The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, by Jennifer Ryan

Jennifer Ryan put together a wonderful variety of women that were all equally interesting and thought provoking. That might be hard to do with 5+ voices to carry out and make unique, but she handled it marvelously, the different stories and methods for their communication weaving together very nicely throughout the book. While I may have wished for a little less from Mrs. Tilling, I enjoyed reading every character's journal entries, letters, and diaries.

As for criticism, I can't find a lot. Sometimes I wished to hear what the recipients of those letters wrote in return, or have some indication of what their correspondent thought of their last letter. I also wished for some sort of resolution at the very end regarding the war, perhaps Kitty 5, 15, 25 years later, with where they are now, and what they've made of their lives post-war.

I even found myself tearful during parts of the book, particularly the funeral of Hattie, when the priest fretfully told the ladies that there were no men to carry the coffin. When all the women stood together to bear their friend, it was so heartwarming and sad, to know that this most likely happened on many occasions.

Overall, this book captivated me, and I loved getting involved in the lives of a small village in England. Very well written, 4.5 stars!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Q & A a Day for Writers, A Review

I have a couple different writing prompt books, but not one quite like this. I like the fact that it's a calendared journal, so even if you don't complete all of them within the year, you can use it for multiple years if you want. You can also scrap the idea of the calendar and pick and choose the prompts to write, which range from personal views on topics, to expounding on given quotes, to writing about the weather. I like that they aren't all prompts that have you come up with a new story every time. Some days are simple, like, "Clear your mind. Write a sentence as quickly as you can without thinking." Others ask you to think about what life would be like on Mars.

I think this is a great little journal for any writer, and I myself will do my best to use it throughout 2017 and beyond!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

This book had me chuckling not just once, but a few times, and even had me wishing I had a marking pencil with me to underline those lines that made me do so. Mindy writes truthfully, yet sarcastically and irreverently, and somehow that makes it an entertaining and also heartfelt read. Only a couple times did I feel like she inserted an anecdote only because she needed to fulfill a word count requirement, but overall, I enjoyed reading about her views on her life and how she got there.

I didn't get a chance to read her first book, but it's been on my list, and now I think it's a must!

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Photographs from the Edge, Art Wolfe

As famous as this photographer seems to think he is, I'd never heard of him before getting this book. Still, I enjoyed the layout of the book, with the pictures from different decades, little facts about the shot, tips, and the story behind it. I've always wanted to take a photography class, and this was pretty much my introduction. I liked that Mr. Wolfe adapted to changes in technology and didn't let those changes hold him back.

While I wasn't sure I liked a lot of his subject matter, there were a few photos that made me pause and stare a bit. The reflection of the canyon wall, the bison in the snow (!!!), the tiger's eye, the insane mountains in China... I will definitely have this on my coffee table!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish

This book, the story of it, the recipes, are so beautiful! Although I don't have a lot of time to be making food like this a lot, I can't wait to try some of these gorgeous recipes! My boyfriend can't eat a lot of pizza though for health reasons, but I'm hoping the homemade aspect of it will not cause as many problems!

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Mapmaker's Children, Sarah McCoy

While the beginning drew me in, the middle and even the end of this book fell flat. Even the doll's head mystery in the chapters for the present time only got a paragraph, which seemed unfair since the whole book was based on where it came from..! I don't know, this book was just okay. I didn't like how the author drew out Eden's story, making her 'forget' to mention the doll's head every single chapter. Her husband makes the excuse for his non-affair that it's because American's are overly familiar. Um, thanks for reducing the entire population of America to a single trait? Also the mention of 'Mormons' was not necessary. The people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints suffered greatly, and to reduce their mention to a statement about a group seceding from them and then getting support from the army was crass.



I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Woman Who Would Be King

While I appreciate that the author tells us that this book is mostly conjecture, by the end of the novel, I was quite tired of hearing that 'this *might* have happened, or *this* might have happened, but we don't know, but maybe.' It got a little irksome, but I understand that we don't know a lot about what actually went down with Hatshepsut. The most confusing part of the book was how the author starts off telling us a story, and I thought, 'hm, I didn't know this would read like a historical novel,' but then it jumps into a historical narrative instead for the rest of the read. Kind of weird. In any case, I did learn quite a bit about how life might have been for the ancient Egyptians, how it seemed like sunshine and daisies, but there was disease everywhere! While they were sitting on their thrones of gold, they were also dealing with lots of nasty stuff. Ew! I would love to meet Hatshepsut in the next life or something and have dinner with her, and ask her what really happened. It's a really interesting story with lots of mysterious holes!

I do with the author had focused less on the sexual aspects of Egyptian life, if they really were that extensive. I realize that in some cultures that is something that highly featured, but it was a little much at times.

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Einkorn, by Carla Bartolucci

While I do not have a gluten intolerance, I have a friend who is trying to be more conscious about what she eats, and a while ago she mentioned einkorn. When I saw this book I was immediately interested in learning more about it, because hey, if a beautiful loaf of bread is going to get my attention, I'd say this book is worth reading! I loved the author's story about how and why she learned about the ancient grain, and how by trial and error she learned how to use it in beautiful, thoughtful, and unique ways. The pictures throughout the book of the finished products of the many recipes she includes are gorgeous, and indeed make me very eager to try them out! Unfortunately I do not have easy access to einkorn, or anything to grind the kernels with. But no matter, I am still very impressed with the thought and care the author took in completing this cookbook!

 



I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Armada, by Ernest Cline

Armada is a well-written book that just didn’t do much for me. While yes, I did enjoy some sections, I found myself hoping for the story to get going. The beginning was difficult for me because I’m not a huge gamer, and don’t know much about 80s games. So I did a bunch of googling that disrupted the story for a while. Then it finally picked up and I got about halfway through before getting kind of bored again. Not super bored. But just bored enough. I found it predictable, and but different enough from Ender's Game to pique my interest.

The ‘big reveal’ near the end that was probably supposed to have elicited an ‘oh my gosh!’ sort of reaction wasn’t nearly as exciting as I think the author may have tried to make it. It was like, meh, okay. Sure. I was hoping for a big ‘OH MY GOSH’ moment with the aliens, but other than the couple of pages with the AI thing at the end, we didn’t get much. It was a bit rushed, in fact. Disappointing considering the fact that there are chapters and chapters devoted to other parts.

I thought that this book would have answered all of the questions that the characters ask themselves throughout the book. What were the intentions of the aliens? Why didn’t they fight well? And others I can’t remember anymore. But it seems this might be the first book of a series, because most of those questions were not answered, and that is frustrating.

I think that if I was really into flight simulator video games, I would have liked this book a little more. As it stands, I’m just feeling blah about this book. Good, but not great.

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

How to Tie a Tie, by Potter Style

An awesome little book that will help you find the right style for you. And although I am female, I've felt like I should know a little something about this staple in men's fashion. I really liked the section on Bold Knots, and wish I saw more men make the effort to be different! I will definitely be sharing this book with my male friends.

 

Not only is this book about style, but the book itself is stylish! I loved the color and texture of the cover, and the handy size.

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre Review

The premise of this novel was intriguing, which is why I requested it to begin with. A woman once the most beautiful, has aged and wants to do anything she can to regain her youth. I loved parts of the book, such as the similarities between what women then and now put themselves through to attain beauty. But other parts of the book simply fell flat. I didn't care for the husband's points of view, as all I really wanted was what was going through Venetia's head. But we hardly got any of that either. It came in bits and pieces throughout the novel, and just wasn't enough. Reading this book felt like a chore, and while I did think it was fun of the author to include modern quotes and words into the story, it just didn't happen enough to make the book interesting.

 

I did find two quotes that I found quite moving in a way. Good enough for me to write them down:

 

"No library should ever be full."

"This library was his very soul made visible."

 

Love those!

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Review of 'J'

This book took a long time to get interesting. And even after it did, I still wasn't very interested, especially because I couldn't get myself to care about the characters. They were all so dead in my mind, so lifeless. For over half of the novel, the mention of something horrible in the past makes it seem like we might get more insight on what that was. But nope. You get some snippets of the awful thing that may have happened, and then the author doesn't even give you what exactly happened. You are able to put the pieces together without anything being explicitly stated, but I just wished for something more. The reactions of the main characters when they found out what and who they were just wasn't strong enough. They didn't seem to care about 'what happened, if it happened.'

Another reason that I wasn't sure I wanted to even finish this book was the way the author wrote. It is obvious that he is very proud of his vocabulary and sentence structure--which is all over the place sometimes and hard to follow. I'd never read this author before, and this book didn't make me want to go out in search of his other works.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Furry Logic, 10th Anniversary Edition Review

This is an honest and impartial review of Jane Seabrook's book, Furry Logic.

I expected this book to be full of cute, self-affirmation quotes--a guide, like the book claims, but it was actually just of lot of snarky, sarcastic, stale, and overused phrases, most of which she took from other people (at least she gave them credit for those). . For example, "Always remember you are unique, just like everyone else," and "Do you believe in love at first sight? Or should I walk past again?" Really? I mean, really? *eye roll*...

I might have been more impressed with actual pictures of animals doing cute things, as the water color paintings just didn't do a whole lot for me, but I did laugh out loud a couple of times. Note: 'a couple times' in a book that's supposed to be cute and funny is not a high amount of laughs.

So, in a word, underwhelming.

 

 

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.



Review of Michelle Phan's "Make Up"

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

When I saw that "Make Up" by Michelle Phan was available to review through Blogging for Books, I about flipped! I had been really SUPER interested in getting this book, and now I get the opportunity to read and review it for free!!

First of all, it is a beautiful book! Color pictures throughout, which makes it that much more fun! The pages are thick and glossy, which makes the reading experience that much more luxe!

Michelle teaches you all about how to take care yourself--from makeup to skin to hair and nails. "You can make ramen and mattify your nails at the same time!" I can't wait to try some of her suggestions for at-home beauty routines!

Some things she goes into great detail on, but I wish she'd explained a few things better. There were a few things she glossed over that weren't readily obvious to me. But for the most part, she pretty much gives you a step by step guide to everything.

I love that she also goes into fashion, how to get more comfortable in social situations, manners, etc. This is a good book for those young and old, and I highly recommend it!

Tantric Coconuts Review

I got about a third of the way through this book before putting it down for good. I'm sorry, I really am. I just wasn't that interested in reading a philosophical discussion disguised as a work of fiction. Maybe I'll come back to it when I'm in the right frame of mind.

Besides the uninteresting content, I found the writing to be a bit stilted, and both the characters talked the same even though one is American Indian, and the other is not.

 

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Review for The Ballad of a Small Player

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Ballad of a Small Player, by Lawrence Osborne.

I didn't feel that this book had much of a plot at all. The main character went around eating, drinking, and gambling, and not much else. It didn't go into very much detail about his past, which I actually did want to know more about. It also didn't tell us much of anything else important. Why did I bother finishing this book? I guess I wanted to know who this girl was that he meets. But the ending wasn't interesting, and after putting down this book, I felt blah. I don't like to feel blah after finishing a book. I like to feel different in some way. Not this time though.

Dark Eden Book Review

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. This is the first book I've received, and I was really excited to be able to write reviews this way.

(A warning: Although this book is mostly about characters that are young teens, this is NOT a book for young teens.)

I thought this Dark Eden was an interesting read. I loved the world that the author, Christ Beckett, built. It's beautiful, colorful, and dark, and he describes the animals, trees, and world quite vividly. If I had to give it a star rating, I'd only give it a 3.5 though. The way that sex is described is very graphic, and I wish there hadn't been so much of it. Although, the book does deal with the digression and evolution of human beings and their language, beliefs, and social norms. So the whole idea that sex has lost its meaning does fit with the feel of the book. I did like the way that the language changed over time, lost its meaning in some things, got new meaning in others. The way the author did that was very well done.

Dark Eden is really about one person having the courage to have new ideas and follow through with them, even when the crowd is too afraid to move on because they have been stuck in their own ways for so long. It was frustrating to see the main character struggle so hard to be heard, because as a reader you know that most all of his ideas are valid and good.

I liked the way the book ended. It gave a satisfying, yet sad sort of resolution to the whole story and journey that the characters take.

Week 3

Cole and I restarted Jillian, and we got into Week 3 a couple days ago.  WOW.  That is one inTENTS workout!  ;)

I have lost a little weight, but I think I'm gaining a lot of muscle, and I can fit into two more pairs of pants!!!  They are still a little tight, but not so bad that I have to majorly suck in and not breath to get into them.  YAY! :D

Ten Questions is almost out!!  I am excited for this to take off.  http://www.facebook.com/TenQuestions   BAM!

And just for fun, a picture of Max being adorable:

Cole got him a new toy, and he loves it!

Hiking 2012: Part 2--Table Rock For Real

Last week Cole and I started Jillian again, and at first it was hard, but we are getting used to it again.

We want to go hiking at least once a week, and so yesterday we went up to Table Rock again--but didn't take a wrong turn this time, and ended up actually on Table Rock :)

We saw a bird just hovering for like three minutes, and it was oddly disturbing and cool.  We also saw a bunny!  SO CUTE!  :D  The hike was hard, but we'd like to think it was slightly easier this time..  Still needed lots of breaks, but we made it!

 Pretty sunset~

Before we left, we saw ducks in our neigbors front yard!  aww DUCKS!

I'm growing a little garden again this year, and this is the thyme that's sprouted!  The oregano and basil are coming up too, and it's only the rosemary that's slow, so we replanted.  :) yay~

Hiking 2012: Part 1: Table Rock

So!  We have the book turned in and the author is reviewing it!  We know there are things to redo and edit, but it's such a relief to be at this stage.

We are going to get back on board with exercising. !!!!!!!!  Yeah, that kinda got put on hold. I know it shouldn't have, but it did.  We literally spent ALL of our free time editing and recording. Exhausting!  But we both feel the need to exercise, and I thought that instead of doing it inside, I would like to be outside, in NATURE :)

So we are going to take up hiking!  Today we went up to Table Rock!  (Well, we took a wrong turn and ended up at the quarry, but it was still SO nice.)  We took Max along, and he did well, except for a couple of nosy dogs that weren't on leashes... :/  STupid owners.  Whatever.  But it felt so good to exercise that way!  My legs hurt already and I am going to be SO SORE tomorrow. We both are! We are excited to get in shape and go hiking a lot to different places--Camel's Back, Loon Lake, and more hopefully!

Max is so handsome~

He was sitting really weird on this rock (that he jumped up four feet to get on top of...!).  Just sat down with his paws on the ledge.  haha aww~