Jennifer Priester's Blog, page 9

Giveaway 9/1/13-11/1/13, Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic and Mortal Realm Witch: The Magic Continues

From now until November 1st you can take a chance on winning either an autographed copy of Book One in the Mortal Realm Witch series, Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic, Book Two, Mortal Realm Witch: The Magic Continues, or both! In total there will be 10 winners; 5 people will win Book One and 5 will win Book Two! All 10 winners will also receive the series bookmark featuring Trillman which is usually sold exclusively via the author at her events!

To take your chance on winning Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic enter here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/62787-mortal-realm-witch-learning-about-magic

For Mortal Realm Witch: The Magic Continues enter here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/62786-mortal-realm-witch-the-magic-continues

For more information on the Mortal Realm Witch series visit http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com

And for more information about the author, Jennifer Priester, visit http://www.jenniferpriester.com

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Review of “Donkeys Can’t Sleep in the Bathtub and Other Crazy Laws” by: Susan Dach

Does this book sound crazy to you? Well, it is and it’s a lot of fun to read! While there are some books I find to be funnier this one is still very funny. Besides the laws in the book, there is also some history that is talked about behind many of the laws that make it an interesting read.

 

Review of “Chi’s Sweet Home” by: Kanata Konami

At first this book took a little getting used to because the kitten, Chi’s, thoughts are in baby talk which bugged me a little because it was a little hard to read until I got used to it. Originally, based on this fact, I was going to give it four stars, not five, but the combination of the stories, as it is made up of short stories, and the cute and often funny drawings made this book a really fun read. It also helped that Chi’s thoughts and actions felt like those of a real kittens and I think anyone who has ever owned, lived with, or been around kittens will be able to relate to these stories. Cat and animal lovers will definitely want to read this book!

I have now read almost the whole series and have really loved all of them!

Review of “The Sight” by: David Clement-Davies and other wolf fantasy recommendations

A really good story that combines some realistic elements of the wolf with a fantasy type story. A really good book for anyone that likes wolves and animal adventure stories.

A couple other good wolf fantasy books are: Promise of the Wolves and Secrets of the Wolves by: Dorothy Hearst. Both books are part of The Wolf Chronicles trilogy. Book three is: Spirit of the Wolves, which I have yet to read!

And for younger readers, or wolf fantasy lovers, the 6 book Wolves of the Beyond series by: Kathryn Lasky is also very good.

Book Spotlight! “Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic” by Jennifer Priester

Book Spotlight! “Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic” by Jennifer Priester.

Reading Levels, Are They Rules or Suggestions?

The books, I have enjoyed most over the years have often been at the children’s and YA reading levels. Even now as an adult, this is still where I find most of my reading material. I rarely read adult level books. Many people seem to believe that once you are past a certain reading level you should stop reading these books. Others believe that as long as the reader is enjoying the book being older than the target age level doesn’t matter. I happen to believe that age and reading level don’t matter, unless the book is above a readers level. Reading levels were designed to guide readers to books and knowing the reading level ensures that younger readers don’t read and get frustrated by books that may be too hard for them to read and understand. They keep the books enjoyable. The reading levels also give insight to who will probably enjoy the book most. This in no way means that older readers can’t read younger level books. As long as the book interests them and they find it enjoyable, this is what is important and this is how I choose books to read for myself. I only pay attention to subject and book description; never reading level because I will read it regardless of this. Anyone who feels readers should only read books that are in their reading level should consider this; It is adults who write most children’s and YA level books so if adults can write them shouldn’t they also be allowed to read them?

Review of “The Trouble With Tuck” by: Theodore Taylor

A very good story about a blind dog that gets a guide dog of his own. This was actually the first book I ever read about either a blind dog or a guide dog so at the time I read this book, it was especially interesting for me. This book focuses on the challenge of a blind dog as well as how the dog adapts to having a guide dog. This book is perfect for dog lovers of all ages. I also really loved the sequel, “Tuck Triumphant”.

Review of “Sidekicks” by: Jack D. Ferraiolo

At first I didn’t like it too much and the book ranged from me not liking it to the book being okay. It wasn’t until about 100 pages in that I began liking it. After reading the whole book, overall I liked it. For me this book often has more description than action or speech than what I like in this type of book. Part of it is because at the beginning the main character/sidekick in the story doesn’t really get to do much. And up until the first set of black pages with white lettering I didn’t really feel that this book had a point to it and I didn’t get any sense of where the story was heading. The first set of black pages is where the story seemed to begin having a point to it and where I really started enjoying it.

Review of “It’s Me or the Dog: How to Have the Perfect Pet” by: Victoria Stillwell

This book is a really good dog training book. Not only does it teach how to train a dog using positive reinforcement it also helps you see things from the dog’s point of view. I used it successfully to train my adult dog and teach him what I want from him rather than what his old owner taught him so it works well, not just with puppies, but with older dogs too. This is because it teaches all the basic commands exactly as it is easiest for a dog to learn them. Any dog that needs training benefit from this book if you read this book and train your dog by following the books training guide. The book is easiest to understand if you have seen the show, but I think the book is pretty clear and easy to understand even if you haven’t.

Twice as Fun

Sometimes I read or watch something that while I am enjoying, I don’t fully understand. Then sometime within the next week I will be doing something completely unrelated when suddenly it becomes clear. I’m not one to reread or rewatch things, but at these times, when remembering an thinking back on everything, after finally figuring out what was going on, I feel as if I have read or watched whatever it was again and enjoyed it even more the second time. I kind of like it when this happens and it is for this reason that if I don’t understand a book at first, I don’t give it a rating or review to start. I wait up to a week before I do this. Luckily this rarely happens with books it is more something that happens with TV shows than anything else.

Does anyone else have these types of experiences?