Top Ten Tuesday : Books I'd Pick for a Book Club

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

Some of these books I haven't read yet, but from the buzz they get I would imagine would be good picks and some are maybe stereotypical picks = )

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombie

 By Jane Austen and Seth Grahame - Smith

2. ANY of Emily Giffin's Books

3. Water For Elephants

By Sarah Gruen

4. Room 

By Sarah Donoghue

5. Go Ask Alice

By Anonymous 

6. The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak

7. The Alchemist

By Paulo Coelho

8. If I Stay  AND Where She Went

By Gayle Forman

9. Madame Tussaud 

By Michelle Moran

10. Eat, Pray, Love

By Elizabeth Gilbert

* This May be The 1st time that Harry Potter hasn't REALLY applied to the Category.. .

Brava, Valentine

Summary:

"As Brava, Valentine begins, snow falls like glitter over Tuscany at the wedding of her grandmother, Teodora, and longtime love, Dominic. Valentine's dreams are dashed when Gram announces that Alfred, "the prince," Valentine's only brother and nemesis, has been named her partner at Angelini Shoes. Devastated, Valentine falls into the arms of Gianluca, a sexy Tuscan tanner who made his romantic intentions known on the Isle of Capri. Despite their passion for one another and Gianluca's heartfelt letters, a long-distance relationship seems impossible.As Valentine turns away from romance and devotes herself to her work, mentor and pattern cutter June Lawton guides her through her power struggle with Alfred, while best friend and confidante Gabriel Biondi moves into 166 Perry Street, transforming her home and point of view. Savvy financier Bret Fitzpatrick, Valentine's first love and former fiancÉe who still carries a torch for her, encourages Valentine to exploit her full potential as a designer and a business woman with a plan that will bring her singular creations to the world.A once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity takes Valentine from the winding streets of Greenwich Village to the sun-kissed cobblestones of Buenos Aires, where she finds a long-buried secret hidden deep within a family scandal. Once unearthed, the truth rocks the Roncallis and Valentine is determined to hold her family together. More so, she longs to create one of her own, but is torn between a past love that nurtured her, and a new one that promises to sustain her."

Plot: Brava, Valentine pretty much picks up where Very, Valentine left off. The writing of the plot is pretty steady, having a nice amount of highs and lows, keeping you excited enough to keep reading. For book 2 out of 3 it was a good plot. If this was the last book, the plot would be pointless, but since it is #2, the plot leads up to book 3 very well. 

Characters: Beside the Italian family essence that Trigiani captures very well, the characters are my favorite part of the book. Mainly cause they are so normal and real. They don't have anything overly special or damaged about themselves. They are your typical human beings and crazy family. And if it isn't your family, you know a family like this. 

Pros: Awesome sequel, realistic romance, realistic overall, a nice read

Cons: If it wasn't Book 2 in a series, I would say it was a bit longer then I needed..

Final Thoughts:  Every since I read Very, Valentine a few years back I have been waiting for the sequel.  Valentine has a very normal life, but once you add Italy, love and travel it become something very wistful. Both books give me a sense of happiness and the one thing I love is that the Valentine Series is a book I can recommend to most readers. It has a very broad audience it can relate too. 

In My Mailbox (27)

Hosted By The Story Siren

Bought
Celia and The Fairies By Karen McQuestion
Vengeance By Michelle Madow
Anna and The French Kiss By Stephanie Perkins
The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins
I'm So Happy For You By Lucinda Rosenfeld
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side By Beth Fantaskey
Kill Zone By Sgt. Jack Coughlin
The Weird Sisters By Eleanor Brown
By Invitation Only By Jodi Della Femina and Sheri McInnis
The Angel's Game By Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Want Want Want Wednesday (28)

Where We Belong By Emily Giffin

"Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her. For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever."

This book isn't even out yet, but I still want it.. It is Emily Giffin and I love love love her books. I really truly do. The only down side to this book, like her last one is that this one is coming out in hardcover first. This sucks since her first 4 books came out in paperback and that is what I own.. I literally had to wait a year after her fifth book Heart of The Matter came out, for the paperback version.

Why We Broke Up By   Daniel Handler

"I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.
Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped."

I just love the whole concept of this book, and I think it could be very therapeutic for some people, something most of us can relate to on some level.

The Season By Sarah Maclean

"Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued -- in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own. Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London. Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy. But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process? In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband? Romance abounds as this year's season begins!"

I think I may have already read this book but I am not sure, there was a book a couple summers back with a similar premise that I read and really liked but now I can't remember the name.

Top Ten Tuesday : Books I'd Recommend To People Who Don't Read, In General

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

This was probably one of the harder Top Ten Tuesday's for me, cause It could be interpreted in so many different ways, I like directness sometimes.

1. 

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

And the given... Harry Potter DUH!

The Postmistress

Summary:

"In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say, and believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn't deliver it. 
Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can't touch them. But both Iris and Frankie know better... 
The Postmistress is a tale of two worlds-one shattered by violence, the other willfully naïve-and of two women whose job is to deliver the news, yet who find themselves unable to do so. Through their eyes, and the eyes of everyday people caught in history's tide, it examines how stories are told, and how the fact of war is borne even through everyday life."

Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself  "Am I missing something?" , because that is how I felt pretty much them whole time I was reading The Postmistress. My mistake may have been by thinking this book would focus on well... The Postmistress. I don't know why, I would think that.. Honestly, I was disappointed in this book, so much that after getting 70% through the book, I couldn't read anymore. At that point I just couldn't see where this book was going.

The setting is in Cape Cod and Europe. We have Emma and Will --- the doctor and his wife, who live in Cape Cod, Until Will goes to London. Iris and Henry, The Postmistress and her lover (Cape Cod) and Then Frankie, the journalist over in Europe. The story switches between all of these perspectives and stories, within in sentences. So much that it gets confusing, who you are reading about. Which was one of my least favorite things about the book. Secondly, the story is mainly focused of Frankie, which for the most is a somewhat interesting story, but the book is called the Postmistress, not The Broadcaster.. Honestly the only time I was interested in the story was when we were over seas with Frankie.

I had no emotional connection with these characters, there was too much jumping around and SO much  unneeded details to the story. I could see the potential in the book, otherwise I wouldn't have read as far as I had and there were some beautiful moments of writing, but overall the book was a clusterfuck and disappointing. I am sorry, cause this may be the meanest review I have written, but I just can't see how this book works at all.

In My Mailbox (26)

Gift

Never Eighteen Swag Pack
(Thank you to Me,My Shelf and I and Author Megan Bostic)

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

1. Emily Giffin

If you know anything about me, as a reader.. then you know I LOVE Emily Giffin's books, LOVE them and her last book Heart of The Matter, was equally awesome as her first 4, SO she needs to write a 6th book. Maybe Even a Third Book to the Rachel/Darcy story!!! 

2. Stephenie Meyer

Yes, I am aware that the Twilight Saga is a not literary gold, but I can't lie, when I say I did get caught up in the whole Edward, Bella Love and welp I want MORE! Unfortunatly, Midnight Sun was put on hold indefinitely... which is a polite way of saying NOT going to happen. But Really More PLEASE.

3. Anna Godbersen

Ok, she wrote the Luxe Series.. which disappointed me and then the Bright Young Things Series. Which I enjoy. But I now want to read a book from her that is too good to be true! I know she has it in her...

4. J.K Rowling

Cause this wouldn't be a TTT if Harry Potter wasn't mentioned. I think Rowling needs to create a new world for us to get lost in and inspire a whole other generation of kids to read! Is that TOO much to ask?

- I mean Honestly this is all I can think of = / Mainly, cause all the authors I want to write another book.. are in fact writing another book, and well I don't feel like naming dead authors.. SO YEA.

In My Mailbox (25)

Hosted By The Story Siren

For Review

Poughkeepsie By Debra Anastasia 

(THANK YOU!)

The Summer We Read Gatsby

 Summary:

"When two estranged sisters inherit a Hamptons beach house, they search for fortune but find love instead. 
Cassie and Peck are half sisters with little in common beyond a shared last name-that is, until their beloved aunt Lydia bequeaths them equal shares of her ramshackle old cottage in the Hamptons with instructions to "seek the thing of utmost value" within it. Cassie and Peck fantasize about discovering a lost Jackson Pollock, or a first edition of The Great Gatsby, as they revel in one last summer of fabulous parties and nostalgia. "

Plot: The plot isn't anything deep and has little to do with Gatsby, except with some nostalgia. Which isn't bad, it is nice and makes me think of a summer in the Hamptons, but as far as a plot that will grab you, this it does not possess.

Characters: There are two half-sisters Stella (Cassie) and Peck. The both equally have qualities that are equally like-able and annoying. I felt the ages should have been reversed Peck acts more like the younger sister and Stella acts more like the younger. Which is how I imagined them through out the book. Then there are the love interests. Finn and Miles. Honestly, Miles had ZERO personality in this book, so him as a love interest made no sense. On the other had I loved Finn. He came across as a chill, Irish American Man and it was SEXY.

Pros: A Nice Wistful Read.

Cons: Almost kind of pointless. 

Final Thoughts: I hate when I have to write a review about books like this cause I didn't HATE the book but I didn't LOVE it either, it was alright. I think there could have been more done to make the book interesting, cause everything was there, it was just really one toned.  All though I feel if you were on vacation on a beach or ranch... somewhere remote that might change.  Overall, this book took me longer then most books take, cause I wasn't DYING to read it and honestly once we got to the Climatic point of the story, I skipped through the last 30 pages, cause I didn't really care about the after math. 

Top Ten Tuesday : Books I Am Excited To Read in 2012

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

Is this books I am excited to read In General in 2012 or books that are coming out in 2012 that I am excited to read?! IDK!!! I will mix it up.. 

1. The Girl With The Steel Corset

- I got this for Christmas, SO I Cannot wait to read it!

2. The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

- Uhm I have heard BEYOND awesome things about this book, and recently Brandon's Aunt gave me this book.  SO yes.. excited to read it.

3. Lola and The Boy Next Door By Stephanie Perkins

- Another Christmas gift book, that I heard a whole lot of chatter about in 2011.. So again. Excited to read it in 2012.

4. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest By Stieg Larsson

- Well this comes out in paperback in 2012 and I have been WAITING for it to come out in Paperback, so I could read it!

5. Why We Broke Up By Daniel Handler

6. Beautiful Day By Anna Godbersen

Yea... I don't know.

Between Two Queens (Secrets of The Tudor Court)

Summary:

"Pretty, flirtatious, and ambitious. Nan Bassett hopes that an appointment at the court of King Henry VIII will bring her a grand marriage. But soon after she becomes a maid of honor to Queen Jane, the queen dies in childbirth. As the court plunges into mourning, Nan sets her sights on the greatest match in the land...for the king has noticed her. After all, it wouldn't be the first time King Henry has chosen to wed a maid of honor. And in newly Protestant England, where plots to restore the old religion abound, Nan may be the only one who can reassure a suspicious king of her family's loyalty. But the favor of a king can be dangerous and chancy, not just for Nan, but for her family as well...and passionate Nan is guarding a secret, one that could put her future -- and her life -- in grave jeopardy should anyone discover the truth.
Based on the life of the real Anne Bassett and her family, and drawing extensively from letters and diaries of the time, Between Two Queens is an enthralling picture of the dangers "

Plot: The way the books was written out, was well though out, Emerson included all the important details of Tudor History, and or Nan Bassett's life without drawing it out to be long and boring. I found the book to written very well and entertaining. 

Characters: I liked how Emerson wrote King Henry, she was able to make him more human and not someone I terribly hated (which in most books he comes of as). I liked Nan as well, she was smart and bold, she knew what she wanted but was realistic as well.

Pros: She let's us know what parts are not historically accurate, entertaining, well formatted.

Cons: Not entirely Historically Accurate.

Final Thoughts: I know it is stupid that I am giving a pro and a con for historical accuracy. Mainly because most books I want what I read to be as Historically Accurate as plausible, while still being entertaining. Most Historical fictions will not come out and SAY it directly. They make a small note of it somewhere in the book. So I am glad she told us what was made up. However, i didn't like what Emerson made up, mainly because, it didn't NEED to be made up and was purely made to make the story that much more entertaining. For example Nan's Baby. I found that a very interesting piece of fact. Only to be told it was made up. I don't like that.  OVERALL though, I enjoyed the story. Mainly because it wasn't about King Henry and His Wives. It was about a women at Court and her relations with the royal family and her struggles. Something I did not know about. So in the sense I enjoyed it a lot.

2011 Reads

Click on Books to Link to Reviews

 

Disorderly Conduct By Paul Rucker

My Zoo Family By Helen Martini

Laughing at Wall Street By Chris Camillo

Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover By Ally Carter

Dearly, Departed By Lia Habel

Misguided Angel By Melissa DeLaCruz

Becoming Marie Antoinette By Juliet Gray