November Chick Lit Challenge Read #2: Remember Newvember

 

Welcome to my second November review for the Chick Lit Plus Challenge. I stumbled across Remember Newvember by Jennifer Bogart a few months ago (and for the life of me can't remember how I did) and tucked it away in my head to save it for the November challenge read. It was only fitting as the book is about a woman who is dared to try one new thing a day for the entire month of November. 

Here's the full synopsis, courtesy of Goodreads:

The dare should have been simple, but it turns into a life-altering journey. This inspiring book is deep investigative thinking, disguised as chic lit.

In just one month, Willow transforms from routine-oriented postal worker to try-anything-once adventurer. “I dare you to spice up your life,” her best friend urges – so Willow complies, not realizing the ripple effect subtle changes create.

A simple weblog listing her new activities quickly turns into an introspective exploration of who she is, where she’s going and the route she’s going to take. All her life, Willow has ambled without purpose, never straying from her chosen path. The moment Willow decides to take the stairs in her apartment building where she runs into Sawyer, the dreamy-man-voice, something in her psyche shifts. She is propelled into the adventure that is her own life with twists and turns that could only come from losing her inhibitions and making risky decisions.

Each new event becomes a catalyst in the development of Willow’s relationships with her friends, co-workers, siblings and love interests. Forced to look beyond what is presented on the surface, she discovers the truth of what lurks below, including an unpleasant display of her own chaotic emotions. By the end of her month of new discoveries, Willow loses her indecisiveness, her inhibitions and most importantly gains self-confidence and self-respect.

I loved the premise of this book. Trying something new for an entire month? Talk about getting outside of your comfort zone. Willow does all sorts of new things throughout the month, some are interesting, some are slight tweaks to her everyday routine. Instead of her usual beer on Wet Your Whistle Wednesdays, she has tequila (with less than stellar results). She goes to her first NHL game (with much better results). She suddenly becomes a pet owner (which is quite humourous) and she agrees to babysit her friend's daughter (she's really not a kid person). I won't give everything away but what I really loved about this book is that it made me think about my own life and how sometimes we get stuck in a rut and just need a shove (or a dare) to get us motivated to change things.

If I was a more adventurous or motivated person, I would have done my own version of Newvember. However, I'm not. At least I'm making a conscious effort to think about what I'm doing throughout the month and trying new things if they are staring me in the face. So far I've been able to do a few things: I've watched the opening ceremonies of the Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls, drove to Ottawa - almost 6 hours - all by myself, went to the Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa - cold and hard to see anything but it was lovely, finally tried a Beavertail - they're so delicious, and I signed up for a Secret Santa exchange on The Broke and Bookish. If you'll notice, those are only five things but five new things are all you need to enter the contest Jennifer Bogart is running! If you do that many things in "Newvember" and comment on her Facebook page you can win a print copy of Remember Newvember and a mug! Check out this blog post to see the book and mug. Now that I've done a few new things I can see what Willow felt once she got started on her challenge.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The story and plot were more captivating than the writing itself (there were a couple of things I felt should have been smoothed out but they didn't stop me from enjoying the book). Willow really made me think about my own life and what I can do to shake things up. Have you tried anything new this month? If you have or plan on doing so, I'd love to hear about them! I think this is a great book and think other chick lit lovers will enjoy because it doesn't quite fall into the typical chick lit category. Trust me. You'll enjoy the time you spend with Remember Newvember.

If you're wondering where you can get this great book, you can purchase it at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com, and on Smashwords. What are you waiting for?

Happy reading :)