From the jacket cover…

When Cameron was fifteen, Sonia was her best friend - no one could come between them. Now Cameron is a twenty-nine-year-old research assistant with no meaningful ties to anyone except her aging boss, noted historian Oliver Doucet.

When an expected letter arrives from Sonia ten years after the incident that ended their friendship, Cameron doesn’t reply, despite Oliver’s urging. But then he passes away, and Cameron discovers that he has left her with one final task: to track down Sonia and hand-deliver a mysterious package to her. Now without a job, a home, and a purpose, Cameron decides to honor his request, setting off on the road to find this stranger who was once her inseparable other half.

The Myth of You and Me, the story of Cameron and Sonia’s friendship-as intense as any love affair–and its dramatic demise, captures the universal sense of loss and nostalgia that often lingers after the end of an important relationship.  Searingly honest, beautiful, and full of fragile urgency, The Myth of You and Me is a celebration and portrait of a friendship that will appeal to anyone who still feels the absense of that first true friend.

Order The Shack by Wm. Paul Young from Amazon.com 

The Shack Website | Willie’s Blog - WindRumors.com

Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

I have to admit this is not the type of book I usually read, but was glad I did when my aunt recommended it. At first I thought it was a bit far-fetched as I tried to imagine God with the appearance of a big black woman, but the book really makes you think. I related some of the values to my personal life that I been wondering “why did God let this happen?” It book helped me justify some of my own “sadness” and forgive those that caused grief in my life.

I had read Stephanie Klein’s Straight Up And Dirty and follow Stephanie’s blog, so I just had to order Stephanie’s new book:  Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp about her weight problem as a young child and her enrollment at fat camp.  Although the book is about Stephanie at age 12, the book is written for adults.  Those of us growing up in the 80’s (fat and skinny alike) will fondly relive many memories, trends and fads from that time.  Even though I never had a weight problem as a child (although I could stand to lose a few pounds now), I could relate to Stephanie on many levels from her first sexual encounters to self-confidence issues.  And I think all kids’ camps are similiar in that aspect, as I learned a lot about attending church camp at that age.  I think I liked this book better than her first.  Stephanie, will we see another book in the future?

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Pub. Date: May 2008
• ISBN-13: 9780060843298
• Sales Rank: 23,864
• 320pp

Phillips’s Match Me If You Can is a captivating romance that follows a pair of reluctant lovers from their combative first acquaintance to a happily ever after.

I knew this chitlit book would have a ”happily ever after” ending from the get-go, but I read it anyway to see what dilemmas arose along the way. And it takes place in Chicago, a city I love to visit. I have to admit I was jealous of Annabelle for finding her Prince, and that he accepted her even after all the shanigans she pulled.  Most men don’t understand that women do things that piss them off only because they love them.  Trust me, I know from past experiences.  I now think I need to stop reading sappy love stories and go for the murder mysteries.

Author Note: Susan Elizabeth Phillips met her husband on a blind date, and has been happily married for over 20 years.  Hard to find that now-a-days. You go girl.

A hilarious look at one of the banes of our collective existence: spam email. Our email programs are designed to hide it from us with rules and filters, but have you actually looked at any of it lately? Join writer Daniel M. Clark for a journey into your junk email folder and discover the laughs your filters don’t want you to see.

While in Boston last month, I met Daniel M. Clark (great guy) and saw the preview copy of his latest book, The Big Book of Spam.  I ordered my copy on the release date of 8/18 and thanks to Amazon Prime (free trial here), got it 2 days later shipped free.  Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down as I got a chuckle out of his writing. I randomly picked a page (page 14) out of the book to share his humor with…

A larger tool never hurt anyone
Tell that to my 7th grade Shop teacher who only had 3 fingers on his right hand.

Penis Enlargement Liquid
Yeah, it’s called blood.

Daniel continues blog about Subject Lines of the Week at TheBigBookofSpam.com and order your copy of The Big Book of Spam now!

Good in Bed A Novel by Jennifer Weiner

I ordered this book after reading another book by Jennifer Weiner, Goodnight Nobody.  I liked  Goodnight Nobody better, but this book was okay.  I could relate to the author in some regards (being dumped, wanting to lose some weight, being a single mom), and the “happily ever after” ending was just as I imagined.  Now, if I can find my own happy ending!  I would suggest she make the chapters shorter, as I like to pause my reading between chapters, but with this book I had to finally give in and quit mid-chapter as I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer reading in bed.

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
–Randy Pausch

My friend, Andrew Wee, suggested this book to me after showing me a clip Randy’s Last Lecture on Oprah.com. I headed to Amazon and ordered the book immediately after watching the video, but it has been so popular that is was on back-order.  Imagine my surprise when I received it in the mail a couple of days later!  It wasn’t from Amazon, and it wasn’t from Andrew, so I was perplexed.  Well, I did some research, and I had requested the book last month from the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research website that was giving away 5000 free copies!  To be honest, I request a lot of free books and if I don’t want to read them, I sell them on eBay or Half.com.  Well, this seemed like a karmatic coincidence.  The next day I told my aunt about the book ordeal, but never told her the name of it. She then said she was just given a book to read from a friend, and it was the same book!  I could have read the whole thing in one night, but needed some sleep.  I couldn’t wait to read the remaining of it the next night.  I laughed. I cried.  I prayed for Randy and his family.  Really makes you think.

Randy is still alive fighting his cancer and even has a blog of his journey. 

Goodnight Nobody: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner

Now if my last name was Weiner, I think I’d be changing it.  Heck, I want to change my last name now.  I realized Ms. Hotdog Weiner is also the author of In Her Shoes (I saw the movie based on the book) and Good in Bed (I think I’ll invest in this one as I struggle with my body image).

Anyway, back to the book… This was more of a murder mystery than a chick lit, but still had some comical everyday humor it.  I was captivated by it, and couldn’t wait to find out who the killer was and who Kitty’s real father was.  I was disappointed at the end though that Kate never made a decision between Ben and Evan.  Ok, maybe that was too much information, as I don’t want to spoil it for the rest of you.

Jack Canfield’s Key to Living the Law of Attraction: A Simple Guide to Creating the Life of Your Dreams

This is a great sequel to The Secret. And I have read this book twice as well.  It puts the “secret” even more into perspective. I keep it on my nightstand as a reference.

I am a big believer in the law of attraction.  And I have read this book in its entirety twice, and refer back to the summaries when I don’t feel things are going my way.

My reviews: The Secret of My Success (from HouseForKim.com)
The Secret of My Success (from WorkInMyPajamas.com)

The Secret on DVD