Bits and Pieces . . . .

I was just trying to figure out what to do with all the chicken that's taking up so much room in my freezer (thanks to HT buy one get 2 free)! So, I went to my FAVORITE recipe blog 365 days of Crockpot Cooking! I LOVE coming home to a dinner already cooked! So, we'll be having Brown Sugar Chicken tomorrow!

I just finished The Shack. If you read the reviews on AMAZON - there are people whose life has been changed by this book. I don't understand how. I find the theology very flawed. To say as The Shack does that reading the Bible or praying is unimportant is very contrary to what I have experienced in my own life and to what God has told us in His Word - the Bible. I would advise you to skip this book - it wasn't anything special and there are much better fiction books out there that would be a better way to spend your time reading.

I also read Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1). I wasn't going to - but someone in our book club picked it, so I gave it a try. Most of the ladies in book club LOVED it - and went on to read the whole series before we met. One lady said it was like reading 540 pages of Foreplay! I would have to agree with her. Especially the scene in the clearing in the woods - where Bella was caressing Edward's arm. Personally, my opinion, I found the book easy to read and interesting. Have I read the second oe? Not yet. Will I? probably eventually. Would I let my 13 year old daughter read it. NO! (I don't have a 13 year old daughter - my daughter is 11 - but she won't be allowed at 13.) How old would she have to be? Not sure. Hopefully by the time she's 13 the "fad" will have blown over and she will be interested in something else. Plus, she prefers fiction with animals in it!
Twilight has BY FAR been the most controversial and commented on review on Teen Lit Review. You can check out the comments and review HERE.

I'm now reading Beyond the Reflection's Edge (Echoes from the Edge)by Bryan Davis. It is a YA fiction book. I wish that before I had bought it I would have remembered that for some reason I have a hard time getting into his books. My son has the Raising Dragon series and neither he nor I was able to get very far in the first book. Hopefully, it will get better and I can give it a good review!

My husband is urging me to read newer YA fiction - that those reviews would be more relevant. I agree, however I don't want to have to buy them all - and they can be difficult to get from the library. I usually just read YA books off my 14 year old son's bookshelf. He reads about 2 books a week - and receives more books at birthdays/Christmas than I can read in a year! Amazon has a list of YA 2009 books - but they look to be a lot of girly books. I like to review the ones that my son may want to read.