Nifty New Site!

Over at Simon & Schuster Canada's YA blog, they are introducing this new website where you can create some awesome outfits for your favourite book characters. Click on over to their website to check it out and give it a try yourself! Link is HERE

Here is MINE!

Red Glove's Lila Zacharov's Outfit

Review: Something Borrowed Movie & the Book By Emily Giffin

Should this be a double review? I shall make it so. =)

Over the past week I went to see the movie Something Borrowed. I had already read the book a couple years back and loved it. I knew from the moment I finished reading Something Borrowed it would eventually make its way onto the big screen.

Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honour to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy’s fiancé, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren’t always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.

(Source: Chapters Indigo)

The main character Rachel White in Something Borrowed is one of my favourite female leads in book to date. Author Emily Giffin wrote such a sophisticated yet quirky character that makes it too easy to fall in love with Rachel’s story. This book really shows you the fine line between going after what you want no matter what or who stands in the way; you never know until you try type moral. The main character Rachel is a big city lawyer stuck in a rut doing the same thing day after day. Her childhood best friend Darcy is the total opposite, happy-go-lucky, fun, flirty and loves the spotlight on her at ALL times. Darcy is getting married to Dex, the guy Rachel’s been in love with since college but never had the guts to admit her feelings to him because she thought a good looking guy like Dex would never go for a girl like herself. Darcy being the attention seeker she is goes for Dex after she sees that Rachel does not have the guts to. Now, Darcy is getting married to Dex and made Rachel her maid of honour, talk about being a *****. =)

On Rachel’s big 30^th birthday when everyone is gone except her and Dex, she has one too many celebratory drinks and ends up sleeping with her best friends fiancé.

OKAY now I know this is where those who have not read the book start to scream ‘how is Rachel in the right here?’ but trust me when I say that I am not doing the book justice and a book with such a heavy meaning behind it cries for you to just READ IT yourself.

I definitely do not want to spoil the ending to this book for anyone…if you are too lazy to read this book may I suggest watching the movie? Just know that you got to fight for it if you truly want it.

The movie adaptation was good, in its own way of course. It stays true to the storyline and the cast is STELLER and not to mention the boys in it are smoking! Take a look:

^Dex *drool worthy*


^Best Friend of Rachel's Ethan (side character but is really the cherry on top in the movie! TOO funny!)

Something Borrowed does have a sequel titled Something Blue (how fitting ;P)! Check it out if you've read Something Borrowed, it really sums up the story well!

Other books by Emily Giffin, if you enjoyed Something Borrowed are:
Baby Proof, Love the One You’re With, Heart of the Matter!

Review: Cryers Cross By Lisa McMann

LONG OVERDUE, but here it is. =)

Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer's Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she''s not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world's sweetest boyfriend, behind.

But when Cryer's Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn't get close to... the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.

Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she's always loved, Kendall keeps up the search--and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can't stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried....

(brought to you by Lisa McMann's Website)

Lisa McMann master of twisted and scary story lines. Who agrees with me here? I had the opportunity of meeting her when she was on tour for her book GONE and she was uber nice. Probably one of my favorite signings I've ever been to. We talked cooking, it was unreal, she posed for picture, I walked away jaw hanging down. Besides my minor fan girl moment at this signing, she clued us in on her next project after the WAKE trilogy which was Cryer's Cross. I knew the moment she let us know that it was going to be another paranormal-psychological thriller type book, I started the countdown. Without further a-dew, here's my take on Cryer's Cross.

Quickly we are introduced to the main character Kendall Fletcher and we find her in the midst of searching for a girl who’s gone missing. Her body and everything has not yet been discovered and everyone in the small farmers’ town of Cryer’s Cross starts to question what sick person would have done this. There is only so much the people can do and soon enough the search is over with nothing to show.

Kendall, along with the rest of the town, is forced to move on and soon enough school starts up again. Kendall is dating all-American boy, Nico but she rather not put a label on things. He comforts her when she is stressed and helps her whenever she needs it. They’ve grown up together, and everyone knows they’ll eventually get married and live happily ever after. But things seem to go up in flames when the next person that goes missing is Nico. Determined to find out what happened to Nico, Kendall spirals down into a world of the unknown and unexplainable. She starts to hear things and feel things creeping into her mind, hinting her to never give up on the search. Finally in her last attempt in trying to find Nico herself, she nearly gets buried alive by a secret that the town has been hiding all these years.

With questionable folks and that eerie vacancy in the town of Cryer’s Cross, Lisa McMann successfully paints a thriller for the readers of today!

Kendall is an amazing character that I instantly fell in love with. Her emotion and strength throughout the novel Cryer’s Cross was almost impossible to ignore. What I loved best about Cryer’s Cross was the poems left in-between each chapter. They really made the book give off the spine-chilling feeling when reading. I know I had goosebumps every time! My favourite of the short poems reads –

Alone again, so long. This time We wait. This time We know for sure. That heat, that heartbeat, that life – will be back.

Cryer’s Cross was creepilicious, and I give it all 5 stars =D

Recommended to all those who want to feel creeped out!

As Always,
HAPPY READING!

Review: Vanished By Kate Brian

I have followed the awesome series PRIVATE by Kate Brian and it never fails to amaze me. Her latest in the series Vanished was nothing short of my expectations of the high society lives the books revolve around.

Lost and found...

Against all odds, Reed Brennan re-established Billings as an underground literary society. She and the new initiates created a glamorous secret headquarters and were ready to show Easton Academy that even though Billings House is gone, the Billings Girls are stronger than ever. But before Reed had a chance to revel in her success, something horrible happened:

Noelle disappeared.

Now Reed has no idea who wants to hurt Noelle or why, but it's up to Reed to save her. As the clues build up, the clock ticks down, and Reed fears that unless she finds Noelle soon, she'll lose her friend forever....
(Provided by Barnes&Noble)

For the followers of the Private series, how happy are you that Josh and Reed survived another novel?!

Regardless the book unfolds and Reed is being blackmailed to do all sorts of outrageous things on campus to find her Billings sister Noelle. Reed has her suspects but can she really trust her instincts over anything she's ever learned in the past? While reading Vanished, I could sort of predict what was going to happen next, based on reading the eleven other books before this one in the series, but nothing prepared me for the ending! That is what makes Kate Brian unique in a sense, every book has that one surprise element that keeps readers like myself, intrigued! Vanished opens up another world for readers to dive into. Everything you thought you knew about Reed, everything Reed thought she knew, is about to go out the window and down an unknown path.

And so the series ends with this cliffhanger that will leave you wondering just what happens next to our beloved Billing Girls! I give this book 4 stars and definitely recommend to those readers that love scandalous high society books.

PS- The next one in the series is called Ominous out Feb.22.2011 but in the meantime check out the prequel The Book of Spells, the TRUE origins of Billings!

HAPPY READING

Link to Ominous!
Link to The Book of Spells

The Mortal Instruments: CITY OF FALLEN ANGEL COVER!

THIS.IS.SO.AWESOME.

thank you to Cassandra Clare!
More info at:
http://cassandraclare.livejournal.com/

Updates, MIA?, NEW READING LIST!

How long have I been away?
TOO LONG.
Let me start by apologizing for my absence. I give rights for EVERYONE who actually reads this blog to yell at me :D (get some of that anger out!)

I have been caught up with work, school and some holiday prepping...(Tis the season to be jolly...=P)

To get back into the swing of all things book related, I have recently read the classic "A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway and oh boy, it was beautiful! The tragic life of Lieutenant Henry and his love Catherine Barkley. This novel flowed with such passion, and tragedy. The way Hemingway portrays war, love, and hope in "A Farewell to Arms" is unique and definitely one of a kind.
I DEFINITELY recommend this book to those who AREN'T looking for a happily ever after, but rather a story that depicts life in times of war and tests the strength of love.
FAVOURITE QUOTE:
"I had gone to no such place but to the smoke of the cafes and the nights when the room whirled and you needed to look at the wall to make it stop, nights in bed, drunk, when you knew that that was all there was, and the strange excitement of waking and not knowing who it was with you, and the world all unreal in the dark and so exciting that you must resume again unknowing and not caring...."

Another thing I did while I neglected my blog, was watch the movie Black Swan. Utterly speechless. GO CHECK IT OUT IF YOU GET A CHANCE! (For those old enough anyways. =P)

I am currently reading "Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You" by Peter Cameron. I'm liking it so far, it has the 'catcher in the rye' feel to it, self-finding type of book. Pretty good, and on-sale at Chapters/Indigo/Coles =)

And now here's an UPDATE on my new reading list:
-Cryers Cross (ARC has arrived!)
-Zombies VS Unicorns
-Torment
-Before I Fall

I am AMBITIOUS!

Toodles for now!
-Sherry Lay

PS- HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE AND HOPE YOU ALL ARE HAVING AN AWESOME BREAK!