Chick-Lite Director Moves to Chick-Lite Book
350231
Nora Ephron, one of my favorite screenwriters and director of "chick flicks", now quickly describes her experiences with growing old, both good and bad.  This is a quick autobiographical read written in short story form that my wife assured me I would not like.  But even a male can enjoy this.  It's not deep and it is a very short quick read covering stories of living in LA and New York while raising kids, divorcing, and mainly getting old.  Not deep, but mildly entertaining.
3786720
This book is a light read and it can be finished in half a day by a slow reader, but it is a worthwhile read for those who can relate to the 80s and 90s home video phenomenon.  It begins with a terrific introduction by Tom Rostin who gives an overview of the history and significance of home video, especially VHS tapes.  It ends with a reprint of a NY Times article on the closing of Kim's Video store in Manhattan.  The bulk of the book are transcripts (with editing) of several conversations with filmmakers and film executives who recount how the home video business in the 80s and 90s changed their lives.  The topics discussed range from anecdotal experiences of being a video store clerk (Kevin Smith confesses to using the porn section to "pleasure himself"), how the video business helped the indie film movement, how the advent of Netflix and streaming killed off the video rental business, to almost existential opinionations of what video stores (and their demise) meant to the public.  Participants include Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, Larry Estes, Allison Anders, Janet Pierson, Luc Besson, Darren Aronofsky, and several others.  A few black-and-white photos of the participants are also included in the book.

With that many people, we get a wide variety of viewpoints, but unfortunately not too many exchanges nor back-and-forths.  Due to the transcript format, opinions are given out in bits and pieces.  Kevin Smith is the only one who is given a whole chapter where only he gives his opinions.  I wish every participant would have the floor the same way he did.  As in every conversation, some speakers always dominate more than others, and the same is true here.  I barely got any output from Luc Besson (who speaks maybe 2-3 times in the whole book), whereas Kevin Smith opines on nearly everything, and he has his own chapter.

Some of the participants are fairly passionate about their views.  When Tarantino talks about how Netflix makes it unnecessarily to go to a video store, he says incredulously, "And that's progress?  Progress is not leaving your home?  I like eating at home too, but once in a while I like going to a restaurant too."  Such passion makes me want to see how the actual interview went down.  I surely wish the interviewer recorded the whole thing on video and/or audio.  Playing it back would be like watching "My Dinner with Andre".  Great conversations need to be read AND watched.
3289451
I don't like a lot of Christian chick lit.  The heroines are usually preachy and self-righteous -- and not a lot of fun to be around, even for 250 pages.  But I get tired of the also-unlikeable, amoral characters in secular chick lit, who have nothing better to do than sleep with their bosses and buy a pair of shoes the cost of which would feed a family in Africa for a year.

The Cubicle Next Door should be required reading for anyone considering writing Christian or non-Christian chick lit.

This book had it all.  A charming heroine.  A great cast of characters and a delightful second love story.  A love interest who is worth the angst.  Lots of uh-ohs, laughter, roller coasters of ups and downs.  A soft, but powerful, message of faith.  And Siri L. Mitchell's writing style had just the right touch for this story.

While some moments were unbelievable (come on...a blog that gets and keeps national TV coverage?  A 30-something girl that looks like Audrey Hepburn who's never been kissed? Puh-lease!), I really enjoyed this book in its entirety.  I'll look forward to reading more of Mitchell's books.
3653865
"Goin' Home" was recently revised and expanded by author Gregory Boothroyd with the assistance of his wife Lori Boothroyd. The new title is "Going Home: A Postive Emotional Guide to Promoting Life Generating Behaviors".

While retaining the simplicity, clarity and humor of the first book, Going Home adds much needed direction in the areas of relational defeating behaviors, substance abuse and psychic gardening, while also integrating the emerging fields of positive psychology and personal coaching.
453968
I very much enjoyed finding this book in the bookstore a few days ago, and then reading it yesterday morning. It was an easy read, and it was jam packed full of information. It is really three books in one. The first book is the story of Maxine Clark, a short round energetic woman originally from Florida who went to the University of Georgia majoring in journalism. When she graduated she started a career in retail that she continues at today. And what a career! She now makes St. Louis her home with her husband who is also an entrepreneur. She has no children, but her business is basically kids. I think she can be a great role model for many women out there.

The second book is a PR plug for her company: Build-A-Bear Workshop. I had never heard of it before I picked up this book. But while I was at one of my local Malls yesterday (Quakerbridge in Lawrence, NJ) I noticed in the mall directory one of her franchised stores exists there. Naturally I visited the store and the book had greater meaning to me at once. The company was started in 1997 probably as an LLC. And I suspect in 2000 when it was converted to a corporation that is when it did its initial IPO. But that is just a guess. The philosophy behind the company seems to me to be a mix of Starbucks Coffee Shops and the Disney Retail Stores. Quite a combination, and it is proving to be a successful approach to entertainment retail in Mall environments.

The third book is a words-of-wisdom tome on how to vision, plan, implement, and work a business from scratch. It talks about the importance of reinventing traditional products or services from the ground up and then put your own unique spin on them. The author says she sells a brand experience, not a product. But she does move products - and lots of them. She also says that planning and self-reflection are the key to creating a business. And she says she took almost a year to research and write her masterpiece of a business plan she used to start Build-A-Bear Workshops.

The overall book is divided into seven parts:

1. Getting Started
2. Being a Great Boss
3. Connecting with Your Customers
4. Creating an Incredible Experience
5. Using Essential Marketing Strategies
6. Growing Your Business
7. Giving Back

My favorite part of the book was the first: Getting Started. Part 3 was pretty good. And I very much liked parts 5 and 6. I thought at page 64 "marketing tools and strategies" should have been included in the list there. But all in all this is a wonderful book and an important addition to what is available for entrepreneurs to read and study when thinking about getting involved in starting their own business. 5 stars!
3756936
This is a "chick" book, but I really liked it.  Funny and smart.
60616
If you like this book you will LOVE the youtube video entitled "Karen Straughan - Feminism: Socialism in Panties." I wish KS would right a book!
3505153
unfortunately, nora ephron died or this would have been the perfect film for her to direct. i lead with this because i think this would make a terrific movie,  there is the problem of showing text messaging in a non boring way but i am sure it can be done.  it sure ws done well on the page here for that is how these two meet. poppy loses both her engagement ring and her phone on the night of her hen party.  she finds a mobile phone in a trash can and it belongs to sam, a business exec whose PA just quit by throwing the phone there, with that we are offmand running, the fiancee and his family are also great pleasures in this book as they are intellectual snobs.  there is a scrabble game with the in-laws which shoukd become scrabble lore with those of us who play it a lot.

the great thing about this author is this is her chick lit pseudonym.  if you tire of her chick lit and want her more serious work, it is published under her real name, madeline wickham,  she truly offers something for all women readers.

Visit my blog with link given on my profile page here or use this phonetically given URL (livingasseniors dot blogspot dot com). Friday's entry will always be weekend entertainment recs from my 5 star Amazon reviews in film, tv, books and music. These are very heavy on buried treasures and hidden gems. My blogspot is published on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
3647317
I have to admit I don't know anything about "chick lit", but I bought this book after reading the author's web page for years and wanting to see the final result of her work.  Carrie Pilby turned out to be a good story built on a premise of this 19-year-old woman living a life alone in New York, a city of millions - that sounds impossible, but it happens more than you'd think in this fast-paced world.  There's a lot of sarcastic or ironic humor among the descriptive view of Carrie's life and how she observes those around her from the unique perspective of someone who graduated college early and spent most of her life away from the mainstream.  What I liked most of all about the book was the plot, and how her psychiatrist had her put together a set of goals that eventually pull us through the book, setting up the different threads within.  That made it a real page-turner for me.  Like I said, I don't know much about chick lit and I don't know if this book is indicative of others in the genre, but I suspect that it's ahead of the pack and I personally found it a good read and worth checking out.
2055366
"Chick lit" has become a generic term for light fiction for young women. But what about guys? Kyle Smith presents the flip side of chick-lit, a light relationship-based book for guys called "Love Monkey." It's funny, light and sometimes quite sweet.
Average guy Tom is in his early thirties, lives in New York, has a rather pitiful rewriting job at Tabloid, enough money to live cushily, and a LOT of ex-girlfriends. He is a "manboy" who lives an essentially lonely existance despite the women who surround him, including platonic-but-might-become-more-pal Bran (and one particular male friend, a playboy called Shooter who dispenses love life advice).
Then... Tom goes out with Julia, a pretty feminine young woman whom he has silently longed for for months. Unfortunately, the following little dance-of-dates just frustrates Tom further, as he starts to clue in what kind of girl Julia really is (here's a hint -- she has a boyfriend already). But a sudden disaster might force Tom to change for real...
The basic mold of "Love Monkey" is shared with Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" -- dissatisfying lives for thirtysomething males, who reflect on their failed relationships and vaguely problematic lives. Hey, Smith even mentions "High Fidelity" early on. The big difference between these two is the tone of the novel -- "Love Monkey" is a bit less sardonic, more comedic.
Smith does a good job of balancing out contradictions in a modern guy's life -- how to be real, and how to be the kind of guy that women say they like. He does a good job of taking a tangle of sex, pop culture, romance, questions about maturity (grow UP already!), and just what the heck it is Tom wants from his life. Most of the time he himself (Tom, not Smith) seems pretty confused about it.
Smith has a certain knack for snappy dialogue and genuinely funny comedic scenarios that will make you giggle and cringe at once. Tom takes awhile to grow on you, but he seems like a nice guy once you read on (much, I suspect, like his real-life counterparts). The supporting characters are all pretty sizzly; Shooter is an especially delicious character.
"Love Monkey" is the flip side of chick lit, relationship fiction about young men and their love lives and careers. Amusing light study of the modern male.
4466817
It was pretty good for a chick-lit book. It was certainly good enough to keep me reading. Would like to read more by this author.
3924062
I'm a huge Chick Lit reader and was lucky enough to read an advance copy of "Save as Draft."  What a fun read!  The book is totally written in the media we all use on a daily basis to tell our own stories: texts, emails, facebook status updates, tweets and internet dating profiles.  As you read, it's almost as if you are one of Izzy's friends, following her travails by email and text as she juggles two love interests with a demanding job as an attorney.  The reader can totally identify with her kooky group of friends as they chime in with their individual opinions regarding work, love and life.

Each chapter ends with a teaser that forces you to keep reading, until you find yourself giggling your way to the end of the book.  I highly recommend.

Oh, and the cover is way cool!
4380176
"Make your own damn movie" was a very funny, entertaining book with lots of background information and insider secrets, this follow-up "Direct your own damn movie" is not as half as good as the first one.

What I really liked about this book were the interviews with legendary Cult Movie directors like William Lustig (Maniac Cop-Trillogy), Eli Roth (Hostel), Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) or a young first-time filmmaker and Ron Jeremy tells us how to make an "adult movie".

Lloyd Kaufman gives us here an advice like "Shoot in sequence" which isn't always possible especially if you have a name actor in your movie you can only pay for one day. Forget that.

I like his sense of humor but from a book about Directing I would expect a little bit more.

For Fans of Kaufman this book is a must but to be honest: You will learn much more about Filmmaking from Robert Rodriguez book "Rebel without a Crew" and his "Ten-minute-Filmschools" and audiocomentaries on his DVDs.
390015
A fun read that takes you inside the world of the Hollywood/Indie film making industries, and a source for cinematic techniques and fortifying one's director's skills...Also it's less than $15.
2044219
This is more of a "I Am Women Hear Me Roar" book (not saying there's anything wrong with that), but the romance/main love story is pretty lacking...Here's a little praise to the pepe's in the marketing department and the author; they did do an awesome job with the cover and the title... the story is by all means as cute as the cover. So overall it's a fairly good Chick Lit book and fast read.
3216443
Lucy is a 20-something living in NY City and working at a low-paying job at a boutique PR firm. After her long-time boyfriend dumps her, she moves into a small apartment with her two best girlfriends from college. Nat is an independently wealthy, gorgeous model who has sex with a different guy every night. Mel is an 80-hour-per-week management consultant who is engaged to the VP of a software company but  engages in drunken make-out sessions with strangers she meets while bar hopping with Lucy and Nat. Lucy's dating disasters are legion, and she is just about to give up on dating in NYC entirely when she meets the man of her dreams. Too bad he's a real devil.

Readers who enjoy zany, paranormal chick lit will be delighted with this book. A staple of chick lit is dating disasters in NYC, but adding a supernatural element to it allows the story to go into wildly unconventional arenas for comedy. Lucy has an endearing naivete that makes it believable that she could desire a relationship with a good-looking man who is attentive in and outside of bed to such a degree that she allows herself to risk eternal consequences to achieve it.

Fans of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Infernal-Affairs/dp/B008EYG5M6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Infernal Affairs</a>&nbsp;by Jane Heller and the&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Demon-Princess/dp/B003RRXXN4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Demon Princess</a>&nbsp;series by Michelle Rowen will especially enjoy this book.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Chick Lit Plot: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Overall: 4 stars
4071926
Star Wood Leigh is the star of this biography/novel.  Star and her life are based, to some extent, on Pamela.  By taking this approach, Pamela can take parts of her life and experiences and spice them up with some fiction and a plot.  Does it work?  Well, that really needs to be left up to the reader.

The revealing cover with its strategically placed stars will appeal to a certain segment of the population.  The fact that the cover is two-sided and can be reversed to reveal a star-free version tells you where this book is aimed.  Although sometimes compared to chick-lit, real chick-lit would not pull such a stunt.

If you are a Pamela Anderson fan you will surely enjoy the book and you will probably substitute Pamela's name for Star's as you read it.  While not for everyone, this is bound to be a big seller.