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Review: City of Women by David R Gillham

Any book about Germany in WW2, you would expect to be dark and not especially easy to read. I did find this book dark and hard to read, but interesting enough not to put down. 

It is the story of Sigrid Schroder. She is married to a German soldier, who is off fighting in Russia. She is living with her mother-in-law while he is away. She is a working girl, works in a patent office. To pass the time, she goes to the local theatre where mostly propaganda movies are shown, but what else is there for entertainment and who can afford anything else in these times of war and rations? During one of her nights out at the movies, she meets a Jewish man, who she eventually falls in love with. She also meets a young woman, who she befriends and that young woman pulls her into the world of the underground, saving Jews from being sent to concentration camps. 

The story then becomes a tale of the courageous people who stood up against Hitler, who tried to save the lives of Jewish citizens. These were just everyday people, people who decided to open their eyes to what was happening. Even though at any moment, their neighbors could give them away and they would be going to the concentration camps themselves. 

This is a story of all the atrocities of war, as told by an average woman, an average woman full of courage. It is about friendships and love, too, during this horrific time in history. 

Hard to read but worth the read. 

Review: Chicken Soup 's Say Hello to a Better Body

Chicken Soup books are always inspirational. Read any one of the stories/chapters and you will learn something about yourself and others. This particular book is written by Dr. Suzanne Koven, a Harvard Medical faculty member and a Boston Globe columnist. So, not only do you read great stories from everyday people, but you get some important facts thrown in there by an experienced doctor. Say Hello to a Better Body is geared toward women over fifty, but any woman, young or old,  can pick up some good advice by reading along. 

What I liked about it, was that I can pick it up anytime for inspiring stories to get me through the rough days of dieting. Stories and facts about menopause, eating right, making small changes, and  negative thinking abound in this book. 

I recommend this book whole-heartedly. And as much as I love to pass books on to others, I will have to keep this one around a while for instant inspiration !

Review: The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

I was intrigued by the title of this book and then the blurb that was written "What if we knew what tomorrow would bring. Would we fix it? Could we?" Don't we all wonder that? 

Author Ahern has written several books, among them PS I Love You, which was made into a movie. I have not read that one, or seen the movie but I had great expectations for Book of Tomorrow. 

The story centers around the life of Tamara Goodwin. Growing up in Ireland, daughter of wealthy parents, she was a typical spoiled rich kid. Bratty and privileged. Her fathers death and the financial ruin that follows, changes that world of privilege for this young woman. Her mother seems to have suffered a mental breakdown and they move in with her aunt & uncle , out in the country.Her uncle Arthur rarely speaks, her aunt Rosaleen is too busy cooking & cleaning to be of any console to Tamara. Her own mother barely comes out of her bedroom.

So, the girl has to keep herself busy and when she finds an old diary in a mobile library, locked with a padlock, another world opens up to her as she unlocks the book. 

A mysterious first entry in the diary leads to intrigue at the local castle, and mystery surrounding a neighbor. She begins to use the diary to sort out her family's past & future and begins to shape Tamara into a caring, less "superior" person. You begin to like her !

I have to say that I struggled reading this book. I put it down a few times, vowing to be done with it, and I rarely do that. Author Ahern has chosen to write this story as seen through the eyes of a teenager and I think I had trouble getting into the character. Also, at times the language was so "flowery" & wordy that I think I actually groaned at one point. Having said that, I think it may be a better read for a high school aged kid, someone who could sympathize with the main character and get some good out of the "coming of age" emergence of a kinder, gentler Tamara. 

Review: Keranique Hair Products

I have discovered a new brand of hair care products for thinning and fine hair. A company called Keranique has developed products that not only thicken fine hair, but some of the products actually promote re-growth of hair! I was lucky enough to sample the Volumizing Conditioner. Now, on my fine hair, most conditioners just make it greasy looking, make it lay limp and flat on my head. All those conditioners that promise volume actually end up doing the opposite, but if I didn't use conditioner my hair became dull and dry. A Catch -22. With Keranique's Volumizing Conditioner, I was able to put a little dab in my hair after shampooing and have instantly silky hair. And the shine after blow drying, brilliant! But what was most welcome, was the volume after the blow out. Finally, I have HAIR!
I also sampled another Keranique product called Follicle Boosting Serum. This weightless spray promotes healthy scalp and hair follicles. It gives the root of your hair the healthiest start, that is where it all begins, ladies.
I loved the feel of it on my scalp, I loved the volume after drying. From the roots.
Please go to Keranique.com to learn more about these and their other great hair products. You can order products direct from Keranique. They are also available on Amazon.com.
                                     

Review: Joey Healy Eye Brow Collection

Eyebrows...I think you either have lovely full eyebrows, or you have what I have ..course & sparse. Well, they weren't always sparse, but always course. I never much paid attention to my brows, even when Brooke Shields came on the scene with those huge brows of hers! I never filled them in, hated the look of it. As I got older and had the time to read more fashion mags, I realized that eyebrows played a big roll when applying make-up. As I heard one make-up artist say "they frame the face".
I have posted before about my eyebrows and how I apply makeup to them. I use dark eye shadow and clear mascara and an angled brush.
I have "made do".
I received a sample of Joey Healy's Eye Brow Collection to review just a few days ago. Usually when I review a product , it takes longer than a few days to get results but I could have written this review after one application! I am using the Luxe Brow Powder in Tobacco and the Duo Brow Brush. They are like the one-two punch of a superhero. Wow ! Pow !
The powder is so rich and velvety and as soon as I applied it in feathery strokes with the Duo brush's stiff, slanted end, I HAD BROWS !!
Then I took the spiral brush end of the Duo and brushed through my brows and that did the trick to make my brows look natural. And last night after a long work day,  I was getting ready to take off all my make-up.. I took another look and there they were..still. Not faded, not gone on the outer tips..still giving my eyes that great frame..all day and into the night! So thrilled with this product.
I have not tried  Healy's Clear Set gel, but I will be ordering it. Because I do recommend a gel to keep the brows tamed and glossy.
No more "making do" for me !

***Please log on to www.joeyhealy.com for ordering information***

Review: With My Body by Nikki Gemmell

I finished this book days ago, and I have been trying to figure out what I might write about it ever since.
I had not read this author before, I had no idea what to expect. I saw that she had written a few books, so she is an established author and I saw quite a few mentions of another novel Gemmell wrote called The Bride Stripped Bare, which looks quite good and one that I will have to find.
The first few chapters in the book, we find that the main character is a woman headed toward forty, has a husband and 3 boys. She grew up in Australia and now lives in London with her husband & family. She can't find time for herself, hates the school mom who brags about  her children, has no really close friends to talk honestly with. Sex with her husband is now a memory, he falls asleep on the couch most nights..nothing surprises me here. I had four kids myself and your kids are your life when you decide to have them...so I wondered if this book was going to be anything that I would want to keep reading. The main character, who remains nameless ( the funny thing is, I didn't realize it until I started to write my review and couldn't recall it) keeps remembering in bits and pieces , a former lover. Ah ha !
Her mom dies when she is young and she is alone with her dad. They are close, but he is not a talker or anyone who shows her a lot of affection. She gleans from him what she can...he teaches her to change a tire, work with tools, fix things that get broken...a real tomboy. He finally remarries and the new wife wants to erase all memory of her mother from the house. She gets sent off to boarding school and becomes an exemplary student. She also gets involved with a young artist who ends up near raping her. Welcome to your first sexual experience.
On one summer school vacation, she was about seventeen, she is out riding her bike and comes upon on old , run down mansion.The gate is open and in she goes. She is looking through the windows and sees someone, a man working at a desk. She takes off but comes back the next day...and the next day...finally getting discovered. She & and the stranger, Tol, begin a kind of friendship..she strikes  a bargain with him. She will do some repairs to his house, if he will educate her. Teach her about the world, outside of the Australian bush. Tol is older than she is, although you never know how much. He is an author trying to write his second book. He is a loner and eccentric....and he is fascinated by her youth, her naivety and her boldness. She is fascinated by his knowledge of a world different from her own. She eventually asks him to teach her about sex, she didn't want her bad first experience to lead to more bad experiences, or no experiences at all.
Well, I can not even begin to tell you what happens that summer. The sex and the teaching of it, is like daydreaming some erotic fantasies. She falls in love with him, thinking constantly of him and being close to him. And then he goes away.....and she is left heartbroken and confused for years. Until she meets her husband and "settles" down. Eventually, she comes to terms with her old relationship with Tol, which helps her re-new the ailing  relationship with her husband.
I must mention here, that every woman I know is trying to get their hands on Fifty Shades. I read a sample few chapters, and the book was so poorly written that I knew I would never read it. I can now say that I had my cake & ate it too, with Gemmell's book. Well written, erotic, and recommended.