Boat (and Book) Reviews

Hey! It's Mrs. K- back in real time. :) Captain J, the dogs, and I got off the ferry around 10 AM this morning with a spring in our step. The boat ride cut off many, many miles from our car trip so we were thankful for that, but we were also very ready to be on dry land. The weather was yucky and rainy most of the time so it was difficult to see much along the way due to all the fog in the area. Still, we're glad we took the ferry. We had a lazy couple of days and I read so many books- I may just have to review them for you in a moment.

As soon as we drove off the boat, we used the awesome "Dog Parks" app to locate the nearest fenced in play area for our furry friends. It took us right to one so Drifter and Holly were playing and running within 10 minutes of being in Bellingham, WA. After getting all that energy out, we loaded them up and hit the road again. Now, I'm writing to you from Salem, Oregon. Our plan next is to head over to the Red Wood National Forest and camp for a few days so if you don't hear from me--that's probably why ;)

Now, on to what I've read the past few days-

The Last Bridge was written by Teri Coyne. It is a very dark book about a woman who has become estranged from her family due to disturbing issues involving them in her childhood years. When she gets word that her mother has committed suicide and left her the only suicide note reading, "He's not who you think he is", she wants to get to the bottom of it and find out who her mother meant when she wrote it.

I didn't want to stop reading this book, although I wouldn't recommend it if you can't handle reading about child abuse. Parts of it were quite shocking, but it is a work of fiction!

I also finally read Sweet Love, a book lent to me by the lovely Nicole. This novel was written by Sarah Strohmeyer. It's a cute book, but do not read while hungry! She describes desserts to die for! The main character, Julie, receives a gift from her mother to attend a class by a renown chef. She hesitates to go because her career seems to be on the downhill slope much to her dismay, she finds out her first love is enrolled as well, and to top it all off- she's juggling the role of single parent along with all her other titles. If you enjoy Shakespeare, you'll enjoy the quotes that the author ties in quite frequently.

Remember how I told you I wanted to read Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'Easter? Well, my dear friend, Sarah, got it for me for my birthday and I absolutely loved it! I read this one in about a day because it was just so relatable for me. Written by a resident of Memphis, Lisa Patton created a witty work of fiction that describes the life of a Tennessee woman who loyally follows her husband to Vermont to fulfill his dream to open a bed and breakfast inn. LeeLee finds herself changing as she adjusts to life with a bunch of yankees ;) As I said before, I loved this novel and would definitely recommend it to a pal!

Whew, I read a lot of books in five days! Let's see....2 more to go:

On Captain J's recommendation, I finally picked up Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. J and J's friend were talking about how hilarious it is and when I ran out of things to read, I perused his collection. I sometimes read what this guy has to say on Twitter and I hear they have a show coming out on tv, too. The book is funny. There's a lot of profanity and crudeness, but still there are many humorous quotes. I suppose it's good end table material!

Last but certainly not least is- I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. This nonfiction book was written by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui. This young lady is from Yemen and was forced by her father to marry a man 3x her age. With much courage, she decided she would no longer tolerate her husband's tendency toward abuse. She found a chance to flee from her family and marched up to the courthouse where she insisted a lawyer help her to get a divorce. She was honored by Glamour magazine (alongside Condoleezza Rice!) as their Woman Of the Year. This book is excellent!

 As you can see, I've had a lot of time on my hands. I owe you all some more book reviews, but I'm going to stop with what I've read recently. Perhaps I'll catch up eventually. Now, I want to get to reading some of your blogs!

 Adios.