Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
Summary: Middle school girls form a Flirt Club to gain more confidence in talking and flirting with boys.
When I first noticed the book “Flirt Club,” I wrote: First rule of Flirt Club: Don’t talk about flirt club!”
But in this delightful young adult novel of friendship and angst, the first rule of Flirt Club really is “Don’t talk about flirt club.”
Annie (Bean) and Izzy (Cisco) have been friends forever. But as eighth-graders, their goal this year is not necessarily to get boyfriends, although that is the ultimate goal, but to learn how to flirt and talk to boys.
The entire young adult novel is written in notes or journal entries – a writing gimmick I normally despise – but no other format could so clearly tell the story.
Annie has a crush on Enrique, or at least his gorgeous ear, since that’s the part of his body she can freely gaze at lovingly, since they are lab partners and he frequently checks the microscope in front of her. Annie fully admits she’s a drama geek and is proud of it.
Izzy doesn’t really have a crush, but is secretly convinced she could be one of the popular crowd, since she’s cute and doesn’t have a specialty.
When the girls get chorus parts in the school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat they become friends with Ariane, Myrna and Lisa. Annie then breaks the first (and only) rule of flirt club and invites them to Flirt Club. The new girls bring a host of new techniques and strategies to Flirt Club. The school-wide musical is a great opportunity to practice their flirting techniques
Throwing food (French fries, good; hamburgers, bad) or paper, winking, and asking leading questions are all fun to practice on boys at the mall. Hair twirling or flipping is also advised. Also, laugh and giggle a lot.
And then Izzy’s practice flirting catches the attention of Michael Maddix, aka the Stone Fox.
This brings me to one of only two complaints I had about the book. It’s unclear in exactly what time period the book takes place. The girls reference The Monkees, and Get Smart, hardly normal fare for a modern teen. I would expect Vampire Diaries or American Idol. Nope, not a mention. And so I thought the book took place in the 80s, when I was in middle school. I then got really into the book, picturing myself as Ariane, and wondering which of my then middle school friends would have been other characters. Cyrus Hammond, he was the Stone Fox of my middle school. So I was later confused when the girls mention cell phones for the first time near the end of the book. To have a book entirely of letters and then not include a single text – which you know the girls would send… it makes me think it was edited by two different people, who had read only the first or last part of the book. The disconnect there was disconcerting.
The second complaint is that Annie gets constipated when she gets nervous and then shares her “movements” or lack thereof with Cisco. Only Annie refers to it as “Elvis has not left the building.” I don’t ever remember talking this much about my bowel movements with anyone at any time in my life. And since there are three plays during the school year, Annie talks about this issue far too frequently for me.
Izzy starts dating Michael Maddix and is expected to hang out at his lunch table with the popular kids. Izzy is torn between her loyalty to her single friends and the delight of having a boyfriend who drags her over to sit with him. Annie is hurt at Izzy’s silence, but is understanding and flexible. We should all be as lucky as Izzy is to have a friend like Annie.
The addition of Ariane, Myrna and Lisa to the book broadened the appeal for me and their notes to Izzy were among the funniest parts. Lisa is blunt and uninspired and her notes made me giggle. I found myself laughing aloud at the antics and the true angst the girls encounter when they get (and possibly lose) boyfriends. Their break-up revenge plan is enviable, as is the response.
I’d normally pass along books, but if I store this one for just 8 short years, I’d gladly give this to my daughter to read.
Showing posts with label ARC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARC. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Friday, May 28, 2010
Dog House: A Love Story by Carol Prisant
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
Summary: A woman tracks her marriage and family life using pets as guideposts.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
Summary: A woman tracks her marriage and family life using pets as guideposts.
Good, but dull. That’s how the author describes her own life, and since this is a rambling memoir, that’s also an apt description of the book.
Parts of the book were hysterically funny, and in other parts, I wondered why she would write what she did.
This book was almost like a tell-all from an aging, long-ago famous Hollywood starlet, saying, “These are the men (dogs) in my life. Some I loved, some I didn’t.”
It’s supposed to be a love story about the dogs in her life, but instead it seemed just sad and pitiful. Carol’s mother didn’t like dogs, but Carol tried to bring home three. Then, in preparation for her child, she adopts a monkey (!), who she eventually gives back.
And that’s a general idea of how the book went.
I adopted a pet.
I gave it up. (or it died.)
Good but dull. I also think that Carol married an undemonstrative man, and she instead poured all that love and affection and attention into her son. They eventually start a business together but have to sell it to save their mother-son relationship. And when Carol and her husband Millard do find a dog, you get the feeling that Millard loves the dog more than he loves Carol. Just sad.
While reading this, I wondered, “What’s the point here? What’s the message? What’s the theme? There didn’t seem to be any kind of unifying element, except that they had dogs in their lives at varying points. Okay.
I’m not supposed to quote from an uncopyedited manuscript, but so I won’t here. There are parts in this book that will make you shout with laughter, but with an unsatisfying ending, I’m not sure how polished this book is yet.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: A single mom falls in love with the married plastic surgeon who's treating her injured son.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
Oh. My. God. Emily Giffin gets it. Did I get kidnapped without knowing it and have my brain harvested for thoughts? I laughed, cried, winced at the truths in this book. If you haven’t yet read Emily Giffin, pick up this book, because this is the one book everyone will be talking about this summer. You’ll see it at the beach, on airplanes, coffee shops and in book clubs. I’m suggesting it to my book club and I know we will continue to discuss it long after we meet, because it’s so relevant, so true, so compelling.
The story, Heart of the Matter, is told from two points of view; Tessa, a mother who recently started staying home with her kids, and Valerie, a single working mother whose son Charlie is seriously injured in a freak accident. When Tessa’s husband Nick becomes the surgeon assigned to Charlie, Valerie cannot help being captivated by the man who will save her son.
From the very first chapter, Tessa’s restlessness and anxiety instill a sense of dread in the reader and I know something bad will happen. I had to read on, because I know just how Tessa feels.
“I still love having sex with my husband, as much as ever once we’re under way. It just so happens that I know prefer sleep to most everything else- chocolate, red wine, HBO, and sex.”
When Tessa’s 5-year-old is fussing in Target, in front of another mother and her docile daughter: “I flash a fake smile of my own, refraining her from telling her what I’m really thinking: that it’s an unwise karmic move to go around feeling superior to other mothers. Because before she knows it, her little angel could become a tattooed teenager hiding joints in her designer handbag and doling out blow jobs in the backseat of her BMW.”
Tessa’s life rung true for me, and will for thousands of stay-at-home moms. Tessa’s life is laugh out loud funny, and so apt. When Nick suggests bringing Oreos to school as the snack for the day, I wanted to reach through the pages to smack him myself.
Yet Valerie, as the other woman, won my heart. Valerie’s intense love for her child, her loneliness, her fragile hope, and Charlie’s brave struggle made me hug my own kids (and my husband) a little tighter.
Strangely enough, my book club is also reading “Free-Range Kids” where the author tells parents to relax, because statistically, it’s unlikely that anything really bad will happen to your child. So when I read about Charlie’s accident, I panicked internally. What if it were my kid? And God, I hope I never find out. Valerie’s helplessness, her anger, her relief at having competent surgeon Nick tell her that he can help, that he will help, makes their relationship not only probable, but plausible. How could you not fall in love with the person who helps heal your child?
The book ends in the best and worst way possible. I was absolutely satisfied with the way things had turned out and would have been just as pleased if things had been different.
Jodi Picoult denied that her books are formulaic in an interview, and I snorted with derision. What’s wonderful about Emily Giffin’s books is that even though she does focus on adultery (a painful subject) she writes such heartfelt, often sympathetic characters in a realistic and funny way. And the book is absolutely up-to-date, with Facebook etiquette dilemmas, and mommy one-upmanship, and preschool applications.
I mean, Giffin really gets it all – the boredom and competition of being a stay-at-home-mom, the anguish of being a single parent, the loneliness of being a working, adult female. Even as Nick, Tessa and Valerie make choices, heart-breaking, anguishing choices, Giffin writes so well, that each action and each character will relate to some part of you and you not only understand why they are doing it, you know that you would do it too.
Summary: A single mom falls in love with the married plastic surgeon who's treating her injured son.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
Oh. My. God. Emily Giffin gets it. Did I get kidnapped without knowing it and have my brain harvested for thoughts? I laughed, cried, winced at the truths in this book. If you haven’t yet read Emily Giffin, pick up this book, because this is the one book everyone will be talking about this summer. You’ll see it at the beach, on airplanes, coffee shops and in book clubs. I’m suggesting it to my book club and I know we will continue to discuss it long after we meet, because it’s so relevant, so true, so compelling.
The story, Heart of the Matter, is told from two points of view; Tessa, a mother who recently started staying home with her kids, and Valerie, a single working mother whose son Charlie is seriously injured in a freak accident. When Tessa’s husband Nick becomes the surgeon assigned to Charlie, Valerie cannot help being captivated by the man who will save her son.
From the very first chapter, Tessa’s restlessness and anxiety instill a sense of dread in the reader and I know something bad will happen. I had to read on, because I know just how Tessa feels.
“I still love having sex with my husband, as much as ever once we’re under way. It just so happens that I know prefer sleep to most everything else- chocolate, red wine, HBO, and sex.”
When Tessa’s 5-year-old is fussing in Target, in front of another mother and her docile daughter: “I flash a fake smile of my own, refraining her from telling her what I’m really thinking: that it’s an unwise karmic move to go around feeling superior to other mothers. Because before she knows it, her little angel could become a tattooed teenager hiding joints in her designer handbag and doling out blow jobs in the backseat of her BMW.”
Tessa’s life rung true for me, and will for thousands of stay-at-home moms. Tessa’s life is laugh out loud funny, and so apt. When Nick suggests bringing Oreos to school as the snack for the day, I wanted to reach through the pages to smack him myself.
Yet Valerie, as the other woman, won my heart. Valerie’s intense love for her child, her loneliness, her fragile hope, and Charlie’s brave struggle made me hug my own kids (and my husband) a little tighter.
Strangely enough, my book club is also reading “Free-Range Kids” where the author tells parents to relax, because statistically, it’s unlikely that anything really bad will happen to your child. So when I read about Charlie’s accident, I panicked internally. What if it were my kid? And God, I hope I never find out. Valerie’s helplessness, her anger, her relief at having competent surgeon Nick tell her that he can help, that he will help, makes their relationship not only probable, but plausible. How could you not fall in love with the person who helps heal your child?
The book ends in the best and worst way possible. I was absolutely satisfied with the way things had turned out and would have been just as pleased if things had been different.
Jodi Picoult denied that her books are formulaic in an interview, and I snorted with derision. What’s wonderful about Emily Giffin’s books is that even though she does focus on adultery (a painful subject) she writes such heartfelt, often sympathetic characters in a realistic and funny way. And the book is absolutely up-to-date, with Facebook etiquette dilemmas, and mommy one-upmanship, and preschool applications.
I mean, Giffin really gets it all – the boredom and competition of being a stay-at-home-mom, the anguish of being a single parent, the loneliness of being a working, adult female. Even as Nick, Tessa and Valerie make choices, heart-breaking, anguishing choices, Giffin writes so well, that each action and each character will relate to some part of you and you not only understand why they are doing it, you know that you would do it too.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: A vampire sworn to protect the President of the United States battles enemies, both foreign and domestic.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
At this moment, there are eight separate conspiracy groups plotting to destroy the U.S. government. And Nathaniel Cade, the President’s Vampire, is working against the non-humans who would bring us down.
This book was awesome! From the very first page, when Zach Barrows, a self-titled “young Karl Rove,” is reassigned as the presidential liaison to the President’s Vampire, I read with accelerated heartbeat and eager anticipation. His new job: “Forget the War on Terror, Zach. This is the War on Horror. And you’ve just been drafted.” Cheese ball line, I know, but it totally works.
Cade is a newly-formed vampire about to be executed when President Andrew Johnson pardons him. Johnson hired voodoo priestess Marie Laveau (yes, that Marie Laveau) to bind Cade to protect and serve whomever is the President of the United States. What a premise, and one that leaves me begging for the next in what I hope is a long series of books about the President’s Vampire.
I love political thrillers and this has black ops, treason, betrayal and vampires. Books written by journalists always tend to be better written, because they know how to tell a story efficiently without falling in love with their own words. There is just enough plausibility about real threats that you almost wonder… “Could there really be…? Nah! Right? No!… But maybe…”
The back of the book reads: Enough action to out-Bourne Jason Bourne and out-Bauer Jack Bauer. I loved most of the Jason Bourne books, and the movies as well. Never quite got into “24” but I know that Jack Bauer does torture. So I chuckled when Cade says with no irony, “The United States doesn’t torture.”
There are some other bits of humor scattered throughout this action-packed political thriller. Certain lines will have you racing to Google and then laughing once you realize what it really means.
If you like any David Baldacci, any Brad Meltzer, any Dan Brown, any Tom Clancy, any James Rollins, you will devour this book. (Sorry, couldn’t resist a little vampire humor.)
My minor criticism:
As the monsters rampage through the White House, “Bits of human flesh and blood spread out over the wallpaper selected by Jackie Kennedy.” Poor Mrs. Kennedy. Don’t we have enough visions of her covered in the bits of human flesh and blood belonging to her husband? It was a gruesome reference that wouldn’t have been so distracting had it been any other first lady (with the exception of Mary Todd Lincoln, of course).
I could also see almost every scene in my head as I read along, so clear and descriptive was the writing. We could spend hours discussing the casting for when this is made into a movie – and I do hope it is made into a movie. Once you read it yourself, I hope you’ll chime in with your casting suggestions.
Bottom line: Sink your teeth into this one, with relish!
Summary: A vampire sworn to protect the President of the United States battles enemies, both foreign and domestic.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
At this moment, there are eight separate conspiracy groups plotting to destroy the U.S. government. And Nathaniel Cade, the President’s Vampire, is working against the non-humans who would bring us down.
This book was awesome! From the very first page, when Zach Barrows, a self-titled “young Karl Rove,” is reassigned as the presidential liaison to the President’s Vampire, I read with accelerated heartbeat and eager anticipation. His new job: “Forget the War on Terror, Zach. This is the War on Horror. And you’ve just been drafted.” Cheese ball line, I know, but it totally works.
Cade is a newly-formed vampire about to be executed when President Andrew Johnson pardons him. Johnson hired voodoo priestess Marie Laveau (yes, that Marie Laveau) to bind Cade to protect and serve whomever is the President of the United States. What a premise, and one that leaves me begging for the next in what I hope is a long series of books about the President’s Vampire.
I love political thrillers and this has black ops, treason, betrayal and vampires. Books written by journalists always tend to be better written, because they know how to tell a story efficiently without falling in love with their own words. There is just enough plausibility about real threats that you almost wonder… “Could there really be…? Nah! Right? No!… But maybe…”
The back of the book reads: Enough action to out-Bourne Jason Bourne and out-Bauer Jack Bauer. I loved most of the Jason Bourne books, and the movies as well. Never quite got into “24” but I know that Jack Bauer does torture. So I chuckled when Cade says with no irony, “The United States doesn’t torture.”
There are some other bits of humor scattered throughout this action-packed political thriller. Certain lines will have you racing to Google and then laughing once you realize what it really means.
If you like any David Baldacci, any Brad Meltzer, any Dan Brown, any Tom Clancy, any James Rollins, you will devour this book. (Sorry, couldn’t resist a little vampire humor.)
My minor criticism:
As the monsters rampage through the White House, “Bits of human flesh and blood spread out over the wallpaper selected by Jackie Kennedy.” Poor Mrs. Kennedy. Don’t we have enough visions of her covered in the bits of human flesh and blood belonging to her husband? It was a gruesome reference that wouldn’t have been so distracting had it been any other first lady (with the exception of Mary Todd Lincoln, of course).
I could also see almost every scene in my head as I read along, so clear and descriptive was the writing. We could spend hours discussing the casting for when this is made into a movie – and I do hope it is made into a movie. Once you read it yourself, I hope you’ll chime in with your casting suggestions.
Bottom line: Sink your teeth into this one, with relish!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Council of Dads by Bruce Feiler
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, Bruce Feiler creates a council of dads to mentor his soon-to-be-orphaned daughters.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
"Take a walk for me."
I cried at page 32. But the good kind of tears, where you remember the awe-inspiring moments of delivering your child and knowing you have a loving partner who has your back, for life. Though I’ve never met Bruce Feiler and his wife Linda, I wish that I could be a part of their lives.
Bruce Feiler, the man who wrote “Walking the Bible,” is suddenly told he has a seven-inch tumor in his left femur.
He will die.
He panics about leaving his twin girls fatherless and so, with his wife, decides to create a “Council of Dads” to mentor his daughters and also serve as a testament (and memorial) to his life after he dies. As readers, we meet each member of the Council of Dads and Bruce reviews their shared history and also asks what each member can provide to his girls. Male friendship is so different from female friendship (and we recognize that Bruce is so lucky to have these men in his life) and their shared memories offer much-welcomed comic relief to a sad, but also uplifting true story. The true tragedy is that a man who made his living walking is now unable to do so.
Interspersed with the intros are composites of actual e-mails that Bruce sent out, chronicling his diagnosis, treatment and progress. The e-mails are the best parts of the book - so full of raw honesty, joy in his silly daughters, aching with love for his wife, and always ending with, "Take a walk for me."
I predict that this book will become a popular book club selection over the next three years, as both women and men analyze their past and current friendships and ask themselves, "What will my friend say my life meant?"
Read this book. You don't want to miss it.
Summary: Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, Bruce Feiler creates a council of dads to mentor his soon-to-be-orphaned daughters.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
"Take a walk for me."
I cried at page 32. But the good kind of tears, where you remember the awe-inspiring moments of delivering your child and knowing you have a loving partner who has your back, for life. Though I’ve never met Bruce Feiler and his wife Linda, I wish that I could be a part of their lives.
Bruce Feiler, the man who wrote “Walking the Bible,” is suddenly told he has a seven-inch tumor in his left femur.
He will die.
He panics about leaving his twin girls fatherless and so, with his wife, decides to create a “Council of Dads” to mentor his daughters and also serve as a testament (and memorial) to his life after he dies. As readers, we meet each member of the Council of Dads and Bruce reviews their shared history and also asks what each member can provide to his girls. Male friendship is so different from female friendship (and we recognize that Bruce is so lucky to have these men in his life) and their shared memories offer much-welcomed comic relief to a sad, but also uplifting true story. The true tragedy is that a man who made his living walking is now unable to do so.
Interspersed with the intros are composites of actual e-mails that Bruce sent out, chronicling his diagnosis, treatment and progress. The e-mails are the best parts of the book - so full of raw honesty, joy in his silly daughters, aching with love for his wife, and always ending with, "Take a walk for me."
I predict that this book will become a popular book club selection over the next three years, as both women and men analyze their past and current friendships and ask themselves, "What will my friend say my life meant?"
Read this book. You don't want to miss it.
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Promise of Morning (At Home in Beldon Grove series) by Ann Shorey
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: A pastor's wife grieves the death of her children while her husband struggles with a challenge to his ministry.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
Love is not enough to keep a marriage going. Faith in God is not enough to keep a marriage going. But faith in God, and love, and a commitment to living your best life all help, no matter what era you live in. This tender, poignant story shares a marriage in crisis, as two people try to get their needs met while staying happily married. I love stories with happy endings, too.
I can't imagine the pain of losing a child, and so while I ached for Ellie, I winced reading this. Reliable birth control in 1846 was rare, so when Ellie refuses to have sex with her husband to avoid giving birth to another child who might die in infancy, I fumed.
Ellie and Matthew are growing apart, with the stress of following a budget, farming, raising their children and dealing with family secrets. And then they're not even having sex? And the rain threatens to destroy the crops?
The problems just keep appearing. When each character focuses on what God wants for them, or the lessons the Bible teaches, things get better. But it was not preachy-preachy, as so many Christian fiction books can be.
Matthew is forced out of his church and feels so insecure he doesn't want to fight back. It doesn't help that Matthew rails against a public performance of Macbeth, without knowing the story.
Reading this story was a treat, reminding me that people have ordinary stresses, no matter the time period they live in, but it was also absorbing watching the characters dealing with problems exclusive to that time - like flies in the butter, kids running off to fight in wars, itinerant preachers, corsets, and wagons with flat tires - ooops, broken axles.
I enjoy reading romance novels where the characters have a real relationship with God, and this book was no exception.
Summary: A pastor's wife grieves the death of her children while her husband struggles with a challenge to his ministry.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.
Love is not enough to keep a marriage going. Faith in God is not enough to keep a marriage going. But faith in God, and love, and a commitment to living your best life all help, no matter what era you live in. This tender, poignant story shares a marriage in crisis, as two people try to get their needs met while staying happily married. I love stories with happy endings, too.
I can't imagine the pain of losing a child, and so while I ached for Ellie, I winced reading this. Reliable birth control in 1846 was rare, so when Ellie refuses to have sex with her husband to avoid giving birth to another child who might die in infancy, I fumed.
Ellie and Matthew are growing apart, with the stress of following a budget, farming, raising their children and dealing with family secrets. And then they're not even having sex? And the rain threatens to destroy the crops?
The problems just keep appearing. When each character focuses on what God wants for them, or the lessons the Bible teaches, things get better. But it was not preachy-preachy, as so many Christian fiction books can be.
Matthew is forced out of his church and feels so insecure he doesn't want to fight back. It doesn't help that Matthew rails against a public performance of Macbeth, without knowing the story.
Reading this story was a treat, reminding me that people have ordinary stresses, no matter the time period they live in, but it was also absorbing watching the characters dealing with problems exclusive to that time - like flies in the butter, kids running off to fight in wars, itinerant preachers, corsets, and wagons with flat tires - ooops, broken axles.
I enjoy reading romance novels where the characters have a real relationship with God, and this book was no exception.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)