Remembering Diana; The Way We Were (Paul Burrell)

Why I have this book: I bought it a couple of months ago. I'm not sure why, other than I have always been an admirer of Princess Diana, and something made me think of her. The book was a "bargain book" on Amazon, so I bought it.

What a touching tribute to Princess Diana. I'm so glad that she had someone in her camp who has chosen to share personal and respectful memories of her. She was so much more than how she was portrayed in the media, both before and after her death.

The book was sad in a sense, as the author (her personal butler) shared some details of his grief and the events of her death and the days that followed. The stress and sadness of her life within the royal family, the relationships impacted by her title and fame... it is just... sad. Yet Mr. Burrell describes all the happiness she created in her life. He obviously adored her. I hope her boys recognize his devotion... I imagine it is difficult for them to share their mom with the world.

It was also an interesting look into how a butler's personal life is affected by his job. I don't know if this is the case for every butler in such a high profile family, but Mr. Burrell's family definitely shared him with the Princess. That must have been a challenge for his wife.

I don't know yet if I will keep it. It was an intriguing read, but also sad. I don't think I would read it again, so I will probably donate it to the library. I'm glad I read it, though.

Clean.

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience (Neal A. Maxwell)

Why I have this book: I bought it on my Kindle... but now I can't remember exactly why. Which is kind of scary, since I just bought it about a week ago. I think my oldest son mentioned it to me. Yes, I'm pretty sure that's it. :)

Anyway, I liked this book very much. Elder Maxwell was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints prior to his death. He was an amazing speaker and very inspiring.

I loved letting myself soak in the Spirit of God while reading Elder Maxwell's counsel about how life's experiences and the choices we make help us become all we are meant to be. I look forward to reading more books written by Elder Maxwell.

This book is a keeper. And if it was a "real" book on my shelf, it would be worth the room it would take up.

Perfectly clean.

Hidden Places (Lynn Austin)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the library on my Kindle. (I love the library loaning feature!)

I like Lynn Austin books, and shortly into this one, I realized I had read it before. It had been a while, though, so I kept reading. I enjoyed it very much.

I was sucked into the characters... I feel like the author did a great job helping the reader to understand the personalities and backgrounds and mindset of each character. I don't think that's easy to do.

Definite keeper or one I would give to my grandma. I know she'd enjoy it, too.

This book is clean, but does deal with abuse, death, and illegitimacy.

Two books by Anita Stansfield

Return to Love
To Love Again

Why I have these books and a disclaimer: I am not a fan of Anita Stansfield, but I had remembered reading these two books before, and was curious why I had "kind of" liked them.

So, yeah... I actually paid money to get the Kindle versions.

First of all, the first book has horrible editing. The main character's name goes back and forth between his "real" name (Colin) and the name the author must have started using (Corm). (And by the way, is "Corm" a name???) Anyway, that went on for the entire book. Maybe this is just a problem in the Kindle version?

The second book (which is a sequel) was better than the first. Neither is excellent... dialogue is silly at times... but I thought the author developed the emotions of the characters a bit better.

I thought I would throw up if I heard the evil ex-husband say, "my love" one more time. As in: "Don't worry, my love. I'll be back." (Not an exact quote.) So dumb.

In the interest of full disclosure, one summer a friend and I read most of the Anita Stansfield books that were out there. (We borrowed... did not buy!) We did this mostly to make fun of the over the top storylines. I know, not nice.

I'm sorry to Anita Stansfield fans. I don't mean to offend. I've heard her historical books are pretty good. Maybe I'll try one someday. And to be honest, even these two books had some kind of a certain appeal to them. I don't know. I just can't get a foot in the "love" camp.

I should stop talking about it now.

These books are on my Kindle. If they were real books, I'd give them away. They aren't damaging... just not great literature.

Pretty clean. I think there may have been a swear word or two, and they deal with premarital and extramarital sex and the consequences of those actions for people of faith.

Not Afraid of Life; My Journey So Far (Bristol Palin)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the library on my Kindle.

I like autobiographies, and I was curious about this young woman's perspective on her life. The first part of the book was fine. I wasn't loving it... it seemed written by someone young (as it was) and I wasn't sure if the point was much more than a way to try and counter all the rumors told about her life. (There was a co-writer... I know she helped, but the "voice" is very young. I kind of wonder how that all worked.)

I enjoyed the book more as it went along. Bristol seems to be very down to earth and also seems to have a good head on her shoulders... other than for a time with the father of her son. It looks like she's over that, though.

I think it might be a good book for younger girls to read. Maybe they would learn a bit about making good decisions about relationships with boys. Then again, I think a lot of young people think they are the exception to the rule. I liked how she shared her feelings about her Christian beliefs and of God's love and the strength she gets from that foundation in her life.

I thought it was interesting how Bristol talked about other people in her life, naming names and saying things they did. I don't know... it almost seemed vengeful?

If it was a real book, I might have my teenage daughter read it and talk to her about what she can learn from Bristol's experience. I don't think I would keep it forever. I'd probably donate it to the library.

The book mentions premarital sex, where it happened, etc - but nothing graphic. There are some veiled swear words (like the first letter with ---'s, so you know what the word is without it really being spelled out.) There is mention of the boyfriend posing for Playgirl and of the signs of his cheating over and over again. If my daughter was going to read it, I'd definitely discuss it afterward.

I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down (Jennifer Hudson)

Why I have this book: I bought it for my Kindle because I thought it would be interesting to read about Jennifer Hudson overcoming some of the extremely difficult challenges she has faced. I love autobiographies, anyway, but mostly I have been impressed with how she has managed her life after losing her family members in a tragic way... and she is also a spokesperson for Weight Watchers and has had success in losing weight, so I was interested to see how she focused on that in her busy life.

The book is mostly a promotion for Weight Watchers. A good chunk of the book explains the program in almost clinical terms. Kind of disappointing. She doesn't really share a lot about the very tough loss of her family members... certainly, that's her prerogative, and I can't blame her.

The book is written with as much depth as a magazine article. It's very surface. I mostly learned some basic facts about her rise to fame. It provides an interesting glimpse into the world of Hollywood. I am happy for her... she seems like a nice girl and she deserves her success. She's very likable.

I don't think I would read it again.

There is swearing in this book.

The Outsider (Ann H. Gabhart)

Why I have this book: It's a library loan on my Kindle.

Okay, Eh. That's about it.

The love story is not believable.

I mostly kept reading to get through the book, not because I was wondering what would happen. (Pretty much predictable.)

The coldness of the "Christian" Shakers is tiresome. I just can't tell if the author admires the Shakers or not. I'd have to say not... but I don't get why she writes stories set in their midst.

The other book I read that was set in the Shaker community (and was written by the same author) was probably more interesting to me because I was curious about the Shaker lifestyle. It was still fascinating, since it was new information to me. Now it just bothers me, and the story wasn't enough to overcome that.

Oh, and will any of her other "Shaker" books be different than the character who is a Shaker become attracted to someone who is not and therefore becomes conflicted about whether or not they are truly a "Believer"? Just asking.

Definitely not a keeper if it was a real book. As it is, I get to "return" it to the library.

This book is clean... although there were some hard to stomach descriptions of things that happened in the war.