Greetings from the beach!

I finally made it to the beach! I had been looking forward to this ALL week! I went to Panama City Beach with my family because my dad and brother were in a golf tournament. They won 2nd place and my brother won closest to the hole! The whole trip was a success, even though it definitely wasn't long enough! My mom and I laid out at the beach while the boys played golf then we met for dinner and shopping!

For this trip, my beach reads were the newest Cosmo and The Family Fang. 

This was a really good issue of Cosmo. I love Zooey Deschanel...and so does my brother lol. There was an awesome article about Helen Gurley Brown, former editor in chief of Cosmo who passed away this month. She seemed like a badass. Also, the current editor in chief, Kate White, has a new book out about how to succeed in your career. I'm definitely going to read this soon. I love her fiction books and she always has great advice in Cosmo. There was a lot more I wanted to write about but I forgot my copy in my beach bag :/. I'll add more soon! 

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson 

Last month's Cosmo suggested this book as a good beach read and I saw it at BN in the new fiction authors section, which is one of my favorite sections so I had to get it. Annie and Buster Fang have spent most of their adult life trying to distance themselves from their artist parents, Caleb and Camille. But when a bad economy and a few bad decisions coverage, the two siblings end up back home. Annie and Buster then confront not only their parents but the chaos and confusion of their childhood. Basically this book is about a quirky, artsy family. The first few chapters really paint of a picture of their out of box parents and is really funny. I think I'm going to enjoy this! 

Before I left for the beach, I finished Angels Flight by Michael Connelly. Of course it was really good! I did find that this one started off a lot slower than some of the others but it ended with a band as usual. There's a lot of people you can't trust in the book and you don't know who they all are, that's what made this book so interesting. Also, Connelly leaves a lot of questions about Bosch's personal life unanswered. Hopefully in the next book we'll get some answers! Let me know if you enjoy Michael Connelly as much as I do! 

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Should be Reading. Want to participate? It's super easy:

1. Grab your current read. 

2. Open to a random page. 

3. Select 2 non-spoiler sentences.

This week I'm working on Angel's Flight (Harry Bosch series #6) by Michael Connelly

"About six months, but he loved his wife. He wasn't going to leave her."

pg. 147 

Sunday Confessions

I got the idea to do a blogger confession from a new blog I just started following, DeLibrarie. Check it out, you won't be disappointed! 

Sunday Confessions of a book blogger! 

1. I NEVER lend out books. 

I feel very nervous lending out my books. I have a fear of my book never returning to it's shelf or in terrible condition. I feel like there's no reason to borrow a book when there's on a BN on every corner and you can read from your phone/nook/kindle. 

2. I read ALL my assigned summer reading...and liked it.

 I was probably the only student who did that lol. Some of my favorite books have come from school reading lists. And I still secretly browse this section at BN :/. 

3. I don't want a nook or kindle. 

I LOVE holding an actual book. I don't know if I'd like reading off a screen but I'd save way more space in my apartment if I'd invest in one but I love my bookshelves filled with books. 

4. I NEVER throw away books. 

I have every book I've ever read. I love going back through old books and remembering when I read them. My mom has so many of my books in boxes in the attic from middle school that I WILL NOT let her throw out. That's blasphemy! 

5. I go to the sale section at BN first to see what I can find. 

That's mostly how I came across a lot of Michael Connelly's books. There's a guarantee that he will have a hardback book on the sale shelf. I'm a sucker for a good sale :) 

A Vintage Affair

I've finished my second book for the week, A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff. I very much liked this one! I've seen it several times at BN and finally decided to read it. Phoebe Swift abruptly leaves her job to open her own vintage clothing shop in London, which has been her dream and passion. She encounters an elderly frenchwoman, Therese Bell, who has an impressive clothing collection. Among the clothes, Phoebe finds a blue child's coat that Mrs. Bell will not speak of. As the book goes on, Phoebe and Mrs. Bell become close friends and Phoebe then learns the story of the blue coat. I loved that the book was about vintage clothes, it's a different story line. Also, intertwined in the book is a story about WWII and the Holocaust. This is probably one of my favorite topics to read, despite how sad it can be. Some of it did remind me of Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, which was awesome and anyone who loves stories of  the Holocaust will definitely love that book. A Vintage Affair wasn't quite as intense about the Nazi's and concentration camps as was Sarah's Key, but it has a great story. One of my favorite things about this book is at the end, a letter from the author is included. She discussed what ideas she had for the book and how she decided to write this particular story. I wish all authors did this!  It's so interesting to see how they come to their topics and develop their characters. AND she included a list of vintage shops in big cities in the US. I will be looking into more of Isabel Wolff's other novels! 

Of course after reading this, I want to go shopping for vintage clothes! Time Wrap in Baton Rouge has a really good selection of vintage clothing. Check it out if you haven't. Also, I found a clothing exchange shop, Meta Exchange, that buys, sells and trades clothing. It's technically not vintage but they have lots of cute stuff on their facebook! I don't own any vintage clothing yet but I love vintage covers of Cosmo and Vogue. I would love to have a library and have these framed on the walls! 

What are some good fiction novels about the Holocaust you've read? I've read Night by Ellie Wiesel in high school but I never read Dawn. Let me know your suggestions! 

Record timing

So last night, I started and finished Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley and it was awesome. No wonder it won all those awards! The narrator is 17 year old Cullen Witter. It's not only written in Cullen's POV but 2nd and 3rd person too, which was different and I really enjoyed it. There's also a story within the story. In between Cullen Witter's story, there is a story about Benton Sage. At first I was wondering where Benton's story was going but it definitely has a point! The summer before Cullen's senior year, his cousin dies of a overdose, his small town becomes obsessed over a woodpecker's reappearance, and his younger brother, Gabriel, disappears. This was a beautiful written, light-hearted story that becomes very suspenseful toward the end. I'm really glad I picked this one up! Everyone should read this one. Plus the author graduated from LA tech, which I thought was pretty cool. 

Next, I'm going to start A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff. It got really good reviews on bn.com and said it was a feel-good book, which is something I've been looking for. I've never read a vintage related book so I'm excited to see what this is like. If you read it, let me know what you think! 

Up next

Since my last post, I finished 2 books on my list, Trunk Music and Where We Belong. First, Trunk Music was awesome. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. There was a little twist at the end that I didn't see coming. Harry Bosch is one of my favorite characters. He is very real and nothing is sugar coated. Pick up anyone of his novels and you won't be let down. They're very suspenseful! Also, check out Michael Connelly's app. There's summaries of all his books and bios on the main characters! 

Second, I started and finished Where We Belong by Emily Giffin. This is her newest book and it definitely didn't disappoint. Marian Caldwell is a big New York TV producer dating the CEO of the TV company. She thinks she has everything figured out when late one night when an 18 year old Kirby Rose knocks on her door with the key to her past. Marian is forced to confront her past, resurrecting ghosts and a passionate young love affair. Kirby is then forced to reevaluate her family, friends and future. This story was beautifully written. Every other chapter is in Marian and Kirby's POV. My friend, Jennifer, and I discussed this after I read it, she did not care for the ending but I really enjoyed it. But we both agreed that we want a sequel that addresses a certain relationship (can't give anything away!). I highly recommend any of Emily Giffin's novels.

Up next is Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. I'm excited about this one and can't wait to share! 

Yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble to "browse" and ended up buying 2 more books, Angels Flight by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch series #6) and A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff. I leave for the beach next week and think I will save Angels Flight for a good beach read! What are some good beach reads you've read this summer? 

Trunk Music

I went to Barnes and Noble Thursday to find a good mystery book and to de-stress from the chaos of having to evacuate due to a wreck/spill on the interstate (#frustrating). I ended up getting Trunk Music (Harry Bosch series # 5) by Michael Connelly. It's been a few months since I've read my Michael Connelly books so I'm super excited about this one. This begins with Harry returning to work as a LAPD detective after an involuntary leave of absence. His first case back is a man, Tony Aliso, found stuffed into the trunk of his Rolls Royce. He took two bullets to the head- the kind of job wiseguys call "Trunk Music". Bosch begins unraveling pieces of Aliso's life from his Mob deals to his beautiful wife to a stripper in Vegas to a disgraced FBI agent who just happens to be Harry's ex-girlfriend. You do not have to read these books from the first one to understand the fifth one. Connelly usually catches you up in the first few chapters about what happened in past books. At first it's pretty vague about this ex-girlfriend he runs into in Vegas but you get the gist. Once Harry goes to Vegas to get the scoop on Aliso, it starts getting really good. I love Michael Connelly, he's my favorite crime writer. But the only thing I don't like about this book is the long chapters, when I say long I mean the first chapter is 94 pages :/ shesh! But other than that I'm hooked. His newest book, The Black Box (Harry Bosch series #16) comes out in November and I can't wait to pick that one up. 

When I discovered Michael Connelly, I read The Closers (#11) and it was awesome! For our senior English class in high school, our teacher let us pick books off the NY times best seller list for extra credit. I'm sure it's a shock that I LOVED this! So I picked The Closers. I didn't need to read the first 10 to understand this book. I started at #1 after than but have jumped to #12 and #13 and other random numbers. I guess I'm impatient lol. I think my favorite so far is Nine Dragons (#15). It was on sale at Barnes and Noble so I picked it up and couldn't put it down. None of his books are alike and they all keep you interested from page 1. Concrete Blond (#4) went into a lot of detail about his personal life, which none of the other books do and I found this one very interesting. You finally get to know a little more about Harry Bosch. I would definitely pick up any one of the Harry Bosch series if you're looking for a great crime writer with an suspenseful, captivating story!

I also picked up the new Cosmo, which I already read cover to cover and will most likely reread. I have to say I love Lucy Hale! I think we could be good friends ;) Check out her article in the new issue. The articles I found interesting/useful were 7 signs he isn't relationship ready (read this one!), 12 things to do before you get married, Signs he's secretly into you, and where'd my period go?. All were really good articles. I also got tons of make-up/skin care tips and a list of new products to try out soon! 

The second book I bought was Where Things Come Back by John Carey Whaley. This was in the young adult must read section and winner of the 2012 Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris awards. I decided on this because the Hunger Games was an amazing young adult trilogy so I wanted to see what else was recommended. I can't wait to start this one! 

Enjoy :)