This is ultimately a story about the relationship of a very busy single mother and her daughter, Claire. Through notes left for one another on the refrigerator door, we see them love, fight and get caught up on each others lives. When a crisis strikes we see how much they care for one another and also how selfish they can be.
Even though Life on the refrigerator Door is a novel written in a non traditional format, it works. Through these small glimpses of their lives written on notes, we get a sense of each character and their relationship with one another. Their frustrations and also their concerns are very clear. And in a day and age where people do most of their communicating through emails, everybody should be able to relate to these two characters
Sunday, January 20, 2008
"My Life with George" by Judith Summers
When Judith Summers loses her husband and her father within a few weeks, she is devastated. Unsure of how she is going to go on, she does her best to take care of her son, Joshua. So, when Joshua begs to get a dog, even though she doesn’t want one, she agrees. Enter George, the adorable Cavalier King Charles they end up adopting.
On the surface, this is a book about George and all his medical and mental problems and the upheaval he causes in the Summers’ home. George is constantly at the vet for one problem or the other, and Judith brings in animal behaviorist to help with his mental issues. In this regard, it is a light, funny book about a very demanding, neurotic dog.
But underneath, there is a lot more going on. Judith delves back into dating despite feeling guilty and feeling that it may have a negative affect on her son. She is also dealing with loneliness, being a single mother and trying to do what’s right. for her son and herself.
So, if you were looking for a simple little fluffy book about raising a dog, you may want to look somewhere else. But if you are looking for a heartwarming, often funny account of a woman dealing with grief and the dog that helped her, you are in the right place.
On the surface, this is a book about George and all his medical and mental problems and the upheaval he causes in the Summers’ home. George is constantly at the vet for one problem or the other, and Judith brings in animal behaviorist to help with his mental issues. In this regard, it is a light, funny book about a very demanding, neurotic dog.
But underneath, there is a lot more going on. Judith delves back into dating despite feeling guilty and feeling that it may have a negative affect on her son. She is also dealing with loneliness, being a single mother and trying to do what’s right. for her son and herself.
So, if you were looking for a simple little fluffy book about raising a dog, you may want to look somewhere else. But if you are looking for a heartwarming, often funny account of a woman dealing with grief and the dog that helped her, you are in the right place.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
"Pretty Little Liars" by Sara Shepard
This book seriously left me wanting more. I wanted to know more about the four girls, I wanted to know more about their families and I definitely wanted to know more about “The Jenna Thing” So I guess you could say that I enjoyed this book.
Sara Shepard packs in so many controversial topics, you might think that it would leave your head swimming, but it doesn’t. And there are a lot of things in this book. Abduction, cheating, affairs, eating disorders, homosexuality, teenage drinking, sex and, most importantly secrets and lies.
The four main characters, who were all best friends three years ago, each have their own problems. But all of them are getting text messages and emails about secrets that they have. The only problem is the only other person to know their secrets was their friend Alison, who went missing three years ago. So who’s sending the messages?
I would definitely recommend this book to, well, teens and young adults. It was fast paced and I, like the girls, am left wondering who sent them the messages. Guess I’ll have to read the rest of the series to find out.
Sara Shepard packs in so many controversial topics, you might think that it would leave your head swimming, but it doesn’t. And there are a lot of things in this book. Abduction, cheating, affairs, eating disorders, homosexuality, teenage drinking, sex and, most importantly secrets and lies.
The four main characters, who were all best friends three years ago, each have their own problems. But all of them are getting text messages and emails about secrets that they have. The only problem is the only other person to know their secrets was their friend Alison, who went missing three years ago. So who’s sending the messages?
I would definitely recommend this book to, well, teens and young adults. It was fast paced and I, like the girls, am left wondering who sent them the messages. Guess I’ll have to read the rest of the series to find out.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
"Total Constant Order" by Crissa-Jean Chappell
I enjoyed this book. A lot. Fin, the main character who is diagnosed with OCD and immediately put on a mind numbing drug, is both believable and likeable. I really felt for her as she dealt with school and her illness. Hell, being 14 is hard enough with out adding the fact that she couldn’t stop counting. Or washing her hands. When Fin becomes friends with Thayer things start to even out for her. But Thayer has his own problems.
The writing style the author uses compliments the story and the confusion that is constant in Fin’s head. The author jumps from topic to topic, present to past and sometimes it takes the reader, or at least me, a second to catch up with her. While I wouldn’t suggest this as a guide book to OCD and the problems of some anti-depressants, it did give a good over all view of the problems surrounding both. An overall enjoyable book, I would definitely recommend it. I also think this would be an excellent book to teach in schools. There are several topical issues in the novel (depression, divorce, drugs, bullying) and I think it could be a great conduit for discussion.
The writing style the author uses compliments the story and the confusion that is constant in Fin’s head. The author jumps from topic to topic, present to past and sometimes it takes the reader, or at least me, a second to catch up with her. While I wouldn’t suggest this as a guide book to OCD and the problems of some anti-depressants, it did give a good over all view of the problems surrounding both. An overall enjoyable book, I would definitely recommend it. I also think this would be an excellent book to teach in schools. There are several topical issues in the novel (depression, divorce, drugs, bullying) and I think it could be a great conduit for discussion.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
"The Luxe" By Anna Godbersen
High society New York 1899. Gorgeous dresses. Proper behavior. Romance. Love triangles. Heaving bosoms. You can find it all in The Luxe. While this is in no way my usually choice of novel to read, there was so much buzz around it on the HarperCollins Reading Group on Facebook, that I felt I would be missing out if I didn’t at least give this book a try. And I’m glad that I did. While I normally don’t go for romance novels, or even books with any romance in them at all, I enjoyed The Luxe and had a hard time putting it down once I started reading it.
The book is centered around five youths of New York and their intertwined love lives. With all the she-loves-him-but-he-loves-her triangles that are in this book, it could have taken place when I was a teenager, or now, for that fact. It represented quite nicely the pain and joy of teenage love. The book was rich in detail, but I have to admit, not being anything near a fashionista myself, I tended to skim the description of the various dresses the females wear.
What I liked best about this book was getting to know the characters and seeing their interactions with one another. The characters were all well written and their actions were well supported by either their basic character or previous actions.
I do, however, feel this book would have worked better without the prologue. It gave away the “surprise” ending of the book. While I know The Luxe was geared towards youth, I think that anyone over the age of 12 would have been able to see from the prologue what was coming. And for me that took away a bit from the over all suspense of wondering what was going to happen.
I also felt that the description of the book in the jacket liner was misleading. (Spoiler alert if you know NOTHING about the book and have not read the jacket liner). I was expecting almost a murder mystery by the jacket description. But Elizabeth’s death takes place in chapter forty three of a book with forty six chapters in it. And short chapters at that. So I felt a bit misguided.
But that being said, I really did enjoy this book and am looking forward to the sequel. And with two friends wanting to borrow the book from my description of it , I highly recommend it.
The book is centered around five youths of New York and their intertwined love lives. With all the she-loves-him-but-he-loves-her triangles that are in this book, it could have taken place when I was a teenager, or now, for that fact. It represented quite nicely the pain and joy of teenage love. The book was rich in detail, but I have to admit, not being anything near a fashionista myself, I tended to skim the description of the various dresses the females wear.
What I liked best about this book was getting to know the characters and seeing their interactions with one another. The characters were all well written and their actions were well supported by either their basic character or previous actions.
I do, however, feel this book would have worked better without the prologue. It gave away the “surprise” ending of the book. While I know The Luxe was geared towards youth, I think that anyone over the age of 12 would have been able to see from the prologue what was coming. And for me that took away a bit from the over all suspense of wondering what was going to happen.
I also felt that the description of the book in the jacket liner was misleading. (Spoiler alert if you know NOTHING about the book and have not read the jacket liner). I was expecting almost a murder mystery by the jacket description. But Elizabeth’s death takes place in chapter forty three of a book with forty six chapters in it. And short chapters at that. So I felt a bit misguided.
But that being said, I really did enjoy this book and am looking forward to the sequel. And with two friends wanting to borrow the book from my description of it , I highly recommend it.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
"Wicked Lovely" by Melissa Marr
Faeries exist. And not the cute Tinkerbell type. No, these faeries are human size. And most of them are nasty. Lucky for us we can’t see them. Unlucky for Aislinn she can. As a seer, Aislinn can see the fey. But she has spent her life pretending that she can’t. Because it would be very bad for her if the fey knew she could see them. And rule # 1 is never attract their attention. But despite all her hard work and training she does attract the attention of one faery. Keenan, the Summer King seems to be infatuated with her and Aislinn isn’t sure why. Turns out he thinks she is his Summer Queen. Too bad for him she wants nothing to do with it.
I really enjoyed this book a lot. Supernatural fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I’m always looking for new authors to read. The characters were likeable and even more importantly believable. As was the plot. And it kept my interest right until the end.
I simply loved the heroine, Aislinn. In a culture where sexiness and promiscuity seem to be more and more popular and acceptable at a younger age, it was refreshing to have a character who was still a virgin even though she had two guys chasing her. And I applaud Melissa Marr for including a discussion on HIV and STD testing before sex.
This was a well written fantasy novel with that wonderful combination of today’s world and otherworldly folklore. Each chapter began with a quote from various books written over time about faeries and fey. This gives the reader a bit more insight into the folklore behind the story and also the chance to do some reading up on faeries, if they so chose.
And I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. While tying up any loose ends, the author also threw in some surprises and still managed to leave the door wide open for a sequel, which I hope there will be.
Wicked Lovely was wicked good. And I look forward to more from Melissa Marr
I really enjoyed this book a lot. Supernatural fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I’m always looking for new authors to read. The characters were likeable and even more importantly believable. As was the plot. And it kept my interest right until the end.
I simply loved the heroine, Aislinn. In a culture where sexiness and promiscuity seem to be more and more popular and acceptable at a younger age, it was refreshing to have a character who was still a virgin even though she had two guys chasing her. And I applaud Melissa Marr for including a discussion on HIV and STD testing before sex.
This was a well written fantasy novel with that wonderful combination of today’s world and otherworldly folklore. Each chapter began with a quote from various books written over time about faeries and fey. This gives the reader a bit more insight into the folklore behind the story and also the chance to do some reading up on faeries, if they so chose.
And I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. While tying up any loose ends, the author also threw in some surprises and still managed to leave the door wide open for a sequel, which I hope there will be.
Wicked Lovely was wicked good. And I look forward to more from Melissa Marr
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