The White Masai by Corinne Hoffman

This was a book we were going to read in our ladies's book club, but the person who suggested it changed her mind. i had already bought the book so i am currently reading it. have any of you read the book? i would love to hear your thoughts on it. i am about a third of the way through the book and i will finish it even though i don't really like it. i think the author is a selfish, crazy woman who acts as if she is a demanding spoiled teenager. she is on a trip to Africa w/ her boyfriend and sees this Masai warrior standing there. She instantly falls in love and has to get to meet him. she's there with her boyfriend but could care less about him now that she's seen this warrior. she becomes obsessed w/ meeting him and becoming his woman. what i do like is the info on the Masai culture and a description of life in Kenya. as a social studies book it has its merits. as her personal story, yuck! she really becomes obsessed. she has written 2 more books about this man and i definitely won't be buying and reading them. the people i have talked to who have read the book said the same thing. one person couldn't make herself finish the book. i
would really be curious to hear from all of you good people out there. maybe you have a different perspective and i would love to hear it.

Let me tell you about my daughter,the blogger master

My daughter did an interview w/ me already on this blog, so it is my turn to tell you a little bit about her. Daphne was originally given her name because I loved the Scooby Doo cartoon and Daphne, as you know, was the blond girl. Then when I found out her name meant gift or prize I knew I had to name her Daphne. She is my 2nd child. I have a son who is married and has 2 wonderful children that I just adore. Being a grandma is awesome.
But that's beside the point. Back to my daughter who is the brains of our blog. She loves writing and hopes to be published some day. She writes great short stories and is plotting out a novel. We took creative writing together last year and had a blast. She doesn't share her stories often because she doesn't think they are good, but trust me, they are. She loves to read and loves to e-mail her friends or IM them. She has a soft heart and is always willing to help those in need. And she is definitely an animal lover. She adores our wicked dog,Mr. Pete. She also loves our fat cat, Clara. When my mom couldn't take care of Clara anymore, she was going to take her to the humane society. But Daphne and my son begged for the cat and she couldn't stand the idea of the cat being given away. So, our cat just lazes around and I really believe that cats do sleep for 20 hours of the day as I have heard. She not only sleeps, but she snores loudly! Clara also is about 15 years old. We have had her for 10 years or so.
Daphne is really good with children. She is very creative. She has a great laugh and a great sense of humor. I think she must have gotten it from me. LOL If there were only hamburgers, pizza, and spaghetti to eat, she'd be just fine. Those are her favorite foods. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have ice cream and chocolate on the menu. We enjoy watching movies at home. We just finished watching an A&E version of EMMA with Kate Beckinsale. They took a lot of liberties with the story. We both couldn't stand Frank Churchill or Emma in this version. We really like the movie w/ Gwyneth Paltrow. Daphne is a huge Jane Austen fan. She also likes Buffy books and Janet Evonavich. She's a Nancy Drew fan, too.
There's the short version of my daughter's story. She is a great daughter and we like hanging out together.

Her Good Name

I just finished another book that we will be discussing in our ladies book club in July. The book is entitled "Her Good Name" by Josi Kilpack. The story centers around a Mexican-American woman named Chrissy, who is single, 35, and living in Idaho Falls. She is set up on another blind date which does not go well. She pays w/ her debit card and the waitress steals her identity in order to get drugs. The whole story centers on how identity theft has ruined this woman and what she does to try to re-establish her good name and credit. At first I didn't think I would like this character because of the way she acted on the blind date. Who would pull a typed sheet of their personal stats about herself out of her purse and give it to the date to read? On top of that she doesn't even remember his name. She insists on being completely honest and not playing games, yet when he turns the tables on her and asks her her weight, she gets offended. Luckily as the book goes on you discover that she does have many nice qualities. His identity happens to be stolen that night as well, but he doesn't have half the problems she does. The person who steals her identity commits all kinds of crimes and runs up 90,000 in debt, has a baby that she abandons because it has a cleft palate, and is doing drug running all in the name of helping raise money for her father's Guatamalan rebel army. There is some on and off romance woven in there. The story is chilling in the fact that this really does happen. I guess that's why I don't bank on line and I pay cash. The author does give some really helpful info in the back of the book on how to protect yourself from identity theft and what to do if it happens. The book is an easy read and not the most literary ever. I also don't like the fact that it left loose ends on a couple of plot lines. I think I have mentioned this before: I like all things tied up neatly at the end. I am left guessing about the fate of the bad guys and the fate of the main character's sister and children who move in w/ a boyfriend who doesn't seem to be all that wonderful. This book can be found in Deseret Bookstores and on line. I don't think it is available in Barnes and Noble or Borders. I don't plan on keeping it after the book club meeting. I'd be willing to pass it on if anyone is interested. Then maybe the person I send it to could pass it on to another blogger who is interested. Let me know.

"Gone" by Michael Grant

This was a young adult fiction book given to me by my daughter Daphne as a surprise gift, a just because gift, no real reason Aren't those kind of surprises nice? Anyway, it is the story of a small town in California called Perdido Beach which has great surfing and a nuclear power plant. I mention the plant because it has a role in the story. One day in the blink of an eye all the adults and everyone over age 15 disappear mysteriously. One minute they are there,and the next they are not. I thought it might be a book about the rapture like "Left Behind" by Tim LaHaye and Jenkins. I couldn't have been more wrong. The grown ups are gone, it is true, but as you progress in the book it has nothing to do with religion, the rapture, or salvation. The teens and children are left to run the city by themselves. They are trapped by some barrier that goes around their location letting no one in or out. In addition to the strange disappearing act, things are mutating at a rapid pace. The children develop supernatural talents, like shooting fire from their hands, or moving at the speed of light, etc. Not only are they changing but so are all the life forms there. Even the coyotes have developed a rudimentary ability to speak the English language. They want to learn from humans how to kill for effectively. There is also an evil force lurking below the surface. Some of the children use their powers for good, and others to take over the place. It is a battle between good and evil. The main good guys are Sam, Astrid, Edilio, and Little Pete, an autistic boy with a superpower he is not really aware he has. The bad guys are Diana, Drake, Orc, and a mysterious boy who can move things with his hands. I was not happy with the ending. I may have mentioned this before, but I do like things to be tied up neatly. Loose ends bother me. I guess they couldn't wrap it up tightly or else there would be no second and third books, which there are. I don't intend to buy the next ones unless Daphne reads it and wants the rest of the books. I would call this book the modern day version of "Lord of the Flies" complete with supernatural elements. If any of you have read it, I would love to hear your comments. Have a great week! Happy beginning of summer!

"Have a Little Faith"

Hi, everyone! I am back. I have had a crazy work week and had to bring a lot of work home w/ me so I haven't had a chance to blog til now. i have read "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Ablom and am getting ready to read it again. Daphne and I are in a women's book club. I am June's moderator and this is the book I chose. I loved it. If you have read it, would you please share your insights, pos and neg, with me? It will help me to prepare for my sharing at book club. If you have any questions that you thought of while reading the book, share those, too. I'd love to pose them to our book group and see how they answer. I'll return and share back with you. Our book night is June 1st. I may not get back to blogging til this coming weekend. Work is promising to be crazyily busy again this week and I have the definite feeling I'll be bringing home a lot of nursing notes to complete. Nursing is great! It's the paperwork and documentation that'll kill you (and take lots of time to complete). Hope you all find time to read and blog this week in your busy schedules. Have a great and safe Memorial Day! vicky

The Help give away winner!

Congrats to

Marjorie

who won the hardcover copy of the Help! I will be contacting you shortly.

I just discovered something new!

Hi, everyone! I guess I am not really observant or something because I just learned that my daughter has 4 book blogs, including this one! How does she keep up with so many? I have a hard time reading my e-mail and keeping up with one blog. By the way, I am finding this blogging thing to be a lot of fun. I may just become addicted. I love hearing from people and looking into your blogs and reading your ideas. I guess you really can teach a middle aged dog new tricks. How many blogs do you all have? sincerely, the senior member of the dynamic duo