#11: Kisses from Katie

I recently read Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis.  I heard of this book quite a while ago, but it wasn't available at the library.  A friend of mine who is selling Trades of Hope jewelry, had a copy and let me borrow it.  There is a Kisses from Katie  necklace available from Trades of Hope.

This is the story of Katie Davis who says God called her to go on a mission trip during her senior year of high school.  She looks into and finds an orphanage in Uganda that is accepting volunteers and goes there over Christmas break with her mom.  She immediately falls in love with the work and wants to go back.

Her parents, family, friends, etc. all want her to stay home and go to college, but she really wants to go back and help the children.  She ends up becoming a teacher and decides to live there and adopt children.

Katie is in a constant state of wanting to be with her family, but having a greater desire to help the children in Uganda.  There are lots of Bible references.  I really like her story, but it got a little repetitive.  Still a great woman to be able to do something like this.


Currently Reading:  If I Stay by Gayle Forman

#10: A Casual Vacancy

I finally finished A Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling.  This is the story of a council man dying during his term and all the behind the scene stories of the other council men/women and those looking to fill his spot.

There was so much sadness and evil in the lives of the characters.  I wanted to feel sorry for some of them, but at the same time I hated most of them.  There was so much lack of communication with some of the families and violence and ignorance with the others.

I do admit that this book was really slow moving for me.  I found it interesting, but not in an "I can't put it down" kind of way.  There were just so many things going wrong or making me mad in the book.

I decided I really needed to finish it and stayed up until past midnight last night doing so.  The final part of the book was really the best for me.  So sad and heartbreaking, but it finally made the characters see everything that was infront of them.  I think Rowling did a great job at pulling this book together at the end.

Up Next:  Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis

#9: The People of Sparks

We finished the 2nd audio book in the City of Ember series, The People of Sparks.  In this book, the people of Ember escape the underground city and move to Sparks.  Here they are taken in as refugees and given food, shelter, and work.  Some of the Sparks people welcome the new people and others hate and fear them.  Things start out okay and then take a turn for the worse.

Interesting series to listen to for car rides.  It's a pretty good chose for a whole family pleaser.

#8: Orphan Train

I just finished Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.  I really enjoyed this story.  It was one of those books I really didn't want to put down and I ended reading it in a day and a half.

I loved how the book was told over two time periods to share the lives of Vivian Daly, 91, and Molly Ayer, 17.  Vivian rode on the Orphan train in 1929 to find a new family after her family was killed in a house fire.  Molly is orphaned teenager living with foster parents in 2011.  Molly and Vivian meet when Molly is required to fulfill some community service hours.  At first they seem to have nothing in common, but then we learn they are more similar than we can imagine.

While I liked the stories of both characters and seeing how their lives were similar, I was most interested in the orphan train itself.  I had never heard of this before.  I would really love to leave more about this and maybe read some non-fiction on this topic soon.

Up Next:  The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

#7: Footsteps in the Snow

Our theme for February Book Club is "true crime".  I was going to just choose a book off of our bookshelves, but we were at a book store and I saw a book that looked really interesting.  I didn't by it at the book store, but thought about it a lot after seeing it.  We went to another book store a few days later and I asked them if they had it in stock and they had 1 copy.  I saw that as meant to be and bought it to read as my true crime book.

The book is Footsteps in the Snow by Charles Lachman.  It is about the kidnap and murder of a 7 yr old girl from Sycamore, IL in the year 1957.  The reason this case is unique, is because it was a cold case for 55 years before it was reopened and the killer was convicted.

This was a long book, but the writing format made it read pretty fast.  I was immediately drawn to the story and wanted to know what happened.  Throughout the book there were some disturbing parts, but nothing that made me what to quit reading.  There were a lot of details given about the people working the case, that I really didn't think added much to the story.  These could have been taken out to condense the book a little.

While, a killer was convicted, there are still some unanswered questions.  I would really love the convicted man to tell us exactly what happened that night, but he is still disputing his involvement.  Whatever happened, the man is certainly creepy and I'm glad he is finally brought to justice.

Up next: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

#6: After You

I really loved the book Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.  When I heard there was a sequel to this book, I was really excited to see what Louisa Clark was doing with her life after Will Traynor.  The sequel is called After You.

At the beginning of the book, Lou is really not living at all.  She is working in an airport bar, living alone, and missing Will.  She really isn't "living" as Will hoped she would.  She has an accident leaving her injured and sending her back home to her parents.  This time really makes her see that she needs to start "living" differently.

Lou's life changes drastically when she meets Sam, an ambulance driver, and Lily, Will's daughter.  Lou allows Sam and Lily to come into her life and goes through motions to try to change.  As always, there are problems in Lou's life and it is hard for her to make any decisions that could lead to "moving on".  We also learn a lot about Lou's life through a support group she goes to.

I really don't know what to think of this book.  I liked it, but the story was not nearly as good at Me Before You.  There were parts that were funny, sad, and heartbreaking,  but I really just didn't get the heart wrenching feelings like in the previous novel.  I also feel like maybe Moyes ended this one like she did to leave room for a #3....

Up Next:  Footsteps in the Snow by Charles Laohman (for the True Crime book club)

#5: And the Mountains Echoed

I finished And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini last night.  I really loved Hosseini's other 2 novels.  I was excited when this one came out and was waiting to read it.  While I enjoyed the story, I found it a little confusing.

This is the story of two siblings, Abdullah and Pari. When they are young and living in a poor Afghan village, they are very close.  Basically each other's world as their mother died and father is trying to find comfort in another family.  We learn of their early childhood and how they become separated when Abdullah is 10 and Pari is 4.  Being separated has a drastic effect on both of these children.

While I really liked hearing about Abdullah and Pari, I felt there were too many other characters introduced throughout the story.  We learn more about their family members and some doctors in the area.  I felt that some of the characters tied together, but not strong enough for the story.  Some of the other characters were very interesting and I felt they could have had their own novels.  I would of loved to have this be a book series with all the supporting characters.  I just feel there are so many more details that could have been built to make the tying of the characters come together.

I am really interested to see what other people think of this book.

Currently reading:  After You by Jojo Moyes