Favorite Things 2, or, Thank goodness January is over

Who else was ready to be done with January like, three weeks ago? I'm soooo over January. After surviving all the crazy of December, we got caught up in the communal sicknesses getting passed around Provo. First Rosie got a nasty cold, then Georgie got the flu (I hope it's a long time before I get to clean up that much poop/throw up again), then I got the flu, then Rosie got an echo of the flu. I ended up getting zero sleep for about two weeks. Meantime, Tim had to interrupt a new semester and work schedule to take days off to take care of us all. It was the worst.

Thankfully, the end of the month got progressively better (Rosie sleeps through the night!) and last week was back to normal with the pleasant addition of daily walks in our new double stroller, thanks to the abnormally warm weather.

And in the spirit of back to normal, I am trying to clear out the blog drafts that I've accumulated over the last three months. And so I present the 2nd edition of Favorite Things, also known as The Gift List:

1. The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name. For her 2nd birthday, Georgie got a personalized book called The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name. Initially we were more excited about it than she was (love love the illustrations!), but it has since become a favorite of hers. Her very favorite part is shouting "GEORGIANA!" at the end of the book when the little girl finds her name again. If you're looking for a fun, personalized gift for a little one, check it out: lostmy.name


2. BabyLit. Probably everyone knows about the BabyLit books, but in case I can be the bringer of fun thing, BabyLit books are classics from literature adapted into board books for babies. Not only are they clever and beautiful, they are actually a great way to introduce kids to these classics. One of my favorite things in the world is to heard Georgie "read" Jabberwocky at bedtime. They are expensive, in my opinion, but our collection is growing all the same: babylit.com


3. Carry On, Warrior. Another Christmas present, one I was really hoping to get. This book is by Glennon Melton, whose blog I started following about six months ago. Her writing is a mix of inspirational, parenting, self-help, and hysterical. I came away feeling so much more secure about being who I really am. She's hilarious and very real and inspiring, and I recommend this book to everyone. Even though a lot of what she writes is specifically for women and moms, I read chunks of her book aloud to Tim and he loved it too, so really, everyone.

4. Walking with the Women of the New Testament. Another Christmas present and another book by a blogger I follow. Heather Farrell writes the Women in the Scriptures blog and I love her insights, so it's no surprise I love her book. It has made me feel so connected to the women of the New Testament, and the historical and cultural information is completely fascinating. I actually haven't finished it yet because I read just a few stories at a time and then digest it all. Lovely, lovely book.

5. eShakti. This fabulous website has dresses/skirts/tops in lots of styles, colors, fabrics, etc., but the coolest part is that you can customize each dress to not only fit you perfectly, but to be as long as you want, have the sleeves and neckline you want, etc. It's awesome. I just ordered my first dress (pictured above, except I added sleeves) and I cannot wait for it to come in the mail!


6. Annie Henrie art. One of the companies I work for it Altus Fine Art, which produces inspirational and LDS art. Through working with them, I became familiar with Annie Henrie's work and I love it! I love the texture and warmth of her style, and I got the painting above, which now hangs where I can see it every day. 

7. Building a fort. My amazing sister-in-law Bekah made us a fort kit for our family gift exchange. Best. Idea. Ever. I make a fort for the girls at least twice a week when it's not quite dinner time and I am done entertaining for the day. Our forts are different every time as we experiment with the best way to make it work, but regardless of how stable or "cool" it is, Georgie and Rosie think it's pretty much the best thing ever, especially once we get the flashlights out.

Favorite things

I stole this idea from my friend Lisa, but what better way to share some of the fun things we've been up to lately? In no particular order....

1. No carbs. I gained a lot of weight while I was pregnant and once we moved to my parents' house, I finally felt organized enough to work on feeling healthy again. My mom read a book called Why We Get Fat, which is a fascinating look at the science behind nutrition and weight gain, and has since changed her eating lifestyle and doesn't eat many carbs. Low-carb diets have been good to me in the past so I jumped on her bandwagon and have seen some awesome results! I'm down 21 pounds with 4 more to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight, and while I am no longer super strict about no carbs at all, there have been some definite lifestyle changes to come from this that I'm really happy about. (Note: I'm not necessarily recommending this as a diet to anyone - though I do recommend reading the book if you're interested.)

2. eMeals. Since moving to my parents' house and giving up carbs, Tim and I have had a hard time coming up with meals that are both tasty and, well, not the same thing every single night. eMeals to the rescue! When you subscribe to eMeals, you get to pick your meals (we just do dinner) and family size, and then they email you a weekly menu complete with a shopping list. It does cost money, but it's really not expensive and almost all of the meals we've tried have been really good. We've discovered that we need to schedule some leftover nights into each week so we don't buy food for all seven meals, but with a few modifications to fit our needs, it's been a lot of fun.

3. Learning to cook. Along with all this food business comes this astounding fact: I am learning to cook! Since Tim is at work and home fairly late each night, I have taken over making dinner and I have yet to completely ruin anything. Booyah. I have been lazy about it lately but I think next week will see a resurgence of these developing skills. Stay tuned...

4. Free printables. Again I'm borrowing from Lisa on this one. I don't know what it is but I am 100% obsessed with the printable posters designed by Gina at gdesigned.blogspot.com. I actually went to high school with Gina and I think her designs are fabulous! They are totally free and look great printed out on a regular printer. I especially love the alphabet name prints! Gina is super nice and will customize the name and colors for you. Georgie's is pretty much the cutest thing ever. I have downloaded about a dozen of my must-have favorites from Gina's site and given them as wedding, bridal shower, thank you, and birthday gifts just in the last six weeks. 

5. Father's Day tie. For Mother's Day, Tim made Georgie and me matching skirts, so for Father's Day, I made Tim a tie and Georgie a matching skirt. I found this tie pattern and tutorial online and it turned out really well! Plus, it was not overly complicated which was perfect for my basic to intermediate sewing skills. I am actually excited to make him another tie that's even better, based on what I learned from the first go-round. 

Side note: For Georgie's skirt, I modified a basic drawstring skirt by cutting the fabric into four panels (front, back, and sides) instead of two (front and back) before sewing them together and adding the ric rac drawstring. 

6. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. Lots of people recommended this book to me when I was desperate to get Georgie to sleep and I wish I had had the mental energy to read it sooner! This was our best book for seeing pretty immediate results in G's sleeping habits (like actually taking naps at all - miracle!) and it helped us make sense of why she wasn't sleeping. As an added bonus, it mostly did not make me feel like a horrible parent as so many other sleep books have. Georgie still isn't sleeping through the night but we have come such a long way and I thank this book for it nightly.

7. The Mother in Me: Real-World Reflections on Growing into Motherhood, edited by Kathryn Lynard Soper. One more book to recommend. I've found that reading positive, encouraging, and honest essays about motherhood has helped me to be more positive myself and to see the precious parts of motherhood more clearly, and this book has been the absolute best so far. The beautiful essays and poems span all of motherhood from pregnancy to the toddler days and made me cry, laugh, and reflect a little more deeply on my own experiences. I'd love to discuss the book with anyone who reads it, or just have an open and honest discussion about motherhood in general because I think we've all got something to say.

Book Review: The Book of Mormon Girl

After a long hiatus of not having time/energy/interest/capacity for reading, I have read a surprising (to me) number of books in the last little while. There's one in particular I wanted to discuss:

The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith by Joanna Brooks

Joanna Brooks got a lot of attention during Mitt Romney's campaign (she was on Jon Stewart - the height of fame!) and became an unofficial spokesperson of sorts for the LDS church. I was introduced to her a few years ago when I heard her read an entertaining and intriguing excerpt from her book, plus I currently get notifications when she posts on her Ask Mormon Girl blog. She's a feminist, a liberal, and not afraid to speak up for herself and the things she believes in. This book is a memoir of her journey to get to this place in her life, and it was a fascinating, funny, thought-provoking, amen-sister kind of book. (For the most part, but I'll get to that in a sec.)

The memoir takes you through Joanna's growing up years in Southern California and she paints a vivid, accurate portrait of what it was like. She creates a really solid foundation for the struggles that came later and that foundation sets up the rest of Joanna's story in a way that makes sense of her decisions and choices and creates some beautiful themes throughout. Though Joanna is currently a member of the Church, she considered herself to be "in exile" for about ten years after a series of excommunications of semi high-profile feminists within the Church that occurred during the nineties, and her journey back is compelling, though a tiny bit rushed (I thought).

While I found a lot to relate to, Joanna's experiences and feelings diverge from my own in some pretty distinctive ways. Which isn't to say I couldn't appreciate what she wrote and how she wrote it and especially her courage in telling her story, but it sometimes frustrates me that many of the well-known LDS nonfiction authors are so...unorthodox. Frustrates me because it's one version of the Mormon story that I know from my experiences in grad school can give a skewed perception of the Church overall. (It also gives me hope because I'd like to be that LDS nonfiction author who tells the slightly less harrowing story of being a more orthodox member of the Church from Utah who still has something worth saying.) I am glad that the unorthodox stories are out there because they really do need to be told, especially for members of the Church - we are very different people with unique trials, doubts, journeys, and perspectives, and once we dig into these stories, that's when we begin to break that Mormon cookie-cutter mold. So that's good. Just speaking as someone who fits that cookie-cutter mold in all the obvious ways, I feel like mine is still a story worth sharing.

So all that aside, this is a great read. The first bit is a wonderful slice of Mormon life in the 70s with all the quirks and fears and grand destinies that come with growing up in the Church, and the overall themes and messages are beautiful. Definite recommend with 3 1/2 to 4 stars. 

Baby book review

My goal to read something in August devolved into reading one of the baby books that's been recommended to me and I never quite got around to more recreational reading - a sad harbinger of things to come, I think. Hopefully I can still find time to read once I have a little baby taking up all my attention! (If you are a mother and know better, don't burst my illusions just yet. Just smile and let me discover it on my own.)

In any event, I read The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp and I was/am very glad I finally got a chance to read it. The tips and tricks for calming newborns and all the theories behind them were very interesting and will be sanity-saving, I'm pretty positive. I've heard a lot about the different theories of having a new baby - putting her on a schedule, letting her cry it out, etc. - but this book seemed like a really nice middle ground with a solid scientific backing. Definitely recommended for new mothers (in my almost new mother opinion), and as a bonus, our copy came with a short DVD that I watched with Tim so we are both educated now. Maybe I'll have to do a follow-up post in a few months and report on if this works for us!

Book Review I.O.U.

I'm taking the month off - my mad reading dash slowed down in July and I think I only read another Brandon Sanderson book (Elantris - pretty good though definitely a first novel) and part of a biography of Louisa May Alcott (the author of Little Women). Not much to say so I'll have to owe you all a book review. Next month!

Book/Author Review

Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and Hero of Ages

This month I took a suggestion from Tim and read the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. I'd heard good things about Mr. Sanderson and had purchased the books for Tim, who really liked them and has since read most of Brandon Sanderson's books. He was super excited to share them with me, and even though I am not much of a fantasy genre reader, I was not at all disappointed. Brandon Sanderson has not only very intriguing ideas for his books, but his style of writing was just about perfect. His books are very character-based, and even as the plot moved forward and grand events took place, the story stayed personal and real with relatable characters and feelings. One thing I really appreciated about this fantasy book is that the "magical" elements were actually very scientific - there were set laws, rules, and physics governing them. There were actual skills that had to be practiced and perfected, as opposed to just vast unlimited power. Plus, there was always a logical reason behind anything that seemed out of the ordinary and putting together the pieces of those mysteries was one of the reasons to keep reading. Tim had told me enough about the books when he read them that I knew what happened at the end, but even knowing that, I couldn't put these books down. And speaking of the end, I don't think I've ever been quite so satisfied with the end of a series. It brought together elements that had been building for all three books in a way that gave every death and twist deeper meaning. I highly recommend these books, even to those who don't usually read fantasy. Four stars, absolutely!

The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel

Over our anniversary weekend in Torrey, Tim and I listened to the audio book recording of one of Brandon Sanderson's recent novels and we "couldn't put it down," as it were. This novel takes place 300 years after the Mistborn Trilogy ends and it was just as enjoyable as the others, though a little less epic - no gods, governments, or forces of nature overthrown in this one! Plus, there were lots of delightful little hints and links connecting it to the previous books. It was definitely more than just a long epilogue to the trilogy, and though it was less emotionally satisfying (because it was less of an emotional journey), it was still excellently written. The ending was left wide open for a sequel and we fervently hope there will be one. These books are just too darn good! At least three and a half stars.

Book Review x several

Tim and I went to the library a few weeks ago and we've been reading somewhat voraciously ever since, so I'm grouping my book reviews to keep this more concise:


Georgette Heyer - Georgette Heyer was the author of dozens of Regency novels, set during the times of Jane Austen's books and written in a similar style. She was writing and publishing over fifty years ago, but the novels still feel fresh today. I've read four or five of her romances and though they're all relatively similar, they are all very entertaining and enjoyable. I usually can't put them down once I get going and may or may not have spent two hours sitting on my bathroom floor reading one at some point this month. They are delightful, perfect for light reading, and I particularly recommend this month's favorite, Frederica - I loved it. Three stars on average for Georgette Heyer's books.


Orson Scott Card - I've read other books by Orson Scott Card but this month I started tackling the Women of Genesis series. I've finished Sarah and Rebekah (haven't finished Rachel & Leah yet) and for the most part, I've really enjoyed them. Orson Scott Card did a great job of creating very real people from the stories in the scriptures, people with both flaws and virtues. Plus he added in a lot of cultural details that helped explain some of the actions or reactions of the characters. I thought some of his choices for portraying the characters were interesting and where I had my own preconceptions, I didn't necessarily like or agree with those choices. Overall though, I've really enjoyed reading about these women and what they could have been like. Three stars for Sarah, two and a half for Rebekah. 


Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. Tim got a slew of fantasy/science fiction novels from the library and he told me enough about this one that I became intrigued and wanted to read it for myself. Terry Goodkind created a fascinating and very complete fantasy world, and while I was mostly drawn to the relationship between the two main characters, I was impressed by what he came up with. Unfortunately, he was also very very good at creating evil and there were several parts of the book that I either skipped or wished I had - lots of torture going on. And the style of the novel was very uneven, sometimes feeling more casual and other times much more "high fantasy" formal. Tim read the next book in the series but I decided not to. If you're way into fantasy and don't mind the evil stuff, you'll probably really enjoy this book. If not, go ahead and skip this one. Two stars.

Book Review x 2

Two memoirs this month, both ones I would highly highly recommend:


Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected by Kelle Hampton. Kelle is a blogger whose incredibly honest post about the birth of her second daughter who was unexpectedly born with Down Syndrome quickly spread around the internet about two years ago and brought thousands of readers to her blog. I was one of the thousands and I've really enjoyed reading Kelle's posts ever since. I was super excited to read this memoir of hers that focuses on the journey she's undertaken since the day of Nella's birth, as well as the journey that brought her to that point. Kelle is so passionate about living, about family, about being a mother,about photography, about creating beautiful things that I was not surprised (though very pleased) to find that her memoir included color photos on almost every page. It  is a gorgeous book just to look at, but the writing inside is just as beautiful. Kelle writes honestly, which means she gets at emotions and struggles that are usually easier to bury, but she shares them anyway. I think being on the verge of parenthood made it especially meaningful to me to read about a mother facing some extra challenges. There were several parts I read aloud to Tim that made us cry and laugh together. I've never met Kelle but I feel like I know her and I'd love to be her friend. Three and a half stars from me!


P.S. Can I just say that I love how bloggers have been publishing books lately? It gives blogging a level of credibility that really tickles me. That's all.




The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery by Kathryn Lynard Soper. I heard Kathy share a portion of this book at a Mormon women writers reading at UVU and I very much wanted to read the whole book, not only because I am always on the lookout for Mormon memoirs, but because it seemed like a powerful story from just the snippet I got. This is another memoir from a mother who had a child unexpectedly born with Down Syndrome and while there were a lot of similarities between this book and Bloom, they were very different stories. I think Kathy's experience was much harder in some ways - Thomas was born prematurely in addition to having Down Syndrome, so there were all kinds of complications they had to deal with for a long time after his birth because of that. Thomas was also Kathy's seventh child, so she didn't have the luxury of worrying about just him. Plus there was the religious aspect, which added a layer of guilt and pressure to what Kathy experienced. But over the course of the year described in the book, Kathy learns and grows as a mother and as a person, and it was beautiful to read. Three stars at least!


As a side note, even though these books are both ostensibly about Down Syndrome, really they were both about motherhood and facing down your fears and challenges as a woman and a mother. I don't expect to have these same challenges, but it was heartening to me to know that I don't have to be the perfect mom at the outset - I can grow and learn and give myself time to become someone better, and that growing process will bring its own very rich rewards.

Book Review x 4

Thanks to the relaxing Hawaiian vacation at the beginning of the month, I finished not one, not two, but FOUR books this month! Quick reviews of each:

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale. I really enjoyed this book - got completely sucked in and couldn't stop! I regularly laughed out loud and had to read bits and pieces out loud to Tim while we were on the plane, the beach, trying to go to bed, etc. Shannon Hale is an LDS writer who has written several YA novels and a few adult novels centered around the idea of literary or movie romance and if it has a place in real life. This book is about a Mormon housewife who meets her movie crush and hits it off in a best friend kind of way. Fair warning, this book might also make you cry (her husband gets cancer) but I felt like it dealt with real emotions in an honest way that made me love all the characters. Four stars!

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. This is the woman who wrote The Secret Life of Bees, which I loved, but this book was very different. It's a kind of "coming of middle age" tale about a woman who goes home to take care of her mother and deals with the question of what her life has become. Her mid-life crisis takes on the form of an affair (with a monk, no less), which I did not appreciate, and the story revolves around some very dramatic and kinda far-fetched plot points, which had me rolling my eyes occasionally. Beautifully written, but it just didn't resonate with me. Really, this story was about a woman coming to terms with herself, which I firmly believe we all have to do at some point - accept ourselves as we are, alone, without relationships to define or control us. I just couldn't relate at all to her process of coming to that point. Two stars.

Bossypants by Tina Fey. Yes, that Tina Fey. My mom brought this book to Hawaii and I needed something to read so I breezed through it. It was funny, naturally, and had a few moments of poignancy. Lots of interesting stuff about Tina Fey's work and her stint as Sarah Palin on SNL. Plenty of words, idioms, and stories to be offended at, though, which made it less fun to read. If you don't mind swearing and crude language, I'd give it two stars. If you do mind those things, probably skip this one.

Yearning for the Living God: Reflections from the Life of F. Enzio Busche edited and compiled by Tracie A. Lamb. Elder Busche was a general authority for many years in the LDS church and this book is all about his life as a young boy growing up in Hitler's Germany, his conversion to the LDS church, and his many, many years of service in the Church. He shares some really amazing stories and beautiful messages. I especially appreciated his description and explanation of what it was like to grow up in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. I gained such a depth of understanding from just a few pages. My mom lent me this book quite a while ago and I'm so glad I finally finished it. Highly recommended - four stars!

Book Review - Double Header

I managed two books this month - yes! And I almost had a third, but the month ran short and Hawaii is beckoning. This month's selection was a novel and a memoir. First, the novel:

A Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell. A fictionalized account of a U.S. agent's dangerous journey through Soviet Russia. This was a pretty good book with an amazing story and it was a pretty quick read. Retelling or explaining the story is actually more interesting than the book itself was because the writing is a little slow and the author gave a lot of background info on himself that didn't necessarily need to be there. That being said, there were some truly amazing stories in his book, a wonderful message of hope and faith, and I really appreciated the shared insights and perspective on the workings of Soviet Russia and its people. I give it one thumb up - great reading material for a long car, plane, or train ride.

The Place of Knowing by Emma Lou Warner Thayne. I can't say enough of about the beauty of this book. I had the privilege of meeting Emma Lou last November and I was super excited to read her newest book (especially since my mom got it signed for me!!!) which she calls a "spiritual autobiography." She is a poet and though there are many beautiful poems included in this book, all of the prose has the grace and power of her poetry. It was the kind of prose that has to be read slowly and contemplatively, and now that I've finished, I feel like I need to read it again to absorb it even more fully.

Emma Lou writes about her spiritual progression and understanding, from having a death experience (she was hit in the face by a metal rod that came through the windshield while she and her son-in-law were driving on the freeway) to her childhood to the amazing experiences she's had as an adult as she's traveled the world. I was completely blown away by what she has done in her life and the way she's embraced every experience that's come to her. She has a unique way of looking at life and an incredibly articulate way of describing it. So much of what she wrote spoke to me in a way that felt True, with a capital T. And some of my favorite parts were stories that I recognized from my mom's history with Emma Lou and it was completely delightful to me to read them from another perspective.

At the end of the first chapter was what I consider one of the most beautiful sentences of the English language that I had to immediately share with Tim and I now share with you:

Without clamor or special effects, in some quiet traveling, I had been to the place of knowing and returned with a view as broad as the galaxies and comforting as my mother's hand. It was obvious again -- the pillars of my faith were still intact, but the roof had blown blessedly off the structure to reveal a whole sky full of stars.

It's such a simple image, but so breathtaking at the same time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to peruse the beauty of a marvelous woman's life. Four stars, absolutely.

Book review (in a hurry)

In order to make myself more accountable about reading one book every month (I'm trying!), I'm going to post a book review at the end of each month. This month, my book was Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. It is a young adult novel and a sequel to Stargirl, which is an excellent book that everyone should read.

Love, Stargirl picks up a year after Stargirl ends and is "the world's longest letter," written by Stargirl herself. I loved getting to hear Stargirl's voice more directly, and I loved the cast of crazy, eclectic characters in her new town. I was a little frustrated with how mopey she was for the first part of the book (nursing a broken heart) because it made her very much not herself. But partway through the book, she realizes she's losing herself and starts to become more the giving, caring, uniquely herself person that I loved from the first book.

Every time I read Stargirl, I am more inspired to give, to have compassion, to find beauty, and to live free of the worries and pressures of society. I am the kind of person who tends to worry about what is "right" in a social sense, but Stargirl only worries about what is "right" in a true sense. I always come away from Stargirl wanting to be more like her. Because she isn't quite herself for part of Love, Stargirl, I didn't have quite the same sensation. I did come away wanting to be her friend, though, and that was very reassuring.

My rating? Two thumbs up. Three and a half stars. If you read and loved Stargirl, definitely give Love, Stargirl a read.

Book Review

I hate to admit that I haven't been reading much lately, but between work and life, it's something that doesn't happen as much as I'd like. I have read a couple of books in the last few months, however, and I liked them enough that I thought I'd give my recommendations.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
From Amazon.com: This remarkable new novel weaves together the lives of Andi Alpers, a depressed modern-day teenager, and Alexandrine Paradis, a brave young woman caught up in the French Revolution. While in Paris with her estranged father, a Nobel geneticist hired to match the DNA of a heart said to belong to the last dauphin of France, Andi discovers a diary hidden within a guitar case - and so begins the story of Alexandrine, who herself had close ties to the dauphin. Redemption and the will to change are powerful themes of the novel, and music is ever present - Andi and Alex have a passion for the guitar, and the playlist running through Revolution is a who's who of classic and contemporary influences. Danger, intrigue, music, and impeccably researched history fill the pages of Revolution, as both young women learn that, "it is love, not death, that undoes us."

My friend Jen recommended this book to me. Well, recommended is a very tame word - she actually brought this book to my house, shoved it my hands, and said, "You have to read this. End of story." I'm always busy, so it took me a while to start and then once I did, it took me a little while to get into it. The main character, Andi, is not in a good place when the book starts. Her family has completely fallen apart and she's on the edge of the deep end (sometimes literally). Truthfully, it was a little depressing. However, once she got to Paris and started meeting people and reading this diary written in the aftermath of the French Revolution, I got completely hooked. There's an element of mystery as you try to piece together what happened to the girl who wrote the diary and how it fits in with the history of the French Revolution, and I loved seeing the similarities between the girls and how their lives intersect (quite literally). And of course, it was a great story, completely compelling and incredibly well-written. And in the end, there is an incredibly beautiful message of hope and healing. It's definitely worth reading.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
From Amazon.com: Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step. Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

I read this book for my ward's book group and I really enjoyed it. Again, it took me a little while to get into the groove of it, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading. It's written from the perspective of three very different women, and each one has her own distinct voice and personality. It felt a little choppy at times because of the jumps, and I would have like more resolution at the end, but it was a novel about change and so leaving the end open for the characters' lives to change fit the theme, I think. It had a ton of great moments, but funny and insightful, and it brought attention to an issue that I had never explored or heard much about before. There was a line near the end that really summed it up for me, and I didn't write it down but it was essentially that reaching across lines to understand each other is essential to our humanity. I also loved learning about the author's life and realizing that this was a very personal story to her. There's a quote on the book cover that compares it to To Kill A Mockingbird (which is pretty much my favorite book ever) and it isn't at that level, but I definitely recommend it.

Post script: I saw the movie and I loved it. I think it took all the best parts of the book and then gave the story more resolution, which was just perfect. So thumbs up for both the movie and the book!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Amazon's summary wasn't great, so here's my own: Starting in January 1946, writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a stranger and a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, about a book that he acquired that had her name in it. After the grimness of London during World War II, Juliet is eager to correspond with a fellow book-lover and learn more about Guernsey and the Literary Society. "And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name." (That last part was from Amazon.)

I absolutely loved this book - I saved the best recommendation for last! Full of quirky characters and both funny and moving stories, this book was written entirely in letters and was one of the best books I've read in a long time, possibly ever. I read it in just one day - I couldn't stop once I started! Through the letters, you get to know a cast of wonderful characters (I had a hard time keeping them straight at first), but you also get an incredible sense of what life was like for them during WWII. It wasn't all light and fluffy, though that aspect was definitely there, but the hardships, the bombings, the prison camps, and the losses were presented in a very non-dramatic way, making them even more powerful. The book was romantic without being sentimental, beautiful without florid descriptions, funny without even trying (you can ask Tim, I laughed out loud every other page), and touching without manipulation (I also cried quite a bit). It's a book about the power of books and stories to see us through our darkest times. It's about the power and love of a community, and the importance of compassion even in the face of brutality and fear. I definitely recommend it - though I think I might have been the last person on the planet to read it - it was wonderful.

"They seek him here, they seek him there..."

Monday night, Tim and I sat entranced at the Hale Center Theater while The Scarlet Pimpernel unfolded around us. It was enchanting. It was wonderful. It was breathtaking--literally. There were several times that I realized I had been holding my breath during the songs. If you've never seen this play, please do. Soon, if possible. It's easily one of my top three favorite musicals of all time. It's got everything--daring adventures, passionate romance, hilarious disguises, life and death, and the most incredibly awesome costumes you've ever seen. Seriously. I would considering doing something illegal to obtain just one of those dresses--just one, mind you!

The Scarlet Pimpernel has been a favorite story of mine for many years now. I can't remember if I saw the movie first (probable) or read the book first (less likely), but I fell in love with it. I distinctly remember sitting in the car somewhere in Salt Lake, oblivious to my family around me, barely breathing as I raced through the novel completely enraptured. I finished what I still consider to be one of the most romantic chapters in all literature, put the book down, and sighed with my whole heart all aflutter. If you've never read this book, read it. Have patience with the descriptive paragraphs and enjoy being surprised by the original story.

I'll put in a plug for the movie too. The 1982 adaptation starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, as she is better known), and Ian McKellen (Gandalf in his much younger years) is the best version, so far as I'm concerned. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I could still probably quote the better part of the movie to you right now. ("Oh, the English and their stupid sense of fair play...")

I absolutely love this play/movie/book. And I love sharing things I love with the people I love. (It's very lucky for Tim that he enjoyed the play almost as much as I did, because we ARE going to see it a second time.) So go ahead. Pick up the book. Listen to the music. See the play. Rent the movie. You're gonna love it, I promise.