Review: Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency by James Andrew Miller

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Before this book, I had no idea what the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) was. I didn’t know what they did or the power they held in Hollywood. I ended up learning more than I had imagined.

I was surprised to learn that it’s a big deal. CAA is one of the largest talent agencies. So many celebrities, producers, and athletics have been representative by this agency. For example, Nicole Kidman, Will Smith, David Beckham, Meryl Streep, David Letterman, and Former Vice President Joe Biden are or have been clients of CAA once in their career.

Because of their enormous list of celebrity clients, it makes sense that they would be very powerful in Hollywood.  It was so interesting reading about the movies and decisions that only happened because a CAA fought to make it happen.

For start to finish, I was hooked. This wasn’t a small book. It was around 700 pages. The amount of detail was not overwhelming or boring. It was always entertaining. It is the history of CAA, but it does include many outrageous, funny, and heartwarming stories about celebrities from the CAA agents.  

It’s a little hard to describe the way the book was written. It was written as an interview, but the questions were not included. It was told from the POV of many, including the founders of CAA, agents, and celebrities. Each person didn’t get a whole chapter, instead the POVs were woven together to create a complete story starting in 1974 and ending in 2016.

There’s something so fascinating about Hollywood. It’s like everyone there is part of one secret club, and you’re not in until your in. Obviously, this book didn’t give away all of Hollywood’s secrets, but it did provide a tiny peak into the exclusive club.

Hollywood is not as glamourous as it seems. Although CAA agents were not thrusted in the limelight and worked behind the scenes, it was interesting to see how their job impacted them. They worked hard to get and maintain their jobs at CAA, and it was not always rewarding. There were stories about betrayal, addiction, and failure.

Powerhouse didn’t paint CAA as the best place to work. It showed the ugly side of the business, and showed that it’s a dog eat dog world. And it interesting to read different accounts of the same story. Because no one has a perfect memory, some details told by one person were different when told by another.

Final Analysis

Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency provides a look inside the inner workings of Hollywood. It doesn’t glamourous it or paint all celebrities as saints. Instead it shows Hollywood from the perspective of those who manage it. It’s full of interesting tales about how CAA became what it is today and the impact of the agency on celebrities and its agents.

Review: Bidding on the Bachelor by Kerri Carpenter

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I’m feeling slightly cheated here. Well, I guess it’s my fault actually. I completely forgot this book was in a series when I read it and I have the first book but read this one first? So, I’m going to be honest and tell you that I don’t know how much weight reading the first book adds but considering how I felt about this book, it was awesome alone but I’d recommend reading because it sounds like it might answer some questions about Elle that I was curious about while reading the book.

There is nothing sweeter than a second chance romance that you always have to grab those tissues for at the end. Kerri definitely wooed me with her latest in the Saved by the Blog series, Bidding on the Bachelor, leaving me curious for some answers that I desperately want for book three. Like, who the heck is the Bayside blogger, annoying he or she is but definitely added some flavor to the lives of these characters.

Jasper and Carissa definitely define that old cliché of if you’re meant to be together, it shall be. Who knew that time would heal all wounds and bring them back together after 10 years?  After the way it ended, the two of them seemed definitely not in the cards but a little thing like life happens and the right time comes around.

So, Carissa once was the It girl. You know the type. She was one of the popular gals who had it all with the cool boyfriend, Jasper but they were very young. When it was time to go to college, Carissa wanted big and better things and the way Jasper was, was not going to cut it. So, she just up and left, leaving his heart broken and not turning back. The only problem is there was more to the story then but you can’t change yesterday or get back time and the decision she made had consequences. I guess it’s how you look at it from what happens to her if this was karma but the last thing she ever would’ve thought would be to return back to Bayside.

Jasper had always been the guy in second place living in the shadow of his older brother Cam. He went through life feeling like he had to show how good he was, not being enough. Already feeling this way, when Carissa left him, leaving saying so much that equated that he was not good enough anymore, he was broken hearted and devastated. Something in him sparked something that made him strive to shatter that perception of living up to his dad and her and be more than he could’ve ever been. Life going forward, circumstances leading into his favor, he took over his dad’s company and made a great life for himself. Single, rich and slated as one of Bayside’s most desired bachelors, on the night of one of his biggest accomplishments, the last person he ever thought to see was standing in front him. Find out how fate and destiny meet a second time around for these two in this sweet book.

I really liked the book. I loved how not only were these two high school sweethearts, we got to feel real love through the ups and downs of life. Look at Carissa, a former it girl who turned up her nose at the town for bigger and better. Life really kicked her in the gut and got a dose of humble pie having to start life over with nothing, crawling back to where she said she'd never come back to. Then you have someone like Jasper who was made to feel like he wasn't good enough, bust his butt in life to accomplish something that was unattainable but be the best person he could be. I love reading characters like this. It makes you feel good when you see people get knocked down and get back up. Secondly, that awesome feeling of getting a second chance at love always leaves you warm and fuzzy inside with your pompoms rooting for them all the way.

I’m going back to read book one so I don’t miss out on anything anticipating book three. Overall, loved the characters. There was never a dull moment. Kerri is such a sweet storyteller of the type of characters that you want in your life. Loved the book and definitely looking for answers in book 3. You don't even have to ask, add to your TBR!

Review: Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook

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I was feeling a little down today, and I wanted something that would lift my spirits. After searching on Amazon, I was immediately drawn to this book by the cover and also the title. It appeared like something that would feel personal and inspiring at the same time. So I gave it chance. And I’m happy that I did.

Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately manages to be both personal and relatable. The poems pull at your heartstrings, and it is hard not to reflect on your life as you read. It isn’t just a book about sad poems. It has uplifting poems.

It has poems about childhood friends, sisterhood, and confidence. It covers a variety of different subjects without feeling all over the place. This book is for everyone. The poems were simple, yet elegant. They were not confusing or harsh.

Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately is so much more than just a book about poetry. It’s a soundtrack. After every poem, the author includes a song that she had listen to. Songs from Taylor Swift, Big Sean, Tim McGraw, and Ingrid Michaelson are mentioned.

Having a playlist included definitely contributed to the overall personal feel of the book. It felt very much like a diary and the songs symbolize what the author was feeling when the words were written.  

I think one of my favorite things about this book was that it was creative. It’s broken up into two parts Side A and Side B. Side A features the poems in the entirety. Some are long, and some are short. Side B is blackout poetry.

This is where an author blacks out words from within a story and creates another. In this case, the author used her poems from Side A. It was interesting and amazing that she was able to use her passages to recreate something else.

Final Analysis

Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately feels like a personal and welcoming look into someone’s life. It’s creative and relatable. And there to remind that your feelings are valid.

Review: Get It Together Delilah by Erin Gough

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I feet like this book has more potential to be greater than what it was from how I felt when I finished the book. I feel like Delilah is the type of character that could’ve been such a great example based on her experiences in the book but the supporting elements around her story made things fall a bit short for me. By no means is that an indicator of my perception of the book for my interest, rather that some things I wish could’ve been done different for me to connect better. Let chats about the book.
 
The book was about about a 17 year old named Deliliah. She is in her last year of school and an unfortunate situation that happened between her and another student, left her feeling uncomfortable with going anymore. Her mom decided to leave her family for another man, leaving her dad heartbroken with his life revolving area his café. Delilah convinced him to go away, which lasted a really long time. She made the decision to leave school and run the shop which in the process she learns a lot of life and falling in love.
 
Despite how much I enjoyed the characters and their involvement with each other, I couldn’t love them or fall in love with them. I felt like there were elements to their story that were not needed or wish it could’ve been more elaborated on. Maybe certain aspects of their storyline could've been more cohesive at parts. To me it felt like different elements of the book were free floating. This isn’t a bad thing but this drove me crazy because for the message that this book has, it took just made me a bit frustrated because I had question marks.
 
Let’s take Delilah. Here’s this 17 year old, who is struggling with her sexuality. She is dedicated and committed to helping her father in his business and wants to do the right thing. Now, we have a situation where bullying is involved and she is humiliated based on her involvement with a friend who was embarrassed by any association of being involved with her romantically. There is a video made and she is made to feel worthless, ashamed and isolation for who she is/likes. This drives her decision not to go to school anymore with an extra influence from her friend Charlie. She sort of just floats through the book alone like this.
 
What drives me crazy is how does a 17 year live alone for an extended period of time, run a business, not go to school without anything happening? Her father going away for a few days or maybe a week might be ok but he was gone a long time to where she missed an extended period of school with no contact? I know teens are more independent these days but there was a lot going on with her running a business dealing with all these adult issues with no one to help her. Now, I know to be fair there are many family businesses that the teens can do it but in the context of the story, this was a bit much. This was a bit of a reach in my imagination because for everything she was struggling with I just kept thinking, all this is happening and no parental figure.
 
Here was a chance I would’ve loved to read more involvement from her father. A single dad, raising a girl going through what she went through, this would’ve made me feel something especially when she finds love, more realistic. This is such a positive book representing all sides of a young adult who is part of the LBGT community. It would’ve been amazing not seeing this character quit school but have some support of someone in her corner to know that she is loved. This would've come full circle with the experience with her teacher in the end and would've been more impactful.
 
Another thing was her friend Charlie. I couldn’t stand him. Here’s another young person without any adults around. He has made some really bad choices but is sort of just living life too. There is something that happens between the two of them in the book that I don’t understand how it happened. It just happened. It could’ve happened but in the context of the story, I don’t know why it happened. It was so random and unexpected which could’ve been left out. There’s another situation where he gets into a situation that in reality would’ve had different consequences, nothing happens. I sort of felt like with him, there was no accountability for his characters for what he did. I don’t have a problem with who he was as a character but some of the situations for me just seem not realistic. I just can’t grasp some of the things that he did, didn’t have consequences despite being a flawed character.
 
The book absorbed so much on the issues the café was having which I wish didn’t take so much of the book. It would’ve been nice having this book elaborate more on Delilah's personal journey in her discovering love and dealing with the social backlash of her being gay and going through the bullying and the discrimination. She was made to be ashamed of falling in love with someone and through humiliation it drove her to give up school. Then, she meets someone else who she falls for but the other person is afraid to pursue her feeling backs because of how it would shame her family. This I wish could’ve been explored more because so many people could’ve identified with this.
 
Overall, the book had some moments that could’ve been pushed a little deeper to shine brighter. Not to take away from anything there were moments that I thought were just ok. This isn't a bad thing, just I had bigger hopes for what I thought this was going to be. Now, the reviews on this book are a mixed bag so it's up to you what your takeaway and thoughts will be if you decided to read it. I didn't hate it but didn't love it either. I'm honestly going to tell you that I'm somewhere in the middle. Leaving on a positive note, I'd love to explore this author in the future because even though I didn't fall in love with this book, her characters had such engaging personalities that I'd love to check out what else she has to offer. 

Review: Was Superman a Spy? by Brian Cronin

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This book had a lot of information in it. A lot. And at times it felt overwhelming. I did appreciate how it was broken down in three parts- DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and other comic companies. That helped a lot because it focused on only stories pertaining to that particular comic company.

However, there were many times where the author would mention something about another comic company that related to a story that was being told in a different comic’s section. For example, DC comics and Marvel have a long history together. So there were many stories where certain actions by one of them influenced the other’s actions.

The author would mention a page number where the other side could be found in the book. This was confusing. First, because I was reading on Kindle so I didn’t have page numbers, and I couldn’t go back and refresh my mind on what had happened. Second, the author would mention something that would be discussed later on in the book, and it was a little distracting.

This book was entertaining, but there were more than a few moments where it dragged on and I lost interest. Like mentioned earlier, it had a lot of information. There were so many stories to tell so it moved quickly, and I didn’t have time to really dissect what I had just read.

I found myself skipping because it had such a broad scope, and I was not as familiar with certain topics as others. I do believe that if I had a greater understanding of comics I would have enjoyed this book a little more.

Final Analysis

Was Superman a Spy is jammed pack with a lot of information. This is beneficial but it is also hurtful at times. It moved a little too quickly for someone with barely an above knowledge about comics.

Review: Hotel Hell by Monica Savioz

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After reading this book, I really sympathize with the hotel worker who has the late shift. The customer service and hospitality industry is a thankless and unappreciated industry. I wish so many people could trade places with many of these workers because at the end of the day, they are people who have families and should be treated with respect and kindness. 

I couldn't believe many of the situations that I read about in this book. It was really fascinating getting the perspective from the worker. So many times you see people complain about the littlest things but people can really be overboard and take things to an unnecessary level. I couldn't help to laugh and shake my head many times because you just can't believe that people act like this but they do. This was a fun, quick read that really makes you wander what people are thinking.

What I really liked about this book is not only the interesting behind the scene perspective but the worker that is chronicling her experience is a little person. What I thought was nice about her perspective is in many circumstances she wasn't taken seriously because of her size but put in some challenging situations she stood tall and held her own. What was also a really nice touch is that after each situation, she had a great positive takeway that showed the bright side of things. I thought this was fun and if you want to get peek into the behind scenes, check it out.