Jennsylvania

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of attending a book signing for a fellow blogger Jen Lancasater. It was a last minute decision to attend and honestly I was mainly in it for the hanging out with Twitter friends part. I met up with Megan, Tina, Chris and Byron for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory ahead of time and then off to Barnes and Noble to lay in wait for HRH Jen.

When Megan first talked about this signing, I went online to my local library and put all of her books on hold. I started reading Bitter is the New Black a day before the signing and I was hooked.

We got there in time to get the last actual seats in the reading/signing area and all those after us had to sit on the floor in a line along the wall. I would have left at that point. Jen had asked her readers to arrive in 80's wear. I didn't do 80's in the 80's and I didn't do it now, but Megan and Tina went in full force!

Jen came in to an adoring crowd and did a reading of a chapter of the new book. I have never done this before, never attended a reading that is. I really enjoyed it, it is fun to hear the words coming directly from the author instead of just hearing them in my head.

This is pure Chick Lit, if you enjoy Chick Lit, then I highly recommend all of her books. I have completed the first two (Bitter, and Bright Lights Big Ass), and am picking up the next one, Such a Pretty Fat later today. Her last is Pretty in Plaid and it is sort of a prequel to the others.

Jen is quick witted, dry humored and everything I enjoy in a mindless read.

For my sisters.... you will enjoy these, go to the library and get them now, except the last one, you can read my special copy when you get here.

Shelter Me - Juliette Fay

I may go out on a limb and name this to be my favorite non-fiction book so far this year.

I won’t lie, there are a bunch of slow parts and a bunch of schmaltz, but I like schmaltz.

A young mother of two small children loses her husband in a freak accident. We watch her as she perseveres as a widow and a single mom.

There is family angst and trials and tribulations. There is even a romantic interlude or 2 and even though there may be some impropriaties involved, you (at least I did) find yourself cheering them on.

This is a definite recommendation.

As a matter of full disclosure, this book was provided to me by the publishing company on behalf of Mombloggers club.

The Spare Wife - Alex Witchel

First off, I highly recommend this book. But I do have to say that the whole time I was reading it, I couldn't help but keep thinking my mom would not have liked it and probably would not have gotten past the first half.


The storyline is good, a woman, a friend for all, not just the other wives but the husbands as well (for one in particular).

But the reason mom wouldn't have finished is that it was very hard to keep the cast of characters straight. There were many times that I couldn't figure out who was who and thought to go back to the beginning to check, but decided to just give up and enjoy the ride. Once I let myself go, and stop worrying about who was married to whom and who was schtupping whom, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.


Perhaps the fact that the characters all flowed well, perhaps because they worked so well together, that may be why I confused them. The story kept me up at night to read (I hate/love that). You cared about all of the characters, even the bad girl. You cared about the jerk cheating on his wife and then turning his back on the other woman. You cared mostly about the heroine who is the every woman, she is you and me and ever woman you have met.

Disclosure, this book was provided to me by the author and I am being compensated for my honest review.

Late Fees

I seem to be behind on all of my blogs and this is the last one to catch up.

I have read many good books in the 60 days that I haven't updated, so look for great (and some not so great) reviews to come soon.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Last year I read The Kite Runner by the same author. It was great, minus a couple of icky parts that dealt with rape of a small child. The Kite Runner showed sides of Afghanistan from a male point of view and mostly decades ago.

A Thousand SPlendid Suns focuses more on the plight of women in Afghanistan and spans a time that leads into the now. The focus is on two women in particular and how their dissimilarities truly prove how similar they are. It gives you an insight to the hardships faced during the civil war, the war with Russia and the aftermath of those conflicts. It is very well written with the ability to draw a picture in your mind, which is what I enjoy most about a good book. I like to finish a well written book feeling as if A: I watched a really good movie or B: I was actually a participant in the book. And this book did that for me.

American Wife

I would have enjoyed this book more had I not been told ahead of time it was loosely based on First Lady Laura Bush. (Ha ha and now I’ve told you the same) Yes, you can see some known similiarities but it is obvious that not everything can be known and the authors thoughts and opinions can make their way in.

So let’s go with this as just a novel, not an unofficial biography.

It is really good. It is a complete story in that you are not left wondering what happened after she got married or will there be a sequel? This takes you through start to finish(ish).

OK, I can’t ignore the fact that Lara Bush is the lead character. And it does make it interesting to think that all these things actually happened to her, but did they? Was she really involved in a fatal car accident as a teen? Was she really involved in a violent sexual relationship that resulted in an abortion? I don’t know for sure and I hate that. If I know it is just fiction I can live with it and not care. But if I think it is based on a real person then I wonder how much is actual truth and how much is just the author inserting their own biases.But like I said as a novel as a story it was interesting, and it drew me in. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to you.

sTORItelling

Have I mentioned I enjoy memoirs? Yes even memoirs from young people who have had an interesting life (albeit long from being over).

I was a fan of the first season of 90210 when it first came out but not much after that. I don’t recall hearing much about Tori Spelling after that until a few years ago during her first marriage. It was “news” in my city of Glendale because she married an Armenian man. When that marriage didn’t last long it was tabloid fodder and then the reality show hell began. (I kid I love reality TV.) I did not watch So NoTORIous, but I am a fan of Tori and Dean Inn Love. I knew from watching the show that he was married when they met on set, but I didn’t realize she was as well. And of course, everyone (well everyone in LA at least) heard when her father died that she received a pittance of his estate as an inheritance. To you or I $800,000 would seem li9ke a fortune but to someone who has had unlimited spending all her life it can be tough to budget yourself.

The book is open and honest as Tori seems to be in her show as well. She speaks of her odd upbringing, her favorite memory of her father being the time they would pick up dog poo in the backyard. She admits to mistakes she has made regarding the “feud” with her mother and the failure of her first marriage. She talks about the nepotism involved in starting her acting career and also how it held her back at times as well.

This book is an easy read with a keyhole look into someone’s life that would seem glamorous but shows that glamour isn’t all that it seems.

Curtis Sittenfeld

In Sittenfeld's first book "Prep" a young "underpriveleged" girl gets a scholarship to a Boarding School in New England. She constantly second guesses herself and feels as though everything she does is being scrutinized by others and that if anyone does anything for her it is for a reason. When things do start going well for her and people see her for who she can be, she still doesn't quite trust that someone could like her for her that there must be an ulterior motive.



Perhaps the reason it took me so long to read this book is because it hurt to read about myself. That is how I live my life and I know I shouldn't but I do.


This is a very good book and leads you into her next book "Man of My Dreams". This young lady grows up in a very abusive home and is shunned by her father. That upbringing is ingratiated in her mind as she is not good enough for anyone and that if a man is ever in love with her it can only lead to no good. Her trials at relationships with her friends and lovers leads you through your own psyche and makes you (or me at least) think if you are doing the same thing.



I picked up these books in preparation of reading Sitenfelds latest novel "An AMerican Wife". This book is loosely written on First Lady Laura Bush. I was told if I read it I can't help but come away liking her. Her I already like, it's her husband I have a problem with. I'll let you know what I think of this when I read it.

All The Stars Came Out That Night

You really have to be a big baseball fan to be able to follow and/or enjoy this book. Thankfully I am. The storyline takes place in 1933 and follows Satchel Paige, Leo Durocher, Dizzy Dean and many others from that era in their attempt to hold a St. Louis Cardinals -vs- Negro League Ball Game. At that time A white team was not allowed to play against a Negro team. Common knowledge holds that the Commissioner didn't want anyone to know that the Negro players were just as good if not better than the white players. There are many smaller sub plots and even some sidetracks into Hollywood and kidnapping. But don't let that distract you from a good baseball story.

Daring Book Giveaway Winner!

The winner has been notified by email. Thanks all for entering. Another giveawy next week.

The Pocket Book For Daring Girls

This book will be released on October 28, 2008, but this is your chance to win a copy here and NOW!

I received this copy at BlogHer from MomCentral and am passing on the goodness to you.

Andrea Buchanan is the mother of a daughter and a son, both of whom are equally daring. Before she was a writer, she was a pianist who once performed a solo concert at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. This is her fifth book.

Miriam Peskowitz is the mother of two girls, including an eight-year-old who climbs trees and leads spy missions in the backyard. She has been a camp counselor, an historian, a blogger, a musician, a professor, and is the author of several books, including The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars.

This is the followup to The Daring Book for girls, which was rated with 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon dot com.

If you have a daughter (geared towards 9-12, but good for all ages really) this book is a must have.



To enter leave a comment here, tweet this contest for a second entry, blog about it for another.

The winner will be contacted on October 5.

More Than it Hurts You - Darrin Strauss

HORRID! HORRID! HORRID!

I realized this would be a Manchausen by Proxy story from very near the beginning. And, while I wasn't crazy about that premise, I know it is something out there and some light needs to be shed upon it.

However, about 100 pages in there is a blow by blow of the pain (yes pain) that is being inflicted on this poor 4 month old baby. It details the whimpers of the child, the painstaking moves by the mother to make it easier for her but more painful for the baby. That was it, I had to put it down and try hrd to put it out of my mind.

Normally after I read a book, I post it on Paperback swap for a trade, this book however, I put directly into the recycling bin. I do not want anyone to read it, I do not want it to prosper or profit. It is HORRID!

Confessions of a Contractor - Richard Murphy

I really disliked this book. I finished it, but I didn't want to. Not liking it tho, is totally a matter of my taste in "storytelling".

This book doesn't read like a novel per se, it reads like a conversation. Some like that. The reviewer of People magazine loved this book. As do many on Paperback Swap. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

The story is of a Los Angeles contractor (based on his own actual experiences) who finds himself involved on different levels with his clients. I thought it would be my kinda story as I enjoy "reality" type books as well as reality tv. But again it read like he was talking to his bar buddies instead of me. The story would have been better if it was written differently.

Lake News - Barbara Delinsky

Another wonderful novel from Ms. Delinsky.

The main character is Lily Blake, a talented singer who shuns the limelight and cherishes her privacy. Tricked by a reporter into unwittingly giving an interview about her friendship with a a newly appointed Cardinal, she is accused of having had an affair with him.

Lily becomes a pariah and suffers the ultimate violation of her privacy as headlines all across the country proclaim her guilt. Hounded by the press, fired from her job, deprived of all public freedom, She returns in secret to her hometown of Lake Henry, in a remote, beautiful part of New Hampshire.
But returning to her birthplace and her family is not without its own stress and pain.

Driven by the need to exact justice -- and, for herself, some kind of closure -- from the media that changed her life forever, Lily forms an uneasy alliance with John Kipling, a journalist who was born and raised in Lake Henry's poorest neighborhood. His successful career as a big-city reporter has ended disastrously, and John has come back home to edit the local newspaper, Lake News. At first he sees Lily as a victim, as well as a subject for the book he hopes to write. But soon she becomes someone whose appeal -- and cause -- he cannot deny, even at the risk of taking on his former colleagues in her defense.

Slacker

That's not the name of a book, that's the name of me.

I have read many books since the last time I have posted but I have had just a bit of drama in my life over the last month (or two years give or take). I promise I will be back within a week with more reviews and even a giveaway (or 2).

Comfort Food - Kate Jacobs

Remember how much I loved THIS?

And how when I went to BlogHer there was this stack of books as schwag?

Well Comfort Food is by the same author as The Friday Night Knitting Club and just happened to be in that stack.

This time Ms. Jacobs has kept her focus on one main character but given you enough about each of the perimeter characters that she could continue on with them in other books (which I hope she will).

Augusta "Gus" Simpson is a cooking show cook. Think Paula Deen on Food Network. That is how she was pictured in my head the entire time. She has two grown daughters and is facing cancellation of her show. When a partner is thrown in that is younger, prettier and less experienced it makes for some madcap episodes. Throw in a couple of love interests for herself and her daughters and even an odd little mystery twist and you have a great read.

Ms. Jacobs has outdone herself again.

Mrs. Lieutenant

This is the story of 4 women from the four corners of a square. The square is their husband’s military service and while they are all going through the same thing, they are each coming at it from their own completely different background and beliefs. It is 1970 and the one thing they all have in common is the worry that their husband will go to Vietnam.

Sharon is Jewish, Kim is a Southern Baptist, Donna is a Puerto Rican Army brat and Wendy is Black.

The story is told in 3rd person but flows as if each woman is telling her own. You cringe when prejudices are shown and you cry when bonds are formed.

The book can look deceiving as being long and daunting because the type is large, which I enjoy as being easy to read at night in bed, but it makes it almost 500 pages.

Souvenir

Cross Posted at Good Reads and Paperback Swap

When you can figure out the end from the prologue you assume the book is not going to be good. But you (read I) stick with it because you hate giving up on a book. It’s the journey right? You know how it’s going to end but it the how you get from A to B that’s important.

I am so very happy that I stuck with this book. It starts out very cheesy, boy meets girl, boy wants to propose to girl, girl breaks up and marries someone completely wrong. Being an avid reader of “romance” novels you know boy and girl are going to get back together before the end of the book. The journey that Theresa Fowler takes you on in her first novel is one of Robert Frost proportion, the road less taken.

This is a fairly new book and as I mentioned it is her first novel. I will definitely put her in my authors to watch for category.

Side note to my sisters, this book hits a little close to home be prepared with a box of Kleenex. G-don’t read the end first, let her take you on the journey.

Two Books

Somehow it always works out that I finish both my hard copy and my electronic books at the same time. I finished The Girl Who Stopped Swimming just a few days ago and it was very good. I have been reading Joshilyn Jackson's blog for a while now and I have always enjoyed her writing. And while I have been disappointed by books from some of my favorite bloggers (I was only willing to try this one because I could get it from the library) I really liked this one. I can't wait to read her other books.

This morning I finish How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets and it was fantastic. I highly recommend it.

I am on my way to the library at lunch today to pick up my two new books.

Light of the Moon

Cross Posted at Paperback Swap

I have always enjoyed Luanne Rice novels. She usually does such good “beach reads”. This one while very good I would not classify as a beach read. Although it is a bit intriguing it misses the mark of mysterious.

A young woman loses her mother but makes good on her promise to “find Sarah and thank her”. Sarah is a Romany saint in France said to have travelled there with the 3 Marias. Of course while there she falls in love, but it can’t be that cut and dried, there has to be a problem of course. His ex-wife, his troubled daughter, her ex-boyfriend/partner. There is some French in the book that is not translated and leaves the reader to figure it out. Some I could some I didn’t care/need to.

I am not big on description. Honestly I don’t care what color her dress is or how it plays nicely off the colors of the flowers in the garden. I skipped over a lot of this in this book. And I don’t believe I missed a thing.

This was a good quick read (3 nights). With of course a happy ending.