The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I had to read this book back in high school, but I really didn't remember much of it at all except that this Gatsby guy was rich and threw parties and was in love with someone.

When I saw the previews for the movie, I knew I had to re-read this because the books are always better than the movie versions.

Just like I remembered, Gatsby is rich and throws lavish parties.  He is in love with a married woman, Daisy.  They were in love years ago, but Gatsby went off to war and Daisy ended up marrying someone else.  But Gatsby never forgot her.  He bought this mansion on "West Egg" strategically because it is directly across from Tom and Daisy's house on "East Egg".  Ironically Daisy's husband is cheating on her.  And that plays a big part in the story line too.

All of this is narrated by Nick who is Daisy's cousin(?) and Gatsby's next door neighbor.  Gatsby is portrayed as this mysterious guy that no one really knows well, but everyone knows of.  Eventually Nick learns of Gatsby's connection to Daisy and Daisy and Gatsby are re-introduced to each other.

About 2/3 of the way through the book picks up pace and a crazy string of events happens (I won't spoil it for you).  At the end it is just really tragic and sad the way things end up and the lessons you can derive from the story are just sad too.

It was interesting and weird (I think that is the formula to become a "classic").  It's not a huge book, so it is probably worth picking up.  The beginning can be a tad slow though.

Overall I didn't love it so I am just giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Fishbowl by Sarah Mlynowski

A few years ago I read Milkrun by Sarah Mlynowski and LOVED it!  I absolutely loved her writing style because it felt like I was reading how thoughts flow through my own head- random, all over the place, with humor and a little bitchiness throughout.

I don't know if her writing just wasn't as good in this book, if I had changed or if the story line was lacking, but for some reason I didn't enjoy this one as much.


Here's a synopsis from Paperbackswap.com:


Smart, witty and a little bit bitchy, Fishbowl lets you press your face against the glass, see into the lives of three unique roommates -- and laugh your head off. — Allison can't wait for Jodine and Emma to move in to her apartment -- until she realizes having roommates means living in a fishbowl: You are never alone. When one small, slightly accidental fire leads to one big repair bill, all efforts to avoid each other are finally abandoned: They've got to raise money... fast ("Insurance? You mean you have to pay for that?"). This means joining forces. Bonding? Well, at least they're talking to each other!
Amazingly, they agree on a plan: shamelessly exploit their combined expertise on the male species for hard cash.?Tactics: sell tickets to their swanky soir?es and How to Pick Up Women seminars... But their grand scheme sweeps away any last shreds of privacy with startling consequences. Now that they're forced to take a long, hard look at themselves, Allie, Jodine and Emma's lives -- and budding friendship -- are about to change, in ways they never imagined. 


I give this one 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

When I went on the ski trip I woke up pretty early most mornings.  When I woke up I would go ahead and get out of bed and go downstairs so I wouldn't disturb the guy I was rooming with (it was bunk beds...we were not in the same bed).  The second morning I forgot to grab my book when I went downstairs.  I didn't want to go back in there so I looked at the dozen or so books they had on the bookshelf in the living room and decided on this one because it was not very big and I already knew the author.

Here is a synopsis from Nicholas Sparks' website:

Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life—boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies—he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him…and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn’t help. Despite himself, Travis can’t stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

Some Nicholas Sparks books are so sad a predictable.  This one wasn't bad.  I flew through the first half. I love that his books are set in NC because I usually end up knowing some of the places he writes about.  I've been vacationing in Atlantic Beach almost all my life because my family has a timeshare there.  Beaufort, where the majority of the book is set is just over the bridge and is one of the cutest little towns ever.  Having been there really helped envision the story as it unfolded.

When I got to part two of the book I was like crap...here we go with the Nicholas Sparks tragedy portion of the book.  It sucked.  But suprisingly it had a happy ending.  Can you believe it? 

Not a bad book but not one to put on your must read list.  I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I really enjoyed the Twilight series but had not heard much about this other book by Stephanie Meyer.  Then I heard it was going to be made into a movie and I had to read it because the book is ALWAYS better than the movie.  But in this case I am kind of hoping it's the other way around.

The book wasn't bad.  I just could not get into it and thus it took me forever to read!  It is a big book and I felt like maybe she should have cut some stuff out because it just was soooo LONG and not gripping me that I came to hate it a little. 

I know it sounds weird but it is about these aliens called "souls" that take over human bodies here on earth.  The main character "Wanderer" or "Wanda" has lived many lives on many different planets in many different bodies.  But this is her first time on Earth.  And her "host" Melanie is not very cooperative of her body being taken over. 

Melanie never completely goes away and they eventually become "friends" I guess you could say.  Melanie's thoughts and feelings are so strong that "Wanda" starts feeling them too.  This leads to them go look for her brother Jamie and her love Jared.  They are in hiding because they do not want to be taken over by the souls.

There is so much that happens and it was a pretty good story.  I can't wait to see the movie.  But I definitely didn't love this book just because it took me sooo long to get through so I only give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Finding It by Valerie Bertinelli

I got this audiobook on sale at Border's going out of business sale.  I read Valerie's first book Losing It and enjoyed it, so why not try this one?

Two things I learned from this book:

1. Almost all women struggle with body issues and we are very similar in this struggle.

2. Celebrities live a very different life.

In one sense listening to Valerie's book was like listening to myself or my best friend complain about weight frustrations.  On the other hand, she has Jillian Michael's trainer whipping her in to shape and her job was pretty much to get in shape for this commercial, so she had a lot more time than the everyday person has to devote to it.  She says she didn't and complains about her lack of time, but I doubt she understands what a "normal" person's life is like just how I don't understand what a "celebrity's" life is like.

But I do love how she focuses on how hard maintenance is and why it is important.  I'm glad she doesn't make it seem easy.  I'm glad to know she has a lot of the same struggles we all face.  Overall I enjoyed it.  It wasn't life changing or anything, but it was enjoyable.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Mommywood by Tori Spelling

I got Mommywood by Tori Spelling on CD at the Border's going out of business sale for like $3!  I am loving some audio-books right now. And to get one for that cheap was awesome!  I listened to it on my way to and from the beach Labor Day weekend and it made the drive just fly by!

I liked Tori's first book Storitelling.  This one was ok, but not as good as the first one in my opinion.  Tori just basically tells stories from her life as a (semi)famous mom.  There are some funny stories in there like the one about Liam pooping at the pool and her making a big mess while changing his diaper or how she got invited to P-Diddy's twin's birthday party and she totally got their age wrong. 

Tori is completely out of touch with reality and completely wrapped up in Hollywood life and this book solidifies that.  As much as she says she would like to be normal, she is completely fooling herself.  She talks about having to leave a $300 stroller (that she got for free) in a parking garage because she could not get it to fold up.  Seriously?  Who does that?

She is completely self-centered.  (But aren't we all at times?) She talks about her relationship with her mom a lot and how everything with her mom turned in to a competition and how she doesn't want to repeat that with Stella.  She is going to really have to work at that before Stella gets any older because I can so see her doing the same thing. 

Speaking of the relationship with her mom, she tries to act like the lack of relationship there is all her mom's fault.  She obviously has not forgiven her mom for a lot of things and continues to talk bad about her in her books.  I can't imagine the hurt she has caused her mom.  Obviously her mom isn't completely innocent in the whole situation either, but Tori needs to realize that neither is she.

I like Tori.  I really do.  I think she is witty and funny and it feels like she could be one of your best girl friends.  She is a good story telller too.  We all have our flaws and she is not immune to that.  But at times during this book you just wanted to say "Really girl?  you have no idea what the real world is like.  Take off your fame-goggles and get a grip."

I give this one 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

This is the follow up to one of my favorite books (and movies) of all time- The Time Traveler's Wife.  This book isn't so much a love story as it is a ghost story.  When Elspeth Noblin dies at the beginning of the book, she leaves her assets to the twin daughters of her long-estranged twin sister Edie with the condition that the twins must live in her London flat for one year before they can have any of the money or sell the flat.  The twins, Valentina and Julia, are confused because they can't remember ever having met their aunt and have no idea why their mother was estranged from her- so much so that the parents aren't allowed to set foot in the flat.  The twins are in their early twenties and decide to just do it.  They leave America and move in to their aunt's flat in London.


Living in the building with them in London is Elspeth's lover, Robert, and the upstairs neighbor Martin who has an extreme case of OCD and Elspeth's ghost who lives with them in the flat.  The girls have no purpose in London.  They don't go to school.  They don't work.  But they do get to know the neighbors and their aunt.  The book then takes an interesting turn when the characters in the book make their own way to get the things they think they want.  It is shocking and disturbing.  But it keeps you reading because you want to see how everyone turns out after the dust has settled.

The book was slow at times and the ending was just like "Really?"  I was disappointed how the characters turned out, but it was a good cautionary tale that not every story has a happy ending and I am liking that realistic view from the books and movies I watch right now which is probably why I didn't hate it.  But it was no where near the wonderful story of The Time Traveler's Wife.

I give this one 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Driving Sideways by Jess Riley

I put this book on my wish list after a recommendation from Jen Lancaster on her blog about it. The story is about Leigh. In her early twenties, she was diagnosed with PKD and put an dialysis. The book opens right after she has finally received a new kidney and she is setting out on a road trip from Wisconsin to California by herself. Along the way she plans to meet up with her ex-boyfriend, meet her kidney donor's family, visit her best friend, and find her mother who abandoned them at a young age.

Sounds like a pretty packed agenda right? Well it gets even more crazy when she picks up a teenage runaway along the way who seems to have her own secrets. Her ex-boyfriend turns out to be almost unrecognizable. She finds out probably more than she wanted to know about her kidney donor. Deals with her older brother fretting about her health and safety. Her friend has her own drama and joins them for the last leg of the road trip.

As with any road trip they have some grand adventures along the way. They stop and see various landmarks and sights, meet some interesting people, and have more than a few mishaps.

I loved the concept of the book because it was like this girl trying to take her newly given life back before her 30th birthday. I mean I haven't been through half of what she has been through and that 30th year mark is stressing me out. And of course I loved the road trip aspect of the story (this is so going on my next list!).

It was a good book with lots of plot twists and turns and the characters were really relateable. However it took me a while to get through it. I wasn't pumped to read it every night and her writing style didn't excite me. But the storyline was enough to make it a good read.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Losing It by Valerie Bertinelli

I finished this book weeks ago, but never got around to posting a review about it. I really like Valerie Bertinelli. She is so cute and seems so sweet. I really didn’t think she looked that fat when she became a Jenny Craig spokeswoman. But isn’t that how most people are? Just overweight enough to feel not like yourself. Anyway I put her book on my wish list at paperbackswap.com and I was surprised when I got it so quickly. I thought it would be the perfect thing to inspire me to start the new year off right.

Well, this book is not really about weight loss. She mentions her weight issues a few times throughout the book and the last 2 or 3 chapters are about her Jenny Craig adventures. But the book is really just about her life. She does have an interesting life. From being a child TV star to marrying Eddie Van Halen, it does make for an interesting book. She is very open and honest throughout the book. It was interesting to see where her life took her from her teens through her twenties and thirties and then into her forties. It was comforting to see that you can still end up happy without living the ideal married with 2.5 kids in the suburbs kind of life.

I like memoirs and this was a pretty good one and even though I have a life far different from hers, I could relate to her thoughts and feelings throughout the book.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Lottery: and Other Short Stories by Shirley Jackson

This was an interesting book of short stories by Shirley Jackson. You might have read The Lottery in high school English (I remember having to study that story). If you haven't read it- spoiler alret- stop reading. It is the story of this village that holds a lottery. The twist is the "winner" of the lottery gets stoned to death by the other villagers. It is really disturbing.

This book reminded me of other weird "classics" like The Bell Jar and Catcher in the Rye. The little stories are like car wrecks...you just can't look away and after it is over you are kind of like what the heck?

One story tells about a little boy who starts kindergarten and everyday when his parents ask him about school, he tells them stories about a terribly misbehaved boy in his class named "Charles". When the mother goes to the Parent-Teacher conference she asks about Charles. Turns out there is no "Charles" in the class.

Another story tells about about a woman who befriends a new neighbor that moves in the cottage down the street. She suddenly stops being friends with her when she hires a black man to tend her garden.

Then there is a story about a boy on a train who is told an awful story by a man about how the man killed his wife.

I think there are 24 stories in all in the book and they are each a few pages long, so they were good to read a couple before bed each night.

They were all somewhat disturbing, but in a good way? if that's possible? The kind of stories that stick with you and make you think.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Wolves in Chic Clothing

Wolves in Chic Clothing is one of those books that is like a guilty pleasure- like tabloid magazines or watching The Bachelor. It is full of drama, catty girls, gossip, and the glitzy uppity life of New York's finest.

The story is mainly about Julia who works as a sales girl at Pelham's jewelers. She is asked to deliver a very important package to Lell Pelham on her wedding day and from there things start to change dramatically for Julia. She is offered a position as Lell's new assistant/best friend. She gets to give input on Pelham's jewelry and must be the new face of Pelham. Now she gets to borrow designer clothes and go to extravagant fundraising events and becomes New York society's new "it girl".

However, she is more like a pawn in a game played by Lell and her best friend Polly. They get Julia in to this circle and tell her how to dress and act. It is like a sport for them. Lell and Polly and their little circle is full of gossip and fakeness.

This book kind of made me realize just how damaging gossip can be and how silly girls sound when they are talking about each other behind their backs.

It's a cute, fun read. My favorite character was actually Hope, one of Lell and Polly's friends. She just seemed like she had a good heart and I was rooting for a happy ending for her character.

One thing that annoyed me in the book was how the author's tried to use cool "lingo" or shorten words to make them sound cool. It was so annoying. Do people really talk like that?

Overall I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Something good to read on the beach if you don't want to think too much!

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

My old boss gave me this book to read about three years ago, but I just never got around to it. But then a few weeks ago I saw they were going to play the movie based on this book on Lifetime. I decided to tape it and had a mental note to start this book ASAP. I kind of knew what the big plot line was already, so I don’t know if this biased my view on the book overall.

The story is about Katherine who is married to Jack, a pilot. Jack’s plane explodes over the coast of Ireland killing him and 104 passengers. It is a huge news story and people from the airline, the union, the FBI, and the media swarm Katherine’s house to try to figure out what happened. Robert is the first to arrive and he is from the union. He is by Katherine’s side though almost everything and is a great support for her. At one point I thought they were going to end up romantically involved. Jack and Katherine have a daughter, Mattie, and her father’s death hits her really hard. Luckily Katherine’s grandmother Julia is there to help out.

As more pieces of the puzzle of what happened to Jack’s plane start to come together, Katherine starts to discover secrets she never knew about Jack. They were married for I think 16 years and he kept some really big secrets from her.

The story makes you think about how well you can really know a person. But I was let down at Katherine’s reaction to finding out some of these secrets. I would have been enraged and crushed to find out some of the things she did. But I just didn’t feel that from her.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Oh and the Lifetime movie, not that good either.

Miss Invisible by Laura Jensen Walker

Miss Invisible by Laura Jensen Walker is a book about Freddie, and overweight cake baker, finding herself and finally living up to her potential. Freddie feels overlooked by society. She feels invisible and insignificant due to her size. It probably doesn't help that she works for a boss that puts Freddie down just to make herself feel more powerful and she has a crush on a VERY popular boy at her church who barely knows she is alive.

But Freddie meets a woman and friend that changes her life. She is in the "Big Girls Club" too but she is no where near invisible. She is full of life and commands a presence the minute she enters a room. With some gentle nudging from her new friend and interest from the cute new veterinarian in town, Freddie begins to come out her shell. By the end of the book Freddie has taken control of her life and learned that big girls aren't the only ones who feel like Miss Invisible, but all it takes is a little confidence and some encouragement and support from good friends to come out of the corner and really live.

It was a really cute chic lit book and a quick easy read. She also starts a blog in the book which I could relate to, although I think it is a little unrealistic to become a superstar blogger with your very first post. A good book for the beach or pool.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman

I borrowed this book from my Bible study leader because she said it really helped her when talking about the Gospel with people. I have never been comfortable in that area. I think it is such a personal thing and it makes it very awkward to talk about it.

Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman takes you through a lot of the common questions that non-believers might have and gives you examples of how to engage them with questions of your own to get to the deeper issues and share your beliefs while learning about theirs. Engaging people in a personal dialogue instead of preaching at them can be a much more effective way to talk about these deep issues.

He shares with you real life examples and sample conversations. He advocates active listening and trying to really understand the emotions and feelings behind people's questions and comments.

I didn't agree with everything in the book. But overall it was a very useful book. It helped me think of "sharing the Gospel" differently and it even gave me more confidence in that area. Hopefully I can put what I learned from the book into practice.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Autobiography of a Fat Bride by Laurie Notaro

Last year I read Laurie Notaro's The Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club and it was one of the funniest things I have ever read. I was super-excited to start this new installment in her series.

I was expecting all these tales of getting engaged and the neuroses that usually take over for brides-to-be. But this wasn't exactly that. It is more of a collection of short stories about meeting and the first few years with her husband. They are really random. But they are really funny. Not as funny as the first book, but still more funny than most.

This is also the type of book you can pick up and put down easily. Each chapter is a new story, so there is no suspense building or anything.

Overall I wasn't in love with it and give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes

This is the first Marian Keye's novel I've read. Apparently this she writes a series of novels about the Walsh sisters. This one is focused on Anna. Anna lives in New York and has a PR job working for Candy Grrl cosmetics. The story starts out with Anna back in Ireland being taken care of by her Mum. Anna is bruised and cut up and no one ever really tells you why or how this happened.

But Anna is anxious to get back to her life in New York. She flies back and returns to her empty neglected apartment and desperately tries to get in contact with her husband Aiden. She emails him everyday, catches glimpses of him on her way to work, and goes to great lengths to find out what is going on with him.

This book has lots of twists and turns. A lot of other people have written that it is sad, but I had a different perspective that it was just peering into her life.

I enjoyed the main plot line and the sub-plots were very good too. It did take me a month to read it though. Even though it was a thick book at 464 pages, I would say this indicates somewhat my level of interest in the book. (Some of those Twilight books I breezed through in days!) I liked this book, but I didn't love it.

I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

It was good, but I don't think it generated enough interest in me to read her other books.

Dream It. List It. Do It!

Dream It. List It. Do It! Is a great little book full of ideas and helpful tips to making and actually completing your life lists (like my 30 Before 30). It starts out with “10 Rules for Creating and Conquering Your Life Lists” with helpful tips like “define a finish line” and “document your progress”.

The following chapters focus on different themes for “Life List” items:

-Understand Myself
-Learn New Things
-Be More Adventurous
-Make a Difference
-Fix My Finances
-Live in the Moment
-Reconnect
-Cook More
-Be Independent
-Stay Focused
-Make Music
-Be a Better Person
-Be Healthy
-Get a Pet
-Be Happy
…and more! (43 different categories in all!)

There are literally hundreds of ideas in this book. Each theme has pages and pages of items to add to your list that fit with that theme. This book would really come in handy and give you lots of great ideas for your own "Life List".

I normally don't have the patience for books that don't tell a "story", but I will keep this one around and use it to make my 40 Before 40 List!

Overall I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars (just because this is more of a reference book than a book I'll ever read cover to cover).

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

If you haven't heard of this series by now, you might be living under a rock. People are comparing this to the Harry Potter craze. I had so many people recommend this series to me that I just had to read it. When I first started Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, I thought I was going to become obsessed and finish it over the weekend. But to be honest with you I just couldn't get in to it for the first half of the book. It was the story of this high school girl, Bella Swan, who moves to a small town in the Northwest called Forks to live with her dad. She slips easily into high school life there and meets Edward Cullen. He is beautiful, dazzling, and kind of weird at first. Of course you should know this by now- he is a vampire. All the guys are crazy about Bella at her new school, so I'm guessing she probably isn't so bad herself. But for the first 300 pages or so it was just this little high school story.

I think the turning point for me was the baseball game. After that chapter, things started moving really fast and I got into it. For those last few chapters I could almost get the Harry Potter comparisons. It was exciting and you had to use your imagination to visualize what was going on. But Harry Potter this is not. It is a good book and I will read the others in the series: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. I will also see the movie. But I'm not jumping right in and reading all four books overnight. I'm going to take an Edward/Bella break for now, but I will come back for more.

I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster

I finished Jen Lancaster's Such a Pretty Fat on the plane ride to Orlando. It was a pretty good book. Not as great as her first Bitter is the New Black, but still good. In this book Jen attempts to loose weight following Atkins, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, hiring a personal trainer, and taking up swimming.

The best thing about her books is her quick wit and her footnotes. Seriously, the footnotes are usually so funny. But in this book she used her footnotes to promote her other two books a few too many times for my liking. Also, now that she has published three books it is hard to feel sorry for her when she complains. At least for me...

Overall the book was a fun, quick read. I don't have much else to say except you will chuckle at her writing and adventures, but don't expect this to be life changing or anything. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

I don't knit. I tried to learn once in college, but I guess I didn't have the time or patience to learn. But this book wasn't really about knitting. Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs was more about the friendships women form from a common interest. It was about how women support each other through rough times.

Walker and Daughter is the knitting shop in Manhattan owned by Georgia Walker that brings together all the women in the book. Georgia and her 13 year old daughter are dealing with James (Dakota's father) returning to their lives for the first time. Anita, Georgia's best friend, is dealing with learning to date for the first time since her husband's death. There's also re-connecting of old friends and forgiving past wrongs, a long distance marriage and the difficulties that entails, changing life/career paths, pregnancy and baby issues, cancer and divorce as the women support each other through the ups and downs of each other's lives.

I must admit the book did make me want to learn to knit again. But honestly I don't have the time. It also reminded me of my Book Blub girls (RIP Book Blub). I know life is so busy it is hard to keep these groups going. But I think female friendships are so important. This book was a reminder of that.

It was a good book with lots of interesting story lines!

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.