5 Ways NOT to Record a Presentation for Your Blog

I’m being gracious when I say 5 . I probably recorded twice that many Podcasts/Screen Captures for the book I wanted to review this week.

I HATED every single one. So, that means no book review for you and a very high level of irritation for me.

That’s what I like to call a lose-lose situation.

So, my wonderful wordsmiths talk to me about video posts. Do you use them? What programs do you use? Did you absolutely despise your first few attempts, or is that just me?

 

Boo Hiss.

 

In other news….SEVEN DAYS UNTIL CAMP NANOWRIMO. Ah shit. The pressure is on.

 

♠♥♣♦

 

Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

“Jesus,” Dante interjected when the heavy quiet in the vehicle seemed endless. “All this touchy feely is making me itchy to kill something. How about we quit jerking each other off and go blow the roof off this mutha?”
― Lara Adrian, Kiss of Midnight

 

Kiss of Midnight

Lara Adrian

Publication Date: 2007

Publisher: Bantam Books

Ratings on Goodreads: 3.94

Ratings on Amazon: 4.1

Yet another Erotic/Adventure Vampire book has graced my shelf this weekend. Kiss of Midnight has a fast paced plot that keeps the reader hooked until the end. I finished it in a day, although I did have to take a break here and there.

As far as Erotic stories go, this book delivered what was to be expected. It had several interesting plot points, but overall was seemingly pretty predictable.

If I’m being honest, I wish there was more Character Development. Like, a lot more. The characters seemed almost…dry. They said and did all the right things, but there wasn’t much of an emotional spark behind any of it. This could have been due to the amount of time spent in the main Character’s head, but even then the reader was told more than shown how she/he was feeling.

There were times that what the Characters did/said just didn’t seem practical.

There was also very little relationship development within the story. The secondary characters were exactly that; secondary, with even less development than the already lacking main characters.

There were plot holes that nagged at me throughout the story. Even after finishing it I had to ask myself, huh?

But with all that being said, I really did enjoy this book. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to continue  the series in hopes of the Character Development improving. I most likely will, since I’ve started it, but I wont be able to get through 11 other books without some improvement.

Overall Rating: 3.0

A little less than the average, strictly because I am such a junkie for Character Development and emotional angst. It could have easily been a 4.0 if it weren’t for my personal preferences.

 

Sequel or Series Continuation? There are 12 total in te Midnight Breed Series. See the below Goodreads link for more information.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/49140-midnight-breed

 

 

 

 

 

Moving Onward

An average of 1 post every 2 months is a good rate, right? Right. *mumbles self-deprecating profanities*

It’s all about priorities. I haven’t been posting, but I have been reading and writing, a lot. It has taken a lot of effort to rewire my priorities, but I’m getting there. I am a very habitual individual- something either needs to be a habit or it isn’t going to get done. Ever.

Next on my priority development list is Dream Eras.

Stay tuned for Book Reviews, Book Rants, Writing Prompts, and other Literature related topics.

 

Oh, and guys? Camp Nanowrimo is less than a month away. ARE YOU READY!?

 

Carpe diem,

E

After You

What’s Good:
Like the book before it, After You is a refreshing and emotional piece of writing. Parts of it were very raw in the emotional sense, which helps the Reader to relate to the grief the characters learn to overcome throughout the story. The author portrays the cycle of grieving beautifully and insures it’s not given a negative filter—just an honest one.

What’s Amiss:
This truly was a beautiful book, but for me it paled in the shadow of its first installment. It lacked the mystery and drive of Me Before You, and at times seemed to be spiraling without much direction. If I had considered this as a stand alone I would have enjoyed it much more. I was hoping for a continuation of the energy in Me Before You and was left disappointed.

Book Review: Me Before You

I am a frequent Reader.

By that I mean that it is no stretch for me to have read two or three full-length books in any given weekend. This weekend, in fact, I’ve read four. Each were wonderful pieces of work in their own form.

The last book I lost myself in this weekend (or five hours ago, to be exact) absolutely took my breath away.

 

Again, I am a frequent Reader. There are very few books that I don’t enjoy, but then again, there are very few books that leave me dumbfounded either.

“Me before you”, by Jojo Moyes, is one of those unexpected treasures I’ll revisit time and time again.

When I first began reading I thought the plot to be artfully simple. I stumbled upon the book after seeing a preview for its upcoming movie adaptation. Based on that 2 minute film roll I assumed it was going to be yet another Point A, Point B, Point C Romance novel.

It wasn’t.

In the 5 hours that it took me to devour this book I went through every emotion possible. I was overjoyed, heartbroken, enraged, and dumbfounded.

There are so many things that I could praise about this book, but the thing that deserves the most recognition is Moyes’ character development (or character arc, as I sometimes refer to it).

Will, the largest secondary character, is a master piece on his own. I can honestly say that this is one of the few times I would BEG for a companion novel to be written strictly from his perspective. It’s Louisa Clark, the main character, that completely has me in awe.

I’ve sat here for entirely too long attempting to summarize her character arc but I can’t seem to do it any justice.

She starts out as a seemingly mediocre individual and then slowly blossoms into this incredible,multifaceted character that makes the reader puzzle over how they would react in a similar situation.

 

Moyes took an extremely serious, dark topic and crafted a beautiful story around it.

Read this book.

I hope its depth affects you as much as it did me.

(I’m buying the sequel right…now)

 

 

 

Upcoming Reviews

All I’ve been able to do lately is read! Not that I’m complaining, mind you! Here are some books I will be reviewing from my book binge over the last few weeks.

Rome by Jay Crownover

Jet by Jay Crowonver

Rule by Jaw Crowover

Foreplay by Sophie Jordan

Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan

Out of Breath by Rebecca Donovan

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Easy by Tammara Webb

Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Reckless by S.C. Stephen

Effortless by S.C. Stephen

Thoughtless by S.C. Stephen

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Last but not least, one book that is actually on my book review challenge list!

Falling for Rachel and Convincing Alex by Nora Roberts

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening- L.J. Smith

Evil will never find peace. It may triumph, but it will never find peace― L.J. Smith,

The Awakening

What’s good?

Yet another young adult book romanticizing vampires and emphasizing human frailty.

What’s amiss?

The characters are very shallowly constructed, the plot overly dramatic.

Like so many others I found myself picking this book up after watching the first season of the TV show. Which, for the record, I had several complaints of wishy-washyness and lack of plot development. After seeing what the show had to work with I can understand why. The entire book is very dramatic, the main character very shallow both in personality and in development. Even so, the book was enjoyable. I went on to read the next 2 books in the series, but after reading the summaries of the rest I decided I’d had enough. It seems having multiple people write this series wasn’t the best choice, as it seemingly fell apart and turned into a confusing and contradicting mess.

If you’ve read one or all of the series, what were your thoughts?

Ride The Wind- Lucia St. Clair Robson

 

You should be happy to greet each day. And if you’re not happy, look inside yourself for the reason.-Lucia St. Clair Robson

If you enjoy books about Native Americans and you have yet to read Ride the Wind, I urge you to immediately change this. This book will break your heart, mend it, take it on the journey of a life time, and then break it again. What makes the sting of heart break a little more potent is that the story is based on real life events. Read it. You’ll never forget this one.

What’s good?

The imagery in this book is amazing. While a lot of the book is narrative it doesn’t take away from the experience. You’ll fall in love with the characters, the story, and everything between the two covers. Robson provides an in-depth view from both parties, and you’ll struggle to decide which is right or wrong, or if both are.

What’s amiss?

The only thing I can currently say is amiss with this one (after only reading it once) is the small amount of information given on Cynthia Ann Parker’s family after she is taken. There are little excerpts here and there, but I would have liked a little more information to try to form more of an opinion about them.

Friday’s Top Fives: 1800’s

Friday’s Top Fives

Time Frame: 1800’s

1.Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Author: Jane Austen

Other Publications: Sense and Sensibility, Emma

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

2.Frankenstein (1818)

Author:Mary Shelley

Other Publications: Falkner, The Last Man

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

3. Jane Eyre (1847)

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Other Publications: N/A

  “If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

4. The Picture of Dorian Grey(1890)

Author: Oscar Wilde

Other Publications: A House of Pomegranates, The Canterville Ghost

““Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

5.  Dracula(1897)

Author: Bram Stoker

Other Publications: The Mystery of the Sea, The Jewel of 7 stars.

““Though sympathy alone can’t alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable.”
― Bram Stoker, Dracula

Friday’s Top Fives: 1700’s

Friday’s Top Fives

Time Frame: 1700’s

1.Gulliver’s Travels

Author: Jonathan Swift

Other Publications: The Battle of the Books, Drapier’s Letters.

“I cannot but conclude that the Bulk of your Natives, to be the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth.”
― Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels

2.Robinson Crusoe

Author:Daniel Defoe

Other Publications: Captain Singleton, Colonel Jack

“Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe 

3. Jacques the Fatalist

Author: Denis Diderot

Other Publications: La Religieuse

  “Every man has his dignity. I’m willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.” ― Denis Diderot

 

 

 

 

 

4. A Tale of Two Cities

Author: Charles Dickens

Other Publications: A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Bleak House

“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

5.  The Monk

Author: Matthew Lewis

Other Publications: N/A

“An author, whether good or bad, or between both, is an animal whom every body is privileged to attack: for though all are not able to write books, all conceive themselves able to judge them.”
― Matthew Gregory Lewis, The Monk