Were is Laura?

I've gotten a bit behind on posting! I have a large stack of books that I've read that I need to post reviews for and a giveaway that I need to draw a winner for. I'm going to be spending a long weekend in Michigan visiting my family and will not be around the computer. I'm going to try to post a few reviews right now so please forgive the rush of posts . . . I just don't want to get TOO far behind . . .

Maternity Leave Book Review

I keep putting this quick review of the books I read during maternity leave off as I read A LOT of books during maternity leave and keep on reading a lot. I spend a lot of time nursing the baby at odd times and read a book to keep myself awake or for something to do besides watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with my two year old. So here I go . . . . a quick review of my reads.

Slave by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis. I borrowed this book from my friend Elina. It was an eye-opening true live tale of a young girl torn from her family in Africa and forced into a life of servitude in Africa and also in Great Britian. I was and still am VERY disturbed that slavery still exists in our world today. We need to do something about this as a resident of the world! I recommend this book for everyone to broaden your world view.

Hard Eight, To the Nines, Ten Big Ones, and Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich. I read these four light and fluffy reads over the past couple of months. Stephanie Plum's adventures continue to keep me entertained and laughing. I thought Hard Eight was a bit weak, but loved the other three. I'm getting distressed that I only have three books left in the series to read!


The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. The Lady Elizabeth is a fantastic historical novel about Queen Elizabeth I. I liked the perspective of the book as it was about her very early years, which are mostly ignored in novels for her later queenly years. A must read if you are a historical fiction fan that loves the Tudor era.


My Lady Ludlow and Other Stories by Elizabeth Gaskell. If you read Cranford, you will notice that there are many characters and tales missing that were in the PBS miniseries. This book contains the missing links. "My Lady Ludlow" and "Doctor Harrison's confessions" contain the missing characters. I enjoyed this book of stories. Gaskell is a great Victorian author who really gets the detail of living in a small country village.


People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I read this book for my Kewaunee Library June book club pick. It's a great book for fans of The DaVinci Code and books in general. It is the story of a sacred Jewish text that was rescued in Sarajevo during the war in the 1990's. The book restorer finds several "clues" in the book of the journey it has taken over the past 500 years. There are several stories then for each clue and the books journey. It was VERY interesting. I only wish the stories could have been longer. This is one of the best books I have read this year.


The Notebook and The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks. I reread The Notebook for my Mom's Club June book club pick. It's a good book, but I actually think I like the movie better. I feel that it was Sparks' first novel and not as well written as some of his later books. The Wedding is a follow-up to The Notebook and is one of the most romantic books I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a romantic tale.

Real People, Real Prescense by Cardinal William Keeler. This book is full of short stories about the Eucharist and how different people in a Catholic community feel about it. I enjoyed it. It gave me a lot to think about and helped me on my faith journey.

Push Not the River and Against a Crimson Sky by James Conroyd Martin. My mother-in-law loaned me these books and I highly enjoyed them. They are a must for those who love historical fiction as I do. The fantastic thing about these books is that they are set in Poland during the late eighteenth century. I know nothing about Poland and it was great to read a book not set in England or France. Push Not the River is based on Lady Anna Maria's diary, which is amazing considering all that she goes through. It is a great book. Against a Crimson Sky is a bit weaker as it is not based on a diary, but on Martin's imaginings of what could have been. He delves too much into the history to the detriment of the story.


The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale. After reading a couple of great reviews of this books, we chose it for our July Kewaunee library book club pick. This doesn't happen often, but the reviews of the book were actually better than the book itself. While the muder mystery was horrifying and interesting to read about, the book too often delved into tedious details that I didn't care about. Maybe I was spoiled by great non-fiction reads such as The Devil in the White City, but this book was not a good read.


Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson. This novel was my Lakeshore Mom's Club book club pick for July. It is one of Ellen's favorite novels so she chose it. Half of the moms loved it, while the other half hated it. I liked it, but had some details in it that annoyed me. Sam is actually the grandma writing letters to her granddaugher Jennifer about her illicit affair with the man of her dreams. Jennifer reads the letters while Sam is in the hospital and falls in love with her dying friend Brenden. The lovers and haters of this book disagreed about happy vs sad endings. Should an ending be happy if it is unrealistic? Interesting discussion. My bones were the details. The Badger Ferry didn't play movies and have many of it amenties until the 1990's, but riders find these things on the ferry in the 1970's. I loved the Wisconsin setting and the romantic get aways to Copper Harbor Michigan.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. Another good love story from Sparks. I enjoyed that the novel was about people my age and dealt with change after 9/11. The ending was sad, but good. The overall plot is about a young man that is in the military. Back on leave he falls in love with a young college girl. He makes plans with her for when he gets out of the military, but it all changes after he reenlists after 9/11. It's a good story, but have a box of kleenex hand.

I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle. This comic novel is about a dorky valedictorian's confession of love for popular Beth Cooper and the night of hilarity that follows. It was entertaining, but not the best book I've read. I thougtht the language and sex was a bit much for a young adult novel (I had to read adult novels for that as a teen), so I must be getting old

The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman. This novel is two stories, one is a modern day story of a woman searching for herself and the clues to the mystery of what happened to an English merchant's daughter, Celia, hundreds of years before. Celia was thought to be shipwrecked, but was really kidnapped and taken as part of the Sultan's harem. The second story is about Celia and her love Paul as he searches for her. I loved Celia and Paul's story, but was bored by the modern day scholar. Her love story was not engaging. The ending of Paul and Celia's story was bittersweet and a bit of a let down. Overall an interesting novel, but not the best I've read.

The Dirty Girls Social Club and Dirty Girls on Top by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. I read a good review of Dirty Girls on Top in Entertainment Weekly and figured I would check out the first book it was based on before I read it. The premise is chick lit from a Latina perspective. While I did enjoy the Latina perspective, as chick lit it was mediocre. While I did enjoy The Dirty Girls Social Club, I found Dirty Girls on Top to be a disappointing sequel. Mostly it was because I liked the ending of book 1, but Valdes-Rodriguez felt the need to undo all of the happy endings to start off book two. I found it unbelievable that a wife would go back to a murdering husband, and I couldn't feel sympathy for Usnavys and her cheating on a perfect husband. I'd read book 1, but skip book 2.

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot. This is the third book in the Queen of Babble series. It is a light hearted chick lit novel about Lizzie Nicols and her trials in NYC. I like her spunk and independence. I really like how she is always able to work for her dreams. On the romantic side though, I must say I was disappointed. What the heck happened with Luke? I don't know - anyone else out there that has read the series and would like to discuss.

In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner. I have read this book previously, but reread it as it is my Mom's Club book club pick for August. Weiner is one of my favorite authors. Her chick lit has a great depth to it. I love the secondary characters and the relationships between sisters. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it.

In the Company of Secrets and Whispers Along the Rails by Judith Miller. I received these two books from my MIL for my birthday. They are Christian romance novels set in the late 1800's in Pullman, Illinois. I loved the historical aspect of them. The story was very good and kept me interested. I just wish I had the third book so I could see how it ends. Perhaps I'll have to hint around to my MIL that it would make a good Christmas present.

Love the One You're With by Emily Griffin. This novel was about a woman with a perfect husband who suddenly meets up with her long lost love. They had broken up for good reasons, but suddenly she finds herself wondering if she made a mistake. I thought this book was rather slow and it annoyed me as SHE HAD THE PERFECT HUSBAND. It was okay over all - I'd rather read any of Weiner's novels than this book.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. This book was recommended to me by my friend Corinna. Kathy and I decided to pick it for our August Kewaunee Library book club pick. The book had an interesting premise. The author, Barbara Ehrenreich, lived in three different locations across the country and tried to live on a minimum wage job. She had a lot of difficulty, especially in securing a place to live. It was interesting as I had never thought about people living in hotels and whatnot. I thought that Barbara was a bit condecending to people who do work lower wage jobs. She tried to show the hardships they had to face, but she also seemed to think she was better than they were. It should make for a good discussion at our meeting!

Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger. My MIL loaned me this book. It was a great mystery/love story set in Northern Minnesota and in Thunder Bay, Canada. A retired police officer is asked by a family friend (Henry) to find the son he feels exists that would now be a 70 something year old man. The story of Henry and his lost love Maria Lima takes up the middle of the book and was also wonderful. I really enjoyed this book.

Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson. I have loved the movie Somewhere in Time my entire life, but have never read the book until now. The book is back out in print as Matheson is also the author of I Am Legend. This book is the ultimate in describing a passionate love that can make a man will himself through time to be with his love. I really liked how the book made you question though whether Richard truly traveled through time or whether it was caused by his brain tumor. I like how the movie was set in Mackinac Island rather than the California of the novel. It was a good fantasy novel.

Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange. Grange tackled one of my favorite Jane Austen heros, Captain Wentworth. I loved how this book described Anne and Captain Wentworth's first romance prior to the start of Austen's novel. Wentworth was a bit more of a "player" than I would have imagined him to be, but it all changes when he falls in love with Anne. This is a great book for any Jane Austen fan.

Well, I've been working on this "quick" summary for a week and a half now so it's time to post! I kept reading more books which added to me not being able to finish it! :-)

Maternity Leave Movie Review

While I was on maternity leave, I didn't spend much time on the computer. Sorry for the lack of posts for awhile. I'm going to try to get updated here and actually keep up with it. I've had a lot of things I've wanted to discuss on my blog!

I didn't watch too many movies over the past two months. I haven't been to the theatre at all - with an infant and a 2-year old - it's hard to get away. I have watched a few movies on DVD though, and here is some quick reviews of what I thought.

August Rush. This movie was a romance married to Oliver Twist. It was the story of a young orphan boy music prodigy and his parents. It was okay. I didn't like it as well as I thought I would - mostly because of some silly plot twists.

There Will Be Blood. When I think of Daniel Day Lewis, I think of him as sexy Nathaniel running through the forest in The Last of the Mohicans. He was NOT sexy in this movie. While There Will Be Blood had beautiful and brillant cinematography, I found the story to be overly violent and confusing. When I got to the end, I thought, "what was the point?" and "best picture nominee - I think not!" Was anyone really truly moved by this tale? I would be interested in hearing your point of view.

P.S. I Love You. The story of a young widow and the husband who sends her letters throughout the year to help her move on with life. It was a good movie, but would have been more enjoyable if it wouldn't have started with a fight between the couple. In the next scene the husband was already dead. I would have like their love story more if I would have felt more drawn to the couple. Besides the first scene though, I loved the movie.

No Country for Old Men. I agree with the overall reviews for this movie, it was a good movie except for the ending. Was it all just a dream? It was a scary, action packed movie. I really wanted to see what had happened. If it were up to me, I would not have awarded this movie best picture because of the ending. I think Atonment and Juno were both much better pictures. I also think Eastern Promises and 3:10 to Yuma were better pictures and they weren't even nominated for best picture!

National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Another fluffy adventure movie in the same vein as the first movie. Don't go into it expecting a masterpiece and also don't think about it too much and you'll enjoy it.

27 Dresses. I thought this movie was an enjoyable chick flick. I really love James Marsden and was happy to see him in a movie where he actually does win the girl! This story of a woman who has been a bridesmaid 27 times seemed a bit far fetched at times, but it was a cute movie.

Quick Book Review Update

As with movies, I've read a lot of books in the last month during baby feedings. I'm a month behind on reviews with the new baby so I'm going to do a quick summary of what I've read in the past month to catch up! I'm going to list the books I've read from the most recent to the one I had finished right before the baby was born!

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. I loved the Masterpiece Theatre mini-series and also read the book over the past few days. The book does not include any stories about Doctor Harrison or Lady Ludlow - they are separate novellas, which I didn't realize at first! The book is a charming picture of life in a small village during the Victorian era. I enjoyed it.

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier. This book was recommended and borrowed from my good friend Elina (she has been recommending books to me since 4th grade!). This book was about a woman who has relocated to modern day France and becomes obsessed with tracing the story of her ancestors. Her ancestors were Hugenots that had to flee France to Switzerland to avoid prosecution in the 16th century. Half of the story is about her ancestor Isabelle and the dark secret hidden in the family. It was a good book and very interesting to learn about the era.

Princess by Jean P. Sasson. Princess was also loaned and recommended to me by Elina. The book was a first person account of a Saudi Arabian Princess named Sultana for the book's purposes. It was a vivid account of life under the veil and rule of men. It gave good brief background to the history of the region and of Islam. It was a good book to read to understand women's issues in the Middle east althought it was written directly after Desert Storm so it is a bit dated. It's hard to believe that women live such restricted lives in our modern age.

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier. This is another book borrowed from Elina. I enjoyed this novel a lot! It tells the tale of a beautiful unicorn tapistry and how it was designed and woven. The lives it intersects are fascinating. I highly recommend this novel to fellow lovers of historical fiction.

Time and Again by Nora Roberts. This novel is actually a combination of two older novels by Nora Roberts. They both involve handsome men traveling back in time from the 24th century and meeting the love of their lives. They were entertaining novels, but not among Roberts best.

The Perfect Summer by Luanne Rice. This book was a Mom's Club book club pick. The story is a romance/mystery involving a woman, Bay McCabe, who's unfaithful husband has disappeared, and who's teenage crush has reappeared. I enjoyed this light read, except for the excessive mention of the "boardwalk" that Bay and Danny worked on in their youth.

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. I thought this novel was riveting and thought provoking (although I figured out the "surprise" ending right away. It involved a murderer who was on death row and wanted to donate his heart to his victim's family. The murderer may also be performing miracles in jail.

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. I enjoyed this book although it's surprise ending was a tear jerker, especially after you've just given birth. I think Ben thought someone had died when he saw my tears! This novel is a follow up to Good in Bed. I thought it was a good sequel and enjoyed getting back into Cannie's story.

The Strongbow Saga Book Three: The Road to Vengeance by Judson Roberts. This novel was another first look review from Harper Collins so the novel actually comes out in June. I enjoyed the novel. Although I hadn't read the first two in the series, I was able to grasp the story quickly and go with it. If you enjoy Viking adventure tales, this book is for you.

Quick Movie Update

I had my second son, Daniel Thomas on April 24th so I've gotten a bit behind on my blog again. I have been doing a lot of movie watching and reading, but it's usually while feeding a baby at midnight so it's hard to get to the computer and update my blog. The more I get behind, the harder it is for me to catch up so I'm going to do a couple quick postings to catch me up and then go from there! This posting is all about recent movies I've watched not including my Turner Classic Movies and Masterpiece Theatre obsession. I love old movies!

Michael Clayton. If I had to describe this movie in one word, it would be confusion. I watched this is with Mom and Kristi the day after I came home from the hospital. We were very confused at the beginning and thought it was just us so we watched it again and decided it was the movie! It was an okay movie and I liked George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson's performance, but I'm still unsure why Tilda Swynton won an Oscar. This movie didn't move or inspire me

Eastern Promises. Viggo Mortensen. Naked Fight Scene. I'll admit, I had less then pure motives for wanting to watch this movie. The movie was disturbing, yet very good. I found myself thinking about it a lot over the days after I had seen it, but I also don't think I ever need to watch it again as the violence was just too disturbing. So disturbing that I couldn't enjoy the naked Viggo Mortensen fight scene and actually closed my eyes to block out the violence. It was a very good movie though and had excellent performances. I recommend watching it, but be aware that it gets very violent and graphic.

Atonement. Atonement was an excellent movie and I highly recommend it. I loved the novel and the movie does an excellent job bringing the novel to life. It followed the novel very well and I especially like how it would show scenes twice at times with how Briony interpretted it and what really happened. I cried at the end. It not only is a great movie about two star crossed lovers, but also about perception and the horrors of war.

Rush Hour 3. This movie does not belong in the same category as the previous three, that's for sure. I found it rather tame and formuliac. It was definitely not as good as the first version. As I told Ben, if you don't watch it, you didn't miss much.

I'm Back!!

I'm sorry I disappeared for so long. Hopefully there are people left that will check my blog and realize that I'm back on it again. For those of you that don't know, Ben and I are expecting our second baby on May 1st. I was really sick once again with morning sickness and super busy with work - and there just didn't seem to be enough time to work on my blog. Then I was concerned about how many books /movies I needed to catch up with and delayed signing back on. I've decided just to maybe review the things I've watched and read in the last week or two and move on from there. :-)

Where is Laura?

Sorry, I've been SUPER busy with work and haven't had a chance to keep up my blog lately. I need to write about "The Painted Veil," Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich and The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham. I probably won't be able to catch up until this weekend or next week, depending on when I get my project done. Happy reading!

Where Has Laura Been?

I'm sorry I haven't updated my blog lately. Things have been rather hectic with work and travel. Plus I couldn't get in to my blog. Blogger must not have liked my Casino Royale review and it kept saying my email address didn't exist. Luckily, it is all fixed now.

Also I was upset that a blog I had crafted at the beginning of June detailing my top list of shows for the 2006-07 season was deleated by Blogger and had to step away for awhile. I promise I will write it anew one of these days!