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‘Book Reviews’ Category

  1. Review: Best Friends Forever

    July 18, 2010 by Blondette

    Best Friends ForeverBest Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
    My rating: 3 of 5 stars

    It took me a while to get into this book. I wasn’t sure about the plot and then I struggled with a character with whom I too closely identified. My life and struggles do not compare to Addie’s but I dealt with them in very much the same manner. HOT…APPLE…PIE for me was when I got on an airplane and couldn’t buckle my seat belt. I’ve flown fatter, but let’s face it, that’s pretty sad. I thought maybe it was a fluke, but sure enough, it happened again. On a little puddle jumper, a stewardess caught me not able to buckle and leaned over and very stoically asked, “do you need an extender?” “Yes, please.”And that was my moment. Adding Jordan was something I couldn’t decide if I liked or found cheesy. I wanted Addie to find someone, but really? And it was a little too perfect that she was pregnant. Overall, I felt like it was a little contrived and could have focused more on the actual best friends. However, I did sort of like seeing everything wrapped up in a nice package.No matter what struggles I had with the plot, I still love Weiner’s writing style and her ability create interesting characters. Once I got into the book, I genuinely wanted to finish it.

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  2. How I Can Make a Difference

    January 30, 2010 by Blondette

    QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Work and in Life QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Work and in Life by John G. Miller

    My rating: 4 of 5 stars
    My company used to have a book club in which the entire staff participated. Prior to my becoming a full time employee with the company and being included in this activity, they read “QBQ!” The book continues to be referenced by executive management and our Account Service Department is reading the book together. Well, I couldn’t be left out, so I had to buy it and read it for myself. I learned a few of the principles in this book though my own failings earlier in life (okay, within the last 12 years) and truly believe in the power of personal accountability. I take away an even greater depth to some of the basics I’ve already embraced and something I can share as I coach my team at work. No, I can’t change them, but I can share this book. Favorites for me: you always have a choice (I’ve been saying this for years.) Stress is a choice. Think in “I” terms not them. Do not adopt victim mentality. It’s energizing to read a book and flip your thinking.

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  3. Why I Read

    April 25, 2009 by Blondette

    Just a bit of earth. A teenage detective. A great man who falls victim to justice.

    I’m in the backseat of my dad’s Chrysler New Yorker, the scent of coconut and cigarette smoke filling my nose, and I’m reading just about every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mystery ever written. I’m somewhere between 10 and 12 and we are driving from Eugene, Oregon to my oma’s (that’s grandma in German) house in Salinas, California. I remember a story where the super mystery solving teams are out camping and they catch the culprit based on her addiction to pink nail polish. I remember Nancy’s mustang and her attraction to Frank Hardy- so riskque considering her oh so special relationship with Ned. (for the record, I’d pick one of the Hardy Boys.)

    I’m fifteen years old and switching schools for my sophomore year of high school. I’m in the advanced English class so of course we have summer reading and papers to write. I’m lazy but I like to read so I get through the books, but procrastinate writing my paper. (it was about Inspector Javier) I consider Les Miserables by Victor Hugo to be one of my favorite books. I get a C on my paper (which was proofed by my aunt, a college English teacher and deemed excellent) because I say things like “mankind” instead of “humankind.” Oh well, at least I got a good book out of the deal.

    A love of words and books was fostered in me from birth by my mom and her family. It started with my mom reading Brier Rabbit (and doing the voices!), Cinderalla (it was one of my favorites), and A Little Princess and progressed into the all day reading binges of my formative years.

    One of my favorite things to do is read a book. A nice, long book that overtakes an entire day. The feel, the smell, the words blurring together as I blink them into focus because I HAVE to know what happens next. Staying up until 3am to finish a book  without regret for the lost sleep is so rewarding.  So, why is it that I can’t seem to connect with any books I’m reading? Where is that thirst? That anxiety? Where is that physical, psychological and emotional connection to the written word?

    Have I changed? Have I just been picking up the wrong books for the last 6 months?

    When I was growing up I relied heavily on books for entertainment and fulfillment. Now, I am by no means fulfilled in life, so shouldn’t I still need books for that? Dammit, my tortured soul still needs to live vicariously though the imaginary lives of others!

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  4. Skinny Bitch Wants to Kick My Ass

    September 2, 2007 by Blondette

    Maintaining healthy eating habits is a pain in the ass. Those of us who have had successes and failures with our dietary habits know what it is to obsess over every bite and drop that goes into your body. Holy crap, I fucking hate calories. I also can’t stop thinking about them, and feeling guilty about them.

    Thus, I was compelled to spend $13.95 at Borders today and buy “Skinny Bitch,” by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Skinny Bitch is touted as “A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!”

    I think a more appropriate subtitle would be “A Girl’s Guide to Becoming a Fucking Vegan and Spending A LOT More Money on Groceries.” I did not realize this book was a vegan manifesto. (I feel like Ross when he found out that condoms are only 97% effective-why don’t they put it on the package! oh, wait, they do. Poor Ross, but that worked out okay for him.) However, no where on the cover of “Skinny Bitch” is the word vegan used. Darn marketing bitches–they knew the book wouldn’t sell as well if they used the V word.

    Now, this may seem like I have a negative opinion of this book. That is not the case. I enjoyed it and took away some interesting information. I gave up on Chapter 6 “You Are What You Eat,” about two pages in after I could no longer read about slaughtering animals. I may not be a skinny bitch yet, but I’m a sensitive bitch! I also only skimmed some of the ranting about government agencies because it was pretty easy to get the point of those arguments and come on, who trusts the government?

    The gist? Eat smart. Eat organic. Chemicals are bad for you. So are animals products. He doesn’t look very tasty anyway.

    The best sweet potato I ever had was organic. I do love sweet potatoes, but I usually love them with rotisserie chicken. *sigh*

    So, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin are telling me to “become a fucking vegan, to become a skinny bitch.”

    Okay. I will surrender my V card. I will try this for 30 days (but I’m not starting today, and I sure as hell am going to eat some real ice cream first.) I’m pretty sure I’m still able to eat at Chipotle and these look pretty tasty: Carobelles

    Category Book Reviews, Favorite Memories | Tags: | 1 Comment

  5. Little Earthquakes in Bed

    July 15, 2007 by Blondette

    The first time I watched “In Her Shoes” I thought it was a bit long, but something about it tugged at me. It felt like a book.

    Translating a book into a good movie is difficult and few do it successfully. I will probably never be able to read Jennifer Weiner’s “In Her Shoes” because I can’t see a movie then read the book; it just doesn’t work for me. It did, however, prompt me to pick up two of Jennifer Weiner’s other books.

    To say I devoured “Little Earthquakes” and “Good in Bed” would be an understatement. Some books have the ability to not only draw you into the lives of the characters, but make you identify with them. Jennifer Weiner’s writing contains a compelling mix of humor and earthiness. Her main characters are so down to earth and the stories so far from contrived that you forget you are reading fiction. In fact, sometimes you feel like you are the main character. I know a book has impacted my life when it adds itself to my natural “association” pile. My personal repository of similes and metaphors are built from a wide base of experience and books I’ve read.

    I’m a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Catholic girl from the Midwest, but when I’m reading a Jennifer Weiner book, I’m a Jewish brunette from the East Coast.

    Category Book Reviews, writing | Tags: | 1 Comment

  6. Right Might be Trite Mr. Covey

    October 11, 2006 by Blondette

    My company engages in at least two forms of training per week. We have an established meeting time every Thursday morning in which we train on industry and company issues and topics; and we read a book or watch a movie and conduct a discussion after our weekly staff meeting.

    Currently, we are reading a book about communication and crucial conversations with a foreward written by Steven Covey. My first reaction to the book was extremely optimistic and positive–yes, yes I could use some help communicating! I tend to be shy and I’m soft spoken.

    I was severely disappointed as soon as I started reading this new book. The foreward not only came off as boring and trite, it ended with the most overused piece of great poetry EVER–The Road Not Taken. This Robert Frost poem has lost so much meaning due to overusage and yet Mr. Covey felt it was appropriate. An innovator, a revolutionary…a regurgitator. I’m not opening my mouth for your chewed up worms Mr. Covey; you’ll have to feed me something different. (true to nature, I was quite a picky eater in my childhood.)

    Overall, the book has me underwhelmed. A foreward that reeks of a bad high school valedictory speech, 3 chapters to tell me that my health and career can benefit from besting my natural physiologic responses and being level-headed in high stress conversations. If the book ever tells me specific tactics to implement I may warm up, but right now the woods are lovely, dark, and deep and I just may choose to stop and visit for a bit.

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