Blogging for Books: The Mapmaker's Children

Blogging for books is such a fun collaboration!!  If I could get through books as quickly as I would like (jobs and life just ruin everything! ;) ), I would have read and written WAY more reviews than I have.

In case you missed them, thanks to my sporadic blogging habits, here are the first two books that I've reviewed:

The Thirteenth Gift by Joanne Huist Smith

Flipped by Doug Pagitt

I just finished reading The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy, and I wanted to get my post about it done right way!  I'm happy to report that after an, "eh" experience with The Thirteenth Gift and not enjoying Flipped, I LOVED this book!

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First of all, if you've been around here for any length of time, I think you probably know that I am in love with historical fiction.  While my obsession has mostly centered around the English courts in Philippa Gregory's novels, I'm pretty much a sucker for all things historical fiction.  

The Mapmaker's Children weaves together the tales of Sarah Brown, daughter of abolitionist, John Brown, and Eden Anderson.  Sarah's story takes place in the late 1850's and early 1860's, and Eden's story occurs in 2014.  I was immediately taken with Sarah, and was disappointed when I had to leave the past and return to the present.  Eden was very unlikable to me, at first.  She was grouchy, mean, and kind of whiny.  One of the best parts of reading this book was following Eden as she grew and changed throughout the story.  I loved how McCoy connected the past and the present.  As details of the past unfolded, many things became clear in the present.  I ended up giving this book 5 stars on Goodreads.com because it moved me to tears.  That's an automatic 5 star rating to me!

After struggling to like Eden's character at the beginning, I was disappointed that her story seemed to end abruptly.  I wasn't completely satisfied with the resolution and conclusion for her.

Overall, I highly recommend this book!  I was left feeling mostly satisfied with its conclusion, and I am actually very curious to learn more about the real life of Sarah Brown!

What have you been reading lately?

Stuff & Things 7/9

• Clearly, I have not been around here much lately.  With an uneventful summer taking place, it has occurred to me that blogging is just no longer one of my priorities.  But every now and then, I feel like sharing something.  So I'll pop up from time to time....especially to share the books I'm reading. #booknerd
• I have decided that I hate cooking.  This is kind of sad because I really like food.  The problem is that in order to eat food, I have to cook it.  I find this to be an interesting turn of events because I used to like sharing my experiences with cooking here in this space.  You can still see the recipes I've tried in my ABC order Recipe Index or the Category Index.  

• It will  not quit raining here in Pennsylvania.  I think I should build an ark.... 

• I have decided that I will be teaching a reading unit on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this year.  I know so many kids love it, and even if they've read it/heard it/seen the movie before, studying it will be different and fun!  One of the things I plan to do is have a Class Cup competition during the unit!  Students will earn points for getting 100% on tests and quizzes, turning in assignments on time, being prepared for class, etc.  

What kinds of stuff and things are happening with you lately?

Something Weighing Heavy on My Heart

Just Because

Just because I agree with the preservation of history does not make me a racist. 

Just because I disagree with a lifestyle does not make me hateful. 

Just because I'm a Christian does not make me judgmental. 

Just because I don't understand, I have to ask this one question. 

Why do the same people who criticize and ridicule me for my beliefs expect me to be tolerant of theirs?

Because I am a Christian, I pray. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Because I am a Christian, I love. (1 John 4:8)

Because I am a Christian, I do not judge. (Like 6:37)

Because I am a human, I will make mistakes. (Romans 3:23)

Just because of all these things, God loves me. 

Just because He can. 

May & June Books (And a SPECIAL book review!)

Maybe I should change my icon to "Semi-Monthly Book Review with Rebeckann..."!  Either way, here I am!  I'm on summer break, and I finished a great book last night.  Even though, June is not over yet, I figured that I'd go ahead and write about all of my May & June books just to cover my bases.  
So as a reminder, it is my goal to read 30 books in 2015.  According to my reading challenge on Goodreads.com, I have read 16 books, so I am past 50% of my goal!  

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Cress  by Marissa Meyer
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Cress is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer.  I read the first book, Cinder, in January, and the second book, Scarlett, in February.  Truthfully, the only reason I didn't finish this one until May was simply lack of time!  The character Cress is a Rapunzel character who has been imprisoned in a satellite since childhood.  She has become an excellent hacker thanks to her time alone in space.  She ends up joining with Cinder and Scarlett on their journey to save the world from the Lunar Queen, Levana.  
I did enjoy this book, and I may have given it 5 stars if I hadn't had so much time in between readings, but I am excited to get my hands on a copy of the fourth book, Winter.

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The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston
My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
I listened to this book on Audible in about 10 days!  I really got sucked in by this story.  The books begins with this opening: My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins.  After this, the book goes between the present-day and the past to tell Elizabeth's story.  I particularly enjoyed the historical aspects of this book, from the 1600s to 1800s and 1900s, we find that Elizabeth has found ways to live in each time period.  Yet each time things become good for her, she has to flee.
I really don't want to give too much of this away, so let's just suffice it to say that I loved it, and it's certainly worth a read (or listen)!

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The River by Gary Paulsen
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
I will confess this first: this book is a reread.  One of my reading classes was reading The River, and it had been awhile since I had read the book.  I decided to read it while they were working on it.  The River is the first sequel to Hatchet.  In this book, Brian Robeson returns to the wild with a psychologist named Derek to show him how to survive in the wild.  The idea is that Derek will share this information to help teach survival courses.  Things start out well...too good, Brian thinks.  Shortly after telling Derek that the situation lacks tension, Derek is struck by lightning, and Brian must figure out a way to help him survive.
This is a pretty good sequel to Hatchet.  While, neither of these books are my first-choice in personal literature, my students really love them, and they're good books.  This one is also relatively short, and so are the chapters, which my students really love!

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Flipped by Doug Pagitt
My Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
This was a book I received from Blogging for Books.  I did already wrote an entire post for this review, which you can read here.  (Or you can click on my rating link to see my review on Goodreads.com.)

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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Saying I finished this is a lie, but I didn't want to just delete it completely. I wanted to like this, I really did, but I just couldn't get into this book at all. With numerous other books to read and reread on my list, I decided to make better use of my time. I'm pretty sure that this is the first book I have ever quit reading. I promptly listed this and the three following books I have on Amazon. I think it is safe to say that the best thing about this book will be the money I make from selling it! 

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Riffs of Regret  by Micah K. Chaplin

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Back in October, I was paired with Micah from Unabashedly Me for The Great Pumpkin Swap that Kristin and I hosted.  As it turns out, Micah is also an author!  After reading one of her blog posts, she had copies of her book to be given out to review, and I jumped at the chance!  I finally had time to sit down and read her book, Riffs of Regret, and I really loved it.  In fact, I was up until almost 3 AM last night finishing it!  While I don't know Micah very well, from what I do know about her, I saw a lot of her in the main character, Cori.  The four main characters, Cori, Whitney, Sam, and Luke begin their adventure by attending a music festival together in Texas.  Whitney and Sam had been dating and decided to try to set up their two best friends.  The book has ups and downs, twists and turns, and you really find yourself falling in love with these characters and rooting for the best for them.  I loved the evolution of the characters from the beginning to end of the story.  It was so interesting to watch them change and grow, even though the story only takes place over the span of a year.  To be technical, there were a few typos in the story, an omitted word here and there, but I totally knew what Micah was trying to convey.  I really enjoyed this, and as you may be able to tell from the fact that I was up very late reading it, I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the characters in the end.  I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of this book! :)

And a special thank you to Micah for giving me a copy to read and review!  I will say, I was nervous after I agreed to do it.  What happened if I didn't like it!?  But I'm so glad that I did! 

Blogging for Books: Flipped by Doug Pagitt

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I chose this book because it basically lies outside of genres that I would normally gravitate to.  While I can't say that I hated the book, I can say that I disagreed fundamentally with mostly everything that Doug Pagitt had to say.  


There are a couple of main problems I have with this book:
1. I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent person, but there were times during my reading where I was left pondering, "Uh. What?"  I just didn't "get" some of the points that Pagitt was trying to make.


2. This man stated that he was a pastor.  Maybe it's not very open-minded of me, but I feel that this pastor has missed the main point of the Gospel and what Jesus was trying to say.


I understand that Pagitt's point is to "flip" the traditional thinking of God and religion, and depending on your belief system this book may be wonderful or horrible to you.  There were some ideas that I did agree with.  I do feel that we should not be trying to hide or live with "If/Then" thinking.  God does not want us to simply do good in the hope that he will do something good for us.  That's not the point.  Bad things still happen to good people, and it's not necessarily God "punishing" them for their choices.  Sometimes bad things happen from bad choices.  Sometimes bad things just happen.  But I do completely disagree that we should just do whatever we want where ever we want with whomever we want.  We SHOULD be trying to live Godly lives based on Jesus' example, knowing that we will NOT ever be perfect because we're human.  We WILL make mistakes, and that's why we have a God who offers forgiveness when we mess up.  


While Pagitt didn't directly say anything like this, if we are ALL in God, does that mean it's okay to murder others, or live a life of addiction, or abuse your spouse or children?  It just makes me question his point.  Shouldn't those people be ashamed of their actions?  Shouldn't they want to repent?  
Overall, I felt that Pagitt wrote well, but I just can't get on board with this flip.

Influenster Vox Boxes

I've recently received two VoxBoxes from Influenster.  While it's always cool to get free products to try, these last ones have featured one product each, and frankly, they've been a little weird.

First, I was selected to try Carefree Acti-Fresh pantiliners.  I'm sorry, Influenster, but making a big deal on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media about pantiliners is just too much for me.  I mean, for goodness sake!  My DAD has Facebook.  I don't know, maybe at thirty-two-years-old talking about feminine hygiene products for the whole world to see shouldn't bother me.  But it does.  No one needs to know my business about my business.

The next VoxBox I received from Influenster featured Purina One Cat food.

I received a small bag of Purina One Smart Blend cat food: Chicken & Turkey flavor.  I also got some information about the food and a coupon for a free bag.  

Now, I find this VoxBox a little weird, because I am not a cat.  I am also not a pet psychic, so I'm not sure how well I can rate this product.  The idea is that you gradually incorporate this bag of cat food with your current cat food and make the #OneSwitch.  I did do this, but the problem is that I have two cats.  By the time I could use the entire bag, there still wasn't enough to fill their bowl, and I'm a busy person who hasn't had time to get the other bag yet!

So this is the best that I can do.  I was filling up Allie and Abbie's water and food bowls on the kitchen counter like I always do.  Immediately after I poured some of the Purina One into the bowl with the other food, Allie was into it.  Was she hungry?  Or was it just that irresistible?  I don't know.  But it does seem like both of them gobbled up the food much more quickly than usual throughout the week.

Now, will I make the complete #OneSwitch?  I don't know for sure.  My cats are pretty happy with most food that I give to them.  Brand name cat foods tend to be very expensive, and while I love my fur babies, if generic is good enough for me, it's good enough for them.  You know?

But I will certainly be willing to use my coupon and let them have another try!

March & April Books

This year is really flying by!  I'm glad that I was ahead  of schedule for my Reading Challenge for the first two months because I didn't manage to get much reading done this month!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I LOVED this book! I listened to this one on Audible, and I loved the narrators. They had two different narrators: one for Jacob at "90 or 93" and one for Jacob at 23.

I enjoyed that the story shifted between Jacob's present and his past. The narrator's voice for Jacob at "90 or 93" reminded me of my grandfather at times....so much so at times, that it brought tears to my eyes!

It was fascinating to learn about circus life as Jacob himself does. And I loved the parts with Rosie, the elephant, since elephants are my favorite animal!

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Seriously, I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Thank goodness for Audible, or I would never get to "read" these days.  The best thing about this book is that Ellen narrates it herself.  It just wouldn't be right if she didn't.  It was a pretty quick listen, and it was fun!

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 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

I finished this on the last day of March.  I have really started to enjoy listening to fiction on Audible.  I have a tendency to pick books that I judge would be heavier reads.  They're fascinating to listen to.

This book was really amazing.  As a teacher, I cross paths with students who have all different types of needs, and this book was striking to me.  It was interesting to follow the point-of-view and logic of this 15-year-old boy.

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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

This is my only book for April.  I have been so insanely busy.  Again, if it weren't for Audible, I'd have nothing to say here.

I LOVED this book.  I mean, I get that it's the trendy book and all, but I really did love it.  I hadn't really heard anything about the plot or seen the movie prior to reading the book.  I was actually genuinely shocked by the twists and turns of the plot, and now I really need to see the movie.  (And the fact that it stars Ben Affleck doesn't hurt....I'd probably still watch it even if I hated the book.  But anyway....)

So there you have it.  My most recent "reads."

I apologize that I have been missing from Blogland lately.  Not so much that I haven't written, but I literally haven't even had time to keep up with all of YOUR blogs!  This is the first Saturday I've had free in a while, and I figured that I had better get something done in this blog space.

I have lots more books on my to-read list including TWO that I need to read and review: one from Blogging for Books, and one from Micah at Unabashedly Me!  Hopefully, I'll find some free time soon!