Work At Home Musings

The Persian Pickle Club
Author: Sandra Dallas

Synopsis:
The Persian Pickle Club takes place in the 1930s in Kansas. The Dust Bowl is in full swing and residents are finding it hard to make ends meet. A number of ladies in the town belong to a quilting club, called the Persian Pickle Club named after a piece of fabric (paisley). Each of these ladies have different personalities but are brought together by quilting. The story is told by Queenie Bean, a 24-year-old married women who lost her first baby to miscarriage. One of the previous residents comes back to the town and brings his new young wife, Rita, with him. Rita is invited to the Persian Pickle Club and Queenie and Rita become friends. The story then takes a surprising turn and requires all the members of the club to stick together.

What did I think?
The book was a really fast read and I throughly enjoyed the story. Each of the ladies in the club were interesting and the author did a great job of describing what it might have been like to live in Kansas in the 1930s. The end was very surprising and leaves you thinking. I highly recommend it!

The Secret Life of Bees was the choice for my book club last month. I hear that it is going to be made into a movie!

The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Synopsis:
Lily Owens is 14 years old and treated pretty badly by her father. Her mother died when she was only two years old and Lily still remembers some of the incident. The book is set in the 1960s in Georgia where they civil rights movement is starting to gain hold. After an incident in town with her nanny, a black woman named Rosaleen, Lily and Rosaleen head to Tiburon, South Carolina, a city that Lily believes her mother visited.

In Tiburon, Lily meets August and her sisters. They are bee keepers. Here Lily learns the truth about her mother and must come to grips the her fantasy about her was not like the reality.

What did I think?
I loved this book for many reasons, one of them being that we use to keep bees when I was younger and this story was filled with bee keeping references. The book was well written and made me think of times when I wished for a different reality. Lily doesn’t understand the conflict between blacks and whites, but she is not sure entirely how to handle it. She just wants to know what happened to her mother. The characters were well thought out and developed. The story has a bit of a mystery to it and will keep you reading until the very end.

As the mess as unfolded in Texas with the FLDS Polygamy Sect (I often wonder if they use electricity or just candles), I was reminded of a book I read not too long ago about polygamy.

Daughter of the Saints: Growing Up In Polygamy
Author: Dorothy Allred Solomon

Synopsis:
This book is written by a woman who grew up in a polygamous household. This story is NOT about the FLDS group in Texas but a different polygamous sect. Solomon starts off by giving a brief history of her ancestors involvement in polygamy. The book can get a bit confusing at times since she does go from the past to the present and back again. Her insights and feelings about her life are very interesting and you do not end up hating her father. She did not write this book to take revenge (she does not practice polygamy), but wants the reader to understand why she could not embrace this lifestyle.

What did I think?
We often think that the women who are in polygamous households are stupid or oppressed and the men are all sex addicts. This book was an interesting look at a lifestyle that most people can not comprehend. I am not inferring that I think polygamy is a good practice, but I feel for the women who truly believe that this is what God wants them to do. Because the women and children in Texas are kept away from society, they are not able to make clear choices. Dorothy Solomon and her family actually lived and worked in a regular society. Thus a number of them left the polygamous lifestyle. However, there were some, that still believed that this was the right practice for them. This book is well worth the reading.

I am an avid reader, so I am going to go through the most recent books that I have read and hope that someone else can enjoy them as well!

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
By Azar Nafisi

Synopsis:
Reading Lolita in Tehran is the story of one woman (the author) and her experiences in Iran after the Fundamentalist Muslims take over the country. Ms. Nafisi was educated in the United States and then returned in Iran in the 1970s to teach at English Literature at a University there. While she is teaching, her students are involved in various revolutionary factions - communists and Islamic Fundamentalists being the larger two. Eventually the Islamic Fundamentalists take over the country and Ms. Nafisi is forced to comply with “morality” standards which include the wearing of the veil. She eventually quits her teaching job as she does not want to wear the veil at school. Later, she forms a discussion group at her home with a handful of women. They read and discuss classic literature (including Lolita, Daisy Miller and The Great Gatsby). Lessons learned from these books are woven around the stories of the women (and men) in Ms. Nafisi’s life. Ms. Nafisi and her family eventually leave Iran and are now residing in the United States. A few of her students also have left Iran.

What did I think?
The book was very interesting, although Ms. Nafisi could be a little long winded at times. I was eager to learn more about the conditions in Iran than the discussion of some of the literature. The book was a real eye opener about how women are treated in Iran.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!

I got my book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Don’t tell me the ending (well, I did peek anyway). I am at page 388 and it is really good so far. It is getting quite suspenseful and I can’t wait to see how it ends. I will miss the series when I am done. My youngest daughter now wants to read all the books so I pulled out Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for her yesterday. I hope she enjoys it.

I just found out about a new service that is very exciting! I love to read books. I don’t go to the library very often because I am afraid that I won’t return the book on time. So I end up buying all the books at the bookstore. This ends up costing me quite a bit. Now, instead of buying books, I can RENT them.

Booksfree is a service just like Netflix except you rent books, not DVDs. They have over 88,000 titles from a wide variety of genre. Plus, you get free shipping both ways. If you want audio books, those are available as well. You can keep the books as long as you want. When you are finished reading, just return the book in the pre-paid mailer.

Booksfree offers five different plans to choose from. The smallest plan lets you keep two books at a time and is only $8.49 per month. The largest plan lets you keep 12 books at a time and is $34.99 per month. There are also different plans for CD and MP-3 audio books. If you are looking for a great gift for a voracious reader, Booksfree also offers gift memberships.

I figure I could save serious cash by using Booksfree instead of buying my books!

The Capo’s Mistress by Richard Harris is Harris’s first novel. It is a mystery/thriller featuring Mike Driscoll, and ex-cop with a few flaws. The first is that he is a recovering alcoholic. The second, he is a push over for beautiful women. Enter Mary Carter. Mary is beautiful and hard to resist. Of course, Mike falls for her right away and soon he is going to Las Vegas to help her recover a bag she threw in the lagoon at Treasure Island as she was running out of town in pursuit by the police and the mob.

It seems that Mary had been working in Las Vegas as a blackjack dealer. She explains to Mike that she was in the Casino when a robbery took place - an inside job. As the robbers were trying to leave -

One of the robbers ran right by me and he had already been shot and was covered with blood and I think he knew he was going to die because he looked at me and said, clear as day, ‘Have fun, blondie,’ and dropped the bag he was carrying right at my feet and kept on running. I knew it was full of money and I don’t know why I did it but I kicked it under the table and threw my coat on top of it. The casino was going crazy and everyone was running for the doors, even the pit bosses, and I thought the bosses looking down from above us were probably freaked out too, so I picked up the bag with my coat over it and ran for the door. When I got outside I didn’t know what to do with the bag and then I saw the Treasure Island lagoon and I ran over to it. Everyone had left the lagoon to see what the excitement was all about so I counted down three vertical railings from the end closest to the pirate ship and I threw the bag in and it sank like a rock.

The books is intriguing and suspenseful and is sure to be a real page-turner! Parts of the novel can be read on Harris’ website so that you can get a feel for his writing before you buy. He is also offering audio MP3 chapter downloads until April 27, 2007. You can pre-order The Capo’s Mistress at Amazon.

I just heard about this new movie that will have a limited release in the theaters. “The Ultimate Gift” is based on the book by the same name authored by Jim Stovall. The story is about a man, Jason Stevens, who is expecting that his wealthy grandfather will leave him a large fortune in his will. When his grandfather dies, Jason is astonished to find that instead of the money he was expecting, his grandfather has devised 12 tasks for him to complete - a crash course in life and giving. Jason eventually must decide what is most important - money or happiness. The grandfather is played by one of my all time favorite actors - James Garner. Also starring in the film is Abigail Breslin, Drew Fuller, Brian Dennehy, Ali Hills and Bill Cobbs.

This is the official site of the movie "The Ultimate Gift" and the grass-roots movement its starting to help charities and give to others. This has inspired a teen charity called Show Of Hands and a Weekend of Giving promotion. On March 9th, 10th and 11th, $1.00 of every ticket purchased will be donated to the charity of your choice. You can sign up and get information about how you can participate in the Weekend of Giving.

It is great to see such a family friendly film that teaches a good message. I am looking forward to taking my kids to see the movie and I also want to read the book!

I have a love/hate relationship with Stephen King. I either love the book or hate it. I am not really into the very scary books, but I have enjoyed some of his short stories and The Stand is one of my favorite books.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon does not fit into the horror category. The story is about a mom and her two kids and the day they go hiking. The nine-year-old girl, Trisha, get lost in the woods and makes all the wrong decisions. After I read this book, I thought two things:

1. I am never taking my kids hiking!
2. If I take my kids hiking they are going to know about every eatable plant in the region and their backpacks are going to be full of food and survival supplies!

Most of the book is about Trisha and how she keeps going. There is an interesting discussion about God and what Trisha and her Dad believe. There is also a baseball theme going throughout the book. Yankee Fans should be advised that Trisha is a Boston Red Sox fan! I think the conclusion is uplifting. The book was very easy to read and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Language: There is a small amount of swearing in the book (the F word is used). God’s name is used in vain a few times as well.
Sexual Content: None
Age Appropriateness: I would let my 13 year old daughter read this book. Good for teens if you don’t mind the occasional use of language.

I have been reading a lot of books lately, so I thought I might start a new category - Book Reviews! When I finish a book I will give you my honest review, plus, I will include information about language, sexual content and age appropriateness. I am sometimes afraid to pick up new books because I am not sure what content will be included. Hopefully this will help you as well!