Book Haul #1

It’s book haul time!

Yesterday I was in the city for a couple of hours, so I went and spent some time in one of my favourite book shops. Favourite because they are dirt cheap and they don’t necessarily have a lot of the “mainstream” books that all the other book stores have. I’d much prefer to read books that no-one has really seen or heard of over the books that are all over the place and everyone has read because the are all over the news.

I mean. sure I like to read the more popular books from time to time but a part of me feels that there are authors that don’t get the attention they deserve just because other books go viral for stupid reasons.

Anyway, yesterday I bought 5 new books and spent $25 in total (awesome right?) and I plan on reading and reviewing these books over the next few weeks (months?)

Derik’s Bane by Mary Janice Davidson
I am a huge Mary Janice Davidson fan. I think I’ve read 90% of her undead series which was hilarious and entertaining. I started reading her when all my friends were getting into the True Blood books. I picked up one of the first undead books and couldn’t stop. I was down at the library hiring whatever books I could find from the series because they were so addictive and easy to read. The undead series were relating to Vampires but with more comedic relief than anything; not to twilight-y or ‘dark’ so they are enjoyable. Derik’s Bane is about a Werewolf and from what I can tell follows the same sort of comedic-romance that the undead series had.


Wild Romance by Chloe Schama
After reading and reviewing some of the books I did last year, I kind of got a bit hooked on the timely drama type books. Events occuring in different era’s instead of the here and now. I like the idea of a Victorian era scandal and the blurb on the back sounded interesting. It’s a romance story with a lot of twists and turns which I think could be quite interesting.

The Overnight Sociality by Bridie Clark
This sounds weird, but I felt like this book was calling me to read it. A couple days ago I was thinking about this sort of story line and so when I saw this book, I was a bit taken back. I had to grab it and read it, so it’s now a part of my collection. It’s title is a dead give away to the main idea of the book. It’s a little bit like that movie She’s all that,  the guy who changes the girl and voila guy falls for girl. I’m sure there’s more to it than that, but we’ll see how it goes!

 

 

Recipe for Scandal by Debby Holt
This book reminds me of that book I read last year, I think it was Encore Valentine and now that I’ve peered over my shoulder to look at the book, they look very similar as well. It’s story filled with family drama, love, romance, scandal the works which, like I said, is similar to Encore Valentine but I’m going to assume at this stage that they are fairly different. I love the cover, I think that’s what grabbed my attention; it’s flirty and decorative.


That Loving Feeling by Carole Matthews
I picked this book up at the last minute. I had actually picked up a different book but when I saw this one, I decided to put the other one back. Again, it’s a romance book; for some reason I’m drawn to this genre but it’s more to do with the eye-grabbing covers than anything else. I don’t think it’s so much of the genre that I like, it’s just when I see a cover I like, I have to have it. But this one is probably comparable to Happily Ever After? which I reviewed last year; it follows that whole idea of getting married but no necessarily being happy within that “happy ever after” scenario. Which for me, I feel like they aren’t exactly issues I can relate to, but they certainly make you more aware that the Disney idea of finding the prince and just magically being happy for the rest of eternity isn’t how it always pans out. This author has quite a few other books so I’ll definitely be seeing how this one goes.

I’ve also decided that once I get through these, I think the next books I go for will be the classics. I want to read Dracula and I saw that this book shop had a huge range of other classics like Mansfield Park, The Tale of Two Cities and things like that, so I think once I get through these books, I’ll definitely look toward getting some classic books. I think it helps now that I’ve finished my literature course, so instead of being MADE to read the classics, I actually WANT to read the classics. If that makes any sense at all!

Book Review: Between The Lines

 

 

The Blurb on the Back:
What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah hates school as much as she loves books. In face, there’s one book in particular she can’t get enough of. If anyone knew how many times she has read and re-read the sweet little fairy tale she found in the library, especially the popular kids, she’d be sent to social Siberia…forever.

To Delilah, though, this fairy tale is more than just words on the page. Sure, there’s a handsome (well, okay, hot) prince, and a castle, and an evil villain, but it feels as if there’s something deeper going on. And one day, Delilah finds out there is. Turns out, this Prince charming is real, and a certain fifteen-year-old loner has caught his eye. But they’re from two different worlds and how can it ever possibly work?

My Thoughts:

The first Jodi Picoult book I read was Nineteen Minutes and I have been a huge fan of her work ever since. Whenever I saw a book of hers that I hadn’t read, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I love that some of her stories don’t necessarily end the way that you might at first expect them to; there is usually a twist in the plot and something completely unexpected happens. During the winter break from University, I was luck enough to have a few quiet moments to myself where I got to pick up a book of my choice and just immerse myself into a world where I could just enjoy a book from beginning to end. When I heard about Between the Lines, a collaboration book written by Jodi Picoult and her Daughters Samantha van Leer, I knew I had to get this book and I needed to read it right away!

From the moment I knew it was a modern spin on fairy tales, I was sold. I’m one of those girls who loved, and will always love, the Disney fairy tales and their elegant princesses, their evil villains and their charming princes. I know there are other girls like me and regardless of how old or how young we are, we can’t help but get lost in the world of magic and romance. Between the Lines definitely has that modern take on the fairy tale genre and what I noticed about it was the modern day references that were mentioned, especially relating to pop culture, which adds to that modern day feel.

I believe, that although this book really tries to put a modern spin on fairy tales, it’s hard to relate or connect to the protagonist. I’m in my mid-20’s and so connecting with or understanding Delilah is a bit tricky. Oliver on the other hand came across as incredibly one dimensional and I don’t mean that as a joke, he just seemed to lack a lot and there wasn’t much substance to him; but perhaps that is understandable considering the part that he plays.

Overall, I think the book is fun and light hearted. It’s an easy read, it’s nothing too serious or dark and I think quite a lot of people would be able to enjoy it.