Genevieve has finally achieved her dream, she’s left London and all it’s stresses behind, bought her boat and is renovating it. All she had to do was watch a package for Dylan. But she hasn’t heard from Dylan in over 5 months when her best friend turns up dead and now Genevieve’s past comes back to haunt her. She never thought she’d have to tell any of her dock mates that she was once a dancer, or that the events that caused her night job and her day job to collide would catch up with her.

I was pretty surprised by this book. I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it when I grabbed it out of my library’s new section. However this book was absolutely riveting. Seriously, this is one of the best thrillers I’ve read and it’s been added to my to buy list. I loved how they interspersed her past and present and how every thing flowed together fluidly.

Final Verdict: If you like thrillers or suspense novels then I completely recommend this.

This weeks outfit really had nothing to do with this book, but it’s been kind of my uniform as the weather starts to cool down.

Outfit: Loft Sweater, H&M Leggings, Knit Scarf, and Pink and Pepper riding boots.

On My Face: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia, Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla, Benefit’s Benetint, Benefit’s Watts Up, Benefit’s They’re Real, various Lancome Shadows, Makeup Forever HD Setting Powder.

My bracelet is the October Birthstone Bracelet from Alex & Ani which I absolutely adore.

And if you’re wondering about my scarf it’s an infinity scarf that I knit myself. There’s is also a matching hat to go with it because I’m awesome like that, that you will probably be seeing very soon. I’m so excited for it to be getting colder and the season to bundle up.

I was pretty in love with how this outfit turned out and felt that the colors were perfect for fall.

I’m also incredibly excited about all the leaves and will be raking them up this weekend for leaf pile jumping.

I wore a sweater from Hollister, a tank from The Limited, Victoria’s Secret Most Loved Yoga Pants, and my Pink and Pepper riding boots. Not Pictured Alex & Ani October Birthstone Bracelet. I did say I’d do an outfit where I made these pants acceptable for public. This is one of them. The only issue was my sweater kept riding up and that was irritating because even though it was long enough, it didn’t look long enough.

On My Face: Nars Sheer Glow in Siberia, Nars blush in Deep Throat, Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla, Benefit Watts up, Benefit They’re Real Mascara, Various Lancome Shadows. Hair pulled back in a very messy bun using an Emi-Jay hair tie.

Howl was a bit apprehensive about a carnival in the fall. He’s in good company though.

Howl wore his Worthy Dog Harness. I think he was just happy to be out and about.

A big reason why I like going to this festival is because it reminds of one of my favorite Ray Bradbury books Something Wicked This Way Comes. I know book reviews usually go up on Wednesdays, I really do recommend either this book or the movie for fall. It’s about a carnival that comes to Green Town in mid-October called Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show. Mr. Dark being the true owner of the carnival is also the Carnival’s illustrated man bearing a tattoo for each person bound to the Carnival. The Novel focuses on 14 year old boys (12 in the movie) Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade and Will’s Father Charles. The boys are excited for the Carnival that comes so late in the year but Charles Halloway is apprehensive about what it could mean.

I adore this book, and have for years. As I mentioned before it’s a bit hard for me to be unbiased when it comes to Ray Bradbury’s writing because I’ve loved his books since I was a child, and The Halloween Tree is one of the very first books I remember reading. It’s also the first movie I remember watching. I do recommend it though. Ray Bradbury is a famous Author for a very good reason and if you’ve never read his work before then this is a good place to start.

Sarah and Jennifer are really careful, trusting their never list to keep them safe. A list they created after a horrible accident, one that made them more like sisters than friends. But one night they accidently break the worst possible rule they could on the never list and it costs them their freedom. Ten years later, Sarah is still trying to cope with the fact that Jennifer didn’t make it out of the cellar with her, and that the man who kidnapped them might be getting out for parole. Sarah decides she needs to find more evidence to keep that horrible man locked away.

The Never List by Koethi Zan was released early this year and I grabbed it while I was in a hurry at the library solely based on it’s title and the cover. I had absolutely no clue what it was about when I checked it out. I enjoyed this book. It’s dark and twisted, with plenty of things that you absolutely do not expect to happen. I think what made this book a bit darker for me, is that I have my own Never List of sorts. I grew up being very aware of the terrible horrible things that could happen to me. I still follow some of those rules I made up for myself, while others have proved to be unnecessary. However, reading this book, where these girls did everything they possibly could to keep themselves safe and they still ended up in this situation, absolutely horrified me. They were so careful, and they didn’t even mean to break the rule, it just happened.

Final Verdict: I fully recommend this book, I adored it and it’s going on my books I’ve read but want to buy and read again list.

Today’s outfit is actually a variation of one that I made a wishboard for last year.

I’m wearing a sweater from Gap, and the Victoria’s Secret Most Loved Leggings, my socks are from Target’s $1 section last Valentines Day.

On My Face: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia, Nars Blush in Deep Throat, Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla and YSL Babydoll Mascara. Hair tie: Emi-jay. Glasses: Kate Spade

This is definitely an outfit that is cozy and comfortable, which was necessary because I sat down with this book and finished it all in one go. I like to be really cozy and comfortable when I read thrillers or horror novels, because it’s much easier to deal with the horrors of the world if you’re safe and cozy at home. I mean that’s so obvious that even Tool has a song about it.

Now onto the book review:

As you can see I picked this book up at Target and then ended up loaning it to my mother the same day. This book is incredibly disturbing. I didn’t find it as disturbing as my mother found it, but even so. However my Mother has two girls, and I have one boy so that might have effected things a bit. Especially when you consider my mom has read some incredibly fucked up books and not batted an eye.

It’s about the Stuart Family, Tom, Abbey and Caitlin, and the aftermath of Caitlin’s disappearance when she’s 12 years old. She’s found 4 years later eerily calm and unwilling to talk about the time she was gone. When an arrest is finally made she refuses to testify against him.

Having just had his marriage dissolve, Tom is obsessed with finding out what happened to Caitlin while she was gone, even going so far as to using her as leverage with her kidnapper to get them both to talk.

I found the whole book to be creepy, and I sympathized the most with the Father until the end when his obsession with finding out what happened to her sends him off the deep end. In the end I was just disturbed by everyone. I absolutely hated the mother, and found her behavior to be not only pathetic, but weak and selfish. She finds her religion, which is not a bad thing to do when your child is missing. I’m not a church goer now, but I can’t say I what I would do if my son were to go missing. No, the worst part is it’s implied that she cheats on her husband with and then she leaves him for the Church’s pastor. The only one that I didn’t end up hating was Caitlin and that was only because I attributed her behavior to what she’d been through the last 4 years.

Final Verdict: I don’t know if I recommend this book. I think I was too disturbed by it, it didn’t give me nightmares or anything, but I can’t see picking it up for a re-read anytime soon. If you’re into this sort of book then go for it.

I originally read this book over a year ago, and recently picked it up for a thumb through when I was sick. I forgot how much I liked it. Things We Didn’t Say by Kristina Riggle is a really moving story, told from several points of view over a period of 48 hours.

Stepping into a ready made family is never easy, and on the morning the Casey’s secrets are driving her out, Dylan her soon to be stepson disappears after being dropped of at school. In the ensuing terror and upset as the family searches for Dylan, Casey’s secrets, among others come out, changing everything.

This story was written really well. Everyone’s back story while perhaps a bit traditional, since you  have the new Fiance, the Father, the bratty teens, the overlooked middle child, the brainy youngest, and the Batcrap Crazy ex-wife, it’s all still really well written out. The people don’t feel flat or one dimensional. Casey seems to be the only one who keeps her head in all of this mess, everyone else either goes off the deep end with worry, or in the case of the ex-wife is incredibly self absorbed and thriving on the Drama.

For me this story was a bit out of my comfort zone. The family dynamic type stories aren’t ones I usually read. In truth, I usually read either flippy little murder mysteries, supernatural type books, or dark and twisted books. This book felt more like a messed up sitcom to me than any of those. But I did enjoy it.

Final Verdict, I recommend it. While it’s not a light read by any means, it’s still a really good one. I know I didn’t go into much detail, but it’s the secrets in this books that make it so interesting.

The outfit I’m wearing was inspired by Nina of after the 40 bar finish. I really loved the outfit when I saw her wear it, and remembered it instantly when I saw my floral pants sitting on the chair in my room waiting to be put away.

I’m wearing a Feed For Target Chambray, Floral Pants from H&M (last seen here) and Sam Edelman Calypso Flats in Black.

I paired it with my Lover’s Locket from Jewelmint, which has been one of my favorites for this season so far, and been pretty much just alternating with my Pen Necklace.

Close up of the Sam Edelman’s. These are definitely one of my favorite pairs of shoes and well worth every dime.

I also wore my Madewell Drifter sunglasses and had a pink Emi-Jay hairtie for pulling back my hair while driving.

On my face was Lancome’s Tient Vissionaire Foundation and Concealer,  Nars Deep Throat, YSL Babydoll Mascara, NYX Skinny Eye Marker Eyeliner, and whatever random lip gloss I grabbed out of my purse first.

I felt surprisingly comfortable in this outfit, even though tucked in shirts are way out of my comfort zone. Have you worn anything out of your comfort zone lately and then ended up feeling like you were pulling it off.

This book falls into the Dystopian Genre, which like everyone else I’m a huge fan of. It’s also a Romance as many of the Dystopian books are. It’s told from the point of view of a Carer who is soon to become a Doner, the Donor’s that she cares for and how they grew up, and got where they are now. It’s set in the 90′s. I found this book a bit hard to follow and I often didn’t quite understand what was going on due to the terms used and the frankness with which they’re presented until much later in the book. Even when I didn’t understand what was happening, I was very attached to the characters. I do think that this book is meant to be confusing because even the characters don’t fully understand what is happening and why. Right from the beginning, even though I didn’t know quite what was going on because of the strange terms used, I felt like something ominous was looming over the whole story. When she’s reminiscing about growing up, you start to understand that there is something really sinister going on and that none of these are normal children. When you find out what their future holds and that they never really question their fate, except in passing what ifs, it’s really quite surprising. Or at least it was for me anyway. I get very attached to characters, so it was a bit hard for me to swallow what these children are being raised to do. By the time you find out though, they aren’t children anymore. It’s hinted at, throughout the childhood parts, but it’s not til they’re adults that you find out for certain what’s going on.

I really recommend that you read this book. It makes you think. To decide what your ethics and morals are.

Honestly I bought this book because FleurDeForce showed it in one of her Packing Videos and I thought it looked interesting. I really didn’t think I was going to love this book as much as I did, or that I was going to reread it as many times as I have. I’m pretty sure that I only paid about $5 for it on Amazon with Prime shipping. If I’d have known how much I was going to adore this book I probably would have bought it hard cover.

This outfit kinda really has nothing to do with this book, but at the same time I feel like it’s something that main character might have worn when she was my age.  I actually wore this outfit when I met Sarahbelle93 on Sunday. (I’ll stop talking about that soon, I promise, but right now I’m still crazy excited about it!)

I’m wearing a Madewell Cardigan, H&M Tank with another Tank from The Limited underneath it, and Gap Jeggings with Ankle Zips.

My Shoes are from Sam Edelman and they’re the Calypso Flats with Gold Studs

And my necklace is my Gold Pen Necklace that Miss Cannady gave me for my birthday last year. I told you guys I was obsessed. It’s just perfect.

For my hair I just wore it down and my Makeup is my current usual: Lancome Tient Vissionaire in 100, Nars Concealer in Vanilla, Nars Blush in Deep Throat, Benefit Sunbeam, Benefit Bad Gal Lash and YSL #4 Succulent Pomegranate.

Also of course we can’t have an outfit post without Howl being adorable. It just comes naturally to him.

He’s starting to get really fluffy again, which I’m excited about because when we got him groomed we went much shorter than we intended too, and I was kinda heartbroken about it.

First what I was wearing:

H&M Top and Sunnies, American Eagle Shorts, Minnetonka Moccasins, Adore Plate Necklace, Key Necklace, Colourme.com Ring. The Tote bag is from Barnes and Noble and is covered in quotes from famous books. The blanket was a gift from T when she went on a trip to Mexico the year before.

Hair Loosely Curled with Conair’s YouCurl Infinity Curling Wand and pinned back with a whole mess of bobby pins.

On My Face: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in B10, Too Faced Papa Don’t Peach Blush, Benefit’s Leggy Eyeshadow, Blinc Mascara, Smith’s Rosebud Salve
On My Nails: Essie’s Navigate Her.

You might notice that I’m reading a book, it actually happens to be one of my very favorite books, The Virgin Suicides. When I was getting ready to take these photos I tried to think of what one of the Lisbon Sisters would have been wearing, or how they would have done their makeup. I was going for a very natural, very 70′s feel. As you might see in a future Throwback post, I went through a bit of a 70′s phase early last year. It only lasted for the spring though. I feel like these pictures are spot on, because they have a sort of soft, kind of dreamy, but very bare feel to them. Which matches the tone of the book perfectly.

The Virgin Suicides focus on the Lisbon Sisters and the events surrounding their suicides, and is told by one of the boys who was enthralled with them. The whole book has a sort of dreamlike hazy feel to it, since it is told in memories. It’s like they used a soft focus blush toned filter on the whole story. Even though it focuses on the mystery, you can clearly tell that some of the elements have been softened by time, some of them forgotten and some of them never known.

It’s a book I’ve read so many times I could nearly tell you the story verbatim, but evertime I read it, I still feel the same way. Like I too am looking back into history, spying on the Lisbon Sisters through the window, and wondering why. It’s not the resolution of this story that makes the book for me, it’s the tone and the depth of emotion. Every time I read it I go through a bit of 70′s phase, and I think I’m due for a rereading soon, so look forward to some inspired outfits and inspirations posts coming soon.

I linked up on the I Feel Pretty Weekly Link up so go check her out, and the others that linked up out.

*Not every book review on this site will have an outfit post to go with it, but some of them, that effect me particularly will.