As the Page Turns

Today...

2012-01-27T19:35:00.001-08:00

I picked up a book and read 2 pages.

Baby steps.

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

I have spent the last couple of weeks deciding what I want to do here on this blog. It is evident that I am slacking hard core, and I haven't picked up a book to actually read it and not move it out of my way in months. However, I miss reading. And I still follow about 30 people's book blogs, and although I am not commenting on them, I am still reading them and following what is awesome in the book world.

I miss reading, and I am changing my book goals. In 2010, my goal was 100 books, but I ended up reading 117. In 2011, my goal was 111 but I read less than 30. A big part of this was my changing careers to from a desk job to a stay at home mommy. I no longer listen to audio books, although I severely miss them, and I don't get a lot of time during the day to pick up a book, because it seems my little Lucy has a book tracker and if I do, she hops in my lap and wants to do something else, regardless of what she was in the middle of five minutes ago.

Also, being pregnant with a toddler has been a little more challenging than I thought it would be. As easy going as this pregnancy has been, as in, I haven't suffered any complications and he has been growing normally and every thing has been fine, it is severely exhausting being pregnant this time.

Enough excuses. My goal this year on the book front is a simple, modest 30. I would like to finish about 4ish books a month, which I don't think is asking a lot of myself. I don't want to set myself up for failure, but I also don't want to give up on this blog, or my followers (if I still have any).

So, as it is January 1, 2012, I will start with the books I still have yet to finish, and then move on to the rest of my to be read pile. This way, I also will not feel so bad that I keep buying books, or downloading free ones for my kindle.

So happy new year everyone, and happy reading! I hope you won't give up on me :)

Reading is not working these days...

2011-11-27T13:55:00.001-08:00

I miss reading I really do. But every time I pick up a book, I fall asleep.

I am going to finish the reviews that I have listed and then drink LOTS AND LOTS of coffee and am going to sit down and finish the two books I started MONTHS ago and finish them. They are close to being done but well, I still need to finish them.

I don't want to give up on my reading just because I am having another kid. I know that I can read and be a mom, so I am going to get better.

Plus I am going to give myself some limitations on Pinterest since it's devouring all my time.

I miss this blog, but not for looooong :) I am coming back. And this time, I mean it ;)

Well I think the neglect should be over

2011-10-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have been off the reading bandwagon for long enough, and with that, the blogging bandwagon too. I really miss reading, but I haven't found anything that has been taking my full attention. That's ok though, sometimes that happens.

I will be spending the rest of this week finishing up the reviews that should have been done months ago, and I will also dedicate some of my "valuable" time to finishing the books I have started. There is no reason I won't have them done by the end of this week if I just put my nose in them.

The hour each night that I usually have dedicated to reading, has turned into my recent pinterest addiction, and while that is all fine and dandy, I can't get much reading done when I am looking at fun stuff on the internet. So I just need to manage my time better.

Also, I don't think it is any surprise that I will come no where near meeting my goal of 111 books this year. As much as this saddens me, I am also ok with it. A lot has gone on this year that has distracted me and taken my reading time. And there is always next year. It's not like my To Be Read list is going anywhere :)

Thanks for sticking around if you are still reading. I promise to get better!! Again.

What Happened to Good-Bye

2011-08-18T20:37:00.001-07:00

What Happened to Goodbye

By Sarah Dessen

402 pages

Grade A

What can I say, I am a sucker for teen chick lit, and Miss Sarah did not fail to impress me. All of Sarah's characters are usually some kind of troubled teen, but somehow she still makes them moderately different. Same thing with the guys in her books too. What I liked so much about this book was that the main character, McLean, lives with her dad. She choose to live with her dad after her parents divorced. Now I grew up with my dad. I didn't have a choice between my parents like McLean did so I don't know how hard that choice would have been to make, but I am happy with how my life turned out living with my dad. I know now, especially since I am a parent myself, that I would not be the person I am today had I not grown up being raised by my dad. And for that, I thank him because I think I turned out ok. So dad, if you are reading, I love you and you did a great job!!!

Anyway, back to the story...McLean's dad works for a consulting company that forces him to travel, and in his travels, he carts his teenage daughter along with him. McLean learns to adapt, maybe not in a healthy way, but in her own way. I think out of all of Sarah's lead characters, I liked McLean the best. For me she has been the easiest to relate to. But most of Sarah's books have the same idea or concept behind them, odd girl falls for a guy, something happens, the girl and the guy split and then at the end of the story they work it out and get back together. And this book went along with that basis too, but for me, this book wasn't like reading just another Sarah Dessen book. There was something about this book that really set it apart from her other books. So good job Sarah. I can't wait to read what you put out next!!

Some Girls: My Life in a Harem

2011-08-17T16:54:00.001-07:00

Some Girls: My Life in a Harem

By Jillian Lauren

352 pages, read on my Kindle

Grade C-

A friend of mine hosted book club a few months ago, and this was her book choice. She is friends with the band Weezer and when she found out that the lead singer (I think it's the lead) was married to Jillian, and that Jillian had written this book, she decided it to be her book. Because she is friends with Weezer, she also made arrangements for Jillian to Skype with us during our book club, which was pretty cool seeing as I had never really "talked" with an author like this before.

Ok so on to the review...

This book is actually a memoir. It's really really hard to believe that it is a memoir when you start out because Jillian as an 18 year old girl goes to Dubai to live and be a prostitute for one of the princes. There are nights of partying, drugs, shopping and sex. It's so hard to imagine that someone would actually sign up for something like this. I mean, the idea of getting handed wads of cash and taken to the mall with an unlimited spending amount and being given gifts of expensive jewels is pretty exotic and intriguing, but knowing that you have to sell your body in order to get these things totally changes the "awesomeness" of it.

Towards the end, Jillian goes home to NY for a little while and all of a sudden she becomes very whiny. A friend of mine actually told Jillian that she sounded insipid (10 point word if you ask me) to avoid saying whiny and spoiled brat. After she goes home to NY, she ends up going back to Dubai for a short stint where things in the harem have changed, she isn't happy anymore, and goes back home...again. She then meets her husband and they adopt a son. And then BAM! just like that, the story ends. Very, very anticlimactic.

Jillian as a person, was really fun to talk with. She was very down to earth and we all had a great time. I admire her for telling her story and coming out with it. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that. She is also writing another book that is coming out here soon, and it will show up on this blog at some point because the same friend that selected this book is picking her next book. Maybe we will Skype again, because honestly, that was pretty cool.

Where She Went

2011-08-15T19:26:00.001-07:00

Where She Went

By Gayle Forman

264 pages

Grade A

This book is the book that follows If I Stay, which I read last year. I finished this book in about a day and a half. For me, it was amazing. I really really liked it.

Basically in the first book, Mia is in a terrible car accident and has an out of body experience and watches as everyone around her wonders if she is going to make it or not, it's really tough. I cried, a lot. Where She Went is actually told by the perspective of her ex boyfriend, Adam. I kinda fell in love with Adam's character. I really liked him.

But anyway, Adam runs into Mia in New York one night. They spend the whole night together and catch up with each other's lives. The journey between them is just incredible to read. I LOVE how the author completely entraps you in her story. I am really happy that I got a chance to read this book. I think I am going to pick up a copy of the first one in print so I can re-read them because it was really just that good.

**************

This post was my first post for "Book Review-a-thon" hosted by Jacki over at the Lovely Little Shelf.

Book Review-A-Thon

2011-08-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, since I am behind again, not only in my reviews, but in blog maintenance in general, I decided to participate in this, the First Annual Book Review-A-Thon, hosted by Jacki over at Lovely Little Shelf. I am hoping I can take one week out of my oh so busy new stay at home life (what am I talking about, I watched Rio about 14 times last week) that I can get caught up, and make you all love me again.

So there you have it...let's see if I can do it!

Wish me luck!!!

Fall for Anything

2011-07-18T15:13:00.001-07:00

Fall for Anything

By Courtney Summers

Grade B+

I don't normally do this, but I like this summary of the book, my review will follow:

From Goodreads.com:

From the author of Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are comes a gripping story about one girl’s search for clues into the mysterious death of her father.

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

I was totally blown away by this book. I am not sure if it was because I have experienced some of the same emotions that stem from knowing someone that has killed themselves, or if Ms. Summers was just that good at gripping your heart. Either way, I can't believe I put this book off for as long as I did. And when it only took me about two days to finish it, I was mad that I read it so fast.

Hunger Games, Catching Fire (re-listen)

2011-07-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hunger Games and Catching Fire

By Suzanne Collins

Re-listen

I started to re-listen to this series before I quit my job, and as it was the first time, it was amazing! I didn't get a chance to finish Mockingjay on audio, so I think I will pick it up in print before the end of the year. Either way, this series is incredible. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, then you just need to do it. You won't regret it!

Some more Janet E.

2011-07-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Three to Get Deadly

Four to Score

High Five

Hot Six

By Janet Evanovich

Grade D

To continue on my Stephanie Plum series journey, while I still was working I finished four more of them on audio. At least I think it was four more. I might have finished number 7 but I can't be for 100% sure because since my laptop died I can't see what book I left off on my iPod.

However, honestly, these books are only moderately entertaining. I don't remember much of the plots of each book, only that there is a lot of very corny story lines, and ridiculousness. I am not impressed with them, and if I never finish this series, I doubt I will lose any sleep over it.

I know I said it before, and I will say it again...I don't get what the appeal to this series.

So how incredibly lame am I???

2011-07-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I have been MIA for so long. Things have been a *little* crazy on my end. I have finished probably four more books that I need to list on my sidebar, which will put me at like 40 books behind in reviews. AAAHHH!!! Well I am going to be working on catching up. But first I will catch you up to a little of what has been so crazy, as I am sure you all are just *dying* to know.

First, my laptop broke. The battery died, or the power cord doesn't work anymore, but either way, I can't get the damn thing to turn on anymore, so this weekend we are going to head to the repair shop and see if I can get a new battery or something. I feel lost with out it and I really don't like using my husbands Mac.

Second, I recently became a stay at home mom. The first week I was off work, my little brother who is 12 was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and was in the hospital for most the first week, and then he spend the rest of the week days with me while my mom was at work. It was exhausting, but thankfully he is completely ok with it and he is doing much much better.

And lastly, which also just happens to be the most exciting part of my crazy life, I found out I am pregnant! I am now 11 weeks pregnant and the dr has told us everything looks good. I have been experiencing some pretty bad morning sickness and I also have been getting mild bouts of dizziness. This is causing me some problems when I try to read because I get dizzy and want to puke. But it's all starting to subside and I am hoping that I can get on with my normal life here pretty soon.

So that is the news with me. I am hoping that I will get caught up on reviews here within the next week, it's not like I am strapped for time or anything!

Thanks for being patient with me :)

Ok Ok I know....

2011-06-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

I have no excuse for getting this far behind, HOWEVER, we did move, we have been unpacking and it's been slightly crazy around here.

I think I might have also lost count of books that I have finished in the passed few days.

The GOOD news, is that soon, I will have plenty of time to catch up on everything soon.

So sit tight, don't give up on me, and just know that there are a ton of new things coming up!!!

Weight Loss Update

2011-05-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well, there really isn't anything to report here. I lost three lbs in the first week, and I gained back at least 2 of them...I have been jumping from one to two for two weeks.

Anyway, we have had a lot going including moving into a different house so I have been an emotional eater lately. I am hoping once we get moved into the new house and things settle, I can get back on track. I am falling severely behind and the closer to my goal I get, the more I fall behind.

Well, at least I have been getting to the gym three days a week.

Gang Leader for a Day

2011-05-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Gang Leader for a Day

By Sudhir Venkatesh

8 hours and 48 minutes listening time

Grade D

Let me preface this by saying, I know this book was a research book and was based on true events. That being said, most of what was written was so unrealistic and far fetched, that I didn't believe it. Maybe, that's just me living in my cushy little world, but I just don't believe it. I also don't believe how this guy could just sit back and watch things that happened and NOT REPORT ANY OF IT. How he isn't in jail himself for just being around the drugs is beyond me.

This book was picked by one of my book club gals for our club this month, and that is why I read it...had it been up to me, this wouldn't have been a choice of mine. I didn't much care for it at all.

Someone like you

2011-05-13T21:15:00.001-07:00

Someone like you

Sarah Dessen

6 hours and 38 ,minutes on audio

Grade C

Don't get me wrong, I love Sarah Dessen. Her books are light, fluffy and easy to read. But I was not a super huge fan of this book. There is no real reason why I didn't much care for it, but I didn't. For one, the main guy in the book was named Macon. All I could think of was bacon. And I didn't think that he was very well developed.

Scarlett, the main character's best friend, gets knocked up but doesn't find out until two months after that baby daddy dies in a motorcycle accident. It's very sad indeed. What I found to be pretty unrealistic was that the main character, Halley, her mom is a child therapist, but doesn't tell her daughter that she can't hang out with Scarlett anymore. When I was growing up, my best friend got pregnant at 15 too, and my dad told me I couldn't hang out with her anymore. But this kids mom was totally supportive of it.

So for me....it was just eh. Sarah has had far greater books, and I can't wait to read her latest one that was just released.

The Immortals Series

2011-05-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

The Immortals Series

By Alyson Noel

Evermore, audio and print

Blue Moon, print

Shadowland, audio

Dark Flame, audio

Night Star, audio

Grade B-

My cousin gave me a bag of books about a year ago and in that bag was the House of Night series, which I read all that were released at the time in about a week, I could not put them down. I also noticed that there was Evermore and Blue Moon in the bag, and I figured that it was another series. I didn't want to start it because I didn't want to get involved in another series like I did with the HON books. But my curiosity got the best of me, and I started Evermore about a week ago. And yes, I was hooked. I was able to get the remaining books on audio and finished them up at work. Fortunately for my sanity, the sixth and final book comes out in a few weeks and I can finish the series, unlike HON where I feel like I have been waiting forever.

Now these books aren't great. They aren't fabulous. They are only moderately entertaining. I say this because 90% of the book is the main character, Ever, describing how wonderful and gorgeous her immortal boyfriend is. Sound familiar any Twilight fans? Ever is also very quick to give up her whole universe and her everything for this guy, Damon...plot dejavu? I think so!

If you can get passed the constant "...and even the way he passes gas is sexy" crap, then you can move on to the weak boring plot lines. The first book basically went into how Damon made Ever an immortal, and their struggles with that. Ever finds out that in her past lives, Damon has found her, making them "soul mates" blah blah blah. Well it turns out that in all of her past lives over the past 400 years, when ever they try to get to the grand finale in the bedroom, something gets in the way of them actually doing it. Which in my opinion should be the fact that she is only 16 but alas, that is not the case. In all 5 books, Ever and Damon struggle to get it on. It actually gets really ridiculous.

At one point in one of the book Ever says, "little did I know this was how it was going to turn out..." and all I could think about was in Stranger Than Fiction when Dr Hilbert says, "Little did he know. That means there's something he doesn't know, which means there's something you don't know, did you know that?" One of my favorite quotes of all time. But what I kept thinking the whole time was "little did I know that Ever must have a platinum crusted who-ha because in each book, there is another dude trying to get in her pants and take her virginity." Everyone wants a piece of Ever, but Ever only wants Damon, and they can't do it because if they do, Damon will die. Why will he die? Well good question. Because when Ever tries to save his immortal life, she mixes her blood with her arch enemy's immortal elixer and that gets fed to Damon making it impossible for them to touch. OMG, I can't believe that I wrote all that. Do these books not sound just ridiculous after all that? Because when I try to explain it to people I feel stupid, kinda like how I do now as I am typing...

As time wasting as I thought these books were, they were simply easy and moderately entertaining. I don't know if I would be quick to recommend this series to anyone, but I don't regret that I read them. I also will pre-order the 6th book because really, I need to find out the most important question of all...

Does Ever ever get laid???

Wow

2011-05-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how behind I am....

I will get somewhat caught up tonight. I promise. I also have fitness updates.

Got a little caught up with life recently and fell behind, plus I've been spending a lot of time reading in print.

Ok, see you all tonight!!

Heaven is for Real

2011-04-17T20:48:00.001-07:00

Heaven is for Real

By Todd Burpo

4 hours and 16 minutes listening time

Grade D+

Someone posted on one of my online discussion boards and how it was a great book. They mentioned about how one part moved them to tears and that everyone should read it. On impulse, I got the audio and tried it, thinking four hours is not much of an investment. My opinion? Eh.

In this book the author's son had a short encounter with death and months after his surgery, he started telling his parents about how while in surgery, he visited with Jesus. Now, we are not religious in our household. At all. I am not saying anything against people who are, just in our house, we aren't.

As much of a good story as this book *could* have been, it was just eh. And the reason for me was because it was just so damn preachy. It seemed that for every sentence there was, there was another sentence that quoted the bible. For people who like this kind of stuff, more power to you, but for me it was slightly annoying.

The reason I picked this book up was because someone had said that in part of this book, the little boy meets his unborn older sister. His mother had a miscarriage a few years prior to him being born, however the parents had never discussed this with the boy. But when he went to heaven, he meets his sister. The parents then ask him what her name was and he tells them that she didn't have a name because they didn't name her. I thought that part was going to be the "WOW" moment for me because I have had two miscarriages and didn't really name either of them, but the moment was over before I even grasped the umph moment.

So, even though I don't really subscribe to this kind of thing, I might go through and name my unborn children, because there is always that "just in case" feeling, but other than that....this book was just not my cup of tea.

The Truth About Forever

2011-04-16T21:42:00.001-07:00

The Truth About Forever

By Sarah Dessen

12 hours and 14 minutes listening time

Grade A+

I read this book last July, and just felt this buzz to read it again. I think I loved it more this time than I did the first time. I have read almost all of Sarah's books, and I haven't read one that haven't liked yet.

My original review is here, so I don't want to go and repeat everything I said last year because none of it has actually changed. Just take this with you, I love Sarah Dessen, but I don't think she loves me because she won't retweet me, and I have tweeted her like 4 times. Oh well....guess maybe one day she will....

Sing You Home

2011-04-16T21:17:00.001-07:00

Sing You Home

Jodi Picoult

17 hours 26 minutes listening time

Grade A

I finished this book about three weeks ago, but I have been stewing on it so I couldn't write about it. I have never had a book make me feel so many emotions before ever. I spent the first 1 hour of the book, bawling. I spent the next part of the book sad. Then I was happy and frustrated. After that, I was ANGRY and PISSED, and wanting to punch a couple characters in their stupid faces. I think I was scared for a minute then I was angry AGAIN. Right when I didn't think I would take anymore, it ended, and I was crying, again.

With a minimal amount of spoilers here is the run down, main characters suffer multiple losses, and then have a still born at 28 weeks, breaking their marriage, where only weeks after the still birth, the husband leaves the marriage. Wife ends up meeting up with a friend and spends all her time with this women, husband moves in with crazy Christian brother and sister in law. Wife then decides she wants to try for another baby and remembers there are frozen embryo in a fertility bank, husband decides he then wants them to give to his brother and sister in law since they are also having fertility problems.

There is so much more to it but I don't want to give away too much. All I know, is that you will need tissues. I didn't think I would be able to finish it in places, but the story attacked me in the first few minutes and wouldn't let go until I was done. I won't lie either, but I listened to the ending of the audio book probably 4 times just because I just wanted to live it again.

In summary, this book was amazing.

My recent books

2011-04-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

So I have a few books to review, but a couple of them have been a little emotional for me, and I am still stewing on them. Soon, this weekend perhaps.

On my 30X30 goal, I started this goal at the starting weight of....ugh.....176. there I said it. The pictures I took were lost when my phone recently crashed, I will have my husband retake them this weekend seeing as I haven't lost any weight yet, but I am in a lot of pain thanks to my friend that is helping me at the gym. I am pretty sure every single muscle of mine hurts right now.

Going off in another direction, I started on my book again. I have been doing almost nothing else but writing. I have been dreaming about my characters, and as a matter of fact, I had to reconstruct part of my story line because thinking about what I was going to write, I almost started to cry. So I have a lot to rewrite now, but at least I will be more comfortable.

I am slacking in the books and reviews this year, but I plan on kicking it up a notch here soon. I started a new position at work, and I will be able to pick up my audio books again, and I am in the middle of like 4 books in print, and will be finishing most of those in the next couple of weekends.

Well there you have it. At least for now.

Empty Promises

2011-03-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Empty Promises

By Ann Rule

14 hours 7 minutes audio

Grade undecided

If you haven't read anything by Ann Rule before, and I hadn't, she is a true crime author. I had no idea what to expect going into this book but I kept my hopes up. And then I started the stories. Holy crap. Basically they are stories of people who get murdered by their significant others. I thought it would be one novel about one particular case, but this book had like 13 stories in it. And it was pretty good. I honestly cannot imagine a case where I would actually take someone's life. I mean I feel guilty freaking killing a spider or roach, and those are just nasty pests.

I will not lie, at about 12 hours of listening, there was a story about a little girl that gets murdered and I turned off the book. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pick it up again, but I did, and fortunately for me, it was over quickly. I think any crime against a child is the worst crime you could possibly commit because they are just such innocent pieces to our world.

I don't know if I will be able to read more of her books, at least I most definitely won't be able to pick them up any time soon because they are very stressful, but I think getting through at least one of them would be worth it.

And there you go.

Garden Spells

2011-03-30T19:48:00.001-07:00

Garden Spells

By Sarah Addison Allen

320 pages

Grade B+

This book was similar to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. There is a family named the Waverlys and they have what would seem as magical powers. The older sister Claire lives in the family home as an owner of a catering company. However, her catering company is not like regular ones, because she cooks with the flowers from her garden, and special things happen when she cooks certain flowers with certain foods and when she pairs them up with each other. Honestly, some of the foods that she makes in the book sound completely and utterly delish and all I wanted to do was eat.

The younger sister Sydney, has flown the coup and lived a crazy life, leaving her in a terribly abusive relationship and a 6 year old daughter. When things get tough, Sydney comes home to Claire, however their relationship is really rocky.

Their cousin Evanelle, was by far my most favorite character in the book. She had the talent of knowing that people needed something, whether it was batteries for your smoke detector because there would be a fire that night, or a blanket because your heat would go out that night and you would be extra cold. I just loved everything about her character.

What I liked most about this book was that it was light. It wasn't terribly deep, but it was lifting. Sadly the two books that I read following this book were anything but. However, this book was just a feel good book, all around. I finished it in probably 2 days, I really couldn't put it down. And even though I was sure I knew what was going to happen, and I was right, I was just blown away by it.

I really really really enjoyed this book. The only reason why I am not giving it an A+ is because I was able to predict some of what was going to happen, but it was a good book. I say give it a chance if you need something light. A huge thanks to my friend Mandi in my book club that hosted this book in February. It was wonderful!

A quick update

2011-03-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I have three books to do reviews on, and I will hopefully be getting those done this week.

I am also in the middle of three books, which I also hope to finish this week.

Today is ALSO the last day before "Operation Get Not Fat" starts. I will be getting off work by 230 tomorrow (hopefully) and heading to the gym right afterward (hopefully). Tomorrow is going to be my short day at the gym regardless because I also bowl Monday nights.

I will also be posting pictures of my fat ass this week with how much I weigh (ugh), and hopefully with measurements but that I cannot promise.

I have 6 months. 6 months to meet my 30 lbs by age 30. That is only about 5 lbs a month, which I hope will be totally doable.

Happy Sunday everyone!

One Night that Changes Everything

2011-03-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

One Night that Changes Everything

By Lauren Barnholdt

256 pages

Grade C+

The premise of this book is that the main character, Eliza, has been writing secrets in her note book. Not so much secrets as just things she is really scared to do, simple little things, like sing karaoke, talk to (and make out with) a boy you have had a crush on, and a few other things. Eliza forgets her notebook in her locker one day and it's stolen by her ex boyfriend's group of friends. Throughout the night the guys call Eliza and tell her that she has to start performing these fears or they will publish her notebook online for all the school to see. A recipe for high school disaster right? Well, duh.

You all know how I feel about YA books. I have a soft sticky place in my heart for them. This book did not fail to provide me with fluffy YA enjoyment. I polished it off in about 24 hours, and as much as I am happy that I did read it, I should have waited to read it after the book I just finished, which I will review soon (probably tonight as well) because I needed something light and fluffy, but instead I picked a book that has had me in tears from the first page. Either way, if you are a YA fan, this book will not let you down.

I will leave you with my favorite quote of the book:

"That is definitely the work of a sociopath. Actually, I'm not sure what a sociopath is, exactly. But I think it has to do with not caring about the feelings of others."

This is a little non book related (NBR) but...

2011-03-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

I will be ::gasp:: turning 30 this year. OMG, I really cannot believe that I said that. Not that I can't believe that I admitted it, I just can't believe that I am old enough to say it. I still feel 18. But that isn't what this is about. What this post is about is me and how lazy I am. I already host like 20 blogs, and I simply cannot take on the pressure of another one. So because of my laziness, I am going to do my next idea on my book blog, and I am sure most of you can relate...it's weight loss.

My husband and I have been together for 7 (maybe 8) years now. In these 7 (or 8) years, I have gained 35 lbs. I guess 35 lbs in 7 (or 8) years isn't that bad...I guess. I gained 40 lbs with my daughter, and lost most of it, but still hung on to some of the baby fat. Then last year, I lost two babies and suffered from some pretty bad depression while struggling with infertility, and it put my self image over the edge.

I say every year I want to lose weight, but I never do anything about it. But this year, this year will be different. I am going to start working with a friend of mine who is going to be my "personal trainer" and we are going to work out together 5 days a week, and I am going to lose it.

And this is where I am going to introduce

"30 BY 30"

I plan on losing 30 lbs by my 30th birthday. And in order to keep my motivation, I am going to post numbers, yes, my actual real weight, and I am going to post pictures. I hope to do this weekly, and I will be starting this weekend. So there you have it.

Rosa Parks: My Story

2011-03-09T20:43:00.001-08:00

Rosa Parks: My Story

By Rosa Parks

192 pages

Grade A

I wanted to read a book for Black History Month in February. When I went to the book store looking for a book, I debated between this book, and the presidential book by President Obama because I figured I could get a president book out of the way too. BUT, I don't know if you guys have seen the Obama book, but it's kinda huge. Like really huge, and I couldn't invest that much time into a book like that. Not that I don't want to invest into a large, book, but I try very hard to stay out of politics, and a huge book like that about politics.....I have entirely to many other things I would rather do.

So when I saw this book, I thought, "self, this would be a good book" (I often think in quotes). I always knew the story of Rosa Parks, ("wasn't she that black lady that decided she wasn't going to move to the back of the bus for a white lady?") but I never knew all the details. I mean honestly, who does? Just me?

The only terrible thing I have to say is that I am sorry I am the one that has to review this book here! My reviews have sucked lately, but well here you go...I LOVED this book. I really enjoy historical fiction, and though I know that this book is non-fiction, I have read so much historical fiction that will reference back to Rosa Parks and you know in school they tell you about Rosa but you never get the whole story. This book tells you just that. You get to hear about how Rosa grew up, her marriage, and her hard work. She actually did a lot of work with the NAACP and was a big park of the Civil Rights Movements, outside of her epic move on the bus. I really admire her as a person. She was a flat out hard worker.

I got chills reading this book more than once. The part that really moved me was when the entire black community, and some of the white, boycotted the buses. It was so incredibly amazing to see how one person, one simple act could change history forever. And that is what I loved about this book so much, the simplicity of the act that helped change our country for ever.

I could go on and on and on about how happy I was that I picked up this book, but you just have to go for it yourself. Had I just been at home reading I probably would have had it done in an hour, I mean it's only 192 pages long, but I enjoyed that it took a couple of days. Some books need a few days. This was one of those books. And I still think about it, almost daily. So just go for it.

Happy Birthday!

2011-03-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

To Dr. Seuss that is. I was going to write some super witty post that actually made sense (unlike whatever this garbage that I have been producing). I was going to read a book with my daughter and then review it from her point of view, which I will might do, I don't know. But what I want to share with you now is a post from a fellow blogger. I have been following her for over a year now, and I love her blog. She is Tameka over at Imperfection is the New Pink. She wrote this AMAZING post about Dr. Seuss, and I won't lie, it made me cry. I feel the same way she does in just about everything she has set for herself in goals, because I am already in love and married.

Well anyway, I just wanted to share that with you. If I don't get my own Dr. Seuss post, her post says it all for me :)

Something, Maybe

2011-02-27T21:44:00.001-08:00

Something, Maybe

by Elizabeth Scott

5 hours and 23 minutes listening time

Audio book

Grade C-

I have two words for this book: Totally forgettable. I had to actually think, and think HARD, what this book was about before writing this review. And so here is what I can remember (remember I barely finished it last week on audio), there was a girl, the main character, and her name was Hannah, and I only knew that because I just looked it up. Hannah's mom was/is a soft porn star and her dad is, well her dad is based loosely on Hugh Hefner. She doesn't see her dad very often, but Hannah is known all over her school for her parents.

This book had the potential of being really really cute, and there were parts that were cute, but then crashed and burned. If I didn't know better, I would have thought this was the author's first book.

Anyway, I would just skip it.

Excuse me...

2011-02-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

How freaking awesome is my husband? He was at the library at UNLV today, saw this on their "Just In" shelf and he picked it up for me!

Oh I am in nerd heaven right now. Yes, NERD heaven!!!!

I keep trying to tell myself that I really should finish my Obama book, my book for book club this weekend and my Vegas book that I have been reading.....but it's about Harry Potter.....How can I possibly say wait??

Ugh, maybe if I stay up all night to read one of my previously started books, I could start this one tomorrow?

What to do! What to do!!!

Room

2011-02-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

Room

By Emma Donoghue

366 pages

Read on my Kindle

Grade B

I can sum this book up in two words, Beautifully Depressing.

The story is written from the perspective of a 5 year old boy. He was born in an 11x11 size room where his mom lived as a captive. There are no windows, there is only one door that is locked and only one person has the combination to the door, and neither the mom or the boy have the combination, only Old Nick.

The beauty of this book comes from the innocence that Jack, the child, holds. The author did an amazing job of capturing how simple and amazing life is through the eyes of a child. AMAZING. That was my favorite part of this book. Jack was so incredibly lovable. Reading it as an adult, you realize the adult issues that are underlying, but you get to live them through the experiences of Jack.

I really can't express the beauty of this book. I know that my Book Club Bitches (it's what we call my IRL book club) didn't like it, but I really really enjoyed it. I really wish I would have finished it before our actual get together so I could tell them how much I loved it. Now I will just have to wait until next month :P

Anyway, it's really good. I don't care what anyone says.

Anna and the French Kiss

2011-02-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

Anna and the French Kiss

By Stephanie Perkins

Grade B+

After like a million reviews on this book, I figured I might as well just read this book. A-mazing! Ok, picture this....getting shipped off to PARIS for high school....HELLO!!! I think it would have been incredible to have spent my high school years in another country learning the language, the culture, the everything. As amazing as that would have been, Anna, the main character, only got one year, her senior year.

I freaking loved this book, and I cannot tell you one reason why. But maybe I could tell you 5 reasons. I loved that it took place in Paris. I love that it was a boarding school. I love that were was normal teenage drama. I loved the characters. And last but not least, have I mentioned that it takes place in Paris?

Here is the thing, what I loved about this book is the friendship that grew into a relationship between Anna and Etienne. So much about their relationship reminds me of my husband and I because we started out as friends, just hanging out, and then well.....we got married.

My favorite kind of books are the ones where I feel like I am actually friends with the characters, and that is how I felt while reading this one. I finished it in practically one sitting, staying up until 3 am to finish it. The second I finished it, I wanted to pick it up and start it over.

And since I am completely and totally all over the place with this review......I will just end it now. My review is totally not doing this book the justice it needs, so please, just read it. It is really cute, and I will probably read it again before the year is over.

Just Listen

2011-02-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Just Listen

By Sarah Dessen

400 pages

Grade C

If you haven't noticed, there is a trend in my last couple of books...books about music. Or rather, books with a huge emphasis on music. And of course, they are all YA. I am pretty sure this is my fourth or fifth Sarah Dessen book also, and if you don't follow her on Twitter, you should because she is awesome.

Ok, onto the book. Maybe it's because I have read so many of her books, that I was pretty expectant of what was going to happen next. The super cute lovable girl that of course has her own quirks, falls for the guy she never thought she would, then all of a sudden, there is a terrible issue, the character and her man fight, and 12 pages before it ends, all conflicts are resolved and everyone is happy.

Although the story line is pretty much the same, I really really really iked this one. mainly because I LOVED Owen. I really liked how he just wasn't afraid to be himself, and how he used music to get through so many of his issues. I loved how he could relate to music so completely, an dhow he just wanted to show the world the beauty of all types of music. It was weird reading some parts because found that I do that with people and music. I am always saying "listen to this, and this is amazing, check this song out" etc.

So even though this wasn't my favorite Sarah Dessen book, I would put this in my top three of her books.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

2011-02-07T22:05:00.001-08:00

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

By Morgan Matson

Grade A-

There is nothing I move more than a book about music...well except a book about books (ie The Thirteenth Tale). But books about music....AMAZING!

The story line with this book was cute, it was fluff, but look, the fact that these kids were able to tour the country... I have always wanted to just drive. Get in the car and drive. We used to go on road trips all the time with my dad growing up, and maybe that is where my obsession with road trips have stemmed from. But I found myself just really wishing I could be there with Amy and Roger.

One of my favorite parts was right in the beginning when they are driving through Nevada. They were both getting nervous because there was a whole lot of nothing as they were driving. And that is EXACTLY what driving through Nevada is like. A whole lot of nothing....It's a terribly boring drive, and it's a scary drive too because it really feels like you are just on a conveyor belt with the same scenery with an occasional...nothing. That's right, there is the occasional nothing.

I really enjoyed following the growth of Amy. It really made me feel great to see how she overcame the issues in her life. And I really liked Roger as a character. He was just so.....neat. I don't know how else to put it.

Anyway, the other thing that is awesome about this book, is that each chapter is accompanied by a play list. Yes, each chapter has their own soundtrack. How freaking cool is that! I cannot wait to start downloading!!

Did I disappear?

2011-02-02T20:01:00.000-08:00

In the immortal words of my almost three year old daughter "NAHHH" I am just busy reading. See here is the thing, everyone in my IRL circle last year gave me crap because I listened to a lot of audio books. So this year, I am reading more in print. But I have done, what I normally do, and that is I have started like 8 books, 8 different books than I had already started.....

Currently I am reading:

Anna and the French Kiss

Room

The Potluck Club

Etiquitte

365 days of Good Manners for children

Tales of Old Las Vegas

Jeebus I need to get it together. I am hoping I will finish Anna and the French Kiss in the next couple of days. And then I need to finish Room which was actually the book for last weeks book club, and THEN I need to get on the next book for my next book club. I think my problem is this, I just really really love to read, but I also a multitasker. This is why audio books work so well for me because I really have a hard time concentrating on reading when I am not doing 12 other things. BUT, I am working on it.

So there you go. I am here. I am still reading, it's just hard to finish one book when all I can do is start more.

The Help

2011-01-26T19:33:00.001-08:00

The Help

By Kathryn Stockett

18 hours and 19 minutes

Audio book

Grade A

Sooooooooooooo, I decided I needed to re-read this book. I started it on audio right before my husband and I went out of town for our anniversary. When we got on the road I asked my husband if he would mind if I restarted it. he didn't mind, so I did. And you know what was totally awesome? He GOT INTO IT! He listened to it the whole time we were out of town, and then when we got back, he wasn't done listening, so he would listen on his own, which I totally didn't think he would do.

Ok, so I read this book last year, and when I had recommended it to a friend of mine, I started it again when she did. I TOTALLY fell in love with it all over again. When I finished it, I wanted to start it again right away. That is how you know a good book.

I am pretty sure I cried 5 times more this time than I did last time I read it. I cried because I was so sad that Elizabeth couldn't love her daughter, and I cried because the daily struggles Minnie went through, I cried because Skeeter overcame her obstacles.

This book is just so incredible. The ending is a little eh, but the book as a whole, is just amazing. I will probably re-read it again before the year ends, it's turned into my new Harry Potter haha.

So why are you still here, go RUN to the book store, buy it, read it, and put it on your shelf, because you will want to read it again, and again. And if you don't, I will be sad.

Awakened

2011-01-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Awakened

By PC Cast and Kristin Cast

304 pages

read on my Kindle

Yikes, I am kinda behind in my reviews, and it looks like I have neglected my blog for a while. Anyway, Awakened. It's the 8th book in the House of Night series, or what I would like to call "The House of Crack" series. Last year I read this entire series in about two weeks. When this book came out I pre-ordered it so it would be here at my house when I got home from work. Well after everything I ordered at Christmas, Amazon waited to email me the DAY that the book was released saying that my debit card on my Amazon account was expired. Stupid Amazon tried to charge an expired card. So I fixed it so my order would ship. I went in and inactivated the expired card. I then decided that I couldn't wait for the book to get here, so I downloaded it to my Kindle.....where they tried to run the expired card again.....::sigh:: Eventually I got the correct card charged and got my freaking book (obviously). And the day I finished it on my Kindle, it showed up on my front door.

Anyway, it was a good book, not great, but the series isn't life changing, just addicting. The reason why this series drives me banana sangwich is because, yes the books pick up right from the last sentence of the previous book, and they are mostly all action packed, but I HATE that they end the books at such a cliff hanger. I mean, WHAT? I am not going to post spoilers, but how do you END a book that way?!?!?!? And now I have to wait until November to read the next book. UGH.

All I know is that I am going to make sure my debit card info is correct in my account FIRST and then place my pre-order.

Around the World in 80 Days

2011-01-21T22:30:00.001-08:00

Around the World in 80 Days

By Jules Verne

Audio: 7 hours and 51 minutes

Grade B+

Since I am behind in my reviews, so this one won't be as thorough as I would like.

I really really liked this book. It was a re-read for me, but I always enjoy this one. The plus side is that it is also narrated by Jim Dale which is my favorite ever.

I can't wait to start reading this one to my daughter when she gets a little older, I think it will really get her imagination running with all the same adventures. Also I know this book is like a million years old, but it never really felt old. Like Alice in Wonderland was just old, but this one never really was too old.

So there you go, a terrible review of a book I liked a lot. That is what I get for procrastination. Or rather, that is what you get when I procrastinate.

My piles of books

2011-01-01T17:47:00.001-08:00

This my friends is my book collection. At least I am sure this is all of it. I could be wrong, but I have books in every little hidey hole around here. I have sorted them into three piles as you can see, a to be read pile, a read pile, and a "I started it but haven't finished it yet" pile. I was really shocked and a little upset with myself that my read pile was so small, but I just have to keep reminding myself that most of the books I read this year were audio from the library, and I also loaned out about 8 books, and I still don't know who has them.

So the stack with three piles are the books that I still have to read. I am ashamed to say, that I will probably not read most of these this year, but you know, I am going to try...

The stack that includes The Stand and Narnia, is my read pile. This pile does not include the HP books or the Series of Unfortunate Events, mainly because we keep those books put up and for show right now. And like I mentioned before, I have loaned out like 8 books this year, and they are all missing, and I have no idea who I loaned them to.

The last and smallest stack that is topped with Johnny Cash's book is the pile that I have started. I have started all these books over the past year (except for the George Carlin book, I started that one before I got married like 8 years ago and didn't even realize I even had it, so I shouldn't even consider it in this stack since I don't even know what the first part is about). I am about 10 pages into most of these and just never picked them up again, but not because they are terrible, but because I would just grab the next best thing and start that one. I WILL finish this stack this year. I have to. I hate looking at it, so for that reason alone I want to get through them.

So well there you go. My crazy stacks of books. I am going to do this again half way through this year and hopefully the stacks will change.

CHEERS!

A year summed up

2010-12-31T16:42:00.000-08:00

So I lost count somehow and messed up, I only made it to 114 books this year, not 115, and I am half way through two books that I was hoping to finish today, but it's just not going to happen.

A quick summary.....

My most favorite books this year, in no particular order:

The Help
The Book Thief
The Thirteenth Tale
Thirteen Reasons Why
The Hunger Game series

My most favorite characters:

Tiny Cooper (Will Grayson Will Grayson)
Ron Weasley (Harry Potter)
Lisbeth Salandar (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Grandma Mazur (Stephanie Plum Series)

Least favorite characters:

Prof Umbridge (Harry Potter)
any character in Kurt Vonegets books
All of the characters in The Magicians
Sookie Stackhouse
Bella Swan (Twilight)

Most kick ass character ever written:

Lisbeth Salander---Hands freaking down

A few books that I can't even remember reading:

Love the One You're With
Everyone is Beautiful
Some Girls Are (even though I slightly remember that I did like this book)

Worst books all year:

The Magicians
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

I am changing things up this next year with my list. I will be participating in a challenge that is 111 books in 2011, but not 2011 books in 2011 like my husband thinks I should do. I am also going to change up my side bar with my list of books. I am not going to have a preselected list this year, since as you can see how well I did with the list from last year. I am just going to add the books to the list as I finish them and my to be read list will just be stored on my GoodReads account.

I am going to make sure that I read more printed books this year because my cousin and close friend think that I cheat by listening to audio. Little do they know that I actually retain more and pay attention more with audio mainly because I am a multi-tasker and when all I am doing is one thing, my mind wanders and I lose focus. So my goal is to read at least 4 print books a month, this also includes on my kindle. I also want to decrease my unread books at home. In a little bit I am going to separate my books into read and to be read, take a picture, post it, and then in the middle and the end of the year, do it again to show the impact that I have done. This post might even wait until tomorrow depending on how sassy I feel tonight.

So that is it everyone. I really hope everyone has a far better 2011, as I had the worst year of my life this year and am totally looking forward to bigger and better things.

Happy New Years, and see you on the other side :)

Two for the Dough

2010-12-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

Two for the Dough

By Janet Evanovich

352 pages

9 hours and 2 minutes listening time

Grade C-

As quirky as these books are, and has much as I want to like them, I am just not feeling them. At all. I really don't have a bunch to say, because these books for me, are terribly forgettable, very corny, cheesy, and they do not capture my full undivided attention.

Maybe my biggest problem is the narrator and while I am listening I keep thinking "how the hell is Katherine Heigl going to pull off this character. Katherine Heigl is just to.....put together (?) for this part?* I don't know. For me it's like hearing Brittney Spears is going to play Lizbeth Salander. It just doesn't seem like it's going to work. But since I don't work in Hollywood, we shall see. She might totally throw me.

I am going to finish the series, mainly because as bored as I am, I do want to know what happens in the end, so I guess, that is a start to liking it? I felt the same way about the Sookie books, and I ended the released books and still don't like it, but I will also read the others when they are released.

Ok, tangent over. And so is this post!

*By no means does this mean I do not like Katherine Heigl, I actually love her and have watched almost everything she is in. I just can't picture her in this movie.

The Great Gatsby

2010-12-31T16:14:00.000-08:00

The Great Gatsby

By F. Scott Fitzgerald

180 pages

4 hours and 53 minutes listening time

Grade A-

In a mad dash trying to meet my adjusted goal to 125 books this year, I searched all audio books that were less that 8 hours seeing as I can usually bust those out really fast. This one came up on my search on Audible.com and I figured I would try it out. I asked Matt if he had read it, and he said yes. I asked what it was about, and he said, "it's about a guy that likes a girl and then I don't remember what happened." Seeing as my husband can tell you everything about every book that he has read, I figured this book would suck if he hadn't remembered anything about it.

But you know, I really really enjoyed it. It was about a guy that likes a girl. But the guy actually loved the girl and tries to steal her from her husband, and then a bunch of bad stuff happens. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. I was very surprised too seeing as I don't typically like books that are more than 10 years old; don't ask my why because I have no idea.

Either way, I was going to wait to do the review on this one until I watched the movie, but seeing as it is 12/31/10 and the movie hasn't shown up yet from Netflix, I figured lets tie up all loose ends here before the day ends. I am excited to watch the movie though because Paul Rudd is in it (I ordered the most recent version of it), and I really like him.

Anyway, it's a quick easy read, and it's enjoyable. If you have been hesitant in reading it, just pick it up, spend a few hours and get it out of the way. Plus then you can say you read one of the books that they have in those huge posters on the wall at Barnes&Nobles.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2010-12-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

By J.K. Rowling

784 pages

Grade A+

So look, I have written and re-written this review about 8 times, and nothing that I write comes out how I want it. So instead of trying to be sophisticated and smart like, I am just going to write like I talk and get out how I really feel, inside and out about this book.

If you haven't read the HP series, you really just need to. The entire series really sets a standard for all other books, children's, YA and adult books. The world that J.K. created in this series is incredible, unbelievable and phenomenal. The struggles individually and in the wizarding communities as a whole are so realistic and so perfect. The emotion that shows through in relationships, in Harry's feelings towards his school, and even as something as simple as his owl touch my heart every time I start this series.

This book in particular holds so much tragedy, and sadness, and just raw pain. I have read/listened to this series over 20 times, no joke (probably more like 30) and every time the Battle of Hogwarts starts, I get tense and agitated, and will typically cry. I cry for the pain, the loss, the struggle, the action, and in the end, the happiness.

I LOVE how this series ended. It was the perfect ending to a perfect series. And when I say a perfect ending, other authors should read and re-read this book and figure out what they are doing wrong.

And let's not forget that the audio version that is narrated by Jim Dale is absolutely incredible. I love Jim Dale. He is just utterly brilliant. As a matter of fact I have searched for other audio books read by him just so I can continue my ear affair.

Harry Potter is my favorite series I have read. They might even, as a whole, be my #1 favorite book(s) ever. If you haven't read them, just go do it. Stop putting it off and do what is right. Read the magical world of Harry Potter. And then buy me and my family tickets to the Wizarding World in Florida, because at that point, I would literally be in heaven.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge

2010-12-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

So I found this blog and decided to participate in this little activity. I thought it was really neat and well, I love showing off my books. So a little background to the pictures below...

The first book is in our living room. My husband made it however it is not yet completed yet. But on the left of the shelves is the Great Books that we inherited from my grandparents. Below those are some, and when I say some, I mean like a quarter, of the computer books my husband has. I guess when you are a programmer it requires you to own every book on every type of programming language, or at least that is what he tells me. To the right of the Great Books on the top shelf are my books. They are in no particular order, nor is that all of them. I tend to leave half read books everywhere. On the second shelf there are my daughters books, and then some more of mine, and on the bottom shelf are some more of mine, and my collection of Real Simple magazines.

The next picture is our "nice and old" books. There is two copies of Little Women and Little Men that I discussed in a previous post, and some other books that we keep dear to our hearts.

Next up is our Series of Unfortunate Events. The only reason that collection is all pretty like on a shelf is because, well, it's a really pretty collection :)

And last but not least is our set of HP books. The first book is missing because it is in my daughters room since we started reading it to her and as you can see, it's behind glass. I take my HP very seriously :)

And so there you go, there are most our books. I left out pictures of my cook books, the computer books in the office, the bookshelf in the office closet and the bag of books my cousin gave me.

One for the Money

2010-12-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

One for the Money

By Janet Evanovich

334 pages

8 hours 34 minutes listening time

Grade C-

Bleh. I know that a TON of people including half my online book club, my mom, and my grandma, that just adore this series, but I am going to go against the grain. I don't know what the hype is. I was bored for the most part and it was just eh. I thought that the author tried entirely to hard to make it funny, and so the parts that should have been funny, were just....not.....

I mean don't get me wrong, there were parts where I did a mildly amused chuckle, but nothing that made me LOL like Chelsea Handler did. And it makes me sad because my grandma will try to tell me about the current book in the series that she is reading and she can't make it through a sentence without bursting into laughter and then I can't understand anything she is talking about other than a word here and there mixed in with her chuckles.

And because I am not a quitter, I am going to continue on with the series. I am doing this for one of a few reasons. The main reason being that they are quick reads, and since there isn't a lot of depth to it I don't have to pay 100% attention to it like I did The Thirteenth Tale.

Oh and would you like a quick overview? Well the main character Stephanie Plum is down on her luck and is unemployed. She decides to go to work as a bounty hunter for her cousin. Her first FTA (failure to appear) is a guy that she used to sleep with. She has quite the time trying to capture him. And that is the story....Not much depth and I didn't really like the characters either (why am I going to continue with the series???)

Either way, I am going to finish it, but I am not going to be happy about it. If I can get the second book done before the end of the year, I will blog about it separately but if I don't, I will just do one post summing up the rest of the books when I finish the whole series.

Would I recommend this book to anyone? Probably not, but I also wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it if they wanted to. Over all....just eh.

Along for the Ride

2010-12-08T21:28:00.001-08:00

Along for the Ride

By Sarah Dessen

416 pages

12 hours and 46 minutes listening time

Grade B-

Oh Sarah......Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, you trapped me into one of your books once again, and I love you for it.

I have read quite a few books by Sarah Dessen, and like other authors I know ::coughSophieKinsellacough:: if you jam all their books together in one shot, you will get tired of them. Fortunately for me and for Sarah, I split her books up. So they are a lot more enjoyable.

This one in particular has the same story premise, perfect/troubled girl gets thrown into a very out of the ordinary situation, meets a guy that is not her type that she falls for, and then completely changes into a more well rounded fun loving girl. I am not saying all her books are like this, but chose at least two of those three and you have a SD book.

I think I liked this book so much because the main character Auden reminds me so much of my BFF Christina. Great student, spends a lot of time studying, working towards being great. Her parents (Auden, not Christina) got divorced and her dad remarries and they have another baby. Auden decides she wants to spend her last summer before running off to college with her dad and her stepmom, and of course the new baby. She learns a lot about herself, her dad, her stepmom, and about other people over the summer. It was a light quick read (or listen) and I really enjoyed being in that world for a little bit.

I will also say, that I love the name Auden, and I loved her brother's name Hollis. I just liked the 'out of the norm' feeling they had.

Anyway, if you have read one SD book and liked it, you will like them all and Along for the Ride is no exception. For a quick, fast, easy going read, pick this one up.

The Tattoo Chronicles

2010-11-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Tattoo Chronicles

By Kat Von D

240 pages

Grade B

As previously stated in past reviews, I watch a lot of reality TV. One of the shows that I watch is LA Ink, which is a show that stars Kat Von D owner of High Voltage Tattoo. I started watching this show about a year ago, and the seasons that I missed or didn't complete, I just got from Netflix. I have enjoyed the show, especially when they feature the tattoos, and not so much the drama that they have created. Anyway, Kat wrote this book, and because I felt like as a dedicated fan, I needed to pick it up.

So the cool thing about this book was it's layout. I really thought it was neat and creative. I also really liked the personalization of the book. I was a tad disappointed because I was expecting more in depth thoughts and stories behind the tattoos, instead it was more focused on her relationship with Nikki. I also wished that more of the entries were about her more famous friends as opposed to the average joe client. That could have been for a few different reasons, the reason I like the most is that maybe she couldn't get clearance from some of the average joe clients to publish their stories, but I am afraid that it is because she mostly tattoo'd her famous friends. Does that make her to "Hollywood", I don't know.

I enjoyed that I feel like I got to know Kat a bit more from this book, and you know, she is pretty down to earth. I also liked her photography shown in the book, and it was interesting to see some of the collections that she has.

And speaking of Kat being totally down to earth, I got to meet her tonight at her book signing. I have never been to a book signing before so this was a really fun experience. The book signing was at 6, I got there at 330. It wasn't really that bad of a wait. I had my daughter with me until 5pm when my husband came to pick her up. I am proud to say that I got numerous compliments about how great she was behaving, which makes me happy, because maybe we are doing something right as parents.

The best part about meeting her was I mentioned to her that I remembered her tweet a few weeks ago about how she heard a saying "This too shall pass" and I had tweeted back to her with a picture of my right wrist where I have that saying tattoo'd. Well she never tweeted back, but tonight I replayed that, and she gave me like three more hugs and told me how much she loved it and how cool it was and how I need to remember to live by it. In other words, she rocked.

On top of how how cool it was that Kat was there, Rooftop and Dan Smith were there too. They are WAY hotter in person, and really awesome and down to earth. And I was lucky enough to get pictures with all of them.

Little Women

2010-11-09T19:09:00.001-08:00

Little Women

By Louisa Mary Alcott

464 pages

19 hours 20 minutes listening time

First half Grade B-

Second half Grade B+

I have been listening to this book for months, and months,

and MONTHS. I started it about 4 months ago, and I really had a hard time getting into it. I won't lie. I also had a VERY hard time with the very proper English, but hey, I'm a girl of the 2000's, even though I was born in the 80's but whatever. Either way, I had a hard time with it.

I added this book because when I was a little wee reader, my dad worked nights. But he was/is an awesome dad and even though he couldn't be there some nights because he was working on making a better life for us, he got an awesome babysitter for us at nights. Her name was Louise and she was a great person. Just a genuine great human being. She passed away when I was little and what I is that she fell and broke her hip. The little family she had, got her to the hospital and that is where she eventually passed away. However before she passed she touched the hearts of everyone on our block. When she passed, her family came and took what they wanted from the house and left the rest for us to rummage through. I only remember that it was raining that day and all her stuff was outside being rained on. I was able to save three things from that day; Little Women, Little Men and The Giving Tree. I still own all three books to this day. My dad got a little "everyday prayer" case and I can't remember what my brother got, but this is all I have left other than the memories I carry of dear Louise. The pictures here are of the book that I saved.

Before I actually give a review of this book though, I will have to say I think I am the ONLY person I know, well one of the only persons, that hasn't read this book. So many people I know read it when they were younger, and I really hope Lucy might want to read it while she is younger as opposed to almost 30, like me.

Ok so off to the review, and I really hope I don't spoil any of it for people who haven't read it.

So anyway, I think this book is somewhat similar to Anne of Green Gables, where everyone is just NICE and GOOD to each other. So many people pass through my day where I just want to shout out to them, DID YOU PARENTS NOT TEACH YOU ANYTHING???? Everyone was just so polite in this book. Now I know I might not be the nicest person, nor the most polite, but I will tell you, I try because I would rather be like the characters in this book as opposed to anyone on TV or even in real life.

Everyone that I talk to about this book loves Jo, but I am going to go against the grain and saying that Jo was not my favorite. I think my favorite was Beth, she just touched my heart and I was so sad at one part that I was crying in my car on my way to pick up my daughter.

And Laurie and Amy, can we talk about them? Except I don't even know what to say. I don't know if I like them at all. I mean as individuals, they are wonderful, however together, I am just unsure how I feel about that whole situation. I really wanted it to be Jo. It just seemed to be where they were headed...why did Jo have to make the choices that she did. And speaking of Jo....Jo and the professor...REALLY? I mean I totally saw it coming after she turned down Laurie, but it wasn't any less disappointing or odd for me.

The part that really captured me was when Meg is having problems with the twins and her marriage starts falling apart. It is SO easy for a new mom to totally wrap herself around her kid and not thinking twice. I am pretty sure when Meg goes and talks to her mom about her situation that had to have been my very most favorite part of the whole book. The mom gives the best advise and handled it perfectly.

There was so much about this book that I didn't know how I felt about, but you know, it all worked out. Jo was such a great character, but I won't lie, Beth was the one that touched my heart. She is the one that when I look at life say, maybe it won't always be like this, just LIVE life. LOVE life. ENJOY life.

I should have finished this book a long time ago. If I could have skipped the first 10 hours, then I probably would have finished it sooner. But either way, I did it, and this book really, truly, honestly contributed to the completion of "what books will complete my life" list. Although it took me FOREVER, it will stay with me for the rest of my life.

The following pictures are from books my cousin sent me. These books belonged to my grandma, whom passed away, and she had given them to my cousin. When my daughter was born, my cousin sent them to me to have. When my daughter is older, I will give them to her. I have two copies of a book that helped change my life. The fact that they are from two people that have helped shaped my life, means so much more. Now, I listened to the audio, because, you know how I do,but mostly because the copies that I own are so old, and have so much meaning to me that I couldn't bare to open them and ruin their pages with my finger smudges.

I am the Messenger

2010-11-05T22:26:00.001-07:00

I am the Messenger

By Markus Zusak

368 pages

8 hours and 38 minutes listening time

Grade B

I don't really know where to start with this book. I have heard so much awesomeness about it, and it was GREAT, however not as good as The Book Thief.

Ed is just passing through life. He has no goals, no ambitions, and the girl he love only likes him as a friend. One day an Ace shows up in his mailbox with three addresses. As he goes to each address listed, he sees something that needs to be fixed. Each issue that Ed finds, he grows as a person.

The story is really nice, it is heart wrenching in others. I won't lie, I cried, a few times. However I did not bawl like a little baby girl as I did in The Book Thief. I might even say this book was mildly life changing. Either way, it's worth the read.

And sorry this review isn't very detailed, one I am exhausted and probably should have just waited until tomorrow, and two, if I say too much, it will give a lot away and I don't like to ruin things.

Skinny Italian Night 2

2010-11-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

So tonight I made Pork Chops Alla Salvia with a side of Rosemary Potatoes. I also sauted some garlic cloves in olive oil.

Hello, look at those potatoes, they are amazing.

So the pork chops called for some of Teresa's Quickie Tomato Sauce. It's really super simple, like way more simple than I was expecting. The issue I came across is that I didn't think it was seasoned enough. I am not HUGE fan of tomatoes and I especially am not a fan of red sauce, but I still gave it a try.

The first thing I learned was that when I was heating the oil to start the sauce, I should have put the tomatoes in right away, instead I waited until the oil was really hot, and when I poured in the tomatoes, they splattered EVERYWHERE. And since I don't learn from my mistakes, it happened again when I added the tomato sauce to the pork chops. So lesson learned, I won't be doing that again.

The other great thing about dinner was that Lucy ate it. She didn't seem to want anything to do with the noodles last night, but she ate all the potatoes tonight, but she didn't eat the meat, but she has been having a little bit of a meat diversion anyway.

I was going to take pictures of the finished product, but Matt and I ate it before I remembered I needed to do that. There was only one other issue with dinner, there was only enough left overs for one lunch tomorrow. Matt and I almost had to box it out on who got it. I only won because I told him since I cooked it, I got the left overs to which he said "well I helped" to which I answered "you opened the can of tomato paste" to which he repeated, "well I helped" and we went back and forth for about 10 minutes until he finally conceded and now I get awesome lunch tomorrow!

Score!

Skinny Italian

2010-11-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy it Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too!

By Teresa Giudice

256 pages

not available on audio

Grade A

I am not going to lie, I watch reality TV. I am not proud of this, but well, it is what it is. One of the shows that I watch is The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I also watch Jersey Shore, American Idol, LA Ink, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which I will tell you is NOTHING compared to NJ.

ANYWAY, in the last season of TRHNJ, Teresa talked about this book, as well as at the reunion. I also follow her on Twitter, and she mentions it a time or two on there. So, yes, I am a tad obsessed, however not enough to pay attention to smut magazines that are slandering her marriage. So ok I went off on another tangent.

I decided I needed her book and when I saw it was 20% off at Target, it was an impulse buy. One of the best impulse purchases that I think I have ever made. I love the little tid bits from Joe, her husband, and I really enjoyed the part where Teresa talks a little about her fashion background and how you need to carry yourself with confidence etc.

So I finished this book in two days, and decided that for the rest of the year, every night I am going to cook from her book. This is exciting for a number of reasons. Reason #1, I normally only cook the same 5 things over and over again. Reason #2, I LOVE cooking and am always looking for new recipes, however I never really cook them more than once. Reason #3, this gives me more of an incentive to actually cook outside my comfort bubble.

Tonight the first recipes that I made was Gorgeous Garlic Shrimp and Sin-Free Linguine with Parsley Sauce. Unfortunately, I am not going to post the recipes on here, because they are in the book, and you should get the book! However, the two that I did tonight were incredible. I will say, I probably need to work on the sauce for the linguine because it is made from red potatoes (which is so incredible) but I think I needed to thin it out a little more. However it was incredible, as you can see from my husband pictures below,

Here are a couple action shots of my ingredients.

Of course wine is one of the biggest ingredients :)

And as you can see my extremely handsome husband is totally enjoying it :)

Anyway, Skinny Italian, awesome!

Books are easier to forgive

2010-10-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

So in light of my new announcements, this weeks' Books are Easier to Forgive I got the following:

Skinny Italian by Teresa Giudice

The Tattoo Chronicles by Kat Von D

The Fledgling Handbook 101 by PC Cast

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

and I also have an advanced reader's copy (ARC) that is on tour with my online book club called Mother's and Other Liars

I am hoping to have the Fledgling Handbook finished tonight, because as you know the House of Crack, I mean Night, books had me up way passed my bedtime until I was finished with the released copies. Then onward to the Skinny Italian!

Wow! Over 100!!

2010-10-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone caught this, but I just surpassed my 100 books :)

All congrats will be accepted and appreciated! So I think I mentioned before that I am unofficially upping my goal to 125, I have a few books that I REALLY want to get done before the end of the year, such as The Count of Monte Cristo, (finish) Little Women, the rest of Matt's picks and a few other ones that I have been putting off.

I am going to keep up the momentum that I am on now, and what I mean by that is I am not going to revert back to Harry Potter and Twilight. I am enjoying the recommendations and I really like being able to talk about something other than Dementors.

A goal that I am setting for myself to get me through the rest of this year (other than another 25 books) is that since I just picked up the Skinny Italian, I am going to cook. I counted 58 recipes, but some of those are sauces, or pizza dough or whatever. So I am going to cook my way through this book between now and December 31st, somewhat like Julie from Julie and Julia. This is going to do two of many things for me. It will one, force me to start cooking more at home, because I would rather order a pizza than do the dishes, and two, force me to read an entire cook book, because I am FAMOUS for buying many many cookbooks and only using one recipe out of the book.

So here is to another goal. And I will be sharing my results right here on this blog because I really cannot start another one. Oh and I will be updating this blog with some of my baking adventures.

Oh! And I am also going to be updating once a week with the books that I got that week. A bunch of my blogger friends do a "In my Mailbox" but I am going to call mine "Books are easier to forgive" because I always get in trouble with the husband when I buy stuff, but he never gives me shit for buying books. Of course, if I don't buy any new books, I will not be updating that week.

And so there you go!

The Sookie Stackhouse series 1-10

2010-10-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse

Dead and Gone

Dead in the Family

By Charlaine Harris

All on audio

Grade C-

If you haven't heard of the Sookie Stackhouse books, you might be living under a rock. Not only is it a series in paper, it is also a huge series on HBO called True Blood. I will admit that I hadn't seen the show or paid much attention to everyone that had talked about the series. I knew about it, but really didn't want to get involved. Well I came across the entire 10 books on audio for free about two months ago, and said what the hell.....

So from what I hear, because I also haven't done any research on my own and since I don't really care I am not going to, so from what I hear, Sookie started before Twilight. Which is wonderful for Charlaine Harris, but completely makes me hate Stephenie Meyer even more. A short list of similarities, there is a mind reader, there are werewolves, there are vampires, there is a small love triangle thing between a werewolf and a vampire.....super lame Stephenie....super lame.

ANYWAY, I think the only character that I have read that was more annoying than Sookie, is Bella herself. Sookie is just sooooo soooo, stupid. The only thing that I like about Sookie is that she can survive without a man, particularly her vampire.

Now all the 10 stories are running together, I cannot tell you the main points individually for each book. What I can tell you is this, the story in each book builds and builds and builds then at around the 6.5/7th hour of each audio book (they are all about 9-10 hours long) something crazy happens, then everything dies down, and then about a half hour before it ends, there is a huge climax again, and then BAM! end of book. And the other part that really bothered me is that anyone and everyone that did something bad, whether it was spilling milk at the table or murdering 15,000 people, admits to it, how they did it, and why they did it every single time. And they admit to everything. It's really annoying because instead of the mystery being solved, all of a sudden someone is knocking on Sookie's door waiting to tell their life story.

The other thing that really bothered me about these books was the way Sookie talked. For instance, every time she mentioned her "word of the day calendar", I rolled my eyes. And there is a lot of sex in this series. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. And the sexy parts isn't what bothered me, but dude, Sookie is supposed to be something like 27 in the book and she would refer to a man's penis as his "Mr. Happy" ::barf::. Grow up Sook, grow up because you sound stupid, oh wait, it's because you are.

Now I never followed the show, and I was going to start, but I watched the first episode of season one, and was so freaking bored that I gave up. And Sookie in the show was equally as annoying as she was in the books. So there you go.

Maybe you're thinking right now, 'if she didn't like the books, why did she invest over 95 hours of listening time' and my answer to that is this, I was totally waiting for it to get better. I was waiting for Sookie to maybe go back to school or something and become smart. I don't know. I don't know why I invested so much time in these books. Either way, I can say now that I have read them and get passed it. And my life has not been changed in anyway.

Now it is the workings of the Sookie books that I am taking a vampire vacation for an unspecified amount of time. I just need a break, however, I did buy The Fledgling Handbook 101 by PC Cast while in waiting for book 9 of the House of Night books to be released.

In conclusion, some of you might like the Sookie books, I know many of you have. All I know is that I was bored and could care less when the next book comes out because I probably won't pick it up right away, if at all.

The Hunger Games trilogy

2010-10-17T23:10:00.001-07:00

Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

By Suzanne Collins

Grade A+

Hunger Games was a book that I kept putting off and putting off. I would read post after post from my other blogger friends about this series and I was forced to overlook most of the posts because I didn't want to catch any spoilers. And then came the special day in my life about two weeks ago when I turned on the audio book, and was BLOWN AWAY. This series is incredible.

Hunger Games starts off introducing Katniss and her family who live in District 12. Each year, 2 children from each of the 12 districts are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games in which the children battle to the death until only one is living. Prim, Katniss' little sister, is chosen for the Games but Katniss volunteers to take her place. The rest of book one is her journey on the Games.

Catching Fire picks up right where Hunger Games leaves off and it had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Mockingjay picks up right where Catching Fire leaves off, and totally just blows you away. There were parts where I cried, parts where I was SO angry that I couldn't hardly see straight.

***SPOILER ALERT***

So in Hunger Games, the underlying love story is between Katniss and Peeta. Peeta announces to the Capital that he has been in love with Katniss for almost his whole life. Katniss is taken back by this because she never wanted to fall in love, and plays on the sympathies of the nation and acts like she too is in love with Peeta. When they come home, Gale, Katniss' childhood friend, expresses interest in her, leaving her completely torn. The decision on whom she wants to be with and who she can't survive without lies in Mockingjay. There is a part in Mockingjay where Katniss is in between sleep and awake and she hears Peeta and Gale talking about her and wondering which one of them she will choose ::coughEclipsecough:: but it was a nice underlying story

***SPOILER ALERT OVER***

I just want to say that there are some truly terrifying sad and depressing parts in this book. There are some truly wonderful and jump up from your seat to shout HURRAY parts. There was one part towards the end of Mockingjay that literally made me sob like a little girl. It was so devastating, I really don't know how the author could leave it in.

But regardless, this series was flat out INCREDIBLE. You would be doing yourself a horrific disservice if you passed it up.

The Thirteenth Tale

2010-10-03T19:46:00.001-07:00

The Thirteenth Tale

By Diane Setterfield

432 pages

15 hours and 40 minutes

Grade A+

I had to start this book twice on audio because it was just a slow start. And the book in general is just a slow start, but if you can get into it, STICK WITH IT! This book is amazing, incredible, intriguing, suspenseful, everything that I look for in a book! Plus it's a book about a book, so that makes it even better. The writing is beautiful, the story is captivating....How many more adjectives can I use to describe this book?

So a quick overview, Margaret Lea is hired to write the biography of Vida Winter a reclusive author whom is also incredibly famous for her books. Many have tried to write the biography before, but she gives them false stories. Margaret has wonder if Vida is giving her the real story. As the interviews continue, Vida's health weakens, and Margaret is also forced to become a detective trying to find out if what Vida has told her to be true.

That is as simplistic overview as I can give, without giving away too much. Once you get into the story, there really is no turning back. The characters are so well developed, and captivating. The story had me holding my breath at times, something that only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows and The Book Thief has been able to do. There were times when I simply could not do anything but listen to the narrators voice on my iPod willing her to speak faster so that I could know what was going to happen next. I will also say, that the narrator was incredible. There are two female narrators, and at first I didn't like it, but after I got used to it, I really liked it. The voice of Margaret....there was a certain sadness, even desperation in her voice that completely added to her character, and the voice of Vida was firm, definite, and cocky, but perfect for her.

I am disappointed in myself for putting this book off for so long. I really wished I would have read it sooner. However, I was also in such a book slump it was nice to stick this in the middle.

I will read this book again, and I will probably buy it in paperback too, just to have around. This book will also be placed in my top 5 favorite books this year, possibly bumping The Book Thief down to #2.

There is simply not enough I can say about this book other than just read it. If it's been on your To Be Read list, just pick it up, you will not be disappointed.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-09-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Alice in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll

2 hours and 57 minutes listening time

Grade C-

If you haven't read this book, then you need to. Mainly because it's one of those classics that just needs to be read. I don't have a lot to say about this book because everyone knows the story, seen the movie, or heard the references.

So if you haven't read it, pick it up and read it. It's a really quick easy read. It does seem a little outdated, but really, all real classics are. You just have to get passed that and on to the real story.

Alright, listen up....

2010-09-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am still trying to get through Sookie. I have an hour left of the 7th book, and honestly, I don't know if I can bring myself to get through the last three. However, I think once I get through this one, I am going to take a break, read the four books I need to for my book clubs (I am a little behind) and then go back to Sookie. I just need it to end. I know most of my bookish friends say life is to short to read bad books, but I don't think I have turned off a book yet without some intent of finishing it later.

So after my hour of Sookie #7 is over, I am going to read, Alice in Wonderland, The Thirteenth Tale, The Council of Dads, and Hunger Games.

I am soooooooooo freaking tired of seeing all the blogs that I follow post about Hunger Games because I haven't read it yet, and can't comment on any of them yet. I was saving Hunger Games to do a buddy read with one of my co-workers but she is trying to read Sookie and the House of Night books, so she can't, but thankfully, my local library hosts monthly book clubs, and October is Hunger Games. So there. That's my excuse.

So I should be back to my regular blog posts soon.

PS, my lack of getting through Sookie might also have to do with the fact that Netflix is now available on iPhones, and The Office happens to be on view now....all 5 seasons, and seeing how I never have seen it before, I am spending my days listening to The Office instead of Sookie. Which in my opinion is a much better choice ;)

Adios, Nirvana

2010-09-04T22:14:00.001-07:00

Adios, Nirvana

By Conrad Wselhoeft

Release date 10/25/10

240 pages

unavailable on audio at this time

Grade B+

This is the third advanced reader that I have finished, and it was also on my kindle making it just that much more fun to read.

So Jonathan, the main character, is a struggling teenage boy, whom recently had to deal with his twin brother dying. After his brother Telly died, he won a contest for his poetry, and became somewhat infamous because of it. The story around all this was great. Now I give this book a B+ because I don't think the author really dug in deep with the characters. Other than Jonathan, you don't get a lot of emotion. I really liked how Jonathan grew though.

Jonathan was probably one of the more interesting characters, and he was very much grieved with the loss of his brother. I didn't really like the relationship that he had with his mother, and I didn't much care for his mother in general to be perfectly honest. I did however, totally love the author's reading style.

Following Jonathan on his journey, and meeting David and Katie, I really think he turned into a great guy. I also really enjoyed the musical references and the guitar references. I was reminded of my brother during some parts of this book, so I kinda was able to make a reference.

All in all, when it eventually comes out, it is worth the read. I finished it on the plane ride home today, so if you don't like it, you won't have a huge amount of time invested.

A whole week huh?

2010-08-26T21:16:00.001-07:00

Oh geez, I can't believe that I haven't updated in over a week. Wanna know why??? Because Miss Sookie Stackhouse has consumed my life. I am currently on book #5 of the series. I am still totally indifferent about it. I don't love this series, but I do want to finish it.

I haven't read a paper book or anything on my kindle for almost two weeks, but it was because I had an eye infection or something and couldn't wear my contacts and could only wear my glasses. I don't like to read with my glasses because I get headaches.

However, now that I am back to normal, I can't wait to get caught up. I have like 8 books to finish for ARC that are about to expire. Yikes! Maybe I should have participated in this challenge over at Book Crazy. Ah well. I will finish them. I am sure of it.

On a side note, I am going to surpass my original goal of 100 books. Hell I am pretty sure I am going to meet this goal by Labor Day. So I am hereby increasing my goal to 125. And so there you go.

Book Blogger Hop

2010-08-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give this a try today. Book Blogger Hop is hosted over at Crazy-For-Books.com. You enter your link and then check out all the other book blogs that are listed so that you can find new and fun blogs to follow. I always like new followers so I thought I would check it out this time.

Each week there is a fun question too, and this week it is:

How many blogs do you follow?

According to my Google Reader, I follow 69 blogs. I do try to read every post as well, but if the book doesn't look to interesting to me I tend to skip that post. However I do follow some friends, mommy blogs, and gardening blogs which I tend to read every post they do.

Well there you go, my first blogger hop! Let's see what happens!

Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu

2010-08-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu (ARC)

By Charise Mericle Harper

176 pages

Not on audio at this time

**Second Kindle book :)

Grade B

So listen, I totally get that this is a kids book, but remember this is an advanced reader copy, and it was not only an honor reading this book, it was complete fun! I loved how the author TOTALLY caught the thought pattern and the spirit of a 10 year old. Several times I had to remind myself that I was not reading the diary of a 10 year old.

I also didn't know prior to reading this book that there is a whole series of Just Grace books. And now that I know, and after reading this one, I simply cannot wait to get the rest of the series to read to my daughter. Because frankly, I totally think that little girls can relate to Grace. I know that thinking back, there were so many situations in this book, that take me back to my own childhood. The fact that the author was able to put my childhood thoughts into words, and into actual feelings, caught me, and will always have me as a reader.

Thank you again to the publisher, Houghton Miffin Books for Children. They opened me up to a whole new series of books, and not just me, but my family too. And that my friends, is the heart of everything.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

2010-08-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

By Steig Larsson

576 pages

20 hours and 20 minutes listening time

Grade B+

Here is the thing, I have been sitting on this review for a month or so now. A MONTH! And you would think that I would come up with WAY more to say about it than what I am going to. So I am sad to disappoint.

This book did not live up to my expectations. I was expecting SO much more. So much more in depth umph that I got with the first, and mildly with the second books in the series. But I just didn't. Ok now I LOVE Lisbeth Salander; she has got to be the most bad assed female character in any book I have ever read EVER. And I like Mikael Blomkvist. I enjoyed the rest of the characters. But it still just lacked umph.

The thing is, I spent the whole book wishing that what I thought wasn't what was going to happen, because as much as I like being right, with this series, I wanted to be surprised and with the first two books I never knew what the heck was going on. With this one, I always knew what was going to happen next.

So here is the deal, you need this book to finish the series. But this series is just like Back to the Future. The first is the best, the second only bridges the first and the third, and the third is just an oddball, but you need closure. Jumping jiggawatts, I am glad this review is over!

PS, I HATED the ending. Period. There could have been a million and one ways to end it, and the lamest way was picked.

PPS, I also know that Mr. Larsson died before this book was complete. Maybe that is the problem, but either way.....Just think Back to the Future....

A special post, just for my dad

2010-08-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

What is it like to read a book on a Kindle?

So far I have probably 18 books on my Kindle. I have been going CRAZY downloading books from the Amazon website, however most of my books have been free. I did click on the wrong book once and had to pay $8 for a book that I didn't mean to, but what ever.

I love that it will fit in my purse. I can take half my library with me everywhere. You can also play on the internet with it, but that is pointless for me because I can do that on my phone.

However, I really like the screen, and I like how easy it is to hold. I thought when I first bought it that I might have made a mistake, but really, I love it. It's crazy light, and like I said, it FITS IN MY PURSE. I take this think everywhere with me. I really do need to get a cover for it though, in case anyone that is reading my blog wants to buy me a present. I am afraid that I am going to scratch the screen soon without one. But I am searching for the perfect one ;)

So my point is, the new Kindle is only like $139 now. Of course they wait until two weeks after I buy mine, and three days after I throw away the box to come out with the new one, and the next model. But it is so freaking worth it. And books are way cheaper on the Kindle. And did I mention, you can carry it in your PURSE. But, dad, since you don't carry a purse you can carry it in your satchel, cause, you know, Indiana Jones carries one ;)

The Twilight Series

2010-08-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn

By Stephenie Meyer

a bunch of pages

days worth of audio

Grade.........I have a hard time saying because sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it....so yeah.

Ugh....I don't really know where to start. I have read/listened to this series about 100 times. Probably more. And here is the thing. The first time I listened to Twilight, I was like huh? A 100 year old man is sneaking into this 17 year old girls bedroom and spends the night every night? WTF. And what gets me about this book, is that they talk like twice in school got out ONCE which wasn't even a real date, and BAM! they are in love. It really reminds me of the Disney movie Enchanted, where Giselle is in the park with Robert and Robert says "You are going to marry someone after only knowing them one day?" to which Giselle replies, "And tomorrow will be TWO days!" Only in Disney movies and Twilight do the characters fall in love with each other in a matter of hours and with little to no character building.

Then you have New Moon, and surprisingly I TOTALLY related to it. To this day, New Moon is my favorite of the series, which is strange because I am totally Team Edward.

Then you move on to Eclipse and well, hmmm it's well, the fork in the road of the series because Bella has to make the BIG choice...Edward or Jacob. And if you are any girl, duh you would pick Edward. Yes, Jacob is a great guy and in the movie, he is totally hot, but really? Bella was made for Edward.

Finally comes Breaking Dawn which is like the Titanic of the series....Half way through you can see the boat starting to sink, but you just can't get off because you are waaaay to optimistic and keep hoping that the boat won't really sink, but then at the end, well you are gasping for air and hoping a life boat sees you. Breaking Dawn is the ONLY book I have ever read that introduces 900 million new characters all with ridiculous talents and then have it go NO WHERE.

But in the long run, I guess you just have to give it to Stephenie Meyer. She found a way to write a character with no personality willing to destroy her WHOLE eternity to a vamp guy and throw everything else away for him. As we find from New Moon, her entire existence depends on Edward. And then even though Jacob is willing to give her a normal life, she turns that all away, for Edward. And not only does her non-personality written characters attract anything with ovaries, her books are addictive, like completely addictive.

So props to Stephenie Meyer for finding the million dollar recipe.

Lock and Key

2010-08-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

Lock and Key

By Sarah Dessen

432 pages

11 hour 14 minutes listening time

Grade B

Dear Ms Dessen, I love you. Sincerely, Randi.

How many Dessen books have a read so far? I don't even know. All I know, is that I am not done, and I cannot wait to start the next. With so many authors you get the same story, different characters. Like Nicholas Sparks, EVERY book I have read of NS has been the same 'lost love finds each other and loses it again, and then finds it again' story. Sophie Kinsella, same thing. So far with Sarah Dessen, she hasn't done that....at least how I take it.

This book didn't fail. 17 year old Ruby, the main character, lives with her mom, however one day, her mom disappears. And a month later, her landlord shows up and sees the terrible mess that she is living in, and calls social services. Her sister Cora, who is ten years older, comes and brings Ruby to live with her. The terribly heart wrenching story that goes on in this book is just completely incredible and beautiful. Sarah Dessen does such an amazing job with the emotions for each of the characters in this book. She really captures it all.

I was terribly impressed with this book, and like I said earlier, Sarah Dessen has a fan for life.

It Started with a Dare

2010-08-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

It Started with a Dare (ARC)*

ByLindsay Faith Rech

312 pages

Not available on audio at this time

Grade C-

First off, I would like to announce that not only was this my first book I read on my new Kindle, but it was also my very first Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) that I was privileged to. So I would like to give a super huge wet slobbery thank you kiss to the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Next on my agenda is to tell you about this book. CG is the new girl at school, again. She is trying to make a name for herself so she can be popular at this new school, and somehow manages it. After falsifying almost everything about her, dun dun dun, the truth comes out, and shortly, she has to try and redeem herself.

As much as I wanted to love it, and I REALLY wanted to love it, I didn't. I didn't not like it, I just didn't love it. There were cute parts, there were funny parts, but in a whole, it just didn't do it for me. I think the problem was, as much as I love YA, there are some YA that are just too YA (shocking right?) and for me, I think this book was just too YA. The girls featured in this book were Sophomores in high school, I deal better with Seniors.

This book however, would be a great read for my younger cousins, the ones that are either still in high school, or very shortly out. I think that way younger girls than me will really like it, maybe even relate to CG, as she struggles to fit in in high school, which really is a challenge to all young girls.

So many parts of this book made me think of the movie Mean Girls. I was TOTALLY waiting for one of the girls in the 'cool' group to say "On Wednesdays we were pink." Kind of a let down for me when that never happened.

In summary, if I was 18 and not 28, I would probably love this book. However, I sadly am no longer 18. Which really is difficult for me to say, because I would love to be 18 again. Ok, tangent over. If you are a die hard YA fan, this will be a book for you. Like I said, there were cute, funny and cutesy funny parts. But there were also terribly self absorption, bad influencing, and boring parts. And if you do read it, as an FYI, CG's parents let her off WAY to easy. If Lucy did any of the things CG does in this book, well let's just say, I might beat her.

The Undomestic Goddess

2010-08-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

The Undomestic Goddess

By Sophie Kinsella

432 pages

12 hours and 5 minutes listening time

Grade C+

This is like the 100th Sophie Kinsella book I have read. As a matter of fact, other than the Shop-a-holic books that she has written (which I refuse to read), I think this puts me having read all her books, give or take one. What I like about them, is that her main character is always a goofy, smart, totally lost, but very strong mid twenties girl. The main characters are always easy to fall in love with, and they are even more loveable with their little quirks.

The Undomestic Goddess did not fail me in all of the above. I also have quickly learned that Sophie's main character will always fall in love, ruin it somehow, but always ends up with them in the end, some what like all Sandra Bullock romantic comedies. There, I have spoiled all her books for you in one shot, and most of Sandra Bullock's movies.

So in this book, Samantha, is a top lawyer at her firm and she is working on becoming a partner. She effs it up and ends up in a small town in the country. Due to a misunderstanding, she ends up a full time house keeper, however, she doesn't know how to iron, cook, clean, work a vacuume, or dust. Yadda, yadda, yadda, she ends up learning all that stuff.

It is actually a very cute book. I enjoyed it, I did. The ONLY problem that I had, was that it was the fourth Sophie book for me, in just a few short months, and actually I read three other ones within the last month.

So, great book, but I really should have spread them out, because I have learned that Sophie Kinsella books are somewhat like banana splits, you never think you can have too much until you are elbow deep in crushed pineapples and chocolate fudge and your tummy hurts.

Twenties Girl

2010-08-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Twenties Girl

By Sophie Kinsella

448 pages

15 hours and 5 minutes listening time

Grade C-

Out of all the Sophie books I have read/listened too, I disliked this one the most. I really have no reason for disliking it, however I did. Maybe it was the un-probability of it? Or the shear strangeness of it? I don't know, either way, it was cute, but I just didn't fall in love with it. I LOVED Remember Me? and Can you keep a Secret? But I just liked this one.

See I think the part that just bothered me about this one is, the main character, Lara, goes to her great Aunt Sadie's funeral. While the funeral is going on, she sees the ghost of her Aunt Sadie, and the is haunted by the ghost throughout most the rest. I found her Aunt Sadie to be a very irritating character, I kinda felt Lara was too. I usually love the main characters in Sophie's books, but in this one, eh. Didn't feel it. at. all.

So my dear Sophie fans, skip this one....you will thank me later.

Sex Lives of Cannibals

2010-07-28T19:49:00.001-07:00

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

By J. Maarten Troost

272 pages

8 hours and 35 minutes listening time

Grade C-

FINALLY! This book has been on my To Be Read list for AGES. And when I say ages, I mean AGES. Because I am one for covers, I picked this book up probably 4 years ago at the book store because of it's catchy title and it's interesting cover. I have moved this book from house to house, from room to room, and then eventually I succumbed to the truth that I was just never going to read it and donated it about 6 months ago. Well on one of my online book clubs, we did a buddy read, and this was one of the only books that my "buddy" and me had on our lists. So I went and found it on audio so I could finally do the almighty cross off the list.

As much as I wanted to like this book, because I really really really did want to like it, I struggled, and struggled. It took me a week and a half to finish an 8 hour audio book. After the first half, I started to get a little more into it. This couple, Maarten and Sylvia move to Tarawa, an island that seems to have been forgotten by the rest of the world. But their adventures are pretty neat.

The power is only on for parts of the day, there isn't hardly any water. The natives eat dogs and cats because there isn't any wildlife on the island. The islanders only listen to the Marcarena, and their customs are very strange. However the author's humor is very dry, which is usually something I really like. So I am not sure if it was the narrator that I wasn't 100% in love with or what. But it is a funny book, but I was kinda let down after all the years it took me to finally read it.

Big Boned

2010-07-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

Big Boned

By Meg Cabot

280 pages

7 hours and 58 minutes listening time

Grade B+

Big Boned is the third book to the Heather Wells Mysteries), and this series, it's just plain silly. The whole murder mystery thing just got really really repetitive, seeing as Heather is once again mixed up in a sticky situation in "Death Dorm." As crazy unrealistic as this book is, I think that is the appeal is holds for me.

As much as I wanted Heather to annoy the crap out of me, as annoying as she was, I really couldn't not help but just love her. And I really really did. She was such a nice genuine person. And she handled really bad situations in the best way she could. It is also very strange how dedicated she was to her job at the dorm, I mean residence hall. But her dedication also kinda made me love her more.

So this book is quick, just like the other two. You don't really have to think. at. all. when you are reading this book. There aren't any "deep" parts, but it is a fun little series. Completely unrealistic, but fun.

Can you Keep a Secret?

2010-07-19T21:26:00.001-07:00

Can you Keep a Secret?

By Sophie Kinsella

400 pages

10 hours and 38 minutes listening time

Grade B+

I need to take a brief moment and just say that I kinda really really love Sophie Kinsella. I first read Remember Me? a few months back and loved it, and then I found this one and fell in love with it too. I thought at first I might not like it because it sooooorta started off like Remember Me? but after about 30 minutes, I could see that it was headed in a different direction. And although there were similarities, like a flustered eccentric female Brit, it was so refreshing of a book. I literally laughed out loud listening to this book, which books that can do that automatically get a mark in my book.

Ok so maybe a little run down of what happens....

Emma, my flustered eccentric female Brit, takes a plane from Scotland back to London, when there is some serious turbulence. She FREAKS out thinking she is going to die, and then spills every. last. secret and detail to the man sitting next to her. Things like she doesn't like to wear thongs, she is not totally in love with her boyfriend, she puts OJ in her co-workers plant so it will die, etc. The secrets just keep getting crazier and crazier, and then, they land.

She gets off the plane and says good bye to this mystery man, and goes about her life. Shortly after, her company gets on high alert because the founder of the company is coming to check in and dun dun dun, the boss man, is the man from the plane.

Thats all you get from me regarding the plot, but I totally recommend this book to everyone because I personally think this author is amazing. I plan on reading everything else that she has written, with the exception of the Shopaholic books because I tried to listen to the first one about a year ago and got terribly depressed because I started thinking about my own bad shopping habits and debt like the main character had, and so I just turned it off.

This book, you won't want to turn off!

Size 14 is Not Fat Either

2010-07-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

Size 14 is Not Fat Either

By Meg Cabot

368 pages

9 hours and 10 minutes listening time

Grade B-

These books are just silly. I started with Size 12 is Not Fat because honestly, the title was catchy and I liked the cover. The first book was cute and funny, and this book was the same but a little more over the top. As much as I liked it, it almost seemed like Meg Cabot was just trying a liiiiiitle too hard for this one.

It, again, is a murder mystery book staring the famous Heather Wells, her roommate Cooper, and her ex-fiance super star Justin Cartwright. The murders start, and Miss Wells joins in the chase to find out who the murder is.

I found myself laughing at parts, but really, Heather Wells thought process is a little jumpy. One minute she is thinking "Well they might have used a carving knife to stab that person....." and the next thought is ".....ooooh, a carving knife, that means maybe there might be a cake around here that will be covered with cherry pie filling, and honestly, everyone loves cherry pie filling." So yes, it is very random, but it's cute, a fast read, and is very light, minus the murders.

No I must finish Big Boned which is the third book in the series, because I tend to like to finish the series once I have started them....except that one book, what was it called? Aw yes, the Queen of Babble series, which ironically is written by the same author. Well I guess, sometimes you have a winner, and sometimes, you have a boring book. But this series, well, it's definitely not boring.

The Truth About Forever

2010-07-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

The Truth About Forever

By Sarah Dessen

400 pages

12 hours and 14 minutes listening time

Grade A++

OH I just loved this book! I thought it was one of the cutest books that I have read in a really long time. The main character, Macy, reminded me so much of my BFF Christina, that it was scary. It is probably why I liked the book so much, because it made me feel like I was with her. Although the story was nothing like her life, Macy was just so much like her. And Christina, if you read this book and don't think it is like you, then just know, it really is :)

The characters were just so lovable in this book. Not one in particular, but all of them. And it always holds a great place in my heart if the book makes me laugh, smile, cry, causes some sort of anger and then makes me feel good afterwards. As a matter of fact there were like three parts in this book that which I was listening to it at work I almost jumped out of my seat and yelled "YES! FINALLY!" And there were also other parts when I just wanted to slap Macy's mom in the face.

But in the long run....GREAT book. Well done Sarah Dessen, you have found yourself a fan for life.

That Summer

2010-07-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

That Summer

By Sarah Dessen

208 pages

4 hours and 38 minutes listening time

Grade C-

Ok here is the skivvy with this book. It was cute, it was a YA, and it was a very quick read. I thought it was cute how the main character wanted everything about her life to go back to the way it was "that summer" when she felt everything was perfect. I liked how she grew and learned that things just weren't as they seemed.

As cute as this book was....it was forgettable. I really love this author, and I plan on reading all of her books, because the latest one I read that I will be reviewing later tonight as well The Truth about Forever, was wonderful. But this one, really was forgettable.

So if you want something really really light for the beach....this would answer your calling. If you are looking for life changing....that it is not.

Young Las Vegas

2010-07-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Young Las Vegas

By Joan Burkhart Whitely

236 pages

not available on audio

Grade A+

A very good friend of mine told me about this book, and seeing as him and I were both born and raised here, I figured that I would check it out. I am second generation Las Vegas native. You don't find many of us here anymore. I will tell you a few reasons why you don't find us here. Because most natives learn early on, that Las Vegas is a really hard place to be happy 12 months out of the year. It is ridiculously hot here in the summer. This book describes when the original auction for land was held it was in March, and by August of that year, most of the residents had left due to the heat. I don't blame them. Without AC Vegas is almost impossible to bare. Pools weren't build here until sometime in the 20's. And they created "AC" by putting ice blocks in front of fans.

The best part about this book was that so many of the people mentioned have buildings named after them. William Beckley was a prominent man in society with his chain of clothing stores, and the elementary school I went to was Will Beckley. Another prominent figure K.O. Knudson was shown in a picture performing a play in Lee Canyon, and the middle school I went to was K.O. Knudson.

I was able to see pictures of the high school that my dad, uncle, aunt, and husband all went to as it was being built and read stories about Mrs. Frazier that was on the school board and she was the one that pushed to get the school built. There was many of days that my dad would drive my brother and me around his old high school and he would point out Frazier Hall.

It is just so amazing to read of all the different parts of town and their evolutions. I totally recommend this book to anyone that is native to Las Vegas, well hell, anyone that wants to learn about it. Las Vegas is an incredible town, but honestly, how this town was able to flourish with this heat I will never know.

I can't wait for the next book about Las Vegas that I put on hold at the library.

The House of Night Series Books 1-7

2010-07-07T17:46:00.001-07:00

The House of Night Series:

Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, Burned

By PC Cast and Kristen Cast

A bunch of pages

Many hours of listening

Grade A-

Two weeks, and seven books. I was so excited to get to book seven thinking that I would be done because this series has consumed my life for the last two weeks. However, book seven is not where this series stops and to my utter shock and horror, book eight will not be out until January 2011. FOR SHAME!

Anyway, this series is about vampyres. Not to be confused with your normal vampires. The neat thing about these vampyres is that you don't get bitten to change, you get marked by a tracker. You are then marked with crescent moon tattoo on your forehead. You are then called a fledgling. The other great thing about these vampyres is that everyone knows about them too. They aren't a big ol secret and most of the famous people in the world are vamps.

So anyway, Zoey gets marked and heads to the House of Night, the vamp school. It is there that she meets a bunch of other fledglings such as Stevie Rei, Damien, Shaunee and Erin (the Twins) Aphordite and Stark, and then her life changes. For.ever. Zoey finds that she isn't your average fledgling and her friends are pretty special too. The only thing that I had a hard time with in these books, is that conveniently they always seem to know what to do in a pickle.

I cannot tell you where one book starts really and where the next ends. I literally devoured these books, staying up way passed my bed time, reading on any and all breaks, and giving Matt totally silent car trips as I couldn't put it down long enough to even talk to him in the car.

They are action packed with somewhat predicable outcomes, but I have not been so attached to a series since Harry Potter. This is in no way in comparison to Harry Potter, but I really could not put it down.

So here is your warning.....if you start these books, be prepared to devote a week or two.

Size 12 is Not Fat

2010-07-05T20:54:00.001-07:00

Size 12 is Not Fat

By Meg Cabot

368 pages

10 hours and 5 minutes listening time

Grade C+

Catchy title right? I thought so, and that is how this book ended up on my reading list.

This has to be one of the oddest murder mystery books I have ever read. It was cute, and I liked it, however it was just flat odd. Why do you ask? Well because of the fact that the main character, Heather Wells, is an ex pop star, turned dorm room (I mean residence hall) advisor. See Heather fell on some hard times when her record label dropped her, she walked in on her fiancé with another woman, and then her mom ran off with her manager stealing all her money. So she takes up this job at a residence hall at New York college. Everything seems to be going as well as they can be, when all of a sudden, dun dun dun, girls in the residence hall are being murdered.

Heather takes it upon herself to find out what is really going on, which is all fine and dandy, except she has the most random thoughts during each really intense part. I found myself thinking, why the hell would she be thinking that when this is going on. She was a little annoying in parts, but all in all I think Heather was a good character because she really was a strong person.

This is the first of three books in this series, and I hate to say it, but I will be finishing the other two mainly because I just want to see what happens to Heather in the long run.

If you are looking for a quick, light hearted (besides the murder part) beach read, this would be your book.

*****************************

On a couple of side notes.....

1) I will be reviewing the Twilight Series this week. I have a few cutesy ideas on how I wanted to do it, and now is the time to apply my ideas. In this review I will also do a short review of each of the movies to go along with the books.

2) I got Youth in Revolt the DVD delivered to me last week, and seeing as I read the book earlier this year, I thought I would try out the DVD. I couldn't even finish it. I turned it off not even half way and sent it back. Lame.

3) The House of Night series, that I was NOT going to read at all has taken over my life. I have been reading them in paper as opposed to audio because I am finishing them faster than I can move up on the waiting list at the library. It is a sick sick addiction. As a matter of fact I started them two weeks ago and I am on book 7 of the series. I really kinda hope this is the last one because if it isn't and I have to wait for another I might literally go crazy. Anyway, when I finish book 7 I will be doing the review for these books as a whole series because I have been reading them so fast that they are all running together for me.

And that is where I have been lately, instead of writing reviews for the books I have recently read, I have been laying on my couch reading the House of Night series. Thank you cousin Shauna for getting me started :P

The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children

2010-06-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children

By Keith McGowan

192 pages

2 hours and 47 minutes listening time

Grade B+

What a great book. It's a children's book, but I loved it. Based off the story of Hansel and Gretal, this book is wonderful.

I really really enjoy when they make the main characters (when they are children) exceptionally smart. Like in the Series of Unfortunate Events, Sol and Connie, are smart and quick. I like how the book makes them out to be just incredible characters.

This book also tells the perspective of the evil witch and her plans to eat the children, and also how she gets them and how she cooks them. It is very interesting to see both perspectives.

I can't wait until Lucy is a bit older, and I will read this book to her and tell her that I know where the witch's drop off stations are so if she doesn't start behaving....well off to the glue factory if you will :P

Slaughter-House-Five

2010-06-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

Slaughter-House-Five

By Kurt Vonnegut

288 pages

6 hours and 4 minutes listening time

Grade B-

I finished this book about two weeks ago, but I had to wait to post about it for two reasons; One, this book needs some time. You have to sleep for at least 48 hours and then think about it for at least 16. Second, I don't think this book can be reviewed sober. Not saying that I am drunk right now, but I did have two glasses of wine with dinner, so at least my judgement is skewed a little.

This is what I have gotten from Kurt while reading his books; he is on crack, or was on crack, or should have been on crack. If you go into any of this novels knowing this, then it will be easier on you in the long run. I enjoyed this book much more than Breakfast of Champions, however it will not be a book I read again. I was a little confused during most of it because I never knew where the main character was....was he in war? was he on some alien planet....I couldn't figure it out, and right when I thought I knew, he left there and went somewhere else.

I thought it pretty neat that he brought in one of his other characters from Breakfast of Champions. However it was one of the strangest characters I have ever read about.

I would say if you get a chance read this book. It's interesting enough to read, plus it isn't that long. I have also decided that I want to rename my back yard Tralfamadore, and I would like to live in my backyard (with full access to my house) and if people want to observe me doing so, I welcome it...

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

2010-06-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

By Aimee Bender

304 pages

8 hours and 45 minutes listening time

Grade F

Barf. That is one word to totally sum up this book. My biggest issue with this book is that it was read by the author. Normally, I LOVE when an author is awesome enough to read their own books. It really makes them come alive, like with Jim Belushi's Real Men Don't Apologize or with Chelsea Handler's Are you there Vodka? It's me Chelsea. This one though, baby Jesus would have cried. She sounded BORED the whole 8 hours. She never put any feeling into what she was reading, she never tried to make it seem like this was a book worth reading.

After I finished it, I decided to check Amazon for reviews, since I don't read reviews before hand (maybe this book should teach me my lesson), however everyone seemed to love it. I just don't get it. One of the reviews mentioned something about "magic realism" which I don't even know what that means. Maybe it's Na'vi (yes I just made an Avatar reference) for don't read this book.

I don't know. I didn't think there was good character building, and for baby Jesus' sake, she had almost 9 hours to build them. I thought for a minute her brother was going to end up being autistic, or something like that, and it ended up that he just disappeared, or did he turn into a chair or what? I didn't get that part. at. all. And then with the main character tasting the emotions of people through the food they cooked? Weird.

I also had some issues with the characters relationships with her parents and her wanna be boyfriend George. There just didn't seem to be any depth to any of it.

In summary, leave this one on the shelf.

**************************************

And let the record stand that I am not a huge fan of Avatar, it just so happened that we were watching the movie tonight because Lucy loves the blue people, and I didn't know how to spell "klingon."

Also, I just want to remind everyone, that this month Eclipse comes out. So I will be re-listening to the whole Twilight series, HOWEVER, only Eclipse will count towards my goal because I have already read the books so many times. And the only reason why I am starting from the beginning, is because quiet frankly, after reading the Bree Tanner book, I really really miss those crazy vamps.

And on another side note (the side note to the side note of the side note), I don't know if I will be able to last until November to re-read the Harry Potter series. I catch myself periodically each week randomly thinking in my head, rapping to LL Cool J's Goin' Back to Cali song "I'm goin' back to Hogwarts to Hogwarts to Hogwarts, I'm goin' back to Hogwarts, na I don't think so."

I am a self-proclaimed nerd. Big time.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

2010-06-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

By Stephenie Meyer

196 pages

4 hours and 12 minutes listening time

Grade B-

Oh, Stephenie.....Stephenie, Stephenie, Stephenie....There are so many different ways you could spend your time....like finishing Midnight Sun for instance. But no, instead of giving the readers what they really want, you pick the most obscure random character in all your books to write a novella about. I mean Laraunt would have made more sense, James even....but Bree Tanner? I can't tell you how many people said "Who?" when we all heard about this book. I probably only remember because I listened to the stupid series for well over a year on repeat. And I still keep asking myself, why Bree?

However, if you skip over the absolute randomness of character selection, it's actually an okay book. You get a different side of the vampires that you don't really get in Twilight with the "vegetarians". It's even a much different side than the vamps that show up in Breaking Dawn, because you really get to live a newborns life.

I kinda liked Bree, and I kinda liked the characters that she put together. Of course in 196 pages you don't get much time for character building, but she did what she could with what she had. Even though what she had was a world created by herself.

I don't know. If you are a die hard Twilight fan, whether you want to or not, you have to read it, because Twilight to Twilight fans is like chicken nuggets to toddlers, there is no explanation on why we like it, we just do. I think it's because the pages are laced with crack.

But for 196 pages, it is not a huge investment of time, plus you know how it ends. I read it in a day, and really, had I not had a toddler in my lap begging for chicken nuggets most the day, I probably would have finished it faster. So I say, go for it. The only thing you will be left wondering it, will she ever freaking finish Midnight Sun?????

Will Grayson Will Grayson

2010-06-05T15:28:00.001-07:00

Will Grayson Will Grayson

By John Green and David Levithan

304 pages

7 hours and 52 minutes listening time

Grade A

This book was a hot topic on this online book club that I participate in for months. Every other post it seemed had something to do with WG WG. Since you should all know by now, I judge books by their cover and when I saw the cover to this one, I said, "Self, you do not want to read this book, it will be dumb."

I would like you all to know right now, that sometimes (not often) but sometimes, I am wrong. Yes. It is now in writing, that sometimes I can be wrong (but not often). The reason I am wrong this time, is because although the book cover is dumb, and makes me TOTALLY uninterested in actually picking up this book to read it, I thought it was amazing. It was funny, and sad, and depressing, and hilarious, and all around great.

So a quick overview, this dude named Will Grayson has a BFF named Tiny Cooper. Tiny however is not tiny at all he is 300 lbs and totally gay. And not happy gay, except he is happy too, but he is gay gay. Then there is this other dude named Will Grayson (the randomness right?) which is gay gay, but doesn't know he is gay, at least not yet. I mean he has a crush on this dude named Issac, but ends up dating Tiny, when Will and Will finally cross paths....

This means Tiny has a best friend named Will Grayson, and a boyfriend named Will Grayson, although they are not the same....(John Jacob Jingle Hiemer Smith, that's my name too, when ever we go out, the people always shout.....). Which is pretty neat that Tiny can say that he now has two Will Graysons, but to me is a little like dating someone that has the same name as your dad or brother (I would totally freak too BTW if my brother started dating someone named Randi, just a little weird...).

But in any case, I really enjoyed this book. It's a YA (surprised?), and it is about homosexuality, but it is not all about homosexuality, but is it all YA. It's a quick read, that will have you laughing a lot of the way through, so it is worth the chance, if you ever get it.

And by far, Tiny Cooper is my favorite character so far in books this year. Because, Tiny Cooper, my name is NOT Will Grayson, but I can assure you, we all love you!

A quick word from the author.....

2010-06-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

And on a side note, I was given the Versitile Blogger Award recently from Super Librarian. I think it's pretty neat that I got this Award, because it means that one, she thinks I am somewhat awesome, and two, I actually have at least one reader. This makes me happy!

So the rules are this, I am supposed to share seven facts about myself and then pass the award on to 15 other bloggers I've recently discovered. I am going to do half of this because I have seen this award on pretty much every other blog that I do follow already...Plus everyone I follow is listed on my profile, and take it from me, they are all pretty awesome!

So on to me.....seven things huh? Where do I start?

1. I decided to start this challenge of 100 books in 365 days because for two years straight, I am not joking at all here, I listened to NOTHING but Harry Potter on audio. I would start at book one, or sometimes would skip straight to book 4 and listen all the way to the end. When I was done, I would start all over. Then I was introduced to Twilight, and then I would listen to HP and then to Twilight and then go back to HP and I did that for a year. I needed change.

2. I like to garden, as you can see from my gardening blog which is here if you haven't checked it out yet. I know not many have looked at that blog because I only have one follower and it is my dad and step mom. But either way, I have never been good at gardening. I don't know what it is with this year, but I honestly cannot kill much of anything anymore, and it really makes me feel good and proud.

3. I judge books by their cover. all. the. time. as clearly stated in my WG WG post. I try not too, but in the end, if it doesn't have a great cover....I tend to look past it.

4. I started my list of books to read based on what I really have wanted to read all these years, but just to afraid to leave Hogwarts or Forks. I have also added recommendations over the months, or books that I like the covers on and end up reading anyway.

5. I fully plan to exceed 100 books this year. And by a lot, like hopefully 50.

6. Not only do I love to read, I really love to write. The more I have been reading, the more the writing bug has attacked me. I put in at least 30 minutes a week writing, and not on my blogs, but hopefully towards a book that I hope will be published and will be my cash cow so I can some day quick my day to day, and write full time.

7. I am terrified I will never find the career that makes me happy, fulfills me every day (even on bad days), and still pays all the bills. I hope that one day, whether it be writing, or a stay at home mom, or even the clerk at the used CD store (which has always been a dream of mine), I will find the job that really makes me love what I do.

And so there you have it.....7 things about me.

The Magicians

2010-05-31T19:14:00.000-07:00

The Magicians

By Lev Grossman

416 pages

17 hours and 24 minutes listening time

Grade Troll (F-)

One of my favorite blogs Lovely Little Shelf reviewed this blog awhile ago. I have been saving it all this time until I finished this book. I started it about March and yes, I just finished it. My favorite part about her review of this book is this part:

Conclusion: I don’t know what to say. I liked it. I did. I would say give this shot, but go in knowing that it is a “tribute” book. Like tribute bands, they’re never as good as the original and you always leave wondering 1- why that band doesn’t do their own music and 2- why you didn’t just jam to a cd of the original band in your car and save your cash. That’s kind of what happened here. It’s a tribute. If you read it with that in mind, I think that you’ll like what you find.

This is what I have to say about it. First off, a lesson in vocabulary...

Tribute: A gift, testimonial, compliment, or the like, given as due or in acknowledgment of gratitude or esteem.

Parody: A poor or feeble imitation or semblance; travesty

And this one just for good measure...

Crap On: To botch, ruin, or cheapen, make a mess of.

A tribute, maybe. A parody, probably. Crap on, most definitely.

The problem with comparing this book with a tribute band, is that most the time they are most the time easy to get through, unless of course they are a tribute to U2, which even listening to the real band is painful.

This book was so terrible. I just struggled to get through it. Do I remember any of what really happened? No. It was very forgettable. In most of the parts all I heard was "blah blah blah, my life sucks" "blah blah blah Alice hates me" "blah blah blah I am in an imitation land of Naria but I have to fight this really strange human creature but my magic is far less superior than anything they do in Harry Potter."

This book was terribly painful in parts. I also had to suppress laughter because when the narrator tried to do voices one of his characters sounded like Kermit the Frog. Painful, that is what this book was.

I decided that since this book tried the to be too much like Harry Potter, I would just rate it using the rating systems of the HP OWL exams. It is getting a "T" for Troll.

Don't waste your time.

Water for Elephants

2010-05-27T21:49:00.001-07:00

Water for Elephants

By Sara Gruen

350 pages

11 hours and 31 minutes listening time

Grade B+

Ever have the dream to run off and join the circus? Well Jacob does it. After finding out his parents were killed in a car accident, he wanders around, and hops a train. And it just so happens that the train he hops is owned by the Benzini Bothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. He spends the next three months traveling with the circus as the vet.

The author jumps between Jacob as a 23 year old, and Jacob as a 90, or 93 year old. I fell in love with the 23 year old Jacob due to his innocence, humility, and genuine niceness. I fell in love with the 90, or 93 year old Jacob because of his tenacity and his kindness but in a stubborn tired old man kind of way.

If you can get passed the animal cruelty, because I will not mislead you, there is quiet a bit of animal cruelty in this book. But I think without it, it would be to wishy washy. The story, and the love, and the hate, and the genius of this book is just incredible.

I first read this book last year for my book club. I knew I wanted to read it again. I will say that it was a little too soon. I should have waited another year or so. However by the time I got to the end of the book, I fell in love with it all over again.

I really really really enjoyed this book. I really hope you will enjoy this book too. So go buy, borrow, but not steal it. Then let me know what you think!

Audrey, Wait!

2010-05-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

Audrey, Wait!

By Robin Benway

313 pages

Unavailable on audio at this time

Grade A+

Although this book isn't the most life changing book I have ever read, I LOVED it. I laughed and wanted to cry, but I really really loved it. After reading my borrowed copy from the library, I even went out and bought my own copy...shhhh don't tell Matt ;)

Audrey is a 16 year old girl who decides to break up with her boyfriend Evan, because all he could talk about was his band, what he was going to do with his band, how his band sounded....his band, his band, his band. So she breaks up with him. That night at a concert that he is playing at, he reveals the new song, "Audrey, Wait!" All of a sudden Audrey is totally famous, and has no idea what to do with it all.

What I really loved about this book is that it reminded me of how I was in high school, or rather how I would have been if I was really witty. I mean I am pretty witty now as an adult but I don't think I was *that* witty when I was a teen.

However, now that I am an adult, what I really found to be what I related to the most, was Audrey's relationship with her parents. I really hope I am the kind of parent Audrey's parents were. They were easy going, but very awesome. So, do you hear that Lucy? I hope when I am a grown-up parent, I am pretty cool, awesome, funny and yet still your parent.

So in summary, go get it. It's like $8. It is worth buying. And it is a quick read. If you read it and don't love it, come back here and tell me :P

Something Borrowed

2010-05-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Something Borrowed

By Emily Giffin

352 pages

10 hours and 37 minutes listening time

Grade B+

I had previously read Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin and really enjoyed it. I figured at some point I would read her other ones too. Well a few weeks ago, I heard a couple of the girls I work with talk about this one and when I found out it was written my Emily Giffin, I figured I might as well jump on the bandwagon and read it.

I totally enjoyed this book. It is about two best friends, Rachel and Darcy, that have known each other since they were little girls. Darcy gets engaged to this guy Dexter. On Rachel's 30th birthday party, Darcy gets drunk and goes home, and then Rachel and Dexter drink to much and end up sleeping together. The characters were very well developed and I found myself relating to the main character Rachel, but not in the "I slept with my best friend's finance" kind of way, but in the "Always trying to make others happy and proud" kind of way. My childhood friend was one of those somewhat like Darcy that always had to be better than in at everything. I resented it, and do not miss her at all now that we are no longer friends.

This book had a couple of good twists that really kept me intrigued. I have decided that I absolutely love Emily Giffin and cannot wait to read the next book to follow this one called "Something Blue." My library is currently in the process of moving locations so I cannot reserve my copy just yet, but that is ok. I have plenty to keep me occupied until they are set up again.

Anyway, this is a great summer read, or a "beach" read as some put it, although in Vegas we don't have beaches so we just get summer reads out here.

*****************************

On a side note, I have been on a kick recently that I don't feel like listening to any audio books and would rather pick up a book in paper and read. This might slow my momentum down a little, but that is ok, I am passed the half way point in my goal, so if I do slow down a little, I will be ok :)

Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea

2010-05-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea

By Chelsea Handler

264 pages

6 hours and 13 minutes listening time

Grade A

As you all know, I enjoy audio books. I enjoy them 90% more when they are read by the actual author because you get a better sense of the book I think. This book is narrated by Chelsea herself. And, that is why I loved this book as much as I did.

I will be honest, I didn't really know who she was before this book. Now, like a bunch of the other books I have read/listened too, I will be looking up her show, Girls Behaving Badly, on YouTube and Netflix. And I kind of love her now.

So back to the book. I have never, ever, EVER, in my life once snorted any drinks out my nose of any sort. 20 minute into this book, I snorted coffee out my nose. I was laughing so hard at my desk while I was listening to this book, I probably shouldn't have listened to it at work. One of my favorite parts is when she talks about when she got a DUI. She was trying to play sober, however, she was pulled over only blocks from her apartment, except she had passed her apartment. The cop asked her to do a sobriety test asking her to step one foot in front of the other. She retorted back to the cop "Officer, I am wearing 4 inch heels, I couldn't do that sober!"

If you need a light, funny, uplifting book, READ THIS BOOK! Better yet, get the audio because it is HILARIOUS!

Now, I must go run off to find other books written by her!!

**********

On a side note, I got the DVD for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The movie did the book justice, however it was just as depressing and sad as the book. I am a little mad I bought the movie instead of just waiting for it on Netflix because I don't know if my heart can take watching it again.

Queen of Babble

2010-05-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Queen of Babble

By Meg Cabot

336 pages

5 hours and 41 minutes listening time

(this is the abridged version)

Grade D

I didn't realize that this was the abridged audio when I started it, however I will tell you, I don't think I would have been able to get through the unabridged version. I know there are a tone of Meg Cabot fans out there, and I liked the other book that I listened to by her, however, I think the problem with this book was that it was narrated by the same person who did the Twilight series, Ilyana Kadushin. Now whenever I hear her voice, I think of a very insecure, annoying, self absorbed character. Ironically, that is exactly what Izzy is in this book too.

I was very embarrassed with this character, she did some very strange things, that were very awkward. I was happy to be done with this book. I was happy it was over after only one day. Also, I have found out after I listened to this book that it is apart of a series. I will probably not be continuing with the series, and if I do, it will be at a later date.

Harry, A History

2010-05-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Harry, a Hitory: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

By Melissa Anelli

356 pages

10 hours and 58 minutes listening time

Grade F

This book was chosen due to my obsession with the Harry Potter series. I thought this would be like reading the books, a discussion about them or whatever. Instead I got 10 hours of this lady, Melissa, go on and on about how the HP books are fabulous, how it has inspired people, in which they have created a whole new society of people. They have created "wizard rock" bands, and whole online communities. Some of it was interesting, but for the most part.....I was bored. Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting.

What I do know, is that this book was a waste of my time, and it was boring for them most part. I was happy to finally be done with it. It took me almost a month to finish it because I had to keep turning it off.

It is not worth your time.

The Help

2010-05-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Help

By Kathryn Stockett

464 pages

18 hours and 19 minutes listening time

Grade A+

So I finished this book on Wednesday and took a whole day to think about it and think about what I wanted to write. I wanted to do this book the justice it deserves. It is fabulously written, and very......very......perfect. I enjoyed everything about this book. The audio was perfect because there was a different narrator for each main speaker. It really really brought each person to life.

It is a story written about three women, Miss Skeeter, a young white woman that just graduated college and doesn't really know what to do with herself. She is oddly tall for a sweet little southern girl, and didn't have any marriage prospects in college, to her mother's dismay. Aibileen, a 54 year old black woman that has been a maid in the homes of white people for practically her whole life. She has raised 17 children , 16 of them white. She is strong, caring, and just as loving as she can be to the children she raises. And Minny, an outspoken black maid that has been a maid since she was a teenager. She is a mother to 5 children with one on the way, and has been fired from nearly every job she has had.

Miss Skeeter is on a quest to find her old maid from her childhood that has disappeared while she was at college. In the mean time, she finds a job at a local paper answering household cleaning questions. Since she was raised in a home where someone did all the cleaning, she doesn't know a darn thing about cleaning. She seeks the aide of her best friends maid, Aibileen. As they start a relationship by answering the cleaning questions, Miss Skeeter thinks that she should write a book. A book about the stories of a life of a southern black maid.

I loved how Miss Skeeter interacted with the maids, and made them feel as though there wasn't a difference between them. During the times right after the civil war, where black and white were "separate but equal" there was still a lot of racism running rapid though the south, especially in Mississippi, where they live.

Miss Skeeter risked everything she had, including her friends, her family, and her relationship with the 12 maids that told their stories, to help make a difference in the world. One of the best quotes in the book was during a Miss Skeeter chapter while she is listening to the radio driving home from her friend's house:

"And out comes a man's voice, drunk sounding singing fast and bluesy......and I listen to the song, it is better than anything I have ever heard, "You'll sink like a stone for the times they are a-changin'." A voice in a can tells me that his name is Bob Dylan."

I loved this, not only because I am a HUGE Bob Dylan fan myself, but that was what those times were, they were changing. They were about people standing up for the rights of others and for themselves. It took courage to sing about it, but it took even more, to be one of those that stood against the grain.

It is a terrible thought to know that racism is still floating around. It is nice to know that we have come this far, but we still have so much further to go. This book was just incredibly beautiful and endearing. I am so happy that I read it. I will also recommend it to anyone that asks for a recommendation.

I will warn you, there are some tough parts to get through. There is one scene in particular that is very hard to read, but if you can know that the good out weighs the bad, then you will simply adore this book as much as I did.

******************************

On a side note, Matt thinks that I should start using the Harry Potter OWL scoring system with my book reviews. I would love to do that, but am afraid that not everyone would get it if you haven't read Harry Potter.

Speaking of Harry Potter, I am going through some heavy withdraws here. I want so badly to add Harry Potter to my iPod and listen to the sweet sound of Jim Dale's voice and to finally get back to Hogwarts, I can hardly breathe.

And I am STRUGGLING with a couple of books right now. The Magicians, and Harry, A History. I simply force myself to turn them on but struggle to actually keep them playing. I am hoping to get through them and on with my life by the end of May.

Remember Me?

2010-05-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Remember Me?

By Sophie Kinsella

448 pages

12 hours and 53 minutes listening time

Grade B

I don't know how to start this review without totally sounding like every other review out there, but here is to originality!

Imagine you wake up in a hospital from falling and hitting your head. Your teeth are capped, your hair is high lighted, your toned, tanned and the nurse brings in your totally fab Louis Vitton purse. Oh yea, and then your husband walks in, drop dead gorgeous. I thought it was a great story, and I was constantly dying to find out what was going to happen next. I really loved how the characters developed in this book and how Lexi had to learn about her life since she doesn't remember the last three years. I literally read this in almost one sitting and yes, it was a paper read for me.

The thing I really liked about this book, other than it was nice to read an age appropriate book after my last book, was that I really was looking forward to what was going to happen next. I really wanted to know if Lexi was going to find her way. The only thing that kind of bothered me was that her husband Eric, I don't think his character was developed enough. I kinda wanted to see more of their life together. I also thought that the end was wrapped up kind of fast. I could have gone for a few more pages.

I wouldn't say this book changed my life, but I will say that this book was a fabulous way to spend my Sunday.

How to be Popular

2010-05-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

How to be Popular

By Meg Cabot

320 pages

5 hours and 37 minutes listening time

Grade C

First off, there are some YA books that are too YA, and this might be one of them for me. It was cute, I liked it, however I would probably liked it more when I was 15 or 16.

The message in this book however it really good. It is pretty much tells you to stay true to yourself. I liked how Steph learned to overcome her teenage awkwardness. And I liked how at the end, she really didn't change too much. I did like to see how she grew.

Anywho, I will probably suggest this book to Lucy when she is a little older and I think any teenage girl might get a kick out of it. But if you are an adult that likes YA books, this one might just be too YA.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

2010-04-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

By John Boyne

224 pages

4 hours and 56 minutes listening time

Grade A+

I would like to first thank Jacki at Lovely Little Shelf where I found this book. I at first didn't want to read another YA book, I wanted to read a grown up book ;) However when I read her review and found out it was about WWII, of course I had to read it because like I have previously stated, I am terribly intrigued about this time period.

So here I am listening to this book, thinking that it is a terribly innocent book about a German boy who befriends a Jewish boy. And mostly that is what it is. Bruno is 9 and he and his family move from Berlin to the concentration camp in Auschwitz where his father is a head honcho in the Nazi army. The wonderful ting about this book is the pure innocence of Bruno. He thinks they are moving to Out With, not Auschwitz, and he thinks the Fury is coming to dinner, instead of the Furor. One day as he is wandering through the woods, he comes across the work camp and starts talking to a little boy his age named Schmuel, through the fence. Schmuel explains all about the camp to Bruno, who thinks that they have all kinds of fun and sing and dance in the camp.

The book is incredible. I having been thinking about it all day long since I finished it, and I am sure, as with The Book Thief, I will be thinking about it for days.

It is sad, it will tug at your heart strings until you feel like you are being ripped in half. But read it. Invest the few hours it will take to read it, because it's just that good.

Cracked up to be

2010-04-27T18:40:00.001-07:00

Cracked up to be

By Courtney Summers

224 pages

6 hours and 19 minutes listening time

Grade B

First off, I could not find this book on audio when I started, so I did paper read this one.

Second, I went the whole book wanting to know what was going to happen. I could not put this book down, except that Lucy made me on same occasions. Usually, with these YA books, I can normally tell what is going to happen next because it is usually the same story with different character names. However, it was not like this in this book. I was always trying to figure it out, which made it that much better. I even went to Amazon to read reviews hoping for a spoiler, and you know what? No spoilers.

I am glad that I didn't listen to this book on audio because there were some parts when the main character remembers things from the past and you can tell it's a memory in writing. On audio, I usually am lost for a little while until I figure it out. The one thing that I was annoyed with was that I felt it ended too quickly. I really felt like it could have been longer, because she summed the book up in like three pages.

It's not a book that will change your life, but it's alright. Like I said, it was a page turner.

*****

On a side note, I got Anne of Green Gables on DVD yesterday and started watching it. But I had a hard time getting past the first 15 minutes. I felt that maybe it would ruin the book for me, so I am sending it back....unwatched.

*****

On another side note, I am at book 50!!!!! I am half way to my goal. Remember a while back, I posted that if I had 50 followers by the time I get to 5o books, I would do a book give-a-way. I have not reached 50 followers....so no give-a-way this time people.....sorry

The Accidental Billionaires

2010-04-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook

A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal

By Ben Mezrich

272 pages

7 hours and 23 minutes

Grade C

Here's the thing. Everyone uses facebook. Everyone. If you don't use it actively, you have at least checked it out. Well who created it? Who changed the world of social networking? A guy named Mark Zuckerberg, that's who. Well actually, if you get technical, it was a group of people, Mark was just the programmer, but he sorta stole the idea from them. And then he pushed out his co-founder.

So this guy Mark is something like a super genius. He turned down a million dollar job with Microsoft when he was like 17. Then went off to Harvard. Met up with a group of people that wanted his help in creating a social networking site, spun off on their ideas, created Facebook, got his best friend to finance the entire thing, then ran off to California to start working closer to Sean Parker (the inventor of the infamous Napster) and then pushed them all out and then became a billionaire by the age of 24.

It was pretty neat story. I really liked hearing about how one of my most frequented websites and one of my favorites what created. It did kinda piss me off that the developer was such a tard and pushed everyone out. I think however, that he might have a bit of aspergers.

I rated it a "C" because it's not one of those books that will change your life or keep you thinking about it forever, but it was interesting. I will tell you though, when I logged into facebook tonight....I did think about Mark. :)

13 Little Blue Envelopes

2010-04-23T06:16:00.001-07:00

13 Little Blue Envelopes

By Maureen Johnson

352 pages

not currently available on audio

Grade B

Ginny is 17, and her aunt just passed away. One day she gets a letter in the mail from her aunt instructing her to go to her favorite chinese restaurant which awaits a package containing (wait for it) 13 blue envelopes containing instructions on when she can open the next one, and what she has to do. These envelopes send her on a trip through Europe alone.

As with My Life in France, I felt like I was with Ginny sometimes in Europe because the author is pretty good at her descriptions. I liked how it stayed pretty light hearted, and I really enjoyed the little journeys that Ginny was sent on. From London to Amsterdam to Denmark to Greece, Ginny sees it all. And what I liked so much about her tour, is that her aunt didn't want her to be a tourist. She wanted her to see the country as she did, from a lover turned resident. And Ginny did, and she had some downfalls. Her aunt didn't always come through with her letters which helped the predictability factor that usually happens with these teen books. The ending wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. I felt like I still needed more, but am content all at the same time.

So all in all, it was cute, but not a must read kinda book.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

2010-04-22T22:11:00.001-07:00

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

By Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

208 pages

5 hours and 1 minute listening time

Grade B-

I stumbled across this book while looking for something else, but was happy that I did. I LOVED the movie, so I was not too disappointed with the book. I really liked getting into the character's heads. Plus I am a sucker for music, so any book that describes the soundtrack of life or what they feel is great music, etc, really gets me going.

This book was just like that. They constantly talked about what music they liked, how it influenced their life. I will say one thing though. I liked the movie better. This book had a lot of forced swearing that really bothered me, but it was still pretty good.

So in short, it was cute, but I if I were to recommend anything....it would be to just watch the movie :)

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On a side note, Anne of Green Gables showed up in my mailbox today so I am planning on watching it this weekend.