Dog Slaughter Falls hike

Actually got a chance to hike this weekend. This really helps clear my head and makes me a happier person. It could just be a walk in the woods going no where spectacular, however the hike this weekend ends at a beautiful waterfall.

Dog Slaughter Falls

It was 50 something degrees but there were still massive icicles

Bad picture of me, but look how big that icicle is

Someone had a funny sense of humor. There was only one "bear" print and it walked straight into a rock wall.

Book cover uses picture of house from my town...

So the mayor of my small town lives in a beautiful Victorian house that I drive by everyday. It's always decorated perfectly for every holiday (and classy decor I need to say--no large inflatables). Apparently not only locals admire his house because it's now a book cover for a bestselling author.

Read the story in the local paper

As a book nerd this makes me completely happy. It's not a book I would ever read (not my one of my genres) but I love seeing the pride of my hometown shown on a larger scale. Part of pride probably comes from the rivalry with the town where I work (the town next door) who just destroyed one of the last 2 remaining Victorian houses to make a gravel parking lot (with hopes of someday building a parking structure there--yuck).

Read about the demise of a beautiful home

For disclosure purposes I should state though I think the Mayor's house is beautiful I dislike the color. Too pink for me.

Awesome Giveaway

ENTER AWESOME GIVEWAY HERE

And if you win give me the presents! Or keep them....

Review: The Replacement

The Replacement by Brenna Yavanoff

2 out of 5 stars (goodreads system)

I waver between giving this 2 stars and giving this 3 stars. But when I hover over the stars 2 says "It was okay" and that pretty much describes my feelings perfectly. The concept sounded so good--the story of a changeling boy left behind in a crib. Mackie seemed interesting and likeable. But then...there were so many things that were just "eh" about it. At points the author tries TOO hard to describe the male perspective, especially when looking at females (aka boobs) and it comes across as forced. The plot jumps around a little erratically at times and aside from Mackie, none of the characters are very well developed at all. They just move around and say their lines but I don't feel like they're actually people.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

-The performing for worship just made me roll my eyes. Poor excuse to include some form of teenage club and rock music in a book.
-I don't like how it jumps from making out in graveyard, to Tate furious, to random girl fight, to trying to have sex, to church fire--it all seemed very contrived.
-Tate calling Mackie when it doesn't seem like she should naturally have his phone number
-Alice is just undeveloped and fake. A walking pair of boobs for Mackie to make out with when he's really interested in Tate
-Emma had some potential--but they never really developed it
-The Morrigan--was this written by some emo teenage wannabe who shops at hot topic?

Overall I think if this book had fleshed out the characters and went through more edits maybe it could have been something more. But its not and I'm kinda sad that my mom spent money on a hardcover edition to give me for Christmas. But we won't tell her that. Shhh

Review: An Artificial Night

An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire

4.5 stars (aka really enjoyable read!)

There are so many things that seem like they shouldn't work for this book. But when I finally reached the end…they did. I loved it!

And I really like it when books surprise me like that. I've enjoyed this series from book 1 but occasionally during the book things would come up that would make me ask "Really? Will this work" then I keep reading and somehow weird things--like October's fetch showing up as a death omen--turns out so much more amusing that I ever imagine. I also found myself asking "REALLY again" at one point (and once you read this book you'll see exactly what I mean" and I thought "surely they're just dragging the story out at this point," but nope, I was wrong. It also worked.

October Daye has a chip on her shoulder as always, still mouthing off sarcastically when she really should shut up. But that's why we like her? She's a hero, but more of a reluctant one.

Something I liked about this novel was that I felt like we got more of a picture of Toby as a mother. That's something I've always had trouble picturing. But her maternal side is there--only with her best friend's children (because Gillian is still not in the picture).

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

Just some thoughts:

-At first May Daye bothered me. But when she started becoming her own person and participating in rescue missions I started liking her. She's a more cheerful version of Toby.

-What's with Tybalt sulking off again? I like him, probably more than is decent to admit. Can't they just admit they like each other and make out a little? Please?

-Quentin & Katie - normally you hear the human side of abandoning faerie lovers, but clearly it broke Quentin's heart.

-Now I kind of want to know more about Sylvester's hero days

-Did Toby really think she wasn't a hero? Jeeze?

-Please tell me more about Amandine soon? What does everyone seem to have against her? (Looks like maybe we'll know something next book…)

Tuesday Teasers

Saw this on another blog and it sounded fun:

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Mizb at Should be Reading

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Shake two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers
• Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

"I'm normally pretty good at spotting the bloodline of anyone--or anything--I deal with, but painful past experience has taught me that I'm not always accurate. Especially when I'm dealing with shapeshifters."

From An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire

(I ended up finding this from @LadyHawkins who linked to Overflowing Shelf and here we are)

Review: Give up the Ghost

Give up the Ghost

by Megan Crewe

3.75/5 stars

I've been waiting MONTHS to get my hands on this book so my anticipation level has been pretty high. So no matter what I was probably due for a little bit of a letdown. Overall I have very positive feelings about this book so I'll start there.

Cass McKenna may have a bit of an attitude problem from the outside, but it's understandable. Her best friend abandoned her, her sister died leaving her family a little bit in shambles, and she falls into the role of loner. Talking to ghosts is the least of her problems, in fact it's probably the only thing that keeps her going. She uses the gossip from ghosts to bring down the high-and-mighty popular kids at her school.

This might make her a hero…except that she's not really trying to help anyone. She doesn't befriend those who need friends or stop the bullying. She uses the information as a shield, protecting herself by keeping everyone far away. She could have used her power for good…but she just isolates herself even more. Ghosts are her only real friends.

Then Tim, VP of student council popular kid needs her help contacting his dead mother. She originally misjudges him (of course she does! She spends all her time judging everyone and it's always bad). Talking to ghosts may be Cass's coping mechanism, but Tim seems to be falling apart by falling into every teenage stereotype. But he's honest and Cass kinda likes that.

Even though Tim becomes a little bit of a movie-of-the-week stereotype by the end of the novel it doesn't bother me (because frankly I've had those moments too). What makes this book imperfect is the information it never reveals. I feel like there are questions raised that are never answered (and some of the time I may have missed the answers--I read this quickly). Here are a few of the biggies:

1. Why did Paige stay behind?

2. What caused Chester the ghost to disappear?

3. What did Tim's mom die of?

4. What is the general ghost mythology of this book? (This is never really explained).

Little things like that and a few other things that I didn't quite believe brought this book down. (Ex. Cass riding her bike around everywhere. I live with a 16 yr old sister and can't imagine this being realistic for any of the modern teens I know. Ex. 2 Cass not having a cellphone and using the landline. My family doesn't even have a landline anymore).

However this is an excellent debut! I'll watch this author because I'm curious what else she'll write (and I would love something that answered a few of my questions)