Week 50: Still Me

This week's book:
Still Me
By JoJo Moyes

This week's book is the third in the trilogy (Me Before You and After You) about Lou and how she is mastering her life. You know how sometimes it takes me a while to get all the way through a book because I can't get myself to sit down and finish it. This book was not the case. I really wanted to read it all the time, but my life kept getting in the way. I babysat twice for a couple who's regular sitter was out if town. My kids, my friend that has been living with us and I also visited my friend that has just had her first child. We also took the kids to the fair to overeat and see the animals. My sweet hubby took me to see one of our favorite bands (the Foo Fighters) last night. The Foo Fighters has always been special for us. They were one of the first bands we ever went to see together and the acoustic version of Everlong has always been “our song,” it was even our first dance at our wedding. But the biggest distraction has been that yet again I am going through some medical crap that I really don't want to be going through. As you can see there have been a lot of things going on this week that have kept me from reading my book.

This week's book was alright. There was so much unneeded drama, where if people just communicated better, there would be way less misunderstanding and less hurt feelings. The book kind of drags as well. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but I don't think the book needed to be as long as it was. That being said, it was nice to see the main character become her own person. In the last two books she was always taking care of other people and this book she still cares for others, but she takes care of herself finally. If you have read the other two books into the series I would highly recommend it. I don't think it works as a stand alone story.

Week 49: No God but God

This week's book:
No God but God
By Reza Aslan

Holy macaroni was this week dense. This week's book is all about the history of Islam and it's ridiculously well researched. Because the book is so well researched it reads like a textbook or a dissertation. I literally have no free time with two little humans always in my face and needing me (it's like they think I'm their mom or something, the nerve right). The month of July is always a mad dash in our household. The fourth of July, VBS, our oldest child’s birthday, and our wedding anniversary is all in one week and a half time period. This year we even threw in a trip to Iowa in the mix.

The couple that lead the discussion on the book in my group have a daughter who has converted to Islam. They have done their research and tried to learn as much as they could about this change in religion their daughter has made. Their daughter has made Islam sound beautiful and she is very devoted to her new path. I am always interested in hearing about other religions and beliefs, not to question what I believe in, but to learn what other people hold to be true in their souls. If you want to learn about Islam you should definitely check this book out!

Week 48: Danny the Champion of the World

This week's book:
Danny the Champion of the World
By Roald Dahl

Forget about Willy Wonka or the BFG, the best Roald Dahl story, with The Fantastic Mr Fox as a close second, is Danny the Champion of the World. Danny’s story isn't like most of Dahl’s other books. There is no magic or talking creatures during the course of the book. It's a pretty straight forward story about a little boy who lives with his amazing father in a gypsy caravan behind their filling station that they run together. Danny's dad is the kind of father every child should have. The dad tells amazing stories and treats Danny like a little adult. They have truthful conversations and have a great relationship. Everything is perfect until Danny learns that his father (and pretty much everyone else in their sleepy town) poaches pheasants. Danny and his father come up with a fantastic plan to catch more pheasants than anyone else has ever before.

While rereading the book, I am taken back by some of the things that happen in the book. It could be that is was written in a different time, where a father would take his only child into the woods where they both could be shot for trespassing, or maybe it’s just that I'm a mom now. Who knows, but for the most part this book definitely hold up. It's silly and got the whole family laughing in the car. My family went back to Iowa for a few days to celebrate my Grandfather's 90th birthday. When packing, I made sure we brought Danny. We had started the book months ago but my son's obsession with Captain Underpants took over a lot of the reading time with the kiddos, so Danny and his adventures were pushed to the back burner.

Week 47: After You

This week's book:
After You
By JoJo Moyes

This week's book is the second book in Moyes series about a woman becoming her own person. This installment is our main character mourning the loss of the man she fell in love with in the previous book. The first book is about our main character taking care of a man who has suffered a major injury and he is planning to take his own life to end his suffering. To be honest, I read the first book when everyone else was reading it and didn't really enjoy it. I read the first book because I was doing a reading challenge and one of the requirements was a book that made you cry. When polling Facebook, a lot of people voted for Me Before You (which is the first book). I read it and didn't shed one tear. Turns out books never make me cry. I don't know why but I never cry while reading books (with the exception of My Sister's Keeper, which I blame on it being my time of the month while I was reading it).

I picked up the sequel to Me Before You at Barnes and Noble awhile back when the kids and I were at the store for storytime. This week's book was on the clearance table for $5.99, in hardback no less. I read about a third of it and wasn't feeling it. So I put it down and sort of forgot about it for a while. Well, I picked it back up late last week and, it turned out, I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed this book more than the first book. Maybe I could relate more to a person being sad about a departed loved one, being that I miss my mom everyday. The whole story is about the main character coming out of her shell and becoming a strong woman. I'm all for empowering women. She meets a member of her deceased love’s family and ends up helping the teenage girl. The main character also may have found a new love. This week's book ends very open ended, so it should come as no surprise that there is a third installment of this series. Don't worry, I already ordered a copy (on accident) from eBay (I seriously don't remember placing a bid on it).

If you have read the first book, dear reader, I would definitely recommend reading this book. If you haven't read the first novel, go read that first, because you will be totally lost if you don't.