Room

Room by Emma Donoghue

What a book! The story of Jack and his Ma are told in this book through Jack's eyes. I have to admit that in the beginning Jack's narration was a bit hard to follow but once I got used to Jack's language and world, the book flowed smoothly for me. Jack is a smart five year old but he and his Ma are held prisoner in a room, a very small room. Jack was born in the room and knows nothing else outside of the four walls of Room. Jack's Ma was kidnapped by Old Nick and has been held prisoner for 7 years. I was worried the subject matter of Room would be a bit too much for me but I found myself very interested in Jack and Ma's survival. It's amazing to me what they did to keep as sane as one can be, being held in a 11 x 11 shed. I don't want to give any more of the story away because this a book you need to experience as it happens. If I had known what was going to happen, I am afraid the book would not have had the same effect on me. This is a book best read in one sitting. Once I got into the story there was no putting it down. One thing that bugged me about the book was never knowing what Ma's name was. Most five year olds know what their mother's names are. It just struck me as odd that her name was never mentioned. This is one of those stories that will keep you thinking about it long after you finish the last page. I highly recommend this book! Emma Donoghue has taken a horrifying subject and turned it into something beautiful. It's both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I know that sounds crazy but read it and see what you think.

This is a link to a website about Room. There is a diagram of Room where you can learn about each item in the room and see just how small Room was. It's really incredible!

I received this book from Little Brown and Company for my honest opinion.

2010 Reading Challenges

This is a short recap of how horribly I did on last years reading challenges. This year I am signing up and hoping to do better. There are two that ware still ongoing and I hope to complete them also. Even though I failed miserably I do have fun participating.

ARC Reading Challenge 2010-I read 34 Arcs, made the gold level when I was only going for Bronze...not shabby. I will do this one again!


Reading From My Shelves Project I only have posted 11 out of 30 books read, I think I did better but just forgot to keep track, I will most likely do this one again also as I need to clear some books out.


Historical Reading Challenge read 5 out of 12 books

Okra Picks Challenge this one is ongoing until the end of March I have read 0 books for this, hey there is still hope! I only signed up for the Goober level and I hope to read two books.

Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge I have only read 2 books for this challenge but this challenge doesn't end until April 1 , 2011.

I'll be making decisions today about which challenges to sign up for this next year. All the challenges have been fun and I would like to thank each and every host of all of the challenges. Even when I have done poorly I have had fun!

Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See


Shanghai Girls tells the story of Pearl and May, two sisters who live a quite comfortable life in Shanghai in 1937. Both are beautiful girls and pose for paintings to be used in ads. Their father gambles away their fortune and arranges for Pearl and May to be married to repay his debt. Before the girls can leave to join their husbands in America, China is invaded by Japan and the girls must flee their beloved Shanghai. The two go through many difficult times together. This is a wonderful story of the love and loyalty between the two sisters. I found myself many times thinking of my own sisters and how we would go to the ends of the earth for each other as these two sisters do. I learned a bit about how the Chinese immigrants were treated in this country. That is something I knew very little about. Lisa See does an excellent job researching information to include in her stories. I learn something new every time I read one of her books. I give this book 4 stars.

This was a book I purchased myself.

Heart of the Matter

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

Heart of the Matter is told from two very different viewpoints. Tessa, the stay at home mom and wife of pediatric surgeon Nick Russo, and Valerie, a single mom and attorney. On the anniversary of Tessa and Nick a terrible accident occurs involving Valerie's son, Charlie. Nick is called in the treat Charlie not knowing that all of their lives are about to change forever. Valerie finds herself drawn to Nick's kind and gentle way with her son while Tessa finds Nick growing distant from her. All three are caught up in a terrible triangle in which there can be no winners. I appreciated how Emily Griffin didn't make any one character out to be the good guy or the bad guy. I actually found myself liking both women even thought they were both so different. I could see both sides of the issue and wondered what would I do in each character's shoes. I found this book hard to put down as I couldn't for the life of me predict how it would end. It was an excellent read and I highly recommend it. I give it 5 stars.

I won this book from Goodreads First Read Program.

Read, Remember, Recommend, Fiction Challenge

I must be crazy because I am adding another challenge to my list of challenges. I love Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Rogers Knight. Looking through the journal I have found that I own 35 books from the lists that I need to read. We won't talk even about the books that made it to my ever growing wish list. I have decided to jump in and join the challenge even though I am late to the party. I love a good challenge almost as much as I love this journal! If you don't own a copy of Read, Remember, Recommend yet, I highly recommend you pick one up!

Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge
In celebration of the April 1st, 2010 release date of the Read, Remember, Recommend reading journal, Bibliobabe is hosting a new reading challenge.
Dates:
April 1st, 2010 to April 1st, 2011

Details:
» Check out all the amazing books (thousands!) mentioned in Read, Remember, Recommend and plan your attack. Books do not need to be decided upon in advance. All books must be mentioned in the journal lists.

» Write a challenge sign-up post on your blog. In that post provide a link to the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge post.


» Each time you read and review a book as part of this challenge, share this with other challenge participants by adding a direct link to your book review to the list in a comment at this post. If you do not have a blog, leave your review as a comment.

Rules:
» Read as many books from the Read, Remember, Recommend reading journal as you can in one year. Books read before April 1st, 2010 do not count. Overlaps with other challenges (including the Read, Remember, Recommend Teen Reading Challenge) are acceptable – and encouraged!
» Rereading doesn’t count – have fun exploring new authors, awards and books!
» Audio, print, and e-books are all acceptable.
» Post your review or link to your review in a comment here.
» You can change your commitment level at anytime.


Levels:
» Notable Newbie – 5 books
» Armchair Librarian – 10 books
» The Library of Congress Calls Me Daddy – 20 books
» A Book Intervention is Needed – 30 books


Prizes:
» The Grand Prize is an Ereader of your choice (Kindle 2, Nook, Sony Ereader, COOL-ER – $260 value)! There will be one grand prize drawing between both Read, Remember, Recommend Reading Challenges. Each review post comment will count as an entry into the drawing.

The first place prize is a “Reading is Sexy” messenger bag filled with 5 books from the Read, Remember Recommend reading journal.

» The second place prize for each challenge is a $20 gift card to the bookstore of your choice


If you feel inspired to sign up check out Bibliobabe's sign up post.

For now I am going for the Armchair Librarian level but I may move up as the year goes on.