Two Kisses for Maddy

I've been following Matt Logelin's blog for quite some time now.  His wife, Liz, had complications with her pregnancy and was put on bed rest in the hospital.  Their daughter Madeline was born 7 weeks premature (and she's perfectly healthy and thriving now).  27 hours later, Liz died unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism.  Matt wrote this book about their experience.  As soon as he announced on his blog that he was writing a book I knew I had to buy it.  I pre-ordered, and devoured it in 2 days as soon as I received it.  As always, Matt's writing is both humorous, gut wrenching, and above all, real.  Real human emotions.  Nothing fake, pc, or contrived.  He tells his, Liz, and Maddy's story beautifully.  I'd highly recommend it. 

Little Bee - Chris Cleave

First of all, I'm NEVER going to Nigeria after reading this book.  Read it, and you'll know why.  I don't want to give away too much about this one, but I was completely sucked in.  This book throws some unbelievably hard "what would you do?" questions your way.  In the middle of reading this book I'd ask my friends those questions and we'd discuss at great lengths.  I looooove "what if" questions.  I fell in love with the little boy "Batman" in this book.  The author did a superb job of having me find a connection with each of the characters and caring about them. I will be keeping my eye out for more of Chris Cleave's novels as I still find myself thinking about this book and discussing it months after I finished reading it.  Pick this one up, it won't disappoint.

Reading, reading, reading

I use to love to read. I mean, LOVE it. Then I went and got myself knocked up twice, and my reading material consisted of parenting books. You know the kinds I mean. Books on how to grow a baby, how to lose your baby fat, how to feed a baby/diaper a baby/bathe a baby, how to get a baby to sleep, how to raise a happy baby, how to potty train your child so they don't go to college in diapers, how to, how to, how to! Basically sums up to how to raise a child with damaging them as little as possible! This has been the past 6+ years of reading material (with a little US Weekly and People magazine thrown in for fun). That is until my lovely sister gave me a little book called "Twilight" for my last birthday. I must admit, I really didn't get all the hype and kind of groaned thinking "vampires, reaaaally?" And have you seen how thick that book is?! I'm lucky if I can get through an issue of US without having to wipe someone's bum. I said "thanks" to which my sister called me out on my lack of enthusiasm and reassured me it was "SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD" and that I "HAVE TO READ IT!" Being the good sister that I am, I figured "this is going to take me until Elias is in college, but I'll give it a shot." I started reading, and then something happened. I WAS BITTEN! I was hooked! Man is that Edward dreamy! And Jacob? Fughetaboutit. Not only did I devour the book, but I bought the remaining 3 of the series and read all 4 in under 2 weeks. More like a week and a half. I read every chance I got, and I may or may not have let a poopy diaper simmer a bit. (sorry Bubb!) My hubby looked at me as if I was some sort of alien. He had never seen me read at such a rapid rate and be so completely consumed by a book. I think my brain, and eyes, needed a little rest after such an amazing fete. The past month I've gotten the reading bug again, and I've been loving it. I've been reading about a book a week. This is what I've consumed and my reviews:

A Reliable Wife - Robert Goolrick
This book was a bit darker. I enjoyed the darkness and redeeming qualities of the characters.

The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
I've seen several movies based on Nicholas Sparks' books, but this is the first I've read. I found it enjoyable. Good easy read.


The Help - Kathyrn Stockett
Go out and buy this book TODAY! I cannot recommend this book more. I LOVED it. This was one I devoured and couldn't get enough of. I was sad when it was over because it was SO good. I found myself laughing so hard I was crying several times. This gets a huge thumbs up. I will definitely be looking for more gems from this author.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
Reading this after "The Help" was definitely a 180. Whereas "The Help" had me laughing, this story did not. It had a lot of emotional/sad moments. Good read, but more of a heart jerker.