Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

Just when things seem to be looking up for John and Hannah Bradshaw, their world is turned upside down. Years ago, John was in prison when he was told his first wife, Margaret, died. So how is it that she shows up in Sydney Town looking to pick up where they left off? Her marriage now null and void, Hannah is distraught. But she and John feel they must separate to allow John's first marriage to continue. But is Margaret hiding something after all? And just what will she do to get what she wants? This conclusion to the Sydney Cove trilogy will draw readers in with its suspenseful, romantic, and tender narrative. Now that John and Hannah have been in New South Wales for several years, they've begun to build a life together. It was interesting to read about how they started off as convicts but have now managed to have their own farm, livestock and their past has become a distant memory. This story is not so much about Australia as it is about John and Hannah's relationship. ...

Fifteen-year-old Shiraz Bailey Wood's days are filled with hanging around outside Claire's Accessories, her parents work crap jobs, and her school is pretty much loser central. But this loveable British dreamer with a brain and a heart of gold is beginning to feel there might be a lot more to life than minimum wage and the bling of a souped-up car. I was a bit wary when I picked up this book to read. The cover didn't really attract me to the story at all. I mean she looks like she's wearing a velour hoodie set. It just screamed trying to hard for me. Normally I would pass over this book, but I do enjoy British culture so I ended up picking it to read. I am so glad that I did. The book is written in a diary format, which I always enjoy. There's something about reading journal format that is very appealing to me, perhaps because it gives a better insight from the character. I also find that diary format books are very addictive to read because with no chapt...

When I heard this movie was coming out I was geeked. I loved the first movie and as a history buff and hoping to work in a museum one day, this movie was right up my alley. Plus I was uber excited because the story takes place in the Smithsonian and in DC, right near me. A lot of old characters returned although their roles are smaller in this film. I liked Sacagawea but she barely spoke in this film. And Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson are always a rip roaring hoot. LOVED the scene with Steve and the White House lawn. It was nice seeing some new faces such as Amy Adams (whom I adore) as Amelia Earhart and Bill Hader (who's always a riot) as Custer. It killed me when he combed his hair. I also thought it was quite funny how Larry gives him the pep talk about coming up with a new "last stand" when the reasons for Custer's original Last Stand are quite despicable. I like Hank Azaria but he was rather over the top in his role here. Plus his lisp was never explained. I...

Never knew I could feel like this Like I've never seen the sky before Want to vanish inside your kiss Everyday I love you more and more Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings Telling me to give you everything Seasons may change winter to spring But I love you until the end of time Come what may, come what may I will love you until my dying day Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste It all revolves around you And there's no mountain too high no river too wide Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide But I love you until the end of time Come what may, come what may I will love you until my dying day Oh come what may, come what may I will love you Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place... Come what may, come what may I will love you until my dying day

Shani Hanna returns to Spencer Academy for her senior year after an amazing summer spent with her friends Lissa, Gillian, and Carly. But the best part about summer was meeting Danyel Johnstone . Danyel is cute, smart, cool, and super nice. All Shani has to do is get him to see her as more than just one of the gang. But when the girls return to school, they find a new addition to the distinguished student body: Prince Rashid al Amir of Yasir , an oil-rich desert kingdom in the Middle East . Prince Rashid moved to California to prepare for an eventual MBA at Stanford . . . and to romance his future wife: Shani Hanna! It turns out, Shani's family and the prince's go back for generations, entwined in tradition, obligation, and family honor. In each generation, members of the two families have expanded their business interests through arranged marriage. Will Shani put aside her feelings for Danyel to pursue her family's wishes? Or will God answer her prayers for an in...

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card authors are: Lenya Heitzig AND Penny Rose and the books: Live Deeply: A Study in the Parables of Jesus David C. Cook; New edition edition (June 1, 2009) AND Live Relationally: Lessons from the Women of Genesis David C. Cook; New edition edition (June 1, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHORs: Lenya Heitzig is an award-winning author and popular Bible teacher. After beginning her ministry as a single women’s counselor with Youth With a Mission, Lenya married Skip...

For years, 38-year-old Portia Nathan has avoided the past, hiding behind her busy (and sometimes punishing) career as a Princeton University admissions officer and her dependable domestic life. Her reluctance to confront the truth is suddenly overwhelmed by the resurfacing of a life-altering decision, and Portia is faced with an extraordinary test. Just as thousands of the nation's brightest students await her decision regarding their academic admission, so too must Portia decide whether to make her own ultimate admission. Admission is at once a fascinating look at the complex college admissions process and an emotional examination of what happens when the secrets of the past return and shake a woman's life to its core. Reading this book made me miss the whole applying to college experience. Those were the days for me when early decision still existed and every day I would be waiting for the mailman to come, not with books but with a letter from a college that would determi...

When Raleigh Harmon, geologist and special agent for the FBI, is suddenly transferred from the Richmond field office to Seattle, she finds herself in strange territory. The Pacific Northwest has a whole different pace than the South does, her new boss seems determined to prove she can't handle the work, and she's desperately trying to keep her mother's sanity from crumbling altogether. But a missing hiker, a ransom note, an underground card game, and a "friend" with deadly intentions all ensure that there's no time for an easy transition. Raleigh will need all her skills and a little help-to keep the missing girl and herself alive. This was the first book I've read by this author and I will admit I was highly impressed with it. I liked Raleigh's character very much. She's very no nonsense and is a strong female lead. I really liked her name as it's unique and Southern. Her character is not very feminine, there were times when I honestly for...

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Bonnie Grove and the book: Talking to the Dead David C. Cook; New edition edition (June 1, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bonnie Grove started writing when her parents bought a typewriter, and she hasn’t stopped since. Trained in Christian Counseling (Emmanuel Bible College, Kitchener, ON), and secular psychology (University of Alberta), she developed and wrote social programs for families at risk while landing articles and stories in antholog...

It's 1876, and 20-year-old Mattie Flynn is determined to make a fresh start after fleeing from her sinister boss in the gambling house where she was employed as a singer. Mattie travels to Deadwood, South Dakota, in search of her younger brother, who went ahead of her in hopes of making a fortune in the gold mines. All Mattie wants is a safe and respectable life for the two of them, but that doesn't seem to be her destiny as she faces more heartache and trials. Will the suspicious bottles of gold dust from her brother's claim be the key to her future...or does the handsome street preacher, who is always turning the other cheek, truly hold the answers to her deepest longings? Deadwood. The name sounds hopeless and depressing (and it brings to mine the TV show). Only the promise of gold could bring people out to the prairie wilderness. Two women are out on the prairie with different personalities trying to survive. I felt that the book starts off a little slow. It took me a...

Donita K. Paul’s 250,000-plus-selling DragonKeeper Chronicles series has attracted a wide spectrum of dedicated fans–and they’re sure to fall in love with the new characters and adventures in her latest superbly crafted fiction novel for all ages. It’s a mind-boggling fantasy that inhabits the same world as the DragonKeeper Chronicles, but in a different country and an earlier time, where the people know little of Wulder and nothing of Paladin. In The Vanishing Sculptor , readers will meet Tipper, a young emerlindian who’s responsible for the upkeep of her family’s estate during her sculptor father’s absence. Tipper soon discovers that her actions have unbalanced the whole foundation of her world, and she must act quickly to undo the calamitous threat. But how can she save her father and her world on her own? The task is too huge for one person, so she gathers the help of some unlikely companions–including the nearly five-foot tall parrot Beccaroon–and eventually witnesses the loving...

The kids are starting to settle in at Heather Creek Farm. Emily is making new friends, while Christopher has picked up a new hobby and Sam is getting into athletics at school. Emily has been invited to a friend’s lake house, but Charlotte has doubts that the girl — and her cute older brother — are a good influence on Emily. Can she put her foot down without losing her granddaughter’s love? Will Emily listen to her either way? And when the weather service warns that a tornado is on its way toward Bedford, a scary near-miss and a dramatic rescue remind them all about the importance of family. Book Three in the Heather Creek series is written by a different author from the previous two, but the storyline blends in so seamlessly that you would think they're all written by the same person. I enjoyed returning to this small town in Nebraska with a different type of blended family. Once again, all the reasons of why I enjoy this series came rushing back: the comforting story...

This summer My Friend Amy is hosting a Summer of Hitchcock , where we watch a selection of Alfred Hitchcock movies and discuss them on our blogs and twitter. This week we watched Dial M for Murder. First off this is going to sound completely horrible, but I could only watch this movie for 50 minutes before I had to read the spoiler and then skip all the way to the end. Why? Well I can't watch movies (or read books) where the villain purposefully gets away with their evil deed for most of the plot. I have to skip to the end to find out how all is resolved and that the good guy is finally redeemed. I sound like a horrible person because I've skipped out on most of the movie, but I just couldn't handle it! This is the first movie I've seen with Grace Kelly and I can see why the prince of Monaco married her! She's stunningly beautiful in the movie, although I'm not too fond of the British accent. I really loved her clothes in this movie. I really did not like Ton...

My Friend Amy , who brought us Book Blogger Appreciation Week has a new carnival in the works, the Faith 'n Fiction Saturday . Each week she will post a blogging prompt, which participating bloggers will answer on their own blogs. Then they head back to the original post and sign Mister Linky! This way we can all come to know each other more closely. Today's Topic Well since tomorrow is Father's Day and it's likely that a few of you may still need to purchase a Father's Day gift why not books? Do you have a book you'd recommend as a Father's Day gift? I'm particularly interested in any Christian fiction books you'd recommend for dads, since I'm always reading that men read less fiction than women! Ok I'm not really much help because my dad doesn't read fiction at all. Never has his entire life except for school. He prefers his fiction in movie form. But he INHALES non fiction like a champ. Seriously, any review book I get that's Chris...

Well all good things must come to an end. And the Spring Reading thing is now over. How'd I do? Well I read all the books (32) on my list PLUS 46 more for a grand total of 78 books in 3 months !!!!! It's my BEST ever! This is thanks mostly to the 24 hour readathon where I was able to crank out 19 books in 24 hours. Here's the official list of the books I read for the challenge. Here's a breakdown of the OTHER books that I read Christian Fiction The Cure by Athol Dickson Michal by Jill Eileen Smith Journey to the Well by Diana Wallis Taylor Boneman’s Daughters by Ted Dekker Daniel's Den by Brandt Dodson A Claim of Her Own by Stephanie Grace Whitson The Face by Angela Hunt Stealing Home by Allison Pittman A Promise to Believe In by Tracie Peterson Murder at Eagle Summit by Virginia Smith A Love to Last Forever by Tracie Peterson Play It Again SAHM by Meredith Efken Higher Hope by Robert Whitlow Nothing But Trouble by Susan May Warren The Edge of Light by Ann Shorey...

I'm giving away 5 brand new copies of today's book! Leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you if you win. I'll pick a name and announce the winners on Friday July 3 . US and Canada addresses only (No PO Boxes). Good luck! PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FO R ME TO CONTACT YOU!!!! ENTRIES WITHOUT CONTACT INFO WILL NOT BE ENTERED. I was more than pleasantly surprised and shocked while reading this book. I have the first three books of the Twilight series and I will admit that I am not really a fan of them. The writing in those books is not very well done, plus I have problems with the storyline and the characters in general. Plus with all the hype surrounding them, it just makes the reading seem more tedious. Therefore I approached The Host with rather low expectations and prepared myself for another Twilight except with aliens. Boy was I in for a shocker. When I started reading, I was amazed at how I got sucked into the book. I really didn't expect to, be...

Welcome to one of the mini challenges for the Blogggiesta ! At this stop, we're learning about elevator pitches. What is an Elevator Pitch? “An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).” - Wikipedia Elevator Pitches for Bloggers While the idea of an elevator pitch is usually something that start up entrepreneurs are encouraged to do when looking for investors - developing an elevator pitch for your blog is also a smart move also. One of the most important reasons to do this exercise is that to develop an elevator pitch YOU as a blogger to have thought through and crystallised in your mind what your blog is about. If you’re fuzzy on what your blog is about it’s unlikely than anyone else will have much of an idea either. Knowing what your blog is about helps you in developing every aspect of ...