Category: Books Read-2012

Title: I Suck At Girls
Author: Justin Halpern
Pub Date: May 2012
Publisher: It Books (division of Harper Collins USA)
Pages: 192

Source: I received a copy of this when I went to Book Expo America 2012.

About the book:
“Human beings fear the unknown. So, whatever”s freaking you out, grab it by the balls and say hello. Then it ain”t the unknown anymore and it ain”t scary. Or I guess it could be a shitload scarier.”

Fans of the #1 bestseller Sh*t My Dad Says will recognize the always-patient voice of Justin Halpern”s dad as it crackles through the pages of this hysterical new book. The story begins when Justin takes his dad out to lunch to announce that he”s decided to propose to his girlfriend.

“You”ve been dating her for four years,” his dad replies. “It ain”t like you found a parallel fucking universe.”

But eventually he gives Justin some advice: that he should take a day off and think back over everything he”s learned in life about women, relationships, and himself before making his decision. And that”s just what Justin does-revisiting everything from his disastrous childhood crushes to the night he finally lost his virginity while working as a dishwasher at Hooters.

I Suck at Girls is full of his dad”s patented brand of wisdom. But it”s also full of new characters just as funny as his dad-from his brother, who provides insights into wedding night rituals (“You stand in one corner of the room, and she stands in the other. You each take off one piece of clothing at a time”) to his first boss, who warns Justin to man up: “That”s what a man does. He takes his shots and then he scrubs the shit out of some dishes.” The result is a pilgrim”s progress through the landscape of sex and love-by one of the funniest writers at work today.

When I heard that Justin Halpern was going to be at BEA promoting this book I Suck At Girls I knew this was one author signing I wanted to make it a point to get too. I read and laughed at his first book Sh*t My Dad Says.  I was lucky enough to get to meet Justin and talk with him for a few minutes to get my book signed.

This was a super quick book to read and I read it in one sitting within a few hours.

I Suck At Girls is Justin’s second book. The book opens up with Justin and his dad having lunch. He tells his dad that he is planning on proposing to his life time girlfriend, Amanda. (Who is the focus of the book and dedicated to) Justin is hoping I think for some big words of wisdom from his dad but true to his dad’s past we simply get

Good for you. I think I ‘m going to get the romaine and watercress salad. I know I always get it, but it’s tasty, and what the hell, right?

I loved how that announcement went sort of over his dad’s head and he was so blases about it.  Thankfully his dad does come through and offers his story about when he proposed to Justin’s mother. Which I have to say is I would love to meet his dad. I am sure it must be so much fun to hang out with him.

So through the course of the book Justin takes us on a journey into his past with his encounters with women he has had over the course of his life. He is very candiate and talks about the girl he basically terrorized in grade two. I felt so bad for that little girl.

One thing I was surprised to find out was that Justin had his fair share of problems with the girls and wasn’t the ladies man you might think he was. He didn’t get his first kiss until they were on the way home from homecoming.

Even though he encountered problems in the end he did find his one true love. I think all the problems you have growing up makes you a better and stronger person.

Title: West of Wawa
Author: Lisa De Nikolits
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Pub Date: September 2011
Pages: 303

Source: I received this book for my participation in the tour.

I am truly honored to have read this book. I read it in one sitting and truly loved the book. I couldn’t put it down because I thought that Benny’s journey was a train wreck waiting to happen.

I had to include the above map because there is actually a town in Canada called Wawa. Its actually in Ontario. As I was reading the book I had to check because in one point of the book its mentioned.

Okay so on to my review.

Benny is 29 years old and has left her home of Australia. She is running from her life and everything in her life especially her ex husband and her feeling as failing as an artist. She got a really bad review of her art work and has taken it to heart. She thought that this would make it but instead it broke her. She decided that she was going to pack up and move to Canada specifically Toronto. (I think this was the perfect place for her to begin her journey.)

Benny feels as though Toronto is the place to begin her new life. She managed to secure a furnished apartment before hitting Toronto and basically as soon as her feet hit the ground she has begun a job search. She manages to find something right away and is hired as a graphic designer.  Thankfully her new boss will begin the paper work so that she can get a permanent residency in Canada.

Benny works hard at a job she doesn’t really like but she manages to stick it out until her papers come and even a little longer because her boss realizes that she will leave so she stays as a sort of I will prove you wrong thing.

During her stay in Toronto she meets a neighbor across the way, Eli. He is a musician and likes to dabble in some drugs. This is where we first see Benny dipping into them to. They have a very casual relationship (friends with benefits). She takes it to heart when he announces he is leaving for Vancouver.

I think this is where Benny decides she needs to see more of Canada and to discover herself. So begins her journey across Canada. She books a ticket to Newfoundland. Lisa nailed the people of Newfoundland. As I was reading this I could actually feel like I was there. Chris reminded me of someone that I knew from there.

From there she went to Halifax, another amazing Atlantic province. Sadly for Benny she has just arrived after they were hit by a major storm. Its there that she meets Teenie, who is on the phone yelling that she was sent there to work and there is no one there to work with. Benny over hears this and offers her service as a graphic designer. Realizing she is stuck she takes Benny up on her offer. This was the point of the book that I knew I had to read it because my little home town is mentioned as being one of the cities hit by the storm.

As her journey continues Benny meets all kinds of different characters along the way (and they were all special kind of people I tell you) and I have to say this is the point with Benny that I wanted to throttle her because she was making such bad decisions. In regards to sleeping arrangements and drugs. I think she put herself in situations that could have been avoided personally.

In the end I think Benny needed to take this cross country journey to realize that she wasn’t perfect and that she needed to accept the failure to be able to move on. It was nice that throughout the book we discovered more about her ex husband. I have to say in the beginning I really didn’t like him  but as the book progressed I started to like him. I loved taking this journey with Benny.

I just wanted to thank WOW for allowing me to be a part of this tour. I love discovering a book about Canada and a Canadian author. I am so looking forward to reading more of Lisa’s books.

I am super excited to have been asked by Lucy Swing (the author) to be a part of this tour. I got introduced to Lucy when she was on the blog for the book tour Death By Chocolate.

Title: Feathermore
Author: Lucy Swing
Pub Date: March 2012
Publisher: Self Published
Format: Ebook
Pages: 276

Source: I received an Egalley of the book from the author for my honest and sincere review.

About The Book
“When the one thing you live for is taken from you, do you let it go or do you fall?
Jade, like any other student at Brushwood High, awaits the start of the school year with a certain measure of dread. Worse, she is being threatened by a voice that only she can hear—a voice that lurks at the edges of her awareness, haunting her and warning her of something unknown. She has always been able to count on her two best friends, Claire and Nate, but can she confide in them now? About this? Would they even believe her?
Life takes a turn for the better when she meets Avan, a darkly handsome new student who, somehow, seems to drown out the voice and make her feel at ease.

But Jade soon comes to realize that good things don’t last forever. When everything spirals out of control, she is shattered by something she never saw coming. Dazed and despairing, she must now overcome tragedy and embrace her true existence and a new but dangerous love. Will she be able to save herself and those she loves, before it’s too late? Or will she let the surrounding darkness consume her?”

I was super excited when Lucy contacted me and asked me to be a part of the tour for Feathermore. Which is her newest release. I loved the blurb about the book.

I ended up reading this book in one sitting because I enjoyed it that much. I loved the characters and the premise of the book. I loved how there was some romance and a little mystery to the book. There was a little of something to keep you interested.

Jade, is a high school senior at brushwood High. Jade has two best friends, Claire and Nate. Jade appears to be just your regular girl next door, typical kind of girl. Things in Jade’s life are going according to plan until she starts back to school in the fall.

Things are getting a little weird. She has having these dreams that are unexplainable and she starts hearing voices that only she can hear with a warning.

Now that school has returned things haven’t changed she is still being picked up by the school bully and getting her books knocked out of her hands but its when a mysterious new guy arrives that makes the school interesting. The new guy is Avan. Right away you can see Jade is very interested in him. You so know that there is going to be some kind of romance there and I was actually rooting for this.

Its not until World history class that Jade realizes there is something about him because when they first touch there is sparks between them and reading this you know there is something up with him and know that there will be something there for the both of them.

Right away her besties are warning her about him and Jade isn’t sure why. Then it seems like suddenly her besties start acting weird with no reason why although Jade does ask them about it and they just brush her off. I was curious about that too and I think that is why I needed to read more.

Sadly on Jade’s 17th birthday, what is suppose to be a fun and joyous day turns into her worst nightmare because she comes home to find both of her parents dead and this is when she truly finds out what she is.

How will Jade react to the discovery?

The book is told in Jade’s point of view and in Lilith’s point of view. Although I did find Jade’s more of a story and Lilith’s to be a little more history behind it and what made Jade Jade.

In case your wondering who Lilith is, she is basically the villain of the book who is out to get Jade and what she is but will she succeed?

I don’t want to say too much about the book because its really good. Finding out its part of a trilogy I am super excited because I would love to see where the storyline goes and what happens to Jade and her friends.

About the Author:
Lucy Swing lives in sunny Florida with her husband and two children.

She is a YA Paranormal/ Romance writer, whose works include: Feathermore #1 (Feathermore Trilogy), Bloody Valentine, the novella, and Bloody Valentine is also offered in “Death by Chocolate,” an anthology consisting of 6 fantastic YA short stories with a chocolaty twist.

She is an absolute book hoarder and must always have a book at arms distance. Music is her muse, and there is always a soundtrack that plays along her life.

For more information on Lucy Swing please visit her website:

http://www.LucySwing.com . You can also check to see other tour stops for Feathermore.

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