Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

It's been a long time! Freedom took me FOREVER to read! I swear, I've been working on it. And I have to say, I loved it. Freedom has been called a "Great American Novel" and it is a well deserved title.

Freedom is about a family over a span of many, many years. There's conflict, loved, adultery, a prodigal son. Basically all the good stuff that us Americans love to read about. So much drama. While I found the mother, Patty, extremely hard to relate to, I very much enjoyed all the other characters. Even Patty was enjoyable to read about; one of those people I loved to hate. But, I think as I age, I might look at Patty differently.

I really recommend Freedom for pretty much anybody. While I was reading it, a variety of people walked up to me and told me how much they enjoyed it. Many strangers even walked up randomly to talk to me about it in a coffee shop. I love when books do that, bring people together.

Definitely read this one, just make sure you love lots of time carved out!

The Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne

I found The Ghost at the Table as one of the book club books my local library carries in their "Book Club Bags". The title intrigued me and some of my best finds have been random books off random lists I've tumbled upon.

The basic plot of this book was interesting. It was about two sisters and the extremely entangled relationship they have with their father and takes place over Thanksgiving. One of the elements I enjoy most in both books and movies is when they take place over a short amount of time (Gone with the Wind being one huge exception).

While The Ghost at the Table is not going to make any of my top ten lists, I very much enjoyed reading it. It was a nicely crafted story and very well written. The sister's dynamic was very unique and complicated. There were no "twists and turns" but the plot was great.

The Ghost at the Table may be a little deep for some as a "beach read", but I happen to think it would be a great easy read for a vacation, plane ride or just an everyday read.


On a more housekeeping note, I am looking for book recommendations! I would love to hear from some of my lovely followers what they would like me to read next. As you may be able to tell from my previous reads, I have very eclectic tastes. Have you read anything good lately?

Drift by Rachel Maddow

I was really looking forward to reading Drift for a while now. I absolutely love Rachel Maddow and listen to her show every day. I love politics and I'm just a huge fan of hers!

Drift is an oral history of our military, starting during the Reagan years and mostly focusing on the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Rachel makes some good, broad points I agree with, I just found myself slugging slowly through this book. I just think I'm simply not interested in reading about the military. The writing and tone were both great, so if you will be interested in this topic, you should pick it up!

I am waiting patiently for when Rachel Maddow writes a book about something I am interested in.

Sarah's Top Five Books

I have been slacking reading this past week. It is been a crazy, busy week for me with the holiday and work's been a little crazy! With this blog, I told myself I would never force myself to read when I didn't have time because then it would feel like a job instead of a fun, fun thing!

With that being said, I have no new reviews so I thought I would share with you guys what my top 5 books are and why you should read them! These are in no particular order, and sometimes they change with the times and what mood I'm in!

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry

Now, I said these books are in no particular order. This is the exception. This is my absolute favorite book and has been since I read it in 6th grade.

If you have never read this book, please do. It's simply fantastic. It is a "Young Adult" book, but deals with extremely adult topics. In fact, I had to get my parents to sign a waiver for me to be able to read it in school.

The Giver is about a teenage boy growing up in a utopian society that is segregated from the rest of the world. This town is basically in a bubble and has taken away every bit of individuality from their citizens. They also don't have colors, music, weather or pain. While this may sound awful to you, the people there are pretty happy because they don't know anything different and their lives are pain-free! Woohoo for them.

There is one man in the town though (the giver) who has all the memories of these things, good and bad, and our main character is selected to learn about all of these things for various reasons explained in the book.

I won't give any more away although I could talk about how wonderful this book is for hours and hours and hours.

If you haven't read it, please do! Please, please, please. It's so wonderful.

An interesting tidbit about me and this book is because my parents allowed me to read this in school, I have never read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. That is what the only kids with parents not as awsome as mine read instead and I've still never read it. I don't know, is this book still good for adults?

2. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

There is not much to say about Gone with the Wind except it is just such a wonderful story. It's just a sweeping epic novel that is extremely well written and just well-told.

While this is an old novel, it doesn't feel like it. It's simply written and language still stands up today unlike some classics (cough, Jane Austen).

So, read it!

3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This is the newest entry on my top five list. It's so new in fact, that I've written a post about it on this blog. You can find that post here, so I won't say any more!

4. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry

Alright, I'm going to have a work hard to make a case for this book. As you may be able to tell from the title, this book is about the flu pandemic that took place in 1918 across our country. If that sounds boring to you, I promise you, it's not. This book is so fantastic.

John M. Barry does such a wonderful job making what could be an extremely boring topic so exciting it's almost unbelievable. This book has so many twists and turns and is so wonderfully written.

If you are going to read just one non-fiction book this year or even in your life, make it this one. You will learn a ton but not even realize it because it will feel like a story!

Also, read it because you can learn a lot about Thyphoid Mary and I'm convinced her story is one of the best in history. And read it because I said so!

5. The Harry Potter Series

When I got married this past August I told my husband and myself I wasn't going to read any of my Harry Potter books until I had kids and I was reading it to them. This is been the hardest thing I've ever tried to do and it's been 11 months. I think that's enough said.

The Shack by William P Young

I finished The Shack two days ago and I've been delaying writing this post because I don't really know what to say. I suppose I should start off by saying I was lured into reading this book by false pretensies. Someone told me that there are lots of "religious overtones", which is probably the understatment of the milenimum. Religion is one topic that I don't like to read about. Personally, I think religion is a private thing and reading about other people's relationship with God isn't necessarily helpful or interesting. But, like I said, that's just a personal opinion. So, that's why I didn't want to read this book. But, I did.

And, while it might not be the best thing to do while just starting a blog, I think that's all I'm going to say.

Lost & Found by Jacqueline Sheehan

Lost & Found is a book I found on People Magazine's summer reading list. When I saw that it was available on my online library for my Nook, I picked it up on a whim. I'm really glad I did. It was enjoyable and an easy read.

This novel followed the basic formula of a ton of other books I've read. A middle-aged woman becomes a widow and quits her job to try to find herself. Blah, blah blah, boring, been done. But, Lost & Found is a really fresh take on that story in an unpredictable way. There is an honest-to-God mystery story inside this "woman discovering herself" story. While it's not a "crime" or "mystery" novel, the secondary plot (secondary in my opinion) is a crime mystery in the likes of some James Patterson. But with a woman's twist.

The without a doubt best part of the book though is how you hear from so many different people's perspective without it feeling disconnected. The the ultimate best part is one of those perspective's is a dog's! Now, I'm a dog person so I'm biased but I really enjoyed this and thought it was extremely unique. 

I really recommend this book to all women, especially "dog people". But don't let that stop you cat-lover's from putting this on aside, it is fabulous for all people. That being said, it's not deep or really even thought-provoking, but it's interesting and extremely well written.

Come Home by Lisa Scottoline

Come Home was extremely disappointing for me. I've heard great things about the author, Lisa Scottoline and her comparisons to Jodi Piccoult. Come Home had all the elements of a good Jodi book (yes, we're on  a first name basis). It has a woman heroine going through a person crisis, twists and turns and family issues. Unfortunately, that's where the comparison ends.

I absolutely did not relate to or feel for any characters in this book. The whole plot seems completely implausible. And not in the "omg that is unbelievable and would never happen but maybe it could!", but in the, "just no, this is dumb". And honestly, I thought the writing, mostly all the dialogue, was terribly written and just hard to read.

As you can probably guess by now, I don't recommend this book. I can also not see myself ever reading a Lisa Scottoline novel again. I'm sure some of you LOVE her and will think I'm just crazy. That's fine. 

The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

Two book reviews in what day?! What gives?

Well, I started reading this book and could not. put. it. down. Literally, my eyes hurt. Sometimes a story is just so good and juicy you cannot stop reading. To say this book was a page-turner is an understatement.

Obviously, it's an easy read, it took me a day. It wasn't a "deep" novel but it was a great story. The Midwife's Confession is about a group of three friends. When one of them commits suicide, the other two discover secrets about her life that affect them all. I loved all of the characters and rooted for all of them. I also love the way the book was organized. Fantastic.

This would be a great "beach read". It's not exactly chit lit but I can't see any man enjoying it. So if you're a woman, pick it up, I know you'll enjoy it! It's not the next great american novel, but it will entertain you!

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I have no idea how I managed to miss this book all my life. Middlesex was published in 2002 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003. After reading this novel, it is so easy to see why. I cannot believe I put reading this off for so long after having it show up on so many "to-read" lists I've seen.

To say I enjoyed Middlesex would be an insult to how I felt reading it. Middlesex is about a greek hermaphrodite who was raised a woman but at it's heart its about a family that spans generations. It would be easy for me to say I enjoyed this book so much in part of my own greek heritage and seeing my family in this family but I think that actually had very little to do with it.

Like I said, this novel spans three generations with our narrator telling second hand stories about her grandparents and parents from her point of view and finally her own life story. It's hard to say which "set" of stories I liked most. The family history was fascinating and so geniusly woven together. The funny thing is, I usually hate novels that take place over long periods of time (Gone with the Wind being the one, very large exception). But, here I found it engrossing and never lagging.

This book touched on so many themes like family, heritage, having children, duty to parents. It was an emotional read and I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for weeks to come. I highly recommend this book to all readers. I'm positive you will enjoy it.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

"So good, you find yourself asking how you could not know this already"-Esquire

This review sums up The Devil in the White City perfectly. Most times I pick up a non-fiction book I know at least a little something about it. This time, I know nothing and I was completely fascinated from beginning to end.

Erik Larson wrote this book about two topics that are very different but weave together perfectly. The book mixes together the story of the World's Columbian Exposition Fair of 1893 of and a serial killer using the fair as a backdrop to his many, many crimes. The way to chapters go back and forth between could feel choppy, but they don't. Usually books that use this literary technique, I hate and usually end up skipping one topic for another. But this one, I found myself racing through all of it, both topics were so enthralling and wonderfully written.

The only criticism I have of The Devil in the the White City is the ending. The wrapping up of the Holmes' story felt a little rushed and I wish Larson had gone more into the last couple chapters.

As far as recommending this book, I say- Yes! You will like it, I promise!

Girl Walks into a Bar... By Rachel Dratch

The only thing I didn't like about Girl Walks into a Bar... is that it had to end!

Rachel Dratch is my absolutely favorite SNL cast member ever so when I heard she was writing a book, I couldn't wait to pick it up. I had extremely high expectations after loving Bossypants by Tina Fey so much and I was not disappointed.

I decided to read this book while watching my husbands soccer game. That was a huge mistake. I was literally sitting in public with people all around me laughing out loud every ten minutes. Rachel does such a great job at being self-deprecating and sweet all at the same time. She is a great writer and the book really flows well through her whole life. Girl Walks into a Bar...really just made me love her more then I already do.

Even if you are not familiar with Rachel Dratch, I really believe you would love this book. It's an easy,quick read that will brighten up your day. Just don't read it in public. You'll look foolish.

And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts

Ah! I'm finally finished! I feel like I've been reading this book for months but, that is absolutely no indication of how I felt about the book. It was great.

And The Band Played On was written in 1987 and chronicles that beginning of the AIDS epidemic from the very beginning. It was extremely, extremely detailed and thoroughly researched. Randy Shilts interviewed the people involve extensively as well as poured over documents and medical records and it shows.

While this book was a good read, it is extremely dark and disturbing. It goes into how the government response to the AIDS epidemic was extremely slow due to the fact that AIDS struck homosexuals first and hardest in the beginning. Shilts tries to bring in paralells to the governments response to Legionnaire's Disease and Toxic Shock Syndrome, both of which struck more "typical" socio-ecomonic groups.

I have to imagine when this book came out, a lot of people were not pleased. He really takes it to the most of the characters in the book for not doing all they could have to save lives. We know now in 2012 how big of a deal AIDS is and it was intriguing learning how it all began.

As far as recommending this book; I really do. But, I am interested in medical topics, especially ones having to due with communicable diseases. I'm sure all of you don't feel the same way. It was a GREAT read, but I don't know if everyone would enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Now, I'm moving on to less intense books for a while; it is summer after all!

Sunday Update!

Hello! This week has been crazy and I haven't had a ton of time for reading! But I'm reading a GREAT book, And The Band Played On. It's about the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and I LOVE it so far! It is over 600 pages and isn't the easiest book to read since there is tons of technical stuff. But, I can't wait to finish it and blog about for you all!

Now, I'm asking for book recommendations! If you think there is anything I should read, let me know and I'll try to put it on my reading list!

Happy Reading!

On Hallowed Ground by Robert Poole

When I finished Fifty Shades of Grey this past Monday, it was Memorial Day. I was on a mini-vacation and when we got in the car to drive home I needed something to read and I wanted it to be something a little "deep" since I just finished the trashiest book ever. I flipped on my nook and immediately saw On Hallowed Ground,which I downloaded on a whim from the library a couple of weeks ago. Since it just happened to be Memorial Day, I took this as a sign that I was meant to read this book. (Many times I will download things from the library and never get around to reading them before the are automatically returned).

On Hallowed Ground is an oral history of Arlington National Cemetery. This is a topic that is dear to my heart for many reasons but something I knew absolutely nothing about. The history of Arlington starts all the way from the beginning of the United States and this book takes on it's entire history, all the way until present day.

This book was extremely interesting and well written. For whatever reason, I'm never super interested in any non-fiction covering the revolutionary or civil wars, so the beginning sections dragged for a little. I'm sure this was just a personal preference thing because I very much enjoyed reading the present day sections.

This history of Arlington National Cemetery is very complex and On Hallowed Ground did a great job explaining everything. This was a good book, although it did not crack my top 10 non-fiction. It was  the perfect read for me on Memorial Day. Like many non-fiction, I wouldn't recommend this if you aren't already interested in the topic but if you are at all, I would tell you to pick it up around this Fourth of July or next Memorial Day!

Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James

So I finally got around to reading Fifty Shades of Grey. I held out for as long as all my friends would let me. I went out of town for the long weekend with friends and decieded this would be a perfect time to delve into this book and just get it out of the way.

As you can probably tell, I was not looking forward to reading this. I like chick lit in generel well enough but from what I heard about this book it's just all sex and I tend to gloss over those parts in the regular chick lit I read.

Fifty Shades of Grey was just sex, that's it. The plot was horrendous and made no sense. The whole thing was completely unbelievable and it was written terribly. That all being sad, I enjoyed reading it. I read some passages aloud to my friends and we all got a good laugh.

As far as this book goes, I don't recommend it but you know, read it if you want.

And, I hope they cast Adam Levine as Christian Grey in the movie. I'll be first in line.

Escape by Carolyn Jessop

I have a confession to make. I have a slight obsession with the LDS/ Mormon Church and more specifiably the fundamentalist sects they spawned. A couple months ago I read "Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer which is basically a book about the history of Mormonism intertwined with a story of a Mormon man killing his sister in-law. When I saw that Jon Krakauer recommended this book written by a former Mormon fundamentalist, I knew I had to read it.

Escape is written by Carolyn Jessop with help from Laura Palmer. Carolyn was raised a fundamentalist Mormon in the sect that was eventually taken over by Warren Jeffs. Without ruining too much of the plot, Carolyn has an arranged marriage at 18 into a polygamist and has eight children in the following 15 years. (All of this is covered in the prequel, which you must read!).  The story of abuse that follows is harrowing. This book is extremely disturbing so I don't want to say I "enjoyed" it, although I did very much. From the beginning of the book, you know she eventually escapes. Usually I hate knowing the ending of any story, but I think it was important in this case. It may me keep going, knowing eventually she'll get out.

Please read this book. I think that everyone should know what is going on right now in our very own country. The abuse happening in these sects is extremely disturbing. As you read it though, please keep in mind that these fundamentalist sects are absolutely NOT what the mainstream Mormon Church is all about. 

It is an extremely easy read, it only took me about 3 hours to read it, mostly because I couldn't put it down.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I have had The Night Circus in my "to-read" hopper for a while now. I added to to my "wish list" on my library's online library for a long time, waiting behind over 100 people to get it. I can't remember where I found the title or why I added it to my "wish list". Now, I'm going to believe it was just fate or magic because whatever it was lead me to find my new favorite book of all-time.

The Night Circus was the most beautiful book I have ever read. The writing was so fluid and each scene was so beautifully crafted. The book takes place mostly inside a wonderfully and magically crafted circus that was so detailed I could imagine myself in it. Many times when I'm reading other novels I'm annoyed with overly detailed scenery and gloss over it hoping to get to the next plot line. The circus is almost a character and not once did I find a single detail unnecessary.

Erin Morgenstern does such a wonderful jump with her scene changes. This book features so many wonderful characters and different points of view and not once was I upset when she jumped from one plot line to the next because it was so perfectly timed and wonderful. All of the characters and plot lines are just as interesting as the next. There was not a single unnecessary word, character or plot detail. I'm sure somebody else could have told this story if they thought of it but taking out or adding in one word would have changed it.

I never know how much I want to say about the actual plots of the books because I do not want to ruin the story for anyone. Maybe this doesn't make what I'm doing "reviews" or maybe it does. I'm just not sure. I hope someday I can figure it out and possibly come back to this book and give my opinions about the actually plot or characters but I don't even want to say a word about it. Instead I want everyone to be able to discover the characters and plot exactly how the author intended them to. I don't want to ruin a single moment of this book for a single person.

If you enjoy reading at all, which I'm assuming you do since you're reading this blog. Please, please go purchase or get this book from your library. Then, carve yourself out a day or two that you have nothing else to do and absolutely dive into this book. Please, you will absolutely not regret it.

One last note, I looked to see if this was being made into to a movie and of course, it is. I can't decide if I'm excited or not. This book is so visual I am afraid I will be disappointed or not. Oh hell, I'm excited, I can't wait. I just hope it does the book justice. It will break my heart if it doesn't.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult was just like every other Jodi Picoult book. Something bad happens, we hear about it from multiple character's points of view. Then something from the past comes out and we are shocked. Then everything works out, blah blah blah.

I'ts not that I didn't like Lone Wolf, I really did. It was great. It was great like every other Jodi Picoult book. I also enjoy her books while I'm reading them but afterwards they all start to roll together. I think about  her books I've read in the past and they all blur together.

There's not much I can say about this book. Like I said, I enjoyed it, I always enjoy her books. But honestly, I'm getting a little annoyed with them all being the same. If this was the first Jodi Picoult book I read I would probably be raving about it. But it wasn't and I'm not.

Happy Reading!!

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Ah, Nicholas Sparks, you did it again. I like to pretend that I don't like romance novels are cheesy books. But, like I've said before in this blog about young adult books, I'm really just lying to myself about that. Nicholas Sparks, I love you and your cheesy romantic novels.

I picked up The Lucky One from the library a couple days ago after a long wait. I was extremely excited to read it, because I'd been waiting to read it before seeing the movie. (I have absolutely no qualms about loving cheesy romantic movies, I just pretend not to like the books).

The Lucky One was absolutely everything it promised to be. Romantic, easy to read and interesting. Nicholas Sparks has this way of putting people in impossible positions, giving the readers a twist they don't see coming (even though we should) and working it all out in the end. It's always slightly hard to connect with any of the people in his novels because he makes them so interesting and different in some way.

Although this had all the makings of every other Sparks novel I've read, it was also different in ways. I really found myself caring bout these characters and racing to see what would happen to them. I don't think I even once rolled my eyes in my head, although the cheese factor was just as strong as the other novels. It may have had something to do with main male character being a former marine but I don't know if I've ever rooted for someone in a book to have a happy ending like I did here.

If you have any interest at all in this book, or where on the fence at all on whether or not to read it, read it. It was entertaining and a perfect "on the bus" read for me.

The Official Book Club Selection

Well, it finally happened. I started a book I could not finish and I'm so disappointed! I was so excited to read Kathy Griffins book , The Official Book Club Selection. Kathy is amazing and I love her show and stand-up but, this book was awful!

The content and stories were funny but, it was so poorly written! Most celebrity books have some sort of ghostwriter; clearly this book did not. It was so hard to follow and the sentence structure was just bad and frustrating.

I'm just going to forget about this book and try to pretend it never happened!

I just got The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks from the library. I've been waiting in the reserve list for about two months; clearly I'm excited to read it! This will be my next review.

Happy Reading!

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

Wow. This book was amazing. I started Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes this morning before work and I just finished it. I read it on the bus, while walking around at work, during lunch and during my workout today. I seriously could not put it down.

"Staying fat..."is a young adult book about at young boy and his troubled friend. I wouldn't consider myself a fan of young adult fiction but, I may have to start getting used to calling myself based on some titles I've read lately. Like I said in my previous post, this book was recommended to me by a high school english teacher as one of the books they teach in their cirriculum. And honestly, it should be and I have no idea how I managed to miss reading it in school.

The main character, Moby is a formerly fat high school swimmer whose best friend, Sarah Byrnes is a severely disfigured high school girl. When we meet her she is in a mental health institution and is refusing to talk. We learn through flashbacks and their friendship was based everyone around them rejecting them in one way or another. While Moby eventually loses weight, Sarah can never overcome her disfigurement, burns all over her face.

As the book goes on we learn more and more about their lives. The narration by Moby is witty and touching. It makes you long for a friend like him in high school. He is compassionate yet tough and is willing to fight for Sarah and does many times throughout the book.

One issue I sometimes have with young adult books is the need to have secondary characters be cookie cutter people. The main character in many books will have the brainy friend, the hippy friend and the big jock friend. This book is a happy exception to that. All of the secondary characters including the friends, teachers and parents are all complex and interesting and really bring something to the story.

Without giving anything away, because I hope you all will read it, the whole story was amazing from start and finish with no dull points are uninteresting subplots.

If you are looking for a quick, but interesting and thought-provoking read I highly recommend Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. 

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyessy of Pat Tillman

It's time for my very first book review! The first book I'm reviewing is Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Path Tillman.

Why did I choose this book? The author! I absolutely love Jon Krakauer. I've read three of his books; Into Thin Air, Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven. They were all fantastic and I highly recommend them all. My friend Lee also recommended I read it, knowing my love of the author.

I went into this having huge expectations of this book. I had just read Into Thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven and was having a love affair with Jon. While I have to admit I liked the two previous books a little better this was always amazing and well worth a read.

The subject matter was extremely deep and a little controversial, (which is why I shouldn't have chosen it for my first review) and took me a little longer to read then I expected. For those of you unfamiliar with the Pat Tillman story, let me give you a run down. Pat Tillman was a player in the NFL who after 9/11 left behind a multi-million dollar contract to join the army because he felt a sense of duty. Without ruining anything if you are going to read the book (it is known from the very beginning), Pat gets killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. For the time being, I'm going to stay off of my soapbox and not not talk about what happens after this. If you decide not to read the book, please look into and form your own opinions.

As far as the book goes, it was an absolutely fascinating read. Jon Krakauer is an absolutely amazing writer. He weaves the story of Pat in with the story of the war in Afghanistan in a seamless way that is nothing short of genius. He pulls from Tillman's own diaries, stories from his family and extensive interviews with people who knew him including his brother he deployed with him.

I highly recommend this book; it is extremely inspiring and just fascinating. If you decide not to read it, I would BEG you to please read something about Pat Tillman. He is an modern day hero no matter how you look at it and everyone should know a little about his story.

The next book I'll be reviewing is Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher. I have high hopes for this book since it was recommended to me by a friend who is an high school English teacher. It's a very short young adult book so I'm sure I'll be finished soon!

Happy Reading!

First Book and Reccomendations

Hello Again!

I thought I would let everyone know what I'm reading now in case you want to read it with me! Right now I am reading Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. When I decided to start this blog, I had already started this book. If I had a little foresight about my desire to start blogging about my reads, I probably would not have chose this title to start off with for a couple of reason. First of all, it's a very politically charged book which is really no way to start off a blog, especially  since I do read lots of light, fun books! Secondly, it's about an extremely sensitive topic and is pretty intense. If you know the story of Pat Tillman, he was an NFL that joined the army after September 11th. I am about half way through and so far it is extremely though-provoking and wonderfully written. If this sounds like a topic of even the slightest interest to you, I highly recommend starting it soon. It will be the first book I review!

Now, on to the fun part! I would LOVE to get any recommendations from anyone of books that I should read and review here in my new blog. I have a couple on the back burner already but am always looking for new books to read. Like I've said, I enjoy books from all genres and will be happy to give anything a shot! I should also say, I've never started a book and not finish it, and I promise to read almost anything you recommend!

Happy Reading!

Let me introduce myself...

Hi! My name is Sarah; I live in Columbus,Ohio and my favorite thing to do with my time is read. Ever since I can remember I've always had a passion for reading. I don't discriminate, I will read anything. I've read classic novels, current non-fiction, science fiction, history and pretty much anything else that picques my interests. I love it all.

 I wanted to start a blog to review the books I read for a couple of reasons. Someone asked me the other day how many books I've read over the past year. Honestly, I had never thought about keeping track of these things but I realized I wish I had some kind of list of the all the books I've read in my past. I would love to re-visit some books I didn't give enough time to, or read when I was younger as an adult. I can never do this when I can't even remember a good portion of the books I've read in the past. Another reason I wanted to start a blog was to be able to talk to people about reading. Whenever I finish a book, I always want to know what other people thought of it and have some dialouge with anyone that has read it before. I've also been known to be slightly opiniated and really want to be able to get my opinions out there.

 I'm hoping to update the this blog every time I finish a new title. I'll also update what books are coming up so anyone can read along with me! Thanks for visiting and be sure to check back often for updates!