Category Archives: What to Read

The October Book Stack

Today, I am introducing a new feature at Perfectionist Wannabe.  I will be showing you at the end of each month the books I read that month.  At the beginning of each month, I’ll show you my To Be Read pile.

The To Be Read pile is usually advanced copies of books coming out that month I need to get through.  I try to read at least one classic and whatever looks good on my shelf I’ve been meaning to get to.

So let’s get to the current October stack.  I tried to read as many scary books as I could.  Six of the eight books featured are, at the minimum, about a ghost or a witch.

I did not include below “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, because the story is part of a collection of stories.  I will include that when I finish Irving’s book. 

The October Stack

The Air You Breathe

The Air You Breathe is my favorite book this month.  This is one of my Book of the Month subscription picks and I absolutely love it.  The story takes place in Brazil.

A young girl, Dores, is a kitchen servant on a sugar plantation.  She’s been there since she was born.  During the lean years, when sugar prices bottom out, she remains on the plantation with the head cook, when the sugar baron’s family leaves for the city. 

But then the next sugar baron in the family arrives with his family.  Their child, Graça, is around the same age as Dores.  They do not get along in the beginning, but soon Dores becomes Graça’s playmate.  They do everything together.  

Graça’s mother realizes that unlike her daughter, Dores is intelligent and absorbs everything she is taught. She offers Dores the same opportunities given to her own daughter, but with limitations. 

One day, she introduces Dores to music and her world changes. 

Music is what shapes this story of the two girls growing up together on a sugar plantation.  They later escape to Rio de Janeiro to try their luck at fame and fortune.  One girl is the beauty and the voice, the other has the smarts and the talent with words. 

Their story is filled with love, loss and obsession.  You’ll learn how these girls help make samba a revolution, and how Hollywood changes their lives forever.  This is a story that will whisk you away to a time before the great war.  You will fall in love in Brazil, and you will grow to appreciate the world of samba.

Hag

Hag is a witchy tale that starts off in Scotland and transports you to Colorado and then London as we follow Alice, the descendant of the Cailleach (an ancient witch who takes residence in the Scottish cliffs). 

As Alice grows up and tries to understand the weird things she can do, she has no idea her daughter will bring all of the Cailleach ancestors of witches together, bringing the story of the Cailleach full circle. 

What I liked about this story is that I saw a lot of myself in Alice.  For people that know me very well, they know there are a few things I can do that is just not explainable.  I used to tell my dad that if we were back in the 15th or 16th century, he probably would have had me burned at the stake for being a witch. 

After reading this book, I think I became a little more accepting of who I am.  Sometimes people have a better intuition than others, or as my friend says, I am better in tune to the universe than most people.  I think maybe back in the day, I would have been labeled a witch. 

In this book, I believe the author was well versed in the subject of witchcraft and what it has evolved into today.  Not all witches are brewing potions or practicing magic.  Some are just regular people living their lives, but are a little bit more in tune with the universe and the universe responds.

The Witch of Willow Hall

The Witch of Willow Hall is my favorite scary read this month.  Speaking of women trying to understand who they are, the weird things they can do and thinking that back in the day, they would have been burned at the stake or hung by the neck.  It is 1821 and right outside of Boston in a town called New Oldbury, Lydia and her family have relocated to Willow Hall to escape the embarrassment her family endured in Boston thanks to her older sister Catherine and brother Cyrus. 

Willow Hall is filled with ghosts and secrets, which makes it a perfect place for the Montrose family. 

Lydia and Catherine are always at odds.  When they lose Emeline, the youngest Montrose, the family begins to completely fall apart as Catherine’s sins unravel before them. 

Lydia is not aware she is a witch.  She can see ghosts and notices storms brew when she becomes upset.  It takes her mother being on her death bed to reveal Lydia’s true ancestry. 

For this story, it’s the ghosts that will scare you.  What will make your stomach turn is how evil Catherine can be and how she will do everything she can to destroy her sister’s happiness.  Oh, and there is a bit of a love story in there, blackmail, incest and scary dead witches…but damn, if this isn’t a great book.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter

The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a ghost story.  This book is a popular new release for the month of October.  I stood in line for a long time to get this book. 

I will warn you right now that I had a hard time getting through the first 60% of the book.  It kept putting me to sleep.  But the last part of the book, I could not put the book down.  I kept thinking…why in the world was I having a difficult time reading this book in the beginning?  Maybe because she saved the best part for last? 

This story jumps between the present and the past.  We follow the story of Elodie in the present day.  She discovers a leather satchel with a sketchbook and a photograph.  One of the sketches reminds her of a story her mother used to tell her before she died.  She becomes so obsessed with the picture that she starts to investigate the truth of its origins. 

We are then transported back to a different time…around 1862.  A group of artists spend the summer at Birchwood Manor.  What happens in Birchwood changes their lives forever. 

Over the next 150 years, a ghost haunts the old manor.  It is her story that is being told and it is up to Elodie to unravel the mystery of Birchwood Manor.  The ending is well worth it.

Violin

Violin is another ghost story.  This time it comes from the queen of vampires, Anne Rice.  Believe it or not, it has taken me a few years to get through this book.  I started it years ago and then put it to the side.  I decided to finally finish the last 150 pages. 

It was time to find out what becomes of Stefan, the evil fiddler and the woman he is haunting. 

I did not expect that Triana would become a world class violinist that mesmerizes her audiences with the haunting violin that actually does not even exist.  This violin was destroyed back when Stefan was alive, but in death, he took the essence of the violin with him and made it real.  He made himself (and the violin) real again to those who could hear his hypnotic melodies.  So when Triana steals it from his grasp, the violin transforms her world.  Stefan will do anything to get his violin back…but how far will he go?

Villette

Villette is a classic tale from Charlotte Bronte.  I love Jane Eyre  so when I got my heart broken, I decided to read this book.  It was recommended for people with broken hearts. 

This is a somewhat true story of Charlotte’s life…about unrequited love. 

It is funny how I saw the things happening in my life, as well as my friends, echoing what I read in this book.  Men act funny when they are in love with someone they know they cannot have.  It seems that things still have not changed 170 years later. 

One person on Twitter told me that she noticed there are a lot of people that have a difficult time with this book because of the ongoing misogyny.  But if you press on, you’ll really enjoy how the book ends.  I have to agree with her on that.  It was very difficult to not want to reach into the book and punch Monsieur Paul, but you’ll find as you continue that he has some redeeming qualities. 

Bronte is supreme at writing.  What I appreciate about Jane Eyre continues in her writings here.

Cirque du Freak: Hunters of the Dark

Cirque du Freak: Hunters of the Dark is a continuation of Darren Shan’s adventures as the Vampire Prince (book 7). 

The rise of the Vampaneze Lord brings Mr. Tiny to Vampire Mountain to issue a new prophecy and a quest for Darren and Mr. Crepsley.  They return to the Cirque du Freak to have their first of four encounters with the Vampaneze Lord. 

I’m probably going to spoil the next few novels, but my guess is that the Vampaneze Lord is Darren’s best friend from the time when he was still a mortal.  This friend is the reason why Darren became a vampire to begin with…to save his life. 

Don’t tell me…I want to figure it out myself in the next few novels.

Waiting for Tomorrow

Waiting for Tomorrow is a very sad tale about a family torn apart.  The story takes place in France.

Anita is an immigrant from Mauritius who meets her husband at a New Year’s Eve party in Paris.  They have a child together and decide to move to the country where Anita freelances as a journalist and Adam is an architect. 

When Adele, another Mauritius immigrant, enters their lives, she turns their lives around.  She helps care for their home and their daughter.  But she has this magnetic pull about her that inspires Adam to be the painter he always wanted to be and Anita to finally write the novel she’s been dreaming of.  But the strange thing is that the subject of their work is Adele. 

As the novel goes on, we find Adam is in prison and their daughter is in a wheelchair.  But why?  What happened?  I will say that I never saw the ending coming.  It was very surprising. 

This is a quick read.  Only 176 pages.

The Curated Collection

Each month, when I finish reading the books for that month, I try to decide which books will be curated into my library.  This month, I decided to keep Villette (I like to keep all classic novels), The Clockmaker’s Daughter (signed), The Air You Breathe and The Witch of Willow Hall (signed).  Generally speaking, if the book is signed, I will keep it.  For books not signed, it has to be an exceptionally good book in order to be placed in the curated collection.  The Air You Breathe was really that good and deserved to be placed on the shelves.

Book Review: Slave Stealers

There is a new book out that I believe everyone should read.  It’s called “Slave Stealers” by Tim Ballard.  This is one of the most phenomenal stories I’ve read this year.  In a way, Ballard’s story represents a lot of what this site is supposed to be about…sharing the stories of people who are making the world better than it was yesterday.

And that is where we start, Ballard telling the story of yesterday in order to learn from our past to create a plan to save innocent children from slavery.

Did you know American children are kidnapped and sold into the sex slave trade?  Within 48 hours of that child being taken, they are sold many times to complete strangers for sex.  These children are raped by pedophiles again and again.  A child could be raped up to 50 times every single day by complete strangers until they are rescued.  Sometimes that can take years (or until they become too old to be of use – mainly around 18 years old).

Out of the 20-30 million people enslaved, “close to six million…are children.”

“Human trafficking brings in an estimated $150 billion annually and is the fastest growing criminal enterprise on the planet.  With thousands of children currently forced into the commercial sex trade in the US, and thousands more children smuggled into the US annually for the same purpose.”

The Super Bowl is the “largest single trafficking event in the world.”  Surprised?  I was.

Children are sold over again and again to rapists and pedophiles at the Super Bowl.  It happens right under our nose, on our very own soil.  These children are in the sex SLAVE trade on American soil, and until recently were legally sold on the internet thanks to a legal loophole that Congress had to change.  [See CDA 230.]

How do we stop this?  How do we save the children that are in captivity?  The answer is Operation Underground Railroad.

Operation Underground Railroad

Tim Ballard was one of the first members of Homeland Security’s child crimes/countertrafficking group in the early 2000s.  This was a relatively new agency (that came out of 9/11/01), as well as a new unit focused on saving children.  Saving children from the sex slave trade is a difficult task.  You have to go into the deepest, darkest pits of the criminal underground world to save these kids…and that means pretending to be a pedophile.

There were a lot of trainees that could not stomach this.  As they role played in class, there were men that had to leave the room to throw up or just couldn’t hack being in this unit, because they were fathers, too.  To say they wanted to have sex with a young child, that could have been a child the same age as their own, disgusted them.

But the thing is in order for this unit to work, they had to say the things they had to say in order to get access to the kids to free them.  They had to put up a wall that separated themselves from that dark world with that loving family they have at home.

Since this was a relatively new field for this Homeland Security group, they had to come up with tactics to free these child slaves.  Ballard decided to read up on the Underground Railroad and slavery.  This led him to Harriet Jacobs.

She is one of the first slaves that ever wrote a book.  Her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, gave Ballard the tools he needed to understand slavery and how to get people out.

When he came across Guesno Mardy’s story, Ballard’s time with Homeland Security came to an end.  Why?  Because he saw that he could not limit himself to just America anymore.  He had to help everyone.

Guesno Mardy’s son was kidnapped and sold two weeks before the earthquake crippled his country, Haiti.  When Ballard read Mardy’s story, he knew he had to help.  He invited Mardy to California where they sat down to talk about what happened.  Ballard made a promise to him that he would help him find his son, but he could not do that as long as he was working for Homeland Security (due to jurisdictional issues).

So he left Homeland Security and started Operation Underground Railroad so that he could help everyone around the world combat human trafficking.  This is where he would be able to make the biggest impact in saving children from the slave trade.

Harriet Jacobs

In order to understand slavery today, Ballard decided to take a look at the way slavery was in America during the 1800s.  Harriet Jacobs served as his guide as she told her story of what it meant to be a slave in her book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.”

Her story of life as a slave, and later as a liberator for those in the Underground Railroad, helped Ballard understand what he needed to do to help these kids.  She helped provide the framework he needed on his missions to save trafficked children.

Jacobs is a strong woman that needs to be commended for standing up for herself when her master tried to have his way with her when she was still young.  She put safeguards up to protect herself from him, no matter how many years he pursued her.  He was obsessed with her, even offered to put her up in her own cottage, so long as she would be his mistress.  The obsession grew even more each time she ran away.

His need for Harriet was not in controlling his property.  His obsession with her was that he could not control her as a slave, as property or as a woman.

There were people helping her all along her journey, but her greatest fear was that her children would be subjected to the same abuses (or even worse) that she was trying to escape from.  She needed to do whatever she could to keep them safe, even if it meant staying close to them by staying in a cramped attic space for almost seven years battling the elements of extreme heat and cold, and being unable to move around freely.

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Why I Care and Why YOU Should Care

There is a reason why I feel strongly about this book and want people to read it, as well as watch the documentary “I Am Jane Doe.”

When I was 18, my mother was in tears when she told me her greatest hurt and secret…she was sold into slavery when she was eight years old.  She lived in servitude for seven years before running away to Bangkok.  At 21, she married the first GI that paid attention to her (my father) and disembarked to America where her children could not be sold into slavery.

My best friend in high school’s mother waited until her daughter was in her 20s to tell her.  Actually, her aunt told her the truth…that she had an older brother.  Her mother had been sold into the sex slave trade to serve as a concubine.  She was 13.  At 15, she gave birth to a son and was immediately turned out of the home where she was forced to live and work in a brothel.  She later married a GI and escaped to America so that her children could not be sold into the sex slave trade as she had been.

My cousins from Thailand call my mother to tell of their issues finding work.  People approach them about new trafficking schemes where they can go to X country to work.  All they have to do is pay a fee for the plane ticket and placement.  There are many human trafficking schemes and this is one of them.  It happens all of the time.  Promises of jobs in other countries, when in fact the job is really a position as a slave.

The slave trade is one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in all of the world.  It never stopped.  No matter how many laws the world can come up with to banish slavery, it still exists in one form or another…and people are making billions of dollars from it.  For as long as they are making money from selling human beings, they are not going to stop.

Believe it or not, the demand to have child sex slaves is popular in America.  The biggest clientele are Americans.  What does that say to you?  Pedophilia is an even bigger problem than you can imagine.  What better way to get away with it than to use child prostitutes that no one is looking for?  Or if their parents are looking for them, how best to hide them?

When you see a huge culmination of missing children (like in Washington, DC), you have to question if they are being trafficked.  After all, DC was one of the main hubs for slavery when it was legal.  Just because it is illegal today, it does not mean the slave trade ever stopped.  They just changed the way they did business, catering to a whole new clientele.

If they are making $150 billion annually, selling and reselling the same person over and over again, don’t you think there is a problem?  After all, selling a person once nets you only so much money.  Selling them up to 50 times a day, every day, for years will net more money…and to them, this is about money, not human lives.  As long as there is a demand, they will keep enslaving people and selling them.

If you watch “I Am Jane Doe” (on Youtube, Netflix, etc.), you’ll see this happens to American families.  One woman’s daughter was kidnapped right from soccer practice while her mother was sitting in the parking lot waiting for her.  Within 48 hours of her disappearance, she found her daughter for sale on the internet.

This happens in American communities.  It happens in inner city neighborhoods.  This happens when children survive disasters (like the Haiti earthquake) and find they do not have parents anymore.  If we could put a stop to this, how could we?

The Pittsburgh Steelers Team Up With O.U.R.

How do we stop this?  That is the question this book asks.  How do we stop the chaos happening in America?  Maybe joining together for a common cause will help put an end to the slave trade in America.

If Americans cared enough about the children, maybe we could ban together to save all of them and create a world where people will not buy children for sex.  Instead of allowing politicians to normalize pedophilia, we must take a strong stance against it, unified in that cause to protect children.

That is where the Pittsburgh Steelers come in.  The forward to this book was written by Coach Mike Tomlin.  He is working with O.U.R. along with the Steelers to help educate the community about the need to end modern day slavery.  Considering the Super Bowl is the biggest single sex trafficking event in the world, having a NFL team step in to end it says something.

With everyone burning Nikes, protesting the flag, taking the knee, etc., we can take a moment to all agree that we need to help save the kids being trafficked to games for someone’s sexual pleasure.  The 13th Amendment is supposed to protect them, but the criminal world seeks to defy our freedom to be truly free from slavery.  These kids are not free human beings and are unable to have the opportunity to burn their Nikes or protest in some manner.  When they take a knee, it’s for a reason none of us wants to imagine.  That is not a world any child should be living in.

O.U.R. and the Pittsburgh Steelers hope is that we, as a nation, can come together to help liberate those in America that are in chains.  We can put our political differences aside and focus on saving humans that are trafficked in America.  It does not mean building a wall, because not all sex trafficked victims are coming in from Mexico.

Sex trafficked victims are Americans.  They are from other countries.  The criminal network finds ways to bring them into our country.  They will find ways to snatch your children up right in front of you.

Conclusion

I highly recommend reading this book.  Understanding slavery in the past is an insight into how we can deal with modern day slavery.

My favorite parts in this book all deal with Providence (i.e. God is winking back).  When you are doing something as crazy as leaving a stable job to start a non-profit, you’re going to need all of the providence you can get.  Those little winks keep happening over and over again as Tim Ballard races to save the day with his team.

The things that have happened over the course of O.U.R. is incredible.  My favorite story is of the videographer that decided one officer should wear a Go Pro camera on his helmet.  He was adamant on which officer should wear it.

When the raid goes down, an officer sees a girl running away.  He follows her into a sex den where they are keeping the other girls and finds men raping these young girls.  He grabs the men from off of them and slams them into the walls.  The men gather up their clothing and flee.

When the officer comes out with the girls with him, he tells them that the rapists got away.  But guess which officer found the girls?  The only officer with the Go Pro camera on his helmet.  They were able to identify each of the men in the video and prosecute all of them.

How is that for providence?

I am hoping that others discover “Slave Stealers” and “I Am Jane Doe,” because they talk about modern day slavery.  “I Am Jane Doe” changed CDA 230, the law allowing for the sale of humans on the internet.  Congress changed the law because of the Jane Does.

If something as simple as a few former child sex slaves begging for change could bring about change on Capitol Hill, then a group like O.U.R. and Americans wanting to keep slavery out of America for good can change the narrative in America.  We can end the slave trade in America and around the world.  If there’s no demand or money in selling humans, then this criminal enterprise will end.  It’s up to all of us to create that change together.

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[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for purposes of an unbiased review.  This post contains affiliate links.]

Looking for Your Next Book? Try Book of the Month


Do you ever wonder what you should read next?  There are so many titles to choose from, but what book should you get?  Have you seen the prices of books?  No wonder why Amazon is putting bookstores out of business…

Wait…maybe I went too far.

Let me take this back a little.  A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine visited me.  We went into Barnes & Noble so she could pick up a few magazines.  I perused the books on all of the tables, but I didn’t pick up any books.

I said to my friend, “I’ve either read everything here or I have the book already.”  She responded, “That does not surprise me.”  She’s seen my library and all of my advanced copies of books.

Technically speaking, everything I need to read, I already have.  I don’t really buy books anymore, except once in a blue moon while I’m on Amazon looking for an answer to what ails me.  There are some titles that I am not able to get my hands on because I make it to the publisher’s booth too late (for instance, I missed out on Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” last summer).  I have a serious fear of missing out when it comes to books.

So while I was looking for a title I did not own already, I flipped the paperback over to see the price and almost fainted at how much a book costs these days.  Now, I understand why Amazon is putting bookstores out of business.

The Answer to My Fear of Missing Out



So every now and again, there’s a title that for some reason does not make it into my hands and I am left going…I kind of need that book!  Well, the answer to my fear of missing out now comes in the form of $14.99/month from the Book of the Month club.  Not only was I able to get my hands on a new title, I was able to get Celeste Ng’s book for free by using the July code: SUGARHIGH.

When you look online, the hardcover is over $20 for “The Summer Wives.”  So $14.99 for a new hardcover book is a serious deal.  Plus, the more people you refer, the more credits you can receive for more free books.

The way it works is that at the beginning of every month Book of the Month releases a list of 5 new titles that should be the “IT” books for the month.  Of the 5, you can pick one for your monthly membership.  You can also choose additional titles for an additional $9.99, or you can use credits).

What I love about Book of the Month is that this is a perfect way to start up your very own Book Club.  No more fear of missing out on what everyone else is reading.  You can stay on top of your reading game.  So get your girlfriends to join, your mom, your aunts, cousins, etc.  Maybe you can share the different titles between your little network.

So far, I am enjoying this club.  It’s every bibliophile’s answer to keeping on top of all of the latest IT titles.

To Join: BOOK OF THE MONTH

P.S. I’m thinking of having our own little book club here based on BOTM titles.  If interested, comment below and I’ll work it into next month’s title rotations.

Book Review: The House at Saltwater Point

Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday is a new novel from Colleen Coble called “The House at Saltwater Point.” [Due out July 3, 2018]

This is book two in the Lavender Tides series.  You don’t need to read The View from Rainshadow Bay to get a sense of what is going on, because the story stands very well on its own.  It ties in characters from the first book, allowing them to develop their own unique backgrounds within this story.

When I read this book, I kept asking myself which publisher gave me this book.  I try not to read the back cover when I start reading a book, because I want to be surprised.  There should be no hints as to what this book could possibly be about.  I don’t want to know the genre.  Yet, if I had flipped to the back of the book, I would have figured out the publisher was Thomas Nelson, a HarperCollins publication.

But I decided to read forward without seeing who the publisher was to see if I could figure it out just by reading the book…and I did figure it out.  Some publishers place their own unique stamp (or style) in the type of books they publish.  HarperCollins is one of them.

I do not pick up too many religious titles.  I avoid them like the plague…UNLESS it comes from HarperCollins.  Why?  Because even though some of the books they publish may have some sort of religious theme, it is not being shoved down your throat.  And I appreciate that.

I knew this was a HarperCollins publication because there were references to ‘praying’ or ‘God.’  No mention of the word “Jesus.”  To me, this book passed the test for this site to be willing to write a review.  Why?  Because in everyday conversation, we may not all be religious, but when people are hurting or need direction, it is perfectly normal to say that we will pray for them or ask God to help them.  God is more encompassing of all religions.  Using the word ‘Jesus’ limits it to one religion, and not all people believe in that religion.

So let’s talk about “The House at Saltwater Point.”

What drew me to this book was the main character.  Not only is she a house flipper, but she is also a blogger for a site called “Hammer Girl.”  Ellie is the type of person I would follow on social media.  I would probably read her blog, too.  She is basically living in a world that many wonder about and would love to know more about.  She lives an inspiring life, buying houses, flipping them into something beautiful and then moves on to the next project.  I can just imagine how awesome her Instagram account would be!

So throw in a murder mystery with a missing sister (possibly dead) and a bunch of missing cocaine.  There is even a terrorist plot underway in her beautiful hometown.

Yes, I said a terrorist plot!!!

Add in a little bit of a love story, family issues, and a lot of suspense in a dreamy locale where you are constantly visualizing the beautiful water with tall boats floating by in a quaint seaside town where everybody knows everyone, and you have the elements of what makes this story worth picking up.

You will have no idea what is going on as the adventure unveils.  Is Ellie’s sister, Mac, still alive or is she dead?  Is she connected to the missing cocaine?  Why is there a terrorist involved in this?  What does North Korea have to do with anything?  ISIS on US soil?  Who is trying to kill Ellie?  What did she do?  Why is there a dead man in her basement?  Why does Mac have information about making EMPs (bombs) on her laptop?

You will ask a lot of questions, and they will all be answered in the most incredible way.  Did I see who the mastermind was going to be?  No.  Then I felt stupid for not seeing the foreshadowing.  [That’s how you know it was a well planned murder mystery…when you feel like you should have seen the result coming at the end, but you didn’t.]

The Verdict

I really enjoyed this book.  I do not read suspenseful murder mysteries very often, but this one is worth the read.  Despite the crazy that comes out of the town of Lavender Tides, it sounds like a dream.  The locale seems like paradise, if it weren’t for all of the sinister plots going on.

There are elements in this story that ties in the first book and will likely tie in the third book.  What binds the stories together are Shauna and Grayson.  Shauna’s story appears in the first book.

She is not a main character in the second book, only Grayson.  There is enough intrigue that I looked up the first book in the series.  It goes further into Shauna’s tale of what happened the day of the earthquake.  The line that hooked me in this book to want to pick up the first book is Coble’s reference to the earthquake being caused by Shauna’s father.  Now, she has my attention.

Lavender Tides binge to be continued…

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How to be a Book Reviewer and Other Things to Consider

I love books.  As a writer, reading books is a livelihood.  It is a way to become inspired by other authors who are honing or have already honed their crafts.  I want to know what people think, create and escape to when they put a book together.  It is not just the stories they are telling.  The words.  The words are the most important part.

Without words, we would have no story, no way to express the tales that linger within our souls.  Words may be elegant.  They can be sharp.  Each word tied together can create something beautiful that may inspire or enlighten us.  Done right, it can even warm our hearts to love even greater.

As we move further into this age of technology, people are spending more time connecting with the internet than connecting with life.  Their eyes are constantly on their devices instead of absorbing the pages of books.  More and more people claim they are too busy to read books.  They read Facebook, Twitter and headlines, never clicking on the story to get further information.  The headlines, tweet or meme tell them whatever they need to know in a few words or less.  To them, that’s all they need to know everything.

In reality, this method is dumbing people down.  For instance, yesterday, when the Supreme Court of the United States released their opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd., et al. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission et al. the only thing people read was that the court sided with Masterpiece Cakeshop in their right to deny service due to their religious beliefs.  But that is not what the Court said.

If people took time to read the opinion, they would have found that SCOTUS believed that the baker’s rights were violated by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.  The baker was accused of heinous things by the Commission.  They were hostile towards him and persecuted him because of his religious beliefs.  Instead of listening to both sides of the argument in a neutral manner to decide if it legal or illegal for a business to deny service to someone due to religious beliefs (a question that SCOTUS would have answered), the Commission chose to be hostile and punished the baker for his religious beliefs.

That, right there, is illegal under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.  The decision on Monday addressed only what the Commission said and did to the baker.  They did not address whether it was legal or illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ persons.  That question became irrelevant when the Commission (the government entity) decided to persecute the baker for his religious beliefs.  No government can persecute or act hostile to anyone because of their religious beliefs.  In this case, that is what the Colorado Civil Rights Commission did.  If they had been neutral in their decision, SCOTUS would have discussed the question of whether businesses can discriminate against LGBTQ persons due to religious differences.  But because the Commission persecuted the baker, that violation of the First Amendment took precedence.

To sum it up: The Supreme Court did not say it was ok to discriminate against LGBTQ persons.  It was not part of the decision.

But the only way you would know that is if you read the opinion or got your news from someone who actually read the opinion.  It’s like flag burning.  Most Americans have no idea that burning the flag is perfectly LEGAL because it is protected as free speech…just like taking the knee during the national anthem is free speech, whether you like it or not.  They would know this if they did a quick Google search.

It disappoints me that people choose ignorance over truth.  They choose a meme over the real story, even if the meme is completely wrong.  They believe the meme!

But what disappoints me even more is that people don’t read books anymore, at least not like they used to.  There are so many people out there with so many stories to tell.  From the good to the bad to the ugly…stories connect us.  As we grow as human beings, reading books allows us to learn from others who are different from us (or just like us) so that we can better understand who they (or we) are.

The narrative does not belong to just one race anymore.  It belongs to all of us, including that dreamer crossing the border from Mexico into the United States.  That kid you bullied because they were transgender?  Even they have a tale to tell to you about themselves.  But you will never know if you don’t take the time to enlighten yourself.  You may find that you have more in common with them than you thought you did.

Pick up a book.  Learn.  Become enlightened.  Whatever answers you are looking for in life don’t always just happen to you.  Sometimes the answer can be found in someone else’s story…in their own words.

Are Book Reviews Dying?



Not only are we moving towards an age where people are not reading books, but we are also moving into a time where promoting books is a dying business.  While Amazon is taking over the market (books are actually their biggest seller), many booksellers are struggling.  But it’s not just the booksellers that are struggling.  The book reviewer is finding a shrinking marketplace to tell you about the book they read that you really should read too.

Very few newspapers give space for book reviews these days.  Even magazines give a short blurb about the book they probably got directly from the publisher.  But the funny thing is, depending on the paper, the more intelligent the publication, the more likely they have space for book reviews.

Now, ask yourself…how many intelligent publications are left?  Look to see if that media material you are reading has book reviews with 500 words or more.  If not, it’s not an intelligent publication.

During Book Expo America 2018, a panel of book reviewers discussed the industry as a whole.  Are book reviews dead?  Even moreso, is the livelihood of the book reviewer becoming non-existent?

First, when I went to this panel, I had no idea people were paid to write book reviews.  I generate income in a different way when I write book reviews.  Sure, I could see being a book reviewer was a realistic job back before the turn of the century.  But today?  We are lucky to find people that actually read books!  Getting kids, let alone adults, to read a book is a struggle for every parent and educator.  Even adults are finding it more difficult to find time to read books.  Where is Oprah’s Book Club when you need it?

At the panel, Christopher Carduff, the Books Editor from The Wall Street Journal spoke about how he was considered the White Rhino at WSJ.  When he leaves, book reviews in WSJ will disappear with him.  The people that read the book reviews and the weekend book section are the most intelligent readers of the WSJ.  They are also the ones that stay on the site the longest to read more articles.

When the WSJ writes a book review, they are looking for the jewels to share with their readers.  Believe it or not, finding those jewels are becoming harder to find as the book industry becomes watered down with so many stories from everyone wanting to be a writer (even if they can’t write).  Trust me, I’ve read my share of crap books and I had to ask myself just what in the world publishers were thinking asking me to read this crap.

When you read a review in the WSJ, they have sifted through a lot of shit just to find something that wasn’t a piece of shit to share with you.  Their reviews are thought provoking and written by a good writer.  Believe it or not, book reviewers are all writers.  Every good writer reads a lot of books.  Just look at Stephen King.  He writes and then he reads every single day…and he reads a lot of books.

The Book Reviewer aka The Writer

So if you are going to be an author who writes well, you need to read well.  You need to read a lot of books.  You need to learn from the masters, as well as the ones who are just horrible (in order to learn what not to do).  I also believe that you should share what you read.

They say blogging is becoming a dying art, but there are bloggers that miss it.  At least once a week, I see a blogger I love go on a rant about how they miss writing stories for their blog.  If you are a writer, don’t ever stop blogging.  Do not sacrifice to the whims of the world for a watered down version of yourself or your brand.  Keep writing.

There are people that still read book reviews.  It still remains to be one of the more popular sections of the Wall Street Journal both in print and online.  There are educators and bibliophiles that read book reviews.  There are highly intelligent people that read book reviews so that they can find their next great read.

As a book reviewer, it is our responsibility to find those gems out there to share with the world.  After all, it is the publisher/author looking for that opportunity to have their book reviewed and shared with the world.  They are looking for that sales push (aka free marketing).

Book reviews in the marketplace may be dying, but for those who have blogs and websites…keep reviewing.  It will make you into a better writer.  Read the classics and bestsellers, but also discover new voices.  They will all teach you how to be a better writer.

How to be a Book Reviewer

For those who want to start reviewing books, start by having 1) a blog or website where you can post reviews regularly, 2) an Instagram account and 3) a Twitter account.  Optional: Tumblr & Facebook.

The first one is self-explanatory, but keep in mind that if you want to be taken seriously as a book reviewer, you absolutely cannot write a short blurb about every book you read, unless you are doing a short summary promoting books like you will find on my PW Book Club page.  You can create a similar page, but make sure your actual site has complete reviews.

When you post a review, make sure to let the author and the publisher know about the review.  The easiest way to do that is to tweet it on Twitter.  Most authors and all publishers have Twitter accounts.  Add them to your tweet when you publicize the review.

On Instagram, take creative pictures of books you are reading, book hauls, bookstores, etc.  In other words, anything that promotes books.  Some book reviewers post a short review of the book they are reading on Instagram, encouraging people to click on the link in their bio for more.  [NOTE: Don’t do socks with books.  It was cute in the beginning, but now it is overdone and boring to publishers.]

For other social media accounts, I find that sharing books with friends on Facebook gets the most traction, because many of my friends read my blog and want book suggestions.  Tumblr is also very popular among the younger generation.

I also recommend posting a portion of your review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads (save time by linking your Amazon and Goodreads accounts).

How to Get Advanced Copies of Books

When you’ve built up a rather large amount of writing on your site, there are different ways to get review copies.  For newbies, I highly encourage you to post reviews on Amazon, but also make sure you create a public profile on Amazon [example] that allows authors and publishers the ability to contact you.

I’ve met many new authors this way and discovered some great books this way.

Also, for those starting out, get yourself to a Book Con.  Book Cons are designed for fans of books.  You can get advanced copies of books from many publishers for free.  If your blog has been around for a little longer and you’ve established yourself as a legitimate book reviewer, you can sign up for the Book Expo (which is strictly for those in the industry).  The Book Expo is generally more expensive, but they also include panels and MORE FREE advanced reader copies (aka galleys or ARCs).  You’ll have more access to what is expected to be the IT books of the year at the Expo.  It is also not as crazy as the Cons.

If you are at Book Expo level, you can also sign up for NetGalley.  You’ll get your ARCs delivered electronically through Kindle documents.  You will need to post your blog review to NetGalley, as well as on Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a requirement to read ARCs from NetGalley.

If you are at Book Expo level, it is important that you develop relationships with the publishers.  Make sure you come equipped with business cards and a willingness to market your site verbally to the publishers.  I’ve developed great relationships with publishers over the years by marketing my site when I talk to them about my business plan in relation to promoting their books.

It is also very important to tag the publisher in your book review tweets.  They remember the review, especially if it is a very good one.  For instance, my most recent review was on Siri Daly’s cookbook. I tweeted the review to both Siri and her publisher.  At the Book Expo last Thursday, Siri was there signing her new cookbook.  I introduced myself and told her I reviewed her cookbook at Perfectionist Wannabe.  Both she and her publisher lit up, knowing exactly which review and which site I was referencing.  They both exclaimed how much they liked the review.

When you write reviews that are well received by both the author and the publisher, it helps in their decision making process on whether they will work with you in the future for future book reviews.  Those coveted titles you want to get your hands on before anyone else does…it helps if you have a good relationship with the publisher.

One publisher I love working with is Simon & Schuster.  They have created incredible opportunities for me as a writer to learn from their bestselling authors on how to write better and to just plain finish the damn novel!  They are usually the first to open up the door for me in both the writing and reviewing realm.

That is another reason why it is important to develop relationships with publishers, especially if you are writing a book.  They will help you develop as a writer by giving you the tools you need to learn how to become a better writer by learning from their best-selling authors on how to troubleshoot the writing process, develop techniques and inspire you to complete your novel.  For me, it also helps me in the decision making process on which publisher I want to work with to publish my book.  I look at each book they hand to me to review as a calling card of what their company can do in the editing, marketing, and talent handling processes.  To me, it’s not just a book to be reviewed, it’s an extension of who they are as a publishing company and whether I want to work with them in the future.

So if they hand me a lot of crap books to review, what does that say about the company?  Something to think about if you are looking to publish your novel.  I would prefer to work with a qualitative editor and publisher than just a company that will publish anything and everything.

There are other ways that book reviewers receive their advanced copies, but these are my ways that work very well for me.

Should We Read Comey’s Book?

Should the American public read Jim Comey’s book, A Higher Loyalty?  If you care about the facts, truth, democracy and America, then YES! you need to read this book.

“What is happening now is not normal.  It is not fake news.  It is not okay.” – James Comey, p. 276.

This book is not about Trump or a disgruntled former government employee trying to get his 15 minutes of fame.  This book is about ethics and leadership.  Someone is ringing the liberty bell sounding the alert that something is very wrong.  We need to pay attention to what is being said and what is happening.

Every fact in this book is being echoed and repeated again and again everywhere we turn.  These very facts were even featured in the Democratic National Committee’s complaint in DNC vs. Russia, Trump, et al. that was filed in court on April 20, 2018.  If you have not read the complaint, take time to read the facts.  It details how the Russians interfered with our election and how the Trump Campaign worked with the Russians to commit treasonous illegal acts to get Donald Trump elected.

While those of you who may read this post are not Democrat  and will dismiss the action because it is a lawsuit filed by the DNC, the point I want to make is that the DNC echoes what the former FBI Director mentions in his book and in his memos.  The truth is being repeated again and again.  It is up to you whether you want to take the politics out of it and focus on what is more important, the truth or the lies.

As Americans, we cannot dismiss what is happening.  Take the politics out of of it.  That is what Comey is doing here and has been doing ever since he first became a public servant.  He serves America, not any political party.  After reading this book, I think you will understand how stupid and nasty politics can be.  There is no place for it in our justice system.

Disclosure

Before I begin my review of James Comey’s book A Higher Loyalty, I need to do a full disclosure.

I do not know Mr. Comey personally, but I do know former AUSAs (Assistant US Attorneys) that worked with him and for him.  Two of them are actually his friends.  I am proud to call all three of those former AUSAs “my guys.”

The characteristics I admire the most about Comey, I see in my guys.  The ethics, professionalism and leadership are all things they learned from him.  These are all traits I cherish greatly in my guys, so to see people challenge Mr. Comey, it is like a punch in the gut to me.  People are saying the things I love the most about my guys are not worthy of praise…when they are.

With leaders like Comey, you can see how they inspire and challenge people to be better than they already are.  One of my guys did that with me.  His leadership skills are a direct result of what he learned from Comey.  This is him in a nutshell:

“Effective leaders almost never need to yell. The leader will have created an environment where disappointing him causes his people to be disappointed in themselves.  Guilt and affection are far more powerful motivators than fear.

They love this man, know he loves them, and will work tirelessly not to disappoint him.  People are drawn to this kind of leader, as I draw on all those years ago to Harry Howell, the grocer.  A leader who screams at his employees or belittles them will not attract and retain great talent over the long term.” – James Comey (p. 135)

That is why you should read this book, especially if you are in a leadership role, or want to one day be a leader.  Comey’s leadership points are all the points I value in ethical leadership.

But we can’t talk about Comey without talking about the elephant in the room.

There is a consensus among us that Comey’s handling of Hillary Clinton’s emails was ill handled.  I would not have gone running to Congress or made an announcement that there was a ‘matter.’  He should have waited until the investigation was concluded before saying anything.  Because in the end, they found nothing worth prosecuting her for.

Comey thought about this from every angle (after the fact), including what his colleagues would say.  No surprise, they said those things.  Imagine their surprise when I pointed to the exact passage in Comey’s book where their criticism of his handling of the emails was what he knew they would say about him.

He even thought about what someone else would have ultimately decided if they were in his place (concealing until the investigation was complete).  He chose to speak, rather than to conceal. That is a decision he does not regret making.  The only thing he regrets is that Clinton ever had a laptop to begin with.  He wishes she never did this with her emails.

He presents all of the facts and all of the factors influencing him in this decision and asks if you would have done things differently.  Or would you have done the same thing?

That being said, I do believe that as each and every one of us has a right to speak, you also need to let Comey speak.  He has that same right, too.  After all, he is one of us now…a private citizen.

I attended his first stop on his book tour.  When my guys asked me how it went, they were shocked at my response, because I walked away from the event hurt and sad.  Comey was okay.  He is everything and more than I expected.  It was what happened that night that bothered me.

The Protesters

When I arrived at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, I saw 30-40 NYPD officers out front.  There were several manning the doors to the store.  At first, I thought there was a bomb threat or a situation going on and I needed to evacuate.  That’s when I saw them.

Sectioned off to the side were two groups of protesters with signs with Trump’s words about Comey on them.  Trumpers.

When I realized that was why all the cops were there, I showed the cop my bracelet and he opened the door for me.  As I made my way upstairs, the escalator leading to the event was blocked off.  People were just standing around looking at security.  So I asked security if the event was full.  She started to say something and I showed her my bracelet.  She waved me through, saying I was okay.

I took my seat in a room packed with people that not only bought the book, but support Comey.  They were there to hear what he had to say, because really he’s not the bad guy.  He is the good guy that Trump decided to make into his enemy.

Comey arrived and described what is in 11 of the 14 chapters of the book (you know, the part the media is not talking about).  When he switched to answering pre-submitted questions, a protester spoke up and started shouting at him.  The rest of the room tried to drown her out so that the microphone and cameras could not pick up what she was saying.

In that moment, I felt complete sadness and disappointment in the human race that our political climate has led us to irrational monsters like this.  I looked at Comey as all of this transpired.  Even though it was like they were throwing shit at his face, he did exactly what his childhood mentor, Harry Howell, would have done.  He turned the other cheek and smiled.

Five minutes or so after the first protester was removed, another stood up holding up some flag about fascism.  What that has to do with Comey, I don’t know.  But as I felt that disappointment and sadness again, I looked to Comey.  Once again, he stood there silent, waiting for the woman to be removed.  He had turned the other cheek and smiled. This is what I call a man with good moral fiber.

As I left at the end of the event, I took the escalators down.  On the next floor, a group of protesters waited.  One woman saw me and pushed people aside and almost climbed onto the escalator.  She started yelling at me and anyone that would listen: “Did he even apologize?”

Of course, I am thinking, “For what?”  But I am not about to take the bait and argue with a woman acting bat shit crazy.  I mean, she was trying to jump onto the side of the escalator to get to me.  I just gave her a complete look of disgust because this is not normal.  This is not how people act.

As I started to leave, a NYPD officer held the door open for me.  I did not even have one foot out the door of Barnes & Noble when a Trumper yelled something so horrible at me, the cop reeled back in disgust.

I think I stopped, realizing something was amiss and turned in the direction the words came from.  The cop quietly said to me, “Just ignore her and walk away.”  I don’t even know what the person said.  I just followed what the officer said because he was trying to protect me.

I crossed the street into Union Square and almost cried.  Why?  Because of how low humanity has become.  I felt disappointed that people act this way.  I was sad for humanity, but even sadder for Comey.  Everyone deserves the right to speak, including him.

That is the purpose of this book.  This is Comey trying to tell you about his life and career and what led him to making all of the decisions he made.

DO NOT, and I mean DO NOT go by what the media is telling you this book is about.  Read it for yourself like I did.  I bought four copies.  I gave one to each of my guys.

And for that Trumper protester that said shit to me…and I know you are the same person who said you were banning Barnes & Noble when I first arrived.  My only response to your ban is: So?  You probably don’t read books anyway.  You should try.  That way you won’t be wasting your time outside of a bookstore yelling at it.

A Surprise For You

So I recorded the audio from the event.  I didn’t get the first few minutes of it, because I wasn’t thinking.  But I did get the majority of it, including the protesters.  When the second protester came by talking about fascism, I covered the microphone on the phone.

While I believe that everyone should have their right to speak, there is a time and a place for it.  If you are shouting something bat shit crazy that the world does not need to know, I am not giving you MY platform to continue your crazy.

So whether you, the reader of this post, think this is unfair, keep in mind that there are certain ideologies that should not be passed around.  Those truths belong to that woman.  I don’t need it and the world does not need it.  She needs it.

This event was about Jim Comey, not her.  You came here to read about Comey, not the ideologies of a deranged woman.  Bearing that in mind, I am sharing with you the audio from the event.

The Review From Someone Who Actually Read the Book

 

“The credibility of the Department of Justice is its bedrock.  The American people must see the administration of justice as independent of politics, race, class, religion, or any of the many other things that divide humans into tribes.”  – James Comey

There are 14 chapters in this book.  Only 3 chapters detail what happened with Trump.  The rest is about Comey’s life and career.  One surefire way to tell if the person of the book review actually read the book is one simple thing…did they find the bombshell Comey drops in the book?  If there is no mention of the bombshell or that it even exists, then guess what?  They didn’t read the book.

Comey even dropped the clue in the audio feed (see above).  I was not that far into the book when he mentioned it, but now that I’ve read the book, I am like…WHOA!  And guess what?  I am not going to tell you what the bombshell is.  You have to, I don’t know, read the book to find out.

I say that to be mean, because I know a lot of the reviews out there are based on people reading the last three chapters of his book.  They skip over the first 11 chapters as if they are not relevant, when they are.  I would call every single one of those book reviews FAKE NEWS.  And each and every single media person that published their reviews as such should be ashamed of themselves.  What happened to ethics and integrity?

Then there are also the plagiarizers.  You know who you are.  Read the book.

What you need to know…

Why You Need To Read the Book

When I first began reading Comey’s book, I did not know what to expect beyond the fact it was about ethics and professionalism (and something in there about Trump).  And truthfully, I am glad I did not know what to expect, because it was a pleasant surprise.  I wanted more and more of what Comey had to say about his life and career.

The Thursday before the book came out, I stood in my work husband’s office as he showed me framed collages of his work at the US Attorney’s Office SDNY taking down notorious criminals, including the mob.  [After prosecutors successfully convict a notorious criminal, someone in the US DOJ compiles all of the newspaper headlines, shrinks them down and puts them into an artful collage to give to the prosecutor.]  So imagine hearing those stories and then opening up Comey’s book and reading about those same stories from another, more in depth perspective.

From the mob stories to being on the edge of your seat as Comey races to save the day against agents from the White House who sought to take advantage of an incapacitated Attorney General to Comey’s discomfort, trying to hide from President Trump, almost to the point of jumping out the window, his book will intrigue you as you beg for even more.  You will laugh, cry, feel heartbroken and proud that this man tried to stand up to do what he believed was right every single time.

More importantly, he tried his best to distance himself from politics so he could focus on the rule of law.  Comey stresses how important it is for the DOJ to be separate from the White House and politics.  They must be independent so that they can protect Americans and the US Constitution.  The FBI does not protect the President.  That’s what the Secret Service is for.  The FBI protects Americans and the Constitution.  It should never belong to any President or political party.  It must be independent.

“We are fortunate some ethical leaders have chosen to serve and to stay at senior levels of government, but they cannot prevent all of the damage from the forest fire that is the Trump presidency.  Their task is to try to contain it.” (p. 275)

When I mailed this book to one of my guys that decided to return to the senior levels of government to be one of the people Comey references above, I noted that everyone gets a little something different out of what they read in books.  For me, it has a lot to do with things happening for a reason.

The part that stuck out to me as the main theme throughout is that he keeps repeating everything happens for a reason.

When he was a teen, the Ramsey Rapist paid a visit to his home.  What happened that nightmarish night would later help him go down a path that would lead him to becoming the FBI Director, putting away criminals like the Ramsey Rapist.

When he was learning the ropes, fresh out of law school, he would watch as AUSAs prosecuted members of the mob.  He would later become an AUSA prosecuting mobsters, to one day becoming the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

When they lost their infant son, Collin, to sepsis (a blood infection), his wife tried to find meaning in the loss.  She never wanted what happened to her to happen to another mother.  So she went on a mission to make sure the laws in America changed.  And they did.  Collin Edward Comey’s death is the reason why today, pregnant mothers are tested for the Strep B virus, and the babies are treated with penicillin when they are born.

“But sometimes it isn’t when we face death ourselves, but rather when death takes away those we love the most, that we really learn about just how short our time on earth is and why what we do with that time matters.” (p. 43)

It is in reading these stories from moments in his life that you can see how James Comey shaped his own fate.   When bad things happened, he (and his wife) looked for the silver lining.  They never let those moments deter them or destroy them, instead, they used those experiences to help guide them in their journey to becoming better versions of themselves.

It is in understanding the moments that shaped James Comey that will help you to understand the decisions he made with regards to Hillary Clinton’s emails and Trump.

Can We Trust Comey?

Someone asked me recently if Comey is credible.  I am going to say, “Yes.”

It is not in his character to be the bad guy.  He is not going to lie about the things that matter the most.  Sure, he used to lie about playing basketball in school, but that is only because the lie did not matter.  But the truth is the lie did matter.  He regretted ever lying to begin with.

What tests your moral fiber of whether you are innately good or bad is when you do something bad like bully or lie.  How did you feel afterward?  Did you feel remorse?  Did you hate that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you did something wrong?  Or no?  You felt nothing?

I think at some point, in order to test who we really are, we have to stand on both sides to understand our own moral compass.  Comey talks about the years he was bullied (including the wedgies), and then the time he bullied someone else and regretted it.  He also talks about the lies he told people about playing basketball, and then later regretted.

He uses himself as an example to compare the good/bad moral compass when he describes the bullying and lies coming from Trump.  It is far different and allows you to see this presidency from a different perspective – his own.

You must keep in mind that Comey is a Republican.  He donated to campaigns that ran against President Obama.  But you will see his respect for Obama as a leader and what he learned from him on how to be a more effective leader.

You don’t have to be from the same political party to respect someone as a leader.  When you take the politics out of it, things get done.  You learn more from each other.

Working under Bush and then Obama, Comey learned many things about leadership.  Knowing how a president is supposed to act, taking notes means that something is amiss and not right.  In a way, everything that happened in his life up until that moment, prepared him for what was to come.  It helped him to make the decisions he made, including legally releasing the unclassified memos as a private citizen, and writing this book.

In the End

With Comey’s firing, I wonder how this will shape the next part of his story.  His book sold out within two days.  He sold 2x more (600,000 copies) than Hillary Clinton’s book sold (300,000 copies) in the first week.  That $18 signed first edition copy I got was worth $500 just six days later.

He may never return to government service.  Maybe he’ll continue to write more books, sharing his stories from his mob days or his days as Deputy Attorney General or FBI Director.  Or maybe he’ll continue teaching the world the importance of ethical leadership.

If you want to know what I really think…everyone who cares about what is going on today should read this book.  I enjoyed this book immensely.  When he described the White House encounter with Trump and how he was trying so hard to hide, I laughed hysterically.  I cried when he described the note his mother kept in her drawer.  My heart broke when they lost Collin.  I sat on the edge of my seat as they sped down Pennsylvania Avenue to get to the Attorney General.  And my head shook at the evil words Trump delivered to Andrew McCabe.

I want to leave with this quote from his book that goes perfectly with what Perfectionist Wannabe is about.  This is an example of what one of my guys learned from Comey about leadership.  He passed these qualities along to me and it helped shape me into who I am today.

“LeBron James…he is never satisfied he is good enough.  I have read that he spends every off-season working on some part of his game to improve it.  At first glance, that seems crazy; he’s already better than everybody else.  But it makes complete sense when you consider his perspective: he isn’t measuring himself against the other players; he is measuring himself against himself.  The best leaders don’t care much about “benchmarking,” comparing their organization to others.  They know theirs is not good enough, and constantly push to get better.” (p. 135)

 

Love Yourself: What to Read When Your Heart is Broken

Whoever thought I could get hit with a broken heart?  I started off this year all gung ho about my new mission this year: TO LOVE MYSELF.  The first eleven days were fantastic.  I focused on my health, my mind, my body and just doing the things that would bring me joy.  I reminded myself with each change I was making: you are doing this because you love yourself.

Then I got hit with a massive snowball that knocked me flat on my ass in the middle of the snowy dirty sludge of a New York City gutter.  Ok…maybe it wasn’t that bad.  But the fact remained, someone had broken my heart.  And it took me three months to realize that.

First of all, I was being forced to say goodbye to someone I did not want to say goodbye to.  Well, I say forced because that is what it felt like.

We were not in any kind of romantic relationship, but we had a very special bond that people always spoke about.  Everyone said they had never before seen the kind of relationship like we had.  We worked very well together as a team.  He changed me for the better.  Most of all, he inspired and challenged me to be better than I am.

He tapped into that part of me that strives to be better (i.e. the tagline for this site), gave me the tools I needed and guided me to becoming a better version of myself.  This is the only person I’ve met in this lifetime that has done that for me.  He is my perfectionist guru and because of that, I think the world of him.



Unfortunately, all great things have to come to an end.  As we were saying our final goodbyes, he said something to me…a lie.  And for anyone that knows me, they know that they should never lie to me, because the entire truth will come forward.  I will see the truth.

The lie was a little lie.  Nothing bad.  He must have heard my boss say this, because we have this type of relationship he was describing.  I did not have this type of relationship with him.  He tried to use an example and that’s when I saw the truth.  His heart was finishing the story.  I realized he was in love with me.  Then I saw how the universe had been conspiring for the past few months.  I looked at him and asked myself: now that I know how he feels, how do I feel?  I realized I felt the same way.

And just like that, he broke my heart.  You see, he was leaving that day.  Never coming back.  I was left devastated.


Come the next business morning, I had a meeting with my boss.  We got coffee and beignets, sat down and talked about what happened.  He wanted to get to the root of why I was so devastated.  I had absolutely no idea why I felt this way.  So many people come and go in my life.  Why was this one so different?  I mean, I was really messed up!

Sitting there talking to him about this, it seemed like we were in couple’s therapy, trying to improve on our relationship.  We talked about why I was so devastated, but I did not actually tell him what happened.  You will not believe what he did next.

He picked up the pieces of my shattered existence and started putting me back together by inserting himself in the place where the other person had left a hole in my life.  For that, I am lucky I have him.  He is the first person I’ve ever met that refused to let me go through this alone.  We became closer because of it.

Three months later, I realize what happened that day…my heart was broken.  And I was not okay with that.  How can someone just open up the door to my heart, pull on my heart strings and walk right out?  I mean, what did I do to him for him to be so cruel?

I meditated about this and asked God to help me get back to the person I was before this happened.  Help me to heal this broken heart and get me back on track to my goals I planned for myself.

The next day, he let me know that this devastation was about a broken heart.  So while I was perusing the upcoming book release database, I noticed a new release called “How to Fix a Broken Heart” by Guy Winch.  And surprise, surprise, the psychologist works in Manhattan!

When I bought the book, another book popped up in the recommendations called, “This is Me Letting You Go” by Heidi Priebe.  I bought it immediately, because that is exactly what I needed to be able to say.

I binged the books over the weekend and here is what I learned.

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How to Fix a Broken Heart

You may know that feeling when someone leaves that you need to keep in contact with them somehow.  You text, call, email…anything for some recognition from them that they are not completely gone.  Guess what, kiddies?  That is an addiction.  You are going through withdrawal.

While none of the cases mentioned in this book had anything to do with what I was going through, it still explained some of the psychological patterns people experience when they go through a loss.

Here are some points I took from the book:

  • To heal from a broken heart we have to first stop making things worse.
  • What makes letting go so challenging is that we need to let go of far more than mere emotional pain – we need to let go of hope, of the fantasy in which we undo what went wrong, of the psychological presence the person or pet has in our daily thoughts, and thus, in our lives.  We need to truly say goodbye – to turn away from love, even when there is no longer a person or animal there to receive it.  And we need to let go of a part of ourselves, of the person we were when our love still mattered.
  • Numerous studies have found that recovering our sense of self and getting in touch with our core is a crucial variable in our ability to heal from heartbreak.
  • Recovering from heartbreak always starts with a decision, a determination to move on when our mind is fighting to keep us stuck.  The battle ahead requires courage and determination but also knowledge and awareness:
    • We have to fight the addictive tendency to keep those whom we have lost in our lives, whether via memories or reminders.
    • We have to rebuild our self-esteem by practicing self-compassion.
    • We have to recognize the voids that have been created in our lives and take steps to fill them.
    • We have to reconnect to our core so we can get back in touch with the essence of what makes us who we are.
  • Our heart might be broken but we do not have to break with it.

Especially relevant is mention of an interesting study of how devastating a broken heart can be to a person.  They concluded that the pain from a broken heart is just as intense as subjecting your body to extreme pain (10 on a scale of 10).  So that pain you feel in your heart is the equivalent of your body feeling like you are in extreme, excruciating pain.  Interesting study, to say the least.

After I read this book, I felt that I was probably one step closer to healing.  Maybe I was ready to move on towards letting go.



This is Me Letting You Go

Based on the title, you would think this book is about telling someone to fuck off, because you are letting them go.  I am sorry to say…nope.  This is the perfect book to read to get you back to who you are, to really, truly heal.

This book is a collection of short essays the author wrote to help her get over the various degrees of letting go.  The most important lesson to learn in all of this is to learn to continue loving that person even though they are no longer in your life.  You were loved and you loved them in return.  It is a wonderful feeling, but you also have to learn to let them go when it is time.

People are in our lives for a reason.  They can be here for a short time or they can be here for the rest of your life.  You don’t know how much time you have with someone, but when the time comes to let them go, you need to let them go.  But let them go with love.

Here are some of the wonderful points I got from this book.  Not everything is just about healing.  Some of the words are just beautiful and loving, including learning to love yourself.

  • To love without expectation, you learn to appreciate what’s there. Other people are not ours to own or rearrange or expect things from and the more anticipation we pit onto others, the more we let ourselves down in the end.  All we can do is appreciate who we have when we have them, and let them go when we do not.  To lend our hearts like vacant hotel rooms: celebrating others when they come in and letting them go when they leave.  Understanding that at the end of the day, all we can do is refuse occupancy.  But we cannot force anyone to stay.
  • To love without expectation you have to be okay with yourself.  Okay with opening your doors, spreading your arms, baring your heart and understanding that not everyone is going to be gentle with it.  You have to know that you can recover from those aches, that you can heal your own wounds, that you can trust yourself to walk away from the situations that do not grow or aid you.
  • Need for others to accept you, to validate you, to tell you that you’re good and worthwhile and strong.  And if you can do that for yourself – if you can live up to your own expectations and desires, then the need for other people to do so disappears.
  • Take a chance on me.  Because the timing’s always going to be wrong and the stars are never going to align but I would break every clock in this city and I’d shut every star down from shining if it meant that for one afternoon we could cast all that aside and give in.
  • Take a chance on me – because tomorrow the Universe could collapse in on itself and this city could disintegrate to ashes and the sun could burst into a thousand disjointed rays and goddammit if I am going to die never knowing what it feels like to have your lips on mine.
  • I have been promised too many forevers to have much faith in them anymore so instead I’d like to offer you right now.
  • Through every twist and bump in the road that threatens to tear us apart I will choose you with the ferocious certainty I’ve felt since the fist time I ever laid eyes on you.  I’m not worried about falling out of love with you baby, because I never fell in.  Loving you was a waking, conscious choice and it’s one that I’m going to keep making until the day my heart stops beating.
  • You have to show up to your new life, your new world and your new way of doing things, no matter how painful and raw it all feels.  You have [to] face forward toward the future you hadn’t planned for and the life you didn’t know that you would lead.  You have to stop showing up to the land of used-to-be’s and could-be-stills and show up to this world.  The one where it hurts.  The one that’s unfair.  The world that is here, because it’s the only one you have left.
  • To learn from people you’ve lost and to embrace the people that you have left.  To embrace the life you have left.
  • And maybe this is the Universe where I learn to not need you anymore.
  • We want to capture it and hold it between our palms forever – not realizing that we have to let it go for it to mean anything at all.
  • Maybe anyone worth loving is worth loving inconclusively…to allow yourself to love someone with everything you’ve got – and then to fully and completely let them go.
  • This is me knowing that we’re going to grow old.  That your life is going to be huge and important and chockfull of love but that it’s all going to transpire without me.
  • I want you to take whatever crooked, twisted path you need to take if it will lead you towards your dreams.  This is me letting you go.



What I Learned

In the second book, “This is Me Letting You Go,” I noticed that there is more than just one love being talked about that I did not consider before.  There is the love from the people around me, helping me get through this.  My friends express their love in their own ways.

Especially my boss, doing something like picking up the pieces from my shattered existence and trying to put me back together again, that is love.  All I wanted to do was yell at him and tell him to leave it.  Let me sweep it up and throw it in the trash.  Except, he would not let me do that.  He picked the pieces up for me and tried to be the person I needed after suffering this loss.  What boss does that?  Most would just tell you to get your shit together.

This one, though, I think he knew what he was dealing with before I even knew.  For that, I am thankful I have such a wonderful person in my life.  That is love.  [I also realize he may read this…just know, I appreciate what you’ve done for me.]

You see, love is not always just romantic love that leads to intimate relationships.  Sometimes it is the love of family, friends, bosses, even complete strangers.  They are all part of the process of helping you to heal.  I am thankful that the Universe has been conspiring all throughout to help me get through this.

Go With Love

As mad as I am that he left the way he did and could not leave like a normal person, I realize maybe I really did need to know I was loved.  And I needed to confront the truth that maybe I loved what he did for me in my life.  He made me into a better person during the short time he was in my life.  Even though I live by the motto that when you find someone that inspires you to be greater than you are, you never let them go.  This time, though, I had no choice but to let him go.

I need to let him go with love.  My life was amazing with him in it, but sometimes you have to let guys like him go so he can go change the world.  You cannot keep him forever.  The world is calling for guys like him to help change our world.  He has a bigger fight to fight.

Right.  Did I mention he is perfect?  Yeah…he is one of those guys out fighting the good fight.  I’m not joking when I say that.  He really is.  That is why he left.  And I am proud of him.  I just kind of wish he left without pulling my heart strings on his way out the door.

These two books helped me to let him go.  The point where my broken heart healed is when I realized I needed to let him go with love.  Letting someone go is never easy, because it creates a finality of the moment.  Sometimes when the moment is so amazing, you don’t want it to end.  That was the case with me.

Letting go with love means that you don’t stop loving them.  You just let them go so they can chase after their dreams.  You can’t stifle someone’s journey in life.  Wish them the best and give yourself fully while they are in your life.  There will always be a part of them you carry inside your heart; and there will always be a part of you that they carry within themselves.  Let that be the love that is carried along in your separate journeys in life.

That is how you let go.



Currently Reading the Latest from Shadow Mountain

On Tuesday, Shadow Mountain released two new books “Wizard for Hire” and “The Other Side of the Bridge.”  One book is for the kids, the other is for those searching for answers when you feel like you have nothing left.

Wizard for Hire

This new YA book from Obert Skye is very different from most YA books I’ve read these past 20 years.  Most books have this fantastic, magical journey that is jam packed with action from start to finish.  This book, on the other hand, has the adventure, but it also has the emotion of loss and loneliness throughout the entire book.

While I usually do a short description of what happened in the book, this time I am going to share only my thoughts.

The title leads one to believe that this book is about magic, I believe it is more about facing reality.  While it seems unbelievable that a child could go seven years without human contact, caring only for themselves, could it indeed happen?

When we take stories like Harry Potter into account, we see children diving into the world of magic without parents, but truthfully there are always adults around.  A teacher, parent or guardian is nearby willing to help the kids.  In this story, there are no adults for seven years.  Just a seven year old boy who is on his own with no electricity, a cellar full of food and everything he could possibly need to survive on his own.

When Ozzy is introduced to his new non-human friend, a talking mechanical bird with a sentient mind, the story starts to push Ozzy outside of his comfort zone and into the world.  It is in the world where synchronistic moments begin to happen, from meeting his first human to asking a wizard to help him.

I never could quite figure out if Rin was a real wizard or not.  Maybe there was some magic, but this is the real world.  Does magic even exist?  That is the question that is posed throughout the book.  While there are no wizarding schools like Hogwarts in our world today, could magic still exist?

The answers Ozzy is looking for do not turn out well.  He discovers truths that could cost him his life.  His faith and trust in new friendships, and even in a little bit of magic is what saves him.

This YA book is not like any other YA novel I’ve read in the last 2 decades.  In other YA books, you don’t question whether you believe in magic.  You just do, because books are designed to transport you to new places of wonder, where you can escape reality.  Skye instead transports you to reality and makes you ask yourself if magic is real in our world.

The answer to that question is in this book.  I know it makes me look at the world very differently now.

The Other Side of the Bridge

This emotionally gripping book is a must read this year.  And I mean, you need to read this.  This story intertwines the lives of two people that have one thing in common: the Golden Gate Bridge.  They live on two separate sides of America.  One is a researcher, the other is a NYC executive.

Dave Riley loses everything in one instant.  He loses his wife and kids, leaving him to struggle with what comes next.  Everything in his life comes to an abrupt stop.  He has no idea what he is supposed to do next.

His entire life loses all meaning, because everything was taken away from him.  But something inside of him is pushing him to move forward and to find new meaning.

Before his 40th birthday, he tells his wife about his dream to ride a Harley across the Golden Gate Bridge.  While she teases him about this silly dream and how he feels like he can find whatever answer he is looking for when he crosses the other side of the bridge, she still supports him.  She finds the perfect Harley leather jacket for him right before his birthday.

Months after she is gone, he finds the jacket.  It is as if this is a sign.  When his marketing research firm receives a request from a motorcycle company to help their ad agency with their next marketing campaign, Dave knows this is a sign and works towards getting his life back together to be trusted enough to take on the account.

He heads to the nearest bike shop and starts his research.  As a result, his research lands him on a bike.  That bike leads to riding lessons.  Then, he goes on his first ride.  Until finally, he decides to just jump on the bike, not care one bit about his job or anything he will be leaving behind, and just rides to the bridge.

Meanwhile, Katie, the researcher, discovers a journal her father kept hidden.  He used to work on the bridge, talking people down from jumping off the bridge, saving so many lives.

She discovers this journal belongs to one of the original steelworkers that worked on the bridge.  Her father was trying to find the family to return the journal to them.  So she decides to continue the search for him.  This is her way of finding her own closure with her own father’s passing.

Meanwhile, Dave’s ride to the bridge reminds us that sometimes finding the answers we seek are found along the journey, not at the destination.  What we think we will find does not necessarily turn out the way we hope.  Sometimes what we find will make us turn right back around and choose a completely new path in life, one we did not know existed.

For Dave, halfway to his destination, the perfect solution appeared.

This is the part of the book that really hit home with me.  When Dave’s bike runs into some problems, it is as if the universe is forcing him to stop for a moment so that he can find what he is truly looking for.  But people do not always notice when the answers in life are presenting themselves.  You are just there in the moment, experiencing something you did not know you had in you.  And then you run, thinking this is not what you need.

As a result, Crystal watched Dave leave and it shattered her.  The universe threw them together for some strange reason for a short amount of time, and it was exactly what they both needed.

Dave tells her this is not the right time and leaves.  As a result, she is left devastated.  This is like having someone open up the door to your heart, pull on your heart strings and walk right out the door.  You have no idea if they are coming back or not.  As a result, you are left devastated, because who are you to stop someone from finding the answers to the questions they are asking.  Maybe they will realize the answer lies with you.

Dave continues on his journey, eventually making it to the bridge.  Did he find his answers?  Did something magical happen there like he hoped?  What about the researcher?  Did she find the person she was looking for?  What brings Dave and Katie’s story together?

You’ll need to read the book to find out.

For me, I needed to keep reading Dave’s story, because I needed to know if he would be able to find his answers.  Maybe, in a way, I wondered if I would find the answer I was looking for in this story.

For those looking for answers in this journey in life, Dave’s story is one to read, because it will inspire you.  Maybe it will even give you that feeling that you need to go on a trip to find your own answers.

When I read the author’s notes afterward, I appreciated the story more.  Sometimes the stories that touch your heart are the ones that need to be shared.  This story was based on a similar real story the author heard when he was a young man.

In conclusion, there are times you need to find your own answers and just leave everything behind and keep on riding until you reach your destination.  Consequently, you may not find the answers at your destination, but along the way, you will discover yourself.

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[Disclosure: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.  This post contains affiliate links, which means that this site may receive a commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through their site.]

Book Review: The Abundance Project

Have you ever felt stuck?  No matter what you do, you can’t get back to attracting the good things in life to you.  You feel disconnected from God/the Universe/the Source.  You don’t feel like yourself.

That was me.  Since my surgery in 2013 to remove a tumor in my parathyroid gland, I felt stuck.  I lost a sense of myself. Meditations were difficult.  I did not know what was wrong with me.  My entire existence felt like it was on pause.  I could not move forward, because I was stuck.

I came across “The Abundance Project” by Derek Rydall recently and his book helped me untangle the water hose of my mind.  Rydall uses that term to describe how things can become so twisted up in our connection to God/the Universe/the Source. Water hoses gets tangled up, making it difficult for water to flow easily.  You have to undo all of the kinks in the hose so that the water can flow freely and with great force.   Like the water hose, we have to untangle our connection to the source so that abundance can flow freely.

In this book, he gives you a step-by-step guide on how you can untangle the hose so the water can flow.  This is about focusing on tapping into the Source that is within you to generate an abundance of wealth in all aspects of your life.  It’s not just about money.  This is also about love, happiness, friendships, family, and so much more.

The key element in awakening abundance lies in the seven variations of giving.  “Whatever’s missing is what we’re not giving,” is a repetitive theme throughout the book.  This concept serves as a mirror to our own being.  Are we giving what we would like to create more abundance of?  Can we stretch our limits and give more?

When I first read the reviews for this book, many people kept referencing “The Secret.”  That is the incorrect way to describe this book, because “The Secret” only touches lightly on these principles.  It does not dive into the true essence of how “The Secret” works.  It is this quote that makes this book stand out from “The Secret”:

Life isn’t holding anything back from us; we are holding ourselves back from life, because we’ve been hypnotized into believing we have to be more, feel more, and believe more before we can ask, seek, knock and act from our highest vision.

With books that talk about the Law of Attraction, the whole concept is to believe in what you want and to put positive thoughts into the universe so that what you put out there comes right back to you (aka karma).  What Rydall does goes much deeper, straight to the source which is within all of us.  He tells us how to do this correctly.  It’s not just about thinking pretty all of the time.

In other words, abundance is within us, we just have to go within to bring forth what is already within us.

This book is very lengthy and filled with so much information.  If you stick with it to the end, you will be able to unravel the garden hose so that it will allow the abundance to flow at full strength.  He uses many quotes from the Bible throughout the book, but this is not a book aimed only towards Christians.  It is for everybody that wants to learn how to bring forth great wealth and abundance in their lives.

For me, he helped me work through the twists and turns to help me reconnect with my inner source.  He helped me realize that it’s okay to ask for the impossible, if that is what I truly want.  “Ask and it will be given to you.”

I was able to create a plan, just like I did when I first started out on my journey to creating abundance 10 years ago.  When I was sidetracked with the tumor, I lost sight of who I was.  Rydall helped me reconnect to my being.

One quote that stood out to me the most was this: “An amateur makes excuses for why they can’t; a pro gets the job done.”  I am one of the biggest procrastinators and saboteurs in my life.  I wrote down this quote as a reminder that I am a pro.  Only an amateur keeps making excuses, so stop it!

This book comes out tomorrow (February 20, 2018).

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[All quotes in this post are subject to change in the finished publication.  I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher.  This post contains affiliate links, which means this site may receive a commission on the sale of the products listed in this post.]

Books to Read During Black History Month

It is Black History Month.  This past year, I had the pleasure of being introduced to some great authors and stories that really hit home and I enjoyed immensely.  If you are looking for something to read this month, I recommend these books.

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Jesmyn Ward

I was introduced to Jesmyn Ward’s work a few years ago when “Salvage the Bones” came out.  It was so beautifully written, it was such a breath of fresh air to know there are still writers out there that value well written words and character development.  She masterfully tells stories of people from the South, where she immerses you in the unique dialects of the characters, while describing conditions of extreme poverty in America.  Her stories are haunting, which means they will stick with you.  You will never forget her protagonists, because she makes you feel deeply for them.

Ward is essentially a modern day Great American Writer, telling the stories of the forgotten people of America by giving them life on the pages of her books.  She has won many awards for her works.

Three reasons why it is important to read Ward’s works now: 1) to understand the human conditions of those left forgotten in America, the ones who have no voice, 2) you are witnessing brilliance in real time of a living Great American Author, and 3) her works will one day be the classics people will be reading centuries from now.

Jason Reynolds

One of my favorite YA authors right now is Jason Reynolds.  When I saw him at the Book Expo, he looked like this super cool dude everyone wants to be friends with.  When he spoke about his childhood sitting under the pecan tree, we got a glimpse into the man behind the stories and why they exist.

You see, Reynolds is writing the stories he wished he had when he was growing up.  When I read “Miles Morales,” I was blown away by the life lessons he was teaching.  While Miles is a story about a superhero, Reynolds teaches that you can be a hero in your own neighborhood.  You don’t need super powers to be a hero.  [Read the PW review]

Long Way Down moved me with Reynolds’s elegance and power of words.  So few words were used, but so many things were being said.  It was so well done.

Even if you do not read YA, consider picking up Reynolds’s books.  He will blow your mind.

Moonless, Starless Sky

While this book is about extremism in Africa, it is written by a staff writer from the New Yorker.  The reporting and writing of this story was done so well, I closed the book when I finished and said, “That’s the way journalism should be.”

Alexis Okeowo is a first generation American that covered the stories of people in Africa fighting extremism.  The irony though is that these stories are very reminiscent of what we are seeing in America.  In a way, it will inspire you to fight against the extremism that is rising in America today.

I want you to pick up this book because I want to make sure you read Alexis’s work.  In this day and age of mediocrity and fake media, it is a breath of fresh air to encounter a journalist that steps up their game and rises above it all.  This is journalism at its best.

Stay With Me

Stay With Me is considered to be one of the most important books you need to read this year.  While there’s nothing quite American about this book, there is something to be said about a 30 year old that can write such a powerful novel like this.

Ayobami Adebayo is Nigerian.  In her debut novel, she brings us into the world of Nigeria and the struggles women and couples go through.  In this story, we follow a couple with fertility issues.  When Yejide fails to produce a child, her in-laws and the village forces her husband to take a second wife.

The way outsiders can come in and dictate to a couple how their marriage should be shows not only the error in judging, but also the error of not acknowledging that what happens between a married couple is sacred.  For Yejide and Akin, they hold a much deeper secret that no one outside of their marriage should know.  Letting someone know their secret can destroy their marriage.

I recommend this book because it helps us look outside of ourselves and the American life to see a different world when it comes to marriage and motherhood.  A powerful, remarkable book from a fresh, new voice.

For the Kids

Every MLK, Jr. Day, the sales for Brad Meltzer’s book “I Am Martin Luther King, Jr.” skyrockets.  His series for children, “Ordinary People Change the World,” is such an amazing take on the lives of the most influential people in human history.

I started off with “I Am Rosa Parks” and it shook my heart and soul.  To see her story from the aspect of a child, it made me see just how real these icons are.  They are just like you.  They are just like me.  They are ordinary people that decided one day to make a stand (or stay seated in this case), and it changed the course of history.

There is nothing remarkable about any of these people.  There was nothing that made them stand out from anyone else.  Then one day, when they were faced with adversity, they made a decision, and made the world into a better place because of that decision.

These books are designed for children to understand that people like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were just like them.  They were kids once.  They faced hardships and adversity.  Then one day, they decided to change the way their story was being told.  They decided to make a stand.

Meltzer designed these stories to inspire the next generation of heroes.  Get your hands on these books.  Every single one of them.  Your kids will benefit from them, so will you.  It doesn’t matter what your age is, you can learn something from these books.  It will touch your soul and inspire you to be greater than you already are.

What to Read When You Want to Learn How to Be French

When you think of French literature, one book that comes to mind is the famous children’s classic, The Little Prince(or Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.  What most people do not know is that this classic was written and first published in New York City.

The Morgan Library and Museum in NYC recently had an exhibition showcasing the American side of the story. The story’s origins and how the exhibition came to be…that is a bit of a remarkable story.

As he prepared to leave the city to rejoin the war effort as a reconnaissance pilot, Saint-Exupéry appeared at his friend Silvia Hamilton’s door wearing his military uniform. “I’d like to give you something splendid,” he said, “but this is all I have.” He tossed a rumpled paper bag onto her entryway table. Inside were the manuscript and drawings for The Little Prince, which the Morgan acquired from her in 1968.

I loved this part of their description of the story:

his beloved story that reminds us that what matters most can only be seen with the heart.

Sorbonne (c) 2011 Michelle Kenneth
Sorbonne (c) 2011 Michelle Kenneth

When I was in Paris a few years ago, I spent some time on the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) perusing titles in bookstores, especially around Sorbonne.  Beyond picking up a few Moliére and other French classics, my mission was to find Le Petit Prince, which I found in a ‘newer’ bookstore (like Barnes & Noble).

I wanted to read the book the way it was meant to be read: in French.  Luckily, you don’t have to buy the book if you want to read it in French.  It’s available via PDF online.

After I finish Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch,” I’ll be opening up my copy of Le Petit Prince to enjoy all over again.



Blogs to Read

I have a few favorite bloggers that cover the topic of France and the French lifestyle.

1. Paris in Four Months: This Swedish lady, Carin, spent four months in Paris to learn the language before returning back home to Stockholm.  She began to miss Paris so she moved there in 2013 and started a brand new adventure.  Through her photo blog, I came to fall in love with the way she saw beauty.  She shares that beauty in her photos.  They’re all so beautiful.  One of her subjects (or models) has her own blog: Gary Pepper.  If you want to fall in love with beauty…follow both of these blogs.  It’s a little bit of breathtaking beauty every single day. [Fashion/Lifestyle/Photography]

2. French Country Cottage: The key to a fabulous blog all lies within the pictures.  It’s like looking in a magazine.  That’s what you’ll find here at the French Country Cottage.  I also follow her on Twitter because there are pointers and photos and conversations going on that for those who love home decor and beautiful home decor, will be genuinely pleased with what she offers.  [Home/Entertaining]

3. French Revolution: Born and raised in New York with a French mom (who loves food and to cook) and a father who has a love for great food?  I give you French Revolution.  Highly recommended for those who love a good story to go along with a recipe.  She loves her food, so that means she loves good food.  A must follow. [Food]

4.  Oh So French: What is it about the French lifestyle that makes us feel so glamorous? Whatever that je ne sais quoi is, you, too can live it up like the French with me this month.  Oh So French shows you how. [Lifestyle]

5. Jen Reviews: At Jen Reviews, Jen has come up with 15 classic essential French dishes that everyone should learn how to master.  She takes you through all 15 recipes from Bouillabaisse to ratatouille and the Croque-Monsieur (my favorite).  If you want to challenge yourself in the kitchen and learn how to cook French food, this is an excellent place to start. [Lifestyle, Food, Health, Travel]



French Literature

How many classical French literature books have you read in your lifetime?  As I was perusing the Goodreads.com list, I noticed I not only have read a lot of them, but I own the majority of them.  That’s a lot.  Considering I don’t feel like I’ve read a lot of classical literature books, it ends up the majority of the classical literature I gravitated towards were all French.

Here are some of my favorites I highly recommend:

The Stranger (Albert Camus)
Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert) [Note: this book is steamy]
Les Misérables (Victor Hugo) [I love this story]
Tartuffe (Moliére) [Everyone needs to read Moliére. This was the first play I ever read from him]
Candide (Voltaire) [I don’t even know why I liked this book, but I remember reading it one summer while I was in college and felt wiser because I had.]

For those wanting a bit of French culture and great literature, I highly recommend The Paris Wife (Random House Reader’s Circle Deluxe Reading Group Edition): A Novel.  This is the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife.  I read this book before I went to Paris last time.  I ended up going around Paris trying to see the city through the eyes of Hemingway.  A literary adventure is always the best adventure to take while traveling.  My favorite moment was walking into Shakespeare & Company (the place where Hemingway ordered all of his English/American books) to see photos of Hemingway and his son as soon as you walk in.  To think that Hemingway once stood in this store, perusing titles, talking to the owners…you can’t help but feel more connected to him.  As a writer, it’s chicken soup for our souls.  A definite MUST READ.

What are some of your favorite French reads?



Extra

When I’m in Paris, I always spend time in bookstores looking for French books and classics.  One author I am constantly looking for is Goethe…the man who made Faust what it is today.  Goethe is a German writer, but his works have been transcribed into French. I am always looking for any version of his work in French, but as close to the original date of first publication.  I was fortunate to find a piece from the 1800s the last time I was in Paris.

When I returned to the US, I happened upon an antiques street festival and came across the original Goethe works in German.  The binding had to be replaced, but the inside was pristine.  I snatched up every single book, took it to the register and they said $5.

So I walked away a happy customer, because I had finally found the books I had spent countless hours looking for while I was in Europe.  One woman realized what I had and chased me down the street trying to purchase them off of me.  I looked at her funny and walked away.  When you’ve spent years looking for something and you finally find it, there’s no way you’re going to ever give it up.

xxoo,

Michelle

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow is the Next Harry Potter

I was growing tired of reading about everyone’s problems.  It got to the point where book after book I reviewed were about people with very deep issues.  I needed a break from these real life stories, so I went through my stack of October releases and pulled out a very special book from the pile, “Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow” by Jessica Townsend.

I flipped to the first page where the publisher wrote a special note about this publication.  In the letter to the reader, she pens that when she received this title, it was right after the election.  Everywhere she went, she could not escape the political conversations that took over our popular culture.  Frankly, she was exhausted of it.

This book hit her desk and something magical happened.  It provided her with a world to which she could escape to.  “And what a delicious escape it was,” she said.

After reading her words, I hoped it would provide me with that same escape as I turned the pages of Townsend’s book.  She wasn’t lying.

Thoughts

First of all, I cannot wait until the next book.  I hate that I ever had to put this story down or that this story came to an end.

I keep this book out on my console table.  Every single time I look at the cover, I think of how this was such a wonderful story.  I remember how it made me feel…wonderful.

Out of all of the amazing books I read this year, this book quickly went to the top as my favorite read of the year.  It is #1 on my list this year, and I read a lot this year.  This tale marks #49 for me in 2017.  [You can see all of the books I read this year in the PW book club.]

Throughout the book, I tried to guess the ending.  I thought maybe I had everything figured out until the last 30 pages.  In the end, I discovered I really had no idea what was so special about Morrigan Crow.

Most noteworthy, Townsend kept that secret until the end.  As a result of the way she ended the book, I went a little crazy when I realized there is currently no second book.

I felt like I needed that next book, just like I needed all seven books of Harry Potter just to see how it would all end.  All throughout the book I wondered if Morrigan was really a cursed child.  Is she the girl that everyone told her she was?  Or is there something special about her?  What is her knack?

Separation Anxiety

This story will make you despise each time you have to put the book down because the world is still revolving.  You will cringe each time you have to step out of Nevermoor and back into our universe.  As a result of turning that last page, you will feel a slight madness, because the most marvelous story in our world has momentarily come to an end.

You will feel sad and feel a slight withdrawal.  Hence, you will need to go cold turkey from one of the best highs you’ve ever had.  This is probably something only bibliophiles go through each time they must walk away from an incredible story.

Do you understand now why this book became my favorite read of the year?  I felt all of those emotions.

I was in a space where I felt safe from other people’s problems.  Nor did I have to hear about the apocalypse day in and day out.  I could live in Nevermoor with Morrigan and Jupiter North like an illegal alien hiding away in a magical hotel with a ginormous cat that can talk, a vampire dwarf (or was it dwarf vampire?), an opera singer, and an adventurer.  I could run around with Morrigan and her dragon riding friend as they prepared for their trials.

To have it all come to a crashing end…I need more.

Seems like the main problem for me right now is that the book is not released yet.  It comes out on Halloween (or Hallowmas) 2017.  That means I have to wait for any follow up book for God knows how long.  So now I must continue my search for the next great read until Townsend’s next book.  I think for 2017, it will be very hard to match Nevermoor.

Similarities

Nevermoor is similar to Harry Potter in many ways.  First of all, this is not a story about witchcraft.  Magic?  Yes, but rather in a special magical place we, as children, wish to escape to when the world becomes difficult.

When you feel alone and like no one cares about you or loves you, this book allows you to see the world through a different microscope.  Rather than believing you have no one who believes in you, you find the exact opposite.  There are people across this universe who are reaching out to you to let you know that you are not alone.  They are there trying to help us.

When we are trying to discover who we are in the grand scheme of things, sometimes it is not our talents (or knacks) we should be so focused upon.  Maybe we should be focused on our gifts and becoming the person we know we are inside.

That is the whole purpose of books like Harry Potter and Nevermoor.  They teach us that we are never alone, no matter how scary things get.

This book is set to be released on October 31, 2017.  Pre-order it immediately.  You will not regret diving into this book.

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.  This post contains affiliate links.  If you click on one of the links, I may receive a commission.]


 

 

 

September Edition: A Note from the Editor

A Special Note from the Editor

Fashion. Books. Home. Food. DIY.  These are all things this site promises to deliver, but it has not really lived up to doing just that.  Or perhaps, it was something I always wanted to deliver, but needed some sort of direction on how I would deliver that to you.

When people ask me about this site, I never really passionately talk about it.  Perfectionist Wannabe  has not been in a place I was proud of yet.  I was honest about that with the people I met.  I did not know how to find that sweet spot where I was content with what I was putting out there.

So I went on a mission to discover what exactly I loved about magazines.  Blogs were no longer the answer to what I was looking for.

The Bold Type

As I flipped through a stack of magazines, Freeform’s The Bold Type, a show about three young women working for a fashion magazine, played in the background.  The show centers around a writer, a secretary turned stylist, and a social media director.  As the girls go from one disaster to another, it is the wisdom of their editor that resonates.

1) Write from your own perspective in life.

2) Print is dying.  The electronic age is making print media obsolete, so it is important to focus only on that.

Taking these two points, I began to see a clearer vision of what I wanted.

Book Reviews

To get a better handle on how book reviews should be done, I went to the best source: O Magazine.  As I read through the book reviews, I saw the importance of writing about experiencing the book.  Describing feelings eloquently is what ultimately gets people to read a book.

I read about one reviewer’s morning before she even sat down to read the book.  She made me experience her morning with her.  There was nothing extraordinary about it.  Her morning was a regular morning, just like anyone else’s morning.  But by the time she sat down to read the book, I  wanted to read whatever she was reading, even though she told me so little about the book.

What made this particular review stand out is that it was written incredibly well.  That is the beauty in writing a good review.  The writer made me see reviews, not just book reviews, in a whole new light.

The Voice

Finally, it began to occur to me what I was unhappy with.  I was dissatisfied with the voice I used on this site.  I was mimicking other bloggers and what they were doing instead of focusing on what I ultimately wanted to do with this site.

In the back of my mind, my friends who are well read, played in the back of my mind.  Their comments on fast literature (i.e. the books saturating our market), started to bring me down.  As much as I shared their opinions on great literature, it made me ask if what I write is great literature.  Would they even think I was good enough?

This is where that sense of wanting to be perfect comes in.  There is that fear of never being good enough for my friends to recommend my work to others.  They are brutally honest (which I respect and need).  What if what I was doing did not live up to their standards?

In our opinion, discovering an author or a book that is well written is difficult to find these days.  If you think about blogs in this context, it is not so often you will come across a lot of well written blogs.

Magazines and newspapers house many of the best writers that live up to these standards.  Yet, these types of publications are failing because of the saturation of mediocre or poorly written content flooding the market.  That means there are a lot of incredible writers out there that go undiscovered by the masses.

Branding

There are a lot of blogs out there I love that are both inspiring and beautiful.  I like their brand.  Even though many of these bloggers are the first of their kind in their niche markets, there are many who try to emulate that same voice, which in turn creates a problem.  That brand’s voice is copied, and then it becomes overdone, watering down the original voice.  I know, because this site started to do the same thing.  I ultimately did not want that.

The direction this site lacked was always something very simple.  It was missing my voice and the way I wanted to write and present my views of the world.  I spent too much time trying to be like the other bloggers.  As a result, I forgot why I created this site to begin with…to share my own adventure into learning how to be a better version of myself.

A Sense of Direction

Most noteworthy of this entire adventure are the opportunities that presented itself to me over these past few years.  From Martha Stewart’s American Made to Tribeca Film Festival to Book Expo America (BEA), the universe gave me every single tool I needed to discover how to create my vision for Perfectionist Wannabe.

As a result of those experiences, I learned that even though I believe I am not doing enough, the industry communicated the exact opposite.  Publishers explained to me at BEA that I was doing the right thing.  I did exactly what they were looking for in order to work with them.  They decided who they were allowing into the BEA this year, and I was among the select few they allowed in.  [Of all the publishers I spoke with, they only counted three bloggers that were allowed to attend, unlike previous years where the expo was saturated with bloggers.]

What all of these incredible experiences tell me is that I was always on the right track.

AHA!

I finally had an AHA! moment somewhere between flipping through the magazines and binge watching The Bold Type.  This site is my resumé.  In the end, this site is about a brand.  These past few years of discovery was about defining that brand.  That is the only thing it’s been about.  In a sense, this site is turning into a better version of itself.

So what can you look forward to?  Better content.  More continuous posts.  A more active social media experience.  Better inspiration.  More importantly, my voice.

xoxo,

Michelle Kenneth

 

Book Review: The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs

The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs explores the dysfunctional family dynamic.  Not everyone comes from a perfect, loving and caring family.  There are many that come from screwed up parents, disturbing childhoods, and neglectful guardians.  Many that come from a dysfunctional family question just where everything went wrong.  Why are they so screwed up?

Janet Peery takes a look into the lives of one dysfunctional family, the Campbells.  The family consists of a former judge (Abel), his stay at home wife (Hattie) and their six children.

With Abel retired from the bench, and Hattie taking care of him, the story revolves around their final years after Abel turns 80.  With one child dead and the rest with a long history of problems that range from substance abuse addictions, arrests, DUIs and estrangement, each child continues the cycle that contributes to the perfect dysfunctional family, one that is always at odds with each other with no end in sight.

How did they get this way?  Was it the parents?  Did something horrible happen in their youth that made them make such poor, destructive decisions?  Were they neglected?  Just what was it that made them utterly hate, yet love each other?

The youngest, Billy, should have died long before.  He is HIV+ and is slowly deteriorating.  He spends most of his life trying to find any drug he can get his hands on.  He is a ‘masseuse,’ which is what pays the bills for crappy tenements he believes are luxurious, even if it is downtrodden, covered in trash and rat infested.

He relies too much on his 80 year old mother to help pay for his prescriptions, bills, rent, and addictions.  He is in and out of rehab more times than anyone can count, yet no one really helps him out except his mother.  He is the brother they know is killing their mother, but they try to forget he exists.

The eldest daughter is an academic that stays far away from home.  She lives out on the East Coast and travels home only a few times a year.  Another brother is a drunk and stays away from everyone most of the time, including his own children.  The middle child always screams for attention and feels like everyone is being taken care of except her.  The eldest boy, a recovering alcoholic, always has a hard time letting go of things that hurt him.  He keeps them around, hoping in a way that everything will get better, but never does.

They not only squabble with each other, but they all have to deal with their father, Abel.  He may be respected in their hometown, but in their home, he is the reason why their family is this way.  With the insults he throws at them, making them feel like they will never amount to anything or be good enough, that is why this family is in pieces.

Hattie, though, is part of the problem.  Between showing too much love and affection towards the youngest child who takes advantage of her, and enabling all of the wrong things…her children are basically left to fend for themselves, and have no idea how to do that, so they turn to drugs and alcohol so they don’t have to think about it.

Thoughts…

I grew up in a dysfunctional home.  Looking deep inside a dysfunctional home to try to understand where everything went wrong so that you can stop repeating the same mistakes is a difficult task.  You have to make decisions, including the tough ones that make you look like the selfish one, when all you are trying to do is survive.

Not everyone wants to live a life of pain.  Everyone deserves some happiness in their lives.  It’s that little bit of happiness that the Campbell family is trying to find.  There is a source to their unhappiness, tied to them by blood and obligation.  They will never be rid of it.

The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs is well written and explores the side of family most fear to look into.  For those who are hurting, this book may give you the answers you’ve been looking for in finding where the wrongs are in your family, or maybe it won’t, because the Campbells never really figure out how to be free from that pain.

In the end, it’s really about choice.  You can’t fix a wrong by committing another wrong.  You can’t fix what happened or how someone made you feel by drowning in drugs or alcohol.  You can’t fix it, but you can choose to let go of the pain and be the change.  You can find happiness, but that means you need to learn to let go of all the wrongs.

The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs is set to be released on September 19, 2017.

[Pictured in photo: Rebecca Minkoff studded handbag.  Similar.]

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.  This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a commission.] 

Miles Morales: A Book to Get Excited About

Advance Reader’s Copy of “Miles Morales” by Jason Reynolds. Bag of the Day: Fendi.

Book: Miles Morales
Author: Jason Reynolds
Publisher: Marvel Press, Disney Book Group
Release Date: August 1, 2017
Rating: [usr 5.0]

There are very few books I cross paths with that make me very excited to share with everyone.  For Jason Reynolds’ upcoming release “Miles Morales,” I can’t wait for all of you to read this book.

Yes, this is a Spider-Man novel.  Forget Peter Parker, this story is about Miles Morales, a mixed race kid from Brooklyn going to a posh boarding school in Brooklyn on scholarship.  He is a genius with a 4.0 GPA, so smart, the neighborhood speaks of him with pride.  What makes this story unique though, is that this is about rising from adversity and becoming a better person.

Miles is from a poor family.  His dad’s past is that of a common criminal, along with his uncle.  They start off doing a lot of bad things as teens, because they feel like they have no choice.  If they are going to survive, they need to steal and make fast money.

Then one day, Miles’s dad meets a beautiful woman, falls in love and leaves that world of crime for something better.  He wants to have a family that does not need to resort to crime to survive.  They are trying to give Miles a better option in life.

Leaving crime, though, means disowning a brother.  But that doesn’t stop Miles.  He sneaks out to see his uncle, because that’s what you do for family.  During one of those visits, he is bit by a spider, just like Peter Parker.

Going to school has its own challenges.  He works hard at his grades, trying to maintain his 4.0 GPA. He has a work study to help cover the room and board at the school.  He tries so hard to do everything right, but society tries to push him back down.

His history teacher, Mr. Chamberlain, has his own opinions on blacks and slavery.  They are very backwards ideologies.  He makes each teaching lesson a lesson on the importance of black people remaining slaves.  He believes they need to stay within their element and not try to rise above (i.e. go to an elite boarding school).

These lessons disturb the students, but they just put it off as crazy Mr. Chamberlain.  Ironically though, Miles’s spidey sense goes off every single time he is in this class.  Thinking someone outside needs to be saved, he runs out of the classroom (saying he needs to go to the bathroom, which Chamberlain denies) only to find nothing at all.  He ends up getting suspended from school for a week.

He leaves his work study to show up at an open mic night to get extra credit for one of his classes (and pass a poem to a girl he’s crushing on), only to discover the next morning that cans of sausages were stolen during his shift.  Something like this could lead to his expulsion, because they assume he took it because he’s 1) black and 2) poor.  He doesn’t even like canned sausages.




The Message

His father is trying to teach him how to grow up to be a hero to his community first.  When he comes up against all of these problems both at school and in his neighborhood, the question becomes what type of person will he be.  Will he turn bad or good in the end?

This book is mainly about the challenges many people face across America.  It is about learning how to be a hero, no matter who you are or where you are from.  You do not necessarily have to be a superhero with powers in order to be a hero.  Sometimes just helping out your community, picking up trash, and helping your neighbors is part of being a hero.  You are helping someone else that needs help.  That is what heroes do.

But what is a Spider-Man story without evil villains out to destroy the world?  Oh, there are a few bad guys in this book that leads to an epic fight scene in the end.  So do not go into this thinking this is just about evil super villains, because this book is more than that.  This book is truly about a boy learning how to be a hero with and without his powers.

The message in the end is that “We can all be heroes.”




The Rating

I give this book 5 stars, because it is so well written and a tremendously awesome story.  I was so absorbed in the story, I couldn’t stop reading it (and this was while I was doing a Game of Thrones binge).

The story is more than just the regular superhero story.  It is a story about a kid trying to be a hero when the world keeps trying to stop him.  It’s hard for a lot of kids to go up against a system that wants to see them fail.  Miles Morales is one of those kids.

Just because he’s Spider-Man, it doesn’t mean that he’s not faced with personal challenges that are similar to so many kids out there.  He is victimized because of his race and his socio-economic class.  There are people that want kids like Miles to fail because they are black or from a bad neighborhood or from a parent that is a known criminal.

His family may struggle, but his father, that known criminal, is trying hard to make sure his son doesn’t turn out like he did.  He changes his life around so that Miles can have a better opportunity.  Miles deserves a chance to be the change.




What I Love

What I love about this story is that Reynolds is teaching kids that they can all be heroes.  It starts in your own neighborhood.  Little things like helping the elderly, cleaning up the streets, or helping your neighbors can result in a positive change in our communities.

Reynolds doesn’t shun the stories of people living in their cars or kids being falsely arrested for crimes they did not commit.  This is the reality in our world.  Having a family member in jail, visiting them in a detention facility and trying to be a family are all part of the story many kids experience.

The author brings the realities around us into this story.  Even superheroes can experience the same adversity as the kid that picks up this book.  What Reynolds is saying to these kids…YOU’RE NOT ALONE.




Final Thoughts

In conclusion, I cannot begin to express how much I absolutely love this book.  I do not even like Spider-Man.  I am a Superman kind of girl.  This story though made me into a Miles Morales fan.

This is an excellent story that should be on everyone’s must read list this year.

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.  This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission.] 




5 Books To Read This Summer

Looking for something new to read this summer?  There are  a few that are out that you can purchase now, and a few coming out this August.

1. Unraveling Oliver.  Considered to be one of the IT books of 2017, “Unraveling Oliver” tries to explain why Oliver Ryan, a prominent Irish children’s book author, beat his wife into a coma.  Never having displayed violence before, Oliver’s friends try to explain what happened to him.  From his childhood all the way into his adult years, Oliver’s story is unraveled piece by piece.

At first, you will feel sorry for Oliver.  As the story completely unravels, you realize just how horrible of a human being he was.  He commanded the respect of others for decades.  One act brought him down.

[Due to be released August 22, 2017.]

2. The Leaf Reader.  This mystery will keep you guessing all the way until the end.  Marnie Wells is an outcast, because she’s one of the weird kids.  She starts reading tea leaves for the popular kids and winds up deep into the tale of what happened to Andrea Quinley, one of the girls that went missing.

Her best friend, Matt Cotrell, seeks Marnie out to see if she has the answers he’s looking for, sending them on a chase to find Andrea, who is presumed dead.  Instead, they uncover a much deeper secret that threatens both of their lives.  Andrea’s disappearance is linked to Marnie, just not in a way anyone could ever imagine.

This book will have you guessing all the way until the end.  The details are always unraveling.  Nothing is ever set in stone where you can guess who did what.  A must read for those who love thrillers.

[Book is out now.]

3. The Hearts We Sold. Imagine we live in a world where demons walk beside us and they are out in the open.  Everyone knows demons exist.  People trade parts of their bodies for wishes without ever asking what they do with the body parts.

Dee Moreno is in a tough spot when she discovers that her scholarship to a boarding school is drying up.  She has to come up with the money for the rest of school or find somewhere else to go.  She doesn’t want to return to her dysfunctional home.

When she sees a demon knitting outside of the hospital where she volunteers, she decides to take a chance.  She gives the demon her heart in exchange for money that will get her through a doctorate program (if that’s what she wants).  In return, she has to do the demon’s bidding over the course of 2 years.

What she doesn’t know is why the demon is sending her and a group of teens to do his bidding.  She has no idea what these demons are trying to do with their body parts.  What they discover is much scarier than the thought of demons walking the Earth.

[Due out August 8, 2017]

4. DragonWatch.  If you are looking for your next YA series, FableHaven is a great place to start.  FableHaven is a 5 book series that takes place at a sanctuary for mythical creatures.  DragonWatch picks up where FableHaven leaves off.

With the Demon King vanquished, the Dragon King rises.  He wants out of the sanctuary and into the world.  Our heroes Seth and Kendra head off to the dragon sanctuary to be the new caretakers.

The kids need to prove to everyone that they can do the job and keep the dragons at bay.  Their adventure takes them on an adventure to find a way to keep the castle safe.  If the dragons overtake the castle, they can escape into the world.  What the two discover is that they need each other to be strong, but they also must learn how to be fearless on their own.

Brandon Mull is one of my favorite young adult authors.  The FableHaven series (and now DragonWatch) is an incredible universe to escape to.  You will see the beauty in fairies and unicorns, but also the very ugly and scary in demons, trolls, and creatures that you don’t want to bump into.

For those looking for a series, this is one worth diving into.  You’ll fall in love with this world.

[All books in the series and DragonWatch are out now.]

5. A Dog’s Purpose.   For those who love animals (especially dogs), this is the book for you.  We follow one dog’s soul as he (or she) goes from one dog’s life to another.  Each life bears an important part in the dog’s future lives.

The story though is about Bailey and his boy, Ethan.  The two grow up together and have many grand adventures together, including getting lost in the woods.  But Bailey can’t live forever and eventually dies at an old age.  He is reborn again and again.

As a police dog, she learns how to search and find.  She sees her purpose is to help save lives.  In her next life, he uses that search and find technique to find his boy again.

This time his boy is an old man who is alone and has no purpose.  It is up to Bailey to help Ethan find his purpose.  All the while, he hopes that Ethan will realize that he is really Bailey.

A wonderful story as told by a dog.  This book will make you hug your fur babies (and monsters) a little closer.  It will make you love and appreciate them a little bit more.

[This book is currently out.]

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of books 1-4 above from publishers in exchange for a review.  This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive compensation.]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo [Book Review]

If you are looking for a great summer read, pick up “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.”

There are very few authors that can transport you into a new world and make you feel like you are the actual character. In this instance, Reid places us in Evelyn Hugo‘s shoes and makes us feel like we are a famous Hollywood starlet during the golden age of Hollywood.  We see and feel what it means to be a rich and famous actress over the last 60 years.

From the roles of her youth to the changing of roles as she grows older, we see the risks she takes to remain on top.  What happens off screen is just as important to her success as what happens on screen.

The most unique part of Hugo’s story is seeing how a woman succeeds in Hollywood.  A woman’s success depends on who she is married to.  For Evelyn, she starts out marrying a man who gets her out of Hell’s Kitchen and into Hollywood.  The men that follow help her star status skyrocket, all the while hiding her true love…the one she will never be able to marry.

The question that follows Evelyn in the end is which of her seven husbands did she love the most?  The answer will surprise you.


The Story

Evelyn selects a young reporter named Monique to tell her story in an upcoming magazine article.  Monique is an important character in this, having  just come off of a breakup with her husband.  She is lost and grieving when this opportunity pops up to cover this story.

Evelyn, though, invites Monique to do this story under false pretenses.  Instead of a magazine cover story, she offers her the rights to a tell all book.  There is a reason why she selects this young woman to confess all to.  She is trying to tell her how their lives are intertwined without coming out and saying so in the beginning.  We are left to judge in the end whether Evelyn is a good or evil person. and whether this opportunity she gave to Monique is a great chance at success in the end.


Thoughts

I received an advance copy from Simon & Schuster and fell in love with the story.  I told the author everything I loved about her book while she signed another copy for me at the Book Expo.  Ironically, if you are a Popsugar Must Have subscriber, this book is in the June boxes (which means I have three copies now).

Simply put, I love this book.  Reid is masterful in her storytelling.  There are very few artists that can paint a picture of someone so well that you feel like you are the character.

I felt like I was Evelyn Hugo, a Hollywood starlet wearing an emerald green dress at the Oscars.  I felt her loves, mistakes and heartaches.  I felt the pain she felt, and asked myself if I was in her shoes, would I do things the same way?  The answer is yes.

After I turned the last page, I put the book down and realized that I took a little bit of Evelyn’s strength with me.  She taught me how to succeed in life.  That was the good I took from her story.

I always wondered if most of these marriages and relationships in Hollywood are staged to help people advance their careers.  This little glimpse into Tinseltown is almost like an exposé into how things really work there (i.e. the answer is YES, some are staged, some are real).

Of all the books I’ve read so far this year, this one is by far one of my favorites.  A must read for this summer.  I plan on adding the autographed copy to my library and sharing the other two copies with my friends.  It is such a great read.  It will not disappoint those who love celebrities and the good old glamour of Hollywood.

[Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Simon & Schuster.  This post contains affiliate links.  If you click on a link, I may receive some form of compensation.]  


PW Recommends: Books to Read Now

For those who love Young Adult Fiction, here are a few books to peruse.

  1. Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel is filled with mystery and intrigue as we follow Lorrie Hollander, a young rich girl who all of a sudden has her trust fund cut off while at riding camp.  Thinking that her absent-minded aunt forgot to pay the bills, she returns home to discover that her trust fund is missing.  With only a few dollars in her pocket, she tries to buy gas and a drink only to discover she doesn’t have enough money for both when she meets Charlie, the son of a senator, who pays for her purchase in exchange for joining him at a party in his family’s home.  What Lorrie later discovers is that her predicament and money problems are directly related to Charlie’s family.  What begins as a rich girl gone broke turns into something much more…explaining why her mother left her and her sister behind with her senile aunt and where all of this money is really coming from.  It’s an ending no one is expecting.




2.  Mysteries of Cove by J. Scott Savage.  If you liked “City of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau, you’ll like this new series.  Imagine a world where doing anything ‘creative’ is a crime and the word ‘invention’ is a curse word.  Welcome to the Cove, a steam-powered city inside of a mountain.  Why the city is this way is a mystery, especially to Trenton Coleman, who loves inventing and all things mechanical.  Along with Kallista Babbage, they discover a mechanical dragon.  Together they try to put it together and leave the Cove.  What they were not prepared to learn was why the city was hidden inside of a mountain and why any mechanical noise was forbidden.  When they learn why, it’s too late and it jeopardizes the lives of everyone inside the Cove.  They’ve attracted something to them that was better off left alone.  [Mysteries of Cove is a series.  The second book was released last year.]




3. Court of Fives by Kate Elliott.  For those who loved “The Hunger Games,” you will love “Court of Fives.”  Jessamy lives in a world where a mixed race child will never rise in society.  Add in every sexist thing you can of how a woman will never be equal to a man, and you have a good idea what kind of society Jessamy lives in.  The Fives is a maze where various contenders compete in five different trials.  Winners of the Fives live handsomely, but there is one catch.  They have to reveal their face.  It is because of this that Jessamy allows someone else to win, so as not to embarrass her father, a famous soldier who would be humiliated if he knew his illegitimate daughter had competed and won in the Fives.  Things take a turn for the worst when her family’s patron (the man who cares for them financially) dies.  The patron’s death splits up the family and sends Jessamy to live her dream of training and running for the Fives without fear of embarrassing her father, but she finds something much more sinister is happening to her family.  It is up to her to save them.  [This book is the start of the Court of Fives series.  The third book will be released this summer.]




Disclosure: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work.

I received these books from the publishers in exchange for an honest review and promotion of these products.  


Book Club: A Man Called Ove

Hello, everyone.  It’s time to discuss the first official book club selection for 2017: A Man Called Ove.  Even if you haven’t finished reading the book, feel free to come back here and post your thoughts either here or on the Facebook page after you’re done.

Let’s start off…

The Book Club Questions

  1.  What did you think of the book?
  2. Who was your favorite character in the book and why?
  3. With the story going back and forth between present day and the past, do you think the progression of the story was easy to read?
  4.   Ove is a unique character.  Did you find his character relatable?  If so, how?  Does he remind you of someone?  Does he remind you of yourself?
  5. Ove’s attempts at taking his own life fails every time.  Do you find the failures to be purely coincidental or maybe something more otherworldly happening?
  6. Ove went from wanting to die to wanting to live for today and fight for the people around him.  What were some of those significant markers that occurred that made him realize he wasn’t alone?
  7. The film “A Man Called Ove” was nominated for Best International Film at the Academy Awards this year.  Did you get to see it?  How did you like it?  Was Ove how you imagined him to be?  Did the film do the book justice?
  8. What was your favorite part of the book?




My Answers

  1. I really enjoyed this book.  It was very comical with incredible characters.
  2. I loved Parvaneh.  She was always right in his face trying to make sure that Ove did right for himself and for others.  She was the right relationship he needed to come into his life.  She was the daughter he never had.  I also loved the cat.  That cat was something else.  When he walked in and knocked down the pills, it was like he was saying, “I know what you’re trying to do, so stop it!”  I also loved that he went wherever Ove went.  Who takes their cat everywhere they go?  It wasn’t even Ove’s cat!
  3. I liked the progression of the story.  In my other book club, there were some people that did not like the way it went back and forth.  For me, I liked that it would leave a  little detail that made you question what happened and then the next chapter would explain what happened in the past.  It’s a lot like having a conversation with someone.  You are trying to explain how X happened, but then realize you need to fill in the historical context.  I liked learning about Ove’s history as the author tried to explain how he got to be the way he is now.
  4. Ove is a little on the weird side, but I saw a little of myself in him.  How people don’t know how to change a tire mindboggles me.  That was the first lesson I ever had when I started driving…you have to know how to change the tire on a car.  You have to know how to parallel park.  In Ove’s tirade, you need to know how to back up a car with a trailer hooked up behind it.  Life for Ove is very hands on and mechanical.  He expresses his emotions and who he is as a human being by doing things for others.  He shows he cares by repairing fences, fixing cars, teaching people how to drive, etc.  He is not one to be emotional or affectionate.  He shows he cares by doing things.  The man has a big heart, even if he acts like he doesn’t care.  You know he does.  I have a friend that says she hates people, but I find her to be the most compassionate person when it comes to people.  She’s always out helping the homeless, her family, her friends, etc.  She acts like she doesn’t care, but she really does.
  5. Ove trying to kill himself made me laugh every single time he failed at it.  I really loved that part of the story.  The fact the fail happened over and over and over again makes it look like there was something otherworldly trying to stop him from taking his life.  One person from my book club thought that his wife was looking out for him by sending all of these people into his life so that he knew he was not alone and that the world still needed him.  I can definitely see that.
  6. Parvaneh was a huge part of letting him know he wasn’t alone.  Just her arrival with her husband and kids was a huge marker.  The fact that her husband doesn’t know how to do anything shows that they need Ove to help them with ‘the simple stuff.’  Parvaneh needing to learn how to drive shows that Ove is still needed (like teaching your own daughter how to drive for the first time).  The two girls look up to him as a grandfather.  They become the grandkids he never had.  The two teenagers made Ove remember the compassion of his wife and the things she did for the children.  Jimmy didn’t have anyone to look up to except Sonja, Ove, Rune and Anita.  Jimmy didn’t want to be forgotten so he tried to patch things up in a subtle way between all parties.  Ove finding out from Jimmy that they had kept Rune’s condition quiet helped pave the way towards two friends rekindling their friendship.
  7. I saw the film and enjoyed it immensely.  They did not fit in the entire story and made a few subtle changes, but they weren’t so bad as to step completely away from the book.  The book though was better.  Ove in the film was exactly how I imagined him to be.
  8. My favorite part of the book was when Ove hit Parvaneh in the nose.  That’s when I fell in love with her character.




Next Book Club Selection

Our next book club selection is “The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto” by Mitch Albom.  We’ll begin discussion of the book on May 1st.  I hope you’ll join us.

Disclosure: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work.

The PW Book Club 2017

The PW Book Club is going to be a little different this year.  I’ll be sharing Amazon Kindle First’s selections and sharing which book I chose, but separately from the book club.  The 2017 book club itself is going to be based on five selections of books you can purchase now.

Those books are:

Here are the dates for discussion.  If you want to sign up for the group, just add your email address to the PW Book Club on the top right of the page.

March 1: A Man Called Ove

May 1: The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

July 1: A Dog’s Purpose

September 15: Leaving Time

November 15: The Best of Everything

I’ll have discussion questions posted up for those who want to use the questions for their own book clubs.  I hope you’ll join us.  Details will follow.

Disclosure: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work.