Save Karyn

One Shopaholic's Journey to Debt and Back by Karyn Bosnak. Okay, I LOVED this book. I have been there...watching your life cycle out of control with the spending, the borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, the promises to yourself and then something happening to keep you from doing what you know is right! UGH! I could have used this book in my 20s. It is so easy to see how out of control it gets when it is happening to someone else. I really like her way of getting things out of control...and I don't want to give anything away...so I can't say how she gets there. But, I really enjoyed this book and my friend who recommended it, thanks! I really liked it! Often I am tempted to try and sell everything I own for $1...I think it would help!

Such a Pretty Fat

or Why Pie is not the Answer by Jen Lancaster...okay, this is the book a friend of mine recommended...now after reading the first two books I FINALLY got to read this one...and I laughed and commiserated with her. I have been dieting (well I say that, but really I am adapting to a new lifestyle)...for over a year now. I started in May 2007 and between then and May 2008 I lost 50 lbs. I have lost 5 lbs since May and it is now November. I still have 20 lbs to go and this seems even more daunting than the original 50. Of course the holidays are approaching...and while I have found some yummy food in my new lifestyle, there is a part of me that still craves the other food...and sometimes I still have to have it. Jen Lancaster takes you on a journey of a woman who is fine with who she is, but realizes if she wants to live, she needs to be healthier. Her love hate relationship with food, exercise and just trying to find a lifestyle that she can live with is just great...and something I can TOTALLY understand. So, laughing and crying with her through this was perfect for me. I recommend this book for anyone struggling with their weight...or maybe if you aren't but you have a friend that is...maybe this will help you understand their struggle!

BITTER IS THE NEW BLACK...

Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster, just finished it today, this is actually her first book...so it was interesting reading the middle book first...however...this one didn't make me laugh as hard as the second did, but it did make me make loud shreeks that made my husband jump and ask me WHY? Several things that I enjoyed...knowing there is another person out there that isn't as smart with money...also, knowing that she is difficult, see her ten commandments of jen...apparently I fit about half of them. Anyway, enjoyed it and am looking forward to her latest book, which I am starting TONIGHT!

Bright Lights...

Big Ass (there is a much longer title) by Jen Lancaster. I read it this weekend and in parts laughed so hard I cried...couldn't communicate and couldn't share the humor with my husband even a day later...because it was so funny. I especially enjoyed the chapter TUESDAY AFTERNOON DRINKING CLUB! I had to re-read it because I couldn't see through my tears of laughter. This author was recommended to me by a friend of mine who had recommended her newest book SUCH A PRETTY FAT. While I wait to get it from the library...I decided to read her first two. I started with her second...and am now reading her BITTER IS THE NEW BLACK. For my girlfriends out there...need a good laugh? Check one of these books out! There are other things in the book that aren't so funny, but oh so true!

Al Capone Does My Shirts

This book by Gennifer Choldenko was very entertaining...I guess it helps that I went to Alcatraz this summer...so many of the places in the book and some of the prison's history was fresh in my mind. Moose's father gets a job on Alcatraz as both an electrician and a guard. He moves the family to the island...which includes Moose's sister Natalie, who has turned 10 years old for several years. Moose feels a little funny living on an island with Al Capone and with good reason. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and looking at life on Alcatraz through the eyes of some of the kids who live there (and there really were families that lived there). I recommend it..and I promise I will read some adult books this weekend!

The Lightning Thief

I just finished this book this morning! I actually started it on Monday during some downtime at a school visit...I liked it right away, sailed through the first 8 chapters in a half hour! This is definitely for those who like adventure, danger, mystery...and mythology! This takes place in modern times but Percy finds out that he is the child of a god...which one? And why are creatures trying to kill him? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the other books in the series! I have actually heard the author, Rick Riordan speak and he was great! It has just taken me a year before I tried the book!

The 39 Clues: Book One: Maze of Bones

So, this is supposed to be the next Harry Potter...there will be a series of 39 books all by different authors coming out over the next few years. Book 2 will be by Gordan Korman and due out in December and then book 3 comes out in April 2009...I loved it! I loved the plot, the adventure and the sneaky way that facts and places are snuck into the story so that kids can learn while they read and not really know it. This first book was written by Rick Riordan (The Lightening Thief/Percy Jackson series) kept me up late into the night to finish it! I just got back from France, so the fact that our characters end up in Paris was even more of a pull. Think Amazing Race meets Lemony Snickett meets DaVinci Code...but maybe even better! There is a brother sister team as the main characters and they dislike each other enough to make it real! The series is trying to combine reading with an online game and a possible prize winning...and I think so far, it is successful! Try it out!