Amazon.com: Mrs. Kimble (P.S.): Jennifer Haigh: Books

I'm going to try book reviews on my blog. Going with my passion. I'm on the list to get Android Karenina from Quirk Books and that made me feel more excited than meeting a favorite movie star. So then a lightbulb went on over my head. I will talk about books. Please bear with me as I get moving in this and leave suggestions, too. What are your favorite reads?

This week I'm reviewing Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh. It starts out with a man, dead and alone. He's lived his life having had three wives, three children and no one to love him or any friends. The story follows this man, but it concerns itself with his wives. Just like his wives, you as reader never know him. The women are all very different, as is each reincarnation of Mr. Kimble. He never changes his name or hides, but before the information age, it was hard to track a person if they left the area.

This is a story on how these women deal with such a man, and how they love him. You also see how he changes to become what he thinks he wants to be. But as I said, you never do know him very well. It's a great story, very well written. It wraps the story around you in such a way that you can't put it down. I love stories like this, real stories told in an excellant way.

The Monday Melee « fracas

The Monday Melee « fracas

1. The Misanthtropic: Name something (about humanity) you absolutely hate. Putting money as the all important thing to attain in life. Forget family, forget having a support system. Pack up and move anywhere where you can make the most money. Who cares if you'll hardly ever see them anymore. Oh and while you are at it, put your kids in daycare and let someone else raise them. Now why is it we can't figure out why our kids don't have good values? Couldn't possibly be that our society still puts them on the bottom rung of priorities.

2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent or bogus. The movie Perseus Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Theif. It is so loosely based on the book. And if the story were well written or well acted, it would have been better. I mean, Pierce Brosnon was in this movie - and he is capable of acting...and even his dialogue delivery made me cringe at how bad it was. The other thing was how they treated Hades as if it were the Christian version of hell. Even going so far as to portray Hades as the devil, you know fire, horns very scary. Totally ignoring the fact that Hades was the afterlife for everyone. If you lived your life well, you would have a nice afterlife. Hades may not have been happy with his lot in life, but he wasn't evil. Kind of a jerk, but honestly from the stories Ares was the bigger A-hole.

3. The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with. I am unhappy with my weight. I'm far too heavy. I am working on it, but it's a constant battle to stay within range. And you would be shocked at how much you can put away if you eat out for an entire day. It was staggering and it really cleared my head.

4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can. My husband wrote me the sweetest letter last night He gave me credit for making him a better person and said that we are both pains in the morning but he could deal if I could. It made me cry, it was so sweet. He brought up the example of the Birdcage. When I first had him watch it with me, he was making...well not nice comments on gay men. And I pointed out that they loved each other. Now he watches it and he sees a love story and actually admires them for having found each other. He can be a good man when he wants to.

5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it. Crud...it's a bad day for this one. Ok, I guess I'm not afraid to see my faults and instead of beating myself up on them...usually I try to change them. Ok, sometimes I do get blogged down with them, but I do try to be honest with myself and try to find ways to make myself better. Continual improvement, I guess.

6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for. I wish I can get through school. I wish I can find a work from home software job after I do. I wish that I can help my family do better.