When I first began reading the Perfectly Crazy, I was drawn in by the fact that the main character, Nell, was a strong, beautiful and independent woman. The very first sentence of the book says, “Nell was a looker, and she knew it, too.” Besides being beautiful, she was happily married to a very successful surgeon, the mother of 2 children and a successful business owner. And yet, with all of her success she was drawn to another man, someone she had met in college and been friends with ever since.

From there, the story becomes somewhat predictable, she falls in love with her male friend, but is determined to remain faithful to her husband. Then, almost too conveniently, her husband is diagnosed with a fatal illness. He doesn’t even tell Nell about it, instead, he flies his private plane into the ground and kills himself. Gee, that frees Nell to move on with her new man David, she only had to wait a few weeks for the insurance adjusters to decide her husband’s death had been an accident. Personally, I found this all to be a bit over done and made Nell’s life way too easy.

As soon as the insurance paid off, Nell basically moves in with her new beau leaving her high school aged daughter basically living on her own. Hmmm, something else that didn’t sit well with me. Oh, did I mention that her daughter & step-son, along with all their friends were so happy that she’d found the love of her life just weeks after her husband’s death? Really? No body questions them? Oh, by the way, her lover David had also been married and his wife was expecting a baby when he informed her he was leaving her. WOW! That spells loser to me! But then again, maybe they deserve each other.

Well, it’s just a fictional novel and, while I wouldn’t recommend it for serious reading, it’s a good book to take to the beach!

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Whenever I think of Monte Carlo, I think Bond, James Bond.

Now there is a new movie,  Monte Carlo, that will be in theaters Friday, July 1.  What I all ready like about this movie is that is looks like a movie I can take my teenage daughter to and we can enjoy it together.  She is in the 3rd week of her summer vacation and with her being 15, it can be difficult to entice her to do something with dear old mom instead of her friends!

The main character of the movie is Grace, played by Selena Gomez (from Disney’s Waverly Place), is a typical girl who suddenly becomes an heiress.  She, along with her best friend and step-sister, travel to Monte Carlo on a summer trip and end up discovering themselves. Selena Gomez is a popular teenage actress who also sings on the movie’s soundtrack.  I know my daughter has seen her Disney show and would enjoy seeing the movie as well.  The biggest reason I would enjoy seeing this movie with my daughter is that we both plan to go to France together in a few years.  In the mean time, take a look at the movie trailer.

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Movie tickets can be purchased in advance from Fandango beginning June 29 and be sure to “Like” the movie’s Facebook page! 

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I don’t get to see too many movies when they’re at the theater, but I always make sure to see Captain Jack on the big screen, and, this time, I even saw it in 3D!  This newest release in The Pirates of the Caribbean series is really good in my opinion.  It’s not as dark and scary as the 3rd movie, and delved back into the intelligent humor that makes Captain Jack such a lovable character.  The original movie is still my favorite, but I’m sure I’ll be adding this one to my dvd collection whenever it gets released.

Have you seen it yet?  Did you enjoy it as much as I did?

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I was intrigued by this book from the moment I took it out of the mailing envelope. The cover depicts a rather striking young lady who has a face very much like a cat, yes, even a soft, furry nose. But the eyes, mouth and hair on the top of her head were definitely human. I sat down in a favorite reading spot and began to read with anticipation, Aurora Fee, the story of a female high school student who is, to say the least, quite unique.

Right away, I discovered that Aurora is really quite different from any other teenager you might imagine. You see, although she was born human, her life changed forever when she turned 16. I don’t want to give away the story, but let’s just say, Aurora is able to change from her human form to a cat, and back again. There are times that she has control of when she changes, and other times, much to her dismay, she has no control. Her emotions, when not kept in check, control which parts of her human body change into a cat. Sounds a bit complicated and I did have trouble remembering which emotion caused what part to change, but it really wasn’t a necessary fact in following the story of Aurora.

While Aurora has to contend with her shape shifting, she also contends with typical teenage issues, school, friends, and even love. All of these things cause angst and can peak emotions particularly in a teenager, so it’s even more of a challenge for someone who doesn’t want their cat ears giving them away! As the parent of a teenager, I found it easy to relate to the teenage issues in the book. I found some of the story to be a bit far fetched and naive, but overall, it is a very enjoyable book. I am very impressed that the author, Megan Barnes, was just 17 when she wrote the story and had it published. On that alone I recommend the book! I admire anyone that follows their dreams, but to do so at such a young age is absolutely a triumph!

I give it a thumbs up and recommend this book to tweens- young teens. 

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My favorite is still the first one, “The Curse of the Black Pearl”. Which one is your favorite?

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Postcards From the Hedge is a collection of vignettes covering the four seasons of gardening and life. I found it to be entertaining and humorous and easy to read. The stories range in subject matter covering everything from the interesting neighbors, the growth of our children, the learning experiences of a novice gardener, and even the entertainment and disasters of our pets.

I am definitely a novice gardener and I found most of the stories in the book to be very easy to relate to. If you ever tried your hand at gardening you know that while parts of it are easy, other parts can be very labor intensive and even frustrating. Sounds just like life to me and that’s exactly how author Jill Appenzeller relates the stories. I love how she writes, it made me feel as if I was experiencing every garden dilemma, every conversation and every joyous occasion. If I was having a tough day, I knew I could sit down and read a couple of the short stories and I’d end up with a smile on my face.

I recommend this book to anyone. Gardening, like life, can teach us so much about who we are and how we get along in this world!

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I was so happy when Parent Reviewers asked me to read and review the Wright On Time series of books, written by Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley, which revolve around a family of four traveling the United States in their RV, learning all about the different states and the history that makes our country what it is today. You see, I spent many vacations traveling with my parents, going to campgrounds, spending nights in tents in my younger years and later, my parent upgraded to a beautiful motor home, very similar to the RV the Wright family is traveling in. I knew I’d be able to relate to these stories and I was so right!

The Wright family, mom Stephanie, dad Harrison, and siblings Nadia, age 11 and Aidan, age 7, (do you see that those names are spelled in reverse of each other?) have rented out their permanent residence and taken to life on the road. The parents both earn their living on the road and homeschool, or roadschool as Aidan likes to call it, their kids. Book 1, Arizona covers their first destination, Arizona where they spend a day exploring the Arizona desert. They take the opportunity to explore a privately owned cave where the learn about a variety of cave formations, minerals and animals that dwell in caves, particularly bats. Truly, what kid wouldn’t love spending the day exploring and even having a picnic in a cave?!

In Book 2, the Wrights travel to Utah where they participate in a geological dig for dinosaur bones. We did something very similar a few years ago in South Dakota and found it to be a fascinating adventure that I know my own daughter will always remember. So much can be learned from this types of activities and the book really helps the reader share in all of the information and fact finding.

I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed these books and I definitely share the love of learning and traveling around our country. It’s exactly what we’ve tried to do with our own daughter, even though we don’t have an RV. The series seems to be targeted to readers around age 10, younger if they love to read and have a parent that likes to read with them. The stories inspire me to hit the road with my family!

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I’m always on the lookout for a good book and when I saw this video it really piqued my interest. It’s simple, yet to the point and the point it makes is something I think many of us can relate to. Watch it for yourself and see if you agree.

The book Raising a Father written by Arjun Sen, is the story of how a father comes to realize that he doesn’t know his daughter. The story shows how, after a traumatic event, Arjun realizes he needs to reorganize his priorities, makes a decision to leave the corporate world that he’s been so engrossed in, and spend the time getting to know his own daughter.

Now he doesn’t just quit his job to become a stay at home dad (which I don’t consider to be a bad option!). Instead, he starts his own company, working from home so has the opportunity to spend more time doing things with his own daughter. What he proved along the way was that it actually is possible to have success and still be a good father. The main difference for him now is that he measures success differently and is enjoying fatherhood.

I’m not saying that if a parent works outside the home that makes them any less of a parent. But, we all know how easy it can be to become wrapped up in our work and start missing some of our kids activities. They grow up so fast. I believe if there is an opportunity for a parent to be successful in work and still be as involved as they can possibly be with their own children, why not take it? Personally, that’s the biggest reason I continue with the job I have. Could I find a job for more pay? I’m sure I could. But, I set my own schedule, I work from home, I’m available to my daughter almost all of the time. I am fortunate in that I get the best of both worlds.

I think Raising a Father sounds like a story most of us can relate to and I think I’m going to give it a read!

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The first book I read is titled Snow Takes the Checker! written by Demi Knight Clark. The story’s main character is Snow the race horse and her love of racing and her love of friends. I have to admit, I loved the artwork that was done throughout the book, but I’m somewhat unclear as to what age group this book was written for.

At first glance I thought it was directed towards young children, i.e., toddlers. But, after reading the story, I’m not sure. The story begins with Snow telling the reader about her dream of racing and introduces her family which supports her dream. The storyline then takes a turn and introduces her friend Tula, a turtle, and her arch rival, a raccoon named Robbie. The long awaited race takes place and all of the different animals participate. There is quite a bit of jostling for position and an attempt by the author to teach the importance of good sportsmanship, but in the end, the race is a tie thanks to Snow waiting for her friend so they could cross the finish line together. I thought this was pretty thoughtful on Snow’s part, but it also show Robbie in the background looking exhausted and losing the race. So, while Snow was quite polite during the race, she certainly didn’t do any favors for anyone other than her friend. This story seems to have a conflicting message, or maybe it’s trying to get too many messages across in one simple story book, but then again, maybe I’m just over thinking it!

The second book I read is titled Catty Wompus and is written by Julie Howe with drawings by Chason Matthams. Catty Wompus is the story about a lonely girl who has all the material things a girl could ever ask for. Unfortunately, Catty has everything but the thing that matters most, friendship.

Catty Wompus is a wonderfully written story for tweens. I think every girl and boy has met someone like Catty, they may not have realized though why they were so unhappy. In today’s environment of having so much, it can certainly be difficult to understand that having things isn’t what makes us happy. This is an important lesson all kids should learn. It wouldn’t hurt for a few adults to learn this as well! I do recommend Catty Wompus.

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