Category: book reviews

I’m someone who thrives when I have goals and a plan in place to get there. Not just for the big stuff like my family, education, and career, but for little things like hobbies too. I know that this is the only life I have, so I am constantly trying to improve it – not in an I’m-not-satisfied kind of way, but in a make-the-best-of-things way.

When I found out about the book My Life Map by Kate and David Marshall I was intrigued. It said it was especially geared toward people on the brink of big decisions or life changes, and although I feel somewhat settled right now I wanted to see if it would have any benefit for me.

Like the subtitle says, it’s more of a journal. It starts by explaining the concept of mapping out your whole life in one place, then guides you through your past, present, and hopes/dreams for the future through reflective prompts. Some of the questions were tough, and some were really fun and inspiring.

The questions aren’t an end in themselves but are mainly to help you discover what you really want out of life – to see if you miss something from your past, to find themes, to see if you have a good balance in all the areas of your life, to help you figure out how to get where you want to be, etc. In addition to the whole-life map there are also subject maps such as family, work, play, and service, and 10-year maps. Depending on what kind of thinker you are you can fill out the broad picture first or start with the details.

My whole-life map looks like this:

I thought it was a really fun and enlightening exercise, and for me right now it solidified that I’m in a good place. For example, when I first became a nurse I seriously considered going back to grad school to become a nurse practitioner, but seeing my life laid out like this I realize that it doesn’t really fit into my plan where raising a family is the most important part of my life.

I would definitely recommend this book for someone who is just starting out on her own, is facing a big decision, or is just feeling generally stuck or unhappy in life. I will probably revisit my life map as time goes by and if a decision comes up for us I will definitely pull this book out to go more in depth.

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I read this book as a part of BlogHer Book Club and while I was compensated for my review as well as provided a fee copy of the book, all opinions expressed are my own.

“Early love is exciting and exhilarating. It’s light and bubbly.Anyone can love like that. But love after three children, after a separation and a near-divorce, after you’ve hurt each other and forgiven each other, bored each other and surprised each other, after you’ve seen the worst and the best—well, that sort of a love is ineffable. It deserves its own word.”  – Liane Moriarty

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Alice thinks she’s 29 years old – she and her husband Nick are desperately in love, renovating an old house, and she is pregnant with her first baby. Her sister Elisabeth is her best friend, and life couldn’t be better. In reality, she has just had a head injury at the gym and can’t remember the last ten years of her life. She is nearly 40, has three kids, is on the brink of divorce, and her relationship with her sister has become cold and stilted. She must try to put it all together and figure out who she is and what happened.

This book deals with a lot of heavy topics – divorce, death, the disintegration of a family, and infertility – in a way that takes them seriously but is still lighthearted enough to keep from being totally depressing. I found that I cared for the characters and I appreciated how we saw Alice’s complicated world through a fresh perspective. I liked the mystery of putting together what happened over the years and how bits and pieces emerged, and at times I was genuinely surprised.

There were cliches and gimmicks – the whole memory loss thing itself, for example, as well as showing Elisabeth’s perspective through journaling to her therapist. But they were an effective means to an end.

A  note about the HUGE infertility plot line: I didn’t do any research before writing this, but it seems to me that the author must have some sort of experience with infertility, firsthand or not. As someone with a personal history I appreciated it and think she handled it accurately, but I’m curious as to if that part of the story would interest anyone who hasn’t struggled to have children herself.

It was an enjoyable, fast read, and it got me thinking – what if I couldn’t remember the last ten years of my life? What would my 20-year-old self think about who I am today? How can I ensure that I’m as happy ten years from now as I am today? Because if Alice’s situation is true to life at all (and I think it is, to an extent) it’s obvious that everyday life can muddle and complicate relationships until what’s really important gets lost.

Read more about this book and join the discussion over at the BlogHer book club.

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Disclosure: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

“I had always felt that any dog I took care of would’ve done the same for me if it could, and in fact by rescuing them they filled my heart in such a way that I was rescued right back.” –Julie Klam

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I’m a dog person through and through. We have three of them, and I’ve talked about them several times here, but I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that they are all rescue animals. My husband got his dog Eddie as a puppy in the shelter, and I got Cleo as a 2-year-old from the same place. Oliver was a stray from the street with a limp that we really shouldn’t have taken on, but then we saw his big eyes and adorable tongue and his obvious need for affection and we couldn’t say no.

Julie Klam makes me feel better about our crazy dog ways. This truly “short and sweet” memoir about some of her experiences with fostering and rescuing dogs reveals Julie as a kindred spirit in that she has a heart for dogs and will go to extreme lengths to provide them with the best life possible, but she’s no expert on training. Now I don’t feel so bad that our dogs bark at every little thing, pull on their leashes, and don’t always get along with other animals. Also, Julie’s personality really comes through in her writing, and she comes across as funny, down-to-earth, and laid-back; basically, someone I would like to be friends with.

Julie’s stories are so true in that you’d never realize how much of an influence dogs can have on you and your relationships until you’ve experienced it. Some of my best memories with my husband involve our dogs. Each of the three chapters focuses on one specific dog rescue, but it ends up being about so much more. Whether it’s bringing her and her husband together again, taking a step back from materialism, or learning about true sacrifice, dogs are at the heart of it all.

Over the past several months, as I’ve given birth to and learned to care for my new baby, my dogs have been somewhat neglected. After reading Love At First Bark I’ve redoubled my efforts to give them extra snuggles and to reassure them that I still love them as much as ever. After all, we are their whole world.

Read more reviews and join the discussion about your experience with animal rescue over at the BlogHer book club.

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Disclosure: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

When I found out that BlogHer was starting a book club, I got involved right away, especially once I saw the title and read the summary of one of the books available for review: A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz. Books about books are right up my alley! Not only that, but one of my most treasured possessions is my volume of Jane Austen’s complete works, not only because of the inscription my beloved grandmother wrote in it, but also because Austen’s novels are just perfect. Deresiewicz’s take on them also turned out to be a great read for me.

Come read my full review at BlogHer!