Year 2, week 2: Songs of the Humpback Whale

This week's book:
Songs of the Humpback Whale
By Jodi Picoult

This week's book is by one of my favorite authors: Jodi Picoult. I have read almost everything she has ever written. I am dying to read her next book that comes out in a few months. I most definitely will admit she isn't always for everyone, but for the most part I really enjoy her books.

This week's book was the author’s first novel and almost all of the reviews I read about it said it wasn't that great. I didn't really want to judge what the people of the internet said, they also have said my favorite of her books (Second Glances) wasn't good either, and I love that book. I thought people might just be complaining because it was her first novel. Now just because a book might be the author's first work doesn't always mean it's garbage, Harper Lee’ To Kill a Mockingbird and John Grisham’s A Time to Kill are just some titles off the top of my head. But sadly guys, Songs of the Humpback Whale is not the case. You can see how she is going to become a better writer in future books. You can tell she has a bunch of short stories she has weaved together to try to make a story, but it doesn't quite work. I literally didn't like ANY of the characters in the book, none of them. There are people acting like kids, who are adults. People are falling into bed with people they just met and hated, which are way too young for them. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, adultery, and under aged sex. Plus the book isn't well written, which is a major bummer due to the fact that I love this author.

This book proves that everyone isn't Orson Wells. Definitely not recommending this one.

Year 2, Week 1: First quilt post

No book this week. This week I will be talking about a quilt I made for my church’s quilt ministry. I am one of the women people contact if they want to be set up for either themselves or for a loved one who is in need of some prayers or strength. I explained once that these prayer quilts are a way of hugging someone you don't know without it being creepy. The ministry has been around for almost five years I think. I was at the first meeting and tried to keep up. But I started nursing school and then had my second child. If you have never been in nursing school or had a child, you would not be able to fully understand how time consuming it can be. (More the nursing school than the kids to be totally honest). I can't always make the monthly meetings with the other quilters, nor can I always crank quilts out as fast as the other members can, most of the women are retired. I still wanted to help though, so I became a contact person for the quilts. Often I am the one who sets up the quilt and makes sure it is placed in the weekly bulletin. I still make quilts to be used,but not as often as other women do. As I have stated most of the women are retired and make just amazing quilts. I mean, some of those women have their quilts in traveling shows or in books. It can be downright intimidating to be honest.

The quilt I finished this week is for a child or baby that is in the need of some prayers. Unfortunately, prayer quilts are sometimes for kids that are sick or suffering something traumatic. The quilt is rainbow themed, which I liked because not only did it reminded me of the story of Noah’s Ark, but it also made me a little hopeful that I will have a rainbow baby myself.

Next week will be a book, I'm pretty sure.

Week 52: George Washington's Secret Six

This week's book:
George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
By Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

This is the last week of this year long voyage of reading a book a week for the first year of my little guy's journey through school. I don't think this year ended up exactly like I thought it would. The books that my book group picked were all pretty horrible, and as I have stated earlier, kindergarten was just a dumpster fire.

I have decided to sorta redo this challenge of a book a week with the added idea that I will also be quilting. Yes, I also quilt for all of my loved ones and I belong to a quilting group at my church. So in the spirit of positive changes, I will dive into a new year of trying new things. Today was our son's first day of first grade. In his own words, “first grade isn't going too bad!” I am going to take this as a new Omen and hope that I will have a great year and not feel like crap everyday fearing my son would feel like crap due to his teacher. Maybe by this time next year we might finally be parents to a third little human. (because this infertility can go jump in a lake). I also plan on taking care of myself physically as well; no more putting crap food in my body and working out much more.

When it comes to this week's book. I literally can't tell you much about the book, I just feared the start of the next school year and just wanted the book to be done. I have been dreading our son going to the first grade and I kind of wanted for him to go so it would be over with. The anticipation is always worse than the actual event.

The book is about the spies during the Revolutionary War. It should be noted here that one of the authors is one of the people  from Fox News. The book isn't political in the slightest but I just wanted to put it out there that I don't watch Fox News. The concept of the book sounds cool; spies saving the day and winning the war. However, I’m going to be honest here, I don't usually read historical books. I don't read books that would be qualified as anything you could use as a reference in a term paper from college. My days of doing that kind of reading are done. I love reading classics that have been written centuries ago, but that is as close to history as I normally go. If you happen to love history books this might be the book for you.

Week 51: I am Malala

This week's book:
I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
By Malala Yousafzai, co-written with Christina Lamb

Sorry, very late this week.

This week's book took me forever to get through not because of the book being poorly written, but for the fact that it's a dense but good read. The story of Malala is the story of her country. A land she explains as paradise has been filled with the Taliban, causing nothing but heartbreak and repression. But somehow through all of it, our author/heroine stays focused on her drive to make sure that children, especially girls, are educated. Even being shot at close range in the back of a bus has not stopped her passion for the cause.

To be honest, 2018 has been a pure poopfest for me on a personal level. My family has had two painful losses, my cousin lost her daughter after only getting to hold her for a few hours, and my grandfather passed away just a few days ago. Both of these losses have hit me in different ways, but both have hurt my heart. Along with the passing of two family members, I have suffered two miscarriages and been told my my son's kindergarten teacher that my son was not ready for school. Both of these issues have truly left me feeling like a failure on all fronts. I have been told that none of this was my fault, and yet I am still left with the feeling of being poop at my job as a mom. But while reading this book, I had to keep reminding myself that my situation could be much worse. Let's be honest, it isn't always easy when you are hurt or mad or sad or just feeling all around poopy which I have been. So this book kept being pushed aside to read other things.

I am very glad to have read this book. But if I'm going to be completely honest, I wanted to learn more about not just what happened before she was shot, but after as well. The book ends right after she was shot and her family has been forced to move to England. Her family feel displaced and her impact on the world wasn't fully in force. She hadn't received her Nobel Peace Prize yet, and all in all I feel like the book was right on the cusp of where Malala's story was just becoming her own story. She is going to school at the school her father started or being moved because of flooding or something else has gone wrong. I feel like the book could have been delayed a little. I have learned that she has a new book that will come out in September and I am thinking about picking that up. Perhaps it will cover more of her recent activity and crusades. I would definitely recommend the book, just know it's not the whole story.