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In her most stressing of moments she escapes by imagining herself hiding in the center of a cake. I found this a bit odd, but it intrigued me enough to continuing reading.

Ruthie being a stay-at-home-momma spent a lot of time baking. It is something her Mom taught her at a young age and as she grew older she fell in love with baking; it became a craft. The ingredients worked for her like they would work for no one else.

When Ruthie's husband was laid off at the hospital things began to get a little bit crazy. It's no surprise what happened, I'm sure you know even without reading further. Ruthie began her own business, "Eat Cake."

The story isn't all predictable, though most of it is if you're astute enough to realize it. There is a couple love stories involved as well as the relationship between mother and daughter spanning generations.

Writing anymore about the book would give away far too much detail and so I won't be. However I will tell you this is definitely chic lit. It is an easy and entertaining read. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a breather. The book is written excellently with great character development. You'll finish reading with a smile on your face and craving for some cake. =o)

Buy Eat Cake or look to see other books written by Jeanne Ray.

Labels: chic book, jeanne ray

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| 8:02 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Even now I chuckle thinking about eleven women over the age of 45 posing nude for a calendar; including one group shot for December. As a lady of only 27 years of age I cannot even imagine being in a nude calendar. And here these ladies put together the idea and launched it internationally with the hope of raising money to help fund research regarding leukemia. Thus begins the story, Calendar Girl: In Which A Lady Of Rylstone Reveals All.

Little did they know just what a sensation they would become. These women were part of a group called the WI which stands for a Women's Institute and there are many chapters of this group. This calendar includes ladies from the Rylstone Women's Institute in North Yorkshire, UK.

In 1999, one of the ladies husbands became ill with leukemia. He would say that if the ladies planted Sunflowers, he'd make sure he'd get better so he could see them. Unfortunately, Annie lost her husband after which she and her friends pulled together in a fundraising effort and their idea was a nude calendar. The calendar is displays each woman posing behind a different task that the Women's Institute teaches their members, such as making bread rolls, knitting, planting flowers, and playing the piano.

The book is told by Annie's closest friend, Chris, who posed behind an apple press in her month of the calendar. Chris receives a lot of flack through the book and at one point even separates from her husband after he distances himself and grows bitter over the calendar which has taken over their lives.

There were ups and downs to this ordeal and sadly enough their lives would never be the same. Friendships were broken after the calendar became such a sensation it was offered movie deals. Half of the group wanted one director while the other half wanted a different director. The arguments became a feud and the ladies drifted apart. The strain never repaired and it saddened Annie because she know it was not how her late husband would have wanted things to go.

Without getting into too much detail, I very much enjoyed the story, I just feel it drug on a big from time to time. And it seemed the same things kept being rehashed for pages upon pages. I feel it seemed that way because it probably felt that way for the writer, but as a reader I think some of it could have been condensed.

On another note, there is a lot of business and professional lessons to be learned from this book. So if you're an entreprenauer I would reccomend it purely for that purpose and luckily you'll be entertained along the way.

Buy the book, Calendar Girl: In Which A Lady Of Rylstone Reveals All.

Labels: Calendar Girls

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| 7:41 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Oh I know you read the title and want to say "Sister Christian" but it's not, thank God. That is an 80s song I am glad not to hear anymore it bothered me so much!

The first edition of "Sister Carrie" was published in the year 1900. This fact alone intrigued me as I was reading because there are many racy elements to the story which I wouldn't have guessed for a writer during that time.

The story is about a girl named Caroline Meeber who is indeed a sister named Carrie. She moves from the country and into the city to live with her sister. She is a bit of a people watcher and I think her perceptions of the people around her are what interested me the most about the story. She would watch men and see what they were notiving about women. She learned how to walk, move, talk and behave to attract men by following those observations. However, she began resenting men for their easy ways. She also began to hold herself at a high esteem even though that knowledge caused a battle of wills within her. She saw people looking at her as though she was beautiful, but she didn't think of herself that way. She would literally argue to herself about these things.

Her journey and experience throughout the city, Chicago, is filled with drama. There are affairs, lies, secrets and misgivings which Carrie witnesses and takes note of. She ends up being asked to perform in a play and while trying for the role she finds herself morphing into someone else. Carrie easily picks up on other people's quirks and makes them her own.

Carrie ends up a mistress to the man who hired her and throughout the story she battles and argues with herself over this predicament. She knows George W. Hurstwood is married and has a daughter. She eventually does leave him and his life spirals downhill.

Though Carrie ends up a star, she doesn't end up happy.

Labels: Sister Carrie

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| 7:04 AM | 2 comment(s)!