Book Reviews by a Chick Who Reads Everything

Guidance from the Universe: Hopeful Messages for Everyday Challenges Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read plenty of self-help books over the years, and they have been good. I may not always reread them, but I take away at least one thing from each. With today’s book Guidance from the Universe: Hopeful Messages for Everyday Challenges by Jill Amy Sager, it was different. It uses Tarot cards to provide advice on how to deal with life and everyday obstacles. But more importantly, it spoke to me because of its simple, but effective structure and how open and honest the author was with her experiences.

Guidance from the Universe: Hopeful Messages for Everyday Challenges is a self-help memoir of how the author achieved enlightenment and self-acceptance through Tarot readings. Jill grew up physically disabled and felt unloveable. However, after she discovered Tarot cards, she unexpectedly channeled wisdom from a sage source that she calls “Guidance.” This allowed her to transform into a confident woman who felt comfortable in her own skin. She shares 30 insightful messages from “Guidance” alongside personal stories that showcase how those teachings have improved her life and it can with others.

I never dabbled in Tarot cards, but I have a friend who loves them. When we were on our spring break in Boston during our senior year of college, we stumbled upon a Tarot card shop. She was elated, while I was more muted. I didn’t fully understand what made them special outside of fortune telling. As a result, I wasn’t expecting to get much out of this book. However, I found myself enjoying it, and it gave me better comprehension on what Tarot cards actually are. It’s not just predicting the future. They help guide people through various challenges.

Sager made this possible with the simply structure and her personable writing. Each chapter is about a different topic like Awareness, Anger, Choice, Shame, etc. It starts off with what “Guidance” says about it initially. Then, it transitions into a personal story that involves that subject and how “Guidance’s” message helped her to rethink it. At the end, Sager provides a set of questions that assists readers in their own spiritual journey. Theoretically, the chapters could be read in any order, or people could look at any one depending on what they’re dealing with. It’s truly up to the reader.

I ended up perusing the entire memoir because of how open and honest Sager was. She grew up with a shorter leg, but after a series of surgeries that failed to fix that problem, she became more insecure about her body. In addition, she had a fraught relationship with her mother, whom she portrays as cold and unattentive. This, in turn, sadly informed future relationships, in which she didn’t treat her partners well. While Sager shares plenty of stories, two common threads involve her disability and her mother. This hit me because I’m neurodivergent, and my mom and I didn’t always see eye to eye while I was growing up. I wanted to know how she was able to accept her physical issues and forgive her mother.

Of all the self-help books I’ve read, this is my personal favorite. I liked The Indispensable Element: Six Keys to Lead Yourself to Success in Your Life, Work, and Relationships by Micah E. Huggins, Esq. However, it had a little too much of a religious tone for me. Guidance From the Universe is more spiritual, which allows people from all religions to enjoy it. Meanwhile, I was fascinated by how NeuroMastery: Retraining Your Brain to Conquer Anxiety, Fear, and Panic Attacks by Ugochukwu Uche MS., LPC used biology to lessen anxiety and panic attacks, but it was too repetitive and didn’t acknowledge situations in which trauma has been with people for their entire life. Although Sager certainly repeats herself quite a lot, she’s able to phrase her points in different ways, so it still feels fresh. I was also intrigued by how she has dealt with a lifelong disability. Additionally, as much as I love Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness by Deb Miller, my main takeaway was the Disney Princess analogies (to be fair, that’s the point). And yes, I adore Big Love by Bari Beckett, yet I have to be in a certain mood to reread it. With Guidance From the Universe, I feel that I can look at it any time and take away a lot.

Guidance from the Universe: Hopeful Messages for Everyday Challenges by Jill Amy Sager is as of now my favorite self-help book. I wasn’t expecting much when I first came across this memoir, yet I’m glad I read it. I loved how honest she was with her disability, relationships, and all of the choices she made even if it didn’t make her look good. I admired how “Guidance” gave her strength and awareness to analyze her feelings and take actions that aid in her healing. To quote Goodreads reviewer ♡︎.ᐟજ⁀➴ Erie, I would recommend it to “anyone seeking daily encouragement and insight, readers drawn to spiritual and intuitive wisdom, [and] those navigating life changes and personal growth.”

Go grab it wherever you get your books.

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Such Good People Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Sparkpoint Studio in exchange for an honest review.

In all my years of reviewing books, there’s one storyline that I’ve never talked about: the bad-things-happen-to-good-people plot. It’s exactly what readers think it is. These kinds of tales can be predictable in their story beats and outcome. However, if the characters and their situations are compelling enough, then readers will remain interested in seeing how it unfolds. Today’s novel Such Good People by Amy Blumenfeld does this kind of story well, especially with the environments and characters, even though the ending felt rushed.

Such Good People is about the ripple effect of a split-second decision to save a friend. On a Thursday night during her spring semester of her freshman year of college, April is standing at the back of a Manhattan bar, waiting for her friend Rudy to arrive. Their eyes lock when he arrives. In a moment, lives are changed forever. Within hours, Rudy is arrested. Within days, April is expelled. Within weeks, he’s put in prison. Within months, she meets Peter, a prodigious young lawyer who makes her world whole again. About 15 years later, April is married to Peter, has three children, and works a fulfilling career. On the eve of Peter’s election to local office, Rudy is up for parole. Headlines about April’s past explode and jeopardize Peter’s campaign and everything they hold dear. She is faced with an impossible task: protect the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life possible.

I love how Blumenfeld describes the environments in this story. I could imagine the townhouse April and her parents lived in Brooklyn as small, but warm with red walls. This is easily why Rudy always feels welcomed and develops his relationship with that family, and it sharply contrasts with the prison he’s in. Additionally, the condo where April, Peter, and their kids live is painted as white and overlooks the Chicago skyline. It’s a far cry from where she grew up with how prestigious and delicate it is, but it’s still a loving place. Also, it reflects the precarious nature of their stances, especially with Rudy’s situation.

The author’s also fantastic with character development. I love how she takes her time in establishing the relationship between April and Rudy as well as their families. It helped to show how much each means to the other. In addition, each character has their own blurred lines when it comes to the inciting incident. Rudy may or may not have done some things, and the same goes with April. Certain readers might yell at the latter for her actions, yet I understood where she was coming from even though I didn’t agree with them at all. Even April and Peter’s marriage is jeopardized because of the incident. Plus, there’s even a bit of a redemptive arc for one of the supporting characters, which was nice to see. It all made me excited and nervous to see how everything was going to get resolved.

The issue that holds it back from being truly great is how rushed the ending was. It had a beautiful setup, especially how the flashback is fleshed out during the first half of the novel, and it continues to build until the climax. I wanted to know what was going to happen, and then, the finale was a thud. Everything in the third act was resolved fairly quickly. I was particularly curious to know more about how Rudy was able to readjust after being in prison for so long and how he was going to move from April. Instead, things happened in a way that made me say, “Oh. Ok.”

I wanted Blumenfeld to flesh out the end in the same way she did for the first two acts. It may have resulted in a longer book, but it would have been more satisfying.

Such Good People by Amy Blumenfeld is a really good novel about the grey area surrounding the crime supposedly committed. The author takes plenty of time establishing locations and three-dimensional characters who try to be such good people despite the circumstances. Unfortunately, the ending felt like it needed to resolve everything all at once instead of letting it unfold naturally. Despite that problem, I would recommend it to readers who like books about injustice and morally grey characters like Atonement by Ian McEwan and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Such Good People comes out tomorrow, July 8, so grab it wherever you get your books.

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Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography Book Review

I like Peanuts. The holiday specials were always a must-see for most of my life. While I’m not the biggest fan, I’ve always enjoyed the cartoons and the 2015 Peanuts movie. I love doing the dances that were popularized by the Christmas special. When I came across the book Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis that tells the life story of Charles M. Schulz – the creator of the original comic strip, I thought it would be intriguing, and it certainly was. It’s great for any Peanuts aficionado, Charlie Brown if one is willing to look at both the savory and unsavory parts of the cartoonist’s life.

Schulz and Peanuts is the first full-length biography of Charles M. Schulz. Charles Schulz, the most widely syndicated and beloved cartoonist of all time, is also one of the most misunderstood figures in American culture. Now, David Michaelis provides the means to pull back the curtain to see how this private man helped to shape the national imagination. The son of a barber, Schulz was born in Minnesota to modest, working class roots. In 1943, just three days after his mother′s tragic death from cancer, he was shipped out for boot camp and the war in Europe. The sense of shock and separation never left him. And these early experiences would shape him for the rest of his life. With Peanuts, Schulz embedded adult ideas in a world of small children to remind the reader that character flaws and childhood wounds are with us always. That comic strip profoundly influenced the country in the second half of the 20th century. But the strip was anchored in the collective experience and hardships of Schulz′s generation-the generation that survived the Great Depression and liberated Europe and the Pacific and came home to build the post-war world.

Before I begin, I have to address the controversy that surrounded the biography when it was published in 2007. When Michaelis wrote it, Charles Schulz’s family gave him access to all kinds of materials. However, they, especially Charles’s eldest son Monty, expressed dissatisfaction when the biography was released. These grievances were listed in a New York Times article. I won’t go through each of them here, but I’ll sum them up as this: they were concerned with the omission of certain facts and how many unsavory details that were included in the book like Charles’ melancholy and his affair during his first marriage.

Even though the book has tabloid elements, I felt that it was fair towards its subject. Michaelis illustrates Schulz as a man who was never able to be happy. The cartoonist even said that himself during his honeymoon with his first wife Joyce Halverson. Even when she built so many things for him like an ice rink, he still couldn’t be as affectionate as she wanted him to be. Good grief! At the same time, the author acknowledges that the creator had the knack to translate his melancholic nature into the Peanuts comic strip, which is what made it special. How much influence Schulz’s friends and family had on the comics is debatable. As Michaelis points out, the humorist would say that they didn’t have much input outside of names, yet there were interviews that revealed that he may or may not have used some things that his kids did that made it into the strip.

If I had one complaint, it would be that I wish it focused more on the Peanuts strips and cartoons. The biography spends a lot of time on Schulz and rightfully so, but it would have been good to see how he felt about various characters, the cartoons, the Broadway musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, etc. It does that a little bit by admitting that Schulz infused parts of his personality into Schroeder, Snoopy, and Charlie Brown, yet how did he react to the other things? For example, how did he feel about A Charlie Brown Christmas winning an Emmy? I would have liked to see more of that.

Holter Graham narrates the audiobook. He’s been in movies like Maximum Overdrive, the original Hairspray, and Fly Away Home, but he’s best known for his work on audiobooks like Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenton, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff, and The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett Graff as well as being the voice of HBO. For a book that’s over 600 pages, Graham is great at maintaining a steady pace that never slogs. In addition, he infuses enough emotion, so readers can feel the gravity of the situation being described. I can see why he’s often in demand as a narrator, especially for nonfiction stories. The main downside of the audiobook was the lack of photographs. Apparently, the physical book had plenty of them, which would have helped to see what Michaelis was talking about, particularly how he describes specific Peanuts strips and Schulz’s crushes aka his girlfriends. Nonetheless, the audiobook was still worth listening to due to Graham’s performance.

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis is a good read, Charlie Brown. It packs so much information about Charles Schulz’s life in an unbiased manner. Are there things that people might be uncomfortable with given his wholesome image? Yes, but then again, not everyone is a saint. As I mentioned earlier, I would definitely recommend this to Peanuts fans as long as they know what they’re getting into. It’s not a perfect biography, but it’s still worth the read.

Before I go, I want to let everyone know that I recorded another episode of the Adapt Me Podcast this month. Jesse McAnally – co-host of The Cheese Wheel Podcast – and I will discuss how we would adapt this biography. Check it out at this link!

Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates. Also feel free to email me here for any review suggestions, ideas, or new titles!

Adapt Me Podcast – Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography

Hi Everybody!

The latest episode of the Adapt Me Podcast is up right now. In it, guest and The Cheese Wheel Podcast co-host Jesse McAnally and I talk about how we would adapt Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis into a movie. We discuss the “Peanuts” legacy and how the people around Charles Schulz were more interesting in this shamless advertisement for the State of Michigan. Check it out at this link!

Tomorrow, I will have a review of Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis up on this website, so check it out then!

Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates. Also feel free to email me here for any review suggestions, ideas, or new titles!

An Adolescent’s Soul Grows in the North Woods Book Review

Full disclosure: The author of the book that I am about to review is a patron at a library that I work at. All of the opinions stated in this review are solely mine.

I’ve been reviewing Robert C. Jones’s “North Woods” series for a while now, and I’ve always been curious to see how it would evolve. We started off with Bobby trying to protect a fox and her pups in The Tale of the Red Fox in the North Woods. Then, there was him realizing that adults keep secrets while people are injured and murdered while a new hospital is being built in A Young Soul Maturing during Another Summer in the North Woods on the Big Lake. Where will he go from here? Well, Jones’s next title An Adolescent’s Soul Grows in the North Woods answers that question. It’s a nice evolution in the story with its maturing tone and some developing relationships.

An Adolescent’s Soul Grows in the North Woods is about the now teenager Bob as he visits his aunt and uncle during another summer in the North Woods. Bobby, now Bob, has spent his summer vacations with his uncle and aunt at their Northern Woods resort for over ten years. This time, he bonds with his uncle on their many adventures together. They fish and go to the dump. They also find a dead body along with a strange contraption in a shed, so they investigate. Wherever Uncle goes, Bob goes with him. In addition, he has experiences with other characters like Daniel, Janina, Heather, and Mr. Way the butcher.

While the previous two books targeted late elementary-middle school kids, this is for an early teen audience. Bobby is now 15 years old, and he’s maturing. He’s starting to view the opposite sex in a different way. Bobby had some feelings for Janina in A Young Soul. Here, he ponders whether or not age matters when one is in love and is introduced to Heather – Janina’s outgoing younger sister. She too is 15 years old. He develops feelings for her during the course of the book.

Additionally, he’s beginning to see how not everything is black and white. This translates into the story itself, where nothing is clear cut. This is a mass departure from the other “North Woods” books, where things were neatly resolved. Even the obviously evil villain who appears in one scene may not be the culprit. It’s a nice evolution in Bob’s story.

There are two parts in the book. The first involves the adventures Bob has during the summer. The second part sees him visiting his aunt and uncle again for Thanksgiving. While the first two books end on a satisfying note and a learning moment, this one concludes on a somber tone. All I can say about it is that it kind of comes out of nowhere, but it fits with the maturing mood of the story.

Another part that I enjoyed was the bond between Bob and Uncle. In the previous novels, Uncle is a mentor to Bob. Here, there are more on equal footing. Uncle lets his nephew in on more adult matters like business deals that he has going on. Moreover, he allows Bob to work on tasks that he didn’t have before. For example, he trusts Bob to measure out the land that he and Aunt recently purchased for a new home and to help him while they fish. I like how Uncle is willing to be more transparent due to the events that transpired in A Young Soul.

I only have one complaint. I wish Daniel and his family had more spotlight. They are mostly in the scene, in which Bob goes to Daniel’s sister’s quinceañera. He spends most of that time embracing Mexican culture and bonding with Heather. Later on, Daniel gets accused of committing the crime mentioned earlier. However, readers never find out what he feels about it, for the focus is about Bob and his increasingly conflicted emotions about everything. Daniel is more involved in A Young Soul, so this is a bit of a letdown. I wish we would get to know him more as a character and not just as a vessel for Bob to learn more about migrant workers in Northern Michigan.

An Adolescent’s Soul Grows in the North Woods by Robert C. Jones is a good continuation of the “North Woods” series. While I might prefer the other titles, I appreciate its change of tone. It’s maturer than the others with Bob feeling conflicted on a lot of things and how not everything is clear-cut. I also enjoy how Bob and Uncle bond more on an equal level as the former comes into his own. I would recommend it for 13-15 year olds, especially if they like coming-of-age stories as well as their grandparents who want to relive their younger days and love Jones’s other books. Like before, I’m curious to see how Jones continues with the “North Woods” series.

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Interview with Deb Miller

Hello Everyone,

We have something special for you all on Book Reviews by a Chick Who Reads Everything today. We have award-winning author Deb Miller on today. She is the author of the new book Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness. You can see my interview with her down below.

Emily: Many books and articles have analyzed female empowerment through the Disney-Princess lens. What was the catalyst for using that framework for your memoir?

My personal transformation felt like it unfolded in step with the cultural shift happening for women everywhere. The feminist movements of the ’70s and ’80s cracked the glass slipper ceiling, reshaping expectations around gender roles, sexual freedom, and career paths. These are big, complex themes—and I needed a storytelling framework that was both relatable and engaging.

Then I remembered Peggy Orenstein’s provocative New York Times piece, “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?”—and had an epiphany: what could be more universal than Disney?

As I wrote, the soundtrack of those iconic princess films played in my head. The evolution from Snow White to Moana became the perfect metaphor for how women’s roles—and my own—had transformed. Peggy and I have since connected, and I thank her in my book’s acknowledgments.

And yes, there’s even a timeline video that brings these parallel evolutions to life—on my website and TikTok. Worth a watch!

Emily: How did your family, including your ex-husbands, react to your book?

Deb: My mom was incredibly proud. She passed away peacefully a year ago at age 98, but she knew about the book and told everyone she knew—it was her final bragging right.

My oldest daughter, an English major, read various drafts over the years and offered thoughtful edits. My son, an attorney, took a more formal approach—he waited until it was “in writing” and was one of the first to receive an advance reader copy. And my youngest daughter is pure Gen Z: she approved select passages early on, then said she’d wait for the audiobook to digest the whole thing. (Good news—the audiobook just dropped!)

Both daughters work in marketing and have been wonderfully creative and involved. Hadley and I appeared on a mother/daughter podcast about the book, and Ally recorded a hilarious home tour video with me for TikTok, à la #73QuestionsWithVogue.

As for their dads? I left it up to the kids whether or not to give them a heads-up.

Emily: Who is your favorite Disney Princess and why?

Deb: My 5-year-old granddaughter, Bee, asked me this same question recently—and I told her my favorites are the three “M” princesses: Mulan, Merida, and Moana. They’re all strong, independent warrior princesses… like me.

But if I had to choose just one, it’s Merida from Brave. Partly because my family has deep Scottish roots—but mostly because of who brought her to life. Brenda Chapman sketched the character based on her own daughter, then wrote and directed the film, and won an Academy Award.

And here’s the full-circle moment: Brenda Chapman read Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness this year, describing the book as “inspiring” and specifically highlighting my role as a mom. I’m still smiling about that.

Emily: In your opinion, why do some women feel compelled to live the traditional princess path? Why do they hold back from pursuing their own happiness?

Deb: For many of us, it starts with who we were raised to admire. In my case, my role model was my mom—a real-life June Cleaver. She was the perfect wife, the devoted homemaker, and she made it look effortless. From an early age, I was taught what a “proper young lady” should do, say, and want.

In the book, I actually share a series of “Lessons”—many of them passed down from my mom in flashbacks. Lesson #1? The Princess Path: be pretty, be polite, and wait for Prince Charming.

But as the story unfolds, the lessons begin to flip—this time coming from my kids, reflecting back what I had taught them, sometimes unknowingly. Thankfully, their lessons sounded more like: Be yourself. Be happy.

It’s not always easy to rewrite the script we were handed. But once you realize you can, it changes everything.

Emily: What is the best way to achieve happiness?

Deb: So many women spend decades doing for others—raising kids, caring for parents and partners, building careers, holding families together. We’re excellent at showing up for everyone else.

But at some point, the question shifts: What do I want now? What brings me joy?

To me, the key is defining happiness on your own terms. Not your mother’s. Not society’s. Yours. The real fairy tale isn’t about finding a prince—it’s to find yourself. And that’s a really happy ending.

Emily: At one point, you went through a divorce with your first husband while you had young children. How were you able to work and raise your kids?

Deb: I actually wrote a speech called “Pick Two” that explores this very topic—it’s featured in the book.

It definitely wasn’t easy being a warrior princess as a mostly single mom. But we made it work—and even found ways to have fun along the way. I brought my kids into my world whenever I could. I asked for their input on my marketing projects, and I included them in my travels. That exposure helped them see the bigger picture, and I think it shaped their worldview. All three had international internships while in college. Two have partners whose parents were from other countries. Two of my three kids even ended up in marketing themselves!

Emily: I was truly amazed by the amount of accomplishments that you had (i.e. being the vice president of several Fortune 500 companies). What was your greatest achievement?

Deb: That’s simple: my three kids.

Emily: What is the one thing that you want readers to take away?

Deb: The title says it all. If you can “Forget the Fairy Tale” then, you can “Find Your Happiness.” As one author said about the book, “It’s a modern-day fairy tale that will empower little girls for generations to come.”

Emily: I run the “Adapt Me Podcast,” where a guest and I talk about books that have never been adapted and how we would go about it. Who would you cast as your family?

Deb: I love this question—and I’m going to flip it a bit.

Rather than a movie or TV series, I imagine Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness as a Broadway musical. But here’s the twist: the cast and script stay the same—what changes each week is the music and costumes.

One week, it’s performed with Disney princess songs. The next, it’s country hits, oldies, or Taylor Swift anthems. (I’ve got playlists for each chapter—some are on my website, and some I’m saving for book clubs.) One of my students even created a Taylor Swift version, explaining, “Taylor has a song for every situation—just like the scenes in your book!”

The goal? Audiences would come back again and again—because each version hits a different note.

Emily: What are some projects that you are working on now?

Deb: Right now, I’m in the thick of some creative and unconventional book launch events. In Seattle, there’s a “Pub Day at the Pub”—combining books and beer—and we’re following it up with a “Theatrical Crossover” event at Barnes & Noble, where actresses will perform scenes from the book instead of a traditional author reading.

There are more stops ahead as I take the show on the road—plus podcast appearances and a couple of thought-provoking panels. One this fall rebrands memoir as “True Story”—a cousin to the popular True Crime genre…because who doesn’t love a true story, and we need the truth more than ever right now. Another panel, with fellow professors, explores the pursuit of happiness through the lens of science, storytelling, and self-discovery.

And when I’m not doing all that?
I’m home in my very own enchanted forest, where the landscaping projects are both endless and oddly therapeutic.

Emily: Where can people find you?

Deb: Everything about the book is labeled with the book name.

Forgetthefairytale.NET

@forget_the_fairy_tale on Instagram

Forgethefairytale on TikTok

Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness by Deb Miller is out now. You can get it wherever you get your books.

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Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Books Forward in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read plenty of female empowerment books for a long time. Many of them encourage women to forgo societal expectations in order to pursue their dreams and happiness. The memoir Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness by Deb Miller falls under this spell, but it uses the fairy tale framework, specifically the legacy of the Disney Princesses, to tell the story. I’ve never read a book like it, and I’m happy I did because it resonated with me on many levels, and it had a great structure.

Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness is about how the author learned to slay the myth about Prince Charming and redefine her happily ever after. Growing up, Deb dreamed of meeting someone who will sweep her off her feet and provide the happiness she deserves. She initially finds in it her college sweetheart, whom she marries. However, when she realizes that he can’t deliver the fairy tale she expects, she takes charge and creates her own. Her love of tennis opens many professional doors, but it also leads to a tumultuous second marriage. This memoir chronicles her transformation from a Midwest housewife to a global executive as she deals with societal expectations, personal setbacks, and professional achievements.

Throughout her journey, Deb draws extraordinary parallels with Disney’s ever-evolving princesses, who evolved from being damsels in distress to brave, strong, and independent women who embrace their unique strengths and forge their own paths. Deb learns a few lessons while on her bumpy ride to happiness. This is her tale of resilience, pursuing a better life for her children, and finding genuine joy for herself.

Reading Forget the Fairy and Find Your Happiness reminded me how I used to think about the Disney Princesses. As a child, I didn’t care too much for them. They were too girly for me, but I loved Sleeping Beauty (mainly for Flora, Fauna, Merriweather, and Maleficent). When I got older and more diverse princesses emerged, I started to appreciate them, especially the Disney Renaissance-era ones, more. As of now, Belle is my favorite Disney Princess since she’s smart and knows what she wants – just like Deb.

I enjoyed how Miller reflects on the lessons she was taught. Throughout, she mentions that her parents, often her mother, reinforced the idea that the man was the provider and the woman was to be taken care of. This made Deb want to follow the princess path in the first place despite her ambitions. In fact, the first lesson Deb offers is “Follow the Path” (p. 3). Each is interspersed throughout the memoir, but they are not always at the beginning of a chapter. Some come in the middle, and stop the story in its tracks. Surprisingly, they didn’t ruin the flow, for the lesson was incorporated into whatever Miller was talking about at that moment. Moreover, they evolve just like the Disney Princesses have, so it was nice to see them transform from “Follow the Path” and “Be Smart, But Not Too Smart” to “Be Yourself” and “Be Happy.” Also, I loved how the final chapter involved Deb and one of her daughters watching Brave and the former being genuinely surprised by how it turns out.

I actually find it surprising that not many female empowerment memoirs use the fairy tale/Disney Princess framework, but I love how Miller utilizes it. She starts off each section and chapter with an anecdote regarding a certain Princess, and each reflects what she encountered in her life at that point. For example, when she goes to the USSR to visit the Russian guy who would eventually become her second husband, she compares that to Belle initially coming across the Beast and his castle. That’s a great analogy!

Another thing that I love about this framework is how seamlessly Miller weaves the Disney Princesses chronologically as the memoir unfolds. In the early chapters, she uses the old-school ones (Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty) to show what she wanted her life to be in the beginning as a housewife and desired a man to be the breadwinner. When the latter couldn’t be delivered, Deb seeks other avenues to provide for her family. This is when she references the latter princesses like Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, etc., to demonstrate her growth and independence. The shoe simply fits.

Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness by Deb Miller is an excellent female empowerment-themed memoir. The author was engaging throughout the book, especially when she reflects on the lessons that she was taught when she was younger and the ones she learned from experience. Above all, the Disney Princess structure was beautiful. Without that framework, it could’ve been any other memoir about an extraordinary woman. This truly makes it stand out. I would recommend it to readers who love the Disney Princesses and want something more in their female empowerment stories. Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness will be out tomorrow, June 24, so go check it out wherever you get your novels.

Before I go, I want to let you know that I had the opportunity to interview Deb Miller for the website. The transcript will be posted soon.

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Adapt Me Podcast – Sputnik Sweetheart

Hi Everybody!

The latest episode of the Adapt Me Podcast is up right now. In it, guest and Women InSession Podcast co-host Jaylan Salah and I discuss how we would adapt Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami into an interpretive dance. We discuss how the themes and visuals could lend itself to film and interpretive dance (as long as directors are focused on capturing its spirit). Also, we talk about the strengths of Murakami’s writing and why his work has been frequently adapted to varying results. Check it out at this link!

In the meantime, I have a review of the book itself, so check that out too!

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Literary Travel – Northern Michigan Edition

Hi Everybody,

Last September, I wrote a blog about my travels to Wisconsin, Northern Michigan, and Canada. In that same month, I traveled to a different part of Northern Michigan to a town called Manistee, so I could celebrate my birthday with a dear friend. During that weekend, she took me to a Carnegie Library and a bookstore. Today, I’ll show them to you. All of the photos used were ones that I took.

First up is the Manistee Library in Manistee, Michigan.

As a part of the Manistee County Library, this public library is special because it’s housed in a 120-year-old Carnegie Library building. A group formed by Manistee society ladies called the Lakeside Club wanted to create such a place. In 1902, the Lakeside Club collaborated with city officials and the local literary society to successfully campaign for a public library that would be funded largely by The Andrew Carnegie Foundation. Construction commenced the following year, and the library officially opened on April 28, 1905.

When my friend and I went to the Manistee Library back in September, it was going through some renovations. Despite that, it was nice and compact. It was made up of two floors.

The first floor contained the main reference desk and shelves for adult fiction and nonfiction books. We even chatted with the librarian at the desk. She told us that the desk seen here was originally part of the library.

The first level had books, movies, and audiobooks organized in ways that patrons would expect from a library.

Good for the library to have DVD/Blu-Ray players for patrons to check out.

The library also had a couple good displays when we were there. Since we came during Banned Books week, they had a simple, but effective one near the reference desk. In addition, I liked how they had a Library of Things collection. It seems that the cases are used to mark when an actual Library of Thing gets checked out.

Before I get too off track, the other display was dedicated to James Earl Jones, who died earlier that month and grew up in Manistee County. Who knew!

The second floor in the main library consisted of computers. Some of them were on the main level, but most were on the top.

On this level, not only were there computers, but there were also a laminating machine, a 3-D printer, a charging station for those who need to charge their phones and other devices, and a computer equipped to read microfilm.

Back to the main floor, we came across a spacious reference room for those who like to study and read the newspaper. I especially loved the blue walls, which makes it calming. According to my friend, the library uses that room as a locked meeting space these days, so I’m happy I got to see it when I did.

Finally, while we were at the Manistee Library, we went up the elegant wooden staircase to find a Fine Feathered Fridays Display and a children’s room.

The Fine Feathered Fridays room contained all bird-related items, including an original Audubon book. They turn a page every first Friday of the month.

The other part of that floor held a Children’s room, which was fit for any child to play in!

It had everything that a child would want at a library. It contained a play area, where they can put on a puppet show and pretend to make food in a kitchen. Furthermore, the Children’s room held computers, a Wall of Fame, and backpack kits to enhance their learning. The latter was in collaboration with two other counties in the Northern Michigan area.

I’m glad that libraries like the Manistee Library are finding ways to strengthen children’s learning.

While the Manistee Library has a prestigious history, it has continuously found ways to keep patrons of all ages interested. It has good books and study spaces for adults as well as a nice play area for the kids. Along with their website, you can check them out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Manistee is all about the past, present, and future.

The next and final place we’ll look at is not just any bookstore, it’s The Bookstore in Frankfort.

After our visit to the Manistee Library, we took a spontaneous trip to downtown Frankfort, which is about an hour away from Manistee. It was a bright sunny day with a ton of people out, and we happened to stumble upon The Bookstore.

With a name like “The Bookstore,” it must think highly of itself. Luckily, it kept customers in mind with its wide range of books, magazines, and other publications.

The building is divided into two rooms – one containing adult-related books and the other for kids. I went into the latter first. The children’s area looked super cozy. It had classic, popular, and Michigan-related titles. Additionally, it sold toys like puzzles and puppets. Maybe customers who buy the latter can donate them to a library like the Manistee Library.

There was also a nice seating area consisting of a futon. It gave off a simple, comforting mood.

Cards, journals, and planners were present in the children’s room as well. That was an unusual choice of place, but hey, they got some nice visuals. Anything to catch a customer’s eye. I especially like the “Reading is Magic” planner, for that message is what we need in the world right now.

Flags of all kinds, specifically the United States one in many of its iterations, were also at The Bookstore. They added that independent feel to the store.

On the adult side, the typical kinds of the books were available for sale like the bestsellers, genre novels, and nonfiction titles.

Furthermore, it had unique offerings like Native American history, books about Michigan and the Great Lakes, and ones by local authors. I actually bought one title from the local author collection called The Cut by John Wemlinger. It’s a historical fiction novel that takes place in Manistee County. I hope to read it some time.

Throughout the adult side, notes from various staff members gave customers ideas of what to purchase. For example, this one is from employee Carrie, who listed a few of her favorite books. I’ve read My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry and Dalva. Check out my reviews on those books to see how I feel.

My favorite thing about this bookshop was its sense of humor. For example, a raven was perched on top of the Literature/Classics shelves in the adult area, and it said this.

Right next to it was a Shakespeare mask and a drawing of Edgar Allan Poe and the raven from the iconic story.

The Bookstore is the bookshop in Frankfort, Michigan. It had a broad range of items that appealed to all types of readers from the bestsellers to anything Michigan-related. You can check them out on Facebook. That bookstore definitely kept readers in mind while making it a fun and comfortable place to stroll as well as sit and read.

And that concludes the seventh installment of “Literary Travel!” I hope all of you had a great time on this trip. There is another one down the pipeline, so stay tuned for that later this year!

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Just Gone: True Stories of Persecution for Love and Life Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Sasha Stolz Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: this review discusses attempted murder, sexual assault, rape, and exorcisms.

Countries all around the world are celebrating Pride this month. We have made great strides in ensuring and protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. However, there are still nations that still persecute people from that group, including prison and in some cases, death. I knew about this prior to reading today’s book Just Gone: True Stories of Persecution for Love and Life by Jo DeLuzio, but that book opened my eyes to the extent in which individuals endured and how they escaped to Canada. It’s a powerful story that needs to be read by everyone regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Just Gone: True Stories of Persecution for Love and Life is a collection of interviews with queer people who sought refuge in Canada. LGBTQ+ individuals have always told their stories in order to make themselves visible. However, for some, rendering themselves this way can lead to violence and death. These interviews provide them a safe outlet to share their stories from all around the world. They often tell heartbreaking tales of why and how they escaped their homelands without getting caught or killed. They are just gone from those areas. Many who came to North America still wonder if they will be found and murdered. In addition, the author adds background information to the impact of the stories of the people she interviews.

While I was in college, I was the secretary of the LGBTQ+ club for all four years. As someone who’s straight, it opened my eyes to the people in that community and tales they told. I knew about their past and present struggles, but Just Gone highlights them on a global scale to show that there are still battles that need to be fought to prove that LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. Even DeLuzio herself, who came out as queer later in life, was blown away by what the participants endured in their home countries. She may be the reader’s objective lens, but it’s clear that she too learned many things while conducting the interviews and writing this book.

Just Gone contains seven harrowing stories of the suffering the interviewees – whose real names are undisclosed – endured and how they managed to get out of their home countries. Most of them are gay men, but there’s a lesbian and a transgender woman. DeLuzio acknowledges this discrepancy by writing how being a woman adds even more pressure to live by societal expectations in certain nations (p. 6-10).

At under 200 pages, I was able to read this in under a week. Each tale was beautifully constructed. The ones I gravitated to the most were Eric and Roberto from Mexico and Ariella from Nigeria. In Eric and Roberto’s case, they found fiberglass in their apartment’s ventilation. Later, they got drugged and beaten, and Roberto was repeatedly raped. The worst part was that Eric’s aunt was in the room when the latter episode occurred.

As for Ariella’s story, she grew up knowing that she was a girl despite being a boy’s body. However, when she told her family that she liked boys, they kicked her out of the house. She spent many years living on the streets working as a drug runner and later as a prostitute. Ariella endured several beatings and rapes, and even at one point, she was left for dead after a severe attack. Luckily, a prostitute named Chisimdi found her, took her in, and accepted her for who she was. Both stories were devastating to hear, yet they needed to be told. I’m glad all of the interviewees, including Eric, Roberto, and Ariella found ways to escape.

DeLuzio also does a great job with providing context about the countries the participants came from at the end of each chapter. For example, even though discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is illegal in Mexico, and same-sex marriage is recognized in all 32 states, that nation is notorious in its human rights violations with torture and enforced disappearances being well documented (p. 115). In addition, the situation in Nigeria has gotten worse with its treatment of LGBTQ+ people since Ariella left. Same-sex relations in that nation are punishable by imprisonment or death depending on secular or Sharia laws, and even “the mere discussion of LGBTQ rights was criminalized” by 2021 (p. 74).

In nations like these, the fight for LGBTQ+ rights are far from over.

Another wonderful aspect of the book was how the interviewee chose their pseudonyms for the book. For instance, Ariella got hers because she asked DeLuzio to select a name that was fit for a princess. The author initially chose Ariel from The Little Mermaid, but the participant felt that it was too plain, so she changed it to Ariella (p. 73).

Additionally, Sungai from Indonesia selected that name because it meant river or stream in Indonesian, as he put it, “They tried to wash away the gay, but they failed. I was born gay, and nothing will change it” (p. 53).

He had every right to say that. A church in his home country performed an exorcism to try to wash the gay away. It didn’t work.

Just Gone: True Stories of Persecution for Love and Life by Jo DeLuzio is a powerful book that doesn’t need additional words for how great it is. I already mentioned who I would recommend it to, but I’ll say it again: it needs to be read by everybody regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. If the author, who’s queer herself, can learn about the extent of the horrific situations that the participants went through, you can too. It’s not an easy read by any stretch, but it’s not meant to be. After all, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, pansexual, asexual, aromantic, and two-spirit people, etc., tell their stories to cement their existence and not be erased. Let’s remember that all year round and not just in June.

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