This post was inspired by the memes of Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and The Story Siren
From Simon & Schuster: White Cat
From Pump Up Your Book Tours: My Sister's Voice
And from Borders: A Bump in the Road
The Girl Next Door
The Weigh of Silence
Most of my shopping this week consisted of clothing, makeup and bedroom furniture. I went a little bit overboard. :)
It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper.
She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?
Written in lively, artful prose, award-winning author Justina Chen Headley has woven together a powerful novel about a fractured family, falling in love, travel, and the meaning of true beauty.
The Review
North of Beautiful was totally different from the books I normally read. It was a really really slow read for me and I never really felt all that invested in the characters or their stories. With that being said, I did enjoy the book on some level. The story was very genuine and relatable. A lot of people truly love this book, while I enjoyed it, I would have preferred to pick up a page turner instead.
This post was inspired by the memes of Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and The Story Siren
I came home from my Mardi Gras vacation to some new galleys! And I picked up The Great Santini at the airport after the book I packed for the trip just could not grab my attention.From Sourcebooks for a May review: Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell (love her)
From Hachette: The Swan Thieves Audiobook
From Penguin for review: The Executor and Beatrice and Virgil
And I'm winding my way through The Great Santini as we speak.
The Book
In support of Pluto-the cutest and most unfairly treated planet
Pity poor Pluto: It's a planet that was discovered because of a mistake, a planet that turned out not to be a planet at all, thanks to a still-disputed decision made in 2006. And yet, Pluto is the planet best-loved by Americans, especially children, one that may have contained the building blocks of life billions of years ago and may well serve as life's last redoubt billions of years from now.
In The Case for Pluto, award-winning science writer Alan Boyle traces the tiny planet's ups and downs, its strange appeal, the reasons behind its demotion, and the reasons why it should be set back in the planetary pantheon.
Tells the compelling story of Pluto's discovery and how it became a cultural icon
Makes the case for Pluto as planet, countering the books that argue against it
Comes in a small, friendly package — just like Pluto — and features a handsome design, making it a great gift
The Case for Pluto is the must-read tale of a cosmic underdog that has captured the hearts of millions: an endearing little planet that is changing the way we see the universe beyond our backyard.
The Author
Alan Boyle is MSNBC.com’s science editor and the award-winning blogger behind Cosmic Log. He’s been a talking head on NBC’s The Today Show and the MSNBC cable channel, holding forth on scientific subjects ranging from the chances of an asteroid Armageddon to the 3-D wizardry behind the “Harry Potter” movies. But he writes better than he talks.
My Take
This book was great. Anyone could read it and gain a lot of insight into astronomy and history, without getting lost in a lot of scientific language. Excellent photos accompany this narrative non-fiction book making it a highly accessible scientific read.
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| From E-Online |
The Grey's Anatomy star has signed on for the lead role in "One for the Money," based on the first book in the immensely popular Stephanie Plum series of novels by Janet Evanovich, Variety.com reports.
Heigl will play Plum, a lingerie buyer who takes on work as a bounty hunter to make some extra cash, setting off a series of adventures that has lead to 19 books so far, the most recent being "Finger Lickin' Fifteen."
In "One for the Money," Plum learns the ropes of bounty hunting by chasing down a wanted cop named Joseph Morelli, who happens to be the guy who took her virginity back when she was 16 and wrote about it on the bathroom wall of Mario's Sub Shop.
The movie version has been in the works since before "One for the Money" even hit the shelves in 1994, after Columbia Tristar snapped up the rights.
Reese Witherspoon was rumored to have been the original choice to play Plum, but the movie reportedly had languished on the development back burner when that casting did not pan out.
"One for the Money" will be Heigl's second big collaboration with Columbia Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment, after "The Ugly Truth," which scored big at the box office despite being panned by critics, raking in $200 million worldwide.
The 20th Stephanie Plum novel, "Sizzling Sixteen," is set for release on June 22, according to the author's Web site.
I've never read this series, but I know Holly adores it, so I'm interested in seeing how many think Stephanie Plum was completely miscast?
The problem with the book for me was that when one word would do the author used 1000 words. That best plot points were muddied by all the extra information on the page.
Everything that I did like about the book was on the screen. Fans of the book shouldn't be disappointed either, as the script stays very true to the book. There are some changes, but the changes do not impact the overall story much at all and I would argue make the story even better!
My advice? Skip the book and see the movie.
Sam Kingston has it all. She's best friends with the most popular girls in school, making her one of the most popular girls in school. It's Cupid Day and she's going to have the roses to prove her popularity. Her boyfriend is one of the hottest guys in school. But her best friend pre-popularity Kent, back in the third grade, has chosen today to flash his moon eyes at her. She's supposed to spend her first special night with her boyfriend tonight, but they decide to go to Kent's party first. At the party, Juliet who is called Psycho by everyone, shows up to tell Sam and her crew what bitches they are. Shocked, they all throw their beer on her and shove her around with the whole crowd laughing at Juliet. It's a scene straight out of The Rage or She's All That. Juliet runs out in tears, and Kent tells Sam just how appalled by her transformation he is. Sam doesn't want to hear it, her boyfriend is passed out drunk, so her group decides to leave. As they're driving home, something jumps out into the road causing Lindsey to lose control of the car. And that's how Sam dies. But the next day, and for the next five days after, Sam wakes up again on Cupid Day and change the track of the day.
What an amazing book. I hated the ending almost as much as I loved it. It's a dark topic for teens, but it's got a message. I was glued to the pages for two days (it's a 400 + page book, so I took breaks between reliving the days). The emotions of the main character ran the gamut to selfishness to happiness to love to angst. The emotions piqued in me as the reader were disdain, pity, sympathy, and admiration. All for the same girl on the same day with varying outcomes. Fans of Mean Girls will love this.
Roger Rosenblatt and his wife Ginny have led a lovely life. They've raised three successful, happy children and now get to luxuriate in the love of their grandchildren from their home in Quogue, New York. They're converting their garage into a playhouse for the children on their summer visits to see Boppo and Mimi. Their daughter Amy pulled them together when she was pregnant and let them choose what they would be known as for the grandkids. Everyone else chose something reasonable, but Roger chose El Guapo. Granddaughter Jessie put a stop to that with her inability to say it, and so he is now Boppo the Great.
On December 8, 2007, Amy died while working out on the treadmill with her two older children by her side. Jessie ran up to get their dad while Sammy stayed with his mom, trying to get her to breathe. She didn't. She had a rare undetected heart condition that caused her death. Her husband, both stoic and heartbroken, asks Mimi and Boppo to move in and help with the children, and so they do. Making Toast is the story of their first years re-parenting, grieving their beautiful daughter, loved by all who knew her.
The words are simple, the stories are plainly told. And they pack so much more meaning and heartbreak behind them for it. When Sammy acts out the position his mom was in as he tried to wake her up, the tears were flowing. When Bubbies, 1 year old James, cried for his mom and asked when she was coming home, the tears were flowing. But more than the sorrow in the book, is the overwhelming love conveyed throughout. They celebrate Amy's life while mourning her loss. While nothing can ease the loss of a loving mother, the children are in good company growing up with the parents who raised such a wonderful person before them.
gives the inside scoop on being young and female in the white house as part of the Clinton Administration. More than that it is a book about growing up and finding your path in life.I don't know a lot about the Clinton administration, I was an elementary and middle school student during that era. It was really interesting to learn about the power players and their roles in the administration.
Stacy Parker worked for George Stephanopolis as a support staff intern. While in her position she got to know The President himself Bill Clinton, Rahm Emanuel and other movers and shakers in the White House. She talks about her experiences with the job as well as the other staffers.
We also get to know a lot about her love life during her 20s and about the tough career decisions she had to make along the way. We also get to learn about the atmosphere on the inside during the Clinton/Lewinski scandal. Very interesting to read about thats for sure!
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