Hello there, and welcome to my book blog! I hope to become your regular book blog rest stop. I am a 40 (cough, cough) something bibliophile and busy mother of 2 girls, but somehow manage to find time to read!
Like many of you fab bloggers out there who have already or always wanted to write a book, I have wanted to be an author since I was about 8 years old, and have written a bit of this and that. I even signed up for NanoWrimo once! Anyway, Danielle LaPorte is an amazing coach-y motivational goddess and as it turns out she co-created this amazing thing called Your Big Beautiful Book Plan. This thing is so chock full of great info, much of it super valuable, and plenty of actual examples of query letters, hook pages, and book plan content that it is worth every single penny and then some. In fact, it's a steal at the price.
Your Big Beautiful Book Plan is a digital program for people who want to get their word into the world — where it belongs. If you are on the prowl for a literary agent, ripe ‘n ready for publication, and secretly yearning to incite a bidding war for your prose…or stepping into the writing & publishing game for the sheer love of it, Your Big Beautiful Book Plan is a companion, a roadmap, a Bible for your book’s entire life cycle — from the blinking cursor to your first book signing tour date.
Creators Danielle LaPorte + Linda Sivertsen have landed six-figure book deals, independently authored + co-authored over a dozen titles (including several NY Times bestsellers), and helped thousands of writers devote themselves to DONE. We’re talking life’s work, in print and pixels. Decade-long dreams, on the shelf and on screen. The big Why, poured into words. These ladies love this stuff. And you’re going to feel the love.
I heard about John Green a few years back in those early months of my blog, and I just knew I would love him, but didn't realize how much until my thirteen year old daughter thrust this book into my hands. Back then I took out his book that was making the book blog rounds, Paper Towns, and read the first chapter and loved his wit, his writing style, and storytelling ability. But for whatever reason I had to return it to the library and put John Green on my must read list someday when my TBR pile was down to a reasonable few dozen. (insert maniacal laugh here)
My thirteen year old was asking for this book when it first came out, and finally she had enough money to buy it herself, and as any mother would celebrate, she read it in just a few days, could not put it down, and said the one thing that is music to every book-addicted-mother's ears after going to bed, "Just one more chapter, Mom!"
At one point in her reading she slowly came into my bedroom and said, "I'm so sad. This book is SO SAD!" But didn't tell me, knowing she wanted me to read it.
Once she was done, I started, and this book is one you will get into immediately. Like, within the first few sentences. Summarizing the plot is nearly impossible because there would be spoilers o'plenty, and I would never do that to you! I think the only way to safely summarize it is to quote the jacket cover here:
"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."
The thing with John Green is, he's kind of a genius. And when I say "kind of" I mean he TOTALLY COMPLETELY FREAKING IS! I love the way he writes, and he successfully enters into the mind of a teenage girl with the ease of, well, a teenage girl, and how he does that is anybody's guess. There are so many gems in here that teens will love it as well as parents of said teens. It rings true in many ways, and some ways that many of us hope we never have to find out, like: What does it actually feel like to be teenager with a terminal illness? What is that like for their parents? Their friends? Somehow amidst the heart wrenching premise, John Green manages to make things funny. Hilarious, even. Not unlike the academy award winning film A Beautiful Life that brilliantly and mysteriously managed to make us laugh out loud within the storyline framed by the holocaust. John Green actually makes us laugh in the midst of children having cancer, I'm not even remotely kidding about this. Not to mention that in his acknowledgements (which I actually like to read) he thanks the "Nerdfighters, for being awesome" and a heart. AND he is a Potterhead, and I want him to marry my daughter even though he is too old and already taken. LOVE. HIM.
I also just love his whole writing "thing" he's got going on, like this:
"I did not speak to Augustus again for about a week. I had called him on the Night of the Broken Trophies, so per tradition it was his turn to call."
The "Night of the Broken Trophies". I love this. This may not make sense right now, but once you read it, you will understand the reference, but that's not important here, what IS important, however, is the fact that he describes an event as the Night of the Broken Trophies, which in and of itself is so deliciously funny, and not in a ha-ha way, but in a clever witty way, which is awesome.
Hazel's whole attitude is witty as well, but in a dark way, which makes it charming and blatantly honest:
"And yet still I worried. I liked being a person. I wanted to keep at it. Worry was yet another side effect of dying."
Hazel is as real a teenager as any literary fake one I have ever not met. Her "voice" is believable, and maybe it is because I happen to have a teenage girl in my midst it hit me more in the centre. And when I would get to certain parts I would text her and say:
ME: omg, I just got to the part with (the thing and the stuff and the woo)
ELLIE: I KNOW, RIGHT? I WAS JUST LIKE, GAH. CAN'T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT!!
And later---
ME: (so and so stuff and things) Sobbing. Stupid book.
ELLIE: OH MY GOD NOW YOU KNOW MY PAIN. CAN WE PLEASE CRY TOGETHER? PLEASE??
And even later---
ME: Just finished The Book. One of the best books I have read, like, ever. And even more stellar because you gave it to me.
This book has heart, soul, smarts, awesome nerdiness that I uphold as sacred, and did I mention HEART?
The only caveat I will add here is there needs to be a little packet of kleenex attached to the back, like the kind your grandma would carry in her purse, with the sides all discoloured and the plastic all feathery from being in there for so long. A person needs the kleenex when you read it.
So, just go and buy it, and read it, then tell everyone about it. Okay? Okay. ;0)
I have had this book on my kindle for a couple of years now, when it was floating around the blogosphere. I had intended to read it plenty of times, but the other day when my 13 year old daughter came home and told me they were reading it in LA, and said how cool it would be if we both read it so we could discuss it, how could I say no?
To put it bluntly.....
IT WAS FRIGGEN AWESOME.
I loved everything about this book. First of all, I'm a huge fan of this kind of world. Dystopian at it best, and weirdly disturbing, but not too much. In fact, on the surface it appears that the people in this "land" have created Utopia, but it doesn't take long to realize.... um.... not so much.
The novel follows Jonas in this twelve year, and similar to The City of Ember, each twelve is assigned a job. Jonas, however, is given the most unique job of all - Receiver of Memory.
He begins his training with The Giver and he really does come across just like the photo on the cover. Or like Jeff Bridges, who will be playing him in the upcoming film adaptation. Which I think is the absolute perfect Dude choice.
The Giver starts nice and easy, and we soon realize that Jonas is starting to notice flashes of strangeness in his environment, and this is when we learn what his world is currently like, and how different it is from the memories he will soon experience and hold precious.
I really cannot give a summary of the plot without totally giving away the story, so I will only say that it is a super fast excellent read, and has very good book club discussion possibilities, or even just discussions with your children who might be reading it in class.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Should Be Reading! And anyone can play, you don't need a book blog!
Here are the rules:
Grab your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! "He heard voices calling to one another. Peering from the place where he stood hidden behind some shrubbery, he was reminded of what The Giver had told him, that there had been a time when flesh had different colors." ~ The Giver by Lois Lowry
I was very excited to read this book. At first glance I was super excited about the cover... the COVER, people! Just LOOK at it! As many of you, my lovely readers know, I am a sucker for a great cover. In fact, I have an embarrassingly large amount of books lining my shelves that I bought simply because the cover was a stunner.
Like this one.
Granted, I borrowed it, but same diff.
This story is written by a woman who not only is a bestselling author already, but she writes for TV and is also a director of film. This you can see in her writing, which is very visual, and absolutely reads like a film being run and fed directly into your mind. I loved it for that reason alone.
It is a love story. It is a girl meets boy, loses boy, meets friend, moves to the US kind of story. I love love stories where two people meet and due to their circumstances they cannot be together. Then they get separated and pine for one another over the years until the meet again... you get my drift. Unrequited love... one of the best kind to read about! One of the best examples of this kind of story is The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons, which I almost lost my mind over a few years back.
It starts out all fine and dandy. In fact, the first 1/3 of the book is AWESOME! Let me explain.....
We meet Enza and Ciro. Two teenagers growing up on a hillside in delicious Italy at the turn of the 20th century. But first we get a little back story of Ciro, which is heartbreaking when his mother has to abandon him and his brother at a convent in this little hillside village in Italy. In fact, this will come handy in later as Ciro pines so deeply for his mother throughout the book, that your heart just breaks at his mere mention of her!
Enza is a strapping and strong girl and her and Ciro meet as teenagers. She has just experienced a tragedy and Ciro and her are drawn to one another, and suddenly Ciro, a rabid playboy, is completely overwhelmed by his feelings for this girl he just met.
And here is where Adriana lost me totally.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ciro and Enza begin "stepping out" as they called it in those days, and finally they exchange a kiss. Which, apparently, knocks Ciro's socks off. Enza falls in love instantly, and it appears that Ciro has finally found the love of his life.
What happens next is so weirdly disjointed that I just could not get past it for the rest of the entire novel.
Immediately after this, Ciro returns to the church and discovers some strumpet in the arms of the local priest, and the priest decides that he must be banished from the village. This part is not strange, in fact a great little plot twist. Here comes the part I just didn't get. So, the nuns cook up a plan for Ciro to go to America and stay with relatives. And here's what I immediately think...."Oh, he's going to be so torn because he finally found Enza the love of his life! How awesome! This is going to be so great to read, he'll try to see her before he goes, he'll be devastated..." Think Les Misarables when right after Marius and Cosette meet and Jean tells her they have to leave, what does she do? SHE FREAKS OUT! She writes Marius a note, and then the whole carriage ride she is super sad and all piney wishing she could stay with Marius...
Do you know what I'm saying here?
Not only does Ciro not seem to give an Italian rats ass about Enza, he NEVER EVEN MENTIONS HER ONCE. Nor does the author even put her in his thoughts, at all. It is bizarre. In fact, the pining he does for his mother, which makes total sense btw, he should have been doing some of that for Enza for me to even remotely believe his chasing after her when they meet up again in NYC. But he so didn't. Not even once. Once he had been in NY for quite awhile, he kind of had a random flash of "some girl" he had shared a kiss with back in the homeland.
And from that point on I just could not possibly believe their undying love story for one second.
Especially later when they accidentally meet up again in America and eventually end up together in this long lost love affair.
And the whole last 1/2 of the book is quite boring, it is just a story about a woman working as a seamstress in the Opera in New York, while Ciro is trying to make it as a shoemaker in the same city. That's it. That's all.
I received this ARC last summer from Simon and Schuster Canada... whom I LOVE! Thank you, S & S, for sending me this fantastic book!
Alright, so I think I may have given away this review before actually writing it, as I did really love this one.
The story takes place in early 20th century, on a little plot of land with a lighthouse. It kind of reminds me of a Jodi Picoult type story line, with plenty of room for opinion!
Here is the blurb from Simon and Schuster:
After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.
Stedman has crafted a stunning tale that will be great fodder for any book club as it is rife with moral dilemma. You will find yourself cheering alternately as the story unfolds, perhaps even surprising yourself as to which "side" you may land on! She writes a very believable story that follows the correct social etiquette of the time, sometimes missing in other novels set in the same time period. I personally love reading books about solitary life, as I yearn for the life of a light keeper, or a park ranger, or a hairy hippy who rejects modern life for a log cabin deep in the woods. Sigh. I know I would probably go nutty after a few weeks, but on the busy days heavy with the loud buzzing of technology that is the backdrop of our lives these days, I really wish for the quite life that a day in 1900 looking after The Light would bring. I highly recommend The Light Between Oceans! RATING: 4.5/5
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