Half Baked

Recently, the book Half Baked, by Alexa Stevenson was recommended to me. 

The synopsis from Amazon reads:

“A funny memoir about struggling with infertility and giving birth to a not-quite-two-pound premature baby? Blogger Stevenson manages to pull it off. In this tragedy with a happy ending, Stevenson goes through in vitro fertilization (IVF), gets pregnant with twins, loses one of them, but delivers a surprisingly healthy daughter, Simone. The tale is full of funny moments. Stevenson’s husband, Scott, nicknames their IVF project “Science Baby.” When she is still carrying two fetuses, Stevenson jokes, “My goal was a modest one: to get 50 percent of the babies out alive.” Later, after Simone is released from the neonatal intensive care unit, Stevenson notes that the sound of crying makes her happy, not frustrated. “Baby crying? Well, that means she’s breathing!” Even though the book offers plenty of comic relief, how many parents of full-term babies will want to wade through every detail of Stevenson’s fears, drugs, and checkups? It’s the readers who are in Stevenson’s shoes who will seek out and smile at her inspiring tale of hope.”

The author, Alexa, was a blogger at Flotsam, before she was a published author.  She posts there quite frequently, and I find her style funny and refreshing. 

I could probably say I’ve got at least a mild case of PTSD (self-diagnosed) as a result of our NICU experience – the most terrifying 4 months of my life.  In time, I know I’ll get better and stop asking myself all of those pesky “what ifs?”. 

It’s a small club of which I find myself a member – the one that includes parents who at some point in time came close to losing their child, or wondering if they were going to make it to the next day.  (I don’t even attempt to truly know what it feels like to have lost a child.)  This is not a club for which anyone would volunteer.

I enjoyed this book immensely… I laughed, I cried, I commiserated.  So much of her NICU experience was uncannily similar to mine – I found myself able to relate on so many levels.  Reading her memoir was cathartic for me.  This is a book I will definitely pick up again in a few years time. 

Currently, there are 28 reader reviews posted on Amazon – all but a small few rated it 5 out of 5 stars.

For any of my fellow NICU moms, both in real life and imaginary – if you’re interested in reading this book, please let me know – I’d be happy to send it to you as a loaner.  :) 

Recent read and a commentary

Well, after picking up this book earlier this summer, I'm disappointed with myself that I didn't read it right away. I practically devoured it, I read it so fast... it was incredibly hard to put down! While giving her readers a glimpse of life inside a polygamous sect, her main theme was FREEDOM, and how the women in that community completely give up their rights as human beings.

Escape
By Carolyn Jessop & Laura Palmer

From Publishers Weekly
Seventeen years after being forced into a polygamous marriage, Jessop escaped from the cultlike Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints with her eight children. She recounts the horrid events that led her to break free from the oppressive world she knew and how she has managed to survive since escaping, despite threats and legal battles with her husband and the Church. Though sometimes her retelling overflows with colorful foreshadowing and commentary on how exceptional she is, the everyday details she reveals about this polygamous society are devastating and tragic.

This book's release happened around the time the FLDS children in Texas were removed from their homes. Carolyn Jessop also appeared on the Today Show, while promoting her book. My thoughts are still mixed over whether or not I agree with that situation in Texas, but I was definitely intrigued to learn more about this sect that is so commonly misaligned by the media with the church I belong to. This book was enlightening, to say the least!

I read this post on When I in Awesome Wonder Consider All... and loved how this picture so clearly illustrated the differences in beliefs between the FLDS and LDS members. A reader went through the book and tabbed in yellow the beliefs that are common between the faiths, and in red the beliefs that are starkly different. Not surprisingly, there are WAY more red flags than yellow ones. (At least I wasn't surprised.) The beliefs we have in common? They also worship God, believe in Christ, and agree that we're given a latter-day prophet to follow as in Bible times. (Though we disagree on who that latter-day prophet is.)

I know polygamy was practiced by my LDS ancestors, until it was rescinded in 1890. It's a practice I have a hard time wrapping my own head around, and to be quite honest, I can't say that I would ever be comfortable or willing to participate in it.

On that note, a final question about our society...

Why is this (polygamy) so abhorred by the public?

While this seems to be so celebrated?

Is it not somewhat the same situation???

Mr. Hefner is much like a polygamist
living and sleeping with several women...
he's also not legally married to all of them...
but I suppose since he's not having hoards of children with them,
it must be okay.

Both situations turn my stomach.

Recent Read

Just finished up this book. It was good, but I didn't like it nearly as much as I enjoyed her first book, The Friday Night Knitting Club.

Comfort Food
by Kate Jacobs

From Publishers Weekly
Jacobs follows The Friday Night Knitting Club with another multigenerational tale, this time on the foodie circuit. Popular Cooking with Gusto! host Augusta Gus Simpson, a widowed mother of two adult daughters who's about to turn 50, is tiring of her many obligations, which include throwing an annual birthday bash for herself. That trial pales, however, in comparison with the introduction of saucy former beauty queen and YouTube star Carmen Vega as Gus's cohost: Carmen is younger, hotter and very tight with the boss. It's soon apparent on the set that this new situation isn't working, so the two are packed off, along with a forgettable cast of secondaries, to a corporate team-building weekend, complete with New Age guide. When the resort's head chef calls in sick, a team-building opportunity presents itself.

I have a confession to make

Coming out of the closet for this one...

I don't love these books.

I tried to read Twilight, I really did, but I couldn't finish it.

I don't know if it was vampires as the subject matter,
the writing for tweens, or what...

I just didn't like it.

Please don't hate me.

Recent Read

Just finished up this book... LOVED IT! Definitely deeper than most chick lit out there, I hardly think it should be put in the same category. It was a great illustration of how complicated mother-daughter relationships can be, especially through the teen years...

Certain Girls
by Jennifer Weiner

From Publishers Weekly
Following the story collection The Guy Not Taken, Weiner turns in a hilarious sequel to her 2001 bestselling first novel, Good in Bed, revisiting the memorable and feisty Candace Cannie Shapiro. Flashing forward 13 years, the novel follows Cannie as she navigates the adolescent rebellion of her about-to-be bat mitzvahed daughter, Joy, and juggles her writing career; her relationship with her physician husband, Peter Krushelevansky; her ongoing weight struggles; and the occasional impasse with Joy's biological father, Bruce Guberman. Joy, whose premature birth resulted in her wearing hearing aids, has her own amusing take on her mother's overinvolvement in her life as the novel, with some contrivance, alternates perspectives. As her bat mitzvah approaches, Joy tries to make contact with her long absent maternal grandfather and seeks more time with Bruce. In addition, unbeknownst to Joy, Peter has expressed a desire to have a baby with Cannie, which means looking for a surrogate mother. Throughout, Weiner offers her signature snappy observations: (good looks function as a get-out-of-everything-free card) and spot-on insights into human nature, with a few twists thrown in for good measure. She expends some energy getting readers up to speed on Good, but readers already involved with Cannie will enjoy this, despite Joy's equally strong voice.

Recent Read

I picked up this book at the library on a recommendation of my good friend, Emily... and it did not disappoint! I laughed, I cried... I really couldn't put it down. I have a new appreciation for those early settlers and all they went through so long ago. This book is the first of a trilogy with Sarah's Quilt and The Star Garden. I'm anxious to pick up the other two at the library soon!

These is my Words
by Nancy E. Turner

From Publishers Weekly
Based on the real-life exploits of the author's great-grandmother, this fictionalized diary vividly details one woman's struggles with life and love in frontier Arizona at the end of the last century. When she begins recording her life, Sarah Prine is an intelligent, headstrong 18-year-old capable of holding her own on her family's settlement near Tucson. Her skill with a rifle fends off a constant barrage of Indian attacks and outlaw assaults. It also attracts a handsome Army captain named Jack Elliot. By the time she's 21, Sarah has recorded her loveless marriage to a family friend, the establishment of a profitable ranch, the birth of her first child?and the death of her husband. The love between Jack and Sarah, which dominates the rest of the tale, has begun to blossom. Fragmented and disjointed in its early chapters, with poor spelling and grammar, Sarah's journal gradually gains in clarity and eloquence as she matures. While this device may frustrate some readers at first, Taylor's deft progression produces the intended reward: she not only tells of her heroine's growth, but she shows it through Sarah's writing and insights. The result is a compelling portrait of an enduring love, the rough old West and a memorable pioneer.

Next up on the nightstand?
The latest novel from another one of my favorites, Jennifer Weiner - Certain Girls.
She's best known for her book, In Her Shoes (which became a movie starring Cameron Diaz & Toni Collette).

Recent Read

Have you read a Jodi Picoult book yet? If not, you're totally missing out... promise. I've only got about 50 pages left of this one, and it hasn't disappointed!

Change of Heart
by Jodi Picoult

From Publishers Weekly
Picoult bangs out another ripped-from-the-zeitgeist winner, this time examining a condemned inmate's desire to be an organ donor. Freelance carpenter Shay Bourne was sentenced to death for killing a little girl, Elizabeth Nealon, and her cop stepfather. Eleven years after the murders, Elizabeth's sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant, and Shay volunteers, which complicates the state's execution plans. Meanwhile, death row has been the scene of some odd events since Shay's arrival—an AIDS victim goes into remission, an inmate's pet bird dies and is brought back to life, wine flows from the water faucets. The author brings other compelling elements to an already complex plot line: the priest who serves as Shay's spiritual adviser was on the jury that sentenced him; Shay's ACLU representative, Maggie Bloom, balances her professional moxie with her negative self-image and difficult relationship with her mother. Picoult moves the story along with lively debates about prisoner rights and religion, while plumbing the depths of mother-daughter relationships and examining the literal and metaphorical meanings of having heart. The point-of-view switches are abrupt, but this is a small flaw in an impressive book. 1,000,000-million copy first printing.(Mar.)

** LIFETIME MOVIE ALERT **

Don't miss Saturday's premiere of another Jodi Picoult novel, The Tenth Circle, on Lifetime at 9pm Eastern/Pacific. With Ron Eldard and Kelly Preston starring, it looks really good!


Next up on the nightstand?
Per Emily's suggestion: These is My Words by Nancy Turner


I love the library!

Current Read

I've wanted to read this book for a long time... probably ever since it was used in the movie, Serendipity. (Remember? Kate Beckinsale's character wrote her phone number in the book when they met, and John Cusack's character spent years looking at used book stores for that one particular book?) When Oprah made it one of her book club picks, then it was everywhere, and even became a movie. So far, it's really good!

Love in the Time of Cholera
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

From Library Journal
While delivering a message to her father, Florentino Ariza spots the barely pubescent Fermina Daza and immediately falls in love. What follows is the story of a passion that extends over 50 years, as Fermina is courted solely by letter, decisively rejects her suitor when he first speaks, and then joins the urbane Dr. Juvenal Urbino, much above her station, in a marriage initially loveless but ultimately remarkable in its strength. Florentino remains faithful in his fashion; paralleling the tale of the marriage is that of his numerous liaisons, all ultimately without the depth of love he again declares at Urbino's death. In substance and style not as fantastical, as mythologizing, as the previous works, this is a compelling exploration of the myths we make of love. Highly recommended.

UPDATE: Still reading this book... and it's taking me forever! I would still recommend it, but must caution it should be rated PG-13 or possibly a soft R for content. It's beautifully written, but Mr. Ariza definitely gets around!

Recent Reads

I highly recommend these 4 books!

Austenland: A Novel
by Shannon Hale

From Publishers Weekly
In 32-year-old singleton Jane Hayes's mind, no man in the world can measure up to Fitzwilliam Darcy—specifically the Fitzwilliam played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Jane is forced to confront her Austen obsession when her wealthy great-aunt Carolyn dies and leaves her an all-expenses-paid vacation to Pembrook Park, a British resort where guests live like the characters in Jane's beloved Austen novels. Jane sees the trip as an opportunity for one last indulgence of her obsession before she puts it "all behind her—Austen, men, fantasies, period," but the lines between reality and fiction become pleasantly blurred as Jane acclimates to the world of Spencer jackets and stringent etiquette rules, and finds herself torn between the Darcyesque Mr. Nobley and a forbidden tryst with Pembrook Park's gardener.

Nineteen Minutes
by Jodi Picoult

From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Picoult (My Sister's Keeper) takes on another contemporary hot-button issue in her brilliantly told new thriller, about a high school shooting. Peter Houghton, an alienated teen who has been bullied for years by the popular crowd, brings weapons to his high school in Sterling, N.H., one day and opens fire, killing 10 people. Flashbacks reveal how bullying caused Peter to retreat into a world of violent computer games. Alex Cormier, the judge assigned to Peter's case, tries to maintain her objectivity as she struggles to understand her daughter, Josie, one of the surviving witnesses of the shooting.

Can You Keep A Secret?
by Sophie Kinsella

From Publishers Weekly It would be hard to imagine anyone other than Gray giving voice to Emma Corrigan, the heroine of Kinsella's hilarious new confection (after Shopaholic Ties the Knot). With her flirty British accent, Gray perfectly delivers the hysterical monologues that Emma, a marketing assistant, directs towards the handsome man sitting next to her on a turbulent flight between Glasgow and London. Emma spills intimate details about her G-string, G-spot, the fact that she's never been in love and much more. But to Emma's chagrin, the handsome man on the plane turns out to be Jack Harper, CEO of her company. Emma hopes Jack will forget all about her, but he seems bent on getting to know her, first forcing her to admit she deserves better than her boring boyfriend Conor, then convincing her that he is a better choice. Although he never seems to share his own secrets, Emma can't help falling in love with Jack and his glamorous lifestyle. But then the unthinkable happens—Jack reveals Emma's secrets on national television in front of her family, friends and co-workers. What happens next? That's a secret.

And I'm currently reading and loving:
The Friday Night Knitting Club
by Kate Jacobs

From Publishers Weekly
Between running her Manhattan yarn shop, Walker & Daughter, and raising her 12-year-old biracial daughter, Dakota, Georgia Walker has plenty on her plate in Jacobs's debut novel. But when Dakota's father reappears and a former friend contacts Georgia, Georgia's orderly existence begins to unravel. Her support system is her staff and the knitting club that meets at her store every Friday night, though each person has dramas of her own brewing. Jacobs surveys the knitters' histories, and the novel's pace crawls as the novel lurches between past and present, the latter largely occupied by munching on baked goods, sipping coffee and watching the knitters size each other up. Club members' troubles don't intersect so much as build on common themes of domestic woes and betrayal.

Check them out!