Review: I Suck At Girls By: Justin Halpern

I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I continued my journey with Justin Halpern in his second book, a follow up to The Sh*t My Dad Says. Here Justin goes through the journey of missteps and mishaps that lead him to the girl he is proposing to. Filled with his father's advice and unconventional sometimes unwanted wisdom on women, I found myself on the phone calling others just to read sections out loud - knowing we have gone through something similar and laughing to the point of crying.
There is a quick wit and view of life that Halpern can put on paper that one MUST experience. He writes honestly the thoughts in your head that you would never put on paper for fear of being put away or blackmailed and does it lovingly (even the recounting of the first time he caught his parents in the act - priceless - and, look, we have all been there and sought treatment for it and done it to our children to complete the circle of damage).
Buy this, read it, love it, talk about it, have others read it, laugh, and do it all over again.

I for one can not wait for more from Justin Halpern!!

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Review: Sh*t My Dad Says By: Justin Halpern

Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wish I could give this more stars.

I am glad I wasn't alone in the strangeness of parenting skills. The strange talks, sayings, the moments that had you staring hard, shrinking away wanting the words scrubbed from your brain - well, here they are. Mr. J Halpern has let us in on his father and his father's "special" set of phrases that set him up for the wisdom of life.
This is a riot. You will laugh out loud and want to share this book with everyone of your dysfunctional siblings and keep it rolling on through the cousin well, heck, throw a copy to your therapist to help grasp and understand the reality of the real world of how you grew up. And if you had it the "Leave It to Beaver" way, you still will want this, I promise you will laugh.
The perfect moments of wisdom, laughter, and actual endearment rolled into one - This book is a keeper!

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Review: Fallen Beauty By: Erika Robuck

Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Set in 1928 in the village of Chatham, New York - two lives collide, that of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Laura Kelley. As Edna (Vincent, as she goes in the book and chapter by chapter) holds bohemian parties, sexual escapades, devours with cruelty all those around her as she hides away reigning at Steepletop, below in town is Laura Kelley, a fallen girl, whose parents are dead, whose lover has left her, who has an illegitimate child, and whose sewing talent and ice demeanor as intrigued the poet.
This is not truly a kind story, a love story, but more of multiple stories mashed together into one not allowing one to truly fruit without resolution and understanding with the reader gaining a fuller experience, which is a shame.
****SPOILER*****
Why was it not explored the unrequited, unexpressed desire from Father Ash, he was just a fleeting character? George Dillon was also so fleeting yet referred to over and over that without any understanding of St Vincent Millay, no one would grasp this depth and would find it irritating and even if they knew, it was still irritating. These are just some examples.
****SPOILER OVER ******
Each chapter brings both Laura's and Vincent's views of the times and their experiences. Both experiencing an different kind of ostracization, each to some extent self inflicted and socially inflicted - For Laura it is because of her sin, the birth of her child; For Vincent it is her spirit, the creative birth of her poetry.
This book is okay, nothing more and nothing less. I was hoping for more and the potential is there which left me disappointed.

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Review: The Way Life Should Be By: Christina Baker Kline

The Way Life Should Be by Christina Baker Kline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


***** This is a First Reads, Thank You Goodreads *****

Angela Russo, a New York girl (well technically from New Jersey), Italian, event planner just got fired. Apparently some fire eaters have beefs with jugglers and are willing to burn down part of a museum to make a point. Good thing she met someone online, that he just happens to live in Maine, and has offered for her to come up on vacation and stay.
That's how Angela finds herself on Mount Desert Island - away from her family, working in a coffee shop, teaching cooking classes ... oh, and that guy, well, he didn't work out, but there are plenty of fish in the sea - especially when you are on an island.
I adored this story. A woman coming into her own. A connection with a grandmother, who understands her and loves her (they have this amazing connection, a language of their own, built on love, based in honesty, respect, cooking, and teaching - especially the ability to teach own to trust in one's own instinct). It is a story of growing and friendship, of family - for good and bad - and how we are defined by them. The true love story in here, is the love of one's self and that when that blossoms, everything will. What is nicer than that! Oh, bonus, there are some recipes you will need to try in here!!!

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Review: Wild By; Cheryl Strayed

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the memoir of a woman who found her life hiking the Pacific Coast Trail. Cheryl Strayed (a last name she chose) at twenty two, is lost, empty. Her mother having died five years earlier, a biological father that was abusive, a lack of connection between her siblings, a drug habit, and a recent divorce - she is spent, emotionally, physically, mentally and yet she is detached from it all. A piece of her has died along the way, it was left in the hospital room with her mother, and has not resurfaced or healed.
This is her journey. Honest. Painful. Filled with amazing vivid imagery and great insight as each step brings her closer to enlightment, healing and the rawness that comes through isolation and nature to gather you to your core being.
I devoured this book in one sitting, often fooling myself in the back of mind of the possibility of doing it myself. Ms. Strayed's pain is real and easily accessible to the reader as is her journey through to the other side.

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Review: Happily Ever After By: Elizabeth Maxwell

Happily Ever After by Elizabeth Maxwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sadie Fuller has a rich life in the evening when she changes from a divorced forty six year old mom to the writer of erotic novels. The only things exciting is the carbs from her German maid's mac and cheese and a standing appointment for sex with a man she met on with an ad she placed. It all changes when characters jump off the page and into her life, requiring her to take a look not just at them but at herself and the necessity of opening up to the possible in the realm of reality.

I think that I could give this closer to 3 1/2 stars but not quite 4, reasons being that some development within the characters and their relationships were lacking and seemed truly reaching, but the story was original - three stories in one, fun, quick, easy, uplifting read that is perfect for a Saturday or Beach.

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Review: Shake Down The Stars By: Renee Swindle

Shake Down the Stars by Renee Swindle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***** This is a First Reads, Thank You Goodreads *****

Piper Nelson has found herself on this side of bad - experience a tragedy, get a divorce, become the black sheep. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, her half sister gets engaged to a football star and goes onto a reality show, her ex husband dumps her (yes, unhealthy, but, that's Piper) for a younger woman and gets her pregnant, and just maybe she might lose her job because of her alcohol problem.
Sometimes you think you are at your worst and you can sink deeper, you think you are the only one with the pain that you hold yet there is pain everywhere, and sometimes the stars align just right and the universe unfolds and reveals herself at the right moment - when you are ready to see, when you are ready to shake down the stars.
I really loved the depth of Piper and all the relationships in her life. The author has a way of delivering the complexities from the boss to the mother, from the possibilities of the future to the reflections of the past - how all are interwoven, weaved and that sometimes the greatest gift to ourselves is the freedom to forgive and to love.
This is a book that will make you laugh, cry, and long after you put down think about. Read this one with your girlfriend (or book club) because you will want to talk about a few things in here!

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