Reading and running (Not!)

Read three books in the past few days:

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever. (description from amazon.com)

I think I have read all of Emily's books and this one was just "eh" for me. I really wanted to love it, but i just liked it. It was a little predictable and I didn't fall in love with any of the characters.  While I do think she writes intelligent chick-lit, this one fell flat for me.



Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

At the beginning of his junior year at a boys' boarding school, 16-year-old Alex is devastated when he fails to save a drowning friend. When questioned, Alex and his friend Glenn, who was also at the river, begin weaving their web of lies. Plagued by guilt, Alex takes refuge in the library, telling his tale in a journal he hides behind Moby-Dick. Caught in the web with Alex and Glenn is their English teacher, Miss Dovecott, fresh out of Princeton, who suspects there's more to what happened at the river when she perceives guilt in Alex's writing for class. She also sees poetic talent in Alex, which she encourages. As Alex responds to her attention, he discovers his true voice, one that goes against the boarding school bravado that Glenn embraces. When Glenn becomes convinced that Miss Dovecott is out to get them, Alex must choose between them. (Description from amazon.com)

While looking on our library down loadable book search engine, I came across a book that was available (most have 16 holds on them). I had also seen this at the bookstore last weekend, so I decided to download it to my Kindle. I knew it was a William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist so I thought it would be a good option.  Plus it had that whole male boarding school thing going on and it reminded me a little of Dead Poets Society, which is one of my favorite movies. It was a very well-written book, like something you would read in high school English. It was very literary and just not my thing. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to appreciate it.


Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster

When Grace’s husband, Adam, inherits an isolated North Yorkshire cottage, they leave the bustle of London behind to try a new life. A week later, Adam vanishes without a trace, leaving their baby daughter, Millie, in her stroller on the doorstep. The following year, Grace returns to the tiny village on the untamed heath.  Everyone—the police, her parents, even her best friend and younger sister—is convinced that Adam left her. But Grace, unable to let go of her memories of their love and life together, cannot accept this explanation.  She is desperate for answers, but the slumbering, deeply superstitious hamlet is unwilling to give up its secrets. As Grace hunts through forgotten corners of the cottage searching for clues, and digs deeper into the lives of the locals, strange dreams begin to haunt her. Are the villagers hiding something, or is she becoming increasingly paranoid? Only as snowfall threatens to cut her and Millie off from the rest of the world does Grace make a terrible discovery. She has been looking in the wrong place for answers all along, and she and her daughter will be in terrible danger if she cannot get them away in time. (Description from amazon.com).

I picked this one up because the cover intrigued  me. A baby carriage alone in the snow covered countryside. How did this happen? This was a good one if you liked The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield or Sister by Rosamund Lupton. In the beginning you didn't know if it was a mystery, ghost story, psychological thriller or a combination of all three. I don't want to say too much else about the book because I don't want to spoil it, but you will want to stick with it till the end.

In other news:

I had planned to run the Rock n Roll Providence Half Marathon on Sunday August19 and I desperately wanted to do my first race review on my blog, but decided not to run due to my stress fracture.  I think I probably could have done it (not breaking any records) but I was afraid of what the consequences might have been. Was 2+ hours of running worth the pain and possibly not doing anything active for months? Was running worth having my parents, my doctor and my friends tell me I was stupid?  In the end I decided it wasn't.  I admit I cried a little while completing the cancellation form. My husband made me feel better by running out to Best Buy to grab a copy of The Hunger Games. Yeah!  Going to give my leg a little rest so we can run this in September:

 

And hopefully this in February:

Running one of the Disney half-marathons is on my bucket list and I'm hoping that I can run Princess in 2013. My goal is to be healthy enough to run.