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.





 

Teen Reading Material

For the last two weeks, this has been my teen son's reading material:





It looks remarkably similar to my reading material 20 years ago.


And last week, we went and stood in line at the TX DPS for 3 1/2 hours
to get his learner's permit.





3 1/2 hours!!

We'd been warned it could take 3-5 hours.

I think he would have slept over night in that line if he'd had to.



 

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.


 

Texts from a 10-Year-Old on Mother's Day

My younger son has inherited his older brother's cell phone
and discovered the joy of texting.

Texting me.

When we went out to eat with family on Mother's Day,
he quickly became bored
and started texting me surreptitiously from the same table...

Remy: We need to swim NOW

Me: True that. Word. 

Remy: (word?) true that double true
Remy: Ready to swim?

 Me: Soon my little tadpole. Soon. 

Remy: If im a tadpole then ur an egg
Remy: Egg

Me: Frog 

Remy: tadpole 
Remy: dog

Me: puppy poop 

Remy: 2shea

Me: touche?

Remy: What evs
Remy: Its called S L A N G
Remy: Don't matter i luve u
Remy: i mean i love u

Me: I love you too! 

Remy: i love u more

Me: I love you most of the mostest. 

Remy: imposible.

Me: possible.

 

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!