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This One is Mine by Maria Semple

From the Publisher:

Violet Parry is living the quintessential life of luxury in the Hollywood Hills with David, her rock-and-roll manager husband, and her darling toddler, Dot. She has the perfect life--except that she's deeply unhappy. David expects the world of Violet but gives little of himself in return. When she meets Teddy, a roguish small-time bass player, Violet comes alive, and soon she's risking everything for the chance to find herself again. Also in the picture are David's hilariously high-strung sister, Sally, on the prowl for a successful husband, and Jeremy, the ESPN sportscaster savant who falls into her trap. For all their recklessness, Violet and Sally will discover that David and Jeremy have a few surprises of their own. This One Is Mine is a compassionate and wickedly funny satire about our need for more--and the often disastrous choices we make in the name of happiness.


My Thoughts

I read this book but I didn't really enjoy it. I felt next to no sympathy for Violet.
How does someone who is living the perfect life make such bad choices?
She was this extremely capable woman who following the birth of her child...packed up all her self confidence and threw it out with the trash.
I guess that it fits the image of a woman on the edge......someone who behaves erratically wih little regard for those around her but the book felt too contrived to me and made me uncomfortable.

I can understand some of her choices like looking outside of her marriage when David was treating her so badly but she jumped out of the fire into the frying pan with Teddy. He was treating her worse! Why would she put herself into that situation?

I enjoyed the references to Jeremy with his Aspberger's syndrome. This is a timely diagnosis that is becoming more relevent daily. Many children in the school system are currently undergoing testing for this little known type of autism.
2 out of 5 stars

The Girl in the Backseat by Norma Charles

The Girl in the Backseat


In this fast-paced, on the road, YA novel, Norma Charles once again manages to include provocative social issues in an adventure story that will appeal to children from age ten and up.

The novel opens with Toby, a young girl in a Bountiful-style community, being caught secretly reading at night. The community leaders decide that she must be married at once to "the prophet," an older man. Hearing of the plan, Toby decides to escape to Winnipeg where she has a sympathetic aunt. Fortunately, at this moment she meets Jacob and Minerva Armstrong and learns they are on their way to Winnipeg in the family Mini. During the night, she steals away and hides herself in the backseat of the Mini.

Jacob and Minerva have their own set of problems, since they are black and their Caribbean mother has recently remarried, this time to a penny-pinching Englishman who has two children of his own, and who seems wholly alien to the siblings. When the two Armstrong children discover Toby hiding in the backseat, she pleads with them not to tell their parents, since they will surely call the police. As the trio make their way across the country to Winnipeg, all sorts of problems arise as Jacob and Minerva learn more about Toby’s plight and her life in the religious community.

My Thoughts

Claimed from Mini Book Expo. I always enjoy reading books that take place in Canada and this book is no exception. I haven't travelled through the western provinces though so I eagerly lapped up the descriptions of the route travelled by the family. I am reminded of the young adult genre of the book when the main story of polygamy and young girls being married off to old men is 'glossed' over. The subject is a distasteful one and aside from Toby's brief explanation of her frantic flight from her fate of being sent to Texas to marry a prophet of their faith...the details are hazy. She is running away to join an aunt of hers who had also escaped her life of drudgery and servitude and had run away to Winnipeg. What is less believable about this story though is how Toby has managed to keep her heretical thoughts and beliefs leading up to her escape.... to the age that she is now. I would assume that most young girls growing up in this environment would be thoroughly indoctrinated by the age of 14 and would willingly fall in line with the community's expectations. The book flows along well though and the characters are appealing and likable. 3 out of 5 stars

Get Positively Beautiful by Carmindy

It's always best to have a positive attitude towards one's self, and whether your empowerment lies in mind or body, it's a good practice to try and nurture both. Whether it's fixing up everyday or getting ready for that special evening, let these books guide the way to a fabulous you.

In GET POSITIVELY BEAUTIFUL, makeup artist Carmindy, from TLC’s hit show What Not to Wear shows you how to change your mindset from negative fault-finding to a positive beauty philosophy. You learn how to find and focus on your best features and how to combat negative thoughts about your appearance. Carmindy demonstrates easy makeup techniques for the eyes, brows, lips, cheeks, and skin, and how to adapt looks to different weather conditions and “beauty moods.”

Completely unique, GET POSITIVELY BEAUTIFUL mixes self-help and makeup how-to in this total beauty book.

Carmindy has appeared on The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, CBN, as well as in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Elle, O, Glamour, InStyle, and many more prominent men’s and women’s fashion magazines.

Check out Carmindy’s website: www.carmindy.com

My Thoughts

I have been following makeup trends since I was old enough to wear my first aqua eyeshadow at the advanced age of 11. My mother was having a portrait painted of me and she bought me this great wool vest (the 70s) with a gradated shading of colour from pale aqua to deep teal. Mom bought me the eye shadow to match. I felt like a princess...I felt so beautiful that day that every time I see that portrait...I am transported back to that specific moment in time when I felt so special-frozen in a moment of true beauty.
What made me feel so special was the glow that I had from being utterly convinced that I was the prettiest girl in the mall that day. This was many years before the destructive power of self bashing became de rigueur in my life.
This is my long winded attempt at trying to pair a personal analogy of myself with the positive message of Carmindy's new book. We need to teach ourselves how to promote our own positive messages and mantras that will cancel out all those critical feelings about our own beauty. We need to understand that we are ALL unique in our beauty and that we don't need to look perfectly airbrushed like someone from a magazine or tv show to be truly beauteous.
Carmindy has combined this positive mantra with glossy pictures and tips that keep the book useful as well. She also shows some makeovers of women who haven't always made the best choices with their looks and how to accent what makes them uniquely appealing.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this book.
4 out of 5 stars

Makeup Manual by Bobbi Brown

BOBBI BROWN'S MAKEUP MANUAL

Full Description

This is the book that Bobbi Brown's fans have been waiting for: her 25-plus years of makeup styling experience distilled into one complete, gorgeous book. Bobbi looks at everything from skincare basics to every aspect of facial makeup--from how to find the right color and type of foundation for any skin tone to how to apply every detail of eye makeup (Brows, Eye Liner, Eye Shadow, and Eye Lashes) no matter your eye color and shape. Of course there are never-before-seen tips on blush, bronzer, lip liners, lipstick, etc. And Bobbi looks beyond the face with informative chapters on "Hands and Feet" and "Body Skin Care." Each chapter has thorough step-by-step basic directions for makeup application and easy-to-follow photographs and line drawings, along with Bobbi's expert, yet assuring, advice. Plus, there's a groundbreaking section of the book that will be of special interest to women who've wanted to know how makeup stylists do what they do: the top beauty secrets only these artists know, essential equipment to keep on hand, how to break into the business, and how to work with photographers and celebrities.

Breathtaking photos of the finished faces-from everyday looks to exotic runway style-along with advice on putting it all together for every woman, make this a book like no other.

BOBBI BROWN'S MAKEUP MANUAL will be the only book any woman will need to look absolutely fabulous.

My Thoughts


I am the kind of woman who is in love with makeup and have been since my early teens. Back then I was crazy about aqua eyeshadow and would put it all over my eyelids and feel beautiful! It wasn't long before I tamed my look considerably and the only eyeshadow I love now is a discrete taupe and/or beige.
I haven't completely lost my artistic sensibilities ....I just now paint murals for artistic expression and not my face.
This is a beautiful book. I enjoyed leafing through it and the pictures are incredibly glossy and magazine-like but it didn't seem to have much more information in it that hasn't already been printed before....even by Bobbi Brown herself.
Beautiful book but only a 2.5 stars out of 5 for lack of originality.

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

From the Publisher

Living in Toronto for a year, Elena is leading the normal life she has always dreamed of, including a stable job as a journalist and a nice apartment shared with her boyfriend. As the lone female werewolf in existence, only her secret midnight prowls and her occasional inhuman cravings set her apart. Just one year ago, life was very different. Adopted by the Pack when bitten, Elena had spent years struggling with her resentment at having her life stolen away. Torn between two worlds, and overwhelmed by the new passions coursing through her body, her only option for control was to deny her awakening needs and escape.

But now the Pack has called Elena home to help them fight an alliance of renegade werewolves who are bent on exposing and annihilating the Pack. And although Elena is obliged to rejoin her "family," she vows not to be swept up in Pack life again, no matter how natural it might feel. She has made her choice. Trouble is, she''s increasingly uncertain if it''s the right one.


My Thoughts


I won this book from Library Thing...my first yet.
I started it and was immediately intrigued with a werewolf story with the setting in Toronto. Being as I am fairly close to Toronto in distance...I knew the places that Kelley Armstrong spoke of and that made it feel more personal.
I have hardly read any adult supernatural books but I requested to read and review it because I had already read The Summoning by Ms Armstrong and enjoyed it...I was confident that I would feel the same about this book.
I read the book from start to finish in less than a day and took it to bed with me to keep reading. I enjoyed it a lot and hope to find and read the sequels and the other series that Kelley Armstrong wrote as well.
This book while not inspiring deep thought and meditation has a place in my life under escapist fiction. This fact should NEVER be undersold as I spend a great deal of time trying to run away from the realities of my own life and this story was perfect for that.
I have never liked series novels that only seem to be a continuation of each other and this one seemed to be just what I like...a story from start to finish. If I never read any more in the series then I will never feel cheated out of my enjoyment of this book.
The characters were fun and sympathetic.
A solid 3 stars out of 5


Kelley Armstrong.com

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Product Description




OATHS SWORN . . . loyalties tested . . . forces collide.

Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.

owes his loyalty to others, too. The First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin Roran: to help rescue Roran’s beloved, Katrina, from King Galbatorix’s clutches. But EragonVarden are in desperate need of his talents and strength—as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices— choices that take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.

Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once-simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?

My Thoughts

I have enjoyed both of the two books previously in the Inheritance Trilogy (now 4 instead of three....so not a trilogy but a quartet) and this particular chapter of it is no exception.
Christopher Paolini has created an amazing world in Alagaesia peopled with intriguing characters both good, bad and undefined with dwarves, elves and dragons to muddy the waters.
I have found one fault in these books and that is the length...it is without a doubt...far too long and it reads quite slowly through a large chunk of the middle of the book. The style of writing though is flowing enough that I still read through even the boring bits but it was worth it and the book became more exciting again.
I would love to creep into Christopher Paolini's mind sometimes to see the progression of ideas from conception to the final product as this world is so finely crafted and all nuances seem to be fleshed out.
I give this a 4 out of 5 stars