need a good read?

Wow. I just realized it has been a while since I've posted about my reading adventures... and believe me, I've been on some! So to catch you up, here are just some of the books that were big hits and slight misses:

The Summer Series [The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You, We'll Always Have Summer]- Jenny Han: I'm a fan of YA books, always have been and probably always will be, and this was no exception. I love how many YA novels are relate-able during and after your youth. When you are a teen, you know exactly what the characters are going through - you feel the same things they do, you experience the same (or similar) situations, you long to live the life that the characters are living. When you're an adult and read YA, it takes you back to your first crush, first love, first kiss, and they helps you remember what it felt like to need to be wanted and be included and that's exactly what this book did for me.
The story revolves around Belly, a 16-year-old girl and two brothers, Jeremiah and Conrad (thus a love triangle ensues). Belly's life has been intertwined with these two men since they babies because every summer they and their mothers take residence in a beach house. This series is a wonderful coming-of-age story and a great, easy summer read full of more depth than just the normal fluffy love story.

Across the Universe - Beth Devis: Another YA novel, but this one is a little more Sci-Fi in nature. Amy, a 17-year-old girl decides to take the plunge with her parents and become frozen cargo on a spaceship that will land on a foreign planet in 300 years, however she is unfrozen 50 years too early and finds herself in a vastly different spaceship than the one that left Earth. Okay... I know it sounds a little Star-Trekkie... but believe me, it's not! I honestly believe this would be a great book for a high school English class because it raises so many questions about ethics, morals, and what-ifs. It is (thankfully) the first book of a trilogy and I think it would be an amazing movie. I can't say anything more because if I do I will give away something you should discover for yourself.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford: This was chosen as our May book club book and I'm really glad it was, because I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. It takes you into the life of Henry Lee, a Chinese boy growing up in Seattle during WWII who befriends a Japanese girl, Keiko. The chapters go back and forth from Henry as a boy and Henry as a 50-something man. I loved this novel because it gave an interesting insight into the world of racially-driven expectations, prejudices and discrimination. It also incorporates a part of American history that is usually forgotten or glazed over - Japanese interment camps. I enjoyed that the characters in this novel are well-developed and you can see a lot of the underlining pressures and conflicting emotional struggles. However, I personally thought that more than half of the book was slow moving, but it got quite a bit better towards the end. However, many people in my book club thought differently and enjoyed every page.

Everything written by Sarah Addison Allen - The Peach Keeper, Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon: All of these books stand alone, but they all consist of Southern women, friendship, love, and a hint of magic. Allen has a beautiful writing voice that captures you from the moment you open the book. These feel-good books are quick to read because you just don't want to put them down! I'm just going to go ahead and say it - I loved all of these books. I mean, I seriously loved these books. I'm not going to say anything more about them, because I honestly think that you need to read them for yourself.

Bumped - Megan McCafferty: This is yet another YA (I've been on a YA kick this summer it seems). Bumped was written off a very interesting concept - what if it was not only accepted, but also expected that teenage girls get pregnant? Melody lives in a world where girls are encouraged (and paid) to have babies before the age of 18 for married couples because once teenagers hit the ripe, old age of 18, they become sterile due to a virus. There is a new set of vocabulary you need to get used to and I'm still trying to decide how I feel about a YA book based on teenagers having sex, specifically unprotected sex, regardless of the scenario. Yet, I did enjoy this book and I might have enjoyed it purely because the whole idea was original. It is due to have a sequel released in Spring of 2012 called Thumped and I have heard rumors that it might be turned into a film.

A Vintage Affair - Isabel Wolf: Sometimes  Every week my friend sends me a text or e-mail with a list of books that she’s either heard or read about for me to check in to. Sometimes she finds REALLY good books and other times they’re more of a dud. Unfortunately, this ended up to be the latter. It revolves around Phoebe, a woman who owns a newly-opened vintage clothing boutique who befriends an elderly women who owns a coat with a hidden past. There is also a dabble in  love and a story of shattered friendship. I believe there are two big downfalls of this book with the first one being it’s a slow-moving book – there’s no momentum. I felt like I was dragging my feet through tar while I was reading it. The second downfall is that only time the woman actually seemed somewhat happy was when she was talking about the clothes she was selling. Which, don’t get me wrong, I completely understand the joy that clothing can bring – especially if that’s your passion and if it’s they type of clothes she was selling (the descriptions were beautiful and I could vividly see the items in my mind which made me want to purchase them, but alas, I could not because this was fiction), but she was so melancholy without the clothing, even in the end when all of her “problems” were resolved. Perhaps that’s why the novel moved so slowly for me. I honestly feel like the plot was interesting enough, and there were some wonderful supporting characters. But in the end, it really just didn’t give me the zing that I want from a book.



I'm currently finishing the Vampire Academy series as well as reading a nonfiction about travel and love, titled Waunderlust so I'll return shortly...

I may let you go...

Let me preface this by saying I finished the book a few weeks ago, but a week or so after I finished we moved. Thus, I haven't had very much time to work on my review until now.

With that being said, Never Let Me Go did not live up to my expectations and what's sad is I didn't even set very high expectations for it in the first place. For the majority of the book, the story is set in a presumably post WWII era in Europe at a type of boarding school called Hailsham. The story revolves around 3 characters for the most part (Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth) and their discovery of their future societal role.
I thought the book was slow moving and *gasp* bland. There was always a feeling that something was going to happen... but nothing ever did. There was an odd type of love triangle, but not even that got very interesting. What bothered me the most was that the book lacked hope. Don't get me wrong, I don't think every book should have a happy ending, but the characters in this book never really fought for anything different. They asked, they were told no, and they said okay. They basically gave in - letting their futures be determined by a less-than-perfect system.
Every time I read this book I felt as if a huge gray cloud was hanging above my head - they're might have been a few, momentary bright spots, but they were never able to completely shine through to me.

I may venture to rental store and pick up the movie... or I may not.

never let me go

I think it's finally time for me to officially begin my journey down this challenge. I just purchased Never Let Me Go  by Kazuo Ishiguro for my Kindle, which is conveniently now a "major motion picture" staring Keira Knightley. I know what you're thinking, and no, I will not watch the film before I finish the novel, but I do plan on viewing it after turning the last page. I always find it interesting to watch a book come to life and then (usually) tear it to pieces for ruining the story. I will however, try to remain optimistic.

I'm quite excited about this book - the synopsis is intriguing and follows the line of other books I've read and enjoyed and the reviews I've looked over have primarily been positive and praiseworthy, specifically about the writing.

So here it goes... I'll let you know how I fair.

introducing my new best friend

Please let me introduce you to my new friend...

This year for my birthday (25... thank you very much), my husband decided to give me, in his words, "a gift that keeps on giving" - a Kindle. I have officially decided that it is the best birthday gift I've gotten in a long time, if not ever. 

Originally when the Kindle was announced, I was skeptical... even a little outraged that something was (gasp!) threatening the existence of books. However, now that I'm the owner of one, I'm a believer.

Goodbye to the large stacks of books on my nightstand that gather dust because my bookshelf is too jam-packed for them and hello sleek, beautiful Kindle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not breaking up with books made of paper, I'm just taking a "break."  I don't actually think anything could ever make real life books extinct. How could one possibly live without the smell of a new book or never hold a big delicious novel in their hands again? I know I couldn't! However, as much as I love my paper, it's time I make some technological advances. Plus - this conveniently fits in my purse, the pages will never rip, the cover will never get crinkled, and goodbye paper cuts! 

I'm still playing around with it and discovering all the wonderful things that it does...  but I have figured out that it helps me be less of a cheater. I admit it, I'm one of those people that like to peak at the last few pages of a book which usually ends up meaning that I'm not surprised in the end. Although I COULD do this on the Kindle, for some reason I'm less apt to... I'm not as tempted. We'll see if this actually holds out though, as I'm only on my third book...

Perhaps my new little friend will help me dive into my challenge soon...

the help

Ta-Da!! No, I didn't read a challenge book yet... but I did read my first non-list book! I just finished The Help, by Kathryn Stockett and I am so mad at myself for not reading it sooner. I don't know why I put off reading this book for such a long time. In fact, it was even my book club's chosen book for July. It actually took me listening to my book club discuss it (yes, I went to the gathering, even though I hadn't read the book - what can I say, I needed a margarita!) before I realized this was a book I needed to read! I then had to wait a month and a half before snagging a copy from my library - who, by the way, has 7 copies!
If you haven't heard of this book, which I'd be surprised  if you haven't because I think the whole world and it's dog has heard of it, it's a story of black maids in Mississippi in the 1960s. It mainly focuses on two maids, Aibileen and Minny, their employers, and Skeeter, a young woman who dears to be different and risk criticism, loss of friendship, and severe consequences to share the stories of southern "help."
This book amazed me. I never had thought about things from the black servants' point-of-view... I just always thought "how could people segregate others just because of their color" and "Isn't it terrible how those people were treated?" After reading a quarter of this book a bell just dinged inside of my head! Why was it okay for these black women to raise and care for (love) the children of wealthy white couples, but they weren't allowed to eat from the same dishes or use the same toilet because they were considered "diseased." It made me sick to my stomach and opened my eyes to a whole new world.
I don't want to share too much more of this book because I think you need to read it. I think everyone needs to read it. Even though the story takes place in the 1960s, I think that it's lessons are still relevant today. I realize that defined and lawful segregation doesn't exist anymore, but that doesn't mean that lines aren't drawn and stereotypes aren't believed or acted upon.

So... shoo! Go read it and let me know what you think!

the challenge

I'm just a girl, who loves books.

I love all kinds of books - old ones, new ones, big ones, little ones, love stories, heartaches, good versus evil, all true, nothing's true... get my point? It is because of this lifelong love, I have decided to stretch myself and go beyond my normal library shelf perusing and challenge myself to achieve something of greater heights: I want to read all 100 novels on Times "All Time 100 Novels". The list is comprised of 100 English novels written from 1923 (the year Time was first published) to present time. You may be asking yourself "I wonder why she chose this list?" Well, Devoted (ha - I'm sure!) Reader, I have no clear answer for this question other than - I just did! I'm ashamed to say that I haven't heard of at least half of these novels, so I figured this was as good of a place to start as any. I do however, think they list is missing a few well-deserving books (ie: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), but who am I to judge? Thankfully, I already have a head start - I've read a whopping 9 books! And thank goodness for that because there is no way I would ever read Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop again (and I cannot fathom why it made this list... but again, I'm not judging).


Now, along with this challenge comes a few perimeters:
1 - (which has already been hinted to) I will not be rereading books I've already read - you cannot force me to ever read Archbishop again. I mean it. Don't even try.
2 - There will be no specific order in which I will read the novels. I have listed (most of) them in alphabetical order, but for no specific reasons. I will read them in the order I see fit... which most likely means leaving the most-seemingly boring ones until the very end.
3 - During the challenge, I will still continue to read other books that do not appear on the list. Part of why I love reading is the joy I get from spying an intriguing book on the shelf and diving into it. I also love sharing books with friends and playing "you read this, I read that, and then we switch!"
4 - As for a deadline - there isn't one. That's too much pressure for me. Having a deadline would remind of when I was forced to read novels (such as Archbishop) for class and frankly, I can't work under such scrutiny. I have no desire in traveling through this challenge with a ticking clock in my head.

Let me again remind you that I'm a girl, who loves books. This blog will not only serve as a vehicle for me to check off my "to do list" but also as a way to redefine my love affair with all things literary. I hope through reading this (if, anyone is), you start your own "relationship" with books. I also hope that we can trade best reads and never reads - because I'm always looking for something new!