Thanks to Parent Reviewers, I was given the chance to read and give my personal opinions of the book Perfectly Crazy written by Mitzi Penzes. Other than the book itself, I received no other compensation and these are my opinions, in my own words.
When I first began reading the Perfectly Crazy, I was drawn in by the fact that the main character, Nell, was a strong, beautiful and independent woman. The very first sentence of the book says, “Nell was a looker, and she knew it, too.” Besides being beautiful, she was happily married to a very successful surgeon, the mother of 2 children and a successful business owner. And yet, with all of her success she was drawn to another man, someone she had met in college and been friends with ever since.
From there, the story becomes somewhat predictable, she falls in love with her male friend, but is determined to remain faithful to her husband. Then, almost too conveniently, her husband is diagnosed with a fatal illness. He doesn’t even tell Nell about it, instead, he flies his private plane into the ground and kills himself. Gee, that frees Nell to move on with her new man David, she only had to wait a few weeks for the insurance adjusters to decide her husband’s death had been an accident. Personally, I found this all to be a bit over done and made Nell’s life way too easy.
As soon as the insurance paid off, Nell basically moves in with her new beau leaving her high school aged daughter basically living on her own. Hmmm, something else that didn’t sit well with me. Oh, did I mention that her daughter & step-son, along with all their friends were so happy that she’d found the love of her life just weeks after her husband’s death? Really? No body questions them? Oh, by the way, her lover David had also been married and his wife was expecting a baby when he informed her he was leaving her. WOW! That spells loser to me! But then again, maybe they deserve each other.
Well, it’s just a fictional novel and, while I wouldn’t recommend it for serious reading, it’s a good book to take to the beach!
This post brought to you by Monte Carlo. All opinions are 100% mine.
Whenever I think of Monte Carlo, I think Bond, James Bond.
Now there is a new movie, Monte Carlo, that will be in theaters Friday, July 1. What I all ready like about this movie is that is looks like a movie I can take my teenage daughter to and we can enjoy it together. She is in the 3rd week of her summer vacation and with her being 15, it can be difficult to entice her to do something with dear old mom instead of her friends!
The main character of the movie is Grace, played by Selena Gomez (from Disney’s Waverly Place), is a typical girl who suddenly becomes an heiress. She, along with her best friend and step-sister, travel to Monte Carlo on a summer trip and end up discovering themselves. Selena Gomez is a popular teenage actress who also sings on the movie’s soundtrack. I know my daughter has seen her Disney show and would enjoy seeing the movie as well. The biggest reason I would enjoy seeing this movie with my daughter is that we both plan to go to France together in a few years. In the mean time, take a look at the movie trailer.
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Movie tickets can be purchased in advance from Fandango beginning June 29 and be sure to “Like” the movie’s Facebook page!
I don’t get to see too many movies when they’re at the theater, but I always make sure to see Captain Jack on the big screen, and, this time, I even saw it in 3D! This newest release in The Pirates of the Caribbean series is really good in my opinion. It’s not as dark and scary as the 3rd movie, and delved back into the intelligent humor that makes Captain Jack such a lovable character. The original movie is still my favorite, but I’m sure I’ll be adding this one to my dvd collection whenever it gets released.
Have you seen it yet? Did you enjoy it as much as I did?
My daughter is in her second year of learning French at school. The teacher put together a nice field trip and the students boarded the big yellow school bus this evening (yes, on a Saturday!) and headed towards Dallas. They are attending the Dallas Opera’s rendition of Romeo & Juliet, sung completely in French. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for anyone learning a new language and I hope my daughter enjoys it. I can’t wait to hear how she liked it, but, in the mean time, here’s a little snippet I found I YouTube.
Thanks to Parent Reviewers and New Year Publishing, I was given the opportunity to read the book Aurora Fee, by Megan Barnes. I received the book directly from the publisher and received no other compensation for this, my personal review.
I was intrigued by this book from the moment I took it out of the mailing envelope. The cover depicts a rather striking young lady who has a face very much like a cat, yes, even a soft, furry nose. But the eyes, mouth and hair on the top of her head were definitely human. I sat down in a favorite reading spot and began to read with anticipation, Aurora Fee, the story of a female high school student who is, to say the least, quite unique.
Right away, I discovered that Aurora is really quite different from any other teenager you might imagine. You see, although she was born human, her life changed forever when she turned 16. I don’t want to give away the story, but let’s just say, Aurora is able to change from her human form to a cat, and back again. There are times that she has control of when she changes, and other times, much to her dismay, she has no control. Her emotions, when not kept in check, control which parts of her human body change into a cat. Sounds a bit complicated and I did have trouble remembering which emotion caused what part to change, but it really wasn’t a necessary fact in following the story of Aurora.
While Aurora has to contend with her shape shifting, she also contends with typical teenage issues, school, friends, and even love. All of these things cause angst and can peak emotions particularly in a teenager, so it’s even more of a challenge for someone who doesn’t want their cat ears giving them away! As the parent of a teenager, I found it easy to relate to the teenage issues in the book. I found some of the story to be a bit far fetched and naive, but overall, it is a very enjoyable book. I am very impressed that the author, Megan Barnes, was just 17 when she wrote the story and had it published. On that alone I recommend the book! I admire anyone that follows their dreams, but to do so at such a young age is absolutely a triumph!
I give it a thumbs up and recommend this book to tweens- young teens.
