Book Review: The Quick Guide To Home Organizing

Katie June 6, 2014 0 Comments

I think that if I spend the same amount of time attempting to organize my home as I did reading books about it, I’d be all nice and organized and wouldn’t have to read the books anymore.  But I can’t help but look for all sorts of techniques in hope that one in a book would jump out at me and stick as something that I can use and continue to use.  But breaking 30 years of unorganized chaos is NOT easy! (And even less so when I seem to not put in the effort!)

The book starts by telling you to mark it up when something catches your attention.  Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy with an e-book, but I’ll have to keep mental notes! Another note is that if there is an easy step in the book – do it immediately. Start small, keep it simple.

One of the things that I took notes on was one of the positive statements to meditate – “I am too smart to create a mess. Therefore, I put things where they belong immediately after using them.” Of course, easier said than done – especially being in a new house where everything doesn’t yet have a designated place where it belongs! But that’s just another thing to add to the to-do list – make sure everything has a “home”.

The book is broken down in to 40 chapters – designated to help you improve your life in 40 days.  Therefore, it is best if you don’t try to do everything all at once (which is why I always end up overwhelmed and putting things off) but instead pace yourself but keep consistently working at it.

I will be trying to put some of the tips in this book and others I’ve read in to play very soon – maybe you’ll even see it as a Try It Tuesday post once things are successful!

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

About the Book

This proven forty-day plan helps readers achieve a well-ordered home and life. Practical and easy to apply, it shows how to get control of clutter, chaos, and disorganization.

Book Review: Defending the Eyewitness

Katie June 6, 2014 0 Comments

Defending the Eyewitness combines 2 of my current favorite book genres – romance and suspense!  Corey is our main female character  – as a child she witnessed her mother’s murder, but has since tried to block most of it from her memory. Since then – she has had some trust issues with men and typically only rents out her extra room in her apartment to other females.  However, as a favor she decided to house Austin – who was an undercover cop and is now recuperating and waiting for the right time to return back home – when he knows he won’t be recognized by anyone who was involved in the undercover operation he was working on.

Corey has been getting mysterious notes.  She shrugged the first one off – but now that there have been 3 – she gets Austin involved and Austin involves the authorities.  They are not sure who is sending the notes.  While all this is going on – Austin and Corey are of course growing closer to each other.  Corey is a bit reserved, but for some reason she trusts Austin.  Together the two try to figure out who it is that is sending the notes.  Could it be the man who had killed Corey’s mother?  Should she try to remember what she saw? Is that why he may be coming after her? Or is it just a prank and she shouldn’t worry about it?  Whoever it is – they seem to be hiding their tracks pretty well as all the notes are typed and there don’t appear to be any clues or fingerprint evidence left on them.

It’s hard to tell more about this book without giving the ending away – which I definitely don’t want to do. I liked that although it was obvious the romance aspect of the book, the suspense aspect was not as obvious.  The book also was not drawn out longer than it needed to be so it had a lot of action and got to its conclusion without me feeling like chapters were added in just for the sake of having more things written. I really enjoyed this book and will have to check out some more romance suspense in the future!

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

About the Book

Return to New York Times bestselling author Rachel Lee’s Conard County, where a killer lies in wait

The note wasn’t a threat, exactly. But for Corey Donahue, who’d witnessed her mother’s murder as a child, it felt very menacing. Surprisingly, the one person she trusted to show the note to was a man merely renting a room from her—Austin Mendez. Traumatized since childhood, Corey had never trusted men…until Austin moved in.

Six years undercover had caused Austin to shut everyone out…until Corey. The vulnerability she hid from others made him yearn to break down the walls she’d erected around her heart. And with a killer closing in, two lost souls were discovering the trust they’d lost—and much more—in each other’s arms.

Book Review: The Road to Nyn

Katie June 2, 2014 2 Comments

The Road To Nyn tells the story about a boy named Kay.  He is training to be a knight but at the same time is also studying forbidden magic.  He became a squire and then decided that he was going to leave his magic studying since every spell he casts, something bad happens and he doesn’t think he is quite cut out for it.

Except that then things take a bit of a turn when his village is attacked by goblins and his family is captured! Now Kay must go on a journey to save his family and friends.

The journey is quite a sci-fi adventure, with pretty much everything I was looking for in such an adventure. Great characters and lots of challenges that Kay needs to overcome.  Kay was also a great character that you just had to root for and hoped that he would come out on top! (Although in the beginning it did take a while for me to get through my head that he was a male character since his name is similar to mine lol)

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review and participate in the blog tour. I was not otherwise compensated and all thoughts and opinions are mine.

The Road to Nyn Book Summary:
In a land where magic is outlawed, a young boy is living a double life. Although Kay is training to be a knight, he has been secretly studying the forbidden ways of magic with Alamin, a powerful but eccentric wizard.

After passing of the Trial of the Rings and being raised to squirehood, Kay has decided to tell Alamin that he is going to leave his magical studies behind. And why not? Kay hasn’t ever cast a spell without something going seriously wrong–like the random appearance of frogs or hungry wolves–besides, Kay could be banished from the kingdom just for associating with Alamin.

Kay’s plans are quickly obliterated when a horde of goblins attacks his village and captures his family and friends. Now, with his home lying in ruins, everything has changed. Along with Alamin and Felix, a self-serving kleptomaniac sprite, Kay embarks on an adventure that takes him across the Kingdom of Gaspar and into the dark and treacherous caves of the Goblin Realm. What Kay doesn’t realize is that his journey is leading him on a collision course with the Lord of Nyn – a being so powerful that none dare face him…not even Alamin himself!

Brian Michaud’s Bio:
Brian G. Michaud lives in a small town in Massachusetts with his wife, Kim. When he is not reading or writing books, he can be found teaching music at a local elementary school or rocking out on guitar with the band, Too Loud.

Kindle Buy link ($2.99)

Amazon paperback ($8.99)

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Book Review: Dad is Fat

Katie May 31, 2014 0 Comments

Dad is Fat is the latest book from comedian Jim Gaffigan. I am incredibly “picky” about what comedians I enjoy and find funny (most aren’t) but Jim is definitely one of my favorites. (And I even got to see him in person when I went to a taping of The View a few years ago!)

Jim has 5 kids – one of which gave him the title for the book.  The book is Jim’s take on parenting the 5 kids – who all live in a 2 bedroom apartment in New York City. (And occasionally join him on tour as well.) You don’t have to have kids to find the book funny, although it may end up being funnier if you do have kids and can relate to some of the situations that he has been put in by his kids. A parenting book without really being a parenting book and a humorous book as well. Some of the bits in the book I have heard him talk about in TV interviews lately promoting the book but I wouldn’t say that it was so much I felt I already knew what the book was about. 

I was provided a free copy of this book to review from Blogging For Books. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald’s, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins (“celebrities for little kids”) to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’sFatherhood, Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home

Book Review: Whaley’s Big Adventure

Katie May 31, 2014 0 Comments

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
Whaley’s Big Av denture is written and illustrated by 5 year old Alexander Luke. It is a super cute story about a whale and the friends he meets in the ocean on his adventure.  The illustrations are just wonderful as well.  This is very easy to read for a child and I am sure that anyone will enjoy it, especially if you like the ocean and whales! The book is educational and fun!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
About the Book

Join Whaley on his big adventure in the ocean as he meets Whales of all different sizes. Written by 5 year old Alexander Luke and presented by his grandmother, award-winning children’s author Carole P. Roman, this oceanic adventure of whale sized proportions will teach youngsters about the different whales that live in the oceans.

Book Review: If You Were Me and Lived In… Australia

Katie May 31, 2014 0 Comments

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

If You Were Me And Lived In… Australia is an introduction to learning about other cultures by Carole P. Roman. The book is short and sweet but I think that it takes care of all the questions children would have about another country – where is it? what’s it like? what would we eat? Would we go to school? What kind of games would we play?  I also liked that there were pronunciations throughout the book for the name of the country, cities and other items that may be confusing to pronounce to children (or adults too!).  There are a lot of great illustrations throughout the book as well and I think it really gave a great idea about the country.  This would be a great starting point and if your child was interested in the country, maybe they could research things a bit more on their own – or with some help.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

About the Book

If You Were Me And Lived In … Australia: A child’s introduction to culture around the world – What would it be like to live in Australia? You would call your Mommy “Mummy”, and you would eat a special lunch of Vegemite Sandwiches. Now, children aged three-to-eight-years-old can learn all about fascinating, farflung countries and cultures in If You Were Me And Lived In… Australia: A child’s introduction to cultures around the world.

The latest in Carole P. Roman’s delightful, globetrotting series, this colorful immersion Down Under opens a child’s world up to the many strange and wonderful things that take place in other countries. Written in simple, playful language especially for young readers, this latest addition to the series is certain to inspire curiosity and launch children on a lifelong love of exploring other locales.

Informative, fun, and always interesting, the book also covers history, national celebrations, and food, coming together in the vivid patchwork of a special place waiting to be explored by an eager young mind. It’s certain to prompt further conversation on this remarkable country, and to capture a child’s imagination about the rich and varied world beyond.

Former teacher Carole P. Roman is an accomplished author of the critically acclaimed Captain No Beard series that deals with such issues as dyslexia, compromise, sharing and leadership. The first book of the series, Captain No Beard – An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life was named to both Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2012, as well as the Pinnacle Award – Best Children’s Book 2013. Her second series is a fun and educational approach to Yoga.Finally, Roman’s new series explores the small world we live in as well as the different, complex cultures of the people around us. The first book in this series, If You Were Me And Lived In… Mexico, received the Pinnacle Award for Best in Non Fiction in 2012.

Book Review: Hot Rock

Katie May 30, 2014 0 Comments

Hot Rock is about a girl named Megan who heads from Australia to England to a music festival. She is there to do research so that she can write her PHD thesis. (What do you have to go to school for to write a thesis on a rock festival? Sign me up!)

When she arrives she is dropped off at the wrong cottage, without the key to get in, she sits on the porch and waits.  She ends up being greeted (if you can call it that) by a man who is a splitting image of her 70s Rock Idol, Davy Morgan.  It turns out that he is Davy’s nephew, David.  Or so he says… It certainly seems like there is something weird going on at this festival.

Megan wakes up in the medic tent at the festival and isn’t sure how she got there. Davy is performing and then David Bowie is performing.  Has she traveled back to the festival in the 70s? Is that really Davy or his nephew David? What is going on!?

This book has it all – romance, a rock festival, time traveling… It is a pretty quick and easy read and was a lot of fun to read about something that absolutely would never actually happen. (Or is it happening and I’m just not privvy to the path to time travel to rock festivals of the 70s yet?)

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

About the Book

Megan Miller is on a dream trip to research her doctoral thesis at a rock festival in England. When she arrives in town she’s stunned that her temporary neighbor is the spitting image of her 70’s rock idol, too bad he’s also a world-class jerk. So why can’t she stop thinking about him?

Seventies rock star Davy Morgan is a man with a secret: rockin’ in one time and living in another. He holds his privacy close to his heart, so when a beautiful girl who not only loves but truly understands his music moves in next door, he works overtime to keep her at a distance. Easier said than done.

Megan follows Davy to the rock festival, but it’s not what or when it seems. The lure of the music draws them closer, but can their newfound love span across the decades, or will it get lost in time?

Book Review: Double Play

Katie May 30, 2014 0 Comments

Double Play is a biography about Tampa Bay Rays Ben Zobrist and his wife Julianna. The book is all about the importance of Faith and Family.  In fact, Ben’s at bat song is sung by his wife, Julianna, and has been since 2009!  The book somewhat alternates between chapters about Ben and Julianna and how they grew up and how their faith was instilled with them throughout their childhood and growing up.  The story of how they met and the conversations that they had very, very early on in their relationship are so adorable it’s almost sickening.  It was nice to read them recall these moments though and how even though Julianna thought that they shouldn’t continue their relationship so she could go to college in Nashville, a bunch of things kept happening making them end up seeing each other again – like Ben rooming with Julianna’s older brother! It certainly seemed that there was a higher power who knew that these two had to be together.

It was a very sweet story, though they did have their struggles in there 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

All-Star player Ben Zobrist (Tampa Bay Rays), considered one of the best all-around players in baseball, writes about the importance of his faith, life, and athletic career in Double Play. Written with his wife, Christian singer Julianna Zobrist, and MikeYorkey, best-selling author of Every Man’s Battle and Linspired: The Remarkable Rise of Jeremy Lin, the book gives fans a first look into the heart of an athlete whose talent and devotion to God, family, and baseball make him one of the most loveable figures in the Major League today.

Book Review: The Who FAQ

Katie May 30, 2014 0 Comments

The Who FAQ is All that’s left to know about fifty years of maximum R&B.  Although the book is called “FAQ” there really aren’t any questions in the book.  Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the band – starting of course with “Who’s Who in the Who” (try saying that 5 times fast!).  Then it goes in to other band members, management, songwriting, unrecorded songs, on film, solo albums, girlfriends and wives and many, many more topics. (35 in total).   Between all the topics it covers everything one would need or want to know about The Who.

This is an interesting approach at a biography, it isn’t quite chronological in its grouping, but information is grouped in a different way than you are used to. I liked this approach though because it kind of “chunked” the information into categories which didn’t make it any more difficult to read or absorb.  There’s a lot of great information and photographs mixed throughout as well.  With it broken down in to smaller sections within each chapter it makes it really easy to read either all at once or here and there when you find yourself with a free moment.

I certainly know a lot more about The Who than I ever thought I would after reading this!

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

About the Book

Book Review: Don’t Even Think About It

Katie May 30, 2014 0 Comments

Don’t Even Think About It is about a group of teens all in the same home room in the Tribeca area of New York.  Things seem to be normal – that is until they were due to get their flu shots from the school nurse.  Starting that afternoon, the kids start hearing other kids in their classes talking – but their mouths aren’t moving.  How can that be?  It turns out that almost all of the kids who got the flu shot now seem to have developed ESP and can hear everyone around them’s thoughts!  Slowly, all the kids who get the shot begin to gain this skill and they make a deal not to let anyone know.  Now they can hear what their boyfriend or crushes are thinking about and even what the smartest kids in class are thinking to themselves during the next test.

The longer they are dealing with this skill, the more they are learning how to control it.  If people are in between them they can’t hear people.  If they close their eyes, they can’t hear it.  Everything seems to revolve around their eyes – which have begun turning from their normal shades of browns and blues to a lilac color.

Eventually, those that administered the shot have caught on and come to the school to discuss an antidote with the students and their parents. They will get a settlement and the antidote and hopefully everything will go back to normal.  But do they really want that? The ESP has made kids who otherwise would not be hanging out together bond and has brought them all together in ways that nothing else could have. Do they want to lose that and go back to being normal?

One of the smartest girls in the school, Pi, decides that she doesn’t want the antidote and wants to be a guinea pig for research on the effects of the flu shot.  She seems to convince the agents at the school to go along with the plan and use her for their research.  Meanwhile, the other kids are thinking that they don’t want to get the antidote shot either.

Will they go through with not getting the antidote? Will they did if they don’t? You’ll just have to read Don’t Even Think About It to see what happens.

This is a Young Adult novel, takes place in a high school and revolves around high school themes – boyfriends/girlfriends, cheating, crushes and all that goes along with being in high school.  It was a quick and easier read, but quite enjoyable.  Not something that I ever thought about happening but was certainly fun to ponder for the few hours I spent reading the book.

About the Book

Secrets. Scandals. ESP. A terrific and sexy new novel about a group of Tribeca teens from Sarah Mlynowski that will immediately appeal to fans of realistic fiction as well as readers who enjoy a little magic.

We weren’t always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn’t expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper. 

Since we’ve kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what’s coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same. 

So stop obsessing about your ex. We’re always listening.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SARAH MLYNOWSKI is the author of the Magic in Manhattan and Whatever After series, as well as Gimme a Call, Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have), Milkrun, and more. Her books have been translated into twenty-two languages and Bras & Broomsticks was optioned to Hollywood. Sarah was born in Montreal but lives and writes in New York City. Visit her at sarahm.com, like her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter at @sarahmlynowski.