Review: My Not So Perfect Life

Katie's dream has been to always live in London. Only once she's arrived, it's not exactly how she pictured it. Her commute is way too long. Her flat is tiny and her flatmates are terrible. She has no money and no friends. But more importantly, her job is a nightmare.

Her boss, while impressive, isn't the best person to work for. She actually forgets that she didn't fire Katie.

Katie's forced to let go of her London dream and return home to her family farm. She lies to her Dad and Stepmother, saying she's taking a sabbatical from work to help them get their business off the ground.

When her former boss comes for a holiday at the farm, this could be Katie's moment to get revenge or get back her dream of living in London.

My Thoughts: It took me a bit to get into this book, but once I did, I really liked it. I wasn't crazy about Demeter at first, but I have to admit she grew on me. I really liked Katie when she wasn't trying to be Cat (a sophisticated London girl) but rather herself. I liked how her confidence grew as she was home on the farm helping out her family. She had great ideas, especially marketing ones. I loved her family - they were sweet and funny. I did like how Katie tried for revenge on her former boss and how she used ploys to manipulate her former boss - but also how that failed. I wasn't expecting that ending, but I loved it. I loved the message that what's on social media is a representation (often misleading) of someone's life and I love how the changed. 

Cover Thoughts: Charming
Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Great for public libraries - perfect for their New Adult sections. 

Books I'm Dying to Read: February Edition

By now, I'm getting tired of winter, especially if it's been a cold one. The nights are long and are the perfect time to snuggle in with a great book. So here's what I'm looking forward to reading.

Middle Grade:

YA:

Adult: 

Finding Audrey Summer Reading Blog Tour Giveaway

NOW IN PAPERBACK!

FINDING AUDREY

INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR SOPHIE KINSELLA’S

DEBUT YA NOVEL

Praise for FINDING AUDREY

A New York Times Bestseller

“The Shopaholic scribe accurately weaves teenage insecurities with humor

in her heartwarming YA debut.”—US Weekly

“Your kids will love it.” —Redbook

Now available in paperback is the New York Times bestselling debut YA novel FINDING AUDREY (Ember / on sale May 3, 2016 /$9.99) from internationally bestselling author Sophie Kinsella. Kinsella, the author of such favorites as the Shopaholic series, Can You Keep a Secret?, Wedding Night, and Remember Me?, introduced readers to 14-year-old Audrey Turner, a teen in the throes of a severe social anxiety disorder after a bullying incident at school, and following her journey to rediscovering herself and her happiness. Receiving much critical acclaim from reviewers and fans, the book was hailed as “heartfelt,” “engaging,” and “relatable.” The paperback retails for $9.99 and is sure to garner a wider group of fans with this new, accessible edition.

Audrey spends most of her days hiding behind her dark sunglasses and in the safety of her own home, surrounded by her lovable but chaotic family. Interaction with non–family members has been almost impossible to master since the incident at school. But then one day Linus arrives at her house. A friend of her brother’s, Linus makes an instant connection with Audrey and starts to chip away at her exterior, exposing the girl underneath—the girl Audrey herself has been searching for. What results is a tender love story that begins as a friendship and continues in the local Starbucks, where Audrey begins to heal the wounds that have threatened to hold her captive.

Filled with poignancy and laugh-out-loud moments, FINDING AUDREY gives readers a character they can relate to and a family to embrace. Kinsella’s story tackles serious topics with humor and heart and creates the next YA couple to root for in Audrey and Linus.

I'm a huge Sophie Kinsella fan, so I was SO happy to learn about her venture in to YA books. You can read my review and what I loved about this book here.  

But I'll leave you with my final thoughts: Sophie Kinsella knocks it out of the park with her YA debut, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. 

Sophie Kinsella is the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series and the novels Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Twenties Girl, I’ve Got Your Number, and Wedding Night. Confessions of a Shopaholic was turned into a Hollywood movie. She lives in England.

Reviewers praise Finding Audrey

A Publishers Weekly Summer 2015 Best YA Book

One of USA Today’s “25 Hottest Books of Summer”

One of Los Angeles Times’s “30 Summer Books That Kids Will Gobble Up”
One of Seventeen’s “New Books We ©”

A Kirkus Reviews 2015 Best Teen Book

Check out other spots:

 June 26: My So-Called Book Reviews

June 27: The Compulsive Reader

June 29: Musings of a Book Nerd

June 30: A Dream Within A Dream

July 1: Live to Read

July 2: Dana Square 

WIN A Copy!
One lucky winner will win a paperback copy of the book 

(US only please)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Finding Audrey

After an incident at school Audrey can't leave the house. She can't interact with people. She can't look at people without her dark sunglasses on for protection. She's been trying to make progress with her anxiety with the help of her psychologist.

Now, she's trying things that scare her. She's looking at the world through the lens of a camera. She's going to try to interview someone outside her family.

She interacts with her brother's new friend. He comes over to the house. He doesn't know about Audrey. Still, his kindness helps Audrey open up around him. She starts looking forward to his visits. Can Audrey find happiness again, on her own terms?

My Thoughts: I adore Sophie Kinsella's adult books and I was SO happy to hear about her YA debut. She has the perfect voice for YA. 

Top things I liked:
The moments with Dr. Sarah - how she tried to explain the rules of making strides towards getting better, but that it was going to be a matter of ups and downs. There wasn't going to be an all out cure - and while Audrey could get better, she could also take steps backwards. I found it realistic and an interesting look at life after a bullying incident.
I also really liked that you never found out what that incident was - you could just imagine the possibilities. 
I loved Frank - from his support of his sister to his love for video games. He was funny, sweet, inventive, and entertaining
Their mother - perfectly written in her own addiction to the Daily Mail, her need to get her son off video games, and the lengths she would go to achieve her goals. Wildly entertaining 
Linus - sweet, supportive, likable, and the voice of reason at times
Audrey - flawed, finding herself, taking steps to overcome her anxiety, 
I loved the moments with Audrey and Linus

Cover Thoughts: It's grown on me, but it isn't my favorite
Source: Sent for review

Final Thoughts: Sophie Kinsella knocks it out of the park with her YA debut, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. 

I Read YA: Book Recommendations

Today is Share your YA Book recommendations

So here are some that I recently read and LOVED:

Top Ten Tuesdays: Meeting Authors

This week's topic is  Ten Authors I REALLY Want To Meet - thanks for library conferences, BEA, and RJ Julia's I've meet a ton of fantastic authors. It's a mix of YA and Adult authors, Left to meet are...

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish

JK Rowling

George R.R. Martin

Jennifer E. Smith

Sherryl Woods

Jill Shalvis

Jenn McKinlay

Sophie Kinsella

Julie Hyzy

Shannon Messenger 

Lisa Schroeder 

*  I had to look at my most read books from Goodreads to make this list.