January Wrap Up

To start the year off, I have read a total of 9 books. I am currently in the middle of two. Such a good start to the year. Three of the books were from Blogging For Books. I got through two books that were originally on my December TBR. One of the books I am reading now, is my most hated book of the year. I am slowly getting through it to see if anything good happens. I don't like DNF'ing books.

1. The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

2. The Fame Game by Lauren Conrad

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

4. Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
5. The Heirs by Susan Rieger

6. Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan

7. Starstruck by Lauren Conrad

8. Heidi by Joanna Spyri
9. Give Your Child the World by Jamie C. Martin

Review: The Sky Is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith

About The Book: In the burned-out, futuristic city of Empire Island, three young people navigate a crumbling metropolis constantly under threat from a pair of dragons that circle the skies. When violence strikes, reality star Duncan Humphrey Ripple V, the spoiled scion of the metropolis’ last dynasty; Baroness Swan Lenore Dahlberg, his tempestuous, death-obsessed betrothed; and Abby, a feral beauty he discovered tossed out with the trash; are forced to flee everything they’ve ever known. As they wander toward the scalded heart of the city, they face fire, conspiracy, mayhem, unholy drugs, dragon-worshippers, and the monsters lurking inside themselves. In this bombshell of a novel, Chandler Klang Smith has imagined an unimaginable world: scathingly clever and gorgeously strange, The Sky Is Yours is at once faraway and disturbingly familiar, its singular chaos grounded in the universal realities of love, family, and the deeply human desire to survive at all costs.

The Sky Is Yours is incredibly cinematic, bawdy, rollicking, hilarious, and utterly unforgettable, a debut that readers who loved Cloud Atlas, Super Sad True Love Story, and Blade Runner will adore.

My Thoughts: I got this book completely because of the cover. I thought it would be another great dystopian, and yet the first few chapters, I started to hate it. Duncan or "Dunk" our main character is a spoiled man child who believes he is hot shit. I immediately disliked him because in the first chapter, he speaks poorly about women and then jerks off in his flying contraption.

This whole story is demeaning to women. The women are called wenches and being demoralized. Duncan's mother was pretty much a "child bride" type and she dresses like a prostitute as she is called many times in the book. There is a lot of fat shaming towards Swanny who was arranged to be married to Duncan. 

I felt sorry for the character of Abby. She supposedly saves Duncan from when he crashes and she is living on a landfill island. She is mentally unstable and socially awkward and yet, Duncan takes advantage of her and fucks her. She had no idea what sex was and he basically raped her. She probably gave consent but had no idea what the hell was going on. He tells her she is his property now and that just made me sick to my stomach.

There is also no hilarious moments in this book. If you find it funny, then you are probably a male who think women are below you and have no respect for women. I don't know how a female author can write this sort of story in today's world and get praise for it. I will not be reading anything else from this author.

About The Author: CHANDLER KLANG SMITH is a fiction writer from Springfield, Illinois. She graduated from Bennington College and has an MFA from Columbia University. She currently lives in New York City.

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

School Week 23 Photo Diary

I did plan to post this one right after my last post, but it was pure laziness and not wanting to that kept me from getting this up at a decent time. I actually took pictures every day of this school week, so I rocked it there. I feel like it wasn't a productive enough of a week, but it was a fun one.

Monday 1/15: MLK Jr. Day. I was going to give them the day off, but I ended up shutting that idea down right when I thought of it because I looked at my calendar and figured that the make up day would be to far away. They started their day with doing Legos for two hours. Then they got their morning work completed. After that, I found a little school play on YouTube called The Midnight Ride of Sybil Ludington.

After the video, I had Ariana and Sammy go summarize it and Addy drew a picture of Sybil Ludington. They ended the day with watching two episodes of Africa on Netflix.

Tuesday: Sammy started her day early and got some Easy Peasy lessons out of the way. Ariana and Addy started their day at 9:15am with morning work. After we watched the last episode of Africa. When that was over, Ariana and Sammy did reading time. Addy watched Leapfrog videos on Netflix.

Sammy working on her typing

Ariana spent the rest of her day doing workbook pages. Sammy finished her day with phonics worksheets and Addy finished her day with Easy Peasy and puzzle time.

Wednesday: We all started our days at 10AM. Ariana did more workbook pages and Sammy did Easy Peasy. She had to catch up on math worksheets because she ran out of time yesterday. Addy worked on her Monster High puzzle.

After Airy worked on her workbook pages for a while, I had her do some reading time with Samantha. Then Addy did some of her Easy Peasy lessons and then we read some of our books.

We finished our day with watching a new show on Netflix because the series of shows will be leaving on February 1st. The show is Wildest Arctic.

Thursday: We started our day at 10:15AM with morning work as usual. After we watched some more of Wildest Arctic. After that, Adalyn did some Easy Peasy work while Ariana did some reading and Sammy had to finish some phonics.

When Addy got done with her parrot, she did some pages in her workbook and then we ended her day with some number flashcards. Sammy finished her day with Easy Peasy and Ariana finished her day with some math workbook pages. It may seem like Ariana isn't doing much of her Easy Peasy and she isn't and that is because she does way better with her workbook pages and I feel that it is helping her get better before her other lessons.

Friday: We started our day at 8:30AM because I was ready for the day to be over and the weekend to be here already. We finished watching Wildest Arctic and started watching Wildest Africa. After, I had them draw pictures of their favorite animals from both episodes that we watched.

After that, Adalyn did a day's worth of Easy Peasy. She took her sweet time coloring Parrot coloring pages. Sammy had more phonics sheets to do and she is getting better with her reading. This has been a slow and tedious reading journey with her and I feel that we are going to go through the same problems with Addy.

Sammy finished her day with Easy Peasy lessons while Ariana was reading and then Ariana was the last to finish school for the day with Reading Eggs.

School Week 22 Photo Diary

I swear I will catch up on these school posts one day. I hate being this far behind. It makes me feel anxious and that I am not being productive enough. I have to have these as another form of documentation for myself. They are not required by the state but they make me feel safe in a way. We had a good week and got some things done and out of the way.

Monday 1/8:We started our day at 10:30. They did their morning work and then we read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. After I got through reading, I had Sammy do her own reading, Ariana did a couple workbook pages on words and math. Addy worked on Easy Peasy and writing her name and also Cayce helped Adalyn with her writing because he was home from work that day.

We ended the day with watching a YouTube video on women in the American Revolution.

Tuesday:We started our day at 11AM. I found the Disney Nature documentaries on Netflix and I have been wanting watch all of them ever since I first found out about them years ago. We watched The Crimson Wing today after their morning work. We are big fans of flamingos around here. We also watched another called Wings of Life. After that one, I had Sammy and Airy do a free write on those movies. Addy watched a couple of YouTube videos on numbers and shapes.

Watching Women in the 19th Century and Susan B Anthony History.

We ended the day with reading a book that I picked up for them from the little free library. I introduced them to Ramona Quimby today and they lover her.

Wednesday: We had our early school day. Samantha started at 7:55am. She did two days worth of lessons on Easy Peasy. She worked on that for about 2 hours. Ariana started her day with workbook work and Addy watched a couple episodes of Super Why. When they all finished what they were doing, I had them complete their morning work and chores.

After we watched the last two Disney Nature videos on Netflix. They were called Ghost of the Mountains and Born in China. We finished the day with reading chapters 3 and 4 of Ramona the Brave.

Thursdsay: No Pictures. We started our day at 10:30. Addy started Easy Peasy after her morning work while Ariana did some reading and Sammy worked on phonics worksheets. We also watched a video on how to remove a print head from a Canon Pixma MG5522 printer because my printer stopped working. I googled and YouTubed it and couldn't figure out how to fix it. We ended up by another high dollar printer a couple days later and we will be taking out previous printer and laptop to a repair shop. We ended our day with re-watching an episode of Libety's Kids titled Sybil Ludington.

Friday: We started our day at 10: 25. The kids had been asking about African animals and there were some lessons in my Kindergarten plan about safari animals, so I said why the hell not.  We watched 3 episodes of Africa on Netflix. After we discussed what we watched and they drew pictures of their favorite animals. After we finished reading Ramona the Brave.

To end the day, I gave Addy calendar pages to fill out and color. Ariana started her reading time while Sammy finished a phonics worksheet and then joined Ariana with reading on their own.

Favorite Books of 2017

It's the middle of January and I did have a draft of this up on the 6th of January but other things came up. I read a good mix of books this year. I am only showing you my 10 favorites that I read this year instead of 17 that I originally planned on. That would just take too long and I didn't have any more favorites besides a couple in the series' that I read. The pictures are shown in order of how I read them. It was really hard for me to choose a number 1 favorite because there was a three way tie. 

1. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

2. The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

4. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

5. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

6. Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves

7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

8. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

9. The Breathless by Tara Goedjen

10. American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee

Out of these 10 books, 6 of them came from Blogging For Books and I am so glad that I discovered that site from YouTube. If I hadn't, I would not have read any of these books. I love Blogging For Books, so you all need to go check it out yourselves.

Also, at the beginning of the month, I filmed a video talking more about why these books were my favorites, so you can watch that down below. If you do watch, please give it a like and comment.

School Week 21 Photos

Time for another home school week update. I am still behind on my blog posts and I am trying to find a good way to plan out my posts and schedule. I was going to spend this past weekend doing a bunch of posts, but I ended up watching real Housewives all weekend. But I am doing it now because it is really starting to bother me by how much I am neglecting this blog. I wanted a brand new start for the year and It's not happening. That will be changing, I promise.

Monday: No School. HAPPY NEW YEAR

Tuesday: We had a 10AM start to the day.  They did their morning work and Addy got her day started with Easy Peasy. She did such a great job with her lessons and she is catching up to what day we should be on. She is great with letters but we definitely have to work on numbers and writing before the year's end.

I had Sammy finish some phonics worksheets. She is getting better with her reading somewhat, but she is still struggling with spelling. Ariana read to herself. I have to get her some new chapter books because I can tell she is getting bored with the selection of books that we have here in our little library. We finished watching Bill Nye Saves the World and I wish season 2 would have been longer.

Wednesday: We had an 11AM start today. Addy started her day with Leapfrog: Numberland. Then she watched the other two. Then she started working on some puzzles that she got for Christmas. While she was doing that, Sammy worked on Easy Peasy while Ariana read some more. She loves reading and whenever I am reading my book, she wants to crawl into my bed with me and read too.

We also watched some YouTube videos on women in the American Revolution. Then we ended our day with reading more of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Thursday: We started our day at 9:45am. They did their morning work which consists of making beds, picking up toys, getting dressed, brushing hair and teeth and completing their worksheets for the day. After, we watched two more episodes of The Pyramid Code on Netflix. After, I had Ariana and Samantha summarize what they watched. While they did that, Adalyn worked on her Easy Peasy lessons.

When Sammy and Airy got done with their writing, Ariana wanted to read and Sammy did her Easy Peasy typing lesson. I am covering her hands with my books because she kept looking down and it started to become a game. I would move the book and every time she caught herself looking down, she would startle herself a little and it was the funniest thing. Addy drew on her Leapfrog tablet.

Sammy finished her day with reading and Ariana finished her day with Easy easy typing. Addy finished her day with puzzles.

Friday: No Pictures. We started the day at 10:15am. Ariana did her Easy Peasy lessons first today and then she did reading time an hour later, she then switched with Samantha. Addy watched some Super Why and she is becoming more interactive with that show. She is screaming at the TV ow the right answers and it is so funny. We watched the last episode of The Pyramid Code. We read more Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Addy finished her day with Easy Peasy. Sammy finished her day with spelling worksheets and Ariana finished her day with workbook pages.

Review: Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan

About the Book: On a warm August night in 1980, six college students sneak into the dilapidated ruins of Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, looking for a thrill. With a pianist, a painter and a teacher among them, the friends are full of potential. But it’s not long before they realize they are locked in—and not alone. When the friends get lost and separated, the terrifying night ends in tragedy, and the unexpected, far-reaching consequences reverberate through the survivors’ lives. As they go their separate ways, trying to move on, it becomes clear that their dark night in the prison has changed them all. Decades later, new evidence is found, and the dogged detective investigating the cold case charges one of them—celebrity chef Jon Casey— with murder. Only Casey’s old friend Judith Carrigan can testify to his innocence. 

My Thoughts: I was looking forward to reading this book and enjoying it because of the synopsis and then you realize, that the synopsis is basically what the whole story is about. I didn't really enjoy it. I picked it up because the traumatic events take place at Eastern State Penitentiary. I am a fan of Ghost Adventures and know about this prison and what it looks like from the show. 

This book also features time jumps from the 80's to 2015. There were also a couple characters who gave me Norman Bates vibes because he would talk to himself in voices. We find out that one of the friends has become transgender and is the only person who can help his friend who has been arrested for the murder of the girl who vanished inside the prison.

I had a problem with the dialogue from Wailer who is the missing girl. She used the word "Bloody" to describe almost everything and it was the most annoying thing. It was slow paced and it was not thrilling enough for me. 

About the Author: JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN is Professor of English at Colby College and the author of the bestseller She’s Not There, as well as the acclaimed novels The Planets and Getting In. A three-time guest of The Oprah Winfrey Show, she has also appeared on Larry King Live, Today, and 48 Hours, and has played herself on ABC’s All My Children. She lives in Belgrade Lakes, Maine.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review

January TBR

This month's TBR is basically my December TBR. I didn't get to read these books last month because I was so sick, I could hardly do anything and when I was getting better, I has a consistent cough that just wouldn't go away and it made it very hard for me to breathe and even catch my breath. The day an I am posting this I have already read The Chalk Man and The Fame Game and The Heirs. I am taking a break from reading while I wait on my next review copy from Blogging For Books. I want to actually take breaks between books this year and enjoy them and think more about them. 

School Week 20 Photos

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I know we sure did. I am still sick with an annoying cough. We had a great and productive week that went by super quick. Cayce also got involved on Tuesday because he was given the day off work. Tuesday was a good productive day to start off our short week.

Monday: No School. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tuesday: I slept in with Cayce. It's hard to wake up early when he is home on school days because that is when he doesn't have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to go to work. We started around our usual time when Sam came to wake me up like she does every morning. We started the day with morning work and then we watched two episodes of Planet Earth 2 because Netflix finally released it yesterday on Christmas. After, we started a new science lesson on living vs. non-living. The watched a YouTube video to introduce them and then I had Samantha and Ariana work on a collage and cut out 5 living and 5 non living things from magazines.

I had Cayce take Adalyn outside and have her point out living and non living things. She definitely enjoyed this little excursion with her daddy.

Checking our rain gauges

Wednesday: We had a very late start to the day. I was feeling worse and felt like I was getting sick all over again. We watched episodes 4 and 5 of Planet Earth 2. After, we discussed what we watched and they drew pictures. When they got done with that, I had Sammy read to herself. Ariana did workbook pages for the rest of the day and Adalyn did Easy Peasy.

Thursday: We had a decent start time to the day. We finished Planet Earth 2 and I think that was a rip.. only having 6 episodes. After, I had Addy work on Easy Peasy while Samantha and Ariana did a free write on what they watched.

When Sammy got done with her writing, she worked on some phonics worksheets for the rest of the day and Ariana read out loud to me. Addy did her Leapfrog tablet. She also did some pages in her workbook. Ariana also did some pages in her workbook. We finished the day with reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Friday: We had an early start day. Sammy started her Easy Peasy lessons before 8AM. She got through two days worth of lessons and then I had to go wake Ariana and Adalyn up because they were still asleep. These two never sleep past 8:30 and it was going on 8:40. I got them up and fed and then they started their school work 5 minutes before 9. We watched 3 episodes of Bill Nye Saves the World after they got done with their morning work.

After, Addy did Easy Peasy lessons while Ariana worked in her workbook. Sammy reads some to herself and to me and we finished the day with reading chapters 8 and 9 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.