Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Holy crapola, I love this book. In the YA dystopian trilogy genre, not much has measured up to the Hunger Games (with exception to Divergent by Veronica Roth...LOVED). But if Book 2 & 3 of this series are on par with Delirium, then I think it could give HG a run for its money.


Summary: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

New Guilty Pleasure - Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

I think I found my new guilty pleasure series. This seems like it's along the same lines as my current guilty pleasure, the Blue Bloods series. My guilty pleasure books are usually fast, fun books about snotty, supernaturally gifted teens who are just coming into their powers and all the drama that comes along with it.


I actually read a couple of books from the author's first series, Vampire Academy...they were good. But I didn't love them and fell off the boat. But there's been a lot of love for her new series which follows minor characters from her VA series. So, I think I may have to give this series a try.


TIDBIT: This is the same author that writes an adult paranormal series about a succubus (Succubus Blues, Succubus Heat, etc.) I've only read a few of those books, but they were pretty good. I mean, who doesn't love a good fantasy / paranormal smutty book about a gal who can seduce men to do whatever she wants?


Summary: The first book in Richelle Mead's brand-new teen fiction series - set in the same world as Vampire Academy.When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning.Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

I like most Jennifer Crusie books, but I honestly couldn't tell you my absolute favorite one because they haven't stood out that much. But this one changed that for me. This was such a delightful book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I devoured this book on a 7 hour cross country plane trip and was very satisfied once it was over.


Summary: Take one food writer named Cranky Agnes, add a hitman named Shane, mix them together with a Southern mob wedding, a missing necklace, two annoyed flamingos, and a dog named Rhett and you've got a recipe for a sexy, hilarious novel about the disastrous side of true love…


Agnes Crandall's life goes awry when a dognapper invades her kitchen one night, seriously hampering her attempts to put on a wedding that she's staked her entire net worth on.  Then a hero climbs through her bedroom window.  His name is Shane, no last name, just Shane, and he has his own problems:  he's got a big hit scheduled, a rival trying to take him out, and an ex-mobster uncle asking him to protect some little kid named Agnes.  When he finds out that Agnes isn't so little, his uncle has forgotten to mention a missing five million bucks he might have lost in Agnes's house, and his last hit was a miss, Shane's life isn't looking so good, either.  Then a bunch of lowlifes come looking for the money, a string of hit men show up for Agnes, and some wedding guests gather with intent to throw more than rice.  Agnes and Shane have their hands full with greed, florists, treachery, flamingos, mayhem, mothers of the bride, and--most dangerous of all--each other.

Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand

I went into this book prepared to put it down halfway through because this is a story that has been told before...Friend A gets into a tight situation, goes to a wonderful home in a magical setting to lick her wounds and reunites with an old friend & comes upon a romance along the way.

While this book does follow a certain formula set by other books, the story was somewhatly fresh and I enjoyed the characters and didn't even think about putting the book down halfway through.

Summary: Meredith Martin Delinn just lost everything: her friends, her homes, her social standing - because her husband Freddy cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars.

Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie's had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can't offer complete escape, and they're plagued by new and old troubles alike. When Connie's brother Toby - Meredith's high school boyfriend - arrives, Meredith must reconcile the differences between the life she is leading and the life she could have had. 

Set against the backdrop of a Nantucket summer, Elin Hilderbrand delivers a suspenseful story of the power of friendship, the pull of love, and the beauty of forgiveness.

Groundswell by Katie Lee

I was really excited to read this book. And then I finished it and was NOT excited about it. I didn't expect a great literary story...but I was hoping for something with a little more depth.

Summary: Sometimes the biggest ripples come from the smallest events. Like the day that Emma Guthrie walks into world-famous movie star Garrett Walker’s trailer. When she steps through the door, she’s a novice PA who’s just dropped out of college after losing her scholarship. When she walks out, she’s on her way to becoming Mrs. Emma Walker—wife of an A-list actor. Soon, Emma has made the transition from nobody to red-carpet royalty, trading jeans and flip-flops for closets full of Chanel and Birkin bags, swishing past velvet ropes to attend every lavish party and charity gala on both coasts. With her husband’s encouragement, Emma pens a screenplay based on her life, Fame Tax, which becomes a blockbuster sensation. Through it all, Garrett is her ally and her mentor . . . until their relationship is thrown into question by an incriminating text message that Emma discovers on Garrett’s phone the night of the Met Costume Institute Gala. 

Devastated by her husband’s infidelity and hounded mercilessly by the paparazzi, Emma must flee New York City to get away from it all and clear her head. Her destination? A sleepy coastal town in Mexico where no one recognizes her and there is nothing but unspoiled beaches for miles. Here, she meets Ben, a gorgeous, California-born surf instructor, who teaches her about the healing powers of surfing, shows her the joys of the simple life, and ultimately opens her up to the possibility of love. 

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

I knew what I was getting myself into by reading this book...but at the same time, I did NOT know what I was getting myself into. There were graphic parts of this book that I wasn't ready for, but at the same time I was really blown away by the mindset / psychological part of this story. After finishing this book, the first thing I wanted to do was give Jaycee a big hug and tell her that she is moving in the right direction and is a very strong person.

Summary: In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen.
For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse.

For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation.

On August 26, 2009, I took my name back. My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I don’t think of myself as a victim. I survived.

A Stolen Life is my story—in my own words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it.

Cell by Stephen King

This was a fun, quick read for me. I certainly wouldn't chalk it up to the best book I've ever read by King, but I didn't hate it and I was actually interested in finding out the resolution of the book (I have been reading some real duds lately, so this is really refreshing for me). Also, this book was written when King was in "retirement" and as a result, the plot is very straightforward and to the point. It's very much a WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU MA'AM kind of book. 


Summary: What if a pulse sent out through cell phones turned every person using one of them into a zombie-like killing machine? That's what happens on page six of King's latest, a glib, technophobic but compelling look at the end of civilization—or at what may turn into a new, extreme, telepathically enforced fascism. Those who are not on a call at the time of the pulse (and who don't reach for their phones to find out what is going on) remain "normies." 


One such is Clayton Riddell, an illustrator from Kent Pond, Maine, who has just sold some work in Boston when the pulse hits. Clay's single-minded attempt to get back to Maine, where his estranged wife, Sharon, and young son, Johnny-Gee, may or may not have been turned into "phoners" (as those who have had their brains wiped by the pulse come to be called) comprises the rest of the plot. King's imagining of what is more or less post-Armageddon Boston is rich, and the sociological asides made by his characters along the way—Clay travels at first with two other refugees—are jaunty and witty.

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

This book 100% affirmed that I am OBSESSED with this series. While I really enjoyed Book 1, I didn't know if it was because of the TV show's influence over me (bc I really like the TV version). But now that I'm reading the 2nd book without the TV show mirroring what I'm reading, I know that I am going to tear through the next 3 books.


Reading the first book,A Game of Thrones, with the TV show was good because it helped me keep track of who was who and get used to the pace of the story. But A Clash of Kings was soooo much better for me. I really liked the depth of the character stories and the new drama that's going on with each one. My favorite characters are definitely Arya, Theon, and Tyrion. At first I wasn't a fan of Jon, but towards the end of the book he started to grow on me. I'm still not a fan of Catelynn. For whatever reason, her part in the story does not interest me and I don't feel like she's bringing anything to the book. Maybe her story will get better as the series goes on.


I don't want to get too much into what the book was about because I'm a big "No Spoiler" fan. But I will tell you that this book is even more bananas than the first. Lots of death, sex, sorcery, an intense war, and intrigue. I can't wait to read Book 3, but I need to take a break before I get started. Since these books only come out every few years, I need to make this series stretch out as long as possible!

Used Book Store Trip

Ethan and I went to the used book store this past weekend and I had a pretty big credit to use up ($20 Groupon + $30 book credit). The used book store, Green Apple Books, we go to is pretty wonderful and is by far the best book store I've been to (used and new). They have a HUGE selection and span across 2 storefronts and have an upstairs/downstairs. My only beef with them is that they don't have a huge selection of girly, romance, chick-lit books. This is the kind of place I get "smart" books from. 


Anyways, I got some books that I've had on my list for a looong time. I added them to my wish list so long ago, but hesitated getting them because I didn't want them on Kindle but I also didn't want a hardback version of the book.


Here's what I got...

TUESDAY TOP THREE: August Releases

There are a few books coming out in August that I'm really jazzed about. Since summer is on it's way out, I've found that this is a part of the year that new book releases are on a bit of a lull (at least for books that I like). SO, I was really excited to find out about these books.

Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me

Summary: It's no lie: Chelsea Handler loves to smoke out "dumbassness," the condition people suffer from that allows them to fall prey to her brand of complete and utter nonsense. Friends, family, co-workers--they've all been tricked by Chelsea into believing stories of total foolishness and into behaving like total fools. Luckily, they've lived to tell the tales and, for the very first time, write about them. 


This was a pretty cute book...but I didn't love it like I wanted to.

New Library List

Since I read quite a few books over my vacations I really need to replenish my library. Right now I'm finishing up A Clash of Kings (A Game of Thrones, book 2) and it is AMAZING. And while I would like to plunge right into Book 3 (A Storm of Swords), I want to make this series last...and to be honest, I need a bit of a brain break between these books. 


SO, I've scoured the internet for my next reads and here's my latest library list.

The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen

This is the perfect, mindless (but not vapid) book. To be honest, it reminded me of a more serious, modern day version of Sweet Valley High (the adult version).

Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Once I opened this book, I could not put it down!  It's the perfect intro into a trilogy and gives us enough storyline and character development to start everything off on the right foot (ahem...take note, Discovery of Witches).


Summary: The three Beauchamp women--Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid--live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there's Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache. 

For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it's time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them. 

Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz

Like I've said before about the Blue Bloods series, these books are like candy that I want to take down one right after the other. It is definitely my guilty pleasure series. They're short, smutty, and modern. And luckily, the plot is not 100% predictable...I usually have a sense of where the book is going, but there's one or two elements that took me by surprise.

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

This book is a pretty big departure for me compared to the usual style of books I read. But I really enjoyed it! I didn't love the book, but it was one of those books that after I finished it...I felt satisfied that I got what I wanted out of it.

Summer Duds

It's been a looong time since I've posted and the main reason for that is that I've been on vacation! When I go on trips, I try to take in as many books as possible since it's so easy to post up in a chaise lounge and zone out with a book. Unfortunately, two of the books I read on my latest trip were duds. And surprisingly, these were books that I was REALLY looking forward to. I made it about halfway through each of these books before I had to give it up and move on...

If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster

Jen Lancaster writes one of the funniest blogs I've ever read (www.jennsylvania.com), so I had high hopes for her first fiction book. Annnd, she did pretty good. Not great! But pretty good. As most books like this are, the story followed a certain formula and was fairly predictable, but the plot was fairly original and one that I could somewhatly relate to (I love HGTV).

Summary: If You Were Here follows Amish-zombie-teen- romance author Mia and her husband Mac (and their pets) through the alternately frustrating, exciting, terrifying-but always funny-process of buying and renovating their first home in the Chicago suburbs that John hughes's movies made famous. Along their harrowing renovation journey, Mia and Mac get caught up in various wars with the homeowners' association, meet some less-than-friendly neighbors, and are joined by a hilarious cast of supporting characters, including a celebutard ex- landlady. As they struggle to adapt to their new surroundings- with Mac taking on the renovations himself- Mia and Mac will discover if their marriage is strong enough to survive months of DIY renovations.

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

MY. MIND. IS. BLOWN.

I speed read this book on my flight home for vacation. As in, after the miserable first leg of my red-eye flight, I sat for 3 HOURS! in the Dallas airport at 5am and read this book. My mouth was open the entire time.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

As a gal in her late twenties, I felt like I was a little old to be reading a book that was so obviously written for 16 year olds...but holy cow, I really liked this book. It was Gossip Girl meets Twilight with a touch of modern-day Nancy Drew (if Nancy Drew were a bitchy high-schooler who wore Tory Burch and DVF).

Summary: De la Cruz has revamped traditional vampire lore in this story featuring a group of attractive, privileged Manhattan teens who attend a prestigious private school. Schuyler Van Alen, 15, the last of the line in a distinguished family, is being raised by her distant and forbidding grandmother. Schuyler, her friend Oliver, and their new friend Dylan are treated like outsiders by the clique of popular, athletic, and beautiful teens made up of Mimi Force, her twin brother, and her best friend. 


What they have in common is the fact that they are all Blue Bloods, or vampires. They don't realize that they aren't normal until they reach age 15. Then the symptoms manifest themselves and they begin to crave raw meat, have nightmares about events in history, and get prominent blue veins in their arms. Their immortality and way of life are threatened after Blue Blood teens start getting murdered by a splinter group called the Silver Bloods. This novel constantly name-drops and is full of product placements, drinking, drugs, nonexplicit sex, and superficial characterizations.

20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak

This was the perfect book to read on the beach with nothing better to do. I wouldn't say that this is a book that you must run out and read right now, but for what it was...it was a fun read.

Summary: Delilah Darling is a woman on the cusp of 30 who loses her job and sleeps with her heinous former boss in an entanglement that's the 20th notch on her headboard. It's a painful realization, as she'd just read in the New York Post, that the average person has 10.5 partners in their lifetime. Fearing she has more than reached her quota, Delilah takes off on a cross-country trip, determined to find "the one" among the 20 of her former lovers. But she soon discovers that the men of her romantic past "an inmate, a rehab patient, a dog-obsessed Amway salesman and a Muppeteer among them" aren't exactly life-partner material.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

If you've read previous posts of mine, you'll know that this is a book that I've been looking forward to for some time. The premise of the book really sings to me...a group of beauty queens stranded on an island trying to survive. And it's all told in a satirical format. But after getting into the book, I realized there are so many layers to this book that I did not expect.

Summary: Teen beauty queens. A Lost-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to emall. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

A Game of Thrones : Book 1 by George R.R. Martin

I'm halfway through A Game of Thrones (or as one of my book reading buddies calls it...Throner Boner) and it is SO. GOOD.

Disclaimer: I don't think I would enjoy this book as much without having watched the HBO show. The show follows the book fairly closely and has helped me map out all the different characters and families involved...because there are a LOT of characters / families to keep track of. Normally I like to read the book before I see the movie/show, but in this instance I'm glad the show came before the book for me.

Vacation Reads!

I'm leaving the city for a week-long vacation back home and I have quite the list of books that I plan on reading. It's a good mix of real books and e-books...of course the majority are fluff books, but I'm pretty jazzed about laying in the sun and reading mindlessly. Not sure if I'll get through all of them, but I will certainly try.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I first ran across this book via it's trailer on Entertainment Weekly's book blog (http://shelf-life.ew.com/) and it's stuck with me because it was such a spooky, fun video. The author is also a filmmaker and flew to Belgium to create this video because Belgium has quite the collection of abandoned, eery houses.

Summary: As a kid, Jacob formed a special bond with his grandfather over his bizarre tales and photos of levitating girls and invisible boys. Now at 16, he is reeling from the old man's unexpected death. Then Jacob is given a mysterious letter that propels him on a journey to the remote Welsh island where his grandfather grew up. 


There, he finds the children from the photographs--alive and well--despite the islanders’ assertion that all were killed decades ago. As Jacob begins to unravel more about his grandfather’s childhood, he suspects he is being trailed by a monster only he can see. 

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

I went into a bookstore today (something I surprisingly haven't done in a long time) and really enjoyed looking at / holding the books that I've been researching on the Internet. The one that caught my eye was, Robopocalypse. I've seen it on my Amazon "Recommended for You" screen, but have blown it off because the cover doesn't do much for me. But I threw caution to the wind and picked up the book to read the inner flap and it actually sounded like a really fun book (especially since I love a good apocalyptic story.)

Summary: They are in your house. They are in your car. They are in the skies…Now they’re coming for you. 

In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archos comes online and assumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense and communication. In the months leading up to this, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans – a single mother disconcerted by her daughter’s menacing “smart” toys, a lonely Japanese bachelor who is victimized by his domestic robot companion, an isolated U.S. soldier who witnesses a ‘pacification unit’ go haywire – but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late. 

When the Robot War ignites -- at a moment known later as Zero Hour -- humankind will be both decimated and, possibly, for the first time in history, united. Robopocalypse is a brilliantly conceived action-filled epic, a terrifying story with heart-stopping implications for the real technology all around us…and an entertaining and engaging thriller unlike anything else written in years. 

Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Susan Elizabeth Philips was my first foray into the world of romance novels. My mom is an avid fan of hers and she passed a couple of her books off to me when I was younger. I loved reading them when I was younger, because there was a huge backlog of books that I had to read...but now that I've read most of her books - I have to wait for her new ones to come out before I can really enjoy another one of her stories...which stinks. Either way, SEP is the most solid romance/chick-lit writer that I have come across. Every book is like a romantic comedy waiting to be made into a movie. I can't recall one of her books that was a dud.

Summary: Onetime PGA star and smalltown mayor Ted Beaudine is about to marry Lucy Jorik, the daughter of a former president, when she's persuaded to break it off by her best friend, Meg Koranda , the aimless daughter of Hollywood royalty. Everyone in Wynette, Tex., loves Ted, but Meg feels Lucy deserves a passionate partner, not a god of self-control. After the disaster of calling off the wedding at the last minute, Meg's parents cut her off, stranding her in the hostile town. As Meg finds her own path and helps Ted discover his heart, the townspeople stoutly (and hilariously) defend their golden boy.

A series of underwhelming books...

I don't know what it is, but lately I've been reading some real bombs. I finished two really great books (Divergent by Veronica Roth and Simply Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips) and was really on a high after those two...but now I've hit a wall. I've gotten about 100 pages in to both of these books and my concentration was going 5 different ways both times. Maybe it's because I'm stockpiling all the books I'm jazzed about for my upcoming vacation, but these were real snoozes for me...

Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin

Kathy Griffin is a very polarizing person...you either love or hate her. I've always been on the side of dislike because I didn't care for her publicizing all of her plastic surgery and her comedy style feels a little cheap-shot to me. But after a friend mentioned that she picked this book up for summer reading, I looked into it and it sounded interesting enough to try!

Summary: Kathy Griffin has won Emmys for her reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, been nominated for a Grammy, worked and walked every red carpet known to man, and rung in the New Year with Anderson Cooper. But the legions of fans who pack Kathy’s sold-out comedy shows have heard only part of her remarkable story. Writing with her trademark wit, the feisty comic settles a few old scores, celebrates the friends and mentors who helped her claw her way to the top, and shares insider gossip about celebrity behavior—the good, the bad, and the very ugly. 

She recounts the crazy ups and downs of her own career and introduces us to some of the supertalented people she encountered before they got famous (or, in some cases, after fame went to their heads). Word to the wise: If you’ve ever crossed Kathy Griffin at some point in your life, check the index for your name.

Along the way, Kathy reveals intimate details about her life before and after she made the big time. She opens up about everything from growing up with a dysfunctional family in suburban Illinois to bombing as a young comedian in L.A., from her well-publicized plastic surgery disasters to her highly publicized divorce, and more. Only in this book will you learn how the dinner table is the best training ground for a career in stand-up, how speaking your mind can bite you on the ass and buy you a house, and which people in Kathy’s life have taught her the most valuable lessons—both inside and outside the entertainment industry.

TUESDAY TOP THREE: Chick-Lit Summer Releases

I just devoured my Entertainment Weekly that focuses on all upcoming summer entertainment: movies, music, and books. I added a bunch of books to my wish list once I finished this issue, and after I looked at what I added - it seems most of them are of the chick-lit variety.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

To say that I went out of my way to read this book is an understatement. I stayed up late, woke up early, and sequestered myself in my room to finish this book. This book was GOOD! I've only read a few other dystopian YA novels because all of the descriptions sound lame, but this is the first book that has come close to THE trilogy, The Hunger Games.

Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. 

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

The Radleys by Matt Haig

I found out about this book through my trusty Entertainment Weekly a while back and finally got around to reading it. This book is such a departure from any vampire books/TV that I have seen. I almost didn't know how I felt about it because it was so different. It was not teen angst-y like Twilight, or overly smutty like True Blood, and definitely not dark and twisted like an Anne Rice novel. The intriguing part of this book was that it was that it reads like a typical family drama...except the family is full of vampires.

Publishers Weekly Summary: Dr. Peter Radley and his wife, Helen, have fled wild London for the village of Bishopthorpe, where they live an outwardly ordinary life. The Radleys, who follow the rules of The Abstainer's Handbook (e.g., "Be proud to act like a normal human being"), haven't told their 15-year-old vegan daughter, Clara, and 17-year-old son, Rowan, who's troubled by nightmares, that they're really vampires. A crisis occurs when a drunken classmate of Clara's, Stuart Harper, attacks her on her way home from a party and inadvertently awakens the girl's blood thirst. Peter's call for help to his brother, Will, a practicing vampire, leads to scary consequences.

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales

Everyone is all atwitter about this new book about ESPN. I've never been a huge fan of ESPN and usually only watch out of the corner of my eye when Ethan is catching up on baseball news. But I can't resist a good gossipy book, so this weirdly interests me.

The book features the history of ESPN and how it was a network that almost didn't happen. They also get into what the culture at ESPN is like. Apparently it's based out of a tiny town in Connecticut (Bristol). The town is supposedly very boring and that boredom helps drive a number of illicit behaviors in the ESPN offices. A Time article I read (http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2073818,00.html) says this: The culture in Bristol was intense, and intensely male. Betting on games was epidemic. There were drugs. There was sexual harassment. There was sex in the stairwells. "We had no social life because we worked all the time," an early director of production says. "There were a lot of interoffice romances going on because you didn't have a chance to meet anybody else...People who you never thought would get divorced were getting divorced, and a lot of those guys didn't have any regard for women." The company kept an apartment in Manhattan, and at one point it came out that some of the secretaries were turning tricks there, pimped by a guy in the mail room. 

TUESDAY TOP THREE: NY Times Best Seller List

I've been racking my brain for a really good Tuesday Top Three topic and am at a loss...so then I hit up the NY Times Best Seller list for inspiration and decided that this is my topic for today! There are several books on this list that I have read, a couple that I want to read, and lots that I don't want to read. Here are a few that standout to me.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (+ Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zucko)

I've already posted a "halfway through the book" review (here: http://bit.ly/jORdwl), but since I've finished the book here's my 100% full take on the book...it was REALLY GOOD! There were parts that I would have cut out so that the book read a little quicker, but overall it was really engaging  and I've found myself babbling to other people about the things I've found out about from the story.

Quick summary: Louis Zamperini grew up a troubled kid and was in and out of trouble in his youth. His older brother got him into the sport of running. From there, Zamperini went on to be an Olympic athlete and came very close to reaching the elusive 4:00 mile (many speculate that he could have reached that mark if he didn't go off to war). With the looming war, Zamperini enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Hawaii. One day he took off in his B-24, The Green Hornet, on a search mission and his plane crashed in the Pacific. He and 2 other men survived and floated for 44 days while sharks circled the rafts. They were eventually picked up by the Japanese and became POWs. From there our story takes us through Zamperini's horrific time spent in POW camp.

Mid-book Review: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

I'm only about halfway through this book and have already developed a love/hate relationship with it. Because you should always end on a positive, I'll start with the ugly.

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

I just read about this book on one of the book blogs I follow (bookfinds.com/blog) and I'm doing small herkies at my desk because this book sounds A-MAY-ZING.

It's by the same author (Ann Brashares) who wrote Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. This is a very young adult book that I'm not afraid to say I love and also own. She also wrote a chick-lit book last summer, The Last Summer (of You and Me), which was also good...but not great. I wouldn't go out of your way to read it.

But holy cow! This book sounds really good. (Maybe a little Nicholas Sparks-ish, though.)

Updated Wish List

I've mentioned before that I often have to go through my Amazon Wish List and clean it up based off books I've read, random books I've added, and of course any books that have recently been released and I need to read ASAP.

It must be because of the upcoming summer months, but I have a lot of books in my wish list that I'm really excited about getting into. Below are some of my tops...

Blameless by Gail Carriger

This is the 3rd book in the Parasol Protectorate series...I've blogged before about the first two books in the series, Soulless and Changeless (http://bit.ly/l9dHiC). While the book was really fun to read, it definitely fell to the bottom when compared to the other two books in the series. More on that later...

Quick summary: Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.

The Red Tent by Anita Diaman

I don't typically read books like this, but this book came highly recommended to me so I had to check it out.

(I haven't read either of these books in a while, so I'm leaning heavily on other book reviews that I've just read to refresh my memory.)

Just to clear the air, the Red Tent was used back in the olden days by ladies when they were having their time of the month and where they went to have babies. So there was lots of lady time going on in that tent.

Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen

I almost didn't read this book because for whatever reason, the premise didn't especially sing to me. But I'm so glad I did!! It's  a chick-lit style book, but it has a lot more depth than I expected. I think this is a story that people can actually relate to...I know that I found myself thinking about the story a lot long after I put the book down.

Quick summary: Julia is a 30-something successful event planner in D.C. and is married to her high-school sweetheart, Michael. Michael enjoyed rapid success with his start-up company and now the two are living the life of the rich and famous. One night Michael has a heart attack and is dead for 4 minutes. When he wakes up, he realizes he was living his life all the wrong way and wants to give away everything that he has built and re-build his relationship with his wife (which deteriorated as he devoted so much time to work). But Julia isn't sure she's up to re-building that relationship and is pissed that her husband wants to give away everything that he has worked for (and she has sacrificed for). And so our story begins...

If You Were Here by Jennifer Lancaster

I've never watched a book trailer before (and didn't really know they existed), but I just watched this one for Jennifer Lancasters new book that came out yesterday. I've written about this author before and reviewed her memoirs and her hilarious blog...but this is her first foray into fiction. And it looks really cute!!


TIDBIT: Since I've posted about her blog I've had a renewed interest in what she's writing and have actually "liked" her on Facebook and really get tickled over her status updates. It's a nice break from reading about the size of people's babies, political point of views, etc.


Now is the big debate of do I Kindle purchase, real book purchase, or library book it....

A Visit from the Goon Squad...again.

A lot has happened for this book since I finished it!

It recently won a Pulitzer Prize....which by the way, I'm so proud of myself for having read a Pulitzer winning novel. It makes me feel super smart and with the times. ESPECIALLY since I recommended this book out to a few people before it won the Pulitzer (granted it had one several other literary prizes by the time I read it). Usually books that win awards are not my style of books, so I'm happy that I was able to enjoy such a well-respected novel.

But the bigger news (at least to me) is that I just read in my Entertainment Weekly that this is being adapted into a HBO series! The way that the characters in the book are written seems like a recipe for a really fun series. Especially the way the book jumps from years past to present. That could lead to some really interesting filmmaking. The article also noted that the author will serve as a consultant for the show, but will leave the adaptation part of it to the producers. That makes me a little nervous because then the integrity of the book is at risk - but it's also HBO and I haven't seen a series on that network that I haven't enjoyed yet (ahem...The Wire).

Go read the book. You'll feel smart for reading such a well-respected book AND it's a really fun book to read.

TUESDAY TOP THREE: YA Dystopia

Ever since the Hunger Games came out, there has been a flood of  novels centered around a similar formula. A young person (typically a girl) is in some futuristic society where the rulers dictate everything that happens to its people. This young person finds out that there's a better way to live, usually is juggling between 2 guys, and attempts a rebellion.

Because I enjoyed the Hunger Games so much, I tried to stay away from any similar novels - but there are a couple that have caught my eye...

Game of Thrones

I'm going to break down and do it. I heard about this series a while back, but likened it to Lord of the Rings and figured that the books were going to be too thick and more fantasy-minded than I like - so I turned my nose up at it.

But then I saw the first episode on HBO a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed the show...so of course I had to check the book out further and ended up downloading the first chapter free on my Kindle. HOLY COW it was really good. From the first chapter I've read it seems a bit like Outlander and Lord of the Rings. Or the perfect amount of romance, adventure, and fantasy.

It's a little daunting to think about launching into this series (which is actually called A Song of Fire and Ice series) because the first book is pretty hefty...and there's 4 books in the series with another book coming out in July and 2 more planned after that. The books range from 800-1100 pages long, so to call this an epic series is the perfect description.

Getting into a series like this can be intimidating. I've heard that there's a lot of characters and stories swirling around in the books and that sometimes the author will leave a cliffhanger for a long time (the length of a book...that may make me crazy!) - but I think if I know that going into it, then maybe I can handle it.

I also have to be in a certain frame of mind to start a book like this...it doesn't seem like a novel that you can drag out for a while and that you really have to really sit down and immerse yourself in it in order to understand the story. I have a couple of library books to get through and then I think I'm going to hunker down with this and see how it goes. I'll keep you posted on progress...

TUESDAY TOP THREE: Book to Movie Adaptations

Lately I feel like there has been a huge push by movie makers to turn successful books into movies. Sometimes I love this, but most of the time it isn't so great. BUT, the upside is that I end up reading  books that I may not have heard about. And it's kinda fun to see/debate who gets cast for main character roles. (I like to read books before I see the movie to preserve the integrity of the book and so I can envision the characters myself before Hollywood casts that person for me.)

It's really hard for me to narrow this list down to 3, so I've also included a list of book/movie combos that I enjoyed.

Downgrade...

When I started this blog I was really ambitious in thinking that I could read 100 books a year. Once I re-evaluated how much time that would take and knowing that I wanted to actually hit my goal...I downgraded to 80 books. Which I don't think is too shabby!

Anyways, you may have noticed it change in my masthead (or my handy dandy reading challenge widget) and I wanted to address it for all you inquiring minds!

Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams by Jennifer Sey

I could not put this book down. But not because I was dying to find out what happens next (because we know the outcome at the beginning of the book). I had to keep reading because this book blew me away about what really goes on behind the scenes. I think we all have an idea of what it's like to be an elite gymnast, but to have it told in a story like this is really wild!

Publisher's Weekly review:  
Sey writes of her career in internationally competitive gymnastics, which culminated when she won the 1986 U.S. national championship at age 17. From the start Sey was an underdog, ever the second-best athlete on the team hoping to prove herself with tenacity and toughness. She endured numerous injuries—including a broken femur, which could have ended her career—as well as an eating disorder, depression, isolation and tremendous strain on her family. With each new sacrifice that her parents and brother made to support her, the stakes crept higher, inuring them all to gymnastics' inherent physical and psychological trauma. After claiming the U.S. title, Sey was shell-shocked and exhausted, suddenly robbed of her lifelong motivation. I'd always been a fighter, a come-from-behind girl. Now that I was on top, the battle would be unwinnable. The memoir's poignant glimpses at Sey's adult struggle to reckon with her past are regrettably sparse, and her prose occasionally lapses into wordiness, but overall, she has written a courageous story befitting a comeback kid—a timely release for the 2008 Olympics.

Beach Reads!

It's that time of year when I'm trying to plan out my summer trips. And one of the reasons I enjoy summer vacation is because it's the time that I power through an obscene amount of books. (A good beach read to me is a book that doesn't require a lot of brain power and will not make me overly sad or mad.)

So in the spirit of upcoming summer vacations, below is a list of books that I have on my list to read and seem like some solid beach reads....

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

This book was really good. As in, I would pick this book up again and re-read it later on.

Fair warning though, it is a Young Adult book...but don't turn your nose up at it because of that because I think it's a book that we could all relate to.

Back of book summary: (the description sounds a little juvenile, but trust me...it's not as teeny bopper as it sounds) What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.