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 pick for Throwback Thursday this week is Persuasion by Jane Austen. I read this book a couple of years ago, and loved it. I will be reading it again soon, as it was picked for the Bloggers Unite Book Club September's read.

From Goodreads-

'She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older - the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.' Anne Elliot seems to have given up on present happiness and has resigned herself to living off her memories. More than seven years earlier she complied with duty: persuaded to view the match as imprudent and improper, she broke off her engagement to a naval captain with neither fortune, ancestry, nor prospects. However, when peacetime arrives and brings the Navy home, and Anne encounters Captain Wentworth once more, she starts to believe in second chances. Persuasion celebrates romantic constancy in an era of turbulent change. Written as the Napoleonic Wars were ending, the novel examines how a woman can at once remain faithful to her past and still move forward into the future.

What's your Throwback Thursday pick?

Review of Two-Way Street- Lauren Barnholdt

Two-Way Street- Lauren Barnholdt

From Goodreads- There are two sides to every breakup. This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation. Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet. It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care. But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot. Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other



This book was a quick read for me. I liked the story and it kept me interested the whole way through. The story rotates between Courtney, and Jordan's point of view on the trip, and with flashbacks on how they got together up to the breakup. I loved that we are able to know what both were thinking during certain moments in the story. There is quite a bit of foul language, so if that bothers you, this is probably not a book for you. The only problem I had with the book was the ending. The ending was abrupt and left me with some unanswered questions.

Final thoughts, if you like YA books, and are not bothered by foul language, I would recommend this book.

Rating: 4/5

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

From the publisher-

MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING

Mia Saul is down on her luck. Dumped by her husband, jettisoned from her job, and estranged from her adored older brother, she and her young daughter, Eden, have had to make a downscale move to a crummy apartment, where their neighbors include a tough young drug dealer and a widower who lets his dogs use the hallways as their own personal litter box. Juggling a series of temporary jobs, wrangling with her ex-husband over child support, and trying to keep pace with Eden's increasingly erratic behavior have left Mia weary and worn out.


EXCEPT WHEN IT IS

So when a seemingly functional ATM starts handing Mia thousands and thousands of dollars -- and not deducting the money from her account, because it sure isn't in there -- she isn't about to give it back. Her newfound cash stash opens up a world of opportunity, and a whole lot of trouble. Worried friends, family, and in-laws start questioning her judgment about everything, and the cops really, really want to know where all that cash is coming from. And then there's Patrick, a man Mia most definitely would never have met if things hadn't spun out of control. Mia is beginning to think that maybe somebody, somewhere, is trying to teach her a lesson about what matters in life, and what doesn't....

Out September 8

Wishful Wednesday

What Books have you been wishing for lately. Weekly event hosted by Should be Reading.

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

My Wishes

From Goodreads- On an ordinary Friday afternoon, on a highway outside London, a truck suddenly swerves across fives lanes of traffic, careening cars into each other like dominoes and leaving a trail of chaos and confusion. Within minutes, an astounding miles-long pileup has amassed, and as survivors await help, their stories begin to unfold. There’s the panic-stricken husband trapped in the jam with his mistress, a widow on her way to reunite with her first love, the bridegroom trying frantically to get to the church on time, the young woman going into premature labor, the junior doctor waiting to receive the crash victims in the ER…. And at the center of it all is the only person who knows what really happened, the mysterious hitchhiker who has fled the scene.


What are you wishing for?

Review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time- Mark Haddon

(August's 1001 Book Challenge Pick)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time- Mark Haddon

From Goodreads- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.
Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

I've had this book in my TBR pile for awhile now, finally got to read it since I made it my first pick for my 1001 Book Challenge.

This book was heartwarming, and funny. The main character Christopher has autism, and it was very interesting seeing how his mind works. The book was Christopher, if that makes sense. The chapters were numbered with prime numbers because he loved prime numbers. There were also diagrams, and illustrations throughout the book. It just made it more touching for me. The story itself was not great, but it was good. I just think that I love reading more about Christopher than the actual mystery, The characters played so much more of a part in this book than the actual story, to me.

Final thoughts, this book is a quick and fun read. I enjoyed the character of Christopher, the plot was definitely secondary to me.

Rated: 3.5/5

Review of Tattoo- Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Tattoo- Jennifer Lynn Barnes


From Goodreads- Bailey Morgan isn't the type of girl who shows a lot of skin, but somehow, she ends up in a dressing room at the mall with her friend Delia applying a temporary tattoo to her lower back. Never one to suffer fashion doubt, trendsetter Delia knows exactly where she wants her own tattoo: on her stomach, right where her shirt ends—can you say "midriff"? Annabelle, the quiet one, chooses the back of her neck, and tomboy Zo plasters hers on the top of her foot. The tattoos will last for three days, and Delia's sure that with them, the four friends will absolutely kill at the school dance.

Unfortunately, killing is just what someone has in mind, and Bailey, Delia, Annabelle, and Zo are in for the battle of their lives. Along with her tattoo, each girl receives a gift—a supernatural power to help them in their fight. As Bailey's increasingly frightening dreams reveal the nature of their enemy, it becomes clear to the girls that it's up to them to save the world. And if they can get Delia to stop using her newfound power to turn gum wrappers into Prada pumps, they might actually stand a chance.



I read this book a couple of weeks back, and I've been meaning to write a review, but I wasn't really sure how I felt about it. This book is the first in a series about 4 friends Bailey, Delia, Annabelle and Zo who each get a fake tattoo, and soon after find themselves with a supernatural power. The power is meant to help them save the world from evil.

After thinking about it I realized I really don't care what happens with the 4 girls, so I won't be continuing the series. Overall, the book seemed rushed. The concept was good, but the delivery lacked depth. For instance, the girls get these super powers, and immediately afterwards start arguing who got the best power. What? You just find out that you can turn your hair from brown to blonde, and your thinking about what cool accessories you can make from things in a trash can, it just doesn't make sense to me. Then the whole fighting the evil thing was confusing, and I never got the sense of real danger. The characters were cliche, you got the smart one, the fashionable one, the tomboy one, and the down to earth one. Could they have been more simple? I think the reason why I was having a hard time deciding what I felt about it was because I hate to give up on a series, but there are to many books out there to waste my time on something I didn't like.
Final thoughts, the synopse sounded promising, and I always like a good series, but my opinion is that this book is not worth reading. There are to many good YA books out there.

Rating: 2/5
(concept good, execution bad)

Review of The Lost Hours- Karen White

The Lost Hours- Karen White

From Goodreads- When Piper Mills was twelve, she helped her grandfather bury a box that belonged to her grandmother in the backyard. For twelve years, it remained untouched.

Now a near fatal riding accident has shattered Piper’s dreams of Olympic glory. After her grandfather’s death, she inherits the house and all its secrets, including a key to a room that doesn’t exist—or does it? And after her grandmother is sent away to a nursing home, she remembers the box buried in the backyard. In it are torn pages from a scrapbook, a charm necklace—and a newspaper article from 1929 about the body of an infant found floating in the Savannah River. The necklace’s charms tell the story of three friends during the 1920s— each charm added during the three months each friend had the necklace and recorded her life in the scrapbook. Piper always dismissed her grandmother as not having had a story to tell. And now, too late, Piper finds she might have been wrong.


The story begins when Piper's grandfather dies, and is visited by the family lawyer, who gives Piper an envelope that was to be given to her when her grandfather died. In the envelope is a key, that she has no idea which door it belongs to. She then remembers burying something of her grandmothers outside with her grandpa a long time ago, and when she goes and digs it up, thus begins the mystery of Annabel O'Hare. The mystery revolves around three good friends growing up in the early 1900's, Annabel, Lillian, and Josie.The story is done with three points of view, Lillian's, who is the only one of the three friends alive, Helen, Lillian's blind granddaughter, and Piper. The story is Piper's though, and how she comes to grow as the mystery unravels. One of the things I really can't stand in a book is a lot of filler, and this book had alittle to much. There was a bunch of little bits of writing about the flowers they grew, and the scents, etc. Some readers like stuff like that, I'm one that just wants the story to move along.

About a 75 pages in I completely disliked Piper. She was cold, and lacked any kind emotion. I'm so glad the mystery kept me reading because I would have quite reading it. As you read the story though, you realize this was done to show her growth as the story moves along. Piper lost her parents at a early age, and felt because of that she wouldn't be dealt another blow, so when she fell off her horse at a competion and was seriously hurt, she was bitter about it. She realizes that she never made the time to really get to know her grandmother, and what kind of person she was. Lillian was also hard to like, though I never grew to even like her, I still felt her character was written well. Part of the story also included Helen, and her brother Tucker. Half way through the book you can see a attraction between Piper and Tucker, but this is not a romance, and I'm glad the author kept it as such.

Final thoughts, I was sure that I wasn't going to like this book, solely because of the dislike I had for some of the characters, but the writing was good, and the mystery definitely keeps you reading.


PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: NAL Trade; 1 edition (April 7, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451226496


Rating: 3.5/5