Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella

Kinsella's Shopaholic series are my go-to books for filling time or picking me up out of a bad mood.

The Shopaholic books are never heavy... I don't have to think too hard, they don't make me ponder the meaning of life; they're just plain clever and fun. These are the books I'll throw in my bag to take for the long wait at the doctor's office, to distract me from the screaming children (usually my own) and help pass the time.

Becky Bloomwood is just so over the top that I can't help but love her character, even though I'd often like to grab her by the shoulders and say, "Give your head a shake, girl!"

That's the beauty of it though... isn't is always fun to read about people more ridiculous and screwed up than you are? Kinsella's writing style is great, too, always keeping it light, mocking Becky's commercialism and utter lack of depth, yet somehow still making us fall in love with her.

I've read each in the series... some more than once... and feature the original here, Confessions of a Shopaholic. Even if you haven't read it and don't think it's your style, just give it a shot. You will, at the very least, get a few good laughs out of it.

Get started with the Shopaholic series: Sophie Kinsella 3 Book Set: Confessions of a Shopaholic/Shopaholic and Baby/The Undomestic Goddess

Love You Forever, by Robert N. Munsch

Love You Forever ranks pretty close to the top of my all-time favorite books, although I hadn't realized why until recently.

I remember reading it over and over as a child, loving the rhythmic verses, anticipating the sweet song, snuggling with my mom or my sisters as we all sang it together.

I also remember that one day, a funny man with a beard came to our school library to read us some of his books. Sometime between Murmel, Murmel, Murmel and The Paper Bag Princess, I decided this bearded man was a God and might just be the funniest man on earth.

Love You Forever, though, made me rush straight home after school, hug my Mom tight, and ask, "Will you still hug me when I'm all old and too big?" or something equally nonsensical.

Love You Forever reentered my life at Christmas in 2005...

...as a gift from a well-meaning friend for my 2 month old son. I'm sure she didn't mean to make me cry for three days. I actually had to put it away until the pregnancy and postpartum hormones settled down; now it's one of our favorite books to read before bed. Both kids can sing the verse, and the oldest has every word memorized, as I did at his age.

The personal tragedy underlying Love You Forever makes it that much more poignant and sweet; the mere mention of this book makes me want to grab my kids tight, maybe keep us all in a bubble, and just live on love. I'm sure it makes plenty of parents feel that way... I hope...? Come on guys.

Thank you, Robert Munsch, for crafting a tale so touching, its warmth has spanned generations of nervous new parents and their precious babies, who grow old way too fast.

Get Love You Forever Today

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

I started A Thousands Splendid Suns one evening before bed, and that poor paperback went everywhere I did for the next 3 days.

Mariam's unwavering hope, even as an unwanted, manipulated child, broke my heart. The journey to adulthood treated her no better, and constantly I wondered just how much more Mariam could take. Regardless of setting, location, era, we all know a woman like Mariam. Or wish we did. Stoic. Strong. Unflappable.

Mariam is resigned to her lot in life, until her husband takes on another unwilling bride. Through the eyes of these two women, I saw horror and poverty unimaginable to those of us fortunate enough to have been born in another place, another time. But this is a modern reality, one that too many live out every day, in different areas of the world.

Hosseini writes beautifully, somehow wrapping the most deceptive and despicable actions human nature has to offer in flowing, romantic prose; not diluting the tragedy of Mariam's life, but magnifying it with perfectly descriptive dialogue and fully developed characters, likeable or not.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, certainly suitable for readers of either sex, should resonate especially with women. I definitely felt a sense of vindication with the element of "girl power," after slogging through such heavy oppression for much of the book. That oppression, though, runs even now in the undercurrent of Western society, and certainly closer to the surface, even bubbling over in areas, elsewhere in the world.

Hosseini's work made me feel appalled at how bad circumstances can be, and therefore grateful that my own are not. It made me hopeful that, recognizing these conditions still exist and are commonplace in areas, we can all be as strong as Mariam turned out to be, whether that strength is designed to force change, or just to withstand the brutality.

A Thousand Splendid Suns