Oprah's Book Club...PP Style

Was anyone else disappointed by the “core shaking announcement” Oprah made recently? C’mon a half sister? That’s all ya got? I really thought she was going to “come out” and finally fess up that the whole Stedman thing is a farce and that her heart actually belongs to Gayle. Now THAT would’ve been core shaking…or not. Because let’s be honest, doesn’t everyone already think that anyway?




So I’m channeling Oprah today, minus the core shaking. Although speaking of cores, mine is pretty shaken up but not by Oprah but by Jillian. I finally cracked open “Jillian’s 6 Pack in 6 Weeks” dvd and have decided 2 things. 1) Jillian and I could never, ever EVER be friends. She’s evil. 2) Having a 6 pack just might be overrated. I’m thinking I’d get more use and emotional enjoyment out of a 6 pack of Reese’s eggs because really am I ever going to whip up my shirt in a bar and bounce things off of my hardened abs? The answer is no, no I’m not, for a lot of reasons. I’m still doing the workout but not because I think I’m going to have abs like Janet (Miss Jackson if you’re nasty) but because I don’t ever want to have to face that uncomfortable silence that follows when someone points to an expanding waistline and innocently asks when the baby is due. That hasn’t happened but I have a feeling that Reese’s eggs + the darn aging process + not working out=ever expanding waistline aka awkward pregnancy questions. So I’m being proactive or just active. And it may be the death of me, but when I die an early ab workout induced death, please bury me in a midriff NKOTB shirt and a side ponytail with a fluorescent pink scrunchie, but only if the ab workout actually worked. Thank you for your cooperation.

Anyway…

I have a new boyfriend. He’s handsome and black. Apparently what they say is true, once you go black you can’t go back. Settle down I’m only kidding.


His name is Ken. Believe it or not, GI Joe set us up. I know, I know, we’re so “modern.”
And with GI Joe’s crazed schedule as of late, Ken is pretty much his fill in and is with me all the time.

You had no idea when you checked the blog today that you were going to get such a scandalous confession did you?



Meet Ken.

I am deeply in love with Ken.


Since Ken came into my life on Christmas Day, I’ve been on a mad reading spree. He’s just so convenient and easy to carry around. In between matches at wrestling tournaments? I’ve got Ken. Waiting for Dakota at piano lessons? Ken’s there. After the kids are in bed, waiting for GI Joe to get home? Ken and I cuddle up on the couch.



Here are some books I’ve read recently either on Ken or pre Ken (those were dark days, so glad they’re behind me.) I’m always interested to know what others are reading so thought I’d share some of my recent reads with you. If you are someone who thinks that people who read books are “nerds” (ahem..Annette) then feel free to check back another day for a more tantalizing post. If not, read on. Also, I have to admit that I’m easily influenced in my reading choices by peer pressure, blogs, and the NY Times Bestseller list, oh and whether or not it’s free or cheap for the Kindle on Amazon. Clearly, I’m a deep literary scholar and you should trust me on book choices.

“Hunger Games”-I’d seen this mentioned on quite a few blogs as a must read, then saw it on the NY Times Bestseller list AND it was only like $5.00 on Amazon so..SOLD. It’s touted as Young Adult fiction which is great because that means little to no language or smut scenes but it still appealed to the adult crowd because of the characters and plot. I didn’t know much about the book when I loaded it on to Ken so just dove right in. You guys, this book was A-MAZING. And it’s not my typical type of book. I don’t really know how to describe it except that it was thought provoking, action packed, scary, a little bit futuristic and just sucked me in and I could not put it down. This is one of those books that as you’re reading it you’re casting the movie and envisioning how it will look on the big screen. Word on the street is that it IS being made into a movie, which I’ll have to see immediately upon release and then will be violently angry because they didn’t follow the script in my head. This was the first book in a series of 3 and I will be reading the next 2 books very shortly. I loved this book. I really need someone else to read it ASAP so we can discuss it in depth. Mmkay? Thanks.

“The Help”-this was a pre Ken read and actually the fact that I read it over the summer and am still enamored by it and even remember it, should be testament to it’s greatness. This book made me want to move to the Deep South , hire some “help” , serve them sweet tea and beg them to tell me their stories while I wait on them hand and foot. In a way it kinda made me ashamed to be white. Take that as you may but white people in the south in the 50’s and 60’s? Not so much our finest representation, just sayin’. This book has had quite the buzz for a long time now, and I’m probably late to the party, but if you haven’t read this book, do it. And don’t be put off by the boring cover as I was at first. Yes, I’m shallow like that, if the cover and the summary on the back don’t grab me I sometimes dread reading a book and that’s how I felt about this book at first. But then I put my issues aside and dove in. Am I ever glad I did. This book is probably one of my favorite books of all time.

“Same Kind of Different As Me”-this was another pre Ken read, even before “The Help.” I’m the type of person who reads a ton of books but rarely retains much about them once I’m done with them. So to make a lasting impression on me means a book was pretty spectacular. And that’s exactly what this book did. This book makes you stop and think, makes you want to be a better person, and puts things in perspective. If all that made you think it’s a self help book, don’t worry it’s not. It’s just an amazing true story about a wealthy man in TX and his unlikely life changing friendship with a homeless black man. Powerful stuff. This book made me want to drive around downtown, looking for a homeless man to befriend. This just might be my #1 Favorite Book of all time. For realz.

“Oogy”-I’m a sucker for animal stories, especially dog stories. This one is great. It’s no “Marley and Me” which was fine by me, because really my heart couldn’t handle another Marley story. Hand over the tissues. But this book is in the ballpark. You will fall in love with this dog and want to adopt him. But you can’t because he is (spoiler alert) still alive and in a very happy, loving home. Oogy, the dog in this book, reminded me so much of our very own Bubba with his near death experiences and rescue. I thought it could’ve been written a little better (because I’m such an expert author and all) but overall it’s a feel good, heartwarming story once you get over the being irate about the stupid people in the world who hurt animals part. I heart Oogy.

“A Thousand Tomorrows”-Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite authors when I just need a quick, uplifting, inspirational read. Her books typically have common thread of people falling in love, overcoming obstacles or tragedy and then living happily ever after. OK, so maybe not that predictable and she is good at keeping it fresh and really in her defense she is an inspirational fiction writer so that is what she’s supposed to do. This book was different from any other KK (I call her KK cuz we’re tight like that) I’ve read in it’s characters, it’s setting, and even the storyline. I rather enjoyed it and can’t wait to dive into the next one in the series, because KK always writes in series. Also, I want to be a rodeo queen, that is all.

“The Walk”-My friend Dougie D. and I call ourselves book nerds and are constantly handing off books to each other. This is one of the authors that we both read a lot of and have deep, intellectual aka nerdy  “book discussions” about. It’s ok, it’s cool to be a book nerd. Doug gave me this book to read as soon as he got done reading it because he needed to discuss it with someone. I can see why. This book made me happy and frustrated me to no end all at the same time. It’s reflective, heart breaking, and did I mention FRUSTRATING?!? Uggh, I’m so mixed on this. Dougie liked it better than I did that's because he's a much nicer, more patient person than I am.  I wanted to write Mr. Richard Paul Evans and be like, “DUDE were you in a hurry to finish the book so you could go on vacation or what? Because it seemed like you checked out about ¾ of the way through.” Rumor has it that there may be a sequel and all I can say to that he was well rested from his vacation so he actually FINISHES THE BOOK THIS TIME. I’ll read it of course and report back.



And now I’m going to give everyone in the audience a brand new car!!! Yay! Oh oops, I’m not really Oprah.

On my to be read list: “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen, “Saving CeCe Honeycutt” by Beth Hoffman, “Mystic Lake” by Kristin Hannah, “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Piccoult, Paula Deen's autobiography because she's my hero, and some classics that I should’ve paid more attention to when Mr. Horn made us read them in high school English class. Sorry Mr. H. but look at me now I’m a real live BLOGGER! You must be so proud!



How about you? What are you reading or what recommendations do you have for me?

Talk nerdy to me.

*Amazon did not pay me to talk lovingly about Ken, although they should.  Sadly, they only know I exist from the number of Kindle downloads I've had in the past month. So Amazon if you're reading this call me, we'll work something out.