Yesterday there was a big announcement in the Brogan family. My brother has become engaged to the most beautiful, amazing, brilliant girl ever!!! I have yet to meet her as she lives far, far away but I am taking my brother's word for it as he is a great judge of character. (Seriously though he is. He always chooses wonderful friends... you are included in that Theresa jag längtar väldigt mycket efter min vän!)
I am so excited to have a new sister. When I was little and I would be sad about my lack of sisters and Mom would tell me that one day I would have a sister when Steve got married. So I would often imagine what my future sister would be like, and the fun things we would do together.
I just finished reading "Shopaholic and a Sister" by Sophie Kinsella (didn't like it as much as the first three, but it was okay). Anyway I am thinking about that now; I am going to be crazy Becky trying to get her play Barbies and do makeovers while she will want to "do her accounts". Honestly I am really excited to have a sister and I will try my best not to overwhelm her with "sistering".
I've fallen a little behind on my blogging; So this a super-post many things to update!
First a little Cali update. She spent the weekend with her Grammie and Papa. It sounds like she had an action packed time! While she was there she drew a picture of our family that I want to share. She looks like Rollie Polie Ollie, hey? Cute, cute! I love it when kids start to draw.
I also love that she made me skinnier than Ed! Haha! Speaking of which I am joining the Biggest Loser contest in town starting in January. I plan to win! I will also keep you posted on my progress as well. Maybe I will be skinnier than Ed again!
Cali is working on potty training again. The M&Ms are helping this time... more incentive than stickers! Hope it sticks!
Here is a cute video of her singing the Alphabet Song. Little Miss Entertainment!
Lexi is 5 weeks old and has porked out; she is now about 11 lbs! She is also wearing size 6 month sleepers. She's so much bigger than Cali was it will be interesting who ends up being bigger in the end. Her one month Chinese party is this weekend. Hope you can make it!
I finished reading "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. Excellent book a bit longer than I am used to but fully worth it! I was little disapointed in the ending... I would have made it different. I won't give details so I don't ruin it for anyone. So email me and we can talk about it if you like. I love to talk books!
Also did I mention that the book isn't scary? For anyone who is like me: I was a little afraid to read it but I will assure you it's not scary... I found it suspensful, but not scary. So when the movie comes out in the new year I taking Ed to go see it. So he will now what I was up to all weekend.
As I mentioned in a previous post I am only reading children's literature this year to give my brain a break. The Historian was not planned it just happened...
Anyway I am now reading the Harry Potter series. I remember during my first year of university my friend told me that her little brother was making her read it because he thought it was such a great book. I thought "oh look a nice little kid's book". A few years later is popularity exploded.
I never read the books being swamped with school work. So I decided to read them this year, thinking that all the hype would let me down. Well they are as good as everyone says; what an imagination J.K. Rowling has. She is simply amazing, I would love to read more of her books. Anyway for anyone like me they are certainly worth the read.
So I think that I have updated this enough for now. Must get back to Hogwart's.... or my kids...
Okay I just need to add a quick update. I have been keeping us quite busy by attending every playgroup in town that I know of. I am pretty sure that Cali’s favourite is Story Time at the library on Tuesdays. Yesterday when I told her it was Tuesday she couldn’t wait to go. She got ready all by herself and had her boots on to go at 9am… Story Time isn’t until 11am… poor girl. Yesterday’s theme was pirates and Cali made an eye patch and pirate hat which she proudly wore the remainder of the day.
Speaking of pirates I read the Princess Bride over the weekend. That’s a great book… a little different from the movie but yes the book is better. I completely fell for William Goldman’s trick of it being an abridged edition. I was on the library website for a while trying to find the unabridged edition of the Princess Bride; anyway it doesn’t exist. Check out Wikipedia if you have questions.
I am reading a new book call The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova… I can’t put it down. So far it is one of the best books I have read ever; I am on page 300 or so with another 400 to go. I am sure once I am finished there will be a review on here. Good Reads is an awesome resource for anyone that is a reader, I joined the other week, love it!
Lexi turned one month yesterday. She getting nice big chubby cheeks and still looks a lot like her Dad. She is on the verge of smiling so I am sure before too long there will be an update here with a big smile.
Cali and I decorated the Christmas tree on Saturday and now we are counting down the days. That’s about it from here right now.
So this is a bit of a change compared to my recent book reviews. I read two great books this month, two books that I would highly recommend. First I read “The Witches” by Roald Dahl, I have been a huge fan of his since Mom read us “The Twits” as kids. I have also read many of his other novels but I think that this was the first time that I read “The Witches”. It was cute and a little disturbing as more of his books are, but a great read for kids and adults alike. I am not going to dive into much of an analysis. I just wanted to mention that I read a book I liked.
Last week Cali and I headed to get her H1N1 shot but the line was outside the building; can you imagine? So I made the executive decision not to wait outside in the cold with a newborn and toddler. Instead we headed to the library, one of Cali and my favourite spots in town. She ran in and picked out a couple of books and as we were getting ready to leave when a book caught my eye; “The Story Girl” by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
I had read the entire “Anne of Green Gables” series and the “Emily of New Moon” books but I hadn’t read any of her other books. I decided to pick it up. Once I got it home I simply couldn’t put it down. It was such a great story I forgot what a descriptive author she was. She painted the most beautiful picture of the orchard in which the children played. It made me long for my childhood summers spend at Nannie and Granddad’s on the Gulf Shore of Nova Scotia. It took me two days to read the book; mind you it would have taken less if I didn’t have all the distractions.
If you were a fan of the Road to Avonlea television series you would love this book. Many of the episode plots come from this book. The characters of Sara Stanley, Felicity, Felix, Cecily, Aunt Janet, Aunt Olivia, Uncle Alec, and even Jasper Dale are found in this book. Oh I almost forgot the local witch, Peg Bowen is introduced as well. Such a great book.
In just about every chapter the Story Girl (Sara Stanley) would tell a tale. Her stories were so descriptive and interesting that I almost forgot that they were part of a bigger story. The characters were all unique and well developed through the novel. It made me discover just how shallow the other books were that I had been reading. In this book you really get to know the characters.
I was little disappointed about the ending though. I thought things would be tied up a bit more but I just found out there is a sequel, “The Golden Road”. I figure that book can answer a few of my questions. I will be reading it shortly, after I finish “The Princess Bride” for book club. I have decided that anything that I read in the next year will be children’s literature so I can complete it in less than a week; much easier on my postpartum mind. So look forward to more children’s book reviews.
For anyone who is interested in book reviews here a great site called Good Reads. I think that I am going to join. Be my friend!
A few weeks ago while I was struggling through the remainder of "Wicked" my friend recommended Emily Giffin to me; so picked up her first book "Something Borrowed". I pretty much hated that book and basically forced myself to read it, (hey it was a nice break from "Wicked"). It's from this girl Rachel's perspective who ends up sleeping with her best friend's fiancé and continues to justify it for about 300 pages. I don't mind characters with moral dilemmas but this was a bit extreme. I couldn't identify with any of the characters. I didn't care much for the best friend Darcy as she was self absorbed and as far as I was concerned didn't deserve her fiancé or her best friend. This doesn't mean that I sided with Rachel though, I can't imagine losing your morals to the point that you would sleep with your best friend's fiancé.
What I didn't understand most about "Something Borrowed" was why Rachel remained friends with this girl from high school that she didn't seem to like. You don't have to play games after high school. You grow up and hang around the people you like. Popularity doesn't matter anymore. This book just seemed like it was a high school concern in thirty-something world. It didn't fit.
My friend who lent it to me said that she liked the second one better; "Something Blue". So I figured I would give it a try. This book is written from Darcy's perspective; the best friend that was cheated on. Basically how she is dealing with the break up and her new life without her best friend, or fiancé. Darcy later experiences self reflection and realizes just how self absorbed she is. This is nice but it takes about 200 pages to get to that point in the novel.
Even though parts of this novel annoyed me I have to say that I quite enjoyed the book, maybe because Darcy really got it in the beginning from her new boyfriend Marcus and a few friends. I was happy when her life "fell apart" as she referred to it. I also liked it when her friend Ethan gave told her off near the end. I was happy when Darcy turned her life around and realized what mattered the most.
I think that I liked this book the most because Darcy understands what true friendship is about and the value of true love, and family. Values that weren't present at all in the first novel. Also I may just liked it because the first one was so bad that it shined in comparison. Or maybe I was desperate for entertainment as I read it over two nights where I suffered from prenatal insomnia.
If you are thinking about reading this book you have the read "Something Borrowed" first or else you will miss the whole picture.
Anyway I was wondering how "Something Borrowed" made it to the best sellers list. Emily Giffin's books aren't fabulous they are a mindless read that requires little effort from the reader. Would I recommend this book? Probably not, but if you are looking for a shallow book for the beach this is it.
A book that I really enjoyed years ago was "Where the Heart Is" by Billie Letts. It's an Oprah book club book. That's one I would recommend. It has morals and yes I will add "heart" something that didn’t come into play in Giffin’s book until the last 10 pages.
I finally finished reading "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire. I really struggled with this book I started reading it back in August and I just couldn't get into it. I actually read another book in the meantime just to get a break. I was intrigued by this story as the musical is so popular and I have heard great things about it. I have a feeling that the book and the musical are quite different. I haven't met anyone who has read the book and seen the musical, so if anyone has any input I would like to hear it.
The book itself was very dark and it moved around a lot. At the end all the loose ends to came together which helped but there were a lot of parts in the book that I didn't feel needed to be included to tell the story. I am sure those parts have been left out of the musical. I never quite got the whole Dragon of the Time Clock thing. Actaully there were a lot of things that I didn't fully understand. I would love to have a book club meeting about this book, so I could understand more of the story. If anyone has read this book and would like to discuss it with me please, please contact me.
I can't say that I would recommend this book, but it did give me an alternative view of the original Wizard of Oz. It's an interesting idea that the authour came up with. I hear his other stories are also quite interesting. Perhaps it was his writing style that I struggled with. I doubt that I will read the sequel "Son of a Witch" although I was told it was better than "Wicked".
I joined a book club two months ago. It's been a lot of fun. Since I joined we have read "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen and "The Prize Winner of Defience Ohio" by Terry Ryan.
I quite enjoyed both of these books. I read Pride and Prejuside way back in my first year of University... that brought back some memories... I must say I enjoyed it more the second time.
I also picked up "I am Hutterite" by Mary Ann Kirkby. I really enjoyed that book and feel that I gained more an understanding of the culture. Working rural Alberta I have had the oppourtunity to meet several Hutterites.
All three of these books I would reccomend. I will keep an updated list of the books we are reading and have read if you are looking for a good read.
