Little Bee

We don’t want to tell you what happens in this book.

It is a truly special story and we don’t want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you will need to know enough to buy it, so we will just say this:

This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again—the story starts there….

Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds.

I can't remember where or how I heard of this book, all I remember was I was excited to read it from the moment I heard of it. However, I did not expect much of what happened from whatever I had read  that made me take interest. This is probably one of those books I will think about for a long time.

A word of warning that this book is not for the faint of heart. There are some pretty hefty issues and horrific experiences that are dealt with in this novel, and some of the blatant graphic violence is tough to handle. It's not gratuitous in any way shape or form, it is absolutely necessary for the story, but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow.

One of the things I found interesting about the story is that the two women have quite the age gap, yet are at a similar same stage in life in many ways. The story seems to catch these women at the toughest part of their lives thus far, but under very different circumstances. The woman born and bred in the UK is at her toughest stage when she is married, started a family, and is trying to balance her career as well, whereas a teen girl from a war torn country is having to flee, and it's her toughest stage in life because who knows if she will live past her teens. Very interesting commentary on what 1st world and 3rd world problems really are.

I'm not sure of Cleave's exact background, but I wonder if he is a journalist or what his perspectives are on journalism and journalists. I got the distinct impression that he feels that journalism can solve all world problems, like, if someone gets the story out into the public eye, all of a sudden all world problems will go away. OR does he just feel that that's what journalists think will happen, and that's what keeps them doing what they are doing? By the end of the novel I felt I was being preached at or fed propaganda that really annoyed me. It felt like "look at us! Journalism can save lives! Just call us the doctors of the written world!" was the message I was being given. However in my experience, I find that many news outlets don't really care about the truth or saving lives, it's all about what will sell and what people want to hear. Don't know what actually happened? Just make something up to get everyone's attention and we'll just correct ourselves later... unless it becomes less interesting, then we'll just drop it all together....

If you choose to read this one, just be prepared for what you are getting in to.

Book Swap!!

I went to my first Book Swap today!!

I've always been a bit skeptical of Book Swaps. I was invited last year, but didn't get to go because Dominic was still in the hospital. And I'm not sure if I would have gone anyway. As a self proclaimed book snob, I was never sure if it would be heaven or hell. I was more leaning towards hell, but today I was pleasantly surprised. I expected broken spines and dogearred pages, but I think the majority of the books that were there wouldn't have looked out of place on my bookshelf. 

I really came out better than I went in. I gave a copy of a book I was disappointed by and didn't feel I needed a hardcover copy of (Go Set a Watchman) and came out with a copy of a book I had already read and loved that was still in acceptable condition (Life After Life, I borrowed the ebook from the library). I felt a little bit guilty about taking a book I disliked, but I figured someone else may be interested, and if they don't have to actually pay for it, all the better. I figure the person that took it won't like it, but at least they won't be dropping any money on it. 

Cheryl and Craig really did a great job of setting everything up and there was a MASSIVE amount of books there. I brought a couple and figured it would be a "bring two in, take two out" kinda thing, but there was so much there it was "bring whatever you want, and take whatever you want" thing instead. So not only did I get a book to add to my bookshelf, I also got a couple placed in my hands by good friends with their high recommendations and a whole bunch of new books for Rosalie (who accompanied me today, and immediately wanted to leave when we got there, but once we started picking out books to take home, she didn't want to go. That's my girl!). Any books that didn't get picked up by one of the guests get donated to the Saskatoon Symphony Book Sale. So it's going to a good cause. 

Fun day! Got to see some bookstore friends that I don't see often, which is always a bonus, and I'm looking forward to next year!

The Martian

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?


FINALLY! Something to rave about! I was right to take a break from sequels, I think.

Honestly, I started talking up this book to people before I even finished reading it. It's one of those books that you don't really know what the outcome is going to be, but almost no matter what happens, so much good story has gone into the work that there are several outcomes that would be acceptable. As long as they don't pull the Alice in Wonderland ending ("it turned out to all be a dream!"), it'll be good. And it was. It really was a good ending.

Very much of this book is written from the perspective of Mark in a personal log type format. Although it reads like a well written blog, I still liked it. I am pretty sure that if someone were actually working for NASA, formatting and formality would be pretty important, so realistically, it wouldn't have been written the way that it was in this book. However, I still approve as a character development device. The reader finds out in short order the type of person Mark is, you get a feel for his voice and character through his logs. I can see how some people would interpret it as juvenile, inexperienced, or perhaps even poor writing, but I really feel it enhanced Mark's character. It may have been a device, but it definitely worked for me.

I also think that style of writing got me very socially and emotionally invested extremely quickly. I think probably within the first 30 pages I was really feeling for this guy, and not long after I was grinning like an idiot and wanted to cheer when things went well for him, and I felt my heart sink when things didn't go his way. I think this is one of the reasons I loved this book so much. I was SO invested. I was "in" to it so quick. Such a great feeling. Also it made me read it far quicker than I should have (who really needs sleep?)

Before starting this book, I was aware that the movie was coming out next month, and I made a point of not watching the trailer. All I knew about it was that Matt Damon was going to be Mark, and I only knew that because of the poster. Midway through reading (and loving) the book I decided I wanted to make sure that pictures of the characters in my brain were lining up with who was cast in the movie. It's one of those little things that can really just kill a movie for me, so a little preparation can go a long way in saving the movie for myself. It was impressive how close the casting was to who was in my brain. For example, Commander Lewis in my brain was Joan Allen, but Jessica Chastain is cast. Now, to me, it seems that Chastain is just a younger Allen, so that was pretty much perfect. For the NASA Public relations director, Annie Montose, I had (not me! You'd think sharing the same first name would make me picture myself, I think often this is true, but not this time, I'm not nearly that awesome) the woman that played Fig in Orange is the New Black (her name is Alysia Reiner, had to imdb it), but Kristin Wiig is cast and she will be amazing. She is younger and hotter and just fantastic in general. Those were the two characters that I pictured the clearest, other than Damon as Mark, and I was definitely happy with those casting choices, and I am pretty happy about the rest as well. If the movie is as good as the casting, I am going to LOVE this movie. (side note: I loved this book so much and I am so looking forward to the movie that I will probably do a review of it on here as well. So, stay tuned for that if you like this book review)

I finished this book a few of days ago and it's weird... it feels like I had been on Mars for a week and now I miss it. And there's no way to go back. If Weir tries to make a sequel I will be pissed. It doesn't need one, and shouldn't have one. (plus, I am a bit bias considering the sequels I have read lately). The best he could do would be a tangent character or plot or something and that just wouldn't be as good. But this book is worth a read. It's technically Science Fiction, because no one has walked on Mars yet, so this is future, but not super far in the future future. So it's attainable Science Fiction if that makes sense. I feel like I could recommend this book for everyone. It's just a great story. If you read it, let me know, so we can talk about it. If you see the movie... well... we can talk about that too, but you should really read the book ;)

Another Trial in Germany???

If you remember back a few months ago, I posted about the trial of Oskar Groening and how, at the age of Ninety-Four he was on trial for Nazi war crimes, because laws in Germany have changed so that anyone who did anything for the Nazis at any point can now be charged with accessory to murder.

I actually stopped looking up the trial because of constant delays. Oskar got really sick mid way through the trial and it was postponed a bunch, so whenever I checked there was no new info. Gradually I checked less and less frequently, to the point I wasn't checking anymore.

Last night I was reading through my usual news websites and came across an article about a new trial of another NINETY ONE year old woman being charged with accessory for murder because she was a radio operator. The article stated that a ninety four year old had been charged earlier this year, so I googled it, and sure enough. Oskar got 4 years. You can read about it here.  I am mad about it. I agreed with one of the plaintiffs that he should have had community service where he spoke out about what happened during the Holocaust. Then some good would have come of it, and I think it would have been a reasonable "punnishment" for just being a cog in a big evil clock. So anyone that was interested in that previous post... I guess that's the follow up. Poor guy is probably going to die in jail or die appealing the ruling.

SO, there's a new story now. As you probably figured, with the limited info this article presents. I feel pretty similar to the last trial.

Germany may need to have a geriatric jail if they keep up at this pace. I wouldn't mind working there. All the inmates are in their 90s and are there feeling shame for getting sucked into a Nazi black hole in their 20s... I doubt they'd have shanks. I'm in!


But in all seriousness, what the hell? Seriously?? What. The. Hell?

Go Set A Watchman

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch--"Scout"--returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchmanperfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past--a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience.

Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor and effortless precision--a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context and new meaning to an American classic. 



I think I am going to swear off sequels for a while after this. The last few I've read have been really disappointing so I really need to read something that I am going to like! For me, I suppose, sequels set the expectations too high. I want to LOVE them as much as the originals, and lately that hasn't been happening. Alas... on to the review.

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... Honestly, I don't know where to begin. There is SO much to talk about with this one and things interrelate to eachother, so I apologize if I bounce around a lot and this review seems a bit disconnected...

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... Ok, one more thing before I get going: I think it's important to know the background on the publishing history of this book because in some areas, it does really matter. I suppose it shouldn't, because normally you don't know what goes into the publication of a book, but in this case, being that this is Harper Lee's "second" (I'll explain the quotation marks in a minute) novel, and the "first" has been such a huge hit and is taught in schools now, it's kinda relevant. The truncated version is that Go Set A Watchman was written by Lee first, but rejected by publishers. One of the publishers told her that the story of Scout as a child would make for a better book, so she went and wrote that one. That book became To Kill A Mockingbird. For whatever reason, she never went about publishing Go Set a Watchman after To Kill a Mockingbird was published. Who knows if she forgot about it, or decided she was living well enough off of To Kill A Mockingbird that she figured she didn't need to bother publishing Go Set A Watchman, or if she figured if it had already been rejected what was the point of tryng again... who knows. But it was found in her attic or something and now is being published a good 60+ years after it was written. So which one is technically the first book? Thus the quotation marks. Anywhoo, now you have the abridged version of the history of this publication.

Ok... let's start with the arbitrary topic of inconsistencies. Inconsistencies are a big irritant with me. When we are told something happens one way and then something else later, that drives me mad. This mostly happens with series with MASS quantities of books, sometimes authors must have forgotten that they already wrote about some incident or topic in a previous novel, but in this book it was too big to be an oversight. It was a choice. At some point Lee changed the outcome of a huge plotline in To Kill A Mockingbird that differed from the passing mention of what happened in Go Set A Watchman. There is no way that any person that has read To Kill A Mockingbird could miss it. I'm not sure exactly why I bothered, but I took to the internet after reading that part and it is a general consensus that Go Set A Watchman is a parallel universe to that of To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm not sure if that is true, or just that is how the pubic is explaining this massive fuck up. I'm also not sure if that is better or worse in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps it's better because technically this book would have NOTHING to do with To Kill a Mockingbird if it's a parallel universe, but at the same time, why would anyone ever want to read about a parallel universe when the original is just fine? Not me. I think Lee just changed the story while writing To Kill a Mockingbird, and the publishers were so stoked about finding Go Set A Watchman that they didn't edit it or change a thing. The should have... they really should have.

I can totally see how publishers could read this book and see that a story about Scout's childhood would be better. The flashbacks in this story were easily my favourite parts, and most were from the time between Mockingbird and Watchman. Maybe if Lee had written Watchman as two books, one of the flashbacks in chronological order, and then published the rest as another book, then at least I would have liked the middle book of the series and been satisfied, rather than disliking Go Set a Watchman as a whole instead.

One thing I can say for this book is that Lee is still a master of the written word. Her book, in a literary sense, was smooth as silk. There was this one point where Scout is passing around sandwiches at a gawd awful party and was catching clips of all of these women's conversations. It was written beautifully and it almost felt like I was there. Great writing. In contrast, it really boils down to that the plot, or lack of one, that really killed it for me. In Mockingbird, there were two really solid plotlines that wove together really well (Tom Robinson's court case and Boo Radley). In Watchman there was nothing even comparable. Scout went back to Maycomb. Things are backward from what she prefers and she finds out things about her father that she doesn't like. That is all. Really nothing happened, and that is where the HUGE issue lies with this book. 

I really feel like everything that made To Kill a Mockingbird fantastic, all of the forward thinking and amazing parenting and tackling the issue of Human Rights, was really lost in this novel. Instead we got steps backwards in Women's rights. I don't want to get into any spoilers here, so I'm just going to say that perhaps had this book been published back in the 50s when it was written it would have flown, but today... I can't imagine it being received too well by younger generations the way To Kill a Mockingbird has been. 

I gotta say, I'd just recommend giving this one a pass. I found it tough to rate on GoodReads, this is where I need a 1/2 star system. Because this one would have fallen somewhere between an "it's OK" and "I didn't like it". I don't feel it's poor enough to get the 2-star rating that other books have gotten, but 3-stars is giving it too much credit for something so disappointing. Something still can be said for Lee's writing style, but the plot just isn't there. Just go read To Kill a Mockingbird and forget this book exists.

Time for a REBRAND!

... or re-template or something....

Frankly I needed to change my background for the blog. It started to bother me that the most obvious books on that shelf were Angel (the TV show) spinoff books. Yuck. Like I would ever read that crap.. um... unless it's Star Wars expanded universe spinoff-y stuff. But that doesn't count! Because... um... nevermind. We were talking about the changes! Back on topic.

Tell me what you think! If you have any opinion of course. This background pick is lighter and more friendly, but hates text of any colour because there are some dark and some light areas. So choosing one colour of text is difficult, especially for the title. Black and white didn't work... but maybe this ocre coloured one does? Let me know. I can still change it if it sucks.

P.S. My next book review will be up in the next couple days if that is why you are here (Goodreads automatically posts to my wall when I finish a book, and I notice that my view counts skyrocket those days. So... sorry to disappoint. It's coming!)

The Rosie Effect

Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are back. If you were swept away by Graeme Simsion’s international smash hit The Rosie Project, you will love The Rosie Effect.

The Wife Project is complete, and Don and Rosie are happily married and living in New York. But they’re about to face a new challenge.

Rosie is pregnant.

Don sets about learning the protocols of becoming a father, but his unusual research style gets him into trouble with the law. Fortunately his best friend Gene is on hand to offer advice: he’s left Claudia and moved in with Don and Rosie.

As Don tries to schedule time for pregnancy research, getting Gene and Claudia back together, servicing the industrial refrigeration unit that occupies half his apartment, helping Dave the Baseball Fan save his business and staying on the right side of Lydia the social worker, he almost misses the biggest problem of all: he might lose Rosie when she needs him most.

Get ready for The Rosie Effect, the new hilarious and heart-wrenching romantic comedy of the year. 


This book had SO much potential. And I was so, SO disappointed. Part of me wonders if Simsion was encouraged or persuaded to pump out another book really quick in order to keep the momentum off of The Rosie Project (which was a FAR superior novel. You can read my review on that one here).

One of the greatest things about The Rosie Project was that it was able to be funny without being at anyone's expense. It was humour based on sound logic that fails in practicality, and social expectations put under the microscope to realize how silly they are. This book, however, seemed to attempt humour at Don's expense, at parents' expense, and at pregnant mothers' expense. I also found that there was lots of stereotyping of people in specific academic fields in this novel that wasn't in it's predecessor. Overall, for a book that I expected to be as funny as the first, I felt I had only gotten one instance of it that was like the first novel. Otherwise, the humour fell flat. This is a comedic bomb.

Part of the issue with the humour may have stemmed from the fact that this novel was so much more serious than the first. Divorces, break ups, misunderstandings, and estrangements litter the plot line. Honestly sometimes things happened that were so heavy I had a bit of anxiety about them. So with such serious topics, how do you keep the humour going? You can't (or at least Simsion can't), and that was proved with this novel.

It's hard not to be too harsh on this book, but I am just so heartbroken and disappointed. The Rosie Project was easily one of the best books I have ever read, and I was looking forward to this one for so long. The Rosie Effect is really not a bad story if it were to be considered all by itself, but the first novel just set the standard too high. I suppose it was bound to fall that way. 

If one good thing can be said about the novel is that after all of the stuff I just mentioned, it ended well, but I don't think it made up for the wreck of a journey this book was. Personally, I think if you read and loved the first one, don't read this one. Maybe if Simsion writes a third book and it's good, then give this one a chance just in order to keep up with the story, but keep expectations low.

Upcoming with Dominic

After having quite a few months of quiet life with Dominic it was bound to get more eventful again. Can't be idle for too long, where's the fun in that?

Today we had Dominic's plastic surgeon appointment and I have been eagerly awaiting this one for a while. Our previous plastic surgeon had decided to pass on her Pediatric patients to another doctor and today was the day to meet this new doc. I was concerned that the change in doctor would postpone his palate surgery because the previous doctor wouldn't have booked OR time because she wouldn't be working on Dom, and the new doctor was unlikely to book a slot without meeting Dom and assessing the state of his palate himself. And I was right. However, I was wrong about it delaying the dates for Dom's surgery. His new plastic surgeon had similar plans to the former and still figured we should try for this month or next, but it was possible he might not get in until November depending on space availability. I left the appointment feeling happy with this new doctor and felt I had a clear grasp on what to expect.  His office would call me with dates as soon as he was scheduled. The only big thing that I needed to work on in the mean time is getting Dominic to drink out of an open cup.  I have no idea how this is going to go. Dominic isn't even on a sippy cup or anything yet. The reasoning behind the open cup thing is that he is going to have a lot of stitches in the roof of his mouth so any suction or pressure may rip them out. So even his cleft lip bottle he uses he won't be able to use after surgery. And one of the requirements to leaving the hospital after surgery is the ability to take fluid by mouth via an open cup.... Well... What can I say? Challenge Accepted.

Of course everything changed a few hours after we got home -- one of Dominic's cardiologists called. We had a cardio appointment a few weeks ago and got an ECHO done and his cardiologist mentioned that the pressures on the right side of his heart were starting to climb again. This is because of the stents that Dom had put in during his hybrid cath procedure in Edmonton last November. He has grown A LOT in the past 10 months and it's possible he is already starting to outgrow the stents. She said she was going to consult with Dom's other two cardiologists and get back to me if they all thought that there was something that needed to be done right away or if we should give it more time. See if we could try to wait until a point where his conduit needs to be replaced too or something. His Oxygen Saturation levels were still good even with the higher pressures, so when I hadn't heard back, I figured that they must have decided it could wait. This phone call, however, proved otherwise. They have decided that Dominic needs to have another cath procedure done, and although it's not emergent, it still needs to be done before his palate surgery. So that's the big kicker that will delay his palate surgery, not the change in plastics doctor. The other big thing about this cath procedure is that because of Dominic's complex... well, everything really... it was determined at their Western Canadian Cardiac conference call that it should be done in Edmonton. This is one of those developments that I am a bit torn about. It's never easy to travel to Edmonton for these things, mostly because I have to leave Rosalie behind. I know she will be fine being with my mom, but... ya know... parenting. At the same time the Stollery is the best hospital ever. I wish that it was in Saskatoon rather than Edmonton. If any procedure is being done on Dom I would prefer it be in Edmonton just because their facility is so much better than RUH. And frankly RUH is a dump. All the staff are amazing in Saskatoon, but everything from the facility itself down to the cribs are so much better in Edmonton. I'll try looking on the bright side, maybe if Dom stays overnight after his cath Roland and I will get a bit of a break. And maybe we can go to Ikea... so... I'm deciding to view it as a positive, with a very few downsides.... Really if they could just pick up the Stollery and plop it into Saskatoon that would really solve all of my problems.

So, we're going to have some hectic months upcoming. That'll also probably mean more Dominic updates ;)


Mini Rosalie Update!

She started Preschool today, and had SO much fun. This is going to be a great year for her.