Good Monday morning everyone! I had to work on Saturday so it doesn’t feel like I had much of a break, but I’ve got a nice long 4 day week-end coming up and I can’t wait! Before that I have to get through year-end at work, and I think I’m in for a few pretty crazy days so it may be a little quiet around here until things get back to normal. We’ll still have The Lovely Bones Audio Book Giveaway and our March Book Club discussion of The Last Song going on though!

Like many avid readers, I have a fairly large TBR (to be read) pile since I’m unable to read at a pace that matches my book buying appetite. One of the books I have waiting for me is Noble Intentions, a historical romance by Katie MacAlister. Now, I’m not really a fan of historical romances, but believe I should like this book for two reasons. 1) It was a gift from my WAGB blogging partner Rae. Rae’s given me many books over the years and I’ve loved every one of them. And 2) It’s written by an author I really like. So, genre aside, Noble Intentions has the makings of  a book I’ll enjoy. Except I’ve tried to read the book 3 times now, and I just can’t get into it. Granted, I often start a book only to find that I’m not feeling it, but will then finish and enjoy the same book at another time. (It took me three times to finally get going on Watership Down, which I adored.)

But I think the problem I’m having with this one is the historical aspect. I’m only understanding about half of what the characters are talking about, so I’m unable to really get into the story. I don’t doubt that if I were knowledgabele in the strange dialogue of the days of yore, this would be a tale that would have me LOL (Rae said it’s funny) and that I couldn’t put down. But it seems that whenever I read “Set in insert historical date here” in a book description, I immediately loose interest. I haven’t yet given up on Noble Intentions, but I do worry about our ability to connect.

I don’t mean to be a Genre Avoider. Ideally I’d like to be a lover of all books equally, one who can enjoy something from every genre. I’m sure there are many talented historical fiction writers and many wonderful historical fiction books out there, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to read them.

So, what about you? Are there any genres that you avoid? A type of book that no matter how hard you try you just can get into? Alternatively, have you ever thought you weren’t into a certain genre only to be won over by a wonderful book? If so, let us know which one!

*This is a Sticky Post. New posts are continuing below!

In honor of With A Good Book passing the 50 followers mark, we’d like to say THANK-YOU by giving something back to all our wonderful readers. So this week’s Friday Freebie is a special one – a chance to win a brand new audio book copy of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold!

Here’s a brief description:

Alice Sebold’s haunting and heartbreaking debut novel,The Lovely Bones, unfolds from heaven, where “life is a perpetual yesterday” and where 14-year-old Susie Salmon keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case.

• To enter The Lovely Bones giveaway just leave a comment telling us who you would watch over from the great beyond.
  (Be sure to include an accurate email address in the comment field so we can let you know if you won. It won’t be published.)
• For an extra entry follow this blog. Be sure to let us know you’re a follower so we can give you the extra entry.
• Post or tweet about this giveaway for another entry.

The giveaway closes at midnight Friday, April 9, 2010.

*We really hate to impose any restrictions, but due to the fact that mailing costs are coming out of my own pocket, this giveaway is only open to those who have Canadian or US mailing addresses. My sincerest apologies to those readers outside North America.

Our Book Club selection for March was The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks.

We were lucky once again to find a batch of discussion questions already prepared on the author’s website! And because we’re like that around here, we’ve added a few of our own questions and cut some of the ones from the author’s site. As always, we encourage veering off topic, so please feel free to bring up anything you would like to discuss about the book.

Here are the discussion questions for The Last Song:

1. Did you enjoy The Last Song? Did it make you want to see the movie based on the book?
2. Have you read other Nicholas Sparks novels? How do you feel The Last Song compared?
3. What did you think of the author’s decision to name each chapter after a character, with the focus being on that character?
4. At the start of the novel Ronnie is a difficult teenager who’s prone to acting out and is alienated from both her parents. Were you rebellious as a teenager? How was this manifested? On the other side, have you ever had to deal with a rebellious teenager? Did Ronnie’s behavior touch a nerve?
5. What do you think about the very different approaches to parenting taken by Ronnie’s mother and father? Do you think Ronnie’s mother is too intrusive or can you understand her relationship with Ronnie? Do you think Ronnie’s father is too absent, or can you understand why their relationship is the way it is?
6. What do you make of Blaze? How would you characterize her relationship with Marcus? Have you ever been in a relationship that was not particularly healthy? Did you stay in the relationship? If so, why?
7. Ronnie and Will fall in love very quickly over the course of the summer. Have you ever had a summer romance that became something more than a fling?
8. What do you think of the choices Steve and Kim make about his illness? Do you think they were right in keeping it a secret from their children?
9. Ronnie makes an important choice at the end of the novel. Would you have made the same choice if you were in her position?
10. Do you think Ronnie would have grown and changed as much if she had not spent the summer with her dad?  What do you think would have happened if she stayed in New York? What do you think was the biggest catalyst fro her changes?

Happy Friday Book Lovers! After how much fun I had participating in the Book Blogger Hop last week I just had to try it again!

This fantastic idea to help the large community of book bloggers around the web get to know each other, comes to us via Jennifer from Crazy-for-Books. Basically, the Hop is a weekly event hosted at Crazy-for-Books, where book bloggers and readers can connect to find new blogs to read. It’s a great way to network with other bloggers and make new friends!

The rules are simple – Add your link to MckLinky, POST ABOUT THE HOP ON YOUR BLOG, and start hopping around and visiting other links that are posted! If you start following someone through the Hop, leave a comment on their blog to let them know! Stop back during the week to see other blogs that are added! And, most importantly, the idea is to HAVE FUN!!

So, head on over to Crazy-for-Books to sign up and see who else is participating. And let’s do the Hop!

Sweet Talk (Bakery Sisters #1)
by Susan Mallery

Sweet Talk was recommended to me years ago, but every time I tried to get the book, it was unavailable. So I was quite pleased when I found all three books in the Bakery Sisters trilogy as an e-book bundle. This first book is sort of a tricky one to review. I really didn’t enjoy the first half of the book, but oddly, I really liked the second part of the book.

Synopsis

Claire Keyes has been estranged from her sisters Nicole and Jesse for many years, but when she receives a phone call saying Nicole – her twin – needs help, she drops everything and returns home to help her sister in her time of need, and hopefully try to mend broken fences while she’s at it. Unfortunately everyone back home has already made their mind up about Claire, and things are far more difficult than she had anticipated.

Review

As I mentioned, I was not a fan of the first part of this book. The characters were horribly mean. So much so, that it was hard not to hate them all at first. I was honestly floored that anyone would even write such vitriolic characters! Who ever heard of someone tearing into a complete stranger just because they’d heard they were unfriendly?? But, this actually happens more than once! To further add to my dislike, the first half of the book is EXTREMELY repetitive. I can’t even tell you how many times the words fraternal twins were written, but I’m sure if I’d counted it would have been well into the double – possibly even triple – digits. And I was at the point where I wanted to scream every time I read the words “I hate her/you”. But despite my incredible disdain for these characters, and the fact that that the writer apparently thought I was a moron with no short-term memory, I still could not put the book down! I think part of it was that even though they were initially awful, the characters felt like real people, dealing with real issues. When they weren’t just lashing out, they were actually layered people with real emotions – who were even pretty funny. I could also see from fairly early on that the characters had potential for improvement, and was hoping that they story would have them grow into better people. Angry dialogue aside, the story itself was well written, and I was truly interested in learning what had happened to cause such a huge rift between the sisters, and if there was any for them to move forward and rebuild a relationship. Finally, about halfway in, the repetitiveness and nastiness falls away and you’re left with an interesting and enjoyable story of family bonding and budding romance.

Verdict

As I’ve stated in past reviews, I really do enjoy a good love story, but I need my romance novels to have more going on than just the standard angst-riddled, will-they-or-won’t-they fall in love plot. Sweet Talk definitely succeeds in that aspect. If you can get through the bitter and redundant first portion of the book, you’re left with an engaging tale of family betrayal, personal growth and first love. In the end, I really enjoyed Sweet Talk, and based on the reviews I’ve read, the next two books in the trilogy don’t suffer from the problems plaguing this first volume, so I’m really looking forward to starting Sweet Spot, the next book in the series.

Series Review: Maximum Ride Books 1 -3
The Angel Experiment (1), School’s Out Forever (2) & Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (3)
by James Patterson

I first read The Angel Experiment and School’s Out Forever years ago when the 2^nd book had just come out. I’m not sure why I didn’t continue on with the series, but I’m sure glad I gave it another chance! I got book 3 for Christmas, and since it had been so long, I decided to re-read The Angel Experiment just to familiarize myself with the characters. Well! I raced through book 1, started book 2 immediately upon finishing, and then kept right on going to book 3. I don’t often read books in a series in row like that, I generally like to mix it up, but I read these three back-to-back in just 6 days! I couldn’t put them down.

Synopsis

Maximum Ride is a 14-year-old girl who was taken and experimented on as a baby. Max, along with the 5 other children who make up her flock, is a human-avian hybrid. With wings. And yes, they can fly. Unfortunately wings and the ability to fly come at a price. Growing up as human lab rats, the children were kept in cages and experimented on, living a horrible existence until one kindly scientist helped them escape.

The books tell the story of Max and her flock after the kindly scientist has disappeared, and the kids have been left to fend for themselves. Before long the people who created the flock come to get them back, forcing Max and the others to flee for their lives. The flock consists of Max; Fang, Max’s dark and brooding right hand man; Iggy, who is 14 like Max and Fang, but also blind; 11 yr old Nudge; and Gazzy (8) and Angel (6) who are the only true siblings in the group. Max takes care of the younger kids, but they all work together to defeat their enemies and stay alive.

Review

Max is my favorite type of girl. She’s smart, confident, caring, witty and sarcastic. And you know, she’s super strong and can fly. But each member of the flock offers something important to the group, and they’re all very lovable in their own way. We get just enough back-story to help us know the characters, but are never bogged down with boring details or lengthy descriptions. Each volume in the series is an action packed adventure with high stakes for everyone involved. There’s never a dull moment, and the kids will keep you laughing with their witty repartee.

As I made my way through the books, I found they had a real “Lost” type feeling to them. And not an “I don’t know what’s going on” type of lost, but the very mysterious TV show Lost. It’s hard to know who to trust, who’s on what side, and who’s telling the truth. There’s a big mysterious company that may be involved, and somehow the enemy always seems to be one step ahead. This likely has something to do with why I couldn’t put these books down, since I love a good conspiracy that keeps you guessing.

The first three books bring the series to a good resting place and tie up many of the plot points nicely. There’s still a lot of story left to tell though, and I’m looking forward to learning if the kids will find their parents, and how the big bad will retaliate against their latest actions.

Verdict

I enjoyed these first three books in the Maximum Ride series so much that I already have books 4 and 5 ordered! So clearly I will be reading more, and I’ve already established that they stand up to the test of the re-read. The Angel Experiment, School’s Out Forever and Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports are keepers that I would recommend to my YA loving friends.

*School’s Out Forever is book 5 for the 2010 YA Reading Challenge.
**Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports is book 3 for the TwentyTen Reading Challenge.

In honor of this week’s release of Fang, book 6 in the Maximum Ride series (and my current obsession with this series), this week’s Friday Freebie is a shiny pair of Maximum Ride items.

First we have this lovely wallpaper which is currently adorning my work computer:

(Just right click and save the image to your computer. Image found on fanpop.)

And we also have my latest bookmark, because I’m apparently unable to read a book series without making a matching bookmark.

(Right click and save the image to your computer, then print it out on card stock. Laminate it for extra durability!)

Enjoy!

Happy Friday Book Lovers! While surfing other book blogs this past week I discovered a wonderful new event called the Book Blogger Hop!

This neat idea to help the large community of book bloggers around the web get to know each other, comes to us via Jennifer from Crazy-for-Books. (I found it through the Red Headed Book Child, thanks Michelle!) Basically, the Hop is a weekly event hosted at Crazy-for-Books, where book bloggers and readers can connect to find new blogs to read.  It’s a great way to network with other bloggers and make new friends!

The rules are simple – Add your link to MckLinky, POST ABOUT THE HOP ON YOUR BLOG, and start hopping around and visiting other links that are posted!  If you start following someone through the Hop, leave a comment on their blog to let them know!  Stop back during the week to see other blogs that are added!  And, most importantly, the idea is to HAVE FUN!!

So, head on over to Crazy-for-Books to sign up and see who else is participating. And let’s do the Hop!

I took a little break from life yesterday, and went offline and got outside to enjoy the lovely Spring weather we’ve been having. After making a small dent in the massive pile of yard work (willow trees may be pretty, but they sure are messy!), I spent some time doing one of my favorite activities – reading in the sunshine. I can’t wait until summer when I can do this relaxing activity everyday!

I’ve been reading a series I started a few years ago, but for some reason I never continued with it after the second book. I recently got the third book in the series as a gift, but it’s been four years since I read the first two so I decided I needed a refresher. (I really hate not knowing what’s going on!) So, I re-read the first two books, and for the life of me I can not figure out why I ever stopped with this series! I devoured the first 2 books in less than 5 days, and am already onto the third one. I have a vague recollection of not liking two particular aspects of the story the first time around, but upon re-reading, I found that both these things were perfectly fine and had been explained well. Now I’m wondering if I’ve written off other books I may have enjoyed if only I had read them at another time?

So my question for you dear readers is, do you re-read books? If so, do you find that you feel differently about them the second time around? Do you think your frame of mind/personal circumstances at the time of reading influences whether or not you enjoy a book? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Wizard Heir (Heir Chronicles #2)
by Cinda Williams Chima

I was a little taken aback when I first started reading The Wizard Heir because I was expecting a continuation of Jack’s story from the first book in the series. But instead we’re introduced to Seph – an orphan with Wizard powers who’s in desperate need of training. After yet another incident involving his uncontrolled power and the Anaweir (the non-magical), Seph finds himself in a boarding school that turns out to be much more than it originally appeared. At first Seph is thrilled to discover that there are Wizards at his new school, but he soon realizes that not all Wizards are good people. What follows is an action packed adventure, filled with suspense and surprises.

It took me a bit to really get into this second installment of the Heir trilogy, but once Seph crosses paths with characters from the first novel, I found myself completely absorbed. In addition to Seph, we also get to meet Madison Moss – another new character who quickly became a favourite of mine. Along with meeting the new characters, we also get to learn more about the characters from the previous novel, which made me like them even more and finally feel a connection with them.  Plus,  some surprising twists really add to the story this time around.

My one complaint with The Wizard Heir is that there are some errors in it… nothing grand but there’s a scene where Seph gets a drink and then later puts down his bowl (rather than his glass), and another where he checks the time noting that it’s almost noon, then he checks again a few minutes later noting that it is now noon. Then a few pages later he checks it again and it’s almost noon again even though some time has passed. These small errors don’t hurt the story, but they always cause me to stop and flip pages to ensure that I’m not missing something and that takes me out of the narrative. But that one small complaint aside, The Wizard Heir is an exciting and enjoyable read, and I liked it even more than the first book in the series.

*The Wizard Heir is my second book for the TwentyTen Reading Challenge.