Book Review: "MOMMYWOOD" by Tori Spelling

If you thought Tinseltown was tough...

Tori Spelling might have grown up with everything a girl could wish for, but these days she's just another suburban working mom...whose toddler regularly recognizes her in the pages of Us Weekly. Welcome to Mommywood, where the stars are two feet tall and your neighbors know who you are before you move in.

Like most parents, Tori wants her children to have the one thing she didn't have as a kid — a normal family. On their hit Oxygen reality show, Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, the starlet and her husband Dean McDermott regularly wrestle dirty diapers, host the neighborhood block party, and tackle temper tantrums on the red carpet. But when the cameras aren't rolling, Tori's still having awkward run-ins with a former 90210 costar at a laser tag birthday party, scooping rogue poo out of the kiddie pool on a resort vacation, and racing to win back her pre-baby body before the media starts calling her fat. For all her suburban fantasies, Tori Spelling is no June Cleaver.

With the same down-to-earth wit that made her entertaining memoir sTORI telling a #1 New York Times bestseller, Tori tells the hilarious and humbling stories of life as a mom in the limelight. From learning to be the kind of parent her own mother never was to revealing what it's like to raise a family while everyone is watching,Mommywood is an irresistible snapshot of celebrity parenthood that you won't get from the paparazzi.

MY REVIEW:

I am a fan of Tori Spelling ever since I was hooked on watching 90210 many years ago! I read her first book, Stori Telling, and I also watch her reality show on Oxygen. I was excited to read this book and wound up reading it in a little under two days- I could not put the book down! Mommywood is an easy read, it is a guilty pleasure book! Tori Spelling definitely has a way of being able to connect to her reader. She not only is a celebrity, but a very hands on mom and loving wife. She has two children, Liam a son who is a little under two, and Stella who is an infant, at the time she wrote this book. She is married to Dean McDermott who also has an additional son Jack from a previous marriage. Her work ethics are admirable. Even though it appears in the press that Tori has been handed everything in her life, that is far from the that life she lives. She is extremely hard working, having a jewelry line, clothing line for children, a reality show, and also appearing as her character Donna Martin in the new episodes of 90210.

Mommywood, the title of the book, is Tori's term for being a mom in Hollywood. She has many celebrity friends and attends red carpet events to promote the projects that she is working on. I enjoyed reading about many of these encounters. One example was when Tori was invited to P. Diddy's twin daughter's birthday party. She frankly writes how she was surprised to receive the invitation because they don't really know each other. Then, she was stressed out because she had to get them a gift, and was at a loss of what to buy. Tori then realized she did not even know their gender! She confessed to searching the internet to get the answer. There are other encounters with other celebrities Tori discusses as well that were just as exciting to know.

A surprising read was her brush with her former costar Luke Perry. Dean's son Jack was a classmate of Luke's son also named Jack, and he invited him to a laser tag party for Jack McDermott. Tori was excited to see Luke, they had not seen each other in years. At the party, Luke, to Tori's shock, gave her the cold shoulder and completely ignored her. As I read the book, I felt so sorry for Tori. She had no idea why he was upset with her, and she is clearly hurt by Luke's behavior. To top it all of, the only time he spoke to Tori was when Luke asked her where the bathroom was. Tori did not know, and Luke rolled his eyes at her. She was too afraid to approach him to clear the air between them and did not resolve their issues.

Mommywood gives you an captivating glimpse inside the world of a celebrity mom. While many celebrities may read the book, I am sure the major readers are everyday mothers who enjoy reading Tori's day to day challenges and experiences as a mom who balances parenting and a career. There was one experience Tori wrote about when she first moved into her new neighborhood. This was a dream of hers to have a suburban family life style. She was so excited to have the home with the white picket fence, and the friendly neighbors in the neighborhood. Tori had longed to have a "normal" life and desperatly wanted that now. She tried to fit in, and even was thrilled to be apart of the annual block party. Tori baked a cake (which failed) and quickly encountered the preconceived notions the neighbors had of her. Needless to say, she was upset at the end of the day.

I am so impressed that she is undoubtedly a hands on mom. Her family is always present on the red carpet with her. She brings her family wherever she goes, even if a tantrum may occur! Both Tori and Dean are the main caretakers of Liam and Stella. She writes about how feeding her children is not such an easy task. Tori decided one day that she would make all of Stella's baby food from scratch. She realized that rather than feeding her the vegetables from a jar, not only was the fresh blended route healthier for them, they enjoyed the flavor too. It is one thing to talk about being a great mother, but to follow through and change those small details is very admirable in my book.

Tori is very candid throughout this book about her relationships, especially her mother. It appears as though the relationship was never perfect. But, as a daughter, you can tell that Tori has some resentment towards her mother for not always being there to support her. Now that she is a mother, I feel as though Tori is realizing it more, and wishes the situation was different. Tori had a nanny growing up who she felt was more of a mother to her. I can relate to Tori's strained relationship, and appreciate her candid experiences she has included in the book. Tori always writes that now, having a daughter, her biggest fear is to not repeat the relationship that she has with her mother, both in the past and in the present. In life, you can either repeat history, or learn from the mistakes and challenges you have been accustom to and change them. Tori has made the decision to change, and I applaud her for this. She is very sad that her mother isn't involved with her children, and the fact that she is able to express the pain and sadness that she has experienced proves that Tori is human, and like all of us she can be hurt and disappointed in life.

I obviously enjoyed reading this book. It was a humorous and light reading that contained Tori's embarrassing moments, challenges, and joys. You definitely want to see Tori succeed after reading this.

Mara

COMING SOON..."ALVOR" by LAURA BINGHAM....INTERVIEW, REVIEW, AND SIGNED BOOK GIVEAWAY!!

I have had the honor and pleasure of interviewing LAURA BINGHAM, author of "ALVOR", a magical new fantasy book released in May 2009. Very soon to come will be our interview, my review, as well as a SIGNED copy of ALVOR! Laura was kind enough to provide one for our FIRST EVER L.G.B.R.S. (LateinerGangBookReviewSpot) GIVEAWAY! Thanks Laura! Keep your eyes peeled, as you will NOT want to miss this book! I won't spoil the review, but let's just say, I personally blamed Laura for going to sleep 2 nights in a row at 4:30a.m. and waking up for work at 6:30a.m. after reading all night until I fell asleep with the book in hand! It only cost me 2 days of productive work and was worth every minute of drooling on my desk. (ok, not really drooling, but you get the point, I was super tired). Stay tuned, "ALVOR" is right around the corner!

Dave

A GREAT ADDITION TO THE LAST POST!!

Hello All! I want to add something to the previous post about Interviews and Contests. I was fortunate enough to solidify an interview with another author I loved to read. Cinda Williams Chima. Her last series, "The Warrior Heir", "The Wizard Heir", and "The Dragon Heir" have landed themselves on such Bestseller lists as the The Usa Today and The Indie Bestseller list as well as have earned several awards. These books are awesome fantasies about well...Warriors, Wizards, and Dragons! As well, I am going to be fortunate enough to read an ARC of Chima's "The Demon King" which is the first of a new trilogy due out on Oct 13th, 2009. "The Demon King" is about 16 year old Han Alister, who gets an amulet with an evil history, belonging once to the Demon King, a wizard who with the amulet, almost destroyed the world a millennium ago. I MIGHT even have a copy of one of "The Heir" books to give out if you guys do well on the first few giveaways ;O) As promised, we have a bunch of contests to go with now, so once I officially post about them (1 at a time....sorry) its up to you to make them a success. Thanks!
The Lateiner Gang

EXCITING NEWS ABOUT CONTESTS, INTERVIEWS, AND MORE! PLEASE READ BELOW!

Well, our site has been off to a good start so far. We have some exciting news. We will be interviewing 3 different authors in the upcoming months. First will be Laura Bingham, with her awesome debut novel "Alvor", which is a story about a set of twins who find a cabin in the woods near their home that is actually an entrance to a magical world! Laura has been kind enough to send me at least 1 SIGNED copy of "Alvor" to give away as a contest! (Thanks Laura!). As I told Laura, "Alvor" has DISNEY written all over it to me, but what do I know??

Next we have an interview with Jeanne DuPrau, bestselling author of "The City Of Ember" amongst many other books, including the rest of the Ember series. Jeanne's "City Of Ember" was released by 20th Century fox as a major motion picture starring Bill Murray in October of 2008. Jeanne is currently working on more projects that I'm sure many fans can not wait for her to complete. Jeanne has offered up a copy of "The Diamond Of Darkhold", which is the 4th and final book of The Ember series. Thanks Jeanne!

Finally for our third interview, probably in late October/early November, to promote his new book released on October 6th 2009 titled "The Maze Runner", someone who has been very kind to me, Mr. James Dashner himself. Jame's earlier work includes a series of books called "The Fincher Saga" as well as more recently, 2 books in his series titled "The 13th Reality", of which both I became immediate HUGE fans of. I have had a chance to read an ARC of "The Maze Runner" and as I have said before, I would be willing to bet almost anything that this book takes the place of "Lord Of The Flies" in every school from middle school up to college as required reading. I wouldn't be surprised if it became a box office smash either. James, if you can get Robert Pattinson to star in it, do you think I can take my daughters to the premier??? I am going to see if I can get a book for a contest for James, but as of now, no promises on that one.

So, THE CONTESTS....That is what I'm sure is most appealing to many of you. I am waiting for books to arrive from the authors as we speak. I was going to do the usual, twitter +1, blog +1 blah blah blah, but even though we are on twitter, no time to post there and I really don't think anyone cares what we do all day. I probably will ask for posting, but since we are a new site, I'm thinking more about advertising our site and getting the word out. So yes, the posting, putting a link to our site on yours, joining ours will be included, but we will probably give the most entries for every time you blog about our contest and site on someone else's blog. Maybe even a point if they come enter the contest and mention you sent them. These are just ideas. If you have any, please share them, but keep in mind that we do want to get our site out there and also want to spread the info on these 3 awesome authors. We like creativity! The only other thing is I am waiting for the books to arrive, so I can not start the contests until I get them, and also, having only a few followers (YOU ARE ALL SO MUCH APPRECIATED!!), we want to get some more signed up....

So, we promised contests and they are here (well, almost) but we ask you to be patient with us for the first few as we "get our feet wet". Thanks guys and you are all always appreciated! Oh lastly, don't forget our pet peeve, if you post, try and just tell us of a favorite book you have recently read, currently reading, or plan on reading. Our #1 goal for this site is to share our love for reading and suggestions are the best way to do that! Thanks All!!!

The Lateiner Gang

David, Mara, Lauryn, and Sami

Book Review: "TWILIGHT" by Stephenie Meyer

About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him- and I didn't know how dominate that part might be- that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.


MY REVIEW:

In "twilight", Bella Swan just moved to her dad's house in Forks, Washington. Bella is the "new" girl at Forks High School. On her first day, at lunch, a mysterious family walks into the cafeteria. This family is the Cullens, a family where all the children are adopted. Their names are Edward Cullen, Emmet Cullen, Alice Cullen, Jasper Hale, and Rosalie Hale. Bella's friend Jessica tells her not to "waste" her time with Edward because none of the girls in the school were good looking enough for him. Little did they know that Bella was good enough for him and that he would change her life forever.

Edward is the only one in his family without a "mate". Rosalie and Emmet are together as well as Alice and Jasper. Their parents are Carlisle and Esme. Will Bella become Edward's "mate"? The only way to really find out is to open the book and READ!

I LOVE the book "Twilight". My favorite character in the book is Edward. Besides him being absolutely gorgeous, he has a really cool personality. What else I love is that since he is a Vampire, he doesn't age. He has been 17 for a really long time! What else is great about him is that no matter what, he is always a gentleman to Bella and cares for her deeply.

"Say it...Vampire" has become a notorious exchange from Edward to Bella in the first book. When reading this book, I loved it so much and thought that no other book could possibly get any better and this was one of the best books I have ever read. That was until I read the next 3! (which I will post about later) If you have not already read "Twilight", I would HIGHLY suggest that you give it a try. I got at least 5 people hooked on the series including my Dad which was the tough part! Stephenie Meyer is an amazing author and her books keep getting better and better as the series continues. I can not wait until "Midnight Sun", the 5th book of the series to come out! If you would like a sneak peak at "Midnight Sun", Stephenie has posted a link to a partial draft in PDF format. It can be found at http://stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partial_draft4.pdf

Thanks for checking out my first review! I hope you enjoyed it and I will be posting at least 1 new review a week as I read read read read read my little head off!

Lauryn

Book Review: "THE CITY OF EMBER" by Jeanne DuPrau

Lina Mayfleet desperately wants to be a messenger. Instead, she draws the dreaded job of Pipeworkers laborer, which means she'll be working in damp tunnels deep underground.

Doon Harrow draws messenger-and asks Lina to trade! Doon wants to be underground. That's where the generator is, and Doon has ideas about how to fix it. For as long as anyone can remember, the great lights of Ember have kept the endless darkness at bay. But now the lights are beginning to flicker....

MY REVIEW:

Well, I guess I lucked out. Another 5 star read! And no, I don't just "give out" 5 star ratings. They are well deserved. "The City Of Ember" has absolutely earned the rating and I am looking forward to reading the next 3 installments of the series, starting with book 2, "The People Of Sparks".

So, What makes this 5 stars? Well, for starters, I was sucked in and hooked from the first 2 pages of the introduction. I found myself going to sleep last night at about 5:30 a.m. when the last page was read leaving me wishing I did not need sleep, and wanting to tear into book 2. In the intro, the "builders", who apparently created an underground city that started with 100 older folks and a whole mess of little babies (no one middle aged), had put these people here in case there was a catastrophic event that would end humanity above ground. At the time, there was some need to fear that things were not going too well. In an attempt to somehow preserve life underground in a hidden city, the residents would resurface a few hundred years in the future and rebuild civilization there if needed.

Lina and Doon, childhood friends who have grown up in Ember, know nothing of the world above ground. From early on they are taught that the City of Ember is the only place where life exists, and that life is a controlled one. They are schooled and then at the age of 12, they are assigned to different jobs in the city. Lina, who's job as a messenger has her running all through the town while she delivers messages from residents to other residents at .20 cents a message. Doon, who actually traded jobs with Lina, works by making repairs in the Pipeworks, which are tunnels where a giant river flows and somehow powers a generator providing electricity to the city.

Initially, when the "builders" created the city, they leave a box with a lock that is timed to open about 250 years into the future. This box is supposed to be left with each mayor of Ember as the years go on with only the knowledge that the box is to be passed on to the next mayor and when the time is right, it will open (basically, when supplies have run low and a certain amount of time has passed). No one had any idea at all that the "box" contained instructions that would lead the residents of Ember above ground and introduce them to the world, whatever the state of that may be at the time. The box had been successfully passed down amongst several mayors, until one day it did not, and ended up stuffed in the back of a closet somewhere in Ember, only to finally have the "timed" lock open, going unnoticed.

Lina's grandmother finds the "box" in the back of her closet, as it was a relative (a past mayor) who did not follow orders and did not pass the box on to the next mayor. Lina's baby sister Poppy, had chewed up and destroyed most of the words on the single sheet of paper that was in the box, leaving Lina to try and figure out what exactly did the message in the strange box say. Only having pieces of sentences and words, which was very difficult to decipher, Lina and Doon attempt to figure out the message and are hoping it has something to do with finding a way out of Ember, which they have dreamed about for years. Could there possibly be another city or even another world where others existed and skies could even be blue? A place where daylight was not basically set on a timer?

As the box containing the message, which was instructions on how to accomplish the unthinkable and actually leave Ember were discovered past the "pre set time", food had become scarce, the electricity had begun to flicker in and out on a much too frequent basis than ever before, and almost all supplies were scarce or even gone. Lina and doon, decipher the message and find that there is indeed a way out of Ember. It is a trip they must attempt. They do not know where the instructions will take them or what to expect, but all they know is they must go and see if there is hope outside of Ember for themselves and their fellow residents before times runs out and everyone will end up dead in Ember.

When Lina, Doon, and Poppy take the journey instructed to them down a long river and up a steep multi mile climb through caves and tunnels, they emerge to the site of a strange white, glowing ball (the moon) and an infinite number of little spots (stars) in the sky providing them with a "different" kind of light. The next day, they are even more startled to find a bright yellow ball of fire in the sky, which is providing natural light, not light provided by the generator, which could or couldn't work at any time. Finally they discover trees, actual ground, and a four legged creature who basically introduces them to what I believe to be plums ( a purple fruit with a "stone" in the center), the most wonderful thing they have ever eaten.

They find their way to a hidden crack in a dent in the ground, where they see, from miles up, their city of Ember! Lina, thinking quickly, finds a way to send alert to the rest of the residents of Ember with instructions on how to escape before it is too late. They can only hope that it is found and the instructions are followed (the author leaves a hint that it is found). The book basically ends there leaving you dying to see if the residents of Ember find their way out and even more so, what are they to do now if they can get out? They would be homeless, without food, or no real knowledge of life above ground, if there is even any human existence left. Ahhh, time for book 2, "The People Of Sparks".

Jeanne DuPrau created a city in which to the residents, life was what is was supposed to be. No where else to go beyond the city limits, education based solely on the history of Ember, a limited supply of food, supplies etc., recycled clothing, the same old way of life since as long as anyone can ever remember. However, what is still portrayed, even given the circumstances, are the ability to love, care, deceive, maintain friendships and most importantly, live in a civilized, orderly manner, regardless of whether you live in a city miles under ground unknowingly isolated from the real world.

I did give this book 5 stars as I can not wait to read the rest of the series. I am anxious to find out what happens to the citizens of Ember. I am dying to watch the character development of Lina and Doon as well as the introduction to hopefully new characters as the story progresses. Possibly even a relationship form between Lina and Doon would be something to look for down the road. Watching Poppy grow and what her reaction might be to learning about her past is something else I am curious about. If and when the citizens do join Lina, Doon, and Poppy above ground, I can not wait to see how they learn to adapt to an unknown world and to see their initial reactions.

Great Job in writing this Jeanne. When an author can create a world where you can actually picture what it would be like to physically be a part of it, to me, that is very good. To then make the story line fantastic, thrilling, and the book unable to be put down, then it becomes great. "The City Of Ember" was great, and I can only hope that the rest of the series will prove to be the same.

Dave

New Reviews Coming From All of Us!

Hello all from the Lateiner Gang. We are going to post some new reviews over the next few days from each of us, so check out the different postings from us individually as for the most part we read different kinds of books. Thanks for holding in there and hopefully you will be pleased going forward! As always, feel free to let us know if you like or disagree with our reviews (everyone is entitled to their own opinion), have anything to add to it, and lastly, always try to end your post with a favorite book you have read or share with us something you plan to read soon. AND lastly, if you could be so kind as to spread the word about our site, we would greatly appreciate it!

The Lateiner Gang