Sarai Henderson's Blog, page 211

Sesame Pork and Green Beans | #WeeklyMenu Week #228

Happy Monday! Its exactly one week until Christmas and I am totally ready for it. How about you? I'm done with shopping, I'm done with the crowds, I'm done with all the baking and hype. I can't wait for next Monday!
I managed to put pen to paper and make a big dent in my new manuscript. Its been a while since I've been able to write, and it hasn't been writers block, because I know exactly where I want to go with my book, but its more like I've been unmotivated to even look at my book. Its frustrating. I'm glad to be out of my funk.
Well, lets get back to this weeks menu, shall we? 
Monday- Patty Melt
Tuesday- Buffalo Chicken Taquitos 
Wednesday- Parmesan Chicken Roll-ups 
Thursday- Sesame Pork and Green Beans
Friday- Oven Fried Chicken
Saturday- Beefy Tomato Soup
Sunday
- Tuna Sandwiches

Bookish Gifts | Christmas Style

Its almost Christmas and I know you are looking for awesome gifts for your favorite bookish person. I usually end up buying my own gifts, because my family doesn't read the same things that I do. That's ok though. This ensures that I actually receive gifts that I really enjoy.

Last week I purchased my first bookish candle. I've been putting this off jut because there are sooooooooo many different kinds of bookish candles, from different vendors. It took me a long time to decide what I wanted. My mind finally stopped on the Bella candle from A Court of Candles. I've seen them all over my Instagram feed and thought this would be a great place to start my bookish candle journey.


This candle is perfect for a bookish Christmas gift or for any occasion. You can give it to me just because if you like. I will happily accept.

Check out Etsy for many other gift ideas for your book nerd and make their Christmas special.

Character Cafe | Poppies for Christmas by Stacy Renee Keywell

I'm super excited to have Denver and Poppy stop by the Character Cafe today, two awesome characters from Stacy Renée Keywell's new book, Poppies for Christmas. They've come to discus their favorite reads and have some Christmas treats at the Cafe. Read on... 

Denver- December 

“How positively perfect, a plethora of possibilities!”

Next level cringy! I rolled my eyes at Poppy’s “P” laden proclamation as we sat at a corner table in the amazing, bustling Dessert Oasis Café downtown. Poppy swirled the frothy heart in the center of the oversized mug filled to the top with salted caramel mocha. I dipped a stir in the whipped cream that flowed over my vanilla latte. I stuck the wooden stick in my mouth and let the sweetness coat my tongue.

“This place is lit, Denver!” Poppy giggled.

“I know, right? It’s the most popular hangout, and so ovi snap- and insta-worthy.”

“No, I mean lit, with lights?”

I looked around. Bright strands of delicate lights decorated the streets with every color imaginable. Soft cinnamon scent wafted around my nostrils. Christmas time had definitely arrived. 

“Relax, Den. Vacation is nearly upon us. Put away your phone and spend some time with me!” Poppy grabbed my hands and squeezed tight. I allowed myself to dissolve, destress.

“Let’s get down to business.” Poppy tapped the leaning pile on the table. “We have two weeks of school-free heaven. Let the book exchange extravaganza begin.”

“You should start with Fairest by Marissa Meyer,” I gushed. “Sometimes beautiful queens struggle terribly on the inside. It’s so hard when no one understands the ‘real you’. And it’s even harder when a queen struggles to know herself. Some days, I really, really relate.”

“Well, if you can’t get enough of Marissa Meyer then you should take my copy of Heartless, it is almost yummier, gooier, and more delicious than a Christmas feast at your house.” Poppy bounced in her seat dancing to the holiday music that filled the walls of the intimate space.

“Hmm, what about The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern?”

“Wow! The most magical book yet, you must read it, so enchanting, you’ll never want it to end.”

A cute waiter loomed above us with our order. He spun is tray until his arm floated down to the table.

“Poppy, you shouldn’t have,” I cried.

“Couldn’t help it,” she laughed, “like my British friends say ‘I’ll take the lot."

I hugged my new book to my chest and made a sweet wish that this Christmas my mistletoe will bring me romance, intrigue, and adventure, just like in our books.”

Poppy and I tucked into our treats, fruit loop cheesecake, chocolate fondue, and a plate filled with iced sugar cookies. Let the holiday feasting begin! And may all of your dreams come true!

Thank you so much for having me!
Stacy Keywell


Poppies for Christmas by Stacy Renée Keywell
Publication Date:  November 16, 2016
Publisher:  Soul Mate Publishing, LLC

A celebration of love without labels. It’s easy to be brave with you by my side!

Popular DJ Dexx finds himself positively smitten by the precociously pristine Poppy Paris. Too bad she’s already taken by an older boy, Declan Davies, a beautiful model with a thriving career, and a perfect family. By a dreamful stroke of chance, Dexx finds himself invited to spend Christmas at the Davies home by a gorgeous girl, granting him the opportunity to pursue the precious Poppy. But in his quest to win her over, he unlocks a world of imperfection and insecurity, where people are picked on for their disabilities, speech, appearance, and eccentricities. For Poppy and her friends, love trumps labels, and everyone deserves a brave friend to stand by their side. What gifts will Dexx discover this Christmas? Will he ultimately find true love, or will he discover something even greater?

You are invited to read a powerful story about living with autism, but not letting it define you, about being bullied, but carrying on with determination and grit, and about having dreams, but not giving up in the face of adversity. Come celebrate something beautiful with Poppies for Christmas.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author Stacy Renée Keywell lives a life of fabulous clichés. She enjoys asking rhetorical questions, and speaking redundantly. Stacy works hard at telling bad jokes, dancing oddly yet awesomely, and making up amazing new words in hopes that they will one day find their way into the dictionary. She strives to love without labels. She vows to bravely stand by the sides of those who need her, especially her two daughters. Stacy, her husband, and her children live in Michigan in a quaint house in the woods.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

His Only Vulnerability | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceBy: J.K. RowlingGenre: FantasyPages: 652Release Date: September 16th, 2006Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Summary from Goodreads: The war against Voldemort is not going well: even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of The Daily Prophet looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses. And yet... As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate, and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Harry struggles to uncover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince, the past owner of a potions textbook he now possesses that is filled with ingenious, potentially deadly, spells. But Harry's life is suddenly changed forever when someone close to him is heinously murdered right before his eyes. With Dumbledore's guidance, he seeks out the full, complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort, and thereby attempts to find what may be his only vulnerability.
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Review: I know what you're thinking. There's no way you've never read Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. No Way! Well, Its true. Its been a while since I've picked up this series and it was only because I didn't have time to read for many years and I wasn't one for reading every book in the series back to back to back. 
I really enjoyed this book. The only thing I can't stand about Harry Potter books is the extensive school work that seems to go nowhere. I feel the book would still be as grand, with a little less of this feature. 
There is only one more book to go for me in this series, so stay tuned. I'll be giving you an update on the whole shebang some time soon.
  

My NetGalley Shelf | December 2017

It been a while since I've shared whats on my Netgalley shelf with all of you. I've requested, requested, begged and requested, and I really have nothing to show for it. Currently, there are three books waiting for my little fingers to touch. Lets get started.

The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman - After being commissioned to find a rare book, Librarian Irene and her assistant, Kai, head to Prohibition-era New York and are thrust into the middle of a political fight with dragons, mobsters, and Fae. 

In a 1920s-esque New York, Prohibition is in force; fedoras, flapper dresses, and tommy guns are in fashion: and intrigue is afoot. Intrepid Librarians Irene and Kai find themselves caught in the middle of a dragon political contest. It seems a young Librarian has become tangled in this conflict, and if they can't extricate him, there could be serious repercussions for the mysterious Library. And, as the balance of power across mighty factions hangs in the balance, this could even trigger war. 
Irene and Kai are locked in a race against time (and dragons) to procure a rare book. They'll face gangsters, blackmail, and the Library's own Internal Affairs department. And if it doesn't end well, it could have dire consequences on Irene's job. And, incidentally, on her life... 


The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert - Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: Her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”
Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong. 


!Currently Reading! Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen - Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for peace. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bonelands.

But she soon learns that her husband, Calix, is motivated only by his desire to exterminate the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. Even more unsettling are Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother, which unleash a power over the earth she never knew she possessed—a power that could get her killed. As rumors of a rebellion against Calix spread, Shalia must choose between the last chance for peace and her own future as an Elementae.
This intense, richly drawn high-fantasy by the author of Scarlet will hold readers spellbound.

This list is constantly changing. Maybe next time I share my list, I'll have more for you to drool over. Keep your eyes out for these new reads coming in the next few months.

Confront the Real World | Playing Dead by Bronson Palmer #Giveaway

Playing Dead
Bronson Palmer
Publication date: November 7th 2017
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

In the halls of Andrew Jackson High School, Jenaiya is a nobody. Less than a nobody. She’s practically invisible. An awkward, shy freshman, she very rarely gets any attention at all, unless she’s being harassed by the school’s multitude of bullies. In short, she’s not anyone’s idea of a hero.
But in ‘Age of Z,’ a post-apocalyptic multiplayer zombie game, she’s a gun-wielding, fast-talking GOD. She’s one of the top ten players in the online dystopia, and she doesn’t suffer fools lightly. It’s just the way she plays, and she likes it that way. She can become the person she wishes herself to be in the real world.
However, when the game gets overrun by trolls and n00bs who threaten to destroy the game by turning it into yet another online shooter, Jenaiya cannot sit still and let that happen. The very existence of the game is on the line, as people leave in droves, and she gathers a rag-tag group of players to fight back against this new kind of ‘brainless’ horde. They have wildly different personalities but one goal: rid the game of the real monsters.
Jenaiya will have to outsmart her enemies, outplay the bullies, and return ‘Age of Z’ to its former glory. Otherwise, it’s game over, and she’ll have to confront the real world that awaits her on the other side of the computer screen.

Goodreads / Amazon—Meet Jenaiya. She’s a survivor.
By Bronson PalmerMeet Jenaiya. She’s the tough, flawed, sometimes misguided protagonist of ‘Playing Dead.’ A meek freshman at a particularly rough high school, Jenaiya spends most of the book trying to negotiate all the different areas of her life, from her online identity to her relationship with her family and her sexual identity. She’s not a simple character, and this is not an easy story to tell. It would be easy to make her an empty vessel for the events inside ‘Age of Z,’ but it was my goal to provide the audience with a believable, real character to identify with so each victory and defeat felt that much more credible.
When the novel begins, Jenaiya leads a fairly ordinary but unenviable life in Nashville. She hates school, because the school she attends is a haven for miscreants of all types. It seems as though everyone around her is a villain of some kind, and she is a constant target of their attacks. Her only refuge happens to be her favorite video game, ‘Age of Z,’ where she’s able to unleash her adolescent rage on an unsuspecting public. It provides insight into how Jenaiya feels the world really should run. She values fairness and fair play, loyalty, and integrity.
However, in the real world, beyond the confines of a digital asylum, rather than doing the right thing because it’s the right thing, she also gets caught up in the idea that “the ends justify the means,” which lands her in a whole heap of trouble. When it comes to bullies, especially teenage ones, it’s oh so tempting to fight fire with fire, but that usually ends up making things worse, as it does in ‘Playing Dead.’ Jenaiya wants to level the playing field for everyone, from the jocks to the dreamers and the jokers to the drama queens, but that’s not entirely how the world works, so the fuse she lights early in the novel eventually explodes right in her face.
Her digital world is rocked when her favorite game — really, the only game she plays — is trounced by new players who treat ‘Age of Z’ like your everyday, run-of-the-mill, cookie cutter first-person shooter. To Jenaiya, ‘AoZ’ is so much more than that. It’s a post-apocalyptic game, sure, but the world is built around relationships. See, in ‘Age of Z,’ players wander a vast wasteland in search of supplies. They can be found in buildings, abandoned cars, but the best place, by far, to hit the item jackpot is another player.
Only, players are tough to kill, and it’s much easier to work cooperatively with that person or negotiate peacefully to trade supplies. Think ‘FallOut’ without all the headshots. The game is loosely based on the experiential ‘sandbox’ games which have become popular over the past few years. Games like ‘Minecraft,’ ‘H1Z1,’ and ‘DayZ’ inform the gameplay, so if you’ve played those titles, you understand that the strategy lies not in quick-twitch mouse-and-keyboard murder sessions but in how you interact with the world and the other players.
What Jenaiya understands inherently, the new players do not, and it frustrates her. Being an African-American loner, Jenaiya feels yet another thing she loves get co-opted by society at-large, and rather than allow it to happen, she decides to fight back. She’s willing to befriend all of the different warring factions within ‘Age of Z’ to make that happen, if she has to. But she refuses — absolutely refuses — to give up on this game until she’s dead and gone.
That’s where the portmanteau character MICHONNEN_KNIFE comes in. I make a few sly references to ‘Fight Club’ throughout the book, and though the tone of ‘Playing Dead’ is nowhere near a Palahniuk novel, MICHONNEN_KNIFE is the Tyler Durden to Jenaiya’s normal Jack character. Where Jenaiya is meek and accommodating, MICHONNEN_KNIFE is uncompromising, and Jenaiya basks in every opportunity to live in that digital construction’s skin.
As a bonus, I decided to get a faux-D&D player card designed to show the audience just what MICHONNEN_KNIFE (+1 if you can guess both references embedded in the name) has to offer Jenaiya. Hope you enjoy perusing it, and if you’ve dug this blog post, you can get lots more obscure references throughout the whole of ‘Playing Dead.’


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Tuscan Mac & Cheese | #WeeklyMenu Week #227

Happy Monday! There are only two more weeks until Christmas and I have to say that I only need to buy one more present and then I am done. Usually, I'm a last minute shopper, but because I had to do a lot of my shopping on line, I needed to start early. I'm just glad its all done.
There was not a lot of writing this week. It really makes me sad, but I will be ok. Maybe this coming week, I will pick up the pen again and put words on paper... Or maybe not.
Here is this weeks menu!
Monday- Pork Fried Rice
Tuesday- Southwestern Fiesta Chicken
Wednesday- Pizza Night!
Thursday- Tuscan Chicken Mac and Cheese
Friday- Skillet Beef and Rice
Saturday- English Muffin Pizza
Sunday- Tuna Sandwiches

Bring Peace to a Divided Nation | The Rogue Queen by Emily R. King

Title: The Rogue QueenBy: Emily R. KingGenre: FantasyPages: 302Release Date: February 13th, 2018Publisher: Skyscape
Summary from Goodreads: Despite the odds, Kalinda has survived it all: Marriage to a tyrant. Tournaments to the death. The forbidden power to rule fire. The icy touch of a demon.
That same demon now disguises itself as Rajah Tarek, Kalinda’s late husband and a man who has never stopped haunting her. Upon taking control of the palace and the army, the demon brands Kalinda and her companions as traitors to the empire. They flee across the sea, seeking haven in the Southern Isles.

In Lestari, Kalinda’s powers are not condemned, as they are in her land. Now free to use them to protect those she loves, Kalinda soon realizes that the demon has tainted her with a cold poison, rendering her fire uncontrollable. But the lack of control may be just what she needs to send the demon back to the darkest depths of the Void.

To take back the empire, Kalinda will ally with those she distrusts—and risk losing those most loyal to her—to defeat the demon and bring peace to a divided nation.
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Review: A fantastic end to a wonderful journey. I was super excited to receive a review copy of this book. There was so much action and adventure. Please playing both sides, or having a hard time picking sides. It was an epic battle to the end. I wished there was more of the world building. All the wonders of Kalinda's world almost fell away with the action. I've always been on for description, but I know this is the third book in the series and some world building has already been done. 

Gratz to Emily R. King for giving us a crazy ride inside a fantastic mystical world.

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

Kill Varan | Sea of Strangers by Erica Cameron @chapterxchapter @byericacameron @EntangledTeen

Welcome to the Release Week Blitz forSea of Strangers (The Ryogan Chronicles #2)by Erica Cameronpresented by Entangled Teen!Grab your copy today! 
Congratulations Erica!     

Know your enemy if you want to survive…The only way for Khya to get her brother back alive is to kill Varan—the immortal ruler who can’t be killed. But not even Varan knew what he was doing when he perverted magic and humanity to become immortal. Khya’s leading her group of friends and rebels into the mountains that hold Varan’s secrets, but if risking all their lives is going to be worth it, she has to give up everything else—breaking the spell that holds her brother captive and jeopardizing her deepening relationship with Tessen, the boy who has been by turns her rival and refuge since her brother disappeared. Immortality itself might be her only answer, but if that’s where Khya has to go, she can’t ask Tessen or her friends to follow.

Sea of Strangers (The Ryogan Chronicles #2) by Erica Cameron Publication Date: December 5, 2017 Publisher: Entangled Teen 
Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | Kobo | iBooks   
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES 
 
 

Erica Cameron is the author of books for young adults including the Ryogan Chronicles, the Assassins duology, and The Dream War Saga. She also co-authored the Laguna Tides novels with Lani Woodland. An advocate for asexuality and emotional abuse awareness, Erica has also worked with teens at a residential rehabilitation facility in her hometown of Fort Lauderdale.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads   

3 New Authors I've Fallen In Love With This Year

Ah, Author Land. A place of magical beasts and fantastical worlds. A place where we can dive deep into the minds of authors to find out how they tick. As we wrap up 2017, I'm excited to introduce you to 3 of my new favorite breakout authors that I've read this year. Lets get started.

1. Katherine Arden - This author first fell across my lap with her debut novel Bear and the Nightingale. There was all this hype around this book. Everyone kept telling me to read it, but in true millennial fashion (and yes, I am a first generation millennial) I wasn't going to do what I was told. But it always happens. The book turned up in one of my book clubs and of course I had to read it. From that moment on, I was hooked.

When The Girl in the Tower was released, OMG, I was the first person I knew to get a copy. It was fantastic, better than the first. I can guarantee you that I will make every effort to be the first to get the next book in the series.

Check out Katherine Arden on Goodreads and make sure you put Bear in the Nightingale on your TBR pile if you haven't already.

Moving on....

2. Vic James - Netgalley can put you in touch with many new and amazing authors. Vic James was one of those great new reads that really surprised me. Her book, Gilded Cage brought me into a creative dystopian world full of back stabbing and excitement. Wow, this was great.

I was quick to jump on the Tarnished City band wagon, but Netgalley wasn't being my friend. It took what seemed like forever to grab a copy of this fantastic sequel... But I got it... Finally it was mine.

Vic James is a great author, one that demands your attention. Read her!



3. Emily R. King - Ok, this last author is definitely not the least. Ms. King has created a wonderful and magical trilogy. The Hundredth Queen really sucks you in. It give you the goosebumps. The Fire Queen really dives into the magical aspect more and sets you up for the real excitement. The Rogue Queen is where the real action begins and you can't tell who's on who's side. Mind blowing...

So now you have three new authors to fall in love with in 2018. I highly recommend them. Let me know who your favorite new authors from 2017 are in the comments below.