Pond Hopper

What a moving portrayal of bullying in high school and the possible horrendous outcome. I was impressed how this was written to make your sympathies rise for the shooter and antagonism towards his victims. There are no winners in this book and anyone who is a parent reading the novel will inevitably find it painful and at times, terrifying. My only fault is the slightly unexpected and not too convincing ending. But this has to be one of my favorite (if not my very favorite) Jodie Picoult novel thus far. Check it out on Amazon.com by clicking the title above or on Amazon.co.uk by clicking here

I have a terrible habit of deciding I am going to start blogging on a regular basis only to get depressed and stop altogether. I've been terribly down since my visit home. My son gets the best of me and once he goes to bed or school, I keep to myself and don't really do much of anything but read. I've read over 10 books in 2 months and that's with taking 2 weeks to list everything that wasn't tied down on ebay to help raise some extra money (to make up for my husband's business' slow season). The good news is we've raised £500.00 so far on stuff that was just lying around the house. I got over £300 for just my old 35mm camera equipment (which hurt to sell, but in my heart I knew it wouldn't be used again in this digital age). I think the big drop in my mood was going to meet the American girl I recently met. I had high hopes that somehow we'd become fast friends and partners in crime. That surly didn't happen. During our first meet-u...

Yesterday, I took my son to the doctor (he has pink eye the poor thing). While sitting in the waiting room I was approached by a woman (close to my age) who asked if I was American. I said yes and she said she was from Ohio. We talked briefly about how long we've been living here and the trials of having to register a child as an American (a full day's affair in London). With every name that was called, we knew our time was limited and I think we both didn't want to let the opportunity go (knowing full well how rare it is to come across another American in this area). We quickly exchanged cell phone numbers and said we'd meet for lunch sometime soon. She txt me later in the day and invited me to meet for coffee. I am so excited and hopeful that we'll hit it off. I can't say enough how wonderful it would be to have an American friend so close by. I have one American friend that is here in England but she lives so far from me, we never get to meet up. I ju...

Synopsis: The Story of Pi - a boy brought up on a zoo in India. Pi’s father decides to move the family to live in Canada and sell the animals to the great zoos of America. The ship taking them across the Pacific sinks and Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra with a broken leg and a Bengal tiger called. My husband bought me this for Christmas. I started it and gave up a few weeks ago. I was just bored by the first part of the book (before the ship sinks). I am so glad I went back to it because it was definitely worth reading. I've been thinking about it since I finished it. There was a twist at the end that made a good (albeit grim) book into a great book. I may go back and read it again now that I know the full story. The back cover has a blurb that describes the story as 'uplifting'. I didn't find anything about this book uplifting. This book is not for the fainthearted. It's disturbing and at times, gruesome, but if you'r...

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. For weeks, the only thing I've been doing with every free moment is read. I've finished 3 books this week. It's escapism. I've just been so down since coming back from the US. I just can't readjust to such drastic differences in life. Spending a month there just opened my eyes to how it could be if we moved back and now I just can't adjust to the life of isolation we have here. My husband got a call to interview for a job in North Carolina. My family says jump on it, but I feel like I'd be going from being trapped in a country I don't want to live in to being trapped in a state I don't want to live in. I know it's a step in the right direction, but it's not sitting well with me. I told him to peruse it, but I'm not sold on the idea. If he gets it, we'll see...

Synopsis: The Brighton to London line. The 07:44 train. Carriages packed with commuters. A woman applies her make-up. Another occupies her time observing the people around her. A husband and wife share an affectionate gesture. Further along, a woman flicks through a glossy magazine. Then, abruptly, everything changes: a man has a heart attack, and can't be resuscitated; the train is stopped, an ambulance called. For at least three passengers on the 07:44 on that particular morning, life will never be the same again. Lou witnesses the man's final moments. Anna and Lou share a cab when they realise the train is going nowhere fast. Anna is Karen's best friend. And Karen? Karen's husband is the man who dies. Telling the story of the week following that fateful train journey, "One Moment, One Morning" is a stunning novel about love and loss, about family and - above all - friendship. A stark reminder that, sometimes, one moment is all it takes, it also reminds us ...

I really liked this book. It was a story of a life long friendship between two women who meet as children and follows their lives until middle age. It's a long book. Part of me thought it may have been a bit too long than it needed to be, but the other part of me wonders if not for the length of the book, would the ending have such an impact? I'm undecided. That aside, it was a touching story (that made me write an emotional email to my best friend of 20+ years when I was done). It reminded me of the movie 'Beaches' in some respects, but had no impact on how enjoyable the book was. If you do read it, keep the tissues handy at the end - you'll need them! Get your copy at Amazon.com by clicking the book above or in the UK, Click Here