Start S.M.A.R.T. – Use S.M.A.R.T. Goals to Achieve More, Get What You Want, and Turn Your Dreams into a Reality by Justin Byers

This review is for Start S.M.A.R.T. – Use S.M.A.R.T. Goals to Achieve More, Get What You Want, and Turn Your Dreams into a Reality by Justin Byers. I received this book for free from the author through LibraryThing.com's October 2013 Member Giveaways batch. I was given two weeks to review it since it is a pre-release copy.

These are the questions I was asked to answer.

• Please write a review of the book. How did the book help you? What did you learn from the book?
• On a scale from 1-5 (5 being the highest rating), how would you rate it and why?
• I was also asked to point out any spelling or grammatical errors as well as any other mistakes that I noticed.

This book is pretty much exactly what I needed to get me thinking about my future and what I really want out of it. I really like the road trip analogy. It makes alot of sense to me. 

I started out doing all of the activitites but between it being a PDF which is really hard to read on an iPod touch, my iPod touch breaking down, and having to finish reading it on the computer, I stopped doing them and just thought about what I would have wrote down. The activities are really close together and some of them were a little bit redundant in my opinion. Also, it would have been great to see actually worksheets within the book for every activity. There was a link for a few worksheets but not for every activity.

The way station goals example was a little bit intimidating. It looks alot like an outline for a term paper and those kinds of things can be scary for some people.

I plan to use both the goals journal and an accountability partner in the future. Those are awesome ideas!

The errors I found were:

• Page 17 of 41: "It is difficult to say exactly you might mean..." The author left out the word "what" between "exactly" and "you".
• Page 21 of 41: The word fulfillment was misspelled as "fulfilment".
• Page 27 of 41: "You should find be a person you are comfortable being honest with..." The wording got a little bit confused in this sentence.
• Page 33 of 41: "...and what the emotional motivation behind it us." I think "us" was supposed to be "is".

I would rather it a 4 out of 5 because it really needs to have activity worksheets inside the book for every activity. I feel like I would have learned alot more from it. I would definitely recommend this book, even if no worksheets were added in the final published product though.

The book helped me by giving me ideas to keep my goals alive and help me achieve them. I learned a new way to look at my goals and ways to achieve them that I never thought about before or never knew how to execute.

Sorority Pledge Saga 2: Bad Girl On The Rise by Daizie Draper

This review is for Sorority Pledge Saga 2: Bad Girl On The Rise by Daizie Draper. I received this book, along with the first and third in the series, from the author for free through LibraryThing's August 2013 Member Giveaways batch.

I initially thought this book was not as good as the first but now that I know a little more about the relationship between Addison and Logan, I understand better what their relationship is all about. I am much more open to what they are doing and I am getting more used to Addison's constant profanity. I am still inexperienced with the majority of the content so their lifestyle is new and strange to me, BUT I am compelled to learn more and keep reading.

I wish I had more to say about this one. A few portions of it seemed a little unnatural and forced, but I think that might just be because of my inexperience with the things going on in the scenes.

I was initially disappointed in the intensity of this book in comparison to the first, but now I'm not.

I recommend this book.

Sorority Pledge 1: A Devil in Disguise by Daizie Draper

This review is for Sorority Pledge Saga 1: A Devil in Disguise by Daizie Draper. I recieved this book and the next two in the Sorority Pledge Saga from the author for free through LibraryThing.com's August 2013 Member Giveaways batch.

The author warned us in the description for the giveaway that there were a lot of offensive words such as the P word and the C word, and she wasn't lying. I thought they would be used sparingly, but no. Those two specific words are obnoxious and no not need to be used that often, seriously. If I hadn't have had to read this for LibraryThing, I wouldn't have finished reading this.

This is the first fully BDSM-based book I have ever read, so a lot of the terminology was lost on me.

These people are 19 year old virgins and I'm supposed to believe that they know more about BDSM and sex in general than most experienced adults. Yeah, I don't buy it.

I really liked the Mr. Burns Simpsons reference and the trashy eBooks reference. Clever.

I don't understand why a woman would willingly be pushed around by her lover. Role playing maybe, but not as a lifestyle. I just don't understand the need for a dom/sub relationship.

This book is relatively short. It doesn't take long to read, if you're looking for something short and you're into BDSM.

Are there seriously BDSM clubs on college campuses? I've never even heard of those.

So, after all of my complaining, I must say that I did enjoy this book. It was fairly mild but still hot at the same time. Too bad the next too aren't that mild.

The Case of the Crunchy Peanut Butter by J. M. Goodspeed

This review is for the (grade school-aged) children's book The Case of the Crunchy Peanut Butter by J. M. Goodspeed.

This is an older book (published in 1975) so the language is very different than what we are used to now, as are prices of items, names, and other things. A jar of peanut butter was only $0.05. That is crazy to me. As a twenty year old, I have NEVER seen prices that low. The term "congregational minister" was used instead of minister or pastor, as I am used to hearing them called. She used a card catalog as a regular part of her life. When I was a child, those were being phased out but I did use them and I really miss them. The name Andy (short for Andrea) caught me by surprise, because I had never heard a girl called Andy in a show or book from that time period. The school was more lenient, in that she could leave for lunch at home and things like that, which isn't allowed anymore. And also, the terms "queer feeling" and "screwy" were used. "Queer" meant strange back then but we use it to mean homosexual now so that might be confusing for a school-aged child. "Screwy" was a bad word when I was kid, so it kind of surprised me that she used that word. I had to look up the word suet, which basically means the same thing as lard.

Okay, so on from my explanation of the time period differences, the illustration was simple but I liked it.

The narrator (Andy) is slightly annoying. She accuses everybody and their mama before she finally figures out who it is, which is someone she should have thought of in the first place. I thought it was pretty funny when she said that the police officer was nine feet tall, because that reminded me of how I felt when someone tall would stand over me.

It didn't say where the story was set but from the language, such as "yes'm", I think maybe they are in the South but I could be wrong.

It had a good moral to it and it was a cute story. I liked it, I would recommend it, but it's definitely dated and may be hard to understand.

A Very Special Critter by Gina and Mercer Mayer

This review is for the children's book A Very Special Critter by Gina and Mercer Mayer.

This book is great for if a child is having a hard time adjusting to a new student in a wheelchair, or maybe even being in a wheelchair themself for the first time.

The illustrations are great, as always for the Little Critter series.

Just a reminder: Please, please, please do not write in a book. A name in the front (written neatly) is okay. But random scribbles or words really upset me.

Just Me and My Little Brother by Mercer Mayer

This review is for the children's book Just Me and My Little Brother by Mercer Mayer.

This book is really short. In my opinion, this book is great for a child learning to read and the illustrations are great.

How many siblings really get along THAT well? Not any that I know of, but that's okay because it's still a good learning tool.

Despite the unrealistic idea of an older sibling wanting that much to do with his little brother, I highly recommend this book.

Eight Keys to a Better Me: Character Development for Young People by William J. Briggs, Ed. D.

This review is for Eight Keys to a Better Me: Character Development for Young People by William J. Briggs, Ed. D.

The cover and title of this.book are decieving. I expected this to be a higher level book for either young adults because the title says "young people" and I and I am a young person. This book is for young children. An adult can still learn from this book but it's geared more toward elementary school children.

The illustrations were cute and I really liked the poem on the back.

The poem is called The Sculptor, which I can relate to.

The Sculptor - Author Unknown

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it, one day
And as fingers pressed it, still
it moved and yielded to my will.

I came again, when days were passed,
That bit of clay, was hard at last,
The form I gave it, still it bore,
And I could change that form no more.

Then I took a piece of LIVING clay
And gently formed it, day by day,
And molded with the power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.

I came again, when years were gone,
It was a man I looked upon.
He still thst early empress bore,
And I could change it, nevermore.

Clifford Goes to Hollywood by Norman Bridwell

This review is for the children's book Clifford Goes to Hollywood by Norman Bridwell.

The one thing I learned from this book is that Clifford the Big Red Dog has been around since the early 1960s. That absolutely blew my mind. So Clifford had already been around for TWENTY years when this book was published. Crazy, right?

I also learned that this book was later (2010) reprinted as Clifford is a Star.

This book was really cute but not really all that educational. But that's okay because I mean it's Clifford. Who doesn't love Clifford?

I wondered why his owner (Emily Elizabeth; unnamed in this book) didn't go with him to Hollywood. I would have wanted to go with him if he were my dog. It's hard not to miss a gigantic red dog.

I definitely recommend this book. I love Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Funny Dog Facts by Anna Ciddor

This review is for the children's book Funny Dog Facts by Anna Ciddor. I absolutely loved this book. I'm an adult and I learned from this book. I had never seen some of these dog breeds before and I learned some things I didn't know about breeds I am familiar with, like that many Dalmatians are deaf. I would gladly have kept this book if I didn't have to return it to the Birdhouse Library. This a really neat book. Interesting for all ages. I highly recommend this book.