enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

book report.

Bookreport

Recently read :

The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. Chris is an online friend of mine and I was excited to take his newest book for a spin (I loved The Art of Non-Conformity when I read it a few years ago). This book is a collection of interesting case-studies, peppered with fantastic no-nonsense small business advice. It's exactly the sort of book I should have read in college. (Confession – I LOVED reading case studies in my business classes. Second confession – I would love to go back to college and take "entrepreneur" classes – but for no grades.)

Vanity Fair magazine. Not sure what's going on, but this magazine I have subscribed to for the past year is really nailing it right now. Love the long articles that take over an hour to read. That's how magazines should be. I want a magazine that helps me forget where I am. Recently I was fascinated with the article in the May issue about the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sunk and the long "Friends – 10 years later" oral history interview. (BTW – how has Friends been off the air for TEN YEARS?! oops! Just EIGHT YEARS. But still…) I am so looking forward to diving into the June issue (with Marilyn on the cover) this weekend.

Divergent & Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Books 1 and 2 of a young adult dystopian trilogy. (Think Hunger Games.) I read these on the recommendation of Kayla Aimee and totally fell through them. Super easy reads, but still well-written, interesting and action packed.

On deck :

Sunset magazine. Signing up for a subscription after paging through a few issues.

Happiness for Two by Alexandra Stoddard. I picked this up at Anthropolgie and was intrigued. I will absolutely share how it goes.

The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. Ordered this one on the recommendation of Ali Edwards. It appears I am in a self-help/creative learning mode at the moment.

Any suggestions for fun fiction books I should check out? I've heard great things about the Art of Fielding…

Other posts you might enjoy: 

 

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78 responses to “book report.”

  1. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Adored that series, will have to check out the other one!

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  2. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Love David Sedaris. 🙂

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  3. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    fantastic! Thanks! 🙂

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  4. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    thanks so much for the suggestions! Loved HG.

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  5. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Oh HP. I wish I could reread them for the first time. 🙂 Born to Run is AWESOME.

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  6. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    fun! I’ll check them out.

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  7. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Don’t think I have read anything by Kingsolver, but very much want too.

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  8. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Totally agree that Tris and Four are better than Katniss and Peeta. I read GG in high school, but don’t remember too much of it, I admit. 🙂

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  9. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    fun! Will check it out.

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  10. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    enjoying it so much already…

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  11. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Loved (well was so intrigued) by Room. Never got that into the book thief, but I did finish it. Have Cutting for Stone and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on my list for sure.

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  12. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    thank you!

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  13. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    no – sounds cool!

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  14. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    Thanks for the book reviews! I was particularly interested in the “$100 Start Up” by Chris Guillebeau. I clicked through to Amazon to add it to my wish list and saw the book was reviewed and he was interviewed by Gretchen Rubin. I happen to be in the middle of her book “The Happiness Project” and thought it was an interesting coincidence and ended up ordering the book right away.

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  15. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    I also really really loved fire & bitterblue from Kristin Cashore.
    Fire plays before, bitterblue after graceling.
    I’m rereading fire right now. ❤

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  16. liz Avatar
    liz

    I’d recommend “The Geography of Bliss.”
    It’s about one man’s “search for happiness.” He travels around the world going to the supposedly “happiest” and “unhappiest” countries. He’s a great writer, fast read, makes you really think about what it means to be happy.
    http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Bliss-Grumps-Happiest/dp/044669889X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337969079&sr=8-1

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  17. Elegantitus Avatar
    Elegantitus

    Bought the $100 Startup yesterday and it just arrived! Thanks for the rec!

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  18. royela Avatar
    royela

    I second Night Circus!

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  19. royela Avatar
    royela

    My husband read Cutting for Stone on vacation last month. He said it was long but really enjoyed it. This is coming from a man that almost exclusively reads nonfiction.

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  20. kristen Avatar
    kristen

    I loved delirium & pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. it’s a series along the lines of the divergent & hunger games trilogies. totally sucks you in. I also agree with other commenters about the graceling series by Kristin Cashore. good stuff. and one more quick read is under the never sky by Veronica Rossi. enjoy your vacation!

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  21. christen Avatar
    christen

    Cutting For Stone is one of my all time favorite books!

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  22. christen Avatar
    christen

    My two favorite books I’ve read so far this year are The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman and The Rules of Civility by Amor Towels. I also just read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and LOVED it. I didn’t want it to be over – I can’t believe I hadn’t ever read it before.

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  23. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I highly recommend The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz (the start of a series), The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (also the start of a series), and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty is also hilarious (as are the sequels). Finally, I had my mind blown by At Home by Bill Bryson – fascinating stuff (non-fiction).

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  24. christen Avatar
    christen

    i just thought of 11/22/63 by Stephen King too! I read it in the spring and loved it. I highly recommend it.

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  25. Kellyanne Revenaugh Avatar
    Kellyanne Revenaugh

    Just finished up $100 Startup today after your recommendation! I went over to Chris’s site and found out he’ll be in Pasadena next week for the book tour–might have to make it out there to hear all of his good ideas live. 😉

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  26. Lindsey Trego Avatar
    Lindsey Trego

    I HIGHLY reccommend blackberrynovel.com
    It will take you about an hour to read. So worth it. You’ll find bits and pieces of yourself in each character.

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  27. Jess Avatar
    Jess

    Great recommendations! I’m reading Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine right now, which is really good. You might like it if you’re interested in learning more about why we’re creative!
    I recently met Chris Guillebeau at an event he held on tour for The $100 Startup. So excited to read this book (and to have finally met him)! I hope you enjoy it too.

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  28. Janice Hopkins Avatar
    Janice Hopkins

    I see the last post was 2012, so I’m guessing it’s not current – ha! I do want to suggest a new author, RB Hilliard. Her 1st book, The End Game, is the beginning of a trilogy. The characters slowly pull you in and I am now eagerly waiting for the second book. I have found myself enjoying the journey with some of the new authors and this one didn’t disappoint. I discovered Alexandra Stoddard in the 80’s and enjoyed her books enough to give them as gifts. They are a light, but enjoyable read filled with good information. I think the information would still be relevant. I’m going to check out Camilla Lackberg … loved the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series!

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