Book Review: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Stop what you are doing and go read this book RIGHT NOW.

I just finished reading it, which I chose to be part of my Goodreads.com Reading Challenge, that I talk about in this post, and I am left feeling gutted and empty now that it is over.

It is rare that I fall absolutely in love with a story like I did this one, and Karen Thompson Walker, if you are reading this, please write more!

**This Review May Contain Spoilers**

Everything is normal for Julia, a 12-year old living in California. She frequently has sleepovers with her best friend, Hannah, she goes to school and to soccer practice, she has a crush on a boy, she is an only child with two parents and two cats, she takes piano lessoons. Normal.

Until one day, for an unknown reason, the Earth starts to rotate slightly slower than usual. Minutes start tacking onto the days in increasing intervals, until the daylight hours are eventually as long as several calendar days. The same goes for the night, which last just as long.

Seemingly everything is affected by The Slowing, as the phenomenon is soon called; the tides, gravity, the sun and stars, health, crops, animals, people's attitudes and their decision making...

The Government employs a quick solution - that no matter what time the sun says it is, the citizens are to go by what the clock on the wall says. Everyone now needs to go back to living by "clock time", which regulates times to go to work and school, when to wake up in the morning and when to go to bed, when to eat dinner and when to take a shower...

Plants, being over-exposed to the deadly heat of days that last upwards of fourty hours, freeze when the sun sets and the blackness overtakes everything. Lawns wilt and turn to dirt, trees collapse, crops wither and die.

Food crops start needing to being maintained using artificial light in greenhouses that use up so much energy than country-wide blackouts become the norm.

The ozone starts to burn away. Time spent in the sunlight causes massive sunburns, skin cancer and radiation poisoning....

All of this happens while Julia is dealing with becoming a young woman. People start to move away. Some people decide not to follow clock time and instead decide to be awake during times of sun and asleep during times of darkness. Whole colonies of people who refuse to follow the clock spring up in the desert and all across the nation.

I listened to this book on audio, and while driving home during one dark night, I looked up in the sky to see a large, full moon. My stomach dropped and I felt uneasy. I had to remind myself that what was going on with the Earth, only existed in the story I was hearing. That is how powerful this book is. One of the smartest reads I have read in a very long time.

I applaud Ms. Walker for the amount of thinking and research that must have went into this novel, not to mention the concept itself. It is so scary because we may never know what to do if this were to really happen to us - and who's to say it never will?

Find out more about this book by visiting the books website: http://www.theageofmiraclesbook.com/

And as an added bonus, the website contains this video of the book's premise. Enjoy!

2014: My Year In Books

In 2014, I took the Goodreads.com 2014 Reading Challenge, which allows you to challenge yourself by pre-selecting the amount of books you will aim to read that years.

This year, I challenged myself to read 25 books, and I made it by the skin of my teeth. I finished my last book the weekend before Christmas. I always try to read a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction (mostly biographies), both Adult and Young Adult. I love historical fiction, by I try to make sure that's not the ONLY thing I am reading.

This year I also read 2 Graphic Novels.

I was really excited when one of my favorite authors, Lisa See, came out with her new novel China Dolls, about Asian-American's in the US (especially California) during WWII and the Japanese internment.

Fannie Flagg, another favorite author of mine, released her anticipated novel, The All-Girl Filling Stations's Last Reunion, about a set of sisters, whose family owned a filling station, growing up during WWII and their participation in the war effort.

Here are the books I read during the challenge:

It is hard to pick my favorite book of the year, but my Top 3 are: The Age of Miracles, And the Mountains Echoed and The Fault in Our Stars. Runners up were everything else by Gillian Flynn.

My Top 3 least favorites were: Wallbanger, a very predictable and boring erotica novel, Orange Is the New Black (I LOVED the television show, and it is probably my fault that I expected the book to live up to it), and The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy. I AM SORRY, SCI-FI NERDS! I just did not enjoy this book. It annoyed the hell out of me. 

Have you read any of these books? Which one's were your favorites?

Fun New Things #2

Welcome to another post about the Fun New Things that I have discovered recently! Things that I have been dying to share with you in hopes that you find inspiration (or immediately run out and buy them).

#1: Food

Nature's Bakery 100% Natural Fig Bars

These babies are made with 100% natural ingredients, stone ground whole wheat, and wild raspberries. Cholesterol free, dairy free, and kosher! They have several different flavors, all of which sound fantastic (I mean, vanilla raspberry or lemon anyone?) and really taste awesome. They are larger than you think they are and they make a great snack or part of a breakfast. I really liked that they weren't super sweet or lip-puckering as some other fruit bars can be.

Check out their other flavors and products here: http://naturesbakery.com/

#2: For Drinking

Contigo's Jackson Water Bottle

I picked up this puppy at Target for around $10. This semi wide-mouth water bottle has a lid that flips open at the push of a button and snaps shut, which protects the spout from dirt and germs and is 100% leak proof. The colored rink around the top of the lid is actually a carrying ring, so you can hold it that way (or hanging from your pinky as you carry a million other things at once, like I do) when your hands are full. The lid is removable, which I like, as you can fit really big ice cubes in it, and you can fill it up to the brim. 

I never buy bottles that aren't BPA free. Research has shown that babies exposed to a lot of BPA in the womb may develop PCOS later in life. Better safe than sorry!

Also dishwasher safe. 

Buy your bottle on the Contigo website and get free shipping on orders over $25: http://www.gocontigo.com/

#3: For Beauty:

Make Up For Ever's Smoky Extravagant Mascara

If you are part of Sephora's Beauty Club, you receive a free gift on your birthday. This year, I got this awesome mascara. To be honest, the free gift in past years were never my favorite, so this year I was surprised at how much I liked this.

I liked that the brush on this mascara want was large but was tapered enough to coat my lashes and also get into those hard-to-reach places. I always have a hard time with mascara, as I have blonde eyelashes and it is always hard to get product all the way at the root. 

I really enjoyed the lift and blackness it gave to my eyelashes, and once my trail size runs out, I am definitely going to pick up a full-size.

Get the full-size at Sephora for $24 here: http://www.sephora.com/

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I picked up this book at a Chapters in Canada (love that store) after seeing a movie trailer for the then-upcoming movie. I thought it was a beautiful idea for a book - having the choose between life or death, and I wanted to see how the story unfolded.

**This Review May Contain Spoilers**

Mia is a classical cellist-in-training with the perfect family: down-to-earth Rocker parents, two wonderful grandparents, and a little brother with a head of curly blonde hair.

Mia also has a best friend, Kim, and a boyfriend Adam who shares her love for music.

Mia is on the brink of finding out if she has been accepted into The Julliard School to study cello, her boyfriend's band has just signed a record deal, and her life is going just about perfectly.

Until one cold winter day that all changed. She, her parents, and her little brother were involved in a car accident that immediately killed both her parents, leaving her and her little brother in critical condition.

While her mangled body lay in the hospital, Mia's soul was able to leave her body and watch everything around her, including visits from her grandparents, friends, and a mob of angry Punk Rockers.

Mia has to make the choice - to either let go of everything she has ever known, her life, in order to join her parents on the Other Side, or to stay and live, go to Julliard, be with Adam.

The ending of this book had me flipping the pages so quickly, wondering what she will decide. Will she stay or will she go?!

The author did such a good job explaining what was going on in Mia's head that I didn't know how to root for her... I didn't know whether I wanted her to leave the pain and the sadness to possibly be with her parents, or to stay and fight and live but knowing that her whole family was gone.

I highly suggest this book and can't wait to see the movie.

5 stars.

10 Things I've Learned by Age 27

Tomorrow is my 27th birthday. It feels so strange being on this side of my 20s, and now I know why people are "25 again!!" Trust me, I am nearly there myself.

I wanted to share with you 10 things I have learned about life by now, as they may come in handy.

1. Go To Work - For me, this is harder than it sounds. I am not one of those people who are hard-core dedicated to their jobs, even though the job is what provides the paycheck. I like being at work, but good Lord do I LOVE being under my bed covers when the alarm goes off at 7am. I don't consider myself a lazy person, in fact I hustle pretty hard, but part of my brain feels like there are so many other things I would rather be doing. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. I needed to stop being selfish and to really try to think of how my work relies on me to show up, I am one of the cogs that makes the machine move. On the other hand, if you are seriously unhappy at your job, if you dread Sunday because it is one day closer to Monday, and you practically cry (or maybe you do) when you slide into your sheets the night before and set your alarm, then there is no reason to stay there. Which brings me to #2.

2. If You Are Unhappy, Work Hard to Change - If you are unhappy with your job, unhappy with your relationship, unhappy with how you feel, even unhappy with the color of your bedroom walls - work hard to change it. I am not saying to drop everything, change your name and move to Mexico and rent jet-skis to tourists for a living (but hey, if that floats your boat...) but if you really hate your job, start beefing up your resume. Maybe it needs some reformatting, update your job descriptions (please delete your high school waitressing job, that is usually no longer applicable by age 27), join LinkedIn, create some business cards (Vistaprint is always having great deals), and maybe even take some online classes. If you just want some experience vs. a degree, try Lynda.com.

If you are unhappy with your relationship, talk to your significant other. See if you can work out differences, find out if anything is bothering them too. If all else fails and you know in your heart of hearts that you would be happier as just friends, or totally on the opposite side of the country, then it is time to leave. It is going to take courage. It is going to hurt, Lord will it hurt, but by the time you are 27, you owe it to yourself to be happy. By now you should probably already know what you like and dislike to do, and the holes in your soul that you would like filled with another human being. Don't stay in a relationship because it is comfortable, because you are used to it. Expose yourself to the world. Let the wounds breathe for awhile. You'll be much happier and much stronger from the experience.

3. Learn To Cook - Ladies and Gentlemen - it is not OK to not know how to cook by the time you are 27. It is no longer acceptable to rely on your mom's leftovers or takeout every night of the week. I'm not saying you need to be a 3-star Michelin chef or anything like that, but know how make a few basic dishes. Learn how to bake a batch of cookies for that work potluck you forgot about. Learn how to cut an onion without crying, and how to boil pasta al dente. A big one that took me awhile was to buy and use an oven thermometer. Not all ovens are created equal (and in fact, the one that I have is off by nearly 75 degrees on a good day) and an oven thermometer is a good way to not turn your food to charcoal.

4. Learn Basic Nutrition - Know the difference between regular- and whole-grain. And don't be that person at a party who has never heard of quinoa and pronounces it "queen-oh-ay". You don't need to be a walking nutritional encyclopedia but health is important and you need invest in some of the knowledge to keep you healthy and happy.

5. Get Your Oil Changed - Unless your dad is my dad, then it is likely that no one is nagging you (or threatening you) to get your oil changed anymore, or your tires rotated, or flushing your cooling system or whatever. But you still have to do it. Do it when it is due. Not 6 months later when your car is starting to smoke. You'll regret it if you ruin something that will cost you thousands of dollars to fix when you could have avoided it for less than $50.

6. Use the Cold Cycle On the Washing Machine - I wear a lot of dark colored clothing. I love the color black, I love navy, dark purple, etc. Use the cold water cycle on your washing machine to help preserve your colors. Hang dry whatever you don't want to shrink (Ikea sells a great clothes horse here), and buy one of these bad boys to help rid your beautiful sweaters and dresses of pilled material and fuzzies. Take care of your clothes. I love to shop (love, love, love) but there is this really annoying thing called a budget, and it really sucks when you have to spend another $30 on a sweater from Target because you put it in the dryer and it shrank, or you washed it on hot and after 2 washes it is already fading from black to... off black.

7. Budget - UGH. No one likes this word. But, alas, no one likes debt either. Especially debt with high interest attached. Sit down with a pen and paper and write down everything that you MUST buy every month. Rent, utilities, gas, student loans, health insurance, credit card payment, etc. Then write down all the things you really DON'T have to buy, but you'd love to be able to do once in awhile. Movies with popcorn, bowling, a new book or two (or four), dinner at a nice restaurant, lunch at McDonalds, Netflix, a video game etc. Then, write down things that you buy, but not every month, like expensive clothing, expensive makeup, a haircut and highlights, new eyeglass frames, etc. Make sure that every month you are saving enough money to cover all of your basic necessities (keep in mind that if you don't pay the electric bill you're not getting your Netflix either, so it's lose/lose). For those of you with a really large family, or for those of us who really like to spoil the people closest to us during Christmas and birthdays, set aside an allotted sum every month for that. Even if it is only $10, by Christmastime you're going to be thankful for having that extra $120 or so.

Live by the 10, 20, 70 Budget plan.

• 10% of your income goes towards debt. Which is student loans, credit card payment, car payment etc.
• 20% of your income goes towards your Savings Acct. (this can be broken down even further into 10% for retirement, 5% for emergencies, and 5% for a specific goal, like saving for a vacation, or those Christmas presents)
• 70% for living expenses.  This is where your rent, utilities, gasoline, etc. comes in. Things that need to be paid or you will not be surviving.

Implement this to the best of your ability and you can bring yourself back from the brink of bankruptcy, you can pay off that credit card and you can improve your credit score.

8. Pay Your Bills On Time - Credit Scores mean more than people are letting on. Do you want to buy a car one day? Do you want your monthly car payment to be $200 or $400? Credit scores determine that. Do you want to buy a house? With terrible credit no one is going to trust you to own the home of your dreams. This is important. Pay your bills every month. On time. I pay everything on the 1st of the month, regardless if they are due on the 3rd or the 22nd, they get paid. Keep a list of them too, and check them off every month that you pay them. That way you will know if you didn't receive your water bill or if you almost forgot to pay Fido's vet bill. Every time you miss a payment, or are overly late, it brings down your credit score. Booooo.

9. Call Your Parents - And Grandma, too. You're 27 now and chances are that you own a cellphone or can sneak a call in from work now and then. Your parents will be pleased to hear from you, and Grandma, who just turned 80, will love knowing that you care enough to call and see how she is doing. Plus, Grandma knows all the juicy gossip. Keep in touch with your loved ones, because you never know how much longer you have with them. This may sound cliche, but for someone who's family lives mostly in another country and it is hard to get in touch with them, I know how important it is to maintain family ties. 

10. Do Something That Makes You Happy - This is a doozy. There may not be a perfect job for you out there, and I don't believe that we should all put all of our happiness in the hopes that we do find that perfect dream job, either. But do something that makes you happy. Whether that be running, hiking, photography, feeding the ducks at the pond, volunteering at the animal shelter, crocheting, sewing, designing websites, reading, writing, cooking, baking, painting, rollerblading, surfing, whatever! Just something to look forward to. Something that can take us out away from everything else. I picture myself kind of like a paper doll. being picked up from the background that is my job and my home life, and being placed someplace else, which is my hobby life. I love to crochet, I love to watch movies, I love to bake. Carve out time for that precious thing that makes you super happy, because dammit, you deserve it. You work hard, you deserve to play hard too. 

TV Review: American Horror Story: Coven

**This Review may contain spoilers**

Taking place in present day New Orleans, but bouncing back in time during flashbacks, American Horror Story: Coven is the story of a group of young witches who come together at a private school to learn how to harness and control their powers. Each character seems to have their own abilities at first, but towards the end they all become very strong and possess many crazy skills that I wish that I had. Except maybe for going to your own personal Hell and having to get back before the sun rises or you get stuck there forever. They can keep that skill.

Being New Orleans, Voodoo also plays a big role as the counterpart for the Witches. Marie Laveau, who was a real historical figure, also stars in this show as the Voodoo Queen. During the time of slavery, Marie Laveau places a spell on a wicked woman, causing her to live forever, and she is dug up from her live grave just in time to join the witches as they hone their powers.

This show, like many seasons of AHS, contains many different facets: magic, witches, voodoo, Hell, ghosts, Quiji Boards, spirits, demons, crazy Church people, ax murderers, etc.

I really loved the music, the color and the awesome graveyard scenes of New Orleans and this show makes me want to take a vacation there sometime soon.

 

Just for shits and giggles, here is the believed grave of the real Marie Laveau:

Apparently, the X's were part of a ritual from others who practiced voodoo. They would visit the tomb, draw 3 X's, hold their hand over them, rub their foot 3 times on the grave, and deposit silver coins. Interesting!

Overall, I really enjoyed this season of AHS. Can't wait to start Freak Show!

What I Am Thankful For

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend :)

Now that it is the Monday after Thanksgiving. We're back to work and back into the swing of things (for the most part). I don't want to lose that feeling of thankfulness, however, so I am taking some time out of my day to write about the things that I am most thankful for here at the end of 2014.

The very first thing is, I am so thankful for surviving this year. No, really. I don't just say that ironically, or to be cute, but this year was a very hard year for me. I went through a huge breakup, a cancelled wedding, the moving in (and moving out) of a roommate, a loss of a beloved pet (and the beloved pets of some of my friends), and have changed jobs 3 times. When I got back into the dating pool, I went through another breakup after I was cheated on.

I am thankful that I survived all of this.

I am thankful for my amazing friends who were there to talk to me. When I was too busy working, or they were too busy, a quick chat on Facebook was all I needed. I appreciate each and every single one of them.

I am thankful for my family who provided a place for me to go, a spot in front of the fireplace, surrounded by dogs and beer, where I was able to relax and forget my worries for awhile.

I am thankful for my current relationship, which has been providing me all of the things I was missing in my previous. It feels great to have someone to lean on, who gets me and I understand. Having someone to support you, no matter who it is, is very underrated.

I am thankful for my pets. My wonderful bunny Viola left for bunny Heaven in August, and I was heartbroken for a long time. I decided after a few months to adopt a new bunny to bond to my now lonely boy, Pucci. I now have two wonderful bunnies who light up my life: Pucci and Luna. My Belgian Malinois, India, is the greatest dog someone can hope for. She is sweet and kind-hearted, so mellow and a beautiful dog with short, red hair and big black ears and the most expressive chocolate brown eyes.

I am thankful for my brains. I somehow survived high school, Undergrad and Graduate School. I love to learn. I love reading and watching documentaries and wish that I could afford to go back to school, just for the hell of it.

I am thankful for my health. In 2008, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which has proven to be a big hurdle for me. Mostly it is the weight gain that has me upset and worried about my future health, but it really could be worse. I'm glad that I am as healthy as I am, despite not being in great health.

I am thankful for entertainment. Movies, books, TV shows, music, the internet, YouTube, Pandora, records, etc etc etc. Just adds to the fun that is life :)

What are you thankful for?