SO, without further delay!
Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson
So this book is about a 17-year old girl who goes on an adventure when she receives 13 little blue envelopes from her crazy aunt. Each envelope contains a task she must do and a place she must visit before she can open the next envelope.
Overall, I think the concept of this novel was great-a little treasure hunt with little envelopes and visiting gorgeous and awesome places. (lots of which I would love to go myself) and at the same time, learning how to love yourself and not miss the little things in life. However, (and the more I think about this, the more it bugs me) I had a hard time believing that the parents would allow their daughter to go out of the country by herself. And here's the thing--according to the aunt, she could have no cell phone, laptop, or any other communication back home until after the tasks are complete...REALLY?? So you send a minor across the planet with little money and no way for her parents to know that she's safe?? That would never happen in my lifetime, and especially in times like these. So because of this, I didn't think it was a believeable story. It was distracting and really took away from the experience I could have had with the book. PLUS, I almost questioned if the girl "got it" in the end because it didn't seem as though she stopped whinning or took time to smell the roses, as I'm sure her aunt wanted her too. I saw snippets of understanding, but not enough to believe that the trip was worth it to her. It's almost like she just went through the motions to appease her aunt. I would have been super excited to be able to go on an amazing trip like that by myself and be able to experience life!
Alas, to me, it was a forgettable read.
Rating: 3 (and that's just because I liked the descriptions of the places I want to visit.)
A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare
Sigh! I LOVE Shakespeare and his poetic stories. I loved this play when I was in school...and I was disappointed that we didn't use it as one of our productions. I remember at first being confused at who loved who but our teacher drew us a diagram and I had to follow it! I also remember finally seeing it at TPAC here in Nashville. I loved Puck and his speech at the end. I will not summarize the plot on this one--but I will say I LOVED it...and that should be enough!
Rating: 5
Cinderella
I have loved Cinderella, the movie, as far back as I can remember. It is my ultimate favorite Disney movie, character...story...everything. However, I had never read the Grimm story--so I did. It was just as amazing as I was expecting with a few differences...once again...it's a classic...I will just say I loved it and recommend it to everyone!
Raiting: 5
Wicked Appetite, by Janet Evanovich
From Goodreads:
Seven Stones of Power. No one knows when they were created or by whom, each said to represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long -- Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues' gallery of power seekers. He's an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.
That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. She's freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston's North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle's bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track …until it's suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.
Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. She's not sure about Diesel. He's offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.
The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy wrath, sloth and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that is wicked. Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything that's fun. And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about.
For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long -- Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues' gallery of power seekers. He's an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.
That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. She's freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston's North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle's bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track …until it's suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.
Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. She's not sure about Diesel. He's offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.
The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy wrath, sloth and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that is wicked. Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything that's fun. And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about.
What did I think?? I've always been an Evanovich fan and LOVED her Stephanie Plum series, so when I saw this book at the library, I had to read it, I figured it would be cute and I was right. This book was hilarious. The scenes with the monkey made me laugh out loud and made my husband question my sanity (not that he doesn't do that already!). I can definitely see several books linked to this one and I would read all of them. I loved the chemistry between Diesel and Liz and you just want them to get it on already! Diesel sounds like quiet a catch! Also, Glo is a hilarious character--with her magic spells and brooms. She reminds me of a crazy aunt that collects things and never seems to get anything right. Sigh! I am smiling a bit! Not a ridiculously awesome book, but cute enough and well written enough to deserve 5 stars most definitely! Great quick read!
Rating: 5
No comments:
Post a Comment