Upstate

This was interesting enough. Not something that was really great I would say, but interesting. I like books about prison, or people in prison. I also like books written in letter style. I think this book would have done more if it were not fiction. Though, I think it was powerful. I was glad in the end it wasn't exactly a happy ending. It made it more believe able. It think it showed the true power of how prison can effect relationships and families. (Not that that needed proving I guess....) I thought the characters felt very real and that the story was well written. It kept my attention, but I can't say it's at the top of any of my lists.

Happy Two Year Anniversary!

Happy two year anniversary to me! It has been two years since I started this goal/blog. Still going strong! 29 books to go and 72 down!

The Kabul Beauty School

This book didn't do a whole lot for me. It wasn't what I expected. I mean, what Rodriguez did was very interesting and even brave, but I felt like she kind of tooted her own horn a lot. (look at me, look how great I am). Maybe it is because I have a hard time relating to the whole "beauty school thing". If it were me, I would have tried to get these women involved in education in a different way. I understand where she is coming from, but I think there are many other ways to help the women in Afghanistan other than a beauty school.

I also found it strange that she was able to just up and leave her children back in the states while she ran off to do this. Her sons are mentioned once or twice. One even comes to visit her, but then she never mentions it again. I was also a bit put off by her marriage to an Afghani man. It just seemed all so strange to me, considering she had already had a bad marriage back in the states, why would she marry a man she knew for 2 seconds and couldn't communicate with? I do understand how he was able to help her and protect her a little bit, but still.....

The writing style was mishmash for me too. She tends to jump all over the place and I got confused a few times on where were. She mentions something briefly, but then never follows through on it. Plus, I found the ending very abrupt. She is definitely not a writer by trade.

This book was just so-so for me.

And now after some curious investigation, I found this story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10634299

Which just makes me more aggrivated! She left these women, and promised them money from the royalties of the book and they haven't seen anything! My feelings dislike for this woman are now solidified after reading this story.

Truth and Beauty

This book was brilliant. After reading Autobiography of a Face, I thought it only appropriate that I read this as a follow up. I am glad I did. It really brought everything home. I think I actually enjoyed this book even more. I think it shows the power of friendship. Maybe I am a bit biased, because I have had a lot of emotional relationships with friends that many people never understood. I admire Ann for being Lucy's friend through everything. Lucy really put her through a lot, yet she stood by her no matter what. I admire that and I strive for that in my own life. She was not judgemental (for the most part) and really understood what it meant to be a friend. I think that is one of life's most important and hardest things. This book was beautiful. I plan to send it to two of my friends who I think it was also hit home with. Some people may wonder why Ann stood by Lucy the way she did, but I never questioned it while reading this book. Lucy's life was an amazing one, but I think this story of their friendship is even more amazing.

Autobiography of a Face

I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely well written and I found it quite beautiful, even though the content was heartbreaking. I know it's easy for me to say, but why not just stop having all the operations and just move on? I know she was young and I don't know what happened after she wrote this book. (I intend to read Truth and Beauty next.. and that might give more insight). It seems that she was finally able to accept herself for everything she was, which made me feel good. I can't even imagine going through everything she did at such a young age. But above all, this book kept me interested and was very well written.

Sweetness in the Belly

This is the best book I have read in a long time. I really enjoyed it and it flowed wonderfully. It was such a great story line. I loved how unique it was. I didn't know much about Ethiopia's history, so this was a great introduction. I liked how the history didn't overbear the story. The characters were fantastic! I loved Lilly. She was just beautiful. I loved her relationships with the other characters. This book was so well written that I wanted it to so badly to be a true story! I can still hope. I also really liked the ending. Nothing is perfect and I was happy that it wasn't a perfect ending. It made the story more real. Just wonderful.....

Take the Cannoli

I desperately want to like Sarah Vowell. This is the second book I have attempted to read by her and it's just not working. I have never been a big short story fan and this book didn't help. She tries too hard to be funny and in the end it's just annoying. I keep hoping that I am going to find something amusing, but I don't. I don't care about her family or her weird quirks. Somehow her writing just doesn’t help me to care. I don't know why. Usually I dig stuff like this. I made it about 3/4 of the way through this book and was done. I didn't even finish. I was bored and I felt like I was just wasting time.....