MY TRIP TO BURLINGTON, VERMONT

I am a huge fan of Burlington, Vermont. It is 2 hours away from me, by car and it is THE perfect city. It is small enough to be quaint and inviting - it sits by beautiful Lake Champlain and is very, very picturesque. It also has tons and tons of culture and fun stuff! The Church Street Marketplace is loaded with cute little shops (very few are chain stores) and there are lots of little sidestreets with more quaint stores. I have been going here for years and have discovered some great "best kept secrets".

Because I don't like to drive, I have found that I have discovered all kinds of cool and different ways of getting to my destinations and it has made me creative. Amtrak has a daily train that leaves from Montreal and ends in New York city and this is a loonngggg trip, believe me. However, along this route, there is a nice little area called Port Kent - which happens to be a little blot on the US map, but it also happens to be the location where the ferry that crosses from NY state directly into Burlington, VT is. Now, this is seasonal, of course, as Lake Champlain freezes over in this area during the winter (although there are other ferries that go from NY state to VT all year long). Anyway, this one is open from June to October and its the best kept secret! Very, very few people know about this, but I have been using this method to get to VT for years. Here are some pictures of the ferry and of Port Kent:

This is the entire Port Kent station. It consists of a roof and a bench! no sides! This is actually a huge improvement! When I first started getting off here about 10 years ago, it was a slab of ciment about 5 feet X 5 feet and that was it. However, in the early 2000's, NY state had tons of rains which triggered a landslide and this part of the rail tracks were actually torn away in the flood and they rebuilt the whole thing. But, you can easily see why this is a seasonal stop!

There is a small road from the train stop to the ferry - its pretty easy to walk down - but as I was walking down, the ferry was just about to leave and when they saw me - they stopped the ferry so that I could get on! otherwise I would have had to wait another 1.5 hours for the next one! I love small town mentality

This is a picture taken ON the ferry.

A ferry on beautiful Lake Champlain.

As you can see, the ferry is a huge part of the reason I take this lonnnggg detour to get to Burlington. All total it takes me 3 times longer to do it this way than to drive. But its so peaceful and fun that I like to do this at least once a year.

Of course, when I get to Burlington, I immediately head out to the Anchorage Inn which is a little motel type place that is basic, clean and pretty cheap - but best of all - it is literally 10 feet away from the VT Barnes and Noble!!!

This Barnes and Noble is very different. Although it is huge and sells new books, there is a whole section of "used" books (they call it the Sale Annex) and you can find all kinds of great deals on used books here. This includes Review Copies (this is the a picture of the Review Copy section) and .98 cent paperbacks (see picture), as well as new releases that were bought new and sold back to B&N. In other words, I can buy a book used for 50%of the price that they sell the book upstairs new!

I have also discovered the coolest little tea room (yeah, the one we go to in Montreal is pretty great, but this one is different - its very, very zen and they have over 50 different teas (with the history of each tea) on their menu. I LLLOOOVEE this place and I usually always sit at the same spot (if I can).

I have also discovered this great coffee shop called Muddy Waters. Inside is old log beams with crooked tables and the best fruit smoothies in the world!

Going to Burlington is fun! I wish I could live there - its a perfect little city!!! Its even nice during winter - I wish I could find such a cool and perfect little town in Canada!!!

I find that as I grow older (yeah, I am not THAT old, but I AM older) I am looking to get away from all the noise and cramped feeling that the big city offers. I think Montreal has lots and lots of charm and offers a little bit of everything, but I have to say that I am dying for a change - towards something more calm and serene - if only I could find it.

Finally, time to go home....

REVIEW for Bloodhound

Today, I am pleased to have a guest post by Donna's (over at booksbound) daughter Allison:



http://booksbound.blogspot.com/



A great big thank you goes out to her!



Bloodhound is the 2nd book by Tamora Pierce, focusing on Rebakah ‘Beka’ Cooper. For past readers it’s an interesting return to Tortall, the realm of Alanna, Daine and Kel, but 200 years in the past. In the first book, Terrier, George Cooper is being told of his ancestor Beka, who was part of the Provost’s Dogs. The second book continues her story, where she is no longer a trainee, but a full-out Dog. Besides having to take care of the daily muggings, fighting, and murders, a bigger problem begins to show itself. Silver coins begin to come up false, horrifying merchants and customers alike. Distrust mounts and the economy begins to suffer badly. Beka and her fellow Dogs step in, tracing the source of the coins to the city Port Caynn, and they travel there. Beka and her partner have to deal with the dangerous Court of the Rogue, without the support of the local provost’s Dogs, and try to solve who is making fake coins, and why, before it’s too late.

This book is quite exciting and fast-paced, showing both Beka’s daily life and major events. It’s different from Pierce’s other series in many ways, including the setting, the format, and the characters. The format is different in that it’s in the shape of a diary, Beka writing almost daily, detailed entries. This lets the reader know Beka better then if it had been 3rd person, as she writes down her thoughts and inner feelings.

The most interesting aspect of the book is the characters. I loved Beka right away, simply because she’s shy. While most of Pierce’s past heroines have been bold and outspoken, Beka has trouble making eye-contact with people, and struggles with speaking her mind. For many teenage girls who read this book, myself included, it’s pleasing to read about a young woman succeeding to overcome her timidity.

Another interesting character is the result of a progression I have seen throughout Pierce’s Series. In Protector of the Small, homosexuality was mentioned once in passing. In The Circle of Magic series, a main character is a lesbian. It is never made a big deal of, but it is made clear. In Bloodhound, however, two men are paired up; one is a cross-dresser and often passes himself on as a woman singer. Pierce has evolved from casually mentioning homosexuality to having a character that does not hide it and feels no shame.

Bloodhound is an exciting tale with intriguing characters that I liked, and a satisfying ending.

REVIEW for What's The Best You Can do?

TITLE: What's the Best You Can Do?

AUTHOR: Derek Rowlinson

GENRE: Memoir

RATING: 4 Stars

I am a fan of books about books, for two reasons. 1) I love ANYTHING books and 2) from 2001 to 2005, I actually had my own used bookstore with an inventory of over 300,000 books! So, it is with huge glee that I started reading this book. I always thought that I should write my own experiences running and owning a bookstore - some of the stuff I heard and seen would NOT BE believed!!! and I actually found some of my own experiences being mirrored by author Derek Rowlinson in Ireland - which goes to show you that book people are book people anywhere in the world!!!!

First of all, What's the Best you Can Do? is an honest look at the bookselling world. Although he does, on occasion, come across as sounding a little gruff, I have to say that I totally understood him - as there seems to be some kind of view that booksellers have it easy and that selling books is all about sitting there and reading all day. In this book, Rowlinson makes a point of telling us that bookselling is hard work and that he does it for his passion for books and NOT because he is making lots and lots of $$$$.

This book details some of his life experiences while owning the bookstore. Some stories are cute, some are kind of sad and some are funny. I especially loved the story about the bookseller getting to a point where he/she can actually know right off the bat if someone is just coming in to browse or not! As I was reading this book, I found myself nodding my head in absolute understanding on many occasions.

The one thing I thought was missing in this book was the author's experiences with the actualy books - what he felt like when he got to open a whole box of books - his love of discovering what was inside the boxes, some of his treasures (although he did talk a little about this while detailing his visits at other stores). This part of the bookselling is crucial and seemed to be missing here.

Still, this book works because you can feel the authenticity of the author and as I am certain, we have all been the "client" at one point or another - hoping for a break on the price or just perusing the bookstore endlessly without any intention of buying anything.

This was a fun read and made me remember lots of my own experiences.

REVIEW for Trust No One

Thank you Sarah at St-Martin's Press for sending me this great, great thriller!!!

TITLE: Trust No One

AUTHOR: Gregg Hurwitz

GENRE: Thriller

RATING: 5 Stars

I rarely give 5 stars as a rating, but this thriller by Gregg Hurwitz had me on the edge of my seat from the very first sentence to the very last one! I have said this before - but if authors need to simply learn that they have to write a "bang up" first chapter in order to keep most readers engaged. We have no such problem here.

As the first chapter opens, we find Nick Horrigan, is awake once again at 2:18 a.m. This is something that has been happening on a fairly regular basis to Nick for years and is directly related to his complex past - which we will soon get to know fairly intimately. As Nick lies there, suddenly, a bunch of "agents" break into his place (and not politely knocking on his front door) and force him to go with them to meet some madman threatening all kinds of horror. While Nick faces down the madman, he learns some very interesting and surprising things about his past - and this, in turn, will send him back into a search for redemption that he thought he had put behind him a long time ago.

You see, Nick is a young man with a shameful and painful secret - and it would appear that he is now going to have to face up to it and finally find the answers to the questions that he has been running away from for years.

This is a clever plotline - intertwining - a young Nick and present Nick - both of whom are trying to reconciliate themselves to that fateful night - so long ago when Nick's adored stepfather, a Special Agent with the White House is murdered. Was he killed because of his loyal stand to the then President or what he killed by his own accomplices who were trying to bring down the President?

Although this happened a long time ago, as destiny often happens, Nick will, once again, find himself facing these same questions - and in an attempt to clear his stepfather's good name, will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it - even if it means losing his own life or worse - discovering that his stepfather was indeed a traitor.

This book has it all - action, murder, a likeable and confused (for the most part) main character, a great supporting cast of eccentric characters, but best of all, a plot and storyline that keep you completely involved and itching to get to the next page - while at the same time, hoping the book does not end.

Loved it.

REVIEW for The Shimmer

A big thank you goes out to Vanguard Press for sending me a copy of this book to read and review!

TITLE: The Shimmer

AUTHOR: David Morrell

GENRE: Thriller (sort of)

RATING: 4 Stars

I have read some of David's Morrell's previous books and I have to say that The Shimmer is quite different from what he has written previously.

In The Shimmer, we meet our main character Dan Page - as the storyline opens, he is in a high-speed car chase that goes very wrong and he ends up witnessing the car he was chasing colliding with a gas tanker - which, in turn, explodes killing the people involved. Fraught with guilt Page goes home, only to discover that his wife is no longer there. Finally, he tracks her to Rostov, Texas which is a bit of an odd tourist attraction - all UFO and flashy lights like Rostov - except that there are really odd lights in the night sky and his wife seems mesmerized (zombie-like) attracted to these lights.

As all the gaping tourists stare at the night lights, some crazed man starts shooting at the lights and Page ends up finding himself right into another horror story.

Yep, The Shimmer, although a thriller at its core, is also much more than its usual components of murder and good/bad guys. This time, Morrell has chosen to write a novel that incorporates many varying genres into one majorly scary and suspensful storylines. The Shimmer is a combination of techno/murder thriller as well as part sci-fi and horror. I was not sure what to make of all of this - I am use to a much more direct type of "thriller" writing from this author. But I have to say that Morrell actually pulled it off.

As Page digs deeper and deeper into these mysterious lights - it turns out that the governement (US) may very well be alot more involved and may be hidding some very scary secrets.

The plotline holds up beautifully and Morrell pretty much managed to loop everything and every character together beautifully. I had absolutely no idea where he was heading with this storyline which kept me guessing from the first sentence to the last.

I really enjoyed this one and I think Morrell should write more of these books.

WINNER OF THE BREATHLESS CONTEST IS

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO




SHOOTING STARS MAG

FOR WINNING THE BOOK:


BREATHLESS

REVIEW for the 30 Second Commute

A big thank you goes out to Sarah at ECW Press, one of my favorite Canadian publishing houses!

TITLE: The 30 Second Commute

AUTHOR: Stephanie Dickison

GENRE: Memoir

RATING: 3 Stars

I just went through the 30 Second Commute in a few hours. This book is a fun look at the life of author Stephanie Dickison who decided to quit working "on the outside" to start writing from home.

What I liked about this book was the almost "stream of consciousness" train of thought that she uses. Each chapter depicts a separate event or thought that the author experienced - which includes her variety of roles as book, music and food reviewer. My favorite chapters seemed to be devoted to stories about her experiences as a food reviewer.

While I thought this book was enjoyable, I never got the sense that the author really enjoyed any of the roles she occupied. While she was great at giving us some funny tidbits, I kept asking myself - "gee, you get free meals, books and cds" and somehow you don't sound all that happy about it.

What was also missing in this book was a set up for the "writing from home" scenario. While the author does mention her hubby, we never really get a feeling for his role in her life and the author does not really talk very much about practical things such as working so closely with hubby or how they can afford to financially make this work, etc. While I realize this is not the basis of the book, it would have helped to get us situated a little bit.

I did enjoy the author's honest and down to earth writing style and I did go through this book in its entirety and just a few hours and did enjoy it, it just felt as though there was a little something missing!

REVIEW for Ms. Taken Identity

A thank you goes out to Miriam at Hachette Books for sending this chick lit along to me!



TITLE: Ms. Taken Identity
AUTHOR: Dan Begley
GENRE: Chick Lit
RATING: 3 Stars





Ms. Taken Identity has a rather clever plotline - Mitch Samuel is a writer who is clueless about women and what they want. He ends up meeting a romance writer and pretending that he knows "someone" who is interested in writing chick lit - the romance writer asks for a manuscript from this "someone" and Mitch finds himself having to write a chick lit manuscript and fast! the only problem - he has no idea how to go about doing this. At the urging of his friend Bradley, Mitch enlists in a class in order to learn more about the opposite sex and in the process falls in love with Marie - Bradley's sister - how on earth did writing a novel become so complicated?

This is actually, in my opinion, a pretty clever plotline. The only problem is -this book is imitating real life -i.e. it is obvious that this chick lit is written by a man and I have to say - men do not know how to write chick lit. Obviously, I have not read all of them - but since chick lit is my "genre", I feel fairly well informed on this subject.

While this book is okay, it just does not flow the way that a chick lit should and more importantly, it just does not "dig" deeply into the female points of view - what it does, actually is depict the male point of view and frankly, in my case, I do not read chick lit to read a guy's point of view.

Yep, call me chauvinist - but I think I will stick to reading chick lit written by a woman.

REVIEW for Along for the Ride

A big thank you goes out to Penguin Group and Viking for sending this great book along to me!!!

TITLE: Along for the Ride

AUTHOR: Sarah Dessen

GENRE: YA

RATING: 4 Stars

I am a big fan of Sarah Dessen, although I have to admit that I have to be in the mood to read her books. The thing with Dessen is that her stories need to be read, digested and mused over. Unlike some other YA, her stories always have deeper meaning than what is on the surface and I can never managed to "just" quickly read one off and then forget about it. This is a testament to just how well Dessen writes.

In Along for the Ride, Dessen again introduces us to a smart but slightly broken teenager by the name of Auden. Auden's family life - while to the outside may appear good - is anything but. Stuck with a mother who is both a snob and clueless about anything other than herself - Auden decides to spend the summer in Colby, with her dad. Sadly, when Auden arrives in Colby and starts living with her dad and his wife Heidi and their son Thisbe (hated this name for some reason), she realizes that her father is not there for her either. On top of which, she soons discovers that Heidi has problems of her own.

But some good things are happening behind the scenes for Auden, which so realistically echoes real life actually. She meets up with a strange guy by the name of Eli who ends up spending long evenings with her, as they walk around - due mainly to Auden's inability to sleep. Auden also finds herself more than just a little responsible for taking care of her stepbrother and even finds herself in a job at Heidi's store - which will eventually be a godsend as Auden will become friendly with the other girls who work in the store.

What I love about this story is that the old saying "when life throws lemons at you, make lemonade" reasonates so well here. Although things appear to be going downhill very quickly on the surface, behind the scenes, life is re-arranging itself for Auden. However, before Auden can see all the good that is going on around her, she also needs to understand that most of her unhappiness stems from inside herself. If only she would let herself open up and receive what is around her.

Another great point in this book is about prejudging people and putting them in a little box - even if you don't know them. Auden is a product of her environment having been raised, essentially, by snobs- she is also a snob. She will need to get pass her own judgments of people before she can be happy and truly appreciate those around her.

This summer in Colby will end up being quite a life experience and Dessen does a wonderful job of showing us just how much Auden actually ends up growing during this period.

As always, the writing is beautiful and touching and I loved this book!!!!

REVIEW for Fire Me

A big thank you goes out to author Libby Malin for sending me a copy of her book!

TITLE: Fire Me

AUTHOR: Libby Malin

GENRE: Chick Lit

RATING: 4 Stars

I was in a perfect frame of mind for reading FIRE ME by Libby Malin, having just been "let go" myself. Malin has written a very funny and original story - asking the question - just how far would YOU go to get fired? if you knew that you would get a nice, interesting severance package at the end of it?

Anne, our wonderful main character is about to find out..... Anne has worked for Mitch for a long time (and feels even longer since she broke off a dead end relationship with him). Unfortunately, Anne found out the hard way that you should never date your boss :( and she decides that she needs a change - and finds it - in a new job in San Francisco. Just as she is about to announce her resignation, Mitch announces to his employees, that one of them will be laid off - and getting a nice severance package.

This sounds like a perfect solution to Anne - she will make sure that Mitch "fires her" and she will be able to leave with her head held up AND some nice $$$. The only thing is, someone else in the office has the same thought - her co-worker Sheila has started acting up - and Ken, who works with both of them, but has a secret crush on Anne is making sure that he "cleans up" any mistakes that Anne makes - as he is under the mistaken belief that Anne is making these silly mistakes because she is under too much pressure at her job.

What follows is a hilarious series of missteps, miscommunications and ridiculous situations that are both funny, funny and at the same time, strangely touching. None of the characters are horrible and you get the feeling that, on some level, everyone in this storyline is somehow trying to find their "real" place in life and that the "severance package" is almost like a golden opportunity for everyone to re-evaluate their lives and the direction they wish to take in the future.

There are a lot of hidden messages behind the laughter here and the author did a wonderful job of passing that along to the readers, while at the same time keeping the upbeat and funny thread of the storyline.

I really enjoyed this one.

JUNE BLOGGER MEET UP FOR TEA and TALKING

Today was our blogger meet up at my favorite tea room "le cha noir".



The usual suspects were there - including:

Cindy at http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com/


Donna at http://booksbound.blogspot.com/ and


Avis at http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/



We were all dying to get together to hear all about Donna's experiences at BEA - she was the lucky one who got to vist BEA this year (I have to admit, I was also extremely anxious to hear about her experience at my favorite New York bookstore "The Strand".

Well, Donna gave us the scoop, as we sat there sipping on alternatively cold drinks and hot tea!! It was great and it was so much fun to hear all about Donna's experiences. We have all decided that we MUST attend next year. Hopefully, we will be able to make this happen!!!!

Of course, we also exchanged books - and I have to say that Donna was so kind - she picked up books for all of us that she thought matched our tastes! She also bought us each Strand tote bags (I am sooooooo thrilled about this), not to mention a cute Strand pen as well as Strand yellow sticky paper and bookmark. Here is the loot:

The books are:

Biting Anorexia by Lucy Howard-Taylor

Who Took My Money by Monique Amyot and

The Religion of Thinnss by Michelle Lelwica

as well as a great Meditation CD

Here is "The Strand" stash:

I also got via Cindy/Avis this book (which I had wanted to read for a while now):

I am always amazed at how fast the time goes by when we get together. We spent over 3 hours together today and it felt as though we were there for 10 minutes!

We will be seeing each other again in July.

It was great seeing everybody.

REVIEW For A Bump In the Road

Thank you goes out to author Maureen Lipinski for so kindly sending me a copy of her book!!!

TITLE: A Bump in the Road

AUTHOR: Maureen Lipinski

GENRE: Chick Lit

RATING: 4 Stars

This is my kind of chick lit! Event Planner and blogger Clare Finnegan is married and living the life of the "married couple" with hubby Jake. They are happy, in love and free! free! But, life takes an unexpected turn and guess what! there is now a little bump in the road - as they find out that they are expecting their first child.

I knew I would love this one as soon as I read the first sentence "This is why we're never having children", Jake said as he lurched forward in his airplane seat again. I just knew that this book would have the irony and sarcasm that I have come to love in chick lit. I have never been a fan of "all is pretty and cute" and all the characters are serene and perfect! I like my characters flawed and usually, thrown right into the center of some kind of situation they vowed (usually in a drunken stupor) to NEVER get into. Love it.

As you might have guessed this book covers off, through individual diary type entries, all of the events and escapades that Jake and Clare go through as she progressively gets more and more pregnant. Again, author Lipinski does not detail as all "peached and cream" and does not shy away from writing some extremely funny entries as well as using sarcasm and irony as much as possible.

This book is well written and I loved all the characters. I highly suggest it for any fan of chick lit. My only complaint, it felt to me as though the print in my copy was kind of tiny - now I know that I no longer have the same eyes as I did when I was 20! but it was a little tough going at times to read this!

Otherwise, I loved it.

REVIEW for Building a House with My Husband

Thank you, thank you goes out to author Rachel Simon for sending me this book!

TITLE: Building a Home with My Husband

AUTHOR: Rachel Simon

GENRE: Memoir

RATING: 4 stars

I had read Rachel's previous book and really enjoyed it, but I have to say that Building a Home with My Husband is my favorite.

First of all I have to comment on the great cover. I thought it was extremely eye catching and fit the storyline perfectly. I am one of those 'cover' people and the cover is very important to me. Obviously what is inside is more important and Rachel Simon does not disappoint!!!

Rachel Simon is my new hero. Her memoir is funny, touching and way too short. We meet Rachel as she is reconnecting with the 'man of her life'. I loved her opening line "Finally we get married. After nineteen years of one of the most ridiculous coutrships in the history of love". Right away, I connected with her - rarely is love and relationship easy and it can most certainly often be described as "ridiculous". As Simon and hubby embark on their journey together, they have a very sore spot - a house - or rather "the" house. Because of the poor market, they decide to renovate it - and the renovation of the house becomes a catalyst for Rachel, who will go through many, many emotional ups and downs as each plank of wood is removed and old carpets pulled up.

Indeed, while Rachel is adjusting to married life and as she pulls apart piece after piece of the "old" house - she also finds herself pulling apart piece after piece of the "old Rachel - full of unchecked feelings and emotions" and starts exploring her emotions and feelings - one by one. From being childless to looking at her own mother, Rachel begins to take a deep look inside herself and finds many areas of anger, sadness and fear. As she breaks down each piece of her old house and rebuilds a more solide foundation, Rachel feels the need to do the same for her own heart and spirit.

This memoir is full of funny stories, but more importantly it is full of touching and deep emotions that definitely kept me involved and I found myself rooting for Rachel - hoping that she can get through both her home renovation and her newfound path for inner joy.

I loved, loved, loved this book.

REVIEW for Money Management for Canadians All-In-One Desk Reference

A great big thank you goes out to Erika at Wiley & Sons Canada for sending me this great book!




TITLE: Money Management for Canadians
All-in-One Desk reference
GENRE: Personal Finance
RATING: 5 Stars



have read many, many financial books and I have to say that The Money Management for Canadians All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies is THE most comprehensive and easy to understand book I have come across.This book is written for people like me - the lay person who has a good knowledge of the basics, but still needs some clarification on certain aspects of the financial world.

There are no long-winded, boring explanations in this book and each and every chapter is totally pertinent to ALL Canadians looking to get a better grasp on their finances.I love that this book is aimed at Canadians - as we do have our own set of financial complexities and many, many differences with the US (as the current banking crisis has clearly demonstrated!).

There are some very handy "tips" in each chapter and this book covers absolutely everything you could ever want to know about personal finances.

Easy to read, well referenced and a joy, I absolutely adored this book.

REVIEW for Likely Story Number 3

A big thank you goes out to Jess at Random House. She is always so kind!


TITLE: Likely Story #3 (Red Carpet Riot)

AUTHOR: David Van Etten

GENRE: YA

RATING: 4 Stars

http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375853562







This is the 3rd installment in the "Likely Story" series, YA novel featuring ourmain character Mallory who grew up on the sideline of a soap opera, which which her mother starred. Now in her mid-teens, Mallory decides to write her own soap opera, featuring her own brand of realism, directed to the average teenager out there. She hits it big and her show "Likely Story" is "the" thing - which, of course, means that her mother must, somehow be the star of her daughter's show.

While this plotline may sound a tad contrived, its actually quite fun end engaging, especially since Mallory and her mother DO NOT and never have anything in common (or so Mallory thinks) and have never really gotten along. So, its alot of fun to read about the stunts and events that Mallory thinks up in order to take her mother down a peg or two.

Of course, there are also a bunch of other characters in this storyline, including the "hottie" named Dallas who may or may not be a future love interest for Mallory, as well as Alexis (the girl you love to hate) and Amelia (Mallory's ex best friend who is now out to get Mallory) oh and I cannot forget the presence of Keith - Mallory's boyfriend.

I like this series and the writing because the author chooses to make Mallory a strong headed, sometimes too bright for her own good character. There are no wimpy characters in this storyline - believe me!

However in number 3, Mallory is really starting to get on my nerves. While she claims to be entirely different than her mother, it seems to me as though she is turning more and more into her mother every day. I found that the stunts Mallory pulled in this particular book as well as some of her retorts back to people was, at times, just plain mean and way too arrogant. I think that is the problem I have with this one - Mallory is becoming wayyyyy too arrogant.

Having said that, I am glad that towards the end of the plotline, Mallory will get called out on some of her crap and will be forced to rethink who she is and what she is becoming.

I was hoping that in this book, we would get a clearer vision of the relationship (or lack of) between Mallory and her mom - and we do get a few tidbits, but not enough for my taste. I highly think its time for the authors to explore this more in future books (should there be some).

Also, I have to say that the whole square dancing thing was way, way over the top and should not have been in this storyline at all. I just find it way too hard to believe that a bunch of teenagers would gladly "do sa do" in gym class!!!!

But, this series attracts me regardless of all the little "things" that don't exactly work for me. I am not sure why - except to say that the writing is always well done and that the characters are always doing things that are a surprise to me! I finished this one in two days.

Hopefully there will be a number 4.

REVIEW for It's Not You, It's Me

A big thank you goes out to the author Kerry Cohen Hoffmann AND Random House for sending me a copy of this book!

TITLE: It's Not You, It's Me

AUTHOR: Kerry Cohen Hoffmann

GENRE: YA

RATING: 4 Stars

I am a huge fan of Kerry Hoffmann. I have read her previous books and adored them. I was, therefore, extremely thrilled when I received this one!

It's Not You, It's Me is actually a YA novel where we meet our main character Zoë who is in the midst of a romantic crisis. She has been dating Henry for the last 6 months and every night at exactly 9:00 p.m. they call each other on the telephone and say goodnight to each other. Except this night (day 1), Zoë has been calling and all she gets is voice mail. She immediately gets a sinking, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her that this relationship is over.

Sure enough, the next day, Henry tells her its over 'but hey! let's be friends' (why do guys ALWAYS say this absolutely stupid thing????).

From this moment, we, the readers get to follow, day by day, Zoe's descent into heartbreak and depression where she is unable to accept his decision and tries just about everything to 'get him back'.

From the first page of this novel, I instantly connected with Zoë. Although to some, the fact that Henry was not answering his telephone on that one night would mean nothing, I would have (I actually have) reacted exactly the same as Zoë did - freaked out! Somehow she knew - even if to most people, she just appeared to be panicking over nothing.

What struck me the most about this novel is how single minded and totally misguided Zoe was! No matter what her friends told her or no matter what she knew inside was the right thing to do, she almost self-destructively went ahead and did the opposite. When I read the passage where she actually climbs up a tree in order to throw a poem in Henry's room, I thought 'this girl has lost it' and I felt myselt cringe. Yet, at the same time, I kept asking myself how many stupid, dangerous and foolish things I had done in my life (not only as a teen) to get, keep or get back a guy that had left.

I have a theory that for the most part, when it comes to men, women can be very stupid!!!! and I kept thinking this as I was reading this book.

Here is a bright girl, who has good friends, a fairly stable family (although I have to say that I thought that the parental support and interest in this novel was almost non-existent!) can be so thrown off by a breakup - yet, I also knew exactly how she felt. This book was difficult to read at times because it brought back lots of bad memories for me (although I never went up a tree thank goodness).

Having read Hoffmann's books, I am familiar with her background and it is obvious that she is very familiar with her main character - Hoffmann is a master at taking the 'broken' side of the female brain - usually the one associated with sex, love and men and putting it out there.

This book is a must read for all females - its almost like looking into a mirror.

REVIEW for Accidental Bestseller

Thank you to author Wendy Wax for sending me a copy of her book to review!!!

TITLE: The Accidental Bestseller
AUTHOR: Wendy Wax
GENRE: Contemporary Fiction
RATING: 3.5 Stars







Meet Kendall, Mallory, Tanya and Faye - they are all aspiring writers who met at a writers conference and who have managed to stay good friends throughout the years since.

Kendall discovers that her husband is cheating on her and instead of working on her writing, as she has an upcoming deadline, she decides to head off to the country and work on her "place" instead, thus assuring that she will think about nothing more important than what shade of paint to use.

Enter her friends to the rescue. While Kendall throws her energy into "forgetting about her failed marriage, her failed (or just about) failed writing career, her friends each take a shot at writing part of Kendall's final book, each using their own unique points of view and real life experiences - which will end up creating a bestseller.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The main plotline is original, original and it was great fun and quite interesting to read, in depth, about the ups and downs (although it seemed to me mostly downs) of the publishing business. As a reader, I don't really give much thought to "how" the book I am enjoying (or not!) arrived in my hands and this book certainly spotlighted alot of the "inner circle" of publishing for me.

I also enjoyed the true kinship that these women enjoy! It was refreshing to read a story where women were truly trying to help each other - instead of backstabbing each other!

As many of you know, I am a huge fan of chick lit and I would not really classify this as chick lit - the overall tone of the book was more serious in nature than I normally like which is why i rated it 3.5 stars out of 5. However, if you are a fan of contemporary women's fiction than this is a great book for your to pick up.

CONTEST TIME - Celebrating NOTHING in PARTICULAR

Hi all: Its contest time again!!!

I was lucky enough to get this book a little while ago and reviewed it:

see: http://bookshipper.blogspot.com/2009/05/review-for-breathless.html

I will pick one winner on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. Here is what you can do to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post (you get 1 entry);

2) Follow me (you get 5 entries);

That's it! very easy.

Because of the high costs of postage, I have to limit this contest to people in the US and Canada. Thanks!

REVIEW for The Pretend Wife

A big thank you goes out to author Bridge Asher for sending me a copy of this book!!!

TITLE: The Pretend Wife

AUTHOR: Bridget Asher

GENRE: Women's Fiction

RATING: 3 Stars

I am a big fan of chick lit and while I would like to say that The Pretend Wife falls into this category it would be untrue. I would definitely squarely say this book is more along the lines of contemporary women's fiction.

As in Asher's previous book, we find our main character is somewhat disillusioned with both her life and her husband. Although in The Pretend Wife, Gwen's husband Peter is not dead, the subplot of this book almost makes me feel as though he is - the marriage certainly feels dead as the story develops and the storyline in which Gwen's old flame, Elliott, suddendly appears back into her life, at a time where Gwen feels at her lowest is a little too contrived for me. Also, the basic premise was a little "out there" for me. Elliott asks Gwen to act as his "pretend wife" for a weekend - as she meets his family and gets closer to both Elliott and his apparently wonderful family - while her "real" husband is still lurking somewhere around.

This just did not work for me. As I mentioned, the book just felt a little too convenient and farfetched to me. The premise I did enjoy was the whole question of "the one that got away". I think that most woman have "one of these" in their lives and this book certainly makes it fun and "ideal" to be able to actually live the "what ifs" - but that is about the extent of my commitment to this one.

REVIEW for Opportunity Rings

A great big thank you goes out to Key Porter Books for sending along this wonderful chick lit!

TITLE: Opportunity Rings

AUTHOR: Sheryl Steinberg

GENRE: Chick Lit

RATING: 4 Stars

Opportunity Rings is right up my alley! It is the kind of chick lit that I adore and the only complaint I have about this book is that it ends too quickly!!!

In Opportunity Rings, we meet Erica Swift who is in a job that is somewhat over her head (at least from the techie point of view), although she seems to be able to hold her own (with a little help from her friends). She is happily married, or at least it appears that she is - as demonstrated by the staircase sex she just had with her husband (with a little help from the local police), but all of this is an illusion that is about to burst - big time.

Erica is a wonderful character. No matter what is thrown at her, she manages (after a few minutes of muttering and confusion) to find the bright side of things - including the fact that she seems to have become the center of attention and she is not sure she likes it.

As with most chick lit, some of life happenings are a little "out there" but Canadian (Yeah!) author Steinberg makes it all fit in extremely well. Some of her descriptions are so funny and I loved the opening chapter - where we find Erica seriously drooling over the thought of eating roses that are right under her nose! Too funny - the author had me wondering about eating rose petals myself!

I really enjoyed reading this witty, smart and honestly funny chick lit about a girl who keeps trying to keep it together