New and Exciting Things

So I decided at the beginning of the month to start blogging book reviews. This is all do to my good friend Sharon who gave me the idea. I absolutely love it, besides reading all the time; I have found an awesome community of fellow bloggers doing the same thing as me. They are a very supportive group of people, and I love reading all the different reviews in all the different genres.

So now the new and exciting things, well I have just agreed to participate in my first blog tour. I will be doing this in December and I am really looking forward to it. Stay tuned to see what's happening here in my little corner of the world. Thanks for all the love and support of my followers you guys are great!

Silver Linings Playbook

Sorry this one took me so long to get posted I traveled over the holidays so thanks for being so patient.

Silver Linings Playbook

 By Matthew Quick

Summary:

 

Pat Peoples is being released into his mother’s care after leaving a mental hospital. Pat isn't sure what year it is but desperately wants to reconcile with his wife Nikki, so that "apart time" can be over.

 

Pat tries adapting to life outside the "bad place" and slowly begins to ease back into society. He finds that all evidence of his marriage to Nikki seems to have disappeared. Pat spends his days with his rigid workout schedule, seeing his doctor once a week, and returns to the ritual of Philadelphia Eagles football with his family.

 

Pat is then introduced to Tiffany. Like Pat, Tiffany is struggling to put her life back together after her husband’s death. Tiffany tries very hard to be friends with Pat, and to help him come to terms with his wife being out of his life. They form a strange bond after Tiffany enters them into a dance competition and forces Pat to give up Eagles football.

 

 Review:

I had a hard time putting this book down, and I was very intrigued by the characters. Pat's story is great and I spent the whole book waiting to find out what happened to Pat to put him into the hospital. I was a little disappointed at the lack of explanation into Pat's past. Most of the book lead up to the crucial point in Pat's life and it was such a letdown that the author spent very little time explaining his situation.

 

On that note I still loved the book, I would recommend it to anyone. I really enjoyed learning about Pat and his family and liked the dynamics. I feel like to book was a real glimpse into to how most families would handle a similar situation. I would definitely give this book 4 stars out of 5.

 

 

 



Up next

I love when books are adapted to movies.  I don't always like the adaptation but really like to see how different people interpret my favorite books.  I was cruising my new book blogging friends and got a great idea for my next book to review.  If I know a movie that I want to see is a book adaption I read the book first. So this is what is up and coming. I'm really looking  forward to this.

The Girl In The Italian Bakery

I came across this book as it was one of the free books from the blogs that I mentioned in my previous post, normally I don’t read non-fiction but occasionally I come across something that catches my attention.

The Girl In The Italian Bakery by Kenneth Tingle.

Summary:

Our story begins with Kenny Tingle the youngest of three boys in the project in Lawrence, MA. Kenny and his brothers are trying to stay out of trouble but the Stadium project is a tough neighborhood and with a name like Tingle being picked on by the other kids is just part of the territory. Kenny lives with his mother and two older brothers Tommy and Gary. Tommy the oldest had mental illness and constantly tormented by the local hoodlums. Gary spends most of his time caught in the middle trying to protect his older brother while also looking after his little brother.

Over the next several years Kenny's mother struggles without any help from the boys father and Tommy is soon off to a group home, leaving Kenny and Gary behind.  The boys are forced to move from one place to the next finding no real roots or sense of security. Kenny and Gary moved to an especially tough part of town and get mixed up with the wrong crowd. The next thing Kenny knows he is 11 years old and in the back of a police car in handcuffs. On probation Kenny finds it hard to walk a straight line and quickly falls back into bad habits. His mother doesn't know what to do with him and quietly gives up on him. Kenny is then placed in foster care and bounces from one family to another.

Kenny returns to his family to find his older brother has moved out and it just he and his mother now. He tries to stay out of trouble but occasionally get into mischief. One afternoon while on his way home from school Kenny gets turned around and goes a different way home and stumbles across Pappy's Bakery, there at the counter is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. Kenny continues on but the beautiful girl is always in the back of his mind haunting his thoughts for years to come.

Review:

I started this book and was immediately confused with the name of the book and the point of view the book was written from, but I also love the moment when you realize the reason the book got its title.

I mostly enjoyed the book but I don't really know if I would recommend it to read. Immediately I found this as a really slow read and it took me sometime before I was really hooked and wanted to move more quickly through the book. I did find it wasn't long before I started to really enjoy all the mischief and exploits that Kenny gets himself into. If you enjoy non-fiction and don't mind the stalls in the story you might enjoy this book. It does have a nice ending and teaches a really good lesson.

Currently Reading

I read exclusively on my Kindle Fire. I have had a Kindle for the last 3 years. I read all the time and having the Kindle has given me the opportunity to carry all my books wherever I go. One of the things that I really enjoy about my Kindle is that at times I am able to get books for free. I follow a couple of blogs on Facebook that let you know what books are offered from Amazon for free or at a reduced price each day. Sometimes they post more than once a day. Those blogs are Pixel of Ink and Ereader News Today. This is the book that I am reading now and planning to review. Look for it soon.

What is The Sweetest Thing?

A while back I was searching for new books to read and reached out to my Facebook friends for suggestions. One of them recommended the author Elizabeth Musser. I read exclusively on my Kindle so I searched Amazon and came across this book.

The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser

Summary:

It's 1933 in Atlanta; Perri Singleton is excited after hearing President Roosevelt speak on the radio. She believes there is hope for the terrible economy and for her father and his concerns over his failing bank. Perri is off to the train station to pick up the niece of her mother’s dear friend Mrs. Chandler. There she meets Mary Dobbs Dillard from Chicago, whom she decides is a most peculiar girl. Little does she know that tragedy will strike her family and present Perri with the most difficult challenges of her life.

Mary Dobbs, or just Dobbs her friends call her, and Perri become quick friends even though they come from vastly different backgrounds. Perri is accustomed to Atlanta society, while Dobbs has been living meekly and traveling with her family to spread the gospel. Through Dobbs teachings she tries to show Perri how to find her true meaning in life outside of Atlanta society.
 
While helping Perri, Dobbs finds herself in her own troubling mystery. Jewelry and other valuables from her Aunt Josie's house have gone missing and her aunts cook Anna has been sent to the Alms Houses for stealing them. Dobbs learns this all from Anna's daughter Parthenia who say she knows the person who stole the items, but is to scared to come forward and clear her mothers name. Dobbs is determined to find justice so Anna can leave the Alms Houses and return to her family.

Review:

I absolutely love this book; the characters are wonderfully well written and relatable. I like how the author tied in faith and has Perri and Dobbs test their faith at one time or another throughout the entire book. I think most would agree that we have all struggled with our faith at one time or another. Musser was able to turn such tragic events into life lessons.
 

I think she really showed how it was to live in Atlanta during this time period by showing how they lived in society life and others who lived outside society and the type of poverty they had to endure. Along with all the lessons that faith provides there is also a mystery inside the story. I thought it added depth to the book. And it was just the twist this story needed. I wasn't completely surprised with the ending it still made for compelling reading. After reading this book I definitely will be putting this on my list of all-time favorite books. 

Coming Soon

The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser

 

 

I read this a few weeks ago and I can't wait to review it and share with you guys!



My First Review

I read constantly not a day goes by when I don't read.  Even if it's only a few pages, I try to fit reading somewhere in my day. I read across various genres, I never stick to one genre I jump around a lot. This is the book I was currently reading when I made the decision to start the blog, so this is going to be the first book reviewed.

Something Blue by Emily Giffin

Summary:
 

Something Blue is the sequel to Emily Giffin's best seller Something Borrowed. Darcy Rhone has been "sucker punched" by her best friend Rachel when she found out that her wedding had been cancelled because her fiancé Dex was in love with her mousey friend Rachel. Never mind that she had been cheating on her Dex with his best friend, and happens to be pregnant. Before she knows it Darcy's life starts spinning out of control, so she quits her job and decides to move to London with her childhood friend Ethan. Darcy adores the London life and quickly decides to live with her friend Ethan. Living it up and mostly shopping the days away, finally Ethan introduces her to some of his local friends. Darcy can tell that his friends are familiar with her best friend’s betrayal and she feels humiliated. Ethan begins to tell her about her shallowness, and utter disregard of others, including her unborn baby. The sheer honesty cuts Darcy to the core and she vows to change her ways and become a better person, friend, and mother.

Review :

I don't really know the correct genre for this book. I have often heard it referred to as "Chick Lit". I really don’t like that classification I usually refer to it as "light reading". This book definitely falls into the light reading category as far as I'm concerned. It has good flow and I found it pretty easy to read.

I found early on in the book that I wasn’t very fond of the main character, but as the book progressed I liked the changes she made in herself and could relate to the "new" Darcy fairly well. I was surprised by the dynamic between Darcy an Ethan. In Something Borrowed the two characters are very different and not in the same place in life and I didn't see such close friendship their future. I did however anticipate the ending early on and found most of the progression predictable.

Overall I enjoyed the book thought it was well written. I would recommend for someone looking for a light heartfelt read for a long plane trip or lazy day at the beach.



So here we go

Well as my unemployment is entering month two I'm looking for ways to spend my time. I already fill the days with being a part time house wife so now I've decided I'm going to review books. A friend gave me the idea a while back but I'm just now getting it off the ground. Where to begin? I haven't decided if I'm going to start a new book or review one that I have already read. I've gotta figure that out. So here we go on my new adventure.