Everbound by Brodi Ashton

************************** I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy, this in no way impacts the review that I give this book *******************************************************

Goodreads Summary:

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.

Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.

In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we’ll go to for the ones we love.


My Thoughts:

I actually felt anxious while reading the Everneath parts of this book. It is pretty rare that I feel anxious when reading a story so coo-dos to Brodi Ashton. I was also far less annoyed with the love triangle in this book than I was in the first. I am not sure if that is because Jack wasn't actually there or if the characters were more developed, likely it was a combination of factors.

The Everneath is an odd fantasy world that I liked, and also really disliked. It was interesting but also frustrating. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Everneath the the High Court, which is pretty normal for the second book in a series. I really started to like Cole in this book, we got a lot more of his history and started to learn more about his motivations.

Overall, I liked this one and I look forward to the next one which likely won't be out for at least a year. I will say I didn't expect the ending, which is a good thing. I would say generally I can see things coming, but I didn't see that ending coming.

I would recommend this book to those who like series books, dystopian books, and possibly mythology lovers.

While writing this review I was listening to snow fall.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Goodreads Summary:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

My thoughts:

I really dug the angle this book took. I have read a lot of books with the love triangle with big crisis but this book has a new take with the outlying story being rooted in mythology. I have never been big on mythology so it was fun for me to learn that stuff right along with the main character Nikki.

I was a little bored with the love triangle aspect because I think it has been done so many times before. Sometimes people fall in love and there isn't a third party. I can see how it was needed for this book, but Jack was a little too predictable as was Cole. I would have liked a little more diversity there, but over all I really enjoyed this read. I read it earlier in the semester and didn't pay enough attention to it to review it, so after I received the second book as an ARC I re-read this one and got a lot more out of it this time. 

I liked that Nikki is more complicated than other female leads. I also like that Nikki doesn't really shy away from her dark and twisty like so many other characters. I wouldn't say that she loves her dark side, but she doesn't really try to hide it either and I liked that.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy dystopian novels or teen lit. Since I am not sure how close the mythology stuff follows I only have recommend it to mythology lovers.

While writing this review I was listening to coffee brewing.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Goodreads Summary:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


My Thoughts:

The first half of this book follows the dystopian genre formula to the T. Enough that I almost put the book down because I have read it all before and better. This being said, once the book got into its own groove, I warmed up to it quite a bit, enough that I intend on reading the follow up book which comes out next year sometime.

The second half, I feel like we, the readers, get to know each character a little better and by that process I started to like them more for the most part. I liked that America loves music, and can get lost in notes. I liked that Maxon admits that he doesn't know everything, which is hard for Prince types to do. I would say I am not a huge fan of Aspen. I never fully warmed to his character, or should I say, lack there of. He seems like the typical scared guy. I feel like I have seen versions of Aspen in a lot of books, and this book like the others doesn't really give me a reason to like him, unless you count the hotness factor (which I don't).

Also, can I just say I am a little tired of a female lead, who is so pretty she thinks she is ug-o. For once I would like someone to be plain, PLAIN JANE and be embraced or loved for who they are rather than the main character having to struggle with accepting outside beauty. This is my compliant with a lot of YA books. Not everyone is gorgeous, but everyone does have something gorgeous about them. I worry these books are just as destructive as magazines that don't show short girls, or heavy girls, or girls who aren't white. Most of us, if not all of us, have something about us that is imperfect. For once I would like to read about a character who struggles with the same things normal people struggle with. Rather than the struggle to accept they are hot. Seriously writers, come up with something else to focus on.

I would recommend this book to dystopian genre lovers, but watch out for that formula for the first half. Beyond dystopian fans I am not sure a lot of people would like this book. I do have hopes that the second is better and not so contrived.

While writing this review I was listening to the wind beat against my windows.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Goodreads Summary:

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

My Thoughts:
This was a new take on the dystopian genre for me. I have not read one that is set in space until this book. I honestly have no clue if any others are set on a spaceship or not now that I think about it. :)

It took me over a week to get through this book, part of that may be that I was really tired every night by the time I sat down to read something not related to Political Science. I got into this book, but some of the word choices bothered me, for instance "frexing" was on probably every page and it just bothered me every time I read it. I was distracted by the tweaking of English. With most books I can get over that, but for some reason I could not look past it. I think this is due to the type of tweaking, "brilly" rather than brilliant was another that really bothered me. I have always been sensitive to how a story flows from the lips and the word choice, particularly in conversation, was choppy and harsh. I wish the dialog had been developed better.

That being said, I enjoyed the story for the most part. I was intrigued by the idea of people spending their entire lives on a ship without ever having seen a sun or moon and not going completely crazy. I discovered that the whole ship is being drugged. Which makes sense, I don't know anyone who would be content in a steel box for life. I enjoyed the flip flop of perspectives from chapter to chapter, Amy and Elder taking turns in the narrative wasn't annoying like it is in other books.

**SPOILER ALERT**
I am looking forward to the next book to see if they fix the problem of being over 150 years behind schedule. The ship is slowing down and unable to run at half speed. I wonder if Amy is going to wake up the other frozen cargo to see if they can help figure out the problem of the slow engine core. Also, will Amy ever see her parents thawed? I hope to have time for the second book over the Christmas Holiday.

I would recommend this one to fans of dystopian fiction. I wouldn't say the writing is strong enough to draw in anyone who isn't interested in the genre. Overall I would say I have lukewarm feelings on this one.

While writing this review I was listening to Rihanna and Justin Timberlake.

The Intercept by Dick Wolf

*************I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher, this in no way impacts my review of this book*************************

Goodreads Summary:

Dick Wolf makes his literary debut with this tense, driving thriller reminiscent of the classic The Day of the Jackal, an extraordinary tale filled with the ingenious twists and high-wire suspense we have come to expect from this master storyteller.

Days before the July Fourth holiday and the dedication of One World Trade Center at Ground Zero, an incident aboard a commercial jet over the Atlantic Ocean reminds everyone that vigilance is not a task to be taken lightly. But for iconoclastic New York Police detective Jeremy Fisk, it may also be a signal that there is much more to this case than the easy answer: that this is just the work of another lone terrorist.

Fisk—from the department’s Intelligence Division, a well-funded anti-terror unit modeled upon the CIA—suspects that the event might also be a warning sign that another, potentially more extraordinary scheme has been set in motion. Fluent in Arabic and the ways of his opponents, Fisk is a rule breaker who follows his gut—even if it means defying those above him in the department’s food chain. So when a passenger from the same plane, a Saudi Arabian national, disappears into the crowds of Manhattan, it’s up to Fisk and his partner Krina Gersten to find him before the celebrations begin.

Watching each new lead fizzle, chasing shadows to dead ends, Fisk and Gersten quickly realize that their opponents are smarter and more agile than any they have ever faced. Extremely clever and seemingly invisible, they are able to exploit any security weakness and anticipate Fisk’s every move. And time is running out.

My thoughts:

I know Dick Wolf from the credits of Law and Order. This is his first novel that I am aware of and it is actually pretty good. I am definitely not the demographic this book is aimed toward, but I won't hold that against the book. I think my Dad is likely who they want to pick this book up. 

Dick Wolf's character development is pretty great, but that isn't shocking when you look at what he is famous for. I would say I was drawn into this story pretty quickly and really wanted to know what would happen next. I liked that each character had a distinct voice and they never got confusing. Even later in the book when someone new was introduced everything flowed really well. There are a lot of twists and turns in this book, so it becomes really hard to put down in the middle of a chapter or section. I stayed up late a couple times trying to get to a good stopping point. 

**SPOILER ALERT**

I was disappointed that Fisk's love interest was killed by the final terrorist. I think she played off of Fisk rather well and I liked the balance that was there with her. I hope in the next books there are characters that balance out Fisk's very heterosexual male stereotype. That is actually the only complaint that I have about the character Jeremy Fisk, he is a little too much what you expect an Intel officer from NYC to be, there were not any surprises to his character. I like a little quirkiness or oddball behavior from someone so stereotypical, to mix things up a little bit. Perhaps that is my lack of love for the genre coming out a little bit.

I would recommend this book to Older Dudes and Younger Dudes who like Grisham or Clancy. I would say this is a good read for women as well, just be aware it wasn't really written with anyone other than Straight White Men in mind.

While writing this review I was listening to Madonna.

Cemetery Girl by David Bell

Goodreads Summary:

Four years after Tom and Abby's 12-year-old daughter vanishes, she is found alive but strangely calm. When the teen refuses to testify against the man connected to her disappearance, Tom decides to investigate the traumatizing case on his own. Nothing can prepare him for what he is about to discover.

My Thoughts:

This book reminded me a lot of the Elizabeth Smart story. I am from Utah so that story is a part of my history here. This book left me with the same feeling as that true story. I am sad and sickened by what people can do to one another and call it "love" or "faith." I found myself rooting for Tom. He never gave up hope that his daughter was alive. It destroyed him and broke his already weak marriage. I remember many times seeing Elizabeth Smart's Father on TV never giving up hope that he daughter would be found. I can only imagine the strain something like this puts on someone.

David Bell is an engrossing writer. I was sucked in from the start and wanted to know everything, even the dark and disturbing parts of this story. I hated the kidnapper but also wanted to understand what a 16 year old girl saw in him to be so devoted to her abuser. Tom's daughter definitely suffers from Stockholm syndrome. You always think that when a missing child is found that the story ends happily ever after, but this book shows you how terrible it is and how hard it is to watch a stranger who was once family.

I would recommend this to mystery fans or fiction fans in general. Some of the things that happen to Tom's daughter are pretty disturbing so if you are sensitive to that I would pick this book up with caution.

While writing this review I was listening to Euphondisson.

The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon

***I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way affects how I review this book.***

Goodreads Summary:

Bestselling author Jennifer McMahon is back with a gut-wrenching mystery about an architect whose troubled mother has been found 25 years after being kidnapped-by a killer who is still on the loose.

"One of the brightest new stars of literary suspense."
-Los Angeles Times

The summer of 1985 changed Reggie's life. Thirteen, awkward, and without a father, she finds herself mixed up with her school's outcasts-Charlie, the local detective's son, and Tara, a goth kid who has a mental hold over Reggie and harbors a dark secret. That same summer a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother Vera-an ex-model with many "boyfriends" and a thirst for gin-the most, Vera's hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there's no body and Neptune disappears.

Now a successful architect who left her hometown behind after that horrific summer, Reggie doesn't trust anyone and lives with few attachments. But when she gets a call from a homeless shelter saying that her mother has been found alive, Reggie must confront the ghosts of her past and find Neptune before he kills again.

With her signature style, Jennifer McMahon portrays the dark side of adolescent friendship and introduces characters who haunt the imagination, along with a disturbing web of secrets, betrayals, and murder.

My Thoughts:

I am not normally big on mystery novels. I have been reading a lot lately so I am starting to get a feel for the genre. I would say this is the best one I have read yet. I wouldn't say I couldn't put it down, but it was pretty close to that. I felt the character development was awesome. I really got to know and understand Reggie through the flashback chapters and present day chapters. At first I liked that every other chapter was either flashback or present day, but about 3/4 of the way in it started to grate on me a little. This is likely because I wanted to hurry up and find out who Neptune was!


****SPOILER ALERT****SPOILER ALERT ***********


Throughout the read I kept guessing and was wrong each time who the killer was. Obviously that is the point of mysteries, who done it? I never saw the twist of George being both Reggie's Bio-Dad and Neptune. Looking back on the book I can see all the signs that pointed to George but when I was think in the reading I didn't see it coming. George played the Daddy role for Reggie her whole life, but she never suspected so I never suspected him either.

I found the relationship between Reggie and Tara really hard to take; only because Tara reminded me so much of too many girls I hung out with in high school. Tara the cutter, Tara the dark and gothic, it was all unfortunately familiar to me. Tara eventually got her shit together which is a nice part of this story. I did find it a little too convenient that she was taken by Neptune as his newest/ last victim. I understand why the author chose this path, but it was really the only part that I didn't like. Tara ha already been through enough as a character so I didn't like seeing her further punished by losing a hand.

I would recommend this book to fans of mystery. I think if you don't like mystery very much you should stay away from this one, the flipping between time tables might bother the average non mystery reader.

While writing this review I was listening to my dog snore and the pond bubble outside my back door. Can I just say I am super swell excited that Fall has finally come to Utah?!?

The Hiding Place by David Bell

**I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way affects what I have to say about the book**

Goodreads Summary:

Twenty-five-years ago, the disappearance of four-year-old Justin Manning rocked the small town of Dove Point, Ohio. After his body was found in a shallow grave in the woods two months later, the repercussions were felt for years.… Janet Manning has been haunted by the murder since the day she lost sight of her brother in the park. Now, with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Justin’s death looming, a detective and a newspaper reporter have started to ask questions, opening old wounds and raising new suspicions. Could the man convicted of the murder—who spent more than two decades in prison—really be innocent? Janet’s childhood friend and high school crush, who was in the park with her that day, has returned to Dove Point, where he is wrestling with his own conflicted memories of the events. And a strange man appears at Janet’s door in the middle of the night, claiming to know the truth. Soon, years of deceit will be swept away, and the truth about what happened to Janet’s brother will be revealed. And the answers that Janet has sought may be found much closer to home than she ever could have imagined.

My Thoughts: **SPOILER ALERT**

I am not a huge fan of the mystery genre, but that being said I liked this book. I felt the character development was top notch. I never once questioned why a character was doing what they were doing. I find that kind of character development as a dying art form so Kudos to David Bell. My only complaint about this book is Janet never gets a break. Janet has hope for a second in this book that her brother isn't really dead, he is. Then on top of that, Michael, Janet's best friend and life long crush is the one who actually killed her little brother. While this book was well written it was incredibly sad and Janet never got even a moment of happiness, I have a hard time reading a book without even one happy moment for the main character. I did have a hard time putting this book down every night while reading it. I was captured by the word usage and the picture that David Bell painted.

This has made me pick up David Bell's other book Cemetery Girl from the library. I just hope there is at least a hint of happy in that book.

I recommend this book to mystery lovers and those who are lukewarm on mysteries. This is a genuinely good read, just be prepared there is not a happy ending.

While writing this review I was listening to Ciara.

Excuse the Politics...

As most of you guys know I am not a rich kid. Many would say I am down right poor, but I am not too poor to help out a couple organizations I really believe in. I donate $5 dollars a month to KUER (for public radio, yes, I am an NPR listener), $5 a month to Planned Parenthood (without them I would never have had access to health care for the 5+ years I didn't have insurance), and $10 a month to Equality Utah (I love and support the LGBT community). 

So what? Who Cares? Well the thing is kids if my broke ass can give up my latte money every month to help support things I really care about then so can you. I am not even close to suggesting that you support the same organizations that I do. I have been hearing a lot of discontent about the state of the world lately, this is one way to help. If I had the time to volunteer you bet your ass I would. If you have time to volunteer I am absolutely suggesting that you should.

I get that things are looking pretty grim lately. We have a crap economy, we have high unemployment, we have people who thump podiums with hate filled speeches, and we have non doctors trying to enforce medical decisions. The worst of it all is the whole world is in turmoil, not just America. So much hate is getting thrown around it is hard to see the bright side in anything. I can't turn a page in the New York Times without reading about some conflict that stems from hate. 

For me, donating to the organizations I have already mentioned has helped me feel a little light coming through. Getting involved in my community has always been something that has made me feel better. The older I get, the more I think that voting is not enough. That isn't to suggest that I don't think you should vote, I am a huge fan of voting (in Utah if you aren't registered go to vote.utah.gov and get registered). I just think with so much grumpgrump in the air it would be nice if we could all be a little more active in our worlds to make it a better place. It seems like everyone has a gripe, then why not do something to off set it? In my own state the local NBC affiliate decided to not air The New Normal because they didn't think a show about a gay family was appropriate for prime time when straight families will be watching tv. This ticked me off, it was also the same day that I started my monthly donations to Equality Utah. Nationwide, including my state, women's rights to reproductive choice have come under attack. I started donating to Planned Parenthood. I love NPR and the local radio programming like Radio West. I donate to them for being a bright light or at the very least an informative light in my day. 

Yeah yeah I am an idealist, I think that the world can change and be a better place. I am still naive enough to think that what I do matters, so I better do things that improve not destroy. I just can't help it. I really do think that if we all did our part things could get matter. Let's stop polarized politics and start active participation in our communities.

I will get down off my soap box now. :)

Diary of a Mad Fat Girl by Stephanie McAffee

Goodreads Summary:

Graciela "Ace" Jones is mad-mad at her best friend Lilly who cancels their annual trip to Panama City for mysterious reasons; at her boss Catherine for "riding her ass like a fat lady on a Rascal scooter;" at her friend Chloe's abusive husband; and especially at Mason McKenzie, the love of her life, who has shown up with a marriage proposal three years too late. Ace is never mad, though, at her near-constant companion, an adorable chiweenie dog named Buster Loo. Ace's anger begins to dissipate as she takes matters into her own hands to take down Chloe's philandering husband-and to get to the bottom of a multitude of other scandals plaguing Bugtussle, Mississippi. Then, she starts to realize that maybe Mason deserves a second chance after all. With a sharp and distinctive voice, Stephanie McAfee delivers a hilarious and fast-paced tale about Ace Jones and her two best friends-thick as thieves and tough as nails-navigating Southern small-town politics and prejudices, finding love, and standing up for each other all the way.

My Thoughts:

I listened to this one over the course of a week. I really enjoyed the narrator Cassandra Campbell's use of tone. The story was one of your average Pink Book. Ace is getting chunky, she loves a dude but things don't really work there, and her professional life is unsatisfying. I suppose there is a reason for this formula for pink books. I liked the book. I liked that Ace has some serious attitude. I just don't like how predictable chick lit is. I want a little more than what I get. I don't want the same story over and over again with just basic details changed.

That isn't to say I didn't like the writing and there wasn't anything new to this book. There were parts that were pretty unique that I enjoyed quite a bit. I like the old rich lady who comes into the book half way through and I liked the drag store bits. I liked that Ace wasn't afraid to make an ass out of herself. I loved Ace's dog Buster Loo, so very cute. 

I would recommend this book to Pink Book readers but that is probably as far as I would suggest it. I don't think this book translates to the masses.

While writing this review I was listening to a political speech from one of the candidates for President.

Knit The Season by Kate Jacobs

Goodreads Summary:

Knit the Season is a loving, moving, laugh-out-loud celebration of special times with friends and family. The story begins a year after the end of Knit Two, with Dakota Walker's trip to spend the Christmas holidays with her Gran in Scotland-accompanied by her father, her grandparents, and her mother's best friend, Catherine. Together, they share a trove of happy memories about Christmases past with Dakota's mom, Georgia Walker-from Georgia's childhood to her blissful time as a doting new mom. From Thanksgiving through Hanuk­kah and Christmas to New Year's, Knit the Season is a novel about the richness of family bonds and the joys of friendship.

My Thoughts:

I think I liked this book the best out of all three in the series. I actually cried a few times, which doesn't happen all that often with books. I really think the writing and character development took a step up in this book. I liked watching Dakota grow up and come into her own voice and stop whining so much about things and just do what needed to be done. I liked that each member of the Friday Night Knitting Club found some kind of peace or love. It was over the top sweet, but sometimes you just need that kind of happy ending book.

I don't know if Kate Jacobs is planning on writing another book for this series, in some ways I hope she doesn't just because I liked this one so much. I only wish that I had waited for the holiday season to read it. I am craving Thanksgiving dinner and looking forward to a quiet Christmas with my husband. I think he and I both decided to avoid our families this year and just enjoy time together. Oddly, this book talking so much about family time made me even less inclined than normal to spend time with family. 

I would recommend this to fans of the series or Kate Jacobs. This is definitely what some would call a Christmas read so I wouldn't read it until the season. 

While writing this review I was listening to Beethoven.

All MarindaRue - Rory Gilmore Read List

I love the TV show the Gilmore Girls. I own it on DVD and re-watch the whole series at least once a year. Recently, I ran across a Rory Gilmore Reading List on Goodreads and thought I would start ticking away at
the books on the list.

Here is the complete list, books I have already read and do not intend to re-read I have marked. Some of these books are worth re-reading so I won't mark them so don't be shocked if you see something unmarked that I have previously mentioned.

1984 by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Archidamian War by Donald Kagan
The Art of Fiction by Henry James
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Babe by Dick King-Smith
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
The Bhagava Gita
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
Candide by Voltaire
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
Christine by Stephen King
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dicken
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
The Collected Short Stories by Eudora Welty
The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Complete Novels by Dawn Powell
The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton
Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père
Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber – started and not finished
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Cujo by Stephen King
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon – read – 2009
Daisy Miller by Henry James
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Da Vinci -Code by Dan Brown
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Deenie by Judy Blume
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
The Divine Comedy by Dante
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
Don Quijote by Cervantes
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Emily the Strange by Roger Reger
Emma by Jane Austen 
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Ethics by Spinoza
Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extravagance by Gary Krist
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – started and not finished
Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce
Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg
Gidget by Fredrick Kohner
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
The Gospel According to Judy Bloom
The Graduate by Charles Webb
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Group by Mary McCarthy
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling 
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare
Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare
Henry V by William Shakespeare
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
Howl by Allen Gingsburg
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Iliad by Homer
I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy
It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 
The Love Story by Erich Segal
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
Marathon Man by William Goldman
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken
The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin
Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman
Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret
A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh
My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Night by Elie Wiesel
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan
Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell
Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Old School by Tobias Wolff
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Othello by Shakespeare 
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
Out of Africa by Isac Dineson
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche
The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill by Ron Suskind
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
Property by Valerie Martin
Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Quattrocento by James Mckean
A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien
R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
Rita Hayworth by Stephen King
Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert
Roman Fever by Edith Wharton
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Several Biographies of Winston Churchill
Sexus by Henry Miller
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shane by Jack Shaefer
The Shining by Stephen King
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore
The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett
Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Unless by Carol Shields
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker
What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles
What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Goodreads Summary:

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there. Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never have understood.

Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?

A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.

My Thoughts:

I read this book a while ago and wrote a review but never posted it. I wanted to think about it for a while before posting. This book, like Impulse before it, is written in poetry story telling. I loved reading a story written in this way. It brings be back to the way that I personally tell stories. This book has overlap with the first book in the series but not in the normal way. We are dealing with all new characters during the same time frame as the first book. Conner from Impulse gives us time markers through two of the new characters, Kendra and Cara. 

I had a really hard time with Kendra. She reminded me of girls I dealt with at a job I once had. I worked in a  treatment center for troubled girls. Some of these girls had eating disorders. I remember having to watch them chew and swallow each bite of every meal. I had to stand next to the bathroom while they used it to listen for purging and other behavior that could harm them. It broke my heart to see so many young girls destroying themselves in the goal to be the perfect weight, to attain the perfect look. I didn't work in the treatment center for very long. Those girls really did break my heart and eventually I had to admit I wasn't strong enough to deal with it every day. Throughout the course of the book Kendra's eating issues increase and soon she is so thin she looks emaciated.Needless to say the eating disorder sections of this book hit home for me and I cried more than once. I heard more than one girl have the same thoughts as Kendra. I hate what we as a society have done to women to make them think they have to starve themselves and constantly move all for fear of having a belly, curves, and any softness to their frame.

Over all I liked this book, it was not a light read (neither was Impulse) and I wouldn't say it had any moments that really inspired me. The only criticism I have is that it didn't ever lift me back up after it dropped me really low. I fully understand that was kind of the point, but at the same time, when you have so many people in pain it would be nice to be able to at least hope for these people. I was left with no hope and that is, again, really hard to read and handle. Ellen Hopkins ended her book with some facts about eating disorders and such, but had she left any hope at all for her characters it would have had more impact to read the stats and how to help prevent these things from happening to other people. Don't get me wrong, I have a high tolerance for doom and gloom, I just need a pinch of light to balance it all.

I recommend this book to fans of Ellen Hopkins. I would not suggest this read if you are at all in a grim place yourself.

While writing this review I was listening to Sara Bareilles.

Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

Goodreads Summary:

The sequel to the number-one New York Times bestseller The Friday Night Knitting Club, KNIT TWO returns to Walker and Daughter, the Manhattan knitting store founded by Georgia Walker and her young daughter, Dakota. Dakota is now an eighteen-year-old freshman at NYU, running the little yarn shop part-time with help from the members of the Friday Night Knitting Club.

Drawn together by the sense of family the club has created, the knitters rely on one another as they struggle with new challenges: for Catherine, finding love after divorce; for Darwin, the hope for a family; for Lucie, being both a single mom and a caregiver for her elderly mother; and for seventy something Anita, a proposal of marriage from her sweetheart, Marty, that provokes the objections of her grown children.

As the club's projects - an afghan, baby booties, a wedding coat - are pieced together, so is their understanding of the patterns underlying the stresses and joys of being mother, wife, daughter, and friend. Because it isn't the difficulty of the garment that makes you a great knitter: it's the care and attention you bring to the craft - as well as how you adapt to surprises.

My Thoughts;

Sometimes when I read a book I can feel it lifting me up a little bit, in ways that it probably wouldn't if I was in a different place in my life reading the same book. When I picked this sequel up I was in the need of female energy and down time. This book isn't a masterpiece but it really was what I needed when I read it. I like all the different female voices that are in this book. It is hard to be a woman and know what that means when you have everyone else telling you their opinion. Growing up is hard and I don't think that process ever stops. This book points out that just because you have reached a certain age doesn't mean you have all the answers and everything is suddenly easy. I didn't love this book as much as the first but it is worth the read.

Also I would like to say this book makes me want to pick up my crocheting that has been sitting around for months. I hope I can find time throughout the semester to catch up a little on some projects. I always think about when my Mother taught me how to crochet when I read the knitting books. It was frustrating when I was young but now it is incredibly relaxing to feel the yarn glide through my fingers. I love watching something come to life. Recently, I finished a project for my older brother who lives in the Emerald City. It was really cool to see something I made on his bed. I have also made things for my other older brother in Bean Town. Not everyone has a little sister who is handy with a crochet hook, I hope they know that. ;)

I would recommend this book to fans of Kate Jacobs and anyone in the need of an uplifting read about real-ish people.

While writing this review I was listening to an NPR interview with George Takei about his time in a Japanese interment camp as a child. You can listen to it here George Takei

Everyday by David Levithan

**Disclaimer: I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy for free from the publisher. The fact that I did not pay for this book will in no way influence my thoughts on the book.**

Goodreads Summary:

Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.

My Thoughts:

This book hooked me from the first page, which is rare for me to not have to warm to a book at least a little. The concept of this book is awesome. I have never thought about what it would be like to wake up in a different body every day. This book challenges what we think about gender identification and sexuality. The character A is neither male nor female as A has lived as both and felt equally comfortable and uncomfortable in both.

In my gender classes in college we talk about what it means to be a man or a woman and what if you don't fit into those molds. A does not fit into either mold, A loves Rhiannon the same no matter what sex A wakes up as. Rhiannon finds a way to try and look past the physical with A and love A for the person. I really liked the message of this book and I love that it is geared for the YA audience. I think too often people get stuck in "doing gender" they forget they can just be for a while.

The concept of someone taking over my life, for even a day is both interesting and terrifying. Could this explain those days where I just seemed kind of out of it and didn't have much memory of the day? Most likely not, but it is fun to think about. That is the thing I liked most about this book, it made me think. I also really liked that A never felt too sorry for him/herself. This book I am pleased to say did not fall into the whiny teen book category.

I would recommend this book to everyone, but particularly those in Gender Studies classes. I really liked this read. Excellent character development and over all great writing.

While writing this review I was listening to Annie Lennox.

The Day I Shot Cupid by Jennifer Love Hewitt

Goodreads Summary:

For any woman who has ever bought a self-help book and wondered why she bothered. (P.S. Now that I know he's just not that into me, where do I go from there? Yeah, thanks for that advice.) Jennifer Love Hewitt is a self-proclaimed "love-aholic" and hopeless romantic (her middle name is Love, after all ). She has been lucky and unlucky in love, and lived to tell--and she's done it all in the spotlight. Much has been written about her love life--some true, most made up to sell magazines. Now Hewitt shares the real story of what she's learned navigating the dangerous dating waters.

In The Day I Shot Cupid, Hewitt offers her hard-won wisdom and tells us how to embrace love with both feet on the ground. First, we have to shoot Cupid. We have to believe that happily-ever-after is hard work--it's not all flowers and symphonies and floating hearts.

Wise and wry and refreshingly honest, Hewitt talks about how to pick the right guy and how to know when to let the wrong ones go free, and she offers some surprising truths about the opposite sex.

From twenty things to do after a breakup, to ten things to do before a date, to the perils of text flirting (Note: You are waiting. By the phone. For his response.), Hewitt uses stories and dating secrets to illustrate the idiotic, romantic, crazy, depressing, hilarious, awkward, glorious moments we all experience in relationships. Funny, quirky, and empowering, The Day I Shot Cupid deserves a place on every woman's nightstand, bookshelf, or coffee table, or tucked inside her over sized designer handbag.

My Thoughts:

I have always liked Jennifer Love Hewitt. I can't say that I think she is an awesome or actress. I can't say that her book was even that great. But I can say I just want to go to drinks with her and hang.

So her book had funny bits, I liked that Jamie Kennedy likes big butts. His section of talking about what he likes about women was funny and sweet. I would not say this book is groundbreaking. I don't think that it was really helpful to anyone other than the author. Which isn't to diminish the obvious growing experience that Love went through. I just think that since it was marketed as a self help book there should have been more helpful bits other than the over used, love yourself and others will love you. I did like that she had a couple of to do lists for raising self esteem. I think a couple of her suggestions were pretty valid.

This was a crazy fast read and I don't regret reading it. I don't know that I would recommend this to anyone other than a broken hearted friend.

While writing this review I was listening to the Sons of Anarchy Season 4.

Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook

Goodreads Summary:

Forty-year-old preschool teacher Sarah Hurlihy thought she'd set herself up for a great life. She'd married the man she loved. They bought a house, decorated it, and then sat, looking at each other, trying to remember why they'd gotten married in the first place. But Sarah didn't have to wonder for long; her husband took up with a younger woman, sounding the death knell for their marriage, and propelling Sarah back into singlehood -- at the same time as her newly widowed father.

Thrown unwillingly into the suburban dating pool alongside her dad, Sarah is ambivalent about the whole process, despite her ticking clock and thoughts that she might enjoy a child of her own. But Sarah's large, loving Irish clan comes to her rescue -- her married sister placing a personal ad in her name and regularly monitoring Sarah's dating progress; and her brother, Michael, helps her feel lovable when he seeks out her comfort and advice while riding out his own rocky marriage.

In Must Love Dogs, Claire Cook ably captures the pitfalls of the midlife singles' scene, with a generous dose of humor and a heaping portion of characters who know better than to take themselves too seriously.

My thoughts:
When I saw the movie, I had not realized it was based off of a book. I haven't seen the movie in a really long time so they are separate in my mind and shall remain that way.Though I will say, I hate when they (publishers) release a mass market paperback with the movie poster as the cover. I think they really should keep the movie and book distinct in what they are. That being said I liked this book. It was not your run of the mill pink book. Yes, our main character is looking for love and yes she learns to love herself like most pink books. However, the story of how Sarah comes into her own skin and learns to live again is nice in that it isn't because of one man sweeping her off her feet.
What I really liked about this book is how likable Sarah is, even with being so boring and kind of sad. I think she is your average 4o something divorcee who has to figure out what her next step is while trying to find the energy and motivation to change out of her grey sweats and do something.

I would recommend this book to pink book lovers or anyone looking for a fast fun read. I finished this book in about two days without a lot of time dedicated to it.

While writing this review I am listening to my upstairs neighbor stomp around while crashing into only god knows what.

One Day by David Nicholls

Goodreads Summary:

Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.


My Thoughts:

I liked a lot of this book, particularly the Emma segments. She was thoughtful and very normal over all with some slight quirks. Dexter was the typical shitshow that bachelors sometimes are when they have no idea who they are or what they want. It was interesting to get snap shots in time with two very different, yet similar characters. What I didn't like about this book was some of the Dexter sections, I didn't like them because it was hard a lot of the time to like Dexter. When I read something I want to be able to relate to and like a character. I couldn't relate to a lot of what Dexter was going through. I didn't like the person he was for most of the story.


This being said I think this book was incredibly well written and an awesome idea. I didn't feel like I had read the same book previously. Sometimes it feels like writers just switch names of characters with each others books. This book didn't feel familiar which in my world is awesome.


I would recommend this book to most people, though there is a really sad bit toward the end so I wouldn't read it if you don't want to be sad.


While writing this review I was listening to Massive Attack.

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

Goodreads Summary:
Shortly before turning the big 5-0, boisterous party planner and Cooking with Gusto! personality Augusta “Gus” Simpson finds herself planning a birthday party she’d rather not—her own. She’s getting tired of being the hostess, the mother hen, the woman who has to plan her own birthday party. What she needs is time on her own with enough distance to give her loved ones the ingredients to put together successful lives without her.

Assisted by a handsome up-and-coming chef, Oliver, Gus invites a select group to take an on-air cooking class. But instead of just preaching to the foodie masses, she will teach regular people how to make rich, sensuous meals—real people making real food. Gus decides to bring a vibrant cast of friends and family on the program: Sabrina, her fickle daughter; Troy, Sabrina’s ex-husband; Anna, Gus’s timid neighbor; and Carmen, Gus’s pompous and beautiful competitor at the Cooking Channel. And when she begins to have more than collegial feelings for her sous-chef, Gus realizes that she might be able to rejuvenate not just her professional life, but her personal life as well. . . .

My Thoughts:

Over all I really liked this book. This was a really good choice for a light summer read that isn't centered around a teen aged girl. Gus is older and has a life that is complicated but not hard to believe. The only part of this book that kind of let me down was toward the end. Sabrina, Gus's daughter, rushed into planning a wedding for the cooking channel. This section of the book seemed out of place with the rest of the book in that every character and their actions were slowly built and explained. This portion was not slowly planned, it felt rushed and that annoyed me. I will say that the actual ending of this book did not let me down, even though it was predictable. It was the kind of predictable that you smile about not roll your eyes about.

I would recommend this to fans of Kate Jacobs (she wrote the Friday Night Knitting Club) and anyone looking for a summer read.

While writing this review I was listening to the morning news.

Impulse By Ellen Hopkins

Goodreads Summary:

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.
Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun -- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life -- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

My Thoughts:
Wow.
No seriously, wow. This book was intense and beautifully written. I have to say I could be bias. The formatting for this book was more like reading a book of continuing poetry. Which worked amazingly well for these characters. The development wasn't through setting a stage with specific details but rather with specific feelings and minor details. I formed my own ideas about the characters rather than being told about them. These kids all tried to kill themselves, they couldn't have been more different in the outside world, but in their treatment center they have a real connection. This is definitely a dark and twisty book and I wouldn't suggest just anyone picking this one up and reading it. I had some flash backs of bad times while reading about Vanessa and Conner in particular. Tony reminded me of so many men I knew while in high school it was shocking to me.

I recommend this book to those who have read Ellen Hopkins in the past or those open to dark and twisty stories. I would again warn against reading this book if you have the emotional trigger of suicide.

While writing this review I was listening to Slim Cessna's Auto Club. If you are interested, Slim Cessna will be in SLC on the 20th at the Urban Lounge. I also hear if you are in the Seattle area Slim Cessna will be joined by Michael Ray and the Plastic Sheets at the Crocodile on the 23rd. I fully recommend checking out both of these bands.

Getting back into the swing of things...

I have been reading loads and posting almost nothing. I would like to think I will get caught up on reviews but I just don't think I have it in me. I will say this, I have the strong love for Jen Lancaster. I finished her novel while on vaca in Seattle and it was pretty good. Obviously, as a fan I am bias toward her memoirs but I hope she continues with fiction.

In terms of an update I have graduated from SLCC with three AS degrees. Yep, that is what happens when you change your major a bunch, you unintentionally over achieve. I went out of town with the husband and the puppy to visit my long time bestie in Colorado. Good times were had and more importantly very chill times were had. I just got back from trip number two for the summer. I hung out with my older brother in Seattle and ate far too much sea food (oh god the shrimp eyes were looking at me!). I will say that no matter what I do in Seattle, or rather, how little I do in Seattle I always come home refreshed. I think I finally feel like myself again after the intense semester I finished over two months ago. The Great Wheel of Seattle was pretty cool, for those of you not in the know, the Great Wheel is a Ferris Wheel not too far from Pike's Place Market. I am terrified of heights, but only once did I come close to losing my shit while ridiculously high in the air.

I have jumped through most of the hoops that are required for me to start at the University of Utah this Fall. I have two years there and I will finally have my BS degree in Political Science. I am hoping to do a couple of internships, which at 30 years old kind of makes me a little sick. However, doing said internships should help my process of going to grad school. Yay for higher education.

I am currently reading some Ellen Hopkins (Perfect), Rachel Maddow (Drift), and David Nicholls (One Day). I am a little slow reading this year and I may have to adjust my book goal. I have spent way too much time watching My Drunk Kitchen on YouTube. I kind of love Hannah Hart.I hope to god I don't cook like her when I am drunk.

While writing this blog I was listening to a couple of my favorite TLC songs. Ya know, I really don't want no scrubs.

Matched by Ally Condie

Goodreads Summary:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screed at her Matching ceremony, Cassia know with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instance before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

My Thoughts:

I have been reading a lot of dystopian books lately and perhaps I am starting to get a little burned out on the genre. I liked this book. I liked that it had a little bit of a different take on things. I found the way they handle food in this book interesting. No one knows how to cook, everyone in this society is dependent on the government for all meals. That is a pretty intense way to control people and I would say incredibly effective. It is mentioned that people who farm don't know how to prepare the food they grow. The Society has separated every step, not just in food but in everything. In essence ignorance is bliss.I have to say though the book didn't really grab my attention until almost half way through. This, again may just be me feeling burn out from the genre, or maybe there was something lacking in the way this story unfolded. I am honestly not sure which is accurate. 

I will likely read the next two books but I think I will hold off on that for a while. I liked Cassia, I wanted to know more about Xander, and I wanted Ky to be more interesting. All in all though it was a fine summer read.

I would recommend this book to dystopian fans. This is not action packed like a lot of dystopian books so don't go into this one hoping for danger.

While writing this review I was listening to Slim Cessna.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Goodreads Summary:
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.


My Thoughts:
I like Tris. She is kind of a kick ass girl. She has a commitment to the truth which I dig. I really liked this book. I liked that her relationship with Tobias is not simple. So often the relationships in YA books are overly simplified. I don't feel like this book does that over simplification. The relationship is sweet like other books but also shows the flip side of caring about someone, sometimes you want to kick them in the shin. I think this was the perfect book to help me come off my school kick. It was smart enough that I wasn't bored but not complicated enough to make me more tired. I am definitely on pins and needles about the next book. This one leaves you wanting more. I hope we find out more about the origins of this world that Tris finds herself in. Veronica alludes to a lot and I am excited to see what she makes of the ideas she has presented.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy the genre, has read the first book, and or wants some fast summer reads.

While writing this review I was listening to Chang laugh on community.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Goodreads Summary:
In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

My thoughts:
Tris (Beatrice) is kind of a freak in her world. She is not capable of being brain washed. This is of course dangerous to those who wish to control this dystopian world that she lives in. This book follows the same formula as a lot of dystopian books but I am not saying that is a bad thing. Tris comes into her own and that is something everyone must do and therefore can relate to.
The interesting thing about this book is the factions 16 year olds choose to live in and work in. Candor, is for the completely honest. Dauntless, is for the fearless. Agnegation, is for the selfless. Amity is for the peaceful. Erudite, is for the knowledge seekers. I liked the idea of teens choosing to live with like minded people. I did not like however, that it was all or nothing.
Tris is Divergent in that she can't fit into just one of the factions. She is a little of at least three of them. She is selfless, fearless, and a truth seeker. She was raised as an Agnegathion but opts to become a Dauntless when her placement test is inconclusive. Her Mother as it turns out was born Dauntless and chose Agnegathion. The thing I don't like about a lot of these books is the lies that parents tell their kids and how that always comes back to bite them in the ass. My own parents were pretty honest with me and I always valued that. Mind you they were never part of a revolution but still the fact remains they were honest. I wish I could read one of these dystopian books where parents are just straight up with their kids.

I would recommend this book to fans of the dystopian genre and anyone who wants a fast read. I finished this book in under 6 hours.

While writing this review I was listening to the tv show SMASH.

Need by Carrie Jones

Goodreads Summary:
Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you'd have to fear.

My Thoughts:
I was attracted to this book because of the cover. Sadly, what they say about you can't judge a book on its cover is completely accurate on this book. I thought this book would be interesting, it was not. I will say that I liked one aspect of this book. Zara has memorized the technical names for fears and repeats them to herself. I liked learning the names of fears as a way to break up sections and chapters in the book.
This book had a lot of potential but it consistently fell short. The dialog was Twilight the movies level of bad. I often found myself rolling my eyes and sighing heavily from annoyance with the book. I almost gave up on finishing it several times. I think it was just sheer will that kept me coming back. Nick the "werewolf" was a bad knockoff of Jacob. I didn't even like Jacob. I am just really tired of the overly protective male leads who are so driven, but incredibly stupid.

I would not recommend this book to anyone.

While writing this review I was listening to Michael Ray and the Plastic Sheets.