In on It: What Adoptive Parents Would Like You to Know About Adoption: A Guide for Relatives and Friends by Elisabeth O’Toole

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought the ebook version of this, and if I would have known how short it was, I probably would not have purchased it. After taking out the title pages in the front and the extra “stuff” in the back, this book was just under 100 pages long. I read it during my lunch hour.

That being said, I still gave it four stars. This book is aimed towards the family and friends of adoptive parents. Because not only will the adoptive families get looks and questions when they adopt, but so will those around them. Most people don’t think about that. So Elisabeth O’Toole wrote this book for people like my parents, who might get questions from other family members or even strangers that might ask those intrusive questions that they are afraid to ask us.

“What race is that child anyways?”
“Why did they adopt?”
“How much did they pay for that child?”
“Why didn’t the birth parents want him/her?”

This book tells how to deal with the questions, the appropriate way to answer them, and the nice way to brush people off. It was interesting, well– if you can get your family and friends to actually read the book.

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Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I remember watching Ellen Degeneres on her old sitcom years ago (1994-1998). She was funny back then. Now she’s HILARIOUS. This book was a quick read, just a little under 160 pages. But Ellen delivered the laughs in her usual fashion. I watch her talk show every single day, and she takes up a regular spot on my DVR recordings. She’s down-to-earth, funny, and her book is a must-read.



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Summer Island by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the 10th Kristin Hannah book I have read this year. I think I have mentioned a few times before that she and Jodi Picoult are probably my two favorite authors. They both have a style of writing that I am drawn to, and I have never been disappointed in any of their books.

“Summer Island” was certainly no different.

Summer Island is about advice expert Nora Bridges, the two daughters she abandoned years ago (Ruby & Caroline), and some other wonderful characters (Eric the homesexual cancer patient and his brother, Dean).

I was completely sucked in from Page 1. The author has a way of making my feel very strongly about each of the characters. Nora becomes involved in a tabloid scandal, and she winds up being injured in a car accident — her fault, because she was so depressed she drove in a drunk stupor right into a tree. When the tabloid scandal gets seriously revved up, Nora decides to hide away for a while at her old lake house. Her estranged daughter Ruby gets talked into caring for her injured mother for a week.

I was surprised that this book make me so emotional, as I shed a lot of tears while reading — especially in the last half.

Obviously not wanting to reveal any spoilers, it was a book full of family, love, romance and sadness– I loved it and can’t wait to get started on my next Kristin Hannah book, Distant Shores.

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The Color of Heaven by Julianne MacLean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Color of Heaven is a story about the life of columnist Sophie Duncan. Sophie is married to the man of her dreams, has a beautiful daughter Megan and is living what seems to be the perfect life. Suddenly, one day she notices some changes in her young daughter. Her daughter Megan is then diagnosed with myeloid leukemia. Then Sophie’s husband confesses to an affair and announces he is love with a woman from his office– who happens to be pregnant.

If these catastrophic blows weren’t bad enough for Sophie, she gets into a car accident on the way to see her family. Her car plunges into an ice-covered lake and what happens then is…

Well, you will have to read to find out. You won’t be disappointed.

At first, I wasn’t going to share all that happened to Sophie with her husband and daughter, but since this all happens in the first few chapters I figured it wasn’t really considered a ‘spoiler.’ These tragedies, while important in Sophie’s life, simply lay the groundwork for what this book is really about– Sophie resolving some issues in her life, finding out some secrets from her past and moving on to a fresh new life.

I had a hard time putting this book down, and I love reading stories that keep me so engaged. The chapters were short, the storyline was interesting, and I loved Sophie’s character. I felt what she was feeling, and cried when she cried.

This would be a perfect book for a book club to read, as there are several discussion points in this book that would make for interesting conversation.

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