Sunday, October 19, 2014

Only Everything (True Love #1) by Kieran Scott AudioBook

Only Everything by Kieran Scott Book Review

Summary:

High school romance is tough—even for a bona fide love goddess. Can Cupid succeed as a mortal matchmaker?

When Eros (aka Cupid) is expelled from Olympus for defying Zeus after falling in love with Orion, she is banished to what she believes to be hell. We call it New Jersey. If she ever wants to go back to the comforts of her old life, she will have to find love for three couples—without using her powers.

Eros, now calling herself True, immediately identifies her first project in Charlie and believes finding him love will be a piece of cake. Charlie is new at school and eager to break out of his old image of band geek, so it’s lucky for him when he falls in with the right crowd on his first day. But music is still his passion. That is, until he meets Katrina…

Katrina is floundering after the death of her father and takes refuge with a boy who, while not entirely supportive, will be there when she needs him, unlike her mother. Too bad True thinks any girl Charlie talks to is perfect for him. Can she get out of her own way and help Charlie and Katrina connect, or will she be stuck in New Jersey forever?

Reviewed by Becca Packer

I am always hesitant to pick up one of Kieran Scott’s books. I will buy them without any hesitation, and then they will sit on my shelf where I will stare at them for weeks before actually picking them up and reading them. Her books are always wonderful; I never have any doubt that once I start reading I won’t be able to stop until the last page—and it is on the last page that I instantly regret reading the book without having access to the next in the series. I continue to hope that one day I will not have these angry feelings towards her cliffhangers, but time and time again I slam the book down on the floor or table and walk away, cursing everything and everyone. (You know who you are, Tristan.)

And of course this same thing happened with Only Everything.

I want to say I was honoured to have received an ARC copy of Only Everything from Kieran Scottl but now I have to wait an extra two months for the sequel Complete Nothing, due out in September.

Now on to my review of the book and not my rantings of the pain these books cause me.

Only Everything is told from the point of view of three characters: True/Eros, Charlie, and Katrina. Each completely different people, with very different background stories.

True is the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares. Most people know her as Eros, or the name she truly despises: Cupid. She has made a horrible mistake by falling in love with a human. Orion has fallen from the stars and only Eros knows because it was kind of her fault. She hides him away on a lonely island in Maine, where she visits him frequently to teach him about life on Earth in the 21st century, and because she has fallen in love with him. When Zeus and Ares find out they threaten to kill him, but Eros strikes a deal with the two gods. She will live on Earth without her powers and help three couples fall in love. If she succeeds Orion gets to live and they can be together, if she fails… well, not everyone can have a happily ever after when gods are involved.

Charlie is the first friend Eros meets on Earth—well, at least the first niceperson Eros meets on Earth. He is new to school and having moved around multiple times because of his father’s job, he knows what it is like to be the new kid in school. Charlie doesn’t really fit in with his dad and brothers; they are all football legends and Charlie would much rather play the drums than throw a football around. Surprisingly on his first day of school, he manages to make it in with varsity jocks and finds himself getting along with them more than the band people he was hoping to make friends with.

And then there is our last main character, Katrina. She has it rough. Her dad was killed in a horrible motorway accident the year before, and because of this her once-perfect academic record is full of blemishes. Instead of being in accelerated classes, she finds herself in classes with people who don’t really feel like learning and make fun of those who do. You know, standard high school classes. Her boyfriend, Ty, is a jerk who needed a good punch to the jugular several times throughout the novel. Her mom has been horrible to live with since her father passed away, and Katrina prefers to spend her days at Ty’s instead of at her home. However, over the summer she did find an escape at the library, which is where her want to learn returned to her.

As the novel continues on, you learn that Charlie just wants to make his dad proud of him and Katrina wants to feel like someone loves her.

Eros keeps messing everything up by setting Charlie up with girls who are horrible matches for him and by not really knowing how a typical teenager acts. She pretends to know what goes on in Earth, but she honestly has no clue at all.

I loved this book. I loved the typical high school romance and the anger felt at the two main characters being with the wrong person.

I did roll my eyes at how clueless Eros was a lot of the time because she was so clueless, taking whatever she wanted from people and dressing quite questionably. I had to keep reminding myself that she was experiencing culture shock and it was like all those times I went to a foreign country and had no idea about their customs and traditions. You can only pretend so much before someone has to help you out a bit.

The ending was so perfect and I was all excited for a happily ever after—one down, three to go—and then that last page happened… ugh!!!!

After all the hype behind Percy Jackson and seeing all these new series come out about going to battle with gods or gods coming to Earth to kidnap girls and make them their brides, it is refreshing to read a book that is about a goddess/god trying to help people find love. It is like the Percy Jackson for the romantics in all of us, except better.

I think you will be doing yourself a great disadvantage if you do not choose to read this series. It is destined to be the next big thing, and if you don’t believe me check out the review from Teen Vogue.

Jump on the bandwagon before it is the cool thing to do, and while you are waiting for this book release check out any of her other books. The Shadowlands trilogy, She’s so/He so trilogy, or the series that got me hooked on this author Private… although most of the aforementioned are written under Kieran’s pen name, Kate Brian.

Plus, Kieran Scott is probably one of the friendliest authors you will ever meet. She is always responding to my dumb tweets and Facebook messages—and put one of my ideas in her books (it was an idea for a Halloween costume, but still, that is pretty awesome). She loves her fans and is always willing to chat to with them.

Listen Audiobook “Only Everything by Kieran Scott ” here:

Only Everything (True Love #1) by Kieran Scott AudioBook

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes AudioBook

Book Review: Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Book Summary:
There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.

That’s why they make the perfect assassins.

The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.

Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and sent seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment her lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are – because no one else ever notices them.

I’m a Paranormal/Fantasy/Dystopian YA girl, but I was intrigued by the description of this book because it was YA with a bit of a sci-fi twist. It read in many ways as a YA Contemporary, though this didn’t bother me, even though that isn’t my usual fare. There was enough exciting odd stuff going on to keep me absorbed.

The premise of the book is basically that all people have energy, but a rare few are born with various energy abnormalities – Nulls, who can give their energy easily to others, which makes them very influential, but who cannot absorb energy from anyone else – which kind of makes them sociopaths. Then there are the opposite, the Nobodies, who cannot give their energy to anyone, and who therefore are incapable of having anyone care about them at all.

So in this world, we are introduced to Nix, a Nobody, who is used by the dubious Society to exterminate Nulls, once their lack of empathy inevitably leads them to start killing people. He has been taught his whole life that no one is even capable of loving him, so he accepts his lot in life bitterly. Then he meets Claire, another Nobody, who has no idea why her parents do things like abandon her in supermarkets and forget to even bother to come home and check on her. Nix meets Claire because he has been sent to kill her, but finds himself unable to do it, because she’s the first person who has ever really seen him. (Nobodies are able to exchange energy because their energy signature is the same.)

We have a bit of an annoying stretch of the book in which Nix is convinced that Claire is, indeed, a Null (since that’s what his perceived job is – killing Nulls), and the reason she effects him so much is her master manipulative powers (even though none of the Nulls he killed could do this to him – they never even saw him coming), yet he actually saves her life so HE can be the one to kill her, when he’s finally able to. It’s only after he just can’t kill her and gives up that he realizes that actually she’s not a Null – she’s like him.

Then we have an equally annoying stretch of angsty “OMG she’s the only person who I can ever really be with and without me she’ll be ignored and unloved but NOOOO I’m a killer and I’m not good enough so I have to leave even though that will hurt her blah-blah-blah…”

Once all that is out of the way, the story really picks up and is quite engaging. It is very much worth trudging through the first fifty-or-so pages of bleakness and angst. The first part of the story is very bleak, because it is told in alternating narratives by Nix and Claire, who are about as alone as anyone can possibly be. (This bleakness is understandable, but still a bit troubling to read.) Once they decide to work together to figure out the true aim of The Society (since obviously they weren’t just sending him out to kill Nulls), that bleakness is replaced by some great tension, mystery and a sweetness as the relationship between the two characters matures and becomes very tender and romantic.

Lots of excellent twists and turns toward the end definitely make for a satisfying reading experience.

P.S.: I know a few people might complain about the “insta-love” factor in this book, but to me, it seems completely logical that two people who are the only ones in the world who are even capable of loving the other would immediately be very drawn to one another and fall in love. And it still took them a while to be together. Plus, deep affection can happen quickly sometimes, especially in highly emotionally-charged situations.

Rating: 4 Star – Good Book

Content: Violence, but not unnecessary violence, and not very graphic.

Source: Won from a blog giveaway

Listen AudioBook Here:

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes AudioBook

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff AudioBook

Book Review: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Summary from Goodreads:

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

As other reviewers have said, readers in search of a murder mystery should not pick up Paper Valentine in hopes of an enthralling chase to unmask a serial killer. Personally, I came into this with that expectation, and it took a bit of adjustment for me to realize that Yovanoff’s story had more to do with people living their lives and going through day-to-day stuff (whilst a serial killer is abroad), than about finding and punishing a murderer. Instead, Paper Valentine is about a girl and a ghost and relationships and imperfect people.

Most of the time I don’t have much trouble picking out what an author’s themes are. I can say, “this book is about moving on after grief” or “this book is about learning where loyalties lie” or something along those lines. But to be honest, I can’t do that here. For me, Brenna Yovanoff just sat down to write about real people in real situations, and if there were any messages she wanted readers to take away from Paper Valentine, they weren’t obvious or easy to pick out. Everything was subtle, kept beneath the surface, and, in my opinion, masterfully done. This entire novel is approached with a fairly light hand, and the story was allowed to grow and shape organically. Authorial presence in this book is kept to a minimum.

Paper Valentine’s main character, Hannah, is teenager who’s being haunted—literally—by her best friend, Lillian. Lillian died six months ago after several years of being anorexic. And Lillian’s ghost is a projection of all the very worst things about Lillian. Her selfishness, her need for control, her obsession with perfection, her snobbishness. But in some way, Hannah still clings to Lillian, and neither of the girls is able to let the other go.

Aside from the obvious problem with Lillian’s ghost, Hannah’s also dealing with the reality of a serial killer loose in her town, one who targets young girls. Her parents and younger sister are understandably freaked out, and so is Hannah in a less significant way. Primarily, Hannah and Lillian take on something of an obsession with the murders, and that leads them into trouble. Trouble, in this case, takes the form of Finny Boone, a trouble youth with the scars and foster care experience to prove it.

Initially, Hannah is taken aback by her attraction for Finny, but not for long. With him, she finds the voice she’s always kept hidden, and when he tries to break things off, she isn’t afraid to speak out.

“Stop,” I tell him.

He glances over, squinting at me. “What?”

“Stop acting like you need to protect me from yourself.” And I sound angrier than I ever usually sound. “I’m not a victim or a fragile little thing. And maybe there’s dangerous stuff out there, but not you. Okay? I don’t need to be kept safe from you” (pg. 272).

And now that she’s found the courage to do it, Hannah begins talking back. First to her friends, who are jealous and petty and snooty. To them Hannah proves that she won’t be controlled any longer, not the way Lillian controlled her. And Hannah also speaks to her mother, who’s clung so long to an image of what “perfect Hannah” should be that she doesn’t quite know how to deal with Hannah’s grief and confusion.

“For maybe the first time in my life, she is listening to the words I’m saying and not telling me the words she thinks I should use” (pg.241).

As the different relationships in her life come into sharp relief, Hannah is forced to think about things and people differently. She has to learn (to some degree) who she is now that she’s out of Lillian’s shadow, and how to step out of the mold everyone expects her to fit into. Without a doubt, Hannah was a dynamic, well-rounded character, though her growth isn’t immediately obvious.

Eventually, of course, the serial killer catches up with Hannah and Lillian and Finny. The villain gave the obligatory monologue for the reader’s benefit—to recap important plot points without too much difficulty on the author’s part. But it all comes out right in the end, of course. Everyone safe and sound, happy and well. But Hannah still has to learn to come to terms with Lillian. Who she was, who she is as a ghost, and what their relationship meant.

“The idea that a person can be defined by anything so superficial [as sickness] is terrible. […] The simple version isn’t even recognizable when you hold it up against a living, breathing human being. Her ghost will always be so much less of her than the girl I used to see every day” (pg. 256).

Paper Valentine is a book that really defies categorization. It is its own entity, separate from anything else either the paranormal or mystery genres have to offer. Brenna Yovanoff’s storytelling is unique, her prose is engaging, and the way she treats characterization is uncomplicated and straightforward.

4 Stars

Listen AudioBook Here:

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff AudioBook

Vixen (Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin AudioBook

Book Review: Vixen (Flappers 1) by Jillian Larkin

Jazz … Booze … Boys … It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun … or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden.…

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry.…

I’m a big fan of historical fiction, which, more often than not, tends to be either medieval or Victorian. While I love to read about those eras, it’s always exciting when you come across something a little bit different within the genre.

Despite some slightly average characters, Vixen was a book I really enjoyed. The passion Larkin has for the 1920’s shines through on every page and it was the rich atmosphere of the book that I loved. The details woven into the story, the intricate fashion, the language, the descriptive setting, all of it brought the 1920’s to life. Reading Vixen, you feel as though you are right there alongside the characters, walking into a tempting underground world of illegal booze, jazz, glitz, sex and smoke.

I also really liked that Vixen is largely about an interracial romance, which is rare in contemporary YA, let alone one set in the 1920’s. The danger, prejudice and alienation of such a relationship, along with the constant background presence of the mob, gives Vixen an edge to what is otherwise, a fun, but fairly typical, YA historical romance.

Vixen is told through three different narrators, Gloria, Clara and Lorraine, three society girls drawn to the illicit flapper lifestyle and each with their own secrets. I enjoyed their individual stories, their romances, friendships and break-ups. The other characters, particularly the romantic interests, weren’t as well-developed and dare I say it, a little bland. Clara and Jerome’s forbidden relationship was easily the most enticing of the three, but didn’t quite have the sizzle I was looking for. I have to admit that at times the characters felt a little too familiar, like I had read about them all before, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book.

Aside from the odd, frustrating, moment where the narrative would jump to a different girl, cutting of an important or interesting scene, I felt the multiple-narrative worked very well. Vixen is definitely a finding yourself, romance novel, as not much action really takes place until the last third of the book, where things suddenly become a lot more dangerous and certainly leave the reader intrigued for book two.

Fans of Anna Godbersen’s Luxe series will most likely love Vixen, as it has quite a similar feel (I believe Godbersen also has a series set in the 1920’s but since I haven’t read any of them I cannot compare the two). Larkin brings to life a fascinating period of American history, a time of Prohibition, speakeasies, gangsters and glamour. Vixen takes a while to establish the characters and for the readers to warm to them, but the atmosphere and setting, almost a character in itself, hits you from the first page. This book simply wouldn’t be the same, or half so interesting, set in any other period. Fans of the era should definitely pick this one up.

Listen AudioBook “Vixen (Flappers 1) by Jillian Larkin” Here:

Vixen (Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin Part 1 [Teen & Young AudioBooks]

Vixen (Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin Part 2 [Teen & Young AudioBooks]

Vixen (Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin AudioBook

Thursday, October 2, 2014

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason AudioBook

Book Review – The Richest Man In Babylon, By George S. Clason

Richest man in Babylon

In my review of Jim Rohn’s book “7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness” I mentioned a book recommended by Rohn called “The Richest Man In Babylon.” Rohn refers to it as “The Appetizer for the Full Discourse on the Subject of Financial Independence.”

“The Richest Man In Babylon” was written in the 1920s by George S. Clason as the first in a series of pamphlets about thrift and financial success. “The Richest Man In Babylon” uses parables set in ancient Babylon to teach valuable lessons relating to finances.

Banks and insurance companies distributed these pamphlets in large quantities, and they became well-known to millions. “The Richest Man in Babylon” became the most popular of these, and has impacted the lives of millions of people. These “Babylonian Parables” have since become a modern inspirational classic.

The book’s introduction, written by the Los Angeles Times, frames the book nicely by saying:

What can a book written in the 1920s tell modern investors about their finances? A whole lot if it’s George Clason’s delightful set of parables that explain the basics of money. This is a great gift for a graduate or anyone who seems baffled by the world of finance and a wonderful, refreshing read for even the most experienced investor.

The 7 Principles of Riches:

“The Richest Man In Babylon” offers 7 principles as told by Arkad, the riches man in Babylon. When talking about the 7 Principles of Riches, Arkad says “Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple rules of its acquisition.” The 7 principles of riches are:

Start thy purse to fattening

Control thy expenditures

Make thy gold multiply

Guard thy treasures from loss

Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment

Insure a future income

Increase thy ability to earn

Of course these principles are nothing new, but they are considered by many successful people to be the foundation to wealth. The book lays them out in a way that’s interesting to follow, easy to understand, and really sinks in.

1. Start thy purse to fattening:

I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before, which for many is easier said than done:

For every ten coins thou placest within thy purse take our for use but nine. Thy purse will start to fatten at once and its increasing weight will feel good in thy hand and ring satisfaction to thy soul.

The advice here is to save at a minimum 10% of everything you earn, and to pay yourself first. That means before paying any bills, before you buy those new shoes, before you do anything with your paycheck, take out 10% to pay yourself. It doesn’t sound like much, but over time it will grow.

Other common advice, not specifically mentioned here, is to have the money direct deposited into an account that’s not easily accessible. Since this is automatic, there’s no chance to put it off until you find you need that money for something else. Also, it’s harder to access if you feel like spending it.

Of course, if you look at the statistics of how much people have in their savings account, this is not as simple as it sounds. But if you think about it, for most of us, we easily blow 10% on things we don’t need. This means it’s less a matter of being able to afford it, and more a matter of discipline.

2. Control thy expenditures:

Simply put, live below your means. In the past, I lived above my means and I paid a heavy price for it. The advice here is solid advice, no matter what your current level of income. If you’re making $300,000.00 a month, and spending $350,000.00 a month, it’s just a matter of time (or a matter of a misfortune or two) before you lose it all.

The advice here is to create a budget for your expenses, and stick to it. That includes the 10% you set aside, and making sure that you don’t touch that money. This is not easy for a lot of people, and I know not everyone believes it’s necessary, but a budget is a great way to keep things under control. I’ll be reviewing a budgeting program I just purchased in the next couple of months, called “You Need a Budget,” or “YNAB.”

3. Make thy gold multiply:

Compound Interest. It’s one of the largest wealth growth components available. Of course, with small amounts of money earning interest, the growth begins very slowly. But that’s where the compounding comes in. Anthony Robbins uses an example about wagering on a round of golf. Starting with ten cents, you wager “double or nothing” for each hole. What’s the worst that you can lose, maybe a couple of hundred dollars?

Things start off very slowly. Of course, the first hole is $.10. The second hole is $.20. By the ninth hole, it’s up to $25.60. Not bad so far.

By the time you get to the 14th hole, the total wager is up to $819.20. If you think that’s surprising, wait until you hear the final wager after 18 holes! After 18 holes, the wager has become $13,107.00. That’s the power of exponential growth through compound interest, and that’s the lesson of “make thy gold multiply.” The Wealthy know how to make their money earn more money:

Behold, from my humble earnings I had begotten a hoard of golden slaves, each laboring and earning more gold. As they labored for me, so their children also labored and their children’s children until great was the income from their combined efforts.

One very important point – starting earlier makes a huge difference in the rate of growth. It’s never too late, but the earlier you start, the better.

4. Guard thy treasures from loss:

Simply put, make safe investments. If you’re investing all of your money on a tip from your brother in law, because he knows someone who knows someone who said stock xyz was gonna explode, you might as well head to Vegas and let it ride on black…at least that way will be more fun.

You’ve got to do your due diligence with any investment. The recommendation here is consult with experts related to the field of investment. I say take it one step further, and research the topic yourself so you can make educated decisions.

5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment:

The fifth cure recommended here is to “own thy own home.” Whether or not you consider your home an asset or a liability, it’s hard to deny the point mentioned in the book, the feeling of satisfaction of owning your own house.

6. Insure a future income:

This is advice that unfortunately so many struggle with in their old age. During the retirement years, instead of enjoying life many are struggling to make enough to live.

Provide in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family.

7. Increase thy ability to earn:

Our recent article “Investing In Your Number One Asset” touches on the 7th Principle of Riches. You must continue to improve yourself, making yourself more valuable and increasing your earning ability. This includes all areas of our life! We should always work to improve ourselves, physically, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally – in all areas of our lives. It will bring wealth into your life, not just financially but in every way.

…cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act as to respect thyself. Thereby shalt thou acquire confidence in thyself to achieve thy carefully considered desires.

Final Thoughts:

These basic financial fundamentals have been around for ages. They sound simple, but are not so simple in practice. “The Richest Man In Babylon” nonetheless does a great job of explaining them in a simple to understand, enjoyable to read way that I think will benefit most people that read it.

I recommend that you buy and read this book! It’s a small book, easy to read and inexpensive. Who knows, you might find that it explains things in a way that will make you want to follow the advice and grow your own wealth.

Listen AudioBooks “The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason” Here:

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason AudioBook

Monday, September 29, 2014

Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine AudioBook

Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 23 million Americans suffer from anxiety disorders- many as a direct result of trauma. As a young stress researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, Peter A. Levine found that all animals, including humans, are born with a natural ability to rebound from these distressing situations. Now on Healing Trauma, you can join this respected therapist and teacher to learn how to address these and other symptoms at their source-your body-and return to the natural trauma-free state that you were meant to live in. Featuring more than six hours of guided instruction to engage your body’s built-in healing process.