The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

Why I have this book: My mom downloaded it on our shared Kindle account. I heard of this book years ago, and had no desire to read it. I don't like creepy books, and it sounded creepy. Then they made a movie out of it and I had no desire to watch the movie either.

Anyway, I recently heard of others reading the book, and since it was on my Kindle and I was just in the mood to read something out of my ordinary range... and knowing I could just exit out of it if I didn't like it... well, I gave it a try.

Even though it had more swearing than I like and more sexuality than I prefer to read, I still found the story compelling and well-written. I got sucked in, I admit.

If I owned it, I would probably pass it along. I don't think I would read it again.

It's kind of one of those books that gets into your head and you think about it after you finished it.

This book does contain a handful of swear words, including two uses of the f-word. (I hate that word!) The main character is raped and murdered as a young teenager, and there are several references throughout the book that are sexual in nature. None of this is on the extreme graphic side, but I can't say it's not at all descriptive, either.

Endurance (Alfred Lansing)

Why I have this book: It was reviewed on a blog I read, and I decided it was time to read something besides Amish books. :)

The full title is: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

It was a little hard for me to get fully engaged in this book, but it did happen after a bit! Really, it is an incredible story... amazing what people can endure. It is about an expedition through the Antarctic back in 1914. Their ship got caught in ice... meaning packed in to the point that they couldn't move at all. Eventually, the ship was crushed by the ice, and the men had to find a way to get to civilization. They had no means of communication with anyone else in the world, so they were completely on their own. It's hard to imagine that kind of isolation. These men (and not one of them died... which it says on the back of the book, so I'm not giving anything away) survived through terrible conditions that never let up. I was impressed that they not only physically survived, but also mentally and emotionally. Really, it's a fascinating (true) story.

I'm soooooo glad I read something that required a little more concentration! Now I'm excited to get back to that level on a more regular basis. (This book, btw, is a keeper.)

There is also a DVD documentary about the Endurance and her crew... Am*zon has it. AND... don't you think it's appropriate that the ship was called "Endurance"???

This book may have had an occasional swear word, but I could be wrong. I don't really recall...

The Union Quilters (Jennifer Chiaverini)

Why I have this book: I pre-ordered it, because I have all the Elm Creek Quilter books. :)

(And I'm still reading the book about the Antarctic expedition mentioned in the previous post. It's just not one of those books that I can't put down.)

I liked this book, but it wasn't one of my favorites. It would have been easier to get into if it was read right after reading The Runaway Quilt. (This is a sequel of sorts.) I had to sort out who the characters were again.

There was also a fair amount of description of battle locations and stratigies, which I mostly skimmed over.

I dunno... it was okay. Of course I'll keep it... I have all her books. :)

This book was clean, with just some minor descriptions of battle wounds and other war-related conditions.