I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of reincarnation. Ever since I learned of the concept in a world religions class in high school, I’ve enjoyed learning more about this ancient idea. If reincarnation is true, then there is no need to fear death; we just keep coming back until we get it right. I think the eternalness of it all appealed to me.

Oh, who am I kidding? I have always gravitated towards the paranormal and downright weird.

Lately, I’ve noticed a stream of novels based on reincarnation, two of which I’ve already reviewed (The Reincarnationist & My Name is Memory). Just like vampires dominated the fiction landscape a few years ago (thanks, Twilight), I think bookstores are soon to be chock-full of reincarnation. “The Eternal Ones” by Kirsten Miller is the latest in this flood and I was eager to get my hands on it.

The protagonist of the novel is Haven Moore, a teenage girl who longs for New York City. Growing up in Snope City, Tennessee, she’s always been an outcast, especially after the other children found out about her visions. Haven’s been having visions of New York and a boy named Ethan since she was young. These visions aren’t received well by the local, Christian folk, including Haven’s strict grandmother, and she is sent to see the local preacher, Dr. Tidmore, to get them under control. After years of peace, when she is just about to graduate from high school and finally escape Tennessee, she begins having visions again. However, this time Haven’s mother decides to help her daughter and tells her that her father believed that she was reincarnated. Haven also learns of something called the Ouroboros Society, which is also in New York, and aims to bring together those who remember their past lives. Once Haven learns this, there is no stopping her and the adventure begins as she sets out to find Ethan. Read More »

After 8 months of reading textbooks with a highlighter, when it comes time for summer I want something light. Something fun. Something that I can devour quickly on the beach or when lying in bed on a rainy day. And Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me totally delivered. Well, almost delivered. The book never did make it to the beach or to a rainy day because I read the whole thing the night I bought it.

Escapades is the story of Leilana Zane, a twenty-something girl trying to make it in L.A. After three years of waiting tables while she attempts to make her mark as a screenwriter in Hollywood, her father falls ill and she’s forced to return home. Leilana thinks it’s just a short trip to be with her dad in the hospital, but that changes when her family guilt-trips her into changing her life plan and joining the family law firm. She’s torn between chasing her dreams, accepting reality and appeasing her parents, all while dealing with some ex boyfriend issues that inevitably come up when she’s back in her small town.

So what is it about this book that kept me up all night (thus forcing me to chug 3 venti iced lattes just to make it through work the next day)? Well for one, unlike most chick lit heroines, Leilana is totally relatable. She’s not your average main character working some dream job and dating some dream men. She’s a normal girl dealing with normal (read: immature, annoying, impossible to understand) boys that any college girl can totally relate to. She’s also a major klutz who gets herself into some pretty cringe-worthy situations that make you laugh out loud as you’re reading. Plus, Leilana’s situation is similar to what many of us are dealing with right now: figuring out our futures. Do we keep going after a nearly impossible dream or do we take the safe route? Read More »

For me, March is all about light reading. With my exams right around the corner (including an ominous GRE! – wish me luck!), I spend most of my days buried in textbooks, so when I grab a book for bedtime reading, I am the mood for something to take my mind off of my homework. Jodi Picoult is always a great choice for a stressful time; with each of her books, she creates an entire new world that totally enamors the reader. After reading for five minutes, I’ve forgotten about that 20-page paper that I’m putting off! And “Plain Truth” is no exception!

“Plain Truth” is set in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an area of the states known for its large Amish population. For those of you who don’t know (I didn’t!), the Amish also refer to themselves as “plain”, making the title of the book that much more clever. I always appreciate cleverness, so kudos Jodi on that one! Also as usual for Picoult, at the center of “Plain Truth” is a legal battle. Eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher has been accused of smothering her newborn son, even though she claims that the baby is not hers. Katie’s aunt Leda calls on big-city attorney Ellie Hathaway (whose uncle is Leda’s husband) to defend Katie. After an initial trial, Ellie is forced to move in with the Fisher’s as part of a bail agreement with the judge. She initially resents this forced living arrangement, but Ellie comes to see that the Plain way is the key to Katie’s murder trial. Also, as Ellie grows closer to Katie and her family, Katie and her story begin to slowly unravel, ending with a shocking twist. Read More »

I’ll admit it: this week I fell prey to the “Recommended” table at my local book store. Being a bookseller, I find myself to be a bit of a book snob and will rarely listen to advice about my reading material. However, I am also a sucker for a nice cover (yeah, I judge a book by its cover) and “Sarah’s Key” indeed has a nice cover. So I picked it up, read a few pages and before I could resist, I was hooked.

“Sarah’s Key” is a historical fiction novel that flip flops between two story lines: Sarah’s and Julia’s. Julia Jarmond is living in modern-day Paris. She is married to a man that she describes as a typical Parisian: good-looking, successful, but also very reserved and often, cold. They live with their daughter, Zoe, and also many secrets.

Then there is Sarah, a 10-year-old French Jew who is taken from her home and sent to a concentration camp during the 1942 Velodrome D’Hiver roundup in Paris. For those of you who have no idea what the Vel D’Hiv roundup is (don’t be embarassed – I didn’t either!), here is a crash course: Basically 13, 000 Jewish men, women and children were arrested and taken to the Veldrome D’Hiver (a stadium), right in the middle of Paris, where they were left for several days before going to the Drancy and Beaune-la-Rolande internment camps and finally Auschwitz. Now, even if none of the other words in that sentence meant anything to you, I know you recognized Auschwitz. And so you know the fate of these poor, innocent people. Sarah is taken, along with her mother and father. Read More »

I am normally terrified of zombies or anything of the sort. Seriously, I get nightmares every time I watch a zombie movie. Even Thriller scares me sometimes.

Too bad it took me a little while to realize that The Unconsecrated in “The Forest of Hands and Teeth” were essentially zombies. I was spooked, to put it mildly, but by that point the book had already hooked me and I knew it would be impossible to stop.

“The Forest of Hands and Teeth” tells the story of Mary. She lives in a village in the woods, surrounded by fences that keeps The Unconsecrated out. The Unconsecrated, as I said before, are essentially zombies and they roam the Forest of Hands and Teeth, constantly threatening the village and its people. Mary has led a simple life in her village, helping her family and waiting to be married. Then one day, when patrolling the perimeter of the fences, Mary’s father gets taken by The Unconsecrated and is assumed to be “infected.” Her mother then falls into a depression and one day gets too close to the fences and is bitten by an Unconsecrated. She chooses to join the others outside the village and suddenly Mary’s life is in a tailspin.

In the village, a woman cannot live on her own, so when no one wants to marry Mary, she is forced to live with the Sisterhood (basically nuns) in their Cathedral. Once in the Cathedral, a series of events cause Mary to begin questioning the Sisterhood and her entire life in the Village. And then the fences are breached by The Unconsecrated and everything Mary ever knew is gone.

OK, so it all sounds a little weird (and zombies are scary), but this book is absolutely addictive. I spent many nights awake until the wee hours, lost in the story. I just could not put it down, and that doesn’t happen often (especially after spending hours poring over text books). Read More »

If the name Janet Fitch sounds familiar to you, that’s because I’ve already reviewed her first novel “White Oleander.” I was so impressed with that book that I decided to pick up her second book, “Paint it Black.” I know that it’s the Christmas season and all my book picks should be holly and jolly, but I’m making an exception for “Paint it Black” because I was just so excited to read it.

Set in the 1980′s, “Paint it Black” tells the story of Josie Tyrell, a redneck, trailer-park runaway who lives in LA with her boyfriend, Michael Faraday. They are frequenters of the bustling LA rock scene and happy living in their small shack, Michael painting and Josie modeling now and again so they can pay the rent. When Michael suddenly commits suicide, Josie is rocked and as she uncovers parts of Michael’s past that he never shared, she begins to question everything she used to know to be real.

If the storyline isn’t enough to draw you in, the very talented author will. Janet Fitch is an AMAZING writer. Usually, I skim over sections of a book, usually the unnecessarily long descriptions, but I find it impossible to skim over Fitch’s writing. She has a beautiful grasp of the English language and most importantly, I never find her writing boring. She created an incredibly interesting story with “Paint it Black” that is at once both so different than what most of us know and yet so real. I have never run away from home,slummed it in some dirty apartment in LA, or lost the person I love most, but Fitch’s writing makes me feel it and understand it and know it. Read More »

Although reviewed as “one of this year’s most inviting summer novels” by the New York Times, J. Courtney Sullivan’s first novel Commencement is the perfect back-to-school dorm room read to carry any undergraduate woman through the first days of their fall term. Whether you are a first year or a senior, Sullivan’s story about friendship, feminism, and the climb towards maturity will find its way into your heart.

A narrative about four friends at Smith College, an all women’s college in Massachusetts (famous alumnae include Gloria Steinem, Julia Child, Sylvia Plath, Betty Friedan…just to name a few), Sullivan captures the essence of what it means to make friends in the richest sense of the word, while chronicling life on campus and post-graduation adulthood.

Each character is truly distinct, making the novel easy to identify with. Think the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, except more adult. Sally, Celia, Bree, and April are four very different women, but their individuality weaves together beautifully, showing that sisterhood looks past Sally’s love for Lily Pulitzer, Celia’s conservative-yet-wild side, Bree’s Southern Belle charm, and April’s radical feminism to form a life-long bond, even if the girls couldn’t be more uncommon from each other.

Sullivan, alumnae of Smith herself, paints the all women’s atmosphere just as it should be, a unique and tradition-filled roller coaster of emotions. Giving an accurate glimpse of what it means to be a young woman at a college without men, Sullivan does not degrade Smith or the single-sex setting, but instead lifts it up and showcases it in a light that most do not see when they hear “all women.” Read More »

Instead of educating myself with the help of intellectual books, I have spent my whole life devouring romance novel after romance novel, missing out on some much-needed sleep and creating completely unrealistic expectations about men and love.

After spending ten years with guys named Damien and Chace who lock eyes with a woman across the room, embark on rocky waters, and finally end up in paradise with the one and only person who could make them change their playboy ways, I began to crave a bit of reality in my life.

After all, how many men could there possible be with the “largest piece of manhood she’d ever seen,” who were also rich, gorgeous, and emotionally accessible only to me?

Yeah, it was time for a heaping tablespoon of reality and Jane Green served it to me. Narrated by Tasha, a woman who sleeps with men to overcome her emotional issues Straight Talking “sets the record straight regarding the real world of dating,” and deals with real people and real problems that people who date in real life encounter. Tasha and her three best friends mimic the Sex and the City group, meeting up for weekly get-togethers and dishing on their latest men.  However, their men mirror ones encountered in reality.  They date salesmen and accountants, not professional athletes and sexy policemen.  They stumble upon issues like sexual intimacy and picking between Mr. Right and Mr. So-Hot-It-Hurts.  Their stories mesh together to create a novel that any type of girl can relate to, from thel hook-up-every-night chick to the one saving yourself for marriage gal.

Tasha’s flashbacks on past relationships allow readers to see how even the most seemingly insignificant of men leave a lasting mark on a woman’s outlook towards dating and love, and how even a small three-month relationship can break your heart.  If you have ever felt like crying in the middle of class or stared at your cell phone wondering why somebody hasn’t called you, Green’s characters empathize as they try to outsmart the men who have all the tools to break their hearts.  She looks at heartbreak, friendship, and sex the way that real people do.  Read More »

I recently received this book from Wiley publishers and, admittedly, was drawn to it because of the spectacular cover art. Beautiful flowers, bright colors – how could I resist! I then read the reviews and learned that Julia Roberts just bought the movie rights and, needless to say, “Hot House Flower” jumped to the top of my reading list.

Berwin tells the story of lonely Lila Nova, a recently divorced advertising copywriter in New York. One day, Lila stumbles across David Exley’s plant stand at a green market and randomly purchases a bird-of-paradise (it’s a tropical plant for those of you lacking a green thumb). All of sudden, Lila finds herself drowning her sorrows by collecting and caring for exotic plants. Walking home from a work event, she passes by a Laundromat filled to the brim with gorgeous, tropical plants and is invited in by Armand, the owner.

Armand enchants Lila with tales of the Nine Plants of Desire. When one possesses all nine, they shall have whatever they want and Lila is enthralled. Armand hints that he has the nine plants, stored in a back room of his Laundromat and that if Lila proves herself to be true, he will let her see them.

Shortly after, Lila and David go on a date and she shows him the Laundromat and absentmindedly mentions Armand’s nine plants. The next morning, Lila learns that Armand’s nine plants have been stolen by David and, since it is her fault, he wants her to go to Mexico with him to replace the plants. The two end up on a wild quest through the dense Yucatan jungle, searching for the plants while Lila searches for herself.

Besides being highly-entertaining (and fast-paced – my favorite), “Hot House Flower” also allows the reader to do some soul-searching. I am thoroughly impressed and amazed at the comparisons Berwin makes between plants and human nature. Almost every chapter contains a valuable life lesson, which I found myself reflecting on every time.

With “Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire” Margot Berwin delivers a hit. Funny, fast-paced, insightful and entertaining, women of all ages will devour this read. If you’re looking for chick-lit with some substance, pick up “Hot House Flower” and enjoy!

If you’ve caught any of my Saturday Reads you already know that I whole-heartedly LOVE books. And it just so happens that some of my most-loved reads are, in fact, love stories. I’m always amazed when I read a book about love and the emotions on the page completely echo the emotions I’ve felt in my heart.

I think love stories are the best example of the power of words; they strike a chord and tug at your heartstrings. As I’ve said before, the mark of a great book is one that can make you FEEL simply with words. So here is my list of the best love stories ever to be published.

1.Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It’s a classic for a reason! Jane Austen’s timeless masterpiece about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy continues to captivate readers almost two centuries after its publication. It is also a great read for anyone interested in history and the society of the era as that is a major player in the novel. It’s a logical love story, but touching and, again, classic!

2. PS, I Love You by Cecilia Ahern

Even though I’m sure everyone has seen the movie, the book is great as well! It is quite different from the movie, making it a worthwhile read regardless. This book is unique because it explores a relationship and love that defies even death. Holly learns to move after her husband, Gerry, dies, but realizes that she will always love him and he will always love her, too. It’s not only heartfelt, but teaches an important lesson that just because a relationship ends, the love may not die off. Read More »