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 When
You Are Engulfed in Flames (5 out of 5 stars)Little, Brown/ by David Sedaris Would you believe I’d never read any David
Sedaris before? I have been missing out ‘cause this dude is
funneeeeeeeee! A collection of his essays on everything from working
as a coroner to hitchhiking to the last essay on his quitting smoking
in Japan, When You Are Engulfed in Flames is excellent entertainment.
You have no idea what’s coming next and Sedaris has the ability
to shock me. Which is tough to do. He has a very dark sense of humour
and can make the most boring aspects of life hilarious. I am setting
out to read all of his previous works and I think you should do
the same. |
Science intimidates the crap out of me. I didn’t take much in high school and I found it very confusing. As I get older, I find it fascinating even though it hurts my brain. Natalie Angier takes the fundamental basics of science and breaks it down for laypeeps like me to understand. Mind you, someone with no education whatsoever or who doesn’t read will have difficulty with this book. The vocabulary is still quite advanced. But for the most part it’s freaking great! Angier is a very gifted writer with a hell of a sense of humour. As she explains physics, biology, geology and astronomy she never forgets who she’s writing the book for—science-phobes. If you’re normally scared but somewhat interested you’ll enjoy this book. I couldn’t read it straight through; it was put on hold several times in order to read other things as I did get a little dizzy. But in little doses, it’s perfect. |
Another
chick lit book about single women living in the bog city? Snore,
right? Well, not exactly. This one has Julie Jenson, single at 38
years old, deciding to quit her job and head out into the world
to discover how other women are staying single. She goes to Australia,
Italy, Paris, India and even Iceland. The novel is at times extremely
interesting and at other times predictable. Liz Tucillo’s
writing needs some work as she seems to pander and lacks the sophistication
of someone like Emily Giffin or Jennifer Weiner. Still, a worthy
attempt and probably will be followed by something better. A good
read, if a little over-hyped. |
Women
who are into Sephora enough to be interested in a book like makeup
right? And women who like makeup probably read magazines too, yes?
Or subscribe to the Sephora catalogue? So that makes this book extremely
redundant. I’m not sure what I was expecting but this was
basically a bunch of the catalogues put together into one. Sure,
there are some cool facts in here and the product shopping guide
at the back is worth taking a boo at but the majority here wasn’t
telling me things I didn’t already know. I great gift for
someone just getting into makeup and skincare or who has a passing
interest but doesn’t worship magazines. If you’re a
die-hard junkie, you’ll be disappointed. |
I wasn’t
expecting much from this novel when it arrived but thought I’d
give it a go as the plot intrigued me a little. Ellis Williams was
seventeen and pregnant when she jumped off a bridge on a Sunday
morning. But along came Louie Johnson, who pulled her from the river
and saved her life. Fifteen years later, she is widowed with a teenage
daughter and finds herself having to move home because of financial
problems. She ends up getting a job at a nursing home, her daughter
is acting up, etc, etc. Sounds like a feel good Hallmark movie doesn’t
it? Thankfully, it’s much better, thanks to Holly Kennedy’s
writing. The characters are quirky and appealing and there is enough
mystery in the plot to keep you interested. There are also little
subplots going on that make the book have depth—more than
just the whole single mother storyline. It’s a little sappy,
sure, but if you like that sort of thing, you’ll love this
book. Give it a shot. |
I'm strangely interested in the Bible and Jesus-y things but Christ, did Christ the Lord The Road to Cana by Anne Rice bore me. Snore. I have to admit I didn't finish it. That's bad to say but I just couldn't, I had so many other awesome books on my nightstand. So I went about halfway through and have up. I like the vampire stuff better. |
Emily Giffin is one of my favourite female writers and always writes excellent stories about women grappling with huge and unorthodox life choices. I felt that Love the One You’re With is the weakest of her novels so far, although still immensely captivating. Ellen seems to have the perfect life—she’s married to a dreamboat named Andy, is a successful photographer in New York and is best friends with her husband’s sister. But one day she runs into her ex-boyfriend. The one who broke her heart. And those feelings all rise back up to the surface. I guess my issue here is that the ex treated her like crap and she thinks about ditching her awesome husband for him? I didn’t go for it. But I’m a freaking cynic. Despite that, her relationship with her best friend and sister are really true and Andy is so likeable. It’s a great book but not Giffen’s best. |
Jennifer Weiner has a knack for writing girlie books
that have depth. She previously wrote In Her Shoes (way better than
the movie) and Good in Bed. This time she continues the story of
Cannie Shapiro, the heroine of Good in Bed who wrote a blockbuster
novel then settled down with a husband and daughter she had with
her previous boyfriend, Joy. Joy has turned 13 and of course, is
full of anger and hormones. The book flip-flops the point of view—one
chapter in Cannie’s voice and another in Joy’s. While
the novel has some flaws, for the most part it’s incredibly
endearing and keeps you hooked. The twist at the end came as a complete
shock to me and it’s rare a book gets me that off guard. Joy
is a bit of an annoying character but she is 13, and having taught
them, that should be no surprise. Still, loved it. |
I had been dying to get my paws on this novel, promising
to be an inside look at the fashion business. Being a complete fashion
junkie, I thought it would be full of VIP info and juicy gossip.
And it is—but in such an unappealing way. The protagonist
is a fashion designer who is about to show in New York for the first
time, she’s based in London. I didn’t like her. I didn’t
like her partner either. The clothes she mentioned sounded divine
but that was all the magic for me. I got some fashion info but not
as much as I would have liked. It seemed incredibly …gauche.
Low-class. I got thought it but it wasn’t great. I gotta say—someone
out there must be able to write a fashion novel better than this
one, no? |
Wasn’t really sure what to expect with this
tome but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s about Grace Bradley,
a woman ninety-eight years old, thinking back to the years she spent
working as a servant at Riverton House, owned by the wealthy Hartford
family. She gets all tangled in the business and knows secrets and
crap. There’s a party in the summer of 1924 and a young handsome
poet shoots himself. The only witnesses are Hannah and Emmeline,
the Hartford sisters and Grace. The book is told in flashback and
is lovely. There a few weak points that seem a little too predictable
but Grace is a fabulous character, tough and warm and incredibly
intelligent. It’s Morton’s first novel and I do look
forward to her next. |
Izzy Spellman is a private investigator in a family-owned
business. Which means her business is never private. The plot of
the novel is rather complicated and seems to actually be more of
a setup for the following books in the series. That’s not
to say that this one doesn’t hold it’s own, but I found
the characters rather than the storyline kept me interested. Izzy
is quite funny but it’s her family dynamics that are the true
heroes here. An intriguing read and I’ll be sure to read the
net in the series, Curse of the Spellmans. |
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The
Canon (4 out of 5 stars)
How
to Be Single (4 out of 5 stars) 
Sephora:
The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin and Hair from the Beauty Authority
(2 out of 5 stars)
The
Silver Compass (4 out of 5 stars)
Love
the One You’re With (4 out of 5 stars)
Certain
Girls (5 out of 5 stars)
Fashion
Babylon (3 out of 5 stars)
The
House at Riverton (4 out of 5 stars)
The
Spellman Files (4 out of 5 stars)