It's Softball Time...

We signed our daughter up for softball last week, and that got me thinking about softball in books.  I've never read nor heard of a "softball book", so I decided to go looking.

Here's some of what I found...

Source:  Goodreads

From Goodreads...
Set in a small Oregon town just after WWII, this is the powerful tale of a community shattered by its reaction to two young newcomers, Aki and Shazam.  Told from 21 different points of view, Bat 6 explores the subject of Japanese-American racial prejudice after the war.

Source:  Goodreads

From Goodreads...
The Story of two sisters and one softball-playing summer.

Source:  Goodreads

From Goodreads...
Everyone thinks being a fourteen-year-old fast pitch softball player is nothing but fun and games.  But ask Rachel Adams, and you'll learn otherwise.  There are millions of problems to deal with, including demanding dads, grumpy coaches, and umpires that make terrible calls.  But Rachel really complicates things for herself when she sneaks out with her teammates, meets some boys, and drinks alcohol...

Source:  Goodreads

From Goodreads...
Brooke Conrad is on top of the world.  She is the star shortstop for her high school's softball team, and it is one of the best teams in the state.  But everything changes overnight when the shortstop for the school's baseball team gets kicked out of school , and the baseball coach asks Brooke to take his place for the season.  Brooke has never heard of anything more ridiculous...

Source:  Goodreads

From Amazon...
Fifteen-year-old Angel Williams has wanted a puppy all of her life, so she is ecstatic when her dad finally agrees he can get one-but on one condition.  She has to hit a home run in her softball game later in the day.  Much to Angel's delight, she does, and she is rewarded with an adorable chocolate Labrador named Homer.  Homer becomes her team's mascot, and he leads them on their quest to win the state championship.  But when Homer is injured in a freak accident, can Angel and the rest of the team continue without him?




Let me know if you've read a good book about softball !

345 Pages Read...A Few Hundred to Go

Source:  Goodreads

I'm on page 115 of 692 in The Thorn Birds, and I have to say I'm really liking it.  I was drawn into the story immediately.  I see myself finishing this one well before the end of February.

Source:  Goodreads

I'm on page 230 of 384 in Home Front.  I'm really liking this one as well, and I'm expecting to finish it in the morning.  I'll be posting a full review tomorrow.

What I'm Reading Now...

I was planning on reading Home Front by Kristin Hannah next, but I finished Like Water For Chocolate yesterday afternoon, and I haven't gotten my hands on a copy of Home Front yet.  It's checked out at the library at the moment, and I'm sure there's a waiting list anyway.  So I looked through my bookshelves and came across The Thorn Birds.  It's been a recommendation on Goodreads for me for a while, and since it's considered a romance and it's been on my TBR (to be read) list for a long time I figured I'd read it now.  It seems like every book I've read lately has been on my TBR, which is a very good thing since my TBR list is forever long.  It feels nice to finally be making some progress on it.  Now if I would just stop adding books I might be able to tell  (:

The Thorn Birds is a long book, over 600 pages I believe, so I will probably read other romances while I'm reading it.  I'm setting a goal for myself of at least 50 pages a day on this one in hopes that I will make steady progress and finish by the end of February.  

I'm hoping to purchase Home Front today, and start reading it as well.

My First Win...Thanks Callapidder Days!!!

I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to Katrina at Callapidder Days for the awesome book I won during her first Fall Into Reading Giveaway.  Fall Into Reading is an awesome reading challenge Katrina hosts every year to inspire us all to finally get to those books we've been meaning to read for so long, and make some much needed progress on those ever growing "to be read" lists!


The book I won was Reclaiming Lilly by Patti Lacy.

Source:  Goodreads

Goodreads Summary...
 
Gloria's relationship with her daughter is tattered and strained, and the arrival of Kai, despite the woman's apparent good intentions, makes Gloria fearful. Gloria longs to restore her relationship with Lily, but in the wake of this potentially devastating diagnosis, is Kai an answer to prayer...or will her arrival force Gloria to sacrifice more than she ever imagined?


Thanks again Katrina!!!

Two Sisters Talk Books

My sister came over last night, and we were looking around for some new books to read.  We looked through all the blogs I follow, and we did a lot of looking on Goodreads.  We both came up with a decent sized list.  Here are a few that we found and are looking forward to reading in the  near future.

____________________________________________

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak seems to be on everyone's list.  I think my sister will be reading this one soon.

Source:  http://www.goodreads.com/

Goodreads Summary...
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist- books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.
With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

_______________________________________

Jennifer Donnelly books seem to be popping up everywhere as well, and these really interest me.  I think the covers are absolutely beautiful!

Source:  http://www.goodreads.com/

Source:  http://www.goodreads.com/

Source:  http://www.goodreads.com/

______________________________________

This last book, The Cellist of Sarajevo, I learned about over at Curling Up With a Good Book.  She did a great review and it sounds like something I'd really like to read.

Source:  http://www.goodreads.com/

Goodreads Summary...
In a city ravaged by war, a musician plays his cello for twenty-two days at the site of a mortar attack, in memory of the fallen. Among the strangers drawn into the orbit of his music are a young father in search of water for his family, an older man in search of the humanity he once knew, and a young woman, a sniper, who will decide the fate of the cellist—and the kind of person she wants to be.

___________________________________________

Hope you enjoyed this list and maybe found something you'd like to read as well!  Have you read any of these books?  What did you think?