Monday, February 22, 2010

Third Quarter outside Reading Book Review

Multiple Blessings by Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson. Zondervan, 2008.
Genre: Autobiography

Multiple Blessings is an autobiography written by Kate Gosselin about the challenging life of her family with two sets of multiples. Her family consists of Kate and her husband Jon, their twin girls, Cara Nicole, and Madelyn Kate, and their sextuplets, Alexis Faith, Hannah Joy, Aaden Jonathan, Collin Thomas, Leah Hope, and Joel Kevin. The book begins at John and Kate meeting and getting married, and documents their life up until the book was published, with two healthy twins and six healthy sextuplets. The story tells the ups and downs of life with two sets of multiples and gives outsiders a look into the Gosselin’s everyday struggles and accomplishments.

A reviewer says about the book: “The book was a light, easy read. It gave me more of an understanding of how Kate thinks and why she does things the way she does.”

The best way to describe Kate Gosselin’s writing style is that she tells it as it is. With Kate’s main job being a mother to her numerous children, writing a book must have been difficult. You can tell that in her writing, she isn’t trying to make her life seem perfect or “pretty”. She is telling the readers the truth, as different and weird as it may be. She also admits to flaws that her and her family have. She knows that she has flaws, and she isn’t afraid of admitting it.
Also, I liked how Kate added her journal to the back of the book. This shows her writing before it was edited. It shows what she just jotted down whenever she had time, knowing that she wanted to make a book about it.

“The chill of reality washed over me as I watched my husband – my best friend, cheerleader, and storehouse of strength – slowly drop to his knees at the count of five. Fear stricken and nauseous, he couldn’t bear to look anymore.” (35)

I chose to read this book because the television show, Jon and Kate plus Eight, used to be one of my favorite shows until it was canceled. The book was also a little sad because I am reading it a few years after it was published and things have changed for the Gosselins. Jon and Kate are no longer together. I really liked the book because compared to the show; it gave a different view of the family. The show sometimes showed a bad side of Kate or Jon but the book explained the stress that they were going through, which explained the way that they sometimes acted. Overall, I thought Multiple Blessings was a great book.
Third Quarter outside Reading Book Review

In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeline Blais. Warner Books, 1995.
Genre:Biography

In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle, is a true story about the girl’s basketball team of Amherst High School. For the past few years, the team had some of the best players making up the best team but would loose before finals. This book takes a look at each player, the town, the problems, and the victories that this team faces. The book was inspirational and interesting for anyone, especially a female basketball player.

The back of the book reads, “Engrossing….better that the best pep talk, this book will kindle your pride in your own unique, feminine strength.” – New Woman

The writing by Madeleine Blais was very relatable. She wrote like she was actually on the team and was inside the heads of each player and coach. I enjoyed this because it gives you a better feel of how each player was feeling at that time, and keeps you interested in the book.

One specific thing I noticed about the author’s writing was the way she would stop at points in the story and give more information. Blais would stop what she was talking about during a game or a bus ride, and give background information about where the team was or why they were discussing that specific matter.

“When they were really little, someone tried to shoot President Reagan, and was before they were born he played a dying football player in a movie that people liked to make fun of.” (186)

I chose to read this book because I am playing basketball in high school. Personally, I thought this book was great because I could relate to it in many ways. Besides also being a basketball player, I live near the town of Amherst and knew what was going on and what the author was talking about when she talked about places and events that occurred around the town. Overall, I would recommend it to many of my friends.