Review: The Girl From The Train by Irma Joubert

I am in the mood to read all of my WW2 books that I own and this one has been on my mind since I won it on Goodreads. It is all about a little girl named Gretl. She is a German Jew and we are introduced to her right off the bat escaping from a train that it taking her and her family to Auschwitz. She is eventually found by a man name Jakob, and he takes her as is responsibility for the next 4 years. After the war is over, his family voice their opinions that he should take the child away because they can't afford another mouth to feed.

To save her from going to work in a Polish factory at the age of 12, he gets her into program that takes German war orphans to loving families in South Africa.

This book definitely tugged at my heart because Gretz went through so much in her short life. She went through so many name changes. She had to hide her past because she was a Catholic German Jew. The ending was absolutely amazing. The relationship between Gretz and Jakob at the very beginning reminded me of Cosette and Jean Valjean in Lis Miserables.

Ariana Cooks! Pt.1 April 7, 2018

I know I am a month late with this post and the sad thing is, is that she only got to make two of the recipes that we chose for the month. Dinner plans changed and also we couldn't find what we needed at the end of the month or it was just to expensive where we were shopping. I budget when I shop and I do meticulous planning of every shopping trip. She had fun the two meals she made.This meal was called Country Style Turkey and Rice Casserole.

Ingredients We Used:

• 1 box UNCLE BEN’S® COUNTRY INN® Chicken & Vegetable Rice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1 can low-fat condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 6 cups diced cooked turkey
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 pkg stove top stuffing

Review: Girls In Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

When I made my Buzzword TBR video, I said that I was caught up on the story line because I have been watching the movies over the years. I last read the first two books of this series back in middle school. BOY WAS I WRONG!! I start reading and then I realize that I know what is going to happen because a storyline from this book was in the second movie.

I decide to wiki it and then I found that the second movie has some story lines from the fourth book and second book as well. I was kind of disappointed with that, but once I got into reading it and put the movie from my mind, I actually enjoyed it and finished the book quickly.

What I didn't like was the birth part from Carmen's mom. She was completely dumb and acting like she had never given birth before. Giving birth is something that you do not forget and she had already had Carmen 18 years before. She was saying that she didn't know that she was in labor and she was completely hysterical about the baby coming. I feel that her character was too babyish and stupid.

Review: Things I Never Told You by Beth K. Vogt

I am going to start off by saying that I CAN NOT wait for the next book in the Thatcher Sisters series. I read this book in 4 days. It is a real page turner. It follows a family of 4 sisters but mainly focuses on two. One of the sisters is a twin, whose twin was killed in a snowmobile accident 10 years ago. She has lived with the guilt and a huge secret from her family all that time. One of her older sisters, has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has to have a mastectomy. The awful thing about the timing of the diagnosis and surgery is that it occurs during her engagement and wedding planning.

Payton is constantly being visited in her dreams by her dead sister Pepper who wants her to tell the family the truth. She also gets a surprise visit over and over from a guy named Zach who was the host of the party where Pepper died.

This book is a cute and heartbreaking contemporary that has religious aspects. I ended up giving this book a 4 out of 5 because whenever the character Zach talked about his religion, it was very repetitive and it got old real quick.

TYNDALE HOUSE PUBLISHERS HAS PROVIDED ME WITH A COMPLEMENTARY COPY OF THIS BOOK! Thank you Tyndale House.

May TBR + Buzzword Readathon?

My May TBR is a couple days late and that is because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to read this month. I am going to try and take part in my first read a thon this month which is being hosted by Booksandlala on YouTube. The buzzword is GIRL, so we have to read books with the word GIRL in the title. It is taking place next week which is the last week of school for us and it is going to be hella busy. Also, one of the books for this TBR is going to be my classic and nonfiction for this month.

I haven't read this book since I was in middle school and I have been wanting to read all of my WW2 fiction and non fiction books, and figured this would be a good starting point.

Then I have two more books that I want to try to get to but they might get pushed to June. It depends.

April Wrap Up

I read a total of 9 books in April. I knew that my count was going to go down around the end of the school year, but I am anticipating that it will go back up in the summer months. I read some decent books this month. Some were expected 5 stars and some were straight spoilers. I completed my challenges of read 1 classic and 1 nonfiction per month. I read 4 classics this month. 

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

2. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
3. Sirens by Joseph Knox

4. The Walking Dead Book 10 by Robert Kirkman
5. The Walking Dead Book 11 by Robert Kirkman
6. The Kremlin Conspiracy by Joel C. Rosenberg

7. Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson

8. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

9. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Past Owl Crate Unboxing: May 2017: Comic Explosion

The reason that I bought this box is that the theme called to me. Also, the book is highly loved and has some amazing reviews. The items in the box are spectacular and might be my favorite box I have purchased. I can't wait to read this book. 

The kafe coffee candies were disgusting

Exclusive Owl Crate cover.

The wonder woman candle is my second favorite thing in this box.

My number one favorite item that I got in this box. 

The Captain America funko pop.

I am not a huge fan of Captain America but Cayce is and he took it straight away and placed it beside his Effie Trinket funko pop.

I had to get the Owl Crate planner. I want to start tracking my reading on paper. I did plan to start in April, but life got in the way and so I am thinking about starting in June or July.