Have I Got a Book For You! @ Every Day is the Weekend!

12.2.2015 Have I Got a Book For You

"I do not just want to read books;
I want to climb inside and live there."
quote from Pinterest

I am always, and I mean always, on the look out for a good book. Maybe not a good book, but a great book. Not a literary work, but something I can crawl into and live there for a while. :) Love when I get my hands on those books. You know, a book where you paint the pictures in your head as you're reading along (and you know no movie could do it any better) and if you get a laugh or a shiver out of it, then that makes it even better ... or sometimes even a good cry. I'm on my second Kindle now and with that, I'm never without a book. That's not always a good thing. But I love having it and don't miss the "pages" of a book.

I use to love reading and great books came along often. I still love to read, but I'm not getting my hands on those kinds of books as much any more. And it could be like going out to eat, the more you do it, the higher your expectations. So I thought if I came across some noteworthy books, I'd devote part of the blog to that. And so I shall.

The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah

I found this book on a recommended book list and I don't really know what persuaded me to read it because it's about war and that's something I normally don't want to read about. But for whatever reason I chose to, (probably the persuasive writing of the recommendation) I did, and even though it was hard for me to get through at times, it was well worth the time and effort. The Nightingale is about two sisters trying to survive the war along with their part in it and their perspective. I am not a writer, so I'm going to copy and paste the summary from Amazon, but I did want to mention that it has 5 stars and has been reviewed by over 15,000 readers. It's also the #1 Best Seller right now. So if you can stand some heartache and history, I recommend it. I don't remember laughing, but there were tears as I read of the horrors of a war that I felt like I wouldn't survive very long in. The book made me want to start stockpiling my own supplies because of the world we live in today. It's sad that over time, man never stops subjecting his fellow man to unspeakable atrocities.

Summary from Amazon.com:

In love we find out who we want to be.

In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France … but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can … completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

Other books that I can recommend ....

The first of the Mary Higgins Clark books. After a while her books got too technical and too CSIish and I didn't like them any more, but those first ones were awesome. I still have them somewhere and still remember the hair standing up on my arms while I was reading them. Delicious!!! My very first one and my very favorite ... Where Are the Children? I still remember reading this while waiting on Brittney to get out of dance class. This link gives a list of her books in order. It will help you start your own journey. :)
http://maryhigginsclarkbooklist.com/mary-higgins-clark-books-in-order/

The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich sort of ended up the same way. Chris and I both fell in love with this series of books because they were hilarious and we would scarf them up as fast as they would come out. But Janet must have been turning them out too fast or either there's such a thing as too much of a good thing, because somewhere along the line they lost their magic. She's about up to book #22 now in the series, but do start the series and see how far you can get. They are a riot!

The Shack by William P. Young This book has some parts that are hard to get through, but it made me think about what I believe in.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo Another book that made me reflect on my beliefs.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins This series was recommended by an online friend and something I would never have chosen myself. But I did enjoy reading it and after all the hype came out, I was glad I did.

The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer This series I wouldn't read at first, but eventually I hated not knowing what everyone else knew, so I finally read it. And even though I'm not a fan of vampire books, I liked it.

John Grisham's first books: The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Firm, A Time to Kill
The last book of his I read, Sycamore Row, was just too predicatable.

My Story by Elizabeth Smart You may remember Elizabeth's abduction from her home in Utah in the early 80s when she was a young girl, where she was held captive for 9 months. After praying for her then, I was so glad to read that after all these years she is happily married and seems truly well and at peace after the horrors that she lived through. She writes her book in such a way to let you know what went on, but doesn't give you the grisly details, which I appreciated. I was worried about that. I don't do blood and gore.

Hope you get to crawl inside a good book soon. And if you have a recommendation, PLEASE leave a comment below. PLEASE!! :D