Why I Hate Green Beans Book Review

Title: Why I Hate Green Beans

Author: Lincee Ray

Genre: Christian, Nonfiction, Humorous, Memoir, Short Stories

Plot: Lincee Ray's blog, I Hate Green Beans, has been around for awhile now and keeps readers entertained with her unique sense of humor and outlook on life paired with how familiar and comfortable her writing style makes us feel. So now that's she's tackled blogging, she's now venturing into the book world to bring us more of herself in this shot story tell-all memoir.

From jobs in Disney world to the oil rigs of Texas and traveling around to foreign locations where she unwillingly samples exotic and weird foods, to the quiet hometown she was raised in, Lincee shows us her life and walks us through how she survived college to her first job to her divorce and beyond. She's like us and has struggled with many of the same problems we have and still does but she's choosing to triumph over those issues and look on the positive side of things. Plus the Bachelor is still going strong so there's that to look forward to every week.

Likes/Dislikes: This was a really fun book to read. It's broken down into short stories per chapter so it's easy to read in chunks or bits depending on how busy the day is, and right away we learn why she hates green beans instead of waiting till the end to find out which is always nice. I highly enjoyed this book and recommend it to everyone. Plus, now I gotta find me a single auntie like her to help babysit all my energetic kids.

Rating: PG-13 and up, mainly for reading level and content {divorce, eating odd foods, nothing at all graphic, just will be boring to younger readers).

Date Review Written: February 19th, 2018

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

God Bless You And Goodnight Book Review

Title: God Bless You And Goodnight

Author: Hannah C. Hall

Genre: Children, Christian, Bedtime Story, Animals, Picture Book

Plot: The sun is going down and it's time for babies of every shape, color and size to have a midnight snack, get all snuggled up in their pajamas and get tucked into bed lovingly by their parents so they can recharge for another exciting day tomorrow.

There's a fox family snuggled in the hay, a raccoon mama rocks her babies to sleep, a baby penguin gets all dressed up for bed and many others will delight little readers as they graduate from the classic board book to the picture book edition with this lovely story.

Likes/Dislikes: This book is for the growing readers who loved the board book edition but feel they are too old for it now. Enter the picture book edition with it's glossy grown-up pages for them to eagerly turn themselves as they encounter new and familiar faces across each page. My girls, 4 yrs. and 19 mos. old, both enjoyed this book (not having yet encountered the board book edition). They were delighted by the story and really enjoyed seeing some familiar faces from their collection pop up. The 4 yr. old was particularly taken by the adorable baby penguin while the younger one wanted to turn the pages herself. Very cute book.

Rating: G-all ages, (more so 4+), highly recommended.

Date Review Written: February 17th, 2018

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

The Saturday Night Supper Club Book Review

Title: The Saturday Night Supper Club

Author: Carla Laureano

Genre: Christian, Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Food,

Plot: Rachel Bishop has finally made it. After years of hard work and effort, she's now co-owner and head chef of her very own brand new and thriving restaurant in Denver, Colorado. She has her own hand-picked personally trained team - including one of her best friends, Melody, who is a talented pastry chef. But in the span of 24 hours, her world is crashing down around her after a New York journalist writes a piece indirectly about her that destroys her reputation on social media. Bought out by her partners, Rachel is left hanging with no clear direction or idea of how to pick herself up now.

But with the help of Melody and Ana, she at least uncurls from the couch and goes out into society where she meets the notorious journalist who destroyed her career and finds... someone she wasn't expecting. Alex Kanin has always used his wit and bitter sense of humor to get his point across but he never intended to take down Rachel's career. In his mind, he was defending her right to dominate in a man's world. In an effort to get her career back on track, he and Rachel come up with the Saturday Night Supper Club to woo potential financial backers for a new restaurant. But neither ever expected to consider romance a possibility.

Likes/Dislikes: This was a surprisingly really good book. I don't usually go for straight up romances and Christian ones can be kinda sappy but this one was nice. It had a good pace, great characters and the romance was just right. My only complaints are really just nit-picking like in the first chapter, they wouldn't have gotten the restaurant all cleaned and closed up so fast cause that poor dishwasher would've been there till 1am cleaning all the pots, pans and dishes. After they started dating, Alex was all over Rachel in a nice respectful way but very reminiscent of when my husband and I were dating - which was fine but not what I usually want in my fictional heroes. I started to skim those touchy-feely bits. And there wasn't enough food descriptions! Like, what did the girls eat when they went out to breakfast? Shouldn't Rachel be dreaming in food and making up recipes as she goes about her day? And why didn't the author include a recipe or two at the back of the book?! I don't like scallops but now I want to make the scallop salad! And the absolute worst part is that I have to wait a year before I can read the next book. So not cool.

Rating: PG-13 and up, mainly for reading level {content is squeaky clean}. Highly recommended.

Date Review Written: February 7th, 2018

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

Out of the Ordinary Book Review

Title: Out of the Ordinary

Author: Jen Turano

Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction, Romance

Plot: Gertrude Cadwalader works contentedly as a paid companion to eccentric old Mrs. Davenport whose favorite hobbies include inventing new fashions before testing them on poor Gertrude and stealing things from other people when she's out and about. This usually puts Gertrude into some tight pickles {fashionable and otherwise}. One such misadventure soon lands Gertrude into serious trouble when she is caught returning some stolen items.

Meanwhile Harrison Sinclair is all the rage among the fashionable set and the most eligible bachelor now that his best buddy is engaged. But he doesn't have time or eyes for all the pretty females throwing themselves at him. Instead he focuses on work and his friendship with Gertrude, till she gets into trouble and then he finds himself drawn closer to her.

Likes/Dislikes: This book promised to be cute, fast paced and light-hearted with a few good laughs thrown in. What it didn't tell me about was how painful it would be to read it. It takes over four chapters to get Gertrude unstuck from behind the couch with multiple mentions of how stout she is {she's really not} and why does she keep letting herself get into these situations, etc. And every time someone has to talk, they have to use thirty or forty words to convey one simple idea. It's extremely tedious. And our dashing hero is one of those floppy guys that everything just flies right over their head, requiring a much smarter female {usually related to him} to whack him hard over the head so he figures the brutally obvious out and does something about it. Not exactly the type of book I needed at the moment.

Rating: PG-12, mainly for reading level. Squeaky-clean.

Date Review Written: January 6th, 2018

I received a copy of this book courtsey of the publishers for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a poistive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

The Books Of 2017

The Paleo Kids Cookbook by Jennifer Robins

Read Dec 26th, 2016 - Jan 6th, 2017

How We Love by Milan and Kay Yerkovich

Read Dec 26th, 2016 - Jan 12th, 2017

The Tales Of Beedle The Bard by J.K. Rowling

Read January 16th - 18th

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz

Read January 20th - 24th

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran

Read January 28th - 31st

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Read February 1st - 3rd

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Read February 21st - 23rd

Eat Like A Dinosaur by The Paleo Parents

Read Feb 14th- March 15th

101 Easy Homemade Products For Your Skin, Health and Home by Jan Berry

Read March 20th

Like A Flower In Bloom by Siri Mitchell

Read March 25th - April 7th

Enjoy by Trillia J. Newbell

Read April 14th - 28th

How To Get Dressed by Alison Freer

Read April 22nd - May 22nd

Wings Of The Wind by Connilyn Cossette

Read May May 23rd - 26th

The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand

Read June 27th - 29th

French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

Read June 30th - July 4th

The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand

Read July 12th - 15th

The Chocolate Heart by Laura Florand

Read July 15th - 16th

The Addams Family by Charles Addams

Read July 25th

His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle

Read July 6th - 25th

Hyperbole And A Half by Allie Brosh

Read July 25th - 26th

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

Read July 27th - 28th

French Women For All Seasons by Mireille Guiliano

Read July 30th - August 6th

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams

Read August 9th - 11th

Salad Samurai by Terry Hope Romero

Read August 4th - 12th

I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira

Read August 12th - 20th

Organize Your Way by Katie MeMenamin

Read August 21st - 28th

Slow Down by Nichole Nordeman

Read in September

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

Read September 17th - 18th

The Year Of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings

Read September 20th - 28th

Death By Water by Kerry Greenwood

Read October 17th - 19th

The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook  by Mireille Guiliano

Read September 1st - October 20th

Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

Read October 26th - 27th

Introducing The Honorable Phryne Fisher by Kerry Greenwood

Read October 28th - 31st

Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood

Read November 7th - 8th

The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood

Read November 10th - 13th

The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood

Read November 15th - 16th

Death At Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood

Read November 17th - 19th

The Ladies Of Ivy Cottage by Julie Klassen

Read December 4th - 24th

My Year In Books 2017

The Ladies of Ivy Cottage Book Review

Title: The Ladies of Ivy Cottage

Author: Julie Klassen

Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction, Romance, Sequel

Plot: Since the scandal of losing all the family money and then her father's sudden death, Rachel Ashford has felt adrift in her social circle, unsure of where her place is meant to be now that so many things have changed. She's currently living with her friend Mercy Grove and Mercy's aunt, helping out with the girls' school as best she can but it's not enough to support herself. So she takes the advice of the local businesswomen and opens a subscription library with her father's vast collection of books and several donations. With the flood of attention at Ivy Cottage, Mercy finds herself the center of attention from two different men and must make a painful choice that will destroy her future as she knows it.

Meanwhile, James Drake learns some secrets of his own that cause a bit of an uproar in several local lives and Jane Bell finally has her coaching inn under control. She's made peace with her broken heart and thinks she's ready for love again but she suffered more than just the loss of her husband. Will the other losses keep her heart broken and cause her to reject the promise and hope of new love?

Likes/Dislikes: It took  me awhile to get started on this book, partly because my kids kept taking the iPad away and partly because it was a sequel and I couldn't remember who all everyone was. Once I got them straight in my head and the story started picking up pace, it was an easy read. I didn't like Rachel though; in the first book she had a lot of mystery about her but in this one she just came across as very whiny and pity me, I'm poor Rachel. It was annoying after awhile. I kinda want Jane to stay single and in control cause if she marries either James or Gabriel they'll just disrupt her life now that she's found her groove. And I'm rooting for a happy ending for Mercy cause the poor thing really needs it. I related to her the most. All in all, an excellent book. I'm just bummed I can't get the next one already.

Rating: PG-12 and up, mainly for content {romance, past miscarriages, etc. nothing graphic}

Date Review Written: December 30th, 2017

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