winter=lots of book reading

Something about this season makes me want to read books more than usual.  I'm thinking it's probably the cold weather (although today it was weirdly 65 degrees but rest assured that by Monday it will be in the 30s again).  This weather (today not included) makes me not want to leave my house and just stay bundled up in a little nest of blankets on my couch reading a good book.  Which brings me to my book reviews, here's some of the books I've been reading the past couple of months:

Very interesting book!  If you know someone with Asperger Syndrome or if you know nothing about it and want to learn what it looks like in someone's day to day life, this is a great book to read.  The author is extremely humble and candid while sharing what it's like being diagnosed with Asperger's as an adult.  Like I said, very, very interesting.  Definitely recommend.

When I got this book I thought it was going to be a light-hearted cutesy book and that it is not.  It's a dark book.  It's a good book, but I kept reading and waiting for it to be cute and funny, and that part doesn't come.  It's basically about a woman who is terrified of turning 30 and not just in an "oh no, I'm turning 30" but in a "my life is literally going to end when I turn 30".  During the book she keeps having flashbacks of people using and abusing her throughout her entire life.  That's the dark part.  There were a few times when I had to put the book down and take a breather.  But if you're into books that aren't always cutesy with happy endings then you should give this one a try.

This book was great!  I love learning about people's lives so naturally I enjoy biographies and autobiographies and this one did not disappoint.  The only thing I knew about Penny Marshall was that she played Laverne on Laverne & Shirley.  I didn't know that she grew up in the Bronx, had a baby in college, later dated Art Garfunkel, starred in numerous TV shows/movies/theater performances, director many famous movies, battled cancer, among a ton of other things.  This woman is hilarious, honest and a great writer.  I really enjoyed reading her life story and recommend this book.

Oh my goodness, y'all know I love reading Amish fiction so it was no surprise to me that this book was amazing!  Jodi Picoult is a truly gifted author and an incredible storyteller.  I mean it was really hard for me to put this book down!  The story begins with a dead baby found in an Amish barn and an Amish teen is suspected to be the mother and murderer.  It goes through all of the pre-trial things (technical terms here :) and the trial itself.  I know that's not even a good description but this book is really, really great and I highly recommend it!  It's one of the best books I've read in a long time, honest :)

This book was good, not great, but good.  It's a movie now and apparently up for a lot of Oscars.  I can definitely see this being a really good movie.  It's an easy read, I think it took me 2-3 nights to finish it.  If you're curious to see the movie and want to read the book first, I'd suggest that.  Here's a summary of the book.

Great book!  Again, Picoult is an amazing storyteller and had me captivated throughout the book.  This book is interesting in that it makes you think a lot about your stances on: same-sex marriage, same-sex couples being able to adopt, infertility issues and treatments and embryo adoption.  Stuff you may or may not think about on a daily basis.  I really enjoyed it and recommend it!