tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102640872776936912019-08-18T15:50:28.735+07:00Best seller Fiction book reviewsThis site provides reviews in order to help you making your decision of selecting your Fiction & Novel Books.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-52318976407027258012011-01-28T00:08:00.001+07:002011-01-28T00:08:50.183+07:00Switched (Trylle Trilogy, Book 1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/TUGmnMvOJpI/AAAAAAAAGKo/azVHc2B6K_U/s1600-h/Switched%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="Switched" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="240" alt="Switched" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/TUGmoK1OwcI/AAAAAAAAGKs/Do0dzqHxefs/Switched_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" align="left" border="0" /></a> </div> <p>When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy finds out her mother might've been telling the truth. <br />With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - and it's one she's not sure if she wants to be a part of. <br /> <br /><b>Customer Reviews</b> </p> <p>Not my typical reading, but enjoyable light reading!<img height="11" alt="4" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/network/star40_tpng.png" width="56" /> <br />Hocking has an uncanny ability to write fascinating little stories that are compellingly addicting. Her books are not my typical reading fare - I tend more toward the adult mysteries and suspense type of thing - however ever since I picked up Hocking's My Blood Approves series, I've been strangely addicted to her work. The Trylle series is no exception. Now, I may not fall in the typical readership for Hocking's books, but because I work as a Probation Officer for teenagers, I tend to read a lot of YA fiction to keep "in touch" with what my kids enjoy. <br />Hocking's three-part Trylle series, of which Switched is number one, is about a girl who has a miserable existance. Her childhood is filled with little oddities that don't make much sense, and her mother, who refers to her as a "monster" goes so far as to try to stab her to death at her own birthday party. Switched is so much a coming of age tale - with a twist - as Wendy soon discovers that she has another life waiting for her discovery and that she is so much more than an angst filled teenager stuck in high school. <br />I won't give away any more, as part of the joy of reading this book is discovering - right along with Wendy - just what in the heck is wrong with her and why she has all these odd little habits, abilities and thoughts. <br />This is not a literary masterpiece for your college Women's Literature 101 class. It was not intended to be so. It is not filled with symbolism and fodder for critical discussion. It IS, however, fun, light reading that will keep your attention. It is a sweet story. Hocking has captured a believable and realistic teenage heroine. She's captured appropriate action, adventure, and even romantic tension. For those reviewers who say the teenage angst is overblown...I would disagree. I work with teenagers for a living and the internal and external dialogue is actually quite realistic for the age group. Perphaps not ALL teens think this way, but the ones I work with quite often do. Many teens - especially girls with abusive backgrounds and lack of a stable parent figure like Wendy - DO think and act this way, althought many of them would be hard pressed to publically admit it. <br />I've given Switched four stars, not because it isn't excellent, but because I save my five star reviews for books that are out of this world wonderful or books that really speak to me emotionally. This one is excellent, but it is not the definition of perfect. There are a few typos, but they are easily overlooked. <br />Overall, excellent book. Excellent and believable plot. An overall wonderfully creative and engaging book. Nice job, Amanda - I'm off to purchase #2 in the series and I am looking forward to discovering more. <br /> <br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VD1GBA?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003VD1GBA" target="_blank">Switched (Trylle Trilogy, Book 1)</a></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-84169939243969677702010-10-03T22:05:00.000+07:002010-10-03T22:05:57.295+07:00The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/TKibPaaFd1I/AAAAAAAAEF0/AMkbTQK3StI/s1600/The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/TKibPaaFd1I/AAAAAAAAEF0/AMkbTQK3StI/s1600/The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" /></a></div>This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />Perfect Kindle mysteries at the perfect price!<span class="reviewtitle"><img alt="5" class="custReviewStars" height="11" name="pngImage" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/network/star50_tpng.png" width="56" /></span> <br />This free Kindle download is the prelude to The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle's timeless tales are perfect for Kindle and, actually, the Kindle's electronic voice does an admirable job of reading them to you!<br /><br />Special thanks to Eileen T for posting the list of stories contained within!<br /><br />The only downside to this free Kindle download is that it doesn't have linked Table of Contents. So how do you quickly skip to a chapter later in the book?<br /><br />Elementary my dear Watson! (-:<br /><br />Pick a unique word from the story title. Click MENU > "Search this book"<br />Then type the most unique words from the title. Alas, this doesn't always work, and I can't figure out why. A new mystery! In the meantime, enjoy the classics....<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/kindle-3g-wireless-20/detail/B000JQU1VS" target="_blank">The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-66036964809219630202009-11-23T23:46:00.002+07:002009-11-23T23:46:00.802+07:00Patch (Breyer Stablemates) (Hardcover)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQk__-DiHI/AAAAAAAACwQ/JoYGBYAWTf0/s1600/Patch-%28Breyer-Stablemates%29-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQk__-DiHI/AAAAAAAACwQ/JoYGBYAWTf0/s320/Patch-%28Breyer-Stablemates%29-.jpg" /></a><br /></div>In New Friends, Lauren and her Pinto, Patch,<br /><br />meet Sarah and her Palomino, Gold Charm.<br /><br />Sarah is stuck-up and doesn't like Lauren and Patch.<br /><br />But a walk in the woods and a spooky surprise<br /><br />teach Sarah the true meaning of friendship.<br /><br />For years, Breyer has been known for making high-quality collectible horses. Stablemates are low-priced, durable horses created especially for children.<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />Perfect for my 4 yr old horse crazy girl!, <br />By K. Miner <br /><br />I was SO happy when I saw these adorable, well priced books at the store! Picked them both up--these are great books for younger children! We have Pony Pals books but those are larger chapter books geared towared older children (8-10rys). These Stablemates books have beautiful, full color illustrations that cover every page with large,easy to read print. These do have chapters, but they are short--these are perfect for reading to your little pre-schooler and perfect for the beginner readers! My daughter and I LOVE these books and can't wait for more editions to be released! We will definitely be purchasing more!<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439722365?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0439722365" target="_blank">Patch (Breyer Stablemates)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-2947971963849621472009-11-22T23:56:00.000+07:002009-11-22T23:56:00.413+07:00Diamond (Stablemates) (Hardcover)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQnSChSa4I/AAAAAAAACwY/7al8_bXMoFE/s1600/Diamond-%28Stablemates%29-%28Hard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQnSChSa4I/AAAAAAAACwY/7al8_bXMoFE/s320/Diamond-%28Stablemates%29-%28Hard.jpg" /></a><br /></div>Diamond is an Arabian horse that no one wants to ride because they think she is too old. Ava decides to take care of Diamond, spending extra time on training rides to get her in shape. The other riders don’t understand why Ava would waste her time with such an old horse, but Ava and Diamond show them that they have a lot to learn.<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />this book will draw them to reading, November 13, 2009<br />By Evelina (Long Island, NY USA) <br /><br />Both my daughters love horses and books from the Stablemates series realy helped the older one (now 8) to start reading on her own couple of years ago. Now I still buy the newly published books in hopes they will do the same thing for my younger daughter next year. she is 6 now and already trying to read them now, but they are probably more suitable for second graders since they are chapter books.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0545120969?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0545120969" target="_blank">Diamond (Stablemates)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-65493717639564418922009-11-21T23:40:00.000+07:002009-11-21T23:40:00.410+07:00Penny (Stablemates) (Hardcover)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQjyIVccvI/AAAAAAAACwI/pL6dWGcPPvk/s1600/Penny-%28Stablemates%29-%28Hardco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQjyIVccvI/AAAAAAAACwI/pL6dWGcPPvk/s320/Penny-%28Stablemates%29-%28Hardco.jpg" /></a><br /></div>It's the day of Princess Isabella's coronation, and her fairy godmother sends her on a quest to help her become a good queen. At first, Isabella isn't sure which horse to pick. The fastest? The biggest? She decides on Penny, the smartest horse in the stable.<br /><br />Together, Isabella and Penny set out on a journey to find twelve jewels. On the way, Isabella learns that the keys to being a good queen are inside her--kindness, courage, and wisdom!<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />Penny, January 11, 2009<br />By Rachel Thibodeau (Sterling, CT USA) <br /><br />My 6 yr old daughter is reading this whole series and I think they are wonderful because the reading is challenging but the pictures make her really interested. Definately worth the money!<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439722357?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0439722357" target="_blank">Penny (Stablemates)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-84372013392151478292009-11-20T23:35:00.000+07:002009-11-20T23:35:00.397+07:00Starlight (Breyer Stablemates) (Hardcover)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQiZ_lVeyI/AAAAAAAACwA/sTnfFEWlmZI/s1600/Starlight-%28Breyer-Stablemat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQiZ_lVeyI/AAAAAAAACwA/sTnfFEWlmZI/s320/Starlight-%28Breyer-Stablemat.jpg" /></a><br /></div>In A Foal for Haley, Haley has her hands full<br /><br />with Starlight, her mischievous, disobedient foal.<br /><br />But one scary night, Starlight gets lost in the woods,<br /><br />and Haley makes a special wish--to find her beloved foal.<br /><br />Her wish comes true, and from then on they're friends forever.<br /><br />For years, Breyer has been known for making high-quality collectible horses. Stablemates are low-priced, durable horses created especially for children.<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />Perfect for my 4 yr old horse crazy daughter!, <br />By K. Miner <br /><br />I was SO happy when I saw these adorable, well priced books at the store! Picked them both up--these are great books for younger children! We have Pony Pals books but those are larger chapter books geared towared older children (8-10rys). These Stablemates books have beautiful, full color illustrations that cover every page with large,easy to read print. These do have chapters, but they are short--these are perfect for reading to your little pre-schooler and perfect for the beginner readers! My daughter and I LOVE these books and can't wait for more editions to be released! We will definitely be purchasing more!<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439722373?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0439722373" target="_blank">Starlight (Breyer Stablemates)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-45854258151040972022009-11-19T23:23:00.000+07:002009-11-19T23:23:00.242+07:00Belle (Stablemates) (Hardcover)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQf_9YzkeI/AAAAAAAACvw/-E5nCX-XjqI/s1600/Belle-%28Stablemates%29-%28Hardco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQf_9YzkeI/AAAAAAAACvw/-E5nCX-XjqI/s320/Belle-%28Stablemates%29-%28Hardco.jpg" /></a><br /></div>Belle is a Quarter horse who lives in a big city park. Emmy is a shy young girl who has just moved to the big city from the country. Emmy is afraid of things in the city and needs a friend.<br /><br />As Christmastime approaches, Emmy travels off path in the park, but Belle helps her find their way back to the stables safe and sound. Emmy begins to feel better about the city when her parents announce that her new present is Belle! Now they can be friends forever.<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />Excellent Series for Little Horse Lovers, <br />By C. Bate <br /><br />My 3 year old daughter has the whole series and absolultely loves them. She's read them so many times that she's memorized many of them. The Belle book is a great Christmas story and also great to help any child through the transition of moving, especially if they're leaving a pet behind.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439883369?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0439883369" target="_blank">Belle (Stablemates)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-33650172585055295362009-11-18T23:32:00.000+07:002009-11-18T23:32:44.530+07:00Snowflake (Breyer Stablemates) (Hardcover)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQhFyjUZAI/AAAAAAAACv4/uhmE5BjfEvA/s1600/Snowflake-%28Breyer-Stablemat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQhFyjUZAI/AAAAAAAACv4/uhmE5BjfEvA/s320/Snowflake-%28Breyer-Stablemat.jpg" /></a><br /></div>Snowflake is a Percheron horse who was abandoned by his owners. He is taken to Fox Creek Farm, where Emily, Anna, and Mandy volunteer to care for him. As winter approaches, they worry that Snowflake will be cold. So, the girls plan a sleigh ride to help raise money to buy Snowflake a blanket!<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />Uplifting story for horse and animal lovers!, <br />By S. Martin <br /><br />My six year old daughter and I loved this story. Snowflake is a rescued horse who has had a hard life. The girls work to earn money to buy Snowflake a blanket for the winter. The story is uplifting without being sad. It teaches both kindness and hard work. We enjoyed all four of the Stablemates books, but Snowflake was our favorite - highly recommended.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439843138?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0439843138" target="_blank">Snowflake (Breyer Stablemates)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-10313088272218230282009-11-18T23:18:00.000+07:002009-11-18T23:18:16.961+07:00Under the Dome: A Novel (Hardcover)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQdJ-9m-NI/AAAAAAAACvo/m9_zV78haZY/s1600/Under-the-Dome--A-Novel-%28Ha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SwQdJ-9m-NI/AAAAAAAACvo/m9_zV78haZY/s320/Under-the-Dome--A-Novel-%28Ha.jpg" /></a><br /></div>The jacket concept for Under the Dome originated as an ambitious idea from the mind of Stephen King. The artwork is a combination of photographs, illustration and 3-D rendering. This is a departure from the direction of King's most recent illustrated covers.<br /><br />In order to achieve the arresting image for this jacket, Scribner art director Rex Bonomelli had to seek out artists who could do a convincing job of creating a realistic portrayal of the town of Chester's Mill, the setting of the novel. Bonomelli found the perfect team of digital artists, based in South America and New York, whose cutting edge work had previously been devoted to advertisement campaigns. This was their first book jacket and an exciting venture for them. "They are used to working with the demands of corporate clients," says Bonomelli. "We gave them freedom and are thrilled with what they came up with."<br /><br />The CGI (computer generated imagery) enhanced image looks more like something made for the big screen than for the page and is sure to make a lasting impact on King fans.<br /><br /><b>Customer Reviews</b><br />The Fate of the World, Under Glass, November 10, 2009<br />By Tom S. "filmfan3" (New York City) <br /><br />A small New England town is suddenly, inexplicably cut off from the rest of the world, trapping a large cast of characters inside (or outside) a huge, clear dome. As the emergency escalates, various heroes (and villains) emerge to play a part in the drama. What is the dome? Why is it there? Will the town survive? This is the premise of Stephen King's big, long, thoroughly fascinating new novel.<br /><br />King has rarely written a book as ambitious as this. As I was reading, I was constantly wondering about the motives behind the deceptively simple story. As with the best of horror and science fiction, it isn't just about a monster on the rampage. What clearly interests King--and us, the readers--is the reaction of the "ordinary" people of Chester's Mill, Maine, who are placed in this extraordinary situation. In the struggles of these heroes, villains, lovers, and fools, we can all see ourselves. And that is the mark of a great work of art, isn't it?<br /><br />I've been reading Stephen King for 35 years now--I read his first 3 novels in college--and I've always been impressed by his work. But UNDER THE DOME is in a small group of King stories that go far beyond merely being entertaining fiction. This novel will inevitably be compared to The Stand because it deals with the horrors of the world around us. Forget ghosts and vampires and space aliens--there's nothing as horrifying as what humans are capable of doing to one another. Stephen King knows that: it's the reason his stories are so effective. In his long, distinguished career, he's rarely been as effective--or as entertaining--as he is here. UNDER THE DOME is a fast-paced modern horror story, and it's also an amazingly perceptive modern novel. Highly recommended.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439148503?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439148503" target="_blank">Under the Dome: A Novel</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-27331028900474982732009-08-17T13:36:00.000+07:002009-08-17T13:36:00.269+07:00The Wild Things (Fur-covered Edition) (Hardcover)<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJjHUzeTLI/AAAAAAAACfw/xrtMhSgtAm8/s1600-h/The-Wild-Things-(Fur-covere.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 222px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJjHUzeTLI/AAAAAAAACfw/xrtMhSgtAm8/s320/The-Wild-Things-(Fur-covere.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368962683273890994" /></a>The Wild Things — based loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze — is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can’t control. His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, Max finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness: he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, and can’t always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them. Funny, dark, and alive, The Wild Things is a timeless and time-tested tale for all ages.<br /><br /><strong>About the Author</strong><br />DAVE EGGERS is the author of such bestselling works as A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), You Shall Know Our Velocity, and What Is the What. He is the founder of McSweeney's, an independent publishing house, and currently teaches writing in San Francisco at 826 Valencia, a nonprofit tutoring center and writing school for children that he cofounded with his wife, the novelist Vendela Vida.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934781622?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1934781622" target="_blank">The Wild Things (Fur-covered Edition)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-7873340923356857532009-08-16T13:34:00.000+07:002009-08-16T13:34:00.722+07:00Homer & Langley: A Novel [ROUGH-CUT EDGE] (Hardcover)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJilDwkT4I/AAAAAAAACfo/moIrWSYu4u8/s1600-h/Homer-%26-Langley--A-Novel-%5BR.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJilDwkT4I/AAAAAAAACfo/moIrWSYu4u8/s320/Homer-%26-Langley--A-Novel-%5BR.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368962094582747010" /></a>From Ragtime and Billy Bathgate to The Book of Daniel, World’s Fair, and The March, the novels of E. L. Doctorow comprise one of the most substantive achievements of modern American fiction. Now, with Homer & Langley, this master novelist has once again created an unforgettable work.<br /><br />Homer and Langley Collyer are brothers–the one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the Great War. They live as recluses in their once grand Fifth Avenue mansion, scavenging the city streets for things they think they can use, hoarding the daily newspapers as research for Langley’s proposed dateless newspaper whose reportage will be as prophecy. Yet the epic events of the century play out in the lives of the two brothers–wars, political movements, technological advances–and even though they want nothing more than to shut out the world, history seems to pass through their cluttered house in the persons of immigrants, prostitutes, society women, government agents, gangsters, jazz musicians . . . and their housebound lives are fraught with odyssean peril as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves.<br /><br />Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously written, this mesmerizing narrative, a free imaginative rendering of the lives of New York’s fabled Collyer brothers, is a family story with the resonance of myth, an astonishing masterwork unlike any that have come before from this great writer.<br /><br /><strong>About the Author</strong><br />E. L. Doctorow’s novels include The March, City of God, The Waterworks, Welcome to Hard Times, The Book of Daniel, Ragtime, Loon Lake, Lives of the Poets, World’s Fair, and Billy Bathgate. His work has been published in thirty-two languages. Among his honors are the National Book Award, three National Book Critics Circle awards, two PEN/Faulkner awards, the Edith Wharton Citation for Fiction, the William Dean Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal. E. L. Doctorow lives in New York.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400064945?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1400064945" target="_blank">Homer & Langley: A Novel</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-64457935798003269472009-08-15T13:31:00.000+07:002009-08-15T13:31:00.299+07:00The Lacuna: A Novel (Hardcover)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJh5t1yYvI/AAAAAAAACfg/6jNbuw3xbJ8/s1600-h/The-Lacuna--A-Novel-(Hardco.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJh5t1yYvI/AAAAAAAACfg/6jNbuw3xbJ8/s320/The-Lacuna--A-Novel-(Hardco.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368961349964686066" /></a> <strong>About the Author</strong><br /><br />Barbara Kingsolver's twelve books of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction include the novels The Bean Trees and The Poisonwood Bible. Translated into nineteen languages, her work has won a devoted worldwide readership and many awards, including the National Humanities Medal. Her most recent book is the highly praised, New York Times bestselling Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, published in May 2007. She lives with her family on a farm in southwestern Virginia.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060852577?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060852577" target="_blank">The Lacuna: A Novel</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-89225677860886836112009-08-14T13:26:00.000+07:002009-08-14T13:26:00.157+07:00Her Fearful Symmetry: A Novel (Hardcover)<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJgoe2AH1I/AAAAAAAACfQ/L2slF94RXm8/s1600-h/Her-Fearful-Symmetry--A-Nov.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 205px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJgoe2AH1I/AAAAAAAACfQ/L2slF94RXm8/s320/Her-Fearful-Symmetry--A-Nov.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368959954369650514" /></a>Audrey Niffenegger is a visual artist and a guide at Highgate Cemetery. In addition to her bestselling debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, she is the author of two illustrated novels, The Three Incestuous Sisters and The Adventuress. She lives in Chicago.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439165394?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439165394" target="-blank">Her Fearful Symmetry: A Novel</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-26822831166246745602009-08-13T13:22:00.000+07:002009-08-13T13:22:00.669+07:00The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJfx48v8lI/AAAAAAAACfI/qTSPjHjDJnA/s1600-h/The-Girl-with-the-Dragon-Ta.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 136px; height: 210px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJfx48v8lI/AAAAAAAACfI/qTSPjHjDJnA/s320/The-Girl-with-the-Dragon-Ta.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368959016484467282" /></a>An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.<br /><br />Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pieced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.<br /><br /><strong>From Bookmarks Magazine</strong><br />Critics’ responses varied to the late Stieg Larsson’s debut novel. Although some considered it clever, suspenseful, and exhilarating, others found it confused and farfetched. Most fell somewhere in the middle, acknowledging its flaws (including a slow beginning, a glut of suspects, and an overabundance of hard-to-pronounce Swedish phrases and names) while praising its strong, memorable characters, dark humor, and inventive plot twists. Originally titled Men Who Hate Women, Girl is as much a cultural and social assessment of misogyny—a favorite topic of Larsson’s—as it is an intriguing take on the classic thriller. This is one for neo-noir fans—but it doesn’t seem destined to rule this side of the Atlantic.<br />Copyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC <br /><br /><strong>Customer Reviews</strong><br />This Swedish bestseller deserves to be a blockbuster here too.<br />A 24-year-old computer hacker sporting an assortment of tattoos and body piercings and afflicted with Asperger Syndrome or something of the like has been under state guardianship in her native Sweden since she was thirteen. She supports herself by doing deep background investigations for Dragan Armansky, who, in turn, worries the anorexic-looking Lisbeth Salander is "the perfect victim for anyone who wished her ill." Salander may look fourteen and stubbornly shun social norms, but she possesses the inner strength of a determined survivor. She sees more than her word processor page in black and white and despises the users and abusers of this world. She won't hesitate to exact her own unique brand of retribution against small-potatoes bullies, sick predators, and corrupt magnates alike.<br /><br />Financial journalist Carl Mikael Blomkvist has just been convicted of libeling a financier and is facing a fine and three months in jail. Blomkvist, after a Salander-completed background check, is summoned to a meeting with semi-retired industrialist Henrik Vanger whose far-flung but shrinking corporate empire is wholly family owned. Vanger has brooded for 36 years about the fate of his great niece, Harriet. Blomkvist is expected to live for a year on the island where many Vanger family members still reside and where Harriet was last seen. Under the cover story that he is writing a family history, Blomkvist is to investigate which family member might have done away with the teenager.<br /><br />So, the stage is set. The reader easily guesses early that somehow Blomkvist and Salander will pool their talents to probe the Vanger mystery. However,Swede Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no humdrum, formulaic whodunit. It is fascinating and very difficult to put down. Nor is it without some really suspenseful and chillingly ugly scenes....<br /><br />The issue most saturating The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that of shocking sexual violence primarily against women but not excluding men. Salander and Blomkvist both confront prima facie evidence of such crimes. Larsson's other major constituent elements are corporate malfeasance that threatens complete collapse of stock markets and anarchistic distrust of officialdom to the point of endorsing (at least, almost) vigilantism. He also deals with racism as he spins a complex web from strands of real and imagined history concerning mid-twentieth century Vanger affiliations with Sweden's fascist groups.<br /><br />But Larsson's carefully calibrated tale is more than a grisly, cynical world view of his country and the modern world at large. At its core, it is an fascinating character study of a young woman who easily masters computer code but for whom human interaction is almost always more trouble than it is worth, of an investigative reporter who chooses a path of less resistance than Salander but whose humanity reaches out to many including her, and of peripheral characters -- such as Armansky -- who need more of their story told.<br /><br />Fortunately, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in English translation will be followed by two more in the Millennium series: The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Air Castle that Blew Up. I can't wait. Larsson also made a 200-page start on a fourth book, but sadly he succumbed to a heart attack in 2004 and his father decided the unfinished work will remain unpublished.<br /><br />I recommend this international bestseller to all who eagerly sift new books for challenging intellectual crime thrillers, who luxuriate in immersing themselves in the ambience of a compellingly created world and memorable characters, who soak up financial and investigative minutiae as well as computer hacking tidbits, and who want to share Larsson's crusade against violence and racism.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20/detail/0307454541" target="_blank">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-87874341683252837192009-08-12T13:29:00.004+07:002009-08-12T13:31:42.677+07:00Last Night in Twisted River: A Novel [ROUGH-CUT EDGE] (Hardcover)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJhRhOYdvI/AAAAAAAACfY/PMFkvg3lo6s/s1600-h/Last-Night-in-Twisted-River.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368960659383416562" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 215px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJhRhOYdvI/AAAAAAAACfY/PMFkvg3lo6s/s320/Last-Night-in-Twisted-River.jpg" border="0" /></a>In 1954, in the cookhouse of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire, an anxious twelve-year-old boy mistakes the local constable’s girlfriend for a bear. Both the twelve-year-old and his father become fugitives, forced to run from Coos County–to Boston, to southern Vermont, to Toronto–pursued by the implacable constable. Their lone protector is a fiercely libertarian logger, once a river driver, who befriends them.<br /><br />In a story spanning five decades, Last Night in Twisted River–John Irving’s twelfth novel–depicts the recent half-century in the United States as “a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.” From the novel’s taut opening sentence–“The young Canadian, who could not have been more than fifteen, had hesitated too long”–to its elegiac final chapter, Last Night in Twisted River is written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is also as violent and disturbing a story as John Irving’s breakthrough bestseller, The World According to Garp.<br /><br />What further distinguishes Last Night in Twisted River is the author’s unmistakable voice–the inimitable voice of an accomplished storyteller. Near the end of this moving novel, John Irving writes: “We don’t always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly–as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth–the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be part of our lives.”<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400063841?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1400063841" target="_blank">Last Night in Twisted River: A Novel</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-37394104448336244642009-08-12T13:14:00.004+07:002009-08-12T13:20:38.439+07:00South of Broad<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJfFptSiZI/AAAAAAAACfA/GTwXgm9reu8/s1600-h/South-of-Broad.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368958256478849426" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 139px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 210px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJfFptSiZI/AAAAAAAACfA/GTwXgm9reu8/s320/South-of-Broad.jpg" border="0" /></a>Against the sumptuous backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina, South of Broad gathers a unique cast of sinners and saints. Leopold Bloom King, our narrator, is the son of an amiable, loving father who teaches science at the local high school. His mother, an ex-nun, is the high school principal and a well-known Joyce scholar. After Leo's older brother commits suicide at the age of thirteen, the family struggles with the shattering effects of his death, and Leo, lonely and isolated, searches for something to sustain him. Eventually, he finds his answer when he becomes part of a tightly knit group of high school seniors that includes friends Sheba and Trevor Poe, glamorous twins with an alcoholic mother and a prison-escapee father; hardscrabble mountain runaways Niles and Starla Whitehead; socialite Molly Huger and her boyfriend, Chadworth Rutledge X; and an ever-widening circle whose liaisons will ripple across two decades-from 1960s counterculture through the dawn of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.<br /><br />The ties among them endure for years, surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, and Charleston's dark legacy of racism and class divisions. But the final test of friendship that brings them to San Francisco is something no one is prepared for. South of Broad is Pat Conroy at his finest; a long-awaited work from a great American writer whose passion for life and language knows no bounds.<br /><br /><strong>Customer Reviews</strong><br />Another Gift to the South, June 16, 2009<br />By W Ray "W Ray" (Bay County)<br />This review is from: South of Broad (Hardcover)<br /><br />I read an advanced reader's copy of this new Conroy novel and must<br />say that it is simply beautiful from the first line. The story, set in<br />the late sixties till the nineties, mostly in Charleston, is centered on<br />the life of Leo King. Born into a devout Catholic family, Leo is haunted<br />by his brother's suicide, and trying to salvage a ruined adolescence with<br />the help of a handful of best friends, who have their own histories and<br />ghosts to deal with. Conroy often writes of salvation through friendship,<br />and this is his strongest novel yet on the subject. It is also an<br />unexpectedly Catholic novel, and at base, a very devout one. The South,<br />and the Low Country in particular, are exalted, beloved, and cherished in<br />prose so fine it breaks your heart. I don't want to spoil the story in<br />any way, but have to say that the last pages did that thing that modern<br />novels seem incapable of doing these days: it lifted my heart, ending on<br />just the loveliest, most affirming word (won't say what.)<br /><br />Read the first line and you'll understand.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20/detail/038541305X" target="_blank">South of Broad</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-14960667040929645522009-08-12T13:07:00.004+07:002009-08-12T13:13:17.507+07:00The Time Traveler's Wife (Paperback)<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJcTbA4UwI/AAAAAAAACew/jRFCtngus0Q/s1600-h/The-Time-Traveler%27s-Wife-(P.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368955194517771010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 202px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 289px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SoJcTbA4UwI/AAAAAAAACew/jRFCtngus0Q/s320/The-Time-Traveler%27s-Wife-(P.jpg" border="0" /></a>A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.<br /><br />An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come.<br /><br /><strong>Review</strong><br />"A powerfully original love story." -- People<br /><br />"Tremendous grace and imagination . . . A love story without softness or flinchiing." -- The Washington Post Book World<br /><br />"[A] time-travel love story par excellence. . . . [A] soaring celebration of thhe victory of love over time." -- Chicago Tribune<br /><br />Spirited . . . Niffenegger plays ingeniously in her temporal hall of mirrors." -- The New Yorker<br /><br /><strong>Customer Reviews</strong><br />Powerful, well-written, original,<br />By Diana (Emporia, KS USA)<br />This review is from: The Time Traveler's Wife (Hardcover)<br />"The Time Traveler's Wife" is one of the most interesting, powerful books I've read in a long time. Audrey Niffenegger did a beautiful job taking some of the most complex ideas - time travel, marriage, love, children, friends, literary and artistic allusions, religion, death, drugs, childhood, growing, loss, and what it means to be human - and weaving them together poetically and with amazing clarity. Her characters are wonderful, "real" people with strengths and flaws, and I really grew to adore them. Despite skipping around time at the same rate as Henry, the time traveler, the events are sequenced in such a way that you still witness each character's growth as a person, as well as discover many surprises along the way. Clare and Henry's story is one of the best love stories I've read in a very long time. This book also echoes important modern-day questions about the appropriateness of gene therapy, and what it means to be a human being. I highly and enthusiastically recommend this book.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/015602943X?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=015602943X" target="_blank">The Time Traveler's Wife</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-25382620567283695102009-07-26T20:22:00.000+07:002009-07-26T20:22:00.485+07:00Shopaholic & Baby (Mass Market Paperback)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMegGRVsYI/AAAAAAAACVU/aI6ViWLL95c/s1600-h/Shopaholic-n-Baby-(Mass-Mar.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360161518289006978" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 192px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMegGRVsYI/AAAAAAAACVU/aI6ViWLL95c/s320/Shopaholic-n-Baby-(Mass-Mar.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">With over eight million copies of her beloved books in print, Sophie Kinsella is a true phenomenon. Now Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is back, in a hilarious new Shopaholic novel!<br /><br />Becky’s life is blooming! She’s working at London’s newest big store, The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a Shoe Room)...and she’s pregnant! She couldn’t be more overjoyed—especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery…to the latest, coolest pram…to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be Luke’s glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky’s perfect world starts to crumble. She’s shopping for two…but are there three in her marriage?<br /><br /><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Customer Reviews</strong><br />Sophie Strikes Again!!,<br />By M. Glanzer "nuts about books" (Midwest)<br />I have been anxiously awaiting this newest installment of the Shopaholic series and grabbed one of the last books off the shelf on Tuesday...as luck would have it, the next day we were in the middle of a huge blizzard, so I was able to stay home and read the whole book in one sitting. It was great! I was laughing out loud over and over and tried to share the humor with my husband (who didn't get it!). Of course, Becky goes crazy with her shopping and buys way more than a baby could ever use, but the storyline with Luke's old girlfriend was great, and I love the other characters from past books like Jess and Suze, and Becky's mom and Janice are always a hoot! I just hope she doesn't stop here with the series. No, it isn't deep, insightful reading, but for a fun time, you can't beat Becky Bloomwood and her Visa card!<br /><br />Find out more @ </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440242398?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0440242398" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Shopaholic & Baby</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0440242398" width="1" border="0" /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-44389083039741147392009-07-25T20:14:00.000+07:002009-07-25T20:14:00.856+07:00Shopaholic & Sister (Mass Market Paperback)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMc_kWj56I/AAAAAAAACVM/vKBV02l-OOQ/s1600-h/Shopaholic-n-Sister-(Mass-M.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360159859916662690" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 173px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 271px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMc_kWj56I/AAAAAAAACVM/vKBV02l-OOQ/s320/Shopaholic-n-Sister-(Mass-M.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">What’s a round-the-world honeymoon if you can’t buy the odd souvenir to ship back home? Like the twenty silk dressing gowns Becky found in Hong Kong…the hand-carved dining table (and ten chairs) from Sri Lanka…the, um, huge wooden giraffes from Malawi (that her husband Luke expressly forbade her to buy)… Only now Becky and Luke have returned home to London and Luke is furious. Two truckloads of those souvenirs have cluttered up their loft, and the bills for them are outrageous. Luke insists Becky go on a budget. And worse: her beloved best friend Suze has found a new best friend while Becky was away. Becky’s feeling rather blue—when her parents deliver some incredible news. She has a long-lost sister! Becky is thrilled! She’s convinced her sister will be a true soulmate. They’ll go shopping together, have manicures together.…Until she meets Jessica for the first time and gets the shock of her life. Surely Becky Bloomwood’s sister can’t…hate shopping?<br /><br />Sophie Kinsella is a former financial journalist and the author of the bestselling novels Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Can You Keep a Secret?, and The Undomestic Goddess. She lives in England, where she is at work on her next book.<br /><br /><strong>Customer Reviews</strong><br />Becky Bloomwood Is Back and Funnier Than Ever,<br />By Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA)<br />Becky Bloomwood Brandon is back and as funny, vulnerable, and lovable as ever. I am amazed that Sophie Kinsella can keep the humor and laughter coming with this ditzy character, but she does. Frankly, I felt this was the best of the series thus far.<br /><br />We meet up with Becky and Luke in the 10th month of their round-the-world honeymoon. When an invitation to the christening for Suze's twins arrive, the travellers decide to head back to London. Of course, there are a couple of stops along the way, like Milan where Becky studies "local artifcacts" (Versace shoes) and lands the biggest fashion coup of the year by claiming a genuine Angel handbag thanks to a lot of help from a somewhat shady character who will, needless to say, be back for a proper thank you.<br /><br />Becky's return is not what she envisioned, however. Not only has Suze acquired a new best friend, but her parents are acting very strange. For good reason as it turns out. A previously unknown sister has emerged from the past. Seems Daddy Bloomwood was quite the rogue before he met Mama Bloomwood. Becky immediately begins to fantasize about replacing Suze with this new sister. She dreams of watching chick flicks, eating peppermint creams, laughing, and most of all, shopping with her new-found sister Jess. Alas, Jess is not at all compatible with Becky. Not only is she a dedicated activist and rock collector, she is....dare we use the word.......FRUGAL! And she does not approve of Becky's addiction to shopping at all.<br /><br />Their relationship makes for lots of laugh-out-loud moments and even a few misty-eyed ones. Following their relationship's development and explosion is a true trip into the heart of Becky Bloomwood and what makes her a character millions have fallen in love with.<br /><br />So if you want to see Becky running barefoot over hot coals to get a 5-carat aquamarine at half price, interfering in Luke's business and placing him in an insufferable position, and taking the hiking trip to end all hiking trips, pick up the latest issue in this always-delightful series.<br /><br />Find out more @ </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/044024191X?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=044024191X" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Shopaholic & Sister</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=044024191X" width="1" border="0" /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-90107984711485779512009-07-24T20:09:00.001+07:002009-07-24T20:09:00.174+07:00Remember Me?: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMbZ0rnkxI/AAAAAAAACVE/SxH_fYxyZRk/s1600-h/Remember-Me-A-Novel-(Mass-M.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360158111953294098" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 182px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 281px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMbZ0rnkxI/AAAAAAAACVE/SxH_fYxyZRk/s320/Remember-Me-A-Novel-(Mass-M.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">With the same wicked humor and delicious charm that have won her millions of devoted fans, Sophie Kinsella, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Shopaholic & Baby, returns with an irresistible new novel and a fresh new heroine who finds herself in a life-changing and utterly hilarious predicament….<br /><br />When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.<br /><br />Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.<br /><br />Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?<br /><br />Find our more @ </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440242401?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0440242401" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Remember Me?: A Novel</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0440242401" width="1" border="0" /> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-54161671471796916972009-07-23T20:01:00.000+07:002009-07-23T20:01:00.132+07:00Can You Keep a Secret? (Mass Market Paperback)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMZ-sNzgII/AAAAAAAACU8/-NOgVChNs0E/s1600-h/Can-You-Keep-a-Secret-(Mass.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360156546312667266" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 184px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 284px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMZ-sNzgII/AAAAAAAACU8/-NOgVChNs0E/s320/Can-You-Keep-a-Secret-(Mass.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets: Secrets from her boyfriend: I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken. Secrets from her mother: I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur. Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world: I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is. Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger.…Until Emma comes face-to-face with Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her...<br /><br /><strong>Customer Reviews</strong><br />I'll Tell You A Secret---I Love This Book!,<br />By Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA)<br />It's light, fun, and totally entertaining. No deep plot, no bio-terrorism or horrific religious scandal. Just a breezy and funny slice of life as seen through the eyes of Sophie Kinsella's newest heroine, the endearing Emma Corrigan.<br /><br />Already a white-knuckle flyer, Emma goes to pieces when her flight from Glasgow to London encounters severe turbulence. Thinking the end is near, she spills every secret she has ever had to the stranger next to her. How she lost her virginity, what she really thinks of her boyfriend, the petty stunts she pulls on co-workers, the way she killed her parents' goldfish while they were on vacation and replaced it without their knowledge, her deepest thoughts on g-strings, cousins, Charles Dickens, and more. When the plane miraculously lands, Emma is thankful she will never again see this man who knows every little secret of her life.<br /><br />Emma returns to her job as a junior marketing executive and as she attempts to climb the corporate ladder, every embarrassing secret of her life is exposed. How Emma combats this public humiliation and discovers another person's secret makes for a rollicking good read.<br /><br />Emma is very reminiscent of Kinsella's other heroine, the shopaholic Becky Bloomwood. Equally appealing are Emma's two flatmates---her life-long friend Lissy and the irrepressible Jemima who will have you laughing hystericaly at her thoughts on men, jewels, and all things fashionable.<br /><br />This is a quick and fun read, sure to satisfy fans of the Shopaholic series or chick-lit in general.<br /><br />Find out more @ </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440241901?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0440241901" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Can You Keep a Secret?</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0440241901" width="1" border="0" /> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-77128873706539394302009-07-22T19:04:00.000+07:002009-07-22T19:04:00.597+07:00Shopaholic Gift Set (Shopaholic Ties the Knot / Shopaholic Takes Manhattan / Confessions of a Shopaholic) [BOX SET] (Paperback)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMMUOwfyvI/AAAAAAAACU0/cC8TMefa-cY/s1600-h/Shopaholic-Gift-Set.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360141523199445746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 208px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMMUOwfyvI/AAAAAAAACU0/cC8TMefa-cY/s320/Shopaholic-Gift-Set.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Customer Reviews</strong><br />Simply Awesome, October 22, 2005<br />By M. Davies "MTD" (Gilbert, AZ USA)<br />A little over the top but you just have to love her dedication to fashion. Becky Bloomwood is my new hero but absolutely not my financial advisor. I couldn't put these books down and shared them with all of my friends and family.<br /><br />One of my more intellectual friends took a look at the books and with her nose in the air said, "I don't read THOSE kind of books". After much pleading and a bribe or two, she gave them a chance and now is now a HUGE fan, completely in love with the first 3 Shopaholic books. Need a laugh? Read these books!<br /><br />Shopping in a book that is great, April 15, 2005<br />A Kid's Review<br />These books are excellent. They may start off slow but you will soon not have to put the book down. Any easy fun read that you won't want to miss out on. I can't wait for the next book!<br /><br />Find out more @ </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385395507?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0385395507" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Shopaholic Gift Set (Shopaholic Ties the Knot / Shopaholic Takes Manhattan / Confessions of a Shopaholic)</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0385395507" width="1" border="0" /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-54998667437331179082009-07-21T18:55:00.000+07:002009-07-21T18:55:00.253+07:00Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (Mass Market Paperback)<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMKZW8xWVI/AAAAAAAACUs/w-Tsh7XRfi8/s1600-h/Shopaholic-Takes-Manhattan-.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360139412274501970" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 177px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 286px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMKZW8xWVI/AAAAAAAACUs/w-Tsh7XRfi8/s320/Shopaholic-Takes-Manhattan-.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">The irresistible heroine of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Ties the Knot is back! And this time Becky Bloomwood and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic.…<br /><br />With her shopping excesses (somewhat) in check and her career as a TV financial guru thriving, Becky’s biggest problem seems to be tearing her entrepreneur boyfriend, Luke, away from work for a romantic country weekend. And worse, figuring out how to pack light. But packing takes on a whole new meaning when Luke announces he’s moving to New York for business—and he asks Becky to go with him! Before you can say “Prada sample sale,” Becky has landed in the Big Apple, home of Park Avenue penthouses and luxury boutiques.<br /><br />Surely it’s only a matter of time until she becomes an American TV celebrity, and she and Luke are the toast of Gotham society. Nothing can stand in their way, especially with Becky’s bills miles away in London. But then an unexpected disaster threatens her career prospects, her relationship with Luke, and her available credit line! Shopaholic Takes Manhattan—but will she have to return it?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Customer Reviews<br /></strong>Careful when Buying...,<br />By R. Allbritten<br />Of course, this is book is good, but it's the same as Shopaholic Takes Manhattan! It's just a different title for the UK. I thought I'd discovered some UK-only releases of Becky's adventures, but alas, now I need to return it.<br /><br />Find out more @ </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440241812?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0440241812" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Shopaholic Takes Manhattan</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0440241812" width="1" border="0" /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-67083533128510641152009-07-20T18:49:00.001+07:002009-07-20T18:49:00.605+07:00Shopaholic Ties the Knot (Mass Market Paperback)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMIsJ9Vy4I/AAAAAAAACUk/WLf3KbhPyRw/s1600-h/Shopaholic-Ties-the-Knot-(M.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360137536181488514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 182px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 273px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMIsJ9Vy4I/AAAAAAAACUk/WLf3KbhPyRw/s320/Shopaholic-Ties-the-Knot-(M.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">The lovable heroine of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan is back!—in a hilarious tale of one blushing bride who just can’t say no to saying “I do.”<br /><br />Life has been good for Becky Bloomwood: She’s become the best personal shopper at Barneys, she and her successful entrepreneurial boyfriend, Luke, are living happily in Manhattan’s West Village, and her new next-door neighbor is a fashion designer! But with her best friend, Suze, engaged, how can Becky fail to notice that her own ring finger is bare? Not that she’s been thinking of marriage (or diamonds) or anything . . . Then Luke proposes! Bridal registries dance in Becky’s head. Problem is, two other people are planning her wedding: Becky’s overjoyed mother has been waiting forever to host a backyard wedding, with the bride resplendent in Mum’s frilly old gown. While Luke’s high-society mother is insisting on a glamorous, all-expenses-paid affair at the Plaza. Both weddings for the same day. And Becky can’t seem to turn down either one. Can everyone’s favorite shopaholic tie the knot before everything unravels?<br /><br /><strong>Customer Reviews:</strong><br />In typical Becky fashion...,<br />By Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO)<br />Reading the Shopaholic series has got to be the most fun I've had (reading-wise!) in a long time. Sophie Kinsella has created a genius character in Becky Bloomwood and a hilarious -- yet frustrating -- storyline for her in all three books, and I just can't get enough!<br /><br />This time around, Becky has finally got it under control. She is happily paired with boyfriend, Luke; they are living together in fabulous New York City; Becky's job as personal shopper at Barney's couldn't be better; and things are going well with her family and friends. But when attending best friend, Suze's, wedding, Becky realizes there is something missing her life -- an engagement ring. However, Luke is one step ahead of the game -- he proposes to Becky and all is well with the world...or so it seems...<br /><br />Suddenly, Becky finds herself in a new dimension of bridal registries, wedding planners, engagement parties and more! Her old shopping habits rise to the surface when it comes to picking out cookware -- I mean, who doesn't need a state-of-the-art toaster? But believe it or not, there is a much worse predicament that Becky's got herself into -- she's somehow agreed to getting married in two different places. Now how is she going to get herself out of this mess? Read on to find out...<br /><br />Shopaholic Ties the Knot is pure fun. Becky is just as outrageous as ever, although this time, I believe, she is also pretty frustrating. Sophie Kinsella has done an excellent job with this new chapter in Becky's life and if you loved the first or second book, you won't be disappointed with the third. The ending of this novel left room for another in this series -- let's hope and pray Sophie Kinsella is listening. Becky Bloomwood is one character I'd rather not do without.<br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440241898?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0440241898">Shopaholic Ties the Knot</a><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0440241898" width="1" border="0" /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2810264087277693691.post-3434562630767811822009-07-19T18:20:00.001+07:002009-07-19T18:26:04.441+07:00Twenties Girl: A Novel (Hardcover)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMCipMzrHI/AAAAAAAACUc/ns-EylJPThQ/s1600-h/Twenties-Girl--A-Novel-(Har.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 206px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEP-EF9gDlY/SmMCipMzrHI/AAAAAAAACUc/ns-EylJPThQ/s320/Twenties-Girl--A-Novel-(Har.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360130775699401842" /></a>Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?<br /><br />When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.<br /><br />Sadie, however, could care less.<br /><br />Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family. <br /><br />Find out more @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385342020?ie=UTF8&tag=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0385342020" target="_blank">Twenties Girl: A Novel</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=best-seller-fiction-book-reviews-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0385342020" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0