Sarai Henderson's Blog, page 156

Weekly Menu #349 And The Book Of The Week

Monday! I feel like we keep coming back to this point and yet nothing changes. So, here we are again.
I've been reading a lot right now. Up to 18 books in April and this month isn't over yet. Crushed a few pretty thick novels that I've been wanting to read, but didn't have the time to really get into them. Also been working on the blog, making it more user friendly and looking into building my foot print. Things are looking up.

This weeks read is Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. I'm reading this book as my Minnesota pick for my read around the country challenge. 
What are you reading this week? Leave me a comment below.
In the meantime, lets get to the menu. Enjoy!
MENU
MondayFiggy Chicken
TuesdaySesame Pork Cutlets
WednesdayItalian Style Meatball Bake
ThursdayCreamy Garlic Chicken Thighs
FridayBacon Cheddar Burger
SaturdayCarne Asada Taco Salad
SundayLeftovers Night

Sunday Confessions #41

Welcome back to my weekly confession. I have to say, this working from home thing is hard. My days seem to be running together and even this morning I woke up at the butt crack of dawn because I thought it was a work day, but instead its Sunday. Oy vey... I'm going to need a vacation after all of this. I hope you are all hanging in there. 

Sunday Confessions #40~Weekly Menu #348 And The Book Of The Week~Movie Review: Trolls World Tour~Book Review: The Last Druid by Terry Brooks~Book to Movie: Divergent by Veronica Roth~Book Review: Wild Love by Meg Benjamin

Weekly Menu #349 And The Book Of The Week~Book To Movie: Enders Game by Orson Scott Card~Book Review: First they Killed my Father by Loung Ung~3 Books in the Star Wars Cannon Series~Book Review: Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick


 

35/50 Books in my Read Around the Country challenge~15/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge~5/20 in my Scotland challenge~38/341 Gilmore Girls challenge~37/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge

Keep reading and stay safe out there.

Book Review: Wild Love by Meg Benjamin

Title: Wild Love
By: Meg BenjaminGenre: RomancePages: 400Release Date: April 20th, 2020Publisher: Entangled: AmaraRating: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Summary from Goodreads:After one bad relationship too many, Peaches Guidry came to the mountain resort town of Antero, Colorado to start over. Now, she’s manager of a great restaurant and on her way to bigger and better things without anyone complicating her life. The upcoming grand opening of the local brewery’s new pub is the perfect opportunity to introduce more customers to her menu. A partnership with Antero Brewing could bring her business to a whole new level.

But then Colin Brooks strolls into town. Rugged, yet charismatic. The bad boy with a heart of gold—the kind of man she can’t resist.

Her friends at the brewpub, though, are quick to tell her Colin isn’t exactly new in town. He’s the black sheep of Antero and disappeared years ago without a word. Now he’s back and hoping to prove he’s changed, but the welcome they give him is harsher than the winter winds.

She knows she shouldn’t be falling for someone that everyone says can’t be trusted. And getting tangled up in his wild past could ruin the future of everything she’s worked so hard to build… So why can’t they stay away from each other?
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Review:

I loved the concept of this book, but the way it was conveyed didn’t sit right with me. I thought the relationship between Peaches and Collin was a little forced in the beginning. Collin didn’t give Peaches any reason to fall in love with her, but all of a sudden she was. The whole timeline felt a little rushed.
I did like the ending more, when all the characters were starting to have a change of heart and were getting a long. I think that was the saving grace.
All together, the book was fairly enjoyable.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Book to Movie: Divergent by Veronica Roth

If you are like me, you love when one of your favorite movies is turned into a book. If you are also like me, you are hesitant to watch the movie because you don't know if the movie is going to do the book justice. At some point, you have to rip off the band-aid and just watch the movie. 
Title: DivergentBy: Veronica RothGenre: DystopianBook Rating: ★★★★☆Movie Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

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IMDB Link


Review: I gave both the book and the movie the same rating. I liked them both a lot, but they weren't on my favorite list. I think the movie did the book justice in this case and think that anyone would love to watch the unique way the author portrayed a dystopian world... especially now, when the world feels like its falling apart at the seems. 

Book Review: The Last Druid by Terry Brooks

Title: The Last Druid - The Fall of ShannaraBy: Terry BrooksGenre: Epic FantasyPages: 448Release Date: June 2nd, 2020Publisher: Del Rey BooksRating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:The riveting conclusion not only to the Fall of Shannara but to the entire Shannara series--a truly landmark event, twenty-nine books and forty-three years in the making.

Bringing a conclusion to an epic that has spanned centuries is a vast undertaking, but Terry Brooks is entirely equal to the challenge.

As the Four Lands reels under a brutal invasion from across the sea, spearheaded by a nation determined to make this land their own, our heroes must decide what they will risk to save the integrity of their home. For as one group remains to defend their homeland, another undertakes a perilous journey across the sea to the homeland of the invaders, carrying with them a new piece of technology that could change the face of the world forever.

For both groups, the stakes could not be higher. For those who remain, one of their key allies has been banished to the Forbidding: a demon-filled prison from which there is no escape. And the one who sent him there now stalks the land with a fearsome demon at her side, determined to seize what power she can. While across the sea, a small band of heroes has been shipwrecked far from the land they seek. Can a young girl free her mentor in time to stop an invasion? And can a strange new science reach a foreign shore in time to alter the fate of two nations...providing the device even works?

Filled with twists and turns and epic feats of derring-do--not untouched by tragedy--this is vintage Terry Brooks, and a fitting end to a saga that has gathered generations of readers into its fold.
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Review:What an epic end to an epic fantasy series. I’ve really enjoyed reading about these wonderful characters that Brooks has created. They are so colorful and full of depth, but it’s sad to let them go. We’ve been together for so long.
This story tied up all the loose ends and came to a close in a sad, but wonderful way. I don’t think I would have wanted it any other way. I will miss these characters.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Movie Review: Trolls World Tour

Title: Trolls Would TourGenre: Fantasy Release Date: April 10th, 2020My Rating: ★★★★★IMDB Rating: 6.1/10Cast: Summary from IMDB: Poppy and Branch discover that they are but one of six different Troll tribes scattered over six different lands devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder. A member of hard-rock royalty, Queen Barb, aided by her father King Thrash, wants to destroy all other kinds of music to let rock reign supreme. With the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch, along with their friends, set out to visit all the other lands to unify the Trolls in harmony against Barb, who's looking to upstage them all.

IMDB Trailer

Review:We rented this movie for the kids the day it came out... Best choice ever... My kids loved it and it was great for my husband and I too. We really loved the different kinds of Trolls there were. The music was wonderful and the animation bright and colorful. The story line was unique with a twist you wont see coming. My favorite trolls were the Reggetone. That beat was awesome. 
You need to watch this movie. The movie is rent-able on Amazon right now for $19.99 which is cheaper than going to the theater for two people. Grab a bag of popcorn and a drink from the fridge and enjoy this fun show.  

Weekly Menu #348 And The Book Of The Week

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands... I mean... I've been in this house too long. Now that I am working from home, I wake up in the morning not knowing what day it is. I'm fairly certain its Monday today...
I have been reading soooo much lately. Ripping through books like they were a pizza. I finished An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon, over 1000 pages, in three days. That's how bad (or good) it is. So, this week I'm going old school and diving into Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Its 500 pages of old English... Not the easiest to read or understand at times, but I'm doing it. 
What are you reading this week?
I hope you enjoy this weeks menu below.

MENU
MondayMonterey Jack Burger
TuesdayChipotle Chicken and Rice Bowl
WednesdayKorean Steak Stir Fry
ThursdayCheese Ravioli with Broccoli
FridayFiggy Chicken
SaturdayItalian Chopped Salad
Sunday Leftovers Night

Sunday Confessions #40

Sunday Confessions #39~Weekly Menu #347 And The Book Of The Week~Movie Review: Onward~Book Review: The First Confessor by Terry Goodkind~6 books to read you around the country~Book Review: Red Dragon by Thomas Harris~Book Review: Lakeshire Park by Megan Walker

Weekly Menu #348 And The Book Of The Week~Book Review: The Last Druid by Terry Brooks~Book Review: Wild Love by Meg Benjamin~Sunday Confessions #41



34/50 Books in my Read Around the Country challenge~15/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge~4/20 in my Scotland challenge~38/341 Gilmore Girls challenge~37/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge


Another week down. What does next week have in store for us?

Book Review: Lakeshire Park by Megan Walker

Title: Lakeshire ParkBy: Megan WalkerGenre: Historical RomancePages: 320Release Date: April 7th, 2020Publisher:  Shadow MountainRating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:  “Charming, beautifully written, and hopelessly romantic. Sure to be a new favorite!” -JULIANNE DONALDSON, best-selling author of Edenbrooke

Brighton, England 1820

Amelia Moore wants only one thing—to secure the future happiness of her younger sister, Clara. With their stepfather’s looming death, the two sisters will soon be on their own—without family, a home, or a penny to their names. When an invitation arrives to join a house party at Lakeshire Park, Amelia grasps at the chance. If she can encourage a match between Clara and their host, Sir Ronald, then at least her sister will be taken care of.

Little does she know that another guest, the arrogant and overconfident Mr. Peter Wood, is after the same goal for his own sister. Amelia and Peter begin a rivalry that Amelia has no choice but to win. But competing against Peter—and eventually playing by his rules—makes Amelia vulnerable to losing the only thing she has left to claim: her heart.


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Review:This was a wonderful read. I finished it in one day because I couldn't put it down. From the very beginning, I could feel the strain on the characters and how much the two sisters loved each other. Amelia only wanted to give her sister Clara what she deserves. Lives become entwined as the wheels of courtship turn and we find out that not everything is as it seems. Loved it.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.


Megan Walker was raised on a berry farm in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where her
imagination took her to times past and worlds away. While earning her degree in
Early Childhood Education, she married her one true love and started a family.
But her imaginings of Regency England would't leave her alone, so she picked
up a pen and wrote her first novella, A Beautiful Love: A Regency Fairy Tale
Retelling which was published in 2019. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her
husband and three children. Lakeshire Park is her debut novel.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

Book Review: Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Title: Red DragonBy: Thomas HarrisGenre: HorrorPages: 348Release Date: May 22nd, 2000Publisher: DuttonRating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:A second family has been massacred by the terrifying serial killer the press has christened "The Tooth Fairy." Special Agent Jack Crawford turns to the one man who can help restart a failed investigation: Will Graham. Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help.
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Review:What a creepy and disturbing story. I was so mesmerized and sucked into this book that I couldn't put it down, and it gave me the chills. It wasn't really my style of theme, but my friend suggested it, so of course I couldn't refuse. I wonder what else this series has in store?