Safe Haven - Review

Safe Haven

By: Nicholas Sparks

Published: September 14th 2010 by Grand Central Publishing

340 pages

Source: Borrowed from my sister

( Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository)

Goodreads description--Love hurts. There is nothing as painful as heartbreak. But in order to learn to love again, you must learn to trust again.

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

As I said in my review of The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks, the stories Mr. Sparks creates are, in my opinion, better fitted for film than for books. There's no doubt that he's a gifted storyteller, but each book has repetitive themes and events.

In each Nicholas Sparks book or movie I've experienced one character dies. There's not too much that surprises me within the plot. However, Safe Haven struck me particularly because of the abusive relationship that Katie or Erin and her husband, Kevin, have. I know abusive relationships exists, and nothing about this relationship seemed particularly different from most abusive relationships you've probably heard of, but I don't read about these relationships very often. It was interesting to see the mindset Kevin has. Along with being abusive, Kevin is also apparently an alcoholic.

If I'm being truthful, the abusive relationship as described in Safe Haven hit home because I've recently discovered a situation close to home where emotional abuse resides, and it breaks my heart because I don't know how to help.

As books go, Safe Haven was an average read for me. It wasn't overly exciting or anything new, but there was nothing bad about it either. Safe Haven gets 3 stars from me. Have you read Safe Haven? If so, what did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on This Girl

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This Girl (Slammed, # 3)

By: Colleen Hoover

Expected Publication: April 30th 2013 by Atria Books

256 pages

( Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository )

Goodreads description--There are two sides to every love story. Now hear Will’s.

Colleen Hoover’s New York Times bestselling Slammed series has brought countless readers to their knees with a whirlwind of love, passion, and heartache. Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.

In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from his point of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.

That's what I'm waiting on this week. What are you anxiously awaiting? Let me know!

Top 10 Books I Read Before Blogging

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read Before I Started Blogging.

1. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer - Twilight really sparked my love of reading again. I can't make this list without putting this series on the list.

2. City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

3. Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, and Blood Promise by Richelle Mead - I've reviewed Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice, but these were both done very early in my blogging path and therefore aren't very good reviews. This series is one of my top favorites to-date.

4. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead Tossed Waves, and The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

6. Persuasion by Jane Austen - I've actually reviewed this one here, but it's not one of my better reviews either.

7. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

8. The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian

9. Blue Bloods, Masquerade, Revelations, and The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz - I was really excited about this series when I first started reading it. It was shortly after reading Twilight, and therefore, shortly after resparking my reading love. But book 4 and the ones I've read after that have gone a bit downhill for me.

10. Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, and Untamed by PC & Kristin Cast - The first four books were really awesome in this series. Each book after book four has progressively gone downhill.

One Thousand Gifts - Review

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

By: Ann Voskamp

Published: January 24th 2011 by Zondervan (first published December 1st 2010)

232 pages

Source: Borrowed from a friend and coworker

( Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository )

Goodreads description--Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. 'How, ' Ann wondered, 'do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long--and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?' In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It's only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we've always wanted ... a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved --- by God. Let Ann's beautiful, heart-aching stories of the everyday give you a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of being present to God that makes you deeply happy, and a way of living that is finally fully alive. Come live the best dare of all.

One day I'm standing in line in the cafeteria at work waiting to place my food order when a coworker of my husband's walks up behind me (we all work at the same place). She says "I see you have been doing reviews of the books you read. I've seen them on Facebook." And so we discussed my blog a bit. Then finally she says, "I've got a book you should read. It's called One Thousand Gifts. I don't really like the writing style of the author, but it's got a really good message." Now, I have to say that while I like book recommendations from people, I'm rebellious by nature and immediately went into defense mode. Aside from that, it wasn't exactly a glowing recommendation that she gave the book. I don't have near as much time as I'd like to read, so I don't want to waste it reading books that aren't really good. The next day she walks up to me in the cafeteria and hands it to me.

Now, I borrow books from friends and my sister-in-law frequently. But they all know that I could have their book for a year before I get around to reading it. I don't mean to. I just have a lot of books on my plate that need to be read. And I'm approaching 65 in my possession that I haven't read. So I took it home and sat it on my stack of TBR books. And there it sat for MONTHS! (Sorry Linette!)

Eventually, I did pick it up. I read the first three chapters and immediately saw what she meant about the author's writing style. It was difficult to read. Yet, I found the style to be somewhat poetic and even beautiful in places. Because it's written in a style different from the norm, I had to slow down to make sure I was actually reading the right words and soaking up the right message. Eventually, I ended up finding Ann Voskamp's writing style to be extremely beautiful and thought-provoking.

As the title suggests, I thought this was going to be about Ann's story of naming 1000 things she's thankful for, and possibly naming each of those things out one by one, however, not only does she not list each item she wrote on her list, the 1000 things wasn't even the focus of the book. Ann Voskamp quickly passes 1000 in the book and goes on to describe how she continued listing her gifts from God, how this became a lifestyle for her, and how her relationship with God changed because of it all.

One Thousand Gifts is easily a book I'd recommend to anyone willing to work on themselves. It's a book that's bettered my life and my relationship with my God. I've started my own list of 1000 gifts, and I challenge you to do the same.

One Thousand Gifts gets 4 stars from me. Thank you to Linette for letting me borrow this book and for enlightening me on a way to deepen my life and my relationship with a giving God. Have you read One Thousand Gifts? If so, what did you think? Let me know!

Sunday Post - 39 & Stacking the Shelves - 12

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Well, this past week I've been on vacation with my in-laws. We left March 30th to travel to Florida--Port Canaveral to be exact. The next morning we borded a cruise ship--yes it was Carnival and we had NO problems with our ship--and set sail (so to speak, considering there are no sails on a boat that big) for Freeport and Nassau. It was a good trip overall, but I have to say that I'm glad to be home. It's nice to go, but it's nice to come back. We went to celebrate my mother-in-law's retirement.

I have to say that I enjoyed my week off, but I missed blogging. I did get one entire book read on this trip and about 20% of another. Not as much as I would have liked but still good.

THIS PAST PAST WEEK:

Monday: Review of The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead (4.5 Stars)

Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Books I'd Recommend (couldn't stop at 10)

Wednesday: Waiting on Crossing the Line

Thursday: Review of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (4 Stars)

Friday: My going on vacation announcement and Review of The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (3.5 Stars)

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

Monday: Review of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Books I Read Before Blogging

Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday

Thursday: Review of Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I managed to keep the past two weeks down to only 1 new book since half of that was still the March Take Control of Your TBR Pile challenge and the other half I didn't really have internet access or come upon a book store. And I've also managed to already read the one book I got. Here it is:

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, # 2)

By: Katie McGarry

Expected Publication: May 28th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

462 pages

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon)

Goodreads description--Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

Also since the challenge I mentioned above ended while I was gone, here's my recap of that...

I've read 8 books from my TBR pile since the beginning of March. They are:

1. Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, # 1) - Robin LaFevers

2. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, # 1) - Julie Kagawa

3. The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, # 1) - James Dashner

4. The Secret of Ella and Micha (The Secret, # 1) - Jessica Sorensen

5. Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, # 1) - JL Bryan

6. Rule (Marked Men, # 1) - Jay Crownover

7. The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden (The Coincidence, # 1) - Jessica Sorensen

8. Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid, # 1) - Richelle Mead

I finished Walking Disaster (Beautiful, # 2) by Jamie McGuire, Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, # 3) by Cassandra Clare and Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, # 2) by Katie McGarry also this month, but since these do not have a publication date before March they don't count toward this challenge.

That's it for my shelves and recaps of my past and upcoming week. What did you add to your shelves this week? Any bookish news you want to talk about? Let me know!