11
Jul 2010

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

By 9 Comments

Just fresh out of college, Andrea Sachs or Andy, 23, thinks it’s time to get a job. She soon finds herself as junior assistant to Miranda Priestly, highly-feared Runway magazine editor and also one of the most powerful women in the world of fabulous fashion.

Since she has never read Runway or any other fashion magazine, Andy has to rapidly learn the ropes in order to survive as Miranda’s assistant. She’s also not the sort of girl to swoon over the latest Prada bag or Jimmy Choo shoes or starve herself to stay skinny.

She’s also being reminded constantly that she’s lucky to be working for Miranda Priestly, and that millions of girls would die for the job. But it’s tough attempting to carry out various tasks in a short amount of time for the ever-demanding Miranda. To stay motivated, Andy assures herself that she’d stick it out as Miranda’s slave assistant for a year and she’d be able to be a writer for The New Yorker. It seems that working for Miranda can get you places!

I’ve watched the movie starring Anna Hathaway and Meryl Streep many, many times and I love it! The clothes are superb and to-die-for. Meryl’s performance as the boss-from-hell Miranda is perfect. Although most scenes from the novel have been adapted into the movie, their storyline weren’t the same. Compared to the book, the movie is considered a feel-good version.

Not that the book isn’t all that chirpy and light-hearted but Andy has had to deal with serious issues. For example, her best friend Lily is an alcoholic but Andy couldn’t bring herself to talk to Lily about it. In the movie, Andy’s boyfriend, Nate is a chef while in the book, the boyfriend, Alex teaches in a school in South Bronx where the students come from troubled homes.

I kind of breezed through the 391-page book. Some parts were dragging, for instance when Andy keeps complaining about Miranda. Also, I cringed a few times just from reading about all the wasted food that Miranda never ate. Andy doesn’t know when Miranda arrives at the office in the morning and she orders her breakfast every ten minutes so that when Miranda arrives, the meal will be steaming hot. All the previously ordered and now cold, meals will be dumped into the trash. Just like that. Isn’t that wasteful???

Miranda does have a lot of responsibility in her hands and she needs to overcome the challenge of balancing work with personal life. Therefore, being her assistant is not easy! I wonder how a typical day goes by for Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue magazine.

Well, what do you think of the book? Is it really that difficult to be assistant to a fashion editor and do these editors have fussy demands?

Popularity: 6%

Categories: Authors W, Genre - Women's Fiction, Titles D
05
Jul 2010

The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries, #1) by L.J. Smith

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Elena Gilbert, a sophomore in high school, is beautiful and popular. Every girl wants to be her and every guy wants to be with her. She has blonde hair and wears the most fashionable clothes. She’s the Barbie doll with power in Robert E. Lee High School.

But underneath all that perfection and glory, Elena feels empty inside. Her parents had been killed in a road accident and she’s living with her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend. When the mysterious Stefan Salvatore arrives on the first day of school, Elena becomes captivated by him. Just like every other girl in school who has fallen for the handsome, brooding guy.

The shocking thing for Elena was that Stefan completely ignores her. Which guy in their right mind would not look at the beautiful Elena? Or even die for the chance to talk to her? She tries to strike up conversations with Stefan but is only left hurt and disappointed. The question burning in her mind is why doesn’t he like her???

The Awakening is the first book in the Vampire Diaries series. As I read it, it was similar to that of the Twilight books. Elena writes things in her diary. It’s a story of romance between a human girl and a vampire guy. There’s a love triangle involved. I expected it to be as intriguing as Twilight where the story will hold my attention to the end. However, I found it slightly boring although it was a quick and easy read. This book was also published in 1991 so we cannot assume it copied Twilight.

Elena is not a likeable character. She thinks only of herself and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. On a positive note, she’s a determined sort of girl. She’s strong, defiant and won’t take no for an answer.

On the other hand, the Stefan character is quite dull. He doesn’t do much except try to avoid Elena. She describes his eyes as containing the deepest kind of sadness, the most painful kind of sadness a person can ever have. Stefan’s older brother, Damon is more exciting. Damon’s described as “sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him.” When Elena meets Damon, she is surprised to find herself drawn to him. Well, who wouldn’t if he’s such a hot guy?

Do you watch the The Vampire Diaries TV series which is based on these books? I’ve watched a few episodes and noticed differences between book and TV. For instance, Elena on TV is a brunette and she’s not queen bee like the Elena in the book. TV Elena seems much nicer too. Stefan’s the same and Damon would be someone to look out for. ;)

I’ll be looking forward to reading the next book in the series, The Struggle.

Popularity: 8%

Categories: Authors S, Genre - YA Paranormal Romance, Titles A Tags:
24
Jun 2010

Pistonhead by Thomas A. Hauck

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This one is for the music fans, especially if you are a hardcore heavy rock enthusiast. Nah, this book is perfect for all music lovers and for those who are curious about the life a musician leads.

Charlie Sinclair is 24 years old and holds two jobs. He works on an assembly line in a factory by day and thrills rock music fans by night. He plays the guitar in the band who calls themselves Pistonhead. Even though they have only released two CDs and keep a small following of fans, the band members remain optimistic by doing what they love to do, that is to make and play music together.

However, Charlie feels as if his life isn’t going anywhere. He only holds a temporary day job. His band gets booed at certain shows. His childhood friend and lead singer of Pistonhead, Rip is hooked on drugs. He has no girlfriend. His apartment is filled with mice. His mother has a new boyfriend he doesn’t know about. Charlie wished he could tell all that to people who think he leads a glamorous rock star life.

Then suddenly something happens that ultimately changes everything. The band’s future becomes uncertain. Charlie’s future looks even bleaker.

This novel of only 174 pages has the plot going smoothly. It only revolves around one very important week in Charlie’s life. Told from the third person limited point of view, we readers see life and music though Charlie’s eyes.

Despite the rocker musician’s spectacular performances on stage, Charlie becomes just as ordinary as everyone else once he gets off stage. People think he leads a promiscuous life with groupies but all Charlie wants is a girlfriend who loves him as he is. This is where I wonder if his co-worker Lisa has feelings for him though there are hints of it. There is also an eccentric love scene with Lisa’s friend, Tamaya.

I really enjoyed reading the concert scenes and Charlie’s feelings when on stage. The most exciting part for me is where one of their performances got a lukewarm response from a very hostile audience. I was on the edge of my seat and tried to guess whether the band would stop playing or just go on with the show.

The author of this novel, Thomas A. Hauck was a rock musician and songwriter for 15 years. He had played with Boston-based bands such as the Atlantics and Ball and Pivot. You can read more about the bands here.

Check out Thomas Hauck’s guest post on my other book blog, Books Love Me!

***Thanks to Mr Hauck for sending me a copy of his novel to review.

Popularity: 2%

Categories: Authors H, Genre - Contemporary, Titles P
21
Jun 2010

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

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Don’t you just love the cover of this book? I have a thing for clouds and blue sky but the scene of the father running with his two daughters underneath a bright blue sky is totally endearing. It’s the cover of Dodie Smith’s first novel, I Capture the Castle.

The story is narrated through journal writing by 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. She intends to capture everything and everyone around her by writing about them in her journal. Her family is poor and they live in an old, rented but fascinating castle called Godsend in the county of Suffolk. Cassandra hopes to improve her writing by jotting down her thoughts and observations religiously in her journal.

Her family is an interesting mix of characters. Cassandra’s father, James Mortmain had a one hit wonder of a book but has ceased writing ever since. Now his family can only wonder if he’s trying to write anything else. Topaz, their stepmother, is described as a stunning woman who loves to play the lute and indulges in nudism to commune with nature. Cassandra has a beautiful older sister, Rose and a younger brother, Thomas. Stephen, the handsome, sensible servant-boy also lives with them and is utterly devoted to Cassandra. He takes extra care of her and showers her with small gifts every now and then.

Cassandra also compares her family’s situation with the Bennet family from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. She wonders if their luck would be as fortunate as the Bennet sisters whose marriage to men from rich families had helped them rise to a better social status.

When two American brothers arrived unexpectedly at the castle one night, the Mortmain family had hopes that it could bring a good change for them. The Americans who are the Cottons also owned Godsend Castle and thus are the Mortmains’ landlords. Desperate to capture the hearts of the wealthy brothers, Rose behaves in a silly way during their first few encounters. But after a turn of events, they learnt more of one another and became friends.

It was the ultimate good news when Simon Cotton made a marriage proposal to Rose. She accepted it readily as she thought she was in love with him. Cassandra and almost everyone were happy for the newly-engaged couple. But she was puzzled when the other brother, Neil Cotton did not share their joyful sentiments. He pointed out that Rose was only marrying Simon for the money.

However, Simon kisses Cassandra when he visited for a Midsummer Eve family ritual. With it being her first kiss and because she enjoyed being in Simon’s company, she believes to be in love with him. Knowing that the man she loves would be married to her sister, Cassandra carries around with her the heavy weight of her love struck and shattered heart.

The first person point of view is used to narrate the story and by that, the reader sees everything that’s happening from Cassandra’s eyes and can only understand from what she can mentally absorb. She ought to get credit because she has an eye for detail and manages to describe almost everything in the most creative manner. She tends to ramble at times but that’s part of the point of having a journal.

I admit that the book was a slow start for me. It was alright in Chapter One but the pace went slightly downhill after that. It got better with the appearance of the Cotton brothers. They were “fresh” characters who brought life to the story. Meanwhile, Stephen is just so sweet that you couldn’t help but want to knock some sense into Cassandra and tell her that he’s the one for her.

Cassandra’s father is a mystery in the beginning. You would think that it’s sheer laziness as he hasn’t made the effort to do anything to improve the living conditions of his family who are already stuck in poverty. I thought it was ironic that the servant (Stephen) had to take up a second job elsewhere to bring money in. But then he’s already considered as part of the family so that can be overlooked.

All in all, this coming of age novel is beautifully-written and you’ll just bask in the vividness of the descriptions. Follow Cassandra’s journey as she learns about love, life, the people around her and herself. There is also a 2003 movie of the same name, which is based on the book and stars Romola Garai, Rose Byrne and Henry Cavill.

Pssst…..did you know that Dodie Smith also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians? I loved that cartoon!

Other reviews: Bending Bookshelf, Things Mean a Lot, ImpishIdea, The Roof is on Phire, The Literary Pursuit

Popularity: 9%

Categories: Authors S, Genre - YA Classics, Titles I
10
Jun 2010

Collision of Evil by John J. Le Beau

By 9 Comments

An American tourist is murdered while hiking in the woods in Germany. It was his luck as he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The tourist, Charles Hirter had seeked shelter in a cave only to find some mysterious crates stored there. Before he could emerge out of the woods, he was savagely murdered by the person who’s been guarding the hidden crates in the cave.

Highly unfortunate for the murderer, Charles’ brother, Robert Hirter happens to be a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. He is determined to solve his brother’s murder case, together with German detective Kommissar Franz Waldbaer who is in charge of the case.

As they work hard in their investigations, they make a lot of discoveries which lead to more questions. Desperate for more clues, Robert accepted the invitation to meet up with a mysterious stranger who wished to tell him a story which can be a background for the murder situation. The stranger turned out to be a veteran soldier of the Third Reich and he tells Robert about how his and other soldiers’ final mission where they had to transport some crates with unknown contents.

It’s been awhile since I read a mystery novel or a thriller. I was hoping for this to be action-packed or at least be a quick read where I’ll be flipping through the pages to know what’s next. However, it was quite slow in the beginning and slower in the middle. The process of Robert unraveling the mystery of the murder case seemed never-ending. Only towards the end of the story did the real action begin.

Mysteries and thrillers usually have some romance going on between the main character, if male, and the leading female character. Well, there’s not much romantic relationships in the story but there is a hint of romance between Robert and a fellow CIA officer, Caroline, though they’ve only met a couple of times and mainly communicated via phone during the course of the investigation. He’s in Germany while she’s in the United States.

Judging from the cover of the book, one can guess what the story’s about. There’s the Swastika or the Hakenkreuz logo as used by Nazi Germany and an image of some Islamic writing. I guessed earlier that it has to be connected to Nazi Germany and terrorism. The title of the novel has been cleverly thought of too, since it’s about the idea of an evil past threatening to intersect with the evil present. Thus, it’s a collision of evil.

And oh my, there is a very gruesome murder scene in the novel, carried out by the villain. I have to applaud Mr Le Beau for describing it so well that I cringed when I read it. Actually, there is a lot of description in the novel which is why it is relatively wordy.

It’s a good story though only if it were written in a faster-paced manner. Collision of Evil is John J. Le Beau’s first novel, by the way. He served as a clandestine operations officer in the CIA for over 25 years.

***Thanks to Maryglenn McCombs for sending me an ARC of this novel to review.

Other reviews: Bookjourney, Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic

Popularity: 3%

Categories: Authors L, Genre - Thriller, Titles C
01
Jun 2010

The Blue Umbrella by Mike Mason

By 3 Comments

How’s the weather at your place right now? Over here in Penang, Malaysia, it’s raining and windy, just the type of weather that I love at night when I’m asleep or reading. Actually, I’ve always yearned for such weather because it’s so nice to be indoors, lazing on the couch with a good book.

After reading The Blue Umbrella, you’ll probably never look at weather or an umbrella the same way again. The entire story is centred on weather though it’s not as boring as small weather talk.

Ten-year-old Zac Sparks has just lost his mother. Apparently she died after being struck by lightning. Zac does not know who or where his father was and thought he had no other living relatives. But on the day of his mother’s funeral, two “aunties” appeared and fussed over him.

When the other mourners left, Auntie Esmeralda and Auntie Pris changed their tune. They bundled him up in their car and brought him back to their house in Five Corners. They refused to call him by his name and only addressed him as ‘Boy’. He was also forced to act as waiter at their birthday party and was not given any meals.

At the aunties’ house, he meets Butler, a very small and old man who works as a butler for the aunties. Butler tells Zac that the aunties are everybody’s aunties, which is weird. They also seem to hold some kind of authority over the other inhabitants of Five Corners. They are very, very old and Zac is curious over how old they really are.

Zac also meets Chelsea, a girl who doesn’t talk but is one of the few people who is pleasant with him. He befriends her brother Ches, an expert on weather. Zac also meets a blind balloon seller, Eldy who also doesn’t speak even though Zac thought he had a conversation with him. How, he wasn’t sure. Zac then gets to know about O, the “town drunk” who sings beautifully but is never seen.

The person who fascinates Zac the most is Sky Porter. Mr Porter owns Porter’s General Store which people say is haunted. Every morning through his bedroom window, Zac would watch Mr Porter welcome in the new day. Mr Porter would just stand with his umbrella on his arm, in front of his store as the day begins. Zac wonders what it’d be like to meet Mr Porter whom the Aunties extremely dislike.

When he finally does meet him and is offered a job at the store, Zac felt that he has met somebody that he could trust. But Zac walks around feeling troubled because he has to steal something from Mr Porter to give to Dada, a terrifying old man who happens to be the Aunties’ father. As long as he does not steal it, the Aunties would whack him with their beloved, mysterious cane.

If only some parts weren’t included or it wouldn’t be a 425-page book. I felt sorry for Zac who has just lost his mother and was forced to be a slave to horrible characters like the Aunties. It’s quite a lot for a 10-year-old to endure. No wonder he opened up to Sky Porter the way he did. I really liked this Porter character. He sounds like a pleasant enough fellow that it’s hard to believe most of the people in town stayed away from him.

What’s attractive about the book is the colourful cover which shows Porter standing in the doorway of his store. The story is okay for me and it is different from other fantasy novels. I liked how the author, Mike Mason could spin a simple theme such as weather into a welcoming read like this. I also liked the various characters in the novel. Each of them had their own striking individuality!

You can check out the interview with Mike Mason at the end of the book. There’s also a glossary for you to refer to should you not know the meaning of certain words found in the story. This is also Mason’s first novel.

***Thanks to Audra Jennings of The B&B Media Group for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Popularity: 4%

Categories: Authors M, Genre - Fantasy, Titles B
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