Book Review: "Baby Proof"

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin seemed like my kind of book when I skimmed over the short synopsis GoodReads gave me when it showed up in my recommendations. Based on both that and the title, I figured what the hell, I'd give the book a shot. And, it's not that the book is badly written or anything - much the contrary, it's actually very well written and has a lot of good humor in it. Except that for someone like me.....

It reads like a damn horror novel.

Seriously. The premise of this book is basically a nightmare come true as far as I'm concerned. As a late-20's-something female with no intention of having children and knowing that this causes a HUGE strain on trying to form lasting relationships with, well, much of anybody, I thought maybe a story like this would be empowering. Liberating. Feel like somebody's got my back, even if it's just a fictional character. The main character, Claudia, is about 30 and wants *no* part of parenthood. Same goes for her husband, Ben. Except that over time, for Ben, he changes his mind and wants a baby more than anything. Inevitably, this leads to a divorce. All hell ensues.

Now, I realize this happens in real life pretty often; that's not the part that bothers me. What bugs me about this story is the fact that it teaches a really shitty moral, as far as I'm concerned. Lose your sense of self at any cost, if it means saving your relationship with your man. How terrible is that?? Seriously, the way the story ends up, Claudia decides she'll have a baby to appease Ben just so she can get back together with him. I just... I have no words for how upset I was with the ending of this book. I felt it was very patronizing to women like myself and trying to instill some notion of sell your values; you'll never be happy without a man and a baby! *facepalm*

I wanted to like this book. I really, REALLY wanted to. But the ending just ruined it for me. I don't know if I'm the only one who felt this way about the book or not, but, that's how it was for me. Nevertheless, the quality of the writing itself was good, so I suppose if you're like 90% of the rest of the female population, you'll probably like this book just fine. If you're like me, however, you'll resent it. But by quality alone, I'll rate this one a 4 star review.

Book Review: "Remember Me?"

Remember Me? is a fresh spin on an otherwise tired-out amnesia plotline. Our main character takes a pretty bad clock to the head.... and can't remember a single thing about the past three years of her life. The thing is, those particular three years were a majorly transformative three years for her, and she doesn't even recognize the person she's become in that time. Everything feels foreign to her as she tries to navigate her way through her new life, with a new job, a new home, a new husband (!!!), and many other things that leave her feeling like this can't possibly be her life.

There's many twists and turns in this plot and I don't want to give much away - it's one of those books that's best if you just read it for yourself. However, I WOULD like to give props to the author on one major point (and sorry if this is a spoiler): I appreciate that the book doesn't end with some miraculous magical "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!!!" moment. No, our main character still doesn't remember what's been lost even as the book ends - only one tiny glimmer of one single memory. It's very open-ended to your own interpretation if you think she gets her memory back or not. I feel that this is a more realstic approach, because honestly, after so much time has passed, what would be the realistic possibility of one's memory just magically re-appearing? Yeah, exactly. So I think this was actually handled fantastically.

I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars :)

Book Review: "The Undomestic Goddess"

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella is a classic story of a prim and polished high-powered businesswoman being plunked suddenly into a lifestyle of which she is completely unprepared to handle. Not that she planned it that way, anyhow. But she learns to cope, and as she does, it's not long before she adjusts and this becomes her new way of living - even when her old life is offered back to her on a silver platter.

While I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I did Twenties Girl, it's still pretty good. Probably half my problem is that it's all about the world of lawyers, which I have little to no interest nor knowledge in, so a lot of that went sailing over my head. I can appreciate the lifestyle and the way it's portrayed, though. So I can't really dock any points away for that. Still, some parts of the story did seem to drag on a little dryly, whereas with Twenties Girl, I couldn't put the book down for two seconds practically. I'm going to go ahead and rate this book 4 stars though, as it's still a very good story and you'll probably enjoy it. :)

Book Review: "Twenties Girl"

Even if you're not a fan of the 1920's, you'll still be able to appreciate this book! Admittedly, I am a fan of the 20's, but that's beside the point. ;) Regardless. I'd never heard of Sopie Kinsella by name before, althoug I knew it had seemed familiar from somewhere... Turns out, she's the one who wrote Confessions of a Shopaholic! So that should tell you that the quality of this author is high.

I love the premise of this story, because it plays into SO many "what if?" scenarios in my mind. Basically, this girl has to go to her great-aunt's funeral who died at 105 years old. Never knew her aunt in life... in fact, practically the whole family blew her off and abandoned her in a nursing home. Almost no one was at the funeral. And yet, suddenly during the services, the girl hears a voice. And sees a person who wasn't there before. Little does she know it's the ghost of her great-aunt Sadie.

The whole story becomes a whirlwind as Sadie begs the main character, Lara, to stop the funeral somehow, because she needs her necklace. Just what necklace, Lara doesn't know. Before she knows it, she gets herself tied up in trying to track down this necklace at any cost. At the same time, during the weeks she spends with the ghost, she learns about who her aunt really was and becomes friends with her, which makes it all the more devastating and heart-wrenching when Sadie finally does fully cross over at the end. There's so many plot twists in this story though.... I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it. This is quite possibly my newest favorite book! I'd rate it even higher than a 5 star rating if I could! :D

Book Review: "Knit The Season (A Friday Night Knitting Club Novel #3)"

Knit the Season is the final installment of the Friday Night Knitting Club trilogy by Kate Jacbons...and what a fine end to a series if ever I saw one. She gives our beloved characters a lovely send off.

As with many series finales, this book was writen to tie up loose ends. And that it does. Dakota is trying to find her footing in life as everything else around her seems to be changing in one way or another. As she's adjusting to all these shifts, she's still mourning the loss of her mother. As she prepares for this year's holiday season, it seems everybody has a story to share with her about her mother, all stories she'd never heard before, and all of which shed new light on what kind of person Georgia was. The little girl who thought she knew her mother better than anybody quickly finds out that there was quite about about the type of person her mother was that she didn't know about at all.

Given the twist endings of the first two books, I was on pins and needles (literally needles...I was knitting while reading the majority of this book) in tripidation of something bad happening at the end of this book. Especially with Gran slowing down, I kept fearing she might be the next Walker to go or something. I was relieved to not only find out she wasn't, but that there's no tragic twist ending on this book. Rather, the opposite.

Personally I love these books and wish this weren't the end of them, but who knows....maybe she'll write more of them someday! 5 out of 5 rating!

Book Review: "Knit Two (A Friday Night Knitting Club Novel, #2)"

The sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club, Knit Two by Kate Jacobs brings back almost all of the old characters (minus Georgia, of course) from the first book so that we can see were everybody ended up 5 years later (and beyond, when you reach the end of this one). Unlike the first novel, which centered around Georgia, this book is a bit more equal opportunity to the rest of the characters and gives all of them more time to develop each of their storylines and personalities more in full. For this, I actually prefer this sequel to the original, but the sense of loss is palpable throughout the entire thing, and you can't help but feel like you, yourself, have lost a friend as well while reading it. While most of the other reviews I've seen of this book rave about how they like how Catherine got more of a storyline in this one, I guess I'm rooting for the underdog here. I love the fact that Anita, the lovable old woman, got so much page-time as it were to detail her engagement, upcoming nuptials, and the search for her long-lost sister. Of course, I also love everything about the Rome trip. ;) And it's kind of cool getting to see Darwin in so much more of a domestic role now. A lot can change in 5 years, and this book definitely goes into it. The story has a bit of a twist ending that yanked at my heartstrings, similar to how the first book did that at the end too, but I think it tied up some loose ends, as odd as it may be to say so over that particular ending.

I flew through this book quite a bit faster than the last one, and I'm rating it a bit higher; this one gets a 4 out of 5 star review.

Book Review: "The Friday Night Knitting Club"

I have to admit, when I first heard mention of The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs on the Goodreads website, I was instantaneously filled with glee. You see, I just picked up knitting as a new hobby last November. Everything about it still excites and thrills me. To see that it was the cornerstone of a novel? Oh my goodness! Instantly it was filed into my "to reads" list (of which, if any of you have me added over on that site, know is quite the lengthy and extensive list indeed). I'm limited only by what my local library system has on its shelves, and many times, they don't have some of the titles that I get most excited about. I was delighted to see that this one, they did have. I found it slightly daunting that almost every review for this book on the website were about 2 stars and below on average. Still, I pressed forward, figuring that the people rating it so low probably aren't even knitters and "just don't get it".

The story itself is very much a Seinfeld-esque set-up. Set in NYC, the story basically outlines the life and adventures of Georgia Walker, owner of the Walker & Daughter yarn shop, as well as her family and friends. For much of the book, nothing particularly noteworthy happens as far as plot - it's one of those stories where it's just a slice of life in each of these characters' lives. I almost found it hard to keep turning the pages, but I wanted to see where it was going. There had to be some good reason that this story got published, other than the kitschy literary devices of using aspects of knitting to teach life lessons.

And then I reached the bombshell. A mere few chapters before the end of the book.

I'll give you a spoiler: the main character dies.

And you do NOT see it coming. At all.

It's enough to tear at your heartstrings - I actually did cry when I hit this part of the story. I didn't emotionally connect with much of anything else in the entire book, but when THAT happened...oh my lord. Where did THAT come from?? It TOTALLY blindsides you, but at the same time, it happens in a very realistic way. You DON'T always see it coming when you lose a close friend. Sometimes they literally are fine one minute, and within a matter of hours, they're gone. I think the reality of this drives deep at home, and THIS is what places the book in amongst the best-sellers lists.

I feel like the dramatic moments should have been spaces out intermittently across the length of the book, rather than keeping everything SO calm and casual almost the entirety of the book and saving it all up for the ending. The writing style was also fairly dry and kind of boring for the majority of the book, which makes trying to continue reading particularly difficult. But I did it, and I'm glad I did. Now....two more books to this series to get through...

I rate this book a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: "The Boy Next Door"

I've heard mention of Meg Cabot many, many times over the years, and for some inexplicable reason, had never actually picked up one of her novels. I'm not sure why, but I figured it was about high time that I fixed that. And now I'm so glad that I did.

This particular book has a very unique style to it. Much like the Internet Girls series, this book jumps the internet bandwagon, although slightly different. Instead of using instant messages, the entire story in this book is told through emails back and forth between the characters. Nothing but. I was a little skeptical as to just how that would work initially, but I'm kind of surprised how telling such emails could be! You've got a love story unfolding, marital drama, a mystery, scandal... lots of elements at play. And of course, humor. And yet, we never see these characters outside of behind their keyboards. I'm very impressed by this. However, one minor detail (that I must dock my review a point for) is that all the emails are written in exactly the same style. In 20+ years of using the internet, this came as a minor pet peeve to me that all these characters would write EXACTLY the same way, with the same literary nuances and such. In reality, everybody has a writing style unique to they and they alone. So this does take away from the realism a bit, and gets a little cringe-worthy with how many "______, I mean"s throughout the book. But other than that, I found this to be an incredibly enjoyable read and highly recommend it! 4 stars.

Book Review: "If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't)"

If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't) is, apparently, Betty White's sixth book. (This was news to me - I only know because she mentioned the others in the foreword. Well, now I know what I need to try and track down!) God bless her for being so dedicated to her craft. And I must say, this book gives some insight into the world of this wonderful lady. The book is comprised of a series of short stories from different facets of Betty's life on all sorts of different topics, but it seems that her favorites to talk about are her husband Allen (who she still speaks so fondly of that it's almost heartbreaking) and about animals. Soooooo much about animals. I always knew there was something about Betty that just made her inherently lovable to me; I think I found the key to what it is. ;) It seems most of my favorite people are all animal people! But it's definitely news to me just how *much* of an animal person Betty is, and I love it. I love all her stories, and could listen to her all day. A hueg 5 star rating, and here's hoping I can find her other books and that they're as enjoyable as this one was!

Book Review: "Hollywood Is Like High School With Money"

When you hear the name of the author Zoey Dean, it's quite likely that the first thing you'd think of would be the A List series. (It's also quite easy to dismiss her as an author if basing her off of said-series.) I would just like to say that Hollywood Is Like High School With Money is nothing like that. No, this story is vibrant, fresh, and it pops. You connect with the characters. You KNOW it probably won't end well, and you root for the underdog anyway, even when she's doing wrong. But most of all, Zoey has finally broke out of her mold of teen books. She's writing for a slightly older demographic, and the effort shows in spades. Yes, there's still nods of the head towards those teen books here and there throughout, but mostly, it is written intentionally for an older audience, and is a million times more enjoyable. It also offers a very candid, honest view at the world of being a personal assistant to someone important (which is impressive for still technically being classified as fiction), and that it's not all fun and games and brushing elbows with the rich and famous. The title of this book rings true in many ways over, and is felt reverberating throughout the entire story.

I absolutely LOVED this book and would re-read it again and again. A big 5 stars to you!

Book Review: "Posh and Prejudice (Diary of a Chav #2)"

The second installment of the Diary of a Chav series, Posh and Prejudice, had a tall order to live up to for being able to even hold a candle to the original...and it delivers. It's consistently funny, deals with realistic problem, and - unlike many of its rivals on the teen book market - has a far more realistic outcome than most. Not to mention, I've grown quite attached to miss Shiraz quite quickly. It's not every day that the main character in a teen novel is quite so vibrant and naturally lovable. Big bonus points for this, and for keeping it consistent from the first book to the next.

The storyline deals with themes such as the difficulties of secondary school, failed relationships, discrimination against the working classes, feeling trapped and wanting a way out of what everyone else around you just blindly accepts as their destiny, etc. The ending of the book totally sidelined me; I did NOT see that coming. But it leaves the door wide open for interesting things to happen in the next book. :)

Unfortunately for me, it'll probably be quite a while before I get a chance to read the rest of the books in this series, as not only does my local library not carry them, but NONE of the libraries in the county have any of the others. :-\ So unless someone can hook me up with the others, I have no idea how long it'll take...which really bums me out, because I've been enjoying these more than just about any other books I've read this whole year. Oh well, what can you do, right? Anyhow, I give this book another huge 5 star rating. :)

Book Review: "Diary of a Chav"

Well now! Diary of a Chav by Grace Dent turned out to be an extremely refreshing change of pace from most of the books I've been reading lately! Spoken like a true Brit, the entirety of this book is written in very much legitimate Brit-speak...none of your prim and proper stuff 'round here! This is more along the lines how real British people speak...or at least, judging by all the ones I've ever been friends with. (And there have been many over the years.) A lot of this book might go right over the tops of a lot of Americans' heads given all the slang (despite a nice glossary in the back), but it just felt natural to me reading it; probably thanks in part to all the Brits I've known in my lifetime, it just feels like talking to any one of them. And I love it.

As the title implies, the book is written in the style of a diary of the main character, Shiraz. It basically follows one year in the life of trials and tribulations (often overdramatically so, as is usually the way of most teenagers) of a typical lower-class 15 year old girl, which always turns out to be completely hilarious, no matter what it is that's gone on with her. It also shows some personal growth on the part of the main character over the course of this particular year, which is good to see, because in many teen books, the main characters often end up no better off than they were in the first place where the book started.

I really love the style of this, and was overjoyed to find out there's an entire series of these! If they're all this good, they may be my new favorite thing of the moment. This seems to be the first series to *really* grab me this much since the Secrets Of My Hollywood Life series earlier this year. Big five stars!

Book Review: "So Super Starry"

For a book with a title like So Super Starry, one would assume it to be about Hollywood starlets or the like. Especially with the photos on the cover. So please explain how, exactly, we end up with a very British book about posh, pampered, overly-sheltered English kids who live in their own little private community away from the rest of the world, and the only defining factor between all of them is wealth?

Of course, being a teen book, it's got all the usual ingredients: the main character who feels just a little bit different from everyone else, the popular kids, the outcasts, the bitches, the love interests, etc. In this particular go-round, the main character falls for one of the popular kids/bitch's brother, who has a reputation, blah blah blah. And because he comes from money, everyone makes a big deal out of what this girl ought to be doing to impress him, rather than the old addage of to thine own self be true. Yes, it ends up winning out in the end, but the entire book, it seems, is SO superficial that it's disgusting. Even the main character knows this, and yet it remains the same. Yes, I realize there are people in the world who really live like this, but this story seems to be more a study into the psychology of the superficial than it does a love story between people from opposite ends of the spectrum.

Not to mention, the author's style of writing is so very dry. This was really strange for me, because usually I pounce all over anything that's British, but this....I don't know. I struggled to even make it through the whole book because it kept losing my interest. As such, I feel that I'm being generous by even rating it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: "The Karma Club"

Just about everybody has at least some grasp on the concept of how karma works: that whatever you do and put out into the universe, good or bad, will come back on you tenfold. Thus is the basis of The Karma Club by Jessica Brody. After a group of three friends have all been scorned by their significant others, they form a club in which to exact revenge on the perpetrators, all in the name of karma. The idea is that they're helping to lighten karma's load by speeding up the karmic process a little and exacting punishments themselves. What they fail to recognize is that for the negative energies they put into the revenge tactics, they're only bringing bad karma unto themselves.

This book is loaded with typical high school drama, but there's enough humor in it to make up for that fact and then some. (Their revenge tactics are pretty damn creative...) I found it quite enjoyable, and rate it a full 5 out of 5 stars. :)

Book Review: "The Virginity Club"

The title alone of this book is probably more than enough to stir up controversy. Oh yes, The Virginity Club is one of those books; that no matter which side of the line you stand on, there's probably something between these covers that will end up getting your panties in a bunch. And I'm not immune.

This is by no means a new pet peeve of mine, but personally, it bothers me whenever a book, a film, or anything else decides to force the notion that virginity is something to be ashamed of and should be shaken off as quickly as possible. Let me make it clear: there is NOTHING wrong with virginity, and I don't care what age you are - if you happen to be one, even if you feel like you must be the only one left at your age, trust me. There's PLENTY of others out there who're just as old as you, and older. Whew, okay, got that out of the way. Now, onward.

This book has an almost schizophrenic sort of flip-flopping on the issue. All the girls in this book are vying for the same scholarship; one in which the biggest caveat is that you must be "pure of body and spirit". Not once in this entire book does it end up saying just how that rule is to be enforced. The term is very much open for debate as far as its true meaning goes. Regardless, prior to this scholarship, it seems that most of the girls wanted to lose their virginity ASAP. Then when this came around, oh, of course. It's a different tune now that money's involved. And you have characters from both sides here, ones ridiculing virgins, and ones martyrizing them. Not much for in between the two extremes, either. But that's not all... they also go the opposite extreme and do a TON of slut-shaming. (Yes, that's a real term.) Which makes one think then that the author must, on some level, be more on the side of thinking that virginity is virtuous and should be kept at all costs, but....there's so much in here that contradicts that. Basically, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't according to this book. Well what, exactly, is this book trying to convey as a message then? I don't know, and because of that, it seems to have missed its mark majorly. At best, I feel I can only bear to give this book a 3 star rating, and even that feels like it's being generous.

Book Review: "What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know"

First thing's first: let me start out by saying that I generally don't seek out poetry/prose books. Not that I have anything against them - I don't in the least - it just doesn't usually happen. And I had no idea when I picked up this book that it was written as such. What surprises me more, and is completely new to me, is that this author actually wrote a novel-length story out of their poetry and prose. I've never seen a story written that way, so forgive me if I'm being completely naive here, but I found it to be very refreshing and downright intriguing. I honestly never even occurred to me that an author could do that! So, speaking as a writer who has an incredibly hard time writing so much as one little poem, say nothing of a STORY out of them... I'm in absolute awe of this book.

The story too is also intriguing. You almost forget about the ages of the characters, they're so far ahead of their time. Then again, I might be biased, because in school, I felt I basically was a female version of the main character in this story. A social outcast; an avid fan of classic rock; an artist at heart; a hopeless romantic. I felt so much at home reading this that at times, I nearly felt like I was reading back through old diary entries of my own. I really, really enjoyed this one, and highly recommend it! Big 5 star rating!

Book Review: "Star Power (Talent #3)"

In this final installment of Zoey Dean's Talent series, the girls are truly finding themselves on the up and up. Mac has taken it upon herself to become everybody's agent. (It used to just be Emily's.) She starts out meaning well, but soon becomes heady with power and starts letting it get to her. Emily is still in full swing of her Davey Woodward crush, and it's only coming out more and more in spades since working with him on set in a romantic role. Becks has been signed on as the fourth Dixie Girl, which are a world-renowned surf team. And Coco is trying to make a name for herself as a singer, and not as just Cardammon's daughter. But since Mac keeps putting her managerial duties first and friendship second, and as is to be expected, ends up making a huge mess out of things. As with most things, things find a way of working out in the end, and ends up on a cute note.

I'll be sad to see the girls go, but at the same time, one can really only put up with so much middle school drama. After all, isn't living it firsthand once enough? But I did enjoy the story, and I'm rating this one a 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: "Hollyweird"

Hollyweird by Terri Clark is a fun little read that's essentially a new spin on the classic good vs. evil tales. 3 girls win a trip out to LA to meet their favorite actor and idol, Dakota Danvers, and be treated to the whole celebrity treatment while they're there. What they don't know is that their idol...is the son of Satan.

But all hope is not lost. Just as unknowingly as they'd gotten mixed up with hell's minion, one of God's fallen angels, Jameson, is provided to them as a protector. They don't know it right away that he's an angel, but in time, the truth is revealed, as is the knowledge that the supernatural world of demons, vampires, witches, werewolves, etc all exist in the underground. Likewise, it's brought to their attention that much of the celebrity world is part of this preternatural existence. (What an interesting thought that would be if it really did work that way?) But Jameson has been given the assignment of being put in charge of defeating Dakota before he unleashes evil on the entire world...and his plans are coming together faster than anyone could possibly think. The only help in the world that he has is that of which he entrusts in the girls.

There's a lot of aspects of this book that remind me of one of my favorite films ever, Stanley Donen's Bedazzled. Good vs. evil, the 7 deadly sins, etc. It all comes into play here in a fresh, modern spin on a classic tale. It's a quirky, easy read (you could easily read it in one sitting if you were so inclined), and I highly recommend it to just about everybody :) 5 star rating!

Book Review: "Almost Famous (Talent #2)"

This second installment of Zoey Dean's Talent series is thankfully a huge step up from its predecessor. Whereas the first book in the series was bland and boring, this one is filled with juicy drama all the way through, and really fleshes out what each character is all about. It's all in the tone of middle school drama gone VERY awry, and eventual revenge. However, morality is to be upheld, and the underlying message is that revenge doesn't pay, no matter how badly you've been burned. (It would've been too predictable if everything had ended up working out according to plan with the revenge plots.) I think there's a lot of themes throughout this book though that most people can relate to on some level, as most people have been harassed in school at some point in their lives; maybe not to the degree these girls are, but it still gets its point across. Regardless, I'm voting this one a big 5 stars :)

Book Review: "Talent"

Outside of her The A-List series, Zoey Dean has another offering for us with a miniseries meant for a slightly younger demographic, starting with this book, Talent.

The premise is basically this: Emily, a typical all-American girl from Iowa, comes to LA to visit the city with her mother and her best friend for a week. Just as Hollywood-obsessed as most girls their age, they soak up every little detail about the business that they can... but especially when it comes to their movie star obsession, Davey Woodward. There's the typical levels of teenage star obsession...and then there's these girls. Who, after hearing that Davey has a movie premiere party just 10 blocks away from where their hotel is they're staying at, sneak out after Emily's mom falls asleep that night. Paige gets turned away from the door immediately, whereas Emily succeeds in lying her way into the party. She's quickly discovered by the one girl who caught her little 'performance', whose mother just happens to represent Davey - along with 90% of the rest of young Hollywood. Feeling that she's stumbled upon something special here, she decides to try and make Emily a star. However, as her mother's not willing to even hear her out for her efforts, she's left to do this almost entirely on her own...and it inevitably proves to be much harder than she ever could have anticipated.

I get the feeling that this book was aimed for a middle school demographic, and is written as such. It's not bad - it's actually a very cute read, not to mention a quick one at that (despite being almost 300 pages). It's just interesting enough to have picqued my interest into wanting to check out the next book in the series. :) Rating this one 4 out of 5 stars.