Watching on Wednesday: Friends with Kids

Title: Friends with Kids
Type: Movie
Age Group: Teens +
Release Year: 2011
My Rating: 4/5

Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) are best friends. They decide to have a baby together without the hassle of a marriage. With this arrangement, they can date whoever they wish and split the responsibilities of taking care of the child. Will it be as easy as they thought?

I was intrigued to watch this movie because I wanted something light-hearted. This movie raises questions about the contemporary mindset of having children together, without actually being together. I enjoyed watching it and it was nice to see the lives of the protagonists' friends as well. My favourite couple in the movie is definitely Leslie (Maya Rudolph) and Alex (Chris O'Dowd).

Friends with Kids is pretty much like the extended version of Friends with Benefits or No Strings Attached.

Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott

Title: Watersmeet
Author: Ellen Jensen Abbott
Type: Young Adult
# of Pages: 341
My Rating: 2.5/5

Abisina is an outcast since birth because of her hair colour and skin. She lives a miserable life but is only protected from the village's true wrath because her mother is their only healer. One day, a powerful and mythical leader arrives to Vranille and claims to lead them to a better life. Abisina ends up running for her life when he turns the village against all the outcasts. She must find her father that she never knew in Watersmeet, a place of legends.

As you may have noticed, my blog is a lot more active lately. Now that I'm done with university and taking it slow with the job hunt, I have more free time to read again. I got to admit, my reading pace is a lot slower than it used to be back in 2009. My patience grows thin easily and I put books down instead of plowing through them, no matter how bad, like I did back in the day. I realized I have accumulated a mass of books and I want to start diminishing my collection. It's another reason why I don't take requests anymore (except for one recently). I've decided to go through my entire collection and go through my TBR pile in alphabetical order by author's last name. Depending how active I am again with this blog, I may revamp it.

Anyway, Watersmeet is the first YA novel I have been able to complete in a long time. I wouldn't say that it's great but it gets by. The writing is pretty good but the plot itself doesn't always stand out. When I first started, it had potential. Then afterwards, the storyline was just meh throughout. Abisina is a decent character and could've been much more. I wasn't keen that her father, who never knew she existed, accepted her so easily. It suited with what was happening in the story but I like to think of things realistically. 

The climax wasn't at all exciting and pretty much was there to wrap up the story. [SPOILERS] I was confused with the Epilogue though. When the battle and everything ended, all the sudden a new character called the Green Man entered. He was a mythical creature that everyone knew of. Though it made no sense, whatsoever, to bring him in. He did not contribute to the plot in any way and was there to pay respects to Abisina's father's death. It bugged me, even though I have a feeling it was to set up the sequel. [SPOILERS END]

Watersmeet is readable but it won't get you excited. There were many times where my eyes just glazed over the pages. If you have this book on your shelf like I did, maybe give it a shot. However, it's nothing worth going out to buy or borrow. 

SECRET Shared by L. Marie Adeline

Title: SECRET Shared
Author: L. Marie Adeline
Age Group: Adults
# of Pages: 273
My Rating: 3/5

Cassie is now part of S.E.C.R.E.T., an organization that helps women live out their sexual fantasies. After completing the Steps herself, she is now responsible for picking out a new candidate to give her the experience of a lifetime.

Dauphine is a vintage shop owner. After her ex-boyfriend left her for her best friend, her self-confidence plummeted. She hasn't been with a man since. That is, until Cassie introduces her to S.E.C.R.E.T. 

SECRET Shared is the second novel in the SECRET series. I reviewed the first book last summer and finally finished the second novel at the end of last month. The more erotica novels I read, the more I feel that this genre is not for me. Or maybe the novels I have picked up so far just haven't clicked with me yet.

I feel that the second novel is a lot better than the first. In the first volume, I complained about Cassie's personality and her being downer on everything. She improved in that novel and continued to stay consistent in this volume. At first, I wasn't too happy when SECRET Shared became a two-person POV story with Dauphine added into the mix. However, I realized that Dauphine gave a better variety to the story overall. Her character is different to Cassie and I prefer her because she is a lot more open-minded. I also liked the fact that she's a vintage shop owner.

SECRET Shared is better than its predecessor, but still not a series I would automatically recommend. It has its moments but the climax, once again, happens way too late in the book. Therefore, the reader can lose motivation to continue reading. 

Monday Mailbox (Apr 13/15) - Geek Edition

Does anyone remember this segment? Haha, it's been so long since I've done a proper book haul. This past week, I scored pretty well and thought it was worthy of an update. I have been geeking out on Doctor Who as of late. I'm not a comic book reader, but I've made an exception for Doctor Who. Also so happy I finally got my hands on The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. They are no longer being published in North America and are hard to find. Also one step closer to completing my Harry Potter book collection! Only the Goblet of Fire left to add. If you are from Toronto, Yorkdale gives out free Flare magazines every month FYI. 

Bought

- Doctor Who: Revolutions of Terror

- Doctor Who: After Life

- Doctor Who: January 4th issue

Free

- Flare: May 2015 

Swapped

- The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service vol. 10-13

- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Maid Sama! by Hiro Fujiwara

Manga: Maid Sama!
Mangaka: Hiro Fujiwara
Age Group: Teens
Volume(s) Reviewing: 2
Series is: Completed with 18 volumes
My Rating: 2.5/5

Misaki's days as the school president are always so busy. A couple of her fellow classmates got into a fight with one of the students from a prestigious school. She must figure out how deal with this problem. Also, she has to worry about the upcoming school sports festival. It doesn't help that Usui follows her everywhere and has confessed that he likes her!

After reading the first volume awhile back, I wasn't keen on picking up the second volume from my shelf. In attempt to diminish my book collection though, I thought I should pick it up to see if the series was salvageable.  

The more I read, the less keen I was with Usui's character. I know he's supposed to be the "cool guy" that is good at everything, but sometimes he takes it too far. For example in the first volume, he pretended to be a stalker to teach Misaki the lesson that "she's still a girl". Saying that even if she is tough, it doesn't mean she would be able to overpower a guy bigger than her. There were moments like these where he seemed close to assaulting Misaki. That didn't settle right with me. 

I didn't like the plot where they suddenly rivalled with a prestigious school. The president of the Miyabi Gaoka Academy plays the villain. Which in my opinion, maybe because I am so picky about my books, is uncalled for. He's basically a stuck-up rich kid that is used to having things his way. It was my least favourite plot in this volume.

The only thing I like about Maid Sama! is the "Idiot Trio". They give some good comic relief throughout the manga series. 

Overall, I'm not sure why there is a hype about this series. The art is nice though. 

Review copy provided by HarperCollins Canada.