2017 books

Suzanne's Pick:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without a husband, she's considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town...

Rachel's Pick:
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can only be guided by one's own conscience.

Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic.

Krista's Pick:

Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke

A marriage of convenience blooms into heartfelt love in an Old West homestead.The point of the story seems to be that while most of us expect love to come in with a bang or a frisson of excitement, it does not always do that. Sometimes it sneaks up on you, slowly and steadily, while you work toward common goals with someone else.

Kerry's Pick:

House Rules by Jodi Picoult
When your son can’t look you in the eye . . . does that mean he’s guilty? 

Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject—forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he’s always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he’s usually right.

But when Jacob’s small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob’s behaviors are hallmark Asperger’s, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob’s mother, Emma, it’s a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it’s another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob.

And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

Mom's Pick:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations is  a coming-of-age novel, and it is a classic work of Victorian literature. It depicts the growth and personal development of an orphan named Pip. The novel was first published in serial form in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. The story is essentially the story of Pip’s life as told by now older and wiser Pip as he reflects back on his life, the turning points and wrong decisions he made. The good , the bad and the ugly of his life.

Laura's Pick:

Running with a mind of meditation: Lessons for training body and mind by Sakyong Mipham

As a Tibetan lama and leader of Shambhala (an international community of 165 meditation centers), Sakyong Mipham has found physical activity to be essential for spiritual well-being. He's been trained in horsemanship and martial arts but has a special love for running. Here he incorporates his spiritual practice with running, presenting basic meditation instruction and fundamental principles he has developed. Even though both activities can be complicated, the lessons here are simple and designed to show how the melding of internal practice with physical movement can be used by anyone - regardless of age, spiritual background, or ability - to benefit body and soul.

New books for 2015

So here is the list of books to read. Read them in any order you wish and buy them or borrow them from the library whatever you want. We were throwing around the idea of having a girls night sometime this summer and we can talk about the books then. Maybe around the 4th of July would work? What does everyone think of that idea?

Mom's pick:

The Great and Terrible, Vol. 1: Prologue, The Brothers by Chris Stewart

In the time before Creation, before so many of the children of God turned away from their Father and walked knowingly into the dark, there was a choosing, a sifting, a contest of ideas and a battle for souls. In that great premortal war, each of us learned the first lessons of life: The great ones may fall. The wicked can change. The weak and the foolish can become the strongest of all. And the battle between good and evil is the same regardless of the time or place. 

The Brothers is the first novel in a new series by national bestselling author Chris Stewart. The Great and Terrible takes us from the beginning of time to the final hours of the last days, revealing the greatest secret of all: The children of God can defeat the adversary, for we have fought him before.

Suzanne's Pick:

Winter Garden, by Kristin Hannah

The Whitson family is rocked by the sudden death of patriarch Evan, a warm, loving man who doted on his two adult daughters, Meredith and Nina, and his reserved Russian wife, Anya. Meredith, who runs the family business, and Nina, a photojournalist whose job takes her to war zones around the world, have never been able to connect with their cold, forbidding mother. When Anya begins to act strangely, Meredith thinks she belongs in a nursing home, but Nina decides to try to fulfill her father’s dying wish and get her mother to tell her and Meredith the elaborate fairy tales she used to share with them. Anya is initially reluctant, but once she begins, Nina realizes these tales are actually the story of Anya’s life in Stalinist Leningrad. Meredith and Nina decide to attempt to uncover the truth about their mother’s tragic past in the hope of understanding her, and themselves. Though the novel starts off fairly maudlin, it evolves into a gripping read, although it’s a tearjerker.

Rachel's Pick:

Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

She can whisper horses and communicate with birds, but the crown princess Ani has a difficult time finding her place in the royal family and measuring up to her imperial mother. When she is shipped off to a neighboring kingdom as a bride, her scheming entourage mounts a bloody mutiny to replace her with a jealous lady-in-waiting, Selia, and to allow an inner circle of guards more power in the new land. Barely escaping with her life, Ani disguises herself as a goose girl and wanders on the royal estate. Does she have the pluck to reclaim her rightful place? Get ready for a fine adventure tale full of danger, suspense, surprising twists, and a satisfying conclusion.

Kelli's Pick:

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

Laura Pick:
 The one and only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate

Having spent twenty-seven years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes.

Krista's Pick:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Selling more than 300,000 copies the first year it was published, Stowe's powerful abolitionist novel fueled the fire of the human rights debate in 1852. Denouncing the institution of slavery in dramatic terms, the incendiary novel quickly draws the reader into the world of slaves and their masters.
Stowe's characters are powerfully and humanly realized in Uncle Tom, a majestic and heroic slave whose faith and dignity are never corrupted; Eliza and her husband, George, who elude slave catchers and eventually flee a country that condones slavery; Simon Legree, a brutal plantation owner; Little Eva, who suffers emotionally and physically from the suffering of slaves; and fun-loving Topsy, Eva's slave playmate.

Are we ready??

Did anyone out there read the Thief Lord?? I know I did and liked it.... Wondering if we are ready for a new book?

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Sorry about the delay everybody. This is the book that Laura is choosing. If you already know which book you are going to choose you can email it to me at Suz@butlerfam.org and I will post a schedule of upcoming books so there will not be another delay. Laura really enjoyed this book and thought it was an easy read. Also it is a great book to read with kids.
The Thief Lord follows the story of two brothers, Prosper and Bo, who run away to Venice, Italy after their mother's death. They are taken in by a group of orphans who live in an abandoned movie theater, called the Stella, and are led by a young man named Scipio, who calls himself the Thief Lord. He steals valuables from wealthy homes and they sell them to an old shopkeeper, Ernesto Barbarossa. The boys' vicious aunt and uncle figure out where they are and set a detective, Victor Getz, on their trail. This books is an exciting suspensful book complete with mystery and magic that keeps the reader on their toes.

The Hunger Games-- Suzanne Collins

Sooo... I know some have read and or listened to this book already. I have chosen this for those who are a little behind (like me) in reading the Amish Midwife.

With the holidays coming up we decided to give through December to read The Hunger Games.

Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place for the latest match.

"The Amish Midwife" by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould

Book Number 1(Suzanne)-You have from now until October 1st to read.

Nurse-midwife Lexie Jaeger's, who was adopted encounters a burning desire to meet her biological family. Propelled on a personal journey of discovery, Lexie's search for the truth takes her from her home in Oregon to the heart of Pennsylvania's Amish country.

There she finds Marta Bayer, a mysterious lay-midwife who may hold the key to Lexie's past. But Marta isn't talking, especially now that she has troubles of her own following the death of an Amish patient during childbirth. As Lexie steps in to assume Marta's patient load and continues the search for her birth family, a handsome local doctor proves to be a welcome distraction.

Note from Suzanne: I found this book extremely interesting. I didn't know anything about the Amish, so this gave interesting insights to their lifestyle and beliefs. At the same time it was a very interesting story that is a mystery with clues that you are constantly trying to fit together. I loved it. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Here is how it works

O.k. so after thinking it over we have decided that this time around we will be making a few changes from last time. The mailing books around was kind of a pain in the but, and books got mixed up or stuck somewhere. So everyone will pick a book. Then I will post a list of them and everyone can either check it out from their library or buy it off Amazon or something. So Our first book will need to be read by October 1st. Then I will rotate everyone through giving two months for each book. This way you can go as fast as you want reading the books and don't have to pay for postage to keep mailing them. I will do the first book to give an example of how we will do it. When it is your turn, post a blog with the name and author of your book and a little summary of what it is about. Then at the end of the two months everyone can post comments on what they thought of the book.