Review Tales

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Book Review #6)

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Jeyran Main

4 Comments

Summary

“Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. This cyborg is a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, Cinder must uncover secrets about her past to protect her world’s future.” by Marissa Meyer

Review

Hello, Chronical Lunar Lovers! Cinder is one of four books written by Marissa Meyer in 2012. Her, books are a mixture between fairy-tale storylines with an add of Sci-Fi, a visit to Galaxies, and Politics. Stars above and fairest are two additional books written in addition to the ones mentioned.

Let me firstly congratulate this writer. Marissa not only has saved the essence and purity of the fairy tales we have grown to love, but she has added delicious twists and turns to them as well. Our Cinderella has been transformed to another level.

Let us be thankful that Cinder is not the usual fairy tale girly girl. She is not a girl trying to act like a boy either. Cinder is feminine when she needs to be and a leader, making important decisions, all at the same time. You seriously will find it hard to put the book down. Her strong mentality comes with elegance and grace. She is lonely and has a questionable past. Just like our Disney Cinderella, she too has a stepmom and sister that miss-use her, yet she treats them nicely and with patience. Also, she handles her half robot body very maturely for a 16-year-old.

Marissa Meyer has added a twist to this story. Cinder possesses an absolute magic on top of the ability to be more than just a human being. She is a cyborg, yet still, has the heart to fall in love or to care about her world.

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I believe that she could have handled the Prince situation with a better plan and have a much more significant impact. The reason to go to the ball, in the end, was not as strongly justified. She could have just quickly sent a message or found a different way to tell the prince since he had already given her access to talk to him. She also could have avoided the whole embarrassing encounter by just seeing him in so many different ways rather than making it as public as she did.

The twist of the story, which was very attractive to me was that
spoiler alert.

Cinder wasn’t just an orphan girl mistreated growing up working like a slave and then going to a ball and become a princess by falling in love with the prince. She is way more capable than just our average Disney Cinderella. She IS a princess herself and isn’t even aware of it! Cinder does not need a prince to save him. In fact, the prince is the one in need of saving!

The story finishes leaving just enough power for you to go out and buy the second book, Scarlet.

Jeyran Main

Here is how you can buy this book on Amazon:

Hollow Fissure by Max E. Stone (Book Review #301)

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Jeyran Main

Hollow Fissure is book 4 of the Warren-Bennett-Johnson Series. Hollow Fissure is about a girl who got abducted in Somalia for sex trafficking. She’s now 19 years old and is trying to move on but things are not as easy as it is expected from her. She has great supporting parents and Melissa, the woman who saved her. However, somehow things are not going the direction she wants and Hannah is struggling. Melissa is having mental stability issues and Hannah’s parents are trying to figure out how to help their girl. They are also a little concerned with her friend, Gabriel.

First and foremost, I absolutely can say that this was an extremely well-written novel. The dynamics of the storyline having two protagonists was very interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the correct and relevant way the author portrayed Hannah in the plot. She, being a teenager alone should have been a handful for any parent. However, no, she wasn’t just a teenager. She has gone through something even an adult would struggle to deal with.

The author easily made sure the reader was well educated and informed on her condition in order to create a strong bond with her. Another point I must add is that, if you really wish to enjoy this book, I would highly recommend you read from the first book.

Having not read any of the previous books, I found it increasingly hard to know who is who and what is going on. I recommend this book for people who enjoy reading romantic fiction thrillers and begin reading from the first book.

Written by Jeyran Main

Life is Too Short to Be Unhappy, Create Your Own Inspired Work By Vicki Morris

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Jeyran Main

Life is Too Short to Be Unhappy, Create Your Own Inspired Work

By Vicki Morris

Here is an interview with Vicki Morris, the Career Happiness Coach, founder of InspiredWork and author of the Inc. Best 100 Business book Happy Habits., and the transformational career guides InspiredWork: Create Work You Love in 8 Weeks and its companion InspiredWork Workbook.

Why did you write InspiredWork?

I wrote InspiredWork because I believe life is too short to be unhappy at work. Many of us spend more than half of our waking hours at work. As a result, work plays a major part in our lives and impacts our mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing. Plus, our happiness level – happy or not – also spills over to our colleagues, friends and family. I know this from personal experience because I went through 16 full-time and consulting job transitions in my 27-year career and I experienced a lot of unhappiness that affected me and everyone around me. Fortunately, I was able to turn my pain into fuel and my career journey can now be titled “From Career Unhappiness to InspiredWork.”

What is InspiredWork?

InspiredWork is work where you:

Are FREE to be yourself,
Feel FULFILLED by using your gifts,
Are HAPPY at work, and
LOVE your life.

My experiences have led me to understand that in order to have our own inspired work that truly speaks to us and fulfills our life’s purpose, it’s not about finding it – it’s about creating it from the inside out and enjoying the journey.

This concept of InspiredWork is the basis for my latest books InspiredWork: Create Work You Love in 8 Weeks and the companion InspiredWork Workbook, as well as the company and the movement that now has 50,000 followers.

The InspiredWork books are transformational career guides for individuals who have been in the workforce for some time, but are seeking a change. Whether you’re job seeking because you’re currently out of work, would like to make a career change, or are considering your own startup, this book provides a specific strategy for each unique situation. It also aims to tackle the unhappiness epidemic in the workplace.

What is the unhappy work epidemic?

Many of today’s workers feel stuck in their current roles. In fact, Deloitte research shows that 80% of employees are unhappy at work. That’s an overwhelming majority, and my belief is that many people are demotivated and de-energized in their careers. InspiredWork aims to address those issues by getting to the root cause – it puts the power in the hands of the individual.

Why do you think it’s important for individuals to take charge of their own careers?

Even in the very best companies, you’re responsible for furthering your career and taking control of your future. Now more than ever before, it’s not just about seeking out opportunities, in many cases, it’s about creating them.

Is this what you mean by “create the work you love?”

Yes. The main idea behind InspiredWork is that we as individuals can discover what it is that we value most in our work, and then we can create and pursue career opportunities that align with those values. I also believe that creating your own version of work that’s most inspiring and empowering to you should be considered a critical life skill. When you look inward first to determine what exactly you need in a career, you can then take a healthier approach to your goal, whether that’s finding a job, starting a business, or changing careers.

How is it possible to create inspired work in just 8 weeks?

I’ve provided a step-by-step guide that includes everything jobseekers and entrepreneurs need to find a job, change careers or start their own business in only 8 weeks. I encourage readers to dedicate at least one hour to their career journey each day. By following the steps I’ve outlined throughout the guide, professionals will have everything they need for a successful and personalized inspired work journey.

The five-step InspiredWork System starts with “Inspiration & Energy.” Why is that important for your readers?

There are different reasons as to why this is important for each unique type of reader. For instance, jobseekers often approach employment as a solution to a problem. We’re trained to think that the “problem” is being out of work, and the solution is to find a new job as quickly as possible. While some jobseekers do indeed need to find work quickly for financial reasons, at the very least we must pause to re-energize ourselves and take an inward approach to find inspiration.

Otherwise, people tend to wind up in a role very similar to the one they just left. It’s critically important for career changers and entrepreneurs as well, because without a solid vision about what you want your work life to look like, it will be very difficult – if not impossible – to get there.

How is InspiredWork different from other career books?

There are so many great books available that offer helpful career advice. Here, though, I’m encouraging readers to take an inside-out approach to creating work they love. Unlike other career guides, I’ve also included 40-days of inspired actions each reader can take based on the career transformation path he or she has chosen such as finding a new job, changing careers or starting a new business. Inspired actions include a combination of inner work (e.g., creating an InspiredWork vision that is heart-centered, reprogramming your conscious and subconscious mind for success and raising your energy daily) and outer work (e.g., creating an authentic personal and/or business brand, establishing a personalized career plan, and implementing a marketing campaign to achieve your career goal). The inside-out combination is very effective because it ensures each reader to discover what inspired work means to him or her personally and it provides practical actions he or she can take to transform his or her career in only 8 weeks.

What is the one inspired career action you recommend everyone take?

Whether you do it for yourself or for your loved ones, I highly recommend that everyone do an annual Career Happiness Checkup such as the InspiredWork Quiz. That’s really the best career advice I can give anyone in the workforce. If you have never done a career happiness checkup before and don’t know how happy or inspired you are at work, take the FREE InspiredWork Quiz and get your career happiness score today. Knowingwhere you are is the best first step you can take to being happier at work and creating your own inspired work.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Book Review #5)

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Jeyran Main

1 Comment

Summary

“Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.”- by Marissa Meyer

Review

We all now know whom Cinder is and how important it is for her to get out of prison and to confront Levana Blackburn. In Scarlet, on the other hand, we do not hear much from Cinder until it is towards the end of the story. This book focuses on Scarlet, her background and her one sole mission to find her grandma. It is supposedly a retake on the “Little Red Riding Hood” story, however; it is far from it. I do not think that Marissa Meyer intended the story to be like that fairy tale either. There are some similarities, such as the red jacket or the wolf and the grandma; however, in this review on tales, you can see that Scarlet is not that sweet innocent little red riding hood. The wolves are after the grandma, but not the one wolf she eventually falls in love with in the story. The entire book is connecting pieces from the past and blending it with the future.

I found Scarlet very tomboyish. Apparently working on a farm and being abandoned by her father was hard on her and she had to learn to defend herself to survive. Her grandma kept a big secret from her, which I liked. That secret kept her from harm but also made her feel lonelier as she discovers that no one has ever been truthful to her. She is strict, harsh and attempts to hide behind a self-created shield. She does not like to show any emotions of which could jeopardize her stone image.

I liked Michelle Benoit’s story, and how it was all connected to the puzzle, we have been trying to put together from Cinder. This book introduces Throne. He is the “Ryder” character we all know from “Rapunzel.” He is just as funny and a bad boy of course. He brought out a lighter side of the story since Scarlet is almost always angry, harsh and just to the point. I am glad that Throne was in this book, and I think it was a good move from the writer to mix the three characters and slowly move us on to the third book “Cinder.”

Written by Jeyran Main

Here is how you can buy this book on Amazon:

Self Blossom by David Russell (Book Review #301)

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Jeyran Main

Self blossom is a romantic fiction novel about Selene. Selene is on vacation in Central America. She meets Hudson and that is when her journey begins. Her friend Janice is criticized when she tries to provide some advice to Selene but, there is more than what meets the eye with Selene. She has things in the past that tangle with her current affairs. Selene is a deep thinker and is probably felt as a little self-obsessed.

The story has a subtle poetic literary standard to it. The main character is not as likable or in many aspects relatable to a woman and that I believe sums up the reason why the story may not resonate with a lot of readers. The book is a combination of a romantic setting with the added erotic literature description with a sprinkle of a woman’s liberation.

What the book did possess was a very sweet, sensual, dreamy and romantic side to it that fiction lovers would appreciate. The work is well written and I believe it complimented the genre it is relevant to. I believe the strongest aspect about this book was its world setting. Selene has so many thoughts and poetic discussion with herself that it was very easy to envision the surroundings she was in.

I recommend this book to romance readers.

Written by Jeyran Main

Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class by Bikram Choudhury: Reviewed by da-AL

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Jeyran Main

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“These people are nuts,” I thought when I first heard about Bikram yoga.

Little did I know…

That I’d be doing it myself a couple of years later — desperate for anything that would make me feel like I was living rather than dying.

Cancer. That’s what drove me to try anything — even Bikram! I’d found a lump, had it biopsied, had gotten the terrible news, and now, several days later, cancer was all I could think of, day and night, night and day. 24/7? Hell no. More like 48/7.

Bikram is tough — the heat, the poses. All the classes are for beginners, but just getting through the heat definitely takes some kind of strength of character — or in my case, absolute end-of-the-rope desperation — to get through.

The poses are challenging, but to their credit, they’re only as challenging as one decides to make them. They’re beginner level or advanced level — all the same poses — just depending on how hard you elect to push yourself.

I pushed myself as if my life depended on those poses because they did. My mental health decimated by cancer, Bikram made me focus. Each 90-minute class was a vacation — being forced to get through that heat, to truly listen to the instructors because they rarely show — made me not think about cancer. What a relief! As treacherous those 90 minutes were, they were also a refuge. A respite from contemplating about the myriad decisions I needed to make and from contemplating my grim situation. I’m not so good at meditation, at the time worse than ever at it, so the classes forced me into laser focus!

In those 90 minutes, body, mind, and soul were simultaneously pummeled and sweat purified into submission. As my body became strong, balanced, flexible, and focused, so did my mind and spirit.

“Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class,” by Bikram Choudhury with the help of Bonnie Jones Reynolds, helped speed the process.

It’s just the best! Everything one could want in such a book! Without wasting a lot of ink, paper, and the reader’s time, it engages, explains the background and because. Then it gets to the 26 poses, each with their own succinct background and because. Those magical 26 poses! Designed to address every single part of the body, “head to toes, bones to skin,” as Bikram extols.

There’s a lot of pictures for each pose, some modeled by people who were known by most everyone back in the 1970s. Picture Dick of the Smothers Brothers in what was then referred to as a ‘European style bathing suit,’ doing yoga before everyone was a yogi.

Thank goodness for the non-celebs in it too. They illustrate how women and men, oldsters and youngsters, huge and petite, can all do this yoga! Simple, direct, straightforward, and best of all, inspiring.

Here’s where I talk more about cancer and about the wonder of public libraries that house many more marvels besides this book.

Written by da-AL

da-AL, an Emmy award-winning journalist. Read more of her writing and stay tuned for when her adult literary fiction novel, “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat,” will be published at her blog, HappinessBetweenTails.WordPress.com

Drone World by Jim Kochanoff (Book Review #34)

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Jeyran Main

9 Comments

Here is a brave, curious girl, living in a world of which drones follow and control their every move. The whole justice system is run based on the evidence these cameras, satellites and most importantly, drones offer in court. No one knows where drones are made, maintained and come from. No one is even allowed to ask who or what is controlling these drones. Read More

Today I think i’ll be…. by Marion Nadeau (Book Review #300)

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Jeyran Main

Today I think I’ll be… is a children’s book demonstrating how a child’s imaginary life appears in the eyes of an adult. While the images are photographs of a real child in the real world, her mind is imagining being a certain animal every day.

In this book, Aubrey imagines being a flamingo. She decides to have a picnic with her other imaginary animal friends at the lake. I enjoyed the fact that the literature font appeared to be handwritten.

The book also has fun facts about animals adding an educational touch to this story.

I recommend this book to parents and children that love animals.

Written by Jeyran Main