Mom saves her kids but loses her legs

Last Friday the middle of this country was devastated by tornados which destroyed peoples lives. Many communities were totally destroyed and and over 39 people died.

I was in shock to watch TV coverage of these storms and the aftermath. Having never seen a tornado I can only image what it is like to live through one.

I just read an article about this amazing women who saved her children while her house was destroyed around her. "The Deckers' "dream home"—a 8,000-square-foot mass of stone and brick—was no match for the tornado's 175-mph winds. Within minutes, it began crumbling, sending debris straight for the basement. As one particularly large piece of rubble headed straight for her 5-year-old daughter, Reese, Stephanie threw herself on Reese and her 8-year-old son, Dominic, covering them with her body until the storm passed. As she was pummeled by an entire house and its contents, Stephanie screamed to her children over and over, "We're going to make it."

After the storm, Dominic and Reese didn't have a scratch on them. Stephanie, on the other hand, had suffered such severe injuries that one of her legs was only partially attached, while the other had been considerably beaten. Unable to walk, she was bleeding profusely when her son fought his way out of the rubble and ran for help"

This women is a true hero who sacrificed her welfare for the welfare of her children. As a mom,I can totally relate to this. Once you have a child you quickly realize that you would do anything to save them from harm and you would never think twice about it. Seeing your child suffer is worse then any pain that you may suffer so you do whatever you can to make sure they do not suffer. 

This is what Stephanie did and I admire her. I also admire her son who was strong enough and brave enough to free himself and go get help for his Mom. He saved his mothers life and I don't know if my 8 year old son would be able to have the presence of mind to do the same. Would you? 

Happy I stuck with it!

I admit it I really struggled to get into Extremely Loud & Incredible Close. I put the NOOK down 100 times and had no desire to pick it back up. If it was not for the fact that I was blogging about this book and that I had preached how you should not give up on a book, I would have given up.

It took me a long time to start to really like this book. For one thing it is written in the first person and the young boy who is narrating the book does so in a very confusing manor. It is like everything that he is thinking he writes down. You are left wondering why are you telling me this? I don't understand why it is important. But at the end of the book everything makes sense. The author does an amazing job explaining how everything falls into place. I would have missed the deeply moving ending if I had given up on the book.

The book is about a journey that the young boy, Oskar, takes to find a lock to go along with a key he find in his fathers closet after the father dies in the World Trade Center on 9/11.  Along the way he discovers so many different things and you learn so much about not only Oskar's life but the life of his Grandmother, Grandfather, and Mom and Dad.

This book is a really hard to read as a person who lived through 9/11. I worried about my husband who was in the city that day and had friends who worked in the buildings and thankfully made it out alive. It is one of the first books I have read that centered on the topic and it is at times extremely emotional. On more then one occasion I shed a tear.

It is also at the heart of it a love story. And as a person who has loved deeply and had their heart broken it brought back a lot of emotions that I thought I had gotten over. That is the mark of a good book, in my opinion, it makes you remember your past, relate to what the characters are going through and be thinking about it even you have finished it.

And I will be thinking about this book for a while now that I am done. So thank you everyone for making me finish it. I am happy I did.

Giving it a chance

Book club was last week and it was time to choose a new book. The choice this month was Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. The synopsis of the book states:

"Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey"


I am about 50 pages into it and really struggling. I just am not loving the style of writing, which is first person and somewhat scattered. The characters have not gripped me yet and I am not wanting to spend my time reading it. But and this is a big BUT I am willing to keep trying. As much as I may be struggling with it, I am going to continue reading it in hopes of it getting better. I suggest to every one of you who are struggling with a book to do the same. Who knows it may end up being one of your favorite books ever.

I am hoping this is so. I promise to let you know.

The Night Circus

I belong to a book club and every month we select a new book to read. I have to admit that this was not my first choice when we were selecting books and when I got out voted I was a little sad. I thought who wants to read a book about a magical circus. Sounded a little to much like Harry Potter for me. Though I do love Harry Potter I just did not feel like reading something like this. I wanted something a little more realistic and less fantasy.

I am so happy I got out voted! It was such a magical book. I was sucked in from page one and did not want to put the book down ( well technically the NOOK down).

This was the first time I ever read an ebook. I know the librarian who is all into technology should have had a ereader a long time ago but I just could not do it. I like the feel of a book. I like reading in the bathtub. But I felt that since I was now lending them out in the school library I should really get on to better understand the devise.

I have to say that even though it took a little getting use to I enjoyed it. Now back to the book...

It is about two magicians, Celia and Marco who are forced into a competition by their fathers when they are rather young. The competition plays out in this Night Circus which mysteriously travel around the world and is only open at night. It is a game of one up-manship with each other trying to out do the other. The vivid descriptions and amazing details by author Erin Morgenstern make you feel like you are center stage at the circus.

There is love, mystery, magic, fantasy in this novel. I loved every flick of the finger and hated when it was over because I felt like the next book I read just would not compare to this one.

Below is the book trailer and a link to the authors website. Please note that I plan on getting a copy of this book for the library soon but do not have one yet.

http://erinmorgenstern.com/the-night-circus/