Oh! You Pretty Things!

  When I heard the premise for Shanna Mahin's debut novel, "Oh! You Pretty Things", I thought it sounded like like a fun, guilty-pleasure sort of read.  It follows Jess, a barista/aspiring chef-turned celebrity assistant.  It's about the glitz (and grit) of Hollywood, with a sassy protagonist, strong friendships (and shallow ones) and navigating relationships of all kinds alongside an often ridiculously demanding work schedule.   Likes:
  The friendship - I really liked the relationship between Jess and her friend / roommate Megan.  It seemed realistic in that they had fun together and shared confidences, but there were also awkward moments, conflicts, and tearful telephone calls. It felt genuine and I enjoyed that.    The flaws - each and every one of the characters had good qualities and bad, Jess didn't make all the right decisions, she made mistakes, she had issues, she had tough family relationships - in short? She was human.
The humour - working with demanding celebrity clients made for some wild, wonderful and downright ridiculous situations for Jess.  Mahin's depiction of this was totally on point, most likely due to the fact that she has some real-life experience in this type of role herself.   The very real and often rather unpleasant and/or absurd idiosyncrasies seen behind the facade of celebrity was illustrated really well, I thought, and in a clever, fun and engaging way. It made for an interesting take on the Hollywood scene, especially considering our celebrity-obsessed culture.       Dislikes:   The branding: It seemed like every few minutes there was a branded cigarette mention, notably American Spirit.  I understand that brand names get dropped when you're writing about people who have lots of designer clothes and bags, but I didn't understand why there was a need to draw attention to the cigarette branding, and so frequently.  Basically, if this book was a blog post, I'd definitely guess it had been sponsored:  I wasn't a fan of that.   Abandoned storylines: I am a Food Network addict, and so I loved the idea of Jess as an aspiring chef. It seemed to play a large role in some ways - in that it caught the eye of one of her employers, but it was largely unexplored as a plot point.  I guess I felt like, if she was "aspiring" mightn't she have had a plan, a dream, something specific to work towards? In addition, there was a half-hearted love interest that sort of disappeared partway through.  I thought this was at least a bit understandable considering Jess' über-demanding employment situation, but still.  It did leave me with a bit of an unfinished feeling.    Overall, in spite of a few little bumps, I did have a lot of fun reading this book, which is really the main thing that I was looking for going in.  I love a bit of an indulgent, easy read like this for tucking under my arm on my way to the beach, settling into the sand for a relaxing afternoon - and I think this novel falls firmly in that category. If you're looking for something similar in a summery beach-read, this would definitely be on my recommend list.  

Weekend Reads v.1

It's yet another snow-filled blustery day on Prince Edward Island, and I am taking advantage of the time to unwind by reading my rather large stockpile of to-be-read books.  I'll be sharing thoughts on some of those in forthcoming videos for my youtube channel, but I thought I'd share two recent reads on the blog today.
The first of these, is "All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes" by Betsy St. Amant. This is a truly fluffy little read, in which the protagonist is a pastry chef with dreams of cupcake greatness who enters one of those Food Network Bake-Offs, and wins the heart of her best friend and long-time secretly-pined-for fellow, along with baking glory.  Now I admit, I am a bit of a Food Network junkie and love all those baking shows, and love baking myself, which is why I picked up this book in the first place.  There were likeable aspects to it, to be sure.  The main character Kat, is relatable and sweet, and the storyline is entertaining, if slightly predictable.  It's IS a little drawn out and slow-paced in parts.  That said, sometimes you just want something you don't have to think too much about - and if you go into this book with those expectations, I don't think you'd be disappointed.  
For a bit more of a breakdown of my likes vs. dislikes, you can check out my Goodreads review here (Spoiler: It got a two star or "It's OK" result from me). 
Next, is "Lean On Me - Finding Intentional, Vulnerable and Consistent Community" by Anne Marie Miller.  
Now this, was a book I truly felt was a worthwhile read, on a topic that has been top-of-mind for me lately - Community.  I initially did a relatively quick read-through and now actually plan to do a read-along with my best friend, so both of us can go through it together and really discuss it properly.  
I find it important to intentionally invest in my relationships and friendships, and so the thoughts presented in this book really resonated with me - things like our need for a sense of belonging, on diversity in relationships, finding a willingness to be vulnerable, on finding but also on being someone to lean on, on persevering through heartache and challenges life drops on us along the way.  It's less a how-to guide, than the author sharing her story and the discoveries she made along the way. It's super-relatable and she touches on subject matter that I think almost everyone could connect to.
Anne Marie Miller shared much of her own life through the pages and her honesty throughout was a huge part of what made this book so engaging and definitely one I will come back to.   If you're looking for an encouraging, faith-based read, this is definitely one to pick up.
As always, I'm love a good book recommendation - so let me know!  What have you been reading lately? 

Book Review - Heaven is For Real

I initially heard about Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo when it was enthusiastically recommended to me by my sister Rosalyn, who'd read it and found it to be an truly wonderful and hopeful read. I kept meaning to pick it up, but it wasn't until relatively recently that I actually found the time to give it a go.
For those of you who don't know, haven't read it or seen the accompanying film (I haven't yet), this is a (best-selling) book about one family's experience with their son's near-death experience, specifically his experience with heaven, the unexpected knowledge he gained on that journey, and the  great and lasting impact of the experience on his family.
What to say about this book. It was heart-wrenching, touching, moving, encouraging, incredible, uplifting, amazing. The family in question is a Christian family, and their beliefs certainly are central to the story, but I definitely think that no matter your faith or background, that this is a truly beautiful story, well worth a read.

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear your thoughts! And if not? I'd also love to know what you're reading lately - I'm always looking for new books to check out!

Rookie Booktuber

Some of you may know that I recently joined the ranks of youtube book(ish) bloggers or "Booktubers" as they are sometimes called. I've posted a few videos to the new lotsixtyfive channel, a fact revealed when I posted my first-ever video here on the blog. Fast forward a few weeks and in addition to what you may have seen here on the blog (read: cookies and nail polish) I've also posted several two(ish)-minute book reviews featuring a bunch of different novels I've read recently. 
Check out what I've been up to in the book-review-playlist above! And if you've read any of these titles? I'd love to know what you thought of them!

Book Review - Home Behind the Sun

I've been doing a lot of reading lately (no surprise there!) and while I mostly gravitate towards fiction,  I decided to give something different a go. Finding ways to grow and challenge myself physically, mentally and spiritually have always been important to me, but especially over the past couple of years. So when I saw Home Behind the Sun: Connect With God in the Brilliance of the Everyday by Timothy Willard and Jason Locy among the choices from Booklook Bloggers, my interest was piqued.
I read this book over several sittings, taking the time to absorb what I read and to let it sink in. There were several times throughout the book where I picked up a pen to underline a passage, quote, or thought. There is definitely some wisdom to be found in these pages. My favourite sections included concepts like overcoming despair with joy, finding contentment and brilliant moments in the minutiae of daily life, the power of forgiveness, and also of imagination.
I only had two real complaints. First, that it was a bit disjointed here and there. There are two authors, and while that normally doesn't bother me, they relied heavily on anecdotes and stories, and kept inserting brackets to the effect of (P.S. It's me now!) - I'm totally paraphrasing here, ha. I just found that very distracting. It took away from the flow of the chapters, and I wish they could have found a way to work out that kink in a different way. Second, there was one chapter focused on men and manliness and while I don't have a problem with that, I felt it was really out of place within the context of the rest of the chapters - almost like it was a chapter from another book that accidentally got added in. Aside from those two challenges, I was able to find a lot of goodness in this book.
Two favourite thoughts from my underlined passages:
"The dynamic of our lives directly affects and possesses the power to encourage someone else. This is why we can't allow life to force us into ourselves"
"It is the act of chasing brilliance that keeps hope alive within our hearts.  And that chasing act produces an expectation of belief - that though the shadows lengthen and at times overwhelm, the brilliance is not far away"
If this sounds like a book you'd like to read, I'm eager to pass it on.  Simply leave me a note in the comments or send me an email, and  the first person who does will get my (only slightly marked up) copy.  

On My Bookshelf : Studio Saint-Ex

I can't think of a more perfect book with which to start off a new range of bookish posts than Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado. In library speak, you could say that Rachel at Penguin Canada had me perfectly pegged from a "readers advisory" standpoint with her recommendation of this romantic novel combining three of my loves: Canadian fiction, Le Petit Prince and Fashion. From the moment I started The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, it became (and remains) one of my very favourites, and so of course I was thrilled to try out this novel based loosely on the life of the author and his fictional love.

The story follows that of Mignonne LaChapelle, an ingénue on the early fashion scene in New York City in the 1940's, her complicated romantic relationship with Antoine de Saint Exupéry and with his estranged wife, Consuelo. I personally really enjoyed the description of the fashion scene of the time, the complex love triangle, and how the romance between all three of the main characters within the novel played a role in Szado's imagining of the inspiration behind the beloved story of Le Petit Prince. I've already recommended this book in my summer reading post for Stylelist Canada, but since I enjoyed it so much I felt had to share it here as well.

If you pick it up as one of your summer reads, be sure and let me know what you think of it, I always love a book-related chat!

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