The Ghost of Greenwich Village and GIVEAWAY

It's time for another book review, folks!
The Ghost of Greenwich Village by Lorna Graham


For Eve Weldon, moving to Greenwich Village is a dream come true. She's following in the footsteps of her mother, who lived there during the sixties among a lively community of Beat artists and writers. But when Eve arrives, the only scribe she meets is a grumpy ghost named Donald, and the only writing she does is for chirpy segments on a morning news program. The hypercompetitive network environment is a far cry from the genteel camaraderie of her mother's literary scene, and Eve wonders if the world she seeks has faded from existence. As she struggles to balance her new job, demands from Donald to help him complete his life's work, a budding friendship with a legendary fashion designer, and a serach for clues to her mother's past, Eve begins to realize that community comes in many forms-and that the true magic of the Village is very much alive, though it may reveal itself in surprising ways.

Ok. I have to be honest. This isn't a book that I would think to recommend to people because I struggled through it. Here's the thing. I didn't like Eve. I don't like people like Eve. People like Eve are people who have a hard time adjusting to the real world. Now, never having lost a parent I can't say how I would feel if I lost my mom. But I will tell you- never would I feel the need to try to re-live my mother's life, which is very much what Eve is trying to do. It seems to me that it would be obvious that the times and life of an area would be very much different several generations apart... but Eve doesn't seem to get that.

I also didn't understand the whole Donald thing. Yes, he's a ghost. Yes, he wants Eve to write his book and she learns a lot about the generations and her new fashion designer friend because of Donald. But... the whole character and story line of Donald is just so.... off. I don't know. I had a hard time even wanting to read sections of the book where he's present because it didn't make sense. Why even have that as a character or part of the story line?

The parts of this book that I found fascinating was the hustle and bustle of her working on a morning show. Not only was it interesting to somewhat learn about that type of job, but it seemed more of a real life scenario that could happen to a single woman coming to the big city from the Midwest. THAT part of the story made absolute sense.

Often times I felt myself thinking Eve was kind of a dumb girl who, though she has real world experience and a great education, she is a person you'd pass up and assume she's just another idiot in the big city. I wouldn't feel sorry for her or her plight if she was one of my friends. Which sounds terrible...but it's true.

Now, if you enjoy a chick lit book, or if you like stories about women trying to empower themselves- this would be a good book for you. I just can't say that it would make it on a top 20 list of books I'd recommend. Check out Lorna's website HERE and the other tour stops HERE.

But the best part is that you have a chance to win a copy of this book just by commenting and letting me know you want to be entered into the drawing. (US/Canada only) Leave me a comment by Monday, July 18 and I'll draw a winner that evening!

*You must follow my blog via Google Friend Connect
*For extra entries you can share this post on your FB, Twitter or blog (each is a separate entry, leave a separate comment with a link)

Good luck and happy ready lambwhores!

Stiltsville

I am going to tell you right now- so far this year, this is hands down my most favorite book. I will also tell you that the back cover description is not doing this book justice. AND, for this being this author's first novel, oh my word- it is amazing. Like, makes you think about your marriage/partnership differently.

Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel
One sunny morning in 1969, Frances Ellerby finds herself in a place called Stiltsville, a community of ?houses built on pilings in the middle of Biscayne Bay. It’s the first time the Atlanta native has been out on the open water, and she’s captivated. On the dock of a stilt house, with the dazzling Miami skyline in the distance, she meets the house’s owner, Dennis DuVal—and a new future reveals itself.



Turning away from her quiet, predictable life back home, Frances moves to Miami to be with Dennis. Over time, she earns the confidence of his wild-at-heart sister and the approval of his oldest friend. Frances and Dennis marry and have a child—but rather than growing complacent about their good fortune, they continue to face the challenges of intimacy in the complicated city they call home.


With Stiltsville, Susanna Daniel weaves the beauty, violence, and humanity of Miami’s coming-of-age with an enduring story of a marriage’s beginning, maturity, and heartbreaking demise.

Susanna writes makes you question whether this is actually a real love story or not. Because it's not a love story like you see in movies. It's like a for real love story, where two people fall in love and get married young, and they question whether it was the right decision or not, someone thinks about infidelity, and it's the every day problems of an ordinary couple raising a daughter.

You find yourself nodding your head along because everything is so true to what it's really like to be married and be raising a family, and the stress of the unexpected. And through it all- they have Stiltsville. The sanctuary that held the family together, the rock that reminded them what life was about, and the place that seems to hold it all together.

I won't tell you what ultimately happens to Stiltsville or the family as a whole, but I will tell you I could not put this book down. The very last line of the book reads:

"I held my husband in my arms and pressed my face to his face. I kissed his lips. I told him I loved him. I told him, Thank you, over and over. I told him, Thank you for my life."


And while this normally wouldn't be significant to anyone, it is to me. Because while I don't have the perfect marriage and we absolutely struggle each and every single day- I know that no matter what, I will always be grateful to Matt for the life he's given me. Without him I wouldn't have the things I have, I wouldn't be the mom to two awesome kids, I wouldn't be where I am today without Matt next to me. And so I challenge you to think about that the next time you feel like you're at rock bottom in your marriage or are having a hard time not stabbing your spouse- what are all of the positive things in your life that are because of them in some small way.

I think it's so easy for us to give up, cheat on someone, get divorced, or just mentally check out because staying married is a lot of work. It requires patience, forvgiveness, the ability to break down what you're angry about and see what part specifically is making you angry and why, and most of all, humility. It's not always going to be easy or perfect- and you have to know going in that there are going to be a lot of days where you will question your decision. And that's OK.

I highly encourage everybody to read this. I loved this book so much and I can't stop gushing about it. I got my hair cut and talked for four ladies about it. Everyone at work has heard me rave about this book. I even walked past a lady looking at books and I completely started telling her how amazing this book was. Because it is. You have to read it.

Check out what other bloggers are saying about it here, visit her website here, her Facebook or her Twitter.
Seriously. Go and buy this book. You will not be diappointed.

The Long Journey Home + GIVEAWAY

You know.. it's been a few days since my last book review and so I have one ready to go for you today. Come back tomorrow for a MUST READ. <--- don't pee yourself with excitement.

The Long Journey Home by Margaret Robison

First introduced to the world in her sons’ now-classic memoirs—Augusten Burroughs’s Running with Scissors and John Elder Robison’s Look Me in the Eye—Margaret Robison now tells her own haunting and lyrical story. A poet and teacher by profession, Robison describes her Southern Gothic childhood, her marriage to a handsome, brilliant man who became a split-personality alcoholic and abusive husband, the challenges she faced raising two children while having psychotic breakdowns of her own, and her struggle to regain her sanity.



Robison grew up in southern Georgia, where the façade of 1950s propriety masked all sorts of demons, including alcoholism, misogyny, repressed homosexuality, and suicide. She met her husband, John Robison, in college, and together they moved up north, where John embarked upon a successful academic career and Margaret brought up the children and worked on her art and poetry. Yet her husband’s alcoholism and her collapse into psychosis, and the eventual disintegration of their marriage, took a tremendous toll on their family: Her older son, John Elder, moved out of the house when he was a teenager, and her younger son, Chris (who later renamed himself Augusten), never completed high school. When Margaret met Dr. Rodolph Turcotte, the therapist who was treating her husband, she felt understood for the first time and quickly fell under his idiosyncratic and, eventually, harmful influence.

I can't really tell you much about this book without giving critical parts of her story away. I will tell you that this was a pretty fascinating book about a woman suffering from pretty awful mental health issues during a time in our society when it was even more frowned upon. In current times if you have a person who is depressed we treat them right away and we don't think twice. Back then, it was often ignored and viewed as shameful and sometimes it's a precursor to something far worse, which is pretty much what happened to the author.

What I also found really interesting was the really unhealthy, borderline terrifying, and basically abusive relationship with her own therapist, Dr. Turcotte. After reading the book I decided to do some light Google research on him and truly- that guy had some pretty serious issues. I don't think he should have ever been working with patients with such sensitive needs as Margaret's. It kind of makes me wonder if mental health care has truly evolved or not, patients are still drugged- oftentimes against their will like Margaret.

I will admit that several times through the book I feel angered for her but also at her. To say that she had a difficult life would be a great understatement but I really enjoyed reading about her struggle. I would honestly say that if you've struggled with mental health, an abusive relationship, the struggles of motherhood, or questioned your sexuality -- this book is definitely for you.

Basically, this was a pretty interesting book. I did find it a bit slow in some parts and some areas I didn't feel were very relevant to the story as a whole, but all in all it was a good read.

GIVEAWAY TIME!
One of my blog readers (US/Canada only) will get a chance to win a copy of this book for your very own. All I need you to do is leave me a comment (you must be a follower via Google Friend Connect) by Thursday, July 15. I will announce a winner on Friday.

I also encourage you to check out Margaret's website! http://www.margaretrobison.com/home.htm

Folly Beach

Just an example of how rock star I am? I read this book over two days while walking my daughter to summer school, while taking Jackson to the park, while doing laundry and during commercial breaks of Mob Wives.

Folly Beach- Dorothea Benton Frank


A woman returns to the past to find her future in this enchanting new tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love. With its sandy beaches and bohemian charms, surfers and suits alike consider Folly Beach to be one of South Carolina’s most historic and romantic spots. It is also the land of Cate Cooper’s childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely. Cate never thought she’d wind up in this tiny cottage named the Porgy House on this breathtakingly lovely strip of coast. But circumstances have changed, thanks to her newly dead husband whose financial—and emotional—bull and mendacity have left Cate homeless, broke, and unmoored.


Yet Folly Beach holds more than just memories. Once upon a time another woman found unexpected bliss and comfort within its welcoming arms. An artist, writer, and colleague of the revered George Gershwin, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly with her beloved husband, DuBose. And though the Heywards are long gone, their passion and spirit lingers in every mango sunset and gentle ocean breeze. And for Cate, Folly, too, holds the promise of unexpected fulfillment when she is forced to look at her life and the zany characters that are her family anew. To her surprise, she will discover that you can go home again. Folly Beach doesn’t just hold the girl she once was . . . it also holds the promise of the woman she’s always wanted—and is finally ready—to become.

Let me tell you right off that I loved this book. Dorothea Benton Frank has such a great wit and sense of humor and it completely comes across through her writing. I love how this book reads as if you were having a phone conversation with your best friend. The also interesting thing is that it's two stories in one, specifically, it's a play within a story. Which I didn't think I would care for but actually enjoyed it a lot.

The *best* part of this book is seriously, the aftermath of Cate's husband's suicide. Seriously- you could just imagine one really bad thing after another coming down and you want to feel bad but find yourself laughing. Mostly because it's all so very bad and most people would be at a loss for what to do, but Cate is spunky and just gets on with it. Which I can relate to because I've had a really bad summer with my husband where literally, one thing after another, kept coming at me and I just kept going. You don't have a choice when others depend on  you.

I have lots of comments on this book I really want to share.. but it would kill the story for you I think. But I do suggest this as a good read because the writing is superb, the play within a story is different but interesting, and overall- it's a good lesson in life. Oh! I will say- the play within a story? Well I liked it because she completely changes her writing voice. You wouldn't get that it was written by the same person and I was really impressed with her ability to change like that.

So- as usual, don't take just my word. Check out what other bloggers had to say about it HERE, see her webpage, or her Facebook page!

You Are Not Your Brain (and GIVEAWAY)

The title of this book kind of reminds me of that movie "Dinner For Schmucks" where it was mind power versus brain power. I don't know.. maybe that's just me.

You Are Not Your Brain- Jeffrey Schwartz, M.d and Rebecca Gladding, M.D.

Two neuroscience experts explain how their 4-Step Method can help break destructive thoughts and actions and change bad habits for good.



A leading neuroplasticity researcher and the coauthor of the groundbreaking books Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain, Jeffrey M. Schwartz has spent his career studying the structure and neuronal firing patterns of the human brain. He pioneered the first mindfulness-based treatment program for people suffering from OCD, teaching patients how to achieve long-term relief from their compulsions.

I will tell you that the reason I picked this book to review is because I have a very unhealthy way of thinking when it comes to diet and exercise. I am extremely good at talking myself out of good behaviors and convincing myself that the bad behaviors are not only more fun and awesome, but will be better for me later on. Despite the fact thunder thighs are not my friend.

Basically everything in the book comes down to four steps:


Step 1: Relabel: Identify your deceptive brain messages and the uncomfortable sensations; call them what they really are.

Step 2: Reframe: Change your perception of the importance of the deceptive brain messages; say why these thoughts, urges, and impulses keep bothering you: they are false brain messages.

Step 3: Refocus: Direct your attention toward an activity or mental process that is wholesome and productive -- even while the deceptive brain messages are still bothering you.

Step 4: Revalue: Clearly see the thoughts, images, and impulses for what they are -- simply sensations caused by deceptive brain messages that aren't true and have little to no value.

Without going into a whole lot of detail about it (which is all explained really well and there are worksheets in the book for you to work through on your own) I will say I found them very helpful. At first the book started slow with me with a lot of precursor explainations that I didn't find relevant to me, but once it started talking about these four steps I was really interested. One of my favorite parts of this book is when it talks about biology is not your destiny. I find that people are so quick to rely on their biology to dictate their life versus trying to change themselves for the better. It's harder to change yourself but it's more rewarding.

The other part of the book I found really helpful is the discussion of positive versus destructive anxiety. I am a high anxiety person and I often have to talk myself into things I know I'll enjoy because my brain is constantly telling me negatives. It's a problem to say the least. But I really felt like I had a better grip as to why I have that inner struggle so often.

Overall, I found this book to be extremely helpful. If you are at all interested in learning about the brain, how to make changes in your life or both- this book is for you.

AND... maybe you could win it. That's right- I'm giving away ONE copy of this book to one of my readers (US/Canada only... sorry). All you have to do is leave a comment with your email address and I'll draw a winner on Monday!

If you want to hear what other tour stops had to say, go HERE.

South of Superior

Unknowingly, when I picked this book to review I didn't even think about the setting of the story. And how completely cool it was that my Michigan trip was in the same area. So add that to another reason I loved this book. And I have to say it- I kind of love the cover of this book.

South of Superior - Ellen Airgood

When Madeline Stone walks away from Chicago and moves five hundred miles north to the coast of Lake Superior, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, she isn’t prepared for how much her life will change.



Charged with caring for an aging family friend, Madeline finds herself in the middle of beautiful nowhere with Gladys and Arbutus, two octogenarian sisters-one sharp and stubborn, the other sweeter than sunshine. As Madeline begins to experience the ways of the small, tight-knit town, she is drawn into the lives and dramas of its residents. It’s a place where times are tough and debts run deep, but friendship, community, and compassion run deeper. As the story hurtles along-featuring a lost child, a dashed love, a car accident, a wedding, a fire, and a romantic reunion-Gladys, Arbutus, and the rest of the town teach Madeline more about life, love, and goodwill than she’s learned in a lifetime.

I have to say right off the bat, this author did an amazing job at pegging people's personalities. Not just those who are from a large city (which is easy) but those who are from smaller towns and rural communities. Not every author can really get them all to be so different and accurate to what real life is like so for that reason alone, this is a fascinating read.

But the story is just really great. I really liked Madeline's character because she's very much like someone I know and love because of her really irritating quality of seeing everything in one perspective. She wants to hold a grudge against her grandfather, who in her eyes, abandoned her when she was a child. What she doesn't know or see is that he had a lot of other commitments and challenges that took precedent over a child who would likely have a better life somewhere else. So in his eyes, he made the right decision even if he doubted himself. To Madeline though, it was an unforgivable act. I think lots of people are like that though, aren't they? They don't always take in all of the different reasoning's a person did what they did, they only look at how it affected them.

What I also really liked was how this author really showed the importance of community. I think, especially now, we've moved far away from the mentality that we're a community and we help each other out, regardless of how someone got to be less fortunate. Whether they are just down on their luck or a town drunk, they still need to eat and feel a sense of belonging. And think about your own life- when was the last time you brought a dinner to a neighbor just because? Probably never. Why not? Because they would be suspicious and think you've lost it? That's sad. It's sad that society has moved from that when it really seems we'd all be better off to go backwards in some sense.

So I have to say- I really enjoyed this book. A lot. It was really a good story that made me think about changing a few things in my own life and just being more selfless towards others. I like to think I am already but there is always room for improvement. I might not have a lot but I have more than some and I could (and should) be doing more for others. So I'm making it a priority. But nonetheless, I highly recommend this book and I don't think you'll regret it.

Check out what other tour stops had to say HERE, check out the author's webpage (which is pretty interesting) HERE, and her Facebook HERE.

Anthropology of an American Girl and GIVEAWAY

Time for another book review and I'm going to be straight up honest. This book isn't for everyone. Clocking in at 597 pages it isn't for the faint of heart and probably not a person with dyslexia either.

Anthropology of an American Girl- Hilary Thayer Hamann

This ambitious work explores the sexual and intellectual awakening of a young American woman struggling to remain true to herself as she encounters love, passion, and death amid the challenges and heartbreaks of growing up. Newly edited and revised, Hilary Thayer Hamann’s Anthropology of an American Girl is an extraordinary piece of writing, original in its vision and thrilling in its execution.



Self-published in 2003, the book touched a nerve among readers, who identified with the sexual and intellectual awakening of its heroine, a young woman on the brink of adulthood. A moving depiction of the transformative power of first love, Hamann’s first novel follows Eveline Auerbach from her high school years in East Hampton, New York, in the 1970s through her early adulthood in the moneyed, high-pressured Manhattan of the 1980s.


Centering on Evie’s fragile relationship with her family and her thwarted love affair with Harrison Rourke, a professional boxer, the novel is both a love story and an exploration of the difficulty of finding one’s place in the world. As Evie surrenders to the dazzling emotional highs of love and the crippling loneliness of heartbreak, she strives to reconcile her identity with the constraints that all relationships—whether those familial or romantic, uplifting to the spirit or quietly detrimental—inherently place on us. Though she stumbles and strains against social conventions, Evie remains a strong yet sensitive observer of the world around her, often finding beauty and meaning in unexpected places.

OK. I'm nothing if not 100% honest with my readers about everything I write about and my book reviews are no different. I did not finish this book. For me to say that is a huge deal because I finished two books I absolutely hated, including Wuthering Heights and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. But the difference with those books were that I really felt like it'd come around and I'd eventually get it. I didn't, but throughout both books I really felt like it'd come around.

And I've really thought about what it was about this book that couldn't draw me in. And you know what it was? The overuse of adjectives. Basically the entire writing style. For this being a debut novel it's really heavy. I found myself having re-read passages because I might just be stupid, but I didn't get it. The entire story is meant to be written from the point of view of a woman who is recalling her first love and the ones that came after yet... reading this I'm thinking, "I know high school wasn't like this and I didn't speak like this at all." It never felt authentic and it never felt like something that would logically be happening. Here's an example:

"Jack's body had not yet moved. He was like a jetty rock, obstinate and motionless against the savage force of the sea. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do or say so I waited, passing time by thinking of things I knew. I knew that he loved me desperately, never more so than at that moment. I knew that he was ready, aroused for once by the honorableness of his emotions, and yet the anger that moved him had no means of expression. How betrayed he must have felt by his belligerent pacifism, by the ambivalence he'd constantly displayed. He was thinking that the attack had not been arbitrary, that it had happened to me for a reason. He was thinking the reason was him."

Ok. Now, what did that even mean?? Because I'm not sure. Part of me is sad that I'll never know what happened between Jack and Evie but on the other hand, who cares? After getting half way through the book I can't even tell you what it was even really about, what the story was. There was nothing in any of the pages I read that made me want to turn another page and keep going. For me, reading is an escape and it should be fun. I don't like having to think a whole lot about what I'm reading to process it. I like being able to relate to a book within my own life or back story and even though I've been a teenage girl working through the weird phases and first loves and all of that... I could not relate. In the end, I feel like the author has tried too hard to write a book that would be a classic, or something that would end up on a must read list somewhere.

See what other bloggers had to say about this book HERE and check out the book page HERE. Now, although this wasn't the kind of book meant for me, it might be for you. And I am never one to discourage a person from reading a book. I really think that someone with an interest in literature, writing, or books around this theme would really enjoy it. Of all of the reviews I've read it seems pretty divided as far as you really like it or you don't. But I say try it.  

In fact, I would like one of you to read it and tell me what you thought about it. The publisher is offering one of my readers their very own copy of this book (US/Canada only, no PO boxes). All you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address and I will draw a winner on Wednesday, so enter now!