Thank you to those that sent notes asking about me. Most of you have seen from my various social media posts that I am recovering from emergency neck surgery. Sounds like I’d have a lot of time to read, and I do, but I read SLOW. I mean, painfully crazy slow. The meds really mess with my head. It’s sad. After tax season, I was hoping to get back into reading 2-3 books per week and here I am again… it’s frustrating, but recovery is expected to take another 1-3 months until I can at least be off of the pain medication.

For those wanting more information, my business blog has more.

To everyone else, my eternal love for your caring about me and my well being. I’m doing well. I’m recovering. It’s a long process but I’m surrounded by so much love that how can I NOT heal?

We’ll be back as I’m able to do reviews and trickle them in here and there. Hang in there with us, folks. Much love!

We’ve been using this product for a while now. My overall feeling is that it is “good” for the money, but a bit of a pain to get going.

Setup out of the box was a bit tricky:

1.) Camera’s didn’t want to update firmware.
2.) Running wires wasn’t a ton of fun.
3.) Finding a plug near where you need the camera isn’t always easy.
4.) Requires you to be online during setup.

Problems once setup:

1.) You are now down one outlet.
2.) Poor picture in low light.
3.) Price to expand the system.

The price overall is “ok”, but you can get a fully wireless (thought maybe not color) system for the same price. Yes, the Logitech offers a lot of bells and whistles but I will definitely do some shopping around before expanding this system.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I spend all day on my computer, so much time that I’ve started using Skype for all my calls except for those on my cellphone. I thought this would be a great tool: one headset for both! I would never forget my cellphone earpiece ever again.

First off, sound quality: The quality is “ok” at best. But, I’ve been using one of my husband’s hand-me-down gaming headsets which had great sound and everyone always said I sounded very clear. I wouldn’t say that it was a horrible experience, I just expected more from a headset designed for phone calls.

Secondly: It says it will connect to both your computer and your phone. Yes, it will. For a time. Then you have to reconnect it. I finally got tired of trying and it became my phone earpiece only and will probably stay that way.

Overall: This is a good earpiece. But if you are used to a two ear headset and a good mic, you will probably be disappointed with using it on your computer.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Is more of the same always a bad thing? Definitely not! Following along with the classic style of Cows Can’t Jump, Cows Can’t Quack picks up where the last book left off.

Preschoolers will love both the simple, easy to understand sentences and the colorful pictures. Parents will love the message embedded: we are all different and special in our own way.

Another great book! I highly recommend both this book and “Cows Can’t Jump” if you haven’t purchased it already.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 9

A little over a year ago, I read a wonderful book by this author called How I Learned to Love the Walrus, so when the author asked if I wanted to read her newest one, Disengaged, I immediately said yes. I fully realize it’s not fair to compare the two books, but it’s difficult not to. Both are chicklit with some funny parts and a little romance. But that’s where the similarities kind of end. Again, it’s not fair, but this book falls a little short of my expectations for this author. Walrus had an amazing location which Beth was able to turn into a character in and of itself. This one lacks that extra backdrop. It also kind of goes off the rails a bit towards the predictable end.

Having said that, the book itself is not bad. I enjoyed the storyline. While I didn’t like Allie (the main character), I did like most of the supporting cast. The writing is absolutely wonderful, as you would expect and the editing is just as wonderful. I liked the love interest(s) and the humor and quirky nature of the storyline. I felt like the story was perhaps a little over the top at times, but not so much that I rolled my eyes the entire time.

Where this books does really shine is in plot development. The author has a gift to keep the story moving. Unlike so many other chicklit authors that seem to be writing to just simply fill their word quota, Orsoff writes to keep the storyline moving and keep my interest intact.

I’d recommend this for fans of the authors other books and those who enjoy a quirky chicklit book now and then.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 8

When this book came to me from the author with a request of review I thought he must be brave. A quick look through my reviews and you’ll notice that while I love short stories, I also hate when they are done badly. Let’s face it, most are done very badly. It’s not enough words to get that deep into the story or the plot and I usually walk away feeling nothing for any of the characters.

Bored one day and in kind of foul mood, I decided to start this “novelette” and hope for the best. Less than hour later, I looked up and realized that I had just read a complete story. A whole one. There was enough information here to have a full story, the author does an amazing job of teaching us about the characters, the place, the situation and the feelings surrounding that with the short amount of writing that he does. It’s truly an excellent job.

My problem with vampire stories that have come out recently is that you have either the cuddle-able cute sparkling vampires or we have the ones that are violent to no end, killing everything in it’s path with no remorse and no storyline to speak of, just blood and teeth and lots of screaming. Seriously? Tell me something instead of just telling me about the dripping blood. This book has neither of these, really – yet, perhaps a little of both.

The author does an amazing job of getting the story set up and quickly getting some traction going. You feel for nearly everyone in the story, even the horrible horrible vampire and you are left wanting more. But not so much that you feel cheated by the story.

Easily one of the best short story/novelettes I’ve read in a very long time.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 7

A friend of mine suggested this book to me after learning I’d been on a fitness journey for the past 9 months. I’ve lost a lot of weight, I’ve gotten in a shape that is a little less “round” and I still have a long ways to go. I was looking forward to reading this book to learn how to get into shape and become an imperfect athlete as a larger woman. There are oddball challenges that I’ve met along the way that smaller people just don’t have. I was looking forward to learning about how to deal with some of these.

I will say that the book is very motivational and I love the author’s attitude of “be yourself and the rest of them can fly a kite.” Reading her book made me want to get off my tail and drag my butt out for a walk or to the gym. It made me want to learn how to run and succeed at this crazy path I have laid out for myself. She excels at this.

I think, however, it’s missing some of the practical advise I was looking for. I was expecting more tips and ideas and less motivation. Granted, I need both of those things, but from the title and description, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

Having said that, this is definitely worth a read. If you are not in the best shape of your life and don’t look all that hot in spandex, this is a great book to help get your tail in gear. Recommended.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 6

I am a huge fan of this author. I read Gods In Alabama not too long after it came out after a suggestion from a friend and I’ve been following her work since. She’s known for her sassy Southern fiction. In that regard, this book does not disappoint. There’s quite a bit of Rose May Lolly in this book and she’s got the sass.

This book also deals with domestic violence. The author, sadly, captures the spirit of an abused woman pretty well. I make no secret that I grew up seeing part of this and the hiding, the worrying, the secrets… it’s captured almost too perfectly by this author. I had more than one moment of chills running down my spine. Hats off to the author for bringing this into her books. I think it’s something we turn a blind eye to all too often.

I will admit that parts of this book felt disjointed for me. The different personalities for Rose Mae threw me and the saints got me a little confused, but the overall feeling of the book is fast-moving and very well written. I think the disjointed feeling came from the fact that it was disjointed time in this woman’s life. Leaving her husband, meeting her mother, changing her life. It was breakneck pace and the author threw us all over her shoulder and powered through it.

Highly recommended for those of us who like some good Southern fiction. Ms. Jackson doesn’t disappoint.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 5

I was contacted by this company and offered some products for review. I chose this because I’ve spent entirely too many years trying to find a facial cleanser and makeup remover in one that doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin, leave a lot of residue or just plain doesn’t work. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t have a whole lot of faith that this was going to be any better than the $5 one from the pharmacy I tried or the $120 one from the shi-shi boutique that I tried. They both sucked.

I promised myself that I would use this daily for at least 45 days before giving a review (well, unless it broke me out into welts or something, of course, because, well, I’m not stupid). To tell you where I’m coming from, I have super sensitive skin – to pretty much everything. My previous skin regimen was using coconut oil to remove eye make up, glycerin soap to clean and then the oil again to moisturize. It’s been working pretty well, but I wasn’t 100% happy with the make-up residue that the coconut oil sometimes leaves.

I was shocked by how well this worked. Just a tiny bit goes a really long way too. It easily wiped up all of my eye make-up and lifted dirt and oil from the rest of my face. I actually used it a second time to see if it really did do as good of a job as I thought and it did! This is a fantastic eye make-up remover and I’m known to lay that on pretty thick.

It doesn’t sting your eyes when you accidentally get some in there like so many of the others do. It also doesn’t have a strong smell. I cannot stand facial cleansers that smell like a rose garden. It left my face feeling clean, soft and comfortable.

The only downside to this product that I found is that now I’m addicted to it. So, I’ll be buying it on my own from here on out. It’s not all that expensive – or cheap – it’s right in the middle, but it lasts a LONG time. After 6 weeks, I’ve used less than 1/4 of the bottle. It’s pretty powerful stuff.

Highly recommended to all women (and men) that need something to remove make up and cleanse their face.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I was provided a copy of this book and asked to review it. Because it was such a unique topic and one I was very interested in, I read it pretty quickly. I didn’t know a whole lot about aneurysms but from what I knew of them, I thought they were pretty much debilitating and were nearly impossible to recover from.

I was surprised by this author’s candor and ability to share her journey so openly. She welcomes in to her life, both pre and post aneurysm and walks us through what she felt like. I felt most connected to her when she was talking about what her work life was like after. As a small business owner myself, this is one of my worst nightmares… what happens if something happens to me? What about my family? How will they deal with that? How will I?

I like that she doesn’t have all the answers. I like that she got angry. I like that she got sad. I like that she got frustrated. What I liked the most is that she was able to find her way back. Maybe not exactly where she left off, but to a new life. To a new path. I think that’s a testament to who she is and who she is to become. My hats off to her.

The book is well edited and formatted. A dream for someone that reads a lot of self-published works. I wish all were as well done.

My only reservation is that I felt we were missing some hole in her story. I don’t really know what that hole is or what part of her life, but there did appear to be some gap there. It doesn’t take away from the story and, of course, it may be that she chose to leave it out. Not entirely helpful since I can’t place it, but it still nags me a bit.

Overall, this is a great book. I love memoirs and they are my favorite genre. This one did not disappoint, but also gave me a lot insight into something I didn’t know a whole lot about. I liked that she was able to entertain while informing. Well done, indeed.

Recommended for anyone that likes memoirs and those who want to learn something about brain injuries.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 4