Bound by the Night

This is 1 book with a trilogy. I will describe each one. Too bad I can't count these as more than one book on my Goodreads. I don't usually like reading short books combined into one but I found this actually quite enjoyable. I really liked the short chapters and how it was the same author for each book.

Dark Heat

Monica comes to the animal menagerie to investigate what was attacking the animals and killing them. While she was there she has a major attraction the keeper of the animals Jordan. She tries to stay away but the attraction is too much and when he comes into her bedroom 1 night she doesn't hesitate to seduce him. Then a few days later, after another hot encounter, he leaves. She tracks him down and they start a relationship.
        Now, this really wasn't my typically read but I found it very interesting. I actually really like the shallow story line and the random sex and I was kinda left hanging at the end but overall very good.

Dark Dreams

Stephanie is hired by Kent to find out who has been stealing money from his client's accounts at his bank. She is a supernatural being who has the ability to manipulate dreams. When she goes to sleep she can look for the person who is stealing the money by tracking them. In the meantime, Kent asks her out and they go on a date. She trusts him enough to tell him about her ability. They then have sex after getting in bed to track down the culprit. After the culprit is caught they continue to have a relationship.

Dark Fantasy

Jase is a paranormal investigator. Some weird things have been happening in this town and he was sent to investigate it with his partner Reg. Chelle is a writer. She quit her job to write full time but she has never really seriously wrote a book. Her boyfriend died and he created a computer program called Golem that she uses to help her write. When Jase and her meet sparks fly and they have sex. He then learns that the computer program was making the things in it come to life. They end up deleting the program and start a relationship.
        This story was fine but I found it hard to follow in the beginning. I love a good sex story but this particular book had some masturbation scenes which really turns me off.

The Cowboy's Holiday Blessing

Maddie, a school teacher, brings Jade to Jackson's ranch saying that she claims to be his kid. He takes her in and cares for her along with Maddie for a while. It's Christmas time and he is trying his best to be there for her. But after a paternity test reveals the truth he is reluctant to tell Jade because he cares about her. A relationship forms between Maddie and Jackson but they are unwilling to be together because of their past. After Jackson receives a call from her mom he takes over all paternal rights. Then after Christmas at his house they finally decide that the attraction is too strong and then they get married.

      This was a decent book but I found the storyline kind of boring. I struggled to follow sequence of event because I found myself unable to follow the author's transitions from one character to another. I thought it was too much related to what I do for a living as well. I don't really care for fiction related to my career choice.

Toxic People 10 Ways of Dealing with People who Make Your Life Miserable

This was a very excellent book about how to identify and deal with the toxic people in your life. I am not going to discuss every detail of the book because it had a lot of good stuff but it's too long and I don't feel like discussing it.
     The book included a section with a quiz in determining if someone is toxic to you. Now, what is toxic to one person may not be toxic to another person. The book pointed out how to identify our personal triggers to a toxic person. Toxic behavior and what makes a toxic person act the way they do was discussed.

     There are 30 different  types of toxic people.

1.  Cut-You Downer 
2.  Chatterbox
3.  Self-Destroyer 
4.  Runner
5.  Silent but Deadly Volcano 
6.  Gossip 
7. Angry Pugilist 
8. Gloom and Doom Victim
9. Smiling 2-Faced Backstabber 
10. Wishy Washy Wimp
11.  Opportunistic User
12.  Bitchy, Bossy Bully
13.  Jokester 
14.  Unconsious Social Klutz
15.  Mental Case 
16.  Bullshitting Liar 
17.  Meddler
18.  Penny-Pinching Miser 
19.  Fanatic 
20.  Me, Myself, and I Narcissist 
21.  Eddie Haskell 
22.  Self-Righteous Priss
23.  Snotty Snob
24.  Competitor 
25.  Control Freak 
26.  Accusing Critic 
27.  Arogant Know-It-All 
28.  Emotional Refriderator 
29.  Skeptical Paranoid
30.  Instigator 

Then book then talked about the different techniques to use when confronted these types of toxic people and when to use the techniques in the proper setting. Be careful of where you use certain techniques. Sometimes taking things with a grain of salt is better than losing a job over.

There are 10 techniques.

1.  Tension-Blowout 
2.  Humor 
3.  Stop-the-Thought 
4.  Mirror 
5.  Direct-Confront 
6.  Calm Questioning 
7.  Give-Them-Hell-and Yell
8.  GiveThem-Love-and-Kindness 
9.  Vicarious-Fantasy 
10.  Unplug

I would recommend this book to anyone but especially to anyone who is a toxic realtionship. I would recommend utilizing the unlpug technique when they have ruined your life, are abusive, or someone who is not supportive of you or your dreams. It's better to be alone than to be with someone who don't really care about you.

Claiming the Doctor's Heart

Olivia Scott moved back to her hometown after she lost her job and her fiance. She runs back into her old crush Dr. Scott. He was married but his wife died and he has 2 beautiful twin girls. Olivia volunteers to babysit his girls for him. They are hesitant to start a relationship but something happens between they can't ignore. She also wants to start a new business. They end up falling in love.
       I really enjoyed reading this because it reminded me about the hope that I need to find to help find love again after my breakup. I was engaged to him and he left me for someone else. Plus he couldn't handle me and we were in different places. I know I will fall in love again but I am going through a very tough time right now because he was my first love and he hurt me a lot by getting with someone I knew he was having a relationship with while he was still with me. This book helped me see how to heal but I have a long way to go before I am willing to trust and open up to someone again.

The Diary of a Young Girl Ann Frank

This follows the journey of Ann Frank for a period of 3 yrs 1942-1943. It talked about her life prior to hiding in the Annex and in it too. I found it to be a hard read especially since I knew how the story ends. Ann was a very smart girl and had dreams just like a regular person. She and 7 other lucky people were lucky enough to hide away. It was interesting to see what they went through during the time in the war and how they were still able to stay connected to what was going on outside. I found it amusing how she had strong values about not being a traditional housewife when she got out of the annex. Even though Ann never lived to be an adult and live out her dreams I believe that this is a book everyone should read.

the It Girl

This is a follow-up/spin-off series to Gossip Girl. Except it follows Jenny Humprey. She transfers to a new boarding school. I will have have to read more gossip girl to know what exactly happens but she gets kicked out some how. She gets the boys attention right away which actually gets her in trouble. She has to go to a disciplinary committee to decide her fate. Her roommate likes to manipulate people into doing what she wants but in the end, someone else takes the blame. There is also a forbidden romance blooming. Jenny wants to be the next Serena I just wonder how far she is willing to go.

Gossip Girl it Had to You Prequel

I enjoy this book because it talked about the year and summer before the first gossip girl book. I am glad I read the other book first because it helped me understand it easier but I sometimes I forgot when I was. It followed the lives of all the characters from the gossip girl but it also included Vanessa's story which it doesn't really elaborate on in the first book.
       It talked about Jenny and how her boobs got some big. Blair and Serena's love triangle and the reason why they were drifting apart even before boarding school. They are both in love with Nate. Nate likes to smoke pot, Vanessa is in love with Dan, and Dan is obsessed with Serena to a stalker level. It also talked about Dan's dad and how much more weird he is then in the TV series which I actually prefer. It didn't really talk about Chuck either. He was only in a few scenes.

Gossip Girl

This is a 14 book series. It's was made into a TV show too. This was the 1st book in the series. I started reading this series after I started watching the TV series. It talked about the gossip following Serena, Blair, Nate, Chuck, Jenny, Dan, and Vanessa. The elite families of the Upper East Side in NYC. I liked how it followed the TV show to a ti almost. They changed some of it but most of it was the same. I actually liked some of the TV changes better than in the book. It was right up until after the Kiss of the Lips dance party.
     I really enjoyed this series and can't wait to read the next book to see how far the go to. I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading about rich people. I also found a great new author too.

The Giver

The Giver is a 4 part book series. The Giver was about Jonas, who lives in this weird world, where a lot of strange things happen. Each year the kids change their birthdays together and get a new initiation gift or right. when the children turn 12 they are given a job/ internship that is chosen for them by the council. When Jonas turns 12 he is given the job as the Receiver. He meet the Giver and he receives memories of things that don't exist anymore like snow, love, grandparents, and hills. Also things like war, poverty, and famine were hidden from the people to protect them from pain. He is intrigued and wants to change the way his world is viewed where people's choice is available. After working with the Giver for a year he sneaks out of the community where he lives so he can release the memories.
      This was a very easy read and a good book. I thought it was weird that certain things didn't exist. How can you live in a world where there is no snow, grandparents, or Christmas. It reminded me of the Divergent series in this aspect. I can't wait to see what happens in the next one.

The New Professional Everything you Need to Know for a Great First Year on the Job

I found this book very informative for anyone who really wants to know what to expect for the first year on the job. I really feel like I understand what to expect a lot better. The chapters covered include topics including professional dynamics, developing a winning attitude, employers view, professionalism, the facts of the organization, learning about the company culture, people, relationships, and politics, understanding your boss, being subordinate savvy, getting ready to go to work, hitting the ground running, breaking in strategies, a first-year timetable, breaking-in issues, special groups and situations, personal issues, the social professional, and coping strategies.
     I would recommend this to anyone starting a professional career. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the writer assumed that everyone coming from college felt the same way and loved to party. A lot of the comments or tips he had sometimes didn't apply to me specifically.

Walk How to Apply the Bible

This book is part of a 4 book series Epic, Foundation, Context, and Walk. I didn't read them in order though lol. I started with book 4 but anyway the book was split into 4 sections.
       The first sections was on Light for My Path. This section described how important the Bible is in our lives. How God illuminates the passages when we read. This is the first step in understanding how to apply it to our lives but you also have to have a willingness to listen. Either God's Word is going to stand authority over you or you are going to stand in authority over God's Word.
       The next section was From Text to Life. This sections talks about COMA (Context, Observations, Message, Application). Context explains who was the original passage intended for? This involves looking at the historical, literary, theological, and immediate setting. The historical setting is who was the passages intended to, what was going on in that time, when, and what problem were they addressing. The literacy setting is knowing about the rules and laws in that time. The theological setting is what the rest of the Bible says about it. The immediate setting is how does the words fit into the sentence, how does the sentence fit into the paragraph, and how does the paragraph fit into the surrounding chapter.
         Observations This talks about the repeating words, phrases, themes, and truths about God. The message is the what God wants to communicate with you. He knows exactly what you need to get out of it. Another anagram specs helps you to discover this. S-sin to confess, p-promise to claim, e-example to follow, c-commandment to obey, and s-statement about God.
          Applications are personal and specific. Personal-I need to pray more. Specific-I am going to spend 10 extra minutes praying everyday. Writing down verses, and prayers helps to solidify the information in your brain. You are far more likely to put into practice everyday too.
          The next section was Coming out of a COMA. This section just took passages from the Bible and used COMA to explain them and how to really apply it.
          The last section was A Daily Discipline. This talked about spiritual growth and how to get the most out of it. Spiritual growth is not something that just happens we have to work at it. You have to go after it. But the desire and discipline comes from God. You will never consistently walk in the Word until the Holy Spirit empowers you to do so. Applying the Bible in your life takes some Godly principles. A time and place, a great Bible (I suggest NIV), a schedule of readings (devotions work the best), a notebook, COMA, and Godly role models.

Seaside Romance

Lauren moves temporarily to Holiday Harbor to escape her old boyfriend and to cover Toyland when her friend get married. She meets Ben to contract some some ideas she has for the store. She is attracted to him and they sorta have a relationship. But then her ex shows up and she decides she is in love with him. He then gives up a job to be with her.
          This book was ok but I was frustrated because they didn't really have a romantic relationship till the end and it left me a little dry.

The Violets of March

The Violets of March is about this woman Emily who goes to an island to visit her aunt Bee after her husband left her for another woman. She goes to heal but ends up discovering a journal about a forgotten love story of Elliot and Ester. In the meantime she meets someone. This is a great story written to inspire people to follow their heart and to also make sure you know the whole story before jumping to conclusions. It reminded me of Nicholas Sparks the Longest Ride only way better. I discovered a new author and I didn't want the story to end. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a heart warming story.

Grey

This is the 4th book in the 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy. It follows the first book 50 Shades of Grey only from Christian's perceptive. I found this just as annoying as the first book from Anna's perspective. It was more mature but it still lacked in other areas that I found quite for real? Like for the fact that he says the f word way too much, way to much sex scenes, and he is way more too controlling and stalker ish. But I still enjoyed reading this because it really gave the reader insight to what he thinks. I love getting into the minds of the characters. It also talked about his past with his mother, his trauma, and more of his relationships with Mrs. Robinson and past subs. I loved how after Ana left him it explained what he went through and how he really realized now much he really abused her. The ending was great! I would recommend this to anyone who read the trilogy but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like sex. I hated the cover. too creepy.

12 Smart Things to Do When the Booze and Drugs are Gone

This book was about 12 things that addicts should do when in recovery. It was very informative and encourage anyone to read it. It had lots of examples.

The Everything Health Guide to Adult ADD/ADHD Expert Advice to Find the Right Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment

This book was very good. It talked about what a person goes through when the have ADD/ADHD. It provided the most up to date research studies and talked about how it affects kids but mostly focused on adults. I found it even humorous at times. It talked about how psychologists determine if someone has it, challenges/limits, how to overcome challenges, how to choose the right treatment, using meds, types of therapy, coping mechanisms, relationships, marriage to a person who has it, and the positives  and negatives of having it.
I would recommend this to anyone who has this disorder and for those curious to know more about the disorder. Especially if you are in a relationship with someone. It really opened my eyes to why I do some of the things I do and really made me understand myself better.

The Land of Stories #2 The Enchantress Returns

This was the second book to the Land of Stories Series. It has been a year since the twins have been back to the land of stories and they are anxious to return. The fairy tale land is having it's own problems. The enchantress is back, the stepmother to sleeping beauty, and is trying to take over the world. The fairy godmother puts the twins under protection after their mother is kidnapped by the enchantress. The leave and go to their granny's cottage to find a portal to go there and rescue her. They are reunited with old friends at Little Red Riding Hood's castle. Everyone is in a panic because they don't know what to do.

      The twins discover the Wand of Wonderment. They think it will help defeat the enchantress. They need to collect the 6 most prized possessions of the 6 most hated people in the fairytale world. The Ice Queen (scepter), the Evil Queen (the magic mirror ), the Giant (harp), the Sea Witch (jewels), the Wicked Stepmother (marriage ring), and the Enchantress (pride). They team up and build a flying boat and go on the quest. They encounter many things along the way. They receive some help from a ghost and find out that she is trying not just to rule the fairy tale world but also the twins world. She will accomplish this by conquering the 7 deadly sins and the world's past, present, and future. She imprisoned her former lovers for lust, stripes people's happiness for envy, controls Rumplestiltskin for sloth, takes over the worth with greed and gluttony, and the world is exposed to her wrath which satisfies her pride. She destroys historical landmarks conquering the past, wants the kings and queens to hand over their kingdoms for the present, and stole Cinderella's baby and the heir to a throne of magic, which I am not going to spoil that, for the future. They defeat the enchantress and save the world. Then their mom finally gets purposed to by Dr. Bob. There is another ending besides the defeating of the enchantress but it would spoil the book so I am not gonna write about it. Overall another amazing read!

This Book is Gay

I read this solely for the purpose of research. This book focused on the many LGBT topics including sexual orientation, gender identity, how to come out of the closet, stereotypes, homophobia, where to find others, relationships, dating, sex, marriage, having kids, and tips of encouragement. I really enjoyed this book. I learned some new things and I would recommend it to all LGBT questioning their identity or looking for answers. This book was written by a gay guy so I found the perspective humorous but serious about what LGBT people go through.

The Land of Stories Book #1 The Wishing Spell

This book was about the adventure that Alex and her twin brother Conner had the land of fairy tales where everything they have ever dreamed about is real. They slip into the pages of their grandmothers fairy tale book by accident. They meet a frog who tells them that the only way to escape back to their world is to go the hunt for the Wishing Spell items. The Wishing Spell poem is glass that housed a lonely soul up till midnights final toll. (Cinderella). A Saber from the deepest sea, meant for a grooms mortality (Keeping this one a secret). A bark of a basket held in fright while running from a bark with bite (Red Riding Hood). A stony crown that's made to share, found deep within a savage lair (Keeping a secret too). A needle that pierced the lovely skin of a princess with beauty found within (Sleeping Beauty). A wavy lock of golden hair that once was freedom's only hope. (Rapunzel). Glittering jewels whose value increased after preserving the false deceased (Snow White). Teardrops of a maiden fairy feeling neither magical nor merry. The ventured thorough the different kingdoms meeting the famous people the Grimm brothers wrote about. Each of the princesses castles they snuck into, each with their own different personalities, offering advise, escaping from wolves, and getting into lots of trouble. The heard the story of the real evil queen (the one from snow white) and discovered their dad was from the Land of Stories. How they get back home I am going to leave a surprise though. I don't want to ruin the story.
      I have always enjoyed anything fairy tale and magic related. This book was a combination of Narnia and Once Upon a Time. The author even had some modern things mixed in with it. I really enjoyed this and want to continue with the rest of the series. I also discovered a new author.

Map of the Land of Stories

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children

This is the first book in the Miss Peregrines Peculiar Children series. Jake's grandfather tells him that something is after him. He checks it out to find that his grandpa is dead. He is given a book with a letter in it that leads him to an island in Wales. He needs to find out what it all means. After convincing his parents to go there he flies there with his dad. He discovers a house for peculiar children. They all have special powers, he learns about them and plays with them every day. The original house was destroyed by WWII but Miss Peregrine created a time loop that keeps them from aging. He learns the truth about his grandpa and even falls in love. He later finds out that these creatures are killing the peculiar children because it is there sole purpose. He is supposed to be their protector. He gets in a battle with 2. The peculiar's help him. But they have to chase after them because they kidnap Miss Peregrine. All the time loops around the world are failing and they start a journey to find them and help the children that are left.

The Awakening of Sunshine Girl

This is the sequel to the first book in the series The Haunting of Sunshine Girl. To recap; Sunshine and her mom move from Austin, Texas to Washington state because her mom is a hospital nurse who gets transferred. The house that they move into is haunted by a spirit and shortly after they move in her mom gets possessed by a demon. Nolan is her. He is perfect boyfriend material but she can’t touch him without feeling gross. They discover that Sunshine is a rare supernatural creature known as a Luiseach. They are supposed to protect mortals from evil ghosts, help spirits move on, and get rid of spirits who won't move on or can't.

       After she turned 16 is when all the Luiseach powers started. She had to pass a test to get her powers. She killed the demon that possessed her mom. Sunshine finally tells her mom about her gift. She finds out that her dad is her mentor. He takes her to Mexico to a Luiseach training facility that used to be run by her mom and dad. Her real mom blamed her birth for the decline of her people and wanted to kill her. Her dad saved her by dropping her off at the hospital, so he never abandoned her by choice. She meets another Luiseach boy Lucio. Lucio and her dad help her hone her skills. She is very special. She helps multiple spirits move on their own, can feel what the spirits feel, how they died, what were their interests, even if they had kids, and even has psychic abilities. Her mom and dad also experimented on her as a baby in the womb to make her more powerful. Her real mom captures Nolan and she goes and rescues him. She found out that the reason she gets gross around Nolan is because of some spell that her dad put on her so she couldn’t fall in love. But she falls in love with Nolan anyway. He feels the same way. They say I love you and finally get their special kiss.      

      This book was just as good as the first one!!! The ending just has me reeling towards the next book but I have to wait until next year. 

The Pregnancy Project

This is the memoir of Gabby Rodriquez a teen who faked a pregnancy as a social experiment for her senior project. This was not usually something I would be interested in but I took a chance thinking it would be interesting and it was a book that I couldn't put down. I also learned a lot about teen pregnancy too.
  Gabby is latino which is a ethnic group that has one of the highest rates of becoming teen moms and dropping out of school. Gaby's mom dropped out in 8th grade because she became pregnant. The cycle was repeated in her other siblings which is where she initially got her idea from in the first place. She had to keep her fake belly a secret and get it approved by the school to do the project so that results wouldn't be jeopardized. Only a select few of teachers, friends, and family knew about it. She wanted to know how the stereotypes of being a teen mom affected everyone involved. Her boyfriend was in on the secret too. Even her boyfriend received some negative stereotypes. He was harassed almost on a daily basis about how he ruined his life and the bad decisions he made. She took parenting classes, visited clinics to find out what a mother goes through, and even watched 16 and pregnant for research.
    After months of pretending she finally revealed to her high school that it was all and experiment. She received a very rapid, negative and positive response. A lot of people were glad, some were hurt, felt lied too, but she also received some very negative response as well. In her presentation she brought up a lot of statistics and presented the negative comments people said about her. She created a lot of media attention.  She was on the Today Show, published a book, and even has her own Lifetime movie. She graduated from high school in the top 5% of her class and is successful today.

As Bill Sees It

I really liked this book because it really gave me insight to Bill W. the creator of A.A. It was a tip/meditation book basically to alcoholics on how to stay sober and lead successful, healthy lives. It was also filled with many antidotes of his life. It gave me insight to the mind of the alcoholic as well. It was a great read!