BOOK REVIEW: North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen Headley

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Kristilyn

Released: February 1, 2009 (Little, Brown Books for Children)
Author Links: WEB | GOODREADS
Source: Library / Overdrive

Genre: YA Contemporary

Buy Now From: Amazon
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SYNOPSIS:
As he continued to stare, I wanted to point to my cheek and remind him, But you were the one who wanted this, remember? You’re the one who asked-and I repeat-Why not fix your face?

It’s hard not to notice Terra Cooper.

She’s tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably “flawed” face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob’s path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?

Written in lively, artful prose, award-winning author Justina Chen Headley has woven together a powerful novel about a fractured family, falling in love, travel, and the meaning of true beauty.

Why I Read this Book

The thing that led me to this book was two-fold: 1) browsing the available e-books on my library’s online website, and 2) noticing this one was available and falling in love with the beautiful cover. My main goal was trying to figure out how to read library books on my new Kobo.

My Thoughts

One of the best things about my new Kobo is that I can take out library books on it. That’s not to say that I’m only going to take out library books (since I adore the ladies at my local library), but it sure is a nice option.

Naturally, once I figured out how exactly to do this, I had to take out a few books just to make sure it worked. Justina Chen Headley’s book, North of Beautiful, was one of them. I didn’t even really know what it was about when I took it out, but was surprised that it really wasn’t like the typical YA books I had been reading as of late. Continue reading →

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Kristilyn

Released: March 2, 2010 (Hachette Audio)
Author Links: WEB | TWITTER | GOODREADS
Source: Purchased

Genre: Historical Supernatural Drama

Buy Now From: Audible
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Audiobook Notes:
Narrator: Scott Holst
Length: 10 hrs 18 min

SYNOPSIS:
Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.”

“My baby boy…” she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose…” Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

Why I Read Listened To This Book

Do you even need to ask? Abraham Lincoln + Vampire Hunter (should) = AWESOME, right? Actually, when I was in the bookstore when I bought this book, I was unaware of all the books like this one that were floating around. I just thought it wounded cool. I really liked the cover, too.

My Thoughts

There are very few books that I have high expectations for. This book is one of those books. I had bought it quite some time ago because I thought it looked like a great read — I mean, Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter?!?! Count me in!

Of course, once I saw that it was being made into a movie — with me not yet reading the book — I knew I had to read it right away! And then I saw the previews — and knew, again, I just had to read it! The trailer looked amazing, so I knew the book was going to rock!

Unfortunately, all of those exclamation points did not lead to me loving the book. Continue reading →

ARC REVIEW: Where We Belong, by Emily Giffin

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Kristilyn

Released: July 24, 2012 (St. Martin’s Press)
Author Links: WEB / TWITTER / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK
Source: Publisher, for review
Buy Now From: Amazon

Listen to a clip from the audiobook version of the book

The author of five blockbuster novels, Emily Giffin, delivers an unforgettable story of two women, the families that make them who they are, and the longing, loyalty and love that binds them together.

Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.

My Thoughts

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Chick Lit books. I have shelves full of my favourite authors, like Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner, Gemma Townley, and Emily Giffin — I adore them so much that when a new book comes out, I don’t even bother reading what it’s about, I just buy it.

With Emily Giffin’s latest, I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy from the publisher, but I still had no clue what the book was about. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it really wasn’t the normal Chick Lit fare about a man and a woman falling in love, with cute things happening along the way. In fact, all of the love happens right in the beginning — 18 years ago — between a boy and a girl in high school. The result is 18-year-old Kirby, who shows up on Marian’s doorstep, starting a story about love, loss, secrets, and family. Continue reading →