Book Reviews: Brand New Friend & Wedding Night

I have been trying to review the books I previously read this year, before starting up the blog again, so this is a continuation of that. I decided to review these two books together as they were both quick, romantic, fluff reads.

When Rob's girlfriend asks him to leave London and live with her in Manchester not only will it mean moving cities, it'll also mean leaving behind his best mate in the entire world. Believing that love conquers all and convinced of his ability to make new friends, Rob takes the plunge.

Six months in, and yet to find so much as a regular drinking buddy, Rob realises that sometimes making friends in your thirties can be the hardest thing to do. With drastic action needed, his girlfriend puts an ad in the classifieds for him. Three excruciatingly embarrassing "bloke dates" later, Rob begins to truly despair. Until his luck changes . . .

There's just one problem. Apart from knowing less than nothing about music trivia, football, and the vital statistics of supermodels, Rob's new friend has one huge flaw . . .

She's a girl.

Brand New Friend is one of those stories that, if made into a movie, would be your typical rom-com, along the same lines as Made of Honor and Just Friends. It's a fun little adventure that explores the relationships between men and women, and asks us the question, Can men and women truly just be friends? The triangle between Rob & Jo & Rob's girlfriend is as cringe-worthy as one would expect. Because he thinks she would overreact, Rob lies-by-omission to mislead his girlfriend into thinking that his new friend Jo is a man. He also misleads Jo into thinking that his girlfriend knows all about her and is totally fine with the situation. Awkward humour follows...

I enjoyed this book, it was a fun sort of fluff read. It's a bit longer, I think, than a typical girly book, but not too long. The story progressed at a fairly comfortable rate. It was funny and awkward and sweet. I give it 3.5/5.

Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose, but then his big question involves a trip abroad—not a trip down the aisle. Completely crushed, Lottie reconnects with an old flame, and they decide to take drastic action. No dates, no moving in together, they’ll just get married... right now. Her sister, Fliss, thinks Lottie is making a terrible mistake, and will do anything to stop her. But Lottie is determined to say “I do,” for better, or for worse.

I went through a phase several years ago where I read a whole bunch of Shopaholic books, and then collected as many other books by Sophie Kinsella (as well as Madeleine Wickham) as I could get my hands on. But nowadays I can only read Sophie Kinsella's books in small doses, and I really must be in the right frame of mind. Wedding Night was an amusing fluff read, but there's just something about her characters that annoy me. That being said, I did like the book and all the silly shenanigans the characters get up to.

Fliss is the responsible sister. With a career and raising a young son on her own, she also manages to find time to look out for (and clean up after) her younger sister Lottie. Lottie is the carefree, flighty, happy-go-lucky sister. They didn't have an easy childhood, but Fliss always made sure that Lottie was happy and cared for. And Fliss feels like she can predict Lottie's next moves, because she always does the same things. So when Lottie's boyfriend doesn't propose when she's just sure he is, Fliss is completely prepared for the meltdown and the rebound hunt. What she isn't prepared for is for Lottie to make a promise of celibacy and accept a marriage proposal from a near stranger! Hilarity ensues as Fliss tries to stop her sister's wedding, and above all, prevent its consummation!

As I mentioned, there's something about Sophie Kinsella's characters that annoys me; maybe it's how completely air-headed they are, or the fact they're not very believable. But they are almost always amusing, and make for a quick, funny read. I give this one 3.5/5 as well.

Tag: Newbie Book Blog

So I'm pretty new to this whole book blogging thing. I was sort of doing it a couple years ago, but wasn't very good, or consistent, so when I started back up last month, I considered a new birth rather than a rebirth... if that makes any sense...

Anyway, so I have been investing some time into reading other people's blogs and looking up ideas for blog content. Right now, I'm mostly just trying to get into a rhythm of publishing posts at regular intervals, that being every Wednesday. I have sporadically shared posts on other days, but I'm trying to be consistent with Wednesdays right now, and sticking mostly with reviewing the books I had read this year before starting the blog. So, in my nosing around the interwebs, I found Love and Other Bookish Things and her post entitled Book Blog Newbie Tag, in which she takes it upon herself to bring BookTube tags and such over into the book blogosphere. I love making up words. :)

So the following is my Newbie Tag, using Kirsten's version:

1. Why did you start this blog?
Well, basically, I have a terrible memory. So this is my little memory keeper, to remind me that yes, I did, in fact, actually read that book, and whether or not I liked it. When I first started blogging a couple years ago, I was literally talking about everything that happened in the book - spoilers much? I don't want to spoil anything for anyway, but at the same time, I do want to be able to remind myself what a book was about. So hopefully in the near future I'll figure out a way to balance the two to make everyone happy. :)

2. What are some fun and unique things you can bring to book blogging?
Uh, well... that's a pretty good question. I don't know. I'd like to think that I have kind of a quirky writing voice... When I was a teenager, I identified myself as being weird and bubbly... so I don't know, guys. I guess... I'm honest, and weird, and sometimes kind of fun and bubbly? I hope?

3. What are you most excited for about this blog?
Um... That's another good question. I mean, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for lots of readers and people to love me and all that, which I know is quite unlikely but there's still that hope... But I think really I'm just excited to be able to share the books I've read, and my love of books, with like-minded people!

4. Why do you love reading?
I love being able to fall in love, go on an adventure, learn magic, solve crimes, etc, without even leaving my bed. I love escaping into another world for a little while, meeting new people (even if they are fictitious), learning things...

5. What book or series got you into reading?
I've always been a reader and story-lover. I don't remember exactly how old I was when I learned to love to read, and I don't remember the first book I read on my own, so I can't really say what got me into reading. All I know is that I've always loved books, imaginary things, and stories.

6. What questions would you ask your favourite authors?
You know, I don't really think about things like this, meeting authors and asking them questions. I guess something I would ask a couple of authors would be, "Why did you choose to write in the voice of the opposite sex, and was it a challenege for you?"

7. What challenges do you think starting a blog will be the hardest to overcome?
The consistency of posting new content, for sure. That, and no spoilers. :)

8. When did you start reading?
I don't remember. First grade, probably, so like 7 years old? I mean, I was only reading little books that first graders read, but I remember being so proud of being able to read on my own, and adding books to my "have read" list.

9. Where do you read?
I have a favourite Lay-Z-Boy chair in the living room where I like to curl up to read, that's my preferred spot. I do read in bed, but I don't find it particularly comfortable, and sometimes on the deck or in the kitchen, wherever there's a chair... But I don't typically read other places outside my home. I have taken books with me places, but I find I get interrupted too much and end up having to re-read the bits I "read" while I was out.

10. What kind of books do you like to read?
Fiction, definitely fiction. I love me some Young Adult fiction, especially dystopian, and don't care who knows it! I also love murder mysteries, crime novels, and fluffy chick reads. And the (very) occasional non-fictional biography. But very rarely. :)

Well, I guess that's it! I hope you enjoyed my tag post. Let me know if you write one too! In the meantime, I'd like to tag my friend Paige at Paige From Book Club to do this!

Book Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns
I'm one of those people. Those people who have to read the book before they can watch the movie. I mean, maybe not every time. There are certainly movies I watched before reading the book, for one reason or another; either I wasn't aware that there was a book, or the opportunity to watch the movie came first, or I frankly, didn't care. This was one of those books that I read because I wanted to watch the movie, and already had (but had not yet read) the book. It's a YA fiction by John Green, a huge player in the YA world right now, after the wildly successful movie adaptation of his book The Fault in Our Stars (which I loved, both the book and the movie).

Paper Towns is a story about two teenage neighbours, Quentin and Margo. They were friends in childhood, but then life happened. She became one of the cool kids, and he didn't, but he's been keeping an eye on her and crushing hard all this time. Then one night, Margo knocks on his window needing help. They spend an amusing and adventurous night getting into trouble, exacting revenge on her enemies, and he is happy to think that she suddenly wants to be friends again. She, however, disappears the very next day. Everyone else just chocks it up to her acting out again. "She'll be back in a few days," they say. But Q is worried about her and does everything in his power to decrypt and put together the clues she left behind in order to find her.

I found that the plot was slow to develop in several areas. There were some suspenseful parts where you began to wonder what was really happening and whether Margo was really ok or not... But the ending was rather disappointing and unsatisfying. It's an OK read, I didn't hate it. As for the movie... just don't even waste your time with that one, in my opinion!

Book Reviews: OwlCrate Reads

I haven't mentioned it here before, but for the past year or so I have been subscribing to OwlCrate, which is a super cool book-related monthly subscription box. Each month is a new theme, and each box contains one book related to the theme, as well as several book-related items, such as: candles, jewelry, socks, stickers, magnets, lip glosses, notebooks, etc! It's a bit expensive with the shipping, but it is so fun to get that little box of happy in the mail!!

Soundless
I began my subscription in November 2015, and have ended up ordering 8 of the 10 boxes since then. The first box's theme was Myths & Legends and the book included in the box was Soundless by Richelle Mead. I had heard nothing of this book before, had never read any of Richelle's books (Vampire Academy & Bloodlines series) so when I got it I really didn't know what to think of it, and wasn't all that interested in it. I just added it to the ever-growing TBR pile in my room and forgot all about it. But in April, while looking for a new book to read, I happened upon it again and decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised! This is a standalone YA science fiction/fantasy novel based on Chinese folklore. Fei lives in a silent world. Everyone she knows in her mountaintop village is deaf, and have always been deaf, for generations. They have learned to adapt, but things are getting worrisome when people start losing their sight as well, and their food source dwindles. And then suddenly, Fei can hear! Navigating through the world with new and overwhelming sense is an emotional ride for Fei, as she journeys off the mountaintop to the valley below in an effort to find answers. Answers to where their food source comes from and why it's stopping, and answers to why her village has no hearing and are now losing their sight. It was a really good read and I'm so glad I gave it a shot. I would definitely recommend it!

World of Ink and Shadow
*Spoiler Alert* The theme for Owl Crate's January box was Magic, which of course I couldn't resist! That was one of my favourite boxes because it included a Funko Pop vinyl figurine of a Harry Potter character, and I got Harry Potter, himself! The book in that box was Worlds of Ink and Shadows by Canadian author Lena Coakley. The cover art of this YA fantasy novel, as well as the whole premise of being a story about the Bronte siblings, had me intrigued from the start. It's the story of the 4 youngest Bronte siblings, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. Charlotte and Branwell write stories for their younger sisters, and at some point made a deal with the devil to allow them all to transport into their fantasy world. But when the stories & characters take over their lives, they no longer share their make-believe world with their sisters. This is fine for Anne, the sensible sister, but Emily (who fancies herself to be in love with one of the villains) craves that fantasy world. She convinces her older siblings to take them back, one last time. However, in the meantime, Emily has made her own deal with the devil, created her own fantasy world with her villain, and takes over her siblings' story. It's a bit strange and convoluted. The author tries to speculate on various true-to-life facts about the Brontes, which makes it kind of interesting from a historical point of view. I can't exactly explain why, but I didn't like the book as much as I thought I would. I would recommend it because there's no particular reason why I didn't like it, but it wasn't a favourite.

Are you an OwlCrate subscriber? Have you been reading the books, or are you like me, and just adding them to your TBR pile? Have you heard of read either of these books, and what's your take?

There are a few more OwlCrate books in my TBR pile that I'm hoping to get to before the end of the year, so hopefully you'll hear more about them soon!

Book Haul: August & September

So, yes, I have said several times that this blog is just for me, just for my records, doesn't matter if I have followers or not, "I'll only publish one post a week so that I can keep up," blah blah blah... But has that stopped me from reading articles with titles such as "How to get more traffic to your blog" or "7 Habits of Successful Book Bloggers" and the like? No... it has not.

I have been inspired. Inspired to take up my keyboard and write several blog posts, many of which I have no idea when I will publish. The following are books I have bought, been gifted, collected, etc. in the last month or so. There are some not pictured, as well. So, starting from the bottom of the pile:

A Great Reckoning - Louise Penny
The newest crime fiction novel in Canadian author Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, just released the end of August. It has become a tradition for my sister & brother-in-law to gift me the newest Louise Penny novel for my birthday, so here it is! I am one chapter in and already feeling at home with my old friends in Three Pines.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper - Phaedra Patrick
Books with long, intriguing titles such as this always get me. This one jumped right into my Chapters online shopping cart all on its own! It is a fiction about an elderly widower who goes on an adventure to discover who his wife was before she met him. It appears to be similar to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - another of my absolute favourites!

Grounded - Kate Klise
I found this book in the discount section at Chapters while vacationing in Moncton, New Brunswick earlier this month. The cover art grabbed my attention, but it really just sounds like it could be an interesting little gem. I have never heard of the author before, am not familiar with her works, but it would appear that she writes a lot of murder mysteries, so if this book is any good, I may try to find some of her other books.

The Vanishing Season - Jodi Lynn Anderson
Not your typical ghost story...Another book from Chapters' discount section, the cover art once again grabbed me with this one. I've already read it, so I won't say too much more here.

Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
I do not typically read non-fiction, but I had heard of this book before, so when I came across it at a yard sale last weekend, for only $1, I decided to grab it. It is an autobiographical account of the authors travels through Pakistan, building schools for girls, and the adventures (and mishaps) he encounters along the way.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling
I have started collecting and reading the Harry Potter series for the first time this year! It is a wonderful adventure, and I am falling completely in love with the wizarding world and the beautiful characters in it. My best friend actually sent me both The Goblet of Fire (not pictured) and The Order of the Phoenix for my birthday.

The Little Paris Bookshop - Nina George
I absolutely love the idea of this book - a bookshop owner who "prescribes" his clients just the right book to mend their broken hearts, but has yet to heal his own. My friend's book club read it in August, so I'm anxious to get into it soon so that we can share some thoughts on it.

Lullabies for Little Criminals - Heather O'Neill
Another $1 yard sale find. This coming-of-age fiction captured my attention mostly because of its Canadian author. I'm not sure if I'll actually read this one or not.

The Bone Clock - David Mitchell
While second-hand book shopping with my friend in Moncton, New Brunswick, I happened upon The Bone Clock. Recognizing it as having the same author as Cloud Atlas I was hard-pressed to leave it behind. I have no idea if it is the same genre as Cloud Atlas, but I can't wait to find out!

The Fabulous Girl's Guide to Decorum - Kim Izzo & Ceri Marsh
I love a good etiquette book, and when it comes in the form of self-help, I'm a goner. I actually don't remember where or when I picked this book up, so when I was collecting the other books for the haul photo, I decided to throw it in.

Also not pictured is The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler because, if you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a sucker for Canadian authors.

What books have you hauled recently? Are any of these on your TBR list, or have you read any of them? Share your thoughts!

Hello again!

 So, as promised, here is the first of a series of posts outlining the books I have read from January to August 2016. I didn't keep a record of the exact dates I finished each of these books, or how long they took me to read, so I'll just take my list and cover a few books per post. I will also try to add photos. These first ones aren't the best, but I'll try to make future ones Instagram-worthy. ;)

The Fate of Ten
{spoilers ahead if you haven't read the series}
At the beginning of the year, I was very much in the mood to finish off various series I had previously started and was getting weary of. Even though they are no longer my favourites, I feel the need to finish what I started. I was reading a couple at the same time, but only managed to finish The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore. It is the sixth book, released last September, in the Lorien Legacies series. I had been snatching the books up as soon as they were released until that point. But I wasn't really feeling the series anymore, so I didn't read this book until January. The seventh book, United As One was released this summer without much fanfare that I was made aware of. There is also a sub-series called The Lost Files which I never read.

As I mentioned, I really enjoyed the series in the beginning. It's a YA science fiction about a double alien invasion: the good guys (Loriens), whose planet was destroyed by the bad guys (Mogadorians). The nine Lorien elders sent their child-successors (called Garde) off to Earth with their trainer/guardians (Cepans) when their planet was attacked. They are all that's left of Lorien. Knowing that the Mogadorians would eventually find the children, the elders put a charm on them so that as long as they were separated they could only be killed in their numerical order, and the survivors all receive scars when the others are killed. At the beginning of the series, the first three have already been killed, and we meet Number Four (who goes by the name John Smith). As the series progresses, we slowly meet the other surviving Garde as they find each other. Once they came together the charm was broken, so now they are all fair game, so it is imperative that they all come together so that their Legacies (superpowers) are stronger.

This installment of the story picks up right where Revenge of Seven left off: the Mogadorians have officially invaded Earth and have New York City under attack, so some of the Garde are there fighting against the Mogs, while others are stranded in Mexico after finding the Sanctuary and awakening the Entity - the spirit of Lorien. Not much actually happens in this book to advance the story, except that we meet a few new characters, lots of Loriens get injured, and humans randomly become Garde.

That's really all I have to say about that. I'm glad I read it, because I do want to finish the series, but it wasn't great.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (a pseudonym of Catherine Webb) is another science fiction novel, which I absolutely loved! I believe I bought this one from Indigo merely because the title and cover caught my eye, and the synopsis was rather intriguing. It is a really interesting time travel/reincarnation story, which I always love.

Harry August keeps living the same life over and over, but he remembers everything from his past lives. At first this freaks him out, but eventually he finds others like himself and joins a community which helps him to adapt. As he progresses through his lives he is tasked with a mission, because of his special ability to remember everything, to help save the future of mankind. The time travel/living life over, is sometimes hard to get your head around, but I love that kind of mind bender. It's a great book and I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoyed Cloud Atlas and The Time Traveler's Wife.

The Arrivals
The next book I read was The Arrivals by Melissa Marr. This one I actually found on a trip to a Dollar Tree store in Vermont last year. I always check the books at Dollar Tree because you never know what you'll find there, and they're only $1 - can't go wrong, right?! The title didn't really do anything for me, but the cover art was interesting and then I recognized the author (I read and loved her Wicked Lovely series, about faeries), so I thought, "This should be great!"

It's a "weird west" novel set in an alternate universe, which appears to be a lot like an old Western. Featuring vampires, monsters, demons, and an Egyptian Pharoah... Somehow, murderers get transported from our world to this alternate universe where they band together (allied with the vampires) to fight off the monsters and demons and attempt to keep peace in the land, all the while trying to figure out how to get back to our world. It was kind of fun, but it was weird, you guys. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, unless you like that sort of thing.


Well, I think that's all for this post. Let me know if you've read any of these books and what your take on them was!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

After a very long hiatus... I am attempting to resume my book blogging adventure! Life has been a whirlwind since I started that French pastry course back in 2013, but things have settled into an almost dull rhythm these days, where I find myself looking for various creative outlets. I've always loved reading, writing, and sharing my love of books, so I'm going to give this another shot.

Now, I may be "older and wiser," but I am still not a consistent blogger. I don't think this will ever be a career for me - I'm just doing it for fun, and to keep track of books I've read for my own records! (Because, to be honest, I am known to completely forget about what happens in the books I've read, therefore not being able to remember if I have read them or not. I guess those are mostly books that had little impact on me or that I didn't enjoy, but still...) If other people read, appreciate, and enjoy my ponderings along the way, all the better!

Since I am jumping on this bandwagon a little late in the year, and have therefore already read several books (which I don't remember enough of to write a proper review), I think I'm going to start off with some short posts that overview a few books at a time. Once that is done, I will try to review books the way I was at the start of this blog: writing the review as I read the book, and then giving my personal rating & recommendation at the end of the post.

I'm looking forward to starting this project again, and sharing my reading journey (and love of all things book-related) with you!