Monthly Archives: June 2014

Oh, Wine!

I really love wine. I love a crisp, chilled Pinot Grigio on a hot summer day. I love a dark, rich Malbec in the winter. I love the way it tastes. I love the nice little shift out of focus towards relaxation.

white

But wine doesn’t like me. 🙁

<whine>

For the past couple of years, it’s really been a choice for me between a delicious glass of wine and an equally delicious night of uninterrupted sleep.

While I am able to fall asleep quite nicely, after a glass or two of wine, I’m wide awake around 2:00 a.m. with all the other insomniacs on twitter.

Apparently, I’m not alone in this. A study showed that while wine has sleep inducing properties, the alcohol interferes with your REM sleep so you don’t sleep as restfully as you do without it. 

malbec

So, even knowing all of this, I sometimes give in and drink wine. And, when I’m up in the middle of the night, I realize what a truly bad decision it was.

Just when I think I’m an adult. Ha! 

Anyway, does this happen to you? Have you ever thought about your sleeplessness and connected it to the wine you had to drink? 

Book Review: LOOT

LootLoot by Jude Watson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such a FUN book! LOOT is a kids book that’s loaded with intrigue, excitement and a really good story.

Marsh watches his father, a jewel thief, fall from a roof in Amsterdam and die. He’s 13 and alone in the world as far as he knows but he’s been along with his dad his whole life and knows to follow the clues he left behind.

In the process, he finds out he has a twin sister, Jules, who he’s been separated from since they were small kids to try and keep the prophecy of their dying together from happening.

Jules and Marsh are sent to a group home where they meet Darius and Izzy. They all break out of the home and go on a huge adventure to steal back the 7 moonstones that Marsh & Jules’s dad stole many years ago and break the curse.

This is a fun, clever book with great characters. I give it two thumbs up! 🙂

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Book Review: I Am The Mission

I Am the Mission (The Unknown Assassin, #2)I Am the Mission by Allen Zadoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Part of me must be a 15 year old boy because I really like these books. This is the second in the series and I liked it even better than the first.

Zach is known as Daniel in this book. He is sent on a mission and then seemingly ignored by The Program until the very end. Dropped off at a recruitment meeting for Camp Liberty, Daniel is supposed to kill the leader of the kids but he’s not supposed to go into the camp itself. When he realizes he can’t complete the mission without going into the camp, he goes in. Once he achieves the mission, he realizes that it only sets off a larger plot that he must then stop.

This book is full of intrigue and excitement. You think he isn’t going to make it out alive and, yet, he does.

I can’t wait to read the next in this series and I highly recommend it.

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Book Review: The Summer Wind

The Summer WindThe Summer Wind by Mary Alice Monroe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book which is the second book in a series. I didn’t read the first book, although I did check it out from the library but had to return it before I could finish.

This book is about three sisters who have the same father. They come from very different backgrounds other than that but their grandmother invites them to her house, where they used to come as children, for one last summer.

After the summer, Mamaw plans to sell the family home. She wants the girls to remember that they were sisters and the fun they had together while they were growing up.

It’s an eventful summer and the girls do draw closer. The story is wonderful and I plan to read the next book and go back and see what I missed in the first. 🙂

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Book Review: The Quick

The QuickThe Quick by Lauren Owen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I loved this book. 🙂 When I got to the end of the first part, I realized it was going to be about vampires.

No where in the information I read about the book did I see the word vampire and mostly through the book, you never see the word vampire. If I had seen it prior to reading,I sincerely doubt I would have chosen this book and I’m glad I didn’t because it was that good!

This is a long book. I love getting totally wrapped up in a story like this one which takes place mostly in London where there is a large population of the undead.

Charlotte’s brother, James, is turned into a vampire unwillingly. She finds out, finds him and takes him away to their childhood home and then begins the process of trying to find a cure for him.

This story is amazing and you will find yourself on the edge of your chair at some points in it.

I highly recommend this book, me a non vampire book reader. 🙂

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Book Review: The Approval Fix

The Approval Fix: How to Break Free from People PleasingThe Approval Fix: How to Break Free from People Pleasing by Joyce Meyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great book. I adore Joyce Meyer and was excited to be able to review this book for Netgalley.

I was 41 years old when I realized I didn’t care if people liked me or not. That’s kind of coming late to the game and I admire those who are able to be confident in themselves and not needing the approval of others in their young lives.

I honestly thought I had gotten past the need to please poeple but apparently there are little fragments left. I had a situation that I felt I need to be involved in so they didn’t think badly of me. Then I picked this book up to finish it and the truth hit me in the face: I do NOT have to please them, I need to please God first and then myself. It helped me make some important decisions.

If you have ever struggled with people pleasing this book is for you. Joyce’s style is real and honest and very understandable. 🙂

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