Weekly Reads: Exiled & More!

Ok fine.....I admit it. Gosh darn it I love this series. I don't know why. It's completely ridiculous. The plot lines generally leave me scratching my head trying to figure out why such a thing would happen and some of the characters are equally as puzzling. But I still love it!

Exiled (by Evangeline Anderson) is the 7th book in the series and apparently there is no end in sight for this group of aliens (yes, ALIENS, big hunky aliens). 

Book Description via Goodreads: Lissa is madly in love with Saber and it seems he returns her feelings but she has a problem. She and the man of her dreams both come from the same clan of the Touch Kindred. By the archaic laws of their people, they are too closely related to be bonded. Which means that even though there is no blood tie between them, they are doomed to remain apart.

That pretty much sums up the book except for the part where Lissa and Saber have to go to another planet to track down a scroll to save the galaxy, but that's just a minor detail.

As I said last week, I've also been reading Starvation Lake and A Cold Day for Murder, but sadly I've made very little progress.

I also started reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia this week. I hadn't thought about reading the book (or the series) until I saw the preview for the movie, which I will absolutely be seeing. Seriously. Anything that includes Jeremy Irons is a must see on my list!

Music Monday: Alabama Shakes

Love. Love. Love.

How fun was it to see Brittany Howard last night on the Grammys during the tribute to Levon Helm.

Hold On

Five Things

Back in December, Jes over at The Militant Baker posted about a series she wanted to start called "This One Thing I Really Love About my Body" and was looking for submissions.

I loved the idea from the first moment I read about it. I mean seriously....a series of thought from ladies about what we LOVE about our bodies, beautiful! An amazing exercise in focusing on the positives without any of the "I love this but it would be better if I could change that". And for me putting it down on paper (virtual or real) to share with others made it feel like it wasn't some empty promise or statement I was making to myself. It felt a little more substantial. Like I'm not just saying it to say it, but saying it because I meant it (not that I didn't mean it before, but you know.....accountability is always nice).

So I sat down to write my submission and I stared a the blank notebook sitting in front of me. I picked up my pen. Stared a little bit more. Doodled in the margins. Thought about it. Stared some more. Rolled the idea around in my head. Wasted some time on Pinterest and Ravelry. Thought about it. Scanned myself from head to toe.

Then I lost it. Full on sobbing and crying--the ugly, face scrunched up and red, snot magically appearing out of nowhere and mascara forming the most awesome tear induced raccoon eyes anyone has ever seen. I cried until it hurt because loving any part of myself at that time was the furthest thing from the truth. And even thinking about trying to find something I loved.....heck, even liked about myself made me feel like a fraud so I set the pen and notebook aside and walked away.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago.......

Rachele over at The Nearsighted Owl posted about an ecourse she was putting together which was kind of perfect for how I've been feeling. A course to get me back on track to not only getting back to who I am, but to feel good about who I am. I immediately signed myself up (ok.....so I signed up twice because my computer was being really wonky) and set to work on the first assignment:

Write down 5 things that you are going to do that make you happy

 

Wear Bright Colors: My wardrobe is packed full of black, black and more black which is a holdover from lessons on fashion I received growing up. Black is sliming. Everyone can wear black. Once you are larger than a certain size you want to shy away from bright, bold colors because you wouldn't want to draw attention to yourself. Riiiiiiiiight.....it's time to toss those "rules" out the door and which involves picking up a sassy little yellow dress I tried on last weekend.

Dance Like No One Is Watching: Have you every dance and not smiled or laughed? No, didn't think so. I need to do more of this. 

Take Myself To The Movie: a.k.a. date night with myself. 

Create and Write More for Myself: It's time to stop worrying about whether or not people like what I have to say or what I do or blah blah blah. I need to start working on some more things just for me. 

Read More Ridiculous Books: My reading list is full of really heavy books. I need to make sure I threw is some a lot more books that don't require a lot of thinking on the part of the reader. Reading should be fun! I need to add more fun into that pile. 

Weekly Reads: Current Selections

First I have to share with you bit of writing my friend Micah shared with me: Date a Girl Who Reads. It is pretty spot on. 

As for my reading this week, it's not really going well. 

Why?

Because he worst part about finishing a book you really liked (other than it ended), is trying to find the next book to read that you equally enjoy. On this, I am currently failing. 

More times than not I have at least two books that I am reading, one of which I actually really like. This time around, I'm reading three books, none of which have really grabbed hold of my attention.

Starvation Lake by Brian Gruley: I really want to like this book. I really do, but there is something about it that is holding me back. 

Book Descritption via Amazon: In the dead of a Michigan winter, pieces of a snowmobile wash up near the crumbling, small town of Starvation Lake -- the same snowmobile that went down with Starvation's legendary hockey coach years earlier. But everybody knows Coach Blackburn's accident happened five miles away on a different lake. As rumors buzz about mysterious underground tunnels, the evidence from the snowmobile says one thing: murder.

Gus Carpenter, editor of the local newspaper, has recently returned to Starvation after a failed attempt to make it big at the Detroit Times. In his youth, Gus was the goalie who let a state championship get away, crushing Coach's dreams and earning the town's enmity. Now he's investigating the murder of his former coach. But even more unsettling to Gus are the holes in the town's past and the gnawing suspicion that those holes may conceal some dark and disturbing secrets secrets that some of the people closest to him may have killed to keep.

Sounds good, right! So far not so great. I'm about halfway through and struggling to finish. It's slow moving, tedious and extremely frustrating. It's taken almost 150 pages to actually get to the heart of the story (which is where I am now) so I'm hoping things will start moving along. 

A Cold Day for Murder by Debbie Stabenow

Admittedly, I just started this one the other day but so far I'm really enjoying it. It's been nice to read a book centered around a strong female character. I have a feeling this is not only going to be a book I really enjoy reading, but an entire series. 

Book Description via Goodreads: Kate Shugak returns to her roots in the far Alaskan north, after leaving the Anchorage D.A.'s office. Her deductive powers are definitely needed when a ranger disappears. Looking for clues among the Aleutian pipeliners, she begins to realize the fine line between lies and loyalties--between justice served and cold murder.

And then there is Exiled: Brides of the Kindred by Evangeline Anderson. 

I'm only reading this one because I've read the previous 6, all of which have become increasingly ridiculous. Not that the fits ones weren't, it is just that now there are all sorts of subplots and extraneous characters to keep track of. Thankfully though, it's a book that you can kind of get lost in and read the afternoon away.

Book Description via Goodreads: Lissa is madly in love with Saber and it seems he returns her feelings but she has a problem. She and the man of her dreams both come from the same clan of the Touch Kindred. By the archaic laws of their people, they are too closely related to be bonded. Which means that even though there is no blood tie between them, they are doomed to remain apart.

Anyone else reading anything good this week?

Music Monday: Silver Linings Playbook

Yesterday a couple of friends and I headed out to see a Silver Linings Playbook which has been on my "must see" list since I first heard about it back in November.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how I felt about the movie. Don't get my wrong....it was really, really good. It's just that of it hit a little too close to home (o.k. a lot too close to home). But regardless of that, I did love the soundtrack. The songs that were chosen were a perfect accompaniment to the story.

This week I thought I'd share some of my favorites from the movie!

Alt J - Buffalo

Jessie J - Silver Lining

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash - Girl from the North Country

Ambrosia Parsley & Elegant Too - Goodnight Moon