February’s Book List & What I am Currently Reading

The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond

• I recommend you swing by her massively filled website at http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Bloodroot Mountain by Amy Greene

Currently reading:

Besides my textbooks, of course, I am reading Love, Lucy an autobiography by Lucille Ball, which is an absolute wonderful read, especially for writers, actors, or anyone who was told they couldn’t make it doing what they love, dreamt about, or failed because of too many rejections. Of course the book is not a literary gem, it is for the soul, especially right now with the economy and the doubt we all hold, as it was not much different during parts of Lucille Ball’s life.

Book Review – The Truck Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd

It’s official, I have read a book! Not that I have not read before, but it has been nearly four months since I have had the chance to read a book that did not have equations or statistical facts in it. Luckily, my first “back at it” book was an excellent read!

I was at the library doing research for a class and noticed The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd by Jana Bommersbach on the shelf and remembered it from  my book list. The book was first published in 1992 and then again in 2003.

Truthfully I was not sure what to expect, as I have never read any true crime types of books. And I was thrown, when flipping through the book, that the author had pictures taken with the so-called murderer in the photo section.

Not only was the book so well put together with rich detail and much truth, but Ms. Bommersbach weaved a great deal of history on Arizona and Phoenix into the story. I have never known so much about Phoenix until now.

The story follows Winnie Ruth Judd as the murder happens, her involvement in it, her life during the trial and elsewhere, and finally her life after the events. This book hits on a fact that is still relevant today: The criminal system’s faults and flaws. Which they are reluctant to ever admit.

While you can probably easily find information on who Winnie Ruth Judd is and the murder case itself, chances are you will not find the correct news on her and the murders unless you find it in Ms. Bommersbach’s book. As even today there are unanswered questions.

This book…is too good…sad to say

I don’t really know why I picked up “If You Were My Man,” at the library, but for some reason I did, and I even hate to say it, but I actually love this book.

Now I have never read a book like this before. My husband calls it a Porno Book. I think because of the cover. But I’m 120 pages into it and so far, no porno. Truthfully not even any romance…just a bunch of waiting!!

But I have an issue with this book. It’s soooo untrue.

I think all of these romance books are written by women. And as a woman we know what kind of fantasy man we want. One that doesn’t exist or that we would have to piece together from a bunch of man parts.

A man doesn’t think like the men in these romance books, although they might say the cliché things that the man in this book says…gag!!! But, men aren’t this complex and they surely don’t feel the way these men feel. A man doesn’t think about “walking a girl home for safety,” no his thought would be “maybe when we get there I can get sex!!” He doesn’t think about “how nice her blonde hair looks and that he wants to run his hands through it,” nope he “wants to tug in when they are having sex!!!” Or “I hope she doesn’t fall and hurt herself,” no, he is thinking “if she falls and gets hurt can we still have sex?!”

All guys are thinking is how they can get sex, or just about sex. That’s it, but a book with real thoughts would only be dialogue…thinking sex…dialogue…thinking sex…dialogue…sex!!! The book would be rather short.

So let all the men out there know they need to write a romance book…oh wait…that might just come out as a picture book that we have to purchase from the high shelf in the back of the store! Never mind.

The Book List…for April

Yes, a day early, but the local library already had the April issue of BookPage, and my dogs gave me enough time this morning to read through it. So…here is what is being added to my long list of books to read!

Rising Road by Sharon Davies

The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd by Jana Bommersbach

Girls in Trucks and Men and Dogs both by Katie Crouch

Kid Carolina - R.J Reynolds Jr. by Heidi Schnakenberg

I’m usually drawn to a book by it’s cover, however, all five of these books don’t have what I call grabber covers. So it might be hit and miss this month, haha. If anyone out there has read these new books, is reading them, or plans to read them, let me know!

Library vs. Buying

As a writer, the library has always been a great place to go, for research and getting the latest information on upcoming books, and a wide variety of items to check out without having to open your wallet.

However, as a writer, this posses an issue…it doesn’t sell books for an author.

But lately, as I plow through my book list of collected titles for over five some years, I realize most of the books out there, well, suck! 80% of the books I feel sounded interesting on the back cover turn out to be poorly written, edited, or simply space fillers. One specific author, whom I won’t name, but hugely popular, is putting out 400 page books, however, if you take out the wide page margins, large type set, one page chapter breaks, you are left with a 200 page book of poor quality writing. But because his old books were always 300-400 pages the publisher must feel they need to keep this…and why…in an time of media, do we want to market a 400 page book!?!?

So the question is how do we take our precious money and walk into a bookstore and pick a book to buy when we aren’t sure it’s worthy? While I personally love the smell of a new book, it would be awful having to spend my money on a great new smelling book only to be 10 pages in and wanna throw the book on my shelf and never finish it.

So off I go to my local library, to pick up movies, magazines, some children’s books, and a few novels from my list…but with guilt if the book is good…for the author deserves the money.

Finally Some Closure…(a book review)

After seven years of waiting…we finally know what happened to Nan, better known as Nanny and the X family.

In 2002 The Nanny Diaries was published. A story, so real that most nannies would say it is not a work of fiction. These parents actually exist. I know…I was a nanny for seven years.

The Nanny Diaries left you wanting to know what happened to Grayer and Nan? Would Grayer ever know what really happened, would Nan ever stop thinking about it? Blaming herself for not going back?

Nanny Returns published towards the end of 2009 finally gives its readers the closure we need. While I don’t want to give away what happens…I do want to say that the authors (both ex-nannies from NYC. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus) did a wonderful job of writing a real follow-up story. One I believe that all nannies would say they would do/consider/have even thought about at least once, as we love “our children” and would do anything for them, even some ten or twenty years later.

The few good nannies out there (trust me…I have not met THAT many) love the children they care for like they were their own. It’s hard not to when you work 50-60 hours a week for a family or are a live-in. We see the first movements to crawling, first steps, first words, doctor appointments, play-dates, first foods, we watch them discover it all, as we help to enrich their lives on all levels. It’s an exhausting job, emotional, as nannies are so easily dumped when the time is up.

For those who have not read The Nanny Diaries or Nanny Returns I highly encourage it…and be grateful you didn’t have to wait seven years in between books