Sarai Henderson's Blog, page 71
May 24, 2023
Book Review: Dracula By Bram Stoker
Title: Dracula
By: Bram Stoker
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 488
Release Date: May 26th, 1897
Publisher: Norton
Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.
In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.
This Norton Critical Edition includes a rich selection of background and source materials in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.
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Review:Its hard for me to believe this story was conceived so long ago. It has all the making a modern fantasy with the classics ambiance from a hundred years ago.As hard as it was at times to relate to the struggles of the late 1800's, the characters still had color and presence. It was Johnathan Harker, the lawyer that was sent to Transylvania to conduct real estate transactions that I loved the most. He just seemed to fragile and scared, but determined to finish his job at hand. Those Vampires really gave him the what for. Probably peed his pants a few times.
There was a scene where Harker found himself in a forbidden room, wondering the reason the door was locked. It seemed to be just like any other room... But he soon found out. Dracula was not alone.
Favorite Quote:
“We learn from failure, not from success!”
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was far more entertaining than I thought it would be.
Another great book checked off my "100 books before I die" list. A must read.
May 22, 2023
Weekly Menu #507 And The Book Of The Week
Hello Sunday!The sun seems to be here to stay and I'm glad it decided to calm down a bit and keep the PNW in a nice 80 degree wave. I'm here for it.
With the nice weather, my husband and I decided to clean the massive garbage pile out from behind the house and finally start building the outdoor dinning room I've been wanting. I started on the pile yesterday, but its become so massive since we've been working on the driveway. It was a place to keep everything that didn't need to be moved during construction, but now we have to take care of it... Ugh...
This weeks read is The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart. Found this one on Instagram and it sounds absolutely terrifying. I can't wait to read it. Maybe at my new outdoor dinning room?
Lets get to this weeks menu. Enjoy!
WEEKLY MENU
Monday
Kids - English Muffin Pizza
Tuesday
Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Chicken
Kids - Chicken and Waffles
Wednesday
Kids - Mac and Cheese
Thursday
Kids - Grilled Cheese
Friday
Grilled Steak with Burrata and Pesto
Kids - Chips and Cheese
Saturday
Sunday
Leftovers Night
May 21, 2023
Sunday Confessions #200
Hello Sunday!
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day last weekend. Mine was wonderful with my boys and family. Spent most the weekend kid free at the beach. The weather was perfect and I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. My husband made a delicious Sunday evening dinner on the BBQ for me. Love that man.
Lets recap the last week on the blog.
Sunday Confessions #199~Weekly Menu #506 And The Book Of The Week~Book Review: Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth~Recipe: Ouzo Lemonade~Book Review: How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years by Julie A. Ross
Weekly Menu #507 And The Book Of The Week~Book Review: Dracula By Bram Stoker~Book Review: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover~Sunday Confessions #201
Currently listening to the Morbid Podcast. Its my first time listening to it and I'm loving it.
Just started Citadel and its pretty good. Only 2 episodes in though.Also trying to watch 1883 again. I think the reason I didn't like it the first time around was because 1923 came out while I was watching it the first time and I was more interested in that.
41/100 2023 Reading Challenge~51/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge~58/341 Gilmore Girls challenge~59/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge
Another wonderful week full of sunshine and relaxation. Back to the real life. Happy reading!
May 19, 2023
Book Review: How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years by Julie A. Ross
Title: How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years
By: Julie A. Ross
Genre: Non-Fiction/Self Help
Pages: 224
Release Date: January 1st, 2008
Publisher: McGraw Hill
Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:“You never listen to anything I say!” Yesterday, your child was a sweet, well-adjusted eight-year-old. Today, a moody, disrespectful twelve-year-old. What happened? And more important, how do you handle it? How you respond to these whirlwind changes will not only affect your child's behavior now but will determine how he or she turns out later. Julie A. Ross, executive director of Parenting Horizons, shows you exactly what's going on with your child and provides all the tools you need to correctly handle even the prickliest tween porcupine.
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Review:
I can't stress the importance of preparing yourself for the tween years and beyond. Whether its talking to a parent or friend who has gone through these tough years with a child, or reading a book on the subject, it's important to know what you're getting yourself into. Personally, these years have been harder mentally than when my kids were toddlers, but maybe that's just me.
Julie A. Ross has wonderful stories and suggestions on how to manage a prickly porcupine of a tween. I don't know how many times I've reflected back on some of the words in this book with my honey badger/dark and brooding youngest child. That kid will be the death of me.
Favorite Quote:
"Relationship has to remain at the heart of every interaction we have with our middle schooler."
My rating for this book is 4 out of 5 stars. A good read, wouldn't call it a favorite though.
May 18, 2023
Recipe: Ouzo Lemonade
For Mother's Day, I requested from my husband a Greek menu with lots of lemon. Everything had lemon. The chicken he grilled on the BBQ, the Cabbage Salad, the potato wedges and even this delicious drink.
The sun was out. I was sipping on my Ouzo Lemonade while watching my love grill and listening to the koi splash around in the pond. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day dinner.
This recipe took only minutes to make and was refreshing. Surprisingly enough, the store was out of fresh mint. I guess everyone needed mint for Mother's Day, so we ended up using dried mint leaves, but it still turned out great so you do have options if fresh mint is not available.
Servings: 6-8 servings
Time to Make: Less than 10 minutes
2. Add Ouzo and top with ice.
3. Serve garnished with mint and lemon slices.
May 17, 2023
Book Review: Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
Title: Arch-Conspirator
By: Veronica Roth
Genre: Sci-fi, Dystopian
Pages: 112
Release Date: February 21st, 2023
Publisher: Tor Books
Rating: ★★★★★
Summary from Goodreads:From dystopian visionary and bestselling phenomenon Veronica Roth comes a razor-sharp reimagining of Antigone. In Arch-Conspirator, Roth reaches back to the root of legend and delivers a world of tomorrow both timeless and unexpected.
Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.
Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but Antigone’s parents were murdered, leaving her father’s throne vacant. As her militant uncle Kreon rises to claim it, all Antigone feels is rage. When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.
But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.
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Review:This story packs a punch.Its hard to fit a lot of depth into a short story, but Veronica Roth did just that and beautifully. I always love Roth's dystopian style of writing.
I really loved Tig. She was headstrong and stubborn. She would be considered a hero in todays standards. Standing up for women's rights everywhere, not just for herself. These are the signs of a good protagonist.
Favorite Quote:"It didn’t occur to me until that moment that I had lived inside her. I always thought of my planet as something I lived on. But clinging to the straps that hold me in place, I think, no, I was within her. Folded somewhere between her atmosphere and her surface, as if between a mattress and a blanket. But there are depths to her I don’t know, and layers I never thought of. She is a complex entity that I know, in the end, very little about. I watch her become distinct from me, and it seems to me that gravity was a kind of umbilical cord that bound us to our planet, and that cord has been cut."
I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. It was action packed and vibrant. It kept me craving more the whole read.
May 15, 2023
Weekly Menu #506 And The Book Of The Week
Happy Monday!
The weather at the beach this last weekend was glorious. The sun was out and surprisingly I didn't burn. AMAZING! It was nice to finally get away from my family for a while and just spend time doing whatever I want, and I did.
This weeks read is Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. I've already started this one and its steamy. I can't wait to see how things turn out.
Lets get to this weeks Menu. Enjoy!
WEEKLY MENU
Monday
Kids - Cheese Quesadillas
Tuesday
Kids - Chicken Tenders and Fries
Wednesday
Kids - Mac and Cheese
Thursday
Kids - Chicken Ramen
Friday
Kids - Chips and Cheese
Saturday
Sunday
Leftovers Night
May 14, 2023
Sunday Confessions #199
SUNDAY!
I will be at the Oregon coast when this post goes live. The weather is supposed to be sunny and warm, and I'm going to be having a blast.
Hopefully your mother's day weekend is everything you had wished for, but if its not, dive into a good book. There are a few on the blog this week that might hit the spot. Check it out.
Sunday Confessions #198~Weekly Menu #505 And The Book Of The Week~Book Review: You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose~Book Review: The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman
Weekly Menu #506 And The Book Of The Week~Book Review: Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth~Book Review: How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years by Julie A. Ross~Sunday Confessions #200
40/100 2023 Reading Challenge~51/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge~58/341 Gilmore Girls challenge~59/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge
Living the dream right now. I hope you are too.
May 12, 2023
Book Review: The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman
Title: The Yellow Wall-Paper
By: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 64
Release Date: January 1892
Publisher: The New England Magazine
Rating: ★★★★★
Summary from Goodreads:Diagnosed by her physician husband with a “temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency” after the birth of her child, a woman is urged to rest for the summer in an old colonial mansion. Forbidden from doing work of any kind, she spends her days in the house’s former nursery, with its barred windows, scratched floor, and peeling yellow wallpaper.
In a private journal, the woman records her growing obsession with the “horrid” wallpaper. Its strange pattern mutates in the moonlight, revealing what appears to be a human figure in the design. With nothing else to occupy her mind, the woman resolves to unlock the mystery of the wallpaper. Her quest, however, leads not to the truth, but into the darkest depths of madness.
A condemnation of the patriarchy, The Yellow Wallpaper explores with terrifying economy the oppression, grave misunderstanding, and willful dismissal of women in late nineteenth-century society.
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Review:Its hard for me to believe that something this creepy was published in 1892...The thought of a hole book based on yellow wall-paper seems to be a boring concept, this book was far from that. It slowly took the reader from a place of sadness to a complete mental breakdown, mind shattering insanity even. All wrapped around this god awful wall-paper as the catalyst Well, also women's mental health being brushed under the rug...
Favorite Quote:
"What is the matter?" he cried. "For God's sake, what are you doing!" I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder. "I've got out at last," said I, "in spite of you and Jane. And I'vepulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!"
Although a short read, definitely worthy of the paper its printed on. Wouldn't recommend the movie though.
May 10, 2023
Book Review: You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose
Title: You Shouldn't Have Come Here
By: Jeneva Rose
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 350
Release Date: April 25th, 2023
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Rating: ★★★★★
Summary from Goodreads:Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives, she's pleasantly surprised to find that the owner is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells. But there are things Grace discovers that she's not too pleased about: A lack of cell phone service. A missing woman. And a feeling that something isn't right with the town.
Despite her uneasiness and misgivings from Calvin's friends and family, the two grow close and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure date nears, things between them start to change for the worse. Grace grows wary of Calvin as his infatuation for her seems to turn into obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him.
Told from dual points of view, You Shouldn't Have Come Here is a thrill ride and a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when you open up your house and your heart to a total stranger.
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Review:Jeneva Rose has done it again. Take that SCOTT!!
This book kept me guessing with characters that propelled the story line with ease. I found myself jumping from favorite character to favorite character as I began to suspect each person as some maniacal cereal killer, but never really being able to put my finger on it. To say I was drawn to one character over another just isn't true as they all seemed to be a suspect at any given time. So complex.
My favorite scene came when Grace decided to finally make her way down into the creepy basement. My mind screamed with the decades old tale of, "Don't go into the basement!" The amount of creep made my spine shiver.
I gave this book a solid 5 out of 5 stars. I loved the twists and turns. The plot kept me guessing and the entertainment level was off the charts.
A wonderful creepy read worth picking up on a rainy evening.
