29th November, 2007

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

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I gladly plucked out this book from the shelf because I’ve watched the movie a few years ago and liked it. Well, the movie was quite similar to the book. Some things were changed though. Anyhow, this is a great book and if you’re the sentimental type, you’d probably cry at certain parts in the book. I noticed that there’s a lot of crying in it.

Landon Carter is already 57 years old and he’s telling his story of what happened to him when he was 17. His life changed when he started spending time with Jamie Sullivan, when they were 17. Landon was considered a bad boy and other parents assumed he’s plain trouble. His father was a congressman and was rarely home to be with his family.

On the other hand, Jamie Sullivan is the daughter of Beaufort’s Baptist minister. That’s where they all lived – Beaufort, North Carolina. She’s not fashionable and she always carries her Bible wherever she goes. So it’s certainly obvious that she and Landon have not much in common. That’s what Landon thought.

Incidentally, Landon did not have a date to Beaufort High’s homecoming dance. Most of the girls already had dates or he didn’t fancy going with the less attractive ones. In the end, it was either go to the dance alone and clean up puke in the toilet or go with Jamie Sullivan and risk being teased by his friends. She did smile at him in class, so maybe she might agree to go with him. Finally, he asked her and surprisingly, she accepted. On one condition, that is, he must not fall in love with her. He agreed. Anything is better than cleaning up puke.

Landon found her to be a very kind and understanding person who always looked on the bright side of things, no matter how horrible they are. However, after the dance, he did not feel like spending any more time with her. That time, he still had feelings for his ex-girlfriend, Angela.

But then later, Jamie asked him to join the Christmas play. Initially, he didn’t want to join but after some pitiful remarks from Jamie, he finally gave in. So, they rehearsed the play and then, it’s show time. Without warning, Landon fell in love with Jamie when she appeared looking amazingly beautiful.

All in all, it’s a nice story with a wonderful plot. Incredibly sad, though. Also, I found out what the title ‘A Walk to Remember’ refers to. It’s the kind of book where one may want to change to become a better person after reading it. And if you like books where the guy changes himself for the girl, then this is the book for you.

Buy A Walk to Remember

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Posted in Authors S, Romance, Titles A at 12:34 pm | Comments (22)



28th November, 2007

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Published in 2000
ISBN: 0440241413

The first book of the popular Shopaholic series! It has another title, too, which is ‘The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic’. Yup, we meet Rebecca Bloomwood and in this book, she and Luke aren’t together. Yet. I wanted to know how they met and boy, it’s all absolutely exciting. I couldn’t stop reading last night and just kept turning the pages to know what happens next!

Rebecca or Becky is 25 years old and she completely adores shopping. She’s a financial journalist at Successful Saving magazine. Although she finds her work hopelessly boring, she sticks to it because it’s a job and she gets paid. Oh, she also gets bombarded with numerous letters from her bank and Visa. Why’s that? Well, she’s spent too much and hasn’t paid the bills yet, that’s why!

Finally, taking her dad’s advice, without his knowledge, she tries to C.B. which means ‘cut back’ on her spending. However, she ends up spending more money instead. When she felt like there’s no more hope, her flatmate, Suze, suggested that she tried to Make More Money so she can pay off her bills.

Somehow, Becky applied to be a Saturday shop assistant at a clothes store. Sure, she loves clothes and all, but hiding a pair of jeans from a customer??? That’s hilarious! You never know what she’ll do next. She makes up lies and all kinds of stories just to get her own way and to me, she comes across as a very selfish person.

How’s her relationship with Luke in this book? He’s deemed a genius and he built his company, Brandon Communications from nothing. Also, he’s in the list of the 100 Richest Bachelors. Tarquin, Suze’s cousin, has also made the list. He’s interested in Becky but she’s not that into him, unfortunately. Anyway, things changed after she spotted him in the richest bachelor list.

Becky thinks that Luke Brandon likes her. But, she’s not quite sure. She even had a good time choosing a luggage bag with him. Apparently, the luggage was for his girlfriend! Was she furious when she found out! And all the while she thought that he actually liked her. Since then, she’s never trusted him and decided to hate him.

At the beginning of the book, only bad things happened to her. Partly because she caused them to happen. You feel sorry for her and yet you just want to laugh out loud at her silliness! It’s like the other Shopaholic books I’ve read. And I have two more books to go – the one where she gets married and the other one with the baby!

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: BookChica

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Posted in Authors K, Contemporary, Girls/Women, Humour, Titles C at 10:17 am | Comments (4)



25th November, 2007

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon’s second best-selling novel isn’t anything like his first. I enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time but I can’t say the same for A Spot of Bother. However, it’s an easy book to read because Haddon wrote in short sentences and small paragraphs. Plus very short chapters too.

The story is about George Hall’s and his family’s adventures. I say ‘adventures’ because the things happening to them sound like that. George is a retired guy and he’s in the middle of building his own studio in his garden so that he has his own space to draw and paint. He also has some lesion on his hip, which he thinks is cancerous and he also thinks he’s lost his marbles.

Then, his wife, Jean, is having an affair with George’s old friend from work, David. Sometimes she feels guilty about it all and feels bad betraying her husband. One day, David poured out his feelings to her and asked her to be with him forever. To leave George and be with David, that is. But Jean doesn’t think she’s ready to take such a huge, drastic leap.

Besides that, Katie, their daughter, is about to get married a second time. She already has a little son, Jacob, from her first marriage. This time, she’s going to marry Ray. Unfortunately, her parents and brother don’t think that he’s quite suitable for her. Also, Katie isn’t sure if she’s in love with him or not.

Finally, there’s Jamie, Katie’s brother. He’s a homosexual and he’s having trouble with his partner, Tony. Jamie is also trying to get his life back together, trying to rebuild the perfect life he created for himself. Anyway, things don’t always go to plan, do they?

Well, doesn’t it sound like a pretty exciting book? I find that things got more exciting after about 60% of the book. My favourite part of the book was when Jamie’s mother and sister greeted Tony after a very unexpected scene, which shocked family and friends.

Actually, most of the book is about George. Yeah, it’s quite pitiful for him. He admits he’s afraid of death and yet he doesn’t get a thorough medical check-up. His family’s too busy to take any notice. They took it for granted that he could take care of himself, like he always did.

I guess this book would be perfect to pick up to read if you’re having a particularly rough day. While reading, imagine you’re in the shoes of any one of the characters (except little Jacob, though), then perhaps you might feel a little bit better.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Bibliolatrist

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Posted in Authors H, Contemporary, Humour, Mystery/Thriller, Titles A at 2:23 pm | Comment (0)



8th November, 2007

The Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron

Fat and Skinny had a race
All around the pillow case
Fat fell down and broke her face
Skinny said, ‘Ha-ha, I won the race.’

‘The Best Little Girl in the World’ sounds like a really simple title, doesn’t it? Well, this story is much more than simple actually. My sister recommended this book for me to read. I wondered why she never recommended it earlier!

The ‘little girl’, Francesca Louise Dietrich, a normal teenager who loves ballet and goes for ballet lessons. At the beginning of the story, Francesca has already begun to hate her ‘fat body’. Then, I think her ballet teacher made matters worse by telling her to be slim and firm herself up. But I guess her teacher meant for her to diet in a healthy way.

Anyway, Francesca created a new name for herself: Kessa. In her mind, Kessa is thin and perfect whereas Francesca is fat and ugly. So that’s how her obsession of becoming thin started. She drifted away from her family and friends and also from food altogether.

I was quite annoyed with her mother, Grace and also her father, Harold. Kessa must have become terribly thin already and always made up excuses not to eat her food but her parents did not entirely force her to eat. They let her do anything she wants initially. When she complained about the food, they merely scolded her but didn’t make her eat.

After some time, her father could not take it anymore and stood over her and made her eat up her food. However, they did not know that she would throw up all the food she ate in the toilet. And yet they wonder why she’s still so thin. Finally, Kessa’s pediatrician advised her parents to let Kessa see a psychiatrist, a Dr Smith.

Things did not really go well with Dr Smith and Kessa stopped seeing him. Then, her parents took her to another psychiatrist, Sandy Sherman. Well, at least Sherman sounds better than Smith, Kessa’s father thought. Yeah, he’s better too because he made Kessa trust him and confide in him.

Kessa’s condition did not improve, as she still won’t eat and finally landed in the hospital. I like her roommate, Lila, who’s very straightforward and full of common sense. She tells Kessa it’s silly to NOT want to eat when they have food right in front of them. Then what about poor people who don’t have food? Poor people don’t simply starve themselves to become thinner. It’s logical, isn’t it?

I think this is the first book about anorexia nervosa that I’ve read. So far, I’ve only watched a movie, Hunger Point, which is also about an anorexic girl. The Best Little Girl in the World has been an insightful book but at some parts where Kessa was examining herself and when she was counting the number of ribs she has, I felt sort of uncomfortable for her. If one could count the number of ribs one has, then that person ought to feel extremely hungry! I know I will.

This book has its good and bad sides. The good part is that it’ll give us an idea of how an anorexic thinks. The bad part is it may help people become anorexics, which is just bad, bad, bad. Therefore, I recommend that you only READ it for information but NOT to copy what Kessa did. It sounds logical, isn’t it?

In short, when you are hungry, EAT! Your body will thank you for it.

Buy The Best Little Girl in the World

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Posted in Authors L, Girls/Women, Titles B, Young Adult Fiction at 4:39 am | Comments (7)


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