I Made The Switch!

For those of you who actually follow me and read this blog, I have MOVED!

I will now be blogging along over at Wordpress.

You can find me HERE!

Thanks for taking this change well and I'll see you soon!

Blog Hopping Along

I haven't done a blog hop in a while. Decided to join in with this one.

Listen by Rene Gutteridge Review

Listen
by Rene Gutteridge
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc
Synopsis:  
Someone is listening . . .
 
The quaint, close-knit community of Marlo was the ideal place to live . . . until someone started posting private conversations online for everyone to read, word for word. Now it’s neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, as careless comments and hurtful accusations turn the town upside down. Violence and paranoia escalate, and the police scramble to find the person responsible before more people get hurt—or even killed.
 
But what responsibility do the residents of Marlo have for the words they say when they think no one is listening? 


Listen by Rene Gutteridge 
Review by Me
5 Squees/5 Squees

First off I want to say that I think this is a book that everyone should read. We are a world that is too quick to speak. We are too quick to dirty someone's name when they aren't around to defend themselves. In Rene Gutteridge's book, Listen, you meet the citizens of a small town called Marlo who quickly learn the power of words. I absolutely loved this book. I was drawn in immediately and I was kept enthralled all the way till the end. The thing I liked most though was the realness of this book and the ability it had to open my eyes up to my own life. How often do we talk badly about other people? How often do we say one thing behind someone's back, but another to their face?

After reading this book, you'll start seeing yourself in a different light and you'll start realizing that your words have power. Do you want that power to be uplifting or bring people down?

"Speak Kindly. Love powerfully. Listen Fully."

Recent Kindle Downloads

aka What Manda is Going to Read

Listen

Currently Reading...pretty good so far!

 

Switched 

My next read on the top 100 list, thought it sounded interesting.

Fools Rush In

Looked cute and was FREE. :)

In the last week or so I've downloaded about 60 books to my Kindle. All but about 3 of them were FREE. I am totally 100% addicted to my Kindle and am having a blast reading on it. I'll probably start doing these little what Manda is reading posts to keep those who care updated. :)

My to read list of paper edition books is still pretty large and I'm going to have to start going back and forth between Kindle editions and paper ones. I still love holding a real book in my hands, but I am pretty in love with my Kindle.

A Daring Proposition by Jennifer Greene Review

A Daring Proposition
by Jennifer Greene
Publisher: Carina Press

Leigh Sexton is desperate to have a baby, and Brian Hathaway would be the perfect bio-dad. One of Chicago's most notorious playboys, Brian is no family man, which suits Leigh just fine. An heiress and successful CPA, she is more than capable of raising a child alone. Now all she has to do is work up the nerve to ask Brian to impregnate her...artificially. Leigh has no interest in conceiving the old-fashioned way, despite how her heart races whenever she's near him.

Brian is intrigued by Leigh's request. He's not into commitment, even with a woman as attractive as Leigh, but he's also not the type to make a deposit and then disappear. If he goes along with her scheme, he's got one demand of his own: marriage before conception. He agrees to keep things clinical—he can get sex elsewhere—but having a wife at home will keep the husband-hunters at bay.

It seems like the ideal compromise—until they start falling in love.


A Daring Proposition by Jennifer Greene
Review by Me
3.5 Squees/5 Squees

I had a hard time with this book in the beginning. I just wasn't pulled in right away. Leigh was going through a lot in the beginning of the book and everything felt really stiff and blah. I continued reading because I wasn't completely bored.

The book really started picking up about halfway through when Leigh and Brian go to visit his family for Christmas. Up until that point everything seemed forced and drawn out. I loved the book at this point and forward. I really loved the chemistry that started to build between Leigh and Brian and I loved her chemistry with his family. All the way through the end of the book I was a very happy reader. It was almost like a was reading a different book at the halfway point.


All in all I enjoyed this story and thought it was read worthy.  I just wish the author didn't take so long in the beginning to really get it going. I wouldn't have minded more of the relationship building and romance that was in the second half of the book.


I enjoyed the characters, and would recommend this if you're into the romance genre and just looking for something so-so to read.

Announcement Announcement Announcement!!!

I can now review books in KINDLE format!!!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I crossed to the dark side and got a kindle. I absolutely LOVE it! Now if only I had money to actually fill it with books. Looks like I'll be entering some of those Amazon Gift Card contests.

Now don't think I've crossed over completely. I still have plenty of books in real book form and I will always buy books. It's just nice to have them all in the palm of my hand.

Ok that's all. Catch ya later.

Populazzi by Elise Allen Review

Populazzi
by Elise Allen
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Synopsis:
WHAT WOULD YOU DO if you had the chance to erase your past and reinvent yourself as the person you’ve always wanted to be?  Would you grab it?  Would you stick with it, no matter what the consequences?

Cara Leonard always wished she could be one of  those girls: confident, self-possessed, and never at a loss for the perfect thing to say.  One of the Populazzi.

It always seemed impossible… but now could be her chance.

When Cara moves to a new school just before junior year, her best friend urges her to seize the opportunity and change her life… with the help of The Ladder.  Its rungs are relationships, and if Cara transforms herself into the perfect girlfriend for guys higher and higher on the Popularity Tower, she can reach the ultimate goal: Supreme Populazzi, the most popular girl in school.

The Ladder seems like a lighthearted social experiment — a straight climb up — but it quickly becomes gnarled and twisted.  And when everything goes wrong, only the most audacious act Cara can think of has a chance of setting things even a little bit right.

Populazzi by Elise Allen
Review by ME
5 Squees/ 5 Squees

This book was made of pure squees. I've read a lot of "heavier" books lately and this was a refreshing break from that. Elise Allen wrote this typical teen story with a girl striving to rise in popularity. I loved her take on such a normal story though. Her characters were charming and I really felt for Cara through out the whole book. I definitely oohed and awed through many pages and even let a few squees out during some of the more "cutesy" moments. I'm a big fan of these type of high "fluff" stories. I don't know if it was my lack of high school social skills or that I just wish I was young and naive again. This book will bring you back to those days of longing to fit in and you'll wish you could be by Cara's side through some of the tougher moments. All in all this was a great teen read, and I definitely enjoyed it.