Daisy Update (10) In which I get a job!! :D

So it's been 2 weeks since my last update! I was really busy last weekend with celebrating the boyfriend's birthday and going to another birthday and celebrating Mother's Day and just generally DOING ALL THE THINGS.

On Sunday I brought home one of my parents' dogs, I was dogsitting him this week because my parents were away for a couple of days and couldn't bring him with them. SO YAY FUN TIMES WITH THE PUPPY! :D

Hypnotizing me into playing with the ball :)

Another of his absolute favourite pastimes: sleeping, preferably ON ME.
He's been really sweet and cuddly and we only had a little trouble with the cats in the neighbourhood, cause saying he really dislikes cats is a bit of an understatement. Yesterday I had the boyfriend come down when I got back from walking the dog so he could chase one of the cats away because the cat was blocking the path and threathening the dog and he just wouldn't leave!! That kitty meant business! So the boyfriend walked up to him and he ran away, cause that's what he does with humans...
But other than that it was really nice and he kept me company during basically everything I was doing, but mostly while I was reading. We're actually back at my parents' now, I'm sad that he's not staying longer... Will miss my furry companion!

So, other than walking and playing with the dog, I also had a job interview this Friday and guess what: I GOT THE JOB!!! I was SO nervous and then when I got home they called to tell me they wanted to hire me!! :D SQUEE! So yesterday I went out to dinner to celebrate with my boyfriend :) I'm finally becoming a real grown-up and getting to work as a real doctor and everything! I start July 1st, so before that I'll have to get a car and I also feel the inexplicable need to shop. A LOT. I'm meaning serious shopping with lots of new clothes I can wear while I'm working and some random pretty things as well. And I know all that don't spend money before you earn it, but well, when I'm earning it I won't have as much time to spend it as I do now ;)

I haven't bought books to celebrate. Yet. With all the books I've ordered lately, I thought I'd take it a bit slower and actually try to read some of them before I order more. See, I can control myself. A little.

So yeah, good week for me :) I've also been participating in the Bout of Books 4.0 read-a-thon and it's been really great! I love doing read-a-thons and I especially loved the chat on Friday! :) That was seriously awesome! I'm off to pull through on this last day of it and reach my goal of reading 3 hours today. I've actually discovered that it's kinda hard to keep track of how long I've been reading!

Anyway, how was your week? Exciting things happening for you? Participate in the read-a-thon as well?

Review of The Unbearable Book Club For Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher

Title/Author: The Unbearable Book Club For Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher
Publisher/Date published: Delacorte BFYR, May 8th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "I'm Adrienne Haus, survivor of a mother-daughter book club. Most of us didn't want to join. My mother signed me up because I was stuck at home all summer, with my knee in a brace. CeeCee's parents forced her to join after cancelling her Paris trip because she bashed up their car. The members of "The Unbearable Book Club," CeeCee, Jill, Wallis, and I, were all going into eleventh grade A.P. English. But we weren't friends. We were literary prisoners, sweating, reading classics, and hanging out at the pool. If you want to find out how membership in a book club can end up with a person being dead, you can probably look us up under mother-daughter literary catastrophe. Or open this book and read my essay, which I'll turn in when I go back to school."

You guys, do not make the same mistake I did and be misled by this cover and summary: this is NOT a cute summer read. It's just not. I had expected it to be about girls bonding and forming genuine friendships while being in the book club and discovering everything wasn't so bad after all. Or something like it. I had expected it to be funny.

I was dead wrong.

The main character, Adrienne, is a bratty, whiny teenager. Seriously, I REALLY disliked her. I mean, sure she's hasn't had the best of luck lately and having to cancel her summer trip with her best friend because she banged up her knee is tough. But really, she was just so annoying! I found myself rolling my eyes at her 'woe is me and my mom sucks'-attitude, I got it after the first few times it was mentioned. I didn't really get why the other three girls would even want to hang out with her. Her only redeeming quality to me was the fact that she loved reading, but other than that, she was kinda bland.
Also, CeeCee REALLY annoyed me as well. There was no sense to her actions and I never really got what drove her to be the way she was. Jill and Wallis were actually much more interesting, but I just didn't feel invested in any of their stories really.

For the most part I had hoped that we would really delve into all the characters and discover secrets and friendships would be formed and YES, I know pretty much on the first page it's said that someone dies, but well, I guess I was still expecting some sort of happy to be had first. Also, a LOT of questions I had about them all never got answered. I mean, what was going on with CeeCee? What exactly was wrong with Jill's mom and dad and what was the deal with Wallis and her mother??? And seriously, WHO is Adrienne's dad? And why is her mom being all skeevy about not telling her? I felt no sense of fulfillment whatsoever when I finished the last page.

Basically, I felt that nothing had really happened in The Unbearable Book Club For Unsinkable Girls. I don't think any of the girls will in fact be 'changed' because of the big and potential life-altering moment that happened at the end of it. I didn't feel like Adrienne had learned anything from her summer apart from her best friend or from any of the stupid things she did.
I did like Adrienne's doctor, he was probably one of the only ones with a positive outlook in life and I did like the scenes in which Adrienne visited him for her check-ups.
I mean, I don't need a happily ever after, though I do like them, but there was just not even a sense of hope for the future.

I guess this just wasn't the book for me, sadly.

My rating: 1,5 stars

Review of Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Title/Author: Struck (Struck #1) by Jennifer Bosworth
Publisher/Date published: FSG BYR, May 8th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Mia Price is a lightning addict. She's survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.
Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.
Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn't who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything."

I have mixed feeling about Struck. I was so incredibly excited to get to reading it and before I started I was just completely ready to fall in love with it. And I waited. And waited. And waited some more, but it didn't fully happen in the end. Though I did end up enjoying it!

The problem for me was that it all just seemed to take such a LONG time! I mean, the plot crawled at a snail's pace and I get that we needed backstory and we needed to realise what was going on and what was at stake and all of it, but well, I could have done with a little more actual action and a little less people walking and talking. And seriously, if everyone had been a bit more upfront about themselves and their respective cults, this whole mess hadn't really had to have happened at all.

While I'm always a bit apprehensive when it comes to cults, the way they were portrayed in Struck was really interesting! And really well done! I could easily see how people could go with both the Seekers and with Prophet. And though they were opposites in this, the two groups were eerily similar in both their followers and leaders. I could see how Mia couldn't make out who were the 'good' guys in all this, because until we got closer to the end, neither could I. I'm still not convinced that there were actual good guys in this, but one seemed to be a lesser evil in the end.
Cults scare me. It is scary how easily you can get sucked in and get sort of (or actually) brainwashed.

I thought the paranormal element of lightning causing these side effects was fascinating! I'm really hoping that in the next book in the series we'll get to find out more about the how and why of this.

Mia was a good main character. She had a lot of anger and distrust and shame and bless her for it! She's fiercely loyal to her family and that's always something that I admire in a person. Though I did think she was trying to control her brother a bit too much at one point. I liked that even though she had feeling for Jeremy, she didn't let it blind her to everything else.
Jeremy himself I'm still haven't made up my mind about. Sometimes I thought he was a jerk and I was questioning his motives and I don't know, I just never completely fell for him. There were also times when I really liked him, I'd just would have liked him to open up to Mia more and a bit sooner. Communication people! It's a wonderful thing.

And you know how I said the plot moved very slowly for most of the book? Towards the end it definitely starts to speed up and there are BIG REVELATIONS and scary things and blood and just GAH! ACTION! YES! Epic clash of the cults and lightning and just all of it! And right then and there I was in the moment and I just wished the whole book had made me feel like that!
Also, I wash finishing Struck while a thunderstorm was raging outside. Yeah, that was both kinda scary and appropriate.

The ending leaves me very much wondering what will happen with Mia and the cult and the faith of the world in general. So while I didn't love Struck, the cults are fascinating and immensely scary and I really ended up enjoying the story, but mostly the final part when thing started to get exciting very fast! It was all in all a pretty good debut and I'll definitely be picking up the next instalment in this series!

My rating: 3,5 stars

Review of Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Title/Author: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Publisher/Date published: Graphia, May 8th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "A story of crushes, corsets, and conspiracy
Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem."

I just finished Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink and I'm still smiling! This book was amazingly cute and fun and it had me laughing so many times it was just incredible!

I LOVED the writing! It was the perfect mix of lighthearted and funny and it was serious when it needed to be, it was SO good! From the get-go I fell in love with the characters and the place and just the summery feel-good mood that it brough with it!

Libby is a really, really great and very lovable main character! She's a history nerd who's also a total shoe fanatic fashionista and is incrediby charming. Because of her Hello Kitty tendencies, other people assumed she probably wasn't all that smart and serious about history and about her job, which shows you can't go by your first impression, because Libby was very passionate about it all! I loved her and I was rooting for her. And while I abhor the popular thing that is putting your phone in your bra when you don't have pockets, I excused her for it because she was just so adorable.

So, admittedly, Libby doesn't have the best judgment when it comes to guys and the gorgeous sailor had SLEAZEBAG written on his forehad in big bright neon letters, but yeah, I could get how she could not get past the gorgeousness he's supposed to be. I mean, I feel old saying this, but: it wasn't all that long ago that I was a teenager. But gosh, the other guy! Be still my geek loving heart! I loved the scenes where he and Libby were together and their banter had me laughing out loud so many times! And hooray for the nerd who has the movie kiss down!

Also, I loved Libby's best friend Dev. Granted, he has the stereotypical gay going on, but yeah, I kinda adored him and his quirks! Also, I thought their friendship was very believable and not just something convenient to be added into the story.

In conclusion: this was a wonderful cute, feel-good read that left me smiling and giggling and sometimes laughing out loud while I was reading it! Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink is a fantastic debut and Stephanie Kate Strohm has an amazing voice that shone through Libby! Highly recommended!

My rating: 5 stars

Bout of Books Read-a-Thon update!

I will just keep updating this instead of making a new post all the time I think. Or I might not, we'll see how it goes :)

Progress so far:

Day 1
Time read: 2.15-2.30 hours!
Pages read: around 150
Books finished: 0

Evaluation: YAY GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!!! I thought I would never make 1,5 hours, but then I went to bed and wasn't sleepy at all: so full extra hour of reading time! Score!

Day 2
Time read: 2 hours
Pages read: I think around 120-ish
Books finished: 1

Evaluation: goal accomplished again! :) YAY! Also, I finished my first book The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland and wrote the review, so go productivity!

Day 3
Time read: 1.45 hours
Pages read: 100
Books finished: 0

Evaluation: goal accomplished, but barely! Twitter and the puppy and the boyfriend and even the TV were being shiny and distracting me. Also, I needed to pick up my mom's car and that took 2,5 hours, so yeah... I also wasted a lot of time looking at pretty clothes on the interwebs... I kinda sucked yesterday, cause I only had half a day at work and didn't read as much as I'd planned to.

Day 4
Time read: about 4 hours
Pages read: 240
Books finished: 1

Evaluation: so even with walking the puppy for about 2 hours all added up I managed to make it to about 4 hours. Do you know how hard it is to keep track of how long you've been reading? Cause I always forget to check when I started and breaks and such... Anyway: YAY FINISHED A BOOK! :)

Day 5
Time read: about 2 hours
Pages read: 120 pages
Books finished: 0

Evaluation: so I failed. I had a job interview in the afternoon and had zero concentration and a really high stress level before and after they told me I GOT THE JOB *SQUEEE* well, I just had no focus for a while after that either because I was freaking out and jumping up and down and calling my mom and everything. So I failed at my goal, but EPIC WIN on getting a job! :)

Day 6
Time read: 3,5 hours
Pages read: 250
Books finished: 1

Evaluation: made my goal, yay! Also walked the puppy and went out to dinner with my boyfriend to celebrate me getting a job, so all in all, I'd say 3,5 hours is a good score :)


Day 7
Time read: a little over 3 hours
Pages read: 120
Books finished: 0

Evaluation: made my goal, but just barely. Had to bring the puppy back to my parents :( And I've discovered that I can't read Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow at the same pace I do other books, I mean, 120 pages in 3 hours is a little slow for me... Anyway, I spent this last day reading outside and it was wonderfully relaxing :)

Bout of Books Read-a-Thon Goals!

Hey all! I've decided to participate in the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon because it sounds like all kinds of fun and well, I need to get my read on ;)

Also, because my parents' dog is staying with me this week, I will have a warm and furry companion to my reading. The only thing is, he also needs to be walked sometimes or he gets grumpy, so this could take away from my reading time... Hmm, we'll see.
I'm working 2,5 days this week, so the others days will be filled with reading! I pretty much don't have anything else going on I think, so it should be ok :)

My goals:
-Read those review books I've been failing
-Read at least 1,5 hour on work days and 3 hours on non-work days
-Have LOTS OF FUN!

Anyone joining in as well? You can still sign up here if you want to participate as well!

Review of Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Title/Author: Hemlock (Hemlock #1) by Kathleen Peacock
Publisher/Date published: Katherine Tegen Books, May 8th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: "Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.
Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.
Lupine syndrome — also known as the werewolf virus — is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.
Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk."

YES! THE WEREWOLVES AND I! WE HAVE CONNECTED! HURRAY!

Ok, so let me set the scene: it's past midnight and I'm a little bleary-eyed, having just finished Hemlock and I'm not even the least bit sleepy because it was awesome and thrilling and I just want to get all of it out while I'm still feeling the rush!

Seriously, I was thinking werewolves and I didn't mesh well. But Hemlock has changed all of this. It wasn't the werewolves on themselves, it was just the novels that weren't working for me, because as you can tell from my exlamation above, this one obviously did work for me. Rather well actually. And you know what I think caused this? Kathleen Peacock didn't take the GRRR out of the werewolves and it is SUCH a pet peeve of mine when this happens to paranormal beings! I mean, if werewolves were just slightly overgrown dogs, more like pets actually, they wouldn't be werewolves right? The essential part is that they SHOULD be dangerous. Because they have big claws and teeth and huh, who was that that tried to kill Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother? (I know, not a werewolf, but that's beside the point) (Point being wolves are dangerous, not domesticated) So yay for lethal wolves instead of puppies!

I loved, loved, loved the storytelling! From the moment I started I was sucked in and was just ignoring everything around me so I could luxuriate in the world and the words and the characters and just everything! Although a plea to anyone reading this: please don't ever use whisper-beg in well, basically anything. I KNOW it's something that you can do at the same time, but for some reason it makes my skin crawl.
But besides that one thing I loved the writing :)

And Mac, gosh, I really adore that girl! She hasn't had it easy and I could understand how her personality formed itself after that. I connected with her and was there with her second guessing everything and everyone because really, THE TWISTS JUST KEPT ON COMING! I mean, whenever I felt safe in my opinion of someone, everything got turned upside down again and I was left with my mouth hanging slightly open, going 'what??'. And I loved it! Though I did think the girl should at one point have stopped insisting she could take care of herself, because she'd been near death about 10 times in 3 days. I loved that her love interest knew her so well and that she did eventually trust herself and himself enough to admit her feeling for him. Good romance :)

Also, while sometimes I find that dream sequences don't work for me, in this case they really did! They were interesting and definitely added to the anticipation and it didn't feel contrived at all. I'm not sure how I feel about the love triangle though. It's not something that for me ruined anything about the story. Yet. I'm really hoping it will just sort of go away and not be a major thing in the sequel. Because I am only rooting for one boy and his name is:
***SPOILER, LIGHT UP TO READ***
KYLE. Seriously, that boy! Broke my heart when he just left and I had definitely not seen it coming... Can someone just please tell him being honorable isn't all it's cracked up to be?? Please?
***END OF SPOILER***

Oh, and the cover: it is le pretty!

So, in short: exciting, enticing debut novel with a heroine who's easy to relate to, a boy that made me swoon, good romance and werewolves that have maintained their GRRR!
I for one cannot wait for the sequel!

My rating: 5 stars