A few books I just finished

"A Year Down Yonder" This was a wonderful little book from the children's department and it was a refreshing change from all the depressing books I've read lately. I don't believe I've read any of Peck's books before so I'm excited to try some of his other titles. "A Year Down Yonder" is about 15 year-old Mary Alice's summer spent with her Grandma Dowdel, and Grandma is quite the character. The story is set during the depression years and that touches home right now with all the financial crisis going on around us. Could we live as simply as these people do and be happy? (I listened to this one on cd)

"The Necklace" A nonfiction book about 13 women who purchase a $37,000 diamond necklace at a bargain of $15,000 and share it between them. Each chapter is about one of the women who purchased the necklace. I thought this would be a good book to share with girlfriends because it talks about the bonding that occurs within the group and some of the pitfalls of sharing such an expensive item. In the end, the speciality of the necklace comes not from the price, but from the joy of sharing it.

"Predictably Irrational" Another nonfiction book that billed itself as a book that tells you why we make the decisions we make and how we can change the way we interact with the world. I thought I might become better at making decisions after reading it, but it didn't give me a miracle cure. I do know a little better, however, how we naturally tend to make decisions and how businesses market towards that. They know how to put the tv they want you to buy between two others that will make you gravitate to that center one. They know we are more apt to make a decision if we can compare between items. If we did not compare ourselves and our belongings to others, we would be happy with what we have. Mr. Ariely must have a fascinating job because it seems he is always thinking up another experiment to see how people will make a decision under all sorts of different situations.

"Multiple Blessings" by Jon and Kate Gosselin of the show Jon & Kate Plus 8. I'm hooked on this show so I wanted to read more about them. The book gives you a little more information about how they dealt with the pregnancy and what was going on in their lives at that time. Jon lost his job twice, dealing with the stress of six babies, the death of Jon's Dad, getting a home renovation, problems with preemies, etc. You can definitely tell from the book that Kate and Jon have a strong faith that carries them through. You can also check out their web page at http://www.sixgosselins.com/index.html

Susan