Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Lexi Smart is having the time of her life... Not. Come on, really. Hanging out in the rain, snockered beyond belief, denied a bonus at work, father's funeral in the morning and stood up by her boyfriend Loser Dave AGAIN.. why would she be having the time of her life? So it makes total sense that she would slip and hit her head only to wake up three years later. Well, not technically. You see.. she hasn't been in a coma for three years, but she was in a car accident three years later and when she comes to in the hospital she has lost three years of her memory. Great.

Then things start to look up, she sees her reflection in the mirror and instead of a snaggletooth, frizzy haired, chubby 25-year-old; She is a gleamy smile, sleek haired, skinny minny 27-year-old. Oh and she has a huge diamond ring on her left hand and her husband is as hott as an Armani model and carries a (real!) Louis Vuitton purse and she is the big boss of the department that she was only a junior sales rep for three years earlier. If only everything would last like it is, slowly Lexi discovers that she doesn't have any of her old friends anymore because she's a bitch-boss-from-hell. She also realizes that she doesn't love her fairytale husband and to top it off she is having an affair!

This book was great: well-written, entertaining characters, wonderful (if not cheesy) plot. I was pulled in from the very beginning and laughed quite a bit. I love the relationships that Lexi has and tries to form as she tries to piece her life back together. The further along we go, the more it's revealed that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. And it's frustrating to watch Lexi fight against her lover, Jon, when it's so obvious she should be with him! Wonderful book, quick read.. Definitely suggest it!!

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Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger

Leigh, Emmy, and Adriana are best friends about to turn thirty. Emmy has her life all figured out, Leigh's is on the right track, and Adriana has not a care in the world. That is until Emmy's boyfriend of five years runs off with the twenty-year-old personal trainer SHE paid for. Then begins a year long challenge for the girls: Emmy will start the Tour de Whore '08, Adriana will become a fiancee to some lucky man, and Leigh will make some kind of large change to her life. They all have one year to do this.

Emmy's Tour de Whore '08 means she must sleep with one man for each continent. She has North America down.. six more to go. But can the serial monogamist really have carefree, no-strings-attached sex with six different men? And Adriana.. can she truly settle down with just ONE man? Leigh's life is so organized and planned... how will she deal with a major life change?

This book was kind of slow in the beginning. It was good from the start.. but I was beginning to wonder when it would be different from any other chick lit. I've never read "The Devil Wears Prada" or "27 Dresses" but I loved both of the movies so I went for "Chasing Harry Winston" instead..

After I got through the first three chapters things started picking up a bit. I found Leigh somewhat irritating and pretty much skimmed through the sections with her in it. She was so dull and whiny that I couldn't take much of her story. She did get better towards the end, but I feel I was jaded by her and could't quite enjoy her at all. Adriana was fun, but annoying in that perfect, "I'm so beautiful," cocky attitude. Emmy was all over delightful and I had so much sympathy for her because I could relate to her wants and needs the most. Overall, this book was great: cute, funny, and makes you appreciate the special bond between girlfriends. I'd suggest it definately for a light and fun read!

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Nothing Less Than Ambitious...

So yesterday I went to the library to pick up a book hold, and while I was expecting three books.. I had NINE! Not to mention.. I have 8 currently checked out... Oh geez.

So here is my challenge. I am relocating back to my hometown area by the end of the month. I have 15 books that I am attempting to read before I move. This email is an update to let you know what's ahead. Wish me luck, and talk to you soon!!!

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Mariel Barbery

Any Minute by Joyce Meyer

A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein


Pink: Shades of Style Book One by Marilynn Griffith

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Out of the Dark by Joann Smith Ainsworth


Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah


Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout


Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman


A Free Life by Ha Jin

Rachel's Secret by BJ Hoff

The Riverhaven area is home to an Amish community set in Ohio of 1855. Rachel Brenneman is a young widow living in the home her late husband built and she refuses to leave it. One night in November two strangers almost beat down her door. Rachel is afraid to answer the door, being a young woman with only her sister there that night, but the men are persistant until she opens the door. "We are a friend of friends, ma'am. My captain is hurt. We need help" Rachel opens the door to find a large black man holding up a white man who looks to be dead. Behind them is a large dog. The rules of the Plain People don't allow Rachel to welcome these strangers into her home because she is a woman alone and because the Plain are supposed to stay away from worldy outsiders. Rachel cannot bring herself to allow the man to die on her doorstep in the cold so she tells Asa, the colored man, to bring the captain into her spare bedroom and sends her little sister, Fannie, for their mother and brother and then to fetch the doctor. Little does Rachel know that not only has she opened her door to two potentially dangerous strangers, but she has opened her door to the outside world and her heart to forgiveness.

This was a wonderful book. It was quite a challenge for me to read for a couple of reasons: 1. I don't believe in organized religion..it's not for me. And we all know that the Amish people are VERY much for organized religion. 2. I grew up in a small town and there were quite a few Amish people around, while I knew of their ways.. I'd never had their life explained to me in the way this book does. BJ Hoff does a wonderful job of putting you into their world without forcing ideas or being prejudiced. Amazingly I was able to relate to Rachel in many ways.. she has been through a lot, including the terrible, violent death of her beloved husband, and she struggles with the ways of her world and life.

The book has a lot of Amish culture and it even lets us inside a little bit on the Undergroud Railroad. I would have never guess that Amish were involved just because of thier way of life, but this book proved me wrong. I also loved the relationships between the people in this book, my favorite relationship being the one between Doctor Sebastion and Captain Gant. Their relationship is a lot like the one I often saw onscreen between Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, especially in the Grumpy Old Men movies. Rachel's struggle to forgive the death of her husband was very real, and in the end very rewarding. This is a new series by BJ Hoff, although I've never read her Mountain Song Legacy, but I'm looking forward to finding book two of The Riverhaven Years and reading it soon!!

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House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying by John Dean

Slyvia Likens was a normal teenage girl, living in Indianapolis, IN with her mother and little sister. Her father and mother were separated temporarily but they got back together so that they could travel with the fair as carnies. They Likens girls had just met a family full of children that was supervised by their mother, Gertrude Baniszewski. The Likens' spoke with Ms. Baniszweski and agree that she would board their two daughters for $20 a week.

That's when the trouble began...


In this book based on true events and written with proof used in a courtroom, the reader follows Slyvia Likens in her vicious torturing until her death a couple months later. A fellow co-worker suggested this book, because he went to school with Slyvia Likens back in 1965, when they were both 16. It is a devastating event that happened and it happened not far from where I work in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Baniszewski family along with many other children in the neighborhood torture Slyvia to the point of death and when asked in court why they did it.. they're responses are all the same "Because Gertie told me to". Keep in mind that the oldest of these children is 21, the next oldest is 18 and the youngest is 12. The author of the book compares Gertrude Baniszewski to Charles Manson except with children. She is an ill woman, both physically and mentally, but she manages to control these children just by asking hem to do something for her. It is a gruesome book, but one that everyone needs to read. The book itself is very well written despite the fact that it's all facts taken from court scripts and evidence, but Dean manages to keep it flowing. It's hard to understand why someone would do what they did to Slyvia, but she deserves for her story to be heard.

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Night by Elie Wiesel

In Elie Wiesel's personal nightmare, he lost his sisters, mother, freedom, and pride all in one day. Then he stood and watched as Nazi soldiers threw infants into the air like clay pigeons and shot them out of the sky. He was stripped of his life, belongings, religion and name; just to be given a number.

"Night" is a horrifying narrative of his life as a child victim of the Holocaust. At just twelve years old, Wiesel and his family were ripped from their homes and forced onto a train. He and his father were seperated from his mother and sister, a fellow victim told them to lie about their ages to prevent seperation or death, and they were deposited into Birkenau and later on, Auschwitz..

Throughout this book, the reader follow's Wiesel's terrible journey that is filled with grief, fear, confusion, and sometimes hate. Often Wiesel questions his faith and God, wondering how He could ever allow something like this to happen. Very graphic and descriptive, not recommended for younger readers.

Only one way to describe this book: Devastating. My friend suggested I read this book so I did. But while it was a very slim book with only about 150 pages, it took me a couple days to read it. This book is written from Wiesel's point of view as he suffers through what hardly any of us will ever be able to understand. His writing is not shy, and is VERY graphic. There were moments I had to put this book down because of the tears and could not pick it back up till the next day. Be prepared. This is definately in the Top Five.

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The Mortal Instruments Book One: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Clary is fifteen and has just discovered that she isn't exactly normal. She is at a club with her best friend Simon when she sees a group of teens brandishing knives and other weapons at another teen. She tells Simon to get the security guards and races off to save the teen in trouble. Only when Simon returns with the guards, neither he nor the guards can see these teens and Clary KNOWS they are standing right there!

Then begins a long-winded story about how Clary is special and belongs with the Shadowhunters in a world that we don't know exists. As more and more characters are introuduced, nothing is explained. All we know is that Clary's mother has been kidnapped, Clary MIGHT be the daughter of the Shadow World's sworn enemy, and she has a destiny of some sort.

Honestly? I only read this book because a friend said it was like the Twilight books. It tooke me THREE WEEKS to read this book. It is no where near as good as the Twlight series and is way too long. Also, the characters are extremely un-relateable and 2D. The only interesting person in the book was Jace, and the main charcter Clary was as annoying as she was boring. Not a book I would suggest to anyone, but if you're out of current books to read.. Give it a shot if you want. I know that I won't be reading Book Two or Book Three...

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Captivated & Entranced by Nora Roberts

"The purest magic is in the heart"

Captivated: Morgana Donovan is a witch. At least that's what she has her self BELIEVING according to screenwriter Nash Kirkland. A horror flick kind of man, Nash is constantly seeking out "eccentric" individuals to study for his latest on-screen characters. When he hears about Morgana he couldn't help but find her. Not only was he shocked at her beauty (because every one knows witches are ugly), but he quickly found himself falling under her spell. Can Morgana prove this stubborn skeptic wrong? Or will Nash believe it's all because she put him under a spell?

Entranced: Sebastian Donovan has had the gift of Sight since he can remember. At times, it can be a burden, but it has also given him the ability to help others by joining up with police forces and sometimes the FBI when they need him. Mel Sutherland is a private investigator, trying to take her place in the tight-knit police world. But when a close friend's tiny baby is snatched right out of their back yard, she has to team up with Sebastion. A true cynic, Mel doesn't believe a word he says and is convinced that he is conning her friend with his "gift of Sight". It's not until he starts to prove her wrong (and steal her heart) that she realizes he might not be lying. Will Mel give in to him?


Personally, I liked Captivated much better than Entranced. I love Nora Roberts, but she does write the kind of novels that can come off as cheesy and always predictable. Captivated was entertaining and at times funny, but I knew what was going to happen before it did and there weren't a lot of twists. Entranced had a good mystery line to it, it was less predictable.. but I felt that Mel's character was a little flat. If you enjoy Nora Roberts, this is another great one of hers.. but definately not the best.

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