Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown


December's book club selection was a historical non-fiction.  Not a genre I gravitate to, but that is why I joined book club, isn't it?  Thing is, I did enjoy it.  Look at me, broadening my horizons or something.  It felt like American history with an NPR-like perspective and since NPR is the only news that I like, this is good.  

This is the story of the 1936 American Olympic eight man rowing team.  It tells the story of how 8 poor, working class boys fought and struggled their way to fame.  None of them ever set out for this goal, but the chain of events that led to it were interesting.  I don't know a whole lot about this period in history, I think I slept through those classes or was busy flirting with boys or passing notes.  These boys lived through the Great Depression and Dust Bowl and survived some serious hard times.  They lived in rural America and scrimped and saved to put themselves through college.  The boys from Washington State were a stark contrast to the Ivy League rowing teams that dominated the sport.  We get to see so many hardships and heartbreaking events in this book while also cheering along through some pretty impressive victories.

Though reading this would be equally good, I recommend getting the audio.  Edward Herrmann was a good choice for reading this book with his smooth voice and matter of fact way about him.  It almost made me want to learn more about American history.  I also felt like the author did a lot of research.  There were a lot of quotes from various people's personal journals and lots of technical information throughout the book.  Sometimes the technical stuff drug on a bit for my taste, but then I also saw the value of the information in the big picture.  I learned lots of things about the days leading up to World War II that I wasn't aware of.

Pick this one up, I think you will enjoy it.  It's not enough to make me want to add this genre to my regular choices, but I'm so glad that I read this one.  Another win for the book club!

What have you read lately that is outside your comfort zone?

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor


If you are looking for a new fantasy series to read, this is where you start.  I really had no idea what I was missing when I skipped the whole YA genre!  In the first of this trilogy, Karou is a blue-haired, tattooed teenager who's life is a mystery to her friends and her past is a mystery to herself.  She sketches detailed pictures of chimaera, mythical beasts who are a miss-match of different animal attributes.  Her depictions of this fantasy world are legendary among her fellow art students, but is it really a fantasy world?  When an angel appears, Karou's world is turned upside down and she and her friends will learn a lot more about Karou's past and the world she lives in.

This book gripped me from the beginning.  There were a few places that is felt like it was dragging on a bit and it's not hard to figure out the twists before they are revealed, but all in all I really enjoyed this book.  I checked the audio out on the library's Overdrive site.  When the second book wasn't available in audio, I downloaded the ebook instead because I couldn't wait to get started.  I may actually FINISH this trilogy!  Okay, we know I don't finish anything so let's not hold our breaths, but I am liking the second book just as much as the first.  Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to finish a series.

Do you stick with your New Year's resolutions?

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Heroin Love by I.M. Hunter


"Kevin had a perfect life, self-made millionaire, beautiful wife, and loving children.  As his family grew distant he finds himself yearning for more.

Walking into the wrong place at the right time, he encounters a young beautiful, angelic women who has demons of her own.  Unable to resist her allure he begins obsessing over the thought of being with her.

Rachael uses her cunning wits to rev up Kevin's obsession.  Plunging deeper and deeper into her grasp, he was destroying the life he worked so hard for."

If you can get past the grammar and  punctuation flaws of the synopsis, this book sounds pretty interesting.  The cover is beautiful and the font through the book was very easy to read.  This is about all the positive I have for this book.

Few things you should know about this review: (1) This is considered an Erotic Romance, which is NOT the kind of book I would generally read.  (2) I am generally grammatically and spelling challenged.  (3) As you should assume with all my reviews, this may contain spoilers.  This being said, for the errors in this book to have bothered me as much as they did, they would drive the Grammar Nazis bat-shit crazy.  Keep in mind, I received this as an ARC and I hope it hadn't been through it's final revision yet.  

Let me sum up my thoughts about the story in three words:  Over the top.  Kevin, the main character tells us right up front that he's a workaholic and only wants the best things in life.  He has a beautiful home and family with expensive cars.  He buys anything and everything any of them ever want.  His life is one of extreme, over the top luxury.  A lifetime of habits and his whole mindset in life goes completely out the window when he meets Rachael, a prostitute.  He falls nearly instantly in love with her and starts destroying everything in his life because of it.

I'm sure Erotic Romance is a nice way of saying Porn in the book genres, but using the word Romance is completely misleading.  While I would have a hard time defining romance for myself, this was definitely not it.  This was just dirty.

The book ended with lots of loose ends and it appears that this is going to be the first in a series.  I'm not interested in seeing this one to the end, but I wish the author lots of luck in his future endeavors.  I admire anyone brave enough to put pen to paper and give it a shot.

(I received this book for free in a GoodReads.com giveaway.  Nobody pays me money for my reviews, but I always love free books. If you want to send me your books for review, email me and we'll chat!)

Thursday, December 3, 2015

#ReadOrGetCrushed

I've seen lots of fun posts with fun hashtags from bloggers with a plan for their December reading.  #AMonthofFaves seems to be popular, a relaxed time to read whatever you want after #NonfictionNovember.  This is such a lovely thing!  I'm not in such a nice place right now, though.  My reading pile is a disaster!  I got a huge pile from Mom, I have downloaded my December Kindle First selection, I have a GoodReads giveaway book that I should get read and reviewed, and I still have a First to Read to finish and review.  My Kindle is getting full and the stack of paper books on my nightstand is threatening to topple and crush me in my sleep!  Guys, it's getting bad.  So my December theme will be #ReadOrGetCrushed.



These piles haven't happened because of my lack of reading.  I didn't get lazy on you guys like I did with my workout plans and plans to declutter my house.  I read all the time.  I carry a bag of books in my car to read at lunch or while waiting on Princess' dance classes.  I read on my phone when I'm standing in line, I listen to audiobooks on my daily commute.  I try not to keep Husband awake at night with the lamp on while I read, but he's starting to look tired.  Shh, don't tell the boss, but I even have a Kindle app downloaded on my work computer.  I'm reading so much these days, problem is my hoarding.  Remember when I was going to declutter my closet/makeup/kitchen/etc?  I'm a hoarder.  I know this, it's no different for books.  Especially free books, but I have some that I've paid for in these piles.  I hope to cram in a ton of reviews to close out 2015.  Wish me luck!

What books have you read lately that I should add to my piles?

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Zoo by James Patterson


Animals are attacking humans all over the world at an alarming rate.  What is going on?  Why hasn't anyone noticed that this is becoming an epidemic?  How can it be stopped?

This was an intense read.  I got the audiobook from my library's website and I was hooked from the very start.  Actually, let's back up a little.  They made a television series on CBS about this book.  I found season one on Netflix and was super disappointed when I got to the last episode and learned that the second season isn't going to be aired until Summer 2016.  I HAD to get the book so I could find out what happened.  Turns out, it's a totally different animal (ha!).  The series is VERY different from the book, but I still liked them both.  I look forward to the new season of the television show, but I'm glad the book wrapped up without any loose ends.

Life and Other Near-Death Experiences by Camille Pagan


Libby's world is turned completely upside down when, in the same afternoon, she finds out she has cancer and she finds out her husband is gay.  It's a good time to make a few changes in her life and decide what is really important.

I received this book as a Kindle First (just one more reason to love being a Prime member!), and I'm very glad I've read it!  This book was touching, funny, sweet, and heart-warming.  This is definitely a four star read and I look forward to reading more from this author.


Friday, November 20, 2015

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Disney did a good job animating Alice in Wonderland, but that was the only movie I liked as much as the book, until now.  Watched the movie for Warm Bodies way before I realized it was based on a book and I loved it.  It's such a cool concept to a zombie obsessed like myself.  Zombies that can think and love and come back to life.  The ultimate love story because the girl actually get's to fix the things wrong with her man!  If you have ever tried to 'fix' a man, you know that is impossible, but that is a whole other post.




In case you haven't seen the movie:  In a post-apocalyptic future, Julie and the living live in a fortified stadium in an effort to survive the zombie outbreak happening in the world.  Julie and her team of salvagers are ambushed by a hoard of zombies and some don't survive.  Zombie R starts chomping on the brains of Julie's boyfriend and sees some of his memories.  This triggers something in R that makes him want to save Julie.  He takes Julie back to the airport where the zombies live and hides her out in his 747 home.  The pair spend some time together, get to know each other, and start to change the world.  This is probably enough spoilers for now.

The prose in this book is wonderful.  I loved how Marion could use words like mildewed, rot, and decompose to conjure images that made me smile and not gag or cringe.  Again, I'm terrible at taking notes and I had a copy from the library so I couldn't very well highlight or underline things I wanted to remember so you will have to take my word on this one.  I liked this book so much I purchased a paper copy for my own bookshelf AND I purchased the prequel too!  The sequel comes out on my birthday next year, so if you were wondering what you should get me for my birthday, I've now given you an idea.  Extra brownie points if you find me an advanced copy to read before my birthday!


P.S. Follow the author on GoodReads.  There are links to some of his short stories and I highly recommend you check those out too.  Friend me on GoodReads, too and see what else I'm reading! 


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The King's Rogues – Quest for the Golem by David P. Bailey

I just finished a great little short story by a young, local author.  First I saw a link on the library's Facebook page promoting this book so I followed the link and downloaded it because you know how much I love free books.  Then it turns out I sorta know this guy!  He's the cashier at the store I frequent, this made me even more excited to read this book.  

The King's Rogues - Quest for the Golem is set in medieval times and is the story of not the knights of the round table, but of the secret assassins hired by King Arthur to take care of the less-than-noble quests.  This is an action packed adventure story with goblins and trolls and all sorts of evil.  The main characters are great and the story line flows really well.  I could see the movie or maybe television series playing out in my head as I read.  The ending didn't leave you haning but still left it wide open for this to become a series and I really hope to see more from this writer.

This book is available for everyone to download because it is entered in a short story contest to win $15,000!  Last I heard, David was in 5th place and needs to be in the top 3 to be in the money.  The prize money will help him go on to be a published author and will get us that much closer to another book!  The contest ends on Thanksgiving, but please don't wait.  Go get your copy today even if you don't think you will have time to read it right away.  Although, it sure won't take too long to finish it once you get started.  It a great short read, perfect if you are doing #15in31.  Download!  Read!  Tell me what you think!

Friday, October 23, 2015

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George


I finished the book club book ahead of my normal time!  I'm so excited.  Last month I had to lock myself in the house the weekend before to finish before Monday night's meeting and the month before I didn't finish on time.  This month I finished almost 2 weeks early!  Granted, I was listening to the audio rather than reading it to myself, but I already had enough books started and couldn't afford to add another paper book to the mix.  I have to keep reading so I have things to tell you about, right?

The quote that so many reviews have used from the book is this:

“There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.”

What a hook!  And this book didn't disappoint.  I laughed and cried and laughed some more.  I know, cried?!?  I didn't actually cry, but there were a couple places where I thought it might be appropriate to tear up.  My mother says I'm not really human with human emotions and that is why I don't cry in those places.  Meh, at least I knew that other people may have cried, right?  That's close enough for me.

Jean Perdue is a bookseller who's store is a barge moored in the Seine river in Paris.  He calls himself a Literary Apothecary because he can pick the exact right book to heal whatever is ailing your soul.  While he is his out healing all of Paris with his books, though, he is suffering heartache of his own that he hasn't managed to heal in 20 years.  His great love left him but he never opened the letter she sent after.  Jean is finally pushed to open the letter and finds out why she left.  This sets him off on an adventure through the south of France to find the answers that will mend his own soul.

I loved the interesting and somewhat unexpected characters that Monsieur Perdu meets along the way.  It was great how the author worked in his memories of his time with Manon to complete the story and eventually wrap it all up in the end.  I think this book is a good choice for anyone who has a little time to spend with it.  It is a bit of a complicated story, though, and there were a few times that I found that I wasn't paying enough attention while I was at home and had to go back and re-listen to a couple places.  I would recommend you read this when you have time to really sit down and read or listen when you aren't distracted by family or friends or neighbors or whoever else may come in and distract you.   If you get the audio, be aware that the book is based in France and the narrators have French accents.  It took me a little while to get used to it and sometimes I thought the accent was a little too thick for my poor Okie comprehension.  

All in all, I thought this was a pretty good story, even for a love story.  It was a little sappy at times, but not so much that I didn't want to finish it.  Check it out!  Let me know what you think!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

How to Be a Grown-up by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus


I won an advanced copy of this book in a GoodReads giveaway MONTHS ago.  I've worked on it a chapter here and a chapter there, but because my TBR list is so long, it got shuffled to the back.  Now that I've finished the book, I'm sad it took me so long because I loved it!

Rory McGovern's actor husband loses his job and interest in their marriage.  Hoping this is some sort of phase, Rory is trying to be supportive and give him the space he needs to clear his head and get back on track.  Meanwhile, though, she is a single mom who is forced to take a full time job to support her family.  She finds a job at a "children's lifestyle" site ran by a couple of women in their 20s who have no children or husbands or desire to obtain either.

I ended up reading well over 2/3s of this book as my last book of the Read-a-thon.  I started it in the evening and I was happy to keep reading it until almost five in the morning.  I  highly recommend this to the mom's or the future mom's or the ladies who never plan to be mom's, so basically the ladies will enjoy this one.  Men may like it too, I guess, I don't know what happens in their heads...

Have you read anything by these authors?  What did you think?  Talk to me, I love to hear from you!

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

This was our August Book Club selection, but I didn't finish it in August.  I've been determined and I finally finished it during the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon.  Julia Roberts starred in the movie and I usually love her.  I had the same problem when I tried to watch it years ago, I just couldn't sit still.  This really isn't unusual for me, though, I'm easily distracted when it's time to sit down and watch a movie.

I wasn't overly impressed with this book.  I liked it well enough and I gave it 3 stars on GoodReads, but I probably won't revisit it in the future.  I purchased it on my Kindle so if you want to borrow it and you know how that sort of thing works, please feel free to contact me.  I'd be happy to lend it and learn how to share my Kindle books.

For the few who aren't familiar with this story, it follows the author's journey to find herself after a messy divorce.  She spends time in Italy, India and Indonesia over the course of a year.  First, she eats her way through Italy, which sounds like a fantastic idea to me,  This was the least interesting section of the book to me and probably why I couldn't get into it.  I felt like she was just whiny for that whole section.  I was ready to call it Whine, Cry, Indulge, but I was determined to finish this book because it was chosen for book club.  Once she moved on to India, things got more interesting and less whiny.  There was one particular character that called her out on her whining and he was great.  I actually started enjoying the book near the end while she was in Indonesia.

This book was a best seller, so many people liked it.  There are lots of reviews out there from people who LOVED it.  It wasn't my cup of tea, but it was a well written book.  The chapters were short and there were several times that I actually laughed out loud.  I would like to give this author another chance.  I think she writes well, I just wasn't interested in this story line.  There is a sequel of sorts called Committed:  A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage.  Since I started enjoying the book by the end, maybe I would like the follow-up.  Do you have a copy of this book I can borrow?      Have you read anything else by Elizabeth Gilbert?  As always, I'd love to hear from you!

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

2015 Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

I just found out about a 24 hour Read-a-Thon!  I didn't know such a thing existed!  This sounds like the best 24 hours of the year, right?  Thing is, they do it TWICE a year!  Prizes, challenges, cheerleaders, and a huge community of readers! Join me on this post this Saturday, October 17 for updates on how I'm doing and what I have read.  Check it out for yourself and join me!

I've been reading some of the veteran's blog posts and they suggest reading shorter books rather than trying to tackle something large.  What are your favorite quick reads?  I'd love to hear from you!

How would you prepare for a Read-a-Thon?



October 18, 2015

2:00 pm:  I'm awake, It's time to get back to the real world.  Somewhere between my update at hour 20 and when I was going to update at hour 22, blogger seems to have lost ALL my updates except fot the very beginning.  At 5:00 am when I first saw this, I didn't have the brain capacity to think about it and I went to bed.  Now that it's morning (well, afternoon) and I've had some rest, I'm pretty upset about this.  I have no idea how to reset this back to a previous time or recover my updates, but let me summarize.

Books I finished:  Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert; How to Be  Grown-up by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus; and a Sesame Street book that I read to the Macnado before he went to bed.

My final book of the night/early morning

 Got a visit from this little bookworm

 Macnado bedtime stories
I finished more ebooks than paper so I didn't make much of a dent in this pile

This was my entry for my #diversityshelfie challenge

I'll probably stay pretty upset that blogger erased most of my entries from the day, but there isn't much I can do about it.  I'm so glad that I was able to participate in this event and I look forward to the next one.  A big thank you to the staff at www.24hourreadathon.com for putting this together and to all the cheerleaders and volunteers who help make it happen.  I've added some new blogs to my blog roll and I look forward to making new friends with so many of you!

October 17, 2015

7:00 am:  Good morning ladies and gents!  It's that time!  Today is the day!  It's hour 1!  My family doesn't believe I'm going to even start this because it starts so early on a Saturday.  I gotta say, I'm glad it's something I can do in my nice warm bed with a cup of joe.  This Curl is running a 10k this morning.    I'm cold in my bedroom with the windows open, I sure don't want to go outside before the sun wakes up!  I think I'll finish Alice in Wonderland first this morning.  It's one of my faves and I'm about 2/3s of the way through it.

I wasn't up early enough for a pre-party, but this is from the site:


1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  Oklahoma, USA
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion or maybe a classic I've had on my list for years
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Peeled a ton of pomegranate last night, healthy, yummy snack. 
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  Read the rest of the posts from my blog, you'll see how random I can be.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?  First one and I'm looking forward to finishing books that I have had on my list for a while.

Link up and go cheer someone on!


8:30 am - I really don't plan to update hourly, but I did want to fill you in on my reading so far.  I've finished Alice in Wonderland.  I hadn't read this book in YEARS, but it's still one of my favorites.  I think Wonderland is as silly as my own brain is sometimes.  I love so many of the characters that Carroll created.  Through the Looking Glass is on my TBR list for later today.  I want to finish most of the books that I have started today so I'm going to work on Eat, Pray, Love next.  This was the book club selection for August and I'm still not finished.  It's an okay book, but I don't love it so it's taking me much longer to finish than it should.  I'm determined, and I'm almost finished, so I'll see you here when it's done!



Friday, October 2, 2015

In the Beginning

I have  tried to read Genesis a handful of times over the years and always manage to get distracted with all the so-in-so begat so-in-sos. I finally finished the entire book recently and once you can get past the genealogy, it's full of great stories!

Today I want to talk Adam and Eve. First God makes the Heaven and Earth and fills it with creatures and plants and all the  good things. Then he creates Adam and puts him smack dab in the middle of the most beautiful place and gives him authority over everything. He tells Adam, don't eat from that one tree over in the middle, it's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and if you eat it, you will die.  He tells Adam he can eat from ANY of the other trees, including the tree of life that's planted right next to the tree of knowledge.  Then He presents all the animals to  Adam.  Adam checked them all out, gave them all names, but didn't really find one he wanted to hang out with all the time. God put Adam to sleep, took a rib and created woman. He gave her to Adam and this made him happy.  

Life. Was. Good.

It's summertime and the livin's easy. ...oh, sorry, I'll spare you my singing!

Adam and Eve are naked, frolicking in the most beautiful garden that God had made for them. They get to walk and talk with God when He comes down to hang out and check on things in the cool of the day. How stinkin' cool would this life be?

Then it happens.  The Fall.

Eve is just chillin' in the garden and the slithery serpent comes along.  He says "Hey girl!  Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees?"

Eve:  "No silly.  We can eat from any of the trees except this one.  If we touch it, we'll die."

Now, did that little lie come up like a game of telephone?  Say it enough times and eventually the story gets bigger?  I guess we don't really know, but the serpent gets in there and plants his doubt.

Serpent:  "Noooo. You won't die.  God just doesn't want you to know all the things He knows so He doesn't want you to eat that fruit."

What'd she do?  She ate the dang fruit and then fed it to her husband.  Ol' Adam didn't fight her on it either.  The tree of life and the tree of well, death essentially, were right next to each other and Eve went for the serpents tricks and chose death.

You know the rest.  They get kicked out of Eden, it hurts for us ladies to have babies and we have to work for our food.  We can blame Eve all we want, but really, would you have been any stronger?  She probably didn't actually believe that anything bad would happen, after all nothing bad had ever happened at that point.  God gave us all free will and from the beginning He made sure we had the ability to express it.  This is what makes us human.  Besides, if Adam and Eve hadn't have got kicked out of Eden, the bible would be a much shorter and maybe less interesting book and we know how much I like books!

It's not too late, I just got started!  Read along with me and chime in.  I'd love to hear from you.

Before I go:


Ha! Sorry guys, couldn't help myself!  

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng


If a book is suggested by a friend or other reliable source, do you read the cover before you decide whether or not to read it or do you take your friend's word on it?  Do you judge a book by the cover or do you read a few pages before you commit?  I ask these things, because I don't always read the information on the book before I dive in.  I end up with interesting things I NEVER would have read.  If I had read the reviews for the Sasquatch book, I probably wouldn't have read it.  If I hadn't have taken my librarian's word on Leaving Time, I probably wouldn't have listened to it.  There are many other books I've read over time that I wouldn't have chose for myself.  I'm glad that I've read those books, though, even if I didn't love all of them.

This is one of those books I probably wouldn't have picked for myself.  This book is full of heartbreak, family issues, and mystery.  There were times I almost wanted to cry for goodness sake!  I don't read fiction that makes people want to cry!  I read fiction about zombies and vampires, but this book was on the Summer Reading Challenge, I had to cross it off the list.  I gotta say, I'm glad I read this one, too!  I downloaded the audio for this book from my library's site for FREE!  We all love free books, after all.

This story is about a biracial family in the 1970's who is faced with the tragic loss of a teenage daughter.  Her mother, father, sister and brother are all trying to figure out what happened to her and why it happened.  They are all trying to cope with this disaster and learn to live without Lydia.  This will either destroy this family or bring them closer together as they reflect on the events that lead up to the day she disappeared.  There were a couple times I wondered if we would ever figure out exactly what happened, but thankfully, this book ended with adequate closure.  That's all the spoiler you will get out of me.

I thought this was really well read and really well written.  I'm not usually in tune enough to realize when a writer is using imagery and figurative language to build a story and get a point across, but I noticed with this book.  I'm not organized enough to take notes to give you specific examples, I'll work on that, but I really liked the prose used by this writer.  I would read more by Celeste Ng and have started following her on GoodReads.

I recommend you pick this one up.  I listened to the audio, but I think the written would have been just as good.  As always, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Divine By Mistake by PC Cast


Have you heard of P.C. Cast?  Well, you should!  P.C. Cast writes about Oklahoma girls!  While I have only read this one book so far, I know she has a couple other series where the protagonist is a woman from Oklahoma caught up in mystical circumstances.  There is a series about vampires in Oklahoma, (you know I wanna read those!) and a series about Oklahoma girls that end up as goddesses.

In this book, Broken Arrow high school English teacher, Shannon Parker, gets swept away to an alternate world where she finds out that she is the Goddess Incarnate and Beloved of the warrior goddess Epona.  She lives in a temple and is surrounded by hot guards and pretty hand maidens and is betrothed to a handsome centaur.  

This story is a non-stop adventure for Shannon, known as Rhea to the Partholonians.  It turns out Rhea is a much more gracious and kind leader than the real Rhiannon who forced her into this world. Is she strong enough to lead a whole country?  Will she ever make it home?  Does she actually want to go home?  Read it and find out!  

I borrowed this title from the library's digital downloads. Before I finished the last chapter I had already downloaded the second book!  If you are a fan of fantasy fiction, this is a must read.


Finished two books in two days?!?  My house must be a mess!  

What do you think?  Have you read any P.C. Cast?  Comment!

Esther (A Dangerous Beauty Novel Book #1): Royal Beauty by Angela Hunt


I am a fan of biblical fiction.  Especially the stories about the women of the bible.  I loved Red Tent.  I loved Sarah.  Now I love Esther. 

This book was written from two perspectives, the  obvious perspective of Esther, a middle class girl who ends up the queen of Persia when Persia pretty much ran the world, and the perspective of the king's chief attendant.  I thought this was genius!  The king's attendant gives us insight into what the king is thinking and is doing but without being arrogant like I would expect the king to be.  There may have been too great a contrast if the story was told from the haughty point of view of the king compared to the simple Jewish girl's point of view.

Coincidentally, there has been a series of sermons on the radio recently about the book of Esther.  I've listened to bits and pieces and this book followed pretty stinkin' close.  I REALLY love biblical fiction when it follows the Bible pretty closely.  I listened to the audio version of this book and I really enjoyed it, but I think I would have enjoyed reading it as well.  Give this one a try!

I wanna hear what you think!  Comment!  Email me!  Let's chat!  

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

When God speaks

I set out recently to read the bible like a great novel. Really read the stories for what they are and enjoy the Good Book. When I finished Genesis and planned to move on to Exodus, because that is how a book works.  The reading plan in the app I was using guided me to Mark instead. That threw a wrench in my plan, so I ditched the app and set out on my own.

If you have experienced God working in your own life, you will know that doing things on our own without His guidance is usually a bad idea. I did pray over this dilemma, then cracked open the second book. I couldn't get more than a few verses in and I just couldn't read it! I'd get distracted by nothing and everything and I just couldn't get into it like I did with Genesis. I loved reading Genesis! There are so many good stories in those 50 chapters! I was so excited to see what happened to the children of Isreal next, but I just couldn't move on!

I prayed, "Okay, God, was I supposed to follow where the plan in the app lead? Was I supposed to skip to Mark? I'll try it that way if that is what You want me to do."  So I did. I opened the app, skipped all the rest of the stories in the Old Testament (much to my own sadness) and started to read Mark.

Know what happened? The same thing! I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't get into that book either!  What is going on here?!?  I put my Bible away for a while and focused on prayer. I asked God to guide me and show me clearly where I should start reading next. I got a very clear answer and it went something like this:

"April, you aren't finished with Genesis. You can't move on yet."

"But God, I finished all 50 chapters of Genesis, when I turn the page, I should be in Exodus."

"Yes, you read all the chapters, but did you really understand? Did you get any of My lessons while you were reading or were you just reading it to say that you had read it?"

Ooh, I guess He got me there.

Sometimes I feel like maybe God is leading me one way or another, but I don't feel 100% convinced it's God and not my brain doing it's own thing. This time I am hearing God's voice loud and clear. 

Since that conversation, another Bible study app I have, First 5, has started a study in Genesis and several of the radio shows I listen to have touched on different parts of Genesis. Coincidence? I think not.

I'm going to go back through Genesis and keep studying until God leads me to another book. I hope to tell you all lots of interesting things that I'm learning along the way. I doubt I'll find anything completely revolutionary and new, but maybe we will all gain some insight on God's plan for our lives. Stay tuned!

When is the last time you clearly heard from God?

Thursday, August 27, 2015

The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac by Sharma Shields

As always, this review may contain spoilers


Did you know GoodReads has GIVEAWAYS?!?  It's the best kind of giveaway, free books!  Publishers and Authors give away books as an incentive to read a new author or new series or for whatever other reasons people might give other people books.   It's pretty great!  The greatest part?  I have actually been the lucky winner of a few of these giveaways!  I really love free books!

Back in February I scored a copy of The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac by Sharma Shields.  To be honest, I didn't read the description on this book at all, but was excited about the title.  I totally believe in Sasquatch and they live in the area.  My sister has even seen them in the woods behind her house!  But, to my surprise, this isn't actually a guide to finding Sasquatch in your neck of the woods, but, in fact, it's a novel.  Meh, I'll still read it.

This novel starts out bizarre and doesn't let up!  Nine-year-old Eli Roebuck's mother is very excited that a guest is coming over one afternoon.  She dresses herself and Eli in their good clothes and prepares biscuits for her guest.  When the guest arrives, Eli is pretty surprised to see that he is a giant, naked, hairy beast, not really a man at all.  After a short, not-so-well-mannered visit, Eli's mother abandons Eli and his father to join Mr. Krantz in his woodland life.  This rocks Eli's world and effects not only his father and himself, but generations of his own family.

Eli becomes a podiatrist and a cryptozoologist because of his obsession with finding Mr. Krantz.  Through his research foundation, he receives lots of information and leads about Sasquatch.  He even manages to find a metatarsal bone from what he believes is Mr. Krantz.  His obsession and his struggle impacts his wives and daughters in a major way.  Each member of Eli's family battles their own demons over the years and nearly everyone's sanity is questioned at one point or another.  A unicorn, sea monster, baby stealing bird, gypsy curses, enchanted hats and bird-legged shopkeepers are among the elaborate cast of characters featured in this novel.

I really didn't want to like this book.  It was seriously bizarre, but it kept me interested because I HAD to see what the heck was going on.  The book is written from different character's points of view and some chapters felt really mixed up.  There were a few times that I couldn't really tell who's perspective the story was being told from.  Most of the chapters ended without any closure and you had to hope the next chapter or two would fill in the blanks.  I was left with a lot more questions than answers in the end as there were huge chunks of time that were skipped over.  It's highly unlikely that I will read this book again, but I'm going to donate it to my local library for others to enjoy.

If you have read this, I want to hear from you!  Comment!  Maybe we can fill in some of the blanks together!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Challenge Your Shelf Reading Challenge

I really like when a reading list is handed to me and I don't really have to make a decision on what book to read next.  I joined a book club this month for this very reason!  In the book club, we are reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I probably would not have read this book if it hadn't been assigned to me because I wasn't impressed with the movie, but I'm reading it now and not hating it. I'll post a full review when I've finished.

I got an email from Penguin Random House offering up a Summer Reading Challenge.  Somehow I didn't actually see this challenge until the last half of August so summer is nearly over. It is a list that someone else put together for me to choose from and it's not full of YA or witches or vampires or zombies, so I'll try it.  I was especially encouraged when I found that I had already read two of the books on the list over the summer!  The website encourages you to post your challenge progress using #challengeyourshelf, so here is one of my rare attempts to use a hashtag!  Usually I'm not cool enough for hashtags, but this is one I could really get into!  Print the list from their website and get to crossing off the ones you've read.  In the comments, tell me about the ones you have read or are excited to start reading.


Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult


My local librarian, aka Mom, practically insisted that I read this one because she loved it so much.  She was right, it was pretty stinkin' good.  This story follows 13 year old Jenna as she tries to solve a 10 year old mystery.  Jenna's mother, Alice, was an elephant researcher who disappeared after an incident at the elephant sanctuary she and her husband ran.  Jenna enlists the help of Serenity, a psychic and Virgil, a private investigator.  They follow clues Jenna finds while reading Alice's diaries and it takes them on an adventure through time and across two continents to find out what happened on that fateful day when Alice disappeared.

This story has a strong theme of the love found in a mother-daughter relationship.  It was very well written and has some twists and turns right up to the very end that I sure didn't see coming.  Each chapter is written from the point of view of each of the characters.   I actually listened to the audio rather than reading this book and I really enjoyed this.  Each character is a different narrator so it was easier to visualize the story and it was more like a movie.  Now that I say that, this actually might make a pretty good movie!  I say, put this book on your to-read list and then move it pretty close to the top.

Have you read this?  What did you think? 

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Dancing Through Life: Steps of Courage and Conviction by Candace Cameron Bure


I just finished Candace Cameron Bure's most recent book and I think you should be reading it too!  Candace is a devout Christian who strives to be a light for God in this world, all while working in Hollywood.  You know that has to be a tough goal!  I have serious struggles with being a good example for Christ and I don't live in a media spotlight!

In this book, she talks about her time on Dancing with the Stars and compares it to her Christian walk.  Some of the struggles she is faced with in this journey included inappropriate dance moves, revealing costumes and public opinion.  She is confronted with criticism from secular media and also Christians who didn't think she was doing the right thing.  The continuing theme of the book is that she has to get past what other people think of her and her actions and focus on what God has called her to do.  Proverbs 29:25 says 'The fear of man is a snare, but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected'.  Candace talks about the Bible teaching that God will provide a way for you do to what he has called you to do just like He provided a way for her to go all the way to the finale of DWTS even though she had no dance background.  She admits that the had major struggles in this time, but that it was all worth it to have such a wonderful experience.  She boasts about her weaknesses and gives all the glory to God because she couldn't have done any of it without Him.

I read Candace's first book, Reshaping it All:  Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness,  recently and you can read about it here.  I liked Dancing through Live even more than the first book.  I felt like this book flowed better and that she has grown as a writer.  She has written another book called Balancing it All:  My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose.  I have not read this one, but I have it downloaded to my Kindle and it should be moving closer to the top of my to-read list.  I'm sure I will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed the two I've already read.  

P.S. Search YouTube for her dances and tell me what you think.  It looks like she had a lot of fun! And you can follow Candace's blog here.

Is God doing big things in your life?  Are you listening to His calling?

What are you reading?


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Warning:  this review may contain spoilers


Let me start today's review with this:  I live in a bubble.  When I stumbled across this book in an email from one of the sites my local library uses for digital media, I just thought it sounded cool.  I didn't know it had been made into a movie.  I didn't know that Oprah read it for her book club.  I didn't know anything about this book.  About half way through, I said something about it to someone and they told me it was a movie and I should watch it after I read the book!  Like I said, I live in a bubble.

With all that said, I went into this book with no expectations because I didn't know anything about it.  I gotta say, I liked the book. Sex, drugs and language are things I can deal with, if you can't, don't read this book.  This is the true story of a woman who hiked hundreds of miles across the Pacific Crest Trail.  For those of you who also live in a bubble, this is a scenic trail that stretches from the Mexican/American border to the Canadian/American border across the western coast.  Thousands of people hike this trail every year, most are just on day hikes, a few hike large portions and then there are the real bad-asses who hike from border to border, but I imagine there are fewer of those.

Cheryl has been through a lot in her life.  Then, in her twenties, her mother died and that really rocked her world.  Cheryl didn't deal well with it and drug herself down a spiral that was very dangerous for her.  To clear her head and help her get her act together, she decides to hike from Mojave, CA north.  After she meets several interesting people, sees lots of beautiful things and faces many struggles along the way, she ends up at the Bridge of the Gods in Oregon.

I thought the book was pretty well written.  I felt like I was right there, watching the movie of this book in my head the whole time I was reading!  Then I watched the actual movie and I was disappointed.  I like Reese Witherspoon and  I think she did a great job portraying Cheryl Strayed.  My girl crush on Reese may have been one of the reasons I even finished the movie.  I know they have to cut things out of the story to fit the allotted time for a movie, but they cut out huge, important chunks of this story.  I think that if I hadn't read the book first, I probably wouldn't have finished the movie.  There were times when it dragged along and they could have put more of the people Cheryl met along the way.  Instead there were long periods where Reese Witherspoon was hiking alone to the music in her head.  Obviously the hiking is important, that's the bulk of the story, but I think they could have squeezed in a few more of the details from the book.  If you haven't read the book or watched the movie, I say read the book, but you can pass on the movie.

Have you loved a book and not loved the movie?

Which ones?



Monday, August 3, 2015

People I want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann


Audiobooks and bloggers are a couple of my favorite things right now so this book was perfect!  This book is a hysterical view of suburban middle class that we are all thinking but don't often say.  There are stories of over the top birthday parties, mommy wars, exclusive book clubs and more exclusive play groups all told by snarky mom, Jen Mann.  Jen is a blogger and work-at-home mom who isn't one of the Dolce mom's with their perfect outfits and prodigy children.  Her house gets messy, she wears yoga pants, her kids act like kids and she cusses a lot; right up my ally!  This book might not be for the faint of heart as there are several f-bombs and the like, but the writer is super funny and I think it's worth a read (or listen, like I did).  Be prepared to laugh out loud!


Does language in books keep you from finishing them?

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Water Challenge Final

Remember when I was going to drink a gallon of water a day?  Yeah... about that.  I didn't.

I DID drink more water than I usually do and I was more aware of my water consumption.  Here's how it went:

I drank a whole gallon or more for the whole first week and probably half of the second week, then I fell off the wagon the second weekend and had a hard time getting back to it.  When I did manage to drink a whole gallon, my feet didn't hurt as much when I woke up the next morning.  When I put my weight on my feet first thing in the morning, I have some pretty intense pain for the first 10 minutes or so.  I'm sure this is from years of torturing them and forcing them in shoes that didn't fit properly or shoes with heels too high.  When I'm drinking enough water like I should, this is a much more manageable pain.  This has been incentive enough to make the effort to drink more water!


The 'small' jug here holds half a gallon of ice cold liquids, but I've been carrying the giant Squatch mug here that hold a whopping THREE quarts.  My goal is to get into a habit of drinking two of the three quart mugs a day, bringing me up to a gallon and a half a day.  I don't work in the heat or sweat very much so I'm not concerned about washing away all of my electrolytes.  I've read that you should drink one ounce for every pound you weigh, so I'd be pretty close with my 192 oz per day average.  I have yet to actually drink two whole mugs in a day, but I'm finishing one and starting a second most days.   I really do feel better now that I'm drinking more water, you should try it!

Warning:  my face did break out more for about a week, I assume it's because I was flushing out toxins.  If you up your water intake, don't be surprised if this happens.  It did clear up quickly.  Now I'm only noticing breakouts if I don't drink enough water for a couple days.

How much water do you drink?

Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure



Do you know what happened to DJ Tanner after Full House?  She got married, had kids, and is living her life for the Lord.  In her book Reshaping It All she talks about her struggles with weight and body image.  This is an issue for those of us not living in a spotlight, I'm sure it's even more difficult when your life is under scrutiny from the media and the public!

I wouldn't call this book a diet book.  It doesn't have breakdowns for calories in and calories out or give you a list of foods you should or shouldn't eat. It does give practical advice for focusing your mind on God's design for your life instead of filling a God-shaped hole in your heart with food.  I liked the format of this book.  At the end of each chapter there was a summary of that chapter and the scriptures referenced, it has a fan letter and her response and Candace shares one of her family's favorite recipes.  I recommend this book as a good read and have downloaded two of her other books including the newest book she wrote about her time on Dancing with the Stars.

Have you read anything by this author?

What did you think?

Friday, July 10, 2015

God, Guns, Grits and Gravy by Mike Huckabee

I've definitely been trying to read outside my comfort zone lately so that I'll have some interesting books to tell you about.  I'm sure you would get pretty sick of me reviewing books about vampires, werewolves and zombies all the time.  I'm usually perfectly content reading Anne Rice or Laurell K Hamilton, but I'm trying to expand my reading horizons and maybe learn something in the process. 

While I'm not super political, I do try to know a few things about government and what is happening in the world.  I tend to get most of my news from NPR rather than TV media as I don't really watch much TV.  I like NPR because it's not just a bunch of short stories crammed in a short time, it's actual stories about some of the people involved in what is going on around the world.  I'm much more likely to understand what is happening if I can hear how it effects people rather than just a bunch of facts and fast paced news.


This time I listened to the audio of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's God, Guns, Grits and Gravy.  With this title and the fact that he's the governor of the state of Arkansas, you would probably assume he's a conservative.  You would be right in that assumption.

Governor Huckabee talks about the differences between people who live in Bubbleville and people who live in Bubbaville.  Bubbleville is made up of the entertainment, finance and political hubs of this country, Hollywood, New York City and Washington D.C.  Bubbaville is the rest of the country where the regular folks live.  He talks about the major differences in how these two kinds of people think and act and how our country would be so different if Bubbleville actually cared about and listened to the folks of Bubbaville.

I liked this book.  I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 star rating.  Huckabee had lots of good stories and information in this book, but I did tune out a few times when he got to talking about percentages and facts. Overall I think I probably learned a couple things about how the government was supposed to be set up from our founding fathers and how it's actually being run now.

These days Christians are being portrayed as more of a hate group than anything.  I realize there are many out there who are spouting hate, but the majority of us aren't.  By quoting Biblical facts and Biblical values, we get painted as closed minded people.  Thing is, a lot of the "open-minded" people out there are being very close minded when it comes to religion.  They are trying to force Christians, and probably other religious groups, into sitting down and shutting up while they stand and scream about their ideals.  If we were truly an open-minded country, wouldn't all views be accepted, not just the ones the strong liberals want to shove down our throats?  I hope that my own life reflects the Love of God and makes people want to learn more about God.  I hope that I don't push anyone away from God by calling myself a Christian and acting like something else.  I feel like this was also in the message Governor Huckabee was trying to get across in this book, too.  I probably won't be adding a whole lot of political books to my regular reading, I may try another one down the road sometime.

Have you read anything political that I should read?

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Water, water everywhere...

... but not in my body.  I recently joined a Facebook group who drinks water.  I know, that sounds dumb, don't we all drink water?  Well.... not really.  After recent conversations with people I know, most of us don't drink enough liquid, period, much less enough water.  There are calculators on the internet that tell you how much water you should be drinking each day.  While they don't all give you the same number, the ones I tried all said I should be drinking well over a gallon of water a day, so this is where I'll start.  The group I'm in is doing a 30 day challenge to drink at least a gallon of water each day.  We posted no-makeup selfies today, and we'll take one each week to see if our skin is looking healthier.  The inspiration came from this post and we're all assuming the results were real and not Photoshop or something.  While someone probably should have done some fact checking before we took this to heart, we're trying the experiment for ourselves and hoping for similar results.  Drinking a gallon of water a day, especially in the heat we have right now, is bound to be good for us even if we don't have miraculous results.

There ya go... out there for everyone to see... my no-makeup selfie.  Eeep!  I hope the water helps clear things up and does something about the circles under my eyes.

According to a dozen pins on Pinterest, adding fruit to your water doesn't just add flavor, it adds vitamins and minerals.  All those pins can't be wrong, right?  I figure adding some fresh or frozen fruit, vegetables and herbs can't be bad for me, it's still water after all.  I've got a few limes that are going to shrivel up to nothing if I don't eat them soon and a watermelon in the fridge I haven't cut up yet.  My neighbor brought me a cucumber from her garden recently and I have have fresh mint in my garden, surely I can come up with some fun flavor combinations.  Stay tuned for my amazing transformation or maybe just my whining because I have to go pee a dozen times a day, we'll see!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The Comeback Tour, again

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!

So I know lately all I've been writing is a few book reviews.  I'm sure those are lame, but that's what I've been doing lately.  I figured out that audiobooks aren't just for the blind or for old people, they are actually very convenient for everyone.  I haven't been doing much fitness related stuff lately, just reading some fitness related books and stories.  I haven't finished any of those so that I could review them much less followed any of the advice in them.  I haven't cooked much of anything lately either, fast, frozen convenience foods.  Not healthy, not interesting.  I've gotten really lame lately, no wonder I haven't blogged anything about my life in a while!

It's probably time for me to start being less lame.  Remember when I got my heavy bag and was going to use it every day?  I did use it a bunch then, but then I stopped and step-dad took his garage back so now I can't even get to it.  Can't blame him, we weren't using the garage anymore, he may as well.  I bought and assembled a bag stand to put in the man cave.  This way I can hit the bag in the mornings before the day even starts.  I'm excited about this, should be good for me physically, emotionally and psychologically to get a good beating in first thing in the morning.  Wish me luck, ask me about how things are going when you see me, you know I'm terrible about sticking with stuff and being accountable.

The nice folks at Everlast sent all the bolts and nuts and washers and allen wrench and everything one would need to assemble this stand except the hammer.  Oh, you say it doesn't require a hammer to assemble some metal tubing?  It probably doesn't if one of the brackets isn't bent...  I didn't want to have to put this all back in the box and drag it back to the store to try to switch it out for one that wasn't bent, so I used the hammer.  It worked, now I just have to hang the bag on it.

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Check out the pears growing on the pear trees at our place!  I don't know anything about growing or harvesting pears.  I'm glad these were established when we bought the place and I only have to pick and eat them.  If you have advice on growing pears, I'd be happy to hear it.  Do you know what kind of pears I'm growing here?



Bossypants by Tina Fey


I am a fan of Tina Fey because she is funny and smart so I went into this book with high expectations.  I think if I had read this book instead of listening to her narrate the audio version I would have been disappointed, but to here her read it made it much better.  I did laugh out loud lots because she's Tina Fey, she's super funny.  Tina talks about all seasons of her life, childhood, college, starting out in the improv theaters and working for NBC.  She doesn't necessarily got through all those stages in order, though, rather as the stories are relevant.  I like this format a lot because it feels more like story telling and not a bunch of facts strung together to make a book.   This one is a good listen for your daily commute or for when the kids are at school, there is some language and a little bit of adult content that isn't appropriate for the kiddies to be hearing.  I give this one a big thumbs up.