Book Review: There's a Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse: And Other Ways Motherhood Changes Us

There's a Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse: And Other Ways Motherhood Changes Us

by Jessie Clemence

Link to Amazon

Publisher: Discovery House

Pages: 208

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

There’s no doubt about it! Motherhood changes your life—mentally, emotionally, and physically. Find practical insights and biblical wisdom to help you display humility, patience, and love in the book There’s a Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse. With a casual tone and sense of humor Jessie Clemence creatively expresses challenges faced by moms as she explores God’s perspective on motherhood and shares her personal experiences as a mother of two. Includes a funny quiz, interesting interviews with moms, study questions, and more

My Rating:

2 out of 5 Stars

My Review:

With the title and the opening paragraphs, I was expecting something a little different than I received. The title is very humorous and i think it was billed as being a very look on Parenting and Motherhood. Instead this book was passages of Scripture and how she applies them to her life.

It was not the book for me, although I am sure that there are others out there who would appreciate her view on life and the way religious text is important to how she raises her kids. It felt a little more preachy than was anticipated based on the synopsis.

There were some aspects that I found positive; she has celiac disease and so do I so I can relate to those passages although I dont think they were as well described or flushed out as I would prefer. And I also found her candor relating to depression post diagnosis and post child to be refreshing.

R.I.P. Tom Clancy (1947-2013)

I am very saddened by the death of Mr. Tom Clancy. His books had a surprisingly large impact on my life, more so than they theoretically should.

I was and am a huge Tom Clancy fan primarily thanks to my Father who also passed away this year. Although he and I had our differences, we could always fall back and discuss which Tom Clancy book we were reading and what we thought of it. And although they weren't perfect as of late, we could also discuss the movies based on the books.

It has been sad over the years to watch more and more books with Tom Clancy's name on them, no longer be truly written by the man himself. And I can only assume that there will be more future books written that invoke his name as well.

In honor of Tom Clancy, here is my Top 5 List of his books:

1. Patriot Games - the book that started it all for me, read before I saw the movie. This cemented by love for Jack Ryan and his family.

2. Debt of Honor- a real game changer for Jack Ryan.

3. Executive Orders- the follow-up to Debt of Honor. And although it may not be as good, it is considered part 2.

4. Rainbow Six - John Clark at his absolute finest and made me afraid to attend a professional sporting event

5. Hunt For Red October- honestly I did read this after I saw the movie, and if anything, it helped the book seem so much more real and alive.

Honorable mention goes out to the Op Center series. Although this was just created by and not written by Tom Clancy, it remains a favorite of mine.

Book Review: Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

http://www.amazon.com/Rules-of-Civility-ebook/dp/B004IYJDVG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380723477&sr=8-1&keywords=rules+of+civility

Publisher: Vikiing Adult

Pages: 335

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a tempered smile, happens to sit at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a yearlong journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool toward the upper echelons of New York society and the executive suites of Condé Nast--rarefied environs where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve.

Wooed in turn by a shy, principled multi-millionaire and an irrepressible Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, befriended by a single-minded widow who is a ahead of her time,and challenged by an imperious mentor, Katey experiences firsthand the poise secured by wealth and station and the failed aspirations that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her life, she begins to realize how our most promising choices inevitably lay the groundwork for our regrets.

My Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

My Review:

Rules of Civility is an interesting look at the world of the 1930's and how to rise up in society. At times, I really loved this book and couldn't put it down and at other times it lost my interest. I was really interested in the characters and wish that the book was longer and lent more time to the inner mindset of Tinker especially. The book could have also benefited by a bit more exploration into the romantic aspects, it left much to the imagination and reading between the lines which may have been intended.

The ending left me both satisfied and unsatisfied, happy with some outcomes and yet perplexed by others that no time were spent on. And yet, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

The time period and Manhattan are two additionally characters in the story and perhaps the most intriguing.

Recipe Review #1: Pioneer Woman's "Knock You Naked Brownies" - Contains Gluten

The Review: Pioneer Woman's "Knock You Naked Brownies"

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/05/knock-you-naked-brownies/

My Rating:
8 out of 10

Ingredients vs. What I actually used (in purple):

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I used Good Old Betty Crocker and I only found a 15.25 oz box)
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans (I only got 1/2 a cup and it was fine)
• 1/3 cup Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (additional)(Just plan on using 3/4 cups and you'll be fine)
• 1/2 cup Butter, Melted 
• 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped 
• 1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 
• 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar (Not necessary)

The Recipe Deets w/Commentary:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick. (Mixture is very thick and literally comes together in a pinch. I seriously used an over sized fork to mix everything and it all came together fine.)

HIT READ MORE BELOW TO CONTINUE THE REVIEW...

This is Me: Jenna

Hello people of the internet, my name is Jenna.

Unlike my sister, I do not have Celiac disease. I am just your average every-day gluten addict. My job here is to test out recipe's and review them... heads up, it's going to be fantastic.

Here's our thinking: it's so easy for the likes of The Pioneer Woman and Rick Bayless to mix some ingredients together bake, saute, whatever and not worry so much how it'll turn out the first go around. Chances are, they have tons of ingredients on hand so if they screw up, big deal, right?

Well for most of us, unless you're Oprah (OMG hi Oprah! I love you!) this isn't the case. I don't know about you, but when I cook something I pretty much have one shot at it. If the recipe is a fail then I'll be eating bread and jam again all the while cursing that I've just wasted another $20 for the honor of using my garbage disposal. As fun as it is worrying that'll you'll accidentally stick your hand into the disposal while it's moving thereby leaving you horrible mangled in this freak accident, it's just not worth it.

What does this mean for you, you ask? Well my silly cyber friends, it means we'll test out the recipe's for you, post photos of what the food is actually going to look like and not sugar-coat shit... unless of course the recipe calls for it... and by God it'd better be powdered sugar coated shit...

Book Review: Walt Disney: An American Original by Bob Thomas

Publisher: Disney Editions

Pages: 384

Source: Purchased on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-An-American-Original/dp/0786860278

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

WALT DISNEY

From a small town in Missouri to the hearts of people throughout the world... from Mickey Mouse to the City of Tomorrow...

A TALE OF MAGIC

Father of Minnie, Donald and Goofy, creator of Bambi, Pluto and Dumbo, producer of Fantasia, Snow White and Mary Poppins, founder of his own fantasy empire - Disneyland and Disney World.

A STORY OF SUCCESS

Here is the fabulous rags-to-riches tale of the wizard of animation - that warm-hearted, sharp-witted, entrepreneurial genius. Here are the sometimes overwhelming odds he faced and the brilliantly bold ways he overcame them. Here is the man who brought color and sound to animation, laughter and hilarity to the screen, and top-rate entertainment into every nation in the world

My Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars

My Review:

I should preface this by saying that I was already a huge Disney fan and I remain a huge Disney fan.

This book is the perfect read for a fan of Disney who wishes to know more about the man and how it all started. He was not a perfect man and he had his flaws, and the book doesn’t shy away from revealing some of them. But he was also a genius, a man who pushes the envelope and made the entertainment industry stretch and grow.

Although i loved learning more about the building of Disneyland and the planning for Walt Disney World, it was most interesting to learn about how it all started. Like my other favorite biography subject (Abraham Lincoln) , Mr. Disney overcame many failures and struggles before finally succeeding.

Walt Disney Studios at wartime was also fascinating. The change in the worlds landscape was felt everywhere and nobody, no matter how famous, was immune to the changes and struggles that war brings.

And at the end of this book, i teared up as the world lost the man who died before he could finish his next project, Disney World and EPCOT

Book Review: Kenobi by John Jackson Miller

http://www.amazon.com/Kenobi-Star-Wars-Jackson-Miller/dp/0345546830

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The greatest hero in the galaxy faces his toughest challenge yet: He must stop being Obi-Wan-and become Crazy Old Ben. For fans of movie-related novels like Darth Plagueis!

In this original novel set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes to the aid of the residents of Tatooine during his exile. But he struggles with his new mission when he realizes that protecting Luke Skywalker-the last hope of the galaxy-means setting aside his compassion and his Jedi warrior training, for the future of the galaxy lies not with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but with a mystical desert recluse known only by the name of Crazy Old Ben

My Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

My Review:

I was very excited when I heard about the plot of this book. Who doesn’t want to know what Obi-Wan did during his 18 years on Tatooine, and why does he look so old?!? Plus this is billed as a Western which is a genre I have not read much about.

This was a fun book, although i would love to know how then spent the next 17 years and 9 months of his time on Tatooine. I was under the impression that this book would cover the whole time but it does not. That being said, it was a fun Western story about life on Tatooine and a more in depth look at the Sand People.

Not a spoiler but they did somewhat address the issue of his aging between the movies, which made me chuckle out loud.

Kenobi was a quick and enjoyable read and left the story open for more Kenobi tales.