Products 1-9

So I’ve been bad about putting into words all the new products that I’ve tried this year thus far:

1)      Nivea Cream

Not really impressed by it. It’s only okay as a cream but never felt like it was doing good to my hands. They would still feel dry afterwards

2)      Zoya Nail Polish

Now this is a product that I like. It’s safe nail polish on the scale of chemicals (no formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phathalate and champhor).  About a year  and half ago, a co-worker said it wasn’t the best nail polish since it didn’t go on very well. So I held off on getting it. But I found a great deal through a friend’s facebook posting saying that Zoya was offering two free bottles for the price of shipping. That enticed me in.

I was surprised by the wide range of colors. I’ve seen some colors from where I get my hair done.  I found several in the dark purple family that I loved. It was actually hard selecting Sloane and Valerie as my two since there were at least two others I wanted.

The nail polish goes on well, fairly chip resistant and has a sharp color to it.  

3)      Clean and Clear Anti-bacterial Facial Cleanser

I love this cleanser. My friend Miriam reminded me how awesome Clean and Clear can have. Plus I love how this cleanser isn’t salicylic acid as an active ingredient. It was good.

The cleanser was doing good things for my face with daily application.

4)      Eucerin Cream

Now this is an intensive cream that helped to soothe my achy heels. I could rub it into my heels. It really made my feet feel better.  Plus it helped to really soften the skin which is impressive.

5)      Kneipp Arnica bath salts

Soothing on achy muscles but my bath water turned the shade of orange Gatorade. That was a bit weird. The bath salts were good on a sore hip and shoulder and that’s all I really cared about.

6)      EO Warming Bath Salts Hinoki & Ginger

Not my usual scent profile but a really thoughtful gift from my friend Chris. It was nice to have a salt in the tub instead of always using a bubble bath. The scent in the end was deeply relaxing. I would enjoy taking the bath with these salts and really miss them now that the comet cleanser bottler is all gone.

7)      Caren Hand Cream

Seems to soak into my skin really well but after a short while, I crave more lotion. I really like the brown sugar scent. But the bad thing I notice lately since I will subconsciously touch my neck and chin after using the lotion, my acne is really increasing where I touch.   So I know I should lay off the lotion so my skin can be fairly clear especially since if I use any make up, it’s in the eye area only.

8)      TokiDori Eye Shadow

Fun bright colors. Goes on well. Big case, come with a zipper pull that is really fun in their anime style. Given the size of the case, it should have had a mirror. It could have easily been put into the part of the shadow that flips up to reveal the zipper pull.

9)      Two Face Eye Shadow- Smoky Eye Shadow Set

I like this one a lot. It’s a good eyeshadow. Wish it came an applicator brush and possibly a mirror. Love the fact there are how two guides on how to do three different smoky eyes (day, classic, and fashion). So I could really get a good look.

Book 27: Dancing the Dream: Seven Sacred Paths of Human Transformation

Dancing the Dream: The Seven Sacred Paths of Human Transformation by Jamie Sams is a book about trying to find inner peace and strength in the world by using age old Native American secrets. It’s a book that can be inspiring.  The book was something of a mix bag of tricks.

This book was gifted to me from an old family friend. It was something that reminds me of her and even more the southwest. Plus it seemed like a good idea to read a self help book every once in a while.   I did pick the book a little bit on faith, I just grabbed a book off my To Read shelf at random.  

I will say I think Jamie Sams really found enlightenment. She has found grounding and wisdom through the teachings she’s learned over the years. I don’t doubt her credentials and I like how she used her own foibles.

The book is way too theoretical for me to put into action.  There are times I’m much more of a goal oriented person who need clear plans.   I can’t say I don’t love philosophy because you can’t have a minor in it without enjoying the theoretical ideas.  In all honesty, after reading the book I’m still not sure what all the paths really entail. I get that the important things. But to me, some of the paths are not very different from one another. Also more importantly to a goal oriented person, how can you be able to walk on separate paths while at the same time you need paths 1-4 in order to walk on paths 5 through 7?

But another problem was the writing. It was a bit circular and there were times I had no idea what was being said. I hate having to reread stuff a thousand times. 

Book 26: A Secret Kept

        A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay was a strong book that was both different from her previous book (Sarah’s Key) and yet kept true to that book’s success. The book had rich descriptions of locations and people while at the same time sucking the reader into the saga of a person discovering their family’s secrets.

        I loved Sarah’s Key when I read it in the previous year (didn’t realize it was in 2011 but my magical Excel sheet tells me it’s so).  So this book was purchased pretty quickly as a birthday gift courtesy of a gift card from my sis.

        I was glad to see how the book was as magical as Sarah’s Key. I felt like I was transported to France as Tonio and Mel went to the beach. Then there is a tragic accident as Melanie was about to tell Antonio about a family secret she remembered on their visit. But the accident makes a difference in Tonio’s life. He meets a woman to help him get over his wife and the digging he does with Melanie, he learns more about his family.

        It’s interesting to see the family dynamic that Antonio has. He’s in love with his ex-wife until he meets Angele and is disconnected from his immediate family aside from Melanie. He desperately wants to connect with his children but feels helpless on how to do. But with is father and grandparents, he doesn’t feel the need to connect with them nearly as much.

        The main issue at play is his mother and the circumstances around her death. In some ways, what he finds is extremely shocking and part me understands why Melanie would like to back away from the investigation as way to prevent herself from getting hurt. But I a major part of me doesn’t quite get why she backed away so suddenly.

        The characters were amazing in the book. It was one of those stories where the author really nailed the genders perfectly and you forget that the author is female and the main character is male. She understood him perfectly.

        One of the things that surprised me as I was reading the notes in the back of the book was that Angele has her own facebook page that Tatiana will write responses for. Plus other people have created pages for the other characters. That’s a really neat thing in my eyes and a great way to use social networking sties as a way to connect with fans.

        This book took me longer to read then I would like. The novel was impeccably put together. There weren’t any phrases or dialogue that pulled me out of the story. IT was more a little heavier read and you took your time reading it.

        But I hated how Melanie pulled away from the investigation. Mainly because it wasn’t fully explained. I needed to know a little bit more to the why.

        Overall I was in love with the book. It’s such a good read. Tatiana de Rosnay is becoming one of my go to authors for something a little different yet completely relatable. It’s fun to watch her dig into her family’s secrets.

Book 25: The Thorn

The Thorn by Beverly Lewis is one of those easy read books that can leave you feeling good about yourself and with an unfulfilling story. It was enjoyable but never felt quite true to me.

Beverly Lewis is best known as an Amish fiction writer. She has a couple dozen books that show facets into Amish life. All her books seem to revolve the central themes of love and faith. My mom and I have been reading her books for years. Knowing how much my mom enjoys these books, I knew that this would be one of several books I should gift to her for Christmas. So after she was done with this book and I worked through different parts of my book piles, I got a chance to borrow this book from her. It’s an easy read and it made me think of my own faith. I always find myself praying more when I read a Beverly Lewis novel and during lent, so it seemed like a good fit.

The Thorn is book one of the Rose trilogy. The story is set in the 1980s and revolves around two sisters: Rose Ann and Hen. Hen decides to return to a more plain way of life after marrying an Englisher before entering the Church(hence she was never shunned) and is struggling with how to raise a daughter in a world that seems to have too many temptations/sins. Rose Ann (Rosie) is living with her family as she contemplates her life. Rose’s story is simpler in many ways other then the fact that she has a little love triangle going on between Nick (her neighbor and good friend) and her beau. The plot moved along as it should and wasn’t too predictable.

The book’s biggest problem was the dialogue. Especially that between Hen and Brandon. It never rang true and all too often the words never matched the feelings being described. I talked to my mom about it and while the book was slightly forgotten, she thought that it might be a problem of my perspective since Hen’s upbringing was much more of a pacifist and so the little arguments could have seem much more because of that.  I personally don’t buy that. If it quacks like a duck and looks like a monkey, it’s probably a monkey imitating a duck.  I thought Hen wanted there to be these huge fights and for things to be harder then they were. Either that or her husband was the most passive aggressive person known to man.  Plus there were times when Rose is talking to Nick that the dialogue didn’t feel right. As a reader, I kept finding myself being pulled out of the narrative saying “really? You want me to believe that? Okay I guess I will go with that.”  Plus I hated the way the Pennsylvania Deutsch translation was blended into the dialogue when two Amish people are talking to each other.  When I’m talking with one of my friends from Denmark, I would never say “Oh it was so hygglic-comfy cozy”. I wouldn’t have to translate hygge to them. Instead that translation should have been on the other side of the quotation marks or even in a translation dictionary at the back of the dialogue.

On a minor side of things, I would have problems with the timeline of things.  People would appear out of nowhere, a sudden shift of perspective, or the third hand problem. Those things could easily be over looked other then the fact, this year I’m more critical reader and I am spotting these things easier.

All in all, The Thorn wasn’t bad. It was a nice way to get away from reality for a little bit. But the dialogue would kill me and kept the book from being excellent or even that good. It’s like Twilight- a fun easy read that pulls you in while the critical side of your mind is finding errors and realizes that in all honesty the book isn’t that good.  

Book 24: Sabriel

            Sabriel by Garth Nix was an interesting book that was loaned to me by my good friend M.  It was an intriguing tale that was a nice dip into the fantasy pool while staying safe in the urban occult/fantasy. 

            M totally described the book as being a good mix of fluff and the good meaty stuff you look for in a good book.  I’m glad that she loaned it to me.

            The story was interesting. I liked that a talented young girl named Sabriel decides to leave her boarding school in Ancelstierre to find her father. She learns that she’s the Abhorsen and that title never sat well with her since she thought her father was still alive but trapped in death. Along the way, she finds people who are willing to help her and learns more about the past.

            I loved the tale. It was an interesting journey. It had a retro fantasy vibe but at the same time felt very new. I liked how she was bound by charter magic and yet she was also a necromancer. It was a bit of a twist to see how the necromancers were both revered/feared and bound by rules/free of rules all at the same time.  Plus the rules of magic in this world are more refined from the other books I’ve read using necromancers.  I liked that.

            I did have a problem was the setting. I had a hard time getting a setting in my head and keeping that image. There were times images were crystal clear and then something would throw my image in my head.  Usually it was including an item I wasn’t expecting the idea as a way to help solidify an image. Cause in my mind, there is the Old Kingdom which is ancient, filled with magic and death while Ancelstierre was about 1920s modern with much less magic and death.

            But his is a fun book. I want to see what happens in the rest of the Abhorsen books. Should be interesting.

Book 23: Star Trek Deep Space Nine Warpath

            I probably picked the wrong book for the mood I was in. David Mack is great at writing complex stories that have multiple plot lines that eventually all start to tie together. Unfortunately, I wanted the exact opposite thing- a simple Trek story with only two plot lines. Needless to say, I was left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth after reading Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Warpath.

            I really should have picked a different Star Trek author for my mood but I was intrigued by the idea of David Mack doing a DS9 novel when I saw his name come up in my eReader library. I tend to enjoy his books a lot since he does a great job of working with characters and he helped to write two episodes of DS9. So curiosity killed the cat.

            Warpath is a bit of a classic David Mack stand alone book. He tries to do too much. He has several different story lines: Kira’s life and death battle, Ro’s injury, Taran’atar kidnapping Prynn, Vaughn chasing after Taran’atar, the mirror universe and a wrench in the system at the end which I won’t spoil. But in 344 pages, that’s a lot to cover.  Let alone to do it well. It’s nice that most of these story lines will have moments they overlap. Unfortunately for the reader, that means there is a lot of repetition of events from shifting points of view and gaps in other aspects so the story can be driven along.

            I was surprised by a couple of the characters in the book: mainly Ro Laren and Commander Vaughn. They weren’t characters I was expecting in a Deep Space Nine book since I don’t see these characters in books before and after. Especially with Ro Laren. Last I remembered, she was a member of the Maquis and I thought she was killed in battle but apparently I’ve either misremembered something OR missed something from previous books and they were killed off later on. Well Vaughn I remember hearing his name but not much else.  I will admit there are several books that I’ve missed in the chronology so it’s not unheard of.

            This book did remind me of a conversation I had with one of my old philosophy professors. Stacey pointed out how the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict was very reminiscent of the conflicts in the West Bank.  Then in this book, Kira was having discussions with the prophets about how Bajora had the same religious foundation as another religion, En’voq, and they had to unite in order to save the fortress from the Ascendents. Bajor is still the Jewish/Islamic and in this story they are tied to the Christians by teaming up with the En’voq. It was nice to be reminded about a conversation that I had over seven years ago.

            The book was gappy for my taste. I would have preferred the mirror universe to be left out. I know he used it as an important way in the end but every time he went into the mirror universe it just felt out of place. Then the dream within a dream by Kira was a little much for me. I would have preferred it to be only the talks with the prophets.