{Review} ROCK MY WORLD by Sharisse Coulter

ASIN #: B00B67IGV6

File Size: 490 KB

Page Count: 270

Copyright: January 25, 2013

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Jenna Jax-Anders hit rock bottom in high school. Or so she thought. From rock star heiress to knocked-up has been, she turned it all around, marrying the punk rock baby daddy love of her life. The perfect Hollywood fairytale. Until the day she walked in on him kissing her best friend.

As she struggles to find herself and redefine the world around her, she faces the challenges of raising her over-achieving teenage daughter, the heartbreak of losing her best friend (backstabbing aside), and emerging from the shadows of two famous last names to find her own identity. Oh, there’s also the tiny issue of her husband’s record label, backed by an anonymous mogul whose morally ambiguous creative direction may ruin them all.

But she doesn’t know about that yet.

Mandy's Review:

I have a problem with women being oblivious to their internal instincts. We (women) all have them. Jenna had little warning signals going off in her head since HIGH SCHOOL and she ignored them. Then, when her life falls apart, she is so confused how it happened. Ugh!!! I cannot stand weak-willed women. And, ladies, for those of you who may be a little bit oblivious, let me give you a clue: usually if your man and your best friend "hate" each other, it is usually caused by some sexual tension from one or both parties. You'd better get that mess straightened out from the get-go!

Anyhow, now that I've stepped down from my soapbox ... Jenna's husband was mostly innocent of the misunderstanding that happened. I say mostly because he did allow another woman to kiss him at one point and he did agree to hide something that happened during high school. Other than that, though, he's a good guy and deserves to be happy.

Their daughter is independent and is, surprisingly, well-rounded and level-headed. Although, she would rather spend more time at her grandparent's house than her parent's.

Airika, who is supposed to be Jenna's best friend, is the biggest self-centered person I know. She usually doesn't do anything for anyone unless there's something in it for her. When her problems with Jenna start, she realizes that she actually misses Jenna and their friendship. She even begins to feel an emotion she's never felt before: guilt.

Eventually all things work out for those involved, but not without some heartache, drama, and backstabbing. Overall, this is an interesting, although somewhat unrealistic, read. I just found Jenna too much of a drama queen for my liking.


*An ecopy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

{Review} TURNING THIS THING AROUND by Keith Maginn

ISBN #: 978-1481276184

Page Count: 134

Copyright: December 22, 2012

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Description:

(Taken from back cover)

Turning This Thing Around is a brutally honest, deeply personal account of redemption takes readers on a moving spiritual journey.

Confronted with a myriad of obstacles–a debilitating arthritic disease, narcolepsy, anxiety and depression–the author was outwardly happy, but inwardly miserable. Pushed to the lowest point of his life, Maginn shares how he gradually turned things around and used his experiences to grow as a person.

Supplemented by heartfelt poetry by the author and with quotes from Gandhi to Dr. Wayne Dyer to Eckhart Tolle, Turning This Thing Around has universal themes that speak to nearly everyone, as we all must face challenges as part of being human. It is a self-help memoir of sorts: the author discusses not only what he overcame, but also how he did so–and how others can, too.

Unlike many popular memoirs on the market, this is a story that more people can relate to. Maginn was not raised in an eccentric family (Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle, memoirs by Augusten Burroughs), nor did he travel to Italy, India and Indonesia, as Elizabeth Gilbert did in Eat, Pray, Love. Rather, Turning This Thing Around is a story of a normal young man’s resiliency when battling extraordinary circumstances.

Charlene's Review:

Mr. Maginn bares his very soul inside the pages of this book. This no-apologies memoir gives the reader insight into his life and mind during the course of several years, and a myriad of health issues, and personal loss. There is nothing fancy here, only a true desire to speak the truth as he knows it.

Sharing how he sunk into despair, and ultimately rose from it, Mr. Maginn explains in simple terms, and occasional quotes from other well-known authors, how he made the choice to overcome his pain, and the exact steps he made to achieve healing.

I read this in one sitting, not only because of its brevity, but also because of the sheer heart with which it was written. I could feel the empathy he has for others, as well as his desire to become a better person. Anyone suffering with illness or self-esteem issues will benefit from reading this book. I wish Mr. Maginn luck in his future endeavors. I do not believe he is done trying to make the world a more whole, healthy place.


*A physical copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

{2013 TBR Pile Challenge} Checking In

For this being the next-to-last check-in, we're not in as good a position as we'd like to be. Kathy has four books left on her list and Mandy has three. We're hoping to finish them, but with the holidays literally right around the corner ... who knows. Below is what we've finished so far. You can check out our complete lists by clicking on the 2013 Reading Challenges link to the right.

Kathy:

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

by Michael Chabon

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Mandy:

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

The Godforsaken by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

{Review} AUNTY LEE'S DELIGHTS by Ovidia Yu

ISBN #: 978-0062227157

Page Count: 288

Copyright: September 17, 2013

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Description:

(Taken from back cover)

After losing her husband, Rosie Lee could have become one of Singapore's "tai tai," an idle rich lady. Instead she is building a culinary empire from her restaurant, Aunty Lee's Delights, where spicy Singaporean meals are graciously served to locals and tourists alike. But when a body is found in one of Singapore's tourist havens and one of her guests fails to show at a dinner party, Aunty Lee knows that the two events are likely connected.

The murder and disappearance throws together Aunty Lee's henpecked stepson, Mark, his social-climbing wife, Selina, a gay couple whose love is still illegal in Singapore, and an elderly Australian tourist couple whose visit may mask a deeper purpose. Investigating the murder are Police Commissioner Raja and Senior Staff Sergeant Salim, who quickly discover that Aunty Lee's sharp nose for intrigue can sniff out clues that elude law enforcers.

Wise, witty, and charming, Aunty Lee's Delights is a spicy mystery about love, friendship, and food in Singapore, where money flows freely and people of many religions and ethnicities coexist peacefully, but where tensions lurk just below the surface, sometimes with deadly consequences.

Charlene's Review:

Aunty Lee, a widowed, wealthy busybody runs a restaurant that pairs wine and Singaporean dishes. When a body washes up on the beach, and two diners go missing, Aunty Lee knows there is a connection. While the authorities question the dinner party guests, Aunty Lee works on her own investigation.

I looked forward to reading this "foodie novel" for various reasons. Learning more of a new culture, and its cuisine is always enjoyable for me. Aunty Lee came across as a real sassy heroine, but I didn’t feel the connection with the characters as much as I’d like, or gain enough insight into Singapore and it’s dishes to satisfy. There were far too many undertones happening that didn’t help fill out the plot, although I assume that Ms. Yu was setting the reader up for future Aunty Lee mysteries.

All that being said, I wasn’t completely dissatisfied. There was a grace and humor to Aunty Lee that I enjoyed, and the food, while not thoroughly described, sounds amazing. I would have loved to learn more through this novel. The accompanying publicity pamphlet I received with the book held quite a bit more information than the novel, about "All Things Singapore."

I would be open to reading any follow-up mysteries, just to see if the characters are more fleshed out, and more culture revealed. Perhaps, with this novel, I was expecting too much. This is a mystery for those that like their mysteries light. Pleasant enough reading, but left me hungry for more.


*A physical copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

{2013 TBR Pile Challenge - Review} 11/22/63 by Stephen King

ISBN #: 978-1451627282

Page Count: 849

Copyright: November 8, 2011

Publisher: Scribner

Book Summary:

(Taken from dustjacket flap)

In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes readers on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.

It begins with Jake Epping, a thirty-five-year-old English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching GED classes. He asks his students to write about an event that changed their lives, and one essay blows him away - a gruesome, harrowing story about the night more than fifty years ago when Harry Dunning's father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a sledgehammer.

Reading the essay is a watershed moment for Jake, his life - like Harry's, like America's in 1963 - turning on a dime. Not much later his friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. And Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession - to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

So begins Jake's new life as George Amberson, in a different world of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere. From the dank little city of Derry, Maine (where there's Dunning business to conduct), to the warmhearted small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love, every turn is leading eventually, of course, to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and to Dallas, where the past becomes heart-stoppingly suspenseful, and where history might not be history anymore.

Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying.

Mandy's Review:

Oh my God - THIS is why I love Stephen King's work. When people say that he is a master storyteller, they are not wrong. This man's mind is overwhelmingly amaze-balls! I know many of you do not like Stephen King because when you hear his name you automatically think of horror. 11/22/63 is the perfect exemplification of King's genius in a non-horror setting.

Generally speaking, all the events that happen are every day, normal events. King has a knack for taking the every day situations and using them in an overall stunning way. He tweaks each situation, each event, just enough to make it still seem believable. I think that's what I love about King's writing; that he can do that yet make the overall story have an otherworldly or supernatural essence.

I also loved that he incorporated Derry, Maine into this story. It excited me to no end to see Bevvie and Richie again, although I did miss seeing the rest of the gang. For those who don't know what I'm referring to, Bevvie and Richie were two of the seven friends in King's book It. I felt like I was visiting friends again. It was bittersweet.

If you're curious about King's writing, but don't want to be scared half out of your gourd, then please read 11/22/63. I promise you I wouldn't steer you wrong.