Miss Lowe's Book Nook

Have you ever encountered a book that was both highly popular and widely despised? That was what it felt like when I ran into We Were Liars  by E. Lockhart. It's been out for a while, and I had seen a lot of publicity about it, so I thought it was high time to read it. However, several people, including my sister, warned me that it was the sort of book that I would want to throw against the wall at the end. They were right. We Were Liars  tells the story of Cadence, the heir of the Sinclair family. Every summer, she can her two cousins and their friend Gat spend their days on the family private island. One summer, something happens - Cadence is found in the ocean, she can't remember anything, and she is plagued with migraines that confine her to bed for days on end. Why can't she remember that summer? Was there more going on than people will tell her? With three generations of Sinclairs struggling to survive, something was bound to explode sometime or another. This was a

Wow, wow, wow, my pals! It's pretty much summertime and I finally have time to read again. On a whim, I picked up Big Little Lies  by Liane Moriarty - I had heard about the TV adaptation and when I saw a copy for sale for $4, I couldn't resist! Then it sat on my shelf for several months. This weekend I actually picked it up and BOY did it hit me right between the eyes. This book was insane and I loved every second of it. The beach town of Pirriwee is home to an absolutely lovely public school. The kindergarten mothers are all so excited for their little boys and girls to start school! But the advent of young mother Jane and her son Ziggy knocks down the first domino in a chain of events that may just cause the town to explode. Madeline, Celeste, Jane, and their husbands and children are thrown into a bizarre world of conflict, violence, bullying, subterfuge, and drama. I can't say any more because the plot is too crazy! I did not have any sort of expectations for this boo

If you won the gene pool like I did, you know how it feels to have the world blur and fuzz out unless you have glasses on or contacts in. Thin pieces of plastic help us see everything in a completely new way. As I was thinking back over the last year, I realized that I got the chance to view life through a lot of different "lenses" thanks to all the opportunities and experiences I enjoyed. When I say lenses, I mean that I got to view familiar experiences from new perspectives. Junior year brought change in so many areas of my life and I was able to serve those around me in new ways. Rather than just being a member of Concordia Youth Ministry, I was given the honor of serving as a co-president. My role within the group changed - rather than leading teams to lock-ins every weekend, I became much more a coordinator and day-to-day problem solver. While I missed getting to stay up all night and ruin my sleep schedule, it gave me so much joy to see new people getting the chance t