REVIEW for My Bleeding Teenage Heart

TITLE:                     My Beating Teenage Heart

AUTHOR:              C.K. Kelly Martin

GENRE:                  YA

RATING:                 4 Stars

I have read all of  C.K. Kelly Martin’s books and have loved each and everyone of them and My Teenage Beating Heart is no exception.

This YA novel was difficult for me to read, which is almost always the case with this author’s books – why? Because the storylines are usually deeply moving, but also sad and whimsical.  Martin does not write funny and lightweight material and I have found that I can only read a few pages at a time because I always feel the need to absorb what I have read before I can go on.  This book challenges me and all that I know.  It asks me to look outside of myself and to feel the pain that both Ashlyn and Breckon are feeling.

The words and feelings that are felt by Ashlyn and Breckon are clearly brought to the forefront as the main focus of the storyline and it works beautifully here.

With these two main characters, Martin has succeeded in drawing a parallel between loss and the fact that there are so many ways to lose what you love.  Having said that, however, the author has also written a story of hope and friendship, clearly showing us that there is always a ray of sunshine, if you are willing to look for it.

Beautiful read.

IN MY MAILBOX - for week ending December 24, 2011

Well, its Christmastime and here is a list of the wonderful Christmas presents (books) that have come into my house this week.

From Abe books:

• Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig
• Beautiful Thing Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars by Sonia Faleiro
• Various Positions by Martha Schabas

From Fresh Fiction (for review):

• The Immortalists by Kyle MillsFor my Kindle:
  
  
  • Making it Big by Lindsay Russell
  I was also supposed to receive a book delivered through UPS - which is turning out to be a total nightmare.  The driver tried to deliver it ONCE and decided on his own to return it to the depot - where I now have to pick it up.  Except that the depot is basically open on the days that I work and closed on weekends (not to mention during the holiday season).  I am now having major arguments with them to get them re-delivered to me! What a nightmare.  I hate dealing with these companies - they just don't care at all about customer service.

REVIEW for Steve Jobs

Thank you, thank you goes out to Simon&Schuster Canada for sending me this book.

TITLE:                 Steve Jobs

AUTHOR:            Walter Isaacson
GENRE:              Biography

RATING:            3 Stars

I have to admit that I was never a huge fan of Steve Jobs.  In fact, he never really registered on my radar and I guess part of the reason for this is that technology is something that simply seems to be ‘there’ for me.  I never really thought much about how it got there, why or who created it.

However, you kind of have to be living under a rock NOT to have heard about Jobs in the last year or so.  It seems as though his name was everywhere, despite the fact that he was physically removing himself more and more.  

All of this, of course, brings me to his biography.  I found myself curious about certain aspects of his life and thought it would be a great idea to find out more about this man.

My first reaction when I got the book was wow! This is more than I wanted to know about him.  So, my first comment is that this book is too long.

Having said that, however, I will also say that the book, once it gets moving (the pace is slow at the beginning) turns into a fascinating look at what kind of man (and brain) is needed to create what Steve Jobs has created.

I have to admit that I was blown away with the way his mind worked and the biographer did a wonderful job of showing us just how quirky this man could be.  Yet, at the same time, he was a control freak who needed a survey before deciding on his bride (kind of creepy actually).

Of course, this biography was incredibly honest which went a long way for me – I have always said that if you want the story of your life to be made public, it better be true and non-censored and Jobs did not seem to have a problem with this.

The pictures were okay and I especially enjoyed the ones with his family.

Overall, this is a great read.  I walked away with a far better idea of who this man was.

IN MY MAILBOX - for week ending December 17, 2011

So close to Christmas!  Here is what came into my house this week.  Amazingly, Canada Post showed up at my door last Sunday with a package.  Needless to say, I was completely stunned - I mean, these guys don't even work when its a regular Monday.  Anyway, they told me that over the holiday season, they deliver 7 days a week and have been doing this for years.  This was completely news to me!!! Not complaining about it though.

From the publisher (for review):

• Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg
• Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
• Blink of an Eye by William S. Cohen
• The Yoga Club by Cooper Lawrence

From Abe books:

• Ditched (A Love Story) by Robin Mellom

Some great books to read over the Christmas holidays.

REVIEW for It's a Waverly Life

Thank you to the kind Maria Murnane, who sent me a copy of her book.

TITLE:             It's a Waverly Life

AUTHOR:       Maria Murnane

GENRE:          Chick Lit

RATING:         4 Stars 

Okay, I loved, loved, Murnane's first book "Perfect on Paper".  I remember devouring the book and was hoping to do the same with this second one.

I have to say that I loved It's a Waverly life almost as much, but I did find this second book a little more serious and it removed a little bit of the fun for me.  Having said this, however, I gave this book a 4 star rating because Waverly and her two besties are so darn entertaining. 

I like that the storyline is chick lit (yeah!) without being silly or stupid.  Everything that happens to Waverly could actually happen - and there are no silly romantic moments to roll your eyes at (thankfully).

This book flows beautifully and Waverly is both a strong and weak character - just like almost every female I know.

Great, great read.

SECRET SANTA - Book Blogger Holiday Swap

This is the second year in a row that I participate in the Book Blogger Holiday Swap and I am absolutely thrilled with the gift I received.

I am hugely picky about the books I have read and it is usually quite difficult for someone else to 'find' me a book.  With this in mind, I have to say that my gift did not include one book, but rather a selection of some of my absolutely favorite things (oither than books of course).

I received a beautiful writing journal with an amazing cover.  I can't wait to use this as my 2012 Journal!

Writing Journal

I also received a beautiful scented Orange Clove candle which is going to smell wonderfully during the holiday season.

Finally, a bar of scented Orange Spice soap. The smell is enchanting!

I love all of my gifts and wanted to thank Kristen at webereading.com                     for so thoughfully choosing gifts are perfect for me.


Thank you from Montreal and I hope you and your family share a wonderful holiday season!

IN MY MAILBOX - for week ending December 10, 2011

Another week has ended and its time for another IMM.

This week was quiet, but the books I received were wonderful - I am thrilled.

From the publisher (for review):

• Point, Click, Love by Molly Shapiro
• MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche

From Abe books:

• The Darlings by Cristina Alger
• Charlotte an Chocolat by Charlotte Silver
• The MisEducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
• The Rivals by Daisy Whitney
• Death Benefit by Robin Cook

Purchased for my Kindle:

• Illuminating Anorexia by Michele Sparkes

I also received my Secret Santa gift from the Book Blogger Santa Swap and I loved, loved what I got.  I will be doing a separate post on this shortly.

A great 'book' week!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

The end of 2011 is coming fast, which means that I already have an impressive list of  'books to purchase/read/review' for 2012.


However, before the end of the year, I have one book that I will be reading shortly thanks to the wonderful people at Random House Canada and that I am dying to read as I have heard amazing things about it (its also right up my alley!).


Here is the trailer for :

  MWF Seeking BFF written by  Rachel Bertsche. The book will be released December 20, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggEObQlmk1w


I am also anxiously waiting for the newest release by Natasha Friend which is titled: 

My Life in Black and White

This book is due in June of 2012 (it seems so far....)  I have read ALL of Natasha Friend's books and loved, loved them all.  Looking forward to this one.

REVIEW for If I Tell

Thank you Kay at Sourcebooks.

TITLE:               If I Tell

AUTHOR:         Janet Gurtler

GENRE:            YA Contemporary

RATING:          3 Stars

I loved I'm Not her and I have to say that I find this author wonderful. Having said this, I will say that I did enjoy reading If I Tell, especially since this was my savior as I wanted, in a local clinic, for over 7 hours to have my foot x-rayed after a fall (yep, it is broken!).

I immediately fell in love with the storyline - Jaz and Lindsey having a close, but very odd relationship which reminded just how fragile friendships can be, especially as you grow into adulthood and find that what you thought was great as a child is just not that great anymore. This book does a great job of showing how people can grow in diffeent directions, while struggling to stay together.

So, from that point of view the author had me hooked completely. What did not work as well for me was the other storyline - where Jaz finds out that the man who will be marrying her (somewhat odd) mother might have done something awful and it involves Lindsey.

The writing is wonderful and the plot moves forward at a great pace (always a huge plus for me). But I kept feeling so frustrated with this book and with the Jaz character who finds hersef having to make a decision. This is all fine and dandy but throughout the entire storyline, all I wanted to scream was "tell someone -tell Simon and get to the bottom of the truth". Instead, we see Jaz shrinking away of everybody and becoming a bit of a nut case herself.

I would have liked to see this storyline written with more adult decisions and a lot more willingness to communicate and talk it through.

I loved the book, but felt a little too frustrated to give it a 4 star rating.