Book Review: The Beginners Bible All About Jesus

Katie January 6, 2016 0 Comments

The Beginner’s Bible: All About Jesus is a sticker and activity book.  The book tells the story about Jesus and also has a lot of Jesus related activities throughout like word searches, puzzles and other fun activities.  The book also comes with over 50 reusable stickers to help complete the pages in the activity book.

This is a fun way to teach your child about Jesus and to keep them interested with all of the included activities!

I received a free copy of this book in order to write this review.

About the Book

A sticker and activity book featuring the classic art from The Beginner’s Bible!

The story of Jesus comes to life through age-appropriate puzzles, activity pages, and stickers in The Beginner’s Bible All About Jesus Sticker and Activity Book- featuring classic art and simply written content from The Beginner’s Bible. Priced for impulse purchases making this a great gift.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Cute Emergency

Katie January 5, 2016 0 Comments

Having a bad day? Cute Emergency is here to help. The book is full of adorable animals and captions that are bound to make you smile at least once when you are reading it.  I absolutely loved seeing all the cute puppies, kittens, koalas, hedgehogs and all the other animals throughout.  The captions were pretty funny as well and the book certainly put me in a better mood after reading it!

I received a free copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Puppies in sunglasses. Sleeping kittens. A hedgehog in a teacup.

If the thought of animals in adorable situations makes you feel just a little bit happier, then Cute Emergency is the book for you. Based on the popular Twitter feed, it is the antidote to all of life’s little annoyances. Not even the coldest curmudgeon could stay frazzled when faced with the heart-melting animals and witty captions contained in these pages. So fulfill your recommended daily allowance of cuteness and let furry creatures come to your rescue!

Book Review: The Latecomers Fan Club

Katie January 1, 2016 0 Comments

The Latecomers Fan Club seemed like it would be more about a band, but by the time we are emerged into the story, Nathaniel’s band The Latecomers have already decided to split.  The book begins on New Year’s Eve, with Abby going to work and her boyfriend Nathaniel deciding to not spend the night with her and instead go to a party back home.  It is there he is reunited with one of his old friends, Maggie, and the love triangle of sorts begins.  The chapters alternate between Abby, Nathaniel and Maggie’s poits of views.

Nathaniel decides he is going to break up with Abby and make his dreams come true – that is until Abby lets him know what kind of news she found out on New Years Eve…

Things get a little complicated and for a while neither Abby nor Maggie know about each other, but when Nathaniel decides to get the band back together the two end up in the same room (along with another girl that is involved with Nathaniel) and then things really get interesting…

This was a decent book. It had a nice story line, a bit predictable at times and overall it didn’t wow me. But it was a fairly quick read and had some interesting characters that needed to find themselves and just what it was they wanted to do with their lives.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

What is it about musicians that makes them so irresistible? If Abby and Maggie could answer that question, maybe they could finally get over Nathaniel.

Abby was first sucked in by Nathaniel’s rock and roll swagger four years ago when a drunken fling turned into a series of drunken hook-ups that became something like a relationship. Now, as New Year’s Eve promises a fresh start, she wants to believe he’s finally going to grow up and take their relationship seriously.

What does Nathaniel hope the New Year will bring? An escape from reality. He’s thirty-four years old and he’s barely making ends meet as an adjunct philosophy professor, which was always only a backup plan anyway. Nathaniel’s real goal was always to make his living as a musician, but his band, The Latecomers, broke up a couple of years ago, and he hasn’t picked up his guitar in months. When he decides to spend the holiday with some high school friends instead of hanging out at the bar where Abby works, he gets the happy surprise of reuniting with his long-lost friend Maggie. Newly divorced, Maggie has just moved back to her mother’s house to regroup.

Nathaniel and Maggie were supposed to be the ones who left central Massachusetts forever to conquer the world. He was going to be a rock star. She was going to take the world of art by storm. He’s never gotten farther than Boston, and her best efforts only left her broke and heartbroken. As they ring in the New Year together, Nathaniel decides it’s time to take control of his life and to start making his dreams come true. He thinks the first step will be easy. All he needs to do is break up with Abby and finally admit his feelings for Maggie. But the New Year has more surprises in store, and nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

Book Review: For the Record

Katie January 1, 2016 0 Comments

Chelsea was previously on a TV talent show, but she didn’t win.  She thought she could go back to her own little world, but then got the call asking to be the lead singer of the band Melbourne that is now going on a 30 city club tour.  For the Record shows life on the road for Chelsea with the band that is trying to tolerate her and her so called best friend who is on the tour as merch girl.

Then teen heartthrob Lucas Rivers gets thrown into the mix – he’s seeing Chelsea but no one seems to be happy about it.  And Chelsea may actually also have a thing for one of the band members as well…

This was a decent book for the YA crowd, but a bit boring for me who has read a lot more, uh, interesting tour stories.  But if you actually are a YA and interested in bands and tour stories, this seemed to have a decent amount of background work put into it about how tours really worked and seemed to be realistic in that regard.  and the relationships seemed legitimate as far as YA novels go as well.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

ABOUT THE BOOK
A raw, honest celebration of music, friendship, romance, and life on the road.

Chelsea thought she knew what being a rock star was like . . . until she became one. After losing a TV talent show, she slid back into small-town anonymity. But one phone call changed everything

Now she’s the lead singer of the band Melbourne, performing in sold-out clubs every night and living on a bus with three gorgeous and talented guys. The bummer is that the band barely tolerates her. And when teen hearthrob Lucas Rivers take an interest in her, Chelsea is suddenly famous, bringing Melbourne to the next level–not that they’re happy about that. Her feelings for Beckett, Melbourne’s bassist, are making life even more complicated.

Chelsea only has the summer tour to make the band–and their fans–love her. If she doesn’t, she’ll be back in Michigan for senior year, dying a slow death. The paparazzi, the haters, the grueling schedule . . . Chelsea believed she could handle it. But what if she can’t?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHARLOTTE HUANG grew up near Boston, graduated from Smith College, and received an MBA from Columbia Business School. She lives in Los Angeles. When not glued to her computer, she cheers her two sons on at sporting events and sometimes manages to stay up late enough to check out bands with her music-agent husband. For the Record is her first novel.

Book Review: Box of Cigar Bands

Katie January 1, 2016 0 Comments

This book is pretty cool, it contains a collection of Victorian-era cigar bands (the bands that are wrapped around a cigar).  There are all sorts of different images depicted, presidents, logos, royals, etc.  The beginning of the book has the story of the collection and how it came to be as well as a brief history of the bands and how they came to be.  The rest of the book is just photos of the collection.  I can’t say I am much of a cigar aficionado but I found the book interesting and liked seeing all the different things that were depicted on the various cigar bands.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

This charming collection of over 1,100 Victorian-era cigar bands spans the time period from about 1880 to 1910, the golden age of German lithography and American and Cuban cigar band printing and the height of the workmanship of this beautiful art form. The bands illustrate US presidents, European royalty, noted world personalities, and many others, all in detailed and gilded illustrations. The bands are shown exactly as displayed in the ledger of a young man born in Philadelphia in the late 1800s. Enjoy leafing through this cigar band time capsule.

Book Review: Center Stage!

Katie January 1, 2016 0 Comments

Center Stage! is about a high schooler named Allison Burch.  She really wants to become a famous singer and open up for the hot boyband All or Nothing.  So she secretly heads out to audition for the show “Center Stage!” (Think The Voice meets X Factor meets American Idol.)  She smudges the year on her application so she doesn’t need her parents permission and becomes the first person on the show to get all 4 coach to want her on their teams!

After getting permission from her parents to do the show, it seems that her coach is out to sabotage her.  But Allison is able to take all the curve balls thrown at her throughout the competition and over come.  She ends up falling for another contestant, Elliott, but she ends up questioning if their feelings for each other are real, or if it is just another fabrication put together by the show.

The two need to team up to over come more and more obstacles put their by the show’s producers – but can they be a team when it is every man/woman for themselves in order to win the show?

As you probably know, I love American Idol. I don’t really love The Voice or XFactor as much but I’ll watch them sometimes so it was fun to read a book based on these shows with some fun drama behind the scenes.  This book was a quick read and I immediately found myself drawn in wanting to see what kind of sabotage would happen next and what Allison’s reaction would be.  I thought that the ending was going to end up predictable and perfect, but I was in for quite a surprise. A really great book and I hear that the author has some more books about Allison’s (former?) best friend Taylor (and daughter of Center Stage! coach Chase Atwood) so I might have to check it out and see if it is as good as Center Stage!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Allison Burch’s wildest dream is to become a famous singer. She can hardly believe her own good luck when she auditions for the reality television singing competition, Center Stage!, and is chosen as a contestant. She finally has a legitimate shot at fame, fortune, and a chance to go on tour as the opening act for her favorite boy band on their world tour.

However, Allison wasn’t counting on one of the celebrity coaches being Chase Atwood, the famous rock star father of her former best friend. Allison’s terrified that Chase is going to find out that she and his daughter have been in a fight for months, and it’ll ruin her shot at the grand prize. Making matters worse, Allison’s own coach, Country Western star Nelly Fulsom, intends to groom her into a Nashville superstar.

As Allison struggles to decide if she really wants to win on the show if it’s by resorting to dirty tricks and assuming the image that Nelly wants to create for her, she find herself falling hard for her biggest competition on the show: a brooding songwriter named Elliott Mercer. She’s not sure if Elliott’s interest in her is genuine, or if he’s just playing along with the producers’ strategy.

It’s up to Allison to decide: how much is she willing to lose in order to win?

Fans of Caitlyn Duffy’s The Rock Star’s Daughter will enjoy this tale about Taylor’s friend Allison and her journey to fame.

Book Review: Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays

Katie December 30, 2015 0 Comments

Hollywood Celebrates the Holiday is a compilation of many images from the silent era of movies all the way through the 1970s of celebrities dressed up and celebrating various holidays. It starts with the New Year and works its way through the year with Easter, Halloween, Christmas, among other holidays.  I have to say my favorite was the Little Rascals photo celebrating Valentine’s Day!

Many of the stars I recognized and many I didnt, but thankfully there are great captions explaining who everyone is and even an index at the end in case I want to look up anyone in particular once I flipped through it once!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Marvelously illustrated with more than 200 rare images from the silent era through the 1970s, this joyous treasure trove features film and television’s most famous actors and actresses celebrating the holidays, big and small, in lavishly produced photographs. Join the stars for festive fun in celebrating a variety of holidays, from New Year’s to Saint Patrick’s Day to Christmas and everything in between. Legends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and Audrey Hepburn spread holiday cheer throughout the calendar year in iconic, ironic, and illustrious style. These images, taken by legendary stills photographers, hearken back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when motion picture studios devised elaborate publicity campaigns to promote their stars and to keep their names and faces in front of the movie-going public all year round.

Book Review: Caillou and the Big Bully

Katie December 25, 2015 0 Comments

In Caillou and The Big Bully, Caillou doesn’t want to go to daycare.  Mommy says he has to.  When he gets home, he is mean to Rosie.  Mommy and Daddy know that something is going on.  Caillou finally tells him that Theo at daycare is too big for him and is mean.  Daddy teaches Caillou how to stand up for himself.  The next time Theo tries to push him around, Caillou tells him to stop, and Theo does.  The daycare teacher also tells Theo to be polite and gentle with the other kids at daycare.

This is the only book of the Caillou series that I had read that actually seemed to teach a good lesson.  Although, I’m not sure why the daycare teacher took until Caillou stood up to Theo to tell Theo to be nicer.  But  I guess he was doing all this to Caillou behind her back.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Caillou is bullied at day care by a much bigger and stronger boy named Theo. Sometimes Theo uses his strength to get what he wants. Caillou is afraid of him. In this story, Caillou learns to stand up for himself and say no to bullying.

Bullying can start at a very young age and early interventions will help victimized children to feel supported and to stand up.

In this series, children will go hand in hand with Caillou to navigate their way successfully through various key developmental experiences of childhood. All books are written in consultation with early childhood specialist to ensure content accuracy.

Book Review: Caillou: The School Bus

Katie December 25, 2015 0 Comments

In Caillou and the School Bus, Caillou sees the other kids getting on the bus and wants to know when it will be his turn.  Daddy tells him that he has to wait 1 more birthday before he can ride the school bus, but the next day they can wait for the bus to check it out.  When Caillou meets the bus driver, Mr Washington, he says that he will check with his boss to see if it is ok to take Caillou for a ride the next day.  Caillou can’t wait! He draws a picture of the bus.  The next day, Mr Washington takes Caillou on a ride to the school and then back home to see Daddy.  Caillou is so excited!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Caillou’s friend, Sarah, gets on the big, yellow school bus every morning, but Caillou has to wait a little longer before he goes to school. He just can’t wait to ride the school bus.

Book Review: Caillou Emma’s Extra Snacks

Katie December 25, 2015 0 Comments

Caillou, Emma’s Extra Snacks is a story about Type 1 Diabetes. Caillou sees his friend Emma eating extra snacks so he thinks it is snack time for him too. His teacher explains that it is not snack time for him and tells the class about diabetes.  Caillou is very concerned for Emma and wants to help her out by getting her sweater, carrying her backpack and mayybeee letting her win on track and field day. Ok, maybe not.  She doesn’t seem to act that sick to Caillou, but Emma explains more to him about her diabetes and how she is not sick, she just has to manage it every day so she doesn’t get dizzy.  A nice way for kids to learn a bit about diabetes.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

In collaboration with the American Diabetes Association.
Caillou is confused when Emma is allowed to have extra snacks at preschool. He’s even more confused when Miss Martin explains that Emma has type 1 diabetes. Caillou is worried about his friend and becomes very protective of her. But when Emma outruns Caillou in a race, he soon realizes Emma’s diabetes isn’t like a cold or flu. It’s something Emma has to live with every day, and she’s doing a pretty good job of it.