World AIDS Day 2012

This time last year, I was finishing the very last of my major course requirements in order to graduate. I created a Storify [collection of stories, videos, photos, etc.] dedicated to World AIDS Day; I have embedded it into this post. This is such a serious disease and black women are the highest number of new cases every year. Get tested. Know your status!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!

I hope everyone's holiday was full of love and joy. Remember to always give thanks for everything.

REVIEW: Kate Morton's The Secret Keeper

My book club chose The Secret Keeper for its November Book of the Month. It was a fantastic read. It is over 600 pages and it only took me 10 days to get through it. The last day I was up until 3 AM because I just couldn't put it down.

The heroine, Laurel Nicholson witnesses a crime when she is 16 years old and her life is never the same again. The crime opens the door to a family secret, but Laurel ignores her memories of the experience, until a photo found in book in the attic during a visit to her ailing mother's home forces them to the forefront. Suddenly, Laurel cannot rest until she solves it. Laurel and her baby brother, Gerry, go on a journey back to London 1941 -- World War II-- in search of answers and an explanation to what happens during the summer of 1961, when everything changed.

What I loved: 
The plot twists! Morton keeps them coming, just when you think you've figured her out, she throws you a loop. It keeps the book interesting and keeps me wanting to read. The characters are so real and dynamic. So of them you love; some of them you don't.

The novel is set in London. Morton paints a vivid, sometimes sordid, picture of WWII London. I loved Morton's description of Cambridge University's library. She obviously completed some very extensive research before writing The Secret Keeper. It renewed my own desire to visit Europe for myself one day. *sigh*

What I did not love:
Kate Morton writes in extreme detail, maybe too much. I'm a believer in don't use ten words to say what you can say in two. The novel is 600 pages long. I believe the same effect could have been accomplished in about 350 -400. There were even times when, I'm a shamed to admit this, I just skipped right through whole pages just so I could get to the point. This extreme detail makes the first half of The Secret Keeper move very slowly. Later, you realize that you needed some of that background information but most of it was just extra and it gets just a tad tedious.

My favorite character:
Jimmy! The other characters sense of morality tends to waver but Jimmy always tries to do what is right; I respected him. I was extremely attached to him and was ultimately pleased with his characters plot within the novel.

The ending was totally worth the wait. I never saw it coming. The Secret Keeper is the newest of Morton's novels. It is available from Amazon in print [hardcover] or Kindle editions for $12.99. I purchased mine through iBooks [same price]. I plan to read another of hers, The Forgotten Garden. I hope it will be just as good.

Next Up: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Election Day 2012!!!!

There isn't really much more to say, is there?

This time four years ago, I was sitting in a study room in my freshman dorm. I was studying for a math test. Anyone who knows me know it caused me great stress because I am terrible at math but I digress. I was following the election on CNN.com while doing my homework. I was also talking to my mother on the phone while she watch CNN on TV. Around 9 PM... maybe 10. My mother said "oh my God." And people all over the dorm just started screaming and running around. I looked up and saw this on my screen.  Let's see if we can do it twice! #FORWARD #OBAMA/BIDEN2012