Dust and Shadow Book Review

Writing reviews for two Books in a day, I'm rocking this! Ok, I kinda suck at keeping up with the blog, but life happens, ya know? So anyway, here's my review for Dust and Shadow by Lindsay Faye. I really enjoyed this book, and gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. The book is about Sherlock Holmes and Watson trying to solve the case of Jack the Ripper. A Brilliant idea, I can't believe no one has written yet! Lindsay Faye did an amazing job writing the dialog of Sherlock Holmes. I found it a little hard to read in the beginning, I think Sherlock is easier to watch then to read, but I got the hang of it. Sherlock is not only super smart but I thought he was very likeable as well. I liked all the characters in the book, except for the Ripper of course. I also feel like I learned a lot about the White Chapel Killings and that particular time in London. The story is written from Dr. Watson's point of view, and he writes about the crime scenes in great detail. Some parts are quite gruesome. The ending has a clever twist. You do find out who the killer is, unlike in real life. I'd recommend this book to Sherlock, historical history, and mystery fans. It's worth the read!

Mrs. Poe Review

Better late then never, right? So let's get started. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Mrs Poe is a fictional account of Edgar Allen Poe, his wife, and his mistress Frances Osgood. Although I had a hard time with the subject matter, infidelity doesn't sit well with me, I still really enjoyed the story. Mrs Poe is set during the 1840's in New York city. The authors description of that time and place was perfect. I love details, and I think she did a great job with it. I also enjoyed the main character, Frances, who was also a writer/poet like Poe. She was married with children, and had an absent husband, but she was willing to work hard and didn't like taking from others. I found her admirable in that way. Poe's wife was very young, beautiful, and also pretty darn clever. As a character, I loved and hated her at the same time. There's an interesting twist with her in the end, that I thought was well done. Poe I found to be quite miserable. I did not like him as a person at all. I found him arrogant, mean, and selfish. I was often amazed that Frances loved him. I didn't feel like the woman that she was described to be, would love a man like him. I really can't imagine anyone loving him. He annoyed me, can ya tell? Great writer, terrible guy. With that being said, it was still a good read. I would recommend it to historical fiction lovers, especially if you love New York!

More Halloween reads

I had to pick up my new glasses today, and decided to hit the thrift store on my way home. Thrift stores are the best places to get books. I may not always find what I'm looking for, but I always come home with something good. Anyway, I picked up eight books today, two of which I'd like to read this month. The first one is called Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen. It's about the love triangle between Edgar Allen Poe, his wife , and his mistress. I'm kinda ashamed to admit, I've never read any Poe and don't know much about him. Being from Baltimore, you'd think we would have read his stuff in school, but we never did.

I'm also going to try to read Dust and Shadow by Lindsay Faye. This is a Sherlock Holmes/Jack the Ripper Story. Seems like the perfect Halloween read.

90's Movies

Forgot to mention my favorite 90's movies. My 90's wouldn't have been the same with out Empire Records and Reality Bites!

I'm a 90's girl!

I just heard that the 90's look for makeup is back this fall, and I couldn't be more excited! I was one of those angsty, moody teens during the whole grunge scene, and the look fit me perfectly. I rocked overalls, flannels, crop tops, and of course the dark lips. As soon as I heard that brown lips are back, I rushed right out to the store and picked up Revlon's Coffee Bean. Oh how I've missed me some coffee bean. I think I wore that one shade through all four years of high school. I've been rocking it all week and it actually makes me feel younger! Now, do I go out and get some overalls? Not sure if a 30 something mom can pull those off. Maybe just around the house. This look has got me wanting to rewatch some of my favorite shows from back then also. Who remembers My So Called Life, and Party of Five?

Outlander, who's watching this?

Wow, did you see that wedding? If you only watch one show, it needs to be this one! Let me just say, I have waited a long time for this show to be made, and it was well worth the wait. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is hands down, one of my all time favorite books. I'm so excited to see the show following the book and being done so beautifully. Well done Starz!

Halloween Reads

I Love Halloween time! It's one of my favorite holidays and one of my favorite times to read. The days getting colder and darker, just make me want to snuggle up on the couch and read the world away. I have a couple books that I'm really excited to get into for the month of October, so I wanted to share them and see if anyone else has some more recommendations. First off, I'm starting with Dracula by Bram Stoker. I read it back in high school and loved it. I've been in a funk with the last three books that I've read, so I felt I needed to read something I know would be good. The movie is amazing as well, and I'll be watching it again soon. Also really looking forward to the movie Dracula Untold!

My next book will be The Keeper of the Realm by Bre Faucheux. This one is a paranormal romance. I have high hopes for this one, and I'll be giving a review on it when I'm done. Also, that cover, stunning!

Last on my list is Grimms Fairy Tales. I've never actually read any of these, but I hear they're quite creepy and nothing like the Disney versions that we all know. Again, I'll let you know my thoughts on them.

The White Mare by Jules Watson Review

I've been going back and forth on whether or not to post a review on this book, since my review of The Pillars of The Earth was so terrible, but my thoughts on this book just have to be said. If I can save even one person from feeling like I do right now, then it's worth it. If you can't already tell, I did not like this book. I so wanted to. I had high hopes for this one. On paper, it had everything I could want in a book. But it truly failed to deliver. It is a historical epic tale set in 79 A.D. Scotland. It has Roman invaders, Druids, Warriors, and kings. It had all the makings for a great story. It just couldn't pull it off. The two main characters were mind numbingly boring. I never cared for either of them. They could get together or not, whatever. I ended up skipping pages of details, and I'm a details person. For instance, Diana Gabaldon and Ann Rice do it fantastically. This book is 600 pages long. I HATE quitting on a book. But at page 580, I put it down and said "NO MAS!" I just couldn't even give it the last 20 pages. If the author waited until those pages to wow me, then shame on her. Someone recently just told me to only give a book 100 pages, then feel free to quit it if it's not working for me. I think I'm going to have to adopt that rule. I could have read several other books that I might have loved instead of wasting my time on this one. Well, lesson learned.

Well, I didn't like it:(

OK, I know it's been forever since I've posted about reading The Pillars of The Earth, but hey, life happens. Here's my thoughts on it. It took me two tries, but I finally finished this book. The beginning is incredibly slow and boring, but I was told it gets better so I trudged through. By midway I was angry most of the time while reading it. There are several characters who are so incredibly evil and constantly getting away with horrific acts. It was like watching train wrecks and not being able to do anything about it. It would have been better if there were even one character that I truly liked, but even the so called good characters made me nuts. You need to be on anti-depressants to read this book. It was so draining to read about their horrible lives day after day. I couldn't wait to finish it to to see if something good would finally happen. I was not happy about the ending. All in all, I'm still kinda angry about the whole thing. On a side note, for anyone who has watched Days of Our Lives, did Waleran totally remind you of Stefano DiMara?

Favorite history on You Tube? Crash Course, of course!

HORRIBLE HISTORIES - The Wives of Henry VIII (Terrible Tudors)

Horrible Histories

Let me just say, if you don't already love history, this series will change that.  Horrible Histories is a set of books and videos that teaches all about the grossest, nastiest, and meanest bits of history, but in the most entertaining way.  The videos and books are disturbing and hilarious at the same time.  My kids and I laugh out loud while watching the videos.  We use the books to supplement along with Story of the World.  It adds a whole new layer onto our lessons and really makes the people and places we're learning about come to life.  I highly recommend checking it out! 

The Story of the World

We're a home-schooling family of two kids, grades 4 and 5.  We don't use a set curriculum.  We're always trying out new ways to learn to see what works best.  But there are some learning tools that we continue to use year to year.  

History is our favorite subject, and the main curriculum we have used since the beginning is The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer.  There are four books covering history from the time of Mesopotamia and works it's way through modern times.  You can also purchase activity books, quizzes, and audio CD's.  When my guys were little I bought the CD's.  We would listen to them together and then do the activity that went along with the lesson.  Now they read the books on their own and take the quiz after each chapter.  This is our forth year using it and we just love it. 

  

I'm reading Pillars of the Earth

 I'm a huge fan of historical fiction.  Just about any time period will do, although I do love me some Scottish Highlanders.  The book I'm currently reading is called The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.  I'm only about 30 pages in so I don't have much of an opinion on it yet.  I did come highly rated by my husband, who's the biggest reader I know.  He's been wanting me to read this book for years.  I actually did start to read it about 12 years ago.  We were living in England back then, and the book is set in medieval England, so he thought I'd love it.  For some reason I didn't enjoy it at that time, and I stopped reading it.  I rarely ever stop reading a book once I've started.  It's been on the book shelf for years taunting me and I've decided to give it another chance.  It's a pretty long book, so here's hoping I can get through it this time.  I'll keep ya'll posted on what I think.
OK, I know it's been forever since I've posted about reading The Pillars of The Earth, but hey, life happens. Here's my thoughts on it. It took me two tries, but I finally finished this book. The beginning is incredibly slow and boring, but I was told it gets better so I trudged through. By midway I was angry most of the time while reading it. There are several characters who are so incredibly evil and constantly getting away with horrific acts. It was like watching train wrecks and not being able to do anything about it. It would have been better if there were even one character that I truly liked, but even the so called good characters made me nuts. You need to be on anti-depressants to read this book. It was so draining to read about their horrible lives day after day. I couldn't wait to finish it to to see if something good would finally happen. I was not happy about the ending. All in all, I'm still kinda angry about the whole thing. On a side note, for anyone who has watched Days of Our Lives, did Waleran totally remind you of Stefano DiMara?

Subscibe Link

Ha!  I did it!  I figured out how to put the subscribe by email link on my blog.  I know that probably seems like the silliest thing to get excited about, but I really had no idea how to do it, so it's a big deal to me. I'm quite impressed with myself:)  It really doesn't take much to make me happy.  Now to figure out what else to put on here. 

Meet my biggest brat:)

This is Sonya.  She's a 2 year old Doberman Pincher and she's my biggest baby.  A lot of my time is spent dealing with, I mean taking care of her.  She's pretty high maintenance.  She wants attention 24/7.  She never gets enough.   Sonya's the most annoying and most entertaining dog ever.   She's also very photogenic.  I love taking funny pics of her.  I'm always dressing her up in all sorts of costumes.  She hates it, and it shows in the pictures.  But she's always a good sport about it.  I'm sure she'll be popping up on here often.  I just can't help myself.

Snow day!

Work will just have to wait today.  We got 4 inches of snow yesterday and I just can't pass it up!  Although I did clean off the cars, so I guess that counts.

My first post!

http://stac2277.tumblr.com/
Hello world!  Wow, I don't know how to begin.  I'm new to blogging, and I'm just hoping this doesn't end up as a FAIL!  My purpose in doing this is to get myself figured out.  I feel like I'm just drifting through life, with no real direction.  I'm getting older and I'm watching the people around me accomplishing their goals and moving on to great things in life, and it occurs to me that I want to do something great too!  I've been happy so far to just sit back and let life happen around me.  But I'm not even sure what it is that I want to do.  I need to find my passion.  I'm sure I have one, doesn't everybody?  I do have some lofty dreams.  If I could have any job in the world, I would be a world traveling food taster, or maybe a genealogy researcher.  I love all things history, and I'm completely addicted to Ancestry.com.  But, I'm a homeschooling mom of two.  I have a husband and 3 dogs to take care of.  The only traveling I do is to the grocery store.  Not to exciting.