2015 – Page 28 – Cindy's Love Of Books

CD Review/ Rebel Heart by Madonna

Posted on March 13, 2015March 11, 2015 by Cindy

Band/Artist: Madonna
Title: Rebel Heart
Date: March 10th, 2015
Label: Interscope Records

Rebel Heart is Madonna’s 13th studio album. The album was produced by Madonna, Diplo, Kanye West, Billboard, Avicii, DJ Dahi and Blood Diamonds, Ryan Tedder, Toby Gad, and Ariel Rechtshald. There is collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Nas, Chance the Rapper and Mike Tyson and the album was recorded in NYC, London, and LA.

Its been awhile since I bought a Madonna cd and I have to say that after listening to this all week this will be one that I will go out and buy. Listening to the cd it brought me back to her earlier days and its got that whole vibe to it. Rebel Heart is definitely a Madonna cd because its her to a tee with the edge (and typical Madonna) as well as you hear the softer side of Madonna which I feel we haven’t heard in awhile.

Rebel Heart has 19 tracks. I should warn you in advance that there is some language and some inappropriate content on it that you might not want to have playing with young ones around. I took no offense to it because its Madonna!

Each song on Rebel Heart is so different from the one before it but as you are listening to the cd it all blends in and goes so well together.

With that being said I loved this album and I have to agree with People Magazine saying that this is Madonna’s best album in a decade. Some of my favorite songs are Living For Love, Ghosttown, Hold tight, Joan of Arc, Wash All Over Me, Best Night, Messiah and Rebel Heart.

I think if you liked Madonna in the early days you will love this cd just as much as I did. I honestly wasn’t sure how I would feel about it but I am happy that I got accepted to review this because I really enjoyed this cd and I know it will be something that I will be going out to get.

Rebel Heart Track List

01 “Living For Love”

02 “Devil Pray”

03 “Ghosttown”

04 “Unapologetic Bitch”

05 “Illuminati”

06 “Bitch I’m Madonna” (Feat. Nicki Minaj)

07 “Hold Tight”

08 “Joan Of Arc”

09 “Iconic” (Feat. Chance The Rapper & Mike Tyson)

10 “HeartBreakCity”

11 “Body Shop”

12 “Holy Water”

13 “Inside Out”

14 “Wash All Over Me”

15 “Best Night”

16 “Veni Vidi Vici” (Feat. Nas)

17 “S.E.X.”

18 “Messiah”

19 “Rebel Heart”

Ways to connect with Madonna:

www.madonna.com

www.instagram.com/madonna

www.twitter.com/madonna

www.youtube.com/madonna

REBEL HEART WORLD TOUR 2015

NORTH AMERICA / PUERTO RICO:

Date City Venue

Aug. 29 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena On Sale Mar. 9

Sept. 2 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena On Sale Mar. 16

Sept. 5 San Juan, PR Coliseo de Puerto Rico On Sale Mar. 21

Sept. 9 Montreal, QC Bell Centre On Sale Mar. 14

Sept. 12 Washington, DC Verizon Center On Sale Mar. 16

Sept. 16 New York, NY Madison Square Garden On Sale Mar. 9

Sept. 19 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center On Sale Mar. 9

Sept. 24 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center On Sale Mar. 16

Sept. 26 Boston, MA TD Garden On Sale Mar. 16

Sept. 28 Chicago, IL United Center On Sale Mar. 9

Oct. 1 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena On Sale Mar. 23

Oct. 3 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall On Sale Mar. 16

Oct. 5 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre On Sale Mar. 9

Oct. 8 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center On Sale Mar. 16

Oct. 11 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place On Sale Mar. 9

Oct. 14 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena On Sale Mar. 9

Oct. 17 Portland, OR MODA Center On Sale Mar. 23

Oct. 19 San Jose, CA SAP Center at San Jose On Sale Mar. 9

Oct. 22 Glendale, AZ Gila River Arena On Sale Mar. 23

Oct. 24 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena On Sale Mar. 16

Oct. 27 Los Angeles, CA Forum On Sale Mar. 16

I participated in the Madonna Rebel Heart album review program as a member of One2One Network. I was provided an album to review but all opinions are my own.

Meme/Waiting on Wednesday #10

Posted on March 11, 2015February 20, 2015 by Cindy

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine and its spotlights upcoming books that we are eagerly waiting for. I plan on including upcoming releases and books that are already released.

This week I am featuring:

“I used to be one of those girls. The kind who loved to deliver bad news. When I colored my hair, I imagined it seeping into my scalp, black dye pooling into my veins.

But that was the old Lacy. Now, when I cast spells, they are always for good.”

16-year-old Lacy believes that magic and science can work side by side. She’s a botanist who knows how to harness the healing power of plants. So when her father dies, Lacy tries to stay with her step-mother in Chico, where her magic is good and healing. She fears the darkness that her real mother, Cheyenne, brings out, stripping away everything that is light and kind.

Yet Cheyenne never stays away for long. Beautiful, bewitching, unstable Cheyenne who will stop at nothing, not even black magic, to keep control of her daughter’s heart. She forces Lacy to accompany her to Sacramento, and before long, the “old” Lacy starts to resurface.

But when Lacy survives a traumatic encounter, she finds herself faced with a choice. Will she use her powers to exact revenge and spiral into the darkness forever? Or will she find the strength to embrace the light?

On sale February 24, 2015 from Scholastic

Review/ The Algonquin Reader

Posted on March 10, 2015March 7, 2015 by Cindy

The Algonquin Reader Format: eARC
on February 11th, 2015

Description

Get an inside look at Algonquin’s outstanding forthcoming fiction with the Spring 2015 Algonquin Reader. Discover the inspiration behind each book through an original essay by the author. Then enjoy a free preview of each novel.

The Miracle Girl by Andrew Roe
On Sale April 21, 2015

“To believe or not to believe--that is the question facing all who are touched by the comatose ‘miracle girl’ at the swirling center of Roe’s dazzling debut. But more than an exploration of the mysteries of faith, it’s also the unforgettable story of one family’s struggle against tragedy. The result is an uplifting miracle of a book.” —Will Allison, author of Long Drive Home

The Daylight Marriage by Heidi Pitlor
On Sale May 5, 2015

“Hypnotically readable--I absolutely couldn’t put it down. The structure is brilliant, and I turned the pages with increasing dread. This book is terrific.” —Stephen King

Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
On Sale April 7, 2015

“Aline Ohanesian draws from her family’s own dark history to create a tender, powerful story of love and reclamation. A breathtaking and expansive work of historical fiction and proof that the past can sometimes rewrite the future.” —Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train

The Wisdom of Perversity by Rafael Yglesias
On Sale March 24, 2015

“The sly courage, the deft intelligence, and the fierceness of vision that we, his fans, have come to expect from a Raphael Yglesias novel all blaze brightly forth—and cast very dark shadows—in The Wisdom of Perversity.” —Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist

Dinner with Buddha by Roland Merullo
On Sale June 2, 2015

Algonquin’s long-awaited follow-up to the bestselling Breakfast with Buddha finds Otto Ringling and Mongolian monk Volya Rinpoche on another unexpected road trip of discovery.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

As I was sitting down to write my review I released that this is volume 4, how could I have possibly missed the previous editions?

I love it when book publishers put out these kinds of books because you get to read sneak peeks of upcoming books and what publishers are most excited about.

Algonquin has show cased five of their upcoming titles with release dates from March to June. If this is any indication of what books are coming out this spring we are all in for a treat.

I read all the little snippets and I have to say that I am really curious about The Miracle Girl by Andrew Roe and The Daylight Marriage by Heidi Pitlor.

The Miracle Girl by Andrew Roe is his debut novel. The book is told in many points of view such as the main character Annabelle, her mother, her estranged father and by the people who came to Annabelle seeking her help, guidance and healing.

Annabelle is an eight year old little girl who lies in a comalike state. She is unable to speak or move but there is something special about this little girl. There is more to this beautiful little girl that you want to read and discover.

Things change for Annabelle and her family when someone comes to visit and they walk away knowing that their live has changed. They quickly spread the word about this and before long people are flocking to her beside.

I can’t wait to read this because I am one of those people who believes in miracles.

This comes out April 21st and it will be in hardcover.

The second book that peaked my interest was The Daylight Marriage. I really liked this one because its complete opposites that were attracted to each other and over the course of their marriage things begin to change.

Hannah is a beautiful woman who could have any man she wanted and I mean anyone but she picked Lovell who is her complete opposite. I have to admit I was wondering at first at how would this work because she is sort of like the life of a party and he is very much the quiet guy you would see hiding in the corner somewhere out of the spotlight.

After first everything is hunky doory because its the newly wedded stage where everything is smelling like roses. Over the course of the years things begin to settle and the rose colored glasses come off and both are beginning to resent the other.

I think this will be an excellent read as its peaked my curiousity. The book comes out May 5th in hardcover.

Pretty Tea Unboxing

Posted on March 9, 2015March 9, 2015 by Cindy

I recently noticed on the side bar on my facebook page an ad for Pretty Tea for a mystery box of tea for $25. I was curious so I clicked on the link to find out what it was about.

Pretty Tea is a small business here in Montreal, QC that sells teas online. They have various green teas, black teas, white teas, rooibos tea, chai teas, herbal teas, oolong and mate teas in every possible flavor. You name it they probably have it.

I was very interested in the mystery box because for $25 (+shipping) you are suppose to get a package that weighs 250g and you will get an assortment of teas, herbal teas and sugar so I decided to take a chance and order the mystery box.

A fellow Canadian youtuber, Mandy who I followed raved about it and she got 9 bags of teas, some sugar rocks and samples so why not give it a chance and this is what I got:

The mystery box consisted of 9 assorted teas in 25g sized pouches, three samples and one bag of rock sugar.

Almond Cookie & Cherry Rose Sencha are green teas. Fruit Pop is a herbal tea.

The mystery box is no longer available but you can still order teas on the site. I am excited to try these yummy teas out. Be sure to check out upcoming What’s On Yours? to see what I am drinking and what I think of them.

Review/ Polarity In Motion

Posted on March 6, 2015March 7, 2015 by Cindy

Polarity in Motion by Brenda Vicars
Format: eBook
Published by Red Adept Publishing, LLC on December 1st 2014
Pages: 264
Buy on Amazon
Genres: Bullying, Dating & Sex, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, Social Issues, Young Adult

Fifteen-year-old Polarity Weeks just wants to live a normal life, but with a mother diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, that’s rarely easy. Her life gets exponentially more disastrous when her sixth-period history classmates start ogling a nude picture of her on the Internet. Polarity would never have struck such a shameless pose, but the photo is definitely of her, and she’s at a complete loss to explain its existence. Child Protective Services yanks her from her home, suspecting her parents. The kids at school mock her, assuming she took it herself. And Ethan, the boy she was really starting to like, backpedals and joins the taunting chorus. Surrounded by disbelief and derision on all sides, Polarity desperately seeks the truth among her friends. Only then does she learn that everyone has dark secrets, and no one’s life is anywhere near normal.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I love reading debut novels because you go into the book with no expectations. I have to say that after reading Polarity In Motion I will be on the look out for future books.

As you can tell I really enjoyed reading this. It was a a page turner and one that made me want to reach into the book and hug Polarity.

Polarity the main character is not your typcial 15 year old girl. She has to move constantly because her mother needs treatments for her borderline personality disorder so this forces her to always be the new girl in school trying to fit in. Polarity had to grow up earlier then she should have and I feel she never got the chance to be that kid everyone needs to be. I loved how strong she was and how she grew with the book.

As a mother I felt so bad for Polarity because for someone who was only 15 she had a whole lot of crap to deal with and she didn’t need that.

My heart broke when Polarity discovered a photo of herself online naked. She had no idea how it got there. She sees that its her but doesn’t remember even posing for it. Could it be real? Is someone playing with her? Even is calling her names in school, teachers are penalizing her and to top it off her own parents don’t believe her. How can her own parents not believe her?

Things only get worse when authorities get involved because they remove her from her own home because they think that her parents are involved. She is then forced to attend another school. Polarity life is turned upside down more then it has ever been before.

As a parent my first thought was to believe Polarity because she just didn’t seem like that kind of girl who would do something like that no matter how hard things were for her. I instantly said to myself someone has photo shopped her hed to the photo.

Thankfully there is one person who does and that is Ethan. A boy I wish had more of a story line. Will be still be a friend to Polarity and help her uncover the truth?

To check out other tour stops for this blog tour CLICK ON THIS and it will take you to the site and you can enter to win a prize.

March is National Reading Month

Posted on March 5, 2015March 3, 2015 by Cindy

Did you know that March is National Reading Month?

I always make reading and having books in our house a top priority and its been like that since day 1. Books are important to have and thankfully I am lucky that I am able to afford buying them and I never say no to a book although I really need to stop. Although I know if money was tight I would be going to the library to borrow them like I do in the summer time.

Did you know that millions of child go to bed each night without a bed time story? This was always part of our bedtime routine with my son. He would have his bath, a snack and then it was story time. This is something that we still sort of do but now Michael is old enough to read to himself so he will do that as we get ready for bed too.

Did you know that some children begin kindergarten having been read to as few as 25 hours, while their peers may have been read to as many as 1,000 hours? Every time you read to your child you are improving their learning advantage.

Did you know that by age four, low-income children have heard an average 32 million fewer words than their wealthy peers? Reading aloud is a key way to introduce new vocabulary.

This month Michael and I are pledging to read aloud for 15 minutes a day.

Do you plan on taking part?

Meme/Waiting on Wednesday #9

Posted on March 4, 2015February 20, 2015 by Cindy

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine and its spotlights upcoming books that we are eagerly waiting for. I plan on including upcoming releases and books that are already released.

This week I am featuring:

On sale April 28th, 2015 from Scholastic

Kody Keplinger returns to the world of The DUFF in this brand-new companion novel!

Sonny Ardmore is an excellent liar. She lies about her dad being in prison. She lies about her mom kicking her out. And she lies about sneaking into her best friend’s house every night because she has nowhere else to go.

Amy Rush might be the only person Sonny shares everything with — secrets, clothes, even a nemesis named Ryder Cross.

Ryder’s the new kid at Hamilton High and everything Sonny and Amy can’t stand — a prep-school snob. But Ryder has a weakness: Amy. So when Ryder emails Amy asking her out, the friends see it as a prank opportunity not to be missed.

But without meaning to, Sonny ends up talking to Ryder all night online. And to her horror, she realizes that she might actually like him. Only there’s one small catch: he thinks he’s been talking to Amy. So Sonny comes up with an elaborate scheme to help Ryder realize that she’s the girl he’s really wanted all along. Can Sonny lie her way to the truth, or will all her lies end up costing her both Ryder and Amy?

*I am super excited for this book to come out.*