Saturday Snapshot- First Snow! October 29, 2011

I had a ton of cute Halloween shots I was planning to use today, but then the weather forecast changed to snow, snow in October!  So I made a change.  The first picture is our poor apple tree.  In August Hurricane Irene knocked it with drenched soil combined with high winds.  We used stakes and had it upright until today.  I guess the weight of the snow was too much for it.  I'm not sure if it is going to make it or not now.  We planted it the month we moved into our house six years ago.  Hopefully we can save it!

Scarecrows and pumpkins and snow!  This doesn't usually happen unless I am really late at getting the decoration back in the house.  The scarecrows look like they were blown astray a bit too!

Today was supposed to be pumpkin carving day.  The ones we did at church earlier this month all rotted already so we had planned to do some more.  I'm not sure that is going to happen anymore!

In other news today was my third 5K.  I started running in July and have been doing a race a month to keep myself from having the option to slack off or quit.  This was the first time I've ever run outside in the cold or in the snow.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I made my best time so far.  Granted it was a very level course, but it was still an accomplishment as I didn't take any walking breaks this time.  I don't take breaks on the treadmill, but being outside is always a bit different.

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy -Blog Tour

I posted a review of this earlier today but didn't have all the blog tour information.  My review is here.

Code:Enter to win a KitchenAid Mixer and RSVP for Facebook Party on


11/10!

src=" http://g.virbcdn.com/_f/files/resize_1024x1365/9d/FileItem-142150-TBW_300x250.jpg "

width="170" height="150" />

About the book:

To save her husband and son, Audrey Bofinger must rescue her enemy.

The Bofinger family has lost their church ministry in a scandal exposed by Officer Jack Mansfield. Hoping to heal and to restore their reputation, Audrey, Geoff, and their son Ed take over a failing bakery in the small community.

Driving to the bakery one morning, blinded by fog, Audrey hits a motor scooter owned by Jack’s wife, Julie. The mangled scooter is crushed and bloody. But Julie is nowhere to be found. Her disappearance coincides with a sudden illness that nearly cripples Audrey.

Jack believes the Bofingers have hurt Julie to take revenge on him, but the evidence dries up and her trail goes cold. At a breaking point, Jack takes the tiny bakery and its patrons hostage, issuing only one demand: Audrey has six hours to return Julie to him, or lose Geoff and Ed forever.

With only an excruciating and intuitive gift, an ex-con, and Julie’s estranged daughter to help search for clues, Audrey starts the search of her life for a woman who has vanished like the fog.



Read an excerpt here.

 http://www.erinhealy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ch-1-4-for-Web-Site.pdf 


About Erin:
Well-known to critics and reviewers, Erin Healy has established herself as an award-winning editor and a best-selling co-author with Ted Dekker. Healy received wide acclaim for her two debut novels Never Let You Go and The Promises She Keeps. Her work focuses on the psychological and spiritual, driven by high moral stakes. She lives and writes in Colorado with her family.



For more information please visit http://www.erinhealy.com/


Link to buy the book:

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595547525&title=The_Baker 's_Wife&author=Erin_Healy



Let the flour fly! Beginning October 24th, Erin's celebrating the release of her latest page turner, The Baker's Wife,  http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595547525title=The_Baker%27s_Wifeauthor=Erin_Healy

with an outstanding KitchenAid baking prize package giveaway http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/165048 ] that includes a brand new

KitchenAid Mixer, cook books, and all you need to whip up some fabulous bread or

sweets! Then and on November 10th she'll be wrapping up the release of http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661  The Baker's Wife http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 with an Author Book Chat Party  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 on Facebook!

Don't miss a minute of the fun!

One grand prize winner will receive:
Empire Red 4.5 QT Ultra Power KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Black & White Kitschy Apron

Black Silicone Oven Mitt

Black OXO Rolling Pin

Wilton9X5 loaf pan

At My Grandmother's Knee Cookbook by Faye Porter

Second Helpings with Johnnie Gabriel Cookbook

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy


Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on


November 9th. Winner will be announced at

[ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661] The Baker's Wife

[ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 ] Author Book Chat

Facebook Party [ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 ] . Erin

will be wrapping up the The Baker's Wife celebration with a book club chat and

giving away a bunch of "sweet treats"! So grab your copy of The Baker's

Wife (it's okay if you don't have one yet- you might win one!) and join Erin on

the evening of November 10th for a book chat, some "baking" trivia and lots of

"sweet" giveaways (books, and Amazon, iTunes & Starbucks gift certificates)!


Blog Tour Schedule:http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13434589

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

I really enjoyed this book, the mystery element kept me reading and what made it even more compelling was God’s guiding hand in solving the mystery. Audrey is able to feel the weight of God’s arm on her shoulders guiding her to someone in her community who is in need in some way. She uses this gift to bring bread she and her husband have baked on his day off from being a pastor. She comforts and spends time with those who need that extra bit of attention, until an act occurs that costs her husband his job and her son his college acceptance. Then, they turn to running a bakery to earn their living. Baking bread and acting as a pastor turn out to have more parallels than one would think.


Baking bread involves taking the time to pay attention and having the patience to knead for long enough, allow it to rise for long enough, and bake for long enough. Too much or too little time in an area can ruin a loaf. So many times in life we are rushing around and not taking the time to appreciate the smaller moments, the things that seem inconsequential, but maybe all the steps involved are important for a reason and having patience would give us all a chance to see that. The lesson on bread baking comes from Estrella, a grandmother who has been working with bread for decades and has come to work with the couple because the place she worked for before wasn’t interested in the beauty of bread.

While being held hostage at the bakery, Audrey’s son Ed wonders if, “his own humiliation wasn’t divine at all, but merely a distraction from what he was supposed to be doing? What if all this, this insane ordeal, was not a consequence of his own sin but a chance for God to do something amazing, if only Ed would participate?” How much more would we all experience if we participated more? If we were less afraid to say what we think and step in when we see a situation where we could lend a hand?

While solving the mystery, I also thought about how some people would view Audrey as crazy. She believes fully that God is working through her and having her experience a part of the pain that a person is having so she knows who needs her help. She feels that it is God, but most of us would be looking for some other explanation as to why phantom pains were cropping up and looking for medical help for ourselves.

I read this book as part of a Litfuse Blog tour.

It's Monday, What are you reading?

Okay, I am using my laptop and don't have the picture saved on it and it is already way late in the day to even be doing this post, but better late than never!  This week I finished reading The Baker's Wife.  I am waiting for an email to see when it is my turn to post my review for the Litfuse Blog tour.  Also I got around to writing up a review of the Hank Zipzer book I listened to with my children a few weeks ago.

My plan for this week is to:
Finish  The Creed Legacy by Linda Lael Miller
Finish Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
Read and review The Runner's Devotional

I've been reading a ton of children's books and would like to work them into the reviews, but so far it hasn't happened.  October is such a busy month.  In the last week I attended five birthday parties, took my children to a Home Depot workshop for kids, went to an amusement park and went to a parade.  

This is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journeys every week.  Check out all the cool posts by other bloggers by going to her site first.

The Day of the Iguana (Hank Zipzer #3) by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

Summary of The Day of the Iguana #3
Inspired by the true life experiences of Henry Winkler, whose undiagnosed dyslexia made him a classic childhood underachiever, the Hank Zipzer series is about the high-spirited and funny adventures of a boy with learning differences.


It's science project time in Ms. Adolf's class. This is good news and bad news for Hank-he loves science, but he hates the report part. So Hank turns to TV to take his mind off things. But when the program directory scrolls by too quickly for Hank to know what's on, he decides to take apart the cable box to try to slow down the crawl. Great! Now Hank has found the perfect science project! But what he wasn't counting on was his sister's pet iguana laying eighteen eggs in the disassembled cable box. How is Hank going to get out of this one?

My thoughts:
This was an audio book we listened to a few weeks ago.  When I borrowed it from the library I had no idea that it was part of a series that had so many books, it just looked like something my children would enjoy.  There are 17 books in the series and they all look like they would be fun to read.

In this one Hank is trying to do an experiment with the family cable box, but his sister's iguana has other plans.  Hank just can't seem to get anything right and has a falling out with his best friend for failing to tape the right channel for a program he promised they could watch.  I think so many times in children's books if the characters work hard enough it works out, but this was more realistic, because even though he was working hard things still weren't working out.  Eventually  of course they do, but it was nice to see a struggle to put things right and needed to come up with a new idea and a new plan when the first one or two or three didn't work. 

There was enough humor in this book to have my children laugh out loud and it was nice that Henry Winkler is the one reading the audio version.

Details:ISBN 9780448432120

160 pages
15 Sep 2003
Grosset & Dunlap
5.15 x 7.67in
8 - 12 years

Saturday Snapshot- Halloween Take 1- october 22, 2011

We took the kids to go trick-or-treating at Dorney Park again last weekend.  We did the Halloween themed area and then went on two rides.  The park was very crowded and the lines were taking forever, so we told them we would try to make it back at least one more time on the two remaining weekends for the season.  They were good sports about it, mostly because they really wanted the candy and weren't worried about the rides.  I'm not sure it has really sunk in that they will need to wait until next spring to go on rides again or not, especially since the older two are starting to realize that roller coasters can be fun.  Hopefully the weather will hold out and we can make it again.

Run Your Butt Off!: A Breakthrough Plan to Shed Pounds and Start Running (No Experience Necessary!)by Leslie Bonci , Sarah Butler , Budd Coates

Overview
Shed unwanted pounds and keep them off ONCE AND FOR ALL with Run YourButt Off!, a back-to-basics, test panel-approved weight-loss plan and beginners' running program that yields sustainable, healthy results. The Run Your Butt Off! program is founded on the simple concept that in order to lose weight, calories burned must exceed calories consumed. No gimmicks, no shortcuts, no silver bullets can circumvent that reality. With this program, you'll learn to burn fat from both sides of the weight-loss equation—the calories in and the calories out—at the same time. Run Your Butt Off! will make you fitter, stronger , and leaner .

My thoughts:
I wish I had found this book when I took up running this summer.  I had my own plan and I think having had these ideas to follow through on might have helped make it look more achievable.  The plan takes you for 12 weeks, or longer if you want to spend more than one week at a level and running plan, and you go from walking for 30 minutes to running for 30 minutes.  Each chapter also has some ideas to help you adapt your life to more healthy sustainable approaches like eating more fruits, vegetables and protein and reading food labels. Actual people who participated in the program are featured with achievable goals.  No one lost absurd amounts of weight in the 12 weeks, but everyone made progress toward their own goals.  A mother at my daughter's  Brownie meeting was telling me how this book was written by someone in our area and she has applied to be one of the walkers in the next book, about Walking Your Butt Off!  She encouraged me to apply, but as I have already been running I don't qualify for the the new book and I don't want to give up running to go back to walking anyway.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to get started with running.  I checked it out of the local library, and need to get it returned as it was due today, which would be a great way to see if it what you are looking for before buying it.  I loved the calculator online to find out your BMI and the logs at the back.  Personally I've been using Dailymile for logging my exercise and I like that more than a paper pencil method, but I can see the merits of both.


Details
•Pub. Date: March 2011
•Publisher: Rodale Press, Inc.
•Format: Paperback , 304pp
•ISBN-13: 9781605294049
•ISBN: 1605294047

The Wonder of Your Love by Beth Wiseman

Overview
Katie Ann lost the love of her life. Then God offers her a new beginning in Colorado.


Katie Ann Stolzfus lives in the small Amish community of Canaan, Colorado. At forty she is widowed and raising her first child. But baby Jonas will never know his father, and Katie Ann wonders if her Heavenly Father hasn't forgotten about her as well. Is it really God's plan for her to be a single parent?

Eli Detweiler has come to Canaan for a wedding and a long vacation. Having raised six children following the death of his young wife, Eli is finally an empty-nester. He's enjoying the slower pace of having no one to care for but himself.

When Katie Ann and Eli meet, there is an instant connection. Yet as strong as the attraction is, they both acknowledge that a romance would never work. He is done parenting, while she has just begun.

But as their friendship slowly blossoms into feelings that are as frightening as they are intoxicating, Katie Ann and Eli question if the plans they made for themselves are in line with God's plans.

Can Katie Ann entrust her heart to another man, and rediscover the wonder of God's love?

My thoughts:
Until recently I hadn’t read any Amish fiction except for a Jodie Piccolt novel a few years ago, but through Litfuse Blog Tours I’ve now read a few. This is my most recent read and tour and I really enjoyed it. I read it all in one evening. I liked that it started with a bit of a mystery. There is a letter from the mistress of the deceased Amish man to his wife. I must admit that I guessed the mystery, it was my first guess, but it was still a good way to grab the reader from the start.


One of the big ideas throughout is the idea of forgiveness and trust. How easily can we forgive and how much do large deceptions change the way we view the actions and words of others? Can we really forgive? Are our words of forgiveness sometimes empty just to get out of an uncomfortable situation?

I was really pulled into the story of Katie Ann and her son Jonas, although his name makes me think of the Jonas brothers every time, especially when the one non-Amish character talks about being his biggest fan! Katie Ann is really struggling to find her place and be a good mother to her late in life child, while dealing with being a widow and having had an unfaithful husband. Eli becomes her friend. Eli raised his six children on his own after his wife died seventeen years ago and is now ready to go out and travel and take a vacation from responsibility. They both just want to be friends, but have a spark that could be something more.

Interweaved in is also a storyline about surgery, abuse, values and the Amish lifestyle. As this is part of a series I think there may have been a book that came before this on how Katie Ann and her husband Ivan came to move from Lancaster County to Colorado and it looks like there will be more books to follow. It made me wonder how many Amish communities there are around the country and if they have communities in other countries as well.

The characters were well written and felt real and I loved how Katie Ann changed from the beginning pages of the novel to the end. How she gained self-confidence in her ability to be a mother and how she found the dreams she always had but that had been discouraged by her husband. I’m curious to look into the first book to see what Ivan was like when he was alive.

This was a fun read and good introduction to the authors series and writing style.

About Beth:

Beth Wiseman is hailed as a top voice in Amish fiction. She is a Carol-award winner and author of numerous bestsellers including the Daughters of the Promise series and the Land of Canaan series. She and her family live in Texas. www.bethwiseman.com, Twitter @bethwiseman, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-of-Beth-Wiseman/47576397539



Link to buy the book


Beth is celebrating the release of Book 2 in the Land of Canaan series with a Fabulous Facebook party on November 1st. She'll be giving away one of her OWN paintings, several mini prize packs and a sneak peak at the next book in this heartwarming series.


CLICK the button (below) to RSVP for the party - then join us on November 1st for a book chat, Amish themed trivia contest, and more!

About the party:
The Wonder of Your Love Facebook Party on 11/1!

href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=294116430600265"> <img alt="Beth Wiseman Party" src="http://g.virbcdn.com/_f/files/resize_1024x1365/ef/FileItem-138420-TWOYL_party_btn.jpg" width="170" height="150" />

.
Blog tour schedule here

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journeys.  This is only my second or third time participating in this.  Last week was a slow reading week again.  We had a get together in our yard last weekend that took a lot of time to clean and get ready for and then again to clean up from.  Also, October tends to be a busy month for us, maybe for everyone.  This week I went to a pumpkin patch on three different days, did a corn maze, visited an amusement park and a candy carnival, as well as worked and took the two smallest ones to BounceU.  I think all the spare time was filled and by evening I just didn't have the energy to read and run.

Still awaiting review from a few weeks ago:
Hank Zipper Day of the Iguana by Henry Winkler

20 Diet Myths Busted by Zoe Harcombe



Finished this week:
The Wonder of Your Love by Beth Wiseman (review ready for Tuesday)

Still reading:
The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy
as well as a bunch of started reads on my Kindle.

I've been feeling guilty about my books for review so I decided I need to finish the ones that are due at specific times before I have fun with other books.  I usually end up really enjoying the books I get for review, and that has been the case this week, but they also tend to make me push aside the books I've actually bought for myself so I need to figure out a better balance.

On My Mind

I've been realizing there are things that are not book related that I feel like sharing so, since it isn't like I manage to review seven books a week anyway, once a week I am going to give myself a chance to share something that has been on my mind.  This week it is cookies.  More specifically the cookies I bought at Target yesterday.

We were in our newly remodeled Target and I saw these on the shelf and my first thought was, "Those look just like Girl Scout Cookies" and not just any GS Cookies, but my favorites, Carmel Delites.  So I bought a box to give them a try.  Not only do they look like Carmel Delites, they taste like them too and have the same number of calories.  They even have similar names, both with the initials CD.

So now come cookie time I am going to be even less motivated to buy from my daughter knowing I can get my favorites for less at the store.  I am excited to know they are now available year round, but not so sure about how one company can make a cookie that is a copy of one made by another company.  I also bought a different kind that look just like Thin Mints, but we haven't given those a try yet!

Saturday Snapshot- October 15, 2011 - Sunset

I thought I'd take a break from photos of my children this week and use something else for a change.  This week we had a beautiful sunset.  I was looking at it for quite a while before I even thought to go inside to get the camera.  I may have missed out on getting a better shot, but it still looks pretty cool!

I love the way all the colors are up there, it reminds me of a painting!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home with Books.  Stop on over and check out what other people are sharing!

People Magazine-October 24, 2011

On Tuesday I was excited to get my People Magazine so early, usually it arrives with Friday's mail.  When I sat down to read it I discovered that my issue has some misprinted pages.  At the beginning of the magazine pages 23-34 repeat and 35-46 are missing and then towards the end is the same thing 77-88 are missing and 89-100 repeat.  I emailed the company and am awaiting a response.  I actually asked to have the issue replaced because there were things I wanted to read in the missing pages.  I asked my neighbor if I could borrow her issue but she had the same problem with hers.

The article about Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry was missing, the reviews of new movies and of course more.  Of what I read I thought the book about the woman who creates things with her cats shed fur sounded a bit odd.  I bet it is interesting, but at the same time it takes crazy cat ladycrazy cat lady to a whole new level for me!  The most inspirational story for me though was Storm Williams who donates books to soldiers.  He is featured in the Heroes Among Us profile for the week.  I found the site today but haven't really looked into it much.  This is a cause that is close to my heart as well.

So I guess I forgot to mention the featured article about Steve Jobs.  Up until yesterday I didn't own anything made by Apple, but I finally made the jump and bought an Ipod for running.  Setting it up took me longer than I think it should, but I've been having fun playing with it since!

It's Monday, What are you reading?

This is my third week participating in It's Monday, What are you reading? hosted by Sheila.  I'm afraid this week I got very little reading done.  We hosted a joint birthday party and Oktoberfest celebration at our house on Saturday, so that meant Friday and Saturday were spent getting ready and then the party took the rest of the day.  Sunday there was clean-up, a birthday party and a church event, then today turned into catch up for laundry and other house things.  Tomorrow is back to work.  I had a great weekend, but I missed reading!

I still need to review the audio book we finished last weekend, plus I read a little on my kindle just because it is such a fun novelty.  I also need to get started on a few review books.  I ended up returning a number of books to the library that I just knew I wouldn't be getting to this week or that were due.  I actually have a fine to pay because on Friday I forgot to go online and renew four that were due. 

Books I've finished and need to review as of today:
Hank Zipper Day of the Iguana by Henry Winkler
20 Diet Myths-Busted by Zoe Harcombe

Hopefully I'll get more time to read this week!

Romancing Snow White: A Prince Charmaine Story by Karen Kiefer

Overview from Barnes and Noble:
When the dashing (or so he thinks) Prince Charmaine has a chance encounter with Snow White, he thinks all his prayers have been answered! The perfect, pale-skinned beauty is everything he could want in a woman, and he'll stop at nothing to make her his girlfriend!


But there is a problem. Seven problems, to be exact. The dwarves aren't going to make it easy on him!

Romancing Snow White is a romantic comedy novelette, approximately 9,000 words. While it is a stand-alone story, Prince Charmaine is a character in the full-length novel, Aurora Abroad.

My thoughts:
I was intrigued by the title and wanted to read another e-book so last week I read this one.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting.  The prince is nowhere near as likable as he is in the version I am used to and the dwarves all have some odd names, not the ones we are accustomed to either.  It was a quick read that had some comic elements.  It would be interesting to see what the prince is like in the full length book.  This e-book is currently free on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Details
•Pub. Date: August 2011
•Publisher: Karen Kiefer, via Smashwords
•Sold By: SMASHWORDS - EBKS
•File Size: 244 KB
•BN ID: 2940011451003

Saturday Snapshot: Hallow Weekend at the Park- October 8, 2011

This year we bought passes to a local amusement park.  Once October rolls around they add in some Halloween fun.  The daytime hours are devoted to family friendly fun while the evening turns into some scarier Halloween attractions.

The part my children really liked was trick or treating at Nursery Rhyme character houses.  The character didn't always match the outside, but they didn't care.  Here is Raggedy Ann.

It's terrible, but I've already forgotten which character this is supposed to be, but the kids loved the candy!

Love places to for photo opportunities!  Welcome October!  We can't wait for Halloween!

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Overview from Barnes and Noble:
When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn't know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

My thoughts:
This was the second book I read on my kindle.  I loved the premise of this one.  Ginny's aunt has sent her a package with 13 numbered letters that she is supposed to complete in order, only opening the next one when she has completed the previous one.  Her first instruction is to go to a Chinese restaurant below where her aunt used to live to pickup a package then go to the airport with only a backpack as luggage and no kind of technology to fly to London.  Ginny has to navigate foreign countries, foreign languages, and different cultures to complete each task.  Sometimes she meets people who are supposed to help her and sometimes she doesn't, but she grows and also comes to terms with some things about her aunt that she has not wanted to face.  Unfortunately the last letter is lost to her, which I was really disappointed about until I saw that there is another book that will answer what questions are left.  Part of me felt like it was a cop out to write another book, but this one was long enough and she grew enough, so now I just need to add another book to my TBR list!


Details
•Pub. Date: October 2009
•Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
•Sold By: HARPERCOLLINS
•Format:  368pp
•ISBN-13: 9780061973802
•ISBN: 0061973807

First Frost by Jennifer Estep

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

I am Gwen Frost, and I have a Gypsy gift. It's called psychometry - that's a fancy way of saying that I see images in my head and get flashes of other people's memories off almost everything I touch, even guys.


My gift makes me kind of nosy. Okay, okay, maybe a lot nosy--to the point of obsession sometimes. I want to know everything about everyone around me. But even I don't want to know the secrets my friend Paige is hiding or the terrible loss that will send me to a new school - Mythos Academy, where the teachers aren't preparing us for the SATs, but to battle Reapers of Chaos. Now I have no friends and no idea how my gift fits in with all these warrior whiz kids. The only thing I do know is that my life is never, ever going to be the same. . .

"Touch of Frost is an intriguing start to an exciting new series!" -Award-winning author Jeri Smith-Ready

Jennifer Estep is a full-time author, constantly prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea. Jennifer writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington and the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. She is also the author of the Bigtime paranormal romance series.

Jennifer is a member of Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and other writing groups. Jennifer's books have been featured in Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Southern Living, and a variety of other publications.

My thoughts:
This was the first book I read on my Kindle last weekend.  I loved how fast it read.  Gwen Frost reminds me a lot of Gin from the Elemental Assassins series.  It seemed like it might be same world just featuring someone else, but I could be wrong.  I really wanted to read this over the summer when it was published, but better late than never and now I think the second book in the Mythos Academy Series will be out soon so it is almost better, I won't have enough time to forget details before starting the next one.

Gwen, her mother and her grandmother all share some special powers that Gwen believes were passed down to them from witch ancestors.  After a few problems and incidents Gwen discovers that she is going to be going to a special school for people like her who have special powers.  The school reminded me of the camp that Percy went to in the Percy Jackson series, maybe because there was a Spartan there and PE class is training in weapons and sword play.

I would like to see where this series goes, as well as go back to Gin's story and read the two books I haven't gotten to yet.  I have them on the shelf but somehow haven't made the time to dive into them.  This book reminded me about how much I enjoy that series.
Details
•Pub. Date: July 2011
•Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
•Age Range: Young Adult
•Series: Mythos Academy Series
•ISBN-13: 9780758275073
•ISBN: 0758275072

Upcoming Reviews! It's Monday (or Tuesday)! What are you reading?

Well, I've been reading but haven't posted any reviews.  There have been so many other things needing my time and attention.  I totally missed posting to this meme yesterday.  I did not meet my goals from last week, I only read one of the library books, but I got busy and got a kindle and I just HAD to play around with it.  So I read two, soon to be three, books on the Kindle and finished an audio book over the weekend.  My soon to be posted reviews are for:
1.  First Frost by Jennifer Estep
2. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
3.  Hank Zipper Day of the Iguana by Henry Winkler
4.  Romancing Snow White by Karen Kiefer

Wonder Woman #614

Wonder Woman #614
Story byJ. Michael Straczynski, Phil Hester
Art by Don Kramer, Wayne Faucher
Cover by Josh Middleton, Alex Garner
Publisher DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date Wed, August 24th, 2011

all-new Wonder Woman reaches the end of her epic "Odyssey" and comes face-to-face with the malevolent force behind it all! But the only way to defeat her nemesis may be to become her – giving her own powers over to an all-consuming hatred for life on Earth! Is Diana strong enough to control a force that seeks vengeance on all mankind, or will the warrior within her condemn her to a life of eternal bloodshed?

My thoughts:
So Diana has lost her fractured self and has both her old and new memories, I think at least, now she is able to go home and see the mother she never had a chance to know in this storyline while finding the power to overcome the curse put upon her by Nemesis.  Things were tied up but also opened up for the new start to the series this month.  I looked up the date for the new issue and it came out on September 21.  As I am writing this it is on a couple days later but I don't have the issue yet.  Chances are good that I will have it and can set up my post for tomorrow, but it depends how busy I get with other things.  I am glad that I took the time tonight to read through all the issues I had waiting for me and sorry that I didn't read them sooner.  Sometimes it is a lot easier to read a book than a comic because I feel like I need to be careful with the pages and not mess them up, not that I think they will be worth tons of money at any point in time, just because that is what people do!

Something New!

Yesterday I took some time to play with  my new Kindle.  After I submitted my order the other day I started to wonder if I should  have gotten one of the other models, I guess it was a bit of buyers remorse, but by the time I went online the next day the order had already shipped so there was no chance to cancel and change it to a different one.  It arrived super quick and I had it on either Thursday or Friday.  Unfortunately on Friday I didn't have time to really try it out.  I set it up but that was about it.  So yesterday afternoon I decided to give it a try.  I read a whole book and I'm already halfway through another.  I thought I would miss seeing page numbers, but I love the bar at the bottom that shows how far into the book you are.  The book mark function is just a tiny turned down corner at the top which I wish was a bit larger, but I haven't run into any problems yet.  I now have a few reviews I need to find the time to write, but I am liking the kindle so much that I am afraid I'm not going to get around to some of my new print books! 

Wonder Woman 613

Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI and PHIL HESTER; Art by DON KRAMER and WAYNE FAUCHER; Cover by JOSHUA MIDDLETON; Variant cover by ALEX GARNER




The mega-opus "Odyssey" proved too big, it needed two extra issues to tell J. Michael Straczynski and Phil Hester's full story! It's classic Wonder Woman versus the new one! Even if she wins, she loses!

My thoughts:
So Nemesis has taken Wonder Woman's form by taking her essense with her blade, but Clotho's waeving saved a sliver of Diana who became the Diana we've been following and that is how there are two differnet realities, or more, or Wonder Woman's life and why Clotho got to be such an old woman.  So a classic fight of good against evil in moral terms comes to pass.  I am going to be sad to see this series or story line arc I guess end with the next issue.  A new story line started or is starting in September and I am not even sure if we have an issue of it yet.  I really felt like this one was starting to go off course and I am glad they were able to bring it all around so that the earlier elements made sense with where it ended up.  Now to go and read the conclusion!

Saturday Snapshot- America on Wheels Museum- October 1, 2011

Last weekend my whole family went to the America on Wheels Museum.  It has an assortment of old and new cars and car related displays.

We've been meaning to visit since we moved to the area, but this ended up being our first time.  We used our free ticket from the Smithsonian Free Museum Day to go and check it out.

The kids loved that these were kid sized!

There were a few photo opportunities scattered through out including this car.

As well as this truck cab complete with a video screen to make it look like you were driving.

Who hasn't wondered what it would be like to sit at the wheel of a big truck?

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce over at At Home With Books.