And the Winners Are...

Congratulations to SarahEm who won our YA Prize Pack #1:  Hex Hall & Blue Bloods!

And congratulations to Ashley Leturgez who won YA Prize Pack #2:  Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy & Virals!

Please email Jenn your information so that she may send them out as soon as possible.

As always, Girls Just Reading uses Random.org to select our winners.

Book to Movie: Something Borrowed

Summary: The smash-hit debut novel for every woman who has ever had a complicated love-hate friendship. Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself. ~amazon.com

Review: Admittedly, it's been years since I've read Something Borrowed but I think I remembered enough about the story to judge the movie. Also, I'm NOT a Kate Hudson fan at all so when it was announced she was going to play Darcy I was a bit miffed. Then, I thought about it and decided she would be a perfect Darcy. The rest of the casting was very well done, especially after putting Gennifer Goodwin in the role of Rachel.

As far as my memory serves me I think the movie pretty much followed the book. The movie ended exactly as I remembered and of course I wanted it to. Sure, I don't think cheating of any kind is right, especially if the guy is engaged and about to marry your best friend. Now, of course you are always rooting for Rachel. The consummate good girl who always catered to her best friend Darcy. Darcy's always gotten what she wanted, even Dex, who she knows Rachel was crushing on.

Dex is played by the extremely good looking Colin Egglesfield. You feel for him. He's stuck, he's trying to do the right thing, he's trying to please his hard to please father. On the other hand, he needs to man up and do the right thing. He needs to live his life and love who he needs to love. Rachel needs to quit being the door mat to her friend Darcy. Let's face it, it's pretty much a one way friendship.

Who stole the show for me though was John Krasinksi. He played the childhood friend, Ethan, of both Darcy and Rachel; although now he was more in Camp Rachel. His comedic timing was perfect and he had some great lines.

I have to say, I think that Emily Giffin did an excellent job on promoting this movie since it's based on her book. She took to Facebook and Twitter to tell her fans about the process from the start. If she doesn't feel like writing any more books (which I would not be happy about) she could definitely do PR for Hollywood.

If you are a fan of the book or even if you aren't; Something Borrowed is a great movie to see with your girlfriend(s).

Final Take: 4.5/5

Armchair BEA: Who are you, and how do you Armchair?

Today's topic for Armchair BEA is Who are you, and how do you Armchair?  Although this book blog is run by four of us, today you get to here from me, Jenn.

N.B. Armchair BEA is a blog event for
book bloggers who can't attend Book
Expo America in NYC this week

I would love to be in NYC this week, not just for BEA (though that in and of itself would be heavenly) but for all the wonderful things that New York City brings.  I think the last time I was there was when my college choir performed at Carnegie Hall, so it's been a while.  I love all of the arts, so NYC is sort of a Mecca for me.  Unfortunately, financially, it's just not possible for me to be there this week.

Many of you would be surprised to learn that I'm a trained musician.  Yep.  I can sing opera.  Do I like to sing opera?  Not really, I must admit.  I love musical theatre and I'm a closet jazz musician, but that's a story for another day... I taught music in the schools for a while, but while I loved the kids, I didn't love the job.  Now I'm a happy, though scattered, stay at home mother of one kidlet and one dog.  

I started reading at an early age and couldn't stop.  Literally.  I would follow my mother around, while she was shopping, with my nose in a book.  To my great exasperation, people were always interrupting me to ask me how I could do such a thing.  My response, without looking up was always, "I can see my mother's shoe's over the top of my book."  Now I'm watching that same love of reading blossom in my daughter.  

Girls Just Reading is happy to be keeping up with what's going on at BEA through Twitter and the Armchair BEA website as none of us could make it this year.  Want to know more about my fellow bloggers?  Check out Alice's introductory post here, Julie's here, and Lisa's here.

Children's Corner: Silverlicious

Review: My almost 6 year old daughter has been a big fan of Pinkalicious since I bought the first one when she was 3. So when she started get wiggly teeth and I saw that Pinkalicious was dealing with the same thing; I bought it for her.

In typical Pinkalicious fashion she can't lose her tooth in a normal way. You see, immediately after losing her tooth Pinkalicious no longer enjoys sweets! For Shame!! So she declares that she lost her sweet tooth.

So Pinkalicious decides to write a letter to the Tooth Fairy to get this situation resolved. Instead of having the Tooth Fairy respond she gets Carlos Cupid, Edgar Easter Bunny and Elf #351. They each try to restore her sweet tooth but to no avail.

When she finally does get a response from the Tooth Fairy, she gets the requisite coin but also a note that teaches Pinkalicious a valuable lesson.

What I love about these books is that each of them teaches kids a valuable lesson. Sometimes one us parents could be reminded of as well.

This is the fourth hardcover is a well loved series but there are all sorts of subsequent books that also feature this sassy girl. There is also a children's muscial based on the first book as well.

These are books that we come back to again and again. These are books that will be kept for many years to come.

To learn more about the author and the books Think Pinkalicious.

An hour with Jen Lancaster & If You Were Here Giveaway

Last week I had the pleasure of spending an hour with one of Girls Just Reading's favorite writers,  Jen Lancaster during her reading at Barnes & Nobel on Union Square in New York City. 

I love her, I think I fall a little more in love with her every time I see her.  She is funny, witty, real.  I love the pearls and the scarf. She read an expert for her very first novel, the newly released If You Were Here.  I have to admit, I was unsure if I wanted to read this novel.  I love her memoirs but I didn't know what kind of novelist she would make.  After hearing the excerpt, I know I had nothing to worry about.

The event consisted of an excerpt reading, a brief Q&A period and finally a book signing.  I enjoyed how candid she was with her readers. She shared stories of her new neighborhood, gave us updates on her animals.  She is the perfect “girls night out” author to go see. They only thing Barnes & Nobel needed was an old school push cart girl serving cocktails. My best bud Sharon brought along a male friend, someone who had never heard of Jen Lancaster (shocking, I know). He looked a little frightened considering he was one of about five guys in the audience. After I repeatedly insisted that he was going to love her, he was still skeptical. Afterwards I'm happy to say she won him over, just like I knew she would.  He said she was funny, witty, smart and appealed to everyone. And he’s right.

This time around I didn't ask her any questions, but I did get an autographed copy of her novel for one of you.  Fill out the form below to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Jen Lancaster's If You Were Here: A Novel.  In order to qualify, you must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada and enter by midnight Friday, May 27th EST.

As always, our winner will be chosen by Random.org.  Good luck to all.

And the Winner Is...

Congratulations to Felecia, winner of How to Get Out of Your Own Way by Tyrese Gibson!


Please send Jenn your address so that we may send this out to you as soon as possible.  


As always, Girls Just Reading uses Random.org to select our winners.