Sorority Pledge Saga 4: Kinky Fiend in Ties by Daizie Draper

This review is for Sorority Pledge Saga 4: Kinky Fiend in Ties by Daizie Draper. I received this book for free from the author in exchange for a review.

I don't have as much to say about this book because it would spoil the story for other readers if I do!

The first thing I noticed when I started reading this was that the chapters were formatted differently but the book was essentially the same length. I think there were five in this one and there are usually only three.

Again, the butt play got to me. I cringe and tried to read through those parts fast because I really don't like that.

I learned alot about the characters from this book and that's what made me love it. Their relationship kind of reminds me of Chuck and Blair from Gossip Girl for some reason. It's sweet and sometimes hard to understand but they have their reasons.

I loved this one. I can't wait to read the next one! I definitely recommend this book!

Sorority Pledge Saga 3: Playgirl in His Eyes by Daizie Draper

This review is for Sorority Pledge Saga 3: Playgirl in His Eyes by Daizie Draper. I received this book, as well as the first two in the series, from the author for free through LibraryThing's August 2013 Member Giveaways batch.

As I stated in the last review, I am still getting used to the dynamic of Addison and Logan's relationship. I wasn't sure if I liked Logan but he finally gave away some emotions and he is more likable for it. He wants to spend time learning who she is beyond her sexual cravings and desires, doesn't want to hurt her, and wants her opinion on what is being done to her body. I also like the journal idea.

I learned what a violet wand is and it actually sounds very interesting. I probably wouldn't use it to the extent that they likely will if they use it in the future though.

Addison's desires must stem from her childhood since she has obvious parent problems. Maybe her parents didn't discipline her enough? Maybe too much?

I would definitely NOT be okay with Logan going to a strip club. That would make me feel really disrespected and unappreciated.

The necklace that Logan mentions in the news anchor story, is that the key to his box?

The butt play stuff was very uncomfortable for me to read.

So his father, and possibly other ancestors of Logan's are/were Doms as well. That makes sense.

Where is Logan's mother? I hope the author addresses that soon. I wanna know.

I would love to read the rest of the series. I recommend this book. I can't wait to read to more!

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.

Bud the Crud and the Vampire-Werewolf Wars by Jamie Wasserman

This review is for Bud the Crud and the Vampire-Werewolf Wars by Jamie Wasserman. I received this book for free from the author through LibraryThing's August 2013 Member Giveaway.

Honestly, I have to say that I hated this book. I struggled through it for a week and a half because it was too easy, wasn't interesting, and Buddy was really, really, really, really (I could go on) annoying. I did not want to write this review at all because I don't like writing bad reviews. I wouldn't want someone to read what I have written and be critical but as my fiancé and best friend said I just have to be honest because that's just the way it works. And I hate it. But Jamie Wasserman said in his email that even bad reviews are appreciated so here goes:

Buddy is awkward, short, and a geek. I thought I could relate to him but I couldn't at all. He cries a lot for no reason and rambles about stuff for most of the book.

This book was written at a teenage level for teenagers and young adults (assuming anyway), but it was written like a teenager. I guess that's okay but it just wasn't something I liked.

Buddy had a cat named Spooky. That's cool. So did my fiancé. I miss that cat. I can respect Buddy's love for animals but he talks about them wayyyyyyyyyy too much.

The part where he says "It's like having a mom inside you constantly there to protect you from the world.", yeah, that just came across as really gross. There is almost no way in the world that a 14 year old in America doesn't know a thing or two about sex. They teach sex ed in middle school now! He had to have known that wouldn't sound quite right.

Hans turning himself into a little ankle-biting dog instead of a werewolf was just hilarious. Classic.

And I liked that the ending was a nod to Stephen King's Pet Semetary. I love that movie. Please, Jamie (if you're reading this), write a sequel about that but please please please make sure he's not such a whiner that he can't tell his story. That was annoying. I'll consider reading your other books in the future but I was not satisfied by this.

Raven's Blood (Raven Chronicles, Book 4) by Deborah Cannon

This review is for Raven's Blood by Deborah Cannon. This is book four in The Raven Chronicles. It is the latest in the series and is the first and only one I have read in the series. I received this book for free from the author through LibraryThing.com's August Member Giveaway.

The only thing that bothered me about this book was that the author spelled out the year or time or something along those lines near the beginning of the book. I can't find it now and it only happened one time so it's not even really an issue.

I learned that the term "spelunking" comes from the Latin term "spelunca" which just means "cave". It's not as strange of a word as it sounds now.

I am very thankful that this was an ebook and not a paperback novel because the dictionary on my iPod was absolutely necessary to get through about 90% of the book. I'm okay with that because I got to learn some things but I am definitely not an archaeologist.

This book reminded me of the movies Tomb Raider and The Mummy. I love stuff like that. Archaeological stuff is such a mystery that it makes for a great fictional setting. Deborah Cannon uses her extensive knowledge of archaeology and her wild imagination expertly. She writes like a professional. I expected that she had more books out that she does because she's just that good.

Ironically, the day before I read the scene where Cristine rents the Lancia, my fiancé (who is a car fanatic) was looking up Lancias online.

Susanne saying she had "sampled" Jake's body set off alarms in my head. What the fuck is up with her? Whatever.

The ending is a major cliffhanger. I didn't expect it to end the way it did and since this is the most recent in the series, it makes me anxious to read more. I definitely want to read the other Raven  Chronicles and I definitely recommend this book, but make sure you have a dictionary handy (and Wikipedia)!

Unfaithful Mind by Marion Gibson

This review is for Unfaithful Mind by Marion Gibson. I received it from the author for free through LibraryThing.com's August 2013 Early Reviewers batch. This is my first review for a LibraryThing book. It is nonfiction, with which I am inexperienced.

I loved this book. Marion (AKA Mar)'s story is a true story so I can't complain about how things went or things like that. But I do however have a problem with how she switched back and forth between the past and the present, and how she would refer to things that she now knows but didn't at the time that she is talking about. It made it kind of hard to follow and I wanted to follow every word because this is a truly heartbreaking and wonderful re-telling of her story.

A thing that I want to point out is that she spelled out times and dates constantly and that made it hard to read in places because it was hard to understand what she was meaning by them since she did not put it a common format. I don't know, maybe that's something she was taught to do in her writing but I was not.

There was also a major autocorrect malfunction on page 52 of 178 in which I assume that she meant to put "...and his piercing glare.", but it was published as "...and his Pier-Mariecing glare." I point this out not for readers or for myself but in hopes that the author will read this and fix it. It took me a few minutes to understand what was really meant, and I know that isn't the author's fault. Stupid autocorrect.

Before the film A Beautiful Mind was mentioned (I didn't think it would be!), I was comparing this story to that movie. If you haven't seen that movie, you should. It's great!

I will end by saying that you should read this book! It is heartbreaking, beautiful, and everything all at once. I wish the best for her family and would really love to read more from her about her husband's progress. I think she should start a blog for all of the people who want to know more in real time. Mrs. Gibson is a very strong lady and I support her decision to publish this 100%. More people need to know that this happens to normal people every day! I definitely recommend this book.

The Searchers: Blood Ties by Sharon Sala

This review is for The Searchers: Blood Ties by Sharon Sala. This is book two in The Searchers series. This is the first and only one I have read so far.

I am going to start by saying that I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. The spine of the book calls it a romance suspense but to me it was a suspense with a little romance thrown in. I will not be giving a summary but I may give away some details.

Although I enjoyed it, it was not without some obvious flaws.

First, the cover was misleading. I thought this would be a paranormal romance. And after realizing that it wasn't, I thought that it would be more romantic than it was. Judd and Savannah's relationship was a great adittion to Savannah's story, but I don't really view it as a main part of the story that Sharon Sala is telling with this book. However, I was not disappointed with this story at all. This proves that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Second, the author's use of the word "proverbial" before every commonly used phrase bugged the shit out of me. You don't need to say something along the lines of "before the proverbial shit hits the fan" for the reader to understand what you mean. It would have been fine if she had only used it once or twice.

Third, the author repeatedly use the sentence structure of "not until..., did he/she begin to relax/calm/whatever." Again, she should have only used it once or twice.

Forth, the happy ending for me was ruined when Savannah introduced herself as Savannah Stoss-Holyfield. Why the fuck would you take that retched family's name instead of keeping the name of the man that raised you? That is so disrespectful!

Overall, I loved the book. Don't let my nitpicking keep you from reading this wonderful book. I hope to one day be able to read the rest of The Searchers books and to read more of Sharon Sala's works.