Category Archives: Books

Last month was a good reading month. Well, not in quantity necessarily, but certainly in quality. Every book I read was a recommend, and even though they were similar on the surface, all were very different. I’m actually excited to tell you about every single one of them, and when does that happen all in one month? Not a single stinker!

23 books down this year on my (new and improved!) goal of 50.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

I mentioned last month that we read this for book club and that I devoured it over one singular weekend. I do not recommend that you do that, at all. This is sort of a book to savor, I think, and having to rush through it bummed me out because it is epic in nature. Don’t you love a good true story of triumph over UNTHINKABLE obstacles. And that really sums up this entire book (cliche as it may sound) but what I enjoyed most was that the author didn’t dwell on the unthinkable.

These types of books have the potential to be chock full of description of bad things happening to good people and those books generally make me feel a little bummed. This was not a bummer at all — it was just realistic enough to have you gasping on occasion, but inspiring enough for you to be able to tolerate all the crappy stuff because you know it all works out in the end when you go into it. That said, the entire time I read about his time floating on the ocean I was SO FREAKING THIRSTY. And I felt sort of guilty that I could just hop up and grab a glass of water at my convenience. Hillenbrand paints a vivid and entertaining portrait of a man and of a particular point in history. It is a completely worthwhile read.

Most Talkative: Stories From the Front Lines of Pop Culture by Andy Cohen

You had to know I would read this, what with my love of all things Bravo and specifically the Real Housewives of Everywhere. Guilty Pleasure with No Apologies. I love some good trash television! That said, I did not have high expectations of it. I wasn’t sure Andy Cohen’s life was going to be full of memoir filling information and so I picked it up just to see if there was any juicy Housewives gossip or interesting tales about running a network.

First of all — he is super interesting. Specifically, I found his career trajectory and experiences engaging. I didn’t realize his background was in news and so hearing about the decades where he was at the front lines of major world events was exciting. And he totally drops stories about famous people along the way in a perfect Celeb Autobiography way. Is there anything worse that cracking open the memoir of a famous person just to have them tell stories and keep everyone nameless. Hate that. None of that here.

The housewives scoop was not as large as I would have liked (but let’s be honest, I could read a whole book on that topic and I realize this was Cohen’s memoir, not a Housewives memoir) but what he did dish was very revealing in an indirect way. You definitely learn who he likes and dislikes and he gives insight into the way things are filmed and the varying personalities. This book was like candy you all, and I was so sad when it was over!

Dinner: A Love Story: It All Begins At The Family Table by Jenny Rosenstrach

I picked this up on a whim, as it was sitting in the “Lucky Day” section of my library. I mean, I’m a fan of dinner and you know I love a good food love story, so I thought it was worth picking up. Man, I love when I’m right.

This book is a mix of memoir and cookbook and commentary on how making dinner can help bring your family together. I’m a fan of this concept in general — food, and specifically the ritual of a meal, bringing people closer together — so I was not a hard sell on the overall concept. What I loved was how she showed what this looks like in various stages of life: as a young couple, with brand new babies, with toddlers who sit at the table. Dinner at every stage of life. She gave some good tips and inspiration for all of the phases and told some funny stories in the process.

A surprising benefit (to me at least) were the versatility of the recipes. I eat a pretty specific diet so I rarely go into a mainstream cookbook expecting to have a ton of takewaways, but there were a lot of recipes that I copied verbatim, and a lot that were easy to modify in a way that worked for my lifestyle. Total win! And beautifully photographed and designed. It felt like reading a really fun blog, but the paper version, which I guess is no surprise since she writes one.

It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig

I have read A LOT of books about what to eat, let me tell you and not all of them are very valuable. Forgive me for putting what I’m about to say in giant letters but I would like to make sure I underscore this appropriately: THIS BOOK IS THE LEAST DOGMATIC, MOST PRACTICAL RESOURCE ON HOW TO EAT TO MAKE YOURSELF HEALTHIER, NO MATTER HOW YOU CURRENTLY EAT. If you identify as Paleo, great – you will love it. If you do not identify as Paleo, I think you will also love it, because all of the information just makes sense and is really quite easy to read.

Now, it’s not 100% perfect, I definitely think the reliance on cute analogies goes maybe a step too far; however, science can be hard to understand and it is helpful to do it in a way that is easily digestible, so I was glad they erred on the side of cutesy rather than extra science-y, personally. Regardless, this book WILL change your life. I really believe that. I wish I could gift it to everyone I know just so they could get a glimpse of what factors they actually can control with relatively little effort.

I’m not the type of person who thinks that everyone should be doing and eating exactly what I am, but I am someone who thinks that as a person, as an adult rather, you should be at least *have* a philosophy about the food you eat. And Dallas and Melissa impart a lot of wisdom that I think can help ANYONE clarify, perfect, or amend their food philosophies in a way that is not at all preachy. And lack of preachy when talking about food is pretty darn hard to do. And if you are someone who wonders if this book is worth buying if you read their site regularly — it is. Surely you can find all of the information they discuss somewhere on the internet (if not 100% on their site) but it is a convenient compendium and a great resource and completely worth investing the (less than) $20.

CHECK IT OUT, YO.

******

So…hooray for great books this month! Tell me what you read and what you thought.

Well, it’s official — I’ve changed my annual reading goal to 50 books. I was aiming for 75 books this year, since I finished 66 last year, but now that we’ve reached the halfway point it is very clear to me: THAT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN.

So I’m thinking it’s time to get realistic with myself so that I stop feeling pressure to read during every waking moment. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read — it is one of my favorite things to do — but since my free time has been scarce I want to focus on reading for pleasure and relaxation, not to hit an arbitrary goal. Ok well not *AS* arbitrary — 50 is still an arbitrary number. But I can’t help it, I need something finite to reach towards.

(Yes, I acknowledge that sometimes I am a crazy person.)

Anyway, shall we talk about what I read last month? There were two books, which now brings my annual total up to a whopping 19 books. WHOOPITY DO. 🙂

1. 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James – Hmmm, where to start with this book, so much has already been said! I love books like this that instantly create an Opinion Continuum in popular culture. I picked it up because I wanted to know where I fell on this continuum. The short story is I thought the book was terrible and probably won’t read the other two.

The longer story is that I didn’t find it “beneath me” or anything (hello, I celebrate Jackie Collins’ entire catalog) I really just found it kind of boring. Part of it, I’m sure, was that I waited so long to read it so I had heard about how “SHOCKING” it was over and over. When I finally read it, I was like “Wait, where was the shocking part?” Certainly that detracted from it. But mostly, I just didn’t really care about the characters or their lives. But I sure am glad I got to read it and have a laugh with some friends about the language used and The Contract. OHMYGOD The Contract. BAHAHAHAHAHAH! It’s always nice to get to have an opinion. Books like this that cause a great stir it always make me so happy that I read. And if this is a book that made others read too — AWESOME! I would like to put a moratorium on the phrase Mommy Porn, but hey — to each their own. Count me in for the next trashy romance/erotica/ridiculous BDSM book that comes out. I’ll read it. Whatever.

2. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green Every once in a while I like to read some Young Adult fiction because it’s just so easy. The print is big, the pages have a lot of white space and there is usually a fun story that makes me a little nostalgic for my own Young Adult Years. What I like about John Green is that his books have all those things but they are also pretty smart. This is not news. If you don’t love John Green in this world you are basically a pariah, right? Of course I think it is equally agreed upon that sometimes the dialogue and the characters in his books are are a little overwritten, but he has made an entire career on this trait not being a detraction and instead having it be the thing that endears people to him. I’m definitely a victim of this. You just can’t help but like his books, I think.

This book was particularly up my alley because it had to do with death, dying, grief — all of that depressing stuff that I love in a good book. I know, I’m weird. But you keep reading this site, so you’re weird too obviously. 🙂 Anyway, all of this to say that this was a great book to end the month on, especially after 50 Shades of Grey. Plus it only took about a day and half to read. Love a quick book that makes you feel some emotion.

Garrett is off in a corner rolling his eyes saying “You are such a giiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl!”

*****

Did you come across any good reads in June?

I mentioned on the Bucket List that I wanted to read 15 books this summer. A lot of them are already sitting on my book shelf just waiting to be picked up and every time I walk by I feel a little twinge of excitement.

It’s an ambitious goal for me because we have a lot on our plates this season but these are the 15 books I’m hoping to get through:

1. 50 Shades of Grey – Listen, I just need to see what all the fuss is about. I’m not committing to the series or the genre, but since it’s already so much a part of the seasonal pop culture zeitgeist, it’d be a shame to pass it up!

2. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand – This is our book club selection for the month and I honestly can’t wait to finally read it since I’ve heard it is such an emotional book. Garrett and I are reading it together and hosting the discussion. Two of my favorite things!

3. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn – I read Gillian Flynn’s first book last summer and it was a real page turner. This is her second book and I hear it is even better! Not to mention she already has a third out and I *really* want to read that, but I’m sort of OCD in that I like to read authors’ books in order when I can. Lame.

4. Faithful Place by Tana French – I’m going to try and not let so much time pass by between my Tana French experiences this time around. Plus she has an awesome looking book coming out this summer too, and obviously I have to read the books in order! 🙂

5. Most Talkative: Stories From the Front Lines of Pop Culture by Andy Cohen – You know I’ll buy anything Bravo sells, so I clearly need to know everything there is to know about Andy Cohen! Plus, it’s been a while since I’ve read a celebrity autobiography so you didn’t have to.

6. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett – I just really think this has an engaging sounding plot summary — Amazon jungles! Mysteries! Death! Adventure! I mean that has the makings for a pretty good summer book, right? Besides, everyone I know who read it loved it. Sold!

7. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan – This was a total impulse buy that I made for the kindle the day after I downloaded the kindle app for my phone. It sounds suuuuuuuuuuper good!

8. The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman – So Chuck Klosterman has long been a favorite of mine, and as an author he falls into the category of “I’d Read Anything He Writes.” He writes hilarious non-fiction that I can’t get enough of, and this is his first foray into fiction. It’s totally going on the list!

9. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – I like John Green just fine. I’m not his most hyperventilating super fan, but he writes good Young Adult books. Everyone seems to be raving about this little gem, so I’m willing to see what it’s got.

10. The Cradle In The Grave by Sophie Hannah – A long time ago Amazon sent me a creepy email that told me if I liked Tana French I would like Sophie Hannah. I trusted them. They were right. Damn computer-bots! Since then I’ve read everything she’s ever written. Except this. I’m going to remedy that.

11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – I only get to read the NEW Gillian Flynn if I read the OLD Gillian Flynn. But OOOOOOMMMMGGGGG, how can you not read what this is about and not want to know “What’s in the box???” (That was my best Brad Pitt impersonation, btw.)

12. The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp and Mark Reiter – I first read about this on Elise’s blog. Sounded intriguing, so I reserved it at the library. That’s Standard Operating Procedure around here.

13. Broken Harbor by Tana French – No NEW Tana without reading OLD Tana. Man, I’m quite the book Nazi, aren’t I? Lucky for me this doesn’t even come out until July 24th, so I am buying myself a little bit of time to catch up. Whew!

14. The Calling by Kelley Armstrong – So, I read the first book in this trilogy last year but I just looked back at all of my book reviews and I never included it! How Rude! Well let me quickly recap: Young adult. Trilogy. Werewolves. Weird Happenings. You know, the usual. Anyway, the first one is a friggin cliff hanger and then the second one didn’t come out for like a year. Man! Hate that. Anyway, this is the second. I don’t really expect great things, but I just need to know how the story ends, of course.

15. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed – I got totally suckered in to wanting to read this book by Goodreads. Every time I would get on to update my reading list there would be a banner ad for this book or a link to the book trailer. Finally one day I watched it and I was sold. I love a good memoir, and especially one about recovering from grief…HELLO, you know me and this particular brand of torture. I’m all over it. Even in the summer.

*****

Have you read any of these? Are any of them on your Summer Reading List?

Where did that phrase even come from anyway? Ah well, not important. What is important…we have a winner in the Summer Reading Giveaway.

Katie from LiveLoveLyke — you have summer reading material coming your way. YAY! Maybe now you can buy The Paris Wife. 🙂

I’ll be contacting you via email shortly to get your address. In the meantime…CONGRATULATIONS! And thanks to all of you who played along!

Well according to Goodreads, I am 14 books behind pace on my annual reading goal. I guess I need to start reading comic books to catch up, eh? 🙂 Actually though, is there any better time to play reading catch-up than during summer? I think not! I love summer reading and have such fond memories of the library summer reading challenges of my youth. So much fun. It might be completely worth it to have kids just to get to participate in that again!

This summer I want to help YOU get into the swing of summer reading too with a fun little giveaway. I’ve never done a giveaway here but why the heck not start now? Well, why not start in a minute…first we are going to talk about the books I read in May.

There were three:

The Likeness by Tana French
First of all, this was a book from The Bookshelf Project, and I’m excited to say I’m making steady progress here despite being behind on my annual reading goal. I’m averaging about a book a month from my own shelf and I’m happy with that. This book has been sitting on my shelf for years as I bought it right after I finished In The Woods. It’s become a joke in our house that it took me so long to read The Likeness considering how much I raved about French’s first book. Both books I HIGHLY recommend.

The thing about French’s books is that they are so much more than just thrillers//detective novels//mysteries. First, she writes beautifully — her way with words is just so engaging. But also she really has a gift for getting inside the heads of her characters — her books are equal parts character study and crime to solve. It’s just a great combination. The characters feel like real people that you miss when the books are over. I will definitely read anything she writes (even if it takes me YEARS to do it!)

Bared To You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day
I just typed “A CrossFit Novel” twice. Um…this is NOT a CrossFit novel. If you spend any amount of time on twitter you already know this is a super trash-tastic romance novel that you will hate yourself a little bit for reading.

Recommended by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books to those who liked 50 Shades of Grey I picked it up at the recommendation of a friend (BUSTED Liz!)– who I can now no longer look in the eye when we see each other since reading this book. 🙂 Because dude, this books was FILTHY. I mean, almost hilariously filthy but I’ll tell you what the story kept the pages turning for me.

Quit laughing, I’m being serious.

It was a good story, but man I just don’t know if romance novels are my cup of tea, and it’s not because I’m highbrow in my lit choice. It’s mostly because there is so much suspension of disbelief. Like I am just not the type of person who goes to the grocery store and sees the checkout clerk and then has a five page aside about his forearms and what they may indicate or whatever. I usually just smile and buy my groceries. There is a lot of this in romance novels. Who knows, maybe I’m missing out. That said it was a fun departure. And honestly, I’ll probably read the next one. If for nothing else just to read hysterical phrases out loud to Garrett and watch him squirm with embarrassment. Now THAT was a good time!

After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop
So with a name like After the FOG, this doesn’t come across at first like a summer reading book, but there are elements of it that just make it the perfect juicy read to sink your teeth into this month. It’s historical fiction set in a steel mill town during the 1948 “killing smog.”

It is full of moody secrets and twisted family dynamics and I just love stuff like that! It’s a book you can sit down with and get caught up in. The characters are complex, and I actually learned a lot while staying entertained. I always like when that happens. A bit slow to start, but man in the end it was a totally worthwhile read.

And I mean, hello — the kindle edition is $2.99. Get after it! But you know what is even better than a $2.99 kindle book? A FREE BOOK!

Heeeeeeey-O, we should talk about that.

Summer Reading Giveaway

So I’ve never done a giveaway here on the blog and it’s mostly because I hardly ever enter giveaways myself. I don’t know why, but most of the time there are a million steps involved and so I just don’t. I’m lazy. Now you know my secrets.

When I decided I wanted to try my hand at it, I wanted to make sure it was simple and that it was something worth giving away, you know? What I’m saying is, something I would want. And FREE BOOKS are always something I want 🙂

So here’s the scoop — I’m giving away a copy of Kathleen Shoop’s book After the Fog (full disclosure, a giveaway copy of this was provided to me by BookSparks) as well as a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble (which was provided by my own bank account just because I’m so dang appreciative of all of the book suggestions you all give me each month!)

A new book to read plus a gift card to buy more? I LIKE IT. I would enter, so obvs I think you should too!

Here’s what you do:

* Leave a comment on this blog post (not on FB or Twitter) telling me about the one book you are dying to buy this summer (You didn’t think I was going to let you off the hook for leaving suggestions did you? haha)
* You have until Friday, June 8 at midnight EST.
* I’ll choose a winner using random.org and post the winner here.
* Open to the US only.
* Only one entry per person.

That’s it! No jumping through hoops, no Facebooking or Tweeting anything crazy (although if you want to share the giveaway with your friends, by all means please do so!)

All you have to do is leave a comment and you are entered. And then maybe a fun package full of BOOK and BOOK MONEY will show up in your mailbox. Groovy, right? I thought so too!

*****

So tell me…what book are you dying to get your hands on for summer, friends?

Oh I’m just loathe to talk about April Books this month. You can probably tell since it is going on the third week of May and I’m just now getting around to it. I usually post about it during the first week of the month because I’m excited to talk books, but man — this was one of my worst reading month thus far. If this were The Bachelor, this would be the Most Dramatic! Rose Ceremony! Ever!

Here’s how it started.

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
So many people loved this book! It came so highly recommended! I really wanted to love it. And I just…didn’t. It wasn’t for lack of trying, this was actually my third time starting it and checking it out from the library. It is written well, each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character and while they don’t all tell the same story, they are all loosely connected. Typically, this is one of my favorite types of books.

But something for me didn’t connect. I started this book at the beginning of the month and the days just kept ticking by one by one, and I kept leaving this book on my nightstand. Finally it was halfway through the month and I was feeling sad about not being involved with a good book, but still without actual desire to go back to this one. I put it down mid-month, and while I feel bad that I didn’t finish it (Oh how I HATE not finishing a book!) I think it just wasn’t for me. Maybe it’s for you though? Like I said, so many of my trusted reader friends loved it. It’s not you, Jennifer Egan, it’s me.

Then I moved on to a book that has been sitting on my bookshelf forever that I’ve been super excited to read.

The Town That Food Saved: How One Town Found Vitality in Local Food by Ben Hewitt
This book details the journey of Hardwick, Vermont, a small farming community whose economy had fallen on some hard times. It develops a local, sustainable food system that basically turns its economy around.

THIS IS RIGHT UP MY ALLEY…and yet.

I just couldn’t get into it this month and that bummed me out. It was not the author or the story, both were very interesting. Clearly I was just a little bit book moody this month. Instead of ruining this book for myself though, I just hit the pause button, put it back up on the bookshelf, and I will come back to it when I am feeling less like an adolescent with respect to my books. But if we’re keeping score, that’s now two books I HAVEN’T finished in April.

Then it was time to move on to the the book I was required to read this month.

You Have No Idea by Vanessa Williams and Helen Williams with Irene Zutell

I’ll tell you what, I have never been so happy to have been forced to finish a book! At this point in the month I was fanning myself on my Victorian fainting couch and feeling overwhelming devastation over my bad luck with books. Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but come on — you know what it’s like to be on an icky book run. So unsatisfying!

So I finished this one. Excellent. And I told you what I thought about it already, so we won’t beat a dead horse. But I do have to mention this one thing: I am fascinated with the life of ghost writers. Or well, celebrity co-authors, shall we say. How do you think one goes about getting that job?

For the record, I would like to offer up my services to have any of the following celebrities air out their dirty laundry to me, while I craft it into a compelling book with a reader friendly format:

*Shemar Moore
*David Beckham
*Ok, ok George Clooney, I will sit down with you IF I MUST!

Seriously, Irene Zutell — how does one get your job?

Lastly, because this month had been so ALL OVER THE PLACE I had to call in a sure thing. Yeah, I’m going to admit it, fluffy chick lit is my sure thing. So I picked up The Beach House by Jane Green

And you know what? This was just fine. Not earth shattering. Not even particularly fabulous. But I wanted to turn the pages every night, it didn’t give me anxiety when I read it before bed (I’m looking at you: The Snowman) and when I finished it I was happy I read it. Well, mostly because it is a book I can check off The Bookshelf Project, and man do I love to cross things off of a list. In that sense the month wasn’t a total loss now, was it?

Luckily I just picked up a huge batch of awesome (I hope) new books from the library that I have been waiting for. Man, the request queue at the library has just changed my life! And also, I’m currently reading a super awesome book (from my bookshelf, no less!) that I will tell you about next month so thankfully my bad luck is not sticking around for two months in a row.

*******

So because I’m so traumatized from last month, do me a solid and tell me one (or all) of the following:

*Your favorite book(s) if you can narrow it down. And it doesn’t have to be your favorite of all time, or particularly fancy, but just a book that you compare others too.

*A super trashy, guilty pleasure book (or series) that you shamelessly enjoy.

Ready….go!