Call Me Irresistible, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

March 10, 2011February 1, 201318 Comments

Finished 3-2-11, rating 4/5, romance, 385 pages, pub. 2011

Lucy, daughter of the former President of the United States, is preparing to walk down the aisle to marry Mr. Perfect, Ted Beaudine ,when her best friend, Meg voices doubts about the marriage. Lucy takes them to heart and walks out on Ted at the church. Meg is blamed by everyone and is asked to stay in the small Texas town for a few days to see if Lucy returns. But not only is Meg completely broke and cut off from her family, she is also stranded in the town when everyone blames her for the heartbreak of their mayor, Ted. Needless to say, life is not easy for Meg as the women of Wynette blacklist her and do everything possible to make her life miserable. But Meg was having problems before getting stuck in town and it forces her to confront her roaming and aimless ways.

I’ve read every Susan Elizabeth Phillips romance. They are fast, fun, sassy, and usually feature spunky heroines and alpha male heroes. This is as good as her best and it features wonderful secondary characters who jump off the page. Meg was born with a silver spoon and yet has done nothing with her life. This is her story of growing up. Ted was also born with a silver spoon and can do no wrong. When these two are forced together they come to recognize the best and worst in each other.

This book will feel like hanging out with old friends, especially if you’ve read any of Phillip’s past books. Ted showed up in two previous novels (Fancy Pants & Lady Be Good), Ted’s parents were the story of Fancy Pants. Meg was in What I Did For Love and her parents story was told in Glitter Baby. Lucy and her parents appeared in First Lady and Lady Be Good had four of the citizens of Wynette. With all of that the book could have seemed crowded with characters, but it wasn’t. They each had their own personalities and because they were fully developed characters it made this story so much richer. You do not need to have read any of the other books to fully enjoy this one.

I don’t read a lot of contemporary romances, but I make the exception for Phillips and am never disappointed.

This is from my personal library.

The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen

March 9, 201120 Comments

Finished 2-28-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2008

Unabridged audio is 8 hours, 2 minutes. Narrated by Karen White.

Josey Cirrini is a 27-year-old who hides sweets and romance novels in her closet so her perfect southern belle mother doesn’t see them. She lives in servitude of her mother with no life of her own until a local woman shows up in her closet to hide out for a while, seemingly to escape a boyfriend. She draws Josey out of her shell and she starts to develop relationships that her mother doesn’t approve of. Chloe and Adam both give Josey the confidence she needs to take a look at life in the small North Carolina town where everyone remembers her as a mean child.

I sympathized with Josey, but only so far. I understand about living in a small town, but her knee jerk reaction to her father’s death (this happened before the book began) and her choices because of it seemed extreme. I was much more interested in Chloe’s mysterious book ability. When Chloe had a need in her life the perfect book would appear in front of her. How awesome would this be? I totally loved Chloe’s story and her transformation. I think this is why I liked but didn’t love the book, I wanted Chloe to be the main character, not Josey. I wanted to give Josey a little tough love pep talk.

Lots of people told me I would like this one better that Allen’s first book, Garden Spells, but I didn’t. Maybe I was expecting too much. It was good, but I didn’t love it like I did Garden Spells. I wanted a little more magic.

I checked this audio out of the library.

Hush, by Kate White

March 2, 201110 Comments

Finished 2-25-11, rating 4/5, mystery, 341 pages, pub. 2010

She had to get out. She realized that the hum of the motor must be from the freezer she’d seen earlier, which meant the power was back on. She twisted her head back and forth and commanded the rest of her body to move. Her legs still felt leaden, like metal drums filled to the brim, but she was able to move one of her arms-the right one. She flexed her right hand slowly open and closed.

Then there was another noise-from far above this time. Footsteps. And next a door opening. Terror flooded her body, like a warm liquid oozing through her.

The killer was coming to get her

Prologue

Lake is waist deep in a nasty custody battle for her kids who are away at camp for the summer when she decides to have a little fun for the first time since her divorce and have a one night stand. The only problem is that while Lake dozed on his terrace someone came into the apartment and murdered him. Since he was a doctor at the fertility clinic she was working at the police asked a lot of questions. And this was before the late night phone calls and her suspicions about the fertility clinic came up.

This was fast paced and had so many angles that is was a fun thrill ride for me. There was more than one crime Lake was in the middle of with suspects to spare. I will say the one part that was hard for me to read was when Smokey the cat was targeted. It was very upsetting for me and for Lake! Lake was a good character and I liked her, but the other characters could have been more fully flushed out.

This was a great book if you want a fast and entertaining read, especially one that brings New York City to life. The allegations involving the fertility clinic are timely and scary. If you are currently involved with fertility clinics you may want to skip this one for now.

I love Kate White’s Bailey Weggins series and this was a great first stand alone thriller. She really captures living and working in NYC as well as anyone. The end did feel a bit rushed, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

This book was from my personal library and I read this for the TLC Book Tour. Other stops on the tour…

Tuesday, February 1st: Colloquium
Wednesday, February 2nd: It’s All About Books
Monday, February 7th: Reviews from the Heart
Tuesday, February 8th: Teresa’s Reading Corner
Monday, February 14th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Wednesday, February 16th: Mockingbird Hill Cottage
Monday, February 21st: Life In Review
Tuesday, February 22nd: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
Wednesday, February 23rd: After ‘I Do’
Thursday, February 24th: Rundpinne
Monday, February 28th: Life in the Thumb
Tuesday, March 1st: Alison’s Book Marks

Testimony, by Anita Shreve

February 23, 201115 Comments

Finished 2-19-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 305 pages, pub. 2008

It was a small cassette, not much bigger than the palm of his hand, and when Mike thought about the terrible license and risk exhibited on the tape, as well as its resultant destructive power, it was as though the two-by-three plastic package had been radioactive. Which it may as well have been, since it had produced something very like radiation sickness throughout the school, reducing the value of an Avery education, destroying at least two marriages that he knew of, ruining the futures of three students, and, most horrifying of all, resulting in a death.

first lines of book

There is a video that has hit YouTube and come to the attention of the headmaster of a private school in Vermont. In it there are three boys and a fourteen year old girl, all students of the school, performing sex acts while drunk. The headmaster tries to keep it quiet, but that is not going to happen and the media descends on the school to pass judgement. No one is left unscathed.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints, from the headmaster to the students to small players like the man who sold the kids the alcohol. Not only were there too many perspectives to keep track of but the timeline jumped around quite a but making it a bit confusing. I didn’t think it was too confusing, I actually thought it was fresh and interesting for the most part, but for me the story didn’t exactly hold up. There was a good mix of characters, some sympathetic, some not, which made the story seem real.

It is very timely in the fact that so many kids are using media, like YouTube or Facebook, to put bad behavior on display. It is an interesting topic, but I wish it had been dealt with a little more depth. Kids are behaving badly and broadcasting it, some hoping it will get them attention or make them famous (hello, Kim Kardashian) so the fallout from it didn’t seem to fit the crime in my opinion. I liked the twist at the end. Even though I saw it coming, it was still powerful and a solid end to this cautionary tale.

I have loved the other Shreve books I’ve read, but this was one was a bit of a disappointment to me. It actually took me quite awhile to finish it even though it read fairly fast.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Marce, Alessandra, and Mystica. Here’s what Alessandra had to say… “A sex scandal at a prestigious boarding school in New England has dire consequences on a whole community.”

This Book is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson

February 10, 201114 Comments

Finished 2-9-11, rating 4/5, non-fiction, 261 pages, pub. 2010

In tight economic times, with libraries sliding farther and farther down the list of priorities, we risk the loss if their ideals, intelligence, and knowledge, not to mention their commitment to access for all-librarians consider free access to information the foundation od democracy, and they’re right. Librarians are essential players in the information revolution because they level that field. They enable those without money or education to read and learn the same things as the billionaire and the Ph.D. In prosperous libraries, they loan out laptops; in strapped ones, they dole out half hours of computer time, They are the little “d” democrats of the computer age who keep the rest of us wired.

Chapter 1

This book pays homage to librarian hot shots, like Judith King who launched Banned Book Week, to everyday librarian bloggers. It’s all about how the role of the librarian is changing but just as important in this new digital world. Libraries themselves are changing. Johnson mentioned one library in particular that checked out laptops and GPS systems. How cool is that?

The most inspirational chapter to me was the one about the four librarians who stood up to the FBI and the Patriot Act (Relevent since today the House failed to extend it. Score one for the librarians). These librarians were bullied by the government and could have easily caved and gave them the information they wanted, but patron rights were important to them. The FBI wanted to know the name of the patron who was using a specific computer at a certain time but they did not have a warrant. I applaud these librarians who represent the best ideal of librarians. My local library now forces us to use our library card to log into internet time which makes me mad. Can there really be no privacy any more, anywhere? And the name the FBI wanted? Someone who had sent an anonymous tip that was no longer relevent. And yet they still wasted years of these librarian’s time and the court’s time.

Anyway, I also loved the behind the scenes look at the New York Public Library. It’s amazing what is there and how they face the same budget crunch as every other library. It almost seemed a little sad at how much it is changing to try to draw new patrons, but that is the future.

I worked for a year at the reference desk of a local library, so this book was preaching to the choir. I love libraries and do think they serve an important purpose in a free society. I think they are too often given cuts in poor economic times when people need their services the most. I briefly flirted with the idea of going back to school and getting a Library Science degree, but ultimately chose not to. This book has reminded me of how important a job it is and how fulfilling it can be and now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t go ahead and look into that degree. Time will tell.

A few of the chapters had me skimming a bit (I really did not care about the Second Life online game which got a lot of attention), but this is a must read for any library user.

This book was sent to me as part of the TLC book tour. Visit the other bloggers who read and reviewed this book.

Tuesday, January 25th: Reading Through Life
Thursday, January 27th: Library Queue
Monday, January 31st: 1330v
Tuesday, February 1st: One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books
Wednesday, February 2nd: Man of La Book
Monday, February 7th: Boarding in My Forties
Tuesday, February 15th: Books Like Breathing
Wednesday, February 16th: Proud Book Nerd
Friday, February 18th: A Fanatic’s Book Blog

Free Books for February

February 3, 2011February 3, 20116 Comments

In my ongoing quest to keep books moving out and not just in I give away a few books each month. Leave a comment, tell me which book you want and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon. The first one to request each book wins. Once you’ve ‘won’ the book I can get your shipping address if I need it. Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want. These have all been read a time or two.

1, The 9th Judgement by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro. 7 CDs, unabridged audio book. 7 hours. published 2010. B&N review here. for sheere

2. All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell. paperback. 382 pages. published 1992. B&N review here. for Misha

3. What So Proudly We Hailed by James Howard. trade paperback. 266 pages. published 2010. B&N review here. for Kay

4. Katherine Hepburn by Barbara Leaming. hardcover. 512 pages. published 1995. B&N review here. for Carol M

Happy reading 🙂

What So Proudly We Hailed, by James Howard

February 2, 2011February 2, 20117 Comments

Finished 1-30-11, rating 2/5, Christian fiction, 266 pages, pub. 2010

“If you think about it that way,” Brian said, “then the ones living in disobedience caused the babies to die.”

Jason felt a flush of pride in his heart for his son. “That’s right, son. Our national defense is not in our satellites or computers. It is not in our military or planes or submarines. It’s in God alone. The rest of those things are merely tools. I think that’s what that preacher was trying to say.”

“I don’t know if all Christians believe that way,” Valerie said, “but we rely on it.”

Julie sat back on the bench. “You rely on the belief that God will find some way to protect those who are obedient to Him?”

Jason nodded. “We were protected from the missile attack, and with this boat He will keep us protected for the rest of the mess that’s coming.”

Chapter 9

What would you do if instantly you did not have access to everything you needed for your day-to-day life? No electricity, no water, no accessible money, no fuel, no food. That’s what happens to Jason and 80% of the United States when a series of nuclear attacks takes out our electricity. Things fall to chaos, but Jason and his family are lucky enough to have a boat and live in South Carolina close enough to the ocean that they gather supplies and almost immediately board the boat and take it out to the outer islands to weather the terrorist storm.

So, this is why I agreed to read the book. I really liked the premise and the fact that the author had some relevant experience as a Navy man and one who had worked in the power distribution field. His knowledge gave this story some weight in my view. He’s in the know as far as what could happen, right? And what could happen is scary. I loved the first few chapters. The first chapter was the best one and asks the question husband and I are still talking about. What would we do with only the resources we have right now. It’s a great question.

But as much as I loved the premise and first chapter the rest of the novel became less about the terrorist attacks and mostly a religious and political book. If you like the tidbit I gave you above then you would enjoy this book. But it was way too heavy-handed for me. It was less a story than a way to express how some view the end times. It was about halfway through that I really felt it completely falling apart for me as a story. And by the end when liberals and atheists were linked together as to why this county had been attacked and why this was no longer a great country, well, I was more than ready for it to be over.

I think church groups would find a lot to discuss in this one.

This book was generously sent to me by the author.

Pictured Title Quiz – Guessing Closed

February 1, 2011February 4, 201138 Comments

See if you can guess the titles of the books from the pictures. Here’s a link to the one I did last year as an example. 9 points for the correct answer and 1 point if you know the author too. A Hint- these are all 2010 New York Times Bestsellers. You have until Friday noon to submit your answers as a comment. I hide your answers until then.

A few rules…No cheating. No googling or looking at other commenter answers. Yes, we’re going by the honor system…Your first answers will be the only ones accepted…Have fun!

This round for every participant I have (currently at $26) I will put in a $ for a B&N gift card or a Babies R Us gift card for the winner. Even if you play only once you are eligible to win the second prize (something special I pick out) and you will be adding money to the kitty for the winner.

Answers to last week’s John Grisham Quiz here. Current Leaderboard here. Please let me know if you have a problem seeing the image.

1. ‘s Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler

2. The The Red Queen by Phillipa Gregory

3. Cross Fire by James Patterson

4. House Rules by Jodi Picoult

5. Storm Prey by John Sandford

6. Seeks Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

7. of Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

8. of s Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

9. Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs

10. Star Island by Carl Hiaasen

The 9th Judgement, by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

January 27, 20115 Comments

Finished audio 1-27-11, rating 3/5, thriller, pub.2010

Unabridged audio approximately 7 hours. Read by Carolyn McCormick

Book 9 in the Women’s Murder Club series. (Book 1) (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4) (Book 5) (Book 6) (Book 7) (Book 8)

There is a killer walking the streets of San Francisco murdering mothers and their infants in cold blood. There is a jewel thief who robs houses while the owners are throwing dinner parties and has earned the nickname Hello Kitty. And between these two stories is police detective Lindsay Boxer and a woman named Heidi with very poor judgement of people.

Lindsay is front and center in this latest installment with the other three members of the Women’s Murder Club having little to no effect whatsoever. The storyline of the man killing mothers and babies in parking garages creeped me out more than it might have if I didn’t currently have a three-month old son. The killer himself was horrible, but one-dimensional. The storyline involving Hello Kitty was actually more interesting to me, but was more of a secondary plot than a full one.

This was pretty typical for this series. A murderer, close calls, and friendship all told with a light hand so that it’s fun to listen to, but nothing sticks. I think these are great for car listening because I have to pay so little attention to keep up. I don’t know if I would have taken the time to sit down and read it although it doesn’t usually take long to get through one. You know what you’re going to get with this series, and I followed along this time because I won the audio in a giveaway. As I linked to my past reviews I noticed that I’ve rated every book in this series with a 3 or 3 1/2 which makes me think that if I didn’t continue with the series it would be no great loss.

This audio is from my personal library.

The Lake Effect, by Les Roberts

January 26, 201111 Comments

Finished 1-19-11, rating 4.5/5, mystery, 310 pages, pub. 1994

Book 5 of the Milan Jacovich series ( Book 1) (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4)

“But mainly we want to utilize you for security. You’ll be with Barbara whenever she makes public appearances. You’ll go in, check the microphone and the lights, and make sure she presents herself in the best possible light. And with your police background-I told you we know all about you-you’ll be right there in case any troubles starts.”

“I can’t imagine there being that kind of trouble in a place like Lake Erie Shores.”

Her eyes narrowed just a millimeter. “Why? Because it’s all middle-class whites?”

“No,” I said quickly. “Because…” I blushed furiously. “I’m sorry. I guess that’s exactly what I meant.”

Chapter 3

Private investigator, Milan Jacovich owes the mob family in Cleveland a favor and they are ready to collect. They assign Milan to protect and help a candidate for mayor in an upscale Cleveland suburb. Barbara Corns is a terrible candidate and with a week before the election Milan knows there isn’t much he can do but stay close and put in his time. The other candidate and current mayor of the city is slick and he has plans for a casino on Lake Erie that would benefit the city. Things are pretty tame until the mayor’s wife is run down and killed. Then Milan uses his police contacts and detective talents to investigate the many people surrounding the campaigns.

I love this series. The mystery is always good and Milan is a great main character. He’s a divorced middle-aged man with two teen boys that he sees every other Sunday and a lonely lifestyle between girlfriends. He is a Clevelander who is proud of his Slovenia heritage and knows the streets and the people well. As for the mystery this time around I had a suspicion, but I was wrong so another successful book by Roberts! Any mystery lover will love this series and most Clevelanders have already discovered it. I got started a little late so I’m just catching up, but I haven’t read a dud yet.

If you are trying the States reading challenge or just want to read a book set in Ohio I would highly recommend this series. This book is set in the 1990’s, but the series continues today so you could probably pick up any of them to get a feel for Cleveland.

I checked this book out of the library.

Stacy's Books

books, movies, and boy

Tag: Books