Diary of a Smart Chick

Various writings from a curious mind

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  • a love for movies
    Book Review

    A Movie Lover’s Search for Romance: A Dating Memoir (Author Interview)

    September 22, 2020

    I was immediately curious when I found out that author Joanna J. Charnas had come out with a new book: A Movie Lover’s Search for Romance. I had reviewed her book about chronic illness a few years ago and thoroughly appreciated her transparent authenticity as she addressed a difficult topic. I was intrigued by her new choice of topic, seemingly lighthearted – and yet proving, as I read each page, that it was also quite heartfelt and meaningful. In this new title, she uses a diary-like format to share two intertwined stories: her love for movies and her journeys in dating life as a woman in her forties and fifties. She…

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    dementia memoir

    Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

    January 9, 2019
    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
    videocracy book

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019
  • Nancy drew illustration
    Book Review

    Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

    September 6, 2020

    When the libraries here closed back in March (and still haven’t really re-opened) my mom sent me a bunch of books from her personal library to satisfy my reading itch. I’ve been reading much more slowly than usual but I’ve finished a few of them, including the just-finished Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak. It took me a minute to really get into it but a few chapters in I became totally immersed. Nostalgia: Nancy Drew I will always have a special place in my heart for Nancy Drew. Reading the book, it became clear that many women across multiple generations have this…

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    books about walking

    5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World

    January 7, 2019
    artist as culture producer

    Recommended Essay Reading: The Artist as Culture Producer … and Thoughts on Creative Collaboration

    August 18, 2019
    therapist memoir unsayable

    Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable

    January 10, 2019
  • videocracy book
    Book Review

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019

    I recently read the book Videocracy. There was so much rich stuff in there about collaboration. Here are some of the things I learned and thoughts I had while reading this book. Videocracy: About the Book First I’ll tell you a little bit about the book Videocracy. It is all about YouTube trends. The head of the company’s “Culture and Trends” department is the author. Naturally, he has a lot of interesting insight into video watching trends. I think there’s some bias on his part to see YouTube as a mostly great thing. However, in spite of that there’s tons of interesting information in the book. I’m currently working on…

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    art of asking

    Book Review: Art of Asking

    January 5, 2019
    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
    book review memoir

    Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough

    September 4, 2018
  • wisdom
    Book Review

    Wisdom From Every Year of Life

    March 16, 2019

    100 Years: Wisdom From Famous Writers on Every Year of Your Life is a book that has short quotations about every year of life from birth through age 100. I flipped through it a few times before reading it in full. I checked out the selections for my current age. Furthermore, I checked certain ages that seemed to be important milestones in my life. I even glanced at friends’ ages. However, this morning I finally sat down and read it from cover to cover. When I did, I discovered that doing so offers more than the sum of its parts. There Is Wisdom in Every Age Joshua Prager carefully curated the…

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    artist as culture producer

    Recommended Essay Reading: The Artist as Culture Producer … and Thoughts on Creative Collaboration

    August 18, 2019
    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
    dementia memoir

    Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

    January 9, 2019
  • memoir quotes
    Quotes

    Memoir Quotes: Borderlines by Caroline Kraus

    January 11, 2019

    Memoir quotes are often my favorite quotes. I really love reading memoirs. There is something so special about individual stories. In a memoir, the deeply personal becomes universal. We find what resonates for us. We read the words as though they are in our own voices. Somehow, one person’s story becomes the story of each of us. I’ve been digging through the archives of this blog to find items that were lost in a blog transition. I came across the following memoir quotes. They’re from a post I did in 2014 when reading the book Borderlines. Borderlines: A Memoir I recently read Borderlines: A Memoir by Caroline Kraus. This moving book tells the…

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  • dementia memoir
    Book Review

    Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

    January 9, 2019

    This is a book review of a dementia memoir. I originally published this review here on the blog in 2014. As I update what was lost in my blog transition, I found that I wanted to share this again. The full title of this book is Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia. That does a good job of summing up what this dementia memoir is about. The book, by Kate Whouley, is her experience with her aging mother as her mom declines into Alzheimer’s. Although that sounds sad, she manages to put a positive spin on the experience. Therefore, I found it…

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    books about walking

    5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World

    January 7, 2019
    videocracy book

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019
    wisdom

    Wisdom From Every Year of Life

    March 16, 2019
  • just girls
    Book Review

    Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review

    January 8, 2019

    Just Girls is a young adult LGBTQ novel that stands out to me as innovative and aware. Simultaneously, it touches on the topics that affect many teenagers as they enter the college scene for the first time. In other words, it isn’t just for the LGBTQQIA community. However, it doesn’t shy away from its role as part of the advocacy for that community. The Story of Just Girls Just Girls is the story about Ella Ramsey, a MTF transgender woman who is starting as a new student in college. She hasn’t come out to people there even though she has gone through the coming out process in her hometown. Therefore, she faces…

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    Nancy drew illustration

    Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

    September 6, 2020
    videocracy book

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019
    a love for movies

    A Movie Lover’s Search for Romance: A Dating Memoir (Author Interview)

    September 22, 2020
  • art of asking
    Book Review

    Book Review: Art of Asking

    January 5, 2019

    This book review of the Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer is from the archives. I originally published in April 2015. I lost my posts for this site in an update problem and am slowly restoring the posts I think are important. Since I really loved The Art of Asking, I wanted to be sure to share this again. I read a lot. And I like most of the books that I read. But rarely am I so moved and touched by a book that I have to tell everyone about it over and over. I recently read The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, and I find that I…

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    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
    wisdom

    Wisdom From Every Year of Life

    March 16, 2019
    therapist memoir unsayable

    Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable

    January 10, 2019
  • Junk Mountain
    Book Review

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019

    On January 1st, I read The Battle of Junk Mountain. I read 82 books last year, but I realized that very few of them were fiction. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. I love non-fiction, particularly memoir. However, I’ve been reading primarily non-fiction for years, and I want to start re-incorporating some fiction into my life. Recently, I accidentally got several young adult novels from the library. The Battle of Junk Mountain was one of them. So I decided to kick off the new year right by reading it. It’s intended for young readers, so it’s a really fast read. I probably finished it in an hour. And it…

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    Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

    January 9, 2019
    just girls

    Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review

    January 8, 2019
    book review memoir

    Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough

    September 4, 2018
  • book review memoir
    Book Review,  Reviews

    Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough

    September 4, 2018

    Jasmin Singer is a vegan, lesbian, animal rights activist and author whose 2016 memoir Always Too Much and Never Enough shares her story of weight gain and loss on the path to understanding the core of her own true identity. She shares raw, intimate details of her life including the journey from actor to activist the complexity of being the much-loved but always-overweight daughter of a thin, beautiful mother a college date rape the death of a beloved grandmother and the many other nuances that make up a woman’s life. This is all set against the backdrop of navigating her relationship with food. Moreover, it’s about dealing with her own body…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
    just girls

    Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review

    January 8, 2019
    dementia memoir

    Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

    January 9, 2019

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