Review: The Love of Her Life
The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans
Publisher: Downtown Press
Ratings: 
Source: Borrowed
Synopsis:
Thirty-year-old Kate Miller fled London two years ago when her life fell apart spectacularly. Living in New York with her mother and stepfather and working half-heartedly as a literary agent, Kate must return to London when her father, a famous classical musician, undergoes a kidney transplant. She’s only returning for a short visit, or so she thinks. But once in London, she faces the friends who are bound with her forever as a result of one day when life changed for all of them. What really happened before Kate left London? And can she pick up the pieces and allow herself to love her own life again?
I love reading brit lit so I was super excited when my friend lent me this book and told me how much she loved it. The Love of her Life by Harriet Evans is a fun and entertaining book and it definitely hit the spot if you’re looking for a chick lit novel with a bit of British flare to it.
Personally, I thought the book started a little slow, but that was mainly because I wasn’t completely in love with Kate. I don’t know what it is about this year, but it just seems like I can’t fall in love with any of the characters. Maybe I’m just getting too picky. I did finally warm up to Kate a bit as the book progressed and I had no problem with the characterization and development of her character, but there was just something about her that made me hold back.
On the other hand, I absolutely loved and adore Mac. Quite honestly, I thought he was too good for her by the time the book ended. He had to be the most patient, loving, big hearted person in the whole wide world to be able to forgive her so many times and stick around until the end.
The novel moved back and forth between the present and the past as the author slowly uncovered the reason behind Kate’s departure to New York. The plot was a little predictable, but the novel was still fun and enjoyable nevertheless. I would recommend it to those who are looking for a good chick lit novel.
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Wordless Wednesday: BINGO!
I don’t think I’ve played BINGO since I was in elementary school, but I recently discovered a local BINGO hall so I had to check it out. I never got BINGO, but I still had a blast. And, boy oh boy do some people take their BINGO-ing seriously.
Review: Archon: The Books of Raziel
Archon: The Books of Raziel by Sabrina Benulis
Publisher: William Morrow
Ratings:
Source: Publisher
Synopsis:
Angela Mathers is plagued by visions of angels, supernatural creatures who haunt her thoughts by day and seduce her dreams by night. Newly released from a mental institution where she was locked away for two years, she hopes that her time at the Vatican’s university, the West Wood Academy, will give her a chance at a normal life. Unlike ordinary humans, Angela is a blood head — a freak, a monster, the possible fulfillment of a terrifying prophecy of overwhelming death and destruction. Only in Luz, the Vatican’s wondrous enclave, are blood heads accepted and encouraged to discover what kind of powers or special abilities they might possess.
But within West Wood, a secret coven plots, and demons and angels roam the streets searching for the key to open Raziel’s book — a secret tome from a lost archangel. Some are determined to destroy Raziel, while others, like the beautiful Supernal Israfel, one of the highest of the high, wish to free him. And when the Archon — the human chosen to possess the spirit of a dead angel — rises as foretold, they will control the supernatural universe.
Torn between mortal love and angelic obsession, Angela holds the key to Heaven and Hell — and both will stop at nothing to possess her.
The year 2012 is turning into a year of reading outside of my comfort zone. I do enjoy reading fantasy and paranormal books, but it’s been so hard to find a good one in that genre that I typically steer clear of it. When I was offered Archon by Sabrina Benulis, I was captivated by the cover as well as the synopsis and decided to give it a go.
I actually finished reading this book a few weeks ago, but I’ve had a hard time trying to review it and put my thoughts and feelings into words. Even as I sit here to review it, I’m having trouble describing how I felt about this book. I guess the easiest way to put my feelings about this would be to say I’m indifferent about it, which sometimes I think is worse than hating a book. In general, the book just didn’t draw a strong emotion out of me. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I thought it was just okay.
I thought the idea behind the book was really interesting, but the execution could have used some work. What I did like about the book was that there wasn’t any information dumping. The story unfolded slowly and we were told what we needed to know without going into excessive detail. It kept the book suspenseful and made me want to keep reading to find out what was going on. On the downside though, I was really confused about what was happening for much of the book. Even after the book ended I was still scratching my head a bit over what happened. There are a lot of religious references and as someone who is not quite knowledgeable in that area, I was definitely lost. I know it’s the first book in the series so perhaps the answers to my questions will be revealed in the following books.
Also this was one of those books where I felt like a lot happened and yet nothing happened at the same time. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it, but I just felt like the plot wasn’t really moving along even though things were taking place. I’m probably not making any sense right now, but I think that’s the best that I can do. Also, I wasn’t too fond of any of the characters in the book. The characterization could definitely of been improved in my opinion and there wasn’t one character that I really grew attached to.
Overall, I’m a little indifferent towards Archon by Sabrina Benulis. I think I’ll pick up the next book just to see where the story goes if I have time for it. Life is too short to read books that aren’t enjoyable.
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Wordless Wednesday: Smores!
I had a movie night with a few of my classmates over winter break where we watched The Sandlot, a good old classic. Of course, after watching the movie, I had the biggest craving for smores.
perfection 
Review: The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Publisher: IT Books
Source: Publisher
From the publisher:
To create The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Joseph Gordon-Levitt–known within the hitRECord.org community as RegularJOE–directs thousands of collaborators to tell tiny stories through words and art. With the help of the entire creative collective, Joe culls, edits and curates the massive numbers of contributions into this finely tuned collection. Reminiscent of the 6-Word Memoir series and the PostSecret books, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories brings together art and voices from around the world to unite and tell stories that defy size.
WOW! What an incredible book, despite its size. True to its word, the book is quite tiny, but it’s so wonderful and magnificent! My only issue with the book was that it was way too short! The writing is quite clever and witty and the illustrations are amazing. I’m a pretty terrible artist though so if you can draw something beyond stick figures then I pretty much consider you a Van Gogh.
Most of the stories are only about one or two pages long, but the meaning behind the stories are profound and ingenious. I love the clever play on old clichés and sayings. This was definitely a fun book to read by yourself, but I think it would be an even better book to read with others and discuss it.
I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it for everyone! Not to mention it would make a great gift too if you can’t think of anything to give your friends and family.
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