Loving Frank

Have you read Nancy Horan’s Loving Frank?  If not, go immediately to the bookstore or Amazon.com and buy it…then go home and start reading it.  I started reading about Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright’s love affair two weeks ago.  But then with the job change and a million other things going on, I didn’t have much leisure reading time.  Well, thanks in part to my June cold and taking way too much daytime Aleve Cold & Sinus, I couldn’t sleep last night.  Instead, I finished the last 300 or so pages.  And it was unbelievable.  Horan writes so beautifully – with perfect attention to detail – she doesn’t go overboard.

That’s all I’m saying.  I’m giving the book to Gabby tomorrow so she can read it and then I’ll reveiw/discuss it.  I can’t wait…that book is seriously historical fiction at its best!

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

June Book Club isn’t until the end of the month, but I already finished the book…new record!  The Shack, by Wm. Paul Young isn’t like the books I typically read.

My family wasn’t very religious growing up.  I was raised to believe in God, and I do, but other than attending one week of bible camp each summer from kindergarten to fifth grade and going to church occasionally with friends, I never have really been exposed to structured religion.

The Shack starts out with the main character Mack facing a deep depression, the great sadness, over his youngest daughter Missy’s brutal kidnapping and murder.  It’s about three years after it happened, and him and his family (wife Nan who is deeply religious and their four other children) aren’t doing that well.  Then one snowy, icy day, Mack receives a note telling him to meet God in the Shack – which was the place the police found the evidence of Missy’s murder (her body had never been recovered).

Mack, not sure if it was a prank, the killer seeking him out, or somehow God himself, decides he has to go find out.  I won’t ruin the story that follow for you – but basically Mack meets God, Jeasus and the Holy Spirit and through a long process, finally comes to terms with what happened to Missy, his own bad relationship with his father and Missy’s killer himself.

This is written as a true story.  From the transformation of the forest into a magical and heavenly garden where God appears to Mack as a heavy-set black woman to walking on water across a lake with Jesus, it’s all supposed to be told exactly as Mack remembers it.

I’m not going to lie…I have a big problem beileive all of it.  It’s magical and fantasy-like…I guess maybe I’m more of a realist.  I do believe the underlying themes of the book:  God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit love you and area always with you and turning to them in a time of deep emotional need can really help – just like it can at any other point in time.

It did make me think some about my own life and especially how I judge people (there’s a whole chapter on how Mack meets a judge-type person who I’m not familiar with), and I should pobably work on that.  Overall the book was interesting…I couldn’t really put it down because I did want to find out how everything was resolved.  The book’s ending wraped up a little too neatly for me, and that may be adding to my speculation as to whether the whole story is true or not.

An interesting note about the book, it’s a NY Times best-seller with more than five million copies in print.  The book’s success stemmed primarily from word-of-mouth marketing – the book was launched with only a $200 marketing campaign.  And now, it seems, it’s become somewhat of a phenomenom.

Have you read Friday Night Knitting Club? Don’t waste your time.

I love a good book.  When I get into a book, I read non stop until I finish.  May’s book club book is Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.  I had heard of the book and even thought about buying it a few times, but my “want to read” reading list expands much faster than I can keep up with!

I started reading it and immediately was drawn into the story; Kate did a great job creating the characters and making you feel like you were right there in the Walker Daughter knitting shop.  You felt their pain and struggles and rooted for them.  I was on team Georgia and wanted her to be happy…finally…because she deserved it.

And then I got to the end.  What I thought was one of the best books I’d read in awhile turned out to be one of the worst.  (Spoiler alert…if you haven’t read it and for some reason want to waste a bunch of time, stop reading now.)  Now, I understand that every story can’t – and shouldn’t – have a happy ending, but dear God, why on earth would someone want to read about a senseless tragedy?  Just as poor Georgia Walker is finding true happiness and having things fall into place, she not only gets cancer but she dies.  And she dies so unexpectedly…I thought she was getting better!!!!

Ok, so yes, this kind of sad, devastating chain of events happens all of the time…but I don’t need to depress myself through a book.  I read to escape and get lost in other people’s worlds.  There are sad endings to stories that are good and make sense, and this one just completely pissed me off.  Kate Jacobs you are an idiot.

I’m serious.  I’m the kind of reader that once I get sucked into a good – or even decent – story or character, if there’s a sequel or other related books, I RACE to the bookstore to buy them and start reading right away.  I saw that there was a sequel to this book at the end, and I have no desire to even read the preview to find out what it’s about.

Thanks Kate Jacobs….for taking a really great story and wonderful characters and totally ruining it.  You could have created a sad tragedy-type ending without killing Georgia.

I can’t wait for book club

Dark at the Roots

This month, my book club is reading Dark at the Roots by Sarah Thyre.  I only got to page 88.  It’s a memior about a girl growing up in the South.  Sarah writes well, but I just had an issue because I didn’t know where she was going with anything…the points of all of her stories were really unclear, so I didn’t finish it.

Book club should be fun though tonight.  We’ve gotten more people interested in it…last month there were I think 10 of us there.  It’s nice to get together with friends like this…even if I won’t really be participating in book talk

Book Review: I was told there’d be cake

September’s book club book was Sloane Crosley’s I was told there’d be cake.  I was so excited because I had been wanting to read this book forever.  The title was witty, she was compared to David Sedaris and it was on the NY Times bestseller list.  What more is there to want?

How about a book that doesn’t infuriate you?  When I got to book club last night, the first thing I said was that I wanted to strangle Sloane Crosley.  She took a perfectly good idea, fantastic title, somewhat decent essay topics and completely ruined it all.  Her writing was wordy, repetitive and lacked focus.  She went on and on and on and on about the most mundane things.  Perhaps if she would have written more concisely, the book would have been more witty or made sense or something.

And, all she did was bitch and complain.  She bitched up a storm about an old friend who called to ask her to be in her wedding…which turned into a stint as a maid of honor.  The way she told it and the many ways obvious to anyone with a brain that she could have gotten out of the situation or made it better for herself left me without any sympathy whatsoever for her. 

The chapter about her really pathetic and unsuccessful attempts to have a one night stand was also drawn out way too long and unbelievable.  As Gaby put it, she could have had “five one night stands a night with five different extremely hot guys” when she lived in NYC.  So, what is this Sloane person’s problem?

From reading this book – and I admit I skimmed the last few chapters b/c I was so sick of her non-stories – it’s because she’s a bitch and not a nice person…and she prides herself off of that.  She likes the fact that she has no girlfriends.  She treats the friends she does have like crap–and admits it! 

What I can’t understand though is how she has become a NY Times best-selling author.  She doesn’t belong in the same paragraph as David Sedaris.  I really want to ask all of the people who have rave reviews printed inside the paperback version – were you delusional or high when you read this book?  It sucks.  And it wasn’t even a well written shitty book.

The good news is that if Sloane Crosley can be a “successful” published author, it’s looking pretty good for the rest of us.

Tori Spelling to write another book!

As a new Tori Spelling fan, I’m excited that she’s following up sTORI Telling with another memoir! Supposedly it will be about motherhood, and if she writes it in the same conversational, fun and witty style of her first book, it should be pretty entertaining. I just hope there are pictures again!!

My obsession with Chelsea Handler continues

Because I loved Are you there vodka? It’s me Chelsea so much, I ordered her first book, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands.

And once again, I wish Chelsea Handler was my friend. She’s hysterical and seems like she would be so much fun to hang out with….there’d never be a dull moment, that’s for sure!

This book is very easy to read, funny and you just want to keep reading more. She did a really good job pulling it all together at the end, too.

My favorite parts were Simone’s wedding, her cruise with Dumb Dumb and the Valentine’s Day costume party. I wish she was coming to Pittsburgh again.

I might be a Tori Spelling fan

I almost can’t believe I just admitted that.

I loved Beverly Hills 90210. Thanks to SOAPnet, Kelly, Dylan, Steve, David, Donna and the rest of the gang are still a part of my life. It’s not that I ever had an absolute favorite character – I did love Brenda though – but I never liked Donna Martin much – or Tori Spelling, for that matter.

Her character was obnoxiously goody goody, and there was something unbelievable about the way Tori played her. I guess I chalked it up to bad acting and her only getting the job because it was Daddy’s show.

Anyway, I knew about her life thanks to the tabloids and formed my own opinions. Who has a million dollar wedding and then cheats on her husband a a few months later only to divorce him and then marry the other guy – who was also married a the time?!

A few months ago, it was Ang’s turn to choose a book for book club, and she picked sTORI Telling – Tori Spelling’s new memoir. I pre-ordered it from Amazon and had it delivered to work. I read the first three chapters right away (please don’t tell my boss!). It was such an easy read – and very, very funny. The writing style was almost conversational – but not annoyingly so. It was witty. It was honest. And, I couldn’t put it down.

Did I also mention that there were photos? It was basically like an issue of US Weekly, but longer, more focused, and better written. I had a new respect for Tori…just because she was born rich, didn’t mean that things have always been easy for her. She’s made her share of mistakes, but she’s not afraid to laugh at herself.

Yesterday at work, Nora asked me if I’ve seen Tori & Dean Move to Hollywood or whatever their new show on Oxygen is called. I told her that I had it set to record (thank god for DVRs) but hadn’t watched it yet. Last night was kind of a slow night TV-wise, so I decided to check it out.

It was actually entertaining. The one I saw was when they’re starting to look at houses, and Dean dragged a very pregnant and seasick Tori on a scuba diving adventure. First of all, that scuba diving chick that was all flirty with Dean was no Adrianne Curry. She was ugly and really immature. Ugh, she annoyed me. And Second, their baby Liam may be one of the cutest babies ever….I just wanted to squeeze him…he seems so happy, and Tori seems like a good mom.

This is the first time I’ve ever really “seen” Dean as himself, and I wasn’t that impressed. He tries to act much younger than he is and comes across as a bit dorky. But, since my first impressions clearly aren’t always dead on since I’m a new Tori Spelling fan, I’ll give him a little more time.

Back to Reality

Returning to work after a vacation is never fun. This blog pretty much sums up what happens when you return from a long weekend.

My work inbox had 236 unread messages this morning. I was actually surprised there weren’t more…I think a lot of people took time off over the 4th. I only have it down to 79 unread now – and it’s already 2pm. It’s hard to even start to figure out what needs to be accomplished to get your head above water when you spend all morning in meetings. Luckily, my meeting this afternoon was canceled, so perhaps I will be able to start sorting through the mess.

All of that said, I wouldn’t give up one second of my five day paradise vacation in Naples. It was amazing. I didn’t think about work once. There was really, really great food, lots of sun, fun times with family and friends and time to relax.

We found a new favorite restaurant, too – Trulucks, right off of 5th Ave, was good beyond words. My boyfriend can’t stop talking about the quality of the menu – he had a really tough time choosing, but loved his ahi tuna entree and some type of crab as an appetizer. (I don’t eat any type of seafood, so the different kinds of crab choices just flow right over my head.) I had a filet – prepared extra rare, and it is now my second favorite steak in Naples. It was wonderful. And the parmasean mashed potatoes were the best I’ve had in awhile.

I also read 2.5 books – Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger…one of my new romantic comedy favorites. I read Lauren’s first book, The Devil Wears Prada when it was released a few years ago, and liked it, but this one was better. The characters were more developed, the story flowed really well, and the different character perspectives kept me really interested. I am also now completely jealous of her career. The first book she wrote accomplished more than most authors or writers could hope to accomplish in an entire career! Now, she’s written a third, and in my opinion, even better book. Did I mention she’s only 31? Yeah, thinking about that over a birthday weekend marking the near-end of my 20s was not so fun. But it did make me really start thinking about writing a book. I’ve always wanted to be a published author, and there’s no time like the present, right?

The second book, The Last Time I Was Me by Cathy Lamb, was also good. It took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but I kept wanting to find more about the main character and her nervous breakdown, so I kept reading. Then once she was running along the river naked and ran – literally – into a new love interest, I was hooked. The writing was witty and honest, and although the story wrapped up a little too neatly for my tastes, it was a really great story about facing your fears, rediscovering your self and facing a tragic past.

I’m almost finished with Ellen Baker’s Keeping the House. I’ll let you know how I feel about it once I finish.

If only I was still at the pool or beach with a frozen raspberry margarita in hand…

My Book Club

Last night was book club night.  They are always pretty fun, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint.  This month’s book was Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea…if you need about a hundred good laughs, go out and buy this book right now!  My favorite chapter was Prison Break.

There were only four of us there last night.  Pammie, Ang, Gabs and myself.  We spent most of the time last night discussing Gabby’s awful new sister in law, piecing together the events from Saturday’s girls night out and figuring out how we can get Chelsea Handler to be our friend.

We meet at the Library on Carson Street.  It’s a really fun little bar and restaurant.  The food is great, and the wine is even better – although we were all taking it easy last night and ordered diet cokes!

Next month’s book, chosen by Gabby, is Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian…I’m going to pick it up before vacation Thursday…it sounds like it will be great!  Hopefully more of our book clubbers will be able to make it.  We’ve only been doing this since January, and I’m really glad we started it.  Not only does it get me to read things I might not otherwise pick up, but I know I’m going to see good friends once a month….and with our busy lives and schedules, that definitely helps.