The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Last night I once again met with some of my favorite ladies for our monthly book club. I had been chosen a while ago to be the secretary...thats madame bookclub secretary to those who want to know. ;) In looking back at where we all started and how many people we have grown by it really makes me thankful to have such strong, faithful, wonderful women in my life! The book we discussed last night was The perks of being a wallflower and amazingly enough it was our 28th book!!! go us!!! Since I've slacked off in the whole blogging about my books thing ONCE AGAIN, here is a recap of the previous several books we've read....

In May...yes may...we read What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. I have to say while this was a very long book, I loved it. It really spoke to you(me) about how quickly people can change and become affected by the little things in life, and how those little things often become HUGE things that drive people apart. The premise of the book is about a woman, Alice, who while at her spinning class falls and bumps her head. When she wakes up she believes she is 10 years younger and about to celebrate her 30th birthday instead of in fact her 40th. The book takes you on Alice's journey of discovering why her and her husband whom she believes she loves so very much are on the verge of divorce, why her daughter does not like her, and who are the small boys that people tell her are her sons. It really makes you think and appreciate the simple things in life and for me really made me want to strive to continue to be living in my 20s and happy and hope that I, or my husband, don't become bitter in our 30s. I highly recommend this book.
I rate it a 9.5/10!

In June we read, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. I had actually wanted to read this book after I read an article about it in People Magazine. So I was rather thrilled to read it. I am sad to say that I unfortunately didn't finish it nor did I make it to the book club to discuss it that month, I had picked up 2 extra shifts that week and the night of book club was my only night off and I decided to spend it sleeping and with my boys. But what I did read of the book was challenging. The book is much like a memoir of how Amy raised her half Asian half American girls in American by the ideals that she was taught in being a Tiger mother. To be honest I struggled with this book. Being a parent myself much of the way Amy chose to raise her daughters wasn't how I will choose to raise mine. While I don't think Amy was wrong, it was just different. They believe very much in straight A's and being the best at a musical instrument chosen by the parents. It was rather comical to see how Amy butted heads and struggled with her youngest daughter LuLu. Since I did not finish it I don't think its fair for me to say I felt super strongly one way or the other but what I will say is that it was a very interesting perspective and brought much insight into the Asian philosophies on parenting and while I don't choose to raise my children this way, I'm glad some people do because although it is very much a stereotype Asian people have helped our world in many ways with their undeniable smarts and inventions most likely due to their parents pushing them so hard.
I rate it a 7/10

In July we read The Long Way Home by Karen McQuestion. This is another book that I just LOVED. It was fun and easy read that brought you out of reality and let you live for a few moments through someone else. Its a story of how 4 women from all walks of life, all at crossroads in their lives looking for the next thing decide to take a road trip. It takes you on a journey as the four women travel across the country for one woman to be reunited with her step son. Its an endearing tail of how sometimes complete strangers are in your life for a reason and help you through some of your toughest moments. I loved all the characters and I loved how each of them brought a different aspect to the story. Great read!
I rate it an 9/10

In August we read The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier. I have to honestly say I HATED this book. It was a very challenging, long and stupid book, to be quite frank. The story is about how one day there is what people call the Illumination where for some reason when people are in pain, physical or emotional you are able to see it on them because there is a light that reflects off their bodies. The book goes through 4 peoples lives after this illumination as a journal written by a man to his wife travels from person to person over the course of several years. Sounds interesting I know. But it was very poorly executed. You kept thinking that things would come full circle but NO, it feels like it just rambles at points and isn't interesting in the middle or the end. Not worth your time...
I rate it a 3/10

In September we read Defending Jacob by William Landay. I truly enjoyed this book! This book is about a DA in Massachusetts who gets a case about a young boy who was murdered. As the case progresses you find that the main suspect is in fact the DA's son. I don't want to say much more about it other than its a very heartfelt story of a father who tries desperately to save his son's life and really  makes you question how much of life is about nurture vs nature. Are we all genetically predisposed to be one way or does how we are raised and the environments in which we live in affect us in ways we will never be able to comprehend. LOVE IT!
I rate it a 9.5/10

In October we read Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I remember being assigned to read this book back in high school and since I refused to read a single book in high school I never read it then.  All I remembered about the book is a conch shell, and how it was about a bunch of boys who were stranded on an island. Well all of that is true, but there is obviously more to it. All though I tried hard to finish it, I did not. In my defense, I started a new job, and Lincoln celebrated his first birthday so I was a little preoccupied (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it). But its definitely an interesting read of how instinct in grave circumstances comes out. While I found myself zoning out through most of it, it was a decent book, for me it was just a little wordy and rambled about unnecessary things throughout it.
I rate what I read a 7/10

In November we read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This was my choice. I had a hard time coming up with something to read. When not reading book club books I tend to go for the trashy romance novels and I didn't want to pick one of those, so I did some research and read a lot of book club blogs and came up with this. The problem I think I faced was this book was built up too much. Everyone kept saying how GREAT it was and it was only so/so for me. It truly is a heart breaking tale of how F*$%^ed up people can be. It's a rather suspenseful thriller of how a woman goes missing on her 5th anniversary, and how all signs point to her husband. It takes you on a twisted journey to find Amy's true killer and is it really her husband? While the ending was sort of ehhh really???? overall it was a book that keeps you invested and even though you don't know who to root for in the end, it was a good read
I rate it an 8/10

For the months of December/January we read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I honestly didn't care much for this book. While it was an easy read, I feel like that is because there wasn't really a plot or a point. I don't get the point of the book. It's about a high school freshmen and his journey through his freshmen year. and thats about it....While it was nice that it was short and easy to get through it was just sort of blahhh to me. I didn't really love any of the characters and I didn't really care for the rather boring story line. Although the main character "Charlie" was rather endearing at times and I truly feel if more people were like him (a wallflower) and less consumed with their own lives the world would be a better place. However, The boy's experience through high school was so drastically different from mine that it truly did make me sad for those people who loose out on their innocence at such a young age and have had to live their lives like this. and while I didn't have this wonderful high school experience it really did make me sad that some people do have experiences like this one...
I rate it a 6/10.

Well there is the last 8 months of books. Holy Cow I really need to do better! Yippie! now on to The Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. I've started and I am hooked....heres to hopefully getting a posting about that one next month...haha

love,
Stephanie