Stitch Fix Saturday

I got both this skirt and top. (The shoes are mine – Stitch Fix doesn’t have shoes – yet.) I love how pencil skits fit on me and this skirt is no exception. It has an elastic waist which is nice – very forgiving. It’s also pretty thickly lined so it could be worn year-round by adding some tights in the winter. I don’t know if I’d actually wear this top with it – it’s cream and the stripe in the skirt is white. I like the top just for what it is though. It’s sheer so I’m wearing a white cami underneath. What do you think about the shirt/skirt combo – can they be worn together?

Up next is this green sweater. Of course being a red-head I LOVE to wear green. (Jeans and shoes are mine.) It’s a fairly open weave. My stylist suggested wearing a contrasting tank underneath. I’m wearing a purple tank from my closet. That’s another awesome thing about Stitch Fix – since you are trying on the clothes at home you can coordinate with items from your own closet to see how the piece would fit into your wardrobe. I liked this sweater because it’s a basic piece that I can wear casually or dressy depending on what I wear on the bottom.

I really wanted to like this jacket. It’s olive green which is one of my favorite colors and it has an asymmetrical zipper which is unusual and cool. But it just didn’t drape right. See how puffy it is when I stand to the side. Kinda makes me look pregnant and I do not want that!

This necklace was the last item in my box. I specifically asked my stylist – yes you can make requests! – for a mint statement necklace to go with this dress, which I received in my last fix. This is what she sent. I really liked how it went with the dress but I didn’t think it was quite bold enough and it was pretty pricey for what I usually spend on jewelry.

By now you can probably guess what I kept – the skirt, the cream top and the green sweater. The necklace and jacket I sent back in the convenient pre-paid envelope that came in my box. Easy-peasy!

If you’d like to sign up to start getting your own Stitch Fix boxes, please click here. I do get a referral credit. And when you sign up, you can start getting credits too to help with what will quickly become an obsession! If you have any questions, just leave a comment.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

Someone was excited to receive the latest Diary of Wimpy Kid book in the mail today.

Thowback Thursday Book Review: Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary

Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary
Original Publication Date: 1952
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Beverly Cleary. My mom read the books, then read gave her books to me to read and now I’m giving them to my son to read. I read this book out loud with my son. Even though he’s perfectly capable of reading by himself, he loves the snuggle time of reading with mama.

This was a fun little book. Each chapter finds Henry trying a different tactic to earn enough money to buy himself a bicycle. Beezus helps him but definitely has a supporting role in the book – it isn’t really Henry and Beezus as best buddies like the title implies. Beezus always has her annoying little sister tagging along – a little preview of how ornery she’ll be in her own books.
My son and I loved comparing life in the 50s when this book was first published to life today. For instance, Henry sells gum to his friends at two pieces for a penny. A bag of chips cost a dime. My son thought this astounding but he knew this was a REALLY long time ago because his mom wasn’t even born yet.

I loved the wholesomeness of this book. That the kids in it were basically nice and said things like “jeepers”. No one was sassy to their parents like in so many middle-grade books today. This is a great book to read and discuss with your middle grade reader.

Other books I’ve reviewed by Beverly Cleary:
Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the Pest

The first Thursday of every month I host Throwback Thursdays. If you you’d like to share a post from the past week about a book from “back in the day”, feel free to grab the button for your post and and link up below. Be sure and link directly to your post, not your blog’s home page. Thanks!

For more reviews of books for children and teens, check out Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection, posted on Saturdays. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, you can go to her site to leave a comment and your link .

Book Review: Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
Publisher: Vintage
Paperback Release Date: May 29, 2012
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war, sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky coast, with one tree bearing the initials “A.H.” At the cottage, built by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath the surface.

As three generations of Kelleher women descend on the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago.

By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.

After reading all the glowing reviews of Maine when it first came out a couple of years ago, I finally got around to reading (listening to) it. I’m so glad I did. Sullivan shows herself to be an expert at character development. The characters are richly and carefully written. Things that happened to Alice as a girl have a major impact on her life as a mother and grandmother and we are shown clearly how she came to be the person she is now, in her 80s. Other characters are written the same way.

I liked how Sullivan showed how differently people interpret other’s actions. Someone thinks that someone else prefers to eat alone and therefore doesn’t invite them to dinner while the uninvited person wonders why she was snubbed. Sullivan is able to weave these kinds of misunderstandings in expertly, and sometimes unexpectedly.

Another thing I liked was that historical events were included and accurately described. I can’t say too much about that without giving up a major plot point.

This book was real life through and through. Although I’m usually a fan of tidy endings, I loved how in this case, some things were left hanging. Because in real life, not everything wraps up at the same time.

Maine is definitely a must read.

Note on the audio book: I found the narration pleasant and the different characters each had their own distinct voice. The only concern that I had was that the narrator used a Boston accent for Alice’s dialogue. I checked with a friend who has a print copy and Alice’s accent is not written phonetically in the book. In the audio I found it distracting because I didn’t think the narrator’s accent was that great. I also wondered why Alice had the accent but her children, who had been born and raised in Boston did not.

Other books I’ve reviewed by J. Courtney Sullivan:
The Engagements

Book Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: October 22, 2013
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

***This review will contain spoilers from the first two books in the series but not for this book***

I procrastinated writing this review therefore it won’t be as detailed as I would have liked it to be. I apologize for that.

Allegiant is told in alternating first person by both Tris and Tobias. It turned out to be really confusing because Tris and Tobias’s inner voices are almost exactly the same. At some point in most of the chapters I had to look back to the beginning of the chapter to see who was narrating.

Tris and her friends finally learn the reason that the factions were created. I found this reason confusing and convoluted . It made me wonder if Roth had outlined the entire trilogy before she started with Divergent.

(My 10 year old son read the trilogy too. I asked him what he thought about it and he said he wondered what was going on in other countries while the experiment in Chicago was going on. I, too wondered what was going on in other countries and cities. Usually dystopian books at least make mention of what is happening in the rest of the world. Not a major point but that was a 10 year old’s thought.)

I knew before I started reading Allegiant that the ending was controversial. It was a love/hate situation with Divergent fans. I have to say that the ending didn’t bother me. It seemed like a realistic ending from my perspective. Of course there are probably other endings that would have been realistic as well but this one satisfied me.

Even though I have a lot of criticism for this book, I’m glad I read it at least for the sake of closure. It wasn’t all bad, it’s just that the problems with it were the ones that stuck in my head after waiting so long to write this review. It was disappointing that after the awesomeness of Divergent, each of the following books were progressively not as awesome. I’m interested to see how this will play out in terms of the movies. They could easily end up being movies that are better than the books if tweaks are made. We shall see.

My reviews of the first two books in this trilogy:

Divergent
Insurgent

Author Event: Jim Gaffigan – Food: A Love Story

Yesterday, my local indie bookstore, Rainy Day Books, hosted A Conversation With Jim Gaffigan. Jim was there live and in person. Rainy Day Books owner Vivien Jennings interviewed him about his new book Food: A Love Story.

The interview was really Vivien asking leading questions that would prompt Gaffigan into doing one of his familiar bits about food. His bits are hilarious no matter how many times I’ve  heard them. And he did have some new stuff as well, like his map of foods across the country, which is in the book. I was glad that’s how the interview went – I was apprehensive before I got there, afraid that the interview format wouldn’t be as funny as his stand-up but happily that was not the case.

I loved that he said Oklahoma Joe’s, one of Kansas City’s iconic barbeque places, is in the book. He eats there most every time he comes to Kansas City and loves it.

When I went up to have his book signed to my husband (as a thank you to him for moving heaven and earth to find the kids somewhere to go so that I could attend the event), I told Jim about the time that I was in the hospital the week of his show and I told all my doctors and nurses that I had to be discharged in time to make it there. I did get discharged in time and tweeted about how happy that made me.  Jim favorited my tweet. I told him that even though I’m sure he doesn’t remember doing that,  it totally made my day. So this is how he inscribed the book:

(Travis, your wife is great!)

Jim Gaffigan is my favorite comedian and I’m thrilled that I was lucky enough to meet him. I can’t wait to read Food: A Love Story.

TSS: Happy Halloween!

Another Halloween has come and gone. I love Halloween. Every year we have a Halloween party for all the kids in the kid’s classes complete with a very scary haunted house in our basement:

The entrance

West was hiding behind the zombie making scary noises with a drill

Spooky skeleton playing piano

Cash jumped up in this trash can wearing his evil jester costume

Dracula in his coffin

This witch was on a pulley and dropped down in the victim’s – I mean visitor’s face

The kids’ costumes ran the gamut of scariness.

You just saw an Elsa costume so you can take a drink!

NaBloPoMo – Get ready!

What is NaBloPoMo? It’s a challenge to post to one’s blog  every day in November. I thought accepting the challenge would be the perfect way to get me out of my blogging rut. I’ve only been putting up one to two posts a week! I’m going to try and make all the posts somehow book related but I might have to go off topic for a few posts.

If there are any topics you’d like to see a post on, let me know in the comments. Are you participating in NaBloPoMo? Let me know that too so I can follow your posts. Here we go! (And yes, this post counts!)

Forbidden by Kimberly Griffiths Little Pre-Order Giveaway!

On November 4th, HarperCollins unveils Forbidden, a seductive YA debut from award-winning middle grade author Kimberley Griffiths Little. Forbidden transports readers back in time to the deadly deserts and sweltering heat of Ancient Mesopotamia for a tale of danger, duty, and forbidden love. Jayden is on the brink of womanhood and betrothed to her tribe’s prince, cold-hearted Horeb. But when tragedy strikes, Jayden meets Kadesh, a mysterious visitor from the south who makes Jayden doubt everything she knows. Torn between loyalty to her tribe and the chance to escape her fate, Jayden must make a choice that will change her life forever.

Kimberley is also offering a HUGE preorder giveaway from October 6th to November 4th (release day!) to celebrate. See below for full details on how to enter.

TO ENTER:

• You must preorder Forbidden through an online retailer or your local bookstore, then email a photo of your receipt to forbiddengiveaway@gmail.com.
• Fill out the rafflecopter below
• US/Canada Only
• Ends at midnight EST on November 3, 2014
• Optional entries: share the trailer on your own site or social media, follow Kimberley on twitter, and tweet about the giveaway (can be repeated daily for extra entries!)
• Winners will be announced and contacted November 4th (release day!)
• If the winner does not respond with their mailing address within one week, a new winner will be chosen.

PRIZES:

7. Jeweled bookmark (not pictured)

(13) RUNNERS-UP WINNERS:

1. Red Middle Eastern Earrings

2. “Will YOU risk it all?” button (not pictured)

3. Set of 10 Book Club Cards

4. Jeweled bookmark (not pictured)

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Preorder: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

About Forbidden: In the unforgiving Mesopotamian desert where Jayden’s tribe lives, betrothal celebrations abound, and tonight it is Jayden’s turn to be honored. But while this union with Horeb, the son of her tribe’s leader, will bring a life of riches and restore her family’s position within the tribe, it will come at the price of Jayden’s heart.

Then a shadowy boy from the Southern Lands appears. Handsome and mysterious, Kadesh fills Jayden’s heart with a passion she never knew possible. But with Horeb’s increasingly violent threats haunting Jayden’s every move, she knows she must find a way to escape—or die trying.

With a forbidden romance blossoming in her heart and her family’s survival on the line, Jayden must embark on a deadly journey to save the ones she loves—and find a true love for herself.

Set against the brilliant backdrop of the sprawling desert, the story of Jayden and Kadesh will leave readers absolutely breathless as they defy the odds and risk it all to be together.

Follow Kimberley:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

About Kimberley: Award-winning author Kimberley Griffiths Little was born in San Francisco, but now lives in New Mexico on the banks of the Rio Grande with her husband and their three sons. Her middle-grade novels, When the Butterflies Came, The Last Snake Runner, The Healing Spell, and Circle of Secrets, have been praised as “fast-paced and dramatic,” with “beautifully realized settings.” Kimberley adores anything old and musty with a secret story to tell. She’s stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland; sailed the Seine in Paris; ridden a camel in Petra, Jordan; shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria. You can visit her online at www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com.

Share your thoughts on the trailer in the comments!

Book Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: Plume
Paperback Release Date: March 27, 2012
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

I picked up this book right after I finished Landline because I am seriously in love with Rainbow Rowell. I almost moved on to Fangirl right after I finished Attachments but decided to wait so I can spread my Rainbow love out over a longer time period.

I found Attachments to be a unique story of unrequited love. (By the way, this story takes place in 1999 so long emails exchanged between friends instead of texting or instant messaging is realistic.) Lincoln’s job is to read emails that are marked with specific words that are no-nos, like sex, porn, etc. When Beth and Jennifer’s emails get red-flagged, he finds that enjoys reading their funny banter and decides not to send them a warning. Before he knows it, he’s reading all of their emails to each other. And without having ever seen her face, he’s falling in love with Beth. Unfortunately, she has a boyfriend. And it would be creepy if he introduced himself, “Hi, I’ve been reading your email.”

The banter between Beth and Jennifer IS laugh-out-loud funny. But, it’s balanced by the fact that they both have a serious side as well. Not everything in their lives is going the way they planned and sometimes humor is what gets them through their problems. Lincoln is sad and kind of pathetic but not in an annoying way. I wanted to give him a big hug and tell him that everything was going to be okay. And then ask him to be MY boyfriend. Rainbow writes such awesome male characters, it’s a shame they aren’t actual people.

All throughout reading this book, I kept thinking, how is this going to end? There can’t possibly be a way for this book to have a happy ending. It was a bit like reading a mystery novel that way that way and kept me riveted. Does it have a happy ending? You’ll have to read it to find out!

Other books I’ve reviewed by Rainbow Rowell:
Landline
Eleanor and Park