Book Review: Heartless

October 31, 2011 No Comments

Heartless

By Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Another New Fiction shelves find at the library; luckily, this one was worth the find. This book plugs itself as ‘timeless fantasy’ which is true. It’s a classic prince must rescue the princess from the dragon theme, but with a few unique twists. The princess is mortal, the prince is not, the dragon is not what you expect, and there are a whole slew of other suitors and miscommunications to cause complications. It’s a light but very enjoyable read, and I look forward to more Tales of Goldstone Wood as promised by the end-leaf in the book.

I give it 3/5 stars.

Friday Favorites, Recipes

Friday Favorites: Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Muffins

October 27, 2011 2 Comments

This is a recipe I learned from my mother, and it is one of my absolute favorites. These muffins are quick to make, and just completely delicious. I tend to make them more in the fall/winter (hence this being my October Follow Fest post! – see below recipe for more info), because they are exactly perfect for breakfast when warmed up just a smidge so the chocolate chips go all melty again. But they are good year-round, too – for breakfast, or dessert, or just a snack. And if you’re the type who likes to sample the batter before baking […]

Life, News, Thoughts

28 Before 28

October 26, 2011 8 Comments

Having a birthday this past weekend inevitably made me think about what’s in store for the coming year, and what I’d like to accomplish. So here is my list of 28 things I’d like to do before turning 28 next October 23 (2012). I’ll update it as I knock things out. In no particular order: Actually plant things in the flower bed areas in the front of the house. Clean out my office closet. It’s the repository for all things I’ve saved because of the minuscule chance I might use them someday but probably won’t. This will be a major […]

Life, News, Pretty Things

Birthday Flowers

October 24, 2011 2 Comments

So, I turned 27 yesterday. Honestly, I don’t feel any different (do we ever, on a birthday?) and it was kind of a non-event because of the madness of the preceding few days. My mom was in visiting and we were caught up in traveling down to Lackland AFB and back at ungodly hours Thu–Sat for my sister’s Basic graduation; it was worth it, as she completely kicked ass, but tiring nonetheless. Added to that, my boyfriend left for Korea for a month for work, exactly a day before my birthday (thanks, Samsung HR! 🙁 ). So, after I dropped […]

Book Talk, Thoughts

Book Review: The Summer Country

October 16, 2011 No Comments

The Summer Country By James A. Hetley This was yet another random pick from the New Fiction section at the library. Generally I love a good modern-day crosses paths with Irish Fae-lands story, but in this case I did not. The main female character was an idiot, all the other characters were flat and unconvincing, and the ‘love’ story had no depth or believability. And while I don’t need my fantasy to be clean and prim, not by a longshot, this was unnecessarily brutal in parts, in ways that didn’t serve the story. I kept reading because I hoped the […]

Friday Favorites, Life

Friday Favorites: The Bandwagon (A to Z of Me)

October 14, 2011 2 Comments

Life sort of went insane with freelancing work this week, the result of which is I didn’t have time/opportunity to bake and take pictures of the recipe thing I wanted to share. And since next week I’ll have my mom in town, and be down in San Antonio for my sister’s USAF graduation, the recipe probably won’t be coming until two weeks from now. HOWEVER. Since I didn’t want to crap out on the Friday Favorites series completely this week, this will be a photo-sparese but fact&fun-filled post. This little A to Z list has been making the rounds of […]

Book Talk, Thoughts

Series Review: War of the Rose

October 12, 2011 No Comments

War of the Rose The Serpent & The Rose; The Golden Rose; The Last Paladin By Kathleen Bryan I enjoyed this series quite a bit. It’s got some of your usual fantasy trappings (beautiful noble lady falls in love with common man, knights and magicians and devious villains), but also some pleasant surprises. The world is obviously based on a fantastical Europe (where Britain = Prydain, Ireland = Eriu, etc.), but did not try to stay too close to reality or history or even known folklore. The story takes place in the equivalent of France, but aside from similarities in […]