Book Club August - Life of Pi

Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I'm not sure how to start this review. The whole first section of this book was so slow and I felt a lot of it was unnecessary. There was so much explanation of zoo life and religion that I felt could easily have been explained in 80 pages less. Once I got past part 1, it got very interesting. My stomach fell at times. I was exited to find out what would happen. I love how it starts as an interview so I knew it would end happily. As happily as could be expected. For Pi. This is a sad story. I don't usually like endings that leave you wondering, but I really appreciated it in this story. Is he on a lifeboat with animals or with three other people? It all depends in what you want to believe of the story. It's easier morally to believe animals would act the way they did. It's very sad that his family dies in the ship sinking. However, it's harder to read details of suffering than it is to read that someone died. It's harder to think that he witnessed his mother get beaten and beheaded than it is to think that he saw an orangutan get eaten. So, overall I do like the book. It was a very interesting read once I got past the very slow beginning. I recommend it if you have time to linger for a bit with some boredome...but it's worth it in the end.

Book club July - The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. 

I love this book! It's so well written. I really appreciate when a writer makes me feel for the characters. The different perspectives told are so interesting to me. You can take a bunch of woman all from the same situations and have such different points of view and experiences. My absolute favorite part (I think, it's hard to just pick one) is the shit pie. Seriously, who hasn't wanted to do that to someone?! The Celia thing was weird until i found out what was going on, then I thought it was so cute. I was incredibly irritated with Elizabeth for being such a distant mom. I had a really hard time defending it with "that's how she was raised", she seemed so clueless about everything but she was a grown woman. Surely she should have known better. I think she didn't want to know better, she wanted to remain oblivious to any negativity. Yeah, no defense from me. I don't like her. 

Read it. It's an awesome book!

The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. 

This is not a quick read. It's not a book to get lost in. It made me think. A lot. I loved that. It took me two months to finish, I couldn't read straight through. I had to stop and think on things. I had to apply it to my life. Which is exactly what you should do. This is a great book. Though it dragged at times and the blog comments were annoying, I'd definitely recommend it. (The blog inserts felt like she was trying to justify her book by showing who it helped and it made me want to call her and say, "woman! I already bought the book please stop trying to sell it to me!") The author is likable and honest. There is a lot of information, a lot to learn, a lot to apply. She says being heavy is easy, being light is hard. I have used similar phrases, being a jerk is easy being nice is hard...being grumpy is easy being in a good mood is hard. Because we tend to focus on the negative. In our lives, ourselves, and other people. But when you realize what you're doing you can choose to change it. You can choose to see the positive, to smile (even if it freaks people out bwahaha). You don't have to be a grump!

I would say to do this as a side book. For example in your "I want to get swept away by a book" times, read Nicholas sparks. But when you want to be mindful and improve yourself and your life, read the happiness project. It's worth it. 

Book Club June-Seriously, I'm Kidding

June's book for Bon's Online Book Club (thelifeofbon.com) is Seriously, I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres. 

This book made me happy. It's random tidbits. Every chapter is different from the last. A very quick read, or you could do a chapter a day (if you can make yourself put it down) for a daily happiness boost. It also made me think, which I liked because it's wasn't a huge deep thinking process, just general thinking about what I can improve and be grateful for. I laughed so much while reading this on my breaks three women I work with read it after me. That's a successful book.