January 2016 – Book Dust Magic

Book Review: The Single Girl’s To-Do List by Lindsey Kelk

Title: The Single Girl’s To-Do List

Author: Lindsey Kelk

Publisher: Harper

Date: January 1st, 2011

Pages: 335

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from Goodreads): A hilarious and romantic standalone novel from the bestselling author of the I Heart series

Rachel Summers loves a to-do list:
• Boyfriend
• Flat
• Great job

NOT on the list:
• Being dumped

Best friends Emelie and Matthew ride to her rescue with an entirely new kind of list – The Single Girl’s To-Do List. Rachel doesn’t know it, but it will take her on all kinds of wild adventures – and get her in some romantic pickles too. And then it won’t be a case of what but who she decides to tick off…

• Mr. bendy yoga instructor
• Mr. teenage sweetheart
• Mr. persistent ex
• Mr. deeply unsuitable

The Single Girl’s To-Do List gives Rachel the perfect heartbreak cure – and proves love is out there if you’re willing to take a chance.

Review:

When you read a standalone from the author who wrote an amazing book series, you can’t help but compare those two together.
At least, that’s what I do.
And this book, although it was fun and enjoyable, entertaining, girly and everything that a girl would want in a book, it was still not better the I Heart series.

However, it was really, really close to it (plus I admit I am extremly subjective here because I am just so attached to Angela Clark and Jenny Lopez and, in this case, that makes me a shitty reviewer, because a good reviewer should know how to separate the two).

Now, when I said how I feel, I think it’s time for me to actually review a book.

The Single Girl’s To-Do List is a chick lit in all it’s glory. It will make you smile and I highly recommend to pick this one up if you need something to boost your mood and make you forget the world around you.

It follows a woman named Rachel who got dumped by her boyfriend of 5 years. Instead of crying herself to sleep for the rest of her life, with the help of her two best friends, she makes a list of things she should do while she’s single.

I liked Rachel as a narrator. I think her sense of humor and approach to the story was great and she always kept the pace interesting.

Her best friends Emelie and Matthew are such a good friends, I liked them the best and if I could pull them out of those pages and make them my friends, I would do that in no brain!

I have to admit that I wasn’t a fan of Dan at the beginning, but, as the story progressed, I started to like him more and more.

The end of the novel wrapped up differently then I tought it would, but I ended up liking it that way along with the message it carried.

All in all, if you’re looking for a quick read that will make you laugh and remind you how fun reading actually can be, this is the book to go for!

Book Review: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

finding audrey

Title: Finding Audrey

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Publisher: Penguin Random House UK Children’s

Date: June 9th, 2015

Pages: 288

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher, for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads): An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

vrpca

Review:

Once again, Sophie Kinsella reminded me why am I still so in love with reading books.
If you didn’t know, Kinsella is the one who got me into reading in the first place. With her Shopaholic series she showed me reading can be fun and now, years after reading her first book, I still enjoy spending my free time with a good book in my hands (or on my Kindle).

When I first heard she was about to publish a novel in my favorite genre, I just knew I had to read it immediately.
I had a great feeling about Finding Audrey and I was not wrong.

In her recognizable style that consists humor, Kinsella writes about serious topics such as anxiety and abusement.
I imagine it must have been hard work to touch those serious topics and stay true to her writing style without overdoing the fun parts and diverge from the direction the story was going to. She managed it very well.

Audrey, our main character, was a great narrator. She talked about her problems not quite openly but opened herself one step at the time trough the story. I liked that a lot. Even though she had some serious things on her way, it didn’t suppress her sense of humor.
I think the reason she was hiding behind the dark glasses was justified and I liked that part about her.

What I liked the most in this story were Audrey’s parents. They were like a fresh scent in the air in the YA genre which is full of dysfunctional families.

Frank was my favorite. I liked his obsession with video games and his adaptability when it comes to playing them.

Linus was an okay character. Very patient and likeable but I wish there were just something more about him that would make him more distinguish from all of love interests I was reading about in other books. I feel like I’m still missing that final touch that would make him get under my skin.

I also wish there were more situations with Felix.

spoiler vrpca

Spoiler Alert!!!

The reason I didn’t give this book a full five star rating is:

We never found out what really happened that triggered Audrey’s anxiety.
I also didn’t like the fact that Audrey got herself off the medications by herself. It is something not anyone should ever do, and in the real life the consequences could be really bad (trust me, I know). I just hope that someone who’s on medications while reading this book won’t find the courage to do the same thing because Audrey did it.

spoiler vrpca

If you like Sophie Kinsella’s previous work, and if you like YA genre, you will (probably) definitely like this book.

It was a quick, easy read, perfect to read in one sitting for those who actually can read the book in one sitting.

I wish you all A-GREAT-TIME reading it!! 🙂

4,5

Book Review: The Bette Davis Club by Jane Lotter

Title: The Bette Davis Club

Author: Jane Lotter

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Date: December 8th, 2015

Pages: 274

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The morning of her niece’s wedding, Margo Just drinks a double martini and contemplates the many mistakes she’s made in her fifty-odd years of life. Spending three decades in love with a wonderful but unattainable man is pretty high up on her list of missteps, as is a long line of unsuccessful love affairs accompanied by a seemingly endless supply of delicious cocktails.

When the young bride flees—taking with her a family heirloom and leaving behind six hundred bewildered guests—her mother offers Margo fifty grand to retrieve her spoiled brat of a daughter and the invaluable property she stole. So, together with the bride’s jilted and justifiably crabby fiancé, Margo sets out in a borrowed 1955 red MG on a cross-country chase. Along the way, none of what she discovers will be quite what she expected. But it might be exactly what she’s been seeking all along.

From acclaimed humor writer Jane Lotter comes this madcap, laugh-out-loud adventure, The Bette Davis Club.

Revised edition: This edition of The Bette Davis Club includes editorial revisions.

Review:

Reading story narrated by a woman who’s over 50 years old was out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to do it anyway. Branching out, spreading my horizonts, that’s what I was thinking about.

I knew that, what I was about to read was a comedy, but if you ask me what was it that I expected from this book, I wouldn’t know what to tell you.

The story follows Margo, a fifty-something years old woman who finds herself at her niece’s wedding. Everything would be great if there wasn’t just one problem: the bride is missing. She ran away, and Margo’s sister is asking her to find her. Margo wouldn’t accept that request usually, but 50 000 dollars deal is hard to decline.

On her roadtrip, she won’t be alone. Tully, the groom, is going with her to try to convince the love of his life to change her mind.

Let me just starting this review by telling you what I liked:

The writing style. The story is written in present tense and it pulls you in immediately. Good sense of humor can’t hurt either. Even though the story itself is not so good, the writing style is what keeps you reading and, believe it or not, I actually had good time reading it (most of the time).

The Title. It has a meaning and it is awesome (I’m a proud member of The Bette Davis Club myself).

Sidestory, or should I say, Morgo’s past. That part of the novel is what is actually worth reading. I think that story is really good, it can make you feel and, honestly, if the writer decided to write only that story, the novel would be better.

Now, let me tell you what I didn’t like:

Characters. Not only did some of them had stupid names, but they were also… stupid. There is only one character (Dotty) that I can say was intelligent enough, but no one else.

They got themselves in bizzare situations, had no idea how to handle them, weren’t thinking whatsoever and honestly, if they had only little intelligence, the problem would be solved really quickly and this would be a short story.

One character even says for himself that pople are telling him he has high IQ and I was all like…. NO, YOU DON’T!

They also have no dignity or self esteem.

I really hated most of the scenes in this book. They were unnecessary, stupid and just made me roll my eyes instead of wondering what will happen and rooting for main characters.

That being said, I think I should stop now because there is really nothing good I could say, and since I am huge Bambi fan, I know what Thumper’s father told him and I listen to his advice…

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”

(Thunder’s father, Bambi)

Waiting on Wendesday (#3): The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

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Waiting on Wendesday (#1): The Prophecy of Shadows by Michelle Madow

Waiting on Wendesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights upcoming releases we can’t wait to read.

This week I am eagerly anticipating:

the glittering court

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication date: April 5th, 2016

Summary (from Goodreads):

A dazzling new fantasy series set in a mix of Elizabethan and frontier worlds that’s dripping with romance from Richelle Mead, #1 internationally bestselling author of Vampire Academy.

Big and sweeping, spanning the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies capable of arranging powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together, they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first, as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and later, when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands. . . .

Why am I waiting for this book?

Richelle Mead is my favorite writer, she is the author of my all-time favorite book series: Vampire Academy.

I can’t even tell you how curious I am when it comes to this novel, how exciting is the though that I will be exploring a new world Mead created.

The hype around this book is already pretty crazy even though we have more then two months to wait until it finally comes out.

Author Website * Goodreads * Amazon * The Book Depository

RYBSAT Read-a-Thon Wrap Up

Yesterday was the last day of RYBSAT Read-a-Thon. As promissed, today I’m bringing you my RYBSAT recap.

If I told you I was happy with the number of books I read during this Read-a-Thon, I’d be lying.

From five books I had in my TBR, I ended up reading only two (and I barely finished the second one). Honestly, I knew five books in a week was too ambicious for me, but I hoped to finish at least three of them.

I decided not to feel bad about it. Two books in a week is still more then what most people read, and it is satisfying accopmlishment.

I ended up enjoying those two books, and that is what’s most important.

Here is what I read:

The Secret by the Lake was so good that I couldn’t stop thinking about it after finshing it (I still am) and you can read my review for it here, on my blog.

A Single Girl’s to-do List was pretty fun and was a good choice to pick up after my first-read. The review for it will be up this week.

Participating in twitter sprints was really fun although I found myself chatting with others more times then actually reading, so I am not sure that was a good choice when it comes to reaching my reading goal, but I am not sorry because we had some great chats and I would do it again in no-thinking.

In fact, I am sure I’ll be participating in the next RYBSAT Read-a-Thon whenever one will be announced.

In the end, let’s not forget my reading buddies, Prince Ash and Bella, who were with me most of the time I was reading. Not only were they rooting for me with their purring, but were also great models when I wanted to take pictures of my read.

Movie Monday: The Revenant and The Danish Girl

Movie Monday is a new feature I decided to host on my blog.

From now on, Mondays will be reserved for my ramblings about movies I watched lately.

Since watching movies is what I really like to do in my spare time, I tought Movie Mondays would be a great addition to my book blog, especially when so many movies nowadays is inspired by or based on a book.

This week I want to talk about two movies I watched and they both happen to be inspired by books. First one being The Revenant and the second being The Danish Girl.

The Revenant

revenant

In whole honesty, the first and main reason I decided to watch this movie was the one and only: Leonardo DiCaprio. The second reason was that I knew it was something my boyfriend would like.

I was right. He loved it! But I loved it too! I loved the story, I loved the nature we saw in the movie, I loved all the action scenes, effects, just everything about this movie, but what I liked the most were acting performances. I think both Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy should win Oscars this year because theye were AMAZING.

Maybe the movie lenght is a bit too long but I understand why it is so.

If you have a chance I suggest you to go and watch it because you won’t regret it.

I pressume that the female audience don’t feel a rush when it comes to seeing this film, but there is a great chance you will love it more then you think you will. I know that situation happened to me.

The Danish Girl

Going into this movie I didn’t quite know what to expect. I knew it was a movie about the first transgender woman but didn’t know anything about her.

This movie has such a beautiful story. It woke my emotions and I cried several times w the danish girl hile
watching, even though I am not the one who cries easily (the train scene was just so sad).

Eddie Redmayne was amazing in playing his role, and his coleague Alicia Vikander was great. Alicia is not only a good actress, but is also very beautiful to watch. I hope to see her in more movies in the future.

I recommend this one highly.

If you ask me which one is better, I would have to say The Danish Girl has a story, but overall I think The Revenant is better in quality and performance.

I have to admit that I am a HUGE Leo Di fan so there is a slight chance that I am subjective here.

Note: Pictures in this post are not my property but taken from IMDb site and are property of 20th Century FOX and Universal Pictures International.

Book Review: I’ll Be There by Samantha Chase

Title: I’ll Be There

Series: The Montgomery Brothers #6

Author: Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Date: December 1st, 2015

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads): This Montgomery Has a Head for Business

Working for Zach Montgomery is challenging on many levels-coming from a wealthy and powerful family, he lives by his own rules and doesn’t answer to anyone. But Gabriella Martine has no intention of backing down. She’s used to handling stubborn men, and it doesn’t hurt that Zach is smart, charismatic… and gorgeous.

And a Heart for Adventure

Zach’s perfect world is turned upside down when a climbing accident leaves him broken, angry, and maddeningly dependent. In his slow quest for recovery, Gabriella is always there to help… but as Zach comes to see his beautiful assistant in a new light, he is forced to re-evaluate what it really means to be aman worthy of Gabriella’s love.

Review:

Maybe it wasn’t the smartest choice for me to start the series with the 6th book, but it is whatit is.

Despite the fact that this is a 6th book, it is easely readable as standalone.
But, there is one fact you should be warned about if you decide to read just this book: you won’t get attached to characters and, because of that, you won’t be so pleased with the story.
At least, that is what happened in my case.

The story follows Zach who is a complete control freak that had a terrible accident while mountain climbing and now he is a mess.
He has to use crutches to support himself and, like a little kid in a fifth grade, he is afraid other people will making fun of him because of that (actually, he is afraid other will see him as weak but I liked my perspective better).
As a control freak who loses control, he starts to behave as a grumpy spoiled brat who drawns in self-pity.

It was so hard to like him. As someone who knows how does it feel to have a terrible accident that leaves you unable to move for two whole months, make you learn how to walk again and go to phisical therapy every single day for months, I just couldn’t feel sorry for Zach.
In my opinion, he didn’t make any affort to became stronger and walk again, he was just angry at the whole world.

Gabriella took female book characters on a whole new level. She purrs and smells like Heaven (and no, this isn’t a fantasy. It’s a contemporary romance).

She is also oh so hot and an ideal girl for Zach since she doesn’t mind being treated horrible. She loves her family who is making fun of her all the time and looking at her like she is some kind of marriage wracker.
And she loves Zach who is being rude to her constantly.

The writing style is simple and is easy to read.
The novel is written in third pespective and although it does have some cute scenes, it has more boring ones.

Reading this book felt like watching a movie, falling asleep and then waking up after hearing main charaters screaming at each other, wondering what actually happened.

It had a slow pace and then, all of the sudden, characters were just screaming at each other. It felt like drama came out of nowhere and I knew I must have lost my concentration while reading, but I just wasn’t motivated enough to go back and reread what led to that.

Even though my review may sound harsh, I don’t think this is a bad book.
I know some people that would love it and I would recommend it to romance lovers that do not overly analize what they read.

Book Review: The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas

Title: The Secret by the Lake

Author: Louise Douglas

Publisher: Random House UK

Date: November 19th, 2015

Pages: 410

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Amy’s always felt like something’s been missing in her life, but as a nanny for the Laurent family – Julia, Alain, Viviane – she feels complete.

So Amy wouldn’t think of leaving them when a sudden tragedy forces them to move from France to the small lakeside cottage in the isolated Somerset village where Julia grew up.

But there’s something strange about the cottage by the lake. This is where Julia spent her childhood. But she used to have an older sister, Caroline, whom she rarely speaks about…

Who disappeared at just seventeen…

Who has a secret the whole village wants kept hidden for ever…

Review:

‘Secrets make you lonely, did you know that?’

‘I never thought about it,’

‘Oh they do. It’s their nature to isolate a person. Making someone keep a secret is the same as building a wall around them. Sooner or later the person behind that wall wants to set themselves free.’

What is the cost of the true behind a lie?

What is the cost of the secret that’s hiding the true?

If you ask me what was it I expected when going into this story, I probably wouldn’t know what to tell you. But I can tell you one thing: I know I got more then I expected.

This story, written in the first person and taking place in 1960th, follows a young woman named Amy. She finds herself in a small Somerset village, taking care of a little girl named Viviane who recently lost her father. It is not an unfamiliar fact that Viviane likes to have imaginary friends. After their arrival, Viviane can’t stop talking about her new friend, Caroline, who has the same name as Viviane’s mother’s sister who died 30 years ago. Not only that she has the same name, but she also knows things from Caroline’s life that no one else but Viviane’s mother would know, and she never talks about Caroline. Suddenly, strange things start to happen in the house and Amy can’t help but wonder if Caroline is real.

This book took me by surprise. After finishing it, I needed some time to think about it, to sleep and clear my mind. My emotions are still all over the place and I know I just can’t write a review good enough to do justice to this story.

The writing style is amazing and it is full of visuals. I couldn’t help but imagine shadows of gray covering pictures in my head, playing a movie that gave me chills and kept me on the edge because I didn’t know what will come from the story.

It was like watching The Ring, only different. The atmosphere was similar, but the plot, characters and message were different.

The message. It is the most precious thing about this novel. If I tell you what it is, I would spoil your potential reading experiance, so i won’t.

But I will tell you this: If you have a chance, give this book a chance.

If you do that, I guarantee you that it will keep you awake, it will make you think about monsters, but not the paranormal ones. The real monsters that live among us and can destroy many lives. It is our responsibility to stop them.

Book Review: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

Title: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

Author: Katarina Bivald

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Date: January 19th, 2016

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Once you let a book into your life, the most unexpected things can happen…
Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy’s funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist—even if they don’t understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that’s almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend’s memory. All she wants is to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel and to convince them that reading is one of the great joys of life. But she makes some unconventional choices that could force a lot of secrets into the open and change things for everyone in town. Reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, this is a warm, witty book about friendship, stories, and love.

Review:

This book should have come with the big note on its cover that says ”WARNING: SPOILERS INSIDE”.

You see, this book is a book written by a book lover for other booklovers.

And do you know what book lovers like to do? Talk about books. Discuss plot developmets. They often compare one story to another, wondering why the certain character chose one path over the other.

Our main character, Sara, is a true bookworm, so it is no wonder that this book is full of references to other books which often ends up spoilery.

When I say she is a bookworm, I mean she reads, lives and BREATHES books. You see, only a true book lover would know the difference between the smell of paperback and the one of hardback book.

The story follows Sara who came to a small town Broken Wheel, Iowa, to spend her summer with her pan pel friend who’s a booklover herself.

Things get complicated when Amy, the woman Sara should have stayed with, ends up being death.

Town citizens decide it would only be fair for Sara to stay in Amy’s house like she would have in the first place, because that is what Amy would have wanted.

Days pass and Sara opens a little bookstore in which she sells books that once belonged to Amy.

This book is originally written in Swedish and it is already a bestseller in many countries (Croatia included). Although I have read a copy translated into English, if I didn’t know I was reading a translation, I wouldn’t have guessed. That is how great the translation was.

What I liked about this book the most was the atmosphere in it. I really like everything about The Broken Wheel, it’s rezidents and their lifestyle. I couldn’t help but think about Hart of Dixie the TV show.

This book has everything you need in a book: it is fun, it has a great love story that takes time when it comes to love development, it has interesting side stories, diverse characters and important issues that were discussed in the story.

After finishing this book I understand why this book is an international bookseller. It deserves all the hype that’s around it.

If you are a booklover, I am sure you will appreciate this story. I surely do.

Waiting on Wendesday (#2): Summer Nights at the Moonlight Hotel by Jane Costello

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Waiting on Wendesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights upcoming releases we can’t wait to read.

This week I am eagerly anticipating:

Summer Nights at Moonlight hotel

Summer Nights at the Moonlight Hotel by Jane Costello

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publication Date: March 10th, 2016

Summary (from Goodreads):

‘LEARN TO SALSA DANCE,’ the card in the shop window read. ‘Experience the red-hot vibes of Latin America right here in the Lake District. Beginners and singles welcome.’

Lauren Scott lives in ‘The most romantic place in Britain’, but her love life is about as successful as her mountain climbing skills. The man she’s obsessed over for two years has proposed to someone else – and her only solution is to save up for six months to go travelling, so she never has to set eyes on him again.

But when her friends sign her up for a dance class – in the same historic hotel where her beloved dad worked and her most precious childhood memories were formed – Lauren makes a horrifying discovery. It’s been sold to a faceless budget chain, which has depressing plans in store. Worse, the entrepreneur behind it all turns out to be among a group of guys her friend Cate roped in to join the very same salsa class they’ve signed up for….

Jane Costello’s funniest book yet – a story of love, friendship and some serious hip action . . . Get in the mood to mambo!

Why am I waiting for this book?

Although Jane Costello has been around for quite some time, I discovered her work only last year. With her smart sense of humour and appealing writing style, she quickly became my favorite chick-lit author, dethroning Sophie Kinsella.

I still haven’t read all of her books (I am going there!), but when it comes to her new novel, my excitement is way too high.

So far, I have only two books in my ”most anticipating books of 2016” list, and this is one of them.

Author Website * Amazon UK * Amazon US * Goodreads * The Book Depository