Book Review: BossyPants by Tina Fey

The February book selection for The Bookworms Book Club was Bossypants by Tina Fey.

I was looking forward to reading and laughing my way through this book. I am a fan of Tina Fey and was certain that it would be a great read.

I was sadly mistaken.

As I read I kept thinking that I was missing something. Like I somehow missed the joke.

Was it obvious to others but not to me?

As I looked around within the group and online, I came to the conclusion that I was not alone. No one part of the book stands out for me and to be honest I kind of glossed over about half way through.

But lets not dwell on this book! I have another to start!

March's book selection is Witness to Evil by Yvonne Kinsella and Veronica McGrath.

Looks like quite an interesting read.

Till next time....Happy Reading!

Searching For Sugarman

I just had to post about this wonderful documentary I watched last night.

It is called Searching For Sugarman, and it is nominated for an Oscar.

It is an incredible story about Rodriguez, an American Folk singer, who should have been a huge success in the United States.

After being discovered in Detroit, and making 2 albums, which sold next to nothing in the US, he went about his life as a construction worker.

The next step of the story takes you to South Africa in the middle of the fight against apartheid.

No one is sure how a copy of his album, Cold Fact, reached South Africa. His music quickly became the soundtrack for the Anti-Apartheid movement. He was said to be bigger than Dylan, bigger than the Rolling Stones in South Africa. During this time Rodriguez knew nothing of this tremendous success.

It was believed by South Africans that at some point Rodriguez took his own life.

The rest of this documentary is a wild ride.

The search is lead by two South Africans, curious to know, how Rodriguez died.

Only to find what is truly an amazing story.

Check it out....I swear you will love it!

 

Room by Emma Donoghue *A Book Review*

I recently joined not one but two book clubs. One takes place here in the city in which I live, and the other an online group of ladies started by New Farmerette (Elaine).

I have to say that I haven't done this much reading in a long time. I really fell off the reading wagon after having kids. Just seemed to not have the time combined with my kids not giving me a quiet moment to  absorb what I was reading.

This has changed....sort of.

I have made the choice to change it.

This first review is of the book I most recently read for the first book club. Then next month I will be back to review the first book choice for the online group.

Looking forward to this.

Room by Emma Donoghue

At first I found this book to be a hard one to get into. I think it was the fact that the story is being told by a five year old boy. Once I became used to to that fact it became quite interesting.

I found myself unable to put it down, not wanting to leave poor Jack.

The story is about a woman and child who are being held captive in an 11x11 room. It goes through their daily routines to their escape and for Jack, dealing with an unknown world.

The boy was born in the room and knows nothing of the outside world. He speak about the furniture and everything in the room as if it were alive, with feelings. You find out that the mother has really not told him about the world outside, most likely to protect him and it would seem he is a fairly happy and intelligent child.

I found that the story flows quite well until about the middle, where I found that it all sped up. As others in the group mentioned, it may have done so cause that is essentially how things like this feel. 30 minutes feels like 5 minutes for example.

I don't want to give too much away about the ending so I will leave you with this...

Read it.

It is a quick and easy read.

It will change you.

You will have no choice but to look at your life in a different way.

What if.....

Next Months Books being Reviewed by Me are: 

BossyPants by Tina Fey

and

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 

              

Today I Want To Runaway

You know those days.

The day that shouldn't have started in the first place.

Ya....one of those.

Today was that day for me. They don't happen often, but when they do I just want to scream.

I couldn't make anyone happy today. Least of all myself.

I said all the wrong things, although I felt I needed to be honest about my feelings.

I was the bad, 'your a mean Mom' today too.

Even though I am told that means I am doing what I (the Mom) am supposed to be doing.

So

Today

I

Want

To

Runaway.

To the mountains. They never are disappointed in me. And if they are, they never let on.

Tomorrow will be better....

Making Good

Ok

So in my last post I made a list of things that I wanted to focus on this year. No pressure to be perfect.

Somehow however I always feel a little pressure once I have announced it to the world. (sorry, too much credit given there....I am sure that the entire world does not read my blog)

First off...More conscious choices concerning food

Thankfully I am not alone in doing this one. My husband and I both are working together to make smarter choices. We are paying more attention to how we prepare food and what ingredients we are consuming. It is tricky however to convince our kids that this is a good thing to do. We aren't rigid in our approach though, and that is why I think that this will be successful in the end.

I have just started adding chia seeds to my diet. They are supposed to be chalk full of good stuff. Check out this LINK to read more.

Read More

I am currently reading...

BossyPants by Tina Fey 

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I am currently finding both a little tough to get into, but they haven't lost me yet! 

Ah yes...Last but not Least...WINE! 

I have just finished downloading the lectures onto my ipad. I hope to start watching them very soon. Stay tuned!

But for my local friends I wanted to share a really great resource I was told about.
It is Liquor Connect. 
This is a great site that will tell you where to find any kind of alcohol you may be looking for. Just type the name into the search and then add where you are located. It will list the stores that are the closest to you that have had that item shipped to it.
AWESOME right?
This will be great considering some of the fancier wines are not stocked in my little hood here. This way I don't have to drive all over Calgary to find what I need.  
A huge thanks to the lady at the Liquor Depot who was tired of answering all my questions. :o) 

 

2013...A Fine Year You Shall Be!

Happy 2013!

Better late than never.

Right after NYE, I always have the need to steer clear of places like Facebook and Twitter.

It drives me crazy to see all these people making such a deal about the start of a new year. So many promises, so many expectations. I feel the disappointment before it hits.

What a lot of pressure to dump on a simple date change.

I would rather take the quiet route. Make small changes. Slowly and with intention.

Makes sense to me anyway.

In 2013 I want to:

1. Make more conscious choices concerning food.

-more 'from scratch' cooking

-less box store

-less prepackaged

2. Read more (something I seemed to have stopped)

-having officially joined 2 book clubs I think I am well on my way.

-check back here to see a once a month review!

3. Learn more about wine.

-pretty self explanatory

-a wonderful Christmas gift from my husband. I will be taking a course (complete with wine list) in my own living room.

So this is my start to the year. No pressure or high expectations.

Just small steps forward.

(via SerialThriller)

Roll With The Punches

A fitting song.

Those days when you have to learn how to roll with the punches.

Something I am not so good at.

So here is a song for you when you need to learn to go with the flow and 'Roll with the Punches'