A boy and his dogs

~ Tell us the title: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
~ Who penned this work?: David Wroblewski
~ Number of pages: 561
~ Time passed from start to finish?: Too long, like 6 weeks
~ Describe the cover: Farm setting, with a boy and a dog walking towards a barn
~ In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?: Fiction
~ Summary of the basic plot: Without giving anything away, it's about a mute boy (he can hear, but uses a made up sign language) and his parents who live on a farm but they raise dogs, and train them to a great extent before selling them.  
~ Background information on the story/author: This was his first book. It takes place in Wisconsin in the 50's, and the author lives in Wisconsin.
~ What did you think of it? He is a great writer, in his phrasing.  He had some excellent thoughts, but holy cow was the ending horrible.  I thought that, then looked online and almost all reviews said the same thing.  He wove a wonderful story, but left so so many of the storylines unfinished.  As one review said, it was almost like he was on a time crunch and just threw an ending together.  It was not satisfying in the least.

~ Which page was your favorite? Share why: I couldn't tell you.  There were a lot. of pages.
~ If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters? Well, since the main character is 14 for most of the book, I don't know many 14 year old male actors.
~ Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why: I'm sorry, I returned the book to the library before doing this.  So I have nothing to tell you.
~ Choose your rating:
- Changed. My. Life.
- I laughed, I cried, I want you to read it
- A definite page-turner
- Good to check out but don't spend the cash.
- Why did I waste my weekend on this?
- A disgrace to paper everywhere
~ Flip to page 2, 22, or 202. Share the 7th sentence on the page. That spring their dog, Violet, who was good but wild-hearted, had dug a hole under the fence when she was in heat and run the streets with romance on her mind. (sorry that is not sentence number 7, because that sentence sucked. but this one was good on that page)

it's simple...

~ Tell us the title: keeping life simple
~ Who penned this work?: Karen Levine
~ Number of pages: 154
~ Time passed from start to finish?: 2 days
~ Describe the cover: Very simple. Paper-bag brown with a green and white daisy illustration, title, author and short description
~ In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?: Not sure actually...probably the gift section or perhaps a self-help(ish) type section.
~ Summary of the basic plot: There is not really a plot. The book contains guidelines, tips and ideas for keeping life simple.
~ Background information on the story/author: Well, the author is a contributing editor to Parents magazine, which I was not surprised to discover once I had finished the book...
~ What did you think of it? I really enjoyed what a light,quick and somewhat inspiring read it was. I also liked how many ideas it shared, however, I was expecting a little more substance. The first chapter contains some great guiding principles and an action step to take towards making those principles a bigger part of your life, but that is where that discussion ends. The rest of the book is a list of tips broken down into different categories. I think one of the biggest things I realized, though, is that the book is written from the perspective of a mother. This was quite obvious to me as I read through the book and I struggled to relate at times. It still contained lots of great ideas, but for me it was a struggle to keep focused.

~ Which page was your favorite? Share why: I don't think I really have a favorite page in this book. I suppose I enjoyed the first several pages the most.
~ If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters? Um, yeah...no. That movie would not make money.
~ Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why: "Remember, you really do have the capacity to make choices. And that is the key to your simpler life." This really stuck out to me because I have been pondering the power of choice lately and I found this to be one of the most simple, yet powerful quotes in the book.
~ Choose your rating:
- Changed. My. Life.
- I laughed, I cried, I want you to read it
- A definite page-turner
- Good to check out but don't spend the cash. (unless you are a mom and want tons of ideas for making your life more simple)
- Why did I waste my weekend on this?
- A disgrace to paper everywhere
~ Flip to page 2, 22, or 202. Share the 7th sentence on the page. Page 222 does not exist and there is a chart on page 22, so here we go: "On the pragmatic level, we hope to help you simplify your life by offering tips and hints for accomplishing tasks and chores more efficiently."