Dec ARC

The last ARC book of the year! This month I read "How (Not)to Kiss a Toad by Elizabeth A. Reeves. Its book one of Cinder Eller series.

Cinder Eller (yes thats her name)  works at a bakery. making tasty treats. She is also a witch. Every man she meets she turn them into a toad after kissing them. In most of the book there been a toad living with her and her roomates(Tansy and Jessi), which was a former date. So its hard for Cinder to find the man of her dreams without making him in a toad.

One day she meets Timothy a nice guy lover of food like her. Who happens to be the grandson of the owners of the bakery who are going to be retiring and giving him the business. But he has a secret of his own too.

Because of her toadasterfy (HA!) she has to see the council of witches to see she looses her magic powers or not. See she's not very good at magic. She's getting lessons from her stepfather.

I really did like the book. I didn't think I would. The book was funny and a quick read. Course I knew how it was going to end. lol

My journal page

The page was sprayed with greens Dylusions a while back, And stamped with one of the stamps from Dylusions too. I glued a cookie as a moon since Cinder is a baker. I used a Prima girl and made her a witch hat from scrap. The toad and sentiment is from Stamps by Judith. The sentiment says "Star bright Star light. Where the heck is Mr. Right?"

Edited to say that this year I have read 84 books this year. :)

Nov. ARC

Again I looked through Media on Demand site to see on my wish list I wanted to read that was available to borrow, and not wait around for it to borrow it. I found this fun little read. "Classic Candy: America's Favorite sweets 50-80's by Darlene Lacy. I've read similar books to this one(Candy Freak by Steve Almond for one).  If your into nostalgia and pop culture this book is for you! The books has 5 chapters(not including introduction and further reading and places you can go). Covers Classic Chocolates, to and Classic Sweets, to fads and Trends(pop Rocks), Celebrates(Reggie Bar, E.T & Reese's Pieces) and Holiday Candies) From reading Candy Freak I knew a lot of the small company's were bought out by the big ones(Hershey, Mars, Nestle's). And I knew from reading (Veruca Salt) that Quaker was in the candy biz for a while (at least while they made the movie). But there were thins I didn't know and Candy I never knew that was made and now gone from was not selling or not P.C.

The pictures in the book were awesome! She had old ads of Candies through out the book. When I was reading the chapter of Holidays There was a picture of this little Halloween goodie bag that people could put candy in for the trick or treaters from I'm guessing the 60's.

 from the book

I saw it and was like "I have some bags similar to this that Rose gave me" So when I went downstairs to grab my stamps of candy for my art I grabbed one of them too for my journal page. :D

Oct. ARC

I know I had posted what I was going to be reading for the year. But I decided not to review 2 of the books that i picked. I did read them though. So as of this writing (March 19) I have read all of the books I picked for the year. Remember we are selling the house and I wanted to read some of the hardcopy as I could so I didn't have to bring them with me. I still have some paperback books, but they are part of a series and I don't have i ones before or after the books I have. Call me crazy but i like to read them in order. lol

For the October ARC I read an e-book through the digital library. Why I did that instead one of the many I have already downloaded, I didn't know. LOL The book is "A Slice of Murder"  by Chris Cavender. First of the series called Pizza Lovers Mysteries. It takes place n a small town in North Carolina(like all cozy mysteries) The main Charterer is Eleanor Swift. She owns a Pizza place Slice of Delight(thus the them of the series. LOL). She took over the ownership when her deceased husband, Joe first opened the place. Her sister Maddy helps out as hostess and server.

In "Slice of Murder" Eleanor goes to make a light night delivery to Richard Olsen, but when she arrives she finds him dead. After calling the police, Kevin, the police chief, suspects Eleanor did it. Now Eleanor and her sister look into the murder to clear her name.

After reading biographies, and thrillers, and other books this year, its nice to get back to reading a cozy mystery. I enjoyed the characters in the book. Like all cozies it was an easy read. I will be reading the others in the series.

Sept. ARC book

For the August book I read "Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide & Pro Wrestling's Cocktail of Death by Irvin Muchnick.

The book goes in death of the Murder-Suicide of Nancy, Chris, and their son, back in June 2007. What happened that weekend, if WWE higher ups knew before their Monday night show what truly happened, how steroids may have played a part of it, how law enforcement handled it and how media made a media circus of if it. Irvin talked to(or tried to) Former neighbors, family members, layers, co-workers about what happened.

Even though I haven't watched pro wrestling in years(I do keep up with what is going on), but I do remember when this happened. I was shocked when I heard about it. I remember listening to online radio shows and watching all the news coverage on CNN and other cable news channels. And I remember wishing that some of the reporters of the news shows would of done a better job at research before interviewing people(the cable news reporters not the internet radio shows, as the internet shows I listened to knew about wrestling).

The book was really good. Some things I knew from reading online, and somethings I didn't know. Because of the subject matter I opted not to do the art for this book.

Aug. ARC

It seems like yesterday I just wrote the review for the June ARC....oh wait it was just yesterday that I did that. :) As I wrote in my previous ARC reviews that we are selling the house (As of this writing its still has not sold. ) So I've been reading as many hard copy of books as I can so I don't have to take them with me. Most notable hardcovers and larger books(see March and April ARC). So as of this writing it is March 8th and I just finished the book I will be reviewing for the July ARC. Now the Art is not done as of the writing, but I figure I have time to do that.

This month's ARC is "Who Died in Here" by Pat Dennis. Its a collection of 25 short stories mysteries centering around the bathroom. The stores are really short. Like only 3 or 4 pages long. So, it was a super fast read. And that is the only good thing for me about the book. I never got into the book. You couldn't get into any of the characters because stories where so short. But at least it gives me an excuse to use my potty people stamps from Viva Las VegaStamps! in my art journal page. :D

July ARC

This month for ARC I read the 2nd book in the Nathaniel Cade series "The President's Vampire" by Christopher Farnsworth.

In this book Cade, and Zach try and destroy these reptilian hybrids that Zach likes to call snakeheads. Once one of these things bites or scratches you, you become infected and turn into one yourself. For the last century Cade has tried to destroy these things, but know they are showing up in enemy territory. Cade and Zach team up with the Shadow Company to find out who is pulling the strings and get rid of the snakeheads once and for all.

While I liked Blood Oath, This one I had a hard time getting into the book.  Some parts were good, some were eh.

The journal page I did was a tangle that represents snakes. I used a 05 Mircon pen to draw it out. I wanted to use the black sharpie to color it but stopped because it was bleeding through the other side which was not good because I already finished that side and didn't want to ruin the other side.

Next book I will be reading is Who Died in here?

June ARC Book

The book That I read for June was "Blood Oath" by Christopher Farnsworth.

It is the first of the Nathaniel Cade series. Nathaniel Cade is a vampire. 140 years ago President Andrew Jackson pardon Cade, and made Cade a Secret Service by  making Cade take a blood oath to protect the country. Zach Barrows a  new hire to be the new vampire liaison to the president. Zach is replacing William Griffiin, she is soon to retire.

The story starts off in the Middle East where Dylan and Kahled became friends back in the state in collage. Kahled started telling Dylan things to get Dylan to work for him. Dylan decides to do the work. The work is to make umenschsoldat soldiers, which are like zombie soldiers.  Then We are introduced to Dr. Frankenstine....no really but only his name is Dr. Johann Konrad. Konrad is trying to get rid of Cade, for what Cade did to him way way way back in the day. Along with the "shadow company"

I bought this book along with the 2nd book in the series at Border when it was going out of business. It looked interesting from what i read in the back. I do like Vampire books, but not sparking, and not too much blood and guts. I like to read the ones that have a bit of humor to them and are light. This book was not one of them. LOL It did have a little bit of humor to it. It did have Blood and guts, but not the normal kind you get in vampire books. Once I started reading the book I didn't think I would be into the book. But I couldn't put the book down. It was a quick read. Took me 3 days to read it.

The book I'll be reading for July is the 2nd book in the series, President's Vampire.

May's ARC book

Before I go and talk about this month's Book I read for ARC I must admit something. I am really ahead of the game here. As of this writing it is Feb. 23 and I am already reviewing the May book. I'm ahead of the game because yes(okay maybe not so much of the art part of this challenge. lol), they are on my to be read pile but I could have easily just picked out a book on my Kindle to read in between months like I did last year. But I decided to be ahead of the game because, we are selling the house and as of this writing, Feb. 23. The house is not sold yet :(  And I want to read as many hard copy book as I can so I don't have to take with me. That's why I picked "Shoulda Been There" and "The Lost Symbol" to read them early this year. They are big and heavy, So now I can pass them on somewhere, or someone.

Now back to the review.

This month for ARC I will be reviewing "Life, Love and Lox: Real World Advice for the Modern Jewish Girl" by Carin Davis.

I picked the book up a couple years ago during the close out sale at Border's book store :inserts sad music here: When I went to Border's they didn't have much left as it was the tail end, but did manage to find a couple of books. I was about to check out pay but I gave one last sweep of the books and found this one. It looked like a fun read.

The book is the author's take of what it is be be a modern day Jewish girl. In the beginning of each chapter she tells a story of her life in the dating world that is centered what the chapter is about. There are 13 chapters in the book. The first 7 chapters is about Jewish life. Keeping Kosher, Life-cycle events(birth, bar/bat mitzah, wedding and death), synagogue, community involvement, head coverings, dating and Shabbat. The rest of the chapters each one talks about the big holidays, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover, and other holidays.

The book was a fun read. It had lot of humor in it, which I liked. With me being Jewish,  A lot of things I did know already. Some things , though very few I didn't know. It was a good refresher. 

Next month's book will be Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

April's ARC book

For April's ARC book I read The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. The book takes place in Washington DC, where the main character Robert Langdon is summons to come to give a lecture but as he arrives in DC things take a turn. Robert's mentor is kidnapped and beaten. and Robert finds an ancient invitation. The only way Robert can save Peter is to follow the object to where it leads to.

This is another book that I started to read(200 pages in), then set it aside for a while, like I did with Angels and Demons. then later pick it back up. But unlike Angels and Demons, The pace did not pick up for me. It was kinda boring for me. Some parts did seem interesting but then it was the same old same old. I was hoping for more history like the 2 books before this one. It was a quick read for being a 509 page book. The chapters were short, which made the it a quick read. After picking the book back up at page 200, it took me 2 days to read it. I thought it would take me a while to read it.which it probably would have since I was not that into it. I would have dragged it out if I wasn't in this challenge or wanting to read as many of the hard copy books (especially the bigger ones) I have before I move( IF WE EVER SELL THIS HOUSE!). Less to pack and take with us.

March ARC book

For March's ARC book I read "Shoulda Been There"by Jude Southerland Kessler The link is to the e-book. Trust me you want to get the e-book, as this book is 795 pages. The link below is for the hard copy of the book.

This is historical fiction book of John Lennon. Its one of 9 books Jude is writing about John Lennon. "should of been there is from his birth to Dec. 1961 when the Beatles signed with Brian Epstein to be their manager. Jude but years of research into not only this book but the other 2 that are out. "Shoulda Been There" came out in 2008 but she started interviewing and research in 1993. The book is not in chapters, but is broken up with dates and places. and at the end of each scene, she gives a foot note of what happen and what parts of the conversation was made up. It was so well written. I can not wait to get the other(the other 2 books that are out are "Shivering Inside" Dec.1961- Mid. April 1963 and "She Loves You"  May 1963-late 1963 just before they go to the USA). Though I will want to get them as ebooks. The book was kinda too big to hold (but it did make a good book to flatten out papers. lol)

I originally started the book a couple years ago when I took it with me on long trips on Mega Bus(I didn't have an e-reader.back then.) Then I put it down for a while, waiting for the next long road trip. When it came time to pick the next set of books to read for this year, I decided to pick this one, because I knew we would be moving(if we EVER get this house sold!) and I didn't want to take this big book with me, so I read it. I knew it would take me a while to do it, but I wanted to finish it. I started the book right after I read "The Bite Before Christmas" (or not long after.) around late December/early January.  Then Darcy challenged us to pick a book re read before and loved to reread it for February. So I set the book aside and read "A Pedigree To Die For" for the February challenge. Then I read "Gone with the Woof" the latest book in the series. Then I picked it back up later in January and finished it on Feb. 8. so It took me 2 months to read the book. Which I kinda expected it too.

The page I did for this book was another matte medium transfer. I wasn't planning on it. I found the picture of the cover (which was taken by Astrid Kirchherr) and printed it. I originally wanted to trace to picture of a young John Lennon and color it and then put it on the page. but then I was like maybe I should do a transfer. So that's what I did. And it came out pretty good. He didn't loose an eye or nose or ear in the process. After it was dried, I took some of the water down craft paints and just put some on the page and with my fingers rubbed it on the page. I then took a stencil and white craft paint and sponged the paint on the stencil. It needed something! LOLI then wrote the title of the book on top and doodled a put. That I didn't like. Looks like an eyesore. I did add a thick black line around the picture to frame it in.

The book I will be reading in April is The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Febuary ARC

In Mid January Darcy challenged us in the ARC Facebook group to find a book we have read before that we loved, and reread it. Well all the books I have read and loved are now gone to used book stores or friends. So it was off to find one from Media On Demand (online library for E-books). But First I went to http://www.shelfari.com/and look through the books I have read shelf to get an idea what to reread and to see is the Media on Demand had the book. After a couple of tries I settled on A Pedigree to Die For by Laurien Berenson. The 1st in the Melanie Travis Mystery series.

The series starts with Melanie is a single mom of 4 year old Davey. She was married but now divorced. She got a call from her brother, Frank that their Uncle Max had died. Uncle Max  and his Widow, Aunt Peg own and show Standard Poodles in the dog show circuit. Besides Uncle Max died of is to believe to be a heart attack One of the poodles are missing, one of Aunt Pegs favorites, Beau. Aunt Peg asks Melanie to find the dog. Along the way we meet another standard poodle breeder Sam Driver. and other groomers/handlers characters in the series.

What I love about this series is learning about the Standard Poodle breed and the dog show circuit. I learned a ton. the main characters are great. Not one that I do not like. 

There are 16 books in the series. Laurien did take a break from this series after book 15(I  was said when I found that out) but last year I learned she deiced to pick up where the series left off.

The art work is a journal page done in my small Dylusions journal. I had sprayed every other 2 page spreads with Dylusions sprays.  The corners I used a Dylusion stamp. I stamped 3 poodles from Viva Las VegaStamps! The stands are scraps of scrapbook papers I had laying around. I wrote the title on another piece of scrap paper and cut and glued on the page.

The book I will be reading for March is "Shoulda Been There" By Jude Southerland Kessler

ARC November book

This month I read The TeaBerry Strangler by Laura Childs. Its the 11th book in the Tea Shop Mysteries. Laura  also writes two other series, a scrapbooking series, and the Cracklebery club mysteries. The last one I have not read.

Theodsia Browning owns Indigo Tea shop. Drayton who is the expert of teas and makes the blends for the store. and Haley the chef who makes the food for teas and catered events. The tea shop is in Charleston, SC.

In this book The shop owners in town hosted an event. The owners dressed in clocks of yore and opened their back doors of their shops to visitors to take part in sales. It was after this event that Theodisa(Theo) went out back and saw The owner of the map store, Daria dead in the alley. Theo tries to find out who did it at the urging of her Aunt Libby who is friends with Daria's relative.

the book was okay. It wasn't the best in the books I read in the series. I do enjoy the series so I will be reading the ones after this one. There is about 16 books in the series. So I have some catch up to do.

Here is my journal page I did. And yes, I wrote murder instead of strangler. I didn't have the book infront of me when I did the page. I did a mental slap when I saw my mistake.

So for my final book on this reading challenge, I WAS going to read Butercream Bump off by Jenn McKinlay but I just got from the library for my Kindle Jim Henson: the Biography by Brian Jay Jones. That I will be reading instead. (Edit: Since the writing of this blog post,I'm almost done with the book) Who knows I might do both next month. :)

July ARC read

The book I read this month is "The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat" By Claudia Bishop. It is the 3rd in the series of the casebook of  Dr. McKenzie.

Dr McKenzie is a Veterinarian of farm animals like horses, goats, etc. He is also a private detective.
The story is this book that the milk inspector was found dead in a 400 gallon milk vat at a family run goat farm. Austin McKenzie and his wife Madeline take the case and learn all they can abut the goat dairy farm business, local politics, and how to get through the owner of the dairy, an elderly temperamental woman, Doucetta. There were plenty of suspects in the book. I was kinda not shocked on who did it, but was surprise who else was behind it.

I picked this book up at I think at library book sale. I have not read the first two of the series. It was a very quick read, with only 14 chapters to it, and the prologue which could be a chapter in itself. lol. I thought it was cool that in the beginning of the book that there was a list of the characters in the book and what they did and who they were related or the relation to in the book.it was a good story, but I don't think I'll get the first two book in the series

The journal page I did was playing with my Dylusions sprays that I had just gotten in June. This page I was playing with a transfer technique with craft paint(nothing to do with the book lol). It was somewhat of a fail. then I had some left over green paint from another project. The colors sprays I used were Lemon Zest and Cut Grass. I also used the white linen. Also used Radiant Rain  shimmering mist in lime juice with some punchenilla. Did some drips with water down white craft paint. I had some stickers in my stash of milk bottles and what I'm calling goats. lol (Think they are lambs, but to me they are goats. :P) Also some grass. The last thing I did was spell out the title with the same type of letters I used for last month.(I have a TON of these letters. need to use them!)

The book I'm going to read next month is Skein og the Crime by Maggie Sefton.

ARC June read

This month I read False Impressions by Terri Thayer. Its the 3rd book in the series called Stamping   Sisters Mystery. It not about sisters who stamp. the stamping sisters is like Stampin' Up! or Close to my Heart. At home parties.

The main character is April. She moved back to her home town after she divorced her husband. She lives in a barn that her dad and his partner, Vince, renovated that is close to her dad's home. In the second book Vince's  parents lost their home and moved in to the barn with April. April is now itching to get a place of her own. She got into rubber stamping from her friend Deana and introduced her to some other women in the group. One, Rocky, is a demonstrator for Stamping Sisters. And April has been dating Rocky's brother Mitch for 6 months.

Now that's the back story of the 2 books. lol In this book April learns that the brother of Mary Lou (a fellow stamping Sister) faked his own death, and is alive and well, from Kit (Mary Lou's daughter) Only to be in a car accident that's wasn't really an accident. The brother was involved with Meth of sorts. He never took it but he was buy supplies for it to be made.  Besides trying to solve the murder April has been looking for a place of her own, as she wanted some privacy and she hasn't really lived on her own. And she helps Mitch with ice carving for the ice carving festival, and make card samples for th festival for the stamping sister's booth.

This book had a lot of twists and turns to it. What I read in the last couple of chapters were a shock to read. It was fun little read. At the end of the book there is instructions on how to make a card.

For the art for the book was a tuff for me. The plot of the book I didn't want to do. I decided to sort of play up with the title of the book "False Impressions". I took a stencil and used spray on it. The i took some molding paste and spread some on the page and took some stamps and stamped it into the molding paste. Then i cleaned off the stamp right away! After the molding paste dried I did more spraying with Espresso color wash. I just got the the Dyluson sprays and I was playing with the white linin on other pages with a square stencil and I flipped it onto the page not to waste the ink. I then went through my alpha letters that i had gotten at a thrift store. I keep forgetting about them. I glued different type of letters to spell out the title.