Review: "My Own Personal Soap Opera" by Libby Malin

Frankie McNally is the head writer for the soap opera Lust for Life, whose ratings have seen better days. It doesn't help that Frankie's own life resembles a soap opera- she's forced to work with Victor Pendergrast, the nephew of the soap's sponsor, against her will, their lead actor has broken his leg and is holed up in Frankie's apartment, and her secretary is more often away from her desk than at it. Add to this the fact that someone is copying one of the show's storylines and acting it out in real life, and her cheating ex-husband has just written a bestselling book- and she's in it!- and Frankie doesn't know what's more complicated- the soap or her personal life. It's up to Frankie to sort everything (and everyone) out; that is if she can stop long enough to listen to what her heart's been trying to tell her all along.

My Own Personal Soap Opera is a light-hearted romp through the life of a talented soap-opera writer. It offers some fun insight into what goes on both behind the cameras and when the cameras aren't rolling. Frankie, the book's main character, was well-developed. As a reader I really had a sense of her own personal dilemmas, and cheered her on as she figured out what she wanted from life. Frankie's quirky personality also paved the way for a few really funny scenes which had me laughing out loud.

Frankie wasn't the only great character- Victor (the sponsor's nephew) was charming as an older man who truly has the best interests of his aging aunt in mind. I loved Kayla, Frankie's often absent secretary as she added a lot of spark to the plot as well.

You don't have to be a fan of soap operas to enjoy My Own Personal Soap Opera (I'm not!). Libby Malin has created a warm and funny story about a woman who just doesn't have it all figured out yet that will appeal to a large audience, especially to those who enjoy women's fiction.

Thank-you to Danielle at Sourcebooks for this review copy. Check back tomorrow, as Libby Malin will be guest posting and I will be giving away two copies of this book!

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Women's fiction lovers, those who enjoy soap operas and light fiction
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010, 2010 Chick Lit Challenge

Review and Giveaway: "The Life O'Reilly" by Brian Cohen

On the surface, Nick O'Reilly has it all. He's a partner at his elite law firm, has an apartment overlooking Central Park, and has the financial security that so many can only dream of. Sure, he works ridiculously long hours and is chastised for occasionally not coming in to work on the weekends, but he's living the dream, right? Wrong. Nick feels that something is missing, specifically a family and some reason to come home. His dissatisfaction remains vague and is easy to ignore until he takes on a pro-bono case at the urging of the senior partners at his firm. When he begins working on his case he meets Dawn Nelson and her son Jordan, victims of domestic abuse and violence. Dawn is desperate to escape from her former husband's clutches, and it is Nick that can offer her a way out of the situation. Little does Nick know that working on Dawn's case will highlight all that is missing in his own life, and will change him forever.

The Life O'Reilly captivated me from the beginning. I think that it was the character of Nick that sucked me in- he was so well-developed and relatable. Plus, it brought attention to something that I've always felt strongly about- that you can have all of the money and financial security in the world, and still not be happy. We have this man who's done so well for himself- he's a lawyer and has a beautiful apartment, job security, financial security, a few close friends and a loving mother. Yet, he's not truly happy. He realizes that something is missing from his life, and that "something" is having someone sepcial to share it all with. From the outside he has it all, but Nick has realized that "having it all" is not enough.

I'll admit that I did have a few minor problems with this book. There were a few chapters in the middle of the book that just didn't work for me as a whole. I felt that the events in these chapters were unrealistic, although they were necessary for the conclusion of the book. I would have liked for the middle to be more developed, character-wise. Thankfully, due to some clever foreshadowing early in the book and a multi-layered plot I was able to get through these parts and really immerse myself in the last portion of the book. I also found that the first person perspective didn't allow me to connect with a few characters who I felt were important, although this perspective did allow me to really get inside Nick's head.

Thankfully, these small problems didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book as a whole. The message was wonderful- it is never too late to change your life around for the better. Life needs to be lived to the fullest at all times, and if this means if you end up somewhere that you never thought that you would be, that's okay. We're not born with little instruction manuals that tell us what we're supposed to be (although that would be nice!) and as humans, we have the ability to grow and change in our everyday lives. That is what Nick's story taught me.

Thank-you to Brian Cohen for the sending me this review copy. You can read an excerpt here or the reading guide here. He has generously offered one signed hardcover copy of this book for giveaway! The best part? This giveaway is open internationally, to anyone in the world with reliable mail service. This giveaway runs until April 20, 2010, with the winner being notified after this date by e-mail. Here's how to enter:

1. Tell me what it is about The Life O'Reilly that makes you want to read it! Please leave me an e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win. No e-mail= no entry, so please include it!

2. *Bonus Entry* For one bonus entry, you can follow this blog through Google Friend Connect. Just let me know that you follow in a seperate comment. Current followers are eligible as well, just leave me a comment letting me know that you already follow.

3. *Bonus Entry* For one bonus entry, spread the word about this contest! Blog about it, add it to your sidebar, tweet it, Facebook it, whatever! You can spread the word in any way that you wish, and leave me a seperate comment letting me know how you did it.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fiction lovers, anyone who enjoys books that include legal perspective
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is where we get to share what books found their way into our mailboxes last week! It is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page and anyone can play. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to towering TBR piles and staggering book-related bills!

There was only one new arrival in my mailbox last week, but wow is it a good one (I'm about halfway through and loving it)! Carol Snow's latest release, Just Like Me, Only Better comes out April 6, 2010, and here is the description from her website:

"Ever since Veronica’s husband found the love of his life—and it turned out not to be her—she’s been a mess. It doesn’t help that she keeps getting mistaken for Haley Rush—the Hollywood starlet whose dazzling life is plastered on every magazine at the checkout line of her suburban California grocery store.


So when Haley’s manager offers Veronica a job as a celebrity double, it only takes a moment for the shock to pass before she says yes. Is it a fantasy come true or a disaster in disguise?"

That's it for me for last week- which wonderful books arrived in your mailbox?

Guest Post: Dianne Warren, author of "Cool Water"

I am so pleased to welcome Dianne Warren, author of the recently released Cool Water to The Book Chick! If you missed my review yesterday, here it is. I was so pleasantly surprised how Warren managed to make a book about a small town in Saskatchewan so darned interesting! I couldn't stop reading, and am busy recommending it to everyone. Today Dianne Warren guest posts about her inspirations for Cool Water:

"In the original manuscript of my story collection Bad Luck Dog was a story called Desert Dwellers. Before Bad Luck Dog was even accepted for publication, I pulled it out of the collection because the story didn’t do the subject matter justice. It was about a young man who mends a broken heart by moving into a tent in the sand hills. It was kind of funny, but slight. I’d felt as though I had put him on a huge stage without giving him anything important to say.


About the same time I was working on another story about a woman who couldn’t make herself do right by the many tubs of green beans waiting to be processed and put in the freezer for winter. She became a symbol for me of a modern woman still feeling the domestic responsibilities of wives of the past. These two characters became Lee and Vicki in Cool Water.

Another important starting point was the stereotype of “hardy, desert people” that I found in a series of old books much like the books Lee reads in the novel. The articles that caught my interest in particular were ones written about desert nomads such as the Bedouin. It struck me that the descriptions were similar to a stereotype applied to the homesteaders that came west in the early 20th century. The difference is that the homesteaders’ ideal lifestyle was the opposite of nomadic, and that land more suitable to a nomadic people (as were the Cree) was being ploughed up for permanent residency.

In the earlier drafts of the novel, I struggled with the element of time. I had the subplot about the Arab horse in mind, and I knew how I wanted to story to end, but where should it start? How much time should pass between the horse wandering into Lee’s yard and the end of the novel? It was such a relief to me when I realized that not much time had to pass at all and I could put the novel into hours rather than years. This is life a hundred years on from the open range era, a look at the promise of the Dominion Land Act.

When I was fairly close to completing a draft of the novel, I was still not satisfied with the exact starting point. I had the story beginning with Lee hearing the sound of spirit horses, but I felt as though there was no context for the “spirits”. There were the two old horses of Lee’s childhood but they didn’t go back far enough. I think the idea of the 100 mile horse race came to me because I have a friend who is an endurance rider and had been to the famous Tevis Cup race. Once the story of the old cowboy race came to me, the parallel story surfaced with Lee riding the same hundred miles a hundred years later. It offered me a way to include the time frame and the historic context for the present.

There’s also the song “Cool Water” that features in the title and provided some inspiration. I still have my dad’s green vinyl 45 record of the Sons of the Pioneers singing Cool Water. It’s such an evocative song about the desperation of a man searching for water and to me reflected the struggles of people transforming an arid environment into an agrarian one. Grass into wheat. That song was in my head from the time Lee first rode out into the hills.

And of course horses were an inspiration. Horses are so much a part of the settlement history of the west, both the draft horses that pulled ploughs and the ranch horses used to work cattle. The Arab horse in Cool Water is neither of these but Arab horses are distance horses built, as the endurance riders say, like radiators. I wanted this mystery horse to be suited to the desert-like landscape into which Lee takes him.

The land in southwestern Saskatchewan is arid and there are sandhills that look desert-like. They’re very beautiful and very fragile. Their fragility and the impermanence of a sandy landscape offered me a metaphor for the impermanence of any way of life, and the false notion that any piece of land can be “owned” and used by people the same way forever, and passed on within the same family forever. The novel came to be about change. It’s not intended to be a eulogy to my ancestors or a lament for a way of life. I hope it’s a realistic examination of a place that I know and love."

Blog Tour and Review: "Cool Water" by Dianne Warren

In the small town of Juliet, Saskatchewan you may imagine that not much goes on. But you would be wrong. Surrounded by the Little Snake sand hills, the residents of Juliet go about their daily lives, caught up in the hills and valleys that life often brings. Lila prepares for her pregnant teenaged daughter's upcoming wedding, even though she knows that the union is doomed to fail. Vicki and Blaine Dolson, the parents of six young children and in dire financial straits, struggle just to get by. Lee, who was abandonded as a baby and raised by his "aunt" and "uncle", tries to carry on the family legacy after his aunt and uncle pass away. The foundation of Hank and Lynn Trass' marriage is threatened by one tiny piece of paper. Willard and his sister-in-law Marian continue to live under the same roof and run the local drive-in theatre despite the fact that Marian's husband, Ed, has passed away, and the two are heavily denying their growing feelings for one another. All of these characters, as well as more secondary ones, come to life under Dianne Warren's hand in the engrossing Cool Water.

It surprised me how much I enjoyed this book. Once all of the characters and their stories were introduced, I became caught up in their various lives and problems and had a hard time putting the book down. The writing itself is understated which fit perfectly with the laid-back vibe of the small town of Juliet. For me these aspects combined (the low-key writing, the small town, the fact that the entire book takes place only over the course of about 24 hours) to convey the message that small towns are not filled with small people, but rather with people who may seem simple yet are incredibly complicated. This book worked so well with a small town as the setting, and would not have worked as well if it had taken place in a large city. In Juliet, all of the character's lives were intertwined, even if it was in a small way.

Speaking of the characters, Amanda and Deanna from HarperCollins had a really interesting discussion about their favourite characters in Cool Water on The Savvy Reader (click on the link to read the post). Their post got me thinking about my favourite characters in the book. Vicki and Blaine Dolson and their six children emerged as early favourites for me. I could relate to their story in so many ways. They are struggling financially, and they are also struggling with the difference between how their parents did things and how they are doing things. Vicki's focus is on her young children and you can tell that she would do anything to make them happy. You can also tell that she is a really good mom, and that housekeeping and chores can come backseat to that, because her kids are her priorities in life. She's almost unapologetic about the fact that she is nothing like her mother-in-law, nor will she strive to be like her. She is a whole new generation. I enjoyed the stories of all of the characters, but the story of the Dolson's remains my favourite.

Cool Water is Dianne Warren's first full- length novel, and one that I highly recommend picking up. It does the Canadian Literature genre proud.

Thank-you to HarperCollins for sending me this review copy! You can browse inside the book here. Check back tomorrow as Dianne Warren will be guest posting about her inspiration for Cool Water as part of this blog tour.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fiction enthusiasts, Can Lit lovers
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Review: "A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents" by Liza Palmer

After hearing buzz about this book in the blogosphere I decided to check it out from my local library (thanks, NCPL!). To tell you the truth, I haven't actually read any reviews of it yet, but the title, description, and cover piqued my interest.

Five years ago, when her mother died suddenly in a car accident, Grace Hawkes walked out of the funeral and out of the lives of her family. She's ignored phone calls and e-mails, and has settled herself into a new life, one devoid of emotion and completely empty of her past. She's dating one of the bosses at her work, and she's with him because he's safe and doesn't require much from her. All of this changes one day when she receives a phone call from her sister Abigail. Abigail tells her that their father has had a stroke and is in the ICU and asks Grace to come down and see him. Grace is still angry at her father, who cheated on her mother countless times and eventually abandonded the family altogether 22 years ago, and she sees no reason why she should reutine with him now. Grace's siblings insist that it is time for her to rejoin the family, and before she knows it she is with her brothers and sister at her father's bedside.

Everything changes when Connie, her father's second wife, and Dennis, Connie's grown son, arrive at Ray's bedside as well. Connie presents herself to be the perfect little wife, devastated about her husband's illness, but Grace, Huston, Abigail and Leo find out that there is more to her than what's on the surface. What follows is the often exciting, and also heartbreaking story of how the Hawkes family comes together at their father's hour of need.

For the first chapter or so I was doubtful that the character of Grace would grow on me. She seemed so cold and distant with her siblings, despite the fact that not one of them had done anything to make her shut down emotionally. As new layers of Grace are revealed to the reading audience you can't help but feel sympathy for this woman who had lost so much and has been living an empty life devoid of emotion. In fact, Grace turned out to be one of my favourite personalities in the book, and I'm glad that I gave her a chance to reveal herself.

Despite A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents' dark themes (death, loss, illness, abandonment), I loved this book and sailed right through it. The various serious issues were handled with a delicate touch that did them justice, yet were not overly depressing. The story was exciting, and just when you thought that it was over, a new twist revealed itself. The characters, specifically the four Hawkes siblings, were wonderful, and I couldn't help but love each and every one of them as they bonded together in their time of need. The smaller supporting characters were endearning as well, especially Abigail's 4-year-old twins. The ending? Wholly satisfying, and even though I could guess what was coming more or less, it didn't make me any less happy when everything came together. I will be adding Liza Palmer's other books to my wish list and hope to get to them sooner, rather than later.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fiction fans everywhere
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge

Winners!!!!

Congratulations to the winners of Dorothy Garlock's The Moon Looked Down! The winners are:

Bcteagirl
Debbie
Bookie
couponmom
Misusedinnocence

Winners, check your e-mails for an e-mail from me with details on how to claim your prize!

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Each week we share which books made their way into our mailboxes. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to toppling TBR  piles and staggering Amazon bills!

Two new arrivals found their way into my mailbox last week! First to arrive was The Life O'Reilly from author Brian Cohen. I'm excited to read this book about a lawyer who re-evaluates the direction his life is headed in.

Second to arrive was a book lovers journal that I'm also really excited about. Read, Remember, Recommend is a comprehensive reading journal put together by Rachelle Rogers Knight. Previously self-published, this one has been picked up by Sourcebooks for an April 2010 release. I'm already using it (and wondering how I lived without it!) and am excited to share all about it next month. Thank-you to Sourcebooks for the copy!

That's all for me for last week. Which books arrived in your mailbox?

Review: "Stolen" by Lesley Pearse

25-year-old Dale Moore is working at a beautician at a hotel spa when a mysterious young woman is found on a nearby beach. The woman is alive -barely -but has amnesia about her past and about the events that landed her on a shore nearly drowned. Dale sees an artist's rendition in the paper of the mysterious girl in the newspaper and she seems to resemble Lotte, a hairdresser who was her roomate when she did a stint as a beautician on a cruise ship, and whom Dale hasn't heard from since the cruise ended. Dale visits the police and Lotte's parents and it's determined that this girl is indeed Lotte, and that things are about to get a lot more mysterious.

As Lotte's memory slowly begins to come back, they learn that she is indeed in trouble. While in the hospital a man tries to strangle her, and Lotte has no idea who would want her dead. The doctors discover that Lotte has even given birth, probably sometime in the past three months, and suddenly the search for what happened to Lotte escalates as a helpless baby could be lying abandonded somewhere. It all comes down to if Lotte can recover her memories in time, and if she and Dale can hold on until the truth is discovered.

Despite the fact that Lesley Pearse has written a long list of bestselling books, I have never read one, nor have I even heard of her if I'm being honest. Stolen was my first Lesley Pearse and it did not disappoint! The plot was fresh and exciting, rather than being recycled as so many plots are. All too often I read a book and find that the plot is one that I've read before, and I was so glad that this was not the case this time. I'm not a huge fan of mysteries in general, but the mysterious aspects of this book were what made it so compelling! I couldn't put it down, and as Pearse revealed important details, one at a time, I couldn't make myself stop reading- I had to know what happened next! I wouldn't classify this book as being a mystery, but the twists in the book are what made this so much fun to read.

The characters were well-developed as well. Dale comes off as being tough and in control, but as the book continues her softer side is revealed. Lotte is wonderful as someone who has had everything taken from her, including her memory, but continues to persevere so that she can continue on with her life and put the things that happened to her behind her. Simon and Adam, a gay couple who have come to view Lotte as their little sister were also beautifully portrayed as intelligent, capable, and above all, loving men.

I would highly recommend that any fiction lover who is looking for something exciting, fresh, and different to pick up this book and give it a try. I was riveted throughout and will be on the lookout for more Lesley Pearse books to read. Thank-you to Penguin Canada for this review copy! You can read an excerpt of Stolen here.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fiction lovers, anyone looking for a light mystery that will have you glued to your seat until the end
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Each week we share what arrived in our mailboxes the previous week, and anyone can join in! Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to towering TBR piles and staggering Amazon bills!

I got two new arrivals in the mail last week. First to arrive was a copy of Cool Water by Canadian author Dianne Warren. This copy arrived for an upcoming blog tour with HarperCollins.

Second to arrive was Farm Fatale by Wendy Holden from Sourcebooks. I'm a Wendy Holden fan and can't wait to dive in to this one!

That's it for me for this week- what was in your mailbox last week?

Review: "Balancing Acts" by Zoe Fishman

Charlie used to dominate Wall Street, but has changed paths and now runs a yoga studio with two fellow yoga-lovers; the reason behind her sudden switch from her old, fast-paced life to yoga remains mysterious. Naomi used to love to be behind the camera, but her life changed when she got pregnant with her son, Noah, now 8. Now she's trying to deal with the fact that Noah's once-absent father (and her ex) wants back into her son's life after years of being uninterested. Sabine is the editor of romance novels, but would rather be writing them than editing them. She's single and living in New York City, but can't help wanting a little more. Bess is currently writing snarky captions for a celebrity gossip magazine, but longs to break out and write something worthwhile that will get her noticed in the literary world. She's also missing her boyfriend, Dan, since he's moved to LA to pursure screenwriting.

These four women happen meet up at their 10-year College reuinion and despite the fact that they are so different they all agree to sign up for a beginners yoga class at Charlie's new yoga studio, Prana. In the six weeks that they take classes together all of the women will find out something new about themselves and will learn to face the things in life that they fear most. They may even form new friendships that will last beyond Saturday morning yoga class.

The stories of these four different women are what made Balancing Acts so hard to put down. Each woman has a different story, yet all seemed realistic and none seemed far-fetched or overly dramatic. Sometimes I'll read a book and find myself thinking that the things that happened to the main characters were hard to envision happening in real life, but the stories in this novel carried with them enough reality to make them plausible. I did find the writing itself to be stiff and awkward at times, but the plot helped to carry me through those parts. Beware: this book will make you want to try yoga if you haven't already. By the time I was done the book I was itching to haul my yoga mat out of storage (okay, okay, out of the package) and practice my downward dog.

Despite the rough patches here and there this is still a debut novel worth picking up. You can browse inside this novel here or find out more about the author here. Thank-you to HarperCollins for this review copy!

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fans of both fiction and women's fiction, as this book falls somewhere in the middle and will be enjoyed by fans of both genres
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Each week we share what books we received in our mailboxes the past week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to toppling TBR piles and staggering Amazon bills!

Last week I tried to do my part to keep the various delivery companies busy, and added seven new books to my TBR pile! Here's what has been added to the 'ol TBR shelf:

Stolen by Lesley Pearse from Penguin Canada
Love Nest by Julia Llewellyn from Penguin Canada (a new Bristish chick-lit author for me to adore!)
A Thread of Sky by Deanna Fei from Penguin Canada
The Summer Before the Storm by Gabriele Wills from the author
Elusive Dawn by Gabriele Wills from the author (both of these were signed copies!)
Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman from HarperCollins Canada (almost done this one already!)
So Much for That by Lionel Shriver from HarperCollins Canada

That was everything that I found in my mailbox last week! What did you find in yours?

Review: "The Heights" by Peter Hedges

Tim and Kate Welch are an average middle-class couple who live in The Heights, a decidedly upscale neighborhood. Tim is a history teacher at a local private school and Kate is a stay-at-home mom to their two little boys, trying to be the kind of mother that she didn't have growing up. When Kate is offered the oportunity to return to work and make more money than they are used to seeing on an average paycheck, Tim decides to take a year off and get better aquainted with his sons.

Enter Anna Brody, the woman who has just purchased the most expensive brownstone in The Heights along with her elusive husband. For some unknown reason Anna sets her sights on Tim and Kate and decides to bring them into her priviledged circle while the rest of the neighborhood looks on in awe. Anna is not always what she appears to be and as she becomes closer to the Welch's, she begins to turn their safe little world upside-down.

I loved The Heights! Peter Hedges has a talent for pinpointing the truths of the rhythm of a middle-class family. I had to laugh in the first couple of chapters when Kate calls Tim to rejoice about their son pooping on the potty. How true! It is the little things in life that parents often treasure and celebrate, and Hedges has captured some of these moments beautifully and with accuracy.

This novel was written with both humour and real emotion as Tim and Kate evaluate their marriage and how hard they are willing to fight for the life that they have created together. I couldn't put it down, curious as to how this couple's story would end and hoping that it would not end like so many others. At once honest, accurate and compelling, I recommend this to anyone who has ever been part of the middle-class.

Thank-you to Penguin Canada's Exclusive Reads Program for this review copy! You can read an excerpt of this novel here or find out more about Peter Hedges (author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape and the screenplay for About a Boy, as well as the writer-director of Dan in Real Life) here.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fiction lovers and anyone who has ever been a part of the middle-class
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Book Blogger Hop

Jennifer at Crazy- For- Books says:

"Hey book bloggers! Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on!


Now, I follow a lot of blogs and I haven't seen this feature yet, so if someone else is doing a Book Blog Hop, please let me know!! I don't want to step on any toes or anything!

So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this, sign MckLinky below, and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!!"

Thanks to Kristen at BookNAround for finding this!

Review: "The Forty Rules of Love" by Elif Shafak

The Forty Rules of Love is the follow-up novel to Turkish author Elif Shafak's 2007 novel, The Bastard of Istanbul. Ella Rubinstein is forty years old, the mother of three, and she is stuck in a rut. She remains married to her husband, David, and stays in the marriage although she suspects her husband of cheating on her numerous times. Her life is one of ease and financial security, but it lacks passion. Determined to re-enter the work force after taking a break to raise her children, Ella takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. The first book that she is given to read and summarize is Sweet Blasphemy, a novel that tells the story of how the great poet Rumi met Shams of Tabriz, the man who changed Rumi's path in life forever. As Ella reads this novel she begins an intimate correspondence with Aziz Zahara, the author of the novel, because she has found something in Aziz's words that is desperately missing from her own life.

Shafak has chosen to write the book using parallel narratives, a daring choice that pays off in her case. One narrative is that of Ella, and we join her as she experiences discontent in her own life, highlighted as she reads the story that the literary agency has assigned to her. The other narrative tells the story of Shams of Tabriz, the whirling dervish who enters the great Rumi's life and impacts it greatly. Although this potentially could have been confusing, it is not, as Shafak writes with such grace that we are clear on whose story she is telling, and how that story relates to the other one.

Despite the fact that I did not always agree with the choices that Ella made in her personal life, I could clearly understand the author's intended message: sometime's following one's passions does not make the most logical sense, yet doing so brings the greatest benefits. This was a thought-provoking book, one that brought many interesting questions to light.

Thank-you to Penguin Canada's Exclusive Reads Program for sending me advanced reading copy!

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Those who enjoy reading about Middle Eastern culture as well as those who have enjoyed Elif Shafak's previous novels
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Review: "The Way Home" by George Pelecanos

Every so often I take a chance and read something outside of my preferred genres. In this case it was George Pelecanos' The Way Home, which is essentially a thriller. In this case I'm glad that I took a chance on something different, because this book had more of an impact on me than I could have anticipated.

Christopher Flynn has landed himself in juvenile detention for many reasons, but primarily because he's selfish and he doesn't seem to care about anyone but himself. His mother hasn't given up on him, but his father, who is unable to admit that Chris' actions are likely a result of his own parenting style, has. Chris seems to have given up on himself.

Fast forward a couple of years and Chris is back in the free world, determined not to lapse back in to his old ways. He's working as a carpet installer for his dad and he's working with Ben, one of his former jail buddies, who now walks the straight and narrow path himself. Chris and Ben find something in a house that they are installing carpet in, and Chris recognizes that by touching it he could get himself and Ben in a lot of trouble that they wouldn't welcome. I can't say much more without giving essential plot pieces away, but someone decides to touch this particular item and trouble is attracted to it like a magnet.

Pelecanos has written an exciting thriller with heart. What captured me about this book in the beginning was the story of Chris, a boy who has everything that he could possibly need yet continues to fight with deep-down unhappiness, leading to his actions and eventually his arrest. At this point the book is not a thriller, but more of a social commentary. The thriller aspect is introduced to the book gradually and before I knew it the plot was action-packed.

The Way Home reminded me a little of The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb in the sense that both authors were telling stories, but they were also commenting on the failures of our justice system. As exciting as the thriller portion of the book was, it was the descriptions of life inside of a jail cell and how the system discourages rehabilitation in its own way that stuck with me after the last page had been turned.

This was ultimately a satisfying book, one that will encourage me to seek out more of Pelecanos' novels, and one that made me glad that I took a chance and read something different.

Thank-you to Miriam at The Hachette Book Group for this review copy!

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Thriller lovers, fans of TV's "The Wire" (Pelecanos both writes for and produces the show)
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Review: "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" by Beth Hoffman

12-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt has been all but abandonded by her traveling salesman father, and left home alone with her mentally ill mother, who still thinks it is 1951 when she was crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen. CeeCee has no friends other than her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Odell, because her mother is known to go around town wearing old prom dresses from Goodwill, and no person her age wants to be associated her. When CeeCee's mother dies suddenly everything changes and CeeCee is whisked away from her home in Willoughby to live with her Great-Aunt Tootie, a woman she doesn't remember and has had no recent contact with.

Aunt Tootie's home in Savannah, Georgia is like nothing CeeCee has ever seen before. Aunt Tootie is clearly a woman of financial means, and once CeeCee settles herself in she discovers that she just may like it in the South. With the help of Aunt Tootie, Aunt Tootie's cook and friend, Oletta, and Aunt Tootie's controversial neighbors Miz Goodpepper and Violene Hobbs, CeeCee begins to not only feel at home, but she begins to deal with the shock of the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father in one transformative summer.

What I loved about this book was how strong the female characters were. Aunt Tootie is passionate about restoring old homes to their former glory, and she has a strong love for her grand-niece, whom she had only met once before. Oletta, Aunt Tootie's cook, is a strong black woman who can cook up a storm but who also offers CeeCee the gift of friendship when she needs it the most. The exotic Miz Goodpepper is the most entertaining of the bunch, as she always has something unconventional up her sleeve and is willing to share her adventures with CeeCee. Violene Hobbs, although she is not the favourite of the ladies of the neighborhood, demonstrates strength in her beliefs as well, even if her beliefs are not popular.

I ultimately did not love Saving CeeCee Honeycutt as much as I thought that I would. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, and would recommend it. The characters were wonderful and showcased how strong and loving a group of females can be. However I found that once CeeCee moved to Savannah, everything turned out just a little too perfectly for her and the lack of real conflict in the remainder of the book disappointed me a little. Despite this, I found this coming-of-age novel to be absolutely charming in the way that novels set in the South should be.

Thank-you to Barbara at Penguin for this review copy! You can read an excerpt of this book or find out more about the author, Beth Hoffman, here.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fans of Southern fiction, those who enjoy coming-of-age stories
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Giveaway: "The Moon Looked Down" by Dorothy Garlock

Thanks to the Hachette Book Group I have five copies of The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock to give away!

From the Publisher's Website:

The new Americana romance from bestselling author Dorothy Garlock, this time set against the backdrop of WWII. Sophie Heller's family immigrated from Germany to Victory, a small town in Illinois, before WWII began. Now that the war has affected the town, the townspeople discriminate against Sophie and her family. When a train derails, it is an accident but the Heller family is blamed. Coming to Sophie's rescue is a teacher from the high school, and despite their cultural differences, a romance starts to bloom.

Read an Excerpt
More about the author

How to Enter:


1. You get one entry simply by leaving me a comment! Please include your e-mail address so that I am able to contact you if you win. No e-mail= no entry!

2. *Bonus Entry* Earn a bonus entry by becoming a follower. Current followers are eligible as well, simply leave me a seperate comment letting me know that you follow!

3. *Bonus Entry* Tweet, blog about this contest, add it to your sidebar, whatever! Spread the word and you'll gain an additional entry- just be sure to leave me a seperate comment letting me know how you did it!

This contest runs until midnight on March 22, 2010. I will draw the winners and notify them by e-mail after this date. This contest is open to US and Canadian address only, no PO Boxes please! Good luck!

Mailbox Monday

After a book-less week last week (which gave me a bit of a chance to catch up on review books!) three new ones arrived in my mailbox last week. The shelf that holds my review books is happier now- he has more to do!

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Each week we share which books have found their way into our mailboxes in the past week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to toppling TBR piles and staggering Amazon bills!

First to arrive last week was Corked, a memoir about wine by Kathryn Borel. I love wine, and I love memoirs, so this one will be a good fit for me. Thank-you, Hachette Book Group!

Second to arrive was an ARC of The One-Week Job Project by Sean Aiken from Penguin. This one is a memoir as well. It is about a man who tries out one job a week for a year in order to find one that "fits" him.

Finally, HarperCollins sent me a copy of If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous. I'm really excited about this one. It is the fictional story of one woman who tries to escape from her grief by moving to Japan to teach English.

That's it for my mailbox this week. I had better get reading! What found its way into your mailbox last week?