Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

When you find a good book you just want to tell everyone so they can enjoy it just as much!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is just that for me. I know they say never judge a book by the cover. But honestly that's what attracted me to this book. I passed it by numerous times in Walmart; creeped out by the peculiar image on the cover, however intrigued none the less.

Without reading much of the summary I decided to toss it in my cart and call it a day finally. A week later, after finishing whatever book I was reading at the time, this book called out to me. I just had to know and understand what the picture was all about.

This normally doesn't happen to me, when I finish a book I usually pick one that has been on my shelves for months or even years. But as I have learned when a book calls to you there is a reason.

I had been on the hunt for a new favorite author for a very long time and with this book I found one.

Riggs intertwines the fantasy world of Miss Peregrine's Home with random and fascinating pictures, each of which is a character within the book. This book is a true page turner as you learn and explore the depths of this world with Jacob as he attempts to understand the world in which his grandfather grew up in.

Without giving details away, the book left me wanting more, wanting to know what will happen to the children and Miss Peregrine and the world in which they live. What I got was a new favorite author. I can't wait for the release of Riggs new book Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, in which I hope that this turns into a continuous series of which I will follow until the end!

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

What do you do when you learn you have no more options, no more chances and that you’re going to die in a certain time frame?

You probably will want to pass on your wisdom to those most important to you. For Pausch this meant savoring his life for his three young children. Pausch's The Last Lecture was one heard around the world not just through the actual lecture but through the preservation of the events in his book, co-authored by Jeffrey Zaslow.

Pausch's life was full of many accomplishments, but not without road blocks. Each chapter discusses one lesson of each accomplishment within his life. Going into this reading I thought what could he really teach me? What could I really take away from this book?

Surprisingly I walked away with many of my own personal situations put into perspective suddenly. While everyone has a past, some parts of our past can be painful, confusing and downright dirty. Pausch reminded me never to dwell on the pain, but to allow myself time to heal as well.

At this point in my life I truly needed to read, see and understand that lesson, what better way than to hear it from a dying man?

At the end of the book I found myself pulling out bucket list. Some of the stupidest things are listed on there, things that people do every day of their lives, so I decided to edit the list and make it into the top things I want to accomplish with my life. As Pausch states I may never fully reach those goals, the lessons from attempting to reach them are the biggest gift.

Pausch unfortunately passed away leaving a legacy of lessons behind for his children; something that I hope to someday be able to apply towards the love and nurturing of my own children.

Over all my expectations for the book where zero, just something everyone else read and talked about, what I walked away from with this book was a better understand of situations in my own life and the expectations for it. I recommend this book whole heartedly, if anything to find some type of understanding during a difficult time within your life.

Pausch passed away July 25, 2008.
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20281960,00.html

Happy Holidays!!!

Tis the season to be jolly...

I hope you all get what you want and that there are plenty of books under the tree, in the stockings, or where ever you put gifts, for a new year of reading to follow.

Have a great holiday everyone!!!

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is by far one of my favorite authors. I have read almost all of her work to this point and if I haven't gotten to one I know I own it and it's on the "To Read" list.

Lone Wolf has a great lesson in the pages. The ethics of ending life in a traumatic situation. Many families have to face the challenge everyday of "pulling the plug", my family included, sometime in their lives. It's a heart breaking challenge to face, to know your never going to see that person again, with the idea that your the one making that decision.

Edward who had been gone for six years after what seemed to be a fight with his father, is brought back to his small New England town after learning of a devastating car accident involving his sister and father.

The controversy over how, who and when to end life support is challenged by Cara, Luke's 17 year old daughter. Cara, who is involved in the accident, feels to blame and finds it hard to let go, with hope that her father may wake up from his brain injury.

Throughout the book you are brought into the minds of each character, from Edward to Luke, his father who had a traumatic brain injury, learning each individuals story, thoughts and beliefs on the rift between the family and the decision to end Luke's life support. Each character brings in a different perspective of the life that Luke has lived, how he has affected their lives by his choices and the life choices they had to subsequently partake in because of Luke.

Picoult did a great job of weaving the past with the present and bringing a challenging subject to the forefront of life. The end of life decision is one many choose not to discuss or don't think of discussing. In this book it brings the reader to question what he or she may want incase of such a situation. What clues could be left, what decisions do they want made ahead of time and whether they want a chance at the slim possibility of recovery or to be let go.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It's easy to read and keeps you guessing what will happen. Another great book by Picoult.

Carrie by Stephen King

My first Stephen King book ever. I'm not sure if it was a good choice or not at this point. I'm not a die-hard fan at this point, but I'm not counting him out. Horror or Thriller books are not my usual choice, but since this is a challenge I'm reaching outside of my box.

The format in which King wrote confused me at first. I felt lost throughout the book, but once I started to ignore the headers of each new insert I felt the pace move more smoothly, however I did get lost every once in a while after that.

I found it interesting that he decided to use research papers, newspaper articles and book excerpts to progress the story. You learned of Carrie, her mother, and the many different people within her life. All of which gave off different perspectives of what was going to happen based on their interactions with Carrie.

You could feel the love and fear Carrie held for her mother in her thoughts. Still apologizing in the end even though she ended the terror of her own life.

I don't want to give away the in's and out's of the story, that's the thrill of reading the book yourself! But overall I truly enjoyed the book. It never had a dull moment and even though I knew the story through the movies, the description left within the book was more in-depth and exciting.