read 100 books in 2007

Resistance by Anita Shreeve
Synopsis
As she has done in her novels Eden Close, Strange Fits of Passion, and Where or When, Anita Shreve once again leads readers into a harrowing world where lives are catastrophically overturned by emotion. Set in a Belgian village amid the wreckage of World War II, Resistance is a powerful exploration of passion, self-discovery, and sacrifice from one of our most accomplished storytellers. Just as the Nazi occupation forces have drained her village of coffee, meat, and chocolate, the war has also depleted whatever joy there may have been in Claire Daussois’s marriage. On their small farm in the south of Belgium, Claire and her husband, Henri, shelter refugees – Jews, Allied pilots, and fleeing Belgian soldiers – before passing them along toward France and freedom. Claire nurses the wounded, acts as interpreter, and waits for the war to end – and, in a way she finds difficult to admit even to herself, for her own life to change. And it does, when an American B-17 bomber is downed near their village. The pilot, badly injured, is found by a young boy who turns to Claire for help in saving him. Henri is away on Resistance work. As the pilot heals and recovers in her attic hiding place, Claire begins to awaken to the possibility of love. Over the course of a mere twenty days, closed off from the world and the war in her farmhouse, Claire and Lieutenant Ted Brice experience a life-changing passion that neither has felt before. That their love is also haunted and impossible only makes it more precious. The war recedes in the face of their joy – before imposing itself once more with shocking suddenness and inconceivable horror. Resistance is the story of a young Belgian woman, an American pilot, and the small war-torn village that shelters them. Richly peopled and fearlessly, gorgeously passionate, it is a powerful exploration of emotion at odds with commitment. No reader who has loved – or resisted love – will forget this lucid and moving tale.

Another year I am not going to make this one. To accomplish this I would have to read 4 books a week every week for the rest of the year. I will continue to update my progress to see how far I make it.

Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning
Seventeen-year-old Molly Montgomery never planned on becoming famous. Starting a band with her best mates, Jane and Tara, was just a way to have some fun. But when the group is joined by charismatic bad-boy Dean, things onstage-and backstage-start happening, fast. Their band, The Hormones, is front-page news, and their debut album is rocketing up the charts.
Molly is the force behind the band-a superstar diva-but the hazards of fame, first love, screaming fans, and sleazy managers are forcing the newly crowned teen queen of grrrl angst close to the edge. Fame never comes for free, and Molly’s about to find out what it costs.
The beginning was kind of slow, it picked up about halfway through. Cute teen read.

From the Publisher

The Nerd Who Loved Me by Vicki Lewis Thompson

From the Publisher
She’s got the high-kicks…
Lainie Terrell is no ordinary single mother. With feathers in all the right places, she’s one of the hottest showgirls in Vegas. Aside from a hot-tempered ex-boyfriend on her sequined tail, Lainie’s biggest problem is finding a decent babysitter for her son. Lainie’s dilemma is solved when she ropes Harry Ambrewster, the casino’s shy-but very smart and cute-accountant, into the task.

He’s got the low-down…
Inheriting his chemist father’s high I.Q. and sexy good looks, Harry has always been intrigued by Lainie. He isn’t thrilled at the prospect of babysitting, but he’ll do anything to get near the gal who fuels his craziest fantasies. Then Lainie’s dangerous ex comes knocking…

Their option? Run faster than a pair of net stockings…
In disguise and on the lam, Lainie’s masquerading as the perfect wife. Harry’s doubling as the he-man protector. But with a set-up this hot, who’s fooling who? When the lights go down, and the masks come off, a nerd like Harry could be just the right ignition to set a woman like Lainie on fire…

I though this was okay. I have read a couple others in the nerd series that I thought were better. The story line was okay, I just didn’t feel the romance, or the sex for that matter. Which is surprising since her books are usually have very steamy love scenes. I just found the book lacking.

The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen
by Mitali Perkins

Book Description:
As Indian culture continues to curry the movies, music, and literature of American culture, the time is perfect to re-introduce this Indian-themed novel about a young girl’s heartfelt attempt to straddle her two worlds. Like any other eighth grader, smart and spunky Sunita Sen just wants to fit in. She feels she’s doing pretty well, especially as her friendship with the school’s tennis star starts to blossom into something more. But when Sunita’s grandparents come from India to stay with her family, her lifestyle changes, and Sunita suddenly becomes aware of identity issues she’s never before faced. Should she hide her heritage and be like everyone else, or can she find a way to embrace it? Originally published in 1993 as The Sunita Experiment, this touching yet light-hearted tale is back in print in hard and soft cover with a snappy new title, a spectacular jacket design, and a reader’s guide.
I really liked this book. It is perfect young adult reading to me. Fun, real, deals with current issues, and teaches you a little bit. For some reason I’ve been really into the Indian culture and how they adapt to life in America lately. This fit the bill perfectly

The Red Queen’s Daughter
by Jacqueline Kolosov

Orphaned as a baby because of her mother, Queen Katherine Parr’s, imprudent marriage, Mary Seymour believes that romantic love clouds even the strongest woman’s ability to reason. Therefore, she vows never to fall in love, and under no circumstances will she marry. Lady Strange, her mysterious new guardian, offers the young woman an extraordinary alternative to marriage. Mary is to become a white magician who will join Queen Elizabeth’s court and ensure the success of the Virgin Queen’s reign.

Accompanied by her magical hound, Perseus, Mary sets out to learn the properties of different stones and the art and precision of natural spells. Soon after her sixteenth birthday, she is invited to join Elizabeth’s court as a lady-in-waiting. Upon her arrival, Mary is met with a welcome worthy of her highly regarded mother. Nevertheless, the more favor Mary is shown by the queen, the more she inspires the jealousy and ill will of the men and women who are vying for power. The most dangerous of all is Edmund Seymour, Mary’s disturbingly handsome cousin. From the moment she meets Edmund, Mary has to fight her growing attraction, especially once she discovers that he is a black magician, the dark mirror of her own self. But, despite the threat Edmund poses to Mary, he seems to be the only one who truly understands her. When Edmund becomes involved in a plot against the queen, Mary finds her beliefs tested in ways she never could have imagined.

I thought this book was ok. It was interesting enough that I could read it, but not I can't put it down reading. The magical aspects of the story were more interesting to me than the relationships or the characters. The story had kind of a buildup, that led to nothing. I wasn't happy with the end, could lead to a sequel. Which I would probably end up reading just because I need to see how stories end.

All Togther Dead by Charlaine Harris

Bookcrossing Journal Entry

The Village Bride of Beverly Hills by Kavita Daswani

From the Publisher
The author of the “enchanting” and “delightful” (USA Today) debut novelFor Matrimonial Purposes returns with a romantic comedy about a new bride leading a secret double life.
After an arranged marriage in her native India, Priya moves with her husband to California, where they share a house with his parents. Playing the traditional daughter- in-law role, she’s expected to clean, cook, and—because she doesn’t immediately get pregnant—find a job as well!

But the job, at a glossy Hollywood gossip magazine, isn’t at all what Priya’s in-laws had in mind for a traditional Indian wife. She soon finds herself with a secret life that she must hide from her disapproving new family.

All the while, she is growing into a marriage with a man whose loyalty is decidedly torn between his parents and his bride. This is hardly surprising, given that he met his wife only a week before their wedding. The question is, can this fragile new love survive the pull between tradition and ambition? Weekly) delectable follow-up to For Matrimonial Purposes. (Publishers Weekly)

Author Biography: Kavita Daswani has been a fashion correspondent for CNN, CNBC Asia, and Women’s Wear Daily, has written for the Los Angeles Times and the International Herald Tribune, among many other publications, and has been the fashion editor for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.

I really liked this one, I will be on the lookout for more books by this author. I am heavily into ethnic books right now. I love the tidbits, and customs of Indian culture that are a huge part of the storyline.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Annotation
In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.

From the Publisher
Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from the moment she arrives on the unfamiliar shores of colonial Connecticut in 1867. Alone and desperate, she has been forced to leave her beloved home on the island of Barbados and join a
family she has never met. Torn between her quest for belonging and her desire to be true to herself, Kit struggles to survive in a hostile place. Just when it seems she must give up, she finds a kindred spirit. But Kit’s friendship with Hannah Tupper, believed by the colonists to be a witch, proves more taboo than she could have imagined and ultimately forces Kit to choose between her heart and her duty.
Elizabeth George Speare’s Newbery Award–winning novel portrays a heroine whom readers will admire for her unwavering sense of truth as well as her infinite capacity to love.

I liked this book, nice easy read. It’s been awhile since I’ve read any historical fiction so it was a nice change of pace for me. This book makes me appriciate how lucky we are to be women in this day and age rather than back then.

Eat Me
by Linda Jaivin

Julia, Chantal, Helen, and Philippa are the best of friends. Professionally, their lives could not be more different, but whenever they get together, there are always plenty of intimate revelations to dish up and devour. Julia is a spunky photographer with a penchant for Peking duck and younger men; Chantal is a fashion magazine editor whose sexual preferences give new meaning to the words “mixing and matching”; Helen is a feminist scholar whose outward wholesomeness belies her inner…+ Read More
Julia, Chantal, Helen, and Philippa are the best of friends. Professionally, their lives could not be more different, but whenever they get together, there are always plenty of intimate revelations to dish up and devour. Julia is a spunky photographer with a penchant for Peking duck and younger men; Chantal is a fashion magazine editor whose sexual preferences give new meaning to the words “mixing and matching”; Helen is a feminist scholar whose outward wholesomeness belies her inner naughtiness; and Philippa is a somewhat secretive writer who appears to be taking rather close notes on her friends’ raunchy tales. From the dark seduction of a Goth poet and frolics with truck drivers to a lesbian tie-me-up/tie-me-down and an erotic sushi bar for twenty-four samurai (no, those aren’t swords in their pockets – they’re just happy to see you), the four friends partake of an endless and uproarious buffet of fabulous liaisons. They couldn’t be more open with each other. Or could they? As the conversation escalates, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate fantasy from reality. With its layering of stories within stories, Eat Me is as provocative in structure as it is potent in detail. Is it a literary romp? A work of pornography? A devastating social satire? One thing is clear: This outrageous, irresistible, and utterly original debut is the juiciest book you will read this year.

From the Publisher

In this eye-popping first novel-a runaway best-seller in Australia-Linda Jaivin invites readers to partake of a lusty banquet of conversations about that hottest topic of all—sex. The talk is served up in various trendy cafés by a foursome of bright, successful women: Julia, a photographer with a penchant for Peking duck and acrobatic men; Chantal, a fashion magazine editor, whose sexual exploits give new meaning to “mixing and matching”; Helen, a feminist scholar, whose…+ Read More
In this eye-popping first novel-a runaway best-seller in Australia-Linda Jaivin invites readers to partake of a lusty banquet of conversations about that hottest topic of all—sex. The talk is served up in various trendy cafés by a foursome of bright, successful women: Julia, a photographer with a penchant for Peking duck and acrobatic men; Chantal, a fashion magazine editor, whose sexual exploits give new meaning to “mixing and matching”; Helen, a feminist scholar, whose wholesome demeanor belies her exotic sexual fantasies; and Philippa, a writer who appears to be taking rather close notes on her friends’ raunchy tales.

With its layering of stories within stories, Eat Me is as provocative in structure as it is potent in detail. Is it a literary romp? A work of pornography? A devastating social satire? One thing is clear: This outspoken, outrageous, utterly irresistible debut is destined to be the most talked about book of the year.

About the Author

Linda Jaivin is a freelance writer and translator. Her journalism has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Australian Rolling Stone and Australian New Woman. Raised in New London, Connecticut, and educated at Brown University, she worked and studied in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China before settling permanently in Sydney, Australia.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. I usually have to think about it awhile before I can really decide. I thought some parts of it was really clever, and parts were overly predictable. It was a lot more erotic than the description made it seem. Some of the erotica aspect was good, some unappealing, it does go into all different types of fantasies. Overall I guess I did enjoy it.