If you want to read a book that you just cannot put down and makes you drown out the noise of the train engine on your commute to work–this is one of those. Admittedly, the storyline probably has more appeal to women than it will to men but this is a great read! It’s a soap opera style drama.
This story revolves around three sisters and the very different lives they live.
One sister, the youngest, has to learn the very hard lesson of letting go of a man that’s just not good, even if he is her baby’s daddy!!
The oldest sister has to learn that words can sometimes cut like a knife. She also has to learn that letting herself go is not the way to keep her family together.
The middle sister has to learn that no matter what, blood is thicker than water, and that you never ever ever, and I do mean never, no matter how fine he may be, go after your sister’s husband.
Oh yea! Did I say drama?? I meant it!! Could not put this book down. You aren’t going to find any of life’s mysteries revealed in this book but you will find some great entertainment. LOL
4 TATTERED PAGES!
The Ex-Factor by Tu-Shonda Whitaker
“I Heard That Song Before” by Mary Higgins Clark
Mary Higgins Clark hardly ever lets me down. The last book I read of hers was “Two Little Girls in Blue” and although it was OK, I found it lacking something. This book did not lack in anything at all!! This was a fabulous read. The characters were immediately captivating!
The main character–Kay Lansing–is a librarian, so at first I thought maybe I just like her because she likes books like I do! 
But no, it turns out I liked everything about the character. This was a strong heroine. She marries a rich man–Peter Carrington (and I’m talking millions and millions rich!!) and shortly after arriving from their honeymoon, he is arrested for murder!!
Of course she refuses to believe that her new husband is a murderer but as things keep coming up, she starts to doubt his innocence, especially since her own husband really believes he committed the crimes! Then there are twist and turns and honestly, they are all good!
I am not going to give anything away (you’ll have to read it!) but Mary Higgins Clark did it again with this one. She kept me wanting more and more and guessing right until the last page!!
This gets 5 tattered pages!!
Notorius by Michele Martinez
I have been an avid Michele Martinez fan from day one. This is the 4th book in the Melanie Vargas series (Most Wanted, The Finishing School, Cover-Up). Lots has happened since the last book and having finished Notorious, I can see that lots of changes will take place in the next book as well.
Without spoiling anything, the most obvious change in this book is the virtual disappearance of Dan, Melanie’s hot hunky FBI agent significant other (say that in one breath! :-) I missed having Dan around but there was so much going on as far as plot twists and murders, that we really don’t get a chance to miss him too much. And from the hints, he will probably come back around eventually. In the meantime, it looks like Melanie is in full swing with the promotion Bernadette had promised from the last book. Bernadette is now a “happy” judge.There was lots of action in this book and you had to pay close attention to all the details but it keeps you guessing until the end which is great. There are tragedies and some lives are lost–one close to home.
All in all, I was not disappointed. I will miss Dan for a while and Linda, Melanie’s sister who seems to have plans to move to Miami (but that leaves Miami open for possibilities in the future). And also, strangely enough, the arrival of a new character by the name of Jennifer intrigues me. At the end of the novel instead of hating her, I’d actually like to see more of her. Hit me up if you’ve read this and tell me what you think!!
This is all I will say because I don’t want to spoil it. But pick up your copy. It’s worth every cent!
This one gets 5 tattered pages!!
How I almost got kicked out 1st day @ Paperback Swap
Hello all! I’ve recently joined a wonderful Yahoo group called Mystery Book-Swap. Basically it’s for mystery book lovers. you read and then trade your book for one you haven’t read yet with another member. The people on here are absolutely fabulous. It’s a great group. Well, it was here that I first heard of Paperback Book Swap. It’s a website where you basically do the same thing but well, you should have a lot more to choose from since there are a lot of members.
So I joined yesterday (some of my yahoo group friends have already accepted my buddy requests–thanks!! I need all the buddies I can get on there–you’ll see why).
I thought it would be easier to import a file of ISBN’s so I downloaded a text file from Shelfari (where I already had an account) which gives you ALL books on ONE list. And then I uploaded into the Bookshelf at PBS. And it worked and I was sooooo happy–THEN I realized that all the books in Bookshelf means they are available for people right away. People had books automatically wish-listed so it put a hold on 56 of my books and I could not delete them!! Worse part is that about 42 of those were actually from my OWN wish-list on Shelfari so I didn’t own them!!! I was absolutely frantic. Finally I figured out that I had to wait until people request the book and then I have to let them know I can’t mail it (they are going to love me at PBS). Then it gets deleted on its own.
I am mailing out two books today though. I even pre-printed postage and delivery confirmation. I had a heck of a time trying to wrap the books though so I finally put them in envelopes and just taped on the label with postage and address.
Ay ay ay!! What I do for the love of books!
“the five people you meet in heaven” By Mitch Albom
There are some books you read to entertain yourself, like most of the mystery/thriller novels I read. There are others you read looking for a message. This is one of those books and it did not let me down. My mom passed away almost 11 years ago on my birthday. In this time, I’ve learned that time doesn’t always heal the wound. Some shoes are way too big to ever fill. My mom’s 3 inch heels are one of them.
I was 26 years old when she passed away. I was an adult but I had spent the last 7 years in college and graduate school-all good things-but when she died, I felt that this had stolen time I could have spent with her. I felt and believed that my mother had not yet told me everything she needed to; that she had not yet taught me all I needed to learn.
I found some answers in this book.
The book basically tells us the story of an elderly, crotchety man, who dies while trying to save a young girl’s life at a carnival where he works. Next thing, he wakes up in “heaven” or perhaps it should be better called “heaven’s ante-room.” Here, he learns important life lessons.
The story weaves in and out of the present time at the carnival, the man’s actual life, and “heaven.” In so doing, Albom gives us messages of hope, peace and connection.
Here are some of what I thought were great lines because they brought the message home to me.
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“….there are no random acts..that we are all connected…that death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else…”
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“..when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You are just passing it to someone else.”
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“…hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.”
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“..lost love is still love…a different form, that’s all.”
Albom teaches us about sacrifice, forgiveness and most of all..Love.
This one gets 5 tattered pages!!
“….there are no random acts..that we are all connected…that death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else…”
“..when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You are just passing it to someone else.”
“…hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.”
“..lost love is still love…a different form, that’s all.”
“My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King” by Reymundo Sanchez
I AM A BOOKWORM & I LOVE TO READ THRILLERS & MYSTERIES. I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL OR LEGAL THRILLER AND A GOOD ‘OLE GHOST STORY. HOWEVER, I ALSO LIKE TO VENTURE OUT & READ OTHER STUFF FROM TIME TO TIME. THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.
THIS IS MY FIRST TIME READING THIS AUTHOR BUT NOT MY FIRST TIME READING THE UP & COMING GENRE OF “URBAN FICTION” OR “STREET LIT.” I HAVE TO SAY THAT THIS BOOK LEFT MUCH TO BE DESIRED.
THE AUTHOR IS BASICALLY RETELLING THE STORY OF HOW HE BECAME INVOLVED IN THE “LATIN KINGS” GANG IN CHICAGO. FROM HIS PREFACE, WE ALREADY KNOW THAT HIS INTENTION IS TO TEACH YOUTH THAT THE GANG LIFESTYLE IS NOT A GOOD WAY TO LIVE. HE DOES GIVE A GOOD HISTORY OF THE DIFFERENT GANGS IN CHICAGO & HOW THEY ALL CAME TO BE. HE TELLS US OF DRUGS, MURDERS, TEENAGE PROMISCUITY & THE NEED TO FIT IN. AS BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT, IT’S OK. I MEAN, LIKE I’VE SAID BEFORE, YOU CAN’T REALLY JUDGE SOMEONE’S LIFE.
FOR A TEENAGER WHO IS JUST THINKING OF BECOMING A GANG MEMBER OR IS JUST CURIOUS, THIS MAY BE A DECENT READ. HOWEVER, IF THE READER IS ALREADY INVOLVED, I DON’T THINK THE BOOK WILL HOLD HIS/HER ATTENTION LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I HAD TO PLOW THROUGH THIS BOOK. IT MAKES FOR A VERY SLOW READ.
PERHAPS THE AUTHOR JUST NEEDED A BETTER EDITOR. HE DOES HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT STORY TO TELL BUT IF HIS INTENDED AUDIENCE DOESN’T READ AND BENEFIT FROM HIS STORY, THEN IT PRETTY MUCH BECOMES JUST HIS DIARY.
SORRY BUT I WILL HAVE TO GIVE THIS TWO TATTERED PAGES!
Welcome to My Tattered Pages
Hello Word-press!! And Welcome to “My Tattered Pages.” I’ve started this blog over on Blogger but I will be importing it to Word-press and see how it goes for us here.
I’ve started this blog due to my passion for reading and also for writing. I am a total bookworm and proud of it! I have not authored any great novels yet but I will someday! At least I still hold onto that dream.
I have always been a bookworm. I started reading when I was 4 and haven’t stopped since. I also started writing (not published unless you count now :- ) when I was 10 years old. I wrote my first story as a result of my home instructor’s assignment. I became physically ill when I was about 9 years old and had to be on home instruction. My teacher told me to write a story and I did. I wrote on loose-leaf paper only the front and I bound it together with yarn so it became my first book! I still have this work of art and one of these days I’ll post it on my blog here so you can all get a look at the inside workings of a 10 year old. So my love of reading & writing goes way back.
Many months ago, I happened upon a website called DearReader.com. Here, you can join an email book club and you get excerpts of books so you can “road-read” before you buy or borrow the whole book. I’ve discovered some new authors there and I love that! OK so that brings me here to Word-press. I’m not sure how I happened upon this site. I was surfing and there it was so here I am!!
This site is run by a wonderful woman named Suzanne Beecher. She usually has contests or something going for her readers as well. She writes a daily column where she shares much of her personal life with her readers and if you email her, she will write you back personally!! Suzanne is great! And I enjoyed reading with Suzanne so much that I told someone about the book I took out from the library after having read the email excerpt. She told me about a book club she belongs to. And I got a little jealous. I want to be in a book club!!
I never got to be in one because there wasn’t enough interest in my ‘hood if you know what I mean. So I decided that it would be nice to have a group of people who share my same interests right? I know many people have a busy work/family life that won’t allow them time for an outside meeting. But many could probably sit at the computer for half- hour to an hour after the kids are asleep. Also, in an on-line event, it wouldn’t matter where the person lived and we could all share something we like to do. All you need is an Internet connection and a screen name. We could have an on-line book club and meet in chat rooms. You can be in pajamas and if you can’t sleep, we can make our meetings at 2 am!! Well, we don’t have to but we COULD! I think AOL or Yahoo would be easiest as these both offer free screenames now and have chat room capabilities. My SN on both is (GUESS!) mytatteredpages.
I also searched book-clubbing and found BookMovement.com where you can run your book club and send your members emails and select dates and times and books, etc. Well, I did get a few friends to join but only as a kind gesture to their bookworm friend. Mostly it’s just me. You can also enter to win books for your book club and in return review what you’ve read. I haven’t won anything from here yet but I keep trying. I also opened up a yahoo group thinking that would bring in more people. Not really! One guy expressed interest but now I see he deleted us!! 
The group name there is also My Tattered Pages.
I have a personal myspace page but I did create one dedicated just to my passion of reading and writing (myspace.com/mytatteredpages). Now this was a great idea and it took off almost immediately. I have quite a few author “friends.” It’s great to interact with some of my favorite authors. They also post bulletins with contests and other promotions. I’ve won a few autographed books already!! Yes I am a bookworm and I am so damn proud of it!! :)
Initially, I had intended to blog solely about books but I can’t help but get personal because well, life happens every day!! So I do love the fact that I can categorize posts here on Word-press. If you just strictly want to read about books & reading & writing related stuff go to Book Stuff. If you want to laugh at my personal antics go to My Tattered Life. And if you’d like to read about my zany co-host, you can read her posts at Contributor Craziness (I picked the categories. I’m sure she’ll love it). So now I like to say that my blog is about everyday life and the books that get us through.
Finally–
Do you have comments or questions? An announcement or posting you’d like to make? Or would you like to help me start my online book club? Please get in touch! Just click this address to send me an e-mail: mytatteredpages@yahoo.com
L’est We Forget–HAPPY THREE KINGS DAY!!
What is that? Well when I was a child it was merely another day to get more gifts!! Well and technically for many children, it still is!! Living in New Jersey and coming from descendants of Puerto Rico, as a child, I had the best time this time of year. It started Christmas Eve and ended in mid-January. It was the best.
Christmas Eve would usually be spent at my uncle Johnny’s house (his was biggest). The adults all got drunk and danced the night away. The children ate more than they should and got to stay up all night!! Around midnight, the kids would open up their presents. We’d rest up Christmas morning and play with our new toys. Then on the 26th or 27th we’d be on a plane headed to the beautiful isla of Puerto Rico. There would be a welcoming party with great food! On the 31st the entire family would gather with a huge a@@ lechon (pork) and music. We’d ring in the new year!
Then we’d hang out some more but on the evening of January 5th, all the children went to gather some hay or grass and a bowl of water and place these under the bed before going to bed that night. These were intended for the camels of the Three Kings who would supposedly be exhausted after their trip from the Orient to Puerto Rico. The camels would eat and drink while the kings left you gifts. In the morning on the 6th, we’d awaken with the cockadoodledoo to get some more gifts.
This night would mark the beginning of the “octavitas” (eights) –8 nights of parties with “parrandas” (sort of like a chorus that got bigger as the night went on because they’d pick up more straggler chorus people from home to home; a group would go knocking on someone’s house, usually unannounced and even sometimes wake you from your sleep, singing folk songs and start a party in your house that would last unil the wee hours of the morning; one or two people from your house would join the party and continue to the next house).
It was extra nice for me because Santa had given me gifts on December 25th and now the Three Kings on January 6th. I was doubly blessed. So Happy Three Kings Day everyone. May your blessings be doubled this year!!
Robert Frost’s Summer Home Vandalized??
I saw this small news article today on AOL news. The headline actually read: “Famed Writer’s Home Vandalized Teens’ Party Got Wild, Cops Say“. I thought that was going to be some funny story about a published author’s feisty teen children. I was pretty feisty myself. So I thought it would be funny but what this story is actually about is some people and some are allegedly teens, breaking into the historic summer home of Robert Frost in Ripton, Vermont!!! I was speechless when I saw the pictures and so depressed. I mean when we aren’t even respecting the memory of Robert Frost!! They broke a window to get in and proceeded to drink and leave blue plastic cups strewn about the floors. They also broke much of the antique furniture. I find this so totally despicable. I mean it’s one thing to break into a currently vacant house and hang out with your friends (I told you I was feisty–LOL) but why destroy property too? And irreplaceable property–we’re not talking build it yourself IKEA here! And I’m not upset just because it was Robert Frost (I like him but he wasn’t one of my favorites). But the house clearly states that this is a historic site and it says Robert Frost. And I’m sure it’s local kids so they must’ve know who this is because I’m sure the town boasts about it. I’m sad that teens today no longer seem to respect anything. I hear it from my own goddaughter at times–”I’ll respect her if she respects me,” she says referring to one of her teachers. She fails to realize that respect is not something you are given. Respect is not something you are born with. Respect is earned! Yea it may sound like cliche but it’s the truth. Blood, sweat and tears–but it is earned.
ON ANOTHER NOTE
Ok I’ve been watching the news lately–not on purpose. I leave the TV on as I type on my blog because I like having the background noise. After the shows are over, the news start and I get too lazy to change the channel or can’t find the remote. I had given up the news because there is always bad news on–and how often do we have to hear about who got shot or who got hit by a drunk driver or who died in a tragic fire.
Well I was flabbergasted! (LOL) at the news today about an Arizona pageant queen, who by the way is a law student and a law intern, so I’m assuming she cannot possibly say she didn’t know better; well, she kidnaps her ex-boyfriend and gets two other females involved. They duct tape him and threaten him. She holds a gun or maybe a butcher knife to him (I lost this part). They show her beauty shot and admittedly, she is very pretty. Then the mugshot–OMG!! What a difference!! Can I just tell you that there is a reason why women put on make-up and why some women put on make-up for an hour or more. It gives new meaning to the phrase “putting on my face.” But what really amazed me was that she was released on a $50,000 bond!! She takes this man against his will, locks him up, gags and bounds him for two days and threatens his life and is given $50,000 bond. So we know her sentence will be a mix between probation and community service!! Talk about an unjust system!
I know someone who for whatever reason (because I don’t know the reason or if there can even be a reason) fired a gun at a building wall and two hookers see him. Both hookers state that he slowed down when he drove by them and that they saw the “fire” and heard it once he drove past down the block. Does sound crazy right? It doesn’t make sense to me as to why he would do this. Kind of stupid but I’m getting off track. He gets a $150,000 bail!!
And I’ve been hearing a lot of crazy things like this lately–you kill someone and you also get $150,000 bail and you do 5-7 years!!! That doesn’t seem right for a life. Same as it doesn’t seem right to do three years for getting high and ruining your own stupid life. There are too many things in our system that just don’t make sense. Like “correctional institutions.” What exactly are they “correcting?” A first-timer’s ability to pick locks? Because they aren’t correcting or doing anything about the problem to begin with, which in my opinion, starts with a poor education and poverty. If more isn’t done about the immense level of poverty in our cities, then it’s just going to be a never-ending cycle.
Another thing that didn’t ever make sense was when I worked at Hudson County Welfare, I found that a person convicted of a a drug offense could be denied food stamps unless they went through some type of rehabilitation program (like a correctional institution–that counted!). However if all you’d done was molest a child; well you could eat for free every month! Isn’t the system great?
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Just a quick note before the first day of the year ends. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
May 2008 be full of blessing, miracles, more money, less bills, true friendship and peace!
