Gurl!!! Finish it!!! or This be what I do in my free time...

Every Wednesday I am going to update where I am at with reading or watching things. This is just a nice little feature for myself partially to have a record of stuff I have started, finished, read, watched, and all that business. I will also include a little bit of why I am reading it or watching that particular thing. Also it will help keep ME on track because I stop reading or watching stuff way too much, so this will help me hold tight to sticking with one darn thing. Anyone reading this also can hold me accountable on what I have been reading and if never moves to "Last Finished" or "Recently Finished" you can be like GURL!!! FINISH IT. 

Last Finished: On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony

I literally finished this book today. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, since it was a book that was placed before me by my partner. Often I do not find myself enjoying books that are in the fantasy or sci-fi genre, which this book is in both, but this had me hooked. Characterization is on point, settings are done well, and almost every single aspect of it was done well. There are moments that I am taken out of the story simply because it incorporates the future with magic, so hearing about dragons right after you heard about a car was weird. Overall though it was a good read.

Currently Reading: Bearing an Hourglass by Piers Anthony and The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

After finishing "On a Pale Horse" and enjoying it so much I am immediately going into the next book, which for anyone that knows me knows this is a feat because I do not go immediately into series like this. I am a one and then take some time and then go to the next after reading other books for awhile. Largely because I easily get oversaturated. I am, however, looking forward to reading this next book in the "Incarnations of Immortality" series by Piers Anthony. This book focuses on Chronos (Time), which will be interesting since I always feel like I have so little of it. I am keeping "The Witching Hour" on here though I have not made any progress past the first fifty pages so far because I have become so focused on the Piers Anthony books. I am promising myself that I will return to this one though after I finish the third book in the Anthony series.

Currently Watching: "Steven Universe" on Hulu

I pretty much keep up-to-date on this show through Hulu, which means I am always a season or so behind everyone else. I do not mind this though because I still enjoy watching it regardless. My partner and I have about 8 episodes left in season 3. My favorite characters are Peridot and Lapis, which I think are two of the more popular characters on the show anyways. I will review the season after I am finished. I may go back and review the first two seasons at some point as well. 

Recently Finished: "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" Season 3 and "Dear White People" season 1

I finished "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" around Friday of this last week. It is one of those shows that I tend to binge-watch when it comes out, which is weird since I hate to binge-watch anything. Seems like I have the same issue I have with books about marathoning a series with television shows as well. I tend to not to want to get through them that quickly, sometimes taking a lot longer than probably they even aired, but everytime Kimmy premieres it never takes me long to get through all the episodes. This is largely because the show has a certain charm and positivity to it even through all the crap that is being portrayed. It makes me laugh and feel good, which is what I need in my life. I am thankful that I have already seen that it was renewed for a fourth season, especially since the third season felt a little anti-climatic at the end. I do not feel though that this is a show about exciting cliffhanger finales, but instead is focused on just being a damn good show! 

Last week at some point I also finished "Dear White People" which was a bit of a more socially conscious show with a message to tell the audience. It wants us to understand different aspects of life that POC have to deal with on a regular basis. It is handled in a funny manner at times and in a very real in your face matter at others. It balances between these two elements perfectly. I wish there was something I could say to get more people to watch this show, but I know that it has been heavily criticized for being racist itself. It is NOT. It is an important show about an important part of society. This group is facing real issues, racial issues, in our society and this focuses so masterfully on them and shows us the humanity under the people that are often pushed to the side in society. If I could force people to watch any show it would be this one. It is needed and the conversation it stirs is so vital. I cannot express that enough.

"Am I a Girlboss?" or finding inspiration anywhere

#Girlboss

by 

Sophia Amoruso

This was a book that I checked out from the public library. I am not sure how I heard about this particular book, but somehow it got on my radar. I went to see if the library had a copy, which they did. The book was checked out at the time, so I put it on hold. The book came in and this was basically the cover:

Going into this book I had not heard of Sophia Amoruso or NastyGal.com, which is surprising given the fact that I do a lot of looking at clothing stores online (I discovered later there was probably a good reason I had not come across it in my various searches, which I will discuss below). The main reason I picked up this book was because I simply had a desire to read a book that I felt would be inspiring and also I wanted to fully embrace whatever it was that a #Girlboss was. 

The book is a big "work your butt off" inspirational message to women. Amoruso discusses how she went from having nothing to selling vintage clothing from thrift stores on eBay. The selling of clothes on eBay eventually became and launched NastyGal.com into a major fashion competitor.  The story she shares is a lot of advice to the average woman on how to be what she says is a #Girlboss or someone that takes charge of their life. The type of person she discusses here is someone that does not wait for opportunity, but one that makes their own. The picture below sums up the overall message that the book is trying to portray to the reader.

As a book that I was hoping to draw inspiration from it was a great kick in the pants for me. For example, it is one of the reasons that I decided to finally start doing this project of this blog. I had been putting it off because of a million excuses that I kept telling myself, but this book made me recognize that I could keep saying those things or just do what I wanted with my own life. I am taking my own version of #Girlboss from this book, which I think is the point. This book serves a purpose. It is a bit scattered in its logical flow, but overall if you are going into this just for a bit of inspiration you will get a good read. If you are going into this for some connection on how to start your own successful business, there are better books out there for you and this is not that kind of book. It was, however, a good book for me to read at this particular stage of my life. I appreciated it for what it is.

My favorite quote from this particular read was probably this one because it is accurate. One should never allow others to define aspects of yourself. If they are that is when you need to remember this quote:

WHO I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS TO: People needing motivation or inspiration, Females, #Girlbosses, Entrepreneurs, Quick Readers, and Grammar Nazis (She goes in on spelling).

WHO I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO: People looking for a business plan or better understanding of business, hard nose realists, Conservative individuals, and those that hate grammar nazis.

You may purchase #Girlboss here:

Amazon

Half Price Books

Barnes and Noble

(If you have a place you like to purchase books regularly from let me know in the comments and I will link it regularly here. Just let me know!)

You can find me on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/59000535-cassandra-winters

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Since reading this book I discovered a little bit more about Sophia Amoruso. I did discover that she has stepped down from NastyGal.com due to issues that she has faced from a business standpoint. This does not taint my review here of her or this book because it still serves the purpose of being inspirational in nature. Sometimes people have things that happen in life after they publish and this is just one of those instances.

I would also like to state that a series based on this book will be coming to NETFLIX at some point. It is being produced by Charlize Theron. It is going to chronicle the more upstart part of the book where she was trying to make a successful business from selling stuff on eBay. I look forward to when it launches.