Review: Wings

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

 Synopsis from Goodreads:
Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words.


Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.


In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I got this book as a free Nook book download. I had heard of the author being from Utah and being recommended by Stephanie Meyer of Twilight fame, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Laurel starts a new school, gets a new guy friend, and then wakes up one morning with a giant flower growing out of her back. Talk about a weird day. She eventually tells her new boyfriend and he doesn't actually mind. Along the way, she finds out what the deal is with her flower and her body. She solves a mystery and saves the day, so all's well that ends well, right?  

I honestly didn't read a single review before I read it. I don't know why, but it took me about two chapters of being completely annoyed with the story to look up the intended audience. Once I realized that it's a YA novel, I felt much more comfortable with the lack of character development and the simpleness of the narrative. Although I was comfortable with it, I didn't really love it. I don't think it was terribly captivating, but I do have to give the author props for the world she created and the faeries involved.

I am not a huge Twilight fan but I feel they translate well to an older audience. I can't say the same for this one, which is probably why it bothered me so much. The book is a quick, easy read, though, that does not require much thought. This makes it a perfect "night" book that you can read easily before bed or when you don't have to think that hard. Although I didn't really love the book, I will probably purchase the next two in the series, since they are easy reads.

Friday Review: Run Like a Mother

Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving--and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea

Synopsis from GoodReads:

In Run Like a Mother, authors Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea offer both inspirational advice and practical strategies to help multitasking women make running part of their busy lives.
McDowell and Shea understand the various external and internal forces in everyday life that can unintentionally keep a wife--mother--working woman from lacing up her shoes and going for a run. Because the authors are multihyphenates themselves, Run Like a Mother is driven by their own running expertise and real-world experience in ensuring that running is part of their lives.
More than a book, Run Like a Mother is essentially a down-to-earth, encouraging conversation with the reader on all things running, with the overall goal of strengthening a woman's inner athlete.
Of course, real achievement is a healthy mix of inspiration and perspiration, which is why the authors have grounded Run Like a Mother in a host of practical tips on shoes, training, racing, nutrition, and injuries, all designed to help women balance running with their professional and personal lives.


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I bought this book (the nook version) because I needed some inspiration after not being able to complete my half marathon.

For some reason, I was expecting a bit more out of this book than it delivered. I don't know why I thought it would be an instructional manual on how the two mommy/worker authors actually make running work in their lives, but I did. In short, the answer was "because it works". It didn't really answer very many running questions for me, and seemed to be geared more towards women who run, rather than women who want to run- which I think is a very important distinction. I really didn't think it was that great of an instruction-manual-type book

If I look at it from a purely narrative point of view, it was a much better book. I really enjoyed the quotes from other mothers and found the stories from the authors to be entertaining with a ring of truth that can only come from being a mother. I enjoyed the way the chapters were broken apart (in 26.2), because I felt it lent a playful air and because each chapter was just about right for a break at work.

Although it was not what I expected, it did help me motivate myself to get back to my training for my next marathon. I would recommend it to a friend, but would include the caveat to just enjoy the book as a story.

The one thing I absolutely hated was the nook book formatting. For some reason, it did not translate well. Because the book has a section of quotes and asides in each chapter, it was hard to follow if you didn't have the luxury of turning a physical page. No fault of the authors, and it didn't influence my rating, but it was highly annoying.