Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

Book Review: Bossypants by Tina Fey

Title: Bossypants
Author: Tina Fey
Genre: Essays/Memoir
Year: 2011
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

In her acceptance speech for Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Tina Fey announced that she was proud to make her home in “the ‘not-real America’.” It is perhaps that healthy sense of incongruity that makes the head writer, executive producer, and star of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning 30 Rock such a cogent observer of the contemporary scene. Bossypants, her entertaining new memoir, shows that strangeness has been her constant companion. Fey’s stories about her childhood in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania are only appetizers for LOL forays into her college disasters, honeymoon catastrophes, and Saturday Night Live shenanigans. Most funny read of the month; the best possible weekend update.

My Review:

To be honest, I expected a lot more from this book. More laughs, more anecdotes, more information. I knew it wasn’t a typical memoir-type book and it was more of a collection of essays by Tina Fey, but I had heard some amazing reviews about this book. I expected to laugh my way through it and want to give Tina a great big hug when I finished.

Tina Fey is a great writer and held my attention throughout most of the book. She has a quirky, self-deprecating sense of humor that shines throughout this book. Since I haven’t followed her career, don’t particularly care for 30 Rock, and the only Saturday Night Live episode I’ve ever watched was the one with Peyton Manning… it might seem a bit off that I chose to read this book. But I love Tina Fey. I love her character on 30 Rock and think she has done amazing things for women comediennes.

The book was good. It was full of essays ranging from her childhood to her beginnings of comedy to how she started 30 Rock. She details how she came to parody Sarah Palin and gives this totally awesome picture of motherhood, which had to be one of my favorite chapters of the whole book. Her writing style is off-beat but relatable.

The book wasn’t all good, though. There were some chapters that rubbed me the wrong way. Her chapter replying to certain comments made about her on celebrity gossip websites was distasteful. I understand Fey’s humor, but I didn’t find her replies all that funny. Just stupid. I’m not sure what to make of the chapter about her cruise, it seemed a bit rambling and misplaced. Sometimes, her self-deprecating humor became too much, bordering on “woe is me”. I’m sorry, but I fail to find any sympathy in a show like 30 Rock that has won an incredible amount of awards. I’m not going to cry with you that it took viewers longer to attach to the show, although critics have always raved it. Maybe it’s because I’m not a fan of the show myself, but it got too much at times.

In the end, though, I marked this book four stars out of five, because Tina Fey has a gifted way with words. While I didn’t laugh my pants off while reading this book, it was a humorous take on her life and the life of a comedienne. I’m just not as in love with it as other people were.

If you’ve read Bossypants, what did you think? If not, do you think you would read it? What’s your opinion of Tina Fey?

Categories: Books

Book Review: Redemption by Karen Kingsbury and Gary Smalley

Title: Redemption
Author: Karen Kingsbury; Gary Smalley
Genre: Christian Fiction
Year: 2002
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my second time reading this book, my first time was a year or two ago. I want to read the rest of the Baxter series, which is extensive, and knew I needed to reread this book. The story was a heartbreaking one: Kari finds out her husband, whom she loves very much, is cheating on her. Soon after, she finds out that she’s pregnant with their first child. Her husband wants a divorce, but Kari is committed to her husband and her marriage and wants to make it work.

One of the themes in this book was a line Kari continuously said: Love is a decision. It’s absolutely true. So many people feel like love is an emotion, love is about feeling good and being happy. It’s not. You have to make the decision to love people, through the ups and the downs. Through the cheating. While I think cheating is one of those absolutes, it’s inspiring (well, as inspiring as a fictional character can be!) to see how committed Kari was to her marriage and loving him, through this awful circumstance.

The story also introduced you to Ryan Taylor, who was Kari’s best friend and first boyfriend in high school. They had a strong connection (and still do) and he comes back into town around the moment Kari finds out about her husband. They are reunited and while Kari tries to deny any feelings she still has for him, she knows he is Ryan Taylor: her first love and the one she never stopped loving.

One of the biggest complaints people have against the book is that there is too much religion. And sure, it is a Christian book and heavier on Christianity than most books out there but that’s what makes this book so great. So many Christian authors are trying to become too mainstream with their fiction where faith takes a backseat to the main story. In some books, it’s barely even addressed. So I like that Kingsbury inserted so much faith into this novel. It wasn’t preachy, but it was simple, solid, back to the basics faith.

While the story did seem to become clinical in some parts and felt more that the authors were reciting from a training manual than actually writing a fiction novel, it was still a very well-written book. It followed Kari’s journey of fighting for her marriage and holding tight to God even when she didn’t understand what was happening. And it followed the story of a man who has hit rock bottom, who strayed so far from the faith that was so true to him that he became a person he barely recognized.

It’s the story of redemption, and how God can take a situation that seems so heartbreaking and use it for good.

What are your thoughts on the phrase: Love is a decision?

Categories: Books

Book Review: The Shelter of God’s Promises by Sheila Walsh

Title: The Shelter of God’s Promises 
Author: Sheila Walsh
Genre: Christian Non-Fiction
Year: 2011
Acquired: Through Booksneeze, in exchange for a fair review
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
***

From Goodreads:
In a world of uncertainty, pain, and struggle, where do you find solid assurance and unshakeable truth?

Gifted Bible teacher and inspiring Women of Faith speaker Sheila Walsh offers powerful, heart-filled teaching on ten bedrock promises of God, providing the foundation for daily confidence, joy, and hope.

In The Shelter of God’s Promises, Sheila searches Scripture for what God has promised us, what God’s promises mean, and how encounters with Christ are the eternal fulfillment of His unrelenting commitment to us. In this riveting walk through some of the Bible’s most compelling stories, Walsh unveils ten foundational promises of God that secure our lives during even the most difficult times. Sheila weaves her hallmark storytelling, inspiring personal experience, and Scripture to help readers gain a trust in God that will sustain them for a lifetime.

My Review:

I chose to review this book because my faith lately has been very stagnant. I still believe and I’m still attending church, but that’s about it. I don’t open my Bible regularly and only think of praying when I need something, so then I feel bad about only going to God when I need him to do something for me that I just have cut off all communication between the two of us. I want that fire back. I want to remember why I believe. This book, by one of my favorite women of God, had an intriguing title that I thought was worth checking out.

Throughout the entire book, Walsh weaves in stories from her own life and stories from the days when Jesus walked the earth to paint a picture of God’s promises. What He promises. Why He promises. And how He is bringing those problems to fruition, even when we feel like He’s working against us. A lot of the book centered upon the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do we have to struggle so much? It’s a question that I ask again and again, especially as it relates to everything that’s been heaped upon my grandparent’s plates lately. They are two of the Godliest people I know, who never seem to falter in their faith…yet God is bringing them through some major valleys.

The answers lie in God’s promises. He never promised us we would have an easy life. It reminds me of a song by Britt Nicole where she sings: “You never said this road would be easy, but You said that You would never leave. And You never promised that this life wasn’t hard, but You promised to take care of me.” So incredibly true. God knows of our troubles, He already has a plan to take care of them. This isn’t something He is ever surprised by. He is always working to create good out of our troubles. And we have hope, incredible, lasting hope, that He will see us through our bad times and be there to walk us through those easy times, as well.

If you’re struggling with your faith, struggling as to why you believe or why you’re dealing with such hardship, pick up this book. It will show you why.

And, in closing, I want to share my favorite quote from the book:

“Jesus doesn’t give us what we believe we need. He gives us what He knows we need, and He gives it out of love for us, deep, undeniable love.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am diclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising“.

Categories: Books

Book Review: You Don’t Love This Man by Dan DeWeese

Title: You Don’t Love This Man
Author: Dan DeWeese
Genre: Fiction
Year: 2011
Acquired: Through TLC Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

  *I stole this above idea from Kathleen’s blog.

From Goodreads:
A novel about fatherhood, marriage . . . and bank robbery.
On the morning of his daughter Miranda’s wedding, Paul learns that the bank he manages has been robbed—apparently by the same man who robbed it twenty-five years before. As if that weren’t enough, Miranda, who is set to marry Paul’s former best friend—a man twice her age—seems to have gone missing.

Struggling to reconcile his little girl with the grown woman he’s about to walk down the aisle (if he can find her), to accept his onetime peer as his future son-in-law, and to comprehend the strange coincidence of being robbed by the same man two decades apart, Paul takes stock of everything leading up to this moment—as he attempts to navigate the day’s many surprises while questioning the motives and choices of those around him.

My review:

I’ll admit, it took me a while to get into this book. I don’t read too many books from a male character’s point of view and it was hard to connect to Paul at first. He seemed a little self-centered and self-righteous, especially in dealing with his female co-workers. Gradually, as the story progressed, I began to absolutely fall in love with every part of this book. I grew to love Paul’s character, as a father who just wants what’s best for his daughter. He’s stuck in a cycle of mediocrity, divorced with an adult child and a lackluster career. As the book follows him through this day of dealing with a bank robbery and trying to find his daughter, he begins to reflect on how he got here — from his career to his divorced status to befriending this guy his daughter is now marrying.

As I got used to the writing style and the dynamics between present-day and the past, I couldn’t put this book down. There was a powerful message hidden beneath the cover. While it was hard to relate to some aspects as I’m younger and female, there was an underlying message of life. It is what you make of it and past experiences can shape your tomorrow. It’s cliché, but it’s also incredibly true. Paul is discovering how silent he has been throughout his life and this is the first time he’s really stood up for what he believes in and wants.
I would recommend this book for anyone in search of a great book that stretches the bounds of regular fiction. It’s a book for someone searching to read something with a bigger, deeper meaning. For me, being 23 and on the verge of graduating from college and really beginning my adult life, it was a different perspective and view on things. It’s a book about fatherhood, it’s a book about life, and it’s a book about acknowledging the choices we’ve made and moving on from them.

Categories: Books

Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck

Dining with Joy was about cooking show host Joy Ballard who can’t cook. She inherited her show from her father and her executive producer knew about her lack of cooking abilities, as well as a lot of the staff. The producer then sells the show to Allison Wild, who believes she can make Joy an even bigger star. Only problem? She doesn’t know Joy can’t cook. Enter Luke Redmond. Successful chef, owner of a failed Manhattan restaurant. During one failed live cook-off, Luke steps in to help her and saves the day. They begin working together. While Luke is a master at cooking, he is terrible on screen. (Joy is the opposite.) He soon finds out about Joy’s lack of cooking ability and proceeds to help her learn, keeping her secret. But sooner or later, the cat has to come out of the bag, right?

This was a sweet love story, with Christian themes. The main character was strong and someone I could identify with. Joy had a hard time trusting people, especially men. She had a hard time defining her worth, especially as she is a fraud in the foodie world. She doesn’t exactly know what she wants out of life, but wants to make her father proud, since she never seemed to connect with him while he was alive. There was something about Joy I deeply connected with, and was just rooting for her to take a chance on love. And Luke. Oh, Luke is one of the good guys. Another strong character with his own hang-ups, but someone who strives every day to make something more out of his life. I was incredibly sad when I finished this book because these two characters wouldn’t be a part of my life anymore.

This book is centered around Christian themes, such as what God has called you to do. But deep down, it is a love story. It’s one of those sweet love stories that makes you fall back in love with the process of falling in love. Character development is strong, as well as plot. While it wasn’t a book I couldn’t put down, it was one of those that sucked me right back in when I started reading it again. Rachel Hauck is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. A part of me wishes there was a sequel, just so I could get a taste of Joy and Luke again.

Has there ever been a main character that you closely identified with?