Category: Books Read-2009

**Stop The Traffik People Shouldn’t Be Bought & Sold Review

Posted on by Cindy


PUD DATE: April 1 2009

I had just seen a documentary of trafficking the night before First Wild Card Tours had announced this book so I really wanted to read it. Its not really a book its sort of like a magazine. Its filled with all kinds of photos, charts and graphs. There is also stories from the girls and women who were bought and sold.

The book is produced by the United Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking.

We hear stories every day about this and its sad to see it still goes on in every part of the world. It was sad to read that parents and family members were actually selling their children for a little bit of money. As a parent I could never sell my child no matter how badly I needed money. Its also sad to see that as humans we have no repect for other humans and that we are looked at not as humans but was objects to be bought and sold.

Stop the Traffik was formed in 2006. Their mission is to put an end to people trafficking, preventing the sale of people, prosecuting the traffickers and protecting the victims.

They estimate that for every minute two children are trafficked for sex and that roughly 1.2 million a year. They also report that 98% of the ones that are trafficked are girls and women. To date this is the most common form of trafficking.

Other forms of trafficking are domestic slaves, child soldiers. organ and forced labour.

To find out how you can be a part or for more info go to www.stopthetraffik.org

The book was okay it had some interesting facts and to read the personal stories of the victims was interesting to see why and how they were sold. The majority was sold because the were in poverty and either wanted to support their families (they thought the money was being sent home which it wasn’t) or they had drug, alcohol or medical problems and they needed quick money.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

LIfe Cycles Review

Posted on by Cindy


PUB DATE: August 2008

When I first got the email to review Life Cycles I just had to read it. I replied back and Neil graciously sent me the book postmarked all the way from Australia. Thank You so very much Neil for your patience and understanding.

About the book:
‘Life Cycles’ is a ground-breaking new theory on what life is all about. It is both controversial and evidence-based and states that we live our lives in symbolically repeatable twelve year cycles. There are two important years in the cycle and this is where we see fate take a hand in unusual ways.Designed to entertain and inform; details from the public record are used to dissect the lives of world leaders, showbiz personalities, criminals and ordinary citizens. You will learn about your life’s symbolic meaning and be introduced to a whole range of new terms and icons.You won’t read anything quite as original and intriguing and you will never look at your life the same way again. Is it just fanciful or does it represent the most important addition to esoteric knowledge for thousands of years?But what’s this! There’s the sound of an engine warming up and there you are on a platform beside your own private train, pulled up at Revolution Place and they’re telling you to get aboard.

My Review:
I found the book to be very interesting because I am always interested in books that talk about fate and things happening for a reason. What I wanted to know was how important the numbers in the year of my life planned in my life.

Cycles happen yearly typically from birthday to birthday. This has nothing to do with astrology, planets etc.

Two out of the twelve years are “out of control”. Meaning that fate and events take over our lives that we usually have no control of. Have you ever noticed that happening and wondered why?

There are seven stages in our lives. They are: birth, infant, child, teenager, young adult,middle age adult, and late adult. The cycles are from birth to death.

When its broken down every twelve years is known as the Flames of Revolution. The numbers for this is 12-24-36-48 etc. During the 12th year cycle there is a change and its not under out control.

The year of the broken pathway happens every 7th year. These numbers are 7-19-31-43 etc. In these times its the year of the change and new responsibilities and challenges happen. These happen out of our comfort zones.

Neil mentions that 24 and 36 are always the two numbers that stand out when he was doing his research on people. He took the time lines of famous people, celebrities, world leaders, criminals and ordinary people.

The book goes into detail about the numbers and what the years mean. I won’t go into much more but I will share some of what the numbers mean to me. In the book he explained how we can do this on ourselves by using the following numbers: 7-12-19-24-31-36. Those are the numbers in the Revolution and broken pathways.

7- I can’t really remember anything significant happening then.

12- When I think back the only thing I can remember was starting junior high. Need I say more. I was no longer going to a country elementary school anymore but going into the city for junior high. This is grade 7. New people around.

19- I know during this year I did step out of my comfort zone and through the power of persuasion from my cousin and his girlfriend I ended up telling my cousins friend that i like him. It didn’t work out for us but we remained really good friends to this day.

24-This was a big year for me. I got a full time job, moved out of my parents house and started to date a guy. (That relationship never lasted the year)

31-The new challenge for me was this year I had quit my job and was only married a few months. So I was getting use to being a wife and all the responsibilities of running a house. Thinking about children.

36- My dad passed away so dealing with that and then a few weeks later having my mother move in with us from NB.

Other numbers that have meaning to me are:

Illusion (climbing over the ridge) 21 Graduated and 33 had Michael

The Year of change was 37 when I started to review books and have a blog.

The year I had fate in my hands was when I was 26 I had reconnected with my high school sweetheart and went to see him for two weeks in the US. We have once again reconnected to this day but as friends.

I have to say that I had a hard time writing this review. For me its just that I had a hard time putting all the info from the book and putting it into my own words so that it could make sense. If this interest you then I suggest you get the book and do your own Life Cycle. I know when I look back and see that things did happen and I am sure I always questioned why now I know why.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
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** A Reliable Wife Review

Posted on by Cindy

<-Canadian <-American PUB DATE: March 2009 This is Robert Goolrick's debut fiction book. He previously wrote a memoir before this. I discovered that Sony Pictures has acquired the rights of this novel and are planning on making a movie. I would love to see this when its done. Reading the book I could actually visualize it done as a movie. The details that Robert wrote about made the novel seem so real and life like. The story begins in a rural Wisconsin town in 1907 in the winter time. Ralph Truitt placed an ad in the newspaper for A Reliable Wife. He received several replies but one caught his attention and he was corresponding with her. She was coming in on the train from Chicago. Ralph is an older man in his 50's and he is a successful business man who appears to own the town as everyone seems to work for him. Ralph is lonely and has been for the past twenty years. His first wife had an affair with an Italian that Ralph paid to work for him and from that affair she had a son that she tried to pass off as Ralph's. They also had a daughter but she died when she got sick. Having had enough of her he threw her out and she fled with her lover. Ralph was furious and he ended up driving the son away. Which made the son furious with him and he held the grudge for many years. Is this grudge enough to kill? On the train coming from Chicago is Catherine Land. She answered his ad and has agreed to come to be Ralph's wife. We soon discover that Catherine is not who she says she is from changing clothes and getting rid of them, to hiding her jewelry and when she arrives in Wisconsin and gets off the train Ralph sees that she isn't the same woman that is in the picture she sent. She admits that its her cousin. Why is she lying and what is she up too? Realizing that he can't leave her at the train station he takes her home and on the way home they have an accident. Catherine saves Ralph's live and with the help of a housekeeper they nurse him back to health. When Ralph is getting better he seems to see Catherine in a new light and talks about his troubled past with her and she listens to it all. When Ralph tells her about the private investigators he has hired to search for his son and that its possible that he is in Chicago he sends Catherine to confirm it and to bring him home cause he can't. After they are married Catherine heads to Chicago. Its there that we see the troubled life Catherine has lived from working the streets to support her and her sister to having her sister being homeless. We also find out that Catherine knows Tony, Ralph's son and that they are lovers for awhile. She knows Tony's side of what happened to him and his mother and she promised him earlier on that she would do anything for him. Does that mean murder? I really enjoyed the book. I found it to be a quick read. I have to say that I had a love/hate for Catherine. One minute she was doing something that I loved and then the next I hated her. I think that is what made the book so good. I also could relate to the winter weather that was going on in the book. Reading it I had to keep reminding myself it was happening in Wisconsin and not Canada. I am curious to see what the movie will be like. What do you think? When I was looking for a cover for the book I came across two of them one is a Canadian cover and the other is American. I love the Canadian cover.What about you?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Hindsight: What You Need to Know Before You Drop Your Drawers!

Posted on by Cindy


PUB DATE: March 24, 2009

I have to send a big thank you to Alicia for contacting me about the book and thank you to Maryanne for signing it and for sending it too me.

I am sure at one point in our lives we have had the knack for attracting Mr. Wrong(s). (Or we are in the process of being with a Mr Wrong.) I was told that when it comes to relationships that timing is everything and if you wait it will happen. If you rush into a relationship then you will regret it and end up with a heartache and wasted time.

If we only knew what we know after the fact, I think it would help to know what we need to know before we “drop your drawers” so that it can save us from tons of heartache and wasted time.

Have you ever wondered how it can be so stressful in finding a man for you and then you see others where it seems like it just falls into their laps? I have been the one who would stress and wonder if I would ever find a man for me and then see friends that would get a guy. I always thought it was so unfair. It would turn out that those relationships never worked because they had found the Mr Wrong.

The book HINDSIGHT: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU DROP YOUR DRAWERS will guide you through the challenges of dating. It will offer you solutions on how to find the right guy for you, how to get him, and how to keep him.

Maryanne reveals the six tools you need to know to create the perfect guy. The six tools she talks about is the mirror, the magnet, the stud finder, the flashlight, the compass and the hammer. Maryanne teaches the reader about the tools and how we can turn them into lifelong skills. There are a few quizzes you can take in the chapters as well. One of the exercises I enjoyed was making a list of guys you dated and what you liked about them and then you had to write why the relationship ended and from there you could see a little pattern developing.

I have to admit I normally don’t read these kinds of books but once I started to read it I was enjoying it. There was even parts of the book where I was laughing out loud. The best was her first public speaking appearance. To be a fly on that wall and I wonder what Veronica was thinking at first.

You can check out Maryanne’s site here: http://www.MaryanneLive.com

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

**An Offer You Can’t Refuse Review

Posted on by Cindy


I have to apologize for the late delay in posting my review for this book. I am only getting back into reviewing books since I had burned my hand a few weeks ago.

I have to admit that I have never heard of Jill Mansell until Danielle at Source Books emailed me to ask if I would be interested in reading An Offer You Can’t Refuse. She is dubbed as the next Sophie Kinsella. Hearing that made me want to read this book. I am a huge Sophie Kinsella fan. I have read all her books and love them.

Jill Mansell is really big in the UK and she is finally making her debut in the US. I think she will be a huge success here. Needless to say I am really excited to read more by her and I am hoping that Sourcebooks will be putting out more of her books here. Coming this summer is Miranda’s Big Mistake.

As you can see I loved the book. Its a great chick lit book which I love.

An Offer You Can’t Refuse is about a seventeen year old girl named Lola Malone and she is madly in love with Dougie Tennant. The problem is Dougie’s mother, Adele. She doesn’t like Lola and she wants her out of Dougie’s life. She offers Lola 10,000 pounds to break up with Dougie and stay out of his life forever. Lola is horrified that his mother would make an offer like that. She goes home upset and discovers her step father is packing up and planning on leaving cause he has a huge gambling debt and doesn’t want her or her mother to suffer but they would if he leaves so Lola calls Adele and accepts the offer but instead of 10,000 pounds its twelve and a half pounds and Dougie is not to know. So that her step father will stay.

Fast forward ten years and Lola is back in Britain. She has gone into Kingsley’s bookstore to look around. I just loved this part of the book. Loved the descriptions.

“She craved a proper bookshop like an addict craves a fix. There wasn’t much that could beat that gorgeous new-book smell, touching the covers and turning the pages of a book whose pages had, just possibly, never been turned before.” Does anyone else get like this? I just love the smell of new books.

“So many books, so little time.” I can relate with that quote. As I am sure you all can relate to that quote too?

While she is in Kingsley’s she is mistaken for a “working girl” and is asked to leave but Lola refuses to go and continues to pick up books to buy. When she gets to the counter to complain to the manager about what had happened, the manager offers her apologies. Lola asks about the job that is being offered and is hired.

I think Jill did a great job on choosing the right job for Lola to have. I was laughing at all the customers she had to deal with. This struck a cord with me because I can totally relate to the book at this point. I use to work in a bookstore and I swear I had customers just like the ones in the book. Its nice to know that it happens in other parts of the world and not just here.

One night while Lola is out with friends she decides to head home. On the way she interrupts a mugging that is happening with no idea who the woman is she just wants to help out. Both women end up in the hospital and the husband comes to invite Lola to a party. It is only at this party that she finds out who the woman is. Its no other then Adele. Adele is not happy with seeing Lola again. Then Lola suddenly meets Dougie again at this party and discovers upon seeing him that she is still madly attracted to him, she hopes that maybe, just maybe….it could possibly work this time around. But then Dougie over hears about the payoff and he wants nothing to do with her. She promised to never reveal the reason she needed the money, but how is she going to win Dougie back when he thinks she is nothing but money hungry?

When a man comes into the store playing a customer looking for book sugggestions from Lola, what will happen when Lola’s finds out that its her real dad and he has shown up after twenty something years?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Professors’ Wives Club Review

Posted on by Cindy


PUB DATE: September 2008

The Professors’ Wives Club is about four women; Mary, Sofia, Hannah and Ashleigh. Its done it alternating perspectives. Each chapter is by each of the characters.

Even though these women share the faculty housing garden and see each other in the garden they are all strangers until news that the garden is set to be demolished. They unite to save the garden.

Mary is the oldest of the women. She is married to dean Jack Havemeyer and has a daughter that is getting married. She is an outspoken author and professor at the university but when she is around her husband she is very quiet. We discover that Jack hits her when he is angry.

Sofia is pregnant when we first meet her. She is a stay at home mom and has a young daughter She is also married to a professor at the university. She was once a successful Hollywood agent. She left her career to be a mother.

Hannah was once a model and is married to a professor at the university too. She left her modelling career to pursue her love of being an artist. She is going back to school and has a thing for her professor.

Ashleigh is a young lawyer and works in the family law firm. She is keeping a huge secret that could probably devastate her family. She is keeping her true identity from them.

Jack is on a campaign to demolish the faculty garden and turn it into a parking lot. The women soon discover that there is a hidden agenda to Jack’s plan and it has something to do with Edgar Allan Poe’s manuscript. The women are on a mission to find out what the reason is and will stop and nothing to uncover and expose Jack for what he really is.

One Sunday I was at the library with Michael taking him to an activity that the library was hosting and I saw this book on the new release shelf. I was excited to read it because I had read a few good reviews on the book and it was on my to buy list for awhile.

I managed to read this book in two sittings and really enjoyed it. Its a great book about friendship. There was enough action that kept me interested in the book and I had a hard time to put it down. The characters were all believable. The descriptions made you feel like you were there.

This is the first book by Joanne Rendell. I am really excited to read her next book which is set to be released this year.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Next Big Thing Review

Posted on by Cindy


PUB DATE: March 2005

This is the first time I read something by Johanna Edwards. I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. In fact so much that I read it all in a day. This was how I spent my Saturday. Once I started reading it I couldn’t put it down.

The Next Big Thing is about a girl named Kat. She is 231 pounds. She works in a PR firm and has an Internet boyfriend, Nick. Nick lives in England. He is tall, dark and handsome. He works for a British magazine. The met online several months ago and correspond by email and phone calls. Nick has sent Kat pics and Kat sent an older photoshopped version of herself. Nick thinks that Kat is a size 4.

One morning at work her best friend, Donna slides the newspaper to Kat pointing out and article that is announcing a new reality show looking for people to take part in. The show is called From Fat To Fabulous. With only days to get her audition package in Kat decides to go for it she figures she has nothing to loose except the weight. She figures that when she looses the weight she will agree to finally meet Nick who really wants to meet Kat. Kat has been finding all kinds of excuses to get out of meeting him.

Kat goes through the audition process and gets accepted and is relieved cause Nick is sending Kat a package and she is worried it is really Nick. So off to LA Kat goes to have her struggles filmed for everyone to see. She is one of six contestants who will live in a LA mansion. In the third month there is a twist to the game and Nick ends up in the house. He is upset with Kat for the lies she told and ignores her. Then one night she kisses Jagger the show’s host. He has been flirting with Kat. Things only get worse for Kat. Jagger is there for Kat. Although she doesn’t win the show she does discover what kind of guy Nick really is and in the end she does get her happy ending.

Looking forward to reading more from Johanna.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.