BOOKS.....I LOVE BOOKS

Over the last two months I have read several books. I thought at someone might be interested in my list and my thoughts about the books so I am going to be posting them here. What better place than on my own special blog where I can sit and just give my opinion of them all.

Rock Bottom - a novel by Erin Brockovich - “No stranger to balancing an intensely demanding work schedule with the stresses of keeping her family together, AJ Palladino now faces another challenge: she is leaving her young son home with her ailing parents so that she can travel to the site of a new case involving a nuclear power plant in peril. And it will take all her skills to keep her cool while the action and tension build to a fever pitch. Colleton River, a new, one-of-a-kind nuclear facility designed to create medical isotopes with the potential to save millions of lives, has recently been plagued by a series of unexplained mishaps. The accidents have caused the locals to protest the plant, drawing the attention of an anti-nuclear protest group as well as several home-grown terrorists who sense an opportunity to sow fear and chaos. The plant’s owner, Owen Grandel, has traveled from South Carolina to West Virginia to personally ask AJ for help. AJ knows she’s going to have her hands full investigating the accidents and calming the situation at the plant.”

Ok....I got this description from Barnes and Noble website.....wasn’t sure if this was the same book that I read. When I read the book, I thought it was more about a single mom that had a disable son and her struggles on how she had to move back home to find out that her parents didn’t want her and neither did the home town, but being a strong woman that she was she was bound and determined to keep her spirits up even when facing the fact that the attorney that was to hire her turned out to be dead only to find out that he did not die of natural causes, but was murdered because of the information he found out about through an environmental case he was working on. Loved the book.....Highly recommend reading.

Plea of Insanity - Jilliane Hoffman - “The prosecutor—Julia Vacanti. Young, ambitious, and facing a case that could launch her career. The defendant—David Marquette. A successful Miami surgeon and devoted family man. The victims— Marquette’s own wife and three small children. The plea—Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. The perfect father and model husband, David Marquette seemingly just snapped one night. Or did he? His experienced defense team claims paranoid delusions caused by schizophrenia drove him to slaughter his entire family.

But the state suspects Marquette’s insanity defense is being fabricated to disguise murders that were cold-blooded and calculated. If convicted, Marquette faces the death penalty. If found insane, he could walk free. To bring a killer to justice, Julia will have to journey into the mind of madness herself, embarking on a terrifying journey back into her own past—something she has struggled with for fifteen years. And this will lead her to confront a future so chilling, she’s not sure she will ever be able to face it.” Again from Barnes and Noble website.

This book was good, but also so close to home that I felt funny reading it. The heroine in the book was amazing and you really felt for her and the stuff that she was going through. As many of you know, my first husband was diagnosed as schizophrenia and so this was really a hard book to read because of knowing about the personal aspects of what the lady was going through, but it was so gripping that I just had to finish it. You will enjoy this I am sure.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - “Heathcliff and Cathy believe they’re destined to love each other forever, but when cruelty and snobbery separate them, their untamed emotions literally consume them.

Set amid the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights, an unpolished and devastating epic of childhood playmates who grow into soul mates, is widely regarded as the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language.” Barnes and Noble

All I can say about this book is DISTURBING!!!! I did not like it at all and was at times quite repulsed by it, but it is known as a classic so I thought that I would try my hand at reading something by the “100 books you should read” list.....whoever thought that was a book I should read is just as disturbing as the book itself. I will not judge all Emily’s books like this one and will try reading other things that she had written, but I do know that I will not read this one again.

The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner - Leaving a life of privilege to strike out on her own, Lauren Durough breaks with convention and her family’s expectations by choosing a state college over Stanford and earning her own income over accepting her ample monthly allowance. She takes a part-time job from 83-year-old librarian Abigail Boyles, who asks Lauren to transcribe the journal entries of her ancestor Mercy Hayworth, a victim of the Salem witch trials.

Almost immediately, Lauren finds herself drawn to this girl who lived and died four centuries ago. As the fervor around the witch accusations increases, Mercy becomes trapped in the worldview of the day, unable to fight the overwhelming influence of snap judgments and superstition, and Lauren realizes that the secrets of Mercy’s story extend beyond the pages of her diary, living on in the mysterious, embittered Abigail.

The strength of her affinity with Mercy forces Lauren to take a startling new look at her own life, including her relationships with Abigail, her college roommate, and a young man named Raul. But on the way to the truth, will Lauren find herself playing the helpless defendant or the misguided judge? Can she break free from her own perceptions and see who she really is?

I actually loved this book and have felt my mind constantly drifting back to this story over the last month. I am not sure why, but you just feel so invested in the book and it seems to stay with you. Well, at least that is how I feel about it all. I also loved the author and how she was able to get you not only thinking about the characters, but also how you yourself views the world and the people in it. Loved this book.

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis - A forceful and accessible discussion of Christian belief that has become one of the most popular introductions to Christianity and one of the most popular of Lewis's books. Uncovers common ground upon which all Christians can stand together.

I got this book hoping that I would be able to attend my first ever book club, but alas, I was not able to attend, but I did find it a very interesting read and how the author really made you challenge your own beliefs and how to see yourself in relationship to the world around you. Did enjoy it.

The Abduction (Theodore Boone Series #2) by John Grisham - Theodore Boone is back in a new adventure, and the stakes are higher than ever.

When his best friend, April, disappears from her bedroom in the middle of the night, no one, not even Theo Boone-who knows April better than anyone-has answers.

As fear ripples through his small hometown and the police hit dead ends, it's up to Theo to use his legal knowledge and investigative skills to chase down the truth and save April.

Filled with the page-turning suspense that made John Grisham a #1 international bestseller and the undisputed master of the legal thriller, Theodore Boone's trials and triumphs will keep readers guessing until the very end.

What can I say......I LOVE JOHN GRISHAM!!!!!! I love every book (except one, do you know which one?? Give you gold star if you can guess which one). I can not get enough of his writing and have been well pleased that he has branched out into the young adults genre. I was hoping to get Harley involved in this series, but I think that he might still be a little too young for it or just not interested in reading. Need just a good fun light read this is the book and series that you should read!!!!!

Deadly Night (Flynn Brothers Series #1) by Heather Graham - Aidan Flynn, a private investigator and eldest of the Flynn brothers, scoffs at the haunted-house rumors — especially since Kendall Montgomery, a tarot card reader who has been living in the mansion, is the one to tell him the tale of a woman in white. But when he finds a human bone on the grounds and another by the river, Aidan delves into the dark history of the Flynn plantation.

Forced together to uncover the truth, Aidan and Kendall realize that a serial killer whose victims seem to vanish into thin air has long been at work...and that their own fates are about to be sealed forever unless they believe in the unbelievable.

I think I have finally found me a new author that I am going to be obsessing over. I love Heather and the adventures of the Flynn Brothers. So far they are awesome and I love the places which they are based out of. They are a little disturbing, but you know what.....so am I! Defiantly should try them for yourself.

Deadly Harvest (Flynn Brothers Series #2) by Heather Graham - When a young woman is found dead in a field, dressed up as a scarecrow with a slashed grin and a broken neck, the residents of Salem, Massachusetts, begin to fear that the infamous Harvest Man is more than just a rumor. But out-of-town cop Jeremy Flynn doesn't have time for ghost stories. He's in town on another investigation, looking for a friend's wife, who mysteriously vanished in a cemetery.

Complicating his efforts is local occult expert Rowenna Cavanaugh, who launches her own investigation, convinced that a horror from the past has crept into the present and is seducing women to their deaths. Jeremy uses logic and solid police work. Rowenna depends on intuition. But they both have the same goal: to stop the abductions and locate the missing women before Rowenna herself falls prey to the Harvest Man's dark seduction.

Ok, I think that is about all for now. I am starting James Patterson, Guilty Wives (or something like that) tonight, so hopefully I will have more updates on my blog soon about them. Love you all.

Goals for 2012

So at the beginning of this year I had an amazing experience with Mary Kay. The first Monday of the year we had a motivational night. Can I tell you it was amazing??? Seriously it was. I love making New Year's Resolutions, but have never had a year yet that I have kept them.

After listening to my leaders tell us not only how to make good goals, but also how to follow through with them.....I decided that this was going to be the year that I was going to not only make new goals, but hell or high water I was going to follow through with every one. So here they are I have five different goals that I wrote down and also how I was going to follow through with all of them.

Goal #1 - Mary Kay/Red Jacket by February 15, 2012

• Call Christy
• Make a Plan
• Follow through
• Only need two more active team members....you can do it.
  

Well, so far.....I have not keep up with this goal at all. I was going to call Christy....hasn't happened. I was going to make a plan....oh yea....totally going to follow up with that one. Follow through....still need to work on that.....only need two more...yes, I can do it....what am I doing again?? That is really how it has been for this.

I am reminded of Flint from Cloudy with a Chance of MEatballs.....when he is getting ready to call Sam.....getting ready....dialing....hanging up.....coffee brake....refocusing...dialing....waiting...hanging up....repeat and then speak really fast and then not calling anyone else. I really don't know what my problem is. I know that my friends all love me and that I throw great parties (I have had proof of this from the ones that I have done thus far) but for some reason I get so nervous over calling my friends. I guess I will have to work on this one more!

Goal #2 - Lose 20lbs by March 2, 2012

• Lose 2 lbs per week
• Got to Gym M - F
• Stay with Janessa once per week
• Write down everything even eating candy

Ok.....so this goal....I am totally rocking the house on!!! I have been going to the gym since January 2, 2012. I have been taking only one to two days off per week and have been totally watching what I eat. The things that I am lacking on....writing down everything. I have changed my mind set about it and am going to be writing down everything. I have been discouraged that I have not lost any weight so far, but some day it just has to come off. Eating under the recommended calories and going to the gym has to have some kind of benefits. Believe and Action....totally do that here.

Goal #3 - Full Inventory in Mary Kay by July

• Increase booking
• Take profit and buy more inventory
• Figure out what is most needed

Ok.....I have been having friends buy product from me, so I am doing good on this point. I just need to increase my parties and my customer base and the only way that I am going to be able to do that is to have more booking and do more parties....see problems in Goal #1.

Goal #4 - Read four Religious books by April

• Choose books
• Less T.V. more reading
• Take to gym

Let's see. This one really should be easy for me. I have now started four different religious books....Beth Moore - Breaking Free, Women of the Bible, the actual bible, and a money management through God's word. Good start....now just need to finish reading them. I love having positiveness in my life and reading these types of books are how I am going to stay that way.

Ok....now we are on my last Goal for 2012

Goal #5 - Save $5,000 by September

• Save $560 per month
• That is only $280 per paycheck

Ok....this has probably been the hardest one for me to even start on this year. We have been struggling with getting Dave's unemployment going and have been living off my income which really we could do just fine, but having to watch everything we spend and figuring out where the money has been going has been a little bit of a struggle for us. This has really been the first winter since Dave and I have been together that we have felt any strain in our finances. I know that it will not last and it is just Satan's way of saying....yea, I am going to mess you up for a little while, but I do have faith that come February and March we will totally be on our way to having a nice down payment for a house, dream vacation, savings and so many other things that we want in our lives.

So, now that I have put myself out there with all my goals for the future year. I am hoping that my friends and family will encourage me along the way to keep up with my goals and keep doing better. It will be a struggle, but this year, I am going to be different!!!!