Friday Firsts #10

The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.

Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title & author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?
Link back to Well-Read Reviews in your blog entry.
Come back to this blog post, hosted on WellReadReviews.com and add your direct link to Mr. Linky! ** Very important!

Competence can be a curse. ~ Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

Well now, that is one heck of a statement for your first sentence isn’t it. It is brazen and bold and it sucked me in right away. Any book that can start out that bold and curious is going to keep my attention for a while.

100 Followers!

I just noticed I this blog has reached 100 followers! HURRAH! It took a while but who can complain. I want to thank each and every one of you who follow me and read this humble review blog. It is the readers that make it worth while.
I am going to hunt through my book stacks and my have reads and put together a giveaway!

Booking Through Thursday – Winter Days

The northern hemisphere, at least, is socked in by winter right now… So, on a cold, wintry day, when you want nothing more than to curl up with a good book on the couch … what kind of reading do you want to do?

It depends on what kind of mood I am in, and what is going on. I usually do not want to read books that are specifically set in winter though. Mostly because I am already freezing and stuck in the snow so why do, I want to go there in my books too (on purpose). However, as far as genre it really does not matter what time of year it is, it is all about what I am in the mood for. I just finished a chic lit book and now I am onto something semi historical.

Wicked Wednesday #24



Wicked Wednesday a place to be wicked to other book readers and make them get those TBR piles growing. The concept is simple. Pick a book or two and tell s about them. If its one you read tell us what you liked. If its one you found tell us about that to. Than leave a comment to let us know where to find your Wicked Wednesday titles. Make sure to link back in your posts for other people to follow Wicked Wednesday.

Free Food for Millionaires, the debut novel from Min Jin Lee, takes on daunting themes of love, money, race, and belief systems in this mostly satisfying tale. Casey Han is a Princeton grad, class of ’93, and it is her conflicts, relationships, and temperament that inform the novel. She is the child of immigrant Korean parents who work in the same laundry in Queens where they have always worked and are trying hard to hang on to their culture. Casey has catapulted out of that life on scholarships but now that college is over, she hasn’t the same opportunities as her white friends, even though she has acquired all of their expensive habits.

The concept of free food for millionaires is the perfect irony that describes much of what Casey faces. Walter, one of her bosses, says, when a huge buffet lunch is delivered to the floor: “It’s free food for millionaires… In the International Equities Department–that is, Asia, Europe, and Japan Sales–the group you’re interviewing for–whichever desk that sells a deal buys lunch for everyone in the department.”

Casey is ambivalent about everything–her love life, work, friendships, her family, dating a Korean man–but she seems to believe that money would sort everything out and smooth any rough spots. She works part-time for a fashion maven who would like to “adopt” her by paying for business school, but Casey can’t quite accept all that she offers. She pulls back from help, digs herself deeper in debt, works like a slave during an internship and then, when she is offered the job, finally begins to realize what she might really want–and it isn’t only money.

There are several loose ends left dangling, some bad behavior toward others on Casey’s part and an unlikely and too coincidental passing acquaintance with an old bookseller whose wife was crazy about hats, as is Casey. When he dies, he leaves all her hats to Casey–which just might just be the start of something. The author runs out of steam after 512 pages and ends the book without really finishing it, but it is a thoughtful treatment of many of the questions Lee raises, and an emninently worthwhile debut. –Valerie Ryan Amazon.com –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.







Teaser Tuesday #38

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!Please avoid spoilers!

“Sorry. He’s Sorry. I try to fiqure out what to mouth back but I’m smiling.” Pg. 109 Cecelia Ahern Thanks for the Memories.

January Wrap Up

So here is my wrap up for the month of January, over all even with the set backs and not feeling well I feel I did pretty well on my reading. I am behind on the book I say I am currently reading, I have not even started it except for the first page, but I am planning to remedy that after I catch up on a few other things I need to work on.

So over all for the challenges, I finished 8 books for the month so that put me 8 books into my main challenge, my 100+ challenge, Read and Review. 7 books also counted towards the Read from my Shelves challenge. 1 book is finished from the Read the book see the movie challenge. 1 What’s in a name, 1 YA and 1 from my Chic Lit challenge.

I also stayed on top of my own-hosted Historical Fiction Challenge of reading one historical fiction every month (at least) by reading one. So, over all so far so good and here we go into the second month of reading. A short month but I hope to get at least 6 books done preferably more.

Musing Monday #38

Go to your bookshelf and pick a random book. No cheating now, just reach out and pick one. Now tell us about it – where did you get it? Why? Was it a gift? Does it hold any special memories? Did someone recommend it to you? etc.

Well first off, I have to shake a fist for making me go to my shelf and grab a book but I did go and do it like a good girl. I closed my eyes had a mountain of books fall down on me but I picked one out. And it is…

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee .

Moreover, I honestly do not remember where I got it. However, I know I did not buy it. Therefore, it came from either my book-swapping site or a publisher or friend sent it to me. I am slightly embarrassed I cannot even remember where it is from but with close to 600 books on the TBR there is going to be a few I do not remember. It does not have any special memories, and I do not remember why I got it. However pulling it out of the shelf made me read the back and the first sentence and I am putting it on my pile of books to read for this month, so see something good came out of it.

Book Review: Gordon Ramsay The Biography by Neil Simpson



A new biography of Gordon Ramsay—celebrated restaurateur, star of Fox TV’s hit reality show Hell’s Kitchen, and the only London chef with three Michelin stars.

He has cooked for prime ministers, ousted Hollywood actresses from his restaurants, set records for cursing on television, and changed the way Britain eats. As famous for his volatile persona as he is for his cooking, Gordon Ramsay remains London’s most talked-about chef, an international sensation whose eponymous restaurant boasts three Michelin stars. And with his hit television show, Hell’s Kitchen, Ramsay is now a household name in the U.S. At 18, Ramsay was a professional soccer player; at 30, he was a multi-millionaire. So how did he end up in the kitchen? In this, the first biography of the star chef, Neil Simpson offers a fresh perspective on one of the most driven and successful men in Britain.



I love Gordon Ramsay, I love watching his shows Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. So picking up this book and reading a little bit more about the man and the chef was something I was looking forward too. Moreover, I was not to be disappointed. It was a fantastic read and it is one I would happily pick up and re-read. If you enjoy the Chef and want to know some more information about him and not just that, he shouts in the kitchen I recommend picking up this book and giving it a read.


The Sunday Salon #18

The Sunday Salon.com

It is the last day of January; wow that month seemed to go by a little bit slow. To me anyways, the beginning of the month was fast and than it slowed down at the end. Maybe that is because the last few weeks I have been pretty sick and things always seem to go slower when I do not feel well.

I am still distressed about the situation at my favorite swap site, I have not heard back from the owners, my account is still frozen, and it has been a week. I sent a polite e-mail asking about the situation. I had forgotten about it for a little bit when I had a hospital visit (boo) but now I am back to worrying about it. I hope it will be resolved in a good way.

I stayed on top of my books for the most part this month, which is a good thing. I need to go through and update all of my challenges later today and I am going to make that one of my projects. I have been writing a lot more than reading a lot but that is because I have renewed my love of letter writing, and found a love of fountain pens. I do not own any “nice” ones but the cheapies work great and better than a Bic or Papermate anyways.

I got the taxes filed safe and sound for this year. We are supposed to get a refund but I never count on it until it is in my account. We shall see. If we get what we are supposed to, I can be caught up on some of the medical bills. Not fully but certainly more comfortable which will be very nice and perhaps I can treat myself to a nice fountain pen, not a Mont Blanc by any means but maybe a middle of the road Lamy, or Waterman.

My Marked Ambrosia blog has been going okay, but a little bit rough because of when I was not feeling well. I fell behind on the stories. I got one posted and another is written and mostly posted but I have to finish typing that up. That will be another goal for today.

Have a happy Sunday.

Quotable Sunday #23

Mothers Day Gift Ideas

Dum spiro, spero (Latin), “While I breath, I hope”.
— Latin Proverb

Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.
— Sarah Ban Breathnach

He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything.
— Proverb

He who has never hoped can never despair.
— George Bernard Shaw

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.
— Anne Lamott

Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.
— Augustine of Hippo

Hope is a higher heart frequency, and as you begin to re-connect with your heart, hope is waiting to show you new possibilities and arrest the downward spiral of grief and loneliness. Listening to the still small voice in your heart will make hope into a reality.
— Sara Paddison

Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need only take a deep breath and say, “Yes,” and hope will reappear.
— Monroe Forester

Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.
— George Iles

Hope is knowing that people, like kites, are made to be lifted up.
— Author Unknown

Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
— Lin Yutang

Hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality.
— Author Unknown

Hope is the dream of a soul awake.
— French Proverb

Hope is the most exciting thing in life and if you honestly believe that love is out there, it will come. And even if it doesn’t come straight away there is still that chance all through your life that it will.
— Josh Hartnett

Hope is the pillar that holds up the world.
— Author Unknown


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