Did you know I love to read?
Oh, that’s right, I’ve mentioned that a time or two on here.
Gabe is voraciously making his way through the Harry Potter books; he’s already on book 6 if you can believe it! Frankly, I’m having trouble keeping up! I’m so glad he’s enjoying these so much though. Anyway, with trying to keep up with HP, I haven’t had as much time to read “my” books.
But just for you, I’ve managed to sneak in a few.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is one of my all-time favorites. I read it a while ago but after seeing the movie (which is awesome…how I love Reese Witherspoon) I wanted to read it again. I bought it on my Kindle (!) that I got from my Mom for birthday for the bargain price of $4 and read it again. It was just as good the second time. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s the story set during the Great Depression where a young man has personal turmoil and…joins the circus as the veterinarian. There’s action, there’s a love story (and not just between the main character, Jacob, and Marlena (Reese) but between those two and the elephant, Rosie) and great friendships. The circus part is also, frankly, fascinating. It’s really a wonderful book. Check it out!
I also just finished These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf. I am part of a Facebook reading group and my friend Laurie suggested it on there. She and I have very similar tastes in books, so I decided to give it a try.
It’s awesome.
The book alternates chapters from each of the four main women characters’ point of view. It starts with Allison whose just been released from prison, at the age of 21, for a horrible crime. It takes a while before you find out what crime she committed, and when you do, you’ll be shocked. The story ends up being a huge web of how all of the characters are connected to each other and to the crime. There’s not much else I can tell you without giving everything away; but I will tell you it’s amazing and you should read it!
I also just watched Blue Valentine . Have you seen it? I think it’s a very realistic portrayal of how a marriage could fall apart. It stars Michelle Williams (who I adore) and Ryan Gosling (who I think is a wonderful actor). It’s really gut-wrenching and there’s A LOT of sex…but it’s really poignant and definitely gives you perspective on married life.
This concludes this week’s episode of “Books and Movies with Elastamom”! Hope you enjoyed it!
The bad
Elastamom's Excerpts 
Thanks, Tiffany! I was just looking for a good book to read. I’ve read Water for Elephants, but I’m going to check out These Things Hidden. Love your book posts!
This is so timely. I re-arranged my bedroom yesterday and began cataloging my books. I reached 140 by the time I finished. About 3/4 of those are books I haven’t even read yet. ‘Water for Elephants’ is one of them. I have a busy summer ahead of me.
Thanks for this! I definitely want to read These Things Hidden now and will probably also check out Water For Elephants.
Loved Water For Elephants, it is so good! I just read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Have you read it? Oh how I wish I knew someone who read it so I could discuss it with them.
I love, Love, LOVE Michelle Williams and Reese Withersoon. I saw Water for Elephants recently and I have wanted to see Blue Valentine. I will make sure now that I do!
These Things Hidden sounds awesome! I am hooked at your blurb!
Thanks for the reviews!
🙂
Traci
I slowly work my way through books but can’t wait to read these!
I love to read so I’ll check some of these out for sure.
I desperately want to reread the Harry Potter books, but JK Rowling won’t make them available for Kindle and I can’t justify lugging all those heavy hardbacks halfway across the world to Romania. I’ll have to try your other suggestions, though. And might I recommend Emily Giffin? Have you read anything by her?