Review: I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark S. Nielsen

Book: I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark S. Nielsen
Genre: Picture Book, Religious
Rating: ★★★☆ ☆  
For: Blog Tour
From: The author





So here I am, stepping out of my comfortable box for a moment to review a sort of book I've never reviewed here on the blog before! That's what happens when you get a nice, personable, email request from the author to participate in a blog tour!

This is a picture book filled with beautiful illustration about kids from all over the world. There's Katri in Finland, Ming in Taiwan, Dimitri in Russia, and many others. This book is a sweet reminder to kids everywhere that other children who live in places different from them, are actually just like them, despite the fact that their life experiences and cultures are different.

Even though the book is aimed to kids that are members of the LDS faith (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) I feel like children from all sorts of religions will relate because not only does it point out the different (yet same) ways the children worship all over the world, it also points out things like their different languages, their different food, their different geographical situations, their different modes of transportation and so on. Any child will learn about how kids live.... all over the world.

And as I said above, the pictures (illustrated by Craig Stapley) are beautiful! I very much enjoyed them, and it made me realize how I've missed reading and experiencing good picture books around here! Ah, to have little kids again. Maybe some day soon? Wait, not so sure I'm QUITE ready for that next phase of life yet! :)

Bottom line: I liked this one a lot.

Other Reviews:

Bloggin' 'bout Books
Fire and Ice
Swinging on Small Hinges
Green Jello With Carrots

Photo a Day June: Days 10, 11 and 12

Day 10: Best Bit of My Weekend
(grandparents celebrating their 70th)

Day 11: Door

Day 12: From a low angle

(PhotoadayJune brought to you by Fat Mum Slim.) 

Top Ten Tuesday: Beach Reads

The prompt over at The Broke and the Bookish today is to list our favorite beach reads. I think first, we'll need to define the term "beach reads." Yes?

Seriously, I hardly ever go to the beach. First, it's far away, and second it's uncomfortable there what with all the sun, sand and water and such. And if I were to ever go there, I'd probably not get much reading done, but I do know that some people seem to manage this just fine. And when they do, they want a certain kind of book. And I think that kind of book is sort of a brain candy book. Mostly (but not necessarily all)  mindless fluff perhaps. Probably lots (or at least some) of romance, and no hard words and deep thinking. Maybe something especially page turn-y with great adventure and intrigue. And probably not all that long either.

So what books fit that bill for me?

Top Ten Beach Reads

1. Meg Cabot books... like Insatiable.
2. Janette Rallison books like.... It's a Mall World After All
3. Kaki Warner books like... Pieces of Sky
4. Sarah Dessen books like... Just Listen (even though there is a little deep thinking here)
5. Stephanie Perkins books like... Lola and the Boy Next Door
6. Shannon Hale books like... The Goose Girl
7. Simone Elkeles books like... Perfect Chemistry
8. Sydney Salter books like... Swoon at Your Own Risk
9. Alex Flinn books like... Beastly
10. James Patterson books like.... The Angel Experiment

Yeah... I think all those suggestions make perfect beach books!

What's on your beach list?

Oh, and I'd love to hear how you define "beach read." Is it the same as me?

Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Book: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆ 
For: Fun
From: The library

Wow! Have I heard A LOT about this book or what? Oh, the buzz! So I put it on hold at the library and believe it or not, it came up for me fast! Double wow.

I had no idea what this book was about. Despite the buzz, I skimmed people's comments. Only that they cried a lot, and hugged it to themselves and other such tangible bookish love.

So I was a bit surprised, and interested, to find out that it's about two girls who experience WWII in a very different way than most girls. One is a pilot and another is a spy. They meet each other during a few accidental moments when their paths cross, and become fast friends. Then one night, they have a very exciting flight which does not have a so very happy ending.

The story is told from both of their points of view... first from the girl who is the spy. She happens to be a prisoner at the time of her story, and she goes back and forth from her current prisoner experience, to the past when she met her friend and then recounts the situation which got her captured.

The second part of the book is her friend's side of the story, and she has a completely different experience, to say the least, though also very harrowing.

People, be warned. This is a very gut and heart wrenching book. There are some disturbing moments, there are some very wonderful happy moments. We definitely learn a lot about WWII airplanes and the British protocol at the time. Much of this technical talk went right over my head and I found it a bit detailed, (thus the four stars above) but some WWII fanatics will love this part I'm sure.

Of course I was much more into the characters and their situations and relationship and the wonderful writing that left me totally immersed.

As usual, I'm being very vague about this story because I feel like the less you know going into it, the better.

Bottom line: I loved it.

Other reviews:

Chachic's Book Nook
Things Mean A Lot
Capricious Reader
Beneath Shining Stars, I Read


The book trailer is pretty awesome and doesn't give anything much away, so here you go:

Photo A Day June Days 8 and 9

Day 8: Six O'Clock!

Day 9: My View Today
(We discovered a broken window last night!)

(PhotoadayJune brought to you by Fat Mum Slim.) 

Buffy Watch Thoughts: Season One Ep. 3-5

We managed another little Buffy Watch get together again last night. I was sort of hoping to get through four episodes, but I was so tired by the end of the third one that I had to call it quits! Sorry fellow watchers! This time I watched with both Kailana (The Written World) and Ibeeeg (Polishing Mud Balls.) Very fun! Except when my computer hung up right in the middle of one episode! I guess I was putting it through too much too and it had to call it quits!

Anyway, I tried to jot down some thoughts as I watched, which are as follows:

S1 Ep 3: The Witch
I rather enjoyed this one! It reminded me of.... oh wait, if I say that it would give it away! I will hide it.... it remind me of  Freaky Friday! (drag over that blank space to see!)  Also, I just finished Anna Dressed in Blood and it reminded me of the spells and witches and things from that recent book. I was especially impressed with Giles this episode! I don't know, he just got his coolness on!

S1 Ep. 4: Teacher's Pet
Ugh, this one was gross and dumb! And after the last episode and this one, I'm wondering where are the vampires? Yucky, yucky teacher! And I don't like how this episode tries to say that being a virgin at age 16 is bad or shameful... you know? Makes me sorta mad actually.

S1 Ep. 5: Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
My first thought during this story was that Owen seems nice.... therefore... is he doomed? In the end.... well, I will say almost! Now, this one seemed like what I would think of as a "normal" Buffy show. Buffy trying to be all normal yet having to come to the rescue to save everyone from the vamps. Can I just say one more time... what WEIRD and UGLY vampires in this show! And still wimpy, yep!

But it was fun, and I look forward to more! When should we do it next week? Suggestions?

Armchair BEA: The Passion and the Future

Today's final Armchair BEA post is about the future of book blogging and how to keep up the passion. I'm sure I've covered this in years past during the previous Armchair BEAs but here are a few thoughts I have on this subject.

I've been doing this now for over five years. I think that says that somehow I've managed to keep up the passion. Even though I have many up and down moments I truly think I would feel so wrong without this hobby. I would miss it terribly.

So what keeps me going?

The love of books first and foremost. After all it's all about books, right? :) They are just too much fun to read and talk about! I think this is something that will never go away for me. At least I hope so, and as long as this book passion lasts, then the desire to blog about it and share the love will be there.

Also, I think the networking thing I talked about on Wednesday keeps me going. The connections I've made both in the bookish community and online are important enough to me that I hope to keep it up if nothing else then to just stay in touch with people.

Having no set ideas on what HAS to be done blogging-wise helps me too. There are so many things I see other bloggers worrying about that I've never bothered with, and who knows, maybe this isn't so good, but in the long run, I think worrying about those things gets you burned out! Which basically means just do what feels right for you and don't worry about what everyone else is doing. I need to take my own advice on this one a lot actually.

Another way to keep the passion for blogging strong is to change things up now and then. Start something new, change the look, bring up discussion topics, switch things around, meet new bloggers, etc. Just like anything else in life, try not to get into a rut!

As far as the future of blogging itself? I can't wait to see what happens! The past five years have changed SO MUCH, it's hard to imagine what the next five years has in store. People are sitting up and taking notice of bloggers, that's for sure and this fact still blows me away. I, for one, feel that I have no influence at all on the industry, but all of us taken as a whole, totally do. It's very cool. And it's fun to be a part of it.

That's about all I have to say about that! And not that I think I'm an expert or anything, but if you are a newbie and have questions for me... ask away!!! :)