Canning & Preserving

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Canning and Preserving by Ashley English will not disappoint! After reading Keeping Chickens I was hooked. The second I saw that the person who had been hoarding it finally returned it to the library, I ran out immediately and grabbed it off the shelf 10 minutes before closing. Yes her books are that good.

It provides you with the basics on how to can and gives you some great recipes to try out yourself. I love how her books are so easy to read for the beginner and are honest without being too daunting. So scamper out yourself and grab a copy!

I am really bummed because these are the only two of her books that our library has. Looks like I'll be filling out another request form to buy her others books. I wonder if they put a limit on how many requests one person can make? I would totally go out and buy them myself just to support Ashley, as I am sure I will someday but the funds are not permitting at the moment.

Now that I have finished Canning and Preserving I have moved on to a book Ashley suggests in her blog that I found at our library. The Self Sufficient-ish Bible by Andy and Dave Hamilton. I'm about halfway through but unfortunately there are other things I have to complete, ahem huge research paper due tomorrow, before finishing their wonderful book. Sigh.

Back to dreaded paper, am I done yet?

Riz

PS: T-minus 22 days till I'm a free bird

UPDATE: How can I have been working on this paper for O I don't know 17 hours now and I'm still not done?? Beats me.

Keeping Chickens

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How cool would it be to have a couple chickens and harvest your own eggs? The answer is, so cool. Growing up our Grandma had a couple chickens (nothing like when my Dad grew up, then she had cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, horses, pigs, donkeys, and the list goes on). Our Grandma is the ultimate animal lover and the animals feel the same way about her. When we were growing up she had two Plymouth Rock chickens named Henrietta and Gertrude. Plymouth Rock being the breed, but oddly enough one of them lived out its last few years at Plymouth Plantation in MA.

Photo Credit - Plymouth Rock chicken

So sis and I grew up around her chickens, regularly feeding, watering, and gathering their eggs. Once I settle down on my own plot somewhere, I would love to have my own little flock.

At the library today I picked up Keeping Chickens by Ashley English. This wonderful book gives you general information in regards to keeping your own flock in an easy to read and entertaining manner. She covers all necessary topics ranging from hatching your own chicks to building your own coop. She gives advice based on research in the topic and her own personal experiences and preferences. I finished this book in one sitting and would encourage anyone who is interested in keeping their own flock to pick it up!

Now I'll be passing it off to my equally interested sister...Off to find a book about keeping alpacas or sheep! Can you imagine spinning your own wool from your own animals?

Riz

The Forbidden Game

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The Forbidden Game by L.J Smith, I'm making it through all of her books apparently. Well I am in shock right now because I hated the ending. I get it, but I still hate it. This book is about a girl who started off on a quest at the last minute to find a game for her and her friends to play at the party she was having for her boyfriend. She ended up getting a game that wasn't actually a game, it was a game in a sense but really it threw them all into the reality that the earth is not the only world there is. I won't say anymore, but I loved this/these books. There's three books within this one. I loved them until the last couple pages that is. But I was reassuring myself because I knew there were sequels... no there aren't, this was it.

So frustrated. How could you just end this way? I have similar frustration about the fact that the last Night World novel has still not been written/released. Like for reals??

Now I'm afraid to read more of her books. I feel like I'm left with a cliff hanger with no way to fix it.

UGH.

Riz

Vampire Diaries: The Hunters: Phantom

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Vampire Diaries:The Hunters:Phantom was a book I was so excited about, until I read that it was being written by a ghost writer and not L.J. Smith. Which is confusing because it makes it seem like she actually wrote it, but everything I read says it was written by a ghost writer. So I was skeptical but was dying to hear how this story continued. The last book ended alluding to Damon not being dead. I was SO excited about this. Damon was my favorite character, and him dying meant that I would no longer be reading the books. Seriously. But bring Damon back into the picture? Hell ya.

I honestly couldn't tell this book was written by anyone other than Smith. The only part I was disappointed with was when Damon and Elena were reunited. I wanted it to be more dramatic I guess. It's hard to explain the plot of this book because so many have come before it. But anyway I would suggest this book to anyone who loves the Vampire Diaries!

Now I just wish I had time to read...

Tomorrow's Friday... Get excited!

Riz

PS: Apparently my shoes leak. I came home today with soaked socks and wrinkly feet. This can't be good.

Sam's Letters to Jennifer

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Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson tells the story of Jennifer who is still reeling from the loss of her husband, and finds out her beloved grandmother has gone into an unexpected coma. She rushes to be with her Grandmother and finds letters written to her by her grandmother, documenting her life that Jennifer never knew much about. She also falls hesitantly into a romance with an old friend while staying at her Grandmothers house in Wisconsin.

I was shocked to see that James Patterson is writing love stories, I mean my grandfather reads his books. But I was pleasantly surprised. I did not love his style of writing but enjoyed the story and appreciated the overall message. I'm wondering why he decided to embark on the romance novels. Trying to cash in? Who knows these days. When I fantasize about being a writer I think of an ongoing process of creativity with an end result of a labor of love. I never once have thought of the money you can make from it. Isn't that weird? Maybe it's because if I imagine the type of book I would write I would want it to touch people and be meaningful to my readers. Well that's a whole 'nother topic isn't it?

Ta ta,

R

The Best of Me

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The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks is about high school sweethearts who went there separate ways after high school and cross paths again much later in life.

(Before reading amazon page:) I have to say that I was disappointed with this book. I have loved ALL of Nicholas Sparks' books. It seems like maybe he is being forced into writing (as mentioned in Three weeks with my Brother) with tough deadlines. I understand everyone wants to make money and that's the bottom line, but doesn't that squash creativity? This book just seemed so unrealistic and I didn't feel connected to the characters like I normally do. I didn't feel the connection between the main characters until pretty far into the book and the book ended up being really predictable, even though it wasn't realistic.

(After reading amazon page:) You're probably wondering why I did this before/after thing. Let me explain. I jumped over to amazon's page for the book and came across the Q & A with Sparks on the page. That softened my review slightly. I understand what his thought process was now. Then I looked at other reviews and funny enough many of them felt the exact way I do. Also looking back, I had really high expectations for this book. I was so excited for a new NS book to come out and I loved the plot, probably because I can relate, as Sparks mentioned in his Q & A. However, the book ended up being nothing like I thought it would and I was disappointed. Another reviewer mentioned that they loved Safe Haven and that they felt like he took the change of pace with Safe Haven and ran with it in this book, but didn't totally succeed this time.

All in all, I love NS. He is still one of my favorite authors of all time and I will always read his books and watch the movies.

Riz

The Rose Garden

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The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley documents the life of a woman who just lost her sister and travels to their childhood summer home in England. Here she finds mysteries and eventually love.

This was a good story written by Kearsley. I was so excited to see this on my recommended reading list on kindle that I bought it! I don't think it was as good as her others that I have read, but definitely still worth reading.

In other book news. I read today that the last of the Night World series by L.J. Smith has been on hold for over a decade.. I haven't looked into it further but that would explain why I can't find it. Sort of strange. And irritating because the whole series has been building up to this book. No closure. I hate that.

Next in book news, The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks comes of Oct.11th! I can't wait.

Last in book news. The next trilogy in the Vampire Diaries series is The Hunters: Phantom. The odd part about this is that I read that this series is not actually being written by L.J. Smith, but a ghost writer... I really hope its not weird or disjointed. Unlike my sister I LOVE these books. Elena loves Stephan, but also loves his dark brother Damon.. I'm a sucker for the bad boys that have a weak spot for only the heroine. And this book is a continuation of that love triangle. That book comes out the 25th I believe. I can't wait for that either! Please don't disappoint!

Almost forgot, I looked into whether Deborah Harkness is coming out with a sequel and she is! I don't know how long it's going to take but it can't come soon enough.

Speaking of loving the bad boys... This seems to be a reoccurring interest with me. It seems my favorite books involve woman that win over the bad boys. Except don't try to play this out in real life, it doesn't work. They're deemed bad for a reason, no matter how tempting the challenge may seem. Word of advice ladies, steer clear, unfortunately life isn't like a fairytale, be safe and go with the nice sweet ones.

Yours,

Riz

PS: Ya I read this book through the night and ya my alarm is going off in o 2 hours and 15 minutes cause Lyd and I are going to ikea.. Shhh don't tell her!

Night World No. 3

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Night World No. 3 by L.J. Smith tells the story of 3 of the 4 wild powers that find their soulmates and join the race to save the end of the world from happening. Yep another silly book but hey it's a love story and not a textbook so I'm not complaining. On to the last in the series.

Riz

Night World No. 2

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Night World No. 2 by L.J Smith follows along basically with the first book. It has 3 separate stories in it with basically the same story line. 2 people that break the night world laws by being soulmates. And within the stories, all the people end up being interconnected. So no. 2 was 3 more stories, same idea. I got no. 3 today.

In other news. I'm sick. Boo. I never get sick so it feels extra yucky. It took me forevs today to write a 5 pg paper. ugh. With only more papers and tests to come this week, why?? Ya, it's this torture called college.

Tootles,

Riz

Book Worm

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Scribbler of Dreams by Mary E. Pearson is about a girl who was raised to hate long lost relatives. This was a good story. Kinda wordy, not in a hard to read way but in a over written kinda way. If that makes sense. Still worth reading.

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Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner is about a girl part of a village that is living in the aftermath of a War fought between Faerie and humans. This is also a good story. Not the best book I have ever read but also definitely worth reading.

Four more books to go before I get through this stack.

I'm dreading school tomorrow as my sister is, I think I have accepted though. It is what it is ya know?

Wish us luck tomorrow,

Riz

Book Worm

I have been trying to cram in all of the reading I can before school starts again (Ugh).

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Night World No. 1 by L.J. Smith was written by the same author that wrote Vampire Diaires. Which are some of my favorite books. This book was good, not as good as Vampire Diaries but still worth reading. It has 3 separate stories in it about different people that are all related.

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The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal was a story about a girl who got switched at birth with another girl so led a life as a princess until she was 16. Good book as well.

I went to the library today and got plenty more books so hopefully I'll have another book worm post coming up soon.

Riz