Last 5 Books I have read

I’ve gotten the chance to read these books this summer:

1. The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley- I figured since I have some free time now, I should start reading up on how to get babies to sleep through the night.  I figured when I am actually starting to have this issue, I will have the least time to read this book!  It definitely had some good tips, but I will probably need to re-read through the book again once baby arrives!

2. The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp- Once again, I read this one to be proactive for baby’s arrival.  This book goes over the 5 s’s to soothe an infant…swaddle, swing, side/stomach, shoosh and sucking.  Husband M and I took a Newborn Essentials class at Isis Parenting the other night.  After reading this book, I felt I did not really learn much from this class as I had already learned it in the book.  Fortunately, it was not a total bust going to class because Husband M said he actually did learn a great deal.  We’ll see how we do with the tips from the book in a couple months once baby is here!

3. The Happiness Project, Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin- This book is not necessarily for people who are unhappy, just people looking to add more happiness to their life (and who wouldn’t want that?)  The author spends an entire year with different resolutions for each month to try to bring more happiness into each day.  It’s a nice thing to think about doing on a daily basis and she has lots of different ideas on things you can try.  She admits that not all things she does is for everyone…it’s more important to decide for yourself what are some things you can add to your life that  actually make you happy.

4. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson- Thanks to cousin K, she rescued me from being 400th in my library queue for this book and brought her copy out to Nantucket for me.  It was a great book to read on the beach all week.  You definitely need to read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo first to understand a lot of the background.

5. Twelve Rooms with a View by Theresa Rebeck- The premise of this book is that 3 sisters find out that they have inherited a multi-million dollar property on Central Park after their reclusive, alcoholic mother passes away.  However, the estate gets challenged by their mother’s step sons and the building co-op board.  The sisters battle it out with their new enemies, and also learn a great deal about their mother’s secret life she lead.

-m

Last 5 Books I Have Read

In between pregnancy and baby development books, I’ve tried to fit in some fun reading.  Here are the last 5 books I have finished:

1. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry- Set in crowded, poor Bombay, this book explores the story of a family struggling to take care of their aging father.  I believe I found this book via this list of books to read before you die.  Kind of a sad book, but an interesting read about modern day India and family culture.

2. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See- I thought this book was excellent, but I would not mark it as a light summer read as it has a bit of depressing story line.  Two Shanghai sisters are sold off from their family in desperate times and are forced to move to Los Angeles.  Through a very difficult journey, they are able to stay together and build a life together.

3. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks- This is a typical Nicholas Sparks novel set in a beachtown of North Carolina.  It was a cute, light read, but I felt pretty silly when my boss came over to my desk one day and commented that his 14-year old daughter was reading the same book (apparently Miley Cyrus is starring in the movie edition of the book).

4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson- I finally got on the bandwagon and read the first of Stieg Larson’s trilogy.  It was very interesting to read and I was captivated through the whole book.  I find it interesting to see that this book captures a male and female audience alike…I see a 50/50 split between men and women reading this on the bus.  I currently have the next two books in the series on my hold list at the library (I am something like 450th in the queue for The Girl Who Played With Fire!)

5. House Rules by Jodi Picoult- Definitely not one of my favorite Jodi Picoult books.  It is about a teenage boy with Asperger’s and his mother and brother.  I found two of these three characters (mom and the kid with Asperger’s) to be extremely annoying.

I am now in search of a good summer read in anticipation of the vacation we are taking in August- any suggestions?

-m

The last 5 books I Have Read

I have been on the road the past few weekends (ski trip, Vegas) and we are finally home this weekend to catch up on sleep, laundry, and grocery shopping.  Since my last 5 book summary, here is what I have been reading:

1.  My Life in France by Julia Child- This is Julia Child’s autobiography…particularly focusing on her years living in France.  The movie Julie & Julia bases many scenes of the movie around stories told in this book.  After seeing the movie, I enjoyed reading this, especially in Julia’s enthusiastic tone.

2.  Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro- I was googling for books to add to my library list one day, when I came across the following list: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.  This book just happened to be number one on the list so I figured it was a must read.  Set in England, it tells the story of children who are raised in a special boarding school that is isolated from the rest of the world.  These children were scientifically reproduced for their organs.  When they turn adults, it is their role in society to donate their organs to “normal” people to help them carry on longer lives.  It was definitely a sad novel, but an interesting look at bio-ethics and questions we need to ask ourselves as we delve into the next steps of bio-technology.

3.  Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm Toibin- This novel is the story of a young Irish girl in the 1950s.  Unable to find work in Ireland, a local priest helps her find work in America and assists with her relocation.  Once there, she faces a great deal of homesickness, but eventually falls in love with a young Italian boy.  After a sad twist, she is forced to make a very difficult decision with her future.

4. Nanny Returns: A Novel by Emma McLaughin & Nicola Kraus-  This book is the sequel to The Nanny Diaries.  This was a fun, light read and I got through it very quickly.  The story takes place a few years after Nanny Diaries concludes.  Nan is now married and runs into one of her old charges.  Through a series of events, she once again get tangled into the affairs of the crazy X family.

5.  Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert- This book is also a sequel…this one to Eat, Pray, Love.  I really enjoy Gilbert’s writing style.  I read EPL while I was vacationing in Spain last year and it was a really great book to read while traveling (as much of the whole book is about her one year travel adventure to Italy, India, and Indonesia).  This book starts off with her Brazilian boyfriend being detained in US Customs and no longer allowed in the country.  Forced with this new challenge, she takes a look at her fear of marriage, as well as the matrimonial history among many cultures.  I really enjoy her writing style and learned some really interesting things while reading this book.

I have gone overboard on my library hold requesting and I can’t quite seem to catch up on my current list (I am ending up having to turn books in for their final due date before I can even crack the cover)!  Since the weather is not going to be particularly nice here in Boston this weekend, I will have to do some catch-up reading.  What books have you been reading lately?

-m