October Book Review

I have been averaging three books a month which isn't too bad considering I spend most of my days running around an energetic 14 month old.  I really try to make some time for myself to indulge in one my favourite hobbies, even if its just half an hour of Lucas' nap time, or a little before bed.  I find that it helps having a little me time to restore my mental energy during the day.  On to this months reads.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

So I'm loving this series a lot more than I thought I would, and I know for someone with an English degree it might be a little embarrassing to admit that this young adult novel is entertaining, but the nerd wants what it wants.  Besides sometimes I just need a little easy reading!  The second installment sees the protagonist begin to learn and attempt to understand this power that she was born with, but grew up not knowing she had.  Its all very supernatural, and unrealistic, which is just the perfect dose of fantasy that I need to help my brain shut down for a few hours hehe.

Chesapeake Blue by Nora Roberts

 

This is the fourth book in the brother series I started last month, and it was by far my favourite of the series.  If you remember, the series centers around foster brothers who come together to raise and help a new child that their adoptive father had taken in shortly before his death.  All these men have suffered personal traumas, and grown up in broken, and fractured homes; and we discover that Seth, the "new" son is in fact the grandson of their benefactor.  Besides all these tedious details, this novel was just so warm, if that could be used as a description for a story.  Its lovely to see a series come to fruition, when the novelist revisits Seth's story as an adult, finding his own love to tell.  Like most of Roberts series, I highly recommend this one. (Sidenote: sometimes I struggle whether I should continue this series, but then my mom was over the other day and took this series home based on my reviews, so I was sold to continue with them!)

Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

 

I read the prequel to this novel just before the movie came out, and loved it way more than I thought I would.  The movie is fantastic, Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep portray the characters pretty much exactly as I had envisioned them.  I don't usually put too much stock in sequels that are written so many years later, I find that it comes off as contrived, and often it ruins the original story for me.  I was pleasantly surprised with this one, I must admit.  The plot is fresh, very current to family ideals nowadays, and struggles that women face today with fulfilling roles they want, and others they think they need to attain.  We revisit Andrea ten years after the last novel, successful in her own right now, as she struggles with friendships, marriage, new motherhood, owning a business, and leaving the past behind.  A lesson that I took from this novel was that you can only make yourself feel inferior, and when necessary remove from your life the ones who are helping you feel that way!

Happy reading everyone!

September Book Review

I'm actually in disbelief that I got four books read last month with everything going on in our lives.  However three of them are Nora Roberts and honestly I gobble those up like its no one's business.  So here's the cast for last month.

Sea Swept by Nora Roberts

This is the first book in a quartet of novels about 4 unlikely foster brothers, who all come from varied rough and often violent pasts.  Roberts tends to write trilogies, and series surrounded by siblings, and I absolutely love them.  Whenever one book ends, and you feel like you have invested a lot of your self into the story, and are now in love with the characters, sometimes its a bit sad to let them go.  With these series, you revisit the characters that you fell in love with, and you want to be a part of their family.  The first novel in this Chesapeake Bay series, centers on the eldest son adopted by a doctor, and professor who couldn't have children of their own.  Years later, the widowed father has taken in another stray child, and asks his three sons to give him the home that they had growing up.  Cameron, ends up falling for the social worker assigned to the case, but more importantly, he falls in love with the kid, and coming back to live at home after years of living a hell bent lifestyle of boat racing.

Rising Tides by Nora Roberts

The second story centers around quiet soul Ethan, who had the roughest start of all the brothers, when he was rescued by the Quinn couple, as he was being used by his prostitute mother in ways that are so degrading.  This story was just so sweet, and you are rooting for the guy to get the girl the whole time.  Along the way to falling in love with the girl next door, he connects with the Seth, the child that their father had taken in, since they share the same unfortunate experiences with their birth mothers.  Throughout it all the brothers start their own boat building business, and you begin to see the makings of a real family start. 

Inner Harbour by Nora Roberts

The third book centers around no nonsense younger brother Phillip, who unknowingly falls for the estranged aunt of Seth.  The story of how the brothers come together and embrace this child and free him from the shackles of his violent birth mother comes full circle, in more ways than one in this novel.  In all three novels, the backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay is so beautifully described, and it kind of made me nostalgic for the years I lived in Portugal right near the water, and also made me aware that I am in dire need of a vacation.

The Sins of the Father by Jeffery Archer

I first read an Archer novel when I was living abroad, and when we moved back to Canada I searched for the rest of his novels, and have since read everything he's written.  His work in the last few years has shown a little more edge (maybe his stint in jail for tax evasion and fraud may have something to do with that lol).  This is the second of a series (clearly I'm on a series trend), and although the first novel was just ok, I had to see what happened to the characters, so I picked it up, and was pleasantly surprised.  The story gained more depth for me, and I found myself hurrying to reach the end, only to find out that he hasn't finished telling the story, and there are more books to come...well played Archer my friend.  The story centers around a man Harry Clifton, who rose from the shipyards of Bristol, only to discover that he may be the illegitimate son of the local Baron.  To complicate matters, he has fallen in love with the daughter of said baron and has fathered a child with her.  He has set his sights on proving that he is fact the son of the man who accidentally fell to his death at work just before he was born, instead of the spineless man who had an affair with his mother.

Hope some of these peaked your interest.  Happy Reading.

August Book Review

Some mixed reviews this month, plus from the selection you can get a sense of just how eclectic my reading tastes really are.

Entwined With You by Sylvia Day

This is the third novel in a series about the relationship between a man and woman with very troubled pasts who have an undeniable attraction.  This writer sure knows how to write some steamy stuff, even regular conversations between these two characters could almost make the pages singe with the heat they're creating.  I would have to label this as a semi-erotic novel, since the actual bedroom interactions (or those that happen often not in the bedroom, yup its that kind of novel) are detailed yes, but there is a lot more to the story than just the sexual chemistry between the two protagonists.  I am actually a lot more interested in the personal damages they have been through and the real discussion about child abuse that the author explores, and how people who have suffered those sort of situations deal with adult relationships later on in life.  Book 3 was a little fluffier than the other two as far as I'm concerned, but the author has already promised that their story is not over, so I'm looking forward to what more she has in store.

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

I'm going to be honest I hadn't heard of this series until hype about the movie started flooding gossip sites and magazines.  I saw the trailer and was intrigued, so in true Sylvie fashion I sought out the novel first, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I seemed to be enjoying it.  The writing style is at times youthful, since it is categorized as a young adult fiction, and the pace at times was a little unnerving, but overall I found the characters engaging, and interesting.  It centers around a Shadow world of wolves, vampires and Shadowhunters (who are part Angel), and the main character has grown up not knowing she is actually part of this world, in a very fundamental way.  I actually saw the movie two weeks ago on a momentous date night, and despite mixed reviews really enjoyed it.

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

One year for my birthday a friend of mine gifted me with the first book in the Shopholic Series by Kinsella, and I fell in love from the first page.  The character was funny, intriguing, and empathetic enough to feel bad for her situation while still wanting to berate her for her choices.  Since then I have pretty much read anything else that Kinsella has published, I do that a lot with authors, I may stumble on something new once in a while, and then I spend weeks reading just that author.  To say I was disappointed with her latest efforts is putting it mildly.  I actually had a really hard time finishing it, and so many times I almost gave up, and I'm not going to lie, by the end I was skimming parts just to get to the climax and get it over with.  I detest when that happens with a book, cause first I still have to finish it I'm too much of a nerd not to, and second it takes away part of the enjoyment in relishing a new story.  The story is kind of time and true plot, girl is in love, wants to get married, boyfriend is a true male and doesn't get the clue, so she runs off and marries an ex boyfriend whose in the middle of a mid life crisis.   The story continues with the protagonist's sister trying her best to thwart her sister's wedding night so she can qualify for an annulment instead of a divorce.  Needless to say I may be questioning Kinsella when she publishes again, and rethink if I want to spend my precious reading time on her again.

I hope all you other mamas are making time for yourselves and just enjoying a good book every nap in a while hehe.

July Book Review

To say I am an avid reader is kind of understatement.  Even during those first foggy months of motherhood, my mommy time usually consisted of holing myself in my room or laying on the couch and reading while the little guy slept beside me.  Its my refuge, and its something I love to do entirely for myself. 

Nothing beats opening a new book, and smelling that new book smell and passing my fingers along uncurled pages.  Even library books, as odd as it sounds, have this distinctive smell, like you know that this story has been passed onto many hands that have enjoyed (or maybe not), and revelled in the words on the page.  Obsessed much, yup that's me.

I used to be able to read a book in a few days, obviously motherhood makes that feat a little impossible sometimes, but I have found my groove, and I am reading about 3 to 4 books a month.  I like a variety of genres, historical fiction being one of my favourites, as it collaborates both my loves for history and storytelling.  So I thought I would every month give a short rundown of the books I have encountered, and all titles will be linked to the Indigo website if any of them pique your interest.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I was drawn to this teen novel since I had seen the trailer for the upcoming movie, and I always love to read the novels beforehand.  It is a teen lit novel that for a woman in her thirties can only be construed as cheesy, and often predictably transparent.  I am a huge lover of books about supernatural beings, but this one had a hard time grabbing my attention, and even though this is actually the first in a series, I finished it without the urge to go get the rest and find out what happens to the characters.  Sadly the movie was just as disappointing.

Inferno by Dan Brown

I have been in love with Dan Brown's novels since someone suggested I read his Da Vinci Code.  This sort of conspiracy novel rooted in history is right up my alley, and I revel in how all incidents lead to a greater truth or conclusion.  I have to say that I had become a bit of a savant with his work, and was starting to be able to decode the finale of his novels before I reached the climax of the story.  This didn't take away from the story, but it did put a damper on the whole experience.  Well I'm glad to say that he finally tripped me up again, and he kept me guessing right till the last page, making this a far more enjoyable read, and completely living up to my highly anticipated feelings.  The story is set largely in Florence and Venice, and it made me want to visit Italy with a passion.  I think I need to start a vacation fund for Gianni and I to make a long European second honeymoon for our tenth anniversary, this way I have plenty of time to make that dream happen.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

This was also on my list this month cause I wanted to see the movie.  I devoured the Twilight series when it first came out, but for some reason never gravitated to her other novel cause the jacket description never quite caught my attention.  When I saw the trailer for the movie I thought maybe it would be alright.  I'm happy to say that although the movie was horrible, I actually rather enjoyed the novel.  It borders on cheesy, but I kind of appreciate the underlying message, that people are often quick to judge one another, and we don't make enough of an effort or time to just get to know each other, as we are all very often guilty of grouping people by association. 

I would love to hear other reader suggestions. I'm always looking for new writers.