frankie
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A Friend Like Henry
by Nuala Gardner
From amazon: This is the inspiring account of a family’s struggle to break into their son's autistic world - and how a beautiful retreiver dog made the real difference.
Dale was still a baby when his parents realised that something wasn't right. Worried, his mother Nuala took him to see several doctors, before finally hearing the word ‘autism’ for the first time. Scared but determined that Dale should live a fulfilling life, Nuala describes her despair at her son's condition, her struggle to prevent Dale being excluded from a ‘normal’ education and her sense of hopeless isolation. Dale's autism was severe and violent and family life was a daily battleground.
But the Gardner's lives were transformed when they welcomed a gorgeous Golden Retriever into the family. The special bond between Dale and his dog Henry helped them to produce the breakthrough in Dale they had long sought. From taking a bath to saying 'I love you', Henry helped introduce Dale to all the normal activities most parents take for granted, and set him on the road to being the charming and well-adjusted young man he is today.
This is a heartrending and fascinating account of how one devoted and talented dog helped a little boy conquer his autism.
Thoughts: I'm a sucker for dog stories and Henry was the main reason why I wanted to read this novel. I'm also into true stories and different kinds of social, physical and psychological hindrances, if one can say so, so this book was right up my alley. It proved to be a really interesting read, and I learnt so much about autism. For example, previously I had no idea that one could beat autism in the way that one can socialize and communicate with the rest of the world. I'm very happy to be less ignorant now and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about the subject or find advise, support, etc. It also kind of opened up my eyes to see how hard it can be to fight the system to get the kind of treatment one needs and is entitled to. A very compelling read.
4/5
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The Woman in Black
by Susan Hill
From amazon: Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.
Thoughts: The fact that I didn't get to read this book in one sitting probably had a pretty big effect on my views of it. Each night I would read a couple of chapters in bed before going to sleep, and I would keep dozing off and the next day I couldn't help but wonder what was real, what had really happened, what was purely the workings of Arthur Kipps's imagination and what was mine. I did feel that the book was creepy, but not to the extent that I had expected. I kept thinking, something really shocking must happen in the end or otherwise it was a waste of time. I kind of figured what had happened, but not exactly how, and felt like Hill disappointed me in being so obvious. I was so ready to give up on the book (not in the way that I wouldn't finish it, but in the way that I would just carelessly read the last pages). I was so relieved to realise that there was more to come, and the final events were really creepy. Brrr! So that was a good save. I still think that there should've been something else to the story all the way through, I feel frustrated that I had to wait until right in the end for things to pick up.
All in all a decent read and this did not put me off reading other novels by Hill.
3/5
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I just watched Gilmore Girls, season 5, episode 1, which is one of my absolute favorites
Bliss! Will move on to episode 2 in a bit. -
Awww Inca is so cute! She seemed to have such a huge tongue in some of the pics
Ben, I know I know, don't worry
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Thanks for the link Jess, Inca is so adorable! Labradors is one of my alltime favorite breed
I'm gonna go and take a good look at the pics now. And Ben, don't be too hard on Jess or Dan Brown, I think The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons were brilliant!
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Hey page turner and everyone, I have good news: I found a copy of Everything Is Illuminated at a library in BF's town, and now I can join you guys
When's everyone starting this? I'll need to start reading the book as soon as possible because it would be good if I finished it before Sunday when I'm going back home. Yay, I'm so excited about our February challenge read
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Hello Jess and welcome to the forum! You're in good company here, I dare say no-one will snicker at you for reading and liking books
I hope you enjoy the forum. May I ask, which breed is Inca? I love dogs
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Thanks pickle, I'll make a note of those books. Fortunately I already have Guards! Guards! on my TBR and I think I can find the others at the library. I think I need to reserve them though, they are rather popular over here and are always borrowed
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Hi Oksana, I'm glad you started your own reading blog here. Like you said in your introduction thread, it's much more fun to write about the books you've read on a forum where other people get to read your thoughts on them and thus have a chance to discuss them
I've never heard of Johan Borgen either. I'm not very good at history, but I always thought that Norway wasn't very much involved in WWII? Therefore the subject of the novel sounds awkward to me. Am I wrong then, to think so? You could enlighten me
By the way, as I've never had a chance to talk to a Russian about Russian literature, I must ask, which Russian authors do you like the best? I've been meaning to read some Russian classics, for example Dostoyevski and Tolstoy, but so far I've only managed to read Anna Karenina, which I enjoyed to a certain degree, although I didn't like Anna as a character.
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18 - Thud - Terry Pratchett
This is part of my continued re-read of the Guards series by Terry Pratchett, I have read them all in the past but needed something lighthearted when I went to bed. Although its not my favourite I love Vimes he is so funny, he goes through life with a consience and barely controlled rage at injustice
I've only read a few Terry Pratchetts (From the Discworld series: Thud, Going Postal and Feet of Clay) but I agree with you, I didn't enjoy Thud that much. Feet of Clay on the other hand was really excellent. I love Sam Vimes and the rest of the gang, could you recommend me other books about them that far surpass the quality of Thud?
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Well okay, fair enough
Edit: There are loads of movie lovers here as well so you're in good company.
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BF's watching BBC Horizon 2011 Science Under Attack and I'm also exposed to it.
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Well maybe this year you won't have any time for movies when you start reading, so you can spend that money towards books
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Hello Graeme and welcome to the forum! This place is awesome, the people are reall friendly as you will find out, I promise. And may I warn you, you will be getting so many excellent recommendations on here that you might want to start saving money NOW for all the books that you'll be wanting to buy
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Woooo!
Just found out that The Corrections book is on the Rory list and the 1001 Books list. 
What an awesome buy. -
I'm quite scared, poppyshake, if I'm the first and so far the only person you know who hasn't liked Madam Bovary. I thought we'd come in all shapes and sizes, the many people we are.
(practically had to staple it to my forehead to keep from putting it down) and it was like wading through treacle
I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I hope your forehead doesn't bear too many marks from the awful encounter 
I'm fearing I'll have a very similar experience to yours. But I'm also thinking there's no way it can be as bad as Tess of the d'Urbervilles, my most hated novel ever. There's just no way. Eventhough I have a very high opinion of Kylie's book tastes and opinions, I fear that I cannot count on her on this one. Sowwy
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Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday
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You may not be able to take them all with you, but I've seen how many books you can fit in that suitcase of yours! Come on, you can pack loads!! Stop making excuses and just pack them all, woman! That was my international Australia book buying frenzy suitcase!! I bought it for the trip and haven't used it since. I don't use it whenever I come over to BF's! Although that would be awesome....
I had a really amazing book activity day today. I was going to write about it on the Book Activity thread, but since my post will also contain stories about dogs, I thought I'd post it here instead.
The morning started with a PM from a certain awesome BCF member, making a really nice book-related offer. This reminded me that I hadn't yet checked Lappeenranta's (the town where BF lives) library if they had copies of Everything Is Illuminated. Well, they do!! And they had one copy in the nearest library which is only about a 25 minutes walk away from where BF lives. I was going to have to go to the grocerystore anyways today and it's next to the library so perfect!
As I was walking up to the library, I noticed that there was a brand new secondhand shop next to it and I decided to stop by. I found a copy of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections for only 1,20e! I've never read anything by him before but his books are supposed to be really good and I've been wanting to read some of them ever since I kept running into them in Australia. Well, I was still browsing the other books there, and this woman who'd made a face earlier when she saw the book I was carrying, came up to me and told me I'd picked a great book and nodded at the novel. Apparently she'd read it before and said that it doesn't let you off easily but it's really great in the end. I love it how random people comment on books
I kept smiling all the way to the library. There I found Everything Is Illuminated as promised. I read the blurb because I didn't know anything about the story and found it really interesting. I also read what the author has said about the book:
That in real life he had been going to write the book as a true story but had not found what he'd been looking for (which made me sad) but then he was free to write a fictional story about it and make it anyway he liked it and the book wouldn't exist the way it is had his journey been successful in the first place.
Interesting!
I also found Gwen Cooper's Homer's Odyssey, which is a story about a blind cat and seemed like a good read. I kept going through the bookshelves although I shouldn't have, because I won't have the time to read all the books while I'm in Lappeenranta if I borrow too many, but I then found Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain which is on the Rory Gilmore reading list and I had to borrow it. It's even in English!!
After that I went groceryshopping, and I saw loads of excellent dogs! I saw this young Labrador pup who'd grown into full size but who was still a pup at heart. His owner was trying to teach him to walk nicely next to him, and to sit and stand at command. The poor pup was so eager to please and yet too attached to his owner that he couldn't decide whether to be nice and obey or keep trying to cuddle him and plant loads of kisses in his face
I also saw this fantastically beautiful and rare-ish specimen of this dog breed that looks totally like a lion. I can't remember the breed, I'll have to google. He was totally into sniffing around the snow but when I got closer, he stopped dead in his track eventhough his owner was encouraging him to come along. He just kept looking at my grocery bag and soo wanted to take a look at what I'd bought. Awww what a precious thing.
Then I spotted this most adorable basset who was strolling along with his owner and her baby pram. They were about to cross the road but the basset was unobliging, he too stopped dead in his tracks and was looking at my grocery bag
Awww I wanted to take him home and cuddle him. -
We have a Plath bio, but I forget the author, and it's buried in the pile.
Yes, I did enjoy the book, she was an interesting woman in her own right, and IMO was run down by Him. grrrrr She was a sensitive soul. I'll be interested to read your take on it. I'll dig it out and look again when you do.
Could it be Ronald Hayman's The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath? That was an excellent book. I grew to hate Hughes while reading it, though. I think it says a lot about a person whose two wives both commit suicide and in the same way, as well. I don't blame it all on him, but I think it speaks volumes.
And with the discount it ended up even cheaper than if I got it from the BD. And it has a nice cover too.
Excellent
Was it a different cover than mine? And thanks for the EK-AAT warning. I'll keep on open mind and will make sure I'll read it when I'm in the right mood. I think I'll enjoy it though.
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Hello Valeria and welcome to the forum!
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You can also get pre-prepared veg, but on the frezer and fresh produce sections of most supermarkets. I'll freely admit to tocking up on things like frozen sweetcorn, broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, and my sister reglarly buys pre-sliced carrots, peppers and onions because, as she works THREE jobs (!!!), she doesn't have much time to prepare meals either.
True
Personally I don't go for those very often because the pre-preparing must add to the price and I'm approaching all things food from a student's point-of view. -
Thank you for the review of Shadow Forest, that's definitely going on my wishlist
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Thanks Kylie for the recipe!!!
Awesomeness, now I get to make it. As for the original question, the best advice I could give you is to just make so-called 'normal' food and make a big badge of it at a time and then get a lot of small containers and put the stuff in their, already proportioned. That way you'll eat only what you have in the container, and won't go for seconds if you're really hungry or just really like the food. Also, if one has a hard time with veggies, I suggest that when you buy them fresh, wash them and slice them up and then put them in a container. This way when you're going to eat, you only need to get the veggies from the container and don't have to start slicing them up everytime you're having lunch/dinner.
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Has anyone read Last Summer at Barebones by Diane Baker Mason?
Frankie Reads 2011
in Past Book Logs
Posted
See, poppyshake, you aren't the only one who's read Madame Bovary and not liked it
I have a feeling I won't like the characters either, just by the couple of pages that I've read and because of the two of yous comments. If they are anything like in Lady Chatterley's Lover, I'll kill myself.
Ooshie, there are a lot of people on here who have enjoyed The Woman in Black way more than I did and I would recommend you read the book and see for yourself
This was my very first but definitely not the last Susan Hill novel, and I am curious about her detective novels as well, I'm glad you reminded me of them. I'll add the first book in the series to my wishlist 