February Book Review

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So, last month Barrie asked if anyone was interested in an ARC of Lisa Gardner's upcoming book (out next week, by the way) Catch Me. As a fan of her work, I said I was interested and I did get a copy.

Amazon and B&N aren't allowing reviews on it yet so I'll be starting with my "less formal" review here.

Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant - aka Charlie - is the lone survivor of her childhood friends. The other two are dead . . . murdered. One on January 21st a year ago. The other on January 21st the year before that. So, with January 21st just a few days away, Charlie believes her number is about to come up and is doing what she can to prevent it. She's spent the last year honing her skills at self defense and alerts the local police of what she believes will happen so that if she doesn't prevent the murder, at least they might be invested - having met her - and will do everything they can to solve the murders.

Detective D.D. Warren has just gone back to work after having her first child and is somewhat sleep deprived and working on a case where someone is killing known pedophiles when she meets Charlie outside of a crime scene. Charlie pleads her case with D.D. but the more D.D. digs into Charlie's past, the more she wonders whether Charlie is victim or perpetrator. And why was she outside of a crime scene? Could she be involved in these murders as well? All she knows is that January 21st is fast approaching and if she doesn't come up with some answers soon, it's not going to be pretty.

I liked this book a lot. It drew me in and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next and how it would all resolve itself. This is one of a series of books with D.D. Warren as the "lead" player in the story and even though I haven't read the other books, I didn't feel like I was coming in late to the story. Definitely a stand alone book, which is a big plus.

On the negative side though, I figured out the "who" and "why" fairly early on - and I almost never do that (oh I guess, but I'm very rarely right) so that was kind of disappointing to me because I, oddly enough, enjoy the "OMG I did NOT see that coming!" aspect of reading a "whodunit" book.

Another thing that was a little unsettling was the POV of the characters. The story was told from the point of view of three characters - D.D. (third person deep POV), Jesse (third person POV) and Charlie (first person POV). In the beginning, before I really got deep into the story, I was a little confused with the POV transitions because I tend to read deep POV the same as first person POV so I was getting confused with whose POV I was reading. Once I figured that out, it was okay but then it kind of bugged me that Charlie would be the one getting first person POV, considering she's basically a guest starring role in D.D.'s story. I just kept thinking about how it would be like reading Stephanie Plum's story with Stephanie's perspective being third person and one of her skips being told in first person. It was just a little weird to me.

Having said that, I did like the book. I would recommend it. AND, I will check out the books in the series that came before it (as well as those that come later. Overall, I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. :-)

January Book Review

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It's that time again . . . time to talk books.

This month I will be discussing/reviewing Rob Lowe's biography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends. There's just something about Rob Lowe that draws me in. I saw some of his interviews when he was promoting this book and I did my dead-level best to fight the urge to buy this book. Why, I have no idea. But, obviously I broke down and bought (and read it!).

There are a lot of things I want to say about this book but I'm going to start with some writer things.

For example, the opening line of the book is: "I had always had an affinity for him, an admiration for his easy grace, his natural charisma, despite the fact that for the better part of a decade my then girlfriend kept a picture of him running shirtless through Central Park on her refrigerator door." I re-read that sentence several times trying to figure out if Rob was telling the story or if someone was telling a story about Rob. I skimmed a couple of pages until I found a name - any name - in the story to tell me who was "talking". Of course it was Rob telling the story about his girlfriend with someone else's picture on the refrigerator, but it kind of threw me with the first sentence.

Then, for a while, the story was told in a way that, well let me back up a minute. When I read books - autobiographies or not - I see the story play out in my mind like a movie. I can envision what's happening. When I was reading this book, the first quarter or third of it, what I was seeing in my mind was clips of his life narrated by the E! True Hollywood narrator. Rob was telling stories about his life but the way he was doing it was such that the stories didn't seem about him. He seemed really removed or detached from the stories. At least it seemed that way to me. It was actually quite comical to me . . . in my head (you know, hearing the narrator and all).

That all said, I couldn't put the book down. It's really the story of his career. There's very little of his personal life in this book. Personally I would've liked to have more of his personal life in the book but what he wrote was also very telling about the sort of person he is.

For example, he tells stories of things that happened to him during the filming of movies and TV shows. Some of the things done to him were not good but he never really calls anyone out on those things. He didn't take this opportunity to trash anyone or throw them under the bus.

On the other hand, he did take advantage of this opportunity to say some really nice things about a couple of people. For instance, he mentions Jodie Foster in the book on several occasions. It's pretty clear that he considers her a good friend and thinks very highly of her and apparently she's been there for him when he really needed someone in his corner. He also took a moment to tell how Thomas C Howell (Ponyboy in The Outsiders, and who is referred to as Tommy Howell in the book . . . took me a while to figure out who he was talking about) helped him out in a filming situation. It came across as a great kindness on "Tommy's" part. Rob didn't have to tell these stories - no one would've ever known the difference. That he did tell them says a lot, to me anyway.

The further in the book I got, the easier the writing seemed to come to him. There were stories that made me laugh out loud. I just really enjoyed the book and feel comfortable recommending it to anyone that might enjoy an autobiography and/or who is a fan of Rob's.

Now, one last thing on the book before I go . . . I had never seen Footloose before. With the re-make, I decided I needed to see the original and it had finally come in after weeks of it being on a "very long wait" list in my Netflix queue. So, as it was sitting on my entertainment center waiting for me to watch it, I read how Rob had auditioned for the role that went to Kevin Bacon. And as I watched the movie (after I finished the book), I couldn't help but see Rob in the part. In a weird way, it added to the experience of reading Rob's book. :)

So, again, good book. :)

December Book Review

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It's that time again. Time to pick through the books we've read this month and decide which one we're going to recommend.

This month I'm reviewing/recommending another book by Kim Gruenenfelder, There's Cake in My Future. It's a story about friendship and life and changes, all things that can draw an audience but what I really liked about this book is the way the story was told.

Here's the back blurb:

Listening to her friends' latests travails in love, parenting and careers, superstitious bride-to-be Nic believes she has the perfect recipe for everyone's happiness: a bridal shower "cake pull" in which each ribboned silver charm planted in the cake will bring its recipient the magical assistance she needs to change her destiny. Mel, still ringless after dating the same man for six years, should get the engagement ring charm. The red hot chili pepper would be perfect for Seema, who is in love with her best male friend, Scott, but can't seem to make their relationship more than platonic. And recently laid-off journalist Nic wants the shovel, which symbolizes hard work, to help her get her career back on track. Nic does everything she can to control who gets which silver keepsake - as well as the future it represents. But when the charmed cake is mysteriously shifted from the place settings Nic arranged around it, no one gets the charm she chose for them. And when the other party guests' fortunes begin coming true, Mel, Seema and Nic can't help but wonder . . . is the cake trying to tell them something?

As I said, the base of the story is friendship but situations around the charms brings a lot of comedy to the story. Nic is the most upset with the charm she got. Seema tries to convince her that there's nothing to the charms and she has nothing to worry about, all the while she's freaking out over the charm she got because goodness knows it's the LAST charm she'd choose for herself. Meanwhile, while Mel doesn't give a lot of credit to the cake pull charms, she's doing everything in her power to make hers come true (which is hysterical!).

The story is told in first person perspective from the viewpoint of each of the main characters (Nic, Mel and Seema) in alternating chapters, so you're able to really get to know the characters. It's basically a story about love, friendship and the life that happens while you're busy making other plans (who can't relate to that?).

I highly recommend this book and was excited to see that it has a follow up book coming out next year. I'll try to vary my author reviews but if it's as good as this one, chances are you'll be seeing another review of a Kim Gruenenfelder book. :)

October Book Review

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It's time for this month's book review meeting, hosted by Barrie Summy. :)

Last month I reviewed a book that had been recommended to me by amazon.com. This month I'm reviewing a book that was reviewed a few months ago as part of these book reviews hosted by Barrie. (You can see the review here.)

I don't recall what the review said (I'm going to go back and read it after I write this one but I didn't want to be influenced in what I say here so . . . ) but it obviously got my attention because this was one of two books that I've purchased as a result of reading the reviews posted monthly (I still haven't read the other book yet . . . someday).

Anyway, I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago and started reading. The first paragraph got my attention "Some girls have journals. I talk to my poster." Hmmm, sounds like there's a story there, if you ask me. :)

But the story itself is about Alice and her journey to find love. She has a pre-dating Ally-McBeal-sniffs-Billy-Thomas's-butt-when-they-were-eight type of relationship with Jewel (aka Julian - I mention this because I wanted to associate the name of Jewel with a female and that's not the case here). Jewel is her best friend in the world and she's his best friend in the world. They do everything together and nobody understands Alice better than Jewel. But when Simon (the second most popular boy in the school) asks her out, it changes the dynamic of her relationship with Jewel.

Alice doesn't want to hurt Jewel but she wants to explore this relationship with Simon. I think the end result is pretty obvious by page 2 (no, it's not the poster!) but I won't disclose it here, just in case it's not but I'll just say that I found the story resolution satisfying. :)

I'll also say this, I kept looking for the bad guy in the story and there wasn't one. I found the characters to be likeable. I really enjoyed this book.

So, thanks to Beth Yarnall for writing a review that made me want to read this book. It was worth it! :)

September Book Review

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I'm jumping in a little early to post my review this month because the next few days are going to be crazy busy and I really wanted to participate.

That said, the book I'll be reviewing this month is Misery Loves Cabernet by Kim Gruenenfelder. It was referred to me by amazon. Based on purchases and recommendations I've made, they thought I would like this book.

Gotta say, the title is what first caught my attention - I love it. But, I didn't want to purchase it just because it had a catchy title so I jumped down to the reviews. I don't typically read reviews that give away the story and this wasn't an exception but what I discovered was that an overwhelming majority of the reviewers loved the book. The only concern I had was that it appeared to be part of a series, and not the first one. If I know a book is part of a series, my preference is to read them in order. So, I checked into the first book. It didn't seem bad but it didn't intrigue me as much as Cabernet did. Kind of broke my own rule when I started with the second book.

Anyway, I really liked this book a lot. It's about a woman making it on her own. She's got quirky and interesting people in her life and ridiculously funny things happen to her. I've said before that the heroine may not know who the hero is but that I want it to be clear to the reader because if it's not clear to me, I don't enjoy the story as much.

Well, this book makes an exception to that theory because I had no idea who the hero was supposed to be but I didn't care. I was enjoying the journey Charlie (the heroine) was on and I was looking forward to seeing where it took her.

And I loved the characters in the book. In particular, I loved Drew - Charlie's boss. She's his assistant. He's like a little boy that doesn't know about "boundaries". Honestly, I was rooting for him to be the hero because they kind of complemented each other. She'd probably want to kill him in a year or two but the book doesn't take it that far so they would've been fine. ;)

Now, I've said I loved the book but there was something that bothered me from early on. Cabernet is what I'm going to call an independent book. I don't mean stand alone as in one of a series of books that continues the story but it stands on its own. I mean independent as in - in my opinion - the beginning and ending of the book don't allow for a satisfying story before or after the story in this book. To me, this book opened in the exact right place and had a satisfying ending. Thing is, what I know about the first book, it also had a satisfying ending. Had I read it first (and assuming it is as good as this one) I probably would've snatched this one up in a heartbeat, thinking it would be a continuation of the satisfying ending. Of course, that's making assumptions on my part but I just can't see myself reading the first book now without being annoyed by it. The same would go for a book that would follow this one. Sad too because I really did love this book.

So, bottom line is, I loved this book. Definitely will read other books by this author . . . just not necessarily ones that follow this same character's story. :)

July Book Review

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I originally told Barrie that I was going to review My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody. I love the concept of this book - letting someone else make your decisions for you. It's well written and a lot of fun. And, if you've never seen Jessica's book trailers, you really should check them out because I don't think anyone does a book trailer better than Jessica - and her books live up to the trailer. So, that's my mini recommendation on that book (and Jessica's books in general).

But like the first sentence of this post suggests, I changed my mind about what I wanted to review. That's what happens when you read several good books in a month, and in particular, what happens when you read a great book AFTER you say what you're going to review. :)

That all said, I want to discuss Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby. For starters, I'm a huge fan of Amanda's. Her debut book You Had Me at Halo is still among my top three favorite books of all times. So I was excited when Fairy Bad Day came out.

Here's the back blurb:

My life seriously couldn't get any worse

First, my rightful designation of dragon slayer is STOLEN right out from under my nose by Curtis Green. Sure, he's really cute, but that doesn't give him an excuse.

On top of all that, I am assigned to slay fairies. I know what you're thinking--how hard could it be, right? Wrong! These menacing beasts with their tiny hipster clothes and mocking sarcasm love taunting me. And they won't STOP!

But the thing that tops my list of stuff to ruin my day? That would be GIANT KILLER FAIRY that I have to hunt down and slay because I am the only one who can see it. There is someone who can help me. Unfortunately . . . it's Curtis.

It's going to be a Fairy Bad Day.

It's smart and funny. I loved it. I will say though, that it started slow for me. I was a couple of chapters in and kind of worried that I wasn't going to like it because it really hadn't grabbed me yet. Next thing I knew, I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it. :)

June Book Review

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Okay, I'm having computer issues this morning so I'll have to add the picture of the book later today but I wanted to go ahead and get the party started!

This month I'm reviewing Eileen Cook's Fourth Grade Fairy. I should probably mention that Eileen is one of my "auto-buy" authors. I don't care what she's writing, I want to read it. And so far I've never been let down. Fourth Grade Fairy was no exception.

Willow is born into a family of fairies. Due to some bad history with humans, the fairies are not allowed to be friends with the humans anymore. Unfortunately, Willow wants this more than anything. In fairy school everyone is already partnered up with a best friend. While she has friends, she doesn't have a best friend and because of the number of fairies in school, having that special friend doesn't look likely. So, she wants to attend human school because there are so many more people there and the chances of finding a best friend are greater.

For her tenth birthday her grandmother gives her the gift of attending the human school (where she is the principal) for two weeks. Her parents agree to it, provided she doesn't get her special power (fairies typically get their special powers on their tenth birthday) while there. So, when she gets her power, she decides to hide it from the family until she's secured a best friend (after all, how hard can that be?). Of course there are complications along the way. (Life is what happens when you're busy making plans, after all. Right? :) )

One of the things I love about Ms Cook's books is that she taps into the "every man/woman" vulnerabilities so well. She paints a picture that is so vivid that it's very easy to visualize. Which is why when she paints her characters into impossibly funny situations, I find myself laughing hysterically. And this book was no different. I completely loved it. I loved the characters (this is another one where an animal stole my heart - Winston, I'm talking to you!!!). It was well written and fun. I highly recommend it.

May Book Review

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A month or so ago I purchased I So Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy. Afterwards I wondered if it was the first in the series. I emailed Barrie and asked her, then had the thought of what happens if I don't like it and she asks me what I thought of it. You know, since she knew I had it.

Fortunately I didn't have to worry about that because I thoroughly enjoyed the book. While I'm quite sure I'm outside of the targeted age demographic, I kind of classified it like I would movies made in the 50s and before. There were elements of sophistication, innocence and humor that make it suitable for readers of all ages.

There were a couple of passages that I completely got wrapped up in. I don't want to be too specific because they could be considered spoilers. But in one scene Sherry's talking up a storm and I'm kind of thinking it might be a mistake so I might have started yelling at her, you know, so she wouldn't do the wrong thing because yelling at a book in a character can change what they do, right? But seriously I'm saying "Nononononononono! Stop talking. Stop talking. Stop talking. WHY did you say that???"

She didn't listen to me. But I guess that's typical for a kid that age. :)

I also got pretty attached to some of the secondary characters. In particular, the wren. I've heard actors say in interviews that it's a mistake to work with children and animals and Sherry might want to look out because the wren is a definite scene stealer, in my opinion.

Now, without saying the outcome of it (and hoping this isn't too much of a spoiler), the wren gets sick and it's not known if he's going to make it or not. The not knowing was hard for me because, let's face it the next book in the series isn't I So Don't Do Mysteries Either (the adventures of Sherry's friend/family/wren). We know Sherry is coming back, and therefore will find a way out of whatever she gets herself into. But all other characters are expendable and fair game. You never know who's going to be in the next book so you just hope your favorites make it through too.

That said, in the end I needn't have worried about telling Barrie I'd bought this book because I really liked this book. I liked everything about it - the storyline, the characters . . . everything. :)

April Book Review

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Without going into a lot of detail, the past year has been such that I haven't done a lot of reading. That said, I decided to go a different way this month on the book review. My theme for this month is "Regardless of what life throws her, a girl's gotta eat" so I'm going to talk cookbooks. Over the years I've gotten a number of cookbooks but it wasn't until last year that I actually started using cookbooks to make meals from. There are a number of great ones out there but the one I'm going to talk about today is Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

I chose this one because of some special features it has that I've not seen in other cookbooks. For example, it tells you how long it will take to make each dish. Most cookbooks have the instructions, telling you how long each step takes but this book takes the math lesson out of the kitchen. ;)

Aside from that, the book also has icons with each recipe to help you know what to expect from this recipe. The icons include:

• A shopping cart indicating that the ingredients for the recipe can be found at any grocery store.



• 45 - indicating that the recipe takes 45 minutes or less to make



• F - indicating that the recipe is fat free (or at least lower fat)



• S - indicating the recipe is soy free



• G - indicating the recipe is gluten free

It was a while back but within a 24 hour time frame I learned of three people I knew of having an allergy to gluten. Every time I make one of the recipes indicating they're gluten free, I think of those people. Several of these recipes are staples in my diet! In any event, I like knowing what I'm getting into when I make a recipe and this book gives me more information than any other cookbook I've used. And the end result is pretty tasty too! I've made quite a few of the dishes and so far I haven't found one that I didn't like. Yes this is a vegan cookbook but I don't think it should be dismissed out of hand by meat-loving folks. It has a whole section of side-dishes that could nicely complement any main dish - meat or vegan. In my opinion, it's just a great cookbook that would be a great addition to anyone's library of cookbooks. :) I refer to it quite frequently when planning my menus and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys cooking.

November Book Review

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Sorry to be late to the party but life has a way of messing with your plans, you know? Anyway, it's that time and I have a book I want to talk about!

This month's book is Sophie Kinsella's Mini Shopaholic. I'll give you fair warning and say there may be what some consider spoilers in this review. It's also possible that everything I'll say could be on the back cover because Sophie Kinsella is an auto-buy author for me and I have no idea what's on the back cover. :)

That said, I loved this book. It's part of a series and, with the exception of the Shopaholic and Sister, I've loved every installment.

As the title suggests, the title character (Becky Brandon - nee Bloomwood) has a bit of a shopping problem. She can be talked into buying anything (mind you, she's the one giving herself the sales pitch) and then justifies the purchase (again, to herself).

In this installment of the series, Becky is still married to Luke and they have a toddler, Minnie. Through a series of events, Becky decides she wants to have a surprise party for Luke. Her plan is to have a big blow out party, but she's determined to do it all on her own and to do it for minimal costs. Of course nothing goes as she plans and the ensuing mayhem is hysterical. I did some of the reading during lunch at work and I was thankful that my boss had gone out to lunch because I was laughing so hard and it would've been embarrassing to explain - and she would have heard and commented on my laughing!

There was only one issue I had with the story. Becky enlists the aid of Luke's secretary, Bonnie, to help her contact and invite the right people (and keep it all quiet). They meet for lunch and Becky tells Bonnie they should be friends and help each other out - and then proceeds to insist Bonnie address issues like what soap gel he uses with Luke. It just seemed a bit over the top (but then it was all worked together in a believable way later in the story).

Other than that, it was classic Kinsella. I give it two thumbs up and I think it was 4.8 stars (out of 5). Lots of fun and lots of laughing. :)

August Book Review

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My book selection this month is the result of what I'll call the two-bite rule. Growing up my mother didn't want to hear us say we didn't like a food dish unless we'd taken at least two bites of it first. You're probably wondering what that has to do with books but I'll explain.

I first heard of author Georgette Heyer a couple of years ago. She came up on a board discussion and everyone just loved her books. She was being compared to Jane Austen (who I love) and, for some reason, I got the impression she was from that time - and I love reading books that we would call historicals now, but were actually contemporary novels when they were written. So, I went and ordered one of her books to read. I was less than impressed.

Then a while later, her name came up again and I decided to apply the two-bite rule and pick up another of her books. That book is the book I'm reviewing this month - The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer.

I loved this book! The story background is that Sophy's uncle has gotten his family into a financial predicament and the son has to step up and take responsibility for the family. He's very strict and inflexible and considers his word law.

Enter cousin Sophy. She comes for a short stay with the family and stands it on its ear.

Sophy has the uncanny ability to assess a situation and know how to set it to rights. Her methods, however, are unconventional for a woman of the time and it causes upset to her family - her rigid cousin in particular.

The thing I liked about the characterization of Sophy is that she's strong without being off-putting or offensive. She communicates with those around her in a way that would make someone she told to go to hell to look forward to their upcoming travel there. She's the kind of person that could sell an Eskimo ice - and not in a slimy salesman kind of way. She's very fun and likeable. She has a way of getting people to do the things they need to do while making it seem like their idea. I liked everything about her and everything about this book.

Well, there was one issue I had with the book, and that was the ending. Spoiler alert! Throughout the book I got the idea that Sophy was going to end up with her stuffy cousin - that he was going to come around and they would fall in love. Now, technically that is what happened, HOWEVER, it happened in the last few lines of the book. I didn't really see them fall in love or feel the "lifelong" commitment happen. The way it was done almost felt like an afterthought or a "oh crap, my editor says I can only have one more page and I have to wrap up this part too" kind of thing. Last month I reviewed a book that pulled a book I had a major issue with and fixed it with one scene so I know this one "flaw" with The Grand Sophy could have been handled better. However, the result was the same - they ended together and the rest of the book was fabulous. Fabulous characters, fabulous story, fabulous writing. Just plain fabulous.

So, it goes to show that there's merit to the two-bite rule. My first "bite" of Georgette Heyer wasn't all that great but the second "bite" was good - very good. I'll definitely be checking out more of her books. :o)

July Book Review

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I have to start this review by telling you a bit about my reading habits. Once I start a book, I read it to its bitter end, regardless of how much I hate it. At least that was the case until a couple of years ago. For some reason I always felt obligated to read it and held on to some hope that it would get better. I mean, it had to get better, right? It got published after all. And then when I would get to the end, only to find that it never got better (and some times even got worse), I would be mad at myself for wasting all that time reading an awful book.

Then a few years ago I decided I didn't have time to waste on books I didn't like and became able to put books aside that I didn't like and move on. (I've always thought I'd go back and give the books another chance but to date I haven't done that on any of the books I felt that way about.)

That said, the book I decided to review this month is Kristan Higgins' The Next Best Thing.

The story is told in first person, from the point of view of the heroine and the first chapter is mostly backstory. The heroine is telling how she lost her husband in a terrible car accident and how she's having such a hard time moving on.

The thing is, the author writes her characters in such a way that the reader instantly feels connected to them. The emotions expressed about the heroine's love for her dead husband were real and raw and so strong that I found myself working out the story in my head. The husband wasn't really dead but had been unconscious or had amensia or something along those lines that kept him away but he was going come back and they were going to have a grand reunion. Or maybe it was going to be a Patrick Swayze thing like in Ghost and the hero would still be connected to the heroine, only in a more spiritual way.

At least that was how I was working it out in my head. So, imagine my surprise when, at the end of the first chapter I find out that the heroine is sleeping with her dead husband's brother! In that one sentence reveal, I lost the connection to the characters I had and I'm pretty sure I dropped the book as if it had burned me. For me, it gave the story that "Ick" factor and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to re-connect with the characters or the story. And given my new reading practice, that is where I would've normally decided to stop reading the book because, honestly, her sleeping with her brother-in-law was hard for me to get behind.

But, for some reason I kept reading on. And reading on. And reading on. All the while wondering why because although I really liked the characters and liked the story otherwise, I was really bothered by this one element of the story.

Then, about three quarters of the way through the book something happened. I don't want to say exactly what it was because it would spoil the book if you haven't read it. But, this one scene totally changed how I felt about this book. I got choked up and even started crying. It was so beautifully written and that one scene made everything else in the book okay for me (well, mostly). It explains everything and there was a whole transformation of character in that one scene. It made the difference in my loving the book vs hating the book. I can't explain it. But the bottom line is, I loved this book. My only problem with the book is that I had a serious problem with the sleeping with the brother-in-law when she was so in love with the dead husband still. You got 'glimpes' of the why throughout the book but we didn't get to see the full depth until three quarters of the way through the book and that bothered me because I was seriously hating this book until then. I would've preferred to see a bit more of the depth earlier on.

Bottom line is, I hung on and finished the book and for the first time ever, it was totally worth it. On my sidebar, I gave this book three stars. Normally one would think that was a mediocre rating or one that didn't spark emotion. However, that's a strong three stars. It would've been higher if we'd been in on the secret earlier on. And it would've been a lot lower if Kristan Higgins wasn't such a gifted story teller, coming through (in a big way) in the end.

June Book Club

I've joined Barrie's Summy's book club where they review books they like the first Wednesday of every month. To see what others are reading (and enjoying), click on the icon below.

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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

Well, this is my first time participating in Barrie's book club and I'm kind of excited. I debated which book I wanted to be my first review and finally settled on This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection by Carol Burnett. I've been a huge fan of hers for as long as I can remember. I don't remember watching a lot of television growing up but The Carol Burnett Show was something the entire family sat down and watched. It's a fond memory I have from my childhood. So, when I heard she'd written this book (I read her first one way back when it came out as well), I immediately got online and ordered it.

It's not an autobiography of her life and the stories aren't even told in chronological order. In fact, each chapter is its own stand-alone story. For example, if you decided you wanted to read about Marlon Brando (a particular favorite story of mine) you could flip straight to that chapter without ruining any other part of the book. For the most part it's light-hearted and fun read but it turns a bit more serious and emotional when she touches on the death of her daughter Carrie Hamilton. She doesn't delve too deeply into the emotions but I didn't get the feeling she held back either. I've seen her in interviews over the years and heard her tell stories and this book was written in the way I've always heard her tell stories - very conversational-like. When I finished the book (which I read in a few hours time), I felt like I'd spent the afternoon with an old friend. For most of the book I had a huge smile on my face, at times laughing until tears streamed down my face. I still had the smile on my face when I finished the book and wished there were more stories to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

If you're looking for a book that is a tell-all, rip-others-apart-so-you-look-good, book, this is not the book for you. But if you're looking for a feel-good, laugh-til-you-snort book, you might want to check this one out.