I signed up to review Where Hearts Are Free by Golden Keyes Parsons so they sent me a copy of the book and I finally picked it up last week.
As a young child, Bridget Barrington witnessed a murder and it has haunted her for years. Philippe Cavell, a former French noble that escaped France with his family, came to live with the Barrington family, but as an indentured servant. Bridget was instantly in love with him and shares her secret nightmares of the murder with him.
Six years passes by and Philippe’s servant days with the family are soon to be over. Bridget wants to finally tell him that she is in love with him, but instead, she tells her parents. Her parents are unhappy with the revelation because Bridget and Philippe belong to different churches. They end Philippe's contract as servant a few weeks early and send him home to his family hoping Bridget will forget about Philippe. Bridget's parents then insist that Bridget be courted by Edward Moorehead, an older man, who Bridget has no love for and actually repulses her.
Edward has a secret of his own and is of, shall we say, "questionable character". Bridget’s dark past comes back to haunt her and she cannot forget about the man she really wants to be with.
The book was on the typical side of things but overall, I enjoyed reading the book.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Two Books...
It is your lucky day! Two book reviews in one post! I have read a lot of books lately but only two really warrant a review: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman.
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin is an absolutely amazing book. Gretchen Rubin decided that she wanted to be happier. She was already happy and had a good life but she wanted more, she wanted to enjoy her life more. So she came up with a plan, she would take one year and make goals in 12 different areas of her life (marriage, work, parenting, self-fulfillment, etc.). Each month she came up with a few things that she could work on specifically within each category, such as go to bed earlier or organize her house or not criticizing her husband or not gossiping. Each month was specialized and by the end of the year, she feels more balanced. The year did not go perfectly but she learned things about herself and her relationships.
The book is inspirational and much more entertaining than most self-help books. Gretchen has a very witty writing style that makes it a very easy read. I found a lot of great tips in the book and while I don't have the desire to take an entire year of my life, I found myself thinking of the things I can change in my every day life. She made a really good point on how she is a "gold star" person and she wants to get a figurative gold star when she does something good. For instance, when she makes a good meal, she wants someone to tell her it was good (gold star). Then she realized she needed to not seek recognition but just give herself a gold star in her head if needs be. I recognized that I am similar and I need to not expect gold stars. See, I learned something!
Now for the The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. I just finished this one last weekend and I really liked it. The characters were so intriguing and the story was great. I started it and next thing I know, I couldn't put it down and when I did, I couldn't stop thinking about the characters. The story is about two sisters in California, the older sister, Emily, is CEO of a major tech company that is about to go public and the younger sister, Jess, is a tree hugging grad student at Berkley who works at an antiquarian bookstore.
The book is about the relationship between sisters and about their individual struggles in life. I absolutely loved the relationship between Emily and Jess. Maybe it is because my sister and I are BFFs, but I love stories about sisters because it reminds me how awesome it is to have someone that knows you so well you don't have to say everything to be understood. Beyond the relationship between Emily and Jess, the story shares the lessons they learn as they each try to fight the allure of power, money and relationship struggles.
I loved both books. The Happiness Project gets 5 stars and The Cookbook Collector gets 4 stars.
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin is an absolutely amazing book. Gretchen Rubin decided that she wanted to be happier. She was already happy and had a good life but she wanted more, she wanted to enjoy her life more. So she came up with a plan, she would take one year and make goals in 12 different areas of her life (marriage, work, parenting, self-fulfillment, etc.). Each month she came up with a few things that she could work on specifically within each category, such as go to bed earlier or organize her house or not criticizing her husband or not gossiping. Each month was specialized and by the end of the year, she feels more balanced. The year did not go perfectly but she learned things about herself and her relationships.
The book is inspirational and much more entertaining than most self-help books. Gretchen has a very witty writing style that makes it a very easy read. I found a lot of great tips in the book and while I don't have the desire to take an entire year of my life, I found myself thinking of the things I can change in my every day life. She made a really good point on how she is a "gold star" person and she wants to get a figurative gold star when she does something good. For instance, when she makes a good meal, she wants someone to tell her it was good (gold star). Then she realized she needed to not seek recognition but just give herself a gold star in her head if needs be. I recognized that I am similar and I need to not expect gold stars. See, I learned something!
Now for the The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. I just finished this one last weekend and I really liked it. The characters were so intriguing and the story was great. I started it and next thing I know, I couldn't put it down and when I did, I couldn't stop thinking about the characters. The story is about two sisters in California, the older sister, Emily, is CEO of a major tech company that is about to go public and the younger sister, Jess, is a tree hugging grad student at Berkley who works at an antiquarian bookstore.
The book is about the relationship between sisters and about their individual struggles in life. I absolutely loved the relationship between Emily and Jess. Maybe it is because my sister and I are BFFs, but I love stories about sisters because it reminds me how awesome it is to have someone that knows you so well you don't have to say everything to be understood. Beyond the relationship between Emily and Jess, the story shares the lessons they learn as they each try to fight the allure of power, money and relationship struggles.
I loved both books. The Happiness Project gets 5 stars and The Cookbook Collector gets 4 stars.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews
Have you ever read The Travelers Gift by Andy Andrews? No? Well you should. You should also read this little book by the same author called The Butterfly Effect: How Your Life Matters. The book is very short and very worth the read. It is inspiring and makes you realize just how much you, and especially what you do, matter.
The story begins with an explanation of the scientific principle of the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is a complex metaphor that explains how small things produce big things in the long term (that is a very, very simple explanation because that's about all that my brain can understand). The story then blossoms into examples of how the butterfly effect applies to people. Things that you do will effect your children and so forth down the line of generations.
The book is quick and very interesting so take about 20 minutes and read it!
The story begins with an explanation of the scientific principle of the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is a complex metaphor that explains how small things produce big things in the long term (that is a very, very simple explanation because that's about all that my brain can understand). The story then blossoms into examples of how the butterfly effect applies to people. Things that you do will effect your children and so forth down the line of generations.
The book is quick and very interesting so take about 20 minutes and read it!
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