Recent Reads #2

If you guys didn't know already, I fell in love with reading in 2018. I really did make it a goal of mine to start reading every night before bed and pretty quickly I became obsessed with reading...so much so that I would finish a new book every few days.

I didn't read much when I was home in Texas in May because I was too busy binge watching "The O.C." at night (ha!) and I didn't read too much when I first got to Milan because I was so busy. But with all of the traveling I started to do I ended up finishing all 3 f the books I brought with me in just a couple of weeks! Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any book stores in Milan that sell books in English so my sweet mama is bringing me one so that I can be entertained throughout all the planes and trains we will be taking over the next two weeks.

You Are a Badass

Summary: In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bitesized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises and the occasional swear word, helping you to: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want: create a life you totally love. And create it NOW. Make some damn money already. The kind you've never made before.
By the end of You Are a Badass, you'll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can't change what you don't love and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

My Opinion: I think that the summary sounds a lot better than the actual book. I found it be kind of boring and the tips to be so so. All in all I think it was just OK. It took me forever to finish because I didn't look forward to reading it. It was just super boring and didn't motivate me in the slightest.

Would I Recommend: Maybe. If you are wanting to read the book simply to see what all the hype was about (which is why I read it) then give it a shot and see if you like it. If you're reading it for self help purposes, I'm sure that there are better books out there.

The Wedding Date 

Summary: Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.
On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend.....
After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...
They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century -- or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want...

My Opinion:  This type of plot is right up my alley because you know its going to be an amazing love story. It also began with saying how Alexa had a bottle of Veuve in her bag, so I knew she had her sh*t together. Overall this book is seriously amazing and is for sure in my top 5 of all time. The whole book is written to where you truly feel like you are right next to them, experiencing their relationship with them, which is hard to find.

Would I Recommend: YES YES YES!!! Either order this right now or go to your closest book store and purchase it. It is that good.

The Knockoff 

Summary: As editor in chief of Glossy magazine, Imogen Tate is queen of the fashion world...until Eve, her conniving twenty-something former assistant, returns from business school with plans to knock Imogen off her pedestal, take over her job and re-launch Glossy as an app.

Suddenly, the Loubutin is on the the other foot; Imogen may have Alexander Wang and Diane von Furstenberg on speed dial, but she doesn't know Facebook from Foursquare and once got her phone stuck in Japanese for three days. But Imogen will do anything to reclaim her kingdom - even if it means channeling her inner millennial and going head to head with a social media monster.

My Opinion:  You guys know by now that I am a fashion retail student so books like this tend to intrigue me. However, I couldn't help but think throughout this entire book how unrealistic this was. The way that Eve treated Imogen, the staff and clients wouldn't be tolerated for one second in the fashion industry. So with that being said, I was constantly wanting more from the characters and I kept waiting for Imogen to tell Eve to go f*ck herself.

Would I Recommend: No - I feel like it's just too unrealistic and too slow.

Behind Closed Doors

Summary: Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. He's a dedicated attorney who has never lost a case; she is a flawless homemaker, a masterful gardener and cook, and dotes on her disabled younger sister. Though they are still newlyweds, they seem to have it all. You might not want to like them, but you do. You're hopelessly charmed by the ease and comfort of their home, by the graciousness of the dinner parties they throw. You'd like to get to know Grace better. But it's difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love. Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn't work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen. Or why there are such high security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder whats really going on once the dinner party is over and the front door has closed.

My Opinion: This book is different than any other book I've ever read because I normally go for romance novels. I can't remember where I heard about this but when I read the plot I knew I had to give it a read! I seriously loved this book and couldn't put it down. It kept you guessing until the last page and it messed with my head throughout the entire book!

Would I Recommend: Yes! I absolutely loved the plot and the way it was written! Each chapter flips between past and present until it all catches up at the end. Even though you can kind of predict the end, you don't know how it's going too get there which I loved.

 Lean In

Summary: In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg reignited the conversation around women in the workplace. 

Sandberg is chief operating officer of Facebook and coauthor of Option B with Adam Grant. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TED talk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their career. Her talk, which has been viewed more than six million times, encouraged women to "sit at the table", seek challenges, take risks and pursue their goals with gutso. 

Lean In Continued that conversation, combining personal adecdotes, hard data and compelling research to change the conversatinfrom what wmen can't do to what they can. Sandberg provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship and building a satisfying career. She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment, and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women bth in the workplace and at home.

Written with humor and wisdom, Lean In is a revelatory, inspiring call to action and blueprint for individual growth that will empower women around the world to achieve their full potential.

My Opinion: I was shocked at how much I genuinely loved this book. I thought that I would definitley learn from things that she talked about, but this book truly made me think about things differently. I also read it at a good time since I'll be applying for jobs this year (eek!) and I think that I will be looking out for things that Sheryl talked about in the book and make sure that I don't fall into the hole that so many women do, which is keeping to themselves and letting men run all over them.

Would I Recommend: 10000% yes! I think that all women need to read this, but men do too. It was educational and written to where you don't feel like you're getting lectured. I think that this will be a book I re-read each year as I get further into my career. 

If you guys have any book recommendations for me, I'd love to hear 'em! Send them my way by tweeting me @AbbeyFHagan with any suggestions.

Love from Milan,

Abbey