Spare by Prince Harry

 

BWOBNY is back!! Today we debut our brand new review series "Book Buddies."  Jenn and Mallory met during the first week of Borders Middletown, NY (18 years ago!!) and became fast friends along with Melanie who you may remember for her delightfully snarky reviews elsewhere on the blog.  First up, Jenn and Mallory review the buzzy Spare by Prince Harry.

 

Where did you get this book (purchased, gift or library?)

Jenn:  Purchased ebook from online retailer

Mallory:  Gift for Christmas

 

Why did you choose this book?

Jenn:  I was super curious to hear about Prince Harry’s life from the man himself.  I’ve been interested in the workings of the Royal Family since I was in high school. I also wanted to learn more about Meghan as we share a birthday!

Mallory:  I choose this book because I wanted to hear Prince Harry's side. Unfortunately the Media has had a lot of negative comments and articles about him. I was interested in what happened and occurred through the eyes of Prince Harry

 

What did you like about this book?

Jenn:  I was fascinated and impressed by Harry’s military training and career.  I had no idea how actively he was involved in the military.  His work for his fellow veterans especially wounded warriors is inspiring. 

I also love the way he spoke of his Grandmother, to him she was “Granny” and a much more caring woman than the vision of Queen Elizabeth that I’d built up in my mind.  However his descriptions of his father and Charles' mistress Camilla were even worse than I imagined.  It was heartbreaking to read especially given the devastating loss of his mother.  It was also disheartening to read about the strained relationship with his brother.

Mallory:  The book was really informative. It shed a light on how the death of his mother really affected his life. It was also educating to hear of his experience in the military. Hearing his perspective of life as a royal, really opened my eyes. Just because he is part of a royal family does not make his life perfect.

 

What (if anything) did you dislike about this book?

Jenn:  At one point, Prince Harry is exposed to frigid temperatures and reportedly suffered frostbite to what I’ll call a sensitive appendage of his anatomy.  He devoted way more time to that experience that I felt necessary.  LOL  You really could’ve kept that to yourself, mate.

I also would’ve liked a little more detail on his life with Meghan now.  What’s a regular day like at home for them with their children?  What does their work life entail?  I would’ve just liked some “slice of life” details there although the book does of course cover their dating life through marriage.

 

Mallory:  I felt at times that the book was chopped up. He would start telling of a time period in his life and then it would abruptly stop and pick up 10 chapters later. At points I also felt that it was too detailed. This would cause me to lose interest at times.

 

Would you recommend this book to others?
 

Jenn:  Absolutely!  Even if you’re not into the royals, this book definitely shows there are at least two sides to every story and also gives one reason to question the media, especially tabloids.

 

Mallory:  Yes. I would absolutely recommend this book. I feel that the book does give a proper look into his life. It makes you question everything you hear in the media.

 

Star Rating

Jenn:  ***** /5

Mallory:  ****/5

Have you read Spare?  What did you think?  Share your thoughts with the book buddies (or book biddies as Melanie has taken to calling us)!

 

Give Thanks

There is just a few days left before Thanksgiving!  Are you ready?  I still haven't gotten the green beans for the casserole or more importantly the wine!  However, the most important part of the holiday is to remember to celebrate and be thankful for your blessings in life.  I polled the BWOBNY crew to see what they're most thankful for.

Albert is thankful "love."

Eileen gives thanks for her family, friends and her job, despite the crazy times there.  She is also thankful for books and her Borders family.

Jess B. is thankful for "her family, friends, and Gutenberg for inventing the printing press."

Jess P. gives thanks for her friends and family, especially her healthy baby girl.


Mallory is thankful for her family and friends.

Naomi reflected, "Is it bad that my first thought was not family and friends but, books and stuffed socks that look like wombats? I'm also grateful for my family and the friends that let me rub their heads and eat their chocolate. AND I'm grateful that I will finally graduate next January in the year 2014. Huzzah!"

Rachel gives thanks for "my family, the beard, Luna (my cat), cats in general, friends, and books!" 

Rebecca is thankful for her friends and family plus... "I'm also grateful for my jobs. Even if they drive me crazy at times, I love teaching and I love being able to work around books regularly and I love going to school full time. My life is full, but in a good way! And I'm grateful for the people that put up with my craziness."



Stacey gives thanks for "Love. My adorable nephew. Becoming closer with my sister this past year. And of course the freedom to read anything my special heart desires."

Finally, I'm thankful to be surrounded by my friends and family this Thanksgiving.  I'm grateful to be able to feast and watch Muppet movies with my grandparents again.  I'm also thankful for my adorable cat, and all my friends and family who have helped and supported my movie project, this blog, and my endless ideas." 




What about you guys?  What are you thankful for?  Please share with us.  Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Memories

Today marks the one year anniversary of the last day of Borders 0647, Middletown, NY.   A large group of us consisting of current and former employees reunited to spend a few final moments in the store and to remember and celebrate all the great times we had.  The meet-up looked a little like this...



Like Lou Grant treasured the staff at WJM, we truly treasured each other.  We even worked with a couple of knuckleads like Ted Baxter!  As our blog's welcome statement says, "Borders was more than a job for us - it was a way of life and a family..."  Fortunately, just like Mary and her friends, we learned that moment wasn't the end but the beginning.  We have this lovely blog and most of us meet up once a month.  I am truly blessed, as I am sure my colleagues will agree, to have made true life long friends from our time together at Borders.  Regardless, we miss our Borders days terribly.  Rebecca T., made this lovely video that makes me teary every time I watch it.



That video highlights some of the great times we had together.  I gathered up the gang on Facebook to show some more of our favorite memories with you.

Our last schedule, with our name badge remnants

Alan enjoyed the "zombies vs. unicorns" debate.  Meanwhile we all still chuckle when ever we think of Alan's closing announcements when he would put on his best "Terminator" voice and inform customers that the store would be closing soon and they better "get to the choppa..."

Jess P. has "so many awesome memories...Jenn, I always loved our GH/AMC recaps.  It was funny when customers and/or staff overheard us! Also I think it was the DVD release for 'Twilight' or 'New Moon' when we had the Twilight movie awards and all Jenn N kept saying was "sparkles!" in a sing songy voice. Finally there was the time I caught [a shoplifter] and saved close to $700 from walking out of the store....The most bittersweet moment to me was doing the final walkthrough of the store, and shutting the lights off. It was more than a store to me, it was my home away from home..." 

I remember the Twilight parties fondly as well.  We had two, one for the release of the novel "Eclipse," and another for one of the DVDs.  Corporate had sent us a packet of instructions as to what games we should lead our customers in.  The packet kept using the word sparkle, as the vampires sparkle.  For some reason, I thought of Oprah and how she'd introduce the Cullens. It'd go something like, "Let's bring out the Cullens, they SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARKLE!!"  .a' know excited she'd get that is where the sing-songy thing Jess mentions came from, lol,

My little impressions must've been a hit because Melanie's favorite moment was " Jenn's Adrienne Curry and Christopher Knight impersonation."  Melanie couldn't always catch the reality show, "My Fair Brady," so I would reenact scenes from it rather than just tell her because it was just too much fun.  

Rachel and I had some great times together too.  I was pleased to hear one of my favorite moments was hers too.  She loved, "Screaming 'MO WILLEMS YOU A WEREPANTHER' with Jenn, or any other time Jenn and I talked about 'True Blood'."  She also loved anytime our favorite customer brought us pastries, making borders party mixes and having said mixes banned from the overhead, javanilla shakes, cocoa trio sauce, RPL, staff picks. I miss it all."



I apologize to Mo Willems for calling him a werepanther but this memory occurred during the werepanther season of True Blood and we had a little misunderstanding about Mr. Willems during BEA and this joke began.  Rachel also neglected to mention that her impressions of "True Blood," characters in particular her impression of Tara Thorton could make me laugh so hard that it was hard to breathe.

Mallory, like Melanie, was with me when we first opened Borders in October 2005.  Mallory's favorite memory is singing a little song with me while we worked.  We had been instructed to tape these security tags, known as chicklets, onto CDs and DVDs.   I started singing "tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape you chicklet..." to the tune of "Shake Your Booty."  She also fondly remembers "info parties," which is the term the managers used when too many of us hang out by the info desk chatting.  

Rebecca T., remembers "I loved all of the release parties that we did - particularly Breaking Dawn because Claire and I were in charge and we just threw our whole selves into it and we had all the tape all over the floor and Larry went and bought a tux t-shirt on his break so he would fit in with the "prom" theme. Also, this one is for Claire Bear - 'Hey LADY!' and when we went out to the diner for break on one of our overnights. Walking up to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch and gabbing about anything and everything in the break room."  

As for me, I cherish the fact that I was a part of so many of my colleagues memories.  I loved all of those moments too.  I loved talking about soaps with Jess P.   I can still crack her up with my impression of Crystal from "All My Children."  Rachel is one of my favorite people to discuss "True Blood," with and Mallory and Melanie were there with me at the beginning.

I also love that we always made the best out of awkward situations.  Our ceiling flooded frequently but we just laughed and grabbed a pail and waited for the mall cops to come and agree, that there was indeed a leak.  As if we'd make that up.  Another time, there was an emergency evacuation of the mall due to some kind of problem with the smoke detectors.  We got everyone out, quickly and efficiently.  There was a brief moment of panic when we couldn't find Larry but before we knew it we were all safe in the parking lot and Larry was doing what did best-cracking jokes. 

With all these great memories, it's hard to believe we got any work done.  However we did and because we all bonded together so well, I think it made the work a lot easier.  We were truly a family and we worked together like a good family should, as a team.  I know we are all thankful for the wonderful times we shared and we'd like to thank all our customers who supported our store for all those years.  We miss you all and we miss it all. 

647 crew Past & Present