My Favorite Book Things #1

I miss the Horror genre.

It was a time when evil was evil and not just lacking the love of some girl. Vampires were bad and no one wanted to have sex with them. There were creepy dolls and scary creatures. And, while it still exists in a few major authors, it's not as prevalent as it was in the 90s when my teen self discovered it.

So, I thought I'd share my favorite horror author: D. A. Fowler, also with books under Debra Fowler. It's actually kind of hard to find any information on the internet about her, including how many books she actually wrote. I've come up with at least 7, though. I have 5 so far.

America's Next Top Model Cycle 20- A Rant and Week Before the End Prediction

This is the worst cycle in the history of ANTM.

There. I said it... and I bet most would agree with me.

It's not because guys were included, though that doesn't make a lot of sense considering how different male and female modeling are. The combination of incredibly unlikeable judges, the same stupid rating system used in cycle 19, and the gimmicky photo shoots that didn't even pretend to be about fashion all contributed to just how bad this cycle is.

The "living photo" aspect of the pictures made each shot, even ones that otherwise looked like they might have been in a magazine, look tacky and cheap. The photo shoots themselves were not even attempting to be high fashion- something that ANTM always seemed to try for before.

The judges are the worst. They traded likeable, relatively fair people like the Jays and Nigel for the awful Kelly Cutrone and Rob Evans. And with the judging system as it is now, it allowed Kelly and Rob to be completely biased with their scores. Kelly, at least once, gave a low score just because the girl talked back to her and completely disregarded the photo. Rob had a hate on for Cory the whole season for no reason I could see aside from the fact that he's androgynous and gave his scores that reflected that. The social media voting is stupid. I'd much rather the fan participation be limited to the finale like Australia's Next Top Model (a much better show, BTW) does.

Another thing I noticed in this cycle was more time devoted to the drama in the house. While it has always been there, at least half of each episode had nothing to do with modeling. There was much less focus on catwalk and go-sees.

Anyway... on to the final 3.

The Trouble With Goodbye Review

The Trouble With Goodbye by Sarra Cannon

One night can change everything…

Two years ago, Leigh Anne Davis shocked everyone in tiny Fairhope, Georgia when she broke up with her wealthy boyfriend to attend an Ivy League university a thousand miles away. At school, she finds a happiness and independence she’s never known.

Until one terrifying night takes it all away from her.

With no place else to go, Leigh Anne heads home to reclaim her old life. A life she worked so hard to escape. On the outside, she seems like the same girl everyone has always known. But deep inside, she’s hiding a terrible secret.

That’s when she meets Knox Warner, a troubled newcomer to Fairhope. His eyes have the same haunted look she sees every day in the mirror, and when she’s near him, the rest of the world fades away. But being with Knox would mean disappointing everyone all over again. If she wants to save what’s left of her old life, she has no choice but to say goodbye to him forever.

Only, the trouble with goodbye is that sometimes it’s about courage and sometimes it’s about fear. And sometimes you’re too broken to know the difference until it’s too late.

3 out of 5 stars

The Trouble With Goodbye is the first book in the Fairhope series.

Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure Season One

Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure

Netflix Summary: This sequel to "H2O: Just Add Water" follows a boy named Zac who turns into a merman after falling into a magical pool. Zac's new powers could spell trouble for the three young mermaids who guard Mako Island.

Number of Episodes: 26 

Stars:  Lucy Fry, Ivy Latimer, Amy Ruffle, Chai Rumruen

Additional Info: In the US, Mako Mermaids in a Netflix exclusive


By accident, I caught an episode block of the original H2O: Just Add Water on Nickelodeon. I've never really been much of a mermaid fan, but I enjoyed it and eventually watched all three seasons on Netflix. When Mako Mermaids showed up, my husband kindly added it to the queue for me.

Feudlings Review

Feudlings by Wendy Knight

Nothing makes a new school suck worse than discovering the guy you’re in love with is your prophesied nemesis.

Ari is the most powerful flame-throwing sorceress ever, and her people’s last hope in an ancient war. But she’s also a seventeen-year-old girl, and in her free, not-hunting-nemesis times, she jumps from school to school, trying to figure out regular people her own age and pretending she’ll get the chance to graduate.

Shane lives a double life. He goes to school and masters the art of popularity, hiding the fact that he has a fate with a slim chance of his survival. He’s destined to end a 300 year-old war by killing or being killed. He knows he’s hunted by a powerful enemy who’s not afraid to die. Only problem? He has no idea who that enemy is.

When Ari shows up at Shane’s school, angry and sullen and determined to keep him at arm’s reach, neither of them realize they are supposed to be killing each other, not falling in love. Until Ari does realize it, and she almost dies – by Shane’s hand.

3.5 out of 5 

Feudlings is the first book in the Fate on Fire series. 

Time Thief Review

Time Thief by Katie MacAlister

Peter Faa is a member of the Watch tracking down a murderer, and unfortunately, all clues seem to point toward his own estranged family of Travellers. Any of his cousins could be guilty, but which one? They’re all experts in the art of stealing time...

After surviving a lightning strike, Kiya Mortenson is determined to get just one thing in her life right. And if that means taking a job as nanny to five pugs on a campsite in the Oregon wilderness, then so be it. It doesn’t hurt that the job comes with some spectacular male eye candy, including her new boss’s gorgeous grandson. If only she didn’t keep having this strange sense of deja vu...

When Peter discovers his own family is stealing time from Kiya, all bets are off. While she may drive him crazy at times, it’s clear that it’s not just lightning that’s creating some serious sparks between them. And he’s not going to let secrets, lies, or a devious murderer keep Kiya from where she belongs: at his side.

3.5 out of 5 

Time Thief is the first book in the Time Thief series. 

Pretty Girl-13 Review

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods alone on a Girl Scouts camping trip. Now she's returned home…only to find that it's three years later and she's sixteen-or at least that's what everyone tells her.

What happened to the past three years of her life?

Angie doesn't know.

But there are people who do — people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren't locked inside her mind. With a tremendous amount of courage, Angie embarks on a journey to discover the fragments of her personality, otherwise known as her "alters." As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: When you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the parts of yourself that are responsible?

4 out of 5