My Thoughts On "Where the Red Fern Grows"

Source:  Goodreads

Somehow I missed reading Where the Red Fern Grows during my childhood.  I have always heard of it, and I know lots of people, my Dad included, love the movie, yet somehow I missed it.

Where the Red Fern Grows is the story of Billy, a little boy who comes down with a serious case of "puppy love".  He wants puppies, but not just any kind of puppy.  He wants two coon dogs, and it becomes his life's mission to get them.  He breaks his back working for two years until he finally saves the fifty dollars he needs to buy his dogs.  The scene where he first meets Old Dan and Little Ann is one of the sweetest scenes I've ever read in a book.  The love between Billy and his dogs is beautiful.  Where the Red Fern Grows is a story of love, loyalty, friendship, and sacrifice.

I'd recommend this book to anyone.  It's just a good story that kids and adults both will like, so if like me, you missed this one as a child--give it a try.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

My Thoughts On "Shiloh"

I can't believe it's August!  It seems like yesterday it was January and I was beginning The Cupcakes War Reading Challenge hosted by Brenda at Curling Up With a Good Book.  Now we're 8 months in, and I have read some really great books.  This month's genre is Animal Stories or Autobiographies, and since we read memoirs in a previous month I decided to focus on Animal Stories for this month.  Brenda is doing such a great job with this challenge, and if you have some time you should check out her blog.

Source:  Goodreads

My first animal story comes straight from my daughter's bookshelf.  She actually bought this book a while ago, and I've wanted to read it for a while.  I've read and enjoyed other works by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, so I had high hopes for this one.  I wasn't disappointed.

In Shiloh, a little boy named Marty comes across a runaway beagle while he's out exploring the hills and woods around his home.  The beagle is very skittish and shy which leads Marty to believe he's been abused. Marty wants to keep him, but discovers that the dog he names Shiloh belongs to the meanest man Marty knows, Judd Travers.  Shiloh is all about Marty's courageous struggle to save the dog he has grown to love.

This was such a sweet story.  It was a quick, enjoyable read, and I really needed it.  Shiloh is something totally different for me, and that's one of the things I liked most about it.  I fell in love with the little beagle along with Marty, and I'd recommend this book to anyone, especially animal lovers.

My Thoughts On "Matched"

Source:  Goodreads

From the cover...

Cassia has always trusted the society's choices. 

And when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia is certain he is the one...until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. 

Now she is faced with impossible choices:  between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's know and a path no one dares follow...between perfection and passion.

I was talking books with a friend a couple months ago, and she happened to mention the Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie.  A few weeks ago I came across Matched, the first book in the series, in the bookstore and thought I'd get it.  I was reading New York Times Bestsellers in July, and Matched fit the bill.

I have read good and bad reviews for this one.  It seems people either love it or hate it.  I LOVED it!  It reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games, but with less action.  A lot of this story takes place in Cassia's mind through her thoughts and feelings.  I loved that about this book.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Crossed.

My Thoughts On Bluegrass Undercover

Source:  Goodreads

Goodreads Summary

In her first follow-up to the Bestselling Bluegrass Series, Kathleen Brooks brings Keeneston back to life through the Davies brothers.  Cade Davies had to much on his plate to pay attention to the newest resident  of Keeneston.  He was too busy avoiding the Davies brothers marriage trap set by half the town.  But when a curvy red head lands in Keeneston, the retired Army Ranger finds himself drawn to her...

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I really enjoyed Kathleen Brooks' Bluegrass Series, so I was very happy to learn that she is writing a spin off series called Bluegrass Brothers.  Each book in the series will feature one of the Davies brothers.  They were supporting characters in the Bluegrass Series especially Dead Heat which featured their sister, Paige.

The first book in the Bluegrass Brothers Series is Bluegrass Undercover, and it features Cade Davies, an Army Ranger and football coach.  This book was all I expected it to be.  It was a fun, romantic suspense, and I really enjoyed it.  I was happy to visit with all the residents of Keeneston again.  There are five Davies brothers, so we can look forward to four more in this series.

My Thoughts On "The Kite Runner"

Source:  Goodreads

From the back cover...

"This powerful first novel...tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love.  Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini's privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country's revolution and it's invasion by Russian forces.  But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story.  In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence--forces that continue to threaten them even today."
--The New York Times Book Review

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There are times when I finish a book and think, "wow, that was a fun book", and then there are those rare times when I finish a book and think, "this book has changed the way I see the world".  The Kite Runner is that for me.  It's not a light funny read.  You won't feel warm and fuzzy...if anything it will make you very uncomfortable.  There are parts in this book that made me absolutely sick.  There are parts in this book that made me cry like a baby.  There are parts in this book that made me plain mad.  Why read a book like this?  It's very simple...because the very same things that happened in this book happen every day all over the world, and we need to know about it!

But just as there is lots of horror and devastation in this book, there are moments of such beauty and such love that it leaves you with some hope in the end.  Love is after all the most powerful force in the world.

"For you, a thousand times over."

--Khaled Hosseini/ Hassan from The Kite Runner

You Should Watch "Bel Ami"

I recently had the opportunity to watch the movie Bel Ami, and I really, really enjoyed it.  I don't know why this one hasn't been talked about more.  It was great.  Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christina Ricci were terrific.  It was visually beautiful...the clothes, the furniture.  I highly recommend this one!

Uma Thurman as Madeleine Forestier
Source:  www.allmoviephoto.com

Kristin Scott Thomas as Virginie Rousset
Source:  www.allmoviephoto.com

Christina Ricci as Clotilde de Marelle
Source:  www.allmoviephoto.com

My Thoughts On "Dead Heat"

Source:  Goodreads

Goodreads Summary

Paige Davies finds her world turned upside down as she becomes involved in her best friends nightmare.  The strong-willed Paige doesn't know which is worse:  someone trying to kill her, or losing her dog to the man she loves to hate.

FBI Agent Cole Parker can't decide whether he should strangle or kiss this infuriating woman of his dreams. As he works the case of his career, he finds that love can be tougher than bringing down some of the most powerful men in America.

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What a great ending to the Bluegrass Series by Kathleen Brooks.  The last book in the series definitely didn't disappoint.  It also introduces us to Paige's brothers who become the main characters in Brooks' next series, Bluegrass Brothers.  I'm actually reading the first in the series right now.  It's called Bluegrass Undercover.

All of the books in the Bluegrass Series are very similar when it comes to the romances in each one, and even though each love story was fairly predictable, they were all still  fun to read.  What kept me reading, however,  was the mystery/suspense element in the books.  I think it was done really well.