Giveaway & Review : Up for Renewal by Cathy Alter

Up for Renewal... Opening yourself up for change in the magazine aisle!

Hi Everyone! And the winner is.... Victoria! Congrats! I'll post all the great magazine advice titles everyone came up with soon with a link here so you can read them all! So you'll have to come back to check them all out- they are all GREAT! And a BIG Thank you to EVERYone who joined in on the fun!

Up For Renewal, What magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over by Cathy Alter. "By age thirty-seven, Cathy Alter had made a mess of her life. With a failed marriage already under her belt, she was continuing down the path of poor decisions, one paved with a steady stream of junk food, unpaid bills, questionable friends, and highly inappropriate men. So she sat down and asked her-self what she truly wanted. A decent guy. A nicer home. More protein. When she took a closer look at her wants, she noticed something that seemed very familiar—with the addition of exclamation points, her list could easily be transformed into the cover lines on every women’s magazine: Find the love you deserve! Paint to the rescue! Eggs-actly perfect meals! ...So Cathy gave over her life to the glossies for the next twelve months, resolving to follow their advice without question. By the end of her subscriptions, she would get rid of upper-arm jiggle, crawl out of debt, host the perfect dinner party, run a mile without puking, engage in better bathtub booty, ask for a raise, and rehaul her apartment."

Up for Renewal was funny & charming! And I really enjoyed it! With Cathy's life so out of control it didn't seem such a stretch to let all the magazines screaming advice on the rack to take over her life, so that's what she did- for one year she followed the advice from these magazines without question and the result was a funny, unbelievably honest look at how she changed her life with the flip of a page.

Each month was a different 'goal'. She started out slow & easy - eating healthier was her first month. She wasn't overweight, but had a lot of bad habits including junk food. So brown bagging it to work would be healthier and save her some money. Real Simple magazine had an tutorial on sandwich wrapping (an actual tutorial!?) and which was the best wrap to use... then she tackles "keep fear from running your life" , fashion month, sex month, cooking month and in the middle of all this change she finds a "healthy" relationship and begins to apply her new found magazine advice to her relationship with Karl - from moving in together to dealing with his mother. Some of her 'experiments' were a riot! And some were very heartwarming. Her sarcasm and wit make for a great story. She is the real "Bridget Jones Diary"!

Along the way, she questioned whether these women's magazines were really designed to make women feel bad about themselves by always making us feel like we'd never have the perfect "_____" (you fill in the blank), but ultimately her verdict was that these magazines "were just the vehicles (ambulances during some months) she took to the road to self-discovery." She, like each of us, is the person who ultimately makes the positive changes in our own life.

It's funny that since I've read this book I really pay attention to all the magazine covers to see what advice they are offering 'this month'... Do you ever buy a magazine for the advice on the cover? When you don't subscribe to a magazine, isn't that the reason why you buy one off the stand- something in that issue is calling your name. Advice, recipes, paint choice it's all there! If you'd like to learn more about Cathy Alters and her book Up for Renewal, check out her Home Page! Would you like to read the first chapter? Here's the Excerpt!

Now about the giveaway! Courtesy of Minjae O., Cathy Alters PR consultant, I had the privilege of receiving a copy of Up for Renewal for review! PLUS, Minjae generously sent me another copy so I could give it away to one of my readers! Since I'm sending it along to one lucky person, I am opening this giveaway up to my international readers too! So if I can mail a book to you thru the post office you are eligible to enter!

To Enter this Giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*For another entry, follow my blog and leave a comment to let me know you just became a follower. (if you already are a follower you will get an extra entry!)

*For another entry Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

*For a bonus entry write your own magazine advice headline and leave it in a comment! (Such as... "Make your skin glow with mayonnaise and water") Remember we're having fun here, don't be shy!

This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents, plus anywhere I can mail a book thru the post office! (No P.O. Boxes, please) Contest ends 11:59 pm EST on Sept. 5th. I'll randomly pick the winner the next day and email that person. Please check your email... winner must reply to me!

Good luck everyone!

*P.S. Not part of the giveaway, but just wanted to let my Kindle readers know, this book is Kindle Ready!