Soulless Book Review

Title: Soulless

Author: Gail Carriger

Genre: Steampunk, Supernatural, Victorian England, Action/Adventure, Romance,

Plot: In a steampunk world populated by fashionable people by day and werewolves, ghosts and vampires by night, one Alexia Tarabtti is about to make several waves in her little social circle. Born without a soul and with the unpopular tan complexion of her dead Italian father, Alexia was put on the shelf at fifteen and spent her youth reading the fascinating books in her father's library. Now twenty-six, Alexia is a force to be recounted with and proves it by single-handedly killing a strange vampire who was bent on attacking her - and without an introduction no less!

This incident thrusts Alexia in the path of Lord Maccon, a Scottish werewolf who rapidly rose to power in the London area and commands the London branch of BUR - Bureau of Unnatural Registry which is a division of the queen's Civil Service. Having known each other for a few years now, Alexia and Lord Maccon are none too pleased to be mixed up in each other's company for long and fiery arguments abound. But with danger lurking in the shadows and the full moon just around the corner, things might get more than just a little steamy.

Likes/Dislikes: This was my first official steam-punk novel. I've been nosing around the genre for awhile now and picked quite the book to dive into. I was a little worried it would be weird - vampires and werewolves aren't really my thing, though I would take a werewolf story over a vampire one if given the choice. But aside from some distracting references to the vampires being gay, it wasn't nearly as dark and weird as I thought it would be. Instead, I was treated to some delicious {and very distracting} steamy scenes between our hotheaded hero and heroine. Teenage me would've burned the book but being married and having had a hospital birth did wonders for me in that regard, *wink* I still didn't much like the gay vampires though or the lengthy science experiment by the bad guys. And the carriage scene at the end was sadly anti-climatic to me.

Rating: PG-18 and up, mainly for content {a grand total of four steamy scenes that progressively got steamier toward the end, interesting little tid-bits of innuendo, gay vampires running around and a bloody torture scene/end battle}. Recommended for mature readers only.

Date Review Written: October 27th 2015

Mallee in October

"When clear October suns unfold

mallee tips of red and gold

children on their way to school

discover tadpoles in a pool,

iceplants sheathed in beaded glass

spider orchids and shivery grass,

webs with globes of dew alight

budgerigars on their first flight,

tottery lambs and a stilty foal

a papers slough that a snake shed whole,

and a bronzewing's nest of twigs so few

that both the sky and the eggs show through."

-   Flexmore Hudson

The Big Bang Theory 9.6

When the Swedish are about to steal Leonard and Sheldon's thunder on their experiment, they drop everything and start tracking down some helium, with hilarious results. With a choice between Kripke and a shady dealer in a car garage, the two have some deep thinking to do.

Meanwhile, Bernadette tells Penny that Stuart has gone on two dates with the help of a dating app on his phone. They put it on Amy's phone {much to her dismay} and gather around with Raj and Howard to mock the results. Amy gets the last word however.

While this episode was funny, it wasn't a huge hit with me. Probably because I was busy with the baby and didn't pay attention. Still, the two moving on and dating other people is fun.

Doctor Who 9.6

The Doctor {for unclear reasons} pops up in merry old England without Clara and is tracking something with a device that goes ding {not really} when he interrupts a robbery. Distracted from his search by the discovery of Ashildr and how dark the years have turned her. She has had to endure much of the same heartbreak he has had to endure - the loss of friends, family and, most painfully, the loss of babies you try so desperately to save. Pain has turned her into a hard creature and the Doctor wonders if he made the right decision.

But then her own plans backfire on her, jarring her back to life and the Doctor triumphs once more!

I didn't like this episode. Partly because the actress looked too young to be so hard and jaded, and partly because it was just boring. The Zygons next week don't look too much better but there is still some potential there. Much more than in this episode. I can't wait till Clara is gone. It was so nice not having her in this adventure.

Annabeth's War Book Review

Title: Annabeth's War

Author: Jessica Greyson

Genre: Christian, Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance

Plot: Annabeth was trained to use the sword by her warrior father and grew up separated from the girls and boys by this fact; the girls avoided her for her tomboy-ish ways and the boys beat her up for being better than them at such a manly activity. However, this never stopped her from becoming a sweet strong stubborn person and when circumstances force her to go on the run, living by her sword and fighting her own little war all by herself, Annabeth holds her ground steadfastly.

But she can't hold out forever and just when she needs it the most {whether she'll admit it or not}, God sends in help in the unlikely form of bounty hunter Ransom. Now aided by a strong skilled warrior, will Annabeth be able to win her war?

Likes/Dislikes: I've had the Kindle version of this book for a couple years now, just waiting to have time to read it, and I finally got the chance with my new birthday present. While there were some formatting issues with oddly placed paragraph breaks and commas that annoyed me, this was overall a really good story. I loved all the action, the adventure, the excitement and the sweet love story that gently unfolded throughout the story without distracting from it. Here and there it was a little obvious it was a debut novel, and I really wanted more backstory to everyone, more information about all these great characters. To me they were swaths of brilliant color that needed just a little more defining to be perfect, but I still really loved this book. I'll have to save up for the print version now.

Rating: PG-14 and up, mainly for content {violent sword-fights and a painful torture scene but nothing graphic}.

Date Review Written: October 20th, 2015.

Julep Maven Box Review

Alrighty, here's a fun little review that the girls will love. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when a cute little ad about make-up caught my eye {probably mainly because it mentioned birthday girl in the wording}, so I checked into it and discovered Julep - an online make-up company that will send you a little box of goodies once a month {or more often if you're super into make-up}. You get $40 worth of make-up for a $25 monthly subscription, bu if you're like me and you want to try before you buy it, the first box is free. Just pay shipping, which for me was an easy $3.

Anyway, when the little purple box arrived, I got all excited and opened it up. Inside I found some paper explaining what the company is all about and a coupon {always love coupons} and of course, the actual make-up. There were four lovely items: three things of nail polish and a bottle of lip gloss. The nail polish is in slender square bottles that look very sleek and expensive. The first bottle of nail polish is Colton - a unique dark purple/black shade of nail polish made with green coffee extract {among other interesting and surprisingly healthy sounding ingredients}. The website says it dries very fast, has one coat coverage and allows more air to reach your nail beds while strengthening your nails. I haven't yet tried it myself {only just got it today} but I love the dark color. On the site it looks black but in the bottle it is clearly a lovely rich dark purple shade. I can't wait to try it out! It's a solid color too which is something I look for in nail polish.

The second slim bottle of polish is Mari Bombshell. This polish is magenta shade of pinky purple with a dash of sparkle. It doesn't overly shimmer and there aren't large flakes of glittery things floating around it in, making it an edgy sparkly polish while still remaining smooth and elegant. Definitely something I could see myself wearing and the color itself is beautiful. I'd love a slightly redder shade for Christmastime. Luckily, the website has a wide variety of nail polish to choose from so getting more will be easy.

The third bottle of nail polish is a very handy nail therapy solution that can double as a base-coat or just a clear stand alone polish that strengthens and hardens your nails. Essential vitamins and natural pistacia resin work together with five key extracts {aloe vera, lemon, ginseng, pomegranate and grape} to deeply nourish your nails and help reduce slitting, encouraging and helping your own natural nail growth. I have thin nails that are generally good nails but sometimes they d split in horizontal layers and that can be very annoying. I can't wait to apply some of this healing polish and track the improvements in my nails! It's also something I wouldn't have thought of to get myself and I'm so glad that whoever packed my box included it for me.

Now for the lip gloss! As a teenager I loved lip gloss; all the different sugary-sweet flavors it came in were a delight and once I got one that tinted my lips a faint pink {not that you could really tell with me but that was okay}. This is lip gloss for grown-ups. It's very classic and elegant with just a faint shimmer to remind you of starry nights and carefree youthful moments that sparkle in your mind and keep you going on the long coffee-fueled days. The color I was sent is Charming - an earthy dark rose shade with a thread of red woven delicately through it. This is the kind of lip gloss you can wear all day, to work, to school, to the supermarket and to those big special events while feeling comfortable and pretty the entire time you're wearing it. Opening the classy-looking bottle, the first thing I did was smell the lip gloss and surprisingly, it smells like chocolate. I made my sister confirm this. It goes on smoothly with a faint stickiness that comes with all lip gloss, but it doesn't taste like chocolate. I'm not sure if I'm relieved or disappointed about that. I will definitely be
using this a lot though.

I've explored the website while waiting for my order to arrive {coffee-deprived mommy brain thought it was two day shipping but instead it was standard; still it arrived very promptly and intact}. The website is laid out in a fairly easy to navigate way and had hundreds of items from skin care products to brushes, nail care tools, lip stick and eye shadow. I'm very keen to try some of the lipstick when I get the chance and several shades of nail polish have caught my eye. Every month you get a little window of time to look through that month's selection and customize your box. I like being able to do that, though I couldn't with my first box. Not that that bothered me too much. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep getting boxes of make-up every month but for those months when I want to treat myself or a friend, they're wonderful! New moms with babies who can't leave the house just yet would love something like this. I know I would've. If this sounds like something you'd like to do, please feel free to use my little code here and get $15!

Autumn Dreams

Grinning pumpkins, falling leaves,

Dancing scarecrows, twirling breeze,

Color, color everywhere,

Autumn dreams are in the air! Autumn is a woman growing old,

Ready to let what is dead go,

Her youthful radiance has faded, and that's sad,

But underneath she discovers a 

spread of colors she didn't know she had. Little children screech and run,

Ghosts and goblins having fun,

Color, color everywhere,

Autumn dreams are in the air! Around her a kaleidoscope of leaves are whirling.

Deep within her visions stir of new life that will be,

A budding, a flowering, a promise unfurling.

Autumn is a woman growing old,

Ready to let what is dead go. Calico kittens, rain falling rat-a-tat-tat,

Big full moon, funny black cats,

Color, color everywhere,

Autumn dreams are in the air!

~ Mary Naylor

The Big Bang Theory 9.5

And after waiting an entire week, we finally have the fencing episode of The Big Bang Theory! It began quite humorously, of course, with Howard explaining that Bernadette got him a fitbit to track his exercise and he ran away from her when she tried to put it on him. The guys then decide that exercising would be a good idea and join Kripke's fencing club. My husband was a fencer for ten years so he sat up during this episode and started critiquing it. Apparently they were doing everything wrong. I thought that was funny.

Meanwhile the girls are all trying to help Stuart bring in more female customers with little results. I loved this episode!! But having the brain I do, I can't remember what the previews for next week hinted at so I'll just pretend like it's gonna be a great episode and re-watch it later to confirm my theory. I do hope Amy and Sheldon get back together just cause they're cute together and I want a really nice non-elopement wedding! But not with Raj and Emily; she's too weird.

Doctor Who 9.5

Keeping in stride with two parters this season, Doctor Who starts us off with a relatively boring plot: captured by Vikings after a close shave with nasty space spiders that were thankfully never shown on screen. I can't stand spiders. When Clara starts asking the Doctor about the rules, he explains, "We make ripples but never tidal waves." Her response, "You are a tidal wave," would probably have resulted in an argument if the Vikings hadn't shown up.

Now I don't watch Game of Thrones and could care less about it, but I was secretly really hoping the girl, Ashildr, would replace Clara and become the new companion. I'm so tired of Clara; she's getting reckless and stupid. Instead of hanging back and listening to the Doctor, she gets herself and Ashildr captured by a vicious alien and pretty much dooms the entire village till the Doctor has to step up and save everyone - as usual. The last ten minutes of the episode were pretty exciting as they tied in a Tennent episode - loved that and I really thought the Doctor translating when the baby was saying was adorable.

I'm still unimpressed with the whole two parters episodes though. I told my husband that after this episode the fandom exploded. He didn't think that was funny. :)

Goodnight Manger Book Review

Title: Goodnight, Manger

Author: Laura Sassi

Illustrator: Jane Chapman

Genre: Children, Christian, Christmas, Colorful, Animals, Rhyming

Plot: It's Christmas day in the stable and it's time for the new Baby to go to sleep. But with a helpful donkey adding itchy hay to the manger, a helpful hen adding feathers and clucking, angels singing outside, shepherds arriving with all their assorted animals and kings from afar arriving after a long journey with lots of gifts, it's no surprise that Baby would rather cry than sleep. Safe in His parents' arms though, Mary thinks up an ingenious way to help Him fall asleep.

An incredibly cute colorful book with glossy pages full of animals and fun excitement, this book is perfect for little kids snuggling up to read on a cozy Christmas Eve. And the rhyming text is a joy to read aloud!

Likes/Dislikes: I love all the colors in this book, particularly the abundance of a warm orange shade, and the animals on each page are so cute. The wording is cozy and perfect; I could definitely see this becoming a favorite Christmas book in the years to come. I was a little surprised to see how ethic Mary and Joseph are, but I like it; it fits very well and makes sense. The angels didn't really look like impressive angels though; just super jolly guys in bright clothes hovering in the air. I let my 21 month old daughter check out the book; at first she was just interested in the packing material but then she grabbed it and flipped through the book looking at all the pictures. I read it to her twice and she seemed to enjoy the story but was preoccupied with turning the pages. She also sampled the pages and seemed to think they tasted good. Oh well. Definitely a book geared toward a slightly older child.

Rating: G - 3 and up, recommended for all ages.

Date Review Written: October 17th 2015.

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of Booklook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own. 

Autumn Fires

In the other gardens 

And all up the vale, 

From the autumn bonfires 

See the smoke trail! 

Pleasant summer over 

And all the summer flowers, 

The red fire blazes, 

The grey smoke towers. 

Sing a song of seasons! 

Something bright in all! 

Flowers in the summer, 

Fires in the fall!

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

I post this poem every year cause it's my favorite!

The Big Bang Theory 9.4

Returning home from the container store in a happy state of emotions, Sheldon is shocked when Leonard tells him he is moving out and living with Penny now. It never occurred to Sheldon that Leonard might want to live with his wife instead of his weird quirky roommate. Upset over this recent development and Amy leaving him, Sheldon decides to revert back to a happier time and pretends it's twelve years ago in 2003 before he met either Leonard or Penny. He starts interviewing potential new roommates, to hilarious results.

Meanwhile, Raj and Howard have an inflated opinion of themselves regarding their new band they formed. With such a great name, you'd think they'd make better music, right? Next week's episode features fencing - my husband's sport of choice for ten years - so that'll be highly entertaining.

Doctor Who 9.4

"My first proper alien and he's an idiot," declares one side character when he, a feisty woman named O'Donnel and the Doctor arrive in a little empty town on the hunt for the alien spacecraft at the bottom of a flooded lake. The alien ghost from last week is {temporarily} still alive and yakking his head off, but the mystery remains. Who placed the words on the wall and who is trying to use the ghosts as beacons in the future? While the Doctor runs around trying to figure all this out, Clara is busy evading ghosts to get back her phone so she can keep in touch with the Doctor.

While it was a nice little wrap-up to last week's episode, this episode of Doctor Who was just kind of meh to me. It wasn't super exciting, it wasn't a huge "Oh that's how it worked," and it didn't leave a long-lasting impression. I did really enjoy the rock version of the theme song; that was probably the best part of the whole episode and if it sticks with this new Doctor, I won't object. *smiles*

The Little Paris Bookshop Book Review

Title: The Little Paris Bookshop

Author: Nina George

Genre: Fiction, Drama, Paris, Healing, Sorrow, Books

Plot: In Paris there is a little boat filled with books and maned by a lonely old man with a broken heart. Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary and uses books to heal other people's aches and pains, but his own heartbreak he buries deep within and never looks at. Until a new tenant needs a table and he pries open the past inch by inch, starting with the locked up dusty kitchen. As he finally begins to process his past and learn to live with it in order to salvage his future, ghosts and whispers haunt his every moment, taking on one particular form both loved and loathed.

With a letter in hand and several unexpected guests, Perdu hauls anchor and goes on a quest to discover the truth and to mend his broke heart after all these years.

Likes/Dislikes: I couldn't get into this book and skipping ahead to see if it gets any interesting only showed me that I probably won't like how some of the story progresses. It's beautifully written and flows like a river. I love books written like this. But the story the words paint is a sad one interspersed with what seems like an awful lot of sex. It fits the story well but makes me a bit uncomfortable reading. Funny huh, considering some of the other books I've read. *smiles* I really love the book's cover and all the lovely bonus things at the end like recipes and book lists. I just wish the story was for me.

Rating: PG-18 and up, mainly for content {several past sex scenes but not horribly graphic and one character wants to be married and have an affair with two men, while another is left by her husband for another man, etc.}.

Date Review Written: October 8th, 2015

I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

October

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; 

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild, 

Should waste them all. 

The crows above the forest call; 

Tomorrow they may form and go. 

O hushed October morning mild, 

Begin the hours of this day slow. 

Make the day seem to us less brief. 

Hearts not averse to being beguiled, 

Beguile us in the way you know. 

Release one leaf at break of day; 

At noon release another leaf; 

One from our trees, one far away. 

Retard the sun with gentle mist; 

Enchant the land with amethyst. 

Slow, slow! 

For the grapes' sake, if the were all, 

Whose elaves already are burnt with frost, 

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes' sake along the all. 

~ Robert Frost

The Big Bang Theory 9.3

Denied their manly tradition of a bachelor party by the elopement, Howard and Raj spring a surprise party on Leonard and whisk him willingly and Sheldon forcibly off to a secret location for the weekend in Richard Feynman's old van. This impresses Sheldon though he continues to annoy his companions, as usual. But the guys hit a little hitch in their plan when they get a flat tire and can't get the last lug nut off. Putting all their science skills and knowledge to the test, along with a hilarious round of We Will Rock You, the guys try to salvage their adventure.

Meanwhile, the girls get together for a little girl time {and some interestingly shaped cookies made by Amy}, and discover that Penny never told her parents she got married and Amy didn't tell her mom that she broke up with Sheldon. When the tricky phone calls are made, we see that one family has some easily solved issues while the other might need a good dose of therapy in the future. But despite the relationship changes, the girls all still get along which is nice. And this episode was even funnier than the last one!

Doctor Who 9.3

Leaving the Daleks behind, the Doctor and a rather whiny Clara land in an underwater base in 2119. Clara wants another adventure, more excitement. The Doctor thinks she should pick up a hobby or start another relationship. His concern for Clara is concerning. But what they encounter on the base is quite intriguing and very distracting from Clara's needs. When the team pulls in a crashed alien spaceship, their leader is killed and becomes a ghost {along with presumably the alien pilot} and these ghosts who appear only at night try to kill all the members on the base, whispering mysterious coordinates the entire time. The Doctor doesn't have enough clues to solve his little mystery so he goes back in time to the beginning, leaving Clara staring at a new ghostly figure in the water.

This episode, while having some fun quotes that I conveniently or inconveniently misplaced, was really stupid. Going back in time to solve the mystery would create a paradox of some sort. And Clara is so whiny. I kinda started to like her again in the previous two episodes {new hair cut and all} but now she's back to annoying Clara. The writers of this show are getting extremely frustrating and keep crossing their own paths and breaking their own rules. It makes it very hard to concentrate on the plot when it's so full of holes. I'm kinda liking the current Doctor - he's no Tennent but he's way better than Smith. We'll see how this season progresses. I do wish the episodes weren't all two-parters.

Mind of Her Own Book Review

Title: Mind of Her Own

Author: Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Genre: Christian, Fiction, Modern, Memory Loss, Marriage Problems.

Plot: Louisa Copeland is your average housewife with three children and a husband who somehow feels distant compared to the enchanting memories in her mind. While preparing dinner as usual, Louisa mulls over her marriage and decides to make a great meal as step one in her new plan to entice her husband to stay home more. But when {with the dog's help} Louisa takes a nasty spill and the George Foreman grill gives her a bump on the head, Louisa wakes up as Jazz Sweet the romance writer and can't figure out who this Louisa Copeland is or where she came from and why there are three hungry kids calling her "mom" and a handsome man who thinks he's her husband.

As Jazz/Louisa begins to piece together the mess of her life, she stumbles onto some long-buried memories that were better off in the dark and almost doesn't remember in time to save her daughter.

Likes/Dislikes: This year I've been trying to be very picky about the review books I request so I'll actually read them, but I still have one or two that will look great up until I get them and actually start reading them. Sadly, Mind of Her Own fell into the latter category. I started reading it three or four times and skipped around a lot in the story just to see if I'd be motivated to finish it, so I know what the big twist at the end is and while it's not something I like reading about, it was handled in a "Yay, go dad!!!" way that was very exciting. The writing is very upbeat and happy but I have the nagging feeling that Jazz/Louisa would probably whine and complain a lot as she tries to get her memory back. I could be wrong though. As a humorous side-note, when my husband and I were first married, we spent an evening pretending we had lost our memories {one at a time} to see how we'd handle such an event. He handled it way better than I did. *smiles* I like the book cover.

Rating: PG-17 and up, mainly for reading level and content {brief talk/memory/attempted child abuse scene, nothing graphic, just unexpected in a book like this}.

Date Review Written: September 29th, 2015.

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.