How can you read this? There's no pictures.

Ah... a break and the opportunity to read some books.

I'll post some other stuff about my great spring break later. But first, just some regular old book reviews.

My mom and younger sister and I were walking around the lake, and my mom asked, "What is the best book you read this year?" Honestly that question required a lot of thought, simply because I can't remember all the books I read this year. I was only able to think of the ones I have read since Christmas. Which just seems sad and pathetic. So this is my new way of keeping track.

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

Summary: A young girl grows up in a small town in Kansas. She faces various difficulties because of her family (a single mom) and her friends. She tries to figure out who she is and stay true to herself.

Review: Good premise. The book sucked. The writing was really really uneven, especially at the beginning. The whole life of this girl was just pathetic and wound up being simply predictable and boring.

Brida by Paulo Coelho

Summary: A young girl goes on a journey to find magic, and is trained as a witch. Basically this is a philosophical treatise on magic, love, and soulmates.

Review: Eh. If you like that sort of thing. I liked the Alchemist by Coelho, which is why I picked this one up. I know that book had a lot of philosophizing, but I felt like there was a developed story. This one did not have a developed story to move the philosophizing forward, so I thought it was really flat, and not that great.

The Prize Winner by Terry Ryan

Summary: A memoir-style written about the author's mother, who entered contests in the 1950's and 60's to write jingles, limericks and 25 words or less. She raised her family of 10 kids on the winnings from the contests.

Review: Fabulous. Funny, touching, and well-written. It was a quick and entertaining read.