WHAT I'M READING THIS WEEK | #WEEKLYMENU WEEK #298


Its Monday... Again... This last week has been hell on wheels. We've been running and running. Things keep happening and not all of it was been fun. My youngest is recovering from his throat bleed last weekend. He has more energy and his color is back. That was a scary one. Wonder what its all going to cost me?

This weeks book is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Its been on my TBR pile the longest and I've been trying to read some of my back log. I loved the movie and so far the book is wonderful, even though I'm only 10% of the way through. Have you read this book? Let me know what you think.

This weeks menu is delicious so enjoy!


Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday
Friday

Saturday

Sunday
Leftovers Night

Shadows on The Wall | Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou



Title: Life Doesn't Frighten Me
By: Maya Angelou
Genre: Picture Book
Pages: 32
Release Date: February 6th, 1993
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Summary from Goodreads: "Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all”

Maya Angelou's brave, defiant poem celebrates the courage within each of us, young and old. From the scary thought of panthers in the park to the unsettling scene of a new classroom, fearsome images are summoned and dispelled by the power of faith in ourselves.

Angelou's strong words are matched by the daring vision of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose childlike style reveals the powerful emotions and fanciful imaginings of childhood. Together, Angelou's words and Basquiat's paintings create a place where every child, indeed every person, may experience his or her own fearlessness.

In this brilliant introduction to poetry and contemporary art, brief biographies of Angelou and Basquiat accompany the text and artwork, focusing on the strengths they took from their lives and brought to their work. A selected bibliography of Angelou's books and a selected museum listing of Basquiat's works open the door to further inspiration through the fine arts.


Review: A few weeks ago, my five year old saw something in his half waking state that frightened him. He is now afraid of everything. The most strange fear is the television. I have to cover the TV with a blanket before he will uncover his head in the morning. Naturally, I've been looking for anything to help him feel braver and over come his fears.

I found this book on some list on Google. I don't even know what I was looking for, but I'm glad I found this one. The pictures are actually a little frightening, to tell you the truth, but the way my son reacted was amazing. As we read the words, the story told my son that he didn't need to be afraid over and over again. This repetitive phrase helped him to start and build confidence. He didn't cower at the pictures, he just told me that he wasn't afraid. It was awesome. 

I'm glad I found this book and will read it to my five year old as many times as it takes to get him back to normal.  



Change the Underland Forever | Gregor The Overlander by Suzanne Collins



Title: Gregor the Overlander
By: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 326
Release Date: September 1st, 2003
Publisher: Scholastic

Summary from Goodreads: This irresistible first novel tells the story of a quiet boy who embarks on a dangerous quest in order to fulfill his destiny -- and find his father -- in a strange world beneath New York City.

When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it -- until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever.



Review: Before there was The Hunger Games, there was Gregor the Overlander. This happens to be in my top five oldest books on my Goodreads TBR pile. I've been wanting to read it ever since it came out and now I have. The story is centered around our main character Gregor as he falls into a world where rats and cockroaches are life size. It is in this world that Gregor must believe in himself and become a key part in an old prophecy that predicts a deadly adventure. Can Gregor over come his fears and save his long lost father, bringing him home once and for all, or will he hide, letting the rats concur all.   

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.



WHAT I'M READING THIS WEEK | #WEEKLYMENU WEEK #297


Its Monday again! Happy after Easter. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was full of family and lots of delicious food. The boys got to see an entire wall made out of peeps. I had to remind the boys not to lick the wall. Its amazing that I have to say things like that, but such is life.

This weeks book is going to be Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. To tell you the truth, I've already started the book and I'm about 20% of the way through it. I'm not a fan of Gaiman's writing style, but this one is not too bad... so far... We shall see. Stay tuned for a review.

Lets get on to the weekly menu. Enjoy!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday
Leftovers Night

Escape Velocity | We The Animals by Justin Torres



Title: We The Animals
By: Justin Torres
Genre: Autobiography
Pages: 128
Release Date: August 30th, 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary from Goodreads: An exquisite, blistering debut novel.

Three brothers tear their way through childhood — smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from trash, hiding out when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn — he’s Puerto Rican, she’s white — and their love is a serious, dangerous thing that makes and unmakes a family many times.

Life in this family is fierce and absorbing, full of chaos and heartbreak and the euphoria of belonging completely to one another. From the intense familial unity felt by a child to the profound alienation he endures as he begins to see the world, this beautiful novel reinvents the coming-of-age story in a way that is sly and punch-in-the-stomach powerful.

Written in magical language with unforgettable images, this is a stunning exploration of the viscerally charged landscape of growing up, how deeply we are formed by our earliest bonds, and how we are ultimately propelled at escape velocity toward our futures.



Review: This story was wonderful. Its amazing what the author had to go through as a child, but he managed to come away from it with a unique view on life. He digs deep into the love of his family and the wonder of brotherhood. I loved the struggles and the pain. How the author overcame them. This book shows that family is all you need. 



The Best Kind of Logic | The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang





Title: The Kiss Quotient
By: Helen Hoang
Genre: Romance
Pages: 317
Release Date: June 5th, 2018
Publisher: Berkley

Summary from Goodreads: A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...



Review: Another wonderful book from the Goodreads best books of 2018. I can see why this one was voted best romance, but I have to say I wasn't prepared for the main character. All the best romance books are the ones that can stand on their own without the sexy parts. The ones that have a good story behind them. This book was just that. A great story... but they sexy parts were good to :). 

The one thing that caught me off guard was that the main character was autistic. I have an autistic son so I know all about how hard social interaction can be and this book really played on that. If this book wasn't a sexy book, I would be recommending it to my mom as a wonderful story about how someone with autism can make their way in this world that caters to the normal and shuns what is different. Loved this book. 


WHAT I'M READING THIS WEEK | #WEEKLYMENU WEEK #296


Monday! Here we are again. Youngest son is going to have surgery on his nose, throat and ears this week. He will have tubes put in his ears to drain the fluid that keeps building up and causing him to go deaf. He is going to have his adenoids take out to help with his breathing through his nose and swallowing, and he will have his tonsils removed so he can breath better at night. All of this will be done at the same time, poor little guy. He is going to be miserable for a while, but the benefits in the long run will be amazing. I can't wait for him to hear better.

This weeks book is The Passage by Justin Gronin. I really liked the show and now that I am reading the book, I'm finding that the book is much different than the show. I'm not sure if its in a good way or a bad way yet, but I'm only about 25% of the way through the book and haven't gotten to the good parts yet. We shall see. Stay tuned.

This weeks menu looks delicious so please, enjoy! 


Monday

Tuesday
- Taco Tuesday!

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday
Leftovers Night

The Bargain That Never Plays Out Well | In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire



Title: In An Absent Dream
By: Seanan McGuire
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 203
Release Date: January 8th, 2019
Publisher: Tor.com

Summary from Goodreads: This fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.



Review: This story blew me away. I always love this author and the stories that come from their mind, but this story had a little bit of a creepy mystery to it that really kept me on the edge of my seat. At first, you are rooting for the main character. you want her to run back to the doorway, but as time goes on, you really feel the heart string for her sister and you want her to stay. I found Lundy to be really selfish, but I could still see her point of view. She almost had an autistic sense around her, maybe because I am an mom of an autistic child. Great story. A must read!



Silenced In All Caps | Shrill By Lindy West



Title: Shrill
By: Lindy West
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 260
Release Date: May 17th, 2016
Publisher: Hachette

Summary from Goodreads: Coming of age in a culture that demands women be as small, quiet, and compliant as possible--like a porcelain dove that will also have sex with you--writer and humorist Lindy West quickly discovered that she was anything but. 

From a painfully shy childhood in which she tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her big body and even bigger opinions; to her public war with stand-up comedians over rape jokes; to her struggle to convince herself, and then the world, that fat people have value; to her accidental activism and never-ending battle royale with Internet trolls, Lindy narrates her life with a blend of humor and pathos that manages to make a trip to the abortion clinic funny and wring tears out of a story about diarrhea.

With inimitable good humor, vulnerability, and boundless charm, Lindy boldly shares how to survive in a world where not all stories are created equal and not all bodies are treated with equal respect, and how to weather hatred, loneliness, harassment, and loss--and walk away laughing. Shrillprovocatively dissects what it means to become self-aware the hard way, to go from wanting to be silent and invisible to earning a living defending the silenced in all caps.



Review: I've read several books by female comedians who have had a hard upbringing. Their stories are usually full of heart ache, but they bring a simple sense of humor to the story that really brings the story to life. Shrill had a story to tell, but the authors delivery was far from humorous. Every chapter felt like the author was complaining. She's a self proclaimed fat girl... and that's all that we hear about. A good book needs to have hope. I want a story about how the author overcame the critics, but the first half of the book was one giant blame game. 

It wasn't until the author really dug deep and started to fight the war against comedians poking fun at rape. That was when I really felt like he had something worthwhile to say. If you could skip the first half of the book and just read the parts that really mattered, I would recommend that. I gave the book three stars because half the book was amazing and half was not.



WHAT I'M READING THIS WEEK | #WEEKLYMENU WEEK #295


Hello Monday! My oldest is back from outdoor school. Its nice to have all my little chickadees under one roof again. He said he had a good time, but was glad to be back home. I don't blame him. After five days of being away from home, I'm always glad to be back too. 

This weeks book is going to be The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton. I really enjoyed another book of her's so I thought I would try this one. We shall see if I like it. I've heard that Ms. Morton is a one trick pony and all of her books have the same story line. What are your thoughts?

I'm excited for this weeks menu, so get out there and cook some food. Enjoy!



Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday
- Taco night

Sunday
Leftovers Night

Mortal Engines | Movie Review


Title: Mortal Engines
Genre: Dystopian
Release Date: December 14th, 2018 
Rating: 6.2/10 IMDB

Summary from IMDB: In a post-apocalyptic world where cities ride on wheels and consume each other to survive, two people meet in London and try to stop a conspiracy.


Review: I've read the book and now I've seen the movie. The book was great in my opinion and if you want to read my review, follow this link

There were some terrible reviews of this movie when it was first released last year, I can see why... to a point, but I think there was something wonderful about this movie still that makes it worth watching. 

The characters all have a purpose, no matter how small it might be. They were wonderful. What could have been improved upon was their back story. We really didn't get the sense of why the characters were as colorful as they were. I think that had a lot to do with limited timing and so much story to fit into 2 hours and 8 minutes. 

The cinematic were epic. The cities that travel the land eating smaller cities really were terrifying in an awesome way. 

I wanted to know more, but since I had already read the book, I had a better sense of what was going on. My poor husband though needed explanations.

The movie was worth watching once, and the book is a great read. You should really pick up both.



March 2019 Wrap Up


Another month down. I know I probably say this every wrap up, but I can't believe its April already. There were so many great books last month that I am excited to recap with you. Did you have a favorite book that you read last month? Share you reads with me in the comments.

Big Little LiesBig Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.
 

 






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