What I'm Reading 07/21

It's depressing to be home from the beach and not have as much time to read. But that's life, I guess? (I'll have PLENTY of time to read on my 16 hour flight to Africa on Sunday!!!)

Finished, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Very Funny. Especially since I know a little bit about the Mennonite culture. Sent a copy to my sister-in-law since I think she'll enjoy it.

Also, finished The Surgeon. Very good, I'm going to keep watching the series on TNT and continue reading the books. I'm onto #2: The Apprentice where they introduce Dr. Isles. It's interesting, the first book had nothing to do with the TV show, but now the storyline is all over the 2nd book. I think this means there will be less surprises. Oh well.

I'm enjoying No Angel. To be honest, the author isn't a very good writer, but it's an intriguing story. What's stranger is that he has a co-author, but you can't really tell. Sometimes he lists out what he did that day, like a checklist, and just leaves out all the emotion. What was he going through? What was he feeling? What was the dialogue? I do think, at least, you get an authentic feel for what the undercovers are like and what the Hells Angels are like.

What I'm Reading & What I've Read 07/14/2010

Currently I'm reading Mennonite In A Little Black Dress. Very funny. But I don't think just anyone will find it funny. It's only funny if you yourself have a mennonite background, married into a mennonite family, or live in a heavily populated mennonite area.

She (a recent divorce-ee who's husband left her for another man so she moves back in with her parents at the age of 43) cracks jokes about the food, the culture, their cheapness, etc. It's so great. I'm definetely recommending this to my family members, they will get a kick out of it.

I finished Sh*t My Dad Says last night. HILLARIOUS. Really really really funny. For everyone (not just Mennonites). I was literally laughing out loud the whole time. I was at the beach belly laughing on my beach chair. It was great.

We were watching The Closer on TNT (best tv channel) earlier this week and the season premiere of Rizzoli & Isles came on. So I watched it. I found out it was a book series [How funny is it that Angie Harmon did Women's Murder Club -- based on a book series by James Patterson just before this project? It's like the same exact role. But that's cool cause I like her.] right before the show started so I wavered on whether or not to read the book first. But I didn't feel like waiting. So I watched the show and now I'm reading the book. The Surgeon is the first of eight. So far, it's very different from the show and I don't feel like there are any spoilers, (the show didn't give anything away) so that's good. However, they keep portraying Jane Rizzoli as plain & unattractive and that is most definitely not Angie Harmon.

The Burning Wire was good. Lots of unexpected twists. I don't know how much more JD can go with Rimes & Sachs, but I'll keep reading them. I'm looking forward to switching it up with Roadside Crosses w/ Kathryn Dance.

The Heir was "iiiiight". Pretty much because it was free. If I had to pay for it, I would have been disappointed. It held my attention, at least.

Quarterlife Crisis was disappointing. Not like her other books. Less informative, less character development. Plus, just really depressing. I feel like it could be so much more powerful dealing with the content that it's a bout. But instead it was just blah blah blah.

What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Sex was so so so lame. I will NOT be recommending it to my husband. Okay, there was an occasional good page or chapter. But the author was super cheesy. The best part was the opening page. Sheet Music was much better. I even thought that was cheesy, but not as cheesy, if that means anything.

What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us is the best book I've ever read. This was true 5 years ago and it's true today. I just reread it this week. So powerful. It really changes your perspective of how you look at life, womanhood, motherhood, love, career, and marriage. I have so much respect for Danielle Crittenden and wish she had more books that I could read. I recommend this to any and everyone female I know.

Coach, by Michael Lewis was good. But it was more "simple & cute" than good. It was very very short. Too short. I just can't get over how stories just seem to fall in his lap. I wish this book had more to it or that he could follow up about it. Sports have such an impact on our lives. Coaches can really shape and mold us. (for the better & for the worst). I wish he would touch more on that. I finally realized that ML's wife, Tabitha, is really Tabitha Soren. Which is kinda cool. ML, once again, lives an incredible life. But I think it also means he's kind of liberal which disappoints me tremendously. But so far, his books don't lean that way (too much). So I'll keep on loving him.

Okay, finally, the last book I need to touch on is Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben who also wrote Caught. It stars Mylon Bolitar the sports agent/detective/FBI agent/crime solver/funny man. My mom mentioned these books to me and I gave it a try. Came across the first novel @ Costco and went for it. I've already purchased the 2nd one. I found the first to be a good mystery, but also comical. Win, his loyal sidekick, is a pretty great wingman if you ask me.

Wait, one more. The Husbands & Wives Club is a book about couples therapy. It's a real story where an author follows a psychiatrist and her marriage group for a year plus. It's very moving. Some of these couples carry SO much baggage into their marriage, it's hard to imagine they are really living. But at the end all the couples stay together, so that's pretty powerful. It just goes to show that your marriage can survive if you are willing to stick it out. Though, I think a lot of these marriages are pretty unhealthy and may not make it later on down the line, I found the book to be interesting. I did not know that couples group therapy was very rare nowadays. Most couples therapy is just with the couple. It was cool to see the impact that "group" had on each individual. It also made me appreciate my own marriage that much more.

So, that means I read 13 books since being on Vacay! Woo hoo. Which brings my total to 36 books in less than 27 weeks. Wow! I am cruising. I'll need this because I don't know how much reading I'll get done in Africa or once the school year starts. So this is awesomeness.

I heart ML

Once again, I've read another great book my Michael Lewis. In the past, when you play those games -- "if you could have dinner with any person who would it be?" I never really knew who to pick. But now I really think I would pick Michael Lewis. He's the greatest. I finished reading Home Game 2 days ago. It's about his journey into parenthood. Hilarious. His overall message was that you don't really feel the way you're supposed to feel until you actually start taking care of another human being. And it's in doing that that you learn to love your kids. And that makes sense to me.

Hot Topic

Just finished Sheet Music by Dr. Lehman. Get it, sheets? Bed? Sheet music. Anyway, it was good, but not great. For starters, he was super cheesy. He was real, and honest. He made valid points and painted a beautiful picture of intimacy in marriage. But he was say the corniest things which made me not want to take him seriously. Though, I do think he is an expert on the subject. I enjoyed the book and will give it to my husband to read. As well as a lot of other married couples. I strongly believe that even couples with healthy marriages and healthy sex lives can benefit from this book. It help reaffirm the importance of how men and women treat each other. As a wife, I have such an important role in how I inspire and encourage my husband with my actions.

Currently reading The Burning Wire by Jeffrey Deaver and Quarterlife Crisis by Alexandra Robbins.

I'm confindent JD will be good, as always. Lincoln Rhimes always is, but it is too early to be certain. However, a little dissapointed in AR. Pledged & Overachievers were very good. This is kind of boring, depressing, and repetitive. However, this was her first book, written close to 10 years ago.

Born To Run

I just finished "Born To Run" by Christopher McDougall and it literally brought tears to my eyes as I was reading it. It got into some logistics about running such as the evolution of some of Nike's running shoes and how some of the "elite" ultra runners got into the sport. This was all very interesting and cool. However, the most amazing story was about the actual races and the pivotal race in Copper Canyon which was the climax of the whole book. What a monumental event which people risked their lives to be a part of. Plus McDougall's story in itself was really cool. I left feeling very inspired. Yes, I want to run an ultra marathon now. But I'll push that dream to the side for now. It's not THAT big of a dream. I do want to start with just running another marathon. Maybe I'll shoot for Philly in November??? We'll see...

For all my running friends out there this is a MUST READ.

Myrtle Beach Read-a-thon

Leaving to go camping tomorrow, then after 2 to 3 days in VA, I'll head down to the beach in SC! woo-hoo!

I plan on staying for 9 days (just Schmuffs & I) and just reading & relaxing the whole time. Very pumped.

My goal is to read 10 books in July.

I also plan on finishing middlemarch this year. I swear. It's going to be tough, but I'm gonna make it happen.

Also, I'm going to pick back up my goal of reading the bible in a year. I spend so much time reading, why can't I devote some of that time to reading the bible? Next week marks the half-way point of the year. So instead of doing a bible in the year, I can do the bible in half a year. I'll just double up each day. It'll be like 3 to 7 chapters a day. I can make that happen.

Looking forward to all these exciting plans.

What's In Store For July