This is one of my latest favorite read, recommended by my daughter. I loved it so much that I am now on my way to reading all of John Green’s other books. I’m so glad the weather is getting warmer and staying light later! I have more time to read outside now. Have you read any good books lately? Give me ideas what’s good out there.

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I have been blessed in many ways. I haven’t experienced a devastating loss, for instance. Sure, there have been many times when grief entered my life, but they have been manageable. At least they seem that way now. At the time, they did feel like my whole world has crumbled. But really, what did I know about having my world utterly destroyed? Nothing. Not when compared to losses others have experienced.

I feel blessed. I am privileged to watch my daughters grow and marvel at how they are confronting their world. I am grateful to be able to watch my parents grow old and wonder at the grace they handle all the trials of aging. I am grateful that I have all of them still because I don’t want to find out how strong I could be without them.

I don’t know that I would be any good at dealing with a loss so great that it can cut you down. That’s how I felt reading The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith. It was almost too heavy for me to bear. The loss, the impending grief… I can almost feel her being suffocated by it all.

But read on, and learn about the strength that must be in all of us and you’ll feel uplifted. Maybe there is hope, maybe there is that light at the end of the tunnel and that pain such as this does not endure but abates with time and that it is survivable.

It is a very interesting read that I think most of us can relate to and maybe even learn from. It may be a difficult read for some people because of the subject matter, but I also think there is a lot to be learned from it. I highly recommend reading it. I couldn’t stop turning pages even when I wanted to.

You can read more about what I think about this on my book review on Found Not Lost, my review blog.

You can also visit the author’s blog and learn more background information about the characters in her book. It’s fascinating reading all the additional tidbits behind the story!

See what other readers think of this book by visiting The Rules of Inheritance on BlogHer.

“This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.”

There is something about the winter months, despite its low lights, that makes me want to curl up and read. Sure, I live on the internet and most days you’ll find me with the laptop on… you guessed it, my lap. But nothing beats the time you spend inside the pages of a book when it comes to relaxing your mind and purging it of problems for a while.

Next to my easy chair in my bedroom, I have a stack of books that I’m reading. Some, I’m reading simultaneously and others I knock off in one sitting.

Here are two books that I just finished reading:
This Much is True by Jackie Lee Miles is the story of 13 year old Andrea (Andi for short) St. James, a rich Southern girl who goes through some pretty challenging events in her life. First, her favorite brother dies, which drives her mother to drink, which then drives her father to sleep with another woman. Her older sister is being mean to her as she gets ready to get married and her only refuge is her best friend, the cook and the gardener. That is until her best friend has to move away and so many other twists and turns to the story that you wonder how this girl is coping with it all. That’s the beauty of the story. She does cope, and she does a lot of growing up.

Storm of the i is an Artobiography by Tina Collen. This is one book that you can enjoy beyond the first read through. It is a biography of Tina Collen but it is also a scrapbook of her life. Her own artwork populate the pages but so do works from her friends, her favorite artists, and her children. It is a fascinating way to compile one’s biography. The collection of memorabilia and artwork would probably been able to stand alone as a coffee book but couple that with her clear, easy to read writing and compelling story telling, and you have a book that cannot be put down.

I honestly recommend the two books above. The first, This Much is True, is appropriate for the same age group as the heroine, around 12 on up. While I would let my 13 year old daughter read or flip through the Artobiography, other parents may be more conservative. Some of Ms. Collen’s artwork labeled ‘fleurotica’ are quite beautiful but also a bit risque as are some other images within the book. The story itself though, the text, I think is appropriate for teens.

Today, a post from author Molly Harper about how she came up with the idea for her upcoming book, How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf. Interesting title, huh? I’m getting a review copy of this book so I am looking forward to reading a novel that came out of being stuck home without power during an ice storm.

I just wrote a book review for an amazing book and I think that you should check it out. I know you will enjoy the book as much as I did. Also, the author is giving away an autographed copy of the book and all you have to do is answer a question on any of the blogs listed below.

Storm of the i by Tina Collen

Visit the following blogs and read their reviews and interviews of Tina Collen and the Storm of i during the blog tour. Look in the comment section for a comment from Tina and how you can win the book.

WEEK 1
1/31/2011 James R. Ament
2/1/2011 Book Fetish
2/2/2011 Found Not Lost
2/3/2011 Sandra’s Book Club
2/4/2011 Doing it with Grace

WEEK 2
2/7/2011 Minding Spot
2/8/2011 CIPA Bookshelf
2/9/2011 Faye Quam Heimerl
2/10/2011 Thoughts in Progress
2/11/2011 Linda Lou, Live from Las Vegas