My Stroke of Insight

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor takes the reader through her experience with a stroke in the left hemisphere of the brain. It was an interesting look at how a stroke patient thinks before, during and after the event. Taylor is able to combine her professional knowledge (Harvard trained brain scientist) with first hand experience in a way that is accessible to all. Whether you know someone who has had a stroke or just curious about how the brain works, this book is for you.

Pitch and Throw, Grasp and Know: What is a Synonym?

Brian P. Cleary's Words are Categorical series is a great way for kids to learn the different parts of speech, not to mention a quick and easy refresher for anybody. Pitch and Throw, Grasp and Know begins with the definition of a synonym (A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word.) before the title page. Each colorful page contains a sentence to help make it clear what words are synonyms ("They're words like, toss and pitch and throw, comprehend and grasp and know."). The illustrations feature multi-colored cats in various silly scenes. For example on the page that "the fridge was raided," the poor little cats are peering into the empty fridge with a few items scattered around the floor.

Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics: The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook & the Lady & Sons, Too!

Most of the recipes in this book call for items you already have in your cupboard or that you can find at the local grocery store. If you have a lot of tomatoes that you don't know what to do with them, try the Tomato Pie recipe. It's really good! It calls for a pie crust, tomatoes, of course, and cheese, onions, and basil. Real easy to make.

Ordinary Life

Containing 14 short stories, Elizabeth Berg's Ordinary Life centers on, as the title suggests, ordinary life. Relationships and how people interact are central to each story. The reader gets a glimpse at the characters' thought processes through these first person narratives. For those of you who have read The Pull of the Moon, Martin's response to his wife's trip to "find herself" is included. In another story, Mavis McPherson has locked herself in the bathroom for a week just to get some time to think.

Overall, this compilation of stories did not appeal to me. There isn't action, humor, or adventure just ordinary stories that portray ordinary people.

River of Doubt

A work of non-fiction that reads like fiction. Teddy Roosevelt searches for adventure by taking a trip down uncharted waters of the Amazon in 1912. The crew was ill prepared for the journey. The boats they took were not suitable for the river so they had to use Indian dugout canoes, they didn't pack enough supplies, Roosevelt contracts a disease and is almost too weak to travel. The author keeps you interested throughout the whole story. A good read!

50 Ways to Paint Furniture

50 Ways to Paint Furniture: The Easy Step-by-Step way to Decorator Looks by Elise C. Kinkead

Tired of the same old look on your wooden furniture? This book is great for anybody who is willing to put the time into painting your furniture the right way (you know, start by using denatured alcohol, then sand, then primer, then paint). Each of the projects seems like they would take a couple days each with with drying time but the results are fabulous. Ideas include steel-wool stria, photo montage, torn paper, faux tiles, faux goatskin, as well as chalkboard and my favorite checkerboard tabletop.

Sundays at Tiffany's

It's been a while since I've read a James Patterson book so I thought I would give this one a chance. Co-authored with Gabrielle Charbonnet, the book is about Jane Margaux whose mother makes time for her once a week, on Sundays for a trip to Tiffany's. Jane like many children has an imaginary friend, Michael. Michael must leave Jane on her ninth birthday. Jane always remembers the time Michael spent with her even though she isn't supposed to. As an adult, Jane is just as lonely and under her mother's control as she was when she was growing up.

Overall, this is book is just a nice love story with a happy ending. No violence and no unexpected tragedy.