"Dream New Dreams" by Jai Pausch

If you read the "Last Lecture" or saw it on YouTube, then it's a no-brainer you have to read this book by Randy's wife.  It tells the story of how Randy and Jai dealt with his cancer and also how they explained it to their children.  The second part of the book deals with Jai being without Randy.  The book is sad, but also interesting in how one person coped with a devastating loss.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Woman Who Wasn't There" by Robin Gaby Fisher

The Woman Who Wasn't There--The True Story of an Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr. tells the story of a woman who lost her husband on 9/11.  He was in one tower, she the other.  She was able to help people out of harms way and befriended them.  She joined and then took charge of the survivors Network, giving of her time and money and was always there for her fellow survivors.  She was admired and gave back to New York by doing many acts of kindness.  Then ending of this book will shock you like no other!  You will ask yourself "why?" and we will never get an answer.  I suggest you read it and be amazed what one person did.  It kept me turning pages quickly!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

Tuesday Teasers: 3 For You

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:  Click the links to see Gerard's reviews.

"If I know the end is coming--like if I see an RPG fired at me or I know a sniper is about to shoot me--I want my last word to be 'Rats.'"

From Loc. 194-95 on Kindle of Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell and John Bruning

By myself and very scared. Scared of ghost, scared also if I don't do this thing--lie in the manure--the Khmer Rouge will come and shoot me.

From page 47 of Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick.

Gerard's:

We continue to be tortured by that day, yet it seems that nobody, even the people that are supposed to help us, understand what we are going through. We have all been through something horrible.

From page 40 of The Woman Who Wasn't There--The true story of an Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr.


Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Never Fall Down" by Patricia McCormick (UPDATED 5/23/12)

Never Fall Down by Pat McCormick is a powerful novel about Arn Chorn-Pond’s survival against all odds based on his true story about what happened in Cambodia.  By following his aunt’s advice:  Do whatever they say.  Be like the grass, bend low, bend low, then bend lower.  The wind blow one way, you bow that way.  It blow the other way, you do too.  That’s the way to survive.  Arn was just a boy of 11 when he faced hard work in rice fields around the clock, near starvation, cruel killing day after day and even being forced to kill others and bury people alive!  By learning to play a musical instrument, he was received some better treatment and became a bit famous.  He gives music credit for saving his life.

This is such a sad and depressing novel but with a pretty good ending.  Still, it is an eye-opener to the plight of people in other countries.  The best part was when Arn first came to America and discovering he had a choice to live, not to just die or survive.  I felt so bad for him when he realized he become the monster and how much hate he had in his heart because of the four years of terror he went through. 
(Karen's review 5/23/12)

Gerard's review:
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick (a former journalist) is based on a true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a young boy living in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge took over his country and the killing started.  One day Arn was told he had to learn to play an instrument or die.  Does he learn?  What becomes of his family that he gets separated from and finally, how does it all turn out?

This story is told in gut-wrenching style.  I found it very hard to believe people actually live this way.  If you want a real page turner, this book is almost impossible to put down.  Arn Chorn-Pond has dedicated his life to humanitarian causes around the world.  He founded Children of War, an organization that aids children held hostage by war and violence.  If you want a book that you will remember like you never read before, this is it.  It's a fantastic story--a must read!


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Sunshine Every Morning" by Dorothy Glenn (Garlock)

Sunshine Every Morning by Dorothy Garlock, writing as Dorothy Glenn is a fun romance between two older people who rushed into first marriages, both ending in divorce.  They meet in a hospital shortly after Gaye loses her baby.  She becomes attached to the baby she reluctantly agreed to breast feed that was abandoned by its mother and grandma, MacDougle.  Jim Trumbull, MacDougle’s grandfather, has custody of him and falls in love with Gaye as he sees her forming a bond with his grandson.  Gaye has strong reservations about becoming too attached to the baby and feels herself falling in love with the grandfather against her better judgment. 

I enjoyed the humor in this book and the blustery Jim Trumbull who was a very interesting character, big, rugged, passionate, boisterous, yet gentle although impatient.  He and Gayle had some funny dialogue which I enjoyed, but could have done without the explicit sex scenes.  I think someone who has been in a bad marriage or is into babies would like this book and enjoy it more than I did.

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.