Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let me start off by saying I didn’t want to like this book. And it is definitely not a book you’d want to recommend to your mom! I had heard mixed reviews of the book from several people, including Brittany at Barefoot Foodie.

All I had heard about this book was that it:

1. is poorly written

2. repetitive

3. the author’s first book she’s ever written.

4. basically porn on paper

I wasn’t going to bother spending the $9.99 on my Nook to even buy it, because I figured I would only get through the first few pages and then my OCD would kick in and I’d have to start circling errors with a red pen.

Then one of my co-workers revealed to me that she had read the first book, and not only did she like it– but she went ahead and read the other two in the trilogy as well. Her book club was even going to read it!

So $9.99 was charged to my debit card quicker than Anastasia Steele could bite her lip.

Fifty Shades of Grey is based on a college student named Anastasia Steele, who fills in for her college newspaper friend and goes to interview a rich young bachelor named Christian Grey.

1. Christian is HOT,
2. he’s sexy
3. he’s got grey eyes
4. He also goes wild for Ana biting her lip when she gets confused or upset about something.

Each of these facts will be repeated about a kazillion times in the book.

Anastasia (Ana) is a virgin, and falls for Christian immediately. She senses something odd about him, but can’t quite place her finger on it. Until she is presented with a proposition from Mr. Grey. He has a fetish for BDSM, and wants to be the dominant to Ana’s submissive character.

Even though Christian is freaky as all get out, and Ana is stupid as stupid can be, I still liked this book.

Did I love it? I don’t know. It was very intense, very graphic, and sometimes more than I could handle. The book details some pretty intense sexual encounters between the two, and will open your eyes to the world of sado-masochistic sex.

There were some flaws in the book, though. Ana is supposed to be an American college student, yet the words she uses makes her sound like a British prude. For example, I have never in my life heard any college student use the word “taciturn.”

In addition to her unbelieveable language, she also is a college student that does not own a laptop nor know how to use one. She borrows all of her clothes from her friend, and she has no knowledge of birth control. She also is a college student that seems to be OK with a grown man whom she hasn’t even known for that long bending her over his knee and spanking her hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. Which really is no surprise, since she spends most of the book crying about one thing or another anyway.

Now that I have pretty much talked you out of reading this book, just go buy it and read it for yourself. Then you can come and tell me how much you hated it, while we exchange knowing glances about the down ‘n’ dirty sex that went on in a mere 391 pages, and the fact that no one wants to admit that they loved this book for fear someone assume they are into being tied up and spanked.

Go ahead. READ IT. I’ll be busy moving on to the second book in the trilogy, Fifty Shades Darker.

C’mon… you know you want to. Because despite all the negative annoying things in this book, it’s just freaking HOT.



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In on It: What Adoptive Parents Would Like You to Know About Adoption: A Guide for Relatives and Friends by Elisabeth O’Toole

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought the ebook version of this, and if I would have known how short it was, I probably would not have purchased it. After taking out the title pages in the front and the extra “stuff” in the back, this book was just under 100 pages long. I read it during my lunch hour.

That being said, I still gave it four stars. This book is aimed towards the family and friends of adoptive parents. Because not only will the adoptive families get looks and questions when they adopt, but so will those around them. Most people don’t think about that. So Elisabeth O’Toole wrote this book for people like my parents, who might get questions from other family members or even strangers that might ask those intrusive questions that they are afraid to ask us.

“What race is that child anyways?”
“Why did they adopt?”
“How much did they pay for that child?”
“Why didn’t the birth parents want him/her?”

This book tells how to deal with the questions, the appropriate way to answer them, and the nice way to brush people off. It was interesting, well– if you can get your family and friends to actually read the book.

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Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I remember watching Ellen Degeneres on her old sitcom years ago (1994-1998). She was funny back then. Now she’s HILARIOUS. This book was a quick read, just a little under 160 pages. But Ellen delivered the laughs in her usual fashion. I watch her talk show every single day, and she takes up a regular spot on my DVR recordings. She’s down-to-earth, funny, and her book is a must-read.



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Summer Island by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the 10th Kristin Hannah book I have read this year. I think I have mentioned a few times before that she and Jodi Picoult are probably my two favorite authors. They both have a style of writing that I am drawn to, and I have never been disappointed in any of their books.

“Summer Island” was certainly no different.

Summer Island is about advice expert Nora Bridges, the two daughters she abandoned years ago (Ruby & Caroline), and some other wonderful characters (Eric the homesexual cancer patient and his brother, Dean).

I was completely sucked in from Page 1. The author has a way of making my feel very strongly about each of the characters. Nora becomes involved in a tabloid scandal, and she winds up being injured in a car accident — her fault, because she was so depressed she drove in a drunk stupor right into a tree. When the tabloid scandal gets seriously revved up, Nora decides to hide away for a while at her old lake house. Her estranged daughter Ruby gets talked into caring for her injured mother for a week.

I was surprised that this book make me so emotional, as I shed a lot of tears while reading — especially in the last half.

Obviously not wanting to reveal any spoilers, it was a book full of family, love, romance and sadness– I loved it and can’t wait to get started on my next Kristin Hannah book, Distant Shores.

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