way behind

Recently Read (no review yet... yeah, working, too busy)
Airhead - Meg Cabot
The Boy Next Door - Meg Cabot
Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights - Kyra Davis
Wednesday Night Witches - Lee Nichols
Girl's Guide To Witchcraft - Mindy Klasky
Sorcery and the Single Girl - Mindy Klasky
Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend - Lynda Curnyn
The Pact - Jennifer Sturman

Currently Reading
Magic and the Modern Girl - Mindy Klasky
Skinny Bitch - Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
The money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke - Suze Orman
Girls' Night In - compilation including Meg Cabot

Books I've started at some point and have not finished
Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Sloppy Firsts - Megan McCafferty

I have 3 full-size bookcases in my room and one small one with only two shelves. One of the full-size bookcases in mostly devoted to dvds but I think there are books on the bottom shelf. Well, I've been working with my books today and the mini-bookcase has a double row of books (well a row and a few piles) and one of the full-size bookcases has doubled rows on all but one shelf. The other full-size bookcase is filled with books too wide to double a row and I still have more books that don't fit anywhere. Umm... I like to read, and own books... I think I have to go through them and find ones to donate or bring to a used bookstore.

Elsewhere

Elsewhere - Gabrielle Zevin
What if dying didn't bring you to heaven or hell or purgatory? What if it brought you somewhere else - somewhere in which they lived a lot like you did in on earth with your family and friends. But that somewhere else, let's call it Elsewhere, wasn't just like your old town. Instead of growing up, you arrived at your age of death and aged backwards until you were a baby and could be sent back to earth.

That is what happens to Liz in this book. She awakens on the S.S.Nile and is soon greeted by her grandmother (whom she had never met) and they begin their trip backwards in time. But she isn't ready to live her death. Instead, she watched her funeral, her prom, her family and friends, all from the Observation Decks around Elsewhere.


I don't think that there are any real questions in this book. Instead of wondering what was going to happen, I felt myself rooting for Liz, wanting her to come out of her funk over dying and start living in her death. It was really strange to think of people aging backwards. For example, if a woman dies when she was 80 but her husband died 30 years earlier at the age of 50, the woman would arrive in Else at the age of 80 and be greeted by her 20 year old husband. Picturing that couple together was something I had difficulty doing. As a teenager, Liz could have met another teen and only to find out that he died when he was 76 and lived another 60 years in Elsewhere. I liked the premise of this book, but I don't know who I would recommend it to.


A-Z Challenge
I think I skipped a couple of book reviews and I've been reading books that I can't fit into the lists because I've already read the letters for the author and title, but my upcoming reviews (should I choose to remember to write them)
Meg Cabot - Airhead; The Boy Next Door
Kyra Davis - Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights
Mindy Klasky - Girl's Guide to Witchcraft; Sorcery and the Single Girl
Lee Nichols - Wednesday Night Witches
Currently Reading: TBD

Halloween

I dressed up like a little kid for Halloween at work... I actually had one of my coworkers come over and give me a hug because she thought I looked so cute. She is now officially my favorite ^_^

book reviews

So I have a bunch of books to review, but I have been getting caught up with working 40 hours per week and waking up way too early (I start at 8 and I called a company at 8:45 and was jealous that they didn't open until 9, but it also meant I had to call them back which was annoying... )

current read: Wednesday Night Witches - lots of smiling big moments and reading in the stairwell on my lunch break at work... oh, and some moments where I'm laughing like crazy, but I still haven't figured out the true purpose of the book (there's something going on but I won't read the back of the book to find out what). I've heard that the ending is bad or a let down, but I guess I'll find out soon. And before I review that, I will be reviewing a few Meg Cabot books and Elsewhere (I bawled like a baby)...

brooke taylor's contest week 3

Brooke Taylor's (Undone) third week of her monster month of giveaways began Thursday. To receive a zombie prize pack, enter at her site. She is giving away 2 prize packs that include 2 books apiece as well as a bunch of other cool gifts like candy and the Zombie Survival Guide by Amanda Ashby.

next week is faeries, so get ready!

brooke taylor week 2 contest

Brooke Taylor's (Undone) second week of her monster month of giveaways began Thursday. To receive a ghostly prize pack, enter at her site. She is giving away 2 prize packs that include 2 books apiece as well as a string of ghost lights, Ty ghost bear "sheetsies," fuze magic "haunted" quartz necklace, ghost key chain & more fun ghostly goodies, halloween tattoos and candy, ghost marshmallow peeps, lighted ghost bobble headband, and a haunted magic 8 ball. Check it out!

My Sister's Keeper

In my first memory, I am three years old and I am trying to kill my sister. Sometimes the recollection is so clear I can remember the itch of the pillowcase under my hand, the sharp point of her nose pressing into my palm. She didn't stand a chance against me, of course, but it still didn't work. My father walked by, tucking in the house for the night, and saved her. He led me back to my own bed. "That," he told me, "never happened."

(After typing that up and rereading the rest of the prologue of sorts [pg 3], I just had a realization about that which I am not willing to reveal as it would constitute a spoiler.)

Anna Fitzgerald is 13 going on 30. She is more of an adult than most adults are. Her older sister, Kate, was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia at the age of two. Since her four year old brother, Jesse, was not enough of a match for bone marrow, the doctor suggested the idea of a future sibling being a match. Anna's parents took the idea, ran with it, went to genetic specialists, and had IVF to create Anna as a match for Kate. Thirteen years later, Anna is sick of being poked and prodded and spending so much time admitted to the hospital to give parts of herself to Kate. The most recent idea is for Anna to give up a kidney for Kate, but she has read of the problems that it could cause her, and she wants no part of it. Realizing that her parents will make her "donate" her kidney (parents sign the consents while kids are ignored), Anna decides to take measures into her own hands and hires Campbell Alexander, a high priced attorney, to take her case so that she can get legal emancipation from her parents for medical purposes.

Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper is told over the course of a week and a half and from the points of view of all of the characters, with Sara (the mom) telling what happened in the past that has led to this moment. Jesse, the brother, narrates part of the story, though he is noticeably absent from the rest of the family's narrations for the majority of the book. Kate is mentioned excessively through out the book, but her narrations are also noticeably absent.

This book was heart wrenching. Somehow, a love of characters just snuck up on me. I was curious as to why Campbell needed a service dog, even though he gave joking answers to anyone who asked. I was surprised that Anna could not be swayed from her convictions to receive medical emancipation, even when she told her family differently. I wanted various characters to stop being pigheaded so that they could actually listen to what other characters were saying and I admit that I cried a few times toward the end of the book. I look forward to reading more of Picoult's books, no matter what the format. This book definitely is one that I would recommend to anyone who has a heart.


A-Z Challenge
Currently Reading - *Zevin, Gabrielle - Elsewhere*
Upcoming Reviews - *Airhead - Cabot*
*Cabot, Meg - The Boy Next Door*