What I'm Reading

I really need to work on these book posts. I apologize. I will try harder. I'm aiming for at least once a month. I've read quite a few books (some good and some not so good) since my last post last August, cough...again, sorry...cough, and I'm going to share my thoughts on the good reads, narrowing it down to the lucky six.


Don't Breathe a Word (Jennifer McMahon)
Our Book Club read for September.

I was a little skeptical about this book, mainly because I had never heard about it or the author. And it's adult paranormal...I usually stick to young adult (YA) for this genre. I was shocked by how caught up I was with this book. Not that it was great or amazing, but it grabbed my attention from the beginning. AND it was a fast read. I did, however, find myself skimming over some of the details and just reading the dialogue, but it was decent. The plot involves the state of Vermont, a  missing twelve-year-old girl, the King of Fairies and his Queen, mistaken identities, and fifteen years later.


Breakfast at Tiffany's (Truman Capote)
Our Book Club read for October.

This was my suggestion, and I'm not sure why. For some reason, I have always wanted to read this book. I absolutely adore the movie, and have been told by many people the book is much darker and the main character is actually a homosexual. However, when I read it I found no signs of this to be true (although, I do agree with a darker nature to the book...Holly Golightly is a little more blunt, depressed, and not quite as delightful as Audrey Hepburn, but I still enjoyed her character). I don't know if people came to this conclusion because Capote himself was gay, and so assumed his main male character was too....I didn't get that impression at all. And the book doesn't make the "lady of the night" career as lovely as the movie does. If you're looking for a short, classic read this is perfect.


@stickyJesus: How to Live Out Your Faith Online (Toni Birdsong)

This book was quite inspiring, and I've been recommending it constantly to any one with a strong faith. Birdsong offers, plenty of tips, examples, testimonies, and Scripture to help you handle this insane social media of our time, allowing you to display your Christianity, with authority, online. She encourages Christians to not shy away from the Internet, but to use it as a tool to reach the people God places in our paths.


Manning (Peyton and Archie Manning)

Peyton Manning is my favorite football player of all-time (I loved him since he was a Volunteer), and I'm obsessed with all things Manning....from his commercials to his books (the children's book, Family Huddle, is too cute) and everything in between. This particular book is written by both Peyton and his father, Archie, intertwining both of their football careers. I picked it up because I was interested, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the NFL's first football family. The only downfall, the book was published toward the end of Peyton's second year in the NFL, so there isn't much from his younger brother Eli. It would be fabulous if all three of them would revise the book, starting with 1999 until now.


The Fiery Cross (Diana Gabaldon)
Listened to the audio book.
The 5th installment in the Outlander series.

After taking an entire year to read the first four books (these books are huge, which is fine...I like big books and I cannot lie...), with a few breaks in between, I needed to approach the series in a new way because it grew very daunting. I was still (and still am) captured by Claire's and Jamie's story (and now Brianna's and Roger's story), but in talking about the books with my co-worker who had listened to them all on audio before and was doing so again, I became very interested in trying out the audio myself. I have almost a 50-minute commute to and from work, which is perfect for audio-book listening. I always prefer the actual book, but audios are a great way to get through YA books as well as those "fluff" ones. BUT, I was willing because the books are so long it has at one time taken me two months to finish one, and I have a lot of books on my to-read list. I figured this would be a great way to get through this series and find the time to enjoy other books, too.

And I was not disappointed. Davina Porter does an outstanding job with the various voices required to tell this time-traveling, historical fiction, love story. It's also perfect for audio because there are a lot of details, and the audio allows me to not completely pay attention at times, thus I can multi-task. Oftentimes, I found myself so wrapped up in the story that I had to take the discs out of the car and put them into the CD player in the house so I could listen as I made dinner and finished chores.

I'm still a huge fan!! Now, three more books to go.


Beautiful Creatures (Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl)
Re-reading the entire series.
Our Book Club read for February.

I first read this series a few years ago, and could.not.wait for the 4th installment (Beautiful Redemption) to come out last October. But then I got a new job and we bought a house and we were consumed with remodeling, and I completely forgot about the book until December. Needless to say, I ran out and bought it immediately. And then I remembered the movie was coming out this February 14th, and thought I should just go ahead and refresh my memory by re-reading the entire series before I read the new one. And I was pulled in immediately just like the first time. This book will consume you! (Actually, this entire young adult series will.)

The story takes place in the small, everybody-knows-what you-did-before-you-did-it southern town of Gatlin (which is kind of like my hometown), and every day is predictable. That is until Lena, the niece of the town's shut-in, rolls into town. Now Ethan, a sophomore and star of the basketball team, is having intense dreams involving the new girl. When he learns Lena is part of the Caster world, he begins to see his dull and ordinary town in a whole new light. As Lena tries to hide her powers and deal with a family curse, she anxiously counts down the days until her sixteenth birthday.

But I'm not going to tell you any more. You're going to have to read the book, and check out the movie's trailer while you're at it.

I hope the movie does the book justice!


Have you read and good books lately? Share your good reads below!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi