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!