Beyond the Wand

 I'm not a huge non-fiction fan, I probably only read the genre once a year, but when I heard that Tom Felton had written a memoir, I knew that I absolutely HAD to read it. Hey, guess what? I am a hardcore pott-head, who knew? (That was sarcasm in case you missed it). I am also a huge Tom Felton fan. While a lot of the other actors have moved on to other things, Tom Felton is constantly keeping the magical world alive on social media. He is hilarious, kind, and nerdy in the best way. 

The book is perfectly titled, 'Beyond the Wand'. Although Tom is mostly known for his role as Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie series, he gives us a detailed outline of his life, starting from adolescence, to his years after the Potter films. Tom is open and honest about his problems with alcohol. He addresses his families mental health problems. He illustrates the darker moments of his life. However, the book is not all about his hardships. He also tells us of his best moments. His funniest moments. And how honored and grateful he is for the life that he has lived. 

I loved this book. I thoroughly enjoyed Tom Felton's witty sense of humor, his crazy antics as a child, and his in depth look at working on the Harry Potter sets. It was so interesting to get a glimpse of the other actors and actresses through Tom's eyes. I loved hearing about the deleted scenes, the sets, costumes, special effects, basically I was eating it all up. This is definitely a must read for any and every pott-head out there!

Hold On, But Don't Hold Still

 'Hold On, But Don't Hold Still' is an inspiring memoir by Kristina Kuzmic. Kristina shares her story of a life that didn't turn out quite like she planned, but through endurance and hope, turned out to be quite beautiful and fulfilling. When she winds up being a single mom with two small kids, almost destitute, and buried under severe depression, she has a hard time believing that life could ever get any better. She starts to believe that her children would be better off she just ended her life, but through an amazing therapist and lots of hard work, she comes to understand the truth behind that awful lie. 

I discovered Kristina on Facebook. Her witty and heartfelt videos were a source of joy and entertainment for me. I loved how real and raw she was, and that she was willing to discuss the hard truths of being a mom. I have felt the things that she has felt and she gave me hope on some of my hardest parenting days. When she announced that she was publishing a book I knew it was one I definitely need to read, and it did not disappoint. I am a huge fan of hers and promise you that this book is worth the read. 

High Achiever

Tiffany Jenkins is a comedian in her videos on Facebook and a mommy blogger. She is also a recovering drug addict who is open and honest about her experiences. In her book, 'High Achiever' she shows you exactly what detoxing in a jail cell looks like, how addiction can start with just one pill, one time, and how addiction can ruin your relationships with every single person you ever cared about. Tiffany bravely shares her story of how she hit rock bottom, and then climbed out of her personal hell by 
surviving one traumatizing event after another. She discusses rehab, healing, and hope. Although her story is dark, her humor is not. She literally turned her life around with comedy and honesty.

Confession, I am an extreme hater of the F-bomb. I might swear a little but that word is a big no-no around me. I don't allow it in my house, I don't watch shows that say it too much, basically, I am kind of a prude when it comes to that word. Is prude the right word? Probably not but you get my point. So having said that, you might be surprised to find that the dreaded F-bomb is found on pretty much every single page of this book, sometimes multiple times on each page. Usually when I hit the second or third F-word in a book I just close it and toss it, but I really wanted to read her book. So I persisted for two reasons, #1 -  I really, really like her and have a ton of respect for what she has done with her life and #2 - the language definitely fits into the story line and the setting. It's not a random bomb simply for the shock factor like some books and movies do, it is legitimately the language being used by the characters in the book. So once I got over the language, I really loved this book. It honestly opened my eyes to the black world of addiction and I feel like I have a much better understanding of it now. I also feel a lot less critical and judgey, and a lot more empathetic, to drug addicts. Pulling yourself out of an addiction like that makes you a hero in my book! It takes a real badass to be able to do that! Much love an respect to anyone who has to overcome. Every. Single. Day. 

#IMomSoHard

Have you seen the hilarious videos of the team #IMomSoHard on Facebook? They crack me up and really hit home on what the parenting thing really looks like. They use humor to discuss some of the more messier parts of parenting and womanhood. I especially liked their bathing suit video - I don't even know how many times I have watched that one - it makes me laugh so hard I end up in tears. The women of the videos, Jen Smedley and Kristin Hensley, wrote a book that carries on with their wisdom and humor of their videos. You also get to learn more about their childhood in the Midwest, their college years, and how they met and married their spouses. The book is all about "keeping it real" with no sugar coating. I honestly just love these women and wish that I could be best friends with them! It is my goal one day to go to one of their shows on their comedy tours, but for now I will just keep laughing and enjoying their videos. If you don't follow these ladies on #IMomSoHard then do it, do it right now!

Educated

"Educated" by Tara Westover is the mind boggling memoir of a homeschooled girl living in the mountains of Idaho. She shares unbelievable stories about her father's "doomsday" beliefs and how she was constantly waiting for the world to end. She talks about her work helping her mother as a midwife and herbalist and helping her father salvage in his dangerous junkyard. Growing up she never saw a doctor, went to a hospital, or set foot in a classroom. She endured her brother's tormenting abuses, listened to her father's rantings about the corruption of government, and escaped to her grandparents home for some peace whenever she could. As a teenager she began educating herself and reading every book she could get her hands on. With her older brother's encouragement she studied for the SAT and applied for college. At age 17 as a freshman at Brigham Young University Tara stepped foot in a classroom for the first time in her entire life.

Tara's life of endurance and overcoming is inspirational and a little jaw dropping. Some of her experiences were incredibly difficult to wrap my head around, especially because her home is not that far from my own. She grows up in the "same" religion that I did, but the way her family practices religion is very different from my own. Some of the parents negligence was very upsetting to me and it makes me sad that people can get away with letting their children grow up in such toxic and harmful surroundings. Even though some parts of her memoir were difficult to swallow I couldn't stop reading it. When I did finish the book I got online and did even more research about her family and watched a few different interviews that she had done. Her life is amazing to me and I would recommend this book for sure.

Girl, Wash Your Face

My sister gave me the book 'Girl, Wash Your Face' by Rachel Hollis for my birthday. I have had a lot of friends talking about this book and had heard a lot of mixed reviews, so I was excited to discover it for myself. I honestly loved it. There were some chapters that I identified with more then others, but I thought she did a fantastic job speaking to the inner heart of women everywhere. There was a handful of times where I can distinctly remember having my own "Ah-ha!" moments. There are stories of hers that will stick with me for a very long time. I will keep those to myself however so as not to take away anyone else's moments of self discovery. I thoroughly enjoyed her sense of humor, candid honesty, and intelligent advise. This is a great, quick, feel good book and I would definitely recommend it.

The Glass Castle

'The Glass Castle' is a memoir by Jeannette Walls. She colorfully describes her childhood with her alcoholic father and her eccentric artist mother, two sisters, and one brother. The Walls family is often moving from place to place, and is often homeless, sleeping in the dessert. The parents label their trials as "adventures" and the children must play the game of acting as if they are having a grand time and on a wild adventure, instead of what they really are: cold, dirty, and hungry. Often times it is the children taking care of the parents, each other, and themselves. There are moments of happiness and childlike wonder of course, but for the most part, they have to grow up rather quickly. This story is heart-breakingly beautiful. Walls is a true storyteller and takes you on quite the narrative. I had a hard time putting this one down and found myself reading late into the night, just praying for a happy ending. 

“One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. "You'd be destroying what makes it special," she said. "It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.” 

Heaven Help Us

This month's book for book club was 'Heaven Help Us' by Kari J. Rich. This is a collection of memoirs written by a woman who lives in Cache Valley and writes for the Herald Journal (our local newspaper). While some of her stories had me laughing out loud, others made me kind of cringe. While I thoroughly enjoyed her tales of Thanksgiving woes, trying to get to church on time, and stories of how Girls Camp really is, there were also some things that were either TMI or just kind of boring. For instance, an entire chapter does not need to be dedicated to you detailing your workouts at the gym... snooze fest. Also, lusting after the 16 year old grocery boy..... ewwwww. And while I am a sarcastic person myself, sometimes her writing was a little too sarcastic and came off as just plain mean. For example: when she is berating the poor nurses at the hospital and answering them in snarky rude ways. We understand that you are worried about your sick kid and are frustrated, but those poor nurses have long shifts and have to deal with unpleasant people all day long. Maybe I have worked too many retail jobs, but on this one, I thought she could cut them some slack, they really are just doing the best they can. I guess this book was okay. There are some funny moments in it, but I probably wouldn't read it again. I guess you will just have to check it out and decide for yourself.

Heaven is Here

'Heaven is Here' by Stephanie Nielson was another great read from my book club. This book was both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, and I don't even know how that is possible. I enjoyed reading Stephanie's thoughts so much, she had me completely captivated by her story and I spent too many nights reading her words late into the night. 

Stephanie Nielson is the creator of the Nie Nie Diaries blog, She is a Mormon girl from Provo, Utah whose greatest aspiration is to be the best wife and mother she can be. When her husband gets a job in New Jersey a family member of her introduces her to blogging as a way to keep her family updated on what is going on in their lives. Stephanie absolutely falls in love with blogging and pretty soon she has many, many followers. 

Stephanie and her family find themselves moving to Arizona where her husband decides to take flying lessons. When her and her husband are in a terrible plane crash it is a miracle that she survives at all. 80% of her body was severely burned and this is the story of her recovery from that accident. As a wife and mother myself, her struggles to do and relearn every day tasks were heart wrenching. But Stephanie is a survivor in every sense of the word.

'Heaven is Here' taught me many valuable life lessons. Don't take what you have and what you can do for granted. Stop making excuses for yourself. Trust in the Lord and everything will work out. Never give up. Do the best you can, and then forgive yourself for your shortcomings. Needing and asking for help is okay. Be grateful for the tender mercies. Treasure your loved ones, for life is short, and you never know what might happen. There are so many more!

This is filled with so much goodness. After I read it I wanted nothing more than to meet Stephanie in real life and thank her for this book. She only lives two hours south of me, maybe I will meet her someday, who knows? I sure hope so. I just want to give her a hug! 

Mary, Martha, and Me

This month I joined a book club and this is the first book that we read. 'Mary, Martha, and Me' by Camille Fronk Olsen is the story of the sisters Mary and Martha in the bible and the relationship they had with Christ. Camille Olsen delves deeper into the story of when Martha rebukes Mary to Christ for not helping her do the work that needs to be done. Mary chooses instead to feast upon the words of Christ. Christ responds to Martha by telling her that Mary has chosen the one needful thing.

This book definitely has some good insights to this story. For the most part I did enjoy reading this, but I was glad that it was a shorter novel because parts of it seemed kind of dry to me. I am one of those people that have a hard time reading "church talk" type books - but if that is your kind of thing than I would think you would really like this book. She had some good points and made me think about the two women and their differing personalities more than I have ever done before. I sometimes had a hard time with this story thinking that Chirst was being harsh to Martha. If she didn't do the work than everyone would be hungry right? This book helped me understand the scenario much better and is very thought provoking.

Escape

'Escape' by Carolyn Jessop is about a woman who escaped from her very strict polygamy community to gain freedom for her and her kids. She takes you through her life of abuse, beliefs, and struggles of living in the FLDS church. This book had me completely captivated from the first page. I had no idea what goes on in the FLDS church, which is pretty sad since it's practically right in my back yard. I have seen polygamists of course, but I never knew what their lives were like on a day to day basis. The abuse that women and children face is appalling. My heart broke for Carolyn and her kids more than once during the telling of her story. I learned so much about the things that they are forbidden to do.  Their lives are not their own and freedom is a foreign concept for them, which is sad seeing as this is not a story of the past, but of modern day in America. I would highly recommend this book. Yes it is a tragic, heart wrenching tale, but fortunately it has a very happy ending. 

Mary Poppins, She Wrote

I am a huge Disney fan.... HUGE! I love all things Disney. So when I saw two of my favorite actors starring in a new movie by Disney I was thrilled! I couldn't wait to see 'Saving Mr. Banks' and when I finally did I definitely was not disappointed! In fact I loved the movie so much that I started to read the book that the movie was based off of. The book is called, 'Mary Poppins, She Wrote' by Valerie Lawson. Unfortunately, unlike the movie the book did disappoint me... a whole lot. It was just soooo dry and factual. I honestly felt like I was reading a student's report that they handed into their teacher. And it wasn't even a good report. It was one of those reports that you find facts from google and then cut and paste words and sentences off the internet together to reach your assigned number of pages that had to be written. It was dull. It had no color. There was no magic whatsoever. I suffered through 25 pages before I gave it up. So my advice is to see the movie and skip the book, which NEVER happens!

Heaven Is For Real

I was sitting in the movie theater when a preview for a new movie came on the screen. As I was watching it I leaned over and whispered to my husband, “I bet this is based off of the book ‘Heaven is For Real”. Just as I finished this sentence the movie title popped up on the screen, and in giant letters were the words, “Heaven is for Real.” Yes. Nailed it. And then my husband turned to me and called me a book nerd haha. I personally hadn’t read the book but working as a librarian I have seen it come and go many times. I decided I better read it if I was going to watch the movie because that’s just kind of a rule in my book: Read first, watch second.

I loved this book. I would highly recommend it. It is a book of hope, love, family, and faith. But it is also a story of struggle and overcoming our trials. It is written simply and beautifully and makes you realize how much our Father in Heaven really does love little children. The book mentions a little girl prodigy who has visions of heaven and then paints them. I had to look her up on youtube and she really is amazing. I’ll post a video of her below too. It’s stories like these, among other things of course, that leave me with little doubt that heaven really is for real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vzRpYp7WME

My Story

Last night I finished reading 'My Story' by Elizabeth Smart with Chris Stewart. In case you lived under a rock in 2002, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her bed in Salt Lake City by knife point by Brian David Mitchell. Mitchell was a religious fanatic who believed that he was god's servant. He called himself Immanuel and thought that god had told him to take seven wives- all of which had to be young Mormon virgins. Elizabeth was the first wife that he chose for himself. This is her story about the nine months that she spent in captivity with Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee. She tells about the many horrors that she endured during this time and is pretty open about her experience. This is not a book for a young reader by any means. Some of the things that she talks about filled me with horror and dread. The things that Mitchell made her suffer through are completely inhumane and things that no little girl should ever have to experience. But this is a story of survival and hope. It has a happy ending because Elizabeth made a choice to not let this horrific experience ruin her life. I am amazed at what a strong, successful person she has become. She turned tragedy into triumph. Although this book is graphic at times, I would highly recommend it.

Let It Go

Have you ever read a book that completely impacts your life? When you put the book down it never really leaves your thoughts. You think about it in the shower. You think about it on your drive to work. And usually it’s what you are thinking about right before you fall asleep. Well, I have read just such a book. It is called ‘Let It Go’ by Chris Williams. This book is a true story of one man’s tragedy and his continual effort to find peace and happiness after it.

Chris Williams was taking his family out for ice cream one Friday night when a drunk driver crashed into their car, instantly killing his pregnant wife and two children. This is the story of the healing process that he had to endure after that event and how he ‘frankly forgave’ the teenage drunk driver that killed half of his family.

This book was utterly inspiring to me. This man is absolutely incredible. I honestly do not know if I could forgive someone so completely after they hurt my family so terribly. He had enough faith to put this burden in the Lord’s hands and just let his Savior heal him. The whole time I was reading his story I kept thinking about how many grudges I am carrying on my shoulders. I can still remember some insults that I received in kindergarten from other five year olds. How pathetic is that? If this man can forgive, then I can too.

Before Williams wrote this book he created a ‘Mormon Message’, which is just a short video clip about members of the church and the experiences that they face in their life. In the clip you can see Williams speaking with Cameron, the drunk driving teenager. I posted it below so that you can get a little taste of what this book is about. If you are curious about the LDS Church you can find out more information at lds.org.