Book Review!

In the last couple months I have helped start a book club with Paul's regiment. We meet monthly at Barnes and Nobles to discuss our books and catch up with one another. So far, we have read The Help by Kathryn Sockett, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot, and Year of Wonder's by Geraldine Brooks.

I am also reading, with my wonderful friend from Utah Annie, some books. We have read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and we are currently reading the Left Behind Series.

I also have read some books on my own (not being in a club) that are noteworthy. The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson and A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard.

How do I read so much in a few months you ask? Well, books on CD and my Nook. I listen to a book whenever I drive (which is a lot), in the house, and then I read my Nook. It really helps listening to books while driving as really it is a waste of time anyways.

My review is 1 - 5 with 5 being the highest score. Enjoy!

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson - 1 - I HATED this book! It had language that was awful and vulgar and the plot was not interesting at all. I DO NOT recommend this book to anyone.

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard. - 4 - This book is hard to listen to as Jaycee actually reads it. Just hearing her voice describe her situation and life in captivity was creepy. There is some language and descriptions that make your stomach turn, however, I think her story needed to be told. There are creeps out there that you would never suspect that may have innocent children in their captivity. We need to be on the lookout for strange things.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - 2.5 - Yawn! This book took me FOREVER to get
through but I was going to finish it! It did pick up towards the end, but it just wasn't intriguing to me.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 5 - I LOVED these books! There were captivating and were such a quick read. I would recommend these to anyone that is older than 15 as the entire premise behind the books is not for little kids. I could vividly see all the descriptions in the book as it was written so well. They are making this trilogy into a movie so read the books before the movies come out!!

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - 3.5 - This book was quite interesting as it was written a very long time ago. It is one of those books you just wonder why they don't "do something" about it as you know everything as the reader when the characters don't know the entire story. Some good truths and applicable to today as well.

The Help by Kathryn Sockett - 5 - This book gave a fun look at life in the 1950s in Mississippi. There are three main characters that are developed really well and that you can relate to in small ways. So many tones in this book that relate to all people. Recommend this one to any woman.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot - 4 - This book is a true story about Henrietta Lacks, a black woman in the 50s that had her cells taken from her body without her knowledge. They became the most replicated cells in the world. This book discusses the history with the family and researchers. It goes in depth to cancer cells and describes cell biology really well. However, I feel like the researcher who wrote the book did almost too good of a job! There are so many facts!!

Year of Wonder's by Geraldine Brooks - 3 - This one looks like it has promise and then the last fifty pages ruins the entire book for me. It tells about human nature during a time of turmoil, the Black Plague, in England. I was disappointed how the Pastor reacted when his wife died and really went off the deep end - as did the main character. Very depressing the last fifty pages.

Well, that's what I have been reading the last few months!!