Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

I need to find some new, care-free, uplifting books to read for a while. Room was recommended by my local library. It is written from the view of a five-year-old who's mother was kidnapped when she was nineteen. Jack, was born a few years later and this book takes place seven years after she was taken. He was born and raised in a small room that he has never been out of. The first part of the book who get a feel of what daily life is like for them and how they pass the time. The review on this book said that this book will make mothers feel like failures and lacking in their mothering skills. I did not feel this really at all. Yes, Jack's mother pretty much plays with Jack all day every day and makes sure that he eats as healthy as possible and gives him as much of an education she can by teaching him to read, write, and do math. His education in that sense is much higher than a normal kids knowledge. It is great that she was able to be so good with her child, but I have to point out that she also did not have the daily stress of shopping, working, bills, etc...

The second part of the book we follow Jack after he and his mother finally escape and end up in a hospital to deal with their physical and mental state after seven years of captivity. They have to deal with weak immune systems, sensitive skin and eyes, and Jack has to become acquanted with the world that he always believed was not real and only seen on TV. He is unable to socialize with others at first or do anything without his mother. He is still breast-feeding, and he bumps into things since his sense of perception and depth have not been developed for him. He misses his 'home' and is not accepted by his grandpa who wants his mother to put him up for adoption. Jack's mother is unable to handle the pressure from the press and negative feedback she gets some some who believe she was selfish by keeping Jack instead of having her kidnapper drop him off at an orphanage for a normal life and Jack is seen as an odd, deprived, mentally challenged child. Many things that we take for granted that our own children know how to do such as walk down stairs or walk in rain are terrifying for Jack.

It was a good book and does make you think about the small things in life that we take for granted and to see life as a five-year-old does. One interesting comment Jack makes is that he notices that people spend time together, but parents push their kids aside to play on their own so they can talk with other adults. There is truth in that that kids often get pushed to the side so parents who chose to have children can do what they want all the time. We chose to have kids and we need to make sure we give them the time and attention that they need to be secure and grow.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Wow. at least the last book in this series did not focus a lot on sex and rape. Yes, there was still murder, but nothing brutal or horrendous to read. This last book deals with Lisbeth recovering and getting ready for her trial for the attempted murder of her father. You also have Mikeal's group of reporters, security people, and police working together to prove Lisbeth's innocence and the real story of what happened with her and her father. The last group you are introduced to is the Section, the original people who determined what happened to Lisbeth and helped cover-up her fathers crimes. This government group of people were originally set up with good intentions, but they all get back together this book corrupted and murdering their own group members as well as planning the murder of others in order to hopefully cover up this whole story and lock Lisbeth up in a mental institution for life this time.

I am glad to be done with these books and do not plan on ever reading them again. There are so many people who raved about these and want everyone to read them. I disagree with their opinion and did not really enjoy reading these. I found them disturbing and not really enjoyable to read. I guess the story is original and different than most, but it is so corrupted and deals with all the evil that can happed in the world. Yes, I suppose it is good to read in order to open my mind and educate myself a little more, but it is not something I really enjoyed.

With The Old Breed At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge

I decided to read this book after seeing the HBO series 'The Pacific." A very good series to watch about WWII Pacific side. "Band of Brothers" is the series that follows the German side of WWII. E.B. Sledge was one of the soldiers followed in the HBO series and is known for having one of the most straigh-forward, honest books about the war. If you don't want to read the book you can definately get a good feel of the war watching the movies (just remember that there are about 10, 45 min episodes that you have to watch so it will take you about the same amount of time as it would to just read the book). About 2/3 of the books content is seen in the series, but the other 1/3 is great to be able to read since you really get a good feel of why veterans hated new recruitments, how they felt during certain situations, their view of the war and Japanese, as well as how they felt towards officers. Some officers they admired and loved, others they really hated, but usually were trained enough to keep their thoughts to themselves. You tend to feel bad for enlisted men since they are left with crappy orders and situations while the officers get much nicer ammenities, food, etc... It's only during the actual fighting that officers and enlisted are on the same page. Just an example from the book is after the war has ended, the enlisted find a nice wooded area to eat, but are forced to move so the officers can have that area to eat their chicken while the enlisted have to move back to the open, dusty field to eat their k-rations. Doesn't always seem fair, but it's life. It was fun to read the embarrassing moments many of the soldiers encountered such as fleeing out of the bathroom with their pants still down when the guns start firing for practice. It was interesting to note that there were many times that names were left annonymous during touchy times such as a soldier goofing off and accidentally shooting and killing his comrad or other such incidents that could have easily been avoided had each man been trained completely and followed their training. Like I said, definately a book worth reading, but done at a much slower pace. I usually finish a book in 2-3 days, but this one took me 2 weeks since I couldn't skim over words and not miss vital sections of the story.