What We're Reading Now: Cathy

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma

Alice and her father - who is an elementary school librarian - made a pact when she was 9 years old that he would read aloud to her for 100 nights. When they finished that, they decided to continue The Streak for 1,000 nights. It finally turned into 3,218 nights of reading, ending on her first day of college. In between we see the changes in her life as Alice grows up: her parents' divorce, learning to drive, going to prom, dealing with school. The bond between the father and daughter is very strong and you almost forget there is a sister in the household. She includes a list of the books they read - the ones that they remember.

What We're Reading: Abby

Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience and redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.

This is the incredible, true story of my new hero, Louis Zamperini. Louie was a kid heading down the wrong path when his brother got him interested in running in high school. He was such a good runner that he qualififed for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was not outside the realm of possibility that Louis might have broken the four minute mile had World War II not happened. But when the war started Louie joined the Army Air Corps and became a bombadier. After many successful missions Louie's plane was shot down somewhere over the Pacific in May 1943. Only Louie and two others survived. For the next 47 days these men battled starvation as well as the elements and very aggressive sharks, day after day, until they finally hit land. Thinking that their ordeal was over they soon discovered that their trials and challenges were only beginning. They were now in Japanese POW camps where they were relentlessly tortured and starved for more than two years. It is impossible to imagine how he could survive all of that but his story is quite a testament to his amazing resilience. There are many times when he comes close to breaking but he never does.

What We're Watching: Laurie

127 Hours directed by Danny Boyle. Starring James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Burton, Kate Mara and Treat Williams.

Aron Ralston (Franco) loves the outdoors and craves adventure. Ralston has a passion for mountaineering, canyoneering, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking-anything that poses a physical and mental challenge. In this true story, Aron finds himself in his toughest battle with nature. He went out to Blue John Canyon in Utah for a typical weekend of biking and hiking, and found himself trapped between the canyon walls when a boulder gave way and pinned his arm against the rock. Ralston was trapped for five days with very little food and water, and no one to help him out of this jam. He did not let anyone know where he was going, he did not have a mobile phone and there was no one around to hear his calls of distress. Dehydrated, completely depleted and on the verge of death, Aron found an immense inner strength and will to survive. After five days of literally being caught between a rock and a hard place, Ralston amputated his own arm with a cheap, dull multitool, rappelled down a 65 foot sheer wall, and planned to hike the 8 miles back to his truck in the terrible heat to try to save himself. This is an incredible survival story of a 27 year old man who searched deep within himself and unleashed unbelievable physical and mental strengths to survive. Rated R. DVD FIC ONE. Read the book Between A Rock And A Hard Place by Aron Ralston for a more in-depth account of this survival story. B Ralston.

What We're Reading: Cathy

Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams

Did you see the movie The Young Victoria with Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend? It's an excellent depiction of the way Victoria lived before she became queen and the early years of her marriage to Prince Albert. I highly recommend it. This book (Becoming Queen Victoria) is more in depth version of that story. The first part of the book is the story of Princess Charlotte who everyone thought would be the next Queen. She died in childbirth however. It is truly amazing that at this point, King George III's 13 children had given him 56 grandchildren but not a single legitimate heir. So the race was on to produce a new heir to the throne. The king's brother Edward, Duke of Kent won and produced Princess Victoria. She had a rather unhappy childhood, restricted by her very controlling mother and her advisor John Conroy. One month after her 18th birthday, Victoria became queen. Her life and the life of the nation were changed forever. Victoria's reign ended the self-indulgent Regency era and introduced an age of wholesome family values (to use a modern term) which may have saved the crown.