6 Things on My Radar

Evening kiddies,

I have seen other bloggers do these kinds of lists and I have myself done top ten lists, so I decided to try it out and write about six things that are on my radar at the moment - and really six things I most recently purchased... haha I did a lot of shopping this weekend... A LOT! So I thought since my purchases, among other things, are on my radar, I would share them with you!

1. Light blue nail polish: this trend is popping up all over the place and I am loving it! When I went to buy the nail polish, I was hoping to find a more minty looking colour but I am really pleased with what I found. I feel like it brings a splash of colour to everything I wear! It reminds me of the bluest part of the ocean where the sun hits it and it makes me think of tans, the beach, sand and sun. I just love it!

This is a Nicole by OPI colour called My Lifesaver (9$ from the drugstore)

2. Gold bracelet / necklace: I picked up this little versatile jem for 7$ at Smart Set. It was in fact my good friend TheJMay who said it could be worn as a bracelet as well as a necklace and she was so right! I love the gold, I love all the colour. It's just gorge and I will wear it a ton!!!

See both pics for the versatile way this piece can be worn.

3. Wing Earrings: Now these babies are my fav! I would and most likely will wear these so much!! I think they are a little rock and roll, a little badass and a whole lot of sass with a little Mayan or Greek flavor thrown in. I think they are just rockin. I love how gold they are, I love how big and showy they are. I just adore them. I got them at the Bay (Expressions Line). They also come in silver.

Expressions Line from the Bay (9$)

4. Gold / Metallic Sandals: I have been looking and looking for the perfect pair of metallic glad sandals all summer. My mum wanted to celebrate (she had a skin graft tested and everything turned out ok and she is fine!!!) so we went to go shopping: first to Globo and then to our next fav store: the bookstore (see next fav thing for that). 

The minute I saw these beauties, I knew they were the right ones I have been looking for. I think they are the perfect ambiguous metallic that will go with everything. I can wear them with silver, gold and bronze and I can wear them with any kind of pant or skirt or dress. I am totally looking forward to matching them up with some super outfits.

5. Books, Books, Books: The next stop on my mum's celebration train was our fav, fav, fav store: the bookstore!! I picked up a few books to add to my collection for summer reading! (Look for a future post about my summer reading list so far!) On this trip, I got two more in the Anita Blake series of Vampire books, the second book in the Del Toro virus series (so good and scary!!) and what I am most excited about the newest Game of Thrones book: A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin.

I have already started it and I am soooo excited!!! It is sooo good! I highly recommend this series. If you like books about the middle ages and fantasy books, this is the two combined. Lots of graphic battles, violence, sex and intrigue. What I like best about the books is the way the author has a point of view of a character in each chapter. You understand their mind, thoughts and motives and then you move on to another point of view and get a completely different look at the same event. Its a great and exciting way to create rich characters and complicated, interweaving narrative.

6. True Blood: This just needs to be mentioned because this season has been amazing and I just needed to say that. Watch it, you won't regret it. It is pure sex and hilarity and violence.

So one of my co-workers from my old group at work gave me this bottle of Tru Blood because she was leaving the agency and had no use for this any longer. I am torn about whether I should drink it or not... hhhmmm...

Anyways, thoughts? What do you think of my new purchases? Do those wing earrings also remind you of a badass 70s rocker? What do you think of blue nail polish?

xxx

Library Thing

Good Morning Lovelies,

So I have found a new way to feed my book addiction. L's  lovely sister C recommended a WONDERFUL website to me: Library Thing.com. On this site, you can add all the books you have read or are reading. It then connects you to other users with the same books on their lists and then you can explore recommendations, discussion boards and book reviews / descriptions. It really is so addictive.

If you want to find me on there, I am killerqueen_jess.

Check it out. I love love love it!

xxx

 

Also, check out my book lists on here: Read List 2010 / 2009 and Read List 2011

2011 Book Addiction: Read List

A few years ago, I started writing down all the books I read in order to keep track of what I am reading and to see how much I have read in a year. As you have noticed from the various book reviews on this blog, I enjoy reading and I read a lot - in variety of genres. I will not do book reviews on all the books I read, BUT I have decided to include a section where I will update what books I have read. Feel free to comment and make any suggestions for additional reading and it can be included in my future reading list. I am also interested to know what you thought of any of the books I have read that you have read.  Follow the link here to see my list. You can also follow the page link on the side to see the most up-to-date list.

I have also created a page with last years book list. My goal this year is to try to reach 75 books.

What are your thoughts on my goal?

UPDATE: I am also going to create a few pages of books I want to read. I am hoping I can add to the list from any suggestions I get. Thanks! 

Book Review: "Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Interweaving the stories of multiple characters linked by a country and a child, Gowda creates a sweeping tale about the life of women. Somer is an American living in California desperate to have a child with the man she loves. In India, Kavita is a young mother having girl children her husband's family does not want in a society that covets the male child over the female. Asha is the daughter that connects these women. Asha must return to the country of her birth to truly come to terms with where she came from and discover who she will become.

Book Art and Author Photograph

What I loved about this novel was the way the author explored a culture by giving us snapshots of this world. She provided us with a rich look into the history, the social structure and customs of India. She showed us both the good and the bad. She developed characters that had different feelings about this country and whose opinions changed over time with their own changing views on life. She gave us a look into what it means to be a woman in India, in all walks of life from poor to rich to even being a foreigner. Most importantly, she explored the universal theme of a mother's love and what it can mean.

The other idea Gowda explored was the idea of self-discovery. Asha must learn who she is by traveling to a country where she was born but had not been back to since she was a baby. She realizes how little she understands of her own culture and background. Through her travels and studies, she learns who she really is and also learns to appreciate the women who have loved and sacrificed for her. I found this idea of self-discovery compelling because it fits so much into where I am right now in my life and I could really relate to how she processed her feelings about it.

Coming Soon: Review of Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay.

Book Review: "How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired" by Dany Laferriere.

The Author

"Things are going terribly wrong these days for the conscientious, professional black pick-up artist" (13).

Echoing the sounds of the Beat writers and Kurt Vonnegut, Laferriere writes a raunchy, hysterical, realistic, culturally explicit look at sex and the world for a black man living in Montreal. He writes about what it means for him and society to have sex with white women. He delves into exploitation, cultural differences and plain old male-female dynamics. He writes from an authentic place, steeped in what feels like personal experience through his use of some stream of consciousness techniques and real world advice.

While this little book may first appear to be only about sexual relationships,  the reader needs to delve deeper into the author's discussion of sex and life to see a thoroughly intelligent narrator living in poverty, sick of the ways of the world, and what that world holds for him as a black man.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick, interesting read. He presents a likable character who happens to be both obsessed with literature and sex with "types" of women most memorable among them: Miz Literature, Miz Snob, and Miz Cat. The author writes both intelligently and in a manner that makes him easy to navigate. His charm is the honest and authentic voice behind his words and phrases about criticism, injustice and sexual exploitation. It is a fascinating and interesting read.

Coming Soon: Review of "Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Somaya Gowda


Picture from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QwtjPMQBQj7EYpBUlzbSuj7o1z2cykPxDgyNzaM7XSjtB_zo-MzY97AzgbtJu5zA8OikyPxjKaW3Xbe4FQGzC7aZedKq9_uMPamQgZROGk1bHjHiGT3iuf174ig_jVzuHx5zSAH9T3o/s320/Dany+Laferriere+4.jpg

Book Review: "Room" by Emma Donoghue

Today, Jack turned five. He likes the number five much better then the number four. His mother is making his birthday cake. He hopes he will find five candles on the cake. When Ma places the cake in front of him, he is disappointed to see there are no candles. When he asks his mother, she says, he did not bring any candles for them. Jack knows that "he" is the man he calls "Old Nick". "Old Nick" comes at night when he is alseep in wardrobe. Wardrobe is across from Bed, which sits against Bed Wall, one of four walls in Room, the only place Jack has ever known. So this is how "Room" begins. It is the story of Jack and his mother who has been kept imprisoned in one room for eight years. Room depicts the struggle she must face to raise her son and to ultimately live again.


I loved this book. It was so interesting to delve inside the mind of this young boy. The reader has the opportunity to understand the way this child thinks and understands the world and his circumstances in life. His mother is a devoted caretaker doing everything she can to ensure he is healthy, happy and educated in the most restricted of environments. Donoghue writes in a simple style which conveys her message about love . I recommend this novel for anyone looking for both a beautiful story and fascinating study into what it means to be a prisoner and a parent.

Coming Soon: Book Review of"How to Make Love to a Negro without Getting Tired" by Dany Laferriere.