Can you keep a secret? by Sophie Kinsella REVIEW #2

Driving home from Blissdom, I needed some help staying awake, so I stopped at a bookstore in Birmingham and selected a book on CD.  I selected Can you keep a secret? by Sophia Kinsella.  I’ve never listened to a book on tape, but I was desperate.

Within minutes, I was involved in the story.  The book begins with a bumpy, very  turbulent airplane ride where Emma tells all her secrets to the stranger sitting next to her.  Lo and behold, the next day her new boss appears at her office…. and it’s the stranger from the plane. 

I very much enjoyed this book on cd and I have no doubt I would have enjoyed it in print.  In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I am sure I will read all of Sophia Kinsella’s novels. 

I have a long car ride this weekend.  Our family is headed to Gatlinburg.  I am wishing I had another book on tape.

Sam’s Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson REVIEW #1

I’m off to a good start with my once a book reading resolution for 2011.  I started one book, but gave myself permission to not read it any longer.  I hated the dialog and the story line was giving me nightmares.  (Eight Days to Live by Iris Johansen – she lost me when the bad guy said to the beautiful nake blonde, “Shut your mouth and open your legs.”).

Desperate for something to read, I rumamged around in my nightstand and found Sam’s Letters to Jennifer.  My MIL passed along this book to me after she read it.  In the back, she wrote (very good).  I agree, Gloria, very good.

http://www.amazon.com/Sams-Letters-Jennifer-James-Patterson/dp/0446613347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295624847&sr=8-1

I love books writen in diary and letter form, called epistolary novels.  (think Bridget Jones’s Diary (loved it and recently re-released with illustrations!!!), Diet Girl (loved it), Holly’s Inbox (loved it))  This short novel is two love stories intertwined.  While Jennifer reads the letters from her grandmother, while her grandmother is in the hospital with a coma.  As Jennifer waits for her grandmother to awaken, she develops a relationship with her neighbor and old childhood friend, who has a devestating secret.  As their love blosssoms, he finally confides.  But, it is too late to back away and protect her heart. Jennifer is hoplessly in love with Brenden, and she is there for him in sickness and in health. 

This novel is a quick read.  I read in three nights, just before bed (I needed a break from my Suduku obsession!).  I highly recommend this book for a quick, light read.

Book Review – Fearless by Max Lucado

Fear is something I know about.  I’m afraid of crossing bridges in my car (but only if my kids are with me – otherwise I am good), muggers, spiders, carjackers, huge Florida roaches, home invaders, snakes, the economy and clowns.  So, I was very interested in how to be Fearless.

I wasn’t very familiar with Max Lucado before reading this book.  I had heard his name, reviewed a cartoon DVD by him, but I really didn’t know much about Max.  He is a prolific and accomplished Christian writer from Texas.  You can learn more about him here. 

In this book, the author tackles a major source of fear in the american lifestyle.  Several chapters spoke directly to me, such as:

• God’s Ticked off at me – nuff said
• I’m sinking fast - see above
• My child is in danger – a big source of anxiety in my life
• Make-believe money – economy, job, nuff said

I enjoyed this read.  It helped me to battle my fears, even overcome my fears.  If you suffer anxiety and fearful thoughts, you will benefit from reading this book.

Yanni Voices

I’m going! I’m going! Are you?

I am so excited!  My family was asked to attend the  Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco by MomSelect.  The Cirque du Soleil will be at Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center FSU on May 13 at 7:30pm.

If you want to take your family, MomSelect is offering a discount on family of 4 tickets.  Click here for more info. 

My husband and I saw a “Russian Circus” in Myrtle Beach on our honeymoon.  We enjoyed it so much and we’ve wanted our kids to see a really cool circus.  Now is the time!  Yippee.

If you can go, be sure to let me know.  Maybe we can dine together before the show.

Shannon

Wallamoppi Game Review

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed Squint, Jr. for Out of the Box Publishing (OTBGames).  You can see that review here.  Our family has play Squint, Jr several times since that review.  One night, my daughter and her spend the night company playing Squint, Jr. together.  It really is a fun game.

So, I was pretty excited to try another OTBGames game.  Leah from OTBGames sent me Squint, Jr., Wallamoppi and Backseat Drawing, Jr.  Last night, I broke out Wallamoppi for me and PJ to play.  Wallamoppi is a 2-person game, so I was waiting for the right opportunity to play. 

In my last review, I posted my game manifesto.  This is what I am looking for in a good family game:

Family Game Manifesto:

• Fun – nuff said
• Value – I don’t care how fun it is, the game must be reasonably priced
• Longevity – we play the game often for several years
• Wide age range – kids/adults or any combination can play
• Right Brained – Strategy – I think learning strategy is a good skill for my kids
• Left Brained - Art/Imagination -  I want my kids to be creative as they grow up
• Has a winner – life is about winning and loosing.  You have to learn to do both well.
• Well written directions – I’m a technical writer.  Need I say more?

Wallamoppi contains a plastic drawstring bag filled with wooden tokens, stored inside a wooden box.  Inside the wooden box is a series ledges that a marble travels down to create a rudimentary timer.  Your turn is over BEFORE the marble drops into the hole at the end of the chute.  Before the game starts, each player chooses a color – lights or darks.   The object of the game is to remove a token from the base or sides of the pyramid, and then stack the token into a tower on top of the pyramid.  The tower quickly gets wobbly, because the tokens have rounded edges and do not easily support tall towers (like Jenga).  Within seconds of playing, I tired of this game.  But, surprising to me, my son (age 7) loved it.  The first game, we played with the marble timer, but we were easily able to complete our turn before the marble finished it’s course, so we quite using the timer.  We played two more games and PJ really seemed to enjoy the game. 

My recommendation is this is a good game for young children (age 7-10) to play together.  It is not sophisticated enough to hold an adults attention.

I guess the best news is the game is VERY FAST.  Sometimes that is a bonus…

The game retails for $24.99 and the price seems a bit high, but the materials used make the game probably contribute to the extra cost.

Yanni is so Cool and I didn’t know it!

I was honored to attend Blissdom09 in Nashville, TN.  My in-laws (Thank you, Paul & Gloria) gifted me with tickets to this event for Christmas.  The tickets were my best Christmas present. 

At Blissdom09, I was introduced to Yanni.  I knew the name.  Iknew he was a musician, but I was not familiar with his music.  To be honest, I wasn’t realy thrilled to watch/listen to a preview of his new PBS special.  Well, I changed my mind VERY quickly.  Yanni is the bomb!  I loved every second of what I heard.

Yanni has selected young adults from around the world to write songs and sing to his music.  They were awesome.  I especially liked this guy.
  He can dance like no one’s watching….

This guy sang opera and he is HOT!  Frankly, I can’t wait to watch just to see him.
  See what I mean?

In my market, Yanni Voices will be shown on PBS on March 15 at 7pm.  You can click here to find the time in your area.  Here is the link to the Yanni Voices PBS website. 

Thank you, One2One Network for opening my eyes to some great music.  I can’t wait to see more.