Tough Cookie

Title: Tough Cookie

Author: Diane Mott Davidson

Date Finished: February 24, 2009

Personal Book Count: 18 out of 100

Rating: 4 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: mystery

First Line: Show business and death don’t mix.

Summery: Goldie has taken a job hosting a cooking show, which films at a ski resort. When she gets separated from an old flame with who she was skiing, he turns up dead.

Why did I pick this book? : It was the next in the series.

Review: This series has grown, and I like the changes it’s making. Not only has Goldie and her family grown and changed, she has ‘matured’ too. She doesn’t do (as many) stupid things as she used to (I equate it to the girl that goes by herself down in to the dark basement in a horror movie.). I think Tom has been a good influence on her. And yet they are not less interesting, and there is not less action. For a caterer she gets sucked in to a lot. I like that they are light, fast reads. It bothered me a little that this one (and I think the last one) were ‘out of town’. But I guess there can only be so many murders in one small town before it get hokey. And it’s as good of way as any other to get new blood (no pun intended) into a series. Definitely and addict, and will definitely be finishing the series. =D

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

For Money and Love

Title: Mob Princess- For Money and Love

Author: Todd Strasser

Date Finished: February 23, 2009

Personal Book Count: 17 out of 100

Rating: 2 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Young Adult Fiction

First Line: “Listen, Kate,” Tanner Westfall said. “I don’t know any other way to say this. It’s just that this is the longest I’ve ever gone without… well, you know.”

Summery: Kate Blessing is in high school. After her mom leaves her dad, because he got his girlfriend pregnant, her dad needs to rely on someone to help him run the family business, the mob…

Why did I pick this book? : I am a sucker for mob stories. When I saw this in the YA section at my library, I thought I should give it a try.

Review: When I picked this book up, I was intrigued by it. It just never lived up to it potential. It was very cliché. In some places, it even poked fun at being cliché, but I though it was over the top. It takes incredible suspension of disbelief to believe not only that a 16 year old girl in running the mob, but that her father just handed it over to her, as he has too many other problems to deal with. Maybe my imagination just isn’t that good. I kept waiting for something big and mob like to happen. It never did. So what makes this a YA book instead of a juvenile fiction? With that said, I did like Kate. Mature for a high school kid, but a likeable character. I also liked her brother (Sonny Jr.), Teddy and Nick. I could buy into those characters. I just wish more had happened. I liked that she got the guy in the end (I just won’t tell you which one, ha!) I also thought the ending was logical, and opened things up nicely for the next book. Will I read the next book? Maybe. If there is nothing else I want to read that week, and if it happens to be there. But it will be more out of curiosity about what happens with the characters, and if he can pull it off a bit better with the second, now that the ground work is laid. But I’m not rushing out to get it.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

Lost and Found

Title: Lost and Found

Author: Carolyn Parkhurst

Narrator: Blair Brown

Date Finished: February 22, 2009

Personal Book Count: 16 out of 100

Rating: 4 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Audio, Fiction

Summery: “What do a suburban mom and her troubled daughter, two recently divorced brothers, a pair of former child stars, born-again Christian newlyweds, and a couple of young millionaires have in common? They have all been selected to compete on Lost and Found, a daring new reality TV show. In teams of two, they will scour the globe - from Egypt to Japan, from Sweden to England - to battle for a million-dollar prize. They must decipher encrypted clues, recover mysterious artifacts, and outwit their opponents to stay in play.
What starts as a lark turns deadly serious as the number of players is whittled down, temptations beckon, and the bonds between partners strain and unravel. Before long the question is not only who will capture the final prize, but at what cost.”- Copied from http://www.carolynparkhurst.com/

Why did I pick this book? : This one I discovered on someone’s blog, and the description looked interesting. DH says I’m a reality TV junkie, so why not a book?

Review: I really like this book for what it was. It was a light, fun, humorous read. I was listening to this one while I worked, or even just when I was playing games. It had me hooked. I love that every chapter was told from the perspective from a different character. Also, being an audio book, it was neat to hear all the different voices and characters Blair Brown came up with. I really enjoyed this ladies reading style, and would definitely read other books narrated by her. I think it helps to be a reality show fan, but I don’t think it’s necessary. A great deal of this book is about how the characters relate to each other (their partners, and others) and dealing with stuff from their past, and revealing their motivations. Ending was a bit predictable, but that doesn’t take away from the rest of the book for me. And besides, I think I would have been a little disappointed if it had ended any other way.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

Scott Westerfeld Mini Challenge

January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.

The goal of this one is to read TWO of his books.

His YA books include:

So Yesterday (2004)
Midnighters: The Secret Hour (2004)
Midnighters: Touching Darkness (2005)
Midnighters: Blue Noon (2006)
Uglies (2005)
Pretties (2005)
Specials (2006)
Extras (2007)
Peeps (2005)
The Last Days (2006)

He also has a handful of adult titles.

If you wanna join, Click the title or HERE.

I have chosen to read:

1. Specials
2. Extras

Choices are tentative and may be added to or changed at any time. =D

Chunkster Challenge 2009

*A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction) Don't complain folks, I read all thousands of pages of the Twilight series and they were good, but not a challenge. A chunkster should be a challenge.

*If you read large type books your book will need to be 525 pages or more I asked around and the average LT book is 10-15% longer or more so I think that was a fair estimate.

*No Audio books in the chunkster. It just doesn't seem right. Words on paper for this one folks.

* You may start any time after signing up. You must complete your reads before or on Nov 15th.

*Short Stories and Essay collections will not be counted.

*Books may crossover with other challenges (see option 4 for a collaborative effort with TBR challenge)

*Only option 4 requires that you make a set list of books to complete the challenge

If you want to come join, click the title, or click HERE.

There are differnet levels to this challenge, so I have chosen to do the Chubby Chunkster. It requires you read 2 books.

1. Hot Blooded- Lisa Jackson (461 pages)
2.

Choices are tentative and may be added to or changed at any time. =D

Vampire Challenge

See? This is what happens when you give me too much time to myself. I sit down, read some blogs, and find some new challenges. These fit it with what I had planned anyway...

First is the Vampire Challenge. Here are the rules...

What?
For the Vampire Challenge you will read books with vampires - romance, YA, paranormal, mysteries - anything, as long as there's a or two (or more) vampire in it.

When?
The challenge will start January 1, 2009 and end December 31, 2009.

How?
The goal is to read 2+ books with vampires in 2009, that's it. It's fairly easy, I think. For some inspiration check out my post on vampires in books.

To sign up, please click the title of this entry, or click HERE.

My list:

1. Eclipse- Stephenie Meyer

2. Vampire Academy- Richelle Mead

Choices are tentative and may be added to or changed at any time. =D

Wake

Title: Wake

Author: Lisa McMann

Date Finished: February 19, 2009

Personal Book Count: 15 out of 100

Rating: 5 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Young Adult

First Line: Janie Hannagan’s math book slips from her fingers.

Summery: From back of book:

Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people’s dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie’s seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can’t tell anybody about what she does -- they’d never believe her, or worse, they’d think she’s a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn’t want and can’t control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else’s twisted psyche. She is a participant....

Why did I pick this book? : I have seen reviews on other blogs. I have also seen the author on twitter, and her comments caught my eye, so when I was at the library, I thought I would pick it up and give it a try.

Review: I LOVED this book. I grabbed it at the library yesterday, and finished it this morning. It feels good to find a book that sucks you in so completely. I kept putting it down to try and explain to DH. I don’t think he got it. May have to make him read it. Heh. I liked it, because it seemed to me to really stand out from what I have been reading lately (if I every read anything like it). I like books that feel fresh and explore new territory. I like that Janie was never totally perfect, or imperfect, like some characters of late. She was responsible, except made some mistakes. If there was one thing that bugged me, it was Janie crying all the time. Course if I had as little sleep as this girl did, I would be too. And the fact that she never let Cable talk. She never asked questions (of which I myself had (and would have had) by the million. But I see this as necessary to further the plot, and reasonable teenage girl behavior. I see that the sequel Fade is being released this month, and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

Portobello

Title: Portobello

Author: Ruth Rendell

Date Finished: February 16, 2009

Personal Book Count: 14 out of 100

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Fiction

First Line: It is called the Portobello Road because a very long time ago a sea captain called Robert Jenkins stood in front of a committee of the House of Commons and held up his amputated ear.

Summery: From the dust jacket-
The Portobello area of West London has a rich personality- vibrant, brilliant in colour, noisy with graffiti that approach art, bizarre and splendid. An indefinable edge to it adds a spice of danger. There is nothing safe about Portobello.

Eugene Wren inherited an art gallery from his father near an arcade that now sells cashmere, handmade soaps and children’s clothes. But he decided to move to a more upmarket site in Kensington Church Street. Eugene was fifty, with prematurely white hair. He was, perhaps, too secretive for his own good. He also had an addictive personality. But he had cut back radically on his alcohol consumption and had given up cigarettes. Which was just as well, considering he was going out with a doctor. For all his good intentions, though, there was something he didn’t want her to know about.

On a shopping trip one day, Eugene, quite by chance, came across an envelope containing money. He picked it up. For some reason, rather then report the matter to the police, he wrote a note and stuck it up on a lamp post near his house:

‘Found in Chepstow Villas, a sum of money between eighty and a hundred and sixty pounds. Anyone who has lost such a sum should apply to the phone number below.’

This note would link the lives of a number of very different people- each with their obsessions, problems, dreams and despairs. And through it all the hectic lives of Portobello would bustle on.

Why did I pick this book? : I received it as an ARC off of librarything. I thought the summery looked interesting, and had always wanted to try a Ruth Rendell book.

Review: This book wasn’t as dark and scary and mysterious as I had hoped. I heard many things about Ruth Rendell (but this was my first to try and read her), and this didn’t seem to fit the description of her type of writing. I was wondering if I had got my authors mixed up, but then I read other reviews that said this wasn’t typical of her style.

I found this book a tough start. The first night I tried to read Portobello it was late, and I had to put it down and sleep, I couldn’t follow it at all. The second time, I was still confused at the end of the first chapter, but chose to disregard it and press on. There was a lot of history, and new characters in those first few pages, many or which were not consequential, except for being ancestors of the characters in the story and isn’t it funny, in a small world kind of way.

It was not a mystery as I was expecting (or at least a suspense) but more of a funny how small details and decisions affect ours and so many other lives in big ways. And how everybody’s life is intertwined with everybody else’s in some way.

If one thing drove me crazy, it was one of the main characters obsessions with a candy called chocorange. I get it. He is addicted. But do I have to hear HOW addicted, and how this is affecting the way he goes to work or eats his sandwich or drinks his sherry every 5 pages in great detail? I really felt like it was getting ridiculous toward the end the amount of words wasted on this candy, and if there was anything that would have made me put down the book, that would have been it.

On the most part I liked the ending, but I’m a sucker for an ending where everybody gets what I think they deserve. This was the case for all but one person, so I guess I’ll have to take what I can get. I think I’ll have to try one more Rendell book to see if I like this author or not.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

The Last Chance Cafe

Title: The Last Chance Cafe

Author: Linda Lael Miller

Date Finished: February 10, 2009

Personal Book Count: 12 out of 100

Rating: 3 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Romance

First Line: Joel Royer laid a hand on Hallie’s forearm and cleared his throat in an effort to get her attention, but she couldn’t look away from the body, the remnant, the wax figure that had once been her stepfather.

Summery: Hallie discovers a box of papers and photos after her stepfathers death. It is evidence of a drug ring. It implicates many law enforcement people her stepfather used to work with, including her ex-husband, who works in the D.A.’s office. She takes her twin daughters and the evidence and leaves town, but her truck breaks down outside a café, where she finds a job and a place to stay, always mindful of her husband on her tail.

Why did I pick this book? : The author was recommended by a friend, and I thought this one looked interesting.

Review: It was an enjoyable read, but not anything unexpected or new. I know I have never read this book before, but the whole way through it felt very familiar. Right down to the characters doing what was expected of them. I guess that is what makes romances comfort reads though, right? I did find myself laughing when the twins were around, or when Evie came in the picture. And there were a couple moments when I could predict what was going to happen, so it wasn’t really suspenseful, but it was written well and the tension was there all the same. Made a good light Valentines read, and I’m happy I was able to get it in. =D

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

The 4 Day Diet

Title: The 4 Day Diet

Author: Ian K. Smith, M.D.

Date Finished: February 9, 2009

Personal Book Count: 12 out of 100

Rating: 4 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Diet/ Health

First Line: Losing weight is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical.

Summery: This diet is broken into 4 day segments where the types of foods you eat change every 4 days.

Why did I pick this book? : I had done one of the authors previous diets and had successful results. When I saw this book, I decided it was one I could follow, so I decided to give it a try.

Review: I am finding this book hard to review. Do I judge it on if I enjoyed the read, or if I lost weight? Well, I decided I should finish the book before I started the diet, so I have yet to lose any weight (but I did start this morning, and am so far, not struggling to follow it.) It was easy to read, easy to follow (the book itself), and educating. It was inspiring, and I think when I get stuck, if I go back and read some, it will be motivational. It was well laid out, and the ‘rules’ are clear. It is full of examples and anecdotes. It has pages of recipes, many of which look yummy, and you are allowed snacks, which there is also several pages of choices. And not all vegetables. Some of the snacks are also protein or carbs. My one big complaint would be that, the charts and diagrams seem to be stuck in randomly. Often they are paragraphs, or even pages later then the corresponding paragraph. Not unsinkable, but it did irritate me.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Title: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Author: Judy Blume

Date Finished: February 4, 2009

Personal Book Count: 11 out of 100

Rating: 3 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Juvenile Fiction

First Line: Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret. We’re moving today.

Summery: From the back cover:

No one ever told Margaret Simon that eleven-going-on-twelve would be such a hard age. When her family moves to New Jersey, she has to adjust to life in the suburbs, a different school, and a whole new group of friends. Everything is changing. And there are some things about growing up that are hard to talk about, even with you best friends. So Margaret finds someone else to talk to.

Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret. I can’t wait until two o’clock God. That’s when our dance starts. Do you think I’ll get Philip Leroy for a partner? It’s not so much that I like him as a person God, but as a boy he’s very handsome. And I’d love to dance with him… just once or twice. Thank you God.

Why did I pick this book? : For the Lost Books Challenge. It fit the requirements, and I had it on my shelf, meaning to read it anyway.

Review: I thought this read was going to be a new one to me. One I had missed when growing up. But as I read through it, I found it very familiar. It was a cute little somewhat relatable story (which pre-teen girl hasn’t been there?). I did find it a little bit dated. My big complaint would be, maybe there was too much in it. Moving, boys, your first period and religion? I think it would be just as good if you left out one or two of the topics. Or at least tie them together better. Just my opinion.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

The Chocolate War

Title: The Chocolate War

Author: Robert Cornier

Narrator: Frank Muller

Date Finished: February 2, 2009

Personal Book Count: 10/100

Rating: 3/5

Genre/ Subject: Young Adult (audio)

Summery: Stunned by his mother’s recent death and appalled by the way his father sleepwalks through life, Jerry Renault, a New England high school student, ponders the poster in his locker-"Do I dare disturb the universe?
Part of his universe is Archie Costello, leader of a secret school society-the Virgils-and master of intimidation. Archie himself is intimidated by a cool, ambitious teacher into having the Virgils spearhead the annual fund-raising event-a chocolate sale. When Jerry refuses to be bullied into selling chocolates, he becomes a hero, but his defiance is a threat to Archie, the Virgils, and the school. In the inevitable showdown, Archie’s skill at intimidation turns Jerry from hero to outcast, to victim, leaving him alone and terribly vulnerable. (Summery copied from chapters.ca)

Why did I pick this book? : Had read reviews on other blogs.

Review: Hmm. This book was obviously not written for me, as I’m not a teenage boy. I get the conflict, the feelings and where they come from. I even found the characters more or less believable. I didn’t find the ending particularly satisfying either. In fact, I had to listen to it twice. Something about it that I can’t put my finger on is sitting wrong with me. Would I have been able to appreciate this when I was younger (and still not a boy)? Probably, but I’m not sure I would have put in the time. Would I have put it down if I was reading it? Probably. But, as it was on audio, and I was multi- tasking, I found it enjoyable enough. This was the first audio I had listened to in years, and my first ever download from the library. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed listening to a book. The library web site made it easy to download, and the software was a pleasure to use with book marks, and fast forward, rewind, ect. (So much easier then tapes or cd’s). I think this will defiantly be something I do on more of a regular basis.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

New Moon

Title: New Moon

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Date Finished: February 1, 2009

Personal Book Count: 9/100

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Young Adult

First Line: I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till you lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough.

Summery: Still have a lot of Bella, Edward and many other characters from the first book, but we get to know Jacob much better, as well as some new characters introduced around his story line.

Why did I pick this book? : Sequel to Twilight and I’m now a complete junkie ;)

Review: *SPOILERS* I really liked this book. I liked getting to know Jacob better, seeing the flip side of the coin, and seeing how that relationship could work. For a while. Then it was like, I miss Edward, bring back the vampires. I like that she got some time with Alice though, and to see the way they interact, and how Alice seems to feel about her, away from Edward. I like the whole “two girls on the way to, and in Rome” part as well. Alice is so much like Edward, but it seems to me her sense of humor is more playful. I hate the way she talked to and treated Charlie. Did she even offer to go with him to the funeral? And if I talked like that, or issued ultimatums, or even went behind my parents back like that, I would have been smacked in to next week. I had so much respect for my parents, and I think that even now, our relationship is better for it. I’m not going to say if this book was better or worse then Twilight, it was just different. And enjoyable read on its own. I find once you start comparing books, one is never going to stack up, and are you remembering it right anyway? So why bother? I like to judge books on a stand alone basis. I really like the way this book ended, with a vote, and I like to see that there is some change and growth happening in the characters. I’m really looking forward to Eclipse now, but as I just read New Moon in 3 days, I think I’ll wait till the weekend to pick it or, or I may not be working this week. I can’t wait to see where Meyer takes the rest of the series. *Spoilers*

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D

Themed Reading Challenge

February 1st to July 31st, 2009.

The Themed reading challenge is a six month challenge designed to help readers clear books from their to-be-read stacks which center around a common theme or themes. Here are the “rules”:

Books should be chosen from the reader’s TBR pile (this may be an actual physical pile or a virtual pile).

The goal is to read 4 to 6 books linked by theme.

Overlaps with other challenges are allowed.

Readers may change their list of books at any time.

Readers may choose three different levels of participation:

• Read at least 4 books with the same theme.
• Read at least 5 books that share at least TWO themes.
• Read at least 6 books that share MORE than two themes

To join, click on the title of this post or click HERE.

I have decided my theme is going to be mystery books with female protagonists. (ETA- Hm, all female authors too. interesting) My current list is:

1. Tough Cookie- Diane Mott Davidson
2. Chocolate Bridal Bash- Joanna Carl
3. A Vision of Murder- Victoria Laurie
4. The Writing Class- Jincy Willett
5. Finger Lickin' Fifteen- Janet Evanovich

Choices are tentative and may be added to or changed at any time. =D