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Showing posts from August, 2015

Finders Keepers by Stephen King

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Finders Keepers by Stephen King                 In 2010 Pete Saubers found a trunk filled with thousands of dollars and over a hundred Moleskin notebooks. The money would help Pete’s family through a very difficult financial time and save his parent’s marriage. Thomas’s father had lost his job and was at the City Center in 2009 when Brady Hartsfield, also known as Mr. Mercedes, rammed into a crowd of job seekers. Thomas was injured that day and his injury added tension to an already struggling family. The money was a godsend but the notebooks were the real treasure. They belonged to John Rothstein and held all of his writing since he disappeared from the public eye. Decades worth of writing held inside of the trunk, including two new Jimmy Gold novels. The Jimmy Gold trilogy is what made Rothstein famous. It was also what made Morris Bellamy murder Rothstein and steal all the money and those manuscripts in 1978. Years have passed and Bellamy’s only thought is of one day retrie

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King                 There was a time in my life when, even though I was a huge Stephen King fan, I was not at all interesting in reading this memoir about writing. I was in high school when this book came out and I remember seeing it at the bookstore, being intrigued, flipping through the pages, and then putting it right back on the shelf. I didn’t want a memoir. I wanted horror. I wanted something that would give me chills up and down my spine or nightmares. I was young and I can see now that I simply didn’t appreciate King or his writing. Now, after 2013 and the adventure that was reading all of his novels in their order of publication, I fully appreciate him and the universe he has created. I consider him to be a master storyteller that encompasses much more than the horror genre and I am ashamed of the child I was and how easily I dismissed this amazing memoir. I mean seriously it’s a book about Stephen King and how he write

Tidewater: A novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colony by Libbie Hawker

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Tidewater: A novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colony by Libbie Hawker                 The story of Pocahontas is of course one that I am familiar with. I mean, seriously, who hasn’t seen the Disney movie, absolutely loved it as a child and then been entirely disgusted when learning the truth behind the movie. Tidewater: A novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colony is a beautifully told, moving and realistic account of Pocahontas and her life. I am not a historian but from the moment I started reading this novel I felt fully consumed in the history of the characters. They were brought to life in amazing fashion with well-developed and thought out characters and a fully developed world. Amonute, also known as Pocahontas or “mischief,” lived in her father Powhatan’s, village in the Tsenacomoco. She was a girl that had only seen ten winters, the last few of which she spent with her father, having left her mother’s village of Pamunkey. The tassantassas, white men, ha

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

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Number the Stars by Lois Lowry            Annemarie Johansen is a ten year old girl, currently living in German occupied Coppenhagen. The year is 1943. It has been three years since the Germans took over her country. Three years of seeing soldiers at the corners. Three years of steadily decreasing food rations. Her sister Kirsti, doesn't remember a time before war, but Annemarie does. It's the Jewish New Year and Annemarie was going to celebrate it for the first time with her friend Ellen Rosen, whose whole family is Jewish. But plans change. Ellen is going to stay the night with the Johansens. The Rosens expect there may be a raid and the only way they can be safe is to separate and hide.            Number the Stars is a well-written, easy to read, children's historical fiction novel. Lowry focused on the occupation in Denmark and built a story around the escape of the thousands of Jews to Sweden before they could be "relocated." Focusing young reader

The Woman I Wanted To Be by Diane Von Furstenburg

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The Woman I Wanted To Be by Diane Von Furstenburg The “Wrap Dress” made its debut in 1974. This dress changed the life of Diana Von Furstenburg. It was a simple, yet elegant and beautiful dress that cinched at the waist, was made out of jersey material, hugged the body and usually boasted amazing, vibrant prints. It was also Diane’s key to financial independence.  The Woman I Wanted To Be  is the memoir of the woman behind the dress. It is the story of her dedication, her drive, her losses, her loves, her struggles, her triumphs.           Let me start off by saying that I was completely biased the entire time while reading this memoir. I am obsessed with Diane Von Furstenburg and her wrap dress. I have been a huge fan of her work for years, ever since seeing it for the first time on Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City.” I love it! I love the way it holds the body, framing even the most petite woman’s frame. I am not one for prints but I have al