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Finca Cielo Azul

Finca Cielo Azul

Category Archives: books

Literate Lushes (August 2017 to July 2018)

25 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by Alex in book review, books, Literate Lushes, reading, Uncategorized

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book club, books, Literate Lushes, reading

This seems to be an annual post…here we go.

August: The Song of Achilles, A Novel, by Madeline Miller.  As I mentioned in my last Literate Lushes post, I couldn’t put this book down.  I started reading it was I waited to board the plane to Florida for one of my best friend’s weddings, and finished it in the uber on the way to the hotel (in between getting pulled over and telling the office my name so he didn’t think I was the female that had a restraining order against my uber driver).  It is a heartbreaking rendition of a Greek classic.

September: The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead.  This past year has been the year of some pretty heavy books.  This book was recommended by a dear friend of mine, and I’m so glad I chose it as my book club pick.  The title is self-describing, but it goes into heartbreaking detail on the tragedies suffered by people in slavery.  I still can’t wrap my head around how cruel people can be to one another.  I feel like we all learned a lot from this historical fiction book, and our discussion was great.

October: Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King.  A nice and easy vampire read for the Halloween month!  Slavery followed by vampires wasn’t exactly what the doctor called for, but it was a nice change of pace and a good read.

December: The Girl With All The Gifts, by M. R. Carey.  So slavery followed by vampires followed by zombies!  Another book that I would have never picked to read on my own, but once I started it I couldn’t put it down.  An interesting spin on the zombie story line, with an ending that I couldn’t stop thinking about for days.  I heard that’s a second book to this series that I have yet to get back to.

January: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.  A non-fiction story on the first immortal strand of cultured DNA (I’m not a science person, so possibly the worst science lack of terminology there, but…maybe 80% correct), and how it was obtained without consent from an African American woman in 1951.  A truly amazing story, and the conflict between morality, medicine, and racism (and so many other things).  The science-y parts bogged me down a bit, but an enthralling story nonetheless.

February: Turtles All The Way Down, by John Green.  This one really took me a while to get into.  It’s a young adult novel written in the first person, so sometimes the thought dialogue was a bit hard for me to keep reading/listening to.  I did up the speed on my audible on this one which made it more bearable.  But once I got a third of the way in or so, it made me realize how hard it must be to have some form of OCD or depression or anxiety.  It was good to be in someone else’s shoes to try to understand the difficulties that face others-we just never know how hard something can be for someone else.

March: The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern.  After all the intense books we’d read in the months prior, this was such a pleasant and nice read.  Just a love story full of magic and time travel (story lines, not actual time travel).  This book totally had me hooked and I loved the ending.

April: The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom.  Another emotionally difficult book, this one about the holocaust and work/extermination camps.  This book started a little slow, but the storyline picked up a little bit, and then it was just astounding, once again, to read about how horrible people can be to each other.

May: Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman.  This book was a collection of short stories, which is not my most favorite, but it was cool to read some new and some familiar about Norse mythology.  Jake is starting to get into the Avengers, so reading stories about Thor and Loki were pretty cool.  The audible version is narrated by Neil Gaiman, and he did a great job.

July, White Chrysanthemum, by Mary Lynn Bracht. Have I mentioned heart breaking?  I almost didn’t continue reading this book-it starts with a pretty heavy amount of rape and sexual abuse, and it’s the first book I’ve considered not finishing because it was just hard to listen to.  This book is about the Japanese occupation of Korea, and the only reason I continued reading it was because I thought it was important for me to read about what happened.  I’ve never studied anything about this chapter of history, and my goodness, how awful.  How a human being can endure so much pain is just beyond me.  But, a great read and a wonderfully told story.

Bonus reads:

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, by ZZ Packer.  This was a pretty quick read.  I saw it highly recommended somewhere online and thought I would give it a try.  Like I mentioned above, I’m not a fan of short stories, so this book was a little disappointing in that respect.  Each individual story had a little heart break, but kind of like Small Great Things, helps to put me in someone else’s shoes, shoes that I’m thankful I haven’t had to walk in.

Capital Gaines, by Chip Gaines.  A fun, quick read.  We’re obsessed with Chip and Joanna over here, so it was nice to learn a little more about them and gain some insight on how they’ve become so successful.

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry, by Fredrik Backman.  Another great read from Fredrik Backman.  I really do love his style of writing, and the characters in his stories.  Britt Marie comes back in this one, and she’s hilarious and heartbreaking yet again.  And again, I laughed, and I cried.

The Keeper of Lost Things, by Ruth Hogan.  This was a great light read, that got me through some of the heavier books listed above.  Just a light hearted story that follows two different story lines, that end up intertwining at the end (in a way that I think was very obvious if I had read more carefully, but thankfully caught me by surprise).

What have you been reading lately?  Or in the last year? :-P

 

Mommy Vacation

28 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Alex in accomplishments, books, family, friends, friendship, travel

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family, parenting, travel, weddings

I recently got back from an almost one-week, kid-free, trip to Florida. I was fortunate enough to be in the bridal party for one of my best friend’s weddings, and it was amazing.

A few observations from my trip:

  • Flying as a mom, and without your children, is now terrifying. I hadn’t been on a plane since our trip to Germany in 2012, so it’s obviously been a while. I’ve never been afraid of flying, but I was pretty close to panicking on that first take off. I kept thinking “I have kids…what will they do without me if something happens? How does this thing even stay in the air?! so many things can go wrong!!!” In talking to fellow mommies that I was rooming with I realized I wasn’t alone. It still amazes me how much motherhood/parenting can change you.

 

  • Uber can be strange. I’m a married mother of two living on Orange County, so I don’t think it’s too much of a surprise that I’ve never used uber before. I took my first uber from the airport in Tampa to our resort. The driver was asking me for relationship advice before I buckled in, and shared how his ex had just filed a restraining order against him just as he was getting pulled over. Thankfully the rest of our uber drivers for the week were much less….blog-worthy?

 

  • Alone time is great. I’m not gonna lie, one of the things I was looking forward to the most on this trip (other than obviously celebrating my amazing friend and her husband!) was being alone on a plane and reading, ha! I’ve been doing audible lately but I’ve really missed reading reading (that’s not a typo).  I finished my Literate Lushes book on my two flights to Florida, plus the end of my awkward uber trip (“uhhh…is it ok if I finish reading my book real quick?”).  I had a second book for the way home, but it wasn’t as exciting so I still have quite a bit to go on that one.  I also really enjoyed some solo time on the balcony of our suite, just looking out at the golf course, drinking my coffee, and thinking thoughts.  The one day that we didn’t have much planned, I decided to go exploring on my own and was so proud of myself for doing so.  I ended my adventure by drinking a solo-beer next to the water, and it was amazing.  I forget how much we/I need this time…which is so hard to come by in the madness and routine of home and kids.

solo beer

  • True Friends are Awesome, and so are their Friends. And life stuff.  I met Sheena in college, and from the moment I met her, I’ve admired and respected her to no end.  She’s an amazing human being with so many professional accomplishments that I couldn’t even begin to list them.  I’ve sometimes wondered why she’s kept me around, haha.  Since graduating, we’ve never lived in the same place, not even the same state, really, so our friendship is one of those that has survived the test of time and distance.  We both make the effort whenever she is in LA visiting family, and I think that’s a huge part of it: we both recognize each other’s importance enough to make the extra effort when we can.  It’s no surprise that her friends are equally as amazing.  I know Sheena has high standards for who she keeps around (I imagine all her friendships are equally as difficult to maintain since everyone lives all over the place-so she truly values those she keeps around), and I’ve been lucky enough to meet many of them through the course of my friendship with Sheena.  I was truly honored to be among such great women: not only professionally (from a state senator, a diplomat, to an OB, to a college professor, etc.), but also just a human beings–they were all super kind and considerate, and every single one of them was willing to lend a hand when needed.  It is times like these where I feel slightly insecure and wish I could honestly say I’m still an attorney.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job for where I am in life right now–the flexibility and time off with the kids is so great–but I know it’s not my end point.  My major flaw is that I’ve never had the drive or sacrifice to “reach for the stars.”  That shit takes work and I’ve never been able to fully commit.  I’m hoping life gives me lots of years to keep exploring and get to the point where I feel like I’ve reached my full potential.

ladies

  • Coming back ain’t easy.  I thought I would come back home from this trip feeling refreshed and invigorated and ready to be super mom again.  I don’t think it took more than five minutes on Monday morning for me to see how wrong I was.  I got way too used to not having to feed kids and change diapers and force an almost four year old to brush his teeth.  I know: my kids are adorable and awesome.  Yes, you’re right.  BUT, they’re also normal, haha.  So Jake is pushing boundaries and I have to say his name 5 times, with the final “JACOB. WYATT. ARMSTRONG!” before he even cares to glance up, and everything is “I can’t” or “why” or “but just a liiiiiiiittle bit longer?”  And Josh is my Josh.  He never stops.  Never stops moving.  Never stops putting shit in his mouth.  Never stops opening drawers he shouldn’t be opening (oh child proofing you say?  Yeah, I should try that!).  I also came back to several scheduled doctor’s appointments which meant I had to get them ready and out the door early.  Today I decided to cancel my original summer plan for the day, and just take it easy, and it was amazing.  Maybe some times I can just be mom, and not super mom, and we’ll all be a little more sane because of it.

 

  • It takes a village…and a really great husband.  If you’re wondering who was watching the kids that whole time…it was Jeff.  He took time off from work and stayed home with them, and ROCKED the stay-at-home dad gig.  I also came home to a clean home, and to a husband who appreciates all the little things I do for our family.  *swoon*

See, this is the problem with not blogging often…every blog turns into a novel.  Sorry.  As a reward for making it this far:

  1. Read this if you want to cry happy tears.  Someone I know is being a surrogate for one of her best friends, and it’s just happy heart emojies and googly eyes everywhere.
  2. The book I couldn’t put down on the plane is The Song of Achilles, by Madelline Miller.  It’s such a great book!  Love, war, and obviously Greek tragedy.  Woof.

 

Literate Lushes (February to July, 2017) and more!

06 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by Alex in book review, books, Literate Lushes, reading, Uncategorized

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book club, books, novels, reading

I recently moved on to Audible.  I still would MUCH prefer the actual book, but realized I just am not able to read as much as I’d like when it requires having a book in my hand.  I come home for lunch every day, so decided to try the audio route and I’m averaging almost two books a month now, rather than just scraping by one.  I know, WOW right?  TWO WHOLE BOOKS, haha.  I’m pretty impressed with myself though, haha.  So, here we go.

February: Catch 22, by Joseph Heller.  I think this was before my transition to Audible, so I did not get around to reading this one.  I remember reading it in high school though and fairly liking it…

March: Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War, by Joe Bageant.  This was my pick.  I was really trying to look for something to explain the Trump phenomena and how he got elected: I really do want to understand why so many people voted for him (I know, not a majority of our country, but still…a lot of people thought he was a good option) and what they’re feeling.  After I picked and started reading this book I realized that it’s actually quite old, which made Trump’s election even more frustrating: we’ve known what’s been wrong for a long time and have done nothing to address those issues.  The book wasn’t everything I was looking for, but it did provide some good insight and a different point a view to certain arguments (like the right to bear arms).  All in all, I thought it was worth reading, although I’d love suggestions on anything along this topic that is more recent.

April: The Storied Life of A.J. Fickry, by Gabrielle Zevin & Scott Brick.  This was a nice read.  Mostly light, with some twists and turns, but above all the story of the love you can have for a child (even if not biologically yours).  There were a couple small points that bothered me but I think they would give too much away, so I’ll keep them to myself.  I do believe I cried a little towards the end.

June: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the F.B.I., by David Grann.  This book was GREAT.  I did read it through Audible and the first voice was difficult to handle, but it was still a great book (I don’t understand why readers have to use different voices for the different characters-it’s quite annoying).  The story is told from three different perspectives, and tells the true story of a plot to murder Native American’s for their “head rights” to oil and mineral reserves in Oklahoma (I think it’s Oklahoma…).  It’s a sad story but great to finally learn about it, and this book has inspired me to read more historical books.

July: Defending Jacob: A Novel, by William Landay.  I’m still reading this one, but I’m not enjoying it too much, unfortunately.  There’s A LOT of dialogue which I’m not enjoying, and I think this is one of the few times that I just don’t like how the author writes.  The plot seems to drag a bit for me too, but I’m hoping the end will have a good twist that will make it worth it to keep listening, haha.

EXTRAS (thanks Audible!)

Small Great Things: A Novel, by Jodi Picoult.  I can’t rave enough about this book.  I think it should be required reading.  It touches on so many issues that we have on race relations in the United States, and definitely gave me another perspective to see and analyze things through.  It made me cry, cringe, cry some more, and smile a little.  Did I mention already how great I think this book is?  You should read it now.

Britt-Marie Was Here: A Novel, by Fredrik Backman.  One quick side bar observation: I’ve apparently been reading a lot of novels!  This is from the same author as A Man Called Ove.  As great as A Man Called Ove was, I really, truly, think this book is so much BETTER.  Another book that I can’t recommend enough.  This book made me laugh out loud, smile, and cry.  It has the full range of emotions.  It’s so well written and tells such a great story of human interaction and compassion, and the inevitability of some things in life.  Oh, and the power of soccer!  Warms my heart just thinking about it again.

When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi.  This is the real life story of a man who gets diagnosed with lung cancer at a very young age, and he decided to write this book.  I thought it was good, but not great.  I don’t think I ever quite found what I was looking for in this book…it seemed like he was building up to something but just never got there.  I do think my favorite part of the book was the end that his wife ended up writing.  It’s still a good read to appreciate the life we have, and to understand just how quickly things can change for any of us, so embrace the now, life your life to the fullest and do the things you want to do.

I will give the disclaimer that this post is NOT sponsored by Audible…but it should be.

Books I’d like to read in the near future:

  • Who am I kidding.  I just looked at my Amazon and Audible wish lists and there’s too many to list, and this post has already taken me the span of four days to write, so I’m just gonna hit the publish button now before one of the boys wakes up from their nap.

What have you been reading lately?

Literate Lushes: June 2015-January 2017

13 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by Alex in blog, book review, books, Literate Lushes, Uncategorized

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book club, book review, books, reading

Wow, I have over a year and a half to update, so I’ll keep the commentary to a minimum and just catch everyone up on our reading list…

June: If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

July: A Wild Ride Through the Night, by Walter Moers

September: A Good and Happy Child, by Justin Evans

November: Broken Monsters, by Lauren Beukes

December: The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins

January: Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon

February: Me Talk Pretty One Day, by Dave Sedaris

April: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers

This one generated a lot of discussion…

May: To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

June: The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith

I really liked this book and I hope I get around to reading the sequels someday.

July: Many Lives Many Masters, by Brian L. Weiss

August: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

I absolutely LOVED this book.

October: Mothers Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of a Tragedy, by Sue Klebold 

November: Voices in the Night, by Steven Millhauser

I wasn’t a huge fan. But I did discover the use of audio books with this book, and it’s been a game changer.

January: A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman

Loved, loved, loved.

Bonus: because thanks to audio books, I listen to them while I pump at work and on my way to work and home.  It’s not quite the same as reading them myself, but it’s better than not reading at all.  I do think this is pretty life changing for me…so, I finished our January book with time to spare and decided to start reading Yes, Please by Amy Poehler.  An enjoyable “read” so far!

I also missed reading quite a few of these books…with having a toddler, then being pregnant, then adjusting to life with two kids…time was harder to find and I was much pickier about what books I chose to read.  I’ll usually give anything a try, and I’m really looking forward to Literate Lushes in 2017 and hopefully reading all the books that we pick, and MORE!  I have so many books written down in the Notes section of my phone and it would be nice to scratch some off instead of just continuously adding more books I want to read.

Literate Lushes: December 2014-April 2015

03 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by Alex in book review, books, reading

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And the Mountains Echoed, book club, books, Dark Places, Every Day is for the Thief, If I stay, Illusions, literature, On The Road, reading

December: Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn

Same author as Gone Girl, our pick from March (2013).  This book was pretty dark, but it was a nice, suspenseful read!  It’s honestly been so long that I don’t remember the details of our book club discussion, but some minor things aside, I think most of us enjoyed reading this one.

January: On the Road, by Jack Kerouc

It’s a classic, but I never got around to reading it.  I read the first few pages, but it didn’t grab me from the get-go and it was such a busy time that I just never went back to it.  I hope I do some day, I love reading “classic” books just so I can be in the know!

February: Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Back

Again….I failed at reading this one…but I still feel like I should give you guys a complete listing of the books that other people in the Literate Lushes have read ;)  Even though I didn’t finish this book either, I did like what I read, and the discussion at book club was actually quite excellent.

March: And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini

Most people have probably already read this book or are at least familiar with it.  I could not put this book down once I started it.  Although I tried at the beginning because it opens with a heart-wrenching story–I almost didn’t want to keep going, but I’m glad I did.  I think the author did a great job with this one, sharing different stories from the perspective of different characters (one chapter is even a letter from one character to another).  The basis of the story is how one act can have repercussions that last a lifetime, and that affect people around the world.  It was sad and uplifting at the same time.

April: Every Day is for the Thief, by Teju Cole

This was my pick.  I heard about it on NPR and it sounded amazing.  I like picking books that expose me to something different or allow me to see/understand a different culture or country: this book takes place in Nigeria, and revolves around the main character returning to visit Nigeria after he’s been living in the U.S. for a while.  The book had promise but it wasn’t written very well: it was almost a little House on Mango Street vignette-esque, and I just am not a fan of short stories, especially when it’s supposed to be one long story.  The author had so many opportunities to grab your attention, but failed every time.  You never got a chance to really get into the book, it seemed like you were always just reading the first couple chapters of the book.  However, it did provide for amazing discussion points during book club about democracy, development, poverty, education, access to self-improvement, cultural differences, etc., which I LOVED, so I’m still happy with my pick :)

Next up: If I stay, by Gayle Forman

Don’t forget: if you shop on Amazon for these books or ANYTHING else, please shop through smile.amazon.com and select Haiti Scholarships as your charity of choice!

Literate Lushes: June-September 2014

28 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by Alex in books, Literate Lushes

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authors, book club, books, Chreyl Strayed, Chronicle of a death foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I know this much is true, Literate Lushes, Wally Lamb, Wild

Our latest book club picks…

June: Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

I’m sure a lot of people have read this one.  I believe it’s going to be a movie soon, as well.  This book tells the story of one woman who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail all by herself (with some company here and there).  Although it was an interesting read, I’ll be honest and say it wasn’t one that grabbed my attention and didn’t let go.  I did finish reading it, and I was happy for the narrator, but not something that left a huge lasting impression.  Although it does make me want to go camping!

July/August: I know this much is true, by Wally Lamb

I LOVED this book, and just couldn’t put it down (and that’s that it’s very, very long). It tells the story of twin brothers, one of whom has some very serious mental issues, and the other brother who also has serious mental issues but doesn’t know about it.  It’s pretty heartbreaking and deals with very serious and tough issues (mental health, rape, suicide, child abuse, huge human character flaws, etc.), but in the end wraps it all up nicely with a pretty little bough–which I love in a book, but some fellow Literate Lushes did not like as much.

September: Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I’m pretty sure I read this book in AP Spanish Lit in high school, but had absolutely no recollection of it (probably like most of the books I read for school), so I’m glad I had a chance to read this again.  Unlike the book from last month, this book is super short and I read it in between breaks in a matter of a few days.  It’s interesting how the title and the whole book are leading you to this one event (the murder of the main character), and yet when I got to the end to read how it happened, I just couldn’t take it.  My heart and my stomach were a mess–to the point that I think I skimmed over a few lines just to get it over with.  I guess that means it was a good book, if you’ve grown to care for a character to that point in such a short amount of time!

Don’t forget: if you shop on Amazon for these books or ANYTHING else, please shop through smile.amazon.com and select Haiti Scholarships as your charity of choice!

Charity of the Month: The Uni Project

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Alex in books, charity, Charity of the Month, non-profit, reading

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books, charity, children, children's books, community, nonprofit, NYC, reading

Uni projectI came across this, and thought it was pretty awesome: portable libraries!  I’ve always been a huge fan of books, and believe in the power they have to transform the lives of the people that read them.

The Uni Project “is a nonprofit committed to increasing access to books and learning opportunities through pop-up, open-air reading rooms.”

It’s mostly in New York City, but if you want to set up your own portable library they send you a reading room kit, which is so cool!

The Uni Project provides many ways to get involved: you can donate books, make a donation to help support a new or existing reading room, provide your time by volunteering as a librarian, or set up your own reading room in your local neighborhood!

 

reading room

Literate Lushes Book Reads: February-May 2014

26 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by Alex in book review, books, Literate Lushes, reading

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Arturo Perez-Reverte, book club, books, Eighty Days, Jonathan Tropper, Matthew Goodwin, Paula McLain, Queen of the South, reading, The Paris Wife, This is Where I Leave You

It’s been a good few months for the Literate Lushes, we’ve had some great book choices and I’ve really enjoyed reading them!

Picking up where we left off…

eighty days

February: Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History Making Around the World, by Matthew Goodwin 

Well, the extended title kind of explains it all, haha.  This story is based on two real women who were some of the first female reporters in the United States.  They embarked on a trip around the world (Nellie Bly wasn’t aware it was a race until she touched ground again on the California coast after sailing from the East coast) in a time when travel was limited and challenged by how long it took to travel at sea, boat schedules, inclement weather, not to mention a nasty monkey!  The book was definitely interesting and caught my full attention at first, but then seemed to drag on a bit.  But overall I thought it was a great book–so many interesting tidbits of knowledge from all over the world that were great to read about (like the fact that before uniform time zones were instituted, each state could be on over a dozen different times, or that Nellie Bly was one of the first people to wear a “clock on a leather band” rather than a carry a pocket watch).  If you’re a history nerd, I think you’ll definitely enjoy this book.

this is wehre

March: This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper

This might not have been everyone’s favorite book, but I really enjoyed it.  Basically the main character’s father dies, he has to sit shiva with his extremely dysfunctional family, all soon after he walks in on his wife cheating on him with his asshole boss.  Among other things.  Most of the time I’m not a fan of story lines where the main character gets shit on over and over and over again, but in this case, I enjoyed reading about his at-times-comical and at-times-tragic life events.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, but other Literate Lushes seemed to enjoy that the most.  Although it was sometimes so outside of reality (as one Literate Lush pointed out–there’s no way that every single person in the family is that messed up), I really enjoyed reading it.  Plus is was a pretty quick read, which was a nice follow up to Eight Days ;)

the paris wife

April: The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain

Another book based on reality (and I think a bestseller, so this one is probably well known), this book is based on Ernest Hemingway’s first wife.  This book was great, and heartbreaking.  It starts with the couple meeting and running to Paris so Hemingway could pursue his writing career, and follows them through their first years of marriage and the difficulties that faced them as Hemingway’s career began to take off, and the sacrifices his wife had to make in order to allow him to focus on his career.  I fell in love with Hemingway’s wife, and found myself getting super mad at Hemingway every time I read how he mistreated her (emotionally, not physically) or hurt her feelings.  Sometimes what bothered me more was that she wasn’t hurt by some of his actions: she put his career ahead of everything, including herself.  The failure of their marriage was something that stuck with me for a couple days after I finished reading it–it makes you realize how fragile human relationships can be, and that is scary!

queen of the south

May: Queen of the South, by Arturo Perez-Reverte

This was my month to choose.  And it’s so hard!  I always feel like I need to pick a book that brings attention to some world issue, or poverty, or problems in third world countries.  But I also want everyone to enjoy what they’re reading, rather than feel like they’re in high school again, forced to read The Old Man and The Sea. So this month I chose to compromise a little: I went with a novel, but one written by a Latin American author, and one that write about a very real problem faced in Mexico: the drug trade and the violence of the drug cartels.  Teresa, the main character, starts off as the girlfriend of a popular cartel Cessna pilot, and ends up fleeing to Spain in order to save her life.  I’m half way through the book, and I find myself at times unable to put it down, and at other times skimming through trying to get to the next interesting story line.  We’ll see how it ends!

Books I Want to Read

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Alex in books, reading

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Tags

books, children's books, cook book, nerd alert, reading

Here’s a list of books that’s on my “to read” list, but that I probably won’t read for a long time.  If any of you do or have read them, please let me know what you think so I can prioritize my list :)

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism, by Naoki Higashida.  I heard about this book on The Daily Show, and Jon Stewart just couldn’t say enough about how great this book is.  It piqued my interest.

Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs & Lullabies, by Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.  I came across this while looking at some of Julie Andrews’ other children books, but they’re all for girls…I think this might be more up Jake’s alley :)  Reviews look awesome!

julie andrews

In the Company of the Poor: Conversations with Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, by Paul Farmer, Gustavo Gutierrez, and Michael Griffin.  This is the uber nerd in me, but also one of those books that will probably be at the bottom of my list for a while.

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living, by Nick Offerman.  Ron Swanson.  Need I say more?

paddle your canoe

The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies, by Matthew Parker.  A few years ago I read Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World.  It was a short read, but really interesting and enlightening.  I figure the history of sugar must be just as interesting.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Wolf.  Why not throw in a kind of classic in there?

Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes, by Sam Zien.  Back when Jeff and I had our apartment, and basic cable, we were limited to about five channels.  One of which had Sam the Cooking Guy.  Jeff and I love watching his show, and this is definitely a cook book I want to add to my kitchen collection.  Even if I use it as sparingly as my other cook books…

cooking guy

The Literate Lushes Updates

03 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by Alex in book review, books, Literate Lushes, reading

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Tags

Ann Rule, book club, books, fiction, Joan Didion, Neil Gaiman, non-fiction, reading

Well, it’s been a while since I updated this section.  To be honest, since having Jake it’s been pretty difficult for me to fully participate in our book club, but I’ll still share with you guys the books that were chosen over these last few months.

August: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

Great, short read.  I think everyone in book club enjoyed reading this one.

September: Eek, I can’t remember!

October: The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy, the Shocking Inside Story, by Ann Rule 

i went as far as buying this book and reading the first 10 pages or so.  It is loooooooong!  With Jake being awake more and more around this time, I just wasn’t able to make a significant dent in the book.  Not to mention: I’m a little afraid about getting creeped out by it!

November: Dictionary of the Khazars, by Miorad Pavic

Again, I didn’t get around to reading this one, but sounded like an interesting concept.

January (skipping December due to busyness): Play it as it Lays, by Joan Didion

I just got this book today, and I think I’ll be able to read this one by the time book club comes around!  Looks fairly short and simple, which I’m excited about :)

 

What are you reading these days?

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