Book Review Thursday #2

Not much to report here on the home front.

Baby C and I have had to stay inside for most of the week.

Boo.

We did head down to City Creek Mall the other day, and we enjoyed the Christmas decorations.

He was a great sport as I tried on red lipstick, Anthropologie dresses and perused Forever 21.  

Basically all the things Mr. H would not have had fun doing with me. :)

We also got to go to little brother O's band concert tonight.  

It was AMAZING.  He did such a good job. 

Baby C danced to all the songs and clapped dutifully.  He was awesome.

Since we have stayed inside most of the week

I have read a LOT.

It's not technically Thursday, but it's close enough.

Book #1

"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

Mr. H loves this book.  He wants to go see the movie, and I have this thing about needing to read the book before I see it on the big screen.  I'm not a huge fan of Card as an author, so I was a bit hesitant.  Fantasy/Sci Fi isn't really my thing either, but I decided to give it a go.  

The story is really sad and depressing.  I thought it was clever and had a good message, but the overall feel of the book was a little dark and violent for my taste.  I would recommend this book to thinkers. (Like MR. H)  It definitely was a social commentary, and I thought it was executed well.  

***

Book #2

"The Rithmatist" by Brandon Sanderson

So this was another book recommended by Mr. H.  It was in the whole fantasy/sci-fi genre again, and so I was very VERY hesitant.  But, I had a rainy afternoon, so I gave it a go.

I was impressed.  The story was extremely clever, and it had a really fun tone throughout.  There were a lot of diagram thingies which didn't grab my attention as much, but I enjoyed the story.  It was interesting, light, and fast paced.  This is a good one.

****

Book #3

"All But My Life" by Gerda Weissman Klein

This book was much more up my alley.  It was a holocaust memoir, and I was surprised I hadn't already read it.  I really enjoyed it.  It was from a female girl perspective, and I appreciated the happy ending.  I love seeing different parts of that war, and I thought she presented a totally new story for me. It wasn't horribly graphic, and I thought the tone was much more hopeful than some of the other holocaust literature I've read.

****

Happy Reading!

*=not worth your time

**=ok, not recommendable

***=I'll recommend it, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I wished

****=I really enjoyed it

*****=Loved it! Everyone should read it!!!

Lately

This week has felt relaxed, but we've tried to fill it with activities as to not go stir crazy in our little apartment :) 

There's been 

grocery shopping

cold cold weather---

running in the pitch black mornings

teaching my first English lesson

mall shopping

craft shopping

baby C loving the stairs

baby C saying "ball" every five seconds

organizing

reading lots of books

planning meetings

fun phone calls and visits

visiting my dad's work

making delicious fall soups

watching tv premieres

birthday shopping for a certain Mr. H

oh and baby C was given a free book at the store for being so cute.  I told him to not get used to it :)

Mr. H is doing a lot of school and work.  And it's a lot!  C and I are becoming best pals again.

But nothing will ever take the place of his daddy.

C helping dad with homework

I went to City Creek with baby C yesterday. Just for fun.  I love having the freedom to do that.  

Anyway.  

I stopped by my favorite store Anthropologie and coveted everything in that store.

Seriously.

So pretty.  I came home and told Mr. H how fun it would be to shop there for real, and not just pretend shop.  This scared him, as it is difficult to find pieces there under $75. :)

So.  I have an idea.  

What if I could take their ideas, and create them myself?

I know. I have to be able to sew first.  

But if I could, wouldn't the world be my limit???? 

So this is my new ambition.  

To find cheaper versions of what I want to wear, and then tailor and detail them so I love them.  

K---so I was thinking with the sweater on the left: buying an old DI sweater or something, finding cute floral fabric and refashioning it...we shall see if that works.

And then for the picture on the left-I don't think it would be too difficult to take a fun shirt, cut it down the middle and add buttons.  

Again. We shall see. :)

I also just read a book called "The Uglies".  It was kind of the typical young adult novel, you know: female heroine, young love, intense situations.  But it was really good.  I loved the idea behind it.  The world inside the book has convinced everyone that they are "ugly" hence the "uglies", and when they are sixteen, they receive an operaton to make them beautiful.  Then they are called the "pretties".  This book really dove into the meaning of being beautiful.  Are we so brainwashed by our society that we can't see our own beauty so we have to spend hundreds of dollars on products, surgeries, or treatments?  It really hit home for me.  I've been thinking a lot on the whole physical appearance thing.  It's HARD. And I would make a safe bet that it's HARD for almost everyone.  

I'm still working on sorting my feelings, but I do love this website.  

http://www.beautyredefined.net/

Anyway, there will probably be more to come on this topic.  :)

Well-here's to a nice weekend to all!