Turn The Page ... Tuesday

LeRoy and I had a nice little chat ... and now I'm live! Well, actually only partially - something is wrong with my laptop but at least our desktop is connected. So - with out much further ado ...

 

Welcome back to another edition of Turn the page ... Tuesday! I've got quite a few for you this month. I hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

600 Hours of Edward and Edward Adrift  were such engaging reads. I really came to love Edward and all his quirks (don't all have a few?) and was pulling for him to "step out" of his comfort zone. Much happens in Edward's life that is comical, heartbreaking and heartwarming. Despite that fact that Edward is 37 years old these books are really a coming of age story.

 

From Amazon: "A 39-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Edward Stanton lives alone on a rigid schedule in the Montana town where he grew up. His carefully constructed routine includes tracking his most common waking time (7:38 a.m.), refusing to start his therapy sessions even a minute before the appointed hour (10 a.m.), and watching one episode of the 1960s cop show Dragnet each night (10 p.m.).But when a single mother and her nine-year-old son move in across the street, Edward’s timetable comes undone. Over the course of a momentous 600 hours, he opens up to his new neighbors and confronts old grievances with his estranged parents. Exposed to both the joys and heartaches of friendship, Edward must ultimately decide whether to embrace the world outside his door or retreat to his solitary ways."

 

Yo! Adrienne says: Add them to your list. They are definitely a fun and engaging read.

 

 

So some of you may already be rolling your eyes at the thought of a cat story.  Stop right there. Even if you are not a cat lover Homer's Odyssey is a great read! We all love our pets like family and are convinced that they completely understand us ... and us them (ok - so we really don't understand our cats but we wish we did!). Gwen Cooper was cracking me up when she was describing her self as "that cat lady - the one who will always be single because she has (shudder) three cats." How she comes to become that cat lady is a wonderful story that has many bumps, 9/11, and a fairy tale ending. No more cats but definitely a knight in shining armor.

 

From Amazon: "Once in nine lives, something extraordinary happens... 

 

The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. Then Gwen’s veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. It was love at first sight.

Everyone warned that Homer would always be an "underachiever," never as playful or independent as other cats. But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo, a tiny daredevil with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease and leapt five feet into the air to catch flies in mid-buzz. He survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen’s life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night.

But it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that inspired Gwen daily and transformed her life. And by the time she met the man she would marry, she realized Homer had taught her the most important lesson of all: Love isn’t something you see with your eyes.

Homer’s Odyssey is the once-in-a-lifetime story of an extraordinary cat and his human companion. It celebrates the refusal to accept limits—on love, ability, or hope against overwhelming odds. By turns jubilant and moving, it’s a memoir for anybody who’s ever fallen completely and helplessly in love with a pet." 

Yo! Adrienne says: Definitely a Christmas present for the cat lover in your life not to mention a fabulous read for yourself. Meooooow.

 

Goodness.  Sophie Hudson makes me smile. Almost everyday (I read her blog and you should too). She is so funny and genuine and that 's how she writes as well. You feel like you are on the phone with her or in her living room. I had seen A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet around in the blog-o-sphere but for some reason didn't pick it up. Something lit a fire under me and I randomly put it in my shopping cart. I read it in record speed and laughed out loud more times than I can count. I found myself saying "Rocky, listen to this ...." and reading a section (or two or three). Something you must know about Sophie (since I'm on a first name basis with her now that I read her blog) - she is a HUGE sports fan - specifically anything to do with Mississippi State. Her antics about life in the south, food, family, and lets not forget State football are not to be missed.

 

From Amazon: "There's nothing quite like family--and some people would say that there's nothing better. But in a world where we sometimes know more about the Kardashians than we do about the people sleeping right down the hall, it's easy to forget that walking through life with our family offers all sorts of joy wrapped up in the seemingly mundane. There's even a little bit of sacred sitting smack-dab in the middle of the ordinary. And since time's-a-wastin', we need to be careful that we don't take our people--and their stories--for granted. 

 

Whether it's a marathon bacon-frying session, a road trip gone hysterically wrong, or a mother-in-law who makes every trip to the grocery store an adventure, author Sophie Hudson reminds us how important it is to slow down and treasure the day-to-day encounters with the people we love the most.

Written in the same witty style as Sophie's BooMama blog, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet is a cheerful, funny, and tender account of Sophie's very Southern family. It's a look into the real lives of real people--and a real, loving God right in the middle of it all."

 

Yo! Adrienne says: Another one to add to your must read and to give to every gal you know. She has another book coming out and I cannot wait!

 

Another one of those books that just kept popping up and I kept ignoring. Good golly. I'm going to start wizening up and start adding those books that catch my eye into my cart! The Antelope in the Living Room is down right belly holding, cheek hurting, and eyes watering funny. Again poor Rocky was subjected to my bursts of laughter and reading aloud. Melanie sums up marriage perfectly - even if your hubbie isn't a hunter and you don't have an antelope in your living room as she does I guarantee you will relate to her witty and sweet narrative of her marriage.

From Amazon: "Welcome to the story of a real marriage.

Marriage is simultaneously the biggest blessing and the greatest challenge two people can ever take on. It is the joy of knowing there is someone to share in your joys and sorrows, and the challenge of living with someone who thinks it’s a good idea to hang a giant antelope head on your living room wall.

In The Antelope in the Living Room, New York Times best-selling author and blogger Melanie Shankle does for marriage what Sparkly Green Earrings did for motherhood—makes us laugh out loud and smile through tears as she shares the holy and the hilarity of that magical and mysterious union called marriage."

Yo! Adrienne says: Get shopping/clicking/or checking out - this is another must read and a great gift idea. Melanie also has a blog that I stalk and a book about being a mother (need to read that one myself) along with another (book - not baby) on the way.