career – Gen The Bookworm

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I’m Fine and Neither Are You by Camille Pagan was my Amazon First Reads March 2019 book selection.

“Wife. Mother. Breadwinner. Penelope Ruiz-Kar is doing it all—and barely keeping it together. Meanwhile, her best friend, Jenny Sweet, appears to be sailing through life. As close as the two women are, Jenny’s passionate marriage, pristine house, and ultra-polite child stand in stark contrast to Penelope’s underemployed husband, Sanjay, their unruly brood, and the daily grind she calls a career.

Then a shocking tragedy reveals that Jenny’s life is far from perfect. Reeling, Penelope vows to stop keeping the peace and finally deal with the issues in her relationship. So she and Sanjay agree to a radical proposal: both will write a list of changes they want each other to make—then commit to complete and total honesty.

What seems like a smart idea quickly spirals out of control, revealing new rifts and even deeper secrets. As Penelope stares down the possible implosion of her marriage, she must ask herself: When it comes to love, is honesty really the best policy?”

I have always loved Camille Pagan’s relatable storytelling and this newest release is no different. I connected so much with the storyline of being a mom, wife, and friend. All of these things are wonderful and they can also feel so incredibly hard. The endless demands of parenthood, the amount of work it takes to keep a marriage humming along and also keeping up with the expectations of work can sometimes feel completely overwhelming.

When you add in friendships that can sometimes make you wonder “why does this feel so hard when everyone around me makes it look so easy?” it can be an easy path to thinking there is something wrong with you.

The thing is though, these things are hard for everyone in different ways, and we sometimes have no idea what is really going on behind the scenes. What someone presents isn’t always the reality and sometimes the people that have these “picture-perfect” lives need us more than we think.

“It takes courage to be yourself when everyone expects you to be someone else.”

I’m Fine and Neither Are You takes on some heavy topics including substance abuse, loss, family dynamics, infidelity, the struggles of long term relationships and finding your voice, all while being a completely engaging read. It was messy and real and this was the perfect book for me this week.

I highly recommend this book and if you want to check it out, it is the perfect time to do so. It is one of the March 2019 Amazon First Reads book selection which means that you can get a Kindle copy for FREE if you are a Prime member (or 1.99 if you are not) and/or the hardcopy version for $9.99. It’s a great way to learn about new authors and try a new genre.

Have you read a Camille Pagan book before? I would love to know your thoughts!

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Take the Leap arrived at the perfect time for me. I love self-help books but often find that they can be a little unrelatable with just the author’s viewpoint. This book took a completely different approach of sharing dozens of stories of career pivots from all different perspectives and career paths. I am a big fan of listening to NPR’s podcast How I Built This with Guy Raz and this book was similar in the way of sharing different entrepreneurs (often rocky) paths to success.

As a creative who has recently made a career pivot, I was excite to read this new book by Sara Bliss. I found the stories to be so relatable and I found myself nodding my head along in agreement with so many parts. Overcoming self-doubt can be such a hurdle for so many, myself included, and it is often hard to take the path less followed. Often, what you are leaving behind was something that was lucrative and something you worked and trained many years for.

For many, the switch they were making focused around a hobby that they were passionate about and wanted to turn into a career. Often, this can cause friends and family to question why you would make this untraditional change in your career trajectory. I loved the advice of surrounding yourself with the right people and always people who were focused on bettering themselves and moving forward, even if their path was sometimes rocky. No one gets where they are going if they don’t start. Making a move is your first step and if you are waiting to be ready or have your concept “perfected” you will never get going. These 65 people who shared their journeys did not just dream it, they did it. I recommend this book to those looking for inspiration or just wanted to hear stories of people who followed their own unique and unexpected pivots to career success.

Thanks to NetGalley and Touchstone for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Tag: career

Take The Leap: Change Your Career, Change Your Life | Book Review