April 2013

Book Review: Someday, Someday, Maybe

Katie April 30, 2013 0Comment

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a book that is by Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls.  I have to say, I picked this book based on the cover (I love the Brooklyn Bridge) and the fact that Lauren wrote it more so on the plot of the book.

The book follows Franny, who is living in Brooklyn and trying to make it an an actress.  She has created a deadline for herself when she will move on from her dream and try something more practical.  She lives with her best friend Jane and another roomie, Dan.  He left med school to become an aspiring sci-fi novel writer.

The book is funny, though at times seemed to go on forever.  I liked following Franny’s life, from her waitress and catering jobs to her acting classes and how awkward she was at auditions and on set because she was so new to this acting world.

Meanwhile, she ends up dating this guy from her class she really likes, all while stuff starts going on with her roomie Dan (he was engaged, but isn’t any longer) and she really can’t decide if it is a love triangle (or maybe some other shape) or what her feelings are for anyone until she goes to her first big premiere as James’ “date”.

Overall it was a good book, funny and interesting – and it takes place in 1995 – so it was interesting to see a time before cell phones with old answering machines that had tape and references to songs like the Macarena.  How could you be a working aspiring actress without a smart phone!?

I received an e-copy of this book for free from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

From Lauren Graham, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood,comes a witty, charming, and hilariously relatable debut novel about a struggling young actress trying to get ahead―and keep it together―in New York City.

It’s January 1995, and Franny Banks has just six months left of the three-year deadline she set for herself when she came to New York, dreaming of Broadway and doing “important” work. But all she has to show for her efforts so far is a part in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters, and a gig waiting tables at a comedy club. Her roommates―her best friend Jane, and Dan, an aspiring sci-fi writer―are supportive, yet Franny knows a two-person fan club doesn’t exactly count as success. Everyone tells her she needs a backup plan, and though she can almost picture moving back home and settling down with her perfectly nice ex-boyfriend, she’s not ready to give up on her goal of having a career like her idols Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. Not just yet. But while she dreams of filling their shoes, in the meantime, she’d happily settle for a speaking part in almost anything—and finding a hair product combination that works.

Everything is riding on the upcoming showcase for her acting class, where she’ll finally have a chance to perform for people who could actually hire her. And she can’t let herself be distracted by James Franklin, a notorious flirt and the most successful actor in her class, even though he’s suddenly started paying attention. Meanwhile, her bank account is rapidly dwindling, her father wants her to come home, and her agent doesn’t return her calls. But for some reason, she keeps believing that she just might get what she came for.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a story about hopes and dreams, being young in a city, and wanting something deeply, madly, desperately. It’s about finding love, finding yourself, and perhaps most difficult of all in New York City, finding an acting job.

Book Review: Happy Beginnings

Katie April 28, 2013 0Comment

Happy Beginnings is the story of Lorena Bathey.  The book starts with Lorena being told by her husband that he was leaving.  She was shocked and didn’t know what to do.  The book tells about how she overcame this setback of her failed marriage and turned to friends (and vodka) to help herself get through it.  I liked that she was really honest in the book, she takes us through all the steps she went through and how she felt at the time.  I felt like I was at her side throughout the whole ordeal.

After she finds out her husband is leaving, he offers to let her use his flyer miles and she takes a trip to Italy to find herself.  And maybe find love.  And that she does.  She meets a guy named Nicco and they seem to hit it off.  Once she gets back to America, things are still progressing and Nicco is going to come visit.  Her husband wasn’t happy as he was kind of holding out hope she’d go to Italy and come home to be with him again – not come home and be interested in another man.  Things don’t quite work out in this other relationship and Lorena finds herself getting a divorce in her late thirties and trying to figure out how to date again and everything awkward that comes along with that.

Somewhere along the way, she finds out that this was not her unhappy ending but was actually her Happy Beginning!  Lorena stopped waiting around for a fairy godmother to show up and help her out and instead decided to be her OWN fairy godmother.

While I haven’t ever been married so I certainly can’t even begin to know anything about divorce – I really felt like I was involved in everything with how Lorena told her story.  I am also pretty sure there are many, many other women out there who didn’t do anything wrong and as Lorena said in the book – aren’t ogres, but their husbands just decided that they wanted to leave them.  If you know someone going through a divorce, or maybe you yourself are going through one, I recommend this book.  You’ll realize that you are not alone and since Lorena has already been through it all and came out the other end better than ever, you can use her mistakes to learn from and come out better than ever yourself!

Take the wand in to your own hands!

I received a free copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

This is the story how Lorena Bathey started over after her fairy tale marriage failed after eleven years. With the stunning declaration made by her husband that he was leaving, she began a journey where she learned loving, loss, friends and vodka were the road map to finding herself. This is a very open and honest account of how Lorena Bathey struggled to find her inner fairy godmother after being made to start over again. She uses humor and insight into the world of the late-thirty divorcee that will bring chuckles, guffaws or tears. Lorena’s story is her own but one that many women are experiencing at this time. She stopped waiting for her own fairy godmother and took the wand into her own hands! You can too!
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Book Review: 50 Shades of Gay

Katie April 25, 2013 0Comment

 Here I go again with another spin off from the 50 Shades of Grey books.  This book starts out when Matty, who works for a news program, is too sick to do an interview with Taylor Grayson – a hot Hollywood hunk – so he asks his roommate Alex to do it instead.  Alex is tossed in to the room with the cameras and is told he has 4 minutes to do the interview.  It actually reminds me a lot of the Mila Kunis interview that had been going around (when I wrote this and scheduled it – it was news.  Now that this is actually posted it has probably long since been forgotten) with the guy tossed into the interview that ended up talking about his friends and inviting her to a wedding and football match!

Anyway… back to the story.  Taylor is so taken by Alex’s interview that he asks for him to go to his movie premiere and get the exclusive interview with him right after for Matt’s news program.  Alex agrees and takes Matty as his plus one.  Matty and Alex are both gay and are roomies and that’s it. (I guess since the title is Fifty Shades of Gay I didn’t need to mention that, really, but you never know.)

Taylor claims he is not gay, but asks Alex to enter in to a contract with him. (If you’ve read 50 Shades of Grey you know where this is going.)  Alex doesn’t exactly want to, but hangs out with Taylor anyway.  One place he hangs out with Taylor is at a party – where he finds out from Taylor’s publicist that he is actually going to be marrying a model named Natalie and that they would be announcing it very soon on the Tonight Show.  Alex isn’t happy with the news at all, especially with how he finds out about it – not from Taylor.

Some other stuff happens that I don’t want to give away… and Alex is offered a job in New York.  Does he leave Los Angeles and Taylor behind after Taylor took off on him and he thinks its over?  Well, what  Taylor has to say on the Tonight Show may help solidify his decision.

I thought this book was a lot better written than the 50 Shades of Grey books and I really liked the writing style of Jeffrey Self.  I felt like I was in Alex’s head going through everything with him.  The book is also a bit less descriptive than 50 Shades of Grey which I liked as well because let’s face it – 50 Shades of Grey is a bit over the top.  If you enjoyed those books though I think you would really like this one as well, it’s a different dynamic with a guy and a guy involved I think and it makes things more interesting.

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Meeting his celebrity crush was one thing, but even Hollywood could not have written what happened next.

Inspired by E.L. James’ international phenomenon, 50 Shades of Grey, Jeffery Self’s 50 Shades of Gay tells the story of a young celebrity blogger, Alex Kirby, who interviews Taylor Grayson, a superstar leading man in Hollywood blockbuster films. Grayson also happens to be a closeted gay man with a passion for BDSM. When Grayson draws the younger man into his private orbit and initiates him into his sexual world, the younger man can tell that kinky sex has shielded Grayson from having a real emotional connection with another man. But he is head over heels in love with the older, powerful, gorgeous man who has selected him for the pleasures of submission. Ultimately, Alex decides to experiment with the power differential between them, and see if he can break through the armor that Grayson and his layers of Hollywood handlers have imprisoned him in. Will he be able to open Grayson up to real intimacy, or will he cause Grayson to end the relationship and cut himself off yet again?

Jeffery Self is a writer and an actor. He co-created and starred in Jeffery and Cole Casserole on Logo, and has appeared on numerous television shows, includingDesperate Housewives, 90210, Hot in Cleveland, and 30 Rock as Randy Lemon. His book Straight People: A Spotter’s Guide is forthcoming. Follow him on Twitter @JefferySelf. You can also visit him online at Jefferyself.tumblr.com.

Book Review: Farmyard Knits

Katie April 23, 2013 0Comment

Farmyard Knits features everything you need to know on how to make your own Farmyard by knitting.  While I love crafts and this is why I decided to check out this book, I unfortunately don’t know how to knit.  I’ve also never tried it, so maybe it is something to add to my bucket list – to at least give it a try – maybe not attempt at making anything too intricate and see how it goes.  Then maybe in time I can end up with my own barnyard?

The book lists everything that you need to have ready as supplies so that you won’t be missing anything important when you start your project.  It also shows you how to do all sorts of different stitches.  It also touches on crochet (a chain – which I have actually attempted once when my grandmother taught me as a kid!) as well as embroidery.

The pieces in this book are absolutely adorable and if you are a knitter then I definitely suggest you check the book out – especially if you have any children in your life.  You can really make a storybook come to life with all of these great characters in the book!

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Hi-ho, the dairy-o meets knit one, purl one in the latest book of adorable toy knits from best-selling knitting author Fiona Goble.

Fiona Goble’s Farmyard Knits takes you through a day in the life of a farm as knitters of all skill levels create a farmer and his wife, their cat and sheep-herding dog, and a whole host of charming farmyard animals, from the rooster that crows to greet the day, to the cows slowly chewing their cud in the meadow, to the horse eating hay in its paddock, the pigs playing in their pen, the sheep who are herded into the barn as night falls, and a sly fox that prowls around the coop after dark while the hens are snug in their roosts. You can even knit an adorable tractor for the farmer to ride on, as well as a playmat with a variety of fields and a pond to set the scene.

The little farmyard knits make perfect gifts or toys for children as you teach them about animals and life on the farm.  Each pattern begins with a list of materials needed and includes step-by-step instructions, along with full-color photographs of the completed dolls. An illustrated overview explains all the stitches and techniques. More than just a knitting book, the gorgeously illustrated pages of Farmyard Knits also tell the story of the farmer and his wife as they go about their daily chores.