I was so wrong! First, there is Mindy, a thirty something mom that is hanging on by a thread financially and emotionally while she runs out to get yet another doughnut because she is too busy to eat healthy. Then there is Beth, her neighbor. Well Beth is one of those women that all women love to hate. She is fit and drop dead gorgeous after two kids, has time for everything and jaunts from this event to the next in her trendy new car. She has everything, it is practically our job to hate her and be jealous of her, right?

Mindy puts up with Beth's constant low blows about her weight and other things because….well, she is her next door neighbor and their girls are close friends. They share carpool, but seldom small talk and just getting Beth to switch days for carpool is enough to send Mindy to the therapist if she could afford it.

Then suddenly all heck breaks loose in both family's lives and the two women start to see each other as they really are. I don't want to give away too much, but it starts when Mindy spots Beth in a car with a man that is not her husband and then her long lost step son from her husbands first marriage comes to stay with them while his drug addict mother is in rehab. (That isn't giving away too much, I swear!)

Not only did Rosenberg's story keep me glued to the book, but it left me looking at my neighbor's and acquaintances in a new way. Sure that blond next door may be a perfect size 6 and always look like she just stepped out of the salon, but is she really happy?

Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead is a story of friendship, uncanny connections, triumph over adversity and a celebration of what it means to be a family and a friend. It was a fast read, but I will definitely be looking for more from Saralee Rosenberg.

Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead by Saralee Rosenberg
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Avon A (July 22, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0061253774
ISBN-13: 978-0061253775

He just answered, “I'm sorry, there are just things which people need to accept first before they can move freely.” I thought it was an insult, that's why I got really mad. I do not know what demon came to me. I got a knife and stabbed him until he died. I was arrested and put to jail, but I never felt sorry, after all he was always neglecting me. After a week, the mother of my friend visited me in jail and told me that my friend was deaf, and he just lip read. My heart broke into pieces. I asked her if she was angry at me, she said no. That very day I was able to say to myself that this was and will be the worst tragedy of my life.

I have always loved writers who are able to bring any landscape and moment to life and make the reader feel as though he or she is right there with the main character experiencing each moment simultaneously. Pickett has quite skillfully crafted such a story.

Sideways is the story of two men who are at a turning point in their lives. One is to be married shortly and the other is a starving writer who is his best man. Throughout their journey of unexpected, incredulous twists and turns, the two learn lessons in friendship, life and themselves. As Pickett describes his novel it is: “The ultimate road trip. The last hurrah…” for two best friends. It is an interesting story that kept me up late at night turning page after page in anticipation of what would happen next.

The main character Miles, the writer, has a very cynical, straightforward, sarcastic charm that leaves you caring about his plight for he is nothing but honest, self-deprecating, and vulnerable. His cohort in crime, Jack, has a crass, seemingly unethical approach to life that in the end becomes understandable and surprisingly endearing.

For the wine enthusiast, Pickett's exceptional knowledge of wine and generous descriptions leaves one feeling thoroughly educated and privileged. While his sometimes uncanny, off the wall twists and turns within the unfolding of the pair's journey leaves the reader entertained by his pleasantly, unique imagination.

Pickett is a screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles and Sideways is his very first novel.

A poor selection of a book like the poor choice of a friend leaves you with lot of disappointment and frustration. You may later think that, oh, I would have spent that time with a good friend or a fascinating book how well it would have been.

Here are some simple tips or suggestions to help you in selecting a good book:

List Top 20 Books.

Make a list of all the books you would like to read. Then following the given suggestion select from that list the 20 books you would most want to read. Please remember do not include the Bible or any other religious books in that list if you read that daily in a systematic way.

When you finish reading one of the top 20, select another from your first list to replace the read one. Always feel free to change your mind to replace one book from the already selected top 20 list. Move down some, erase some and include whatever you like according to your choice. This can be done at any time.

How do you select the top twenty from your large reserve list is a big task. Don't worry here are some suggestion to that.

Select Books That Will Help You.

You would never knowingly choose a friend who would let you down or cheat. So likewise, choose books that inspire you, encourage you, and lift you up.

Choose books that tell you things you want to know and give you something to think or ponder over and to adopt with.

Select books that generate a divine hunger for life that quite often secular books won't give.

Select Only the Books You Really Want to Read Through

The books that you are forced to read may seem like an unwanted guest at home. You may invite them just because you can't just avoid. In such cases its better to avoid such books. You only can decide what you want and what you like to read.

Select Only the Books That Have a Good Reputation.

Listen and read reviews about books what others say about it. Check up with your school, college or public librarian about the list of good books that have stood the time. Its better to avoid a “best seller” lists. Best sellers are soon forgotten and bite the dust.

Stick to Your Plan

Overcome the temptation to read books that are not in your planned list. Read a bit every day and you will notice a big difference in the days to come. Best wishes for a happy selection and a happy reading ahead.

The novel opens up quickly with a confrontation between Danny Sanders and Reuven Malter. When Reuven first spots Danny Sanders and the rest of the Hasidic Jews he is somewhat annoyed by their religious rituals such as the clothes they wore. Reuven does not fully understand the Hasidic Jews and there rituals so he basically sees them as foreign and strange. He somewhat knows Danny because they both went to the same school, but he has never really met him because Danny's Hasidic community "kept to itself."

As the game progresses, Reuven finally gets a chance to talk to Danny after Danny had reached second base. Reuven, trying to start conversation, congratulates Danny for his hit but is shocked when Danny replies rudely by telling him that they were going to kill him. Later on in the game, at Danny's next time up at bat, Reuven is hit right in the eye by the pitch thus causing him to lose sight in that eye for weeks.

This is where the novel really begins. Potok is trying to show that yes Reuven was physically blinded by Danny Sanders hit, but he also became blind to the ways of Danny and the Hasidic Jews. Potok even makes a point to show how blind he really was when Reuven imagines seeing Danny smiling at him when he is on the floor injured.

As the introduction to the novel continues, Potok decides to show the effect of blindness to other cultures and religions, when Danny comes to visit Reuven at the hospital. Reuven has just learned about his eye, and that he would be unable to do various things, such as reading, when Danny comes to visit. Reuven, blinded by hate, wanted nothing to do with Danny and quickly told him to leave. Though Danny tried his best to try to start a conversation and to reach out to him, Reuven would have none of it. He demanded him to leave because he wanted nothing to do with Danny not only because of what had happened, but because he was different. He simply just didn't and him and thought that everything he did was "weird."

As the novel continues, a change begins to take place in Reuven. Right after he rudely dismissed Danny from the hospital, he beings to regret it and feels remorseful about it. When Danny comes to visit again the very next day, Reuven apologizes for his behavior, forgetting all that had happened between them. They talk for a long time and he actually begins to enjoy his company. Later, he tells his father about the conversation and that Danny is nothing like what he thought he would be like. He states that he doesn't sound like a Hasidic, but rather, he likes to study secular books such as Freud. In this scene, it appears that Potok's goal is to show what can happen when we ignore our differences and become more open minded. Though Reuven is not fully there yet, he is beginning to slowly open his eyes to Danny's world.

Not long after their first real conversation, they meet up again. This time they have an even deeper conversation talking about various subjects like family and their religious rituals. Reuven is amazed to find out that he and Danny were both born in the same hospital. Danny then reveals to him that his father has raised him in silence and he only speaks to him when they are studying the Torah and Talmud. Reuven has a hard time understanding why someone would do such a thing but he continues to keep an open mind. As their conversation progresses, Reuven finds out that Danny reads multiple secular books a week. Much to his surprise, Danny is not a strange as he first suspected him to be and they actually share a lot of things in common.

In chapter 7, Danny comes over to Reuven's house to see if he wants to walk over to the Shul to meet Reb Saunders (Danny's father). Reuven excitingly says yes and they begin their walk down there. On the way, they have yet another deep conversation where they talk about mostly family. Surprisingly enough, the two boys have even more stuff and common and Reuven is again amazed to find out that they were born only two days apart. Danny then explains to Reuven that his father is a tzaddik(Spiritual leader of the people) and this makes him even more anxious to meet him. When they arrive, two men approach Danny and ask him to interpret a passage of the Talmud.

After giving a great explanation, Reuven is amazed by the intelligence of Danny. After the party, the two began to walk back to Reuven's house. Reuven, still amazed by how much they have in common, becomes even more aware of this when he finds out that Danny is planning on going to the same college as he is. As you can see, they have a lot of things in common and this is where Reuven begins to fully open up his eyes to Danny's world and accept it.

As the novel continues, Reuven begins to fully dig into Danny's world and starts to embrace their differences. Though Danny is against the Zionist movement which Reuven supports, Reuven looks past this difference and still continues to be friends with him(though later in the novel Danny's father forbids them from talking). He studies the Talmud with Danny and his father and he realizes that he has almost the same amount of knowledge as Danny does. They are in a way, the same person just from different backgrounds. Reuven becomes so connected to Danny that they are pretty much inseparable, like Jonathan and David. They become so close that he even begins to feel his pain/joy when Danny's father explains to him why he has raised him is silence.

It is clear, at least it is to me, that Chaim Potok wrote this novel to get us to think and to change. He wanted us to open ourselves up to different cultures and religions for that we could fully understand them. He understood that unity is a beautiful thing; you can see this through Reuven. He changed throughout the novel, from a closed eyed blinded person to an open minded person. He became a better person for it as well (studied the Torah more and decided to become a Rabbi).

Just think of what he would be like if he hadn't looked past the differences between him and Danny. He gained so much by accepting him. If we open ourselves up to others who are different from us, we will reap the many blessing and benefits from it just like Reuven did.

The ending did provide some insight that friendships are seldom permanent and that sometimes we are faced with issues that friends present us, causing us to lose any feeling towards them. One wonders why on earth George did hang around with Lenny then and not carry out his wish of going on his own direction rather than have to resort to killing Lenny. He could have been more accommodating and allowed Lenny his right to go off on his own.

Then again it was the author's intention to have us see how friendship is as antagonistic as it is binding. The antagonism comes through when George talks to Lenny at a different level and gets irritated when Lenny uses repeated phrases and is fixed on certain "childish" thoughts.

I suppose the ending offers the reader a twist from the ongoing theme that George is Lenny's permanent keeper and protector. There had to be a conclusion to the conflict that George had within himself about whether he would stay with his buddy or not. This conflict was often externalized in Lenny's dialogue to himself or to story characters that he knew he had to react to differently and assertively to appeal to George's approval. But George often disapproved of hi friend's conduct.

So perhaps this was why Steinbeck chose an assassination scene rather than have Lenny get killed by the husband of the woman he had murdered.

The story Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Letter and Sula all have lessons about different degrees of spirituality woven into them. All three stories depict spirituality but present it differently.

Jane Eyre, the leading character of the novel, is a spiritual person. But the spiritual aspect of the story is best exemplified by Helen, an orphan Jane befriended at Lowood school. Jane's friendship with Helen enables us to see the contrast between her and her friend's state of spirituality. She described Helen as refined and puts emphasis on her spiritual nature. She belives that the beauty of Helen;s eyes is not due to its physical attributes but more on the radiance in them “her soul sat on her lips, and language flowed . . . [with] pure, full, fervid eloquence.” Helen was not afraid of how people's opinion of her. All that matters to her is her relationship with God. On deathbed, Helen confesses that she doesn't have loved ones since her father remarried. That is why she is not afraid of death. She is actually looking forward to it so she could meet the “mighty Universal Parent”. In Chapter Nine, we see a glimpse of Helen's deep spirituality. She does not belong to the earthly world that gives her no love and slim chances for a better future. Helen's resilience enables her face death with dignity. At the same time the courage Jane showed her enables her to live life with enthusiasm. Jane, on the other hand, could not comprehend Helen's insights. For her, heaven is earth and she could not put her faith entirely in God.

The Scarlet letter is probably the antithesis to spirituality. Actually, it is a lesson of spirituality that can be gleaned from a negative situation. In Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we see a New World community practicing their strong Puritan beliefs. Puritans patterned their laws and ways of life after the bible. The unfortunate circumstance that befell on the story's main character, Hester Prynne, was not spared from its religious and spiritual connotations. Hester Prynne as the story goes, committed adultery and is made to wear a Scarlet Letter “A” on the chest of her garments. We see the entire story laced with Puritan teachings. As a matter of fact it was central to the story's theme. In the Scarlet Letter, we see a kind of spirituality that is closely linked to religious practices. And people were quite unforgiving despite their claims to be spiritual. It was Hester actually that seemed to radiate spirituality as she accepted her punishment with her head held high. She won the townsfolk's respect later through her goodness and willingness to help.

Sula revolves around character of the same name. Sula is probably the least spiritual among the characters in all three stories. Sula lives in the moment. She offers no excuses. No apologies for who she is. In short, she lives life as the opportunity presents. Morrison depicts Sula as a person that “had no center, no speck around which to grow”. Her life is an open book that borders on danger.

She has her faults- plenty of them. She watches her mother burn. She leaves her grandmother to a nursing home. She accidentally kills Chicken Little. And she sleeps with Nel's, her bestfriend, husband. But one thing Sula does not do is being untrue to herself. Morrison describes her as “She was completely free of ambition, with no affection for money, property or things, no greed, no desire to command attention or compliments-no ego.” Sula is not concerned with the life hereafter. She is more of the "here and now" person. Her independent spirit allows her to be free of the shackles of tradition. For instance, she rejects the idea that the woman is meant to be married, raise children, go into labor and be in pain. The women of the Bottom could not understand Sula and dislike her intensively. They actually unconsciously hate themselves because Sula made it plain to them how dreadful their lives have become by following conventions.

Sula's spirituality may not be as obvious as the others. But by being herself she has achieved almost the same feat. Morrison likens Sula's birthmark to a rose. In so doing, he recognizes the fact that by being herself, she has achieved the most important virtue a spiritually evolved person has.

Chaim Potok's The Chosen portrays the friendship between two boys, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, from different Jewish sects. Many differences in their lives help to shape their friendship. Perhaps the greatest factor that influences their relationship is their fathers. These men, David Malter and Reb Saunders, are radically different in their perspectives, home lives, and childrearing methods yet they share great a great commonality: their love for their sons.

David Malter is an orthodox Jew. He is dedicated to his faith but Rabbi Saunders considers him an apikoros or one who has left the rabbinic tradition. With his wife dead and his people being killed by Nazis, David has devoted his life to his only child and Zionism. David proves himself to be a godly man and a loving father. He develops a powerful and lasting relationship with his son because he is able to communicate well with him. It is easy for David and his son to talk with each other.

In contrast, Reb Saunders, Danny's father, is a dedicated rabbi whose focus is on the law and tradition rather than the establishment of a new Zion. He hopes for the best for his three children and strives to help them through constant studying and teaching of Talmud. Yet unlike David Malter, Reb never speaks to Danny except when studying Talmud. This silent treatment is much hated by Danny who longs for communication between himself and his father. Reb Saunder's radical way of relating to his son cannot be understood by anyone but himself.

In spite of their different philosophies and methods of raising their sons, these two men share the same goal: to love their sons and help them grow into great men. Reb Saunders and David Malter both want their sons to gain a great extent of knowledge. Reb Saunders puts many restrictions on what his son can read while David is much more lenient in what he allows Reuven to read, yet each desires his son to be well educated. Both of these men also share their faith with their sons, one through discussion and example and the other through direct teaching. In addition, both dedicate time to their sons. David Malter makes time to share and talk with Reuven while Reb Saunders sets aside time just for teaching Danny. All in all, David and Reb both convey that they love their sons very much.

These two devoted fathers differ in most aspects of their lives. They view and live out their Jewish faith in different ways and their relationships with their sons are radically different. Yet despite these differences, it is clear that they both have a deep love for their sons.