2 Books in Review

Don't worry -- you won't find any spoilers here. I just wanted to let you know of 2 books I finished over the weekend. Anyone who knows me, knows that Sparks is one of my indulgences. Of course, with school and work, I only get to read a new Sparks book about once a year! :)

If you're one of my FB friends, you already noticed I've gushed over "The Help". I've heard this book criticized for it's "tone" or "voice", accusing the writer of stereotyping the characters. Well, suffice it to say -- "PHBBBT! I loved it!"

Here are my official "GoodReads" reviews! :)

The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sparks has done it again. I could totally picture the characters coming to life as I read this book. I will admit, I usually hate reading "prologues" but this one was riveting enough to keep my attention. Unlike many of his other stories, this one starts off with twists of excitement. I kept wondering, "If he shows all of his cards now, where else can the characters go and will the climax make enough of an impact? Or is this a case of a story peaking too soon?" Trust me -- it can go places and the climax is great. Even though I had figured out a little bit of the pivotal moment beforehand, there was still the element of surprise and I didn't think the story felt predictable at all. It was great! Loved it!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I completely loved this book. I didn't want it to end, and I wanted to know what happened to the characters years later. This book definitely deals with some raw emotions and it's hard to imagine these were the attitudes only a decade before I was born. The character development in each of the main characters was well executed and I was impressed that Stockett chose a 1st person narrative and chose to tell the story from the point of view of 3 different characters. This is very difficult for a writer to [successfully] pull off. She not only does it, but she does it well. I think writing in the first person helps to pull the reader in. Each section reads almost like a memoir. Despite it's length I found it to be a quick read. I read half of it in about 4 hours and couldn't wait for this past holiday weekend so I could finish it, which I did. The characters have become real to me now, and I feel vested in them and their plight. I am amazed that this is Stockett's first novel and I cannot wait for the movie to come out in August!



View all my reviews

Body Pillows?

Next week, we'll visit a few more Craftsy Bloggers. But today...? Today, I want to share the latest in what I call Disturbing Consumer News. Body Pillows. Now, I recently thought about purchasing a body pillow to help me sleep better. I googled. As expected, I found something like this...

But, I also found this. An "Edamame Body Pillow"... Weird. Sleeping with a soy bean.

I thought these pillowcases were a little kitchy, but sort of cute. Reminded me of my father's lame-o but funny "Dr's lab coat" and "tuxedo" T-Shirts.

And this is weird... I guess because I did a search for "body pillows", "body PART pillows" came up to. I mean, I don't know if I could fall asleep with a bunch of heads in my bed.

Ok... now these are... **Chinese accent** How you say... All right, fine. They're dirty, but funny. There. I said it. You got me. These are called "Endurance pillows" by Durex in New Zealand. Let's just say they are to help men with... **ahem** skipping ahead a little too fast? So wrong on so many levels... but still. I laughed. I mean, who'd wanna look at these old hammered hags in bed? Of course they could be a killjoy altogether. It's a fine line.

Um...yeah. Here's another take on "body pillow". I must say though... was it really necessary to point out the obvious? I mean if you've got one of those in your bed, I kind of assumed...

And apparently these "new trendy body pillows" are for those trying to get over a break up, or for those who just can't bear to sleep alone!

Mkay... that was just creepy. But not as creepy as this!!!! The Edward Manllow!!!

However... **THIS** one by far takes the cake! I mean, what is WRONG with people?!?!?!?!?

Is this supposed to be what happens **AFTER** the lap dance? Obviously Sensei has "mommy" issues from his childhood?
Seriously... Who comes up with this stuff???

Want MORE weird and FREAKY stuff? Hop on over and read about 7 whacko plastic surgeries that are on the rise in China! 7 Controversial Cosmetic Surgeries Now Surging in China

A Week in Review

Thanksgiving - The turkey was moist. The mashed potatoes were great. The gravy - oh my - the gravy was perfect. The yams were tender, in a caramelized brown sugar buttery sauce; Oh-so-good... like heaven. The pumpkin pie was divine. And the broccoli... well, it was broccoli. But it is my favorite veggie, so it was good. I ate just enough to be considered full, but didn't gorge myself to the point of having a food-baby. Oh - and we also had chocolate birthday cake for Big-D with blue icing made by his little nephew. It was really cute. The best part was I didn't have to cook! Yay!

Black Friday - After having an awesome lunch at Goodwood BBQ (whereI DID get a food-baby), Big-D and I set out to join what seemed like the rest of the world shopping. Most of the "Black-Friday" Shoppers were done, though the crowds were still plentiful. First stop: The Kingdom of all Manly Kingdoms, Cabella's. The list? Shotgun cleaner, Shotgun case, and I forget what else. Then Kohl's for pj's (where they still honored "Black Friday" prices simply because I asked!), Old Navy -where I found matching sweaters for the boys for $5 each, and Justice, Just for Girls -where everything was Buy One-Get One Free, so I got my daughter's Birthday gifts. By the time we got home, my calves were mooing and my dogs were barking, and I was ready for a nappy-poo. But, darn it, I forgot to replenish my cleaning supplies for my pre-holiday cleaning spree (see yesterday's post). So I picked up the kiddos from their dad's, dropped FunnyMan off at the Friend-Girl's for a par-tay, and dragged the other two with me to none-other-than Wal-Mart. I giggled shamelessly as I thought about the "Wal-Mart Bingo Card" my friend emailed me (so politically In-Correct. Nevertheless, click pic for larger view.) As we were checking out around 9:30pm, LittleDuckling tells me he is STARVING! "Didn't you eat dinner at your dad's?" I ask. "Yes," he replies. "But I missed breakfast, and I've been a meal behind all day!" Me, trying to stifle my laugh repeat, "So you're hungry, because you missed breakfast?" "Yes," states LittleDuckling. "Don't you know that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" So, with that, I agree to take them to Chili's (in the same parking lot as Wal-mart) but tell them we will share appetizers. The process didn't take long, but he acted like he was going to DIE while waiting for the food to arrive.

LittleDuckling, STARVING!

the food finally arrived!

LittleDuckling, filling his belly and "catching up" on his meals!

Game Day - Saturday was the day I could finally get my hands on a gun. It had been 20 years since I had shot a gun, so I was really looking forward to it. Big-D and his buddies and I went to the gun range. First they let me shoot the shot guns. But my arms were too short to feel comfortable. And the recoil hurt the inside of my shoulder...ouch! Then onto handguns. That was fun. I could do that for hours. They were all very kind and didn't seem to mind me tagging along on their traditional guys-shooting-day-out. They were patient in explaining and showing me how their guns worked so I could try. Here is me, with Big-D's Big-Bad Shotgun:

And here is me shooting off his friend's pistol:
After the gun range, I had some tickets for me and some clients to go to the Jazz/Nets game. I took Big-D too. The game was very intense. I know it's wrong, but I just wanted someone to bust up Yi Jianlin's kneecaps during half-time. And what was up with Okur? He played HORRIBLE! The only thing I can say in my sweet Jazz Team's defense is that they played their Butts off on Monday against the Bulls. It was neck & neck until the Bulls won by 1 pt at the buzzer! Then they won the next 2 games against the Grizzlies and the Kings, and by the time Saturday rolled around, they were tired, and stuffed from all that Turkey and left-over Turkey. Can you blame 'em? Anyway - by the end of the 3rd qtr, they were behind by about 20 and my headache was approaching migraine status so we left. Still a fun day all in all. Here is Big-D not impressed with the score. Though he did nab one of his ever-so-favorite-game-treats: a churro!My Birthday - Tuesday was my birthday, and I received lots of well-wishes. CatGirl from work made an eclair pie- De-Lish!!!! After work Big-D took me to my Fa-A-A-Vorite place to eat: Biaggi's! Then we went to "Savior of the World" Christmas production downtown. It was really good, and of course the singing was phenomenal. The angel chorus was so powerful that it brought me to tears. The guy in front of us was about 100 years old, and I get that when you're that old, you can't always control your bodily functions. Well, during scene 1 of Act 2, we hear it... Brmmmp! He tooted. I wasn't going to snicker like a child. I wasn't going to carry on with a wheezing silent laugh that would bring me to tears. I wasn't going to laugh so hard I'd almost pee my pants. But one look at Big-D and it was that smirk on his face that did it. I blame him completely. We both broke out into giggles. I had to put my head down several times. We were in the 5th row! I was sure the actors could see us. I was certain the Ushers were going to ask us to leave. Finally, we gained composure. We were in control. Then an actor steps out, wearing a pastel purple gunny-sack "Disciple-Type" costume, with a rainbow striped "shawl"-thingy. His facial expressions and voice tone were, how do you say, well - flamboyant. He was a great actor. A great singer. But I just couldn't "buy into" his character, as flamboyant as he was. Big-D and I shamefully broke out into giggles again. Luckily the show was almost over and the music, again so moving, brought me to tears.

(side note) When we got home, for some reason we got into a discussion about High School Graduation Open Houses. He said he had never heard of such a thing. Perhaps because here in Utah a majority of the people are LDS and their kids go off on missions before college and they do Farewell Open Houses instead. That is my theory anyway. Big-D argued that perhaps it's just a Mid-western thing, an Indiana-Thing. I beg to differ. So my bloggy-audience, I ask you, Did you/Do you have High School Graduation Open Houses where you're from???

So, there is my week in review. It was a great week and I had a lot of fun. I certainly created memories never to be forgotten. I am tired already and it isn't even Christmas! :)