There's No Place Like Here: Review

There's No Place Like Here
by: Cecelia Ahern

Cecelia Ahern's There's No Place Like Here tells the story of Sandy Shortt, an obsessive-compulsive Missing Persons investigator who suddenly finds herself in the mystical land of the missing, desperate to return to the people and places from whom she has spent her life escaping. Ahern asks readers to step outside the boundaries of reality, and enter a world where missing people (and possessions) from all over the globe congregate to start anew. When Sandy goes on an early morning jog and strays too far into the forest, she too finds herself "Here," the aptly named home of the missing. In addition to finding her lost socks, diaries, and stuffed animals, she also finds many of the people she has searched for throughout her career. From Bobby Stanley, who disappeared from his mother's house at the age of sixteen, to Terrence O'Malley, a librarian who disappeared on his way home from work at age 55, Sandy is quickly reunited with the people she has come to know only through photos and heartbreaking memories shared by devastated loved ones who enlisted her services. Of course, finding these people and possessions only makes Sandy realize how much she has missed out on in her real life, most notably her concerned parents and her on again off again boyfriend Greg.

My Review
I have to honestly say that this book took me forever to get into. It took me a couple weeks to read whereas most books take me a few days at most. The beginning was dry and the plot strange. I pushed through and ended up liking the story, but had hopes for more. This book was more story telling, then communication between characters. I liked how Ahern flowed between Sandy Shortt's explanation of her experience to Jack Ruttle's search for her. I was happy with the ending and how most of the mini plots were closed.

This chick gave the book:

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should Be Reading

The rules of Teaser Tuesday:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page.
3. Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
4.*** BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS*** (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser Tuesday

There's No Place Like Here
by Cecelia Ahern

"His own mobile phone rang again: Gloria looking for him, no doubt. It was eleven o'clock and couldn't bring himself to answer; he didn't know what he could possibly say to her."

Aloha Friday #1: Books that changed your life

It is Aloha Friday once again! This means today is a day for taking it easy, therefore I will just ask one simple question. Click the picture to learn more.

This is the first time I am participating in Aloha Friday on my book blog. It of course will be book related!

I chose this question from a survey I completed when I first started this blog. Go here to see the survey.

"What books have changed the way you look at the world or the way you live your life?"

My answer is "A Child Called It" by David Peltzer

I read this book when I was in high school. I learned at a younger age than most how fragile a child is and how easily they can be damaged.

Perfect Timing: Review

Perfect Timing
By: Jill Mansell

Poppy Dunbar is out on her hen night when she meets Tom Kennedy. With his dark eyes and quirky smile, he could lure any girl off the straight and narrow, but what really draws Poppy to him is the feeling that she’s known him all her life. She can’t go through with the meeting they arrange – but she can’t go through with the wedding either. Suddenly notorious as ‘The Girl Who Jilted Rob Macbride’, Poppy moves to London. Soon she’s installed in the bohemian household of Caspar French, a ravishingly good-looking young artist with a reputation for breaking hearts. But even in her colourful new home, Poppy can’t get Tom off her mind. Until she’s tracked him down, she’ll never know if their meeting was destiny – or if the future holds something entirely different for her…

I am such the sucker for British lit and more so British Chick Lit. This is my first book read by Jill Mansell, and she does not disappoint in giving you the humor that most British Lit books have. Poppy is easy to fall in love with as she tries to make a life for herself in London. There are plenty of colorful characters to know and love, and well sometimes hate. The emotions felt by the characters were also felt by me. When they were frustrated I was as well. When they were happy I was as well. My only disappointment was that the story had to end. I will definitely be reading more Jill Mansell in the future!

This Chick gave the book:

When do you give up on a bad book?

I live by the mantra never judge a book by it's cover. I love to give every book the benefit of the doubt.

With that said when do you stop reading a book you can't get into?

Is it after a certain amount of pages or even chapters?

I am a reader that lives in denial. I keep going just hoping that eventually the author will captivate me. It doesn't matter even if it takes me a month to read it. I will not read another till I finish it.

I feel like I am cheating on the book if I do. I made a commitment and I am sticking to it.

My husband, Rooster, thinks I should just throw in the towel when it comes to this.

I always tell him, "What if I give up and it gets good and I am missing out?"

I will always live in regret of not knowing what will happen.

Am I crazy? I just very well may be.

Handle With Care: Review

Handle With Care
by Jodi Picoult

Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe's daughter, Willow, was born with brittle bone disease, a condition that requires Charlotte to act as full-time caregiver and has strained their emotional and financial limits. Willow's teenaged half-sister, Amelia, suffers as well, overshadowed by Willow's needs and lost in her own adolescent turmoil. When Charlotte decides to sue for wrongful birth in order to obtain a settlement to ensure Willow's future, the already strained family begins to implode. Not only is the defendant Charlotte's longtime friend, but the case requires Charlotte and Sean to claim that had they known of Willow's condition, they would have terminated the pregnancy, a statement that strikes at the core of their faith and family. Picoult individualizes the alternating voices of the narrators more believably than she has previously, and weaves in subplots to underscore the themes of hope, regret, identity and family, leading up to her signature closing twists.

Like most her books Jodi Picoult gives you a most unique plot with a controversial dilemma. I again could not put this book down and fell in love with the characters. You couldn't help but love Willow. Picoult made you think at what point would you stop fighting for your child and everything they deserved even if you were lying to do it. She had her usual twist at the end, but I was wanting more as soon as I was done. I feel that she did not tie up all the loose ends, which is usually seen in most of her books.

This Chick gave the book:

When Books become Movies...

When "Confessions of a Shopaholic" became a movie the picture I got went from this to...

This...

When I heard that this Sophie Kinsella favorite was becoming a movie I ran out and checked out the book, because I refuse to see a movie until I know the story.

(I didn't get to see it in the theater, so I depended on my trusty new friend, Netflix, to send me this motion picture.)

I do this in order to see how different it is from the book. I think I am determined to see if a movie ever lives up to the wonderfulness that is the book it came from.

I loved the fact that this movie was rated PG, because my oldest Chick was able to watch it with me. She loved this and it is a new favorite. She didn't read the book.

It was cute, however, all I could think through the whole thing is, "This didn't happen in the book", and "It didn't happen like that in the book."

I was upset that they didn't make Luke Brandon that no holds barred kind of business man. I was picturing this crisp put together man. Maybe it was the change of job in the movie?

Becky Bloomwood didn't disappoint with her ability to get into some dicey situations. I did feel the book was more comedic.

I know a movie will never be exactlylike the book it comes from, but I do wish the movie staff would try. Just wistful thinking on my part.

This Chick gave the book:
This Chick gave the movie:

Chickity-Chick Challenge

No this is not a challenge for others to join.

Well you can if you want for your own personal goal.

In my house I am the uber-reader, my husband is the uber-sports guy, Chick 2 is the uber-computer one, and Chick 3 is the uber-Wow Wow Wubzy viewer.

With summer coming I always make sure Chick 2 stays on top of retaining all the knowledge her teachers tried to teach her that school year. Next year I will be the mother of a 5th grader so I feel it is my job to work harder to keep her on top. (Not that it will be hard since she loves to learn.)

Part of my plan is to have a reading competition right in my house, since I know Chick 2 has a competitive streak just like her momma. She likes to read, but it isn't in her blood like it is mine.

So for the time she is off school we will be seeing how many pages we can read.

I also plan on having her become my guest reviewer for books she finishes. This is something I have always wanted and will finally start this summer.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: Review

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

By Alan Bradley

It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities. But who can blame her? What else does an eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to her own devices? With her widowed father and two older sisters far too preoccupied with their own pursuits and passions—stamp collecting, adventure novels, and boys respectively—Flavia takes off on her trusty bicycle Gladys to catch a murderer.

When I first started this book I wasn't too hopeful. Then I got to know more about the main character, Flavia, and the more I read the more I just loved her! I loved Falvia's wittiness and her ability to come up with the answer to any problem in a pinch. My only complaint is all the information about chemical elements. Not really a complaint, but chemistry was not a favorite subject in school. It did really make me become more enamored with the character, since she was smarter than most adults!

This Chick rated this book

This Chick is ready to review!

Took a hiatus on this blog to take care of family stuff and I am back to review and take part in all that is blogging readeraholic style!

I have many reviews coming so stay tuned!

Because of my hiatus I am stopping the challenges I entered early this year. I am taking part in one on one of my Goodread groups, which I will share here shortly.

Knock knock... anybody there?

*wipe wipe wipe*

Sorry had to get rid of the cob webs from this dead book blog. My blogs have gone on hiatus, because sometimes life gets in the way. Even reading had to take a backseat for a bit. I am on my way back and I have some challenges I need to get back to completing.

I do have a book review and will be perusing the many blogs that help add to my to-read list.

Here we go 2010

Let the first year of reading challenges begin!

Well for me anyways.

So far I have 3 that I have signed up for but, overzealous me will be signing up for more in the coming week.

I left 2009 at a slow down with all the busy busy go go go, but I am now geared for more reading reading reading!

So here's for more reading challenges and the forever growing of reading lists!

The end of year shuffle...

With the end of year in sight I have had to put my constant reading on the back burner. I have 2 kids at home for one more week, so my attention has one more distraction and when I say distraction I mean it lovingly and a distraction from reading.

However with Christmas I got $70 in bookstore gift cards. Boy does my family know what I like. I have the lists ready and when I enter the store I will purchase the books for upcoming challenges.

The New Year will bring my growing of knowledge into the book blogging world and hopefully a more organized page once I get the kinks worked out.

Looking forward to challenging myself more and entering more of the wonderful Reading Challenges that are out there.

See ya in the year 2010!

Teaser Tuesday:12/8/09

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading. I am a bit late with this post, since I have been on the go, go, go. Figured better late than never!

The rules of Teaser Tuesday:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share 2 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

My teaser for the week:

The Accidental Mother
By: Rowan Coleman

"Sophie instinctively steeled herself as she followed Bella back down the hallway to the living room, imagining the very worst that could have happened. She did not imagine hard enough."

Can't wait to read more Teaser Tuesdays!

Family Tree: Review

Family Tree

By Barbara Delinsky

When Dana and Hugh Clarke's baby is born into their wealthy, white New England seaside community, the baby's unmistakably African-American features puzzle her thoroughly Anglo-looking parents. Hugh's family pedigree extends back to the Mayflower, and his historian father has made a career of tracing the esteemed Clarke family genealogy, which does not include African-Americans. Dana's mother died when Dana was a child, and Dana never knew her father: she matter-of-factly figures that baby Lizzie's features must hark back to her little-known past. Hugh, a lawyer who has always passionately defended his minority clients, finds his liberal beliefs don't run very deep and demands a paternity test to rule out the possibility of infidelity. By the time the Clarkes have uncovered the tangled roots of their family trees, more than one skeleton has been unearthed, and the couple's relationship—not to mention their family loyalty—has been severely tested.

My Thoughts:
From the moment I started this book I was captivated. As a mother I too wanted to protect the most innocent character in this book, the baby. Barbara Delinsky did a great job making the emotions in the book seem real and I truly felt every one of them. While I was reading I would lose myself in the in the mess that came with the birth of this child. Secrets that had been kept hidden for years were forced in the open, peoples character were in question. The only thing negative was that this story had to end.

This Chick rated this book:

On My Wishlist: 12/2/09

On My Wishlist is a Wednesday Meme hosted by Book Chick City. What you do is list the books you want to buy and haven't yet.

This could be a deadly Meme for me, since I am adding books to my wishlist everyday. With them posted and visible everyday I am going to use all my willpower to not buy them right away!

On my wishlist for today (I am choosing a few... there are so many more!):




Promise Not to Tell
By: Jennifer McMahon


Description of Book:

Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered - a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del - shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl" - was brutally slain. Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems...and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten.


Accidentally on Purpose: A One Night Stand, My Unplanned Parenthood, and Loving the Best Mistake I Ever Made

By Mary F. Pols

Description of Book:

At thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never—not in a million years—on her own. To take on the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of motherhood without a perfect soul mate/husband would be absurd, kind of like not bothering to use a condom during a one-night stand with an adorable but jobless guy ten years her junior.

Pols spends the ensuing weeks despairing over everything, from the financial nightmare of single motherhood to the end of her hopes for a traditional life. Not the least of her worries is finding the right way to drop the bombshell on loved ones, including her five siblings and

eighty-four-year-old father, who has a German temper and an Irish Catholic attitude toward babies out of wedlock. Yet faced with the frightening, lonely truth that this might be her only chance at motherhood, she plunges ahead with the pregnancy and an Odd Couple version of a co-parenting relationship that looks like one more disaster in a long line of romantic disappointments. But even as she tries to give her son's young father a radical makeover, she realizes that his devotion and love for their child matters more than his spotty résumé or his inability to remember to put oil in the car. With humor, insight, and compelling honesty, Pols reveals what it means to compromise in the name of love and to find joy in an accidental life, suddenly brimming with purpose.

Girl in the Mirror
By Mary Alice Monroe

Description of book:

Charlotte Godowski was used to the horrified stares she received from strangers. She'd learned to accept her facial deformity, until one cruel incident compelled her to have the surgery that changed her life forever.

Charlotte Godfrey is beautiful beyond compare. In Hollywood, where such beauty is power, her rise is meteoric. Suddenly she has everything she could want: acceptance, a future and a love she believes can see to the true beauty within.

Charlotte Godowski and Charlotte Godfrey are two sides of the same women -- a woman who can trust no one with her secret. But when fate forces Charlotte to deal with the truth -- about her past, about the man she loves, about herself -- she discovers that only love has the power to transform a scarred soul.

This is just a snippet of my forever growing to-read book list. What is on your wishlist? Don't forget to head to Book Chick City and leave your link.

Teaser Tuesday: 12/1/09

I have seen this meme for a while and I finally caught it early enough in the day to participate (doing happy dance). This is in fact the first meme I have ever done on this blog.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should Be Reading:

The rules of Teaser Tuesday:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page.
3. Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
4.*** BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS*** (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser Tuesday:

Family Tree
by Barbara Delinsky

"Hugh turned and glared at his brother and uncle. He felt like he was being cornered, pushed toward something he loathed but was helpless to stop."

Head on over to Should be Reading to participate in today's Teaser Tuesday!

Pretty Little Liars #2 Flawless: Review

I read Pretty Little Liars #2 for the Pretty Little Liars Challenge over at Trisha's book blog.

Pretty Little Liars #2 Flawless by: Sara Shepard

Spencer stole her sister's boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. Hanna's obsession with looking flawless is making her sick. And their most horrible secret yet is so scandalous that the truth would ruin them forever.

And why shouldn't I tell? They deserve to lose it all. With every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message I send, I'll be taking these pretty little liars down. Trust me, I've got enough dirt to bury them alive.

My Thoughts:

I spent the first book being a mom and angry with the actions of these girls. This time, however, I finally got emotionally attached to each and every girl. So far every book has a big secret that is revealed even though the whole "A" mystery is still that... a mystery. I am dying to know who is this "A" person is and all the secrets that still need to come out. This book may not be the type of books I tend to read, but I am now invested in the story line.

This Chick rated this book:

2010 Reading Resolution Challenge

I have been going through all the many many challenges out there in the blogging world and came upon Jenny's over at Jenny Loves to Read. She is hosting her very first challenge, and this is going to be a fun one! It has a New Year's resolution theme and titled 2010 Reading Resolution Challenge. We all make resolutions, well I know I do it, and what better way to make a resolution with what I love to do best... READING!


Here are her rules:

*Create your personal reading resolutions for the upcoming year in a post and link to it at the bottom. If you don't have a blog, that's cool too. Post your resolutions and updates in the comments of this post.

*Make sure to link back to this page so others can visit your pages and blogs.

*Get started on your resolutions! Once every 2 months, starting on February 15th, I'll have a post to check-in and see how everyone is doing. Kind of as a reminder to you to check your own progress.

*Challenge runs from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. There is no pressure or consequences with this challenge. I view it more as a personal challenge I can grow from. (Sounds corny, I know.)

Oh where oh where do I begin? There are so many habits I really do need to fix.

1. I resolve to go to the library. I cannot leave the bookstore without buying a book and I am running out of book shelves to store them. When I go to the library I will bring a book I have finished to donate as well.

2. I resolve to read books I have not finished and are collecting dust, because they are on my "to finish reading pile."

3. I am always reading the review section of People magazine and always say, "I really want to read that book." I resolve to read one book from an issue of People a month.

Lastly,
4. I resolve to try at least 1 genre I have not tried to read. This will be the hard one, because I have this preconceived notion that I will not like it.

I have a feeling these resolutions will be ones I actually keep. I mean it has to do with reading, so how could I not?

ReadPrint.Com

I stumbled upon the Read Print site from BzzAgent.

About the site:

What is Read Print? Absolutely FREE online books Thousands of novels, poems, stories Easy to read books online WARNING ? The surgeon general reports that having these many free books at your disposal can be highly addictive.

I think this is an awesome site for those who can read books online. I, however prefer them on paper. The list of authors and books is great and there is a wide variety. I just don't have the attention span to stare at the computer screen and read a book. To those who do you won't be disappointed at the selection of Literature!