No More Dirty Looks by Siobhan O'Connor & Alexandra Spunt Release Date: July 13th, 2010 Pages: 304
Synopsis:
Your lipstick. Your nail
polish. Your conditioner. Most of us don't realize that the products we
use every day can expose us to thousands of chemicals that are readily
absorbed through our skin. The impact on your health? It's not pretty.
In this must-read, Siobhan O'Connor and Alexandra Spunt leave no bottle
unturned. They found out all kinds of things the cosmetics industry
doesn't want you to know and now they're going to share it with you.
- The most dangerous ingredients in widely-used brands and how they're still not regulated - Insider secrets from top scientists, dermatologists, and experts - The 100 best clean makeup, hair care, and skin care products - Cheap and simple do-it-yourself beauty recipes
It's easy to make the switch to clean cosmetics. From mascara to moisturizers, shampoos to sunscreens, No More Dirty Looks will help you detox your regimen. Now you can be beautiful inside and out - because coming clean is the best look yet.
My Thoughts: The reason I picked this book up was because two of my co-workers were switching to natural beauty products & after asking them why they said because they'd read this book. I know from experience that books can be life changing, so I ordered this one from my library.
I loved how both of the authors warned you from the beginning that you were going to want to run into your beauty supplies and throw everything out. They were right! After just a few chapters I was so disgusted I wanted to do just that. However, they suggested changing your items slowly & change the small items first. I decided to change my products as I ran out of them. I'm 30 and a librarian with student loans, needless to say I'm frugal. So that was the wisest choice for me.
The book didn't get too overly technical but technical enough so that you thoroughly understood what was in each product and how they effect you. Now onto chronicling my green beauty product adventures :)
Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi Release Date: March 18, 2012 Pages: I had the e-Book version, around 300 pages
Synopsis: Can true love survive the end of the world?
Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the
apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to
make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given
her heart. Now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter
and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.
All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her
safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and
she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.
Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant
chaperones to a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world
where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgrimage to
the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old
hurts and find the love they lost--all while attempting to save what's
left of the human race?
My Thoughts: I have
to say this book was just ok for me, I didn't love it nor did I hate it.
At first I had a hard time catching on to the fact that each chapter is
a sort of flashback to before the zombies came into existence. Once I
figured that out it was a definitely better.
Peyton's and
Chase's character were very similar. Both had their weaknesses and
strengths and the author played off of them well.
I truly
believe boys will enjoy this book more just on the pure zombie factor.
Sure there's some relationships in the book but that's real life.
It's definitely worth reading to see if you like it or not.
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks Release Date: May 22, 2012 Pages: 324
Synopsis: Galen is the prince of
the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with
fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into
Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it
will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for
Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma
that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .
Told from both Emma
and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that
sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.
My Thoughts: This was my first mermaid/men book and I truly enjoyed it
Emma is sweet and innocent she has no idea what's going on and why Galen has such an affect on her. The wit and humor in this book is well placed and will keep you turning the pages.
Galen's character is very sweet and charming. He's uncomfortable in his human form but truly tries to understand and relate to Emma's struggles.
The one complaint I have is the ending. It was very abrupt and felt rushed to me. Otherwise it was an enjoyable read.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer Release Date: January 3, 2012
Pages: 387
Synopsis: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl... Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.
My Thoughts: What a spin on the Cinderella Fairy Tale. A cyborg Cinderella? Holy moly did this work fantastically. You have to give credit to Marissa Meyer for thinking this up.
The plot kept me engaged and the pages turning quickly. I loved it. Cinder is a true heroine that anyone can root for. A under dog who is different and doesn't quite fit in. Of course with any retelling of Cinderella there's a shoe (or rather a foot), a charming prince & of course a ball. Toss is a step mother and step sisters and voila.
This book also dealt with relevant issues going on in our daily lives. Discrimination, the loss of loved ones, and child abuse. They're subtle background plots but are easy enough to see and contribute to the overall feeling of the story.
This is a quick and easy read due to the plot keeping you interested, so dive in and discover Cinder's world.
We're currently having a librarians reading challenge at work & just like every other year I went book bananas. I have 15 books checked out to read between now and March, that's not counting the ones that will come in on hold for me to read. Here they are:
Variant/ Wells,
Robison E.
Strange angels/ St.
Crow, Lili.
The girl in the steel corset/ Cross, Kady,
The iron queen/
Kagawa, Julie.
Tiger's curse/
Houck, Colleen.
Nevermore/ Creagh,
Kelly.
Always a witch/
MacCullough, Carolyn.
Glow/ Ryan, Amy
Kathleen. Details
The landscape photography bible /
Worobiec, Tony.
Cinder/ Meyer,
Marissa.
The best of me [sound recording] / Sparks, Nicholas.
Magic of the moonlight / Schreiber, Ellen
Wonderstruck : a novel in words and pictures / Selznick,
Brian.
Beautiful days / Godbersen, Anna.
Every other day / Barnes, Jennifer
I'm cuckoo, I know it :) Go big or go home right?
Speaking of going big, my ankle is still killing me & I still can't drive. Dad's been amazing and taking me back and forth to work. Hopefully it heals quickly.
Fateful byClaudia Gray Release Date: September 13, 2011 Pages: 328
Synopsis:In Fateful,
eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy,
overbearing family she works for. Once the ship they’re sailing on
reaches the United States, she’ll strike out on her own. Then she meets
Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But
Alec has secrets....
Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger
they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves are real and they’re stalking
him—and now Tess, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in
mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the
Titanic is over.
Featuring the opulent backdrop of the Titanic, Fateful’s publication
is poised to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the ship’s
doomed maiden voyage. It is sure to be a hit among Titanic buffs and
fans of paranormal romance alike.
My Thoughts: I love how in the authors note section Claudia Gray says she made up some of the characters in order to be respectful to those who truly were on the Titanic and died when the ship sank. With that said, I loved this book and it's one of my favorites.
Tess and Alec's story is timeless and perfect. Tess is the kind of heroine you root for and hope for the best throughout the book. Even though a lot of reviews didn't like Tess for not standing up to the family she served, you need to realize that in the time this book was set you couldn't do that. Tess knew she had to keep a job or starve. She didn't like it anymore than we did however that was the life of most servants then. Tess is a strong female heroine and was courageous and brave when she needed to be in order to survive.
The villain was perfect in this book and made you want to kick him in the shins just like Tess did.
I loved Alec's character as much as I did Tess. You saw the toll that being a werewolf took on him and how no matter what he had to do he would do what was right. He's a stand up character and that's a plus in my book. I don't want the characters to be wishy washy or flakey.
The Brotherhood in this book is seriously scary. I love the twists with Tess's sister thrown in there and how it affected her even tho they were hundred of miles away. It made the Brotherhood seem real to the reader and to Tess.
As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott
Release Date: September 15, 2011 Pages: 269
Synopsis: Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.
Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust.
My thoughts:As I Wake was very emotional for me. I easily get attached to characters and Ava's amnesia was hard for her to handle and I could only imagine how I'd handle it.
However this book did get confusing in a few spots for me. I've read several books where the author uses italics to switch between point of views, etc. Elizabeth Scott uses italics in this book to show the reader when Ava is remembering an event. At first I had to re-read several times to try to figure out what was happening. In the end though I enjoyed the memories in the plot of the book. At first it won't make sense but then it will in the end :)
Jen over at tatertots and jello are hosting a silhouette machine giveaway! Go check it out. Not only is the machine amazing but so are Jen's crafty ideas!!
I've been going tutu crazy lately and today I needed a change. I decided to take a little doe charm I found at Hobby Lobby the other week to create a necklace. The charms a little small to be alone so I decided to tweak it a bit. I attached it to a eye pin. Then I placed a glass heart bead onto the eyepin along with a flower bead and voila!
I ran out of chain so I'm going to have to wait til I can run to the store to get some chain before I can wear it. However it came out soooo cute! I love it.
I'm getting metal jewelry stamps for my birthday so I'll be sure to post some of those creations later!
They're so much fun! I made a coworker one for her daughter just to try it out and they've taken off! I've got 4 on request and I'm thinking about opening an etsy shop. I love making them! They're very girly and perfect for anyone. I've also got two adult tutu's on order. Weeeeeeee! I love crafting and finding new loves to make.
If you've got any ideas on my shop name let me know! I need some help with that. Plus whichever name I pick (if it's from a comment) I send you a tutu!
I adore hanging out with my dad. He's my best friend and makes every day insanely fun. We do the most ridiculous things and cry so hard we laugh at our silliness. He's one of the only people I can truly be myself around & it always ends up being a great day with him. I've got girlfriends who just don't understand being able to spend the entire day with your parent and not want to claw someone's eyes out. Dad and I've always been close every since I was a little girl.
Today of course was not any different. We went to drive around, which usually entails getting a drink at the convenience store then heading to Watkins Mill to let the dogs run around. Of course as we're headed back home dad tells me to take a left instead of right (which lead to the house) I immediately knew it was a off the beaten path day. Dad LOVES taking back roads and seeing where they go. I however am not as adventurous as he is plus I'm slightly terrified of gravel roads that I don't know that well.
So off we went. We finally arrived home around 2 1/2 hours later but we had a blast. We ended up at Wallace State Park where we sat on the bench by the water trying to capture a gorgeous blue butterfly on camera that kept flying around us. It was determined to land on dad. Bella on the other hand was determined to eat said butterfly. So enjoy some pictures from today :)
Here's the full poem: HOW TO BE ALONE by Tanya Davis
If you are at first lonely, be patient. If you've not been alone much, or if when you were, you weren't okay with it, then just wait. You'll find it's fine to be alone once you're embracing it.
We could start with the acceptable places, the bathroom, the coffee shop, the library. Where you can stall and read the paper, where you can get your caffeine fix and sit and stay there. Where you can browse the stacks and smell the books. You're not supposed to talk much anyway so it's safe there.
There's also the gym. If you're shy you could hang out with yourself in mirrors, you could put headphones in (guitar stroke).
And there's public transportation, because we all gotta go places.
And there's prayer and meditation. No one will think less if you're hanging with your breath seeking peace and salvation.
Start simple. Things you may have previously (electric guitar plucking) based on your avoid being alone principals.
The lunch counter. Where you will be surrounded by chow-downers. Employees who only have an hour and their spouses work across town and so they -- like you -- will be alone.
Resist the urge to hang out with your cell phone.
When you are comfortable with eat lunch and run, take yourself out for dinner. A restaurant with linen and silverware. You're no less intriguing a person when you're eating solo dessert to cleaning the whipped cream from the dish with your finger. In fact some people at full tables will wish they were where you were.
Go to the movies. Where it is dark and soothing. Alone in your seat amidst a fleeting community. And then, take yourself out dancing to a club where no one knows you. Stand on the outside of the floor till the lights convince you more and more and the music shows you. Dance like no one's watching...because, they're probably not. And, if they are, assume it is with best of human intentions. The way bodies move genuinely to beats is, after all, gorgeous and affecting. Dance until you're sweating, and beads of perspiration remind you of life's best things, down your back like a brook of blessings.
Go to the woods alone, and the trees and squirrels will watch for you. Go to an unfamiliar city, roam the streets, there're always statues to talk to and benches made for sitting give strangers a shared existence if only for a minute and these moments can be so uplifting and the conversations you get in by sitting alone on benches might've never happened had you not been there by yourself
Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. but lonely is a freedom that breaths easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it.
You could stand, swathed by groups and mobs or hold hands with your partner, look both further and farther for the endless quest for company. But no one's in your head and by the time you translate your thoughts, some essence of them may be lost or perhaps it is just kept.
Perhaps in the interest of loving oneself, perhaps all those sappy slogans from preschool over to high school's groaning were tokens for holding the lonely at bay. Cuz if you're happy in your head than solitude is blessed and alone is okay.
It's okay if no one believes like you. All experience is unique, no one has the same synapses, can't think like you, for this be releived, keeps things interesting lifes magic things in reach.
And it doesn't mean you're not connected, that communitie's not present, just take the perspective you get from being one person in one head and feel the effects of it. take silence and respect it. if you have an art that needs a practice, stop neglecting it. if your family doesn't get you, or religious sect is not meant for you, don't obsess about it.
you could be in an instant surrounded if you needed it If your heart is bleeding make the best of it There is heat in freezing, be a testament.
AMAZING! What is there more to say about this book. I could cuddle up with it all night and be blissfully happy for eternity. Sam & Grace's relationship never seems to amaze me. How Maggie can write exactly how they're feeling and make you feel the EXACT same way is being phenomenal. Authors seem to have a difficult time topping their first book in a series, but not Maggie. Linger was ten times better than Shiver and I definitely cannot wait til Forever comes out.
** spoiler alert ** This was absolutely my favorite BDB book. John & Xhex's story was phenomenal! These books always look extremely long but once you start them you can't put them down. I loved that we got to see part of Tohr's background along with John's dad, Darius which was also Xhex's story. It tied together well & I loved it.
I like how sneaky JR is with adding new characters all while tying them into the book's story line. You don't feel like they were thrown in there just because she needed someone else. Plus it gets you to thinking about how they're going to figure into the story in the end. I really want to read Murhder's story now!
My next book is either Spirit Bound or Dear John, decisions decisions.
