The Exile - An Outlander additional novel

  Last night I finished The Exile which is an additional (but not required) part of the Outlander Series. It's done in comic/graphic novel form, which is why I was drawn to it. I thought it was a nice change from the "written from the other main character's view" types of novels we've been bombarded with lately.

  The Exile is written and listed as the story through Jamie's eyes but that's actually an incorrect statement. You aren't witnessing the story through Jamie's eyes - it's a shared telling by his godfather Murtagh and at times, through Jamie's eyes (like when they consummate the marriage and other things that only happen when they are alone).

  Although the story wasn't technically through Jamie's eyes alone, I did enjoy the information it filled in. It definitely made Gellis look a lot worse than she did in the book. Worse than even the Starz series made her out to be. They introduced a new character who is ONLY in this version - Nathan. He was apparently Gellis' lover during her time and followed her through the stones. She killed someone to enter the stones while he killed a rabbit and a deer to open and seal them respectively.

  The only issue I really had with the story was they over sexualized Claire A LOT!!! In the following pieces you'll see she's beyond buxom. Diana does talk about this a little bit at the end of the book when she says she asked Hoang to tone her bosom down a bit but apparently he decided not to.

  To be fair though, there is also a shot of Jamie butt naked (from the back) to I guess downplay all of the pictures of Claire and her ladies.

  Overall I thought the depiction of Jamie and Claire were pretty true to what I had in my head.  I did not agree with his versions of Colum or Dougal. He has Colum depicted as a dwarf and he has both of the brothers as way too young for how they are written. They look as though they are in their 30s at most and Jamie's supposed to be 22? Hardly.

  Overall it was worth the price I paid for it and I will keep it for my collection but I can honestly say if you aren't a huge fan, it's not worth the purchase as it won't add much to the story.

Year of Yes

  I first received Year of Yes as a gift from 2 of my staff.  I have 22 staff members and they broke into pairs and each pair bought me a book. You can read all of the titles in my post Unexpected and Completely Appreciated.  By far it has been and probably always will be one of the best gifts ever - it showed me just how much my staff knew me and knew what I'd like.

  In that grouping of books I found one I had been wanting to buy for a few months - Year of Yes. I'm a HUGE Shonda fan. I started watching Grey's a few years in (2007 to be exact) thanks to a friend's recommendation and never looked back. We would have TGIT nights in my and my co-workers apartments and I was crushed when Private Practice finally ended. I'm a big Addison lover. Don't even get me started when McSteamy left... ugh! I was a mess for days.

  I knew Shonda was a great writer - how can you not be when you are writing for so many shows - but a book is very different than a tv series. But once again, Shonda showed me how amazing she is and why I love her so.

  What I love most about this book is the style in which she writes. Shonda writes like she's having a personal, 1 on 1 conversation with you. She's telling you the good, the bad and the ugly. For most of the book she asks you not to judge her but does allow it at one point with complete understanding as to why you would.  It's an easy read but at the same time, has to many parts where you may need to put the book down and just reflect on what she just said.

  I am one of those people who a book is everything to me. I was taught at a young age to appreciate books - which means you don't crack a spine, you don't dog ear pages (that's what book marks are for!) and you certainly never, ever write in a book.  But, I did write in this book. Or I should say I underlined... and underlined and underlined.  Shonda wrote in such a way that I felt like she could see into my soul and knew that we were the same person in many ways.

  One piece I could completely relate to - her fear of public speaking. She wrote out a few of her speeches she's given over the years but more importantly to me, she talks about how she got through her fear of speaking in front of others.  As she says "I am not a fan. I get this overwhelming feeling of fear. Terror really. Dry mouth, heart beats super fast, everything gets a little bit slow motion. Like I might pass out. Or die. Or poop my pants or something (pg. 73). Then she goes on to talk about how those things really aren't going to happen. She talks about the moment when she sighs (she says you can see it on the video of her speech) and she lets go. That helped me so much as I was preparing for an upcoming presentation that I was super nervous about.

  Shonda also hits females with some great super positive language and helpful tips. She talks about trying the "Wonder Woman pose" before you start each day. I had a phone interview yesterday and I am not going to lie - I did it in my office before answering the phone. And it did help give me a little more confidence to knock out the interview.

  Most importantly, to me, Shonda talks about self esteem and eating her feelings. With self esteem she focuses on something I've been working with my girls on for the past 7 years - accepting compliments. Many women are taught to turn down a compliment. Example "I like your shirt." Many women will respond with "this old thing?" or "Oh, I just threw it on this morning" or something down putting. Women, according to Shonda (and me) need to learn to just say "thank you," smile and move on. Nothing more needs to be said because when you do, you are negating that person's feelings without realizing it. They took time out of their day to say something nice to you - accept it and move on.

  With eating her feelings - Shonda talks about being veal.  She would just eat until she didn't feel anymore and then she woke up and realized how much it was destroying her life. So many of us eat our feelings and once started, it's hard to break free from. I know this from experience. I personally fell into a bad depression back in 2014 and ate many of my feelings, like Shonda, until I was able to fight back and started getting my life back in order as well as my weight. Shonda keeps it real though and makes sure that the reader understands it wasn't a quick fix or a fad diet. That it was a real struggle to get out of that place as well as get to a new, healthier place in her life.

  The last piece she spoke about which hit me hard was getting rid of toxic friends. She talked about how she had to realize that some people in her life weren't what she thought. She was such a great writer that she actually "wrote them" instead of seeing who they really were. She let a lot of people go from her life during her Year of Yes and it helped her in the long run. This was helpful to me as I've had to do the same over the past 5 years. I've had to really look at the people I was very close with and see some of them for who they truly were.  It doesn't mean they are bad people - they are not. It just means that they weren't the right people for my life at that point or in the future. I will always wish them the best and hope that their lives are good - I just may not want them to be active in my life anymore.

  I loved this book so much that I just ordered a copy to be sent to my best friend of 18 years. I think she needs to hear Shonda's words like I had to hear them and my hope is that it helps her with her struggles as it has helped me. This will definitely be one I re-read again in the future.

Thank you Shonda, for everything!

What I've been reading lately update - May 2016

My apologies for falling off the map - with closing a building, vacation, on-campus interviews and such, my life quickly lost shape so now it's time to play catch up!
I'm still working at my goal of a book a week. Sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing (like lately) but still working at it.

Here's what I've finished reading:
May:
I finished Leading Imperfectly at the start of May. I really enjoyed the book and I believe that's partly because I heard James speak live at our TACUHO conference. It allowed me to read the book like he talked to us and really understand his personality and writing style. I did a professional development with my staff and read them a chapter about what truly scares them and what lie they tell themselves every day (other than I'll lose weight or I'll go to the gym). My received answers varied and were all very enlightening. And one student, instead of writing her lie, wrote a scathing piece about how self-indulging he was and how she felt that he was FoS. I disagree with her judgement but I do understand her seeing the piece that way as I have grown to understand her outlook currently on her world.  All in all, I will definitely turn back to that book when working with staff in the future.

My second May book was Outrageous Women of the Ancient Times. I picked up this children's book because it looked very woman positive and I try to have those on hand for my goddaughters to read as they grow older. I enjoyed this quick read. It discussed little known and very well known (Cleopatra) women throughout ancient history. For those interested, there are others like women of the Renaissance, Colonial America, etc. Definitely worth the purchase.

My third book was a gift I received from a co-worker. We are in the process of switching buildings and he "willed" me a book by his spirit animal - Mister Rogers.  Life's Journey's According to Mister Rogers was not actually written by Fred but instead, by his wife shortly after his death.  She took many of his stories he told over the years as well as a few of his speeches and wrote humorous, thoughtful and poignant pieces she felt the reader would appreciate.  I enjoyed the book and found some of the pieces to be very helpful to where I am in my life currently.

Due to moving and an on-campus interview (no, I didn't get the job... yes, I'm totally ok) I wasn't able to really finish any books the following week although I did continue reading more (and watching more) of Outlander. I will write a full write-up once I'm done (I'm now about 85% of the way through).

The following week I had to work 3 days straight at registration so I started to read another book I received as a gift - A Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. Again, I will write a full piece when I finish (hopefully soon - only 100 pages to go). If you are a parent you should MOST DEFINITELY read this book - she will make you feel so much better about your struggles - especially if you are a working mother.

Anyway, back to what I've finished...

I had a 13 hour drive to Ft. Lauderdale to see my wonderful nephews, mom and sister so I went to the local library and took out a few audio books to keep me company.  The first one I tried and failed with and the other was okay at best.

The first one I attempted at and failed because, quite honestly, it was crap was Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy. This made me sad because I adore Bridget Jones - both the movies and the previous 2 books. I find her relate-able and a fun read.  This book was wretched. First, they killed Mark Darcy - what the hell?! And then I'm supposed to believe that she's 50 something, sleeping with a 29 year old, has 2 kids and still acts as stupidly as she did when she was in her 30's?? No way. Mark would have divorced her and she'd have lost the kids - there's no way. It was very unbelievable and so hard to get through that I quit after 4 hours of an 11 hour book.  This it only the 2nd book I've ever given up on (the first being Wicked - and no, I haven't seen the play. The book just sucked).

So after the previous, I went to my other audio book - a recommendation from a co-worker. Unless you've been living in the woods, you probably know that The Girl on the Train is about to be released into a movie. I do hope the movie is better than the book.  It unfolds from originally 2 narrators - both are very unreliable at best - and then breaks off into an additional narrator just to full get the plot line across. I found some of the characteristics of the main character relate-able as I know people like her but other than that, I had no "pull" into the story. I just listened. I took a break to talk to a friend and she said she had read the book and hated it. I told her, being 3 hours in, that I felt it was like "Gone Girl" and she said I hit the nail on the head. Not quite the twist in plot as GG, but there was definitely what was supposed to be a HUGE twist but I figured out a few chapters ahead of the narrator (because I wasn't drunk for the entire book and I paid attention). The ending is very abrupt once the climax hits and there's no real resolution to the story. I found it very disappointing but again, maybe I would have been more invested had I read it and not listened to it. I am, however, planning to see the movie once it's released as I want to see how they play it all out.

So that's where I am right now. I hope to finish A Year of Yes this week and possibly Outlander. I have 2 boxes of TBR books that I've pulled aside during my transition from my temp apartment to my new apartment so we will see if I can dive into any of those this week as well.

Hope you are all enjoying a pleasant week and enjoying your summer!

Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories

  The other day I was walking around Costco and found myself in the book section (shock!). I came across this wonderful gift box set of Roald Dahl books. I, of course, checked Costco vs. Amazon and since Costco won, I snatched up my set and headed happily to the cash register.
  The set reminded me how much I absolutely LOVED Roald Dahl's stories when I was younger so I went on Amazon and looked up some of his other work.  Through this I came across this magical one...


  I couldn't resist! I of course supported locally and bought a "used" copy rather than pay full price. As soon as I received it I knew it would be a great read and boy was I right!
  There are around 13 stories with a forward from Roald Dahl himself.  He talks about where the stories come from - the book was written in 1983 and he searched for really good "ghost" and spooky stories - from men and women - because he was going to put together a show for television making them live action.  Unfortunately for the world, the series fell through but he loved the stories so much he kept them all in this wonderful quick read.  I started it earlier this week and read about 2-3 stories a night before bed (it's not that scary - more spooky/odd) and had no problems falling asleep.
  Last night I couldn't resist and I finished the last 5 stories and they did not disappoint.  The stories range from 3 to 20+ pages and cover many different topics and locations. I don't want to spoil any of the book but it's definitely worth checking out. Some stories really pulled me in, some made me sad for the main character and others were "eh" but I did not regret reading any of them in the long one.
  If you choose to read it please let me know what you think! I'd love to know if you enjoyed it as much as I did.
  My possible next read is a random one I picked up at the local book sale. If it can keep me past chapter 2 I will finish it this weekend and update shortly.

What I've Been Reading Lately...

  So I've been working hard on knocking out my goal of a book a week. Hasn't quite gone as well as I had hoped, but I'm still working hard.
  Currently I'm half way through two leadership books - Brene Brown - The Gifts of Imperfection (I'm trying not to rush through this and actually take it in), almost finished with James T. Robilotta - Leading Imperfectly.
  I wanted something new to start last night so I could break into fiction (my preferred reading) and picked up Scary Stories - Roald Dahl and I finished about 5 short stories in it within an hour and half of reading.  Not scary per se, but most definitely creepy.
  I also finished a book in 24 hours which is new to me - I picked up Wonder by R.J. Palacio at a local library book sale on Friday.  You know you have an addiction to buying books when you pick up a copy of a book you already have (my friend Sarah lent me a copy) and read the copy you bought. But to be fair, I'm planning to pass it along to my godson or goddaughter next time I see them.  It's a very interesting story - although it didn't full engross me (I was more curious than drawn in) I enjoyed the quick read.
  Last night I also started a new audio book - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I have not seen the series yet but it has intrigued me for a while now and I am definitely a book before the movie/show girl at heart.  I am already into Chapter 2 after listening to it before bed last night and earlier today while I walked across campus to a meeting.  I think it's going to be an amazing read!
  Another book I picked up which I already have a copy of and will be sending to a friend is Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore by Robin Sloan. I have a book club with 2 of my former staff members and I believe this will be a great choice. I am hoping to find one more copy (for $1 like I found my last 2 copies...) and then I can surprise them both with a copy for our June skype date.
  On top of these listed, I still have all the books my staff bought me as well as the 20+ books I've bought recently from McKay's, Amazon and local library book sales. With the library sales I feel like it's ok to spend $25 (or more) because I'm helping them and they are giving happiness to myself and those I buy for (godchildren, nephews, friends). That's a good excuse... right?!
  I believe the audio book for Outlander is about 34 hours which will take me a little over a month to finish (I will listen as I walk campus during the day and night) and after that I think I may do Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee which I recently bought on cd.
  I've really gotten into audio books lately (though not enough to try Audible.com yet) and really find them helpful.  My family lives 8-12 hours North/South of where I am located so needless to say... I have long, boring car rides and rather than go horse from singing that long (it happens... a lot) I've started listening to books in the car. I've found they keep me much more attentive and aware of my surroundings than music does.
  My first audio book which is still my favorite and my go-to is Austenland by Shannon Hale. I just loved how much I could relate to the main character and her love of a written male character as well as her obsession for England.  Since then, I've purchased a few Harry Potter books on cd which I keep in the rotation, and I also picked up The Red Necklace only because it was narrated by Tom Hiddleston and Committed By Elizabeth Gilbert.
  One of my favorite and more recent purchases was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.  I knew nothing of this book other than I liked the cover.  At the local used bookstore there was the choice between the book itself ($7.99) or the audio cd ($7.50) so I went for the cds.  Definitely don't regret that! The story is heartbreakingly beautiful and although I didn't cry like others towards the end, I did feel the entire story very strongly and it made my 16 hour drive all the better for listening.