First Review of the New Year: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender

Rating: 3/5 Stars
Pages: 292
Format: Trade Paperback ARC
ISBN: 9780385720960
1st Published: May 2004
Read in: January 2012
Every one's Choice: January 2012
Genre: Fiction

Well, I am trying to catch up on all of my reading since I have seriously fallen behind since my move a few months back. I have said it numerous of times but my commute was cut by 90% and so did my reading.

This book was chosen by one of my Goodreads groups, Every one's Choice, for January 2012 and since my goal is to at least read one book from my online group and one book from my face to face group at work. So one down and here are my thoughts:

It was a nice little book. I really enjoy cooking, even if I am not the best, and I love all my cooking shows so this one touched me a little. It is a sad story and what gave it all it's sadness was pretty much every character. The family is so separated and so hidden that everyone is left behind and there is no real believable love. I can't really explain the sadness in the family but I think you will understand -once you read it. Everyone is so far beyond reach and when they do reach out it seems like at the last possible moment but there still is some beauty in it. Like, I finally get it! I know I kinda ramble but really, this is just a way for me to understand myself and maybe someone can understand me too and get where I am going with this.

All in all, it is a simple book with mysterious people who have great hidden talent and don't understand how it is possible and to what to do with it. The ending was beautiful but I still was stuck at a 3 star rating. Maybe one day I can come back to this and re-rate it and re-evaluate it in my head more clearer.

Review: The Island of the Blue Dolphin - Scott O'Dell

Genre: YA Fiction
ISBN: 0440439884
Pages: 181
Format: Trade Paperback
Rating: 3/5 Stars

I know I may have rated it different if I were reading this and was a fourth grader. I just couldn't really fully enjoy myself. I like the writing and I like the way O'Dell captured Karana and this beautiful island. I could see what he was talking about but most of the time I also felt like I was reading a "how-to" guide. I know now what I would do if I were stuck on an island but I don't even think I would survive as long as she did but I am a city girl and that's where she grew up. Another reason why I didn't love this book was because the story was about her really and I felt no connection to her just the island in itself. Maybe that is what O'Dell had in mind? Or maybe not. I dunno I just rating it as I saw fit.

Review: If I Stay - Gayle Forman

Genre: YA Fiction

Pages: 234

ISBN: 9780142415436

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating 4.5/5 stars

Why didn't I give this 5 stars? I am still not sure myself but something unforeseen was holding me back. I really did enjoy the story and it took me seconds to read. I loved it and I would like to think that I would be just like Mia's parents when my girl's grow up except for the whole car crash thing!

This is about a story of a young girl of 17 to has a wonderful life and family and it all ends in an instant when her parents and her younger brother all perish in a car crash. She is lying in ICU and walking between the space of life and death. She sees and hears everything around her but it's up to her if she should live or die. All through her decision making she goes over her life and tells us bits and pieces of her story and it is so compelling and heartwarming and of course sad but it is such a good quick story and I am very happy that it is becoming a series and the next installment Where She Went will be out this April.

I do recommend this book to young adults and adults alike. It is truly a great story and I must admit I was a sucker for it.

Review: Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

ISBN: 9780399254123

Pages: 346

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Format: Paperback / ARC

My husband found this book and I just needed to read it. It doesn't come out until March of this year (2011). The cover is beautiful as well as the story. The video below is a great piece of the story and is amazing of how Ruta incorporated real stories into her own. I knew a lot of Stalin's rule and I too believed he was just as bad as the rest of them , if not worse. Didn't he shoot his own wife?

Anyway, the story is heartbreaking from beginning to end. I loved the epilogue and I just wish I could have read it in itself. Maybe there will be another book? Who knows? But this story was so sad and also courageous. It is a bout a young Lithuanian girl (about 15) and how her, her mother and brother were taken from their homes and cent away during WWII. They were not Jewish but were considered Fascists and criminals because of their rankings in society. The people who were taken away were librarians, teachers, doctors, lawyers and the like. They were sent away to farms and camps to build for the Soviets. It is a very good story and beware because it is very emotional.

I am thinking I need to read something a little more upbeat! All these sad books are killing me!!!!

Enjoy the Video.

Ruta Sepetys discusses her upcoming novel, Between Shades of Gray from Penguin Young Readers Group on Vimeo.