Salt by Hannah Moskowitz

 

     I received a copy of Salt from Netgalley and Chronicle Books in exchange for an honest review.

      Salt is about a boy named Indi, who is 17. He and his siblings are orphaned after their parents disappear while hunting a sea creature named El Diamante.The kids live on their boat and continue to try to hunt these sea monsters, hoping for a possibility that they will discover what happened to their parents. 

     I wanted to like this book. The concept of being sics, people who see and hunt sea monsters, was interesting to me. I was hoping that I would hear more about the creatures they would encounter. There was a journal kept by their parents and a promise of treasure. There were aspects of the storyline that I really liked and wish the author had gone further into. There were also a few moments where I thought this book would have some nice family values thrown in.

       What I didn't like about the book is that the kids were involved with a lot of stuff that weren't really necessary. Both the older sister, Beleza and Indi had sexual encounters in the story, and it sounded like this was the norm. They also smoked and drank. There was also a lot of swearing in the book. I mentioned family values. I just felt weird going back and forth between a character expressing admiration about an older sibling and then a 6 year old swearing at her 12 year old brother. Then there were tender spots where a younger character would lovingly place their head on an older sibling's shoulder... and the 12 year old would routinely smack the 6 year old in the head or something. So, I don't know. I will say that I tend to be pretty conservative and that this book is geared to teens/young adults. I also thought about character development. Maybe these kids were the way they were because they've always lived at sea, daringly catching monsters and having to make things work on their own. I thought about whether I would pass this on to my sons to read. Ultimately I decided, I will not pass it on. There's not enough of a story to make the characters worth it to me. I do think that lots of young teens will enjoy the story, but it just wasn't for me. 

My Brilliant Idea (and How it Caused my Downfall)

 

     This is another book that has been on my TBR shelf for too long. I'm reading it for my Mount TBR challenge as well as my Keyword Reading Challenge (My).  I actually felt badly when I picked it up to read because I saw that Goodreads had sent it to me as an advanced reader copy, but the book was published June 2016. So, I apologize for the delay.    This book is about a boy named Jack Dawson, nicknamed Jackdaw, who comes up with an idea to create an app that would prevent you from getting in trouble for daydreaming at school. The only problem is that he doesn't know how to program an app, and the only person who knows at his school is a strange girl named Elsie. In order to get what he wants, Jackdaw makes a series of deals and comes up with schemes to get each deal to work. Unfortunately, many of his plans are hindered by outside forces and don't go exactly how he planned. 

      I gave this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads. This book is geared towards teens but I could tell right away that it was not written by an American author, so I'm not sure if teens here would immediately connect with the book. I think if my son read this book, he wouldn't know what some of the slang meant.  Also, one of the ideas that Jack has is to trick a boy into getting naked in front of a girl, which isn't the most edifying thing for me to pass on to my kids. It fits in with Elsie's weirdness, but wasn't an idea I liked in a book younger kids might be reading. There were some sections that were pretty humorous. As a person who works with teens, I liked Jackdaw's convictions that his "good ideas" are brilliant and his sense of humor.

On Edge- a Journey Through Anxiety review

  

   Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book  in exchange for an honest review.     As you can guess by the cover of this book, this book deals with living with anxiety. The author, Andrea Petersen, shares her experiences with her lifelong struggle with anxiety and how it has affected her relationships, work, and ability to live life.  "It (anxiety) is a chronic sense of uneasiness about a vague future, a gnawing worry about what may or may not happen."  I appreciated the mix of personal reflections with the scientific research that she presented.  Peterson tells about research regarding heredity and anxiety,  possible links between anxiety and other medical issues, and strategies for dealing with anxiety- both non-drug therapies and medications. Although I really enjoyed the research aspect, I might caution you if you're not interested in reading research or information about neuroscience. 

    I appreciated the author's vulnerability in telling her story. I have often wondered if I would be diagnosed with anxiety if I ever had an evaluation. (The answer is probably yes.) My thoughts are constantly racing, I often obsess about the possibilities in any situation- even though I understand that there is usually only 1 outcome. I have often shared some of the questions that she has- "Is this normal?" "What if I end up like this relative?" "Am I just worrying, or is there something actually wrong?"   If you would like to learn more about anxiety- or work with people who may be dealing with anxiety, I think this is a great read.

The Yellow Envelope review

    I received an ARC copy of The Yellow Envelope by Kim Dinan.   This book is the story of Kim and her husband, Brian, who decide to quit their jobs, sell most of their possessions and travel around the world. This move was prompted by Kim realizing that she just wasn't truly happy with life the way she was living it.  With that being said, she realized that she had a pretty good life and was grateful for it.   She decided to follow her dream to become a writer and to travel.
    Before leaving, the couple is given a yellow envelope filled with $1000 cash by a couple that they were friends with. They are given the opportunity to give the money away to people in any way that it made them happy. There were 3 rules- don't overthink it, share your experiences if you'd like and don't feel pressured to give it all away.



The book followed their travels through Ecuador, Peru, Nepal, India, Germany, Vietnam, etc. Along the way, you encounter their interactions with other travelers as well as "natives." You read challenges and success stories about their relationships and their travels.
     There were quite a few things I really liked about this book:
1)   Kim seems like a person I'd like to sit and have coffee with- or exchange letters with. I liked her sense of humor and I could relate to her a lot (except for the running... I hate running.) There were a couple of times I was slightly annoyed that she didn't seem happy with her life, even though nothing was wrong, but I think we've all been there at times, haven't we? I think it's healthy to examine this at times. I also want to acknowledge her vulnerability at times. Sometimes it's hard to admit that our problems might be caused more by us than they are by other people. I think it's brave to take ownership for things that you feel are within your realm of fixing. I also think it's brave to use what you can to make the world better- whether it's making somebody happy, giving them money or serving them with your time or gifts. I like people that I feel like I can learn things from while sharing my own life. Kim also has a blog, www.so-many-places.com
2) I love traveling vicariously through the stories of others. I have never really desired to visit some of the places that she visited, but I am more curious about those places now. I enjoyed learning about places I had never heard about and learning cultural tidbits about daily life. The book kind of reminded me of how I felt while I was reading Eat, Pray, Love... but not at the same time.
3) The opportunity to make a difference and have an extra $1000 that you can just give away. What a gift!

    

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a great read! I would highly recommend this book to my friends.