Friday, February 9, 2024
BOOK REVIEW for Private Equity, A Memoir by Carrie Sun
Monday, February 5, 2024
BOOK REVIEW for Only Say Good Things by Crystal Hefner
TITLE: Only Say Good Things
AUTHOR Crystal Hefner
GENRE: Memoir
RATING: 4 stars
It is very hard to give this book a rating.
I do admire the author's honesty, even when she does not come out looking all that great. Her writing is friendly and very engaging - loved her writing style, which is why this is a 4 star rate for me.
I know that this is mentioned all the time, but I can't help thinking that she stupidly put herself in a position that would demean her. When she describes her first meeting with Hefner, I am completely flabbergasted at how she doesn't even blink at wanting to be chosen, among a sea of half naked, blond women, but also at the fact that she never even questions anything of her surroundings, as she is directed to Hefner's room. I mean, not one second of "wait, one minute, this is not a scene I want to find myself in". She acted like a pro at having sex with random men.
Morally, I don't care about, but she set herself up for years of guilt and anger and while she could have left at any time, she kept coming back. Yes, she had hardship in her young life, but hiding behind them does not serve her.
I was intrigued by the section where she asks for forgiveness to all the young girls who want to be her -I can fully see how her influence is not a good thing.
As it turns out, she spent all of her twenties with a man who build an empire on orgies, power and disrespect for women. I was surprised when she mentioned this because it felt like she was with Hefner so much longer and should be in her mid thirties by now.
I hope she finds what she is looking for.
Just a side note - Hefner??? I realllllly don't get the allure.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
BOOK REVIEW for Here with You by Kathy Wagner
TITLE: Here with you
AUTHOR: Kathy Wagner
GENRE: Memoir
RATING: 5 Stars
I read a LOT of addiction/recovery books, except that this book is a about addiction - period.
I have never read a memoir focusing so much on what an addiction does to the people around the addict. Sure, this is always given a chapter or two in most memoir on this subject, but with this one, while the addict's issues are detailed, the equivalent timeline focused on the addict's family and friends.I also loved how this book talks about the importance of 12 steps - it was very interesting to see how two of Wagner's children had addiction issues and both look towards rehab and 12 steps - and how it worked as a miracle for one of her children's while her other child could not see all the gifts of 12 step.
I admire how brave Wagner is in writing this heart wrenching book. I hope it helped her soul to heal.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
BOOK REVIEW for After the Wedding by Eileen Gibb
TITLE: After the Wedding
AUTHOR: Eileen Gibb
GENRE: Memoir
RATING: 4 stars
This book brought out so many feelings for me.
First off, I want to say that this man was a despicable barely human. Unfortunately, during that time period, "man" was still considered so much higher than women and this comes through clearly in the book. I kept having to remind myself that the generations were different then, not to say that family violence does not exist today though.
Eileen, as a young working woman, applied Christianity to EVERYTHING - to the point where it felt almost "holier than thou". I think the price she put on Christianity was a big reason she met John and ended up where she landed.
In fact, when she first met John, her comments made it obvious she did not particularly like him as he was not Christian enough (if only she had kept to that), instead she kept forcing religion on him and this would be a theme that would repeat often between the two.
Yet, why on earth would you date him and marry him and then basically proceed, for the entire book, to NEVER open your mouth - not for voicing an opinion, not for saying "no I don't want to marry you", not even for telling someone else about the violence in your home? It was so frustrating to read.
Throughout the entire book, she never defends herself and everyone around her dominates her, in fact, at one point towards the end of the book she actually says something like "i never seem to speak up for myself" REALLY!!??
The role of Christianity played a huge part in this story and it was painfully obvious that church and praying was something to pull out only when needed. For example Eileen trots out religion but when her husband John does something like stealing, she conveniently puts her beliefs on a shelf. When her daughter's friend says that John molested her, Eileen does nothing about it - does not confront him and does not even ask the child to tell her what happened (if anything, but why would this child say something like that if it were not true).
One of my pet peeves are couples that have horrible marriages, yet, continue to make babies. Why, oh why did they have 3 kids? - these poor kids were suffering from PTSD and by the way, if John molested this little girl, don't you think he could have done the same to his own daughter? In fact, their daughter speaks up as an adult and STILL nobody listened, certainly Eileen did not want to hear it, better to pretend its not there. The same way she accepted the cycle of being hit by John, who in turn , would then apologize and do it all over again and again.
I won't even bother talking about that horrid John - he got the ending he deserved.
The writing was very encompassing and Eileen did not shy away from writing about all of it - that is a brave thing to do. Her story brought out so many feelings for me and that is the sign of a good story, in my opinion.
I hope Eileen and her children have gotten the peace they were looking for.
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Reading Goal and year 2024
Tina has completed her goal of reading 37 books in 2023!37 of 37 (100%)
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW for Swarm by Jennifer D. Lyle
TITLE: Swarm
AUTHOR: Jennifer D. Lyle
GENRE: YA horror/thriller
RATING: I usually give a max of 5 stars - but this one is 10 stars
First, I want to thank Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an e-galley of this book.
I am a huge fan of YA survival stories, mostly with snowstorms, but while this book only touches on snow at some minor point, it uses a very clever idea - taking butterflies, which are traditionally loved and considered beautiful and turning them into, basically very efficient contaminating/killing machines.
My skin basically crawled the entire book and I will never look at a butterfly in the same way again. The description of what these beautiful butterflies turned into is a bit shocking and extremely well detailed, making it easy for the reader to imagine.
The fact that these YA were basically sheltered into place, trying to keep one step ahead of the butterflies and their prey was nerve wracking. The fact that anyone bitten turned into something akin to zombies (but not exactly) was a nice touch that made the book even more creepy.
Now that I think about it, this book could easily have taken part of its plot straight from the COVID pandemic - except we, obviously, did not have to deal with zombie issues. However, the shelter into place, the not knowing, the horrible infections and the overall contagion of the virus can easily have inspired the author.
The characters are well fleshed out (no pun intended) and while I did not like the fact that there was a young child AND a cat stuck in the house with these YA, I ended up thinking it was a great addition to the story as it moved it along well.
The strengths of this book are the exceptional pacing - such a good job of moving this at just the appropriate speed and the author's vivid descriptions of the butterflies, the (sort of) zombies and the fear each character felt and lived throughout the story.
You have to read this book. I am so jealous that you get to read it for the first time!
Read my other reviews, very few are 5 stars and very rarely do I praise a book so much - but this story is worth it.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
BOOK REVIEW for Behind the Door by Amy Price
AUTHOR: Amy Price
RATING: 5 stars
Thank you William Morrow for sending me an e copy of this book.
I loved it. I thought Price did a great job of focusing on her day to day view of the hotel and it's colorful tenants. Basically, this book pretty much screams "the Cecil is more than just creepy happenings". I really enjoyed the history of the hotel and reading about other tenants.
Her love for the hotel comes through as well. It was a terrific read.
Sunday, August 20, 2023
BOOK review for: I Married A Thrill Seeker by Danielle Kaplan
AUTHOR: Danielle Kaplan
GENRE: Memoir
RATING: 5 stars
I was on social media, and this author popped up. I read the small description of her book, with interest, but the word "novel" was used, so I emailed the author to clarify if this was, indeed, a memoir. She literally answered me 30 seconds after my initial question confirming that it was a memoir. I headed to Amazon. I bought it and read it in 3 days.
It's such an excellent book. Despite the difficult subject matter, I just could not put it down. I wish every author would write like Danielle Kaplan.....she writes with honesty and weaves the story so well that you feel everything. I had to put the book down occasionally because I was so caught up in the story. I also LOVE the fact that she doesn't go off on tangents but rather tells the story in a way that is compelling without describing every little detail...the pacing was excellent.From a personal point of view, I had a valve replacement (aorta) surgery 4 years ago, and it took me six months to feel like myself as well. So I could doubly empathize with that part of the story.
I am so glad this family is doing so much better despite their hardships, including the loss of important people.
I do have one question. What happened to Danielle's moms dog? She mentions the dog in passing but does not say.
Monday, July 3, 2023
BOOK Review for The Glow Up Journal by Danielle Richardson
Thank you wonderful Simon & Schuster and Adams Publicity Marketing for sending me a hard copy of this book. I love it.
TITLE: Glow Up Journal
AUTHOR: Danielle Richardson
GENRE: Self-help
RATING: 5 Stars
Years ago, I took a test geared towards determining my strength and weaknesses. I was surprised to learn that I am VERY goal oriented. At first, I did not agree, but over the years I see how much reaching goals matters to me, both from a personal and professional level.
While this is great in itself (I think!) I needed something to help me clear my thoughts, so I could focus on what I want and who I am I found that Journaling really helps me. So, I have become a journal freak. Over the years, I have narrowed down my needs when it comes to selecting the perfect journal for ME.
The Glow Up Journal has everything I want. I have been using it for several weeks now and wanted to put down my thoughts.
First off, it looks great. The look is not the most important thing, but it attracts my eye, making it more fun to write in.
Self Care and mindfulness are important aspects for me and this Journal asks me to really think about what I need - what I feel. It throws out questions and tidbits that challenge you to do more than just say "I want to change" as opposed to "I am changing". Prompts kickstarts my inner dialogue, by writing it out - putting it out there making me feel it is attainable.
Where am I and where do I want to go? How do I get there without forgetting myself for the sake of the dream.
The author has a knack for knowing exactly what to include in this Journal - and EVERYTHING is made towards empowering your best you. Discovering issues/dreams that are maybe way back in your mind.
Lovely, lovely. I carry this with me and find myself pulling it out often during the day.
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
BOOK REVIEW for Most Hated by Kara Alloway
A big thank you to author Kara Alloway for sending me an e-copy of this book
TITLE: Most Hated
AUTHOR: Kara Alloway
GENRE: Fiction
RATING: 5 stars
Full disclosure, I do NOT like reality TV shows and this book describes exactly why. This plotline is like a reality (no pun) check on the fact that TV, even reality shows are not "real" enough.
This book is like having an "in" on a TV show, as we benefit from all the gossip - ALL the gossip. But we also get to see how each character deals with honesty and their futures.
I did not root for the main characters, rather, I just devoured all the insight an average TV viewer would never get to see....and you know what, I totally believe that this book was based on real life events, or at least partly and I would be dying to know who "the most hated" actually is in real life.
The best thing though is the writing. The pace is wonderful - my pet peeve is a book that takes pages and pages to get things moving and to get us to the "interesting" places, but that's not the case here - from day 1, we are asked to listen to the gossip LOL and not only listen, but to become part of the circle.
Terrific, terrific PS: Great, great beach read