Mother Daze: Tales from the Imperfect Playground by Christine Carr

Description from http://www.publishingworks.com/
"Have mothers gone mad? They magically do it all, yet never quite think they've accomplished enough. Christine Carr helps us to realize that we need to start recognizing the comedy, give mothers some credit, and take a good hard look at the ridiculousness of high-octane parenting. While she does not pretend to have all the answers, nor claim to have this parenthood thing all figured out, she does provide some hard-hitting anecdotes and advice in her first book, MOTHER DAZE."


My thoughts:
This book was just right for me, I found so many points where I agreed with the author and loved the way she expressed herself. There were parts of the book that were laugh out loud funny and it was an easy, quick read. It never felt like work, it kind of reminded me of how when you open a bag of potato chips and mean to just eat a few you somehow look down and see you ate the whole thing. I would sit down to read and find that I had read just about the whole thing.

I enjoyed how Carr was realistic about a lot of things and really recognizes how all moms are doing a lot, even when they don’t feel like they are doing enough. I was a bit jealous of the school district she worked for that offered one year maternity leaves. When my first two children were born I was had a teaching position but our district offered 6 to 8 weeks (depending on the type of delivery you had) and you could take up to 15 weeks by using Family Medical Leave. I also had the option of taking a leave of absence but there was no guarantee where you would be working when you returned, just that you would have a job at one of the schools and our district was huge!

It was nice to hear someone admit that pregnancy isn’t always fun. I love my children but did not really enjoy being pregnant most of the time and she got that. She told a story of how her own mother jokes that if anyone made an advertisement for the job title of “mom” with all it’s responsibilities no one would apply or if they did they would demand better pay.

Even as a PE teacher she recognizes the crazy demands for youth sports organizations, plus points out how so many moms feel pressured to sign really young children up for multiple classes. She was frank about conflicts and misperceptions with her husband, like his idea that playgroups were just relaxed time with other moms that she was so lucky to have. (While a playgroup can be fun, it is rarely all that relaxed as you do need to watch your own children as well as monitor how they are interacting with other children and depending on the personalities of who is playing there can be some tears, fighting and more. Not always of course, but it is always a possibility in the playgroup pot!) She suggests that before a man criticizes how things are done he should actually try doing them.

Most importantly she really suggested that as moms we remember to make time for ourselves. Her solution of a 6 am Saturday yoga class isn’t my idea of time to myself, but I can see her point about the need.

Overall this was a fantastic read. I am so glad I had the chance to read it and I already know a friend or two I am going to suggest it to.

About this book:
This book was provided free of any obligation by Publishing Works, Inc. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.


Publishing Works was launched in 2003 as an independent press specializing in regional titles. Since then, the company has grown dramatically to embody a list of titles that spans diverse genres, age levels, and subject matter. Please visit them at their website, http://www.publishingworks.com/ , or view their catalog for a complete list of titles.


To purchase this book or any other book published by Publishing Works, visit their online store here http://www.publishingworks.com/. At checkout, include the Coupon Code BLOG for a 20% DISCOUNT, courtesy of Publishing Works, Inc. and their continued support of book blogging! Happy reading!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Description from Amazon.com:
The Narnia Chronicles, first published in 1950, have been and remain some of the most enduringly popular ever published. The best known, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has been translated into 29 languages! The illustrations in this book have been coloured by the original artist, Pauline Baynes. "This is the land of Narnia," said the Faun, "where we are now. And you -- you have come from the wild woods of the west!" "I -- I got in through the wardrobe in the spare room," said Lucy. Lucy steps into the Professor's wardrobe -- but steps out again into a snowy forest. She's stumbled upon the magical world of Narnia, a land of unicorns, centaurs, fauns! and the wicked White Witch, who terrorises all. Lucy soon realises that Narnia, and in particular Aslan, the great Lion, needs her help if the county's creatures are ever going to be free again!

My thoughts:While I have seen the movie for The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe I hadn’t read the book in years. This time I listened to it on an audio cd from the library with my children in the car. This was our second C.S. Lewis book and we are currently listening to book three in the series. The first one was narrated by Kenneth Branagh and I enjoyed how he changed his voice for the characters. This one had a different reader who while fine, just wasn’t quite the same. It is interesting how much the voice of the narrator can color you perception of the story being listened to. I am finding that I prefer female readers to male ones but can’t quite put my finger on why that is.

As with most books, there were so many more details and things were more richly described in the book than they were in the movie. I got a much greater understanding of the allure of the Turkish Delight Edmond gets from the witch from the book than I ever got from the movie. After listening we watched both the most recent movie theater version of the movie and one produced by the BBC. I find that once I’ve seen actors as the parts it is very hard to then imagine my own faces for each character. That is often times the reason I like to read before seeing a movie, although I do find that I then lose my imaginary versions once I’ve seen the movie anyway.


It was interesting how the children’s past became like a dream to them. Does childhood often become dreamlike as we get older and memories grow dimmer? I feel the older I get the less I remember all the details of the past, although things and people can remind me of things and the memories do come back, as the do for Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy. As we were listening I wondered when they would return to Narnia. The series has seven books and I haven’t yet read the rest. It will be interesting to see where it goes. Since we listened to this one and The Magician’s Nephew I kept comparing the Aslan from the founding of Narnia and the Aslan here and also wondering what happened to the people who were king and queen at the end of the first novel and it seems there are no humans left in Narnia. Also only one pair of each animal was made to be able to talk but there seem to be more here, is it from having offspring? It must be. I guess animal generations go a lot quicker than human ones. Plus time in Narnia does not seem to run the same as out time. What would happen if a non-talking and talking animal paired up? Would the talking one lose the ability to talk as it was warned by Aslan not to mix with the other kind of beasts in the last book? I wonder how long it has been since Diggory and Polly were present for the founding of Narnia in the last book.

About the Author
Clive Staples Lewis, born in 1898, wrote many books for adults but the Narnia stories were his only works for children. The final title, The Last Battle, published in 1956, won the Carnegie Award, the highest mark of excellence in children's literature.

Letter Birds by Pam Spremulli

Description from http://www.publishingworks.com/
Pam’s simple and colorful graphic illustrations of birds from around the world make up this delightful book. Every letter has a corresponding bird, from the well-known C for Cardinal to the more obscure and exotic, like L for the brightly colored Lapwing. How many people know what bird starts with “X” or “U” or even “Z”? Children (and parents!) will discover a wonderous array of birds brought to life with fun, colorful illustrations and, in the process, learn the alphabet.

My thoughts:
I requested this book for review because I have a three year old at home who is obsessed with letters. He started getting into them when he was two and he just hasn't quit. Before becoming a stay at home mom I was an elementary teacher (I taught both first and second grade) and before my high education was derailed I was working towards a degree in Library Science. I love books and have been obsessed with children's' books for a long time.

This book is perfect for us! I love how simple but beautiful the illustrations are. My son loves to point to them and we are learning new bird names that we haven't encountered before. He loves that he can pretty much read it himself, minus the unfamiliar birds whose names he is still learning. That said my five year old also picks this book up and flips through it. Her kindergarten class does a lot of letter activities and reading activities and this book really draws her in. The illustrations are also very realistic, yet not trying to be anything but an illustration if that makes sense. I'm not sure how else to put it.

This book is simple and a great tool for early learners that I can see staying a favorite for years. I loved the picture of the author at the back with birds drawn in all around her chair. Pam Spremulli obviously is both a gifted artist and a very imaginative person.


About this book:
This book was provided free of any obligation by Publishing Works, Inc. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.


Publishing Works was launched in 2003 as an independent press specializing in regional titles. Since then, the company has grown dramatically to embody a list of titles that spans diverse genres, age levels, and subject matter. Please visit them at their website, http://www.publishingworks.com/ , or view their catalog for a complete list of titles.


To purchase this book or any other book published by Publishing Works, visit their online store here http://www.publishingworks.com/. At checkout, include the Coupon Code BLOG for a 20% DISCOUNT, courtesy of Publishing Works, Inc. and their continued support of book blogging! Happy reading!

Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman by Ogo Akubue-Ogbata

Product Description from Amazon.com

"Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is about the metamorphosis of a young girl into a woman of courage, juxtaposed with the evolution of the country she loves but doesn't understand..."
"This book isn't content with just being a love story, or a story about the relationships women have throughout their lives. It is an amazing read on a culture and world many will never experience. Beautifully written and full of detail and mystery..."

The story kicks off in the early 1950s when two orphan sisters are separated against their wish because their aunt cannot afford to feed two mouths. The first sister is weak and wilts away but the second, Nkiru, digs deep and keeps on walking.

In the wake of her country's independence from British rule, Nkiru meets an aspiring diplomat with radical political views and hopes that love will put her life back on course. However, love only complicates things. Her new husband asks for more than she knows how to give and the past is filled with shameful secrets that threaten to erupt.

The plot thickens as Nkiru climbs the ladder of life, fearing the sudden loss of all that she has toiled for (her children's love, her husband's trust and the successful business she built out of nothing) all because of a single fatal mistake. At the same time, Nigeria descends further into conflict and corruption as a single foundational flaw leads to a brutal war and lingering mistrust.

Eventually Nkiru finds the courage to confront the past and seek forgiveness for an unpardonable sin. This is the only path to peace - both for Nkiru and her beloved country, Nigeria.

Set in the politically charged colonial and post-independence Nigeria (as well as the vibrant capitals of Uganda, Sierra Leone and Britain), Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is a novel that fearlessly chronicles the history of Africa's most populous and complex country whilst tackling big themes such as ethnic identity, racial discrimination, domestic violence, gender equality, endemic corruption, entrepreneurship and self actualisation, as well as universal themes such as love, mother-daughter relationships, betrayal and forgiveness.

Through a language of passion, poetry and deceptive simplicity, we see sisters and daughters, mothers and wives who metamorphose over time, juxtaposed with a nation's fight for freedom, fall from grace and pursuit of an elusive destiny.

Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman: Buy it, Read it, Love it!

My thoughts:
I received this book as part of Pump Up Your Book Promotion Tours. When it arrived in the mail I was excited to see that it had been signed by the author to me. That was such a nice touch!

I decided to participate in this tour since it is almost February and when we celebrate Black History Month. Also, I am making a point of trying out different types of books than my usual selections. This is a book that, while I thoroughly enjoyed, I might not have picked up on my own and I would have been missing out. I was astounded by Nkiru courage and perseverance throughout. It felt for a while as if nothing good was going to happen for her. She did a good job dealing with being orphaned and loosing her sister and kept finding ways to make it, often times on her own with little help from the adults that should have been protecting her. Her Aunty Dubem kept hinting at a secret which kept me reading at some points. While of course I will not reveal that secret, i would hate to spoil the story for other readers, I will say that you won't be disappointed with this book.

There was a lot of political information in the book about Nigeria and the colonists who had control of the country. Reading it made me realize how little I know about the history of the countries in Africa. It feels like it is the continent that is most ignored in school. That said, I don't recall ever covering a great deal of history outside of the US or how the other countries affected the US unless it was a war that the US participated in. I cannot imagine living in the conditions that some of this people were subjected to and it really highlighted how children can fall between the cracks especially when they loose one or both parents. I am sure this is true everywhere.

I liked how the author separated the book into different years we could watch Nkiru grow from a child of 12 to a mother with a demanding career in a field that was not traditionally for women and the views she got from other women about how men don't like smart women, how women should make themselves appear less smart, how all women were refereed to as sister or aunty even if they were not related by blood in any way.

This book opened my eyes to a country I had not thought too much about and made me think.

A Highlander's Destiny by Melissa Mayhue

A Highlander's Destiny by Melissa Mayhue

From the back cover:
JESSE CORYELL, a descendant of the Fae, is a man in search of his destiny. He's tried to lose himself in his work, taking on the worst mankind has to offer, but what he really needs to find is his true love. When he sets out to help a mysterious woman find her sister, what he gets is much more than he bargained for: battling an undeniable attraction to his sexy new client while fighting an ancient evil to keep her safe.
DESTINY NOBLE, abandoned by everyone she's ever loved, will stop at nothing in her desperate quest to find her sister. Authorities have declared Leah a runaway, but Destiny knows better. Her dream visions have shown her the frightening truth. They've also shown her Jesse. But finding her Soulmate could result in the most painful loss of all, when she's forced to choose between loving Jesse and saving Leah.

Jesse and Destiny race against time to save an innocent girl from a powerful ancient evil. Is true love their best weapon...or will they be required to sacrifice their own destiny?

My thoughts:
I received this book as part of Pocket Blogs Book tour but it has been on my TBR list for a while. This is Mayhue's fifth highlander novel. Of the five currently in print I have read four of them. That said, it had been a bit of time since I read them and the stories and characters from the other novels were a bit fuzzy to me. While you certainly do not need the background information from the other books to enjoy this one, it works quite well as a stand alone novel, I did find myself wishing that Mayhue would do just a bit more review of what had transpired previously.

Destiny was a believable character. She was dedicated to finding her sister and using her gifts in anyway they would work to make that happen. She stayed true to her beliefs and did not let things like money or power influence who she was or what she was doing. She was understandably leery about believing in Fae beings.

Jesse shows dedication to his job and is very closed off due to past hurts in his personal life. Seeing him interact and open himself up to someone else showed his ability to grow and change as a person.

I love the idea of magic, about there being a little extra something out there in the world. Not so keen on the idea that some of that magic could be used for evil. Sometimes life can seem small and in some ways repetitive (how often can you fold laundry, wash dishes, grocery shop before it becomes hard to find the fun in the chore) but having a fun book to escape into at the end of the day gives me something to consider while doing less than intellectually challenging chores. Could magic really be out there? Does it hurt to pretend sometimes that it is? The adventure that Destiny and Jesse go on takes them to numerous states, two countries and even the world of Faeries. This was a fun romance to escape into.

About the Author
Melissa Mayhue knows a great deal about men -- after all, she's wife to one and mother of three. She and her family live in Colorado, in the shadow of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, with three insanely spoiled dogs, one domineering cat, a turtle with an attitude, and way too many fish in their aquarium.
Readers can visit her website at .

Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles

From the back cover:
Jackie Brighton woke up in a Dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her familiar B-cups have somehow become double Ds, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her fi rst one-night stand ever...with a fallen angel. All she remembers is gorgeous Noah's oddly hypnotic blue eyes...and then a dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a sexy Itch. With help from Noah, Jackie begins to adapt to her new lifestyle -- until she accidentally sends Noah into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands herself in a fi erce battle for an ancient halo with the queen's wickedly hot righthand man. Who just happens to be the vampire who originally bit her. How's a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy's so hard to resist?

My thoughts:
I received Gentlemen Prefer Succubi as part of Pocket Books Science Fiction Blog Tour. This is the first book by Jill Myles in a series about Jackie Brighton. Jackie is such a fun character and reminded me of other characters from series that I enjoy reading. She had some characteristics of Queen Betsey in MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead series, some of Rachel Morgan from Kim Harrison’s witch series and even some of Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich’s number series. She was likeable, sarcastic, and a fish out of water who keeps ending up in situations beyond her understanding or control.

What attracted me to this book was the fallen angel idea. This fall I read Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick which also features a fallen angel and I was interested to see another authors take on the idea. I can’t recall ever reading about succubi before and wasn’t sure what that meant. The succubi part of the novel made it racier than what I usually read. This might not be a book for everyone, I know I have friends who don’t care for books with too much passion. I took it to read at my daughters ballet class and was actually embarrassed at one point hoping no one was looking over my shoulder at it. That said a lot of it was just sexual tension which really added to the novel. In the authors letter she thanks many people and then comments that she plans to go to her parents house and rip out all the sex scenes. A lot of them are clustered at the beginning of the book and part of me wondered what would be left if she removed them all, but then I saw that there was just a lot of it at the beginning but not so much later on.

Jackie meets a vampire when she is out at a bar who drains a lot of her blood and then leaves her where a fallen angel hangs out. The combination of the loss of blood and being intimate with the serim (or fallen angel) changes her into a succubi. As a succubi she has a very appealing figure, wonderful hair, and is beautiful and attractive to all men. She can eat whatever she wants and doesn’t need to sleep anymore. Plus she is now immortal. On the downside, she needs to have sex every other day. Especially in January when so many of us have made new year’s resolutions I am sure many people have wondered how much they would be willing to trade to be thin and beautiful, to have the perfect figure and live forever, and tempting as that train of thought is, I’m not sure we would trade it with some of the other factors involved.

I am used to thinking about angels as being all good, but can anyone, even someone who should be divine, be all good? Does desire to sin go to all beings or just humans?

While I found both of Jackie’s love interests to be alluring, I have to admit that I found a favorite and it wasn’t who I thought it would be. Zane grabbed my heart in this novel! I am so glad that I had an introduction to this author. The beginning of her next novel is included in the back and I have already added it to my TBR list!

Vegas Games

VegasGames

There are a lot of thoughts about gambling and casinos. I know many people who enjoy going to a casino for entertainment. They go to sit at a slot machine or a table game, to see a show, eat at a restaurant or visit one of the other attractions offered by any given casino. My view of casinos and gambling may be different than some other people because for seven years Las Vegas was my home. My husband and I owned a house and had jobs in the area. I taught elementary school and half or more of the parents of my students were employed by casinos. The funny thing is people can picture the Las Vegas Strip or Freemont Street with its casinos and light shows but have trouble picturing that there are people who live there year round, with homes or apartments, mortgages and jobs. We drive by the billboards daily with the toll free number for people suffering from gambling addiction and forget that in other places in the country there is such a thing as last call.

When we first moved to Las Vegas we loved to go to eat at the casinos, this was eleven years ago and the buffets were really reasonable and full of fun food. Suffice it to say those first few months we both put on some extra pounds. We got used to walking by slot machines to pay for gas at the gas station or to go to the movies, a restaurant or a museum. So many casinos had extra attractions to entice people to visit and stay longer. We saw 3-D Imax movies at the Luxor, sharks at Mandalay Bay, dancing fountains at Bellagio, gondoliers at the Venetian, pirate shows at Treasure Island before the show was changed, rode a roller coaster at New York, New York and looked at the town and rode rides at the top of the Stratosphere. While we loved all of the attractions after the second month we never gambled again. Those bells on the slot machines lost their luster and I have never in my life sat down at a table game. Since we moved a few years ago new casinos have been build with even more attraction like the Wynn .

I recall one night going to dinner with friends and one of them stopped at a table game at the Mirage and bet $20 each on two hands of black jack. He lost both and kept walking like it was nothing. The friend I was next to turned to me and pointed out how that would have paid for the boots she had considered at the mall the week before and he had just gambled it as if it were nothing. I share a similar line of thinging. While I know there are a lot of people who get enjoyment and consider gambling to be entertainment I always thought more along the lines of, “What else could I be spending this on?” I would rather spend money on going out to eat, seeing a show or movie, going on vacation and staying at a hotel or visiting an amusement park. To me the money that went into a slot machine felt like I was throwing it away since the chances of winning are so unlikely. I know they post great returns on big signs in lots of casinos, but in the long run how many big winners do you really know? How many people who win big one day actually lost way more than what they won if you were to tally up the days they didn’t win?

I have conflicted feelings about online gambling. The laws about online gambling are a bit confusing. Depending on how it is done some sites may be illegal and rules vary from state to state. One of my first objections was that it is available 24/7 but then so are casinos in Las Vegas and other locals so I guess that concern may be unfounded. More than that though my biggest worry is that people will overdo it. The same people who are susceptible to the lure of a big win in person are just as likely to hope for the big win online. In writing this I looked at some web sites that offer online gambling and they do manage to make it look fun. I guess if you are able to be realistic in your expectations and responsible in what you risk, playing online may be a good option for people who live far from a casino and still want to enjoy taking a chance. It may not be for me, but that doesn’t mean it might not be just right for someone else. One site that I looked at was VegasRed. It offered games like black jack, roulette and slots. I guess with a lot more people doing staycations rather than vacations this might be a way to visit a casino from home.