.  I had a little  trouble getting through Shopaholic Ties the Knot (which I had on vacation) because it became just too silly.  Becky just never seems to grow up.  At the end of each book you think there’s hope for her, that she has learned her lesson, but she never does.  It almost stopped being funny and instead became pathetic.  It was like a train wreck;  I just couldn’t stop until I finally passed them by.

Earthly Pleasures, which I found out about at Booking Mama, was a really cute novel about heaven (not what you think), love and relationships.  I enjoyed it a lot.  Check out Julie P’s review for more info.!

I also read two “Jane Austen-type” novels.  Mr. Darcy’s Diary was the retelling of P&P from Darcy’s perspective.  I remember taking some time getting into it, but after a couple of chapters (or journal entries), I really enjoyed it.  It was fun to relive a favorite novel from a different perspective.  I went from disliking Darcy to enjoying him (just like Elizbeth).  PS   I’m hoping Stephenie Meyer comes through with the companion novel to Twilight from Edward’s perspective.

I also read The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy on vacation.  I had read Aston’s other novel called Mr. Darcy’sDaughters and liked it.  However, this one about Althea Darcy was not as good.  I thought it was a little slow and it took me a while to even care about her much.  The story picked up a litte about midway through but ended predictably.

I also read Steve Martin’s Shopgirl and watched the movie.  I think I’ll talk about those more together later.

So, I’ve tried to catch up with some short reviews and look forward to catching up on reading your reviews, too.

MiniBookExpo Review

When I was perusing the blogging world, I found a website called MiniBookExpo.   This is a website where publishers can post copies of their books and offer them to bloggers to read and review.  Most of the books are from Canada, but some publishers will send books to the US.  I thought I’d give it a try.

After checking out which books were available, I spotted one called The Best of Keith Speak – The First 7 Years by Keith Ryan.  The description of the book sounded interesting.  I don’t remember it clearly, but I remember thinking it would be a funny look at a guy’s daily journal; something different to check out. 

Well, I received a spiral bound printout.  It starts with an introduction that instructs the reader to start at page 1 and continue to the end.  The first two sentences are:

This is the Best of KeithSpeak culled from the first 7 years, or 82 KeithSpeaks, and is presented in chronological order.  All of the following entries are completely, absolutely true except those parts which aren’t, and could never be.

I was confused already.  I turned to the first page and read the first entry dated June 27, 2000.  I didn’t get it.  I thought I started in the middle of the story.  I tried to persevere.  I kept reading for about 20 or so pages and got more and more confused.  It actually started aggravating me.  I had no idea what I was reading.  I started to skip around.  It didn’t help. 

So, I thought I’d go check out the author’s/publisher’s website KeithRyan.com.  Apparently, what I was reading was the blog entries of a blog called KeithSpeak.  Keith is an author who has his own publishing company.  He writes for tv, movies, etc and also has a blog where he writes some thoughts(?).  I guess he decided to make his blog into a book. 

I read some reviews on his website which seemed all to be glowing.  Maybe those people know Keith or are more aware of his blog.  But, I just don’t get it.  And, I can’t go on with the book.   I tried; I really, really tried but I can’t do it.   Sorry!

Tag, I’m It

I was tagged for this Book Buzz Meme by Julie P. over at Booking Mama.  It sounds like fun and good way to find some new reads for the TBR pile!

Here’s the idea: (you can copy this paragraph to use in your post): I am going to list three categories of books. 3 MUST Read Books, 3 Keep Your Eyes on These, and 3 Look For These Soon. Keeping with the theme, I am going to tag at least 3 bloggers. They should put these same lists on their blog but SUBTRACT one book from each list and ADD one of their own. Then they should tag at least 3 more bloggers. It will be fun to see how the lists change as it goes around the blogosphere. Please come back to this post and leave a comment so I can see how the lists are changing as they go around the blogosphere. Since this is Book Buzz…please keep your lists to titles released in 2007-2009.

3 MUST Read Books:

• Somebody Else’s Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage
• The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (although some may disagree– see review here)

3 Keep Your Eyes on These:

• Seeing Me Naked by Liza Palmer
• Names my Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (see reveiw here)

3 Look For These Soon:

• Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
• The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran (Moran’s Nefertiti was great and I’m looking forward to the next book)
• The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Now, I’m suppossed to pick three bloggers to join in.  Here we go:

• Stephanie at Stephanie’s Written Word
• Lisa at Books on the Brain
• Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit

Just Do It (without your Nikes)

Crown Publishing was nice enough to offer to send me some free books earlier this summer.  One of the ones I picked was Just Do It by Douglas Brown.  It is the true story of …”how one couple turned off the TV and turned on their sex lives for 101 days (no excuses!)”

When I received it in the mail, my husband read the inside cover and asked me what kind of book this was, pornography?  I got a little self-conscious about it then and put it aside.  But, I picked it up a couple of days ago and delved in.  What a book!

The book is written by Doug, a Denver Post columnist who specializes in “sex” stories.  When he was telling his wife about a group of men who bonded over not having sex for 100 straight days, his wife came up with an idea.  She wanted to reverse that and have 100 days of sex.  Of course, Doug agreed.  They planned out their sexathon during the “training period.”  They visited their doctor, asking for advice.  They bought some supplies, planned some trips, etc.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  Doug was so honest about things.  I found myself blushing sometimes while giggling.  My favorite part was Doug’s descriptions of his family, his wife and his two daughters (age 7 and age 3) and how he and his wife worked with those contraints for the sake of the sexathon.  I could totally relate to their struggling, at times, with exhaustion after working and being with the kids all day and then facing the prospect of sex.  It really made the book better.

I enjoyed the descriptions of the different ideas that the couple came up with to “spice things up.”  It was fun to get some ideas!  I also liked seeing how this sexathon affected the couple outside of the bedroom.  It was great to see their growth and learn from their experience.  Their relationship evolved and they learned some important things about being a couple.  It helped to remind me of some of these things.

Now, for the criticism — the book could have been tightened up a little, maybe cut out some pages.  Some of the chapters were a little redundant (I guess it showed how 100 nights of sex could get a little redundant).  But, I think we got the point and could have used a little less.  Second, Doug told everyone, I mean EVERYONE, about the sexathon before he started, including his parents.  That kind of creeped me out.  His mother would call to find out how it was going.  A little too weird for me. 

Otherwise, I would recommend this for a married couple with kids.  It could just give you some inspiration!

A Fun, Magical Tale

My mom brought over a copy of Garden Spell, by Sarah Addison Allen, and said it was just a fun, happy read.  She said it is a story to make you smile.  It sounded like a perfect summer read to me.

Garden Spell is the story of the Waverly women in a small town.  These women are “strange” as they seem to have some magical powers and are shunned by society even as they are pursued for their special gifts.  The plants in their garden affect people.  One Waverly sister comes home after leaving 10 years prior.  She’s trying to running away with her daughter from her abusive partner.  She arrives home to her sister, Clare, who is a loner and is afraid of forming strong attachments.  There’s the neighbor who is pursuing Clare despite her attempts to discourage him.  In addition, there’s the distant Wavely cousin who is obligated to give items to people without knowing why. 

The characters in this book are very colorful.  The author does a beautiful job describing the Waverly’s amazing garden and even provides a glossary at the back of the book outlining the special powers of all the plants. 

While the story, itself, is nothing new, the author does put a new spin on it with all the magic.  It was a fun book to read and I enjoyed all of the characters.  The climax of the novel is wrapped up a little too easily, but it did fit with the tone of the book.  While there are some darker issues, abusive relationships, abandonment, etc, the book does have a light feel to it.  There is a little humor, and, of course, the happy ending.

I enjoyed this fun little novel and would recommend it for a light read.

Peony in Love by Lisa See

I read Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fana couple of years ago as part of an online book club I joined.  It was not a book I ever would have picked out myself, but I have to say it was a wonderful read.  I truly enjoyed it.

So, when I was at the library last week and I saw Lisa See’s other book, Peony in Love on the bookshelf, I grabbed it up (not like I needed it since I have so many books at home waiting to be read.  But, the mood struck me the right way and I took it home).  It was nothing like I expected….

When I read the inside cover, it didn’t connect with me, I guess, what I was going to find in this book. I thought I was looking at a good historical fiction romance.  I got that plus so much more.  It turned out to be a historical romance ghost story.  Who knew?? 

**a little bit of spoiler**

This novel is based on historical events with a focus on women’s writings in China during the seventeenth century.  The main character, Peony, is a 16-year-old girl who is about to enter into an arranged marriage with a man she hasn’t met.  She is an educated girl who is obsessed with the opera The Peony Pavilion (which is a real opera).  This opera is the story of a girl who dies from love sickness but is brought back to life by her true love.  Peony also wants true love and finds it in a young man she meets one night while her father is hosting guests in their home.  The two fall in love without exchanging names.  Peony becomes lovesick and no longer wants to marry her intended (even though, it turns out her intended is the man she met).  Peony stops eating and dies right after she finds out who her intended husband is.  This is only the beginning of the story….

**end spoiler**

The writing in this novel is beautiful, just like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.  It also describes this time in China, for women, well.  I felt like I could really understand their torment and longing.  I guess I just wasn’t ready for all the “ghost” stuff.  Although, after I accepted that it was going to be that kind of story, I started to enjoy it more.  It seems lately I’ve liked the beginning and end of books, just not the middle (see Eat, Pray, Love review).

Peony grows up a lot after she dies.  I know, that sounds weird.  But, this book seems to be a coming of age story in the afterworld.  In addition, a lot of family secrets are revealed and dealt with by all the family members.  It left me feeling a little sad that things in a family were so different than the characters really thought.  Each character has to deal with disappointment and forgiveness.  Many issues are resolved, which does lend itself to a satisfying ending after such a difficult journey.

I would recommend this book.  Like I said, it is well done and it addresses women’s issues in an interesting manner.  I didn’t always understand how some of the women acted, but I didn’t enjoy Peony’s journey.  Just be prepared that it’s not the happiest novel ever.  Although, all’s well that ends well.

It’s Bittersweet…..

 

I received my copy of Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer on Tuesday (while I was expecting it to arrive on its release date of Saturday).  I almost hugged the mailman when he rang my doorbell and handed me my package from Amazon.  It was great that my mom had the kids for the day.  I spent the entire afternoon reading, left for Panera Bread with my book when my husband got home, read some more when I came back and knew the kids were in bed.  The next morning, my kids watched TV while I finished it.  Yes, I finished the over 700-page finale in less than 24-hours!   I feel a little like I did when I finished the last Harry Potter book, a little sad, but satisfied.  At least, I still have two Harry Potter movies and the Twilight movie to look forward to.

As my friends know, I am a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE Stephenie Meyer fan (I’ve even convinced my husband to read The Host).  I LOVE Edward and I love Bella.  I even like Jacob.  I couldn’t wait to see how Stephenie was going to end this love story.  I was not disappointed.  And, I don’t think the Jacob fans out there will be that disappointed, either.  Stephenie Meyer found a way, I think, to make sure all of her fans would be satisfied. 

The book started off with the wedding we’ve all been waiting for.  That’s where the predictable part ends.  By the third or fourth chapter, I was surprised, delighted and engrossed.  I still got some tingling feelings in my belly with scences between Edward and Bella although the “tension” isn’t quite as strong now that they are married!  I don’t know how this author does it, but I am totally involved in these stories.  And, the twists don’t stop throughout this book.  Stephenie Meyer sure knows how to make things fit together.  She ties up all the loose ends, which is a little too neat.  But, the path to the end is exciting and surprising. 

I don’t want to say too much and ruin it for anyone still reading it. 

ENJOY!!!

Eat, Pray, Love — New Classics Challenge Book 1

Okay, I finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert on July 31 and the New Classics Challenge doesn’t officially begin until August 1, but I’m counting it! 

As I’ve mentioned before, I saw Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah and after hearing her on there, I decided I wanted to read her book.  It took me awhile to finally get it and read it.  Since the Oprah show, I’ve heard mixed reviews about the book.  One woman I know said she didn’t see what all the hype was about.  Another woman, who tried to listen to it on CD, just gave up on it.  Nevertheless, I went with my first reaction to hearing about the book and read it (especially after I saw it on the New Classics list).

Now, for my reaction.  I would say it’s mixed.  The book is Elizabeth’s year-long search for happiness after her messy divorce.  The book is split into three parts:  1. Italy; 2. India; 3. Indonesia.  Each of these sections are divided into 36 sections (which has some significance to the author). 

The first part of the book, Italy, I truly enjoyed.  I liked the author’s writing style.  She writes like I’m assuming she talks. Reading it was like listening to her talk.   There are some witty lines and I love her descriptions of the Italian language.   I loved her description of the crowd at a soccer match in Italy.  I also think she does a wonderful job describing depression.  I’ve never read such a good description of depression (from my perspective of having suffered through depression myself).  I also related to her mixed feelings concerning mood medications, which I share.  It was this section of the book where I could really relate to Elizabeth and I was truly rooting for her. 

Then, Elizabeth heads to India to “find” God through mediation and living at an ashram studying under her guru.  During this period, Elizabeth continues to struggle with her feelings and also struggles with the mediations and yoga.  She meets lots of interesting characters (this saved this section for me).  This is the section in which I could no longer relate to Elizabeth.  And, her writing style actually started to grate on me here.  She tended to find a metaphor for everything (and I mean everything).  And, she would take these metaphors a lot further than was useful.  Does beating a dead horse mean anything?  It became annoying and seemed to take away from her story. 

Finally, Elizabeth heads to Indonesia where she wants to learn balance between passion/enjoyment and prayer.  I started to relate a little better again.  It seemed liked Elizabeth came back to reality, sort of.  I enjoyed “meeting” the people she met there and reading about how she did find some balance.  Nevertheless, the metaphors did continue.

Overall, I’m not sure I would recommend this book.  I would definitley recommend the first section for any depression sufferers, especially those who seem to, on the outside, ”have it all” and still suffer.  After that, I would skip the second section and maybe finish up with the third for the happy ending.

So, book 1 down for the challenge!  Next up, The Glass Castle  by Jeannette Walls.