Chasing Harry Winston

I recently finished reading Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger.

I very muched enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing so I was excited to read this next book and I took it out from the library a week or two ago, eager to dive in.

The story is of three best friends, all of very different personalities, who live in New York and make a pact to change their love lives in a year. The slutty/sexy friend vows to look for a husband, the serial-monogomist friend vows to start having a few more flings and one-night stands, and the third friend doesn't know what her resolution will be (as her life seems near-perfect to everyone but her), but it's the third friend who discovers that more will change for her in the year than she necessarily expected.

And the verdict? I liked it, I really did.

But I didn't love it. It was a good chick-lit read, and the characters were enjoyable, but it wasn't an amazing-omgz(!!!) story that I'd necessarily rush to recommend to people.

I say, if you're looking for a new chick-lit book to read, then go for it. Her writing style is definitely better than some authors out there, and it is a good enough story. But, I wouldn't necessarily rush to read this one, as it's nothing out of the ordinary, in my very humble opinion of course. I prefered her other two books to this one.

I'm filing this review under a new tag called "library it", because I say, give it a read... but maybe don't waste money buying it. The tag "recommendation" will be for something I'm sure of, and "avoid" is pretty self-explanatory.

Currently Reading:
One for the Money: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich

Full of It - Wendy French

This book was okay for a very light read... but not great.

We're constantly told that the main character has this flaw where she "blurts" what she's thinking... and she keeps getting in trouble for it... but I don't really see actual evidence of HUGE! AMOUNTS! OF! BLURTING! that cause the getting into trouble. It's very contrived.

Also, the main characters friends are so whiney. Her best friend is constantly ticked at the main character for being "selfish"... but really? The best friend just comes off as selfish and rude. I don't think that's what the author meant to do, but I just didn't get why the friend was being such a biatch... there wasn't enough evidence provided of the main character really having issues for the best friend to get like that.

So... meh. Not that impressed, but if you need a light read, it's alright I suppose.

Same review as posted at GoodReads.com

PS, I Love You

At GoodReads.com (awesome, awesome website), a group I've joined of Chick-Lit fans had chosen to read PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern as our February Valentine's Book.

When the movie version of PS, I Love You came out, I didn't see it in theatres, but later lovingly forced martin to rent it with me (isn't he a sweetheart for giving in?). Needless to say, he really hated the film. And frankly, I didn't enjoy it either. I felt disconnected from the story, the movie was really missing something.

So, when this book was chosen for one of our Book of the Month, I was willing to give it a go (because of a favourite mantra - don't judge a book by its movie!), but I was feeling unsure as to whether or not I'd enjoy it.

Well, it was true again in this case. Do not judge a book by its movie version. I really enjoyed this story. The reason the movie felt like it was lacking something? Was because it was lacking the actual story it was based off of. The movie was missing characters, had new characters not from the book, was not completely set in Ireland as the book is, and generally lacked the overall feeling of the book because of these changes. (I've complained about book to movie adaptations before, this is yet another shining example).

For Chick-Lit lovers, I definitely recommend you give this one a go. Whether you enjoyed the film version, or not.

Find PS, I Love You online here...

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

Chasing Fireflies: A Novel of Discovery

Last week I finished reading Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin. This was a book that my aunt gave my grandma for Christmas, and having read the back cover, I decided to borrow it.

It was fabulous!!! It was a 2008 Christy Award winner as well, if anyone who reads this cares to know that. :-) This was the first time I've ever read a Chris Martin novel, but I really enjoyed it and his style reminds me of Nicholas Sparks (and I've made it pretty well known on here that I love Nicholas Sparks).

It wasn't a chick-lit romance like my usual books are, it was a story of family and the search for identity and connection. It was really well-written, with a twist ending that I wasn't expecting at all.

Very good book, highly recommended!

Find it online here:

Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

January Reading Update

I need to post more here, so I'm just going to restructure my posts to less elaborate info about the books I've read... in order to entice me to keep posting.

Books Read In December/January:

By Nicholas Sparks
The Choice
The Lucky One

Both highly recommended (The Lucky One especially). More fantastic books by Mr. Sparks. LOVE HIM.

By Charlaine Harris
Dead Until Dark (book 1, Sookie Stackhouse series)
Living Dead In Dallas (book 2, Sookie Stackhouse series)
Club Dead (book 3, Sookie Stackhouse series)
Dead to the World (book 4, Sookie Stackhouse series)

I am absolutely in love with this book series, and am going through them like CANDY. Read them. READ THEM NOW. (Here's a link to the box set that I purchased on Amazon)

Currently Reading:
Dead as a Doornail (book 5, Sookie Stackhouse Series) by Charlaine Harris
Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin

I just joined GoodReads.com and I am addicted to this website now. You can find a link on my sidebar for my profile!

Great Novels For The Younger Crowd

With Christmas coming up, I thought I'd share some great series' of books that were quite popular with students in my recent Teacher's College placement (which was in a grade four classroom). I encountered some different younger reader novels that I want to highlight in case some of you out there haven't heard of these. I am a huge advocate for literacy and reading as a hobby for all children - even the "reluctant readers". Find them the right books, and they'll catch onto it I promise you!

The following work for grade two to grade four students; think about your child's reading skills and interests because that will make the difference in whether or not they enjoy these books, but this might give you an idea for some books to check out.

1) Geronimo Stilton

This series is about a mouse detective named Geronimo Stilton. Students love these stories, because there are illustrations and within the pages, the font changes size and colour at times, making it a visually pleasing novel for younger readers (the link above has some sample pages you can read for a few of the stories). The stories are little mini-mysteries. Very enjoyable, I would say the reading level is targeted towards grade 2 and 3 students, but the grade fours were still enjoying these stories immensely.

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (USA)

2) Magic Tree House

In this series, main characters Jack and Annie, travel through time and around the world via their magic tree house. They encounter many interesting characters in their adventures, including real people from various historical time periods. The stories are entertaining as well as educational. I have seen boxed sets of this series in various book stores, and recently at Costco.

Teachers - Random House also has a link for a Magic Treehouse Classroom Club, to explain how to use the books in the classroom setting.

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (USA)

3) And Then It Happened

This book series is especially well loved by Grade 4 and Grade 5 boys (but also good for grade 3 and 6)! If they like adventures and think the bathroom is the funniest room in the house, they will LIKE this book series. Each chapter is a miniature story, told in the first person by a boy whose name you don't learn until book 7. It's the story of the main character, and his two best friends, and the hijinks they get into. Very good for getting boys who "just aren't that into books" into them.

The only issue is, it's hard to find these online! But you can order directly from the link above (if you are in Canada or the U.S.), OR just look in your local bookstore (I did end up finding some copies in my local Chapters book store).

Sookie Stackhouse

During all of the Twilight hype, I started hearing about the HBO series "True Blood". We have digital cable at home, including The Movie Network on Demand, which includes the HBO Canada series on demand as well. I saw that "True Blood" was on there, so I decided to give it a go.

It's an odd sort of series, but something about it has sucked me in (see what I did there?). I've really started enjoying it, in fact.

What I can't believe I didn't know was that it's also based off of a book series! A book series that already has EIGHT books out!

So now I'm all giddy and totally drooling over this Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set.

I can't even describe how excited I get when I find a solid series of novels to read. And I did, conveniently, receive a $40 Chapters gift card from my students on the last day of my placement - just the exact right amount for the boxed set of these books.

Ah. Reader's fate.