Amused By Books

Book Review: The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

'The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady'
Author: Elizabeth Stuckey-French

Format: ARC
Published: Doubleday; Feb. 2011
Pages: 352
Genre: Humor; Contemporary fiction
Grade: A
Source: Publisher

Synopsis: Glowing with dark humor, Stuckey-French's fabulously quirky second novel (after Mermaids on the Moon) spotlights a wild would-be killer: Marylou Ahearn, a 77-year-old retired teacher in Memphis, Tenn. She's obsessed with killing Dr. Wilson Spriggs, who gave pregnant Marylou a radioactive cocktail in 1953 during a secret government study. Helen, the daughter Marylou gave birth to, died in 1963 from cancer. Accompanied by her Welsh corgi, Buster, and as "Nancy Archer" (the heroine of the 1958 movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), Marylou moves in 2006 to Tallahassee, Fla., where Wilson lives with his daughter, menopausal Caroline; her husband, Vic Witherspoon, who's contemplating an affair, and their children: 18-year-old Elvis-obsessed beauty Ava; 16-year-old science geek Otis, who's secretly building a nuclear breeder reactor; and overachieving, attention-deprived 13-year-old Suzi. As "Radioactive Lady," Nance creates mucho mischief for Wilson, but her revenge plans mutate after discovering the old doc has Alzheimer's, and dang it, she really likes his kinfolk.

My Take: I don't read a lot of kooky books just for the sake of them being kooky. I tend towards books that will move me. Now, I don't know why, maybe it was the 1950s cover or the totally wacky concept but something about this book just totally captured my attention. And you know what, every once and a while it's nice to read something unlike anything else I normally read and totally, freaking off the wall! Makes you feel real good about yourself!

The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady is alternately told from each of the main characters in the book so you can really get an idea of everyone's viewpoints in this book. The title character, the 'radioactive lady', is Marylou. She has recently moved to Tallahassee, renamed herself to Nancy Ahern, and as a 77-year old woman, is finally ready to exact her revenge on a doctor from when she was pregnant as a young woman. That doctor is Wilson Spriggs. He now has Alzheimer's but in Nancy's younger days, he gave her a 'vitamin cocktail' to help her unborn baby which was really radiation as part of a study she didn't know she was participating in. Eight years later her daughter died from cancer and eventually her marriage broke up. You could say Dr. Spriggs ruined her life. Now Marylou/Nancy wants to ruin his. Of course since he has Alzheimer's will he even know?!

So now that Marylou/Nancy is in Tallahassee she starts to meet the rest of Dr. Spriggs' family in order to get close to him. He has moved in with his daughter Caroline (harried mother of three), her husband Vic (professor, soon to be philander), their daughter Ava (has Asberger's), Otis (has Asberger's), and Suzi (the 'normal' child). You better believe this is a busy family! Marylou/Nancy decides instead of exacting her revenge on Dr. Spriggs, she will exact it by ruining his family's life instead.

Chaos, as you can imagine, ensues. You kind of just have to sit back and laugh because it's not a serious book. At least I didn't take it as some sort of serious commentary on society, I took as a break from my normal stressful life and was all like 'holy crap this book is full of some seriously crazy people'. It was kind of like watching reality tv. I can say that this book probably isn't for everyone, but if you are in the right mood, it's certainly worth a fun read! Out now in paperback, be sure to get your hands on a copy, or one for the the favorite kook in your life!

Cover Lust: As I said above, I was drawn to this book because of the 1950s cover with the sinister edge!

Book Giveaway: Blood, Bones and Butter!

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

In honor of the paperback release of Gabrielle Hamilton's fabulous memoir Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef (click title for my review), Random House has been kind enough to let me offer up a brand new copy for giveaway!

I listened to this fabulous memoir last September on audio and thoroughly enjoyed it! Of it, I said, " I admit that I was drawn into this book because it looked a little, well, bad-ass, so I thought it might be a little different from your average food memoir. And it was."

Fans of memoirs and food stories alike will enjoy Blood Bones and Butter!

Giveaway Details!

The deadline for this giveaway is February 8th; 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:
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Three extra entries available. Giveaway open until 11:59pm PST February 8th. I will draw the winners using random.org and announce them here on my blog. Good luck!

Book Review: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

'Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading'
Author: Nina Sankovitch

Format: ARC
Published: Harper; June 2011
Pages: 256
Genre: Memoir
Grade: B
Source: Publisher

Synopsis: When Sankovitch lost her older sister to cancer, she was determined to "live her life double" in order to make up for her family's painful loss. But after three years spent at a frenetic pace, Sankovitch decided to slow down and rediscover the pleasure of books in order to reconnect with the memory of her sister. Despite the day-to-day responsibilities of raising four sons—and the holidays, vacations, and sudden illnesses that accompany a large family—Sankovitch vowed to read one book a day for an entire year and blog about it. In this entertaining bibliophile's dream, Sankovitch (who launched ReadAllDay.org and was profiled in the New York Times) found that her "year of magical reading" was "not a way to rid myself of sorrow but a way to absorb it." As well as being an homage to her sister and their family of readers, Sankovitch's memoir speaks to the power that books can have over our daily lives. Sankovitch champions the act of reading not as an indulgence but as a necessity, and will make the perfect gift from one bookworm to another.

My Take: When I saw this book I thought I would find my reading soulmate. A year of magical reading. Who doesn't want that?! That sounds fabulous! I figured this slim little memoir would give me the new vigor I needed to read even more than I already do. Well that didn't happen but it didn't stop me from enjoying this slim memoir!

Sankovitch has lost her beloved sister to cancer and felt that in order to make up for the guilt she feels at still being alive while her beloved sister is not she will live life like she never has before. As a mother to four young boys, wife, daughter, and sister after a few years she has worn herself out but find that she is no more over the grief of losing her sister. She decides instead to do the complete opposite. To go back to her roots. She was raised in a family of readers, where you would spend your free time reading and sharing books. So maybe she could find some comfort in books and learn how to slow down and therefore deal with the grief of losing her sister in the process.

As a stay at home mom Sankovitch decides this will become her new job. She will read one book a day for a full year and review each book at her site Read All Day. This is a noble task if I ever heard of it. I can't say that I wasn't a little taken aback by it. I mean I can't find the time to read more than a couple hours max on a good day, how does someone with four kids find the time to read a book a day. It was hard for me at first not to think she was being a little selfish or for me to maybe be a little jealous of this plush life she was getting the chance to lead but as I got over it I enjoyed the story more.

As sometimes happens with books that tell a story through other books, if I haven't read the books that they reference then I find myself not connecting as deeply to the book. For the most part while we may have somewhat similar taste in books, and I don't think I am a slacker in the reading department, I can honestly say that of the 365 books she read, I have read four. Four! Makes me feel like I hardly read at all!

However, as one lover of books to another this book did ring true to me on the parts when she was talking about connections and family which was actually the vast majority of the book so for that I kept reading and because I kept reading I cheered her on until the full end of her year.

Cover Lust: That is one cool looking chair!

Mailbox Monday: January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and January is being hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books! 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!

We had one of our first real stormy weekends of the winter here this weekend and I loved it! Finally a reason to be all snugly and lazy all weekend long! That's not to say I didn't do some stuff. Friday night was my company's holiday party (we always have it in January ... kinda weird I know!) and on Sunday I went to another bridal faire (the last one of those I think I will subject myself too!) but overall it was a little more casual and I liked it. I hope you had a fabulous weekend too!

My mailbox was full this week! Here's what came in:

From Random House:
1. Blood Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton (look for a giveaway later this week!)

From Harper Perennial for an upcoming TLC Tour:
2. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris

From Crown:
3. The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy

From Dutton for an upcoming TLC Book Tour:
4. Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini

From PBS:
5. One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner

6. Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt

What did you get?

Book Review: Night Road

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

'Night Road'
Author: Kristin Hannah

Format: Hardback
Published: St. Martin's Press; Mar. 2011
Pages: 400
Genre: Literary Fiction
Grade: A
Source: Publisher

Synopsis: For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.
Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy-- until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them.
On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.

My Take: Looking at the inside flap of this novel I couldn't believe I hadn't read any of Hannah's books before. She is a prolific writer and so I was glad to finally have the chance to read one of her novels. St. Martin's Press was generous enough to send copies over for my whole book club so Night Road was our January Book Club pick. I believe it was a great way for our book club to start off the new year as it was a dramatic read that offered up plenty for discussion.

When you open up Night Road you can immediately tell that it is building towards something big. Naturally I assumed the worst. Something bad must be going to happen and when will it just occur already! The story is told alternately from two points of view: adults and teenagers. We have Jude who is the mom. She is your textbook helicopter parent. She has a beautiful home on an island on the outskirts of Seattle with a loving husband and two teenage twins, Mia and Zach. She is a stay at home mom and other than her passion for gardening, her focus is on making sure her teenagers have the best life possible. While admirable and understandable, at times Jude makes me crazy.

On the first day of high school Mia and Zach meet Lexi. Lexi might be described as being from the 'wrong side of the tracks'. She is a foster child who has recently found an aunt to finally call her own and is now learning how to live in a permanent home. She has never known a life long friend and doesn't want to believe Mia could be that for her and yet her and Mia quickly become BFF's. Zach, the twin brother, is one of the cool kids. He is also really good looking. So while they are all three friends, he is off limits for Lexi.

It's hard to write this review without exposing the crux of this story. To talk about why this story was so moving, why it made me cry into my pillow and made some of our bookclub members question ever wanting to be parents would be to expose what happens to change everything that one fateful night so you know what, I am going to have to stop my review here and just say that I would definitely recommend reading it. I found it very moving and emotional. While not everyone in my bookclub loved it, many did. And it was well worth reading and sharing! I also want to point out that I think this is one of those rare books that could work for both mature young adults and adults because of the narrators.

Night Road is now in paperback so be sure to grab yourself a copy!

Cover Lust: I think this cover fits perfectly with the title and the dark theme of the book.

Upstairs Downstairs

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Upstairs Downstairs

Studio: BBC Worldwide

Originally Released: Apr. 2011

Synopsis: Remade from the hit 1970s serial, this new version of Upstairs, Downstairs, condensed into three hour-long episodes, creates for a modern eye a vision of what 1936 in England must have looked like. That is, if you were royalty, and ran a fantastic mansion at 165 Eaton Place, in one of London's poshest neighborhoods. This show, as indicated in its title, revels in its overall ability to convey life as it unfolds upstairs, among the elite, and downstairs, among those who work tirelessly to keep the palace running. From the first episode, "The Fledgling," the plot is placed politically, socially, and romantically as newlyweds Sir Hallam Holland (Ed Stoppard) and Lady Agnes (Keeley Hawes) decide to sweep the cobwebs out of the old family haunt in favor of modernization. While mundane house dramas unfurl, increasing tenfold once Sir Hallam's nosy, old-fashioned mother, Maud (Eileen Atkins), decides that she and her pet monkey will be moving in, larger political dramas pepper the personal landscape. For example, in "The Fledgling," as well as the next episodes, "The Ladybird" and "The Cuckoo," Agnes's sister, Lady Persephone (Claire Foy), is increasingly misled by the newly formed fascist party, and mounting tensions between Jewish household members and Persie's ilk, including German official Ribbentrop (Edward Baker-Duly), loom large. As would be expected in this royal tale, much of the plot comprises Agnes's ability to bear children and the political expectations Sir Hallam must meet even when morally conflicted.

My Take: In my quest to watch or read everything even somewhat remotely like Downton Abbey (yes, season two is finally back thank God!!!), I turned to the BBC's remake of Upstairs Downstairs. Has anyone else seen this? I felt the need to share this because it was a fascinating look at 1930s London, a time period I love reading about so why wouldn't I love watching it.

Ok, so it's not quite as good as Downton Abbey but it has a lot of similarities to make it worth watching! It's set in the 1930s so obviously it's a different time period but for the clothes and the decor alone I think we can all look past it. The cast of characters of the elite is similar to that in The King's Speech. I think from the title you can gather that we get to know the rich who live upstairs at the beautiful 165 Eaton Place in London and the servants who work downstairs. How they all interact and come to live in the house is what makes this show sing.

One of the stand out characters in this series is Maud, played by Eileen Atkins. Much like Maggie Smith keeps the humor rolling in Downton Abbey, so does Eileen Atkins. As the mother or mother-in-law she is a bit of a know-it-all which sometimes gets her into trouble but I loved the interplay between her and her daughter-in-law Lady Agnes played by Keeley Hawes.

As you can imagine, with it being the 1930s, there is much talk of a coming war and politics in the series so if you don't know much about the time period you might find yourself a little lost but if you do know some, you will find yourself easily immersed. Well worth a couple cold evenings passing the time immersed in this period drama!

Book Review: Here Comes the Guide

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

'Here Comes the Guide: Northern California: Wedding Locations and Services'
Author: Jan Brenner

Format: Paperback
Published: Hopscotch Press; 11th Edition; Dec. 2008
Pages: 900
Genre: Wedding Planning
Grade: A
Source: Personal Copy

Synopsis: Often called the “location bible,” Here Comes The Guide features multitudes of Northern California event sites, including private estates, historic gardens, yachts, museums, wineries, hotels, and many others. Engaging descriptions give readers a clear picture of each place, while details about pricing, services, and amenities help streamline the selection process. Here Comes The Guide also includes over 125 prescreened vendors, such as photographers, caterers, florists, and cake makers, along with tips on how to hire and work with event professionals.

My Take: First and foremost let me start by saying that this blog is not about to turn into a wedding blog. However, when I first started wedding planning I did look for reviews of wedding planning books out there on sites other than wedding blogs and Amazon and couldn't find any so I thought it might be useful to review those that I found good and not so good as I go along through this process. Because as I am quickly discovering, wedding planning is not the most painless process in your adult life!

Obviously in this technological age there are countless wedding blogs, pinterest is a timesuck, and google docs is a freaking wedding planning godsend, but sometimes a good old fashioned book is what I crave. Oddly, miraculously (?), a lot of people around me got engaged around the same time I did and we formed some sort of book, websites, and tip swapping cult. These women include both close friends, coworkers, and people I had even lost touch with. It's like, hey I heard you were getting married 'use this, it rocked my world!' and that's how this little gem of a book fell into my hands. Oh wait, it's not little. It's the size of a phone book! Now don't let me fool you, not all women planning weddings are nice. Outside of those who you know, those you might meet just on the street, or at say a bridal faire or interviewing a potential vendor you too want to use, those women with the crazy glint in their eye? Stay away from them. They think you are their competition for some reason. You will steal their date, their ideas, their vendors. It's a jungle out there. I had no idea.

So, anywho this tome fell into my hands called Here Comes the Guide and I was all, 'whatever' I already googled and yelp'ed the heck out of 'cheap wedding venues' and 'inexpensive wedding venues' for San Francisco. Yes, an oxymoron but I am determined! But, I decided to flip through it anyway and what do you know, every venue they have listed in here has the location, what they offer, the amount they cost, how many people they can fit, all amenities, you know all of the useful stuff, all condensed into two pages per site. And wait! There were sites in here I didn't find before. Hmmm, maybe I was onto something! So, I set up a few more site visits and low and behold the very last one we went on, which was one we found courtesy of Here Come the Guide, is to be our very lovely site!

Inside Here Comes the Guide for Northern California you will find some tips on what to think about when hiring a venue and then it is broken down into Northern California's various regions (this place is big, yo). They also offer event services but those are just ads that don't say anything. The real meat is in the middle. At this point they appear to only offer the guides for Northern and Southern California but if you are planning a wedding in this state, I can recommend these guides!

Cover Lust: Two things: She looks like she really likes her bouquet but I'd be more worried that she is ripping up the hem of her dress on those rocks!

Mailbox Monday: January 16, 2011

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and January is being hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books! 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!

Well let me just say that I am currently enjoying a three-day weekend! It totally snuck up on me but happy MLK, Jr. day to you and if you have it off too, congrats! On Saturday we were greeted to a beautifully sunny day which was awesome because we were doing our engagement photos! We went up to a local park that overlooks the city and is near our house and spent a couple of hours taking some fun photos. I am so excited to see them! I promise to share a couple with you when I get them back in a few weeks but as our lovely photographer showed them to us on her camera they were looking good so here's hoping they turn out! First and foremost we want one for our Save the Dates.

As for my books, I only received two in the mail this past week which is pretty good since I am trying really hard to cut down so I can catch up. A constant battle of wills for me!

From The Penguin Press:
1. All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps by Dave Isay

From PBS:
2. The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

What did you get?

Book Review: A Visit from the Goon Squad

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

'A Visit from the Goon Squad'
Author: Jennifer Egan

Format: Paperback
Published: Anchor; Mar. 2011
Pages: 352
Genre: Literary fiction
Grade: C
Source: Personal copy
Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2011), Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction (2010), National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction (2010)

Synopsis: Readers will be pleased to discover that the star-crossed marriage of lucid prose and expertly deployed postmodern switcheroos that helped shoot Egan to the top of the genre-bending new school is alive and well in this graceful yet wild novel. We begin in contemporaryish New York with kleptomaniac Sasha and her boss, rising music producer Bennie Salazar, before flashing back, with Bennie, to the glory days of Bay Area punk rock, and eventually forward, with Sasha, to a settled life. By then, Egan has accrued tertiary characters, like Scotty Hausmann, Bennie's one-time bandmate who all but dropped out of society, and Alex, who goes on a date with Sasha and later witnesses the future of the music industry. Egan's overarching concerns are about how rebellion ages, influence corrupts, habits turn to addictions, and lifelong friendships fluctuate and turn. Or as one character asks, How did I go from being a rock star to being a fat fuck no one cares about? Egan answers the question elegantly, though not straight on, as this powerful novel chronicles how and why we change, even as the song stays the same.

My Take: I am well aware that just because a book wins a lot of awards I may not like it, or God forbid, even 'get it'. Perhaps it will even call into question if I am even hip enough to 'get it', and as I read this book I go into some sort of downward spiral of whether I was ever hip enough like all of these kids in these books. Did I ever do enough drugs (no, I had this look about me where people didn't even offer them to me)? Did I ever have enough piercings (I tried to get my ear double pierced and woke up with my ear bleeding and the earring out)? Did I listen to enough cool-kid music (does Backstreet Boys count? Didn't think so)? So yeah this book could have sent me into some sort of downward spiral as I am now the ripe old age of 30. But instead, I realize that I often don't like awards books and I know that I don't like books that have jumpy prose so I was set up to not like this one so screw the cool kids and if this is where literature is going then I'll be reading classics in my old age.

Enough of that though, A Visit from the Goon Squad was the Literary Buzz Book of 2011. It's been everywhere, won every award and so my book club decided to read it. I thought that was a great idea because I knew I wanted to read it too. Rather than a novel though, this one seems almost like a series of short stories with interconnecting people. I was intrigued by the fact that you would be introduced to a certain cast of characters and one particular person from that chapter would be who would lead the next one and so forth. You never knew who were going to get throughout the book. It was interesting. If you didn't like someone, no biggie, you wouldn't have to read about them the whole time. The problem for me was the disjointedness of the story. If all of these stories were supposed to go together to prove Egan's thesis about how everyone will just get old anyway someday and lives and influences change, for me it was messy. For the literati it worked. That's fine. For me it didn't.

Some of the characters you meet include Bennie Salazar. We meet him as a kid in the glory days of the punk rock scene, at the height of his career in the music business, and again when he is trying to rebuild his business. His story is more linear. Others like Sasha's are not. We meet her as a young woman with a great career but a strange addiction. Later we discover her sad childhood and how she developed that addiction. There are many other characters. For me, the story that I liked most and wished the story could have centered around was Stephanie. She was a strong woman in a sad marriage. However, we got her for two short chapters.

I do believe this book is worth reading. It is vastly different from anything I've ever read before and for that reason alone I enjoyed experiencing it. It pushed me. So what, I didn't like it. It happens. Life goes on. I am happy that I can formulate my reasons why and join the conversation. That's worth so much and once again, I remain not the cool kid.

Cover Lust: I love this cover. There are many covers for this book out there. This is mine. I am attracted to pop-art covers and this one is beautiful with people dancing in a circle.

Comment Upgrade!

2012-01-12T20:12:00.001-08:00

Hey ya'll, just a quick note to say I can now respond to your comments directly. This is SO exciting! If you have any issues with the comment system, please don't hesitate to tell me. Bye!

Booking Through Thursday: Interview Part 2

2012-01-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I like to participate in the fun Booking Through Thursday meme and today is one of those days! They have a fun meme going on so you can find out some more about me. Here it goes:

But enough about interviewing other people. It’s time I interviewed YOU.

1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?

At night, when I am all snuggled up in my bed and the day is finally all my own.

2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.)

Nope. During breakfast I check in with my blog, email, bank accounts, news, etc.

3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)

Bacon!

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?

1-2 hours

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?

Well 10 years ago I was in school and had a lot of required reading so I did a lot more. However, I do a lot more reading just for fun now than I ever did!

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?

I wish!

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Time travel.

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?

Heck yeah! Often to the detriment of my shoulders.

9. What KIND of book?

A physical book, not an e-reader. Today I am reading Tolstoy and the Purple Chair.

10. How old were you when you got your first library card?

First Grade. I remember the library as I thought it was beautiful.

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)

It's probably a tie between Lonesome Dove and To Kill a Mockingbird. Both of those have been in my possession since high school.

12. Do you read in bed?

Um, yeah, see question 1!

13. Do you write in your books?

No!

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?

Keep reading until you can find a genre you like. I promise there is one out there for you.

15. What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask? (Actually, leave the answer to this one in the comments on this post, huh? So I can find them when I need inspiration!)

For all other answers to this and the above come on over to BTT and find them, and of course participate yourself!

Where Have My Audio Book Reviews Gone?

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hey ya'll, I don't know if you noticed but I haven't done an audio book review in quite some time. Early November to be exact. And while that may not seem like that long to you, it is to me.

I haven't listened to a single audio book since. Not one. Blame it on the craziness of the holidays or the fact that my schedule has gotten wildly out of control thanks to this thing called 'wedding planning' that has suddenly taken over all of my free time but really I blame it on the fact that that I changed to a different gym (now I take classes instead of work out on an elliptical!) and my role at work has switched up (it's more fun, woohoo!).

So my question to you is this: How do you fit in your audio books? And before you say, in the car on my long commutes. You can cut that suggestion from the list, as I take public transport and so that is some quality physical book time. I need you to help a sister out so I can go back to my beloved audios! Thanks in advance :)

Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

'To Kill a Mockingbird'
Author: Harper Lee

Format: Paperback
Published: Turtleback; Oct. 1988
Originally Published: 1960
Pages: 281
Genre: Classic
Grade: A
Source: Personal copy (from grade school!)

Synopsis: Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.
Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often.

My Take: Some backstory first. No, this isn't the first time I have read this. I, like I believe many American children, first read this book in school. I remember it being one of the first (and perhaps only) books that was required school reading that I really enjoyed. I remembered the main story line, perhaps more a product of the fact that every time we had an English teacher substitute we watched the movie than a product of my amazing memory from sixth grade, but I did remember. However, one day while at work I stumbled upon the article of how the Beckhams named their daughter (once you come back from your eye-rolls I'll still be here). After recovering from laughing about "the revelation that it is Victoria's favourite book may surprise some fans, because it was widely thought she had never read a book." I was surprised to see the boost it gave to sales of To Kill a Mockingbird in the UK. Not because it shouldn't. I love this book, but because in the US, wouldn't most people have already read it, if not own a copy somewhere in their house? So I asked around. It turns out the Brits in our office had never heard of it, let alone read it. An office book club was formed!

Rather than attempt to review this beloved masterpiece, I am going to focus on what revelations I discovered upon rereading it from the point of view of an adult. Like I said, I remember loving it as a child but as an adult, I never realized how nuanced this book is. Our leading lady, Scout, is hysterical and very precocious. I can see why this book is chosen in schools because you could relate to her. She speaks up for herself, doesn't want to go to school, and is trying to understand the world around her. Jem, her older brother is a wonderful older brother. He looks out for her yet also often would like his independence as he grows up. Their mother passes away when Scout was young and they are blessed with an intelligent and loving father Atticus. He may seem a little out of his element sometimes with two young children to raise but his reaction to their many antics is calm, cool, and collected.

The meat of the story is that this book has morals to impart where many books these days don't bother with that. Atticus is a judge in a small Southern town in the 1930s and is defending a black man for raping a white woman. Any person reading this book can see that he didn't do it, however at the time it didn't matter. What mattered was a white family, however low class, accused a black man of doing such a thing and he should pay for the alleged crime. These are big issues. Adult issues. And the children in the book and the children who read this book have to wrap their heads around them. It's a fascinating way to deal with such an intense debate.

Of course their is also the infamous Boo Radley who haunts Scout and Jem. Boo never comes out of his house and Scout and Jem hope to someday catch a glimpse of him. Its an age old game of cat and mouse and it is an interesting interplay throughout the story.

Whatever it is that causes you to pick up this book, be it your first time, recollections of your childhood memory, or laughter sparked because of the Beckhams, believe me you will discover that it is always worth it to read this gem of a novel!

Cover Lust: I'm going to be honest, I've seen lovelier covers of this classic out there but it does scream 1980s and it couldn't have more symbolism wrapped up into one cover if it tried!

Mailbox Monday: January 9th, 2011

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and January is being hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books! 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!

Phew, this weekend was busy busy! Maybe I am actually looking forward to go back to work to just sit at my cube? Ah, just kidding. Next weekend we have our engagement photos (so excited for those!) so this weekend we had to go shopping for coordinating (not matching!) outfits. That was mildly complicated. We also registered for some things while we were downtown to kill two birds with one stone. That was fun! We went out to dinner for a friends birthday, I went to a bridal fair on Sunday, and went to Mythbusters live!

Ok, now for the peace and quiet that books bring! Here's what came in my mailbox this week:

From BlueBridge:
1. Queen Elizabeth in the Garden by Trea Martyn

From LibraryThing EarlyReviewers:
2. No One is Here Except All of Us by Romona Ausubel

From PBS:
3. The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley

4. Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan

5. How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

What did you get?

Book Review: Confetti Confidential

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

'Confetti Confidential'
Author: Holly McQueen

Format: Paperback
Published: Atria Books; Mar. 2011
Pages: 432
Genre: Brit chick-lit
Grade: B
Source: Publisher

Synopsis: Britain's latest hapless heroine, Isabel Bookbinder, returns in McQueen's third novel. This time she has traded her fashion career for one as a wedding planner. When a mix-up causes two brides to nearly miss their weddings, her perfectionist boss dumps her, and Isabel must strike out on her own. Luckily, she nabs a needy celebrity client who's lured by Isabel's philosophy of bride management, which involves organizing everything from beauty appointments to therapy sessions to the big day. Her best friend, Lara, who has just gotten engaged to Isabel's brother, is not quite as receptive to Isabel's attempts to turn their wedding into a big affair. At the same time, Isabel moves in with her longtime boyfriend, Will, and is now contemplating marriage herself. Wedding- and relationship-related mishaps abound in this fun but frivolous tale. Readers who miss Bridget Jones and Shopaholic's Rebecca Bloomwood can now cheer on Isabel.

My Take: When this book was pitched to me by the publisher I merely accepted it because it was a genre I liked and I am always game for trying new authors. Little did I know a few months down the road, I myself would be in the throws of planning my own wedding and could laugh along with the antics happening in this funny novel!

Confetti Confidential stars Isabel Bookbinder who is taking a turn as a wedding planner. Apparently this isn't McQueen's first novel with Ms. Bookbinder, it's her third, but no matter, they pretty much stand alone. As soon as I opened the page everything was explained and as the crux of this novel was about Isabel being a wedding planner, the other novels I don't believe really played into that.

Isabel isn't necessarily the most skilled wedding planner, although she really wants to be. She doesn't have any contacts yet and she has been working at the profession for the really long time of, oh six months, but she wants to be a celebrity wedding planner, like now! So you can see how this might not all work out.

Luckily for her she is surrounded by people getting married, not least of all her best friend Lara who is marrying Isabel's brother. When they are trying on dresses Isabel stumbles upon a D-list celebrity and wins her over. A business is born.

Will Isabel make it as a wedding planner? Will Isabel one day be able to plan her own wedding with the one she loves, Will? You'll have to read it to find out! I enjoyed the subject matter immensely, it was obviously a product of right book, right time. I also loved the fact that it wasn't an incredibly taxing book during this time of year. However, you might not always appreciate the ridiculous antics so just take it with a grain of salt and go along for the ride!

Cover Lust: Um, what the hell is that thing coming out of the back of the cake? Is that lace? Because wouldn't that get stuck in the frosting? Clearly I'm confused!

January Review Book Giveaway!

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

I am happy to bring two more great books to offer on giveaway this month as a great way to kick off the new year! As before, the titles link to my reviews.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

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

Giveaway Details!

The deadline for this giveaway is January 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 January 31st. I will draw the winners using random.org and announce them here on my blog. Good luck!

In Case You Missed It: December 2011

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

Another month has gone by and another year! I know the old adage says that the older you get, the faster the years go but it sure is true. I can't believe how fast 2011 flew by. When I look back at it, there are so many fond memories from the blog to take away.

December is always a fun month around the blogosphere because everyone does there yearly wrapups. I love reading my favorite bloggers best of lists because that means I can add many more books to my must read lists! If you haven't yet, please do check out my Favorite Covers of 2011 and my Favorite Reads of 2011!

In December I wrapped up all of my reading challenges. Now I had signed up for 15 so there were a couple I didn't quite finish but I manage to complete most so I was thrilled! Naturally, I've signed up for some more this year :)

As for my December reads, I managed seven books in December. Not my best reading month of the year, but considering how busy December is, I am pretty pleased with my progress. That made my total for the year 97 which is by far the most I've ever read in one year! My reading started off a little rough but it ended on a high note. Over all here's how it broke down:

Sadly one book was given a D rating this month: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley.
Two books were given a C rating this month: The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen and The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier.
Then I started to climb out of my reading slump and had two Grade B reads: From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually by Ali McNamara and Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright.
I ended my December on a high note with two Grade A reads so no complaints from me!: Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald and More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay.

All in all, if I had to pick a favorite read from December it would have to be More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay. What was your favorite read in December?

Book Review: Little Princes

2012-01-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

'Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal'
Author: Conor Grennan

Format: Paperback
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks; Dec. 2011
Pages: 320
Genre: Memoir
Grade: B
Source: TLC Book Tours

Synopsis: Grennan, who once worked at the East West Institute in Prague, embarked on a round-the-world trip in 2006, starting with a stint volunteering for an orphanage six miles south of Kathmandu. The orphanage, called the Little Princes Children's Home, housed 18 children from the remote province of Humla, rescued from a notorious child trafficker who had bought the children from poor villagers terrified of the Maoist insurgents eager for new recruits; the parents hoped to keep their children safe, but the children often ended up as slaves. Grennan was stunned by the trauma endured by these children, who he grew to love over two months, and after completing his world tour, returned to the orphanage and vowed not only to locate seven Humla orphans who had vanished from a foster home, but also to find the parents of the children in the orphanage. This required starting up a nonprofit organization in America, Next Generation Nepal, raising funds, buying a house in Kathmandu for the children's home, and trekking into the mountains of Humla to locate the parents. Grennan's work is by turns self-pokingly humorous, exciting, and inspiring. (Feb.)

My Take: Let me just say that this was such an inspiring read to start off the New Year with! I must say that of all the books off my shelf, I couldn't have had a better one placed in my hands to make me feel like I should really be doing the right things with my life and not just living it for me, me, me all of the time which is always good to be knocked on the head with every now and again!

I have been seeing this book around the blogosphere and it was being given some seriously high praise so I knew I wanted to read it at some point. I mean, I like travel memoirs too, but this one has a twist. Conor Grennan starts off on an around the world journey for one year when he turns 29 as a way to shrug off a boring job and kind of get out of a quarter life crisis. So when people were starting to tease him for being so frivolous when he should be starting to save for retirement instead, he decided to show them what for by starting his trip with some volunteer work. Little did he know just how life changing this volunteer work would be!

Grennan's volunteer work took him to an orphanage in Nepal at the Little Princes Children's Home that housed 18 of the sweetest little kids I've ever had brought to life via a book. Originally Grennan had no idea how to interact with the kids or what to do to help them but that didn't matter since all of the kids really wanted was love and his friendship. When his stint with them was up, they asked him when he would return and at first he hesitated. Very few volunteers ever came back. Grennan on the other hand promised to come back in one year. And he did!

After the year and upon his return to the Little Princes Children's Home he realized just how much he had missed the children and how integral they were to his life. They had become a part of who he was and he wanted to help them. Especially since Nepal was faced with a civil war that was tearing the children's homeland apart. When Grennan learns some news that reshapes how the children came to the home in the first place, he realizes he can offer a lot more help then he originally thought and a captivating and heart warming story is born.

Please know that a portion of each purchased copy of Little Princes will go to Grennan's Foundation Next Generation Nepal to get these orphans back home!

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

Cover Lust: Seriously, how can that sweet little boy on that sitting on that bright blue stoop not make you smile?!

Mailbox Monday: January 2, 2011

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

From St. Martin's Press:
2. The Road to Rome by Ben Kane

3. A Gentleman of Fortune, Or, The Suspicions of Miss Dido Kent by Anna Dean

4. The Judgement of Caesar by Steven Saylor

5. Night Road by Kristin Hannah (10 copies for me and my book club - thank you so much St. Martin's Press!)

From PBS:
6. Second Time Around by Beth Kendrick

What did you get in the mail?

Winners of December Review Book Giveaway!

2012-01-01T19:54:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who entered my December Review Book Giveaway! Using random.org, the winners are:

Rose City Reader who has won Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield!
Kristen who has won Already Home by Susan Mallery!

2012 Reading Challenges: Part II

2012-01-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a fabulous time last night partying it up or staying in. As you may, or may not, recall, I recently signed up for a few reading challenges for this year and I have a few more to sign up for and then we can get this party started! Here are some more challenges in 2012 I am looking forward to joining in:

I am really looking forward to the 2012 Memorable Memoir Reading Challenge hosted by the Betty and Boo Chronicles. I participated last year and read 16 memoirs. Memoirs are one of my favorite genres so I jumped at the chance to participate again. I will be challenging myself to the Memoirist Level which is 10+ memoirs in one year.

While I failed in this challenge in 2011 (reading only 3 out of 4 books that fit the criteria) I am not deterred and will rise again to face the chunkster book! Hosted by CaribousMom, the Chunkster Reading Challenge 2012 is no small feat since you must read books of 450 pages or more but I do like to read big books every now and again so I might as well get some credit for it, right?! So I will once again try to defeat the Chubby Chunkster Level which requires me to read four books next year.

I love reading historical fiction and I was thrilled to see that my intake of historical fiction shot up last year, with me reading 21 books total in this genre! So I naturally jumped on board with participating in Historical Tapestry's Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2012 yet again. Since one of my big goals for next year is to read more historical fiction, I am going to go big and challenge myself to the Undoubtedly Obsessed Level which requires me to read 15 books in one year. Also, can I just say that they always have the most beautiful buttons!

The final reading challenge I am signing up for The Overflowing Library's British Books Challenge 2012. I have a thing for reading books by British authors. I don't know why but I love their style of writing so I always find myself reading quite a few of them each year. Last year I clocked 16. The goal with this one is to read at least 12 books by British authors. Count me in!

So in total, I am in for 9 reading challenges in 2012. Compared to my 15 last year I think that is a totally manageable number! I will be charting my progress on my 2012 Reading Challenges Tab. Are you signing up for any this year?

My Favorite Books of 2011

2011-12-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

To whittle down a list of 33 Grade A books to a top 5 favorites list from the year was making me pull my hair out! I read so many different categories of books and I have favorites from the year in all of them that I couldn't do it. After reading 97 books I would think you might have more than one favorite too! So I've mixing up my favorites list this year and doing it my genre!

Here are my favorite books of 2011:

Shown above from left to right we have (click on titles for my reviews):

Historical Fiction: Small Wars by Sadie Jones; The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin; The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark; Chick-Lit: There's Cake in my Future by Kim Gruenenfelder; Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler; She's Gone Country by Jane Porter; Women's Fiction: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty; Literary Fiction: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown; Her Sister's Shadow by Katherine Britton; The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse; Faith by Jennifer Haigh; Wrecker by Summer Wood; Contemporary Romance: Already Home by Susan Mallery; Just for Fun: 29 by Adena Halpern; Memoir: Bossypants by Tina Fey; Classics: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; Mystery: Sister by Rosamund Lupton; Nonfiction: Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield.

Have you read any of these? What are your favorites of the year?

My Top Five Favorite Covers of 2011!

2011-12-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

In case you couldn't tell by my Cover Lust feature at the bottom of ever book review I love covers! So, it would seem natural that the end of a year of book reviews I would need to analyze which of the last year's books that have come across my desk (ok let's be honest, bed or couch) have been my favorite. Perhaps they weren't published this year but I read them for the first time this year so therefor I am going to shout them from the rooftops that I loved them for the first time here.

In alphabetical order, here are my top 5 favorite covers of 2011 based on eye-catching beauty (click on covers for me reviews)!

What do you think of my choices? What are your favorite covers of 2011?

Related Posts: My Top Five Favorite Covers of 2010

Winner of From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually!

2011-12-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all of those who entered to win the fabulous and fun book: From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually by Ali McNamara! Using random.org the winner of a new paperback copy of this novel is: Meg!

Don't forget, you still have time to enter my December Review Book Giveaway!

Reflections on a Year of Reading: 2011

2011-12-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

I can not believe another year is about to come to a close. 2011 has been a year of many milestones for me. On the blogging front it was my second full year of blogging and it found me far surpassing my goal of reading 80 books, reading the most books I've ever read in one year, with 97 books total read! I also got to make it to the Book Blogger Convention in New York for the first time which was wonderful to get to enjoy meeting a bunch of other book bloggers and trade stories. On a more personal front, I turned 30 this year which was a big milestone for me and I celebrated that by going to Bali. I also got engaged to the love of my life, Rob, and we will be enjoying planning a fun wedding next year which I am really looking forward to!

So, now, without further ado, here are my reading stats for 2011:
In total I read: 97 Books!
Most Books Read in One Month: March, April, May, July, and August all tie for 9 titles each!
Total Number of A and B rated books: 74 (woohoo!)
Total Number of C, D, and F rated books: 23
Total number of pages read: 26,144 (1,801 more than last year!)

I am pleased with the above because this means I really achieved my goals from last year. One of the big ones was to continue to get to know myself as a reader. This blog and keeping a reading journal was supposed to help me better pick out the books that I love over and over again. Seeing that I enjoyed 76% of the books I read this year as compared to 68% last year means I am definitely improving my hit rate!

My other goal for this last year was to have fun with blogging and I most certainly did, and I have you to thank for that!

My Reading Goals for 2012. I can pretty much guarantee that with planning a wedding I won't be able to read as many books as I did in 2011. However, what I do hope is that I have continued success with the books that I read being books that I love. I want to be able to share books that are wonderful with you and to make the time that I do have for reading as enjoyable as possible.

Additionally, I hope to focus on the genres that I know I love and have always brought me enjoyment: women's fiction and historical fiction.

In the coming days you will see my top picks for covers of the year and books of the year!

Book Review: More Than Words Can Say

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

'More Than Words Can Say'
Author: Robert Barclay

Format: ARC
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks; Dec. 2011
Pages: 400
Genre: Women's literature
Grade: A
Source: TLC Book Tours

Synopsis: From the author of If Wishes Were Horses comes a novel of long-buried secrets and self-discovery, showing us that sometimes what goes unsaid is more powerful than words. . . .
Chelsea Enright never expected to inherit her grandmother's lakeside cottage deep in the Adirondacks—a serene getaway that had been mysteriously closed up decades ago. This is no simple bequest, however, because when Chelsea finds her grandmother's WWII diaries, she's stunned to discover that they hold secrets she never suspected . . . and they have the power to turn her own life upside down.
Even more surprising is the compelling presence of local doctor Brandon "Yale, and Chelsea soon finds her "short stay" has stretched into the entire summer. She cannot put this cottage and her family's past behind her easily—and the more she learns about the woman her grandmother truly was, the more Chelsea's own life begins to change . . . and nothing will ever be the same again.

My Take: When this book was pitched to me, honestly I saw the words WWII and I was sold. I've said it before and I'll probably say it here a dozen more times but if a book has even a flicker of a setting during WWII than I want to read it. And this one really did only have a flicker and it was enough for me to thoroughly enjoy it!

More Than Words Can Say intertwines two love stories into an easy to read novel that really made for some delightful reading during this often incredibly hectic time of year and I really loved that! In the modern day we have Chelsea who is suffering from the loss of her beloved grandmother. She soon realizes that she has come to inherit her grandmothers cottage on Lake Evergreen way up in the wilds of New York. Having never been there and being told that there are secret journals her grandmother wants her to discover while there Chelsea readily starts on her adventure up north.

Once at the cottage we begin Brooke's journey. Brooke is Chelsea's grandmother who as a young woman escaped to this cottage while her husband was off fighting in WWII. She wrote down all of her thoughts in a journal only to hide it and run away quickly one day leaving her friends there and her family back home knowing nothing of her quick leaving and always wondering why she never went back.

As the story unfolds we get to follow both Chelsea and Brooke on oddly similar, yet sometimes heartbreaking journeys through love as they both live in the beloved lakeside cottage.

Honestly, as melodramatic as this book sometimes was, I got totally swept up in it and loved just escaping in this story. I highly recommend More Than Words Can Say!

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

Cover Lust: This cover certainly fits what's inside. It doesn't wow me but I can't fault it either!

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

I want to wish you all a fabulous holiday season! We are off to Colorado tomorrow to celebrate with my future in-laws so I am busy packing all of my largest sweaters! I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating with you and yours.

I'll be back Tuesday with a wonderful book to review and then my yearly wrap-ups! See you next week!

2011 Reading Challenges Wrap Up!

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm going to apologize in advance, this is a long post and anyone who reads is all should win a prize! I signed up for 15 Reading Challenges in 2011 and enjoyed them all! I've posted a couple that I have completed so far throughout the year but as I have one more book review to come before year's end and it doesn't make or break any of these challenges, I am going to wrap these up now!

First for the positives! Here are the challenges that I completed successfully in 2011!

Hosted by The Book Vixen, the Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge was a raging success for me! My goal was to read 5 more books than I did in 2010 or a grand total of 80 books in 2011. I blew that number out of the water, reading 96 (it will actually be 97 when the year is over, but who's counting!).

I will read 5 more than I did in 2010, for a grand total of: 80!

1. This Christmas by Jane Green, Jennifer Coburn and Liz Ireland

2. The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

3. Awkward Two: Brevity by Various Authors

4. She's Gone Country by Jane Porter

5. The Secret of Chanel No. 5: The Intimate History of the World's Most Famous Perfume by Tilar J. Mazzeo

6. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

7. Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons From My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani

8. Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

9. Small Wars by Sadie Jones

10. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

11. Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein

12. My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb-Ass Is the New Black, or a Culture-Up Manifesto by Jen Lancaster

13. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker

14. Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell

15. Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee

16. How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One by Stanley Fish

17. The Bird House by Kelly Simmons

18. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

19. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

20. Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster

21. The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney

22. Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

23. Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan

24. The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life by Andy Raskin

25. Dear Mrs. Kennedy: The World Shares it's Grief Letters, November 1963 by Jay Mulvaney and Paul De Angelis

26. Table of Contents by Judy Gelman and Vicky Levy Krupp

27. The Life You've Imagined by Kristina Riggle

28. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

29. Heart of Deception by M. L. Malcolm

30. The Heights by Peter Hedges

31. 51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life by Kristen McGuiness

32. A Thread of Sky by Deanna Fei

33. Kate and Wills Up the Aisle: A Right Royal Fairy Tale by Alison Jackson

34. Skinny by Diana Spechler

35. The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift

36. The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark

37. Wrecker by Summer Wood

38. The Lost Girls: Three Friends, Four Continents, One Unconventional Detour Around the World by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

39. The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

40. Song of the Silk Road by Mingmei Yip

41. Ugly Beauty: Helena Rubenstein, L'Oreal, and the Blemished History of Looking Good by Ruth Brandon

42. The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell

43. Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered, Smart-Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster

44. The I Hate to Cook Book: 50th Anniversary Edition by Peg Bracken

45. There's Cake in my Future by Kim Gruenenfelder

46. Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: Seeking History and Hidden Gems in Flea-Market America by Maureen Stanton

47. Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents by Elisabeth Eaves

48. Faith by Jennifer Haigh

49. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

50. Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

51. The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

52. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

53. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

54. Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

55. The Storm at the Door by Stefan Merrill Block

56. The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

57. The Silver Boat by Luanne Rice

58. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

59. One Day by David Nicholls

60. 29 by Adena Halpern

61. The Alchemy of Chance by Peter S. Brooks

62. Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, 3rd Edition by Patricia T. O'Conner

63. Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto

64. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

65. Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford

66. The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse

67. Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell

68. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield

69. Sister by Rosamund Lupton

70. Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

71. Wedlocked by Bonnie Trachtenberg

72. Bossypants by Tina Fey

73. Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson

74. Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, The Happiest Kingdom on Earth by Lisa Napoli

75. Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

76. Already Home by Susan Mallery

77. The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner

78. The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

79. Holy Ghost Girl by Donna Johnson

80. Falling for Me: How I Hung Curtains, Learned to Cook, Traveled to Seville, and Fell in Love by Anna David

81. The First Husband by Laura Dave

82. Her Sister's Shadow by Katherine Britton

83. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

84. How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche

85. Sherry and Narcotics by Nina-Marie Gardner

86. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brow

87. The CHICK-tionary: From A-Line to Z-Snap, the Words Every Woman Should Know by Anna Lefler

88. Dracula in Love by Karen Essex

89. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

90. Leaving Parma by Angie Sarich

91. The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen

92. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

93. The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier

94. From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually by Ali McNamara

95. Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright

96. Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald

Since these were all of the books I read this year, you'll have to wait until my top reads of 2011 to be published next week to find out what my favorite read from this list was!

Hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner, I signed up for the Addictive Level in the Audio Book Challenge which set a goal of reading 12 audio books last year. I had a great audio year and ended up reading 17 audio books total!

1. Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

2. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

3. My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb-Ass Is the New Black, or a Culture-Up Manifesto by Jen Lancaster

4. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

5. The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life by Andy Raskin

6. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

7. The Heights by Peter Hedges

8. 51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life by Kristen McGuiness

9. Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered, Smart-Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster

10. Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

11. Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

12. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

13. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

14. The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse

15. Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

16. Bossypants by Tina Fey

17. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

If I had to pick a favorite audio book from last year, well, you'll have to wait for my yearly wrap up because there will for sure be an audio feature as this was such a big part of my reading year!

Hosted by Splash of Our Worlds and My Love Affair with Books, the Into the Old World Reading Challenge asked us to read any book that was published before 2009. I love reading older books throughout the year and not just focusing on new books. My goal was to read 5-10 books that fit this bill and I did by reading 9!

1. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (2007)

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847)

3. Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster (2003)

4. The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell (2002)

5. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (2007; org. 1976)

6. Knit Two by Kate Jacobs (2008)

7. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (2008)

8. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (1991)

9. Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright (2005)

If I had to pick a favorite from this list, I would have to choose Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Hosted by Betty and Boo Chronicles, Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge was an obvious choice for me because of my love for memoirs! There were no levels so of course I knocked this one out of the park by reading 16 memoirs this year. Man, I love memoirs!

1. Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons From My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani

2. My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb-Ass Is the New Black, or a Culture-Up Manifesto by Jen Lancaster

3. The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life by Andy Raskin

4. Dear Mrs. Kennedy: The World Shares it's Grief Letters, November 1963 by Jay Mulvaney and Paul De Angelis

5. 51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life by Kristen McGuiness

6. The Lost Girls: Three Friends, Four Continents, One Unconventional Detour Around the World by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

7. The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

8. Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered, Smart-Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster

9. Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents by Elisabeth Eaves

10. Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell

11. Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

12. Bossypants by Tina Fey

13. Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, The Happiest Kingdom on Earth by Lisa Napoli

14. Holy Ghost Girl by Donna Johnson

15. Falling for Me: How I Hung Curtains, Learned to Cook, Traveled to Seville, and Fell in Love by Anna David

16. Leaving Parma by Angie Sarich

I think my favorite memoir of the year was Bossypants by Tina Fey!

Hosted by Journey to the End of the TBR Pile, the Chick Lit Challenge was an obvious choice for me because of my undying love for Chick Lit! The goal for this challenge is to read at least 8 chick lit books in 2011. I read 15, so yeah I like chick lit!

1. This Christmas by Jane Green, Jennifer Coburn and Liz Ireland

2. The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

3. She's Gone Country by Jane Porter

4. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

5. Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell

6. Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee

7. Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan

8. The Life You've Imagined by Kristina Riggle

9. There's Cake in my Future by Kim Gruenenfelder

10. Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

11. The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

12. Wedlocked by Bonnie Trachtenberg

13. Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

14. From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually by Ali McNamara

15. Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald

If I had to pick a favorite chick lit book of the year, it would have to be There's Cake in My Future by Kim Gruenenfelder!

I consider myself to be a bit of an Anglophile so for the second year in a row, I participated in the British Books Challenge hosted by The Bookette. I challenged myself to read 12, and I did great on this one by reading 16!

1. Small Wars by Sadie Jones

2. Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell

3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

4. Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster

5. Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

6. Kate and Wills Up the Aisle: A Right Royal Fairy Tale by Alison Jackson

7. The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift

8. Ugly Beauty: Helena Rubenstein, L'Oreal, and the Blemished History of Looking Good by Ruth Brandon

9. The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

10. The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

11. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

12. One Day by David Nicholls

13. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield

14. Sister by Rosamund Lupton

15. The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen

16. From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually by Ali McNamara

My favorite book from this group would easily be Small Wars by Sadie Jones!

Historical Fiction is one of my absolute favorite genres so I jumped at the chance to join in the fun of the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry. My goal was to read 10 books and I am so pleased to announce that I read 21 books as I really wanted to read more historical fiction this year!

1. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

2. Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

3. Small Wars by Sadie Jones

4. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

5. Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster

6. The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney

7. Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

8. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

9. Heart of Deception by M. L. Malcolm

10. The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift

11. The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark

12. The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell

13. The Winter Ghosts by Kate Moss

14. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

15. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

16. Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

17. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

18. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

19. The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner

20. Dracula in Love by Karen Essex

21. The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier

My favorite from this group was Small Wars by Sadie Jones!

Sadly, there were some challenges that I was unable to complete in 1 year's time. Here are the one's that I have marked, Challenge Fail!

Hosted by Book Obsessed , the 50 States Reading Reading Challenge was probably one of my favorites of the year. I loved seeing where my read took me through the US. Even though I was unable to read throughout all 50 states, I will still be signing up again for it next year as it was so interesting to see! All in all I read in 18/50 states, or 36% of the states!

1. Alabama -

2. Alaska -

3. Arizona - Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald

3. Arkansas -

5. California - Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein

6. Colorado -

7. Connecticut -

8. Delaware -

9. Florida -

10. Georgia - Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee

11. Hawaii -

12. Idaho - Leaving Parma by Angie Sarich

13. Illinois - My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb-Ass Is the New Black, or a Culture-Up Manifesto by Jen Lancaster

14. Indiana - Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered, Smart-Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster

15. Iowa - A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

16. Kansas - The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

17. Kentucky -

18. Louisiana -

19. Maine -

20. Maryland -

21. Massachusetts - The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

22. Michigan - The Life You've Imagined by Kristina Riggle

23. Minnesota -

24. Mississippi -

25. Missouri - The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

26. Montana -

27. Nebraska -

28. Nevada -

29. New Hampshire -

30. New Jersey - Heart of Deception by M. L. Malcolm

31. New Mexico -

32. New York - The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

33. North Carolina - Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

34. North Dakota -

35. Ohio - The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

36. Oklahoma -

37. Oregon -

38. Pennsylvania - Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons From My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani

39. Rhode Island -

40. South Carolina -

41. South Dakota -

42. Tennessee -

43. Texas - She's Gone Country by Jane Porter

44. Utah -

45. Vermont -

46. Virginia -

47. Washington - Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents by Elisabeth Eaves

48. West Virginia -

49. Wisconsin -

50. Wyoming -

If I was to pick a favorite from the above group of books it would have to be The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown.

I love reading food themed books so I thought the Foodie's Reading Challenge, hosted by Joyfully Retired was an obvious choice. Sadly, I just didn't read enough food themed books this year! I challenged myself to read 12 and I only read half that.

1. The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life by Andy Raskin

2. Table of Contents by Judy Gelman and Vicky Levy Krupp

3. Skinny by Diana Spechler

4. The I Hate to Cook Book: 50th Anniversary Edition by Peg Bracken

5. Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford

6. Already Home by Susan Mallery

My favorite from this group would easily be Already Home by Susan Mallery!

I realize that this challenge technically lasts until February 2012 but since a new one has been released that starts in January, I am going to throw in the towel for Caribous Mom Chunkster Challenge! My goal was to read 4. I probably would have gotten there but I didn't quite get there.

1. The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift

2. The Lost Girls: Three Friends, Four Continents, One Unconventional Detour Around the World by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

3. The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier

My favorite from this group would have to be The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift.

Are you still with me? That wraps it up for this year! Phew. I hope you are doing well with yours!

Book Review: Dreaming in English

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

'Dreaming in English'
Author: Laura Fitzgerald

Format: Paperback
Published: NAL Trade; Feb. 2011
Pages: 432
Genre: Chick-lit
Grade: A
Source: LibraryThing EarlyReviewers

Synopsis: In this sequel to the successful Veil of Roses, Fitzgerald uses her previous fairy tale ending as the jumping-off point for an easy, mildly dramatic continuation. Tamila Soroush, a 27-year-old Iranian woman whose last-minute Vegas wedding to American darling Ike Hanson saved her from a life in Iran, returns to Tucson, Ariz., to a mother-in-law villain who so disapproves of the union that she threatens deportation. As Tami struggles with the lingering effects of growing up in Iran, she learns to fight for her dreams in an immigrant's pleasantly idealized America (the U.S. government, another villain, being the exception). While the book is predictable, somewhat clichéd, and occasionally unfocused, Fitzgerald's immensely likable narrator deflects criticism. Her story is nice to the core, despite all the conflict, and the uneasy suspicion that something patronizing lies behind the cheerful naïveté eventually dissolves like cotton candy. While Ike is cast as an American ideal, he's too entitled to garner much sympathy; instead, Tami carries that torch, acting as a touching embodiment of hope and a timely reminder that the American dream is still relevant.

My Take: Even though I really, really liked this book I am going to start this review with a complaint. I can't help it. Minor rant here and then we can move on to happy things. This has nothing to do with the book and more to do with the route in which it came to be in my hands. I participate in the LibraryThing EarlyReviewers program. I have almost since I started blogging. I thoroughly enjoy it. If they had included the synopsis above I wouldn't have requested the book and that would have been fine because it is a SEQUEL and I deserve to know this. However, no where in the copy in which I was given to choose this book did that come into play. I feel like it's false advertising. I deserve to know when I am reading a sequel out of order because then I would like to read the first one ahead of it if I can. Ok rant over!

I went into Dreaming in English with some misgivings, afraid I wouldn't know the characters or what the heck was going on. I shouldn't have worried! I quickly picked up the story and became enamored with Tamila and her plight in America. Tamila finds herself swept off her feet in Tucson, AZ by the American boy of her dreams, Ike. However all is not to be so easily blessed. Tami was here on a tourist visa from Iran. Even though her family had high hopes that she would perhaps marry one of the Iranian men they had arranged for her, she did not, and instead, at the last minute, married Ike and now she needs to apply for the proper paperwork to keep her in the country.

There is also the minor detail of telling Ike's family. See, Ike and Tami knew each other and fell in love before they got married but it was kind of a 'love at first site' situation, not a traditional date for a while, meet everyone's friends and family and then get married situation so Ike's parents might be a little blindsided by their new daughter-in-law. And yes, they are not happy, particular Tami's new mother-in-law.

What follows is a story of how a new couple fights not only to stay together but to stay in America. Yes, it's a sweet story but you can't help but root for the good guys and jeer the bad ones. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am so glad, in the end, I read it. Even if it was out of order!

Cover Lust: May I be frank here? Ok, good. I hate this cover. It's just a collage. I like a little more creativity.

Mailbox Monday: December 19, 2011

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and December is being hosted by Let Them Read Books! 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!

Well I feel like this weekend was the calm in between two storms! I've had weekends that were jam backed since the first of November and next weekend is Christmas and we head out of town. This weekend, oddly, we didn't have a lot planned. I wanted to take advantage! We did however make some decisions about the wedding and finalize our color scheme, wedding party, and start talking to officiants. So much to do!

Now onto the books:

From WM Morrow for an upcoming TLC Book Tour:
1. More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay

2. Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan

From Broadway:
3. The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: The Story of Science, The High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe by Glynis Ridley

From Wunderkind PR:
4. The Greenhouse by Audur Ava Olafsdottir

What did you get?

Book Review: Christmas Jars

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

'Christmas Jars'
Author: Jason F. Wright

Format: Paperback
Published: Shadow Mountain; Oct. 2005
Pages: 122
Genre: Holiday fiction
Grade: B
Source: Personal copy

Synopsis: A journalist happens upon a human interest story that winds up teaching her lessons about love and forgiveness and renewing her own faith in human kindness. On Christmas Eve, twenty-something Hope Jensen is quietly grieving the recent loss of her adoptive mother when her apartment is robbed. The one bright spot in the midst of Hope's despair is a small jar full of money someone has anonymously left on her doorstep. Eager to learn the source of this unexpected generosity, Hope uses her newswoman instincts to find other recipients of "Christmas jars," digging until her search leads her to the family who first began the tradition of saving a year's worth of spare change to give to someone in need at the holiday. Wright commits some rookie mistakes in style and pacing; the novel veers heavily toward melodrama at some junctures, and he tends to show us and tell us about his characters. Still, the heart of this novella is its transformative message about the power of giving, a compelling theme that calls to mind books like Pay It Forward and The Kingdom Assignment.

My Take: I like to read at least one holiday-themed book in December, if not more. So when my bookclub decided to pick Christmas Jars for our December read I jumped on the bandwagon. Being both a book and author I had never heard of before I was very excited to give it a try! Also, at a slim 122 pages it was just my size! I'm sorry but more books could learn from author Jason Wright and pack just as much of a punch in a small novella as they do in a 500 page book and I would be a happy camper!

After picking this book as a bookclub, we almost dropped it because it could be defined as Christian fiction and no one in the bookclub wants to throw one's religious views on anyone else, so I do want to make it clear from the get go that this book can be marketed as such. However, we also decided that as a holiday, Christmas itself is a Christian holiday so we'd keep on trucking with our original choice.

Hope Jensen is our leading lady. As a baby her birth mother wanted a better life for her than the hand that had been dealt, that of a father who beats his mother and a mother who was too poor to do much about it, so she dropped her off at a local restaurant on New Year's Eve and left town. Hope was picked up by a single middle aged woman who could not have loved Hope more from the get-go and together they formed the perfect little family.

Eventually Hope grows up and develops a passion as a journalist. This passion leads her discover something unusual in her town, the mystery of the Christmas Jars. On Christmas Eve people seem to mysteriously leave a jar full of change and some bills to those desperately in need. When she finds herself the recipient of one such jar she has to get to the bottom of who the givers are. However, what she doesn't know is are the givers people who want to be revealed and are the other recipients any more knowledgeable than she is?

It's a great little Christmas story wrapped up in a tiny little book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My only qualm is that it is very moralistic. Not that I don't have morals! I just felt like I was a little kid being read a book telling me how to live my life as a grown up. Regardless, for the season it was an entertaining pick!

Cover Lust: I can't say that this cover doesn't fit the book!

2012 Reading Challenges

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

I love participating in reading challenges. In 2011, I participated in 15 total. Well technically I still I have a couple that I am working on! I think they are fun and help give me some direction to my reading. Some of the challenges I have chosen for next year are old favorites, and others are some new ones for me.

So without further ado, here is the first round of challenges I will be signing up for 2012. I say first round, because I am sure there will be some more!

A perennial favorite challenge of mine is Literary Escapisms New Authors Challenge. I am not a big series reader. I seem to read a lot of new-to-me authors every year. In 2011, I challenged myself to read 50 and read 72, making the vast majority of authors I read new-to-me! I will again choose the highest level which is 50 new authors for 2012.

Last year was the first year I participated in Book Obsessed's The 50 States Reading Challenge. I am still working on it and it is really entertaining to see where across the country my books take me. Believe me, I find myself seeking out books in different states! So yes, I really want to participate in this challenge again even if I don't end up finishing it.

This will be the third year that I will have participated in Beth Fish Read's What's in a Name Challenge. I love this challenge because the categories are different every year and it really makes me think about what I need to read to match the categories! This year you need six books to match the different categories. Each different title should include a topographical feature; something you'd see in the sky; a creepy crawly; a type of house; something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack; and something you'd find on a calendar.

This is a new-to-me challenge and I am excited to be joining in! My Book Retreat has started the Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Challenge. I read a lot of non-fiction and sure, a lot of them are memoirs but many more are purely to teach me something so I am looking forward to seeing just how many a year I read. Since I have never tracked these numbers before, I am going to join in at the Elementary Level which is 5 nonfiction books.

Another new-to-me challenge is Rose City Reader's European Reading Challenge 2012. The goal of this challenge is to read as many books as you can by authors from different European countries or books set in different European countries as you can, trying to reach all 50 sovereign states. I read a lot of books set in Europe thanks to my obsession with books set during WWII so I think I should do pretty well on this. I am definitely excited to give this one a try! I am going to go big on this one and challenge myself to the Five Star Level, working towards reading at least five books by different European authors or set in different European countries.

What challenges are you thinking about for 2012?

Book Review and Giveaway: From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

'From Notting Hill With Love ... Actually'
Author: Ali McNamara

Format: Paperback
Published: Sphere; Nov. 2010
Pages: 448
Genre: Chick-lit
Grade: B
Source: Personal copy

Synopsis: She was just a girl, standing in front of a boy ...wishing he looked more like Hugh Grant. Scarlett loves the movies. But does she love sensible fiance David just as much? With a big white wedding on the horizon, Scarlett really should have decided by now ...When she has the chance to house-sit in Notting Hill - the setting of one of her favourite movies - Scarlett jumps at the chance. But living life like a movie is trickier than it seems, especially when her new neighbour Sean is so irritating. And so irritatingly handsome, too. Scarlett soon finds herself starring in a romantic comedy of her very own: but who will end up as the leading man?

My Take: After a string of just meh books, I needed to get back my reading mojo so I went back to the tried and true genre that I always know I'll love: chick-lit! I have been hearing lots of good things about this book so I had picked up a couple of copies awhile ago and finally I dived in.

If you like chick-flicks then you can probably relate a little bit to our leading lady, Scarlett. Scarlett often finds herself daydreaming of her favorite scenes from movies to escape from her boring life. Her friends and family thinks she is obsessed with the movies. Many of her favorite movies were mine as well so I always knew what she was thinking of!

That's not to say Scarlett's life is boring. She is engaged to the man she thinks she loves: David. David really loves Scarlett. He is just currently a little DIY-obsessed now that they have bought their first home and Scarlett isn't as into it. Scarlett also has an incredibly loving father. Her mother left when she was young so her dad raised her all by himself and they now own a business that sells popcorn machines to cinemas. Perfect for Scarlett right? Well, she is still in a funk!

So in order to kick her out of said funk, her best friend Maddie suggests that she house-sits for one of her friends in Notting Hill, yes just like the scene of one of her favorite movies! That way she could take a break from her life for a little bit while also proving to other people that things can happen just like in the movies. What Scarlett actually discovers upon moving to Notting Hill is that so much more was out of whack in her life than she originally thought and there were many more people who loved her too.

I really enjoyed this book but if there was one quibble I could find with it, it was that to those she loved, Scarlett could be a little uncaring in the name of 'ditzyness'. It drove me to distraction sometimes. Overall though I really enjoyed discovering a new Brit chick-lit author and I look forward to checking out her latest novel Breakfast at Darcy's sometime soon!

Cover Lust: I think this cover is the perfect fit! The book is set in February so the winter background fits so well!

Giveaway Details
I purchased two copies of this book so I get one and you get one! The deadline for this giveaway is Dec. 27th; entries open to those in the US.

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

For Extra entries (Optional), indicate that you are:
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3 extra entries available. Giveaway open until 11:59pm PST Dec. 27th. I will draw the winners using random.org and announce them here on my blog. Good luck!

Mailbox Monday: December 12, 2012

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and December is being hosted by Let Them Read Books! 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!

This weekend was spent doing some Christmas baking! With all the money we are spending on travel for the holidays and the upcoming wedding are wallets are shrinking fast so I decided that it would be nice to give some homemade gifts this year. In that vein I decided to bake some yummy treats for my friends and family. It always helps me get in the Christmas spirit to do some holiday baking so I really enjoyed it.

Here's what I got in the mail this week!:

From Broadway:
1. Queen Hereafter by Susan Fraser King

From Doubleday:
2. Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York by Richard Zacks

From LibraryThing EarlyReviewers:
3. Solomon's Oak by Jo-Ann Mapson

What did you get?

Awesome Author Challenge 2011 - Completed!

2011-12-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

This is the second year in a row that I've participated in the Awesome Author Challenge hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books and I always enjoy participating in it. I challenge myself to pick three authors that I've always meant to read but have never gotten around to reading yet. This year I read (all titles link to my reviews):

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

2. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

3. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

If I had to pick a favorite I would definitely have to say Jane Eyre was my runaway hit from this bunch!

Book Review: The Printmaker's Daughter

2011-12-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

'The Printmaker's Daughter'
Author: Katherine Govier

Format: Paperback
Published: Harper Perennial; Nov. 2011
Pages: 512
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade: C
Source: TLC Book Tours

Synopsis: Recounting the story of her life, Oei plunges us into the colorful world of nineteenth-century Edo, in which courtesans rub shoulders with poets, warriors consort with actors, and the arts flourish in an unprecedented moment of creative upheaval. Oei and Hokusai live among writers, novelists, tattoo artists, and prostitutes, evading the spies of the repressive shogunate as they work on Hokusai’s countless paintings and prints. Wielding her brush, rejecting domesticity in favor of dedication to the arts, Oei defies all expectations of womanhood—all but one. A dutiful daughter to the last, she will obey the will of her eccentric father, the man who created her and who, ultimately, will rob her of her place in history.
Vivid, daring, and unforgettable, The Printmaker’s Daughter shines fresh light on art, loyalty, and the tender and indelible bond between a father and daughter.

My Take: I have been reading a ton of historical fiction this year, well for me anyway, and loving it! It was the genre of books that made me first really find my love of reading so anytime I delve into a new historical fiction book I am happy.

The Printmaker's Daughter was about a part of history that I haven't read much of so I was certainly intrigued. I have read a few Japanese historical fiction books in the past and always enjoyed them. This book takes us on the journey of Oei, the daughter of a famous painter, Hokusai, who is raised in the artist's tradition. Set in the 1890's during a time of political unrest, and a hard time for artists, I found this to be an interesting period for the book to be set. I enjoyed seeing how Hokusai, the father, took Oei, his daughter, under his wing, even though normally she would have been with her mother all day.

For all of the pluses and things that I learned, there were many more that I struggled with. For starters this book is very long, over 500 pages. And while some parts are interesting, many of the sections are dull and not fast paced. Some flow together and some do not. It had an odd pacing. Also, assuming that all of the characters within the book were Japanese there was an odd dialect spoken by many of them. I am guessing that Govier was going for what they might have sounded like if they were speaking in English, and here I am speaking mainly of the section with the prostitutes, but it was weird. They had almost a valley girl accent with a bunch of 'likes' and 'yeah, ok's' in their speech making the reading stilted for me.

Overall, I am glad I read about a part of history I had never read before but the execution was difficult for me to follow through.

If you are looking for some historical fiction set in Asia, might I recommend: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See and The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee (click on titles for my review).

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

Cover Lust: I loved this cover! The contrasting colors make for a very dramatic and eye-catching cover!

BTT: Mystery of Love Story

2011-12-08T07:23:00.001-08:00

All things being equal, which would you prefer–a mystery? Or a love story?

It's been a long time since I checked in with the meme Booking Through Thursday! Call it December overload, but I had nothing off the top of my head that I had to discuss so I was hoping BTT would spur me on.

I am not sure this question actually demands a really long answer if you know me. I clearly prefer a love story. I have read one mystery this last year. Granted, I loved it, but it is not a genre I reach for over and over again. Whereas chick-lit or memoirs where the female is searching for love is a story I reach for over and over again.

How about you? Which do you prefer?

Anticipation!

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever given serious thought to what your favorite part of the reading process is? I am sure you have, you all are big readers. Well at least fans enough of reading to spend your free time reading a book blog!

What I mean by the reading process is, when you pick up a new book is your favorite part the beginning, the middle, or the end of a book? What do you love most?

For me, it is always the beginning! When I end a book, sure I am a little sad if it is a great book because I am leaving those characters behind, usually forever, but that sadness is quickly left behind because of the anticipation to read the next great novel! I truly believe that every new book is going to be the best book I have ever read! Is that naive of me? No, I don't think so. I wouldn't keep reading as much as I do if I thought they would all be crappy. Clearly I think the majority of books are awesome or I wouldn't keep picking so many up. I love books and for the most part I love the newness of them. The possibility of the great things they could bring.

I was thinking about this because I am currently in the middle of a slump of some not so good books. But that's ok because each new book I pick up could turn this slump around and be my new favorite!

Sure I love a middle of the book when I am really into it and I am turning the pages and I can't wait to find out what happens next but what if the book is just ok? Sometimes that middle section can seem so long! And sure, the endings. Those can seem so fabulous sometimes. Endings so perfect or so twisty you would have never imagined them yourself. But time and again, once I close that book I excitedly can't wait to decide what my next new read will be!

So, for you, what is your favorite part of the reading process? The beginning, the middle, or the end?

Book Review: A Thousand Acres

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

'A Thousand Acres'
Author: Jane Smiley

Format: Paperback
Published: Fawcett Columbine; 1991
Pages: 384
Genre: Fiction
Grade: D
Source: Personal copy
Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1992), National Book Critics' Circle Award (1991), Ambassador Book Award for Fiction (1992)

Synopsis: Aging Larry Cook announces his intention to turn over his 1,000-acre farm--one of the largest in Zebulon County, Iowa--to his three daughters, Caroline, Ginny and Rose. A man of harsh sensibilities, he carves Caroline out of the deal because she has the nerve to be less than enthusiastic about her father's generosity. While Larry Cook deteriorates into a pathetic drunk, his daughters are left to cope with the often grim realities of life on a family farm--from battering husbands to cutthroat lenders.

My Take: A couple of years ago I was wandering through my favorite library book sale when I came upon this book in the massive stack. I vaguely remember people talking about this movie when I was a little girl. I may have even seen some scenes from it. I picked it up and thought I need to read this! I mean look at all of the awards its won. Granted, award winning books tend to mean that I won't like them but that doesn't stop me from thinking I need to expand my horizons and read them. So I bought it and it languished on my shelf and then it fit into a couple of notches on some reading challenges so it was time.

A Thousand Acres is not the fastest moving book (nothing happens for the first 200 pages. NOTHING) but you can instantly see that while it is starting out slow it is probably building towards something big and bad, like a big intense crop killing storm on an Iowa farm. Ha. We have Larry Cook who is the patriarch of a huge farm in Iowa and he has three daughters. His wife passed away when they were young and so he has raised them by himself (but don't get all soft and mushy on me yet). Cook is a bit of a hard-ass, well not just a bit. At first it starts off and you think, oh he is just an old man who is going a bit loony but then more and more stuff comes out and you realize, no this man has always been mean so we need to watch our backs around Cook.

Then we have his three daughters. Two of them still live on the farm with their husbands: Caroline and Ginny. One of them, the youngest, Rose, has become a lawyer and moved away. However they are all still up in each others business as most families are. Cook decides since he is getting on in years it is time to turn over the farm to his daughters. Seems nice, right? However, its not as easy as it sounds and infighting begins.

Ok, so here's what I didn't like about it. This family was awful to each other. Why in heaven's name do I want to read a book about a family who is just so mean to each other? I mean it's one thing about yeah I had a rough childhood and I overcame it but it's another thing to all be adults and just pick each other apart and ruin each other's lives. Good lord this book made me feel awful. Sure it may be a literary award winning piece of work but the characters themselves were people that I would never want to spend any more time with and I get that those people show up in books all the time but to have a whole book full of them made it difficult and disturbing to read. So yes, yes, it is like a Shakespearean tragedy but Shakespeare was better at it.

Cover Lust: Totally fitting. This is exactly what I pictured when they would describe their landscape.

Mailbox Monday: December 5, 2011

2011-12-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's Mailbox Monday time! Mailbox Monday is going on tour and December is being hosted by Let Them Read Books! 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!

How was everyone's first weekend in December? We were having unseasonably warm weather which was a nice treat! We put up our Christmas tree. It's just a tiny little one but it still gets me in the spirit of Christmas seeing it all lit up every night! Also, we saw our last potential wedding venue and we loved that one as well so now we are choosing between two that we really like. We should have a contract and therefore a date for a wedding this week. Woo hoo!

Now onto the books:

From Meryl L. Moss Media Relations:
1. The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

From Harper:
2. Ali in Wonderland and Other Tall Tales by Ali Wentworth

3. All That I Am by Anna Funder

4. First You Try Everything by Jane McCafferty

From Kelly and Hall:
5. The Lost Book of Mala R. by Rose MacDowell

What did you receive?

Book Review: The Mistress's Revenge

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

'The Mistress's Revenge'
Author: Tamar Cohen

Format: ARC
Published: Free Press; June 2011
Pages: 288
Genre: Women's fiction
Grade: C
Source: Publisher

Synopsis: Fatal Attraction set in the era of Facebook: fiery, passionate, engrossing, unsettling, manipulative, and graphic - a debut novel written as one women's letter to the married man who has just dumped her, and upon whom she exacts a terrifying revenge.
When her five-year affair with the sexy television personality Clive Gooding brutally ends on a dime - his dime - Sally Islip is devastated. But with Sally, Clive has made one fundamental mistake: he has chosen someone who has less to lose than he has, and Sally will have her revenge - no matter what the cost to the people around them.

My Take: I picked up this book because it sounded totally different to anything I had ever read before. It sounded, frankly, like a dramatic departure from my love of chick-lit and I thought it would be good for me to break my mold a little. While it did end up being totally different from anything I've ever read before, it also ended up leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth which I can't really get rid of so I am here to talk to you all about it and see if I can get these feelings off of my chest.

The Mistress's Revenge is told as one really long letter. There are no chapter breaks but it's not too big of a deal because it's a pretty short (and intense) read. Sally is our leading scorned lover. She had been carrying on an affair with Clive for five years and now the affair is over and Sally just can.not.deal! When I read the synopsis I stupidly assumed that Clive was the only married person in the relationship cheating and that's why Sally couldn't deal. She thought he was going to get a divorce eventually and they would all live happily ever after. When in reality they are both married. This bothered me more. They both have children and since it is being told from Sally's viewpoint, the way Sally talks about her own marriage and children makes my stomach turn. I realize that a new relationship and a breakup can be all consuming but lady if you dislike your husband that much, get a divorce already.

So basically we have a woman scorned who becomes all possessed with revenge. It's an intense read and I recommend it if you haven't read anything like it, or well, you've had a breakup and you can't exact your own revenge. It might be a good way to live vicariously. However, if like me, you've become recently engaged, and are currently in a puppy love stage of planning a wedding and everything is all sunshine and rainbows this could seriously end up being a disturbing book of wrong time, wrong place!

Cover Lust: This was a big reason why I read this book! I freaking love this cover. The bees on the rose to me match the title perfectly!