Life Will Be the Death of Me

Life Will Be the Death of Me: . . . and You Too! by Chelsea Handler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the most 'deep' book that Chelsea has written. She talks about the death of her brother, Chet, the death of her father, and of course the deaths of Tammy and Chunk, her beloved dogs. There is still that witty, dark humour that Chelsea has but it's like she opens up and you get to relate to her on how she is or isn't handling the grieving process. The book is not entirely about death but also growth. There's the infamous Ayahuasca experience that Chelsea showed on Chelsea Does, but she goes in to what she saw, what it was like, what she learned and the necessary changes to make the learning experience change the future. Chelsea talks about going to therapy and working many of her issues out, even though she stated a long time ago that she would never go to therapy. Chelsea now sees the benefits and welcomes anyone to try therapy since she has seen the amazing changes and the benefits it has done for her. For those of you reading this, Chelsea Handler has started a support/discussion group on Facebook called THE ORANGE ROOM. There is an approval process but it's a place to safely talk about grieving, death, support and so much more that goes along with those topics. This book definitely deserves 5 stars but I would give it more if I could. Transparency is hard to find among celebrities but Chelsea is slowly taking that wall down and making herself more open to people. I have always admired Chelsea because I think we are very similar in a lot of ways and I look up to her for the fact that she is always in a constant state of learning (and if you know me that's a big thing). She's reading books, testing out certain things, trying to see another person's point of view. She has a documentary coming out in September discussing her own white privilege and the disadvantages of privileges to others. It's a sketchy topic for this time, especially in the USA, where there is so much unrest and the country is becoming more divided by the day, but it's a topic that needs to be shown so that people can get a glimpse of what others have to go through.


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Pretty Mess

Pretty Mess by Erika  Jayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was an absolute delight to read and it dove-tailed perfectly with the Ted Talk that Erika Girardi gave on how Erika Jayne evolved. There was a lot of information about how she grew up in a small town and moved to New York to try to make it. The ups and downs with her mum who she considered more like a friend than a mother. The special bond she had with her mum's mum and her other grandparents. Having a child at a young age and then making the most difficult decision any parent could make. It all made sense and you understood how Erika is very honest and down to earth but can be totally flip. I really enjoyed the chapters of how she met Mikey Minden and the rest of her glam squad who help her to keep the Erika Jayne experience larger than life. Expenses, high fashion, and simply “How many fucks do I give? None, None, Not ONE, zero, zero, zero, DONE!” I would definitely give this a 5 star rating but I think that's a bit lavish because I am biased and love everything Erika Jayne, therefore a solid 4 will be the number. A light easy read, with lots of biographical content but it feels so much like Erika is reading you the story of her life. A good biography should be like that, hearing the person's voice tell you everything, like sharing intimate secrets. Either way an entertaining read and the fact that the cover is HOT HOT HOT doesn't hurt either!


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Book Bingo Challenge

Book Bingo/ Reading Challenge

This was a book bingo created by the library I go to. I thought that I would post it so that people could use it as a reading challenge in case they were interested. Of course I am going for the full card but let me know what you come up with or books that really stood out to you!

A book published in the last year	A book by a female author	A memoir OR biography	A book set in the past	A book with a one-word title
A book based on a true story	A book with a blue cover	A book with over 300 pages	A book by an author you've never read	A book set outside Canada
A book made into a TV Show OR movie	A book with a number in the title	Bingo	A book that makes you laugh	A book that has won an award
A book with a female main character	A book set in Canada	A book by your favourite author	A book with a red cover	A book that is part of a series
A book you've re-read	A book set in the future	A book with an illustrated cover	A book a friend told you about	A non-fiction book

Make the World Your Runway

Make the World Your Runway: Top Model Secrets for Everyday Confidence and Success by Liris Crosse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an excellent book. There was a ton of inspirational quotes and sayings (which I love because I am a word bird!). The foreword was written by Tim Gunn who is fantastic in my books, and from watching Project Runway, he seems like a mentor who looks at the positives and frames the negatives in a gentle way yet tries to get the point across that change needs to be made. This book is a solid 4 star book. It doesn't quite get a 5 because there is a lot of religious bits and I'm not religious so those parts didn't do anything for me. I have talked to Liris several times on Instagram and she's a delight to chat with. She makes herself available to respond to fans questions and ideas. Yes, I was waiting for the inspirational quote that was the Tyra “We were rooting for you” tirade but it wasn't there. Liris shares her experiences and things that a woman can do to be prepared for making yourself 'runway' ready, even when you are just going out in to the world. My favourite part of the book was when Liris shared her “Runway Tales”. These little stories were great from so many different perspectives. I have suggested to Liris that she just do an entire book about these stories as I am sure there is many more than the few in the book. I will be waiting to see if this happens and when it does I will be sure to order it.


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A Million Little Pieces

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read this book at an earlier date but was not keeping track on Goodreads, therefore there is no first opinion about the book.

RE Read Completed May 5, 2019

This choice of book was because I wanted to re-read the dental surgery that Frey 'had' to go through with out any meds because he is receiving treatment at a rehab facility. Frey does a great job describing what the pain is like, almost to the point that I started to get pain while reading it. Oprah outed Frey as a phony because the book is considered autobiographical but I think that can be left to interpretation. What one may consider devastating pain, turmoil and trouble another person may see as 'light work.' Do I think that Frey exaggerated the truth for it to be effective? 100% There are lots of people that write autobiographical books and extrapolate on things that have happened to them. That's the whole point is to make the reader want to continue reading more. If Frey had just written about the difficulty of going through withdrawl (ie the shakes, nausea, the trots etc) his book wouldn't be any different than other people who have written about their rehab journey. Another reason this book is a keeper is because of the relationship Frey builds with Leonard. The way that relationship comes to be is something very special. We all need a Leonard in our lives!


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A Beautiful Truth

A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved every minute of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed how Walt and Judy brought Looee into their life and treated him just like he was their son. The one thing that scientists try to remind people is that you can never take the wild out of an animal no matter how domesticated you make them. This was a perfect example and it didn't come apparent until Looee was in his adolescent years. He started acting out and doing things that would be considered more his wild side. Another thing I found interesting was I was amazed at how sexual the chimps were. I know that they are sexual creatures but everything they do somehow related back to sex whether it be in a literal or innocent way. It broke my heart when Looee was taken to Girdish to become a test subject. The animals were not well taken care of and it does make me sad that we use animals to test on for certain things. When Looee was taken to the area where David was running the experiments and studying the social behaviours of the chimps that was the best that Looee's life was going to get after he left Walt and Judy's. David had a sort of respect for the chimps even though he was watching an monitoring their social and learning capabilities. This was a fabulous book and when authors can successfully pull off writing from an animals perspective that truly shows their literary talents.

RE READ completed March 28, 2019

This was a re-read because I enjoyed it the first time I read it. There is a harsh reality about this story and it's very sad. People try to convert animals in to having human qualities yet they tend to forget that deep down that animal is still wild and there may be some 'wild' behaviours appear. I also read this book because of the incident and how graphic it was. It wasn't Tess Gerritsen gritty but it was light gore. One thing about this book is when the CM tries to convey what the animals are thinking etc, sometimes it is very hard to understand and you need to re-read things again to figure out the true meaning. It's a roller coaster of a ride and the end is not candy and nuts. In my previous rating I gave the book a 5 star review, the second time through I would give it a 3.5 but 3 will have to do.


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The President Is Missing

The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBH – I had gotten over reading James Patterson unless I was looking for a book to fly through that was pretty predictable and I would be able to figure it out before it ended. There are very few JP books that I haven't solved prior to finishing them. This book had Bill Clinton as a co-author and I was looking for a book to fill the mystery component of my 52 book challenge (WHICH IS FINALLY FINISHED!) and this book was getting rave reviews so I wanted to see what all the hub bub was about.

Well the beginning of the book had me going, “All the stuff that this is discussing is happening in the US currently, do I really want to bombard myself with extra US drama?” BUT there was a turning point and from that point I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters and how brilliant they were. I loved the descriptions. The fact that JP pulled the whole story out over the course of 5 days and it wasn't annoying as hell was great. There was enough misleading to throw my guess of the villain off except for at the last minute. It was interesting to see how the different government officials were in crisis when the president was missing (I don't consider that a spoiler bc the title of the book says it). The one thing I was very curious about was – What did Bill Clinton actually do to contribute to the writing or fact checking (to make the story seem real)? I haven't read a Bill Clinton book but I CANNOT stand to listen to him talk. He rambles on and adds a lot of “Ums, buts, ifs, uhs, etc.” Either way, I am giving this book a solid 4 as I haven't read a JP book that was this good in a long time.


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