Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad

Okay, so I am supposed to be reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, but I just can't seem to settle into the book. For some reason I've found myself in a reading funk lately. Normally I pick up an old favorite to read or I dive into some fun magazines, but neither of these fallbacks seem to be working. Instead, I wound up buying LC's new book, Sweet Little Lies; its the second book in her L.A. Candy series. Yes, I admit that I am a fan of the pseudo-reality show, The Hills. Actually, since LC left the show, I've lost interest in it. Yes, I am on Team LC. How lame and silly, I know. Its just that it is such fun to watch. Anyhow, I wound up reading LC's first book, L.A. Candy, and actually enjoying it, so I figured when the next book came out I'd pick it up. And so I did.
Sweet Little Lies picks up where the first book left us: the aftermath of Jane and Braden's night together. Basically we have: girl breaks up with boyfriend and meets up with ex-boyfriend's best friend. Pictures of girl and boy's tryst are plastered all over the tabloids and the ex-boyfriend is not happy. The show's ratings are sky-rocketing, but the girl's life is taking a tumble. The girl and her best friend are on the outs with each other. Ex-boyfriend becomes boyfriend again. Truths come out and tears are spilled and apologies are made. The end. Simply put: drama, tears, drama, tears, hugs and kisses.
Okay, so the book was what you would expect - poorly written, with very predictable plot lines. However, I found myself completely engaged with the novel, because of the fact that LC wrote it. What I mean is that she based the characters in the book on the people from, The Hills. And I'm pretty sure some of these things did happen to the cast of The Hills. So, its rather interesting to try and figure out who is who and what happened to which castmate - its what makes the book a fun read. All in all, I think reading Sweet Little Lies helped get me out of my reading funk. So, now I can focus on To Kill A Mockingbird or maybe even start a new book. Hmmm. Which one to choose? I did buy the new Kostova, so perhaps I should start reading, The Swan Thieves. Happy Reading!!

Another Book Giveaway!!

Today's post is personal, but you may benefit from it. Here goes: I have autoimmune hepatitis, which basically means that my body attacks my liver. For several years now I have been taking medications daily to help keep my liver stable; and truthfully, the side effects have really sucked! However, a few weeks ago my doc told me that everything is looking good and I can stop taking my meds - YAY!! Best news ever! And so, in order to celebrate my good news I have decided to have another book giveaway. The books are in great condition ( I have read some of them, but there are a few that are new - I just don't want them anymore, because I realize that I won't ever read them). Anyhow, it is: First come, First serve. All you have to do is pick the book you want and write the title in the comments and it is yours. Email me your address and I will ship it out to you straightaway. Enjoy!! By the by, the L.J. Smith books can be selected together, since they are a series ( I have the Vampire Diaries series and the Secret Circle series).

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger is a fantastic read. I absolutely loved this book. In fact, I am quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this read. You see, The Time Traveler's Wife was just not my cup of tea. Truthfully, I regretted reading that dreadful book - I found it to be disjointed and completely unoriginal. So, when I heard a new book had been written by Niffenegger, I wasn't exactly running out to the shop to buy it. I had heard and read some glowing reviews about the book, but I still wasn't impressed enough to actually spend time reading it. And then one day I was out driving to the post office and I turned on NPR and heard Niffenegger talking about HFS and well, I became very intrigued. Listening to her describe Highgate Cemetery, the characters, London, and the story itself completely dispelled any preconceived notions I had about HFS. I was intrigued and actually a bit excited to go out and find this book and settle into a comfy chair and dive right in. And so I did just that and let me just proclaim how happy I am that I did.

HFS is an interesting read. There are twins, a cemetery, love, death, resurrection, secrets and so much more in this book. The story begins with, Elspeth dying and leaving her flat and monies to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina, with the stipulation that their parents (Elspeth's twin sister, Edie, and her husband Jack) can not set foot in her flat for the duration (1 year) of the twin's stay. The flat is in London and provides a chance for the restless Julia to get out of Chicago with her sister, Valentina aka Mouse. Mouse is meek and wants to break free from Julia, but can never seem to find the way to do so. And so, both twins set off to begin their stay in London, in a flat belonging to their dead aunt Elspeth, who they never had the chance to know. In London, Elspeth's lover, Robert, deals with the loss of his love and continues to work at Highgate, while researching his thesis. Martin and Marjike live in the flat above the twins (Robert lives in the flat below the twins); they are a married couple that has known Elspeth and Robert for quite some time. The problem is that Martin has a case of OCD, which prevents him from leaving the flat and truly enjoying his life with his wife, Marjike. No longer able to deal with Martin's behaviour, Marjike leaves her husband and heads back to her native country, Amsterdam. Martin truly begins to crumble even more as a result. J and V arrive and immediately set about settling into their new flat and figuring out the A-Z map of London and the tube. And Elspeth begins to watch the twins, because as a ghost she is forced to remain in her flat. From this point on, we have the twins in London, Robert and V falling in love, J befriending Martin and helping him with his OCD, Elspeth aching to communicate with her nieces and Robert (which she eventually does). There is drama between the twins, whose lives are so intertwined that the word, "I", is not part of their dialogue, its always, "we". Elspeth is jealous of V and Robert. V gets a kitten that Julia and she bestow with the moniker, Kitten of Death. One day, V is at home with Elspeth and the Kitten of Death; Elspeth kills the Kitten accidently, but is quickly able to shove its soul back inside of its corpse, thereby bringing it back to life. This resurrection makes an impression on both V and Elspeth, but in different ways. Meanwhile, Julia is feeding Martin 'vitamins' in the hopes of helping him get a handle on his OCD - the vitamins are a drug recommended to OCD patients. Martin slowly begins to make progress - his goal is to wind up outside his wife's doorstep in Amsterdam and surprise her. V and Robert continue to date. Julia misses her sister and their closeness. One day, V tells Elspeth about an idea she has that will have to include Robert, if they want to succeed in pulling it off. The plan involves killing V and resurrecting her - apparently, V is convinced this is the only way to rid herself of her twin. Elspeth immediately says no, but winds up telling V that she will think about it. V shares her plan with Robert, who is horrified. Unable to understand why Elspeth would agree to such macabre idea, Robert finally reads her diaries and discovers her secret. Apparently, Elspeth and Edie have switched identities for quite some time and the woman Robert loves, is Edie; which means that Edie is the twins' real mother and that the Edie who has raised them is in fact Elspeth, their aunt. Robert tells V not to trust Elspeth. However, the plan is set into motion and V dies. Julia discovers V's body and is completely devastated. Their parents arrive in London and the burial is set; V will be interred at Highgate Cemetery, next to Elspeth. Martin leaves London and flies to Amsterdam and reunites with his wife, Marjike. Robert steals V's dead body for the resurrection. Elspeth shoves her soul into the body of her dead niece, V. Robert is horrified that she would do this to V and doesn't understand why. Julia decides to remain in London, because she is convinced that V will haunt their flat, just as Elspeth did. V does not understand what happened with the resurrection, but assumes that Elspeth was unable to do it. Robert and Elspeth leave London (after Julia sees Elspeth as V) and move to the country, where they have a son. Julia befriends, Martin and Marjike's son, Theo. And in the end, well, it just ends. V winds up in Highgate Cemetery with other ghosts and flies off with a crow. And Elspeth arrives home to an empty house and Robert's completed thesis sitting atop the desk. The End.

Okay, so that is the story. Truthfully, I enjoyed reading it, especially towards the end - I just had to find out what was going to happen to V. The secret between Edie and Elspeth didn't shock me and was pretty much what I had expected. And the fact that Elspeth betrayed V, by taking her body, did not surprise me either. Elspeth was very selfish and it was quite evident that she did not like Robert dating her niece/daughter, plus she did not think that the twins were enjoying life as they should be (and of course, she hated being dead). As for Julia and V, I have to admit that I preferred Julia. I cracked up reading some of her observations or comments. V was too mouse-like and embracing the idea of death so enthusiastically was a bit disturbing. Of course, she thought she would be resurrected, but I do wonder if part of her liked the idea of being dead and not having to live her life the way Julia wanted. In the end she was stuck in that flat with Julia for quite some time and it seemed like just desserts - having to be stuck with the one person you were trying to escape from. Robert was weak and a foil for these women who were able to use him and get what they needed or wanted from him. Not to say that they didn't love him, I'm sure they did in their own demented ways. I suppose I am glad that Robert left Elspeth in the end. However, I didn't like that he left his child behind; especially because he confided to V that he never got to know his father. You would think that he wouldn't have wanted to repeat that cycle of deadbeat dad. As for Elspeth, I wanted her to get found out for what she had conspired and I wanted her to be very unhappy - she was such a horrible person. Julia seemed to fare rather well; living her life in London with a new boyfriend, Theo. As for Theo's parents, I was truly happy that Martin was able to overcome his OCD and reunite with his lovely wife, Marjike (who really did love him). So, there were definite high and low points within the plot for me. As for the writing, I really enjoyed it. I loved how Niffenegger described Highgate and brought it to life, as another character in the book. I loved her descriptions of the characters, their flats and mannerisms - it helped me to visualize everything quite clearly. Overall, I really do believe that Niffenegger did an amazing job with HFS. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Read it! It is a can't miss.

My blog is sooooooo kewl!!

Thanks to Aths over at Reading on a Rainy Day I have been awarded the Your Blog is sooooooo Kewl! award. How neat is that?! I'm excited, because I'm really trying to be a bit more active on my blog, so this award really helped motivate me to keep on blogging. By the by, I just wanted to mention that I will be having another giveaway shortly. I'm still cleaning out my bookshelves and have found a few other books that I want to be rid of, so that is good news for you lot. Alright, just wanted to share my award news and now I'm off to continue reading Her Fearful Symmetry (which is seriously good) and To Kill a Mockingbird. Happy Reading!!

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

I won this book on the First Reads Giveaway over on the site GoodReads. Truth be told, had I not won this book I would never have thought to pick it up and read it. Don't get me wrong, I love chick lit as much as the next chick lit reader, but I am a tad choosy when it comes to selecting which chick lit book I want to read next. Usually I read Keyes, Kinsella, Green, Giffin and so forth, because I know what to expect = chick lit with substance. However, there have been times when I've read other chick lit books - the ones that are too predictable and the writing is bad and the characters are really caricatures. This is one of those times.

Lucy Valentine is able to find lost items. With a handshake and a thought, she is able to visualize the object and where it can be found. That is her psychic ability. Her parents are matchmakers and have created a business finding partners for singletons. Lucy's dad can read auras and uses this ability to help him match people together. Unfortunately for Lucy, her mother and father have decided to take a vacation and leave her in charge of the family business - a task Lucy wants no part of. So, of course she agrees to the job and soon finds herself thrown into various situations which all wind up depending on her psychic ability of finding lost items. There is a missing child, a dead woman, unrequited love, matches being made all around her and a new friend who has the potential to become her new love. All in all, a very full schedule for Lucy Valentine.

Okay, so the book is a mystery/chick lit/romance book and it doesn't sound so bad, right? Wrong. I mean, the writing is okay and the characters are somewhat engaging. I even liked the idea of a psychic matchmaker, but I just don't think that the author quite nailed it . I did like the book more than I thought I would, but truthfully, I was happy that I hadn't actually spent my money on it. And the fact that there are two more books to come, well that is actually surprising to me. Hopefully, Webber will push herself a bit more and be able to create a series that is intriguing and exciting (two things that are essential for mystery books). In the end, I won't be seeking out the next Lucy Valentine installment.

And now, I'm off to continue reading Her Fearful Symmetry (which is really good) and To Kill A Mockingbird (just started it and I'm already liking it). Ta for now! Happy Reading!!

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Today I finally finished reading Stephen King's 1000+ page novel, Under the Dome. And let me just say that I am satisfied with what I read. I'm not bowled over with excitement or anything, but I am glad that I read this book. I haven't read any of King's books since I was a teenager and so deciding to pick up his latest effort was a bit of a blast from the past type of exercise. I wanted something that I knew I would be able to sink my teeth into and get lost in - I definitely got both with this ginormous book.

Under the Dome takes place in the small town of Chester's Mill. A man is walking on the road that leads him out of town when suddenly a multiple of things happen - a plane explodes above him and a woodchuck gets sliced in half and he encounters an invisible shield that will not let him leave the town of Chester's Mill. This invisible shield is solid, but cannot be pierced. It completely covers the small town of Chester's Mill, thereby creating a barrier between the residents and their neighboring townspeople. From this point on we are introduced to a bevy of characters that quickly divide into separate camps with agendas that are either producing riots and chaos in an already panicked town to agendas that are set in maintaining a united front in trying to figure out what the dome is and how to get out from under it. In typical King fashion, it is clearly a battle of good versus evil. Except towards the end when we learn that the true culprits responsible for the dome are not of this world. They are alien children playing their version of holding up a magnifying glass towards the sun and directing it towards an ant pile, except that the ants in this pile are human beings. In the end we have the evil characters being discarded in one way or another and the good people begging for their freedom (which apparently an alien child decides to listen to and winds up removing the dome). So, happy ending!

Alright, so the book was not exactly what I thought it was going to be, but it was definitely entertaining. The writing was detailed and solid. The characters were plentiful and engaging. The plot was intriguing at first, but I feel as if it was derailed at the end with the introduction of alien children. I just feel as if that made the rest of the book fall a bit flat and it just did not really end well. Overall, I am glad I read this book, because it was nice to dip into something a bit different than my usual reading fare. And now I am off to start reading, Audrey Niffenegger's, Her Fearful Symmetry. Happy Reading!!

Cleaning House Equals Book(s) Giveaway

I'm inspired by Frances over at Nonsuch Book who recently held a giveaway of several books she had decided to part ways with after clearing out some space on her bookshelves. I thought to myself, "What a great idea!". I have several books sitting in piles or on my shelves taking up space and instead of holding on to them I have decided to get rid of them. Normally, I would list these books as inventory on my bookmooch account, but this time round I decided to give them away to you. Some of the books have been read by me, but don't worry they are in excellent condition (except for The Lace Reader, which I purchased used, therefore it is in good condition). Others are brand new books that I have won in contests or giveaways. I have only one copy of each as a result, so just name the book you would like in the comments section so that everyone knows you have claimed it and send me an email (located in upper left corner under my profile)with your shipping address and I will mail it out to you. Unfortunately I can only send books to US residents at this time - sorry!

The books up for grabs are:

The Palace of Strange Girls by Sallie Day

A Separate Country by Robert Hicks

Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Well, I hope you all enjoy the giveaway. Cheers!!!