Between Interruptions: 30 Women Tell the truth about Motherhood

Publisher: Key Porter Books

Genre: Memoir/Essays

Format: Review Copy

Purchase: Indie Bound

TLC Book Tours

This book was a no brainer for me to read and review. I'm a mom and am constantly being interrupted with everything I do. Would I have it any other way? No. Would I still like a moment to myself sometimes? You bet. Do I have a few drinks every now and then and vent about the ups and downs of motherhood? Yessiree.

I find it to be also very appropriate that I am now three days late for this blog tour due to a hectic schedule of jobs, family and daycare/school shuffling about. I guess when you are late to reviewing this kind of book, the reader should understand. Right?

I hope so.

Having that said, I really enjoyed this book. The range of stories was really diverse, unlike a lot of other essay collections I've read about motherhood. You go from one extreme hearing about a journalist covering the war in Iraq 3 months after giving birth to an actress who's brilliant birth plan is shattered when he son arrives three months early.

These stories were honest and that is always refreshing. I enjoy seeing the humor in motherhood and the fact that we are not perfect. Thank you to the women in these stories for admitting that and sharing all of the ups, downs, the expectations, the regrets, the joy, the hope, and the love of motherhood.

Thank you to Lisa at TLB Book Tours for asking me to be on this tour.

Once again, sorry I am late!

Rating: Recommend

I think this book is geared towards mothers of all ages. I think if you were not a mother, it would go over your head. You have to live it to relate, in my opinion. If there is a reader considering motherhood, then it would give them a voice from all sides.

Overall, I recommend this collection of essays on motherhood. Raw, honest and sincere, it tells it like it is.

Author Info:

Cori Howard is the founder of The Momoir Project, an online writing centre that offers memoir writing classes, workshops and workbooks. She’s also an award-winning journalist whose work in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio has taken her around the world. Her stories – many about motherhood – have appeared in publications including Reader’s Digest, Elle, The Independent, among many others. She lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her family.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

B.Y.O.B Book club Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Publisher: Delacorte

Format: Audio

Purchase: Indie Bound

Challenge: 2012 Audio Book Challenge

This was the second audio book I listened to in its completion. It was a hard transition from my first choice but as I got going, I found it to be quite fun to listen to. My B.Y.O.B Book club chose this as our first young adult book to read. I was planning on reading it but I thought I would give the ol' audio a try.

A brief description from Indie Bound:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess.

If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

My friend Laura wrote her review from the book club since I made the silly mistake of overbooking myself and missed the meet up. Check out Myriad Musings for her take. My opinion will be a bit different since I was the only one who listened to it.

It was an intriguing story and I was eagerly anticipating what was going to happen. Would they get out of the maze? Who was really controlling it all? Why did Thomas seem to feel like he had been there before?

I was easily intrigued and looked forward to getting back to the story after each pause. Once again, I listened to it in my car so it took me a good two weeks to finish. My only real issue with it all was the language in which the characters created. Having been confined to this world surrounded by a maze with no recollection of a life before, they essentially created their own swear words. They would call each other "Shank!" and "Greenie". It was a tad bit annoying at first and it took me a few discs to get used to. Also, there were several different characters and one narrator. He did a good job making each individual character stand out, however, some of the voices were a bit over the top. It got a bit jumbled at times. If I had read it, I don't know if I would have had the same irritation with it. Usually if there are parts that I find a bit tedious in reading, I would skim. You can't really skim with the audio version.

Most of my fellow book club friends continued on with the series; Scorch Trials and Death Cure. I had the best of intentions to do so but ended up choosing other things to read and listen to. I can't say that I won't in the future but not at this time.

Overall, they all seemed to enjoy it.

Rating: Recommend

This would not be my favorite young adult read, but I did enjoy it. It was fast paced once it got going and kept my interest. It was different enough and the world of the maze was interesting. This would be more suited to a younger reader, perhaps a fan of Maximum Ride series by James Patterson or The Last Apprentice series by James Delaney.

Next Book Up:

Blindness by Jose Saramago (March)

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Review: MWF seeking BFF: My Year Long Search for a new Best Friend by Rachel Bertsche

Publisher: Ballantine (Random House)

Format: Review Copy

Purchase: Indie Bound

Challenge: Memorable Memoir Challenge

Boy, this book could not have been written for anyone more perfect than me. What a lovely memoir that hit so close to home. Thank you so much to Tom @ Random House for sending this. It was a delight to read.

I'll break it down simply for you all. Rachel, the author, is new to the city of Chicago. She is newly married and really quite happy except for one small little realization. She doesn't have any real friends. Where are her besties? Where are the gals she can call at a moments notice to go to lunch? Nowhere, that's where. She has plenty of acquaintances but no one like her two closest childhood friends. Unfortunately they live in other states and she misses having that close connection to someone in the same city.

So begins her search for her new BFF.

Her goal: 52 friend dates. One date per week for one year.

She takes on many different challenges to finding these friends from putting out an ad to taking an improv class. Along the way, she meets some amazing women who she readily admits to having girl crushes on. She also meets a handful of bitches and gals that she just doesn't click with.

I found her humor to be so refreshing and fun to read. I really think if I went on a friend date with her that we could be friends. Of course, I wonder how many gals said that upon reading her book or blog! With her love for sushi, trash magazines and her knowledge of the old TV show Sisters, I could tell she was potential BFF material. (I mean, NO ONE knows about the show Sisters. I thought I was the only one!)

Anyhoo, her sincere, sweet, sometimes insane quest to find a new BFF was really a joy to read. I do have to admit that it was a bit exhausting at times to read through how busy she truly made herself. With the constant dinners and follow up get togethers, to classes, coffee, you name it, the girl was busy and going broke! But with a supportive new husband and a drive to find her match, she plugged through.

As a married woman now with a child who has very close friends living out of state, I related to this wholeheartedly. Sure, I know a ton of people and have some wonderful folks in my life nearby but I too, struggle for BFF's that are near to me. It was really interesting to see how she broke friendships down and it made me look at those in my life a little bit closer. It's really common to be in your late 20s, early 30s and have trouble finding new friends. This book gave me some ideas and hope that finding some good ol' friendship companionship is a need that so many have and it's okay!

Rating: Recommend

I didn't find much I didn't like about this book. It was sweet, fun and intriguing to read her adventures in the land of Friend Dates. Even though there were a few times that I was exhausted at her search, her intent and desire for friendship pulled me through. I didn't feel like she was fake about it at all just to sell a book. Her humor was sincere and refreshing. I would recommend this book for fans of Jen Lancaster's books or Laurie Notaro. Fun, fresh, witty writing.

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

What to expect when you are expecting Red Headed Book Child 2012

2012 Updates and Changes

This year is starting out to be a very busy one for me, hence the lack of blogging as of late. I've been working really hard with my new jobs and trying to get them all working together and managing child care and household stuff...ACK! I have been reading and listening to audio books but have not had the time or really, the energy to write reviews.

I guess this is probably normal on year 3 of blogging...the romance is gone, eh?

But, no worries, I'm not going anywhere...I am simply just relaxing in my blogging responsibilities.

Every year I tweak little bits of my blog and try to stick to them for the year. This year is definitely The Year of Simple for me. I'm not going to stress about how many books I read or how many posts I post. I am going to keep it as simple as possible but still maintain some general guidelines.

So, for the year 2012 here is an update on what you can expect from

Red Headed Book Child.

Reviews:

I will continue to read my 3 favorite genres; literary fiction, mysteries, and memoirs but this year you may see me reading more young adult and children's books as well.

I will post the title and a link to Indie Bound for purchase information.

I will not post a review for every book I read. This is a change. Due to time constraints, I will pick and choose, depending on how strong I feel about the book, on what I will review. I will, however, keep a sidebar tracking of each book I have read, for your curiousity.

Rating System:

I found I was never giving any rating below a 4 last year when I had the 1-6 rating system so I am getting rid of that. Really, my purpose of "rating" a book is whether or not I think you, as a reader, should read it. So, it will be either Recommended or Not Recommended. I will then give a few points as to why and why not. See? Simple.

Book Clubs:

A lot of my reading last year came from my two book clubs. I will be posting reviews for those books read for each of them and will post along the sidebar once again.

Buttons:

I may clean up my sidebars a bit and get rid of these buttons. It doesn't mean I love you less, I just may want my blog to look a little simpler. TBD...

Sidebars:

My sidebars will include my challenge, the challenges I've joined, my mystery giveaways, what I'm reading, my book clubs and any blog tours I may join. Those items will remain consistent.

Awards:

I will not be accepting or giving any awards.

My Challenge:

Due to my lack of funds, I have only one link for my A-Z Mystery Author Challenge and that is the one to post your reviews. Click on the sidebar to grab the link and sign up and post your reviews as well.

Comments:

I generally respond to your comments by email, not in my post. That could change if I am unable to reply back to you in email form. As always, I appreciate any and all comments I get!

I think I covered it all. My life has been a whirlwind of change these past few years since I started this blog. While I was working full-time before at the bookstore, I never would have had the time to do this. Though hard, my transition from that career to being a SAHM has opened my eyes and heart to the book blogging community. I still love it very much. I will try every year to continue to talk about my passion for books on this little ol' site.

I thank all of you for growing and changing with me.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

2012 A-Z Mystery Author Challenge: Sign Up AND Post Reviews Here

Sign Up AND Post your reviews here, please! I'm using one link. It's easier for my brain I guess.

Thanks!

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

The Year of Mysterious Giveaways: January 2012

Are you all ready for year 2 of The Year of Mysterious Giveaways?!

(I'm imaging crowds screaming...whoooooooo!)

Well, alrighty then!

I'm going to give it a go and deliver up a variety of mysteries to give away;

from cozy to thriller.

This month I wanted to start out with a little cozy.

The White House Chef Mysteries are really fun reads! I've only read one, Buffalo West Wing, and had a lot of fun with it. My mom has read all of them and just wants to borrow this before I give it away!

Click here for a full description!

I did not feel like I missed out on much not having read the first three books.

Contest Rules:

Contest runs from January 5-January 31

Please reside in the United States

Please be a follower

Please leave an email address

Thanks to Dana Kaye @ Kaye Publicity for sending me a copy to give away!

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

The Year of Mysterious Giveaways December 2011 winner!

Once again, I'm behind on all things with due dates!

Sorry!

The winner of Darkness all Around by Doug Magee is...

skkorman said...

Sounds like a good read—please enter me to win! I'm a GFC follower (skkorman)!

skkorman AT bellsouth DOT net

Thanks all for entering!

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

The Ladies Book club: December 2011

I'm a bit behind on this post because really all we did was eat and drink. We chose not to read a book for the month of December. Too busy with the holidays and whatnot. We all bought treats and wine and had a blast!!!

Treats included homemade oreo balls, truffles, nut goodie bars, spritz cookies, nuts, cheese, crackers, peanut butter cups, etc. And wine...lots of wine. We feasted!

All 11 of us were in attendance too!

It's been a lovely year with the Ladies and I've enjoyed sharing our book choices and our opinions this year. Thanks for going along on the ride.

We are starting up again in January and ready for a rocking good reading year.

Our book choice?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

YAY!

Stay tuned!

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child