Through Thick and Thin Book 2 London Chronicles Review

Posted on by Cindy

TITLE: Through Thick & Thin (London Chronicles)
AUTHOR: Sandra Byrd
PUBLISHER: Tyndale
PUB DATE: March 2010
PAGES: 271

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Savvy Smith, 15, sees her chance to write a full column in the paper,
making her name and making her way in her new hometown near London, England. But
the choices she faces when given the chance to choose between friends, family,
and fame may turn her dream into a nightmare. London Confidential is a new
series where British fashion, friendships, and guys collide, and an all-American
girl learns to love life and live out her faith.

From the Back Cover
My assignment was clear. I had to find a way
into that photo shoot. And then get Jack to allow me to write a feature article
for the Wexburg Academy Times. Savvy Smith, 15, sees her chance to write a full
column in the paper, making her name and making her way in her new hometown near
London, England. But the choices she faces when given the chance to choose
between friends, family, and fame may turn her dream into a nightmare. London
Confidential: Where British fashion, friendships, and guys collide, and where an
all-American girl learns to love life and live out her faith.

MY THOUGHTS:

Earlier this month I was given the chance to read and review Asking For Trouble which is the first book in a new series by author Sandra Byrd called the London Chronicles. I loved this book so much that I rushed out to buy book 2 Through Thick & Thin.

Savvy is still writing the column Asking For Trouble for the Wexburg Academy school newspaper and its going really well. No one knows who is writing except for Jack.
Savvy is dying to have her own byline in the paper and is trying so hard to get it. When she hears about a fashion photo shoot with her favorite designer Peter Chen she decides she has to get in and hopefully get the article.
She quickly realizes that the photo shoot is being done at an Aristocrat’s (popular kid’s) estate. She realizes getting in won’t be as easy as she thinks. She has to work and prove that she is worthy of attending this event.
Savvy decides that she must look the part, she needs new clothes. When she asks her parents to take her into London they are busy and can’t. She looks around at the shops in town but quickly realizes nothing will do. Whats a girl to do? Will she sneak off to London to do some shopping?
With a new look for every Friday she finally gets the nod of approval from the aristocrats. She gets her ticket into the shoot and is excited. Although her excitement is short lived when the one person she was hoping could help her can’t and she is forced to take someone who is basically fashion challenged.
Will she get that by line or will a secret come back to haunt her?

I am anxiously awaiting book 3 and 4 which will be coming out soon. Here is a sneak peak at the covers. I couldn’t find dates of when they will be released but I am hoping really soon.

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.

April Friends of The Library Booksale/Books Bought #39

Posted on by Cindy

As a booklover I love going to booksales especially ones that are Friends of the Library. With the Friends of the Library 100% of the sales from the donated or old library books that are sold goes back into the library. Funds raised at this year’s event will go towards developing a new Discovery Centre for young people at the Library.

Recently Linda from Better With Books brought this booksale to our attention. The library is the Dorval Library. Which is roughly a 10 minute car ride from my house.

This is the first time I have attended this booksale but it won’t be my last. I was really impressed with the selection of books and honestly going the first day with the first few hours was well worth it. The selection was great. It was nice to see that so many books were donated.

I met up with Tina Bookshipper and Linda Better With Books on Thursday, day one of the booksale. Both Tina and Linda were there before me and when I met up with them they both had a good amount of books. Off I went to look.

I got:
-two videos:
Free Willy 1-2-3 and Muppets Take
Manhatten.(I couldn’t pass up on this one)
-11 Mangas:
Hack-The legend of Twilight vol 1-2/Planet Ladder vol 1-2-3/ Culdcept vol 1-2-3-4/Faeries Landing vol 1/fushigi yugi: the mysterious play vol 1
-9 books:
-All American Girl by Meg Cabot
-Hex marks the spot & no rest for the wiccan by
Madelyn Alt
-Shakespeare’s Counselor & Dead over heels by Charlaine Harris
-Sex in the City & 4 Blondes by Candace bushnell
-Summer Boys by Hailey
Abbott
-Heartbreak and Triumph by Shawn Michaels

All that for $13 CAN

Okay I have to admit that I went back again today to see if there was anything good. This is what I saw when I pulled into the parking lot. I guess the ducks wanted to see what was there too.

I managed to find;
– 3 cds: Savage Garden’s Affirmation, Five For
Fighting’s The Battle of Everything and Backstreet Boys’s Backstreet’s
Back.
-3 softcovers: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, Impulse by
Ellen Hopkins and Little White Lies by Gemma Townley
-6 kids books for
Michael and its Captain Underpants 1-5. (I have been eyeing these in the stores
for awhile and was thinking of getting them for him) and The adventures of super
diaper baby. (its a graphic novel) All that came up to $9 CAN.

It wasn’t raining when I came out so I decided to walk around and snap some pictures.

They were taken on the ground of the library.

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.

A Strangers Wish (The Amish Farm Trilogy)First Wild Card Tours

Posted on by Cindy

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

and the book:

A Stranger’s Wish (The Amish Farm Trilogy)

Harvest House Publishers; Original edition (February 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to David P. Bartlett – Print & Internet Publicist – Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Gayle Roper is the award-winning author of more than forty books and has been a Christy finalist three times. Gayle enjoys speaking at women’s events across the nation and loves sharing the powerful truths of Scripture with humor and practicality. She lives with her husband in southeastern Pennsylvania where Gayle enjoys reading, gardening, and her family.

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:

List Price: $10.99
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; Original edition (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736925864
ISBN-13: 978-0736925860

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

My Review is to come.

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 Cinderella Society Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: The Cinderella Society
AUTHOR: Kay Cassidy
PUB DATE:
April 2010
PAGES: 336

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Sixteen-year-old Jess Parker survives by staying invisible. After nine schools in ten years, she’s come to terms with life as a perpetual new girl, neither popular nor outcast. At Mt. Sterling High, Jess gets the chance of a lifetime: an invitation to join The Cinderella Society, a secret club of the most popular girls in school, where makeovers are the first order of official business. But there’s more to being a Cindy than just reinventing yourself from the outside, a concept lost on Jess as she dives tiara-first into creating a hot new look.

With a date with her popular crush and a chance to finally fit in, Jess’s life seems to be a perfect fairy tale. That is until the Wickeds–led by Jess’s archenemy–begin targeting innocent girls in their war against the Cindys, and Jess discovers her new sisterhood is about much more than who rules Mt. Sterling High School. It’s a centuries-old battle of good vs. evil, and the Cindys need Jess on special assignment. But when the mission threatens to destroy her new dream life, Jess is forced to choose between this dream realized and honoring the Sisterhood. What’s a girl to do when the glass slipper fits, but she doesn’t want to wear it anymore?

MY THOUGHTS:
The Cinderella Society is being released today and I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book. The next book is suppose to be released sometime in 2011.

This is Kay Cassidy’s debut novel. I really enjoyed the book and had a hard time to put it down.

Jess is just your typical girl trying to fit into a new school. We discover that in the world there are Cinderella’s, Wickeds and Reggies. Cinderella’s are the good girls, the Wickeds are the bad girls and the Reggies are just your regular people, like me.

The Wickeds want to rule the world and dominate over everyone and they basically will step on anyone who gets in there way and they use the Reggies to spy and to control them. Enter the secret society of Cinderella’s. They want to bring good to the world one step at time.

Jess is tormented by Lexy on a daily bases and Jess always wonders when Lexy will get tired of tormenting her. Lexy’s other victim is Heather. Lexy is the common bond for these two girl and Jess tells Heather that its okay to stand up to Lexy and not let her blackmail her. That basically once your secret is out Lexy has no control over her.

When Jess is invited to be a part of the Cinderella Society she is happy and excited to be a part of something good and hopes that she can bring good to the Reggies. In order to be a Cinderella there is a whole book of things you must do and follow and one of those things is to look the part. Which means a whole new make over.

With the new make over she attracts the attention of a popular guy, Ryan who just happens to be Lexy’s brother. Jess is happy to finally be fitting into something. Ryan appears to be the your typical guy who is good looking and keeps his sensitive side hidden not even letting Jess see the real him.

How will Jess handle the new situation she is placed in and will she be surprised when she learns who the other ladies are that have been part of the Cinderella society? Will she risk it all to save the reggies?

Thanks to Egmont USA for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

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.

Author(s) Meet Up and Books Bought #38

Posted on by Cindy

When I got asked to review Spin earlier in January (2010) I was really excited because I found out that Catherine McKenzie was a local author. I love supporting local authors.

Shortly into January I got an email saying that Catherine was going to be doing a book signing at Chapters/Indigo down town. I was super excited and ready to go, but unfortunately I was still sick and didn’t want to chance going down in fear I would cough to death or make others around me sick so I stayed home. I was disappointed.

Then in March I got another note saying that Catherine was going to be doing another signing at the Chapters near me in April. I quickly marked it down and pre warned everyone in advance that I was going to get my copy signed.

Donna from BooksBound came with me and she took the picture of Catherine and me.

It was really nice as we got to speak to Catherine and she is working on her second book which is going to be coming out in January 2011. Can’t wait to read it. I also got to meet her mother who stopped by as well. Catherine is just as sweet and nice in person as she is via twitter @CEMcKenzie1 and emails.

Another local author, Laura Fabiani was there to show Catherine support. I read her book Daughter of Mine in January, 2009. I got to meet Laura when she delivered her book for me to read.


I knew that Laura was coming so I was on the look out for her. We finally got to meet up and talked. Laura also is working on her next book which will be a trilogy dealing with time travel I believe. Another upcoming book to look forward to.

Laura is another one of those authors that its always a pleasure to speak with via emails and she is just as nice in person. I have to thank Catherine for taking this picture of Laura and I.

BOOKS BOUGHT:
Of course no trip to Chapters can be complete without buying books. I did buy a few books, four in total but ended up returning three of them on Monday. I kept The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong. As that was the one I had intended to buy before walking into the store.

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.

Dewey’s Read-a-Thon Wrap Up

Posted on by Cindy

Sadly, Dewey’s Read a Thon 2010 is wrapping up. What a great Read a Thon it was.

I managed to read and complete:
-Through Thick & Thin by Sandra Byrd (This was a book I bought) (271 pages)
-Alexis and the Sacramento Surprise by Erica Rodgers (This was for a tour that passed) (159 pages)
-Twilight The Graphic Novel Vol 1 by Stephenie Meyer (Another book I bought) (224 pages)
-Six graphic novels that I borrowed from the library:

  • Godchild volumes 1-2 and 3 (624 pages)
  • The Dreaming volumes 1-2 (384 pages)
  • The Big Adventures of Majoko (200 pages)

I managed to read 100 pages of Nice Recovery by Susan Juby.

So my total books read is 9 1/2

My total pages read is 1962

My total hours read is 11 hours

I knew that after finishing the three first books that I wanted to go lite on my reading and also because those graphic novels are due back at the library today.

So this is how I managed with the read a thon.

I feel bad because I never went to comment on any blogs but will be tackling that this week with all the comments I was left. I didn’t do many challenges either because I was having computer issues and getting online was difficult.

Thanks to all that left comments I will be replying to them this week. Hope everyone had fun and see you at the next read a thon.

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.

Dewey’s Read-a-Thon End of Event Meme

Posted on by Cindy

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
-I think because I had the break in the afternoon from reading that it made it work for me. Although at 1:30am I was getting tired so I ended up falling asleep on the couch until 5am.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
-Graphic novels of any kind are really good to break up the read a thon as well as light reads or small reads IE young adults or middle grade books.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
-I think it was great the way it was.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
-I think for me I had computer problems so I was reading more then being on line. LOL

5. How many books did you read?
-I read the 6 graphic novels I borrowed from the library and the 3 books that I own so that is 9 books.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
I read Twilight the graphic novel, Alexis and the Sacramento Ssurprise, Through Thick and thin and the graphic novels pictured below.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
-I enjoyed reading Through Thick and Thin.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
-There really wasn’t a book I didn’t enjoy reading.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
-No I wasn’t a cheer leader.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
– I will definetly be taking part again for the next read a thon. I will be a reader. Not sure if I could do the cheerleading as there is so many blogs to follow and i love being able to tackle a pile of books in a day.

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.