The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love: by Rosie Rushton

Title: The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love

Author: Rosie Rushton

Format: Hardcover - 336 pages
Publication Date: September 15, 2006 by Hyperion
Buy the Book: Barnes & Noble, Amazon

Goodreads Description: The Walker sisters have always lived a privileged life in their beloved Holly House in Sussex. Even though their father, Max Walker, has left the family to live with his new macrobiotic-food-obsessed trophy wife, Pandora, he has always doted on his girls. But then one day, reality crashes down around them when Max has a heart attack and passes away, uncovering the truth that he was knee deep in debt. The Walkers discover that their home is actually in Pandora's name and she decides she wants it back. So the family has to uproot their lives and move to the seaside town of Norfolk in an old cottage. What happens then…?

Review: Apparently this is supposed to be a modern take on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, which I honestly did not know when I started reading it. Having never read Sense and Sensibility I cannot say whether or not it is a good retelling, but I can tell you it was a good novel to read.

The story is that of 3 sisters who lose their father to a heart attack. After his death, the family learns of the debt that their father left behind, and in turn are forced to move from the house that they had spent their whole lives in. The story follows the girls' as they try to return to normal life while grieving for their father. 

I enjoyed this story so much. The dynamics of the sisters was hilarious, and the whole time they were interacting with each other throughout the story all I could think of was of myself and my sisters. I also enjoyed following the girls as they navigated their new surroundings, and the unexplored universe of love.

After realising this story is a retelling of Jane Austen's novel, I intend to eventually read the original, as this book was absolutely delightful to read. I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoyed the original story, and to anyone who enjoys a good love story.

Overall Rating:

                    

The Queen of Everything: by Deb Calleti

Title: The Queen of Everything
Author: Deb Caletti

Format: Paperback - 384 pages 
Publication Date: May 25, 2004 by Simon Pulse
Buy the Book: Barnes & Noble, Amazon

Goodreads Description: "People ask me all the time what having Vince MacKenzie for a father was like. What they mean is, was he always crazy?" High school junior Jordan MacKenzie's life was pretty typical: fractured family, new boyfriend, dead-end job. She'd been living with her father (the predictable optometrist) since her mother (the hippie holdover) had been too embarrassing to be around. Jordan felt that she finally had as normal a life as she could. Then came Gayle D'Angelo.

Jordan knew her father was dating Gayle and that Gayle was married. Jordan knew it was wrong and that her father was becoming someone she didn't recognize anymore, but what could she do about it? And how could she -- how could anyone -- have possibly guessed that this illicit love affair would implode in such a violent and disturbing way?

Review: I have always enjoyed Deb Caletti's style of writing since I read Honey, Baby, Sweetheart a few years ago. She has a way of creating characters who, even though their stories are out of the ordinary, are easy to relate to and understand emotionally.

I immediately liked Jordan, and I enjoyed the story being told from her perspective. I felt that her telling was how a normal high school girl would tell the story of her father's illicit affair with a married woman. While she knew that the affair was toxic, there was nothing she could do except to sit back and watch her father's life fall apart before her eyes. 

The ending of the story was extremely predictable, but it was still a fantastic read all the same. The story had enough suspense and back story that it was easy to get lost in. It was a quick and fun read, and I look forward to reading Caletti's other novels.

Overall Rating:

                          

Blogging is Hard Work

Not that I ever thought that it would be easy, but keeping up with a blog has proved much harder than I thought it would!

I was so distracted and busy during the holidays, that I almost forgot that I had even started this blog. Honestly, if I had even wanted to post on the blog it would have been pointless, as I read not a single book all vacation. I just started to read again this past week, and it feels amazing! I just find something so relaxing about reading and blogging. It is a way to lose touch with reality, and get lost in the world of books. I just love the entire book blogging community!!

I will be posting much more frequently now that school has started. I find that posting is a way to step back from all the school work, take a break, and do something that I love!

The next two posts will be on two books that I read last week!
The first is The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love by Rosie Rushton.
And the second post will be on The Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti.

Top Ten Tuesday #2: Books On My Winter TBR List!

Every week The Broke and the Bookish hosts the Top Ten Tuesday. This week the topic is the top ten books that I am looking forward to reading this winter!

So here it is, my list! These are the books I am most excited to cuddle up with under a comfy blanket, with a nice cup of hot cocoa this winter season!

Love and Other Perishable Items  by Laura Buzo: I have been dying to read this! Definitely a book I cannot wait to cuddle up with as I feel like once I start reading it I won't be able to stop!

Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon: The third book in this series, Love Reborn, is coming out beginning of January so I would like to get caught up in time for the release!

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson: The reviews on Goodreads for this book are great! It seems that everyone seems to love this book, and it sounds amazing! Definitely excited for this one!

Alice Brown's Lessons in the Curious Art of Dating by Eleanor Prescott: This sounds like such a fun read! A matchmaker with an impossible client.. could get interesting!

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen: I have wanted to read this for so long! Finally going to get it, and then going to watch the movie with Angelina Jolie!

Severed: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Dax Varley: Always love a good retelling of Sleepy Hollow!

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weinsberger: I read this years ago when the movie came out. I want to re-read it so that way I can read the sequel that came out recently!


Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella: Just bought this whole series at a second hand bookstore! Definitely starting as soon as possible.


The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate: Looooved the Fallen series by her, so I am sure I will love this book also!

And finally..

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS! The movie looks absolutely amazing and I do not want to see the movie until after I read the book! I am currently number 33 on the wait list at my library, but they have 14 copies so hopefully it goes by fast!!!

 

What books will you be reading this winter?! Let me know in the comments! Maybe I will get some good ideas from you!

Someday, Someday, Maybe: by Lauren Graham

Title: Someday, Someday, Maybe
Author: Lauren Graham
Format: eBook - 344 pages
Publication Date: April 30, 2013 by Ballantine Books
Buy the Book: Barnes&Noble, Amazon

Goodreads Description: Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.

Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet. 

Review: This book was definitely not one of my favourites to read. I just found it very hard to get into the book, and it just dragged at some points. I felt like there was a lot of story and dialogue, but nothing going on. I was just bored.

Also, I just did not enjoy the character of Franny as much as I would have liked. I found her to be kind of dumb actually. She had all these feelings and insticts about events and people, but she would never follow them! She just kept making excuses for why things were the way they were, or why she should keep dating some jerk. That is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to main female characters, I mean come on you know that you should not be doing that, SO DON'T DO IT.


I found myself craving more of Franny's roommates than I did her. I absolutely loved Jane, she is such a badass, funny, true character, and at times I wished she was my friend! And do not even get me started on Dan... gahhh I am in love!


The ending of this book was such a shock.. it left off at a huge cliffhanger! NOOOO! I need to know what happens! I am assuming she is planning on writing a sequel as she left so many things unanswered. And according to Goodreads, "Graham signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television and Ellen DeGeneres' production company A Very Good Production to adapt it into a TV series. The script will be written by her." I am excited for this as I feel it could make for a very nice TV show if the casting is done right.

All in all, it was not a horrible book, but I would try to rent it from a library or a friend before spending money on it.

Overall Rating:

                        

 

The Carrie Diaries: by Candace Bushnell

Title: The Carrie Diaries
Author: Candace Bushnell
Format: eBook - 389 pages
Publication Date: April 27, 2010 by HarperCollins
Buy the Book: Barnes&Noble, Amazon

Goodreads Description: Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation?

The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie's senior year of high school. She and her best friends -- Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse -- are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it's finally time to go after everything she ever wanted.

Rabid fans of Sex and the City will love seeing Carrie Bradshaw evolve from a regular girl into a sharp, insightful writer. They'll learn about her family background -- how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. We'll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where the next Carrie Diaries book will take place.

Review: This book was a flashback to high school! The boy drama, the friend drama, the mean girl drama, this book has it all. I literally felt like i was reliving my senior year of high school all over again, but this time with Carrie Bradshaw as my best friend (I wish).

After watching the Sex and the City TV series and movies, I was extremely excited to see how Candace Bushnell would portray Carrie in her younger years, and she did not disappoint me one bit. I loved this look into Carrie's last year of high school before she goes on to tackle "The City".

The best part of this whole book though.. is the ending! Candace Bushnell leaves the story with Carrie getting in touch with none other than.. well you will just have to read it for yourself to see! But I will tell you this, it is one of the other main characters from Sex and the City. I cannot wait to read Summer and the City and see what adventures await young Carrie as she ventures to NY city for the first time!

Overall Rating:

                         

Top Ten Tuesday #1: 2014 Most Anticipated Releases!

Every week The Broke and the Bookish hosts the Top Ten Tuesday. This week the topic is the top ten 2014 releases that I am dying to get my hands on!

So here is it.. my list in no particular order!

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han: I am super excited for this book it sounds like it will be a very fun and cute story. Plus I love Jenny Han's Summer series!

Isla and the Happily Ever After  by Stephanie Perkins: Words cannot even begin to describe how excited I am for this book! Anna and the French Kiss is definitely one of my most favourite books ever!

Landline by Rainbow Rowell: I have just started reading Rainbow Rowell's novels, and I cannot get enough! I am sure this book will not disappoint either!

 

Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel: This is a retelling of Peter Pan.. enough said!!

Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir: I am excited for this one because it is so different from what I normally read! I have only read a couple contemporary novels before and loved them, and I am excited to see what this one has to offer!

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern: I have really been into the not-your-usual romance books lately, and it seems to me that this is exactly what this will end up being!

The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes: I have been really into these romantic comedies lately, and this one sounds absolutely perfect!


How to Meet Boys by Catherine Clark: I have a feeling that this will be the perfect beach read for next summer!


Royally Lost by Angie Stanton: Romance in Europe.. no need to say anything else!!

And last, but certainly not least:

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: OMG! A suspense novel from E. Lockhart?! I cannot wait to get my hands on this! I am obsessed with her Ruby Oliver series, and I just know that this book will be amazing!!

 

So there is my list of the top ten books I am dying to read in 2014! What are you guys dying to read next year?!