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. :)

Little Women

A while back Turner Classic Movies ran two versions of Little Women. Then a couple of weeks later, the third version was run on another station (unfortunately with commercials!). I set my DVR to record them all and today I finally sat down and watched them all . . . back-to-back-to-back. I watched them in the order they were filmed.

I started with the 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn. I'll start by saying, I enjoyed the movie. I also love Katharine Hepburn. That said, I didn't much care for the way Jo was portrayed. At least for the first 30 minutes or so of the movie. Katharine Hepburn has a husky voice to begin with and the character of Jo is a tomboy but, for whatever reason, that combination wasn't working for me.

After a while though, it seemed like the "butch-ness" of the character was toned down. Jo was still a tomboy and Katharine still had the husky voice but it seemed to fit better. Maybe I just got used to it. Whatever the case, it wasn't grating on my nerves anymore.

Bottom line, I enjoyed the movie.

Next I watched the 1949 version, starring June Allyson. According to my DVR listing, it starred June Allyson and Peter Lawford. When I started playing the movie the opening credits showed that Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh were also in the movie. As I was watching it, I realized that the March's maid was played by the same person who played the cranky neighbor / Little Ricky babysitter from I Love Lucy, Mrs. Trumbell! I guess what I'm saying is that I was surprised at the number of actors I was familiar with in this version of the movie.

That said, I had the same problem with June Allyson's portrayal of Jo as I did Katharine Hepburn's. Her voice is husky and the tomboy-ishness of Jo was overplayed, in my opinion. I think what it is is that they didn't come across as feminine at all to me - and that bugged me. The difference with this version is it didn't seem to go away during the course of the movie.

Despite that, I did enjoy this version as well. There were other distractions too though. For example, this was before Elizabeth Taylor developed her classic good looks - at least in my opinion. But the character of Amy (which is the part she played) was very vain. Kind of funny / ironic, if you ask me. Oh and Janet Leigh. Very understated. I thought she did a great job as Meg. I had to keep reminding myself that it was Janet Leigh.

Then last (but not least), I watched the 1994 version, starring Winona Ryder. I think it's very possible that I liked this one best because it was the first version I ever saw of it.

But then again, I didn't have the distractions about it that I had with the others. From Winona's portrayal of Jo I got that she was a tomboy but she also was very feminine. No "butch-ness" about it.

You add to that that there was more humor in this version of the movie. Overall, the characters were more relatable in this version than in the other two versions. At least in my opinion.

They all three were good movies that I can in good conscious recommend but when it comes down to it, this one was my favorite of the three.

In a related side-bar, I also learned today that there were two silent film versions made based on the book. I don't know if there are copies out there to be had but I think it would be real interesting to see what they did with those. What do you think? Would you watch a silent film version of Little Women? Inquiring minds want to know.

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.

Good Stuff

It used to bother me when I didn't have all the ingredients for a recipe because I thought its success was based on making it exactly as the recipe called for. Now that doesn't bother me as much because I figure if the dish turns out bad, I can always make it again, following the recipe. If it's still bad, well, I don't make it again. :)

Anyway, the other day I decided to make Roasted Cauliflower and Rice Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. There were four ingredients that I didn't have.

1. white wine vinegar (I substituted brown rice vinegar)

2. ripe tomato (I substituted cherry tomatoes)

3. & 4. red bell pepper and celery (I substituted with steamed asparagus)

It still was delicious! I took a picture of it but blogger isn't cooperating with me posting it.

Oh, but a funny thing about it. The ingredients call for navy or other white beans. And then they aren't mentioned again . . . so they didn't get included in the dish. They weren't missed. Maybe I'll include them next time. :)

Last night I used the left over rice to make Rice Waffles with Vegetable Melange from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. I've had this several times and really like it. My nephew was over and he was having it for the first time. He scraped the vegetables off of the waffle (after piling them on himself) and ate them first. Then he went in search of my maple syrup. He said he liked it all but prefers the waffles with syrup. (Again, I have a picture I can't post. *sigh*)

Today for lunch I wanted something fast and easy so I went for the Chickpea-Tomato Wraps from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. This was one of those situations where I ultimately found out that just because it doesn't look good doesn't mean it doesn't taste good. It called for sun-dried tomatoes. I've never eaten those before but I did happen to have some on hand. I didn't take a picture because I fully expected to not like it because the tomatoes, when cut up, made me think of meat that has been chewed and spit out. But the wraps were surprisingly good despite that. This was another recipe where you had to mash the beans and that was the hardest part of the preparation.

So there you go, three dishes and three winners! :)

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.

Experimenting

Before I decided to become a vegan, I was not what one would call an adventurous eater. I was the person who looked at the menu for 30 minutes before I would order the same thing I ordered every single time I went to that particular restaurant. I'd break out in a cold sweat if someone suggested we try somewhere new. But since becoming a vegan, I've tried things I never thought I'd try - tofu being a big one. Now, however, if I know a dish is vegan, I find it exciting to try something new. And when I like something I've had at a restaurant, I go online to find a recipe for it. I've even found vegan substitutes for some of my pre-vegan favorite dishes. Anyway, I recently bought yet another vegan cookbook. It had several sample recipes available that actually sold the book to me. One of those recipes is Green Tea Rice and Lemon Snow Peas with Tofu. You make green tea and then cook the rice in it. Who thought of that because it never would've occurred to me. This morning I made the Dawn's Early Couscous for breakfast. I've had couscous before but it didn't really strike me as a morning food. But, it was a quick and easy recipe so I decided to go for it. Worst thing that would happen would be I'd toss it out and have to eat homemade granola cereal, right? Anyway, to make this dish, you boil three cups of apple juice and then add the couscous (and a few other ingredients) and there you go. It was good. If I hadn't made the dish myself I wouldn't have believed couscous was involved (mind you I like couscous - I just didn't see it as a breakfast food). But again, I have to wonder, what made someone decide to boil apple juice (instead of water) for the couscous? How do you know what and how much of something to try to make a good recipe? I realize that these recipes were all tried and tested before they were published in the cookbooks but I just find myself wondering how someone came up with some of the combinations. P.S. I also made the Chocolate-Macadamian Cheezcake Truffles (recipe on amazon). All I can say is, YUM!!! :)

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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@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.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I've heard authors say that while they'd rather everyone love their books, if they can evoke a strong emotion - even hate - from a reader, they feel they've done their job.

With that in mind, I checked out reader reviews on The Help while I was reading it. There were more than thirty reviews saying how much they hated the book and rating it a 1. I found this interesting because its overall rating was 4.5. A LOT of people had to rate it to overcome more than thirty 1s! Over thirteen hundred rated it a 5. Thirteen hundred! There were over sixteen hundred ratings in all.

That got me curious about how many ratings other authors got. Most I looked at didn't even get into the double digits! Nora Roberts has a few that have several hundred ratings. Stephen King has one over with just over a thousand ratings.

I then checked out J.K. Rowlings (Harry Potter books) and Stephanie Meyer (Twilight books). They both have a book or two with thousands (plural) of ratings. So I was thinking maybe it's not that big of a deal that The Help pulled in over sixteen hundred ratings.

Then it dawned on me. Rowlings and Meyer are multi-published authors with big budget movies made of their books, which means they have a broader audience than most authors. The Help is Stockett's debut book. It hasn't been made into a movie and it still got more than sixteen hundred ratings.

That says something.

Anyway, I finished the book and I have to say, I would rate it up there with the more than thirteen hundred that rated it a 5. It was a great book. So well written. I've heard several of my writer friends say that it made them want to be a better writer, and having read it, I understand that comment.

And to the thirty plus people who hated it - Stockett may be pleased that she evoked such a strong reaction from you but I just have to say that you don't know good writing or good story if you don't like The Help.

I highly recommend it.

Best Of. . .

If I remember correctly, one of my goals for 2009 was to read more books than I had in 2008. Well, I was two shy of reading twice as many books this past year! That happened, in part, because I had more books to read for classes and in part because I've added 25 books to the list since I left my house on November 8th to come to Arkansas to be with my step-father during his recovery from his car accident.

Anyway, here, in no particular order other than the order they were read, were my favorite reads of 2009:

Book Read for Pleasure
Zombie Queen of Newberry High by Amanda Ashby - the first few pages started slow but then I loved it!
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich - I couldn't tell you what it was about but I can say with confidence that I've loved all of the Stephanie Plum books
Bunco Babes Tell All by Maria Geraci - I loved this debut book of Maria Geraci. I used to be part of a bunco group (and miss it!) and this was just such a fun book to read. :o)
Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane - this book was about relationships between sisters. I could relate to so much about the relationships and normally this would not be a good thing, given my relationship with my own sisters, BUT it was written in such a way that I had a good feeling when I finished it. I really enjoyed it.
Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson - when I think about this book, I can't remember what exactly made me really like it, but I do remember that I did. :o)
Finger Licking Fifteen by Janet Evanovich - see comment to other Stephanie Plum book :o)
What Happens in London by Julia Quinn - Julia Quinn's books are always so easy to read - light and fun. It feels like she sat down and wrote it all in one day, it flows so well. With the exception of one random scene that felt like it was thrown in to add pages, this was a typical Julia Quinn read for me.
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella - by far my favorite book of the year. I've been a fan of Sophie Kinsella's since I read the first in the shopaholic series but this has been my favorite book of hers to date. Absolutely loved it.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - I loved this story and the way it was told. I think it would be aweseome in audio format. This one is a list topper for me too.
Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins - I asked for recommendations of books and Jamie recommended a different book by this author. Since I had this one already, I read it and it was a lot of fun.
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson (audio version) - This had a sweet storyline that I really liked. It's what I listened to on my drive up to Arkansas.
Bunco Babes Gone Wild by Maria Geraci - The second in Maria Geraci's Bunco Babe series. It was as good as the first. :o)
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper - Gabrielle Luthy recommended this one on her blog and so I thought I'd give it a shot. It was hysterical! I was reading it the day we had to take my step-father to the emergency room with his gall bladder. People were in the waiting room with injuries and illnesses and I was laughing hysterically. They probably thought mine was a head injury. ;o)


Books Read for School
Changing Places by David Lodge - This book was a lot of fun to read. The author made fun of writers, teachers, academia, life in general. Out of context the material may not be as funny but in the context it was written, it was great. Loved it.
Lysistrata by Aristophanes - funny
Emma by Jane Austen - I really enjoyed this book.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi - based on her life and told in cartoon form, this was a very unique book and I really enjoyed it - enough to buy the second part and read it.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - I really liked this story a lot. Loved the way it was told.

So, those were my top picks of what I read in 2009, what are some of your top picks?

Looking for Suggestions and a Giveaway

I'm on one of my book buying binges. It doesn't help that I know in a few weeks I'm going to have another $25 gift card to amazon.com or that I know in a few weeks after that, I'll have a $75 gift card to spend as I please (and trust me when I say, it will go towards books at amazon.com). Which is why I need your help. As you might remember, I've ordered so many books from them that amazon has started recommending books in different languages to me.

So, I'm looking for suggestions on books to put in my cart (so that I'm ready to go when the gift cards come in, because I can't wait . . . not that I have a problem or anything!). Have you read anything recently that you just loved? Why did you love it?

Or, tell me how you decide to give a new author a chance? Word of mouth? Website? And speaking of websites, what do you look for in an author website? Me, I like excerpts from books. I've bought several books after amazon recommended them to me (and I liked the cover or the title - or both) and I checked out the website. I'm telling you, a good excerpt and that book is mine. Which means an author without excerpts, well, I might still buy the book but the chances are better if I get a taste of it.

And what about book trailers? I still say that the trailer for The Fidelity Files was great! Sold me AND the book lived up to the trailer.

Oh, but about the giveaway. . . all you have to do is post a comment (maybe answer a question or two above, although I suppose that's optional) and you're entered to win a book that I have duplicates of.

You might have a problem if...

I've told you all how much of a book ho I am. Pretty much all my disposable income goes towards books.

I have a carousel FULL of books. A bookshelf that's three deep and two up full of books. Baskets of books all over the house. I even have some in my "linen" closet. As one of my ex-bosses used to tell people, I pretty much have boxes on every flat surface in my house.

I get most of my books through amazon.com. Seriously, I pay someone's salary over there - but I digress.

Anyway, at work we can earn gift cards up to $75 every quarter by being safe. I spend mine on books (at amazon.com). So a couple of weeks ago I got online and ordered $75 worth of books - most of which were pre-orders (I've never done that before but I LOVE the idea that for the next few months, books will just be showing up out of the blue :-) ).

Then, I realized that I'm about to receive a $25 amazon gift card (my credit card gives me "points" towards getting the gift cards) in a few days. The $25 will go towards books, of course. So, I was online looking for books I wanted to put in my "cart" so that I would be good to go when the gift card came in and this one was recommended for me by amazon...

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Julia Quinn's. LOVE her books. But this is a translated book - ie NOT in English.

What is amazon saying? I mean, I realize they base their recommendations based on past purchases and what you've "viewed" but trust me when I say that I haven't been buying or looking at non-English books because I only speak/read English and sign language (and I'm pretty sure books aren't out in sign language). So, is what amazon is saying is that I've read all the books written in English? That if I want to read something "new" I have to go to translated books?

If that's the case, I'm going to need to stock up on the English to "other language" books! :-)

Contest

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a book ho. There isn't much I wouldn't do for books. The list is pretty short. For example, I won't promote an author I don't like and I won't promote a book I don't like, even if I do like the author.

Which makes a particular contest really easy for me. You see, Eileen Cook is running a contest for a $75 gift card to the book store of your choice (details here). And, if you've been paying attention, I like Eileen's books - including What Would Emma Do?

I interviewed Eileen here. I believe I'd sent Eileen the questions before I'd actually read What Would Emma Do? But, I'd read Unpredictable and loved it, so I was excited about spotlighting Eileen on my blog. In fact, I even blogged about Unpredictable here. (It should be noted that promoting Unpredictable wasn't a part of the contest - just a bonus here because I really, really liked it!) By the time I posted the blog post, I'd read What Would Emma Do? and loved it!

Shortly thereafter What Would Emma Do? was listed in my top 9 favorite books of 2008 (Unpredictable also made the list but again, it's not part of the contest so consider this another bonus thing :o) ).

And then, not long ago, I saw that Eileen has another book coming out. . . The cover is absolutely awesome and I cannot wait for it to hit the shelves!!!

But back to What Would Emma Do? So in this contest we have to promote the book and well, I know of no other way than to tell you that I've personally read it and highly recommend it. And, if you go for that bonus kind of thing and you're ordering What Would Emma Do?, do yourself a favor and order Unpredictable too. I promise you won't be disappointed. :o)