Upir and the Monster Gang

This is one of two books this week that I had Olivia read and do a review for me. Which she clearly thought she was totally badass, so this was actually a lot of fun to do with her.

Upir and the Monster Gang - Sharron Thornton

















Upir, a young vampire, gets entangled in a secret plot that might change the monster world forever. He joins forces with Payne, a pumpkin headed scarecrow, Gusty, a smart aleck ghost, Isabelle, a purple eyed witch, and Hawthorne, a green hairy creature. Along the way their nights become treacherous when they have to dodge flying skulls, avoid man eating plants, run from a mad scientist and most of all, steer clear of Muriel, a gorgon girl with slithering snakes for hair. She and her nasty monster friends have vowed to destroy Upir and his gang.

First up, what a cool book! Olivia is eight and she really loved it. She said she liked Isabelle the best because she is a girl, she is a witch, and girl witches are the best. She also liked Upir because he is smart, even though he kind of started the whole thing. We both really loved the illustrations- holy cow were those cool. I mean, I know for books aimed at the 9-12 crowd you'll get a few illustrations and some of the books Olivia reads the illustrations are kind of lame. This one has far more detail and are the kind that libraries would hang up as posters encouraging kids to pick up a book and read. Olivia even said it was cool because it talked about bullying a little bit and they were talking about bullying at school. 

Overall? We both really loved it. Seriously, such a cute book for that age group, it's a story they can follow easily, and if it turns into a series- it's one that kids would keep reading all the way through. 

But in order to make this all happen, there is a Kickstarter project running from October 1 through November 16. Go HERE to watch a cute video about it, and hopefully donate a few bucks to help this project get off the ground. All of the money from the Kickstarter campaign is going to go to the publication of the first edition of the book. And just think- your donation of $20 (or more/less) could get the new Harry Potter off the ground. Can you imagine? It could be really great. OR, you could fulfill someone's dream to see their book in print. Either way, it's a win. 

Mind Without A Home

Whoa. If you have anyone near and dear to you with a mental illness? You need this.

Mind Without A Home - Kristina Morgan

Experience the inner world of a woman with schizophrenia in this brutally honest, lyrical memoir. Kristina Morgan takes us inside her head to experience the chaos of the schizophrenic mind. With the intimacy of private journal-like entries and the language of a poet, she carries us from her childhood to her teen years when hallucinations began to hijack her mind and into adulthood where she began abusing alcohol to temper the punishing voices that only she could here. This is no formulaic tale of tragedy and triumph: We feel Kristina’s hope as she pursues an education, career and builds friendships—and her devastation as the insistent voices convince her to throw it all away. Woven through the pages of her life are stories of recovery from alcoholism and her journey to live a fulfilling life.

I'm going to be honest and tell you right up front, judge me all you want, but certain types of mental illness scares the pants off of me. And by that I mean, I could never work with people with a mental disability because I could not handle it. I don't work well on the fly, I get scared and I don't know how to reason. It's terrible and I hate it. I should also say right now, I'm not one of those people who would turn the other way or refuse to be in a place with people with any kind of disability, I'm not that kind of jerk. I just don't understand it and fear comes from someone not understanding. 

This book? Made me understand it far better. 

The book is a bit jumpy, in that it jumps from one time period to the next, then back, then forward, etc. And that's OK because I feel like if you have schizophrenia, this seems like a logical way things happen. The author lives with schizophrenia is so incredibly open, honest, and endearing that you can't help but just want to hug her. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to be in her position and feel like either something is wrong with your or something is drastically wrong with the world. How incredibly terrifying would that be? Then when you look at the people around the person with schizophrenia, you get it. Friends and family are frustrated, scared, and want to help and it looks like the person with the illness isn't trying or appreciative. It's like those shape sorter toys- trying to jam a triangle in the circle hole and the circle being jammed into the triangle hole and nobody understanding why nothing is working. It's frustrating and when you think about a person maybe harming themselves or others, it can be scary. 

And I won't lie- the first thing I thought about was Amanda Bynes and just feeling a thousand times more sympathetic for her. She lived this out for the entire world to see and that is embarrassing and just so sad. What also makes me appreciate this book is the plea for treatment. Just like food stamps help people who are hungry, there really needs to be something better in place to help people who have a mental illness. Everything seems like an overwhelming feat in the beginning, but just think of how many people are out in the world, just lost. Lost, scared, and not having a clue what's going on with them. It's not right. Not in any way. 

But seriously- it takes a really strong person to live with schizophrenia, oh and throw some alcoholism in there as well, and you just want to gives this author a standing ovation because dammit. What a woman. Seriously. She may be flawed, but we all are. Not many can say not only are they living life, by they are kicking life's ass at the same time. Such a tremendous book and I highly recommend it. 

Oddities & Entities

Just in time for Halloween, lambs!

Oddities & Entities - Roland Allnach

Oddities & Entities is a surreal, provocative anthology of six tales within the supernatural/paranormal/horror genres, exploring a definition of life beyond the fragile vessel of the human body. The stories are: ‘Boneview’, in which a young woman struggles to balance her ability to see through people with the presence of a supernatural creature in her life; ‘Shift/Change’, in which a hospital worker struggles to regain his memory as he is confronted by a series of desperate people; ‘My Other Me’, in which a lonely college student finds himself displaced from his body by his alter ego; ‘Gray’, in which a frustrated man is stunned to discover a little creature has been living in his head; ‘Elmer Phelps’, in which a brother and sister find themselves linked in a strange reality by a bat bite in their youth; and lastly, ‘Appendage’, in which a cynical mercenary is hired by his son to protect a research lab on the verge of a stunning discovery.

If you are looking for a slightly creepy book that fits every definition of different? Bam. Pick this up. This also would make a really kick ass Christmas present for someone who likes really weird things and you find yourself trolling the aisles of Spencer's Gifts looking for something bizarre but still cool. Now you won't have to wander that store wondering the appeal of fart pills and nipple clamps- you can buy this online and never leave your couch. 

Win for everyone. 

Basically, it's a collection of short stories that are all weird. And by weird? I mean, do not read this before bed. I read right before bed and I'm telling you what- I had 3 days (I read two stories per night) of the most whacked out dreams. Boneview and Gray are probably my favorites. Boneview is where this poor girl can see through people, but she can also tell when they are going to die. Which, if you think about it- how horrible would that be? Can you imagine if just say, you lived in a large city? Every day, all day you would inundated with people and you'd be able to tell who was going to die? What a horrible existence. And Gray was good because the first thing I thought of was another book I recently read (review coming soon) about schizophrenia and that reminded me of that right away. My Other Me kind of reminded me of the movie Fight Club, except it's not nearly as violent but some of the passages reminded me of that. 

I'm not even a big fan of short stories, but this one was so bizarre I couldn't put it down. Granted, some of the stories were a bit stranger than others, but it was a pretty fun read for the month of October. And I do know a few friends who would adore this book so that's fun too. If you are into odd, into a little bit different, want to try something new, like short stories and the ability to fly through a book- this one is definitely for you. 

Covet

Oh lambies. It's not often I get to post a book review for you that isn't commissioned as a review but YAY! I have one for you. And before I get into it, please know that I adore this author. I love her long time. Her first book, On The Island, is on my favorites of all time. I loved it that much. When I saw that she had another one out I bought it immediately but only now had a chance to read it.

Finished it in one day, lovers. One day. Laundry be damned.

Covet - Tracey Garvis Graves

What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else? 

Chris and Claire Canton’s marriage is on life support. Downsized during the recession and out of work for a year, Chris copes by retreating to a dark place where no one can reach him, not even Claire. When he’s offered a position that will keep him away from home four nights a week, he dismisses Claire’s concern that time apart could be the one thing their fragile union can’t weather. Their suburban life may look idyllic on the outside, but Claire has never felt so disconnected from Chris, or so lonely.

Local police officer Daniel Rush used to have it all, but now he goes home to an empty house every night. He pulls Claire over during a routine traffic stop, and they run into each other again at the 4th of July parade. When Claire is hired to do some graphic design work for the police department, her friendship with Daniel grows, and soon they’re spending hours together. 

Claire loves the way Daniel makes her feel, and the way his face lights up when she walks into the room. Daniel knows that Claire’s marital status means their relationship will never be anything other than platonic. But it doesn’t take long before Claire and Daniel are in way over their heads, and skating close to the line that Claire has sworn she’ll never cross.

I don't care who you are, but at some point in every marriage you will hit a rough spot. And it's how you deal with that rough spot that sets the tone for the rest of your marriage, if there even is one. Matt and I have had some real difficult patches and we continue along a bumpy road hoping for the best. I have had opportunities to cheat on Matt, not just physically but emotionally as well. I have had moments where I have dangled one leg over the line thinking maybe I should throw caution to the wind and feel. 

I didn't, though. I'd rather be sad and lonely than feel like I've betrayed my husband. 

The story is mostly about Claire, who though supporting her husband through the recession and his job loss, she feels isolated and lonely. She's a busy mom and freelance graphic designer. Her husband Chris takes his role as family provider seriously and instead of turning to her and figuring out a solution together, he turns inwards and essentially shuts her out. Eventually he finds a job but it requires a high amount of travel so instead of feeling relief because they aren't financially unstable anymore, she feels even more lonely and struggles with what to do because now even her kids feel the strain. 

Then you have Daniel, a police officer Claire befriends, and it's clear- he's smitten. Struggling with the loss of his family, Daniel is vulnerable which catapults their friendship into rocky waters. They both want more but Claire is obviously conflicted because she still loves her husband and would always choose him, and Daniel wants Claire but is trying to not cross the boundaries they set for their friendship. 

Also in the book? The stories of Claire and Chris's friends- all of whom have seemingly have it together but are all cracking at the seams at the same time. 

I absolutely adored this book. I could relate to Claire so much it felt like reading my own story. She asks the question- is it possible to love two people at the same time? And I say yes. Yes, it is. I feel like it's so easy to cheat, to just satisfy what it is you feel like you're missing. It's harder, but more rewarding, to get that from your spouse. I won't lie- I struggle. Every day it's a new thing I feel we're lacking but we try so hard and I can't help but think someday all of this struggle will be worth it. I think the best part of our marriage is that we both know individually we could (and should) be better, and it's not just us pointing the finger at the other person. I think the danger comes when a couple stops questioning what they could do better for their spouse and for themselves. 

I so highly recommend this book. You know what else I love? I love that even though this is a literary fiction/romance/chick lit novel, it's different. There are others that try to tackle this scenario but none that I have read have really gotten it. The flip flop between Claire-Chris-Daniel chapters pull you in and you see all facets of this complex situation and you're left feeling for them all. Your heart breaks and you know there are no winners here. Sure, one relationship will go forward, but it will never be the same for any of them. And maybe that's OK. 

So I encourage you to check this book out. Immediately and then buy her other one because you'll be glad you know me and that I do the hard part for you. 

One minute.

I've decided that since I've not been blogging a whole bunch, I would take exactly one minute to just spew what's happening in my life right now. Fortunately for you, I'm a fast typist. WOO. 

1. I volunteer at a lot of things/places but there is one particular one that is driving me nuts. I put a lot of time into it and I understand volunteering is mostly a thankless job but man. There are some people I deal with that complain about everything. Whatever I do to make it better, they complain more or in a really passive aggressive way say my first idea was better even though they shot it down, prompting me to come up with something better. No matter what I do, it's shit. 

2. Finances are a freaking mess right now. The not awesome thing is how one bad month can mess up several months later. I'm trying to keep my head above water and just make everything happen and it's awful. 

3. Matt is wishy washy on his anti depressants again so you can assume what that's been like. 

4. I'm sick of hearing someone complain about how their life is and they do literally nothing to fix it. They complain about being broke but have such high requirements for a new job and won't take a second job.

5. Then the plight of shitty work ethic? Good lord. It turns out that I know a lot of people who have a terrible work ethic. I'll tell you what- I don't care what I'm hired to do, or where I work, if my boss tells me I need to clean bathrooms? I'm going to do it because I'm getting paid to WORK. I might not like it, but that's the point of a job- you work. Even if it's something you hate to do and really don't want to do. Be thankful to even have a job. 

6. I'm contemplating going back to school. Dudes- I know. I'm freaking out. I'm on the fence. I really want to be an editor or even a copy editor, and some day work for a publishing house. That's a post for another day with my entire dilemma spilled out so you can see what runs through my head every day. It's ridiculous. 

7. Facebook makes me want to stab myself sometimes. I swear to you, if you have multiple kids, and I'm going to say anything over 2, you are an expert. Stop asking dumb fucking questions in your quest for attention. I mean, first time parents? Ask away. Second time parents? Still OK because the second kid is far different than the first usually. Anything after that? Come on now, get your shit together. I mean, by kid 5 you should know when you can feed them solids. Don't be a dumb ass. 

8. I was volunteering at Barnes & Noble this weekend because my kids' school was having a book fair fundraiser. I turned out to be the one man fundraiser and that was fine because I made friends with a cool children's author. ANYWAYS. I was kind of appalled at how many people flat out were like, "We support no other school, just ours." Um, are you kidding me? What kind of jerk are you? I support every school. If I'm shopping for books, and I see a book fair table, I will always go get the voucher and help someone out. I'm already buying the books- it's not like I'm shelling out additional money. I was just surprised at how many people aren't very giving at all. 

9. I read a cool article about how this guy, who is divorced, wrote about what he could have done better as a husband, but also what his wife could have done to be better. Which, totally interesting not matter the state of your marriage. But what was cool was that he was basically saying that as a wife, husbands want you to appreciate them and need them, but not TOTALLY need them. Basically you can't be a co-dependent, where if they just up and left you, you'd be stranded. Which I loved because that's how I've always kind of been. Sure, if Matt left I'd have to move back home for a bit but it wouldn't be the end of the world. I'd figure it out and get it worked out. But I know lots of women who rely on their husbands for EVERYTHING. Husband leaves for work for the weekend and you see on Facebook, "This is so hard", etc. And it's like dang..... get it together. What would you do if he died?? And sadly, that happens. So Matt and I have this good balance of needing each other at the right times but both knowing that if one of us leaves or dies, the other will be OK. Sad for awhile, yes, but not completely losing track of the cart either. 

So there. One minute. 

What's going on with you?

Oh and YES- to the few who've emailed, if you have a Dear Sara, go ahead and email me! I have a few rainy day ones in my inbox still and maybe I'll pull those out. We'll see. ;) 

The Demon Abraxas

It's been awhile since we've had a book where my first response was, "Oh what the hell is this?!", so here we go:

The Demon Abraxas - Rachel Calish

San Francisco after dark can be full of unusual sights, but the last thing Ana Khoury expects to stumble across is black-garbed figures carrying a body into a building. Her call to 911 is interrupted by a blow to the head, plunging her into nothingness.

Sabel Young has long been attracted to the gentle and alluring Ana, but her esoteric assignments have left her with few options for romance. When she realizes that Ana has been taken—and by whom—her very private life and Ana’s normal world collide. Her orders were specific: she is not supposed to get involved with demons.

Even if Sabel’s interest in Ana weren't already personal, there is no way she will leave a woman with no magic in the hands of dark powers. With daring and luck she pulls Ana to safety and at first it appears they have escaped dark magic unscathed. 

You all know I am a big fan of paranormal romance so I think that's why I signed up for this one without any hesitation. And then I realized that oh hey- this is a lesbian paranormal romance, I didn't know what to think. Clearly the description makes that obvious and maybe I had assumed it was a typo or maybe I didn't read it at all because I don't know that I would have gone for it. And rightfully so, the romance portions of this book do absolutely nothing for me. If ever there was a doubt of my sexuality, this book sealed it. I am very much a fan of penis and not a fan of vagina. 

But yay to those who are fans of vaginas, I am not saying I am anti gay. Big fan of gay and lesbian. It just literally does nothing for me. 

And maybe that's why this book was blah for me. Sure, the paranormal stuff? Interesting and weird. Mostly weird because Abraxas is a demon, but he's in Ana, and that's weird. Honestly, it makes me think that Ana probably looked schizophrenic, she has conversations with the Abraxas and that was odd. Abraxas is insightful and intelligent and it forces Ana to basically look at what she's doing and figure out if it's what she should be doing. The other thing is that Sabel, the love interest, is a witch. And demons are not besties with witches and vice versa, so that is clearly a complication. I don't know if I missed something in the book but I don't really understand the origin of the demons and witches essentially hating each other, maybe it's something you just come in knowing? I felt a little lost on that aspect and skimmed back twice to see if maybe I had missed a page but no. 

Overall, it was alright. I'm not saying run out and buy it because our friendship depends on it, but I'm not saying fully say no either. I think really the hiccup for this book is the lesbian relationship and that is fully my own fault for not figuring that out sooner. So if you are into that? This book will be out of the ballpark for you, all the way. You will have the warm tinglies and who doesn't love that?

Harvest Run = Redemption

So, do any of you remember my last two runs? The fun Neon Run and then the one I came in dead fucking last? When I say "dead fucking last", I really mean "long after the old people and small children finished".

Well that was shameful and I knew I had to redeem myself. So I signed up for the Harvest Run. I've done this one before and they have a really amazing course, gorgeous along the shore of Lake Superior, and the finish is at Fitger's Brewhouse which means I'll get a burger and fries at the end. So worth it. Well I signed up for it, but Olivia said she wanted to sign up for the kid run too, which was only 1K, and I thought- awesome mommy and daughter bonding experience!

So I signed us both up. And then did not train. At all. Like a MORON. I seriously felt like not even going to the damn race because I was so grossly unprepared but I thought, no.... I paid fees, I'm getting a shirt, and Olivia wanted to go. So we went.

While waiting for the train to come (because you get to take the train to the start- pretty cool), I saw this lady behind me. She has what appears to be a hand made headband that had "Duck Commander" written on it? I think it's something to do with Duck Dynasty, but she doesn't have a beard so it's odd. Then after I saw the guy dressed as a storm trooper, I think that maybe they are the only two that thought this was a dress up run? Um, no. It is not a dress up run.

While in line for the train, Olivia and I posed in our shirts next to the lake. Freezing. It was freezing.

Then we got on the train. Only I would be getting off, but your family/spectators can ride and watch the start. They get dropped back off at the finish, and Matt said by the time they got there the first people were finishing the race. CRAZY.

As it turns out, I had signed up to walk this race instead of run. Which was fine because oh hell no I was in no shape to run a full 5K. But I only had two goals for this race: do not finish last being the important one, and then finish before the storm trooper. If I got beat by a storm trooper, I should just stop all together. 

 So off we went. It turns out there were a bunch of walkers. All of which were incredibly slow. Like I got to the half mile mark and I could no longer even see them. So then I thought, I'm just going to do a light jog. It was basically a fast walk with more arm movement. And I didn't die. I felt pretty good and had to really slow down in some spots, but overall I felt like I was booking it. I was actually passing people who were full fledged running who looked like maybe they weren't doing so hot.

And before I knew it, I was done. I thought I had gotten my best time but no, my best time ever for a 5K was 41 minutes and some seconds, but this was a respectable finish for me.

I didn't even feel super exhausted at the end, either. I felt pretty good. The best part? Is that I won. 

I actually won FIRST PLACE for the walkers. Which, you might scoff at that, but I have never won first place in anything athletic, ever. (Unless you could the time I won first place in a baton tossing competition but it was blind luck that I caught that toss and it would never be repeated again.) I didn't know they were giving out prizes for walkers, so when I heard my name called, I may or may not have yelled, "Holy shit! That's ME!" A bunch of guys sitting on the deck of Fitgers laughed at me, but it was a big deal. I got a medal AND a gift card which I'm going to use to buy new shoes. But it was pretty awesome. Oh- AND I passed the storm trooper. But a LOT. Phew.

 After my race, I got Olivia ready for hers. She has done a few running things but a 1K was further than she's gone and because I don't understand the metric system, I told her the wrong distance. Whoops.

 But she is an awesome little kid and she just ran her little heart out. She took off and she said not only did she not fall (she's a bit clumsy) but she only stopped and walked for a few seconds and took off again.

 There's my girl crossing the line.

 And afterwards, she said she felt good and wants to do it again. So every time I'm racing and there's a kid option I'll see if she wants to do it. I'm trying to do things to promote being healthy versus exercising to lose weight with her.

Overall it was a really nice October morning. We both got some exercise in, didn't totally freeze but came close, and had the boys cheering us on. I haven't run since (shocker) but it's days like this that make me wish I'd just stick with it. My next challenge is running in the cold. I know people do it and can handle it but I don't do well with cold and I wish I could afford a gym membership just so I could run indoors during the really long winter here. I was set to go out this morning but it was 38 degrees and raining. No thanks.