"Queen of Babble Gets Hitched" by Meg Cabot
Finished: July 27, 2009
Page Count: 277

Why I read it:
I love Meg Cabot books (not the Princess Diaries or 1-800 series though). The Queen of Babble series has been fun to read but not my favorite. This book was the final in the trilogy and has been sitting on my bookshelf at home since January. Since I had no books from the library, I decided to finally read this one. I ended up finishing 3/4 of it in 2 hours (between 11 pm and 1 am today) because I got hooked.

Booklist Synopsis:
Lizzie Nichols should be the happiest girl in the universe. The phone has been ringing off the hook ever since a wedding gown she restored appeared in the New York Times. Her wealthy ex-boyfriend, Luke de Villier, has decided their breakup was a mistake and has finally proposed. But Lizzie made the mistake of sleeping with Chaz, Luke’s best friend, during the brief hiatus in her relationship with Luke, and now she spends more time thinking about Chaz than her fiancé. In addition to an angst-ridden heroine and a loyal, waiting-in-the-wings hero, Cabot’s novel is filled with unforgettable, quirky characters. There’s Lizzie’s bad-mouthed, cooking sherry–guzzling granny; a spoiled, self-centered fiancé; a best friend who is a newly outed lesbian; and a high-strung assistant. Celebrities demanding a Lizzie Nichols’ creation include a familiar, gum-popping, red-carpet regular always accompanied by her shivering Chihuahua and bodyguard.

What I thought:
I'm glad I finally read the book as it did not disappoint. I enjoyed one love story more than the other and was pleased when I got the ending that I more or less wanted. There were parts of the book though that I had to skim because Lizzie was acting really stupid and bothering me. I cannot finish the "Shopaholic" series because the main character does stupid things and it really drives me nuts. I had my moments with Lizzie in this book but got over it and moved on.

I think this book was especially helpful because it has wedding history and tips for planning. That's great since Allison, one of my 3 best friends, just got engaged yesterday and I'm helping to plan the wedding. Maybe that's why I was so determined to finish fast... I was just excited!

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Finished: July 19, 2009 (2 days before library due date)
Page Count: 335

Why I read it:
One of my (many) bosses at school recommended this book to me. He enjoyed it and when I told him I was reading "Columbine" he suggested I read this because it is not as dark.

Wikipedia Synopsis:
Set during the Great Depression of the, Water for Elephants tells the story of a young man who leaves his life as a Cornell University veterinary student after losing both his parents in a car accident, and jumps onto a train that happens to house the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. After a short confrontation with Blackie, a bouncer that stops stowaways, and Camel (a limp old worker) promising him a job and an audience with Uncle Al (The Ringmaster) Jacob decides to stay aboard the train. Since his parents have died in an automobile accident, and he has not a home to call his own, he decides to remain with the circus. Jacob is employed as the show’s veterinarian and he faces a number of challenges in dealing with the head trainer, August, while also learning how to function in the hierarchy of the circus and falling in love with August's wife, Marlena.

The story is told as a series of memories by Jacob Jankowski, either a ninety or ninety-three year-old man who lives in a nursing home.

As the memories begin, Jacob Jankowski is twenty-three years old and preparing for his final exams as a Cornell University veterinary student when he receives the news that his parents were killed in a car accident. Jacob’s father was a veterinarian and Jacob had planned to join his practice. When Jacob learns that his father was deeply in debt because he had been treating animals for free as well as mortgaging the family home to provide Jacob an Ivy League education, he has a breakdown and leaves school just short of graduation. In the dark of night, he jumps on a train only to learn it is a circus train. When the owner of the circus, Uncle Al, learns of his training as a vet, he is hired to care for the circus animals.

The head trainer, August, is a brutal man who abuses the animals in his care as well as the people around him. Alternately, he can be utterly charming. Jacob develops a guarded relationship with August and his wife, Marlena, with whom Jacob falls in love. August is suspicious of their relationship and beats Marlena and Jacob. Marlena subsequently leaves August, which is the precipitating event leading to the ultimate demise of the Benzini Brothers circus.

What I thought:
I immediately really liked this book but it took until the library deadline to get me to sit down and read most of it in a day. I'm glad I did because there were little parts to the story that I feel like I would have forgotten.

"Water for Elephants" is about a man who used to work for the circus and is now 93 and living in a nursing home. He recalls his time at the circus and every few chapters the book talks about his present life and how miserable he is at the nursing home. The book paints an amazing picture of the circus, a show I went to once when I was younger but was so much different when this book was set.

Lots happens at this circus, good and bad, and there was a love story, which is my total weakness, so I was pleased. The book had an ending I was hoping for after so many trials and tribulations in this man's life. It wasn't the most light-hearted of books but it was still a great read and I'm glad to have taken Ron's advice!

"Columbine" by Dave Cullen
Finished: June 30, 2009 (the day it was due back at the library!)
Page Count: 432

Why I read it:
I have a weird thing about active shooters and school shootings. Lucky enough to never have witnessed one in my lifetime, I find a fascination in reading about them or watching TV shows that deal with school shootings (One Tree Hill, Degrassi, NCIS). When this book came out in the spring of this year, I immediately had an interest in it and desire to read it. At just over 400 pages, the book looked daunting when I picked it up from the library but I had a deadline of a month and managed to plow through.

Wikipedia Synopsis:
Columbine has two main stories, told in alternating chapters: the 'before' story of the killers' evolution toward murder, and the 'after' story of the survivors.

The 'before' story focuses primarily on the killers' high school years. According to the experts cited here, Eric Harris was a textbook psychopath, and Dylan Klebold was an angry depressive.

The 'after' chapters are composed of eight major substories, focused on indivuals who played a key role in the aftermath, including Principal Frank DeAngelis, alleged Christian martyr Cassie Bernall (another myth, according to the book), "the boy in the window" Patrick Ireland, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Dwayne Fuselier, the families of victim Danny Rohrbough and heroic teacher Dave Sanders, who died saving students from the gunmen. The Evangelical Christian community's feverish response is also chronicled.

Columbine begins four days before the massacre, at a school assembly hosted by Principal DeAngelis just before Prom weekend. Scenes from the massacre are depicted graphically in the early chapters, and later through flashbacks.

The book is formally composed of five parts: "Part One: Female Down," "Part Two: After and Before," "Part Three: The Downward Spiral," "Part Four: Take Back the School," and "Part Five: Judgment Day." The book contains fifty-three chapters, a timeline, twenty-six pages of detailed endnotes and a fifteen-page bibliography organized into topics like, "Psychopathy," "Government Reports," "Lawsuits," "Christians," "Evidence," "Hostages and Terrorists," "Survivors," "Media Accounts," "Police Ethics and Response Protocols," etc.

What I thought:
Despite the fact that it was hard to read at times, due to the obviously rough material, I found this book hard to put down. Through 10 years of research, Dave Cullen seems to have found his way into the school on the day of the shooting at Columbine and basically described it to a T, as well as the months beforehand and the aftermath following the tragic shooting. I was amazed at how simply the material was laid out in this book and how much more it made sense after I read it. Even though school shootings scare the crap out of me, I found this book to be easy to read and incredibly interesting. I'm actually quite pleased that I was able to finish it. I felt a sense of relief when the book was over and almost a sense of closure for something I was so far away from.

Even though the topic is heavy and some of the chapters of this book are a little graphic, it is a truly interesting book and was put together very well. I definitely recommend it to anyone that remembers the Columbine shooting and just wants to understand more and learn the truth about what happened and as close to the reason why as I think anyone will ever come.