Library Thing Early Review of Let's Pretend this never Happened

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir)

by Jenny Lawson

Genre:  Memoir

Publisher: Amy Einhorn

Source: Library Thing Early Review

Book Description:

Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. In Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor. Chapters include: “Stanley the Magical, Talking Squirrel”; “A Series of Angry Post-It Notes to My Husband”; “My Vagina Is Fine. Thanks for Asking”; “And Then I Snuck a Dead Cuban Alligator on an Airplane.” Pictures with captions (no one would believe these things without proof) accompany the text.

Review:

This book was funny and weird and makes you wonder if this stuff really happened to Jenny.

After reading this book you will feel normal and be glad that some of the things that happened to Jenny didn’t happen to you.

I hope I never have to experience the things she did and if I do I hope I can laugh about them.

If you like David Sedaris, then you’ll enjoy this book.

Happy Reading!

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Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Mine is one p. 75 of Seizure  by Kathy Reichs

     Because we acknowledge the importance of basic hygiene.

     And periodically clean our bathrooms.

Happy Reading!

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The Crown Review

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Publisher: Touchstone

Source: Public Library

Book Description:

An aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father—and preserve the Catholic faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537. . .

Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London.

The ruthless Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, takes terrifying steps to force Joanna to agree to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may hold the ability to end the Reformation. Accompanied by two monks, Joanna returns home to Dartford Priory and searches in secret for this long-lost piece of history worn by the Saxon King Athelstan in 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain.

But Dartford Priory has become a dangerous place, and when more than one dead body is uncovered, Joanna departs with a sensitive young monk, Brother Edmund, to search elsewhere for the legendary crown. From royal castles with tapestry-filled rooms to Stonehenge to Malmesbury Abbey, the final resting place of King Athelstan, Joanna and Brother Edmund must hurry to find the crown if they want to keep Joanna’s father alive. At Malmesbury, secrets of the crown are revealed that bring to light the fates of the Black Prince, Richard the Lionhearted, and Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, Arthur. The crown’s intensity and strength are beyond the earthly realm and it must not fall into the wrong hands.

With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must now decide who she can trust with the secret of the crown so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in England’s past.

Review:

Joanna struggles to do what she feels is right even though it goes against the king.  She is forced to help Bishop Gardiner find a mysterious crown that could change the course of events and throw the royal family out of the palace.

Joanna struggles to follow her heart and her faith, while trying to fulfill her bargain with the Bishop in order to save her father’s life. She discovers things about her family and her way of life that test her faith in God and humanity.

I loved the history of the Athelstan crown, which he was an early British king, and how people believed the power it contained.

If you love historical fiction and the British royal families, then this book is for you.

Happy Reading!

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Hot List Review

The Hot List by Hillary Homzie

Genre:  Juvenile fiction

Publisher: Aladdin Books

Source: Shelf Awareness win sent by the author

Book Description:

Sophie Fanuchi and her BFF Maddie Chen posted the “Hot List” as a joke—just a silly tally of the cutest boys at Travis Middle School. But the list takes on a life of its own, and the girls are thrust into the popular crowd, which pleases Maddie to no end…and angers Sophie. As Sophie and Maddie’s friendship begins to unravel, Sophie makes a bet that will expose the list as meaningless: She has to make over their wacky classmate, Squid, and land him on the list. Can Sophie turn a nottie into a hottie…and can any bet or list replace the importance of friendship?

Review:

This was a fun read and good for girls 9 and up.  Sophie and Maddie are fun and discover how words even written can change how people behave.

When Sophie  accepts the challenge to get the weirdo kid on the “Hot List” she begins to question her decision to publicize the list.  She also shows the school that even when you “clean” someone up it’s inside that makes the person who they are.

This is a good read for middle school girls and a fun read.

Happy Reading!

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GCB Review

Good Christian Bitches by Kim Gatlin

Genre:  Adult fiction

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Source: Public Library

Book Description:

The GCBs of Hillside Park Presbyterian are praying for Amanda Vaughn--or so they claim. Will their evil gossip destroy her reputation, or will she show them exactly how to turn the other cheek

Amanda Vaughn needs some heaven-sent help. She’s divorced her cheating husband and fled, along with her two teenagers, back to her hometown, Hillside Park, a Dallas suburb so upper-class that the question isn’t where to bank, but whose family owns the bank. Amanda is thrilled to be back in Texas—after twelve years in Southern California, she’s ready to leave behind her shallow, Godless life and return to the welcoming Christian world where she grow up. Or at least that’s the plan . . .

But when she arrives, she’s met with some Texas-sized trouble. Her old friends, neighbors, and fellow church members treat Amanda like a long-lost friend . . . until her back is turned. Then the claws come out. Amanda finds herself trapped in a world of salacious rumors, secret affairs, and Bible-study sessions gone terribly wrong. And what’s even more puzzling is that a secret admirer is sending Amanda lavish gifts. Why, she wonders, would anyone send a Mercedes when a simple dinner invitation would do?

Packed with schemes, drama, and a Southern setting more fun than a barbecue at Southfork, Good Christian Bitches has humor, sass, and an unforgettable cast of characters.

Review:

This book is the inspiration behind the ABC show GCB and like the show this book is funny and irreverent.

I loved this book and like a lot of people have met some GCB’s.  Amanda does her best to be a good member of the Hillside Park society after being away for 12 years, but others don’t want her to succeed. 

They don’t want to see the truth and want to blame Amanda for their problems.  Amanda eventually shows the GCB’s what it really means to be a good Christian.  She explains to her admirer Tom what a GCB is:

You can be a good Christian, Amanda said slowly, thinking it through. Or you can be a bitch. But you can’t be a good Christian bitch. If you’re professing to be a good Christian, you’re claiming to have a desire to be like Christ, to have a heart like His. When a good Christian hides behind the cross while putting herself and her worldly desires ahead of her desire to be like Christ, at any and everyone else’s expense when she deems it necessary, she become a good Christian bitch.

This book may offend some people, but it is funny and good for several laughs. 

Happy Reading!

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TeaserTuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Mine is one p. 13 of Good Christian Bitches by Kim Gatlin

 Renting was a step up from having a relative let you live in one of their rental properties for free, but not a very big step up. In Hillside Park terms, renters were practically in the same category as the homeless.

Happy Reading!

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TeaserTuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Mine is one p. 25 of and I shall have some peace there: trading in the fast lane for my own dirt road by Margaret Roach

 We met, my house and I, that day when I showed up so unexpectedly, before it could even tidy itself up a bit and be officially “on the market,” and we quickly fell in love.  How did I go from She Who Lives in the World to She Who Lives in the Woods?

Happy Reading!

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Gone with a Handsomer Man Review

Gone with a Handsomer Man by Michael Lee West

Genre:  Adult fiction

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Source: Public Library

Book Description:

Take one out-of-work pastry chef . . .

Teeny Templeton believes that her life is finally on track. She’s getting married, she’s baking her own wedding cake, and she’s leaving her troubled past behind. And then? She finds her fiancé playing naked badminton with a couple of gorgeous, skanky chicks.

Add a whole lot of trouble . . .

Needless to say, the wedding is off. Adding insult to injury, her fiancé slaps a restraining order on her. When he’s found dead a few days later, all fingers point to Teeny.

And stir like crazy!

Her only hope is through an old boyfriend-turned-lawyer, the guy who broke her heart a decade ago. But dredging up the past brings more than skeletons out of the closet, and Teeny doesn’t know who she can trust. With evidence mounting and the heat turning up, Teeny must also figure out where to live, how to support herself, how to clear her name, and how to protect her heart.

Review:

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and what a fun book it was.

If you like Southern literature and Janet Evanovich then you’ll enjoy this book.

Teeny is lovable and funny and you feel for her as she is accused of killing her finace and it seems everyone is out to get here.  Then when her first love “that got away” comes back into her life does she feel that maybe things are improving, but are they?

For a funny romp and a mystery as to who has it in for Teeny then this is the book for you.

Happy Reading!

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