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Conjure (The Hoodoo Apprentice, #1)
Lea Nolan | 2012
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
(Review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).

First off, I must say, what a fantastic read!! I absolutely loved this book. It was such a refreshing read!

Emma and her twin brother Jack along with their friend Cooper think they are in for a lazy summer. They couldn't be more wrong!! First, there's a mysterious note that they find buried beneath the sand. Then there's the treasure box they find. However, when Jack tries opening the treasure box, he contracts "The Creep." A curse that makes all your skin slowly fall off until just bone is left. After all that, a mysterious girl called Maggie shows up, and takes them to "a grannie", Miss Delia, who is a hoodoo practitioner. Maggie says Miss Delia can help Emma find a cure for Jack. However, there's also a curse that will steal Cooper's soul on his sixteenth birthday. Will Emma break both curses before time runs out?

I loved every character in Conjure! I loved the lengths Emma was willing to go to to save her brother. I loved how sweet and helpful Cooper came across as. Jack brought the humour into the book. I stayed suspicious of Maggie throughout the book. I couldn't tell if she was bad or good. (I won't say more as I don't want to spoil the book). My most favourite character was Miss Delia though. She came across as a warm, grandmotherly type character. I wanted to actually know her. She was amazing!

I loved the setting which takes place on a beach and near a beach. It definitely fit in with the story perfectly. The world building was equally great! I felt like I was actually there with all the characters.

I felt that the title definitely suits the book as Emma must conjure up spells in order to try to save Jack's and Cooper's life as well as conjuring up other spells to do other things in the mean time.

The cover is gorgeous, but I don't really feel like it suits the book. I take it the girl on the front is supposed to be Emma, but I don't understand why she's walking in what looks to be a forest. Yes, there is a forest by Miss Delia's house, but no one ever goes into it.

The pacing was spot on for this book! I found myself losing all sense of time whilst reading this amazing book. It reads brilliantly, and it will keep you enthralled throughout.

The dialogue was easy to understand for the most part. However, the author uses the medical names for bones which I felt was a bit too much as this is a book for young adults. I'm 28, and I don't know what most of the bones in my body are called!! I tried to use context clues to help me with this. Other than that, the dialogue was well suited to the book.

I felt so enchanted whilst reading this book. It felt as if I was transported to be apart of the actual story. It was just that amazing!

I'd definitely recommend this book for ages 12 and older...teens and adults included!
  
    TrailMapps: Rotorua

    TrailMapps: Rotorua

    Reference and Travel

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    Rotorua’s best trail map for mountain bikers, runners and walkers. ·No data required after the...

Codenames
Codenames
2015 | Card Game, Deduction, Party Game, Spies / Espionage, Word Game
If you know your team, its genius (0 more)
If you dont know your team, its painful (0 more)
Spies! Spies everywhere!
Playing Codenames is like a stationary Charades. You need to identify your spy team to your team mate, without revealing too much, and before your enemy can identify their agents.

It's easy enough to look at the 25 cards, can pick a single, blindingly-obvious link to several cards.... but are they the cards you need to identify, and will your team mate understand?

By using single code words, and the amount of cards it refers to, it can be a simple game; however it can also be fiendishly difficult and it great fun.

We have played this a few times, and most of the guesses/clues have been for 2 or 3 cards - so "Engine, 3" could refer to parts of an engine, or items with an engine; however, if might be too a stretch if one of the cards is "STEAM", and there are also "MOTOR", "AUTOMOBILE", and "AIRCRAFT". So do I mean things WITH an engine? Things which move? A steam engine is much older than the others, perhaps it's not that; but STEAM ENGINE fits so well, hut I only have 3 choices...

The best single round was my wife and I - "Treasure 5", for the win. After a few minutes, all 5 had been identified, and we won. But dont tell anyone.... there are spies everywhere
  
Just the Way You Are is more than just a good book. It is a modern day fairytale filled with redemption and grace that will capture your heart from the first moment. Within the pages of this book you will find real people, with real life issues. This story will sweep you off your feet and drag you into a world that is every nerd girl's fantasy and you will soon find yourself consumed with researching history, "treasure" hunting, chocolate, British accents, Appalachia, AND.........Kisses.

Chocolate kisses, closet kisses, abandoned tower kisses, leave you senseless kisses...This book is PACKED with such romance that you may need to take precautionary actions to prevent injury from fainting! (such as a fainting couch, fan, smelling salts, etc.)

Don't let the passion fool you though. Pepper writes such sweet, unadulterated romance coupled with complete and total redemption. It blows my mind every single time I read one of her books. Just the Way You Are is the first contemporary novel I have read of Pepper's, and this easily makes it to the top of my favorite Rom Com stories EVER. I wish to see this in movie form so badly! "Ghirardelli in human form"...yes please! Haha!
 
The adventure, the romance, the grace...all woven together creates a beautiful masterpiece.
 
I received a complimentary copy of Just the Way You Are. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
  
U Is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone, #21)
U Is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone, #21)
Sue Grafton | 2009 | Mystery
10
9.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Is There a Clue Underground?
When Matthew Sutton comes into Kinsey Millhone’s office one afternoon, he comes with a tale about two men he’d seen burring something in the woods twenty-one years earlier. As a six-year-old, he believed their story that they were pirates digging for treasure, but after seeing an article about a kidnapping that took place about the same time, Matthew is certain there is a connection. The catch? He doesn’t know where he was at the time. With very little to go on, Kinsey agrees to take the case. Will she find anything?

This is an excellent book in the series. While we know more than Kinsey does for most of the book, watching Kinsey figure things out keeps the pages turning. We spent time in the past as well as Kinsey’s present of 1988 to fully understand how things played out, and it always works. Kinsey is a fun main character, and a recurring series storyline comes back into play in this book, allowing for some growth for her. The rest of the cast are just as strong. I knew going in that this book would have more content than I typically get in the cozies I read, but there was some stuff in the final quarter of the book that could have been trimmed without it impacting anything. Still, overall, fans of this long running series will be happy with this book.