Book #2

MRS. MIKE
by Benedict & Nancy Freedman

I read this book after reading that it was one of Lucy's all time favorite books. It was also recommended to me by a good friend, Britni, who said it was one of her all time favorite books. I couldn't wait to delve into it.

"Mrs. Mike is the love story of Katherine Mary O'Fallon, a young Irish girl from Boston, and Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Canadian Mounted Police, who is a priest, doctor and magistrate to all in the great Canadian wilderness area under his supervision." (from the Barnes and Noble website)

Personally, I thought there could have been more to the book, more details, more building up of the relationship between Mike and Kathy, since it seemed like they just fell in love overnight and that was that. But it was a beautiful love story that I wish could have gone on and on. I shed a few tears. I swooned. I laughed. All in all, what a great book. And one I can be proud to let my daughter and my mother read!

I'd say I'm two for two so far this year!

Book #1

The book thief
by Markus Zusak

I'm almost embarassed to admit that this is my first book of 09. It's been a busy year, and I started out with a book that wasn't exactly a page turner. Don't get me wrong, though, I loved this book. It was the most interesting book I have read in a very long time. What a story told from a point of view I would have never of thought of: Death.

The book is about a little girl named Leisel Meminger who is more or less put into foster care after her mother is no longer able to care for her during World War 2 in Nazi Germany. There, she learns about life and love from her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Huberman, her Jesse Owens wannabe neighbor Rudy Steiner, Max, the Jew they are hiding in their basement and the books she steals from the mayors wife. All told from the perspective of "death" as if it were a real person. And death, by the way, is a fantastic storyteller.

What I found most interesting was death's constant hints of how the book was going to end. The ending, though, left me wanting more. I had to reread the last 2-3 chapters several times to fully understand what just happened and "conclude" it in my mind. It was, but it wasn't, a depressing book. A page turner? Not really. It didn't suck me in and leave me craving more as I read bits and pieces here and there. But a fantastic book none the less? Absolutely!

Click here to read an interview with the author.