Funny story. I just found out that a couple from the Spanish Branch are moving to Turkey. True story, he is going to teach school there. I had already picked up this book from the library. I chose it because of the cool cover. It turns out that the book it about the Ottoman Empire and refers to Turks and Turkey often. Wow, what a horrible warring history in that part of the world. Parade of Shadows, by Gloria Whelan was a fun and interesting book. Full of intrigue and adventure. Give it a try.




The Frog Princess, E.D. Baker.... this would be a good book for a younger reader. I kept thinking there was going to be some sort of twist or something. But no... the characters were just what they said they were. The snake was just a snake, a bat just a bat, the dog a .... the otter a ... a frog a frog... or was it a prince... or a princess? So, I must say it was a little disappointing in its depth or lack thereof.


Carousel, Richard Paul Evans. This was our book for the book club this month. I had to read it in a day because it took me too long to finish Parade of Shadows. I'm glad I got it all over with in a day. Talk about a hard year, incarceration, death, disappointment, sexual harassment, broken hearts, tragedy, fights, moving, a new school...etc. I liked the book OK, I guess, but I'm glad I didn't invest a lot of time or effort in it. Let's look on the bright side of life, shall we?

Sunlight and Shadow, Cameon Dokey. A fun book about true love, love at first sight, growing into love etc. It is a twist on the magic flute story. I am finding that Cameron Dokey uses fairy tales often.





Pirates! Celia Rees wrote a very fun book about a free spirited girl who refused to just give in to all of the men in her life who were trying to marry her off and silence her. First her father, then her brothers and finally a scary fiance. Girl Power! I was so nervous about the book because I grabbed it from the adult side of the library. I kept waiting for something "adult" to be in the book. But to my pleasant surprise it was squeaky clean. Aarg!




The Storyteller's Daughter, Cameron Dokey. A twist on The Arabian Nights. Thank goodness that true love can conquer all. A very nice book about a very brave girl.

Sharon Creech is such a great author! In Ruby Holler she really developed her characters well and I could see depth in each one. The story is about a couple of twins, Dallas and Florida, that are shifted around in foster care. It makes a soul want to save every child they can. But, instead, I made a goal to start with my own kids and try to be more patient. I also wish I could live in Ruby Holler. It sounds so beautiful! You will also love the older couple, and identify with each of them. I know I did. A great book!

Oh, Wow! This book was amazing. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. I already knew that I would enjoy the book because he is such a great author, but I wasn't prepared for how much I would love it! I would take it with me to the gym each morning... and there are a few unspoken rules at the gym... like you should show no emotion and not make noise. Everyone has their headphones on in their own little world. The I-pod and I love being in our own little world on the island of the elliptical machine. But, while reading this book I kept laughing right out loud... and even more embarrassing, often tears were rolling down my cheeks. The book talks about Elijah who was the first free born in Buxton, Canada, a small community of free or escaped slaves. Here is a quote from the book, just to wet your appetite...

"Mr. Leroy said, 'No, Spencer, me and 'Lijah's working partners. The boy handles hisself like he's gowned so I hope you don't mind if he stay.'
If I lived to be fifty I was gonna remember this, the first time I got called growned! I waren't expecting this to happen for six or seven months yet!"

Then later: "I left the room and stayed outta sight, but I was still close enough for listening. After all, Mr. Leroy did say I handle myself like I was growned, and I know growned folks don't like nothing better than doing a little eavesdropping."

I think now that I am done with the book, I'd better do a little research on the real settlement of Buxton. I am so glad that the civil war is over and that slavery is outlawed!

So, Susan's blog of books she has read made me a little jealous with the cover and all... so I decided to copy her. To start off with I am just throwing these on... I may need to practice a little to make it more presentable.

Queste, Angie Sage is the only book I read during the month of April. Can you believe it? It is the fourth book in the series about Septimus Heap. Love them all. Number three left me uneasy but all is well now, the fourth ended happily ever after. Good ol' Septimus. These are a must read.

May 6th was the release date of Stephenie Meyer's new book, The Host. It is a big fat book but I was still able to read it in three days and not ignore my children too much. It was a fantastic book but definitely science fiction. I am not sure if the crazy "Rides the Beast" story will sit well with Edward lovers... but I have long been a lover of science fiction so I am fine with bears that have sharp knife hands on one side and soft paws on the other. Anywho, that really doesn't have much to do with the story. It is full of relationships and all types of love. It is really fantastic.

Stephenie Meyer here we come! See you on Friday. : )

I am also proud to announce that I have finished The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin & Selections from His Other Writings. I have learned much about Benjamin Franklin and about the US... but I am left wanting more. I will need to read some more books about him and his roll in the establishment of the Union. It seems to me he was a good man, very determined to become better and improve things around him. He started the first library here, a fire department, a way to keep the streets clean... he helped in the establishment of the Post Office and ran a printing press. Not to mention his work with electricity. But to read about it in his own words, I think he was also humble. He had no idea how much he would bless not only his town but the entire nation... forever! We may be doing important things right this minute without even realizing their results. Better be careful, eh. Think twice and all that.


OK...I checked out Replay, Sharon Creech and as I started reading it, I realized I had already read it. But it is a great book about family dynamics. Then I read Heartbeat, Sharon Creech. It is all written as a poem, a great book about old age, new babies and running just because you love to run.

A Little Maid of Mohawk Valley, Alice Turner Curtis. This is the cutest thing. It was published in 1924 and it is from a series "A Little Maid of... (fill in the blank)." The story is about a little girl who is brave and courageous... she gets to save Mohawk Valley during the Revolutionary War. I enjoyed the good values.


Beauty Sleep, Cameron Dokey. This was a fun spin on Sleeping Beauty. It keeps you wondering what will happen in the end the entire book. Read it, you'll like it.

Book of a Thousand Days,Shannon Hale. I recommended this for book club so of course I had to re-read it. I may have even liked it better the second time. Set in a setting not unlike Mongolia a young girl struggles defying her class. She is caught so many times in between gentry (the higher class) and serving them, without misbehaving herself. I have been pondering on social classes... at first I asked myself if there is any where in the world where they still raise people to believe they are lower than another human being. I have thought of the Middle East and Africa and the role of women. Polygamy, the role of women, children and the "Lost Boys." Any abusive relationship can do that to a person, make them lose their confidence and their knowledge of their divine worth. Once again I am so grateful for my upbringing, for the gospel and for this country!

Book club is on Wednesday and I think it will be really fun. Many people have loved the book. All hail to Shannon Hale!

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho. I am glad I read this book. I recommended it for our book club for the month of May, so I thought I'd better read it. It has lots of great advice for one and all. Most of all it made me grateful for the gospel and the Spirit. We are so lucky to already know that we need only to listen to the promptings of the Spirit to find our way. . . and the more we listen, the more we can hear.

I must also share with you the miracle of the emu feathers. Susan loaned me the book, The Alchemist as I was leaving Orderville. Isaac also came up and gifted me some emu feathers. Apparently they come in twos, like the Ponderosa Pine needles that come in threes. Isaac gave me one set of perfect feathers and another feather that was all alone, its partner feather had broken off. So, as I left, I stuck them into the book. Well, later in the week I took the book to the gym to read. As I was cruising along on the elliptical machine I noticed a feather falling out. I quickly saved it and searched for the other pair of feathers. They had already fallen out. I almost fell off the machine looking for them, of course I couldn't stop the machine altogether. The handle also almost gave me a concussion while I was searching, but to no avail. When I finished my "workout" I searched again but found nothing. What a bummer to lose the pair!

Then next day I was back at the gym and after my workout I went to get a drink. There lying on the ground, close to the drinking fountain, I found my pair of emu feathers. What a miracle! I scooped them up as quick as I could. Who knows who might be around with the intent of stealing away my feathers. So, thank you Isaac, I love the feathers.


A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray. The jury is still out on this one. It was OK dawg, a little pitchy in the middle... (In case you don't watch American Idol, that is what Randy Jackson says when the performance wasn't that great.) So, the book was a little too adult for me, doesn't take much. I can't decide whether to read the other two books. I don't love the heroine, she's OK dawg, but I don't think she's great or anything. Anyone who has read them, tell me if I should read on or not.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick. I have been waiting for months for the book fair to come to B's school so I could buy this book (BOGO... buy one get one free). So I bought it and read it. What fun! So many great pictures/drawings that help tell the story. The book is fat and a little intimidating, but most of it is pictures. Many of the pages with words don't even use half of the page... so it is really much shorter than it weighs. I read it today. It really is a work of art. The font, the black and white pages, the drawings, the fun story... loved it.

Confessions of an Unbalanced Woman, Emily Watts. A teeny tiny book that DiAnn gave me. She read it again on the plane ride out to come to Grandpa Jack's funeral. I've read it only once, but I need a repeat. It is fantastic and helped me refocus. Here is an exerpt: "I don't know how it is that I can spend hours laboring over a stack of men's socks, laying them out on the bed to make it easier to compare them with each other, holding them up to the light, even carrying them over to the window to ensure that I am matching black with black and navy blue with navy blue... but the instant my husband sits down in sacrament meeting, I can tell that he's wearing one of each. Maybe there's just something about the lighting in the chapel. maybe I should be taking his socks over to the church to sort them." It is a really fun book that helps put thing into perspective.