Mini-Review: Fuzzy Logic by Jane Seabrook

I've never knowingly read Furry Logic before. I know I've seen the pictures and the funny quips before. This is definitely a cute "best of" for Jane Seabrook's work. Every page had its own little delight and I found the pieces of logic to be highly endearing. This book is definitely a good gift for anyone you know who has a lot of stress and not a lot of time to read. Personally, I was happy to find two sentences that are the best description of real love:

"Anyone can be passionate. But it takes real lovers to be silly."

Overall, I gladly give this book four hoots!

                 Hoot!Hoot!

                 Hoot!Hoot!

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

Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

I was delighted to get to read Food: A Love Story. I read Gaffigan's first book, Dad is Fat and had a blast, shared it with family, etc. Fortunately I don't have to worry about this review being based on the first book. Gaffigan makes it easy to review Food: A Love Story by itself.

This book made me laugh a lot. It was great to read at any time of day, though I highly recommend you eat before you read. There were several times I was just reading along and then Gaffigan's descriptions of massive amounts of food suddenly made me crave massive amounts of food. So strange. I swear I gained a few pounds because of this book! Then again, if you're a vegetarian or vegan trying to read this, it may have the opposite effect. Like me, Gaffigan is an unapologetic carnivore...except fish. 

Probably the only gripe I have with this book is that, if you've seen Gaffigan's stand up, a lot of the jokes in the book are going to sound repetitive. There is a lot of new stuff in the book, but there's also a lot of old stuff. I get that Gaffigan is a food based comedian, so there's bound to be overlap and I won't judge to harshly because of it.

That being said, I gladly give this book 4 hoots and encourage you to pick up a copy! You will laugh, or at the very least giggle a lot in public and make people look at you weird. 

                 Hoot!Hoot!

                 Hoot!Hoot!

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

Angeli: The Pirate, the Angel & the Irishman by Amy Vansant

I'll admit, this book kinda caught me by surprise. I'm not a fan of books that center around love stories. Fortunately for Angeli: The Pirate, the Angel & the Irishman there  is enough other stuff going on in the book to keep it interesting. Yes, there's sex. Yes there's a LOT of "he's not good enough for you". But you've also got warriors taking down infected angels who have fed off human energy, you've got knife fights, you've got pirates, you've got chaos, etc. 

This is definitely not a character driven story. I really felt nothing for the characters. Though I did find myself fascinated by the bad guy of the story, he takes up so little of the book.The rest of the characters, I dunno. They just kinda fell flat for me. 

I like the world this is based in. Arch Angels in charge of Guardian Angels who are susceptible to an illness that makes them destroy humans instead of protecting them, Sentinels to destroy the infected. It's definitely an interesting world. But the story line we're given in this world? It could have been better. 

Overall, I'm going to give this one 3 hoots.

              Hoot!Hoot!

                 Hoot!

*"I was provided with a free copy of this book so I could give an honest review."

Dewey Read-A-Thon: End of Event Meme

Okay, last hour of staying awake, last series of questions asked for the Dewey 24-Hour Read-A-Thon

End of Event Meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you?

As with the last Read-A-Thon, between 5 and 6 AM were toughest for me!

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Chimichanga by Eric Powell

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Not really, no.

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

Everything! Though, in the future, I'm hoping to help out with the prizes, try to give more people a chance to win something.

How many books did you read?

I'm going to be generous and say 3.

What were the names of the books you read?

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

Angeli: The Pirate, The Angel & The Irishman by Amy Vansant

Which book did you enjoy most?

The Realmsic Conquest. Hands down.

Which did you enjoy least?

The Killer Next Door. Not my cup of tea. Very predictable.

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

Don't be shy. Just go out and cheer!

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I'm planning on attending every Read-A-Thon you've got. Not sure if I'll do cheerleading again, we'll see how big of a need there is next time. And I'm HOPING to be able to set aside some money to either donate  a prize or be an angel.

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 21 hours down, 3 to go!

The readers are dropping like flies! I can't say I blame them, though. My own eyes are threatening to close for the night (morning at this point, really) at any moment. My head is starting to hurt and my sleep schedule is going to be way off for several days. But you know what? TOTALLY WORTH IT! We've got 3 more hours! Let's do this!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 18 hours down!

I've been awake for at least 19 hours now. I'm going back and forth, mentally, between feeling okay, feeling tired, and well, this:

Hunger is not yet as much of an issue as I was worried about. Water is definitely my best friend right now. I'm trying to still get in exercise, but it's difficult to find room to do so in a 1 bedroom apartment shared by 3 people. At this point, I'm lucky I'm allowed to have a light on.

So, I'm going to do some cheerleading, call forth my inner silliness and encourage others to keep reading. Only 6 more hours!!!!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 15 hours completed

I've been awake for 16 hours now. I've got another 9 hours to go. I'm still within the realm of "normal" sleeping habits for a person. The difficult stuff usually kicks in after 18-20 hours. For now, though, I'm starting to reach the point where tiredness and silliness meet. It is an interesting combination. My stomach could easily start turning sour on me, but I've been making sure to drink plenty of water.

I've completed 2 books so far. I'm working on a third. The first book was bleh. The second was OMG! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS! This third one is, so far, meh. But we'll see how it ultimately ends up.

Cheerleading has been interesting. I've been checking the spreadsheet and looking for reader names to become active, indicating that they are reading or they are accepting tweets from non-followers.

For now, though, I'm going to take a shower. When you're used to taking a shower in the mornings, a quick shower late at night can help wake you up a bit. So, I'm off!

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

A while back one of the authors I follow on Twitter promoted his friend's work. I took a look at the link he shared and watched the video that the friend had posted on YouTube to advertise his work. After watching, I knew I had to read this book. Check it out for yourself:

See? How could I ignore an invite like that? I actually did get the book a while ago and just finished today. My first thought upon finishing it? "Why did I wait so long to read this?!"

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend is a fast paced adventure. The book, in PDF format, is less than 200 pages, so Jackson is not the type of author to waste his words. I was a little worried at the beginning when the new king is reciting history to his council. I thought "they already know the history, this is clearly an exposition dump for the reader." But my concerns were quickly laid to rest with everything that happened after the initial exposition. The pacing works and, though I know I read slowly, I felt like I was going as fast as the characters.

The characters themselves were amazingly real to me. Random comments like "Really? Another secret?"* and "Look, I know this seems bad...and, in fact, it is."** were very similar to how I was feeling and provided a nice, realistic sense of humor to these situations. None of the characters gave off the vibe of being one dimensional. Admittedly, the bad guy's descent into madness*** was predictable, but I'm always appreciative of an intelligent and charismatic villain.

There were a few naming conventions that made you want to wag a finger at the author saying "Oh you!" But at the same time, they kinda fit. I won't ruin them for you, but you'll no doubt recognize them when you read them.

Overall, I feel Jackson does a wonderful job of telling a thrilling adventure without...really without any fluff at all. Heck, there wasn't even a love story! I LOVE that! I've already recommend this book to others and have enjoyed every page of this story. I can't help but give this book a whole 5 hoots out of 5!**** Go get yourself a copy of this book!

                 Hoot!Hoot!

                 Hoot!Hoot!

                    Hoot!

*Pg. 129 in PDF.
**Pg. 109 in PDF.
***Resulting in an awesome boss battle!
****Even if he did have an entire lost archive destroyed. I so want to be in the Archival Order!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: Mid-Event Survey

Just a quick update, answering the questions asked by the lovely people at 24hourreadathon.com :)

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

2. How many books have you read so far?
Sadly I have only finished one book, but I'm so close to two! And this one is so amazing so far!

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Hmm...can I get back to you on that? Too many too choose from!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Hubby started out the day not feeling well so I had less prep time than intended and then I had to spend some time taking care of him, but he's feeling better and I really didn't lose too much time.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
How quickly the day is going, yet how slowly my reading is going! I thought I was a faster reader than this!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 9 Hours In

Holy Wah! 9 hours down, 15 more hours to go! I've already had to fight off a few desperate urges to nap and I'm currently working through another bout of "but I don't feel well!"

The good news is, I'm working on a new book, The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend and LOVING IT!!!!! It's a shorter book, but that just means the author is making every word count! I'm really hoping that the rest of the book is as good as the first half has been! I've been hurt by bad endings before.

I didn't get as much cheerleading in as I'd hoped for last time. I got distracted by a conversation with my mother. Totally understandable.

Now I'm waiting for my surprise dinner to be delivered. It's a surprise because, in order to keep me from seeing what he was ordering online, Fluxxdog put a blanket over my head and laptop. I had my own Read-A-Thon fort! If it hadn't been for the fact that it encouraged sleepiness, I'd still be in my fort. :)

Let the reading continue! You know, after I get in some exercise and cheerleading. 

Dewey Read-A-Thon 6 Hours In

So, not too much to update. I did finish The Killer Next Door. I posted the review earlier for all to see. Now I'm working on The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend and having a MUCH better time!

Fluxxdog isn't feeling so well, so I'm probably going to be distracted, but I'll still do some cheering every 3 hours and definitely reading. Right now I need to do some exercises before the caffeine overdose tears apart my stomach!

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood

I was excited to get to read this book. I'm pretty hit or miss with thrillers, but Stephen King, himself, said this book was "Scary as hell."* That said, I'm so glad I'm done reading this book. I was strongly tempted to list this one as a DNF** because it had become a chore to read. It didn't even get interesting until over halfway through. 

I'm really not sure why Marwood paced the book this way. It made the entire story line painfully predictable. At the very least, I give Marwood full credit for creating realistic characters. My problem is the pacing and lack of anything interesting until the second death. Nothing in this book surprised me. Nothing in this book was scary. Barely anything was interesting. But I did finish it so, by my own standards, I have to give at least two hoots.

                Hoot!Hoot!

*First page of the eBook. 

**Did Not Finish

***The publisher provided me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not have any affect on my overall review.

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 3 Hours Down

Okay, I've been reading (almost solidly) for 3 hours now and I'm still not yet finished with The Killer Next Door. I'm just glad the book is FINALLY getting interesting! Still not scary, though. Oh well.

Anyways, I'm now going to take a 30 minute break to do some exercising, some cheerleading, and just a general refreshment. I have been taking to Twitter after every chapter, which I know is slowing me down, but is still so much fun. I am also appreciative to the Cheerleaders who have already posted comments on my blog!

Oh, and I won one of the door prizes! Yay! I didn't win anything last Read-A-Thon, so to win a book right off the bat! Woo hoo! I'm just hoping next Read-A-Thon I'll be able to help out with the prizes. It'd be nice if we could get to where everyone could win at least a little something.

But, for now, pizza, walking, stretching, and, most importantly, cheering on other readers!!

Dewey's Read-A-Thon: Opening Meme

Today I am participating in the 24 Hour Read-A-Thon and, to get things started, the managers of the event have given us a small questionnaire for our first post!

Opening Meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? 

I am reading from Ann Arbor Michigan! On a game day!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I am most looking forward to NPCs by Drew Hayes. I love the idea of a story about the side characters!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Just keep the coffee coming and I'll be good.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Bibliophile first, Gamer second, but always a combination of Nerd/Geek/Dork.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

This time I'm only going to read eBooks which means I'll be wearing my reading glasses ALL DAY. 

 I am always happy to participate in this even and I even managed to wake up hyper! Good reading everyone!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Fictional Places to Live

So, I haven't been tagged in this, but I figured, why not give it a try? Basically, these are the Top Ten fictional places I wish were real and I could live in.*

1. Xanth



Don't be fooled by the fact that it looks a lot like Florida. Xanth is a land magic, puns and magical puns. There are dangers, of course. Dragons, Love Springs, Hate Springs, Nickelpedes, etc. But if you keep to the secured paths, you'll be safe. Heck, you'll have problems going hungry in a place where you can get steak and pasta from the trees! I'd love to live in Xanth as long as I got to have my own magical talent. I may have to visit Good Magician Humphrey to figure out how to get one...



2. Pern



I "discovered" Pern before any other fantasy world. I have dreamed of being a Dragon Rider, or at least having my own pet Fire Lizard since. Yes, there are politics to deal with, and dangerous thread organisms falling from the sky now and then, but c'mon, DRAGONS!!!!!!


3. Avalon (as depicted by Gargoyles)

 

This one may seem strange to some, but my favorite interpretation of Avalon was from the cartoon show, Gargoyles. It is run by Lord Oberon and his wife Titania. Admittedly Lord Oberon would probably not welcome more humans to his island, but I would appreciate aging at a MUCH slower pace. But the main reason I would love to be in Avalon, is for when I have to leave. Because Avalon does not let you go where you want, it takes you where you need to be.


4. Fairy World (as depicted by Fairly Odd Parents)



Again, this one may seem strange, but I would love to be surrounded by such positive magic. Most importantly, I would be happy to be a Fairy Godparent who helps kids out every day. Though it would be difficult, on some occasions, to not be able to work with the parents on the child's needs. At least I could help the kids.


5. Skyrim



Okay, I'll admit. I just want to be in Skyrim because magic and fighting come so easily to people. If I could train as quickly as I can in video game time, I would become the strongest citizen in all of Skyrim, maybe even Tamriel!


Well, I know this isn't a full list, but it's really all I can think of right now. As strange is it may seem, these are my top 5 fantasy places. Maybe I should stretch a little further into the fantasy realm to get more ideas.



*Apparently I'm one of the few that's good without Hogwarts...

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Holy wah. It is a good thing that I have been working on building a tolerance to scary stuff, otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight...or ever go back to work. Horrorstör is filled with so much of the same corporate speak you hear at almost any job, but the story adds a dark tone on top of my own, and the main character's, cynicism. I doubt I'll be able to attend a company meeting without plotting all the available exits first.*

I picked up this book because there were so many people saying it was incredibly scary, couldn't put it down, etc. You know what? They were right! Admittedly a lot of the scariness is gore based, not my preference, but oh well. There was still plenty of psychological scariness, especially when the Warden took over and you got to read some of his original documentation. His speeches about work and mindless labor as the only ways to reform gives you another viewpoint for when a tough manager is putting you through the wringer. 

This book definitely plays on the idea that crap jobs are soul crushing. That underneath the "We Are Family" mottoes, there is a much darker aspect to the company. The author really plays into it with the furniture descriptions at the beginning of each chapter. They start out innocently enough, but after things really go south in the book, they are a good source of dark humor. Where else are you going to ready such light-hearted descriptions of torture devices? 

Be forewarned, almost every conceivable fear/phobia can be found in this book. There are, of course, the classics: claustrophobia, achluophobia**, agoraphobia, zemmiphobia***, etc. But there are others to be on the lookout for! If you have a phobia of any kind, I'm almost positive you will find some kind of representation of it in Horrorstör!

All in all, I gladly give Horrorstör 4 hoots out of 5. It was an engaging read that had me genuinely scared! 

Hoot!Hoot!

Hoot!Hoot!

*Because I totally never do that anyways...

**Fear of the dark.

***Fear of rats.