Thursday, October 8, 2020

The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir by Andre Leon Tally

Tally's memoir gives us an insider look at the high fashion industry, as well as his career. Growing up in Durham, North Carolina with his parents gone all the time, he was nurtured by his grandmother. He studied French and received a scholarship at Brown University. His hard work and talent lead him to both New York and Paris, gaining recognition from Diana Vreeland, Andy Warhol, Karl Lagerfeld, Yves St Laurent, and more. Despite racism and prejudice, he breaks ground to become the creative director writing and photographing for the Vogue Magazine while falling in and out of favor with its chief editor Anna Wintour. He reflects on his friendships and comes to terms with his weight and sexuality, with the belief that education and knowledge is key to his success, in addition to the love of his grandmother and mentor Diana Vreeland. It is an interesting read.

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Strong by Kara Goucher

 

“This is My Race

I Am Fearless

 I Belong”

 

From the publisher:  Kara offers a look inside her private Confidence Journal. Interactive prompts teach you how to implement this practice into your own daily training routine.

 Confidence techniques include Positive Self Talk, Setting Goals, Power Words, and Visualization Techniques.

 Inspirational read from a two-time Olympian for boosting confidence!

 

 

Saturday, August 1, 2020

My Stylish French Girlfriends by Sharon Santoni

Even though this book is a coffee table style book, I read it from cover to cover. It appealed to my artistic side, as well as my interest in house decorating and garden keeping. It features 20 different French women. Each woman has a few pages dedicated to them with a short synopsis of how they live and a photo shoot of their workplaces and homes. Some of them live in the French countryside, others live in Paris and have a country home, some also live in small villages. Each woman has an established way of life. Their families vary as to being single with grown children to married with kids still in the house and everything in-between. To me, they each seemed to have an elegance to them and the knowledge of how one should enjoy the simple pleasures in life and seek the quiet joys of everyday living. This, of course, is balanced against the busy, motivated life of working. Some of their professions were: selling antiques, country home interior shop, painter (as in on canvas), bridal gown designer, champagne producer, horse raiser, home renovator, and wire sculptor to name a few. So interesting and beautiful, a really enjoyable book.

Monday, July 6, 2020

The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson


Neurosurgeon Jake Baker reminisces about growing up in 1980's Niagara Falls, the summer when he turned twelve where his eccentric uncle Calvin formed The Saturday Night Ghost Club with him and the new neighborhood kids Billy and Dove. They go for haunting adventures in town and inadvertently past family tragedies resurface... The story is about childhood innocence and friendship as well as teenage angst and rebellion. It touches on bullying, family dynamics and how one's memories shift with changing perspectives over time. Except for the medical description of the brains, it is a good story with layers that I enjoyed.

Monday, April 6, 2020

Magnolia Journal (magazine)

   The theme from the Summer Library Program this year is "Imagine Your Story". I was thinking how a trip is similar to that, having recently gone on vacation with my husband to Waco, Texas (before Covid-19!), where we visited Magnolia SILOS, among other places, it was fun to imagine what it might be like to live somewhere else or be someone else.
   Now, I admire Joanna Gaines, but I fear I could never 'wear her shoes', because, oh my goodness, not only does she and here husband , Chip, have five children, they do a ton of other stuff as well.Starting off with the popular filming of Fixer Upper, which I really enjoyed, and now they have the businesses: Magnolia Marketplace, Magnolia Bakery Co., Magnolia Table, Little Shop on Bosque, and the online Magnolia Marketplace.
   Joanna also has gone into publishing some of her own books and creating the magazine Magnolia Journal. The magazines are really cool- if, like me, you like Joanna's style. So I have enjoyed reading many of the issues, because we do subscribe to it. So, CHECK IT OUT at your Pella Public Library.

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate

  This was the perfect story for someone like me. The farm where Katie and her husband go to, so resonated with my own life growing up on a small, lovely farm. The underlying current of the story was meaningful and poignant.
   Katie and Ben struggle with their priorities. The importance of earning a living and getting things you want versus spending time with family. Their son, Joshua, needed heart surgery as a baby, so suddenly their finances are not as stable as they were. Also, their is friction between family members, notably strained since the death of Katie's mother. There is tension in the marriage and exhaustion from caring for a baby and now a grandmother.
   Katie and Ben agree to go to the family farm and stay with Grandma Rose for a few weeks until a decision can be made as to what should be done about her. Now, Grandmother Van Gortler is a force to be reckoned with. Her preaching criticism has to be taken with a grain of salt. After Katie spends some time with her, she begins to learn what makes her like she is. Rose's difficult past has definitely shaped her. However, in her old age, Rose sees an opportunity to pass on to Katie sage wisdom gained from her own life...to enjoy the beautiful and simple things, to ask for help when you need it, to be patient, to except others for who they are, to forgive, to help those in need, to love your children.Through a series of short stories her grandmother leaves for her, at just the right times, Katie is given a legacy to cherish forever.
   I really enjoyed this story and would highly recommend it. Lisa Wingate is also the author of the well-known book Before We Were Yours.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard


Earning much recognition in 2019, this children’s book shows the myriad ways in which fry bread is interwoven in native culture in our country. The poetic text and illustrations share with the reader the importance of this traditional food in all kinds of Native American families, despite the vast diversity of native peoples. The picture book format is followed by a lengthy section of author’s notes, which works like a nonfiction complement, complete with citations. Although written for kids, it is age-appropriate for anyone interested in better understanding this culture… or anyone with fry bread memories of their own!

Monday, February 10, 2020

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

 
During a blizzard, guests in an isolated resort dropped dead one after another. Among them were best friends Gwen and Riley, as well as a writer, a lawyer, a fighting couple and a separating couple. The heavy snow makes driving impossible, roads are closed, electricity is out, even police must postpone their arrival. The remaining guests are cloaked with fear and suspicion among themselves. Secrets form the past surface and friendships betrayed. How much does one really know someone? I was compelled to find out "who-dun-it."

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Exhalation by Ted Chiang

This thought provoking collection of short stories will stretch your mind and give you lots to ponder.  Chiang covers topics from fixing past mistakes via time travel, to communicating with others in parallel universes, to virtual reality, all in a comprehensible way.  His earlier collection of stories, "Stories of your Life and Others", was equally as fascinating to me.  ("Stories of your Life" was the basis for the move "Arrival").  

Science fiction isn't my go-to genre, but I was intrigued with the ideas Chiang presents in both collections, and I liked his writing style.  I'd recommend reading the Story Notes in the back of the book after you finish each one. February can be a boring, gray  month, so why not change it up and read something different than your usual genres?

Monday, February 3, 2020

Noel Street by Richard Paul Evans

A heartwarming story of love, forgiveness, and kindness set in 1975 after the Vietnam War is the newest book by this popular author. Elle, who lost her husband in the war, is trying to make ends meet with a young biracial son to raise. Her parents rejected her after she married a black man and she is facing some racism in the small town she lives in. William, who recently moved to town, acts strangely at times and the two end up helping each other after initial dislike. When she learns that William is a Vietnam POW, she is more understanding and they become close but their pasts cause difficulties.  Set during the holiday season this book is a pleasant read for anytime of the year  I have read most of this author's books and this is another novel of his that doesn't disappoint.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon and Damon West

The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon and Damon West is an uplifting little book written to light a fire in those people seeking positive change in their lives.
The book deals with one boy's story and how a fable about a carrot, an egg and a coffee bean are placed in boiling water and how the result changes his outlook for life. His end result shows us how to approach our own lives and make them better. Needless to say, based on the title, the coffee bean approach is the way to go.
Earlier when I said this is a little book, that was no exaggeration. Small in stature and page count, The Coffee Bean is about a 15 to 30 minute read depending on how much of a speed reader you are. There are also a lot of illustrations that help in moving you along through the tale.
If you read Amazon, and other reviews, don't let the negative ones steer you away from this book. Some people feel The Coffee Bean is too light of a read and doesn't address the subject in enough seriousness and detail.  To me, that is why the book works. A simple fable that can be read by all ages, can then be applied to the lives of all ages of people. How you make the story work for you is the magic of it. The beauty of it is the tale is not technical, but easy to grasp and live by.
A lot of Jon Gordon fans were also mad this book cost $17 dollars and went by so fast. Now it is priced around $7, but don't forget, you can check it out free from your Pella Public Library. See what The Coffee Bean can do for you.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb


This was one of my favorite books that I read in 2019.  Gottlieb is a therapist who decides to go to therapy herself after her boyfriend breaks up with her (when she was expecting a proposal).  She chooses Wendell, a cardigan wearing older man whose therapy techniques are sometimes unconventional.
     While Gottlieb is sharing her therapy journey with us, she also shares stories about some of her patients: the newlywed diagnosed with terminal cancer, a seemingly self absorbed TV producer, a single woman threatening suicide on her birthday, and a young woman who is attracted to the wrong men again and again.  Lori begins to realize that the problems that she can see in her patients are the same ones that Wendell sees in her, although she didn’t see them in herself. 
     The general insights she shares about therapy and therapists are interesting, and I came to care about the patients she was describing.  And I was reminded that you don’t know what “that abrasive person” is going through.  Yes, maybe that’s just their personality, but maybe they are deeply hurting.  Like I said, one of my favorite books last year.   5 Stars!