Sh*t My Dad Says ... What does your Dad say?

I came across this book, Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern while surfing the days' bestsellers at work one day and absolutely had to put it on hold. My friend's son do not call me 'potty mouth' for nothing!

Firstly, best title ever! Secondly, the format is perfect for this hilarious piece of non-fiction. And lastly, because my own Dad's favorite saying was something like 'lord dying dancing devils on the lot of ya', it is even more funny to know that Halpern's own father was like this.

Now, I cannot and will not give too much away with this unique piece, but I will pick out my favourite quote from 'Dad'. It goes a little like this, On Today's Hairstyles "Do people your age know how to comb their fucking hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their head and started fucking" (149). Now this so funny to me, especially since my Dad would have something to say every time my Mom, my sisters, and I would come home with a new hair cut or hair colour. He would always say Mom's hair looked like a birds nest and laugh!

My Dad currently is balding, but in a very gentlemanly way and keeps what is there very short. That is Karma Dad!

If you haven't read this, and do not mind a whole lot of vulgar language content, you must read it. And then tell me your favourite quote.

Believe it or not, I did watch the movie first!

I don't normally watch a movie if I haven't read the book first, and I probably do not need to tell you why - the book is always better! I will admit, some book movies are great, they just do not capture the storyline as it is in print.

I watched 'The Lightning Thief' when it came out on DVD and really enjoyed it. Then, because of that, I had to read the book. I know, it was published in 2005 and I am just now getting to it. Honestly, I wasn't all that interested in it before I watched the movie (it usually don't happen like this).

So, did the book meet my after movie expectations? Oh yes! Knowing what was going to happen put a bit of a damper on the reading, but it was still a great story. Also, the movie made some adjustments that they needed to make the movie good, so the book was like the last cookie in the bag (and you ate all the others), but with icing and sprinkles added!

Needless to say, I put the next two books in the series, Percy Jackson and The Olympians on hold and am waiting with anticipation.

Have you read any books in this series yet? If so, did you like it?

...Cake Adventures...

A friend of mine got married over the weekend and asked myself and another good friend, SandraJP, to make her wedding cake. This excited the two of us to no end after our 'baby shower' and 'surprise' cakes we created earlier this year.
Whereas the other two cakes were ours to design and do with as we please, we had to ensure the wedding cake was polished and beautiful. Now, this friend is not your typical bride, hell, she is so off the path that everyone around her loves her so! Thus SandraJP and I knew we would have fun with this. I decided to blog this adventure and took pictures along the way.

Here are the first two cakes we created:

We have a onesie for a new baby. I confess, we did not design this ourselves, but found a picture of it from a magazine and put our special touch to it.













We made a hot mama for our friend Leon and his surprise birthday party. We had a lot of fun with it and will surely create it again!















And now comes the wedding cake adventure! We had some parameters: it had to be carrot cake - SandraJP's carrot cake is so good you will want to be her best friend just to get a piece! And our wedding lady had a crest that a family member created that she wanted on the cake somewhere. Other than that, the design was all ours! Let the fun begin!!

SandraJP came over with the cakes the night before and we layered, crumb coated and froze them over night. The next morning, we were off to icing and decorating! This is the final product in all its glory.



The Bride and Groom loved it and, I must admit, I think SandraJP and I did a fabulous job. What do you think?

Rachel Vincent's Shifter Series

Rachel Vincent's Shifter Series caught my eye one evening while I was at work and peaked my interest so I did some research on it. I loved the summaries from Vincent's website and put all five on hold! I just finished the fifth, Shift, and am anticipating the release of the sixth, Alpha.


This series is your typical paranormal fantasy, with humans who shift into werecats! I like paranormal fiction, but I have never read about werecats and I must admit, I was hooked. For nearly two weeks my mind was full of this series and nothing else. My lack of sleep can confirm!
What made me live for these books, it was the storyline one hundred percent (okay, maybe the hot hot male characters who nearly always were without shirts helped!). The main character, Faythe, was your typical young woman besides the werecat thing, and just wanted to live her life her way. That is, unfortunately not what her father wanted ... and the fun begins.

If you like paranormal fan. fiction, you will like The Shifter Series as much as I did. Check out Vincent's Shifter website in anticipation for the release of the next book! http://rachelvincent.com/shifters.html

What are some of your favourite fan. fiction reads?

Horns - As twisted as it sounds!

Horns by Joe Hill is one awesome book! Firstly, Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King, so you automatically know its going to rock. Secondly, if you love a good horror story as I do, you need to go get this book now.

Okay, this has to be one of the best books I have read in the past six months. Not only are you getting great and eccentric writing, it is filled with grapic horror and topped off with a little black humour. Hello? How could I not love it!

I love the way Hill tells you the villin in the first portion of the book - pretty much less than 100 pages in. then you go into the past and find out the events leading up to the ultimate action. That just made me want to read at top speed to find out how it all transpiried. Hill's writing is very graphic and the images literary jump off the pages at you. I read this book with such force and as little pause as possible, that I felt I was in the story too.

My favourite quote that I keep telling my fellow readers comes from the very first page and goes like this, "...and saw he had grown horns while he slept. He lurched in surprise, and for the second time in twelve hours he pissed on his feet" (3) Every time I read this or even say it, I laugh out loud. It is just great humor, great writing, and a perfect image to start a great book.

Have you read Horns yet? No, then you should, and then let me know how you liked or disliked it.

Oh, Hill is also the New York Times Bestselling Author of Heart - Shaped Box, which I haven't read yet, have you?

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Just the very title of this book made me want to hold it and peek into the endless possiblities of what could make me happy!



I came across this book one day work while I was processing holds. I read the inside flap and thought, "I might like this". I put it on hold for myself (I was 150 or something on the wait list) and forgot about it. Later on, I came across it again when I was reading The Reader.

It finally came in for me and I was thrilled. I really needed to find out what could make me happy (it was a long week!) I dove into it with anticipation and even prepared myself with paper and pen for ample note taking. Rubin did stuff her happiness project with goals and changes that no normal person could achieve. She is a mother of two, married, and works as a writer from home - I figured I could achieve some of them too!

It was a great book all in all, I however, had some difficulity in the last few chapters. I struggled to finish it and I have no idea why. I think Rubin's writing style may have shifted a little more to the research she done to complete her happiness project, and less on her actual everyday life.

So, did I find out how to me more happy? Yes and no. Rubin's tactics to keep her more positive in her attitude and actions helped; as did her remedies to be more sentistive, healthly, and loving. However, if one was to do every little thing that Rubin did in a year....well, let me know!

Some of the things that I ended up jotting down about the book included:
The Four Stages of Happiness (108)
1. Anticipate it
2. Savor it
3. Express happiness
4. Recall a happy memory

Her take on 'blank books' (120) - your average blank journal
'Interest log' (128) - love this one, probably could fill out an entil blank book with all my interests!
'Happiness box'(132) - this one I love too. I am actually in the process of gathering a few things to make a happiness box for a friend.
And finally, Rubin is a BIG library supporter, and thus, wins in my eyes regardless of the struggles I had to finish her book.

So, have you read The Happiness Project, and if so, what were your thoughts on it? What are some of your techniques to keep happy?

Lesley Crewe

Canadian Author Leslie Crewe is one fantastic writer! I loved the first book I read by her so much so, that I went in search of another with high expectations and is happy to say was thrilled.

Judging the book by its cover, and how could you not, I borrowed Ava Comes Home from the library and just ate it up. I eyed the beautiful cover while shelving books one day at the library and pulled it out to read the summary. Bare in mind, I initially thought this book was going to be too much on the ChickLit Genre side for me to fully enjoy. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy a good chicklit every now and then, I just wasn't in the mood for one at the time.

I love the split setting of this book: one part in Ava's work life in L.A and the other in her childhood home life of Glace Bay, Cape Breton. This rural life setting appeals to me when it is portrayed correctly, and Crewe hit the spot perfectly, as I grew up in rural Newfoundland and is all too familiar with the tight net connections that make the community.

From the very beginning, I knew Ava was hiding something and that drove me to read to find out what. I completed the book in two days (I worked 7 hours each day as well), and loved the twist and element of a mysterious dark secret that Crewe wove into the storyline. It kept me wanting and needing to know what the secret was!


Upon borrowing the second book, Crewe blew me away again with her characters and plot twists in Relative Happiness. I was drawn in by the summary on the back of this novel and started reading with glee! Again, a local setting sets it up and I suddenly was working along side Lexie at the local library!

I liked how Crewe portrayed Lexie as a normal woman: frizzy hair, curves, and a strong sense of independence without portraying her as a high power female we see in today's media. I did not see Lexie as a single white female with her job and house, but rather as a regular person - someone that could be my very own neighbour. I love how Lexie dealt with real life situations and their consequences.

Crewe did it again with a nice twist to keep me reading at full speed. There wasn't a big mysterious secret embedded into this novel, but the actual storyline was intriguing enough to me reading at full speed. Needless to say, I was fully satisfied with the ending as I was with Ava.

Have you read any of Lesley Crewe's books? If so, what are your thoughts?