Review: A Not So Simple Life (Diary of a Teenage Girl) by Melody Carlson

 

Summary from Goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Maya Stark seems to have it all–fame, fortune, a Beverly Hills lifestyle, and an eighties pop star dad who’s making a comeback. But looks can be deceiving, and on the inside, Maya is miserable. Her parents are divorced, her dad is away on tour, and being biracial, she struggles with her identity. Then, to make matters worse, her mother has returned to using drugs and is quickly depleting their finances. In a plan to become emancipated from her messed-up mom, Maya takes a job on Rodeo Drive. Selling designer clothes compromises Maya’s earth-friendly “green girl” values, but she is desperate.

Just when Maya thinks she’s got it all worked out, her life caves in. Her mom “embezzles” Maya’s savings and is later arrested on DUI and cocaine possession charges and is facing jail time. With nowhere to live, Maya is sent to spend the summer with her relatives. In the collision of two very different worlds, Maya must figure out where she fits in–or does she fit in at all?

My Thoughts:
    I liked this book. Maya is the main character of the book and it's written in diary format. She's a regular fifteen year old girl, but her dad is a famous pop star from the 80s and her mom is a drug addict. Maya has basically had to raise herself because her mom leaves her for days at a time and her dad is on tour. This book was an easy read. It's the type of story where you read it and relax for the evening. Once I got into it, I wanted to know what would happen to Maya. I liked the Green tips at the end of every chapter especially about the multiple uses of baking soda. This was my first time reading this series and I plan on reading the second book of Miss Maya.

Follow Friday

Follow Friday is a meme hosted by Parajunkee and AllisonCanRead.
When you've read a book, what do you do with it? (Keep it, give it away, donate it, sell it, swap it?)

If I bought the book, I'd keep it. These days most of my books are library books so I return them.

Review: Say Amen, Again by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

Publisher: Gallery Press
Publish Date: 7/5/2011

Summary from Goodreads:

The spirited Houston congregation featured in ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s Let the Church Say Amen and Everybody Say Amen has a major scandal unfolding—and, as always, the outspoken Rachel Jackson Adams is at the heart of the drama.As the First Lady of Zion Hill, Rachel is not only Pastor Lester Adams’ wife—she’s currently his eight-months-pregnant wife, who’s going toe-to-toe with Lester’s onetime mistress, congregant Mary Richardson, also pregnant. Her baby may or may not be Lester’s, but Mary’s doing all she can to win sympathy and turn her fellow churchgoers against Rachel—even threatening to blackmail Pastor Adams with a paternity agreement. After all, where can an unmarried mother-to-be go but to the Lord? Rachel has a few choice answers for exactly where Mary can go . . . but as these expectant moms do battle, hostilities erupt into a drama unlike anything Zion Hill has ever seen! Something has to give, and while Rachel contemplates everything from transferring her lifelong church membership to packing up and leaving Lester, she knows deep down God is calling her to forgiveness. Will the arrival of the new babies bring a new understanding? Or harden forever the anger that’s dividing them?

My thoughts:
Say Amen, Again is the third installment in the Amen series. I finished this book in one day. There was drama as soon as I opened the book. I couldn't put it down. The short chapters helped the momentum in the book. As I was reading I was like, 'Rachael is crazy.'  Well, everybody was crazy, which is why I liked the book. Within the first couple of pages, Rachael is beating up her husband as she's waking up from a disturbing dream she had about her husband's mistress. I was hooked from that point on. Jonathan has his issues that he's dealing with and their father is sick with cancer which brings in seriousness to the book. It had everything in a book that I like drama, fights, comedy, scandal, and a good ending.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.
These are a couple of books that I got from the library.

Follow Friday!

Follow Friday is a meme hosted by ParaJunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

This week's question: What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to books? Maybe you don't like love triangles or thin plots. Tell us about it!

My main pet peeve is typos and grammatical errors. I don't like those. For some reason, I get mad when I see those in a book. I can over look one or two things, but if it happens on every other page, I can't finish the book. I know I'm not the best writer, but that's what makes me go uggghh!