Thursday, May 22, 2008

Recent Reads . . . .


When thirty-something Tabby Brockman has the opportunity to reclaim her role as a killed-off character on the nation's #1 daytime soap opera, she figures this must be God's reward. But back on the set, she's faced with the same hateful head writer who killed off her character in the first place, kids who drive her crazy, a stage dad who rubs her completely wrong, and and an unwanted boyfriend who can?t seem to get the message. Faced with this dizzying rollercoaster of challenges, Tabby has to wonder: is she finally a star on the rise or just on the brink of another spectacular fall?

This was a lighthearted, fun read. Great for summer reading! This was the first book I've read by Tracey Bateman and I'll definetly be reading more!


James Scott Bell
From the Back Cover: How far will a father go to get back his only daughter? And how will he survive in a legal system that crushes those who can't afford to fight back? Mark Gillen has the storybook life other men dream of, complete with a beautiful wife and an adoring five-year-old daughter. Then his wife announces shes leaving him. And taking their daughter with her. The other man is a famous film director with unlimited funds and the keys to stardom and wealth for Paula. How can Mark begin to compete? But the most bitter blow comes when he is kept from seeing his daughter because of false charges . . . and a legal system ill-suited for finding the truth. Forged in the darkest valley Mark has ever walked through, his faith in God may ultimately cost him everything in the eyes of the family law system. But it is the one thing that can keep him sane and give him the strength to fight against all odds for what matters most.
Another first for me, I'd never read James Scott Bell before, but had heard/read great things about him. I did like his writing style and the book was good, realistic, and hard hitting. It reminded me of the story of Job. One.bad.thing.after.another kept happening to Mark, it got to the point where I was like, alright already! But I liked the message of the story.The ending is more "real" than "storybook" and I guess I've grown so accustomed to "fairytale" endings that I was a bit disappointed.
Go here for a review I posted of a new tween book - Trion Rising
And here and here for some warnings/reviews of books to keep your teens/tweens away from!

2 comments:

The Gang's Momma! said...

I loved this book so much I went back and read all of his books to date so far! This was a great story - as are all of his others. Man, that was a great summer of reading for me :)

Shawna said...

I haven't read James Scott Bell either but I saw a couple of his books today in the bookstore. I'll have to check both authors out.