Wonder

I have seen loads of book clubs that pop up every January. I always browsed through some of them and told myself that I was going to join in and read these books. As always I fail at even trying.
Bonnie's book club has always intrigued me mostly because she's and english teacher, and english teachers just know good books! So I decided that while I was waiting for this small child to come join us, that I would preoccupy my mind by reading the books in her book club.



The book for January is Wonder by R. J. Palacio.







+What did you think of Palacio's style of point of view- switching up who was telling the story so often?  What did you like and not like about it?
-I really liked the way that Palacio had the different view points of all of the different characters. There were times when I would read one situation, Halloween, and wonder how another person was thinking. I wasn't the biggest fan of the way he had wrote Justin's view. It is much easier to read when I'm not trying to capitalize letters and figure out where punctuation goes.


+ Did you read The Julian chapters?  Did you like them?
I didn't but I can tell you that if I'm in the hospital and need something to read, that will be the first thing I pull up. I am very interested to see Julian's side of it all and why he was so cruel.


+ Favorite minor character? (Not Auggie)
My favorite character was Daisy, Auggie's dog. I cried when she died (spoiler alert!) I loved that Palacio made her out to be Auggie's safe haven. It reminds me so much of my Sky that I really fell in love with her and pictured how Sky comforts me when I'm feeling down.

+ What did Palacio do in telling this story to make it "real" for you?
I don't know if it was his expressive writing (most likely it) or just that I can connect a little to it all but it all felt real to me. I felt sad when there was something emotional going on. I connected with Via when her friends were being little high school girls. When the kids were being rude to Auggie, I never was teased for any physical dysfunctions that I have, but as I'm sure all kids are, I was teased growing up for many things and I was definitely more partial to Auggie and the way that he was feeling. I still can't imagine how it would be to know that you have had many surgeries to fix your appearance and it still was an issue.

+ How did Wonder affect you emotionally?
Mostly how I said above. I could connect to a lot of it. I felt like I could connect to almost every main character. In high school I was quite the social butterfly and had friends in every 'group'. This is something that my brother brought up about me a couple of weeks ago when I went to dinner with him. I had a big heart for people who didn't have many friends and were alone. So I connected with Summer and how she became friends with Auggie. If I am emotionally attached to a character it makes the book all the better for me.




This book was a wonderful read and I'm so excited to finish my current book so I can go back and read The Julian Chapters.


If you haven't read this book, you need to. And if you want to join Bon's book club, next months book is Elizabeth Smart's 'My Story'. I've already read it and that is a MUST READ! I couldn't put it down! Go now, do not pass go, do not collect $2,000!


really though.

Heaven is Here.

This week has flown by. There was so much I wanted to get done, and I wanted so bad to get into our new house by this weekend, but everything takes longer than you expect.

With finals next week, and trying to help (or at least be the cheerleader for Jake) at the house, and work there is no time to get the things done I need to. Or so it seems.

Finally at midnight last night, the tile in our kitchen is complete! We are now just waiting on the carpet and wood to come next week, and I will be a happy camper. Nope.. I won't be camping anymore. I'll be in my bed, snuggled up warm reading a book. This whole trailer living has gotten to me and gave me a nice head cold! In April!

On a side note,

I have seen this book going around the blogosphere for some time, and I have been wanting to buy it. So yesterday, I did it. I broke down and bought it on my way to work.

I follow Stephanie's blog, and can I tell you that she is absolutely amazing! She makes me want to be so much better. With the trails she has been faced with she still smiles and finds the good in everything, and thanks Heavenly Father everyday for all of her beautiful children, and the life she has. 

If you haven't heard of Stephanie Nielson, let me summarize a little. This book starts out with how she met her husband, how they fell in love. It talks about having their kids and moving around the country. She is an amazing writer and you can feel that love that her and her husband, Christian share. 

Stephanie and her husband were in a plane accident, and that is where her story begins. She talks about her struggles, but how she copes with it. 

To me she is an amazing example of the kind of person I'm striving to be. 

The very first part of the book talks about her and her husband courtship. She talks about the way he looks and how amazing he treats her. She shares the first time they said, "I love you" to one another. I couldn't help but think back to all of the similar memories I have with Jake. While reading that part, the only person I could think of was Jake. (which is fitting!)

I love that I can say that I have a happy life. I love that I can say that my husband treats me like a princess. I love that I can say that I have a family, on both sides, that love me very much! I love that I can say that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me, and is watching over me. He is helping me with all of the choices that I make, big or small. I love that I can say that I am loved. 

What a great book this is. It makes you think about your own life and appreciate everything you have.

Go Buy it! Its on sale at Deseret Book right now, and read it over the weekend! :)

have you read this book? what did you think?

I read, you read, WE ALL READ.

1 Fact about me.


I LOVE TO READ!

Strange I know. As a blogger, how could I love to read?

But really it is one thing that Jake thinks is so weird just because of this one story I told him. In high school, this friend and I both loved to read. We were crazy and would spend our free time in the library. After lunch, when we didn't have a class, before school, after school. Her aunt was also the librarian so that added to it as well. Anyways. One year we decided to have a competition to see who could read the most books each quarter. I don't remember who won, but the point is that we were really weird, and read a lot.

 So Jake thinks I'm weird too. But he got me a kindle fire for Christmas, and I have had all sorts of books on it sense. I have a girl that I work with that likes to read so we keep swapping books. So here, today, on this blog, I am going to give you a list of my favorite reads. Sometimes I really just go with the flow and read what other people are reading (twilight, hunger games)

I was looking through pinterest, like I do everyday, and I stumbled upon a few lists of the greatest books in 2012, the 20 books every girl should read in her 20's, the list of BLAH BLAH BLAH. There are so many of those, and I have at least 50 of those lists pinned and half of them only have one book. Not what I'm looking for.

Before our cruise I opened one of those pins up and found a good list. One that I think everyone really truly needs to look at HERE. Its a list of books that you need to read before they're made into movies. I have read about half of them (not to brag) and some of them are already movies.

But just pulling some from that list, here are some of my favorite books.

If you have seen the movie, that does NOT suffice. This book is AMAZING! I stayed up reading it until 6am one day. It is that good. The movie was excellent, but the book is always better. They had to add stuff into the movie to keep it going, and the book just told more of the background story so you are so happy she ends up where she does.
If you haven't seen the movie, read the book first. You will love the movie all the better!

Amazing book. (I will probably say that about all of these books) When I first started this book, I didn't know if I could keep reading it. There wasn't enough to keep me hooked, but I kept reading. And you have to as well. It gets good I promise. It is a story about a girl who is in high school. Her older sister dies suddenly of a heart attack. The book is about how she is coping with it, and finds her love along the way.

This is one of the books my friend at work told me to read. Again at first, I was a bit skeptical about it. I thought it was going to be a little high school love story, and I wasn't going to enjoy it. WRONG. So wrong. It starts taking you one way and then completely turns. It is a very good book. A girl in high school who has been home schooled her whole life. She wasn't allowed to watch tv, have a cell phone, or use the internet. Its just her and her mom. She convinces her mom to let her go to public school, when she meets the "troubled boy" of the school. He, for some reason, keeps looking out for her and protecting her. But he's hiding something from her!!! Yes, you need to read this!

This series has a hunger games feel to it. It is pretty good! Every one is chosen into different groups based off of the answers that they give in a simulation test. Some people chose to go to a different group than the one they were raised, but most just stay where they have been. Tris is the main character, she choses to go to a different group where she is trained to be a fighter, killer. Later she finds out that there is someone who is controlling everyone and is using her group to kill off the other people. You just have to read it! Its very very good!

especially if you loved the hunger games. 

My last book, for now, Is 

This is the book I am reading right now. I will say that it does use some language in it, and sexual references if you aren't okay with that. But the story is told by this guy who used to be a pro golfer. His whole family is huge golf fans. While in his career he got involved in drugs which lead to his divorce and leaving golf. His dad resents him while his mom takes his dads side for everything. He gets sick of living the uptown life when he runs into one of his old high school friends and finds out her and her family own an apartment building. He moves in and starts to realized that his family just doesn't have an open mind about anything.

So far, I have really enjoyed this book. I bought it to read while on our cruise, and I've tried to read it every chance I get.

I recommend this book as well :)

What are some of your favorite books? I am always up for a good read anytime!

The winner of the Down East Gift card, and the Personalized Printable will be announced tomorrow. 

These reviews are my own personal thoughts and opinions.