Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful for Kristin @ Bookworming in the 21st Century for introducing me to the world of book blogging. I'm grateful for JuJu @ Tales of Whimsy for always leaving a comment, it really makes my day when you do that! I'm grateful for Misty-Book-Rat for being one of my first followers and favorite blogs to read! I'm grateful for SharonLovesCats for always being so honest and because she appreciates the awesomeness of cats, her blog is like a breath of fresh air. I'm grateful for Kristi @ The Story Siren because she's such a blogger inspiration and is so friendly to the book blogger community. I'm grateful for Erica @ The Book Cellar because her enthusiastic tweets about Glee encouraged me to check Glee out and now I am hooked. I am grateful to Kate @ The Never Ending Bookshelf because she's such a kind, wonderful person and wonderful to tweet with. I'm grateful to J. Kaye's Book Blog because she's a fabulous community builder.

I'm grateful to FSB associates for trusting me to review their books! I'm grateful to amazon for providing books I can afford. I'm grateful to BetterWorldBooks.com for providing books I can afford and donating part of the profits to literacy charities.

I'm grateful for my family, both blood-related, and those who might as well be family I'm with them enough. I'm grateful for my friends for always providing an ear. I'm grateful for my boyfriend/lover/companion for basically keeping me afloat.

I'm grateful for all of my followers, seeing you still there makes my day every time I check blogger dashboard.

I'm grateful for the book blogging community, it feels like some of you know me better than several of my friends IRL.

I'm grateful for authors, without you and your magical words I would have no escape, I would be so stressed out, and I'd never have anything to do!

Review of The SuperStress Solution by Roberta Lee

Let me be honest here, I was probably the most irritating person ever while I was reading The SuperStress Solution by Roberta Lee. I would stop my reading and point out to whoever was in the room, be it my boyfriend, his mom, or even the dogs, oh did you know...scents cause people to be relaxed, cell phones make you anxious, or peanuts are good for you, etc. I know, reading those examples probably makes me sound like an airhead, but really, I have a crap diet (i.e. I only eat bread and meat and cheese), I don't know much about aroma therapy, and I am quite smug about cellphones because I don't have one (thanks mom and dad for cutting me off!).

The SuperStress Solution basically starts off with some anecdotes and examples of SuperStress which I could definitely relate to, because hello, I student teach which is the most stressful thing I've ever done -- seriously I spend all my time grading crappy papers (yes moron, there is a spell-check, USE IT!), making powerpoints, planning lessons, or designing assignments. I get up at the crack of dawn, and get what seems like an hour of reading in per day. I need longer than an hour!! But I digress, after the anecdotes, there's a long nifty quiz where you can see what kind of superstressed you are. I am agitated,overwhelmed by life and driven stressed, which is a bit interesting, because I can be a rather lazy person, but I know the littlest things irritate me, such as the sound of my ex-roommate's voice (hey moron, if you really want to be an English teacher, shouldn't you enjoy reading a bit more?!), so I can see where agitated comes from.

After you diagnose yourself with the quiz, there are plenty of solutions and ideas to reduce your stress, such as relaxing, and get this, one of Lee's top relaxing recommendations is reading a good book, so no wonder I feel I'm under so much stress, I'm not making enough time to relax with a good book! Aside from books, she gives tips on what you eat, how to exercise, aromatherapy, and journaling activities. At the very end is a four-week plan tailored to your type of super stress. I'm too "overwhelmed and agitated" to follow a plan though, so I didn't actually do what she said, but gleaned some cool tips and may try her recipies which were at the end. The recipies are basically a meal plan for 4 weeks which is awesome, because I never know what to eat besides meat and cheese and candy, so who knows maybe I will actually see some results from eating like a regular normal person.

I would definitely recommend this book if you want to annoy everyone around you with stress-related tidbits, and yes I do enjoy irritating people. I'd also say if you are stressed out, you really need to read this book, so you know how to handle your problem in a healthy manner. While reading this book, I absolutely recommend red wine, Lee states a glass of red wine per day is good for you, but don't overdo it, therefore, perhaps you should enjoy your one glass while reading her book!

Review of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig is an adult historical fiction romance. It alternates between modern day England and Post-Revolutionary France. The book alternates between three main characters, Eloise, Amy Balcourt, and Richard Selwick.It's basically a spin-off of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I felt the Secret History of the Pink Carnation was rather exaggerated, but the exaggeration was hilarious. You have Amy Balcourt who is part English, part French, and so determined to join a league of spies, she's getting herself consistently into trouble. You have Eloise who is a modern girl, but has boy troubles. You also have a certain character and her umbrella. The dialogue isn't incredibly witty either, but I laughed (perhaps it doesn't take much for me).

I liked that there were strong women in this book, I almost didn't expect it, because it is billed as a historical romance, but these women kick ass. They are brave, courageous, intelligent, and loyal. Granted they may be a bit sexually active, but that really does not bother me. I felt Amy Balcourt was a determined force to be reckoned with.

Aside from the characters, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation was steamy. There were certain scenes/chapters which may offend those who dislike book sex, whereas others will have to cool down after those scenes.

I would say this is definitely not a serious read, it's basically brain candy after a stressful week, and I found it rather easy to lose myself in this book. While reading it, I suggest you drink Chocolate Lab Wine. It's a New York chocolate flavored dessert wine, I wouldn't call it my wine of choice, it's too sweet, but definitely something I do enjoy once in awhile!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is hosted by the terrific Story Siren.

This week's IMM is pretty huge, because it also includes last week's books AND the Penguin Putnam publisher warehouse sale was this week!

Contest Wins:

Maximum Ride Prize Pack from The Page Flipper

The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan from The Discriminating Fan Girl

For Review:

Accidental Teacher by Dave Bernier

Pride And Prejudice And Zombies by Seth Graham-Smith and Jane Austen

Sense And Sensability and Sea Monsers by Ben H. Winters and Jane Austen

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain from One Arc Tours

Girl On The Other Side by Deborah Kerbal also from One Arc Tours

Everything else shown has been purchased, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stolz & Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick were purchased at Borders. All other books were purchased for less than 2$ each at the Penguin-Putnam Warehouse Sale!!

News!

If you are following me on Twitter, then you definitely know I have 33 books in a pile to giveaway on my blog (unless I counted wrong)!

Partial picture of the pile:

Here's a list, if there's a number, that is the number of copies!

Looking For Alaska by John Green (2)
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Let It Snow by John Green & Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
How To Deal by Sarah Dessen
This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen (2)
Someone Like You By Sarah Dessen
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Peeps by Scott Westerfield (2)
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Take Me There by Susan Colasanti
Willow by Julie Hoban
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Bedor
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
Geek Charming by Robin Palmer
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Frostbite by Richelle Mead
Devilish by Maureen Johnson
Just One Wish by Janette Ralston
Firebringer by David Clement-Davies
The Sugarless Plum by Zippora Karz
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
Rowan Hood by Nancy Springer
ARC of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
ARC of The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart
ARC of The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby

Now I need to figure out a fun way to host a giveaway for these books, I love the idea of Kristin @ Bookworming in the 21st Century's month-long comment contest, so I may do something along those lines. I want to host a contest which will lead to more people following (I enjoy the ego boost). I know I will use a googledoc sign up then if you want extra entries, just do that in comments, because I know I do the extra entries after filling out the form. But I would also like to host some sort of unique contest, IE if you made me a fun video on youtube about why you want to win (such as a rap or a slam poem, or a skit LOL). Clearly, one winner will not get all the books. I'm not even really sure how to split the books either, maybe the winners could pick and choose?! Hmmm. If anyone has any awesome serious ideas, please let me know.

In other news: I am currently reading The Superstress Solution by Roberta Lee, MD, and what do you know, nothing beats stress like a good book, no wonder I feel so stressed lately, I haven't gotten in my reading time, or at least as much time to read as I would wish.

Review of Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Another day, another overdue review. As most of you remember, Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon was a time of great accomplishment, especially for me, I think I read five books. I've only reviewed two of those books so far. (Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Bunnicula!). Coraline by Neil Gaiman was my second read for the 'thon.

I wish I had read Coraline before The Graveyard Book, because I felt Coraline fell fairly short of my expectations. Do not get me wrong, Coraline was a fairly decent read, but to me it just lacked the sparkle of The Graveyard Book. Coraline is about a little girl with lameass parents who sit on the computer all day long. To be honest one of my thoughts was that it is pretty scary to think that one day my generation could be those parents.

Coraline also has weird has-been neighbors and an eccentric old guy who lives upstairs with his mouse circus. Well, she gets bored one day and her parents continue to neglect her, so she decides to go exploring. She finds a whole world of trouble.

I thought the characters were interesting, they all definitely had distinct personalities, but I just wanted more. I know the book is fairly short, so there may not be enough space to give me all I want with the book. I enjoyed reading about her weirdo neighbors, so it sucks they weren't more developed. Granted, I understand this is a children's book, not a character study. And, I concede, there are cool parts, like the theater scene, and well, the end is interesting. Also, Coraline is fairly well developed and we definitely see growth coming for her. I like that she's a strong girl character. I think she has some admirable characteristics for younger readers to look up to.

While reading this book, I would recommend lime kool-aid, as lime kool-aid is delicious, frivolous, and well, not something I would prefer to drink all the time. I also would say the Twister drinks aren't too great on their own, but add some liquid grown up treats and they are great!

Review of Anthem by Ayn Rand

Obviously, Anthem is a diatribe against collectivism. Ayn Rand expounds on the importance of syntax, the meaning of we vs. I. Essentially, this book is about a man named Equality 7-2521, who is a free-thinker.
Anthem begins by describing the society in which Equality 7-2521 lives. People start their lives by living in a home for babies, then they go to school, then a council decides upon their vocations at the age of 15. Oh and once a year they have what is known as the "day of mating."

It is a crime to have thoughts which are different from the thoughts of others (thought-police anybody?).
Anyways, Equality 7-2521 falls in love, makes some discoveries, and decides he is more important than the State. Along the way, many philosophical lessons are learned.

This certainly isn't the worst dystopian novel I've read, but it isn't the best either. I can definately see the appeal to younger readers with a burgeoning interest in philosophy. At the age of 15, you probably would want to read something a little more accesible than The Republic by Plato, so this book would most likely come across as a more desirable read.

To be honest, I really do think this book owes a lot to The Republic. Much like the Republic, children never find out who their parents are, so as to break the filial bond. Also, the members of the society described within Anthem are pretty much kept in the dark, much like Plato's cave. These people are tricked into believing there is no technology. Some leave the cave, some don't. Some see it as their obligation to help others leave the cave, some don't. Overall, I really think what did enhance this book for me was having read The Republic previously, and taking a class on Ancient and Medieval Political Thought/Philosophy, it really helped to clarify what ideals Ayn Rand was trying to express in her novel.