zaterdag 24 november 2012

Review "Sihpromatum - I grew my boobs in China"

Some information

Title: Sihpromatum - I grew my boobs in China
Author: Savannah Grace
Pages: 519 (in e-pub version)
Genre: true story - travel
Published: August 2012
Publisher: Sihpromatum Publishing House
My Source: author (thank you!)
My score on Goodreads: 5 stars (and I would give more if possible)

Covertext


SIHPROMATUM (Sip-row-may-tum) is a memoir series of one family’s four-year backpacking adventure around the world. The first installment, I Grew my Boobs in China, is the beginning of an intensely fascinating, sobering, and emotional memoir of Savannah’s introspective and innovative family adventure.

In 2005, 14-year-old Savannah Grace’s world is shattered when her mother unexpectedly announces that she and her family (mother, 45; brother, 25; sister, 17) would soon embark on an incredible, open-ended journey. When everything from her pets to the house she lived in is either sold, given away or put in storage, this naïve teenage girl runs headlong into the reality and hardships of a life on the road.
Built around a startling backdrop of over eighty countries (I Grew my Boobs in China relates the family’s adventures in China and Mongolia), this is a tale of feminine maturation – of Savannah’s metamorphosis from ingénue to woman-of-the-world. Nibbling roasted duck tongues in China and being stranded in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert are just two experiences that contribute to Savannah’s exploration of new cultures and to the process of adapting to the world around her.

Review

Wauw! This is the first book in a long while that thaught me a lot while it also offered me a great and entertaining read. Normally I find books with true stories rather boring. This time it was different. Though Savannah Grace tells us a story about the big journey she and her family made, this wasn't a dull diary or something like that. It was a funny, well writen, interesting book that invites you into a new world and encourages you to read further and further and to travel further and further with the lovely family of Savannah Grace.

At the age of 14, Savannah is a very normal girl with a normal life. She does normal things, goes to a normal school,... All of that changes suddenly when Savannah's mother is sick and tired of all this normality in their lifes. After her husband left her she feels like doing something for her own. Instead of buying some expensive things or redecorate their house, she wants to go on a journey. A big one... A journey through several countries. A journey that will take a year to complete. 
While Ammon and Bree, her siblings, are excited and curious about the biggest step they'll probably take in their lifes, Savannah hates every little thing about it. She doesn't want to discover the world. She wants to discover the "normal" world around her, boys, new friends,... Selling their house, leaving everything behind, quiting school for a year,... Did her mother become crazy? Savannah believes she does, but eventually she does everything asked of her and she joins her family on the biggest field trip ever. 

The countries chosen by their mother and brother Ammon aren't the easiest ones to start with. Faced with poverty and other cultures this American family learns to appreciate life in a totally different way. They learn what's important in life and how people with nothing can give you the most. They learn how every stranger is a friend you still have to meet. They learn the taste of wool in cookies. Lessons they couldn't learn at school.

What I liked the most about this book is how recognisable Savannah writes about her feelings through this journey. I think I would react the same way as she did... not so happy to leave everything I know behind, give my dog away to people I don't know, live from a backpack, sell my house, leave school and know I'm gonna get behind,... But eventually I would appreciate this opportunity too. It's lovely to read how Savannah experiences several opposite emotions throughout this journey. Some days she's excited and happy with everything she gets to see. Other days she's scared, feels lonely and just wants to eat something normal. This book is a great mix of all sorts of things and that makes it an interesting and fun read!

I recommand this book to everyone and when you read it, you should check the blog of the family too. It provides some cool pictures you can link to the story while reading. 
Blog: http://www.sihpromatum.com/


zaterdag 3 november 2012

Review "Tangled Up In You"

Some information

Title: Tangled Up In You
Author: Rachel Gibson
Pages: 260 (Dutch version)
Genre: Chick Lit
Published: july 2007
Publisher: Avon
My source: ECI
My score on Goodreads: 3 stars (because of the predictability)

Covertext

Maddie Dupree isn't in Truly, Idaho, looking for a husband, a boyfriend, or anything in between.

Maddie is determined to uncover the untold story about the town's sordid past--her past. As a child, Maddie lost everything, and now she's back at the scene of the scandal--a local establishment that's always belonged to the Hennessys--determined to uncover the truth, and nothing is going to stand in her way. Especially not a black-haired, blue-eyed Hennessy.

Everyone in Truly knows that the Hennessy men are irresistible, and the current owner, Mick, is no exception. His late father was a skirt-chasing heartbreaker who ended up causing disaster for two families. So far, Mick's managed to keep the ladies in line, but when he claps eyes on Maddie, with her luscious curves and tempting lips, he can't resist getting tangled up with her.

But Maddie is keeping secrets, not the least of which is her true reason for being in town. And when Mick discovers what`s really going on, there is going to be a whole lot of trouble in Truly.

Review

Some people give me a strange look when I say I like chick lit... Is that because I'm a teacher who teaches quite serious courses? I don't know... and I don't know why I'm not "allowed" to like chick lit! :p Maybe I need some predictable romantic stories from time to time...
I can't go without saying all of Rachel Gibsons books follow the same plot. I've only read the three first books of the writer series, but they all tell us the same story with different characters. Because I needed a light harted book, I just didn't care about that and enjoyed the book despite it.

Have to say I liked "Tangled Up In You" by Rachel Gibson. I'm starting to become a fan of her books. The story is somewhat predictable, but Rachel writes it in such a way you keep on reading and you start loving the lovely characters. It's a good read to clear your head in times of work and stress!
"Tangled Up In You" tells us the story about Maddie (Madeline) Dupree/Jones. She's one of the four writer friends Rachel wrote about in four books. Maddie's the one who writes about serial killers and the people behind big crimes. This time everything is different. Maddies next book doesn't tell her readers the story about a big crime or people she doesn't know. This time she wants to write a book about the day her mother was murdered by the wife of her big love. It's hard for Maddie to be back in the town and bar where her mother lived her last days, where she herself started her life as a lonely kid without a real family. It's even harder for her to meet the children of the woman who killed her own husband, Maddies mother and commited suiced after that. These children, Meg and Mick, are nice people and Maddie likes them (especially Mick) even though she didn't believe that was going to be possible.

Although Maddie really wants to write her book and meet some people who knew her mother, it's not so easy as thought. Mick isn't just a useful source for her book...he's the man she didn't expect him to be: the one she loves! That's the reason why Maddie doesn't want to tell him who she is. He knows she writes a book about his family and the tragidy that ruined his life, but he doesn't know she's the daughter of the girl his father loved instead of his own wife. The daughter of the reason why his mother took a gun and destroyed three lives...

To everybody who loves predictable and romantic chick lit: read this book (and the other ones in the writer series by Rachel Gibson). To all the others: .... ;)