Getting Bookish with Baby

Call it the ambitious CCG mom in us, but boy, do we ever enjoy story time with our little one—the quality family time is just what we need to unwind from a work day, plus we're a big believer in helping our child to develop a love for reading at a very early age. One of our very children's books is Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, Illustrated by Marla Frazee (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). The large size format (it's 10.75" by 9.25") of this board book makes it extra easy for baby's small fingers to flip the pages. Your little one will revel in excitement over each page, depicting all the wonderful things that babies do (play, sleep, eat, make noise, etc.). You'll find that you can't help but have fun reading the clever, rhyming text to your little and, after many readings of this book, she's sure to imitate the sing-song tone. We're positive this will be a much-loved addition to the baby library collection.

$8.95 at chapters.indigo.ca

Read It and Weep

Looking for a story that will tug at your heartstrings? Pick up The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central Publishing), and you'll find the king of romance has done it again (he's the author of other tearjerker novels such as The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle). In his latest book, we meet Dawson Cole and Amanda Collier, high school students from opposite sides of the tracks who fall madly in love with one another. As young romances tend to go, their relationship comes to an end in their senior year. Fast forward twenty five years later, and the two have gone on to forge different lives, neither of which they had imagined for themselves. The death of a mutual friend bring Dawson and Amanda back to their hometown for a weekend, and they are faced with some hard truths and answers to questions that have haunted their pasts. Be sure you're in the mood for this one—it's a tale of sorrow and heartbreak that will enthral you from beginning to end. 

$28.99 (Hardcover) or $16.50 (Paperback) at Amazon.ca

Fluffy Fun

We were drawn to this book immediately with its colourful image and "puffy"-feeling cover—so fun and playful! And the contents of Marshmallow Madness! Dozens of Puffalicious Recipes (Quirk Books) by Shauna Sever are just as whimsical. Once we mastered making Sever's classic vanilla marshmallow, we were on our way to whipping up the book's other recipes including yummy cocktail-inspired versions (margarita or crème de menthe marshmallows, anyone?) As an added bonus, there are tasty recipes for homemade graham crackers, whoopie pies, and s'mores cupcakes, too. Delicious!

$18.95 at randomhouse.ca

How We Think

Ever wonder what exactly makes your brain tick? In The Female Brain by Dr. Louann Brizendine, we get a vivid picture of how a woman's mind develops in every stage from conception to post-menopause—and how our basic brain biology differs from men. And in the case of nature vs. nurture, it turns out nature still plays a huge role in women's lives. This insightful book sheds light on why your 1-year-old daughter prefers dolls to why you might worry more than your male partner. 

$21 at randomhouse.ca

Tune in to You

Probably the hardest part about being a career gal is balancing work, family, friends and time for yourself. Many of us actually put ourselves on the backburner as we tend to all the other demands in our lives. It’s easy to get lost and forget about who we are at the core, which is why Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein caught our attention. In the book, Bernstein openly shares her journey from being an NYC party-hard PR girl with a drug addiction to shedding the vices and learning to genuinely love herself—all while providing practical advice on how to create self-love in your life. She is now a widely sought motivational speaker and spiritual guide, and has been featured in ELLE, The New York Times, Huffington Post and more. Spirit Junkie is just the self-love-fest we so rightly need and deserve.

$25.95 at randomhouse.ca

Story Time

We know the holidays can be a hectic time for working moms. Unwind from a busy day by curling up on the couch (or into bed!) with the kids and reading them Christmas Eve At The Mellops' by Tomi Ungerer. The four Mellops brothers all want to surprise their family with a Christmas tree. It's a sweet story that is beautifully illustrated, and reading it as a family is a delightful way to get some quality time with the ones you love the most.

$14.95 (Hardcover) at ca.phaidon.com

Seriously Funny

There's no doubt that Ellen DeGeneres is one funny gal. In her third and newest book, Seriously...I'm Kidding (Grand Central Publishing), the daytime talk show host muses on her recent career successes including becoming a CoverGirl model and hosting a season of American Idol, as well as shares personal stories and life advice. Ellen's book was a quick read for us and we found ourselves chuckling throughout a lot of it and even laughing out loud. This is a must-read for fans of DeGeneres' hilarious monologues and comic wit. Keep this one on the bedside table—Ellen's humour is good clean fun that'll put a smile on your face before going to sleep.

$29.99 (Hardcover) at Amazon.ca

CCG Giveaway Alert!*
Hey CCG Fans, we're giving five lucky readers each a copy of Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres! 


For your chance to win, all you have to do is head over to the Canadian Career Gal Facebook page, "Like" our page and Share the "Seriously Funny" (review of Ellen's book) post on our Wall with your friends. You'll then be automatically entered into a random draw for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of Ellen DeGeneres' Seriously...I'm Kidding. To be eligible for the draw, be sure to post your answer on the Canadian Career Gal Facebook page by Friday, November 4th at 8 PM (EST).


Winners will be announced on our Facebook page, as well as right here on the official CCG site so check back with us after the contest closing time to see if you won. Good luck!
*Rules & Regulations: CONTEST IS OPEN TO CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY. No purchase necessary. One entry per person per household. We reserve the right to cancel this contest at any time.

Shop the Socially Responsible Way

We think it's a pretty fair stereotype to say most of us career gals love to shop. But it doesn't mean we can't be socially responsible about it. We recently read How to be a Socially Conscious Consumer by Kate Jongbloed, an enlightening post on the Because I am a Girl blog (originally published on July 8, 2011). As Jongbloed states, "much of the food we eat and clothes we wear was grown or produced in developing countries", making us "connected to girls in the developing world through the purchases we make". If this isn't something you think about when you're shopping, perhaps it's time to become more aware of this important global issue. In her post, Jongbloed also offers six simple tips on how to buy goods that are ethically produced and traded.

Click here to read the entire post or copy and paste this link into your Web browser:

http://blog.becauseiamagirl.ca/2011/07/08/how-to-be-a-socially-conscious-consumer/

CCG Giveaway Alert!*

Want to hear about one woman's experience working in retail? Caitlin Kelly was finding it hard to make ends meet as a professional writer. She wound up working at a high-end sporting goods company, and then wrote a book about her two-plus years experience. Check out our review of Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail and enter for your chance to win one of five copies of the book!

Read more »

A wife to sort out your life

We love finding books that are enjoyable for reading at the beach and Busy Woman Seeks Wife by Annie Sanders (Hachette Book Group) definitely falls into this category. Alex Hill is a woman with a high-powered job with little time on her hands to manage her home life. That seems to be okay when she's on her own but when her demanding mother has a bad fall that requires her to move in with Alex, she suddenly is in need of help. And not just a housekeeper who's going to cook and clean, but also someone who's going to be able to entertain her hard-to-please mum. A classified ad placed in the paper by her stay-at-home-mom gal pal leads to a caregiver named Ella who Alex's mum appears to be smitten with, but Alex is clueless as to why since she's never been at home to meet the domestic darling. This funny and light-hearted read will keep you entertained to the very end.

$14.95 at chapters.indigo.ca

Lost & Found

It's something a lot of people who have, or rather, don't have, will poke fun at themselves for. The reality, however, is that lacking a good sense of direction is not always a laughing matter. For the directionally-challenged, it's often a frustrating and sometimes even scary experience to not know where you're going or how to get where you need to. Especially for us career gals who travel often for business, if we lack direction sense, there's undoubtedly a lot of additional time spent studying maps, going over routes, and pondering how to get from A to B. To help us conquer our fears and frustrations, we picked up a copy of Never Get Lost Again: The Complete Guide to Improving Your Sense of Direction by Linda Grekin (RDR Books), and we're so glad we did! The author herself admits to having a poor sense of direction and is therefore able to write with true authority on the subject. In her book, Grekin explains why people who are perfectly competent in other parts of their lives manage to get lost, and also what they can do about it. An invaluable and practical resource for those who want to find their way around!

$20.95 at chapters.indigo.ca & other major bookstores

For whom the wedding bell tolls

In her book Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women, Dr. Christine Whelan reveals findings from a study she conducted to help bust myths about successful career women and marriage. Among some of her conclusions were that forty-five percent of high-achievers participate in online dating which, Dr. Whelan notes, is a great way to meet people and get to know them efficiently.

Click here to read some other highlights from her book or copy and paste this link into your Web browser:
http://www.oprah.com/article/money/career/jchatzky_20061206

Time Saver

If there's one gift we're sure every career gal craves, it's the gift of more time. Enter Samantha Ettus, who comes bearing such gifts in spades! Ettus is the creator of The Experts' Guide to Doing Things Faster: 100 Ways to Make Life More Efficient, a book containing short, to-the-point "how-tos from the world's most extraordinary people". Covering virtually every major life aspect (home, work, mind, body, love, pleasure, travel, and the future), this book is the ultimate resource to navigating through life--and saving time while doing it! You'll find one hundred chapters with expert advice on everything from tackling your to-do list by mom extraordinaire Kate Gosselin to choosing an outfit by WNTW's Stacy London to achieving success by analyst and author Richard St. John. We also love the fact the book's size is small enough to fit in our handbag so we can pull it out for a quick read whether we happen to be commuting to and from work or chilling at a coffee shop.

$22.95 at chapters.indigo.ca

The Breadth of One's Breath

We recently read, and put into practice, the exercises found in Breathing Space: Twelve Lessons for the Modern Woman by Katrina Repka and Alan Finger. Canadian ex-pat Repka (who currently resides and teaches in London, England) has together with Master Yogi Finger written an enlightening resource in which she genuinely describes how breathing exercises have helped her develop a life filled with confidence and self-awareness. Repka also explains how to perform each exercise so you too can use the power of breath to bring harmony, positivity, and personal transformation into your life. Now what career gal out there doesn't want all that?

$19.99 at Amazon.ca, chapters.indigo.ca & other major bookstores