Percy Jackson Viewing Party

Confession. I have not read the Percy Jackson series. I want to but my to be read pile is very long. Maybe I'll read them this year. These photos were taken when we had a Percy Jackson viewing party Disney+ version.

The best sugar cookie recipe ever 

Recipe here.

I really enjoyed and have since enjoyed this series. My kids have read the books and they say the series is way better than the movies. 

My two oldest kids baked and set the party up while I was at work. All I had to do was come home with pizza. They did such an amazing job. I'm so happy that their friend's like to come over to our house and hang out. 

Coffee and hot chocolate bar ready to go 

The cutest cookies and cupcakes! 

 

Peasread: Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White (Song of The Last Kingdom, Book 2)

The Song of The Last Kingdom books have been some of my favorites to read this year. If you've read my review for Song of Silver, Flame Like Night you already know what the author Amelie Wen Zhao's writing style is. It is poetic, and lush, and brings to mind the landscapes of the Last Kingdom beautifully. Storytelling that will have glued to your seat and not wanting to stop until you've reached the end. Even then, you'll want more.

This book starts off from where we last left Zen and Lan. They have gone their separate ways. They have the same goal. Eradicate the colonizers and restore their people. While they both want the same thing, both believe in different methods of achieving their goals. Lan refuses to use the power of the Silver Dragon bound to her believing that the Demon God and its counterparts bring nothing but death and destruction. Zen believes the only way to rid the land of the Elantions is to use the power of the Demon Gods. He has made a deal with the one who dwells within him. One that will cost not only his body and mind but in the end, his soul. 

Who is right? Who is wrong? In the end, will either of them be able to save what they hold most dear to them?

Peasreads: Treasures of the Lochs

I enjoy historical fiction and fantasy, parts of some of my favorite genres. Folklore and mythology? Sign me up. This book promises a long-lost treasure, a deadly chase, and a magnificent beast of legends. Again, I'm in.

Told from the viewpoint of the two main characters. Carter is a United States Naval Academy, Lieutenant. Without giving spoilers I'll say that he is mourning the loss of his father, and is in a very dark place. He is drawn to Scottland by a mysterious item left by his father in a safety deposit box,  Hattie is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Scottland. She is bright, and mature for her age. She finds some treasure that might be from the famed long-lost treasure of the Scottish Jacobites. She wants to use the money from selling the treasure to help her family. Before that can happen word gets out. Riches and wealth can bring out the best or the worst in people.  It isn't long before Hattie and Carter are on the run and racing to solve the mystery of where the remaining treasure is and how to use it to stay alive.

Scottish history, adventure, a treasure hunt. Heartbreak, redemption, restoration. 

Those are some words, that I would use to describe this book. At first, I didn't know how the first chapter of the book would tie into the next chapter, then the next chapter. The story came together and it was fun. The characters are human, they make mistakes, and they have to take risks, and make hard choices.            

Description

A long-lost treasure, a deadly chase, and a magnificent beast of legends

For almost three hundred years, people have searched for one of the greatest treasures in history—the lost gold of the Scottish Jacobites. Following his father’s death and a brazen late-night break-in at the United States Naval Academy, Lieutenant Carter Porter, his life and career in tatters, unwittingly joins the quest.

In Scotland, Hassie Douglass, a spirited young employee of a luxury inn situated on the picturesque shores of Loch Ness, thinks her prayers have been answered when she stumbles across four old gold coins that may be part of the Jacobite treasure. But she can’t tell anybody how she really found them; they would think she had lost her mind. Who would believe she followed a strange, ethereal voice emanating from the loch? Struggling to accept what she heard, she can’t deny that the gold in her hand is real.

The allure of such a valuable cache draws evil, like the moth to a flame. No sooner does Carter receive a strange bequest from his late father and Hassie’s find is publicized than a shadowy, well-armed group of mercenaries attacks each of them. Soon, Carter’s and Hassie’s fates are joined, and their survival depends on solving more than one ancient mystery while facing their worst nightmares.

Blending historical fact and Scottish legend within an action-packed adventure, Treasures of the Lochs is an exciting, powerful story of faith, friendship, and redemption.

Author: Hunter White

ISBN: 9781632996879

PRICE: $20.95 (USD) PAGES: 366

 #TreasuresoftheLochs #NetGalley

 Find more book reviews here under Peasreads.

Amazon reviews Katereviews.

Goodreads reviews.

 I received this book from NetGalley for this review. I was under no obligation to give a positive review. All opinions are on my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thanks for reading Give Peas A Chance!

Peasreads: The Forest Grimm

 I have not read a book by Kathryn Purdie before but I will be on the lookout for more books by this author. The Forest Grimm is a fantasy that is original with an imaginative twist on Fairytales. Clara was a great main character. I felt she was strong, smart, and focused. Even though her fortune-teller grandma has warned her of untimely death from early on, Clara accepts this and decides to use her short time to go on a quest into the deadly and dangerous Forest Grimm to save loved ones. Well written with likable characters. This is a great read for young adults and I would say 13 and up readers also.

From the Publisher:

A spellbinding YA fantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Purdie, where fairy tales come to life with dark, deadly twists.

"Tell me again, Grandmère, the story of how I die."

The Midnight Forest. The Fanged Creature. Two fortune-telling cards that spell an untimely death for 17-year-old Clara. Despite the ever-present warning from her fortune-teller grandmother, Clara embarks on a dangerous journey into the deadly Forest Grimm to procure a magical book—Sortes Fortunae, the Book of Fortunes—with the power to reverse the curse on her village and save her mother.

Years ago, when the villagers whispered their deepest desires to the book, its pages revealed how to obtain them. All was well until someone used the book for an evil purpose—to kill another person. Afterward, the branches of the Forest Grimm snatched the book away, the well water in Grimm’s Hollow turned rancid, and the crops died from disease. The villagers tried to make amends with the forest, but every time someone crossed its border, they never returned.

Now, left with no alternative, Clara and her close friend, Axel—who is fated never to be with her—have set their minds to defying fate and daring to accomplish what no one else has been able to before. But the forest—alive with dark, deadly twists on some of our most well-known fairy tales—has a mind of its own.

Find more book reviews here under Peasreads.
Amazon reviews Katereviews.

Goodreads reviews.

 I received this book from NetGalley for this review. I was under no obligation to give a positive review. All opinions are on my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thanks for reading Give Peas A Chance!

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On Wings Of Devotion- ( The Codebreakers Book 2) Book Review

Here it is! The second book in the Codebreakers series. I have to say, I was so excited to read this book because I had learned that we would get a glimpse into the lives of other characters from Roseanna M. White's books. Books I have thoroughly enjoyed and reread many times. Roseanna has a way of writing that makes you fall in love with each character, for their strength, grit, whit, weaknesses. Turns out that On Wings Of Devotion has given me more characters to love to get to know! 

Peasreads: The Number of Love (The Codebreakers Book #1)

Heyo folks, this review is written by the 15 year old daughter of peasreads. Just a heads up :) and apologies in advance T^T

This book really deserves every single one of those stars. Normally, I shy away from giving books a 100% because perfection's pretty hard to obtain. *The Number of Love* (asterisks stand for italics) got impressively close. I practically devoured this book like a black whole, so I hope this review gives it justice and doesn't bore you to death :)

The Science of Good Cooking (Cook's Illustrated Cookbooks)

This cookbook was given to us as a gift. I am a home cook and my girls and I love science. The lay out of this book is a lot like all of the Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen books. The recipes are easy to read, they don't all have pictures which I do prefer with cook books. The pictures it does include are mostly grey scale.

Peasread: A Fairy King

Hello everyone! My 12/13 year old has agreed to reviews some great books for me. Here's one from C.J. Brightley called A Fairy King, it's a novella. My teen LOVES this series and is anxiously waiting for the next book. It is not a tween/teen/young adult book. It's a story that adults and teens will all enjoy.

It is summer here so less food blogging, no school lunches, but we'll try to get these book reviews up!

Here's the review:

Peasread: The Invisible Library

Reviewed by Esmeralda (age 13)

The Invisible Library 

Genevieve Cogman

329 pages

Published January 15th 2015 by Tor UK

ISBN 1447256239 (ISBN13: 9781447256236)

 When I first saw this book, I was kind of skeptical. The summery sounded interesting, but not really my type, which is more fantastical or mythological. That being said, I put off reading the book forever. Once I started, I finished the book in less than half a day.

This novel is about a woman named Irene who works at the Invisible Library. At this library they collect important and rare books from different worlds. These are all variations of earth some have magic, others are more technologically advanced. Irene and her assistant Kai are sent to collect a book from a chaos infected world. The rules of reality are skewed in some of these worlds. They find that not only had the book been stolen, there were many powerful groups and people who were also after the book.

Peasread: Beauty Begins

Beauty Begins is a Christian/Biblical living book about true beauty. It is about God's definition of beauty, beauty as He created it/US to be. The book talks about how we have lost sight of what true beauty is and are looking at ourselves and those around us through the world's eyes. Instead of seeing that we are created in God's image and are perfect we start letting what society defines as beautiful creep into out thoughts. After a while we forget that true beauty is reflecting God's image, His love, grace, mercy, kindness.
We can never reach the world's standards on beauty, trends change, we're all made differently (fearfully and wonderfully), we can't all fit into one mold.  But God is unchanging. He is constant, and He has made us perfectly, for a perfect purpose. To love well, and reflect him. It's so important that we remember this and Beauty Begins is a helpful reminder that we need to "Make peace with our reflection" and focus on what's important and what is eternal.