I saw The Moment Between by Nicole Baart as a recommended book on Amazon and I am pretty glad that I took the recommendation. Although the story was a little slow at times, I really enjoyed the book. Instead of trying to summarize it myself, I am going to just steal the synopsis from the back of the book because it was what drew me in.

"Abigail Bennett was completely in control of her life until tragedy pushed her to the brink of something she’d never experienced: obsession. Now, she’s given up everything she’s ever worked for to chase down the object of that obsession. His name is Tyler Kamp. As Abigail follows him across the border into Canada to a beautiful winery in British Columbia, her journey is awash in memories of family and childhood, especially those of her younger sister, Hailey. Dangerously beautiful yet indefinably needy, Hailey seemed to take all the risks Abigail avoided. Until now. But even as Abigail races into her future, her past continues to pull her back. Only when she is brought to the edge of her obsession will she be able to come to terms with the tragedy that ignited it. A breathtaking story about the emotional risks of relationships, The Moment Between explores the cost of regret, the desire for revenge, and the redemptive power of forgiveness."

It was an interesting look at the effect that mental illness has on an entire family. The story was intriguing and I thought it was well written. If you have a hard time getting through it at the beginning, keep reading, the story really is intriguing.

Books, Books, Books

I saw an idea on a friend's blog, who saw it on another friend's blog, to read 100 books in a year. The way that she is going to accomplish her goal of reading 100 books is to choose 10 categories and then choose 10 books from each of those categories. Hence, you have 100 books. I like this idea so that I can expand my reading. However, I don't think I can really do the full shebang so I am going to alter the goal for myself...I am going to just start with 1 book in each of the 10 categories and go from there.

Here are my 10 categories:

1. Biography/memoir
2. Classics
3. Oprah's book club list
4. Books written or published in the year I was born (1984)
5. Books set in my hometown (currently Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C.)
6. Marriage/relationships
7. NY Times Best Sellers List
8. Books that were made into movies
9. Historical fiction
10. Youth fiction

If anyone has any suggestions for any of the categories, let me know, I would really appreciate it!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

I absolutely loved Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It is a story about Henry, a Chinese American, who was born in the Chinatown of Seattle. The story is set in the 1940s and also in the 1980s as Henry is looking back on his childhood. Henry was raised by his strict Chinese parents to embrace his Chinese ancestry. Therefore, Henry becomes confused when his parents take him out of the Chinese elementary school he was attending, enroll him in an all-American elementary school, and then forbid him from speaking their native language of Cantonese and insist that he speak English at all times even though they can only understand a small percentage of English. Because his parents can hardly understand English and he cannot communicate with them in Cantonese, he feels completely isolated from his parents. Not only is he isolated at home but he is ostracized at his new elementary school so he feels very alone, until he meets a new friend.

His new friend, Keiko Okabe, is a Japanese American girl that is also enrolled in the all-American elementary school. Keiko is also ostrasized and forges a deep relationship with Henry. The two of them become very close despite the prejudices of the time period. As the friends grow closer and closer, all of the Japanese Americans were evacuated to internment camps by order of the government, despite the fact that many of them were American citizens. Henry is, of course, completely devastated but promises that he will find her again.

This book is amazing and I highly recommend it, especially if you like a little bit of history in your novels. Enjoy!

Fearless by Max Lucado

I just read Fearless by Max Lucado and I have to admit, I really didn't like it. I have heard so many rave reviews of Max Lucado's books so I decided to give one a try and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I felt like the thoughts were too scattered and the book lacked the depth that I expected. I did like the overall theme of not allowing fear to overtake your life, but I personally did not feel like the chapters flowed together nor that the ideas came together.

I have heard that some people have absolutely loved the book so if you have enjoyed Max Lucado books in the past, give it a try. But, as my opinion, I read better books over my holidays!

The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone

This is by no means a new novel. In fact, it was first published in the early 1960's. However, the premise of this novel is timeless, as it's capturing the art and life of Michelangelo.

Even after finishing this lengthy novel, I still can't pinpoint exactly what it is that kept me reading. Perhaps it fascinated me that the researcher (Stone) was so precise, so I felt that it was extremely accurate. Or maybe it was watching Michelangelo develop as he learned to channel his love of art into incredible works that I have seen multiple times but never appreciated as a concept coming from a human mind. Possibly, I loved it because I secretly want to take a one-month trip to Italy just to sit in front of old paintings and statues. Whatever the reason, I loved this book.

Read it. I know you'll love it. (Extra points for whoever can name that movie.)

*Thanks to Amazon.com for the picture

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

If you have ever spent any time as a single person in the LDS culture, you may or may not be able to relate to this novel. I laughed out loud at multiple parts of the book, mostly while cringing and recollecting some horrendous dating experiences of my own.

There is definitely more raunchy content in this book than most penned by LDS authors, so watch out. I think the author phrases it well when she cautions her parents at the beginning of the book that there are "9 F-words, 13 Sh-words, 4 A-holes" and that they should avoid chapters 21-23 and most of the ending.

This is not a must-read, but it's a could-read if you have a thicker skin and don't get offended by people who question their faith in compromising situations.