Happy Wednesday folks! Today we have a new fun little feature that we’re calling the great Book-Off! I often read comments and reviews stating that such-and-such a book is so much like this other book, (and I’ve read a few myself that seem like they just changed the names) so I thought it would be fun to pit these books against each other in a little friendly competition!

Since there’s some Eclipse mania going on right now, I thought we’d start with some vampire (and similar undead folk) books for our first great Book-off.

1. Twilight - Bella Swan’s move to Forks, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear.
2. The Vampire Diaries – Elena’s parents died in a car accident and now she lives with her aunt. She starts the new school year feeling like she’ll never be happy again, but once she meets the mysterious and alluring Stefan Salvatore, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Stefan has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret, but now that his brother is back, nobody is safe, especially Elena, the person Stefan holds most dear.
3. Evermore – Ever’s parents died in a car accident and now she lives with her aunt, and is plagued by a new ability to hear the thoughts of anyone around her. She tries to tune out all the distractions by keeping her iPod cranked loud, but once she meets the mysterious and alluring Damen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Damen has kept his Immortal identity a secret, but when an evil immortal shows up, nobody is safe, especially Ever, the person Damen holds most dear.

Hmm, funny how we had to just change a few words in these descriptions! Now we turn it over to you fellow readers… which one of these oh-so-similar books do you think is the best read? Do you know of any other books that could summarized with the same description?

The Seven Year Bitch
by Jennifer Belle

Summary

Feeling trapped in an unhappy marriage, Isolde Brilliant’s world is turned upside down when she’s laid off from her job as a successful hedge fund manager. With a good severance package and a new baby at home, she decides to take some time to be a stay-at-home mother but finds if difficult to let go of who she was.  As Izzy struggles with her marriage and finds new ways to fill her time, she finally learns to love her life for what it is.

Review

The Seven Year Bitch is a funny and true-to-life story of motherhood and marriage. Jennifer Belle creates layered characters, who are flawed yet full of heart and completely human. Unfortunately, The Seven Year Bitch falls short when it comes to plot. In the end everything comes together, but the story would have been much more effective if it had been shorter. The middle section of the book drags and I found myself skimming through chapters that bore no relevance to the outcome of the book. But the writing is smart, funny and always believable, which helps balance out the slow pace of the story.

Verdict

I found The Seven Year Bitch to be a bit long and slow, but also one of the more honest marriage/motherhood stories I’ve read in some time. I believe it will appeal to wives and mothers who have struggled with their place in life.

*I received a copy of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.

God is in the Pancakes
by Robin Epstein

Summary

15-year-old Grace Manning is struggling to make sense of her life after her father has left and she realizes she might be having feelings for her best friend. Surprisingly, her job as a candy striper at a local nursing home has become the highlight of her day. This is primarily due to her friendship with Mr. Sands, one of the ailing patients at the nursing home. But when he asks an impossible favour of her, Grace’s world is shaken even further.

Review

Grace, the main character of God is in the Pancakes is a smart, funny and insightful girl that you can’t help but fall a little bit in love with. The supporting characters in the novel are all well developed, and Grace’s relationships with her mother, sister, best friend and the Sands’ are compelling and sincere.  As Grace struggles to determine what’s right and wrong in a very difficult situation, her growth as a person is evident.  It’s uplifting to see a teenage protagonist repeatedly choosing to take the more difficult path because she realizes it’s the right thing to do.  This poignant and emotional tale will have readers laughing, crying and reflecting on some of life’s bigger questions right along with Grace.

Verdict

God is in the Pancakes is a wonderful coming of age story that will touch readers of all ages.

*God is in the Pancakes is book #4 for the What’s in a Name? Challenge.

Our Book Club selection for June is The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. This wonderful story shares an intimate look at the grieving process of a sister and family who have truly lost what matters most.

There were no discussions questions available for The Sky Is Everywhere, so Rae and I have written up some questions that we thought might spark some discussion.

As always, we encourage veering off topic, so please feel free to bring up anything you would like to discuss about the book!

Discussion Questions

1. Did you enjoy The Sky is Everywhere? Would you recommend it to a friend?
2. The Sky is Everywhere focuses on the grief of Lennie’s family. Do you feel it was a realistic portrayal?
3. Toby says “I’ve never known sisters so close…” [p. 34] Do you feel Lennie and Bailey were closer than most siblings?
4. Bailey and Lennie share a room, which helps to make their sisterly bond stronger. Did you ever share a room with a sibling? Do you think it brought you closer? What kind of things do you recall that made your sibling bond stronger?
5. What do you think of Lennie’s decision not to move anything of Bailey’s in their room? Was this healthy for her?
6. Lennie first eases her grief by kissing Toby, Bailey’s boyfriend. How did you feel when this happened? Is this an understandable action?
7. The author uses samples of Lennie’s poetry throughout the novel. Do you feel this added to the story? Were you surprised to find out who was actually reading the poems?
8. Even though Lennie kept leaving her poems in public places, she seemed to be surprised by who was reading them. Who do you think Lennie was releasing all that poetry out into the world for?
9. Lennie seems to bloom after Bailey’s death. Do you think this is a case of the older sibling overshadowing the younger, or did Lennie become a new person after her loss?
10. Why did Lennie and Bailey allow themselves to be blind to the truth about their mother for so long? Why do you think Bailey kept her search for their mother a secret from Lennie?
11. Lennie coins the term Messessentialism: For those who revel in the essential mess that is life. …there’s not one truth ever, just a whole bunch of stories, all going on at once, in our heads, in our hearts, all getting in the way of each other. [p 251]. Do you subscribe to this theory?

Happy news for fans of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series! It seems we no longer have to be sad that the original series has ended because a new spin-off series is in the works! According to the author Heroes of Olympus will be a five-book series. The new series is set in Percy Jackson’s world and Percy has an important role to play, but a new cast of main characters will take center stage this time around. The first book will be called The Lost Hero and is set to be released on October 12, 2010.

Here’s a brief description of the first new book from Amazon.com:

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.

Rick Riordan, the best-selling author of the Percy Jackson series, pumps up the action and suspense in The Lost Hero, the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series.  Fans of demi-gods, prophesies, and quests will be left breathless–and panting for Book Two.

I already have a guess as to what Percy’s involvement might be, but it’s far too soon to start speculating. I’m just happy to hear there will be more Olympian and Half-blood stories. And this means I can go ahead and read books 4 and 5 of the Olympians series which I’ve been saving.

Have you read the Percy Jackson books? Are you happy to hear that there will be more Olympians stories? Will you read this new series?

An Ideal Wife
by Gemma Townley

Summary

Jess and Max are newlyweds who seem to have it all. But Jess has a secret and worries that her marriage isn’t strong enough to withstand the truth. So she decides to embark on project ‘Ideal Wife’. Her mission is to be the perfect wife so that when she confesses her secret, her husband will be more likely to forgive her. Of course things don’t go as planned and the harder she tries to be perfect, the more things seem to fall apart.

Review

An Ideal Wife is a fun, quick read. The plot moves along at a brisk pace, with quite a few sub-plots to keep the reader engaged. Jess is an engaging heroine who you can’t help but root for, and all the characters are all well developed and likeable. There are quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, and although events get a bit far-fetched towards the end, it doesn’t take away from the charm of this book.

Verdict

An Ideal Wife is an entertaining tale, which will appeal to all fans of the romantic comedy genre.

*I received this book for review from the publisher.

Good Monday morning everyone! I hope a good weekend was had by all.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend the week-end with my blogging partner and good friend Rae! This is a special treat since a whole country normally stands between us, so being able to spend a few days together in person was fantastic! Of course we took advantage of the lovely weather here in Ottawa and spent some time reading by the creek.  We also got to partake in another very exciting (non book related) event which I’ll be posting about soon!

But in the meantime, happy bloggers make for generous bloggers, so we have our FEED Giveaway winners to announce!

The two lucky winners of a SIGNED copy of FEED and a FEED Ryman campaign pin are:

Kathleen

and

darkkatpouncing

Congratulations! We’ll be sending you an email to get your mailing address.

A big thank-you goes out to everyone who entered. Stay tuned for our next exciting giveaway which will be coming up soon! (PS – this one will be our biggest giveaway yet!)

*Our winners were randomly selected by the AppBox Pro Random app on my iphone.

Stoneheart (Stoneheart Trilogy, book 1)
by Charlie Fletcher

Summary
When 12 year old George takes out his anger on a stone carving, strange things start to happen. Suddenly, things that should not be moving at all begin to chase him around London. And to his horror, George seems to be the only one who can see them. He finally finds an ally when a statue steps down to help him, but his journey is only just beginning. Without any clue as to what’s going on, George is thrust into a world where nothing is as it seems and is forced to fight against time in order to get his life back to normal.

Review
The concept behind Stoneheart is one of the more original fantasy premises I’ve come across. Unfortunately the delivery doesn’t quite live up to the concept. Not that it’s a bad book by any means, it’s just a little… flat. As previously stated, the premise is fantastic, but while the characters are all quite original and likable, they’re not very layered. There’s plenty of action in Stoneheart, which helps keep the reader engaged, but a little too much of the action involves running away from things, which eventually loses its intensity. For the most part I enjoyed the book, but found it dragged a bit at times.

Verdict

For fans of the fantasy genre who’ve grown tired of vampires and wizards, Stoneheart provides a fresh new concept that will impress. For those who prefer characterization over concept, Stoneheart may be a bit of a letdown.

I think there may have been a tweet or two about this last week, so it may not be news for all, but I just discovered that Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has worked out a deal with Twentieth Century Fox to publish a line of official Glee novels.

I’m a huge Glee fan, but when I first read the news I wasn’t all that excited. I’ve tried other ‘official’ spin-off novels and very few of them manage get the characters voices right. This can make it difficult to picture your favorite characters from the show as the same ones you’re reading about in the book.

But learning that the books will be written by “The Creators of Glee“, puts them above most TV tie-ins, since they should have a better handle than anyone on what the characters sound like. Then I read that the first book scheduled for release is an original story called Glee: The Beginning which will be a prequel to the show, and darn it if my curiosity wasn’t peaked. Of course I’m going to want to know about the characters before we met them in the show! *sigh* They just keep finding new ways to get me spend my money on Glee related things.

So, what about you? Are you a Gleek? Will you check out the Glee books when they come out?

The End of Overeating – Taking Control of the Insatiable North American Appetite
by David A. Kessler, MD

Summary

If I were going to try and summarize The End of Overeating in just one sentence, I think “People get fat because they eat more than people who are lean.” would be pretty close. It may sound too simple, but don’t worry because this book is so much more than that. After reading only the first few chapters, I already wanted to eat less!

Review

The End of Overeating first explains what exactly overeating is (did you know you don’t have to be overweight to overeat?), and then shares why so many people can’t stop themselves from overeating. The book also shares some very informative – and somewhat horrifying – traits of the food industry. It all makes so much sense when you stop and think about what’s revealed, but it took someone else pointing it out to make me realize just how unhealthy the food that restaurants are serving us really is. I think deep down we all know that they’re adding sugar, salt and fat to foods to make them more appealing, but discovering just how many layers of unhealthy substances are hiding in a prepared meal was shocking! After thoroughly explaining the ins-and-outs of what overeating is and why we do it, Kessler then talks about ways to change these habits – or as he calls it, “Food Rehab”. He stresses that practice, determination and commitment are required, but changes can be made.

I found the first part of the book which focuses on Sugar, Fat and Salt got a bit long-winded and technical at times, but each section includes a clear and easy to understand antidote involving real-life situations to explain each point being made. My one problem with the book was that many of the experiments referenced in the early parts of The End of Overeating involved animal testing that didn’t always appear to be 100% kind. Granted, it’s clear that these experiments were not done for this book in particular, but were merely referenced for their scientific value. On the flip side of that, I found the studies on human eating habits to be quite fascinating.

Verdict

The End of Overeating is a smart and informative book that opened my eyes to how often I’m overeating, and made me realize that I have the ability to correct these bad habits. Some of the methods described for changing our behaviour and reward tendencies, even seem like they could work to curb other repetitive bad habits (like skipping a work-out)!

*This book was provided for review by Random House Canada.