sassymonkey

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  1. The Cost of Fame

    5/24/12 7:31pm by sassymonkey
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    One of the things Adam Wilde struggles with in Gayle Forman's Where She Went is the isolation that results from his rise to fame. Adam is already struggling with loss and grief when the band makes it big. It can even be said Adam's loss and grief is what drives the band's material. Grief can be isolating by itself but now that Adam's famous, everyone wants a piece of him.  Read more >

  2. You Don't Want To Be On Helen's List

    5/24/12 3:49pm by sassymonkey
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    I really, really liked Helen Williams. Helen is the mother of actress Vanessa Williams, co-author of You Have No Idea and a woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind. As Vanessa's mother she's seen her child exposed to ridicule and just plain mean comments in the media. That's not an easy thing for any mother to deal with so how does she cope? She has her list. And you don't want to be on it.  Read more >

  3. "The Great Gatsby" as You've Never Seen it Before (Trailer)

    5/23/12 5:34am by sassymonkey in BlogHer Book Chat Comments (4)
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    The internet is buzzing this morning after the trailer for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan. From the moment the trailer starts rolling you know this isn't any Gatsby you've seen before. Who else but Luhrmann would pair Gatsby with Jay-Z and Kanye?  Read more >

  4. The I Suck at Meal Planning Edition

    5/22/12 11:16am by sassymonkey in Loving food and sharing recipes! Comments (2)
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    I don't know why we didn't make a meal plan last week. Maybe because last Monday was my birthday and I don't do things like meal plan on my birthday. I'm kidding. I *totally* plan my meals on my birthday. For a long time it was a "must have Mexican food on my birthday" plan, which was partly superstition (this rule did not get followed on my 25th birthday and well, it was just a horrid birthday), partly tradition (it started when I was 18) and partly a really good excuse to drink margaritas.  Read more >

  5. Do You Trust the Right People?

    5/18/12 11:47am by sassymonkey
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    Vanessa Williams didn't always trust the right people. She made this clear in You Have No Idea, the book that she and her mother, Helen Williams, wrote together. She mistrusted two photographers much to her detriment. Not many people would have bounced back successfully from being forced to step down as Miss America but Vanessa did. This is in part due to her also putting her trust in the right people.  Read more >

  6. Where She Went: A Day Can Change Your Life

    5/16/12 8:27am by sassymonkey
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    Where She Went Gayle Forman

    Life can change in an instant. Sometimes we have a choice, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we have whole days filled with choices that mean our life will never be the same. That is where Gayle Forman excels. She did it first when she took us through a day in Mia's life in If I Stay. Now she's back, shooting us three years into the future to tell us Adam's story in Where She Went. You won't be able to put this book down.  Read more >

  7. This is Your Brain on Music

    5/16/12 8:21am by sassymonkey
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    Music is almost its own character in Gayle Forman's Where She Went. Not only are Adam and Mia both musicians, music was what brought them together. It was important to their relationship with each other, but it was also an integral part of who they were individually. Music was part of them.  Read more >

  8. Do You Ask For Help?

    5/10/12 3:15pm by sassymonkey
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    One of the things that quickly becomes evident while reading Vanessa Williams' memoir You Have No Idea is that she has a great support system. One of her biggest supporters is her mother and co-author, Helen. It was interesting to read about the pair of them because they get along well, yet in many ways they are opposites. Vanessa knew she could ask for help when she needed it. Helen wasn't someone who really ever asked for help. I think I fall somewhere between them.  Read more >

  9. On Useless Trivia and Facts

    5/9/12 1:49pm by sassymonkey
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    When I read Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas my first reaction was that I didn't have much in common with the main character. I was born in North America. I've only ever experienced war through books and movies. It didn't seem like there was much on the surface that Jonas and I would have in common.  Read more >

  10. Meal Plan Monday, May 7

    5/7/12 3:48pm by sassymonkey in Loving food and sharing recipes! Comments (11)
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    I've had a busy day. My meal plan has been sitting in front of me since noon and this is the first chance I've had to write up this post! Ever have days like that? Monday - We had a big lunch so we're just going to have salad and bread for dinner. And some of these salted caramel banana nut muffins that the fake husband made. I don't even like banana-y things but they smell really good. Tuesday - Lamb stew!  Read more >

Karen Ballum

Full Name
Karen Ballum
Member Since
January 2006
About Me: 

Hi, I'm Karen Ballum, but I'm better know around the web as Sassymonkey.

I live in Ottawa, Ontario -- Canada's national capital. (No, I do not like politics or work for the government.) Keeping me company are my husband and cat, commonly known on the internet as the Fake Husband and the Fake Cat. Last I checked they were both still very real to most people but according to Denise, it's not real unless she can see it.

I have been blogging since 2004 on my personal blog, Sassymonkey.ca, and started my book blog, Sassymonkey Reads, in August of 2005. I read a lot and found I was starting to forget which books I had read and what I had thought of it. So I started my book blog as way of helping me track the books I had read.

I may have a slight addition to the overuse of parentheses. (Maybe.) (Sometimes.) (It's a sickness but one I am not seeking help for.)

I am the Section Editor for Books here on BlogHer as well as the BlogHer Book Club Host.

 

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