Sing You Home

Here is the synopsis of Jodi Picoult's latest book, Sing You Home, from Barnes and Noble:

Music has set the tone for most of Zoe Baxter’s life. There’s the melody that reminds her of the summer she spent rubbing baby oil on her stomach in pursuit of the perfect tan. A dance beat that makes her think of using a fake ID to slip into a nightclub. A dirge that marked the years she spent trying to get pregnant.
For better or for worse, music is the language of memory. It is also the language of love.
In the aftermath of a series of personal tragedies, Zoe throws herself into her career as a music therapist. When an unexpected friendship slowly blossoms into love, she makes plans for a new life, but to her shock and inevitable rage, some people—even those she loves and trusts most—don’t want that to happen.

Sing You Home is about identity, love, marriage, and parenthood. It’s about people wanting to do the right thing for the greater good, even as they work to fulfill their own personal desires and dreams. And it’s about what happens when the outside world brutally calls into question the very thing closest to our hearts: family.


I am always a fan of JP and must buy her new books they day they are released. I enjoyed Sing You Home but was a bit disappointed about the end. Without spoiling anything, I wanted to know more about certain characters and turns of events toward the end of the story. I felt it ended rather abruptly. I give Sing You Home 4 of 5 stars.

Hair Bow Holder

Last night I turned this into...

THIS!! I made my daughter a hair bow holder. My plan is to make another just like it and hang them on each side of her name on her bedroom wall.

 Here's a closer look with some of the bows I made her yesterday too.

Hair Pretties

My latest addiction is making "hair pretties" for my daughter. After spending too much money on them and not always getting them back from daycare I had to figure out how to make them on my own. Here are a few korker bows that I've made.

 Here are some "everyday" bows.

My Favorite Possession...

Inside this little red case is my new favorite possession...

 ...a Nook Color! I was extremely hesitant to join the e-reader bandwagon. I LOVE books! I like to see them sitting on my bookshelf. I like to turn the pages and see the progress I've made with my reading. I like cracking open a new book and the smelling its "newness." Why on Earth would I give that up for a Nook? My sister got herself one right before Christmas and she sold me! I got enough money and gift cards for Christmas to buy myself one. I chose the Nook Color because I loved the idea of my daughter being able to listen to children's books on our long car rides to visit family. She will not be touching my Nook for a few years, but I'm happy she will have the option. Now that I've joined the bandwagon I would not trade my Nook Color for anything! I love it!!

LONG, LONG break!!

This little sweetie is the reason I have not been blogging lately! I guess at 18 months she's not so little anymore! Ava was born on November 17th, 2009. Between her and being a kindergarten teacher, my life is BUSY! Since she's arrived I've picked up a new love...photography. It's my goal to begin posting more on this blog since being the mother of a little girl has given me more "girly" things to make!

Labor Day

I finished Labor Day this past Saturday afternoon. While some people have raved about Joyce Maynard's books, I wasn't overly impressed with this book. It was good but took me about 75-100 pages to get into the story. Once I got a bit more into it, I was able to quickly finish it. In the future I would like to try another of Maynard's books to see if I like it better. I used this book for the "read a book with a summer word in the title" for the SuBC. My challenge point total is now 110. I'd give this book 2.5 of 5 stars. Below is the B&N synopsis.

With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry—lonely, friendless, not too good at sports—spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates. For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele—a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new stepfamily. As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy. Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart.
But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others—especially those we love—above ourselves. And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for.
In a manner evoking Ian McEwan's Atonement and Nick Hornby's About a Boy, acclaimed author Joyce Maynard weaves a beautiful, poignant tale of love, sex, adolescence, and devastating treachery as seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy—and the man he later becomes—looking back at an unexpected encounter that begins one single long, hot, life-altering weekend.

Lime Tree Can't Bear Orange

I'm a little behind here! The home renovations and projects have taken my life over the last few days! I finished this book Monday and it was a great read. I've been having really good luck with my last few library picks. As always, I will only post the B&N synopsis so I don't tell too much. I thought the authors writing style was very similar to Toni Morrison's. I liked Amanda Smyth's style better though. She paints a very vivid picture as she writes which gave clear pictures of the characters and settings. I'd give this book 4 of 5 stars. Here is the the synopsis.

Men will want you like they want a glass of rum…One man will love you. But you won’t love him. You will destroy his life. The one you love will break your heart in two.So says the soothsayer, when predicting young Celia’s future. Raised in the tropics of Tobago by an aunt she loves and an uncle she fears, Celia has never felt that she belonged. When her uncle–a man the neighbors call Allah because he thinks himself mightier than God–does something unforgivable, Celia escapes to the bustling capital city.There she quickly embraces her burgeoning independence, but her search for a place to call home is soon complicated by an affectionate friendship with William, a thoughtful gardener, and a strong sexual tension with her employer. All too quickly, Celia finds herself fulfilling the soothsayer’s predictions and living a life of tangled desperation–trapped between the man who offers her passion and the one who offers his heart.