This one took me a little while to get into but quickly hooked me. I liked the family dynamic a lot as well as the hints of romance. I’m glad there will be sequels to this one.
Grade: B+
Book #39 in 2008
Great cover and great book. I loved the premise and thought the Dad was a great character. My only quibbles were that the realizations that Kate makes regarding her father, Will and Anna take way too long to be credible. It’s clear to the reader exactly what these characters are doing right and wrong from the very beginning. Kate’s lack of self-awareness doesn’t quite work for the length of the book. I liked the characters though and will read other books by Elizabeth Scott.
Grade: B+
Book #38 in 2008
This was an excellent, high energy read. I loved the tone of the book, the quick chapters, and the plotline. Some characters, particularly James, could have been fleshed out more, but overall a great book. I love the cover.
Grade: B+
Book #37 of 2008
Another solid work by Sarah Dessen. I was totally won over by Ruby and really liked how realistic her relationship with Cora was. I wouldn’t have minded spending more time with Nate. Great characters!
Grade: A
Book #36 of 2008
I love Jason Segel, Kristen Bell and Judd Apatow so I was expecting to like this and wasn’t disappointed. It wasn’t as laugh out loud funny as some of the other movies in this genre but the touching moments were more genuine. It felt almost like a grownup big budget Freaks and Geeks episode.
Grade: A-
Movie: #1 of 2008 (lost track of the earlier ones)
Another excellent one by Jennifer Weiner. At first I thought the daughter’s voice wasn’t quite accurate, especially compared to most YA books but the character grew on me. The end was shocking and I cried like crazy. Hope there’s a follow up but I’ll read anything she writes.
Grade: A
Book #35 of 2008
BookEval Review: When Hitler invades Austria, Ruth and her partly Jewish family try to flee to England but Ruth is stopped at the border. Her father’s former student Quin who has returned to accept an award finds her at the family home and tries to find to get her out of the country. The only way that will work is if Quin marries Ruth. They decide to get an annulment when they arrive in England, but the process isn’t as simple as they expect. Ruth awaits the arrival of her true love Heini and enrolls in the school where Quin teaches as his student. Will Heini’s return cause a hasty end to their marriage? Will her classmate Verona’s affections for Quin push her into his arms? The plot is slow and the main characters could spend more time on screen together but the romance is sweet and will appeal to historical romance readers.
I definitely wouldn’t have picked this up if not for bookeval. It was okay. I don’t typically like romance novels and this one wasn’t the greatest. I never understood why the characters would fall in love at any point. The setting was fairly interesting and I liked how many tough, smart women were in this novel.
Grade: B
Book #34 read in 208
BookEval Review: Krista and Charlie Brown couldn’t be more different. Krista’s a senior, soccer star, and seems to have it all. Charlie’s a sophomore, surfer, and loner. When Charlie is recruited for the soccer team by the new coach, Krista is horrified - that’s her team and Charlie is always mean to her. It’s not like she doesn’t have enough to worry about like her knee injury from the previous year, a boyfriend who wants to take things to the next level and a best friend who puts a lot of pressure on her. Charlie joins to the team to bug her sister but she’s got her own problems - from an ex-best-friend who spreads rumors about her and a sister who barely knows she exists. While the story can be predictable both girls are interesting and the progression in their relationship is nice. The cover will sell itself to sporty girls in your library and you can hand sell it to any teen girl with a sister.
I read it for book eval but found it to be highly enjoyable. Will definitely attract teen readers. (As an aside, Liz Tigelaar is a writer on Brothers and Sisters, which is one of my favorite current TV shows.)
Grade: B+
Book #33 read in 2008
Is realizing that Amazon links require the ASIN which is the ISBN-10, not ISBN-13 which you’ve been entering into your website for more than a year.
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