Now Is The Time To Open Your Heart

picture of cover courtesy of barnesandnoble.com

Reading Young Adult (YA) fiction novels I find there is an angst, a restlessness of constantly looking for resolve from being content that I can't find in the adult collection.

Recently I found a book that broke that mold for me. Titled Now is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker, this adult novel follows the journey of Kate: a woman in her 50's, who has been consistently on spiritual adventures to satisfy a restlessness after living through failed marriages and death within her family.

When I read the cover, I thought it would be something ultra cheesy and some hot sex. I started reading the first page and I knew right there I didn't need to read any more.

It was better than hot sex, affairs, and all those romantic clichés: it was an actual adventure. And there was no need for random vampires and werewolves to pull me in.

Kate goes to the jungle and builds relationships with others who are in the same journey. Although the book starts mainly with Kate, while she is in the jungle with these people; each person has a story too. Kate's journey becomes everyone's journey including her lover's, who she had left behind.

At times when I read through each character's thoughts and stories, I felt like I was reading Alice Walker's opinions of the world's issues and found it a bit of poor taste. But after reading those same thoughts, I found myself thinking about my life, my surroundings and the choices I have made throughout my life.

It is actually rare to find books like that; that aren't obviously about teaching the reader philosophy. I appreciate Alice Walker's writing here but I don't think its extremely exceptional.

If you like to read adult books that have a message but are devoid of extreme cheesiness and is told in present times; I recommend this book.

Note: this book is not for everyone.

-Miss Bobo







Stray (First Fall Book Review)

courtesy of rachelvincent.com

Hope you all are having a good week. The fall season has started and its time to collect some of those books for the time in between work and school.

And talking about books, today I finally finished an awesome adventurous one I was reading ebook style:

Written in first person narrative, Stray by Rachel Vincent is centered on Faythe, a girl doing her years in graduate school to escape her family life. Independent and stubborn, Faythe has spent her years in college studying and annoyed at the bodyguards her father sends to protect her. Being the only female daughter who is a werecat, she has always been a great concern of her parents. And as human girls start to appear dead within werecat territory, worry starts to bubble even more.

The concept of a “werecat” was interesting to find in this book since werewolves have been one of the famous fantasy archetypes along with the vampire. Here, werecats are very similar to werewolves in behavioral aspects but have different elements of stealth. For example, in this book werecats are impervious to silver.

I also found the main character, Faythe, to be a little too stubborn and crazy in the beginning but as the story progresses it becomes apparent the reason why she is that way and why she avoids her family. There is suspense in this book in which there are twists and unsuspected turns along with adventure and romance. And even the romance itself is intense and less sweet than your usual conventional one.

Finishing this book, I find myself highly intrigued and waiting for the next one since this book is the first in the series. However, I do have to say that this book was really graphic in the violence content and there were some scenes that I actually had to take a 2-day break before continuing reading. I definitely recommend to read this book for those of you who are shape-shifter fans and like some good suspenseful action. 

Beware: this book requires a certain tolerance to violence.

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Molly Ringwald's an Author?!

picture courtesy of luckystarfashion.com

The 80's was one of the best (in my opinion) eras of film. It brought The Terminator, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink along with other memorable 80's movies. It sort of added to the boom of culture at the time (yes, I am quite a fan).

And if you don't know some of the movie stars of that time, you might recognize them in some of the TV shows going on now. Now I know you might think, how is this relevant to books?

Just recently I found out that Molly Ringwald, who is well known for her roles in The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles has been writing books.

picture courtesy of the Llama Butchers

And her most recent book came out the 14th of this month!

It's titled When it Happens To You and it is a collection of stories "about the particular challenges, joys, and disappointments of adult relationships (goodreads.com)." 

picture courtesy of goodreads.com

The book has themes like cheating, family issues, and not being able to have children. So far, it has gotten a lot of good reviews (and it hasn't even been a month since this book's out!). There are a few, as usual, who didn't like the book but I am actually tempted to read it. If any of you are reading it please don't hesitate to send me your review. I will edit it for purposes of fitting in the blog and whatnot but I will post it with your name and your picture. You can send me your review at elysha45@gmail.com. Otherwise...









Til Next Blog post,
Miss Bobo

To the Manor Dead (book review)

picture courtesy sebastianstuart.net

Hope everyone is having a great day. It's raining here in NYC, and I am already thinking of getting myself in a good book along with some film horror (sorry I am a bit of a cliche).

Past few weeks I have been taking a bit of a break in between books just to be able to separate stories. Not one of those folks who read books consecutively without moments of reflection. Your brain gotta digest!

Any-who, I did get to finish 2 books and one of them is an adult mystery titled To the Manor Dead by Sebastian Stuart. Written in first person narrative, this story takes place in upstate New York where an ex-therapist tries to find herself some peace and quiet from listening to her patients. She ends up selling antiques at her own little store and finds herself meeting all sorts of characters. At some point one of them ends up dead and the ex-therapist can't help but to go on a murder quest to find out the culprit.

I found myself most of the time laughing because some of these characters were a bit too cliche for my part. I read the small bio on the author and found myself thinking he might have been in a hurry because the story seemed rushed. The ending was alright but the way the plot unfolds is just a bit off-kilter. I did learn a few new words but as a first in all the book reviews I have done on this blog, I do not recommend this book. I don't think its meant to be a mystery but more of a book that belongs in the comedy section. However, if you want to try it, go ahead. You never know unless you do read it.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Faithful Place (A Book Review)

picture courtesy of good reads

During summer nights when there is a thunder storm and its raining lightly or there is a foggy area you might be the person who likes to get all cozy while flipping pages on a good mystery.

This pretty one will give you a good mystery. Written in first person narrative by Tana French, this mystery novel takes place in Dublin where Francis Mackey [a detective] loses his heart to a girl named Rosie Daly. He was planning to leave his family with the love of his life and she never came. Twenty years pass and Francis has not forgotten about what happened that night or the memories shared with Rosie even after becoming a cop. .....Until, he gets a call of her suitcase being found. After that Francis pretty much goes batshit (excuse my language!) crazy on figuring out what happened to Rosie Daly that night.

 As I kept reading I found myself deep in this one, following Francis' moves as he kept putting the pieces together. Being an undercover detective; he did a great job figuring out what happened to Rosie Daly. There were many things in the book that took me by surprise. There were twists that I didn't have a chance to even figure out. I was too busy getting into the book and following Francis that I didn't reflect much.

French does a good job in writing a realistic personal voice that not only leads you in but also takes you inside his mind. Brings you in memories of something that was dear to him and had deeper meaning within his reactions. He didn't just tell you, he showed you. But....(yes there is a but) I found that French took too long in delivering the events of murders and the murderer itself. There was some unnecessary dramatic entrances but the ending was the icing. It wasn't just some happy ending. There was grief, there was awkwardness in dealing with the aftermath of the events that happened. I liked that. So, I definitely recommend this book for a good mystery read.

Somewhat of a Morrie Story

      If you ever read Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom and loved it, then you will most likely like this one. Written by Yoko Ogawa in a first person narrative, this novel goes into depth in the relationship between a housekeeper and the professor she takes care of. The relationship starts on the rocks when the housekeeper sees for herself that the professor's memory can only contain 80 minutes of present time before it disappears from his memory. As the story goes on she also sees that the only things he could never forget are the numbers he surrounds himself with and the memories before 1975.
Despite this and both of them being from two different worlds; her from a world of housekeeping and him from the world of numbers; these two characters end up teaching each other life lessons that help them evolve as characters. 
There are some quirks to the book that set it off: such as almost all of the characters don't have names and there isn't no specific time frame. Reading this novel, I found out that even though these quirks might have given the novel a less personal touch, I saw that it helped put emphasis on the importance of the details in their relationship and the progression of it as a whole.
However, I do have to say that this book does not give in to some reader satisfaction of Disney endings. Rest assured, if you read Tuesdays With Morrie, you will cry or at least shed a tiny little tear. I recommend this book for those days when the mood is turned on for some comfort food and a need for some tissues.

Til Next Review,
Miss Bobo

Popping Like A Tropical Bird in the Jungle

It has been quite a while since I last wrote a book review, and for that I apologize for my disappearance. But enough excuses! Today, this blog post is a book review on an interesting book I recently finished, titled Hot House Flower & the 9 Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin.

hard cover version

Written in first person narrative, this novel focuses on the spiritual journey of a Lila Nova, who is a 32 year old divorcee living in downtown NY. After spending some time wandering around Union Square, Lila finds a plant vendor who introduces her to the world of exotic plants. After that, Lila ends up surrounding herself with the mystical and spiritual aura of plants, discovering all sorts of crazy spiritual happenings. Through out the book, Berwin makes sure to express a strong sense of spirituality not only in the plants Lila discovers but in the metaphors and symbolism behind them. Each chapter there is an image of a plant with a description of it or a refrain hinting at what Lila might do next. Of course, there are moments where I question whether to dislike or like Lila for the irrational actions she makes. In the end , I found there is so much more that I loved or found interesting in this novel I lost a bit a focus on Lila. Like for example, Armand, the old man who helps Lila on her adventure finding the 9 plants of desire; has a few or rather many of the great quotes in this book. There is even a recipe on how to make chocolate out of cacao beans. I definitely would recommend this book to any other person whose into spiritual romantic adventures that have more substance than the sex scenes in it, which this novel sure had a few erotic moments. Nevertheless, this novel is worth getting hooked on.

Til Next Book Review,

Miss Bobo

P.S. check out the book trailer!

One of Those Books that Became A Movie

the original book cover

Never watched the movie but when I saw the book, I figured why not try the original work. First things first; Darcy isn't blond in this book. And second of all, I don't know how it was in the movie but the book starts in the nick of actions. Written in past & present tense, Something Borrowed is written in first person narrative by Emily Griffin in a very realistic look into regular life romance.
Surrounding the relationship of Darcy, Rachel, and Dex the main characters of the book most of the time; this book deals with the situations of cheating, female competition, and of course the big L.O.V.E.
I enjoyed it what with the drama and the sense of humor you can tell comes directly from the author. However, I don't like Rachel, the main character, for her passivity into most of the situations in her life. But as usual appreciated how she was able to come and digress from the epiphanies that most readers will expect from her. As an example of sociology with female behavior in society, I would use this as a fictional example.

(Note: I will be writing a comparison with the movie soon enough)
Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Remember that Song...

There is always someone who is stuck being picked on at an early age or being someone’s sidekick friend. They either have a sucky life at home or a sucky life at school. Although, it’s not everyone, the situation is still applicable to a selectable few. This book is exactly that if not a resemblance.

Written in first person narrative, I Want Candy by Kim Wong Keltner is a coming of age story taking place in 1983 San Francisco surrounding the life of Candace Ong who has worked with her parents at Eggroll Wonderland, a Chinese restaurant, for as far as she can remember.

Most of the book is Candace complaining about being the one with the sucky life while her “friend” Ruby, has sexcapades with W.P.O.D.s (“White Punks on Dope”). She does get a taste of what it’s like to have the wild life. And like any other adult, Candace makes a decision out of the climax of these experiences; making this an adult novel instead of the typical YA realistic fiction novel.

Of course, with the voice this novel is given, you would assume these are teenagers within the age range of 16-18. Surprisingly, it is not the case. Candace is 14 and in the eighth grade while her “friend” Ruby is the same.  There is a dash of humor in certain chapters and a pinch of the supernatural. But don’t expect the perfect romance in this book because you really aren’t going to get it. However, there is a lesson just like there was in Jailbait by Leslea Newma (which is a YA novel): don’t take candy from strangers. 

You Wouldn't Want to Finish School

When passing on criminal TV shows, corpses and missing people are never a surprising theme for whoever watches it. And usually these shows show you the side of the criminal as if also telling the story from their point of view. Criminal Minds (admittedly one of my favorite TV shows) is one of those.  I would not have thought there would be an episode I wouldn’t know about until I stopped by this book in the mystery section of my library.

Published in 2008, this novel was written by Max Collins in third narrative. It involves the famous BAU most of us well know from Criminal Minds; Agent Rossi, Hotchner, Prentiss, JJ, Reid, Morgan, and of course last but not least, Penelope Garcia. In the small place of Bemidji, Minnesota; three hunters find a skeleton hand peaking from a bush and from then on the investigation ensues. The BAU team work to find out the criminal mind behind this and begin to find a link to something far worse.

Although Collins gives the traditional frame of a Criminal Minds episode, there are parts of the book where there is too much focus on the description of the setting. Thus, making it seem like Collins is trying too hard to appeal to the occasional loyal Criminal Minds fan.  Nevertheless, I love opening to the beginning of the book and finding the opening quote that is always a tradition with a Criminal Minds episode. Collins made sure to end it on that note.  If you are a Criminal Minds fan, you might just dwell in this rendition of Criminal Minds.