Tag: Review

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

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I use Grammarly’s free plagiarism checker online because my teflon coating on this blog does not always prevent others from re-publishing my words. 😛

Alice Love has it all.  She married the cute guy.  She found the home of her dreams.  And now at 29 years old she is and Nick are so excited for the birth of their first child.

Then she wakes up in the hospital and they tell her it is not 1998, but 2008.  That sweet precious baby she couldn’t wait to meet, is now a somewhat snarky ten year old.  Her sister who she has always adored, comes to be by her side but she can feel that their is a distance between them.  And her amazing husband Nick is fighting her for part time custody of the kids.

Uhhhh… What just happened?

Now close to 40 years old, Alice learns that she had taken a nasty fall at the gym.  The gym?  She hates the gym!  The girl (woman?) in the mirror looks tired, and not the easy going Alice she remembered being.  She is told that she does not just have the one child, but three.  Wha….

After my recent adventures with author Liane Moriarty in The Husband’s Secret, I was so impressed with her pace of a book and her subject matter that could come off as serious but thanks to a fun writing style actually comes off as lighter and a little funny at times, I dove right into What Alice Forgot.

What Alice Forgot can be described as brilliant.  It’s a fun concept, if not at all time realistic, it makes up for it in funny, smart moments.  I enjoyed how the story unfolds a little at a time with Alice’s memories of what was, and then the present.  I found it hard to stop listening because I wanted to know what was going to happen when she got her memory back... if she got her memory back…. SHE HAD TO GET HER MEMORY BACK!

The Alice she was ten years ago and the Alice she has become collide in ways that can possibly be considered a “do over”.  Alice’s head injury takes her back ten years and when a softer, more easy going Alice is presented to the world through this… really anything is possible.  Right?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have my eye out for other books from this author.  The Hypnotist’s Love Story comes out mid 2014 and you can bet I am watching for that one.

Goat Mountain by David Vann

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

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It is early 1978, North Carolina.  An 11 year old boy, his father, grandfather, and a family friend are arriving at the families remote hunting property for a weekend of male pondering around the deer hunting season.  For the boy, this is his first year that he is allowed to hunt with the men.  He is ecstatic to be counted as one of them.  This is his year.

Then…

A poacher is seen on the property in the distance.  And the boy, even unknown to himself as to why, yet filled with the adrenaline of a hunt to begin aims his rifle and shoots. 

The poacher falls.

And the world for this group of hunters explodes into a whole new unknown world of accusations, fear, family loyalty, untrust, and for the boy….

A friend of mine had read Goat Mountain.  Her thoughts on this book brought it to my attention because it was different than anything I had read before.  So I found this one on audio and here are my thoughts.

Goat Mountain is a beautiful listen.  Yet it is also terrifying and disturbing.  As the events unravel over a weekends hunting trip, a fathers anguish, a grandfathers harsh words, the friends panic, but most disturbing – the young boys lack of…

remorse

feeling

emotion

Where this book may have been a win, I found it confusing that this story is being told by the boy many years later, although we are never given a glimpse of what happened between the accident weekend and the current time of the book.  Goat Mountain is about a hunting weekend, and I felt that if it was going to be about an event that happened years prior, it should have had something to bond the incident to the current time.  Perhaps to others this makes perfect sense, but when it ended it felt to me to be unfinished. 

I wish it would have left me with a better feeling but instead I felt as disjointed as the book came to be.

Coreyography by Corey Feldman

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

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When once asked what advice Corey Feldman would give to parents who are raising kids in the industry he replied, get them out of Hollywood and let them lead normal lives.

 

Corey’s career began at three when he was in a McDonald’s commercial. His older sister Mindy was is the Mickey Mouse Club and one day someone heard Corey’s gravely voice while he was on his sisters set and he was hired as the voice of the fox in the Fox and The Hound.  From there Corey as he grew launched into larger roles and starred as a teen in The Goonies, Gremlins, Friday The 13th and Stand By Me. He built a strong lifelong friendship with Corey Haim when they started appearing in the same movies such as The Lost Boys, License To Drive, and Dream A Little Dream.

While some may think having the opportunities of being a teen star is glamorous, Corey, in his memoir paints quite a different picture.  A verbally and mentally abusive mom took all of his earnings and cost him more than one job.  His father was not much better, acting as his manager in Corey’s teen years and costing him larger roles by making Corey accept the smaller easy money roles.  When Corey put his foot down and told his dad that he could no longer manage him, his father kicked him out. 

Corey falls into the traps of Hollywood with drugs and alcohol and even abusive sex.  Told in a matter of fact way, Corey Feldman owns up to all of his past failures, painting quite a different picture than the one that we see on the screen.  When Corey Haim his friend of many years dies at the age of 38, Corey Feldman speaks strongly about the causes and rumors surrounding Haim’s death. 

An amazing memoir of strength and courage.

 

 

I grew up with the movies that both Corey Feldman and Corey Haim starred in.  Watching them on-screen they looked like your typical fun-loving teenagers and as a teen myself, I wished I could hang out with them.  Now, after listening to Corey Feldman’s memoir…. no way I should have wanted to hang out with them!  The things that they both went through is enough to make anyone sick and angry…. both boys really were lost boys.

At first I thought it was a little odd that Feldman talks so much about Haim and what his life was like in this memoir.  After I thought about it I feel that they were both so close, and Feldman probably knew Haim better than almost anyone.  Haim never got to share his story.  He wanted to… he just ran out of time.  To hear Feldman stick up for his friend when he was sexually abused, rumored to have been gay, and a drug addict is heart breaking.

I flew through this audio.  Read by Corey Feldman himself, I found the behind the scenes movie antics to be fun as that was what I like to know about in this memoirs of actors and actresses.  Really though, the childhood, the growing up and all the things we do not see, is what breathes life into the story.  So often you hear about these child stars lives at home and you are shocked.  Corey’s is no exception.  This memoir is brutally honest and I for one am glad to know Corey’s story. 

Recommended.

The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

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Cecilia Fitzpatrick has a reputation to protect.  The other women in her town after all look up to her.  She organizes many of the school functions, is always around to help where needed, and you did not even know you needed Tupperware until you attend one of Cecelia’s parties… and then you don’t know how you lived without it.  She has three wonderful daughters and a handsome husband.  What more could she want?  Then while looking around the attic she finds a letter from her husband sealed and saying to only open in the event of his death. And suddenly everything Cecelia thought was right in her life is turned upside down.

Tess O’Leary loves her job  and the fact that she is able to work beside her husband Will, and her cousin and best friend Felicity.  Then Felicity, who was always a bit heavy loves a significant amount of weight and along with Will, approaches Tess about their love for one another.  Stunned, Tess packs up her son Liam and goes to live with her mother in Sydney.

Rachel Crowley is a school secretary.  She loves being around children even though she lost her own daughter over 25 years ago to a murder that was never solved.  When new evidence turns up, Rachel has to decide if she can wait for the police to take action or will the anger and pain of all these years cause her to do the unthinkable.

These three women’s lives will intertwine in ways they do not see coming.  Through friendships and connections, the Husband’s Secret is not to be missed.

 

 

I listened to this book on audio and once it started, I had a hard time shutting it off!  Caroline Lee was an amazing narrator, she made the book come alive with each of the voices of the full cast of characters.  In an almost fun and snarky tone, I fell in live with this book through the narration.  It was just a lot of fun to listen to!

The Husband’s Secret was delightful, fast paced, and while dealing with serious subjects, it never came off as heavy.  I have heard the book is great, but audio listeners know that the audio is pretty fantastic too.

 

Note:  Because I enjoyed this book so much, I am currently downloading What Alice Forgot, by this same author.

 

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

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Book 4 (May contain (inadvertently) spoilers)

Finally things are coming together.  The war is over.  Clary’s mom is not only safe and home, but also preparing to marry the love of her life.  Even Clary herself is in love, real love, now that it has been proven that Jace is not her brother after all.  Even Simon who has become a little hotter, a little more self-assured in his new vampire physic, is attracting a few prospects of his own.  

Yet nothing ever stays calm and soon Shadow Hunters are being murdered in New York.  Tensions run high between the Downworlders and Shadow Hunters as each wonders now that Valentine is gone, who could possibly be behind these killings?  Is it followers of Valentine?  And then there is Jace, finally he and Clary have what they both had dreamed of and yet he seems to be pulling away.  Clary is so confused – he claims to love her so much it hurts but then why it is every time they get close he pulls away.  Far away.

As Clary and Jace deal with what is happening between them, Simon is trying hard to avoid what all vampires seem to cave in to… and his thirst just grows stronger and more uncontrollable every day.  When a baby shows up at the hospital with claws for hands and black pits for eyes, something bigger than their own problems seems to be taking form….

Holy smokes!  I read this one in its entirety while on vacation in Florida.  Read that sentence again.  I read this book while on a three-day Florida vacation packed with things to do and places to see.  That is how awesome this book is.  I read it in the morning while at the hotel breakfast and again at night when I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.  And I read a big chunk of it on the plane.  I could not put it down …

and when it ended…

I could not wait to get my hands on the next one. 

As Jace and Clary have now made it to boyfriend and girlfriend – what we had all (ok – me) been hoping for comes to reality only to seem to be ripped away as soon as it happens.  While this may be a familiar scene in books of this genre – be sure that Cassandra Clare has put a spin on things to make it unique and page turning all at once.  And with Simon’s battle of who and what he is you got to feel for him, I mean… a guys got to eat right?

Another solid delivery, Cassandra Clare takes us to yet another level of her world that is breathtaking and fast paced.  How I long to add Shadow Hunter to my bucket list of things to do…..

A+ read. 

City Of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

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Book 3: Clary’s mom has been in a coma for a long time and answers are finally starting to fall into place as to why she will not wake up.  To get to the bottom of what is going on with her mom, Clary, Jace, Alex, and Isabelle must go to to the City Of Glass which is said to be an unwelcoming place and dangerous.  Simon must stay behind because vampires are frowned upon and one that can withstand daylight would be all the more insulting to those who dwell in the City. 

As Clary works to try to figure out her past, a friendship comes in the form of Sebastian, a good looking Shadow Hunter who seems to understand Clary.  Downworlders and Shadow Hunters class are required to work together on what seems to be reaching epic battle proportions – but the underlying questions is can these two groups come together when they are worlds apart?

And can Clary stay strong as Jace moves on with another girl leaving her to come to face to face with the fact that is all she can ever have of him is his friendship. 

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City Of Bones party – New York May 2013

So mid series I am still at a WOW level.  I simply love the characters and Jace… well…. see the City Of Bones movie and tell me if you can think of Jace any other way.  😉  (Just saying…).  Simon is as always a great addition to the books (way to go Cassandra Clare!)  He adds that mix of dorky loyalty that levels out the book from all the hotness those Shadow Hunters provide!  But stay tuned future Mortal Instrument readers, Simon also comes into his own and this book is an excellent example of that. 

Get ready to join in the battle as it is a GOOD one!

Ciry Of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

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Life… once resembled normal for Clary.  She was a typical teenager hanging out with her best friend Simon.  But now everything seems goofy.  Simon, now seems to be more than a friend… and of course that is because Jace, who really holds her heart… has been relieved to be her brother.  Clary wishes it would all just go back to what life was…

but not really. 

At least Jace is part of her life, even if it can not be in the way she wishes.  And the Shadowhunter world is both strange and exhilarating all at once.  With her mom still in a coma, and Downworlders being murdered by who knows who or what, there is not a lot of time to dwell on what was…

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Cassandra Clare and I – City Of Bones Party New York – May 2013

In a word: Yippy! 

I moved on to this book not after reading book one (City of Bones), which was an “eh” audio listen for me, but instead, after I seen the City Of Bones movie.  Yowza.  Once I could see what was happening I could not wait to dive into this book and give the Mortal Instrument series another go. 

Results?  Fantabulous!  (*My word.) Seeing the movie gave me the kick-start I needed to visualize what was happening in this world of Shadow Hunters, Downworlders, Demons, and other things that go bump in the night.  I flew through this book loving the world that Cassandra Clare has created and thirsting for more.  I do not think I have been this excited about a fantasy series since dare I say…. Harry Potter? 

My recommendation:  dig in.  There are 5 books in the series but they are so engrossing you will fly through them.  I have.  And loved every minute of it. 

Still Foolin Them by Billy Crystal

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

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Billy Crystal…. comedian and movie star (When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers, Analyze This, Parental Guidance…), several time host of the Academy Awards, and more.  Now at the age of 65, Billy reflects on what it is like to age not gracefully (buying a plot instead of Christmas presents, and wearing half your meal on your shirt are just a couple of his topics) and his life and career.

 

 

I chose to listen to this audio while looking for something to start listening to on a two hour drive home a couple of weeks ago.  Having enjoyed City Slickers (both 1 and 2!) and Billy’s time as the Academy Award host I thought this would be an interesting and entertaining listen.

For the most part I was right.  Billy’s dabble into the senior part of his life is humorous as he loses his keys constantly and the inability to sleep through the night yet constantly doze off at plays.  His recollection of starting out in comedy and eventually show business was really the heart of this audio for me, I enjoy hearing how people get their start and his big moments and his “not so great ones’ really are heart warming as Billy learned how to capture an audiences attention and hearts.

Billy Crystal’s start in movies both good and bad is also a fun journey, from the stars he worked with, to his unending crush of Sophia Loren.  And Billy gets personal too as he talks about the birth and marriages of his daughters and all that is in between.

What I did not enjoy was that part of this audio version is read in front of a live audience.  More so in the beginning of the audio, but I found it to be more of a stand up show than a book for a while and did not enjoy the laughter on the audio or some of Billy’s cruder humor (clearly I had not experienced that side of his humor before and wasn’t expecting it… my bad 🙂 ).  For a while I thought I had made a mistake on this one – but audio listeners, hang in there – eventually he levels out into what I thought was a good and informative listen.  I do not know how those same chapters in the audio are handled in the book version.

All in all, I did enjoy this audio.  I learned a lot about Billy Crystal and his love of family and friends.  It was interesting to hear how insecure he often was throughout his career, second guessing his choice of jokes… and always appreciating when colleagues such as Muhammad Ali and Johnny Carson would call or tell him in person, “that was a great job!”

Fans of Billy Crystal, I think you will enjoy this.

Giants In The Earth by Ole Edvart Rolvaag (a Bookies Review and Oh you will love this!)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

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In the later 1800’s, Norwegian settlers took to the Great Plains to find for themselves a better life.  Dreams of great farm lands and prosper propelled them forward and Per Hansa, was not an exception.

Per Hansa, his wife, Beret, and their two sons head out into the wide open space hoping to catch up with the group they had started out with and begin to build their dreams.  While Per Hansa almost vibrates with his desire for something to call his own, Beret keeps quiet to her dreams of staying where they were with, with family and friends and all she ever knew of as home.

When they do meet up with the others and stake their land the whole family experiences first hand what it is like to start with nothing.  A house built out of sod, and their cow living under this same sod roof.  The planting of food to eat and to sell and the hope and prayer each season that the crops will prosper and drought, weather or plagues do not take what they have put blood, sweat and tears into.

The land is hard and the life style to match but Per Hansa thrives in the environment of working from before sun up to after sun down.  As other settlers pass through and the native Americans come calling, Per Hansa comes across many situations he was not prepared for…. yet onward he goes, trusting in God and the land.

We read Giants In The Land for our classic read.  Around page 11 I thought I was in trouble… when our author started explaining the sound of the grass I thought “oh oh…. I have over 500 pages of this?”  Yet I settled into the book to get through it, and found that I was enjoying it in no time.

Per Hansa is a go getter.  At times to the point of ripping your hair out, but it seems like everything he tries and touches turns out for the better.  Beret, is another character all together.  Left mainly to tend to the house and the children, the time alone only wears on her.  Although their are other women near by, Beret is far too sheltered within herself to go out and make the relationships she needs to keep her going. 

The real beauty in Giants In The Earth is that the land and the weather is just as much a character as Per Hansa, Beret and the other settlers.  The land and weathers role is a bit one.  It can give, and it can just as quickly take away.  Everything in this environment depends on both.

I flew through this read.  It was so far different from anything I had read and I could imagine what the times had to feel like, make it or break it, you had to keep moving forward day after day.  It is a book that will remain on my shelf to be referred to again.

Bookies thoughts and fun:

We had a blast being able to have our review in an 1851 cabin that is on the property of one of our book club gals.  (Thanks Brenda!).  We dressed the time period and ate the food that they ate:  lefsa, potatoes, cider, stew, goat cheese…  It was a great time.

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6 of us dressed up for the occasion. I am the 4th one in from the left. While we tried to remain straight faced, I kept smiling. The more I tried not to smile… the more I smiled.

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The cabin. The base is original. Roof and upper floor have been added on.

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What a great time!  The Bookies over all rated it a high 3 (almost 4!) out of 5.  Most of us enjoyed the time period and the idea of the early settlers.  A few of us struggled getting into the book and found it too dry.

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince by J K Rowling (audio!)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

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Yes yes… we all (or certainly all should) have read the Harry Potter books – BUT before you run the other way – hear me out because if you have not listened to these books on audio… then you are missing something awesome.

So here is the gist of this book… Harry (our hero!) is now preparing to enter his sixth year at Hogwarts.  Last year had been a hard one, but really, none of the years have been a cake walk for the boy who lived.  Year six… will prove to be yet another challenge.  Even more so than he has ever encountered before.

With the inkling (*IHO), that Draco is now a Death Eater and Hermione and Ron finding the boy to be a bit daft, Harry feels there are new deeper and darker secrets within the school.  When he sees Dumbledore has a secret of his own with a damaged hand that he will not talk about.

Security at Hogwarts is on the HIGH.  Volde…. he who shall not be named is out there somewhere and the students are to be on the look out.  When an old potions book Harry winds up with by being last to class is filled with notes Harry is at first disappointed,but eventually finds out that he is the lucky holder of a book that helps him to create potions faster and smarter than the others in the class and much to Hermione’s annoyance.  The book says it was the property of the “Half Blood Prince”, but who was the Half Blood Prince?

As the story goes on – Dumbledore takes to sharing with Harry some of his most important memories involving Tom Riddle who of course (come on Potter fans!) is… Volde…. gah..  He who shall not be named.  These memories are to help Harry know what they are up against as they prepare for the inevitable battle.

Anyhoo… so on it goes with the great mix of the school friendships and some fun story lines involving the miss use of love potions, and a potion that gives you a perfect day.  Oh and of course there is always Quidich and with Ron now playing you know it is going to be fun.

This is the book where you really get the full effect of just how crazy crackers and power possessed Tom Riddle (Voldem…. yeah yeah….) truly was.  The question and the goal of this particular book is to find the power behind Riddle and see what can e done to weaken up – and things have never had greater stakes.

 

 

When asked what my favorite of the Potter books are, I have always struggled with that question.  I lean towards the earlier years, I prefer the younger more innocent years at Hogwarts – however as I listened to this one over the last few weeks I think I almost have to go with this book.  This is really the book where all things come together, you really get to know what is going on and the main protagonists all are coming into their own… Ron and Hermione are hilarious in this particular book as they try to figure our relationships.  Harry really has an even more important role than ever before – and even more so I feel than what he does in book 7 as this is the book where he does most on his own without the help of his friends.

The audio is read by Jim Dale and he is well worth a listen.  Whenever I listen to him he takes me right there, each character so easily defined in his tone of voice – I just take great joy in listening to him.

If you have enjoyed the Harry Potter books in book format, I HIGHLY encourage you to try them on audio.  What a fantastic treat and if you are on a road trip a great listen for the whole family.

I treated myself after finishing the audio, to the movie once again…..  ahhhhh Harry…..  this is the book that made me cry, and much like all important moments of my life- I remember right where I was when I finished it the first time.