The Mermaid Chair ~a novel by Sue Monk Kidd

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

A dazzling novel of passion and spirituality - the instant blockbuster bestseller from the author ofThe Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd’s phenomenal debut, The Secret Life of Bees, became a runaway bestseller that is still on the New York Times bestseller list more than two years after its paperback publication. Now, in her luminous new novel, Kidd has woven a transcendent tale that will thrill her legion of fans. Telling the story of Jessie Sullivan - a love story between a woman and a monk, a woman and her husband, and ultimately a woman and her own soul - Kidd charts a journey of awakening and self-discovery illuminated with a brilliance that only a writer of her ability could conjure.

Ok, here is my take on this puppy. I think it was well written but it was the topic that I found annoying. I enjoyed parts of this book...but on a whole, I was annoyed a great deal of the time by the lead character and her behavior. Don't get me wrong, I got a good cry out of it...but I would never read it again. Anyone want to borrow my copy? I'll mail it to you.

Me and Emma

This book is worth your time. Elizabeth Flock brings Emma and Carrie to life and when they feel pain, our hearts ache for them. Keep a box of tissues on hand...I sure needed one. If you are interested in reading it, let me know and I will send you my copy, with a list of who to mail it to when you are done. If you are not sure, click this link and read an excerpt.

Book Cover synopsis: In many ways, Carrie Parker is like any other eight-year-old-playing make-believe, dreading school, dreaming of faraway places. But even her imaginative mind can't shut out the realities of her impoverished North Carolina home or help her protect her younger sister, Emma.

By turns achingly naive and utterly pragmatic, Carrie has been shaped by the loss of her beloved daddy, and mired by a drunken stepfather and emotionally absent mother. Charting an astonishing course of survival for herself and Emma, she hopes to transform their life into one more closely resembling the story books she treasures.

But after the sisters' plan to run away from home unravels, their world takes a shocking turn-and one shattering moment ultimately reveals a truth that leaves everyone reeling.

Narrated with the simplicity and unabashed honesty of a child's perspective, ME & EMMA is a vivid portrayal of the heartbreaking loss of innocence, an indomitable spirit and incredible courage--a story that will resonate with readers of all ages and experiences.

The Glass Castle

I loved this memoir! It is so courageous and full of survival that I couldn't put it down. Although Jeannette Walls' life is full of sadness and her family completely dysfunctional her ways of moving forward are humorous and brave. A great weekend read!

From Amazon.com:
"Jeannette Walls's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In The Glass Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls's childrearing style laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing (wearing shoes held together with safety pins; using markers to color her skin in an effort to camouflage holes in her pants) to the horrific (being told, after a creepy uncle pleasured himself in close proximity, that sexual assault is a crime of perception; and being pimped by her father at a bar). Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover." --Brangien Davis