Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between - Lauren Graham (Review)

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham 
Genres: Nonfiction 
Format: audiobook; 4 hours and 38 minutes
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published Date: November 29, 2016
How I got it: My public library 
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 
My rating: 4/5 

In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.

In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, “Did you, um, make it?” She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood (“Strangers were worried about me; that’s how long I was single!”), the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway (“It’s like I had a fashion-induced blackout”).

In “What It Was Like, Part One,” Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay “What It Was Like, Part Two” reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her.

Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (“If you’re meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you’ve already set the bar too high”), and she’s a card-carrying REI shopper (“My bungee cords now earn points!”).

Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and—of course—talking as fast as you can.

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My thoughts:

I loved watching Gilmore Girls years ago and I really enjoyed watching the 4 short mini episodes and still want more, so I couldn’t resist listening to Lauren Graham talk about Gilmore Girls in her book.

The book follows Lauren Graham as she tells us about the tales of her life.  I listened to the audio version of this book and she narrates the entire thing so it was even more perfect!

Lauren starts off by telling us about her early days in acting and how she got her start.  I loved hearing the details she gave about the important life events that shaped her into the actress she is today.  I had no idea that singing was important to her at all since we didn't see much of that on Gilmore Girls.  I enjoyed getting to know Lauren more as a person versus just her roles that she has played.  

  

I loved getting to learn more about Gilmore Girls in the process of listening to this book.  Lauren gives some highlights of her time when they were filming the original Gilmore Girls as well as information about the 4-episode reboot.  I absolutely love that she feels the same way about the ending of the reboot. 

My favorite part had to be about how she tries to keep her personal life separate from her work life. I enjoyed hearing about her family and other relationships that she had that she doesn’t talk about that often.   I also loved how she tried to incorporate all the important people in her life into the Gilmore Girls reboot.

The book felt very personal to listen too.  I would suggest listening to this book as Lauren Graham narrating brought it to life.  If you enjoyed watching Gilmore Girls or Parenthood I would highly recommend this book.  This book doesn’t have that much advice per say so I wouldn’t suggest reading it if you weren’t that interested in Lauren Graham. 

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About the Author

Lauren Graham is an actor, writer, and producer best known for her roles on the critically acclaimed series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. 

She is also the New York Times bestselling author of Someday, Someday, Maybe, and Talking as Fast as I Can. 

Graham has performed on Broadway and appeared in such films as Bad Santa, Because I Said So, and Max. She holds a BA in English from Barnard College and an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. 

She lives in New York and Los Angeles.

Author Links:

      

I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere But the Pool - Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella (Review)

I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere But the Pool by Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella
Series: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman #8
Genres: Humor, Nonfiction
Publication date: July 11th 2017 
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: ebook, 320 pages
How I got it: Netgalley to provide an honest review
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
My rating: 4/5 

The bestselling and “perennially hilarious” mother-daughter team is back with a new collection of stories from their real lives, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Join Lisa and Francesca as they regret drunk-shopping online, try smell-dating, and explore the freedom of a hiatus from men - a Guyatus. They offer a fresh and funny take on the triumphs and facepalm moments of modern life, showing that when it comes to navigating the crazy world we live in, you’re always your own best lifeguard

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My thoughts:

This book is written my mother and daughter duo Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella.  I have read several of Lisa Scottoline’s books and enjoyed them so I was excited to see what this book had to offer.

This book is told in a series of short chapters that talk about happenings in Lisa’s and Francesca’s current life as they are writing.  The stories are meant to be more on the comical side, not truly reflective of Lisa’s novel style.   The stories are told from Lisa’s perspective and Francesca’s perspectives in the different chapters.  Lisa has more of the stories, but we do get alternating ones when Francesca takes over the story telling.   The chapters/stories are short in nature so they are quick reads.

I enjoyed reading the stories about the current happenings in their lives.  It was interesting to hear how everyday occurrences can be made into fun stories to listen too.  I loved that we get to see the relationship between mother and daughter as they both speak about one another in their perspective stories.   As a reader you can tell that the mother and daughter share a very deep and special bond.

Some of the stories are laugh out loud funny.  We get to hear each of their own thoughts about what is going on.  It was a fun read that I couldn’t put down once I started it.  They talk about a lot of everyday modern happenings and give their opinion.

I would suggest this a nighttime read.  It is a great book to take your mind off the day.  The stories don’t follow one another so it is easy to read a few stories before bed to relax.  The flow of the book does feel natural, but it doesn’t have a specific order.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley to provide an honest review.  This does not affect my opinion of this book. 

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About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times bestselling author and Edgar award-winning author of 28 novels, including her latest, ONE PERFECT LIE, which releases in April 2017. Her previous emotional thriller, MOST WANTED, has been optioned for a TV series. Lisa also co-authors a bestselling series of humorous memoir with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, which is based on their weekly Philadelphia Inquirer column titled "Chick Wit." These witty and hysterical books examine life from a woman's perspective, and the most recent book is, I'VE GOT SAND IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES. The first in the series, WHY MY THIRD HUSBAND WILL BE A DOG, has been optioned for TV. Lisa reviews popular fiction and non-fiction, and her reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Lisa has served as President of Mystery Writers of America and has taught a course she developed, “Justice and Fiction” at The University of Pennsylvania Law School, her alma mater. Lisa is a regular and much sought after speaker at library and corporate events. Lisa has over 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Author Links:
   

Francesca Serritella is a bestselling author and columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University, where she won the Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize, the Le Baron Russell Briggs Fiction Prize, and the Charles Edmund Horman Prize for her creative writing. She lives in New York with one dog and one cat, so far.

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Cradle to Cradle - William McDonough (Spotlight)

Title: Cradle to Cradle

Author: William McDonough (and Michael Braungart)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Cradle to Cradle

Originally published in 2002, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things is now considered “the authoritative tome” on the subject of eco-effectiveness and beneficial design. This manifesto of environmentalism has turned the sustainable design industry on its head by expanding the definition of design quality to include positive effects on ecological and social health, while at the same time creating positive economic value.

The Upcycle

Building on the established principles of Cradle to Cradle, The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability–Designing for Abundance showcases decades of experience from both McDonough and Braungart as they demonstrate the efficacy of designing for positive human and environmental impact while also increasing economic value generation. Utilizing examples from McDonough’s work with organizations including Ford, Nike, and NASA, The Upcycle presents a world of possibility in the future of sustainable design.

The Hannover Principles

Written by William McDonough Architects as sustainable design guidelines for the City of Hannover, Germany, in preparation for the Expo 2000, The World’s Fair. Twenty five years later, these principles, grounded in the enduring laws of nature, continue to inform sustainable designs and dialog. The 10th anniversary edition has been updated to include an introduction by Teresa Heinz, an essay by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, and an afterword by David Rosenberg.

Cradle to Cradle is available now at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

About William McDonough

William McDonough is an award-winning architect and author recognized internationally for his groundbreaking work in sustainable design. William McDonough’s 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things is considered the seminal text of the sustainability  movement, work he has expanded on by introducing the Cradle to Cradle® Design Framework.

William McDonough has received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development as well as the National Design Award for exemplary achievement in the field of environmental design in addition to earning the U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. His firm William McDonough + Partners has worked with companies such as VMware and Hero MotoCorp to develop sustainable projects around the world. William recently published a new proposal on carbon management in Nature magazine titled “Carbon is not the Enemy”.

Connect with William online: Twitter | LinkedIn | C2C Certified

Getting Off: One Women's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction - Erica Garza (Review)

Getting Off: One Women's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction by Erica Garza
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir 
Publication date: January 16th 2018
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Hardcover, 192 pages
How I got it: Simon & Schuster Marketing for an Honest Review
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 4/5 

A fiercely courageous account of one woman's unflinching, raw, and ultimately hopeful journey through sex and porn addiction.

For almost two decades, Erica Garza was consumed by a singular, secret, shame-fueled pursuit that threw her life into chaos: orgasm. Back-braced, isolated, and teased in adolescence, and ambivalent about her Catholic upbringing, Garza found a secret solace in masturbation and porn--first by way of the limited softcore viewing offered by late-night cable, and, later, with the booming proliferation of online porn.

In this wrenching, vivid account, Garza explores her sexual fixations and relives the series of disastrous relationships and one-night stands that haunt her as she runs from one side of the world to the other in a futile attempt to break free of her habits―from East Los Angeles to Hawaii and Southeast Asia, through the brothels of Bangkok and the yoga studios of Bali to disappointing stabs at twelve-steps, therapy, and rehab back home.

Garza's terror at digging so deeply into her history to understand her anxieties is palpable, as is her exhilaration when she begins to believe she might just be free of them. And yet there is no false hope or prepackaged sense of redemption. Even her relationship to the man she will ultimately marry is credibly rocky as it finds its legs with several false starts, making her increasing sense of self-acceptance and peace by journey's end feel utterly earned.

In exploring the cultural taboos surrounding sex and porn from a female perspective, Garza offers a brave and necessary voice to our evolving conversations about addiction and the impact that Internet culture has had on young women.

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My thoughts:

This book contains adult themes.

This book follows Erica Garza on her journey to discovering her addiction of orgasm.   Erica opens up about her addiction and takes us from the beginning to present day.  We get to travel along with Erica through time to see how she got to this point in her life.

I think it is important to note, not ever path to addiction is the same and not everyone’s path to recovery will be the same.  I enjoyed getting to see the perspective of Erica’s thoughts on different events in her life and how they affected her addiction.  I also liked how honest she was when people told her she had a problem, but she didn’t think she had a problem.  I find reading memoir’s where the author feels genuinely authentic to be refreshing and makes reading more enjoyable.

Erica has traveled around a lot and meet a lot of different people along the way.  I enjoyed getting to hear the places that Erica has been and how she thinks these places also affected her mindset.   The journey that Erica took is not one that many one travel along so it was interesting to hear about the different places she got to visit and stay for periods of time.

Another great aspect of the book was getting a hard look at the relationships that she had with her family as well as friends that she crossed paths with.  I enjoyed getting to read about these relationships and hear her reflections on how they have affected her in the long run.  Erica took her time to evaluate her relationships and give the reader as much details and thoughts as possible.

I would suggest this as a weekend read.  I could sit down and read this one relatively quickly because I found the author’s voice to be honestly refreshing.   It was an easy story to follow along with and paced nicely through the author’s life.

I received a copy of this book from Simon & Schuster Marketing to provide an honest review.  This does not affect my opinion of this book. 

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About the Author

Erica Garza’s essays have appeared in Salon, Narratively, BUST, Good Housekeeping, and the Los Angeles Review, among other publications. She holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. Getting Off, her memoir on sex addiction, is her first book. Born in Los Angeles to a Mexican father and a Mexican-American mother, she has spent the majority of her adult life traveling and living abroad. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

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How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life - Lilly Singh (Review)

How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life by Lilly Singh
Genres: Nonfiction, Self-help
Publication date: March 28th 2017
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Format: hardcover, 272 pages
How I got it: My public library
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 4/5 

From actress, comedian, and YouTube sensation Lilly Singh (aka ||Superwoman||) comes the definitive guide to being a bawse—a person who exudes confidence, reaches goals, gets hurt efficiently, and smiles genuinely because they’ve fought through it all and made it out the other side.

Told in her hilarious, bold voice that’s inspired over nine million fans, and using stories from her own life to illustrate her message, Lilly proves that there are no shortcuts to success.

WARNING: This book does not include hopeful thoughts, lucky charms, and cute quotes. That’s because success, happiness, and everything else you want in life needs to be fought for—not wished for. In Lilly’s world, there are no escalators, only stairs. Get ready to climb. 

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My thoughts:

I think I should start of by letting you know I have never watched any of Lilly Singh YouTube videos.  I didn’t know who she was when I picked this book up at my library, but I was completely drawn to the cover and I love the word Bawse so I needed to read it. 

This book is told by Lilly who is a YouTube star and she goes through the guiding principals of how to make your life better.  It is set in 50 short chapters that are no longer then a page or two with different topics on things to focus on to make you more successful.

Lilly picks a very vast number of topics from business life to personal life on how to be successful.  I enjoyed how she would share anecdotes of how they relate to her personal life and gave examples of what she did to overcome any challenges. 

The book felt extremely organized and well thought-out.  I felt the different chapters flowed nicely together and gave me a complete picture of what point she was trying to get across.  

My favorite section of the book was by far the fear of missing out on something while preparing for another event.  I do feel this was something while growing up that is harder to learn that it is ok to miss out on things when you are working hard towards an end goal.

I don’t think any of the advice is life shattering, but there are several topics that would make you evaluate what you are doing with your life.  She has good strategies on how to approach situations.  

I do suggest reading the hardcover copy as the pictures are great!

I would suggest this as a weekend read I felt the book was very light and it was easy to read on the couch over the weekend.  

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About the Author

Lilly Singh is a Canadian YouTube personality, vlogger, comedian and actress. Singh is known by her YouTube username IISuperwomanII.

Author Links:

   

The Courage of a Samurai: Seven Sword-Sharp Principles for Success - Lori Tsugawa Whaley (Review)

The Courage of a Samurai: Seven Sword-Sharp Principles for Success by Lori Tsugawa Whaley

Genres: Nonfiction, Personal Development
Publication date: 2015
Publisher: Aviva Publishing 
Format: paperback, 260 pages
How I got it: Firetalker PR for an honest review
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 4/5 

Are you concerned about the direction our society seems to be taking? Do you feel concern not only for yourself, but also for younger generations such as your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren? Is it your desire to leave this earth a better place because of you and your contributions? 

Life is full of challenges. Tests and trials can allow a stronger you to emerge. In order to survive and grow in these difficult times, do you know how to weather the storm? Do you have a strategy in place to overcome the challenges that you face? 

Whether a person in transition, a parent, business person or all of these, what can be learned from the bushido code of the samurai? Who were the samurai and how could a people dedicated to war and violence have such an impact on a culture known for its politeness, manners and aesthetic beauty? 

The samurai warrior of ancient Japan lived by a moral and ethical code known as bushido; ‘the way of the warrior.’ This code of chivalry sculpted a culture and influenced all aspects of Japanese society. After the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, the world witnessed the characteristics of bushido: courage, Integrity, honesty, honor, benevolence, respect and ganbaru. The Courage of a Samurai presents these principles as a guide for navigating the challenges we all face personally and professionally, with examples of individuals who exemplify their meaning in today’s world. 

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My thoughts:

This book tells the about the seven principals of being a Samurai.   The seven principals are Courage, Integrity, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor, Loyalty, and Ganbaru.   Each of the seven principals is broken into a chapter and we get to see what the definition of each word is and then the author goes into examples of how these principals have been shown in the past.

I loved how the author setup this book with explaining the principals and then giving amazing examples of how they were demonstrated.  The author took a large amount of time to research the different events that she referenced and the people she studied.  We get to learn a lot about the treatment of Japanese American’s during the war and how much the Japanese American’s helped during World War II.  I love reading books that contain a lot of learning and showing examples of how people apply these principals works perfectly for this book.

We also get to learn a lot about Japanese business culture and how it stays constant with the guiding principles brought from the Samurai.  The author does a great job making references to home life as well as business culture in this book.

I didn’t know too much about Japanese culture before reading this book, but I do feel I learned a decent amount about the Japanese culture that shows from the past to the present.  The author does a great job explaining all about Japanese culture in this book.  The book flows very naturally and the topic covered are very enlightening.

I could have liked to read more about the treatment of the Japanese American’s that were held in the camps.  We got to hear more about the people that left and where successful in war, but I bet being in that contained area must have also had people showing the courage of a Samurai.  This book does make me want to research and learn about the Japanese during World War II because I don’t remember a lot of this being taught at school and want to know more about this topic now.

I received a copy of this book from Firetalker PR to provide an honest review.  This does not affect my opinion of this book. 

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About the Author

LORI TSUGAWA WHALEY is an author, professional keynote speaker and life coach. Lori is a third generation Japanese American baby boomer and a descendant of the samurai warrior; she is on a mission to empower others to reach their God-given leadership potential no matter their path, heritage, or circumstances. Lori and her husband John reside in a Japanese style home in the Pacific Northwest.

Author Links:

   

I've Got Sand In All the Wrong Places - Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella (Review)

I've Got Sand In All the Wrong Places by Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella
Series: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman #7
Genres: Humor, Nonfiction
Publication date: July 12th 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: kindle, 317 pages
How I got it: NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 4/5  

Lisa and Francesca are back with another collection of warm and witty stories that will strike a chord with every woman. This six book series is among the best reviewed humor books published today and has been compared to the late greats, Erma Bombeck and Nora Ephron. Delia Ephron said of the fifth book in the series, Have a Nice Guilt Trip, "Lisa and Francesca, mother and daughter, bring you the laughter of their lives once again and better than ever. You will identify with these tales of guilt and fall in love with them and fierce (grand) Mother Mary." This seventh volume will not disappoint as it hits the humorous and poignant note that fans have come to expect from the beloved mother-daughter duo.

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My thoughts:

This book is told by a mother and daughter author team.  This book is extremely funny and heartfelt.   I have only read books by Lisa, but will definitely be checking books out written by Francesca now and also the remaining books of these series.  The mother/daughter dynamic of the book is perfect.  They nicely play off of each other in some stories and other stories are just bits and pieces from their lives. 

I really enjoyed that we got a very personal story from both Lisa and Francesca based on an attack that happened to Francesca.   I couldn’t imagine how challenging it would be to write about something so terrible as being attacked.  Francesca not only wrote with a great amount of detail of the attack, but she also gave us her feelings on what happened as well and also parts of her recovery.   It made the story feel very real and personal.  I also liked that we got to hear Lisa’s reaction to what happened for a full circle feeling.    It made them seem so real and a perfect duo when facing something so tragic as an attack.   With a book full of humor this story really made it more dynamic. 

Other stories in the book I really enjoyed was actually about Lisa’s anxiety of driving over bridges.  Honestly I was very lucky that when I was first starting out learning to drive I had to go over bridges by my grandparents’ house that are super tight and narrow so I am pretty comfortable going over them, but I completely understand if it was not something you do often how scary it could be driving over them.   I like that we got a very personal story about anxiety because it is something very real and effects a lot of people.

This is a perfect nighttime read.  The stories are super short so it is easy to read a few and then put the book down. 

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.  This does not affect my opinion of this book.

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About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times bestselling author and Edgar award-winning author of 23 novels, including her latest, EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES, which releases in April 2015. She also writes a weekly column with her daughter Francesca Serritella for the Philadelphia Inquirer titled "Chick Wit" which is a witty and fun take on life from a woman's perspective.

Author Links:

    







Francesca Serritella is a bestselling author and columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University, where she won the Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize, the Le Baron Russell Briggs Fiction Prize, and the Charles Edmund Horman Prize for her creative writing. She lives in New York with one dog and one cat, so far.

Author Links: