Sunday, March 20, 2011

Baby Proof By Emily Griffin

A friend let me borrow this book. PERSONAL: She is 32 has been married for a year and a half, this is her 2nd marriage. She does not want children. I am24 been married 9 months, and does not want children.
Sooo this book is about a 30 something lady who knew since she was very young that she did not want children. This was a deal breaker for most boyfriends etc. until Claudia meets Ben and they both agree until one day Ben says he wants to have a baby, once again a deal breaker.
This is my first Emily Giffin book I've read and I am deff going to read the others!!
There is so much passion in her books when Ben & Claudia have life changing arguments it hurt ME! I felt like I was in it. I cried a tiny bit in one part. Its a good book weather you do or dont want or have children. READ IT! :)

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Go Ask Alice


So I'm almost 99.9% sure I had read this book in like 4th grade lol but I don't think I really understood it too well. I was at a garage sale and it was a quarter and felt the need to bring it home with me. Apparently this book is a real diary. There is no author it under "Anonymous" and no where in the book do they use the name Alice except when the girl says she feels like Alice in Wonderland and there is another girl named Alice mentioned once. This book came out in the 1970's and there has been so much controversy since then. Some city and states have banned the book from being sold, people feel that it's not 100% true. An editor came fourth and claimed she added/deleted a few etc. ANYWAY.....
This is about a 15 year old girl who starts off having typical teenage issues...boys, parents, friends, school. Well when she goes to spend a summer at her grandmothers house she gets introduced to drugs. She seems pretty honest in the story very naive and innocent. Very how would you say? Teenage lol. Some parts are to swallow she runs away more than once gets mixed up with the wrong people, but you can see that she really wants to be a good girl. Well anyway the part that gave me chills was actually the epilogue. I would recommend this for a quick read. Less than 200 pages took me a day and a half. I guess it would have been more impacting if I had read it when I was in High School. Now at 24 I've read and dealt with first hand and my own clients with much more ummm worse situations? I give it 3.5 stars but like I said it worth the read if you have a few hours to kill or if your in High School you might know someone just like Alice. Has anybody else read this? Planning on it?
<3

Thursday, November 25, 2010

P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern


This book was GOOD! 5 stars from me!
Plot: Holly's husband Gerry dies from a tumor very young, but before he died he wrote Holly a small note each month with some sort of fun, life living task to do which will help her get back on her feet and just learn how to live again without him.
There are some parts I seriously had to put the book down for a second. It was so sad to read about how she felt, how she loved this man so much, she married him because she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him and now he's gone. and there was not one thing she could do about it. some parts are hilarious some sad some happy. it really is a sort of rollercoater book. Its like you want to tell her just move on and be happy but when you think about it how could you even bare to wakeup in the morning knowing the love of your life has passed on and theres no getting them back? I say READ this book! I did have it moments when your like "Really?! again? your confused again!? but when she begins explaining why shes confused well then it all makes sense lol.
Let me know if any of you have read this or if you plan on it :)

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Helen Fielding


So I sort of got these books on a whim. I remember seeing previews for this movie and to be 100% honest I’m not the biggest fan of British humor. But I though what the hey
So this review is going to be on BOTH of the books. Right off the back 3 stars (and I feel generous) Bridget Jones sounds like a typical girl in some ways…never happy with her looks, has great friends and family who also are crazy. She falls in lust and in love. She goes through heartbreak and good times. BUT it sort of lagged on…like blah blah blah just get to the point already! I would NOT recommend these books. It was a waste for me; I already took them off my bookshelf and might mosey on to Half Price books to donate. I rarely and I mean RARELY say this, but Bridget Jone’s Diary the FILM was better than the novel! Now Bridget Jones; the Edge of Reason well some parts of that book were better but it was all just kind of loopy and extra out of the ordinary. So short review I would say skip these two! Has anybody else read these? Suggestions? Comments? <3

Sunday, August 1, 2010

If I Stay by Gayle Forman


If I Stay is one of those books that as soon as I finished reading it I thought to myself - Damn! I wish I wrote that!

This book is centered around Mia, who is a serious classical cellist. She has everything she wants - a great family - her mom and dad were former musicians and her little brother Teddy constantly says the most adorable things. She also has a great boyfriend - Adam- who is also a musician, more emo than classical though.

One morning all of that changes though and she loses some of the most important people in her life. Now she has a choice - Do I stay..?? As she gets to decide whether to stay or go she is able to watch the reactions of those still living, hoping that she will decide to stay.

I absolutely adore the way this book is written. It goes back and forth between the present and the past. The present is time stamped and the past shows you glimpses of Mia's life, each story showing you reasons why she would stay or go.

Not only does this book talk about living & dying, but it also shows you love - family love, friend love, and romantic love. There were times as I was reading that I kept saying to myself..OMG. The story just felt all too real, and it really did make me question that when that time comes if we really do have a choice.

Another key feature that stands out in this book to me is music. All of the major characters in this book are musicians and the writer did an amazing job of sort of giving you a soundtrack for this story. She gives you the first song that Mia ever played, the songs that played at the first concert that Mia and Adam went, & also the music that she listens to as she makes her decision. I feel like the music choices help perfect this story, because it makes you feel like you really know the characters.

I have to say that although this book discuss many serious topics, there were plenty of times that I caught myself laughing aloud. The story is real, and sometimes no matter how serious a situation may be - it's just plain funny.
I won't go into more detail since I don't want to ruin the story for you. I refuse to be your movie trailer - giving you all the good stuff in 2 minutes and leaving you feeling like you already watched the movie.  ;)

Monday, July 12, 2010

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares



So I heard about this book in a couple of magazines & I decided that if that many magazines thought I should read it,  then I will. It does help that it was compared to the love that occurs in Twilight. NO this book has nothing to do with vampires, but it is about eternal love.

This book is about Daniel who is one of the few people who can remember all of his past lives - called memory. In each of these lives his mission is to find and be with the love of his life - Sophia. Sophia was her name when he first fell in love with her, but in this life her name is Lucy. Daniel and Lucy meet (in this life) in high school and for some reason Lucy is inexplicably drawn to him. When Lucy finally gets her chance to get close to Daniel he rushes in and begins speaking to her as if she has the gift of memory too, which only confuses her and causes her to run away from him. After years of not being able to stop thinking about Daniel and what he said to her Lucy decides to do a little research and discovers some very amazing things about who she was and who she loved in her past lives.

At first I did find this book confusing because it tends to take place at several different times, each chapter is a new time. Every other chapter is written from Sophia/Lucy's point of view while the other is from Daniel's. 

I really have to say that I find the concept of reincarnation and the way that it is portrayed in this book to be very fascinating. 

Here's a small snippet of the book that explains reincarnation -

"Well. It's a strange thing," I explained. "With each birth your body starts out fresh and mostly blank, but then you print yourself on it over time. You hold onto old experiences: injuries, injustices, and great love affairs, too." I glanced up at Sophia. "And you hold them in your joints and your organs and wear them on your skin."



If you're looking for an out of the ordinary love story to get yourself lost in, than this is the book for you.
Overall this book reminded me of  The Time Traveler's Wife, which is a very good thing.   

FYI - Ann Brashares is also the writer of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

The Messenger by Mayra Montero

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Well let me say it right away:
I HATE THIS BOOK! Gah OMG like really? Really lady?! This was your best? *vomit*
This is a Spanish book translated into English, I have NO idea if that has anything to do with it.
Okay, it takes place in Havana Cuba in the 1920's so it has all this like witch craft "curandero" type of stuff and this half Cuban half Chinese chick who's godfather can like read the air and it will tell him whats going to happen in the future blah blah blah she hooks up with this married dude they have a kid his wife kills herself then he and their kid die she cries a little moves on meets this Italian guy he goes with her blah blah she remind him of some chic who used to breast feed him (YUK) they do it blah blah

Out of 218 pages I got to page 75 in like 2 weeks. Horrible I know. Not even half...I tried real hard to read as much as I could but I was like "umm I'd rather clean/cook/sleep/watch TV" than read this book. So I felt it was a waste of time and am now letting the world know lol

I give it 1.2 stars just cause of the creativity. If anybody wants to give this book a whirl please email me at vansmakeupride@gmail.com with your address, if not I'm giving this to goodwill

-Vanessa