Tag: Books

Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich

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Cover ImageFinished 9-14-10, rating 4/5, non-fiction, pub. 2001

Journalist Ehrenreich sets out to discover if a single woman can support herself on a low-income budget.  She tries waitressing in Key West, housekeeping in Portland, Maine, and retail (Walmart) in Minneapolis. She spends a month in each place and must find herself housing and work and see if she can make it work.  She also starts with a buffer of $1,000 and a car.  She doesn’t use any of her money for entertainment, in fact in two cities she has to get a second job just to make ends meet.

16. Nickel and Dimed takes place in 1998-2000, a time of unprecedented prosperity in America.  Do you think Ehrenreich’s experience would be different in today’s economy?

A Reader’s Guide, Questions for Discussion

Given the state of the economy and the rise in poverty this has just as much relevance today as it did when Ehrenreich wrote it.  She worked low paying jobs, but had all the advantages (single, educated, white, healthy, native English speaker, owned own transportation) and still could not make it.  At least in the short run.  I think the weakest part of the book was the short run of her trials.  It would have been interesting to see how different her experience might have been if she had tried one of the stops for a longer term.  The result may have been different. 

There were a few surprises.  She didn’t have a problem finding a job and the lack of housing in Minneapolis.  I also learned a few things. Don’t hire a maid and how to beat a drug test.  Most of the book was not unexpected, only eye-opening to most of us who don’t live it everyday.

This book is an important read.  I think if more people read it it would be more difficult to vilify people who want to work and do, but still can’t afford to live without help.  Do yourself a favor and take a look.  It might challenge some assumptions.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Candice, Jennifer, Margot, Heather, Colleen, and Angie.  Here’s what they had to say…

“I’ve never read this one myself, but my sister did and she enjoyed it so much that she was reading passages out loud to me.”  Angie

“Eye-opening first person account of a journalist’s experiences as a member of the working poor. Challenged many of my assumptions.”  Colleen

“One of my all-time favorites.”  Margot

“This was an eye-opening look at how the working poor barely get by and IMO, a must read.”  Jennifer

Lucky You, by Carl Hiaasen

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Cover ImageFinished 9-10-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1997

Bode rapped his knuckles on the dinette.  “Here’s my prediction: The shitweasel holding the other Lotto ticket, he’s either a Negro, Jew or Cuban type.”

“Go on!”

“That’s how they do it, Chub.  To fuck over decent Americans such as you and me.  You think they’re gonna let two white boys take the whole jackpot?  Not these days, no way!”  Bode’s nose angled back toward the newspaper.  “Where’s Grange?  Over near Tampa?”

Chub was stunned at his friend’s theory.  He didn’t understand how the lottery could be rigged.  If it was, how had he and Bode managed to win even half?

Chapter 2

 Bode and Chub have just won the Florida lottery and hope to get their racist militia, White Clarion Aryans, started.  When they find out there was another winning ticket and they would have to split the $28 million they decide to find the ticket and steal it so they could have all of the winnings to themselves.  JoLayne Lucks is a single woman who plans to use her $14 million to rescue swampland from commercial development.  When she is attacked by Bode and Chub all hell breaks loose.

The premise is fun as is the wackiness of Hiaasen’s writing.  No one gets a pass in this one.  The horrible and awful Bode & Chub would have been more funny only if you didn’t realize that there were plenty of idiots like them out there.  And the religious zealots and the people who take advantage of them provide plenty of zaniness.  The two heroes of the novel are JoLayne and reporter Tom Krome provide the common sense and the common good of the novel. 

I liked this one, but my distaste for Bode and Chub probably stopped me from liking it more.  I thought the end was maybe a bit too easy for me, but not really bad.  With such a crazy cast of characters I was expecting more of a crazy ending.  But, Hiaasen always pushes the envelope and is always funny, so you really can’t go wrong with his books.

 

This is from my personal library and chosen by Kristie, Jessica, Sharon, Sue, and Jason.  Here’s what they had to say…

“I’ve read all of Hiaasan’s books and love the humor in them.”  Sharon

“Love his books!”  Kristie

BBAW Unexpected Treasure

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imageWe invite you to share with us a book or genre you tried due to the influence of another blogger.  What made you cave in to try something new and what was the experience like?

I have a lot of books.  Many unread for the decade or more that I’ve owned them.  But since I’ve started blogging I have picked up books at sales based on bloggers recommendations and have won more from blog contests.  So, this past December I collected all of my books, took a picture, and asked my online and face to face friends to vote for 50 of the books I would read this year.  The post is here.  After 72 voters voted for up to 5 books each I had my 50 books.  The RYOB Challenge here is where I list the ones I’ve agreed to read and who voted for each one.  I also include their names and links with the review when I post it.

I’ve only read 29 out of 50 so far.  That’s not so good, but I’m still plugging along.  The two chosen that were most outside my usual reading comfort zone were War & Peace by Tolstoy and The Glass Castle by Wells and I ended up liking them both.  I’m sure that The Glass Castle will end up on my year end favorite list.  Having book lovers choose books for me from my overflowing shelves has been a great experience and I plan on doing it again.  Fifty may have been too many, but we’ll see what I can accomplish.

In case you missed these posts due to BBAW overload…

My Tuesday Quiz – first week of Round 4- please join us

My interview with Page Turners

My answers to Page Turners questions

Signed Book Quiz

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Round 4 begins today!!  This round lasts for 13 weeks when I’ll give away 2 prizes.  I know it’s busy this week due to BBAW so I’m giving you til Sunday to submit answers 🙂  I hope any of you stopping by from BBAW will play along too.

Here are the rules… 1. Open to everyone.  Play once or every week, that’s okay.  I’m happy to have you here today.

2. No cheating.  No googling, other internet searches or looking at other commenter answers.  Yes, we’re going by the honor system

3. Your first answers will be the only ones accepted.

I love autographed books.  Here are my stacks of signed copies.  All you have to do is tell me the author 1-10.  Each correct answer is worth 10 points.  Since this is the first week I chose the authors with the best penmanship (but you may have never heard of them!).

1. Ciji Ware  2. B.D. Joyce  3. Preetham Grandhi  4. Tomi Akinyanmi  5. J. Everett Prewitt  6. Bob Adamov  7. Greg Cielec  8. Christina Bartolomeo  9. MaryRose Wood  10. Vicki M. Taylor

BBAW Interview Swap – Page Turners

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This year I had the pleasure of swapping questions with a new to me blog, Page Turners.  Co-owners, Pixie & Stacey, both answered my questions. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to get to know these gals and to check out their very cool blog.  I am convinced that I have to read Hunger Games and I LOVE that they both chose an 80’s movie as their favorite.  You all know how I love my 80’s 🙂  And I might have to add the Dr. Seuss quote to my favorite list.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and why you started blogging.

I am a stay at home mom; life can get pretty boring (especially when the kids are at school).  A few years ago, I picked up Twilight and fell in love with the story.  I started reading more YA, thanks to Twilightmoms book of the month; and I was enjoying everything I read.  My preteen daughter and teenage sister-in-law were also into the books, it was fun to discuss the books with them.

Then at a book signing the Forrest of Hands and Teeth was mentioned.  I read it and LOVED IT- for the first time I needed to know what happened next.  I started researching how people get ARC’s and found that you can get them from blogging.  So I asked around and my friend from Twilightmoms (Stacey) was willing to co-run the site with me. Other Twilightmoms wanted to join in and review for us; so, we jumped in head first and started Page Tuners a little over a year ago. Didn’t get the arc I was originally wanting, but have had an amazing year.  The Dead Tossed Waves was worth the wait.

2. As a blog with multiple contributors, how are the posts divided up?  How often do you blog?

We blog at least once a day, if not more.  I do most of the weekly blog post and Stacey handles our twitter account.  We don’t really have a schedule; read a book, post a review is the basic set up.  Anything else (contest, promos, interviews) Stacey and I discuss on a daily basis.

3. You list The Hunger Games as your favorite book.  I’ve never read it (gasp!), tell me why I need to rush to the bookstore and buy it.

Oh man you are missing out.  The lead Katniss is a dream character for a female lead. She shows that she is feminine, strong, and doesn’t lay down a take what her government is doing to her. The story makes you think, it isn’t something you can just read and move on.  It makes you ask questions, to pay attention to what is going on around you.  This is something that could happen, and possibly is happening in other countries to some extent. Not the games, but how the area is set up, how the country is run.
 

4. Who are some of your favorite YA authors? 

Carrie Ryan, Kami Garcia & Margie Stohl, Cassandra Clare, JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, Beth Fantaskey, Julie Kagawa,Kimberly Derting,Kody Kelpinger, Suzanne Collins, Kelly Armstrong

We could go on forever….

5. Aside from YA what other genres do you enjoy reading?

Pixie ~ Usually adult sci-fi or paranormal romance. Basically what I read in YA, only in the adult form. I have read a few Jodi Picoult’s books and have really enjoyed those. Classics like Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice ~ I also like to read the “spoof” rewrites of these books.

Stacey ~ Black Dagger Brotherhood, Sookie Stackhouse Series, Outlander Series, Tom Clancy & Historical Fiction.

6. What’s your favorite movie?

Pixie ~ GOONIES! I love cheesy 80’s flicks.

Stacey ~ Top Gun

7. What’s the last book you read and would you recommend it?

Pixie ~ The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) – Bianca, the lead is a very realistic teen voice; who is an easy character to relate to.

Stacey ~ the last book I “read” was Dead in the Family – and yes I would recommend it – I love getting back to the books after watching True Blood

8. I love quotes.  Do you have a favorite?

 Pixie ~ Umm. I have a few. I quote a lot of movies, or TV shows.

You’re killing me smalls.

I don’t think so Tim (my son likes to remind me that his name isn’t Tim)

I believe whatever doesn’t kill you, simply makes you…stranger

But some of my favorite “to live by” quotes are ~

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”  ~ Dr. Seuss

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Stacey ~ War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
John Stuart Mill

9. If you were trapped in the life of one fictional character who would you
choose?

Pixie~ Man this is a hard question. I think I would choose Wanda/Wander from The Host ~ she has a man who loves her for her. She is able to forgive and see past the bad; see humans for who they really are, loving, caring individuals.

Stacey ~ Claire Randall/Fraser from the Outlander Series

10. What’s your favorite non reading and writing hobby? 

Pixie ~ Photography, LOVE IT. I could spend the day driving around taking pictures, if I didn’t have kids to tend to & books to read.

Stacey ~ hanging with friends and a good road trip

Aren’t they great?  Head on over to Page Turners and check them out.

The Lake House, by James Patterson

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Cover ImageFinished 9-3-10, rating 2/5, fiction, pub. 2003

Sequel to When the Wind Blows

I remember reading When the Wind Blows when it came out and really liking it.  I think it may have been my first Patterson novel.   It is about six genetically engineered children who were stolen from their parents and experimented on in secret.  They were rescued by Frannie, a veterinarian, and Kit, and FBI agent. 

Fast forward to this sequel and Frannie and Kit are suing the biological parents for custody, because they love the children so much.  The children, with bird genes, have imprinted Frannie and Kit as their true parents.  The media are fascinated by these children who can fly and the courthouse is bedlam.  When the dust settles the children are sent to their individual homes and a new set of bad guys comes for them. They escape together and find Frannie who finds Kit.

No disrespect to the five people who chose this for me (sorry Mom), but I thought this was bad.  I thought Frannie and Kit were selfish.  The bad guy and his clones said the silliest things.  I thought the love/sex story between 12 year olds Max and Oz was terrible.  Here’s a sample…

“Max, you are very young!” I said. “And you, too, Oz.”

“In human years Frannie.  But we’re more than human,” Max said.  “We’re special, remember?  And we’re also in love.  Deeply, passionately, wonderfully in love.”

She combed her hair with her fingers and tied it up into a loose knot.  “Our bird genes makes us mature for our age.  In fact, I think we’re probably about your age,” she added, her eyes twinkling irresistibly.  “You’re old enough to mate, aren’t you?”

She had me there.

Chapter 81

It was told in true Patterson style with alternating viewpoints and lots of sentence long paragraphs and even more exclamation points.  Um, I can’t recommend this book to anyone.  If you liked When the Wind Blows, reread it instead of looking for a great sequel here.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Donna, GMR, Mom, Sue and Rebecca.  Here’s what they had to say…

“I am totally a fan. I like the Maximum Ride Series but they are not as good as the original Max stories of When the Wind Blows and the Lake House.”  Rebecca

“Awesome writer and a great book.”  GMR

“I havent read this one yet but Patterson’s books never fail to have something in there to surprise me.”  Donna

The Sleeping Doll, by Jeffrey Deaver

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Cover ImageFinished 8-31-10, rating 4/5, thriller, pub. 2007

Book 1 in the Kathryn Dance series

Kathryn Dance was often called a human lie detector, but that wasn’t accurate; in reality she, like all kinesic analysts and interrogators, was a stress detector.  This was the key to deception; once she spotted stress, she’d probe the topic that gave rise to it and dig until the subject broke.

Chapter 2

Kathryn is kinesics expert with the California Bureau of Investigation and she has just been placed in charge of a manhunt for an escaped killer.  She had been interrogating the convict, Daniel Pell, before he escaped so she was able to get inside his head which helped her stay on his trail.  Pell had been the leader of a small cult and was hoping to start another after he set up after escaping.  Kathryn and Pell can both read people by their behavior and manipulate conversations and situations, so they were both evenly matched.

We first met Kathryn in The Cold Moon (a Lincoln Rhyme book), but you don’t need to have read that one to enjoy this fast paced thriller.  As with most of Deaver’s books I learned  a lot, not only about kinesics, but cult mentality as well.  I was disturbed by the interactions of the three women who had been with Pell before he went to prison.  I find the reasons behind joining a cult sad and the reality of it bizarre.

I enjoyed this one, but not as much as the Lincoln Rhyme series.  The characters were interesting, but not as well-developed.  It was a solid beginning to a new series and I plan on giving the second one a chance.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Kristie, Margie, and Jason.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Great book!”  Kristie

“Really enjoyed it.”  Margie

Free Books for September

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In my ongoing quest to keep books moving out and not just in I give away a few books each month.  Leave a comment, tell me which book you want and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  The first one to request each book wins.  Once you’ve ‘won’ the book I can get your shipping address if I need it.  Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want.  These have all been read a time or two.

1. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.  Mass market classic.  It’s an old copy (1983) but in good shape.  B&N review here.  for Sarah E

2. Angel Mine by Sherryl Woods.  Mass market romance.  Published in 2000.  B&N review here.  for Gautami

3. The Awakening by Kate Chopin.  Trade paperback classic.  This edition published in 1993 is in great condition.  My review here.  for Misha

4. Contemporary Latin American Short Stories. This trade paperback was published in 1996.  Never been read.  B&N review here.  for Carol M

Happy Reading!

Winter Solstice, by Rosamunde Pilcher

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Cover ImageFinished 8-23-10, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2000

Elfrida is a sixty-something retired actress who moves from London with her new dog Horace to a village in northern England.  She can afford a small cottage and has enough money to get by, but not much more.  She quickly makes friends with Oscar and Gloria who make her feel comfortable at their luxurious home.  When tragedy strikes Elfrida is thrown into an unlikely role, that of caretaker.

Elfrida is one of five people thrown together in a Scottish home over the Christmas holiday.  There is also a teenage girl, her aunt, an older man who has lost his faith, and a businessman moving there for work.  Elfrida has spunk, warmth, opinions, and I felt as taken in by her as the others in the house.  These people are all forced to live together because of events out of their control and manage to make Christmas work for them.

This was a very satisfying read.  I enjoyed Elfrida immensely and the house felt so alive and warm with the stories of the characters.  Some of the happenings seemed more than a little improbable but I closed the book having spent time with people I liked.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Linda, Margot, FleurFisher, and Sandy.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Set in my part of the world.”  FleurFisher

“I love her books and wish there were more of them.”  Linda

As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner

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Cover ImageFinished 8-19-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1930

He had a word, too.  Love he called it.  But I had been used to words for a long time.  I knew that the word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack; that when the right time came, you wouldn’t need a word for that anymore than for pride or fear. 

Addie, page 172

The Bundren family lives in Mississippi in the 1930’s and they are preparing for the death of their matriarch, Addie.  Anse, Addie’s husband, has promised her that he will take her body to Jefferson and bury her with her kin.  This promise was easily made but not easily kept.  There were many obstacles in the way of the family’s journey and Anse and their five children had to band together to make the promise happen.

This is my first Faulkner novel and it was a unique reading experience.  Jason tried listening to the audio last year, but gave up and now I see why.  This book makes you work for it and I think listening to the audio in the car would be a difficult proposition.  There are 15 different narrators in this 261 page novel.  I started by writing each of them down for a reference as I was reading and even with that I totally missed who one of the important narrators was and cheated by checking online after I was done.  So, you really have to be one your toes!  And because of that I really think this books begs to be read in one sitting. Faulkner’s writing is spare, but beautiful, and it takes a few chapters to really get into the rhythm.  Once I got it I did not put the book down until I was done.

I liked it because of the innovative writing style, but wasn’t that crazy about the story itself.  The Bundren family is full of characters, but not necessarily any that I truly cared about.  Since I appreciated the writing I will definitely read Faulkner again, but only when I’m ready to devote some time and brain power to the reading.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by…Candice, Hannah, and Molly.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Faulkner is my favorite. This book is a great example of what I love about him. Makes you think, makes you laugh, makes you crazy.”  Molly

“Because this one is often read in high school English classes, but somehow you and I both missed out.”  Hannah