Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Review: Doodletopia: Cartoons by Christopher Hart

Title: Doodletopia: Cartoons
Author: Christopher Hart
Format: Paperback
Source: Blogging for Books

I am a doodler. And I love cartoons.  And while I may be an expert at drawing random things in the margins of my notebooks, to-do lists, and whatever is handy, I am not so great at drawing cartoons or anything that even comes close the pictures in this book. I know my limitations.  But I saw this book and hoped that I’d learn some tips for improving my doodles.

Doodletopia: Cartoons aims to inspire your creativity with activities and tips to improve your doodling and skills at drawing cartoons. With prompts and instructions on how to draw different characters, scenes, and other things, the book is fun and informative.  There is even a section on doodling cartoon letters.  

And what I love is that there are also blank figures, spaces, and forms for you to let your imagination and creativity fly by completing the doodle or adding your own. You can use the tips the author give and create your own raccoon cartoon or draw a high-flying cheerleader.  

There are so many ways to have fun and use this book.  I do wish that the author had used a lighter shade of blue (or even another lighter color) on the fill-in/create-your-own prompts because the blue is hard to cover up with some colors, but other than that I have no complaints and look forward to doodling my heart out.

My Rating: 4 ½ stars

I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

SBPT 2016: Living in a World of Book Quotes


Welcome to another week of the Summer Blog Promo Tour!
Today my guest is Jaclyn from Living in a World of Book Quotes!
Like me, Jaclyn LOVES book quotes and loves to post them on her blog along with her book reviews!
Today she shares a few of her favorites here with you...




1. “If nothing changes, nothing changes. If you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to keep getting what you're getting. You want change, make some.” 
― Courtney C. Stevens, The Lies About Truth

2. “Happiness was getting stuck with someone and never feeling stuck.” 
― Courtney C. Stevens, The Lies About Truth





3. “That's always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people want to be around someone because they're pretty. It's like picking your breakfeast cereals based on color instead of taste.” 
John Green, Paper Towns

4. “I didn’t need you, you idiot. I picked you. And then you picked me back.” 
John Green, Paper Towns







5. “At some point, you just pull off the Band-Aid, and it hurts, but then it's over and you're relieved.” 
John Green, Looking for Alaska







Those were great quotes!
Be sure to check out Jaclyn's site for more quotes, reviews, and more!
I am over there today sharing a few of my favorite quotes from books.  
And be sure to follow her twitter and instagram!

What about you? Do you have any favorite quotes from books?

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Blogger Summer Reading Program Week Three!

Only one week left in Bekka and Whitley’s Blogger Summer Reading Challenge…and I was able to meet my weekly goal and finish my two books (and more) during this past third week!

Song of Summer by Laura Lee Anderson

My reviews will be posted the first week of August when I post my thoughts on all of my Summer Reading books, but I really enjoyed these books. I am grateful for this challenge because I might not have read them yet if not for the challenge.




As for the last week of the challenge, my final reading choices are:

The Big Summer by Jamie B. Laurie
&
Five Summers by Una LaMarche

Wish me luck!  What are you reading this week?

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Giveaway: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

A few weeks ago I reviewed Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler.
A shipping snafu caused me to end up with an extra copy of the book and I decided to give away the extra copy here on the blog.


Enter the rafflecopter below to win your own copy of Vinegar Girl!
Giveaway ends Wednesday, July 27!
**US Only! (sorry)** 
Winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond. 
If no response is received, another winner will be chosen.
Blog is not responsible for any lost or damaged packages.
No purchase necessary.

This was a fun retelling of a Shakespeare classic.
Do you have a favorite Shakespeare play or adaptation?


Sunday, July 17, 2016

SBPT 2016: Quality Fangirls


The Summer Blogger Promo Tour continues to roll on and today let's welcome Nicole and Sophia from Quality Fangirls!

About Nicole and Sophia (from their blog):
Nicole and Sophia have been friends since 6th grade (even though Sophia doesn't really remember it). They've had fights and have drifted apart some where in between but now they won't stop talking. Nicole really wouldn't stop talking about books and so she decided they should start a book blog together. They also fangirl a lot about movies, TV shows and sometimes video games (even though Nicole only plays Kingdom Hearts, oh and SIMS!).

I am very pleased to say that Nicole and Sophia have decided to combine two of my favorite fandoms...Harry Potter and Disney...and sort some familiar characters into their Hogwarts Houses!
Happy Sorting!

***

We are here today on Jennifer's blog to sort the characters from one of our favorite Disney movies ever, Lilo and Stitch! Now these are some of our favorite characters and we have thought really hard on which houses they all belong to. Now, this is just OUR opinion, feel free to share your sorting too!

  Gryffindor

Nani
How is Nani not a Gryffindor? Nani has had to battle her way through countless occurrences throughout the movie in order to keep Lilo safe with her, and that takes guts. Being a guardian of a sister is hard enough, but when you have to find a job while people are threatening to take her away? Nani doesn't budge, she tried and she tried. And when Lilo was taken by Gantu, and she was faced with these aliens she never even knew existed, she demanded they get her back. Didn't even flinch. That's a true Gryffindor right there, facing the unknown unflinching.



Stitch
Stitch may be a trickster, but he's totally a Gryffindor. Like the dude's so daring and courageous. Stitch tries his best to do the right thing and fight for the little guy. Remember that time he rescued the frog? Since Stitch is a trickster he can be a little reckless at times like some Gryffindors tend to be, sometimes you know accidentally lighting things on fire or throwing cars at bad guys (no big deal really). I'm pretty sure he jumped out of a moving flying space ship a few times too, if that's not daring I don't know what is. He also will stop at nothing to defend the people he loves, which is 100% shown throughout the whole franchise. Stitch doesn't need the sorting hat to know he's got the lions roar, plus he looks damn good in red (clearly why he picked the red bra).

Hufflepuff

Pleakley
Obviously Pleakley is a Hufflepuff. This part basically writes itself. He's ALLLLL ABOUT following and enforcing the rules (even if he's bad at it). He's super dedicated and hardworking, just look at how badly he wants to save the mosquitos. He's loyal to a fault of course. Always making sure his loved ones are safe and happy. He's always there for the tender moments, when you need a little pep talk. He's everyone's favorite mom, always making sure all the kids get along.



David
Oh David, he's everythinggggg Hufflepuff. He's sweet and kind, loyal, sticks to the rules and keeps thing just. David is always there for Nani, like to a fault (which he continues to do throughout the franchise). He rescued Stitch from drowning and basically didn't even question the fact that aliens were attacking or that Stitch was one. He's funny and so freaking cute. Like David is Bae material. He's so patient with Nani, he loves her for all of the messiness. Like a Hufflepuff David is kind so so kind and hard working. He's like Lilos older dad brother person? He looks out for everyone. Hufflepuff through and through.

Ravenclaw

Lilo
Lilo is the definition of a Ravenclaw. The first few scenes show just how curious she is about the world. She's always watching and observing, and not to mention she's sooooo clever. The things Nani has to put up with because Lilo comes up with these obstacles that prevent Nani from getting into the house? For someone Lilo's age that's pretty impressive. And her curiosity and openness to strange things is what allowed her to pick stitch. She didn't go for the typical dog, but she went for the strange one that talked and went on to explore more things about Stitch (like when he plays music out of his mouth, how did she even think about doing that???). If you want to know something strange, your best bet is to ask Lilo. In a way she reminds me of Luna.

Slytherin

Jumba
Hahah, Jumba is such a Slytherin. Coming up with experiments, trying to create the perfect one. Meaning he's so extremely ambitious, even if it was for destructive purposes. After turning over to the good side, he lost his evilness, but all his slithering traits still remained. He's extremely loyal to the ones he loves (especially his experiments) in the way that Slytherin's are protective over the ones they care about. And let's not forget Jumba's resourcefulness and readiness when it comes to last minute plans, like helping saving Lilo from Gantu. Really, Jumba just turned from a "bad" Slytherin to a "good" Slytherin, but is still a Slytherin non the less.

-Nicole and Sophia from Quality Fangirls

***
Thanks so much Nicole and Sophia!  That was so much fun to read!
I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.  What do you think...did they sort them into the right Houses?

Be sure to show them some love over at Quality Fangirls!
And follow them on Twitter and Instagram!

And be sure to check out all the stops on the tour...for a complete list click here!

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Blogger Summer Reading Program Week Two!

So another week has passed in Bekka and Whitley’s Blogger Summer Reading Challenge…and I was able to meet my weekly goal and finish my two books (as well as a few non-challenge books) this past week!
Yay!!!

&

I have decided that I am going to do a big wrap-up post(s) at the end of the month where I post my reviews of the “summer” books read during the challenge.  This way I have some time to think about what I just read rather than just rushing to write something that makes no sense (which I am likely to do if I post them right now).  But I WILL review them so be sure to come back to see what I thought (will say I LOVED The Square Root of Summer…definitely recommend it!!!).


As for next week’s Blogger Summer Reading Challenge goal…hoping to get these two read:


Looking forward to them both…such colorful covers.

So what is everyone else reading this summer?
Any recommendations?

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Card Game Review: Punderdome

Title: Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers
Inspired by: The Punderdome, a live game show created by Jo and Fred Firestone
For: 3 or More Players, Ages 12+
Source: Blogging For Books

I love and appreciate a good pun (and let’s be honest an occasional bad one).  I frequently make them…both intentionally and unintentionally (much to the dismay of my family and friends).  I also love playing games…my shelves are filled with board games, card games, travel games, computer games…well, you get it.  And Punderdome, a fun new card game, combines two of my favorite things.

Punderdome, inspired by a live game show that father-daughter duo Jo and Fred Firestone established in 2011 according to the info provided in the box, is a game where the best “punster” wins.  Packaged in this colorful little box are prompt cards, mini-note pads, a pun example card, along with the instructions explaining different types of puns.

With relatively easy-to-follow instructions, it seems like a pretty simple game to play as you try to come up with puns based on different prompts. There is a 90 second time limit, which I am not a big fan of (hard to be funny and think under pressure), but I guess you can always change that one (and really any of the rules) to better fit your group.

And while the game is listed for ages 12 and older, younger kids (and pun-lovers) will probably like some of the “punny” jokes printed on the backs of the prompt cards…you could spend a lot of time entertaining them (and yourself) just by reading those (I still haven't read them all 200 of them).

Overall, there appears to be a lot of room for creativity and for just having fun with this game even if you aren’t great at coming up with puns. I anticipate a lot of moaning and groaning over some good and not-so-good puns in the future. But for those who don’t enjoy them, you’ll probably want to steer clear of this card game.

However, to give you an idea of the type of family I come from, I told my dad about this game and his response was “That sounds like a lot of ‘pun!’” followed by “Just ‘pun-derful’!”  Looks like I found a game for our next family game night!

My Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

I received a free copy of this product in exchange for fair and honest review from Blogging for Books.