The Husband’s Secret- She Reads September Book Club

14 Comments

Posted on September 27, 2013

The Husband’s Secret

by Liane Moriarty

published by Penguin Books

2013

Summary

My Darling Cecilia
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s devastating secret. (from goodreads)

My Review

I literally just finished reading this book and had to sit down right away before I forgot anything. I loved this book. It was very well written, dramatic, and riveting. At first, I did not know how the story of these three very different women was going to converge, but when it did-wow! Since the main part of the plot is the “secret”, I am finding it really hard to review this wonderful story without giving more of the plot away than there is in the summary above. Because really, it is an amazing turn of events that unfolds. And the Epilogue kinda blew me away. I would definitely recommend this book. I am going to the library as soon as I can to get another book by this author-probably What Alice Forgot. It looks so interesting!

My Rating

4.5 out of 5

To read more reviews of The Husband’s Secret, please head over to She Reads – some wonderful ladies have posted their reviews there!

My Favorite Banned Books

5 Comments

Posted on September 26, 2013

Ok, as you might already know, this is Banned Books Week, which is sponsored by the American Librarian Association and is a celebration of books that have been challenged or banned. I have been seeing posts all week about Banned Books, so I decided to investigate a little. When I saw the list of books that have been challenged or outright banned, I was pretty surprised to see some of my very favorite books right there on the list. So, I decided to put a little list of my own together of my favorite Banned Books!

1. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This book has been called sexually explicit, violently graphic, and morally corrupt.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Banned due to offensive language and racism.

3. Brave New World by Aldophus Huxley

This is thought to have offensive language and insensitivity-insensitive-, hmmmm.

4. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Our beloved wizard is supposedly anti-family (with a family like the Dursleys-no duh!), and promoting the Occult and Satanism!!

5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Objectionable due to offensive language and sexual content.

6. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Banned due to racism- very strange since it IS a book about the Civil War!

7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This book is banned for quite a few reasons- one is that it is “irreligious” which is quite ironic considering the author’s known devoutness to Catholicism. It is also banned in New Mexico for promoting witchcraft and Satanism. I thought the purpose OF the book was to defeat the evil in the world-silly me.

I guess at any point in time almost any book can be seen as objectionable to one person or another. But maybe that is why the universe saw it fit to provide us humans with free will.

What is your favorite banned book?

Great posts about Banned Book Week- go see them!!

http://busyteacher.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/a-post-in-which-i-challenge-you-to-read-a-challenged-book-this-week/

http://booksspeakvolumes.com/2013/09/24/bannedbooksweek/

Other websites to visit to read more about banned books-

http://bannedbooks.world.edu

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/

Banned Books Week Banner (Photo credit: DML East Branch)

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

10 Comments

Posted on September 23, 2013

It’s Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we discuss what we have been up to lately, and what we are looking forward to in the coming week. Stop over there and see what other bloggers have posted!

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com

I actually had a great time this week blog wise!

BLOGGIESTA

I took part in Bloggiesta, where bloggers map out all the little things they want to do to clean up/improve their blog! I got some of my goals accomplished- very happy- but not the big things like making a Reviews Page, fixing widgets (I stink at this), and joining The Classsics Club-though I think I have finally picked out all 50 books I want to read, so I should be able to do that soon!

I did get the following done-

1- completed the A to Z Survey, 2- cross posted old reviews, 3- posted the second part to The Book Thief Read Along, 4- checked out 4 of the mini challenges.

Bloggiesta was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again.

I posted a review of Amity & Sorrow.

I am currently reading-

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

From the author of the critically acclaimed What Alice Forgot comes a breakout new novel about the secrets husbands and wives keep from each other.

My Darling Cecilia
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died . . .

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret – something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s devastating secret. (from Goodreads)

Next up, not to sure. I really news to sit down and map out what is lined up, but I think it will probably be Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield.

Caught up in a moment of boyhood competition, William Bellman recklessly aims his slingshot at a rook resting on a branch, killing the bird instantly. It is a small but cruel act, and is soon forgotten. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to have put the whole incident behind him. It was as if he never killed the thing at all. But rooks don’t forget…

Years later, when a stranger mysteriously enters William’s life, his fortunes begin to turn—and the terrible and unforeseen consequences of his past indiscretion take root. In a desperate bid to save the only precious thing he has left, he enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner. Together, they found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman & Black is born

How was your week? What are you reading?

A to Z Survey

4 Comments

Posted on September 22, 2013

This is a little fun survey created by Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner. I have wanted to do it for a few weeks, and finally decided to go for it!!

Author you’ve read the most books from:

John Grisham – started reading him when The Firm first came out.

Best Sequel Ever:

Hmmmm…this is a bit difficult for me-but I will sayThe Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson.

Currently Reading:

Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield

Drink of Choice While Reading:

Water. When it’s later, maybe a glass of chardonnay, but I do most of my reading before dark.

E-reader or Physical Book?

Physical book 85% and E-Reader maybe 15%- I borrow my daughter’s kindle when I really want a book from Net Galley, but otherwise I prefer a real book.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:

Sirius Black in High School- later, I would want a Mr. Darcy definitely. Actually, my husband is a little like that, now that I think of it…

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:

The Book Thief

Hidden Gem Book:

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski

Important Moment in your Reading Life:

When, for the umpteenth time, I picked up a book from the library, only to read a chapter or so and realized I had already read it. That’s when I decided to start keeping track of all the books I read-and stretching those writing muscles- by writing reviews. Hence, this blog.

Just Finished:

The Never List by Koethi Zan

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:

I usually do not read heavy romance. I like a light, beachy read, but straight romance is not my thing,

Longest Book You’ve Read:

Gone with the Wind– over 1,000 pages

Major book hangover because of:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-I think I actually turned right back to the front and read it again.

Number of Bookcases You Own:

4-two upstairs and two in the basement, but one of those actually has mostly kid’s books.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:

Pride & Prejudice

Preferred Place To Read:

on my deck

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:

“He’d have been glad to witness her kissing his his dusty, bomb hit lips. Yes, I know it. In the darkness of my dark-beating heart, I know. He’d have loved it, all right. You see? Even death has a heart.”

from The Book Thief by Mark Zusak

Reading Regret:

I have never read a Stephen King book. I will change that.

Series You Started And Need To Finish(all books are out in series):

I started The Game of Thrones series- but came up against a wall with the 5th book.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:

Pride & Pejudice, The Book Thief, The Lord of The Rings.

Unapologetic Fangirl For:

Harry Potter-though i am horrified to say that I have been unable to get my mother OR my husband (non-reader) to read any of them.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:

Sycamore Row by John Grisham- going back to Jack Brigance from A Time to Kill-always picture Matthew McConaughey!

Worst Bookish Habit:

I am-cringe-guilty of dog-earing books I own-but only whenI love a passage and want to be able to find it again-never to mark my place.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind.

Your latest book purchase:

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty-the She Reads Book Club September selection

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):

The Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King- a great mystery.

The Book Thief Read Along parts 4-6

7 Comments

Posted on September 21, 2013

It’s time for to discuss parts 4-6 for our The Book Thief Read Along! This discussion is being hosted by Kami over at Kami’s Library Thoughts– head on over there and see what others have to say.

Here is a recap of what has happened in parts 4-6

Part Four

Max’s father teaches Hans to play the accordion and saves his life.
We finally meet Max.
Max gives Liesel a present.

Part Five

Max fights the Fuhrer.
The Mayor fires Rosa.
Liesel steals The Whistler.
Rudy makes some stupid choices.

Part Six

We learn more about Death.
A snowman is built in the basement.
Max becomes severely ill.
Liesel leaves Max a series of gifts.
Liesel steals another book.

Here are Kami’s questions-

1. What emotions have you felt while reading? Are they strong emotions?

I felt very emotional while reading this book. Sadness, love, fear-some all at once. I think that knowing certain characters are going to die, what I felt while reading was mostly DREAD>

2. Several characters mention similarities between Max and Liesel. What similarities have you noticed, and why do you think the author made these characters relate to each other?

I think they start out at the Huberman’s with absolutely nothing or no one.

3. What do you think of The Standover Man aka the book Max wrote for Liesel.

I loved it. I think it really shows Max’s character and story-how he was forced to hide for so long, and how he was so surprised to have found a friend in Liesel. I love the last page of it, where the words are painted on the wall. His word is Daylight.

4. How do you feel about knowing who is going to die in the end and what are some of your predictions?

Knowing that certain main characters die, at least you are not shocked when it happens. I sort of like the way death is unapologetic, like, hey that’s life! No predictions since this is a reread for me.

5. What do you think of Rudy’s rebellious attitude?

His anger and rebellion is wonderful. It shows that not all Germans followed the Party like lambs.

6. Is Rosa growing on you?

Totally-I think Rosa is a wonderful person beneath her rough exterior-she did have Hans fall in love with her after all. I love the way she took Max in without question.

7. What do you think of the relationship between Max and Liesel?

She treats him so tenderly. She is so protective of him.

8. Why do you think Liesel is so determined to steal from the Mayor’s library?

Because she wants to rebel- like Rudy- and not simply follow along. Plus, she just really wants to read!

9. What really stands out to you in the story and why?

1- What and amazing person Hans is.

2- Death’s Diary-1942-

“***AN ABRIDGED ROLL CALL FOR 1942****

1. The desperate Jews-their spirits in my lap as we sat on the roof, next to the steaming chimneys.

2. The Russian soldiers-taking only small amounts of ammunition, relying on the fallen for the rest.

3. The soaked bodies of a French coast-beached on the shingle and sand.”

10. If you were in Hans’ position, would you have helped/hid Max?

Yes. Though I can only hope to be a tenth as good of a person Hans was-yes.

Fall 2013 Bloggiesta!!

15 Comments

Posted on September 20, 2013

I am so excited to finally have a chance to join in on Bloggiesta– a blogging marathon that was created several years ago by Natasha from Maw Maws Book Blog!

“The idea behind Bloggiesta is to spend these next three days working on perfecting your blog and connecting with other bloggers who are doing the same thing. Spread the word and get all your friends to come and fiesta with us!”

Here is my To Do List-

~ Cross post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Librarything, etc.

~ Make a Reviews page (I think I finally got the whole link thing down-I know, very lame)

~ Complete A to Z Survey that was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner

~Post Part Two of The Book Thief Read Along questions and answers

~ Try to come up with 5 more books to complete my Classics Club list (any suggestions are appreciated!)

~ Join The Classics Club

~Last but not least, maybe find a new theme that has the cool widgets I really want- the ones with the little pics for FB and Goodreads-any suggestions?????

~Check out the following mini challenges:

How to Make Goodreads Work for You hosted by Brittany from The Book Addict’s Guide (@bookaddictguide)

Favorite WordPress Plugins hosted by April from My Shelf Confessions (@shelfconfession)

Bloggiesta Master To Do List hosted by Suey from It’s All About Books (@SueySays)

Book Blogging Heroes hosted by Book Bloggers International (@bookbloggersint)

Whew, glad I figured that out. Now, I just have to try to do it all!!

Please leave a comment-I love to hear from you!

Top Ten Books for the Fall

26 Comments

Posted on September 17, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke & the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely ladies over there give us book bloggers wonderful and fun topics to create our lists! Check out what others have posted by going over there! http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com

This week’s topic is-

Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR List

Seeing as the weather here is 100% autumnal, this is a perfect topic-going down to 38 degrees tonight-brrrr……

1. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

It is one of those novels I have always wanted to read, but never have. I am determined to do it!

2. The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom

Love this author, even though he usually makes me sad 😦

3. Seduction-A Novel of Suspense

I love suspense!

4. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

This book sounds great- disturbing, but great.

5. Touchstone by Laurie R King

I read Bones of Paris, never realizing it was a sequel-so now I want to read the first!

6. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I had’t heard of this until the movie came out not too long ago.

7. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Again, one of the books that has been on my TBR list for way too long- going to tackle it this fall.

8. Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

The other books are pretty serious, so I want a little comic relief!

9. The Secret History by Donna Tart

I have been hearing that this is a book I MUST read, so I am going for it!

10. The Stand by Stephen King

Ashamed to say, this will be my first Stephen King- very excited!!

That’s what I am looking forward to reading in the coming months-what about you?

Please leave a comment-I love hearing from you!!!

The Book Thief Read Along

11 Comments

Posted on September 11, 2013

I was so excited to see Book-alicious Mama post that she had joined in a read along of The Book Thief, ahead of the November release of the much anticipated movie! I went to see the write up at It’s All About Books, and decided to join in too. Go on over there and check out all the links!

We read parts 1-3 and our first discussion began yesterday.

Here are the questions from Suey at It’s All About Books.

1. What’s your first impression of Death as a character/narrator?

2. What’s your first impression of the unique writing style?

3. Which character stands out to you the most so far and why?

4. What do you think the author is trying to say about the power of words?

5. How do you feel about all the foreshadowing that’s going on?

6. Also, how do you feel about all that German swearing?!?

7. What do you think about the relationship between Hans and Rosa?
8. What do you think about the relationship between Rudy and Liesel?

9. What are your feelings on the politics of the time that we’ve seen so far?
10. What images and/or symbols stand out for you in this story so far?

Great questions!

1. When I first picked up this book a few years ago, I was a bit put off by the whole idea of Death as the narrator. I actually put the book down, but came back to it a few months later. The second time, I really loved Death as a character. I love the first line-“First the colors. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least how I try.”

2. I love the style of writing-especially the asides and lists, such as -“HERE IS A SMALL FACT…You are going to die.”

3. Obviously, Liesel is an amazing character, but I think Hans is an my favorite character. He is so loving and kind.

4. I think the author is telling us that words are the most powerful thing in the world. They can heal, and they can kill. When Liesel thinks of her father, she only hears the word Kommunist- when she finally realizes what the word means, and all it implies, she is devastated.

5. I think the foreshadowing is really a wonderful part of the story, since Death is telling it from memory, therefore he knows exactly all that occurs. When he refers to something that will happen, I am itching to rush ahead and find out what happened.

6. Ah, the German Swearing-honsetly I love it. I speak German (or at least I used to back in high school-I was even an exchange student to Cologne) so I enjoy the parts that are in German.

7. I think their relationship is actually a lot closer than we realize.

8. Rudy and Liesel-what a great relationship. he has the loveliest crush on her, and I think she loves him and just doesn’t know it. Even better, they are best friends!

9. I think we are given a compelling glimpse into Nazi Germany from the point of view of many different people. It shows how divided the people were, just as the Huberman family is. We see how powerless regular German citizens were against the Nazi party.

10. Obviously-books. Especially Liesel walking away from the bonfire with the burning book up against her chest.

Rudy covered in charcoal.

Colors-the way Death describes the colors he sees.

Thanks for the great questions Suey. Stop by It’s All About Books and see some other thoughts!!

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

12 Comments

Posted on September 9, 2013

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com

Here is what happened with me this week

Whew- my 3 year old nephew JUST left, and before I fall into a very deep sleep, I thought I would catch up real quick!

This week I read-

Beautiful Day

by Elin Hildebrand

Amity & Sorrow

by Peggy Riley

I am currently reading-

The Book Thief

by Mark Zusack

I am reading this for a great little read along over at It’s All About Books,

We start the discussion tomorrow and I am almost done with part 3!

Up next-

Honestly not too sure. I need to take a breath, wash some sheets, and figure out what’s next!

So- What have you been reading?

Please leave a comment and let me know!!

Bring on the Play Time!!

7 Comments

Posted on September 4, 2013

I am probably not going to be able to post much over the next few days- my 3 year old nephew is getting dropped off to spend a few days with us while his parents attend a wedding (get drunk in wine country) in Napa.

Since I have a 15 year old son and a 13 year old daughter, it is safe to say it has been awhile since I have gotten down and dirty with a toddler.

This should be interesting!

When I do get a chance, I plan to write a review for-

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilberbrand

I LOVED this book, as I have all of her books-they are like taking a mini-vacation!

I read this book in less than 32 hours!

And I am currently reading

Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley

A mother and her daughters drive for days without sleep until they crash their car in rural Oklahoma. The mother, Amaranth, is desperate to get away from someone she’s convinced will follow them wherever they go–her husband. The girls, Amity and Sorrow, can’t imagine what the world holds outside their father’s polygamous compound. Rescue comes in the unlikely form of Bradley, a farmer grieving the loss of his wife. At first unwelcoming to these strange, prayerful women, Bradley’s abiding tolerance gets the best of him, and they become a new kind of family. An unforgettable story of belief and redemption, AMITY & SORROW is about the influence of community and learning to stand on your own. (Goodreads)

I am enjoying this a lot- about half way through and hoping to get more in before the little terror-I mean tyke- shows up.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. I will be watching lots of Pixar (hello Monsters University), visiting a farm for some apple picking, and playing a whole lot!