First Rapture by Alexandra Ivy -- 4 Stars

In First Rapture we meet Madison Philips who has returned to her home town of Las Vegas on a mission. On her 18th birthday Maddy gave her virginity to her long time crush Luc Angeli.  Afterwards he walked away and broke her heart.  8 years later Madison is back.  She is successful and no longer a young girl and she is hell bent on getting her revenge against Luc the “Dark Angel”. Madison tracks Luc down on the balcony of a charity event and sparks fly. Not only has Madison grown in the years they have been apart but so has Luc.  Their chemistry is amazing and they can’t resist each other.  They both want a night together but for different reasons.  Madison for revenge and Luc for redemption.

I loved this story it was short and sweet and very steamy.  I loved Luc from the very beginning.  He is crazy hot and sweet. Madison was both strong and vulnerable.

I am hoping Madison’s best friend Kristen gets a story and that we get to visit with Madison and Luc again soon.

Voyage of the Dawn Trader Review

Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third book in the Narnia Series (The Lion,The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian being the other two) that I have read to my son Noah.  Well technically it’s the fourth since we started A Boy and His Horse but after about 40 pages we put that down because neither one of us had any idea what the heck was going on.  As always the book contains hidden and not so hidden christian references and morals but I believe for the first time this book eludes to Aslan being GOD.  Eustace is by far the best character in this book.  He is so annoying and petty in the beginning that he feels like the only real person in the book.  His diary entries are very funny and I wish there had been more both before and after his transformation.  I thought this book was ok. I enjoyed some parts and others I felt where boring.  Noah was just bored to tears. The Lion,The Witch, and The Wardrobe so far has been my favorite.  I think we will take a break from Narnia for while before we come back for one of the other books.

Voyage opens with Edmund and Lucy spending the summer with their Aunt , Uncle, and annoying cousin Eustace. Edmond, Lucy, and Eustace find themselves pulled into Narnia through a picture where they join Prince Caspian on his ship the Dawn Trader. Caspian is off on an adventure to find the 7 lords his Uncle Miraz sent away in Prince Caspian. They find the first Lord alive after he rescues them from Slave Traders in The Lone Islands. At their next stop Eustace is in typical form and ends up being turned into a Dragon.  Aslan saves the day as usual and helps Eustace shed the outer layers of his skin and after this he becomes a much more enjoyable and better person. Dragon Island is also the end place of the 2nd of the seven lords. The gang survive brushes with a sea serpent and a mysterious lake that turns to gold anything that touches the water.  Their 3rd lord is discovered at the bottom of the lake and in the hope of keeping other people from the same threat they name the island Deathwater. In the Island of voices we meet up with strange and invisible creatures who hold them hostage until Lucy sneaks into the mysterious magicians house and preforms the spell to make them visible again.  Lucy does this for them but finds herself to attracted to the book and its hidden possibilities to avoid performing a spell for herself and ends up spying on a friend and hears things she would never have wished to know.  As a result this friendship will never be the same. Afterwards she meets up with the magician and learns why the strange creatures (which she names Dufflepuds) came to their fate. Once they set sail again they come upon a strange land they name the Dark Island. A place where all light has been removed and where dreams come true.  Not your hopes and dreams but the dreams you dream at night...or nightmares.  While in this strange land they rescue their 4th lord. Finally, they find the final 3 lords asleep at a table. Here they meet Ramandu and his daughter and discover that they must sail to the end of the world and leave one of their own to never return and then the 3 lords will wake.  Reepicheep volunteers to be the one to stay since he believes it is his calling to go to Aslan’s country which is at the end of the world.  They set sail again for their final destination and  on the way see great underwater lands and sea-people and reach the Last Sea where the water is no longer saltwater but fresh with special properties. When they sail through the Liliy Field and the Dawn Trader can go no further Caspian has a little temper tantrum when he wants to go on to Aslan’s country but is overruled by the others and ultimately Aslan himself.  Reepicheep, Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace go on in the little row boat until it can go no further.  Here Reep ventures of on his own to Aslan’s country and the children head in another direction until they find them selves on land and meeting up with Aslan himself, who sends them back into their own country.

The Paris Wife Review

I am finding it hard to decide what to rate The Paris Wife so I am going with 3 stars.  I neither loved or hated this novel.  It follows the early years of Ernest Hemingway’s life in Paris with his first wife Hadley.  In the book Hadley calls Ernest a “Perfect Ass” and “Son of a bitch” and I agree with her whole heartily.   I hated him!  He was so self centered and controlling.  I really was not sure if he ever loved Hadley or if he decided to go with her because she would coddle, cosset and pander to his every whim.  Everything was about him and the moment she pushed back a little they have a huge row and he goes off and sleeps with a prostitute in Turkey.  It always seemed to me that he paid more attention to other women than her.  

For the first half of the book Hadley was very whinny and needy.  It was not until she had her son that she started to become a real person to me.  As for Ernest’s affair with Pauline.....I can’t believe that he was mad at Hadley for bringing it up and making her feel like it was her fault they were having problems because she called him out.  I was disappointed with they way everyone acted to this affair and that they tried to go on with their marriage and the affair all at the same time as if all was normal.  I mean who goes on vacation and allows their husbands lover to join them and play the roll of your best friend.  I wanted to have her stand up and say “If you love her more than me then divorce me and marry her.  If not then send her away”.  But she did not and she let him off the hook by letting him go.  I never thought that he loved Pauline.  She was new and when Hadley would not heap praise on him for his new book she did and since that’s what he needed took up with her and then she sank he claws in deep.  Pauline got what was hers in the end when he left her for another women. 

I cried at the end when Ernest and Hadley’s marriage was over and I did not expect that due to my feelings for them.  I was happy that Hadley went on to have a happy life and be loved by someone.  I wonder if Hemingway regretted his decision to leave Hadley?  I just may have to read Hemingway’s “A Movable Feast” to get his perspective on his life in Paris with Hadley.

2012 Reading Challenges

In my previous post I listed my goals for a Reading Challenge geared at helping you read some of those books that have been sitting in your To Be Read pile.  In that challenge I have committed to reading 10 Books.

I also signed up for GoodReads 2012 Reading Challenge. Where I have set a goal to read 65 Books.  This should not be to difficult. Besides the TBR Pile Challenge, I am also involved in 3 area book clubs & 1 online group. The first group I have been reading with since the Spring of 2004 and we average 8 books a year.  My second group is a group of local mom’s and we have been reading together since the Summer of 2007 and we average 10 books a year. My third group is a neighborhood group started last year and we read 11 books. Finally, I also signed up last year with an online group to read War & Peace and we have decided to stay together and read more books together.

My Reading will move over many genre’s.....Best Sellers, Classics, Chick-Lit, Romance, Young-Adult, Mystery, Historical Fiction, & Non Fiction.

What books are currently up on my docket?....I am participating in two long-term reading projects.   The 1st is East of Eden by John Steinbeck  with my online group with a projected end date of May. The second book is Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell which I am reading with two friends from my Mom’s book club.  We are going to break it down it to monthly readable chunks with a projected end date of September.

I am also currently reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis to my 8 year-old son and The Paris Wife by Paula McLain for my Neighborhood book club. Then I will move into The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw for my Mom’s book club.

Other books on my list for January & February are....

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, & Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (if I have time since I have already read them)

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

A Lady Never Surrenders by Sabrina Jeffries

The Capture of Glencrae by Stephanie Laurens

Stormchaser by Paul Stewart

So here is to reading and reaching my goals and hopefully exceeding them!!!

My 2012 TBR Pile Challenge List

Ok so along with my other reading Goals for 2012 I am going to get some of those books that are on my To Be Read List read.  So I am joining Adam over at Roof Beam Reader's 2012 TBR Pile Challenge. http://roofbeamreader.net/2011/11/14/the-2012-tbr-pile-challenge-sign-ups/


My 2012 TBR Pile Challenge List:
1. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
2. The Shack by William P. Young
3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
4. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
5. Into the Woods by Jana French
6. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
7. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
8. Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
9. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10. The Voyage of the Dawn Trader by C.S. Lewis  -- Finished 01/10/2012 

My Two Alternates:
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Let's start a Blog

Ok whose bright idea was this?!? I'm not a writer but this Auburn Girl has a family & therefor a story to tell.