Note to Self

By Samara O’Shea
Collins Living
Reviewed by Iliana

“I have watched my thoughts – some mundane, others vibrant and strange – make their way to paper countless times and in a variety of ways. My journal has been the looking glass I’ve held up to myself on numerous occasions; some days I like the reflection and other days I am certain that a more hideous, uninteresting ogre has never existed. “

How many times have you started a journal only to write in it a couple of times and then let it sit on the bottom of your nightstand? Perhaps you’ve bought a pretty new book to start journaling but once you see the blank pages you don’t know how to start. While many of us like the idea of journaling for a lot of us it is hard to know what to put to paper or how to keep going. Will it sound ridiculous? Will it be boring? What if someone reads this (or not)?

In this engaging book on journaling, author Samara O’Shea unlocks her own journals to show us the benefits of keeping a journal. She’ll share snippets of journal entries questioning her faith, being heartbroken and many of the other moments in her life where she has turned to her journal to keep herself in check. There is a lot of raw honesty here and likewise she encourages the reader to strive for the same.

Journal writers are encouraged to write with no holds barred, because yes, even in our journals there is a resistance to telling the truth. Keeping a journal is a tool to getting to know your self better. Whether you re-read your entries or not, what is important is letting go in your writing.

Unlike many other books on journaling which give you exercises or prompts (this one has some but that isn’t the focus), this book is not about “how-to” journal but “why-to” journal. It is a book designed to show the reader the greater introspection one can achieve when journaling.

And as if Ms. O’Shea’s own experiences with journaling aren’t enough, she also shows entries from well known diarists such as Anais Nin, Sylvia Plath, and Lewis Carroll to name a few.

The chapters in this book are divided on topics such as writing about everyday life, finding your spiritual path, dream journaling, blogging and even detailing the intimate life. She’ll show you what the benefits are when writing on any of those topics and guide you on how to approach writing about them as well.

Whether you are new to journaling or want to see how you can go further in your own writing, I encourage you to give this book a chance. With her witty style Ms. O’Shea will have you smiling, and I bet you, you’ll even be reaching for your own journal.

Dos-à-Dos Travel Journal

By Iliana

Every time I travel I check out the latest Lonely Planet Guidebook and while this a great source, sometimes you just don't really want or need to be lugging the whole guidebook. Plus, no guidebook and you won't look like a complete tourist.

So why not make your own travel journal. This way, you can put in all the details of your journey, add some maps, highlight the attractions you want to see, make a note of the restaurants, etc. Not only will it be the perfect guidebook for you, but you'll also have a little journal as a keepsake from your trip.

The Dos-à-Dos structure is easy and perfect as a small travel journal. On one side you can have all the important facts and the other side can be used for journaling.

Materials for a 4 x 7 in. journal

8-10 Sheets of paper, cut to size 8 x 7 in. Use any kind of paper you like.
Cover paper, cut to size 12 x 7 in. (I like Strathmore 80 lbs. textured sheets).
4 Feet of thread. I like embroidery floss as it comes in many colors but you can use waxed linen thread, upholsterer's thread, etc.
Bone folder, Needle, Scissors, Awl, PVA or Craft glue for embellishments.
Embellishments: Maps, stamps, envelope, eyelets, rubber stamps, anything that will make this book yours.

Directions:

1. Separate your text pages into two stacks. Fold each stack of pages in half. Use your bone folder to make a firm crease. You now have two signatures.

2. Lay a signature on top of the cover sheet at the left end. With your bone folder score along the right edge of the signature. Move the signature so it lines up along the line scored and score another line at the right edge of the signature. Fold cover on first score line, turn cover sheet
over and fold it on the next score line. It will look like the letter “Z” from
the side.

3. Place one signature in the first fold. With an awl poke a hole in the center of the crease. Then poke another hole half way between the bottom of the crease and the first hole. Poke a third hole half way between the top of the crease and the middle hole.

4. Starting on the inside, push the needle through the middle hole and pull through until you have a 3 inch thread tail. Bring the needle from the outside back through the top hole and cross over the middle hole to poke into the bottom hole. Pull the thread firmly. Bring the needle back through the middle hole. Tie the tail to the end of the thread across the long stitch. Make a square knot.

5. Repeat for other signature.

Now you have a book and it's time to decorate it. I used some maps to decorate the covers. I also glued an envelope in one of the covers to keep track of ticket stubs, stamps or any other
ephemera I want to hang on to. And, I added an eyelet in the front cover to wrap some ribbon through it to keep my journal close.

An Infamous Army

An Infamous Army
By Georgette Heyer
Sourcebooks
Reviewed by Iliana

In the past several years on various online reading communities when the topic of comfort reads comes up, it never fails that someone will always recommend Georgette Heyer. The “Queen” of regency romance wrote more than 50 novels but as much as I wanted to read something by Heyer, my efforts at finding some of her books were for naught. None of my local bookstores (new & used) carried her books but now thanks to Sourcebooks, Heyer's classic novels are being published once again.

An Infamous Army, first published in 1937, is set during the summer of 1815 in Brussels. The Duke of Wellington is preparing for battle against Napoleon's forces but amidst all the strategic planning and political maneuvers, the ballrooms and salons of the upper classes are brimming with gossip, affairs and matchmaking strategies and in this social scene no one makes quite an impact like the unconventional Lady Barbara Childe.

“It was the decision of all who knew her, and of many who did not. No one
could deny her beauty, or her charm, but both were acknowledged to be deadly.
Her conquests were innumerable; men fell so desperately in love with her that
they became wan with desire, and very often did extremely foolish things when
they discovered that she did not care the snap of her fingers for them.”

One such gentleman who will immediately fall for Lady Babs, as her friends call her, is the handsome and gallant Colonel Charles Audley. Why even at their first dance he proposes to her. Babs for the first time in her life may have found love but that doesn't mean that she is quite willing to give up her flirtatious ways.

Friends and family warn Col. Audley that Babs is not the woman for him and even his sister-in-law hopes that her protege, Miss Lucy Devenish will capture Charles' heart but Charles insists that Babs is the one for him. However matters of the heart for everyone in Brussels must be put aside as war is declared and men are called to the battlefields.

I wouldn't normally like a character such as Barbara Childe's. She is vain and can be quite mean at times, but for all that I actually couldn't help but smile at her improper behavior; such as, painting her toenails and going out riding by herself. And, I quite enjoyed the secondary characters as well although my favorite character must be Col. Audley, who is really the perfect hero.

The writing is engaging and I imagine Heyer did much research to infuse the novel with a lot of period detail. Perhaps the only parts that were not as compelling for me were the actual battle scenes, but that's just me. I much preferred when the battles were those of wit and words between the characters.

This was a very entertaining read and I can see why Heyer has such a fan base. I am glad to finally have read a Georgette Heyer book, and am already looking forward to the next one.

Deadman's Switch

Deadman's Switch
Written by Barbara Seranella
St. Martin's - Minotaur
Reviewed by Iliana

Charlotte Lyon, a crisis management expert, has just been hired by Sun Rail Company to help them handle a serious crisis. One of its trains, the Sunliner Express, derailed and has left two people dead, the train’s conductor and a film celebrity.

With her smarts and no-nonsense attitude Charlotte is soon commandeering the news that gets leaked out to the media, she organizes assistance for the train’s passengers who are still in shock, and most of all Charlotte is going to find out who was the mysterious man on the motorcycle who stepped in to help the passengers but quickly left.

It’s not easy for Charlotte to take care of business, fight her growing attraction to Todd Hannigan, an investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board, and suddenly be called to her mom’s bedside but as Charlotte says, “the only thing she wasn’t prepared for was no crisis at all.” Charlotte has her own OCD issues to deal with and is slowly recovering from grief over her husband’s recent death but she finds that work is what keeps her focused.

Over the course of the week Charlotte will interview the train conductor’s widow who seems to be getting a lot of help from a over-friendly family friend, a woman who is sure she saw an alien on her land and many others who will have her on alert. Could they have had anything to do with the derailment? Who stood most to gain from the tragedy? As Charlotte gets closer to the truth she starts to doubt everyone’s innocence.

This story is one to keep you on your toes to find out who did it. The only times when it lost a bit of its steam (bad pun intended) was when it got bogged down with train terminology but that aside it was impressive to see Charlotte at work. Crisis management is a fast paced industry, where one “no comment” or delayed story can cause you a loss of money, reputation and clients. Seranella did an outstanding job giving the reader a glimpse into this world.

I thought Seranella especially excelled at describing the relationship Charlotte has with her mom. Lisa Lyon has lived a life of drugs and drinking and now must make some drastic changes or her health will continue to pay the price. Charlotte is torn between demonstrating tough-love and compassion.

This was a good first book in the planned series of Charlotte Lyon but unfortunately the mystery world lost Barbara Seranella earlier in 2007 when she died of liver disease. For her fans this is will be a gem of a book to keep and for newcomers to the writing of Seranella there is the Munch Manici bestselling series to discover.