25 in 2011 – Books 20 through 24

Book numbers 20 through 24 for my 25 in 2011 goal consist of a real hodge-podge. Life has been pretty busy – you know, sitting around and getting fat all for the sake of the bebe -  and I haven’t made any bookstore trips lately.

I’ve begged, borrowed, and been gifted these books and almost almost made it to 25… but technically I still have two days to finish just one more book to reach my goal. Read about 20 through 24 after the more jump… This time I’m only writing a brief review on one because I need to get going on washing newborn baby-girl clothes and finding that 25th book.

Books 20 through 24:

Piece of Cake – Cupcake Brown

Lucky – Alice Sebold

Little Children – Tom Perotta

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

Firefly Lane – Kristin Hannah

Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown – With an author’s name like “Cupcake,” how can you not pick up this book? It’s my favorite type of book – memoir – with Cupcake telling her sad and complicated story as a young girl growing up in foster homes and the streets, hooked on hard drugs and earning her way through prostitution at a very young age. Needless to say, it’s a tragic story, one that leaves you in disbelief that people can be so cruel and uncaring and that a young girl can be so vulnerable and abused. The majority of the book tells of Cupcake’s struggles with only the last few chapters speaking to how she was able to overcome and possess an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ My wish is that either the book would have continued with a few more uplifting chapters of Cupcake’s new life as an attorney – or that she follows-up with a second book about how her heartbreaking past has helped her be the success she is today.