Favorite Author

Hey everybody!

I completely spaced on a question yesterday. Uh-oh! So here's your question of the week to think about:

Who is your favorite author and why?

Please comment below!

Also, I'm going to change things up one more time. I have been keeping this quote book for about two and a half years now, and I think every Friday I'll post a quote in addition to answering my question...which I've been slacking on.

Keep reading!
Mackenzie

Inhale

Hey everybody!

Only fifteen books left to review before I'm all caught up! Yay! So after I finished my sweet little romance, I went on to a "sexy" romance. No not Fifty Shades of Grey, I'm way too young for that. (Just kidding!) I read Inhale by Kendall Grey.

And it's another that fits in! 

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Inhale

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Along for the Ride

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So this was my first "sexy" romance. And just look at that cover. It says it all right there. Except it wasn't really that sexy. There is a warning that they have in the description on Amazon, and pretty much anywhere else you look for it, about sex and graphic language....that wasn't necessary. There were very few sex scenes. But the background story was actually pretty good. It takes place in two realms (Realis- or the real world- and the Dreaming) and at the beginning it kind of gets all blurry and confusing but then when you actually get into it everything clears up. Then characters really start to develop and you understand where you are. There is some really cool symbolism in this book and ties that bond the characters together, and the bird! But at the end there are lots of loose ends, obviously hinting at another book, unless it's just an awful book. (Yes, there are two more books after this and three fill-in books)  So if you plan on reading this book, don't read it for the sexyness of it, read it because it's actually a decent fantasy story. I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars because I did like it but it wasn't amazing and sexy. But another plus the main character is a marine biologist that works with WHALES!!! And all profits of this series goes to the WHALES!! This is just an added bonus especially because I am doing an animal blog, so it's almost necessary to promote it. But back to the book, it was a pretty decent book for what it was.

Happy reading!

Mackenzie

Actively Reading

Hey everyone!

So last week I got some good answers to the question I posed last week. I didn't get to post on Friday because I was busy getting ready for Relay for Life that happened this weekend. So this Friday I'll combine both posts. So this week's question is:

How do read? And I mean like do you take notes when you read, do you analyze what your reading, or do you just barrel on through? What kind of reading works best for you?

Keep reading!
Mackenzie

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali

Hello, hello, hello!

So for my history class in the lovely spring semester I was required to read Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali by D.T. Niane.

I have a lot of "S"s I need to fill up so of course this one will fit just fine and let's use an animal that already has some letters filled in!

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Inhale

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Along for the Ride

Sundaiata: An Epic of Old Mali

This is a story that gets passed down by griots. It is a very inspirational little tale of a boy destined to be king. I don;t have much to say on this book. It's interesting that they chose to write the story of Sundiata down after many years of just passing it down because, to kind of quote the griot, a lot gets lost when something is written down instead of told from person to person and I guess writing is stupid...? ( I really don't agree with that considering that's what I live off of). This is one of those books, especially if you're a history buff, you have to read at least once. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars because I didn't hate it and I didn't love it.

Keep reading!
Mackenzie

Fairy tales

Hey there!

It's question day! Since the beginning of the week I reviewed a fairy tale-like romance book my question this week is on fairy tales.

Most children grow-up on fairy tales and their ideals, but should we be raising children on these images? What is it doing to our world and our children?

Comment your answers below! Or you can anonymously email me your answers along with any book or literary question recommendations.

mackenzie.roy@gmail.com

Happy reading and writing!
Mackenzie

Once Upon a Prince

Hello everyone!

Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck is the next book I'm going to discuss.

And Hooray! It fits in!

Angels and Demons

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Doctor Sleep

I Am Legend

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Once Upon a Prince

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This was a cute (but predictable) happy-go-lucky story. After reading a lot of gore and blood it was nice to read this sweet little book. That being said, if you want a real story that you can't predict within reading the title, don't read this book. I wanted something light and I like to vary my reading material so I can get a little taste of everything, and I can hopefully expand some else's horizons. I really like these books every once in a while simply because I would get bored of them if I read them too often. Like I said previously it was very predictable. EVERYTHING was very predictable. Definitely not a challenging, thought-provoking book.

Happy reading!

Mackenzie

What's Up?

Hey there!

So no one responded to my Q&A on Wednesday and that's alright. So I'll just tell you what is going on with my literary life today. So I am about to finish up the third book in the Just Breathe series, the first book in that series being Inhale which the review for that will be in a few Mondays, and then I'll probably start If I Stay by Gayle Forman after I finish the two short stories that go along with the Just Breathe series.

To answer my own question, my favorite genre is Thriller. It's not always that clear what can be considered a genre or a subgenre but I'm looking for an answer to either. You can still answer the question and I'll add it into next Friday's post.

Keep reading!
Mackenzie

Favorite genre?

Hey everyone!

Let's start with an easy question.

What's your favorite genre?

This kind of paves the way for Friday, by answering this question will give me a feel for what kind of books I should read to keep my audience happy. Also, feel free to post questions and recommendations for Friday's post!

Keep reading!
Mackenzie

Three times a week

Hey everyone!

So I've been very overwhelming with the reviews lately because I have a lot of lost time to make up for. But for my sanity and the sanity of my readers I'm going to post at least three times a week instead of everyday. So I'll post on Monday and my Monday post will be a book review. Then, I'll post on Wednesday and I'll pose a literary question that may require some deep thought and will probably require some reader participation or you can just think about it on you're own and not discuss it. Finally, on Friday I'll probably do a Q&A or ask for some recommendations. So it would be GREAT if everyone could send me questions throughout the week so I can have something to post about on Fridays. If by chance no one feels like speaking out I will catch you up on what I'm reading and how far I am in that book. I'll see you tomorrow with a literary question!

So please! Let's do some Q&A! Comment below!
Mackenzie

Mountain Madness

Hello there!

So I read this book Mountain Madness by Daniel Pyle. I only have one M available to me in my challenge and I want to save for a really special book (I haven't figured out what yet), so I can't give it to this book. Here's what this lovely book look like.

So like I said, I'm not including this in my challenge so you'll just get my review.

This book is two shortish stories in one book. I'll take them one by one. First is Dismember. This is a psychological thriller. It was very unrealistic, which is fine in a horror book by all means, but not in a psychological one. This is supposed to freak you out and and make you not want to be home alone and this book just didn't do it. Freeze was a little better. The creatures were an interesting concept but it was WAAAAY overly gruesome. Both were very overly gruesome and they didn't need to be. I am, by no means at all, against gore but there is a line and this was way over the line into ridiculous. All characters were underdeveloped and so was the plot. I know I've said this before but shorter isn't always better, shorter is NOT better when you can't figure out how to fully develop anything in such a short amount of pages. He also didn't end them properly. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars simply because I didn't hate the books. They were alright. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the book to anyone, unless you're a HUGE guts and gore fan.

Keep on reading!
Mackenzie

Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation

Hi there!

So this next book, Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation by Aisha Tyler, was given to me as a Christmas gift because I am not he most graceful person in the world. I'm actually far toward the bottom of the list of most graceful people in the world.

I'm going to add this to ELEPHANTS because I am so close to finishing it.

Ender’s Game

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Persepolis (The Complete)

Happiness Project (The)

Angel in a Fur Coat

Narrative of Fredrick Douglass

Two Towers (The)

Self-inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation

Two left to go! Woo-Hoo! I love elephants!

So in all seriousness, this book was funny. It is a memoir about Aisha's life. It wasn't just stories about not being graceful but it was more about how awkward she is and by being awkward she humiliated herself. There were some stories that I didn't understand the point of and I didn't see how that story was at all harmful and could possibly just be a filler to make the book longer. Some stories I just didn't like at all. Good stories outnumbered the rotten tomatoes though. I would suggest this book to anyone who is awkward and needs a pick me up. Or just wants to laugh at someone else. Schadenfreude, right? I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars because overall it was funny and I could relate to some of the stories because I am clumsy and awkward.

Keep reading!

Mackenzie

Doctor Sleep

Hello there!

This is my one exception to the series rule for two reasons. 1) Most people have at least heard of The Shining, let alone have read or watched it. 2) It just needs to be talked about. So for all of you that don't know, Doctor Sleep is the sequel to The Shining both by Stephen King. There was a lot of anticipation with this book because The Shining is so good and so well known. But I will wait with my review until I get the main stuff out of the way.

Although, it's breaking my series rule, I'm including it in the challenge because I sat through it.

Angels and Demons

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Doctor Sleep

I Am Legend

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Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for my review. Everyone was so excited for it and it was such a let down. There was very little of the original story we loved carried over. It was almost random. I would have liked it better if it was just a stand alone book and not the second part of a book I really liked. I don't want to completely bash this book because there were parts of the story that were good. The characters were well developed and pieces of The Shining that were brought through made the book even better. I liked the concept but I'm not sure it was followed through correctly. I don't think I would suggest this to anyone who has read and loved The Shining. I personally was disappointed. If you are curious go ahead and read it but if you're expecting a book like The Shining you too will be disappointed. I'm not saying don't read it but don't have really high expectations and you'll probably enjoy it. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars because I did enjoy it a little.

Keep reading!

Mackenzie

Fortunately, the Milk

Hey everyone!

So, the next book I read during my break of posting was Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman. I read this while it was very slow at work one day. It barely makes my page minimum clocking in at 114 pages. BUT I finished F already as Desmond told you in that last post. So you will simply have my review and a lovely picture of the cover.

Neil Gaiman, how silly you are. I really am fond of him. His stories are ridiculously silly, which is not very traditional in books. The other nice thing about his books is that they can be children's books AND adult books and not just an adult reading a children's book. This one however, is a children's book. It is far too goofy to be anything but. This story takes you through the adventure of a father who is simply trying to bring his children back some milk for their breakfast cereal. He goes through crazy obstacles and adventures to do so, and it is priority to make sure he gets the milk home. It was a really cute book. I would definitely read this to little kids. You can see Gaiman's imagination running wild with this book, as in many of his books. I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars for the fact that I was an adult reading it, although I did really enjoy sillyness of it, it .would have been better were I child reading it for the first time. I would suggest this to people who have little ones or to little ones reading this blog (?) or even to people who have a great imagination. I enjoyed this very short read and I think you should read it to your wee ones.

Happy reading!
Mackenzie

New FUN rules

Hey everyone!

I've decided to add some flair to my blog. I don't know if I've said this before but when I finish an animal I plan on writing a whole post dedicated to just that animal with pictures and fun facts and such! I'm hoping that adds some more excitement to the blog. Also, when I write a review of a book I'll post a picture of the cover so if you so choose you may find the correct book. Finally, my two year-old nephew, Desmond, is learning his letters and it is absolutely adorable. So when I finish a letter now I will try to post a video of him saying the letter. He doesn't always cooperate and I don't always see him. Or I'll post some other cute video of the letter somehow...?

I have finished F, P, and X. He doesn't know what X is yet. BUT I do have a video of the letter F. This post is brought to you by the letter:

It's just so cute I can't not include it.

Happy reading!
Mackenzie

UPDATE: I have NOT finished the letter "P"