Thanks Oprah, now so have I...

Tell us the title:

She's Come Undone

Who penned this work?:

Wally Lamb

How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?:

I think I saw it recommended in a magazine and then found it at the library

Number of pages:

465

Time passed from start to finish?:

A week or two

Describe the cover:

In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?:

Fiction

Summary of the basic plot:

The story follows the journey of a girl from childhood into adulthood.  Along the way, she encounters many heartbreaking an traumatic situations.  I could go into more detail than that, but there's a summary.

What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):

I felt about the same emotional overwhelm while reading this as I felt watching the movie Rachel Getting Married.  It totally stressed me out.  Interestingly enough, I was more impacted by contemplating my stress over this than I was by the story itself. 

Which page was your favorite? Share why:

Probably the pages with the whales.  That would be the one in the middle of the story because it felt like a transforming moment.  And at the end of the book because it was nice and then it was over.

If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

No idea.

Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why:

Ummmm...I just spent ten minutes trying to figure this out and I do not know.
I shall continue working on this question.

Choose your rating:

 - Changed. My. Life.

     - I laughed, I cried, I want you to read it

    - A definite page-turner
Somewhere Between...

    - Good to check out but don't spend the cash.

and

      - 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. 

"You know anything about tropical fish?"

Family Drama

Tell us the title:

Maine

Who penned this work?:

J. Courtney Sullivan

How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?:

It was given to me by my mother-in-law

Number of pages:

509

Time passed from start to finish?:

a couple weeks, as i mostly only read it on my lunch breaks at work

Describe the cover:

girl relaxing on beach looking off into distance

In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?:

fiction

Summary of the basic plot:

Revolves around four women, a grandmother, her daughter, her granddaughter, and her daughter-in-law. They are an Irish Catholic family, most of the story takes place at the grandmother's beach house in Maine. It is mostly about the interactions of these four very different women and their lives separately, and together.

Background information on the story/author:

I know she's written another best seller called "commencement" and that she lives in NYC, but not much else.

What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):

I enjoyed it.  Although I thought it was funny that my mother-in-law recommended it to me, because they are an irish catholic family and she said it reminded her of her family, and i wondered the whole time "who is she thinking of when she's reading this character?" i didn't care much for the ending, honestly, it seemed to wrap up way too quickly (hard to believe at 509 pages, but i could have used a bit more explanations).

Which page was your favorite? Share why:

ok well i don't have a favorite page but my favorite quote was: "perhaps she underestimated him. He seemed friendly and genuine, though she reminded herself that now would be an especially inconvenient time to fall in love with a Catholic priest."

If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

hmm....helen mirren as Alice, jennifer garner as Ann Marie, julia roberts as Kathleen, maybe elizabeth olsen as Maggie, but maybe a little too young.

Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why:

ok i already put my favorite funny quote, good enough!

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. 

"at her first penance at age seven, Maggie had grown so terrified that she blanked on her prepared list of sins (she stole some of chris's halloween candy, she talked back to her mother)." not the best quote, but best out of the three pages!

Can I read it again now??

Tell us the title:

Sarah's Key

Who penned this work?:

Tatiana de Rosnay

How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?:

My mother-in-law lent it to me

Number of pages:

293

Time passed from start to finish?:

three or four days

Describe the cover:

Two small kids running down a road in Paris

In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?:

Fiction, but based on real-life events

Summary of the basic plot:

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. 

Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. 

What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):

Couldn't put it down, it was very interesting to learn about something that I had no clue that had happened.

Which page was your favorite? Share why:

gah, i don't know

If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

well upon searching for a quick summary, i discovered that it has already been made into a movie. most of the characters are french though, so i wouldn't know who to cast!

Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why:

It's more of a section: "The girl wondered: these policemen...didn't they have families too? Didn't they have children? Children they went home to? How could they treat children this way? Were they told to do so, or did they act this way naturally? Were they in fact machines, not human beings? She looked closely at them.  They seemed of flesh and bone.  They were men.  She couldn't understand."

When reading, you can really feel like you are there with her, and feeling everything she's feeling and thinking.  It was just a horrible time, and i can't imagine what it was like for them.

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. 

"Was that why they were here, had the police come to take Papa to the places he had mentioned during those hushed midnight talks: the "camps," far away, out of the city?"

Tell us the title:

Cutting for Stone

Who penned this work?:

Abraham Verghese

How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?:

A coworker recommended this story, and lent it to me.

Number of pages:

658

Time passed from start to finish?:

About a week

Describe the cover:

In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?:

Fiction

Summary of the basic plot:

"Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon.  Orphaned by their mother's death and their father's disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.  Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles -- and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined." (from back cover)

What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):

At first I dragged my feet on opening this book and starting it.  It didn't sound interesting to me, and I don't typically read fiction stories that are about real life.  A few chapters in, however, and I found myself hooked.  I had to keep reminding myself that this was in fact fiction, as it seemed so real and so possible.  A captivating story combined with beautiful writing made for quite a journey.

Which page was your favorite? Share why:

I would say that my favorite page was the first one with a quote that stopped me in my tracks: "Her skills were so rare, so needed for the poorest of the poor, and even at times in the royal palace, that she felt valued.  Wasn't that the definition of home?  Not where you are from, but where you are wanted?"

If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

I don't even have the remotest clue.  I do hope that it is made into a movie, though!

Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why:

Where do I begin?

Page 141: "Ignorance was just as dynamic as knowledge, and it grew in the same proportion.  Still, each generation of physicians imagined that ignorance was the special provenance of their elders."

Page 236: "I stood firm.  I didn't trust Hema's motivation: guilt leads to righteous action, but rarely is the the right action.  Besides, I had planned a special parade of my Dinky Toys in a weaving path I had carved out on a low embankment next to the house.  Her timing was terrible."  (this made me laugh out loud, and remember once when I wrote in my diary how upset I was that my own mother had thrown out some candy wrappers I had been saving.  Oh, the dramas of childhood...)

Page 332: "I knew what I'd say to him: You're much too late.  We went ahead with our lives without you."  (this one struck me for personal reasons)

Page 351: "In order to start to get rid of your slippers, you have to admit they are yours, and if you do, then they will get rid of themselves...I hope one day you see this as clearly as I did...The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, own the ones you don't.  If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then you'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more.  Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny."

Page 434: "My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds.  They regret the bitterness they'll leave in people's hearts.  They realize that no money, no church service, no eulogy, no funeral procession no matter how elaborate, can remove the legacy of a mean spirit."

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. 

 "At that moment, though none of them quite realized it, Missing officially reopened for business."

As soldiers really live it

Tell us the title:

War

Who penned this work?:

Sebastian Junger
How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?:

This book was given to me for free at a library convention as an advance reading copy.  Which I did not read until long after the book was officially published.
Number of pages:

268
Time passed from start to finish?:

About 4 days
Describe the cover:

In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?:

Nonfiction, Current Events
Summary of the basic plot:

This story follows a single platoon in the most dangerous valley in Afghanistan during their 15-month deployment.
Background information on the story/author:

Sebastian Junger is a journalist who also wrote The Perfect Storm.
What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):

This was nothing like what I expected.  I put off reading this again and again because I didn't think it would be interesting.  When I actually began reading, I was sucked in for days.  I became attached to all of the soldiers, and my mind strained to pretend this was fiction when people died.  It was a different experience than any I've had with nonfiction books.  After I finished, someone told me about the documentary about the same men (created by the author) -- called Restrepo.  I then watched that one afternoon.  It was very compelling, as I already knew the stories of the men, and I was putting faces to names, making it that much more in your face.  These are real men, not characters in a story. 
Which page was your favorite? Share why:

I don't know that I would call any of the pages "favorites," but I did find it very interesting when Junger discussed the biology of war.  He talks about what occurs in your body during war-time experiences such as firefights and attacks, and how those biological responses sometimes produce the opposite effect of what you need to be doing, bringing in the element of self-control.  He discusses what makes men good soldiers, how much of that is innate.  He also talks about how war is so much different now than it was historically, and how we have not evolved to survive automatic weapons (our reactions times cannot respond faster than bullets can fly). 
If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

This story can never effectively be a cinematic movie with people pretending to be these men. I recommend watching Restrepo.
Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why:

(Pretty self-explanatory, I feel):

"Civilians balk at recognizing that one of the most traumatic things about combat is having to give it up.  War is so obviously evil and wrong that the idea there could be anything good to it almost feels like a profanity.  And yet throughout history, men like Mac and Rice and O'Byrne have come home to find themselves desperately missing what should have been the worst experience of their lives.  To a combat vet, the civilian world can seem frivolous and dull, with very little at stake and all the wrong people in power.  These men come home and quickly find themselves getting berated by a rear-base major who's never seen combat or arguing with their girlfriend about some domestic issue they don't even understand.  When men say they miss combat, it's not that they actually miss getting shot at -- you'd have to be deranged -- it's that they miss being in a world where everything is important and nothing is taken for granted.  They miss being in a world where human relations are entirely governed by whether you can trust the other person with your life. 

It's such a pure, clean standard that men can completely remake themselves in war.  You could be anything back home -- shy, ugly, rich, poor, unpopular -- and it won't matter because it's of no consequence in a firefight, and therefore of no consequence, period."
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. 

"Toward the end of their tour they'd go through entire firefights in nothing but gym shorts and unlaced boots, cigarettes hanging out of their lips."

It Takes A Graveyard To Raise A Child

Tell us the title: 

The Graveyard Book
Who penned this work?: 

Neil Gaiman.  You're shocked, I know. 

How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?: 

Powell's had it on sale, and I figured it was time to move on to his children's books
Number of pages: 

313
Time passed from start to finish?: 

2 days
Describe the cover:

 
In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?:

Children's fiction, Powell's best sellers shelf (even though it was published in 2008)
Summary of the basic plot:

(from the back cover): "Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy.  He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead.  There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy -- an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer.  But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack -- who has already killed Bod's family.
Background information on the story/author:

Neil Gaiman will be the favorite author of my personal lifetime.  Please consider reading everything he has ever written.  Also, The Graveyard Book has won both the Newbery (US) and Carnegie (UK) medals. 
What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):

Only in Neil Gaiman's world can a story be so dark yet make you laugh hysterically and walk away at the end a better person for the lessons you have learned.  This is the first of his stories I've read that contains illustrations...and I'm not sure how I felt about it.  The illustrations are wonderfully done, but I didn't love the way they altered the images I had created in my head.  This may be a good stepping stone into his graphic novels.
Which page was your favorite? Share why:

Page 206, where Mistress Owens finishes the last lines of her song, one tale ends, and many others begin.
If the story was made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

My brain cannot even begin to fathom that.  I can only see the characters in my head, and no actors can do those justice.
Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why:

(from page 70, for the reason that it made me laugh hysterically): 

"Name the different kinds of people," said Miss Lupescu.  "Now."

Bod thought for a moment.  "The living," he said.  "Er.  The dead."  He stopped.  Then, ". . .Cats?" he offered, uncertainly.
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. 

"A screech of brakes as the car stopped, and the ginger policeman began to swear under his breath."

“…the harsh conformity of high-school cliques and one teen’s struggle to find acceptance…."

Tell us the title:

Speak
 

Who penned this work?:

Laurie Halse Anderson

How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?:

I first read it in high school, and when I found it on Laura’s bookshelf, I was drawn to read it again.

Number of pages:

198, unless you count the Q&A with the author at the end which would make it 202 :) 

Time passed from start to finish?:

Less than a day…what can I say, it sucks you in.

Describe the cover:

Two soulful, somewhat detached, sorrow-filled eyes stare out from behind a sparsely leaved tree branch

In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?:

Young Adult, Coming of Age, Fiction

Summary of the basic plot:

From the back: "Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so her old friends won’t talk to her, and people she doesn’t know hate her from a distance.  The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head."

Background information on the story/author:

Laurie Halse Anderson is the author of the award-winning Fever 1793 and Catalyst, as well as five picture books.  She lives outside of Philadelphia, PA, and has two teenage daughters. Visit her website at: madwomanintheforest.com  

What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):

I loved it in the way that I love anything that pushes me to the edge of an emotional precipice and forces me to think and feel beyond myself and connect to a larger picture.  This book takes you to the brink and leaves you clinging (along with Melinda) to whatever flimsy reality your fingers can grasp in order to maintain a sense of sanity and self – even if that means shutting everyone else out.  Anderson has a knack for causing her reader to delve deeply into the world of her characters, to feel what they feel and think their thoughts.  I love the way Halse uses art within her novel as a way to provide a voice to the main character, giving her a way to speak without saying a word.  Also, it reminded me that while I’ve had some “bad apples” throughout my life as far as teachers go, I’ve also had those few, rare instructors who teach beyond the page and really connect with their students.

Which page was your favorite? Share why:

There are lots of pages that I could put here: the one where David stands up to Mr. Neck, or the one where Mr. Freeman encourages Melinda breathe life into her art, or the one where Melinda asks her dad to buy her some seeds, but some of my absolute favorite are at the end where Melinda is finally able to fully speak her story.

Share a quote that was worth reading twice. Explain why:
 “Mr. Freeman: ‘You are getting better at this, but it’s not good enough.  This looks like a tree, but it is an average, ordinary, everyday, boring tree.  Breathe life into it. Make it bend—trees are flexible, so they don’t snap.  Scar it, give it a twisted branch—perfect trees don’t exist.  Nothing is perfect.  Flaws are interesting.  Be the tree.”

I think this is pretty self-explanatory.


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:

Page 22 – “Just so I don’t feel and look so stupid.”