A Friend Like Henry, by Nuala Gardner

I just finished reading A Friend Like Henry today. It is a true story of an autistic boy Dale and how his dog Henry helps him. The author Nuala is the mother of Dale and tells a very detailed story of what it was like for her family to deal with Dale, his developmental issues, and health and educational professionals.

I enjoyed reading this book and was reminded of some of my former clients who also struggled with Autism. I was amazed at how much progress Dale made and all the hard times his parents went through to fight for him. As a social worker, I have been on the other side of the picture. But this gave me an opporunity to see how life was for this family with an autistic toddler. I worry that in the past I may have responded in similar ways as some of the professionals in the book did. This book gave me a new appreciation for families who deal with troubled children.

The story takes place in Scotland, and therefore it will also give you a chance to see what kind of English grammar I have to deal with here in the UK. Finally, I would not recommend this book to anyone who has recently given up a dog--it made me cry more than once for the loss of my own sweet puppy. (I really need to stop reading books about dogs! I recently finished another book about a lady who raises a guide dog and then had to give it away after a year. And let's not talk about my experience while watching I Am Legend!)

James Patterson

Right now I am reading, and into, James Patterson books. I am reading his series with detective Alex Cross. He wrote the books that are now movies "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls." They are such good books. They are about these crazy serial killers. Each book has a new killer that always competes with detective Cross. Anyways I just wanted everyone to know about them because I like them a lot. I had to be introduced to them through someone I know and now I am hooked . The series is 13 books long and each of them are 400 pages or more so it is a lot of reading but I can usually read one in like five hours because there is so much suspense it goes really fast.

Book for January

The book I chose for January is The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. If you have all read it already, let me know and I can choose another. I read this book for the first time a few months ago and absolutely LOVED it. I'll post some questions for discussion later. Right now I just wanted to give you time to get the book before it's too late. Happy reading!

Book for December

Hey everyone! Ruth asked me to choose the book for December and I automatically thought of one of my most recent favorites, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. He's the same author as The Kite Runner, which is another fabulous book. A Thousand Splendid Suns is the amazing story of life in Afghanistan. You will be hooked by the time you finish the first chapter. Although the story is sad it helped me appreciate the freedom we enjoy as Americans (that includes you Ruthie, our temporary Brit.) Happy reading!

November Book Discussion

Book: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Pick one, a few, or all of the following questions to comment on for this month. Feel free to make other comments too! You can find a guide with more questions at http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/1_ladies'_detective_agency1.asp

1. What was your favorite part of the book?
2. Were there any parts that you didn't like? If so, which parts & why?
3. Any lessons you learned?
4. How do you think the author sustains the reader's interest without the normal tension, suspense, and violence that is found in other mystery books?
5. Do you think that Mma Ramotswe is right in suggesting that women are more perceptive than men are (see pg 61)? Why or why not?

One of my favorite quotes from the book:
"You can go through life and make new friends every year--every month practically--but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years." (pg 219)

Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

Okay, I put it off long enough and finally read 'Eclipse'. A day after I started reading it my husband said, "Wow, you read fast." I said, "No, it's a really good book." I liked it more than 'New Moon' so I am interested in what everyone else thinks.

And, I can't believe I am going to say it...I think I like Jacob more. That is, more than Edward. I feel like a traitor but when Bella had "the talk" with Jacob near the end of the book I actually felt like I was breaking up with the love of my life...and I cried. I think this was Stephenie's whole point, to leave the reader torn--kind of like a cliff hanger so we can't wait to read the next book. Yeah, it worked and I can't wait for the next one to come out.

Registering with this website

Just so you know, when you are asked to create a Google Account (in order to post a comment or be an author on this blog) you don't have to get a new email account. Just use your existing email address and then create your password. It's very easy! So come join in!!!

Book for November

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

This is the first of a series of 8 books. The last one just came out in April 2007. One of my friends says she loves these books. I've never read them, but they have been international best sellers. You can find them for pretty cheap on Amazon. They're probably at your local library as well.

This book is available in paperback, has 256 pages, and is published by Abacus.

How this will work . . .

Thanks to everyone who responded to my email. I know that everyone is busy with their own lives so I appreciate your participation in this. I'm really excited to get this going. It feels like forever since I've read a book (ok, it's only been a week). I ordered Eclipse from Amazon.co.uk so that should be here this Wednesday!

Per your responses, we will do the following:
1. We will choose a book to read each month. If you read it, please start posting your thoughts and comments. You can either create a separate post or you can add in the comments section. If you make a comment, you can subscribe to get emails on follow-up comments from the same post. Also, if you are interested, I can add your email address to get notifications when there are new posts on this page. Let me know what you want. There was some concern about people not wanting to be the ones responsible to choose the book & post questions. So I'll pick the first book and then if you have an idea for a book for us to read, then just create a post and we'll all decide. Let's all try to complete the book by the end of each calendar month.

2. We will also have this be like an open forum where we can all add our thoughts about other books (good or bad). That way, we can get loads of information and ideas on what to read.

So you choose how much you want to participate. I'd really LOVE as much input as you can give! Even if you want to just write a list of your recent favorite reads (with a short explanation), I think it would help tons when I'm at the library and can't decide what to get!

New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

Okay, if you haven't read New Moon, DON'T READ THIS POST.

I finished New Moon two days ago. Then all day yesterday I was stuck on the website reading all the extras. Did you know that she has things on there from Edward's, Rosalie's, and Jacob's point of view?! It is very addicting! If you don't want to get stuck online all day, don't even think about checking out the Twiligt Lexicon site. There is loads of information. Did you know that this series just kicked the entire series of Harry Potter off the Best Seller's List?!

So my biggest complaint while reading the book was that Edward left. But by the end I got over that. To answer Lindsay's question on her comment of Twilight, I still like Edward best. But what do you think will happen? I still haven't read the third book, so don't ruin it for me. But I really hope that she becomes a vampire in the end. The sad thing is, she probably won't smell as good to Edward if she does change. And I guess it would take away all the tension and thrilling parts. So I bet she never becomes a vampire . . . until the end.

Anyway, I loved this book, but not as much as Twilight. Still, I can't wait to read more. I'd love to hear your comments too!