Archive for April, 2009

Author:       “Holly Denham”

Publisher:    Sourcebooks Casablanca

ISBN:          978-1-4022-1903-0

Website:      www.hollysinbox.com

Type:         Fiction:Women’s/ChickLit

Pages:        665 Trade Paperback

Purchase:   $10.19 @ Amazon.com (HERE)

The Story

This isn’t your typical ChickLit story, it is a completely new spin on it as it is not a novel like you’d typically expect.  Rather, it is a publication of fictional emails belonging to a character named Holly Denham at her job as a receptionist at an international bank in England.  The pages contain nothing but emails in the inbox & outbox of Holly (…and a few of her friends).  And, what friends she has! 

Holly’s “email friends” include a gay hotel manager and her girlfriend Aisha who works for him as a receptionist.  Holly quickly makes friends with the senior receptionist, Trish, who is the kind of gal we’d all love to work with.  At the bank, Holly also works with an old friend from school, Jennie.  The sorted cast of characters who also email Holly are her mother, grandmother, sister, brother, and friend “Pregnant Pam.”  Each of these characters have a host of interesting stories from their lives that the reader discovers through their emails.

Holly finds romance at the bank with the gorgeous James, however is unhappily faced with the fact that her high-school boyfriend, Toby, has joined the firm and has set his sights on her.

The Review

He Doesn't Look Like A Holly to Me!

First, I want to communicate that I really enjoyed this book.  It’s format is a great spin on “ChickLit.”  The website, www.HollysInbox.com is an on-going site with regular entries in the story of Holly.   The “backstory” to this creative project is that the true author of this project is Bill Surie.  He is the owner of an employment agency in London who specializes in receptionists and secretaries.  Surie started the website in 2007 and received over 90,000 visitors.  Eventually these website emails made their way into a book.

Although the book is a tad thick at 665 pages, because of the “email format” of those pages, it really reads rather quickly. I became quickly entangled into this book and its host of characters.  Holly is an extremely likeable character, one that I’d liken to Bridget Jones.  What the reader gets from Holly’s Inbox is humor, romance, and views of true friendship between its characters.      

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

This isn’t your typical ChickLit book, but if you’re a fan of the genre (as I am!), you will love this book.  This book has it all from romance to friendship… to ties with crazy family members… to the frustration of dealing with unbearable bosses and gossipy co-workers.  Every tid bit of the book is JUICY and fun!  It’s very different in format, but brings everything you need in a story alive one email at a time.  For the genre Fiction:Women’s/ChickLit, I am going to rate this book an 8 OUT OF 10. 

Voted Off Is…

The ANM Voters pegged it… going home is:

Matt Giraud

Who’s Leaving Tonight?

Personally, I really like Allison.  I used to be a big Danny Gokey fan, but I think I’ve grown bored of him.   Adam Lambert… well, I just don’t know what I think of him.  Sometimes I LOVE HIM and other times I just wish he’d stop with the heavy-metal screaming thing.  I guess that I’m on the fence about him.  It seems that he almost believes that he is going to win this thing NO MATTER WHAT.  That, I just can’t admire about him.  I’m also done with Matt Giraud.  I would have preferred that Anoop stayed and was in place of him.  Kris Allen is so sweet and cute.  I like him, however I don’t think he has the “chops” to make it all the way.  But, he’s very talented and I agree with Jamie Foxx on his abilities.  So, now it’s your turn to vote… who should go home?

Adam Lambert

Danny Gokey

Allison Iraheta

Matt Giraud

Kris Allen

Author:       James Patterson

Publisher:    Hachette

ISBN:          0-446-60940-4

Website:      www.jamespatterson.com

Type:         Fiction:Mystery

Pages:        355 Mass Paperback

Purchase:    $7.99 @ Amazon.com (HERE)

The Story

“In Boston, a young woman finds herself pregnant–even though she is still a virgin.“

In Ireland, another young woman discovers she is in the same impossible condition.

And in cities all around the world, medical authorities are overwhelmed by epidemics, droughts, famines, floods, and worse. It all feels like a sign that something awful is coming.

“Anne Fitzgerald, a former nun turned private investigator, is hired by the Archdiocese of Boston to investigate the immaculate conceptions. Even as she comes to care about and trust the young women, she realizes that both are in great danger. Terrifying forces of light and darkness are gathering. Stepping into uncharted territory where the unknown is just the beginning, Anne must discover the truth–to save the young women, to save herself, and to protect the future of all mankind.”

(Above excerpt is from www.jamespatterson.com)

The Review

I’ve loved James Patterson FOREVER.  He’s just one of those authors whose books I sink into and soar through.  Perfect for poolside or avoiding the kids, Patterson always delivers up a great story.  I was recently reviewing 8th Confession at a soccer game and a soccer dad mentioned that he and his wife read the entire Woman’s Murder Club series.  As we chatted, I mentioned that I really liked The Lake House and Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas.  There are several of his classics that I actually haven’t read and will keep my eye out for at a used book sale.  Speaking of used book sales… I picked up 3 of his books (hardcover) for $3 each.. SCORE!  But, I should read Along Came a Spider and Kiss The Girls and I don’t have those yet.  I’m also wondering if the Maximum Ride series is good… if you’ve read them let me know in a comment below.

So, soccer dad actually brought me the book to read last weekend.  Cool!  After reading a very long and detailed book, I was looking forward to a little PATTERSON ESCAPE!  And, that’s exactly what I got.  This is a great story of two virgin births, one girl giving birth to our savior and the other the child of Satan himself (scary).  Patterson keeps you guessing until the bitter end as to which girl will bring the world God’s son. 

Knowing that I can’t giveaway too many of the details of a mystery in a review, I am just putting this question out there to James Patterson fans who have read more of his works than I… is there a sequel to this book?  Patterson leaves that possibility at the end and I’m dying to read on if there is one! 

This book was a #1 Bestseller and I can see why!      

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

Like Nicholas Sparks and Lisa See, I just love anything that James Patterson writes. I doubt that I’ll ever find one of his books that I don’t like.  I’m just a fan, plain and simple.  For the genre Fiction:Mystery, I am going to rate this book an 8 OUT OF 10. 

OMG… MELISSA! 

THE B!TCH IS BACK AND SHE MEANS BUSINESS!

BRUNO LIKES DEM BUNS!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE LADY GA-GA TO WIN THIS…

With Lawrence voted away, the pack is getting smaller.  We’ve got two group dances tonight to add into the scores for the individual routines.  The biggest disaster of the week is Melissa’s injury and inability to perform tonight.  I’m quite sad.

Here’s my nagging  and praising for this week’s couples:

 I am thoroughly annoyed with Len Goodman’s remarks and scores this week for this couple’s Salsa.  I thought they did a great job and I really enjoyed it.   In fact, it was my favorite couple’s routine of the night!  It was just enjoyable, fun, and the choreography went smashing with the music of Tom Jones.  Len is a big ole’ stick in the mud and he needs a bit of a spanking!  Ty… don’t listen to Len!  Yes, you can work on shaking your “bum” but I think you did a great job!  Scores: 9-7-8     (P.S. Ty has got some gorgeous arms…)

 Their Samba was a bit on the slow side and Len complained about too many running promenades.  However, it was a technically clean and solid performance.  I think what may have been lacking for Len and Bruno is the emotional connection to the dance.  I think that was missing in this week’s routine in comparison to last week’s performance.  Hopefully next week we’ll get that back from Shawn and see her rise to the top! Scores: 10-8-9. 

Melissa’s rib injury prevented her from performing tonight’s jive.  I’m so completely and totally bummed out about it.  She’s my favorite of the competition.  Like Steve-O’s performance, the judges had to base their scores off of the rehearsal tape.  Unfortunately, they were not going “full out” on their rehearsal this morning because they were trying to keep the movement to a minimum for Melissa to spare her rib.  The result, they were merely marking the dance on the dance floor for the band and cameramen.  They were not performing it.  I still think that Melissa is one of the best dancers in the competition and she deserves to stay!   I hope everyone who liked her has voted.  So sad.  Scores: 7-7-7

They took the sexy out of Gilles this week.  His pompadour hairdo and complete geek pants weren’t my favorite look for the infamous “naked guy.”  But, the Lindy Hop that he and Cheryl delivered was a good one.  There were some footing problems at the beginning of the dance where they weren’t in-sync with one another.  Besides that foul-up, the dance was solid.  Not my favorite from this couple, but enough to most likely sustain them through until next week.   Scores: 9-9-9.  

So, Alabama saved them, as did their scores.  This week’s Cha-Cha-Cha gave Chuck another chance to shake his tooshie and show us what he’s got.  Julianne’s outfit was damn sexy… holy smokes.  Chuck looked a bit like last week except this week donning all royal blue.  He’s so “the boy next door” type for me… like a brother or cousin.  Maybe the younger crowd will be in awe by his cuteness, but he’s just not “sexy” for me.  I think in the Cha-Cha-Cha, you need that sexiness.  All of that aside, the dance was decent and I think they did a good job.    Scores: 9-9-8

NOW TIME FOR THE GROUP DANCES:  TEAM MAMBO AND TEAM TANGO:

Team Mambo is:  Chuck and Julianne, Shawn and Mark, and Melissa and Tony.  At the last minute, Lacy stood in for Melissa due to the injury.  Melissa will receive the same scores as her teammates for her missed performance.  As such, Lacy and Tony’s participation in the dance will not be part of the scoring.  The scoring is solely based on Shawn/Mark and Chuck/Julianne’s performances.  The dance number was fun and cheeky.  They had a bit of a suprise at the end of the number when the girls stripped off their skirts and did some sexy moves.  The men added their part by stripping off their pants revealing leotards, white tights, black socks and shiny black shoes.  All of this get-up and stripping occured up on the judges table.  The twins exploded with laughter and loved it, as did the audience.  Carrie Ann seemed thoroughly annoyed by it because it is after all, “a competition.”  Whatever POOPIE PANTS!  Scores:  8-8-9

Team Tango is:  Kim and Derek, Cheryl and Gilles, and Ty and Chelsie.  I thought the beginning of their performance was really dramatic and there is just NOTHING WRONG about Gilles and Ty having their shirts off.  Holy MOLY!  Man… does Ty have some guns on him!  Whew.  (Fan Fan Fan).  Kim and Derek had some mistakes in their footwork, but their portion was overall good.  I think that the other two couples were flawless and did a great job.  The ending of their group dance was really in-sync and just fantastically dramatic!  Scores:  9-9-10

For more commentary on this week’s DWTS, visit Apooo’s Site… she’s got tons of good conversation on everything!