Book Reviews

Book Review: The Willpower Instinct

This is a paid review for the BlogHer Book Club.
Go here to join the discussion.

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Here is my word one review of this book: fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.

Reading this book made me feel like I was being embraced at the smart kid table. Even though I only got a low 20 on my ACT it no longer mattered, the smart kids were more than willing to share with me their secrets. Even though I didn’t know it before I joined them for lunch, I really needed to know all their secrets. You see the smart people are the ones who get willpower. Because they ever so intellectually understand the research; they know what they have to do to drink milk not soda, avoid the desserts all together, and most importantly NOT say anything EVER that is going to be offensive. (Well, I guess I did kind of know I needed that last one.)

I would love to follow around the author of this book: Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. and a professor at Stanford. I want to watch her every move and I want to question her incessantly at how much of the information she uses from her research to guide her every day decisions. I laugh as I imagine the endless scenarios: Starbucks (are you getting that coffee just because you didn’t get enough sleep last night?), Checking e-mail (Are you checking it out of habit, is this what you really want to be doing right now?), Vending machine (Are you not getting the healthy option just because it’s there?). Read the book. You’ll quickly understand.

All kinds of interesting people find their own willpower by attending McGonigal’s seminar, and for the rest of us less-interesting folks who can’t afford to go to California, there is the book. I think I would prefer to attend the seminar, but the book sometimes just has to do the trick because it’s all we’ve got. I did a quick read of this book for this review, but the next time I pick it up (and there will be a next time) I plan to read it as it was originally intended: a self-guided master through a willpower challenge in my life. I think the book will be much more powerful when used a bit at a time towards a real-life obstacle, especially for those of us from the lower end of the IQ spectrum who (cough cough) have a hard time retaining all the amazingly fascinating information.

Great read and I highly recommend it to everyone, but especially those of us that are sick of fighting the same battles of willpower over and over again. And really, isn’t that all of us? Even the kids at the smart table had to learn this for themselves; they just did it before the rest of us suckers.

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Here is an interesting small workshop I found on youtube.

All I want for Christmas is books.

I just guest blogged my 2102 Bookbuyer’s guide
here for a great friend, Donna.
(What a great idea! I’ve never done one before.
I do believe Donna started a tradition)

I decided to add my own twist.
I’m adding in a contest here
to compliment the post.
Make sure you enter to win
by matching the books with their categories below.

First a bit about Donna.
You all remember her birthstory here, right?
How could you forget.
Donna has a great new blog called Donna’s Dish.
She is one of the most hilarious people that I know.
I love her dearly.
Serious. I want her for my neighbor in the next life.
We would just laugh through eternity.

Donna is a foodie.
She is pretty good at a lot of stuff.
Fashion, decorating, shoes,
pop-culture, handbags, food, parenting, yoga.
She lives in NEW YORK.
Someday I am going to see her.
Hopefully sooner rather than later.
She WILL take me to every place worth
mentioning to eat as many calories as possible.

She’s not a lame Mormon mommy blogger
who only shows picture of her uber gorgeous kids
or scrapbooking pages.
She’s real and interesting and FUNNY!
I want to be like her when I grow up.
She also will tell you really funny stuff about what
it’s like to be a Mormon and black
and she always references The Cosby’s.
Like I said, you will love her.

For some reason, Donna has come to me to be her book expert.
Head over for my expert opinion. (chuckle chuckle)

I based my list by who you gotta buy for
cause we all know that’s how we do our Christmas shopping.

Before you head over see if you can match the categories with their books.
Match at least three correctly below in the comments and I will enter you to win a free book.
That’s right I will mail it directly to you (if you are my winner) next month.
Contest ends on Christmas.

She Friend (two picks)
Little Girl
Big Girl
Teenage Boy
He Friend
Grandma
Little Boy
Big Boy
Him
Teenage Girl
Her
Grandpa
The Whole Family

Merry Christmas y’all.
Happy Book giving.

Book Review: Reached

Reached by Ally Condie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I HATE Ally Condie’s writing style. DETEST it. I am glad that LG and I listened to this book on tape because it helped me pin-point why she is so annoying to me. She is so flowery. Just write the dang book already. I don’t want your poetry ruining my story. I know that may sound mean, and it probably is but it’s not like I’m ever going to meet the lady. Let’s make this clear. I love poetry. I will even take a little of it from time to time in my fiction, but just not on every page. Condie literally gets in the way of her story. That has to be some kind of author no-no.

I read the first book in the series “Matched” a while back on the reference of a friend. I wasn’t crazy about it, I think I rated it three stars. The concept is great, but her writing is just so tedious. I skipped the second one “Crossed” all together and never intended to revisit the serious. However my hubby really liked it and so I let him catch me up on the story-line from book 2 so that we could do book 3 together. We had 24 hours in the car to experience this book together and both my hubby and I would look over at each other with frustration when Condie would go off on her tangents.

Overall, I love the dystopian type story and the characters were great, but I personally just can’t get past the flowery overdramatic inserts all over the place. I also hate it that she tries to be all metaphorical with the “Pilot.” I think it is super distracting and I am impatient with my story-receiving.

I am writing this review without finishing the last 3 chapters so I may come back and tell you I loved the end and it redeemed the rest, but I doubt it. I also hate Condie’s timing. She draws out parts of the stories that aren’t important and seems to skip over the parts that the reader is invested in.

View all my reviews

Book Review: The Woman He Married

The Woman He Married by Julie N. Ford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book after reading the sequel “No Holly for Christmas.” I had no idea that this book existed when reading the other or I would have done it the other way around. I prefer to read in sequential order. However, reading in the wrong order actually didn’t take anything away from either book, they are that loosely related, especially in the story-line.

“No Holly for Christmas” focuses on Josie’s x-boyfriend Brian, and this book focuses on Josie. Even though Julie Ford warned me that her second book seemed to have better reviews, I equally enjoyed both books. There wasn’t the mystery in “The Woman He Married” like in “No Holly for Christmas”, but both books have something different to offer.

This book was a great read for me. It focused heavily on Josie’s conflict between being a good mom and pursuing her legal career, a storyline in which every mother out there can relate. I personally enjoyed Ford’s exploration of Josie’s troubled marriage. It’s no wonder to me that she wrote with the perspective of a former marriage and family therapist. In fact, that is the the second best thing I appreciate about Ford’s writing. She writes smart. She knows her stuff, especially interpersonal relations.

The thing I love the most about Ford’s writing is her humor. It is subtle, but it’s in there. For instance, here is one of my favorite lines from the book describing Josie’s solution to throwing a dinner party at the last minute: “Relgious or not, at that very moment Josie was pretty sure there was a god, and that God wanted her to go to Costco.” Any mother with more than one child completely gets that line and finds it to be the best kind of humor: honest.

Once again Julie Ford left me a true fan. I’m glad we are facebook friends now so I can be sure to know of and buy a copy of every one of her future books.

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Book Review: The Epic Tales of a Misfit Hero

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review,
but as always all opinions are unbiased.

The Epic Tales of a Misfit Hero by Matt Peterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I received this book in the mail, I quickly snuck a peek at the first chapter and I was immediately sucked into the life of the misfit hero (a.k.a Andrew), the newest Mormon deacon with an issue of “deacon’s collar.” From the first few pages and the way author Matt Peterson described Andrew’s frustration with how his tie always peeked out from under his collar while passing the sacrament at church, I knew that this guy would be fun to read. And I was right. Of course.

I hope Matt Peterson plans to take Andrew on many more adventures because I think every aspiring Mormon deacon out there(and behives)should tag along. This story was suspenseful and inspiring. It was also funny and oh so true. I loved the way that all the characters were portrayed and could imagine all kinds of kids that I know personally in each one. My only critique for future books is that the author try to write in a way that wouldn’t leave Non-Mormons confused. Peterson’s cute stories should be able to resonate with every child and sometimes the “Mormon references” might leave a non-Mormon reader confused.

Although I originally thought this book would be great for a 12 year old audience, after reading I think it would better suit an 8-10 year old reader. (I admit my kids are pretty advanced readers though so if your kids aren’t then adjust the best reader’s age accordingly) That being said, I can still see my 13 year old daughter who reads at a college level enjoying this story as much as I did.

For me the best part of this story was absolutely the plain and simple truth that all readers can’t help but grapple with: “the fulness of the gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and simple unto the ends of the earth.” It was absolutely exhilarating to peek inside the main character’s heart as he pondered on this idea that was presented to him by a Scout leader during a campfire. It was also wonderful to see how this short and simple sermon affected Andrew in such a profound way.

As a reader, peeking inside my own heart to think about what God has been able to accomplish through me, one of His weak and simple, was also a highlight of this book. Isn’t that what they say makes great writing, when the reader can relate to the story? And it’s even better when the reader can learn about them-self through the story. Thank you Matt Peterson. Well done.

Check out Matt Peterson’s Facebook page
I do believe we will be hearing a lot more from him.
Purchase the book on Amazon

View all my reviews

Book Review: No Holly For Christmas + Giveaway details

No Holly for Christmas by Julie N. Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Romantic Mystery. I do believe this is the first time I have ventured into this genre. Perhaps it is the first time I have heard of this genre. Would that make me seem illiterate if I admit it? While on a date with my hubby a few weeks back I told him how much I enjoyed this romantic mystery. He turned to me perplexed and made me laugh when he asked, “is that really a genre, romantic mystery?” Nothing like a good man to make you feel smarter than you are.

Anyhow,”No Holly for Christmas” was a great first romantic mystery. It made me wanting more of the genre and more out of my life: more romance and more mystery, if you know what I mean. Sometimes books like this can be a bad thing, especially as you walk out of Target with your husband of 15 years. So NOT romantic or mysterious. It’s a good thing he can still make me laugh and feel smart.

Enough about me. This book was really great. After reading No Holly for Christmas I was double super pleased. As I was reading I wondered why I had never heard of the book before. It really was a fantastic read. I loved Julie Ford’s writing style. It was perfectly descriptive and fast paced. It was clean and clear. It was also romantic and mysterious. Imagine that.

I am trying to figure out who to give this book to for Christmas as it will make a perfect read for so many of my friends and family, especially the ladies who are wanting more after their 50 Shades of Grey. (Make clear: I would never read 50 Shades of Grey, but a lot of my friends have) They now are waiting for that next best romantic novel, and I do believe they would all really like this one. It was a great adult version of happily ever after. I loved the ending. I loved the characters. I loved how the plots played out. I loved the feel-good portions (there were many) and the slight focus on overcoming our psychological hang-ups (we all have to do it).

Short synopsis. Holly, a recently widowed single mom socialite turned social worker, gets entangled into a dangerous situation: more than one murderer is after her. Brian, a defense attorney turned deputy DA at his sick father’s (DA) request, has now found it part of his job to look after Holly. Holly’s gay sister Margo is Brian’s new partner and the Judge of the small town is married to Brian’s longtime love Josie. If that isn’t enough of a web for you, there are plenty of other fascinating characters to attach to: Holly’s controlling mom, the sleazy other guy at the DA’s office, Brian’s mom who wants nothing but grandchildren, Holly’s two new neighbors/girlfriends who are living the dream in the suburbs, or Holly’s two daughters.

Will the beautiful and mysterious Holly help Brian finally get over his married x-girlfriend? His past two wives weren’t able to do the trick. Will Brian help Holly break out of her perfect shell? Probably. But the only way you will know is if you read the book. Before you do, just like you do before going to watch that newest romantic comedy major motion film, brace yourself to want more romance and mystery in your life. Otherwise your husband may need to all of the sudden grow an incredibly amazing sense of humor and compliment your mind at the same time to make up for the date to Target.

Oh, after looking through goodreads just now, I just found out that this book is a follow up on another book. I never like to start in the middle of a series, but I liked this so much I will for sure be heading over to purchase the first book “The Woman He Married” as soon as I get some extra cash.

View all my reviews

The best news yet. There’s also a giveaway

You can purchase this book for .99 ebook from Barnes&Noble or at Amazon.

That is a steal. Seriously. I can’t believe they are offering it that cheap.

When you do purchase, you can also be entered to win a $25.00 Barnes&Noble giftcard if you e-mail your confirmation number to Steph&Jules bloggers@vbooktours.com by November 1^st.

And for those of you that are way too cheap to fork over even .99 on one of the best book’s I’ve read this year, there are two additional ways to win a free copy.

Enter to win a free hard copy and/or ebook of No Holly for Christmas when you do one and/or both of the following between Tuesday, October 29^thand Thursday, November 1st:

Like Julie N. Ford on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/JulieNFord.Author?ref=hl
or
Follow Julie N. Ford on Twitter https://twitter.com/JulieNFord

Book Review – Daring Greatly

This is a paid for review as part of BlogHer BookClub.

Getting paid to read a book that I would have been

snatching off the shelf anyhow is a very proud moment for me.

Do you want to change the world?

Do you want to have more powerful interpersonal relationships?

Do you want to explore into your own soul

to make sense of your life?

Do you want to live whole-hearted?

Do you want to rid yourself from shame?

Do you want to understand men and women better?

Do you want to give your heart a hug?

I thought I would do something different this time and give you a list of questions for this book review. This book is so jam-packed with the “hard stuff” that I don’t even want to dare pretend that I get it all. I will be reading it repeatedly until I have absorbed and memorized every nugget of wisdom. I wish every other person on the planet would do the same. It would seriously bring world peace and most certainly would give everyone inner peace. I’m not kidding, It’s that powerful.

I was proud to be a part of this book campaign. I was thrilled. I mean I jumped up and down when I got the e-mail confirmation and cooked a fancy dinner for my family when it arrived in the mail. I have been pouring over its pages and sharing parts with my hubby every chance I get. I have compromised my facebook relationships with the overabundance of quotes from this book. I just can’t stop. It’s too totally amazing not to share. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. If you don’t want to buy your own copy, borrow mine. I can’t share it though for at least another month until I have it memorized.

I had a powerful experience at work last night, using the principles learned in this book. I was substitute teaching a class at the therapeutic boarding school where I work. I gave the kids a reward for every half an hour of hard work. We listened to a song of their choice (with my approval). One boy chose a powerfully emotional song about a girl who wanted to be with her dying boyfriend forever. I loved it. Another boy in the class didn’t. He started to shame the song choice kid. I stopped him and talked with the whole class about “shaming” and talked with them about giving people space to be who they are, even if they are wrong or different. I then turned to the shamer, and told him how much I loved him and admired him and that I would hope other people would give him space to love what he loved. He got teary-eyed. He turned to the other kid and said, “Dude, I am so sorry, I don’t like that song, but it’s cool if you do.”

World peace, people. World peace.

A huge thanks to marriage counselor friend John Morgan who turned me on to Brene Brown just months ago. He shared with me her talks from Ted. I was hooked. Brene is a researcher and has a PHD and LMSW. Her life’s work is shame and vulnerability. Here are her videos. Watch them both. Come back if you have to. They will make you understand why you need to read this book. Even if you aren’t into that psychological mumbo-jumbo, you need to be.

Guest Post: Sonja Herbert

Remember the book review I did for Carnival Girl?

I know it’s been a while, but I really did love the book and I wanted to give you all your own inside scoop about the author Sonja Herbert who has so generously offered to guest post.

Isn’t she so cute?

In my previous blog post, I mentioned how much I struggled with Sonja’s mother’s negativity in motherhood. I think Sonja gave me a greater appreciation for her mom with this write-up.

When I was a little girl, traveling in our small carnival caravan, I often listened to my mother talking
about how she used to be a model in Berlin, the greatest city of Europe, and how she had to leave and
hire on with the circus in order to stay ahead of the Nazis.

During the few times we carnival children attended school, I once received an A for a story about a
Greek myth I had written, and on that day I decided to write about my mother’s life when I grew up.

All through the time I raised my six children here in the U.S.A., this thought was with me, and when the
younger ones were a bit older, I started on my mother’s story. As the story unfolded, I realized that it
would not be complete unless I also told my own story, the story of my childhood and my life with my
mother.

Life in the caravan growing up with Mutti.

And that’s how Carnival Girl began. I originally called it Conversations with Margot (my mother’s first
name), but since the novel I wrote about her life isn’t quite finished yet, I decided to re-name the
memoir and publish it first.

As I wrote the memoir and remembered the things that happened in my early life, old feelings returned,
and I had to confront the childish assumptions of my younger self. Now, as a grown woman, I am able
to see things I had not seen as a little girl, and when my memoir was finished, I had a new insight and
understanding for my mother, who had suffered so much and still came out ahead.

My mother, Margot, is now ninety-one years old. She lives in Stuttgart, Germany, and is still going
strong!

Thank you Mutti, for everything you have taught me!

Thank you Sonja for sharing even more
of your insight with us.

Book Review: The First Husband

This is a paid for review for the BlogHer BookClub, but all opinions expressed are my own, of course.

In short, this would be a great book to read by the pool this summer.

The First Husband by Laura Dave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

About 175 pages into this 242 page book, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to say that I liked it. (If the end doesn’t satisfy me, I have a hard time putting my stamp of approval on the book)The romantic plot seemed to be heading in a direction that I wasn’t going to like. The main character Annie Adams, a LA based travel writer, wasn’t certain if marrying her “first husband” Griffin (who I adored) was the right choice. She was wondering if she rushed into things and whether or not she should get out and give her x-boyfriend Nick another try.

I will end the peek into the story there, as sharing the book the cover is almost too “spolier” for my taste. I won’t even tell you if I liked the ending because those of you that know me well, will know what happened. I will tell you that I really enjoyed the book. It took me a good 100 pages or so to really get into it, but I loved the book. I loved the characters and I loved the tidbits of wisdom in regards to loving the one you choose. I also loved the secondary sharing of travel logging and the knowledge shared in regards to beautiful places in the world to enjoy.

I related to Annie and her broken stubborn superstitious confused self. I think most women will, happily married or not. Here’s a quote of hers from the book that could have come straight out of mouth: (Well, that is, if I have ever traveled anywhere but the United States.)

“Eight inches. ….(he) was eight inches away. I’d traveled clear around the world twice. I’d been to Dubai three times; Hong Kong, four. I’d found the tiniest town in New Zealand, which takes three days to get to by boat, and then, only if you know exactly where you are going.

I could get as far away as possible.

And still. I couldn’t figure out how to move eight lousy inches toward the person I needed most.”

I think this is a great book. I highly recommend it. (there is a little language for those of you easily offended) I proudly review it just in time for summer. It will be a great companion on a plane, to the pool, or perhaps best in the middle of nowhere.

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To learn more about this book or the author Laura Dave
or join the BlogHer bookclub discussions, go here.

Book Review: You Have No Idea

This is a paid review for BlogHer.
I was compensated for this review, but money could never rob me from my truthful opinion.

I will give one lucky and random chosen commenter my dog-eared copy of this book.
Leave me your e-mail address please along with the best advice your mother ever gave you.
I will choose the winner on Mother’s Day.

You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss by Vanessa Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“I was upset. I was frustrated. But I didn’t want to kill myself, as was reported. I look back at stories and headlines written about me at the time. They’d say things like ‘Vanessa’s dark days or Vanessa’s hit rock bottom.’ I knew it would be tough, but I also never doubted I would succeed. When you know this, you don’t have dark days, you don’t hit rock bottom. You just have days when you want to scream at people: ‘You have no idea what I can do!'” I just love this quote by Vanessa no page 66.

Vanessa Williams is an extremely talented American icon. After reading this book, I have no doubt that the reasons she has accomplished all that she has are her determination and confidence, her God-given talent, and her wonderful parents. I really enjoyed this book. I don’t follow pop culture very much, but I remember so vividly when our first black Miss America was robbed of her title. I really enjoyed reading Vanessa’s side of the story. I also enjoyed reading about all that Vanessa has accomplished including Broadway, TV, and a successful recording career: all while also being a caring and involved mother of 4.

Perhaps the best of this book, the part that really made it unique, was that all the stories were told from the perspective of Vanessa and her mother. This was my favorite part. I loved their dynamics, I truly related to their mother/daughter relationship from page 1. When Vanessa was a girl her mother told her to never ride doubles on a bike, she did, and she was severely hurt. Funny, same thing happened to me. Everyone needs a mother like Helen and everyone should listen to her, and if they don’t believe me then they should read this book and learn from Vanessa’s mistakes.

View all my reviews

Go on over to BlogHer’s bookclub page to join the discussion.