Review: "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner"

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

2 out of 5 stars

Okay, yes I will admit it. I have read the Twilight books. *cringes* Please don't run away screaming! I read them before the movies came out and haven't reread them since. And honestly? I enjoyed them. But the movies have pretty much ruined them for me. Or more exactly, Kristen Stewart has ruined the movies AND the books for me. I just can't stand that girl. She has got to be the worst actress on the face of the earth right now. I may eventually try to reread the series one day (mostly just to see if I should sell them lol) but I did get this novella for Christmas, so of course I had to read it.

Hmm...what can I say about this? It wasn't *awful*. Diego was pretty cool. Fred is freaking awesome.

Repelling powers? Way cool. I know they're supposed to be all pretty and crap but I'm totally picturing him like the super fat guy in Wolverine lol...holy crap, I just realized his name was Fred too! No wonder I picture him...IMDB to the rescue! Victoria is trying to create a super vamp army to take down the Cullens. It doesn't work. Obviously. Bree and Diego fall for each other. But they both die. Bummer. Better than Edward and Bella's story though. Yeah, I don't have much to say for this. If you like Twilight, it's an easy, fast read. If you don't, well then you obviously aren't even reading this review. :)

Review: "The Ghost at Dawn's House: The Baby-Sitters Club #9"

The Ghost at Dawn's House: Baby-Sitters Club #9 by Ann M Martin

3 out of 5 stars

This cover doesn't make any sense. The stairs are going up. And the lights are on. And there's a handrail. And the stairs are going UP?? What the heck? Okay, anyway! This was a good, scary read. Dawn borrows a Nancy Drew book, The Hidden Staircase, from Claudia and becomes convinced that there is a secret passage in their old farmhouse. I actually remember reading this one and being totally freaked.

Dawn does find a secret passage, by falling through a trap-door in the old barn. It was covered by some hay. Yeah, cause they've never cleaned that place out? Okay. The passage goes up to Dawn's room and she finds some odd stuff on the ground over the next few days: a key, coin, button, an ice-cream cone. Dawn is convinced there's a ghost, named Jared Mullray, haunting her. Turns out, Nicky Pike has also found the passage and has been using it as his own secret hideout from the triplets. Dawn ends up agreeing to share it with him as long as he doesn't scare the crap out of her again lol.

There's some other subplots with Kristy, MaryAnne, Claudia and Stacey but they aren't very interesting. Plus, there's not a "What Claudia is Wearing" :( so you know what that means?? I get to make up my own again! :) And I'm just going to warn you now: I was hungry when I made it hah! "What Claudia Should Have Been Wearing":

Claudia was wearing red, skinny jeans with a pink and yellow sweater that had hamburgers and pizzas on it. She decided to go all out and become a walking all-you-can-eat bar. She paired her sushi socks with her cuppycake Keds and her doughnut charm bracelet with her Kawaii breakfast necklace. In her ears she had Coca-Cola bottles and fried eggs. She even had on pineapple boy shorts, not that she showed anyone those. Her purse was made of candy necklaces and at lunch-time she pulled her money out of a taco change purse. Students complained all day that she was making their stomachs growl.

TILT: Snowflakes!

As promised, today's TILT is all about Snowflakes! Wishful thinking, I know, but please just let me dream! :) Snowflakes, cool breezes, crisp air, boots and leggings, State Fair, football, scarves, potato soup....mmm fall.

Winter Blue Snowflake Mittens Card by Ddots --love the punched out dots!

Shelter From the Storm Ink Drawing by EmMoon77 --tie umbrella FTW!

Cat Catching Snowflakes Illustration by PinkGlitterFae --my first kitty always loved to lick the moisture off the windows in the winter and this reminded me of her :)

Fun & Funky Snowflake Stud Earrings by ArtisticCreations --so cute and original!

Review: "Boy-Crazy Stacey: The Baby-Sitters Club #8"

Boy-Crazy Stacey: The Baby-Sitters Club #8 by Ann M Martin

5 out of 5 stars

Oh.Em.Gee. Would you look at that hunk on the cover?? He's so dreamy. So buff. So...eighteen?!?! Seriously? More like 28. Jeez. Anyway, that hugemongous discrepancy aside, I *love* this book. It's one of my favorites.

It's still summertime in Stoneybrook and the girls are all meeting at Kristy's McMansion for a last sleepover before they all split up for stuff. And right off the bat, we get a "What Stacey is Wearing"! Woo! "I...wanted to be cool since it felt like it was about 150 degrees outside. [I feel ya sister!] ...I decided on this new pink shirt...Big, bright green and yellow birds were splashed all over it. It was gigantic, so it would be cool. I put it on with a pair of baggy shorts, looped a wide green belt around my middle, and hunted up some jewelry-silver bangle bracelets and a pair of silver earrings shaped like bells that actually ring when they dangle back and forth." Poor, deprived Stacey was only able to put on one pair of earrings though, because her parents said she would look like a pirate if she had more than one piercing. Wonder what they would say about my 3 sets and cartilage?

Stacey & Mary Anne got picked to go with the Pike family to Sea City, New Jersey. I want to go to Sea City. Besides the hunky, beefy lifeguards, there's Trampoline Land, Candy Heaven AND Kitchen, Ice-Cream Palace, a ferris wheel, arcade, miniature golf and Burger Garden! Plus, you know, the beach and stuff. Lol...It takes 2 cars and a Barf Bucket to get the Pikes to the beach and mayhem ensues. Claire is calling everybody "Silly-Billy-Goo-Goo", Vanessa is rhyming everything, Nicky wants to hang with his big brothers and not the baby girls, Byron (the sensitive triplet) is scared of the ocean and Stacey falls for the hot hunk of meat on the lifeguard stand, leaving Mary Anne to watch all the kids by herself. Selfish cow. Doesn't Mary Anne know it's LUV?? ;)

Oh and Nicky tells this silly joke: "So one day this matta-baby comes up to me-" "What's a matta-baby?" "Nothing. Whatsa matta with you?" Haha! No? Okay then.

Mary Anne gets a major sunburn, been there done that. Stacey becomes Hunkaholic's new errand girl. Somebody's got to get those cold sodas you know. And it all pays off, because Hunkorama gives her the raddest gift ever: the whistle off his neck, which obviously means he's totally in LUV with her too. I know, you are super jealous, me too. So Mary Anne just keeps getting more and more pissed, but hello? She's suddenly got this cute (for a 9th grader) guy mother's helper helping her out too. So what's she complaining about?

And! There's another "What Stacey is Wearing" plus a special edition "What Mary Anne is Wearing"! (Which is really cheating, because she's wearing Stacey's clothes lol) "Cute guys...I put on a white cotton vest over a pink cotton dress and tied a big white bow in my hair so that it flopped over the side of my head." "...I loaned [Mary Anne] my yellow pedalpushers, a yellow and white striped tank top, and an oversized white jacket."

The girls finally get a night off and go sight-seeing, buy some souvenirs, and Stacey buys Hunkahunka a big heart-shaped box of chocolates. Because that's what any 18 year old dude wants. Right after she buys it though, something MAJOR happens. Stacey catches that slimeball kissing another girl and her heart is totally broken.

Mary Anne is still pissed, but she gets over it and the girls end up hanging out with the guy babysitter and his cute cousin. They turn out to be totally cool guys and the girls *might* be in luv. Stacey gets her first kiss (even though she claims she dated tons in 7th grade?) and Mary Anne goes out on her first date and trades rings with the guy. Really. So all ends well in Baby-Sitters Land and it's back to Stoneybrook. Pull out the Barf Bucket.

Review: "Phi Beta Bimbo"

Phi Beta Bimbo by Trish Jensen

3 out of 5 stars

This was a fluffy re-read for me one weekend...pink book all the way! :) I mean the first line is "Am I sexpot, or what?" So it starts out with brother and sister, Steve and Leah, shopping for a "Pump You Up" bra for Leah. She's apparently going undercover as a busty blond bimbo to test out some theory, but really she was tired of being a nerd and wanted to live it up for once. Can't say I blame her. Oh and brother Steve is dressed in drag as Stephanie, to save his company somehow. Cosmetics company. Yeah. Sounds awesome right? But seriously, for a fluffy book it's pretty darn good. All right, let's make this easy with a cast line-up k? Here we go...

Leah: nerdy science girl, 28 years old,

wants to have a little fun, Steve's little sister

Candi: Leah's alter-ego, mega bimbo, goes to work for Steve's company

Steve: Leah's older brother, dressing in drag to save his company from a spy

Stephanie: Steve's "Twin", posing as the owner of Just Peachy because apparently business-men are so stupid they think a cosmetic company should be run by a woman. For 5 years. Yeah.

Mark: hot security guy hired by Steve/Stephanie to get the spy. Thinks it's Leah/Candi. Is hot for both.

Kate: hot chick who runs Apple Blossom Cosmetics, Just Peachy's main competition and possible spy. Hates Stephanie, hot for Steve.

Shelley: Mark's blind sister who knows right away that Stephanie is a dude and thinks it's hilarious.

Gramps: Leah & Steve's grandpa, whom they live with, and who is exasperated with both his grandkids, for good reason.

Okay, that's the run-down...lots of crazy, misled hijinks ensue. Everyone falls in love that should, Leah realizes she doesn't have to be a bimbo to have fun, Steve realizes he doesn't have to wear pantyhose to run a company, Shelley & Gramps start a great friendship, they catch the spy and everyone lives happily ever after.

Review: "Claudia & Mean Janine: The Baby-Sitters Club #7"

Claudia & Mean Janine: The Baby-Sitters Club #7 by Ann M Martin

4 out of 5 stars

This book has seen better days for sure...I'm missing the first 4 pages and there are several falling out! I am seriously freaking out about those first 4 pages: what if there was a "What Claudia is Wearing"??? O_o Anyway, apparently this book belongs to Shona Farmer...another alias of mine? Who knows!

Okay, this has to be one of the saddest books in the series (oh god, I just remembered what happens to Mimi later on!! *tear*). It starts out (on page 5) with the Kishi family eating breakfast and deciding what they're going to be doing that day. It's summertime, so of course Janine is taking two college courses and working in the library between. Nerd. I will admit, I did take summer classes but NOT during high school! One summer, I took Spanish 2 and had to do lab time each week in the coldest room in the whole building. So, there I was, wrapped up in a blanket while it's 152 degrees outside, watching Willy Wonka in Spanish. (No really, that's what I was watching...and I only recommend it if you want to feel like you're on drugs lol) What was my point here? I'm pretty sure that's not what Janine was doing.

Moving on! :) Claudia is taking some art class, babysitting the adorbs Jamie Newton, going shopping with Stacey & then a BSC meeting. Packed schedule. Janine seems jealous. And hey! It's time for "Where Claudia hides her junk" or "Why don't her parents pay any attention to her??"

-Cupcakes in the desk drawer (really?? cupcakes? Just hanging out in a drawer? How does she not have a bug or rat infestation?)

-Licorice in the pencil case

-The Clue of the Tapping Heels & The Message in the Hollow Oak under the mattress

-M&M's in the jewelry box

-The Clue in the Crossword Cipher in a box of art supplies

On to the meeting...Stacey gets her hair cut, everyone oohs and ahhs over it, Kristy asks big bro Charlie to drive her to the meetings since they now live in McMansionLand and he agrees for $1.00 per meeting day. He's such a good bro. And Kristy has An Idea. Playgroup. Because it went so well last time. *Sarcasm* They come up with a nifty flier and go around to all the neighbors gathering up kids for the playgroup. Jamie thinks 5 baby-sitters would be fun, Jenny Prezzioso is a brat, Mallory Pike is going to be a baby-sitter-in-training (Hello Foreshadowing!).

And here comes the big, heart-wrenching, *tear* plot...Janine & Claudia are having dinner with Mimi and arguing like always. Mimi goes to bed early, upset, and then the girls here a thud. "Mimi was lying on the floor in a heap...She looks so little, all crumpled on the floor. Her eyes were shut, and she was as white as a sheet." It turns out she had a stroke and has to stay in the hospital a few days and will be doing lots of therapy stuffs.

Life goes on and it's time for the playgroup's first day and a session of "What [the heck] Stacey is Wearing?" I took some major liberties this time, because....ew. Lol..."Stacey, wearing a pair of knee-length lime-green shorts, matching green high-topped sneakers, and a large white T-shirt with a gigantic taxicab on the front..." And also...Kid Kit!! Woo! I always wanted to make one of those, just for myself.

So this is getting long again; I haven't done a review in so long, I've obviously forgotten how to condense. ;) Okay, time for the speed summary: Playgroup is crazy, Janine & Claudia fight more, Mimi comes home & Claudia agrees to watch her during the day, Mimi resents being treated like an invalid and baby, she yells at MaryAnne who is only trying to help, Jamie is jealous of baby Lucy and almost pours punch on her, Claudia wears some weird outfit to Lucy's Christening, Janine & Claudia finally realize they're both jealous of each other, a new family moves into Kristy's old house (with kids of course), another BSC meeting, the Pikes' call and they are going on vacation and need 2 sitters, which leads into my favorite book of the series!! Sea City, here we come!! :)

I'm baaaa-aaaack....

Ugh, I totally suck! 4 months off would be awesome for work (with pay of course lol), not so much for blogging. I've been in a major crafting, blogging, anything slump. But I'm feeling the urge to do stuff again, so here I am! :) Luckily, I haven't stopped reading (never!!) so I have plenty of books to review. See...all the books I've read and need to review!

I've got 3 reviews lined up already, plus many, many more. And hey, I've been kinda busy! I went to the zoo...

And I had a birthday! My mom and sis made & decorated the cupcakes! :)

And we went to Galveston! Someone left this seahorsey on the beach for me to discover.

And remember that TILT: Sunshine I did back in February? Well this week it's going to be a TILT: Snowflakes lol. Yep, Texas weather strikes again. We are well on the way to breaking the record of 42 consecutive days of temps over 100 F set back in 1980 (coincidentally, the year I was born...which my mom never fails to remind me of :]) Yay.

Okey-doke...back to work and look for a BSC review later this afternoon! Woot!