Go-To-Gays: Refresh, Recharge, Refocus

Introduction by Tracey Meyers

Recently, my vacuum broke. My very expensive, yet super powerful Dyson pet vacuum that makes living with my cat, Elsie, a cleaner experience. There used to be a time when I wouldn't spend more than $75 on a vacuum because I didn't feel it made a difference. However, over time I've come to realize there are some products I'm willing to invest more money into because I know I'm getting something of quality and they become some of my favorite things.

Today we have a special treat for y'all! To start off 2015 in style, we have both of Chick Lit Central's Go-To-Gays, Wade Rouse and Gary Edwards, here to share with everyone some of their favorite things.



Our Favorite Things

Every New Year brings a fresh start: A time to reflect, put bad habits behind us and focus on our goals for 2015. It is also a time when we all want to refresh, recharge and refocus on taking care of ourselves.

In keeping with this "re" theme, Gary and I wanted to share a few of our "really" favorite things regarding health and beauty. May this year bring all of our readers health, happiness and success.

Bath soap:
Wade: Ivory & St Ives apricot scrub (Ivory is my simple go-to. Combined with St. Ives – and ice-cold water – my skin stays clean, tight and never breaks out.)
Gary: All and any great smelling organic soaps! I vow to never use gross soap. It is one time in the day I want to feel pampered.

Face cleanser:
Wade: Cetaphil (I have oilier skin, and I used this – again with ice cold water – as a break between Ivory and St. Ive's. The simpler the better, I think, for healthy skin … combined with drinking lots of water and a healthy diet!)
Gary: Cetaphil (normal to dry) or Burt's Bees Soap Bark & Chamomile Cleansing Cream.

Hair:
Wade: Paul Mitchell Lavender Mint Shampoo & Conditioner (love … and smells like heaven!)
Gary: Nioxin 2 (for thinning hair) Shampoo & Conditioner. Fighting my Grandpa’s hair line as long as I can!





Body moisturizers:
Wade: St. Ives Skin Renewing Collagen Elastin Body Lotion (I will take collagen and elastin anywhere I can get it, now that I'm closing in on 50!)
Gary: Now Pure Almond Oil or Coconut Oil, your skin is the largest organ, take care of it!

Face moisturizers:
Wade: Cetaphil moisturizer, Roc Eye Cream
Gary: Cetphil moisturizer, Pure almond oil. At night I use Obagi Medical Tretinoin cream 0.1% prescribed by my dermatologist. After having skin cancer I take my skin very serious

Lips:
Wade: Vaseline at bedtime. Day I pick one of the following favorites: Burt Bee’s Radiance Lip Shimmer & keekipureandsimple rootbeer float & orange creamsicle (I could never go on Survivor, because I am obsessed with soft, supple, shiny lips!)
Gary: Eos Lip Sphere(sweet mint) at bedtime. Day I love keekipureandsimple minty vanilla cooler

Hair Products:
Wade: Neuma Style Texturizer & Garnier Sleek Shine anti-humidity hairspray (the best styling gel I've ever used … good hold without looking wet, and made from all natural products)
Gary: Neuma Style Texturizer & Redken Powder grip #03(helps add fullness and lift at the root)

Feet: While I am not a foot person I do take care of my own!
Wade: Burt's Bees Coconut Foot cream & Lemon cuticle softener
Gary: Burt's Bees Coconut Foot cream & Lemon cuticle softener, Also every few days a treat of Now pure peppermint oil.

Hands:
Wade: Our friend Amanda’s Goat Milk Balm, Burt Bee’s Lemon cuticle softener. (This baaa-aaa-lm is the best, especially in the winter!)
Gary: As a gardener my hands are often neglected. When I remember I use the Mary Kay Satin Hands mask and lotion along with Burt Bee’s Lemon cuticle softener

Deodorant:
Wade & Gary: Every Man Jack (Citrus) Aluminum free, Cruelty free & naturally derived.

Cologne:
Wade: D&G “original”, Burberry “Britt” (one "heartier" scent for winter, one "fresher, lighter" scent for summer)
Gary: Old school Fahrenheit. Both Wade and all of my gal pals love this scent on me! It is my stand by!

Sunscreen:
Wade: Keeki Pure and Simple Natural Sunscreen 15,30 & 45 (fab! And ALL natural!)
Gary: Keeki Pure and Simple Natural Sunscreen 15,30 & 45
If I am outside I have it on! It is the best all natural sunscreen ever!

As usually we are always looking for the next best thing! What are some of your favorite health & beauty products and secrets? As Gary and I approach 50 we need all the help we can get!

The writings of bestselling humorist Wade Rouse – called “wise, witty and wicked” by USA Today and the lovechild of Erma Bombeck and David Sedaris – have been featured multiple times on NBC’s  Today Show as well as on Chelsea Lately on E! and People.com. His latest memoir, It’s All Relative: Two Families, Three Dogs, 34 Holidays and 50 Boxes of Wine (reviewed here) launched in paperback February 1st from Broadway, and he is creator and editor of the humorous dog anthology, I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship: Hilarious, Heartwarming Tales about Man’s Best from America’s Favorite Humorists (NAL). The book features a Foreword by Chelsea Handler’s dog, Chunk, essays by such beloved chick lit authors as Jane Green, and 50 percent of the book’s net royalties go to the Humane Society of the United States. His first memoir, America's Boy, has been re-published by Magnus Books for paperback and Kindle. For more, visit his website, or friend him on Facebook or Twitter.

Gary Edwards is the marketing and events manager for bestselling author Wade Rouse. Edwards arranges Rouse’s tour schedule, speaking engagements as well as coordinates and facilitates his writing workshops and retreats.  Additionally, Edwards has helped market and promote all five of Rouse’s books. Edwards also has a background in hospitality, and sales as well as design.   With his vast professional background and a love to listen and help friends he is a perfect storm of love and nurture. Edwards is Martha Stewart meets Dear Abby with a dash of Mrs. Doubtfire.  For more, please friend him on Facebook and Twitter.

Sonja Yoerg's favorite ways to fly...plus a book giveaway

It works out well that "Favorite Things" is the theme for today's guest, Sonja Yoerg, as she financed her college education by waitressing at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, where she grew up. Maria herself even gave Sonja a cuckoo clock for her 16th birthday! Since then, she earned her Ph.D. in Biological Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and published a nonfiction book about animal intelligence, Clever as a Fox (Bloomsbury USA, 2001). She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and has published her debut fiction novel, House Broken.

You can find Sonja at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Thanks to Penguin Random House, we have a copy of House Broken for a lucky US reader!

Synopsis of House Broken:
For veterinarian Geneva Novak, animals can be easier to understand than people. They’re also easier to forgive. But when her mother, Helen, is injured in a vodka-fueled accident, it’s up to Geneva to give her the care she needs.

Since her teens, Geneva has kept her self-destructive mother at arm’s length. Now, with two slippery teenagers of her own at home, the last thing she wants is to add Helen to the mix. But Geneva’s husband convinces her that letting Helen live with them could be her golden chance to repair their relationship.

Geneva isn’t expecting her mother to change anytime soon, but she may finally get answers to the questions she’s been asking for so long. As the truth about her family unfolds, however, Geneva may find secrets too painful to bear and too terrible to forgive.


Oprah used to give away her "favorite things" on her show. If you were to do a show where you could give people FIVE of your "favorite things," what would you include and how would you present it?

Oprah hid her gifts under the seats of her audience. My first favorite thing, which holds all the others, fits under a seat, too, but the one in front of you—on an airplane. What I’d really like to share is my favorite activity, travelling, but we’ll have to settle for the goods that make travel better.

The perfect travel bag. I’ve used a Sherpani Priya laptop tote for a couple years now. It holds everything I need and does it without looking like an overloaded diaper bag. It has enough pockets but not so many I risk forgetting where I stashed things, and it zips closed so I can lay it on its side and prop my feet on it.
Okay, so what’s inside?

A ticket, of course! My husband and I are adventurous, and have a long list of far-flung places we’re eager to visit. We don’t favor resorts or tours, preferring instead to muddle through a new country on our own, meeting locals and learning about the place firsthand. In the last few years we’ve been to Morocco, Chile and Venezuela, where we backpacked in the Andes. On Molokai, we rented a tiny house on the beach, ate mostly baked potatoes and pineapple, and rode bikes into the mountains. Yeah, we can’t even go to Hawaii the way normal people do.
I know not everyone is so adventurous, but I’d encourage the recipient to choose a destination a little out of their comfort zone. Something new that might challenge their expectations. One of my favorite things about traveling is seeing how similar people are, fundamentally, the world over. I find it reassuring and hopeful.
In case you’re wondering, the ticket would be first-class, because I’m channeling Oprah, right? The adventure starts after the plane lands. Until then, pass the champagne.

An e-reader. I love the feel of a real book in my hands as much as the next person, but thank goodness we don’t have to lug a dozen books when we travel. More room for shoes! I’d load up the reader with a variety of books, including ones set in the destination, plus a travel guide and phrase book.

Noise-cancelling headphones. A travel essential right up there with black leggings. Not only does the in-flight movie sound better, but you can block out your fellow travelers and concentrate on your book, or your music. And not just on the plane, but any time you’d like a little peace and quiet.

A Pashmina shawl. Planes are always too hot, except when they’re too cold. I’d constantly take my sweater off, only to pull it on again, trying not to bash my neighbor on the head or appear to be engaging in seated yoga. Now I pack a large Pashmina shawl. So much cozier than a sweater and packs smaller, too. In a pinch it can double as a beach cover-up. The best use of the wrap, however, is when you wake in a place you’ve never been. You get out of bed, wrap the shawl around you, and go to the window. A beach, a mountain, a cathedral tower, a field of lavender. A child retrieving a ball from a cobblestone street. It could be anything.

A new day. A new place. And, always, at the end, the promise of home.

Thanks to Sonja for sharing her favorite travel items with us and Penguin Random House for sharing her book with our readers!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

US only. Giveaway ends January 13th at midnight EST.

Book Review: Up and In

By Jami Deise

Despite the new study (here’s Buzzfeed’s take on it) showing that boys are just as likely to use exclusion and other social weapons to bully their peers as girls are, the Mean Girls dynamic is still a popular trope in all types of fiction, showcasing girls and women of all ages. Perhaps it’s because so many of us were left out at some point in our lives – or watched our own children be left out – that these stories still resonate with us. We want to see protagonists stop trying so hard to make friends with people who obviously don’t care about them, find a better set of pals, and watch the meanies lose everything. Because let’s face it – this rarely happens in real life.

Deborah Disney’s Up and In is the latest offering in this story type. Her Maria has played Gretchen Weiner to Bea’s Regina George for years – ever since their 10-year-old daughters were in nursery school together. Although it took a while for Bea’s spoiled Mirabella to warm up to Maria’s doting Kate, eventually the girls became good friends, and Bea included Maria in her own circle of friends, even though Maria wasn’t quite as financially well off as Bea and her cohorts. This all went along happily enough for a few years, until all the girls played on the same netball team, the Red Rockets. Maria blames her break-up with Bea on her casual refusal to buy special team hair ties that Mirabella made, but it seemed to me that Bea’s attitude abruptly changed during a game when Kate played better than Mirabella. Whatever the reason, before she even realized something bad had happened, Maria was being left off of team emails and other outings that Bea had planned for the moms. Even worse, their daughters started doing the same thing to Kate.

Desperate to maintain her position as Bea’s number two, Maria goes to increasing lengths to find out what Bea is up to, and the plans that Kate’s teammates make in her absence. These are petty plans – everyone wearing their hair a certain way during a game, or a particular type of outfit during a school dance – but they succeed in making Kate feel ostracized, which affects her ability to play. Maria’s husband Joe, who always had his doubts about Bea and Mirabella, can’t understand why Maria tries so hard to get back into Bea’s good graces. And Kate is just devastated by the machinations, and blames Maria for everything.

I sympathized with Maria, but found her a little hard to root for. Even when they were getting along, Bea was never a great friend to her – always treating Maria more like a fan than an equal. Maria refuses to confront Bea about her petty little tricks, and encourages Kate to keep trying with Mirabella and her followers, rather than encouraging her to find a new set of friends. I wanted Maria to pull Kate off the netball team, find her a new group to play with, and have Kate score the winning goal against her old teammates at the buzzer while Maria’s new friends told her how wonderful she was. But Maria just wanted everything back to the status quo, which is probably how most of us would feel in that situation.

And most of us have been in that situation, which is why these types of stories resonate so deeply. The only thing worse than being left out ourselves is watching the same thing happen to our children. The Mean Girl lexicon offers readers a chance to re-live those scenarios with a happier ending.

This isn’t just an American phenomenon, either – Up and In takes place in Australia; Amanda Egan’s Mummy Misfit deals with these women in the UK. I’m sure it stretches back to the cave woman days – limited resources means there’s not enough wooly mammoth burgers to go around, so we can’t be friends with everyone.

I just had one quibble -- Disney never explained the rules of netball, and I’d never heard of it before. Is it an Australian thing or a little girl sport? Without knowing the rules, I couldn’t understand the action she was describing.

In that respect, it was a lot like being on the outside watching an alpha mom rule her roost. You may not know the rules, but there’s no question about who is winning.

Thanks to HarperCollins Australia for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Kristyn Kusek Lewis plays favorites...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to have Kristyn Kusek Lewis back at CLC, celebrating the recent release of her sophomore novel, Save Me (reviewed here). She was last here in the summer of 2012 to talk about her debut novel, How Lucky You Are. Since that time, she has moved from North Carolina to the DC area, where her first novel is based. We know Melissa A. is excited to have such a great writer in her neck of the woods. 

Today, Kristyn is kicking off our first theme of 2015...Favorite Things! We've asked all authors visiting this month to make like they're doing a "Favorite Things" show like Oprah, where they could share the items that are special to them with the audience. Of course, to keep the posts a reasonable length, we've only asked for five items. And at the end of this post, we have something to share, as BookSparks has TWO copies of Save Me for readers in the US and/or Canada!

Visit Kristyn at her website, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

I was a huuuuuge “Oprah Show” fan. So much so (and this will date me) that a Valentine’s Day gift from my college boyfriend was once a big stack of VHS tapes on which he had taped hours and hours of the show for me. I of course never missed a "Favorite Things” episode, so I’m thrilled to offer five of my own.

1. Le Pens. When I write longhand, which I often do when I’m first starting a project, it’s either with a very, very sharp pencil or, more often, one of these beauties. I never formally learned how to write cursive because we moved to a new state after it had already been taught at my new school, so my handwriting is a distinctive mishmash that can look like a serial killer’s with the wrong pen, but Le Pens can make it actually look elegant, even when I’m writing fast.

2. Dr. Hauschka Lavender Sandalwood Body Moisturizer. For years, the first thing I did when I walked into a Whole Foods was find this on the shelf and put some on my hands out of the tester bottle, but I’d never actually buy it because I’m occasionally cheap and couldn’t justify a $40 bottle of lotion. My best friend and husband started buying them for me for birthdays and now I can’t live without it. The scent is to die for and it’s the perfect consistency—not too greasy, not too light.

3. Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. I’m salt-obsessed. I put this stuff on nearly everything I eat, even apples and pizza. Don’t knock it ’til you try it.

4. Spotify and/or Songza. I always have one of these apps going. For work, it’s usually classical or opera. When I’m running, anything goes—I’ve been listening to a lot of go-go music since moving back to the DC area. At home, we listen to a lot of classic soul music, a lot of southern rock and classic country, and I love Songza’s “Safe For Work” playlists because they’re then generally safe for my little kids, too.

5. iPad keyboard. Now that Word is available on iPad, I’ve stared actually writing with mine and this keyboard is a game-changer. I have the Anker Bluetooth Folio Keyboard Case.

Thanks to Kristyn for sharing her favorite things and to BookSparks for sharing Save Me with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

US/Canada. Giveaway ends January 11th at midnight EST.

Survey Results

Thanks to everyone who took our survey last month. We had about 45 responses. As promised, we are sharing the results.

We first want to announce our theme for January, which was chosen prior to sending out the survey, in order to give authors enough time to come up with their answers. We present to you...Favorite Things! Each author visiting CLC in January will talk about their top five favorite things. And some may be sharing them in the form of a giveaway too....

To get you psyched up for the month, here's a video of the classic song:



Which theme(s) did you like best from this past year?

• Summer Fun: 52%
• Chick Lit Month: Friend Dates: 43%

Melissa P. came up with the "Summer Fun" theme, as she loves talking about carnivals, beaches, boardwalks, etc. She definitely appreciates the love you have shown for her idea.

Which theme(s) would you like to bring back from previous years?

• Friendship: 48%
• Romance: 46%

Since we've decided to bring only one theme back, we will be going with "Friendship." However, we may add a new element to this theme to keep things fresh and exciting.

What theme(s) would you like to see in 2015?

We will definitely be using these two themes sometime in 2015:

• Books/reading (talking about other book genres, how books make people feel, recommendations, etc.): 65%
• Good things (heartwarming stories; talking about good in the world, or even good things that have happened to you): 48%

Chick Flicks and Sweet Tooth tied at 41%, so we may possibly use either or both ideas.

As for the open-ended question, we'll keep your chick lit month ideas in mind, but we may have some other ideas up our sleeves too...

Did you read and/or participate in the Reader Spotlight posts? 

It was a close mix of "Sometimes" and "No." (Between 35-40%) In any case, we've decided to discontinue the Reader Spotlight posts. While they were fun, not many people went into it voluntarily, even though everyone who participated (once asked) seemed to have a good time with it. We appreciated the comments received on these posts and hope you made some new book-loving friends in the process!

Have you been visiting our Bookshelf page? 

"Sometimes": 67%

We're now updating Bookshelf bi-weekly starting the first full week of January. There will be four books shown for two weeks at a time.

Book Review: Saving Grace

US cover

Grace and Ted Chapman are widely regarded as the perfect literary power couple. Ted is a successful novelist and Grace, his wife of twenty years, is beautiful, stylish, carefree, and a wonderful homemaker. But what no one sees, what is churning under the surface, is Ted’s rages. His mood swings. And the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon. When Ted’s longtime assistant and mainstay leaves, the house of cards begins to crumble and Grace, with dark secrets in her past, is most vulnerable. She finds herself in need of help but with no one to turn to…until the perfect new assistant shows up out of the blue. To the rescue comes Beth, a competent young woman who can handle Ted and has the calm efficiency to weather the storms that threaten to engulf the Chapman household. Soon, though, it’s clear to Grace that Beth might be too good to be true. This new interloper might be the biggest threat of all, one that could cost Grace her marriage, her reputation, and even her sanity. With everything at stake and no one to confide in, Grace must find a way to save herself before it is too late. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Amy Bromberg:

This is a very special book to me because Jane mentioned me (AND Melissa!) in the acknowledgements. I remember the day that Melissa sent me an email with the subject “You’re going to have to sit down for this.” It was a picture of the acknowledgements for the UK version. I started jumping up and down! Such an honor.

As opposed to Jane’s other novels, this one has a little darkness and suspense. I have to say it’s quite nice to add a few “ingredients” that are not usually part of the norm. She brings the reader on an emotional ride with Grace and her family’s history of bipolar disorder. I also like how the ending wasn’t tied up all pretty like a bow. This makes things more realistic and relatable, because life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

It was slow in the beginning, but once I got to about the middle, I couldn’t put it down. That unexpected twists and turns kept me EXTREMELY interested.

Saving Grace is an intricate look at marriage, relationships and at what can really happen behind closed doors. It goes to show that no matter how perfect something may appear from the outside, very often it isn’t always the case. I highly recommend this one, like I do with all Jane Green’s novels.

Melissa Amster:

Saving Grace is definitely a change from what I'm used to from Jane Green. It's darker than her previous novels and deals with an issue that not many of us pay much heed to. However, her essence still shines through. (Especially when she talks about food and home decorating.) I found myself getting caught up in the story and cringing for Grace whenever things started falling apart for her. The flow of the story was great, but some of the flashback scenes tended to interrupt the pacing. I'd want the action to continue and suddenly we'd be transported back to Grace's youth. I also would have liked to read chapters from Beth's point of view, or even see Grace through her best friend Sybil's eyes. I liked that the story didn't end neatly and that there were some loose ties. However, I was satisfied with the decisions Grace made for herself.

On a personal note, I could understand why Grace felt how she did in regards to worrying about turning into her mother, who had bipolar disorder. There was a somewhat distant relative in my family who had mental illness (I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I know they weren't able to live on their own after a while). When I was a kid, I was scared of them, especially when they would call at random times and yell at me if my mom wasn't around for them to yell at. If my mom was mad at me about something, she would try to compare me to this relative. Maybe trying to make such comparisons was helpful because my attempts to prove I was nothing like this relative strengthened me overall. So given that Grace's mother was a direct relation, I could see how scary and stressful the possibility of becoming like her must have been for Grace her entire life.

UK cover

Of course, my review would not be complete without casting ideas. I hope these live up to the ones I chose for Tempting Fate.

Grace: I'm back and forth between Maria Doyle Kennedy and Julia Ormond.
Ted: Pierce Brosnan
Beth: Amy Smart
Sybil: Nia Vardalos
Patrick (Grace's friend from her teen years): Dougray Scott
Clemmie (Ted and Grace's daughter): Emmy Rossum

Thanks to Sarah Hall Productions and Pan Macmillan for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Alone Together

By Sara Steven

Alone Together showcases three short stories that chronicle the lives of three very different men. As different as they are, I felt the stories link them together within a common thread and gives us a glimpse into a man’s psyche, the part of him not normally seen or easily understood.

The first story is about Ward, a down on his luck writer who can’t seem to get his s*%$ together, living with what most of us would call “Peter Pan syndrome”. He doesn’t want to grow up. Yet he has to “man up” after he finds himself in a situation that will change his life forever.

“New York is so strange.” Ward thought. “It’s this big city, but if you live there long enough you realize that it is a lot of little cities broken up. You have your neighborhood grocery store, your laundromat, you see the same people in the same shops all the time. But then if you look around, you also see masses of people rush by you that you will never see again.”

The second showcases Walter, a man whose wife has suffered through her second stillborn miscarriage and won't recognize that he’s also suffering. An obvious workaholic, he uses that as his own escape from reality.

“Marie had just lost their second attempt at a child. Stillborn. The bitch of it was that she had barely gotten over the first when she found out she was pregnant again. No amount of consoling could stop her from crying….Needless to say, network security was the last thing on Walter’s mind. Yet there was something peaceful, robotic, about how he handled the meeting. The way he took the coffee he was offered…”

In the third story, we find that Hollis has forgiven his cheating girlfriend, but will it be for the last time? When he’s presented with another option in the form of high heels and a tight derriere, will he take it?

“Don’t go, Hollis,” she sobbed. “I am so sorry.” “You are not sorry, Sophia. If you were sorry, if you had any remorse, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place. I want to kill that son of a bitch and walk out on you right now. What on earth do you want me to believe? That you didn’t mean it? That it was a mistake?”

I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed Alone Together. I don’t usually delve into short stories, but this was sweet and well-written. I found it hard not to lose myself in the believable obstacles that each character has to face, and all from a man's perspective. I appreciate honesty in a book, and this is as honest as they come. A great read!

Thanks to Andrew Jacoby for the book in exchange for an honest review. Alone Together is currently 99 cents for Kindle.