Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Title: Eat, Pray, Love

Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

Where I Got It: I bought it from Walmart

Why I Read It: I've been wanting to read it for a very long time, and after hearing such good things about the book AND the movie, I decided to buy it and read it.

My Rating: B



Blurb from the back of the book:

In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was suppose to want -- husband, country home, successful career -- but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. 

First I must start of by saying how humorous this book was. I found myself literally laughing out loud numerous times through out this book. And, if you know me at all, you know that I love a book that makes me feel emotion as if I'm the one writing it, or who lived it! Out of everything likable in this book, I'd have to say that's my ultimate favorite. 

The only thing that I didn't really enjoy about the book is that I found myself getting bored through out some parts of it. I was getting so bored, that my mind would wander off and think of other things while reading, and by the time I realized this, I'd have to go back a page or two to reread it to understand what was going on. However, this didn't happen a lot, just a few times here or there, and it wasn't enough to ruin the book, or make me hate it. 

I  feel like this book can teach everyone something. It obviously taught Elizabeth a lot as she was traveling from place to place, writing this book and experiencing life in such a different way. The knowledge, advice, suggestions, and thoughts through out this book give us all a feeling of, "Oh, what a great life lesson!" 

For example, I've been going through this "woe is me" stage every now and then and feeling BLAH, and REALLY down about my 7 year relationship that ended a year ago. Even after a year, it still hurts. Well, I was having one of those days and I picked up this book and immediately read this part:

"I thought David was my soul mate."

"He probably was. Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it."

By reading this part of the book/story, I was like, "Wow. So everyone really DOES have more than one soul mate." Then it made me think about how much my life has changed since meeting my "soul mate", who has now left, and how in the end, it's the best experience that I, or anyone else can ever have and that it's okay to be hurt/sad/upset, but it's also okay to move on with your life. There WILL be more soul mates! There was one other quote/part of the book that goes hand in hand with this too. I'd like to share it with you also.

"My heart was broken so badly last time that it STILL hurts. Isn't that crazy? To still have a broken heart almost two years after a love story ends?"

This entire book has so many awesome parts/quotes/sections in it with SUCH deep thoughts/meaning, just like the two that I shared with you. And, as I said, a life lesson for me that I learned from reading this: It's okay to love again.

I do think that this book is a must read for all woman. Men would enjoy it too, I'm sure. But because this was written by a woman, and it has the life lessons that every girl needs to learn sometime in their life, I think every woman out there should read this. In fact, I'm going to pass this own to a friend of mine to read, so SHE can learn from this book, then I hope she'll pass it on to someone else. I highly recommend this book to everyone, woman especially. 

When I talk about life lessons, I'm talking about learning that life isn't always bad. I'm talking about that even though Elizabeth was miserable in her life, she had the guts to get up and DO something about it. Not only did she help herself, but along the way she met incredibly, amazing people, who not only changed HER life, but in some way, she changed theirs as well. And I think everyone should know that this actually does happen. 

As I said, I highly recommend this book to everyone, a high focus on woman. I hope that you all go out and read this, if you haven't already. I highly recommend you read the book, before seeing the movie however. I haven't seen the movie yet, but as it goes with all books made into movies, I doubt the movie even comes close to giving the book justice! 

One other positive thing about this book is that at the very end of the book, there are pages of the other books Elizabeth Gilbert as published. One of them is actually a sort of continuance of this book. It tells what happens to her, and some of the people she met along the way. I don't want to say too much, or I'll give out too many spoilers!!! 

I am giving this book a B, only because of the very few less entertaining parts that were through out the book. 

If you've already read this book, PLEASE leave me some comments/feedback on this. I would LOVE to know what you think/thought of it. Or, if you've seen the movie, and not the book, I would LOVE to hear from you as well!! 

My Rating:

50 FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Everyone!!! I have FINALLY reached 50 followers!!! I said that I was going to do a giveaway when I reached this, so, here I am with the updated, detailed information on the giveaway, and how to enter/participate, etc! 


Here are the rules:


1. ANYONE in the UNITED STATES can participate! Sorry International folks, I will do a giveaway for you real soon!


2.) You HAVE to be a Follower. New, or old! 


3.)  You get additional entries if you're a follower, meaning, you'll get an entry for signing up, then you'll get an entry for being a follower. Also additional entries are possible in the following ways: Posting an entry on your blog about the giveaway, posting on your Facebook, Myspace, etc. about the giveaway, and/or posting something on Goodreads about the giveaway! I WILL NEED LINKS TO ALL OF THIS IN ORDER TO GET EXTRA ENTRIES!


Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what you can win. So, here are the prizes:


ONE lucky FIRST PRIZE winner will choose what book they'd want from Barnes & Noble that is $15 or less! I will have this book shipped to them!


TWO lucky SECOND PRIZE winners will be chosen to receive a USED copy of one of the books that I own. Now, There will be a "first prize-second prize winner", if that makes sense. Whoever is RANDOMLY drawn for the second place prize  first, will  get first pick of which book they want. Then the second person for second place prize will get a pick out of what's left. Does this make sense?


So in total, there will be THREE winners! 


Here is a list of the books I will have available for the SECOND PRIZE WINNERS to win:


Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Nosy Neighbor by Fern Michaels
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson


How to enter:


Please leave me a comment ON THIS ENTRY ONLY with the following information:


Your first name, which two books you'd be interested in if you were second place, your email address where I can contact you if you win, any links to announcements of this giveaway so you can get extra entries, and whether your a new, or old follower! 


Winners will be chosen at RANDOM using Random.org. However, the more entries you have, the more chances you'll have at winning!! 


This giveaway is going to go from NOW until February 1st. It gives people THREE weeks to enter, get information needed, etc. Once a winner is picked, I will post an entry with the persons name, the link to their blog, etc. They will have 48 HOURS to contact me to claim their prize.


If you have ANY questions, feel free to email me at: stephanysbookreviews@gmail.com


I'm excited about this giveaway folks!! LETS DO THIS! 

Nook, E-Readers and Other Digitals vs. Hard copy books

I just read this very interesting article on how Borders is becoming less and less popular among the biggest book retailer, Barnes and Noble, and even Amazon. It made me think about this A LOT for many reasons..


1.) I am studying Business Management where I want to OWN my own book store some day. 


2.) It talks about the digital books that are available nowadays, and how much of positive and even negative affect this has on book retailers, as well as us readers.


I'm hoping by writing this entry, it'll cause some interesting discussion and/or debates. I'd like to see what everyone else in the blogging/bookish world thinks about this. 


If you'd like to read the article that I'm speaking of, you can find it HERE. Feel free to read it as you read my entry about my thoughts/opinions. 


This article mainly talks about how Borders, the once 2nd all time book retailer is slowly being taken down by Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. It talks about how Borders may have to file a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy law suit in order to stay open, how they are thinking about combining Barnes & Noble with Borders to see if they can make a bigger profit, get out of debt, etc. 


Now, this raises a flag with me... If Barnes & Noble (My all time favorite book store), is doing SO WELL, am I going to be able to rise against them when I open my own store? Obviously my store will start off small, but I hope to be as big as Borders, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. This worries me. And in part, the article talks about how Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and now Borders all have the digital e-readers where you can buy this thin book shaped digital piece of technology and can buy, download, etc. books onto it and read it without the "hassle" of having a an actual book to "lug around". According to this article (and from what I've seen out in public), these digital e-readers as becoming more and more popular. They're decently priced to buy, and the books you buy off the computer are decently prices as well. The book industry is being rapidly changed by this technology, just like the music, news, entertainment, etc. industries have with advanced technology. 


Don't get me wrong, I am all for these e-readers. From what I've seen, they're pretty awesome. But personally, I don't want to own one for the simple fact that I enjoy the look and feel of having an ACTUAL book in my hands. I feel like these e-readers take that possibility away, and you miss that "new book smell". And, if these things keep advancing more and more, are hard copy books going to be available anymore at all?? If e-readers develop into a huge craze to phase out actual books, what's going to happen to Libraries? Are stores like Barnes & Noble, or even my book store, going to be able to survive solely on digital copies of books? Will Barnes & Noble then be in the same position as Borders? About to be completely out of business, and/or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy? The article mentions that Borders was one of the last book retailers to come up with a digital e-reader, and that they aren't able to keep up with the higher retailers. Isn't this a sign of what might happen if hard copy books phase out? 


The article does say something that I like/agree with... " But books have survived every retail transformation so far". So, hopefully these digital transformations don't phase out the actual hard copy book world. But the article also mentions that if we don't like, or agree with the digital world, there is also the library. But, wouldn't the libraries suffer too?


My sole purpose of writing this entry based on the article that I read is to ask you, my follow bookish people and bloggers.. What do you think?? Do you think that the digital e-readers will phase out hard copy books? How do you think this will affect book stores in the future? Do you prefer the digital copies over hard copies? Why, or why not? 


I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts/opinions on this subject!


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Why-Barnes-Noble-Is-Thumping-usnews-2623028754.html?x=0

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

Hey Everyone! I decided that I wanted to do something for my loyal followers sometime in the near future. So, I decided that I'm going to do a giveaway!!!

Once I reach 50 followers (which, at the time of this writing, I'm at 48!) then I will be doing a giveaway! Now, I know that 50 followers isn't all THAT much, but to me, that's an accomplishment! Then, once I reach 100 followers, I will do an even BIGGER giveaway!!

So, once I reach the 50 followers mark, I will put another post up on the details of the actual giveaway, rules, etc.

But for now, just know that ONE lucky winner will receive a book of their CHOICE from Barnes and Noble that is $15 or less!!!! And ONE second place winner will receive a used copy of one of my books, which I will have a list of them, and the second place winner can choose which one he or she would like!!

So, once I hit the 50 followers, another DETAILED post will follow!!!

Thanks to all of you who have been following me so far!!

Book Blogger Hop!

BOOK BLOGGER HOP

I haven't participated in a Book Blogger Hop in a while!! I have just been so busy with work and what not, I haven't really found the time!! But, here I am, finally participating in one again and I am SO excited!!! 

If you're new to the hop, this is how it works: Head on over to Jennifer's blog; Crazy for Books, and enter your link into her linky widget! Make sure that you enter your name, and/or the name of your blog, with the TYPE of books you read MOST! For example, Stuck Between The Pages (Fiction). Then, write a blog entry about the hop so that other people can learn about it and participate!!! =)   When you write your entry, answer the question that is posted on Jennifer's blog. There is a new question every week!! 

This is easy enough right!? So head on over to Jennifer's blog by clicking HERE and get started!!

This weeks question is:

 "What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence/change you?"

When I first read this question, I had to REALLY think about it. I wasn't sure which book influenced, or changed my life. Then, it hit me!! The book that influenced/changed my life was The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. 

If you've never read this book, you MUST! Unfortunately, I don't have a review for this book (I read it before I started my blog), but I'll tell you what it's about.

Rhonda writes this book to tell us what The Secret is to a happier life. When I first was told about this book, I was the most negative human being EVER. I hated life, hated the way things kept happening to me, and felt like nothing good ever happened. So, I kept a negative attitude. Well, after reading this book, and hearing that the secret is a POSITIVE attitude, I decided to try it! I changed everything negative into a positive. I noticed a HUGE difference. My life changed almost instantly. Not only did I get a job, but I was blessed with some awesome roommates/friends, my family had many blessings and my life just changed. I now try to teach others that the secret to life is a positive attitude, and I hope that they listen and at least TRY it.  Granted, sometimes it's hard to think positive ALL of the time, but for the most part, if you think positive, you'll get positive answers.

And so, after reading this book, my life changed to a happier, more positive, fun-filled life!!! I highly suggest you all read this book. It just may change yours too! 

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Where I got this book: Walmart

Why I read it: I saw another review on it from a different blogger and added it to my TBR List.

Rating: A






Blurb from the back of the book:

Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left--the most important decision she'll ever make. 
Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving. 




When I first started this book, I didn't like it. I thought it was TOO "young adult-ish" for me, and TOO unreal. As I kept reading it, I was feeling that way a little bit more. Then, one day I happened to see on the top corner of the book that it said, "Will appeal to fans of Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT"-- USA Today. I didn't agree with it then, and I still don't agree with that.

As I kept reading the book, I was getting more and more into it. As I got to the middle of the book, it was really hard for me to put it down. I kept reading and reading. I'd set the book down to get something to eat, or to use the bathroom, and when I'd pick it back up, I'd say, "Whoa! How did I get this far!?"

I'm not really into the whole make-believe, paranormal type stuff, but this book is amazing. It makes you realize, or think about, "Does this kind of stuff REALLY happen?" Because, we will never know until when, or if, it does. This book has an incredible story line, with incredible characters that you find yourself routing for, and liking a whole lot.

I don't want to say too much about what happens to Mia in the book, because it's a mystery. All I can is that you'll find out the climax/big event right away, in the first chapter of the book. Now, some of you might think that this is too soon, and that the rest of the book would be boring, but that's not the case at all. The rest of the book just makes finding it out so soon that much more enjoyable.

I highly recommend this book to all Young Adult readers. If you haven't read this book yet, definitely read it! It's heart warming, heart breaking, romantic, funny, and amazing all put together. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I don't really have any complaints. I'm not too sure if I like the way the book ended though. I won't tell you what happens, but you'll be sitting there like, "REALLY!?" And it made me wonder if there was going to be a second book. I kept saying  "I sure hope so, because I want to hear what happens next for Mia and her boyfriend and the rest of her friends and family." And, after doing research on Gayle's website, I found out that there IS a second book!! It's called, "Where She Went", and it's going to be released in April!!!

Also, as a side note to those of you who have read this book, and/or will read it.. Did you know that Gayle Forman sold the rights over to a movie producer to make this book into a movie?? How cool is that!? It's the same people who bought the rights to Twilight.

I probably should talk more about the comment I said earlier. This book is not anywhere near the same type of story, or story line as Twilight, but on the romantic aspect of the story, I think that might be the only comparison.

I hope you all go out and get this book and read it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

My Rating: