It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we gather to share what we have read for the past week and what we plan to read this week. It's a great way to meet new blogs, add new titles to your TBR list, and network with other bloggers.

Though we've all been busy this week, we managed to find an opportunity to make this post. We've also managed to read a couple of books last week, even though Audrey had her periodical tests last week and Beryl was prepping for her periodical tests the week after. Kimi has been doing college-y things that people in college do so we can guarantee that she has been very busy as well. We have compiled all of the books that we have read last week, books that we plan to read this week, and books that we plan to read next week.

   

 

The Haven by Carol Lynch Williams (Kimi)

Shooting Stars by Jennifer Buhl (Audrey)

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (Kimi)

Every day by David Levithan (Beryl)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Audrey)

  

Strange Sweet Song by Adi Rule (Audrey)

Twelve Steps by Veronica Bartles (Kimi)

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Beryl and Audrey)

  

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira (Audrey)

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens (Kimi)

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (Beryl and Audrey)

The Other Way Around by Sashi Kaufman (Beryl)

Shooting Stars by Jennifer Buhl

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

POSTS LAST WEEK:

Soupy Sundays: On Writing DNF Reviews
Top Ten Popular Authors We've Never Read
International Women's Day 2014: List of Feminist Books
March 2014 Releases
Life of a Blogger: Camping

How was your reads last week? What are you gonna read this week? Leave a comment!

Title: Shooting Stars

Author: Jennifer Buhl

Format: ARC

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Publication Date: April 1, 2014

Hardcover: 352 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Jennifer Buhl is one of the few female paparazzi (or paparazza, as she likes to call it) in LA. She slowly becomes the best in the industry and proves that even though females are uncommon in the paparazzi line of work, they can still reach the top. This memoir is a tale of Jennifer's journey to the top. She shows how she has gone through so many challenges yet succeeds in the end. She gets in trouble with the LAPD and becomes the enemy of a famous celebrity yet still manages to succeed.

I admit that it took me a very long time to read this book. It wasn't particularly long but it still took me about a month to read it. Shooting Stars is the kind of book that you shouldn't read slowly. You shouldn't read it portion by portion. I think that the best way to read this book is to sit down and read it continuously. At first, I wasn't able to appreciate the honesty of this book. I thought of it as a bit boring and kinda pointless too but when school ended and I decided to finish this book once and for all, I realized that it is a nice book.

Shooting Stars was a very honest book. I learned a lot about how the paparazzi work and how they are important to celebrities. Lots of people think that paparazzi are just a bunch of people who find out where celebrities are and take pictures of them. I also thought that the paparazzi liked taking shots of celebrities who have done something terrible or scandalous. After I finished reading this book I realized that it was not like that at all. Shooting Stars was very enlightening and I certainly haven't read a book like this before. I loved the little facts that she had about the paparazzi and the paparazzi dictionary at the end. She made sure that all of her readers would understand what she's talking about in her books.

Jennifer wrote this book simply and straight to the point. She placed the right amount of humor into it and wrote it in a way that would make you appreciate the paparazzi. She didn't try to make herself look good to her readers but she still managed to make me like her. Her story was believable and I loved the information that she gave about the celebrities, though she might wanna make sure that Kate Bosworth doesn't read this.

I loved how Jennifer can be a badass when she needs to be and doesn't let herself be bullied. She was able to prove that she can be as good, and even better, than the male paparazzi. She was able to show that she is a capable woman and that her gender does not hinder her from becoming a great paparazzi. Being female even helps her become better. She's not afraid to fight back and is very strong too. She is still humble even when she has reached the top and knows that she can still make mistakes. She works hard to get what she wants and if she has her eye on something, she doesn't give up. She wasn't shown as a perfect person which shows you just how honest Jennifer tried to be in her memoir.

The reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars is because her friends weren't really talked about much. Of course it's Jennifer's memoir so it has to be about her and being a paparazzi but her friends just seemed a bit neglected throughout the whole book. Some of them even appeared to only be talked about because she needed to talk about them to further the plot. I also didn't approve of the fact that she didn't tell Bo about his son. I felt like he definitely deserved to know. Even though Jennifer had her reasons and knew that Bo might not make a good father, she still should have told him. The child is still half made by Bo and therefore Bo deserves to know that he has a child. If Jennifer is reading this, I strongly suggest that you tell Bo though that is your decision and if you don't wanna tell him then that's fine. Other than those two reasons, Shooting Stars was a great book. Those two reasons can easily be overlooked if you concentrate on the good points of the book.

All in all, this book was a great and fun read. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more of Buhl's works. I would like to thank the author for providing me with  an ARC of her book. I really appreciated it and am honored to have been given the opportunity to review the book. I think that this book would be perfect for those who want an honest portrayal of the paparazzi world. Those who want to know more about celebrities and their relationship with the paparazzi, this book would be perfect for you.

What do you think about Shooting Stars? Leave a comment!