Book Review: The Girlfriend

Katie December 28, 2022 0 Comments

I have to say, I think this book hyped itself a little bit too much in it’s synopsis. I absolutely loved Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train so I was ready for a real psychological thriller.  The Girlfriend took a really, really long time to get anywhere I’d even remotely describe as “thrilling”.  It also probably needed several dozen trigger warnings…

The story begins with Jennifer and her family preparing for a big Halloween party to debut their new house that has just been renovated.  Jennifer’s husband, Cole, stumbles out of the house and takes off without telling anyone, though his son Miller sees him go and tells his mother he thinks his Dad is drunk and took off with the car.  No one seems to think anything of this despite the fact that he had previously lost his license for a year and they continue on with getting things ready for this party.

Shortly after, Jennifer is visited by some police officers who inform her that her husband has been in a car accident and did not survive.  Shortly after that, a woman shows up on her doorstep with a baby and says that she is Cole’s girlfriend and she also is the mother to his son.  After some investigating, Jennifer finds out that Cole was bailed out of near bankruptcy by Sara and her trust fund and now Jennifer has nothing – the home belongs to Sara and so does all her money.

The two decide that Sara and her son will move in with Jennifer and her son and daughter which I think everyone else in the book and the world didn’t think was a good idea… and all sorts of chaos ensues.

The rest of the book is all sorts of twists and turns as Jennifer tries to find out what she didn’t know about Cole, what her son did know and kept from her and what other secrets Sara is hiding.  The police then let the women know that it wasn’t the accident that killed Cole but rather he got struck in the head before his death and that caused the accident.  Now on top of everything else, they want to figure out who it was that actually killed Cole…

While I have to say I didn’t see some of the twists coming, this book just wasn’t it for me.

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

About the Book

My husband’s dead. She’s at my door. She owns my home…

The doorbell rings, just days after my beloved husband’s sudden death. I don’t recognise the woman on our doorstep, with her buttery blonde highlights, a diamond bracelet identical to my own and a bouncing baby boy in her arms.

As I show her inside, I notice her eyes grow wide as she takes in our spacious hallway, and the big squashy sofas that we all used to pile on. She glances at the silver-framed family photos and my little daughter hiding behind my skirts.

She looks at me, her blue eyes serious. ‘I’m sorry’ she says. ‘I know this will be hard to hear. But I am your husband’s girlfriend. And this is his son.’

My world implodes. And then she tells me that she owns our home – and that she’s not going anywhere…

An utterly gripping psychological thriller from the number one bestselling author of The Marriage. If you like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Lisa Jewell then you will be hooked by The Girlfriend.

Book Review: Jill

Katie December 28, 2022 0 Comments

I really didn’t know much about Dr Jill Biden before reading this book, but she seems pretty awesome so I figured I’d give it a go.  My suspicions were confirmed, and she is pretty awesome by all accounts in this book.  I did find it rather odd that a lot of the excerpts were from her autobiography, but I guess that was released before she was First Lady so this biography covers everything the autobiography did and then some.  Quite a roller coaster of a read at times but truly interesting.

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

About the Book

Most Anticipated by Daily Hive

The personal and political life of First Lady Dr. Jill Biden

Dr. Jill Biden has been described as President Joe Biden’s greatest political asset. Like many women of her generation, she holds her commitments as wife, mother and grandmother at the center of her life. She is a professor, earned a doctorate in educational leadership, and taught at Northern Virginia Community College. She broke barriers as First Lady as the first to hold a paying job outside the White House. “Jill” is the story of this accomplished American woman.

From her earliest days dating Senator Biden, to her embrace of Biden’s young sons Beau and Hunter Biden and the birth of their daughter Ashley; her role by Joe Biden’s side through Senate reelection race after Senate reelection race; her years as Second Lady; to Joe’s successful third run for the Democratic presidential nomination, Jill has lived in the public eye. In this deeply reported biography, Julie Pace and Darlene Superville of The Associated Press, along with writer Evelyn M. Duffy, reveal some of the private sides of Jill Biden. We come to better understand her personality, which has held the Biden family together through tragedy and good fortune alike.

Book Review: Playing Through the Pain

Katie December 28, 2022 0 Comments

Playing Through the Pain is about Ken Caminiti’s Career in baseball.  While his career was a bit before my time following the sport, I certainly know about the impact that his confession had by being the first player to confess about having using steroids while playing the game.  This book gives an entire backstory on his life and how he made it to the majors and doesn’t just focus on the steroids’ which I appreciated as someone who otherwise didn’t know much about him.

He had a lot of injuries and in addition to to steroids had issues with other drugs as well.  The book has a lot of interviews with people who were close to him and involved during his career and his downfall and eventual death.  A very sad story of a player that could have been great if not often sidelined by injury.

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

About the Book

The powerful story of Ken Caminiti, who changed baseball forever as the first player to confess to having used performance-enhancing steroids

In Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever, writer Dan Good seeks to make sense of MLB MVP Ken Caminiti’s fascinating, troubled life. Good began researching Caminiti in 2012 and conducted his first interviews for his biography in 2013. Since then he’s interviewed nearly 400 people, providing him with an exclusive and exhaustive view into Caminiti’s addictions, use of steroids, baseball successes, and inner turmoil.

Decades later, the full truth about Major League Baseball’s steroids era remains elusive, and the story of Caminiti, the player who opened the lid on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball has never been properly told. A gritty third baseman known for his diving stops, cannon arm, and switch-hit power, Caminiti voluntarily admitted in a 2002 Sports Illustrated cover story that he used steroids during his career, including his 1996 MVP season, and guessed that half of the players were using performance-enhancing drugs. “I’ve made a ton of mistakes,” he said. “I don’t think using steroids is one of them.”

Good’s on-the-record sources include Caminiti’s steroids supplier, who has never come forward, discussing in detail his efforts to set up drug programs for Caminiti and dozens of other MLB players during the late 1990s; people who attended rehab with Caminiti and revealed the secret inner trauma that fueled his addictions; hundreds of Caminiti’s baseball teammates and coaches, from Little League to the major leagues, who adored and respected him while struggling to understand how to help him amid a culture that cultivated substance abuse; childhood friends who were drawn to his daring personality, warmth, and athleticism; and the teenager at the center of Caminiti’s October 2004 trip to New York City during which he overdosed and died.

Book Review: Bring It On

Katie December 6, 2022 0 Comments

Bring It On was a pretty popular movie when I was in high school so it’s no surprise that it is no over 20 years old, even though I refuse to believe I am that old.  Bring It On by Kase Wickman is “The Complete Story of the Cheerleading Movie that Changed, Like, Everything.”

The movie started as “Cheer Fever” all the way back in 1996. The book features on the whole process of the film being written, made, auditions, what music was included and a lot of interviews with many involved with the movie. I didn’t really think much about the legacy of this movie before, but the book really put it all into perspective and I am definitely going to have to watch it again soon to reminisce!

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

About the Book

Book Review: Butts

Katie November 20, 2022 0 Comments

I have to say, I am not sure I have ever thought about butts quite so much consistently as when I was reading this book, but it definitely made me think a lot about them and how we relate to them.

Butts is a series of essays on the history of the human butt. You might laugh, but it actually was quite interesting to see the evolution of them and how they are used in pop culture now.

While this is not a book you probably ever thought about reading, if you’re looking for something interesting and unique – definitely add it to your reading list.

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

About the Book

One of Esquire’s 20 Best Books of Fall • One of Time’s Most Anticipated Books of Fall

“A deeply thought, rigorously researched, and riveting history of human butts. Radke knows exactly when to approach her subject with levity and when with gravity. A pitch perfect debut.” —Melissa Febos, bestselling author of Girlhood and Body Work

Whether we love them or hate them, think they’re sexy, think they’re strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. A woman’s butt, in particular, is forever being assessed, criticized, and objectified, from anxious self-examinations trying on jeans in department store dressing rooms to enduring crass remarks while walking down a street or high school hallways. But why? In Butts: A Backstory, reporter, essayist, and RadioLab contributing editor Heather Radke is determined to find out.

Spanning nearly two centuries, this “whip-smart” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) cultural history takes us from the performance halls of 19th-century London to the aerobics studios of the 1980s, the music video set of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” and the mountains of Arizona, where every year humans and horses race in a feat of gluteal endurance. Along the way, she meets evolutionary biologists who study how butts first developed; models whose measurements have defined jean sizing for millions of women; and the fitness gurus who created fads like “Buns of Steel.” She also examines the central importance of race through figures like Sarah Bartmann, once known as the “Venus Hottentot,” Josephine Baker, Jennifer Lopez, and other women of color whose butts have been idolized, envied, and despised.

Part deep dive reportage, part personal journey, part cabinet of curiosities, Butts is an entertaining, illuminating, and thoughtful examination of why certain silhouettes come in and out of fashion—and how larger ideas about race, control, liberation, and power affect our most private feelings about ourselves and others.

Book Review: The 24 Hour Dating Agency

Katie November 2, 2022 0 Comments

The 24 Hour Dating Agency was a fun book. As someone who has also been on and off all the dating apps for the past few years, I could totally relate to these characters.  There are 3 main characters – Saffie – a single journalist, Tamara – a single mom of 3 and Milo – Saffie’s best friend who has just been dumped.  They end up seeing an ad for a “24 hour dating agency” where a match maker will fix them up with “the one” or their money back.  A few of them are skeptical but the three of them try to find it out.  Saffie is the most skeptical of the whole experience and thinks she will just use it to write an article about the dating agency, but when she seems to fall for her match, she changes her mind.  Tamara gets matched with a ventriloquist who at first she is unsure of, but decides to spend more time with him anyway and Milo gets matched with an ex from his younger days.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this story and it was a fun quick read and now I am off to find a 24 Hour Dating agency in my area because the way they had to decode and figure out the places they are going on their dates seemed like a lot of fun!

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

About the Book

Tinder, Hinge, Bumble – thirtysomething journalist Saffie has tried them all. Now she’s wondering whether it’s time to throw in the towel and give up on love for good – and she’s not alone…

Saffie’s boss Tamara has been single since her divorce four years ago, but at forty-five, running her own magazine and with three kids at home, she doesn’t feel she has the time, energy or confidence to go through the dating mill again. Meanwhile, Saffie’s best friend Milo has just been dumped – again. A hopeless romantic with terrible taste in men, this is his fourth break-up in six months. There must be a secret to finding Mr Right, surely – but what?

Step forward The 24-hour Dating Agency, a matchmaking service with a difference. Instead of wasting months on casual dates, they promise to send you on an intense twenty-four-hour date with your perfect match – like speed-dating but in reverse. And even better, the agency offers a soulmate guarantee: meet The One or your money back.

Figuring they have nothing to lose, the three friends sign up. But when their matches turn out to be not what they were expecting, it seems like even the soulmate guarantee can’t find them what they’re looking for. Or can it?

Book Review: History’s BIGGEST Show-Offs

Katie November 1, 2022 0 Comments

History’s Biggest Show-Offs is a children’s book featuring the Boldest, Bravest and Brainiest people of all time. The book is broken down into People in Charge, People who Think Up Stuff and People Who Create Things. The book is trying to inspire young ones to be their own kind of show-off. The book contains some great stories as well as some games throughout to make learning a bit more fun! Of course my personal favorite is probably Ada Lovelace – one of the People Who Think Stuff Up and that’s probably the kind of show-off I am, as a woman engineer also in science and math following in Ada’s footsteps! You’ll learn a lot about various royalty, inventors and artists in this book and even get to see what the top 5 is from each category, all with a lot of fun quizzes and illustrations along the way.

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

About the Book

Some people just can’t resist showing off… and this BIG book introduces readers to some of the biggest braggers and loudest show-offs throughout history. 

This book takes young readers on a tour of some of history’s greatest show-offs, from wealthy kings and queens who loved to splash the cash to masterful musicians who weren’t shy about their talents, or brilliant artists who could not stop telling others how great they were.

Some of the showoffs in this book include:

• Queen Elizabeth I of England, who owned over 2,000 pairs of gloves,
• Alexander the Great, who named more than 70 cities in his vast empire after himself,… and one after his horse!
• The Montgolfier brothers, who showed off their flashy new invention, the hot air balloon, in front of huge crowds and even the King and Queen!

Andy Seed’s hilarious text brings these crazy but true stories to life, as he tells readers tales about massive palaces, fast cars, monster banquets, immense armies, frilly outfits, dazzling bling, musical masterpieces, epic artworks, outrageous inventions, and much, much more!

Featuring long-dead leaders, artists, musicians, and more, from all around the world, the snappy facts are paired with humorous character illustrations from the brilliant Sam Caldwell for maximum hilarity.

Book Review: Party Like a Rockstar

Katie October 23, 2022 0 Comments

Even after seeing the title “Party Like a Rockstar” it didn’t occur to me that this book was from the author of the song of the same title that our local radio station was absolutely OBSESSED with back when it came out.  Not until he started mentioning the lyrics he wrote out and I was singing along, did I make the connection.  I wasn’t surprised when Connecticut was on the short list of states that was playing the song. I feel like they played it every hour back in 2008 or 2009!

This book is by J.T Harding, who I actually know as “JTX” or “The JT Experience”.  His story was a very interesting one, he was adopted at birth and had dreams of being a rockstar.  He talks about touring with other bands, getting his chance on stage, making it big with his song and writing songs for other acts.  I was kind of surprised how many country hits he had written because those songs all seem like they’d be a lot different than the song of his I was familiar with.  He even talks about a song he wrote for the Jonas Brothers!

This book was a fun one, a bit of a rollercoaster at times and one I didn’t want to put down.  I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

This fun and fast-paced rock-and-roll memoir from hit singer-songwriter J.T. Harding shows what it takes to go from South Detroit to the top of the Nashville charts.

In PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR, J.T. Harding charts his life from a kid growing up in Michigan to a chart-topping songwriter living in Nashville and working with country music stars like Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney. As a kid playing rock n’ roll in his parents’ garage, Harding’s was a world in which every taste of new music—from KISS to Prince and everyone in between—was a revelation. Inspired by his favorite artists, Harding abandons the classic “American Dream” and runs away to Los Angeles, where he forms a band and becomes part of the music scene there, all the while selling records to his favorite artists and producers at Tower Records.

A story of youth, rebellion, and determination, PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR is a memoir for music lovers and an invaluable how-to guide for anyone who wants to learn how to write a hit song. Fun and heartfelt, Harding’s memoir is the story of one man’s unshakable love for rock and roll, how it guided him through some of the greatest tragedies—and greatest triumphs—of his wild and unvarnished life.

Book Review: Surrounded by Narcissists

Katie October 21, 2022 0 Comments

Surrounded by Narcissists is a book that will help you deal with the narcissists you may have in your life and how to identify if you do have any in your life (and I’m willing to bet most of us do whether it be in our family, friends or coworkers).  A lot of this book made me think about things and figure out where thoughts are coming from and how to combat them.  The parts on social media were a lot to handle too because I think that’s where I interact with most of the narcissists in my life – online.

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

About the Book

Part of the bestselling Surrounded by Idiots series!

Internationally bestselling author Thomas Erikson shares the secrets of dealing with everyday narcissists.

Are the narcissists in your life making you miserable? Are you worn out by their constant demands for attention, their absolute conviction they are right (even when they’re clearly not), their determination to do whatever they want (regardless of the impact), and their baffling need to control everyone and everything around them?

In this thought-provoking, sanity-saving book, Thomas Erikson helps you understand what makes narcissists tick and, crucially, how to handle them without wearing yourself out in the process. With the help of the simple, four-color behavioral model made famous in Surrounded by Idiots, Erikson provides all the tools you need to manage not just the narcissists around you but everyday narcissistic behaviors as well–something that is becoming more widespread in the age of social media.

Engaging and practical, Surrounded by Narcissists will help you free yourself from the thrall of others’ toxic agendas so you can pursue a happier, more fulfilling and successful life.

Book Review: Queen Elizabeth

Katie October 18, 2022 0 Comments

I absolutely love reading this Little People, Big Dreams books because they tell you all about historic figures in a way that’s easy to understand because the books are geared for kids.  As someone who rarely paid attention in history class (Where were Hamilton and SIX in the 00s?) there is a LOT I don’t remember or never bothered to pay attention to in the first place so I like catching up on what I’ve missed in a cute and easy to learn way, even if I am an adult.

With the Queen’s recent death, I had heard a bit more about her but this book starts when the future Queen was just a young girl and tells about how her father became King and she became the Heir, goes into her wedding to Prince Philip and then the death of her father which led to her becoming Queen.  It showed some of her harder moments as Queen and some of the fun ones she had as well.

Although this book was released recently, it only follows the Queen’s life up until 2021.

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

About the Book

In this book from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch of modern times.

Little Elizabeth loved dogs and horses and dreamed of living on a farm. But, one day, she heard chants on the streets. Her uncle Edward had renounced the Crown, which meant her father would be the next king, and she heiress to the throne. From that day on, she had to learn how to one day be the queen.

When she was only 13, World War Two broke out across the globe. Elizabeth bravely served as an ambulance driver, and after the war ended, she fell in love with and married the charming Prince Philip. In 1952, she was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, and for the next 70 years she would serve as a beacon of continuity, looking after her subjects and serving the country she reigned over.

This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the monarch’s life.

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books and games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Matching games and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children​​.

Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!