Review: Everyday Yoga Meditation

Everyday Yoga Meditation by Stephen Sturgess
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, Watkins Publishing and Stephen Sturgess for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

This is a comprehensive guide to yoga poses, yoga breathing and anything else you would need to complete your yoga practice. Really incredible!! It comes complete with descriptions and illustrations for everything that it discusses. The focus is on Raja Yoga or the yoga of meditation. We get a little theory that is relevant and makes the connection as to why it is important to make this part of every day. Once you understand the philosophy of the importance of quieting your mind and looking inside, the yoga poses make more sense and take on a higher purpose. He covers everything from the eight limbs, chakras, asanas, pranayama, and so much more. There is whole chapter on how to sit! He talks about the positioning of your hands (and other body parts), how to warm up and breaks down the sun salutation. There a couple of sequences that he lays out as well as a cool down. He also gives you the tools and recipes of how to create complete routines on your own. There is also chapters on meditation, chanting and so much more. What I found unique in his book, was the complete explanation of breathing techniques. Having taken yoga for a number of years now, I was a little confused about a certain technique and honestly, his explanation really cleared it up for me. Overall, I understood so much more about my practice and what my teachers have been doing all this time! This is something I will read again and keep on hand. The illustrations are clear and informative. Again, if you are a newbie, you must get into a class or find a teacher, because you can’t just learn yoga from a book. But it sure does help to have it explained in clear diagrams and easy to understand language. I appreciate that you can take what you have learned and put it into practice and build on it all on your own. Really great read, I learned so much.

View all my reviews

Review: Apocalypse Five

Apocalypse Five by Stacey Rourke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you to Black Spot Books and Stacey Rourke for providing my with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy. Rating 3.5 stars.

In the future everything is hunky dory on earth but doomsday is near. Luckily we have military space force to thank for it. Not just any military force, but an army of children. They live on a starship and we follow their every movement on television. We see them train, eat, play and the highlight is when they are sent on fake missions. They are the celebrities of the future. Formed in groups of five, these kids are televised in brutal combat against humanoids. These missions are so intense that often real death occurs. Meet Apocalypse Five. Lauded as the heroes they are, they have survived together longer than any other group. Led by Detroit, a seventeen year old girl, they discover that not everything is as it seems. Betrayed by their own and labelled as rebels, they escape to earth to discover that the apocalypse has arrived and there are only a smattering of people left trying to survive. The team is determined to hold by their mission which has always been to protect the people of earth. Now they just have to find a way to survive themselves.

This was a great read. I loved the camaraderie of the group. It reminded me of the Avengers where they have friendly banter, undying loyalty, self sacrificing heroism and smouldering good looks all rolled up into one. There is the prerequisite romance that is very PG. The only part that weirded me out was that the twins were 13 years old! The romance is between older kids (seventeen) but still, any sort of romance, or thinking about how “sexy” their bodies are is weird when you are talking about children. The book is faced paced, with exciting things always happening and the plot moves forward making you want to keep reading. I loved the whole world that Rourke built, with the different factions on earth and the military world above. You have the exploitation on having them on TV and making their violent world glamorized. I had a couple of issues with it. One, the premise is a bit shaky. I won’t get into too much detail so as not to reveal any spoilers, but just the whole set up of where are all these kids coming from to be cadets seemed odd and I kept poking holes in it. But if you sort of leave it alone and just accept it and move on, the rest is well built. I also felt there were some writing issues. I thought it couldn’t have been tightened up and there were similar phrases that Rourke tends to use and it became repetitive. That being said, I still really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

View all my reviews

Review: The Psychology of Time Travel

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Kate Mascarenhas for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

In Kate Mascarenhas fantasy novel, four women join forces in 1967 to develop the technology of time travel. Mascarenhas has created an intricate world where time travel becomes its own industry. Her rules have been meticulously thought out and whether it is because of her scientific research, her understanding of the corporate world and her grasp of human nature to invent such a complex but completely believable world. I’ll let you in on some of the more unique details in this story, without divulging any spoilers that might ruin the mystery. You can’t travel further back in time then when the machine was invented. So smart, because it limits what would be endless possibilities and takes away the pesky issue of having to do a bunch of historical research. She has worked out a whole fuel plot point, that again makes perfect sense, even bringing in the idea of re-using fuel. In this world, you can not only meet yourself, but can have a number of different versions of yourself running around in any one timeline. How travelling through time can change you as a person, you ability to empathize and how it messes up your whole concept of death. You can know what happens in the future, but can never change events. The military, just as in real life, gets involved right away in the technology. Time travel becomes a huge industry, almost a world unto itself, where it has its own money and even its own justice system. I could go on and on. This attention to detail makes this world so believable and keeps your interest as a reader. You just want to keep discovering more about this world.

Then on top of this we have the mystery. Barbara, one of the original four, has a reaction of sorts to time travelling. Unfortunately, this melt down happens on the day they announce their discovery to the press and Margaret feels she has embarrassed them. Margaret convinces the other girls to kick Barbara out and they cut off communication with her. Barbara never really recovers from being ostracized and after her hospitalization keeps trying to get back in the group. Eventually she marries and her daughter has a daughter, Ruby. Now it starts to get complicated. Let’s just leave it that there is a puzzle of a murder that happens in a locked room. Barbara makes a new discovery and thinks this is her chance to finally be able to time travel once more. Ruby gets a message that Barbara will die soon and she can’t forgive the group for being so cruel to her grandmother. All of these stories, moving together, have a way of working themselves to an exciting conclusion.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this novel. Kate Mascarenhas imagination and attention to detail really are to be marvelled at. So much work went into creating such a complex story that is also heartfelt. You really are rooting for Barbara and Ruby. You can feel how twisted Margaret gets over the years. My only drawback is, with so many different moving parts and storylines, things did get bogged down for me and I started to lost interest in the middle parts. It was bound to happen. You are jumping from character to character and for a long time you don’t see the connection between them. You are also jumping from one decade to another to another. Nothing that would make me put the book down. Once I muddled through, it was worth getting to the end. There were lots of surprising bits and psychological twists that I never expected. Most importantly, the heart of the story didn’t get lost in the complex world building. I was so excited when I read the blurb about time travelling women scientists and I wasn’t disappointed.

View all my reviews

Review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quirk Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

No matter what neighbourhood you live in, you are bound to have heard of Mr. Rogers. Fred Rogers was an incredible man, musician, puppeteer, writer, composer and children’s educator that was most famous for his television show Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood. He revolutionized the way children’s shows reached children. He didn’t believe in turning into a different character but being realistic and speaking to children as your authentic self. He tackled many difficult subjects like racism, divorce and children with disabilities. He wrote hundreds of songs and created a whole land of make believe.

This book takes the lyrics to many of his most recognizable songs and turns them into poems, with illustrations by Luke Flowers, reminding us of Mr. Rogers’ ability to find the beauty in the most simple things. At the back there is an index of subjects that the songs/poems deal with like manners, friendship, and positivity. Some of them are so familiar I could hear the tune as I read them. Others just take you back to feeling you had when you watched him. He was a friend, a confidant, someone who knew all sides of you, the silly side, the angry, sad, and happy side. This book will introduce him to a whole new audience. It’s a timeless keepsake that you could read to your children and your grandchildren.

View all my reviews

Review: The Girls at 17 Swann Street

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Yara Zgheib for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.
Rating 4.5 stars.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is a heart-wrenching, punch-in-the-gut, story about a young woman with anorexia. Zgheib gives an honest, raw account of the struggles that women with an eating disorder face while trying to battle this disease. This is not the first that I have read on this subject matter, as I studied and wrote about it during my academic years, but this story had a huge impact on me. I found it so effective that Zgheib chose to do it through fiction, crafting a story that looks behind the curtain, at the core of this sickness, destroying the myths that surround it, the highs and lows, and the different manifestations of the disease, the toll it takes on their bodies, their family members, and the different outcomes that may come to pass.

This is an up close and personal story of Anna, as she faces her demons, trying to get well. When we meet Anna she is 88 pounds and after passing out and being in the hospital has decided to voluntarily check herself into a home that helps women with eating disorders. There are strict rules that she must follow, with consequences if she doesn’t. For example, she must eat all of the required food, in an allotted amount of time. After three refusals you get the feeding tube (which is horrific - yuch!). Now it might not seem difficult for you or I, to eat a bagel and cream cheese within 30 minutes, but to someone who is sick, the battle of trying to force it down is real. And they have to eat 3 times a day and two snacks. To hear what goes on inside a person’s head was excruciating. At some point, they all break down and can’t do it. What’s interesting is that she would say I am a vegetarian, I don’t eat dairy, just give me a substitute and I didn’t really understand why they didn’t accommodate her. I was with Anna, I thought the nutritionist was a horrible person. If she wanted vegetarian, why force her? But as you go along the journey, you begin to understand that none of it was true and that Anna actually LOVED bagels and cream cheese. It was the disease talking, not Anna.

With flashback scenes, we get to hear Anna’s story and how she got to arrive at 17 Swann Street. We meet all kinds of girls at the home, some bulimic, some repeat customers so to speak. One girl had been going to Swann Street for four years. All heartbreaking stories of different manifestations of this disease. Some don’t make it. But the love and support that the girls give to each other was incredible. You begin to understand how they need the routine. Anna knows she is lucky because she has a family and husband who love her, who give her a reason to get better. Anna begins to realize how this has impacted all of them, how she withdrew from life, how incredibly strong you have to be to overcome and what it will take to get better. Will Anna make it? We hope so. Unlike an alcoholic, who can simply remove alcohol from their life, food is constant and you need to eat to live. It is something you have to deal with every day. I loved this story. It reaches inside you and touches your heart. You can’t help but root for these girls. This is one story you won’t want to miss.

View all my reviews

Review: The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People

The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People by Mel Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, Watkins Publishing and Mel Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

What is a highly sensitive person? Well, Mel Collins claims that almost 20% of the population are HSPs. They include people who process emotions more deeply than others, often being told they are too sensitive, or shouldn’t take things too personally. They are more reaction to the positive and negative emotions of others and can have a heightened response to environmental stimuli. Collins is a UK psychotherapeutic counsellor, spiritual healer and reiki master. She makes It clear that she doesn’t come from a scientific background and has gathered this data by working with people (including the prison system) over the past 15 years.

When I first started reading about what an HSP was, I started to relate to a number of things. I have been told my whole life that I am too sensitive, that I should toughen up, have high levels of empathy and have a feeling of not belonging, including in my own family. I don’t have all the qualifiers, like the environmental issues, but enough that I certainly fell into this category. As I continued to read on about how this manifests in your life, how it shapes your personality, etc. I really began to get excited and thought “Wow! This sort of explains my whole life”. It certainly spoke to a lot of my childhood, career choices and decisions that I have made along the way. It was viewed as a negative and I really felt like it was just me. There was something wrong with me, that I heard things differently than other people and took things too personally and got too defensive. That other, “normal”, people didn’t behave like this. So, naturally, you start to feel some validation when you realize there is a whole group of people who are like that and that it can be viewed as a strength and not a weakness.

Collins does an excellent job at identifying and explaining what an HSP is and what the challenges you might have faced during your life. She walks you through an extensive number of self-help strategies to help reshape your thinking into finding the positive. There is a third section on spirituality that goes more into the “woo-woo” aspects of crystal healing, spiritual guides (angels), earthbound should (ghosts) and other such stuff that she says in the beginning, if that’s not your cup of tea, skip it.

What I found, as I started to go through the self-help solutions, was that I had heard all of this before. Collins talks about self-love and softening your inner critic. Forgiveness and not comparing yourself to others is something that can help everyone. Setting boundaries and using things like meditation and positive affirmations to help keep doubt and worry at bay. She also talks about tapping as another strategy to help you in real life situations where you need to get control over how you are feeling. I began to wonder, if these were the solutions, then what is so special about being an HSP. Everyone uses these solutions if you are trying to live a more peaceful life. Be in nature, be in the moment, don’t focus on the past, are all messages I have heard from many other experts.

These self help strategies, echoes of what others have said, are sound and it is nice to have them in a step by step format, in one place. You can easily skip those sections that you don’t personally have an issue with so I found the book easy to use. To me, however, it just undermined the whole notion of being a highly sensitive person. Worthwhile read, just not sure I buy into the premise.

View all my reviews

Review: Buzz Books 2019: Young Adult Spring/Summer: Excerpts from Next Season's Best New Titles by Ian Doescher, Gaby Dunn, David Elliott, Kosoko Jackson, Mary Weber and More

Buzz Books 2019: Young Adult Spring/Summer: Excerpts from Next Season's Best New Titles by Ian Doescher, Gaby Dunn, David Elliott, Kosoko Jackson, Mary Weber and More by Publishers Lunch
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publishers Lunch for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.


Another edition of Buzz Books. As I have said before, if you want an amazing selection of books for the upcoming season, you must read this first. Not only will you get a list of awesome books where you can see if your favourite author is coming out with something new, you can find great new selections that you might not have otherwise found out about. They also have a selection of excerpts from their list so you can get a real opportunity to see if that book would appeal to you.

The Young Adult genre has grown exponentially over the past few years and now there is so much coming out, it is helpful to have some experts sort through the noise. I would have preferred for them to have broken down their list a little more - there is only fiction and a small selection of nonfiction. For example, if they could have grouped all the books that are in series, or by genre like fantasy, comedy, that would have helped. It was just too many for me to go through. Some I recognized and added to my list, but I just couldn’t get into the others. As I was going through the long, long list, I found that there were so many books that looked exactly the same. I became bored. Yes, I love fantasy and I love a female protagonist, but I just can’t get excited about the same blurb of she has magic, she is in danger, she is all alone, what will happen!!! Some of them are great, but some of them are just mediocre. Everyone is looking for the next big thing, but seem to be copying what the last thing was. It was like when there was a plethora of vampire books because of Twilight. As far as the more contemporary fiction I just found again, a lot of important issues, but really just two issues that would repeat over again. I feel like I have already read so many of already. I think that for people who are in this demographic, they can get much more excited about some of these than I can.

What did stand out to me is there are some real, potentially amazing books that I could use in a classroom. There is a Shakespeare version of Mean Girls. That’s right, Mean Girls written out in iambic pentameter! Well, don’t quote me, I don’t know if it is exactly but Shakespeare-like language. I think this will be a great teaching tool. There is female version of Arthur and The Sword and a few Joan of Arc retellings. One thing that was of great interest to me personally, was a graphic novel about Maria Callas, a famous opera singer. Reading through the excerpts, I noticed that many have chosen alternative styles of writing other than the straightforward line by line. This is always something relatable and important as it allows access to different types of readers.

I think I will wait and see what rises out of the heap, to see if there is anything worth reading this season. As far as getting a Buzz Books list, definitely!

View all my reviews

Review: We Told Six Lies

We Told Six Lies by Victoria Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, Entangled Teen, and Victoria Scott for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy.

Mild spoiler alert - if you don’t want to know, don’t read below.
Also, because it is YA and some people might care there is sex, nothing any high schooler isn’t already aware of, I don’t think, but in case that is important for you.

So here we have yet another thriller with lie/liar in the title. Is that a prerequisite nowadays? Is the writing community become so lazy that they can’t think up an original book title? Let me tell you a little secret. If you are writing a thriller, murder/mystery, psychological warfare, suspense novel then you are going to have characters who lie. Yes, imagine that - THEY WILL ALL LIE! The bad guy will lie, the good guy will lie and here is even more shocking news - teenagers lie - a lot. They lie to each other, they lie to adults and teachers and especially the police. And if the title is that they told six lies, then please make it clear what those six lies were and how it relates to the story. I want that aha moment by the end of the story, where it all clicks. It should be a standout and I couldn’t figure it out.

That being said, I loved this story. I thought it was exciting. I really enjoyed the beginning and the end. It did lag a little in the middle, the storyline became a little repetitive, but there were so many great qualities that made it worth sticking through. The last chunk of the book had twists and turns and what I look for in every thriller happened. There was a build up of suspense that gave me this bubbly feeling inside and that little voice in my head going back and forth, guessing, trying to figure out the mystery. I thought the writing style was unique and well done. It was mostly told through the main character’s perspective with alternating chapters between the past and present. I am so tired of the dual narrative POV. It has been done ad nauseam and I am honestly fatigued. This was a refreshing change. It made a stronger storyline just having Cobain’s voice with a little sprinkling of Molly. The early chapters had an almost journal-like quality to them, which allowed for depth into his character. We get sucked into his world and forget that all the other characters are being shaped through his eyes. It is when he starts to question his list of suspects that we start to realize that Molly is not the person he thought she was. I like when Scott starts to bring Molly’s voice into the storyline and we start to gain some perspective. I felt Molly’s fear during her captivity and appreciated her survival instincts. This was where the novel became really exciting and I was riveted to the end.

Not everything was tied up with a neat little bow. I felt like there were some things that should have been addressed or developed more, and other things that just bugged me and I wanted an answer. (Cobain? really? Is Scott a Nirvana fan?) Molly’s issues weren’t really addressed and I would have liked her character developed more fully. I didn’t want to accept the happily ever after version of “I got captured and you saved me so now I love you”. No one is that manipulative for that many years and then changes all at once, no matter how traumatic an event is that happened to them. What was the deal with her mother? We never learned what her deal was. I also found Cobain’s mother a little suspect. She was this wonderful mother and then after this event happened (I don’t want to give everything away) she wasn’t. It didn’t make any sense to me why she would have abandoned Cobain emotionally to go and help other kids. The psychiatrist’s diagnosis for Cobain was whack. I didn’t get that either.

So I recommend this read. I think you’ll find enough to make it worthwhile. The ending is definitely worth it.

View all my reviews

Review: The Perfect Liar

The Perfect Liar by Thomas Christopher Greene
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Thomas Christopher Greene for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy.

Mild spoiler alert.

The Perfect Liar is anything but perfect and I’m getting tired of these mediocre thrillers sucking me in with a promise of being more than what they are. If I am reading a serial, than I expect a certain formula that the author has laid out in previous books. I turn to those when I want something where I know what to expect and don’t expect anything more. I wouldn’t say mind-numbing but more like comfort food. I don’t expect macaroni and cheese to be a braised lamb shank. But sometimes you want mac and cheese and it’s delicious and satisfying. But when I choose a thriller that is billed as fast pace with surprises that keep coming, that’s what I expect. I know, I know. Why do I believe the hype? Because I want to - I want to be taken on that ride.

I don’t like to know too much beforehand, because I want to go into clean. Ready for whatever ride the author is going to take me on. The only thing I knew from the blurb was that there was a married couple who receive a threatening note. Both are lying - to each other and to the world. Then all the usual hype of be ready for shocks and twists and turns. Great. Told in alternating perspectives between Susannah and Max, I dive in. So there is a happy couple and the note happens right away. Both think the note is for Max. In their own chapters we get flashbacks from before they knew each other, to how they met up until where we are currently in their lives. We learn early on that Max did something bad and is hiding it. But never throughout the whole book do we learn about anything bad that Susannah did. Yes, she had a difficult life and made some really bad choices, but nothing like Max. I kept waiting to see how she was lying to the world around her. Plus, Max was not the perfect liar. So many people found out about his lying along the way, including his wife, who always seemed to know when he was lying. So no big surprise there. So the big reveal was anything but a big reveal. The writing was okay and the characters had some development, although I’m not sure about their likability factor. Even Susannah’s son was rude and unlikeable and yes, teenagers are rude and ungrateful, but I never got a glimmer of a close and loving relationship with him. It all seemed one sided.

So, I’m sure many people might like this book, but I wanted more. I expected more. The only perfect liar in this bunch was the PR person who wrote the blurb.

View all my reviews

Review: Buzz Books 2019: Spring/Summer: Excerpts from Next Season's Best New Titles by LIV Constantine, Karl Marlantes, Moby, J. Ryan Stradal, Ocean Vuong and More

Buzz Books 2019: Spring/Summer: Excerpts from Next Season's Best New Titles by LIV Constantine, Karl Marlantes, Moby, J. Ryan Stradal, Ocean Vuong and More by Publishers Lunch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publishers Lunch for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy

I’m not sure whether to kick myself because I was so lucky the day I decided to check out Buzz Books or really kick myself because the last thing I need is more books on my “To Read” shelf. This spring’s edition is no different. There are almost 50 upcoming books that are in this edition and they are spectacular. If you are not familiar with Buzz Books they review a selection of books that are going to be released for that season. They are from a variety of publishers and have a selection of different genres. Because the YA genre is so popular they have their own edition. For each book there is a description, information for the book like publishing date, price, etc. and an excerpt. These are not just a couple of wispy pages of a teaser of an excerpt. No, no, no. They include quite a substantial excerpt, enough that you can really get a feel for the text, the voice of the author and whether or not it is your type of book. The problem, if you are someone like me, I get so hooked I want to read the whole book right away!!!

They have sifted through the thousands of titles being published and select those that they think are noteworthy or remarkable in some way.The list is broken down into Fiction with subsections of The Notables, Highly Anticipated, Emerging Voices, Debut, and Commercial Fiction. The Nonfiction section include Politics and Current Events, Social Issues, Science and Technology, History and Crime, Essays and Criticism, and Biography and Memoir. Those they have provided an excerpt are marked with an asterisk. There are popular authors with highly anticipated releases like Cecelia Ahern, T.C. Boyle, Nell Zink and Liv Constantine to name just a few. You can discover new authors in the debut section. I was familiar with many of these releases like “Little Darlings” by Melanie Golding and “Naamah” by Sara Blake.

Of course the best is that at the end of each excerpt there is link to NetGalley where you can request an ARC of the book. Seriously, this doesn’t help me in my quest for trying to reduce the number of request I make, but I just can’t help it. I’m too excited about the prospect of reading that next great book. There are some really gems that are just waiting to be discovered.


View all my reviews