BlogHer Book Review: Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster

Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster was a wild book.


I didn't like it at first, but I was determined to finish it.
The character was unlikeable.
The tone was irritating.
I didn't think I was going to be able to keep reading ...
and then, after a while,
it grew on me,
as did the character.


The main character, Lissy Ryder, was a mean girl in high school,
popular, bitchy and completely self-centered.

And as she attends her 20th high school reunion,
we see she's still much the same,
but things start changing
and she's sent back in time to redo high school.


I'm intrigued by the thought of re-doing high school.
I enjoyed high school, it wasn't a bad time for me.
But, I definitely have things I wished I done different.

 I was too wrapped up in a guy (who I later married).
I wish I'd spent more time hanging with girlfriends and exploring life.

 But, I'd be terrified to change things
because I wouldn't want to lose the two most important things in my life currently, my boys.

This book was an interesting read,
and it makes you ponder your own high school years, that's for sure.


 Check out our BlogHer book club discussion.

And follow Jen Lancaster on Twitter!



This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

BlogHer Book Review: Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner

 

Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner was an exciting read.

It's a book I would have read,
even if it wasn't sent to me for a book review.

I love mysteries.
Ever since Nancy Drew,
I've been a HUGE fan of reading fiction and looking for clues, trying to solve the mystery.

This story lived up to my expectations.

 In this pyschological thriller, a family is kidnapped for unknown reasons.
No ransom or reason is left for the cops.
The family is held in a remote, bizarre location with brutality and confusing actions.
As the reader, we go back and forth between the family and the cops,
and both perspectives add to the big picture ...
but the mystery isn't clear until the end.

Lisa Gardner is an excellent thriller writer, and this was one of those books that was hard to put down.


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.
 

BlogHer Book Club Book Review: My Life Map

 


I recently read My Life Map by Kate Marshall and David Marshall for the BlogHer Book Club.

It was a fill-in-the-blank sort of book that helps you do a little self-examination, reflect on the past, evaluate the present, and dream for the future.

My Life Map isn't just for people who are struggling in life and need help. It can be a great tool for anyone at any stage of life.

I didn't have a life plan detailed out. When I graduated from high school, I planned to go on to college, graduate, get married and have kids.  That was the extent of my plan.

And then life threw me a curve ball. I got very sick my first semester in college and had to medically withdraw to go home and have surgery.  Then, as I was heading back to college AGAIN, I found myself pregnant.  At 19. Talk about a shocker.

Next thing I knew,  I'd made the big decision to keep the baby and get married to my long-time childhood sweetheart.  My life plan changed. 

I planned to be a good wife, a good mother, and go back to school. A few years later, I decided to have another child.  And keep trying to finish my degree, while working part time and being a full time mother.

Then, years later, my marriage fell apart, and we separated. My life plan changed yet again.
So, what I'm saying is, you can make life plans, but you have to adjust your plans when unexpected events change your course. But, at any time in your life, not just during changes, it's helpful to revisit your goals, your plans and make those adjustments.

This book helps you create a visual road map in all the major life areas of your life, such as:

• family
• work
• play
• friends
• education

You'll find warm-up exercises, sample journeys, my life maps, tips and tools for establishing next steps and reflections pages. 

Check it out. You'll surprise yourself. It might be hard, it might be easy, you might be excited by the exercises or you might dread it. It's all progress!

Join our My Life Map discussions over on BlogHer Book Club.
This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

BlogHer Book Review: Reflected in You by Sylvia Day

I read Bared to You and Reflected in You by Sylvia Day for the BlogHer Book Club.
These two books are part of a series.(Crossfire Novels)
I think I read them both in one day.


Adjectives that come to mind after reading them:

intense.
steamy.
passionate.


 Eva and Gideon are both damaged on the inside, but they fall in love with an intensity that scorches the pages. It's pretty hot. However, they have to deal with insecurities and overcome some adversities to make their relationship work.

 Usually I don't like the books with intense love-at-first-sight, all-consuming obessive love affairs, because the characters act stupid. (Like Twilight) But, I was able to put that aside and enjoy this series. It was fun to read.

 And the true test of a enjoyable read, would I be willing to buy the next book in the series?
Yes. I think I would.


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. 



 

BlogHer Book Review: Diary of a Submissive

 

I just finished reading Diary of a Submissive by Sophie Morgan, 
and I have to say I've never read anything like it. 

It's a "modern tale of sexual awakening." 

I've read romance novels and erotic books, 
but I've never read a novel about bondage or sadomasochism. 
To say it was graphic is to put it lightly. 
It was explicit. 

Some of it made me blush. 
Some of it was fascinating. 
Some of it totally turned me off. 
Some of it horrified me. 

 I had a hard time relating not only to the extent that Sophie wanted to be submissive 
but how much she got off on it. 

She really laid herself bare (pun intended) to write this novel. 
It's an extremely intimate look at her sex life and her feelings. 

When I finished the book, 
I spent some time trying to figure out why the book overall turned me off ... 
and eventually I concluded 
that it was because of how primative and animalistic her desires are. 

Sex can be primitive and animalistic 
but it can also be a lot more. 
and it should be about more, in my opinion. 
It should involve love and commitment 
and a depth of feelings and intimacy between two people. 

I don't understand wanting to be submissive 
and subjected to extreme pain and punishment. 

But, to each her own. 

Join our discussion over at BlogHer Book Club. 

Have you ever read anything like this?


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.
 



 

BlogHer Book Club Book Review: Matched

Last week I read Matched by Ally Condle for BlogHer Book Club.

I was really looking forward to reading this
because it's another young adult novel set in a dystopian world.

 In this world, you future is controlled by The Society.

The Society decides where you can work,
who you can love
and when you can die.

It's horrifying ... and intriguing.

The main character, Cassia, suddenly finds herself questioning everything.
There's a love triangle.
There are mysterious actions.
And best yet, it's a series ... so there are two more books to read!

Here's a blurb from the back of the book:


Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.


 

BlogHer Book Club Book Review: Daring Greatly

In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech in Paris, France. And from that speech came one of my all time favorite quotes, and is also used by the author Brene Brown in her new book, Daring Greatly.  

Theodore Roosevelt says:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

My dad has this quote framed on his wall for as long as I can remember.  I've always loved it. I think it's a wonderful message. And it's from the last line that Brene Brown titled her book. Daring Greatly.

You need to read this book, to save it and come back and read different parts of it at a time. But to try and sum it up for a book review, it all relates back to that quote. Being vulnerable is part of triumph. Being vulernable isn't bad...it's part of the process.

I'm so glad this was a book I was able to read for a book review. I'd been hearing buzz about it on TV and online ... and I recently listened to the author's TED talks, which are great.  (go listen to them!)

We're talking about Daring Greatly over at BlogHer.
Join our weekly discussions!!



 This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

The Care And Handling of Roses With Thorns

The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorn by Margaret Dilloway 

was the latest BlogHer Book Club read.

The main character, Gal, is in her mid-thirties, 

a high school teacher and struggling with kidney disease.
 

But, she has a passion for roses. 

Growing and breeding roses.
The story focuses on her goal of trying to win a rose competition 

and the unplanned arrival of her teenage niece into her home.

I really enjoyed this book.
The rose breeding was fascinating to me.

Gal is a strong character, and she feels real.
A flawed woman who learns more about herself.
And learns to love.

A good read!!

It made me want to go out and plant things.
Grow things.

I don't have many hobbies, besides reading.
What are your hobbies?
Have you grown anything?

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

What Alice Forgot

I was intrigued by the main theme in this book, What Alice Forgot by Liana Moriarty.

The main character, Alice, wakes up on the gym floor, thinking she's 29, in love with her husband and expecting her first child.  Imagine her surprise when she's told that instead she's actually 39, getting divorced and has three kids?!

The idea that you could wake up one day and have forgotten 10 years of your life?
Scary and crazy.

But also thought-provoking.

10 years is a long time.
I think we all go through a lot of change in that amount of time,
whether it's getting married or having kids...
or personal growth or decline.

It makes me wonder if past-me would have liked present-me...
and inspires me to work on future-me.  

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

 

My Artist's Way

I have always wanted to do the Artist's Way.
My mom did it years and years ago.

I actually bought the book and was planning on doing it this summer.
And then, BlogHer offered a chance to use
Julia Cameron's Artist's Way Toolkit.

I was so excited!

I downloaded the app for my iPhone and my iPad.
It helps you:

• UNBLOCK yourself with exercises
• TRACE your creative process in your own personal Creativity Notebook
• RECEIVE Daily Inspirations, Affirmations, and Artist's Date ideas from Julia

Now, unfortunately, I didn't utilize this as well as I could have.
I had some family emergencies come up,
and I got caught up in that.

But, the times I did check in online or through my iPhone, I loved it.
The biggest thing I learned from using it (and not using it),
is that I need to make time in my life for creativity.

You can take a tour of the toolkit. 

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.





 

The First Husband

In The First Husband by Laura Dave,
the main character Annie Adams seems to have it all.

A good career, a loving dog, a long-time boyfriend...
and suddenly everything unravels
and her life is thrown off center.

Then, before you know it,
she's married to someone new
and moving halfway across the country,
leaving everything familiar behind for her husband.

And things aren't easy at first...

A difficult mother-in-law,
her husband's ex,
family issues...

and then Annie's previous boyfriend is back in the running again.

 It's definitely an entertaining story.

I love that Annie decides to really shake up her life by doing things differently...
and ends up finding happiness.

How many of us are brave enough to do that?

This was a fun read for me.
A quick read.
A book you want to read all in one sitting.

 I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own, of course.



 

Where She Went

I read Where She Went by Gayle Forman for the BlogHerBook Club.

It was a quick and easy read,
and I overall enjoyed it.
It was sequel to If I stay, which I have not read.

But, I didn't need to have read the first one.
It worked fine on its own.

I don't often read books from the viewpoint of a young man,
one who is clearly in love and heartbroken.

However, like the Twilight books,
I don't like the idea that someone can't survive without another person.

That all-consuming love doesn't seem healthy.

I enjoy reading about it, it's romantic and breathless...
but when I think back over it to analyze things...
I don't like the message.

Maybe it's because of where I am in my life,
a high school sweetheart who disappointed me,
a marriage broken.

 I'm a bit down on love.
especially the all-consuming type that prevents someone from living their life to the fullest.

I liked reading it though,
wherein lies the conundrum. 

But, you be the judge.
Have you read it?
What are your thoughts?
Do you believe in that kind of love?

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.


 

You Have No Idea

I just finished reading
You Have No Idea,
written by Vanessa Williams and her mother, Helen Williams.

It's not a book I would have picked out on my own,
but I read it for the BlogHer Book Club,
and I ended up finding it very interested.

What stood out to me:

1. I had no idea Vanessa Williams was the 1st black Miss America
2. She has had quite a career
3. I've never read a memoir from the perspective of a mom and a daughter.

Everyone enjoys hearing about a celebrity's life,
how they made it,
what scandals they've survived,
the relationships they've had, etc.

But having Vanessa's mom share her side of the story really gave this book more depth.
Especially a non-nonsense mom like Helen.

I be willing to read a lot more celebrity memoirs if all their moms were chiming in!


 

Born Wicked

Blessed with a gift...cursed with a secret. 

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood is about three sisters who are witches,
but they have to keep it secret from everyone,
including their own father.

The eldest sister, Cate,
is tasked with protecting her younger sisters,
on their mother's death,
and this is no easy feat,
especially with The Brotherhood in charge of this alternate history world.

If Cate and her sisters are found out, they could be put in an asylum or put to death.

Cate is faced with her 17th birthday approaching
where she has to get married or go into the convent,
but how can she leave her sisters unprotected?

Then there's the prophecy that may complicate things.

 I really enjoyed this book ...
there was romance, mystery, and magic.
I enjoyed everything except the ending,
which definitely leaves you hanging for the next novel in the series.


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

The Fault in Our Stars

 I'd heard that John Green was a great young adult fiction writer,
so I'd planned on picking up one of his books.

It made sense to start with the most recent one that came out.
However, when I read the summary... I wasn't so sure this was a good idea.

The Fault in Our Stars

I wasn't sure I wanted to read about terminally ill teenagers.
I tend to avoid heartbreaking stories, so that, well, I don't have my heart broken.

But, I read this, and I'm glad I did.
It was a great story.
I laughed.
I cried.
I enjoyed.

The main character, Hazel, has cancer and no real hope of much of a future...
and then she meets a new boy in the cancer support group who changes her life.

There's a quest.
There's humor.
There's young love.

It was a wonderful read.


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

The Diary of a Mad Fat Girl

 

I recently read Diary of a Fat Mad Girl by Stephanie McAfee for BlogHer Book Club. 

It's set in a charmingly adorable town named Bugtussle,Mississippi.

The main character, Ace Jones, is about 30 years old 

and finds herself tangled up in crazy antics involving her best friends.

There are lots of great southern colloquialisms.  

And I'll admit, there were some situations that were pretty funny.

It read easily and quickly, 

it was funny and light, 

but for some reason, 

I was dissatisfied. 

I felt like perhaps the writer was trying too hard. 

It didn't feel real.

The characters didn't feel real.

But, it's a book you should read and judge for yourself.

And join in on our discussion over at BlogHer Book Club. 

This is a paid book review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

 

The Rules of Inheritance

I had a hard time getting into this book,

The Rules of Inheritance.

It's raw.

Claire Bidwell Smith's memoir does not read chronologically 

but instead is laid out through the five stages of grief,

A deep, intense grief stemming from

losing both her parents to cancer at a young age:

Denial

Anger

Bargaining

Depression

Acceptance

It's not an easy read. 

It's raw emotions slashing across the page, 

creeping around corners 

and draping across your shoulders. 

Yet, it was interesting. 

It made me want to gather up my loved ones and spend more quality time.

And Claire Bidwell Smith writes well. Very descriptive, evoking emotions.

Despite the rock bottom, she manages to come out of this...

and turn her life into something that matters. 

It was inspiring, despite my doubts and depression reading it. 

Join us over on BlogHer Book Club to discuss The Rules of Inheritance.

This is a paid book review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

The Weird Sisters

 

I believe strongly in the importance of names. 

My name, Rhea, is a family name, passed down through my mother's family. 

I love the uniqueness of it... 

and the family legacy. 

The name Rhea also appears in mythological stories, 

from the Greek mother of Zeus 

to the Roman mother of Romulus and Remus. 

So, perhaps that's why I loved the opening of Eleanor Brown's novel, The Weird Sisters, 

where we learn that their professor father, 

who speaks almost primarily in Shakespearean verse, 

named them after the Bard's heroines:

Rose is named for Rosalind, 

the romantic heroine in Shakespeare's As You Like It. 

Bean is short for Bianca, 

the desirable and attractive sister in The Taming of the Shrew.

Cordy is the nickname for Cordelia, 

the youngest and favorite daughter in King Lear. 

Even the novel's title, The Weird Sisters, refers to characters in MacBeth, 

the three witches with dark and contradictory natures. 

Their "filthy" trappings and activities set an ominous tone for the play...and the book.

 And boy do their stir up some toil and trouble.

In the novel, the sisters are not close and have been reunited in their hometown 

to confront their mother's struggling with breast cancer.

The sisters must confront their inner-selves and their family relationships.

It's not a light read, but it's definitely intriguing.

 Join our discussion of The Weird Sisters on BlogHer!

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

The Underside of Joy

Being a mother,
I have a really hard time reading stories
involving tragic events and children.

So, I might not have picked up this book to read on my own.

But, because I'm part of the BlogHer Book Club,
I signed up to read and review The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson.
And I really enjoyed it.

OK, perhaps "enjoyed" is not quite the right word I'm looking for.

I was swept up in the emotions and the worry.
I felt the pain and anxiety.

I thought the author took a difficult situation and really did well exploring the complexity of the emotions.


The basic storyline is about a man who died, leaving behind his newish wife and two kids from his previous marriage. And, then his first wife enters the picture, and the women began a battle over the children. It pulls at your heart strings.

There is poetry in Sere Prince Halverson's words though.
It was so beautiful to read.

Even when I cried, I appreciated the beauty of the syntax.

Here's one of my favorite descriptions of the trees on their land:

I looked to the trees. They always calmed me. The redwood grove stood like our own appointed guards; their trunks rose straight and solid from the land, their branches so large, we had seen wild turkeys perched in them. 

She continues with:

Our oaks were more like wise, arthritic grandparents. If you pulled up a chair and sat awhile and listened, you usually learned something useful. The fruit trees were like our cherished aunties, wearing frilly dresses and an overabundance of perfume in the spring, then by summer, indulging us with their generosity, dropping apples and pears and apricots by the bucketfuls..." 

The setting, the history, the complex emotions.
This is a book you don't just read...you experience.


I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own. 

The Magic Room

As young girls, we often dream about romance and our wedding day.

We buy into the Disney Dream, of princes riding up on white horses to rescue us from our ordinary lives.

But that's not usually how things turn out.

These days we have to be our own prince...

work hard to buy our own white horse and rescue ourselves.

And, I have to admit, I'd rather rescue myself than have someone else do it for me.

I just finished reading The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow for the BlogHer Book Club.

It focuses on the a 7-generation Bridal store in Fowler, Michigan, stories about the family who has run it and the brides who buy their dresses there.

The stories were overwhelming.

many different brides and different issues.

But overall it touched on the hope that women have about their weddings

and the dreams parents and grandparents have for their daughters and granddaughters on their wedding day...

and how picking out the dress plays such a huge part of that. 

I married my high school sweetheart at age 19, pregnant and rushed,

but my wedding was magical and wonderful.

Now I'm 34, and I've grown up.

I have two wonderful boys, and I'm separated from my husband. 

I'm a bit bitter about marriage, so reading this book was emotional for me.

I found myself cynical about the love stories.

But, then there's the lining of hope that resides around the edges of this story...and I can't help but feel it.

Hope it such an important aspect in our lives. As is love.

Some of us get it wrong at first.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, right?

Join our discussion about weddings, love and marriage over on BlogHer Book Club.

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.