The Christmas Cat by Melody Carlson

Let me begin by saying this is not the kind of book I normally read. There's just something about most Christmas novels that feel like Lifetime movies. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just that I'm more of a HBO kind of girl.
Despite that I did enjoy The Christmas Cat. Here is the book description:
After years abroad, Garrison Brown returns home to Vancouver to build a new life. When his beloved grandmother passes away a few weeks before Christmas, Garrison goes to her house to sort out her belongings, including six cats who need new homes. While Garrison hopes to dispense with the task quickly, his grandmother's instructions don't allow for speed. She has left Garrison with some challenging requirements for the future homes of her furry friends--plus a sizeable monetary gift for the new owners. Garrison's job is to match the cats with the right owners without disclosing the surprise gift. Along the way, he may just meet someone who can make him stay. 

Humorous and heartwarming, this latest Christmas story from bestselling author Melody Carlson is the perfect gift for pet lovers and anyone in whose heart Christmas holds a special place.

I suppose I probably enjoyed this book so much because I am a cat lover. I have four of them. I also really liked that the story was told from a guy's point of view. That rarely happens in romance novels.

I also liked that Garrison was not a super rich, perfect kind of guy. He was an "average joe." It was refreshing to read about the kind of guy I might meet at the grocery store instead of one that I would only bump into if I was in the Hamptons. Even though he was returning to his hometown he wasn't walking around thinking he was better than all the small town folk and about how backwards they were. Garrison truly knew and respected his roots.

The one thing I didn't like about this novella is that I wish Garrison had told more stories about his experiences in Africa. It was such an interesting backstory but Carlson didn't do much with it. I also wish she would have gone more into Garrison's adjustment to being back in the United States. He was gone for nine years. Can you imagine being in Africa for nearly a decade and then coming back home? Things would be so different.

It was a little disappointing that I could predict how the story was going to end by page 100 but it is a romance story. Besides the biggest love story in this book is not between Garrison and Cara but involves a small four legged hairy beast. And that was my favorite part of the book. My rating 

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

After watching this movie a long time ago I bought the book. It's sat on my shelf unread. I'm so happy I finally read it. A lot of people describe this book as being "like Twilight only with zombies." This is a mostly accurate description.
Here's the book description: R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. 

After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world. 

 Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead, and the blurry line in between.

In general, romance novels describe the power of love as being life changing and making one feel alive. In this story, it literally happens. As someone who loves zombie stories this one is refreshingly different.

R is different than other zombies. He's smarter. He's philosophical. He has a sense of humor. And he has a small grasp on the English language still. He also has met and fallen in love with a human. To say they are star crossed lovers is an understatement. Their love won't just save each other, it might just save all the zombies.

The story implies that what has happened to the world is some sort of punishment. This is best shown by the presence of the Bonies. These are supernatural monsters that are like demons, if demons all shared a mind like a group of skeletal robots. They are determined to preserve a certain order among the zombies that gets disrupted by R falling in love with Julie.

My absolute favorite quote from this book (and now my favorite quote ever from any book) goes as following:

What a massive responsibility, being a moral creature.

This sums up R's internal struggle. He has to fight his zombie nature and figure out how to be a human again. My rating is a solid

The Movie
The movie isn't as good as the book. The plot with the Bonies is confusing and the story feels rushed. The movie lacks the philosophical elements of the book but does keep the humor. It also lacks the more supernatural elememts that are in the book and is a more straightforward mmonster movie. Then ending isn't as dramatic as the book.

The Prequel
I had no idea that there was a prequel to Warm Bodies until I was at Amazon.com today. The prequel is called The New Hunger.

Santa's Little Helper by H. D. Gordon

I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of this ebook for two reasons. It was right before Halloween and it was the first time I had ever gotten an advance copy of a book to review. I have a confession to make though. When I read the book I didn't start with an entirely open mind. I thought the title was a little cheesy and the book would be too.

I was wrong. Very wrong actually.

Here is the book description:

He shows up in a white box, with a bright red book under his arm... He wears a jolly grin and hat, a suit with gold bells and green yarn... He watches you for Santa, or so his red book claims... But though his grin is jolly, he's not here for fun and games... 

The children have been chosen, such precious little souls they are... And may the Gods be with them, if they wish to make it very far... For Santa's Little Helper does not say, but knows important things... He knows when you've been bad or good, and what monsters stalk your dreams... He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake...He's picking out his presents...He's got some souls to take.

H. D. Gordon explained that the idea for Santa's Little Helper from Elf on the Shelf. So when I started the book, I was expecting the elf doll to stay a doll. Santa's Little Helper is far more sophisticated and versatile than that. He has powers like shapeshifting. He also has a true form that is scary as hell.

The story follows how the elf chooses four children and their families. The elf doesn't just attack but behaves like a mental and emotional terrorist in a cat and mouse game. The children that he chooses have a complex family life that sometimes works in their favor and sometimes works in favor of the elf.

While the elf's target is the children, five year olds cannot fight evil by themselves. The children confide in their teacher, their siblings, and their parents in an effort to get help to fight Santa's Little Helper. This is a horror story but it is also about the bonds of family and how the love and sacrifice of parents is often what saves the lives of children. Emphasis on the word sacrifice.

Of the four families, the story about the daughter and her mother dealing with an alcoholic abusive husband and father was my favorite. While all the stories dealt with complex human emotions, this one dealt with what happens when human beings become the monster. At times it was hard to know who was scarier, the killer elf or the abusive man.

Gordon also manages to weaves in philosophical issues such as the moral issue of lying to kids about Santa Claus, what evil is, the nature of God and the Devil, and the significance of losing your childhood innocence.

Simply put, this story is not just about a killer elf doll. It is about many other things as well. Still I'm glad to have read it now before December when I get out the Elf on the Shelf doll. As creepy as this book was, I still will be an Elf on the Shelf mom.

Speaking of Elf on the Shelf, I do worry a bit that H. D. Gordon might run into some copyright issues with this book. In the novel, there is a book that tells a similar background story for the elf doll. At one point Gordon describes the elf doll as being on a shelf. I certainly hope Gordon never has any problems with this.

Lastly, as I read this book I couldn't help but think it would make a really great horror movie. My rating is 

The book goes on sale at Amazon on Halloween. I was given an advance copy of the book for an honest review. No other compensation was recieved.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Wow. Just wow. This novel blew my mind. I started reading it on Monday and I finished reading it about 5 am on Tuesday. The last book I read that fast (and also in two sittings) was the final Harry Potter.

I don't normally read mystery or thrillers so this was a new experience for me in that aspect as well. I get it now. I understand why whodunits are so much fun. It's great fun trying to peice together the clues. I will definately be reading a lot more books in this genre.

The problem is since I don't read mystery or thrillers I don't quite know how to review them either, so bear with me here. I assure you I will not give away any spoilers.

Book Description

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

This novel was about so much more than just Amy's disappearance. This story is about the world's most messed up married couple. Whatever dysfunctional married couple you can think of, this couple will make them look like Mike and Carol Brady.

What I liked about the story is that it was told from two different points of view; that of Nick and that of Amy. It was fascinating to read about how both of them viewed their marriage and the events in their life.

What I truly did not expect was for this story to explore rather deeply misogyny and even though the word is never actuall used, misandry. I was facsinated as to how both Nick and Amy dealt with sexism and the hatred of the opposite sex. This story takes everything that is commonly assumed about domestic abuse and turns it on it's head. The book sincerely explores the idea of the male as the victim in abusive relationships, stalking, and even rape accusation.

It's hard to discuss what happens in Gone Girl without discussing radical feminism and how it has had an impact on marriage, what's expected of women in marriage and relationships, and how they should react when they are angry about it. I consider myself a moderate feminist who rejects radical feminism and as well as the misandry within feminist extremist views, so for me this book was an honest look at those issues. Whether or not Flynn intentionally criticized radical feminism, I don't know, however, I think this book puts the spotlight on real issues in the men's rights movement.

Don't get me wrong. The book is not preachy in any shape or form. Instead it is an action packed highly paced mystery where you aren't sure who the villian really is. However, I didn't like that you learned who it was halfway through the book. I really wish Flynn had kept it secret just a little bit longer.

While the first half of the book is a whodunit, the second half of the book is catching whodunit. I must say that every time the villian got away with something, I felt infuriated. I have never hated a character as much as I did in this book. Hate is not a strong enough word. Despise? All I know is I wanted the villian to be ripped apart from limb to limb. I've never seen a character that was so truly a sociopath through and through. (This makes it qualify for the Suicide and Mental Illness Theme Read.)

This is why I can't wait to see the movie. Ben Afleck is a perfect choice for the role of Nick. As I read Gone Girl, I couuld easily imagine Afleck saying every single line. I heard the movie has a different ending. To be honest, I didn't like the way the novel version of Gone Girl ended so I'm hoping the movie version ends the way I think it should have ended.

Despite the ending, Gone Girl was a wild ride from beginning to end that got me so into it I decided to pretty much stop whatever was going on in my life just so I could read the book. It gets a rare

The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation Book 1) by Pembroke Sinclair

Book Description from Amazon.comKatie wants to invest her heart and soul in love, but she may lose both to Hell. Katie, a senior in high school, is torn between loving the “good” guy, her childhood friend Wes who makes promises he doesn't keep and abandons her when she needs him the most, and the “bad” guy, the new kid at school Josh who is also a real demon from Hell. Katie wants someone who pays attention to her and puts her first, but what is she willing to give up to find him? 
This YA book is a love triangle with one hell of a twist. Literally. 
Katie finds herself torn between two boys. The first is the boy she has been in love with since kindergarten. Unfortunately Wes has never treated her the way that a girl wants to be treated. All Katie longs for is true love, devotion, and a real relationship. Wes leads her on just enough to keep her hooked but never quite delivers.
When Katie meets Josh, the hottest boy in school, it appears as if all her dreams are about to come true. It turns out some of these dreams are something out of a nightmare because Josh is in fact, a demon from Hell. However, he always seems to be there for Katie when Wes fails.
To make matters even more complicated, Katie discovers that Wes is a Praesul, which is an ancient order of demon fighters. Katie finds herself not only trapped between bids for her heart, but smack in the middle of the war between good and evil that has gone on since the beginning of time.
Josh's pursuit of Katie is nothing short of relentless. He is, to put it bluntly, a controlling stalker. What I really liked about this novel is that even though Josh is a demon, he behaves the way any psychopathic stalker and abuser would behave. I think the book is a great lesson for young women on behaviors to look out for in guys that do not have their best interests as heart.
What I also liked about the story was that even though Wes is supposed to be on the good side, his behavior is sometimes questionable. Even though his heart is in the right place, he tends to make decisions over and over that hurt Katie. These behaviors sometimes seem no less manipulative than those of Josh.
This means the book is constantly asking the question, what is good and evil? Penbroke Sincliar does an amazing job of blurring these lines. She asks is a demon capable of love? Any stalker will tell you what he does in pursuit of his obeject of desire is because he loves her so much. Katie can't help but wonder does Josh just do what he does because cares about her so much? If it's because of that, how can it be so wrong?
However, like any situation with an emotionally controlling stalker you know things are going to eventually go bad. Sinclair does a great job of building up the tension in the love traingle. Sinclair doesn't skimp on the action either. I have often read YA books where the author is afraid to actually have anyone get hurt or physically fight. Wes and Josh not only use their minds to fight for Katie, they also use their fists. 
I do have a few complaints about the book. The first is that Katie's thoughts about the boys repeat themselves over and over. Sinclair does a great job of letting us into the mind of Katie, but at times she goes into streams of consciousness that are overwhelming and repetitive.
My second complaint is that Sinclair started what would have been a fascinating subplot of Katie's best friend having a Preasul in her family, but then never follows through on it. The plot thread is left dangling.
Hopefully Sinclair will go back to this story thread in the next book in the series. The way the book ended lets you know the next in the series will take you even deeper into this world of good versus evil and Katie is right in the middle of it. 
Unfortunately Book 2 hasn't been released yet. I guess I'll just have to wait to find out what happens next. Sinclair says she is currently working on the sequel.
My rating:

Penbroke Sinclair has a website and also can be found on Twitter and Facebook. Her book can be purchased here.
I was given a copy of the book for an honest review. No other compensation was received.

The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating by Carole Raziwell

Book Description from Booklist

When Claire Byrne’s intellectual husband dies in a freak accident with a falling sculpture (a fake, at that), she must figure out how to be a widow. Her marriage was defined by the age gap, Charles’ insistence (academic and otherwise) that there is either love or sex (not both), and his frequent infidelities. Claire has almost no identity of her own, and she is convinced by friends to lose her widowed virginity and move on. Radziwill’s first novel (after her memoir, What Remains, 2005) is a very New York book, even when Claire travels to L.A. to interview (and sleep with) a movie star. There is a constant war between lightness and heaviness in the subject, in the story, and in the telling that seems intrinsic to city dwellers. The plot features a lot of takeout, and Claire sees multiple therapists, a psychic, and a botanomanist to get herself sorted out, which, by the end, she more or less does. Radziwill’s book may receive extra coverage due to her association with the Kennedys and her appearance on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. --Susan Maguire

The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating by Carole Raziwell left me feeling many different things. Some good, some bad.

The Good
This book is about modern widowhood. When Claire's famous husband dies suddenly and absurdly by a giant piece of artwork, Claire must learn how to go on with her life. She has two problems. The first is that she wants sex and love. The second is that even though her husband is dead, she still has to live in his shadow.

As a widow myself, I found what Raziwell, as Claire, writes about widowhood all too familiar. We aren't allowed to think about dating or men or sex because we are supposed to spend the first year mourning.

I love that Raziwell is honest about how there are "perks" to being a widow. The biggest perk of all is that we don't have the baggage of divorce and other women perceive that as a threat.

I particularly found the 3 - 6 - 3 rule true. During the first 3 months of widowhood people bend over backwards to make sure you are okay. Then during the next six months they are somewhat concerned but go back to their own lives while you try to figure out yours. The last 3 months of the first year, they practically forget you are a widow.

This book made fun of being a widow without being insensitive or cruel. It observed the truth about death and widowhood: they are absurd. Having to date again after being married for years or decades is absurd. And most of us widows have no idea what we are doing when it comes to dating and relationships.

I think that was my favorite part about Claire. She was a widow who had no idea how to date again. And when she gets involved with Mr. Hollywood Movie Star himself she doesn't know what to do with herself. This is a book about misadventures. (Fun Fact: Mr. Hollywood Movie Star's character is rumored to be based on George Clooney.)

The Bad
Some of this book was badly written. For example, at one point Radziwill literally explains what the phrase "talking animatedly" means. In another part, drinks that were cleared away two paragraphs ago suddenly reappear. She begins part two of the book by summarizing what happened in part one. These could have been fixed with some better editing.

There are characters in the book and interactions that seem pointless. Like all of Claire's therapy sessions with therapist #1 about her dreams. One dream which Anna Karenina had. (The therapist says so.) That's just lazy writing. Radziwell couldn't even think up an original dream?

While Claire's observations about widowhood are true, she never seems to grieve. True she didn't have the happiest marriage but you only see her break down and cry over her husband once. She never misses him at random moments like real widows do. A song comes on the radio that brings back a flood of memories and emotions. You're channel surfing and the movie you saw on your first date comes on. Things like that never happen to Claire. It makes her seem...well, rather cold.

Lastly, and this is my biggest complaint. What the heck does Claire do all day for over a year? She's rich from her late husband so doesn't have to work. She barely works on the book she is supposed to be finishing (about Mr. Hollywood Movie Star himself). Does she do charity work? Does she just shop all day? Watch soap operas? What?

I am a single mother in a small town struggling financially and my late husband died leaving me four children to take care of by myself. It was really hard for me to sympathize with Claire, a rich widow whose biggest problem seems to be that she can't figure out the Starbucks menu and that she's not sure if she's just casually dating the most famous movie star in Hollywood. While the book was entertaining and fun, it would have been nice to see something more real and down to earth in it. The truth is Claire seemed rather shallow. Add that to her seeming cold and it just made the main character overall completely unlikable. I almost rooted for Mr. Hollywood Movie Star to break her heart.

Oh wait, I do have one final complaint. The muddled ending that seemed to go on way too long and took itself way too seriously. The tone of the last 20 pages was completely different than the rest of the book. It's like Radziwill wanted her fun, chick lit book to suddenly become deep and meaningful.

Overall I did truly enjoy the book. I do hope Carole Radziwill writes more. I hear her memoir What Remains is very good. My rating

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

I watched a few episodes of The Leftovers on HBO and decided to put off reading the books for my Summer Challenge because I just had to read The Leftovers book.

It was a mostly a waste of time. It was one of the worst books I have ever read.

Explaining the premise is rather difficult for this book so I will share the blurb from Amazon:

What if—whoosh, right now, with no explanation—a number of us simply vanished? Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on, one foot in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down? 

That’s what the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, who lost many of their neighbors, friends and lovers in the event known as the Sudden Departure, have to figure out. Because nothing has been the same since it happened—not marriages, not friendships, not even the relationships between parents and children. 

Kevin Garvey, Mapleton’s new mayor, wants to speed up the healing process, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized community. Kevin’s own family has fallen apart in the wake of the disaster: his wife, Laurie, has left to join the Guilty Remnant, a homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence; his son, Tom, is gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a sketchy prophet named Holy Wayne. Only Kevin’s teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she’s definitely not the sweet “A” student she used to be. Kevin wants to help her, but he’s distracted by his growing relationship with Nora Durst, a woman who lost her entire family on October 14th and is still reeling from the tragedy, even as she struggles to move beyond it and make a new start.

Fascinating idea right? Unfortunately Perrotta's execution was terrible. He focuses so much on the individual lives and grieving that the victims could have died in a bus accident and the story would not have changed.

He does briefly describe how the county freaked out after the Sudden Departure. There were car crashes, traumatized witnesses, and the market crashed. But is any of this exciting action included? It's touched on in very subtle ways. It's told as a flashback because the novel starts three years after the Sudden Departure. Perrotta completely skips what would have been the most exciting part of the story.

Now I will say I did not expect an explanation of what the Sudden Departure actually was or why it happened. (As a fan of Stephen King I'm used to dealing with no explanation of supernatural events.) I just wish Perrotta had pulled back and told more of the world's story rather than just the handful of people in the small town.

What kept me reading were the storylines about the two different cults. I did enjoy the parts about the Guilty Remnant and followers of Holy Wayne. Although I found what Meg did at the end of the story completely and utterly impossible to believe. It does make me want to seek out more books about cults.

The main storyline about Kevin and his daughter was completely boring and seemed to have very little to actually do with the Sudden Departure. Which is pretty sad considering Kevin was supposed to be the main character.

The worst part about the book was the open ending. There basically isn't an ending. Perrotta seems to rush his attempt to tie up the loose ends of the story threads and in doing so makes the non-ending hard to even believe. The characters resolve their problems by acting completely out of character. The way the books ends, you find yourself flipping to the last blank page wondering where the rest of the book is at. It ends as if there was going to be a sequel.

This book had the potential to be mindblowing. Instead it's a complete fail. My rating

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and Emma Vieceli

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. The title is so cheesy. I think it's intentionally cheasy though. I chose it because I wanted a fun book to read instead of something so serious.

Not only was the book a fun read it was finally a very different take on vampires. I've been searching for a series that doesn't follow the cliche formula regarding vampires, especially teenage vampires.
Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. The Dhampir protect the Moroi from the "evil vampires" called Strigoi. Moroi vampires are good, peaceful, and have magical abilities but are not immprtal while the Strigoi are more your cliche bloodthirsty immortal vampire. The girls have been on the run foe two years from their boarding school but the school authorities have finally caght up with them and am forcing them to retrn to St. Vladimir’s. Unfortunately, this is the least safe place for Lissa. It's also a social nightmare with cliques and"queen bees" just like any normal high school.

I liked that the book had mystery and adventure along with the clique wars and some Harry Potter-like magic thrown in. Rose is kind of an underdog as a guardian. She has used her street smarts to protect Lissa despite never having been formally trained  At first I thought she was entirely shallow but my favorite thing about her is that she truly makes protecting Lissa a priority no matter what's going on with the friendship. That also happens to be her fatal flaw because she tries to control Lissa too much. Actually Lissa used to be "queen bee" at the school and has to deal with her jealousy when Lissa replaces her.

I liked the romance between Rose and Dimitri but I did find the age difference to be just a little bit on the creepy side. My favorite character was Christian but I'm always drawn to the misunderstood bad boy with a heart of cold. The villian behind the whole mystery was rather unexpected and a good plot twist.

Even though I enjoyed this book there were a lot of things I didn't understand or like. Here's a list:

• Why are the Moroi and Strigoi feuding in the first place? What's the history behind this vampire conflict? 
• Why are there two races of vampire and where id they come from?
• Vampires are Christians and go to church? I can accept that they may go to church but wouldn't they be more likely to have a religion of their own? 
• Morai are magical vampires but can't protect themselves? They need half-human guardians who have to learn combat skills and use weapons against the superpowerful Strigoi? This isn't even believable.
• Lissa is a cutter. While I thought this part of the story was done pretty well, at the same time I felt is didn't belong in a vampire fantasy novel. 

I liked this book enough that I want to read the entire series. My rating  

The Movie
I knew the movie had bad reviews but I never expected it to be so bad. The actors and actresses did what they could with the script but the writing was just atrocious. There were some clever one liners but it overall it was pretty hard to sit through. The book was so much better.

The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith

Book Description from Amazon.com

What happens when "happily ever after" has come and gone? 

On the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven's wedding, an aging Snow White finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven's fiancé, is a fine man from a neighboring kingdom and Snow White's own domain is prosperous and at peace. Things could not be better, in fact, except for one thing: 

The king is dead. 

The queen has been in a moribund state of hopeless depression for over a year with no end in sight. It is only when, in a fit of bitter despair, she seeks solitude in the vastness of her own sprawling castle and climbs a long disused and forgotten tower stair that she comes face to face with herself in the very same magic mirror used by her stepmother of old. 

It promises her respite in its shimmering depths, but can Snow White trust a device that was so precious to a woman who sought to cause her such irreparable harm? Can she confront the demons of her own difficult past to discover a better future for herself and her family? And finally, can she release her soul-crushing grief and suffocating loneliness to once again discover what "happily ever after" really means? 

Only time will tell as she wrestles with her past and is forced to confront The Reflections of Queen Snow White.

Since starting this blog I have been asked to do book reviews on occasion. I usually said no because of one simple reason. I didn't have an eReader. Then a few months ago I started reading a few books that I bought from Amazon on the Kindle for iPhone app. I enjoyed this so much I started borrowing my son's iPad to read books. And I loved it! There was one big problem with that. My son had to give his iPad back to the school because the school year was ending. So I spent a tense few days trying to find the cheapest Kindle I could on eBay. I managed to find a 2nd Generation Kindle (the original eReader) for under $30 including shipping.

Why am I telling you all this? Because in celebration of getting a Kindle, I decided to finally say yes to a request for a book review. The book is The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith. This book made me realize how I've really been missing out on eBooks. I was rather adamant about sticking with paper books and I realize now that my refusal to get with the times has made many wonderful books unavailable to me. I couldn't have picked a better book to "break in" my Kindle.

I wonder how much David Meredith knew about me when he asked me to review his book. Did he know that I'm a widow just like Snow White? Did he know that I have suffered with prolonged grief and severe depression just like Snow White? I never anticipated how personal reading this story would seem. Reading this book was like reading about some of my own experiences and that's quite unexpected considering it's a fairy tale.

I guess that's the thing about fairy tales. They contain universal truths. I don't know how much experience or knowledge Meredith has with childhood abuse, infertility, widowhood, severe depression, or women's self esteem but he nails it. When a man perfectly describes a woman's experience I can't help but be impressed.

While you and I would visit a therapist (i.e a complete stranger), Snow White has something even better. Snow White has a magic mirror that shows her only what is a reflection of her. The magic mirror never lies but instead shows Snow White the many truths about herself, her past, and her life that she refuses to face. This magic mirror knows her better than she knows herself.

Ultimately, the book is about coming to terms with life's challenges, letting go of the past, and finding forgiveness. This book wasn't just entertaining to me. It was therapy!

I do have to admit there were times when I wanted to just shake Snow White while yelling "Have confidence in yourself! Just be happy!" but that is the nature of grief and depression. It's a black cloud that follows one everywhere. No one gets better unless they choose to get better. Happiness is a choice. It was wonderful to read a story about someone healing from the monster that is grief and depression. So many books about widows end up with healing coming from finding romance and a new love. In this book, Snow White finds it in herself.

I do have a few minor criticisms. The book could have used a bit more proofreading. Sometimes I thought characters talked too long. I wish Meredith would have included some scenes of how Snow White came to be taken in by the dwarfs. I would have liked to know more about Arglist and what happened in her life to make her so cruel and abusive. What was her experience with the truth telling magic mirror? Arglist's story would make a great prequel. (Hint. Hint.)

I don't give out five star ratings often. I only give them to books that are either so entertaining I was sad when the book ended or to books that touch me on a very deep level. I would by lying if I said this book didn't affect me deeply. I don't have a magic mirror, but this story made me want to look at my own experiences and my own truths so that I can find healing too. This book made me consider my own experiences with prolonged grief and severe depression. Most of all it did something most books about widows don't do and that is share the lesson that healing comes from within, not from finding new romance and love.  My rating

David Meredith has a website and also a Facebook page. His book can be purchased here.

I was given a copy of the book for an honest review. No other compensation was received.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Dewey Read-a-thon Update: (Yes I know I'm giving my update two days later. lol) I read this book from 8:30 pm to 10 pm and 12:15 am to 3:50 am.

Book Description from Amazon

This is the story of Charley, a child of divorce who is always forced to choose between his mother and his father. He grows into a man and starts a family of his own. But one fateful weekend, he leaves his mother to secretly be with his father--and she dies while he is gone. This haunts him for years. It unravels his own young family. It leads him to depression and drunkenness. One night, he decides to take his life. But somewhere between this world and the next, he encounters his mother again, in their hometown, and gets to spend one last day with her--the day he missed and always wished he'd had. He asks the questions many of us yearn to ask, the questions we never ask while our parents are alive. By the end of this magical day, Charley discovers how little he really knew about his mother, the secret of how her love saved their family, and how deeply he wants the second chance to save his own.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one of my favorite books of all time. Just when I thought one guy could only have on vision of the afterlife, he comes up with For One More Day.

Charles "Chick" Benetto is grief stricken after his mother Pauline dies. Not only does he miss her but he also feels immense guilt for favoring his father for most of his life. It's not entirely Charles' fault. His father told him, "You can be a mama's boy or daddy's boy but you can't be both." He spent his whole life not understanding why his parents divorced, why his father disappeared, and why neither of the them are willing to talk about it.He deals with his pain by drinking but after alcoholism destroys his life and his only daughter refuses to invite him to her wedding, he feels he has nothing live for. He decides to attempt suicide. However, you are told from the beginning of the story that he lived. So after jumping off a water tower to his death, you aren't sure if he's dreaming, in a coma, or just why he's seeing his dead mother.Not only does he see her, it's as if she never died and is carrying on her daily life. Charles decides to accompany her throughout her day and he learns things about her that he never understood when he was younger. Throughout the story he also tells in flashbacks what happened when is parents divorced and how it has affected him his entire life.Throughout the story you are given clues on just why his dead mother has appeared. Don't worry I won't be giving any spoilers here. The book is ultimately about self forgiveness and how as children (even adult children) we don't always understand our parents.I only have one complaint about the book. Quotes like the following are throughout the book:

The character of Charles naively assumes that everyone has the same sort of relationship with their mother that he did. I found quotes like these to extremely triggering. I didn't grow up with my mother and have a rather difficult (but not unloving) relationship with her. I was raised by my grandparents so many of the quotes triggered that anger and sadness of not having a mother around growing up.

Still I found the book addressed the parent-child relationship in a unique way. I think it is especially a great read for anyone with father issues, who recently lost their mother, that is an alcoholic, or a recovering alcholic.

My rating 

I'm going to watch the movie and will have a review of the movie up soon.

The Deception Perception by David Icke

This isn't something I would normally read but I wanted to do something special for The Ethereal 2014 Reading Challenge. 

I don't usually include the blurbs about books but what this book is about is just too hard to explain...especially with a straight face. But even the blurb doesn't explain it well enough. 

From Amazon.com

David Icke, the world s most controversial author, has spent the last quarter of a century unravelling the secrets of the Universe, reality and the forces that manipulate our world. What was once ridiculed and dismissed is now being confirmed again and again as Icke, a figure of fun for so long, is acknowledged as a man way ahead of his time.

DavidIcke.com adds
In this massive work of 435,000 words, 900 pages and more than 800 illustrations, Icke lays out in dot-connected detail a lifetime of research and insight about our ‘computer’-simulated reality, the holographic universe and the hidden non-human forces that are manipulating human life via hybrid bloodline families and networks into a global Orwellian state of total control. 

What Icke exposes across a vast range of connected subjects, people and events provides the tools and awareness for humanity to stop this unfolding nightmare and restore the world to what it once was and will be again – a place of love, harmony, peace and awakened consciousness. 

As Icke says: ‘I can now see that my whole life has been leading to this book.’ 

The Perception Deception is destined to be a work recorded by history as the masterpiece that changed the world.

My Review
The chapters on how everything is an illusion, part of the Matrix, and has frequency are excellent. This was my favorite part of the book. I also liked the parts about Gnosticism. However, Icke conveniently leaves out the parts where they did believe a true god exists. He gives the impression that all they believe in is the Demiurge which just isn't accurate.

The rest of the chapters seem to describe how every single aspect of life has been taken over by the Archon intentions. Yes this is implied by the title but if I am to believe David Icke than everything that has ever been created is to enslave me. And all of it is done by an interdimensional race to serve Saturn aka the Demiurge aka Satan. This book made me feel hopeless and depressed. Everything is to serve Saturn/Satan/Demiurge and enslave us. Yes, everything.

Icke's reason for this enslavement?

Because they are jealous of humans. And they feed off our misery. Our misery is like batteries providing juice to them.

Okay, but what happens once all of the human race is enslaved? I just couldn't figure out what the Archon end game is here. If everything isn't even real anyway, what is the point?

Is there something that hasn't been left untouched by the Archon Satan-serving lot? Icke basically lists every aspect of life as being there to serve Satan; religion, entertainment, food, medicine, science, government, our DNA...

I waited for him to talk about the things that are good in this world. And I waited and I waited and I waited. I think David Icke has got to be the most miserable human being who has ever lived.

I kept reading chapter after chapter waiting to hear about the good guys in all this. Who are the heroes? There was only ever one mentioned.

David Icke will save us all.

This book was 900 pages of how everything in all of history in all of (fake) time has been building up to enslave the human race but David Icke will save us from that fate. The solution to this enslavement is believing every word of David Icke and...

Wait for it...

Love.

We can only love each other because fighting them will do nothing. We need to follow the Golden Rule.

Let me repeat it for emphasis. After reading almost 900 pages David Icke says the solution to this mass enslavement by interdimensional beings that have permeated everything that has ever existed is to love each other and follow the Golden Rule.

Gee thanks David Icke. I hadn't thought of that.

My rating .

My Thoughts About David Icke

The blurb alone shows how egotistical this guy is and how he has a total savior complex. Who writes about their own book that it's "destined to be a work recorded by history as the masterpiece that changed the world?"

Well this "masterpiece that is destined to change the world" has a total of 10 reviews (8 positive and 2 negative) on Amazon and one of them is mine. This masterpiece isn't even in the top 100 on Amazon. But the sheeple don't recognize his genius right? 

I mean if everything he says is true about the Archon interdimensional alien race trying to enslave humans is true, how is that David Icke even got this book published, much less is even alive to tell the tale? You'd think the Archon race would have suppressed the knowledge he shares at some point in the last 25 years, right?

From Here to Maternity by Kris Webb and Kathy Wilson

Book Description from Amazon

Saturday morning coffee sessions are never going to be the same. . . .

Sydney marketing exec Sophie presumed "making sacrifices for your children" meant giving up Bloody Marys and champagne for nine months. When she thought about it, that is. . . . But then two blue lines appear on her pregnancy test. How does a baby fit in with a hectic job, a chaotic social life, and the absence of Max, the Y chromosome in the equation, who has moved to San Francisco?

Support and dubious advice are provided by an unlikely group that gathers for a weekly coffee get-together at the King Street Cafe. With Debbie the glamorous man-eater, Andrew the fitness junkie, Anna the disaster-prone doctor, and Karen the statistically improbable happily married mother of three, Sophie discovers the ups and downs of motherhood. And when an unexpected business venture and a new man appear on the scene, it appears that just maybe there is life after a baby.

Written by two sisters who live on different continents, Kris Webb and Kathy Wilson, From Here to Maternity is a novel that tackles the balancing of motherhood, romance, and a career, while managing to be seriously funny.

The quote from a review by The Age on the cover claims "A story best described as Bridget Jones has a baby." Wrong. Bridget Jones is actually funny. 

From Here to Maternity is about Sophie who is a working woman that has just broken up with her commitmentphobic boyfriend and found out that she is pregnant. The story is about how she navigates single parenthood, starting her own business, and of course, dating.

From Here to Maternity was boring and I had to force myself to finish the book. You'd think with two authors the book would have been a bit better, but it just fell flat. What's worse is that the actual "maternity" part was pretty much skipped over. The authors could have done so much more with the time Sophie was pregnant but they skipped that part and started at her daughter's birth.

Then again considering how unfunny the book was overall, they probably couldn't have made pregnancy funny either. It was charming and had just the right amounts of sentimentality so I descided to give it a chance. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never really did.

What I did like about the book was that it is set in Australia. So many of these chick lit books are set in England that I thought "down under" was a nice change. I liked how realistic the scenes with the baby were. Clearly the authors are mothers. I also like that Sophie made some parenting mistakes. However, I didn't like that she drank while breastfeeding. Those scenes made me cringe.

I also found the idea that Sophie would fly to Hong Kong for a business meeting with her 3 month old ridiculous. What was completely unbelievable was that the baby slept the entire way. I guess the authors decided trying to pee while holding a baby in an airplane bathroom was funny enough and they didn't need to do anything else.

There were so many situations like this that could have been uproarishly funny but they were boring. There were scenes where baby Sarah didn't cooperate and they made me smile but it was only once or twice that I laughed out loud.

And there was a plot hole that makes me want to write the authors an email with a bid fat DUH as the subject headline. Sophie and her best friend were looking for a baby product that they could sell to stores. Why oh why didn't the authors realize Sophie had the perfect idea when she was shopping for a diaper bag!? Sophie was complaining about how all the diaper bags were pastel colored or had cartoon characters on them. I thought for sure the product idea she would have come up with was the designer diaper bag that doesn't actually look like a diaper bag.

I did love the book ending though. Of the two men in Sophie's life I think she chose the right one. This made sludging through this boring book almost worth it but the book wasn't what I would consider a romance. The romance was only a subplot. Overall it was boring and entirely forgettable. My rating .

Paper Towns by John Green

Book Description from Amazon

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

I've kind of had my fill of Young Adult novels but I promised my 12 year old son I would read all of John Green's novels. Considering he's obcessed with PC gaming and anime this was one of the rare things we actually have in common. (Although had I read Green's novels first I may have refused to let him read about so much drinking, sex, and general shenagins. Whenever I complain about how the novels are too inappropriate for him he says something like "Oh Mom. Kids read this in school!" I read things like the Red Badge of Courage in school.)

Paper Towns at first seemed different than John Green's previous books for the first third of the novel. The first part of the novel is about Margo begging Q (Quentin) to help her with a night of revenge and teenage shenigans. Quentin has been in love with Margo since age 9 and even though she hasn't spoken to him since they shared a traumatic experience at that early age, he obliges her request even though it involves breaking the law.

Quentin expects Margo to suddenly become a regular part of his life again but is disappointed when she runs away from home again. He knows she leaves clues about her whereabouts and this time Margo has left clues just for him. Quentin along with a mix of his and Margo's friends team up to use the clues in an attempt to track down Margo. Time is of the essence because they fear this time Margo will commit suicide or worse, is already dead. The more clues Quentin finds, the more he wonders if he ever knew Margo at all.

If you have read Looking for Alaska, the plot to Paper Towns will seem quite familiar. The themes are even the same. The main characters are both obcessed with girls that have never loved them back. The books are just too much alike for me.

In one part, Quentin talks briefly about Moby Dick yet never realizes that he's Captain Ahab and Margo is the white whale. The difference is instead of wanting revenge he has a savior complex. Not only is Quentin obcessed but he's also a grammar Nazi and frankly seemed to be completely unable to let loose and have fun. He looked down on his friends for behaving like normal teenagers. I didn't really like him. Just as in Looking for Alaska, it is solving the mystery that kept me reading not because I actually cared about the main characters. 

The idea that Margo has left Quentin all of these clues about her whereabouts without having spoken to Quentin in years simply isn't that believable. What's even more unbelievable is that Quentin's band geek friends end up dating Margo's friends who are in the popular crowd. 

What bothered me the most about this novel is that at no point does anyone step back and say, "Maybe Margo is batshit crazy? Maybe the fact that she repeatedly runs away, does so with such needy drama, and likes to stay in condemned buildings means she has a mental illness?"

The worst part of the novel is that the four teenagers sacrifice walking at their graduation to go on the final rescue mission to find and possibly save Margo. Because parents of four teenagers would say "Sure, make a 21 hour road trip across the country on your graduation day with 5 minutes notice." In fact, permission was never given. The teens basically tell their parents they are missing gradation for this trip and they just need to deal with it. Did I mention they do all this with 212 beers in the van?

They never realize that Margo is mentally ill and cannot be rescued without some serious professional help. This is made all the more unbelievable because Quentin's parents are psychologists and Quentin routinely listens to their conversations. You would think he'd at least pick up some of the symptoms of mental illness or at the very least ask his parents if Margo's lifestyle choices are normal. 

The ending of the novel tried to be really deep but it's really just Quentin unable to see past Margo's insanely self-centered and bratty behavior. There's a lame attempt to convince us that Margo had always cared about Quentin even though she hadn't talked to him for nearly a decade. This book seems to almost teach kids that running away is the answer and living in condemned buildings with rats and rotting floors is adventurous and glamerous, not incredibily dangerous and stupid.

Looking for Alaska treated depression and suicide with the seriousness that it deserved, but in Paper Towns it's treated as mere eccentricity and wanderlust. Had Green written about Margo's behavior with more seriousness, I would have enjoyed the book more. Or at the very least if he had someone at some point suggest she get mental help.

The book endly badly as well. It's never known how the hunt for Margo even affects Quentin. The book ends without giving Quentin any time to process what happened. You never find out whether or not he thought it was all worth it in the end or how it changed him.

My rating: 

(*Note* Since this technically wasn't a romance. I'm not sure it can really be counted for the VaVaVoom Read-a-thon.)

Looking for Alaska by John Green (Spoiler Warning)

Book Description from Amazon

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .

After. Nothing is ever the same.

**Spoiler Alert**

This is one of those books where reviewing it is impossible without revealing spoilers. In this case the spoiler would ruin the entire story. So if you do not want the entire book ruined, please do not continue reading this review. I hate writing reviews with spoilers but I can't figure out a way around it this time.

First, what I didn't like. Now, I've never lived at a boarding school but these high school kids seemed to behave more like college kids to me. There was just so much drinking and smoking! Yes I was in high school once and I suppose I actually did drink about as often as these kids (never smoked) but maybe because I'm a mother, there was just something off putting about all that drinking and smoking.

I wish I had read Looking for Alaska before I read The Fault in Our Stars because since I knew what kind of writer John Greene was, I saw it coming. Each chapter is a countdown to something big. Granted this made me want to keep reading. I wanted to know what was going to happen on the day Pudge was counting down to.

Okay, I'm going to give you one more chance to stop reading this review. I'm going to start revealing spoilers!

To be honest, I didn't really like Pudge all that much. He treated Lara really badly because he was in love with Alaska. Oh that cliche teenager issue of unrequited love. Actually now that I think about it, I didn't really care too much about any of the characters. Don't get me wrong, I liked most of them but I didn't care deeply about what happened to them. The entire book is a mystery and I enjoyed it so much because I wanted to solve the mystery. (Which makes me wonder if I really should start reading some mysteries, but I digress.) 

I really should say "mysteries." First, I wanted to know what Pudge was counting down to. Once I learned what the life altering event was, I wanted to know why it happened along with Pudge and the gang.

But like I said earlier I kind of knew what was going to happen from the very beginning. I just knew Alaska...and here's the big, huge spoiler....was going to die. I didn't know how and it honestly didn't happen the way I expected it to. Alaska dies in what appears drinking and driving accident that may or may not have been a suicide. 

Pudge and her other friends spend the rest of the novel struggling with their feelings of guilt because they knew she was drunk and let her drive anyway as well as investigate like Mystery Inc. (Scooby Doo and the gang) into clues about whether Alaska killed herself. 

One scene that I found completely and utterly unbelievable was how the students at the boarding school was informed of Alaska's death. No school headmaster in his right mind would tell Alaska's closest friends during a school assembly like that. 

I'm going to get personal here. Real personal. 

Reading this book was actually very hard for me because my husband died 7 years ago in a head on crash a week after admitting he was suicidal. However it's because I've experienced this that I know what John Greene wrote was realistic. In fact, he nailed it. 

I remember pouring over clues trying to figure out if my husband's crash was accidental. I called the truck driver's work to speak with him and asked to meet with him about the crash. I met with him and asked almost the same questions the kids as the police officer. I spoke with the coroner's office and asked then a dozen question. And I waited the excruciating weeks for the police report because they did a toxicology test on the truck driver. My one clue that is wasn't a suicide was that my husband braked before the impact.

What I liked about the book is that Pudge and gang never come to a definitave answer. Instead they learn that they have to let go of trying to answer all the questions and focus on remaining close friends. They do this by bonding together to plan a hilarious and epic school prank involving a stripper at a school assembly. I loved that it was humor that helps all of them heal. I felt like all the loose ends were tied up, even if the mystery was not totally resolved.

Now here's what I hated about the ending. For being a group of kids as close as they were, they didn't seem too broken up about leaving boarding school and each other to go back home for the summer. I thought the way they were so nonchalant about it was completely unrealistic.

Another thing I loved about this book was all the "last words" quotes. Last words as in the last thing famous people said before dying. I found this absolutely fascinating and wish John Green had included more than he did. It made me want to start collecting my own "last words."

I also loved how philosophical the book was. Unlike The Fault in Our Stars the way the teenagers discussed philosophical matters was a lot more realistic. It didn't bog down the story or ever seem pretentious like it sometimes did in The Fault in Our Stars. 

Also one issue I think Greene seems to have with both of these books is that he doesn't know how to realistically write about teenage love, dating, and relationships. He also always makes his teenage characters far too mature. They are always deep and even wise beyond their years. Just once I'd like to see someone that reflects current teen culture.

Considering I plan on reading all of his books I probably should look for a John Green reading challenge as this point.

My rating is a solid  

The book is being made into a movie. I have to admit I think this book would make a far better movie than The Fault in Our Stars.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

Book Description from Booklist

It’s been 15 years since readers first met the charmingly insecure Bridget Jones, and 13 since her last adventure in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2000). Bridget is now 51, and, most readers will be chagrined to learn, a widow. She is also raising the two children she had with the now deceased Mark Darcy and gingerly wading back into the dating pool while working on a screenplay. When she joins Twitter, she obsesses about the number of Twitter followers she has the same way she used to agonize over her weight, which does remains a concern. Bridget begins a Twitter flirtation with a sexy guy named Roxster, who turns out to be only 29. Most of the novel is devoted to the ups and downs of their ensuing relationship. It is fun to revisit Bridget and all her neuroses, but the novel is at its best when Fielding focuses on the challenges Bridget faces as a single parent, including her love/hate relationship with one of her son’s teachers, rather than on the somewhat unrealistic May-December romance.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The longed-for return of Bridget Jones is supported by a hefty print-run (250,000), a first serial in Vogue, and a major author tour. --Kristine Huntley

How on earth I reviewed Bridget Jones's Diary only a few weeks ago and completely missed that Helen Fielding finally wrote a third book after only 14 years, I don't know. I discovered Mad About the Boy while at the library. There it sat in the new books display and I was so excited that I immediately rattled off a Facebook status to express my excitement. Then I was as anxious as a child who had to wait to play with a new toy while I ran my errands. I couldn't wait to get home and begin reading!

Before I started reading Mad About the Boy I made the huge mistake of going onto Amazon to see the release date. (October! This book had been out for months and I didn't even know!) I couldn't help but notice there were some less than stellar reviews. I started reading some and ran into a huge spoiler. I normally don't write spoilers into my reviews but if you've read anything about Mad About the Boy (articles and such) then you will find out Mark Darcy is dead. Bridget Jones is a widow and mother of two.

While other decade long fans were furious that Mark Darcy was killed off, I was even more excited to read the book. You see, I'm a widow and a single mother myself. The idea that my favorite literary heroine of all time was now a widow just like me was almost more than I could stand. It was as if Helen Fielding had peeked into my head and written the perfect book. (And truth be told, I never really liked Mark Darcy anyway.)

Then I read another detail about Bridget Jones that made my "perfect book" not so perfect anymore. Bridget Jones is fifty-one!? Was this some kind of joke? But even` at 38, I could still relate to Bridget worrying about grey hair, wrinkles, and getting older.

Which brings me to the biggest flaw in the book. It is impossible to believe that Bridget Jones is 51. She doesn't even remotely behave like someone middle-aged. She seemed much more like someone my age. So I decided to ignore the fact that Bridget is supposed to be middle-aged and decided she was in her late thirties. The story just works better that way.

Many people complained that Bridget hadn't learned her relationships lessons and behaved, well, like the Bridget Jones we know and love who is obsessed with men, weight, dating, and relationships. I assure you this is actually quite realistic. You see, after being married for a long time and suddenly thrust into the world of the singleton as a widow, it is exactly like that. You have to resort to remembering what things were the last time you were single and dating.

Like Bridget, I could relate to suddenly having to deal with meeting people online, social media, and texting. I have never met anyone from Twitter though. I found it a little hard to believe that Roxster was willing to meet Bridget having never actually seen what she looked like even in a picture. Although I imagine he probably asked their mutual friend what Bridget looked like. While I've never dated anyone 20 years younger than me, how Roxster reacted to the idea of dating someone with a pre-made family was realistic. (However, I did find it hard to believe that Bridget got over 700 Twitter followers.)

What was most touching about the novel was what Bridget experiences as a widow. This was so true to how it really is. The memories of your late husband and the grief can strike you completely out of the blue even when you are at your happiest. Like Bridget, you feel guilty for feeling happy. You don't want to feel sad but you just can't help it and sometimes the grief and stress is overwhelming.

The part of the book that affected me deeply was when Bridget was at the picnic style concert watching her son playing his solo on the bassoon. She watched all the other married couples with their children and felt intense loneliness and grief that her husband and father of her children couldn't be there. Even anger about the unfairness of it all. I had to put the book down because I was crying so hard. Helen Fielding couldn't have gotten this experience more perfect or right. 

However, the entire book wasn't always this perfect or right. While I loved the storyline, I absolutely hated at least the first one third of this book. I can't really tell you what was so bad about it. Bridget just got on my nerves and was just such a ridiculous person. 

Then I started to like the book but two sentences nearly made me want to put the book down and never return to it ever. There's this scene where Bridget feeds her children chocolate buttons that may or may not be smeared with dog poo. I wish I was joking. It reads:

"'Two trails,' I added laying a careful line of exactly matching chocolate buttons...ignoring the fact that tradesmen may previously have trailed dog-poo traces into carpet. The two of them [Bridget's kids] obediently trotted up the stairs after me, stuffing the no-doubt-poo-smeared buttons into their mouths."

WTF!? Seriously WTF? What in God's name is wrong with Helen Fielding that she would write this? What is wrong with her editor that the editor would leave it in the book? It was just messed up on so many levels.

I decided to return to the book but I was only able to continue reading because I pretended like these two horrifying sentences were not actually in the book. Fortunately after this the book got quite good. There were lots of laugh out loud and touching moments of Bridget as a mother and singleton. It was refreshing even to read about a mom that isn't Supermom and doing everything perfect all the time. However, sometimes the idea that Bridget is still screwing up so much at the age of 51 is a bit ridiculous.

The book also needed some editing. There was a lot of subplots regarding Twitter, the neighbor with the weird hair, the leathercoatman, and this part where Bridget puts her to do list into The 7 Habits of Higly Successful people into quadrants, and so on that just cluttered up the story.

There is one final unbelievable thing that Bridget does. She is writing a modern adaption "Hedda Gabler" for the silver screen called "The Leaves in His Hair." She misspells it "Hedda Gabbler" and believes it was written by Anton Chekhov. This is ridiculous and stupid. Helen Fielding makes Bridget a complete joke as a career woman. I understand it's Bridget's thing to screw up constantly but couldn't Fielding let her get just one thing right?

This novel was hit and miss. There were parts I adored and parts that I absolutely loathed. (Still it was better than The Edge of Reason. I didn't like the Edge of Reason so won't bother rereading and reviewing it.) Was Mad About the Boy worth a 14 year wait? It wasn't what I, along with thousands of other fans were expecting. We wanted Bridget planning a wedding, experiencing pregnancy, and we wanted to see her married to Mark. Maybe Helen Fielding will take the hint and write us a prequel?

My rating is overall is  but the book was only two stars in some places and a solid four in others. I don't think I've ever read a book that wavered so much in quality. And I sincerely do hope this book becomes a movie.