Light on Snow by Anita Shreve

Light on Snow By Anita Shreve

The book is about a 12 year old girl named Nicky who lives with her father out in the wilderness. Just 2 years earlier she had lost her mother and baby sister in a car accident. Her father not being able to deal with their life, house, and memories in New York moved them out to a little cabin where he wouldnt have to deal with life or people. They snow shoe often and one night they discover an abandoned newborn baby in a sleeping bag in the woods!! They rescue her and get caught up in all the drama that comes along with the baby.

Its a very sad but touching story about a girl who just wants a normal family.

I enjoyed it.. I felt it could have been a little longer.

1-10.. I would say 5.

Kite Runner / Shaley

Well, this is the book club book for April.
To start with- I knew nothing of Afganistan before this book. I didnt even know what a kite runner was. The book is wrote like it could be a memoir but its not.
The book is about a wealthy boy named Amir and his best friend and servent Hassen growing up in Afganistan. Their favorite thing to do was Fight Kites. Amir would fly them and Hassen was a kite runner. One day Amir witnesses something that makes him push Hassen away and they grow apart. Hassen and his father move away right around the time that Afganistan hit the fan. When war brakes out Amir and his father escape to America. By leaving they left the life of the wealth and learned how to live more humble lives. Its a very sad book, with a twist... but the last page makes up for the twist.

I would recommend it...It was a good read and interesting but it wasnt an "OMG I LOVED THAT BOOK" kind of book.
1-10.. i would say maybe 5..

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell

What an amazing book!! I had no idea what it was about.. but im one of those people that brakes the rules and judges a book by the cover.. I seen the cover and it looked good so I got it.. Im really glad I did!!

Agincourt is about the Battle of Agincourt (duh). This is a historical novel. The personal story is fake but the facts of the war are real.It takes place in the 1400's when the king of England wanted to claim his throne over France. He took his army there and his troops got sick or died in the battle over a port town.. when they marched on they ended up fighting the entire french army of about 30,000 men with only 6,000!! What the English had that the French didnt were Archers! And what amazing archers they were! The English won!!!

The book is about a man named Nicholas Hook . A wanted man in England, he is driven to fight as a mercenary archer in France, where he finds two things he can love: his instincts as a fighting man, and a girl in trouble (nun). Together they survive the notorious massacre at Soissons, an event that shocks all Christendom. With no options left, Hook heads home to England, where his capture means certain death. Instead he is discovered by the young King of England--Henry V himself--and by royal command he takes up the longbow again and dons the cross of Saint George. Hook returns to France as part of the superb army Henry leads in his quest to claim the French crown. But after the English campaign suffers devastating early losses, everything is left to Nick and his fellow Archers.

If you like historical books READ THIS!!

scale of 1-10 .. I give it an 8 1/2..

Its a very easy read and goes by very fast but its written very well.

Running with Scissors

By Augesten Burroughs

WHO PUT THIS BOOK ON THE BEST SELLER LISTS????? They were nuts.

The book is a memoir about a mans childhood. He had a lunatic mom, alchoholic dad, and an autistic brother. His mom and dad get divorced and his mom basically ends up giving him to her shrink! The book talks about all the discusting living situations he endured thru... ohh and not to mention hes gay!

I wasnt at all entertained reading it. I found it boring and disturbing.

I really cant write more of a review then that cause theres nothing good to say about it.. ecxept that I dont understand why its such a popular / famous book... if anyone can point out anything good about it - let me know..

Death in Vienna - Daniel Silva

This is the third of three books within the Gabriel Allon series that is focused around activities based off the Holocaust. Being biased with this author and his series I found this again to be an exceptional book. Without giving away the ending, the initial story you think needs to be solved keeps developing in such a way that 1/2 of the book is after you thought it'd be over. I can't remember if I mentioned it in the previous review but the books are written as fiction, however they are focused around real events with some substantial 'theories' being the base for the fiction work of the book. This book is based primarily in Europe focusing around Munchen, Rome, Venice and primariy...Vienna (hence the name of the book) with a detour in Argentina for the characters. It is a really interesting read and I recommend it to anyone.

The English Assassin - Daniel Silva

Ok, I'm bias, this is the 5th one of Silva's books that I've read. They're not necessarily a series but they all revolve around the same main character, Gabriel Allon. This is the second in the Allon books and it was really good. All his stories are based in Europe with the main character, Allen, a sometime Israeli spy by trade and an art restorer by preference. I enjoy revisiting through the pages some of the places I traveled to and it gives me a feeling of taking a mini-vacation. While this book is fiction it has a suprising amount of knowledge and details that give it the possibility of being a fairly accurate portrayal of historical situations that may have occurred.
This particular book's primary focus was on the current day implications of the art dealings during Nazi Germany out of Zurich Switzerland. It is exceptionally written yet is an easy read.
I look forward to finishing off the books in this series. If you'd prefer to read the first of the Allon books start with 'The Kill Artist' but again, reading them in order is not necessary.

Aprils Book is Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Our book club is starting!! Aprils book will be Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini . We will meet at the end of the month to discuss it and have a girls night :) Happy Reading

Dianna Gabaldons Lord John Series Book 1 & 2

Well, after reading all the Outlander books about Jamie and Claire I couldnt help but want to read the Lord John series... John Grey of the Lord John books is in the Outlander story so I already knew allot about him cause he was in all 6 of them... Book 1 is called Lord John and the private matter. Book 2 is Lord John and the brotherhood of the blade. I was a little suprised reading them because book one was a little boring and kind of a crime mystery book... when outlander is a war/love story. Book 2 was more enjoyable... but... Okay this is giving something away but i have to tell you about it.. Lord John is gay - but its the 1700's.. And these Lord John books are really him dealing with being gay and finding a gay lover.. and they basically arent what I thought they would be! I love Dianna Gabaldon's writing so I will finish the 3rd book just to say I did.. but I just had to tell someone else that its nothing like Outlander and its no where near as exciting or romantic.

1-10 scale.. I give book 1 umm a 4.. and book 2 a 5 1/2-6

Shaley

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana by Haven Kimmel

A girl named Zippy was on all the book club lists online so I read it :) .. Its a small book so it was a quick one day read. It was entertaining and made me smile a few times.

Its basically just a memoir about a happy childhood.

Nicknamed "Zippy" for her energetic interpretation of a circus monkey, she could not be bothered to speak until she was three years old, and her first words involved bargaining with her father about whether or not a baby bottle was still appropriate. Born in 1965, Zippy lived in a world filled with a loving family, peculiar neighbors, and multitudes of animals, including a chicken she loved and treated like a baby.

Shaley

Hello from Robin

Getting started
Hello everyone. I've never blogged on Myspace or anywhere else for that matter for public viewing. With that said, Hello, this is Robin. I'm a friend of Shaley's from our son's preschool and we're looking forward to getting through some good books and being able to chat with people about them.
It's been since last summer since I've read a book that wasn't for school purposes and I hope to get a list of those down shortly as there were quite a few and some pretty good ones.
With all that said I'm going to delve in tonight during Spring Break and begin reading one. Last summer I read a book picked randomly at a Safeway in Kalispell, MT. After enjoying it I came to find out it was one of many in a semi-series. Same main characters and some supporting staff however you don't need to read them in order to understand any of them (I started on book 7 for example). The book I'm reading now is below with information if you'd like to read it with me.

The English Assassin by Daniel Silva
ISBN: 978-0-451-20818-7

Thanks for reading,

Robin

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

The Monsters of Templeton
by Lauren Groff
New York Times Bestseller

Finished it in a day. It was nothing like I expected. Its about a girl whos trying to figure out who her father is by digging up her family history... but everythings based around this little town called Templeton.. the little town where nothing changes... untill their lakes monster dies and beaches on the shore... it puts Templeton on the map. For some reason I exspected real monsters and something a little more thrilling.. It was intresting enuff but not good enuff for me to say "Now that was a really good book" .. its more a "that was a good quicky book" .. which thats what I wanted.. a "quicky". After reading the Outlander Series all I wanted was a book that would be fast and get me into a new storyline.

1 to 10.. 10 being best like Harry Potter, Twilight, Outlander.... this was maybe a 4.

Shaley

Dianna Gabaldon's Outlander Series

Outlander

Dragonfly in Amber

Voyager

Drums of Autum

The Fiery Cross

A Breath of Snow and Ashes

By Diana Gabaldon

I'm a very fast reader but these took me a good 2 1/2-3 months... Its a story about a nurse in the 1940s that walks thru a standing stone in Scotland and time travels back 200 years and falls in love with a guy then.. but it lasts for 6 books!! By the end you feel like you know the characters personally and feel sad to see it end. Ive heard rumors that she will write a 7th. I highly recommend them!

Shaley

New Moms Book Club

Welcome! This blog will be run by Shaley or Robin. We are both stay at home moms that love to read. We thought that creating a book club that picks 1 book a month and meets at the end of the month would be fun. We think it will be a good way to get to know more moms and get out of the house with out kids :)..We have created a myspace to communicate with moms who join our reading group www.myspace.com/spokanemomsbookclub ... and created this blog to do book reviews and discuss our book club books. We will start writing blogs about books we have read and recommend and dont soon... Feel free to add and join our group :)