Yay for May! Overall it was a rather uneventful month. Haven’t heard back from any of the writing contests I’m entered in, but I working on my next WotF submission story. It’s coming along – slowly. So slowly – bleh…

But reading, oh reading! I love when people walk past me and comment that I’m always reading, makes me feel like I’m doing it right 😉  I got four lovelies in this month, check ’em out.

Book One:
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

Welcome to ShondaLand. For those of you who are not aware of who Shonda Rhimes is, you should stop reading this for a moment and go check her out; her bio, interviews, Ted talk, everything. Back? Alright, so I started this book already a bit biased toward her. I love her.
I loved her before I read this book, and after reading it, I love her more. She’s a writer, making it fun to read about that aspect of her life, but she’s a TV writer, which adds another dimension of fascinating to it. She is also, correction, was a pretty big introvert. This book is all about the year she decided to start saying Yes to everything, and how that changed her, and her life – forever.
It’s a wonderful read, very inspirational for women, Mothers, writers, and everyone. Say ‘Yes’ to reading this book, then go watch How to Get Away With Murder, Scandal, and Grey’s Anatomy.

Book Two:
Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin

Steve Martin talks about his rise to fame as a stand up comedian.
This was an interesting read for me because the Steve Martin I grew up with was the movie star funny-man. I never knew him as a stand-up comedian, or anything about that part of his story.
While Mr. Martin does talk about his rise to fame, and how after achieving massive success, he put it all down and walked away – he doesn’t ever really open up about his journey. He talks about it all in a very matter-of-fact kind of way, which makes it feel a bit clinical and bare bones for my liking. I enjoy memoirs where you get to really see how the person was feeling, what they were experiencing, and what it was like for them. It’s vicarious living. In this book Mr. Martin told me about his life, but didn’t ever really let me in. Although I leave this story with a wonderful new-found respect for him, he’s a highly intelligent man, I just wish he would have trusted us as readers to allow us to see his vulnerability, and in doing so – get to know what a gentle, wonderful soul I believe him to be.

Book Three:
Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

Love listening to the Dresden Files books on audio book, in fact listening to this one made me realize that, personally, I would not get through these books reading them. I need James Marsters to read them to me. In fact, I’ve noticed these later books are starting to get a bit, hmmm – how to say this with diplomacy – long-winded. There is some absurd, winding, explanations all given through dialogue, which is total amateur hour. And the reason I feel comfortable enough to say that, is not only because I myself am an amateur, but I know Mr. Butcher is capable of better. I’m going to continue to stick with the series, and we’ll see, maybe this was just a one-off. Still love you Mr. Butcher, and Harry Dresden, let’s all just calm down here people. Specifically speaking about this book, we’ll just say this one wasn’t my favorite. It was a little all over the place for me. I thought we were going to be investigating one thing, turns out the entire book was about Molly and Splatter! Con – which was kind of cute – but had some weirdness in it.

Book Four:
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

My favorite. I’ll say it again, favorite book this month! I watched the movie first, which I’m glad I did. I watched Eat, Pray, Love after reading the book and it made watching the movie an awful experience. This time though the movie was palatable, and the book way better. I fell in love with Cheryl, her journey and how she moved through life on the trail. I will say, having lost both of my parents, and being a hiker myself, this book resonated with me on a level that may have been deeper than for some other readers. I enjoyed it immensely, read it in record time, and was sad to see it end. On another note, it has inspired me to hike the Appalachian Trail, only 500 to 1,000 miles of it, not the entire 2,000+ miles – I’m not cray-cray! (Much). You can keep the PCT, I’m an East Coast girl at heart. I’ve already started researching it, planning it for 2017 or 2018 – I cannot wait!! I should stop reading all these inspirational books, they are changing my life, and I’m at a point now where I’m just trying to hold on for the ride. WooHoo! Love it.

-xo