Summer Reads 2015

Always the bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk

Maddie's two best friends are going through some big life changes, Lauren is getting married while Sarah is going through a divorce and Maddie feels caught between the two. Lauren appoints Maddie as her unpaid wedding planner (as well as bridesmaid) and turns into bridezilla. On top of juggling wedding texts at all hours, Maddie is also consoling Sarah through late night drinking sessions as well as working for the biggest promotion in years. During her work at a wedding Maddie meets Will and Tom who compete for her attention. Each chapter begins with an entry into a bridesmaid journal, this diary format and the thoughts of the main character gave it a Bridget Jones feel. As things get worse it's used as a comic contrast from the cheerful tone of the book to how bad things actually are. I enjoyed Maddie's job as an events planner and Shona her boss, is the boss from hell but she isn't portrayed as stereotypically as she could have been which was good. The three main characters are best friends who argue a lot but ultimately they love each other like sisters. Maddie was a bit passive aggressive and although you can empathise with her, it would have been nice to actually see her saying no to people and meaning it. I did like the texts and emails towards the end of the book which acted as a nice epilogue to the story.
4/5


The Good Girls by Sara Shepard

Mackenzie, Ava, Julie, Parker and Caitlin are wanted for a murder they didn't commit. Sure, they talked about killing rich bully Nolan Hotchkiss, but it's just a coincidence that Nolan died in exactly the way they planned. Except Nolan wasn't the only one they fantasised about hurting in film class that day. Now someone seems to have found their list and is killing the people on it. Who is really behind these killings? 

This book is the sequel to The Perfectionists, but don't worry if you haven't read the first because Shepard covers everything you need to know in the prologue which serves as an excellent recap. The growing list of murders does sound a little far fetched but possible enough that it could happen, especially as the plot is based on the film And Then There Were None which is where the murder mystery began in film studies. It's very hard to talk about this book without giving away the ending, but the twist at the end makes it better than most of the books Shepard's written. It also reminds me of a Russell Crowe film. The ending ties up almost all the loose ends which is unusual for Sara Shepard The Queen of Cliff-Hangers but is much more satisfying for the reader. Another gripping read from Shepard. 5/5

Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot

Let me start by saying that I love Meg Cabot's books and was really looking forward to reading this book but ultimately I found it disappointing. It was slow, boring and a little predictable. I liked Princess Mia's character, she is kind, level headed, funny and considerate. She's also a hypochondriac, but after 100 pages of worrying and moaning and nothing else happening it became very grating and boring. We do get to see from the perspective of a royal, always needing to be on their best behaviour and that anything they do can be misconstrued by the press and just one photo could ruin their reputation. We also see how the press hound her out of her home. To deal with the stress in her life Mia's doctor tells her to write a gratitude journal recording the things she is thankful for which is why the book is written in a diary format. We also get to see text message conversations between the characters which I liked. The proposal is romantic and Mia and her fiancé Michael make a great team, he handles the stress of dating a royal well and they make a sweet couple. But isn't until 40% through the book that things become more interesting when a family secret comes out, yet nothing really happened about this secret until 60% through the book. The reunion between the parents also happens off stage. I haven't read any of the princess diaries but I think if you are a long time fan that's been dying to see Mia and Michael get married or if you have fond memories of the series and grew up with Mia, you will love this book. For me the pacing was too slow and Mia moans too much. People who aren't die hard fans may not like this book. 2 or 2.5/5

5 Books I'm Looking Forward To Reading In S/S 2015

Royal Wedding Meg Cabot
I have a huge amount of respect for the incredibly talented Meg Cabot, she's written across many genres from children, young adult, chick lit, crime chick lit to steamy novels and she writes them well. I haven't read the princess diaries (in fact the only Meg Cabot books I haven't) having moved into my 20's by then. I have watched the two films starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway which are pretty good. This book sees Mia all grown up, and given the wedding fever over Prince William and Kate, the subject of Royal Weddings are very popular.

For Princess Mia, the past five years since college graduation have been a whirlwind of activity, what with living in New York City, running her new teen community centre, being madly in love, and attending royal engagements.  Mia's gorgeous longtime boyfriend Michael managed to clear both their schedules just long enough for an exotic Caribbean island interlude where he popped the question! But now Mia has a scandal of majestic proportions to contend with: Her grandmother's leaked "fake" wedding plans to the press that could cause even normally calm Michael to become a runaway groom. Worse, a scheming politico is trying to force Mia's father from the throne, all because of a royal secret that could leave Genovia without a monarch. Can Mia prove to everyone - especially herself - that she's not only ready to wed, but ready to rule as well? 
UK release date: 2nd July Pre Order at Amazon here

Finding Audrey (Sophie kinsella)
Although I found the last book she wrote as part of the Shopaholic series disappointing (see my review here) it hasn't put me off reading Kinsella's other books. Finding Audrey seems to be the first book where her main character is a teenager and her first outing in young adult fiction. The main character Audrey suffers from anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are common, Anxiety UK estimates  that more than 1 in 10 people are likely to have a ‘disabling anxiety disorder’ at some stage in their life. It'll be interesting to see how Kinsella tackles this issue.

Meet Audrey: an ordinary teenage girl with not so ordinary problems.
Aside from her completely crazy and chaotic family, she suffers from an anxiety disorder which makes talking to her brother's hot new best friend a bit of a challenge.
But Audrey has a plan to help her face her fears and take on the world again. First stop: Starbucks.
UK Release date June 4 th 2015 Pre- order here at Amazon.

Go Set A watchman (Harper Lee)
This is a long awaited sequel of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' a book that won many awards including the Pulizer Prize and spent 41 weeks on the best seller list when it was released in 1961. To Kill A Mockingbird tackled racism in the American Deep South and the differing views on justice, with Atticus, a lawyer, seen as a moral hero. The book appears on many school syllabuses aimed at teaching tolerance rather than prejudice. I studied this book at school, watched the film starring Gregory Pick (1962 ) as well as watching the play in the theatre. In Go Set A Watchman Scout is no longer a child, she's grown up and living in New York. When she travels back to Maycomb to see her father she reminisces about the past.

Go Set a Watchman is set during the mid-1950s and features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father Atticus. She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand both her father’s attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood. An instant classic.
Uk release date July 14 2015 Pre-order here at Amazon.

Always the Bridesmaid (Lindsey Kelk)
Lindsey Kelk's writes in a entertaining and carefree way. Her books seem to involve a lot of drinking, hilarious escapades, trips abroad and the odd swear word. The opening of  her first published book 'I heart New York' begins with a wedding and she returns to this theme, but from three different women's perspectives. If this is like her other books it will be a humorous, light-hearted, easy read and it's released just in time for at the wedding season in May.

Everyone loves a bridesmaid - except Maddie, who’s perpetually asked to be one.
Everyone loves a wedding - except Maddie’s best friend, who’s getting divorced.
And everyone loves the way Maddie’s so happy behind the scenes - except Maddie herself.
One best friend is in wedding countdown while the other heads for marriage meltdown. And as Maddie juggles her best chance at promotion in years with bridezilla texts and late-night counselling sessions, she starts to wonder – is it time to stop being the bridesmaid?
Uk release date may 7th Pre-order here at Amazon

The Good Girls (Sara Shepard)
The recurring theme in Shepard's books seem to be exposing the dark secrets behind perfect, rich and attractive girls whose lives aren't really as perfect as they seem. She does write to a set formula: throw in rich girls, bullying & blackmail and don't forget the twins! Despite this I love these plots and they always seem to be addictive. This is the second instalment in the Perfectionists series, see the review of the first here.

They're good girls...but no one's perfect...Mackenzie, Ava, Julie, Parker and Caitlin are five senior high-school girls who seem to have it all. Top grades, beautiful looks, music scholarships, sports captaincies...even the boys of their dreams. But there's just one small flaw in their apparently perfect facade. They're wanted for a murder they didn't commit. Sure, they talked about killing rich bully Nolan Hotchkiss, but they didn't go through with it. It's just a coincidence that Nolan died in exactly the way they planned...right? Except Nolan wasn't the only one they fantasised about hurting in film class that day. And now someone seems to have found their list, and is carrying out their very particular revenges in their name. Who is really behind these killings? Who can they truly trust? And who will be the next to die?
Uk release date July 2nd Pre-order here on Amazon

4 LIPSTICK THEMED READS

Imagens Portal SESCP Bonequinha_Frame film (2) Changes Made



1) It's Ok to have lead in your lipstick (Perry Romanowski & Randy Schueller)

Written by the people behind The Beauty Brains Beauty Science blog. Romanoeski is cosmetic chemist and scientist, while Schueller is a former senior director of Hair and Skincare R&D for Alberto Culver and Unilever and a science writer. This is a great book that makes cosmetic science easier to understand. The bulk of the book is a collection of questions asked by the public via their website and the answers are straightforwardly explained in a way that isn't patronising. They cut through beauty myths and marketing jargon. One of the main messages is about the scaremongering among the press about beauty ingredients being hazardous to skin often ignore the fact that it's the amount/dose that matters.While cosmetics often contain ingredients that can be unhealthy at high levels often the substance are present at very low and insignificant levels.  One example is that lead contained in lipstick isn't dangerous because it is at such a low level, as well as being deemed safe by the FDA, lead cannot be ingested by the body so it goes through the digestive system and is excreted out. Therefore it doesn't stay long in your system to do much damage. They explain how to read ingredient lists, the difference between active, base, control and featured ingredients and how ingredient names are often manipulated to sound safer, better or more natural. If you have an allergy to a particular ingredient you will be used to looking up and decoding labels but it's still quite informative. The authors are based in America so a lot of the cosmetic regulations they refer to are American but they do include EU regulations as well. The chapter on bizarre beauty ingredients is guaranteed to make you smile or be a little horrified! (snail cream, bird poo, ant oil, bulls semen, take your pick!) The final chapter also restores some faith in the beauty industry by including products that work or that have some scientific basis for what their product claims to do.

Paperback £8.64 Amazon, The Book Depository, £10.22, Amazon Kindle £1.93

2) Lipstick A Girl's Best Friend (Jessica Pallingston) 

This tells you everything you ever wanted to know about lipstick and I mean everything! The history: from the humble beginnings in Babylon, ancient Egypt & Greece to the twentieth century. Plus facts about lipsticks and tips about applying it and clues about your personality from how you wear down the lipstick bullet. It describes the process of how lipstick is made including DIY recipes to do at home! It covers lipstick in popular culture from buildings inspired by lipsticks, Salvador Dali's lipstick sofa to Lachowicz' who remoulded famous sculptures in lipstick such as Michael Angelo's David. You can even create poems from all the lipstick names ever imagined. Unfortunately this book is out of print but can be bought on Amazon Marketplace.

3) The lipstick girls Rose (Bobbye Terry) £1.91

Chick-Lit novella set in the cosmetics industry. Rose Carmichael starts her dream job at Pucker Perfect Lipstick Corporation. Her boss Flame Fairmont has high expectations of Rose to create a campaign that will knock the competition. The competition is Flames ex boyfriend and also her brother Gentry. Rose is up for the fight but can she resist Gentry's charm? The chemistry between Rose and Gentry is well written and propels the reader through the book. It's entertaining and fast paced due to being a novella.  Available on Amazon Kindle £1.91

4)  Lipstick Jihad (Azadeh Moaveni) 


This is a memoir about Moaveni struggling with her identity as an American Iranian/Iranian American. She was born in California to secular Iranian immigrants who left Iran during the political turmoil of the Iranian Revolution. She decides to return to Iran during 2000-2001. Working as a journalist for Time Magazine, she describes the hope for social and political change under Reformist President Khatami and disappointment of the slow pace of reform while people were still being denied the basic freedoms others take for granted. She rallies against the incompetence of the Islamic Republic government run by the attolyahs and its aggressive repression. She goes to demonstrations, is harassed by secret police, interviews politicians and meets hedonistic young people rebelling against the strict Islamist regime as they try to live more freely. Although a serious book her personal anecdotes of describing her relatives are hilarious and we also get a glimpse of the food, friends and lifestyle in Iran. She writes about her experiences as an unmarried but privileged woman living in a country that will suppress independence by force. Since this is a memoir it only represents a certain demographic living in Iran. Moaveni comes from a secular family and she does give the impression that religious people are fanatic and possibly dangerous which of course most religious people aren't. All in all this is a good book to read as an introduction to Iran, it's history and socio-political culture.

Paperback £8.99 Amazon  and £5.99 Amazon Kindle

Disclaimer: I bought these books with my own money. I was not given any books in exchange for a favourable review. These are just a list of books I enjoyed reading.