february booklist

YA author of the month is Anna Godbersen (http://www.annagodbersen.com/).

She was born in Berkeley, California in 1980 and moved to New York to attend Barnard College, where she studied English and Creative Writing. After graduating, she worked as the Literary Editor's assistant at Esquire, and also wrote book reviews for the magazine's website.

Booklist #s 6-9: Luxe, Rumors, Envy, Splendor

Review: 4 stars
This series is set in late 1899 mainly features 4 ladies (shown in the book covers above in order: Elizabeth, Penelope, Diana and Carolina) and 2 guys (Henry and Teddy). Instead of commenting on each book, I thought it would be better for me to comment on the overall progression of each girl's story from book 1 to book 4.

At the start of the first book, the author portrayed Elizabeth as THE premiere catch out of all the ladies in Manhattan. She was described as obedient and a follower but is trapped in a hopeless affair with her driver, Will. I applaud her in the first book for defying convention and faking her death and running away to be with Will, but i thought she was stupid in book 2 to have gone back to Manhattan for some flimsy reason (well, of course she had to go back or she would have lived happily ever after in just 1 book). I kind of pitied her when Will died, but i wanted to scream at her for being so "pakipot" with Teddy in book 3 (again, the author needed a story to make her life worse). In the end, i'm glad she did get her happy ever after with Teddy who i liked for being so true and loyal to Elizabeth even after the 2 marriages and her baby. I did liked the side plot about the bad uncle and her father though.

Penelope's character was so typical evil girl who thinks she's so hot and spends her time scheming, seducing and manipulating people left and right (esp Henry). Though i felt pity for her for being stuck in a loveless marriage (serves her right though for forcing a guy who doesn't love you to marry you), I laughed out loud when she was duped by the visiting prince (haha!). But i think the author forgot to give her character some maturity - i felt like she stayed the same for all 4 books without character development, which was sad, she could have been a better character if the author gave some reason why she was such a bitch.

I loved Diana's story out of the 4, mostly because I thought she was the prettiest and gutsiest and i just love secret love affairs (ala Bella-Edward, Schuyler-Jack) but i was really really disappointed at the ending of her story! On one hand, i thought it was reasonable for Diana to leave Henry (Henry did disappoint her in every single book) but did she do it because she gave up? or it was revenge for Henry? or she was tired of the games? I dont know. I thought it was lame that she wanted to discover and try new things as a reason to say no to Henry's proposal. Did she really choose adventure over her love for Henry (after 4 miserable books)? I thought that was just way out of character for her. okay, i'm getting worked up now.. WTH was her problem??? she finally had Henry and she just let him go! after all the pain and suffering she had to overcome for him, she just said no to her proposal? Diana - who the author kept saying was very adventurous and didn't care what people think.. ended up leaving Henry because she was afraid of how society will see her? Henry and Diana could have gone away together (more on Henry below) or she could have remained with him in Manhattan (i kinda think of the movie UP where the lady said that though Carl and she weren't able to go on a trip together, she was happy just being with him). In the end, i thought her character was not so adventurous at all, and that she was just running away from reality, unlike Elizabeth who faced her problems head on.

Carolina's story.. i didn't even bother. what an ungrateful little sh*t (sorry for the foul language). she was such a bitch to Elizabeth just because she wasn't born rich and Will didn't love her. I thought that was so wrong, so i really hated her in books 2-3 (i just skipped her parts) for even inheriting the money. I'm so glad the guy she was supposed to marry left her. Money can't really buy class. I'd like to think that she did not deserve all those things the author gave her, but the reason the author gave her money was for her sister, who i thought would have been a better character to write a story on.

Henry.. oh Henry, those he was such a spineless rich boy, i still loved his undying and passionate love for Diana. I did feel sad that he didn't end up with Diana but after my tirade above, I actually didn't mind him being stuck in a marriage with Penelope. At least they finally became honest with each other and had an understanding whereas i would think that if he had ended up with Diana, she would have eaten him alive. I also liked how he finally became mature after taking over his dad's responsbilities. (i did however, hoped a little that the epilogue was for Henry and Diana to meet many years later and live happily ever after but no such luck).

Overall, it was an interesting series and it would be fun to have a tv series made after these books!

Sports romance of the month: Kate Angell - Sliding Home (#10)
4 stars. Fast read. i liked both Kason and Dayne and their steady relationship. i would have rated this higher but i thought the ending was corny and a bit rushed. if i was the author (of course im not), i thought a grand gesture would have made a better or more kiligable impact. Dayne was dumped by her ex-bf on air, and with the sexy commercials of Kason and Dayne, i thought the nicer ending would have been for Kason to propose to Dayne on national tv. that would have been sweeter.

Contemporary romance of the month: Karen Templeton - Runaway Bridesmaid (#11)
3 1/2 stars. I guessed the little secret at the start of the story but i was interested in how the relationship would progress.. and it was so-so. a bit draggy, most of the time they're just rehashing the same arguments (mostly Dean's lousy excuse to leave) and fighting. there were also no big revelations at the end. and yes, turns out, Dean was just living a few hours away from Sarah - they could have swallowed their pride and met up and they didn't have to waste 10 years of their lives alone.

Science fantasy of the month: Anne Osterlund - Academy 7 (#12)
4 stars. I'm not really into sci-fi mainly because it's hard for me to understand and visualise the technical parts of the story and this one is no exception. yes, so this is YA so it should be easy for me to understand but there were so many twists and stories (thinking of Star Trek 2011 movie here) that it was a little bit confusing at times. But i still enjoyed this book. Love Aerin and Dane together. i wish there's a sequel!

Chicklit of the month: Jennifer Crusie - Maybe This Time (#13)
4 stars. Nice funny but eerie story with a little romance. But my problem (as with all of her novels), there are just too many side plots and side characters that takes too much time to read the book. is it because she wanted to increase the no. of pages in this book or to make up for the simple storyline (plot)? NOrth and Andie's relationship also lacked seriousness.. i thought it was more on lust than love. I do want Southie to have a story!

realisation

you know you're getting old when you start buying and believing in anti-aging products...

nerd vs geek

nerd noun \ˈnərd\ 
Merriam Webster:  an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person;especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
Wiktionary: A person who is intellectual, skilled in one or more fields, and generally introverted

geek noun \ˈgēk\
Merriam Webster:  an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity
Wiktionary: A person who is intensely interested in a particular field or hobby and usually antisocial

so what am i? hm.. i think both types are the anti-social kind (which im really not) but im intensely interested in a particular field or hobby rather than being skilled in one or more fields, so i think i'm in a middle, but the normal kind.. as i would say that i'm the average neek (or gerd).

january booklist

i'm thinking of a new idea for this year maybe a themed book month? like, either i read books from 1 author or 1 genre or books with similar plot/story or theme then rate them against each other? hm.. sounds interesting! i'll try it starting next month, feb, but for jan, i'll just read a random set of books.
1. melissa walker - lovestruck summer
4 1/2 stars - i like this in that she didnt think she could like a girl that's so not her type and also that she didn't think a guy like that could like her. i guess sometimes opposites really do attract. as for the other guy, i'm glad that the author didn't make him to be a jerk, instead she just showed the readers that even though you may have common interests with the guy or you may think you have found your ideal person, it still does not guarantee that he's the right one for you. it's that chemistry / connection that's more important.

2. laura ruby - good girls
4 stars - first time i read a book from this author. i liked the story, my only problem was that the flashbacks were a bit confusing that most of the time i dont know if it happened before or after the current scene. that's why at first i was confused how they had this FWB thing. also it didn't show how the guy developed feelings for the girl, it was more like he liked hooking up with her but i didn't feel that they had other things to talk about besides sex.

3. jennifer laurens - falling for romeo
4 1/4 stars - i liked the story and the writing except that it kinda dragged a bit... there wasn't really any explanation why they weren't friends anymore.. it was like suddenly the guy changed from a nottie to a hottie and then they stopped talking. it was also a bit frustrating that they kinda held back that they liked each other (i think had they said that the story would have ended after 3 chapters). there also was no resolution on the guy and his father. like there was no explanation why his dad was mean to him or why the guy had to strain himself and do so many things at once. it also didn't show in the end that his father was proud of him. and judging from the way everyone held their breaths whenever john and jen were together, you'd think they were the only people in the school - were they that popular that their every move is noticed?

4. Susan Mallery - Falling For Gracie
4 1/2 stars - a solid fun read. the only thing i didn't like was that Gracie was such a doormat! but im glad her 2 sisters, her mom and even riley became good at the end.

5. Susan Mallery - Husband By The Hour
4 stars - Hannah's family is too nice and a lot that it was hard to remember their names (i guess i have to read all their stories to understand more). i think the plot was also weak and was a bit draggy on some parts.