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I flew through the book The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom. I had just finished another book and thought I would give this a try. My dad really likes this author. His books are Christian based and have a lesson or message. I couldn’t have read this book at a more perfect time.

After talking about how burnt out I have been, I needed this book and message. Here’s a summary:

For Albom fans, this adult fairytale will inspire and satisfy readers in search of a more meditative approach to life in a fast-paced yet wonderful world Irish Independent The theme of the book is not so much that we should gain more time, but that we should spend the time we have more wisely. And in that there is certainly a message for us all. This is an unforgettable story, poignant, inspirational and beautifully written.

I really liked this book. I thought it was written very creatively. It was from the view of three different people, in different times. And their stories all tie together in the end. I have been struggling to prioritize my time and use it more wisely, so this book really resonated with me.

One of the characters is a high school girl who is struggling with things in her life. As I was reading her story, I felt like this would be a great book for any young adult to read. With the new technology era and Facebook at our fingertips, bullying and high school is very different from the days when technology wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. If you have a young adult, I highly recommend they read this book. I think it will put a lot of things into perspective without it coming directly from mom and dad.

Happy reading!

For April, my book club read Wild (From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail). I have mixed feelings about this and I think my friends in book club do, too (from the few tidbits I have heard from them, at least). First, here’s the summary:

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. My one issue was with the way she would go off on tangents about her previous life. At times, I didn’t think it added much to the story. After reading the whole book, though, I can see how these tangents work. But it was more distracting to me.

It was a good story about a woman growing into herself and becoming who she wanted to be. And that she needed to have nothing to realize she had something. It was empowering and showed how much strength a person who feels they don’t have anything actually has….how strong we can be when we need to be. Also, how vulnerable we can be (especially when you are alone), but how that vulnerability can be a good thing. Cheryl grows so much during this book and becomes a better person and truly finds herself.

We read this as our “action/adventure” book and I am not sure it was a great fit for that. I think it was more memoir than action, but live and learn. I thought it was a good book even though I struggled to get through it at times and even read another book while I was in the middle of this one!

If you’re looking for a book that will make you feel many varying emotions, read about some interesting characters and would like to read a good book about a woman figuring out who she is, this may be a good fit for you.

Happy reading!

I was browsing the books on the library’s website and I came across this book…Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I couldn’t help myself and had to download it. Who cares that I am in the middle of 5 other books at the moment including one for book club. I wouldn’t consider myself a very fast reader and I finished this in less than 3 days! I couldn’t put it down! I may have read it so quickly because it is a young adult book, but still….I really liked it. Here’s a little summary:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

It was a fun story and a quick read. I highly recommend this if you are looking for a fun book with a little mystery and some twists and turns. And if you like it, there will be a sequel coming out in 2014.

Oh, and if you have an e-reader, you should check out the books you can get from the library. When I first got my Kindle, there weren’t too many books you could download. There are boatloads now and I can’t wait to read more of them! So I am glad I took a peek to see what they had to offer.

Happy reading!