Always impressive

Chicago

I went to a book club meeting yesterday to discuss our latest book, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. When I picked it up from the library, I was looking forward to reading it as I had never even heard of it and probably wouldn't have picked it off the shelf even if I had, because I rarely read non-fiction. Not because I don't like to read about true events, I just never know which events are worth reading about.

In the interest of seeing if any of you would be interested in this book, I'm going to throw out some key words:

Chicago. World's Fair. Architecture. Serial Killer.

This book is about the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, how it came to be, how it was built, what came out of it. And an additional story about a serial killer who lived and worked within walking distance from the fair and how he took advantage of all the tourism by killing many of the tourists.

It was definitely an interesting read...but knowing what I know, I still wouldn't have picked it off the shelf. For one thing, it was very architecture-heavy. I skimmed over a lot of the too-detailed descriptions and jargon involved in designing and re-designing,  the executing and re-executing, the building and re-building of the many structures involved in the Fair. But if that kind of stuff interests you, then you will LOVE this book.

Also, I wish the stories intertwined more. Obviously history can't be re-written, but it would have been way more interesting if the killer's story somehow intertwined with the magic of the Fair. But the two plots are seperate which meant I was less invested in going back and forth between the two stories.

It would have been amazing to see the Fair, though. Huge and beautiful. So many inventions came out of that fair, totally changing the course of history. I'm not going to mention them here because it's more interesting to read them in the context of that time period.

Or go see the movie due out in the next few years, rumored to be starring Leonardo DiCaprio!

Twenty Six

When I was a teenager, I had a theory about turning 26. In my mind, 26 was the ultimate age to be because it's the youngest age to be old and the oldest age to be young. I was really hoping to find an old diary entry that stated my 26 Theory, but I guess I never wrote it down. So today, I've been thinking about 16 year old Sam and wondering if she would be happy with the person she turned out to be at 26. I am pretty confident that she would be thrilled, as I am the happiest I have ever been and I am so excited to see what changes occur in the coming year. While I never saw myself as a military wife, I know that I was meant for this role and while the crazy last minute changes and switches are frustrating, my life has never been more exciting. So thank you to everyone involved in my life at this point, you all had a hand in helping me reach a happy 26!

And now, here are some people who share my birthday:

Poncho Villa
Richard Scarry
Kenny G
Mark Wahlberg
Chuck Klosterman

Book Fair!

My local library had a book fair this weekend and I was so thrilled that I found out about it! As I have mentioned before I love book stores but I hate spending money on these expensive books that I'm most likely only going to read once. And I love libraries, but it sucks to have a time limit on books, plus having to to wait for a checked out book to come back. So book fairs are the best of both worlds! Super cheap books. There were people with gigantic shopping bags full of books. I can't buy anything that I don't know I will like...not exactly a risk taker. But I managed to walk away with 4 books for a grand total of $2.50.

I mean seriously, does it get any better?

Here are my purchases:

This was the first book that I stumbled across.
I know that I have strayed a bit from my original
intention of reading through Oprah's book list,
but I try to find them at book stores. Generally,
I buy them for cheap, read them, then end up
donating them back to a library at some point.
The gift that keeps on giving. I have never heard
of this book before, so hopefully it's good.





I was particularly excited to have spotted this book
next, as I had actually planned on buying it. I read
this book at camp a long time ago and I remember
loving it, even though I don't actually remember what
the story is about. I love that about books, that the
feelings about a book last longer than the memories
of the book itself. Sort of like muscle memory.






I never had any interest in reading this book,
though I remember it being at the top of the
bestseller list for a long time. I figured that
it must be good and for $.50, I figured it
was completely worth it.








Now don't laugh, or scoff, or gasp, or roll your eyes.
I know that this book is completely outdated at this
point and that there are many later additions. I know that
I am not pregnant at this point. But I knew I would eventually
buy this book when I did become pregnant, so I figured I
should buy it now for 2 quarters instead of later for $20+.
I stared at it for a while, not sure if I should actually go through
with it, until I saw the sweet inscription on the inside cover. A
woman gave this book to another woman and wrote about how
excited she was that they would be "sharing something so miraculous together."I just thought this would be worth saving.


I wish I could have stayed in the room longer to look at everything more closely, but at this point, I was sneezing my brains out because of all the dust in these old books. I think I made out pretty well. And I have 2 boxes filled of books in the back of my car that I need to donate to the library for the next book sale!

Spring is not "Springing"

I have to say, I am loving 2013 so far. I finally took the GREs and got a decent score. I've lost close to 10 lbs. And I can officially run for 10 whole minutes without walking! That last one may not sound impressive, but for someone who couldn't run for 30 seconds, that's a pretty big deal. My next goal is to run a whole mile. And then to run a whole mile in less then 11:57 (which was my lowest time in high school). If only my gym teachers could see me now...I'm also looking forward to a lot of traveling this year as well as making a lot of choices and decisions about my life. This is the Year of Sam.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
I have actually been wanting to read this book since I saw my friend Jenna reading it back in sleepaway camp. I have no idea why that book stuck with me all these years, but when I saw that they were making a movie out of it, I knew it was finally time to read it. I still haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard that it's beautiful.
This book is split into two parts. I have to say, I didn't quite care for the beginning part. Everyone knows that the book is about a shipwreck, a boy, and a tiger, but none of that happened until the second part of the book. The first half is all about Pi's life before the wreck, which I did like reading about, but there was a lot of zoology and religion talk and at times, it was hard to get through. It really was interesting, but I thought the whole book would be about the wreck, so I wasn't expecting to read about religion. But now that I'm telling all of you about it, you will be expecting it when you start the book! And I do recommend it. Or at least see the movie! It is a fantastic story.

                                                                            

Crash and Burn by Michael Hassan
I can't remember the last time I was this excited about reading a book. The day this book hit the shelves, I had Barnes n Noble put it on hold for me. Why, you ask, was I so excited to read this particular book? Because I know the author! And that made it so much more fun. Also a little nerve wracking, because you don't want to hate a book that was written by someone you know. Fortunately, that was not the case. It is a Young Adult book, which I was excited about because it is still one of my favorite categories. And it was a thick book! I LOVE a good, thick book because it means tons of character and plot development. Some of my favorite books were gigantic reads (Atlas Shrugged, I Know This Much Is True, the Harry Potter series).
So if you love big books and you love young adult fiction, then I recommend you read this book. It is told from an 18 year old boy point of view, reminiscent of Catcher In The Rye, except not annoying. It's about the relationship and intertwined lives of two teenage boys and how it all led up to a school shooting (I promise I didn't just ruin the ending!) It's funny, suspenseful, and interesting and I recommend you pick it up at your local bookstore!

Favorites

I've been catching up on the latest books from some of my favorite authors. I find it so thrilling to see a new book on the shelf that I know I will love from beginning to end. (Any of you experience the same thrill??) I highly recommend all of the following books! Read them! Buy them! Download them! Request them from your nearest library!

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
This author always writes about the most interesting issues. Her books always have some legal issue involved, but I wouldn't consider them court dramas. The issues are always super interesting and this one is definitely unique. It has to do with a father who takes care of wolves, who basically gave up his family to study and take care of them. His daughter lives with him, but his son lives in Thailand and his ex-wife has remarried. He gets into an accident and ends up in a coma. His kids haven't seen each other in years, and both have different ideas about how to take care of their father and the wolves. It's a really cool story and has a lot of interesting information about wolves. It still isn't better than my favorite book by her, though...possibly my favorite book of all time, which is The Pact. Forget Lone Wolf. Read The Pact, instead.

The Witness by Nora Roberts

I love Nora Roberts. Many of you know that she is my number one favorite author of all time, so I may be a bit biased when I say that all of her books are amazing...but The Witness may be one of my favorites. It was such an interesting story and I finished it in less than a week! It's about a girl who witnesses a murder when she was a teenager, then changes her name, cuts all ties with everyone, and lives on the move for 12 years. She settles down in a little town, hoping to keep to herself and keep herself protected. But being a loner and secretive in a small town rarely works out and she ends up drawing people to her. Against her better judgement, she gets involved with the town chief, who quickly realizes she is hiding from something and desperately wants her to let him in, so he can protect her. The book has suspense, romance, humor, intrigue...if you want proof that Nora Roberts' books aren't trashy romance novels, read this one!! 

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

If I had one word to describe Kate Morton, it would be "twists." She is the queen of the amazing plot twist. All of her books have had an epic twist that changes the whole way the reader had read the book thus far...to the point where you almost want to read it again with your new knowledge. If you are looking for a new author in your lives, someone different and interesting, pick this author. This book is about a daughter who witness a tragic event when she was a teenager and never tells anyone about it. The book goes back and forth between her childhood, present day (she is in her 60s), and back when her mother was a teenager. Read this book and then read The Forgotten Garden, which is my favorite book from her. 

  

The words and wisdom of Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom has written some of the most thought-provoking books that I have ever read (and probably will ever read.) He shared his treasured moments with an old and valued friend and mentor in Tuesdays With Morrie. He discussed about the importance of each individual person and how their afterlife is affected in The Five People You Meet In Heaven. He wrote about getting to spend more time with a lost loved one in For One More Day. And then he shared his thoughts on the importance of time and how it all began in The Time Keeper. In this blog post I will talk about each of them, including what I learned from them, quotes that I liked, and which ones were my favorite. If anything comes from writing this blog post, I hope that I can convince at least one of you to read at least one of these books. I promise you won't be disappointed!

The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Probably my favorite book out of the four. Yes, even before Tuesdays With Morrie. If you haven't been introduced to a Mitch album book as of now, I would urge you to read this one first. The concept is simple: “There are five people you meet in heaven. Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth. This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.” Kind of like having 5 ghosts of Christmas Past. It is incredible to think of how many people you may have influenced without realizing it. In case you need more convincing, here are a couple more awesome quotes:

“Death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.” 

“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else.” 

“The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.” 

Seriously. Read this book.

Tuesdays With Morrie
This was the first book I ever read...not sure when, probably back in high school. This book is nonfiction, about a relationship between the author and his dying mentor, Morrie. They meet every Tuesday and Morrie talks to Mitch about everything he has learned in his life, advice for him for the future, how it feels to be dying, everything a person would want to hear from a mentor. I wish I had a relationship with one of my teachers the way Mitch had with Morrie. If you read this, so will you.

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others,  devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

"Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too-even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling."

Read this one, too.

For One More Day
This book is short. If you're looking for a book to read in a day or less, this is your winner. This book shares an idea that everyone hopes will happen to them. That when life gets you down to the point where you don't want to be a part of it anymore, someone that you have loved and lost will come back to you and remind you of what you have to live for. I found this to be harder to believe than The Five People You Meet In Heaven for some reason, even though both have to do with being visited by people from the dead. It still has some good morals.

“One day spent with someone you love can change everything.” 

“When you're rotten about yourself, you become rotten to everyone else, even those
you love.”

"...You can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.”

The Time Keeper
This is his most recent book, it came out last year. I was so excited to read a new book by Mitch Albom...but it's my least favorite. It has to do with the man who invented time and he gets punished and then has to help these two people: One who wants to extend his life as long as possible and another who wants to end her too early. I can tell you the moral right now: Appreciate life for what it is and what your life may have to offer the world. Blah blah blah. I will provide you with quotes, in case you're interested in the book, anyway. I'm sure plenty of people disagree with my opinion.

“As mankind grew obsessed with its hours, the sorrow of lost time became a permanent hole in the human heart. People fretted over missed chances, over inefficient days; they worried constantly about how long they would live, because counting life’s moments had led, inevitably, to counting them down. Soon, in every nation and in every language, time became the most precious commodity.” 

“The length of your days does not belong to you.” 

“It is never too late or too soon, the old man had said. It is when it is supposed to be.” 



Moral of this blog post: Explore Mitch Albom. You won't be disappointed!