The Captain Takes a Wife {a Review}

I'm a sucker for stories that involves captains and wives...chalk it up to my nearly being a captain's wife!

From Amazon: Sarah Franklin, a young teacher escaping an arranged marriage to a corrupt man, runs straight into the arms of Captain Harry Richardson as he prepares to board a train leaving Macon, Georgia, in 1875. She begs him to help her, and the captain soon finds himself in the midst of a ruse to hide her identity from her pursuers. When he impulsively kisses her in front of his amazed friends and some curious newspaper reporters, everything changes, and events soon spiral out of control.

The story was fantastic. I loved how the characters where developed. I'm always a big fan of anything that has to do with the Civil War, and while this wasn't specifically about it, it does take place in the years afterward. I find there is so little written from the perspective of the south during the years that followed.

I will say it was a bit of slog at times trying to keep everything straight, this is a rather long read, but it was definitely one that I enjoyed.

*I received this book for free via BookLookBloggers review program, but the opinions are my own!

Queen Bees and Wannabees {a Review}

Years ago I heard about the first release of this book, and it fascinated me for my adolescent psych class that I was taking. I can already see the cliques and drama affecting my 7 and 5 year old daughters. This book had fantastic insight into how to help them navigate the nastiness, without compromising themselves or joining the masses.

Writing Is a Good Career Choice

Are you a young person who is not sure of the career path you should take? Are you an older person who is not happy with your current career? In either case, you would be wise to take some time and carefully consider all of your career options. You should choose a career where you can use your talents on a daily basis. People who have a good imagination might want to consider becoming a writer. This is a very rewarding profession for the people who are good enough to have their work published. Here are a few of the reasons why writing is a career you should seriously consider pursuing.

1. Writing allows you to express yourself in ways that you can't in most other jobs.

You might be a person who has a lot of thoughts and creative ideas bouncing around in your head. You might have stories that you want to tell. If this is the case, being a writer enables you to allow your stories and ideas to spill onto the page. Most people have jobs that do not give them any sort of creative outlet. Writing is a job that gives you the ability to take all of the emotions that you are feeling and channel them into a novel, short story, article or even a blog post.

2. You will decide when you will work and when you will take time off.

Are you tired of waking up early in the morning because you need to go to your job? You might be sick and tired of battling the same traffic jams for five days every week. The grind of a regular job can take its toll on people. However, being a writer is much more convenient. You will never again need to wake up early or battle rush hour traffic. Those things will all be in the past. Writers determine their own working schedule. Are you a night person? If so, you can do all of your writing in the middle of the night. It really makes no difference when your writing is done. The only thing that matters is that you are able to turn in your work before your deadline. Daniel Handler  is a successful writer. Handler has said that he enjoys the easy schedule that being a writer affords him.

3. You will be your own boss and control your own destiny.

Are you currently working at a job where you absolutely hate your boss? Have you watched many less qualified people get promoted instead of you? These are common problems that many people are forced to endure in a traditional working environment. Fortunately, writers do not need to worry about either of these things. You will become your own boss when you become a writer. You will decide what to write about and how much writing you will do on a particular day. You will never have to endure getting passed over for a promotion that should have rightfully been yours. You will have complete freedom. The only exception to this is if you decide to become a newspaper columnist. In this case, you will have a boss who assigns you topics that he or she wants you to write an article about.

The Carols of Christmas {a Review}

I'm a sucker for Christmas, I'm a sucker for books...so Christmas books are always a soft-spot for me. I love them. I recently finished The Carols of Christmas by Andrew Gant, which was a good read. A bit heady at parts, but I loved finding out a bit of the history behind some of my favorite Christmas carols.

I did think it would read as more of a short story narrative, particularly given the title mention stories, but it read more as a research paper. The author has definitely don't his work and knows what he's talking about. It's just rather lost on me, who doesn't have much musical history or theory knowledge. All in all it was an interest book and one I'm sure I will go back and look at again and again.

I received this book for free through the BookLookBloggers review program. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. You can find my disclosure policy here.