It might be a little bit of an exaggeration to say that our Advicesisters.com Fall 2017 review of books will blow your mind (to use a dated expression) but it just sounded so right! Reading expands your mind. Every new book is a treasure trove of ideas to help make life easier, more successful, more fun and definitely more interesting.
Every new book is a treasure trove of ideas to help make life easier, more successful, more fun and definitely more interesting. Here are 7 books I think will do just that!
What did you do when you know you look young and fabulous in the 1960’s and 1970’s? The same thing the young and fabulous do today…show off, party, take a bit to a lot of advantage of men, and be adored.
In Los Feliz Confidential: A Memoir by Nora Novak (Traveling Shoes Press 2017) she details a no-holds-barred life as a young immigrant from Belgium and under a tyrant of a father, to her hedonistic “I can do anything I want” lifestyle as a young adult.
The book is chock-full of rollicking tales or bad behavior, rock and roll, sex and even more drugs.
The nadir is when Nora starts shacking up with an eccentric alcoholic trust fund boyfriend in his decaying “mansion” where the party never ends.
Trading on your looks can only you so far…and even for a woman who knows how to get what she wants (especially from men) at some point it isn’t enough.
Eventually, Nora finds another boyfriend and moves on … moving in yet again in with another man. Even if it’s glamorous at first, sex, drugs and rock and roll do get “old” as you get older.
Even if it’s glamorous at first, sex, drugs and rock and roll do get “old” as you get older.
You won’t’ find any recipes in The Reporters Kitchen by Jane Kramer (St. Martins Press 2017). What you will find are essays, lots of them about Ms. Kramer’s experience as a food critic.
Kramer is a longtime correspondent for the New Yorker among other publications, so, as you might expect, the writing is descriptive, even poetic in spots. It’s really a travel-
I’m sure it was meant to be a part memoir with a lot of personality sketches thrown in that will greatly appeal to armchair travelers. I enjoyed reading the essays, but honestly, I was “hungry” for at least a few recipes that the author was so poetic about.
I enjoyed reading the essays, but honestly, I was “hungry” for at least a few recipes that the author was so poetic about.
To be fair, a lot of the foods discussed are esoteric with ingredients not readily available in your local grocery store, (E.g. anyone up for foraging for sea grass?), but plenty of the recipes seemed interesting and do-able. Not sharing a single recipe is “stingy.”
Not sharing a single recipe in a book like this is just plain “stingy.”
Permission Seeker’s Guide Though the Legal Jungle 2nd Edition by Joy R. Butler (Sashay Communications 2017) is literally a weighty book, but I think it should be required reading for every student majoring in journalism or marketing.
This hefty paperback tells you just about everything you need to know about copyrights, trademarks and other rights for entertainment and media productions.
If you are a writer, own a website or blog, or even if you are online participating in social media, it’s a great reference that can keep you “out of trouble.”
On the downside, some of the information is complicated unless you’re already a lawyer.
As a writer, it was disconcerting to hear case after case of who won, and who lost copyright infringement lawsuits.
But since every legal situation is unique (as the author cautions) this is merely a reference — but it’s a very complete and good one.
Don’t wait until you need it, to get it. Buy it now, look at the relevant sections, and keep it handy.
When I review anything I keep in mind that even my educated opinion is just that, my opinion.
But there are 75 recipes in Baker’s Royale 75 Twists on All Your Favorite Sweets by Naomi Robinson so I expected at least some of what this new cookbook advertises: favorite desserts made modern,
But I couldn’t find a single recipe that enticed me. The recipes were either too fussy or too difficult to bother with unless you are an accomplished baker.
Even my baking-crazy friend flipped through the pages and exclaimed “Meh, and these are kind of difficult.” Honeydew Cucumber Margarita pops? Grapefruit and vanilla bean
Honeydew Cucumber Margarita pops? Grapefruit and vanilla bean pannacotta tart? Funnel Cake Cupcakes? If these oddballs sound enticing to you, the $28 will be a tasty treat.
Alas, I wasn’t “hungry” for these “Sweets.”
fall 2017 review of books
If you are in the Fashion Industry, you want to break into this field (and sound intelligent when you hit the ground, running) you’re a writer who writes about such things, or you are simply interested in the topic, The Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry Second Edition by Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle (Rowman & Littlefield 2017) is your must-have reference book to the “Rag Trade.”
It begins with Acronyms and Abbreviations, chronology, commentary on today’s fashion industry. Then the author gets into the “meat & potatoes” of the dictionary plus a complete bibliography.
There are few photos and a lot of text in this 708-page book, but it’s a dictionary, first and foremost.
If fashion is your passion, the book will be a favorite reference and a holiday gift idea for that hard to please, fashionista.
I had a hard time making a decision about whether or not to include The Decision Makeover: An Intentional Approach To LIving The Life You Want by Mike Whitaker (Greenleaf Book Group Press 2017) in this book review roundup (pun intended).
The newly minted self-help book could be useful, but it’s as verbose as its title.
What I learned from publishing my book: Recruiting Love: Using the Business Skills You Have to Find the Love You Want (contact me if you want one of the collector’s copies left) is that readers don’t want to wade through pages of “advice” and then have to do “work.”
This book has worksheets. And yes, they’re helpful, but readers are already overburdened with “positive” messages and strapped for time. The author could have presented his decision-making process much more succinctly.
The author could have presented his decision-making process much more succinctly.
The advice isn’t bad but it’s a pain to “mine” the data out of the pages. r says this was focused on younger people. But their attention spans are limited.
Wore, the author says he meant this to be especially for younger people. But young people’s attention spans are usually too limited to get through a book like this.
More realistically, this book works as a tool for adults transitioning to a new career, or as an interactive online seminar.
For romance lovers, I am including LINKS by Lisa Becker (Desert Breeze Publishing 2017). It’s your basic but very satisfying romance. A geeky girl(Charlotte Windham) with glasses and no game grows up and is by chance, re-introduced to her childhood crush (Garrett Stephens) who not only ignored her but taunted her by calling her “glasses.”
Now they are both adults and he’s a rock star in the golf world, and she’s no slouch, either. There’s nothing really surprising about the plot, for all the classic twists and turns, but for all those women who love to root for the ugly duckling turned swan, this is an easy read and a fun book to take on that interminable airplane ride.
Will there be a happy ending? I’m not telling.
