The Spare Wife – Book Review

Alex Witchels’ newest novel, The Spare Wife, brings readers into the world of socialites in Manhattan with a story full of secrets, affairs, fancy parties, and high society life. The single, divorced Ponce Morris, known as "the spare wife," navigates this world well, managing the lives of the powerful couples around her with grace. "She watches football with Stan Crandall, while Bitsy reads magazines in bed and thanks God she doesn’t have to; she plays golf with George Stein, because Carol only likes tennis; and not only does she go to Knicks games with Larry DeLynn but she lets him eat as many hot dogs as he wants and never tells Lila, who forbids him to have nitrates." Not only that – she also goes shopping with the wives, making her the perfect, non-threatening companion for everyone – until a young reporter suspects that she’s having an affair with the city’s most successful (and married) doctor. This book is as intriguing as it is witty, and the fun story combined with the biting satire make it the perfect waiting-for-summer read. You may not be lounging on a beach with a book quite yet, but The Spare Wife is still an entertaining escape.

This was a very intriguing book to read. The author kept everything up in the air the entire time…nothing was predictable. For me that’s a good thing, I get a bit weary of reading the same book over and over…well not so with The Spare Wife. It was totally original. I found myself towards the end of the book seriously worried that the main character, Ponce, wasn’t going to come out on top and this young reporter might actually win…oops! I guess that’s a bit of a spoiler for you, but I won’t tell you how.

The Spare Wife

Thanks to www.MotherTalk.com for another juicy read!

The Household Guide to Dying - Review

The Household Guide to Dying is a moving, witty, and uplifting novel about Delia, who writes an acerbic and wildly popular household advice column. When Delia realizes that she will lose her long battle with cancer, she decides to organize her remaining months—and her husband and children’s future lives without her—the same way she has always ordered their household, and she knows just what to do. She will leave a list for her daughter’s future wedding; fill the freezer with homemade sausages, stews, and sauces; and even (maddeningly) offer her husband suggestions for a new wife. She’ll compile a lifetime’s worth of advice for her children, and she’ll even write the ultimate “Household Guide to Dying” for her fans. There is one item on her list, however, that proves too much even for “Dear Delia,” and it is the single greatest task she had set for herself. Yet just as Delia is coming to terms with this, an unexpected visitor helps her believe in her life’s worth in a way that no list ever could.

Imbued with Delia’s love for food, Jane Austen, clucking hens, and fragrant gardens, and interspersed with her secrets to making a pot of tea, removing wine stains from lace, and the ingredients to the perfect wedding cake, this is a gorgeously crafted novel that captures the reader—heart and mind—and expands our understanding of a meaningful life.

I found this book to be easy to read word wise, but hard to read topic wise. I’m very emotional and cry over Hallmark commercials, so this topic hit me pretty hard. Don’t worry, the book is filled with plenty of humor so it isn’t all doom and gloom, but like Darly pointed out …
see more Lolcats and funny pictures :D

If you have a box of tissues and don’t mind a good cry then check out The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide.

Thanks www.mother-talk.com for another great book!

The Mighty Queens of Freeville - Book Review

I was recently given the opportunity to read The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson.

Here’s what the publisher had to say about the book…

Amy Dickinson is best known for her “Ask Amy” advice column and weekly contribution to NPR. She can now add author to her resume, and her book, The Mighty Queens of Freeville, is one that all women should add to their reading list. The moving book tells the story of Amy’s life as a divorced single mom. As she travels with her daughter across the country, often finding herself back in Freeville, the small town where she grew up and her family still lives, she poetically recounts her tales of love, loss, and life with wit and eloquence. The story, ultimately, is not just about Amy, but about the woman in her life “who have led small lives of great consequence in a tiny place.” This book will honestly have you both laughing and crying, while reminding you that, often, the best place to be is at home.

My take:

I found The Mighty Queens of Freeville an interesting read. It seems that the women in Amy’s family are doomed to be single mothers who overcome despite their circumstances. Amy shares with us the “warts and all” version of putting her life back together after her husband strands her in a foreign country for another woman. I found the strength of these women inspiring and the continual mistakes of the Ex-husbands to be humorous.

My workout rating: 40 minutes. ;)

I would like to thank the Moms at Mother Talk for the opportunity to read this book!

A book review - The Help

I just finished reading the most wonderful book. This book made me laugh out loud, it made me cry and it made me shake my head at the utter stupidity of mankind.

Loads of you already know that I grew up in the south...Louisiana to be exact. I was born in the late 60's after the time frame of this book. While I was either too young or too late to experience a lot of what was going on in the south in the sixties...there was still plenty of it going on for a long time afterward.

The little town that I grew up in was very resentful of integration and many of my neighbors flat out refused to go along with it. A lot of my neighbors sent their kids to a private school half an hour away rather than put them in the same school with "them colored kids." My parents couldn't afford to do that and my mother would have never stood for it...my father on the other hand is the most stupid person I've ever known in my life. My life story could easily be started out with the words "I was born, poor white trash..." Luckily my mom taught me that God made us all the same.

okay enough about me...

Product Description
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job.
Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

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I love the way The Help was written. How the author shares the story from the the three different points of view. I found that the different view points gave me a great way of seeing the story. I just can't say enough good things about this book without telling you the entire story.

I feel so blessed that I was able to be able to read this book. The Help will be available today at your favorite bookstore or just click here!

I would like to thank the folks at www.mother-talk.com and www.MomCentral.com for the opportunity to read this book.

Journal Buddies - Review

Darly is really into keeping a diary (a great place to keep secrets from dad & me) or sharing her thoughts with her friends. So when I had the opportunity to review Journal Buddies by Jill Schoenberg, I knew my daughter would be thrilled.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The journal buddies books are fun, interactive journals intended to help adults (parents, teachers, mentors…) build and strengthen a child’s self-esteem. These powerful but simple journals are truly a fresh and invigorating take on journal keeping.

"Journal Buddies: A Girl's Journal for Sharing and Celebrating Magnificence"
has been awarded the Dove Family-Approved Seal. "The Dove Foundation has
established itself as a valuable resource for consumers seeking quality
entertainment and programming that's suitable for their entire household,"
says Jeff Yordy, VP of Marketing, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Dove's Review of Journal Buddies states that it is "a very creative way to help
encourage self esteem in young girls. It is so important in this day and age to
help children with their self-image. This delightful ingenious journal will show
them a way to capture their imagination, ideas and thoughts and share them with
others. Giving the diary concept a different look. This is a perfect gift for
young girls." To learn more about Dove's review of Journal Buddies visit
http://www.dove.org/MovieReview.asp?Unique_ID=7478

Furthermore, Journal Buddies interactive journaling systems for boys and for
girls are both winners of the 2008 Mom's Choice Awards, an award that
represents quality and ingenuity. Like other symbols of quality that consumers
have come to rely on, the Mom's Choice Award on a product, service or media
production alerts consumers its appropriateness for children. The Award is a
symbol of family-friendliness that parents, educators, librarians, social
service professionals and others rely on to help guide their purchasing
decisions.

MY REVIEW

Jill was nice enough to send us a girl’s copy of Journal Buddies for Darly. She also autographed the book which left Darly totally unimpressed. I had to explain the entire autographing thing to her, even though she has another autographed book. Sigh!

This is no ordinary journal where you keep all your thoughts a secret. Journal Buddies is meant to be completed and shared with friends. Darly really liked the fact that you don’t have to have the same buddy every single day. One day it could be her friend “E”, another day it could be her friend “I”, even I can be one of her buddies. I think what she liked even more was a great excuse to call up her friends when she doesn’t see them.

For each journal entry, Darly needed to write 3 things that she likes about her buddy and 3 things that her buddy likes about her. This was a great way to help her think about the positive in other people. Journal Buddies focuses on kindness to others, an important trait to instill in our children.

There is also a focus word for the day complete with lined and/or blank pages. Darly really liked this part because she would rather draw a picture than write any day of the week. She could write down her ideas, draw pictures, or even glue magazine cutouts and photographs to help her express her thoughts.

When she’s done with Journal Buddies, we’ll put her book in her memory box. I know this will become a treasured keepsake that we’ll both enjoy reading when she gets older.

I would really like to thank Jill Schoenberg for the opportunity to try out Journal Buddies and the Family Review Network.

The Friday Night Knitting Club

I know that many of you have already read The Friday Night Knitting Club. Sorry I'm a bit slow...I'm just now getting to it. :p

I'm checking it out now because the sequel Knit Two is coming out on Nov 25th.

I picked up my copy of TFNKC the other day and I've been plugging away at it. Saturday I was reading while doing laundry and other things around the house. I was waiting for DH to get upset with me about reading, but he never did (or never said anything about it!)

I'm now excited to get my hands on Knit Two...I'm also eager to get my hands back on my practice knitting project. I really wish that I had bothered a few skeins ago to learn different stitches. Oh well, my poor project is just knitting. I'll have to bug Jen to teach me how to do more.

Perhaps we should start our own Friday Night Knitting Club! ;)