I've never done one of these before, but I wanted to do something a little more personal today.  One of the problems with reading (almost) exclusively Whitney Award finalists for two months is that I'm reviewing lots of books that are kind of obscure and therefore, don't generate a lot of commentary.  And, darn it, I like commentary.  So, since I couldn't find an "official" format for this thing, I stole Suey's approach.  I'm sneaky like that.  You experienced Sunday Saloners, tell me if I'm doing this right, okay?  Here goes nothin':

Outside my window:  Ugh, it's hot.  Already.  It's only 6:30 in the morning, but the heat already feels oppressive.  It was 100 degrees here yesterday, so my kids spent a good portion of the day in the pool.  I was too wimpy to get in, even though the kids assured me the water felt great—after you got used to it, of course :)

I am listening to:  Uh, nothing.  Everyone is asleep but me and my 10-year-old daughter.  She's reading a book, so a tornado could pick up the house and toss it into the Grand Canyon and she wouldn't notice.  Haven't heard a peep out of her.

Song of the week:  I've been listening to a lot of Disney princess songs in the car with my 3 year old.  Does that count?

TV Talk:  You know, I don't watch much t.v. anymore.  I watch recorded episodes of Jeopardy! while I fold laundry and I listen to Battlestar Galactica while my husband and son watch it on Netflix.  I don't really watch it—although my husband insists I should because it's just like all those end-of-the-world novels I like so much.  He's probably right, but I usually spend the time reading or playing Words With Friends instead. 

READING REPORT:  

Books Finished:  I finished my reading for the Whitney Awards.  Phew!  That was a lot of work.  Books I took down this week (I think) are Smokescreen by Traci Hunter Abramson; Bloodborne by Gregg Luke; Acceptable Loss by Anne Perry; and Asfall by Mike Mullin (This one isn't a Whitney finalist—I read it for fun).  

Books Started:  Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin.  This is the sequel to Ashfall, a YA novel about what happens when a dormant volcano in Yellowstone erupts, causing widespread post-apocalyptic destruction.  I got it via Netgalley (Yes, I have finally taken a baby step into the 21st Century!).  The book doesn't come out until October, so I'll probably wait until then to review it. But, so far, it's got lots of action.

Books Up Next:  Well, now, that is a very good question.  I've been pondering what to read next.  I'll definitely read Hope's Journey by Stephanie Connelly Worlton this week.  It's about two LDS teenagers dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.  I've only read a chapter or so, but already I like Worlton's realistic portrayal of the situation, which I believe is based on her own experience.  After that, I have a few middle grade books I need to read for the reading program at my kids' elementary school.  Of course, I still haven't gotten to Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver or Defending Jacob by William Landay.  So, yeah, we'll see.  

I am thinking:  About how even though I look really nasty in this picture, I want to post it because it represents the fun Suey (It's All About Books), Melissa (One Librarian's Book Reviews), Gaye (Inside A Book) and I had meeting each other and chatting it up at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona.  Picture is courtesy of Suey's cell phone. 

I am grateful for:  Modern medicine.  Reading Ashfall, in which the survivors have to use primitive methods to take care of common health problems, reminded me of the fact that a person with my issues (Type 1 Diabetes, cancer, reading OCD [Ha!], etc.) would have a very hard time surviving in anything but the most modern of conditions.  So, I'm thankful I don't live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and that I have ready access to modern medicines.  Also that I can afford (barely) to pay for them.

Around the House:  We moved the boys into one bedroom and let the toddler have her own room, so there's been a lot of cleaning and organizing going on around here.  As soon as I get things completely sorted out, we're going to have all the bedrooms painted.  Finally! 

Recipe of the Week:  Recipe?  Ha ha ha ha ha.  Does strawberry cheesecake from Costco count?  It's really good :)

Favorite Thing of the Week:  Clothes shopping at Old Navy with my 10-year-old daughter.  It was fun to hang out together. 

Least Favorite Thing:  Triple digits.  Gah!  The heat just zaps me of all energy and motivation.  I think I might actually get in the pool this week.

Family Matters:  We've been thinking a lot about what to do with all of ourselves over summer break.  The oldest (13 yo) will be going to Scout camp and taking a swimming class at BYU.  My 10 yo will be attending a fun bookish event in Provo, Utah, with her grandma.  She's also planning to take a couple of art classes.  The 7 yo is going to do a football camp at BYU and the baby (3 yo) will be taking swimming lessons and dance class.  She'll be starting Preschool in August—we can't wait!

The Coming Week:  I'm heading off to LDS Storymakers in Provo in about a week and a half, so I've got lots to do around the house to get ready for that.  I also have book club, a wedding reception and who knows what else.  I should probably take a glance at my calendar so I'm ready for whatever's coming ...

Blog Report:  Just the usual reviews, with more to come.  I'm about 10 books behind on reviews, so, yeah, I'll be playing catch up this week, too.  

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

     

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

After breaking her engagement to her righteous, but utterly predictable, fiancee, 27-year-old Julia Darling knows she needs to get out of the Salt Lake Valley.  Longing for adventure, she answers a newspaper ad written by a "desperate rancher" in Wyoming looking for a "chef of mature years" to cook for him and his ranch hands.  A graduate of Boston's most renowned cooking school, Julia certainly knows her way around a kitchen.  She ignores the "mature years" bit and accepts the position.  

Before Julia's really had time to think about what she's doing, she's packed and on a train to Wyoming.  Her new boss, a crusty rancher named Paul Otto, is startled by her youth, even though, at 35, he's not as seasoned as he made himself sound in his ad.  More concerned with his empty stomach than by the impropriety of a young, unmarried woman living on a remote ranch full of men, Mr. Otto hires Julia.  His new cook is nervous, but determined.  Until she sees The Double Tipi.  It's obvious she can't cook—let alone live—in such a wild, untamed place.

As much as she wants to run straight home to Utah, Julia's struck by how much she's needed at the dilapidated ranch.  There are empty bellies to fill, an orphan child desperate for a mother figure, and, of course, an uncouth cowboy who grows more intriguing by the hour.  It's adventure she's craving—this qualifies in spades.  But can she really survive for a year out in the wilderness, so far from her family, her friends and her faith?  She'll find out as she battles everything from rats to snakes to deadly weather to the traitorous yearnings of her own heart.

Before reading Borrowed Light, a historical romance by Carla Kelly, I'd never heard of the author, let alone read one of her books.  Which is a darn shame because, frankly, I loved this one.  It's one of those novels that has everything—adventure, mystery, romance, humor, even spirituality.  Don't be turned off by that last one because the religious aspect of the story is interwoven so well with everything else that it doesn't come off as didactic or heavy-handed.  In fact, it's that balance between all of the different story elements that make Borrowed Light so enchanting, so compelling and so thoroughly enjoyable.  It might be a little far-fetched (Would a single LDS woman in 1909 really have been comfortable—not to mention safe—living out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of men?  Would her conservative, protective parents really have given her their blessing to do so?), but I don't care, I loved this book.  And, believe you me, it won't be the last Kelly novel I read.

(Readalikes:  Captive Heart by Michele Paige Holmes; the Sarah Prine novels [These Is My Words; Sarah's Quilt and The Star Garden] by Nancy E. Turner; Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner; and a little like Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson)

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for scenes of peril and mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received a PDF of Borrowed Light from the generous folks at Bonneville Books (an imprint of Cedar Fort) via the Whitney Awards Committee.  Thank you!

  

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

After being left at the altar by the man of her dreams, 26-year-old Kelly Grace Pickens doesn't know how to feel.  She's humiliated, of course, not to mention lonely, angry, worried, and—most of all—confused.  She hasn't heard a word from her fiancee.  Is he lying dead in a gutter somewhere or, worse, has he just changed his mind about marrying her?  With no answers, no money, and no husband, Kelly Grace can't just sit around tormenting herself with what ifs.  She has to do something.  But what?

Becoming a contestant on a reality t.v. show—especially one where a bunch of desperate women vie for the "love" of some narcissistic pretty boy—is a possibility that's never, ever entered Kelly Grace's mind.  But when her cousin, the co-producer of America's most popular dating show, begs Kelly Grace to fill a last-minute spot on this season's cast list, she reluctantly agrees to participate.  Kelly Grace is only in it for the money, of course, and has no intention of throwing herself at the show's star.  No matter how good-looking or sweet or wealthy Dillon Black might be.  Of course, things get mighty complicated when the suave bachelor puts the moves on Kelly Grace, who suddenly finds herself having to trying very, very hard to resist.  The question now is:  What (or who) does Kelly Grace really want and how far will she go to get it (him)?  

I should probably mention right off the bat that I'm not a fan of The Bachelor or anything of its kind.  Maybe that's what made Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford so difficult for me to enjoy.  Or maybe it's because the novel got so far-fetched, melodramatic and contrived I could hardly stand it.  I think I would have actually found a behind-the-scenes look at reality t.v. interesting, but Ford skimps mightily on the "insider" details, focusing instead on the developing relationship between Kelly Grace and Dillon.  Which might have been okay, except that the romance was totally predictable.  Now, I realize it's a romance, so the guy and girl are going to get together, but to keep my attention, an author has to make me wonder if the couple can really overcome all the odds that stand in the way of their Happily Ever After.  Ford didn't do that.  I think the real problem with the book, though, is that Kelly Grace has no real goal, nothing admirable she's trying to do, nothing to make the reader root for her.  Plus, she gets the guy way too easily, which throws the plotting all out of whack because the climax of the story comes in the middle of the book instead of at the end.  So, yeah.  While I kind of liked the premise of Count Down to Love, it just really didn't deliver for me.    

(Readalikes:  Reminded me a little of Not My Type by Melanie Jacobson)

Grade:  C-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received a PDF copy of Count Down to Love from the generous folks at Bonneville Books (an imprint of Cedar Fort) via the Whitney Award Committee.  Thank you!   

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Staggering under the debt of the fancy wedding she financed, but never got, 23-year-old Pepper Spicer has come back home to lick her wounds.  There's nothing glamorous about the life she's living now—she's sleeping under her parents' roof, bunking with a 7-year-old, and working a dead-end job at a sandwich shop.  She's got no social life, no romantic life, no life at all.  Pepper's got plenty to complain about.  And she does.  Loudly.  Constantly.  Exhaustingly.  It's wearing her—and everyone around her—out.  

It's not until Pepper's therapist father suggests she start expressing a little gratitude that Pepper realizes her life might not be a complete waste.  Through the weekly thank you notes she writes (at the insistence of Dr. Dad), she begins to see the truth:  Pepper Spicer might not be quite as pathetic as she seems to be.  She's got connections, a support system, maybe even some prospects for a brighter future.  With that little glimmer of hope leading her on, she starts taking chances, praying they'll lead to something better than Handy's Dandy Sandwiches.  

Before too long, Pepper's traded in her hairnet for a writing job in the city.  It's a dream position at a start-up online magazine, something that doesn't pay a whole lot, but has enormous career-making possibilities.  There's only one problem—she has to work her way up by producing a column on her experiences with online dating.  By actually experiencing it.  It's not an ideal assignment for someone as jilted and jaded as Pepper, but her snarky outlook on the whole thing strikes a chord with Salt Lake's similarly frustrated single crowd.   Pepper's pleased with her popular column, even if she doesn't feel right about deceiving her dates.  But, when she finally finds a man who's actually worth dating, her dubious job may be the one thing that stands in the way of Pepper getting what she really wants—true happiness.  

Like The List, Melanie Jacobson's debut LDS novel, Not My Type offers a fun, lighthearted story about a girl struggling to understand who she really is and what she really wants.  Unlike the former, the latter gives us a much more likable heroine, someone who's self-deprecating and sympathetic, with a focus that extends beyond just herself.  The warmth and humor that has become Jacobson's trademark writing too, comes through loud and clear with this one, making Not My Type a quick, enjoyable read with a lesson about gratitude that's difficult to ignore.  The story did get a bit contrived, with some bits that were difficult to believe (How does Tanner not realize Pepper's really Indie Girl?), but all in all, it's a happy book that's clean, uplifting and, unlike other LDS romances, not totally nauseating.  As a matter of fact, I quite enjoyed it. 

(Readalikes:  Reminded me a little of The List by Melanie Jacobson and My Ridiculous, Romantic Obsessions by Becca Wilhite)

Grade:  B

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I bought Not My Type from Deseret Book with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.