Disappointed. "Theodore Boone. Kid Lawyer"

I rarely purchase a book without first reading several reviews. This prevents me from having buyer's remorse (or reader's remorse). On occasion I am pleasantly surprised when I read a book sans a review, for example The Help or The Forgotten Garden, both of which I read the back cover and on instinct bought it.

This week I went against my "read reviews first" philosophy. On the day it came out I bought John Grisham's new book, Theodore Boone. Kid Lawyer. At first I didn't realize this was a youth book. Mistake number one. I figured it could still be good; after all there are good young adult authors. I was wrong. This book is about a 13 year old boy, Theo, the son of two modestly successful lawyers. There is a criminal trial in town, the biggest in recent history. Theo happens to be the only one who who knows a piece of information that proves the defendant is guilty.


Here is what I don't like about the book which makes it not a good read in my opinion:

1- For a 13 year old he seems to know a lot about the legal system. He is constantly giving advice to kids at school-- everything from getting your dog out of the pound, to my brother was caught with drugs, to my parents are going to lose their house and how do I save it from foreclosure. Even with two parents as lawyers, what 13 year old would know that much? And these side stories about the advice he gives his peers is distracting at best-- doesn't contribute to the story at all.

2- Theo has a cell phone and lap top computer. During recess and lunch he hacks in to the court reporter files and reads the trial transcripts. He hacks in to other systems too to find information for his peer clients. Unbelievable.

3- The book really isn't about a murder trial. It is more a discourse on how the legal system works, and particularly the courtroom. There is a description about the bench, why it is called the bench; the jury and how they are selected; and other legal procedures.

4- There is no suspense in the story. Near the end for about two pages you get the sense that something might happen and Theo's secret will be found out by the defense team and something terrible happen to him (like it would in a real Grisham novel). But is doesn't. There was nothing to keep me reading this book. Blah. I wanted to know about the trial, not the legal system. And the story just ends abruptly. Highly disappointing. So, skip the read and wait for his next book to come out this fall.

Good Things

Good things have been happening in the last two weeks. Life is Good.

A Saturday morning breakfast with Ally, Cheryl and Becky. What a great way to start a day. Went to the nursery to buy some plants for my garden.

Went with Jeanne to Tom Sederberg's forum speech. He is the Maeser Award recipient for 2009-2010.

Had lunch at the MOA cafe with Jeanne and Sandra after the forum. Good food and great friends.

Deloris left me a loaf of yummy Hawaiian bread on my doorstep. It was all I could do to not eat it all in one sitting.

Ally and Scott brought me dinner-- they must know I love Italian.

Brenda was in town from Boston and she stopped in to see me. She promised we would lunch when she is back next month; and dinner in Boston later this summer.

Travis emailed me to say he and LaRee adopted a baby girl. The best part of BYU is keeping in touch with students.

Kay volunteered her husband to go to the solid waste facility and bring me a load of compost. This morning as I walked to a bridal shower for Julia, he stopped me on the street and said he would be back in 45 minutes with a load. He took a little longer than that because they were out in Orem, so he drove to Provo to get it. He unloaded the entire pickup truck for me as I watched. I then spent the whole afternoon working putting the compost on my garden spot and in my front flower bed. I have just a little left. I am not going to be able to get out of bed in the morning.

Life is Good!

Someone loves me...

Tonight someone knocked on my door. By the time I turned off the house alarm so I could answer the door (I was getting ready for bed) nobody was there. On the doorstep was a beautiful yellow rose and a card. The card read, "I thought of you today and wanted you to know. I love you." I was so touched. If they only knew how I felt today.

I called my sister to share the news. She wanted to know if I thought it was from man or woman. I laughed. I said, "A woman. I don't know any men. Well, I know a lot of married men. I know no single men." Ha. It is most likely from one of the women in Relief Society.

Life is good.

BYU Women's Conference 2010

Last night I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Yesterday concluded months of planning for the BYU Women's Conference 2010. It has been the most amazing, wonderful experience. It will definitely go on my list of Top 10 Life Experiences. Here are a few highlights from the last two days, and by no way exhaustive:

1- Having my sister and her two friends here to visit. My sister was one of about 180 speakers. She talked to a sold-out crowd of 1,100 about "Giving Children the Gift of Work." Her talk was amazing. I was so proud of her. Women's Conference is always more fun when you share it with friends. My parents were able to come too.

2- Attending the session taught by my friends Kye and Wendi. They each shared insights about being a single parent, one from a divorced perspective and one as a widow. I cried because their message was so inspiring. I am grateful for the influence of incredible women in my life.

3- Being in close proximity to the presidencies of the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary. You can feel of the goodness and strength of these women. Rosemary Wixom served on the Women's Conference committee this year too. I love her-- and not just because we share the same name! There is a tangible power and light in women who are striving to live the gospel. I want to be better.

4- Sister Allred wanting to have her picture taken with me. Sister Allred is a counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. On Friday morning I noticed we were both wearing the same light blue suit. Apparently Sister Allred also noticed this, because when we came back together that afternoon she said she had to have a picture taken with me and wanted to know who had a camera. Julene was ready with camera in hand.

5- The Spirit guiding my talk preparation. Each session has two presenters who speak for 25 minutes each. My co-presenter was Janet Gleave. We met briefly in January and had exchanged one short email a few weeks ago but did not coordinate our talks. However, the Spirit orchestrated it so that our talks melded perfectly together. I don't think 'we' could have done it better if we had consciously tried. I felt so blessed. Thanks to my friends who allowed me to share their experiences with "competing and comparing."

Life is Good. It has been an exhausting semester. I do not recommend giving a devotional talk and Women's Conference talk within three months of each other. Whew... I am ready for a vacation... but alas nothing is planned. It is May 1st and it is snowing outside....Hawaii sounds good right about now!