Book Review: Drinking My Way Through 14 Online Dating Sites by Tiffany Peon

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Drinking My Way Through 14 Online Dating Sites

by Tiffany Peon

genre: memoir

Synopsis from Goodreads

Sick of feeling heartbroken over her most recent breakup and underwhelmed by the rest of her life, Tiffany Peón decided to embark on a social experiment. Over the course of one year, she used fourteen different online dating sites including Craigslist, speed dating and The Atlasphere, a site for fans of Ayn Rand. Through drunken interactions with strangers, she learned the ins and outs of the online dating world and eventually found her way back to the relationship that started it all.

Book Review: Quiet by Susan Cain

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Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

by Susan Cain

genre: self-improvement

Synopsis from Goodreads

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society–from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.

Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Taking the reader on a journey from Dale Carnegie’s birthplace to Harvard Business School, from a Tony Robbins seminar to an evangelical megachurch, Susan Cain charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal in the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects. She talks to Asian-American students who feel alienated from the brash, backslapping atmosphere of American schools. She questions the dominant values of American business culture, where forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation, and where the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. And she draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to reveal the surprising differences between extroverts and introverts.

Perhaps most inspiring, she introduces us to successful introverts–from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Finally, she offers invaluable advice on everything from how to better negotiate differences in introvert-extrovert relationships to how to empower an introverted child to when it makes sense to be a “pretend extrovert.”

Book Review: Sh-t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

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Sh-t My Dad Says

by Justin Halpern

genre: non-fiction, memoir

Synopsis from Goodreads

After being dumped by his longtime girlfriend, twenty-eight-year-old Justin Halpern found himself living at home with his seventy-three-year-old dad. Sam Halpern, who is “like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair,” has never minced words, and when Justin moved back home, he began to record all the ridiculous things his dad said to him:

“That woman was sexy. . . . Out of your league? Son, let women figure out why they won’t screw you. Don’t do it for them.”

“Do people your age know how to comb their hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their heads and started fucking.”

“The worst thing you can be is a liar. . . . Okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be is a Nazi, but then number two is liar. Nazi one, liar two.”

More than a million people now follow Mr. Halpern’s philosophical musings on Twitter, and in this book, his son weaves a brilliantly funny, touching coming-of-age memoir around the best of his quotes. An all-American story that unfolds on the Little League field, in Denny’s, during excruciating family road trips, and, most frequently, in the Halperns’ kitchen over bowls of Grape-Nuts, Sh*t My Dad Says is a chaotic, hilarious, true portrait of a father-son relationship from a major new comic voice.

Book Review: Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

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Wallbanger

by Alice Clayton

genre: adult romance

I don’t remember the last time I returned a book. Even ones I didn’t like, it was still my baby and I still loved it just like my other babies even if I didn’t like it at the time. In the very least I would make sure it went to a good home. Wallbanger was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It started out amazing! Easily a five star read, it had humor, it had banter, it had witty innuendos and adorable characters you couldn’t help but love. Then about 3/4 of the way through, it dropped to a four star book when the tension wasn’t there. It REALLY should have ended the book there because it was still good, just not a five. Instead it continued, and quickly disintegrated into something that with 35 minutes left to go on the audiobook, I returned. It was so bad that I had to rewrite the review because I had started raving about it. Here’s what I was writing at the 75% mark:

Not as bad as the title suggests, but is an adult novel. I needed something to listen to that would distract me from the sounds of the dentist office and then distract me when I ripped my toenail off. This book delivered. Laugh out loud funny and very distracting.

The review contains adult material. Continue reading to learn where and why it all went wrong, but know there are spoilers.

Book Review: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

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The Invisible Man

by H. G. Wells

genre: “grotesque romance,” science fiction, classics

Synopsis from Goodreads
This masterpiece of science fiction is the fascinating story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.

Review

As I have resorted to audio books to get reviews done, I have learned that some books make better audio books than others.  I’m afraid I’m going to have to find the time to actually read my copy of The Invisible Man as it does not make a good in the car book.  If you daydream or focus on traffic for more than a sentence, you have to rewind or be lost for a few sentences until you can piece together what you missed.

Book Review: Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison

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Secrets of a Shoe Addict

Shoe Addict #2

by Beth Harbison

genre: chick-lit

Synopsis from Goodreads

Loreen Murphy hadn’t meant to hire a male prostitute in Las Vegas. It was all just a big, stupid, expensive misunderstanding. Abbey Walsh never intended anyone to find out about the fact that she’s being blackmailed. As a minister’s wife, her sordid past was supposed to be a secret. Tiffany Vanderslice Dreyer never dreamed that she’d find herself up to her eyeballs in credit card debt from one mad moment of a shopping spree. She’s an upstanding wife and mother with the perfect marriage…right? Secrets of a Shoe Addict is the story of three women who bond together when they find themselves in more than one kind of trouble. It’s the story of how sometimes, you hide a secret side that can get you in–and out–of dire straits. It’s about romance, friendship, kids, revenge, affairs, and most of all a love of all the well-heeled things in life.

Book Review: An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England

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An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England

by Brock Clarke

genre: fiction

Synopsis from Goodreads
Sam Pulsifer, the hapless hero of this incendiary novel, has come to the end of a very long and unusual journey, and for the second time in his life he has the time to think about all the things that have and have not come to pass.

The truth is, a lot of remarkable things have happened in Sam’s life. He spent ten years in prison for accidentally burning down poet Emily Dickinson’s house-and unwittingly killing two people in the process. He emerged at age twenty-eight and set about creating a new life-almost a new identity-for himself. He went to college, found love, got married, fathered two children, and made a new start-and then watched in almost-silent awe as the vengeful past caught up with him, right at his own front door.
As, one by one, the homes of other famous New England writers are torched, Sam knows that this time he is most certainly not the guilty one. To prove his innocence, he sets out to uncover the identity of this literary-minded arsonist. What he discovers, and how he deals with the reality of his discoveries, is both hilariously funny and heartbreakingly sad. For, as Sam learns, the truth has a way of eluding capture, and then, when you finally get close enough to embrace it, it turns and kicks you in the ass.

Book Review: Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas

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Married by Morning

The Hathaways #4

by Lisa Kleypas

genre: historical romance

Synopsis from Goodreads

He is everything she wants to avoid…

For two years, Catherine Marks has been a paid companion to the Hathaway sisters—a pleasant position, with one caveat. Her charges’ older brother, Leo Hathaway, is thoroughly exasperating. Cat can hardly believe that their constant arguing could mask a mutual attraction. But when one quarrel ends in a sudden kiss, Cat is shocked at her powerful response—and even more so when Leo proposes a dangerous liaison.

She is not at all what she seems…

Leo must marry and produce an heir within a year to save his family home. Catherine’s respectable demeanor hides a secret that would utterly destroy her. But to Leo, Cat is intriguing and infernally tempting, even to a man resolved never to love again. The danger Cat tried to outrun is about to separate them forever—unless two wary lovers can find a way to banish the shadows and give in to their desires…

Book Review: Dime quién soy by Julia Navarro

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Dime quién soy by Julia Navarro
9 out of 10

This is my first book review and I recently finished Dime quién soy by Julia Navarro. It is a Spanish book and I experienced the epic tail through a Spanish audiobook. It is a massive book approx. 1000 pages, just under 30 hours of audio. I loved every minute.

The book revolves around Guillermo piecing together the long, riveting and extraordinary life of his great, great grandmother: Amelia Garayoa. The story begins in Madrid, Spain but shifts to countries all over the world such as Argentina, Russia and Germany. Guillermo embarks on an interesting ride as he follows his ancestor’s footsteps to discover her life and the events that marked it; the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Post-War Germany and the Cold war.