Monthly Recap - March 2011

Just a quick update this month. Nothing really exciting happened, but I did read some very awesome books that you should check out. I recommend all of them.

Books I brought

1. Solstice – Simon Holt

2. Take me There – Carolee Dean

3. Wintergirls- Laurie Halse Anderson

4. Entangled- Cat Clark

5. Covet – J.R.Ward

6. Burned – Ellen Hopkins

7. Get Started In Film Making- Tom Holden

8. Midnighters [1]- Scott Westerfield

9. Slice of Cherry – Dia Reaves

10. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

11. The Moth Diaries – Rachel Klein

12. Slights- Karron Warren

13. Carpe Diem- Autumn Cornwell

14. Another Me- Cathy MacPhail

15. Reaching For The Stars- Lola Jaye

16. Darkest Mercy – Melissa Marr

17. Ink Exchange [x2]- Melissa Marr

18. Fragile Eternity- Melissa Marr

19. Bridget Jones Diary- Helen Feilding

20. Friday Nights – JoannaTrollope

21. Second Honey Moon- Joanna Trollope

22. The Body Finder- Kimberly Derting

Books I have read:

1. Anna & The French Kiss- Stephenie Perkins

2. Chakra Therapy- Jennie Harding

3. Natural Woman – Penelope Sach

4. Changing Habits, Changing Lives – Cyndi O’Meara

5. A Night without Armor – Jewel

6. Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr

7. Reaching For the Stars- Lola Jaye

8. Bird, By Bird- Anne Lamott

Book [Not] Buying Challenge:

Although I passed up many books this month I ended up purchasing 8 books [ the rest being pre-purchased before March but arriving in March]. Proving I can do it, but maybe I don’t want to [laughs] it was truly excruciating not buying loads of books.

Favourite Book: It’s a tie between Anna and the French Kiss and Bird By Bird.

Book that surprised me the most: Wicked Lovely- after so long not wanting to read it and finally picking up I am smacking myself for not doing it earlier.

Non-Fiction - Bird By Bird - Anne Lamott

Pages: 238

Published: 2008

Date Finished: 29^th March 2011

Rating: Yes – Highly Rate it – 5 Stars

Think you've got a book inside of you? Anne Lamott isn't afraid to help you let it out. She'll help you find your passion and your voice, beginning from the first really crummy draft to the peculiar letdown of publication. Readers will be reminded of the energizing books of writer Natalie Goldberg and will be seduced by Lamott's witty take on the reality of a writer's life, which has little to do with literary parties and a lot to do with jealousy, writer's block and going for broke with each paragraph. Marvelously wise and best of all, great reading – Good Reads Synopsis

Review:

I think this synopsis sums this book up pretty darn well, but in my own words I would like to add a few things in hopes of convincing anyone who has ever written, wants to write or is writing to search wherever you can for this book and devour it, just like I did.

I could have read it in one evening, if it hadn’t been for my mum’s fat dog hogging my half of the bed and pushing me of the mattress. But let me tell you I sure made a freaking dint in it. I could not put it down. It didn’t even feel like I was reading a book about writing, and I mean that in a good way because it was not a how to book, more like a how I lived and wrote.

Anne doesn’t sugar-coat what is like to be writer and I loved that about her. She wrote in a way that to me literally felt like I was chatting away to a writing buddy, and yet even without her telling me how-to do something, I learned something from every chapter whether it was how to approach writing shitty first drafts, to using my emotions instead of letting them destroy me.

For me it was a book to post-it note and read again, the kind you keep in your handbag or bedside table and read over and over, just to delight in Anne’s nature.

Don’t hesitate. Search for it and buy it, borrow it and love it. It is one of my highly recommended books not only of 2011, but in my top favorites. No doubt.

P.S Check out the reviews on the Good Reads Page, they do it better justice.

Non-Fiction- Reaching For The Stars- Lola Jaye

Pages: 87

Published: 2009

Date Finished: 23^rd March 2011

Rating: Yes

How can you make your dreams come true?

Review:

Being a fan of Lola Jaye I decided to pick up every book she has written, hoping Reaching For the Stars would be another great novel. You could guess my surprise when it turned up in the mailbox and was only 87 pages long. At first I was disappointed, but as I re-read the back I was excited to read something a little different. Not quite a guide, nor an autobiography – Reaching For the Stars is a simple, step-by-step book in a series of [Quick Reads] published by Harper about reaching for your dreams and aspirations and how to get there.

Lola shares the condensed version of her journey into publication, while combining stories from adults who have worked for their dreams- whether it is football stardom or baking. With lists, humor and points focusing on what stops us and challenges us in our journey to our dreams, I am certain everyone can connect with this book on some level and my hope is that younger readers will pick it up, and start considering what they want to do with their lives. Everyone needs a dream- even if it’s to own their own cottage in the mountains.

While I believe this book is aimed at younger readers[ 11-17] . It can be read by adults to who need a little pick me up with their life intentions. It certainly questioned a few ideas floating around my head and put some perspective on taking a little risk at going for what I want.

Y.A - Wicked Lovely- Melissa Marr

Pages: 328

Published: 2007

Date Finished: 18^th March 2011

Rating: 5 Stars

All teenagers have problems, but few of them can match those of Aislinn, who has the power to see faeries. Quite understandably, she wishes that she could share her friends' obliviousness and tries hard to avoid these invisible intruders. But one faery in particular refuses to leave her alone. Keenan the Summer King is convinced beyond all reasoning that Aislinn is the queen he has been seeking for nine centuries. What's a 21st-century girl to do when she's stalked by a suitor nobody else can see? A debut fantasy romance for the ages; superlative summer read – Good Reads Synopsis

Review:

What can I possibly say to anyone who hasn’t read Wicked Lovely – ARE YOU INSANE??

For my first Fey novel I am truly captivated, provoked and in love with the world Melissa has created. She has blended classical mythology together with her own modern twist, adding quint quotes that added to the overall theme of each chapter and made for an attention-grabbing read.

A mythical, magical and dangerous world that come the end; I didn’t want to leave.

Aislinn is girl after my own heart. I have fallen in love. For starts, I loved her strong mind, her intelligence and her willingness to stand her ground, regardless of the bullying and mind-fucks she has endured both before the novel and during. It takes a lot of strength to fight for what you believe in and for that, oh I crave to get to know her more. Her relationship with Seth, wasn’t overly romantic, but raw and I wished I knew the two of them.

Keenan was certainly a [frustrating] character. One word, single minded comes to thought nearly every page and while I certainly had compassion for his dysfunctional [parental] issues. To me, I didn’t like his arrogant nature. I understood what he had to do, and how he did it, but I would have like to see him learn a little about the modern world to grow as a character. Given that nearing the end, I was comforted to see his mind-set change and his willingness to accept Aislinn as she is change.

I can’t say I am too fond of the minor characters, but the major characters made me ache to read more. I want to grow with them, feel with them and crawl into their world to fight alongside them. Melissa made it so easy to define the characters and to not take sides once you see it from every characters perspective. They all have their flaws and their page turning qualities that make this novel so addictive to read.

I am certainly kicking myself for not picking up Wicked Lovely sooner and while to begin with it was confusing, and dragged for a few pages, after the first chapter I was pulled into the world Melissa had created. I did find passages to be repetitive at the begging as well, one in particular, about the creatures that followed Aislinn.

Don’t hesitate to read this novel, especially if it has been on your bookshelf or radar. My Hope is that this is the begging of a great Y.A series and I am super excited about reading the next book – Ink Exchange.

Poetry - A Night Without Armor - Jewel

Pages: 160

Published: 1999

Date Finished: 13^th February 2011

Rating: Yes, I would recommend this book.

Singer, Song writer Jewel brings a collection of controversial, untamed, beautiful poetry together in this book about love, live, divorce and recollections of days gone by. Some short, while others spanning two pages, these poems are raw and capture your emotions, evoking sensations and feelings that will warm your heart, inspire you and make you question the world, your own relationships and the beauty that is life.

One of the many poems that provoked me was, Shush. With so little worlds, the prose was so powerful. I keep repeating it in my head, and it has to be one of my favorites.

‘Can you imagine, how silent, a plane crash would be, if you were deaf? How unbearably loud a rape?’ Jewel – A night without armor’

If you are a lover of music and poetry, take the time to read Jewels poetry. In the face of celebrities, she stands alone as an artist and poet to create a little gem of gold. It’s a truly stirring book to have in your collection; definitely, one to keep, to remind you to remember the little things in life and to take in the world around you.