Author:  Stephenie Meyer
Series:  Twilight (Book 2)
ISBN:  9780316024969
563 pages

Book Description:

The "star-crossed" lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

My Thoughts:

I resisted reading the Twilight books for a really long time.  I'm not really into the whole vampire, paranormal thing and this series didn't seem like something that would hold my interest.  After talking with family members who urged me to read the books, I read Twilight.  I was surprised that I actually enjoyed the story.  So, on vacation this past week, I picked up New Moon.  I literally devoured this book in two days.  I have nothing but good things to say about this book.  I loved it more than Twilight!!  Great story, great characters, great everything!!  I really enjoyed Jacob in the first book, so I was excited to have him play a larger role in this story.  Great book and I am already reading book 3, Eclipse!! 

If you are resisting reading this series, don't hold off.  I am not a paranormal reader by any means, but these books really hold my interest and I have loved both Twilight and New Moon.  I highly recommend them!

Author:  Hannah Friedman

Young Adult/Memoir

ISBN:  9780757307751
255 pages

Book Description:

"When everything sucks,
change everything . . .

And that's exactly what Hannah Friedman set out to do in an ambitious attempt to bust out of a life of obscurity and absurdity and into an alternate world of glamour, wealth, and popularity.

Being dubbed 'That Monkey Girl' by middle school bullies and being pulled out of sixth grade to live on a tour bus with her agoraphobic mother, her smelly little brother, and her father's hippie band mates convinces Hannah that she is destined for a life of freakdom.

But when she enters one of the country's most prestigious boarding schools on scholarship, Hannah transforms herself into everything she is not: cool. By senior year, she has a perfect millionaire boyfriend, a perfect GPA, a perfect designer wardrobe, and is part of the most popular clique in school, but somehow everything begins to suck far worse than when she first started. Her newfound costly drug habit, eating disorder, identity crisis, and Queen-Bee attitude lead to the unraveling of Hannah's very unusual life.

Putting her life back together will take more than a few clicks of her heels, or the perfect fit of a glass slipper, in this not-so-fairy tale of going from rock bottom to head of the class and back again."

My Thoughts:

It took me a couple of chapters to get into this memoir, but after that, the pages just flew by.  I really enjoyed reading about Hannah's experiences.  It's an honest look into the life of Ms. Friedman, where pretty much everything sucks, including family, mean girls, friends, high school, diets, love, sex, education, home, college, drugs, epilogues, and writing!  I was personally touched by the Postscript:  Writing Sucks part at the very end of the book.  As an aspiring author (someday), I found that I really identified with Hannah and her struggles with writing.  It really makes me think that I CAN do this.  Thank you for giving me that sage advice, Hannah.  You have no idea how badly I needed to hear it!

A quick, fun romp through the teenage years.  EVERYTHING SUCKS is a great story that definitely does not suck!

Author:  Wendy Roberts
Series:  Ghost Dusters Mysteries (Bk 1)

ISBN:  978-0451222688
272 pages

Book Description:

"Sadie Novak's got the kind of job that kills cocktail chatter dead: she owns Scene-2-Clean a crime scene cleanup company. And if wiping up after murders weren't spooky enough, she can also see and talk to the ghosts of the victims...

When grieving relatives hire Sadie and her employee, ex-cop Zack Bowman, to clean up after the murder-suicide of Trudy and Grant Toth, Sadie figures she's bound to meet at least one chatty ghost. But Kent, the man Sadie first encounters at the scene, is very much alive, so much so, that Sadie soon finds herself agreeing to a date with him. Then a real ghost shows up, the oddly silent spirit of Trudy, who seems determined to prove her husband's innocence, and inspires Sadie to track down the real killer. But as she scours the crime scene, Sadie quickly realizes she's in way over her head, that Kent has a strange connection to the dead couple, and that someone wants her to give up the ghost -- for good."
 
My Thoughts:
 
I am so excited to have found another great mystery series to add to my "must-read" list!  I loved this first book in the series.  For those of you looking for a light, cozy mystery, however, this is not it.  I found it to be much darker than a regular cozy would be.  The main character, Sadie, is a crime-scene cleaner, so you can only imagine what some of the subject matter is!  Just be forewarned about that!!  There is great chemistry between her employee, Zack, and Sadie and I'm very interested to see how that "relationship" progresses!  This is a great start to the series and I am looking forward to reading more!!

Authors:  Leslie Gilbert-Lurie with Rita Lurie
Hardcover
ISBN:  978-0-06-173476-2
352 pages

Book Website:  bendingtowardthesun.com


Book Description from Amazon:

"A miraculous lesson in courage and recovery, Bending Toward the Sun tells the story of a unique family bond forged in the wake of brutal terror. Weaving together the voices of three generations of women, Leslie Gilbert-Lurie and her mother, Rita Lurie, provide powerful—and inspiring—evidence of the resilience of the human spirit, relevant to every culture in every corner of the world. By turns unimaginably devastating and incredibly uplifting, this firsthand account of survival and psychological healing offers a strong, poignant message of hope in our own uncertain times.

Rita Lurie was five years old when she was forced to flee her home in Poland to hide from the Nazis. From the summer of 1942 to mid-1944, she and fourteen members of her family shared a nearly silent existence in a cramped, dark attic, subsisting on scraps of raw food. Young Rita watched helplessly as first her younger brother then her mother died before her eyes. Motherless and stateless, Rita and her surviving family spent the next five years wandering throughout Europe, waiting for a country to accept them. The tragedy of the Holocaust was only the beginning of Rita's story.

Decades later, Rita, now a mother herself, is the matriarch of a close-knit family in California. Yet in addition to love, Rita unknowingly passes to her children feelings of fear, apprehension, and guilt. Her daughter Leslie, an accomplished lawyer, media executive, and philanthropist, began probing the traumatic events of her mother's childhood to discover how Rita's pain has affected not only Leslie's life and outlook but also her own daughter, Mikaela's.

A decade-long collaboration between mother and daughter, Bending Toward the Sun reveals how deeply the Holocaust remains in the hearts and minds of survivors, influencing even the lives of their descendants. It also sheds light on the generational reach of any trauma, beyond the initial victim. Drawing on interviews with the other survivors and with the Polish family who hid five-year-old Rita, this book brings together the stories of three generations of women—mother, daughter, and granddaughter—to understand the legacy that unites, inspires, and haunts them all."

My Thoughts:
 
I am in awe of this book.  I found it beautifully written, first from the perspective of Rita (Ruchel), then her daughter, Leslie, and then a combined narrative in the final third of the book, with sprinklings of Mikaela (Leslie's daughter) as well.  I was thoroughly enmeshed in this story.  I felt so connected to all the key characters and could not put the book down.  Although, I cannot identify with the Holocaust in a personal nature, the events and feelings were so vividly written that I felt like I was part of the story. 
 
What I found especially intriguing was that the psychological trauma of the Holocaust has managed to weave into the fabric of the family even two generations later.  I can attest to the fact that a parent's psychological trauma has a real and lasting impact on their own children's lives, even though the trama happened before their children were born.  I am able to relate in a very strong way to this part of the story and I felt myself saying "Oh my gosh - I'm not the only one who feels/thinks/does that!"
 
I feel very strongly about this story and I highly recommend this to everyone out there.  This book will have a lasting impact on me.
 
Please stop by tomorrow for an except from the book!
 
Jennifer
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Author:  Katarina Mazetti

Book Description:

An international sensation, this addictively readable tale asks the question: Why is it so impossible to get a relationship between two middle-aged misfits to work? The answer lies in the story of Shrimp, a young widowed librarian with a sharp intellect and a home so tidy that her jam jars are in alphabetical order; Benny, a gentle, overworked milk farmer who fears becoming the village's Old Bachelor; and an unlikely love that should not be as complicated as it seems. Reminiscent of the works of Carol Shields, this quirky, humorous, beautifully told novel breathes new life into the age-old conundrum that is love.

MY THOUGHTS:

This is a cute, but bizarre story about two people hopelessly in love, but unable to come to terms with their relationship.  I find it interesting that they meet in a cemetery of all places!  But, that just adds another dimension to the story.  I see that there is a sequel, but it has not yet been translated into English.  I was left a bit disappointed with the ending, so I am looking forward to reading the follow-up story in hopes that it will answer some of my questions!  This is a quick read at only 208 pages, so I'd recommend it for a light, fast story.

Author:  Laura Levine
Series:  Jaine Austen, Writer-for-Hire (Bk 4)
247 pages

Book Description:

Freelance writer Jaine Austen is not your typical Los Angelino. She's not rich, she's not thin, and she's definitely not starstruck. She is a sarcastic, sometime-sleuth who's never met a carb she didn't like...or a mystery she couldn't solve...If clothes make the man, then what do Jaine's elastic-waist pants and T-shirts make her? A fashion nightmare, according to her neighbour, Lance. She doesn't expect Lance - who works in the designer shoe department at Nieman Marcus - to understand...which is how she ends up visiting his favourite boutique, Passions. While the couture is definitely not for Jaine, the staff's gossip is. Tiny orange-haired clerk Becky starts complaining about her co-worker Giselle - a.k.a. "Frenchie" - a brittle blonde who, when she's not making fun of customers behind their backs, adds extra-marital notches to her Chanel belt. Though Jaine doesn't land a new look, she does land a new job when Passions' owner gives her a chance to write their new magazine ads. But when Jaine arrives the next morning to pitch her ideas, she finds Frenchie pitched over, stabbed in the neck by one of her own stilettos. Now all Jaine has to do is figure out who hated Frenchie the most, in a case of death by designer knock-off...

My Thoughts:

Another quick, enjoyable cozy mystery featuring writer-for-hire, Jaine Austen.  This time Jaine finds herself investigating the death of Frenchie, a nasty co-worker who ends up with a stiletto stuck in her neck.  But who did it and why?  Again, every character seems to be a suspect and as Jaine investigates Frenchie's husband, boyfriend, co-workers, and boss, she finds herself becoming a target of a stiletto-wielding killer.  But will Jaine figure it out before it's too late??

I really enjoy this series, but reading them back-to-back, they seem very formulaic.  So, it will probably be a while before I read the next one.  I definitely recommend them, though! 

Title:  Bo's Cafe
Authors:  John Lynch, Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol
Book Website:  http://www.boscafe.com/
Read an excerpt

Book Description:
High-powered executive Steven Kerner is living the dream in southern California. But when his bottled pain ignites in anger one night, his wife kicks him out. Then an eccentric mystery man named Andy Monroe befriends Steven and begins unravelling his tightly wound world. Andy leads Steven through a series of frustrating and revealing encounters to repair his life through genuine friendship and the grace and love of a God who has been waiting for him to accept it. A story to challenge and encourage, BO'S CAFE is a model for all who struggle with unresolved problems and a performance-based life. Those who desire a fuller, more authentic way of living will find this journey of healing a restorative exploration of God's unbridled grace.

My Thoughts:
Unfortunately, due to a death in my family, I got very behind with my reading, so I am still in the process of reading this book, but I wanted to post my thoughts so far for the blog tour.  This book is so easy to read and keeps the reader engaged and wanting to know what will happen next.  I'm actually enjoying it more than THE SHACK!  I'm definitely looking forward to finishing this book and posting my final thoughts.  For those of you who read THE SHACK, I highly recommend this book.  It brings forth a positive message and really makes you think about your life.

Thank you to Miriam from Hachette Books for providing me with this review copy and allowing me to participate in the blog tour!