Gun Love (book review)

  A book is never just a book.  What makes you select a book? The cover? The summary? The author?  Every once and awhile I step outside of my comfort zone and choose an unknown book. A surprise book.

  My surprise book was Gun Love by Jennifer Clement.  Read more about the author here.

  The story centers around a single mom (Margot) raising her daughter (Pearl) out of a car parked at a trailer park in Florida.  The community of neighbors are definitely some characters to say the least.   In the story you follow the mom and daughters daily routine their interaction with the neighbors and you get an idea of their environment they live in to include the trailer park and their car.

    She left home young with good intentions to raise her daughter better then she had been raised but also knew living in the car was not much better.  Life in a car went years unnoticed or rectified.  It made me think of how many things do I just walk by because it's been the same for so long.

  I enjoyed all the descriptive details.  There was a two headed alligator, a blue opals ring, and even barbie dolls buried up to their heads! I think the author did a amazing job creating a picture for the whole book.


  I enjoyed the book, the ending was not my favorite but, you win some and you lose some.  This book without being labeled as a true story could so easily be the life of anyone.

   It's a book that will make you think. Not about what you can do necessarily but a book to make you appreciate your present situation.  Or maybe it is a book that encourages you to open your eyes and see where you can help.  To learn more about this book or for purchase information check here.

   I received this book complimentary for review purposes from Blogging for Books and the review and opinions stated are my own.
 

The Kindness Challenge (book review)

  Do you live in the kindest world? Do you wish you did?  I do not but, I wish I did.  As I write this I can't help but to think how unkind life really is.

Kindness is defined as the quality or state of being gentle or considerate.  This doesn't assign a particular task to any particular person.  It's pretty much up to everyones discretion.  It doesn't even have to cost anything or be related to material objects of any kind.

  Small consistent steps is what helps to keep on track.  30 days of focus on a area that needs improvement can't get worse, right?  Your intentions have to be genuine and you can't be kind for gratification.  

  This book guides you on the journey of kindness through prompts, statistics and personal stories.  With the book as an aid you are able to stay focused and on track when you feel like it's not working, feel defeat, or become discouraged.  Why keep trying when it's not being reciprocated?  

  You know what's funny is over the course of 30 days of focusing your intentions on someone else you yourself become a better person.  You learn to have patience and listen.  To hear and understand a person's intentions before your own.  You learn to see a scenario from another perspective.

  The Kindness Challenge will provide/supply you the motivation and inspiration to make your world a kinder place.  We all know one person is all it takes and one action can cause a reaction.  If all our actions are positive and purposeful we can slowly change the world around us.

  This is a great book in the sense that it's informative and provide insight and motivation in a positive format.  It's nice to know what to do, how to do it and why to do it!

  To find out more about the author, read a summary or purchase the book click here.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Night Voyage (review)

You can almost tell by the beautiful decorated cover that this is a very thought out book.  That this book is not your average book.  That this is a book that can take you on an extraordinary journey.

This book is a coloring book in the sense that the pictures on the pages are blank.  The pictures are so detailed and the portray the story with little to no words.  This is a story coloring book.  I do not write adult coloring book with strong hesitation but, if you know the artist and their capability you can make the right decision if this book were to be given as gift.

The story follows a little girl through her dreams.  She has presents to give out and she takes different modes of transportation, sees many different things as well as has a companion along the way.  There doesn't seem to be a dull moment on her journey although toward the end she falls asleep. 

 Follow her on her journey.  Coloring the pages will only make this book more magical and pretty.  The artwork alone is stunning.  Who doesn't want to look at a book filled with presents and happiness?  This would even make a great gift colored by one individual and presented to another.

Because of the intricate detail on each page I would reserve caution to more fine tuned artists.  Each page is filled both large and small work to be filled in.  Most pages have a white background but there were a couple with shaded.  Pages held a variety of shapes, different positions of pictures resulting in some tricky coloring.  Some pictures were in the crease of the book.  Bold lines for you to follow (or stay in).  As well as empty space on some pages allowing for your own background or not.

This is a gorgeous book and I can only hope to do it justice as I color in it.  It is definitely no a book you would sit down and finish in one day nor, maybe coloring it with children or kaos around.  Pull this book out on quiet relaxing afternoons!

I am in awe of the author Daria Song  and would like to look at more of her work.  She truly has a talent.

I received this book from Blogging for books for this review.  All opinions are my own. 

Find out more about the book here.

And After Many Days (Book Review)

  "It was the year of the poor.  Of rumors, radio announcements, student riots and sudden disappearances."  This pretty much somes up the book And After Many Days by jowhor-ile in one sentence.  The story of a family living life in 1995 in Africa.

  Having water, gas, electric and land controlled by a higher power.  The higher power being the government.  Not just taxing it but shutting it off and or taking it away at will.  A lifestyle most of us are not accustomed to having.

  This story leads us down the road of a sister worried about her brother whom never returned.  A brother who misses his brothers stories.  A father and mother who still need to work, fight a cause they know is wrong and raise a family.  All while soldiers invade their town, their son is missing and a threat of a pipeline invades the surrounding farmland.

  Follow Bibi! Meet Application Master. Who was Barisua and what really happened with her and Ajie?  This story holds a lot of detail in all the characters.  I always like to look in on the lives of others but sometimes you don't want to see the truth.

"So this is what it means to touch another human being."

  I received this book from blogging for books for review.