Month: August 2015

Review: A Whole New World – A Retelling of Aladdin

Posted August 31, 2015 in Reading, Review / 2 Comments

Review: A Whole New World – A Retelling of AladdinA Whole New World by Liz Braswell
Series: Twisted Tales #1
Publisher: Disney Press (2015)
eARC (336 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Also by this author: Once Upon A Dream
Also in this series: Once Upon A Dream
Reading Challenges: 2015 Fairytale Retelling, Read 2015

Synopsis

This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?
When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.
What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

Find the book: Goodreads

Read More

Tagged as , , , ,

August 2015 in Review

Posted August 30, 2015 in Life, Reading / 10 Comments

Things that Happened in August

  • I returned home from summer camp! It was a fun time but I am glad to be home.
  • I survived the days of smoke so thick I could not see more than a block ahead of me. When I went to drive into town, my vehicle put the auto-lights on because it thought it was night. It has never been this bad that I recall. Yay for the forest fires of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada.
  • I started school again. Back in the classroom with fifth and sixth grade students.
  • Speaking of being back in the classroom, I’m going to leave you with one very short sentence: I hate lice! (Thankfully I do not have any.)

Books I Read in August

Sponsa VerbiIntroduction to the Devout LifeWalking with JesusFire Study
An Ember in the AshesBecoming DarknessA Thousand Nights
ForswornSeraphinaCity of GlassCode Name Verity
 

Read More

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

The Classics Club 50 Question Survey

Posted August 29, 2015 in Reading / 0 Comments

I decided to join the Classics Club. I have a list of 50 books here and will try to read them all by September 1, 2020. That makes it about 10 classics from my list every year. Why? Because I like classics and this will give me an incentive to read them. 🙂 Anyway, they have this 50 Question Survey on their website. I am going to answer some of them for you.

  1. Share a link to your club list.
    • My list can be found here.
  2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club? (We are SO CHECKING UP ON YOU! Nah. We’re just asking.) 🙂
    • I’m just joining the Classics Club now so I haven’t read any books for my list yet. 🙂
  3. What are you currently reading?
    • I am currently reading Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.
  4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it?
    • I just finished The City of Glass by Cassandra Clare and thought it was awesome. I will be posting a review of it later.
  5. What are you reading next? Why?
    • I will probably re-read Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier next because it is a library book.

    Read More

Tagged as

Review: An Introduction to the Vocation of Consecrated Virginity Lived in the World

Posted August 27, 2015 in Faith, Reading, Review / 3 Comments

Review: An Introduction to the Vocation of Consecrated Virginity Lived in the WorldAn Introduction to the Vocation of Consecrated Virginity Lived in the World by United States Association of Consecrated VIrgins
Series: ORDO VIRGINUM #1
Publisher: USACV (2012)
Paperback (145 pages)
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2015 Re-Reading, Read 2015

Synopsis

An Ancient Rite Restored, for women living in the world.
Those who choose chastity have looked upon the face of Christ, its origin and inspiration.
They give themselves wholly to Christ, the Son of the ever-virgin Mary, and the heavenly Bridegroom of those who in his honor dedicate themselves to lasting virginity.

-Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity (24)
Consecrated by the diocesan Bishop, these women acquire a particular link with the Church, which they are committed to serve while remaining the world. Either alone or in association with others, they constitute a special eschatological image of the Heavenly Bride and of the life to come, when the Church will at last fully live her love for Christ the Bridegroom.
-Pope Saint John Paul II in Vita Consecrata
The Order of Virgins is a special expression of consecrated life that blossomed anew in the Church after the Second Vatican Council. Its roots, however, are ancient; they date back to the dawn of the apostolic times. With unheard of daring, certain women began to open their hearts to the desire of consecrated virginity … the desire to give the whole of their being to God. (This desire) had its first extraordinary fulfillment in the Virgin of Nazareth and her “yes.”
-Pope Benedict XVI to the 2008 Rome International Congress/Pilgrimage of Consecrated Virgins

Find the book: Goodreads

Read More

Tagged as , , , , , , ,