Author: Cindy

(Meme) Sundays in Bed With….. #4

Posted on by Cindy

This is my fourth time taking part in Sundays In Bed With…. and I’m on a roll. Yea me LOL

The awesome blogger behind this is Kate from Midnight Book Girl   not only is she an awesome blogger but she is was one of my roommates for BEA. YAY!!!

Midnight Book Girl

Sundays In Bed With….is a meme I’ve started to share the book we’re spending the morning in bed with, or the one we’d like to stay curled up in bed with all Sunday if only our busy lives would allow! For fun, take a picture of the book in your bed, or simply write up a post or comment below sharing your Sundays in Bed With book. Quoted from Kate’s blog

Sadly I won’t get to spend as much time in bed reading this:

because I will be heading out to church this morning for the children’s mass because after that I will be able to pick up Michael’s first communion pictures. They have finally come in  almost a month and a half after the event.

I just finished reading Abandon and I promised Tina from Bookshipper that I would read and review Underworld for her.

What are you reading this Sunday?

Hope everyone had a good Sunday and that you managed to curl up with a book today. Thanks Kate for hosting this fantastic meme. See you soon

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

On a nice summer afternoon a few local Montreal book bloggers meet up

Posted on by Cindy

It feels like I haven’t done a blogger meet up post in awhile hasn’t it?

For the past month or so we have been trying to nail down a date, time and place that would work for everyone but sadly that didn’t happen this time. It seemed like dates that were offered didn’t work out for some and then finally we seemed to pick a date and that date was today, Saturday.

This time it was a really small turn out. There was only six of us and we met up at a St Huberts restaurant in the east end of the city. A few of us wanted to avoid going into down town Montreal because of the numerous construction happening on the highway and in various parts of the city as well as the fear of student protests.

Yes student protests are still happening due to the increase in the tutition fees. So please don’t get me started on this.

Anyways your are probably wondering who came right? Well there was Tina/Bookshipper , Cindy B/Tynga’s Reviews (minus her adorable little baby), Linda/Better With Books , Laura/Library of Clean Reads , Lucy/Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf and myself.

It was a fun afternoon of exchanging books, talking about BEA, talking about what happened at ALA and a bunch of other unrelated book stuff. I love being able to get away for a few hours and hang out with my booking friends.

So here is the books I came home with:

From Laura:
Reasons to be Happy by Katrina Kittle

From Tina:
-a sample of marcell innovation gene youth day care cream & Olay Regenerist wrinkle Revolution complex
-Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh (this is book 2 coming out in August)
-Dare Me by Megan Abbott (this comes out in July)
-Survive by Alex Morel (this comes out in August)
Thank you Tina for the books and the samples

From Tynga (We did a book exchange)
-Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (I was excited with Tynga offered me this because she has raved about this series)
-Illuminate by Aimee Agresti
-The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy (I read this when it came out in 2010 and I think I gave my copy away and I really wanted a copy to keep)
-Above by Leah Bobet
-Under Suspicion by Hannah Jayne

Thanks so much Tynga for doing a book exchange with me. I hope you enjoy the books I got for you.

Then finally from Lucy:
-This is not a test by Courtney Summers (this was a total surprise until I got Lucy’s email early this morning. Thanks so much hun love it)
-Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Falon
-Evercrossed by Elizabeth Chandler ( I believe this is the first book in the series)
-The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney (this is the second book in the series)
-blood and silver by James R. Tuck

Thanks so much Lucy for the books it was a total surprise. Love them.

It was so much fun seeing everyone again and hopefully we don’t wait to long for the next meet up.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and being able to talk to others about books and stuff is so much fun.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Who would you vote for? Donkey or Elephant

Posted on by Cindy

Title: Vote for Me!
Author: Ben Clanton
Illustrator: Ben Clanton
Pub Date: April 2012
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Pages: 40

Source: Read in the school library.

About the book:
Hey, you! Yes, you with the dazzling smile! The donkey wants your vote. So does the elephant. And each will do just about anything to win your support. Brag? Sure! Flatter? Absolutely! Exaggerate, name-call, make silly promises and generally act childish? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Soon, the tension mounts, and these two quarrelsome candidates resort to slinging mud (literally) and flinging insults. And what happens when the election results are in? Well, let”s just say the donkey and the elephant are in for a little surprise — and a certain bewhiskered, third-party candidate is in for a first term.

Vote for Me! is a timely satire of American politics, but it”s a story readers of all nationalities and ages will recognize. Comical, retro illustrations (in shades of blue and red, of course) are completely winning, and the duelling duo”s insult-laden exchanges promise to have readers laughing out loud.

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Just before school ended I got to read this to the library classes. This was a new book that was being put into the school library and the kids loved it. (The grades ranged from 3 to 6) They were all laughing and taking part in the book while I was reading it.

The book is about a donkey and elephant (who are friends) and they are running in an election and they want your votes. They each give reason’s why you should vote (silly but funny reasons) from them and it turns sour pretty quickly with throwing mud at each other and calling names.

Then when the results come in donkey and elephant are in for the shock of their life. Who will win? Well you will have to run out and get the book to find out.

When I asked what they liked about the book they said the illustrations, the ease to read it and the surprise ending. The illustrations were very well done and very simple which was nice because they didn’t distract the kids. Plus the surprise ending because you didn’t see that one coming although a few of the kids did.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) I Suck At Girls

Posted on by Cindy

Title: I Suck At Girls
Author: Justin Halpern
Pub Date: May 2012
Publisher: It Books (division of Harper Collins USA)
Pages: 192

Source: I received a copy of this when I went to Book Expo America 2012.

About the book:
“Human beings fear the unknown. So, whatever”s freaking you out, grab it by the balls and say hello. Then it ain”t the unknown anymore and it ain”t scary. Or I guess it could be a shitload scarier.”

Fans of the #1 bestseller Sh*t My Dad Says will recognize the always-patient voice of Justin Halpern”s dad as it crackles through the pages of this hysterical new book. The story begins when Justin takes his dad out to lunch to announce that he”s decided to propose to his girlfriend.

“You”ve been dating her for four years,” his dad replies. “It ain”t like you found a parallel fucking universe.”

But eventually he gives Justin some advice: that he should take a day off and think back over everything he”s learned in life about women, relationships, and himself before making his decision. And that”s just what Justin does-revisiting everything from his disastrous childhood crushes to the night he finally lost his virginity while working as a dishwasher at Hooters.

I Suck at Girls is full of his dad”s patented brand of wisdom. But it”s also full of new characters just as funny as his dad-from his brother, who provides insights into wedding night rituals (“You stand in one corner of the room, and she stands in the other. You each take off one piece of clothing at a time”) to his first boss, who warns Justin to man up: “That”s what a man does. He takes his shots and then he scrubs the shit out of some dishes.” The result is a pilgrim”s progress through the landscape of sex and love-by one of the funniest writers at work today.

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When I heard that Justin Halpern was going to be at BEA promoting this book I Suck At Girls I knew this was one author signing I wanted to make it a point to get too. I read and laughed at his first book Sh*t My Dad Says.  I was lucky enough to get to meet Justin and talk with him for a few minutes to get my book signed.

This was a super quick book to read and I read it in one sitting within a few hours.

I Suck At Girls is Justin’s second book. The book opens up with Justin and his dad having lunch. He tells his dad that he is planning on proposing to his life time girlfriend, Amanda. (Who is the focus of the book and dedicated to) Justin is hoping I think for some big words of wisdom from his dad but true to his dad’s past we simply get

Good for you. I think I ‘m going to get the romaine and watercress salad. I know I always get it, but it’s tasty, and what the hell, right?

I loved how that announcement went sort of over his dad’s head and he was so blases about it.  Thankfully his dad does come through and offers his story about when he proposed to Justin’s mother. Which I have to say is I would love to meet his dad. I am sure it must be so much fun to hang out with him.

So through the course of the book Justin takes us on a journey into his past with his encounters with women he has had over the course of his life. He is very candiate and talks about the girl he basically terrorized in grade two. I felt so bad for that little girl.

One thing I was surprised to find out was that Justin had his fair share of problems with the girls and wasn’t the ladies man you might think he was. He didn’t get his first kiss until they were on the way home from homecoming.

Even though he encountered problems in the end he did find his one true love. I think all the problems you have growing up makes you a better and stronger person.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Meme) Sundays in Bed With…….. #3

Posted on by Cindy

This is my third time taking part in Sundays In Bed With…. shame on me, right?

The awesome blogger behind this is Kate from Midnight Book Girl   not only is she an awesome blogger but she is was one of my roommates for BEA. YAY!!!

Midnight Book Girl

Sundays In Bed With….is a meme I’ve started to share the book we’re spending the morning in bed with, or the one we’d like to stay curled up in bed with all Sunday if only our busy lives would allow! For fun, take a picture of the book in your bed, or simply write up a post or comment below sharing your Sundays in Bed With book. Quoted from Kate’s blog

Sadly I won’t get to spend as much time in bed reading this:

because I will be heading up north (about an hour from me) to go to a church picnic with my inlaws. Although I had to admit that it will be put in my bag just in case I am able to get some time to read.

I have been loving this series from Kristine and I know I am missing some of her previous books and I am hoping to order them over the summer to get caught up. Its a retelling of some fairy tales.

What are you reading this Sunday?
Hope everyone had a good Sunday and that you managed to curl up with a book today. Thanks Kate for hosting this fantastic meme. See you soon

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Sweet Delight Divalicious June Sample Box

Posted on by Cindy

I recently heard about a Canadian company Sweet Delight from another blogger and I checked it out and I loved the premise behind this east coast company.  They are from New Brunswick, my home town province so I had to support them, right?

The boxes are sent out four times a year to match the seasons. Not only do they work with big name brands but they also work with smaller independent brands. Plus these are Canadian businesses. Which is a great way to promote little businesses and Canadian products you might not have heard of before.

The box costs $26.00 per box and its only four times a year so they will email you when the next box is available. The summer box sold out within 2 hours so this is a high demand box.

Also shipping and handling is included so you don’t have to pay any additional costs. I also have to say that they ship really fast. When I ordered it at the end of May I was only expecting it to come while I was in NYC but was pleasantly surprised a few days before leaving that it had come.

Like any other boxes you subscribe to you could possibly see different items in different boxes and I did see that with another blogger I follow. We got alot of the same stuff but at the same time alot of different stuff. They said you should expect to receive 10-18 samples and I think I got way more then that.

I won’t list all the contributors to the box but if you are curious you can CLICK ON THIS to see the list and check out previous boxes.

I know this picture probably doesn’t do the box justice.

The box was well packed and the items were well wrapped. The box was 8″x 6″ x 6″.

As you can see it was filled and I was surprised that it was as heavy as it was. I was pleasantly surprised at the box of goodies I got. It was literally like Christmas morning because you got presents and have no idea what they are.

I saw past boxes and was totally amazed. I would definitely order the fall box after getting this one.


The above picture includes:
www.willowtreecollection.com and its their Bugs Away Coconut Lime Body Mist. It smells really good. This is 100% organic. (2 oz)

–www.sparesource.ca sent some coconut hand cream (4ml), vanilla sugar hand cream (4ml), moisture foor cream (4ml), vanilla grapefruit hand & body wash (7ml) and a body lotion (7ml), These products are all cruelty free. www.getfresh.net sent a black current body creme and 100% Pure sent a honey almond body cream that is 100% natural.

del sol color changing nail polish in the shade Island Fever (15ml), Bronnley guest soap in the scent Pink Bouquest (25g) [I loved the smell of this], shea butter concealer from www.giella.com [a perfect size for traveling], monkey farts lip balm from http://ReNewellBodyCare.etsy.com [I love this and use it all the time. I like the scent of this], a lip zip pink shimmer lip balm from lipzipz.com [i loved that there was a little zipline to it so you could hook it onto something and not loose it], from  http://www.aomcosmetics.com/ they sent a mineral lip color pencil [not quite sure of the shade but its a dark maroonish but it didn’t go on as dark as it looks], a flower shaped charm from femm.ca , another charm from thecuriouscupcake.etsy.com [it looks like peas in a pod – too cute], cute mixer earrings from www.etsy.com/shop/Mindiemay and then bath seeds from www.blmgifts-bronnleyusa.com [love the smell of this]

Another product from 1005 Pure is the green apple nourishing body cream, another Ge Fresh product in grapfruit body cream, sweet orange and vanilla body butter from amedaya.com, avocado body lotion (59.1ml) [love this],  lemongrass body lotion (all natural 6oz) with a herbal lip balm (7gr) and aromatherapy herbal soap, organic olive oil lotion, sage lemongrass mini soap, grapefruit margarita soap, down to earth shampoo bar [which smells yummy], maple syrup soap [another one that smells yummy], omega moisturizer with almond and hemp oil, and finally a pink bar of soap.

The last picture shows all the samples I got in the box. Oops two things which I don’t think were included in the pictures were a gourmet scented pencil in the scent of orange and a pen in the scent of carmel corn. Which smell really good when you use them.

I am really looking forward to the fall box.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Wacko Academy (book 1)

Posted on by Cindy


Title: Wacko Academy (book 1)
Author: Faith Wilkins
Publisher: Arundel Publishing
Pages: 198
Pub Date: April 2012

Source: I received a copy of Wacko Academy from the Publisher for my honest and sincere review. I then obtained a signed copy at BEA 2012.

About the book:
You think your school is bad? Eighth grader Lily Mason has enough hassles dealing with siblings, cranky teachers and the cute new guy in school. But when she’s kidnapped and brought to the elite Wackerson (Wacko) Academy, it will take all of her smarts and courage to outwit the school’s treacherous owner – even if it means teaming up with his infuriating and unnecessarily handsome son. At once funny, harrowing and romantic, Wacko Academy is a book that will enthrall and entertain adult and young adult readers alike!

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Wacko Academy is Faith Wilkins debut novel. When I was offered this book I knew I wanted to read it because I love supporting debut authors and ones who are young. Faith Wilkins is fifteen years old.

I was really impressed at how well written it was. Not once did I think that this was written by a fifteen year old. Faith did an excellent job with her first book because I literally read it in one sitting. I did pass it around to a few people and they all said the same thing that this was an excellent book and this author has a promising career.

Wacko Academy is the first in a middle grade series called “Wacko Academy”. The second book in the series is Camp Wacko: The Drones of Summer and its schedule to come out in September 2012.

As the book begins we meet Lily Mason who is an incredibly intelligent eighth grader with friends and a fairly normal life. She is basically you girl next door.

No story would be complete without a handsome young boy (even in middle grade books) and so enters Dustin. I’m not sure how I felt about Dustin at first because for some reason I knew something was up when he started to pay close attention to Lily. I was wondering what it was and how quickly would it be revealed.

The two soon became friends. After that we quickly realize that there was more to Dustin then meets the eye and sadly Lily doesn’t see what Dustin is really like but she will soon find out.

Dustin’s dad wants Lily and the plan is to kidnap her and the plan is set into motion although I don’t think it was going fast enough for Dustin’s dad. Once Lily realizes she has been kidnapped, her entire world turns upside down. She quickly realizes that there is more the Wacko Academy that meets the eye. Wacko is like a prison because once you are in you are never leaving.

Lily makes it known to everyone that she doesn’t want to be there and more so when she witnesses more then anyone should. Will Lily be able to get out alive or is she there for life?

I am so excited to read Camp Wacko and I am anxiously awaiting its release.

While I was at BEA I had the chance to meet Faith and she was super sweet and I totally gushed about her book.

I want to send a thank you to Arundel Publishing for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. I loved the book and plan on sharing with my son’s school. I look forward to the second book coming out this fall.

Thank you Faith for writing such a great middle grade book. I wish you all the success in the world.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.