On the bookshelf

Having spent two days traveling to/from Memphis, I had lots of reading time this past week. I actually finished two books - both of them EXCELLENT!

Let me start with "House Rules" by Jodi Picoult. I have ready many of Picoult's books, and this is by far my favorite! It is a MUST READ!

And, yesterday I devoured "The Middle Place" by Kelly Corrigan - all in one day. I love how Corrigan writes (she seems just like a friend) and her story is so easy to relate to.

Just read:

Newspaper columnist Corrigan was a happily married mother of two young daughters when she discovered a cancerous lump in her breast. She was still undergoing treatment when she learned that her beloved father, who'd already survived prostate cancer, now had bladder cancer. Corrigan's story could have been unbearably depressing had she not made it clear from the start that she came from sturdy stock. Growing up, she loved hearing her father boom out his morning HELLO WORLD dialogue with the universe, so his kids would feel like the world wasn't just a safe place but was even rooting for you. As Corrigan reports on her cancer treatment—the chemo, the surgery, the radiation—she weaves in the story of how it felt growing up in a big, suburban Philadelphia family with her larger-than-life father and her steady-loving mother and brothers. She tells how she met her husband, how she gave birth to her daughters. All these stories lead up to where she is now, in that middle place, being someone's child, but also having children of her own. Those learning to accept their own adulthood might find strength—and humor—in Corrigan's feisty memoir. [Synopsis from Amazon.com]

HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis.

He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t. [Synopsis taken from Author's website.]

Up Next:  

 

My Glamour and REAL SIMPLE magazines. It is going to be another cRaZy week/weekend, so I need to give my grey matter a rest. When I am done from my rest, I will likely visit Friday Reads which is an awesome place to see what others are out there reading.

 

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I am so close to moving up from #13, but I need your clicks! XXOO