Just released: February 11, 2016
Publisher: EViL E Books
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, YA
ebook
Rating: 4.5
The Beautiful Creatures of Beverly Hills series:
Moondancers
book - tba
First sentence(s):
There was no decision to dive into the pool. I did it without thinking.
"Young love, paranormal creatures, and murder."
Josh Butters can't explain why he's attracted to Lara Applegate, the mysterious cousin of the girl next door. She likes poetry and beautiful things, while he likes video games and goofing around by the pool with his friends. Yet Josh finds himself inexplicably falling for Lara, and getting pulled into her shadowy world. The more deeply he falls,the more he discovers the cost of loving her may be too high. For keeping her family's secrets could cost Josh, his family, and his friends their lives.
Dangerously exciting, yet mystical and romantic, Moondancers is a page turning thriller that asks the question "do you believe in soulmates?"
My two-bits:
Good start to a new series and intro to a set of sea creatures (new to me). The world of Nereids and satyrs was interesting to learn about in this YA romance novel.
The location setting for this story is equally interesting - Beverly Hills, California. The outskirts of the city is described which also was new for me to learn about. I have a new perspective on swimming pools ;-)
I also liked the balance of humor and romance with elements of horror thrown in. Loved the interaction with the main character, Josh, and his friends. It was fun to hang out with them.
Just released: August 18, 2015
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Women's Fiction
Hardback: 320 pages
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
The phone.
Nora was trying not to sorry. But she'd been a mother for nearly eighteen years now. She was going to worry.
The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of northern California, and three charming kids with perfectly straight teeth. And then comes their eldest daughter's senior year of high school . . .
Firstborn Angela Hawthorne is a straight-A student and star athlete, with extracurricular activities coming out of her ears and a college application that's not going to write itself. She's set her sights on Harvard, her father's alma mater, and like a dog with a chew toy, Angela won't let up until she's basking in crimson-colored glory. Except her class rank as valedictorian is under attack, she's suddenly losing her edge at cross-country, and she can't help but daydream about the cute baseball player in English class. Of course Angela knows the time put into her schoolgirl crush would be better spent coming up with a subject for her term paper—which, along with her college essay and community service hours has a rapidly approaching deadline.
Angela's mother, Nora, is similarly stretched to the limit, juggling parent-teacher meetings, carpool, and a real-estate career where she caters to the mega rich and super-picky buyers and sellers of the Bay Area. The youngest daughter, Maya, still can't read at the age of eight; the middle-child, Cecily, is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid she once was; and the dad, Gabe, seems oblivious to the mounting pressures at home because a devastating secret of his own might be exposed. A few ill-advised moves put the Hawthorne family on a heedless collision course that's equal parts achingly real and delightfully screwball.
Sharp and topical, The Admissions shows that if you pull at a loose thread, even the sturdiest of lives start to unravel at the seams of high achievement.
Zombie sighting: There was still a month to go until Halloween. Even so, Cecily and Pinkie had spent much of the afternoon—Cecily's sole afternoon free from Irish dance practice—working on their costume, which was some sort of Siamese two-headed zombie situation; Guinness World Records meets The Walking Dead, while Angela went to French club and cross-country practice and showered and snuck into her room past Cecily, Pinkie, Maya, and the babysitter Maddie.
-chapter 10, page 43
My two-bits:
I could relate to the woes of this story as I went through the college hullabaloo with my daughter last year. However, it did not reach the nightmare level that this story gets into.
The experience of living in the San Francisco bay area and college application process is presented well with perspectives from each member of a family. And boy-o-boy does this process affect everyone in the family.
As secrets are revealed it was interesting to see how the painful aspects and repercussions were dealt with.
About the author:
Meg Mitchell Moore worked for several years as a journalist. Her work has been published in Yankee, Continental, Women’s Health, Advertising Age and many other business and consumer magazines. She received a B.A. from Providence College and a master’s degree in English Literature from New York University. The Arrivals is her first novel. Her second novel will be published by Reagan Arthur Books in 2012. Meg lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts, with her husband, their three children and a beloved border collie.
~*~
* review copy courtesy of BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2015 (details) @booksparks #FRC2015
Release date: October 20, 2015
Publisher: She Writes Press
Genre: Memoir, Coming of Age, YA
Paperback: 300 pages
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
In March of 1973, we picked up our new custom-built sailboat in Newport Beach and sailed south on our first-ever family voyage.
Leslie’s memoir starts in a broken home in the 1970s and moves into a coming-of-age adventure when, at the age of 14, she and her two sisters have to batten down the hatches on their 45-foot sailboat to navigate the Pacific Ocean, as well as the stormy temper of their larger-than-life Norwegian father.
It is the story of how a young girl comes into her own power and strength against all odds in a dysfunctional family having the adventure of a lifetime. Young Leslie embraces the sailing experience and turns it into a growth and maturation process, finding both beauty and spiritual solace in the natural world.
After her mother and father divorce at age seven, and full custody is given to her father, Leslie quickly learns the hard lessons of being Dad’s favorite. The abuse begins at age nine and doesn’t end until she begins to fight back at fourteen.
At twelve, the family moved from their 63-acre rustic ranch in Northern California to a 45-foot sailboat in Southern California where they spent two-and-a-half years living aboard their boat preparing for the trip of their father’s dream.
On February 5, 1975, they left everybody they knew, including their mother and began the journey, landing first in French Polynesia. Fourteen is the first of two books in a story of courage and hope, and of one girl’s fight against an overbearing, abusive and sometimes irrational father who demanded the best, while sometimes doing less than the best himself. You will be inspired by Leslie’s courage and fight and be amazed at all she encounters and overcomes.
My two-bits:
Coming of age story with the sea as a backdrop. Although the tale is not necessarily a pretty one in regards to family/father relations, it provides the general feeling of what it is like to be out on a sea adventure.
I liked learning about navigating a boat and what is involved in a long sea journey.
The photos included throughout the book was a nice touch and drew me into the story even more.
About the author:
Leslie Johansen Nack graduated UCLA with a BA in English literature. She is a member of the National Association of Memoir Writers and San Diego Writers Ink. She lives in San Diego and has two children with her husband of twenty-five years.
PeekAbook:
~*~
* review copy and giveaway courtesy of book tour sponsored by BookSparks. @booksparks
Just released: September 29, 2015
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Women's Fiction
Paperback: 386 pages
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
Tulsa slipped her canoe paddle into the Sweet Oak, a lazy song of a river that threaded the Ozark hills for miles.
After losing first her husband, then her daughter, seventy-eight-year-old grandmother Ruby wants to teach her risk-averse granddaughter, Tulsa, that some leaps are worth taking, no matter how high the potential fall. Tulsa loves her grandmother dearly, but she has a business to run and no time for romance—not even the paperback version. But when Ruby ropes her into a book club, Tulsa can’t bring herself to disappoint the woman who raised her.
Together with Ruby’s best friend, Pearl, as well as family friends BJ and Jen, the women embark on an exploration of modern-day love guided by written tales of romance. What they discover is a beautiful story that examines the bonds of friendship and the highs and lows of love in all its forms.
PeekAbook:
My two-bits:
Multiple character story lines appear in this chick-lit tale. However, all inter-related and mesh well.
The added treat is a romance book club. Loved how the book club selections and discussions from the meetings blended into the lives of each woman.
It was also interesting to get perspectives from women of different ages and states of relationships.
Got me thinking of the meaning of romance and love.
About the author:
Jan Stites has been a screenwriter, a screenwriting instructor, a waitress, a secretary, a middle school teacher in both inner-city and affluent schools, a scuba dive travel writer, a journalist, a transcriptionist for doctors and for documentary filmmakers, and a volunteer teacher in Kenya and the Yucatan. She considers the affirmative action plan she wrote for a maritime company to be perhaps her greatest work of fiction. Edgewise, set in a gritty Oakland setting, is Jan's debut novel. She's currently hard at play writing her next different book--a romantic comedy set in the Ozarks. Scheduled for release in the spring of 2014, Reading the Sweet Oak is a different, much lighter book involving small towns, good friends, rivers, herons and love in many forms.
~*~
* review copy courtesy of book tour sponsored by BookSparks. @booksparks
Just released: September 8, 2015
Publisher: Tizl Press
Genre: Cyber Thriller, YA
ebook
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
Mallory Park hunches forward over the desk, icy blue eyes glued to the screen of the laptop, a single glow in the otherwise darkened room.
“There is truth to be shared. Let us begin…”
Volatile mathematical genius Mallory Park is living two lives. In one, she is balancing senior year with looking after her little brother and troubled ex-Marine father; in the other, she spends her nights glued to her laptop, breaking into some of the world’s most secure systems as the hacker Echo Six.
As part of a corruption-exposing cyber network called the Forum, Mallory is far more at ease among the codes and hidden identities of her online world than she has ever been in the real one, but when other hackers start to go missing, she finds herself caught up in a web of secrets that could have repercussions far beyond both.
When anyone can be a name on a screen, how do you know who to trust?
My two-bits:
This story takes you into the world of hackers. A clever girl is the focus in this story. With her mad hacker skills, she is sought out to be more than a recluse in front of her laptop.
Then, an adventure begins that takes her out of her safe zone to solve a mystery which transforms her into a kind of superhero status (to me).
After reading cyber, internet-related subject matter this warning comes to mind...
Beware and be careful when online.
About the author:
Laura grew up in Woking, England, and studied music at the University of Surrey.
She has written two musicals. The most recent is fantasy story The In-Between, the concept album for which featured performances by nine leading West End stars. Since it's release, it has been played on BBC Radio 2, performed at West End Live and received hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube (here) and Facebook (here).
Just released: August 18, 2015
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Genre: Fairies, Fantasy, YA
Hardback: 280 pages
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
Once upon a time there were four fairies in the city who hadn't been maimed.
Sixteen-year-old Beckan and her friends are the only fairies brave enough to stay in Ferrum when war breaks out. Now there is tension between the immortal fairies, the subterranean gnomes, and the mysterious tightropers who arrived to liberate the fairies. But when Beckan's clan is forced to venture into the gnome underworld to survive, they find themselves tentatively forming unlikely friendships and making sacrifices they couldn't have imagined. As danger mounts, Beckan finds herself caught between her loyalty to her friends, her desire for peace, and a love she never expected. This stunning, lyrical fantasy is a powerful exploration of what makes a family, what justifies a war, and what it means to truly love.
My two-bits:
Whoa! Not used to reading about fairies in this context although they do have such inclinations. Guess I'm used to the frou-frou kind.
This story told the tale of the history between gnomes, fairies and tightropers in a story within a story kind of mode.
Didn't know too much about gnomes and tightropers going into this story so they were new creatures for me to learn about. These gnomes were definitely not the cute-sy kind with the red conical hats. And, I never knew about tightropers - so totally new to me.
Icky violence ensues during wartime mode. But pushes forward to endings and beginnings with elements of danger.
However amidst the ugliness of the times, different kinds of love and care come forth.
Illustrations and handwritten notes are sprinkled amongst the pages of this book that is an additional treat to come across.
--~ Book Giveaway ~--
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Offer ends: September 30, 2015
TO DO: (2-parts)
1. ADD this book to your Want To Read list on Goodreads (here).
2. TELL me: Which character would you like to learn more about - fairy, gnome or tightroper?
Just released: May 16, 2015
Publisher: self
Genre: Cat, Comedy, Fantasy, Egypt, Historical
Paperback: 184 pages
Rating: 4.5
series:
The Pharaoh's Cat
book 2 - tba
First sentence(s):
Water is filling my ears.
"Useless beast. I should cut… tail. Drowning's too good… you…"
Egyptians revere cats, but there are exceptions.
The Pharaoh’s Cat, narrated in the present tense by the cat himself, is the story of a free-spirited, quick-witted stray in ancient Egypt who suddenly finds himself with human powers joined to his feline nature. The cat immediately captures the attention of the seventeen-year-old Pharaoh, making him laugh for the first time since his parents' death, and is brought to live with him at the royal palace. The cat also becomes friends with the High Priest of the god Amun-Ra and seeks his help in solving the mystery of his human powers and the supernatural manifestations that later plague him. He has an enemy in the Vizier—the Pharaoh's uncle and the second most powerful man in Egypt. The Vizier hates him for himself and even more for his relationship with the Pharaoh.
The cat participates in festivities at the royal palace, developing an insatiable appetite for good food, wine, and gossip. He later accompanies the Pharaoh on a trip through his kingdom, all the while renewing the Pharaoh’s ability to enjoy life and inspiring him to become a stronger leader. Between the cat and the Pharaoh a bond of love gradually forms which will determine Egypt's destiny.
The Pharaoh's Cat imaginatively blends Egyptology with comedy, drama, and even time travel--the cat and the High Priest will meet Elena, a resident of the twenty-first century and the daughter of a renowned Egyptologist.
My two-bits:
Quite the cat adventure!
Fun way to learn about Egyptian history with some nitty gritty scenes with what a Pharaoh encounters in daily living.
The story gets into the ancient past and a bit into the present from an unusual cat perspective. This particular cat has the ability to easily interact with fellow cats and humans.
Cat antics made the story of the drama and the politics of the times amusing. Made me chuckle at times ;-)
About the author:
Maria Luisa Lang was born in Rome, Italy, and lives in New York City. She has a degree in art from the City University of New York, and her artwork has been exhibited in New York galleries.
She often returns to Italy to visit her family. She has also stayed for extended periods in Bath and London. She loves all animals and is an amateur Egyptologist. Her love of cats and ancient Egypt inspired her to write two novels about them. The Pharaoh's Cat is her first novel. She has almost completed its sequel, The Lady of Mystery.
WANNA read this?
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Offer ends: September 30, 2015
TO DO: (2-parts)
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Just released: August 4, 2015
Publisher: SparkPress
Genre: Chick-lit
Paperback: 276 pages
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
I walk into the classroom, Styrofoam cup of faculty lounge coffee in one hand, class list in the other, fake Prada sunglasses slipping down my sweaty nose.
Maddy Braverman, thirty and single, has taught first grade at an uber-elite private school in Greenwich Village for the past six years, a hip downtown school lauded as much for its progressive pedagogy as its privileged progeny and its multitude of sex-crazed staff̵ including the headmaster, AKA the Head Molester. Angry at herself for not moving on, Maddy gets distracted from her pity party with a new student, Lola Magdalena, daughter of A-list celebrities Nic and Shelby Seabolt a last-minute addition to her class roster.
When tragedy strikes Lola, Maddy has the chance to meet with Nic in his TriBeCa apartment. Maddy’s sexy celebrity fantasies turn to reality, leaving her breathless and spellbound. But from her front-row vantage point, Maddy learns the hard way that celebrity is not all it seems, and gets dealt a devastating blow that could leave her jobless, loveless and alone. If she could just see things clearly she could save herself from going Star Craving Mad.
My two-bits:
This story is a fun dose of the single life with brushes with celebrities. Had some chuckles, oh-no she didn't and go-girl moments with this read.
I liked the sneak peek into the elementary school world just as much as a single's rockin' night life.
Got me thinking of obsessions and love affairs.
About the author:
Elise A. Miller discovered her talent and passion for writing by accident, during a short-lived but rigorous acting pursuit in the late 1990s. She immediately began studying writing in earnest at Gotham Writers’ Workshop in New York City, and hasn’t looked back since. Elise completed courses in advanced fiction, memoir, novel writing, stand-up comedy and screenwriting. In 2000, she published her first piece in The Sun Magazine, and in 2002 she was one of the founding members of Little Red Writing Group in Brooklyn.
In the early 00s, Elise hosted and curated New York City’s East Side Oral (the reading series your mother warned you about), which showcased the talents of Jonathan Ames, Ned Vizzini, Amy Sohn, Darin Strauss, Alix Strauss, Felicia Sullivan, Mike Albo, Kim Brittingham, Victoria C. Rowan, Rachel Kramer Bussell, Allen Salkin and many more.
In 2008, her personal essay Forgive Me was published in the anthology Because I Love Her. Other personal essays have been published on nerve.com, Papotage and Fresh Yarn. More recent work appears in Northern Liberties Review, Elephant Journal, Wild River Review and Schuylkill Valley Journal.
Elise lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two teeny rescue dogs. She blogs about everything and anything here, about her personal fitness journey at bodyenta.com and about creative writing coaching at beechwoodwriters.com.
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* review copy courtesy of BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2015 (details). @booksparks #SRC2015
Destination: Get to know New York
Just released: August 25, 2015
Publisher: Blink
Genre: YA
Hardback: 256 pages
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
If they knew.
For as long as she can remember, Sarah’s family life has revolved around her twin sister, Annie—the pretty one, the social one, the girl who can do anything. The person everyone seems to wish Sarah—with her crippling shyness—could simply become.
When Annie suddenly chops off her hair, quits beauty pageants, and gains weight, the focus changes—Annie is still the star of the family, but for all the wrong reasons. Sarah knows something has happened, but she too is caught in her own spiral after her boyfriend breaks up with her and starts hanging out with one of Annie’s old friends.
Annie is intent on keeping her painful secret safe. But when she and Sarah start spending time together again for the first time in years, walls start to break on both sides … and words that had been left unsaid could change everything.
My two-bits:
This one kept me wondering to the end as each girl housed a secret of their own which slowly unravelled.
The story is told in two voices that are well distinguished in writing style. Annie is in a poetic voice, while Sarah tells a more descriptive side of things.
Got me thinking of sisters - sisterly love and support.
About the author:
Carol Lynch Williams, a two-time winner of the Utah Original Writing Competition, is the author of several books for children, including two novels about the Orton family of New Smyrna, Florida: Kelly and Me and Adeline Street. A starred School Library Journal review of The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson praises Williams as she "again demonstrates her facility at mood and character development... Truer colors are hard to come by."
~*~
* added to my COYER challenge/scavenger hunt (details)
* review copy courtesy of BookSparks YA Summer Reading Challenge 2015 (details). @booksparks #ReadingIsBeautiful
An Out of Bounds Novel series:
Game On
Foolish Games
Risky Game
Sleeping With The Enemy
The author of Risky Game returns with a football team owner who’s a real player, and the woman who’s ready to call him out on everything...
Dot-com millionaire Jay McManus is discovering that owning a pro football team like the Baltimore Blaze isn’t easy. An anonymous blogger is out to destroy his reputation, and now his team is being sued by its own cheerleaders. If Jay’s not careful, he could lose big—and not just financially.
Bridgett Janik’s brother may play for the Baltimore Blaze, but she’s not thrilled to be defending Jay McManus, the man who broke her heart. It’s bad enough she has to mingle with Jay during games, but working beside her former lover may be too much for her body—and her heart—to resist.
Jay’s determined not to let Bridgett slip away from him a second time. But, as the two follow the mysterious blogger’s trail, secrets—both past and present—are revealed, and Jay and Bridgett must decide if their relationship can be something more than just sleeping with the enemy.
My two-bits:
As well as some steamy moments, this story has some elements of mystery (not the murder kind) that kept me curious to the end.
The push-pull between the two main characters could be frustrating at times, only because their history is revealed in a slow manner. However, it is just right for the story. Both Bridgett and Jay are strong characters that are fun to follow. And despite their protests, they don't hold back.
There are few behind the scenes look into what it is like to own a sports team as well as life on a vineyard.
Topics of family and fidelity also were food for thought.
About the author:
Tracy Solheim is the author of the Out of Bounds novels, including Risky Game and Foolish Games. A military brat who now makes her home in Atlanta, she began her writing career as a teenager when she penned a column in her town’s local newspaper. Then it was on to journalism school and a brief stint with NBC Sports. After spending nearly two decades writing reports and testimonies for Congress, she delved into fiction.
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Have A Song On Your Lips (2015)
Kuchibiru ni uta wo (original title)
Directed by: Takahiro Miki
Screenplay by: Yukiko Mochiji and Yûichi Toyone
Based on novel by: Otsuichi
-Drama, Japan imdb
Starring:
Yui Aragaki as Yuri
Fumino Kimura as Haruko
Kenta Kiritani as Tetsuo
Yuri Tsunematsu as Nazuna
Shôta Shimoda as Satoru
Wakana Aoi as Chinatsu
Kyôka Shibata as Eri
My rating: 4.5
Per Japan Film Festival 2015: This touching school drama unfolds around Yuri Kashiwagi, a former piano prodigy, who returns to her hometown to work as a temporary music teacher and supervise the chorus members at the local middle school. While practicing for the regional contest, chorus members get an assignment from Yuri to write a letter to themselves in 15 years. Facing their personal issues, Yuri and her students begin to find their own voices.
PeekInside:
My two-bits:
A bit sentimental but not too.
Got a dose of middle school and glee-like activities on a small island of Japan.
Loved the music bits - singing and piano pieces.
Outdoor scenes reminded me of The Sound of Music (movie) - just visually, which warms the heart.
First sentence(s):
The dying actress arrived in his village the only way one could come directly -- in a boat that motored into the cove, lurched past the rock jetty, and bumped against the end of the pier. She wavered a moment in the boat's stern, then extended a slender hand to grip the mahogany railing; with the other, she pressed a wide-brimmed hat against her head. All around her, shards of sunlight broke on the flickering waves.
The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying.
And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot—searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.
What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning fifty years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion—along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow.
Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.
Zombie sighting: Claire mulls as she drives, zombie-like — all basic animal reflex.
-chapter 2, page 24
PeekAbook:
My two-bits:
Captured small coastal sleepy Italian town of the past (1960's) with wonderful detail. Although fictional believable with its nuances and community folklore.
Loved the varied characters that ran the gambit from locals in a small town to Hollywood celebrities.
Got me thinking of the life of celebrities and its lifestyle.
CHECK out the movie mentioned and highlighted in the book:
Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenplay by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall, and Sidney Buchman
Based on histories by: Plutarch, Suetonius and Appian
Also based on book: The Life and Times of Cleopatra by Carlo Mario Franzero
-Biography, Drama, History
Starring:
Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra
Richard Burton as Mark Antony
Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar
~*~
* listened to the audio version which was excellent
* added this to my Books On The Nightstand Bingo challenge (details) - square: By an author of a different gender
* added to COYER challenge/scavenger hunt (details)
* part of my Armchair Summer Travel (details) - check it out to enter Armchair Summer Travel Book Box Giveaway
Places mentioned include:
Italy
Scotland
California, USA
Idaho, USA
Washington, USA
Just released: July 7, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Romance, YA
Hardback: 368 pages
Rating: 4.5
Eva has always wanted to write a modern classic—one that actually appeals to her generation. The only problem is that she has realized she can't "write what she knows" because she hasn't yet begun to live. So before heading off to college, Eva is determined to get a life worth writing about.
Soon Eva's life encounters a few unexpected plot twists. She becomes a counselor at a nearby summer camp—a job she is completely unqualified for. She starts growing apart from her best friends before they've even left for school. And most surprising of all, she begins to fall for the last guy she would have ever imagined. But no matter the roadblocks, or writer's blocks, it is all up to Eva to figure out how she wants this chapter in her story to end.
Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell, Don't Ever Change is a witty, snarky, and thought-provoking coming-of-age young adult novel about a teen who sets out to write better fiction and, ultimately, discovers the truth about herself.
My two-bits:
I found this to be a fun summer read as it takes place in the summer and mostly at a summer camp.
It also deals with the transitional thoughts and feelings that teens experience after graduation and before entering college.
A couple romances keeps the main character busy as well.
I liked how this story addressed writing and writers.
~*~
* review copy courtesy of author
* added to my COYER challenge/scavenger hunt (details)
Just released: June 9, 2015
Publisher: SparkPress
Genre: Romance, Thriller, YA
Paperback: 150 pages
Rating: 4.5
First sentence(s):
Clarissa sees Decker Bail before I do. He's with a group of his friends, about to walk into the Adidas store behind me. I know she sees something because her eyes get real big and she coughs on the sip of banana-bluebery smoothie she'd just sucked up through her straw.
Zombie sighting: I think bout Decker's eyes—wide and terrified at first, like I was a zombie or something, and then drooping as though he was puzzled or maybe even sad.
-chapter 4, page 26
Seventeen-year-old Melanie Kennicut is beautiful. Her entire life revolves around this beauty because her overly controlling mother has been dragging her to casting calls and auditions since she was four years old. According to Joanne Kennicut, Melanie was born to follow in her footsteps. But Melanie never wanted this life.
When a freak car accident leaves her with facial lacerations that will require plastic surgery, she can't help but wonder if this is the answer to her prayers. For the first time in her life, she has a chance to live like a normal teenager‹at least for a little while away from the photo shoots and movie sets that have dominated her entire existence.
But after Melanie allows her best friend to come to the house to see her, Joanne decides to hide her daughter in Montana for the remainder of the summer. There, Melanie won't be seen by anyone they know, and her face will heal in time for the scheduled surgery in late August. Joanne’s plan backfires, however, when Melanie meets Sam, a Native American boy hired by the home's owner to tend to the property.
Sam is nothing like the Hollywood boys Melanie knows he is poor, his father's a drunk who possesses a bizarre gift inherited from a Kootenai Shaman, and his only brother disappeared into the mountains after the death of their mother eight years before. What transpires over a mere 36 hours after Sam and Melanie meet changes both of their lives in ways they never thought possible.
My two-bits:
I liked the pacing of the story. I did not expect the thriller part which made for some excitement.
The story starts off with an intro to the life of a young beautiful model in Hollywood. However, a bit of the unglamorous side of things as the main character, Melanie, is not really into any of that kind of lifestyle.
Then after an accident occurs that leaves Melanie with ugly facial scars things start to change. Melanie begins to take steps towards change.
However, a thriller aspect of the story comes into play towards the end of the story and things are revealed that result in more changes for Melanie than expected.
And to round out this story a sweet romance brews.
About the author:
Fleur Philips is an award-winning author who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Montana. Her first novel, I Am Lucky Bird, was selected as a General Fiction Finalist for the 2011 Book of the Year Award from ForeWord Reviews. Her current novel, Crumble, was named Young Adult Winner from the 2013 San Francisco Book Festival and was selected as a Young Adult Fiction Finalist by the 2013 International Book Awards. Additionally, Crumble is a Silver Medalist in the 2013 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards in the category of Young Adult, Mature Issues. Most recently, it was named a YA Fiction Finalist in the USA Best Book Awards from USA Book News. Fleur lives in Whitefish, Montana with her son.
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* added to my COYER challenge/scavenger hunt (details)
The Trip to Italy (2014)
Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
Screenplay by: Michael Winterbottom
-Comedy, Drama, Travel
Starring:
Steve Coogan as Steve
Rob Brydon as Rob
My rating: 4.5
Per imdb: Two men, six meals in six different places on a road trip around Italy. Liguria, Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and ending in Capri.
PeekInside:
My two-bits:
Loved the sites from where these two stopped for meals and lodging during their road trip along the western coast of Italy.
Food plays a big part in the film with scrumptious looking dishes of pasta get served to tantalize our eyes and the actors' bellies.
A little bit of bookish trivia is included as they visit places related to romantic poets Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The road chit chat is amusing with pop references and impressions of movie celebrities.
Places viewed:
Amalfi Coast
Camogli
Capri
Genoa
Liguria
Pisa
Ravello
Rome
San Fruttuoso
Tuscany
Villa Borghese
and more
Restaurants mentioned:
Cenobio dei Dogi, Camogli
La Suvera, Pievescola
La Cantina, San Fruttuoso
Il Riccio, Capri
Villa Cimbrone, Ravello
Oliver Glowig, Rome
A Five Star Life (2013)
Directed by: Maria Sole Tognazzi
Screenplay by: Ivan Cotroneo
Francesca Marciano
Maria Sole Tognazzi
-Drama, Travel
Starring:
Margherita Buy as Irene Lorenzi
Stefano Accorsi as Andrea
My rating: 4.5
Per imdb: Forty-something Irene had a dream job that made her life easy: she was indeed a luxury hotel inspector and her work got carried out in a wonderful ever-renewed setting, from Paris to Gstaad to Berlin to Morocco to China... But does a dream job necessarily mean a dream life?
Tagline: This is your journey. The path is up to you.
PeekInside:
My two-bits:
Definitely a good one to watch to get an idea of what is involved it how five star luxury hotels are rated.
Within the travels between places, the main character ponders loneliness and love.
Especially loved this film because is had lots of scenes from these places:
Paris, France
Gstaad, Switzerland
San Casciano dei borghi, Italy
Borgo Egnazia, Italy
Marrakech, Morocco
Berlin, Germany
Shanghai, China
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* part of my Armchair Summer Travel (details) - check it out to enter Armchair Summer Travel Book Box Giveaway
First sentence(s):
"Katherine, would you like to go next?" But Mrs. Blunt wasn't really asking.
Born a girl, Peyton Honeycutt meets Tara Parks in the eighth grade bathroom shortly after he gets his first period. It is the best and worst day of his life. Determined to impress Tara, Peyton sets out to win her love by mastering the drums and basketball. He takes on Tara's small-minded mother, the bully at school, and the prejudices within his conservative hometown. In the end, Peyton must accept and stand up for who he is or lose the woman he loves.
My two-bits:
This is a good introduction to the transgender world which is a topic in the forefront these days since Bruce Jenner's reveal.
The story covers the span from the main character's middle grade to just right after high school years which felt like slow pacing but more realistic for a coming out moment.
Sadly, the inevitable negative aspects of what a transgender individual would encounter are touched upon. But, they do not overpower the main points of this story of self realization, growth and love.
Music plays a little part in the storyline with some behind the scenes of working at a music store and in a private recording studio.
End pages include resources for more information on transgender and LGBTQ.
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* review copy courtesy of publisher
* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge - square: We Need Diverse Books
David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his enormously popular New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny new novel about what holds marriages and families together—and what happens, and what we learn about ourselves, when everything threatens to fall apart.
Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce.
The timing couldn’t be worse. Hoping to encourage her son’s artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world’s greatest works of art as a family, and she can’t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie.
The painful realities of this family's life with an unlikable narrator made this story uncomfortable and unpleasant to read about. BUT, as the story progressed the growth development of each character (especially the narrator) changed my view.
I also liked how this story intermingles past and present in a summer road trip kind of setting with travels through European countries that include France, The Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
AND, I really enjoyed the descriptions of the places visited with museum art trivia thrown in. More places to add to my travel bucket list!
Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
Screenplay by: David Nicholls
Based on novel by: Thomas Hardy
-Drama, Historical, Romance
Starring:
Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene
Matthias Schoenaerts as Gabriel Oak
My rating: 4.5
Per imdb: In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
Neat-o trivia bits from imdb:
-There is a scene in a market with a poster in the background announcing the news in Casterbridge which is a reference to another Thomas Hardy novel, "The Mayor of Casterbridge".
-The movie's title is derived from a poem 'Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' by the poet Thomas Grey.
-The song sung by Carey Mulligan and Michael Sheen in the film is "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme," a traditional British and Irish folk ballad.
PeekInside:
My two-bits:
The initial draw for me to see this was for costumes, setting and location. Loved this film for all.
Farm life and the daily routines of it is beautifully portrayed in the background of a love triangle tale.
Unlike the grandeur of ballroom settings and city life in London, this story takes you mostly outdoors in the country. The brightness and colors of all the outdoor scenes bring about the feeling of fresh and crisp England air.
Oh, the sheep! One scene with them is memorable and just really grips at the heart.
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GET familiar with the original...
Far from the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy Amazon | Goodreads
In Thomas Hardy’s first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy’s novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.
Just released: June 2, 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Chick-lit
Paperback: 272 pages
Rating: 4.5
There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…
Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.
My Father has this great story about the day he met my mother, a story he never gets sick of telling.
My two-bits:
Intermingles several love stories within a family set in the wine country. So, it felt a bit like a family drama rather than focus on one particular person which I liked just fine. Each character were equally engaging and interesting.
The Wine country backdrop provides a brief look into the world of wine making and selling. This would be a fun one to read before embarking on a wine country tour/tasting.
About the author:
Laura Dave is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The First Husband, The Divorce Party and London Is The Best City In America.
Her novels have been published in fifteen countries, and three of her novels, including Eight Hundred Grapes, have been optioned as major motion pictures. She resides in Santa Monica, California.
* review copy courtesy of Summer Reading Challenge 2015. It's not too late! You can join the challenge here. @booksparks #SRC2015
Destination: Drink in Sonoma wine country
