Piling Up on Friday 5/25

This weekly meme is hosted here at Finding Your Gibbee. Feel free to play along, and post a link to your blog in the comments below. List all the books you have added to your To Be Read wishlist this week. (These don't have to be titles you have actually purchased.)

I've had an exceptional week studying Proverbs 31 in the bible. It's really helping me examine my life as a wife and mom and find ways to improve myself in the home, with my family, and spiritually. Come visit my blog Sweet and Simple Faith for more on my journey this week.

I just have one new title I've added to my TBR wishlist this week. I hope you have found some fun titles too!

Into This World by Sybil Baker

I am currently reading:

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Happy reading, everyone!

Bean

Sophie's Secret book review

Sophie's Secret by Nancy Rue

My rating = 4 stars

Sophie is a sixth grader with an immensely creative imagination. She imagines herself to be an archaeologist and goes exploring in her attic, looking through her family's boxes of belongings.  She learns a lot about her family members, but doesn't find anything about herself. Could she be adopted?
At school, Sophie and her friends find themselves at odds with the Corn Pops, a super-popular clique of girls that start some mean rumors about the girls. Sophie learns some important lessons about being a true friend and about being herself.

I liked this book a lot. It is the second in a series of twelve books by Nancy Rue, and is written for girls ages 9-12. It focuses on Christian values such as family harmony, friendship, honesty, and faith in Jesus Christ. Sophie deals with some very strong emotions throughout the story, as she deals with girls at school, and learns how to obey her parents even when she doesn't feel loved or accepted at home. I believe Sophie's feelings were portrayed very well for the reader to understand and feel as well. I was drawn into the book as I read everything Sophie goes through, and was anxious to find out how everything resolves itself. This is a terrific book I intend to pass on to my own sixth grader.

Piling Up On Saturday 5/19

This weekly meme is hosted here at Finding Your Gibbee. Feel free to play along, and post a link to your blog in the comments below. List all the books you have added to your To Be Read wishlist this week. (These don't have to be titles you have actually purchased.)

I got another chance to volunteer at the book warehouse this week, which means more free books! In addition to some books for the kids, I got another Amy Tan book and a book called Sarah's Key. Here are some other titles added to my TBR wishlist this week:

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

Opening in 1939 Transylvania, five-year-old Josef witnesses the murder of his family by the Romanian Iron Guard and is rescued by a Gentile maid to be raised as her own son. Five years later, Josef rescues a young girl, Mila, after her parents are killed while running to meet the Rebbe they hoped would save them. Josef helps Mila reach Zalman Stern, a leader in the Satmar community, in whose home Mila is raised as a sister to Zalman’s daughter, Atara. As the two girls mature, Mila’s faith intensifies, while her beloved sister Atara discovers a world of books and learning that she cannot ignore. With the rise of communism in central Europe, the family moves to Paris, to the Marais, where Zalman tries to raise his children apart from the city in which they live. When the two  girls come of age, Mila marries within the faith, while Atara continues to question fundamentalist doctrine. The different choices the two sisters makes force them apart until a dangerous secret threatens to banish them from the only community they’ve ever known.  

Trapeze by Simon Mawer

Barely out of school and doing her bit for the British war effort, Marian Sutro has one quality that makes her stand out—she is a native French speaker. It is this that attracts the attention of the SOE, the Special Operations Executive, which trains agents to operate in occupied Europe. Drawn into this strange, secret world at the age of nineteen, she finds herself undergoing commando training, attending a “school for spies,” and ultimately, one autumn night, parachuting into France from an RAF bomber to join the WORDSMITH resistance network. But there’s more to Marian’s mission than meets the eye of her SOE controllers; her mission has been hijacked by another secret organization that wants her to go to Paris and persuade a friend—a research physicist—to join the Allied war effort. The outcome could affect the whole course of the war.

Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

San Francisco art patron Bibi Chen has planned a journey of the senses along the famed Burma Road for eleven lucky friends. But after her mysterious death, Bibi watches aghast from her ghostly perch as the travelers veer off her itinerary and embark on a trail paved with cultural gaffes and tribal curses, Buddhist illusions and romantic desires. On Christmas morning, the tourists cruise across a misty lake and disappear.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

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.

I am currently reading:

Sophie's Secret by Nancy Rue

When some of Sophie's relatives come to town for Thanksgiving and create a whirlwind of sightseeing, including nearby Jamestown, Sophie sees an archeological excavation in progress and pictures herself as a female Indiana Jones.

Outlander Read-A-Long

Come join me next month as I participate in the Outlander Read-A-Long. I've had this book on my TBR wishlist for quite some time now, but like many of the titles on that list, it has sat there waiting and waiting for me.

The read-a-long is paced reading, with questions posted weekly by the hosts. You can find out more about the read-a-long at Gone With The Words. Here is the reading schedule:

June 11th – Questions for chapters 1-7 announced at Gone with the Words

June 18th – Questions for chapters 1-7 answered & questions announced for chapters 8-14 at Stalking the Bookshelves

June 25th – Questions for chapters 8-14 answered & questions announced for chapters 15-21 on Tangled up in Blue

July 2nd – Questions for chapters 15-21 answered & questions announced for chapters 22-28 on Into the Hall of Book

July 9th – Questions for chapters 22-28 answered & questions announced for chapters 29-35 on Logan E. Turner

July 16th – Questions for chapters 29-35 answered & questions announced for chapters 36-41 on The Reading Housewives

July 23rd – Questions for chapters 36-41 answered on Gone with the Words. The end.

Read along with me!! It's always fun to read with a friend.

Happy reading, everyone!

Bean

Wine to Water Book Review and Giveaway

My rating = 5 stars (Gibbee!)

(Goodreads review)

Doc Hendley never set out to be a hero. In 2004, Hendley- a small-town bartender- launched a series of wine-tasting events to raise funds for clean-water projects and to bring awareness to the world's freshwater crisis. He planned to donate the proceeds through traditional channels, but instead found himself traveling to one of the world's most dangerous hot spots: Darfur, Sudan. There, Doc witnessed a government-sponsored genocide where the number-one weapon wasn't bullets-it was water. The Janjaweed terrorists had figured out that shooting up a bladder containing 10,000 liters of water, or dumping rotting corpses into a primary water source is remarkably efficient for the purposes of mass extermination. With limited funds, Doc realized that he couldn't build new wells costing $10,000 a pop, but he could hire local workers to restore a damaged well for a mere $50 each. He'd found his mission. Today, Doc and Wine to Water continue to help stricken peoples repair and maintain water-containment systems in places like Darfur, Cambodia, Uganda, and Haiti.

I can't say enough good things about this book! First of all, it is written and organized very well. It grabs your attention immediately, and holds it throughout the entire story. Hendley's plain-spoken style is easy to read and relate to. Second, this book is so inspiring! That is the reason I am giving away my copy of this book. Usually I keep all of my Gibbee books because they're so good I want to have them always. But it doesn't seem right to keep this one all to myself. 

As I read Hendley's story of bravely working in war-torn Darfur, it inspired me to find ways I can help in my community. Being a stay-at-home mom of four young kids, it's not the easiest thing to do to find free time and money to volunteer anywhere I want. It's easy for me to make excuses and stay in my own little 'bubble.' This book made me reassess my situation and excuses, and look for opportunities that fit my schedule and resources. 

I hope everyone enters this giveaway, because this is a book not to be missed! It may even change your life, and that is what Gibbee is all about!!!

Happy reading, everyone!

Bean

Piling Up on Friday May 11th

This weekly meme is hosted here at Finding Your Gibbee. Feel free to play along, and post a link to your blog in the comments below. List all the books you have added to your To Be Read wishlist this week. (These don't have to be titles you have actually purchased.)

I got a fun opportunity to volunteer at a local Scholastic book warehouse this week. They are holding a book sale for teachers, homeschoolers, and other educators at the warehouse. I went and helped restock shelves, process returns, and fill orders during my shift. As "payment," I got a voucher for some free books. Most of the books I got were for my kids - comic books, Magic Tree House, Big Nate and a few others. I also got two books for myself - One Summer by David Baldacci, and Dewey by Vicky Myron. I loved Baldacci's Wish You Well so much, I knew I would love One Summer. I'm hoping to get the Hunger Games series, but those are in such demand, they may not be available at all.

I signed up for more volunteer shifts this next week, and we'll see what other treasures I get to bring home. 

This week's additions to my TBR wishlist:

One Summer by David Baldacci

It's almost Christmas, but there is no joy in the house of terminally ill Jack and his family. With only a short time left to live, he spends his last days preparing to say goodbye to his devoted wife, Lizzie, and their three children. Then, unthinkably, tragedy strikes again: Lizzie is killed in a car accident. With no one able to care for them, the children are separated from each other and sent to live with family members around the country. Just when all seems lost, Jack begins to recover in a miraculous turn of events. He rises from what should have been his deathbed, determined to bring his fractured family back together. Struggling to rebuild their lives after Lizzie's death, he reunites everyone at Lizzie's childhood home on the oceanfront in South Carolina. And there, over one unforgettable summer, Jack will begin to learn to love again, and he and his children will learn how to become a family once more.

Dewey by Vicki Myron

How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy’s unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace. 

Piling Up on Friday May 4th

This weekly meme is hosted here at Finding Your Gibbee. Feel free to play along, and post a link to your blog in the comments below. List all the books you have added to your To Be Read wishlist this week. (These don't have to be titles you have actually purchased.)

I just finished reading a fabulous book this afternoon. It's called Wine to Water by Doc Hendley. It's the story about a bartender who decided to help bring clean water to developing countries, and started his work in the heart of Darfur during the humanitarian crisis of 2004. My book review is coming soon, so stay tuned. I'm even doing a giveaway for this one!

Here are some fun and fascinating titles I have added to my TBR wishlist this week.

The Vanishers by Heidi Julatvis

Julia Severn is a student at an elite institute for psychics. Her mentor, the legendary Madame Ackermann, afflicted by jealousy, refuses to pass the torch to her young disciple. Instead, she subjects Julia to the humiliation of reliving her mother's suicide when Julia was an infant. As the two lock horns, and Julia gains power, Madame Ackermann launches a desperate psychic attack that leaves Julia the victim of a crippling ailment.  Julia retreats to a faceless job in Manhattan. But others have noted Julia's emerging gifts, and soon she's recruited to track down an elusive missing person—a controversial artist who might have a connection to her mother. As Julia sifts through ghosts and astral clues, everything she thought she knew of her mother is called into question, and she discovers that her ability to know the minds of others—including her own—goes far deeper than she ever imagined. 

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose

Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances—and of her mother’s suicide—she moves to America, leaving the company in the hands of her brother Robbie. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing—leaving a dead body in his wake—Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind. Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac discovers a secret the House of L’Etoile has been hiding since 1799: a scent that unlocks the mysteries of reincarnation. The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

The White Forest by Adam McOmber

Young Jane Silverlake lives with her father at a crumbling family estate on the edge of Hampstead Heath. Jane has a secret—an unexplainable gift that allows her to see the souls of manmade objects—and this talent isolates her from the outside world. Her greatest joy is wandering the wild heath with her neighbors, Madeline and Nathan. But as the friends come of age, their idyll is shattered by the feelings both girls develop for Nathan, and by Nathan’s interest in a cult led by Ariston Day, a charismatic mystic popular with London's elite. Day encourages his followers to explore dream manipulation, with the goal of discovering a new virtual reality, a place he calls the Empyrean. A year later, Nathan has vanished, and the famed Inspector Vidocq arrives in London to untangle the events that led up to Nathan’s disappearance. As a sinister truth emerges, Jane realizes she must discover the origins of her talent and use it to find Nathan herself, before it’s too late. 

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy’s unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family’s vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye. 

 

My current read is:

Inspiring Experiences That Build Faith by Thomas S. Monson

President Monson recalls tender and inspiring personal experiences that will build faith and testimony for every reader. Taken from events throughout his life, these accounts are organized into sections: Service to others, Faith Precedes Blessings, Prayer Availeth Much, Missionary Moments, Testimony Teaches Truth, Example of the Believers, and On the Lighter Side. One experience tells of an elderly man in oppressed Hungary. He had collected his tithing for forty years until he met a patriarch who could deposit it for him. Also, the man had tried unsuccessfully for many years to get permission to leave Hungary to attend the temple. Following a special blessing, his passport was finally approved and this faithful man received the temple ordinances. This example and many others depict the happiness that comes from obedience to the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ. Readers can find renewed strength in their testimonies through these faith-promoting experiences.

Free Comic Book Day

This Saturday, May 5th, is Free Comic Book Day! I didn't even know this day existed, but it sounds like so much fun. It's definitely something the little ones in my house will want to participate in.

Free Comic Book Day is a single day - the first Saturday in May each year - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores.
Click here to find a participating store near you.

Happy reading, everyone!
Bean