“What we all want, really, is to be loved. That craving drives our worst behavior.” ― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

  I love Chrissy Teigen! She is always bubbly and happy at least on camera. She never hides the fact that she loves food and honestly, that is something people like me like to hide. I have always been a bigger person and its normal for me to want to hide the fact that i thoroughly enjoy food. In her cookbook it shows where she came from and where that love of food came from.

From reading this book i have come to a few conclusions. 1: Chrissy Teigens life revolves mainly around family. 2: She prides herself in cooking all of her meals herself, which, lets be honest, as a celebrity it would be so much easier to hire someone and let them cook for you. and 3: she likes to live a simple life.

Every recipe she has in this book seems fairly easy to replicate and a lot of them have minimal ingredients which is nice for our family because it makes cooking meals for five to eight people easy and still pretty cheap. In our household we have five people, sometimes sic in our household throughout the week and eight people total on the weekends, plus and toddler. Money for groceries add up and the list we make each week is thoroughly plotted out and meticulously planned with a set price in mind and we hardly ever go over our $75- $80 a week budget.

Some of these recipes are mainly for couples but if its just you and your significant other it would be perfect for you to add a little variety to your weekly menu! So if thats the case or you just like collecting cookbooks like me, pick it up! Ill leave the description below and link for anybody who would be interested in checking it out! Keep reading my lovelies!

~Synopsis~

   Maybe she’s on a photo shoot in Zanzibar. Maybe she’s making people laugh on TV. But all Chrissy Teigen really wants to do is talk about dinner. Or breakfast. Lunch gets some love, too.
For years, she’s been collecting, cooking, and Instagramming her favorite recipes, and here they are: from breakfast all day to John’s famous fried chicken with spicy honey butter to her mom’s Thai classics.
Salty, spicy, saucy, and fun as sin (that’s the food, but that’s Chrissy, too), these dishes are for family, for date night at home, for party time, and for a few life-sucks moments (salads). You’ll learn the importance of chili peppers, the secret to cheesy-cheeseless eggs, and life tips like how to use bacon as a home fragrance, the single best way to wake up in the morning, and how not to overthink men or Brussels sprouts. Because for Chrissy Teigen, cooking, eating, life, and love are one and the same.

~Buying link~

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012KJXFNW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1

 

“Upon my word, just see how mortal men always put the blame on us gods!” ― Homer, The Odyssey

OMG!!!!!! Just finished another great read and had to share it with all of you! I was contacted on Goodreads by an author who needed reviews for her book and i jumped at the chance! She expressed with me that it isnt like most Young Adult/Fantasy/Supernatural book and i thought, “Okay, I can roll with this!” And roll I did ladies and gentlemen! Hybrid By Venus Morales was a great read! Perfect for all mythology fans!

*Synopsis*

Ari is the daughter of Ares, the God of War. Half goddess and half Phoenician, she is raised by her father in secrecy until her 18th birthday, when he is forced to return to Olympus.
She chooses not follow her father, and decides to venture out into the mortal realm. There, Ari crosses paths with the archangel Julius, who bears a message from a seer. Ari must return to the Bayou to her late mother’s coven to regain her family crown, she is soon fighting for more than just the crown; she is fighting for her life, and the inner darkness that’s consuming her.
With 7 days to prepare for her trials and 7 days to fight for her life, Ari does the one thing she must do to survive; she forges herself into the weapon she was born to be.
What wouldn’t you do to save those you love? How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to save the mortal realm, the heavens and Olympus?

So my absolute favorite part of this book is how relatable Venus makes the main character! Ari is logical and realistic and it is so hard to find characters like that in books these days! I know people will find it hard to believe that a paranormal book or its characters can be realistic but Venus makes it happen! I laughed quite a bit through this book and wanted to cry when it was over because, well, it was over! I can not wait for the next installment!

The  characters were well built  and carried throughout the story! Unlike books in the mythology genre the gods are actually playing a bigger roll than just being mentioned and the reason our Heroine is dealing with her problems, which is HUGE! They have a side to the story as well! It isnt just limited to just Gods and Goddesses though! Its demons, vamps and Arch Angels. I think it works for me because im more of a If-one-thing-exists-then-they-all-must-exist type of person!

Check the book out by clicking the Amazon buying link below and while im at it ill give Miss Venus Morales’ goodreads link so you can follow her as well!

Amazon Buying Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-Venus-Morales-ebook/dp/B00TFTB1H8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441559172&sr=1-1&keywords=9781508406471&pebp=1441559175323&perid=03XKQD2K4NGX5ZQGQW3V

Venus Morales on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13490108.Venus_Morales

” A little bit of chicken fried, Cold beer on a Friday night!”

One of our families favorite things to make for a dinner is fried chicken. We dont do it often because it takes sooooo much to feed everyone! When we do make it though, its a four to five hour experience. We have at least three different ways of making it and each time we switch off between those three recipes. This last week I picked Fried Chicken By Rebecca Lang from Blogging For Books because in my opinion you can never have to many fried chicken recipes. Its not a bad book to have in our household of five people because ninety percent of the time we have Tims family here. So most of the time its not just the five of us… it can be anywhere from five people to ten people and everyone likes something a little.

This cookbook is split into three chapters; chapter one is skillet fried chicken, chapter two is deep fried and chapter three is combination fried. Now i myself only always skillet fry my chicken but i like the idea of different fry techniques. It also covers the different types of oils to cook with, how to cut up a bird, as well as proper oil temps. My only problem with this book is that a lot of these recipes dont really look like fried chicken. They look amazing, just not like fried chicken.

Amazon Buying Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Fried-Chicken-Recipes-Crunchy-Comfort-Food/dp/1607747243

Journals, Journals, Everywhere!

The other day a friend of mine on Facebook posted about how Facebook seems to be a personal, yet public, journal and then proceeded to ask how many people on her friends list actually still used a normal pen-to-paper journal. I was the first to admit that yes i do still keep a journal and let me explain why.

In high school when my mother had signed me up to see a psychologist weekly, he had suggested that i keep a journal. I explained that things like that were not possible because i had two, very snoopy, very sneaky, younger twin sisters. He looked at me and said;

“And that is stopping you, why?”

Before i could answer him, he turned around and dug around in his desk looking for something. When he found what he was looking for he turned around and handed me a lighter. I sat there just staring at it. The ugliest lighter i had ever seen, bile yellow and completely full with lighter fluid. I guess i was in shock that an adult was handing me a lighter, almost like he was telling me to commit arson. I started to ask him what i was supposed to do with an ugly ass lighter but he stopped me and said;

” Sharon, if there is nothing for them to find, then they cant read it.If you write something down and you dont want it read, burn the pages and let them float away. You get them out and let your anger float away like the pages.”

BRILLIANT MAN!

So since then i have always kept a journal and occasionally, on the days i write to get anger out, and say things i dont mean i still burn those pages. But my journal collection continues to grow and i find myself burning pages less and less. While on blogging for books i found a Q&A a Day journal almost like the last ones i reviewed for B4B but its SO MUCH BETTER!!! Its for artists! Or maybe not just artists but those who feel like doodling! I absolutely love it! Its a four year journal and every page has a writing prompt, you draw how you see that prompt and fill in the year of that entry! Since i have been doing more drawings i thought it would be a great addition to my other new “artsy” journals. I just recently got a wreck this journal box set that included Wreck This Journal, Mess, This Is Not A Book and Pocket Scavenger! Brilliant journals and i have no shame in admitting i WRECK those journals! If your a journal writer or havent started or wrote in one for a long time i highly suggest every one of them! They are fun and give you ways to get those feelings out and sometimes without even knowing you are doing it! Read on, Bookworms!

“If you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!” ― Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

When you are a child, the thought of finding lost, buried or even new-to-you things is addicting. The thought of going on a mystery treasure or scavenger hunt is not unheard of but happens occasionally while playing with friends or siblings. Of course when I was growing up I loved the idea of finding a buried a treasure in a book store, you know that book in the very back of a bookcase or box in an old run down second hand shop for only $0.25. Those were my favorite treasures and nothing could beat them. One of my absolute favorites was Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. When I picked up this book I never knew how drawn into the book I would be, and certainly that I would not end up reading the book a couple dozen times in my life.

While browsing through the list of books on Blogging For Books last week I opened another tab to look at my new weeks book. I choose The New World By Andrew Motion and was so excited to find out that it is a continuation type of story from Treasure Island. I was not disappointed in the slightest with this story and i feel that Andrew Motion should do continuations of all of the Great American Classics. Now this book could definitely be read as a stand alone but I highly suggest that if you have read Treasure Island you run, type or call for a copy of this book! I’m almost positive that its books like these that will convert children and teens of this generation from smart phones and gaming consoles to print and e-books. Below, as usual, I will post the synopsis and buying link and don’t forget; READ ON, MY LOVELIES!

Book Synopsis:

Washed ashore after escaping Treasure Island, young Jim Hawkins and his companion Natty find themselves stranded on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Their ship, the Nightingale, has been destroyed, and besides one other crew member, they are the only survivors.  Before they can even grasp the full scope of their predicament, they realize they are not alone on the beach. When a band of Native Americans approaches the shore in a threatening fury, they brutally kill Jim and Natty’s last shipmate, rob their dead crew, and take the two desperate survivors hostage.

Suddenly, Jim and Natty are thrust into an adventure that takes them all across the unruly American South. Starting with a desperate escape from a violent chief who obsessively keeps close on their trail, they join up with a troupe of entertainers who take them to a thriving and dangerous New Orleans, and seek the closest port so they can set sail for home once again.

In magnificent, free-wheeling prose and in a high-flying style, Andrew Motion has spun a fantastic yarn that will win the hearts of adventure lovers everywhere.

Amazon Buying Link:

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-World-A-Novel/dp/0804138451

“I might not use capital letters. But I would definitely use an apostrophe…and probably a period. I’m a huge fan of punctuation.” ― Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park

I am absolutely and utterly appalled at the book that i got from Blogging For Books this week. I am disappointed, sad, angry and confused. I picked a book  that someone was actually just talking to me about the other day…. I expected great, promising things from this book and i am absolutely crushed.

I picked A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing By Eimear McBride. My fiance and i had a long, LOOOOOONG discussion about this book last night because i could not get over the form of writing. At first i figured, “okay, maybe this wont last long.” NO! it is this way the entire FUCKING book! After realizing that i was like, ” Okay maybe there is a trick to reading it!” i tried covering up sentences and adding my own words, treating it like a puzzle. I spent so much time confused that i couldn’t feel any emotion. I think i just don’t understand why it has so many great ratings when every page is the same horrible grammar, improper sentences and puzzling words…. Ugh i am so pissed right now.

Synopsis:

In scathing, furious, unforgettable prose, Eimear McBride tells the story of a young girl’s devastating adolescence as she and her brother, who suffers from a brain tumor, struggle for a semblance of normalcy in the shadow of sexual abuse, denial, and chaos at home. Plunging readers inside the psyche of a girl isolated by her own dangerously confusing sexuality, pervading guilt, and unrelenting trauma, McBride’s writing carries echoes of Joyce, O’Brien, and Woolf.  A Girl is a Half-formed Thing is a revelatory work of fiction, a novel that instantly takes its place in the canon.

Buying link:

http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Is-Half-formed-Thing-Novel/dp/1101903430

7 Best Gifts for that bookworm in your life!

So if you are here, you probably have a strange, uncontrollable addiction to books. I do! I saw a list the other day of the best gifts to give a bookworm and thought i would spice it up a little!

1.Book Shelves

Nothing makes a Bookworm feel more accomplished than being able to show off their vast collection of printed books. From large to small everyone needs a sturdy, handy dandy book shelf! I currently dont have a book shelf and need one badly so i have been searching all over for good ideas for big book shelves that i could potentially fit in the small space i have for one so i can get my books out of bag, boxes and suitcases in our garage! You can be a bookworm with no ability for arts or a D.I.Y. bookworm, here are some idea!

Mandala Bookshelf

This is made intirely out of boxes! Taking simple boxes and painting them then hanging them up in this pattern, ( or any pattern for that matter) Looks great and if done properly could be so cheap!

Childrens Nook/Bookcase

A little more complex than the last one but still cute and im sure your children AND teens would love it! The plus side, If you run out of room on your shelves you could always use one of the MANY spaces for your books too!

Grand piano Bookshelf!

To those loved ones who combine their loves of music and books together, this is PERFECT for them! I have seen many Pianos on Craigslist lately that are broken and people just want them gone! Do a little Wreck It Ralph treatment and hang it up! Absolutely beautiful!

2.Bookmarks

Bookmarks are another necessity for bookworms. Whether they like to keep a book open at all times and ready to just pick up and go or those who favor the binding and want something small, there is a vast variety out there for every Bookworm!

For the Fangirl/Fanboy in your life

For The simplistic fans

For the eccentric and unique! 

3. Book-ish Games

Every bookworm loves playing book related games…. I hope.. It might just be me but even if it isnt here are some cool book inspired games for the family!

BOOKOPOLY

For Any fan of the classic Monopoly game here is a new BOOK spin on the whole thing!

Trivial Pursuit Book Edition

For the book worms who like trivia!

Jenga Book Lovers Edition!

For those book worms who love a good puzzle!

4. Movies from Books

When we finish a good book and then find out its being turned into a movie, i can tell you almost every bookworm will in fact see the movie!

For the classics fan

For the bookworm dying for a good ugly cry

For the vampire freak

5. Book-ish clothing

I’m sure I’m not the only one who likes to read nekkid in the tub with a good book but for those who like reading in public without the possibility of being arrested for public indecency; clothes are vital! Check out some of these cute clothes to attract other bookworms and even spark a good book convo!

6. Book-ish home decor

Proudly display your love of books all throughout your house so people with posters, add a nice frame and you have art for any room in your home!

7. Book-ish bedding

Why not fall asleep reading and surround yourself in books at the same time!?

NEVER LET ANYONE BREAK YOU DOWN FOR FEELING THE NEED FOR A GOOD ADVENTURE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGES OF A GOOD BOOK! KEEP CALM AND READ ON BOOKWORMS!!!!!!

“A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self.” ― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Okay so i have two book reviews today but i have been “out of the office” for a few days. I have wanted to post these reviews but i had a couple of teeth removed and… well… it hurt more than i had thought it would. I had a wisdom tooth growing into the side of a molar that i needed pulled due to an exposed root. So the dentist tells me that my wisdom tooth grew in at about a 90 degree angle to my other teeth. Im slowly starting back with solid foods and it was hard during the fourth because i wanted a little of EVERYTHING!!!! lol We had a blast though! Tim and Christopher spent so much time, effort and money into this holiday and it was absolutely perfect! Tim bought me a floating lantern as well to light for my mom so i will have to include the pictures below! Anyway, im going to go ahead and jump into these reviews!

So i was contacted to do a review of a book called Breaking Free: Una Familia Segura by Annie Hughes. Just so you know i went into this completely blind! I didnt look the book up and I did it for a reason. I am challenging myself. I want to get into a book for the content, not what i think its going to be. I got so into this book and finished it in two days. I loved it! The characters were well built and complete early on. The main character, Anna Rosa, is on a new level of heroine in my book. She perfects the thought behind overcoming obstacles and challenges but at the same time it is made very clear that she has flaws. It makes the book more realistic! I’ll leave the synopsis below as well as the amazon buying link and hopefully here within the next couple of days ill be able to get a Q&A done with the author for this book! 

Breaking Free: Una Familia Segura by Annie Hughes Synopsis:

Anna Rosa Castillo is unlike most 16 year old girls.

She doesn’t care for clothes or make up, nor does she giggle with her friends about hot guys. Coming from a small town in the North of England, where drugs and criminals are at the top of the food chain, Anna’s life is an impossible mixture of pain and sorrow. Drawing and tattoos are her only way of escaping the tortures that consume her at home. She lives by only one rule – do whatever he says, and she might live long enough to get away.
All that changes when a fatal night lands the monster of her nightmares in a prison cell and herself in a hospital bed, staring into the eyes of a father she has never known.

The addition of a father and family turns Anna’s life upside-down, thrusting her into a world she could never understand. Inner demons and unspeakable memories claw at her as she tries to build a relationship with her new family. But with her past looming over her new life, will she be able to break free?

Amazon Buying Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Free-Una-Familia-Segura-ebook/dp/B00NRA60XG

Now for my second book! I received The Mask by Taylor Stevens from Blogging For Books and I wasnt as impressed with this one. Ill start with the synopsis first so you can get a feel for it.

Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and information hunter, has a reputation for getting things done: dangerous and not quite legal things that have taken her undercover into some of the world’s deadliest places. Still healing from a Somali hijacking gone wrong and a brutal attack that left her near death, Munroe joins her lover, Miles Bradford, in Japan where he’s working as a security consultant protecting high-value technology from industrial espionage. In the domesticity of their routine she finds long sought-after peace—until Bradford is arrested for murder, and the same interests who targeted him come after her, too.
Searching for answers and fighting to stay alive, Munroe will soon discover how far she’ll go to save Bradford from spending the next twenty years in locked-up isolation; how many laws she’ll break when the truth seems worse than his lies; and who to trust and who she must kill. Because she’s a strategist and hunter with a predator’s instincts, and the man she loves has just stabbed her in the back.
With break-neck pacing, incendiary prose, and an unforgettable cast of characters, The Mask features Vanessa Michael Munroe: a brilliant, lethal heroine who will stop at nothing to find the truth, no matter what it may cost.

Now when i went into this book i didnt expect such a sporadic plot. The crime is very white collar where you are lead to believe its more than it is so that was one disappointment and also this whole story is set in Japan. Now I dont doubt that the author knows her stuff about Japan and its culture but how in the hell do you properly navigate your brain through the streets of Japan without proper description which i thought it was missing. This book may be for other people but it really want for me. It just reminded me of a bad lifetime movie.

“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

When you think of sin, you think of the top seven; wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. No matter how often or rarely you think about it, everyone in this planet is a sinner. EVERYONE. Everyone says that children and small infants are still pure of heart and do not commit sin but does a young child not want something another child has at some point in time or another? Everyone could choose to be a saint (exact opposite of sinner) but it is not possible, not in any way, shape or form. I was raised in a Christian family so I think I’m going to take a minute and take this to a religious place. In the Christian religion, Christians are taught that they were created in the image of God. Most people think God is sinless but is he not a jealous God? Does he not display wrath when wrath is needed? Therefore; we are meant to be sinners.

This week i got a new book from B4B called Empire of Sin by Gary Krist. This is a book of sex, jazz, murder and the battle for modern New Orleans. Now, I really dont know much about New Orleans except they have amazing food, the are home to the New Orleans Saints (ironic), and you will hear some of the best jazz music in existence there! I thought this book might be worth a shot, I’m always down for a deeper history lesson!

Synopsis;

Empire of Sin re-creates the remarkable story of New Orleans’ thirty-years war against itself, pitting the city’s elite “better half” against its powerful and long-entrenched underworld of vice, perversity, and crime. This early-20th-century battle centers on one man: Tom Anderson, the undisputed czar of the city’s Storyville vice district, who fights desperately to keep his empire intact as it faces onslaughts from all sides. Surrounding him are the stories of flamboyant prostitutes, crusading moral reformers, dissolute jazzmen, ruthless Mafiosi, venal politicians, and one extremely violent serial killer, all battling for primacy in a wild and wicked city unlike any other in the world.

My take on this book, this is probably the best told mix of culture and the events that take place in one area of the us, around! I love how the book is divided into multiple parts to show the difference in culture through the years ( 1890-1891; mid 1890s to 1907; 1907-1917; 1917-1920). The author brings old stories and people, (that you learned about in school) and adds them to the story, combining it with just the right amount of fiction to feel like you are actually taking a brief look into their lives. I love feeling like i can be apart of the characters life and relate to them in some way.

Also, I am a huge, huge, HUGE fan of music. So where they disscuss the characters the author shares equal parts jazz and music history. The author goes about explaining how jazz music came about and how those with less education turned to music and made money in that way. I highly suggest this book be read by any fan of historical fiction and music fans it’s well worth the time to read it, not that it should take that long. I found it so easy to live in the book till i read the very last word!

Amazon Buying Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Sin-Murder-Battle-Orleans/product-reviews/0770437060/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_five/182-1324192-0080213?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addFiveStar&showViewpoints=0

How many women work out a few months before summer just to look hot!?

I’m back!!!!!! again with another book review courtesy of blogging for books! So lately i have been hit with this workout bug! And keep in mind i am NOT doing this for summer! I am however doing this because… well… frankly im tired of being fat. I was asked yesterday what my bmi is. If you have no clue what a bmi is It is your Body Mass Index. And mine was at a skyrocketing 48.8…. That is HUGE!!! No pun intended. So before this conversation i had plotted on doing yoga and after one sitting of Yoga For Dummies ( no thank you) i realized i needed something a little more intense. Dont get me wrong. I love yoga! It always seems to help me pop the joints that are stuck in Bitch-You-Are-NOT-Getting-Up Mode but i have a lot of weight to lose so i think yoga would be a post weight loss thing. Anyway! Onto my book review!

I picked Cassey Ho’s Hot Body Year Round from b4b and i am in love. This is perfect for anyone who, like me, feels that if you cant do something you shouldnt even try! But i am slowly getting out of that phase of my life. Life is worth living! Do it while you can move it! This book is full of fully illustrated exercises which is great because come on how many times have you looked at an exercise spread and thought ” Wait, my legs get there…. how?” I plan on using this book every day and hopefully within the next couple months ill be showing you how far i have come from this day! Anyway below as always will be the synopsis and the buying like as usual. Like always, Keep reading my loves!

Synopsis*

Cassey Ho, internationally renowned fitness instructor, is known for her irresistibly popular workout videos which have been shared millions of times online. She runs the #1 women’s fitness channel on YouTube, Blogilates. Her unique format, POP Pilates© is a fusion of ab-chiseling, butt lifting, total body sculpting exercises that are performed using only your bodyweight. Cassey’s personality is bubbly, inspiring, and infectious. But don’t let the smile fool you – her workouts will leave you sweating and sore for days. By following Ho’s super effective workout plans and clean-eating recipes, you will transform your body towards a stronger, sleeker, and happier version of you.

Hot Body Year Round is your ULTIMATE exercise and nutrition guide to living a fit, happy, and healthy life while sculpting your HOTTEST body.

Cassey will show you how to stay motivated throughout the year, no matter what the challenges are. You will get:

– 120 of Cassey’s BEST total body transforming exercises
– The complete POP Pilates exercise library – fully photographed and easy to follow
– 20 full length workouts
– 40 brand new, ridiculously delicious & nutritious recipes
– Foods for beautiful hair, skin, and nails
– 4 complete clean eating meal plans & grocery lists that complement each season
– Cassey’s personal daily meal plan
– Motivational tips to stay inspired year-round
– 256 pages of full color, glossy inspiration

Buying link**

http://www.amazon.com/Cassey-Hos-Hot-Body-Year-Round/dp/0804139040