Review: Girl On Top - Nicole Williams

Girl On Top by Nicole Williams

Publisher Center Street

Genre:Non fiction

Pages: 208

My Rating: 4/5

Summary: Nicole Williams is the tell-it-like-it-is career expert who you wish could fight your work battles for you. But with her ingenious approach-taking the tactics used to land a man and applying them to your career-you'll be able to handle any work situation and come out on top. Here, Nicole introduces twenty tried-and-true dating rules such as "Don't Give Away the Milk for Free" and "Don't Waste the Pretty" and reveals how they can be applied just as effectively in the office.

My Review: Nicole really does tell it like it is in her book Girl on Top. She breaks down how to help a girl grab her dream job/career by using the same simple methods she would in snagging Prince Charming!

With fun catchy topics such as Treat him Mean, Keep him Keen she explains the importance of standing up for yourself and not being a mouse and that simply being liked in the job place doesn’t mean your respected.

Some of the reading was a bit blunt and shocking but actually made perfect sense. I had a good many WOW moments while reading, but I took away a lot of great insight and information from Girl On Top and I really wished I would have had this book when I was younger. It is definitely a book a lady needs on her bookshelf and I highly recommend it!

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Theater Thursdays - 11/13/09

What you gonna be watching this weekend?

TEN9EIGHT is a thought provoking film which tells the inspirational stories of several inner city teens (of differing race, religion and ethnicity) from Harlem to Compton and all points in between, as they compete in an annual business plan competition run by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

A coin flip decides whether a young couple (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lynn Collins) attends a Fourth of July bash or has a wild adventure in the city.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

From acclaimed writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez comes an outrageous, genre-bending, multi-layered comedy about one day in the lives of ten seemingly disparate women - including a porn star, a flight attendant, a psychiatrist, a masseuse, a bartender and a pair of call girls -- all with one thing in common: trouble. Carla Gugino stars as Elektra Luxx, a world-famous porn star whose future is thrown for a loop with the news that she's pregnant and Adrianne Palicki is Holly Rocket, a not-too-bright adult industry newcomer with an inconvenient aversion to girl-girl action. Their paths intersect with, among others, a hilariously suave British Rock Star (Josh Brolin), a bright neurotic with a dark past and a call girl with a tricky client (Emmanuelle Chriqui). The talented cast also includes Marley Shelton, Simon Baker, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Emmy Rossum (The Day After Tomorrow), Zach Gilford (TV's Friday Night Lights) and Ashley Springer (Teeth) head up a stellar cast including Ana Gasteyer (Mean Girls), Rooney Mara (A Nightmare on Elm Street), comedienne Sandra Bernhard (TV's Roseanne) and Alan Cumming (X2:X-Men United) in this captivating story of high school seniors at the crossroads of their adult lives. When a pompous actor tells good girl Alexa (Rossum) that she hasn¹t lived, she embarks on a bold journey that takes her to mysterious bad boy Johnny (Gilford). Envious, her shy best friend Ben (Springer) also dares to pursue Johnny, complicating Alexa's romance and pushing the boundaries among the three friends.
 

Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In the 1960s this group of rougue DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic, played rock records and broke the law all for the love of music. The songs they played united and defined an entire generation and drove the British government crazy. By playing Rock n Roll they were standing up against the British government who did everything in their power to shut them down. The band of rebels is lead by The Count, played by the Academy Award Winning Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin the boss of Radio Rock, Gavin the greatest DJ in Britian, Midnight Mark, Doctor Dave and Young Carl who comes of age amidst the chaos of sex, drugs and rock n roll. The film features an unbelievable selection of music including The Beatles, The Stones, Beach Boys, Dusty Springfield, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Smokey Robinson, David Bowie, Otis Redding, Cat Stevens just to name a few. The film is laugh out loud funny and speaks to the rock n roll rebel in all of us.

 

Review: Life After 187

Life After 187 by Wade J. Halverson
Publisher Xlibris Corporation
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 238 pages
My Rating: 5/5

Summary: Sentenced to life in prison when he executes the men who murdered his wife, Kane Silver is singled out by the warden for his fighting ability. Along with inmates Valentino Lopez and Si’Ling Lee, Kane is drafted into service and forced to fight for money in high-stakes tournaments. But when the three friends escape during a New Year’s Eve match in Lake Tahoe—saving the warden’s life in the process—their situation becomes more complicated.

My Review: Let me begin by saying Life After 187 really surprised me! I had expected a fictional book about prison life, inmates, and prison fighting but Life After 187 offered so much more.

Kane Silver was brought up military, lost his mother at an early age, lost his wife to a senseless crime, and went to prison for the murder of the men who killed her. Life dealt him some hard knocks but each just made him stronger.

I was impressed with Kane’s leadership skills and how fast the bond was merged with his two inmates Si’Ling and Valentino and how they quickly looked to him to call the shots with total trust and respect.

At first I really was upset with the warden. I remember saying out loud, “Oh NO He Didn’t!” over something he had broadcast over the prison loud speaker and had a feeling that somewhere down the line he was gonna get what he had coming to him. It was a total twist of fate what came next!

Mr. Halverson has created an awesome story here with down to Earth believable characters that will take you on a thrill ride of an adventure! Don’t blink your eyes until the story ends!

Wednesday's Words

Our word for today is

polemic  [puh-lem-ik]
n.


A controversial argument, especially one refuting or attacking a specific opinion or doctrine.
A person engaged in or inclined to controversy, argument, or refutation.



adj. also po·lem·i·cal (-ĭ-kəl)

Of or relating to a controversy, argument, or refutation.



"The worst offense that can be committed by a polemic is to stigmatize those who hold a contrary opinion as bad and immoral men." [John Stuart Mill, 1806-73].

Girl On Top

Review coming soon but here is a fab excerpt provided by the publisher for me to post for you.

10 Ways to Become a Girl on Top  By Nicole Williams,

Author of Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success

She knows how to work a room, she’s always impeccably dressed, and no matter how hard you might try you just can’t seem to break her confidence. Hate her or love her, everyone wants to be her. Here are 10 tactics to achieving your own Girl on Top status:

Know what you want and have the guts to ask for it. There’s nothing worse than being completely tongue-tied when you finally get face time with your boss.

Never offer up too much information—maintaining an air of mystery is always better than being an open book. If you show all of your cards too soon, there’ll be no incentive to keep listening to you.

Know the difference between being nice and being respected, and always opt for the latter. This isn’t high school. There’s more at stake than a seat at the “cool” lunch table.

Don’t make excuses. If you mess up, take the blame and move on. After awhile, people won’t remember the mistake—but they will recall how you tried to weasel out of it.

Live by the rule of One Sexy Thing and pick one body part to flaunt each day. A little leg goes a long way and there’s a fine line between subtly sexy and streetwalker.

Quit badmouthing in-house competition, but always be kept in the gossip loop. It’s fine to know what’s going on, so long as you aren’t the one whose lips are moving.

Don’t waste half a second on those who just aren’t that into you. For every one employer who doesn’t want you, there are 10 who do. Don’t waste your energy on those who don’t appreciate your talents.

Never let yourself become complacent. When it comes down to it, no one is indispensable.

Always have other more attractive options. When the time comes to move on you’ll want that to be your decision, not your employer’s.

Never, ever, let them see you sweat. Leave the room, leave the building if you have to, but never let on that you’re in over your head.

©2009 Nicole Williams, author of Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success

Author Bio

Nicole Williams, author of Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success, is the best-selling author of Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success and Earn What You're Worth, and the founder of WORKS by Nicole Williams, the first media and content company marketed toward young professional women. Her advice is featured regularly in major media outlets including Elle, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, the Wall Street Journal,and the Financial Times. Nicole also regularly appears on The Today Show, ABC's Primetime, Good Morning America, Fox News, and CNN.

You can visit Nicole's websites at http://www.nicolewilliams.com/ and http://www.girlontopbook.com/.

Tuesday Tidbit - Nov 10

"November 10, 1973


Slaughterhouse-Five is burned in North Dakota

On this day in 1973, newspapers report the burning of 36 copies of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

Vonnegut's book was a combination of real events and science fiction. His hero, Billy Pilgrim, was a World War II soldier who witnessed the firebombing of Dresden, as had Vonnegut himself. Pilgrim becomes "unstuck in time" and thereafter lives a double existence-one life on an alien planet where a resigned acceptance of inevitable doom expresses itself philosophically in the hopeless locution "And so it goes." In his life on Earth, Pilgrim preaches the same philosophy. Some found the book's pessimistic outlook and black humor unsuitable for school children.

Vonnegut was born on November 11, 1922, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Cornell and joined the Air Force during World War II. He was captured by Germans and held in Dresden, where he was forced to dig out dead and charred bodies in the aftermath of the city's bombing. After the war, he studied anthropology at the University of Chicago and later wrote journalism and public relations material.

Vonnegut's other novels, including Cat's Cradle (1963), Breakfast of Champions (1973), Galapagos (1985), and others, did not generate as much controversy as Slaughterhouse-Five. His experimental writing style, combining the real, the absurd, the satiric, and the fanciful, attracted attention and made his books popular. Vonnegut is also a gifted graphic artist whose satirical sketches appear in some of his later novels, including Breakfast of Champions."

Review: Bitter Night - Diana Pharaoh Francis

Bitter Night by Diana Pharaoh Frances

Publisher: Pocket Books
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 400
My Rating: 5 / 5

Summary: The ancient Guardians of the earth are preparing to unleash widespread destruction on the mortal world, and they want the witches to help them. If the witches refuse, their covens will be destroyed, including Horngate, the place Max has grudgingly come to think of as home. Max thinks she can find a way to help Horngate stand against the Guardians, but doing so will mean forging dangerous alliances -- including one with a rival witch's Shadowblade, who is as drawn to Max as she is to him -- and standing with the witch she despises. Max will have to choose between the old life she still dreams of and the warrior she has become, and take her place on the side of right -- if she survives long enough to figure out which side that is....

My Review: I finished this up yesterday but had to wait a whole day to calm down enough to write my review! If I had to sum up Bitter Night in one word it would be, magnificent! There is not a lot of sexual or romantic passages in Bitter Night but take my word for it, there are plenty enough thrills and twists that you wont miss it.

Max’s whole life changes on a drunken night and she is cast into a world she never dreamed existed. Now bound by a witch she thought was her friend, she has had to leave her entire world behind and start over in this new frightening and challenging world of witches, magic, and self survival.

Max is forced to do Giselle’s bidding and protect her for the sake of the entire coven. Although she hates Giselle enough to kill her she knows doing so would bring harm to all so she bides her time and does what she has to do to survive and keep her friends alive.

I must admit although I totally loved this book it took me a chapter or so to really get involved in it but once I became familiar with the characters and their powers, weaknesses, and place in the story, I hated to put it down! I really enjoyed the fact Diana made Max so strong and spirited instead of a lost little fraidy cat having to depend on a man to save the day. Max is my hero! I caught myself saying, “You Go Girl!” so many times while reading this book I lost count! I am afraid for Max though because I feel like her bitterness for Giselle is going to cloud her judgment and leave her and her Shadowblades open for trouble.

Review Copy provided by publisher.

To learn more about Diana and her other books she has a cool website HERE

Visit some of the other tour blogs for Bitter Night below:
Book Junkie
Debbie's World Of Books
Starting Fresh
Patrica's Vampire Notes
The Neverending Shelf
My Life In Not So Many Words
Booksie's Blog
Readaholic
Pick of the Literate
Temple Library Reviews
Eclectic Book Lover
Confessions of a Romance Book Addict
The Life & Lies of an Inanimate Flying Object
I Heart Book Gossip
Revenge of the Book Nerds
Jeann'es Ramblings
Fantasy Freak
Must Read Faster
Jen's Book Talk
The Bibliophilic Book Blog
My Adventures in Mommyland
Parajunkie's View
Crazy Books Reviews
The Book Tree

What We're Reading Mondays

This totally cool mele is hosted by JKaye

I finished up

The Magic Warble

Bitter Night

In the Middle of:

Life After 187

Girl On Top

The Risen-Queen of the Ghost Drakon

Next up:

The Secret of Joy

Dark Stranger

Ancient Walls

In My Mailbox (5)

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - audio cd's for review

Gifts of Love - Kay Hooper & Lisa Kleypas - mom

Suddenly One Summer - Barbara Freethy - mom

Dark Stranger - Susan Sizemore - for review

The Perfect Husband - Lisa Gardner - RABCK

The Remnant - Gilbert Morris - RABCK

Once A Witch - Carolyn MacCullough - for review

Bitter Night - Diana Pharoah Francis - for review

The Secret of Joy - Melissa Senate - for review

Seven - Jacqueline Leo - for review

Madeline City & Other Tales - Steven Maus - for review

Evolution of a Sad Woman - Gale Laure - for review

From Darkness to Light - Lynn Christopher Roby - for review