Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Past Perfect by Leila Sales
First published by Simon & Schuster in 2011 (this edition was an eGalley, provided through the S&S GalleyGrab programme)

Description (from Goodreads)

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

My thoughts
Past Perfect was such a perfect and sweet little book! I remember being in the mood for something light and funny with a bit of romance to top it all off, and this book definitely delivered!

In Past Perfect, we have Chelsea, a girl who has spent the last I-can't-remember-how-many summers working at the Essex Colonial Village; first, because her parents worked there and they used to take her with them and then, as a fully paid re-enactor. So, she was really looking forward to working at the mall this year with her best friend. But then her best friend thinks it's a good idea to work at the Colonial Village and so, Chelsea ends up working there for yet another summer. And lots of other things going on, including ex-boyfriends working at the Colonial Village too, them dating other people and also, cute romantic interests; all amidst the big "war" that has been going on between the Colonial re-enactors and the Civil War re-enactors.

This book focuses a lot on the relationships between the characters, and not just the romantic ones. There is the relationship between the exes, the relationship between two people who are attracted to each other but know that the attraction could pose some problems, the relationship between friends, the relationships between co-workers. But it still doesn't feel too relationship-heavy, as it's all part of being a person.

My favourite thing about this book - and which made it one of the most unique books I have read this year - was the setting. The story actually takes place "now", but, because of the fact that the setting is the Colonial Village, it has a rather historical feel to it. The feud between the Colonials and the Civil Warriors and the actual "War" going on between them is fun, as they actually come up with some hilarious ideas to win the battles.

The romantic story in this book is also rather cute, as are the two characters involved. I'm not going to go into many details, but I am going to say that even though the romance is very "Romeo-and-Juliet"-esque (as in they are on opposite sides of a feud, you do end up wanting them to come to their senses and just ignore the stupid war already!

I know this is not a good review, but a) it has been ages since I last wrote a review, b) I have been writing this review for over two weeks (with not much success!) and c) it has been ages since I read it, so I can't really remember that much about it. I promise the next ones will be much better, though!

Rating: 8/10


Author: 
Leila Sales grew up just outside Boston, Massachussets. She has a degree from the Universiry of Chicago and currently lives in Brooklyn. Other than Past Perfect, she has also written a book called Mostly Good Girls.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
First published by Viking in 2009 (this edition by Penguin in 2010)

Description (from Goodreads)

Annie loves Duncan — or thinks she does. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn’t. Duncan really loves Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanish singer-songwriter who stopped making music ten years ago. Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life. 
In doing so, she initiates an e-mail correspondence with Tucker, and a connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they’ve got. Tucker’s been languishing (and he’s unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional and artistic ruin — his young son, Jackson. But then there’s also the new material he’s about to release to the world: an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album,Juliet — entitled, Juliet, Naked. 
What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one’s promise.

My thoughts
Having already read two other Nick Hornby books this year (High Fidelity and Slam) and enjoying them both very much, I decided to read Juliet, Naked. Well, it was also because I was looking for a small book to travel with. But I was going to be reading it sometime, anyway, it just happened sooner rather than later!

Juliet, Naked felt rather different to High Fidelity and Slam, for some reason. In Juliet, Naked, we have Annie and Duncan,a couple who have been together for years and think they love each other. But Duncan also has this pathological "infatuation" with Tucker Crowe - a reclusive musician who has been out of the music scene for nigh in ten years -, that seems to always take precedence over Annie. At the beginning on the book, Annie and Duncan are actually on a Tucker Crowe pilgrimage; visiting all the places that had some significance to the songs from Crowe's disks.

Then, when they get back to England, Duncan gets sent a cd, which has yet to be released and is titled Juliet, Naked, as it features acoustic demos of all the songs on Tucker Crowe's last (and greatest) album. In a conflict of opinions, Annie and Duncan grow further apart and Annie starts a correspondence with Tucker, through a string of bizzare events! And that's where I am going to stop, because if I go on, I'll just summarise the whole book for you!

In Juliet, Naked, we have a variety of different characters. First, we have Annie. Annie is a lovely, if slightly timid (in the beginning) woman, who has become comfortable in the knowledge that she has someone there for her, despite the fact that that someone isn't really there for her. But she starts seeing things more clearly and realises that what she has with Duncan doesn't really mean anything and that she has - essentially - wasted her best years on him. Duncan was a complete and utter idiot. He had his head in cloud-cuckoo-land, was - at best - just passively interested in what Annie was doing and was a firm believer that she could not have an opinion about Tucker Crowe's music; only the best of them, those names Crewe-ologists, had the right (as well as the in-depth knowledge) to do such a thing. Tucker Crowe was another lovely character; it was obvious he had his issues (and was doing a pretty good job of avoiding them), but you couldn't really help but like him. And then there was Jackson! At times, I felt a little sorry for him, but he was such a cute little boy!

The focus of this book is how relationships work (or don't work). There are prime examples of what NOT to do to make a relationship work and other examples of what to do so as to say that you tried, but it just didn't work out in the end (or you have yet to see what will come of it). Nick Hornby has managed to create yet another memorable male character in the form of Duncan; though he will not stay in your mind for how adorable he may sound, but for how idiotic and blind he really is (and actually reaches the point of not recognising what he's lost even when he has lost it). It takes a lot of skill to do that.

Rating: 6/10


Author:
You can find out more about Nick Hornby and his books at the end of my review of High Fidelity.


Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challnge 2011, British Books Challenge 2011

Veronika Decides To Die by Paulo Coelho

Veronika Decides To Die by Paulo Coelho
First published by HarperCollins in 1999 (this edition by HarperCollins in 2009)


Description (from Goodreads)

Twenty-three-year-old Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for. She goes to popular night spots, dates attractive men, and has a caring family. Yet something is lacking in her life. So on the morning of November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die.After she awakens from an overdose, Veronika finds she has only days to live. The story follows Veronika through those intense days as, to her own surprise, she finds herself drawn into the enclosed world of the local hospital she is staying in. In this heightened state she experiences things she has never allowed herself to feel: hatred, fear, curiosity, love, and sexual awakening. Gradually she discovers that every second of her existence is a choice between living and dying. Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die, based on his own moving personal experience, is about people who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. It is about madness and the need to find an alternative way of living for people who face prejudices because they think in a different way. InVeronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho invites the reader to discover the world that lies outside the routine and addresses the fundamental question asked by millions: what am I doing here today?" and "why do I go on living?"

My thoughts
Veronika Decides To Die is the first book by Paulo Coelho that I have ever read. Though we have had a number of his books in our house for ages (my brother went through a Coelho phase a few years ago), I had never really felt the urge to read one of them. Until I decided it was finally the time to give one of them a try. Even though Paulo Coelho is more well known for his book "The Alchemist", it was VDTD that I decided to try first, because I rather liked the sound of the story.

At the beginning of this book, Veronika attempts to kill herself with an overdose of pills. It's not that she is unhappy; it's that she's not really happy that leads her to make that decision. That she doesn't really have anything worth living for; that her life is devoid of meaning. She just did the same thing every day, that she just reached that point where she knew exactly where she would be at what time the next day. No deviation from the norm. But Veronika does not die. Instead when she wakes up, she finds herself in a mental hospital, the infamous "Villette", where she is told that the pills she overdosed on caused very serious damage to her heart and that she probably would only live for a week at most.

At the beginning of that week, Veronika just feels as if she has been cheated. She wanted to die, but was unsuccessful in the attempt. She doesn't like the fact that she doesn't get the chance to decide when she dies (like she did with her suicide attempt); that her heart will just fail her at any time. After a couple of days of not wanting to accept the fact that she is not dead, she starts associating with the other "tenants" of Villete. Each one of them has their own story of how they ended up there and each one of them influences Veronika in their own way.

Though Veronika Decides To Die was a great story, I didn't find myself completely swept away by it. A lot of my friends read Coelho when I was still in school and they all thought it was weird that I hadn't tried reading one of his books. Now that I have, I do recognise the appeal, but not so much as to say "Now, why didn't I read this years ago?". I did like his style of writing, so I am definitely going to be reading something else by Coelho (after all, we do have quite a few of his books!) I really liked how he dealed with the psychological aspect of the whole story and I liked his choice of characters. Each one of them brought his/her own to the story: craziness (from somewhere you don't expect), disappointment, hope, even love.

And, to end this review, a quote that I loved:

“Be like the fountain that overflows, not like the cistern that merely contains.” 

Rating: 7/10

Author:

Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author, born in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro. He worked as a theatre director, an actor, a lyricist and a journalist, before finally becoming an author. He has written many books which have been translated into many languages. Some of those include The Alchemist, Brida, The Devil and Miss Prym, The Witch of Portobello and, his latest, The Winner Stands Alone.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

String Bridge Blog Tour: Review of String Bridge by Jessica Bell

So, I am back!! At long last! Had quite a bit of downtime, due to moving house (and having internet reconnection problems for nearly two weeks), but now everything is back to normal!

Today I am participating in a blog tour for Jessica Bell's debut book, String Bridge.


String Bridge by Jessica Bell
First published by Lucky Press, LLC in 2011 (this edition was an ARC provided by the author)

Description (from Goodreads)

Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage--and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits ...

My thoughts
String Bridge tells the story of Melody, an Australian musician, who came to Greece to sing and ended up getting married to a Greek music promoter, Alex. But life in Athens is not what she expected it to be. She is not doing any gigs, but instead has sort-of settled into the roles of businesswoman, mother and wife. Over the years, she has come to miss that feeling she got when she was creating and performing and it has instead been substituted by the dreary monotone of doing the same - unenjoyable - thing, day after day. Her relationship with Alex seems to have lost its spark, with Alex not wanting Melody to have anything to do with performing music of her own and Melody having that nagging feeling that Alex may be cheating on her.

In this book, we get to see how Melody deals with all these things that seem to have come upon her. And the way with which she does that is realistic. During the course of the book, Melody encounters the everyday, small scale problems everyone has to deal with, but she also comes to deal with other, much bigger events. There was one in particular that I found to be so devastating, I was actually wondering at the time: "Oh, Jessica, how could you have done this??".

As a character, I couldn't always sympathise with Melody, because I did feel she overreacted a few times. I suppose it's just a different kind of temperament, that I am just not accustomed to. But she was real, strong, not afraid to chase after her dreams. Alex, on the other hand, took a bit of getting used to. His attitude changed considerably in different parts of the book, but that didn't make him a bad character; just one who seemed to have made some not necessarily wrong, but rather misguided choices.

All in all, String Bridge is one of those books that is not all that easy to put down. While I was reading it, I just had to keep going just to find out what the author had prepared for the characters next. Jessica Bell's writing is very good and rather lyrical, but it all fit together with Melody's musical personality! And seeing as Jessica is just as talented as her character, there is also an soundtrack to accompany the book, entitled "Melody Hill - On The Other Side", links to which you can find below.

Rating: 7/10


Author:
Jessica Bell is a literary women's fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter who grew up in Melbourne, Australia, to two gothic rock musicians who had successful independent careers during the '80s and early '90s.

She spent much of her childhood travelling to and from Australia to Europe, experiencing two entirely different worlds, yet feeling equally at home in both environments. She currently lives in Athens, Greece and works as a freelance writer/editor for English Language Teaching publishers worldwide, such as HarperCollins, Pearson Education and Macmillan Education.

In addition to String Bridge, Jessica has published a book of poetry called Twisted Velvet Chains. A full list of poems and short stories published in various anthologies and literary magazines can be found under Published Works & Awards, on her website.

From September 2012 Jessica will be hosting the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca, home of Odysseus.




And now, for all the links!

Purchase links:

eBook

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/String-Bridge-ebook/dp/B005Y48DF6/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319369262&sr=1-1

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/String-Bridge-ebook/dp/B005Y48DF6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319370801&sr=8-1

Paperback

Amazon.com: (Coming soon)

Amazon UK: (Coming soon)

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/string-bridge-jessica-bell/1030101696

Soundtrack

iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=465313522

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Melody-Hill-Other-Side/dp/B005P7ARNS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317118328&sr=8-1

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Melody-Hill-Other-Side/dp/B005P7G02A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317118484&sr=8-1

Other links

String Bridge Website: http://www.stringbridge.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11502954-string-bridge

String Bridge Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv-hRMA0kqQ
String Bridge Merchandise: http://www.cafepress.com/janicephelps/8155170
Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/
Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell
Retreat & workshop site: http://hwrw.blogspot.com/

(Disclaimer: Anything stated in this review reflects my personal opinion of the book. Other than receiving a copy of the book for review purposes, I have not been compensated in any other way for what I have said.)

One Day by David Nicholls

One Day by David Nicholls
First published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2009 (this edition by Hodder Paperbacks in 2010)

Description (from Goodreads)

'I can imagine you at forty,' she said, a hint of malice in her voice. 'I can picture it right now.' He smiled without opening his eyes. 'Go on then.' 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY. 

My thoughts
One Day was a book that I had been seeing around quite a lot, especially since the trailer for the film (starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess) came out. I had seen it in my local bookshop a couple of times, but it always disappeared before I got a chance to buy it for myself. Sometime later, I was talking to my Grandma and the subject of books and my blog came up. She said that she had a book that is very popular, but which she read and pretty much hated. And then she said the book was called One Day.

So, you can see that when I got round to reading it myself, I was preparing for the worst. My Grandma has quite good taste in books (though not always), and it was one of the few times that she has expressed strong (bad) feelings about a book to me. But I still wanted to try and read it for myself and it sounded like a nice book to read on the beach, so I did.

The story is told in a rather different way. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the 15th of July 1988, the night of their graduation. Each chapter in the book is focused on events on or surrounding the 15th of July in later years. So, essentially, you get to see one day of every year in the lives of Emma and Dexter over the span of 20 years.

The book started off as rather promising. Both Emma and Dexter were perfectly likeable (Emma a little more so) and the story was progressing in a nice way. But then something happened that caused Dexter to act like a major idiot and resulted in my not liking him at all. And wondering why Emma puts up with all that idiocy (and other nice words I'm not going to mention). Emma was likeable throughout the novel; she has a lovely personality, is genuinely nice and sweet and definitely brings out the best in Dexter. Dexter is mostly an obnoxious, arrogant and supremely irritating boy (and, yes, I do mean boy, as he pointedly refuses to grow up for the greater part of the book) and it because of him that I ended up not enjoying the novel as much as I hoped to.

One Day is by no means a bad book. It is a lovely love story and it is told in a rather different, interesting way. The fact that the author chooses one day in each year to tell you about all things Emma and Dexter works very well and, essentially, allowed him to span the story over so many years, without it getting too tiring (seeing as there wasn't much space to put unnecessary information in). And then, there was that ending. I was shocked; I was appalled; I am still trying to figure out what on EARTH possessed the author to finish the book like that. You'll know what I mean when you read it.

Rating: 6/10


Author:
David Nicholls is a British author, screenwriter and actor. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of Bristol. After he graduated, he won a scholarship to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Upon returning to the UK in 1991, he worked as an actor, as well as a screenwriter and script-editor. Other books by David Nicholls:

Starter for Ten   |   The Understudy

You can find out more about David Nicholls from his official website.


Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011, British Books Challenge 2011

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
First published by Simon & Schuster BFYR in 2011 (this edition by Simon & Schuster in 2011)

Description (from Goodreads)

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

My thoughts

I really don't know where to start talking about Amy & Roger's Epic Detour is just that; epic! I enjoyed it so, so much that I started getting sad towards the end of the book, because then the characters would be gone and I would never be able to read about them again. That is sometimes the pity with stand-alone novels. But it's always nice to read a stand-alone novel, as so many books nowadays - especially new books, that are just being written now - seem to come out in trilogies or even multi(morethan3)book series.

In this book, we follow Roger and Amy while they travel through America (from the West Coast to the East Coast) in Amy's car. Amy is supposed to be driving her Mum's car from California to Connecticut, but she refuses to do the actual driving, because of the accident in which dad died. So, Amy's mum manages to rope Roger (the son of an old friend) into it, who is also supposed to be travelling east at the same time. Amy and Roger are supposed to be following a rather tight driving plan (courtesy of Amy's mother). But, of course, they decide to deviate from it and follow their own course on a once-in-a-lifetime trip across the United States.

When we first meet Amy in this book, we can see that she has sort-of "put her life on pause". She's avoiding her best friend and she is living in her house all by herself, while also trying to make herself scarce while the real estate person shows potential buyers around. As the story begins, Amy has just finished school and is getting ready to join her mum in Connecticut (where her mother has decided to have a fresh start). She only gets to meet Roger for the first time (after many, many years) on the day they're starting their trip across America, which is not something she's really looking forward to (Roger or the trip).

One of my favourite things about this book is the way Amy and Roger interact with other, as well as the way each of them grows up a little during this short trip. Amy is reluctant to get to know Roger at first, until she realises what a lovely, down to earth guy he is. She starts off by being confined in a small space (that she has created for herself), but Roger's being there is pivotal in helping her escape from her self-imposed prison. Though Amy is the one with the major "baggage" which she has to face (a recently deceased father and a brother who used to be as high as a kite and is now in rehab), Roger has some growing up to do, too.

Another amazing thing about this book - and I admire Morgan Matson for taking all the time to do it - were the playlists Amy and Roger made during their trip. There is a huge variety of songs on those playlists and it's obvious that the author has put great thought into putting them together. I haven't tried to listen to a whole playlist yet, but I have listened to certain songs and they do seem to fit in with the whole road-trip feel!

All in all, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is a book you must definitely read! I'm pretty sure that fans of contemporary fiction are going to love it, but I also think that it will definitely appeal to people who are looking for something enjoyable, but, at the same time, not all that fluffy.

And, oh my gosh, but isn't that cover just so, so pretty?? (end of gushing)

Rating: 10/10 (because it is one of my favourite contemporaries of the year!)


Author
Morgan Matson has an MFA in Writing for Children from New School. She has been on three cross-America road-trips (!!!) and currently lives in LA. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is her first book. Her second book, Second Chance Summer, is expected to be published in May 2012. You can check her website out HERE.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallfower by Stephen Chbosky
First published by MTV Books in 1999 (this edition by Pocket Books in 2009)

Description (from Goodreads)

Charlie is a freshman. And while's he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. He's a wallflower--shy and introspective, and intelligent beyond his years, if not very savvy in the social arts. We learn about Charlie through the letters he writes to someone of undisclosed name, age, and gender, a stylistic technique that adds to the heart-wrenching earnestness saturating this teen's story. Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids face in high school--how to make friends, the intensity of a crush, family tensions, a first relationship, exploring sexuality, experimenting with drugs--but he must also deal with his best friend's recent suicide. Charlie's letters take on the intimate feel of a journal as he shares his day-to-day thoughts and feelings.

My thoughts
The Perks of Being a Wallflower had been sitting in our bookshelf for a couple of years before I decided to finally read it. I remember that it was my brother who had wanted to buy it and read it straight away, and I am pretty sure I remember him telling me that it was a pretty amazing book. It's a rather small book, so I can only think of one reason to explain the fact that I didn't read it earlier: I forgot about it. But when my brother and I were re-organising our bookshelves so as to fit all our new books, I re-discovered it and decided to read it.

I will admit to not really remembering much about it, because of the fact that I read it more than a month ago (I have been very remiss in writing up my reviews not long after I read the book and now they've all seemed to pile up), but I am going to try my best.

In this book, we follow Charlie, who is a freshman in school and is also a bit of a wallflower (as the title suggests). On the back cover of the edition I read, there is a short description of Charlie; he's shy, introverted, intelligent, not very popular and socially awkward. To me he came across as a tiny bit weird, but mostly in an endearing way. We meet Charlie through the letters he writes to someone of unknown identity. In those, he changes everyone's names (in fear of recognition) by that person he sends them to and essentially catalogues all the events that take place within a given period of time; from the 25th August 1991 to the 23rd August 1992. Within that year, many changes take place, which either cause Charlie confusion or play an essential role in his becoming what he the end of the novel. The most important factor that influences the progress of this book is his friendship with Sam and Patrick, with his Aunt Helen also being an important presence throughout (directly or indirectly).

There were things in this book that I did not completely understand when I was reading them; what Chbosky was trying to say was not completely clear to me. (Which is probably why I will have to read this one again sometime in the not-too-distant future) But I do recognise that it is an extremely well written novel, with a main character who is engaging enough and self-deprecating enough to make you feel for him. Charlie did come across as a bit of a weirdo at times, because, try as I might, I couldn't understand what was going through his head some of the time. There are things going on in various parts in the novel that aren't explained properly at the time (probably so as to make the reader speculate as to what is happening), but it led to a slight confusion on my part. Especially regarding some of the Aunt-Helen parts.

All in all, The Perks of Being A Wallflower is a lovely coming-of-age story, with a rather endearing (though not always) character, who faces "real problems" and tells us about them in his own unique voice. Definitely a book that is worth reading and one that I am going to be re-reading myself soon, in hopes of understanding those parts that I missed the point of the first time.

Rating: 8/10


Author:
Stephen Chbosky grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Programme. He managed to win an award with his first film ("The Four Corners of Nowhere"). He has written screenplays, directed and co-produced a number of films. The Perks of Being A Wallflower is his first novel.
For more information about Stephen Chbosky, you can check him out on Wikipedia.


Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

Angle of Incidence by Christy Hayes

Angle of Incidence by Christy Hayes
First published as a Kindle ebook in 2011 (an electronic copy was provided from the author for review)


Description (from Goodreads)

Gwen Perry has the picture perfect life. Her Washington D.C. based photography business is booming, her husband's law career is lucrative, and after years of trying, they're only months away from the birth of their first child. 
While a nasty turn of fate leaves Gwen devastated, angry, and on the verge of depression, her husband Rob walks a dangerous tight rope. He's hiding something from Gwen that could destroy their marriage. But even the deepest secrets won't stay buried forever.
When Rob's past is revealed, Gwen agrees to join her college friend at the artists' retreat he's leading in Colorado despite the consequences to her marriage. But Rob's not the only one keeping secrets from the past and her trip down memory lane could burn the bridge leading her back home.

My thoughts
Angle of Incidence was a book that I wasn't sure what to expect of. The description was informative enough to make me want to read it, but not much more than that. So, when I started reading it, I was pleasantly surprised by both the story and character development, as well as the writing. I have read a few self-published books and what is most prominent about them was their rather obvious lack of proper revisions. While the writing was not perfect, it was definitely a lot better than other self published books I've read.


The story itself is good, despite the fact that it is about a pretty popular issue; marital problems. In this case, we have Gwen and Rob, a couple who have been together for years and they are - at the beginning of the novel - expecting their first child. But then, something happens and Gwen loses the baby, leading her to become a shadow of her former self, who can't even open up to her husband and share a little of her pain and anger. And as if losing a baby wasn't enough, new secrets begin to come to light, leaving Gwen betrayed and hurt, despite the fact that she also has secrets of her own she's never told anyone about.


The characters in this story were very well developed, despite the fact that sometimes what they said or did, did sound a little over the top. Gwen, for example, is an ok character. She has a good heart and is capable and strong, but her grief over her lost child sounded a little too over the top to me (I do not mean that losing a child should be easy to get over, just that the choice of words to describe what Gwen was going through at the time needn't have been so strong). Another thing that annoyed me a little about Gwen was the fact that she went on and on about how Rob betrayed her (through not telling her his secret), but then again, she hadn't told him hers. So it made her sound a little selfish and cruel and two-faced. Rob was a little better. He was trying to make the most of a bad situation foisted upon him and has no idea what to do to help his wife get out of the pit of despair and denial she has pushed herself into.


All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. One thing I especially liked in this book were the little photography related definitions at the beginning of each chapter, each one of which was chosen specifically for a certain chapter because of what was going on in it. I thought that was a lovely touch, especially since Gwen is a professional photographer. (Though having said that, I did notice that a few of them kept being repeated. Maybe it would have been better if each definition was only used once.)


Rating: 6/10


Author:
Christy Hayes is an American author from Atlanta, Georgia. She writes women's romantic fiction. She has been writing seriously since 2004 and made the decision to publish her novels independently in 2011. Other than Angle of Incidence, she has also written:

Heart of Glass   |   Shoe Strings

Misconception

You can find out more about Christy Hayes and her books from her official website.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011






(Disclaimer: Anything stated in this review reflects my personal opinion of the book. Other than receiving a copy of the book for review purposes, I have not been compensated in any other way for what I have said.)

February by Lisa Moore

February by Lisa Moore
First published by House of Anansi/Groundwood Books in 2009 (this edition by Chatto & Windus in 2010)









Description (from Goodreads)
In 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland during a Valentine's night storm. In the early hours of the next morning, all 84 men aboard died. Helen O'Mara is one of those left behind when her husband, Cal, drowns. This title shows us the oil rig go down and Helen emerging from her grief to greet a new life.


My thoughts
Before I saw February in the pile of books my Grandma had put together for me, I hadn't seen or heard of it before. The cover is not what you might call eye-catching, but because it was in the pile, I decided to read the description on the back cover, where I realised that the cover is pretty irrelevant to the story; it doesn't even give an inkling of what it's about. (Which is really a pity, because the book is worth reading)


The book follows Helen, the widow of Cal, a man who was working on the oil rig Ocean Ranger on the night that everything went wrong and 84 men died. Apparently, the Ocean Ranger accident was a real event, something which I did not know about before I read the book. While I was reading the story, I thought it was an event that was made up to be used as a backdrop for the novel, but when I finished the book and got round to reading the acknowledgements (something which I do, even though I think most people tend not to), I found out that it was a real event. (You can find out more about it HERE.)


Throughout the story, we go back and forth, to different times in the past and in the present, which allows us to understand Helen's grief, despite the fact that not everything is told in chronological order. The book doesn't solely focus on Helen's grief and her journey in dealing with it. It also follows Helen and Cal's children's lives (though not necessarily directly), so as to show the impact that particular accident had upon their lives; John, who was the eldest and the only boy, Cathy and Lulu, the two middle girls, and Gabrielle, who was born after her father died. And there is one important subplot, which is supposed to be the trigger for the telling of the story and though which the main characters come to deal with their grief.


Despite the fact that it deals quite a bit with grief  and dealing (over a rather large period of time), this book is not too heavy to read. The writing is very good and the way in which it is written (with all the jumps in time) just helped pull me into the story and made me want to read on and on so that I could find out what was going to happen next. The characters were easy to relate to and understand and faced real problems in real ways. Definitely a book worth reading.


Rating: 8/10


Author:
Lisa Moore is a Canadian author. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and has also studied at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has written two collections of stories, Degrees of Nakedness and Open, as well as a novel, Alligator. She has also written for tv, radio, magazines and newspapers.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

Where or When by Anita Shreve

Where or When by Anita Shreve
First published by Harcourt in 1993 (this edition by Abacus in 1994)









Description (from Goodreads)
Charles Callahan, a faithfully married businessman, chances upon a newspaper photograph of a woman he loved 30 years ago. Unable to resist, he writes her, a poet living with her husband and two children.

Powerfully drawn together again, the two lovers grapple with issues they never expected to face: the nature of erotic love and betrayal, the agony of lost years, bewildering moral quandaries in an age of shifting values, and the elusive nature of time.

My thoughts

This is a book I had never thought about reading at any time. I had heard of Anita Shreve before, but I just never seemed to want to pick up a book of hers to read (for no particular reason). So this year, when I was browsing through my Grandma's bookshelves, I noticed that she had quite a few Anita Shreve books and it made me curious. Apparently, she loves reading Anita Shreve books, so I decided to try one to see for myself. Where or When was just the one I decided to pick up, as I looked through a few descriptions and that was the one that made me want to read it more.

So, after that ramble, I'll go on with the actual review. Where or When is the story of two people, Charles and Sian, who met at a summer camp when they were 12 and fell in love with each other. Fast forwarding 30 years, Charles and Sian have not seen each other since, but when Charles sees a photo of Sian in the newspaper, he decides to contact her. After that, we have a series of letters coming back and forth between the two main characters, until Charles realises he really is still in love with her (and she is still in love with him).

To me, the whole premise the novel was based on seems rather ridiculous. I can understand two people being in love, losing contact and then, meet up again, only to realise that the feeling has always been there. But in this case, it was a little stupid. I mean, Charles and Sian met when they were 12 (!!!), were at that summer camp for only a week (!!!!!) and after 30 years, they just decide that those brief moments 30-odd years ago are worth breaking up their whole families for. It just sounds very unrealistic and very shallow. And that ending.... Talk about disappointing. It left so many things open. But, at least, I am happy that it wasn't what I expected it to be.

And I really came to dislike Charles as a character. He was in debt, there was a big chance of their house being repossessed because of said debts and all that he cared about was how, when and where he would meet Sian. He didn't even seem to care that much about his children, at times, which I found to be catalytic in my decision not to like him. Sian, at least, was a little more dignified as a character.

All in all, I obviously haven't had a good first experience with Anita Shreve's writing, but I promise myself I will try reading another one of her books next year when I visit my grandparents' house again.

Rating: 4/10

Author:

Anita Shreve is an American author. She holds a degree from Tufts University and taught in high schools for a number of years before deciding to quit, in order to pursue a career in writing. She has written a large number of books, including:

The Pilot's Wife  |  The Weight of Water

The Last Time They Met  |  Sea Glass

You can find out more about Anita Shreve and her books from her official website.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
First published by Doubleday in 2010 (this edition by Anchor Books in 2011)








Description (from Goodreads)
On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the slice. To her horror, she finds that her cheerful mother tastes of despair. Soon, she’s  privy to the secret knowledge that most families keep hidden: her father’s detachment, her mother’s transgression, her brother’s increasing retreat from the world. But there are some family secrets that even her cursed taste buds can’t discern.


My thoughts
I was browsing through the internet one day, looking for books to order from the Book Depository, when I suddenly came upon The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. For some reason or another, the title appealed to me and I went on to read the blurb and finally, buy the book. So it was really a random buy. Although I do thing the cover is pretty!!


The premise of this book is actually quite interesting. The main character, Rose, discovers quite suddenly, on the eve of her 9th birthday, that she can taste her mother's emotions in her lemon cake. As the days go buy, she discovers things about her mother that she wouldn't really have wanted to know, just by tasting the food she has been preparing. With the help of one of her brother's friends, she experiments a little and realises that she can taste whatever emotion the maker of the food had while he/she was actually in the process of making it.


The book started off quite well. It was rather interesting and engaging, and I found the writing to be very good. The chapters are also rather small, and they help the story flow. What I was a little surprised by, though, was the fact that the weird things that were happening to Rose with her tasting buds, were proven to be rather mild compared to the weird things that were happening to certain other people in the book. (I won't say names, as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who decides to read it) I can quite honestly say that, even now, nearly two weeks after I finished reading it (and have had time to think about it), I have no idea what was going on with said person.


I did enjoy reading it, though not as much towards the end (as I wasn't sure about what was going on), but I do know one thing: Aimee Bender has a rather distinctive (and very enjoyable) way of writing, so I think I might try another one of her books sometime in the future.


Rating: 6/10 (purely because of my BIG question marks)


Author:
Aimee Bender is an American author. She lives in Los Angeles and currently teaches creative writing at USC. Other than The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (which is her latest novel), she has written another three books:

The Girl In The Flammable Skirt   |   An Invisible Sign of My Own

Willful Creatures

You can find out more about Aimee Bender from her official website.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Love Story by Jennifer Echols
Published by MTV Books in 2011 (this edition is an e-Galley, courtesy of the S&S Galley Grab programme)








Description (from Goodreads)
She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines.. 

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.


My thoughts
Wow... Huge blurb. Though it's not really relevant. Love Story is the first book by Jennifer Echols I have ever read. I had been seeing so much about her and her books on a large number of blogs, that when I noticed that her latest novel was available to read through the S&S Galley Grab programme, I jumped at the chance to read it.


Love Story tells the love story between the two main characters of this book, Hunter and Erin. It's obvious right from the start that there is something between them, something that is unresolved and causes tension in their 'relationship'. Erin is attending a course creative writing as part of her majoring in writing/journalism and she is just having her first story critiqued when Hunter walks into the classroom. What no-one knows is that Erin and Hunter grew up together on the same farm and also that, when Erin's grandmother disinherited her, she gave all her college fund to him, as well as promising him Erin's inheritance.


The book opens with Erin's first short story that is being critiqued on the day Hunter joins the class, which I thought was interesting and original.  Throughout the book, we get to read more stories written by both Erin and Hunter and which reveal, in a rather special way, what has happened between them. Echols has done a brilliant job of differentiating the styles of the two writers, making their stories unique to each one of them.


The actual story was not much. It progresses naturally, just as Erin and Hunter's 'relationship' progresses, but, to me, it came off as chick-lit for young adults. I don't say that in a demeaning way; chick lit is a wonderful genre in itself and one I often turn to when I am in need of something to cheer me up! I mean it in the way that chick lit is usually about relationships and the way they progress to reach a final state (good or bad) at the end of the book. That's what this book felt like to me. One thing I really did like about it was that the characters were at university. I think the fact that they were both 18 (or was it 19?) gave the author the freedom to move her story in different ways than she would have had to if the characters had been younger.


All in all, Love Story is a perfect summer read (and by that I mean, it's lovely and it will make you feel happy at the end)! I had a few moments when I was confused, as things seemed to come out of nowhere, and I did feel the ending was a little rushed and left some things unresolved, but it really was a lovely read. I am definitely going to try out something else by Jennifer Echols!


Rating: 7/10


Author:
Jennifer Echols is the author of a number of romantic comedies and romantic dramas targeted to the young adult market (but not only!). Some of her books include:

Endless Summer   |   Going Too Far

You can find out more about Jennifer Echols and her books from her website!

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman

Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman
First published by Hachette Australia in 2010 (this edition is an eGalley provided by S&S through their S&S Galley Grab programme)








Description (from Goodreads):

In 1920s Glasgow, Beattie Blaxland falls pregnant to her married lover Henry just before her nineteenth birthday. Abandoned by her family, Beattie and Henry set sail for a new life in Australia. But life is not about to follow the plan that Beattie had hoped for and fate will play her a cruel hand... In 2009, London, prima ballerina Emma Blaxland-Hunter is also discovering that life can also have its ups and downs. Unable to dance again after a fall, Emma returns home to Australia to recuperate. But on arrival she is presented with some surprising news - her recently deceased and much-loved grandmother Beattie Blaxland has left her Tasmanian property to Emma. Told through the eyes of a young Beattie Blaxland and a contemporary Emma Blaxland-Hunter, this is an emotionally charged, seductive tale of self-discovery, secrets and surprises.


My thoughts:
Wildflower Hill tells the story of two women: Beattie and Emma, grandmother and grandaughter. On the one hand, we have Beattie. Growing up in Glasgow in the 1920s, she falls pregnant from her married lover Henry. When her mother finds out she is pregnant, she kicks Beattie out of the house and leaves her to make her way on her own. She finally ends up in Australia, together with Henry, where they try to start a new life. Only it doesn't seem to go like Beattie wanted it to.


On the other hand, we have Emma. Emma is a world famous ballerina who has a devastating accident and is unable to keep on dancing professionally. At a loss for what to do, she decides to go back to Australia. There she finds out that her grandmother, Beattie, has left her a house in Tasmania, for when she is unable to dance anymore. She decides to go and is very surprised with what she finds out there.


Wildflower Hill really is a lovely story. The writing is very good and the characters are very well developed. During the course of the story, you get to feel so bad about all the things that have gone wrong with Beattie's life. At some point, I was pretty sure that nothing worse could happen. And then, it did. As for Emma, I can't say I really liked her in the beginning, as she was a little self-centered, but she definitely did some growing up throughout the book.


Though the book really was lovely, I felt that the ending was a bit too quick. Everything else seemed to happen at a regular pace and then, for some reason, the author seemed to be hurrying along events, so as to get to the actual ending. And I just loved that last chapter.


Rating: 8/10


Author:
Kimberley Freeman is the pen name of Kim Wilkins, an Australian author of popular fiction. She has written horror, fantasy and mystery books as Kim Wilkins and writes general women's fiction under her pen name.
Some of her books include:

Duet  |  Gold Dust

The Infernal  |  Bloodlace (A Gina Campion Mystery)

You can find out more about Kim Wilkins on her official website/blog HERE.

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011