Carpe Librum TBR Challenge of 2015

So, not only do I read and write what I think about books I also follow or at least visit other book blogs. I came across this one CARPE LIBRUM GIRLS TBR CHALLENGE

Last year (2014) I focused on ARC (advanced reader copies) and my TBR pile (To Be Read) grew to over 300 books. Though I will be doing ARC reviews through out this year (2015) I am going to join this challenge and attempt to dwindle down my TBR pile. 

THE RULES:

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015. The sign up link below will remain open until January 10, 2015 at 11:30am PST.
2. Anyone can enter! You don't have to be a blogger, just as long as you review the book you've read. You can review on your book on your blog, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Instagram etc.
3. Any genre, length, or format of book counts as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your self for some time. Short stories and novellas do count! The only stipulations that the book must have been released in 2014 or earlier. No 2015 ARCs or 2015 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed.
4. On the 30th of every other month, she will post a wrap-up for the previous two months and will contain new linkys for you to add your own wrap-up posts.
5. THERE WILL BE 2 GIVEAWAYS! - IN July and December. Giveaway details will be explained once the giveaway post goes up. She doesn't want to overwhelm you with too many details now  :)
6. You don't have to follow her to join the challenge, but you do have to follow her to be entered in the giveaways on Instagram/Twitter at @carpelibrumgirl and on her Blog through Google Friend Connect ( on the side bar) or Bloglovin Link ( also on the side bar)  either one or will do!.

The Book Levels:

* Put this in your Sign up post or (Social Media Desription signup)*

(how many books you're planning to read for this challenge in 2015)

1-10 - A Friendly Acquaintance


11-20 - A Firm Grasp on My Pile


21-30 - Clearing it out


31-40 - I Got This!


41-50 - More Room on My Shelves!


50+ - I'm Married to my TBR Pile

So How Do I Join??

1. Write a post about joining the 2015 TBR Pile Challenge on your blog. If you don't have a blog, post about it on Facebook or tweet about it via Twitter or repost my IG Post on  your IG Page!. 
2. In your post, don't forget to include: the button/banner, link back to My Sign Up Page, the level you're aiming at and - if you want - a list of books you're hoping to read for the challenge.
3. Place the challenge button in your sidebar (please use the grab link at the Bottom of the post).
4. Link up in the linky below using the link to your post/tweet.
5. That's it! You're done! Welcome to the challenge, stay tuned for lots of fun! And most importantly, good luck with tackling your TBR Pile! 

 

My TBR Goal : 31-40 - I Got This!

I would normally aim for higher ( I read almost 60 books in 2014 including children's books I reviewed) but I am still going to be doing my ARC's, just not as many, and working for BTSeMag.com reviewing books. 

Candy Experiments 2 by Loralee Leavitt

Published: December 2, 2014

Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Paperback, 160 pages 

Candy Experiments 2 by Loralee Leavitt includes over 60 new science experiments using candy. 

Chapters include: 

Acid & Bases

Density

Light

Crystals

Melt

Dissolve

Just add (or remove) Water

Free the bubbles

and Just for Fun. 

There is also sections on experiment tips and candy experiment science fair projects. The author includes with each experiment the necessary information such as how long the experiment will take, skill level, what you will need, what to do and an explanation as to what is happening and why.She also includes cautionary notes when needed for experiments that are hot to the touch etc. so that no one gets hurt. Some of the experiments contain more candy experiment ideas to expand on what is being taught.

I found these experiments very informative. The author does an excellent job explaining why the kids are getting the reaction they are out of their candies well enough for the target age group to understand what is going on. 

The page's are laid out in such a way that it easily attracts the reader's attention and shows them how fun these experiments can be. This book will easily be a hit for any child interested in science and even those who aren't by making science fun.

Some fun experiments include making a Gummy Frog Swim, Bend a Straw without touching it and Bending Light. 

I received this book from Goodreads giveaway for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

A Spool of Blue Thread

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Spool of Blue Thread is Anne Tyler’s twentieth book she has written over her fifty years of writing. Some of her work has earned Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award and many have been New York Best Sellers.
The house on Bouton Road has housed two generations of Whitshank’s. It has now come down to Abby and Red Whitshank’s two daughters and two sons to figure out the best course of action for the future of the house and the best arrangement for their parents who are not getting any younger. Three generations of Whitshank family stories are shared, secrets revealed and magic of these stories are felt and forgiveness rendered.
The author uses the advantage of setting “A Spool of Blue Thread” in Baltimore, Maine which is where she lives, to make the platform for the story realistic. It’s off of this setting that she introduces the reader to the multitude and complex characters of this story. There isn’t a character or relationship in this story that the reader will not be able to relate to or be reminded of someone in their own family.
This is my first Anne Tyler book I have read. I enjoyed seeing the characters develop and how the title of the book played into the story. I look back on the cover of the book now and I get a different feel and sense to the book.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes family stories or stories that are based more on the characters then the plot.
I received this book for this review from Edelweiss. All opinions are my own.


View all my reviews

A Hippopotamus Needs Braces

Danny by Yann and Gwendal Le Bec

Publisher: Nobrow Ltd / Flying Eye Books

Publish Date: April 14, 2015

$14.95

Hardcover, 40 pages

Color Illustrations Throughout

Juvenile Fiction / Animals

Ages 3 to 7; Grades P to 2

ISBN-10: 1909263427

ISBN-13: 978-1909263420

Danny is a potbellied hippopotamus who lives in a swampy marsh. Upon getting his teeth cleaned by the local swamp fish, he learns that he can fix the gap between his teeth by going to the dentist. Leaving his swampy marsh, Danny travels to the city to find the dentist who insists on giving Danny braces. Showing off his new braces to the local swamp animals, Danny makes a reptile envious. The reptile goes to see the dentist himself, which doesn't end well for the dentist. 

I find the age group that is recommended for this book to be off. The author uses words like meticulous and aghast, which I find hard to believe that kids ages 3 to 7 would understand. I also think that the way some parts of the story are told it's a little long winded for kids with short attention spans. While reading this to my daughters who are 2,4, and 10, my two younger daughters lost interest really quickly but my eldest daughter's words were "this book should be directed for my age group." She found the ending quite comical.

The illustrations in the book, which were done by Yann Le Bec, are a perfect match for the story's scenes. They gave the right amount of detail for each of the scenes that were needed to visibly show the audience what was happening.
I recommend this book to kids ages 10 and up, who would get the most out of the story's pace and comical ending.
I received this book from edelweiss for this honest review. All opinions are my own (and my daughters).

~Jamie Crosby~

Do Opposite to Really Attract?

The Viscount's Christmas Temptation by Erica Ridley

Dukes of War #0.5

Amazon

• File Size: 4091 KB
• Print Length: 148 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1939713293
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Intrepid Reads (October 21, 2014)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English

The Viscount's Christmas Temptation is a prequel to Erica Ridley's first series, Dukes of War. 

In London, England in 1815 Lady Amelia Pembroke, meticulously ran her younger brothers estate. She had be running it since their mother died when Amelia was only twelve. Now as a spinster at the age of nine and twenty, she realizes that unless she finds a husband her brother will never marry for fear of displacing his sister when she wife took over his estate. Not wanting to stand in the way of her brother's happiness,Lady Amelia concocts the rational idea of narrowing down her potential suitors by crossing off those without the right rank or the right reputation. 

She then planns to meet the ones that were suitable all under the same roof at the Sheffield seventy fifth annual Christmas ball. When her brother told her that the Christmas ball was canceled, Amelia decided to take things into her own hands. Even if it meant working the Viscount Sheffield, a man known for his reckless night time behavior. Will she find a husband? Do opposites really attract? Is being rational the right approach to love?

Though this prequel was short the author did a wonderful job giving the right amount of details in regards to the characters personalities and the setting. Anything more would have slowed down the plot of the story, making the story seem to drag on. Since that wasn't the case the plot smoothly went from one event to the next like one dancing to a slow song. 

I recommend for anyone who likes romance or historical fiction stories. 

I received this book as an ARC from Librarything.com. All my opinions are my own.

Noah Cases the Wind by Michelle Worthington

Noah Chases the Wind by Michelle Worthington Illustrated by Joseph Cowman

• Age Range: 3 - 8 years
• Grade Level: Preschool - 3
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Redleaf Lane (April 14, 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 160554356X
• ISBN-13: 978-1605543567
  Release date: March 23, 2015

Noah sees, feels and thinks differently than most people. Always curious, this little boy loves science, weather, and books. He even loves his books more than his toys because his books answer his many questions. That is until he has a question his books and his mom can’t answer. Where does the wind go? Go on an adventure with Noah as he tries to catch the wind.

This story not only entertaining it teaches kids that it is okay to be different and that they too are capable of finding their own answers. The audience gets to see the world through the eyes of someone who sees it differently than they do.  The illustrations along with the well written story line will keep the audiences attention from beginning to the end.

I enjoy reading a story to my kids that is intriguing as well as teaches them something valuable.

I received this book from the publisher and edelweiss for this review. All opinions are my own.

Start a New Family Tradition

Reindeer Dust by Kate Dwyer

Illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

• Reindeerdust.com
• 
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Reindeer Dust Inc (September 1, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0989317609
• ISBN-13: 978-0989317603

Available in Hardcover: $ 17.95

Santa's reindeer are hungry and with the fog rolling in as thick as cotton balls, the can't see where to land. Will Christmas be canceled? Not if one boy named William can help it. William comes up with a solution that will save Christmas: Reindeer Dust. 

Reindeer dust is a cute rendition of how reindeer dust came to be. Beautifully illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, combined with rhymes int the story is a natural hit. It also includes the recipe on how to make your own reindeer dust for Santa's reindeer. 

Highly Recommend this book for families with kids of all ages. "I will always believe"

Note: I received this book to review from NetGalley; all opinions of my own.

FIND THE REINDEER DUST RECIPE HERE

The Witch of Painted Sorrows by M.J Rose

• Print Length: 384 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (March 17, 2015)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00LD1ONBC

Do you believe in curses, witches, ghosts, or being possessed? Or do you at least like to read books that contain it?

Set in Paris in the 1890’s, M.J. Rose, walks you through the streets of Paris while spinning a dark tale of a woman unknowingly running from one evil into the arms of another. Sandrine Salome flees her life in New York, and her dangerous husband, to her allegedly safe haven of her grandmothers in Paris. Upon arrival Sandrine finds her grandmother’s house mysteriously closed up. Unable to get any answers from her grandmother, or at least any straight answers, Sandrine goes searching for her own answers and what she finds is more dangerous than what she ran away from. Be coming possessed by an ancient family member who was a witch, a legend and a courtesan, Sandrine is opened up to her erotic nature as a lover and a painter. But is this possession a curse or a hidden gift?

In the beginning Sandrine is a meek, nervous, and scared but M.J. Rose does a wonderful job changing this character to be brave, passionate, and determined by the end. The author does this in a way that seems natural and not forced. She guides you through all the emotions and events that led up to and are constantly changing Sandrine, making the dramatic change in the character believable and not something that just happened over night.

The books description calls it a “provocative and magical spellbinder”. Which is not at all far from the truth, it has many explicitly erotic scenes. The pace of the story is that of one of the erotic scenes. Slow foreplay to start, an exciting and riveting middle, and a quick end. Though the story flowed from one scene without hesitation but the last to chapters seemed to jump from one time to the next with holes in the timeline. 

http://www.pinterest.com/mjroseauthor/journey-of-the-page-6-the-witch-of-painted-sorrows/