♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥: AP/SAT II US History in a Flash by Larry Krieger

AP/SAT II US History in a Flash
Larry Krieger

Release Date: February 7th, 2011

Publisher: Direct Hits

Page Count: 348

Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher, via LibraryThing Member Giveaways, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you both!)

US History in a Flash is the definitive prep book for both the AP US History exam and the SAT II US History subject test. The book is based upon a bold new approach.

Instead of trying to be a mini-textbook that covers everything, US History in a Flash uses the Direct Hits’s selective approach of only focusing on topics that have generated clusters of questions.

What Stephanie Thinks: As someone who takes standardized tests for school, an AP "crash course" is helpful. I obviously am not preparing for the US History Subject Test (not my strongest point), but I am taking an American History course right now which goes well with this book. We don't have a standardized test for it, but we do have in-class tests that need the material found in a review like this.

More recently, I had to write a history synthesis paper, and this book that has a little bit of all sorts of information was fantastic for it because I didn't have to lug my entire textbook around.

What's great, is that each of the topics are organized into chapters throughout the book. From there, subtopics are branched off, thoroughly explaining all the possible details, in a format that's convenient to search through.

My only disappointment is that it does not coordinate with the course textbook. Most history textbooks (and I know, from high school social studies classes, as well) aren't ordered chronologically because in history, that sometimes mixes things up. AP/SAT II US History in a Flash is set up that way, so it makes it harder to read and use when attempting to study.

In the long run, this guide is a concise, ever-so-facile book to review an entire double-semester course from, and I recommend it for anyone studying for finals or writing up term essays.

Radical Rating: 8 hearts: An engaging read; highly recommended. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥: Loud in the House of Myselfby Stacy Pershall

Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl
Stacy Pershall

Release Date: January 31th, 2011

Publisher: W. W. Norton

Page Count: 232

Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher, via Romancing the Book, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you both!!!)

Stacy Pershall grew up depressed and too smart for her own good, a deeply strange girl in Prairie Grove, Arkansas (population 1,000), where the prevailing wisdom was that Jesus healed all. From her days as a thirteen-year-old Jesus freak, through a battle with anorexia and bulimia, her first manic episode at eighteen, and the eventual diagnosis of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, this spirited and at times mordantly funny memoir chronicles Pershall's journey through hell-several breakdowns and suicide attempts—and her struggle with the mental health care system.

After her 2001 suicide attempt, broadcast live on a Webcam, Pershall realized the need to heal her mind and body. She found a revolutionary cure (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) and a new mood-stabilizing medication. She also met a tattoo artist and discovered the healing power of body modification. By giving over her skin and enduring the physical pain, she learned about the true nature of trust.

What Stephanie Thinks: We always saw those weird girls in high school—the ones who never fit in, who always sat alone during lunch. The ones we never bothered to get to know. Stacy Pershall was one of those girls, but shockingly, she doesn't seem very different from me. Her memoir—all of its crudeness, honesty, and heartfelt revelations—announces to the world, the deepest secrets of a weird girl, and also acknowledges how the girl who never fit in is actually, truthfully, painfully, a little bit of every girl we see today.

This memoir is achingly personal. It's not like reading a diary; it's more like reading a girl's thoughts as they happen. It holds no barriers and only tells the truth—the ugliest truth. I connected so much with Stacy, both as a child, and as an adult. My own suffering never has gone as far as suicide attempts or bulimia, but a lot of the things Stacy ponders upon are things that have flitted through my head too many times to count. It also vindicates the millions of girls today who sink from the pressure of body image and societal acceptance. I'm not saying suicide and bulimia are healthy habits, but upon reading Stacy's real-life accounts, a part of me feels like it knows why girls would do such things.

A memoir is a collection of memories, which separates it from an autobiography, and Stacy's makes me feel like I'm living her life. That's how real, how heartbreaking, her story is. I had trouble finishing it in the end because there is no definite conclusion, so it drags on a bit, but other than that, I really enjoyed this one. Stacy's narrative as an outcast breaks my heart, and her discovery and exoneration, which is being diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder—finally! An excuse for being weird—make it sing. If you want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, pick up Loud in the House of Myself to revisit the injustices of childhood, as well as the insecurities of life in general, that one girl and all girls have faced in their lifetimes.

Stephanie Loves: "For a while I really believed [my eating disorder] was just that: playing. I was toying with the idea of sickness, flirting with it, but because I was not yet what I would consider emaciated, I felt I could give it up at will and move on to something else. The old I-can-quit-anytime-I-want. But soon I was sort of playing but it was sort of real, and then it was entirely real and I realized it had never been a game at all. Playing with anorexia is like playing with heroin, fire, plutonium, or Scientology—it's just a bad idea all around. Playing with anorexia is like cracking open mercury thermometers and drinking them just to see what happens. Anorexia, to use the vernacular, ain't playin'." 

Radical Rating: 8 hearts: An engaging read; highly recommended. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥♥♥: Called Home: Two Hearts Answer by Gloria Schumann

Called Home: Two Hearts Answer
Gloria Schumann

Release Date: May 8th, 2010

Publisher: Savant

Page Count: 333

Source: Complimentary copy provided by author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!)

Emma Benson's view of life was crafted by the death of her brother as a child, abandonment by her father and later, the man she trusted she would marry, until...

David Schlosser—back in town after years in New York writing best-selling novels—threatens her neatly tended life. Romance blooms. Emma and David eventually persevere in the face of tragedy, refusing to leave their dreams behind.

Sweet small town romances can turn out one of two ways: tragically emotional and heartbreaking, or undeniably corny. Called Home: Two Hearts Answer contains all the elements of the latter; the sequence of the story is predictable and bland. I don't feel the "chemistry" between Emma and David, but it's portrayed like it's strong and passionate (but to me, it isn't. At all). Their relationship seems rushed, forced, and fake, as if it was scripted for a clichéd romance novel.

The main reason I think I can't feel the love between Emma and David is because of their personalities. They're both highly dislikable; Emma acts stingily and as if she's eleven years old—and god, she is SUCH a prude—and David is too demanding and cocky. While I can bring myself up to ignore David (because most men are demanding and cocky anyway), I just want to slap Emma in the wherever-it-would-be-most-painful. That girl's got something shoved up her ass! And she's in denial for the majority of the book too; though she kisses David and fantasizes about him in a more-than-platonic way, she won't admit she even likes him until the very end. She can't not only admit her love, but her LIKE for him until the very end. Like I said before—is she eleven years old? What does it take to act civilly towards a guy who hasn't touched a hair on her head?

Regardless, David seems stunned by her as a woman. I find nothing extraordinary about Emma, by the manner of her speech, attitude, and style, and yet David is still perplexed by her femininity, beauty, grace, and all that other crap. This is why I find their relationship unlikely; Schumann does a poor job of convincing me that they could really fall for each other. Another reason for this may be the chastity. No love scenes are consummated, and aside from heavy kissing, nothing happens. Nothing. While I appreciate this in a sweet contemporary romance, it also seems unlikely in a real-life relationship.

Aside from the nonexistent connection between the characters, another problem I have with this book is the unnecessarily detailed and superfluous writing style. Schumann expounds the exact descriptions of attire (and furniture, exteriors, cars, etc.), names of minor (and once-appearing) characters, and redundant facts (such as "The silence was not at all awkward. Emma found it very comfortable." Oh, really? Because I thought an unawkward silence would be totally uncomfortable).

One thing I will give props to, is the structure of the story. The plot is coherent and consistent, and therefore easy to follow. I don't find this an easy read persay, since the language tends to drag on and repeat itself, but the events happen in order and are reflected back upon, facilitating my understanding of the occurring action. The mystery, though easily predictable, is frightening and overall well-crafted. The pace doesn't pick up until the temperature starts heating (in a life-threatening way, not sexually)—but that isn't until the last quarter or so of the book. I think lovers of a good, clean romance will find this one enjoyable, but I personally didn't like it that much.

Stephanie Loves: "The best way to insinuate oneself from the inevitable beating that reality gave you is to dispense with the dreaming in the first place."

Radical Rating: 5 hearts: Doesn't particularly light any of my fires; I feel indifferent about this book. ♥♥♥♥♥

the view from the terrace

I'll admit my skills in laptop photography are lacking, but look! Everything's in Korean!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥: Playing With Fire edited by Alison Tyler

Playing With Fire
Alison Tyler et al.

Release Date: April 7th, 2009

Publisher: Cleis

Page Count: 162

Source: Complimentary copy provided by Naked Reader Book Club in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!)

Some Like It Hot

Bestselling erotica editor Alison Tyler pushes the limits of sex, lust, and the imagination to new heights in Playing With Fire, her incendiary new collection of erotic stories. In "Scorched", Janine Ashbless shares a three-way with two hot men and one lucky woman, while Thomas S. Roche's rollicking "Hot off the Press" revels in sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. In Tyler's own words, "Be it a flick of a BiC or the glowing embers of a bonfire, these stories will stoke anyone's fire."

Is it just me, or is it burning in this room? I may be perverse, and I may be rotten, because taboo erotica certainly ignites my fire. You're probably wondering what exactly "taboo" is. It has nothing to do with fire, although the blurb may suggest it to be so. Rather, it's the fantasies we all have, just don't have the balls to admit: adultery, ménage, sex with a stranger, you name it.

I'm assuredly not saying adultery and having sex with a stranger is okay (I'm indifferent to ménage; never tried it, never plan to), but I've got to admit there's a bit of a thrill out of reading about those topics. It's so forbidden, so titillating, so risqué.

When it comes down to erotica involving cheating on a partner, the last thing you'd expect is for it to be arousing. But each and every one of us has had their extramarital fancies. Whether it be having an affair, or hooking up with someone that isn't your other, there's something so sexy about engaging in something so off limits, something so taboo. The majority of the stories in Playing With Fire involve having an affair behind a partner's back, or even more unconventionally, having an affair with the partner involved. This is where the threesomes and ménage come in. The excitement of having an affair isn't about loving someone you're not supposed to; the excitement comes out of knowing you can love someone else without getting caught—or in the case of some of the stories, getting caught and dealing with the repercussions to follow.

If you are so high in morality, you hate flawed story lines with cheating spouses and naughty ingenues, this book may not be right for you. I'm not saying there's something wrong with you, since everyone is entitled to their own values, but this book isn't just erotica; it's taboo erotica. The stories are edgy and raw, crude without leaving out any of the nit & grit. I was surprised there isn't any harsh BDSM in this anthology, because that's what I thought it would consist of, at first. I'm fine with that though, because I don't enjoy much of the whipping and beating anyway.

Bottom line, I think this is my favorite erotica anthology so far. The stories contain more than just sex. All of the authors capably incorporate romance, intense emotion, and satisfying twists to their plots to ensure each story to be a lip-biting, teeth-clenching romp of a good read. Devour Playing With Fire in the bedroom with a lover for an unexpectedly sensational tingle, or read it alone when you've got the entire night to please yourself. Either way, beware: you just might burst into flames.

Stephanie Loves: "He notices. We've noticed each other all day, with the kind of noticing that happens in the eyes and the mouth and the body. The kind off noticing that is only noticed by the people doing it. Or so we'd like to believe. Now, we drift toward each other around the bonfire, pretending this is not a predestined course. Pretending this orbit does not end in collision." — from Shanna Germain's "White Heat, White Light". Hot hot hot! All the stories have smoke curling from the pages like that!

Radical Rating: 10 hearts: I'm speechless; this book is an extraordinarily amazingly wonderfully fantastically marvelous masterpiece. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥: The Starlight Prince by Borislava Borissova

The Starlight Prince
Borislava Borissova

Release Date: June 8th, 2010

Publisher: Firefly (RoseHeart)

Page Count: 117

Source: Complimentary copy provided by author, via Romancing the Book, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!)

A young boy lives alone on his tiny planet at the end of Sagittarius galaxy. On his trips, he has seen that there were no lonely stars in the universe, even the most powerful one, the Sun in the neighboring Milky Way galaxy, has a friend, Nemesis. In searching for his first friend, The Starlight Prince catches up to a passing comet and, deluged by a haze of star-dust, enters the solar system.

Landing on the planet Earth he found himself on an unbelievably beautiful island. There, at the Valley of the Temples, the ancient Olympic Gods had been spending their summer rests for millennia. Hidden behind clouds, the Prince notices The Little Olympic God, responsible for friendships according to Olympic allocation of duties.

In trying to face him and ask for his help in finding a friend, the starry boy remains on Earth. He follows a group of young teens to an ancient Castle, lured there with a nice invitation to spend their vacation. The building starts to function as a strange hotel with mysterious inhabitants, history, and secrets. During a long adventure on Planet Earth, the lonely celestial prince finds his first friend, the Little Olympic God.

What Stephanie Thinks: In the eyes of the curious Starlight Prince, the world is a marvel. Having lived alone during his short years, he isn't accustomed to the wonders of ancient Earth, especially not the magnificent Mount Olympus.

During his exciting journey, he learns the true meanings of love, acceptance, and friendship, which all young children eventually catch on to in their early lives. Though this book is targeted towards young adults, I think middle grade children (say, 8-to-12-year-olds) would enjoy it better. The topics covered are chaste, and wouldn't capture the attention of older teens. That's not to say The Starlight Prince lacks action, though. Fantasy lovers will appreciate the uproar and bedlam the little prince faces along his adventures.

The only reason I can't completely recommend this book to younger readers is because of the Borissova's writing conventions. Rather difficult vocabulary is put forth, as well as some awkward, often incomprehensible sentence structure. I feel a main part of this issue results from English not being the author's first language, but while a more advanced reader can trek through the errors, younger children may not be able to.

The Starlight Prince offers a universal message about true kindness and the importance of companions, which is why I enjoyed reading it. It definitely could have been edited and structured better, but I'd give it an A+ for effort.

Stephanie Loves: "'No one else but you should take my bow because you know friendships are necessary in life. I missed giving you a friendship somehow.'" Aww!

Radical Rating: 6 hearts: Satisfying for a first read, but I'm not going back. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥: Declaring Spinsterhood by Jamie Lynn Braziel

Declaring Spinsterhood
Jamie Lynn Braziel

Release Date: May 3rd, 2011

Publisher: AmazonEncore

Page Count: 227

Source: Complimentary copy provided by Little Bird Publicity in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!)

Emma Bailey is fed up with the dating scene, and if she hears her mother nag one more time about getting married... well, she's had it, and she wants everyone to know it. In a moment of clarity (or insanity?), she announces to the world that she will never marry.

No husband and no kids, no worries about diapers, driving lessons, or divorce. Her friends are there for her, but they're also involved in their own lives and loves, so off she goes into a world of casual dating. But what happens when the avowed spinster, the woman who has supposedly tucked her heart into a safe little space, suddenly realizes that her best friend, Brian, means more than a casual relationship?

Jamie Lynn Braziel's Declaring Spinsterhood delivers with this enjoyable romp through dating, friendship, and passion.

What Stephanie Thinks: Braziel's debut is a comedic, light, and relatable summer read I adore. The pickle Emma gets herself into makes me laugh and wince at the same time. Granted, the situation is a bit dramatic, but it still makes for great chick-lit! And fiction isn't supposed to 100% realistic anyway; readers always long for the happy ending she gets.

The plot flows deliciously. Even though it is highly predictable, I held onto the book because it was fun to read. Even the secondary issues, not including Emma and Brian's complicated relationship, are predictable, but they're still fun all the same. Emma's voice is klutzy (like me!) and entertaining, but also shamelessly truthful. She is both a cynic and a hopeless romantic, which makes for a likable protagonist. What I don't like is how immature she is. The way she acts towards her parents and her friends establishes a rather whiney, grumpy teenager persona, rather than the thirty-year-old unmarried loner she is. But I guess that's what makes her a bit of an odd ball; overall, I appreciated her and her cute humor.

Another problem I have is with her relationship with Brian, her supposed best friend. Halfway into the book, Emma suddenly admits to having feelings for him; a lot of these feelings seem to be yielded because of the fact that he is always there for her, and that he is breathtakingly handsome. This is a bit confusing because Brian has always had Emma's back, and I assume he's always been attractive, so why is she just now beginning to like him? Either way, the manner in which they act towards each other tells me they never were "just friends" to begin with. Do just friends sleep together (in the same bed) and kiss each other just for show? I don't do that with my guy friends.

Emma acts indecisive, also; her declared spinsterhood doesn't last long, and as expected, she ends up with her best-friend-who-she never-considered-boyfriend-material-until-he-is-unavailable. Despite these little annoying quirks Braziel doesn't clear up within the novel, I really enjoyed this easy, breezy book. It is surprisingly entertaining and hits close to home in terms of the search for true love and satisfaction.

Stephanie Loves: "He sighed in exasperation. 'If you keep finding something wrong with every man you date, you'll never get married.' He wagged his finger at me. 'Only one man walked on water, Emma, and that was Jesus.' The old adage. 'He's not available, so I suggest you find someone else.'"

Radical Rating: 9 hearts: Loved it! This book has a spot on my favorites shelf. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥