Waiting on Wednesday [2]

Okay so the book that i absolutely can't wait to get a hold of this week is...

The Kings Rose

by: Alisa Libby

Life in the court of King Henry VIII is a complex game. When fifteen-year-old Catherine Howard catches the king’s eye, she quickly transforms from pawn to queen. But even luxury beyond imagination loses its luster as young Catherine finds her life—and her heart—threatened by the needs of an aging king and a family hungry for power. Will their agendas deliver Catherine to the same fate as her infamous cousin, Anne Boleyn—sacrificed at the altar of family ambition?
Engaging historical fiction with a throbbing YA heartbeat, this thrilling novel will draw readers into the intrigues and dangers of the Tudor court.

So as I have said before. I am a HUGE history freak. Anything about history automatically makes me go all goo goo eyed. And this one is no exception. PLUS! Tudor England is my favorite chyeah. So I need this book...and soon haha.

I know it will be amazing, and I really can't wait!

Teaser Tuesday [1]

So I've seen alot of different people doing this, and it seemed fun.

Grab your current read, or the book nearest to you, let it fall to a random page and include two sentences, somewhere between lines seven and twelve.

"In fact, I'd love it if he got a real job again. It would mean part of my life would go back to the way it used to be."

Perfect You by: Elizabeth Scott

Lost It by: Kristen Tracy

Lost it

by: Kristen Tracy

From Amazon:

Grade 9 Up–Idaho teen Tess Whistle is having one weird junior year–she, her family, and her friends are all losing it. Her parents, born again following a serious grease fire in the kitchen, take off unexpectedly to a survival camp in the Utah desert, leaving Tess with her grandmother. Tess's best friend, Zena, reacts to her parents' marital troubles by making elaborate plans to blow up a poodle. And Tess herself, who used to be 100 percent certain that she'd wait until she was married before she had sex and is deathly afraid of the wilderness, loses her virginity out of doors with her boyfriend. This book is a great read, hilarious and poignant at the same time. Teens will laugh out loud at Tess and her frank, humorous observations about the outrageous situations in which she finds herself, but they will also empathize with her feelings of not being in control of her life. They will also be heartened by the conclusion of the novel, for even though Tess is unsure of what will happen next, she has finally come to terms with the fact that life offers no guarantees, saying, For the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful. And ready for what comes next.–Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Me:

So I read this book about a year ago, and I'm still not one hundred percent sure how I feel about it. Is it okay? Yes. Deffinately. Did I enjoy it? No. Not so much.

It starts off good, but the relationship between Tess and her boyfriend to me is just unbelievable. I get no real feeling from it at all. I didn't relate to the characters very well (despite me trying to...) It just didn't work out too well for me and this book.

Then the final "Climax" of the story. The big Sha Bang, made me want to throw up. If their relationship is really that strong then....ahhh.

Sorry. No spoilers here.

I could go on about how this book just didn't cut it for me - but it's making me angry and I promised myself I wouldn't put spoilers in here.

So I wouldn't recommend it, but then that's just my oppinion. I know a great deal of people who really liked this book, but for me...it just didnt work out.

I give it a 5.5

-Christina.

Fairest of them All by: Jan Blazanin

Fairest of them All

by: Jan Blazanin

(Due out April 21, 2009)

If life were a fairy tale, Oribella Bettencourt would have a "happily ever after" kind of future ahead of her. A Hollywood producer has come to Des Moines in search of a perfectly modern Princess Rapunzel, and Ori -- a model, dancer, and star of the beauty pageant circuit -- lands the part. And why shouldn't she? With her hardworking, self-sacrificing mother guiding her career, Ori is stunning, dedicated, poised...and then there's her hair. Breathtakingly lustrous blond hair that sets her apart from all the other girls at school. So what if she doesn't have any friends her age, or anyone to talk to other than her mother? She's on the verge of having everything she's ever dreamed of.But in this fairy tale, the beautiful princess wakes up to her worst nightmare -- when almost overnight, Ori begins to lose her hair....

My Review:

So I completed this book about two minutes ago and I have to say - it took me on a ride. Everything about it, from the very first page I was captured in the story, I wanted to know what was going to happen, and I needed to know what was wrong with her.

Why was her hair falling out?

That's all I really cared about, and once I found that out - and everything changed, I couldn't help but go through it with Ori as she dealt with it, and I couldn't help but have a significant hatred for all movie studio's afterward.

But this book really is a weird one for me. Normally I don't read books without a smidge of romance - it's just something with me, but I enjoyed this one. It was just about teenage life, and the struggles some teen's face.

Ori came into herself during this book. She had the chance to be a teen through her ordeal. She made friends and by the end of the book she had grown. Those are the types of stories I enjoy, and this one - I recommend :]

I give it a 9.0.

Watch out for this author, I have a feeling she's going to be great. Her writing style is quite enjoyable.

*Now what should I read now?

Shrinking Violet?

The Blood Confession?

Her Notorious Viscount?

Perfect You?

Or

Wake?

Please leave a comment with what you think. I'm struggling to decide :]

Thanks! -Christina <3

Elsewhere by: Gabrielle Zevin

Elsewhere

by: Gabrielle Zevin

From Amazon:

Grade 7-10-This coming-of-age novel by Gabrielle Zavin (Farrar, 2005) has a unique twist. Although Liz is maturing, coping with disappointments, and controlling her anger, she is getting younger. Having been killed by a hit and run driver, she now lives in Elsewhere with the grandmother who died before she was born. After death, the residents get younger until they become babies and are reborn onto Earth again. Initially mad at the driver and sad that she will not have a boyfriend and attend the prom, Liz misses her family and is sullen and depressed. Gradually, she begins to realize that life is not so bad in the hereafter. Although written in the second person, the text and the narration by Cassandra Morris draws listeners into this new world, giving them a sense of immediacy. Morris's youthful, gentle, slightly nasal voice clearly brings out Lizzie's life and frustrations, and her tone becomes harsh to show anger. For the most part, she reads quickly, almost sprightly, but at dramatic moments she slows to heighten suspense. There is no significant voice changes to differentiate between male and female characters. An excellent choice to motivate reluctant readers or just for enjoyment.-Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Me:

Okay so I understand why some people may find this book angering, or find it offensive, and because of this I was relatively apprehensive in reading it. I thought that it might be wrong, because like many other people I am religious and have views on the afterlife - but this is fiction. So I picked it up.

And I'm so glad I did.

Liz was killed by a hit and run driver. This is the beginning of the book and really the main event. Without her death there is no story (isn't that odd to think about?). So she wakes up, and she's not at home, she's not anywhere she has ever been before - but she's on a ship, heading to Elsewhere.

Elsewhere is pretty much the afterlife in this book, except rather then it being a "forever" place, you age down. If you died at the age of 84, then you would age down over 84 years until you were once again a baby, then you would be sent back - and become a baby for someone else.

So the book starts off here and then chronicles all of Liz's troubles. She despairs for her family, her friends, and her life. She now finds herself living with her grandmother who she never met, and struggling to understand.

Then she meets Owen. Owen who died in his thirties (?) and has been there for years. He who was married before on earth and has suffered since he got there. They make an unlikely couple but a wonderful one. He helps her appreciate her time there, and she in return helps him give up his old life.

But what happens when Owen's wife comes back into his life and to Elsewhere? What then?

I recomend this book to anyone and it is a 10 :]

And please Follow. :] Thank you!

The Pursuit of Happiness by: Tara Altebrando

The Pursuit of Happiness

by: Tara Altebrando

From Amazon:

Dressing up as an eighteenth century farm girl is not how Betsy Odell imagined spending the summer before her senior year of high school, but her history professor father insists she take a job at Morrisville Historic Village. To make matters worse, Liza Murphy, only the biggest freak from school -- piercings, tattoos, bleached hair -- works as a farm girl too. As far as Betsy can tell, her summer will be miserable and any chance of ever being popular is doomed.
When tragedy strikes Betsy close to home, her boyfriend and 'friends' are nowhere to be found, and her job becomes a welcome escape from the real world. James, a Morrisville employee from the next town over, is probably the greatest -- not to mention cutest -- guy Betsy has ever met, and Liza is surprisingly normal and fun. Caught between two worlds -- old and new -- Betsy is soon struggling with two versions of herself. Combining backdrops of historic Morrisville with the normal teenage world of beach parties, learning to drive, and broken hearts, Tara Altebrando writes a hilarious and fun novel of one girl's search for love and happiness?and the unlikely places she finds them.

From Me:

Okay - let me just say it. I am a history junkie. Everything history related immediately enthralls me, and this book was no exception.

I read it because it's about a girl with my dream job. For years I have longed to actually go and work at say, Mount Vernon (this place is actually doable considering my great-grandmother lives on a portion of the land.)

This has always been a dream - call me a loser, at least I'm an honest one.

So I read it because of this reason, but I was not dissapointed at all.

It's about a girl named Betsy who's mother has recently died. It's about her struggle for normalcy afterward, from getting rid of her no good boyfriend to accepting other people for who they are, and not who they seem to be.

She learns so much about herself in this book its crazy. We literaly watch her transform from sad and timid, to strong and accepting.

Seeing this process is what I mainly adore about this book - actually feeling part of her transformation, and seeing who she becomes was just great and had me smiling when I put it down. She learns to put her pain into outlets - like art. Which is exactly what she does.

And then there's James. James James James. He is a really great character, not only does he love history, and help Betsy along the way, but he likes to carve cute things out of wood :]

He's one of my favorite leading "Men."

This book gets a 10 because it's great. I would recommend it to anyone.

*Review by Christina

Sunday's at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Sunday's at Tiffany's

by: James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

FROM AMAZON:

AN IMAGINARY FRIEND Jane Margaux is a lonely little girl. Her mother, a powerful Broadway producer, makes time for her only once a week, for their Sunday trip to admire jewelry at Tiffany's. Jane has only one friend: a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael. He's perfect. But only she can see him. Michael can't stay forever, though. On Jane's ninth birthday he leaves, promising her that she'll soon forget him.

AN UNEXPECTED LOVE Years later, in her thirties, Jane is just as alone as she was as a child. And despite her own success as a playwright, she is even more trapped by her overbearing mother. Then she meets someone-a handsome, comforting, funny man. He's perfect. His name is Michael . . .

AND AN UNFORGETTABLE TWIST This is a heartrending story that surpasses all expectations of why these people have been brought together. With the breathtaking momentum and gripping emotional twists that have made James Patterson a bestselling author all over the world, SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S takes an altogether fresh look at the timeless and transforming power of love.

FROM Me:

I never expected to enjoy this book so much. Never did I think that I would absolutely adore it, and read it in a matter of hours. I loved the characters - I loved the story - I loved the location, I loved EVERYTHING.

It is kind of reminiscent of Breakfast at Tiffany's, just simply because of Tiffany's calming aspect, and me being a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, that had to help. But it takes place in New York, and we first meet the eight year old Jane and her imaginary friend Michael. She's eating a coffee chocolate sunday and the two of them are playing the "Jane and Michael game" which just involves making up stories about the people they see. It's very cute. Their interaction is entertaining from the get-go.

But it doesn't carry on so happy go lucky forever. Jane isn't staying 8 forever - and so on the day of her ninth birthday, he has to leave. But he claims she will forget him, that when she wakes up, she won't remember.

But he was wrong.

Twenty three years later Jane is grown, and works for her mother - the Broadway play producer who owns her own company,but Jane has recently produced her own show Thank Heaven

which is the story of a girl - and her imaginary friend.

Then they meet again - after twenty three years, that's when the story really starts and get's amazing.

Throw in a actor boyfriend and a crazy yet sentimental mother and you have the ingredients for one awesome story.

It was amazing, and here's a quote because I am a crazy book underliner - yes I know some will say I ruin the book but it's okay. :]

"Why do things this beautiful make me want to cry?" I asked Michael as I leaned into him. It was an ungaurded question, one I'd never have asked of Hugh

"I don't know," said Michael. "Maybe beauty, true beauty, is overwhelming, it goes straight to our hearts. Maybe it makes us feel emotions that are locked away inside." He blinked and gave a bashful smile. "Sorry. I've been watching Oprah again."

*Review by Christina*