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• Genre: Young Adult Dystopian/Satire
• Hardcover: 336 pages?
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray
• Release Date: (April 26, 2011)?
• Series: Bumped (Book 1) ?
• Source: Local Library

Blurb: When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody?s doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls? lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

From New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty comes a strikingly original look at friendship, love, and sisterhood?in a future that is eerily believable.

Review:?

I had so many reservations about reading Bumped. A: I had seen so many mixed reviews on it, many of which more to the negative slant. B: the concept sounded interesting, but I wasn’t sure if I would find it funny/interesting or be offended. C: I had never read a novel by Anne McCafferty before, and it can always be a little tough to try out someone new. I decided to try out Bumped because I just couldn’t get the idea behind the book behind my head and, ultimately, it was being billed as a satire on teen pregnancy and how modern society has given it something of a celebrity status by giving the issue so much attention (pregnancy pacts, reality TV shows, etc).

Set in a futuristic world where a virus has rendered anyone beyond the age of twenty incapable of bearing children, Bumped explores the story of identical twin sisters who were separated a birth and now reunited named Harmony and Melody. Harmony was raised in a highly religious community that exists outside of the rest of the society, and believes strongly in the group’s religious ideals. Melody, on the other hand, has bought into her society’s beliefs on how glamorous teen pregnancy is. Because only teens can have children, older couples typically contract a young woman to have a baby for them (offering rewards as outlandish as full college tuition, cars and trust funds) and select a young man to “bump” with her -usually for genetically desirable reasons. When Melody lands a big contract, she’s not sure going through with it is as glamorous as society wants her to think.

I am so conflicted about how I felt about Bumped. Something things outright disgusted me, while others made me laugh, made me think, and even bordered on being slightly offensive. First, the over-sexualization of teenagers (especially girls) depicted in this society is incredibly disturbing and unsettling, as is the society’s celebrity treatment of “high profile bumps,” along with the lengths people go to with the “bumps” -agencies have sprung up to represent teens and help them get the most out of their “bumps” and advocate for more money, etc. The sad thing is that I can see how this has been pulled from modern culture, and how it isn’t as far off as I would like it to be -but something about this was hard for me to read. Thankfully, there were moments of such ridiculousness that I had to laugh at the absurdity of everything.

But I would warn readers -this is definitely a book for older teens and adults due to its explicit content and frank discussions of teen sexuality. I would also note that this book can be offensive for some readers.

So..did I like Bumped? Would I recommend it to other people? Would I read the sequel?

Honestly…I’m not sure. This book certainly made a statement, but who knows if it was the right way to go about it. Maybe as I let Bumped sink in I’ll enjoy it more, but for right now I’m not really excited, nor do I particularly dislike it…

Source: http://bookaddictdiary.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-review-bumped-by-megan-mccafferty.html

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By: Jim Wehmann

I must admit that I went into reading ?Working the Crowd: Social Media Marketing for Business? with some trepidation. I just didn?t want to wade through another ?how to? book full of generalizations and clich?s. Even after the first couple of chapters, I was skeptical. But as I continued to read the book, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. In the end, I found it very interesting.

Written in an easy to read format, the book highlights important concepts by shading the text and at the end of each chapter provides a summary in the form of a bullet point list. The author covers an extensive range of social media topics, including how social media works, brief evaluations of tools and sites, how to find your audience and build your presence through influencers ? hubs and routers, the use of metrics, as well as how to create buzz, viral campaigns and strategies to reach beyond your network. It?s a rather comprehensive work that would appeal to the novice, perhaps those outside technical or marketing departments who are looking to better understand the social media hype, to more seasoned online marketers that want to further their knowledge and confirm their assumptions and hypotheses.

I think the book works best when it is describing specific steps around a given topic, describing examples and relaying the author?s personal experiences. The many examples throughout the book, such as those from Dell, Starbucks, Farmville and NASA, were very entertaining and offered compelling real-life stories of successes and failures. In fact, the discussion of some of the social media disasters formed sections of the book that were downright page turners ? unusual for a business book.

On the other hand, at times the author slips into some generalization, a bit of repetition and some unsupported assertion. But just when you think the coverage of a topic is too elementary, the author builds on the general foundation and adds higher-level advice, information and examples.

A recurring theme throughout the book is that the type of activities, networks and tools a business should use for social media depends on the goals and starting point of the organization. I think the same can be said of this book. What you get out of it will depend on to what degree you want to get a deeper understanding of the many aspects of social media. So, would I recommend it? I can tell you this: I just ordered a copy for each of my corporate marketing team members. Happy reading.

TITLE: Working the Crowd: Social Media Marketing for Business
AUTHOR: Eileen Brown
PUBLISHED BY: British Informatics Society Ltd
SCORE (out of a 10 point scale): 8 out of 10

Source: http://digitalriverblog.com/2011/06/13/book-review-working-the-crowd-social-media-marketing-for-business/

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Heart Divided, A: A Novel (Heart of the Rockies)

From the publisher:

It is 1878 and the Caldwells and Wainwrights have been feuding for decades. Still, Sarah Caldwell has misgivings when her father pressures her into distracting a ranch hand while he and her brothers rob the Wainwright place. When it becomes clear that hand is actually Cord Wainwright, Sarah realizes she needs to lay low. But Cord spots her in town and, with the sheriff away, makes a citizen’s arrest, dragging her off to the Wainwright ranch until the sheriff’s return. As the feud boils over, Cord and Sarah make a most inconvenient discovery–they are falling in love. Can they betray their families for love? Or will their families betray them?

Against the beautiful and wild backdrop of the Rocky Mountains comes this sweeping saga of romance, betrayal, and forgiveness from beloved author Kathleen Morgan.

My Review:

This book is one of those that make you glad you can read.? It was a delightful love story with a “Western” setting.

It did remind me more of John Wayne type Western than Roy Rodgers.? I would say some of the paragraphs contained more “adult’ theme that are not intended for younger eyes.

I did appreciate the turn of events that portrayed forgiveness and love.

This book would be great for a road trip or a day at the pool-side!

I will keep this book on my permanent shelf and can’t wait for some more of this author!


Blessings to you!? You are loved!

Note:? I was sent complimentary copy for review purposes only.? This review has not been monetarily compensated.? The review was my honest opinion and views and not influenced by the sponsor in any way

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?Available May 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.?

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Source: http://ilovemy5kids-reviews.blogspot.com/2011/05/heart-divided-by-kathleen-morgan-book.html

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