The Opposite of Me

A few months ago new author Sarah Pekkanen contacted me (after reading my blog! whoop!) and asked if I would be willing to read and write a review on her debut novel, "The Opposite of Me." I was thrilled! Since my life has been insanity lately it's taken me a while to get through the book, but I finally finished it and I loved it!

"Twenty-nine-year old Lindsey Rose has, for as long as she can remember, lived in the shadow of her ravishingly beautiful fraternal twin sister, Alex. Determined to get noticed, Lindsey is finally on the cusp of being named VP creative director of an elite New York advertising agency, after years of eighty-plus-hour weeks, migraines and profound loneliness. But during the course of one devastating night, Lindsey's carefully constructed life implodes. Humiliated, she flees the glitter of Manhattan and retreats to the time warp of her parents' Maryland home. As her sister plans her lavish wedding to her Prince Charming, Lindsey struggles to maintain her identity as the smart, responsible twin while she furtively tries to piece her career back together. But things get more complicated when a long-held family secret is unleashed that forces both sisters to reconsider who they are and who they are meant to be." (Book's synopsis)

I have to be honest, when I started this book I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. Successful career woman, living in New York City, workaholic, non-existent love-life....we've read it before. But this book is so much more than the finding yourself love story that we've all read a thousand times. It's more about finding yourself than it is about love and it's more about family relationships than it is romantic ones. Pekkanen really explores family dynamics and personal roles within the family. Lindsey is the "smart" twin and Alex is the "pretty" twin and throughout the book they each discover themselves, find a place in their family and build a relationship that was never there before. Pekkanen's writing style is really refreshing. She is witty and funny and incredibly descriptive. I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous but lovable parents and I even cried, shed real live tears, more than once. I loved that I totally thought I was predicting the ending and all of a sudden there was a wrench thrown in that completely proved me wrong.

The book has been getting some amazing reviews all across the country. Here's what people are saying...

"Pekkanen's wry voice and engaging characters - the sisters' bumbling parents are especially lovable - keep things fresh. 3.5 out of 4 stars."
- People magazine

"With her smart, soulful novel, author Pekkanen explores the place where self and sisterhood intersect." 

- Redbook magazine

"Fresh and funny and satisfying. A terrific book about sisters that actually made me laugh out loud. I was completely drawn into Lindsey’s world and rooted for her from beginning to end."

– Jennifer Weiner

#1 New York Times bestselling author
of "Best Friends Forever"
and "In Her Shoes"

If you're looking for a nice easy read that is heartfelt but not too mushy, I highly recommend "The Opposite of Me." Click on THIS LINK to read the first chapter!

Heart of the Matter

 I just finished Emily Giffin's newest book, Heart of the Matter, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Here's a quick recap from emilygiffin.com:

Tessa Russo is the mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Despite her mother’s warnings, Tessa has recently given up her career to focus on her family and the pursuit of domestic happiness. From the outside, she seems destined to live a charmed life.

Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie---a boy who has never known his father. After too many disappointments, she has given up on romance---and even, to some degree, friendships---believing that it is always safer not to expect too much.

Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, the two have relatively little in common aside from a fierce love for their children. But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined.

Emily Giffin definitely has a gift for making you relate and route for each and every character she creates. I'm just not sure I liked this book as a whole. It kind of depressed me. So much of book's storyline was about men cheating on their wives, which is not a topic I tend to enjoy. Because of Giffin's descriptive representation of each character I couldn't figure out who I wanted to love whom and how I wanted it to end....which made it more depressing. Am I routing for the guy to leave his wife and kids? Do I want him to break someones heart? It was tough and has left me feeling all around bummed out. 

The book's theme is about relationships in a marriage, relationships with children and friendships and although I am fully aware of the complexities that arrive in any kind of relationship, this was too much. I'd like to believe that marriages can work and there are men who don't cheat. I'd really like to believe I'm with one of them. I'm not so naive to think marriage comes without a lot of hard work and many ups and downs, but I'd like to think the fairy tale is possible and things can be overall good from beginning to end. The book did raise some really good points--one that really stuck out was that relationships, of any kind, are two way streets. You need to put in to be able to take out and sometimes if one is down the other needs to raise them up. Even though the themes from Giffin's first two books, Something Borrowed and Something Blue are similar, I found those to be much more lighthearted and more fun to read. This one just made me feel overall, blue.

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

Advice Needed: Kindle or Nook?

I've had my eye on a Kindle for a couple months now and was sold when one of our regular customers let me check out his. Then, Sunday, when J and I were at the mall we went into Barnes and Noble and I fell in love with the Nook. Now I've been researching the two trying to find out which is better and which one I want. Of course, there's a million features on both, but I'm only focusing on what the important features are for me. Here's what I've found.

KINDLE by Amazon.com

Display Size: 6" diagonal 
Size: 7.5" x 4.8" x 0.335"
Weight: 8.5 ounces
Storage: 3,500 books
Battery Life(Wireless Off): 1 month
Battery Life (Wireless On): 3 weeks
PRICE: $139.00









Other features:
-Never gets hot
-Download books in 60 seconds
-Worry free archive of downloaded books
-Electronic ink with no glare
-Adjustable text size
- Over 630,000 books
-Read first chapter for free

NOOK by Barnes & Noble

Display Size: 6" diagonal with 3.5" touch screen
Size: 7.7" x 4.9" x 0.5"
Weight: 11.6 ounces
Storage: 1,500 books
Battery Life(Wireless Off): 10 days
Battery Life (Wireless On): 10-15 hours
PRICE: $149.00









Other features:
-Over 1,000,000 ebooks
- Chess & Sudoku games
-Barnes & Noble in-store help
-Removable battery
- Adjustable text size
-Worry free archive of downloaded books
-Downloads books in seconds
- Electronic ink
-Custom screen savers, colorful back covers and designer cases

So far, I'm leaning towards the Nook and here's why. It's a little bigger than the Kindle, which I like, when things are too thin I worry I'll break them. I love that it has Sudoku because I am obsessed. I really, really like that I have the option of getting help from an actual face-to-face human in the Barnes & Noble staff. The Nook has a removable battery, so if something goes wrong you can replace it. The Kindle has a built in battery which makes me nervous....I lost an iPod due to this feature.On the other hand, the battery life on the Kindle is WAY better. I don't know that I'd ever need a battery to last longer than 10 days, but ya never know. They Kindle also has more storage space, again, I don't think I'll ever read 3,500 books let alone need to store all of them on the Kindle.

What about you? Do you have one? What do you have? What do you love/hate about it? If you don't have one, do you want one? Which one do you want? What have you heard? Help a sister out!!!

Recaps, Reviews, Predictions and Ideas

So much to discuss today! Let's start with my book REVIEW of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson.

Like everyone else I've talked to, I loved it! It took me about 50 pages before I really got in to it. The first 50 are pretty slow moving, but trust me it's definitely worth getting through. This book was dark, suspensful, thought provoking and well written. It was so well written, in fact, that I was super creeped out and had a hard time falling asleep while reading it. It definitely is dark and contains some pretty graphic and horrific scenes, so readers beware. I know they are in the works of making a movie based on the book and I really, REALLY hope they do it justice. It's such an interesting story with a lot of details that need to be included to make the story successful! According to IMDb, the film version has a predicted release date of December 2011 and shows Daniel Craig playing the role of Mikael Blomkvist (for those of you who have read it). I'm not going to give a summary or synopsis in case any of you are still waiting to read it, but I highly recommend it. Do it now, before the movie comes out! You'll be glad you did. And, I'm super excited because one of my friends has recently finished the two sequels to the book and is letting me borrow them!

Next up on my reading list, Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin.

Since it is Thursday, you all know you've got a So You Think You Can Dance RECAP and PREDICTION coming your way! Last night, the final 6 dancers each danced one routine with an All-Star, one routine with a fellow contestant and a solo in their own style! It was another great night filled with amazing talent. Since there were a billion performances, I narrowed it down to my top 3! 

Robert & All-Star Kathryn in a Stacey Tookey Contemporary

This routine brought tears to my eyes. The concept was a soldier leaving their loved one for war. The choreography was excellent and Robert and Kathryn were breathtaking. The concept really resonated with me and the whole thing was just beautiful. 

Billy and All-Star Ade in a Stacey Tookey Contemporary

It was a great night for Stacey Tookey! She choreographed two amazing routines! I loved this one. It was about a high class man and a low class man and at the climax of the routine they realize they know each other. Both dancers danced in completely different contemporary styles and the contrast was amazing. The music was perfect, choreography was perfect, concept was perfects, characters were perfect and the dancing was perfect. One of my favorite of the season. 

Billy & Robert in a Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood

 This was my favorite routine of the night! I LOVE Bollywood and it was so fun to see these two amazing dancers do it! I want to find a Bollywood dance class to take! I know it would be ridiculously hard, but the routines always look so fun and what a great workout! Both boys did a wonderful job!!!

Now, for the hard part. Tonight two dancers are going home and the FINAL FOUR will be revealed.

I think Jose is going home for sure. He is without a doubt the worst of the remaining dancers. He's as sweet as can be and I love him, but he isn't formally trained. He is a phenomenal B-Boy, but is having a rough time with the other styles.

I think Kent and Lauren are shoe-ins (and will be the final two) but who will be joining them?

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I think Billy, Robert and AdeChike are all deserving of being in the Final Four! I will say the Robert has surpassed Kent as my favorite! I absolutely love him and he gets better and better each week. Plus, he's easy on the eyes. I wasn't the biggest fan of Billy and up until last night would have picked AdeChike, but Billy Bell was outstanding last night. I thought his solo was the best of the group and I think he landed himself a spot in the top. I guess we'll just have to see what all the crazy teenage girls voting came up with!

All images from Fox.comhttp://www.fox.com/dance/

And, finally, for my big IDEA. I know from reading all your wonderful blogs that a lot of you are quite the little fashionistas. Because of your fabulous fashion sense, I'm guessing quite a few of you watch

Season 8 starts tonight on Lifetime and I cannot wait! There's 17 new designers and the show is now 90 minutes long! 

So, my big idea is to start one of those fun little Linky games! I figure this way we can all give our two cents on the season as it progresses and follow along with what we're all saying. This doesn't have to be a big dedication post, just throw it in with whatever else you're posting about every Friday. Just pick your favorite and least favorite designs from the night before. Then, feel free to share your favorite designers or rant about your not-so-favorites! And, if you're feeling really inspired share some of your favorite fashions, style icons,outfits, tips....anything you want! And of course don't forget to grab this super sweet button I made

See you all tomorrow for the first ever FASHION FRIDAY!!!!

The Time Traveler's Wife

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Last night I finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I loved it! It was a nice change from the good but mindless Emily Giffin books I just read. This book is both a romance and science fiction novel, but somehow is neither at the same time. The time travel of the main character Henry, drives the story but it's not what it's about. This book is about love and not just between man and woman but between friends, and parents and siblings. The novel is a love story but also pushes the philosophical question of purpose and meaning. My favorite thing about the book was the style in which it was written. Niffenegger write from the perspectives of both Henry and Clare, but also includes dates and times so the reader has to follow along in the time travel instead of writing with a linear time line. I loved how Niffenegger often left out punctuation while writing from Clare's perspective, especially when Clare is younger. Without the  punctuation you find yourself reading faster and you get the true feeling of what is racing through Clare's mind. The style was hard hard to get used to and was confusing at first. Initially, it's hard to keep track of whose perspective is being shown, what the date is and the order of the events taking place, but once you get in to it you're so engrossed in the story you just follow right along. I also found myself feeling uneasy while reading this book, which I attribute to the ever changing story and unsureness of the events that may take place. If you haven't read this book I highly recommend it!

Credit

Immediately after I finished the book (which was at 10:30pm by the way) I ran out to the nearest RedBox and grabbed the movie version starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. After being so engrossed in the book I was so curious to see how they portrayed this amazing story in film form. I didn't dislike the movie but it certainly didn't even compare to the book. First of all, the book is 536 pages of deep intensity and the movie runs 1 hour and 47 minutes. I really wish they would have created a longer more epic movie version. The film is really just a compacted, G-rated version of the book. There were so many crucial details left out the movie, which I suppose I understand if you're trying to cram it all in to under 2 hours. I really just wish they would have spent a little more time establishing the relationship between Clare and Henry and the individual characters themselves. I didn't feel the deep and everlasting love between Clare and Henry and I didn't see any of the dark side of Henry or the painful optimism of Clare. The book has some really dark aspects to it and the movie just flew right over all of that. With some more time and some more details from the book this movie could have been much better. But, I will say that if I hadn't read the book first I probably would have loved the movie! And, Rachel McAdams is amazing in everything she does, I love her!

Did you read the book? See the movie? What did you think of both or either?

Up next, I'm reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Something Borrowed, Somthing Blue and Dancing too

I recently realized that I am one of the very few women my age who had not read Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed and the sequel Something Blue.

 

CREDIT

I finally read them and LOVED them both! I flew through them, I couldn't put them down. No wonder everyone has read these!

Something Borrowed is a story is about a girl named Rachel who on the night of her thirtieth birthday sleeps with her best friend's fiance. The book then follows her struggles to define her relationship with Dex (the fiance) and Darcy (her best friend who is engaged to Dex). I don't want to give away too much in case you are like me and have not read it...in which case you totally should!

Something Blue is the story of Darcy (Rachel's best friend who was engaged to Dex) after the cheating takes place. At first, I wasn't a fan because the first few chapters are just chapters from the first book rewritten from Darcy's prospective. Initially, I thought it was a cop-out but then I found myself getting more in to Darcy's character which I have to believe was Giffin's purpose.

I loved Giffin's style of writing. Both books were funny and smart. Super entertaining yet full of content. She explores all different kinds of relationships and shows the complexities that all relationships contain.I'm interested to read her other books to see how different or similar they are to these two. Have you read her other? Which one should I read first?

For more on these books check out Emily Giffin's website: www.emilygiffin.com

Have you read either or both of these books? What did you think?

Next up on my reading list is The Time Traveler's Wife.


Now, it's time for my weekly So You Think You Can Dance recap. I know you're excited.

First, I need to rant about SYTYCD for one second because I'm pissed.....J had a late softball game last night that I went causing me to get home at 10:30pm. I was going to wait until tonight to watch the show but this season is just TOO DAMN GOOD, I had to watch it, causing me to get less than ample sleep and be extremely sleepy this morning. Hehe!

On to the show....each contestant had the opportunity to dance in their own style, I decided to take notes during the solos because I'm a huge nerd I didn't want to forgot anything, so I'm just going to quote my solo notes in this absolutely scintillating review.

Contestant: Adechike
Routine: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Dave Scott
All-Star: Lauren

I loved this routine! It was so fun and flirty and FINALLY got to show off Adechike's personality. Plus, Lauren is amazing. I just love her. I made a note that this was the best hip hop routine of the season (little did I know what was coming later).
SOLO: "Strong but anticlimactic."

Contestant: Ashely
Routine: Contemporary
Choreographer: Dee Caspary
All-Star: Ade

I love Ashely, she's still my favorite girl. I liked this routine but wasn't overwhelmed by it. They both danced amazing and I agree that it was Ashley's best performance, I just wasn't moved beyond words.
SOLO: "Love her. Love this song. Don't love the solo."

Contestant: Robert
Routine: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya
All-Star: Courtney

First of all, I have to comment on his pre-routine clip about his mom. His mother had three miscarriages and two other babies died in her arms and she had breast cancer! What an incredibly strong woman! It was so moving to see her watch Robert dance last night. I still love him, I loved this routine. It was so Sonya, dark and deranged, and Robert did a great job with it. I'm just afraid it didn't stand out and he may get lost in the crowd and be in trouble again. SOLO: "Started awesome, leveled off."

Contestant: Melinda
Routine: Salsa
Choreographer: Fabian Sanchez
All-Star: Pascha

Yuck! Another craptastic routine from Melinda. She definitely should not have shared that she is Colombian and her family salsas all the time because she did not have the moves to back that up. I watched 30 seconds and fast-forwarded the rest....she NEEDS to go! SOLO: "What is she wearing. Go home."

Contestant: Lauren
Routine: Broadway
Choreographer: Joey Dowling
All-Star: Neil

This was a really cute and fun routine and Lauren looked absolutely beautiful. I agree with the judges that there was something missing....chemistry maybe? And I totally agree with Mia's critique of Lauren that she is such a strong dancer that she loses some femininity. SOLO: "worst song choice ever, danced beautifully"

Contestant: Billy
Routine: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
All-Star: Kathryn

I liked this routine and thought it was really good but I didn't see any chemistry between Billy and Kathryn. It felt like there was no character, Billy was just dancing the steps.  SOLO: "loved it. quirkier than I would have expected."

Contestant: Jose
Routine: Samba
Choreographer: Dmitry
All-Star: Anya

Again, this wasn't a well danced routine but how can you not love Jose? He is infectious and so fun to watch whether he's doing well or not! I hope the audience agrees and keeps him out of the bottom 3 a little longer. *Side note: Anya is insane! I wish I could shake it like her. SOLO: "How can you spin around on your head that may times? Why would you pick this song?"

Contestant: Kent
Routine: Jazz
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
All-Star: Allison

Why does Kent keep getting this sexy, dominating male characters? Can't a choreographer throw him a bone and create something that shows off his amazingly fun and energetic personality instead of trying to "make him a man." That being said, I really liked this routine, it was fun! And I'm pretty confident Kent will be more than safe. SOLO: "Adorable. Amazing. Love him."

Contestant: Alex
Routine: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Nappy Tabs
All-Star: Twitch

The second I saw Alex pull Twitch's name I felt nervous, I thought for sure this boy was going to get beyond embarrassed....boy was I wrong! THIS ROUTINE WAS INSANE!!! I watched it three times and would have watched it more if it wasn't so late. I couldn't believe how amazing Alex did, plus Twitch is ridiculous and the choreography was sick. This is my all time favorite hip hop routine in the show's history!!! I want to watch it again right now. Sooooo good!!!! My biggest critism of Alex has been his personality and in this routine he really got to let loose. He's still not my favorite but her moved way up in my book! SOLO: "So strong and powerful, no emotion"

This isn't going to shock any of you but my pick to go home is Melinda.