Cupcakes at Carrington’s by Alexandra Brown {book review}

Every month a blog I follow hosts a book club, but the books chosen all have to do with food. Particularly baking. It’s very similar to what we tried to do here with the Pages of the Mind book club, but without food. That was probably our downfall.

Anyway I have participated only twice as it’s hard to keep my blog up and read and bake for another. However I have been desperately searching for a new book to read. Recently I started re-reading some of my favorite books that are gathering dust on my shelf, but before I even got a quarter through I’d leave it abandoned on the bedside table. So, I picked up a copy of Cupcakes at Carrington’s to join along with Kelly @ An American Cupcake in London.

Cupcakes at Carrington’s is Alexandra Brown’s first novel and the first of at least 3 “at Carrington” titles. There is a very clever story line with lots of twists, everything was not as it seemed. There were of course a few obvious secondary stories, but overall I thought an entertaining read. I loved the variety of characters and how most of them seemed like real people. I also enjoy how Georgie isn’t perfect. So many authors try to make their main characters sound like a normal person and many try to hard. Georgie is real and likeable.

One of my first thoughts after completing the novel was that the title was slightly mis-leading. The story didn't revolve around the café, Cupcakes at Carrington’s. The café was only a place that Georgie stopped by to visit her best friend and to grab a red velvet cupcake when she needed comforting. I think there needed to be a slightly bigger tie to the café to warrant it being the title of the book. Seeing as it’s the first book in a trilogy or maybe a series, I’m afraid the author may have wasted this title on this book. It may have fit a different story line better. Seeing as I’m criticizing I feel like I need to have a better title in mind like: Valentine’s Day at Carrington’s. A majority of the story is focused on that particular day so it would make sense…also the following book is titled Christmas at Carrington’s. I can see a pattern... 

Anyhow overall I read the book to be entertained and for the couple of nights it took me to read, I was! So, overall I would recommend it as a fun, light, and entertaining read! I haven’t decided what to bake for the book/bake club. Red Velvets being the obvious choice, seeing as Georgie always went for Red Velvets as her choice of comfort food. I was thinking I’d go for something that I find comforting and giving it a Carrington’s makeover. Or I will just go with the red velvets with a twist…. Hum?? Decisions! Will update when I finally get around to baking something!! ;0) 

Cupcakes at Carrington's Amazon USA (kindle only) Amazon UK 

from back of the book: 

Georgie Hart loves her job--running the luxury handbag concession at Carrington's Department store in the pretty seaside town of Mulberry Bay, and treating herself (once too often!) to a red velvet cupcake with buttercream icing in Carrington's café. But Georgie is thrown into disarray when Carrington's is plunged into a recession-busting makeover, cueing the arrival of femme fatale Maxine, who wields the axe in her immaculately-manicured hands. It spells a recipe for disaster for Georgie and soon she is fighting not only for her job, but also for the attentions of her gorgeous boss, James. And when hot newcomer Tom arrives, who may or may not be the best thing since sliced bread, Georgie must decide where her loyalties really lie...

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern {review and discussion}

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

The black sign, painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, reads:

Opens at Nightfall

Closes at Dawn

As the sun disappears beyond the horizon, all over the tents small lights begin to flicker, as though the entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies. When the tents are all aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign appears.

Le Cirque des Rêves

The Circus of Dreams.

Now the circus is open.

Now you may enter. (from the back of the book)

Melanie says: I first picked up the book while on vacation in Yellowstone, not because I wouldn’t be enjoying myself, but because I needed something for when the sun went down and my mind was still wide awake. I only mention this because I think it is a testament to the quality of the storytelling in the book. I found myself thinking about the book and sometimes hurrying back to the hotel to read while I was observing the awesomeness that is Yellowstone. The story moves a bit slow at times and the battle is much less epic than the back cover implies but the characters are relatable, despite their magical tendencies, and the plot is quite intriguing. I imagine the circus being something of a black and white Cirque du Soleil but where the action happens up close and personal - I found myself wanting to step into the pages and experience the circus myself. I also really liked the two converging story lines (but only after I realized the importance of reading the chapter description, which is not something I often do). 

Lisa says: I remember seeing this in my local store and thinking it looked intriguing, but instead of picking it up I just put it on a mental back burner. When Melanie suggested bringing back the book of the month (we’re bringing it back with a little less structure!) and it was fate that she mentioned this book! I really enjoyed this book! I agree with Melanie saying it is a bit slow at times. The circus set up reminds me of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes (one of my favorite books). The Night Circus is definitely intriguing and felt very real! As I was reading I was like either the ending is going to be pants (check me and my British slang) or the author new what she was writing. Sometimes I feel authors have a good idea and then don’t/can’t follow through to the end. Erin Morgenstern knew what she wanted the story to be. I can’t wait to see what her next novel might be like! 

Janet says: I really enjoyed this book and found myself unable to put it down. Interestingly, I really likes Bailey's story line the best. As I read, I wanted to hear more about him! Of course I was very happy with the way his character ended up in the story. I felt a little disappointed in the climax. I think it lacked a little given the enormity of emphasis put on it.I loved what Marco and Celia made for each other, one of my favorite parts was when Celia experienced the ice tent. I felt like I was there and I wanted to explore more!Overall I recommend this book, I really enjoyed it!

And last but not least it looks like this book, yet again, is going to be turned into a movie. Yay. (note the sarcasm) 

Update Jan 6 2013: Loraine @ What I Felt About.... shares her thoughts on The Night Circus here! 

World Book Night!!

April 23rd is World Book Night!!

I am a giver!! Check out this post on my other blog!!

The one I'm better at keeping updated!!!

World Book Night UK

World Book Night USA

I promise to update soon, I've been reading the Game of Thrones series, a romantic comedy, and has anyone heard of Shades of Grey?? Stay tuned!!

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami ~ A Book Recommendation

movie tie in cover

When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.

Loved this book!! Haruki Murakami is on my top 5 favorite authors at the moment!!

A story of love life and death. A lot of people thought it was semi auto biographical but Murakami denies it. It reads like real life so I can see why the masses would want to think it was the love story of his life.

It's a story of what a person would do for love.

A story of coping with the ups and downs of relationships.

 I'm not sure I want to see the movie that has recently been made.

I really did enjoy Kafka on the Shore and had no idea what was happening in After Dark, but this one was ... dare I say ... beautiful.

It's not usually a word I use to describe a book, but it's the only word that suits it in my opinion.

I give this book 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone and everyone!!

~LiSa

The Blind Assassian by Margaret Atwood

Laura Chase's older sister Iris, married at eighteen to a politically prominent industrialist but now poor and eighty-two, is living in Port Ticonderoga, a town dominated by their once-prosperous family before the First War. While coping with her unreliable body, Iris reflects on her far from exemplary life, in particular the events surrounding her sister's tragic death. Chief among these was the publication of The Blind Assassin, a novel which earned the dead Laura Chase not only notoriety but also a devoted cult following. Sexually explicit for its time, The Blind Assassin describes a risky affair in the turbulent thirties between a wealthy young woman and a man on the run. During their secret meetings in rented rooms, the lovers concoct a pulp fantasy set on Planet Zycron. As the invented story twists through love and sacrifice and betrayal, so does the real one; while events in both move closer to war and catastrophe. By turns lyrical, outrageous, formidable, compelling and funny, this is a novel filled with deep humour and dark drama.

I have always meant to pick up a Margaret Atwood title but never got around to it. There are plenty of titles to choose from but I thought I'd start with this one as it won the Booker Prize in 2000. I couldn't put it down. Even though I had guessed the ending and had come to the correct conclusion on certain events I did enjoy this book.
I did have my issues with the relationship between the sisters. Mainly because I feel close to mine and wouldn't have made some of the decisions that Iris had. Despite not liking her decisions, being a middle sister I understand what it's like to be an older and younger sister, therefore I could relate to both sisters and their roles.
I also related to the being helpless in a situation you feel you have no control. If only you were looking at it from the outside you'd see how to regain control. In those instances the solution is never easy and takes a certain amount of risk. Which is why some of Iris's decisions are unforgivable because she was just scared. Although there are times I truly felt like she, Iris, thought her choices were the best possible ones. Sometimes in life people truly try their best and their best just isn't good enough.
I would give this book 4 stars and would recommend it most fellow readers!
~ LiSa

The Return by Victoria Hislop ~a book review

The Return by Victoria Hislop: Sonia knows nothing of Granada's shocking past, but ordering a simple cup of coffee in a quiet cafÉ will lead her into the extraordinary tale of a family's fight to survive the horror of the Spanish Civil War.

Seventy years earlier, in the RamÍrez family's cafÉ, Concha and Pablo's children relish an atmosphere of hope. Antonio is a serious young teacher, Ignacio a flamboyant matador, and Emilio a skilled musician. Their sister, Mercedes, is a spirited girl whose sole passion is dancing, until she meets Javier and an obsessive love affair begins. But Spain is a country in turmoil. In the heat of civil war, everyone must take a side and choose whether to submit, to fight, or to attempt escape.

When I first started reading this book it was hard for me to get into. I like stories that take place over time where the past affects the future. The present story was not engaging and hard to get through. However once this novel went to the past I could not put it down! I only new a little about the Spanish civil war because of art history and the art I studied from that time. This narrative puts you right in the middle of the civil war. It's moving and it made me want to learn  more about Spanish history. Some people think if they ignore politics it will go away. But what they do affect us each and every day. It's just scary how much power governments and other parties have over innocent people.

Anyway this is an amazing story and I would say if you get a chance plough through the first part and get to the part that will stay with you for a very long time!
Think I might have to take up salsa!

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks ~~ A Quick Review

After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman in the photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in North Carolina - Elizabeth, a divorced mother -- and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart -- destroying not only their love, but also their lives.
Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, THE LUCKY ONE is an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the power of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love.

This book was dumb. It wasn't romantic or in anyway believable. I started it thinking this could go somewhere....but then it didn't. *spoiler* The ending was tied up nicely by killing off the bad guy. How convenient for everyone to have their happy ending.* I haven't read a lot of Nicholas Sparks, but what I have read I have always enjoyed so when this book was given to me I was more then happy to take it. I finished it and was just like WTF? It was just a nothing story, nothing to move me really. I would skip it if I was you, which I'm not you, but if I was I would skip it.
I would second Janet's recommendation of The Notebook or Stacy recommends The Last Song both by Nicholas Sparks!

Even Cowgirls get the Blues by Tom Robbins - A Recommendation

Sissy Hankshaw, an almost flawlessly beautiful small-town girl with big-time dreams, hitchhikes her way into your heart, your hopes, and your sleeping bag in Tom Robbins's magical, funny, and most famous novel. Follow Sissy's amazing odyssey from Virginia to chic Manhattan to the Dakota Badlands, where FBI agents, cowgirls, and ecstatic whooping cranes explode in a deliciously drawn-out climax. This is Tom Robbins at his offbeat, outrageous, and inventive best.
Stacy Says- This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I think that Tom Robbins is a brilliant author and I look forward to reading more of his work. The way he uses words is truly beautiful. There is a truth to humanity with a twist of silliness that comes out in this book and because of that I intend to read this again some day to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes ~ A Book Review

Dammit,’ she realized. ‘I think I’m having a nervous breakdown.’ Hot-shot magazine editor Lisa Edwards’ career is destined for high-rise New York when suddenly she’s diverted to low-rise Dublin. But what can she do about it? Ashling Kennedy, Lisa’s super-organized assistant, worries about everything from her lack of waist to the lack of men in her life. She’s even anxious about of a little bit of raw fish … Clodagh Kelly is Ashling’s best friend and has her prince, her beautiful kids and a lovely house – everything in fact that Ashling ever wanted. She should be – yet, she’s not – happy.

~Sushi for Beginners: A Novel by Marian Keyes

A novel that is perfect for when you are lounging around this summer. It's my first Marian Keyes novel and I have to say I enjoyed it. For the first time I was guessing who was going to end up with who. In most novels the romances are obvious. Which works for some novels as it's not the main focus of the story. It also looked further into why the characters tended to behave how they did. How their up bringing has made them who they were. One of the characters rebelling against it and another being in denial about it. It made the characters seem more real. Which I like my fictional characters to have a bit of believability and depth. All in all I would say it's a nice easy read and I would recommend it to anyone looking to relax and unwind! Oh and I also like how the title of the book is a bit of a mystery until you get towards the end! So Sweet!!