Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

Genre: non-fiction, politics
FTC Disclosure: bought from Costco
Published: 2009
Pages: 436
Content: R for language/excessive use of the f-word
Reading Challenges: A to Z Challenge (Author H)


One Line Summary: The ins and outs, ups and downs of the historic 2008 presidential election.

I loved this book! It was so insightful and it's one of those non-fiction books that reads like a novel. It was so intriguing to find out the inner workings of the McCainworld, Hillarlyland, and the Obamans. It made me very glad that I've never had any desire for public office. Politics is a brutal world and you have to have pretty thick skin to go anywhere within it.

McCain was an interesting person to learn more about...I learned he has quite the mouth on him (maybe due to his military time), and some anger issues...but that could be a result of being tortured and held hostage for a bit...I also came to feel a bit of sympathy for Sarah Palin. The choice to have her as McCain's running mate was a rash decision that really destroyed Palin. His campaign people pretty much left her out to dry once they found out more about her and the press attacked her relentlessly.

I also became really glad that John Edwards didn't make too much of a splash this time around. Not the most upstanding guy in politics or Rudy Guiliani, for that matter....

It was great to see how Obama's campaign people pulled it all together to get the win. There were a lot of bumps and bruises on the way, especially with Hillary and Bill Clinton. It was all out war between him and them. I was glad to see some of the reparation that happened after Obama became president and she accepted her post as Secretary of State.

This was a fast-paced, informative book and I loved every minute of it. It's amazing to get insight into this historic presidential race. Pick it up and give it a read, you won't be sorry!

Rating: 4.5/5

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain and Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Giveaway Now Closed

Genre: young adult, paranormal, romance
FTC Disclosure: bought from Dragons and Fairy Tales
Published: 2009
Pages: 372
Content: PG thematic elements
Reading Challenges: A to Z Challenge (Author D), 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

One Line Summary: Girl loves boy and becomes what boy is.

I picked this one up for the cover alone! I thought it was fantastic! Does it live up to its cover?....

We join Grace Divine. She's the perfect daughter to her preacher father, goody-goody brother Jude. Their family took in Daniel a few years ago her brother's best friend and the boy she's always had a crush on. Until one night Jude comes back covered in blood and Daniel has disappeared. But nobody talks about that night. We jump ahead three years when Grace happens to run into Daniel at school and everything changes.

I really enjoyed the interesting plot line. The ending definitely had a twist, which really made the rest of the book, at least for me, a lot better. I'm really looking forward to the next in the series due out later this year.

Grace was a bit too good for me; I like my heroes a bit more on the human and edgy side. But Daniel was a bad boy without being too bad like stalking and abusing his supposed love. But overall the characters were interesting.

The author also brings a lot of Christian themes into the novel with forgiveness and redemption and the worth of souls.

Overall, I enjoyed it for a fun and fast read, but it wasn't the greatest novel ever.

Rating: 3.5/5

And now onto my giveaway!!!!!!!!! The author Bree Despain is a local of mine and she was signing books on Friday and so I decided to pick up an extra signed copy to give away! She's really friendly and had some good goodies to give away. I got some book cover stickers and bookmarks and even some nail polish in the book cover's violet! I love meeting authors! It's so exciting.

To enter:

Leave your name and email address and what have been/are your favorite book covers. Also tell me if they lived up to the hype/book cover and why or why not.

Extra entries:

+1 if you become or are a follower
+1 if you either post about it or put it in your sidebar with a link
+1 for a Tweet with a link

This giveaway ends at midnight Sunday the 21st of February MST. I will then randomly draw all entries from my son's hat! Please make sure to include your email address or no entry.

Giveaway Closed.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Genre: historical, Spain Civil War, mystery
FTC Disclosure: bought from Borders
Published: 2001
Pages: 487
Content: R for violence, sex (a few fairly explicit scenes), and language (f-bombs quite a few times)
Reading Challenge: A to Z Challenge (title S)

One Line Summary: Boy learns to change his life by finding someone else's.

Daniel is ten when his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where someone once, a long time ago, started piling thousands of forgotten books in a crypt. He is to tell no one about it and he can take one book with him to keep safe forever. Daniel takes The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. He loves it so much that he wants to find all the books written by this man...but he soon learns that someone has been systematically buying and then destroying all of this man's books, a mysterious man who is burned beyond recognition and calls himself the devil.

We follow Daniel and his cohorts over the years as he tries to find out the mystery of Carax and his books.

I really enjoyed this novel. It takes place right after Spain's Civil War in about 1945 in Barcelona. It was a treat to follow Daniel in his journey of life; how his life in many ways compared with Carax's and how he was able to learn from his mistakes in order to make his life a better one. Zafón draws us in with his descriptions of Barcelona and Spain's Civil War. I loved how he drew us into all of the characters and made us care about them. No one was perfect. They mystery was also very intriguing. I had guessed a few things and was right about some and not others.

Quote: "Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who read it and lived it and dreamed with it." I think that's true. Which is one of the reasons I have a hard time giving up my books even if I didn't like them that much. After I've read one it becomes a part of me somehow for good or for bad.

This book also reminded me of when I first read Jane Eyre and the impact that had on me. It was the first time I had ever actually loved a book.

These are just a few of the many gems in this book!

Rating: 4/5

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Genre: classic, gothic romance, historical
FTC Disclosure: Bought along time ago in an unremembered bookstore...
Published: 1847
Pages: 488
Content: PG for adult themes
Reading Challenges: All About the Brontes Challenge, A to Z Challenge (Title J), Gilmore Girls Challenge

One Line Summary: Tragic, beautiful, and romantic, a classic!

I love this book! It's one of my all-time favorites. It resonated so well with me when I first read it as a teenager. How to be true to yourself, independent, and make the best of your life no matter the circumstances. And of course, the romance between Mr. Rochester and Jane was so beautiful. I wanted someone to love me like that one day!

I love how she was able to stand up for herself to Mrs. Reed her cruel aunt, the evil Mr. Brocklehurst, her self-righteous and controlling cousin St. John, and even her beloved Mr. Rochester when he would have her go against her moral fiber.


It was wonderful to learn more about Charlotte and her life and how much shows up in her novel. It made this reread even better!

Rating: 5/5

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Genre: historical fiction, romance, epistolary
FTC Disclosure: Bought from Amazon.com
Published: 2008
Pages: 274
Content: PG for adult themes and war imagery.
Reading Challenge: A to Z Challenge (Title G)

Summary: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Thoughts: First thought....it was beautiful, fun, romantic, sad, hopeful, and captivating. This is my second epistolary novel and I love them. The authors weaved a beautiful story all from letters. Letters convey such a different emotion...it feels so personal, like these people actually exist and we're sneaking in on their personal lives by reading their letters. It was like coming across some old letters of my grandmother's in the upstairs attic (don't have an attic, but you get the point!).

We learn all about Guernsey island during the German occupation of World War II. I'm sure I learned at some point that some part of England was occupied, but if I did it never stuck...I had no idea that these islands had been taken by Germany. It was a new experience for me to learn how some of our allies fared during the War. What makes it even more poignant is we learn about these experiences from people that we come to love and care about in the novel. So when they laugh, we laugh; when they cry, we cry.

If you haven't read this one, do! Pick it up! You won't be sorry!

Rating: 5/5!!!

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Genre: young adult
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from brother in law
Published: 1993
Pages: 208
Content: PG for adult themes.
Reading Challenges: 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge, A to Z Challenge (Author L)

I really wanted to like this one too...I enjoy the dystopia type society and what could be world. I was into this about the first 50 pages or so and then the rest of the book just left me feeling bleh. It's been done before and better with A Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451. (with the first two, so I've been told, but with Fahrenheit definitely.)

I got the feeling throughout the last half of the book that she was telling me what was good and what was bad and how I should feel. Like with The Adoration of Jenna Fox I want these types of books to lay out the questions and themes without answering them for me.

I can see why people enjoy this book; it's horrific and kind of thrusts the creepiness and icky factor upon you with a sense of relief that you're sure glad your life isn't like this...but it just answered for me instead letting me answer for myself. I guess it's an OK read if you don't try to take too many things from it, but I know Lowry was trying to teach here and thus my displeasure.

Rating: 2/5

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Genre: young adult
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from library
Published: 2008
Pages: (Hardback) 266
Content: PG for adult themes.
Reading Challenges: 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge, A to Z Challenge (author P)

Summary: Who is Jenna Fox?

Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a year-long coma, and she's still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. Her parents show her home movies of her life, her memories, but she has no recollection. Is she really the same girl she sees on the screen?

Little by little, Jenna begins to remember. Along with the memories come questions—questions no one wants to answer for her. What really happened after the accident?


This was loaded with lots of themes on what it is to be human, life, religion, souls, and the ethics of science and how it can add to or take away our lives.

Pearson explores the issues and ideas pretty well throughout the book with Jenna and those around her, but her ending ruined it for me. She ended up telling us what was right, what was the best choice.

Let us decide for ourselves, make us think, but don't tell us what to think or feel.

Rating: 2/5

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

Genre: contemporary fiction, Japanese
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from library
Published: 2003 
Pages: 180
Content: PG for adult themes.
Reading Challenge: A to Z (by author O)

A housekeeper goes to work for an elderly man whose memory resets to 1975 after 80 minutes. The professor has a gazillion notes on his suit to help him remember or at least know about things that have happened, such as the most important note he sees every morning: Memory lasts only 80 minutes.

He's a professor of mathematics and as such he only relates to the world through numbers. The housekeeper tries to relate to the professor by learning about his world of numbers and Ogawa lets us begin our own math journey along with the housekeeper, complete with equations and real world connections.

How does the housekeeper and her son form a relationship with the professor when he can never remember them the next day? Ogawa explores what it really means to love others and how we hold onto those relationships even when it seems impossible to do so.

There are so many layers to this novel and many will find their own treasures here.

Rating: 4/5

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Reading Level: Young Adult 
Genre: paranormal, romance
Pages: audio book format
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library
Rating: 3/5
Content: One implied sex scene, just a few swear words, no f-bombs
Reading Challenges: A to Z Challenge (author-M), 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

Summary:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

My Take:  I went back and forth on this one throughout...two stars...2 and a half...then back to two. I thought it was all right, overall I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite. It took awhile to get to the plot. It started off with Grace and Sam just mooning over each other without a lot of action. The series is about werewolves...so give me some action, a plot.

The action never got too exciting, though, which was really disappointing. Just when you thought it was going to get good, it ended way too fast; it was very anti-climatic.

Grace and Sam seemed a bit too obsessed with each other...but compared to Twilight they were pretty normal! So there were a few cheesy lines to each other, but the author did manage to create a feeling of coldness throughout the book so that's pretty impressive.

Also Grace didn't go catatonic after she thought she lost Sam...she still had a life with school and friends, etc...unlike another certain character I know...

But it felt like another Twilight knockoff and why do YA novels have to get rid of the parents? They are either dead, took off, or just uninvolved and/or clueless. Well, Grace's padres are both uninvolved and clueless and Sam's tried to kill him....

But it was relatively clean and pretty well-written and the ending makes me want to pick up the next in the series.

A note about the audio book version: I thought it was done pretty well, the actors were great, but the voice for Sam was too old. He sounded in his mid to late thirties when Sam is supposed to be a teenager so that was a bit annoying...just a heads up!

According to Jane by Marilyn Brant

Paperback: 352 pages 
Publisher: Kensington (October 1, 2009)
Genre: Austen-inspired, romance
FTC Disclosure: Own, from Barnes and Noble

Reading Challenge: A to Z Reading Challenge (A Title)

I really, really wanted to love this book. I'd heard such awesome things with this one....but, I was sorely disappointed. What started with a great premise ended with great disappointment.

We follow Ellie back and forth through her years from a sophomore in high school to her early thirties and all her love disappoints in between and all with Jane Austen in her head.

I really didn't like Ellie. I just wanted to hit her over the head so many times. I also wanted to hit the author Ms. Brant over the head as well. Her heroine was too goo-goo over guys always wanting to find someone to marry...like to get married for the sake of marrying...her relationships were lust and that was it, though, she played as if it were love. I was really shocked ....spoiler....

when she portrayed her first time with a boy at seventeen as normal when she was pretty much raped or all but...it was icky and yet was made to seem as just a bad sexual experience...um, no.

Also underage drinking was portrayed as no big deal...now I understand that underage drinking happens, but I don't know I feel like authors need to have some semblance of responsibility when it comes to things like this...there was way too much language for my liking...the f-bombs thrown around, even when they weren't really necessary...and the sex scenes were a bit too graphic for my taste especially when the guys she was dating were absolute creeps.

Then there's her "Mr. Darcy" Sam...I have no idea why she even found this guy remotely attractive...when we're first introduced to him he's sexually harassing her...flipping her bra, saying crude things to her...basically a creep. So we're supposed to understand that he changes over the years, but I never saw the change.

So great premise, just really poor delivery.

Yikes, I'm sorry this is such a harsh review; I don't like doing that. But there are just too many anti-women themes in this one that I can't get passed and I just have to vent... 


Rating: 1/5

Part of the A to Z Challenge Title starting with an A!