Three Cups of Tea

I received this e-mail from our friends, Gary and Judy Ewing on a book. I'll copy it as she wrote it:

"Just a note to recommend the most amzing book I've read in a long time...I know you'll enjoy it to. It's Three Cups of Tea...One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...one School at a time. It's author is Greg Morgenson and David Relin. Greg was a mountain climber who climbed K2, in Afghanistan....but didn't quite make it. His amazing story evolves to him becoming a builder of schools for girls in Afghanistan....which he continues til now. You HAVE to read it!"

Sounds reall y good.

Phillipa and Dean

I just finished reading "The Constant Princess" by Phillipa Gregory. She wrote "The Other Boleyn girl" and then "The Boleyn Inheritance". All about the wives of Henry the 8th. The "Bolyen" books she wrote first and then went back and wrote the Constant Princess after his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. She wrote in her research of the Boleyn girls she became very interested in Katherine. Cari suggested reading that one first and going in order of his wives. It starts out a little slow with her early life as youngest daughter, Catalina, to Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain. It was totally a good read. I couldn't wait to start the next one, "The Other Boleyn girl." This one is really good too. BUT..then Dean Koontz came out with his book, "Odd Hours." So....Boleyn got put aside for a little bit. (Actually we are leaving for vacation in a couple of weeks so I thought the Boleyn books would be better to take as they are paperback.) I am totally a Dean Koontz fan. I read all of his books. If any of you follow him, this is his 4h Odd adventure. It starts out with Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd, and now Odd Hours. Odd Thomas is a great guy, very average looking but can see dead people. So he helps the local police in finding killers. He can also see the future at times so goes around trying to keep people from dying. Odd Hours has started off very fast paced and good. I would recommend reading the first book, Odd Thomas, first to get a sense of the character.

RE: "Dogs"

I know, I had the same feelings but it is interesting to read about that country's (Zimbaway (spelled something like that) uprising in the 70's. She'got a little bit of sense of humor to her too. You could see how the whites had total domination over the blacks in that country, but on the other hand they kept them fed and even had medical services for them. I had to put it down for a long while. And RE: "14" Stephanie Plum. YEA!!!! I love Stephanie. Can't wait for the new one.

Memoir

My mom lent me a memoir called "Let's Not Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood." It's extremely interesting, but barely a third in, I'm completely depressed. We have a whole slew of dead animals, an alcoholic mother and two dead babies. What could possibly be ahead?? I'm wondering if this whole memoir crazy world is going to make us a much more depressed society. After all, shouldn't reading be escapist? Why waste time diving head first into someone's depressing reality? Sigh... I'll keep reading though. The book is interesting. And therein lies the problem...

Calling ALL Stephanie Plum FANS

It's almost here...June 17th. YEAH!!!!! (author is Janet Evanovich for those who are unfamiliar)

Not Even My Name

OK - This is my first post EVER. I read this great story about the Greek, Armenian & Asyrian Genocide in Turkey. It's non-fiction (unless you ask someone from Turkey). The author Theo Halo tells the story of her mother's excile from Turkey. She opens with their visit to Turkey to see if they can find her home, and from there goes back in time to recount the excile and her life up to the trip. There are some really sad things, but overall the ending is happy. I LIKE HAPPY ENDINGS. The thing I found most interesting is that during my days in the Senate I recall the issue of the genocide being hotly debated because one of the UC's wanted to accept some money from Turkey. The string attached was that we would denounce that there ever was a genocide. We had a Greek Senator who led the oposition and it was a big deal. The book references that incident. Not in great detail though. I remember when it was taking place wondering what were they really talking about? Who were those people they were referring to as being exciled or killed? Now I know! Aaron says that you can still be shot in Turkey for claiming that it happened.

Re: Steamed

I understand completely! For the most part (and there are always exceptions) I read books and watch movies to relax. I look forward to the ending because I know that no matter the hardship or trauma that the characters have faced, in the end, all the pieces fall into place and good triumphs over evil. There's something about a book/movie that ends badly that leaves me SO dissatisfied! I feel as if I've been robbed of the relaxation/escape that I was in search of. The only way to describe it hmmph!

On a lighter note..I just got 3 new books! All of them recommendations...

First on the list:
Another Bullshit Day in Suck City- recommended by Cari. I'm SO excited to read it.. Even if this book is a disaster, it still has the best title I've ever read.

Phillipa Gregory

I think the whole world's gone Phillipa Gregory crazy... In 2003, when Shana and I were in London I bought "The Virgin's Lover" and didn't end up reading it until 2006. (I only can be that specific because I remember I was pregnant when I read it). I loved it, and when I went to buy more PG books, expecting there to be quite a hunt, I was very surprised to find that she's everywhere. She's HUGE. I love that she's making historical fiction mainstream, and I love that you can learn about the Tudors, historical Britian, etc, in an entertaining way. What's even more interesting is that historical fiction is now popular as a genre. I'm sure there's some historians who think it's garbage and silly, but I think anything that makes us learn is worth reading!! Anyway, so right now I am currently reading "The Last Wife of Henry 8th" by somone who's name I don't remember. It's pretty good, but it's no PG. I can't wait until the next book, but at the rate she's churning them out you have to wonder if she's going to run out of characters pretty soon!!