Reading Compulsion Reviews

Pin It

Sorry, I was a little MIA for the past week for a couple reasons.  First of all, it was my birthday on Friday and while I was preparing for that, I was also super excited about An Affair of the Heart (AAOTH) and book club!  All three were on Friday and so, the week was spent preparing for these. 

If you're not familiar with AAOTH, it's a HUGE craft fair that takes place twice in Oklahoma City each year, however the October show is the "big one."  I wasn't able to go last year due to David and I living in/moving from San Antonio.  I've been attending this show since 2000 with one of my best friends and last year was the first one I've missed...needless to say, I was ecstatic to get to go again this year.  I'm not into decorating my house with super crafty items, but I do love a lot of what the vendors at AAOTH offer.  One of my favorite finds this year was a leopard pumpkin, a perfect fall piece for our mantel.  My friend, Gordy, actually bought it for me for my birthday.  Yay!

One thing I tend to do sometimes on the week of book club (and I don't know why) is in anticipation of seeing some of my favorite girls, I go wild with reading.  This past week was no exception...I read three books in three days.  No joke.  I don't do this every month, but I'd say at least once every three.  Something just comes over me and reading excitement overwhelms me.  I'll give you a quick wrap-up of these reads.

First up is...

Two of my best friends have sworn that this book, The 5 Love Languages, was awesome and I was intrigued enough to give it a whirl.  The premise is that everyone communicates their affection/love in one of five ways.  And if you and your spouse do not communication in the same "language," then there could be much miscommunication leading to many disagreements and perhaps even divorce. 

Honestly, I'll say that a lot of this book appears to be common sense, but it's so eloquent and appears that way simply because of how Chapman explains it.  I could definitely see how some of the couples the author uses as examples, didn't see how they were acting detrimentally towards their spouse/marriage until receiving counseling from Chapman regarding their separate languages.

David and I are super lucky, in that when we took the quiz at the back of the book, we speak the same "love language," which Chapman says is relatively uncommon in marriages.  Also, after reading this book I can see how many of my friends, parents, etc. show their affection/love, therefore what their "love language" is.

I highly recommend this book...it's a quick and easy read AND your relationships with others might improve greatly upon finishing it!

Next up...

The premise of A Long Long Sleep is a young 15-year-old girl, Rosalinda, wakes from a sleep in a cryogenic tube.  Her parents would normally have her "sleep" while they were off on vacation, business trips, etc.  It turns out that Rosalinda has been "sleeping" for 62 years and that horrible circumstances, entitled the Dark Times, have taken place while she was asleep.  With her parents gone (and her being an only child), Rosalinda is now the heir to a grand interplanetary empire.  However, everyone she has ever known or loved is now dead...

This is a young adult read, and starting it, I didn't have a lot of high expectations.  I'd heard good to mediocre reviews, so I was prepared for a solid 3 out of 5 stars book.  And boy, was I surprised!  I really, really enjoyed this quick read.  The storyline was more complex than I had initially imagined and truly was entertaining. 

I have two issues with this book, though.  One, the parents do end up being villain-ized...I mean, they treated their daughter more like a doll that they could "freeze" when it best suited them, rather than as a real, live person.  I don't think that's an appropriate storyline for an YA novel...it should have been written for adults.  Secondly, this book leaves the ending (barely squeaked) open for a sequel.  Almost like they're waiting to see how well it does...then, if it does sell well, they'll obviously ask the author to write another.  I'm so tired of this "cashing in" revolving door that authors are taking these days.  Give me a good, long stand-alone book any day of the week!  Just my two cents. 

I definitely recommend this quick and easy read...but, only for adults.  If you've got a teen...nah.

And finally...

I'll admit it...I have a slight addiction to crime shows.  Criminal Minds and CSI are two of my favorites and when David and I had to temporarily live with my parents for two weeks last November, we discovered a new show that my mom got us hooked on: Deadly Women on Investigation Discovery.  Candice DeLong is the resident former FBI profiler expert on this show, detailing different women and their murders.  Delong is often compared to the character of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs movie.  After becoming addicted, I decided to see if DeLong had an autobiography...and lo and behold...

After DeLong's retirement, in 2000, she wrote this autobiography detailing her life leading up to and including her career in the FBI.  She participated in numerous cases throughout her career, the most famous including the Tylenol-cyanide and the Unabomber cases.  Her final chapter also includes a personal safety (especially for women) list of tips that I particularly enjoyed.

I really enjoyed this book, but some of that might stem from my slight obsession in learning about this kind of stuff.  While I could never think of doing anything like this, it fascinates me and I love to read or watch anything about it.

That pretty well wraps up my reading obsession for the week...stay tuned for my next reading compulsion series...I'm sure it won't be long in coming!