Category: Book Review

At the age of nine, Grace is torn away from a swing she is playing by a pack of wolves that come into her yard.  Surely she should have been killed, but one wolf – one with particular captivating eyes appears to save her.  Since that day Grace feels a connection with the wolves and sees the wolf with the eyes many times throughout the years around her home, almost as if he is watching her.  In an odd way, Grace is comforted by the wolf’s presence.

Then, when Grace is seventeen, a boy she attends school with is killed in a wolf attack and the hunters take to the woods.  Grace finds a boy on her doorstep with a gun shot wound… oddly, the boy has very familiar eyes… almost like her wolf…

Yes, I did it.  After Shiver has sat on my book shelf for a long long time, I finally took the time to read it.  I had heard the comparisons to the Twilight series, and before you groan about me comparing books… there is a method to my madness….

First of all… my only real dive into the paranormal as far as vampires, and wolves go is the Twilight books (other than The Passage, but that is really not a comparable book as that is so much a deeper/ complicated read).  And I have to admit after hearing buzz about Sam (Shiver) being a much more likable that Edward (Twilight), I had to bite…  (no pun intended.)

Ok…maybe a little bit of a pun….

In the early pages of this read as I was introduced to Grace and Sam, I started making a mental list of what I thought so far of the Sam/Edward comparisons:

1.  I like that in Twilight we get to know Edward and meet Edward before we are introduced to the vampire side of him.  I found it harder to connect with Sam in the beginning and I feel that is due to me first knowing him as a wolf.  I felt I had to work harder to think of him as human.

2.  I didn’t find the love connection of Sam and Grace as totally captivating as Edward and Bella.  Edward’s love for Bella made you have to book crush on his character as he is so emotionally there for her.  I didn’t feel it as strong with Same and Grace although I found Grace a much more likable character than Bella.  No where near as ditzy.

My initial plan as I read this book was to come up with a whole pile of comparisons for this review… I was actually excited about it and even thought about a separate post on Sam VS Edward, which maybe… as I read through this series may still happen – but not now and here is why:

As I read on and shook off my prejudices, I really started to get into the story line and found it less easy to put the book down and leave it as I had in the early pages.  By the middle of the book I had driven to my local book store only to find out they did not have Linger and not wishing to wait, I ordered it immediately on-line.  I enjoyed the alternating  chapters told in each of the main characters voice.

Today, I took the liberty of the holiday weekend to SHIVER under a new blanket from my hubby until I got warm and could LINGER through the end of this book.  I loved that it is set in my home state of Minnesota and I imagine as I am in central Minnesota that I am about two to three hours from Mercy Falls, where Sam and Grace are.

In the book we are introduced to a rich snooty girl named Isabel who goes to school with Grace.  This character is not easy to get along with.  She is sarcastic and unfriendly and only gets involved with others when it is to her benefit.  The more her character come up, the more she formed in my head of what she would look like.  If Shiver ever becomes a movie (and I hope it does!) the perfect character to play Isabel would be Maggie Grace who plays Shannon on LOST.

In the end, I was really surprised and impressed on how much I enjoyed this read.  I  am looking forward to the arrival of Linger!

Amazon Rating

I received this book as a win from a past Read-A-Thon

Erin Channing is working hard to keep her GPA high so she can earn a trip to Italy.  To be considered for this, she needs to write an essay that will blow the committee away, yet Erin fears she will not be chosen to win the trip because her life is the definition of boring.  What could she possibly write about that would be interesting?  How can she possibly win this honor?

When a distant Aunt suddenly dies unexpectedly and leaves Erin a pink crystal ball with instructions of how to use it Erin finds that the small requests she makes of the crystal ball seem to be coming true.  With her best friends Lindsay and Samantha at her side, Erin uses the crystal ball without fully understanding all of its powers and at first finds it fascinating (asking the ball is she is “smexy” (smart + sexy = smexy).  Then later finds herself making a mess of her relationships.

As Erin tried to figure out the true powers of the crystal ball she grows in her friendships and in herself.

I was really excited to write this review because I am a sucker for good books on friendships.  I really love that and some of my favorite books have to do with strong female friendships.  In my own life I know how important my girlfriends are to me.

I really enjoyed Erin for all she is worth.  She is fantastic – an overachiever that looks at her own life and says seriously, what am I doing?  And her two friends Samantha and Lindsey were well-developed characters that  wanted to go hang out at the mall with, and I don’t even really like shopping!

All in all the book was a delight to read and a fresh breath into the YA genre that I so appreciated.  I think YA’s will enjoy this read and I look forward in seeing what author Risa Green offers up next!

Amazon Rating

I received this book from review from:

Danielle DeLuca

Assistant to the Publicity Team

Planned Television Arts/ Ruder Finn Inc.

This is a delightful read for young YA readers!  Full of imagination and a little history too!

Sheila

Abbie would just like to be like a normal eleven year old girl.  She wishes her only worries were her over bearing and heavy homework handed teacher Miss Linegar (rhymes with vinegar), and sharing secrets with her best friend Callie…

But Abbie is a young witch and that adds a whole other dimension to her eleven year old being.

For instance… she has a younger brother they call Munch.  Munch can also do magic but has not figured out the boundaries of doing magic in non magical settings…. uhhhh…. like school.  And really anywhere in public.  Abbie is always having to keep an eye on him and put forget hexes on all those who see Munch in action.  And of course there is Callie….. Abbie wishes she could share this secret with Callie, her one true best friend… but she can not.

Who knew 11 could be so hard?

And then comes Benjamin, the new kitten Abbie’s dad brought home for her.  Abbie has wanted a kitten for like EVER!  Yet there is something different about this kitten who seems to enjoy reading everything he can get his paws on…..

and that is where it really gets interesting…

I met author Rhonda Hayter at BEA this past May.  She was a delight to talk to and she gave me this book to read and review.  As life tends to happen, it has taken me quite a while to get to this book, but once I did…. I couldn’t believe I had waited so long.

Abbie is a fun character that I can really see young girls from 7 – 15 really enjoying reading about.  Yes, I would say this book is a MG (Middle Grade) read and I for one am cheering about that.  While I have enjoyed many a YA, I also appreciate a well written MG to keep the pre YA’s reading.  It’s a tough genre because you want it to be mature enough to hold their attention but not quite to the YA level of teen parties, dating, boyfriends, etc…

Rhonda Hayter does well in putting forth a likable and interesting character in Abbie Adams.  I look forward to what Abbie will be up to next, and I thing MG readers will as well.

Amazon Rating

I received this book from the author, Rhonda Hayter

This prequel to the New York Times bestseller The Elegance of the Hedgehog tells the story of another occupant of the posh apartment building in Paris: the great food critic Pierre Arthens. As his life draws to a close, he reflects back on its many flavors, and on a singular sublime something, once sampled and never forgotten.

A fine example of a well written book…. but not necessarily the book for me.

Sheila

I have found myself drawn to books about food lately.  I have dabbled a bit  with food critics (Garlic and Sapphire), and a little with food magicians (Cake Boss ) as well as books with delicious recipes in them that makes even a non baker (the villagers have voted and the answer was “no”) like myself wants to don an apron and a wooden spoon and try my hand at some of the mouth-watering treasures….

Total run on (or run away) sentence.

My point being…. that while in Honduras I was browsing through the one book store opportunity I had and was refusing to leave without having made a bookish purchase.

After much pacing and admiring of some of favorite titles in Spanish, I walked out of the store having spent 385 Limperas on this book.  (About 20 Limperas to the dollar so I paid a little over $18  for this book. )

While I found the writing richly worded in a style that I savored… I found that I tended to drift and skim pages as I found the main character, the Maitre’, more and more unlikable.  He was not very found of his wife and admitted to not liking his children.  While on his death-bed he scoffs at his wife’s loyalty and sadness and even states that he will not miss her.   In fact I believe the only thing this sniveling of a man (and I use the term loosely) seemed to appreciate was his palate for food.

(At this point, I remind myself there was two reasons I wanted to read this book:  1)  I had heard good things about this author with ‘The Elegance Of The Hedgehog’ which I have yet to read, and 2) it’s a foodie book… and I found I am interested in this topic.

So… I read on…

And to please the foodie in me, I can say I did enjoy the  mouth watering pictures that came to mind as Muriel Barbery describes the freshness of a chunky orange sorbet, grilled sardines, and Greek loukamades (hot donuts trickled with honey).

While I puzzled my way through the different narrators that lend a voice to this book I still marveled at the descriptive writing, even if I did occasionally get lost in the words.  Overall, I appreciated the writing but found the storyline hard to follow.  I enjoyed reading about the food, yet found myself skimming the pages for more foodish topics….

bottom line, it just did not hold my attention.

I do still look forward to Muriel Barbery’s ‘Elegance Of The Hedgehog’ and am curious now how it will compare to this read.

Amazon Rating

Purchased in Tegucigalpa Honduras

Val is your average run of the mill college student.  She has a roommate Jean and friends she enjoys  hanging out with…

Bud is an elderly man…. having raised his own kids, and now enjoying now only their kids, but also their kids-kids, his life is full.

Yet both Val and Bud hold a secret.

Val has a power within her that can push and pull people and has saved lives….  Bud has visions of future events that he can see not only the event itself, but also how the future changes due to these events….

Together they can make a difference.

I am not really sure what I thought I was going to be reading when I chose this book for review.   I can assure you it turned out to be nothing like I could have imagined.    The characters of Val and Bud are both likable and I liked the ideas of these hidden powers (think Hero’s)….

As I started getting into the heart of the book there was something about the Val/Bud relationship that just didn’t sit right with me.  I do not want to give away too much but I have to say there is a point in this book that bordered on creepy, uncomfortable…. and well… awkward.

Honestly, it came to a point where I almost stopped reading.

What kept me going?  If you can make it through the “Oh Gah!  Did that just happen?”.… and take a deep breath and move on…. there is a storyline deeper within the surface story that is actually amazing.

I can’t say that I ever fully recovered from the one part of the book… but I can say that in the end it wraps up incredibly with a powerful happening that left me in tears that only come when I have just experienced something incredible.  I can certainly say that I hope there is a sequel as I would love to know what happens next.

Amazon Rating

Cover Story:  I like it….At first glance of course it is the coffee cup that draws me in but then if you look closely at the smoke it is a skull…..   leaves you thinking, “what is up with that?”

I received this book for review from the author

I am a game lover.  A BIG one.  I have an entire double wide closet devoted to games in our family room.  I am a game addict.  If you remember last year about this time I had the awesome (AWESOME!) opportunity to review BLURT as well as a really interesting book called Timeless Toys.  I was totally engrossed in both!

SO…. knowing this about me…. you can just imagine the SSSQQQQQUUUUEEEEEEE”ing” going on over here when I received this gorgeous book in the mail for review!  Seriously, you may have heard me and thought that sound was a cat or a siren but no… alas… it was me.  😀

I love game nights and when we gather with friends to get our “game on”.  I am more than thrilled to take part!  What I loved about this book is that it gave me ideas for ice breakers for any gathering, as well as pages and pages of ideas for games anywhere from card games, word games, holiday games….. oh the games!

It seems like my family plays more games around the holidays.  When we gather together we undoubtedly have to pull out a game.  This Thanksgiving, as this is when I am posting this review, I am pulling out the “Grateful Guessing” game out of the book (page 194).  For this game you give each guest three small pieces of paper and a pen ( I am putting them at the dinner place settings).  Each person is to put one thing they are grateful for on each of the three papers.  All papers are collected and placed in a bowl.  Take turns pulling out a piece of paper and reading it.  It is up to the guests to guess who wrote it.  The object is you can be as sneaky or as real as you want – but if you wish to stump the group, come up with a funny off the wall thing to be grateful for….  “I am so thankful for what I thought was my appendix rupturing turned out to be gas….” …. well… uh…… really – who could have written that?

There are so many great ideas with well written easy to follow instructions.  I can see many of these being tweaked to be used for event planning, family outings, meeting ice breakers, and more.

Overall I give this book my highest rating!  I will use this over and over again.

Amazon Rating

I received this book off of Shelf Awareness

I knew within the first few paragraphs that “ooh, this is going to be good!”

Sheila

Yolanda Trigiana (Viola) stood at five-five, but seemed much taller as she was short-waisted and long-legged.  In her youth she loved to wear wide-brimmed hats adorned feathers and/or berries which only added to the appearance of her being taller than she was.  She had a spirit though, a spirit that was larger than herself and carried her well all the days of her life.  She lived life to the fullest, was always prepared for any occasion with a sack lunch or a ready meal….  she worked hard and left her mark wherever she went.

Lucia Spado (Lucy) was born in Italy in 1894.  She was the eldest of eight children and much like Viola, she was a wonderful leader and homemaker.  Lucy was a natural at so many things… she could cook, bake, and sew.  She would barter with these skills and use cooking to repay things like a mending of a fence.  Lucy lived in a time when nothing was thrown away and you found a use for every scrap of food and every piece of cloth.

This is the start to a wonderful story of author Adriana Trigiani’s grandmother’s.  Within the pages of this book you will learn so much more about these two remarkable women and the wonderful memories and traditions they handed to the next generation.

♥         ♥         ♥        ♥

As I read this wonderful book, this tribute to Adriana’s grandmothers I could not help but think of my own.  My Great Grandmother Lasher was a strong woman who raised my mother.  She was born in the late 1901 and was a farmer’s wife.  She never drove a car.  She would always tell me stories about my grandfather (who died before I was born) and how he owned a bar in Minnesota.  She would say that even though he owned the bar, he never touched a drink in his life.  (To this my mom would wink at me so I never knew if this was the truth…)

My other grandmother, my dads mom, was the opposite of my Grandma Lasher.  Grandma Ruth was small boned and spry.   She would help me play pranks on my parents.  One of my last memories of her is when we visited her 6th floor apartment to take her out to lunch.  Grandma Ruth and I raced down the steps trying to beat the elevator down to the main floor that held my mother.

In both these stories I look back with bitter-sweet memories.  Both of these women knew how to knit, crochet, and quilt.  Skills I have never learned but wished I had at their knee.  I look back now seeing all the history that passed away with them.  I wish I would have asked them more questions about themselves, about their lives growing up…. I wish I would have sat patiently when they tried to teach me their ways…

but I was too young and I did not think they had anything they could tell me that I needed to know.

I read this book and think about what a throw away society we are today.  It is cheaper to throw away a broken toaster than to have it fixed.  I think of all the scraps of material I have tossed through the years left overs from projects and I now think of all the things my grandmothers would have found uses for.  I could have learned a lot from these women, I think we all could have.

Adriana Trigiana writes a wonderful memoir here that pulled at my heart all the way through.  What a beautiful tribute!  I highly recommend this read.

Amazon Rating

Thank you to Harper Collin Publishers for the opportunity to review this wonderful book!

Garlic and Sapphires is all about the New York Times food critic’s journey from the  L.A. Times to the new position she held for 6 years in New York (an unwanted one at that…. and how she tried to blow the interview!).  Ruth Reichl learns quickly that in New York the restaurants have been learning about her months before she has arrived into her new job.  Rumor has it they even have her picture posted in the restaurants so everyone can be aware when she enters.  A flight to New York gives Ruth time to come up with a plan….

With the help of a family friend, clothing, make up and wigs, Ruth is morphed into several alter egos:

Molly Hollis:  A larger older woman, bland in her clothing choices

Miriam:  The creation of her own mother

Chloe:  A blond bomb shell who dresses to the nines, with red nails and lipstick to match

Brenda:  The earth mother

By utilizing these different disguises, Ruth is able to dine in the restaurant she wishes to review without fear of being recognized or receiving special treatment…. in fact, with each disguise, she learns how the restaurants really treat their everyday customers… in some cases poorly, and in other cases – remarkably well.  Ruth’s reviews lead her to be the most influential restaurant critic int he country, but it was hard-earned.

I always thought being a restaurant critic would be pretty glam.  Eating at wonderful establishments, waiters fawning over you bringing you the best dishes to eat… but Ruth shares the dark side of her job as well, such as hate mail, angry restaurant owners, and even trouble sleeping at times, fearing if she went to far….

I loved this book.  I picked it up from my library yesterday and this morning after I took care of a few home projects I settled into my cozy chair  with a blanket and let the life of a restaurant critic both amaze and delight me.  I enjoyed how Ruth came up with her many disguises, her funny restaurant happenings, and the opinions of her husband and five-year old son.  I really enjoyed reading the story of the restaurant and the follow-up with the actual New York Times Review.  Every so often Ruth wold drop in a recipe as well which has inspired me to do a little food creating myself – which for me is a rare occurrence!

I never knew I would enjoy a book like this but I am so glad I read it.   Ruth’s writing is fun, down to earth, and filled with facts I never knew about food and cooking.  (note to self:  wasabi has a smoother and milder taste than shaved fresh as opposed to the powdered version).

Truly a delight that I would recommend to any food lovers.  Thank you to Michelle at Red Headed Book Child for posting about this book earlier this week and bring it to my attention.  I would love to read this author again.

Amazon Rating

Book Journey has updated the 2010 Reading Map to include Garlic and Sapphires

Cover Story:  It is appropriate for the book… although it would have been cool to have either her face peeking out or maybe Ruth in the center surrounded by pictures of her alter ego’s

I borrowed this book from my local library