March TBR

February was such an awful reading month for me - I had one distraction after another! So, this month I decided to implement a TBR to try to keep on track.

City of Glass

 by Cassandra Clare

The third book in The Mortal Instruments series. I started reading the series a few years back but never carried on past City of Ashes (I think I was in a bit of a reading slump). Really enjoyed the first two books so decided to finally continue on with the series. I'm already over halfway through and loving this so far!

The Geography of You and Me

 by Jennifer E Smith

'A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too'                                                                                 

I received this ARC  from the publishers through netgalley. This is my first time reading anything by this author and I'm just eating it up! There's such a lovely flow to her writing. I will definitely be posting a review nearer to the book's release date in April.

The Help

by Kathryn Stockett

'In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't'

This is a reread for me.  I recently joined a book club in my local area and was told this would be March's book. I was delighted! Really looking forward to seeing if I still love this as much as last time. 

Prep

by Curtis Sittenfeld

'Lee Flora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old when she leaves her family behind in Indiana to attend the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts. Over the next four years, her experiences at Ault - complicated relationships with teachers, intense friendships with other girls, and all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush - coalesce into a singular portrait of the universal pains and thrills of adolescence.'

I loved American Wife and am slowly working through Sittenfeld's other novels - so naturally I ordered this, her debut, out of the library.

On Beauty 

by Zadie Smith

'Howard Belsey is an Englishman abroad, an academic teaching in Wellington, a college town in New England. Married young, thirty years later he is struggling to revive his love for his African American wife Kiki. Meanwhile, his three teenage children— Jerome, Zora and Levi—are each seeking the passions, ideals and commitments that will guide them through their own lives. '

I've heard many great things about Zadie Smith but have never read anything by her! I thought I'd better rectify that and this intrigued me, so I ordered it out with Prep. Hoping to get round to this one before the end of the month.

What are you reading in March?

As always, all synopses are from Goodreads unless otherwise stated.
Also, cover photos are now linked to The Book Depository as they offer worldwide free delivery.

Motivational Monday: Happiness is a Verb

Like many people, I have fallen prey to the "I'll be happy when..." attitude. Before I used to believe that having certain things or being at a certain place professionally in life would make me happy. Thankfully, since then I have realised that neither of these will make anyone truly happy. Happiness is a choice.

To remind myself that happiness can come from the everyday, I'm taking part in the #100happydays challenge on my personal Facebook. Thus far, the challenge has helped me to find much more happiness in each day - simple because I am actively seeking it. I'd encourage anyone to take part and see how it makes a difference to your day to day life. 

You can find more details about the challenge and sign up here: http://100happydays.com/ 

Review: The Man of My Dreams

3/5

'Hannah Gavener is fourteen in the summer of 1991. In the magazines she reads, celebrities plan elaborate weddings; in Hannah’s own life, her parents’ marriage is crumbling. And somewhere in between these two extremes–just maybe–lie the answers to love’s most bewildering questions. But over the next decade and a half, as she moves from Philadelphia to Boston to Albuquerque, Hannah finds that the questions become more rather than less complicated: At what point can you no longer blame your adult failures on your messed-up childhood? Is settling for someone who’s not your soul mate an act of maturity or an admission of defeat? And if you move to another state for a guy who might not love you back, are you being plucky–or just pathetic?

None of the relationships in Hannah’s life are without complications. There’s her father, whose stubbornness Hannah realizes she’s unfortunately inherited; her gorgeous cousin, Fig, whose misbehavior alternately intrigues and irritates Hannah; Henry, whom Hannah first falls for in college, while he’s dating Fig; and the boyfriends who love her more or less than she deserves, who adore her or break her heart. By the time she’s in her late twenties, Hannah has finally figured out what she wants most–but she doesn’t yet know whether she’ll find the courage to go after it. 

Full of honesty and humor, The Man of My Dreams is an unnervingly insightful and beautifully written examination of the outside forces and personal choices that make us who we are.'

(Description above from Goodreads)

A few years back I read American Wife and fell in love with Sittenfeld's writing style. However, since then I haven't picked up anything else by her until now.

Sittenfeld's prose, as always, is beautiful and flows page after page. At times, however, I found Hannah's overly analytical nature a little much. Regardless, I did enjoy this novel, though nowhere near as much as American Wife.

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go

2/5

A coming of age dystopian where people can hear each other's thoughts. Sounds good, right? That's what I thought.

At the start of the book there's a lot of mystery surrounding where the women went and why. However, it soon starts to unravel as soon as Todd meets Viola. I knew why as soon as Todd became annoyed with Viola's quietness.

Then there's Todd. I don't see how he is a loveable character. In fact, I preferred Manchee, the dog.

The storyline in itself is okay, but can feel dragged out.

Verdict: All in all I was pretty disappointed as it had rave reviews elsewhere. I guess I'm not a Patrick Ness fan.

Review: Beautiful Creatures - Book and Film (Contains Spoilers)

I made the crucial mistake of watching the film first. It's a mistake I won't repeat again. I was very confused and so read the book to try to make sense of it all. Trouble is, the book didn't make sense of it, and this only made me frustrated. Not with the book, with the film.

Beautiful Creatures Film

The script writers have made some serious errors.
1 Casters in the Duchannes family CANNOT choose to be light, they are CURSED. The contradictions here really baffled me and left me feeling zero sympathy for the dark characters.

2 Macon is an INCUBUS, not a dark caster! And where the heck is his brother in the film?!

3 Where is the Sixteen Moons song?? It's a recurring motif in the book and pretty damn important.

4 In the book we feel sympathy for Ridley because she didn't choose to be dark and does have a heart. This is clearly shown by the way she acts at prom, seeking some kind of justice for those who taunt her cousin.

5 The absence of Ethan's parents. Both parents play in huge role in the book!

6 Where the heck is Marian?! She's really important to!! Handing her librarian  role to Amma also changes Amma's character too.

Ugh, there were way too many things that I disliked about the film. I feel like all the good of the book was taken out and what's left is some mediocre film that contradicts itself and confuses everyone.

Film Rating 1/5

Now onto the book...

Beautiful Creaturesby Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Book Rating 4/5

Despite my dislike of the film, I really enjoyed this book. I did find Lena pretty annoying at times, especially with the way she's so back and forth with her feelings toward Ethan. It felt like the Edward-Bella twilight thing - which I did not enjoy. Aside from that, it's a pretty great book. Ethan is a very loveable character and you feel for every character in this book, even the dark ones. I'm looking forward to see how to plot develops in Beautiful Darkness.

Review: Harvesting the Heart

Harvesting the Heart 

by Jodi Picoult

2/5

Why would a mother leave her child? To what extent do our parents traits affect us - do we inherit them? This book addresses these two questions in typical Jodi Picoult style. 

The story is told from two viewpoints, that of Paige and Nicholas. Paige's mother left when she was young, and after being brought up by her father, she decides to ran away after her high school graduation. She then meets Nicholas, they fall in love and get married. But Paige never tells Nicholas the whole truth about her past. After having their first child together, three months in Paige leaves. 

I found this book a little slow in parts - it didn't grab my attention like I thought it would. Paige and Nicholas come across as pretty selfish in parts, and so I couldn't always relate to them and found them to be irritating at times.

Verdict: Not as great as Picoult's other work. Only give it a go if you're a patient reader who can get along with character you cannot always relate to - or, of course, if you like the sound of the book.

Film Review: The Silver Linings Playbook

The Silver Linings Playbook

2/5

When JP and I went grocery shopping and saw the DVD, he told me it was supposed to be good. Now, I really trust my husband when it comes to films because he watches so many and has great taste.

We didn't buy the film, as I usually like to watch the film on Netflix, NowTV or Lovefilm before I buy it. I mean, why buy a film I don't like? So today I spent my morning watching The Silver Linings Playbook on NowTV.

The concept of this film is good, so I expected the film to be great. It wasn't. Charming? No. Funny? Definately not. It lacked the depth and emotion I imagined it would hold. I was very disappointed.

Verdict: Mental illness wrapped up in a warm predictable romcom.