A to Z April: Y Reviews - The Year of Yes by Dahvana Headley/Yes Man by Danny Wallace

At first I only had one book I thought I could talk about, but then I went back and realized that one of the two I'm talking about today I read before I started this blog.  So I can share it.  And the common theme? Both actually have to do with saying "yes".

First is a memoir book that in a way is a chick lit type of story.  It's about a girl who was looking for her true love, and decided that for a year she would say yes to anyone who asked her out.  Whether they were creepy, not her type, etc.  That way she would be giving everyone a chance, and maybe she'd meet the right person that otherwise she might not have given a chance.  It was a very interesting read.  Not sure that I'm brave enough to try it to meet my Mr. Right, as I'm pretty socially awkward and introverted, and so the thought of going out with someone alone that makes me uncomfortable is just terror-inducing.  Here's the blurb from Goodreads:
"Why not go out on a date with everyone who asks you? Plenty of reasons. They might be crazy. They might be creepy. They might be something other than what you're looking for. But then again, how would you know? Isn't love supposed to be blind? Isn't it supposed to be about who the person really is, not about what they look like?"

The Year of Yes is an account of one woman's quest to find a man she can stand (for longer than a couple of hours). Frustrated by her own pitiful taste, writer Maria Headley decided to leave her love life up to fate, going out with everyone who asked her: homeless men, taxi drivers and yes, even a couple of women. Opening her heart and mind to the possibility that her perfect match might be the person she least expected, she spent twelve months dating most of New York City.

Second is a book, another memoir actually, about a man who decided to say "yes" to everything.  Part of it was for romance, but another part was just to meet more people.  Now they did make a movie from this, and there are some of the same things as in the book.  But honestly, some of the stuff he does in the book is way more hilarious, maybe because it is so real!  I had a good laugh as I read this book.  You should check it out as well.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Recently single, Danny Wallace was falling into loneliness and isolation. When a stranger on a bus advises, "Say yes more," Wallace vows to say yes to every offer, invitation, challenge, and chance.

In Yes Man, Wallace recounts his months-long commitment to complete openness with profound insight and humbling honesty. Saying yes takes Wallace into a new plane of existence: a place where money comes as easily as it goes, nodding a lot can lead to a long weekend overseas with new friends, and romance isn't as complicated as it seems. Yes eventually leads to the biggest question of all: "Do you, Danny Wallace, take this woman . . ."

Yes Man is inspiring proof that a little willingness can take anyone to the most wonderful of places.

Have you read either of these?  Have you seen the movie, Yes Man with Jim Carrey?  Do you think you could try the "yes" for a year in order to do something like this?  And don't forget, only one more day after today to enter my giveaway!

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Review: Romance is My Day Job: A Memoir of Finding Love at Last by Patience Bloom

First, many thanks to Dutton Publishing and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  As most of my followers know, I rarely request books other than YA books from Edelweiss or Netgalley, so I'm very, very glad that I was approved.  This book was perfect for me to read.  I have loved reading memoirs that I felt some kind of connection with the person in the past.  One year I read a ton of weight loss memoirs, and it really helped me as I was working on my own weight loss.  Not sure if this memoir will really help me to find love, but it did make me feel a little better about myself knowing there was someone out there who was almost exactly like me in how they dealt with the men/boys in their life.

Patience is the name of the woman the book is about, she starts her story off at boarding school, high school basically.  She seems to be about the same age as me, what with talking about Duran Duran and other things she was into during those years.  What really stood out to me and made me smile knowingly as I read this book, was how any interaction with any guy made her start thinking of him in her future.  What would their life be like, would they get married?  What would their married life be like?  I did all that, and still occasionally do when I get crushes on people.  She did this all throughout her life, up until a certain point, when she was about the age I am now.  I feel that I'm kind of moving to the direction of just realizing nothing will probably happen from meeting guys, just to let things go where they may, but I know that I'm not quite there.

She did a lot of online dating, while she lived in New York City, and while I didn't read anything that she had the same issues I have with even getting started with it, I will let her experience guide me in how I do or do not choose to participate in that.  I love that she has a job I would love to have, her final career, after teaching and being a secretary, was to work for Harlequin Romances, first reading the "slush" pile manuscripts, and then moving on and getting to have specific authors that she edited for each month or as they finished writing.  I was a teacher, and finally this year moved on to be a high school librarian.  Eventually I want to get back to the middle school level, but I'm almost positive this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.  I mean if there was any chance I could go work for a publisher like she does, I would be in heaven, but at my age, I think that's not a possibility.  Especially with living in Missouri.

I don't feel like I'm doing justice to the book with this review.  But there were so many things I just loved!  In fact, there was one quote at the beginning of a section from a Sex and the City episode that I had just watched earlier on the day I read that bit!!  Although she did get one thing wrong about the Sex and the City movie towards the end, it wasn't a peacock feather that Carrie wore to her wedding, it was a bird.  That's even a funny line from the movie!  This author sounds so much like me, and her love of authors, so much like me.  I hope that maybe one day I can meet Patience Bloom, maybe I can even get my novel, (if I ever get it finished), into her slush pile at Harlequin.  I wonder if she ever tried to publish the "Teacher's Pet" novel she wrote, and I wonder if this book was the NaNoWriMo novel that she talks about in the memoir.

I don't know what else to say, other than this was a memoir that probably many women my age can relate to.  As a single 41 year old woman, it also gave me hope that maybe my Prince Charming is still out there.  I can even think of one "popular" guy from my past that I would love to run into again.  Believe me, I've done the googling and Facebook looking, but his name is such a common one that I have yet to find him.  However I am now interested in looking once again.  When I first read about the Sam guy at the dance who came over and kind of rescued Patience in high school, it reminded me of one guy I went to high school with.  A great, sweet guy.  One who passed away probably 10 years ago from cancer.  It made me happy to read that there were probably many guys like that out there who could make a difference in other women's lives.

So now, must decide, while I've rejoined Match.com, unlike Patience, I haven't done anything other than the free site.  Should I pay in order to actually have a chance to meet someone?  This book leads me to think about it, even if it isn't what worked out in the end for Patience.  And also, I may end up buying this book, as I'd love to add it to my memoir shelf, as a book that I just love, and want to recommend and share with others.

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore Vol. 3.1 Part 2

Okay, part 2. I also realized I could do a part 3, as we had an upcoming catalog of YA title sitting in the breakroom at the bookstore where I work and I found 3 other books I wanted to read. But I'll post those another time. For today I'm going to just list the 4 books I saw actually sitting in the store the last two nights that I worked.
First is Lucy by Laurence Gonzales. Now, I think I've actually posted about this when it came out in hardcover, not sure. But I'm going to talk about it again just in case. It is now in paperback, and so I may have to buy it. Lucy is the story of what might happen if someone tried to breed an ape and a human. Lucy is a 14 year old daughter of a primatologist who has grown up only being around apes. She is rescued when her parent is killed in a civil war in the Congo and brought to Chicago to live. When they find out what she is, she must now prove that she has the right to continue to live her life as she has been. Sounds like a very intense book to me! And one that is right up my alley of what I like to read in adult fiction.



Second is Exes & Ohs: A Downtown Girl's (Mostly Awkward) Tales of Love, Lust, Revenge, and a Little Facebook Stalking by Shallon Lester. This is in the humor section of our store. It's a dating memoir of a person who has been a waitress, a gossip columnist, and an MTV reality tv star. Her stories include a new boyfriend finding a huge pile of Magnum condoms under her bed, getting caught stealing bacon at a grocery store, and being dumped two Valentine's Days in a row. I can't wait to read this one!






Third is My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me: And Other Stories I Shouldn't Share with Acquaintances, Co-workers, Taxi Drivers, Assistants, Job interviewers, Bikini ...And Ex/Current/Future Boyfriends But Have by Hilary Winston. Another hilarious sounding book to read about not being able to keep from saying things in work and the dating life. The author is a TV writer and things life is going well till she finds out an exboyfriend has written a novel about her where she is referred to as the fat-assed girlfriend. So she kind of strikes back with stories of her own.





And the fourth and final book I'm going to write about is This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel. I've never read any of Kenneth Oppel's books. But I've picked them up and read the blurbs before. This is the first that really caught my attention. I don't know that I've posted about it, but I already had it marked as to read on goodreads.com.








Again, tell me if you've read any of these so I know what to expect. I always like to see other people's views on books I'm going to read. Especially the awesome book bloggers that I follow!

Around the World in 80 Dates by Jennifer Cox

I've decided instead of numbering all of my book reviews, I'll just put the name in the title as I did with this. I don't always blog about all the books I read, partly because I reread books often, like the Twilight series, and Harry Potter whenever a new Harry Potter movie comes out.

Last year about this time I was reading all the weight loss memoirs I could get my hands on in my working on losing weight. Which I've not finished, but am still working on losing weight. I also have read dating/single life memoirs throughout the years as I've worked at Barnes and Noble and seen them in the store. This book happened to be in our clearance bins. While I promised myself I was not going to even look at those bins because I really don't need to buy anymore books, I looked, and am glad I did now. This book was really good. It made me wish I could travel around the world looking for love. It gave me an idea for the perfect job for my sister who loves to travel. And it also made me wish I had friends who would be willing to set me up with a guy in this same type of situation. Yet every guy people usually set me up with is overweight. And as I hate that trait in myself, and am working so hard to change it, I just can't see myself with someone who is overweight.

So, anyway, Jennifer Cox is the author. She lived in London and had just broken up with her latest boyfriend. She decided to try getting people to set her up around the world. And in the spirit of the book Around the World in 80 Days, she planned 80 dates throughout Europe, America, Asia, Austalia, and New Zealand. Lots of interesting dates. In fact, one she turned down was her Viking date, and he's actually one I wish I could hook up. His picture is one of a skinny, nerdy guy, but the way he talked about his archaeology of digging up Vikings was just the way I feel about things I'm passionate about and made me want to meet and date him. I wish there was some way I could contact her and get his info. She ended up meeting who would become her soulmate on date #55. But after discussing it with him, decided to go ahead and finish out her dates. In the end, she quit before the last 4 or 5, knowing she had found what she wanted, and wondering how many soul mates each person has, as one of the last ones she dated came to be really a possibility. But she wanted to give #55 a fair chance, and it seems he is the one. There were a few pages I marked, so let me include parts of those next.

After date #11 she realized that she didn't want to morph or be molded into someone else. She wanted to find someone else like herself, a soul mate she could relate to. And that is me too. I want someone like me that will like me for the way I am.

Date #20 was with the person who won the Dear Juliet letter. There is a movie coming out about a letter written to Juliet, and people actually do write these letters and leave them in Verona, and there are actually volunteers who read and sometimes answer, and even pick a winner. After helping read the letters, this is something Jennifer said:

"As terrible as it sounds, I suspected I would find dating an intensely romantic man a bit claustrophobic and annoying; all that fetching and carrying and fussing around would get on my nerves. Either that or I'd assume they'd done something really bad and were overcompensating. I know, why I'm still single is a mystery to me, too."

That last line is so something I have to say to myself a lot whenever I say something so picky like she said. It made me laugh out loud. But then later, when she's trying to decide if she's being too picky, I have to agree with her there too. If you don't like someone and can't enjoy their company, what other reason do you have for being with them? Like she says, I want a boyfriend who makes me happy, and that I can make happy in return.

Anyway, I really, really recommend this book. It's a great story about love, as well as just a fun look at how single women think. It also clued me into the Burning Man Festival, which several people commented that they can't see me going to that, but I'm open to a lot more stuff than other people think.

And so now, I'll have another book review tomorrow, too tired to write it tonight, and I'm still working on the new Stephen King book.