DECEMBER BOOKS

I managed to finish 2009 with a good reading month.  Of course, reading all those cute little Christmas books helped.


Here's what I read this month:

TRAVELING LIGHT by Katrina Kittle

U IS FOR UNDERTOW by Sue Grafton

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS by Debbie Macomber

THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK by Kat Martin

THE CHRISTMAS SECRET by Donna VanLiere

A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS by Greg Kincaid

THE CHRISTMAS DOG by Melody Carlson

THE CHRISTMAS LIST by Richard Paul Evans

A BLUE AND GRAY CHRISTMAS by Joan Medlicott

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS edited by Helen Szymanski

BRIDGE OF SIGHS by Richard Russo


That's 11 books for December, bringing my total for the year to 106.  A lot less than last year, but I still managed to read over 100 to complete the 100+ Reading Challenge.  And I posted a review (of sorts) for each book to complete the Read 'n' Review Challenge.

Next year, I'm not participating in many challenges.  Hopefully, that will keep my reading pleasurable instead of something I feel I have to do.  I expect to see my total number of books increase by quite a bit in 2010.

2009 - NOT A GREAT YEAR

2009 had it ups and downs.  Reading-wise, I was able to top the 100 books mark, but didn't do as well as I had wanted.  Reading - and challenges - became a chore instead of a pleasure.  After I dropped a few of the many challenges and put away my monthly list of books to be read, I started enjoying reading again.  Here are my 10 favorite books for the year (in no particular order):

• SARAH'S KEY
• THE RED SCARF
• THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY
• NEFERTITI
• LIVING DEAD GIRL
• GALWAY BAY
• LOOK AGAIN
• THE HELP
• HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET
• THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN

2009 gave me a good deal of family time.  In April, Dom and I went to Hilton Head for a week with my sister Anne and her husband Sy and my brother Paul and his wife Joann.  And Maggie and Teddy came with us.  We all had a great week.  In September, I flew down to Orlando to spend a few days with Anne and Sy, enjoying a visit from my sister-in-law Sheila and my niece Jessica and Joann's sister Jane.  Early December brought a short trip to Orlando and DisneyWorld (again with Anne and Sy) for Dom and me.

Medical issues brought some low points for us.  Joann was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Luckily it was caught very early; she's had a lumpectomy and radiation and will be just fine.  Dom and I have both had wicked colds this year.  He's had back and leg problems - our family physician finally came up with a drug that has helped him alleviate the pain.  I'm still working through sciatica and vertigo.  Anne just had surgery a couple of days ago to replace both knees.  And Maggie has had terrible allergy problems this year.

The tanking economy didn't help matters this year, as we - along with everyone else I'm sure - saw our bank accounts drop.  Luckily Dom was able to keep his part-time job, even though his hours were cut for a while.

But the defining moment of 2009 was in July when our Teddy died in my arms.  That night brought gut-wrenching pain to me and Dom, and we are still feeling the tremendous loss of our precious dog.

So I'm ready - more than ready - to say goodbye to 2009.  2010 has got to be better.

2009 COMPLETED CHALLENGES

2009 wasn't the best "reading" year for me.  I joined a lot of challenges, but had to drop out of a few.  At first I was upset that I wouldn't be finishing all of the ones I had joined, but I finally realized that I was making reading a chore instead of a pleasure.

But I did manage to finish 12 challenges this year:

• Jewish Literature Challenge
• Support Your Local Library Challenge
• New Author Challenge
• Southern Reading Challenge
• Medical Mystery Madness Challenge
• Pub 2009 Challenge
• Read Your Own Books Challenge
• Chunkster Challenge
• Christmas Reading Challenge
• 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge
• 100+ Reading Challenge
• Read 'n' Review Challenge

Now on to 2010.  I've only signed up for 7 challenges, but I'm leaving myself open for a couple more that I'm hoping will be run again.  2010 will be a year of reading for enjoyment again.

BRIDGE OF SIGHS

BRIDGE OF SIGHS by Richard Russo

From Books-a-Million:

Focusing on a group of close friends from Thomaston, New York, the novel spans five decades and is narrated by each of the main characters.  Louis Charles Lynch, a Thomaston resident all his life, has been married to Sarah for 40 years, and together, they're reaping the benefits of his family's considerable fortune, which was acquired through a chain of convenience stores.  Hoping to travel to Venice for a vacation, Lynch tries unsuccessfully to contact his old friend (and Sarah's former flame) Bobby Marconi, a famous painter who lives in Italy.  Marconi is leading the quintessential painter's life overseas - pursuing women, brawling with men and suffering for his art, all while teetering on the brink of 60.  Russo skillfully develops the separate yet intertwined stores of these characters, allowing their recollections of life in Thomaston to overlap and enhance each other.  The narrative is peppered with everyday dramas - family conflicts, financial struggles - all richly developed and convincingly portrayed.  A melancholy reminder that small towns may one day be obsolete, the story of Lynch and his cohorts can be read as Russo's homage to a way of life that's quickly passing.

I've read other books by Richard Russo and loved them.  This one took me a while to get into the story, mainly because of the jumping around from the narration of one character to another and from the present to the past and back again.  Once I was able to get used to the flow of the book, it was easier to get involved.

When I finished the book last night, I didn't think I had liked it.  But this morning, rethinking about it, I find that  I have a different reaction to it.  The characters are so richly written in such detail that you feel that you know them.  And maybe you do.  The nice kid and his family, seemingly successful but in reality struggling to get by.  The tough kid, not afraid of anything - but not really as tough as he looks.  The girl who loves them both.  The relationship between the characters is complex and involved - there's no clear-cut black and white in their lives.

If you're a fan of Richard Russo, you should like this book.

CHRISTMAS READING CHALLENGES COMPLETED

2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

hosted by Nely

All About {n}

Christmas Reading Challenge

hosted by Michelle

The True Book Addict

I love reading those little Christmas books that appear in book stores each year.  Some are by favorite authors like Debbie Macomber, whose newest Christmas book is eagerly awaited each fall.  Others are by new-to-me authors or authors I've wanted to read for some time.

For these two challenges I read the following books:

• A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS
• THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS
• THE CHRISTMAS LIST
• THE CHRISTMAS SECRET
• THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK
• CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
• A BLUE AND GRAY CHRISTMAS
• THE CHRISTMAS DOG

Thanks to Michelle and Nely for hosting these seasonal challenges.  I'm limiting my challenges for 2010, but I'm sure to join these challenges again next year.

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS edited by Helen Szymanski was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

From the back of the book:

Heartfelt traditions shared with family and friends can connect generations, and make Christmas the most meaningful time of the year!


This touching collection not only embraces these special moments, but also explores a festive array of creative customs.  Recalling warm memories of traditions past and present, you'll find such stories as:

• A Purposeful Journey, featuring a family who decorates an outdoor Christmas tree with edible treats to help the wildlife celebrate the season
• Holly Berry Dreams, in which a girl hangs holly leaves above the doorway while waiting for her father to return from war
• Love Notes on My Tree, about a young, down-on-their-luck couple who decorates their small Christmas tree with love letters

Each of these heartwarming stories is like its own special present.  As you unwrap them and revel in the treasured traditions of others, you'll be inspired to celebrate your own - and create new ones you and your family will cherish for years to come.

This was a nice warm book, reminding me of the Chicken Soup books, composed of a large number of short essays about Christmas traditions.  Some were sad, some funny, but all filled with love.  A nice book to read during this holiday season - or anytime.

QUESTION??

Twenty-ten

or

Two thousand ten??

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS CARDS

Do you all send Christmas cards?

I usually send them, but this year the lack of Christmas spirit got in the way of the card sending.  I've gotten a lot of pretty cards this year and really need to get back in touch with those who sent them.  I don't want them to think I'm ignoring them.

To my blogger friends who have sent cards - thank you so much.  And I promise to be better next year about sending cards nice and early.  I wish I could find cards like those in the picture I posted here - looks just like Maggie and Teddy!

Maybe I'll look for Happy New Year cards to send this year!

HO! HO! HO!

I put up a Christmas tree!

And some decorations too!

Just in the nick of time!

A BLUE AND GRAY CHRISTMAS

A BLUE AND GRAY CHRISTMAS by Joan Medlicott was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

From the book jacket:

When a rusty old tin box is unearthed at the Covington Homestead, longtime housemates Grace, Amelia, and Hannah discover that it contains letters and diaries written by two Civil War soldiers, one Union and one Confederate.


The friends are captivated by the drama revealed.  The soldiers were found dying on a nearby battlefield by an old woman.  She nursed them back to health, hiding them from bounty hunters seeking deserters.  At the end of the war the men chose to stay in Covington, caring for their rescuer as she grew frail.  But while their lives were rich, they still felt homesick and guilty for never contacting the families they'd left behind.


Christmas is coming, and the letters inspire Amelia with a generous impulse.  What if she and her friends were to find the two soldiers' descendants and invite them to Covington to meet?  What better holiday gift could there be than the truth about these two heroic men and their dramatic shared fate?  With little time left, the ladies spring into action to track down the men's families in Connecticut and the Carolinas, and to make preparations in Covington for their most memorable, most historic Christmas yet.

This book was nothing like I expected it to be.  I thought it would be a book entirely about the hunt for the men's families and a big Christmas meeting between them.  Instead it was just another book in the Ladies of Covington series, with much of the book devoted to other story lines from previous books.

I had decided about a year ago to stop reading this series as I had lost interest in the characters and the stories.  Now, having read this one, I know I made the right decision.  So goodbye Grace, Hannah and Amelia.  Goodbye to your petty squabbles and your various ailments.  It was fun for a while, but I'm putting this series to rest.

THE CHRISTMAS LIST

THE CHRISTMAS LIST by Richard Paul Evans was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

From the book jacket (a letter to the readers from Mr. Evans):

...As I began to write this book, I had two objectives:  First, I wanted to explore what could happen if someone read their obituary before they died and saw, firsthand, what the world really thought of them.  Their legacy.


Second, I wanted to write a Christmas story of true redemption.  One of my family's holiday traditions is to see a local production of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.  I don't know how many times I've seen it (perhaps a dozen), but it still thrill me to see the change that comes over Ebenezer Scrooge as he transforms from a dull, tight-fisted miser into a penitent, "giddy-as-a-schoolboy" man with love in his heart.  I always leave the show with a smile on my face and a resolve to be a better person.  That's what I wanted to share with you, my dear readers, this Christmas - a holiday tale to warm your season, your homes, and your hearts....

This book was not the usual holiday fluff type of book.  This was more serious and had a real lesson to share. I loved it.  Definitely a book that I will keep and re-read.

GETTING OLDER IS NO FUN

I hate getting older.  Along with the migraines that I get on a fairly regular basis, this week I have added a couple of new aliments to the mix.

For the past few days I've been having vertigo.  I got up from the bed and landed smack-dab into the bedroom wall.  At first it was just whenever I'd get up from a lying position.  Now it comes when I lie down also, and bending over to pick up something from the floor or to tie my shoes is impossible.

And just for fun, my sciatic nerve is acting up.  The pain is located in my left glut and travels down the leg.  Mostly when I get up after sitting for a while, but it can occur anytime.

And then throw in a migraine or two for added excitement.

I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for the first week in January.  When I tell her all that's been going on, she's going to be sorry she asked how I've been feeling!

THE CHRISTMAS DOG

THE CHRISTMAS DOG by Melody Carlson was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

From the book jacket:

A little before seven on Monday morning, Betty woke to the sound of someone trying to break into her house.  At least that was what it sounded like to her....


It was that scruffy dog again.  Jack Jones's mongrel.  The dog crouched down, whimpering, and despite Betty's bitter feelings toward her neighbor, she felt a tinge of pity for the poor, dirty animal.  And Betty didn't even like dogs.


"Go home, you foolish thing," she said.  "Go bother your owner."


The dog just whined.


Betty knelt down with the screen still between her and the dog.  "Go home," she said again.  "Shoo!"


But the dog didn't budge.  And now Betty didn't know what to do.

Another cute Christmas story about a stray dog.  There's something about dogs and their sweet faces that can melt the coldest heart.  Animals, especially dogs for me, give unconditional love and expect so little in return.  They teach lessons to us about loving and giving and caring about others.  The dog in this book, Ralph, taught Betty a thing or two and made her a better person for it.

TIME FOR NEW CHALLENGES

This year, I over-extended myself on reading challenges.  I had joined about 12 or so challenges, made all my book lists, formulated a book calendar so that I could get all the challenges finished in time.  Then I got burned out.  I felt obligated to read books that I had no interest in reading just to check it off a challenge list.

For 2010, I'm joining some challenges, but not as many.  I'm not making lists ahead of time, but will be looking for books that will fit the requirements and still be interesting to me.

The first one I chose is the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, hosted by The Royal Reviews, which runs through the entire year of 2010.  I've really enjoyed reading historical fiction in the past.  I'm only committing to 3 books (Curious) this year.

A favorite challenge of mine in the past - The Medical Mystery Madness Challenge - is continuing next year.  Twiga will again be hosting this year-long challenge.  Six books are required for this challenge.

Another favorite challenge of mine is being hosted this year by Beth Fish Reads.  The What's in a Name 3 Challenge requires 6 books, each from a specific category as described on the challenge site.

This next challenge looks like a fun one.  Reading Through the Seasons requires only 4 books, but each must have the name of a season in the title.  Gina of Book Dragon's Lair is hosting this one.

And one of my all time favorites is back again - The Chunkster Challenge.  Wendy is hosting this challenge for 2010.  I love reading big books - in fact my favorite book is over 1100 pages long!  I'll be joining the Do These Books Make My Butt Look Fat level of 4 books through the year.

In 2009, I had a slow reading spot and just barely managed to finish 100 books, but enough to meet the challenge.  For 2010 I'll again join the 100+ Reading Challenge, hosted by J. Kaye, and I know I can top this year's dismal book count.

For 2009 I wrote a "review" on every book that I finished, meeting the requirements of the Read 'n' Review Challenge.  For 2010 I plan on doing the same.  Miz B is hosting the 2010 Read 'n' Review Challenge.


If you're looking for a good reading challenge to join, visit Wendy at A Novel Challenge for listings of all current challenges.  It's a great site!

TROUBLE

Christmas is less than 2 weeks away.

So far, I have bought 1 present for Dom.  I have completed 1 gift that I was sewing.  I have material for 4 more. And I still have to get material for 2 more.  And then do the sewing.

I have 0 decorations out.

I have out of the house things planned for 6 of the next 12 days.

I think I'm in trouble!

A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS

A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS by Greg Kincaid was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

From the book jacket:

When Todd McCray, a developmentally challenged young man still living on his parents' Kansas farm, hears that a local animal shelter is seeking temporary homes for its dogs during the days leading to Christmas, he knows exactly what he wants for the holidays.  His father objects, but Todd's persistence quickly wins out.  Soon the McCrays are the short-term foster family for a lovable pooch the young man names Christmas.


But what about all the other dogs who will be forced to spend the Yuletide season in cages?  In the days that follow, Todd uses his special gifts of persuasion to encourage his hometown to participate in the "Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program."  What follows from his small act of kindness will teach his family, and his community, about peace on earth and good will toward men - and animals.

How could I resist this book?  Do you see that sweet black lab on the cover?  He looks just like my Maggie, down to the gray around his mouth.

I was so afraid when I started reading this book that Christmas (formerly known as Jake) would die.  After all, he was an older dog and had lived a rough life.  But like all good Christmas books, this one had a happy ending - one that was easy to discern early in the book.

Excuse me while I go love on my Maggie right now!

THE CHRISTMAS SECRET

THE CHRISTMAS SECRET by Donna VanLiere was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

From the book jacket:

When a struggling young single mother saves the life of an elderly woman, she sets into motion a series of events that will test her strength, loyalty, and determination - all the while setting her on the path to finding true love.


Life isn't easy or simple for Christine Eisley, the hardworking mother of seven-year-old Zach and five-year-old Haley.  Her ex-husband goes out of his way to make her life extremely difficult.  She works long hours as a waitress to make ends meet, and because she's behind in the rent, she needs to find another place to live.  When Christine saves the life of a woman who works in Wilson's department store, the owner of Wilson's wants to find her, to thank her, but Christine has disappeared, losing the job she depended on to feed her kids.  Marshall Wilson sets his grandson, Jason, to the task of finding the mysterious "Christy."  It's the last job Jason wants...but is finding Christy the one thing he really needs?  To protect herself from being hurt yet again, Christine holds her secrets close, but in the end it's the discovery of a safely guarded secret that will change the course of her life forever.

I really enjoyed this little book.  I'm sure you've read a book or seen a movie where the characters are destined to meet, but every time they get close something happens.  Like they're walking toward each other and at the last minute one of them turns their head and they miss seeing each other.  That's what was happening in this book.  Christine and Jason were fated to meet, but little things kept them from meeting each other.  Of course, by the end of the book, everything worked out perfectly.

But that's what is great about these Christmas books - everything works out at the end, no matter how terrible or hopeless the situation.  Feel-good stories are always welcome, especially during the hectic times leading up to a big holiday.  I could read these books all year long.

THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK

THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK by Kat Martin was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Winter Reading Challenge.

From the book jacket:

Teddy Winters (this is a mistake - Teddy's last name is Sparks) was eight years old that Christmas, too young to understand all the undercurrents swirling around him in the tiny Michigan town of Dreyerville.


He wasn't able to value that Christmas for the miracle it truly was.


Teddy only knew that he wanted to buy the beautiful Victorian clock in the window of Tremont's Antiques as a gift for his grandmother, Lottie Sparks, a woman desperate to find him a home before her rapidly progressing Alzheimer's left him an orphan.


Teddy didn't know that in trying to buy the clock he would meet Sylvia Winters and Joe Dixon, a couple, once in love, desperate to overcome the past.  He didn't know he would form a friendship with his neighbors, Floyd and Doris Culver, two people struggling to revive their long-dead marriage.


He didn't know that these people would fill his Christmas with magic and hope; that the love of his friends would change his world, and that he would forever change theirs.

This was another short, easy to read Christmas story.  No earth-shattering surprises - the ending was easy to guess.  But nice for a quiet evening.  That's what I love about most of these Christmas books - I can read one a night and feel good when I'm finished.

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS by Debbie Macomber was read for the Christmas Reading Challenge and the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

From the book jacket:

What would make your Christmas perfect? 


For Cassie Beaumont, it's meeting her perfect match.  Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing's worked.  Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance.


What's left?  A professional matchmaker.  He's Simon Dodson, and he's very choosy about the clients he takes on.  Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she's astonished when he accepts her as a client.


Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him.  Three tasks that are all about Christmas:  being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a children's party and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike).  Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all - and she's finally ready to meet her match.


But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!

Well, Cassie's perfect match really wasn't a surprise.  It was obvious from the start who it would be.  But that didn't make the book any less enjoyable.  It was a quick, light book, typical of Ms. Macomber's annual Christmas books.  I look forward to her books each year - I know each will be a fun book to read.

U IS FOR UNDERTOW

U IS FOR UNDERTOW by Sue Grafton

From the book jacket:

It's April 1988, a month before Kinsey Millhome's thirty-eighth birthday, and she's alone in her office catching up on paperwork when a young man arrives unannounced.  He has a preppy air about him and looks as if he'd be carded if he tried to buy a beer, but Michael Sutton is twenty-seven, an unemployed college dropout.  More than two decades ago, a four-year-old girl disappeared, and a recent newspaper story about her kidnapping has triggered a flood of memories.  Sutton now believes he stumbled on her lonely burial and could identify the killers if he saw them again.  He wants Kinsey's help in locating the grave and finding the men.  It's way more than a long shot, but he's persistent and willing to pay cash up front.  Reluctantly, Kinsey agrees to give him one day of her time.


But it isn't long before she discovers Sutton has an uneasy relationship with the truth.  In essence, he's the boy who cried wolf.  Is his story true, or simply one more in a long line of fabrications?


Moving effortlessly between the 1980s and the 1960s, and changing points of view as Kinsey pursues witnesses whose accounts often clash, Grafton builds multiple subplots and creates memorable characters.  Gradually, we come to see how everything connects in this twisting, complex, surprise-filled thriller.  And as always, at the beating heart of her fiction is Kinsey Millhome, a sharp-tongued, observant loner who never forgets that under the thin veneer of civility is a roiling dark side to the soul.

It's been two years since the last book in this series by Sue Grafton, and the worth the wait.  There were a lot of characters and stories introduced early in the book that seemed to have nothing at all to do with the main plot.  But as the book went on, it became clearer how all the characters related to one another.  Kinsey, as an investigator, is very methodical and goes from point A to point B to point C.  Ms. Grafton, as an author, has the same style.  Her books are to the point without a lot of superficial "stuff" taking away from the main story.

I hope it won't be another two years before "V is for something" is released.

VISIT TO DISNEYWORLD

Dom and I had a great little visit to DisneyWorld with my sister Anne and brother-in-law Sy.  They have a kinda-like timeshare at a Wyndham resort at DisneyWorld.  Their unit was on the 15th floor on a corner that overlooked Magic Kingdom and Epcot.  We could sit on the balcony each night and see the fireworks display from those two parks.

This is the view from the balcony

We spend all day Tuesday at Epcot.  We had seen Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios when we were down a few years ago, but we were only in Epcot long enough to see the Candlelight Christmas Concert.  So this time, we were able to walk through and see all the exhibits.

In the morning, we went in the different "rides" and the innovations exhibits.  There was a 3D show that freaked me out - there was a giant snake coming at me.  Other than that, it was a fun show.  We walked around and people-watched.

There were so many cute little girls dressed in their princess costumes, like this little girl.  They all looked so cute!

In the afternoon we went to the different nations.  We saw Canada with a huge waterfall and a 360-degree film about the country.  Then we went to Great Britain where we toured all the little shops, met Father Christmas, and listened to a group - British Invasion - do Beatle songs.

Anne and I with Father Christmas

John, Ringo, Paul and George

We visited Paris and Rome, watched drummers in Japan, saw a German village, threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, heard carolers in the American pavilion, listened to the Christmas concert, and finally wound up taking a boat ride across the lake and then back to the resort to sit back and relax.  I knew I could get Dom to go on a "cruise!"

Wednesday we spent just goofing off.  Anne and I went to Downtown Disney to get some things to bring home then we all walked through the new Waldorf Astoria.  After a great dinner, we spent the evening playing cards and watching the fireworks from the balcony.

Dom and I got up early on Thursday and left around 6:00 am for the drive home.  We were watching the weather as rain had been expected, but we stayed ahead of it and had a smooth ride.  Shelby had been staying at our house dog-sitting, and Maggie was so excited to see us when we got home.

I really wish that we lived closer to Anne and Sy so we could visit more often.  They are such great people.

TRAVELING LIGHT

TRAVELING LIGHT by Katrina Kittle

From the back of the book:

"TRAVEL LIGHT AND YOU CAN SING IN THE ROBBER'S FACE" was the best advice Summer Zwolenick ever received from her father, though she didn't recognize it at the time.  Three years after the accident that ended her career as a ballerina, she is back in the familiar suburbs of Dayton, Ohio, teaching at a local high school.  But it wasn't nostalgia that called summer home.  It was her need to spend quality time with her brother, Todd, and his devoted partner, Jacob.  Todd, the golden athlete whose strength and spirit encouraged Summer to nurture her own unique talents and follow her dream, is in the final stages of a terminal illness.  In a few short months, he will be dead - leaving Summer only a handful of precious days to learn all the lessons her brother still has to teach her ... from how to love and how to live to how to let go.

I read another book by Ms. Kittle a month or so ago - THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS - and loved her writing style, so I decided to read this one, her first book.  Parts of the book were very hard to read - the description of Todd's battle with AIDS was not sugar-coated or sanitized.  Loving Todd, caring for him and watching him die were the hardest things that Summer and Jacob had to do.  At times they felt they couldn't do it, but Todd showed them how to be strong.

This was a book about love, about sacrifice, about giving, about dying, and a celebration of life.  I thought it was a completely beautiful book.