Book Blast: The Hitwoman and the Family Jewels

While I have not yet had a chance to get my hands on this series, it is on my list.  Take a look!

Summer has officially started and it's time to get reading!

Win a $25 Amazon or iTune Gift Card 

You could get this summer's funniest read:

How do you say “no” to a mob boss?

When bumbling hitwoman Maggie Lee is asked by her mob boss employer to kill a cop, she wants to say no.

When her sexy murder mentor, Patrick Mulligan tells her the cop in question is a guy she once dated, she REALLY wants to refuse.

But when her former date, Paul Kowalski tries to kill her, she changes her tune to “Hell, yes!”

Maggie and Patrick grow closer as they scramble to figure out what it is that Kowalski is looking for and what it has to do with her prison escapee father.

Maggie’s search is hampered by the presence of US Marshals hunting her father and her crazier-than-usual family.

Along with her snarky talking lizard, grammatically-challenged Doberman, and a pissy cat, she races to solve the mystery and protect her family. But nothing in Maggie’s life ever goes as planned….

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Book Review: A Child Called It

This book broke my heart.  And not in the Nicholas Sparks Someone I loved died and I'm never going to love again oh wait I think I'm falling in love way.  This was more painful to read than Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes.  This true, gut-wrenching story made me hurt inside.

The author, Dave Pelzer, narrates as himself from childhood, where he was brutally and continually abused by his mother.  There were multiple passages within that made me feel physically ill to my stomach.  The manner in which his mother singled him out among all of his other brothers as the "bad boy" and tortured him is unspeakable. 

How he managed to survive his long sentence with his family I do not know.  I certainly do not think I would have the will power to outlast everything that he endured.  I can't imagine the courage it must have taken him to write out his story on paper for others to know.  But I'm glad that he did, because we all need to be more aware of the prevalence of abuse, whether it be a child, a partner, or stranger.  Just because I kiss my child more times a day than I can keep track of doesn't mean that every other child in the world feels that outward affection and love.

This book is the first in a trilogy chronicling David's story.  While I don't want to deal with the raw emotions that accompany this subject, I feel like I need to know more about how everything played out.  While we are told in the prologue that David does eventually get taken from his abusive home, this book does not end with the trauma resolved.  

Hug your kid.  If you don't have one, hug the person nearest you.  Hug your dog.  There are cruel people in this world.

Book Review: The Lighter Side of Large

I downloaded this book free from amazon, although it is currently priced at $4.99.  This is Becky Siame's debut novel, in a genre called "reality fiction".  As you can probably deduct from the cover art, the book centers around an overweight female character.

Bella struggles everyday; bumping into people in a crowded coffee shop, self-conscious and pessimistic about life.  Her husband left her for her own sister when their second child was only two weeks old.  Now those two are getting married and Bella is expected to attend the wedding.  With much pushing and encouragement from her friends, she decides to make some big changes in her life.

I was afraid that this was going to be an unrealistic novel about someone who lost the weight quick and lived happily ever after, but it was much more than that.  And while the author didn't list the specifics of Bella's new diet and exercise routine, she did show the struggle that occurred. 

The book touched on the issue that self-acceptance is difficult, no matter what size you are.  It is a powerful message that I myself struggle with, and it was refreshing to experience it through this character's perspective.

Unlike Bella, who starts the journey a single parent, I have a husband who loves me for me, no matter the size.  Now I need to become healthier and happier with who I am.

Book Review: Confessions of a Scary Mommy

I had been wanting to read this book ever since I somehow stumbled onto the author's twitter.  But wouldn't you know that the library didn't have it and I couldn't afford to buy it.

Happy birthday to me!

Adam got me a gift card for my Nook for my birthday last week.  And after much frustration and multiple calls made to them wondering how an emailed gift card would take so long to show up in an email, even though the amount had already been deducted from our banking account, I finally got it yesterday afternoon.  Anyway.

Adam came up to bed at about 11:40 last night and was surprised that I was still awake.  "I want to go to bed.  I just can't stop reading."  And so about ten minutes later, I was finished with the book.  It is, after all, under 200 pages.  "Why did you buy a book that's so short?"




I have to admit, shelling out $11.99 for this book was hard to do, especially since it's very rare that I actually purchase a book.  But I had been wanting to read it for so long, I had to dive right in.  The author, Jill Smokler, has already written another book!  But alas, my gift card will not cover the cost for that book as well, so I will wait until Barnes and Noble snail mails my "I'm sorry we suck" $5 gift card.  Then I will have enough!


The whole idea for this book came from the author's blog.  Her family had just moved to a new city and she was home with three kids.  She decided to give writing a try.  After writing online for a while, she set up an anonymous confessional for her readers to leave comments about their own mommy woes, without worry of being flamed by the super-moms.

The book consists of many of the reader confessionals, all packaged into neat chapters about Smokler's own experiences ranging from pregnancy to how her life with her kids currently is.  Could I relate to every single confessional?  No.  But it was such a relief to read about other moms worrying about not being good enough.

A personal story that really stuck with me was the author's own struggle with breast feeding.  She even mentioned taking the same herb supplements that I did back when Daven was a newborn.  She talks about the overwhelming guilt that she had about not being able to keep her baby full and how switching to formula was such a rough choice.  I just read through, thinking I know just exactly how that feels.

So as you can probably tell, this book gets very personal.  But I really applaud Smokler's candor and telling it like it is, as apposed to sugar-coating everything.  Being a mommy is hard and in between those perfect pictures that we post online is a lot of frustration and self doubt.  And that's ok.  you aren't alone.

Being a scary mommy doesn't mean that you mistreat your kids.  It means that you haven't showered in days and don't think twice about sniffing a rear end to check for poo.  And that swiping some of your kid's holiday candy is alright.  I think that any and every mommy out there can resonate with the message of this book.  I can't wait to read her newest book.  Jill - thank you for this.  You rock, momma!

Daven Says - Potty Training

We've had a few good days with the battle of the potty. Daven has actually started telling us he needs to go. Woo hoo!

Today decided to sit down on the potty. A moment later I see him peeking down into the toilet. "Look, mommy!  Two poop hot dogs for the potty to eat!"

You give it your poop, kiddo. 

Carrot Chips...Kind of...

Carrots, olive oil and salt are all you need for this recipe. Supposedly, if you slice and bake, crispy chips will result. I'm not sure if I didn't cut my carrots thin enough or what, but mine ended up more mushy and floppy. I tasted them - yuck. But I didn't tell Daven my own personal verdict. 

He ate the heck out of these. And he never eats carrots. Raw with dip, cooked with roast, in soups - he just won't eat them. But these so-called chips got him eating more carrots than he's eaten since I made his baby food. 

He did participate in the process, which I think helped his desire to taste the finished product. He "cut" his carrots with a blunt knife while I stood beside him and cut for real. 

If you have made your own chips or try this for yourself, let me know how they turn out. I'd like to know what I could have done to make them better. I'd really like to try this with sweet potatoes, hopefully with a crispier result!

Daven Says

Daven and his cousin Morgan were busy playing outside this afternoon, switching between golf, the water table, bowling and such. While they were both playing in the sandbox I pointed out a bird that was on the hill looking for worms. 

"Oh, that's a pretty robin," said Morgan. 

"No, that's a bird. Robin is in Batman," was Daven's reply. 

I couldn't convince him otherwise. I blame his daddy.