I only read the first three chapters of By The Book by Julia Sonneborn and I was hooked.
I entered a giveaway for the book but knew in my heart that nothing would keep me from being swept up into Anne Corey’s world of literature and those that love it.
I read the majority of this book in the time span of twelve hours because the plot was both seamless and still surprising.
It contained my favorite type of love story but in an entirely new way: a love triangle where two men of different character fall in love with the same girl and makes hints about their true intentions in order to gain her affections in return.
It is the perfect read for anyone who considers themselves a bibliophile and already has blueprinted their dream library.
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Social media is an absolute wonder. It creates a sense of instant gratification. It connects you with millions of strangers.
All with the click of a button.
Yet, it also creates this image of “the perfect life” that no one can achieve AND be human.
Social media or obsessing over your identity over those platforms leaves room to puppet string or enlarge our deepest fears and insecurities as people.
The greatest thing is this book used that notion to tell a story of twenty-something English-farmgirl Katie Brenner, who after graduating from college, reinvents herself and loses her country accent to appear more high-society. Her new identity? London city girl named Cat. This is all so she can fit the mold of those around her while working at an ad agency as a junior associate with dreams of being a project manager.
This book really makes you take a second look at societal norms, relationship standards in today’s dating world, and most deeply, the imperfect human condition that should be more accepted and less altered.
Overall, the reader will leave this book realizing that things and people are not always prim and proper as they appear.
Prior to crying a bucket of tears watching the post-game Superbowl themed episode of #ThisIsUs finally sharing the story of how Jack died, there were many ads during the game that pulled at our heart strings, spoke a profound truth, or just plain tickled our funny bone so without further ado, here is how they stacked up in my opinion.
My favorite ad featured an Olympic athlete and a classic rock anthem and it was beyond epic. It got me stoked for the Winter Olympics coming this week to NBC.
I am referring to this ad right here:
My second favorite ad of the entire line-up was an ad where the speaker was given credit right in the beginning, the ad showcased the spirit of American people being best known for greatness, and true greatness is found in humbling oneself to the mindset of serving.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s actual audio was used in the ad where he was directly quoting the book of Matthew and the words of Jesus. I’m referring to Dodge Truck’s Built To Serve ad.
The next commercial that had me laughing and intrigued was for my favorite beer brand. It showed people during the Medieval Times immersed in a battle and the Bud Knight appears and invites them to a party by saying, “Hey, if you survive, you should come by.”
The following ad was so outside of the box it really made me think and laugh all at the same time. It featured David Harbour from Stranger Things and made the viewer re-think all the other ads showed during the game.
Sometimes we forget about the people who answer the call. The nameless faces that are the real heroes. Yes, I’m referring to the first responders of all tragedies and difficulties we as humans face, not to mention the recent terror attacks and mass shootings we’ve faced within our country.
The last but certainly not least ad that had me hooked from the start to finish was the partnership ad of Doritos vs. Mountain Dew playing up their new products with appearances by Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman while having them lip sync to big names in hip-hop music is Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot.
Of course, we can’t talk about the Superbowl without discussing the half-time show starring Justin Timberlake. Although, I thought it was a great show, it was way too short of a half-time show and I blame NBC for that because they wanted to fit in the post-game episode of This Is Us.
#PepsiHalftime Justin’s set was legendary. He brought sexy back, turned the field into a disco ball, and saluted Prince. There is no one anywhere that can stop this feeling.
The Smart Cookie Philes 