hollywood housewife

4 of my favorite true crime books

With the conclusion of today's Serial podcast - a series put out by This American Life that follows investigative journalist Sarah Koenig while she pursues the truth behind a real teenager murder from 1999 - people who had never given much thought to the true crime genre are now riveted.

I've always enjoyed true crime, but not the cheesy, airport paperback kind. I like my crime and courtroom stories well-done, thank you very much.

These are four of my favorites of all time:

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. This is the story of the famous Charles Manson murders and subsequent trial as told by the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. The story is goring and disturbing, and there is no doubt as to the guilt of who carried out the actual execution of these innocent people. What is so interesting here is the cae against Manson himself, who was not present but who, ostensibly, ordered them to be carried out. This book is fascinating, no one writes about crime like Bugliosi.

Columbine by Dave Cullen. I've written and talked about this book so often, I think my friends and husband now roll their eyes whenever I reference it. Again, there is no doubt who pulled out guns to kill and be killed in a Columbine high school, but almost everything you think you know about this crime will be challenged. The media spin, the false national narrative, the innaccurate eyewitness accounts, this book will forever change how you think about crime being reported in a world with 24-hour news.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This book is the one that put Mr. Capote over the edge. It's a difficult story (I guess all are in this genre), but becomes art in his hand. Not the murders themselves - that is never to be lauded - but the dark side of humanity.

And the Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bugliosi. Closer to Serial in that you're not sure how you feel about the accused throughout this book, this story is told so well that you won't want to read it alone. Make a friend or book club pick it up just so you'll have someone to discuss it with. (Can you tell I'm a fan of Mr. Bugliosi? I named my computer hard drive after him, because he's just that smart.)

best books of the year

By mid-December, I’ve read 44 books this year. By the end of the month I’ll be at 48. (I plan to finish this novel and finish up several of my non-fiction reads - such as this one on parenting and this one on food.)

I read some great stuff this year and my stack for next year is already full of titles I’m excited about. After a bit of a reading slump while in the baby stage, I feel like I’m back in a good groove again. A huge part of this has been embracing the kindle. I know I sing ebook praises often, but it really has changed the way I read. Now I always have a book in my purse and I’m reading more than I have in a long time. This year I’m taking the further step of purchasing my absolute favorites in hard copy for my physical library as well. Yes, this means I’ve purchased some of them twice, but that’s okay. I willing to do that for the convenience of reading on the kindle and the minimalism of only having things in my library that I love.

It was hard to narrow down the best this year. There are really good things I read this year that aren’t on here. But all of these stand out for one reason or another. My reading tastes run the gamut, but there’s something on this list for everyone. So here goes, in no particular order:

contemplating a capsule wardrobe

I cleaned out my closet last weekend. I do this a few times of year. In contrast to how much I love fashion and dressing well, I don't have thousands upon thousands of items in my closet. I shop, but I also purge. Still, this time I sat on the floor among my piles of stuff to donate and felt sick about it. So much excess and waste.

Wikipedia tells me that the term "capsule wardrobe" was coined by British shop owner Susie Faux in the 1970's, but I hadn't heard of it until just last week. It makes sense, owning a set collection of basic clothing (with a few trend or statement pieces mixed in), and only dressing from that. For those of us who have closets stuffed full of clothes and still swear we have "nothing to wear," this idea seems like a relief.

I've been craving a pared down existence. This comes and goes with me, but life circumstances and the lessons I've learned during this year's monthly discipline challenges have taught me that I do better with less in my life. I choose more wisely when there are less choices. My anxiety levels decrease when my calendar and obligations aren't chaotic. I used to be a person who thrived on more, but in the last couple of years every wall and vein screams for less.

My friend Megan is the one who told me about the capsule wardrobe idea, she read about it on a blog called UnFancy. The UnFancy method uses 37 items in her wardrobe, counting shoes but not counting accessories. This is doable for me. I always wear the same stuff over and over again anyway. I read through a lot of the UnFancy posts and it makes sense to me, although I can't quite say I'm there yet, just that I'm musing on it.

Googling around, I also found Project 33, which is also a capsule wardrobe project, but slightly different. Project 333 uses 33 items and counts accessories in that mix. Project 333 is less about the fashion and more about the practical, and she has a lot of good thoughts and resources.

I also found another newbie at Enjoy It (that's a fun blog!) and liked seeing what she put together for her first attempt.

My friend Amy at Mom Advice answered a lot of the concerns I had for my own style if I attempted a capsule wardrobe. Almost everyone I looked through had a mostly neutral palette and I don't dress that way. I wear a lot of bold statement pieces and I'm unwilling to give that up. Amy's wardrobe has a lot of color and she has a few thoughts here after doing it for three months.

Pinterest had a ton of ideas for capsule wardrobes. I liked this post about packing for weeks of travel (which was the same idea as a capsule wardrobe, bascially). And here were 5 Tips for Creating a Capsule Wardrobe. But there's lots to browse and see other there.

My days are really very simple. I'm home or doing something casual almost every day. Once a week or less I do something that requires me to look a little nicer. I think it would be lovely to eliminate some of the choices in life that don't really matter. Right now I'm contemplating a casual capsule wardrobe, with permission to deviate from that for a (very) special event. 

What do you think? Does the idea of a capsule wardrobe excite you or make you cringe over its limits?

6 interesting and very different novels worth your time

I can't believe that I haven't updated my book list here in three months. I review a book each month in my Secret Posts, and I've taken to discussing what I'm reading on the HH facebook page, so I didn't realize how much time had passed since I'd done an update here.

We have a lot of ground to cover...

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. People have been recommending Rainbow Rowell's books to me for a year or more and I don't know why it took me so long. I guess I had low expectations for the book, because it took me utterly by delight. It's technically a Young Adult novel, but don't let that throw you. (One of my favorite books of last year was YA, Why We Broke Up, and I found it kind of similar to Eleanor & Park.) It was an easy, interesting read, and the writing is very clever. Makes me want to pick up Fangirl or Attachments.

The Secret Place by Tana French. Okay, I'm going to be really honest and tell you that this was not my favorite of Tana French's books. I love Tana French. I've bought her last couple of books on release day. And the premise of The Secret Place was way up my alley - private girls boarding school - so I can't exactly explain why I didn't connect to it as usual.

I saw some critique about the magical elements to the plot (something that is present in all of her stories, in one way or another), and that didn't bother me at all, though I didn't think it served the book all that well, either. I'm only mentioning this one here because I do call Ms. French one of my favorite current writers, but if you're new to her work I would start with In the Woods or The Likeness. I also really liked Broken Harbor, though I know it has mixed reviews and some people are really uncomfortable with the crime elements when children are involved.

Psst...just saw that you can buy all 5 of the Dublin Murder Squad books here. This would make a great gift for a reader in your life who hasn't read any Tana French yet.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant is sort of a modern classic. Currently there's a mini-series of the novel on Lifetime. This is a beautiful, important book that had me crying at multiple points. It's a story about women and family and choices and even though it's not something any woman in 2014 should connect to, the scope of it is so universally female. People on the FB page were saying that they've read The Red Tent over and over again. I'm not sure that's something I could do, but it's worth mentioning.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Here's the weird thing about everyone giving their opinion on the internet all the time: drive-by raves or pans happen and stick in your brain. Awhile ago, I saw someone online call this book "weird." For some reason that seems outside of my personality, I then deemed it not worth my time. I also had in my head that his books were science-fiction-ish, which also moved it to the bottom of my priority. But here's the deal, some of my favorite books in the last few years have been straight weird (Geek Love) and also science-fiction/fantasy (The Passage), so I need to readjust the labels in my brain to align with what I really like to read.

I'm so glad I gave The Ocean at the End of the Lane a try. It is great. Fantastic writing, thought-provoking story, I'd definitely nominate this for a book club pick, only because I see the range of opinions on it. I discussed the ending with a friend and we widely varied with our takeaway, even with what we thought actually happened at the end. I loved it, and promptly downloaded another Gaiman book Neverwhere to read soon.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. First and foremost, I highly recommend that you just jump right in on this book and don't read a single thing about it first. I downloaded it on my kindle after a friend mentioned it, having no idea what it was about, and was given a total about face around chapter 3. This book is SO INTERESTING. I read it almost as if it was memoir. I was invested in this family like it was a true story I would someday see on Dateline. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was unexpectedly sharp and touching.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. The cover was a little girly/romance novel for me, so much so that I kind of groaned each time it kept popping to the front of my kindle. I decided to read it over Thanksgiving, when I thought I would have a lot of time on my hands, but wouldn't want to go too deep. I was wrong about it all. Ignore the cover. This is a really entertaining and well-woven story about unlikeable characters that you are rooting for anyway. I guessed the ending, but it didn't dampen the read for me. The Secret Keeper seems like the kind of novel to get wrapped up in over the holidays beside the fire.

Now that we've gotten most of the fall reading out of the way, I'm working on my list for Best Books of the Year. I'll post those next week.

What have you read recently worth recommending?

 

*affiliate links included in this post. This means if you click through and make any purchase, it supports this blog at no additional cost to you. I have no affiliate with the authors or publishers, the opinions are all my own.

best beauty products of the year

I try a lot of beauty products in a year. It's sort of a hobby. Some of them I mention here on the blog, others I don't. Lately I've been sharing my best finds with the Secret Post subscribers only. But it's the end of the year and I thought I would do a round-up, since lately I've found some real game-changers that simply must be shared.

First up: the Clarisonic Sonic Radiance Brightening kit. This is my new favorite thing and is the perfect complement to one of my favorite beauty tools of all time, the Clarisonic Mia 2. If you already have a Clarisonic, you'll just want this. But if you've been on the fence about buying a Clarisonic, I'd put this whole kit on my wish list.

Full disclosure: Clarisonic sent this to me in the mail to try and I started using it before I a) fully understood what it was and b) knew the price. This was sort of genius on their part because I got hooked without having any preconceived notions about the system before I started. But I started using the cleansers in the shower and the serum/moisturizer when I got out, and in just a few days my skin looked really amazing. At first I didn't wholly attribute it to the Sonic Radiance kit, I thought maybe I was just having a good hormone week or something. But within another few days I stopped wearing makeup altogether. My skin looked that much better. Yes, really. Then I traveled for a week and didn't take any of it with me (not even the Clarisonic). And sure enough my skin went back to it's dull self. I am sold on this stuff.

Speaking of bad skin, I had a point earlier this year when stress and bad habits had my chest and back and neck covered in these little red spots. Almost like a rash, but it wasn't. Someone suggested these Neutrogena acne pads and they totally worked right away. I lived with those little red bumps for months. These are the solution. When it's really bad, I also use the scrub in the shower.

On to something more pleasant: makeup! As my skin ages (or maybe this is true at any age), it's a battle to find a makeup that doesn't look like too much going on, but has a pretty finish and does it's job. I found the two that rocked my world this year.

Urban Decay's Naked Skin is a really lightweight foundation that makes me look like I'm not wearing any makeup. I wrote a bit about it on my 5 minute makeup post. I really like it and it's easy to apply.

I took one of the team and tried the new Bare Minerals Bare Skin liquid makeup. It's kind of a committment because you have to use their special brush for it. I gave up on Bare Minerals long ago because even though I loved the idea of it, the powder application was messy and never settled that well into my dry skin. This is the solution to that. Bare Skin looks so pretty on. I feel polished and younger looking when I wear it. There's a tiny learning curve to the application (like any of the Bare Minerals products), but it's worth it.

Hold on to your checkbooks because two of the things I fell in love with this year were pricey. A friend got me to try the Revive line, even though that was more than I had spent in ages on moisturizer. (I have tried some of the expensive lines in the past, but it had been years since I felt like anything was worth that price point.) I didn't end up sticking with the cream my friend had suggested, but I was given a free sample of the moisturizing renewal cream. THAT is the product I loved. I went back and bought it. My skin absolutely glows in the morning when I've applied it at night. I use it sparingly and I like the smell and the feel and how it makes my skin look. It's nighttime use only - I use something lighter for daytime - and it has lasted awhile.

I've never found a miracle to make the fine lines around the eyes disappear (or even fade), but the amore pacific moisture bound eye-treatment gel is the closest I've found to making all the thin skin around my eyes look better. It is the perfect consistency - not too thick or too thin - and it keeps that area moisturized all day long. Sometimes I apply just a little bit midday for a pick me up.

Some of the finishing touches I use to look just a bit more polished are the Laura Mercier matte radiance baked highlighter and the Make Up For Ever aqua cream eyeshadow in shade 13. (Remember the eye shadow experiment?) They're both very easy to brush on, they both stay awhile, and they're both just the right amount of shimmer to look pretty, but not like you're headed to a holiday party.

Lastly, I've said this several times, but the Nars Audacious lipstick line is simply the best I've ever used. Life-changer. Get it.

Those are my picks for the year. I'd love to hear yours!