Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The more Henry thought about the shabby old knickknacks, forgotten treasures, the more it seemed as if his own broken heart might be found in there, hidden among the unclaimed possessions of another time. Boarded up in the basement of a condemned hotel. Lost, but never forgotten."

I would have no problem recommending this book to anyone, even to high school kids.

"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning"
- Ivy Baker Priest

Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was a little nervous to read this series because I had heard about the True Blood series on HBO and how "skanky" it was. Those kind of shows do not appeal to me, and so I was worried this book would follow suite.

I was very excited when the Barnes and Noble employee told me all about the book, and that HBO had taken a lot of "creative liberties" with the series. I purchased the first book and devoured it in one weekend.

Be warned there are a few sex scenes. I would give this book a solid PG-13. The HBO series portrays the books to be R-rated (with intense, graphic sex scenes) and that is where I would say they take creative liberties. They do follow the story line consistently, according to my neighbor. (I've never seen it)

Most people that know me know that I really did not like the Twilight series all that much. So it came as a huge surprise to me that I liked this book as much as I did. It's a grown up version of Twilight, and edited much better.

No. Scratch that!

It's not a grown up Twilight. Twilight was a sexless book, written for teens, where vampires were just myths. Dead Until Dark is not sexless and is a world where Vampires and humans mix-- knowingly. They have just recently "come out of the coffin" and are recognized in society as a minority race.

Really, according to the vampires, they have been a tortured race by the humans. They aren't really dead, they suffer from serious side affects from a "virus" that leaves them looking dead.

Harris has clearly given a lot of thought to the Vampire society-- right down to the high Archy that governs them. There are the Vampire Drainers-- people who capture vampires and drain their blood to sell on the black market. There are the "fang-bangers" who love to be bitten by the vampires. Then there is the synthetic blood that the vampires drink, and the fact that they now are tax paying, voting citizens of Society. World wide.

The series centers around Sookie Stackhouse, the heroine, who has a "disability"... She can read minds. While the thought of mind reading sounds completely intriguing to me, Sookie swears its debilitating. Frankly, I wouldn't mind a little clairvoyance, but Sookie wishes she could just get rid of this "disability" so she can have a normal relationship with a man. Which is where the vampire, Bill, comes onto the scene. Sookie can't read his mind, and she is completely smitten.

Bill Compton, the vampire in question, has returned to his roots. When he was living and before he died -- DURING THE CIVIL WAR -- he lived in that area of Louisiana. He had spent several years as a loner vampire and has now returned to try and be more mainstream.

How can you argue with a good mystery laced with clairvoyants, vampires and shape shifters? You can't. It's an easy, fun read that will leave you wanting more. Lucky for us there are nine of them, with book ten set to hit the scene in the spring of 2010.

Harris has a straight forward, just between you and me kind of style of writing that is fun and easy to read. One minute she's making you laugh, the next she's sending chills along your spine, and the next she's got you wondering who done it. This book will entertain and keep you guessing until the very end.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I finished reading The Hunger Games, I seriously wondered how on earth Ms. Collins was ever going to maintain the intensity and thrill that The Hunger Games held. I mean,really?! How do you top children fighting children, tributes-turned-mutant-dogs and a love triangle?

Ms. Collins has hit a solid home run with Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2)! It picks up a couple of months after the games have ended. Katniss has inadvertently become the symbol of rebellion against the tyrannical government of Panem. The safety of her family, the ones she loves and even herself hinges on her ability to quell the resisters back into submission.

This book maintains the intensity and thrill that was set by the previous book. The book moves at a much faster pace than The Hunger Games because there is no need for the back story to be laid. Collins does a fantastic job of reminding the readers of important, critical events, without distracting from the moving plot.

There were definite surprises and twists that I did not see coming, which makes reading books like this one absolutely delightful!

Some of the toughest challenges yet are faced in this book: love, conscience, survival, deranged monkeys and a flock of "candy pink" birds equipped with long beaks used to skewer human necks.

The brilliance of Catching Fire is the wonderfully sick idea of the games --Children fighting Children-- being broadcast live on TV for all of Panem to watch, and force into submmission.

Collins does a fantastic job of painting the horror and then letting your imagination take over. She understands that your imagination will paint what is scary to YOU better than she ever could. She supplies just the right amount of details and lets your mind do the rest.

While it sounds "scary" or "horrifying", it is actually in fact a brilliant piece of literature. It has a little bit of everything: solid writing, a compelling storyline, action, adventure, a little romance, and multiple layers of conflict. Reluctant readers like it because it moves along quickly, and seasoned pros appreciate how thoroughly Collins creates Katniss’s world and fills in the gaps about how it got that way in the first place.

Simply put: This book is Brilliant!

Today is the day that the post holiday blues usually drop in for their annual visit. The year is coming to close, and whether we realize it or not, we are balancing our own personal books. Tallying up the profits and losses. Will we be in the red or the black? It's easy to get caught up in the if only's.

Every year, we have a slumber party-- the whole family-- by the tree. We pop popcorn, have a fire in the fireplace, watch movies and lay around until everyone is in dreamland. (then I sneak upstairs to sleep in my bed-- all alone!) The kids love it!!

If you haven't delivered your Christmas Chocolates to those lucky people who have to work today, then make plans to do so. Then, step away from the computer. Turn it off. And go spend time with real live people.... Make a memory or two with your loved ones.

Every year on Christmas Eve Day, I make these yummy treats and we take them around to our friends! I usually eat more than we take, but its always fun for the kids to have something to occupy their time.

Have you made your cookies for Santa yet? We did. Last night as a big extended family. It was grand fun!

I post this exact same letter every year on my blog. Someone sent it to me in an email YEARS ago, and I love it! I actually really mean it too. Especially the last line.


Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my four children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my son's boy scout uniform with staples and a glue gun. (really. I did!)

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month two pregnancies ago.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with three kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.

Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,
Motherboard

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel ALL my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

I heard a readers theater once present The Nativity Story from the perspective of the Women in Christs life. His Mother- Mary; John the Baptists Mother; The Mother of Joseph, the Carpenter and The Mother of Mary. There was also the wife of a Shepherd and the Inn Keeper, and they talked about what it was like to see the Christ Child. Lastly, they had Mary the Mother of Christ speak, and talk about what it was like

Lastly they had Mary, the Mother of the Christ child speak and bear witness that her Son was our Savior. Her Son lived for us, and He died for us. It was so moving to hear these women, women who were a part of Christs life speak, and bear witness of HIS divine life. I had never thought of this wonderful story from this perspective.



I know that most of you save the Nativity story to be read on Christmas Eve,
but today lets read it and try to imagine how Mary felt.

Lets read it, thinking of the roles that the women in Christ's life played.

Let's read it trying to see it from the point of view of Christs Mother.
How would you feel, if this were your role to play? If this were your child?

I promise if you do this, you will never again read this story the same way.

My parents take turns spending the holidays with each of my sisters and I. I have 2 sisters that live plane rides away from us, and when my parents travel to their homes on Christmas Eve, they carry boxes of Chocolates to handout to the weary airport workers. It has become our family tradition to give these small tokens of Appreciation to those who make it possible for us to travel, or stay home.

My friend has a roof top car storage thingermabobber where she stores hides all her Christmas Presents.

I have a room in my basement that has a lock (and I have the key) where I store hide my kids presents. (its totally UN-PICKABLE. I've tried.)

Every year in Chicago there is a mysterious person(s) that gives very valuable gold coins to the Red Kettles. This mysterious person(s) donates these valuable gold coins every single year-- all over the city. It's always fun to see the stories and watch the excitement on the faces of the bell ringers as they talk about finding the gold coins in their pots!

My kids have more stuffed animals than we could ever play with in an entire lifetime! It is, for some reason, their very favorite thing to collect. Is it the same at your house?

So. Freaking. Funny.

This time of year would be a crummy time to be in the hospital. Especially if it was your child. Unfortunately, that is the case for a lot of families.

I try to come up with a life changing "gift" that I can give the Christ Child every year. Something from me-- to him. This time of year makes me want to try a little harder to be a little better.

My mind has been heavy with thoughts of my Grandmother this past week. Her birthday was the 6Th, and honestly? I miss her. She was an integral part of my life. I have more memories than not that include her and my Grandfather. They were wonderful people, who always had room in their hearts for whomever would come visit. They were simple people, good people, hard working people. They were, I am sure, not without their flaws; however, I only knew them as the perfect Grandparents that they were to me.

I remember going with my mother every year on my mothers birthday (the 16Th of December) to take my Grandmother a dozen roses. I would always ask her the same question "Why? Shouldn't Grandma be giving YOU flowers? It's your birthday..." She would always tell me the same thing... she wanted to say "Thank you for having me". She was the caboose, the last one to be born to a family that was poor and struggling. But, they had 1 more child-- My mother. And, my mother was very grateful that they decided to have that 1 last baby.

Grandma used to always tell me: "Motherboard, I was born in the depression and I've been depressed ever since." I didn't understand what she meant by that until I was much older. My Grandmother had led a hard life. She had a hard marriage, but she did the very best that she could with what she had been given. She had a testimony of the Savior and his Atonement. She loved the temple, and worked there for many years. She loved the scriptures-- I know this because she wrote me weekly while I was on my mission of her feelings about the scriptures. One of my most prized possessions is my Grandmothers scriptures. They mean the world to me.


She loved all of her grandchildren. All of us-- equally and the same. My sisters and I used to spend weeks in the summer with her, and she would tell us story after story of all the amazing things our cousins were doing. I could always tell how much she loved each of her Grandchildren, because whenever she talked about any of them... her eyes would light up!

Our family was a fractured family-- but my Grandparents loved us all the same. There were no favorites in their eyes-- just wonderful progeny that they had an intense love for, and a desire to know better.

Before she died, I had the opportunity to take care of her for 2 weeks. I flew out from Chicago with my little family to stay with her so that my Parents could go on a much needed vacation. Caring for an elderly parent is emotionally draining... and I am grateful that I could do that service not only for my Mom, but my Grandmother as well.

I remember helping her take a shower and her grabbing my hand, looking me in the eye, and saying: "Oh Motherboard, Thank you. Thank you. I never wanted to live long enough to have to have someone, especially my Granddaughter do this for me, but Thank you". It made me quite emotional, this caring for someone who used to care for me. The roles had reversed... and it was a humbling experience.

That was the last time I saw her alive-- those two weeks I cared for her. She died a couple of weeks later. Oh how grateful I am that I could have that time with her... and serve her one last time.

This is the week when our list of Holiday "shoulds" become as heavy as Jacob Marley's chains. You name it, we try to accomplish it during this time of year. Why? It's a crazy way to "enjoy" the holidays!