Friday Finds

Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by Should be Reading

.

What great books did you discover, or hear about this week.

*****************

Well, I discovered a whole series, The luxe Series by Anna Godbersen.

There are three books in the series right now, The Luxe, Rumors, and Envy.

The Luxe (book 1)- Anna Godbersen

From Goodreads-A big, sumptuous tale of catty girls, dark secrets and windswept romance unfurls in this compulsively readable novel of late-19th-century New York City socialites. Godbersen weaves a tenuous web of deceit, backstabbing and pretense that follows four teens: Elizabeth Holland, a prim and proper lady of old-money society, is betrothed to one man, though furtively loves another; Henry Schoonmaker, a debauched playboy who must marry Elizabeth or be disinherited; Diana Holland, Elizabeth’s younger sister who is in love with her fiancé; and Penelope Hayes, a member of the nouveau riche who will stop at nothing to win Henry’s affections. As Elizabeth and Henry’s wedding approaches, the spectacle unfolds in a wondrously grandiose scene, making for a fun, though not entirely unexpected dénouement.

I'm so glad I found out about this series, it sounds really good. Can't wait till I can get a copy of book 1, The Luxe.

Friday Fill-ins

And...here we go!

1. When will I get to finally see a shooting star?

2. The Girl Who Played With Fire was the last good book I read or movie I saw or tv show I watched.

3. Everything has its beauty but just as everything has it's flaws





4. Spaghetti is what I had for dinner.

5. I'd like your books, please.



6. Sitting on the dock of a lake is where I want to be right now.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finally finishing my book, tomorrow my plans include a long nap and Sunday, I want to not have to do laundry.

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday is a weekly event hosted by Jenny of Take Me Away.

"It is the time each week to recognize those older books… an older book you’ve always wanted to read, or one that you have read and love; maybe one from your childhood; or review an older book -- how about even a classic!"

My Throwback Thursday pick for this week is Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. This one is a favorite of mine. I remember reading it as a Freshman in High School, and staying home all weekend to read it. This book is one of the few books I do go back and read at least once a year, it brings me back to my teenage self, when I had no worries. Ahh, bliss. Like my pick before, this book has also been made into a movie.

From Goodreads- It began with Benny Hogan and Eve Malone, growing up, inseparable, in the village of Knockglen. Benny--the only child, yearning to break free from her adoring parents...Eve--the orphaned offspring of a convent handyman and a rebellious blueblood, abandoned by her mother's wealthy family to be raised by nuns. Eve and Benny--they knew the sins and secrets behind every villager's lace curtains...except their own.

It widened at Dublin, at the university where Benny and Eve met beautiful Nan Mahlon and Jack Foley, a doctor's handsome son. But heartbreak and betrayal would bring the worlds of Knockglen and Dublin into explosive collision.

What's your Throwback Thursday pick?

Review of I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You- Ally Carter

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You- Ally Carter

From Goodreads-
The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE, the latest in chemical warfare in science; and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes computer class. So in truth, Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but its really a school for spies. Cammie Morgan is a second generation Gallagher Girl, and by her sophomore year shes already fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways.But the one thing the Gallagher Academy hasn't prepared her for is what to do when she falls for an ordinary boy who thinks shes an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through a mall without his ever being the wiser, but can she have a regular relationship with a regular boy who can never know the truth about her? Cammie may be an elite spy in training, but in her sophomore year, shes beginning her most dangerous mission--shes falling in love.


I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You is about Cammie, Bex, Liz, Marcy, and a boy Josh. The girls are all students at Gallagher's, which the locals are lead to believe is a private girls school for the rich, and elite, but is actually a school for future girl spies. When one of the girls, Cammie, meets Josh, a local town boy at a carnival on a school assignment, of the spy kind, she immediately is drawn to him. The meeting and subsequential like of both of them leads to a double life for Cammie. With her friends help, she succeeds....almost.

This was a quick, fun read. The concept of a all girls spy school is really different, and I loved it. The assignments and cirriculum were fun to read about. The first love aspect was cute, and perfect for a young adult book. It made for a all around good book, with a entertaining plot.

The girls are written tough, smart, and confident. Who doesn't love that? I was definitely rooting for Cammie and Josh. It was interesting how she divided the local kids, and the Gallagher girls.

Final thoughts, I enjoyed the book, and i'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.


PRODUCT DETAILS
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (April 25, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1423100034

Rating: 4/5

Wishful Wednesday

What books have you been wishing for lately? Weekly event hosted by Should Be Reading.

*************************************

My Wishes

This week these 3 books are the ones i'm wishing to get my hands on.

The Angel's Game- Carlos Ruiz Zafon

From Goodreads- In the turbulent and mysterious Barcelona of the 1920s, David Martin, a young novelist obsessed with a forbidden love, receives an offer from an enigmatic publisher to write a book like no other before—a book for which "people will live and die." In return, he is promised a fortune and, perhaps, much more.

The Seance- John Harwood

From Goodreads- Constance Langton, a young woman living in London in 1889, opens the narrative with a first-person description of how she came to be involved in the world of ‘spiritualists’ and séances, in an effort to help her mother who has never got over the death of Constance’s baby sister years before. We then go back in time almost 20 years, to hear the narrative of John Montague, which details the mysterious goings on at the utterly sinister-sounding Wraxford Hall—the site of several unsolved deaths. By the time we reach the narrative of Eleanor Unwin, whose seeming psychic abilities threaten to destroy her life, we begin to have an inkling of how these first two stories are linked.


Lush Life- Richard Price

From Goodreads- So, what do you do?” Whenever people asked him, Eric Cash used to have a dozen answers. Artist, actor, screenwriter . . . But now he’s thirty-five years old and he’s still living on the Lower East Side, still in the restaurant business, still serving the people he wanted to be. What does Eric do? He manages. Not like Ike Marcus. Ike was young, good-looking, people liked him. Ask him what he did, he wouldn’t say tending bar. He was going places—until two street kids stepped up to him and Eric one night and pulled a gun. At least, that’s Eric’s version.


What are you wishing for?


Melissa

Review of Thirteen Reason Why- Jay Asher

Thirteen Reason Why- Jay Asher

From Goodreads- Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers 13 cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.


Thirteen Reasons Why is a young adult book about a girl, Hannah, who commits suicide and leaves thirteen cassette tapes detailing why she decided to take her life, to be passed among a list of people that played a part in her decision. The story begins for the reader when Clay receives the tapes. We hear Hannah's story through the tapes, and Clay's reacting to what he is hearing.
The topic of the book is very serious and relevant to today's youth, and it's done in a original way. The story being told by Hannah through the tapes was a good way to reveal what she was thinking, and keep the story fresh, and new. There were some flaws to the story though. I understood that everything in the tapes was a catalyst to the final outcome, her suicide, but I never felt her desperation. Something just didn't feel right as I was reading the book.
The characters in the book fell flat. They were just prototypes of stereo-typical teens. I didn't feel like I new them, or understood them. Throughout the book we follow Clay and his journey of listening to the tapes, and by the end I never get the sense that he had developed as a person or been changed extemely by what he heard.
Final words, I don't really know how I feel about this book, but I do recommend it if only because of the topic and how relevant it is today.


PRODUCT DETAILS
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Razorbill; 1st edition (October 18, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595141715

Rating: 3/5

Review Policy

If you are a author or publisher, and would like me to review your book you can email me at

coffeebooksandlaundry(at)gmail(dot)com

or

click the Contact Me link on the sidebar

A little info on Coffee Books and Laundry:

• not a genre specific blog.  I love books too much to keep to one genre.
• I have been blogging since April of 2009.
• Mostly do reviews, but trying to expand with more author interviews, and guest posts.
• Coffee Books and Laundry was mentioned in the New York Times on a piece about Kathryn Stockett's book The Help.

I will do my best to get your book read, and reviewed quickly. If you have a time frame you would like it up, please let me know. I do cross post reviews on Librarything.  I no longer rate books here, because they are too subjective, but I still rate them on Goodreads, and Librarything.  Receiving a book also does not guarantee I will post a review.  Sometimes a book just isn't for me, and I cannot complete it.  I DO NOT review books I don't finish.

What I read-Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Chick Lit, Memoirs, and some Thriller/Suspense.  Though I'm open to other genres.  Please feel free to email me about a book you think I might be interested in.

I accept ARC's/galley's and finished copies.  I recently received a Kindle so I'm now open to reviewing Ebooks only if they are in kindle format or PDF format.

I would also like to mention, that I'm honest in my reviews. I also will not sale any copies that are sent to me. If it's okay with you, I will give some away in contests, or trade them.

If you are an author and would like to be featured with an interview or a guest post please email me.  I would be honored to have you visit my blog. Giveaways are also very much welcomed.

Melissa