Monday 25 November 2013

Books to kick start your life.

Books for personal growth

Life is funny sometimes, the rut we are in can be so comfortable it is hard to even want to get out of it.

Eventually,given enough time,  a creeping sense of unease may lead us to take action.... or in some less 'friendly' cases a great big reality check will do the same thing.

Whether we need change in body, mind or spirit, there are thousands of books that can inspire.

The best ones can be read whenever you need them for a boost and like good friends are always fresh, helpful and motivating.

I have put together a quick list of my own favourite 'go to' books.

My top 5 life 'kick starters':

  • 'The Magic of thinking Big' by David J. Schwartz PHD - Perhaps a little dated in its style, but undoubtedly a classic in the genre. 'The Magic of Thinking Big' was one of the first books to encourage us to employ our 'attitude' to improve our lives. Still resonates.
  • 'Born to Run', by Christopher McDougall - This may seem a strange choice for a list of books to kick start a 'life rejuvenation', but I found this book to be motivating on so many levels, not all running related. Something about the simplicity of the approach, paring back to the basics, inspired me not only to start running in my bare feet, but also to look at the unnecessary complication in all aspects of life.
  • 'The Happiness Project', By Gretchen Rubin - I know I have reviewed this book before, but there is a good reason to include it in this list! It is so practical in its approach; every time I browse its pages I find something new that 'speaks' to me. At the moment it is the chapter on clutter that seems relevant, next time I read it, I am sure I will be taken by another section.
  • 'The Way of the Peaceful Warrior', by Dan Millman - Another relatively 'old' book, just goes to show that inspiration never goes out of style! With elements of parable in the storytelling, Millman, a former successful athlete, guides the reader on a journey to a realisation that life has 'no ordinary' moments. While I am never sure which parts of the book are real and which fantasy (and if I'm honest some of the writing feels a little 'hokey'), I am always left feeling amazingly optimistic about my own life after reading about Dan's. 
  • 'Find your Strongest Life', by Marcus Buckingham - This book had an immediate impact on my life, leading me to put into place steps to leave a job I felt tied to, but uninspired by. While written specifically for women, I am sure that anyone can benefit from its wisdom, encouraging us to deliberately 'unbalance' our lives so that more time is spent on the 'important' and inspiring parts and less on that which drains and deadens.
The power of words is a funny but predictable thing. Just writing this post has left me feeling, encouraged, energised and inspired!
I would love to hear which books are 'kick starters' in your life, please feel free to comment with titles to consider.


Friday 22 November 2013

Ballet Beautiful: Dancing towards strength

Uncovering the Ballerina in all of us!
How many of us have at least a little ballet in our past?

I for one, spent much of my youth practicing arabesques, splits and jette's and for that period of my life at least,  I was buff. Well buff for an eleven year old anyway!

Nostalgia for fitness past, was one reason why I was attracted to the Ballet Beautiful concept....surely regaining my ballet chops would not be too difficult? After all the cover promises to 'transform your body and gain the strength and focus of a ballet dancer'. Who doesn't want a piece of that action?

Mary Helen Bowers, the author and dancer who developed Ballet Beautiful, has some serious credentials to back up her programme. Not only was she a professional ballerina with the New York City Ballet by age 16 , she also trained Natalie Portman for her star turn in 2010's 'Black Swan'.

Mary Helen also proves to be thoughtful and refreshingly
grounded in her approach to health and fitness, perhaps as a reaction against the extremes of both required to be professional Ballerina (think rail thin, blistered feet, existing on crushed ice and ibuprofen).

Her goal is that the programme be 'Artistic, Athletic and Attainable', combining mindset, fitness and nutrition to provide a pathway to longevity and wellness.

'Ballet Beautiful' explores Bower's back story giving us insight into her compulsion to create her own lifestyle and fitness approach, one that rejects powering through pain and injury, instead treating your body with 'gentleness and forgiveness' while working consistently towards your fitness and lifestyle goals.

'Ballet Beautiful' proves a little less 'shrill' and 'hectoring' than many comparable books in the fitness and health genre. There is a little wiggle room for reality and the understanding that while being fit and healthy is one half of the coin, being mentally strong is the equally important other.

An interesting and encouraging read, if I have one criticism it is this, like all other regimes that promise much..... if you do it only once, nothing seems to happen.
I might have to give it another go.....


For more on 'Ballet Beautiful', you might like to explore Mary Helen Bowers website Ballet Beautiful.

Ballet Beautiful is available for purchase through Amazon.com via the following link:

'Ballet Beautiful' By Mary Helen Bower







Wednesday 20 November 2013

Is it ok to criticise?

Some books are just awful....

 It is sad, but true. Even sadder, somehow when I start a book, I just have to keep going. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have not 'seen a book through' to the end.

Result.... lots of time reading really BAD books. 

The question I am asking myself now, at the beginning of this book review adventure;

'Should I be including negative book reviews on Little Miss Kindle?'

My knee jerk reaction is of course I should! People have a right to know and maybe, just maybe I can help other innocent people avoid my pain. 
is criticism of authors ok
Am I 'Ducking' my reviewer responsibilities?
My softer, gentler side feels, well, sorry, for those poor authors who have slaved over their novel for months if not years. Pouring heart and soul into its creation..... only to have me (who really is just one opinionated person) say it is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
It all seems a bit nasty.

Bottom line is, I am undecided.... I could choose just omit to include 'bad' books from my reviews.
Or I could put on my big girl trousers and let it rip....

Thoughts?



Friday 8 November 2013

Become an 'Opportunist' (fan:)

When I am trawling Amazon, looking for the next occupant for my Kindle, I often check out reader reviews.

Indulge me for a moment, and let me share a line from a reader review for 'The Opportunist' by Tarryn Fisher;

'I kept putting off picking it up, even as its hauntingly seductive cover peered up at me enticingly from the table where I'd proudly, if skittishly, placed my copy. ' 

Yep, this review, nearly single handedly made me NOT have a crack at this book. (I am hopeful I do not have to explain why...)

Numerous 5 star ratings however from over 900 readers, made me reconsider.


After whipping through the book, I feel compelled to compile a quick list;


5 reasons for 'Romance fans' to relish 'The Opportunist'

1. Olivia Kaspen. Female protagonist and recovering badass, Olivia has baggage to spare and some surprising attributes. Olivia lied and manipulated her way into a relationship that defined her life, (one true love rings a bell here) never once realising it was hers for the taking from the get go. As Olivia helpfully comments at the beginning of the book, 'If I love something I rip it from my life.' 
Sad and loveable at the same time.

2. Caleb Drake. Ok ladies, he is tall and handsome and not to provide a spoiler, but he is BIG time unhappy with our girl (all the while harbouring undying love of course). Throw a wicked new fiance and amnesia into the mix and we have a live one! 

3. Oliva Kaspen. Did I mention she will do nearly anything to regain the love of her life? Did I mention he has amnesia? Enough said.

4. Tarryn Fisher slides her story seamlessly between the past and the present gradually unravelling the truth behind her characters and their relationship. Oliva's self hate is examined and in my mind at least, the need for it questioned. 

5. This Romance is not 'cookie cutter', you have not read it before. The characters do not (for the main part) seem generic. After reading lots of books in this genre, this achievement on the part of the author is to be applauded.

Of course, in the way of so many books these days, The opportunist heralds the beginning of a series. I have just downloaded the second book (Dirty Red) and will let you know whether to do the same....

'The Opportunist' is available for purchase through Amazon.com via the following link:

'The Opportunist' by Tarryn Fisher



Tuesday 5 November 2013

Jack Daniels: J A Konrath delivers a killer series



Who doesn't love a determined yet flawed detective? Who doesn't love a little gruesome mixed in with their mystery? Who doesn't love it when the aforementioned detective has their own series written by 'Thriller' King, J A Konrath?
Well obviously there are some completely 'reasonable' people who love none of the above, but I, happily, am not one of them.
If you share my love of the crime novel and you have yet to discover Jack Daniels, (the character, not the drink) let me do the honours and introduce you.

Forty something and divorced, with a love for late night infomercials and designer suits , Jack has found herself married to the job. Although quite an optimist, even Jack realises her life kind of 'sucks'. Her only real relationship (besides that with her mother) is with her partner Herb and less comfortably, with the serial killers that she hunts. 

Which brings us to the problem, the serial killers Jack hunts, seem as interested in her, as they are in their next victim...... and wouldn't it tie things up nicely for them if Jack could participate 'personally' in their quest for infamy?

Oh dear..... luckily for the reader, Jack brings nerves of steel and an unerringly accurate 'gut' to the table, a combination which leaves her 'one up' in most cases..... but not before we are all good and scared..... and thoroughly amused.
Witty dialogue and laugh out loud moments punctuate the novels, meaning that yes, even a 'scaredy cat' like me can read these at home, alone, at night, in a blackout..... and still sleep like a baby after.

A great fast paced series that kept me hitting 'buy' on my kindle to get next installment until sadly, I ran out of Jack Daniels books....

Get your hands on this chilling, thriling and funny series at Amazon.com via the following link:

The "Jack Daniels' Series; By J. A. Konrath







Saturday 2 November 2013

Louis De Bernieres: Brilliance before Captain Corelli

For many, the name 'Louis de Bernieres', may be accompanied by thoughts of  his most famous novel, 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin'. Even more disturbing, this may lead to musings on the acting abilities of Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruise.

Now not to mislead, I loved the Captain and his Mandolin (less so the movie if I am honest), but my all time favourite Louis De Bernieres work is his series based in a war torn and drug riddled South American Republic (Colombia?), comprising of The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether PartsSenor Vivo and the Coca Lord, (my personal favourite) and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman.

Somehow, although set in a country rife with harrowing torture and violence, De Bernieres has created a series that is exuberant and fantastical, offering the reader characters that are so engaging you wish they were real.

Magical Black panthers prowl the pages, where individual (and gorilla) bravery in the face of frankly evil drug cartels have you cheering, laughing and sometimes crying with the horror of if all.
In all three books, the characters experience passion, death and redemption, taking the reader on an emotional journey littered with joyful highs and confronting lows.

Louis uses magical devices to blunt the impact of the man made evil, and
humour so we can laugh at the inept and corrupt government, while feeling proud of the dignity, ingenuity and courage of the main protagonists ( I dare you not to love Senor Vivo).


Not many authors can so successfully pair horror and heartbreak with love, humour and hope. Although an older series, this is still so well worth a read I had to share it on LMK.




These wonderful books are available for purchase from Amazon,com via the following link:

The works of Louis de Bernieres




















Alice Clayton; Is 'Wallbanger' truly worth the hype?

Alice Clayton's 'Wallbanger'
Worth a read?
Warning: Wallbanger certainly does contain 'adult themes', if this is not your cup of tea, bypass this one.

I have to be truthful, despite hovering near the top of bestselling lists and being thoroughly hyped, I turned my back on the 'buy' button when it came to Wallbanger for MONTHS.

It was the name you see, 'Wallbanger'. 

Wallbanger... sounded to me, trite and cheap and most probably not worth the trouble. 
Question is, was I right (I love being right!)?

Answer is, well no..... and here is why.

Wallbanger is actually LOTS of fun to read and sometimes fun is enough.


Clayton ensures her main characters (Caroline and Simon, AKA, 'wallbanger') do not 'disappoint', or infuriate.
 I am sure you know what I mean here, there is nothing worse than cookie cutter, angst ridden, borderline certifiable characters. Especially the ones who still manage to rise above all this to find 'true love' within the space of 300 pages.

Caroline and Simon have a host of likeable qualities, (Caroline loves to bake, is a successful designer and to a large degree has her life together. Simon is a talented photographer who travels the world) there is a chance that if you knew them, you might want to be friends. Nice.

First world problems however, abound for the characters in this novel, from Caroline's missing 'O' (yes, this probably stands for what you think it does) to Simon's concerns re 'being picket fenced' by one woman.
While CaSi's problems seem trivial, the slow burn of their entanglement seems less so. Clayton manages to develop their relationship at a pace that makes their attraction seem plausible and possibly, just ever so slightly, 'real world-esque'. A nice change from the 'Fifty Shades' style instant obsessive hook up.

If I had one issue with the book, the end seems overly long and I grew tired of the love birds 'new couple glow' a touch before they did.

My advice, pack your worries and your minds away and just enjoy. A good summer beach, (or winter fireside) read.

'Wallbanger' is available for purchase through amazon.com via the link shown below:

'Wallbanger' by Alice Clayton