After days of 'saving' with nothing to show for it, Becky is stressed and unhappy. You know what they say - old habits die hard. However, executing that plan proves to be more challenging than Becky anticipated. Me reading the Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella Plot With banknote after banknote piling up, this shopaholic is in some serious trouble. I mean, come on, what's a girl to do when you have so many trendy stores at a stone's throw away from your downtown flat. It also doesn't help that Becky lives a short commute away from all her shopping needs. Although Becky has a steady job writing for a magazine called Successful Savings (trust me, the irony is not lost on me), the work is nothing short of boring and doesn't pay well. Everything in her life is constant - her friends, her job, and her crippling debt. Rebecca Bloomwood is just an average girl living in London. She is smart and intelligent but her weakness leads her into trouble now and again. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella is a story of an idealistic woman who loves shopping.
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In Get Out of Your Head, a six-session video-based Bible study, Jennie inspires and equips us to transform our emotions, our outlook, and even our circumstances by taking control of our thoughts. Freedom comes when we refuse to be victims to our thoughts and realise we have already been equipped with power from God to fight and win the war for our minds. However, Jennie also knows that we do not have to stay stuck in toxic thinking patterns.Īs she discovered in her own life, God built a way for us to escape that downward spiral. "Other people have better lives than I do". Are your thoughts holding you captive? Jennie Allen knows what it is like to swirl in a spiral of destructive thoughts, such as: "I'll never be good enough". His writings and work against fascism, as well as the promotion of socialism, brought him into increasing doubts with and opposition to religion. Despite a strong and lasting second marriage his affairs with other women also brought the complications of fathering other children. Wells also received four nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His short stories are miniature masterpieces many of which bring new and incredible ideas of science fiction to the edge of present day science fact. Able to write comfortably in a number of genres he was especially applauded for his science fiction works such as The Time Machine and War of the Worlds but his forays into the social conditions of the times, with classics such as Kipps, were almost as commercially successful. From these humble beginnings began a career that was, after several delays, to be seen as one of the most brilliant of modern English writers. Through these Wells found he could escape the boredom and misery of his bed and convalescence by exploring the new worlds he encountered in these books. The first few years of his childhood were spent fairly quietly, and Wells didn’t display much literary interest until, in 1874, he accidentally broke his leg and was left to recover in bed, largely entertained by the library books his father regularly brought him. He was the youngest of four siblings and his family affectionately knew him as ‘Bertie’. Herbert George Wells was born on September 21st, 1866 at Atlas House, 46 High Street, Bromley, Kent. Who needs guns, when like Sam, you possess a broad range of powers, including regeneration, transformation and the ability to manipulate energy? However, she has to be very, very careful about their use, because her kind is not supposed to be prowling the Earth at all. Why? Largely because it’s more fun up here. For Samantha Martin is an imp: a demon who has chosen to spend a chunk of her substantial life-span (measured in centuries) among us mortals, rather than in the underworld. While such false advertising would normally be a sore point, in this particular case, we’ll give them a pass – since the reason she doesn’t, is because she is simply too bad-ass to need one. At no point do I recall the heroine ever wielding a gun. While the cover image is certainly striking, I should mention that it is inaccurate in one significant point. The chapters follow 12 months in which the United States gradually collapses as unrestricted pollution wipes out the water and food supply. No more heroesĮxperimental in style, bleak in outlook, the novel is short on heroes and villains. A British author, Brunner was one of a handful of writers who were early advocates of environmental activism. This is the dark vision in the 50-year-old dystopian novel, The Sheep Look Up, by John Brunner. This is not a bad dream version of recent climate change headlines. A disillusioned academic tries in vain to bring about change, while his followers block roads and resort to terrorism. A celebrity president peddles misinformation in tweet-like slogans. Only the wealthiest can afford quality organic food, while the poor subsist on lab-produced junk (with added tranquilisers). Mass extinctions have finished off most birds and fish. Declining life expectancy and human fertility. A pandemic of antibiotic-resistant diseases. Forty years on, the book seems more relevant now with even “democratically” elected populist leaders like Trump using “alternative facts” and “fake news” to achieve their ends, while the Chinese Communist Party “moulds model citizens” by means of technical surveillance combined with a system of rewards and punishments, reminiscent of the telescreens used to indoctrinate and spy on the inhabitants of Airstrip 1 in “1984”.ĭorian Lynskey makes us aware of the many writers engaged from the late c19 century in attempts to imagine the future, notably H.G.Wells with his “social fantasies”, and the Russian Zamyatin with a ringside view of tyranny, author of “We”. In the year 1984, the long-deceased author was criticised for failing to foresee how technical advances would benefit ordinary people, and being unduly pessimistic about the threat of political leaders crushing freedom. This very readable and informative biography of George Orwell focuses on his adult life, culminating in his last novel, “ Nineteen Eighty-four” ( referred to here as“1984”). No doubt because growing up, watching movies with her mom, she was taught that the best movies "won't half make you cry." Lorraine Heath has always had a soft spot for emotional love stories. Waking Up With the Duke-Perfect for Lisa Kleypas and Liz Carlyle fans, Waking Up With the Duke transports readers back to Victorian England, where a dangerous passion is born when a handsome rogue nobleman is approached with a most unusual request…Īlso writes Young Adult under Rachel Hawthorne, Jade Parker, and with her son as J.A. In Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman, the black sheep second son back from war is confronted by a beautiful angel of mercy with a baby in her arms. Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman-Victorian England is the setting for this captivating historical romance, as the rakish sons of a scandalous Dowager Duchess find passion, pleasure, and, ultimately, love. Passions of a Wicked Earl-The first romantic adventure involving the titled and rakish sons of a scandalous Dowager Duchess and their tales of passion, pleasure, and love, Passions of a Wicked Earl concerns the innocent and unfairly disgraced young wife of the first brother and her brazen attempts to win back the dashing rogue's heart…by any means necessary. From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lorraine Heath comes three tales of passion, pleasure, and love. That poem is supposed to contain allegorical clues that will lead them to a solution for taking down the Red and White Dragons without killing Anyan in the process. 47) Then, the Universe teleports Jane to a Buddhist monk (who may be the Buddha himself), and the monk, in turn, refers them to an ancient Greek poem written by Theophrastus about alchemy. I am everything.forces must be balanced.Power must be aligned, or all will fall." (p. The Universe introduces itself like this: "I am all, my child. Now, in this book, we have the anthropomorphic Universe pontificating through the voice of Jane's human friend, Grizzie. Īs the author sets Jane up to save her lover from his inside-the-dragon fate, she adds yet another deus ex machina to the story line. The first external plot device was the Creature - the all-powerful magical being from book 5 who now speaks to Jane in her head and lends her his considerable powers when she needs them. When she finally regains consciousness, she and Ryu (who is now a platonic friend) head back home to Rockabill to gather together Jane's friends and allies and come up with a plan to get Anyan back. As the book begins, Jane is in a grief-fueled catatonic state after Blondie's death and Anyan's disappearance into the White Dragon. Final books are always problematic for authors and readers alike, and this one is no exception. Not only do we read about the love he develops for Babe, we learn more about his relationship with her husband, William Paley. The Swans of Fifth Avenue recalls the life of Truman Capote after joining this aristocratic circle. Therefore, when Truman Capote decided that he wanted to become part of this beautiful group there was little resistance. Harvey Cushing, Babe was born into this picture-perfect world of high society whilst others were less fortunate but worked hard in order to become part of this elite club. Alongside Babe, you would always find Slim Hayward, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli and Pamela Churchill, all well-known for marrying the wealthiest men in the city.ĭaughter of world renowned Surgeon, Dr. She would later become Capote’s closest ally and best friend. 20).Īt the head of this group was Barbara ‘Babe’ Paley, Style Icon loved by Fashion Designers the world over, so much so that she was added into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame in 1958. Le Pavillon was “where the owner, Henri Soulé, displayed his society ladies like the objets of fine art that they were…” (pg. Often found at Le Pavillon, everyone wanted to part of this well-heeled gaggle of women. These wives soon became known as his Swans. For him, the only way a homosexual artist would ever be accepted by the wealthy flock, the giants of New York City, he had to first be accepted by their wives. He’s the only person who actually notices that there are bees living in her hair. Birch is a bird-watcher, the son of naturalists, and a solid, straightforward kind of kid, who sees and faces things head-on - luckily for Zinnia. Which naturally arouses the curiosity of visiting, plaid-wearing Birch, nephew of her next-door neighbor. So, Zinnia does the only thing she can think of - puts on a sweatshirt and covers her hair with a hood. And nothing she does gets them to move out. Yes, the bees find a new home in Zinnia’s abundant, wildly curly locks. Little does Zinnia know that there is an industrial rental hive of escaped honeybees looking for a new home in order to live as free bees and pollinators as nature meant them to be. Seeking comfort, Zinnia buys herself a cone of her favorite ice-cream, which melts, falls out of the cone onto a table, and gets in her hair when she puts her head down for a good cry. Her rather cold dentist/community activist mom doesn’t seem to care, replacing Adam with a sickly little dog. At home, she discovers that, Adam, 18, her beloved brother, a talented magician and sometimes prankster-in-crime has left home, leaving no note or explanation. First, she must spend the day sitting in the principal's office for yarn-bombing the school mascot. The last day of seventh grade couldn’t be worse for Zinnia Flossdrop. |