The Hardest Book - BTT



You can check out the link about for today's BTT question.

Or you can just take my word for it. :p

Today's question is about the hardest/most challenging book I've read.

If you follow my reviews on Goodreads you know that if a book is hard for me to get into I rarely finish it.  There have been so many challenging books in my lifetime it's hard to narrow it down.

So I won't.

Right now I am struggling my way through Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  Yes, Struggling!  I know it's supposed to be a classic, but good Lord I am just not interested in every little thought running through every woman's mind in the book.  I just want to get on with the story.  I do, in fact, like the story though.  I just wish it moved a little faster.  I am hoping to finish it before my son's High School puts the play on next year.

I am also reading The Book of Lost things by John Connolly.  Again, I am interested (slightly) in the story, but I am not a huge fan of the writing. 

Why are the hardest books always the thick ones??  Is it just that I am intimidated by how big they are?? I tried to read Anna Karenina once, but couldn't even get through the first two chapters.

By far my most challenging book that I have ever attempted to read is

The Tale of Two Cities

ugh, snooze-fest there!

So tell me what your most challenging book has been so far.  Have you read any of my challenging ones? Were they challenging for you as well?

Don't forget to go to BTT and post a link to your blog post with your answer!

BTT - Showing off in public

Today's question is about carrying books in public.  Do you hide or show off your covers?

In the world of eReaders, iPads , etc I think that more people are carrying "books" around.  I used to carry my Nook everywhere, but I was always leaving it in the car and the battery would die and then I wouldn't have the right charger with me and so on.  Now I mostly leave my Nook in my bedroom so that I can read in bed without disturbing my husband. (It's a Nook Color)

I do carry a book in the car at all times though.  I don't hide the cover, but I also don't like to leave it out on the seat to get faded in the sun.

The book in my car was given to me by my friend April.  I forget the name of it, but it's a christian book.  To be honest I am having a hard time getting into it, and having it in the car doesn't really help.  I will read it though!

What are you reading right now?  Are you hiding the cover?

Go Check out Booking Through Thursday and answer the question yourself.

Before Women Had Wings

I don't normally write book reviews, but I had to talk about this book I just read!  I'm blogging it because I am at work and it's 3:30am & no one else is awake!

Before women had Wings

by Connie May Fowler

First, I want to start with the title.  Isn't it amazing?  Doesn't it create a picture in your head of something beautiful?  It does for me.  I picture a world where we women have all different kids of wings & we can take flight and soar to the tree tops and the clouds & be free! 

 

It is about the Jackson family, mainly about 8year old Avocet, who everyone calls "Bird".  She struggles throughout the book to overcome the horrible life her parents have set before her.  Bird and her sister, Phoebe endure countless beatings, long nights listening to their drunk parents fight, and knowing that everything they have belongs to someone else.  Their father, Billy, pays a man to beat their mother, then commits suicide.  Things only get worse from there.  Phoebe starts spending less and less time at home leaving Bird to endure the brunt of their mother's drunken anger.  Birds only friend in Miss Zora, an interesting black woman that her mother wants nothing to do with.  In the end Miss Zora is the girls saving grace.

There were so many touching parts of this story.  There was also several moments that took my breath away & left me thinking "Oh my goodness, how could anyone do that to their own child?".  A few heartbreaking times I even wondered if my own children felt the way that she described feeling unloved & unwanted. 

I originally just picked this up from the thrift store because it was free & would be a fast read.  It was the book I kept lying around to read a few pages here & there when there was nothing else around.  I was set to not like it and not be very interested in it & to pass it on when I was done. Boy, was I wrong! It has earned a permanent place on my shelf (and anyone that knows me KNOWS that bookshelf space is prime real estate!). I even did the unthinkable and marked some of my favorite passages.

Fowler writes just the way I love! Very poetic.  A lot of imagery.  Not too much useless description, every beautiful detail was necessary to convey how they lived, and how they learned to move on.

The very end brought tears to my eyes & made me love the book even more

"Slowly, I let go of Mama, and as I did, I felt the invisible cord rip - the cord that ties together children and parents."  It was necessary for Bird to let go of her abusive mother so that everyone could move on, but is a sad sad realization to come to.  I still haven't done it.

I Won!!!

Hey All!!!  Check it out - I won!!!

Kristi @ Mom's Own Words had a giveaway for the book "Retool Your Relationship" by the therepist on VH1's Tool Academy and I won!
Mo, My husband is not a tool!  I just like to read these kinds of things.
I will post a review as soon as I am done reading it!

A few great days

I have recently had a few great days.  We stopped by the library last week & they were having their normal book sale.  I glanced through the stacks as we were checking out & I was pretty lucky to find 3 great hard back books!  They were only $1 each.  When I was paying for them she told me that the sale today was buy 2 get 1 free!!  3 HARDBACKS FOR $2!!!!! 

SAW is a huge Stephen King fan, so that one is for him.  The other two looked brand new & sound interesting, so they will be added to my "to read" list.

     I have also been having some great Mail Days!  My sister, Becky, sent us a package with a book for SAW, an adorable lamp for BUG, and a few things for MJ.  Then I got a package friday from my brother.  He sent me a bunch of canned salmon (YUM!!!) and some earrings and a barnes & nobel gift card & a candle (Christmas & brithday gifts).  THEN I got MORE great stuff in the mail on Saturday!!!

hmmmm, for some reason it won't load right..... Anyways, I got

• my Nook back from B&N (had to send it back because it broke)
• Coupons & recipe cards from Contessa foods because I sent them an email about thier website
• A $25 Target gift card that I won from Shopaholic Sarah
• I mooched The Invitation from Bookmooch.com

So It has been a pretty good Mail Month for me.  And, as an added plus, I finally mailed the packages I have been intending to mail for a month now.  Woo Hoo!!

I hope all your mail dreams come true for you!

Have a great week!

Discussing books - BTT

this weeks question:

Do you have friends and family to share books with? Discuss them with? Does it matter to you?

Bek & I talk books all the time, we share them & lend them on our nook & mail them to each other. I also talk books with christa & the ladies at the library . It is important for me to be able to share something I love with family & friends.

how about you??