Book Review: ttyl by Lauren Myracle

ttyl by Lauren Myracle (Internet Girls #1)

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Publish Date: 2004

 Paperback, 221 pages

My Review:
Cute and easy to read is how I would sum up this book. 

With that said, did I like the book?  Yes I did - it was entertaining and I enjoyed reading it.  I felt it was confusing at first but once I got a handle on the characters it was much easier to read.  I felt I did get to know Angela, Maddie and Zoe.  All three were confronted with situations they had to work out themselves.  They were frank about things and typical friends.  It's tough in a threesome of friends, someone always feels they are on the outs, but I like that Angela, Maddie and Zoe try and work things out.

It's a fun book and I enjoyed the fact it was written in texts and IMs.  I didn't live in that world in high school but it's fun to read about it now.  And it's funny that the one thing that I liked about it also irritated me in a way. Reading a book only in texts and IMs also made me feel like I wasn't part of the action.  The reader always finds out about things after they have happened and then the parts of the stories slowly unfold as the characters don't want to talk about it and one of the friends has to pull it out of them.  But it was still a very enjoyable story and I plan on continuing reading this series and learning more about these three girls.

Rating:  3.5/5.0

About the Book:
An epistolary novel for the 21st century, this sharp, funny, and true-to-life breakout hit about friendship is told entirely in instant messages. And Internet-savvy teens have fallen in love with flirty Angela (SnowAngel), moody Maddie (mad maddie), and good girl Zoe (zoegirl) and their frank perceptions about a tumultuous tenth-grade semester.

About the Author:
This is Lauren Myracle's third novel. She is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA Program for children's writers, and is extremely well-connected to the writing community.

FTC Information: I received this book from my local library.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

W...W...W... Wednesday - March 31

Ooooohhh fun a new-to-me meme.  This is a good one for me since I can't seem to get it together for What are you Reading Monday.  This one is simple and to the point and hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, so go there and see what everyone else's answers are.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…


What are you currently reading? 
Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus (ARC)
True Blue by David Baldacci (audiobook)
Out of Body by Stella Cameron (Kindle)


What did you recently finish reading? 
ttyl by Lauren Myracle  
 
 

What do you think you’ll read next?
Glaen by Fred Lybrand
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline
 

Waiting on Wednesday - March 31

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Promises to Keep by Jane Green

Release: June 15, 2010

From Goodreads:

Callie Perry is a successful family photographer living in upstate New York. She adores her two daughters, has great friends, and actually doesn't mind that her workaholic husband gets home at 9 p.m. every night-that is, when he's not traveling six months out of the year.

Callie's younger sister, Steff, on the other hand, has never grown up. She's a free spirit, living in downtown Manhattan and bouncing between jobs and boyfriends. Lately, she's been working as a vegan chef, even though she can't cook.

Lila Grossman is Callie's best friend and has finally met the man of her dreams. Eddie has two wonderful children, but also a drama queen ex-wife who hates Lila. And then there are Callie and Steff's parents, Walter Cutler and Honor Pitman. Divorced for thirty years, they rarely speak to each other.

The lives of these colorful characters intersect when they each receive a shocking note that summons them together for one extraordinary summer in Maine and changes their lives forever. This novel is about the hard choices we have to face, about having to be your parents' child long after you've grown up, and about the enduring nature of love.

Book Review: When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson

When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Publish Date: September 24, 2008

10 Audio CDs

My Review:

I received this audiobook from the library - I can't remember where I saw it, but it caught my eye on a blog somewhere I am sure.  I had no idea that it was part of a series featuring Jackson Brody, or that it is the latest book in the series when I started it.  In fact I didn't know it until I finished it and went back to look for more of Kate Atkinson's titles and found out that the series starts with Case Histories.  Rest assured that Case Histories is now on it's way to me.

All of that said, you do not have to read these in order.  I knew there were things about Jackson's past that were just glossed over in this book, and now I know why.  I want to go back and learn more about Jackson since he was such an interesting character so I will read the other two books.

So what did I think of this novel?  Well it's really depressing in a way, and at the same time, you keep turning the pages.  Like a train wreck (and there is one of those in the book).  This book is an interesting look at how lives can intersect and small things can affect many people's lives.  It was also a look at the strength in each of the characters.  They are all facing a demon of some kind and the train wreck throws them all together in a way no one expects.

There is lots of back and forth between the characters but it's never confusing because each of the characters are different.  The novel is very character driven and the characters are well-fleshed out.  I felt that the book moved along well and it never really drug for me.  I found it interesting to see an interaction from both sides from time-to-time.  It really made the whole story and it's characters come to life.

Come join in on the lives of Joanna, Reggie, Louise and Jackson for this span of a few days and live their lives through their eyes.  It's a very interesting experience and When Will There Be Good News is not a book I am likely to forget any time soon.

Rating:  4.0/5.0

About the Book:
"On a hot and beautiful day in the English countryside, six-year old Joanna Mason witnesses an appalling crime. Thirty years later, the man convicted of the crime is released from prison." "Sixteen-year-old Reggie works as a nanny for a doctor devoted to her new young son. But Dr. Hunter has gone missing, and Reggie, no stranger to bad luck and worse, seems to be the only person who is worried." "Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe is also looking for a missing person, unaware that hurtling toward her is an old friend - Jackson Brodie - himself on a journey that becomes fatally interrupted."

As lives and histories intersect, as past mistakes and current misfortunes collide, Jackson is caught up in the most personal, and dangerous, investigation of his life.


About the Author:
Kate Atkinson won the Whitbread Book of the Year for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum and has been an internationally bestselling author ever since. Her most recent novels, Case Histories and One Good Turn, both also featured the former private detective Jackson Brodie.




FTC Information: I checked this audiobook out from my wonderful local library.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

 

Teaser Tuesday - March 30

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• 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!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Sharon's pretty much my favorite relative."   Her golden-brown eyes sparked. "She took me and my little brother to the water park when we were kids.  My mom called it white-trash heaven." Suddenly the brightness in Adriana's eyes shut down.

From Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
This one sucks you right in, I'm fully intrigued and anxious to know more.

A Golden Web by Barbara Quick

A Golden Web by Barbara Quick

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publish Date: April 6, 2010

Hardcover, 272 pages

My Review:
From the start A Golden Web is a very enchanting book.  I found myself liking Alessandra from the very beginning.  She is a smart girl in a culture where women are mainly there to marry and to tend house and have babies.  On top of all of these usual expectations, Alessandra is the oldest daughter and has a stepmother who is not overly fond of her.

Alessandra does the smart thing, she gets her brother to help teach her the ways of survival and how to be a boy.  With this knowledge she is able to sneak away from the convent and start a new life undercover.

The plot is wonderful and the build up is great.  The characters are amazing.  I really liked Alessandra and her brother.  But somehow as the book continues some things seemed to get lost to me.  I felt like things branched out a little too much and I just lost track of what was going on.

However, I did enjoy the book and look forward to more by Ms. Quick.  I just felt there was an effort to tie up too much in too little time.  But please don't take my word for it, try this book yourself.  You may find yourself loving it.  It has a strong heroine who knows what she wants, a time period I was not completely familiar with (so I found it fascinating) and strong supporting characters and a good plot to push it along.  Overall it's still a wonderful book.


Rating: 3.75/5.0

About the Book (from Amazon.com):
Alessandra is desperate to escape—from her stepmother, who’s locked her away for a year; from the cloister that awaits her if she refuses the marriage plans that have been made for her; from the expectations that limit her and every other girl in fourteenth-century Italy. There’s no tolerance in her village for her keen intelligence and her unconventional ideas.

In defiant pursuit of her dreams, Alessandra undertakes an audacious quest, her bravery equaled only by the dangers she faces. Disguised and alone in a city of spies and scholars, Alessandra will find a love she could not foresee—and an enduring fame.

In this exquisite imagining of the centuries-old story of Alessandra Giliani, the world’s first female anatomist, distinguished novelist Barbara Quick gives readers the drama, romance, and rich historical detail for which she is known as she shines a light on an unforgotten—and unforgettable—heroine.

About the Author (from Amazon.com):
Writer and poet Barbara Quick is the author of the novels Vivaldi's Virgins and Northern Edge, winner of the Discover Prize. A Golden Web is her first book for teen readers. An avid traveler and student of other languages, she has run an international boardinghouse; written everything from self-help books to humor columns to grant requests for disadvantaged children; and done whatever jobs she needed to do -- from landscape gardening to catering to editing -- to allow her to continue writing. She lives with her teenage son, Julian, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she takes frequent classes and occasionally performs with a Brazilian dance troupe.

FTC Information: I received this book from Traveling ARC Tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

 

Mailbox Monday - March 29

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. 

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

ARCs/Review Books

 

From PBS: