Sincerely Stacie

Monday, February 3, 2014

A Little Monday Inspiration - LOVE

Since February is the month of LOVE, I wanted to share my favorite quotes on LOVE from the Bible every Monday.

May you feel God's LOVE today!

John 15:12
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Children's Book Review: There Once Was A Man from the USA - 50 State Limericks

THERE ONCE WAS A MAN FROM THE USA
50 State Limericks

By: Joshua Kraushar

Illustrated By: Victoria Weiss

Children's Non-Fiction

This book includes a collection of limericks about each of the fifty states. Dictionary.com states a limerick as
"a kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, andthe third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet."

Some of the limericks directly relate to the state mentioned and others connect to each other. In reading, I found a number of them are kind of violent such as "finishing him off with a hammer" or "mauled by a dog". Others were more appropriate for the state such as Maryland's:

There once was a singer from Maryland

Who was part of a famous rock band

He loved to go crabbing

Till his foot took a stabbing

From a crustacean he stepped on in the sand. Page 28

While I appreciate the creativity and effort it must have taken to come up with a suitable limerick for each state, I would have to disagree that this should be considered a children's book or educational in any way. When I initially read about the book and agreed to review it, I planned to pass it on to my 4th Grade teacher friend. I know in 4th grade the kids learn about all the fifty states and I thought she might find this fun to read to them. After reading, I will not be passing it on to her as several of the limericks are not appropriate for that grade level or for children at all.

I am sure Mr. Kraushar, in his years of teaching high school Social Studies found much humor in writing this book, but perhaps he should share it with the high school students rather than the elementary ones.

This book was a disappointment and one I wouldn't recommend.

Joshua Kraushar is a retired high school Social Studies teacher. This book is his first attempt at writing a children's/young adult book. He is currently living in Brooklyn, New York and is working as a tour guide.

I will be linking this book up with Booking Mama's Kid Konnection. Click HERE to see other reviews of children's books from other bloggers.

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book for review. This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any way for this review. If you purchase the book through the above link, I wiil receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more. Thank you for support SincerelyStacie.com's book reviews.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

The Fault In Our Stars Movie

Back in October, I finally had the opportunity to read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green. Three months later I am still thinking about the characters and the lessons learned from two teenagers. Check out the link to my review, HERE.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS is one of several books coming out as movies this year. Yesterday, the book trailer was released and I can't stop watching it! Mark June 6th on your calendar now and get your tickets. You won't want to miss this one!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Book Review: While We Were Watching Downton Abbey By Wendy Wax

WHILE WE WERE WATCHING DOWNTON ABBEY

By: Wendy Wax

Published: April 2, 2013
Mass Market Paperback: December 31, 2013

Fiction

As a huge fan of "Downton Abbey", I was curious to see what this book was all about. Even though I have heard of Wendy Wax, I haven't read any of her books, but will certainly be adding them to my list of to-reads in the future.

In WHILE WE WERE WATCHING DOWNTON ABBEY, we are introduced to three very different women who all live in the gorgeous downtown Alexander. They are brought together when Edward Parker, the British concierge of the Alexander, offers Sunday night showings of "Downton Abbey" in the club room.

Samantha is married to Johnathan Davis, part of Atlanta's oldest and richest families. Samantha has lived her life in gratitude to Johnathan for saving herself and two siblings after their father and mother died in a car accident. When her siblings continue to drain Johnathan of his fortune and continue to embarrass their family, she wonders why Johnathan continues to stay married to her.
Samantha continues to keep a brave face and fake her happiness all while under the watchful eyes of her mother-in-law, who may surprisingly become her biggest ally.

Claire, an accomplished author left the suburbs after sending her only daughter off to Northwestern. Claire moves into the Alexander to spend a year writing her third novel. Claire spent her whole life working multiple jobs while writing and caring for her daughter as a single mother. Now with a whole year in front of her, she can't seem to find the words to create her next novel. Admitting that to her publisher and her daughter could mean the end of her career.

Brooke is recently divorced from her plastic surgeon husband. Throughout their marriage, Brooke worked multiple jobs and raised their children to get her husband through medical school. Now that his practice is booming, he no longer needed her and left Brooke for a someone he could practice his plastic surgeon skills on. Brooke, her two daughters and their dog are constantly put in the path of her ex-husband and his new "Barbie" girlfriend. While Brooke continues to feel completely inadequate compared to the other people living in the Alexander and to her ex-husband, she finds a new calling as a professional mom. Edward Parker hires her to handle a 6-year-old birthday party as part of his Private Butler business and has maybe just given Brooke a new look at life without her husband.

Wendy Wax has a great talent in creating characters the reader can both imagine and care about. From the very beginning, I found a piece of each character that I could relate to and began to root for them through each chapter. With all the different characters and storylines, Wax finds ways to blend them all together without confusing or losing the reader.

While reading the character's stories we also find their lives connecting with those in "Downton Abbey". The merging of the novel with the show made for an interesting piece to the novel that was subtle, yet thought-provoking. I found that even though the initial descriptions of the characters would make them unlikely friends, their friendship became very believable and necessary.

I really enjoyed the story and even though parts of the book were predictable, I was pleased with how the character's lives were concluded in the novel. I was able to guess some of the outcomes, I just didn't know how they were going to get there which is what I loved about the book. I certainly enjoy a novel that can showcase women's friendships that are caring, fun, and with them supporting each other rather than being catty and spiteful.

I think this would make an excellent book club choice, especially for fans of "Downton Abbey". There are discussion questions included at the end of the new mass-market paperback version if you need them. But, I think your group would find plenty of topics to discuss without the questions. You will also find the first two chapters of Wax's novel TEN BEACH ROAD included in the back of the book.

Wendy Wax - source

Wendy Wax is the author of numerous popular contemporary fiction novels including TEN BEACH ROAD and OCEAN BEACH. For more on Wendy, check out her website,HERE. You can also like her on Facebook, HERE and follow her on Twitter, HERE.

Thanks to Penguin Group for providing me a copy of this novel for this review. This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any other way for this review. If you choose to purchase the novel through the above link, I will make a small commission without you paying a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Book Review: Organic Beauty With Essential Oil By Rebecca Park Totilo

ORGANIC BEAUTY WITH ESSENTIAL OIL
For Natural Skin Care, Hair Care and Bath and Body Products

By: Rebecca Park Totilo

Published: January 13, 2013

Non-Fiction

This review is part of a book tour with Virtual Author Book Tours. For more reviews on the ORGANIC BEAUTY tour, click HERE.

Essential oils and their use have increased in popularity over the last few years. People have been using essential oils for years, but the increased interest in holistic health and aromatherapy have kicked their use into the mainstream. Essential oils are being used for skin care, internal health, air purification, as well as treatment for medical conditons.

ORGANIC BEAUTY takes the guess work out of using essential oils and shares charts and lists of the various oils and how they are best used, what oils are best for certain conditions, and how they should be combined and/or diluted. The book is broken up in to chapters related to caring for your body, face, hair, mouth, hands/nails, and feet. Each section is full of recipes with various flavors, scents, and treatments for self-care.

If you are interested in making your own soaps, lip balms, scrubs, powders, and bath oils or experimenting with different oils and their health benefits, this would be a great book to start with. The recipes are all very simple to follow and use regular ingredients found in your grocery store along with the essential oils. In fact, one recipe for a facial scrub uses cat litter! Now, I'm not sure I can imagine using cat litter on my face, but it states it purge toxins and other impurities found in facial pores.

I think this book assumes you are familiar with essential oils and their use. So for me, as a complete beginner and a bit confused about essential oils, I might want to do a bit more research before starting out in making my own products.

This book is a great resource for anyone looking to begin making products either for your own use or for gifts. I think the first one I'd like to try making is the Mint-Chocolate Lip Balm. Who doesn't want to put mint chocolate on your lips all day long? The information gained from the research Totilo put together can help those new to essential oils find the best treatment for their needs.

Rebecca Park Totilo - source

Rebecca has ministered to literally millions of people via television, radio and live appearances. She is an award-winning published author of over 40 books, including "Therapeutic Blending With Essential Oil", "Heal With Essential Oil", and "Through the Night With God." Her credits include working as a contributor writer on two best-selling series ("Quiet Moments with God" and "Stories for the Teen's Heart") which sold over one million and five million copies respectively. She is also a freelance writer for several national magazines include Christian Parenting Today, Discipleship Journal and Woman's World.

Rebecca's photography work has appeared in numerous national magazines such as Woman's World, Sports Spectrum, Evangel, and Sharing the Victory. But by far, her greatest accomplishment, if you asked her, is after a decade of rejection slips (with almost 150 in one year!), Rebecca hit it big in 1999, with over 13 books contracts, ranging from teaching curriculum to gift books and devotionals for adults. Truly, its her grit determination that makes her inspirational writings draw such a mass market appeal.

Rebecca graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1986 with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Information Systems. In addition, she attended Faith Bible Institute in Richmond, Virginia for instruction in ministry and University of the Nations in Hawaii. She is also trained as a Clinical Aromatherapist and is an international educator offering online courses on the art of perfume-making and how to blend with essential oils worldwide on her website http://rebeccatotilo.com. Rebecca owns a cute soap boutique, Aroma Hut, near the beach in Florida where she practices as an Clinical Aromatherapist. You can also find out more about Rebecca at http://www.rebeccaatthewell.org/.

Rebecca won the Writer of the Year in Non-Fiction (National Writer's Association)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.totilo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebeccaTotilo
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/rebeccatotilo/

This review is my honest opinion. I was given a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review, but was not compensated in any other way. If you choose to purchase the book through the above link, I will make a small commission without you haven't to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thank you for supporting SincerelyStacie.com.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Read Divergent By Veronica Roth Together Before the Movie

DIVERGENT

By: Veronica Roth

Published: February 28, 2012

Fiction

I've been wanting to check out this series and our son is already on the second book, INSURGENT. So, if I am going to take him to the movie version of DIVERGENT, I certainly need to read the book first.

BOOK-ALICIOUS MAMA is offering a read-along on her blog. We can read and discuss it together just in time to go see the movie. Even though my reading list is LOONNGG, I am going to do my best to keep up with her reading schedule. You need to have the first 12 chapters done by February 10th. In 15 days, I should be able to read 12 chapters. Right?

Would you like to join in the fun? Just click HERE for all the details. Jennifer at BOOK-ALICIOUS MAMA will be the host, but I will share my thoughts here on my Facebook page and on Twitter as well. If you haven't read DIVERGENT yet, now is the time!