Saturday, September 15, 2012

5 Years! A flashback...

Guess what, y'all?  Today is Hubster and my 5-year wedding anniversary.  Woohoo!  We have officially been married 24 times as long as Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries.  If that's not cause for celebration, I don't know what is!



In honor of this hella-awesome day, I am flashing back to the books I was reading around our wedding day and during the honeymoon.  Here's what I read, and a mini-review of each.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Apparently, the beginning of my wedded life was also the beginning of my love affair with Jodi Picoult novels.  JP is one of my favorite authors, and this was the first book of hers that I read.  I actually picked it up from Hudson Booksellers in the airport on the way to our honeymoon (and I still read with the bookmark that came inside!).  Good decision, because I LOVED this book.  In case you live under a rock and haven't read it yet, it's about Anna, whose sister Kate has leukemia.  Anna was conceived by her parents to basically be a donor for Kate and help her stay alive.  Anna decides this isn't what she wants to do anymore--much to the despair of her family.  Well-written and an incredible ending that I did not see coming.  Don't watch the movie--Hollywood ruined this one.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Another book that ended up on my all-time faves list.  What can I say, in September 2007 I picked good husbands AND good books.  In 1964, Dr. David Henry helps his wife deliver their twins.  He notices that one of them has Down's Syndrome before his wife sees her, and so he secretly tells his nurse, Caroline, to send the baby away to an institution.  However, Caroline can't bring herself to do it, and ends up keeping the baby herself.  CRAZY premise, right?  The situation itself is so unique, I had a hard time putting this down as I got wrapped up in the story.  Plus, there are some amazing twists at the end.  I know other reviewers have not always been kind to this book, but I loved it.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Yeah, this was back when The Kite Runner was getting ALL the hype.  I won't give a full synopsis (because it's complicated, and most of you probably already know it), but the story is told by Amir, who grew up in Afghanistan during a time of great government upheaval.  The book is emotional, graphic, and gripping in its sense of reality.  A bit slow in parts, so I didn't think it was all that the hype said it would be, but still a very good novel, especially if you're interested in historical fiction.

There's your 2007 flashback!  Now, off to celebrate with my darling husband. :)

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your anniversary! =D

    Reply
  2. What a great idea for getting a chance to talk about books that you read before starting your book blog.

    And happy anniversary! 5 Years is definitely cause for celebration! We celebrated our 20th anniversary in December -- so I wish you many more!

    Joy's Book Blog

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Thanks!! And congrats on 20, that's awesome!

  3. Happy belated anniversary! Would you believe that, despite seeing all three of these books everywhere, I've never read a one? I worked at a bookstore back when they were all popular, so I can definitely say I sold quite a few. The Kite Runner is one I own, but I've never read it; must correct that someday!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. That's too funny! Sometimes I feel like I put off "hyped up" books the longest.

  4. Happy 5th Anniversary! Aww.. such a sweet photo. :)

    Reply
  5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter--I thought this was just OK, what I call a "book club book."

    The Kite Runner--I wasn't nearly as impressed with this as I was by its sesquel, A Thousand Splendid Suns

    Reply
  6. I agree about A Thousand Splendid Suns--excellent book and probably deserved the hype more than Kite Runner.

    Reply

 
Imagination Designs