Book Recommendation

Per Uncle Craig's request, I am recommending the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. One of the most moving and meaningful books I have read in a very long time.

See what you think!
Kara

Happy Birthday

Happy 30th Birthday to Kerri!

Time Travellers

An interesting counterpart to our most recent Book Club Pick is F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." I had forgotten about this story until I saw a trailer for a movie of the same name on TV (looks like it's going to come out later this year). In the story, the main character, Benjamin, is born mentally young, but with the body of an old man. Over the course of his life, he grows mentally older and physically younger, until at the end he is mentally and physically like a baby and his existence comes to an end. In the story (the middle of his life sometime) he meets a girl and I think they eventually get married, but it doesn' t work out (he is growing physically younger and she is growing physically older). A really neat little story - and a lot shorter than Time Traveller's Wife!

Invitation

Hi Everyone - Thanks Melanie for the information about signing in!

Posting

I don't know a heck of a lot about administering blogs, but it would be nice if we could all post with our own author "identities." That way we would always know whose post is whose without having to necessarily "sign" it. It's really easy to set up a Google account (what you need to sign into the blog independently) and once you have done it, your computer will most likely keep you signed in. I "invited" a bunch of family (via "Permissions" in the Settings tab) with the email addresses that I have. However, I know I don't have everyone's email address (or current email address), so maybe everyone could help out with that. If you want to "invite" yourself, feel free: click on Dashboard, then Settings, then Permissions, then Invite and insert your email address. Or, if that is too much, send me your current email address and I will "invite" you. My email address is: mstebay@hotmail.com

All you need to do to get set up is to click on the link in the invitation email and follow the instructions. You need a pre-existing email address and then you create a user name and password and that's it! Easy breezy!
-Melanie

Hi everyone. After a brief hiatus, I finished the book as well (I kind of lost momentum in the middle due to summer vacations, weddings, school starting, etc). I thought it was an entertaining read. I didn't really know much about it before I started reading, so I had very few expectations up front (in terms of it being a love story, or what you will). I have to agree with Larry, though, that there were several times that I found myself very confused about who was when and where. I think the idea of creating this relationship between Henry and Claire through and amidst time is an interesting one with potential, but the author never really made that happen. It's almost like she figured out an easy formula that worked for a chapter or two and then created the whole book around that - the form of the novel couldn't really sustain itself! It seemed like there were some problems with Henry's going backward in time and interacting with himself also (truly, I'm not a sci-fi geek!). In the end, I just wanted more of a trajectory and defining moment to cap it off. Overall not my favorite book, but I'm glad I read it nonetheless.

Also, what a great slide show Kerri! I would love to know how you did that.

-Melanie

Slide Show!