Review: Jemima J: a novel about ugly ducklings and swans by Jane Green

Jemima J: A Novel About Ugly Ducklings and Swans 

by: Jane Green

Published: June 5, 2000 (2001)

Publisher: Broadway 373 pages

"Jemima Jones is overweight. About one hundred pounds overweight. Treated like a maid by her thin and social-climbing roommates, and lorded over by the beautiful Geraldine (less talented but better paid) at the Kilburn Herald, Jemima finds that her only consolation is food. Add to this her passion for her charming, sexy, and unobtainable colleague Ben, and Jemima knows her life is in need of a serious change. When she meets Brad, an eligible California hunk, over the Internet, she has the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself–as JJ, the slim, beautiful, gym-obsessed glamour girl. But when her long-distance Romeo demands that they meet, she must conquer her food addiction to become the bone-thin model of her e-mails–no small feat...." summary from Goodreads

Jemima Jones is a 27 year old woman who is unhappy with herself at first I found her exasperating she was constantly putting herself down but as I read more I came to understand why she felt the way she did and eventually I learned to like her.  When the story first starts she is truly lonely and she knows that her weight is a big factor in her loneliness.  It's kind of depressing but at the same time that to me made the story more real, because we do live in a society where looks matter and even if we don't wish things were that way people are over looked because of it.  Jemima's life is a routine she hates it's not until she's forced to take an internet class that her life as well as that of other changes. It's a  simple routine change  that unravels a series of changes in her life that lead to romance, heartbreak, adventure,  and a new view and way of life for her.

I think this song is one Jemima should hear =D

The writing style was some what confusing because it kept changing from Jemima's point of view, to that of an omniscience person.  At first this threw me off and left me slightly confused, you couldn't be sure if it was her thoughts or if it might be some one else. I loved to hear her thoughts though because some of them were stuff people think about but don't often say especially if you want to be included. I do feel the format of the book was needed to understand her better and also to understand some of the other characters.

I have to be truthful and say the cover of a book is important to some extent that's why i think Jemima J could have had a better one. I was about to miss out on this book only because the cover didn't really catch my attention. The only reason I picked it up was because the book next to Jemima was really vibrant and i wanted to see what the one beside was like. There was another book cover i found later and I think it's better suited for this book I loved it and i think its better not to mention the fact I'm still not sure why the first cover (the one up top) is just a picture of legs lol:

I loved how Jane Green touched some topics that people found controversial. Like obesity, anorexia and addictions of various types as well as dependency on people and things. Jemima had many addictions, and feelings that stemmed of her weight.  She wasn't perfect but then again who truly is? I read some of the other reviews and I believe they felt Jane Green was trying to say only skinny, beautiful people get accepted.  I don't want to give away any spoilers but let just say if she had, things would have been different in the overall story. I don't believe Jane Green was saying you have to be skinny to be accepted . I believe (and this is only my opinion) that she was showing the ugly side of life that exist but people over look some times.  

 

With that being said i give Jemima J a four out of five only because even if i later enjoyed the writing style it took some time to get use to it.  For now this is it my lovely readers

                                  as always ♥, Carol

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at her blog Breaking the Spine. Were we can spotlight what ever books we're waiting for. This my first "waiting on Wednesday and I'm really excited to present to you all the books I'm most anticipating.  

My most anticipated book this time is:

 

Inheritance (Inheritance Cycle book #4 )

By: Christopher Paolini 

publication: November 8th 2011

publisher:Random house

    

Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost? - From Goodreads

I was thinking of doing another book for my first ever "Waiting on" Wednesday blog post but as i was reading my mail today i saw an email by Barnes and Noble and i immediately opened it because it said "Just announced  Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle Series finale." Once i opened it was all about how Random house had just revealed the publication date, Cover, and Title of the last book in the series. Since I've been waiting for this one for a long long time i though it deserved a blog post. I really can't wait to read this one bitter sweet to see a series end but I'm sure I'll find another series to start soon enough .For now that's it, what are you waiting for?

as always ♥, Carol

 

Helping out and also a contest

A Rollercoaster of an Update - with BONUS CONTEST

The reason i started blogging was mostly because of Richelle Mead and Danny Marks (both of them are book authors) had blog and i wanted to follow them lol so i made this blog and later found other blogger's who are awesome. I love watching Danny's Videos on youtube (hes really funny and talks about books and stuff also i won my first contest on his youtube contest yay!) So today when he was talking about his goddaughter i really wanted to help in any way i could but because i can't really help out with money right now (being jobless sucks) i decided the only way i could help Danny Marks was spreading the word about his goddaughter who is sick. If you are the type of person that likes to help and can make a donation you can visit this website http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caringbridge.org%2Fvisit%2Fdelaneyhills&session_token=NOMkb6OmxTB17IablQv-hON3drV8MTMwMDkwOTExOQ%3D%3D any help is appreciated and also you can spread the word follow him on youtube by subscribing to http://www.youtube.com/user/dannymarksya or twitter http://twitter.com/#!/dannymarksya and if you stop by his youtube you can enter his contest and you might win a book so for now this is it hoping to blog again soon
                                                             as always ♥, Carol

deserted Island: a Mini Challenge- Contest

So this time I'm doing a post on a deserted Island and the 5 people i would have with me.  This blog post is for the contest that any one can enter for Princess Bookie (for more info check out this link http://www.princessbookie.com/2011/03/mini-challenge-hop-to-casual-readers.html ) 

So if i was on a deserted Island vacation home and could have any 5 book characters with me to not be lonely,  who would i chose?
Well for starters i would need eye candy so Dimitri Belikov from Vampire Academy would be a must. He not only has a sexy accent he also has an amazing god like body ( i can stare at all day) but he would mostly be there to sweet talk me unto pure blissfulness lol. 

The other person i would chose would be a girl i think is amazing! Although the idea of being on a deserted Island all by myself with only boys to surround me sounds very appealing i think having Georgina Kincaid from Succubus Series would be awesome.  She would be there because i think she needs a good vacation from her crazy life and because i think with her i could learn to be more in control with men lol.  Also as a team package Seth would come and i would have another boy to ogle O_O

      
                      
Since i wouldn't want my Island time to be interrupted i would need some one to be on the look out some one who was strong, fast and shiny, and could read minds . I don't know about you but the only person that comes to my mind with that description is Edward Cullen from Twilight. 

 

Owen Armstrong from Just listen would definitely be there because I need a man who won't lie to me. Also I'm pretty sure he would keep me grounded and prevent me from lying to myself and as a bonus he would have music with him so I would always have some type of sound surrounding me. Not to mention he would listen to me talk and give me an honest opinion he wouldn't just tell me what I wanted to hear.

The last Character is a must! she's the kind of kooky, adventurous,funny lady i hope i can one day be. She's Mrs. Winalski from Hold Me Closer Necromancer either she or Ashley (also from Hold Me Closer necromancer) or probably both would be always welcome in my Island. Mrs. W is a very funny active lady who I hope i can one day be like lol she would always make me laugh I'm sure.  I'm not entirely sure why but Betty White always popped up when i read some thing Mrs. W had said or done (I think if theres some one to blame it could be the movie The Proposal)

 I loved this quote thought/said? by Ramon

“Mrs. Winalski owned a candy-apple-red 1965 Mustang GT convertible, and she drove it like she could die at any minute and need to get five things done before that happened.”

also one of my fave quotes from Ashley bantering with Sam that shows why she would be a fun person to hang out with

"you want waffles?" I tried to keep the skepticism from my voice. "No firstborn or a pot of gold?"

"I'm not a leprechaun, Sam. And what would I do with a baby?" Her eyebrows shot back up, and she crossed her arms. "I want waffles. Take it or leave it."

I don't think i could choose better people to keep me happy and entertained for a long time because look below what more could a girl ask for.

eye candy- check
music guy with great ears - check
funny ladies- check
smexy best friend who has an even smexier guy friend- check
shiny dude with mind reading powers who's also super fast and strong- check!

and so i finish this blog asking you who would you take on your deserted Island  vacation home to keep the loneliness away? 

                                                        as always ♥, Carol

Another great giveaway

   So what can i say i love a good contest and to win 5 * SIGNED* books would be amazing so here I am spreading the word. The funnest thing about a contest is having  a lot of people enter and get to enjoy the suspense/ surprise (unless their not into that but I mean who doesn't love a contest full of suspense/surprise?)  Wanna see if you can win just click on the link(or the pic above) and read about it check out Beth's awesome blog and be amazed lol link link---> Beth Revis . For now that's it this chickadee is still in sick town just hoping the bus leaves soon so i can be back at fabulous city lolas always ♥, Carol 

awesome Giveaways

http://www.iceybooks.com/ is hosting an awesome giveaway. so i decided to join it its very original ( at least to me it is) most of the blogger's are giving away books but at iceybooks the prize is a bottle cap necklace  see original post  -> http://www.iceybooks.com/2011/03/win-booklovers-bottle-cap-necklace.html and since I'm still feeling sick to the bone this is all I'm writting until i feel better  but before i leave i also wanted to post this link to anther one of Iceybooks giveaways but this one is a book called The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver and link is http://www.iceybooks.com/2011/03/win-signed-personalized-copy-of-demon.html any of these is great giveaway to join if any body loves books and jewelery =D . If that wasn't enough for you don't despair because the giving doesn't stop there there are many other blogger's participating in this great give away each with their own respective prize all in the name of Chick loves it 2 year blogoversary check out the other giveaway-ers (lol =p) by clicking the following mega link -> http://chickloveslit.com/2011/03/blogoversary-carnival-2.html#comment-14732

as always ♥, Carol

holed up with some furry socks

The last few days weeks? have been pretty stressful, eventful, crazy fun in a while.  Since my last blog post I've become the last single person in the family, read a bunch of books, won a contest, prepared a wedding party,  gotten a cold, and finished watching my subscription videos on youtube (at least so far.) Right now I'm in holed up in my room with the door locked trying to contain my flu. The bad thing with me is I usually don't get colds, but when ever I do they strike hard and they usually last a long time.  Things all started a couple of months back my older brother decided to get married naturally a date was set July 27th and things started to get arranged. Then my other sister told him that the next family vacation had been set up so that it would be in that week! They were trying to arrange it so they could move it but they couldn't and since they already lived together the lovebirds decided to move the wedding date. So how did they decide what the new date was going to be? simple really they cut up 3 months March, April, and May 31 numbers were folded and were placed on a hat then they reached inside and pulled out their new wedding date.  It was pretty funny when they pulled out the month March and the day 2! this all happened on February 23 which means the had barely a week to get a wedding set up. I know they could have just picked out another date but they decided against it and so we had to scramble to get every detail of the wedding ready! On March 2 my brother was married and I had become the last in the family (from brothers and sister) to still be single. Since the wedding was on the week we decided to wait until Saturday to have the party. Around this time  noticed my niece was sniffling a lot but took no more notice of it because i was busy helping out with wedding arrangements. Although my computer had been acting kind of slow these days i was able to at least get on my facebook to check messages and other info. While there i noticed a post from Richelle Mead talking about a contest and i couldn't help myself i had to look lol. The contest was pretty straight forward leave a comment and maybe win a book.  the chances of winning were pretty slim but what i love most about contest isn't just winning its the excitement i get from entering one and waiting to see what happens if i win great if not there's always a next time! So you can imagine my surprise when i opened my mail and found i had won! I was beyond excited because i could add Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead to my bookshelf... if you can call it a bookshelf  lol. Well my version of a bookshelf I was also able to watch my youtube videos i love watching them and leaving and getting comments so I try to keep up. My favorite people to watch are dannymarksya  and because i love a good laugh RayWilliamJohnson they are usually the people i watch even when my computer is really slow. They have been my solace this past two days that I've felt sick, and so we come full circle to the part where I'm sick. I think it was a combination of stress, fatigue, and a sick person that made me feel as horrible as I am right now.  Currently i dont have a fever but i do have a seriously irritated throat and stuffy nose and my chest feels irritated ( like it always does when ever I'm getting or already am sick) I have the suspicion that the culprit of my flu in this case was my niece that didn't go to school on Friday (she had a high fever)  and with whom i spent all Friday and Saturday... also she maybe have infected her sisters.  I'm reading books to pass the time but I'll make a post on which ones tomorrow (if i can) because for now I'm feeling tired so...
                                       as always ♥, Carol