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Monday, October 31, 2011

October Monthly reads

In October I read 5 books:

1) The Woman in Black by: Susan Hill
2) The Ghost Next Door by: Mark Alan Morris
3) The Shelters of Stone by: Jean M. Auel
4) Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by: Marian Keyes
5) One Summer by: David Baldacci

all but one were great reads. I really sturggled through The Shelters of Stone. I finished The woman in Black in one day and The Ghost Next Door in a few hours. I wanted to save The Ghosty one for Halloween, but it arrived early and I couldn't help myself and so I sat down and read the entire thing in a few hours.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Book Review: "One Summer" by: David Baldacci


Title: One Summer
Author: David Baldacci
Pages: 320
Personal Rating: 5/5

From the inside Cover: It’s almost Christmas, but there is no joy in the house of terminally ill Jack and his family. With only a short time left to live, he spends his last days preparing to say goodbye to his devoted wife, Lizzie, and their three children. Then unthinkably, tragedy strikes again: Lizzie is killed in a car accident. With no on able to care for them,the children are separated from one another and sent to live with family members around the country.
Just when all seems lost, Jack begins to recover in a miraculous turn of events. He rises from what should have been his deathbed, determined to bring his fractured family back together. Struggling to rebuild their lives after Lizzie’s death, he reunites everyone at Lizzies’s childhood home on the oceanfront in South Carolina. And there, over one unforgettable summer, Jack begins to learn to love
again, and he and his children learn how to become a family once more.

Personal thoughts and reflection: I LOVED this book. I couldn’t put it down, and spent the last night up until 2 am finishing, as I couldn’t just leave the last quarter of the book unread! I had to know how everything resolved itself!!
I liked the character of Jack immediately. I was sucked in emotionally with this one! I have said it before and I’ll say it again. I believe the greatness of a book is shown when it can bring it’s reader to emotion, whether it be sadness, triumph, jealousy, anger, or any other emotion while reading, it has done it’s job! This book evoked so many emotions in me. Sadness, hope, anger, fear, it was all there!

The one thing that struck me about this book was it’s style. Now I have only read ONE of Baldacci’s books so far (The Christmas Train), though I was hooked from that one and went out and started stockpiling his works from then on, I am excited to get into some of his series!! (I’m a big series addict!) But this one reminded me of a Nicholas Sparks book. It read a lot like many of his. He spun a great tale, and I kept thinking “This was written by a guy?” Though some of the fight scenes were obviously written by one of the male gender! (come on, admit it, the thought of a fight scene makes you wanna read it, huh?)
If you are looking for a great, easy, fun, emotional adventure to sink your teeth into, grab this book!! If you enjoy Nicholas Sparks works, grab this book! Heck, Just Grab this book!!!! I promise you , it will grab you back!!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Book Review: "Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married" by: Marian Keyes






Title: Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married
Author: Marian Keyes
Pages: 624
Personal Rating: 5/5

From the Back Cover: What happens when a psychic tells Lucy that she’ll be getting married within the year? Her roommates panic! What is going to happen to their blissful existence of eating take-out,drinking too much wine,bring men home and never vacuuming?
Lucy reassures her friends that she’s far too busy arguing with her mother and taking care of her irresponsible father to get married. And then there’s the small matter of not even having a boyfriend.
But then Lucy meets gorgeous,unreliable gus. Could he be the future Mr. Lucy Sullivan? Or could it be handsome Chuck? Or Daniel, the worlds biggest flirt? Or even cute Jed, the new guy at work?
Maybe her friends have something to worry about after all….


Personal thoughts and reflection: From the first page, this book had me laughing! I was entranced from page 1! I enjoyed Lucy’s journey as she hopped from man to man, wondering if THIS one was “THE ONE”.

She is a classic codependent, clinging to any rubbish that comes her way, due to the life she grew up in with a drunk father. Taking care of, and pampering men has always been a way of life for her, starting with her dad. She finally wakes up and decides to stand tall and not allow anyone to walk all over her anymore. And when she does….she finds her one true love!
This was my first book by Marian Keyes, and I can assure you, it won’t be my last! I plan on running right to library this coming weekend and seeing if they have any of her other works….but then again, looking at my overflowing To-Be-Read shelf, maybe I will wait a while!