Book Review: Intro to Army Life

Awhile back I was contacted about reviewing a new book, Intro to Army Life by Allison Mewes.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book.  It's concise and gives useful information without being overwhelming. This book is broke down into short chapters detailing various aspects of the Army and Army life. A few examples are: Military Structure, Pay and Benefits and Deployment and Emotions.   There are a few things in my own Army experience that are different than listed in the book, such as living on post and some of the rules that go along with that, but overall it's a great guide for a new Army spouse.

Honestly the thing I liked most about this book was that it included pictures. That might sound a bit funny to some, but when you are new army wife, photos of the different types of rank, an LES statement and the various types of uniforms can be very helpful.

Because I've been married to someone in the military for the past 5 years, there wasn't much in the book that I wasn't at least aware of, but I will say that the military discounts and resources page included some information that I wasn't familiar with. 

Overall I'd recommend this to anyone who is new to the lifestyle or even a veteran spouse who would like all this info at their fingertips.  You can find the book on Amazon in book form or even for your Kindle.

Skin Care Stupid?

I'm one of those girls who has never known much about proper skin care or make-up application. So imagine my delight when I walked in the library the other day and found the book, Skin Rules by Debra Jaliman, a prominent and very popular New York dermatologist.

This book is a super easy read. I finished it in about an hour and then spent about 30 minutes on Amazon making a wish list of what skin products I wanted to buy.  The book has 77 rules on all aspects of skin care. I learned a lot and am now going to switch up how I care for my skin.

The best part is that most of the products she recommends using are products that can be found at your local drugstore and in some cases at a department store.  I have added a Clarisonic Skin Cleansing Brush to my must-have list, but that's a little bit pricey so it'll probably wait for awhile.

I did however, find some of the items at the PX and commissary today which was a miracle, as they usually have nothing in stock and I'm super excited to start caring for my face in the correct way.

If you don't know much about skincare, products you should be using or some of the various other procedures that can be done to make your skin look your best, then you should check out this book. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Book Review: February

I know I'm a little behind on this book review, but my philosophy is, "better late than never!"  So, I am still doing my February book review even though it is mid-March.

Leaving off from my list of books in January, these are the books I read in February:

13. Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal- Conor Greenan
14. Once Upon a River- Bonnie Campbell
15. Commencement- J. Courtney Sullivan
16. American Dervish- Ayad Akhtar
17. The Last American Boy- Jane Leavy
18. Doc- Mary Doria Russell
19. The Last American Man- Elizabeth Gilbert
20. Before I Go To Sleep- S.J. Watson
21. The Wilder Life- Wendy McClure
22. Silver Sparrow- Tayari Jones

Of these ten books, my three favorites were:

1. Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal

I'll be honest, I didn't know much about Nepal or the political situations going on there before I read this book. Now I have a bit of a better understanding how the political situation there has affected the children of this country. This book was a good read, focusing on a man who thought he'd impress his friends by volunteering at an orphange in Nepal and then goes on to fall in love with the country and the children that he is taking care of.

2. Doc

If you like the movie Tombstone (hello hot Val Kilmer) then you'll like this book. It's pretty much a prequel of the movie Tombstone and tells how Doc Holliday was raised and where he grew up and how he got to Dodge City, Kansas where he met the Earp Brothers. I really, really enjoyed this book a lot and loved knowing a bit of a backstory to some of my favorite characters.

3. Before I Go to Sleep

I really liked the creepy undertones and the plot twist in this book. The story is about a woman who has lost her memory. Every day she wakes up and remembers nothing. Eventually she starts seeing a doctor who is trying to help her regain her memory and she begins a journal, writing down her story everyday and other events that happen so she can look back each day and build upon that.  It was scary to think that could happen to someone, but the book was good. I always love a good creepy story.

My biggest disappointment of the books I read this month was The Wilder Life.

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Little House on the Prarie series, so I had high hopes for this book.  There were good parts of it, where the author went to go visit the various home sites from Laura's youth, but she always seemed to go on and on about how the house was so small and how disappointed she was that it was different then the book of her imagination. I got tired of the book quickly, but stuck it out, hoping that it would improve. It didn't.

Book Review: January

I used to do a review every once in awhile about the books I'd been reading, but I kind of got out of the habit of doing that in the last six months. So, I thought I'd start back up again with the new year. This month I've read 12 books and I'm working on my 13th, which is a bio about Mickey Mantle.

Here is my list so far:

1. Cold-Blooded- Lisa Jackson

2. Dreams of Joy- Lisa See
3. Chasing Harry Winston- Lauren Weisberger
4. Prarie Tale- Melissa Gilbert
5. The Family Fang- Kevin Wilson
6. Stories I Only Tell My Friends- Rob Lowe
7. A Dark and Lonely Place- Edna Buchanan
8. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation- Lauren Willig
9. The Tiger's Wife- Tea Obreht
10. Girl Who Chased the Moon- Sarah Addison Allen
11. Story Of Beautiful Girl- Rachel Simon
12. Happens Every Day- Isabelle Gillies

Of the 12 that I read, my three favorites are:

1. Story of Beautiful Girl

It's about two people that escape from an institution in the 1960's and entrust the life of their daughter with a stranger they met the night they escaped. One of the main characters was caught and sent back to the institution, but the other character escaped and lived on the run for many years. I loved the main characters and I felt the story was heartbreaking, but had a great ending.

2.A Dark and Lonely Place

I really did enjoy this book, although the overuse of "Darlin" in the book got on my nerves. That being said, this book is about two times in history. In the early 1900's, a couple in Florida live a life on the run after John Ashley is falsely accused of killing a man. They are devoted to each other and the story follows them through their life on the run with an untimely end. The other part of this story is about present-day where a Miami detective and a model are thrown together in a similiar circumstance and it seems history will repeat itself. This book was a very fast read for me as I found it very interesting.

3. Prarie Tale and Stories I Only Tell My Friends

I'm lumping these two bios together because they were similiar AND they dated each other, which until I read Prarie Tale, I didn't know.  Both biographies were pretty good and although Melissa Gilbert mentions Rob Lowe a lot in her bio, he mentions her maybe once or twice and hardly says anything about their relationship. It was interesting. I think I learned more from Rob Lowe's bio, simply because I didn't know that much about him. I also didn't realize that huge amounts of his part as Soda Pop in the movie The Outsiders were cut from the film. I always wondered why his part in that movie wasn't bigger. Melissa's bio was eye-opening in the fact that I didn't really know what other work she'd done since Little House on the Prarie and I also wasn't aware of her substance abuse problems. Not that I'm that surprised, but still. Interesting.

The other books were good reads too, but the above that I mentioned were my faves of this month. Any books you guys have been reading that you care to recommend?

 

What I'm Reading

I'm doing pretty well on my goal to read 50 books this year. I'm up to 15 books and have a ton on my to-read list.

Here are a few recent books I've finished.

1. The Year of Living Biblically- A.J. Jacobs



When I first found this book, I thought it would be a light-hearted funny read. Although it was in some respects, it also made me think a lot about the Bible and God in general. The author (who is Jewish, although non-practicing) spends a year living by the rules in the Bible as closely as possible. He stones adulterers (with pebbles) grows out a beard, blows a horn on the first of the month and follows other lesser known rules. He also researches a few other religions and aspects of the Bible. It ended up being quite eye-opening. I went to church growing up and there were things he mentioned in the Bible that I didn't even know about. I've even read the Bible in it's entirety and didn't catch some of the things mentioned in the book.

2. The Overnight Socialite- Birdie Clark



If you want a fun and easy read, then this book fits that to a T. If you've ever seen the movie My Fair Lady or read Pygmalion, then you already know the premis of this book. Less than stellar girl meets "professor" of exceptional breeding and class, he makes a wager he can transform her into a darling of society and they fall in love along the way. It's a modern re-make and predictable, but still a fun read.

3. A Reliable Wife- Robert Goolrick



I'm pretty sure I heard of this book first over at DAR's blog. Like her, I wasn't impressed with the story. I felt like there was too much explanation and backstory in parts of the book and not enough about the present. The story is about a wealthy widower who puts an ad in a newspaper for a reliable wife. There is a twist to the story, which I didn't catch until it was spelled out for me. A decent book, but I don't think it deserves it's bestseller status.

4. Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa- Karin Muller



This is another recommendation from a blogger. The Japanese Life of a Military Wife first posted about it on her blog and I knew I had to read it. I haven't been disappointed! I don't know that much about Japan and the culture of the country, but after reading this book I feel like I have more knowledge than before. The author travels around Japan trying to make a documentary out of different experiences and traditions she encounters, all while trying to understand Japan and find wa(harmony). If you don't know much about Japan, or even if you do, I think you'll like this book.

What are you reading? Any good recommendations?