The Wedding

The Wedding by Julie Garwood, was another romance novel. (Not the Danielle Steel kind, more like a romance comedy). I borrowed this book from my mom actually. After reading The Chocolate Lovers' Club, I had stopped reading for a while and really wanted something quick and easy to read.

This was a perfect book for that. It's not the world's greatest literature, but it was interesting and captivating. Set in Scotland in the 11th Century, the setting provided a lot of interest in the book. I've always loved books set in the Middle Ages, and this was no exception. I have no idea how accurate the portrayal of the times was (probably not very), but I didn't really care.

It's a love story between 2 unlikely people, but they end up being a perfect match for each other. The romance was a little mushy, but not explicit (again, an improvement from the Chocolate Lovers' Club). It's your typical romantic comedy, where they fight and hate each other at the beginning. Lots of misunderstandings cause problems, but in the end, everything works out.

If you're looking for a cheap, easy romance to read, I would recommend this one!

The Chocolate Lovers' Club

I read this book forever ago, but just never got around to posting about it. Maybe that's because it wasn't my all time favorite book. It was ok, a very easy read, but not really my cup of tea. I've never seen Sex in the City, but as I read this book, I felt like it was a British version of Sex in the City. (Take that for what it's worth). There are 5 Brits who become friends through their mutual love of chocolate. I love chocolate myself, but not enough to go to an expensive chocolate shop and eat it all the time with my friends.

I guess that's why this book was hard for me; I couldn't relate to a single character. Not one. I don't think it was because they were Brits (actually, there was one American, but she lived there, so whatever!). Anyway, the book is basically about each of their problems and how they help each other deal with them. There's romance, infidelity, comedy, drama, etc. all throughout the book. Even though there was a lot going on, it wasn't like I was dying to find out what happened next.

If Sex in the City is your thing and you like lots of romance and drama, read this book. If not--don't waste your time!

eat pray love

I finished this book ages ago, but never got around to writing about it. I guess I'm better at keeping up my other blog than this one.

Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, this is a story about a year of her life when she travels to find inner peace, essentially. She has just finished a nasty divorce and wants to find herself. The first part of her year is spent in Italy (the "eat" part). She gains a lot of weight as she eats the delicious food and learns a lot from the Italian people while she studies the Italian language. I loved this section of the book. I think her voice is so honest and endearing.

The second leg of her trip is spent in India in her guru's ashram. I of course had heard of gurus, but I had never heard of an ashram and didn't know that Yoga was a religion and not just stretching exercises. In the ashram she has spiritual experiences as she learns to come to terms with her true self through meditation. I found this section of the book very interesting (because I don't know much about the religion), but also I thought there were golden nuggets of truth that were universal to all religions, including mine. I really enjoyed reading and learning from her experiences.

The last section is when she spends time in Bali. She went to Bali 2 years prior and had met a medicine man. He predicted she would come back to live in Bali for a time, so she did. Again, I didn't know much about the Balinese culture (if anything at all), so it was interesting to see the country through a westerner's eyes. Here she meets a man from Brazil named Felipe (and since the section is the "love" section, I'll let you figure out what happens in Bali!). Anyway, I think it served as the perfect ending to her journey because she had found herself and peace before she met a man and fell in love with him. It's my opinion that love works out so much better when you can love yourself first and then give love to the other.

I highly recommend the book, and yes! This is a non-fiction book I actually finished and enjoyed! Maybe because it was more of a memoir/biography than anything else, but I found it very easy to read, engaging and enlightening. I hear they're making a movie out of it (what book isn't these days) and Julia Roberts will play Liz. Should be interesting, but I'm not sure a movie will be able to convey the transformation she goes through as well as the book does. We'll see!

Proust Was A Neuroscientist

This is one of the books that I didn't finish. (Sorry Ellen!) I really meant to, but this was during the time we were packing up our house, finding renters, etc. etc. It was a very interesting book, but I just couldn't finish it.

The author, Jonah Lehrer, writes about various artists who basically understood scientific theories before the science really did. Part of the reason I had a hard time with this book was there were few of the artists I had any experience with. The first one he writes about is Walt Whitman, who I of course had heard of. But I hate poetry, so I didn't really have a lot of experience with Whitman. Another author, George Elliot, I have never read, and after reading this book, I don't really have a desire to either. Same goes for Proust. I guess I'm just not the artsy type! Or you could say, I guess I'm just not the more educated type. Anyway, it really was an interesting book that pointed out interesting ideas.

My favorite chapter was about a famous chef (don't remember his name), but it was all about food and how the chef understood the science behind taste without having to do scientific experiments to get it. He did experiments with food in his kitchen, but learned basic tried and true culinary practices that are still practiced today. I couldn't pronounce half the words, but it sure was interesting and made me think about what I eat and why.

So, if you're looking for a non-fiction to read, this is a good one. I'm just not a non-fiction kind of girl!

The Senator's Wife

I have seriously neglected this blog for the past 3 months. I have read books during that time, but apparently didn't finish any. Until Friday. I finished reading The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller. Definitely not a book I would have chosen myself, but interesting enough that I wanted to finish it, which was a feat these days.

The book is set in New England and switches between the 2 main characters: Delia (the Senator's wife) and Meri (a young married woman who moves in next door). Basically, Delia has lived separated from her husband for the past 20 years after multiple affairs. They stay married and continue to see each other from time to time. It's an interesting relationship to say the least. Meri has just married Nathan who is a college professor in history. He gets a good job and they move to this college town. Meri gets pregnant and deals with all that entails. I don't want to go into too much detail, but reading the book makes you think about what marriage is all about.

Today in church we had a lesson about strengthening marriages. There were a lot of words of wisdom shared, and I contemplated my own. I think I could fill up pages and pages of marital advice, not because I'm an expert, but because I feel like I've had a lot of experiences in the almost 9 years we've been together. Also, Rusty's little brother is getting married this Saturday, and watching newlyweds, you can't help but think of yourself at that stage. They always seem so young and naive--and they are--but so were we. It's just hard to believe we've come this far. So marriage seems to be the topic these days, and without boring you with my awesome words of wisdom, I'll just say this: I love Rusty now more than ever and I've very happy to be married to him. Thank goodness I'm not Meri or Delia, because I wouldn't have wanted either of their lives!