Sophie Kinsella Has Done It Again...

She's made me lose hours of sleep because I'm reading her fabulously hilarious book. 


Sophie (we're on a first-name basis... Well, at least I am) is my most favorite living author. Her books pretty much crack me up, and I'm always reading them.

The newest addition to my collection, Can You Keep A Secret didn't let me down. I bought it at Hastings in Hays, America (ha ha) and even had Bonnie read it to me because I was driving. At one point in time, I was turning purple and I almost had to pull over on the interstate because I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.  I stayed up all night on Saturday night/Sunday morning until I finished it.


I like Sophie's characters because they seem so real. I can relate so well to them, and it's almost embarrassing to read Emma's secrets and realize that I have some of the same. (But I'm not telling which ones...) 


I like how each of her girls have some serious situations to deal with, brought on by their own mistakes, and they manage to get out of them on their own. Of course I probably wouldn't like the books as much if that meant they girls were "cured." Oh No. They still continue making the same mistakes over-and-over-and-over again. Which is great, because she can keep writing about them.


Ladies, (and gentlemen, if you're not embarrassed) you should check our Sophie's books. I think you'll love them. 

My Kindle Gets A Makeover

As promised in my last post, I will show you some lovely pictures of my newly decorated Kindle. I ordered a Kindle decoration called a skin from Amazon. They have them in all sorts of themes from Disney to sports to fantasy to Twilight. (Team Edward/Jacob anyone?)

The Front

                        

The Back

There were lots of squeals, oooos, and ahhhhs, when the Amazon box arrived on Saturday, and even more when I put it on.

Two Great Biographies, One Great Author

My interest in biographies has grown immensely over the past year or so, and I've read more this year than I have in all my years before. I found myself reading about characters across the board.

I've read about Mrs. Julia Child, 

Mr. Benjamin Franklin, 

and a horse named Seabiscuit.

These plus a few others have occupied my time and interrupted hours of my sleep because I just couldn't put them down.  My most current sleep-depriving book was Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.

This was the second book and biography by Laura Hillenbrand that I've read. When I chose it, I was looking for an Amazon 2010 Editor's Pick. It was number two after The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. (Read more of my Resplendent Moments from earlier this year to learn more about this great book) I had noticed that the author's name seemed familiar, but because I didn't so much as glance at the cover when I downloaded it to my Kindle, I didn't know she is also the author of Seabiscuit. A book I currently own in paperback form and read multiple times a year.

Her writing was amazing.  While lying in bed, I physically kicked my legs trying to help Louie Zamperini run faster at the Olympics, I felt my lips swelling from the heat just like the men in the rescue boat, and the pain and humiliation made me cry tears the POWs in the Japanese camps could not release.  The ups and downs in the lives of Zamp and Phil had me reading until 3 this morning. When I could barely keep my eyes open I forced myself to turn off the lamp. When I woke up at 8, I instantly reached for my newly decorated Kindle (pictures to come in a later blog) and switched it on.  

I love learning the details of lives so great and unfathomable, yet so unknown. Mrs. Hillenbrand is a fabulous writer, and I would like to read her own biography someday. Until then I wait for her next literary work, and encourage you to read about her, and her two books.