MIA - Vacation

Sorry I have been MIA, I have been on vacation and away from computers for some of it. When I did have access to the internet, I was doing work. Blah! I just didn't have time to blog. I did Facebook though.

So we get back from a great vacation for a niece's wedding in Savannah, GA (one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to) and then we get our hot tub delivered, I have a nephew's first communion and a niece/nephews birthday, so its been a bit crazy. To top it off, I leave next week for a business trip to Las Vegas. Should be fun and hopefully I will get some reading and some writing done.

I did get three books completed while on vacation which isn't as many as I normally would, but they were good. I will hopefully work on reviews this week to get them up. I also want to catch up on everyone's blogs!

My reading is slowing down a bit because I have been working really hard on my book. I am almost 1/2 way done with the second chapter, and I have to admit I really like how its going. I have gotten some really positive feedback so it helps keep me going. I haven't told many people in my "real" life about it. Just my book club basically.

Hopefully I will get to catch up on everyone's blog and get my reviews posted this week!

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

Another hit! I loved it. She has such a way of taking these wonderful characters and weaving a story around them all.

It starts with stuffy, crabby Frank the hospital administrator wanting to sell some land the hospital owns, but being over ridden by the board who wants to turn it into a heart clinic. Enter Clara who is the one chosen to run the heart clinic. She finds all these wonderful people she hires to be part of the clinic.

The think I love is that characters from other books pop up, Fionna from Nights of Rain and Stars is featured prominently. But your able to catch up with other characters from that book as well as many from her other books.

The patients in the clinic also figure prominently as part of the story. While Clara is meaning to set up this heart clinic, she finds herself building a family.

It was a wonderful, heartwarming story. It was also a very quick read.

Behind the Lines by Andrew Carroll

WOW! This was a very good, interesting book. It was just a slow read for me and I'm not used to that.

This book brings letters from soldiers, their family and/or eye witnesses during times of war.

I had read another book like this years ago, but this one was so much more fascinating. I really liked the fact that the letters came from both sides. You could get the mindset of the kamikaze pilot and the Germans on the front line of WWII. The letters go back to the Revolutionary War and go all the way through all the major and minor conflicts up to current day Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was very interesting and very moving, but at times it drug a bit. It did get a bit too tactical for my tastes at times, but overall it was a great book and I think a must read for every citizen. It definitely made me feel lucky that we have never known a full blown war on our soil like those in Europe did during WWII.

An Invitation to Provence by Elizabeth Adler

I "read" this as an unabridged audio book. It was weird because I liked it most of the time, but overall I would say I didn't like writing style.

The book is a good premise, an old lady in Provence, France owns a chateau and winery. Her kids are gone for one reason or another and she is basically alone. She decides to have a "family" reunion to bring life back to the chateau. She invites a long lost distant neice, her old lover's son, an old friend and her sons, while in the process, one son dies and it is discovered he had a daughter so she invites her 10 year old granddaughter who is living in poverty in China.

It wasn't much of a family reunion, as there were more people there that were not related than the related ones.

I liked the characters, but the writing style just didn't work for me. The dialogue was very forced, and at times seemed to come out of nowhere. Big reveals, were really no big deal and again forced. It seemed like she was trying to force action where she should have just let the characters do their thing. I guess what I am trying to say is she wrote really good, interesting characters, but the rest was not very good.

Booking Through Thursday

How often do you use your public library and how do you use it? Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library? Did you go to the library as a child? Do you have any particular memories of the library? Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries?

I saw this on http://belleofthebooks.wordpress.com/, and had to answer it I love musing on this! I am so excited to have found all these wonderful book blogs! I'm not alone in my passion of books.

I use the public library fairly frequently but mainly just for books on CD. I usually reserve them ahead of time. I have my TBR's on an excel spreadsheet and have it marked if my library offers it on CD, I don't purchase those books.

Actually the online bookstores have replaced my library. I love barnesandnoble.com; they have terrific bargain books. I really like having a large library of books at home, so I do like to buy them.

As I child I spent a lot of time at the library. My Mom said she began taking us there when I was a baby. I had three older brothers and money was always tight so it was an inexpensive afternoon and we all seemed to enjoy it. As I got older I remember riding my bike the mile plus to the library, I had to ride up this HUGE hill to get there, but coming home down the hill was fun!

As for the type of libraries I like, I like them all. Give me rooms of books piled high and I am in love. My dream is to have a big library room, you know like in the old movies where its two stories high full of bookshelves with one of those sliding ladders. Aahh, sounds like heaven to me. Unfortunately I will never be rich enough so its just a dream.