50BookPledge Book 50 Cyndi Lauper A Memoir

I did it! Back in January I signed up for the #50BookPledge as promoted by @SavvyReader.  I thought at the time I was going to zoom through the books and be more then done by mid year. The next thing I knew it was summer and  things slowed down a fair bit the vacations and entertaining my daughter. As September started I thought I was going to be hard pressed to keep going and meet the goal set 9 months earlier, especially since I had shifted my focus from reading to working on my family history and searching for work. However, I'm very pleased to say that I reached my goal of 50 books read in 2012, but I doubt I'll sign up for next year.  If reading children's books count, then I've probably read a couple hundred more.

Book 50 Cyndi Lauper A Memoir by Cyndi Lauper with Jancee Dunn from Simon and Schuster 2012.
Loved this book to pieces.  Found that it flowed very well and I was able to relate to the story.  There are several references to Cyndi playing a dulcimer which I find absolutely fantastic as my daughter is learning to play one now. Some of the references to other artists were very intriguing especially when Canadians are mentioned.

#50BookPledge Books 43 & 44 - Bringing Up Bebe & Beautiful Ruins

I'm reviewing books 43 and 44 in the same post because I can and not because there is a common theme.

Book 43 was Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman from Penguin Press 2012.

As you may or may not know I like to read parenting books especially those about different styles as we try to mold Miss R into a well rounded individual. In a lot of ways I found that Bringing Up Bebe reflected a lot of the techniques that my parents used raising me and could really relate to them.  While I don't necessarily agree with everything in Druckerman's book there are definitely ideas that I can use in my own home.  The book moves along at a fairly quick pace and does a lot of compare and contrast between what the author sees living in France and what she sees when visiting family in the United States. She also makes it clear that neither style is necessarily right or wrong but there are good attributes in both. What I really see is that France uses more of the Village approach while North Americans tend to be much more insular.  Worth the read and I know it is making an impact in our home.


Book 44 was Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter from Harper Collins 2012.

I loved this book, actually wasn't able to put it down.  All of the characters, the scenery and the flow of the story just made it that much more wonderful. My apologies to the author but I originally thought Beautiful Ruins was written by a woman and was pleasantly surprised to find out it was a man.  The novel spans a large period of time, but is done in such a manner that you don't get lost but are drawn in.  My rating for this book is 5 out of 5.

#50BookPledge Book 38 Drop Dead Healthy

Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs from Simon and Schuster 2012

What can I tell you about this book or AJ Jacobs well a fair bit. I found Drop Dead Healthy to be a very well written book that was easy to read and provided a new perspective on the myriad of health information we are bombarded with from media sources.

When you read Jacob's book you'll find a lot of what e is talking about is based on common sense but at the same time he is realistic.  Jacobs reiterates numerous times throughout Drop Dead Healthy that the science supporting a number of healthy living steps is inconclusive at best and sometimes in conflict with studies on another part of the body or diseases.

I liked that AJ was honest through the 27 chapters and brought the book full circle with the Epilogue. He doesn't try to convert you to his "temporary" style of living not does he say he is going to keep it all up, but rather highlights what works best for him.  Jacobs ultimate message it that we all can live a healthier life but a longer life because life happens.

I found Drop Dead Healthy informative and have added it to my husband's growing pile of books.  Definitely worth the read for me and it has given me some inspiration.

#50BookPledge Book #26 Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig from Renaissance Audio 1999.

Not necessarily my cup of tea but an interesting book overall.  It didn't take me long to realize that the motorcycle maintenance was a metaphor used throughout the book to help weave the themes together.  The content wasn't something I really paid much attention to but was very interested in the story of a father and son traveling across the country on a motorcycle.  I was particularly interested in chapters 32 and 33 as they tied the story and life after together.  The author has given us insight into his life that he didn't need to share and really shows how life goes on even after a child passes.  My rating is a 3 out of 5.

#50BookPledge Book 14 How I Got This Way

How I Got This Way by Regis Philbin from IT Books, 2011

This was a fun read.  Regis has done a terrific job of writing about 31 people who have had an influence on his television/talk show career.  Whether this was a person he had to fortune of meeting face to face or that he was forced to admire from afar.  Regis' influences come from all walks of life including sports, military and show business. It is obvious that Regis holds each of these individuals in high regard, often portraying himself like a star struck, admiring fan.  Regis makes it easy for the reader to relate to him with his essays.  For me this book is worth the read and will give you a respect for those people in show business who are really no different than the average person.

#50BookPledge Book 8 Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert from the Penguin Group USA, 2007

I looked forward to reading Eat Love Pray having heard a great deal of praise for it especially leading up to the release of Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage. Instead of reading the book I received the audio book narrated by Elizabeth Gilbert.

This book didn't live up to the hype that surrounded it, at least not to my expectations. Elizabeth's book was very much an autobiography of a period of her life, and didn't have any relation to my life.  My apologies to the author by this was not a book I enjoyed.

#50BookPledge Book 7 The Kings Speech

The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi from Penguin Books 2010 was my 7th read in the 2012 #50BookPledge.  I picked the King's Speech as my next read by accident.  I have wanted to read it for a while, but had not gotten around to it.  Since I was caught up on my book club reads and had no physical books on hand I opted to download it from my local library.

I took me three days to read The King's Speech as it was a well written book with an even pace to it.  Although technically a biography about Lionel Logue, the speech therapist of George VI, it contained a great deal about the Royals and the history of the time.  I learned a great deal while reading The King's Speech that I didn't know. 

Overall The King's Speech was the perfect read for my weekend and I am looking forward to seeing the movie.

#50BookPledge Count on Yourself

Book 5 Count on Yourself (Take Charge of Your Money) by Alison Griffiths from Touchstone – a Division of Simon and Schuster.

Alison's latest book, Count on Yourself was the January Yummy Mummy Book Club pick. One thing that sets Alison apart from other finance authors is her style isn't my way or the highway, but rather she works on becoming your friend or confidant.

Count on Yourself is written by a Canadian for Canadians and was released when a number of us are looking at our RRSPs in the ramp up to tax season. The book is an easy read with lots of tips for you to manage your investments. Each of the four sections of the book covers a specific step in getting you to be your own money manger. I also like that Alison uses example of everyday people from all walks of life including her own experiences.

Part 1 talks about how we are willing to share almost all aspects of our life with our girlfriends, but the second the conversation turns to money, even a simple question that doesn't require you to share dollar amounts, we clam up. She doesn't get into the psychology of this but rather discusses that we have to talk about it so that we can learn about it and become proficient in managing our investments with very little time investment on our part. This section really drives home that we are not alone.

The second part deals with putting our financial closet in order. Not so much how to get control over debts, etc, but cataloguing the financial instruments and what we know about each item. The goal of this exercise is to make you aware of what you have and see if there are ways to trim what you need to managing (by having fewer items) to make things simpler. It was an interesting exposes and even the accountant in me hadn't previously considered such an inventory. I especially liked the idea of streamlining your user name and passwords for all aspects of your life, as much as is possible.

I felt that parts 3 and 4went together well, summing up the whole book. Not only do you need to make a plan before you take action but you need to have that plan in place so that once you take action you can reflect making sure you are doing as planned or make necessary changes. Those changes could be to your original plan or to keep your action on track with your plan. The examples and explanations in these two sections go along way to help anyone take control of their investments.

Count on Yourself (Take Charge of Your Money) is well worth the read if you want to understand your investments and take a more active role in understanding them. It has given me food for thought and I'm hoping to get my husband to read it. My problem is that the book reads as though it was written for women rather than both sexes so I'm not sure it will hold a guy's interest.