My Reading Blog

I decided that I should expand this blog to include more things that I enjoy doing.  Making cards is one of the things I like to do.  I took an Online card making class and used their inspiration to create these cards.  I am making a bunch of them to send to Operation Write Home - an organization that sends cards to our military personnel overseas so that they can have cards available to mail home to their loved ones.  Len is working on Christmas cards that will be sent to them also.  Here's some samples.  

Carol gave me this book - the author is a newspaper owner/writer in Wisconsin and Carol and Jim know him.  The book takes place in a small town in Wisconsin where he is the publisher of a weekly newspaper.  He happens upon some interesting tidbits regarding the police chief and the mayor.  After running into many obstacles by the police chief, he comes up with true facts.  He gets the State Attorney involved and shares his findings via the paper.  The police chief retaliates by harassing his family and other newspaper personnel.  At the end of each chapter, he adds a topic from the newspaper editorial called "Pressing Matters".  It was a very interesting book and reminded me of the "small town" gossip and where everyone knows everyone else and their business.  The author showed how you can be fooled into believing that people are doing things for others, but in fact are benefiting more for themselves. Finished:  July 16, 2011

I usually only read fiction, but this one was recommended to me by Monika. Book Cover:  Nya is going to the pond to fetch water for her family - there and back, twice.  She walks for eight hours every day. Salva is walking away from his ruined village to find safety - if there is any safety in his war-torn homeland.  His journey across Africa to Ethiopia and then to Kenya and beyond will take many years. Two young people...two stories.  One country:  Sudan. This mesmerizing dual narrative by Linda Sue Park shows us that in a troubled country, determined survivors may find the future they are hoping for. This was a very moving story about two individuals who dealt with many difficulties in their young lives.  The story made me think about how much we take the little every day necessities, like water, for granted.  We just turn on the faucet and, voila - there is water.  We waste it every day and don't think twice about how many ice cubes ...

This book and "Handle With Care" dealt with moral and ethic issues.  I'm finding that Picoult writes in a manipulative way.- trying to convince the reader that as long as it's right in a person's mind, it's okay to take the law into your own hands and I found it difficult to accept. Book Cover:  What does it mean to be a good mother?  For career-driven assistant district attorney Nina Frost, the question inspires pangs of guilt familiar to all parents torn by the demands of home and office.  But whereas most parents lie awake at night vividly conjuring the worst scenarios that could befall their children in their absence, Nina lives the reality of such crises - and it's her job to do something about them.  Nina Frost prosecutes child molesters - and in the course of her everyday work, she has endured the frustration of seeing too many criminals slip through the system and walk free. A man as methodical and careful as his wife is instinctive and mercu...