Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.
Mar 222012
Author Michael Palmer is offering a hard-cover copy of his newly published thriller Oath of Office to one lucky reader of my blog. Please enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter form below. Click here to read my review.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Pitch perfect! It struck just the right balance between storytelling and message. Stockett doesn’t sugarcoat the racism of the time period in Jackson, Mississippi, but in The Help she finds a way to address it without creating a depressing book. In fact, she stirs in just the right amount of humor, drama, friendship, and hope. Change is often slow in coming, but it can come when people take a stand and face their fears. Skeeter, Minny, and Aibileen make an unlikely trio of heroines, but they take a big chance and help to bring some positive changes to their community and to their own lives. This book touched on all of my emotions at various times. Sometimes I laughed out loud; other times I wanted to cry. There were things that happened that made me furious and other things that gave me hope. Basically, it was awesome storytelling with a compelling message, and it doesn’t get much better than that. I hope the movie does it justice.
(I downloaded this from the library and read it on my NOOK. Awesome!)
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Snow Falling on Cedars is reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird in that it deals with a man wrongfully accused of a crime and the prejudice of the community regarding his race. However, because the main character of the story is a disillusioned war veteran, the tone of the novel is much edgier and more graphic in its descriptions of events and emotions. I really enjoyed the book but Continue reading »
The Great Migration is a beautifully done book. The poems by award-winning poet Eloise Greenfield capture the emotions of each traveler on the journey. The illustrations by Jan Spivey Gilchrist are rich in texture and expression and Continue reading »
I’m working my way through several recommended books, and I just finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It was published 7 years ago, so I’m a little behind in my reading. For those of you who haven’t yet read this book, I highly recommend it. One of the reasons it resonated with me was Continue reading »
Nov 162010
Tinseland shares a similar premise with How the Grinch Stole Christmas but it’s not nearly as clever. When I read the epilogue to Tinseland, I literally groaned. It restated the extremely obvious message of the book which is basically that everyone should love everyone and have Christmas joy and peace. The more subtle message of the book is Continue reading »
Nov 152010
Peppered with inspiring quotes and filled with Biblical references, Rediscovering Your Happily Ever After is a spiritually uplifting book. You don’t have to have suffered a divorce Continue reading »
I did not expect to enjoy this book because I am not a sports enthusiast. I had no idea who Don Meyer was, and I had no interest in college basketball. Nevertheless, I became thoroughly engrossed in the story. It was by turns dramatic, humorous, and inspiring. It read like a fast-paced basketball game; I couldn’t help but follow the action. (Advance Reading Copy from LibraryThing Early Reviewers)
Aug 252008
If you want book suggestions for your child based on their interests and reading level, try the website Book Adventure http://www.bookadventure.com/. If you set up a free account for your child, he/she can even take quizzes on some of the books. I took the quiz based on Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
