I Suffer From "The End of School" Mom Syndrome. Do YOU?

Have you read Jen Hatmaker's "Worst End of School Year Mom Ever" blog post?  If not, then you have to go HERE and check it out.  The woman nails how I currently feel about the ca-raziness of the last few weeks (ok, months) of school.

You all know that I'm a self-proclaimed "Type-A/arrive 30 minutes before all appointments/fresh baked goods in the kids' lunches/Bookworm Family social coordinator extraordinaire", right?  That's how I roll ... at least for the first 8 months of school. 

See, at the end of August I eagerly get the kids and their school stuff ready as I hum the Staple's commercial jingle 'It's the MOST wonderful time of the year.'  After 9 weeks of the kids being home and beginning their ever increasing mantra of 'I'm BOOOORED' the kids are going back to school!  Huzzah!  At the beginning of September my small humans have their backpacks cleaned; pencil cases are filled with sharpened pencils, erasers and colourful pencil crayons galore!  Gym clothes smell like a fresh summer's rain.  Running shoes have laces that aren't frayed and their socks are a gleaming white.  Planners are neatly filled out and homemade nutritious lunches are packed with love.  I am the master of the beginning of the school year!  I own it, people!

But things, sadly, do not stay that way.  Jump ahead to late May and the entire month of June and you'll see how my organizational prowess takes a disastrous nose dive.  We go from the blissful September leisurely mornings to eight months later where someone is screaming that they can't find their planner in order for me to initial them; I'm told money is needed today for a school trip I knew nothing about; gym clothes haven't been washed in so long they could stand up on their own volition and quite frankly, Scarlett?  I just don't give a d-mn.  Yup, this Mom has left the building by the end of May. 

By late May -- Stick a fork in me ... I'm done.

It's not that I don't care by the end of the year ... ok, that's part of it.  But mainly I'm just tired.  Oh so very tired of keeping track of three kids' busy schedules.  Plus I work part time, Brad's been extremely hectic at work, we've been busy with Boy 1 getting his Chief Scout award, and he's graduating Grade 8 as well as packing to go to the national Scout Jamboree THREE provinces away from me.  Plus we have Boy 2 and his karate and field trips and Missy Moo is scheduling play dates with her BFFs well into the new millennia and suddenly wants an intricate Greek inspired dress made from scratch for her Social Studies class -- and she knows that her Mom may bake and DIY but she does NOT sew, people! Not a stitch! 

Honestly, by the end of the year the fact that the kids get off to school on time with a decent lunch (and not a random can of Zoodles thrown into their lunch bags, a can opener) makes me feel like a rock star.  Oh, how fast and far the mighty have fallen.

Needless to say, this mom has reached her organizational and energy limit by May but I also don't want to be "The Mom Who Forgot or Didn't Participate".   In case you weren't aware there's a lot of fierce Mom Competition out there and to opt to not do something 'just cuz' goes against my inner Momness.  I want to do it all but I'm learning that by the end of the year I have to pick and choose how much I can do if I want to stay sane ... and that makes me a little sad because I don't want to miss out on a minute of my kids growing up.  I love a smooth running family and unfortunately right now The Bookworm Family truckster is a jalopy just trying to putt-putt its way over the end of school finish line.  We'll make it but we may not look pretty doing it.

Today was another indicator that I need a vay-cay from chaos.  Missy Moo had her track and field meet.  I had the day off so I said I'd drive over and watch her compete in the relay race.  I looked in my calendar this morning and noticed that it was at the university stadium. That couldn't be right.  I obviously typed it in wrong because it's always at a school in a very small town 20 minutes from us.  Phew!  Luckily I caught that one! 

So I drive over to the small-town school only to see that it's a typical day at that school.  There is NO track meet here, people!  I look at my calendar again and feel like something's up because I know I'm right ... and then I check the on-line school notice board and see that I have made a tremendous faux pas.  My initial info in my calendar was indeed right.  Gah! 

Luckily I still had enough Mom-sense to arrive my requisite 30 minutes ahead of time so I hightailed it, via back roads and warp speed, and drove the 25 minutes it takes into the university to arrive literally 2 minutes before Missy Moo began her relay race.  There I am standing there, panting away, expecting to get a ribbon because I won MY race.  I made it.  The Mom Guilt can be saved for another day.  My faith in my Momness has been restored.  Ok, so seriously, where's my ribbon??

So, to all those other moms out there who are at the end of their proverbial ropes with class parties, getting the 'Red Circle of Shame' from the teacher for forgetting to initial planners, last minute field trips and class parties up the wazoo please know that you are not alone in the trenches of Momness.  I walk in the trenches with you ... with two different socks on, sipping cold coffee as I try to figure out how I'm going to bake cupcakes for a bake sale tomorrow while I'm watching Boy 1 at his Tae Kwon Do class tonight. 

Summer vacation?   Oh ya.  I'm ready!!

Too Much Blood (#2 Toni Day medical mystery)

Author: Jane Bennett Munro
Genre: Mystery (medical)
Type: Paperback
Pages:  400
Source: directly from author
Publisher: iUniverse
First Published: July 2012
First Line: "The phone rang."

Note: My sincere thanks to Jane Bennett Munro for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Description:  It is the middle of the night when pathologist Toni Day receives a call from the coroner informing her that the notoriously sleazy local attorney, Jay Braithwaite Burke, has just been found dead in his Mercedes in the middle of a snowy interstate. Unfortunately, everyone at Perrine Memorial Hospital where Toni works knows Burke. Over the years, he managed to talk nearly the entire medical staff into investing into his hedge fund. After it was revealed they had all foolishly invested in a Ponzi scheme, the feds moved in and he disappeared. Now, two months later, Toni is about to perform his autopsy.

It is no secret around town that many might have wished the attorney dead, including Toni and her husband, Hal. As she delves into Burke's autopsy, Toni already knows they have few clues to go on; when she learns the man bled to death, she suspects it was a homicide. To complicate matters further, Burke's partner also dies in suspicious circumstances, and Burke's widow and children are left homeless by a series of house fires. With a brutal schedule and doubts about her husband's faithfulness, Toni's life is already complex enough.

But when a mysterious illness casts a bloody pall over the holiday season, Toni must rely on her pathological expertise to unmask a killer and rescue herself and everyone she loves from a bloody death.

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the new Toni Day medical mystery series.  I had reviewed the first book in the series, "Murder Under the Microscope" at the end of May (for my review of that book click HERE). 

Unfortunately I had the same issues with this book as I did with the first book in the series.  Excessive and oddly placed swearing, slow plot and too much medical jargon which bogged down the pace of the book and left me wondering if I needed to remember all of the technical stuff. 

Toni's character changed a bit in this book -- unfortunately not for the better.  While she continues to come off as wiser than the cops (who come off as bumbling and in desperate need of Toni's help) I found it odd that Toni is able to get information that a typical pathologist probably wouldn't be able to get her hands.  Unfortunately her tone seemed to change too.  She seemed very arrogant in this book and overly pushy as she tried to get more information out of people.  In a word, she was really unlikeable.

I will say that the overall pace of this book improved over the first book in the series and the build-up of the suspense was better and led to a very intense ending.  Unfortunately the path to that build-up was hindered by Toni's sporadic yet repetitive worries that her husband Hal cheating on her.  These concerns would pop out of nowhere and took away from the suspense and seemed rather out of place.

Also, her husband's reaction to being awoken in the middle of the night by one of Toni's coworkers at the beginning of the book seemed over the top.  I think this was supposed to be the 'straw that broke the camel's back' and that led to Toni and Hal's marital woes (hence the ensuing 'Hal must be cheating on me!' worries) but it seemed silly.  How can a medical professional not know about pagers or putting one's phone on vibrate mode?  How can a spouse of a doctor not be used to having the phone ring in the middle of the night occasionally?  It would seem to me to be par for the course in marrying a pathologist who needs to be on-call regularly.  It just seemed farfetched and made it seem like a lame excuse for the beginning of Toni's mistrust of Hal.

There were also lot of characters in this story and, at times, it got a little hard for me to remember precisely who the author was talking about.  With so many characters you also run the risk of them not being developed enough and this was the case here.  It's hard to care for characters when I really don't know much about them.

I will say that the ending was an 'edge of your seat/will she make it?' ending which I enjoyed.  Unfortunately Toni doesn't strike me as a main character that I want to read more about.  Her cursing over mundane things and her arrogance get in the way of me enjoying her as a protagonist.

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Never Knowing

Author: Chevy Stevens
Genre: Suspense, Canadian
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 410
Publisher: St Martin's Press
First Published: July 2011
First Line: "I thought I could handle it, Nadine."

Book Description:  At thirty-three Sara Gallagher is finally happy. Her antique furniture restoration business is taking off and she’s engaged to a wonderful man. But there’s one big question that still haunts her — who are her birth parents? Sara is finally ready to find out.

Sara’s birth mother rejects her—again. Then she discovers her biological father is an infamous killer who’s been hunting women every summer for almost forty years. Sara tries to come to terms with her horrifying parentage — and her fears that she’s inherited more than his looks — with her therapist, Nadine, who we first met in "Still Missing." But soon Sara realizes the only thing worse than finding out your father is a killer is him finding out about you.

Some questions are better left unanswered.

"Never knowing" is a complex and compelling portrayal of one woman’s quest to understand where she comes from. That is, if she can survive…

My Thoughts:  When I read Chevy Steven's 'Still Missing' (see my review of that book HERE) I was shocked that it was Ms Steven's debut novel because it was so amazing.  For her sophomore book she has written another thriller with an 'edge of your seat' ending.

There are several things that I loved about this book.  First, I adore it when Canadian authors keep their stories and characters in Canada.  A little Canadian pride goes a long way with me, eh? 

Once again Stevens proves that she has a wonderful knack for providing her readers with a creepy suspenseful read.  The constant threat to Sara was evident throughout the book which kept the pace and energy level high for the most part (there was, admittedly, a bit of a lag mid-way though). 

Unfortunately Sara wasn't my favourite protagonist.  I found that she came off as whiny, overly needy and impulsive.  She'd repeatedly ask her fiancé for his opinion only to ignore it and suffer the consequences.  And while I understood where she was coming from (her very negative relationship with her father and youngest sister) I had a really hard time reading about Sara getting verbally walked on by them time and again.  She became the proverbial door mat whenever they were around and that made me grit my teeth.

Being the oldest of three sisters I get the sibling rivalry but Sara's rivalry with her extremely self-centred and obnoxious youngest sister felt overdone and their issues very repetitive.  I also think that her relationship with her adoptive father put a very negative slant on adoption with him constantly being so cold and unloving  -- and obvious about it too.

I did find it interesting that the author attempted to, I think, create sympathy for John by giving the reader information about his youth.  We get to see the nature versus nurture issue when it comes to how a serial killer comes into being.   That said, I did have a very hard time understanding Sara's desire to become more involved to find the Campside Killer knowing that she was putting herself and her family in mortal danger.

While I did see one of the big reveals coming and found this book a little less compelling than 'Still Missing' I still enjoyed it.  I liked the premise of the book and the ending but I didn't always enjoy getting there.  Ms Stevens still maintained her signature 'edge of your seat ending' and I really look forward to her upcoming book, Always Watching (check back for my review this summer).

My Rating: 3/5 stars

Bacon-Wrapped Cheesy Surprise 'Poor Man' Fillets

As I've indicated in the past my kids are fairly picky.  There are not many foods that they all agree on.  This makes creating a meal that everyone loves 'bang-your-head-against-the-wall-frustrating' kind of tricky for good ol' Mom.  This recipe is no exception.  Missy Moo, a non-meat lover didn't rave about it but both of my boys loved it.  Two out of three ain't bad.

See, there are certain factors that make a meal stellar with my menfolk.  Cheese, beef and bacon.  {Cue chest thumping and cave man sounds}  They are but simple folk.  If it had a mother, they'd probably eat it.  Add cheese on it and some BBQ sauce and you might even get a 'Mom, this is really good!' {Sweeter words were never spoken}

When I told my menfolk about what I was concocting in the kitchen Boy 2 was uber excited because he considers himself a connoisseur of meatloaf and bacon.  Although he did say that his patty reminded him of a Boston Crème Donut with it's shape and BBQ sauce/icing on top.  I can't say that he's wrong but this, friend, is no donut.

Remember those delicious beef fillets that you'd get that were wrapped in a thick slice of bacon??  Well, this isn't one of those ... but it is a cheaper version with a few extras thrown in for good measure.  Picture it if you will, a nicely spiced homemade meat patty that envelopes some cubes of cheese.  This patty is then hugged by a delicious piece of bacon (mmmm, bacon) and then topped with a hickory BBQ sauce.  These were on the big side for Missy Moo and I so we shared on between us and it was plenty big for the two of us.

Not only was this meal a hit with the men but it's so easy to make and can even be made ahead of time. I'm thinking that I may serve this up for the next big family function.  So, if you're looking for a meal that's easy to prep and has a good chance in getting favourable reviews from your family you might want to give this recipe a try.

Yield: 4 patties

1lb ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup BBQ sauce (I used Kraft's 'Hickory')
1 tbsp Montreal Steak Spice (or to taste)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4  pieces Cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 slices of bacon

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line a baking dish with aluminum foil and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine beef, eggs, oats, BBQ sauce, Montreal steak spice and garlic.  Combine well.  Divide the meat into four parts.  Take each portion and place a Cheddar chunk into the centre.

Using your hands fold the meat around the cheese and form into a burger patty -- try to make them flat and not like a giant meatball. (Hopefully YOUR hands won't resemble an uncooked chicken thigh. Ew.  Hand model I am not). Set the patty aside and repeat for the other three patties.

Place a piece of bacon around each patty and secure each end of the bacon with a toothpick.  Place bacon-wrapped patty onto the prepared pan. Repeat for the other patties.

Note: At this point you can place your burgers in the fridge (or I can't see why you couldn't freeze them to use at a later date), if you're not cooking them right away.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Make sure the internal temperature is 160F.  Remove from oven and pour some extra BBQ sauce on top of each patty. Return patties to the oven and set the oven to broil.  Watch carefully and remove once bacon has begun to crisp a bit.

Serve immediately with garlic mashed potatoes and get ready for some High Fives from your carnivorous peeps.

I've shared this recipe on:

Cutting For Stone

Author: Abraham Verghese
Genre: Historical Fiction (India)
Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 658
Publisher: Division Books (a division of Random House)
First Published: 2009
First Line: "After eight months spent in the obscurity of our mother's womb, my brother, Shiva, and I came into the world in the late afternoon of the twentieth of September in the year of grace 1954."

Book Description:  A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel—an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.

My Thoughts:  I have a confession.  I gave up on this book and I don't do that easily.  I figure that if an author spent months (or years) writing the book and I should give him/her the respect they deserve and hold on and try to get into the story.  That's all well and good but if a book doesn't grab me in 100 pages I figure my responsibility as a reader has been met. 

In fact, I read over 270 pages before finally deciding that this wasn't a book for me.  I kept trying to get into it based on the extremely high ratings that it received on GoodReads as well as Amazon.  Unfortunately I kept waiting for something major to happen, some sort of direction of the plot but it never did.  It is a verbose read with its detailed descriptions of medical procedures; it has a lot of different characters (who were hard to distinguish), a tiresome dialogue and plot that didn't seem to have any direction.  

That said, my opinion is just that.  My opinion.  There are many other readers out there who adored and gushed about this book.  They passionately defend their reviews (and sometimes adamantly state their disagreements with lower rated reviews).  I get that and understand that level of commitment to a book.  I'd, respectfully, do the same for Harry Potter, 'Women of the Underworld' series and Sara Donati's 'Into The Wilderness' because I lurrrrve them and they hold a special place in my literary heart.

But besides the verbosity, slow plot and gaggle of characters the biggest thing that bothered me about this book was Marion as the main character.  For some reason, Marion always had the voice of an adult ... even when he's telling about his life when he was an infant.  Yes, Marion narrates the book even as an infant.  The author expected the reader to just accept the fact that there's an articulate infant narrating the book -- and that didn't sit well with me.  It just seemed odd to have a protagonist be so articulate and descriptive ... as an infant.

Overall, I can't say that I'd recommend this book but I'm glad that I gave it a good shot.  I'd love to hear what you all thought of this book.  Am I way off base here?  Or did you have a similar experience with this book?

My Rating: 0 (I gave up on it)

The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Historical Fiction (WWII), Young Adult
Type: Paperback
Pages: 550
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf (division of Random House)
First Published: 2005
First Line: "First the colors."

Book Description:  It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

My Thoughts:  This book has been on my radar for a long time but I just never got around to reading it.  I'd heard nothing but high praise for it so when I saw it for sale at a second-hand shop I snatched it up (and may have even cackled with glee at my good fortune for finding a highly touted book for a mere 3 bucks).  First of all, why had someone given away such a gem?  And secondly, why hadn't someone else snatched up this find?!

Unfortunately, I learned why.  Apparently the first owner and I have similar views of the book.  I tried to like this book.  I really did, but unfortunately this is one of those books, for me anyway, that didn't match the hype surrounding it.  Curse you HYPE!!!

Was the book horrible?  No.

Did I find it riveting and fully describing the emotion and circumstances of the era?  No.

Will it stay with me?  Not in the slightest.

I realize that I'm in the minority with my negative review and that puzzles me.  I just don't understand why this book got such high praises from so many people.  Maybe it's because WWII is one of my favourite eras to read about that I'm so particular about how it's portrayed?  WWI was such a ruthless, raw and emotional time that brought out the best and worst in people.  I don't think that this book did the era justice. 

After reading books like "Stones From the River" by Ursula Hegi, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" , "Sarah's Key" and especially "In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer" I found this book to be dispassionate, lacking complex characters and, frankly, generally underwhelming. 

The characters are lifeless and almost boring one-dimensional characters.  From Liesel's 'good as gold' adoptive father to her consistently sour and crotchety adoptive mother who constantly berates Liesel by calling her a 'saumensch'  -- a female pig -- (which got old quickly), everyone seemed to be a cliché.  People were either 'good' or 'bad'.  Plus, no back story was given about the characters so I never felt emotional invested in any of them. 

The one character who stood out for me right away was the narrator (I won't share who he is but it was a unique take on narration).  Unfortunately the narrator began to disrupt the flow of the storyline and ended up getting in the way more often than not.  And what's with all the foreshadowing that he gives to reader?  I don't like being told what will happen!  I found that odd and very anticlimactic. 

Also, because the story isn't narrated by the main character, Liesel, the reader never gets a chance to see things from her point of view.  It's always how the narrator sees things happening and the reader being told what's happening instead of experiencing it through the character.  This caused the characters to feel very flat and lifeless.

While the ending was touching and emotional the rest of the book didn't resonate with me.  The writing was good but that cannot make up for the plodding plot or lackluster characters.  Unfortunately I ended up forcing myself to finish the book.  Not a good sign.

Not recommended.

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Lemon Cranberry Muffins

I firmly believe that lemon and cranberry are one of the best flavour combinations ... like, evah.  This is why I'm always eager to try anything that pairs my mutual obsessions with cranberries and lemon into one blissful baked good. 

This recipe beautifully showcases the love affair between the cran and the lemon.  A match made in gastronomical nirvana.  In this recipe you have a sweet, moist and light muffin with more than a hint of fresh lemony goodness and then ba-bang!!  You get an explosion of a fresh cranberry, and then another .... and another!  A veritable profusion of cranberry!  Never has something that hails from an acidic bog in the northern hemisphere tasted so very good!

Now, I've said before that I don't have an overly sweet tooth.  But I do adore anything sweet that is balanced with a touch of sourness.  Kind of like my personality, I suppose.  You get my usually sweet disposition followed by a blast o' sassy spunkiness.  If you want a fancy way to say it, it's the juxtaposition of the sweet and tangy that titillates my taste buds and makes this moist muffin so very stellar.

You may be asking yourself ... 'Self, where does Laurie get fresh cranberries this time of year?'  Well, seeing that I don't live near an acidic bog here in the northern hemisphere I have to stock up on bags of fresh cranberries every Fall.  I toss these bags into my freezers and hoard them like the apocalypse is imminent.  They are my treasure.  My preciousssss. 

Currently I still have about 7 bags of cranberry goodness divided between my three freezers. I'm currently awaiting a TV network to come up with a new show called 'Frozen Food Hoarders' to showcase my obsession which could also include the 30+ frozen bananas and as well as Jumbo Freezies from 1998 that are stockpiled alongside the cranberries.  But I digress ...

These delicious muffins didn't last long in our house.  While Boy 1 and Missy Moo are not fans of the cran Brad, Boy 2, my parents and I eagerly divvied up these muffins and ate them all within a day.  Needless to say these easy-to-whip-up and oh-so moist muffins will definitely be making a regular appearance in my weekly baking.

Yield: 12 medium-sized muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large lemon
1 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil)
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries (I use them from frozen)

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.  Zest the lemon and add zest to the dry ingredients.

Halve the lemon and juice it.  Add 2 tbsp lemon juice to the milk and set it aside.  It will become clumpy looking and will give it an added lemon kick.

Meanwhile, lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl.  Add oil and milk/lemon juice mixture.  Mix well. 

Gently pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and slowly blend (remember: Overbeating will create dense muffins!).  Fold in the cranberries (mine are always still frozen when I add them). 

Using a large melon baller (or large spoon) fill muffin tins.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.  Remove muffins to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.  Store muffins in an air-tight container or freeze for later use.

Inspired by: Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Lemon Cranberry Muffins

Wonder

Author: R.J Palacio
Genre: Modern Fiction
Type: Hardcopy
Source: Library
Pages: 315
Publisher: Knopf
First Published: February 14, 2012
First Line: "I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid."

Book Description:  August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.

My Thoughts:  Often times when a book is so critically acclaimed I'm a little hesitant to pick it up because more often than not the book just doesn't live up to the hype created around it.  Yes, I've become a little cynical in my reading. 

This is not the case with Wonder.  Not by a long shot. 

In fact two words that I initially wrote down after reading the first few chapters of this book were: 'touching and emotional'.  It's because of the emotion and message behind this book that I'm so excited to share it with you.

First of all, I'm shocked and more than a little impressed that this book was written by a first time author.  I think that a huge part of the success of this book is that Palacio has given Auggie (and the five other people who provide the narration) truly authentic and believable voices. 

Auggie is an inspiring, funny and strong main character who will definitely stay with me for a long time.  Palacio has created a sympathetic main character in Auggie who is a normal Star Wars loving boy with an extraordinary face who you can't help but root for.  He's got a great support system at home which has instilled a strong sense of self and he uses his humour to deal with other people's issues with his face.  He is exceptional in that he feels normal even though other people have more of an issue with his face. 

“I know I’m not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an XBox. Stuff like that makes me ordinary, I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside.

 

But I know ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go. If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all. I would wish I could walk down the street without people seeing me and then doing that look-away thing.

 

Here’s what I think: the only reason I’m not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way.”

This book could very easily do a tailspin into a very woeful read about bullying.  Sure it has it's emotional moments but it doesn't have a generally sad feel to it.  It's actually a very uplifting read and has a much more simplistic and innocent approach to it that I wasn't expecting.  If you're looking for a gritty account of what life is like living with a severe facial deformity then this won't be the book for you. 

While there is a strong moral message in the book it never felt like Palacio was pontificating or shoving the moral down the reader's throat.  It's a simple lesson: be kinder than you have to.  I would hope that we all realize that we should be nice to everyone (even if we don't do it enough) but this book clearly shows the reader that the negative effects of 'looking away' or pretending we don't notice someone with a noticeable deformity is just as damaging as saying a mean statement. It was an emotional read at times (I even shed a tear or two!) but never had a saccharine or overdone feel to it.

It's because of the moral message that I think that this book should be read by middle school kids. I honestly think everyone should read it but kids in middle school would get the most out of it because I think it accurately portrays the effects of bullying, of ignoring someone based on their looks and shows how little it takes to just be a friend and uplift someone. To do what is right, not necessarily what is the easiest, or what others think you should do.  Those are some pretty big lessons that I think ALL of us need to learn or get a refresher course on.

Overall I truly loved this book.  I was fully emersed in Auggie's world from the beginning to the end and found it to be a very touching read.  The story is told by these six characters with the use of short chapters that really helped to keep the pace moving. But what really stood out with me is the ease and success that Palacio had using various points of view -- Auggie and FIVE others -- to tell the story.  This could have been a literary train wreck with the number of POVs but it was done extremely well giving the reader insight into those around Auggie and how he and they experienced things differently. 

I especially loved his sister, Via's, point of view and her conflicting feelings towards her brother and all of the attention he gets from their parents. She adores her brother but the effects of his facial deformity, his numerous surgeries and how others react to him greatly influences her life.  Palacio also shows how other people in Auggie's life, namely Jack and Summer, deal with other insensitive and downright cruel people who judge them for hanging out with Auggie.

I did have a couple of small criticisms about the book. One thing that did strike me as not quite right were the language and issues that these Grade 5 kids had to deal with. As a mom to kids in Grade 4, 6 and 8 I'd like to think that I have a handle on the voice and development of tweens. Based on that experience with my Small Humans I think that the social issues that were dealt with in the book are more in middle school (Grades 6-8) than in an elementary school setting. I don't think that Grade 5 students are nearly as developmentally advanced as Jack, Auggie, Summer etc were portrayed in the book. I think having the kids be in Grade 7 would have been a more realistic age where they would have experienced the peer and social pressures dealt with in this book.

My other issue with the book is that perhaps because it had a lighter feel to it the ending was also more uplifting and a little too tidy for my liking. The 'bad guy' got his comeuppance and the good guys all rode off into the sunset. These are small beefs about the book (wee 'moos', if you like) but they were noticeable and may bother some readers who were hoping for an edgy ending.

Overall, I loved this book and found Wonder to be truly wonderful.  I adore the moral of the book that encourages people 'to be kinder than necessary' and that people have not only 'the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness'.  Hopefully, after reading this book people will choose to be more respectful and kinder to others even when it's not convenient for them or when it makes them feel uncomfortable. To give others dignity.  Imagine the kind of world we'd have if we all did that.

“Kinder than is necessary. Because it's not enough to be kind.

One should be kinder than needed.”

Highly recommended.

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Murder Under The Microscope

Author: Jane Bennett Munro
Genre: Mystery
Series: #1 in Toni Day medical mystery series
Type: Paperback
Source: directly from author
Publisher: iUniverse
First Published: 2011
First Line: "There was a dead body in my office."

Note: My sincere thanks to author Jane Bennett Munro for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Description:  Dr. Antoinette Day- a young, successful pathologist known to her friends and colleagues as Toni-has no idea what awaits her when Dr. Sally Shore arrives at Perrine Memorial Hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho, to fill in for a colleague recovering from a heart attack. Toni's life is about to become a living hell. Dr. Shore is supposed to see patients, perform surgeries, and take turns covering the emergency room until the regular surgeon recovers from his quadruple bypass. But unfortunately, she uses her temporary opportunity to discredit Toni and tarnish her reputation with her medical colleagues. When the visiting surgeon is conveniently murdered- her lifeless body found in Toni's office-Toni is the obvious suspect. But Toni is not going down without a fight. Forced to solve the murder in order to save her future, Toni's life becomes even more complicated when her ex-boyfriend starts stalking her and threatening her husband.

In this riveting murder mystery, a stubborn pathologist must rely on more than just her microscope as she delves into a complicated murder mystery, soon discovering that it is not just her freedom at stake-but her life

My Thoughts:  Medical mystery is a genre that I really haven't read.  But one of the things that drew me to review this book was the fact that the author had a successful 33 year career as a forensic pathologist.  To me, this means that she could back up all the medical terms, storylines and the inner workings of a hospital with her real-life experience.  This experience gives the book a sense of authenticity to Toni's role as a pathologist.

But one of the downfalls of having a professional medical specialist write a mystery is that sometimes the medical jargon gets a little heavy and that's what, in my opinion, happened here at times.  I was left wondering in a few spots if the unknown medical term I had just read was vital to the mystery or if I could just keep going and assume that my 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'ER' TV medical 'training' was enough to get me through the verbiage.  The good news is that, for the most part, my hours watching Dr Grey and her cronies was enough to get me by.  (Note: I also read this the 'old fashioned way' with a paperback so I also didn't have my Kindle's dictionary at my fingertips to help me along the way either.)

So, what did I think about this first book in the Toni Day mystery series?  Overall it was a good start and had many things going for it.  There were a lot of plot lines and twists and Toni was an interesting and strong main character who was knowledgeable and spunky.  She definitely held her own and was able to get into enough trouble to keep things flowing fairly well.  Toni was definitely the star of the book and the author used this first book to help the reader really get to know her.  The supporting characters were much more on the sidelines in this book so I'm hoping that I'll get to know them in the next book.

I did have an issue with the dialogue and it stemmed from the emotions of some of the characters seeming to come out of nowhere -- specifically anger and excessive swearing.  I'm not against swearing in a book but I prefer it to not be used needlessly.  For example, Toni referring to a 'f**king endotracheal tube' was a little over the top for me and her anger over the tube seemed to come out of nowhere.  This excessive swearing and sudden angry emotional outbursts seemed a little disjointed with who I thought the characters were.  I actually went back and reread a part a couple of times to make sure that I had understood the feeling of the conversation but I still couldn't understand the reasons for the sudden outburst of anger/swearing.  Unfortunately those episodes did detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. 

Two of the things that this book excels at are amount of action and the twists and turns.  Wow!  There were a few storylines (ranging from the murder to a creepy stalker) as well as red herrings to keep the reader guessing.  While I had an inkling about 'who dunnit', it didn't detract from me enjoying the book. 

Overall, this is a very ambitious first book of a new series.  Dr Munro has created an interesting main character and setting that will ensure many opportunities for Toni to solve crimes.  I was impressed with the detail involved in this first book by the author and while sometimes it did get a little heavy in medical-ese I did enjoy the read.  I'm sure the character development and flow of the dialogue will only improve in future books.

There is already a second book to this series, "Too Much Blood" that Dr Munro has generously sent me to review as well.  I look forward to reading that book soon to see what kind of trouble Toni can get into now. :) 

My Rating: 3/5 stars (a solid start to a new series)

Stolen (re-read)

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Supernatural, Canadian
Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 461
Series: #2 in 'Women of the Underworld' series
Series Order:

1. Bitten (2001) (for my review click HERE)
2. Stolen (2002)
3. Dime Store Magic (2004)
4. Industrial Magic (2004)
5. Haunted (2005)
6. Broken (2006)
7. No Humans Involved (2007)
8. Personal Demon (2008)
9. Living With The Dead (2008)
10. Frost Bitten (2009)
11. Waking The Witch (2010)
12. Spellbound (2011)
13. Thirteen (2012)

Publisher:  Vintage Canada
First Published: 2002
First Line: "He hated the forest."

Book Description: Elena Michaels may be the world's only female werewolf, but she's just a regular girl at heart - and she certainly doesn't believe in witches.  At least not until a forceful encounter with two small, ridiculously feminine women who lure her into a carefully laid trap ...

Vampires, demons, shamans, witches - in Stolen they all exist, and they're all under attack.  An obsessed tycoon with a sick curiosity is well on his way to amassing a private collection of supernaturals, and plans to harness their powers for himself - even if it means killing them.  For Elena, kidnapped and imprisoned deep underground, separated from her Pack, unable to tell her friends from her enemies, choosing the right allies is a matter of life and death."

My Thoughts:  Any regular readers of my blog know that I adore author Kelley Armstrong's 'Women of the Underworld' series.  She's not only Canadian but the woman can write, people!!  With 'Bitten' being such an amazing start to the series did I love 'Stolen' as much (even if this was the second time I'd read it?)  Oh yes.  Most definitely yes. 

Armstrong continues her series with yet another edge-of-your-seat read with strong female characters.  Stolen is also the book where Armstrong begins to introduce her readers to other supernatural races which makes the title of the series, Women of the Underworld, make much more sense.  These other races will eventually take over the storylines for several books.  I adore this idea of changing the protagonist every book or so.  It's not that we never see past main characters but when a new protagonist picks up the reigns it keeps things fresh.  While I luuurve Clay and Elena, putting them in the background for a few books makes me (without sounding too book geeky) miss them and gives the reader a fresh look into other 'races', namely witches, demons, vampires, shaman etc.

If I'm being honest I think that I enjoyed this book more than Bitten and one of the reasons is that we get a better picture of who Elena really is.  Sure she shows us her tougher side as she has to defend herself without the help of her mate, Clay.  But we also see a more fragile side to her as she begins to view her bond with Clay differently. 

But what really makes Elena's character more relatable and 'real' is how she reacts and feels when she's at her lowest -- dealing with the ruthless, power hungry and sadistic Ty Winslowe.  Ty's dehumanizing treatment of Elena reminds her of the horrible experiences that she had as a child.  The reader sees that Elena isn't always the tough werewolf and this acknowledgement makes her seem like a more believable and endearing character.  You want to root for her. 
If I had any negative things to say about this book is that I didn't get a strong feeling for some of the other supernaturals.  Knowing that the next book is taken over by Paige I was hoping to get to know her (and like her) a lot more in Stolen.  She was OK but not overly memorable or even all that likeable.

Kelley Armstrong remains one of my favourite authors and the fact that she is a fellow Canadian is the icing on the proverbial ... maple glazed donut.  She is an author who expertly understands how to balance all aspects of her books: romance, action, suspense, mystery ...  You cannot ask for more than that in a 'unputdownable' book.  I look forward to re-reading this series over the summer and getting reacquainted with all of the Women of the Underworld.

Highly recommended.

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars