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Showing posts from February, 2016

Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto - Review

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ Rogue City is a lawless place with saloon brawls, gun fights, monsters, and magic around every corner, but it's home to the tough-as-nails Westie, adoptive daughter of the local inventor, Nigel. When Westie was a child, she lost her family and her arm to cannibals. Those memories haunt her every day, and the mechanical prosthetic arm Nigel built for her is an inhumanly strong constant reminder of her past. She is determined to find the cannibals that killed her family and make them pay for their crimes. Alistair, Nigel's young assistant and Westie's best friend, can sympathize since he has also lost his family to cannibals and the ability to speak due to his wounds, but can still talk with the assistance of a mask Nigel built for him. Westie stops her search when a family comes to town looking to invest in Nigel's latest machine. This machine, called Emma, can harvest and amplify magic drawn from gold which is absolutely vital to the town as the magical

Music Monday: TV Themes, Pt. 2

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying lately!  If you would like to play and I really hope you do, please see the rules and link up below. Rules:  Every Monday share one or two of songs you've been enjoying lately.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s). If you would like to participate in Music Monday, please join the link up at the bottom of this post by sharing your post's url.  Finally, have fun sharing and discovering new to you music! The Wild Wild West (1965-1969) - This is easily one of my favorite classic tv shows!  It's part western, steampunk, sci-fi, action-y spy adventure series and you can't go wrong with James T. West and Artemus Gordon!  The opening title sequence r

The Cletus P. Reese Story...Murder Ridge by Jayne Call Imler - Review

❋  ❋ The Cletus P. Reese Story...Murder Ridge by Jayne Call Imler is based on the true story of Cletus P. Reese, a Coshocton County, Ohio serial killer from the 1950s. Today, his story is less well known compared to other Ohio born serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson. Unfortunately, his story has fallen into obscurity, although at the time his name reached the headlines across the state. In this short story, Imler, who did her research, gives her own fictionalized account of how the killings could have happened, plus she gives us a quick peek at the facts surrounding Cletus's case. When I realized there was a book based on this case, I was very interested in reading it. Last week my local newspaper released their newest edition of a local/ state history magazine, and the Cletus P. Reese case had a several pages long spread. I had never heard of him or the case before, but I was completely sucked in. The entire case is fascinating and I was surprised to hea

The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): Department Nineteen (Department 19 #1) by Will Hill

Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by  Freda's Voice . These are the rules: 1. Grab a book, any book. 2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader. 3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 4. Post it. 5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post. I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by  Rose City Reader .  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader. This week I'm spotlighting one of my upcoming reads, Department Nineteen ( Department 19  #1) by Will Hill .  I picked this up a little while ago at a bargain outlet store for a couple of dollars.  It caught my eye right off the bat - I mean, Department 19 was founded by Van Helsing and other Dracula survivors to police the supernatural w

Totally Should've Book Tag

I've been tagged to do the Totally Should've Book Tag by Books By Jay .  Her blog is great - everyone should go check out her site!  Anyway, this tag looks pretty fun, so let's get started! 1. Totally should've gotten a sequel I need a sequel for Zero World by Jason M. Hough ! That book is absolutely amazing and deserves book two.  There is so much more that I want to see explored in that unique world.  Of course, this book came out this past August, so I have hope that there could be more in the future. 2. Totally should've had a spin off series I would love to see a Harry Potter spin off for the Marauders! 3. An author who should totally write more books I'm going to have to agree with Jay and say that Becky Albertalli should write more books just based on the strength of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda .  I don't care what she writes I just need more of her work in my life. 4. A character who totally should've ended up w

Cinderella's Ball

Welcome to Cinderella's Ball - part of the celebrations for Ashley G's @ [insert title here]  third blog birthday!  Her blog birthday theme is fairy tales, so what better way to celebrate that with a ball.  Today is the last day of the link up, so I'd better hurry and get going. 1. What would you wear to a fairytale ball? I'm not much of a dress person, but I wouldn't say no to a well cut suit.  Probably something along these lines, but with a hint of color and a top hat:  2. What shoes? (I don't mean to be tedious, but this is Cinderella's Ball.) I have a pair of boots that are exactly like this and they are by far the best shoes I have ever worn, so I would have to go with these boots! 3. What is the most necessary accessory?  A. Shoes! B. Your royal signet ring. C. Wildflowers for your hair. D. This beauty doesn't need accessories. E. A red cape. F. Your crown. Make it dark blue, forest green, or black and I probably woul

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer - Review

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for both her kindness, and her stunning yet imperfect beauty which is said to be more breathtaking than that of her stepmother's, Queen Levana. Levana fears her stepdaughter will take control of her throne, her people, and her power and she is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve her reign over the hearts and minds of her people. Winter despises her stepmother and has been attempting to undermine her in her own way, and now she has some new allies - Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress. Together, perhaps they will be able to end Levana's despotic rule once and for all. Winter is a fantastic conclusion to the brilliant Lunar Chronicles . I have loved following this series every step of the way. I was worried about the finale, but I shouldn't have been because this is a good solid ending to one of my favorite series. I read the novel over the course of just over three weeks - not just because of the sheer size

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Enjoyed Recently That Weren't My Typical Genre

Happy Tuesday everyone!  This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish , is Books I Enjoyed Recently That Weren't My Typical Genre.  My review will be linked to the title.  Here we go, from most recently read: Unstoppable by Bill Nye Ross Poldark by Winston Graham Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Geek Girl by Holly Smale An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison Sister Mischief by Laura Goode Night Song by Tricia Goyer Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid So, what do you think of my list this week?  Have you read any of these, and if so have you also enjoyed them?  What books have you enjoyed that weren't your typical genre?  Comments are appreciated - I try to respond to everyone!

Music Monday: Fall Out Boy Collaborations

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying lately!  If you would like to play and I really hope you do, please see the rules and link up below. Rules:  Every Monday share one or two of songs you've been enjoying lately.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s). If you would like to participate in Music Monday, please join the link up at the bottom of this post by sharing your post's url.  Finally, have fun sharing and discovering new to you music! Fall Out Boy has been one of my favorite groups since high school and I've always enjoyed listening to their new music.  Instead of sharing some of my favorite songs by the band today, I thought I'd spotlight some of my favorite musical collabor

Starting Sparks: February Edition

Starting Sparks is a monthly writing link up hosted by  Emily @ Ink, Inc.  and  Ashley G. @ [insert title here] .  Each month they give us a prompt and then we respond however we like with a short story, a scene, a poem - whatever.  The point is to get those creative juices flowing! This month's prompt is to rewrite a fairy tale with your characters.  Since I don't have a WIP handy with my own characters to work with, I'm going to do my own thing for this one.  I thought about using already known characters from a tv show, but then I decided to forgo that route.  Instead I decided to use my own fractured take on "The Frog Prince".  I actually wrote this ages ago for a children's lit class during our fairy tales/ fractured fairy tales unit - every one in class had to come up with their own version of "The Frog Prince" and as you can imagine no two were alike.  Here's mine: Britney was playing with her new videogame.  It let her pretend

The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto

Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by  Freda's Voice . These are the rules: 1. Grab a book, any book. 2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader. 3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 4. Post it. 5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post. I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by  Rose City Reader .  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader. This week I'm spotlighting my upcoming read, Revenge and the Wild  by Michelle Modesto , a February 2016 debut.  I've heard quite a few interesting things about it since it's release, plus I've had my eye on it for several months.  It sounds like it will be a cool YA Steampunk Western.  In fact, the blurb on the back of the du