I don't mean to spoil the suspense, but I'm totally going to achieve my reading goal. You may remember that I challenged myself to read 100 books in 2013. I moved into October with only 25 more books needed to accomplish my goal. I had read 75 books as of Oct. 1. July and September were my most successful months with 12 books read in … [Read more...]
Book Review: The Time Between #100Books
There's a lot of guilt in the book The Time Between by Karen White. Eleanor feels guilty because of an accident that paralyzed her sister, Eve, when they were teenagers. This is why the woman, now in her 30s, spends her life working to help support her mother, her sister and her brother-in-law. Helena feels guilty because of a long-hidden … [Read more...]
Book Review: Living Dead Girl #100Books
Alice hates Ray. He scares her. He starves her. He hits her. He rapes her. But she never tries to get away from him, even when she has the chance. Ray stole the almost 10-year-old girl from a school field trip. She's 15 now, but doesn't run from her abductor for fear that he will enact his threat to kill her parents. But Alice is growing up … [Read more...]
Book Review: 25 Tips for Productivity #100Books
The beginning of a new academic year seems like the perfect time to review my friend Augusto Pinaud's book, 25 Tips for Productivity. I "met" Augusto while participating in #prodchat, a weekly (7 p.m. CST Wednesdays) Twitter chat on productivity. I remember thinking he seemed quite organized and perhaps a bit extreme in his productivity … [Read more...]
Book Review: Whatever You Love #100Books
No parent should have to experience the death of a child. Knowing that death was the direct result of someone else's actions would cause a saint to be driven by vengeance. Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty tells the story of a mother's vengeance and its limits. Betty is allowed for the first time to walk from school to dance with a friend. … [Read more...]
July Wins! A Reading Challenge Update #100Books
I had good feelings going into July. I felt confident that this would be a recording breaking month in my reading challenge. I was correct. I read 12 books in July. It's the most books I've read in a month since the beginning of the year when I began my challenge to read 100 books in 2013. I knew I would do a lot of reading in July because I … [Read more...]
Book Review: Denial: A Memoir of Terror #100Books
Jessica Stern will "feel about this later." She used the personal motto as a reminder to compartmentalize her feelings about traumatic events in her life. She put her rape, her mother's death, failed relationships, and an assortment of other life happenings on a shelf, purportedly to deal with later. The avoidance gave Jessica the courage to … [Read more...]