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Radiant Shimmering Light
Radiant Shimmering Light: A Novel | Sarah Selecky
21 posts | 8 read | 23 to read
A sharply funny and wise debut novel about female friendship, the face we show the world online and letting your own light shine, from the Scotiabank Giller Prizeshortlisted author of This Cake Is for the Party Lilian Quick has looked up to her cousin Florence her whole life. Florence is everything Lilian is notbrave, confident, quick to find adventure and American. The women have been out of touch for years due to a family rift, but Lilian, childless, single and self-employed as a pet portraitist, has been watching Florence for years. Florence is now Internet-famous as Eleven Novak, the face of a compelling new feminine lifestyle empowerment brand. When Eleven comes to town as part of her sales tour, she offers Lilian a place at the Temple, her Manhattan office. Despite twenty years of silence, Eleven welcomes her long-lost cousin with open arms, and the two women begin a new relationship. Lilian quickly enrols in the Ascendency, Elevens signature program: an expensive three-month training seminar on empowered leadership, spiritual awakening, and sales and marketing. Eleven is going to help her cousin rise up to be her highest self: confident, affluent and self-actualized. Lilians sensitive, artistic nature is stretched by the work she does in the Ascendency, and pushed even further by her cousins careful life coaching. In just three months, Lilians life changes drastically and becomes everything shes dreamed of. But is it everything she wants? And can she trust everything Eleven says?
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review
Come-read-with-me
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Mehso-so

This is another one of those books I wanted to love, but sadly didn‘t. I‘d wanted it to truly be a satirical look at media-based life, instead it became a somewhat vacuous examination of a woman living her best Instagram life. Maybe I‘m just not savvy enough about social media to truly appreciate the overall story. The write creates an intriguing concept but I just couldn‘t get behind the story.

review
DivineDiana
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Panpan

Lillian Quick sees the auras of animals. She can barely pay her bills by painting aura portraits for her customers. Social media is crucial to the Marketing of her business. Her cousin Florence has changed her name to Eleven,and is the stylish leader of a program to help women find their Power. Her Marketing skills are stellar! Lillian reconnects with Eleven and begins her path to Ascendency. I kept waiting for some big reveal which never came. 😕

ReadingRover I need to get my dogs aura painted! 😂 6y
DivineDiana @ReadingRover A must! 🤣 6y
62 likes2 comments
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DivineDiana
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Went for a hike through the woods with a friend, so no #audiowalk , but a challenging fitness walk! #bfc #bookfitnesschallenge

TheSpineView Exercise is exercise! Keep up the good work! 6y
readordierachel Pretty spot! 6y
rockpools Looks lovely! 6y
See All 11 Comments
Lynnsoprano Absolutely gorgeous! I'm looking forward to our vacation next month in the mountains, because it's been almost a year since I've had a chance to hike in the woods.
6y
DivineDiana @TheSpineView Thank you! 😀 (edited) 6y
DivineDiana @readordierachel @RachelO It was! 💚💚 (edited) 6y
DivineDiana @Lynnsoprano Won‘t be long! So peaceful in the woods! 💚 6y
Clwojick Lovely! 6y
wanderinglynn Way to go! 🙌🏻 6y
BookwormAHN Lovely walk 👏🏻 6y
86 likes11 comments
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DivineDiana
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Walked at Stoneleigh, a property owned by The Natural Lands Trust. It was bequeathed to the township by the Haas Family. Haas translates to hare in German. The family had this tree sculpture of hares representing their family. Now, it is decorated seasonally. #bfc #audiowalk #bookfitnesschallenge

Caterina Looks like a fun place to walk! Way to go! 👏 6y
wanderinglynn Great progress on your goals! 🙌🏻 6y
Reecaspieces Wow! Lovely 6y
See All 13 Comments
BethM Lovely! Great job! 6y
Clwojick This looks like a great place to go for sunny afternoon walks! ♥️💜💚 6y
Megabooks Cool!! 😎😎 6y
TheEllieMo I love finding interesting things like that on a walk! Well done 👍🏻 6y
dariazeoli Nice job and fun landmark! 6y
kspenmoll What fun!!! 6y
DivineDiana @dariazeoli Thank you! It‘s a favorite! 🐰 6y
68 likes13 comments
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DivineDiana
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Found a tomato patch on today‘s #audiowalk. #BFC #bookfitnesschallenge

BethM Fun! 6y
monalyisha Pretty flowers! 6y
RohitSawant How lovely! 6y
See All 11 Comments
BookwormAHN Nice 👏🏻 6y
rockpools Nice! 6y
wanderinglynn Way to go! 🙌🏻 6y
dariazeoli Maybe when the challenge is over they‘ll be ripe for salsa 💃 Nice walk! 6y
Laughterhp How cool! Great job! 👏🏻 6y
guinsgirlreads Love all of this! 👏🏻 6y
alisiakae Lovely! 6y
Caterina Beautiful flowers! Great job getting out there! 🙌 6y
70 likes11 comments
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DivineDiana
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Some animal sightings during my #audiowalk! #bfc #bookfitnesschallenge #litsywalkers

BethM Awesome! 6y
ErinC Way to go! 6y
See All 17 Comments
Bookwormjillk Cute frogs 6y
VanChocStrawberry I‘ve been trying to keep my eyes open for pretty things, too! 6y
Chrissyreadit 👏👏👏 6y
DivineDiana @VanChocStrawberry You‘ll find them! 👍🏻 6y
Clwojick 💜💙💚 6y
BookwormAHN Nice job 👏🏻 6y
dariazeoli Good job! Nice animal cameos 😉 6y
Caterina Looks like it was a beautiful day for a walk! Nice job! 🙌 6y
DivineDiana @dariazeoli ❤️🐸🐦 (edited) 6y
DivineDiana @caterina Thank you! It was! ❤️ 6y
61 likes17 comments
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DivineDiana
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Found these adorable ducks splashing in the water during my #audiowalk. #bookfitnesschallenge #BFC

BookwormAHN Nice walk 🌻 6y
wanderinglynn Aw, how lovely! And great walk! 🙌🏻 6y
VanChocStrawberry My walks would be way more fun with views like that! 6y
See All 7 Comments
BarbaraJean Gotta love a walk that has ducks included! 😁 6y
DivineDiana @BarbaraJean ❤️🦆🚶‍♀️ 6y
Clwojick Woohoo! Way to go! 💚💜💙 6y
71 likes7 comments
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DivineDiana
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Today‘s sights while I took my #audiowalk. #BFC #bookfitnesschallenge #litsywalkers

Chrissyreadit Those roses 😍😍😍😍 6y
OrangeMooseReads Way to go! (Also what app do you use for the map and timer) 6y
wanderinglynn Way to go! 🙌🏻 And I love the tea pot. Was it part of a water feature or just decorative? 6y
See All 14 Comments
DivineDiana @Chrissyreadit The roses were such a beautiful color! 6y
DivineDiana @OrangeMooseReads I use MapMyWalk! 6y
DivineDiana @wanderinglynn Just decorative. So whimsical! 6y
TheSpineView Awesome! 6y
Erin7 Looks like you had a lovely walk🌺 6y
Clwojick Looks like a great walking route! I love those whimsical gardens. 6y
BookwormAHN Lovely walk, nice job 👏🏻 6y
OrangeMooseReads @DivineDiana awesome thanks 😊 6y
monalyisha What a gorgeous color on those blooms! 6y
DivineDiana @monalyisha I thought so too! 🌹 6y
60 likes14 comments
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DivineDiana
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Walking through the raindrops. Happy to see there are some flowers blooming despite the cold temperatures. #bfc #bookfitness challenge #audiowalk

BookwormAHN Nice walk 👏🏻 6y
BarbaraJean Pretty flowers!! 6y
wanderinglynn Way to stick with it despite the weather! 🙌🏻 6y
See All 8 Comments
Caterina Pretty flowers! Great job getting out there despite the rain! 🙌 6y
Wife 🌹 6y
guinsgirlreads Good stuff! 👍🏻👍🏻 6y
Megabooks Awesome! 😎 6y
Soubhiville Lovely! 6y
73 likes8 comments
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DivineDiana
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Started the #bookfitnesschallenge with a yoga class at the gym! There was this new addition that I absolutely love! Treated myself to a salad in a jar. Also started the tagged audiobook! #BFC #bookfitnesschallenge

wanderinglynn That‘s cool. I was wishing the other day that there were healthy options in the work vending machine instead of all junk food. 6y
dariazeoli Salad in a jar would be so much better than the chips tempting me from feet away. Nice choice! 👍 6y
Hestapleton OMG THIS IS AMAZING. Wish this was at my office! 6y
See All 19 Comments
Simona 😍😍😍 What a great idea! 6y
BookwormAHN Cool 💙 6y
alisiakae That is incredible! 6y
DivineDiana @wanderinglynn It was so nice! Even offered overnight oats and kombucha! 6y
DivineDiana @dariazeoli Agree! 😉 6y
Kaye 💖 6y
LapReader I would love one of those at my workplace. Good luck with your journey. 6y
Chrissyreadit Woah!!! I want one of those!!!! 6y
Clwojick Whattttt!?! This is the coolest vending machine I have ever seen! 🙈 6y
Wife I would buy that! 🥬🍅🥒🥕🥑 6y
DivineDiana @LapReader Right! Thank you! 6y
DivineDiana @Chrissyreadit @Clwojick @Wife I hope we start seeing more of these! 💗💗💗 6y
TheSpineView Cool!💜 6y
Caterina Nice!! And great job with the yoga, that's a great workout. 😊 6y
72 likes19 comments
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saresmoore
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This post from Electric Lit (which I support monthly and love) sort of piggy backs off of my latest read (tagged). Some good food for thought if you‘re a writer and dig a helpful horoscope from time to time. https://electricliterature.com/spring-2019-horoscopes-for-writers/

Crazeedi What an awesome site, I signed up, maybe it will give me impetus to start writing again! 6y
saresmoore @Crazeedi Ooh, I hope so! They have excellent content and the newsletter is an inspiring reminder for me to get writing. 6y
Crazeedi @saresmoore 💞🤩 6y
Suet624 Thanks. This was fun. 6y
65 likes4 comments
review
saresmoore
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Pickpick

Fascinating. Sarah Selecky has her finger on the pulse (or maybe her eye on the shifting aura) of a surreal subculture in North America. There is some sharp, even uncomfortable satire here, but it‘s written so true-to-life that it feels almost like a memoir. The narrator is unreliable, but deftly characterized. She‘s ultra polite, alternately self-deprecating & self-aggrandizing, incredibly naïve & flimsy—much like the online world she inhabits.?

RealBooks4ever Great review! 💜 6y
saresmoore So much is left unresolved and there aren‘t any real answers or conclusions, here. I‘m still not sure if I actually like the main character. But, for some reason, the whole experience of reading this was deeply affecting. It‘s thought-provoking and often provocative. I‘m really not sure why I liked it so much, but I think it‘s a timely and intriguing portrait of a brief moment in time & space, a tiny portion of an ever-shifting global culture. 6y
saresmoore I read this for my book with a social media focus for #Booked2019 and recommended by a celebrity I admire (Margaret Atwood) for the #Popsugarreadingchallenge. 6y
See All 11 Comments
saresmoore @RealBooks4ever Thank you! ♥️ 6y
Christine Ooh, I had started this but set it aside...now I‘m going to give it another try! 6y
saresmoore @christine @Bookcation74 I had some moments when I felt like I was just reading all the annoying emails I automatically delete, but after about 100 pages, I didn‘t want to put it down. Thinking about the author‘s motivations and my own experience with the bizarre, cultish Instagram-filtered world of modern “spiritual” entrepreneurship helped make it a layered and nuanced narrative/commentary for me. 6y
vivastory What a thoughtful review! 🙌👏 6y
Bookcation74 @saresmoore I will absolutely pick it back up based on your review! Thanks! 6y
Christine @Bookcation74 Same! 😁 @saresmoore I love all of your thoughts about this and am definitely excited to revisit it now! 6y
saresmoore @vivastory Thanks, friend! 😊 6y
92 likes2 stack adds11 comments
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saresmoore
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“These are special cupcakes, my loves,” she says... “These are from the Conscious Cupcakery. This bakery is owned by an Ascendency grad named Winnie Prudhomme. Winnie stores her special gluten-free flour blend in a sacred room, where it is infused with the positive intentions of meditating monks. She bakes the cupcakes to the sounds of daily prayer chants from a Tibetan monastery...”

emilyhaldi I could use some of those meditation cupcakes right now 6y
saresmoore This book! The satire is spot on. 😂😭🙏 I left the world of self-aggrandizing, social media-inundated “spiritual” entrepreneurship years ago, so I have enough distance to laugh at this, but it‘s still a cringing laughter. 6y
saresmoore @emilyhaldi I know, right? The author is slicing open this world with her wit & insight, but it still made me want a cupcake. 😅 6y
See All 9 Comments
LeahBergen Oh, man! 😂😂 6y
saresmoore @LeahBergen Namaste.🧁 6y
Suet624 Wow! But gee, I want to see what happens when I ingest them. (edited) 6y
Lindy Love this! 😆 6y
saresmoore @Lindy I can‘t remember if you‘ve read Sourdough, but this description reminded me of it. Makes me want to play music for my kombucha SCOBY and see what happens! 6y
Lindy @saresmoore It‘s now on my TBR. Thanks! 6y
78 likes3 stack adds9 comments
blurb
Leigh0906
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1. The physical copy of Radiant Shimmering Light by Sarah Selecky and No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephenie Powell Watts on audiobook

2. Tea

3. I‘m drinking some Ceylon tea right now!

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

rachelsbrittain Thanks for joining in ☕😊 6y
14 likes1 comment
review
mrozzz
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Mehso-so

Lilian Quick is a lost 40-year-old virgin, behind on rent and trying to promote herself and her artistic practice online in the hopes of the emulating her estranged cousin, the infamous “Eleven” Novak. They meet up after one of Eleven‘s events in Toronto and she proposes Lilian fix all her problems by moving to NYC to work for her cousin and sign up for her program, The Ascendency, which allows women to ascend to their full potential. ⬇️

mrozzz (Cont‘d) The way that Lilian‘s constantly questioning herself internally & externally while otherwise acting enthusiastically about anything/everything I couldn‘t tell if her attitude was just trying to align with Eleven‘s teachings or if she was just that naive. Neither appealed to me. I didn‘t know if I was supposed to take her seriously. 6y
97 likes1 comment
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LauraBeth
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If I don‘t finish this book before it‘s due back at the library, then I‘m paying the late fine - because it‘s hilarious.

Hollie Your cat‘s lounging is starting to resemble Bitsy‘s! 6y
Crazeedi Your kitty *squeezable *❤ 6y
saresmoore Yay! I‘m looking forward to this one! 6y
See All 10 Comments
Dragon 😻 6y
LauraBeth @Hollie 😹 birds of a feather... 6y
LauraBeth @Crazeedi she‘s constantly getting squeezed 😺 6y
LauraBeth @saresmoore so far it‘s a funny takedown on the capitalism of spiritualism dressed up as self-help 6y
LauraBeth @Dragon Teeny Ginger was a bright spot for us in an otherwise dreary year 😻 6y
AlaMich Is her nose always that pink? 😻 6y
LauraBeth @AlaMich yes! She has a bright pink nose and bright pink toes! 😻 6y
149 likes7 stack adds10 comments
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LauraBeth
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These are due back at the library within the next week and they both have a ton of holds on them, so if I don‘t get to them now, my next chance may not be until late spring. Also - I‘ve found that I read best with a deadline looming...

Tanisha_A Yes. Sometimes i feel i am much more productive when there are deadlines to things. 6y
LauraBeth @Reecaspieces have you read this or is it on your radar? She grew up in Mississippi in the 60s and while she didn‘t go to Ole Miss, she did go to USM 6y
LauraBeth @Tanisha_A I think “Attach a deadline” is page one of the procrastinator‘s manifesto...😂 6y
See All 13 Comments
valeriegeary You can doooooo it! 6y
LeahBergen 👉🏻*boop* 6y
mrp27 I totally agree. I operate better under pressure. 6y
Reecaspieces @LauraBeth well I started to comment when you posted the book...but I chickened out. 😂. I have started it twice. I cannot finish it. Just a little too hateful maybe...or maybe I am not in the mood for the subject matter. Not sure. But I do own a signed copy. Lol 6y
Reecaspieces And hey to bitsy 6y
LauraBeth @Reecaspieces Oh I completely understand that! I guess that‘s why she called it Southern Discomfort- because a LOT of this book is uncomfortable. It seems that since she opened the book talking about the paradox of the south - how she both loved and hated it - that‘s also the same paradox that she writes about her family. But so far it‘s a difficult read about her flawed family in a conflicted place during a difficult time in history. Bitsy says👋 6y
LauraBeth @Reecaspieces this book was so troubling, I don‘t even know where to begin... 6y
Reecaspieces @LauraBeth I think I gathered it was going to be tough...just not in the mood. 😳😂 6y
LauraBeth @Reecaspieces it was actually one the worst books I read all year 😂 6y
Reecaspieces @LauraBeth 😂😳 glad I missed it then!! 6y
110 likes1 stack add13 comments
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Christine
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If Mother Margaret recommends...stacked!

alisiakae Stacked! 😃 6y
EleniKara Always trust in Mother Margaret 🙌🏼🙌🏼 6y
Christine @4thhouseontheleft Haha yay!! ❤️ 6y
Christine @EleniKara Yes!!! ❤️ 6y
46 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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Well-ReadNeck
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#LibraryHaul

My local library loaded up on books from this month‘s Indie Next Picks‘s list. So, I‘m loading up, too!! 👏🏼

https://www.bookweb.org/news/december-2018-indie-next-list-preview-108175

review
Penny_LiteraryHoarders
Pickpick

Excellent satire on our social media consumed lives. Really exposes or spotlights a close lens on how ridiculous it's become.

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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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The cover is radiant and it shimmers too!! #canlit