A Girl, Books and Other Things

List Maniac #27: My Top Five Favorite Cabot Girls

2012-05-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!! This is my first stop for Meg-A-Readers Blog Hop. As soon as I knew this was going to happen I knew I had to participate as I've been a Meg Cabot Fan Girl for a really, really long time.

There are many reasons why I love Meg's books: they are funny and sweet and awesome. But, even better than that, her heroines are awesome - plus, she does have some very yummy guys in her pantheon of heroes.

Meg has written a wild variety of girls and women in her many, many books, and each one of them has her own personality and flaws and neurosis but they are all smart, confident and brave when they need be, and passionate about something other than boys. They all have strong opinions about this passion, and though I might not always agree with them, I've always been able to respect and love them for it.

So, for my first stop of the tour I decided to put together a List of my Top 5 Favorite Girls/Women from Meg's World.

Special Mention/Runner Up/ Top 6 Just Doesn't have the same right to it:

Lucy Madison (All American Girl/Ready Or Not).

I love Lucy, I can't help it. I know she's not the protagonist of All American Girl but I love her. She's every bit everything Annoying Older Sisters are (and I would know, I got one of those) but at the same time she's incredibly loyal to her sisters, is there when they need her - even if she always tries to put her own spin on things - and she's fun. She's the kind of girl whom you write off as being superficial, but then she surprises you with her hidden depths even though she's still essentially whom she has always been.

5. Lou Calabrese (She Went All The Way)

After being left by her long time boyfriend -who then went up and married in the middle of a press-frenzy - Lou isn't exactly ready to trust love again, but when love does happen - even if it is with her sometime nemesis - she lets herself go there (even if it isn't the smoothest rode ever). Also, I love that she loves movies - all kinds of movies - and always finds a movie reference to apply to what's going on in her life.

4. Mia Thermopolis (Princess Diaries)

I had to put Mia, she was the first Cabot Girl I got to know and for that alone she'll always have a special place in my heart. But I'm not going to lie, sometimes Mia isn't the easiest person to like - she gets in her head a lot, and has a tendency for the dramatic - but, in the end, she always does the right thing and comes off better for all her trouble. I loved seeing her grow up through the course of the 10 books that made the PD series. And her love for all things nature and animals? I loved that too.

3. Heather Wells (Heather Wells' Mysteries)

Heather is the one of two"grown up" Meg's heroines to make the list. One of the things I love the most about heather - other than her acknowledgement that Size 12 is not Fat - is that she has an incredible ability to pick herself up after she has been down, to let go of things in her past - like her mom running off with all her money - and not be overly bitter about it. She does tend to fling herself into danger sometimes, but she means well, and usually manages to save the day.

2. Jess Mastriani (1-800-Where-R-You)

Jess is tough as nails and she's not going to let you forget it! Having grown up getting into fights to defend her older brother Douglas, Jess is a bit of a tomboy and a whole lot of trouble, but she loves her family - even if her mom can be a bit judgmental from time to time, and she does make Jess wear awful dresses - and she's smart, self-reliant yet not afraid to ask for help. A little free with her fists, she does always try to do what's right, and even if she never quite believes her 'gift' to find missing people is such big gift at all, she tries to help people with it.

1. Suze Simon (Mediator)

What there is not to love about Suze? She's one kick-ass girl and with a great sense of fashion. At the beginning of the Mediator Series, she's not happy to be moving from New York to California, but she does it in the name of her mom's happiness, and she grows to love her new family, particularly her youngest step-brother David.Suze has always been my favorite heroine, and the one I identify with the most - I'm still not sure why, maybe because, other than being a liaison between the living and the dead, she's a pretty normal girl. Again, she's a very loyal person and loves fiercely. Plus, I love that she's sarcastic and tough but, much like Jess, she has a soft center.

So, those are my favorite girls, what about you guys? who's your favorite heroine of Meg's world?

Speed Date: Everything and the Moon by Julia Quinn

2012-05-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

Original Cover (Love it!)

The Deal: Victoria Lyndon met Robert Kemble, Lord Macclesfield when she was just 17 years old and he 24, and they fell madly in love with each other.The only problem was that she was a vicar's daughter and he a young earl, and that both their fathers disapproved of the match.

Eventually, Robert and Victoria planned on running away together, but a few twists of fate - and their parents' interference- tore them apart, and each of them left believing the other had betrayed them.

Seven years later, they run into each other once more, and both of them are more than a little bitter about what they think was the other's deception. But when the truth comes out, Robert will do everything in his power to set things to rights and be with the only woman he has ever loved.

My Thoughts: Everything and the Moon is probably one of my favorite books by Julia Quinn. I love both Robert and Victoria and their story. They are both very likable characters and I like the way they deal with the stuff that happens to them.

Current less Awesome Cover

Plus, this is one of the few stories I've read where the Big Misunderstanding plot-device actually works. And then they both have to work to put things back to rights - Robert goes to great lengths in order to prove to her that really did love her, and loves her still, and Victoria needs to learn to trust again.

Any way, this is one of those books that gives me warm fuzzies every time I read it.

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Book Review: The Most Improper Miss Sophie Valentine by Jayne Fresina

2012-05-23T00:45:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: After a scandal 10 years before, and accident that left her with a scar on her face, an having been exasperated beyond imagining by her sister in law Lavinia, Sophie Valentine decides to take desperate measures and writes an add to the Farmer's Gazette, advertising for a husband.

Later, her temper cools and she kind of forgets about it, until Lazarus Kane shows up on her doorstep, saying that he has come to marry Sophie.

No one is happy to discover what Sophie has done as it just hints to another scandal. But Lazarus won't be persuaded from going after Sophie, as they get to know each other and start to fal in love.

Things get complicated when Sophie's former suitor, James, decides to come back for her - 10 years after he original both proposed to Sophie and ruined her. Plus, Lazarus has many secrets of his own, which might threaten his future with Sophie.

Second Glance: I really wanted to like The Most Improper Miss Sophie Valentine, I swear, because, really, the idea of her putting an add on the paper looking for a husband sounded like so much fun, but the book wasn't what I expected.

While I liked the characters -even if Sophie takes forever to make up her mind - I felt the plot was too convoluted and contrived, and some characters actions just didn't make sense sometimes.

Like, for example, the whole first chapter with the origins of Sophie's first scandal? for me, both things she does in that chapter (one of them being letting her suitor, James, 'make love' to her - and in a rather public place- when she wasn't in love with him nor particularly wanted to marry him) made little-to-not sense to me at all.

Bottom Line: Basically, I think that a simpler plot would have beneficed this story a great deal because, as I said, flawed as the characters were, they had their charm. This book will be released on June 1st, 2012.

1/2

Book Review: Once Upon a List by Robin Gold

2012-05-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: Clara Black had a perfect life: a job she enjoyed, a fiance, Sebastian, that she loved and a wonderful family. But when Sebastian dies in a car accident just 10 days before their wedding, Clara falls into the depths of dispair, pushing everyone and everything away for months and months.

It all comes to a head when she's forced to visit her mother and brother, Leo, over Thanksgiving; and they are shocked to see the changes in her: her constant gloomy mood, her dramatic weight lost, and her lack of will to live.

Having tried all types of therapy before, Clara latches unto an un-usual road map to recovery when she finds a list of things she wanted to do before she turned 35, which had been buried in a time capsule when she was in the 5th grade and which was recently returned to her by her former teacher.

The list reminds her of the woman she once wanted to be, and with less than a year to go to her birthday, she thinks that maybe that woman will show her the way out of her all-consuming grief. So, with the aid of her mother and brother, Clara stars to cross off items.

First she kisses her fifth grade crush, then she gets Milk Dud - the one eared dog wonder - and, as she goes about the items on her list, she reconnects with Lincoln, an old childhood friend with whom she was very close until he moved away when they were in their teens.

Lincoln knows her, and understands her - having gone through his own personal tragedies - and in him, Clara finds worlds of comfort. And, as Clara re-joins the living, she realizes that maybe her heart didn't die when Sebastian did.

Second Glance: Once Upon a List starts with quite a punch, and I confess I was crying a little within the first couple of chapters, because when grief hits Clara, you feel the punch.

In fact, the first third of the book is rather gloomy, and it even gets to be slow. And that was probably my main problem with this book. The first part of it, when Clara is still all gloom and doom seems to take forever, until her quest and her recovery speeds up and then it goes a bit fast (at least the months seem to go by pretty fast).

That and the fact that Clara goes to a very cruel place when she's hurting and she says really mean things to people she loves. I understood that at the beginning, but after a while it just seemed mean when it happened.

Otherwise, I thought it was a good book. I liked Leo and Libby - Clara's brother and mom - and Clara's memories of her childhood, her list of things to do was pretty awesome. And I really liked Lincoln.

And I'll admit I REALLY liked the ending.

Bottom Line: With it's ups and downs, I really liked Once Upon a List. I think this is a story that accurately shows that grief can make a monster out of people, but that eventually you gotta pick yourself up and move on. Other than minor problems with the pacing, I really liked the writing and I look forward to reading more by this author.

1/2

Book Review: Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

2012-05-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

UK Cover (Which I got!)

Warning: This review contains spoilers about previous books of the Gallagher Girls series.

At First Sight: Waking up at an alpine convent was not how Cammie Morgan thought her summer would end, and the fact that she can't remember exactly what she did in between leaving the Gallagher Academy at the beginning of summer and waking up in the convent in the early fall, isn't helping at all.

A spy with amnesia makes everyone nervous, and Cammie's family and friends aren't the exception. Particularly because even being back at the academy, surrounded by everyone she loves isn't helping her feel any better, any more like her pre-Summer self.

Cammie knows that what she was looking for was important, and that she was really close to finding it and that she really, really needs to know what "it" was.

But most of all, she needs to know she'll be herself again, someday.

Second Glance: Out of Sight, Out of Time is the fifth book in the Gallagher Girl series and I got to say that this series is still has my full attention.

This book is a little different from the others though, mostly because there aren't as many 'fun' moments in it, it goes to darker places than the previous books. But I like that, as Cammie and her friends grow up, they start to realize that spying isn't a game they are playing, that there are real consequences to their choices - good or bad - and that sometimes saying you're sorry isn't enough.

US Cover (not a fave)

Also, this book is MOSTLY all about Cammie, I really felt like Liz and Macey fell a lot to the background, as did Zach, but not as much as the other two. The one who didn't was Bex, but that was mostly because she was being a bitch though roughly the first half of the book - and I really didn't like her in this book, she's quick to believe the worse of the people she loves and that irks me.

Anyway, plenty of characters that I love are back - like Abby and even Agent Townsend (who grew on me a lot).

Bottom Line: While Out of Sight, Out of Time is far from being my favorite book in the series, I think it was needed to move things forward and I'm really looking forward to reading book six.

2/3

Love,

Cover Love #30 - Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

2012-05-20T00:04:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to share this cover with all of you! I've come to love Lindsey Leavitt's books (Princess for Hire is awesome!) and when I so the cover for her upcoming book (after Farewell to Charms (PfH3) ) I had to share it!!

Summary (thanks to GoodReads):

The cure for a broken heart? Go vintage and live like it’s 1962!

Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, isn’t just cheating on her. He’s cheating with an online girlfriend. So Mallory decides to swear off boys and modern technology. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in 1962, Mallory decides to “go vintage” and return to a simpler time. She sets out to complete grandma’s list: run for pep club secretary, host a dinner party, sew a homecoming dress, find a steady, do something dangerous.

The list proves to be trickier than it looks. Obviously finding a steady is out . . . no matter how intriguing she finds Oliver (er, Jeremy's cousin). But with the help of her sister, Mallory will finish the list and find peace. Somehow.

GOING VINTAGE is the story of a girl figuring out the truths and illusions of life and love, both in the nostalgic past and in the very real now

Love, Alex.

Book Review: When Lighting Strikes by Meg Cabot

2012-05-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the Meg-A-Readers Blog Hop, I'm going to be reviewing one book by Meg Cabot every sunday for the duration of the event! Here is the first one.

At First Sight: On the day everything started, Jess Mastriani hit a football player, landed in detention and Rob Wilkins asked her if she needed a ride home. Oh, and her life changed.

But that had nothing to do with the ride she didn't take, and everything to do with her best friend Ruth, showing up and suggesting they walk home... only to be caught in a huge Indiana thunderstorm.

Re-issue mass market paperback

That's when Jess was struck by lighting. At first, other than feeling tingly, Jess thinks that everything is as it ever was... until the next morning she wakes up knowing where two kids she has never seen before, are. Jess soon realizes she has actually seen the kids: they are the missing kids at the back the milk cartoon at her house.

After some consideration - and that ride on the back of Rob's bike, which takes her to a near by town and gives her confirmation that one of those missing kids is actually where she thinks he is - Jess calls the 1-800-Where-R-You hot line, gives the address and puts the whole thing off her mind.

But those two kids were just the beginning, now the government is wondering how she knows what she knows, and how they can use it to their own advantage. And Jess's life, will never be the same.

Second Glance: I love the 1-800-Where-R-You series and I love When Lighting Strikes, I think it's one of my favorite books by Meg Cabot because I just simply love how strong and awesome Jess is. Sure, she's a little loose with her firsts, but she fiercely loves her family - particularly her dad and her brother Doug - even though her mother makes her wear dresses straight out of Litthe House in the Praire and her other brother Mike can be a little annoying.

She is brave and confident that she'll fix things when they go wrong, yet she always asks for help when she needs it. Jess is an awesome heroine.

And Rob Wilkins? I LOVE ROB WILKINS! He has a rep for being a bad boy - even a Juvie record -and he's from the 'wrong side of town', but he's responsible, loves his mom and has an awesome bike he rebuild himself.

My only hang up with this book is that some of the characters - like Ruth, Jess' brother Mike and Jess' mom - are very snobby and judgmental abou the kids from the outskirts of town - called Grits - and, since Rob is one of these kids, I kind of take it personal.

Bottom Line: There are some books that you think are awesome, but when you re-read them after a long period of time, they kind of miss their spark, that is so NOT the case with When Lighting Strikes - it holds the test of time pretty damn well. It has action, romance and it's just so much fun to read.

Favorite Quote: Ruth looked heavenward. "Not Rob Wilkins again."

"Yes, Rob Wilkins again. I can't help it, Ruth. He's got that really big--"

"I don't wajt to hear it," Ruth said, holding up her hand.

"-- Indian," I finished. "What did you think I was going to say?"

"I don't know. Some of those Grits wear pretty tight jeans."

1/2

For some reason, this book is not currently available in any of it's editions, but you can find it in the "Vanished Vol. 1" bind up of When Lighting Strikes and Code Name Cassandra (book 2).

Speed Date: A Waltz at Midnight by Christa McHugh

2012-05-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Deal: In 1866, Susanna and her brother are living in Poughkeepsie with an aunt who runs a boarding house for Vassar students. Waiting on privileged Yankee princesses is not ideal but Susanna is happy to have a roof over her head. And when one of the boarders, Charlotte, receives a most unromantic letter from a suitor, and asks Susanna for help rebuffing the sender, Susanna decides to help her.

It was only supposed to be one letter, but soon Susanna finds herself in a sort of pen-pan relationship with Mr. Ted Blakely, and they start to fall in love. He tells her about his travels and his dreams, and she encourages him. The only problem is that he thinks he's corresponding with Charlotte. And when Susanna gets one chance to meet Teddy in person - at a Masquerade ball - she can't resist.

My Thoughts: What a sweet novella A Waltz at Midnight turned out to be! It's one part cinderella, one part mistake identity plot and so sweet. I loved reading the letters between Susanna and Teddy and how they start to get to know each other.

The story is short and sweet - it took me about an hour or two to read the whole thing- and with a touch of Christmasy, but not too much.

2/3

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Book Review: Arranged by Catherine McKenzie

2012-05-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: After discovering her boyfriend was cheating on her, Anne Blythe decides she has had enough and moves out, determined to start a new life for herself. Other than her bad luck in love, Anne has a great life: works for a magazine, has a great best friend and a loving family. She's even on the verge of selling her first book.

But when Sarah, Anne's best friend, tells her she's getting married to her long-time boyfriend Mike, and then Anne starts to run into a few of her exes - all of whom once told her variations of the "I'm not the marrying kind" story and then turned around and married other people - Anne decides to take drastic measures to turn her love-life around.

That leads her to call a number on a card she found on the street the day she left Stuart, a random piece of paper she picked up because she saw her own last name on it, and which at the time felt like a sign. So, Anne calls Blythe & Co, and finds out they are an sort of matchmaking company, only that they aren't looking to arrange dates between people, they take it a step further and arrange marriages.

They idea sounds crazy to Anne, but she does want a husband and a family and all those wonderful things, so she signs the contract and a few months later she meets and marries Jack Hammer, a fellow writer that Blythe & Co says its Anne's perfect match.

But is he? And how much can Anne really trust the stranger she married?

Second Glance: When I first read the summary of Arranged, I had no idea what kind of book it would be and it turned out to be that kind of chick lit that almost reads like women's fiction but not quite - and I mean this in a good way because I don't particularly like women's fiction, but I liked this book.

From the start, I found Anne to be a nice character and a good narrator, she's smart, warm and funny, and even a little quirky and, deep down, a romantic. And she does yearn for love, and she does go through with a crazy scheme - but, to her credit, she has doubts all the way, but her hope out weights them, so I didn't find her too stupid to live.

Jack was harder to get a read on, mostly because the book is told in first person so you get your impressions from Anne. In the end, I thought he was a regular guy, nice enough and well, you have to read the book to see what happens, but he was OK.

I really loved Anne's family and friends - her brother and sister-in-law Gilbert and Cathy, and her best friend Sarah and Sarah's fiancé Mike, and her editor William. You can tell a lot about Anne because of the people who love her, and I liked reading about her.

Now, I had a couple of problems. First off, the book sometimes felt long - it's a little under 400 pages - like, it could have stand a little trimming because sometimes I felt like "OMG, just finish this scene already and lets get on with it!" (but I'll admit I was always engaged enough to keep on reading, it just wasn't a joy ALL of the time).

Second, I had this feeling like "Ok, something's gotta happen soon. Something... Something" and then it didn't. And went it finally did, it felt a little anticlimactic. And I'm not entirely sure I liked Anne and Jack together all the time, like I still got a question mark in my head about Jack. Can't decide if he's good enough, somehow.

Bottom Line: With Arranged, you have to buy into the premise of it, but if you do that, and have a little patience with Anne, you'll probably end up enjoying this book a fair bit. And I do think I would like to check out future works by this author.

1/2

Book Review: How to Dance with a Duke by Manda Collins

2012-05-14T00:35:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: Cecily Hurston is on a mission: she wants to clean her father's name. Once a very well regarded Egyptologist and a founding member of the Egyptian Club, Lord Hurston is currently surrounded by scandal thanks to the disappearance of his secretary - Mr. Dalton - and all the 'bad luck' that surrounded his latest expedition.

Cecily knows that to prove her father's innocence she needs to get access to The Egyptian Club - where her father's records of the expeditions are kept - but thanks to a rule her own father put in place, a woman can't gain entrance to the club unless she's wed to a member.

On the other hand, Lucas Dalton, Duke of Winterson, is also trying to gain access to the Club, since it was his brother who went missing during the last expedition and Lucas isn't ready to give him up as dead.

And once these two meet, outside the Egyptian Club, sparks start to fly.

Second Glance: I really wanted to like How to Dance With a Duke, because I thought the premise sounded fun. Sadly, I could never quite click with this story. The characters were nice enough and the writing was OK but something in the back of my head kept bugging me, and I think it was because some of the characters attitudes felt a little modern and a bit forced at times.

Also, this is the first book of a series (the Ugly Ducklings) and I felt like the author was trying to stick the other two heroines into this story in places where they didn't belong. There were some scenes with the other two girls that just dragged on and on for me.

Bottom Line: While I do think this book had it's moments, I can't say I liked it all that much. And I'm only mildly interested in reading about the other two girls in future books.

Sunday Shout Out (1)

2012-05-13T11:51:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, so I decided to stop doing the IMM, and I came across the Sunday Shout Out (started by Carrie @ In the Hammock). So here is some of the stuff I have gotten since last time.

For Review

Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP
Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer
One Moment by Kristina McBride
What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
The Cupcake Club by Sheryl Berk
The Proposal by Mary Balogh

Bought

A Tangle of Magicks (US: Renegade Magic) by Stephanie Burgis
Faking Faith by Jossie Bloss
Wish I Might (From the Life of Willa Havisham) by Coleen Paratore
The Gorgon in the Gully by Melina Marchetta (Now I own all Melina Marchetta's books!!)

Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls #5) by Ally Carter

Real Life Boyfriends by E. Lockhart
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitley
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Medusa the Mean (Goddess Girls #8) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

Wins and Gifts

Finnikin de la Roca by Melina Marchetta (Signed!) - I nearly fainted when I got this!! it's the Spanish edition of Finnkin of the Rock!
Artemis the Loyal by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams (Signed copy) from Carrie @ In The Hammock
The Mighty Macs (movie) also from Carrie @ In The Hammock

Swag from Ashley @ Book Labyrinth
Bookmarks from Stephanie @ Stepping Out of the Page (They are so pretty, I can't even say).

Must Have It (or books I really, really want)

Life on the Edge by Jennifer Comeaux
I Love the 80's by Megan Crane
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

Book Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

2012-05-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

Do love this cover!

At First Sight: After what felt like a hundred years, Nikki Becket woke up in the Everneath, where the Everliving take their Forfeits - humans they convince to follow them to the caves - so they can feed off their emotions. Usually, once The Feed is done, the Forfeits are little more than shadows to be claimed by the Tunnels. But Nikki is different, Nikki still remembers her life, and she's still 'young', and she decides to go back to the surface so say a proper goodbye to those she left behind once.

She has only six months before the Shadows of the Everneath come back to claim her. Nikki is determined to make the best out of the situation, righting things with her best friend and her family, with the boy she loved all her life, Jack. But for Nikki, nothing is easy anymore and the fact that Cole - the Everliving who first took her to the Everneath - followed her and wants her to return with him, isn't helping at all.

Second Glance: It was hard to write a summary for Everneath because it's easy to give away too much and I didn't want to do that. But I do have to say that I came very close to not finishing this book because from the very start I felt like there was no way the book was going to end on a good note - and well, I won't say which way it goes but it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and book 2 is coming out next year so you do the math.

I liked Nikki as a narrator, she has a nice voice and I enjoyed the flashbacks telling what happened to make her follow Cole to the Everneath in the first place, that was actually the part that kept me interested and reading even though I had a rather ominous feeling about the book.

That being said, I can't say I liked the book all that much. There was a lot of info and a lot of mythology and I'm not really sure all of it was explained, and right at the beginning I had some problems with the stuff Nikki knew - like that she had six months on the surface before she was claimed by the Everneath again, because I didn't know how she knew that and it's the kind of little thing that sometimes bothers me.

Also, Cole? I found him kind of douche-y right from the start, so I didn't see the appeal of him all that much.

Bottom Line: In the end, I found Everneath to be an interesting story. There were some characters I really liked - Jack, for example - but I never quite clicked with the story. I can see how it can make for an addictive read for other people, though. And I have to admit that maybe I'm just a little tired of spin/twist/re-tellings of the Hades and Persephone story, and this is a bit of that.

I'm Back!

2012-05-11T00:58:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

So I haven't been around in the last week or so and I'm sorry, I'm sure I missed on some pretty awesome posts.

But my dad was in the hospital since last Friday night and was just released yesterday - he had to had surgery and it turned out to be a bit more complicated than the doctor expected, but he's now home and recovering if a little uncomfortable.

So, I hope things start to get back to normal around here in the coming week, I got a few reviews to write and other things to re-schedule, but I hope it all works out :)

At the Movies: The Mighty Macs

2012-05-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

In the 1972, Immaculata College was a small all-girls, Catholic school on the verge of being closed and sold, when Cathy Rush was offered the position of women's basketball coach.

A former player and married to an NBA referee, Cathy sets out to create a winning team with little resources and only a handful of girls willing to play.

She slowly gets to know the girls of the team - each with her own troubles -and finds an unexpected ally in Sister Sunday, a young novice who is wondering if she's cut for a nun's life after all.

Eventually finding the college's team spirit, Cathy, Sister Sunday and the Mighty Macs become a championship team.

I won this movie from Carrie @ At In the Hammock Book Reviews (you can check her review of the movie here) and I loved it. It's just such a nice, feel good movie. I love sports movies like this - because it's not so much about the sport itself but about becoming a team and a family and all that stuff that sounds corny but it's still fun to watch.

My sister and I both loved it and we don't usually like the same movies, but we both liked this.

Also, I need to say that I loved all the shoes and outfits Carla Gugino, who plays Cathy, wore in this movie 'cause they were awesome.

All in all, I was happy to add The Mighty Macs to my movie collection and I give it a B.

Coming Soon: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink

2012-05-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it happens that I review a book way before it comes out, and when I love said book I just want to remind people about it, so that's why I decided to put this Coming Soon feature.

Today I wanna tell you about Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink, which I reviewed last October but which will be released May 8th.

This is a really fun, sweet book, and you can check out my original review here.

Book Review: Welcome Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

2012-05-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: Chloe Camden is a happy, big hearted girl with just about everything she could ever ask for: a great family (made of 2 loving parents, 5 older brothers who adore her, and an awesome grandma), two best friends, an awesome vintage shoe collection and a job she likes (even though it does require her dressing like a burrito).

But everything changes after Winter Break of her Junior year, suddenly her best friends aren't talking to her - one of them is, in fact, spreading nasty rummors about Chloe - and she has become a social pariah, she also has to deal with the on-going war between her Mom and Grandmother as Parkinson's desease slowly starts to take over her beloved Grandmother's life.

To top it all off, her new guidance counselor axed her independent study project which is forcing her to work with the kids of the High School's radio station.

There, Chloe makes use of her wide arsenal of promotional tricks -leaned while working at Dos Hermanas, a mexican cantina she loves - to try to get more listeners, even if the general manager Clementine seems to dislike her. Chloe, however, does find a quiet ally in Duncan Moore the fix-all/chief engineer of the station.

Eventually, Chloe finds herself as the start of her own talk-show show, discovering that, as good as she is at talking, she also needs to listen.

Second Glance: What a surprisingly fun book Welcome Caller, This is Chloe turned out to be. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started but I quickly grew to like Chloe, even if she was a bit too cheerful sometimes, she's a nice person and she understand people and human nature.

I loved how close she was to her Grandmother and that, while her family life wasn't picture perfect, they did love each other - I wished there had been more about Chloe's five older brothers other than they are all doctors or doctors-in-training.

That was, I think, my biggest issue with the book: that I wished the characters were more evenly developed. Chloe, her grandma and Duncan were more developed than the rest, and in fact some of the other characters were more like mentioned than anything else.

Other than that, it was a fun book. I loved the whole radio/talkshow thing and how nice Chloe was. Also love the depiction of the Mexican restaurant where Chloe worked and that she was okay being a burrito and her love of shoes. Also loved how she describes people - like Clem is a dragon, and her counselor is like a cat.

I didn't like her former friends, they were on the mean side, even if it was true that Chloe wasn't always the best of friends (like everyone, she sometimes got wrapped up in her own drama or happiness, but not in a mean way), I thought Brie and Merce blew things way out of proportion.

But I liked where the book went over all.

Bottom Line: Welcome Caller, This is Chloe is a fun book to read, that also touches over more complicated topics but Chloe's voice carries you through it all in a touching way without ever getting too heavy.

To learn more about Chloe’s high school radio world and win a $50 electronic/radio store gift certificate or one of ten CHLOE swag packs, go to Shelley Coriell’s website, www.shelleycoriell.com/blog/. Good luck to all!

For further stops in this Blog Tour, please visit The Teen {Book} Scene

Book Review: Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald

2012-05-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: Ever since their fateful meet-cute at a coffee shop, Sadie has been in pining for her best friend Garrett Delaney, but after two years of being joined by the hip, they are facing six weeks apart as Garrett leaves to go to writing camp and Sadie is stuck in their small Massachusetts town.

At first, Sadie is inconsolable, as she was sure Garrett was just on the verge of confessing his true (romantic) feelings toward her before he left for camp - and didn't do it just because they kept getting interrupted during those last couple of days together.

But when he calls a couple of weeks later, to tell Sadie that he has met the (New) Love of His Life - most recent in a long list of girls Garrett has 'loved' since meeting Sadie - Sadie decides she has had enough and she's going to get over Garrett no matter what.

Sadly, that's easier said than done, and Sadie quickly realizes just how much of her life she has molded around Garrett in the last few years, how many people, movies, books and experience she dismissed, afraid of what Garrett would think.

Lucky for her, her new friends at Totally Weird - a coffee shop she's working at for the summer -are there for her, as is Kayla, her former Best Friend from whom she grew apart after meeting Garrett. These girls are ready to do whatever it takes to help Sadie, everything from cheering her on to dishing out the tough love

Second Glance: Getting Over Garrett Delaney was a really fun book to read and I love that both the title and cover were just so right for this story.

I loved Sadie, she was funny and a little sarcastic but not in a mean way, the only bad thing about her was the huge blind spot she had when it came to Garrett. I loved her friends, particularly Kayla and LuAnn, both of them were funny and I loved how resilient Kayla was under her perky surface. Oh and her mom was nice too, even though she was in the book very little, she understood what Sadie was going through and was supportive in her own way.

Garrett was a pompous poser and it was fun to hate him.

I love that this book is all about Sadie finding her way back to herself, to all those girly things she loved and how willing she was to try out anything once she made up her mind.

Bottom Line: I really enjoyed this book, it was funny, the characters were likable and I loved that it was all about Sadie getting back to herself more than any budding new relationship or anything like that, she truly is Getting Over Garrett Delaney, and it's a joy to cheer her on as she does.

Favorite Quote: Oh, there were so many!! I'll put a few...

Melancholy is a perfectly legitimate state of mind - artists have thrived on it for centuries. War and Peace - there, that wasn't exactly written in a fit of bright, and purposeful energy, was it, now? And Anna Karenina. Tolstoy wasn't leaping around with happiness every hour of the day, and he still managed to achieve something.

Maybe I should move to Russie; they clearly appreciate inner torment there.

Why suffer alone when you could share the burden? Friends bring comfort, support and snack foods for every occasion. And heartbreak goes so much better with cookies.

Don't write off a book (or person, or movie) just because it has a pink, sparkly cover.

Love isn't pain. Heartbreak isn't noble or romantic. You deserve better, so don't ever forget.

Book Review: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

2012-05-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: For the last six years, Taylor Markham has lived on the Jellicoe School, under the care of a woman named Hannah who picked her up after her mother abandoned her at a Seven-Eleven. Taylor has always been full of questions: about her mother's whereabouts and about her father, and about what role Hannah plays into it all.

But now she's seventeen, as far away from answers as ever, and with the responsibility of leading the boarders in the territory wars between them and the cadets and the townies.

And then Hannah leaves under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a bad tempered cat and a manuscript telling the story of five kids who lived on the Jellicoe Road some twenty years before.

Without Hannah, Taylor is more lost than ever, and the fact that Jonah Griggs is back doesn't help matters at all.

Second Glance: I've read Jellicoe Road before, I even reviewed it once before. But this time I decided to listen to the Audiobook of it when I came across the australian edition - something I hadn't done before - and while the story remained the same, it was a very different experience.

I liked hearing the voices of Taylor, Jonah, Chaz and Raffy, and everyone else, I thought the narrator - Rebecca Macauley - did a good job of it, making different voices for everyone and her guy-voices were pretty good.

Also, I noticed stuff about the characters that I hadn't before, like that Taylor was a bit of a Drama Queen, something that I had never noticed before.

On the down side, the musical transitions between chapters and between past and present were too long and they got kind of annoying after a while.

Bottom Line: Jellicoe Road remains one of my favorite books ever and I liked the Audiobook, but I still think I like the reading experience a bit better.

(for this edition/format)

Book Review: Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

2012-04-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: Andie Miller just wants to start a new life with her fiancé and break with everything that reminds her of the old one, specially her ex-husband North Archer - who keeps sending her alimony checks every month, ten years after their divorce.

But when she shows up at North's office to return all the un-cashed alimony checks, North asks her a favor and she is reminded of how she has never really been able to say 'no' to North. So she heads off to the wilds of southern Ohio to look after North's niece and nephew and try to get them ready to move to Columbus with North.

Alice and Carter Archer have been mostly on their own since their father and then their aunt died, with little comfort but each other and under the dubious care of an old housekeeper. But they are not defenseless children, and so far they have managed to run off three nannies already. And they certainly try to run Andie off as well, as they don't want to leave their crumbly, gothic house under any circumstances. A house that might or might not be full of ghosts.

But Andie is determined to stay as long as it takes and do what needs to be done and, ever so slowly, she starts to win the kids trust. One the downside, though, she's growing apart from her current fiancé, she's talking to workaholic North all the time -after ten years of silence - and remembering just want worked and what didn't work about their short-lived marriage. And she keeps having hot, steamy dreams about him.

Second Glance: I hadn't read a book by Jennifer Crusie in a really long time, but the moment I picked up Maybe This Time, I felt like I had just ran into a dear, old friend because everything I love about Jenny Crusie's writing was there.

Maybe This Time was funny, quirky and unique. It was a ghost story but one that worked well in many levels. I liked the kids, Alice and Carter - though Carter could have used a bit more page time - they were quite kid-like but kids to whom a lot of things had happened and they acted like it. Also, I loved that though Andie never wanted to have kids of her own, she grows to love Alice and Carter with a mother's devotion, yet she never, ever thinks "I want to have a baby", because she doesn't.

Also, I really liked North, he's a man who is weighted down by a lot of responsibility but also has a lot of passion, he has loved just one woman in his whole life and he kind of regrets letting her go, but he's not the type to try to mess with her life, much as he misses her.

All in all, I had fun with this book, though I admit there were some scenes that were so manic I felt like I was watching episode of New Girl (not in that the story lines are similar, just the energy of what was going on).

Bottom Line: I found Maybe This Time to be such a fun, campy book, with ghosts, kids, a creepy old mansion and also a story about second chances (one of my favorite kind). It's a perfect pick-me up of a book.

Favorite Quote: Alice said, "You have a lot of teeth. Andie says you have to brush your teeth every night or they'll rot out of your head."

"What's like living in a haunted house?"

"I don't like nuts," Alice said. "But I eat them in the chocolate chip cookies and banana bread because Andie says, if you don't like nuts, don't eat the cookies."

"Andie is your nanny, right?"

"No. Andie is my Andie. She says you're a hag from hell." Alice smiled serenely as if she were just a cute kid, repeating what some adult had said, but North could see the glint in her eye. - Tape of Alice and reporter Kelly.

Movie Madness / Books So Far - April

2012-04-29T01:18:00.000-05:00

Hello guys! I'm here to give a brief round up of the two only challenges I chose to accept this year. The first being:

Movies/Series Watched: 19

Favorites: The Mighty Macs, Top Chef Canada (Season 1), For Richer or Poorer, Wimbledon

Least Liked: Sleepover, The Spice Mistress

If you're doing the Movie Madness Challenge you can head off to The Talking Teacup to link up your update.

--

On the book department and my quest to read 200 books in a year?

Books Read: 19

Re reads: 3

Favorites: Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire, Getting Caught by Mandy Hubbard and Cyn Balog, Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie, Artemis the Loyal Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, Getting Over Garret Delaney by Abby McDonald, Everything and the Moon by Julia Quinn.

Romance: 4

Contemporary: 10

Historical: 4

YA: 12

Well, that's me! How's everyone doing so far?

Book Review: Jersey Angel by Beth An Bauman

2012-04-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: It's summertime in the Jersey Shore and Angel is ready to have fun. Even if every summer starts with her moving to the smallest of the three houses her Mom owns and having to frantically clean the other two so they can be let out to the summer people.

But that's okay, because for Angel, Summer is the time to live life to the fullest, even if her on again/off again 'boyfriend' Joey doesn't want to keep on their pattern of breaking up and hooking up over and over.

He wants Angel to be serious about them, but Angel just wants to be free. This often leads her to lots of flirting, sex and even to getting 'closer' to her best friend Iggy's boyfriend, Cork.

Second Glance: Let me start by saying something that you might not get from the cover, Jersey Angel is not really a summer book - it carries on through Fall and Winter of Angel's senior year.

Also, I have to say that I didn't like this book and came very close to DNF-ing. I know from an editorial note at the beginning of the e-galley that I was supposed to take away from this book that Angel was a independent young woman empowered by her sexuality but really? she was mostly just slutty.

She gets physically intimate with a lot of people, just because she can, even with her best friend's boyfriend and she doesn't seem to feel much remorse about it. But I began to dislike her way before that happened: when she kept going to her ex 'boyfriend's' house over and over, expecting he would change his mind about hooking up when what he really wanted was a relationship (this happens in chapter 2 so I don't feel bad for saying it).

And, as we go into Fall and Winter, it seems like the book just goes around in circles without going anywhere in particular. The book felt long which is not good when it's only about 200 pages long, and this was mostly because Angel wasn't very likable. She was the female equivalent of a horn-dog

Also... the Jersey slang? didn't work for me all that well. And Angel's mom was a bad cartoon at best, for all the parenting she did she might just not been there at all.

Bottom Line: I wanted Jersey Angel to be a fun, summer book about a fun girl having a fun summer. Sadly, I didn't get that and I ended up quite disappointed. What I liked the most was when Joey talked about cheese. This book comes out May 8th, 2012.

Favorite Quote: "I wonder if I've ever had fancy cheese."

He shrugs, "You probably have a refrigerator full of the usual suspects: American, Swiss, provolone, mozzarella, ricotta..."

"Exactly. You haven't become a cheese snob, have you? American's okay for like a grilled cheese, right?"

"Listen, I can now tell you without a doubt that American has no excuse for existing."

"Mozzarella?"

"No soul. Mozzarella has no soul."

I fake a gasp. "What kind of Italian are you, Joey Sardone?"

"The fancy-cheese-eating kind."

1/2

As Seen on TV... (Well, YouTube) - The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

2012-04-27T12:29:00.002-05:00

Hello my fellow human beings!!!

In the last couple of weeks I came across this very interesting vlog series called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries - which is a modern spin on the Pride and Prejudice stuff but in vlog format. We see the the story from Lizzie's eyes as rich, young and single doctor Bing Lee shows up in the neighborhood, sending Lizzie's mom into a matchmaking frenzy.

The story is a somewhat Americanized, and they did knock off Mary and Lydia - who always get the short stick - but otherwise it's funny, true to the spirit of the book and, hell, I even like Lydia in this version. So far only Lydia, Jane, Lizzie and Lizzie's best friend Charlotte have showed up in the videos but who knows what might happen next?

I believe that only 8 episodes have been filmed so far - depending on views there might be more -and the sixth one was just released yesterday (with new ones coming next Monday and Thursday).

It's a really fun little series, the videos are around 4 minutes long and they'll make you smile.

So, check them out:

Love, Alex.

PS 1 - You can also find Lizzie Bennet (and other assorted 'characters') on Twitter, and on tumblr

PS 2- Hank Green (of The VlogBrothers fame) is a co-creator of this, you can check out his introduction to the project here:

Speed Date: Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

2012-04-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Deal: It's 1929, the roaring twenties are reaching their end but everything still goes, and New York City is still being flooded by young women chasing their dreams. Two of such girls are Letty and Cordelia, who have escaped the midwestern town that was stifling them.

Letty has a beautiful voice and dreams of fame, but she soon realizes making it in the city requires more than talent. Cordelia always suffered her aunt's disapproval, and is now looking for the father she never knew.

Then they meet Astrid, a young socialite that seems to have it all, at least on the surface.

My Thoughts: Bright Your Things is a fun book, and Anna Godbersen has a knack for writing female characters and I generally enjoy her narrative because she's so good at describing the glittery, lush world where she sets her stories: the mansions and parties and clothes.

However, I had a hard time sticking to the book for long periods of time, because sometimes I do get tired of all the drama. This is a pleasant read, though, and I really liked the unusual time period.

If you liked the Luxe series, you'll probably like Bright Young Things as well. It is a bit of a set up book, so I hope I like the next book a bit more.

More on Speed Date, in Mary @ Book Swarm's words: Thursday is Speed Date Night around here. What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Book Review: New Girl by Paige Harbison

2012-04-25T00:13:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: From the moment she arrived, Manderley Academy was Becca Normandy's territory, and not even her disappearance at the end of last term changed that.

But as a new term starts, a New Girl has come to take the open spot at the school and she'll find herself sleeping in Becca's room, and surrounded by Becca's friends - some of which think she's trying to take over Becca's life.

But New Girl doesn't want any of that, she mostly wishes she were back home with the rest of her friends and family for senior year, and that everyone would stop referring to her as New Girl, as if no one after Becca deserves a proper name.

But then she meets Max Holloway, Becca's old boyfriend, and she gets even more tangled with the mysteries of a girl she has never met.

Second Glance: New Girl was a bit different of what I expected. It's a sort of modern spin on Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier - I haven't read that one so I can't say how close it follows the book, though. New Girl has a dual narrative, parts of it are told by the New Girl of the title and the others from Becca's perspective in flashback chapters.

I liked New Girl over all, I thought it was well written, and I liked the characters for the most part, but I felt that some of them needed more development. For example, I liked "New Girl" but I also didn't see what was so awesome about her either - if you read the book you'll understand what I mean - she was nice and likable, and ultimately learns to appreciate her own true worth, but I didn't see anything particularly extraordinary about her.

UK Cover

As for Max and Johnny, I felt like other than because they were handsome, it's never explained why they are so popular, and Max sometimes acts so hot-and-cold that it's just confusing because he reveals so little of himself.

And I honestly didn't like Becca, at all. She wasn't charming or fun, at least not to me, and I'm actually quite repelled by people like her so, after a while, I sort of started to get a little bored by her chapters. I couldn't muster much care for what would happen to her.

Bottom Line: New Girl is a good read, enjoyable too. I genuinely liked the main character, but I felt like some things could have been developed a little more, some things a bit more explained, but the book has a nice soap-opera feel and it's easy to read.

Favorite Quote: "Trust me," he said with a smile, "I'm an artist."

"Paint me like on of your French girls," Oh, the worlds spilled from my mouth before I could stop them.

He dropped his hand and looked at me. "DId you just made a Titanic reference?"

"Maybe."

Tune in Tuesday (35) - You're the Only One By Maria Mena

2012-04-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

This meme is hosted by Ginger at GReads and music. Each week you can post an old or new song so that it gains more interest! So head on over and link up.

For this week I chose something I was just listening to on the radio the other day: You're the Only One by Maria Mena. I love this song, it' always makes me smile, it's one of my feel good songs so I wanted to share it.

So, what song plays for you?