Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister- Gregory Maguire

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister was a super good book.  I have read Wicked by Gregory Maguire, so I knew I liked his writing style.  Basically he rewrites stories (mostly classic fairy tales) from the "bad guy's" perspective.  So in Wicked, he tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West.  And in this book, he tells the story of the Stepmother and Stepsisters in Cinderella.

In Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Margarethe flees to her home country of Holland with her 2 daughters, Iris and Ruth, after her husband has been killed in England.  Margarethe hopes that her family is still alive and will be able to take care of her small family.  Upon arriving in Holland, she learns that her family is no more.  She is then forced to beg for work door to door.  Margarethe stumbles upon a painter's house who is willing to provide work and shelter for her family. Margarethe is given the task of taking care of the home. Ruth, who doesn't speak and appears to be dumb, is given the job of gathering flowers from a field every day for the Master to paint.  And Iris, who is plain to look at but very smart, is told that she will be sitting for the Master, who will be painting her with the flowers.  

When the painting is finished, the Master takes the painting, and Iris to the home of the man who is purchasing it.  The man, Mr Van der Meer, loves the Masters work.  He comissions the Master to paint a new picture featuring his young daughter Clara and Tulips.  Van der Meer then says that he wants to take in Iris and her family to help around the house.  He wants Iris to teach Clara English and befriend her.  Margarethe, Iris, and Ruth move in to the Van der Meer house and slowly Clara and Iris become friends.  Things aren't going as smoothly between Margarethe and Henrika (Mrs. Van Der Meer).  Henrika eventually dies and Margarethe marries Mr. Van der Meer in order to provide a better life for her daughters.  Clara is upset by the marriage and eventually takes to cleaning and helping out in the kitchen (by choice, not forced to). 

When the Van der Meers lose their fortune by a trade gone bad, Margarethe tries her hardest to fix the unwelcome situation.  She manages to obtain invitations to a party featuring the former wife of Henry VI and her godson Phillipe who is looking for a wife.  She gets 4 invitations, enough for her daughters, her, and Mr. Van der Meer. Mr. Van der Meer falls ill, so the 4th invitation is planned to go unused. Iris thinks that maybe Margarethe will let Clara go to the party, but Margarethe doesn't want Clara to attend because Clara is beatiful and will take the attention away from Iris if she attends the party. Clara doesn't want to go anyways, at first.  Finally Iris convinces Clara that going to the party will be good for her, so she starts making a plan to get Clara to the party.

At the party, Iris talks to Phillipe and realizes that she might be a bit interested in him.  Then Clara walks in, with veil covering her face, disguised as Clarissa from Spain.  Phillipe loses all interest in Iris and takes Clara into another room.  The rest of the party Clara and Phillipe remain unseen. When a fire starts and people have to escape, Iris is a bit worried about Clara, but later that night Clara sneaks into the house unharmed. 

The rest of the story I will keep a mystery for you. Does it end in a similar way that Cinderella ends?  Does Iris find happiness as well as Clara? Do the Van der Meer's regain their fortune? And what about Ruth, who seems to take a backseat in the entire book?  

I really enjoyed the book a lot.  After reading Wicked, I thought maybe this book would have some unnecessary explicit scenes as well, and was shown differently.  It certainly puts an interesting spin on the classic Cinderella tale, but I really enjoyed it.  I think most girls who like the Cinderella tale probably would like it as well.

Not sure what is next on my reading list. I have the 2nd book from the Stephanie Plum series checked out from the library, so I'll probably read that.  I have a road trip ahead of me for Thanksgiving, so I'll have lots of time to read.  I'm thinking about trying to read more books from my personal collection before I hit up the library again, so maybe that's what I'll do.

Until next time!

~Tara

One For the Money- Janet Evanovich

I moved on to a new mystery series. . . The Stephanie Plum novels.  I don't know if they qualify as a mystery exactly, but oh well.

I read this book in one afternoon, so I guess you could say that I enjoyed it.  I am still trying to decide if I want to continue the series, but the first book was good, so I don't see why I wouldn't.

In this book, Stephanie Plum is a Jersey girl who loses her job selling Lingerie.  She goes to her cousin Vinny's bail bond place to see if he has any work for her.  The only job available is a bounty hunter job.  The person she has to bring in: Joe Morelli, a local boy, former cop who is charged with murder.  Not only is Joe a local boy, he happens to be an old flame of Stephanie's.  The rest of the novel follows Stephanie trying to capture Joe, and failing several times.  In fact, she actually runs into him on a number of occasions, but he always manages to escape.  Stephanie has to learn the bounty hunter tricks while trying to find a cop who knows all the tricks in the book.  Eventually, Joe comes to Stephanie, offering to go in with her and allow her to collect on him if she first helps him find a witness that can prove his innocence.  The book was really good, I will admit.  It was a lot more risque than the Hannah Swenson series, but I really enjoyed it.  It's not too often that I sit down, start a book, and then finish it just a few hours later.

Apparently this book was made into a movie. I'm glad I didn't know this until after reading the book. I always prefer to read the book before I see the movie. I don't know why that is, i just do. The movie looks like it follows the book pretty well.  I just watched the trailer for it on youtube and found myself laughing out loud (good thing no one is home to hear me laughing like a crazy person).  It looks like it was a good movie. Maybe I'll check it out.  Here's the trailer:

I Finished the Hannah Swenson Series :)

Yup, that's right. As far as I know, I have read the rest of the series. Or at least everything that is written so far.  I think that means I technically have 4 or 5 books I should summarize here, but I will spare you that.

As you know if you have followed the blog, I REALLY like this series. So the last few books are no different. Although she did start including meals in her recipes instead of just desserts.  Other than that, the story line just progresses.  Hannah discovers that her feelings for Norman are possibly stronger than her feelings for Mike.  Norman throws a wrench into things by bringing a new lady into his life. Andrea gets worried that her husband might be moving the family away from Lake Eden.  Lisa and Herb bring some additions into their little family. And Hannah's mom Delores ventures out into the wonderful world of dating.

As always, there are murders in every book (or they wouldn't be called Apple Turnover MURDER, Plum Pudding MURDER, etc.).  Hannah isn't the only one discovering bodies. She lets Delores and her other sister, Michelle, join in on that fun.  Hannah and her clan are still solving the murders before Mike the detective can get around to it.  I do like that in a lot of these later books, more than one mystery is solved when the murder is solved.  The murders are starting to tie in to the actual story line now, which makes things more interesting.

I LOVE these books.  They aren't inappropriate in any major way, but they keep me entertained.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, I recommend these to ANYONE.  So seriously, if you are looking for a good read, go to the library and check out the first book (which is called Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder) right now!  You will get hooked!

Best of Me- Nicholas Sparks

I kind of got into a Nicholas Sparks mood apparently.  I have read most of his books in the past, so when I saw that there were 2 more books that I hadn't read at the library I checked them out.  I read Safe Haven first, and liked it, so I decided to read this one.

Best of Me was a little bit harder for me to get into at first.  I think it started out a little bit slow and confusing, but after the first few chapters, it all started to click and turned into a pretty fast read.

In this book, 2 former high school sweet hearts Darcy and Amanda have taken 2 totally different paths after graduating.  While they were in high school, Darcy was from the "bad family"; he was the black sheep in his family, getting good grades and staying out of trouble. Amanda was from a more well to do family.  Everyone thought dating Darcy was a HUGE step down for her.  They found peace at the house and car shop of Tuck, a local mechanic.  Darcy went to jail after high school for killing the local doctor in a car accident   After being released from prison, he went and stayed with Tuck before eventually moving to Louisiana   Amanda eventually went to college, got married, and had 4 kids, one of which died at a young age.  She visited her home town on a regular basis, always visiting Tuck in the process.

Darcy and Amanda both get called back to their home town after Tuck dies.  Tuck has made a bunch of requests for them to carry out, including spreading his ashes and taking care of his belongings.  Darcy and Amanda both realize that Tuck has made these requests to allow them the chance to reconnect.  After a weekend together, Darcy and Amanda part ways, but are never the same again.

Again, this story ends in a very Nicholas Sparks way.  It is kind of surprising, but not too much if you know Nicholas Sparks' style.  I really enjoyed this after getting past the first few chapters.  I do recommend this, along with Safe Haven.  If you like Nicholas Sparks, you are sure to enjoy these 2 novels.  If you like romance, you will like them as well.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend these books to a macho tough guy, but who knows, maybe they have a soft spot for romance and would like it. But to all those girls out there that like a good chick flick, this should feed your addiction :)

Safe Haven- Nicholas Sparks

Yes Yes, I have been slacking hard core here.  But I HAVE been reading I promise.


I read Safe Haven probably a month or so ago, so I might be a little hazy on the details.  Basically, in this book, Katie shows up in North Carolina.  She doesn't associate with too many people outside of her job as a waitress at a local restaurant.  She starts renting a house.  When the house next door gets rented out by someone named Jo, Katie and her become friends.  Katie then starts hanging out with Alex, a local store owner and widower,and his 2 kids.  Eventually Katie and Alex start dating. Alex can tell that Katie is hiding a huge secret from him, and suspects that he knows what it is.  Having a military background and experience in dealing with domestic violence, he suspects that Katie has left a significant other.

Alex's suspicions are confirmed as Katie reveals that she has indeed left her husband and changed her identity.  Throughout the book, you get to read about her husband's view on things, and his search to find Katie. Eventually, you find out who Jo really is, if Katie's husband finds her, and what Katie's future with Alex is like.

I really enjoyed this novel, as I do most Nicholas Sparks books.  The book had what I consider a typical Nicholas Sparks ending.  If you've read any of his other books, or seen any movies based on his books, you know what I'm talking about.  It is a good ending, just not necessarily what you might expect.

This book is actually being made into a movie, due to come out next year.  I can tell that there are some changes made, but it looks like it will stay pretty true to the book.  Check out the preview: