LOVE AND OTHER PERISHABLE ITEMS: LAURA BUZO

I debated back and forth on whether or not to share this book on the blog. I had been looking forward to reading it for a long time and knew it under it's previous title Good Oil. This book isn't for everyone, but here are some reasons that it might be your thing. Do you find that you love Aussie books? Do you like reading something totally different? Do you hate it when an author gives you an unrealistic ending? Then you might enjoy this book as much as I did.

You've got two perspectives in this one, and it might be the first time that I really felt like I was reading two completely different voices. The second male voice backtracks each time his section begins and that kind of ruined the flow for me, and is why this was a four star instead of five. Still enjoyed this very much though.

BOOK BLURB:

Love is awkward, Amelia should know.

From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, is 15.

Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?

Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up.

Read more about it HERE.

SPRING CLEANING GIVEAWAY HOP SIX WINNERS FOR THIS ONE!

For this round of Spring Cleaning I am going to give SIX winners the opportunity to chose one book from my list. Each winner will give me their top three choices and will recive one of those choices. None of the books are ARCs.

Here are the books I am hoping find a good home:

• The Book Thief - Markus Zusak - paperback spine a bit creased
• Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver - paperback a few pages have slight water damage
• Eva Underground - Dandi Mackall - hardback like new
• Jessie <3 NYC - Keris Stainton - paperback very good 
• Jason & Kyra - Dana Davidson - hardback good
• Split by a Kiss - Luisa Plaja - paperback like new
• The Breakup Bible - Melissa Kantor - paperback like new
• The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball - Risa Green - paperback like new
• Slam - Nick Hornby - hardback like new
• Beauty Shop for Rent - Laura Bowers - hardback like new
• How ya Like me Know? - Brenden Halpin - hardback ex library but excellent condition
• Love on the Lifts - Rachel Hawthorne - paperback - like new
• Finding Grace - Alyssa Brugman - paperback very good
• Marshmallows for Breakfast - Dorothy Koomson - paperback good
• Kiss Chase - Fiona Walker - paperback good
• The Dating Detox - Gemma Burgess - paperback very good

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GEEK GIRL: CINDY C. BENNETT

I will tell ya what is the most remarkable thing about this book: Bennett writes about a very rebellious party girl and gives her a pretty realistic voice while at the same time writing an extremely clean read. That can't be easy, but it feels seamless in Geek Girl. Our male love interest in this book is honestly too good to be true, but it didn't bother me here. Sometimes I like to read about characters that I feel could be real even though I know they don't exist in real life (or if they do, they are pretty darn rare). The last chapter seemed unnecessary, but other than that this quite a strong read.

BOOK BLURB:

Jen's life of partying and sneaking out has grown stale. So on a whim, Jen makes a bet to turn Trevor, a goody-two-shoes geek, into a "bad boy." As she hangs out with Trevor, however, she finds it's actually kinda fun being a geek. But when Trevor finds out about the bet, Jen must fight for the things she's discovered matter most: friendship, family, and, above all, love.

  

Read more about it HERE.

CROSS MY HEART: KATIE KLEIN

Of all the self published Amazon books that I've had my eye on for a long time, this has been my favorite so far. Honestly, I can't really pin point why I enjoyed it, I just know I did. I loved the main characters and I found their budding relationship fascinating. It does drag a bit in the end with unnecessary wedding details of an older brother, but even with that I would still give it a very strong recommendation.

BOOK BLURB:

True love can blossom in unexpected places. This is Jaden pretending not to notice. . . .

Jaden McEntyre and Parker Whalen are a wrong fit from the start. Jaden is driven and focused, Harvard Med School within reach. Parker has a past-a reputation-and the rumors about his mysterious habits abound. So there's no reason why, when they're assigned to work together on a project in English, they should discover they have anything in common, or even like each other, and they definitely shouldn't be falling in love.

As they bond over Edith Wharton's tragic novella, Ethan Frome, the "bad boy" vibe Parker plays begins to dissipate. Soon, Jaden finds herself shedding her own "good girl" image: sneaking around to be with him, confiding in him, and ultimately falling hard for this leather-wearing, motorcycle-driving loner who plays into the rebel stereotype.

Still, Jaden can't shake the feeling that there's more to Parker than he's letting on. He's hiding something from her, and discovering the truth means reconciling the Parker she's grown to love with the person he really is. Because it's possible that his life inside the classroom-everything Jaden knows-is one, massive lie.

It is cheap on Amazon, or you can read about it HERE.

ME BEFORE YOU: JOJO MOYES

This is the kind of story that could have had a political agenda, and I am so glad it didn't. Moyes just tells us a story without picking sides. This is the kind of book that won't be easy for me to forget. It was lovely and sad while being hopeful and funny.

BOOK BLURB:

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

Has a bit of swearing, but otherwise a clean read. Read more about it HERE. 

Thanks Edelweiss and Penguin for this read.

THE EDGE OF NEVER IS ON SALE TODAY...

This is on sale today on Amazon for 99 cents, just FYI. :)

Go HERE, and get it!

DOMESTIC VIOLETS: MATTHEW NORMAN

There is a scene in Sex And The City when Carrie meets Burger and finds out he is an author who "relates to men the way her writing relates to women." And then Burger makes some comment how men don't want to read books like that. Do you know that scene? Every time I watch it I wish that weren't true, that there were more books by men that were light funny books about what it was like to be a guy. So discovering Domestic Violets, a chance to get in the head of a sarcastic, almost middle-aged guy, was a huge treat.

Norman had me from the first page with this line: "At least I think that's ironic, that word gets misused a lot." This book is seriously honest, so much so that it could make you blush. It is also seriously hilarious, I was laughing throughout the whole thing. Norman wrote the voice of a character that I was kind of in love with while simultaneously being glad I wasn't this man's wife.

Overall, this book is funny, touching, and sad while being real and full of forgiveness. Every character was bright and full of life. They were a bit exaggerated for drama and laughs but still felt like real people. If you are someone like me who wished there were more books that were about what it is like to be a guy then you will probably love this book.

BOOK BLURB:

In the tradition of Jonathan Tropper and Tom Perrotta comes Matthew Norman's Domestic Violets--a darkly comic family drama about one man's improbable trials of love, loss, and ambition; of attraction, impotence, and infidelity; and of mid-life malaise, poorly-planned revenge, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Read more about it HERE.