This was a mixed bag.
On one hand, there were photos of great outfits that gave me great hope as I flipped through the book.
The text, however, was all about rules that are ridicoulous. Such as women whose arms aren’t perfectly toned should never wear short sleeve or sleeveless shirts. Even in the summer. This woman has clearly never been to Michigan in the summer when it’s 90 degrees and 100% humidity. A person with long sleeves would look ridiculously out of place unless she were working in a bank or something. Even then, I’m pretty sure they wear sleeveless shells beneath their jackets.
Fashion books that tell me that unless I fit the ideal of young and taut and size 2 are books I will not take seriously.
No long sleeves. Whatever.
I’m 41 and I haven’t thought about fashion in years. I’ve recently been inspired to care about clothes and makeup again but I found myself in an interesting situation. I found certain things that I liked and wondered “Am I too old to wear that?” So, I picked up this book and “The Grown Up Girl’s Guide to Style” (review to follow this one.)
I think Mathieson had the right idea but really? Her ideas of cool still look old to me. Perhaps it’s because, though she mentions women in their 40s here and there, all of the models were 50 and older. Even still, some of the clothes looked way too “Golden Girls” for my taste. There is no reason a woman needs to wear gauzy, drapy clothes that hide her every feature just because she’s Of a Certain Age.
I’ve decided that if I have to ask if it’s too young, it probably is.
I love Tim Gunn. I can not believe that it has taken me this long to pick up this book.
What I like about Tim is that he doesn’t tell you style to have but he does give guidelines for good taste. There’s info on how to spot quality garments and how to take care of them. His list of Things Every Woman Must Have (which is not how he calls it but I don’t have the book handy for reference) is great. If you’ve ever seen his TV show (Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style) then you’ll know the gist of this book.
The Budget Fashionista belongs on the List of Fashion Books That Are Worth Buying.
Finney doesn’t tell you what to wear but gives the reader great ideas of how to do so and do it for less. The Budget Fashionista website has great resources and more information.
If you are having a fashion crisis - or if you think you spend wayyyy too much money on clothes, you should check out this book. If you love fashion but can’t spend the GNP of a small country on haute couture, then this is the book for you.
In 2006, I had a life altering event. It changed nearly everything about me. I used to be what lesbians call “high femme.” I referred to myself jokingly as CosmoFemme. Then The Thing happened. I spent a year in bed. Literally. I didn’t care about anything. In January of 2007, things started to get better but it’s only been recently that I’ve begun to care about makeup and clothes and my general personal appearance again.
I seemed to have lost touch with Planet Femme, so I went to the library to look for books about clothes and makeup, etc. to sort of get me going in the right direction again. Besides, I love to read books about frivolous things like clothes and makeup.
Style Statement seemed like a good idea. It’s premise is that you’ll discover your own personal “style statement” which will help you guide your fashion, decorating and relationship choices. Sign me up! Except, it didn’t deliver.
There wasn’t a clear way to determine your own “style statement.” There were exercises but what it amounted to was looking at lists of words and choosing two. Then, there is nothing to tell the reader how to apply those words to their life. I don’t need hard and fast rules – since I’ll break them anyway – but some guidance would have been helpful. What good does it do me to know what my “style statement” is if there is no way to apply that?
Overall, very disappointing.
I said I was going to read a lot this weekend, right? I have! It’s early still so I might even have time to finish another book. 
Anna Strong is a bounty hunter who, inadvertently, goes against a vampire. When trying to apprehend the vamp, he attacks. Of course, he meant to kill her but somehow Anna wound up drinking his blood and becoming a vampire herself. She doesn’t realize it until the doctor at the hospital where she is taken tells her so. He becomes her mentor, so to speak, and her lover.
She needs an ally since someone is trying to kill her, it seems. She’s pulled over by a state trooper who is a vampire killer, but she escapes. Her home is burned down. David, her business partner and good friend, is kidnapped. Anna is determined to find him. What she finds surprises her and nearly gets her killed.
I read a review of this book sometime back but for some reason I never bought it. That is, until I saw it at Charis when I was in Atlanta. I’m so glad that I did. The Becoming was fantastic! The story is fast paced with enough turns and tricks to keep the reader guessing. I am going to have to find the next of this series soon because I can’t wait to find out what happens to Anna next.
Violet is the youngest of triplets, nearly an hour younger than the oldest, as she’s reminded at one point. The other two are identical, Violet a fraternal who looks nothing like her sisters, Jasmine and Rose. Violet wants nothing more than to fit in with her sisters but she doesn’t. She was sickly at birth and has been babied all of her life.
Violet decides to make herself more like her sisters. Their parents, Lily and Greg, are florists who are opening a new shop. The triplets go to the new building to do some cleaning and Violet finds a letter addressed to “V” and it bears surprising resemblance to her own life. She gets caught up in solving the mystery of what happened to the mysterious “V” and, in the process, learns that she doesn’t need to be just like her sisters.
Paperquake is a children’s book and that is evident in the writing, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The plot wasn’t as predictable as most children’s books are and chances are good that I’ll read others of Ms. Reiss’ books.
I said I had plans to do little but read this long holiday weekend. I haven’t read as much as I’d like but I did finish Parable of the Sower and this.
I can not remember who recommended this series. I think it was someone on “Novel Ladies.” I am fond of paranormal, fantasy and series and this covers all the bases.
Kitty is a werewolf. What a name for a werewolf, right? She is a talk radio DJ and one night, she gets a call that changes everything for her. She begins an advice show for the paranormal: werewolves, vampires, etc. The powers that be don’t like it and try to get her to stop but she does not. Kitty goes from being the most submissive of wolves to damned near alpha.
I didn’t care much for the representation of werewolves and vampires but I am quite curious as to how this will evolve over the series. The next is “Kitty Goes to Washington,” followed by “Kitty Takes a Holiday” and the, so-far-last “Kitty and the Silver Bullet.” It’s a good thing I read fast with all these series that I now Must Read.
My friend InfoDva recommended this series. The Parable of the Sower is, of course, the first followed by The Parable of the Talents, which I haven’t read yet.
Let’s see how to summarize this. Lauren Olamina is a young black woman who lives in the United States in what appears to be a nearly post-apocolypse world. It’s not, though. Only that humans have destroyed the world. People live in small walled communities or else they have no protection. By “small,” I mean neighborhood size. Lauren has “hyperempathy” which means that she can feel what others are feeling. Her family discourages her from telling people about it since it’s something that other people are afraid of.
Lauren is developing her own religious beliefs and making plans to leave her community and try to find a less crazy place when her neighborhood is destroyed and most, if not all, of her family killed. She heads out and is soon joined by others who go along on her quest for a better place.
Despite the plethora of typos, this book was phenomenal. The ideas are not that far-fetched, given the state of our world right now. It takes place only a few years from today - 2024-2027. It’s not likely that we will, in this lifetime, end up there but I think it isn’t impossible, either.
A while back I read the prequel to this, “Revenge of the MIddle Aged Woman.” I think I need to re-read that, but I digress. When, exactly, did I become a middle aged woman? It happened without my permission. Anyway.
I remember liking Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman but this one didn’t grab me. I listened to it all the way through but it never got more realistic. It’s the story of Minty, the second wife. I don’t prefer that the protagonists of the books I read to be so completly unsympathetic and Minty was. Very self absorbed and self centered, even when it came to her children.
Not a bad book, I think, but not the greatest. Wouldn’t you know this is an audio book I bought since I needed something quickly?
