- Paperback: 232 pages
- Publisher: ShanLian Wordlit Press (9 Jun 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0615213618
- ISBN-13: 978-0615213613
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,868,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Stealing Wishes
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Product Description
Product Description
What's more important? A perfect cup of coffee or a perfect date? Blaine-a photo taking, obsessive compulsive, coffee barista-steals money out of fountains and can't find a date. Obsessed with the number 32, Blaine blames his lack in love as the reason for his habits. Everyday is timed and in sync to Blaine's magic number! When his friend Sallie sets him up on a date, Blaine is convinced that Edward, the new love interest, will cure his compulsions. But when Blaine discovers they have nothing in common, complications ensue. Auden, an artsy tattooed coworker, tells Blaine about a local photo contest, so Blaine sets out to capture a winning snapshot. Just as Blaine thinks he has his illness beat, his unvarying world spirals out of control when he skips part of his daily routine, ultimately making Blaine realize that Mr. Right has been in front of him the whole time. STEALING WISHES is a caffeinated romantic comedy with cream and sugar! Every reader will relate to Blaine's obsessive outlook on life.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
When I started to read this book, I thought at first I had made a mistake in buying it. The OCD habits of the protagonist seemed a bit tedious, and I wondered what had made me purchase it. However I persevered, and very quickly came to empathize with the characters, who are generally well-rounded and likeable. The storyline was never entirely predictable, and I found myself involved with the book, snatching a few minutes to read a bit more each time I got the chance during my busy schedule.
I would recommend the book as different and entertaining, as well as thought provoking.
I would recommend the book as different and entertaining, as well as thought provoking.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Book by LK Gardner-Griffie Misfit McCabe
Most of us have things in our lives that we can obsess on. In fact, ask any teenage girl and she'll immediately tell you that her nose it too big or too small, she has too many freckles or not enough, that her eyebrows are too thin or too bushy; the possible list is endless. We can spend hours agonizing and obsessing over features that the rest of the world doesn't even notice.
In Stealing Wishes, Shannon Yarbrough takes us inside the mind of 32 year old, self-diagnosed, obsessive-compulsive, Blaine, who is a picture taking coffee barista. This light romantic comedy is told in an introspective, narrative style and the reader is drawn into Blaine's world as he wakes up each morning at 5:32, sets his alarm for 16 minutes later to allow time for a shower and shave, and then sets the alarm for the next 16 minute increment to allow time for eating breakfast. As you might have guessed, one of Blaine's obsessions surrounds the number 32, the number of his apartment, his current age, as well as multiples of 32, and how he relates everything possible to this number.
Blaine loves his job as a coffee barista, because it allows him to control his environment by organizing all of the items and to set up routines for each type of drink ordered. The off work hours are spent with his camera, taking pictures of people he doesn't know and putting them in photo albums. They are his memories of moments in his life. His best friend, Sallie, is also his boss, and since they are both single, they frequently go out bar or restaurant hopping together. This all changes when Sallie meets Charlie, they become a couple and then set Blaine up on a blind date with Charlie's friend Edward.
One of the few things that Blaine and Edward have in common is their enjoyment of the writings of Christopher Isherwood. Will that be enough to sustain the relationship? The park that Blaine frequents on a regular, almost daily basis, is Bachardy park which is exactly 32 blocks from the coffee shop where Blaine works. Since author Christopher Isherwoood had a high-profile, openly gay relationship with Don Bachardy from early 1953 through Isherwood's death in 1986, it is just one more way in which the life and writings of Christopher Isherwood influence this book.
While not being my usual genre, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stealing Wishes as it provides a glimpse of a lifestyle outside of my own. It shows modern day relationships as you only learn the first name of any of the characters. The theme of the book is universal as we all contemplate at one time or other what love is, and struggle with the intricacies of relationships, whether gay, hetero, or both.
At the beginning of the book, Blaine tells the readers, "I am a camera (too)." Stealing Wishes represents the word snapshot of the moments of Blaine's life.
Most of us have things in our lives that we can obsess on. In fact, ask any teenage girl and she'll immediately tell you that her nose it too big or too small, she has too many freckles or not enough, that her eyebrows are too thin or too bushy; the possible list is endless. We can spend hours agonizing and obsessing over features that the rest of the world doesn't even notice.
In Stealing Wishes, Shannon Yarbrough takes us inside the mind of 32 year old, self-diagnosed, obsessive-compulsive, Blaine, who is a picture taking coffee barista. This light romantic comedy is told in an introspective, narrative style and the reader is drawn into Blaine's world as he wakes up each morning at 5:32, sets his alarm for 16 minutes later to allow time for a shower and shave, and then sets the alarm for the next 16 minute increment to allow time for eating breakfast. As you might have guessed, one of Blaine's obsessions surrounds the number 32, the number of his apartment, his current age, as well as multiples of 32, and how he relates everything possible to this number.
Blaine loves his job as a coffee barista, because it allows him to control his environment by organizing all of the items and to set up routines for each type of drink ordered. The off work hours are spent with his camera, taking pictures of people he doesn't know and putting them in photo albums. They are his memories of moments in his life. His best friend, Sallie, is also his boss, and since they are both single, they frequently go out bar or restaurant hopping together. This all changes when Sallie meets Charlie, they become a couple and then set Blaine up on a blind date with Charlie's friend Edward.
One of the few things that Blaine and Edward have in common is their enjoyment of the writings of Christopher Isherwood. Will that be enough to sustain the relationship? The park that Blaine frequents on a regular, almost daily basis, is Bachardy park which is exactly 32 blocks from the coffee shop where Blaine works. Since author Christopher Isherwoood had a high-profile, openly gay relationship with Don Bachardy from early 1953 through Isherwood's death in 1986, it is just one more way in which the life and writings of Christopher Isherwood influence this book.
While not being my usual genre, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stealing Wishes as it provides a glimpse of a lifestyle outside of my own. It shows modern day relationships as you only learn the first name of any of the characters. The theme of the book is universal as we all contemplate at one time or other what love is, and struggle with the intricacies of relationships, whether gay, hetero, or both.
At the beginning of the book, Blaine tells the readers, "I am a camera (too)." Stealing Wishes represents the word snapshot of the moments of Blaine's life.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I tried, I really tried.
This novel has received only raving reviews but, despite paying much attention to this work, I cannot see why and I feel like warning readers with a similar set of mind.
The POV is that of the lead, in first person. At least it is up to the point where I dropped the book (figuratively as it was on Kindle).
Our lead is an obsessive compulsive man. Mr Yarbrough sets in motion an obsessive compulsive stream of consciousness by which the lead describes first his daily routine and then what happens in his life.
I suppose the idea was to make the reader understand and enter the lead's psychology, to have the reader identify with him and see life as he does. If that was the aim our author achieves it. It is not ill written, it simply fails to interest. I could find no humour in what I read, just a steady flow of well described obsessions. I could not identify with the character, I could not sympathize with him, I could not care for him of for the other characters.
I ended by asking myself "What's the use?" and dropping the book.
This novel has received only raving reviews but, despite paying much attention to this work, I cannot see why and I feel like warning readers with a similar set of mind.
The POV is that of the lead, in first person. At least it is up to the point where I dropped the book (figuratively as it was on Kindle).
Our lead is an obsessive compulsive man. Mr Yarbrough sets in motion an obsessive compulsive stream of consciousness by which the lead describes first his daily routine and then what happens in his life.
I suppose the idea was to make the reader understand and enter the lead's psychology, to have the reader identify with him and see life as he does. If that was the aim our author achieves it. It is not ill written, it simply fails to interest. I could find no humour in what I read, just a steady flow of well described obsessions. I could not identify with the character, I could not sympathize with him, I could not care for him of for the other characters.
I ended by asking myself "What's the use?" and dropping the book.
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