I Know, I know it's been a while! But you have to read these two books!

So I am on the committee that creates the list for the Louisiana Teen Readers Choice Awards and these are two books under consideration right now. LOVED both! First up, Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back From the Dead. As you maay have gleaned from the title, this book is non-fiction. Six weeks after his high school graduation, Brian Boyle was in a near fatal car crash that he survived most likely because of his great physical shape due to swimming and body building. He woke up two months later, having no recollection of the wreck (where his car was t-boned by a dump truck on the driver's side) and unable to move but can see and hear. Put in a medically induced coma, because the pain would have been too much to bear, he lost 60% of his blood, shattered his pelvis and ribs, his heart waas moved to the other side of his body and all of his internal organs were damaged in some way, in addition to nerve damage on the left side of his body on the side of the impact. The gut wrenching account is his story from the time he woke up in the hospital to the point where he completed the Iron Man Triatholon 3 1/2 years later (2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking, 26 miles walking) after being told it was highly unlikely that he would ever walk or swim again! Very inspiring story!


Next is WinterGirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Anderson's book, Speak, was a Printz Honor Book (the Printz Award is the equivalent of the Newberry but for Young Adult Lit). She tends to deal with tough subjects and this one is no different. When the story opens, 18 year old Lia is coping with the death of Cassie, her best friend since she was 11. When they were 12 they made a pact, to be the thinnest, really it was more of a bet. Throughout the following years, each dealt with their own demons. Cassie was bulimic, Lia, anorexic. This is a very scary novel for parents with young daughters, but very timely. To get inside the head of an anorexic is heartbreaking. A must read!

Linger Arc Giveaway

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.


Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

Linger Arc Giveaway

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Because I need to read this book NOW and not in July, I am entering, this is my entry!

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

The Lovely Bones

"My name is Salmon, like the fish. First name Susie." So begins The Lovely Bones. Released in 2002, I had been hesitant to read it, especially after my children were born. All the reviews I had read were positive, but when I saw " fourteen year old girl" and "murdered" I decided against it. I just cannot stomach books about children dying, especially murdered. But people kept telling me I needed to read it and after seeing the preview for the movie, I decided I definitely needed to read it before the movie came out and I am glad I did. First of all, the murder is not the central theme of the story. There is an element of thriller in it, but ultimately this story is about relationships and how one incident can alter them forever. Susie's murder is the catalyst; the real story is how her murder affects the lives of those around her. Her mother, who gave up her own dreams when she became pregnant with Susie. Her father, who struggled with the unbearable grief of losing his first born and giving enough of himself to his surviving children. Her sister, who not only had to fight against the stigma of being the sister of "the murdered girl" but also deal with the loss of her best friend. Her brother, who at four did not fully understand what was happening, but whose life was forever altered by the affect Susie's death had on those around him.
I think the scenes that affected me most were those involving Lindsey, Susie's sister. That bond they had, that was irrevocably broken, heartwrenching. The trailer for the movie intrigued me, but it also did not touch on what the theme of the story is--healing. The old adage that time heals all wounds is cliched but true. Her death pulls them apart, but makes the characters realize what they truly lost. In this, Susie is simply the medium.

A Change...

Well, it has obviously been awhile since I have updated this blog. I really haven't felt the need to post anything since, for the most part, I vent my frustrations, happy thoughts, challenges on facebook. It is so much easier (and addictive!) So I am going to change up what I write here just a bit. Instead of writing about me, I am going to write about books that I am reading/have read recently and my thoughts on these books. I have been reading a lot of YA lit recently (starting with Twilight) and then some not so YA Lit (Sookie). My reading has picked up tremendously recently because I am on the committee for the Teen Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award (or LYRC) and we now have a faculty book club at school.

So what to write about first? Well, I think it goes without saying I LOVE Twilight (that is probably an understatment!) but I recently read a book that I think surpasses that. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (pronounced Steve-Otter). Here is a snippet of what it is about from her site.

"For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever. "

It's different than Twilight (wolves not vampires) but the same (forbidden love). Her writing is simply beautiful. I think it is better than Twilight in many ways but at the same time, it invokes many of the same feelings, longings, desires.

I liked it so much, I purchased her first two books (Shiver was her third novel) without reading anything about them. Lament and its stand alone sequel Ballad (stand alone because it takes one of the secondary characters from Lament and makes him the protagonist. You don't necessarily need to read Lament to understand Ballad, but it helps.) If you are interested in learning more about these books and the author, her site is www.maggiestiefvater.com. She has a blog that she updates almost daily if not every other day, FAQs and information on each of the books. Oh, and if you do read Shiver and on the last page you are like "PLEASE GOD TELL ME SHE DID NOT ENED THE STORY THIS WAY???" Fear not! The sequel, Linger, comes out in July.

That's my two cents for now...

Thursday...

Well, I guess I should update the blog since it has been 2 months since I did it last! The big thing that has happened is that we sold the house! Yay!! But Had to take a loss! Boo!! I'm just ready to be done with the whole thing. The packing is slow going. It is hard to try and decide what to pack when you are not moving directly into your new home! Plus I ran out of packing materials, so I couldn't finish the kitchen. But tonight, I am bringing a whole bunch of old newspapers home from work so I should be able to finish the kitchen, save for the food, and move into the dining room. The goal is to have everything packed and stacked in the garage by March 21st so that we can have a bunch of friends come and help us and get everything moved in like 3-4 big trips. We close on the 27th. The bad thing that happened was when they did the inspection, they found "multiple issues" with one of our AC units. We have 2, one was replaced last Easter and the other one went kaput last week. Of course, this is our luck so the damn thing couldn't wait until AFTER we signed the papers to break. So we basically HAD to sell it and take some off the price, otherwise we would have to dish out $3000 to buy a new AC!! Why are the gods INTENT on making my life miserable!!
Anyway, so basically just packing and dealing with sick babies!!Em has had one thing after another since January! First an ear infection, then the puking bug, then she was just REAL lethargic for a few days. Then she gets fever last week, the coughing started Saturday, Tuesday she complained about her ear hurting again, so I went ahead and took her in. She now has an infection in the OTHER ear, the first one is fine. Plus the dr said she had a wheezy cough so she is taking Zertac, some antibiotic that I can't pronounce so the name escapes me (I think it is ceszophil?) and an inhaler. The inhaler is the funniest thing, she loves it. How I go from Claire who absolutley DETESTS medication, to Em who requests it regularly, I have no idea!

That's it for now!

Randomness...

I just saw this on PostSecret. It makes you think, and a little sad.

"I didn't become a heroin addict because you failed as a mother...

I became one because I failed as a daughter."

I know that is depressing but it just, I don't know, put things in perspective a bit...

Not much...

Well, It has been over a month since I had anything to say. I usually just go to facebook; it doesn't take as long to put a status up! Christmas was nice, but as always, not relaxing! Too many places to go. I just one year everyone would come to us! The girls got their bikes which they were happy about until Bear realized Pixie's bike had a box with 3 buttons that played different songs. Of course, she then started crying! Jerry attempted to teach Claire how to ride a two wheeler. It was comical let me tell you! She is just not interested in doing it and the way he was trying to show her made ME confused so I can only imagine what it did to her!

Today, I am way tired. I am so tired when I get home, but by the time I go to lay down, I am wired can't fall asleep til after midnight and then one of the kids wake me up! Damn! I thought about getting a massage or my hair colored this weekend but I just want to sleep in! You know till six!

I got an ipod nano for my birthday so I have been playing with that and i love it! So does Bear so I guess that will be her birthday present next year. Maybe something more like a shuffle. She is starting to notice her friends that have their ears pierced but I told her not until she is 6 and that is if she remembers! She doesn't mention it that often so I may be able to wait a bit longer.

5 weeks until Mardi Gras!!! 17 weeks until schools out!! That is too far! Of course Easter is sandwiched in there so it will make it bearable!