Smashbomb

Need a playlist to listen to while you pack your suitcase? Check out author Carrie Carter Writes' travelogue WHISKERS ABROAD: ASHI AND AUDREY'S ADVENTURES IN JAPAN on my blog as well as a fun playlist from Audrey! Enter the giveaway for a chance to win the eBook and a set of Ashi Stickers!

PS - The Kindle eBook is at a special pre-order price of only $0.99 if you buy it by October 2nd.

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/09/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-whiskers.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Whiskers Abroad is a lively and charming travelogue featuring a trip to Japan shared by two main characters, Audrey and Ashi, who alternate recounting their versions of events. Audrey, having won the chance to write a magazine article about traveling in Japan, takes along her cat, Ashi. Over the course of a twelve-day trip, the pair visit Tokyo, Wakayama, Shirahama, Kyoto, and Miura Peninsula. Food is of great interest to both, as they sample typical Japanese dishes from ramen to sushi to tuna specialties. They also explore Japanese culture, including food markets, a family farm, temples, and Tokyo nightlife.

Adventures abound, from Audrey losing Ashi in the fish market to Ashi slipping out of the hotel at night to go to a cat café, where he meets an alluring feline. Audrey is still trying to find her place in the universe, while Ashi believes Audrey would sink beneath the waves were he not present to rescue her time and again. Audrey is a dedicated reader of her horoscope, and the prediction for each day offers tantalizing clues as to what’s in store for the pair.

Written by author Carrie Carter and beautifully designed by Stacy Vickers, Whiskers Abroad is both an amusing travel story with unforgettable characters but also a useful guide for tourists going to Japan about such basic travel issues as how to get from the airport to central Tokyo, how to purchase a rail pass, what to visit in Tokyo, and what to eat. Lavishly designed with full-color photographs and arresting page layouts, Whiskers Abroad will delight both your eyes and your sense of adventure.

Kudos Comment

Debbiereadsbook (1669 KP) rated Tutus and Tinsel (Half Moon Bay 2.5) in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Tutus and Tinsel (Half Moon Bay 2.5)

Rhys Ford | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

wonderful catch up!

I was lucky enough to win an ARC copy of this book.

This is a little catch up, if you will, with the Harris-Reid family, and you really SHOULD at least read Fish Stick Fridays before this one. Hanging the Stars ain't too shabby either, but this is more about Zig and her dads.

Zig is eleven, and blindsided by a school project. Her dads go about rallying around and making the project a little less painful for her.

I'm not usually one for Holiday/Christmas stories, but I loved Zig, and Deacon and Lang, so really had to catch up with them! And I LOVED this! It packs quite an emotional punch for some 90 odd pages!

Zig has to do a project on Christmas traditions on her family. But she doesn't have any, not really. So Deacon and Lang go all out about making NEW traditions: using some from Lang's grandmother, some from their friends and making some up as they go along.

They do cracker house decorations, the chopping of trees down. Trees in each and every room. Making salt dough ornaments. Lots of different things, from a whole host of backgrounds, and choosing which ones to make their own.

I loved that we caught up with Deke and Lang, but also with West, Angel and Rome. Loved the plans the adults have for the kids should something happen to either set of parents.

But Zig, again, made this book! Set 3 years after Fish Stick Fridays, and she still has her eclectic taste in tutus and boots, and it's so great she hasn't lost her swear jar! Indeed, opening line in the book is Zig swearing her little head off and realising that Deke can hear her! Loved it!

And even though Zig was sick, and not actually able to do her presentation at school, loved that she WAS able to still show her dads what did. I cried at that point! Because even though it was about making NEW traditions, Zig still draws on her painful past and how important it is to remember where you came from, and that past is a part of you, always. And new families need new traditions.

5 full and sparkly stars!

ps, we ALWAYS have take out Christmas Eve!

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**

Kudos

Dillon Jacoby-Rankin (202 KP) rated Wargroove in Video Games

Jan 18, 2020 (Updated Jan 18, 2020)

Wargroove

2018 | Strategy

7.3

(3 Ratings)

Video Game Rating

Turn Based Strategy (7 more)

Various Unit Types

Expandable

Player Count

Map and Campaign Creation

Unlockables

Online Play

Crossplatform

Advanced Wars Refresh!

If you have ever played Advanced Wars in the past, get ready for a refresh and a brand new experience. This game takes Advanced Wars and blows it out of the water.
Turn Based Strategy: The game brings back classic turn Based strategy that we have all come to know and love.
Various Unit Types: There are so many unita u. This game. Ground, Air, and Water types make the strategy as simple or complex as you want depending on the maps and style you want to play. Great for many different play styles and friends.
Player Count: Although you can only add up to 4 human players, the max the game plays is 8 if you include AI's. Therefore you could totally do a 4 vs. 4 with your friends on one team and the AI on the other. So 8 total, 4 human players
Expandable: The game is setup fine as is but has the capability to be added onto constantly whether it be new maps, units, commanders, etc. By the way. First free dlc update adds new units and commanders in February 2020. So if you don't have the game yet, enjoy the free dlc bonus next month when you get the game.
Unlockables: Beating the campaign will unlock you new commanders. So will earning a certain amount of stars for each of the missions you clear in the campaign, as well as various other things you may need to complete. All in all, there should be 3 commanders to unlock in the game.
Map and Campaign Creation: All the tools used to build the in game campaign are actually available to the player community to build your own maps and campaigns that can be shared and downloaded online. These maps are also crossplatform as well as the whole game. So I can make a map or campaign on one platform and you can download it on another. And then we can play said map on two different platforms at the same time with each other. It's great!
Online Play: Works great and is also crossplatform.
Crossplatform: Game is currently crossplatform on Nintendo Switch, PS, XBOX, and PC.