Double Exposure by: Michael Lister

This book was actually pretty good! As I said in my previous post, I had no preface to it, so I had no idea what I was getting into. Although there was a romantic element in the book, this was more of an action based novel which kept me very involved and wondering what would happen next. The main character was stuck in the woods fighting for his life all the while finding himself and realizing the what is most important to him.

There were a few good highlights from this novel.

" How we spend our time defines who we are. What we do with our days determines our destinies."

"... life laughs at the plans we make, and the dreams and ambitions of youth quickly morph into the embarrassing memories of adulthood."

"Time. We talk about buying it or saving it, but we can do neither. We all spend it at a cost of sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes an hour, and twenty-four hours per day. It's running out for all of us and there's nothing we can do about it. We can break every clock we encounter, and our lives will still continue to tick away, counting down to the bang or whimper or big silence that bookends the backside of our lives."

This book encourages us to not take days for granted, do what matters to you, find your passion and don't let anything get in the way of that because you never know when it is too late.

Rescue Me by: Sydney Allan

The next few books that I read were not from book clubs. Amazon was having a sale and a bunch of books were $0.99, so I decided to be spontaneous and pick 4-5 books to purchase randomly and read. This was a fun idea; however, because I didn't know much about these books I wasn't eager to read them and it has taken me a while to catch up.

Rescue Me was a fun, romantic novel. I like to call books like these "brain candy." It was a very easy read, kept me interested and had a corny ending. It was PERFECT and just what I needed after excruciating months of forcing The Women upon myself.

Nothing in particular stood out about this book. The main character is into animal rescuing (hence the title) and by the end she was no longer the one doing the rescuing, but rather being rescued! (Ahhhh, how romantic!) It was entertaining and an easy read.

The Women: A Novel by T.C. Boyle

This is one book that I can safely say I hated reading. The reason why it took me so long to update my blog is about 70% because of this book. It took me SO long to finish because it bored me. It started off slow... which happens, so I continued on with high hopes; however, it never got better. It is very dramatic and references a man named Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright is an American architect. This book is a true story reflective of his personal life as it was quite colorful. In particular, this book discusses the women in his life, basically his relationships. Let's just say he was a little ridiculous. It is also a little disgusting. People should not be allowed to behave as he had!  Having many wife's that were results of cheating on his current wife, having many children with different wife's and not being a good father. Apparently, Wright was a very good architect and is well known for his work. Beyond that I can't say I care for the man.

I highlighted one quote from the book and it was a quote from Ellen Key: "Love is moral even without legal marriage, but marriage is immoral without love." 

Little Bee by: Chris Cleave

This book was very intriguing because the description of the book on the back of the cover simply reads:


"WE DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK.

It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this:

It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific.

The story starts there, but the book doesn't.

And it's what happens afterward that is most important.

Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds."

Therefore I won't say much about it, but I do recommend it. :)

Modoc by: Ralph Helfer

This book was awesome. It took me far too long to read, but I blame that on starting the book right before a hard semester of college. However, I finally did it! It really is a touching story and even better because its based on a true story. I wish I had that type of connection that Modoc and Bram have with someone. It seems unstoppable.

Baby Proof by: Emily Giffin; Heart of the Matter by: Emily Giffin; Love the One You're With by: Emily Giffin

I have finally finished the five book collection by Emily Giffin. I didn't feel it necessary to create respective blogs for each book because they are generally very similar.

All books were very easy reads all the way through, very entertaining.

All books contained controversial topics that arise in everyday relationships. But, usually, these topics are usually dealt with the stereotypical responses. Spouse is cheating?? Dump the bastard!!! Old lover comes back into your life?? Ignore the bastard, didn't deserve you then, doesn't deserve you now!!! However, life is more complicated than this and Emily Giffin has really captured all sides of each scenario in every book. You end each book not being able to really hate any of the characters no matter what transgressions have occurred.

The lesson I have gathered from these books is that life isn't perfect; there is no cookie-cutter way to deal with any situation in life. Every person is unique, every relationship is different and is only known by those involved in the relationship. Follow your heart... without forgetting what is important in life.

Bossypants by: Tina Fey

The one thing I've noticed about books written by comedians (and this is only my second (first was, "You Say Tomato, I Say Shutup"), so my conclusions are not stastistically significant) are that I can't fully appreciate them. The beginning of Bossypants was really funny! because I could totally relate to it; I laughed out loud about the part where Tina discussed when she first got her period. There was a time when I first got my period. So, I totally understood, related, laughed.. oh you, Tina Fey, oh you! However, I am not married, living with anyone, have any kids, or approaching forty. So, while I can appreciate the rest of the book, and I still laughed; after all, it's written by Tina Fey, I didn't quite feel it as much as I did in the beginning.

I think I highlighted a few things from the book, lets see:

"When choosing sexual partners, remember: Talent is not sexually transmittable."

"Two peanuts were walking down the street, and one was a salted."

"In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way."

"The person closest to actually achieving this [the perfect woman] look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists."

"Bored, I tried making out with Victor Anthony, a straight kid who was cute but kind of wang. He was the Cream of Wheat of making out. I would try it every now and then, thinking maybe I'd like it, but every time: no. He really was a stunningly bad kisser. It was as if e took a running start at your mouth."

"But the Rule of Agreement reminds you to "respect what your partner has created" and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a YES and see where that takes you."

"Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don't just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles."

"We should leave people alone about their weight. Being skinny for a while (provided you actually eat food and don't take pills or smoke to get there) is a perfectly fine pastime.  Everyone should try it once, like a super short haircut or dating a white guy."

"We should leave people alone about their weight. Being chubby for a while (provided you don't give yourself diabetes) is a natural phase of life and nothing to be ashamed of. Like puberty or slowly turning into a Republican."

"You can't be that kid at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute."

"It will never be perfect, but perfect is overrated. Perfect is boring on live TV."