book review : chocolat by joanne harris

today i'm doing a book review on the book chocolat by joanne harris. 

chocolat is one of my favorite movies and when i seen this book on book mooch that someone was offering i had to request it. I guess my intentions on reading the book was to make a comparison from the movie to the book. 

This book is about Vianne Rocher with her daughter Anouk and her imaginary kangaroo Pantoufle  who arrive the french village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes during their festival to celebrate the beginning of lent. Vianne opens a  chocolate shop, La Céleste Praline to the appall of the residents of lansquenet and the priest  Francis Reynaud. as anouk and vianne settle in lansqunet the residents think she is a strange women as she refuses to go to church and they assume she is a witch (even that she is one but does not call herself one) even the priest warns the residents against going to the chocolate shop. residents stay away for a while but curiosity draws them in once they get to know vianne and anouk some of the residents warm up to her and she even makes a few friends. She befriends an older lady Armande Voizin who's daughter is one of the haters of vianne and wants to run her out of town but armande see vianne as a friend and someone to show her the fun in life. She also meets a girl named Josephine Muscat who husband Paul - Marie is abusive and beats her when she befriends vianne she gets the courage to leave her husband and then works at the chocolate shop. Then a group of river gypsies come to the village the priest warns everyone to stay away and not help or let them do anything but vianne overlooks the rules and does it anyway she even befriends a river gypsies named roux who Armande has him help her with her house with the disapproval of her daughter  Caroline Clairmont. One night tradgy strikes Paul - marie muscat sets roux boat on fire and then he has no where to go and the river gypsies leave when the priest finds out despite him hating the gypsies he banishes Paul - Marie out of town. Vianne then has a Easter festival and she has a lovely display but the priest who now was famished after fasting for lent goes in and destroys the display but everything works out in the end.

There was some differences in the book to the movie like when the priest destroys her window display in the movie it was the count who had done all that. overall its a great book i cant wait to read the next book in the series

the book retails for $21.00 and is available in most book stores

book review : a child called it by Dave pelzer

hello everyone

today i will be doing a book review on the book called a child called it by Dave pelzer

this was the first time ever reading a book of this subject before for me it was heart breaking it even made me mad at times and had me wanting to read more as time went by its a short novel but shows what Dave pelzer went through as a child being abused 

Dave story is one of the worst child abuse cases in California from the time David pelzer was 5 he was abused by his mother who was always drinking and did cruel unusual punishments and torture to her son her disgusting and unusual games ( as David called them) she started making David her slave doing all the household chores while his other siblings got to watch  TV and do other fun things and his mother lied around watching television and taking the other siblings on outings. David always had to do his chores before school  and if he did not he would not be allowed to eat breakfast. He had to run to school as he was no longer privileged to ride in the family station wagon & he wore the same smelly and worn out clothing everyday. David went to school hungry most days and ended up stealing food at school when his mother found out she would make him throw up every day after school to make sure he did not eat. He had to sleep in the basement on an army cot and was not allowed to go to sleep until his chores were done until then he had to sit in the basement in a prisoner of war potion or  P.O.W while the family ate dinner. The school finally caught on and called children protective services and David was finally free from his mothers abuse.

This was a good read but as i said its very heartbreaking and some parts were down right disgusting but it is an interesting read

this book retails for $11.95 US and is available at most book stores.

febuary random reads

I seen this on imlovinbooks and i thought i would join in this monthly meme and show you what books are on my to read shelf but i got over 3,000 books so its gonna take me years to even read them 

so using random.org this month's book off my goodreads shelf is #476

denali skies

by danielle rohr

She needed a break, a change from the ordinary, an escape to something far away from what she considers familiar. With romantic ideals and a compulsion for self discovery a lone twenty two year old woman leaves the Central Valley of California bound for Fairbanks Alaska. In Denali Skies Liz finds herself walking the line the between the call of the wild and the call of her drinking buddies! This coming of age story explores some extraordinary moments of a very ordinary girl who happens to find herself waiting tables to droves of tourists in one of the most scenic and phenomenal corners of our world. The Midnight Sun, grizzlies, and Northern Lights illuminate the landscape of a surreal and elusive journey.

this book has been on my shelf since april 2013 i wonder if i will ever get around to reading this one but it seems to be a good book i love almost any book but this one i think will be a very interesting read

 thats all for now until next time happy reading

book review : bristol house by beverly swerling

i just finished this great book Bristol house by Beverly Swerling that i received an advanced copy  from goodreads first reads giveaway i really enjoyed this book it was very interesting and historical i quite like books based in England and books that have a historic references in them.

Bristol house is about this women Annie who is a recovering alcoholic who leaves her job to work for the shalom foundation to find certain Jewish artifacts and find the jew of holborn but while living at bristol house she is haunted by a ghostly monk who lived in 1535 the same year of the jew of holborn who she is researching about. She begins her research with a woman named jennifer franklin who helps her in the london museum and shows her different items related to the 1535 time period but while in london she meets geoff harris a local tv reporter who she meets through jennifer she becomes interested in him as he seems to look like the ghost of the monk she sees in her flat as time goes by she has more hauntings from her monk and wonders if there is something he is trying to tell her. With the help of geoff and his mother and rabbi cohen she figures out what the monk is trying to tell her and why her boss philip weintraub is so interested in the jew of holborn.

I especially love that in this book they kept going back and forth between the monk dom justin and the jew of holborn's stories and then back to present day of annie's research. i quite enjoyed reading this book and would love to read it again and again.

this book retails at $29.50 CDN and at most bookstores

book review : faith not by sight

I received this book a while ago from book sneeze once i started reading it i could not put it down such a great book and an inspiration 

Scott McIntyre blind from birth had to overcome many obstacles due to his blindness born in California his parents finding out he was blind did not stop them from making scott's life normal as possible from an early age he was interested in music he learned music by ear as being blind he could not read sheet music.

at age 10 he did his first performance playing for a neighbour wedding an was interviewed by CNN. Scott was home schooled and at 14 entered Arizona State University studying music and graduated from ASU and won the Marshall scholarship. Then on the day he graduated he finds out from the doctor he has kidney faliure very unusual for a 19 year old his cardline levels were very high doctors said he needed a transplant.

being brought up in a religious family he turned to god for answers in his life and god showed him the way he was destined for London England to study at the university of London and the royal college of music in London although his cardline levels still high he was cleared to study abroad in London after some obstacles with the schools.

after a year in London Scott turned for the worse and was told he needed a transplant by Christmas or he would die so the search was on to find a donor and soon one was found he had the transplant and after months of recovery he was better able to play music again and enjoy life and thankful to the lord for giving him a second chance at life

in 2008 Scott tried out for american idol and got in shortly after his sister Katelyn  got sick with kidney failure just like he did even though with his sister sick  he went on american idol to sing for thousands he was in the top 8 when he was eliminated on April 8 2009 

shortly after he was eliminated his sister had her transplant and he went on tour with the american idol live tour on June 18 2011 he married his best friend and girlfriend Christina and Scott is still playing music.

this book retails for 19.99 US and is available in most book stores 

book review : chicken soup for the soul O Canada

just finished this great book chicken soup for the soul : o canada  this book has heartfelt stories about canadians our love for hockey, how friendly we are to tim hortons to cottage life in our great cottage country people traveling far and wide across our great country and meeting friendly down to earth canadians who would give the shirt off our backs if we had to. This book is a great inspration to how the canadian people are like and live yes , we may say eh ! alot but this book opened my mined to canadians like us who stand together as a nation in the good times and the bad

The book has stories for famous people in it like amy sky and just fellow canadians and american friends who have visited and seen how we as a nation are friendly folk and helpful in times of need and fellow canadians who use to live in canada . This book is a good read for anyone who wants to learn about our great nation and the people in it or fellow canadians who will be inspired on the people in your own community .This book really inspired me and made me think of all of us who live in big cities and small towns and grew up with our harsh winters and even made me remember the memories of my childhood living in canada where i still live today i could not think i ever living anywhere else in the world but my home Canada.

The retail value of this book is  14.95 US and available at most book stores

book review : thunder dog by michael hingson

so here is another book review thunder dog by Michael hingson about a blind man with his guide dog Roselle and how they escaped the world trade centre on 9/11

michael hingson was born on february 24Th 1950 in Chicago kept in an incubator for 3 month's due to being born prematurely he ended up with what they thought was cataract's but later on when his aunt took care of him she noticed he did not react to light she knew something was wrong. at 6 month's old he was diagnosed with being blind he did not get his first seeing eye dog until his teens

on the day of 9/11 was a normal day he went up to his office on the 78Th floor of the world trade centre and prepared for a meeting that was to take place that morning then at 8:46 am he and his colleague David heard a bang

there was debris in their office and the windows were blown out they knew they something had happened at this point they did not know what do they started to leave descending down the stairs his guide dog beside him to lead the way 78 floors down

this book was a great read it tells his side of the story and others who were involved and how he got out with Roselle help he also explains his childhood how he became blind and how he managed through his life at that point

retail value of book is $22.99 US

i recommend this book to anyone who wants a good book and a great story about hero's and life

book review : awakening consciousness a women's guide

i recently had this book sent to me for review awakening consciousness : a women's guide by robin marvel

if you want to learn about the good and bad energy's around you de stressing your life , building self confidence and much more this book is for you.

in this book robin marvel talks about different ways of de stressing she also talks about the energy inside us and how to get good energy and keep out the bad throughout the book their are various activities to do she also talked alot about our chakra and how to use them she also makes several reference on native American practices and how to incorporate them in our lives

my favorite part of this book is where she talks about your dreams and how to unlock the secrets behind them

this is such a great book i would recommend it to everyone who is looking for strength ,de stressing our lives & wanting to learn about our energy,dreams and meditation

the retail value of this book is $17.95 and is available at most book stores

I WON........

hello everyone

forgot to post this i won my first giveaway i belive it was two weeks ago mrs shopper at simply shop and save had this book as a giveaway and my name was picked at random (well my coment number) so far its a good book wish i could do reviews somehow and get free ones ;) anyway might do one on this one so stay tuned

my first review ,book review : fried green tomatoes by Fannie flagg

i thought i would start doing reviews on my blog as product reviews seam to be an interest to people and it would be fun to give my opinion on products etc.... so i thought i would do it on my favorite book fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe by Fannie flagg one of my favorite authors

this book is based in early southern times its a great story full of joy, laughter, sad times and good times about love and friendship

its about a women who has some self esteem problems and is battling her weight problem and her failing marriage who when visiting her husbands mother meets Mrs threadgoode and 87 year old women who begins to tell her about her life and the story of Iggie , Ruth and the whole gang at whistlestop cafe and eventually her story turns into how Iggie killed Ruth husband frank and the friendship between Ruth and Iggie that becomes as strong as rock and gets dragged through the good times the trial of the murder of frank burns and even ruth's death a real great read there was soooo many times i laughed and cried in the duration of reading this novel .There is so many favorite parts of this book I have to love one is when the rev takes the stand at the trial and of course i love the parts when Izzy down at the riverside club visiting Eva and she got down right drunk cause Ruth was going back home and she realizes she's not only her friend but she also loves her I also got to love the way the local newspaper of the town gets thrown in the book its a real good read i would recommend reading this before watching the movie i sure wish i had ever since reading this story