Blog Schedule Christmas Break

This is just a quick post to let you all know what will be happening in the next couple of weeks.
It's of course Christmas tomorrow, a time to spend with family and so on, which means I won't be able to post anything when I want to.

Until the new year I won't be posting Tea Tuesdays or Reviews, they just take longer to write up, and I don't have time.

Don't despair, I will be posting random stuff until the schedule is back to normal.


I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
See you all in the new year.

Short-Story Sunday: La Belle Femme by Aine Greaney

Review

I'm on the fence when it comes to short-stories, I love them if they are executed brilliantly. It's those few that don't pull it off that make me not interested in them.

Unfortunately this was one of them. I didn't understand what was going on, everything seemed to be jumping from one person to the next. All I got from this was this woman was having an affair, once her marriage had ended she wanted to end the affair.

I didn't feel anything for these characters, I felt like I was reading a manual about what was going on in these strange peoples lives, and overall I didn't care.

Now I know it's hard to write short-stories, you have to put as much information as possible in so many words, but it can be done. I've read short-stories where it was executed brilliantly.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't enjoy this book, but this doesn't stop me from picking up other short-stories in the future.


My star rating for La Belle Femme by Aine Greaney is:

Book Review: The Fairy Wren by Ashley Capes

Synopsis

Paul Fischer is an emotionally distant bookseller who finds himself beaten down by his failing business, which transforms life in the Australian coastal town of Stony Bay into a daily struggle. 

When he receives a strange phone call asking for help, from a woman who may or may not be his estranged wife Rachel, he is drawn into a mysterious search that threatens not only his livelihood, but long-buried dreams too.

Review

The hard thing for me as a reviewer is to try and find the right words to describe my love of a book that I highly enjoyed. Especially one that is so well written that you hope your words will do it justice.
I just feel like an amateur (which I am), next to this amazing, well written story.
And I'm especially not saying this because the author contacted me to review his book, this is my honest opinion....I love this book!

In the point of view of Paul Fischer, who seems to be having one life blow after the other.
His bookstore that doesn't seem to be going as well as he likes, doesn't seem to have any customers coming into his store, and with rent going higher, he doesn't know if he would have his beloved bookstore for long. Which actually made me sad as I love going into bookstores, all I wanted to do was go into his store and buy as many books as I possibly can.
And let's not talk about his ex-wife and the intervention order she has against him.

There is so much I want to talk about, but because so much happens in such a short story, I don't want to give anything away.  So I'm just going to lightly go over the things I love about this book (which is basically all of it).

Paul's character was very interesting, at first he seemed that he wanted to move on with his life and try and find his path. Even though with the help of family and friends, he seems to always be in trouble. I think if other people were in his situation they would've of broken down and had a nervous breakdown, but not Paul, he held his head up high and was constantly thinking of others, especially his ex-wife Rachel.

There was also this presence of a supernatural feeling with the fairy wren. It didn't take up the whole story, even though it was a major part of it, it just felt like it was in the background. Is it really something magical, or just plain superstition on Paul's part?
I have a very superstitious nature, if I see if an animal is trying to tell me something, I would try and find out what that is. We aren't the only race that can communicate, why not believe in the unbelievable?

Like I said at the beginning, I don't know how to put into words on how much I love this book. I was gripped right from the beginning, and I literally could not put it down. I'm not joking, I was taking this book everywhere just so I can find out what will happen next.
Hats off to Ashley Capes for such a brilliant, well written, magical novel. Please do not stop writing, especially if they are all like this.



My star rating for The Fairy Wren by Ashley Capes is: (of course)

Tea Tuesday: Book Scenario Tag

To be honest (I say that a lot), I couldn't think of anything else to post today. I have been so busy lately with Christmas presents and things like that. So I thought today I'll do a book tag. Hope you enjoy.

This tag was created by Linday Hearts Books, and all you have to do is answer seven scenarios with the books of your choice. Easier said then done in my opinion.



1. You have to get rid of all your books and you can only keep one from each of these genres - contemporary, fantasy, non-fiction and one other genre of your choosing. What books do you keep?

Contemporary:

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

-A funny and exciting read. I could read this over and over again (I have read this twice already).

Fantasy:

A Song Of Ice And Fire series by George R.R. Martin

-Like hell I'm only going to pick one book. I will NEVER get rid of this series.

Non-Fiction:

Elizabeth by J. Randy Taraborrelli

-My favourite actress of all time, and what a life she has lived.

Classic:

Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

-My favourite Jane Austen novel. And to prove that I love this so much, I own three copies of it (all different editions), and I still want more.

2. You're at the bookstore and you hear a teenager telling their mum they don't like to read, but their mum insists they pick something. You walk over and recommend a book you think is great for people who aren't big on reading - what book is it?

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

-What person, even teenager, wouldn't love this. A classic story with a modern twist.

3. You're not feeling yourself and need a pick me up. Which book do you read to put yourself in a great mood?

The Wit And Wisdom Of Tyrion Lannister by George R.R. Martin

-Probably one of the best characters of all time, and here are all his quotes from the book series, A Song Of Ice And Fire. Always puts a smile to my face.

4. You go back in time for a day to your teenage years. What book would you most likely have caught yourself reading?

When We Were Gods by Colin Falconer

-I'm not kidding when I say I've read this book at least 20 times, probably more, when I was a teenager. I've even marked out my favourite scenes. 

It's been a while since I've read this, so it's about time to do it again.

Also, I was never embarrassed about the cover.

5. Your friend surprises you with a 4 day trip and you have 1 hour to pack. Which book do you bring to read on the way?

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

-Because if this was a true friend that did this for me, they would know I want to desperately visit Scotland. So what better novel then Outlander?

6. Your house has been robbed! Don't worry - everyone is safe, but your bookshelf has been raided. What's the book you really hope is safe?

The World Of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin

-Not only am I obsessed with this world George R.R. Martin has created, but this is the most expensive book I own.

Actually I'll kill anyone who tries to steal my books.

7. Your friend borrows a book and returns it in awful condition. Do you:
a) Just pretend you haven't noticed
b) Ask them to purchase it
c) Secretely do the same to something of theirs

If someone did that to my book then they are truly not a friend.

If your friend borrows something of yours and returns it in an awful condition, they are basically damaging your property.

So even though I want to choose c and take my revenge, I'll be the bigger person and choose b then unfriend them.

Warning to anyone who wants to borrow a book of mine.

I hope you enjoyed this tag, I think I'll do these every now and them when I have nothing else to post.

Let me know what you think of my answers, and if you also want to do this tag I would love to see your answers.

Book Review: Traveling Left Of Center And Other Stories by Nancy Christie

As the title says, this book consists of multiple short stories. So to make things easier (for me or you, either one), I decided to review them individually while also explaining a brief description on what the story is about.
Hopefully I don't give anything away because most of them, if not all, are edge of your seat reading.

Traveling Left Of Centre

I found this story to be a case of one not learning from their mistakes. Or more to the point of not knowing what they are doing is completely wrong.
A young woman who dwells on men wanting her, ends up pregnant and the father leaving before the child is born.
I didn't love this character, she was selfish, stupid at most times, and all she talked about was her nails. Her mother wasn't any better, yeah she kept telling her to put her life together, but in the end she let her get away with it so she just kept on doing it.

Just because I didn't enjoy the characters in the story did not mean in the slightest that I didn't love it. It showed us the real world, not sugar coating it and a happily ever after.


Alice In Wonderland

This one was interesting and disturbing. At first I wasn't quite sure what I was reading because it was telling us she eats the pages of the books to escape her tortured life of living with her evil mother. At first I thought what she meant my eating the pages was another way of saying she was digesting the book and getting really absorbed in the story, but when I think about it, I think she actually ate the pages.
Other then that, this story blew me away. Just the way it was written of a woman who was struggling with life every day, dealing with this evil person who didn't care about anyone else but herself.

I'm going to mention this a lot with the other stories, but that ending. I need to know more, it possibly can not end that way!


The Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl was straight out strange, a woman goes out looking for older men, they buy her dinner and what not, but when she gets back to her place she comes up with crazy stories about this old sugar bowl. Now the older gentlemen feels sorry for her and leaves. The odd thing is, that's what she plans to do all along, she wants them to feel sorry for this young woman and just leave.
I just didn't see the point in all of it, yes peoples minds are different, but really?

Again the ending left me wanting more, what can I say, this character was a strange one.


The Shop On The Square

Not surprising another strange and gripping story. This one in the point of view of a man who stumbles across a small Mexican town seeking refuge from the blazing heat.
I don't want to say too much about this one, except I love it and everyone should read it. Unfortunately you will be frustrated at the end because all you want to know is what happened to him.


Watching For Billy

A sad story of am elderly woman living on her own since her husband died and her son who never visits. All she wants is company and she gets it in a young boy by the name of Billy.
Let's just say this is why I get angry at young people and taking advantage of the older generation. I'm not saying they are all like that, but there is a few. I was angry and sad throughout this story, and I just wanted to go to her and spend a moment of my time with this lonely woman.
This definitely tugged at the heart strings.


The Healer

I believe Nancy Christie writes some interesting characters and strange plot lines. A young woman has the ability to heal others just by her touch, but she doesn't want this power, she just wants to live a normal life.
Read this one people, it makes you think about the way we live. Well that was what I got from it anyway.


The Clock

I'm going to say this right now, I was literally cheering at the end. It's basically about an old man and his verbally (and physically) abusive wife. It just goes on and on and on until....Well you have to read it to find out.
One of my favourite stories.


Anything Can Happen

Charlotte who is always careful to the point of being OCD, has a day where things don't go according to her plan.
There isn't much else I can say about this without giving too much away.
I loved this one and really felt sorry for Charlotte and what she must go through on a daily basis.


Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

What a strange story, a man with I'm guessing mental issues, has voices in his head telling him what to do.
It's interesting seeing the point of view of a character like this, it makes you see the bigger picture.


Misconnections

I love this story because I love the aspect of dreams. It's crazy about what we dream about, especially if we are dreaming about a tragic disaster, a family member dead, why would we dream something like that?
The main character, a mother and wife, her dreams are taking over her life, which is also making her slightly paranoid.
Very enjoyable read, my heart truly goes out to her.


Skating On Thin Ice

This was a case of life repeating itself.
I do believe that your behaviour in front of your children will rub off on them. You are the figure they look up to, what most aspire to be. So if you are an alcoholic, it's more then likely they would be too. This story anyway.
A terrible childhood with a drunk mother and a missing father, her story is very interesting. Especially when you get towards the end.
I wish I could read more of this character, I need to know how she is.


Still Life

This is something I think everyone experiences. It's the difference between fantasy and reality, what we want our lives to be like to what it really is like.
This story should be read by everybody, the ending surprised me.


The Storyteller

An old lady telling stories to sick children about her exciting life from childhood to present, except she's lying. She tells these magical stories to children who will never be able to experience it for themselves, and maybe also a childhood she wish she had.
I really felt sorry for the old lady, especially when something happens to her at the end of the book. Again, I want more of this story, I wish it never ended.


Exit Row

An old man sick of dealing with his basically stupid wife for over 50 years, goes on a holiday. The whole scene takes place on the flight over, and what an interesting story it is. This man has to deal with so much from his wife, that I wonder why he couldn't just stick up to her. And my goodness is she stupid, or is it really stupidity.
I was sad and happy with the ending, you have to read it to find out what I mean.


Waiting For Sara

As a mother this story made me scared.
It's about a mother who is waiting for her runaway daughter to finally return to her. All she wants is the best for her child, but it's hard when she doesn't tell you where she is all the time, only calling to give her small details or when she is in a pickle.
If my child every did this to me, I don't know how I will react. Probably freak out and hunt them down.


Beautiful Dreamer

What a tragic story.
Eleanor is a lonely woman who doesn't deal well with social surroundings, avoiding people at all costs. Until she wakes up to a voice saying she is beautiful. She believes that there is mystery man out there that could be the one for her.
I really enjoyed this story, my heart goes out to her. Again, please give me more.


The Kindness Of Strangers

This is a story that if I say anything will give it away, because you really need to go in blind.
I will say this, it's about an old woman by the name of Mona, is in a nursing home (?), who is complaining about everything, especially a particular person by the name of Kate.
Please read this book, it will make you feel all types of feels.


Annabelle

A young lady tells her story when she visits the psychiatrists, a story about her strange parents. Her father a painter who devotes all his attention to painting his wife.
Out of all the short stories I've read, this will have to be not only my favourite, but also the saddest.
It was strange and intriguing all rolled up into one. I'm going to admit (because I don't usually do this), but I did slightly cry. I take off my hat to Nancy Christie for creating this masterpiece.



Those are all the short stories in the book, and I loved every single one of them, I wish they never ended. I also wish my review does it justice, because I really did love this book as a whole and each one of them individually.
I want to thank Cynthia from Pixel Hall Press for sending me this masterpiece to review. I will definitely be reading more of Nancy Christie and requesting everyone to read it also.
Words truly can not describe how much I loved this book.


My star rating for Traveling Left Of Center And Other Stories by Nancy Christie is:

Tea Tuesday: Social Problems

I will avoid public situations like the plague.
Just typing this out now thinking about groups of people and me standing there, having to socialize, turns me into a nervous wreck. Cold sweats and panic attacks follow and in the end I've spent the whole day by myself (actually now with my son), in my home usually cleaning or reading.

This has being going on in my life for as long as I could remember. People used to say it's because I'm shy, but I feel it's much more than that. I just refuse to talk to people, to be around people, I rather be at home doing my own thing and not feel like I'm constantly being judged.
Is that the bottom issue here, that I don't want to be judged? That could be the majority of it, I know that I'm different and have different interests to most people and I should embrace that, but just the thought of someone criticizing them makes me angry and curl up into a ball type of person. Just because I think people are being critical about my interests doesn't stop me from continuing to obsesses over it, I just end up not telling people.

I'm happy in my life at the moment, I have a partner and a 3 year old son that I love more than life itself. I have one of the best friends in the world who happens to be my exact double. We both love the same things, and I'm not kidding, we actually think alike. We are basically separated at birth (even though we are 20 years apart).
So even though I have a "problem," I still love my life. I'm at a point now being 28 that I've accepted that I don't do public situations very well. Yes at times it does become a bit of a problem, but I will work it out on my own. I think as soon as someone gives me advice, instead of going forward I'll be going backwards.

What I'm trying to say is, just accept people for who they are. Yes of course we all don't have the same interests, that's a good thing. Who wants a world of carbon copies, it's being individual that makes this crazy place interesting.
Also, and most importantly, don't judge, don't make rude incorrect comments about someone to anyone with ears. No one is perfect. And like the saying goes, "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

I hope you enjoyed Tea Tuesday, you just got a taste of the real me, hope it wasn't too bitter. 
If you agree or just want to talk about anything I just said, please leave a comment below.

Book Review: A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Synopsis

Summers span decades. Winters can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

Review

Right from the get go things start rolling. Instantly hooked into a fantasy world full of mystery and "Others". Everyone fighting and conniving to get ahead in the Seven Kingdoms, and of course there never is a boring moment. What makes this the best series....No one is safe.

I loved how every chapter was in the point of view (POV) of different characters, because when I say there a lot of characters, I mean there are A LOT of characters. I don't know how George R.R. Martin does it, giving life to people who have such a minor role. That's why I found this book amazing, unlike other fantasy novels (mainly YA ones) Mr Martin actually created a whole new world and described every character there was instead of just ignoring them like a background noise.

I'm not going to be describing the story line, a very complex story line to say the least, but I will just give a brief summery on what I thought of the POV characters.

Eddard Stark:
House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, also called Ned for short, who has faith in the old gods.
An overly protective man of his family and friends that makes him an honorable character. Throughout the book you will get to see how kindly he treats everyone from his wife to a stable boy, even the beheading of a traitor was done in the most honorable way. That's all good when your in Winterfell, but once he goes south to Kings Landing, you never win the game of thrones with honor.

Catelyn Stark:
House Tully, wife to Eddard Stark, is a proud, strong, kind and generous woman. Her faults were her decisions, she thought too much with her heart then her head. There were many things she either done or said that I physically wanted to throw the book into a burning fire. I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but she wasn't my favourite character, then again if she didn't force Ned to go south and be the Hand of the King, this will be a completely different story indeed.
Her treatment to Jon Snow, I can understand as a mother how she will feel to find out her husband has "bastard" a child, and instead of leaving him with his mother brings him back to be raised with his "true born" children. But instead of taking out her anger towards Ned, she despises Jon, like it could be his fault, and you will get to see she dislikes all bastard children, again like it is their fault their fathers are faithless.

Sansa Stark:
House Stark, second child to Eddard and Catelyn Stark. She looks exactly like her mother, not just in looks but her behaviour. Thinking more with her heart than her head. Raised as a lady she dreams of handsome princes, honorable knights, chivalry and love, and the poor thing will have all her dreams crushed when she accompanies her father and younger sister Arya to Kings Landing. She might love her sister Arya, but it becomes apparent there is a strain between the two.

Arya Stark:
House Stark, third child to Eddard and Catelyn Stark. Unlike her other siblings she favours the Stark side in looks and behaviour. Preferring to wield a sword and ride a horse then needlework that a lady of her station is required to do. She is closer to Jon Snow, her bastard brother, then her other brothers and sister, maybe it's because she looks more like him and he understands what it's like to be left out.

Brandon Stark:
House Stark, fourth child to Eddard and Catelyn Stark, also known as Bran for short. Right from the start you get to see how energetic and active he is, loves to climb the ancient castle walls and is very good at it for such a young age. You need to understand his character before his fall, and no I really gave nothing away because it all happens right from the start and it's basically the turning point. Now a crippled boy with no use of his legs, you get to see his character from an active young child, to a sullen one. Surprisingly one of my favourite in character building.

Jon Snow:
House Stark, bastard son to Eddard Stark. All I can say is "poor Jon Snow". Bastard and unloved by his fathers wife, knowing he doesn't belong with the Stark children even if they have the same father. What makes Catelyn Stark hate him even more, if that is possible, is how much Jon looks like a Stark and her eldest son Robb doesn't. When he finds out his father is going south to Kings Landing, he knows he will no longer be welcomed at Winterfell, so with his uncle he goes to the Nights Watch, trying to find out where a bastard like him belongs. Loved his journey, can not wait to see where he ends up.

Tyrion Lannister:
House Lannister, a dwarf known better as the Imp, is a shrewd, educated, calculating and such a witty character. Even though he is a Lannister, you can't help but love him. I couldn't wait till he was in a chapter or his own POV, he just knew how to play the game, getting out of such difficult situations with his cunning ability with words. You can't hate Tyrion, such a lovable character, trust me.

Daenerys Targaryen:
House Targaryen, youngest daughter to Aerys II who was killed during the rebellion by Robert Baratheon. Her mother dies giving birth to her on Dragonstone during the rebellion, so with the help of her elder brother Viserys, Daenerys escapes to the free cities. From the start you find her meek, timid, with little confidence and self esteem. Being sold to the Dothraki as a wife to Khal Drogo so her brother can get his army to take back what is rightfully his, the iron throne. Even though I didn't like her being sold, I found if she didn't get married to Khal Drogo, she wouldn't of found her strength and of course her dragons.

I really can't explain how much I'm obsessed with this series. I think about this day and night and it feels as if my life is just wondering who will sit the iron throne at the end.
What's a stronger word for obsession? Whatever it is, that's what I am.


My star rating for A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin is:

If you have read A Game Of Thrones I would love to hear what your thoughts in the comments below, and if you have also seen the TV show adaptation.

Tea Tuesday: BookTube?

I am never one to follow the crowd. Literally, if something is popular at the time, I will wait years until it becomes unpopular before I buy it. Maybe it's my way of wanting to be individual, or I'm just plain weird, whatever it is, this is just the way I am.

This is why it has taken me over a year to finally decide that I want to do YouTube, or known better as 'BookTube.'

There was many reasons why I didn't want to do it, but it was these two reasons that made me panic, and just thinking about it now has me second guessing about doing BookTube.

My first major problem is I have very low self esteem, I will avoid at all cost to be in pictures. I just don't like the way I look. No rephrase that, I don't like people judging me on the way I look. I've come to the point in my life that I'm happy with myself and there is no way in a million years that I would change that. This is the way I was born, so you can deal with it.

The second issue is negativity. I hate negative people and I know the Internet, especially YouTube, have a ton load of people commenting negative things. I definitely do not want that, I just want to make videos about books, because I'm passionate about it.

At the moment I'm in the planning stage, also the decision stage still. I have gotten to a point that I really want to do it, I want to talk about books and build up friendships with other book lovers.
Once I have progressed from this I will let you all know. And hopefully I have decided to actually do this.


If you have any questions about BookTube, please leave a comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts.

BlogMas Day #1

I've never been a big fan of Christmas, just the thought of it stresses me out.
I'm the type that I prefer buying presents on birthdays, I put more effort into the gifts then buying a heap of stuff that your just handing out to people.
Isn't that what Santa is for?

Well this year I've decided to change all that and really get into the spirit of it. I'll be listening to endless amount of Christmas carols, decorating the house with tinsel and what not, watching all those sappy Christmas movies, but most importantly, I'm going to try and post every day. Don't worry, I will still post Tea Tuesday and Reviews on Thursday, this is just something a little extra.

So since this is technically my first blog post for Christmas you would assume that I got up to a lot of Christmassy things right....well wrong. Monday for me is a day of cleaning, cleaning and endless amount of cleaning.
Okay I did do one Christmas deed, I put our tree up! I will probably be buying more Christmas decorations throughout December.
These are some of the pictures I took. Hope you like them.

Setting the tree up....

Decorating the tree....

And finally....

I hope you enjoyed this blog and many more blogs to come. I'm really trying to get in the spirit of Christmas (I've said that word a lot), and hopefully blogging about it will do that.

If you have any suggestions on what you want me to do, or you just want to comment on my tree decorating skills, please leave a comment below.