Sunday Post
Katie 
August 2014
Book Review: More Than Music
More Than Music is about Maddie who is a music major at UCLA. When the book begins, she has a summer internship with the LA Philharmonic, which is kind of a big deal. But she secretly plays her guitar in her room every night wishing for more, even though she doesn’t think it’ll happen for her. Then she meets Jared Cross, who is the brother of her friend Kyle and the frontman of their band, Villain Complex. With the band’s bassist having left (after a hookup with Jared) they need someone to fill in while they audition for the TV show “The Sound” (think The Voice but with full bands). He tells Maddie that she can play guitar and he will play bass. She is reluctant but figures she will join them for the audition and see what happens. Oh, did I mention that Maddie may kind of have a thing for Jared too?
When they go to audition they realize that whoever is in the band for the audition is in it for the duration – there is no replacing members part of the way through so Maddie is either in – or the band is out. Maddie agrees to be in the band and they make it through the audition process. They are told that the previous band who won broke up after a divorce between band members so they didn’t want any band with a relationship within it – and Maddie and Jared claim that they are just friends. They also are told it will look good if Jared is a playboy – which he already has a reputation for – so they decide to go with that.
Except that Jared and Maddie are falling for each other and end up secretly dating. Of course, that is until Maddie slips up and kisses him on live TV and Jared acts like he wants nothing to do with her. Now what? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out! You think I’d just give it all away?
I really liked this band and the characters. They weren’t your typical egotistical band guys that you’d hate. You can’t help but root for them and want them to advance on the show. It was almost as if I had watched the whole season of the show – expect I only read about it. I was excited for them to advance each week and to see if Maddie and Jared’s secret romance would be outed. I was also hoping for the two of them to have a happy ending when there was the live TV kiss, but like Maddie, I wasn’t sure if the band meant more to him than she did. (And you think I’m going to tell you what happened now, right? Wrong!)
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
Music major Maddie Taylor just finished her junior year of college and has a summer internship lined up with the LA Philharmonic, yet every night she practices guitar and secretly dreams of a louder life. But geeky girls like her don’t get to be rock stars. That is, until tattooed singer Jared Cross catches her playing guitar and invites her to join his band on The Sound, a reality TV show competition.
Once on the show, Maddie discovers there’s more to Jared than his flirty smile and bad boy reputation – and that he’s just as big a geek as she is. With each performance their attraction becomes impossible to ignore, but when the show pressures them to stay single they’re forced to keep their relationship secret.
As the competition heats up, Jared will do whatever it takes for his band to win, and Maddie must decide if following her dream is worth losing her heart.
*** New Adult romance suitable for 17+ due to mature content. ***
Book Review: The Hot Streak
The Hot Streak is probably one of the best baseball romance books I’ve read lately. It was relatively short, but like the main character Casey – I quickly fell in love with the leading man, Tyler. (Although Casey was afraid to admit it. I openly admitted it on my twitter.) I was a bit miffed with the ending – but I’ll get to that in a bit.
The book is about Casey, who works for a magazine and knows nothing about baseball. She meets Tyler who is the pitcher for the Boston Robins, a new MLB team in the National League. (This was a bit weird, considering all the other teams were “real” teams, but I let it go. Turns out it is a dream of the author and that’s why she wrote it that way.) He invites her to the game to watch him pitch. He leaves the game early after being ejected to take her on a date and the relationship seems to move pretty quickly.
Casey ends up going to all the games where Tyler pitches and they almost always seem to have a date the night before. Casey, not knowing much about baseball doesn’t realize how superstitious players can be and when Tyler begins winning every game he pitches, he doesn’t want to disrupt anything so he begs Casey to go see him pitch in Atlanta.
Casey’s job is basically forcing her to take her vacation days or she will lose it, so she agrees.
Everything seems to be going well until one of the reporters drops a bombshell on Casey just after Tyler declares his love for her on ESPN.
This is when I, and maybe Casey, fell out of love with Tyler a little bit. Some other stuff happens and I don’t want to give it away… and it seems to be a nice happy ending except that I wanted like 18 more chapters. I loved these characters and this story and I wanted to know what happened with them! And then… THE END. Nooooo!
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
“The Hot Streak is an interesting take on loving someone who is in the limelight. I enjoyed the book and found it to be an entertaining read.”—Coffee Time Romance
Casey hits it big when she meets major league baseball player Tyler Hammond at a photo shoot and they start up a steamy romance. Traveling with Tyler, she’s living it up and enjoying all the hot sex she can get between games. Now Tyler’s on a winning streak, and he thinks it’s thanks to Casey—but she has to decide for herself: is this the real deal, or just a summer fling?
Book Review: Haunted Stuff
For some reason, I am always drawn to books about “creepy” things and then feel the need to read them before bed and keep myself up all night. Reading Haunted Things was no exception! The book tells a bit about where you can get haunted items from – estate sales, antique shops, etc and what kind of things to expect if you have a haunted item – such as sounds and smells. If you think you may have a haunted item it also talks about what kind of equipment you can use to investigate your items. There are also stories throughout the book of people’s experiences with the paranormal and haunted stuff.
Certainly an interesting, albeit creepy read, you might want to read before the sun goes down. Unless of course you are into creeping yourself out right before bed. I don’t even want to know what kind of dreams (or nightmares) my brain will come up with tonight – especially since as a child I was convinced I had a haunted doll in my closet. (Which is now across the hall in the attic and hopefully behaving herself!)
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
Finding a one-of-a-kind antique doll at a garage sale is a great feeling—until you bring that doll home and discover it’s haunted. Objects with restless spirits attached to them can quietly invade a home through auctions, antique dealers, estate sales, garage sales, and inheritance. This spooky collection examines a wide variety of haunted items, from screaming skulls to demonic dolls, and how they affect the owner’s life.
Haunted Stuff provides true accounts of possessed possessions, often found in the strangest places. Discover chilling stories of the island of haunted dolls, the tumbling coffin, Rudolph Valentino’s cursed ring, and even the Queen Anne ocean liner—one of the largest haunted items of all. Experience these true accounts that will make you look closer at the antiques on your shelf . . . and wonder if that creepy doll just blinked.
Book Review: Nine Bucks a Pound
Nine Bucks a Pound is a fictional story, but is based upon the not so fictional story that has been plaguing the major leagues – steroid use. The book is about Del Tanner – he is told that he needs to bulk up which might help him have more power at the plate. If he doesn’t get his act together, he fears he will be cut. His agent suggests he tries steroids and him and a fellow teammate head to meet a guy named Jesus to try and see what he has to offer. By guessing when a drug test might be, he decides when to start and stop using as after 3-4 weeks it can’t be traced in your system anymore.
As like in real life – a list gets passed around that supposedly lists who in baseball was using. Del is said to have failed 3 drug tests. He denies, denies, denies, but later has a change of hear and comes clean about his using. Is this enough to save his career?
This book was a nice change of pace from the baseball romances that I have been reading and is more of a book that a male or female would enjoy. It is very well written and once I got into it I couldn’t put it down. I had to see what consequences (if any!) Del would end up facing. This was a great book.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
For every A-Rod or Manny Ramirez seeking to boost his game to elite levels via illegal means, there have been scores of unheralded players toiling in the minor leagues, desperate to impress the brass enough to simply survive and advance. Young men who have dreamed of playing in the big leagues since they were old enough to swing a bat. When their natural ability alone isn’t enough, the black and white blurs to gray, their fear of getting caught using banned substances outweighed by a more consuming fear of failure.
Three seasons into his professional career, Del Tanner can read the writing on the wall. A contact hitter at a power position, he recognizes his days in the Twins organization are numbered if he can’t match the production of the other first basemen in the system. When his aspiring agent suggests he try steroids, Del makes a choice that will shadow him for the rest of his career.
In his second novel, James Bailey (The Greatest Show on Dirt, 2012) humanizes the players fans are so often quick to demonize. Nine Bucks a Pound ponders life on baseball’s fringe and the dreams that tempt a young man to heed the devil on his shoulder. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark says, “Bailey hasn’t just given us a great read. He’s given us an important window into a topic we can’t seem to stop talking about.” Adds Russell Rowland, author of High and Inside, “Bailey expertly explores how the desire to succeed at any price can lead to unexpected consequences, mostly involving a man’s relationships with others, not to mention with his own conscience. This is a powerful story about the perils of success at any price.”
Throwback Thursday: Hanson at Oakdale
For August I’m going to take a break from my regular throwback concert posts and do a throwback to the time I followed Hanson around on tour for a week – with shows in the US and Canada. It was 10 years ago starting on August 17th, so I figured it would be appropriate to make myself feel super old and see how much of the trip I could remember. (Honestly, the amount of memories that came back looking at the photos was amazing!)
Show #1 started our tour in Connecticut. It was by pure coincidence that it started in my home state – we had decided we’d do the Canada shows and “whatever came before it” but all the dates didn’t come out at once (I guess?) so we were pretty excited that it started in CT. (Although the friend I went with, Erin, was living in VA at the time.)
For this show I was chosen as Hanson.net reporter – which means unfortunately I have no photos of the show I can share as they were all taken for Hanson’s website. I do have my M&G picture with the band after I got the chance to interview them though!
This tour Hanson was VERY strict about cameras so I don’t have any actual concert shots to share from any of the shows – but I hope that some of the sightseeing, etc that I will post will be just as fun to look at 🙂
I spent before the show backstage, where I got to take the M&G photos for the Hanson.net winners and then Zac instructed me to follow him where I went into another room just me and the 3 guys for our interview. I was told to prepare 3-7 questions, so I prepared 7 and wrote them in order from what I most wanted answered to least, just incase we couldn’t get to all 7. I started off with a silly one to try and break the ice. This was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. We made it through all 7 questions but my note taking was in horrible handwriting. (The notebook I used is still floating around – I wish I knew where it was exactly to scan a couple of pages! I’d never be able to read it now!) When I made it back in to the venue to meet up with my friends I immediately started writing everything over again while it was fresh in my mind! Of course now they record the interviews and post them on their website. Ah the advances of technology in the last 10 years 😉
For the first 3 songs I got to go up front with my photo pass and take photos. After that I was afraid to take more, even though my pass said “all night” because the security was being SUPER strict and I didn’t want to get kicked out even though it probably would have been ok once they saw my pass.
I really don’t remember much else from this show specifically as standing out. (For fun – this was Hanson show # 15 – I am now at #99!)
Optimistic
Long Way to the Top
Dancing In the Wind
A Minute without You
Strong Enough to Break
Every Word I Say
Look At You
The Walk – Zac Solo
Being Me – Isaac Solo
Underneath
This Time Around
Gimme Some Lovin’
Get Up & Go
Where’s the Love
Crazy Beautiful
Speechless
Penny & Me
MMMBop
If Only
In The City
Encore:
Hey
Lost Without Each Other
Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines
I thought the title of this book was funny – since my name is Kathryn but it seems that every since high school every guy I had a crush on would end up dating / marrying a Kate, Katie, Katherine, Kathryn, etc that wasn’t me. I figure at some point it’s got to be my turn… but the fact that Colin dated NINETEEN Katherines (and all spelled Katherine, so I wouldn’t stand a chance!) means there really are an abundance of them…
I decided to give this book a try on Audible as an audio book because I hadn’t found a spot to get the e-book for free to review, but Audible was doing a deal if you signed up and got The Fault In Our Stars (which I bought the book but haven’t read or listened to it yet) you could pick out another book free too. I think that if I was actually reading this book I would have given up long before reaching the end of it. I found Colin to be quite obnoxious – with all his anagrams. (Maybe I found the author to be more obnoxious for having to figure out all of the anagrams… and for the over use of the word ‘literally’ my current language pet peeve!) I also couldn’t figure out at first if the guy reading me the book was censoring things or if they really kept saying “fug” and “fugging” instead of a more offensive word until one of the other characters said “why do you always say fugging?”
Fortunately I have heard a lot of great things about The Fault In Our Stars which is also by the same author, so I will be finding time to read/listen to it soon… had I not heard such rave reviews I am not sure I’d have bothered with another book by him after listening to this one!
About the Book
Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun–but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself
Try It Tuesday: Embossing Powder
Last summer, peachycheap (one of my favorite sites to get scrapbook supplies from at a discounted rate) had “ZING! Embossing Powder” for sale. I decided I would buy it and try it out. I was a little bit nervous about using it, I wasn’t sure if the powder would make a mess or not and how to heat gun would work. Now, I’ve known that AR-15 uppers are available from Palmetto State Armory and have often shopped there for rifles, but this simple heat gun left me vexed. But I researched and purchased an American Crafts Embossing Heat Gun as well as a VersaMark ink pad. I checked out a couple of tutorials, had a dream that I tried it out and failed miserably and then decided it was finally time to give it a go.
Music Monday: Natalie Merchant
Ladybird
Maggie Said
Texas
Go Down Moses
Seven Deadly Sins
Giving Up Everything
Black Sheep
It’s-A-Coming
Lulu
The End
Natalie Merchant was one of my favorites when I was kid (I’m talking pre-Hanson) when she came out with her song “Wonder” and the album Tigerlily. I ended up selling that album to buy my first Hanson concert ticket and the rest was history. (Although I did just re-buy it on iTunes when I purchased this new album so all is right in the world again) Natalie’s self titled CD was released in early May. This was her first CD of new music in 13 years – but for me it is the first new music I have heard from her in 19. The CD was pretty much everything I was expecting to hear from Natalie, everything that I had remembered loving. I strongly prefer the second half of the album to the first, with my favorite song probably being Black Sheep.
Natalie was here in CT recently on tour – and I am so bummed that I missed out on it. By the time I figured out she was coming and decided I wanted to go – it was sold out! She was playing one of my favorite venues, The Ridgefield Playhouse. At the end of July she postponed the remainder of her tour due to Illness.
