Ahhhh, summer!

I just got back from an afternoon trip to the beach with my three boys, aged 10, 4, and 2. We only went for a couple of hours because it has been raining on and off all day. I'm hoping that it tired them out- entertaining three kids for the summer is a somewhat daunting task! Luckily for us, Turkey Point is a short 10 minute drive from where we live. We found a small stretch of beach where we can park and swim for free (the main beach, which is larger, charges considerably for parking).

I'm looking forward to spending lots of sunny afternoons there this summer. Last summer at this time I was busy getting ready for our July 19th wedding and with all the busyness I think that we only got out to the beach twice (and once was on our wedding day for pictures!) So here's to the summer and all of the promise it brings. And here's to a summer filled with lots of lazy afternoons reading a book on the beach! Happy summer everyone!

Review: "School for Husbands" by Wendy Holden

Let me start by saying that I should be banned (by my husband) from "browsing" at Coles (or affiliates). Last week I was at our local shopping centre running a few errands with two of my boys when I decided to "browse" through my local Coles store, just to see if there was anything interesting out. At the front of the store was a table marked "4 for $10.00" and the chick-lit-y titles caught my eye. I had $60.00 in Chapters/Coles gift cards from various sources in my wallet, so I figured that it was harmless to purchase $10.00 worth of books. While I was there I saw that a book that I had read (and loved) in hardback had just came out in paperback so I picked that one up, and then another one I had been lusting after caught my eye. Getting up to the checkout the incredibly friendly cashier told me that if I bought one more regularly priced book, I would get one free. Well, not one to pass up a bargain, I selected another two, of course. 8 books, 1 reusable tote, and $60.00 later I headed for home. Thank goodness for gift cards!

Needless to say, that story had a point (other than the fact that I am a bookaholic). "School for Husbands" by Wendy Holden was one of the first books that I picked up and it was a fabulously entertaining read! Sophie (new mom to Arthur) and her husband Mark are having typical marital problems. He doesn't help with the baby or appreciate the fact that she works full time, and she doesn't realize that the only reason that he works late all of the time is to provide for Sophie and Arthur in an unstable job market. The last straw is when Sophie (incorrectly) assumes that Mark is having an affair. Sophie packs up and moves to her mother's house with Arthur and promptly files for divorce. Mark, on the other hand, finds that he doesn't want their marriage to end, and he begs Sophie to delay the divorce while he enrolls in "School for Husbands" a two-week long therapy-based program designed to save marriages. Hilarity ensues, of course, while Sophie and Mark struggle to figure out if their marriage is worth saving.

There's not much I can say about this one, except that it was hard to put down and will make a great beach read for anyone who hasn't read this one yet (just a note: the hardcover version is on sale for $5.99 on chapters.indigo.ca right now)! The plot was entertaining, the characters endearing, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen. Two thumbs up, four stars, etc. It's not surprising that this one was a bestseller!

Review: "Lucky Girls" by Nell Freudenberger

"Lucky Girls", Nell Freudenberger's first book, has been nominated for several awards and honours, and has received the PEN/Malamud award. After reading this collection of short stories, it's not hard to see why. Each story, primarily focused on the Indian subcontinent as well as well as Southeast Asia, focuses on a different woman and her unique challenges.

The first story, "Lucky Girls" is about a woman who's married lover has died, yet despite disapproval from his family, she finds herself unable to leave the place that connects her to him. "The Orphan", the second story in this collection, is about a young woman living in Thailand and her family, although facing their own troubles, attempting to protect her from the harder things in life. "Outside the Eastern Gate" is the story of a woman abandoned early on by her troubled mother, who must come back to India and deal with her past. "The Tutor" (my favourite story, although they were all enjoyable) is about a young girl living overseas who longs to return to America, and "Letter from the Last Bastion" is a letter to unknown persons where the writer attempts to come to terms with her own parentage.

Each story was carefully written, and throughout there is a theme of women who feel as if they do not belong in their surroundings. These women continue to perservere to find peace with their situations, with varying outcomes. Freudenberger also skillfully addresses the theme of isolation, leaving the reader with a lot to consider when the final page has been turned.

This book is my first entry into the HarperCollins contest "Summer is Short: Read a Story". A reminder that this contest is open to both Canadian and US residents, and the rules can be found here. Take a moment to browse inside this book as well here.

Review: "Obsession: An Erotic Tale" by Gloria Vanderbilt

Caution: This book is strangely addictive! I picked it up yesterday afternoon and read it in one sitting, unable to tear myself away.

The first sentence of this book is "If ever two were one, it could be said of Priscilla and Talbot Bringham". The perfect couple, he a high-powered yet controversial architect and she his loyal and devoted wife. Priscilla is devastated when Talbot dies unexpectedly in the middle of their tenth wedding anniversary celebration. After he passes, she finds herself in his office, where his boldest designs were created. Priscilla comes across a file marked "Private" and inside finds Talbot's personal correspondence from over the years, some of it from her. Sorting through the pile, she comes across a burgundy envelope and when she opens it, she is shocked to find letters from someone named "Bee". These letters are descriptions of all kinds of erotic encounters that Bee has been having with Talbot throughout their marriage. Priscilla is devastated upon reading this highly personal, sexually charged correspondence. She knew that she didn't enjoy sex as much as Talbot did, but she thought that she hid it well, never denying her husband anything.

As the letters are opened, one after another, the reader is invited into this world of strange fantasy and erotic imaginings. Toeing the line between reality and fantasy, we are taken to far-off places where regular rules don't apply. As we approach the end of the book, we are confronted with a mystery: are these letters really from Talbot's lover Bee, or are these the erotic imaginings suppressed deep in Priscilla's own mind?

Beautifully and skillfully written, this book drew me in from the beginning. "Obsession: An Erotic Tale" is short, yet the plot is intricate, and the conclusion leaves the reader puzzled yet intrigued. It's been a while since I've read a book that was quite this clever and I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I admit that I didn't initially know what to expect.

Browse inside the book for a taste of "Obsession" or find out more about the book here. Thank-you to HarperCollins Canada for this review copy.

Mailbox Monday

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I'm a little late posting this week (again!) but better late than never! I had an exciting week in books last week and I couldn't wait to share what my mailbox contained!

From HarperCollins Canada for review:

"Obsession: An Erotic Tale" by Gloria Vanderbilt
"The Doomsday Key" by James Rollins
"The Fixer Upper" by Mary Kay Andrews

From the Hachette Book Group:

"The Castaways" by Elin Hilderbrand

For the current HarperCollins Canada reading contest:

"Lucky Girls" by Nell Freudenberger

From HarperCollins Canada's blog, The Savvy Reader:

"Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann (ARC)

I can't wait to start reading all of these fabulous books! I have two-and-a-half more days of work and then I'm off for the summer with the kids, and I can guarantee that I'll be planted in the backyard with a book come Monday morning!

Review: "Getting Rid of Matthew" Jane Fallon

I picked up this book from my library because I had read "Got You Back" (also by Jane Fallon) and was interested in reading her previous bestselling novel. I had also heard rumours that Jennifer Anniston's production company, Plan B, had optioned this novel, so I figured that it must be something worth reading!

Now I liked "Got You Back" but I loved "Getting Rid of Matthew". This was chick lit at its finest! Helen, our main character, is shocked when her married lover of four years leaves his wife and daughters and shows up on the doorstep of her dingy basement apartment for good! Although she is supposed to be happy about this sudden turns of events in her favour, she actually finds that she is less than thrilled with these new arrangements. Suddenly all of the things that she had found that thrilled her about Matthew are turning her off of him, and she realizes that she wants nothing but her old life back and a chance to start fresh!

Helen tries to turn Matthew off of her, but when that fails, she orchestrates a plan to get Matthew and his sife, Sophie, back together. Little does she realize that she will grow to genuinely like Sophie in the process, not to mention the fact that she will fall in love along the way with a man with a shocking connection to Matthew!

I loved, loved, loved this book. Jane Fallon's debut novel reminded me of Jill Mansell's work, with lovable characters who seem to get themselves further and further into a mess that they have created, with no forseeable way out. The plot was hilarious yet heartwarming, and the ending made me want more. I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys chick-lit without the frothiness. This would make a fabulous summer read!

You can browse inside this book through Harper Collins Canada's website.

Review: "You or Someone Like You" Chandler Burr

From the Publisher's Website:

Anne Rosenbaum leads a life of quiet Los Angeles privilege, the wife of Hollywood executive Howard Rosenbaum and mother of their seventeen-year-old son, Sam. Years ago Anne and Howard met studying literature at Columbia—she, the daughter of a British diplomat from London, he a boy from an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Now on sleek blue California evenings, Anne attends halogen-lit movie premieres on the arm of her powerful husband. But her private life is lived in the world of her garden, reading books.

When one of Howard's friends, the head of a studio, asks Anne to make a reading list, she casually agrees—though, as a director reminds her, "no one reads in Hollywood." To her surprise, they begin calling: screen-writers; producers, from their bungalows; and agents, from their plush offices on Wilshire and Beverly. Soon Anne finds herself leading an exclusive book club for the industry elite. Emerging gradually from her seclusion, she guides her readers into the ideas and beauties of Donne, Yeats, Auden, and Mamet, with her brilliant and increasingly bold opinions. But when a crisis of identity unexpectedly turns an anguished Howard back toward the Orthodoxy he left behind as a young man, Anne must set out to save what she values above all else: her husband's love.

At once fiercely intelligent and emotionally gripping, You or Someone Like You confronts the fault lines between inherited faith and personal creed, and, through the surprising transformation of one exceptional, unforgettable woman, illuminates literature's power to change our lives.

My Review:

I had high hopes for "You or Someone Like You"; a book about books? I'm sold! Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed. I found the book to be pretentious at times, while it dragged on endlessly at other times. The author seemed to be trying to point out how incredibly intelligent he was by dissecting many classic novels. I'm sure that some people reading this book will disagree with me; one reviewer commented that this book is for anyone who has ever clung to the belief that a book can change our lives. Although I can see how this reviewer could have gotten that from reading the book, I, myself, found that that particular point fell by the wayside.

What I did enjoy about the book was the plot involving the characters of Anne (creator of the book club), Howard (her popular Hollywood husband) and their son Sam. Towards the end of the book the book club starts to play a less prominent role in the book and the complicated relationships between this trio shine through. This was the point at which the book really came together for me. Unfortunately, this only happened a few short chapters before the end.

Ultimately I think that I would have enjoyed it more had the book club scenes been scrapped and the book had focused instead on Anne, Howard, and Sam. Those particular characters were well-developed and very interesting.

Take a moment to browse inside this book! Thank-you to Harper Collins Canada for the review copy.

Review: "The White Tiger" Aravind Adiga

Have you ever been confronted with a book so many times that you feel that you were meant to read it? This is what happened to me with this book. I first glimpsed it at a Shopper's Drug Mart while on a rare solo trip. The cover intrigued me, and I wrote the title down so that I could remember to check to see if my library had a copy. It turns out that they did, although all of the copies were checked out at the time, so I put it on hold. While I was waiting for a copy, I won a copy of Aravind Adiga's newest novel "Between the Assassinations". A day after I received his newest book in the mail, the library called and told me that a copy of "The White Tiger" was in for me. I was thrilled to finally have a copy of this international bestseller in my hands!

"The White Tiger" tells the life story of Balram Halwai, a servant born in the darkness of India. Although he is born in the servant caste, he is determined from a very young age to rise above his station and become something different. He bucks family tradition by refusing to work in the tea shop that his brother works in and he trains to be a driver himself. He finds a job, by sheer luck, with one of the richest men, a "landlord", from his old village and from there he develops a plan to claw his way out from under India's low expectations of him.

The story was raw and full of anger from someone who was born in raised not as a rich man, but as a poor man. Throughout the story he is focused on having money, on bucking tradition, but most of all, he is focused on not being a servant anymore. He wants to be the boss. One reviewer, Andrew Holgate from The Sunday Times (London), puts it perfectly when he says "...there's not a sniff of saffron or a swirl of sari anywhere". This really was a novel about the poor and not the rich. I love reading literature set in the Middle East, and upon reflection I did realize that most of the novels I have read based in India are focused on the upper classes. This story was a refreshing deviation from the ordinary. I was engrossed throughout and I look forward to delving into "Between the Assassinations" very soon.

Contest: "Summer is Short: Read a Story!"

Harper Collins Canada has recently announced their newest reading challenge! The theme for the summer challenge is "Summer is Short: Read a Story!". Deanna at Harper Collins has compiled a list of short stories and the rules are simple: read one from each of the two categories and then talk about them anywhere online! You can tweet about them, review them on Facebook, or post about them on your blog (Be creative! The sky's the limit!) and then e-mail whatever you've come up with to Deanna. Everyone who participates in the summer challenge is entered to win a book of their choice from the upcoming fall challenge.

I know that the summer months are busy (our calendar is pretty much full up until September!) but this challenge is short on purpose, making it easy for everyone to pick up a book and participate! I've personally participated in every Harper Collins reading challenge so far, and have discovered new favourite authors along the way (I fell in love with Wally Lamb after reading "The Hour I First Believed" for the winter challenge!) So, this summer, pick up a book and discover someone new!

Full details of the contest are available here, so check it out and start reading!

Review: "Start Where You Are" Chris Gardner

From the Publisher's Website:

"Ever since the story of his transformation from homeless, single and struggling father to millionaire became known the world over, Chris Gardner --whose life story both inspired the movie The Pursuit of Happyness and became a #1 New York Times bestseller by the same name--has been inundated with two questions: “How Did You Do It” and “How Can I Do it Too?” Gardner’s power-packed, transformational reply is the basis of this long-anticipated book.

As a departure from standard self-help tomes that promise overnight riches and exclusive secrets for success, Gardner avoids any tilt toward magical thinking by staying with real issues and solutions impacting individuals in all walks of life. If you’ve had the rug pulled out from under you, or have been dealing with the loss of a home, a job, a health or financial crisis, or simply can’t find the motivation to pursue new challenges, Start Where You Are abounds with life lessons that offer hope and provide a road map for starting anew. This is also the book for anyone ready to launch a personal, professional undertaking, or break generational cycles that hem in their potential.

Taking stock of his own credos, including “The Cavalry Ain’t Coming,” “Find Your Button,” and “Seek the Furthest Star”-- Gardner’s 44 life lessons are earthy, soulful, and always accessible. With an array of stories from the author’s own life, as well as from those he has known or admired, both famous and not, Start Where You Are has arrived just in time to embolden and encourage all of us, even in our era of great global change, reminding us of the infinite resources we already have in our collective pursuit of happyness, and spurring us on in only one direction - forward!"

My Review:

I tried with "Start Where You Are" - I really tried. However despite the fact that it contained sound advice as well as inspiring stories, this book ultimately failed to resonate with me personally. The advice seemed to be aimed at businesspeople- someone who I am not. It contained great advice for people who have big goals, entrepreneurial and otherwise- people who dare to dream big. Perhaps I am just not much of a dreamer. I'm happy right now working part-time so that I can stay home with my kids, and I have no intention of entering back into the businessworld for at least four years, when my youngest starts grade 1. I have dreams, of course, of home ownership and ultimately being in a fulfilling career, but right now these goals seem far off, and are almost on hold as I stay at home with the kids. That's why I will hang onto this book and read it again when it will be more relevant to my situation. This is not to say that the book wasn't interesting and well-written, it is just to say that it didn't fit well with where I am at this time.

There was a really interesting quote, though, towards to end of the book when Gardner is talking about pursuing everyday happiness in small ways (a section I particularly enjoyed). "Or maybe...you've spent too much time pursuing what's next and not enough appreciating what's now"(p.280) . That line spoke to me. So often I worry about what's coming next- may it be next weekend, or next month, that I don't take the time to appreciate the here and now. That's something that I will try to take with me from this book. Take the time to browse inside of this book and sample the life lessons that Gardner has to offer.

Thank-you to Deanna at Harper Collins Canada for the review copy.

Up Next:

Yesterday I stopped by my local library and borrowed a copy of "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga. This book has been a worldwide bestseller and I'm curious to experience the hype for myself.

Review: "Helping Me Help Myself" Beth Lisick

I've wanted to read this book since I read a glowing (and intriguing) review on Ragdoll's Blog. That was a long time ago. Once I figured out that simply wishing to read a copy would not make it magically appear, I ordered myself one from Chapters and finally got a chance to do some extra reading during the "great computer breakdown".

Basically, "Helping Me Help Myself" begins as the author, Beth Lisick, wakes up one New Year's Day morning and decides that she has nothing in particular to aspire to for the entire year (unless you count the fact that she wants to learn to do the splits by the next New Year's Eve). A little daunted by this, and knowing that there must be something that she can improve herself on, she decides to spend the next year following various self-help programs. It doesn't help that Lisick doesn't particularly like self-help gurus: she finds them slick and cheesy (don't we all, Beth, don't we all?) What follows is a hilarious summary of what happens when you put yourself in a different expert's hands each month for a year.

I loved this book. It was so funny, yet there were serious parts, and it seems that even Beth learned a little about herself and about others along the way. I loved the hilarious scenes when she goes on Richard Simmons' cruise, and I loved that her final chapter includes a section on Sylvia Browne, who I happen to believe is the real deal. I think what made this book resonate with me personally was that I found some similarities between Beth's year of discovery and myself. For one thing, I constantly try to improve myself (it's always something different, though- my attention span is short!) I'm always trying this new diet, or this new exercise program, or this new method to quit smoking. Although I haven't really accomplished that much, I have learned a lot about myself along the way. Even though I don't read a ton of self-help books (I've read a handful on parenting and a few that I could file under "miscellaneous"), I do find something that I can take from every one that I've read. In the end, I think that is the conclusion that Beth comes to: they may be slick, they may be cheesy, but every one of them has at least one good point. Thoroughly enjoyable, this would make a great summer read for anyone who's ever thought of improving themself even a little.

Up Next: Following on the heels of a book about self-help books, I read a self- help book! I've just started Chris Gardner's "Start Where You Are".

Review: "Step Closer" Tessa McWatt

From the Publisher's Website:

In the wake of the 2004 tsunami, Emily, a young Canadian woman living in Spain, seeks to understand a tragedy in her recent past involving two friends, Gavin and Marcus, along the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage trail. Emily recreates her friends’ actions from that fateful summer, piecing together what she knows of their fractured relationship—a connection that stretches back into their adolescence and an event that sent one boy to jail, while the other was allowed to go free. As Emily peels back the layers of the friends she thought she knew, she must also come to terms with her own role in the tragedy that summer and with the secrets that remain.

Spanning the lakes of Ontario, the cliffs of Scotland and the dusty Compostela trail, Step Closer is an evocative and suspenseful novel that explores the meaning of identity and the lifelong struggle to find peace and belonging.

My Review:

"Step Closer" is, hands-down, one of my favourite books this year to date. First of all, the book is intriguing from the very first page, yet Tessa McWatt never gives away enough details to make the book predictable. The conclusion remains a surprise until the final pages, which made me eager to continue reading. Second, McWatt switches between several stories effortlessly. I wanted to know more about Emily (the narrator's) personal life as she lives with her partner Sam, but I also wanted to know about Gavin (the other main character in the book)'s journey. I never got to a chapter and thought "Oh, not Gavin again!" or "No, not another chapter about Emily!" I enjoyed both stories equally, and the layers present in the book truly demonstrated McWatt's raw talent. The story matter was compelling and not overdone in the least, the characters real, and the narrative believable. Haunting, compelling, and profound, I will read this book again and again.

Thank-you to Deanna at Harper Collins Canada for the review copy. If you're interested in a taste of this book, take a moment to browse inside of it.

Review: "Larry's Kidney" Daniel Asa Rose

Two Friday's ago, my computer started acting funny. It would load to my main screen, but then refuse to load any programs, so I brought it into my local Staples to find out what the problem was. Four days later they called and said that as far as they could tell it was a virus, and that my hard drive needed to be reformatted. I told them to go ahead with that, but later got a call saying that my hard drive had died during re-formatting. When it rains, it pours, huh? Long story short, I bought a new hard drive this past weekend, my husband was kind enough to install it (I think that he just wanted me to stop whining about how much I missed my computer), and things appear to be working great again! I definitely missed being online, however I did get lots of reading done, so bear with me while I try to blog about the books that I read while they are still fresh in my mind!

The first book that I'm going to review is "Larry's Kidney" by Daniel Asa Rose. I actually finished reading this shortly before the big computer crash, but hadn't had a chance to blog about it, so I hope that I do it justice. Larry's Kindey follows Daniel Asa Rose and his black-sheep cousin, Larry Feldman as they travel across the world to China in search of a good kidney for Larry. Larry is an American citizen, but the wait lists are so long for a kidney transplant that Larry decides to take his chances in China, where organs are easier to access. The only problem is that doing organ transplants for Westerners is slightly (and by slightly, I mean really) illegal in China, so they have to be careful. Daniel decides to accept Larry's invitation to join him in China, even though there were some incidents in the past that have prevented them from talking to eachother for quite a while. The two of them leave the States in search of a kidney for Larry, and once they get there, Daniel finds out that Larry is also about to meet his mail-order bride for the first time. Larry figures that it is kind of a two-for-one deal: leave China with a new kidney and a new bride. I won't tell you about what happens once they arrive- this book is simply too good to miss!

I've been reading a lot of memoirs and non-fiction lately, for some unknown reason. I used to be partial to fiction, but one thing that this book (and others that I have read lately) have shown me is that non-fiction can be just as entertaining as fiction! I really loved this story, and in fact I kept forgetting that this was a true story because it was alternately entertaining, funny, and touching. Daniel Rose knows how to write a memoir- I was at the edge of my seat waiting to find out whether or not they would be able to find an illegal kindey! Well-written AND entertaining, with attention drawn to the very real problem of long waiting lists for organ donations- this book is one that shouldn't be missed. I would also like to add that Daniel Asa Rose took the time to e-mail me personally when he read on my blog that I was reading his book, which endeared him to me even further. What a personable guy! He even agreed to do a short interview with me, and even though I haven't yet been able to take him up on that offer because of my computer issues, I may just still do that and post it at a future time!

Thank-you to Harper Collins Canada for this review copy and please take the time to browse inside this book and see for yourself why I loved this quirky memoir so much.