REVIEW for Fan Mail

Thank you, thank Adam at Harlequin for sending me this book.

TITLE: Fan Mail

AUTHOR: P.D. Martin

GENRE: Thriller

RATING; 4 Stars

I had never read anything by author PD Martin but the first thing that immediately attracted me to this novel is the humour. I love that the author decided to give the main character Sophie a bit of a sense of humour - which although not overtly demonstrated is still there in the description and dialogues. Sophie is moving on, but not before she gets to meet Loretta who is a novelist looking for some "hands on" experiences of the FBI and their Behavioral Analysis Unit or as they say in the TV show Criminal Minds BAU (must easier to say and write).

However, shortly afer Sophie and Loretta's tour, Sophie learns that Loretta was brutally murdered and that she received a very odd piece of fan mail prior to her death - as a matter of fact this letter is appearing next to each murdered author as the work of a serial killer focusing on authors. Sophie must invetigate and in the middle of the investigation, she will end up discovering some scary information that will put her smack in the middle of the serial killer's path.

Although i can't say that this book reaches the peaks of "whodunnit", it nonetheless managed to keep me absolutely glued to the book until I found out who the killer was and WHY they did it. The pacing was very good and the writing was a lot of fun to read.

Although the author does give us some background on the FBI BAU unit, its kept too a minimum as is much of the "procedural" information which I am grateful for.

This book was alot of fun to read and I found myself a little annoyed that it ended.

REVIEW for The Rules of Popularity

A big, big thank you goes out to Arrow Books for sending me a copy of The Popularity Rules.

TITLE: The Popularity Rules

AUTHOR: Abby McDonald

GENRE: Chick Lit

RATING: 4 Stars

The Popularity Rules is a fun, chick lit read. I basically zipped through it in two evenings and thoroughly enjoyed it. This book starts off with a fun list of "if you want to be popular rules" - which made me laugh because, honestly, this list pretty well says it like it really is! if you want to be popular you can't be nice. This is the spring board for the rest of the book.

Featuring two main characters - Lauren and Kate - who have many things in common, but have taken different paths - with very different views of what life should be (based on "the" rules).

This novel really does explore (beneath all the fun writiing) the topic of "fitting in" -vs- being your own person and this is a theme that you will through the entire book.

I really enjoyed this chick lit with a message and thought the author did a great job!

REVIEW for Stretch Marks

Thank you goes out to author Kimberley Stuart for sending me a copy of her book.






TITLE: Stretch Marks

AUTHOR: Kimberley Stuart

GENRE: Chick Lit

RATING: 3 Stars



Mia and Lars are the perfect, childless couple - until Mia finds herself pregrant and Lars finds himself leaving Dodge - as he has no intention of being with a pregnant woman (even if the child is his). Mia is heartbroken and scared, but she is not alone - her best friend is there for her and so is her estranged mother as well as a whole bunch of supportive and definitely odd neighbours. Somehow this is not all that comforting to Mia. Still Mia and her mom decide to raise Mia's child - except that Babs has her own distinct view on child raising and this causes no end of argements and minor (and some not so minor) blips in the child rearing department.

I love chick lit and this book can definitely be filed into this category. I like that the main character is, for the most part, fun and intelligent and I actually really like th storyline -its funny and touching at the same time. What I had more of a problem with was the writing or more speficially the speed of the story. The pacing is slow and I am not sure if its because of some of the writing or if the storyline itself just moved too slowly, especially in the beginning. For example, the first exchange between Frankie and Mia, discussing Frankie's hair is just sooooooo long and frankly, felt very boring to me - there was just something missing and I cannot quite put my finger on it.

Overall, this was a good book, but there was something missing in it for me

REVIEW for Cold Case

A big thank you goes out to one of my favorite "book" people - Adam at Harlequin Books.







TITLE: Cold Case

AUTHOR: Kate Wilhelm

GENRE: Thriller

RATING: 4 Stars




I use to read Kate Wilhelm all the time and for some unkown reason, I stopped reading her. I am glad that I picked up Cold Case because this book features Wilhelm at her best. In Cold Case, we find Barbara Holloway is back again. I really like this character as I always found her to be extremely savy and smart and quite entertaining at the same time! So, she is always a joy to read.

Cold Case takes a look at a case that was extremely delicate - 22 years ago - hence the title Cold Case. Holloway finds herself with a new murder on her hands - except that the victim was once accused of murder himself - Holloway will find herself caught up in the middle of both the Cold Case and the new murder and must beat the clock in order to save the accused who may or may not be guilty. I loved the fact that the author did such a great job of joining the past and the present - and she does it in a clever way - without making it feel as though it is "forced" or plot oriented.

Great pacing as always - this is never a problem with Wilhelm's novels - she is a master at keeping the story moving.

I really, really enjoyed this one

THIS AND THAT and THE BOOKS I RECEIVED THIS WEEK

I always enjoy reading the posts of other bloggers who blog about the books they received during the week. I had started doing this for a while and then stopped, but I thought I would try to get back into posting this every Saturday. So, here is what I received in the mail this week:

Monday:

Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista by Amy Silver (this was an Ebay purchase);

L.M. Montgomery by Jane Urquhart (for review from Penguin Canada)

The Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (for review from Penguin Canada)

Tuesday:

Checkout A life on the Tills by Anna Sam (Brit memoir) (for review from the author)

Lux's Practical Erotica Adventures (for review from the publisher)

Wednesday:

Nothing

Thursday:

The Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar - this is a full size 2010 calendar

(for review from the publisher)

Living Outside the Lines by Lesley Choyce (Canadian author) (for review from the publisher)

Love Under Cover by Jessica Brody (for review from the publisher and the author)

Lit a memoir by Mary Karr (for review by the publisher)

Death Message by Mark Billingham (I think this one came from a Shelf-Awareness offer)

Friday:

The Shoe Princess Guide to the Galaxy by Emma Bowd (British Chick Lit) (for review from the publisher).

A BIG thank you goes out to all the publishers and the authors who are sooooo thoughtful. I am grateful.

As you can see, I received lots and lots of great stuff this week which kind of makes up for the last month or so where things have been very dead. I am thrilled because I now have my "holiday" books to read.

As some of you may know, I started a new job in September at McGill University (yes folks! the number 1 rated University in Canada according to McLean's magazine AND the 12th highest (and only Canadian university) in the world as rated by Times Higher-QS! we can go toe to toe with Harvard, Yale and Oxford ANY DAY :) anyway, the University is closed between Christmas and New Years (my first time ever working for an employer who will be closed during this time so I had to stock up on good reading material.

Having said that, I was looking around my house and noticed how the books have been having book babies again! These books just somehow seem to multiply without me realizing it! Here is a picture of my work area (and yes, it does look like that all the time - the only thing I can squeeze on my desk is a cup of tea or coffee - which, by the way, is quite dangerous as I have seen many a cups of coffee fly off the desk and crash to the floor by a falling book!

I also took a picture of my library - which is STILL overflowing with Archies that I bought this summer at a flea market AND all my other books. I know that to some, this may not seem like a lot, but I am a true Virgo and I hate clutter and having too many piles around - so I try to keep my piles contained in one library, but as you can see its starting to spill over!!!! BUT I LOVE BOOKS WHAT CAN I DO????

I am also excited! The weekend of November 14th and 15th, Chapters and Indigo our two major (and really only) bookstores are offering all books at 25% off (yes folks, THAT IS a big event in the book world in Montreal as these sales come about once every 3 years or so). I already have a list of about 4 books that I want to buy (sigh!).

Well, that's all I have for now, feel free to post your comments, I love to read them!!! Thanks!

REVIEW for The Trump Card

Thank you Michelle at Simon & Schuster for sending me this book.

TITLE: The Trump Card

AUTHOR: Ivanka Trump

GENRE: Biography/Business

RATING: 3 Stars

Okay, I have never been impressed by any of the Trumps, but I have to say that I was kind of curious about Ivanka Trump - I really wanted to know how she got where she is and was, frankly, seriously thinking that she was simply riding daddy's bandwagon. Therefore, I was kind of interested in reading The Trump Card.

First, I have to say that I was actually surprised at the education that Trump got. I was ready to give odds that she simply asked daddy for a job with a big salary and got it - but apparently that was not the case. This book is partly biography and partly business book. While the advice is okay, the really fascinating part to me was just how much Ivanka Trump thinks of Ivanka Trump. I mean this girl is not in need of any self-confidence courses. At one point, she opens the paragraph by saying "I always knew that I was beautiful..." yikes! she is definitely her father's daughter.

I was glad to see that she appears bright and intelligent and does send a positive message to young women, so based on this, I thought this book rated a 3 stars.

Her story is somewhat interesting and kept me reading, although at times I found myself serious shaking my head at some of her somewhat inflated comments....

REVIEW for Love to Love you Bradys

A big thank you goes out to Jennifer at ECW Press for sending me this book!

TITLE: Love to Love You Bradys

AUTHORS: Ted Nicholson, Susan Olsen and

Lisa Sutton

GENRE: Coffee table

RATING: 3 stars

For some reason, although I am of the right age, I never really got on the Brady Bunch bandwagon when I was growing up. However, there has been such fascination with the show and such a cult following that I have been curious to find out more about it.

Love to Love You Bradys is partly coffee table book and partly memoir (for Susan Olsen anyway). This book is a mixture of photos (lots of great color shots) and insider information (mainly on the part of Olsen who played Cindy) on the Brady Bunch Variety Show. This book does cover ONLY this part of the "Brady" saga and, in itself, is actually quite interesting.

Its fun to cringe at all the horrid costumes and frankly, at the whole Brady Bunch Variety Show as a whole.

Olsen does a good job of giving us lots of tidbits about everyone on the show, while at the same time remaining highly respectful of everyone involved (I am sure that there must have been lots and lots of dirt she could have told us about).

This book is a fun look at this period of television, but otherwise is kind of blah. I think this is best aimed at an audience that is somewhat fanatical (and I know there are many of you out there) about all things Bradys.

For the rest of us, the book is a fun walk down memory lane - but kind of quickly forgotten.