Getting Away With It

Getting Away With It (52 Brilliant Ideas) by Steve Shipside

Book Description: Some people have the inside track on everything. They look ten years younger than they are, they wangle cheap flights all over the world and still get upgraded, they talk their way out of parking tickets, and get glamorous jobs they're not really up to. Well, now it's your turn. In Getting away with it we've assembled more than 20 Infinite Ideas authors to expose the secrets of the world's most (apparently) successful people. Often wondered how some people always seem to have a place on the guest list at the hippest places in town, drive cars way out of their price league and have jobs they simply aren't qualified for? Well here are some of the answers you've been looking for.

I got this book as a free kindle download, but that doesn't seem to be an option anymore. Pity, as far as free books go this one is pretty good. I found it to be pretty well written and edited; it was an overall enjoyable read. And, it was surprisingly not all that smarmy, considering that it's a book about making people think you're more awesome than you are.

On a scale from On a scale from Totally Awesome to Horrifically Awful I'd give it a pretty good. What really made the difference - that is, what took this book from being really awful to pretty good - was that it doesn't take itself too seriously. And in amongst the bits that are a little heavy on the smarmy are some really good tips on how to look your best and get ahead in life. And there's nothing wrong with that.

No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog

No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason

Book Description:
Tired of filling up your blog with boring posts? Take the next step and get inspired to create something unique. Author Margaret Mason shows you the way with this fun collection of inspirational ideas for your blog. Nobody Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog is a unique idea-book for bloggers seeking fun, creative inspiration. Margaret gives writers the prompts they need to describe, imagine, investigate and generate clever posts. Sample ideas include:

• Writing a serial novel
• Conducting unnecessary experiments
• Creating your autobiography
• Public eavesdropping
• And much, much more

I've been wanting to read this book for several years now. I don't know why, but I just never really got around to it. The longer I waited, the less I felt it would be useful to me. Not because I didn't need help and inspiration for my blog posts, but because I thought the advice would be less relevant than it once was.

This book was first published in 2006. A lot has happened to the internet in the last six years. Blogging has evolved since then, hasn't it?

But really, it has and it hasn't. This book is really written for personal bloggers. People who post about their lives and what not. That, and people like me, who post about, well, anything really. I found a lot of the advice and prompts helpful and inspirational. It added a bunch of stuff to my idea file, for sure. I don't think it would be all that helpful to someone who has a super niche or a business blog, though. Unless you're really good at thinking outside the box. In which case you probably don't need this book, because you've already got all the ideas you need. And also I hate you a little bit.

On a scale from Totally Awesome to Horrifically Awful, I'd give it a Good. It's definitely not for everyone, but it is well written and I, personally, found it useful.

Book Review: I Zombie I

I Zombie I is written by Jack Wallen and you can get the e-book version for free from the kindle store. That’s how I got my hands on it. As a budding zombie enthusiast with little extra money, I was all over downloading this book. Plus, it had an average customer rating of four stars, so how bad could it be?

Basically it’s about this guy, Jacob. He’s a journalist, and one day he wakes up to the zombie apocalypse. So he does what journalists do: He documents it. Oh, also he is slowly becoming a zombie.

If I was to rate this book on a scale from Horrifyingly Awful and Super Awesome, I would rate it Not Bad. If you're keeping score, that would make it fall directly in between Bad and Ok. While reading it, I never once wanted to gouge my eyes out or wished the the Zombies would eat all of the characters that were not already zombies. I did, however, wish that the book would just end already at just past the half way point.
 
At some points the dialogue (even the main character’s inner dialogue) just seemed a little forced. Especially the romantic parts. Those were really eye roll worthy. Otherwise, it was...not bad. The story was good, the characters were believable, the zombies were zombies. It was a not bad, easy read. I finished it in just over a day, and then I got to move on to a new book. I don’t regret reading it, so I guess if you are out of things to read and you like zombies, you should read it too. 

A Short List of Books I've never read (and I don't feel bad about it, either)

1984. To Kill a Mockingbird. Any of the Harry Potter series. Any of the Twilight series. The Great Gatsby. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Lord of the Flies. War and Peace. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Moby Dick. Great Expectations. Eat, Pray, Love. The Divine Comedy. The Origin Of Species. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ulysses. Oliver Twist. For Whom the Bell Tolls. Any of the Little House on the Prairie books. Alice in Wonderland. Jane Eyre.

And many, many more.

What important/popular books have you not read? Do you feel bad about not reading them? 

My Top Five Favorite Books of All Time (To Date)

1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Series by Douglas Adams - Ok, so this is technically 5 books, but I own The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is all the books in one, so it counts as one. Disagree? Too bad. Make your own list. If you haven’t read Hitchhiker’s Guide, you should go do it. I’m not joking. I have never met someone who’s read it and said that they hated it. Or even that they didn’t like it. I’m sure those people exist, but I’ve never met any of them. If this was a top ten list, there would be at least two other Douglas Adams titles on my list (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for sure), but it isn’t, so this trilogy in five parts will have to do.
2. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks - In case you didn’t know - I Love Zombies. I love the idea that, Science being what it is, a Zombie Apocalypse could happen. That’s terrifying and incredible. I mean, not incredible if you’re standing in the middle of a Zombie attack....you know, it make sense in my head, but I’ve never been able to explain it to anyone. Anyway, This book has zombies and great story telling. How could you go wrong with that?
3. Divergent by Veronica Roth - Rarely do I finish a book and then want to instantly read it again. I read this book three times in four days. That’s how much I loved it. In fact, I think I might just read it again soon. I can not wait for the next book in this series!  ps: Why not check out my review of Divergent?
4. Here's to You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume - I must have read this book a hundred times when I was young. Sadly, I no longer have my copy. I got a bit of a fix reading the “look inside” on Amazon, but that was just a tease. I’ve added it to my wish list, so I’ll remember to buy it in the future. Sadly, it doesn’t come in a kindle version. I only just learned that this is the second book in a series, but I really don’t have any interest in reading the first one.
5. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks - Because you gotta be prepared.

What books would you put in your top 5 list?

Style Statement

After our wedding, The Husband (still weird to say and type!) and I went to the lake for the week. Just before, we happened to be in the mall, where we passed the bookstore that always has tables full of sales books out front. I love sales tables and especially sales books! Also, books are good to have at the lake, where there’s no TV or Internet to distract you. One of the tables had a sign that proclaimed “$2 or less!”. Holy crap is that a good deal, or what?! I pick up two books, one of which was Style Statement: Live by Your Own Design. It was $1, so I bought it. Why not? I thought it would be mildly interesting but a little too preachy, like most self-help-type books I read. But it was probably worth a dollar though, right? I was wrong though. This book was AWESOME. I read it and re-read parts and answered the questions and pondered who I am and what I really like and feel. I found it to be a great self discovery tool. It fits quite well with my <a href="http://saysdee.blogspot.com/search/label/cultivate%20me" target="_blank">Cultivate Me series</a> (more of those posts to come!), and has really helped me focus my quest to be More Awesome.

Basically, what your style statement is is two words that describe your overall style. Not just your style for clothes and decor,  but your style for life. They employ the 80/20 rule. The first word is your 80% - described as your inner foundation, your essence, your roots. The second word is your 20% - your creative edge, your wings.

Through my self discovery, using the workbook, the style statement I came up with was  

Comfortable Creative

This is going to sound really stupid, but as soon as I landed on that word combination, I felt like things make a more sense in my world. It made me want to clear out all of the clutter in my life, clear out my closet, decorate my house. The book said this would happen. I rolled my eyes. Because it sounded stupid to me too. But it happened.

Now, If you’re someone who already has a good handle on your life and style, you probably wont get much from this book. You might find it mildly interesting, or you might find it to be a giant waste of time. I’d guess the later. But, if like me, you’re still trying to figure this whole life/style thing out, I’d recommend checking it out.

And if you have a local Coles book store, you might be able to snag a copy for a buck.

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

So, I won this book from a twitter trivia contest from Chapters Indigo. It's called Divergent  and it's written by Veronica Roth. For the contest, you needed to read the first nine chapters of the book (available online!) After reading it, I had to win that contest. I have never wanted to win an online trivia contest more in my life. True story. Those first nine chapters were a giant tease. And then I won, and it was awesome.

So, since the synopses of the book has already been written way better then I could ever describe it,  so I'm just going to do the old copy and paste. From Harper Collins:


In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

 Ok, so with that out of the way, I'd like to point out that I'm writing a book review. Usually, the closest I get to writing a book review is "It was good, you should read it" or "It was terrible, don't waste your time". The fact that I am writing one now should tell you how strongly I feel about it. It was so good. I received it this morning around ten and I've already finished it. And wrote this review. And I had to go shopping for a couple hours this morning, so I got a late start on things. Most of the time when people say they couldn't put a book down, they are lying. Or exaggerating. Whatever. I only put it down to cook some food, and you can bet I read while I ate that food!

I think the main reason I don't write book reviews is that I have a hard time putting to works what exactly what made it so awesome. And such is the case with Divergent. It's not only that it's well written with a great story that leaves you wanting more (good thing it's book one in a series!). And it isn't just because the characters are complete and wonderful, with flaws and strengths that make you love them but also want to hit them right in face sometimes (or most of the time in the case of the antagonists). It's those things, sure, but it's so much more. I just can't explain it.

I guess you'll just have to read the book.

 

Happy Book Lover's Day!

The first Saturday of November is Book Lovers Day! So dust off your favorite book, grab one that's been sitting on your night stand for some time now, or go out and treat yourself to a brand new one! Today is the day to get your read on. Or something. Just go read a book, ok? I recommend anything by Douglas Adams.

On Getting a box full of Books in the Mail

Today I got home from work and there was a package on the counter. It was about 15 inches long and 10 inches wide. I thought the boyfriend must have ordered something. Imagine my surprise to find my name written on the front! I hadn't ordered anything, and although I sign up for a lot of free stuff, it never comes in a box that big. I opened it up an found this:

Awesome but baffling.

Which was awesome, but I was still majorly confused. Who was sending me books, and why? I'm not complaining, but still...it's weird, right? Then, I pulled this out of one of the books:

"Enjoy Your Prize!" - Bookarmy Team

Then I kind of had a light bulb moment. There's this website, BookArmy,(which, by the way, is pretty wicked and you should go sign up if you're a reader) where you can read about books, rate them, write reviews...that sort of thing. I had written some reviews and made some recommendations on the site. About a month ago (almost to the day!) I got a message from the site administrators (or whatever) that I'd won a prize for my recommendations! I wasn't even aware there was a contest going on, so that was pretty cool in it's self. So I fired off a message with my address in it, and then promptly forgot about it. It's what I do. It was a totally awesome surprise, and made my day!

Thanks, BookArmy!

Books I received:

   
And Balthazar Jones and the tower of London Zoo by Julia Stuart, which I can only find on amazon.co.uk, and it wont let me make a picture affiliate link thing for it. Meh, no big deal.