Empty Promises

Empty Promises

By Ann Rule

14 hours 7 minutes audio

Grade undecided

If you haven't read anything by Ann Rule before, and I hadn't, she is a true crime author. I had no idea what to expect going into this book but I kept my hopes up. And then I started the stories. Holy crap. Basically they are stories of people who get murdered by their significant others. I thought it would be one novel about one particular case, but this book had like 13 stories in it. And it was pretty good. I honestly cannot imagine a case where I would actually take someone's life. I mean I feel guilty freaking killing a spider or roach, and those are just nasty pests.

I will not lie, at about 12 hours of listening, there was a story about a little girl that gets murdered and I turned off the book. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pick it up again, but I did, and fortunately for me, it was over quickly. I think any crime against a child is the worst crime you could possibly commit because they are just such innocent pieces to our world.

I don't know if I will be able to read more of her books, at least I most definitely won't be able to pick them up any time soon because they are very stressful, but I think getting through at least one of them would be worth it.

And there you go.

Garden Spells

Garden Spells

By Sarah Addison Allen

320 pages

Grade B+

This book was similar to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. There is a family named the Waverlys and they have what would seem as magical powers. The older sister Claire lives in the family home as an owner of a catering company. However, her catering company is not like regular ones, because she cooks with the flowers from her garden, and special things happen when she cooks certain flowers with certain foods and when she pairs them up with each other. Honestly, some of the foods that she makes in the book sound completely and utterly delish and all I wanted to do was eat.

The younger sister Sydney, has flown the coup and lived a crazy life, leaving her in a terribly abusive relationship and a 6 year old daughter. When things get tough, Sydney comes home to Claire, however their relationship is really rocky.

Their cousin Evanelle, was by far my most favorite character in the book. She had the talent of knowing that people needed something, whether it was batteries for your smoke detector because there would be a fire that night, or a blanket because your heat would go out that night and you would be extra cold. I just loved everything about her character.

What I liked most about this book was that it was light. It wasn't terribly deep, but it was lifting. Sadly the two books that I read following this book were anything but. However, this book was just a feel good book, all around. I finished it in probably 2 days, I really couldn't put it down. And even though I was sure I knew what was going to happen, and I was right, I was just blown away by it.

I really really really enjoyed this book. The only reason why I am not giving it an A+ is because I was able to predict some of what was going to happen, but it was a good book. I say give it a chance if you need something light. A huge thanks to my friend Mandi in my book club that hosted this book in February. It was wonderful!

A quick update

Well, I have three books to do reviews on, and I will hopefully be getting those done this week.

I am also in the middle of three books, which I also hope to finish this week.

Today is ALSO the last day before "Operation Get Not Fat" starts. I will be getting off work by 230 tomorrow (hopefully) and heading to the gym right afterward (hopefully). Tomorrow is going to be my short day at the gym regardless because I also bowl Monday nights.

I will also be posting pictures of my fat ass this week with how much I weigh (ugh), and hopefully with measurements but that I cannot promise.

I have 6 months. 6 months to meet my 30 lbs by age 30. That is only about 5 lbs a month, which I hope will be totally doable.

Happy Sunday everyone!

One Night that Changes Everything

One Night that Changes Everything

By Lauren Barnholdt

256 pages

Grade C+

The premise of this book is that the main character, Eliza, has been writing secrets in her note book. Not so much secrets as just things she is really scared to do, simple little things, like sing karaoke, talk to (and make out with) a boy you have had a crush on, and a few other things. Eliza forgets her notebook in her locker one day and it's stolen by her ex boyfriend's group of friends. Throughout the night the guys call Eliza and tell her that she has to start performing these fears or they will publish her notebook online for all the school to see. A recipe for high school disaster right? Well, duh.

You all know how I feel about YA books. I have a soft sticky place in my heart for them. This book did not fail to provide me with fluffy YA enjoyment. I polished it off in about 24 hours, and as much as I am happy that I did read it, I should have waited to read it after the book I just finished, which I will review soon (probably tonight as well) because I needed something light and fluffy, but instead I picked a book that has had me in tears from the first page. Either way, if you are a YA fan, this book will not let you down.

I will leave you with my favorite quote of the book:

"That is definitely the work of a sociopath. Actually, I'm not sure what a sociopath is, exactly. But I think it has to do with not caring about the feelings of others."

This is a little non book related (NBR) but...

I will be ::gasp:: turning 30 this year. OMG, I really cannot believe that I said that. Not that I can't believe that I admitted it, I just can't believe that I am old enough to say it. I still feel 18. But that isn't what this is about. What this post is about is me and how lazy I am. I already host like 20 blogs, and I simply cannot take on the pressure of another one. So because of my laziness, I am going to do my next idea on my book blog, and I am sure most of you can relate...it's weight loss.

My husband and I have been together for 7 (maybe 8) years now. In these 7 (or 8) years, I have gained 35 lbs. I guess 35 lbs in 7 (or 8) years isn't that bad...I guess. I gained 40 lbs with my daughter, and lost most of it, but still hung on to some of the baby fat. Then last year, I lost two babies and suffered from some pretty bad depression while struggling with infertility, and it put my self image over the edge.

I say every year I want to lose weight, but I never do anything about it. But this year, this year will be different. I am going to start working with a friend of mine who is going to be my "personal trainer" and we are going to work out together 5 days a week, and I am going to lose it.

And this is where I am going to introduce

"30 BY 30"

I plan on losing 30 lbs by my 30th birthday. And in order to keep my motivation, I am going to post numbers, yes, my actual real weight, and I am going to post pictures. I hope to do this weekly, and I will be starting this weekend. So there you have it.

Rosa Parks: My Story

Rosa Parks: My Story

By Rosa Parks

192 pages

Grade A

I wanted to read a book for Black History Month in February. When I went to the book store looking for a book, I debated between this book, and the presidential book by President Obama because I figured I could get a president book out of the way too. BUT, I don't know if you guys have seen the Obama book, but it's kinda huge. Like really huge, and I couldn't invest that much time into a book like that. Not that I don't want to invest into a large, book, but I try very hard to stay out of politics, and a huge book like that about politics.....I have entirely to many other things I would rather do.

So when I saw this book, I thought, "self, this would be a good book" (I often think in quotes). I always knew the story of Rosa Parks, ("wasn't she that black lady that decided she wasn't going to move to the back of the bus for a white lady?") but I never knew all the details. I mean honestly, who does? Just me?

The only terrible thing I have to say is that I am sorry I am the one that has to review this book here! My reviews have sucked lately, but well here you go...I LOVED this book. I really enjoy historical fiction, and though I know that this book is non-fiction, I have read so much historical fiction that will reference back to Rosa Parks and you know in school they tell you about Rosa but you never get the whole story. This book tells you just that. You get to hear about how Rosa grew up, her marriage, and her hard work. She actually did a lot of work with the NAACP and was a big park of the Civil Rights Movements, outside of her epic move on the bus. I really admire her as a person. She was a flat out hard worker.

I got chills reading this book more than once. The part that really moved me was when the entire black community, and some of the white, boycotted the buses. It was so incredibly amazing to see how one person, one simple act could change history forever. And that is what I loved about this book so much, the simplicity of the act that helped change our country for ever.

I could go on and on and on about how happy I was that I picked up this book, but you just have to go for it yourself. Had I just been at home reading I probably would have had it done in an hour, I mean it's only 192 pages long, but I enjoyed that it took a couple of days. Some books need a few days. This was one of those books. And I still think about it, almost daily. So just go for it.

Happy Birthday!

To Dr. Seuss that is. I was going to write some super witty post that actually made sense (unlike whatever this garbage that I have been producing). I was going to read a book with my daughter and then review it from her point of view, which I will might do, I don't know. But what I want to share with you now is a post from a fellow blogger. I have been following her for over a year now, and I love her blog. She is Tameka over at Imperfection is the New Pink. She wrote this AMAZING post about Dr. Seuss, and I won't lie, it made me cry. I feel the same way she does in just about everything she has set for herself in goals, because I am already in love and married.

Well anyway, I just wanted to share that with you. If I don't get my own Dr. Seuss post, her post says it all for me :)