Skeletor Reviews Darkside Sun by Jocelyn Adams BOOK REVIEW!!!

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Title: Darkside Sun

Author: Jocelyn Adams

Published: Entangled Embrace


I want to thank Dorky Girl for letting me review this book for her, and secondly to the publisher for sending this book for review. When I was asked if I wanted to read this book for review I had no idea what the book was about, but since I needed a book to read at work in between slow times I was like what the heck lets give it a shot. I have to say the basic idea of the story was intriguing but the over all actual execution fell flat for me.
Addison has been different all her life, the walls around her melt away and she thinks she is completely insane because of it. All she ever wanted was to graduate college live a normal life, graduate college and make her father proud. All that changes when her ridiculously over hot young professor givers her a "bible" and forces her to read it. Addison life is thrust into a world she never knew existed. Addison is thrust into the world of the machine where soldiers armed with special powers fight wraiths (souls) from entering human hosts and starting the end of the world. Addison is unique, even to the most powerful of the soldiers, Addison can not only feel the wraiths presence, she can see them too. Addison has to come to terms with her role in the Machine and she has to learn to deal with her feelings for her professor who is not only part of the machine, but is also extremely off limits.


Rating:

Thoughts: I enjoyed having something to read to fill the time and Darkside Sun was an easy breezy light read, but it was just to mediocre for me. The story idea behind the book was intriguing ,but I just felt that the author missed the mark. It was a little to literal in the religious overtones and the "romantic" part of the story was half assed and just plan cheese ball, and the supernatural part of the story that was the most appealing to me was more of a place holder idea so the twilight like romance could take place. It is completely unrealistic to think that as a person you would be helpless to these "urges" come over you and no matter how badly you were treated by a person your emotions would only get stronger because of "bond" that you couldn't fight. I just felt this book was a throw away, it never developed and ended on such a predictable cliff hanger that the over all feel was just eh. I found myself looking forward to the book ending because I never connected with the story and the characters and just wanted the book to end.

Would - Be Witch by Kimberly Frost BOOK REVIEW!!!

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Title: Would-Be Witch

Author: Kimberly Frost

Published: Berkley Sensation Paranormal Romance



Tammy Jo's family is full of witches, even the family ghost Edie was a witch before she was killed back in the 20's. All Tammy Jo is good at is baking, she can't even do a simple potion without things going wrong. Tammy Jo will need all the magical help she can get since her life seems to hand her lemons.
In the first day of fallowing her she loses her job at the local bakery and gets in a car accident with the one woman who caused all her problems by getting her fired. Tammy Jo knows it's only a matter of time before the whole town of Duvall knows about her horrible day but she hopes to put that behind her by attending a costume part that is being thrown by her best friend.
So off to the party Tammy Jo goes complete with a skimpy costume ( which was switched by Edie) and the old locket that contains Edie's soul. Everything seems to be going well at the party until the neighborhood hottie Bryn Lyons shows up. Not only is Bryn super hot and rich but he is also a very powerful wizard. Bryn also comes with a warning which was passed down Tammy Jo's family. With no details to on Tammy Jo knows she must stay aaway from anyone named Lyons she just doesn't know why. The warning is soon ignored as Tammy Jo's life becomes entangled with Bryn's when a group of robbers crash the party stealing everyone's valuables including Tammy Jo's locket containing Edie which unleashes a chain of events that could cause the deaths of many people in the small town. There is also a sense of urgency about getting the locket back before Edie's soul gets torn and pulled into darkness. With Bryns help Tammy Jo begins her search for the missing Edie locket all the while her powers beginning to slowly come to light.

Rating:  

Thoughts: I loved this book and thought it was a very nice beginning to the series. I also loved the fact that there wasn't sex on every single page like most other paranormal romance novels. This book is filled with witches,wizards,werewolves,vampires,a zombie, and a very funny family ghost. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a nice paranormal romance book that isn't just filled with sex scenes.

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The Bullet List by Nikki Roman BOOK REVIEW!!!

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Title: The Bullet List

Author: Nikki Roman

Published: Self Published



What would you do if every time you stepped foot into your school you were tormented even beaten within an inch or your life and there is nothing you can do about it? To make it worse you aren't even safe at home from frequent beatings. That is just a small glimpse into the horrible life of Bailey Skyes.
Bailey doesn't know when her school tormentor Miemah started to hate her she only knows that she can't go a day without some form of verbal or physical abuse. Maybe they are jealous because she is skinny and has boys chasing her, or maybe it goes a bit deeper. Bailey tries to seek help from the teachers and office staff but is blamed for bullying Miemah and quickly dismissed. To top if all off Bailey's teachers blow her off as a loser with a bad attitude. When they school day becomes to much Bailey escapes to a janitor's closet that has a cot in it where she sleeps away the day. Sleep seems to be the only thing that brings any relaxation to Bailey but even that is tormented when she has nightmares about the night her father killed a man while she watched. He had to kill Jack you see because he had a knife and threatened Bailey and her father. He did it for his daughter and her protection when Jack attacked them. That was about the time when Bailey's life changed. With her father in prison for murder Bailey can see her mom slowly slipping into depression which her mother then tries to self medicate with booze and drugs. Her mother at times becomes so drunk and drugged that she can't even remember beating Bailey to a pulp until the next day when she sees the evidence.
After years of abuse at home and at school Bailey finds it hard to forgive her mother even if she stops drinking and doing drugs. The only joy Bailey has in her life is when she is with her friend Clad. Bailey's relationship with Clad begins to take a turn when Clad begins to get strong feelings for her but she can't get past the fact that she only views him as a brother type. Even though Bailey finds Clad to be a great comfort and she can't imagine life without him she doesn't want it to be anything more than a really good friendship leaving Clad in the friend zone. Mean while the constant beatings continue and Bailey sees no way to escape the abuse unless the wrong doers are dead, and Bailey knows exactly how to do it. Shoot them, shoot them all and watch the pain go away seems like the only option, kill them before they kill her. In a fit of rage Bailey seals the deal by making a bullet list and with her mother's gun in hand she will walk into the school and kill them all as they walk from their classes....or does she?

Rating:

Thoughts: When I first started reading this book I didn't think I was going to like it because it just didn't sound like something I would read. After a few chapters though I found myself hooked on the story and really wanted to find out what happens next. My only problem with this book was that I didn't really like the main character and there were some errors in the writing that I looked past because even the best of us make typing mistakes. All in all though I was very happy with how the story ended and for a first book Nikki did a great job!



Quotes: " for every splinter of lost hope, there is a sea full of dreams, and for every dreary day there is a sun to light the sky and chase away the despair."

" Sometimes I would rather believe in my own lies than believe in all your truth, because I don't think I could stand the idea of you not loving me the same way I love you."


Songs that remind me of the story:




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Mary Jane by Judith O'Brien BOOK REVIEW!!!

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Title: Mary Jane

Author: Judith O'Brien

Published: Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.


We know almost everything there is to know about Spiderman but we hardly know anything about the woman he loves... This book is about Mary Jane and is told from her point of view. Mary Jane or MJ as she is known by her friends is a very complex character and in the prologue alone you get a good taste of the family drama that makes MJ the woman she grows up to be.

The book starts off when MJ was nine and lets you take a look at her mother and father before they split up. Though MJ was only 9 she was well aware of the fighting and her father's drinking. In fact MJ is quite good at faking happiness when she is in public or at school so no one knows about her home life. MJ lost herself in her dance classes and school work. she doesn't even mind when she gets paired up with Peter Parker for her science fair project. MJ likes Peter and even though he isn't popular and at the time was only known for being a nerd MJ has always found she had a closer bond with Peter than she did with her other friends. MJ and Peter end up making a robot for their project and it probably would have won the science fair if MJ's dad wouldn't have shown up drunk and broke their display and project. That was the moment when everyone including Peter got to witness what MJ's home life is like.
Fast fording to now. MJ's parents have split up. Her mother loses the house in the split and MJ loses her nice dance school and private school. MJ has to transfer to a public school after her and her mother move into a tiny apartment and begin a new life in poverty. The only thing good about the new public school is the fact that she knows Peter also goes to the same public school. You see Peter's Uncle Ben and Aunt May moved into Peter's parent's house after their death to take care of Peter. Because of that Peter was put in Public school long ago and has pretty much accepted it and is taking it a lot better than MJ. The two ended up finding each other and even they even get paired up to work on another project for science class. To get some ideas for the science projects the teacher decides to take the class on a field trip to Oz corp. The class doesn't stay long thought because Peter ends up getting bit by a rare breed of spider that was being tested at the lab.
It seems like just a normal spider bite so no one thinks anything of it until the next few days when Peter seems to be different and strange things surrounding Peter begin to happen. There is also a vigilante super hero by the name of Spiderman running around town fighting crime. MJ even gets lucky enough to be rescued by him and now she can't get the fact that he looks like someone she knows out of her head.

Rating:

Thoughts: I loved every bit of this book! It was very well written and could be read quickly and gives you a closer look at one of Marvel's most popular female character.

Happy Birthday 2 Me With A Twisted Ankle!

I am now 27! To celebrate my birthday I thought I would give myself a gift...something that wouldn't be forgotten for a while...like a twisted ankle. That's right I being the clutsy self tried to walk on a foot that had fallen to sleep from me sitting on it. About three steps into the walk my foot decided he hated me and I rolled my ankle which then made a loud popping noise making me fall to the floor while doing my best Peter Griffin impression from Family Guy.
 One of my cats had the joy of witnessing the whole thing and probably laughing to himself before coming over to put his paw on my knee.
Aside from falling on my ass my birthday was good I had a small cake and we went to see the 2nd part of The Hobbit which ending up being a lot better than the first installment. We also had frozen pizza for dinner which was yummy! I got lots of birthday wishes on Facebook from friends and  I still enjoyed my day sprained ankle and all ( I bet I will be hobbling around even worse later on today because it has already started to swell).

What has been going on so recently is something that only people that are close to me would know but I thought I would share it with you guys today. It came to my attention recently that Sheldon's friends decided to make a D&D group and starting every Tuesday the group would get together and play. Well Sheldon made me think that I was welcome to the group because the more people there are the funner the game right? Well I have always had a feeling that his friends don't like hanging out with me as much as Sheldon claimed but I figured it was just me being negative and I should give it a chance because I actually did want to play D&D. So on the Tuesday that was going to be the start of the group I spent all day making a Druid character and even made some dice bags out of yarn ( I have a bit of crochet skills). I also had been looking into getting my own dice and put a notebook together for Sheldon and my character complete with sheet protectors so they wouldn't get messed up. It was almost time for us to leave to go to the group when Sheldon texted the head of the group to let him know that "We" would be on our way. The head texted back "who is we?" and Sheldon said "Callie and I". That is when the head texted back "I don't mean to be rude or anything but I wanted it to just be the guys". Even though I tried to hold it together I just crumpled as my negative feelings came true. I had been holding together so well through the holidays even with the drama with my father but when Sheldon got that text message it ruined everything and caused all my depression over the crap that had happened hit me all at once. I have been more depressed lately as a result of the D&D bullshit and I am pretty sure the weather is also a bit of a reason since I can't really go outside and walk because it is WAY to cold for that. I can see myself slowly becoming a very sad and lonely hermit person and I hope Sheldon comes through with making our own D&D group that anyone can join because I need it.
To keep from being bored I have taken up cleaning and rearranging things. I got tired of not having space on my book shelves and Sheldon also needed room for his books so I went on a bookshelf rampage and moved things around and now books are neatly place in spots instead of just stacked everywhere like they were before. I didn't stop there either I also cleaned out two drawers in the file cabinet that we have and I also cleaned the desk really good so now the clutter is knocked down majorly! I give the desk a week at the most before it is all dusty and messy again, the dust,dishes,and laundry is a never ending battle.

Below are some pictures of the bookshelves and other places in which books are placed.

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End Of 2013 Book Survey!

I have seen about 6 different blogs that have done this survey and I loved the questions so I figured I would do the survey as well! Hope you enjoy!

1. Best book you read in 2013?
Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck

2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn't?
Beowulf : I was so excited to read this book and have been holding off for quite some time but when I actually read it I thought it was just a bunch of jumbled chatter and left a lot unsaid which was sad.

3. Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2013?
What Do You Want To Do Before You Die by The Buried Life : Love love LOVED this book!

4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people the most in 2013?
Wake by Amanda Hocking

5. Best series you discovered in 2013?
The Daughter Of The Forest series by Juliet Marillier

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013? 
Tammara Webber

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne Valente : This book was in the Western section at the library and I loved it!

8. Most thrilling unputdownable book in 2013?
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

9. Book you read in 2013, that you are most likely to re-read next year? 
the Little Book Of Hindu Deities by Sanjay Patel  : This book was a gift from Skeletor last year and I love how cute the pictures are and also you learn while looking at the cuteness.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare: I love all her covers for her books but the Infernal Devices series are by far my favorite!

11. Most memorable character from a book read in 2013?
Lucas from Easy by Tammara Webber : like anyone can forget the hottness!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho : I can't believe I waited this long to read this lovely book.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho & What Do You Want To Do Before You Die by The Buried Life

14. Book that you can't believe you waited until 2013 to read?
Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O'Malley

15. What is your favorite quote from a book you read in 2013?
"Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity" - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

16. What is your shortest and longest books you read in 2013?
Shortes: My Brother's Book by Maurice Sendak
Longest: Daughter Of The Forest by Juliet Marillier

17. book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it?
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare : I almost ruined the story for a friend because I wanted to talk about it so badly.

18. Favorite relationship from a book you read in 2013?
Will Herondale and Tessa Gray from Clockwork Princess : I have been waiting for those two to get together and I was so happy when they finally did!

19. Favorite book you read in 2013 from an author you've read previously? 
  Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

20. Best book you read in 2013 based soley on a recommendation from somebody else? 
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

21. Genre you read most in 2013?
Manga!


22. Newest fictional book crush from a book you read in 2013?
Peter Parker from Mary Jane by Judith O'Brien

23. Best 2013 debut you read?
What Do You Want To Do Before You Die by The Buried Life


24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013? 
Italy from Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter


25. Book that was the most fun to read in 2013?
Scott Pilgrim!

26. Book that made you cry/almost cry in 2013? 
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare : I did cry :(


27. Book you read in 2013 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out? 
The Search For Artemis by P.D. Griffith  : This book wasn't bad.

28. One book you didn't get to in 2013, but will be your number one priority in 2014?
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell  &
Dark Witch by Nora Roberts

29. Book you are most anticipating in 2014 (non-debut)? 
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell


30. Which 2014 debut are you most anticipating? 
Breakable by Tammara Webber &
Stolen Songbird by Danielle I. Jensen

31. A series ending you are most anticipating in 2014?
The Watersong series by Amanda Hocking

I actually made my reading goal this year on Goodreads and I hope that next year will be even better! 

The History of Yule!!!

Yule is a religious festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later being absorbed and equated with the christian festival of Christmas. The celebration of Yule is thought to be connected to the Wild Hunt, the God Odin and the pagan Anglo Saxon Modranicht.
Yule was originally celebrated for two months starting around mid-November and going until early January. Haakon l of Norway is given credit for the Christianization of Norway as well as the rescheduling of the date of Yule to coincide with the Christian celebrations held at the time. When Haakon l arrived in Norway he was a Christian, but the land was still altogether heathen and the people retained their Pagan practices. Haakon hid his Christian beliefs to receive the help of the Great Chieftan's of the area. Eventually Haakon had a law passed that would make Yule celebrations take place at the same time as the Christian Christmas. At that time everyone was to have ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or pay a fine.
In the original celebrations of Yule it was custom to sacrifice and all farmers were to come to the temple,bringing with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. All that attended the feast were to take par in the drinking of ale. A lot of livestock was sacrificed including horses, the blood was then smeared all over the walls of the temple and the men who attended. The meat from the sacrificed animals was then boiled for the feast in large kettles which hung over a large fire in the middle of the temple floor. The Chieftan then blessed the meat and toasts were made to the Gods.
Yule begins at sunset on December 20th and goes until January 1st.

How To Set Up A Yule Altar
Winter has begun so use colder colors such as blues,silvers,whites,and make sure to find ways to include greens and reds for the season. Dark greens are always good. For Candles use silver, gold, green, red, or white.
Yule is meant to celebrate the Suns return so make sure to add solar symbols to your table. It doesn't have to be a sun statue a simple shinny gold object to represent the sun works just fine, a yellow or gold candle would also work.
Now here is the fun part go crazy with the rest of the decor! You could add a Yule log, Yule tree, reindeer, antlers, holly, mistletoe, even a Santa! Have fun with your Yule altar. Feel free to also add an offering for the Gods.

Fun Facts About Yule/Christmas!
1. Mistletoe - Before the ritual of kissing under the mistletoe it was believed that mistletoe possessed life bestowing properties and was associated with fertility.
2. Yule Log - The Yule log was originally a whole tree, that was chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony. The largest end of the log would be lit from the remains of the previous year which had been stored away and slowly fed into the fire through the twelve days of Christmas.
3. Santa Clause - The 6th of December is Saint Nicholas day and was based off Saint Nicholas of Myra. Saint Nicholas of Myra was famous for his generosity.
Santa himself is also associated with supernatural occurrences like the Wild Hunt which is frequently attested as the God Odin.

I hope you learned at least one thing from my Yule entry :) I hope you and your family have a Merry Yule and Blessed Be!

Below is a picture of my Yule Altar!