Cover2Cover Book Club

Today I'm linking up with Ashley and Crystal for their first bookclub post.


This month we read How to Be A Hepburn in A Hilton World by Jordan Christy.



1. What do you think is the most important piece of advice that Jordan Christy gave in this book?
I think the best advice given in the book was in Chapter 2. The quickest way I lose respect for people is when they have no respect for themselves. They were the tiniest pieces of clothing, constantly post on their facebook's saying how wasted they got, how much they regret what they did the night before and yet they constantly do it anyways. People these days have no respect for themselves, and if you have no respect for yourself or your image, how can I? Jordan Christy says in the chapter that the quickest way for us to gain and lose respect for someone is through their image. I completely agree with this statement. No matter how you act as an individual, if you go completely crazy or have one too many pictures of yourself getting wasted I can only lose respect for you.

2. What do you think is the most obnoxious “Stupid Girl” characteristic?
I think the most obnoxious characteristic of the "Stupid Girl" is that everyone gives them so much attention. Since they receive all this attention for the dumb and ridiculous things they do, they continue to do these things to continue having your attention. It doesn't matter its good or bad reasons for gaining your attention, they still have it and they will do whatever it takes to focus your attention on them.

3. There were SO many great quotes in this book. Do you have a favorite?

"You have a good many little gifts and virtues, but there is no need of parading them, for conceit spoils the finest genius...the great charm of all power is modesty." -- Louisa May Alcott

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” --Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

4. What do you hate most about how our modern day media portrays women? Which celebrity do you dislike the most?
It really annoys me when our media shows women who aren't the perfect proportionate woman, the day of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show every girl from high school to college age is posting "oh man I need to go to the gym after watching that" and when tabloids post pictures of tiny little imperfections on celebrities or how they really look in real life and not in the photoshopped pictures of them. Whoever decided that the perfect women needed to be a size 2 and have the perfect body? The best part about each and every women is that they are different then the next one and not completely perfect.
My least favorite celebrity would have to be either Lindsay Lohan or Brittney Spears. They have the power to reach such a huge amount of women in a positive way and change their thinking and instead they decide to show them all the stupid things they have done. They are in my opinion the worst role models young girls could have.

5. Jordan Christy said that one of the best ways to cultivate a healthy self-image is by celebrating your positive and unique qualities. If you have the time, take the “9 Types” Personality Test here: http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/dis_sample_36.asp Did you discover anything new about yourself? Which type are you? Which traits do you feel are most representative of you?

Type Five
The Investigator
The perceptive, cerebral type. Fives are alert, insightful, and curious. They are able to concentrate and focus on developing complex ideas and skills. Independent, innovative, and inventive, they can also become preoccupied with their thoughts and imaginary constructs. They become detached, yet high-strung and intense. They typically have problems with eccentricity, nihilism, and isolation. At their Best: visionary pioneers, often ahead of their time, and able to see the world in an entirely new way.

or

Type Nine
The Peacemaker
The easy-going, self-effacing type. Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually grounded, supportive, and often creative, but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and be without conflict, but they can also tend to be complacent and emotionally distant, simplifying problems and ignoring anything upsetting. They typically have problems with inertia and stubbornness. At their Best: indomitable and all- embracing, they are able to bring people together and heal conflicts.

6. What are the top 5 things on your Smart Girl list? (goals to become a more articulate, knowledgeable, and well-rounded person.. see Jordan’s list on page 62)

1. One day open my own Bakery/Cafe and run it successfully
2. Be extrememly knowledgeable about my field (pastry arts)
3. Learn and be able to speak French
4. Be debt free
5. Get an internship at Flour Bakery

7. 7. One of Jordan’s suggestions for staying out of a rut with your group of friends is to travel together to your “signature cities.” If you have time, take the signature cities quiz here: http://www.testq.com/career/quizzes/84-whats-your-signature-city You will have to make an account to get your results, but it’s definitely worth it. What’s your signature city? Have you ever been there? Do you ever see yourself visiting your signature city in the future? Would you ever consider traveling to your signature city with your group of friends?

My signature city is Savannah. Although I have not been there, I have thought about visiting it. I would love to visit it one day with friends.

8. Overall, what did you think about the book? What was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite?
Overall I thought it was a good book. I think it is something that teenage girls should really read. I think they can learn a lot about the role models they have and how to become a civilized, young lady and not the crazy wild child they idolize. It gave me great insight as to where the future generations of young women are headed.

fitzgerald

i have this habit of collecting quotes, i write them in planners, notebooks, index cards and eventually if they are important enough or relate to me or inspire me enough i write them in a little flowered notebook i keep with me at all times. it stays on my desk wherever i am, as a reminder i guess. sometimes i flip through it and i just feel calmed or reassured or whatever i need at that moment.

lately i have been collecting quite a few f. scott fitzgerald quotes, i have only read the great gatsby by him and that was sophomore year of high school. i barely remember what happened yet alone these killer quotes from it and other works fitzgerald did. i'd like to share a few with you all before i add them to my ever growing collection.

so here they are i hope you enjoy them as much as i do:

“It is sadder to find the past again and find it inadequate to the present than it is to have it elude you and remain forever a harmonious conception of memory.”

“I was within and without. Simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.”

"I’m not sentimental—I’m as romantic as you are. The idea, you know, is that the sentimental person thinks things will last—the romantic person has a desperate confidence that they won’t."

"Why don’t you tell me that “if the girl had been worth having, she’d have waited for you?” No, sir, the girl really worth having won’t wait for anybody."

the hunger games

i just recently finished the hunger games series, as in yesterday i was clinging onto the last pages of mockingjay wishing there would be more stories or what occurred in the last chapters were really part of katniss’s dreams didnt occur. originally i thought i would never ever ever read this series. i remember in april i was in atlanta and my friend had it on her ipod and was reading it and i was kinda skeptical she insisted it was totally great but i didnt bite. i went back and forth over reading this and it wasnt until late august i finally gave in and decided to buy the first book and count my loss of 8 dollars when i hated it. with that being said i finished it in 3 days and was itching to buy the next two in the series. and the three books were worth every penny.

i know everyone and their mom is obsessed with harry potter and needs to live, eat, sleep and breather harry and hogwarts but i was never really that obsessed. yes i insisted on seeing the movies in theaters first but i wasnt in line at the midnight release dressed up as hermoine. im not saying i will do that for when hunger games comes out in theaters but if i saw a mockinjay pin for sale i would not hesitate to buy it and wear it everyday. these books are a bit gruesome when talking about the games and the things katniss and peeta go through but they are so much more than that and to look past that you see a series that will stay with you forever much like harry potter and his friends. so dont walk, run to get your hands on a copy of these books, make sure to read and savor every word of them because they are truly worth it.

my summer in books

when i was growing up one of the first thing my older brother and i did every summer was sign up at our library for the summer reading program. i remember the journals we filled up with stickers keeping track of how long we had read and lists of the books we read. as we got older if you read over 200 hours you got invited to a meeting with our country freeholders and were presented with a special award. him and i would read and read and read at times it was all i did during the day.

i remember getting lost in my favorite books as i grew up it started out with madeline, nate the great, the american girl series, harriet the spy are you there god its me margaret?, or little women. when i read those books i was transported to a whole different world and i never wanted to leave. in high school my recreational reading slowed down because of great expectations, silas marner, hamlet, as i lay dying and many more books on endless required reading lists. even though at times the required books were painful (beowulf) there were some that stood out in my mind that i would appreciate for years to come including to kill a mockingbird, and jane eyre. as i approached college i looked forward to summers where i was free to read as i please. this summer was a perfect example of that. being the dorky list maker that i am, i read through my favorite blogs and compiled a list. every week this summer i’ve gone to the library and brought it along. although it has not been quite the summer i had anticipated, i really have enjoyed all the books i have read.
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so in a way this is a way for me to remember and look back on the ones that i http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhave cherished and adored to recall on future days. and also to share with you readers, if there are any book lovers out there http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifreading this i hope you appreciate these next few posts.


to start off i highly recommend anything by joshilyn jackson. this summer i read "gods in Alabama", "the girl who stopped swimming", and "between, Georgia". Jackson also has one more out called "backseat saints" which i havent had a chance to read. after one chapter i was immediately sucked into the stories and hoped they would never end. i think what i liked most was how simply written they were and how it was everyday life. the endings of the books and the plot is realistic, they weren't some silly chick- lit story where in the end everyone is happy and all issues are resolved. i think my favorite out of the three would have to be "the girl who stopped swimming" but all of them are enjoyable reads.

a confession

today i have a confession to make, all summer i've been working and the majority of my paychecks have gone towards buying books. i think on one day i bought 4 books in barnes and noble and now that the websites i buy books from have my information saved it makes it so much harder to think and weigh my options of buying a book. the worst part is if i buy a book or two in a series i feel obligated of course to hunt down the rest of them until i own them all. its getting to be an addiction of mine.

some of my favorite reads this summer have been "the help", "the hunger games" (ihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif've only bought the first one so i'm searching out the second and third daily), "the girl with the dragon tattoo" (again i've read the first two but have yet to find the third in paperback), "the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society", anything joshilyn jackson, and "hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet". it seems every day i come across more and more books i want to read. i plan on going further in depth about some of my favorites so far but as you can tell its going to be pretty hard to pick which ones.

also i just bought "the supper of the lamb" which i started the other day and im anxiously waiting for my deliveries of "the likeness", "into the woods" and "little bee"

if your looking for some great reviews check out annie's "bookish" section because about 60% of the time thats where i read for book recommendations or just read her whole blog because its fabulous

date a girl who reads

Date a Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by God, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age togethttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifher and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.




found here

a summer reading list

im going to confess a secret to all of you, i've gone to the library almost twice a week since i've been home and i've loved every second i've spent there. although i already started a summer reading list i find a new book i want to read and add to the list everyday so i wanted to know if you readers had any recommendations??

quote of the week

via

“You’ve got me, anyhow. I’m not good for much, I know; but I’ll stand by you, Jo, all the days of my life; upon my word I will.” - Laurie, LittleWomen