Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all of our beautiful and hardworking mothers!

For 100 years, people all around the world have dedicated one day a year to celebrate and give back to the one person who has selflessly put others before themselves.  With brunches, homemade gifts and cards, or even those you have bought at the store; we have found ways to show our appreciation and love. 

Unfortunately, with all this cheeriness, Mother's Day has a darker history than most would realize. It all began in the 1850s, when Ann Reeves Jarvis created the Mother's Day work club. This club was intended to improve sanitary conditions and to lower infant mortality by fighting disease and curbing milk contamination. Many could see a great success from what Ann had started, and with the help of her daughter, Anna, this succession continued up until Ann's death in 1905. 

To honor her mother's death, Anna organized the first Mother's Day observances in 1908, and on May 10 of that year a small gathering was held Ann's hometown of Grafton, West Virginia. In May of 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially set aside the second Sunday in May as what is now known as Mother's Day; due to the growing attention that had spread throughout numerous cities and states in the U.S.. To many, this seemed as a wonderful notion; but to Anna, it seemed like her success had soon turned into failure. To her, this one special day was meant to just go home and simply spend time with your mother to show your appreciation for all she has done. It wasn't to celebrate ALL mothers, it was meant to celebrate the best mother you have ever known...which would be YOURS. 

What had once seemed as a simple and intimate day, soon turned into one of the biggest commercial gold mines of the year. Next to Christmas and Valentine's Day, Mother's Day is known to have sold the most on gifts and cards alike. This did not sit well with Anna, and to show her displeasure she turned to boycotting , threatened with lawsuits, crash conventions or fund-raisers that had anything to do with Mother's Day, she even attacked First Lady Elanor Roosevelt for using Mother's Day for a fund-raiser. Anna continued these attempts to return Mother's Day to what it was originally meant to be, until the early 1940s. She died at the age of 84 in 1948 at the Philadelphia's Marshall Square Sanitarium.  

Even though stores all over the country will bring out merchandise and cards for that special day, and it still reigns as number three in the marketing gold mine; we still find take the time out of our frantic crazy lives to give thanks and show our appreciation to the one woman who means the world to us. So, Anna Jarvis, you may have thought you failed, but to me your view on what Mother's Day is truly meant to be is being celebrated and cherished in far more ways than you can ever have imagined. In ten ways you believed to have failed...you succeeded ten times more than that. 

Anna Marie Jarvis

Can You Last 100 Days?

                           Imagine starting out your day like any other...then all hell breaks loose. One minute you're walking back to your office, the next you find yourself fighting for your life from a coworker who wants nothing more than to feast off of your brains. 

         

            Now, I bet you're starting to think, "This sure sounds like another one of those novels about zombies." Well, you would be correct, but au contraire my friend not only is this a novel about a zombie apocalypse...it's a zombie apocalypse with a twist. Cash, an office worker in her twenties, finds herself fighting for her life while watching her friends die around her, and at the same moment keeping them from killing her. on a mad dash to reach what she hopes to be the safety of her home, she instead finds sanctuary with an Army veteran with PTSD named Clutch. Together, these two team-up to fight for the survival of what remains of human kind against the zeds(zombies). Unfortunately, zeds will not be their only problem, for evil lurks among the living as well...

Rachel Aukes, is the author of this fast-paced, non-stop action-packed, thrill ride that is known as 100 Days In Deadland. Part one of the Deadland Saga, this novel is creatively written with action, humor, a dash of romance, and just a pinch of gore(courtesy of your friendly neighborhood zeds). If you are familiar and a fan of Dante's Inferno, then you will love 100 Days In Deadland as it takes you on a journey through the human spirit: survival and greed & good and evil. 

Mummy's Home!!!

Oh, how sweet it feels to be back again!!! I know, I know, it has been too long my friends I quite agree. Though, my time away has not been a waste, for I have been on a journey unlike any other! Through the multitudinous different lives I have lived through(25 to be exact). From fighting for survival from Zeds, to being the town's saloon girl-turned preacher's assistant. Now, don't you fret, for there will be a review for all 25 novels I have read since the beginning of this year(plus the many more to come). So, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Be Careful What You Read...

In honor of the third season premiere of Once Upon A Time arriving on September 28, my book-mood-o-meter (it helps me decide what book I'm going to read next) led me to reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Now, for those oncer fans out there; you would understand why I read this particular book. With the mixture of fairy tales, villains, and the expecting the unexpected, I'd say it's the perfect time to read this series (now that I have read the first, I have to read the rest).

Be careful what you read...

Imagine if you could read anything you can imagine out of your favorite novel. What would you want to come to life? What wouldn't you want to come face-to-face to? The characters you could finally meet, but what if all this talent would come with a price? 

This is how Mo and Meggie live their lives, when Mo has the ability to read characters and other magical creatures into the real world. Only with this power, comes a very big price to pay. One night, Mo decides to read aloud, Inkheart, to his wife Teresa and daughter Meggie. But unlike any of the other books he has read in the past, this one brings out a man who is feared by everyone; but loses the love of his life. Throughout the story, Mo and Meggie go on an adventure to defeat the villainous Capricorn and to find a way for their family to finally be reunited. 

This charming and classical story gives you everything from fairy tales to a monster you can only imagine. Cornelia Funke's creation is worth visiting from time to time. 

The Strong Bond Of A Mother And Daughter

A mother and daughter's love is tested to the moon and back in this beautifully poignant tale. 

This novel begins in a magnificent villa in lovely Bay of Naples, Italy. The year is 1905, and little Lucia, along with her mother, go about their days as servants to the gentle Countess. With the irate count, some days are hard to get through, but the Countess never fails to help them out of any situation they get trapped into. Unfortunately, one day no one not even the Countess, were able to avoid this most horrible even. There only lies one simple solution: sneak out of Italy and start a new life in America. 

With the help of an old friend, they are able to leave and begin a new leaf, as well as a new life. With her mother working, Lucia finds a passion in school, and all of the amazing places and things to learn. Soon, her mother finds her calling as a singer in a vaudeville circuit as the Naples Nightingale, and Lucia finds herself with a accomplishing something only eight out of one hundred children do before the age of eighteen. With the occasional visits to see her mother perform, and the promise of college in sight, Lucia couldn't see how her life could not go in any direction than this. Sadly, Lucia's mother, Theresa, becomes ill, and this calls for Lucia to drop everything and come home. With the caring for her mother, and the ongoing strikes, Lucia patience, and the love for Theresa is strongly tested. 

Swimming In The Moon, written by Pamela Schoenewaldt, covered many different themes. Themes such as, immigration, mental-illness, the worker's rights and their strikes, self-discovery, and most important of all, the endless love between a mother and her daughter. When I read this, I was instantly reminded of the relationship I had with my mother. Before she passed away, we were all we had for each other. When the other was sick we would take care of each other. We didn't have much, but there was one thing we did have that couldn't be bought with money or any riches in the world: our love for each other. And when I lost her at the age of seven, a huge piece of my heart left with her. So knowing the relationship in this story, I was able to relate quite well with the mother and daughter in this novel. I understand the pain and agony Lucia felt knowing that she was losing a part of her mother when the illness overcame Teresa. This novel as taught me that love should never be taken for granted EVER, but instead be used to it's most fullest potential and worth. 

A Sound As Haunting And Sweet As The Tears Of An Angel

Have you ever stopped what you were doing, and wondered what your families history was and what it meant for you?

       In the novel, The Keeper Of Secrets, author Julie Thomas takes you on a journey through many point of views which all lead to one very valuable treasure: a rare 1742 Guarneri del Gesu violin. This story begins during the Holocaust, in 1935, with a young boy named Simon Horowitz and his passion for music, especially the Guarneri that is taken away. Thomas creatively travels back and forth through time, from the tortuous days of the Holocaust; to the present day of Chicago with grandson Daniel Horowitz.
        They say that it's all in the genes! Well Simon's gift for playing the violin was most definitely passed down to fourteen-year-old Daniel, who can play a violin with as much talent as one who has been playing far longer than him. With a little violin put into his hands at a young age, his gift was discovered soon after; and his life became far from normal. From going to a private music school, to winning a national competition; one would think he was happy with his life.
        He wasn't.
        More than anything, Daniel would love to just put away the violin forever and play baseball. Will his family be able to convince Daniel to play again? Will the Horowitz family finally be reunited with what was rightfully theirs all along?
        This story is perfect for both young adults and adults alike. If you love reading about history, then this is perfect for you. While enjoying a good novel, you learn so much about the things the people had to go through during those years in the Holocaust. Beautifully composed, The Keeper Of Secrets, will remind you of the preciousness of family, life, and finding the power to conquer through all your darkest despair.
 

The Keeper Of Secrets