Love Reads!

I am so excited!!! I unfortunately because of my injuries and lack of a ride I cannot go see it in the foreseeable. So, here is what I need your all to do, go see it and tell me about it! I want to not only live vicariously through you all, but want to be sure its worth the work of getting my butt to a theater to see it for myself. So, comment comment comment! Can’t wait to hear what you think!

By Kristin Harmel

February 2008

5 Spot

ISBN-10: 0446581437

ISBN-13: 978-0446581431

In the beginning our protagonist Emma exemplifies the phrase “the hits just keep on coming.” First, she is dumped by her fiancé completely out of the blue, then, she gets fired from a job she loves and last but not least finds out that one of her best friends was sleeping with said fiancé. Also, to make matters even worse the other friends in her group agree with that decision!

Emma spends the next couple of weeks understandably bewildered eating her weight in ice cream while counting the days before she is evicted and homeless. Her best friend Polly from college, however, comes to her rescue offering her a temporary way out acting as her assistant while she does publicity work for a famed actor turned musician named Guillaume Riche. The coolest perk by far is that in order to do the job she has to move to Paris for six weeks. Emma accepts on the spot but, once she gets there she realizes she may have gotten into more then she bargained for.

You see, Guillaume is a bit of a handful and prides himself it seems on the different kinds of trouble he can get himself into. Including but not limited to hanging from a rope between two buildings by his feet. Which is why Emma is so desperately needed, her sarcastic wit and quick thinking seem to do the trick when it comes to convincing the media? Well almost all, there is one strikingly handsome reporter who is a bit harder to sway.

I suggest picking this book up. The messes that Guillaume gets him into are pretty funny and there is a surprise connection between two of the characters that keeps the story interesting.

4 out of 5

By Sophie Kinsella

February 2008

The Dial Press

ISBN-10: 0385338724

ISBN-13: 978-0385338721

In Sophie Kinsella’s newest novel remember me, we meet Lexi Smart, a somewhat mousy girl who has a boring job at a carpet store and a pretty lousy boyfriend. One night after drowning her sorrows in drinks with some friends she falls down a set of stairs trying to catch a cab in the pouring rain and everything goes blank….

She wakes up the next day in the hospital, but something feels off, she looks a bit thinner and her belongings around her are not hers, or so she thinks. After some investigating and talking with her doctors she realizes that it hasn’t only been just a day, but THREE YEARS! No, she wasn’t in a coma; apparently it was a car accident that gave her amnesia, washing away the memories of those years.

There is apparently a whole lot that she has forgotten; last she remembers, it was the day before her estranged father’s funeral. Now she discovers she not only runs the entire carpet sector of the same company she worked for before, but she is also married to the most gorgeous guy on the planet. As each day goes by, though and she still doesn’t remember anything, she discovers details here and there that don’t quite add up. For example, her former friends ignore her now and apparently she is having an affair with her husband’s business partner? What happened to change things so starkly in a few short years?

This book is another gem in Sophie’s tiara mixing her trademark wit and smarts with a story that told any differently could have easily become confusing and muddled. I am impressed by her effort and hope that those who love her books or have ever wanted to try one to pick this book up.

I, though I am not sure I have told you all this formally yet, am a blogger with a disability.  I was born with a disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) also known as “brittle bones.” My bones have dont have enough collegen or a crappy quality, there is really no way to know which for sure. 

 A few weeks ago I was riding a taxi to an appointment and the driver was not driving carefully and went over a bump too hard and I got a compression microfracture in my back.  Since then it has been on the mend, but this Monday I got hurt again rebreaking the same area and ended up having to go to the ER.  After seeing my doctor today I have been put on strict bedrest for the next couple weeks.  The great thing about blogging though is as long as you have a laptop and an internet connection you can still do your job!  I still wanted to make you are all aware though in case I had any particularly bad days pain wise.  I would never want anyone to think I would ever desert this blog because I love it very much and love all of you who take the time to visit.  Though only a few weeks old this ole’ girl is growing steadily and I am proud to announce I have called and emailed some publishers and I am well on my way to getting a steady stream of to be released titles.  Some of my favorites that you will be seeing in the near future are; Love The One You’re With by Emily Griffen & Chasing Harry Winston by the iconic Lauren Weisberger.  Happy Reading!

I was reading though some of my favorite blogs for content ideas and came upon and interest blurb on GalleyCat . Though the description on that page was vague it included a link to an opinion piece written by a writer for The Philadelphia Enquirer . In this article the writer tackled her dislike of book covers that have pictures of women taken from behind. She regarded as a tried and tired form saying “The cover, though, is literal and beyond cliche, the obligatory back of a woman in a vintage gown, barefoot on a blurry country road, a truck in the background. In a time of innovative design, the cover is visual Splenda.”

Personally how a whole article on this was written, to me personally is astounding. As I see it though, though she makes good references to her “disjointed body parts” theory, mentioning authors such a Jennifer Weiner; her story has no merit. It in my mind is just a book cover, though many authors penning southern women’s lit seem to follow this trend, I don’t see the problem, it brings to each reader a different idea. What should be important is the title and the book synopsis. So to Helen I say this, though your efforts to get a story out were courageous the idea falls flat, unless you would be able to find a link that connects this covers and a principle of feminism all the article really serves as is a free add for some good writers.

What do you think? Do many women’s lit covers seem redundant? What about the contents of her article? I want to hear what YOU think!

By Carole Matthews

February 2008

Thomas Dunne Books

ISBN-10: 0312376669

ISBN-13: 9780312376666

As soon as I saw the title for Carole Matthews’s new book The Chocolate Lovers Club, I started to drool because it encompassed my two favorite things; good friends and chocolate!  Following the style of what I call friends lit, the book follows four friends who become close thanks to their sugar high and the situations they are faced with. 

Lucy is a temporary employee currently working at a firm called Targa, where she is filling in for their receptionist who is on maternity leave. Recently having found her boyfriend in the arms of someone else for the umpteenth time she is in a funk taking her life day by day.

Nadia’s husband has an online gambling addiction that is putting their family deep into debt.  As many people with addictions do, he does not recognize the issue as a problem and Nadia is at a loss about how to get out of the red; let alone how to get him help.

Autumn was a child of entitlement that rather then put her money towards designer clothing she instead does all she can and is living green and helping others.  Her brother Richard has recently paid her a visit and he as usual is in trouble.  Thinking that all he needs is a place to stay she allows him to take the spare bedroom, not realizing she is biting off more then she can chew.

Chantal is in a loveless marriage, she and her husband haven’t made love in ages let alone cuddle. She still loves him and therefore does not have the option of leaving him and resorts to random encounters.  Her last one was particularly interesting, the sex was great, it’s the stealing all of her valuables before she awakes that sours all the fun.

This is a good book to read even if you don’t like chocolate (though that helps) and is especially good if you enjoy books reminiscent of titles such as The Reading Group.  I enjoyed the laughs and a couple of the surprising little twists in the story.  So, do yourself a favor and pick up this perfect rainy day read!

5 out of 5

By Jennifer Weiner

April 2008

Atria Books

ISBN-10: 0743294254

ISBN-13: 9780743294256

Jennifer Weiner delivers her readers another hit with Certain Girls! This time around it is time to check up on Cannie. Last time in Good In Bed when the book ended we were left at a crossroads, but now we see her ten years later with a teenage daughter and a sweet and doting husband. It has also been ten years since the release of her book Big Girls Don’t Cry that started her career with those sorted (mostly fictional) dirty details.

Joy is now twelve and in a few months time will have her Bat Mitzvah. As the date approaches she has many extravagant plans, she has been to a few for her friends and wants to have the best one of all. At least as good as Ambers, who for the invitation alone had a slideshow on DVD. Joy idolizes Amber and is thrilled when she is invited to have lunch with her one day, though her best friends Tasmin and Todd are not exactly pleased. Amber and her friends ask her questions about her mothers book but Joy can’t answer them because she has never been allowed to read it. So, after some thinking she decides to pick up a copy at a used bookstore and is not very pleased with what she reads.

After Candace gave birth to Joy, thanks to some complications she is no longer able to have children. This fact has never really bothered her or Peter that much until he brings up out of the blue how she would feel about the idea of having a surrogate carry a baby for them. At first, she is hesitant but decides to at least give it some time and research to see where it ends up.

The great thing about Jennifer’s books is that as soon as you think you know how the story pans out you are thrown a curveball. This title is no exception; I was completely caught off guard and amazed. Picking up this book is a definite must it is a great read and it will surely join the ranks of its predecessors.

5 out of 5

Now I have to say this is the coolest product I have EVER seen for a bookish person like myself. It is such a great optical illusion that could easily and cheaply brighten up every room. The product is called “Sticklebook ” and with little to no handiwork you could put one up for your very own! All it is really is a bar of metal mounted to wall space and there are rubberized bristle like points sticking out which hold the books themselves. The Website shows a few different ways that the “invisible shelf” comes in handle, such as in a child’s bedroom or the kitchen. I personally would put one in the bathroom because those little baskets were never my style. Where would you put yours? For more information visit the website which includes dimensions as well as tell you the price.

(information via Trashionista.com )