Category Archives: Book recommendations

It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

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We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday What are YOU Reading?

  I just finished Between Two Worlds by Tyler Henry. As many of you know, I am a fan of Theresa Caputo, The Long Island Medium. Click here to read my post about her.  I had never heard of Tyler Henry until I saw his book at Barnes and Noble. I like to go in there and make a list of books to get from the library ( I am cheap).

I believe some do have the gift of communicating with those that have passed. He seems like the real deal to me just like Theresa. He first started getting visions when he was 10 years old and has become more focused with time. I watched an episode of his show on E ( Hollywood Medium) and was impressed. My hubby laughs at these shows when I watch them. I told him that I need to believe these are true. I believe in God, but I like knowing our loved ones are with us always.

Two nights after Tallulah went to The Bridge, some of my cats kept looking behind me on the couch. I kept turning around and not seeing anything so I hoped it was her spirit. Then I spotted a ladybug. In Tyler;s book, he writes of seeing a ladybug at his Grandmother’s funeral and knowing it was a sign from her. Reading that reassured me that my ladybug was a sign from Tallulah.

Penny will be here with her tips tomorrow and to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Mewsic and More Monday

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Hi everyone! We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Mewsic Moves Me (hosted by Curious as a Cathy,Xmas Dolly, JAmerican Spice and Stacy Uncorked.) The theme for this week s the word shadow in the title.

I immediately thought of Moon Shadow. I remember Mandy Moore singing it on This is Us so I looked for a video, unfortunately it only shows her signing for the last 30 seconds of the clip, but fans of the show will enjoy the whole thing.

And here is a video of her singing the entire song-

And Joanie is posing with our book choices of the week.We are joining Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

Thanks A Thousand : A Gratitude Journey by A.J.Jacobs is a short book with only about 100 pages to read and several pages of credits at the end. I am a fan of the author’s work and how he immerses himself in a subject. This time he wants to thank everyone that makes his morning cup of coffee possible. Amazingly, that is around 1,000 people. I never put that much thought into all that is involved in buying a cup of coffee. He even goes to the place where the beans were sourced from. Others thanked including the inventor of the plastic top on to-go cups, truck drivers,the barista and so many more. An interesting little read.

Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery is one i just started reading. I am not familiar with his work, but he was an illustrator and writer. I decided to read it because he had 6 cats so I immediately decided he was wonderful. He also owned 20,000 books. Sounds like a cool guy.

And in other news, Gremmie got some new clothes.

I bought this garland on clearance at Michael’s and pulled the clothes off for him. The doubles will go to The Great One for her dolls.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday What are YOU Reading?

I have been reading a lot lately. Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life by Gisele Bündchen was surprisingly good. I am not even sure why I chose to read it. I tend to dislike gorgeous supermodels ( jealousy).  She is a very kind woman and wonderful mother. Being that she is only 38 years old, I am surprised at how wise she is already.

Live Long and…What I Learned Along the Way by William Shatner with David Fisher is also a good read. My hubby is the real Trekkie around here, but he doesn’t care for memoirs so I thought I would give it a try. I have read some of his other books too and always enjoyed them. He shares a lot of what he has learned in life with stories of how he learned it.

One Heart at a Time by Delilah was also really interesting.  If you have ever listened to the radio at night, you must have heard her radio show. I don’t usually listen to the radio at night, but over the years, I have heard her show. I had no idea she had so many children, most adopted. I also had no idea she had lost one to sickle cell anemia and one to suicide. She also has an incredible foundation that helps people in Africa. When I read about someone so dedicated, it makes me feel like I have wasted my life, but it also motivates me to want to do something-just not sure what yet.

I apologize for all the bold print above, I couldn’t get it to go away.  Joanie hopes she is awww…worthy  posing with some of the books.

 

 

The Year of Living Happily

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Hi everyone! We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? 

The Year of Living Happily Finding Contentment and Connection in a Crazy World by Alli Worthington is a wonderful guide to help find your way to happiness.

*Disclosure: I received this book for free as part of The Book Look Bloggers book review program. I am not required to write a positive review, all opinions are my own.

 

KaTwo is my book model.

I had never heard of Alli Worthington. Apparently I have been hiding my head in the litter box once again. She has written two other successful books prior to this one. She also hosts a weekly podcast. On top of all that, she is a very involved mom to 5 boys.

The Year of Living Happy is an easy read. There are 100 “lessons” in it. Each is a page and a half long and includes a quote from The Bible. At the end of the page is a question to get you thinking of how this lesson applies to your life. There is space to record your answer and use it as a journal too.

For example, she quotes scripture, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” She then tells us to write down the fruit we want to see in our heart and life. On another page, she wants us to think of something perfectly imperfect in our life right now.

Most of these are simple lessons we have all heard before, but tend to forget. There are several lessons reminding us to be thankful and forgiving. She also suggests relaxing, recharging our batteries, breathing deeply and simple ideas we are often to busy to think about.

I think this would be a great gift for any woman ( sorry guys, this one is geared for women) in your life that needs to slow down. It is a beautiful book/journal with a pretty ribbon book mark built-in. There is also a spot in the front of the book with a presented to -from-date which would really personalize your gift.

My only complaint was a typo I found. The word quiet was spelled quit. I know that is not a big deal, but I expect more of a larger publisher.

I review for BookLook Bloggers

 

 

 

 

 

The Purrfect Gift for Kids

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Hi everyone! Today we are joining It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? The kiddy lit version hosted by Teacher Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.

I apologize if you are sick of reading about Prancie’s Prayer. I want to thank everyone who has purchased it and/or written a review. I was thrilled when I check my publisher’s home page and saw it listed as a best seller for October. Click here.

As most of you know, it is a children’s ( ages 3-7) picture book set at Christmastime. It is based on how our cat Prancie joined our family. She really did appear at our outdoor nativity. I always tell people she went to Jesus for help.

I started blogging because I wanted to help cats by sharing knowledge I have learned from living with them. I also hoped to make money blogging so I could donate to rescue groups. I will admit that I have not made much blogging, I have only had 2 paid posts in over four years of blogging.. I have decided to donate all my royalties from October-December to Boston’s Forgotten Felines. I get just under $2 on every book sold ( except those purchased through me).

I chose this Boston’s Forgotten Felines because I have been following on of the volunteers, Joni Nelson, on Facebook for years. She is out at 3 AM daily feeding ferals in Boston. Many people treat her badly and try to poison the cats. Many of the cats are friendly and not actually feral, she tries to rescue them and find them homes, but there are so many. Boston gets very cold in the winter and I wish they had a place they could bring them inside , but all they can do is make shelters for them and feed them.

Here are the links to places you can purchase Prancie’s Prayer. Please share this post and help spread the word.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

We are also joining Comedy Plus’ Awww..Mondays. I hope Prancie’s Prayer will make you say Awww..

It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

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We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday What are YOU Reading?

I just finished reading Ghostbuster’s Daughter by Violet Ramis Stiehl. Sounds like Harold Ramis was a good father to the author. I was disappointed to read about what a pot head he was though. I also would have preferred to not know about her parents open marriage.

I am currently reading Cats and Daughters They Don’t Always Come When Called by Helen Brown. I was enjoying it up until she wrote of leaving for a wedding. Her son left his cat at her house and had never met the resident cat. They just tossed them together and left. I found that incredibly stupid and dangerous for the cats.

Trouble says hello. I think she is part bat.

 

 

Monday Mewsic and More

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Hi everyone! We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?And we are also joining Mewsic Moves Me (hosted by Curious as a Cathy, Xmas Dolly, JAmerican Spice and Stacy Uncorked.)

Being that it is Halloween time, I am going to try to read a vampire novel. I have been afraid on vampires since I was a kid and my aunt let me watch Salem’s Lot. I slept with my neck covered until about two years ago ( when the hot flashes started). My friend and fellow blogger, Marie (Athena’s Mum) has written a trilogy of vampire stories. I have enjoyed all her cat themed books so I am sure these will be good too. If you are interested, you can get the kindle edition of Poet’s Blood for free right now. Click here.

The Mewsic theme for this week is songs with hand claps and finger snaps. I couldn’t think of any with the finger snaps, but I have 3 with hand claps.

  1. Take the Money and Run ( Steve Miller Band)-

2. More Than A Feeling ( Boston)-

And because I spend a lot of time with an almost 3 year old:

3. Sesame Street If Your Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands-

And here are Brody and Trouble. I am so happy that Brody has a friend, she even cleans his ears for him sometimes.

More Than Just Making It

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Hi everyone. I have another book review for today. More Than Just Making It by Erin Odom.

Being that I stole Penny’s day, I thought I would let her pose with the book.

*Disclosure: I received this book for free as part of The Book Look Bloggers book review program. I am not required to write a positive review, all opinions are my own.

The author writes a blog, The Humbled Homemaker. She grew up middle class with frugal parents, but she always had enough. Her dream was actually to be missionary which she did do after college.with her husband. They thought they were making a wise financial choice when they purchased a home. Unfortunately, the recession hit  in 2009 when they both lost their jobs. They ended up owing more than the value of the house. They also had a little girl to provide for.

The family ended up moving in with the author’s parents temporarily. Her husband found a job teaching in North Carolina, but the pay was very low. She worked for the newspaper, but her salary varied monthly. She ended up having to apply for Food Stamps which she was embarrassed to do, but had no choice. She eventually realized that she didn’t have to feel ashamed because those services were there to help. It made her rethink everything she believed about government services. She always thought those on them were lazy, but she discovered that is not the case. Many are working poor that just can’t make ends meet.

Part of this book is her personal account of her family’ s continued financial struggles. These also led to marital problems, yet they somehow ended up having three more children since 2010 which made it even harder to make ends meet.Once she started making money on her blog in addition to her husband’s salary, they were able to get off of public assistance.

They have more money now, but still live frugally. They purchase all their furniture used and their vehicles too. Much of the book is about how anyone can live on less money. She writes about planning meals and saving money on them. She also explains that some have spending problems and others have income problems. They had an income problem because they did not earn enough to cover the basic needs. The only debt they had was their house.

I think this is a great book for anyone that has financial trouble, especially young couples. I did have one major problem with it though because for me personally, it was useless. My financial troubles are always around veterinary care for my 13 cats. They did not have a pet or write about anyone having one. I know it is my choice to have so many cats, but what would someone in their situation do if they had a dog or cat and it was sick? So many end up returning them to shelters or abandoning them when they can’t afford them. It would have been nice to read some solutions to these issues so people would not resort to that. Because of that , I am only rating it 3 out of 5 stars.

We are joining Comedy Plus’ Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.

I review for BookLook Bloggers

Books, Mewsic and More

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We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?And we are also joining Mewsic Moves Me (hosted by Curious as a Cathy, Xmas Dolly, JAmerican Spice and Stacy Uncorked.)

I am sure many of you have heard of the DJ, Bobby Bones. Apparently my head has been buried in a litter box for years because I just learned of him. I love to read memoirs and self-help books and he has published one of each.

I started with his latest book, Fail Until You Don’t. His mantra is “Fight, Grind, Repeat.” And that is what he does and has done his entire life.  He has gotten to where he is in life through hard work day in and day out his entire life. He even continued working when he had his impacted wisdom teeth removed. He would take pain meds because he didn’t want to be loopy so he just kept going like an energizer bunny.

Bare Bones: I’m Not Lonely If You’re Reading This Book was published in 2016. He had a tough childhood, but didn’t let that stop him from achieving his dream of being on the radio. His father abandoned the family when he was young and his mom was an alcoholic who had him when she was age 15. Luckily, he had his Grandma and other positive role models in his life.  I was especially impressed that he doesn’t drink and never has. If you have heard of him then you probably love him too, but if not I highly recommend these two books. I am in awe of this man, I admire anyone who has a tough life and manages to succeed.

In addition to being an author, comedian and popular radio personality, he also has a band, The Raging Idiots, which is actually just him and another guy from the radio station, but they have raised a ton of money for charities Yes, he is a philanthropist too. So for my Mewsic choices I have some of their videos which are quite humorous.

1. Chick -Fil-A ( But it’s Sunday)

2. Friends In Low Places – Garth’s song, but he does a good job.

3. Hobby Lobby Bobby-

I hope Sammy posing with his book is Awww…worthy.

Prancie’s Prayer is Now Available

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Hi everyone! Today we are joining It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? The kiddy lit version hosted by Teacher Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.

Prancie’s Prayer is based on her true story of how she appeared at our outdoor nativity on a cold winter day. It is a Christmas book, but it is never too early to start your shopping. 🙂

I thought it was going to take 6 weeks for Prancie’s Prayer to be available, but it only took one week. I am thrilled, but it did throw me off with my marketing plan. I wish I could give every one of my blog readers one, but I can’t afford to do that. I have sent a few out to be reviewed ( I already contacted those bloggers about this).

I do have an offer for you all though. For anyone willing to write a review on Amazon, Goodreads or Barnes and Noble, I will give you  an e-copy. You would have to put a disclosure on the review saying you were given a  review copy. If you are interested, please let me know in the comment section and I will email you.Thank you.

I will be having a giveaway on here soon and on Goodreads for the paperback version.

If you want to purchase a copy ( or copies) through me, let me know in the comment section and I will contact you with my Paypal information. I am selling it through my blog for $10 which includes shipping in the USA.

It is available on Amazon for $12.99 with a Kindle version for $2.99. The Kindle version should be available internationally. It is also available on Barnes and Noble. I am trying to market it to religious stores and smaller bookstores too. If you have any of those near you, could you please tell me the names so I can look up their contact information. This is all new to me and I am determined to succeed because I have many more stories to tell.Thank you all for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

We are also joining Comedy Plus’ Awww..Mondays. I hope Prancie’s Prayer will make you say Awww..