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Monday, April 29, 2019

Book Review: Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered



Authors: Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Harstark
 
Summary from Amazon:
The highly anticipated first book by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the voices behind the #1 hit podcast My Favorite Murder!
Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Karen and Georgia irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and deepest fears, reflecting on the formative life events that shaped them into two of the most followed voices in the nation.
In Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being ‘nice’ or ‘helpful.’ They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness.
My Favorite Murder started as a way for Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark to work through their fears. Now it’s a worldwide community…. Even its darkest moments are lightened by Karen and Georgia's effortlessly funny banter and genuine empathy.” —RollingStone.com

Personal Review:
I like podcasts. They are entertaining and fun. They expose me to others and their worldviews. I had never heard of this particular podcast, but I figured I would try it out. If you want dark honesty from two perspectives, this may be the one for you. I enjoyed the variety of the book and now need to go check out the podcast. Thanks for the opportunity!

 Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the publisher. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

Happy Reading!

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday: Summer of '69


Hi Everyone!

Just stopping by to let you know about a book that I am waiting on!
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Author:  Elin Hilderbrand
 
Summary from Amazon:
Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of a summer when everything changedin New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand's first historical novel 

Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century. It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket. But like so much else in America, nothing is the same: Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests and determined to be independent, takes a summer job on Martha's Vineyard. Only-son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother and her worried mother, each of them hiding a troubling secret. As the summer heats up, Ted Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, man flies to the moon, and Jessie and her family experience their own dramatic upheavals along with the rest of the country. 

In her first historical novel, rich with the details of an era that shaped both a nation and an island thirty miles out to sea, Elin Hilderbrand once again earns her title as queen of the summer novel.


 

Happy Reading!

Monday, April 22, 2019

Taylor Swift Book Tag


Hi Everyone!

Stopping by with a fun book tag that was created by Mari.  Figured it was a good time to do it since Taylor has been counting down to something this week! I didn't do all of the categories, be sure to check her site for the rest! :)


 Teardrops on My Guitar – book that always makes you cry

Stay Beautiful – book with the prettiest cover

Love Story – favorite romance/couple



Back to December – favorite holiday story



Never Grow Up – favorite childhood book



Red – favorite book with a red cover







Happy Reading!

Friday, April 19, 2019

Guest Post with Sharon Prentice



Hi Everyone! I am excited to be here today to bring you a guest post from Dr. Sharon Prentice. Please help me welcome her to the blog!
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How I Embraced Vulnerability to Tell the Story of Becoming Starlight
by Sharon Prentice, PhD

Writing a book.  To be quite honest, the thought had never entered my mind; I’d never written anything other than personal prose or patient charts that were never meant to see the light of day.  The idea was so remote that it would’ve been, as in the Twilight Zone monologue, like “opening a door into a fifth dimension of thought and sound, as timeless as space, as vast as infinity.” But once the possibility was introduced to me,  I had one reaction: exposing the secrets that lay hidden within my Soul sent chills racing through the recesses of my very being. I couldn’t let it go, though -- once unearthed…the thought simply would not leave me alone!

Imagine, if you will, standing on a stage, alone, in front of hundreds of people unknown to you,  while guffaws and ridicule, barbs of judgement undeserved and previously unknown are all directed your way!  A dizzying array of emotion and confusion filling your Spirit with every direct hit...and then, you realize you are, as my dad liked to say--naked as the day you were born! It’s then, possibly for the first time, that you begin to understand the concept of unadulterated vulnerability.

No one enjoys feeling vulnerable. Especially those of us who exist in environments created to keep vulnerability at bay. But there comes a time when life slaps you awake--and you can no longer exist within the protective bubble that served you so well in your private life.

Every writer understands this concept of vulnerability. Opening up to that bone-shaking, fearful reality—that I would be vulnerable--was the beginning of my journey into the world of publishing.  Accepting that in order to tell my story, I would have to surrender my oh-so- carefully tucked-away secrets to public scrutiny was my biggest hurdle. But it was one that needed confronting and eventually--conquering.

To tell my story… was exactly what I needed to do! One of my greatest mentors, Dr. Wayne Dwyer, before his death, told me, “Tell your story, Sharon. Tell the story.” The beginning of the writing process for me was the recognition that I was more uncomfortable staying silent than I was letting the words flow free and accepting the vulnerability inherent in exposure. Naked body or naked Soul--same thing!

But how and where to begin? What exactly did I want to say--or have to say--in this effort to release the words that were forming in the underbelly of my soul?  Instead of letting anxiety rule the day, I simply sat myself down…grabbed pen and paper…and let the floodgates open.

I didn’t change my physical environment…I embraced it. The old La-Z-y Boy recliner that had been my dad’s “home base” before his death became my sacred space. I felt safe and peaceful. It became my home…my sanctuary. My body just seemed to conform to the indentations that had, for years, become its very nature and I felt as if it “knew” me.  I didn’t feel the need to have a totally private, quiet, locked away space that had no recognition of me and the joys and sorrows of my life. It was there, on my dad’s well-loved recliner, that Becoming Starlight was birthed. 

But even in that sanctuary, I found myself chasing words.  It was irritating as the words seemed to erupt and run like madmen away from my conscious mind. The more I chased after the words as they fled the scene, the more irritated I became. Was this the well-known “writer’s block” rearing its ugly head? Or was it simply me trying to force something that simply couldn’t be forced? The operative word here became--relax! I needed to relax and just let it flow. Not trying to force each and every thought into some perfect form of writing saved the day! I stopped worrying about tense and punctuation and dangling participles! I simply put pen to paper and wrote the story.

It was then that the sacred words fell into place. It was then that the words found their place and told their story. My process needed acceptance of the vulnerability of the story that needed to be told. I let the invisible dancer lead the way and make the pen I held in my hand dance.

Becoming an author can be a life-altering decision! Finding your own safe space, your own sense of security, allowing the unfolding of the magic within...effortlessly…is the first step to creating and releasing the music in your Soul. Drawing out that music for healing and comfort…uncovering the shadows that haunt the human condition--that’s what it’s all about and what I hoped my readers would find. 

About the Author:


Dr. Sharon Prentice is the author of Becoming Starlight: A Shared Death Journey from Darkness to Light. Soon after completing her graduate studies in psychology, Dr. Prentice longed to discover “the why’s” about her own intimate experience with death in the form of an SDE, and that of others who had experienced something “weird, unbelievable, odd” at the time of the death of a loved one. Dr. Prentice is in private practice as a Licensed Clinical Pastoral Counselor - Advanced Certification. She is also a Board Certified Spiritual Counselor (SC-C) and holds Board Certification in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Group Therapy, Integrated Marriage and Family Therapy, and Crisis and Abuse Therapy. She is also a Board Certified Temperament Counselor. Dr. Prentice is a Professional Member of the American Counselors Association, a Professional Clinical member of the National Christian Counselors Association, a Clinical member of the American Mental Health Counselors Association, and a Presidential member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. She is also a Commissioned Minister of Pastoral Care. For more information, please visit https://sharonprentice.com and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Guest Post: Charlie Laidlaw


Hi Everyone!

Excited to be here to share this cover and some details about a new book by Charlie Laidlaw. Please help me by giving a warm welcome!
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The space between time

Back cover synopsis

There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on Earth...

Emma Maria Rossini appears to be the luckiest girl in the world. She's the daughter of a beautiful and loving mother, and her father is one of the most famous film actors of his generation. She's also the granddaughter of a rather eccentric and obscure Italian astrophysicist.

But as her seemingly charmed life begins to unravel, and Emma experiences love and tragedy, she ultimately finds solace in her once-derided grandfather’s Theorem on the universe.

The Space Between Time is humorous and poignant and offers the metaphor that we are all connected, even to those we have loved and not quite lost.


Synopsis

The Space Between Time is a dark comedy about love and loss.  It’s also about memory and how a childhood remembered can years later falsely distort what we feel about those closest to us.

Emma Maria Rossini appears to be the luckiest girl in the world.  She’s the daughter of a beautiful and loving mother and her father is one of the most famous film actors of his generation.  Tom Cruise is almost an adopted uncle.

She’s also the granddaughter of a rather eccentric and obscure Italian astrophysicist whose theories on the universe have been much ridiculed.

The story centres on Emma’s childhood in Edinburgh and East Lothian, and the overpowering event of her mother’s death, apparently in a freak lighting strike.  

However, the secret that only Emma knows is that her mother’s death was no accident.  It precipitates a suicide attempt, and estrangement from her father.

Emma stumbles through university and finds work as a journalist in Edinburgh, although she is once more becoming mentally unstable and, following the death of her father, again tries to commit suicide.

It’s while she’s in a mental institution that her psychiatrist suggests she writes a memoir of her life, to help her make sense of everything that’s happened to her, and The Space Between Time is the story she writes.

The tragic-comic story, aimed at both male and female readers, has heart, humour and warmth.  Its central message is that, even at the worst of times, a second chance can often be just around the corner.

In coming to terms with her life and the deaths of her parents, Emma finds ultimate solace in her once-derided grandfather’s Theorem on the universe – which offers the metaphor that we are all connected, even to those we have loved and not quite lost.




Happy Reading!

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Book Review: No Place Like Here



Author: Christina June 
 
Summary from Goodreads: 
Ashlyn Zanotti has big plans for the summer. She’s just spent a year at boarding school and can’t wait to get home. But when Ashlyn’s father is arrested for tax evasion and her mother enters a rehab facility for “exhaustion,” a.k.a. depression, her life is turned upside down.

The cherry on top? Ashlyn’s father sends her to work with a cousin she doesn’t even know at a rustic team-building retreat center in the middle of nowhere. A self-proclaimed “indoor girl,” not even Ash’s habit of leaving breadcrumb quotes—inspirational sayings she scribbles everywhere—can help her cope.

With a dangerously careless camp manager doling out grunt work, an overbearing father trying to control her even from prison, and more than a little boy drama to struggle with, the summer is full of challenges. And Ashlyn must make the toughest decision of her life: keep quiet and follow her dad’s marching orders, or find the courage to finally stand up to her father to have any hope of finding her way back home.

Personal Review:
Oh my goodness you guys, Christina is back and I am so glad! This book was just what I needed. I read it in two sittings, only because I had to take a break and do some things. This one was one that kept me turning the pages and I wanted to know what Ashlyn would decide to do. I really enjoyed this one and I am so glad I had the chance to read it.

Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from NetGalley. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.
 
Happy Reading!

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

TTT: Outrageous/Crazy/Uncharacteristic Things I’ve Done for the Love of Books



Hi Everyone!

Stopping by with a TTT post...this weeks topic:  Outrageous/Crazy/Uncharacteristic Things I’ve Done for the Love of Books. This spoke to me as I once flew across the country to go see Ann M. Martin, author of the Babysitters Club Speak. She was a childhood legend of mine and it was pretty amazing! :)




Happy Reading!

Friday, April 5, 2019

Dewey's Readathon


Hi Everyone!

Stopping by to let you know about a super fun readathon starting tomorrow! You can find out more information here. I hope you will join in on the fun!!

Happy Reading!
-Valerie

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Guest Post with Lori Morrison




Hi Everyone! I am excited to be here today with a guest post from Lori Morrison. Please help me give her a warm welcome to the blog!

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The Shaman's Guide to Power Animals
by Lori Morrison

Almost ten years ago, in the middle of a volcanic lake in El Salvador, I was struck by a mysterious light beam during a late-night walk. After three hours of being unconscious, I awoke to realize that all of my perceptions of the world had changed. I had left my ordinary reality and was now living in a non-ordinary reality. After a few stays in mental hospitals, believing I had lost my mind, I realized that I had instead been given a gift and joined a rare group of people that call themselves “lightning shamans”. This was an even stranger story as I was a left-brain entrepreneur that had been in the boardrooms of wall street and then a successful business woman throughout Central America, far from the tenants of indigenous teachings. After receiving this gift, I was able to interact with the spirits of animals,  along with a multitude of other mysterious beings from other worlds that I could see, hear and communicate with.

As a result of this experience, for several years, the spirits of four jaguars began to converse with me, along with Mayan ancestral priests, who would become my spiritual teachers and guides. They arrived on the night of my fifty-second birthday, an important date for the Mayan culture, to initiate me into a whole new purpose in this lifetime. I later learned that these jaguar spirits are often called Power Animals, guides that bring knowledge and power to human beings to support our earthly walk. I dove deep into researching to see if others had a similar experience and I realized that it is a richly woven practice among a variety of cultures of the world. Power animal spirits are also important allies for shamans. They are their guides and healers from the spirit world. Also, when an animal appears in the physical world it has a lot of meaning that can enrich our lives and expand our awareness.

I wrote this book because I wanted to share my findings about Power Animals and their importance to humanity. I had many questions to answer like, what meaning did different animals have for the Egyptians? Many graves have humans buried with a variety of animals, why? What did the Mayans believe when a hummingbird appeared? What messages did the Navajo medicine men receive from the animal spirits? There was a vast and hidden world that I wanted to discover, so I put on my Indiana Jones hat and headed off into the spiritual meanings of Power Animals.

My main source of information were symbols left by a variety of ancient cultures. I also found rich resources through art history and spent a lot of time watching videos of the animals in the wild. How did they react? What was their skill and power? Lastly, through intention and purpose with my new-found gift, I was now able to go to a multi-dimensional place where the spirits of Power Animals reside, and I asked them to share their wisdom with me for my book. They brought through me amazing and profound messages for humanity. The teachings at times were astonishing. I found myself immersed into an animal kingdom school with very original perspectives about living on earth.  

What was an interesting discovery was learning that when a child is born into an indigenous community it is believed to be accompanied by its Power Animal.  A ritual is performed through dance and celebration for the purpose of integrating the power of the animal into the child’s heart chakra normally orchestrated by a shaman. This connection is intended to keep the child safe as it will be its companion through life. Later in life, if a child has experienced a traumatic experience, the shaman will often do a retrieval and reinstate its energy back into the child to overcome any weakness. In the modern world Power Animals can be called upon like guardian angels, protectors and beings that raise our level of consciousness.

Through the use of scalar energy made famous by Nicolas Tesla, I have combined this cutting-edge technology with ancient practices to create a program where with a person’s birthdate and birthplace I can scan their energetic field to see what Power Animal was present with them at birth. This allows me to perform a modern version of this ancient practice. Combining this with my own skills, it has reached an incredible level of accuracy and validation.

With the launch of the book, I have given interested readers the opportunity to find out what their Power Animal was at birth. I now offer this service on my website and the book then gives them the insight as to the powers and the awareness of this relationship. Readers who have signed up for this “high tech” power animal retrieval have often been astounded when their Power Animal is revealed. With one client, the scan revealed that a sparrow was her Power Animal. This was an emotional revelation since she had a tattoo of several sparrows on her body thus removing years of questioning why she chose a sparrow.  Another reader was scanned, and it was determined that her Power Animal was a cougar. In this case it was validation of many dreams she had through her life about cougars, and why a friend insisted on giving her a painting of a cougar years ago that she has hanging over her bed. These stories and more continue to validate the sometimes subtle and unknown ties we have to the animal spirit world.

Writing this book also brought me a wealth of knowledge about myself. It was often a whirlwind of messages from a Power Animals perspective of how unusual they see the humans view. From Mongolia to Machu Picchu I found that Power Animals have always been a part of our collective understanding and existence, yet with so little connection to nature, it has been lost to us. My goal was to find it again and bring it back to its loving form so that once again humans could reunite with their Power Animal and reconnect to the meaningful messages that are brought to us from their world.


About the Author:

Lori Morrison is the author of The Shaman's Guide to Power Animals (March 2019). She is a best-selling author, inspirationalist and mystic. She is part of a rare breed of lightening shamans who have received a spontaneous awakening of shamanic knowledge. Lori first journeyed into the shamanic underworld in 2010 where she found the spiritual realm of Power Animals.  Her teachers were Mayan Ancestors who took her through a two year initiation with the spirits of four Jaguar. Her later intimate connection with Lion, given to her by a Haitian shaman has been an extraordinary experience and has enhanced greatly her healing powers. By merging and forming a sacred relationship with animal spirits she is able to support her clients with insight and change through her cutting edge shamanic counseling practice in Sedona, Arizona where she resides. For more information, please visit https://lorimorrison.com and follow Lori on Facebook and Twitter.

 
Happy Reading!