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All We Ever Wanted Was Everything- Janelle Brown
When Paul Miller’s pharmaceutical company goes public, making his family IPO millionaires, his wife, Janice, is sure this is the windfall she’s been waiting years for — until she learns, via messengered letter, that her husband is divorcing her (for her tennis partner!) and cutting her out of the new fortune. Meanwhile, four hundred miles south in Los Angeles, the Millers' older daughter, Margaret, has been dumped by her newly famous actor boyfriend and left in the lurch by an investor who promised to revive her fledgling postfeminist magazine. Sliding toward bankruptcy and dogged by creditors, she flees for home where her younger sister Lizzie, 14, is struggling with problems of her own. Formerly chubby, Lizzie has been enjoying her newfound popularity until some bathroom graffiti alerts her to the fact that she’s become the school slut.

The three Miller women retreat behind the walls of their Georgian colonial to wage battle with divorce lawyers, debt collectors, drug-dealing pool boys, mean girls, country-club ladies, their own demons, and one another, and in the process they become achingly sympathetic characters we can’t help but root for—even as the world they live in epitomizes everything wrong with the American Dream. Exhilarating, addictive, and superbly accomplished, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything is an original, utterly modern addition to the genre of suburban fiction.


When I picked this book up I thought it was a chick lit book, but it definitely wasn't. It had a dark tone to it, which suprisingly I liked. When Janice finds out her husband is divorcing her, and having a affair with her best friend she tries to be above it, and carry on as if nothing is wrong, but that proves hard to do....without IT, that is. It is the drug meth, which she get's from her pool boy. Her life then starts to spiral out of control, the whole while she thinks she's managing well. Her daughters Lizzie, and Margaret also are seeing their worlds unravel around them. Margaret is deep financial ruin, and Lizzie just found out she's known as the school slut. I found this book to be real, and engrossing...I loved it. I felt like I was taking a peek into the upper high society dysfunctional life. I totally recommend this book.


PRODUCT DETAILS
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (May 27, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385524013

This is actually info on the Hardcover, but I read a UK paperback version with a different cover.
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A Certain Slant of Light- Laura Whitcomb

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen, terrified but intrigued, is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.


This book is a ghost story that is romantic instead of scary. Helen has been a ghost for 130 yrs. Instead of haunting a place she haunts people. She attaches herself to host and for years until they die she is their companion without them even knowing. While reading over her host's back in the class he teaches, she notices a pair of eyes looking at her. Helen finds this disturbing since no one is suppose to be able to see her. In comes James, or Billy Black whichever you want to refer him as. Don't want to give to much away so I'll stop there, but I will say that I read this in one day. The story is powerful, and stays with you. Another one I recommend.


PRODUCT DETAILS
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Graphia (September 21, 2005)
Language: English

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Like I said in another post, because of the contest i'm in, I've been reading like a madwomen. So I'll be back with plenty more books to review.

Reviews

REVIEWS


Sheer Abandon- Penny Vincenzi

Martha, Clio, and Jocasta meet by chance at Heathrow airport in 1985 as they are starting off on separate backpacking adventures, and they decide to spend the first few days of their trips together in Thailand. When they go their separate ways, they vow to get together in London the following year. But many years pass before the three cross paths again, and the once-capricious, carefree girls now all have thriving careers. One of them, however, harbors a terrible secret: On her return from her pre-college excursion, she abandoned her just-born daughter at Heathrow.

Clio has fulfilled her ambition of becoming a doctor, only to find herself trapped in a marriage to an arrogant surgeon who belittles her and her professional achievements. Martha is a highly paid corporate lawyer, just embarking on a political career. Dedicated to her job, she has had little time for personal relationships and lives a busy, but lonely life. Jocasta, a tabloid newspaper reporter with an infallible instinct for the big story, is in love with a charming colleague who can’t make the permanent commitment she longs for. The infant abandoned at Heathrow has grown up under the loving care of her adoptive family. Now a beautiful teenager named Kate, she sets out to find her birth mother—a quest that unexpectedly brings the women together and exposes the secret buried so many years before.


This book was nothing like I thought it was going to be. For starters, I thought we would find out more about what happen to each of the girls on their backpacking trip, but no instead we get alot of political crap. This book had so much potential to be a really great read instead it got boggled with unnecessary subjects that got boring really fast. I kept waiting for something to happen, but alas nothing ever really did, even the whole who's baby was it, and why did she do something so drastic was uninteresting. I felt nothing for the characters, including the abandon child(of course, we get introduced to her as a teenager). Not worth the read in my opinion.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Paperback: 656 pages
Publisher: Anchor (April 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767926250
ISBN-13: 978-0767926256

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Lust for Life- Adele Parks

If the shoe fits...

Here's what the Evergreen sisters have in common: jealousy. Eliza longs for the stability of Martha's picture-perfect marriage; Martha craves the spontaneity of Eliza's life with her sexy musician boyfriend. Now one of the sisters has dumped her mate, and the other one just got dumped. Suddenly single-minded, they are about to get what they think they've always wanted -- a chance to walk in the other woman's shoes.

...buy a pair in every color.

Here's what the Evergreen sisters found out: trading placescan be a complicated affair. With new lovers in their lives, Eliza's partaking in sensible discourse at upscale dinner parties, while Martha's having great, no-strings-attached sex. But love is full of surprises...and dream lovers can be full of hot air. No longer green with envy, can the Evergreen sisters each find a perfectly imperfect man to make their lives -- their real lives -- truly satisfying?


Two sisters totally different, that become discontent with how their life has turned out.
Martha the responsible one has two kids, and is married to a wonderful husband, so she thinks, until her husband out of the blue says he isn't happy, and wants a divorce. This is where the story begins for Martha. Some of the things that she does to get her husband back made me cringe, really can someone be anymore pathetic, but things do change for her for the better in the end. The other sister Eliza is thirty going on twenty one, she feels she has to grow up, and become responsible, and decides to dump her boyfriend who she feels also needs to grow up, but feels won't. This book is predictable, but a okay book. Somethings in this book made me smile like Jack. Have to read the book to find out about Jack.

PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Pocket (November 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743496493
ISBN-13: 978-0743496490
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Masquerade- Melissa De La Cruz

Schuyler Van Alen is starting to get more comfortable with her newfound vampire powers, but she still has many unanswered questions. A trip to Italy in search of her grandfather only serves to make things more confusing. What secrets are the leaders of The Committee hiding? Meanwhile, back in New York, preparations are feverishly underway for the famous Four Hundred Ball. In true Blue Blood fashion, the ball is totally fab, complete with masks, and hidden behind this masquerade is a revelation that will change the course of a young vampire's destiny.

The thrilling sequel in Melissa de la Cruz's vampire mythology has all the glamour, attitude, and vampire lore that made the first book a hit.


The second book in the Blue Bloods trilogy, I thought this book was better than the first. In this book we find out more about the powers of the Silver Bloods, and what they are capable of doing. The connection between Schuyler and Jack is still there, though they both can't explain it. A new guy in town brings in new drama, and makes things alittle bit messy. Looking forward to reading the next book, Revelations.

PRODUCT DETAILS
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (July 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1423101278

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Body of Knowledge- Carol Dawson

Carol Dawson's outrageous second novel chronicles the decline and fall of a strange dynasty--from post-frontier Texas to the present day. It's the story of a secret war, of obsession, fear, loathing, and betrayal. But most of all, BODY OF KNOWLEDGE is the story of Victoria Grace Ransom, the story's 600-pound narrator, whose engrossing secret gradually reveals itself in a novel as big as all Texas.


This book was not very interesting, and quite boring. It had alittle bit of everything in it, revenge, adultry, and secrets, but I just couldn't get into it. Nevertheless I finished it, but only because I was reading it for the Paperback Challenge i'm in.
Even the ending didn't save this book for me.

PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Reprint edition (May 1, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0671535722
ISBN-13: 978-0671535728

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Paint It Black- Janet Fitch
Following the huge success of White Oleander, where Janet Fitch portrayed the coming-of-age of Astrid, a young girl placed in foster care after her mother murders a former lover and goes to prison for life, she has once again created an indelible portrait of a young woman in Paint it Black. Josie Tyrell is a teenage runaway, an artist's model, and an habitué of the '80s LA punk rock scene. She is a white trash escapee from Bakersfield, having left a going nowhere life there. Now, sex, drugs and rock n' roll inform her days and nights. Paint it Black is the perfect title choice because Josie's lover is never coming back, as the song says.
Josie meets Michael Faraday, son of concert pianist Meredith Loewy and writer Calvin Faraday, long divorced. He is everything that she is not: refined, wealthy, well-traveled, brilliant by fits and starts. He is also a Harvard dropout, leaving school so he can paint; his new obsession. He refuses help from his mother, who is furious about his decision to leave school, but it doesn't bother him to have Josie working three jobs to support them. He is given to black moods, frozen in amber by his perfectionism, contemptuous of those who do not agree with him about art and life. Josie adores him. One day much like any other, he leaves their house, saying that he is going to his mother's so that he can paint in solitude. Instead, he goes to a motel in 29 Palms and shoots himself in the head.

What follows is days of watching Josie in a near fugue state from grief, drugs, booze, and going over and over her love for Michael, trying to grasp how he could do what he did. After all, didn't they share the "true world," Michael's characterization of their cocoon of love and exclusivity?

Meredith calls her and says, "Why are you alive? What is the excuse for Josie Tyrell? I ask you." Ultimately, they form a tenuous relationship, because all that is left of Michael lives in the two women. Josie even lives with Meredith for a while. When Meredith is ready to go on tour again, she asks Josie to go to Europe with her. Before she can do that, she must go to 29 Palms and try to understand, finally, why Michael's depression pushed him over the edge. That puzzle is not solved, nor can it be, but the end of the story is a hopeful, upbeat, new beginning. Janet Fitch has beaten the curse of the sophomore slump with this dynamite second novel.

Another disappointment I read this week. I've never read White Oleander, but I had heard good things about it, so I picked this up with hopes that after a couple of not so good reads I finally get a winner....wishful thinking. I knew it was about a suicide, but jeez this novel was so depressing, and dark. The story takes place in the seedy parts of L.A. and deals with drugs, depression, drinking and more drugs, with like I mentioned before a suicide. The relationship between Josie, and Meredith is wierd, and didn't feel realistic to me. Another one I don't recommend, and one I only finished because of the contest i'm in.

PRODUCT DETAIL
Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Back Bay Books (October 3, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316067148
ISBN-13: 978-0316067140

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I still have 4 more books to review that I read this week. Luckily my luck turned around and they were all good reads. Laters..

The Biggest Paperback Loser Challenge.

I joined a contest on PBS, The Biggest Paperback Loser Challenge, the goal is to lower your TBR. Instead of counting books or pages we are counting weight. It's a challenge, but I'm determined to make more shelf room, and it's helping with my own goals I've made for myself.
So anyways I've been on a reading frenzy lately, and I thought I would take a little break from the reading and do some reviews for the books I recently finished. I've been trying to grab books that have been on my shelf for a long time, and been pleasantly surprised at how good they are. I've been reading mostly fluff, but I notice most of my older books are chick lit. I guess my reading taste have matured alittle, since I tend to read more contemporary fiction now, with fluff inbetween. Of course, I can never not read chick lit, I still love reading about single, confused twenty or thirty somethings trying to live life.

Peeps- Scott Westerfeld

Peeps- Scott Westerfeld
A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal's life.
Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It's Cal's job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .



First, this book gave me the creepy crawlies. Did the author have to include short chapters in between the story to tell us about parasites that live in our bodies. I was grossed out reading those little chapters. The story of Cal was a good one, but not great. Cal got infected by sleeping with a carrier of the disease, the disease being I guess some sort of vampirism. There are alot of rats in this book, like thousands, which the author likes to describe in detail. I'm shaking in disgust right now just picturing it. There is a sequel to this novel called Last Days. I'm gonna read it just to see what happens, but believe me I'm in no rush. All in all, if your library has a copy then read it, if not I don't suggest forking over the money to read it. Good thing I got this from the library(they have the sequel, too).

PRODUCT DETAILS

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Allyn & Bacon (September 7, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595140832
ISBN-13: 978-1595140838

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox- Maggie O'Farrell
In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend's attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital, where she has been locked away for over sixty years. Iris' grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme's papers prove she is Kitty's sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme' face. Esme has been labeled harmless; sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But Esme is still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit? Maggie O'Farrell's intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth will haunt readers long past its final page.


I heard so many great things about this book, that was looking forward to reading it. I picked it up on a lazy sunday fully expecting to lose myself in it. Well, let's just say that that Sunday I rearranged my bookshelf, and washed a couple loads of laundry. It wasn't horrible by no means, I found one or two things to enjoy about it, but much more things I hated.
First, the writing style was off putting, I would get frusterated, and just put it down for the day. Why did she end a paragraph in mid-sentence, and start a new one mid-sentence, it did nothing for the flow of the book. Another thing I disliked was the added story of Alex and Iris. It seemed like it was thrown in there just to fill up more pages. I would find myself skimming through pages concerning Iris and Alex's relationship. The ending, well, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. It was so abrupt that I actually wanted to through the book across the room, I kept reading it hoping the ending would make up for the rest of it, and then to end up with that garbage.
The one thing I like in the book was the character of Esme, she was so unrestricted, and out of the box. I guess it's fair to say I would not recommend this book.

PRODUCT DETAIL

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0151014116

Blue Moon Coming July 2009

Blue Moon- Alyson Noel
Eager to learn everything she can about her new abilities as an Immortal, Ever turns to her beloved Damen to show her the way. But just as her powers are increasing, Damen's are waning.

In an attempt to save him, Ever travels to the magical dimension of Summerland, where she learns the secrets of Damen's tortured past; a past which he has always kept hidden from her. But in her quest to cure Damen, Ever discovers an ancient text that details the workings of time. Now Ever must chose between turning back the past and saving her family from the accident that claimed their lives - or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows sicker every day...


Blue Moon is the next book in the Immortals trilogy written by Alyson Noel. I just finished reading the first book Evermore(previous post has review) and I really enjoyed it, so I'm anxiously waiting for this one to come out July 2009. Nice cover, don't you think?

On a side note is anybody sensing something here with the name of the book. New Moon, Blue Moon, get my drift.

Update on Reading Goal

Just a little update on my TBR goal. The Goal was to read all 30 books that are on my Goodreads TBR shelf that have been there since 2007.

Trying to get those overflowing shelves back to a controllable situation.