Book Review and Giveaway: In Search of Lucy

'In Search of Lucy'
Author: Lia Fairchild


Format: Paperback
Published: AmazonEncore; Feb. 2012
Pages: 308
Genre: Fiction
Grade: B
Source: Publicist


Synopsis: Lucy Lang's life is spiraling out of control. For years she sacrificed her own needs to care for her half sister and alcoholic mother, only to be abandoned by both. Now, at age 30, Lucy finds herself held back by memories and regret as she struggles to find her own purpose in life. But when her sister needs a kidney transplant, Lucy is the only one who can save her life.

With the help of new friends and a man who won't give up on her, Lucy sets out on a journey to reunite with her sister and find the answers she so desperately needs. Can she get past her emotions and have a chance at happiness? With its colorful and endearing cast of characters, In Search of Lucy takes readers on a rollercoaster of emotions from sadness and heartache to happiness and hope.

My Take: I love a good family drama ... in books! I try to avoid it as much as I can in real life but I do love reading about it in books. Maybe because it makes me feel better about the dramas I do end up having in my own life or because, when written well, you really do feel for the characters and want them to learn and grow and get over the pains of their past. Whatever it is, all of this was very well represented in Lia Fairchld's In Search of Lucy.

Our leading lady, Lucy Lang, is a bit of a lost soul to say the least when the story opens. She is 30 years old, has a dead end job, not a lot of friends, and no serious boyfriend. She is lonely but doesn't want to admit it because she is afraid to lean on people. I admire Lucy because we slowly learn all that she has had to deal with in her past. Her mom was abusive and she practically raised her younger sister Katie on her own. Now all of her family has dispersed and they don't talk to each other. Having given her childhood over to dealing with her family dramas, her young adult life did not get started on the right foot.

However, Lucy does have friends who want to be there for her if she will only let them: Anne and Benny. These two characters bring some much needed comic relief in what could otherwise be an incredibly depressing tale and as Lucy slowly starts to let them into her life they really help her grow as a person. 

When Lucy's family comes back into her life in an unexpected way, it's up to Lucy to confront her past and deal with her present in order to move on and become a fully realized adult. It was a great story, if somewhat dramatically told, that I really enjoyed.

Cover Lust: I love this cover!  I think it really portrays the 'lost' feeling of Lucy.

Giveaway Details
The publicist has kindly offered up one new copy for me to giveaway! The deadline for this giveaway is Apr. 13th; entries open to those in the US and Canada.

To Enter (Mandatory)!
Comment below with a way for me to contact you.

For Extra entries (Optional), indicate that you are:
+1 Follow this blog on Google Connect (see right sidebar)
+1 Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (include @amusedbybooks in your tweet)
+1 Blog/Post about this giveaway on your sidebar

3 extra entries available. Giveaway open until 11:59pm PST Apr. 13th. I will draw the winners using random.org and announce them here on my blog. Good luck!

Books Into Movies: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan'
Studio: Fox Searchlight
Originally Released: 2011
Running Time: 1 hr.; 45 min.
Rating: PG-13


Synopsis: A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.


My Take: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (click title for my review) was one of the very first books I reviewed on this blog. If you want to see how far my reviewing style has come, just read that review! At any rate, it was a book I really enjoyed and so while I had heard that movie was a bit of a disappointment, I was still looking forward to seeing a really interesting book come to life.


Ok people, what the heck happened! Did I miss something in my reading of the book? The movie added a whole modern plot line. I don't remember this and I know my memory isn't amazing but I think I would have remembered this whole back and forth thing. Do they think that American audiences are stupid and can't handle a movie just set in the olden days? Well, that can't be true because they make historical epics all of the time! So, what the heck movie producers! Why did you mess with the story so much!


Naturally my favorite part of the movie was the half that was set in 19th century China and focused on the female friendship that was the laotong. I loved seeing the friendship of Snow Flower and Lily come to life. I thought it was great that they kept that story in Chinese and subtitled it because it kept it more authentic. The foot binding scene, while difficult to watch, was fascinating and the history that surrounded these two women's lives was great to watch come to life.


It saddened me that they dumbed it down with a modern day interspersal but if you loved the book then I do think it's worth watching if only to see the snippets of the 19th century China life in action.


Have you seen this movie? How did you think it represented the book?

Mailbox Monday: March 26, 2012

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and March is being hosted by the lovely Anna of Diary of an Eccentric! Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks and audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!


I hope you all had wonderful weekends! I had a nice relaxing weekend which was great - man I love those! Saturday it was pouring down rain here so it wasn't any fun to go outside although I did manage to get the oil in my car changed and Rob and I went out for a fun date night. Sunday I just ran some errands and then ... Mad Men is finally back! Oh thank gawd how I've missed you Mad Men!


Oh, right you came here to talk books! Just a couple of fun books in my mailbox this week:


From Grant Place Press:
1. Oxford Messed Up by Andrea Kayne Kaufman

From Amazon Encore:
2. In Search of Lucy by Lia Fairchild

What did you get?

Books Made Into Movies: Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Originally Released: Aug. 2011
Running Time: 122 min.
Rating: PG-13


Synopsis: Chick-lit lovers, and those who love them, will flock to Something Borrowed, a frothy adaptation of Emily Giffin's bestselling novel. Something Borrowed itself borrows some of the best bits from earlier romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally…, 27 Dresses, and Sex and the City. Though Kate Hudson is the ostensible Big Star here, it's Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love, He's Just Not That into You) who finally comes into her own as a winsome leading lady. The plot is fairly simple: Rachel (Goodwin) harbors secret feelings for Dex (Colin Egglesfield), the fiancé of her best friend, Darcy (Hudson). Along for the ride, and acting as a sort of stage manager/narrator à la Our Town, is Ethan (John Krasinski), who just may be harboring some secret longings of his own. Will the right boys end up with the right girls? Well, Something Borrowed is one of those comfy films in which the viewer knows who's right for whom long before the characters do. And because of the light, easy direction of Luke Greenfield (whose previous works are mostly TV movies and series), and the sparky chemistry among the stars, Something Borrowed ends up delivering a delicious snack even more satisfying than the sum of its yummy parts. Krasinski, Egglesfield, and especially Goodwin shine in this ensemble, and fans of modern love stories--with a twist--will want to hold on to Something Borrowed. 


My Take: Just like I love me some chick-lit when I need to decompress, so its the same with a chick-flick. I am sure everyone else who wanted to, has probably already seen Something Borrowed because when it comes to renting movies we are about six months behind everyone else! However, on a recent rash of busy weekends I finally found some downtime and thought, yes the perfect mindless movie to accompany my need to do something mindless! And boy was mindless the perfect adjective for this movie, natch!


I had read Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed years ago when I first fell in love with the chick-lit genre and really enjoyed the book. I remember thinking it was a sweet and totally relateable story, especially Rachel, played by Gennifer Goodwin in the movie. Perhaps its the fact that I have (unfortunately) grown much older, or perhaps its just the adaptation but it did not play out as I had hoped. Somehow the guy everybody wants, Dex, played by Colin Egglesfield, and who is actually engaged to Rachel's best friend (played by Kate Hudson), is a spineless man willing to cheat on his fiance rather than just own up to his real feelings. Who wants to idolize and romanticize that?! Also, does John Krasinski have to play his character from The Office in every single role?! Don't get me wrong, he is totally loveable and the man that I am actually rooting for in this movie, but I feel bad for him being so typecast as Jim.


Ok so would I recommend this? Well not as the most memorable movie in history. But did it serve its purpose as a chick-flick to watch to relax to? Certainly. And sometimes that's all I need, even if it wasn't the best thing ever. Have you seen it? If so, please tell me what you thought!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Our Engagement Photos!

As I had promised a couple of months ago, once our Save the Dates had been received by our guests, I would share some of our favorite engagement shots here ... and today is the day!

First, all of our photos have been taken our wedding photographer: the absolutely fabulous and amazing Jen Philips, and if you are planning a wedding in the San Francisco Bay Area I highly recommend her! We got our pictures shot on a beautifully sunny day in January at Bernal Heights Park in San Francisco near our home which was important to us. I made sure that we wore our 'wedding colors': coral and pistachio. Rob brought some props to help reflect our personality (his favorite instruments) and I brought some signs (to say to save the date!). It was a really fun experience! Now for some pics:

This is the picture we used on our Save the Date!

We almost chose this one!

Our signs!

Back at home!

Again, thanks to Jen Philips for such fabulous pictures that I know we will treasure for the rest of our lives!

Don't forget to check out all of the fun Wordless Wednesday entries!

Book Review: Clair de Lune

'Clair de Lune'
Author: Jetta Carleton


Format: Paperback
Published: Harper Perennial; Mar. 2012
Pages: 304
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade: B
Source: TLC Book Tour


Synopsis: An unexpected treasure: A long-lost novel of innocence threatened, by the author of the beloved classic The Moonflower Vine.
The time: 1941, at the cusp of America's entry into World War II. The place: southwest Missouri, on the edge of the Ozark Mountains. A young single woman named Allen Liles has taken a job as a junior college teacher in a small town, although she dreams of living in New York City, of dancing at recitals, of absorbing the bohemian delights of the Village. Then she encounters two young men: George, a lanky, carefree spirit, and Toby, a dark-haired, searching soul with a wary look in his eyes. Soon the three strike up an after-school friendship, bantering and debating over letters, ethics, and philosophy—innocently at first, but soon in giddy flirtation—until Allen and one of the young men push things too far, and the quiet happiness she has struggled so hard to discover is thrown into jeopardy.


My Take: I always think it's interesting when novels are discovered and published posthumously. I wonder why the author chose not to publish to book while alive. Did they not think the book was finished? Did they not think it was their best? Did they have more to say on the subject? One that particularly comes to mind is Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (read pre-blogging). I loved this book set during WWII and found it fascinating to think that someone would have discovered a wholly written book once someone had passed away. Here again with author Jetta Carleton, we have a book published post-humously. She was already a popular author for the book The Moonflower Vine and I kind of want to read that one to see what I have missed but let's talk about her latest book.


Clair de Lune by Jetta Carleton is an interesting read. At times, even though it must have been written years ago, it reads like a contemporary novel and at other times you can tell that it is not. Set right before America enters WWII, we follow Allen Liles, a young female college teacher. She is unsure if she wants to be a teacher, she thinks she might want to be a writer in New York, but her mother wants it so bad, the women in her family have always been teachers, that she feels grateful to even have a job at this time that she better give it a try.


I liked Allen and could relate to her. When I first got out of college, as I am sure many young people feel the same way, there is a sense of loss. You don't really know what to do or where to go but you feel this sense of pressure to do something great and achieve something amazing and so it is the same with Allen. I liked that fact that this book was about a young female set to achieve these things and she wanted to achieve so much more and this was pre-WWII. I thought it seemed very progressive and it made me cheer for women's rights.


Now for the part of the story that didn't seem quite so contemporary. Since Allen is right out of college herself, teaching at a college she is not much older that the students, perhaps 1-3 years older. The students like her because she is so young and therefor relateable. Allen often feels more kinship to the students then the other teachers. When she starts to become close friends with two of the male students she justifies it in multiple ways. Really Allen? You don't think you might lose your job if you are running around a park in a small Southern town getting drunk with your students? Pretty naive. Sure, it's not the modern age of when we have teacher after teacher getting caught sleeping with her students but we aren't far from the time when it was improper for women to be seen with men without a chaperon so anyway you slice it just makes Allen seem dumb and I wanted her to be so smart and inspiring as a heroine. I guess that goes to show all humans are flaws.


I would certainly recommend it as an interesting novel and I think it would make a great book for a book club to discuss because the topics pertained within are still relevant today, if Allen did let me down in the end.


For other opinions on this book, please check out the full TLC Tour here!


Cover Lust: I adore this cover! This couple is beautiful and spot on with the correct time period!

Mailbox Monday: March 18, 2012

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and March is being hosted by the lovely Anna of Diary of an Eccentric! Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks and audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!


I have now officially returned from a nice week away from the blog feeling refreshed and rejuvenated! Sometimes, I know we all just need a little break. Things were becoming just a little too busy with work and life and something had to give. I am sorry for leaving you all hanging but I am back now! Hope you all had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day too :)


Now, for the books:


From Doubleday:
1. More Than You Know by Penny Vincenzi

Purchased by me for an upcoming bookclub:
2. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

From PBS:
3. My Life from Scratch by Gesine Bullock-Prado

4. The Summer We Came to Life by Deborah Cloyed

What did you get?

Winners of Legacy of Eden Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered to win the The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy! Using random.org, the two winners of a brand new copy of this engaging novel is:

• Sherree Chmitlin
• @rhondareads

If you are still interested in a giveaway, my March Review Book Giveaway is going on right now.

Blogger Unplugged ... Until Next Week!

This blogger needs to rest! The past week has been crazy and it looks like this one is shaping up to be crazy as well. I'll still be around commenting in the blogosphere but I just need to rest my brain when I get home. Back to regularly scheduled programming next week!

Mailbox Monday: March 12, 2012

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and March is being hosted by the lovely Anna of Diary of an Eccentric! Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks and audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!


Man, oh man did I have a busy weekend! Do you ever need another weekend, just to rest up from the one you just had?! My mom and grandma were visiting this weekend and together with a group of my girlfriends we went wedding dress shopping and I am proud to say that I am the new owner of my dream wedding dress ... or I will be when it arrives in a few months. I am so excited to have found it and I can't wait to wear it on my wedding day! Woo hoo!


But we are supposed to be talking about books right? Ok, so here's what came in the mail this week:


From Harper for an upcoming TLC Book Tour:
1. The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

From Crown for an upcoming TLC Book Tour:
2. Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton

From the Publicist:
3. Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

What did you get?

Winner of Sonoma Rose Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered to win Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverni! The winner chosen via random.org is:

• Elisabeth!

Book Review: The Baker's Daughter

'The Baker's Daughter'
Author: Sarah McCoy


Format: Hardback
Published: Crown; Jan. 2012
Pages: 304
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade: A
Source: TLC Book Tours


Synopsis: In 1945, Elsie Schmidt is a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she is for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door would put all she loves in danger.

Sixty years later, in El Paso, Texas, Reba Adams is trying to file a feel-good Christmas piece for the local magazine. Reba is perpetually on the run from memories of a turbulent childhood, but she’s been in El Paso long enough to get a full-time job and a fiancé, Riki Chavez. Riki, an agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, finds comfort in strict rules and regulations, whereas Reba feels that lines are often blurred.

Reba’s latest assignment has brought her to the shop of an elderly baker across town. The interview should take a few hours at most, but the owner of Elsie’s German Bakery is no easy subject. Reba finds herself returning to the bakery again and again, anxious to find the heart of the story. For Elsie, Reba’s questions are a stinging reminder of darker times: her life in Germany during that last bleak year of WWII. And as Elsie, Reba, and Riki’s lives become more intertwined, all are forced to confront the uncomfortable truths of the past and seek out the courage to forgive.

My Take: As I am sure I have said here before, time and again, I LOVE anything set during WWII. I have no idea why but I find that time period fascinating. Clearly, I am not the only one because they are churning books set in this time period out faster than I can read them. Fine by me, because I will happily gobble them up! Part of the fascination for me I know is the history. Each and every book I pick up I learn something new that I didn't know before, and part of it is just the struggles that characters have to go through. There is often some sort of heart wrenching storyline that has me turning pages far into the night.

Such is the case with Sarah McCoy's The Baker's Daughter! Alternately told from from the past at the end of WWII when the title's namesake, Elsie is in Germany with her family trying to eke by on an existence in their bakery and surviving any way they can and alternately told in the present day with Elsie looking back while she is being interviewed for a newspaper story by Reba Adams, it made for a great mix of historical fiction and easy reading. 

When the story begins, Elsie is young and fairly protected from what has been happening during the war, even though it is starting to reach their doorstep. Her older sister, Hazel, has left the family to join the Lebensborn program (something I didn't really know about before reading this book!) to help produce perfect Germans. That just leaves her and her parents to run the bakery. As you can imagine, in 1944-45 bakery goods are hard to come by so times are tough for everyone and the Gestapo is keeping an eye on them. It is at this time that Elsie really comes into her own. To tell you more would give away too much.

In the present day, Elsie is in Texas as an old lady running a German bakery with her daughter where she meets Reba. Reba is a journalist doing a story on Christmas traditions from around the world and wants to interview Elsie. Reba just might be running away from a past she doesn't quite like and has some issues to grapple with and finds comfort in the warmth and friendliness of the German bakery. 

This alternating present and past story-telling reminded me very much of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (click title for my review) where the intensity of a war story is broken up by an easier-going present day story, therefore I think making it a somewhat easier read for those who may otherwise shy away from WWII stories. And similarly just like in Sarah's Key where I felt like I could have done without the modern day storytelling, I felt the same way with The Baker's Daughter, however this time I got my closure. I knew how Elsie, our leading lady grew up and mended herself and survived the war so for me, it was a much more well rounded story and I would highly recommend it for any WWII fiction fans out there as well as those who just like to dip their toes in it occasionally!

For other opinions on this book, please check out the full TLC Tour here!

Cover Lust: I absolutely love this cover! The bold red hat on an otherwise gray cover is so striking and beautiful!

Bloggiesta is coming!

I am so excited to learn that Bloggiesta is back this year! I missed it so much last year so I was thrilled to learn that Suey from It's All About Books and Danielle from There's a Book have taken over hosting!

For those of you who don't know: Bloggiesta is a three day event where participants will spend as much time as they can working on fixing all those pesky blog related tasks.... all those things that you think "some day I'm going to clean that up, or change that around, or add that thing!" Everyone will post a "to do" list, or goals they want to accomplish and then all of us will work together to get our lists done. The fun thing is that we can cheer each other on, and learn from each other and have a blast doing it. It's the perfect time to figure out that something you've always wanted to do, but didn't know how... or to get caught up on reviews, or to fix your labels, or take control of your Reader... or do oh so many other things! For more information about Bloggiesta be sure to check out the intro post. 

This year it will be held March 30-April 1, 2012 and I for sure plan to participate. There have been some things around here that I have been meaning to get done for quite some time so now is my chance.

To sign up, link up here. Ole!

Book Review: Going Home

'Going Home'
Author: Harriet Evans


Format: Paperback
Published: Downtown Press; Oct. 2006
Pages: 448
Genre: Chick lit
Grade: B
Source: Personal copy


Synopsis: This debut novel from Evans (a former editorial director at Penguin UK) opens with a late-twentysomething female British narrator and a crazy family holiday dinner, but quickly distinguishes itself from the usual Bridget Jones-esque fare. At the Walters' cozy Christmas in their crumbling countryside manor, trouble starts when Uncle Mike shows up with a blonde, buxom American wife, and normally affable Tom gets stinking drunk and declares his homosexuality. But then the big news hits: Kepper House-the aforementioned cozy manor-will have to be sold to fund one family member's shady dealings. So protagonist Lizzy Walter-a plucky Londoner nursing a broken heart and contemplating a move to L.A. as a way to leave behind painful memories-sets off on a mission to save the family home. Lizzy juggles her house-saving schemes with her romantic entanglements-she's dating the younger brother of the boy who broke her heart-but it's the familial characters like eccentric Aunt Chin and Chin's younger Australian fiancé, and a mother and father ever-eager to hit the sauce that give the book life and depth. Charts (one rates the "level of weird behavior" of family members, another lists fundraising possibilities) and hyperactive capitalization (Lizzy washes "the Things that Are Too Big to Go in the Dishwasher") skew cutesy, but otherwise the story is set in solid writing that manages to be fun without dipping into dumbed-down frivolity.


My Take: I've been reading a lot of books that I was scheduled to read and I can't say that February was my most successful month on record so I felt the need to take advantage of a lull in my reading schedule and get back on track with reading something 'just for me'. I wanted it to be fun so I turned to an author that I really enjoy: Harriet Evans. Having already read two of her books: A Hopeless Romantic and The Love of Her Life (click titles for my reviews) I knew that she was fast becoming one of my go-to Brit chick-lit authors and always good to read when I need to relax. This certainly did the trick.


Going Home by Harriet Evans is her debut novel and having read some of her later titles first I can see just how far she has come in her writing style. First we have to have a quirky leading lady: Lizzy. Then we have to have a romantic issue: the supposed love of her life, David, moved to New York and slept with a good friend. Now we need to have another problem for her to focus her troubles on so that she can make everything into a mess: Lizzy's beloved childhood home, Keeper House, is being put up for sale for not very good reasons. Stir it up and what do you have? A delightful escape from my hectic life and I can explore someone else's problems for awhile.


Lizzy is sweet and charming and fun to read about. Her family and friends are entertaining and I want to root for her to overcome her problems. It was just the escape I needed. 


This book isn't the big 'oh my gawd, you have to read this, laugh out loud funny' chick-lit of the year but some of Evan's later books are so I am happy to see where she came from and I will be happy to continue to read her for years to come! 


Cover Lust: Since this book is six years old I'm not going to be too harsh on it. I'm just glad her cover art is getting more love now!

Mailbox Monday: March 5, 2012

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and March is being hosted by the lovely Anna of Diary of an Eccentric! Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks and audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!


I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that this weekend was both sunny and relaxing! I haven't had a somewhat relaxing weekend in quite some time and I recognize the fact that I probably won't get a ton of those this year so I took full advantage of it and enjoyed myself :)


Another semi-quiet mailbox this week which is great so that I can have the opportunity to catch up on all of my outstanding reviews!


From the Publicist:
1. Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor

From St. Martin's Press:
2. A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changes the British Monarchy by Helen Rappaport

What did you get?

March Review Book Giveaway!

I am happy to bring two more great books to offer on giveaway this month! As before, the titles link to my reviews.


Sherry and Narcotics by Nina-Marie Gardner

More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay

All titles are ARCs, have been read once by me, and are in very good condition.

Giveaway Details!

The deadline for this giveaway is March 31st; entries open to those in the US.

To Enter (Mandatory)!
Comment below, indicating which book(s) interest you and a way for me to contact you. You can enter for both but you will only win one.

For Extra entries (Optional), indicate in the comments below that you are:
+1 Follow this blog on Google Connect (see right sidebar)
+1 Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (include @amusedbybooks in your tweet)
+1 Blog/Post about this giveaway on your sidebar

Three extra entries available. Giveaway open until 11:59pm PST March 31st. I will draw the winners using random.org and announce them here on my blog. Good luck!