Books are food for my soul! Pull up a beach chair and stick your toes in the sand as the Jersey surf rolls in and out, now open your book and let your imagination take you away.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The To-Do List by JC Miller (Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for The To-Do List by Author JC Miller!






Book Review



The To-Do List by JC Miller
Publisher: Booktrope
Publication Date: December 23, 2014
Format: Paperback - 274 pages
             Kindle - 751 KB
             Nook - 483 KB
ISBN: 978-1620156681
ASIN: B00REREBMA
BNID: 2940150141933
Genre: Women's Fiction


Buy The Book: The To-Do List


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.


Book Description:

Between unending housework and thankless efforts to appease a loutish husband and acid-tongue teens, Ginny Cooper’s to-do list never seems to get done. Her guilty pleasure—fantasizing about her husband’s demise—her weakness—the drive-thru at Arby’s. On the job as head librarian at the county’s obsolete library, tedium reigns. One afternoon Ginny innocently stumbles upon a dating website, where the rabbit hole awaits.

Who is Ginny Cooper? She is every woman who knows the exact number of calories in a Snickers bar, every woman who has ever struggled with her weight. She is every woman who has grappled with the gray areas, every woman who has wanted to escape her own life. At times the reader will want to reach between the pages, shake her, and talk some sense into her. But Ginny will have to navigate her own road. And through it all, we root for her.

Ginny’s childhood memories of her fading hometown provide a bittersweet backdrop for The To-Do List.


Book Excerpt:


She is attuned to Cal’s last-minute routine, his footfalls in the hallway, the clatter of the garage door opening, closing. Just to be certain, she pulls back the curtain, peers out the window and watches his car pull away.

Once he is gone, the air is lighter; the muscles of her jaw relax. She glances at the tabletop and spies her to-do list, carelessly left in plain sight—thankfully unread. Ginny folds it and slips it into her pocketbook for safekeeping. Her thoughts return to the pink box, repulsive and compelling.

No. She is not that desperate. She will not dig through the trash.

But Ginny is prepossessed. She takes a stealthy glance, finding the doughnut intact, unsullied by coffee grounds or leaks from last night’s takeout boxes. Her teeth sink into the supple, yielding surface, and there is a moment of bliss, a moment of relief—a moment of vengeance.


My Book Review:

Is Ginny Cooper running her life, or is her life running her?

Ginny Cooper wears many hats in her life: a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and librarian. Her daily to-do list is never ending, and somewhere along the way she has lost the sense of who she was, while becoming everything to everyone in her family. Between Snicker bars and Arbys, failed diets, struggling with her weight, and dysfunctional family drama, Ginny wants to escape her life, so she embarks on a personal journey of rediscovering herself and taking back control of her life!

In The To-Do List, author JC Miller weaves a realistic tale mixed with humor, wit, and sassiness that captures the true essence of one woman's life that many women can relate to. The reader follows Ginny's story as she struggles to be everything to everyone in her family and career, until she finally realizes that somewhere along the way she has lost herself, and decides to embark on a journey to take back control of her life.

As I followed Ginny's story, I found myself connecting with her on so many levels, especially my love of Snickers, Arby's roast beef sandwiches, making lists, and dealing with the never ending and unappreciated daily trials and tribulations ... damn JC, did you peek into my life? lol Ginny's story can be anyone's story, you'll find yourself shaking your head in recognition of some part of your life in her story, and you can't help but cheer Ginny on as her inspirational personal journey leads her back to her true self.


RATING: 5 STARS                  
                                         




About The Author



JC (Jeanne) Miller, M.A., is an educator and founding member of JAM, an editorial-consultation team. An avid reader, aspiring traveler and table tennis enthusiast, she resides in Northern California.


AUTHOR WEBSITE
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GOODREADS




Tour Schedule:

February 23 - Polished and Bubby – Review
February 24 - CarolineFardig – Excerpt
February 25 - Karen’sKorner – Review & Excerpt
February 26 - eBook Addict – Excerpt
March 2 - HelloPrecious Bliss – Review & Excerpt
March 3 - KarmaFor Life Chick – Excerpt 
March 4 - Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt
March 5 - Living Life With Joy – Review , Q&A& Excerpt
March 5 - Reecas Pieces - Review
March 6 - Authors and Readers Book Corner – Excerpt
March 9 - Chick Lit Plus – Review



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