Just Read # 5

In the beginning of this week I read this little gem:

Midory by Moonlight by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga
I loved, no LURVED! the plot, the storyline! I've been a big fan of Japan ever since I've read my first book by Federica de Cesco by the age of 8. But when I said gem, I meant it. This is an unpolished Jewel, a Diamond in the rough.
I loved everything about the story, I liked Midori and I fell a little bit in love with Shinji.
But I'm sorry to say that I was close to throw it away several times. I hated, no HATED the writing. I don't like the patronizing style, I really don't. If you've been reading this blog for a time you already know that the writing style I love best is the one from the 'I' -perspective.
One of my most favourite books last year was Wendy Nelson Tokunagas Love in Translation, what a tremendous difference in writing, writing style.
Anyway, even though I really hated the writing I was enough interested in the story, that I couldn't put it away. I really couldn't. And believe me, I tried! But the book kept showing up on the weirdest places and I really didn't have any choice but to finish it, and I'm glad I did..it gave me joy, and now I'm really really looking forward to Wendy N.Tokunagas next book, whenever that is. Because she is one h*** of a story-teller and her writing in the newest book is wonderful...so it can only get better! YaY!!

Just Read # 4

This week I've read Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan

I've had this book on my bookshelf for a very long time. The reason why I picked it up this week is that I don't have much else to read. My last batch of books was a very bad one indeed (Just Arrived #2) I only managed to read a page or two, a chapter at most, the only book I've actually finished is Something About You by Julie James.

Anyway, back to Persuading Annie. Even though I don't actually know what I think about it. This is one of these books who make it difficult for you to make up your mind. I knew the story outlines before I started reading, of course. It is after all based on Persuasion by Jane Austen. But I had a hard time identifying with the characters, some scenes were just plain silly, some two-dimensional characters and some dialogue that didn't make sense to me. Yet there was some charming element in it, in the writing, the wittiness, the prose. Something kept me reading. Something kept me going.

Basically this book saved my week, left me wanting and dissatisfied in the reunion scenes and made me sad that there won't be any more books by Melissa Nathan.

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Other books by Melissa Nathan I totally loved are : The Nanny and Pride and Prejudice and Jasmin Field (also called Acting Up)

Just Read # 3

Looks like I'm on a roll today. Second Book-Post today..Yay :)

This "Just Read" is about Kristin Harmels new book After




It is an adorable little read. I read it in one sweep on Saturday Evening, tears streaming down my face during most of it. After is like Kristin Harmels When you Wish a YA book. But it isn't your everyday typical YA- book. It deals with Death and the loss of a parent or both. So the theme is actually very grown-up and you won't find the typical ingredients of a YA book.
After is a book about coping, dealing with loss, rising up again, processing regrets and how to deal with feeling guilty.
Lacey, the books heroine, is very strong, and seems most of the time more mature and grown-up than a normal teenager, but I guess that is what you become in such situations.

I really really liked this book, the only negative thing is that you read it way too fast, it is finished way too soon and you won't want to leave :)

Yes, apparently I liked it.

Kristin Harmel has also written adult books, I liked How to Sleep with a Movie Star best out of these..


If you want to know more, you can visit Kristin Harmels homepage.

Just Read # 2

Well, Well, Well - Here it comes: Just Read # 2!

I've been so busy lately, that I didn't have time to write or to read..SCANDAL!!!




Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom by Julie Cohen


What is the difference between a good book and a bad one (I alreday know that this book isn't a great one..so)

I'm really not good at giving reviews, my opinion is never the same as anyone else's. It's subjective, and my feelings and opinions about books are always shadowed by how I felt that particular day, if a was glad or sad, it it was raining or sunny.

Anyway, I read this little book on Friday-afternoon, in one sitting. Is it a good book if you just can't put it down?

I'm not going to give a short synopsis of the book's content, you can read that on any number of different sources, like amazon.com or on Julie Cohens homepage .
The book is called Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom, the Gloom Temple part starts after about 160 pages. I didn't want to read these first 160 pages. I wasn't interested in them, At all! I already knew what was going to happen. It said so on the back of the book! Nina is in love with the married guy, she runs away to Spain with the Spanish guy instead, he in turn runs off with all her money..and that's when the Temple of Gloom really starts. Why read anything that I already know the outcome of, why invest any emotions? I wanted to know what happened after, so I pretty much started reading the book on page 160 or somewhere near there.

The good part of the book on the other hand is way too short, the ending is rushed and I still don't know much about Vampire Viktor..and why did Julie Cohen try to get in all that Vampire-mystery stuff in the first place? It seems she tried to write about something that is IN right now -> Vampires.

Anyway, bottom line is that I liked the book, the second part at least. But it left me emotionally unfulfilled, I wanted more, the real story was too short for me, too rushed.
But try it, if you are looking for a fast Friday afternoon read :)


Also by Julie Cohen:
I especially liked One Night Stand and Girl From Mars

Magont

Jag har "Just Read # 2 och # 3" på gång, japp, jag har läst två böcker på två dagar...
Sitter dock i sängen med rejält magont just nu, ska kolla klart på på NCIS första säsongen..sedan ska jag sova...måste upp tidigt imorgon..så jag hoppas att jag mår bättre tills dess.

Jag kom på varför jag faktiskt gillar NCIS, det påminner mig lite om min favoritserie Remington Steele..och lite, pytte lite om Renegade, men mest om Remington Steele..den serien älskade jag verkligen, gör det fortfarande...svårt to break a habit I guess.

Två till har anmält sig till festen, det kommer att bli trångt, väldigt trångt här..har ingen aning om det kommer att fungera ..hmm...och jag vet fortfarande inte vad jag ska äta då :S

Så, det har kommit in en hel del böcker som jag har haft på bevakning, men jag kan och får inte beställa, inga pengar = inga böcker...det gör faktiskt ont i hela kroppen..

Just Read # 1

I finished this one sometime last week. As I said in an earlier post, I've never read so fast!
I liked Hand-me-down by Lee Nichols a lot. Really. Funny, interesting, a story of realising what life is about, realising one's potential, learning, loving, searching.....


Also by Lee Nichols:

• Tales of a Drama Queen (on my shelf - to-be-read)
• Wednesday Night Witches (on my to-buy-list)

• Reconstructing Brigid
• True Lies of a Drama Queen

Unfortunately I wasn't able to find these other two books anywhere, I'd love to read them though :( :(

I've never any idea what to write in here :S

I've just finished Hello, Heartbreak by Amy Huberman.


It's my first book back since reading The Dating-Detox which I really really loved. Anyway, I didn't have much time to read these past few weeks anyway, what with my Mum visiting, Uni being very demanding and the weather being really depressing (don't ask what that's to do with reading, I don't know either!). Anyway, yesterday evening I've had enough and picked up the book on top of my pile, it happened to be Hello, Heartbreak. Lets face it, I'm not good at giving reviews, maybe it has to do with me being shy, or being too self-conscious, who knows. But I liked it. If you like a funny, likeable heroine, good writing, a hot hunk and hilarious scenes I'd recommend to pick it up :) It even left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling (or it could have been the chocolate with the glass of red wine).

Here's my favourite laugh: "I sincerely hoped he knew I was joking about the dawn jog. People who sacrificed an extra hour in bed to run around in the dark wearing Lycra were obviously in a weird cult and should be avoided at all costs." (Hello, Heartbreak by Amy Huberman, p. 183.)

Becoming Scarlett

I finished Becoming Scarlett yesterday afternoon. I'm still in awe, I'm still high, still floating. Oh my God. That's all I can say. Really. I didn't get any sleep in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, no sleep at all. I had to get ready for Uni at 7 a.m., take the bus to Uppsala, have my presentation, discussing, having a really difficult and mind-boggling seminar, during all this time my mind was in a haze..in the book..not in the reality...I couldn't wait to get out of there..running to my bus which would take me home..carrying with me the weight of the book in my bag...

I honestly don't know which one was better, Saving Grace or Becoming Scarlett, what I do know is that this book could already take home the prize of being the best book of 2010..(I hope I'm wrong and an even greater book comes a long, for egoistical reasons, I want more great books to read!!!!). I'm so happy that I wasn't disappointed by Ciara Geraghtys second book, so happy indeed! I loved it, I really did! I cried more while reading Saving Grace and I even laughed more. I cried a little during the ending of Becoming Scarlett..a good cry :D..

I'm always afraid to read books that are too much drama, too sad..even if there is much sadness in the middle with a happy ending...I guess thats the reason why' I don't read" heavier" books. I can't face them..There has been too much sadness in my life already..and I don't have to read about it..I read because I want to feel better..feel something else..being emerged in a different reality than my own. That doesn't mean that I live my life through books, not at all..I'm living my dream..or well, most of the time. But books, books are the only constant thing in my life..they make me happy..even if everything else fails.
I'm so glad to have found the books of Ciara Geraghty..they are just what I need..not too much girly/chick-lit/make-up/boyfriend-trouble stuff and not too much too serious/serious/sad/drama stuff either..and her writing..oh my God, I really love her writing..I really lose myself. I wasn't here while I was reading Becoming Scarlett..I was somewhere else..

I can't give you a good summary/review of Becoming Scarlett..maybe later..And I know that the books/my reading depends on the my feelings/emotions and everything else I have /situation I'm in, when I'm reading the books..so someone else maybe doesn't feel/think the same thing about it as I do..

But books like Becoming Scarlett by Ciara Geraghty (as Saving Grace) are the reason why I keep reading..why I keep looking..why I keep sorting through all the bad ones, the mediocre ones and the good ones...to find the really great ones.. the ones that give me butterflies, make me hot and cold, make me cry and laugh..make me feel like I'm flying and floating..the ones that are worth every word I read..So thank you Ciara Geraghty..thank you!..

Ok, now I sound really sentimental..I'm sorry..
Now I'm in a book drought again...and I'm already bored...Pity me...

Need more time for reading!

I've just finished I Heart Hollywood by Lindsey Kelk. I actually don't know what I thought about it. I didn't particularly care for the storyline, the plot, it just felt blaah. I didn't care for the plot in the first one ( I Heart New York) either, but there was the writing, the writing I really like, and the warm fuzzy feeling I got from reading it. I didn't get it now. But I couldn't put it down either, just couldn't. So, anyway..I've got to study some more now...

This I got yesterday...After a long and excruciating wait it finally arrived on my doorstep..but there's no time for reading..well, sleep is overrated, right?

Audrey, Wait

Jag har precis läst ut den här boken



Den var bättre än vad jag trodde, faktiskt. Jag läser inte böcker för Young Adults så ofta längre. Lets face it, jag börjar bli gammal. Tiden står inte still, även om jag mig oftare än inte fortfarande befinner mig i en 14-årings hjärna. Audrey, Wait förde mina tankar till den här boken..



Också en bok för unga vuxna. Av någon konstig coincidence så läste jag faktiskt denna förra året på juldagen, ute i stugan..det var kallt och mysigt och jag kunde inte sluta läsa...var inte världens mest sociala sällskap direkt..haha.
Men man får faktiskt inte förkasta dessa YA - böcker, man växer aldrig riktigt ur denna ålder. Många av de insecurities jag hade då har jag fortfarande kvar, det är ofta jag känner igen mig, kan identifiera mig...kanske borde lägga ner a bigger effort att bli vuxen...:S

Jag börjar få lite ångest inför imorron. Jag har inte vågat ta fram byxorna ännu, som jag ska ha imorron. Det är ett år sedan jag hade på mig dem sist och what with all the weight-gain, de kanske inte passar längre :S.

Ska strax ta fram alla mina pärlor..försöka skapa något halsband eller örhängen till morgondagens outfit..det kan ju faktiskt inte bli värre...moahahaha

3

Jag har läst A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents igår, jag älskade den. Den är inte lika bra som Liza Palmers första bok, men jag gillar den starkt. Det som jag inte gillar med den är att den är alldeles för kort(!!!!!) och att en stor fråga löstes alldeles för lätt, i mina ögon i alla fall.

Jag har sagt det förr och jag säger det igen, böcker skrivna utifrån Jag-perspektivet är bäst, så enkelt är det :)

Field Guide var så bra att den kommer in på min top tre lista i år, på tredje plats (även om jag fortfarande måste säga att utbudet var klent i år!).

• 3. A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents - Liza Palmer. Hur ska man hantera föräldrarnas död?
  
• 2. The Good Luck Girl - Kerry Reichs. Hur återupptar man sitt liv efter leukemi? Hur hanterar man rädslan för återfall? Hur hanterar man att ens vän dog i sjukdomen när man själv överlevde?
• 1. Saving Grace - Ciara Geraghty. Hur hanterar man broderns död? Hur hanterar man att man är ansvarig för hans död?

Äntligen sol!! Synd, så synd, att jag inte kan njuta av den. Har så otroligt mycket plugg att göra idag att jag blir alldeles snurrig av att bara tänka på det! Seminarium imorgon, varför blir jag alltid så nervös och livrädd inför seminarier?? Men att det inte regnar och är grått och hemskt ute hjälper en hel del, energinivån är högre än de senaste dagarna, veckorna, äntligen kan jag börja motionera igen :)

Snart fredag ( :D ), snart helg, och det är på dagen idag precis 4 veckor kvar till jullovet!!! JIPPIE :)

Twenties Girl

Jag har precis läst ut Twenties Girl av Sophie Kinsella. Det var inte alls planerat, hade tänkt spara lite tills imorron, ääh, jag menar till senare idag. Men jag kunde inte sluta. Utan att lägga märke till det så passerade jag The Point of no Return och det blev omöjligt att lägga ifrån mig boken. Jag grät..jag grät en hel del..fattar inte varför jag alltid blir så känslosam...Tror faktiskt en hel del människor skulle bli förvånade..framförallt de som kalla(r)de mig för Queen of Ice / Icequeen. Den var hur som helst bra :) Mer kan jag inte säga just nu. Är trött och helt slut, har den sedvanliga ångesten som alltid drabbar med efter att ha läst ut en bok..Liksom "vad ska jag göra imorron?"