The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

If you are ever thinking of having a child, or having another child, or you're going to be with someone who is going to have a child, or any other similar situation, you should read this book by Henci Goer. READ IT!!!!

It is especially good for sciency-minded people who like lots of research and evidence and a straightforward, logical format. If you want a touchy-feely birth book you should read Birthing From Within, which is also very good. But even if you do that? Read this book! It is hands-down the clearest and most well-informed book on all the major important decisions about birth. I forgot how much I like it until I decided to review it, 2 years after my own child's birth. Fantastic!

The Jane Austen Book Club

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book by Karen Joy Fowler, but I recently heard that it is going to be made into a movie. The place where I read this (which I have by now completely forgotten) expressed surprise at the idea, because without the actual writing it would just be a bunch of people hooking up and breaking up and all that jazz.

Well...I was pleasantly surprised that there just wasn't a lot of random unnecessary romance-ish stuff. But I agree that the way this book was written is definitely its best quality. I wasn't exactly taken by all the characters, but I did LOVE the discussions of Jane Austen books and the writing style. I'd recommend it only for those who love Ms. Austen, because for the rest of you, it won't have any sense of purpose or meaning. At least, that's the impression I get. Good luck with that! ;)

Keeping Faith

Jodi Picoult, for me, is hit-or-miss. When I read one of her books, I either really love it, or I think it's too boring and lame for words.

Luckily, this one was excellent--at least this time around. I read My Sister's Keeper several years ago and remember thinking it was just amazing--but now that I've read a few more Picoult books, I wonder if I'd feel the same way after a second reading. Sometimes she is just SOOOOOOOOO predictable.

But this book, Keeping Faith, was good for me because it didn't feel like the author was trying too hard to shock me, especially not with a "surprise ending" that I could see coming from a mile away (Salem Falls, anyone?). I felt like I connected with the characters and was actually interested in what happened to them. I could go on but I'm tired and my internet has been spotty so I have 3 more reviews to get through!

For those who are curious, the book is about a little girl whose parents are going through a divorce. "God" comes to her, and when you add in religious zealots, feminists, hoax-finders, and a court case, you have lots of opportunities for good drama. I liked it. The End.

Oh, and again, for those who are interested, here's a list of the J. P. books I've read, separated into those I liked and those I didn't.

Liked:
My Sister's Keeper
Keeping Faith
Second Glance

Disliked:
Picture Perfect
Songs of the Humpback Whale (didn't even finish this one, so maybe it got more interesting?)
The Pact

Really couldn't stand:
The Tenth Circle
Salem Falls

The Year Of Magical Thinking

When I saw a review of this book in some book-ish magazine, I had never read anything by Joan Didion. I had never even heard of her before, but the book sounded like something I really wanted to read. 

Now, at least a year later, I am so glad I finally got to it. This was an excellent book in many ways. The author writes with beautiful and heart-wrenching honesty about the year following her husband's sudden death. It is moving, it is lyrical, and I finished it very quickly because it was one of those books that I wanted to be reading every single spare second I had.

I would recommend this book to people who are mourning someone, especially someone close. Also to those who want to understand a little tiny fraction of what life must be like for those who lose one of their "nears and dears." To those who want to look death and grief in the face and learn from it and live with it. And to those who just want to read something lovely, sad, and stunning. 

Actually, now that I think of it, I might change my recommendation a little bit. It might be too hard for someone who has recently gone through a monumental loss to hear about someone else's experience. But then again, I don't know. Like everything else, that probably depends on the person and the individual circumstances. I certainly don't pretend to have an intimate understanding of this deep and personal and in-your-face kind of loss, and I thank God every day that I haven't been there yet. Maybe reading this book has helped prepare me for the fact that everyone will be there someday.

I really hope you like it as much as I did. It was great. 

Angela and Diabola

This is another book I "found" in the kids' section of the library...and by "found" I mean James handed it to me and insisted we get it. And I was interested, because the author, Lynne Reid Banks, is one I know well, but I had never heard of this particular book. I loved her Indian in the Cupboard series, and One More River was one of my favorite books when I was a pre-teen.

But this one was disappointing. I hesitate to actually call it "trash," but I certainly wouldn't recommend it. It was about twins, one who is everything good and one who is all evil...so it was sort of a boring idea for me to wrap my mind around anyway, and then the events of the story and the conclusion were not even worth the 30 minutes it took me to read them. So predictable, so uninteresting, so completely unenriching and unfulfilling. Uck.

I seriously expected better. But then again, maybe I should have paid attention to the fact that this is a book by one of my old favorite authors and I had never heard of it. Consider yourselves warned.