Reading Review

Well it's been a while since I have talked about any books that I have been reading. It is probably due to the fact that I haven't been reading a whole lot lately. Now that Jackson is here I would like to change that. So anyway here are the books that I have read from August through March.

Candace Bushnell is the writer of Sex and The City and many other great stories. I got into her writing over the summer when I found Trading Up at a bookstore while just wandering around. A lot of her books are now on my Goodreads's to read list. Trading Up is a story about a social climber named Janie Wilcox. Janie always wanted to be famous and live the life in New York City (who doesn't). Finally, she gets her jump start in the New York's elite when she lands a job as a Victoria Secret model. With her career skyrocketing her up the social ladder she becomes almost too big for herself.  Just when you finally think Janie has it all, a great husband, career and social life she decides she wants more. Wilcox wants to break into movies she uses her looks and sex appeal to manipulate situations which only leads to shame and heartbreak. Will Janie finally get to a social status that she's always dreamed of? And what will she do to get there?

Maine was a book chosen by my book club and I have to say it was our first epic failure! We often choose stories based on families, relationships, love and commitment. What girl wouldn't want to read about those things? However, in this story we found that there were too many relationships, too many characters to keep track of and too many different story lines. For a summer fun reading it was a little more complicated than we all bargained for. So, sad to announce I did not finish this book, I fully intend to give it another go at a later date, but for now I have to say dud.

Emily Giffin is quickly becoming one of my favorite author. Again she does a wonderful job of writing about family, friendships and all the relationships in between. Where We Belong is a story about a young girl named Kirby who was adopted at birth. She never has felt like she's fit in with her adoptive family, always felt like an outsider looking in. Especially when her adoptive parents were able to conceive and brought Kirby's perfect younger sister into the picture. When Kirby turns 18 she sets out to find her biological parents to finally get some answers on what makes her...her. When she finds her mother Marian Caldwell, a successful TV producer, who has never divulged the details of her past that led up to Kirby they embark on a journey together to find the missing pieces of their lives. A great heartfelt story that you will not be able to put down!

I love, love, love Jodi Picoult, I know sometimes she becomes predictable...conflict, court case, ending, but sometimes she will surprise you. I was blown away with Sing You Home. Zoe is a music therapist who loves what she does even though it doesn't really pay well. Zoe and her husband have been trying for years to have a child. They have tried naturally and are on their third round of IVF, when finally they are pregnant. Zoe is over the moon and cannot wait to welcome their little boy into the world. However, tragedy always seems to find Zoe and on the day of her baby shower she goes into labor and delivers her little man stillborn. The loss of their perfect future destroys her and results in a sad ending to their marriage. Zoe  ends up finding solace in a friendship. Vanessa is everything Zoe needed and soon that friendship quickly evolves into a romantic relationship and love. Zoe and Vanessa marry and are quickly thinking of starting a family. Zoe knows that she still has fertilized eggs from her marriage and all she needs is Max's consent to use them. After the divorce Max became a Christian, and is finding his way through life with God. When Zoe comes to ask for permission to use their eggs, Max is faced with a difficult decision. He considers Zoe and Vanessa's union a sin, will his new found faith prevent him from giving Zoe her happy ending?

James Patterson has always been my go to guy when I need a break from the lovey stuff and need a good suspenseful but not scary story. As much as I enjoy reading his stories I was a little disappointed  with Honeymoon. I  did enjoy it, it still had a suspenseful story line and surprising ending. I would still recommend it to a friend, however it just wasn't one of my favorites of his. Nora Sinclair is a beautiful and successful interior designer, she is a desired by every man she meets. She has everything going for her success, wit, charm a wonderful life. John O'Hara is an FBI agent sent to investigate Sinclair...why you ask? Well, strange things happen to the people around Sinclair and O'Hara needs to get to  the bottom of it. Will he figure out Sinclair's game before it's too late?  Will he make it out alive?

Something Blue is the sequel to Something Borrowed which I read and reviewed last year. Something Blue follows Darcy's journey after her cancelled wedding to Dexter. If you don't remember from Something Borrowed, Dexter was Darcy's fiance, they were going to be married in a few months when Darcy cheated on Dexter with his friend and groomsman Marcus. Darcy was going to call off the wedding when she found out that she was pregnant with Marcus's baby only to be beaten to the punch when Dexter called it off because he was cheating on Darcy with her best friend and maid of honor Rachel (whom Dexter loved since college, but never pursued her).  After Darcy's cancelled wedding her world seems to fall apart. Her fling with Marcus ends up being just that a fling, and a mistake, and now she is pregnant with Marcus's baby. Darcy is constantly obsessing about Rachel and Dexter and worrying about running into them in the large, but sometimes small city of New York. Her mother is no longer speaking to her when she finds out that Darcy threw her life away to be with a less than desirable man (Marcus). Her social life is over since she is no longer able to go out and party like she used to. Her body is changing due to the pregnancy and she worries that she will never find a man who will want her now. There is only one thing that Darcy can think to do...run away to London to start over. Calling in a huge favor from her friend Ethan, Darcy packs her bags and crashes at his place where she begins her new life. Darcy soon finds out that sometimes running away doesn't always solve everything. She quickly learns that maybe location isn't the problem in her life...maybe it's her.

Another great story by Emily Giffin that I think everyone should read.

I wanted to let you all know that you can join me on Goodreads.com it's a great place to keep track of the books you have read, are reading or want to read.. You can also find recommendations from friends and even join reading groups. In addition to all that I encourage you all to take the 2013 Reading Challenge where you select how many books you want to read in 2013. I have set my goal for 25 books this year, I hope that I can make it to that. How many books will you try to read? Happy Reading!