August 30, 2013

First Lines Friday



First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Grab your current read(s).
  • Share the first line(s).
  • Include the title and author.

"The bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. I don't know where I am, how I came to be here. I don't know how I'm going to get home."

~ Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson


 

August 28, 2013

The Butler: Movie vs. Book


On the cusp of Obama's election, Washington Post writer Wil Haygood sought to find an African American butler. His goal was to interview a butler who witnessed the civil rights movement from inside the White House. In 2008, Wil Haygood found and met Eugene Allen, a remarkable man who worked as a butler in eight presidential administrations for thirty-four years, never missing a day.

"He had to take it in, decipher it, process it emotionally. He was, yes, the man with the tray, the medicine, the tea, the bowl of soup; he was the butler who fetched the president's straw hat, the president's wingtips. But he was also a black man." ~ pg. 34

From a plantation in Virginia to the most powerful home in the United States, Eugene Allen lived a grand life that was well displayed in the movie despite the fictional characters. However, the book lacked focus on this main character. The book was mainly about the presidential administrations and the nation's events rather than the butler himself. More information and stories about the man who was a fly on the White House wall would have made the book longer and more interesting. As such, I would have preferred the original article "A Butler Well Served by This Election" to be republished.

"The father, the butler, watching history turn, could not say a word. All he could do was stand there, frozen..." ~ pg. 20

The foreword is by director Lee Daniels. There are pictures of Eugene Allen, his family, the presidents he served and of the movie cast at the end of the book. In this regard, the book is a good complement to the movie. As a standalone, it was disappointing and left me wanting more. I would not recommend this book if you are interested in reading about the real life butler.

DISCLAIMER: This book was received from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Title: The Butler
Author: Wil Haygood
Assoc. Producer: Wil Haygood
Movie Director: Lee Daniels
Published: July 2013
Pages: 79
Edition: Galley
Book Rating: ♥♥
Movie Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

August 25, 2013

Series Sunday: Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns

(Sequel to The Devil Wears Prada)


Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author and series name.
 
My Series Sunday pick is Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, the anticipated sequel to The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. It's almost a decade since Andy Sachs quit working for Miranda Priestly at Runway magazine. No one quite understands how Andy's dream job turned into a nightmare in less than a year. Now Andy and old co-worker/mentor/nemesis Emily are owners of their own high-end bridal magazine, The Plunge. The good fortune soon ends when Andy realizes her new marriage and business partnership are not what they seem, especially when it directly crosses the path of the devil herself, Miranda Priestly.

Let's analyze the cover first. Isn't it perfect? A striking red that will grab your attention on a bookstore or library shelf. As if the title alone would not refresh your memory, there is a small badge on the cover reminding us that Lauren Weisberger is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada.

Well the cover was what I liked best about this book. Maybe because the sequel was so highly anticipated, I expected more. The peak didn't come until toward the end of the book and was over in a few pages. As the author states in the video below, Andy and Miranda go at it again. Fans of the movie starring Meryl Streep may read this sequel at leisure. No need to rush and read how the devil returns. First-time readers may be more interested in the story and conflict.



Title: Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns
Author: Lauren Weisberger
Published: June 2013
Pages: 335
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥

 

August 21, 2013

August eMags

I am Living La Vida NOOK with these August eMags:


The Writer ~ 5 Ways to Build Narrative Tension

Real Simple ~ Scrumptious Summer Recipes - The Best 20-minute Meals

Essence ~ Your Sexiest Brothers: Idris, Boris, Shemar, Maxwell & More

Ebony ~ Celebrating Black Love: Denzel and Pauletta

MacLife ~ iOS7: Bold. Fresh. Fearless.

Vogue ~ Brooklyn Chic: The Girls, The Dresses, The Food

Marie Claire ~ Nicki Minaj: You Asked, She Answered!

Elle ~ 412+ Best Pieces: Shoes! Dresses! Bags!

Rolling Stone ~ Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta' Stumble


 

August 20, 2013

Reconstructing Amelia


"Somebody who went to that much trouble not to talk about something probably had too much to say." ~ pg. 78

On October 24, Kate's life changed for the worse. She received a call that her A-student daughter was suspended for three days and had to be picked up from school immediately. But when Kate arrived at the school, she received devastating news from a detective. Her daughter, Amelia, fell from the roof; she unfortunately didn't survive the fall. Amelia was dead.

It didn't make sense. Amelia was not the kind of kid to get suspended from school, nor kill herself. So when Kate receives an anonymous text saying Amelia did not jump, she begins to trace the last six weeks leading up to her daughter's fall from the school's roof. She is determined to find out the truth by reconstructing her teenage daughter's life.

It took a few chapters to get into the book but I was interested in how the mystery would be solved. The story slowly unfolds through alternating points of view between Kate (mother), Amelia (daughter), Facebook (status updates by Amelia) and gRaCeFULLY (an anonymous blog). I liked this style because clues were revealed through different voices. I just wished it moved at a faster pace.

Reconstructing Amelia reminded me of a Lifetime movie (Sexting in Suburbia). This book may be fictional but shows a realistic view of bullying in schools and the devastating effect it has on students. At some point, school faculty and officials have to take responsibility. Even so, parents need to be aware of their teenager's actions on social media, interactions at school and familiar with their group of friends. Your presence as a parent is also necessary. Let this book be a wake-up call or reminder. Reconstructing Amelia is especially a good read for parents who like mysteries. Watch the book trailer below.


Title: Reconstructing Amelia
Author: Kimberly McCreight
Published: April 2013
Pages: 329
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥

 

August 18, 2013

Series Sunday: Death of the Erotic Trilogy

(All New Erotic Series #1-3)


Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is not a particular book in a series, but instead a rant of an entire genre. Allow me to stand on top of my sequin soapbox and scream, "DEATH OF THE EROTIC TRILOGY!"


Seriously, I am so over it. This erotic trilogy phase has to end. First of all, Fifty Shades is not the first erotic BDSM trilogy. Yet soccer moms and such are praising it like it's the best thing since sliced bread with apple butter. Where have y'all been?! Smut series have been around. The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice under the pseudonym A.N. Roquelaure was published in 1983, 1984 and 1985. THIRTY years ago! And quite frankly, when Fifty Shades is compared to other less popular erotic series, it is underwhelming.


I don't fault E.L. James at all. She is an example of author success. She is a household name now. Kudos to her! But now authors are coming out of the woodwork with erotic trilogies throwing BDSM in the mix. Even the characters are the same: sexy, wealthy businessman with relationship issues pursues inexperienced, young girl who is often his subordinate. One or both characters have a troubled past that is not revealed until book three. Couple goes to therapy. Couple gets married and starts a family. Blah, blah, blah. Enough with the cookie cutter writing!


**Attention Authors**: I challenge you to break the mold. Write a romance series with different elements than the norm. Step outside of the erotic trilogy box. Give us more! Then contact me so I can read your story. But be warned—I am honest with my reviews. So please, put on your thinking cap and publish a page-turning trilogy that won't make me scream, "DEATH OF THE EROTIC TRILOGY!" Otherwise, not one more noun or verb from you.

 

August 16, 2013

First Lines Friday



First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Grab your current read(s).
  • Share the first line(s).
  • Include the title and author.

"He was out there somewhere. By now he'd be an old man. He had worked 'decades' in the White House."

~ The Butler: A Witness to History by Wil Haygood

Lee Daniels' The Butler is in the theaters today. Watch the movie trailer below and post your thoughts of the star-studded movie. The cast includes Forest Whitaker, Oprah, Robin Williams, John Cusak, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrance Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Leo and David Oyelowo. Stay tuned for my book and movie review soon.


 

August 13, 2013

The Silent Wife



"Her silence strikes him as dense and purposeful, a barricade." ~ pg. 108

Jodi and Todd have been married for twenty years. Everything isn't peaches and cream anymore. In fact, they are at a bad place. Todd is committed...to cheating; Jodi is forever in denial. He knows that she knows he's a cheater. So the stability and security of a significant other and the everyday freedoms are eroding. The story is about a marriage in dissolution, told in alternating points of view. Todd is debating whether to chuck the deuces and Jodi is willing to do whatever it takes to keep what is rightfully hers.

"It's the daily patterns that make a marriage, the habits you fall into as a couple." ~ pg. 140

I think Psychological Thrillers may be my new favorite subgenre. As most of you bookhearts know, I am a mystery, chick lit, and memoir kinda gal. But ever since reading Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, I've been chasing the next really good book. Well, I came really darn close.

The Silent Wife gave me the same type of suspense, mind boggling and compulsive page-turning sensation. It was by no means predictable. I really didn't know what was to come next. One of the characters manipulates personal circumstance to the highest drastic degree. It was the type of book I ponder about long after I've finished. You know the kind—you turn the last page, close the book, and just sit there thinking about the characters and ending. Yes, that was The Silent Wife for me. Author A.S.A. Harrison wrote a great novel about how having nothing left to lose changes everything.

If you are still undecided on whether to read psychological thriller The Silent Wife (as if my review isn't reason enough), watch the video below of blurbs. It is sure to persuade you.

 
Title: The Silent Wife
Author: A.S.A. Harrison
Published: June 2013
Pages: 239
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♡

 

August 11, 2013

Series Sunday: 12th of Never

(Women's Murder Club #12)


Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author and series name. 

My Series Sunday pick is 12th of Never, the 12th book in the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson. The novel begins with Detective Lindsay Boxer in labor. After only a week at home with newborn daughter, Lindsay returns back to work and takes on two big cases. A serial killer wakes from a two-year coma ready to reveal where bodies are buried but he'll only confess to Lindsay. A football player is the prime suspect in a murder. A child is missing. Yuki is working on yet another high profile trial prosecuting a disbarred attorney. Claire's position in the Medical Examiner's office is threatened. Cindy is obsessed with reporting a mystery. And an English professor with precognition sees murders in a dream before they happen. Detectives don't believe him until the murders happen, fitting to the last detail of the professor's description. But these cases all take a backseat when Lindsay and husband Joe are faced with a possible loss.

Sound like a lot going on? Well, it was. ADHD much? However, I welcomed the multiple cases and individual story lines. This element was missing from the last couple installments in this series and kept me entertained while reading. While some parts were predictable, I was actually caught off guard by one element toward the end of the book.

Is the old Patterson writing style back? No. It is apparent, now more than ever, that James Patterson no longer writes this series alone. He may write the outline, but I really wish he would stop slapping his name on the covers when we all know Paetro is the one who wrote the past WMC novels. Thriller it is not. But 12th of Never is one of the better recent releases.


Title: 12th of Never
Author: James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
Published: April 2013
Pages: 309
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥

 

August 9, 2013

First Lines Friday BONUS

 
First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Grab your current read(s).
  • Share the first line(s).
  • Include the title and author.

"Let's see what she has in her medicine cabinet. I mean, as long as I'm here."
 
~ Mistress: FREE Preview of First 15 Chapters by James Patterson 

 

August 7, 2013

Who Asked You?


"I felt just like a pie. Everybody wanted a piece of me and barely left me with a little crust." ~ pg. 10

Terry McMillan had me at the opening line: "It's my day off and I'm in the kitchen getting ready to fry some chicken." I immediately liked main character Betty Jean (BJ). She is the rock of a family with the world on her shoulders. Her youngest child, Trinetta's life is a continuous emergency. Trinetta disappears with boothang Dante leaving her two sons in BJ's care. Never mind that BJ is already taking care of her ill husband, working room service at a hotel, preparing for her son Dexter's parole, being ignored by her oldest child Quentin, plus dealing with two sisters and a best friend. Whew! I'm just tired typing about BJ's life, let alone living it.

Terry McMillan's signature writing and unforgettable characters are evident in her eighth novel, Who Asked You? The story is told from the perspectives of all characters. Usually I am not in favor of rotating point of views but there is no other way this story could have been told. Each character played a part and it was necessary to read it from their individual perspective. Well done, Terry.

Who Asked You? is dedicated to mothers, who do the best they can. Any mother will appreciate this book and understand Betty Jean's story. Although I am childless, the book made me appreciate mothers even more. You put up with so much, expecting nothing in return. You give your all so effortlessly without complaint. Mothers break their back for family and give their very last. I thank you. And I thank Terry McMillan for penning an excellent story that told the burdens and blessings of a family.

Who Asked You? is expected to publish on September 17. Pre-order your copy now. It is guaranteed to take you away from everyday troubles and get lost in the world of fiction.

"I read every chance I get. Mostly novels because they take me away from all the bullshit that might be going on around me and it's a good way to escape my world and move in with folks I don't know." ~ pg. 12

Another special thanks to bookheart J. Nic for snagging a physical galley for me.

DISCLAIMER: This book was received from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Title: Who Asked You?
Author: Terry McMillan
Published: September 2013
Pages: 400
Edition: Galley
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♡

 

August 6, 2013

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?


"Mr. Branch's description of his wife suggested social anxiety, medication-seeking behavior, agoraphobia, poor impulse control, untreated postpartum depression, and possible mania." ~ pg. 175

Bernadette Fox is a genius and legend. She's an opinionated, revolutionary architect, best friend and mom. But Bernadette kind of has an allergy to people. She makes a promise to 15-year-old daughter Bee to go on a family trip to Antarctica. Bernadette can't even make simple trips across town let alone travel to the other end of Earth. She just doesn't like to leave the house. She's even hired a virtual assistant (located in India) to run basic errands and take care of simple tasks.

"TIME-OUT! REALITY CHECK" ~ pg. 235

Then two days before Christmas, Bernadette disappeared into thin air. Nowhere to be found! Bee compiles rambling emails, correspondence and official documents to help find her mother, the misplaced genius.

This is my first book read by Maria Semple. Before writing fiction, she wrote for television shows Mad About You, Ellen, and Arrested Development. I got a very good first impression of Maria Semple's fiction work and look forward to reading more. It was an e-page clicker! Ever since reading Gone Girl I have been on the hunt for a similar good book. Where'd You Go, Bernadette is recommended if you're interested in a psychological suspense story. It would be an even greater movie! Check out the book trailer below.


Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
Author: Maria Semple
Published: August 2012
Pages: 306
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

 

August 4, 2013

Series Sunday: Entwined with You

(Crossfire #3)


Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is Entwined with You, the third book in the Crossfire series by Sylvia Day. Although the book begins exactly where Reflected in You ends, not much happens. We don't find out the demons in Gideon's past. Their relationship barely grows. The erotic scene overload doesn't cover the fact that there is no plot.

When a book is highly anticipated, I expect the author to bring it. When a book's expected publishing date is delayed (by months), I expect a polished plot. I don't expect a lackluster half-ass effort. I have looked forward to reading Entwined with You for about a year. Silly of me to assume the author would take advantage of the extra time between release dates and reread, rewrite, revise and improve the story. The Crossfire series was originally a trilogy. But Entwined with You was nothing but a filler. I cringe at the thought this is how the story of Gideon and Eva would've ended.

The worldwide phenomenon of Crossfire has fizzled. What used to be my favorite dysfunctional couple has now fell down the totem pole. I'm not even excited that the series has been extended to include two more books. Instead I feel like the author is exploiting fans by drawing this series out. It doesn't need five books, ESPECIALLY after this...this...disappointing installment. Yes, I am interested and will tune in to the TV series pilot but only because I am curious to see Eva and Gideon's story unfold on screen.

I'm just really, really disappointed with Sylvia Day (because she's a good writer despite this flop) and Entwined with You. I feel like a teacher who knows one of their star students' capabilities but they fail a research paper. Really, Sylvia?! You're a New York Times bestselling author. I KNOW you could have done better

Check out the video below of Sylvia Day discussing the latest Crossfire novel, Toying Entwined with You Fans.



Author: Sylvia Day
Published: June 2013
Pages: 301
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥

August 2, 2013

First Lines Friday CLASSIC


First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Grab your current read(s).
  • Share the first line(s).
  • Include the title and author.

"It struck Bea, and for the moment diverted her from grief, that quite the most physical thing she had ever connected with her mother was the fact of her having died."
 
~ Imitation of Life by Fannie Hurst