Book Review and Giveaway: I'm So Happy For You: A Novel About Best Friends by Lucinda Rosenfeld

I'm So Happy For You: A Novel About Best Friends by Lucinda Rosenfeld





rating: 4.5/5.0









From the back of the arc:

What if your best friend, whom you've always counted on to flounder in life and love (making your own modest accomplishments look not so bad), suddenly starts to surpass you in every way?

Wendy's best friend, Daphne, has always been dependably prone to catastrophe. And Wendy has always been there to help. If Daphne veers from suicidal to madly in love, Wendy offers encouragement. But when Daphne is suddenly engaged, pregnant, and decorating a fabulous town house in no time at all, Wendy is...not so happy for her. Caught between wanting to be the best friend she prides herself on being and crippling jealousy of flighty Daphne, Wendy takes things to the extreme, waging a full-scale attack on her best friend-all the while wearing her best, I'm-so-happy-for-you smile-and ends up in way over her head.

Finally - a true to life book about groups of friends. I don't know about you, but I have never been in a group of friends where some back-stabbing and jealousy went on. Women are just this way. I'm So Happy For You explores that fact and Ms. Rosenfeld does a wonderful job with it.

Both Wendy and Daphne are likeable characters. I see some of myself in both of them. I couldn't completely hate either one at anytime no matter what was going on. Disagreements and jealousy are a fact of life.

Despite all of this, this is not a depressing novel, in fact it's just the opposite - it's fascinating, a true study in human behavior, with laugh out loud moments and very cringe-worthy moments.

It's a great look into how a group of friends truly acts and it makes you think about how you act too. I loved the look into Wendy's mind and her thought process, the paranoia from time-to-time (who hasn't had that) and the self-realization that she finally comes to. There are some surprises along the way and the book was very difficult for me to put down.

Try it out - it's an outstanding book!

Binding: Paperback
On-sale Date: July 29, 2009
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Pages: 288

Thanks to Miriam Parker at Hachette Books I have one copy to giveaway. The contest will be open through August 15th. US and Canada residents only please. Please enter by:

1. Commenting on my blog, make sure I have a way to contact you. (+1)
   
2. Become a blog follower or let me know if you are already a follower (+1)
3. Tell me any other Lucinda Rosenfeld books you have read and enjoyed (+1)
4. Tweet about this review and giveaway, use @cfulcher in the tweet so I can find it (+1)
5. Follow me on Twitter (or let me know if you are a current follower) (+1)
6. Blog about this contest and let me know the link (sidebar or post is fine) (+1)

So there you go - 6 ways to get an entry into this contest. You can leave them in separate posts or one post, it doesn't matter, I will make sure you get your entries, just make sure to let me know what you do.

ARC Arrival: Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

I received this from Natalie Surowiecki at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.

Publisher: Amazon Encore
Publish Date: August 19, 2009
Pages: 464

From Amazon.com:

Bronze Medalist in Young Adult Fiction in the 2008 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards; Finalist in Young Adult Fiction in the National Best Books Awards 2008, sponsored by USA Book News. The first boy disappeared on the day of his birth, on a night when the pale yellow moon of the nighttime sky turned red and bathed the heavens in the ghastly color of blood, on the same night the Kingdom of Cokyri abruptly ceased its merciless attack.

Across the land of Hytanica, under the shadow of the crimson moon, infant boys continued to vanish. Not until the blood had faded from the sky did the disappearances stop and the bodies of the murdered infants were found outside the gates of the city, a final word from the greatest enemy Hytanica had ever known. For the next sixteen years, peace reigned, but one mystery remained unsolved. The Cokyrians had abducted forty-nine newborns, but returned only forty-eight bodies.

Now, as seventeen-year-old Princess Alera of Hytanica is besieged from all sides by suitors vying for the Throne, a teenage Cokyrian boy, Narian, is encountered within the walls of her Kingdom, a boy who will show Alera a world where women serve a purpose and not just a husband. As Narian helps Alera find her voice, she struggles against an arranged marriage that will shatter the life she has scarcely begun to live. And when Narian's shocking past is uncovered, and war with Cokyri looms once more, he must fight to defy a fate ordained at his birth.

About the Author:

Writing has always been Cayla Kluver's passion. It wasn't until her freshman year in high school that she discovered this made her different from her classmates. She was writing in a notebook at the lunch table, when a friend asked her if she was doing homework. When Cayla said no, she was just writing down some ideas, her friend's stunned response was "You write for fun?" Cayla wrote the first draft of Legacy during her sophomore year in public high school. She then worked very hard to combine her junior and senior years so she could graduate early. She completed the first draft of Allegiance, which continues the story begun in Legacy, the following year. In addition to writing, Cayla enjoys such activities as movies, theatre productions, singing, horseback riding, and hanging out with friends. She is sixteen years old, and lives with her family and her muse (Nina, her cat) in Wisconsin, where only the hardy survive. Legacy is her first novel.

I was thrilled to be contacted to review this book. It sounds absolutely wonderful and it's by a 16 year old! Cayla Kluver was born the year I graduated from high school! I am really excited about this book - the cover is beautiful and it just looks like a great book.


PS - check out the amazon.com link for the book - it has really great music - DH and I both loved it.

Book Arrival: Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction by Laura Bergman Fortgang

Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction by Laura Berman Fortgang

I received this from FSB Associates.

Publisher: Tarcher
Publish Date: April 2005
Pages: 288

From the book cover:

In Now What? pioneering life coach Laura Berman Fortgang shares the process that she has used so successfully to help hundreds of clients make major changes in their lives. Whether it's moving on from a dead end job, discovering an entirely new creative outlet, or answering the age old question "What am I meant to do with my life?" this book provides a clear and infinitely practical 90-day program that can help you make major changes in your life.

Readers will learn from the success stories of Berman Fortgang's clients, including:

• A Woman who left her unfulfilling job to discover the rewards of doing motivational work with professional athletes.
• A high-fashion shoe executive who found more gratifying work helping adoption agencies around the world place children in permanent homes.
• A highly paid corporate consultant who became a minister.

Full of inspiring and empowering exercises and tools, Now What? guides reader--day by day and step by step--through a process that will lead to true life satisfaction and fulfillment.

About the Author: Laura Berman Forgang is a pioneer in the life-coaching profession. A renowned speaker and president and owner of InterCoach, Inc., a full-service life-coaching business that works with individuals, small businesses, and corporations, she is also the author of The Little Book on Meaning, Living Your Best Life and Take Yourself to the Top. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey. For more information please visit http://www.nowwhatcoaching.com.

I was asked to review this by FSB Associates and jumped on it. I am at a point in my life that I am kind of getting a new start with my health so I think this is just the book for me at the moment.

ARC Arrival: Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle

Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle

I received this from Laura Mihalick at Abrams/Amulet Books.

Publisher: Amulet
Publish Date: October1, 2009
Pages: 352

From the book cover:

What do Katie-Rose, Yasaman, Milla, and Violet all have in common? Other than being named after flowers, practically nothing. Katie-Rose is a film director in training. Yasaman is a computer whiz. Milla is third in command of the A list. And Violet is the new girl in school. They’re fab girls, all of them, but they sure aren’t friends. And if evil queen bee Medusa— ’scuse me, Modessa—has her way, they never will be. But this is the beginning of a new school year, when anything can happen and social worlds can collide . . .

Told in Lauren Myracle’s inventive narrative style—here a fresh mix of instant messages, blog posts, screenplay, and straight narrative—Luv Ya Bunches, the first in a four-book series, is a funny, honest depiction of the shifting alliances and rivalries that shape school days, and of the lasting friendships that blossom from the skirmishes.

I haven't read any tween books before, so this will be a new experience, but I am looking forward to it. This looks like a great book and the start of a great series.