Liza Palmer Party: The Music

Liza Palmer Party: The Music

Jan 29, 2015

The Liza Palmer Party in honor of the release of Girl Before a Mirror continues today with an important part of any celebration: the music! One of my favorite moments in this book is a scene where Anna talks about music. She prides herself on listening to a certain kind of music and sneaks "guilty pleasure" songs into her respectable playlists. I'll let you read the book to find out how another character reacts to that little secret... 

This book was just calling for its own soundtrack, so Cassie and I got to work. Girl Before a Mirror opens with the lyrics from the song below, so we obviously had to highlight this beauty first. And below that you'll find a playlist of twenty songs we felt represented emotions or scenes in this book. The playlist follows the order of the book, but I'm sharing the lyrics for the last ten songs and Cassie has the lyrics for the first ten songs.

I got a ways to go / And I'm carrying a heavy load

But baby I want you to know / But baby I want you to know

That I never been so sure / And I never wanted nothing more

That you were who my love is for / You were who my love is for

Jill Andrews – My Love Is For

I've thrown away, I've thrown away again / The pills that make me
 I've thrown away, I've thrown away again / The chance, the want to change
TRACK 11: Edgewater – Eyes Wired Shut

There may come a time / You just can't seem to find your place 
For every door you open / It feels like two get slammed in your face 
That's when you need someone / Someone that you can call 
And when all your faith is gone / It Feels like you can't go on / Let it be me 
TRACK 12: Ray LaMontagne – Let It Be Me

Looking up, at last I found / You're never loved if you protect yourself 
Lay down, lay down your weapons boy / Right now, right now 
Under it all, you're not so tough / Everyone, everyone just wants to fall, to fall in love
TRACK 13: The Daylights – Weapons

If you were here beside me / instead of in New York / If the curve of you was curved on me 
I’d tell you that I loved you / before I ever knew you / 'Cause I love the simple thought of you 
TRACK 14: Snow Patrol – New York

I got ten fingers to the sky, / My back to the wall, my white flag high...
Put the gun down, put the gun down / Or I'mma set fire to the whole damn house
TRACK 15: ZZ Ward – Put the Gun Down

So many times it happens too fast / You trade your passion for glory 
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past / You must fight just to keep them alive 
TRACK 16: Survivor – Eye of the Tiger

Oh you got a fire and it's burning in the rain / Thought that it went out, but it's burning just the same 
And you don't look back, not for anything / 'Cause if you love someone, you love them all the same
TRACK 17: The Fray – Heartbeat

Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough / And things go wrong no matter what I do 
Now and then it seems that life is just too much / But you've got the love I need to see me through
TRACK 18: Florence + The Machine – You've Got the Love

With your eyes on my secrets, / God knows what you'll see
There's so much to my story, / But you're the perfect ending 
TRACK 19: Matthew Mayfield – Better

All of these lines across my face / Tell you the story of who I am 

So many stories of where I've been / And how I got to where I am 

But these stories don't mean anything / When you've got no one to tell them to 

It's true... I was made for you 

TRACK 20: Brandi Carlile – The Story

Check out Cassie's post to see lyrics for the first ten songs!

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Liza Palmer Party: The Gifts

Liza Palmer Party: The Gifts

Jan 28, 2015

This week, Cassie and I are celebrating the release of Girl Before a Mirror by hosting a Liza Palmer party! We both loved this book so much and wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. We sent the invites out yesterday by sharing ten reasons your book club should read this book, and today I'm talking about the gifts and she's covering the decor with some awesome wallpapers. I've been dying to create another book-inspired gift guide after doing it for a few books last month, and this was the perfect opportunity!

1. Michael Aram Black Orchid Cheese Board ($129) - While Girl Before a Mirror is an emotional read, there are also a number of hilarious scenes in it. One of my favorites is early in the book when Anna first arrives at RomanceCon and makes an awkward comment about cheese. It told me so much about her character.

2. Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend Tea ($15.95) - Anna drinks tea like I drink Diet Coke. She's definitely addicted! I was originally going to pick my favorite tea, but I ended up with this one after Anna specifically mentions it in the book. Is it bad that I want to order it just because I love the tin it's in?

3. Azure Blue Teapot Set ($59.95) - I've had my eye teapot set for ages. I don't really need it, but it's got all of my favorite colors in it. While I don't know if this is Anna's style, that's too bad. This is the teapot that I wanted to feature! Plus, it matches the Fortnum & Mason tea tin so perfectly... It's meant to be!

4. Funko POP Wonder Woman ($11.98) and Princess Leia ($16.40) - There's a wonderful (and hilarious) scene in Girl Before a Mirror where Anna and Sasha attend a work costume party. Anna dresses up like Princess Leia and Sasha dresses up like Wonder Woman, so I had to commemorate it with these figurines!

5. Minimergency Kit for Brides ($16) - Anna is the account executive on a campaign for a shower gel. I almost included one in my gift guide, but I think this emergency kit made more sense. Anna is in need of one on several occasions, and she intends to tell the shower gel company that they ought to make one.

6. I'll Eat You Up I Love You So Canvas ($29.99) - This quote from Where the Wild Things Are has special meaning for Anna and her brother Ferdie. Their relationship was one of my favorite things in Girl Before a Mirror, and it's the storyline that actually made me cry the most. And I'd totally hang this canvas in my house.

7. The Most of Nora Ephron ($22.96) and The Complete Miss Marple Stories (Similar) - Anna and Sasha are inspired by a book that has ties to a famous quote from Nora Ephron, which is why I chose this book. And Anna's Marple Theory was genius, so this was an obvious gift (though this Folio edition isn't available anymore).

8. Ladyhawke ($9.99) and Sixteen Candles ($5) - Anna is critical of romance novels, but Sasha uses an example involving Anna's favorite movie (Ladyhawke) to prove a point. It was a great moment, and I loved Anna's enthusiasm for the movie. Sixteen Candles also gets a shoutout in the book, so I had to include it here, too.

9. Trafalgar Stretch Suspenders ($49.50) and Cutter & Buck V-Neck Sweater ($78) - I had to have something on here as a nod to Lincoln! While I bet he has expensive taste, these reminded me of him. The suspenders are for a scene where he takes them off and the sweater because he loans one to Anna in the book.

10. Frette Hotal Shawl Collar Robe ($220) - Anna spends a lot of time in the hotel... I'd say she spends time in her room, but that's not quite true. And if you're hanging out in a hotel room, you better put on the hotel robe (if it's a good one). While this is more than I'd pay for a robe, I bet the Arizona Biltmore has fancy robes.

11. Apolis Chelsea Market Bag ($68) - At one point, Anna goes to see Lincoln in New York. She lets Sasha talk her into a grand scene involving a romantic picnic - the works! While you'll have to read the book to find out what happens after she visits Chelsea Market, I loved imagining Anna carrying this cool bag

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Liza Palmer Party: The Invite

Liza Palmer Party: The Invite

Jan 27, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Every week they post a new topic/top ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I'm so obsessed with lists - so it makes perfect sense that I'd love this feature!

Top Ten Reasons Your Book Club Should Read 

Girl Before a Mirror by Liza Palmer

This week's topic is technically "Ten Books I'd Love to Read with My Book Club." However, today is also the release of Girl Before a Mirror by Liza Palmer, which I raved about last week. To celebrate, Cassie and I have some fun posts planned for the next few days. Our first post is a twist on today's topic - so, here are ten reasons to make this your next book club pick!

1. Because everyone can relate to something in Anna Wyatt's story.

2. Because Lincoln Mallory is hot, British and loves dessert.

3. Because Sasha Merchant will surprise you.

4. Because Ferdie will make you laugh and cry.

5. Because Helen Brubaker is a total badass.

6. Because RomanceCon is a hilarious setting.

7. Because the entire book is so quotable.

8. Because there are so many themes you can discuss.

9. Because this story will make you emotional.

10. Because this book will Marple* you.

*Once you read it, you'll understand.

About the Book:

Girl Before a Mirror by Liza Palmer

Release Date: January 27, 2015
Publisher: HarperCollins | William Morrow
Pages: 384 pages
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Summary (from Goodreads)

An account executive in a Mad Men world, Anna Wyatt is at a crossroads. Recently divorced, she’s done a lot of emotional housecleaning, including a self-imposed dating sabbatical. But now that she’s turned forty, she’s struggling to figure out what her life needs. Brainstorming to win over an important new client, she discovers a self-help book—Be the Heroine, Find Your Hero—that offers her unexpected insights and leads her to a most unlikely place: a romance writers’ conference. If she can sign the Romance Cover Model of the Year Pageant winner for her campaign—and meet the author who has inspired her to take control of her life—she’ll win the account.

For Anna, taking control means taking chances, including getting to know Sasha, her pretty young colleague on the project, and indulging in a steamy elevator ride with Lincoln Mallory, a dashing financial consultant she meets in the hotel. When the conference ends, Anna and Lincoln must decide if their intense connection is strong enough to survive outside the romantic fantasy they’ve created. Yet Lincoln is only one of Anna’s dilemmas. Now that her campaign is off the ground, others in the office want to steal her success, and her alcoholic brother, Ferdie, is spiraling out of control.

To have the life she wants-to be happy without guilt, to be accepted for herself, to love and to be loved, to just be—she has to put herself first, accept her imperfections, embrace her passions, and finally be the heroine of her own story.

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Think Your Own Thoughts

Think Your Own Thoughts

Jan 26, 2015

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

Release Date: First Published 1908
Publisher: Random House | Vintage
Pages: 368 pages
Source & Format: Bought; Paperback
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Summary (from Goodreads)

"But you do," he went on, not waiting for contradiction. "You love the boy body and soul, plainly, directly, as he loves you, and no other word expresses it..." 

Lucy has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Bertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George.

Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Edwardian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse. Will she ever learn to follow her own heart?

WHEN I First Read It

I think that I first read A Room with a View when I was in college, but it may have been high school. All I know is that I didn't read it for class, and I checked it out from the library on a whim. I didn't buy a copy for my shelves until recently, which is another reason I can't remember exactly how long it has been since I first picked it up.

WHAT I Remember

Honestly, I barely remembered anything about A Room with a View! I knew that I loved Forster's writing because there were at least two quotes that I wrote down after finishing it the first time that I still love today. I also remembered a portion of the storyline - that Lucy Honeychurch is traveling abroad with her cousin, Charlotte, and meets quite a few characters when they spend time in Florence. As for the rest of the story, I barely remembered any other details. That's one reason I was excited to re-read! 

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

A few months ago, Danielle highlighted A Room with a View for Consider This Classic. While I'd already read it, she made me want to read it all over again! I started reminiscing on all the reasons I'd enjoyed it the first time I read it - and I knew there was more I couldn't remember. Then, I saw that there was a YA retelling coming out this January - Love, Lucy by April Lindner. It seemed like one more reason to re-read it! And when I had a costume drama movie binge, I realized that I wanted to re-read this book before I watched the movie adaptation of it. All those reasons made it seem like the perfect first re-read for The Re-Read Challenge!

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

Dang, I loved this book even more than I remembered! A Room with a View is the story of Lucy Honeychurch. The first part follows her as she explores Florence with her cousin Charlotte. They're nearing the end of their trip abroad, and they are about to meet a number of people who will alter their lives in unforeseen ways - including a Mr. Emerson and his son George. The second part catches up with Lucy once she has returned home to her mother and brother. While the plot is intriguing, that's not why I love it.

First, the writing is just stunning. There are moments where it's a bit slower, but it's often romantic and spirited. I underlined so many quotes in this book. One of my favorites from my first read, which stood out to me again upon re-reading, is this speech Mr. Emerson gives to Lucy soon after meeting her:

"You are inclined to get muddled, if I may judge from last night. Let yourself go. Pull out from the depths those thoughts that you do not understand, and spread them out in the sunlight and know the meaning of them. By understanding George you may learn to understand yourself."

It's better in context, of course, but it stopped me in my tracks the first time I read it. I remember speaking the words aloud and letting them roll off my tongue. Something about the idea of pulling out your thoughts and examining them in the sunlight to know the meaning of them - I couldn't get the picture out of my mind.

So, the writing is the first reason I love A Room with a View. But the main reason - the reason I think everyone ought to read this book - is for the themes. After listening to Lucy play the piano, one person remarks: "If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting - both for us and for her." This idea becomes repeated throughout the novel. Lucy lives during a time when women are restricted by what is proper and decorous. She must be good mannered and well behaved - a lady. But what if that's not what she wants?

Being in Italy changes her. When she returns, she becomes engaged to a man named Cecil Vyse. And Forster writes this about Cecil's understanding of Lucy:

"A rebel she was, but not of the kind he understood - a rebel who desired, not a wider dwelling-room, but equality beside the man she loved. For Italy was offering her the most priceless of all possessions - her own soul."

HELLO. Tell me you don't want to read the book based on those two sentences alone! I love A Room with a View because it's the story of Lucy finding her own voice and learning to trust her own heart. It's the story of a girl who is becoming a woman and is faced with a choice: to do what's expected of her or to cast it all off for something more. And my goodness, there are some romantic moments in this one. My favorites:

One gentleman says to Lucy, "Every moment of his life he's forming you, telling you what's charming or amusing or ladylike, telling you what a man thinks womanly; and you, you of all women, listen to his voice instead of your own."

When Lucy then argues that he's doing the same thing - telling her what to think and feel - he responds, "Yes, I have. I'm the same kind of brute at the bottom. This desire to govern a woman - it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together before they shall enter the garden. But I do love you - surely in a better way than he does. Yes - really in a better way. I want you to think your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms."

DEAD. DONE. Stop reading this review, and go read this classic already. Don't you want to know what Lucy decides? Will she defy convention and choose a life of passion? READ IT AND FIND OUT.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Absolutely! This classic is on the shorter side, which makes it perfect for those days when I need a quick reminder of why I love classics so much. In some ways, I think I loved A Room with a View even more the second time reading it. I love when that happens, and I highly recommend this book!

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Why Did You Say Goodbye?

Why Did You Say Goodbye?

Jan 23, 2015

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Release Date: January 27, 2015
Publisher: Penguin | Viking Juvenile
Pages: 288 pages
Source & Format: Edelweiss; e-ARC
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Summary (from Goodreads)

Cody and Meg were inseparable. 

Two peas in a pod. 

Until... they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

Thoughts on I Was Here

When I first read the summary for I Was Here, I wasn't interested in reading it. And I probably would never have picked it up if it wasn't written by Forman. However, since I've loved her writing in the past, I believed this one would surprise me. And it did surprise me... but not in the way I'd hoped. Immediately after finishing, I gave it 3 stars and noted that it might be closer to 3.5 stars. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I can't say I liked it.

When her best friend Meg commits suicide, Cody is devastated. She never saw it coming. Meg's parents ask Cody if she'll pack up Meg's room at college, so Cody takes a road trip and learns there's so much she never knew about her friend. From her roommates to the boy who broke her heart, Cody starts to see a new side of Meg. And when she discovers an encrypted computer file, Cody won't stop until she finds out Meg's last secret.

As I said, the summary didn't appeal to me, but I believed that Forman could do it justice. Sadly, there's really nothing about this book that worked me. I can appreciate Forman's writing - and still want to read more from her in the future - but that's really the only good thing I can say about I Was Here.

I couldn't connect to the characters, and the story was so bleak and depressing. This wasn't an emotional read for me. Instead, I spent my time feeling sick inside. I can handle tough reads sometimes, but I just had way too many issues with this story. Cody seems like a terrible friend, and it felt like she made everything about her at times. I don't want to hold a teen to an adult standard, but I was so frustrated by her. I also had a lot of issues with the romance element, especially because it was so undeveloped and relied way too heavily on the stereotypical "bad boy who is reformed by love" trope. If you're going to go there, you've got to make me believe it. Instead, it felt like a distraction and was so contrived. I have zero idea why either of these characters cared about each other.

Then, there's the mystery that Cody is chasing: the secret Meg tried so hard to hide. I don't want to spoil this aspect of the book, but I will say that I found it very troubling. I didn't know communities like this existed online (though I'm not surprised), but it's not something I'd ever want to introduce a teenage reader to - especially since it wasn't handled with care. The fact that Cody is having these scary and serious conversations with someone online AND THEN GOES AFTER HIM, IN PERSON, BY HERSELF just terrified me. If I'd been invested in the story before, that was the moment a switch flipped. I realized I would probably never hand this book to a teen. Ever. Everyone tells Cody it was so dangerous... and yet they understand she needed closure. NO. It seemed like Cody cared more about Meg's reasons for killing herself than she ever did about Meg herself.

I wanted to love this book, and I'm sad that I didn't. I wish I'd at least liked it! Instead, I just feel disappointed. It's just kind of sad and hopeless. I don't mind reading about tough topics, but this just wasn't the right book for me. And it definitely doesn't compare to everything else I've read by Forman so far.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review.

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