The Long Way Home

Summary:

"Marnie’s sorrow over her long-time love’s sudden death is nothing compared to the shock of losing his teenage son Troy (a boy she’s raised for ten years) when he’s whisked away to Las Vegas by his absentee birth mother. Luckily, she meets three unlikely allies at a local grief group who join her on an cross-country road trip to reconnect with him. Along for the ride are fifty-something Rita, still reeling from the murder of her daughter years before; Laverne, Marnie’s reclusive, widowed landlady; and Jazzy, a beautiful young psychic. Together, these four very different women embark on the adventure of their lives--a journey toward reconciliation and healing. Heartwarming, funny, and bittersweet, The Long Way Home is a winning novel of friendship and love from best-selling author Karen McQuestion."

Plot: This isn't your average road trip and I like it a lot. The road trip has everything you want and more and isn't crazy fluffy, like some road trip books.

Characters: There are 4 main characters Marnie, Jazzy, Laverne and Rita. Each of these ladies, has something to gain from this impromptu road trip  and although, they are all different, they aren't SO different, where it causes that unneeded drama. I also, liked that McQuestion made them varying in age.

Pros: Has a little bit of something for everyone.

Cons: I wish the summary was different, it doesn't do justice to the actual story.

Final Thoughts:  This book is So SO SO much more then it describes, and even I can't put into words how good it really is. I am a huge fan of McQuestion's style of writing, because I find it to be honest and relate-able. Seriously, there were times where I would put the book down and say out loud " oh my god! it is like she knows me SO well!" because the book, contained everything I enjoy, and the characters possessed qualities, that I have. I would love to read more about Jazzy and her life, she was a character in this book, who I thought really shined.

The Long Way Home By Karen McQuestion is out Tomorrow, May 1st. 

Meeting Maggie Stiefvater and John Corey Whaley

Hello!

So, this weekend I went to the Los Angeles Festival of Books I attended Saturday but was sick Sunday and couldn't attend all the awesome panels I had tickets for! One of those authors on the Panel was Maggie Stiefvater... So I was VERY pleased to find out that the next day (Monday) she and author John Corey Whaley (Where Things Come Back) would be at my local library. I enjoyed the listening to them talk about how they are as writers and giving advice for future writers and they were both beyond funny!

 When Maggie saw that my book was an ARC she said "Ah, you are a blogger, what's the name?" Then asked how long I had been blogging!.

The Fault in Our Stars

Summary:

"Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind."

Plot: This book isn't really about Cancer. I mean it is, but it really isn't. What makes the plot different is that, although sad, it isn't sappy. This isn't Nicholas Sparks or Jodi Picoult (authors I do enjoy as well) we mean a different kind of cancer patient. Ones we don't know read about and well I like it.

Characters: What can I Say? I like Hazel and I like Augustus. They show you how two different people are coping with Cancer. Someone who wants to die with a legacy and the other happy with just being. I enjoyed Issac who brought another level of humor and sympathy to the book. Besides Peter Van Houten, the cast is very likeable and realistic.

Pros: You won't read another book with Cancer in it, written as well as this, It makes you think, it isn't really simple.

Cons: No Cons Per-Say Although I personally could have done w/o Peter Van Houten.. However, he is an extremely essential layer to the book.

Final Thoughts: I expected to cry my eyes out, but I didn't. I did cry, just not as much as I was prepared too, I think that is because I identified with Hazel and kind of accepted the outcome. And oddly, when it comes to The Fault In Our Stars I am pretty speechless. The book is beautifully written and John Green's humor does come through. The Story Inside a Story is gorgeous. I just enjoyed the layers of the book.

The Paris Wife

Summary:

"A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. 
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for. 
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley."

Plot: The plot starts off slow, and not where I expected it to start, but it is exactly where it needed to start you needed to understand these characters to truly feel for how it ended.

Characters: I think McLain captured Hadley and Hemingway perfectly! I truly believed it was them. Every character had that 1920's Paris air around them.

Pros: Beautiful ending, and the writing do definite justice to the people it is actually portraying.

Cons: No Complaints.

Final Thoughts: When I first began The Paris Wife, I was a little disappointed. I wasn't expecting the slow build up and story. I wanted  it to be about the fun and crazy times with Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein ( ala Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris) but what I got was the truth and damn I am happy I did. Even up to the Middle ish end I was thinking "yes this book is good, but rave worthy? No.." then those last 50 pages or so where Hadley is going through the pain and trying to hold on  and then moving on and I was touched. I can see why people love The Paris Wife, I really can.

In My Mailbox (34) - The Monday Edition

Hosted By The Story Siren

For Review

The Long Way Home By Karen McQuestion 

(Thank You Karen!!!)

The Girl In The Clockwork Collar By Kady Cross (e-book)

(Thank You Net Galley/Harlequin Teen)

From The Library

Beauty Queens By Libba Bray

Rash By Pete Hautman

Will Grayson Will Grayson By John Green and David Levithan

The Fault In Our Stars By John Green

Uncommon Criminals By Ally Carter

Red Glove By Holly Black

City of Bones By Cassandra Clare

Photos from Saturday at the LA Book Festival

(when Libba Realizes I am Taking a Photo of them)

 (and Then Begins Posing for me!)

Check Out More Book Related Merchandise!!!

Store

This is just some of the new stuff The Lost Book Reports Store has to offer, feel free to check it out, buy some stuff, share what you like etc. It is run through Cafe Press, and excuse the janky  appearance of the store, I am still working on it. 

Store 

Want Want Want Wednesday (32)

Sapphire Blue By Kerstin Gier

"Gwen’s life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean. At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out."

I absolutely LOVED Ruby Red and Cannot wait to revisit Gwen and Gideon! My only complaint is although, the cover is pretty, it is not cohesive with Ruby Red's cover.

Slice of Cherry By  Dia Reeves

"Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities"

This book is right up my alley and every time I see it, I want to buy it!

Homecoming By Cathy Kelly

"Sometimes the only way forward . . .They say you can’t go home again, and truth be told, Eleanor Levine never planned to. Yet here she is, back in Ireland after a lifetime in New York, moving her treasured possessions—including her mother’s handwritten book of recipes for living—into a cozy Dublin apartment. With its picturesque Georgian villas, redbrick houses, and central garden, the Golden Square is just large enough for anonymity. At least, that’s what actress Megan Bouchier hopes, when a tabloid scandal sends her fleeing the paparazzi, back to the place she felt safest as a child.. . . is the road that takes you home.Rae, manager of the local café, has noticed the lovely, sad-eyed girl. There’s little Rae doesn’t notice, and every customer feels nourished by her food and her kindness, yet Rae’s own secret remains hidden. Connie O’Callaghan—with her fortieth birthday looming—has a secure teaching job, an abundance of blessings . . . and a deep-seated loneliness only her new neighbor Eleanor understands. And as the lives of the four women intertwine, each in her own way is learning about love, letting go—and that finding your way can lead to the last place you expected."

When I saw the cover (not this cover) at Target, I was Sold on wanting to read this book.

Top Ten Tuesday : Tips for New Bloggers

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

1. Do It For The Right Reasons: When you decide to start up a book blog, start because you love to read and you want to express your feelings about books, not because you want free books. Hell when I started, I didn't know there was even a community or that you could request ARC's.

2. Experiment at First: Don't  be afraid to try new things with your blog, until you find what feels right for you. There are plenty of things I tried and changed, until my blog worked the way I wanted.

3. Create an Identity: When You have an identity, you become more recognizable

4. Prepare to Invest Time: Reading books and blogging about them is VERY time consuming, if you want to become a more serious blogger, be ready to spend the time doing so, it is almost a second job.

5. Don't Sweat The Stats: I am stealing this from Jamie's post on The Broke and The Bookish, but is true, something I still struggle with. Some blogs gain more followers then others, more comments, etc. It can make you crazy and make you compare, but truth is you didn't (of shouldn't have) begun blogging to gain a lot of followers.

6. The Rules are There are No Rules: Honestly, do whatever you want! Every blogger has a different thing they like or dislike about other blogs. So don't worry about it, and do what you want. Although, common etiquette is nice.

7. SOCIALIZE!: Comment on other bloggers blogs, use twitter, make connections. Most of the community is REALLY close, you may feel like an outsider. You may feel like there is a group of the "popular" bloggers and you are the outcast. But truth is most of them a really nice, don't be afraid to make an effort. Although, I have yet to find my Blogging BFF, I still talk to other bloggers semi regularly.

8. You Don't Have to Have An English Degree to Blog: This one worried me when I began. I am not some Literature Whiz, I don't really pay attention to prose and stuff like that. I write, how I speak and my English teacher would be disgraced. However, that doesn't mean you can't blog.

9. BE HONEST!: If you start reviewing every book you read like it is the BEST book you ever read, people are going to start calling you out on it. Especially, if you start reviewing ARC's. I know, it is hard when and publisher or even an author (which is even harder) gives you the chance to review their book. You don't want to write a bad review, in fear of ruining that connection you made or hurting their feelings. But really it is just better to write it like you see it.

10. Don't Ruin It For Other Bloggers: How you as blogger act, does affect other bloggers. Remember, although our "job" as bloggers does help publishers and authors promote their books, The authors and publishers do not have to allow us to have access to their books and their are Authors and Publishers etc. out there who already don't like book bloggers, So when you do something to take that from the rest of the community, it sucks. Even though it isn't a job, act with some sort of Professionalism.

In My Mailbox (33)

 Hosted By The Story Siren 
Bought
Bite Me: A Love Story By Christopher Moore Insatiable By Meg Cabot Witches of East End By Melissa De La Cruz Made in the USA By Billie Letts The Host By Stephenie Meyer
  Free E-Galley Artemis Fowl : The Eternity Code By Eion Colfer Artemis FOwl : The Opal Deception By Eion Colfer 
  Gifted  Atlas Shrugged By Ayn Rand
** And No, Your volume is not messed up I forgot to switch the Mic settings when I filmed!**

New Layout!!!

So, to continue with the theme of changes on the blog.. I now have my own custom blog layout and I am beyond excited about it!! Thank You SO SO SO much to Staci from Blogging Bella Designs. To continue with the changes, I now have my own domain name! No more .blogspot.com and I have "opened" my own book related Store . Which is still a giant work in progress, but I hope you all will utilize it and share it. Anyways, I am just over the moon, with how my blog looks!

A Girl In The Park Giveway

  Video Contains All Important Info

The Lost Book Reports Has Merch Now

So, Last Night I had an Idea and I Opened a store on Cafe Press and I am now Selling The Lost Book Reports, Books and Reading Related Items... Right Now, I Only Have the "I Read YA Line" up, but soon there will be more. Here Is An Example of Some of the Stuff On The Store.

The Store Itself Is Kinda Lame, But I Will Work on it, Please Go Take a Look, Buy Some Merch, and Spread the Word PLEASE

http://www.cafepress.com/thelostbookreports

Top Ten Tuesday : Books That are Deceiving

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

1.

Don't let this cover deter you from the true awesomeness of this book. 

2.

Example of when a cover is SO awesome, that you buy a not so awesome book.

3.

This Book was not what I expected at all UGH!

4.

The Only Thing that really bothered me about this cover, is that Anna, doesn't look like the Anna described in the book.

5.

I don't exactly understand, how the cover correlates with the story.

6.

Still not sure why there is a Black Cat in this and Demon Glass 's cover.