A Girl's Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber

During the early days of this blog, I had this huge Debbie Macomber reading addiction. I actually tagged books with her name, and I almost never tag books with author names (my tagging system is very strange). I loved the The Shop on Blossom Street, and I even own one of her knitting pattern books. Needless to say, when I saw her new book on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it.

A Girl's Guide to Moving On is a novel about Nichole and Leanne, a daughter and mother-in-law learning how to, you've guessed it, move on after divorcing their husbands. Leanne has put up with her husband's philandering ways for many years, but she's had enough. Nichole has found out that her husband takes after his father in the less savory aspects, and she's not willing to put up with it. As the two live on their own, they draw up a list of guidelines to help them move on.

And this is the backstory. The story really starts when Nichole meets a tow-truck driver called Rocco, and we find out about Leanne's ESL student Nikolai. Yes, this is a love story (and about moving on. Really).

Ok, should I go with the good or bad first? I think bad news first.

The bad news: the start of this story did not work for me. Because the story was in first person, Nichole's summing up of the events felt like someone giving a lecture. It was basically an info-dump of everything that I told you in the second paragraph of my review, but with more detail. Not the best way to bring me into the world.

That's what I didn't like. Now for the good parts.

This is a uplifting and encouraging read. I really, really enjoyed it. I basically picked it up after a really tough exam that I'm still pretty sure that I'm going to fail, and I ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting. After the awkward first few chapters, I found that I loved the characters, and very surprising for me, love the romance story. I was totally rooting for Nichole and Rocco the whole way, and yes, Leanne and Nikolai too. (Although Nichole and Rocco are what my sister would call "my OTP ship" or something like that. I'm not up to date, ok?)

If you like Debbie Macomber, you'll probably enjoy this book. I certainly did, even though for a while, I had serious doubts about it.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

Starry Night by Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber called this "one of my most romantic Christmas stories". Well, I don't know if it's a Christmas story, but it sure is romantic! And despite the fact that it's called a Christmas story, I found that it can be read anytime - it just happens that the story takes place over a Christmas.

Starry Night stars Carrie Slayton, a reporter for the society page of the Sun-Times. But, she wants to cover serious investigative topics, and in a bid to prove her worth, she undertakes a task to interview the illusive author Finn Dalton. Of course she manages to meet him - and she falls in love! So what will she do? Will she write the piece or not?

While the book isn't very long, Debbie Macomber packed a lot of emotion into it. The two leads (after they fell in love), really pined for one another - which lead to some rather romantic gestures (flying to meet someone is sooooo romantic in my opinion)

My strongest impression when reading this book was the it was like a Harlequin book but without any explicit scenes (thankfully). In fact, I think my younger sister, who likes romance books, the Little Black Dress series and Debbie Macomber would probably love this book!

This isn't a deep, thoughtful book. It's a light and enjoyable read.

Disclaimer: I got this galley from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

Angels Everywhere by Debbie Macomber

Christmas is coming.... in less than two months! But, it's time for me to get into the holiday mood by reading some Christmas-y stories (seasonal stories FTW?). Anyway, after a really long time, I picked up another Debbie Macomber book.

Angels Everywhere is a collection of two novels - A Season of Angels and Touched by Angels. The two novels follow three angels - Mercy, Goodness and Shirley as they meddle, I mean try to help their charges by Christmas. The three get into a lot of trouble (mostly by riding on escalators, moving a war-ship, etc) but their heart of gold wins out in the end.

Both stories follow the same "pattern", if you will. There are three or more human protagonists, and they have to learn to trust God, let go of fear, or some other lesson before their lives can be filled again. I'm making this sound boring when it's not. They're sweet captivating stories, written in the Cedar Cove style (for the uninitiated, that means multiple POVs and plots).

I will, however, sound a note of caution about the heavenly trio. For some reason, the angels feel too human to me. While they are lovable scamps, they do seem to be fallible (does disobeying direct orders count as a sin?). Plus, they're totally not scary. In the Bible, the first thing Angels tend to say is "Fear not".

But despite my gripes, this is a typical Debbie Macomber novel, which is to say, I love it. Both stories are heart-warming (with messages about trusting God and such), and so appropriate for Christmas. Definitely one to put on your list along with Melody Carlson's A Christmas Dog and An Irish Christmas (link to reviews)

My First Success!

There was a breakthrough yesterday. My sister set a new record by finishing the book I got for her in a week (exactly a week). I'm so pleased, since she only started reading for fun about last year.

The book in question is The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, she's a good writer. If you have any friends/relatives that prefer reading chick-lit, you can recommend this to them. I think that this is actually better than most romance novels, since it's clean.

In the words of my sister, this book is "sweet" and "clean", which is a rarity in the romance novel sector. I don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to avoid romance novels because of all the >.< scenes. Perhaps this is a reason why some people are too disgusted to read? At least for my friends. So, if you have any Christian friends, or friends who want a nice clean story, but don't want anything difficult? Debbie Macomber is a good choice if you don't feel like recommending a YA novel (E.g. Anything by Sarah Dessen).

On a side note, there is a series of new apps called Booktracks. I don't recall if I've actually written about it, oh wait, I'm pretty sure I did. But anyway, I found an article on TechCrunch which basically disproves of the whole idea. And I thought I was the only person that wasn't jumping for joy at the thought of Booktracks.

I have shown the app to a few of my friends, but after the initial "Ooh" and "Ahhs", they just lose interest and move on to Sushi Chop (or its equivalent). Perhaps it's just me, but I wouldn't recommend getting this if you want people to read. Or if you like reading a lot (like me), since I'm not suited for this app. In fact, I've deleted all the ones I've downloaded, and to my amazement, I feel no regret or sadness. Perhaps the apps are too short, (I mean the length of the books), but it just doesn't seem to have enough omph to dazzle me. Right now, I'm more excited about sites like smashwords.com and manybooks.net, which let me download books free and legally(:

WeRead

I've got a small respite from the onslaught of exam stress recently, and as usual, I went around trying to get people to read. It's actually a very serious disease that can cost a lot.

For example, my second sister told me she was finishing our stock of Sarah Dessen (pretty much the only writer she reads) and she needed more, in her words, 'chic-lit'. That was on Saturday. On Sunday, I went to Littered With Books, and due to my lack of finances, rumaged through the sale pile. I spent my last $10 (ok, actually $9 and I still had about $7 left) on The Shop At Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber, which I reviewed here. If I know my sister as well as I think, and I hope I do, then she'll love this book. It's hard for me to find a good and light romance story, with no disgusting sex scenes (seriously, I don't need to know what they're doing all the time. Or read about it). More often then not, I have to head to the YA section, which is getting over-run with Vampire/Werewolf stories -yawn-

But if you do know any stories which seem to fit the bill, please leave a comment below.

Another family member in my 'crusade' for more people to read (which I'll now call WeRead for convenience), is my little brother. He has slight ADHD, so the books I read like Enid Blyton and Road Dahl may not be suited for him. In fact, the only Road Dahl book he has ever read is The Magic Finger, which we read aloud together. In fact, he prefers reading out loud at this stage, so hopefully, I'll muster up the stamina to start reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to him soon (he loves sweets, so this should be a fit)

Likewise, if you have a book that will get kids to read, please please please tell me via comment. Or you know, if you know my email, you can just email me. Hmm... Does blogger publish emails on the blog profile? -notetoself: go and check-

Yes, so now, I'm going to try to make a difference by turning my collection of books into a library of sorts. I've always been recommending and lending books before, but now, I think I'm going to chronicle it, hopefully finding a method to this madness (do you realise I have no methodology, no catalog of books whatsoever?). And I've already 'started' in a way. Since I'm known as a bookworm, my older cousin asked me earlier today if I would recommend him some books and readily agreed to come over to look over the books when I asked.

I'm really excited about this. I don't know a lot about the future, like whether I'll go to Japan next year to study, go somewhere else entirely or stay in Singapore. But I really hope that throughout it, I'll manage to get books and the love of reading out to others.

Chic-Lit: The Bad

I think I once said that it's unfair not to take Female Writers (i.e. What is popularly known as Chic-Lit) seriously, because they can and do touch on themes very well. Well.... Aunty Florence lent me 7 books, and well, they've let me seriously doubt what I said. Oh, on a side note, sorry for the slow updates. I've been feeling ennui lately, and well, all I ever want to do is sleep. I seem to have lost my energy.

Back to topic, I have to say that since almost all the books were romances.... well, they probably diminishes how serious the case. Ok, before I start: I understand very well, that some literary books are more than explicit, such as Lady Chatterly's Lover. But I really don't appreaciate having to read it unless for some reason, it's intergral to the plot (but it almost never is). Let's take the "bad" into consideration first:

Two books were by Christine Anderson: Keegan's Lady and Annie's Song. Well, the plot was original, but the story was marred by all those explicit scenes. Really, I get that they are finally having a loving husband-wife relationship, I don't need to know details. As my teachers say: Selective writing. Don't write everything.

Well, come to think of it, those two books were the worst. The other books: Once in Every Life by Kristin Hannah, wasn't as good as her other books, but was pretty decent. I liked the change of heart story, although the premise was a little strange. But with the willing suspension of disbelief (as with all fiction), it was truly enjoyable.

The Horse Dancer isn't a love story, at least, not as a main plot. It's about a girl and her horse (ok, I've degenerated into stating the obvious. It was really fascinating learning about how the horse can perform (I'm really hoping that what was written was based on research). Although, I did feel very very annoyed at the girl. I understand that as the protagonist, I'm supposed to like her (an unlikeable protagonist is very rare, so far, maybe The Clockwork Orange and Lolita are the only ones I can think of). I admire how devoted she is to her horse, but the ends don't really justify the means. She lied (I was like, ok, understandable, given her fears) and stole (ok, that was terrible) and ran away (seriously. Inconviencing others). Perhaps it's because I was more strictly raised (plus the whole Chinese thing), so I've always been taught that you should always think of others first, even if it's unpleasant for you. The only time when you can disregard the rule is when they violate scared principals (which is, going against the Bible). I'm starting to feel like Amy Chua. I know I had a lot of criticism (still do), but after reading her book, I can see some sense (it's probably going to end up like how I think about the PAP)

Hmm... let me see, there's also Debbie Macomber. Oh, I really love her, although I really can't see her as a serious author. I'm not sure why, but it's probably because of my lack of skills. Someday Soon, which comes before Sooner or Later, was touching, detailing the relationship between a widow and a mercenary. Although, the characterisation did feel a little rushed for some reason, but with three plots, it's hard to go indepth without writing too much.

Alright, 3 more books to go. Got-To-Resist Temptation to gloss over even more than I'm doing. heh. Anyway, Blue-eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas, was interesting. It was a little explicit, though not as bad as Catherine Anderson (I'm so staying away from her books), but the thing was, it was intergral to the plot. No spoilers, but it's about the rich and influential (a sequel apparently), and about recovering from abuse.

The Castaways, on the other hand, deals with grief. It starts with a death, and looks at the reactions of the couples closest friends. The characters were very three-dimensional. I hated some, liked some, all my emotions fluctuating as the story progressed. While it's not a conventional murder mystery, actually, very little emphasis is on solving the case, but the resolution was satisfactory.

Finally, what I read today: Happy Birthday by Danielle Steele. It's a cross between Big Sister and her other novels, but it's good. A good romance story if you're feeling down. Oh, I forgot, I also read What Happened to Goodby by Sarah Dessen, her latest novel. I really think she's a genius(: Although I read a review that this is The Truth About Forever in another form, I honestly didn't think so. Mclean seemed genuine, and her situation was... well, I have nothing but respect. To be able to create a situation where Mclean can change her identity while making it plausible, that takes a lot of imagination. If out of all these books you only read one, read this one.

Well, I've rambled on long enough, and sadly, too many books mean that you can't give an indepth exposition on anything.

74 Seaside Avenue by Debbie Macomber

I made time to read today (because I can only take so much math) and I finished the Debbie Macomber book I borrowed from the library. Although I was a bit hesitant about the Cedar Cove series (I started off reading the Blossom Street series), I have to admit, I'm liking the series more and more.

Set in a local community, it follows the path of quite a few individuals, who are connected in some way or the other. This story is about Teri and her husband Bobby, who is apparently a Chess celebrity. Threats made by a Russian competitor (and how it's solved) make up the bulk of the story, but there are many other tales woven in, some I recognised as the beginning of the next story: 8 Sandpiper Way.

The story is actually really well written. Many of the characters are more than middle-aged but they're portrayed so well, their lives (well, a lot is focused on their love lives) is interesting. I actually had a hard time sorting out their ages until I hear a clue, like about their grandchildren (a very big hint about their ages), that's how lively they are.

The only thing I "don't like" about this series (well, compared to blossom street), is the sheer number of characters. At first, there were too many characters to keep track off, and it gave me a little headache. But after a while, when I managed to place each character within the community, it became easier to remember what was going on.

So, read this, by all means, but if you prefer less complicated/confusing series, please read Blossom Street first(:

Christmas Letters

I managed to finish another book, so I figured I'll just quickly post. It's called Christmas Letters by Debbie Macomber, who is a really good writer. I enjoy her books so much because unlike most of the "chic-lit" around today, her's don't have any content that need to be censored.

Anyway, Christmas Letters is a Christmas romance story set on Blossom Street. However, it introduces a new character called Katherine O'Conner, also called K.O. Her sister recently read a parenting book about how you should let children do as they wish, and she feels that her nieces are turning into 'monsters'. By chance, she realises that the author Wynn, stays in the same building as her.

After her 'psychic' neighbour read the kitty litter, and two raisins in a cereal bowl, she sets her up for a dinner date with Wynn. To their surprise, they both realise that when they're not talking about child-rearing methods, they get along very well. So well, in fact, that they start dating.

The ending is, of course happy, although there are some loose ends. But I think that because her books are very easy and quick to read, she chooses to focus on the main plot instead of developing subplots as well, since it would take longer. And as she is using a first-person narrator, it'd make sense that the subplot goes unexplained, since it's not possible for Katherine to know what happened.

Just a quick note: the reason why the big, fat books like War and Peace, and others are so thick and long is because they have omniscient third person narrators. This basically means that since the narrator is expected to know everything (omniscient), everything must be told. This would make the story (to be accurate, many stories and subplots) very long. And, it also means that you can't have a mystery story with a narrator like that.

Ok, that's really enough for today. (:

Debbie Macomber

I was reading some Chic-lit that Aunty Florence lent me, which were Sisters-in-law by Nina Bell and Reluctant Cinderella by uh.... I forgot *sheepishsmile*. Both of them were fairly interesting, all though a bit generic, but what I didn't like was that it had uh.... graphic descriptions in them.

But the third book I read, which was The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber totally blew me away, it was that good. For one thing, the plot was really interesting, and second, there wasn't any graphic stuff inside. It's basically about 4 ladies who became friends through a knitting group at a knitting shop called A Good Yarn. And for some reason, I like knitting too, although I can only do the knit stich and nothing else >.<

Although the book was outwardly secular, I kept getting the niggling feeling that Debbie Macomber was a Christian, I guess from the passing (but respectful) references to God. But I wasn't sure, so at that time, I was just very happy that I found a book series (the Blossom Shop Street) that didn't have nudity or anything else.

But the next day (which is today), I read One Simple Act, which took me a few chapters to read before I realised that it was by Debbie Macomber, and *shout and flourish* she IS a Christian. Praise God! One Simple Act (subtittled Discovering the Power of Generosity), is about incorporating thankfulness in our lives, and allowing God to use that to work through us. The book is very inspirational, and I really really love it.

Although, like the old me, I didn't put it into practice straightaway. I woke up almost 40 minutes late today, which wrecked my schedule, so I was a little upset when I was leaving the house. But on the MRT there, I read (and finished) One Simple Act, and on the MRT back, I was thinking about being thankful. I guess that to be thankful for that would be I got more sleep (always a good thing) and I probably set my record of getting out of bed, folding my blankets, eating breakfast, changing into uniform, eating medicine and leaving the house in 15 minutes flat. (:

But during the day, I was still upset at little things, such as when almost all the group members (6 out of 10) people, left during lunch and didn't come back til the end of the session (during tea break). And since they came back late, they asked me to help "cover" them, which was getting hard because the organisers started taking attendence. But thankfully, I didn't have do anything, because they got booked, so I didn't have to falsify anything (ok, this is really weird, and probably a little mean to be thankful for - I guess my real intention is to say that I'm glad I didn't have to lie or anything).

And on the way back, I was even more upset, because I went to Popular at Brash Pasah to buy the 50th anniversary edition of To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) and Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro) since I'm a Popular Member (mostly for the Harris Bookstore in Johor) and got a $20 voucher (though I'll infinitely prefer one by Kinokuniya, Borders or Littered with books! (But I don't think Littered With Books have them)). But when I get there, To Kill A Mockingbird was completely sold out, even though I saw it 2 days ago! And this was the main branch! But it didn't make sense to just buy a $17 book (cause TKAM is only $9+ so the $10 voucher won't cover it); so I more or less left in a huff. But after thinking it over, the good thing about this is that I have an excuse to buy more books from Popular and that I can probably find TKAM cheaper from Littered With Books, which I will be going to anyway on Friday to return Aunty Florence's book.

But on the MRT home, I started thinking about my attitude, and realised that it was very wrong, and is also very disrespectful to God. So from now on, I want to try and change my attitude, to incorporate a heart of thankfulness and generosity.

Wow! I spent more than half this post not-talking about books, although I suppose that really good books will impact your life. ^_^