The Birth House

Blurb on back of book:

An arresting portrait of the struggles that women faced for control of their own bodies. This is the story of Dora Rare--the first daughter in five generations of Rares. She is an apprentice to the outspoken Acadian midwife Miss Babineau, where she learns to assist the women of an isolated Nova Scotian village through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and unfulfilling sex lives. Set during the turbulent WWI era, uncertainy and upheaval accompany the arrival of a brash new medical doctor and his promises of progress and fast, painless childbirth. In a clash between tradition and science, Dora finds herself fighting to protect the rights of women as well as the wisdom that has been put in her care.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

This new young adult novel is a powerful moral tale told through the eyes of a naive 9 year old boy whose father is a Nazi Commandant. The innocent viewpoint of the narrator provides a thin disguise of the brutal horrors of a Nazi death camp in Poland where Bruno, the young boy, secretly finds a friend in boy prisoner.

I highly recommend this for junior high and high school libraries and also as required reading for any Holocaust study units.

Let me know if you want to read this.

The Tattooed Map...

"A traveler to North Africa is shocked to discover that the mysterious marks on her hand have developed into a detailed and macabre map spreading across her skin..."

So bizarre! It immediately makes me want to travel to Morocco! Simply because it brings the area and culture alive via intense journaling and lots of 'ephemera' added to the book. I read this in an afternoon and I'm not sure if I'm very satisfied with how it ended...It just seemed to stop without any real conclusion. You are sort of left to draw your own, I suppose.

Just curious...

from Natalie: Lisa- How is World Without End??!! I can't wait to hear all about it. Kim and Kari, I'd ask how your books are going, but since you're big liars and not posting your current reads- guess I can't. Ha! I'm taking forever with this Geek Love. Good and interesting, but just can't get through... so annoying. I'm just dying to start something new, but feel guilty because this was recommended by a good friend who says its his favorite book in the world and he "knew I'd just love it." Oops. O.k. no real literature and/or latte reason for this blog, just hadn't written one in awhile because I'm taking five thousand years to complete this book... Miss you ladies lots and lots-

from Kim: HA---I beg to differ my dear about being a big liar! It seemed to take me FOREVER to finish Earthly Joys. In fact, just finished it in the last few days. I put it in a box for you. Haven't decided yet what I'm going to start reading next. Guess I should start the sequel, but if I do, then I'll wait to mail your box. I hate that feeling of having to force myself to plod through a book. I'll admit that I've read a couple of juvenile/young adult books in the past week and that has slowed down the Earthly Joys. :) Later: I did start Earthly Joys, but went ahead and mailed box of books to you without it...I'm about 2/3 finished with it, and, think the books is better than the first one---story is much more cohesive and not nearly as plodding.

from Kari: Hahaha....Obviously you can see how much I've been checking my blogger...Yeah I seemed to finish that book sometime ago! I think it's still on there because I need to write a post about it? and probably about all the other books I've read in-between?? I've read lots of Young Adult too tho the past few weeks --