Waiting On Wednesday: The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I chose The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury. 


Release Date: February 23, 2016 by Razorbill

From Goodreads:

When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years -- a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes. 

But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?

As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of Arabian Nights from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury.

Book Review: Doll Junk: Collectible and Crazy Fashions from the ’70s and ’80s by Carmen Varricchio

When I saw the cover of this book on *Netgalley I knew that I had to immediately request it. I could barely contain my giggles at the site of it. I'm not a doll collector and as a child was never a snob over "fake Barbie clothes". But this book looked too intriguing to pass up.

This book is filled filled with dolls and fashions of Barbie (and other doll) knockoffs from the the 1970's and 1980's. Many are shown in their orignal packaging. Drawing from many different countries besides the USA this book displays the wide variety of knockoffs that were in mass production during the 70s and 80s.

As I stated I'm not a doll collector. In fact in my neighborhood I grew up in we had a lady who was well into her 60's who collected baby dolls. As in thousands of them. She would put them in strollers and cribs and dress them up and everything. At the time the kids in the neighborhood found it a bit odd and to be honest pitied her a bit. One of the other kids had sagely told me that the woman couldn't have children and so that was why she had them. Whether or not that is true I'll never know. But now as an adult I have to admit...well I WANT to play with dolls. After going through this book I have the burning desire to go out and buy some Barbies and huge pile of clothes to put her in.

This book was light on words but heavy on pictures. Some of the clothes were down right hideous but some made me want to rip it out of the original packaging and start dressing up Barbie (told you I'm not a collector...no collector would open the original packaging). In particular I fell in love with the Petra doll fashions. They may not have been as well made as Barbie's but oh man some look down right fun!

For me what was more scary than some of the fashions were the dolls themselves. Some looked possessed. Some looked like drag queens imitating Tammy Faye Baker. Some of the male dolls had mustaches (one a full beard). The rooted hair made some of them look crazy. Creepy children dolls who would give Chucky a run for his money.

Over all I LOVED this book. It was good for a chuckle, lots of nostalgia (hello crazy fashions of the past), and a return to innocence. I really and truly want to go out and play with some Barbies right now. I could never be a collector because I would want to dress up and play with them just like that "crazy" lady that I pitied as a child. No pity here just a longing for a time of innocence when imagination reigned free and the whole world was ahead of me.

A solid 5 out of 5 stars.


* I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion

Waiting On Wednesday: Death's Leash by J.D. Stroube

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I chose Death's Leash By J.D. Stroube.
Expected publication: December 1st 2015 by Euphoric Publishing & Design

From goodreads: 

The myth is wrong…

Death is only a man, but one who has control over all living beings. He chooses who will live or die. He commands the fates and gives the order to cut the thread of life. However, Death isn’t alone.

In the beginning of time, he realized that it would be impossible for a single figure to wield power over life and death, while still having time to punish the wicked. Death summoned the tainted souls of the dead and from them created a race of females. They would be the takers of souls, the guardians of the afterlife, and the harbingers of death.

They are Death’s Hellhounds. Wild, impulsive, and terrifying, these sisters have a solitary goal: to hunt down unspeakable evils. When Death calls his Hellhounds to embark on the Wild Hunt, they must forsake their humanity to consume the most depraved souls in existence. Six remain in the veil between life and death, but step through the threshold when Death calls.

Kali has spent her immortal life avoiding attachment. She hides her true self from all but her sisters. When Death gives her an assignment to hunt a rogue angel, she must confront the one man who places her heart in danger. Alone, she must face an enemy too powerful for a solitary Hellhound and find a way to break Death’s leash.

When wicked souls turn from the light,
And baying calls ring through the night.
Face your end or turn to flee,
For Death’s Hellhounds have come for thee! 

Cover Reveal: Ward Against Destruction by Melanie Card (Entangled Teen)

Ward Against Destruction (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer, #4)

by Melanie Card

Release Date: 10/05/15

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Ward de’Ath used to the think that nothing could be more terrible than death. Now he realizes

there are worse things. Like his never-ending hunger for blood. Even if he conquers the

unbearable cravings that drive him headlong toward destruction,he’s a wanted man with a bleak

future.

Assassin Celia Carlyle learns she is the only one who can protect Ward from disaster. She loves him–she wants to help him, but no one can tell her how to save him from himself. And the confusing voices in her head scream to let him go.

But Ward's dark trials keep mounting. A malevolent evil is rising in the land, threatening to

unleash horror upon the world. The only way Ward can defeat it, and have the chance to marry

Celia, is by accepting his fate and becoming the one thing he swore he would never become..

 

***Books in this series***

Ward Against Death (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1)

by Melanie Card 

Release Date: 08/02/11

Entangled Teen

306 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive...

Ward Against Darkness (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #2)

by Melanie Card 

Release Date: 08/27/13

Entangled Teen

352 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

The last thing Ward de'Ath wants is more trouble. On the run from both the law and the criminal underworld, Ward and Celia flee Brawenal City only to stumble into the mansion of a powerful evil necromancer. And when Ward discovers the man possesses a dangerous grimoire, his duty leaves him no choice. He can't allow the necromancer to keep the grimoire.

But the mansion is filled with monsters--human and undead--and Ward has no way of telling who's friend or foe. The only person he can trust is Celia who dominates more of his thoughts and feelings everyday. But there are still laws in the way of anything but friendship. She's still dead and he's still alive . . . for now.

Ward Against Disaster (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #3)

by Melanie Card

Release Date: 01/19/14

About the Author

I have always been drawn to story telling. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling a story in my head or on paper. In grade school, we had journal writing time which I turned into story telling time, weaving tales of magic and adventure that mimicked the fairy tales and myths that I loved to read. It was there, with the help of two very special teachers, that I nurtured this love and started my journey as a writer.

I write fantasy, paranormal romance, and everything in between, seasoned with a good dash of adventure and mystery. Join me on my tales of magic, adventure, and romance.

Author Links:

   

Book Blogger Hop: August 14-20

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer

This week’s question submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews is:

Are you ever without a book?

Very very rarely. 95% of the books I read are ebooks. Most of those I read on my phone. I'm rarely without my phone so I usually have some sort of book (hundreds really) on hand. I'm a huge fan of ebooks and mostly moved away from reading "real" books. Most of the physical copies of books I read these days are my son's books. I just find ebooks more convenient. They take up less space, easier to find what page you left off on, and I can literally read them any time regardless of it is completely dark out or not. So yeah, as long as I've got my phone next to me I've got millions of worlds to explore. 

Thursday's Tale: The Wonderful Birch

Ok this tale was a wee bit...well messed up. This story is a Cinderella variant and you find a lot of similarities to the tale that we know. And then there are some really wacky things. This one was in Andrew Lang's The Red Fairy Book.

I don't even know how to summarize this tale as it is rather long. But basically a woman is turned into a sheep by a witch. The witch takes on the form of the woman. The witch has a daughter with the peasant woman's husband. The peasant woman had already had a daughter. The witch treats her daughter better than she treats her stepdaughter. The witch has the husband kill his wife who is in sheep form. Before the sheep is killed she warns her daughter not to eat any of her meat and to bury her bones. A birch tree grows where her bones were buried.

One day the prince holds a festival. The witch tries to keep her stepdaughter from going by throwing barley corns in the ashes. But the stepdaughter uses a branch from the birch tree and goes to the festival where the prince falls in love with her. At one point the witches daughter is gnawing on bones under the table and the prince kicks her thinking she is a dog. Her arm breaks. When the stepdaughter goes to leave her ring is left on the latch of the door because the prince has smeared it with tar.

Basically after that the stepmother twice more tries to keep her away from the prince. She throws milk and she throws hemp seed among the cinders but the stepdaughter used birch branch both times. She also gets her circlet and her golden slipper stuck in tar left by the prince. The witches daughter is again kicked twice more. Once breaking her leg the other time knocking her eye out.

Like in the regular Cinderella story the prince uses the object left behind to find the maiden. However the witch pares away at her daughter to make the items fit. The prince was ashamed of his strange bride and when he was about to take her away the stepdaughter ran up to him and asked him not to rob her of her silver and gold.  The prince then uses the witches daughter as a bridge so they can cross a river. The witches daughter wishes that a golden hemlock would grow out of her body so that her mother would recognize her.

From there the stepdaughter has a baby the witch hearing about it thinks it is her own daughter but then finds out it is not. She turns the stepdaughter into a reindeer and sends her own daughter in her stepdaughter's place. The baby is restless and finally the prince finds out that the witch turned his wife into a reindeer. He is told to burn her skin she takes it off. Eventually they live happily ever after.

Thursday's Tales is hosted by CarolsNotebook. Feel free to join in and read a tale of your own!

Waiting on Wednesday: Calvin by Martine Leavitt

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

I picked this book this week because I'm HUGE Calvin and Hobbes fan. In fact we name my son Calvin. And he is a blond pain in the you know what just like his namesake. When I saw this book I about peed myself cause it looks so freaking good!

Calvin

by Martine Leavitt

Expected publication: November 17th 2015 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) 

From Goodreads: In this latest novel from National Book Award finalist Martine Leavitt, a schizophrenic teen believes that Bill Watterson can save him from his illness if he creates one more Calvin & Hobbes comic strip.

Seventeen-year-old Calvin has always known his fate is linked to the comic book character from Calvin & Hobbes. He was born on the day the last strip was published; his grandpa left a stuffed tiger named Hobbes in his crib; and he even has a best friend named Susie. As a child Calvin played with the toy Hobbes, controlling his every word and action, until Hobbes was washed to death. But now Calvin is a teenager who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, Hobbes is back—as a delusion—and Calvin can't control him. Calvin decides that if he can convince Bill Watterson to draw one final comic strip, showing a normal teenaged Calvin, he will be cured. Calvin and Susie (and Hobbes) set out on a dangerous trek across frozen Lake Erie to track him down. 

Book Review: Tabatha by Neil Gibson

When I saw this in the Read Now section of *Netgalley I became super excited. I've been trying to read more comics/graphic novels so I jumped at the chance to read it.

Tabatha is a dark, sick, and twisted tale. Luke an young mailman is also a thief. Using information he collects while out delivering mail he and his friends set out to rob some rich people. What they hadn't counted on was meeting Tabatha. A mad killer soon targets Luke and his friends after they treat Tabatha (a sex doll) as less than a lady.

Wow...um wow. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I read this one. All I can say is it was sick and twisted...and dam did I like it. I couldn't stop reading. Peppered with pop culture references and dark humor this tale was creepy with an extra side of creepy. I don't want to ruin too much of the plot with spoilers but the villain in this is super creepy and sick and twisted and did I mention creepy?

The drawings in this were pretty standard for comics but still really enjoyable. Well as enjoyable as twisted and dark subject matter can get. I love that villain sees things through rose colored glasses and that when they show from his perspective everything takes on a rose tinge. Genius!

This is NOT a comic for children. Older teens and adults only. Very mature subject manner and violence and gore. While there is no sex there is a sex doll and mention of sex acts. If you don't mind blood and gore with minor sexual themes then you should really check this out!

5 out of 5 stars.




* I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion

Book Review: Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

This book is one that used to belong to my stepdaughter. She always loved this books and would beg us to read them over and over again. I'm so happy to introduce them to my son and see if he loves them as much as she did.

The cows on Farmer Brown's farm have gotten a hold of a typewriter.  All day long he hears "Click, Clack, Moo". Soon the cows start leaving Farmer Brown notes demanding things like blankets. They threaten to go on strike.

This book is a classic for sure. Funny and cute! It is not overly complicated and as always there is a slight twist at the end. Poor Farmer Brown always seems to get the short end of the deal.

The illustrations are just great. Perfect for children's book and do a great job of showing motion. You can almost see the cows typing. The colors are perfect for the a farm color scheme.

My son loved this one and thought it was perfectly silly. I'm glad he loved it just as much as his older sister did.

5 out of 5 stars.



*This book was read with my special needs son who is severely learning disabled. The review reflects not only my opinion but his as well

Book Review: Coco and the Little Black Dress by Annemarie Van Haeringen

I saw this book on *Netgalley and was immediately intrigued. Coco Chanel is an iconic figure and I thought to myself a children's book about Coco? Heck yeah!

Little Coco is raised in an orphanage and is made from a young age to feel different and not wanted. In the orphanage she learns to sew and dreams of bigger things. When she is older she makes friends with rich people and soon begins to design her own hats and clothes. Including the iconic "little black dress".

OK so I loved this book. The drawings were wonderful. I loved the look of the fashions and the story of little Coco. I admit though I'm not a fan of the perfume. I know I know! Every woman is supposed to love Chanel #5...but little old me? I just always found it to be...a bit much. But anyway back to the book. I found it fascinating to learn that she was raised in an orphanage even though she wasn't really an orphan. I love that she always wanted more for herself and worked hard for it. And since she was never afraid to be different.

My son didn't do as well with this book. To be honest though he doesn't care about fashion so this book really isn't catered to him. I think this really is better for young boys and girls who care about fashion. Really this is more towards young girls than boys (but some boys may enjoy this book).

I would say 4 out of 5 stars.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion
**This book was read with my special needs son who is severely learning disabled. The review reflects not only my opinion but his as well

Book Review: The Surfer & The Seal by Paul Gallagher

A few weeks ago I was delighted to receive an email from author Paul Gallagher asking me if I could review his children's picture book. I immediately jumped at the chance. The book sounded so cute from his description and I loved that the book is dedicated to his grandson Logan. A portion of each book sold will be donated to non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting the marine environment.

The surfer and the seal is based on a true story. Paul, a surfer who has been going to the beach since he was a little boy, has a special spot he likes to surf at. Along the way he checks out the tide pools and the various sea creatures that can be found in them. When he arrives at his secret surfing spot he finds a seal. Soon he and the seal become friends and everyday the surf together.

First I have to mention the illustrations by Monica Chenglo. They were AMAZING! Such gorgeous vivid colors. My adored all the pictures of the sea creatures and kept pointing them out before I could even begin reading the words on the page. These pictures were perfect for this children's book! I'm a sucker for great artwork.

The story itself is very cute. I love that it teaches children about marine life. Also I'm glad that it teaches children not to be scared of the water. I've met children who are scared of the ocean because of sharks and jellyfish. But this teaches that there are our marine cousins that are friendly and curious about us humans as much as we are curious about them.  Living in Jersey the shore is pretty important to me so I'm glad to read books to my son that feature ocean (even if it is a different one than the one we go to).

My son loved this book. As I said earlier he was pointing out the different sea creatures. He said how he wanted to meet a seal too. He also expressed an interest in surfing. I told him he would have to learn how to swim first.

This was a solid 5 out of 5 stars.



* I received a physical copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion
** This book was read with my severely learning disabled son and my review reflects his opinion as well as mine.

Book Review: Alphabet Everywhere by Elliott Kaufman

Here is yet another book I was lucky enough to snag from *Netgalley. While my son finally knows
his ABC's it is always great to go back over them with him. Especially, with the potentially for the summer back slide.

Alphabet Everywhere is a book that features pictures of the letters of the alphabet. But these are not just ordinary drawings or pictures of the letters. No these are pictures of things that just also happen to make look like alphabet letters. Like two silos next to each other forming the letter M or doorhandles that when looked at just the right angle form the letter B.

I loved this book. I thought it was so creative. It not only helps instill the letters of the alphabet but it encourages children to find them all over the place. My son had the best time afterwards going through the house and finding as many letters as he could, "Hey mom! There is a C over there. Do you see it? My name starts with C!".

My son loved trying to see the letters in each of the pictures. Some were easier than others but he saw them all. When I asked him what he thought of the book. He said he loved it and made me go back through it two more times with him. So even though this book is made for children younger than him he still really loved it.

5 out of 5 stars!!




*I received a free copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion
**This book was read with my special needs son who is severely learning disabled. The review reflects not only my opinion but his as well

Book Review: Arrow of the Mist by Christina Mercer

So I joined a reading challenge on goodreads and decided to read this as part of it. I had never seen nor heard of this book before the challenge. But fell in love with the cover and decided to go ahead and buy myself a copy of the book to read for the challenge.

Arrow of the Mist tells the tale of the kingdom of Nemetona. Young Lia's father is poisoned by barbed roots that have begun to invade the kingdom. Lia has a knack for herbs and follows the old ways. She goes on a journey with her grandfather, cousin, and one other in search for a cure for her father. They enter a forbidden land and start a deadly journey in their quest to save Lia's father.

Maybe it was because I was listening to this with the text to speech option on my reader but I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped. I loved that Lia was a strong character and had such a close relationship with her father. The journey itself was exciting with many twists and turns.

But something about this just fell a little flat for me. I was hoping for a just a bit more. But that doesn't mean I wont read the second book. In fact I actually kind of want to read the next book. I think one of my problems was the romance (very light). I just didn't believe it or at least it just didn't add to the book. I think it would have done just as well with out that thread. This coming from someone who ADORES romance.

In the end this was a 3 out of 5 star read.

Book Review: Defiance Rising By Amy Miles

I saw this on *Netgalley a while back and loved the cover. Little did I know that I already owned this book. So I figured it was time to knock this off of my TBR pile since it had been sitting there a while.

Taking place in a post apocalyptic world Illyria has never known anything but a world full of destruction. One day after venturing into enemy territory she meets Bastien. A man who irritates her to no end and is totally the opposite of her best friend Eamon. Soon she is faced with deciding between love and destiny to her people.

Ok it has been a few weeks since I read this. The book started off great and really drew me in. I was interested in the world Illyria lived in. I loved that she was a kick ass female. But soon she began to grate on my nerves. I'm a fan of love triangles but this was just an annoying one. I seriously wanted to rip my hair out after a while. It was less a love triangle and more lets force you to be with one person when you want to be with the other and just hurt both guys all around. UGH!!

Rating this book is hard for me. It started off at 4 stars but slowly the rating started to drop for me. By the end of the book I was just glad to be done with it...but then I realized there are two more books. I just don't have it in me for another two. I wish there had been no love triangle to this because truly that is what killed the book for me.

2 out of 5 stars.



*I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Most Read Authors

I wasn't going to participate in this weeks top ten but well...I couldn't resist. I was curious as to what I had listed as my most read authors so I hopped over to goodreads to take a look. It was rather surprising I must say! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish


1.

Christopher Pike - According to goodreads I've read 37 of his books. When I was a teen he was an author that I read everything he wrote. I read them all more than once and did the peepee dance till the next Pike book came out. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if I was missing a book or two on there that I read. Might be time to go back for a reread and see how much difference 20 years makes.







2.

Stan Berenstain- 36 books. Well, this one makes perfect sense as the Berenstain Bears books were among my favorite books as a child. I still have a few from when I was little and yes I do read them to my son. In fact one of my earliest memories of reading was me reading a Berenstain Bears book to my mom while we cuddled on the couch. It is a good memory and probably one of the reasons I still love the books to this day.





3.
R.L. Stine- 31 books. Another staple of my teenage years. I was obsessed with the Fear Street books. I only read one or two of the Goosebumps books but they were for younger readers than I was at that time (now of course I don't care what the age is on books I read them all). Again it has been about 20 years since I've read a lot of these.  Also I'm pretty sure I haven't marked all the ones I've read.







4.

Julie Garwood- 29 books. This particular one makes me sad. Garwood used to be my favorite romance author. She wrote the best historical romances. Great alpha male heroes and lovable heroines. But then she decided to move to contemporary romance it just wasn't the same. I know she released another historical a few years back but my understanding is it just didn't have the charm that her older ones had. I've pretty much turned my back to historical romances now that I've lost my favorite author for them.





5.
V.C. Andrews- 25 books. I stopped reading the books under V.C.'s name a long time ago. The ghostwriter of her books at first did a fairly good job. But every book after the Cutler series was pure junk. I made it through a few books of the next two series but it was just not the same. Andrews had a way of creeping you out and keeping you reading. This ghostwriter is just a hack. When I saw a few years ago that he wrote a vampire series under her name I nearly puked. I mean seriously? Vampires? Anyway I WONT be reading any more of the books that come out. VC died many many years ago and to continue to write under her name is all about the money and nothing more.



6.
L.J Smith- 24 books. Ah here is another one that makes me sad. Loved LJ's books so much when I was teen. I read them over and over and over again. Especially the Forbidden Game books. Most people know her for the Vampire Diaries books. And that is where the sadness comes...she no longer writes the Vampire Diaries books. It is sad that she could not retain control of her own creation.






7.
Linda Howard- 24 books. In my 20's I couldn't stop reading Linda Howard she was a favorite for sure. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I read one of her books. Maybe it is time to catch back up. For a while there I couldn't get enough of her books.








8.
Carolyn Keene- 20 books. Ah I fondly remember being in the fourth grade and trying to sneakily read a Nancy Drew book during math. My teacher of course caught me. She was mad/proud that I was reading. My parents didn't even get mad. How can you be mad for a child being so passionate about reading? When I was younger I gobbled up the Nancy Drew books like candy. When I was in 4th grade it was all about Nancy!






9.

Iris Johansen- 15 books. Here is another author from my 20s that I had adored. Unfortunately though she became a bit obsessed with one of her characters and after that I was bored out of my mind by her books. If she ever decides to step out of that cannon and write other books I might start reading again but I'm sick of Eve Duncan.







10.

William Shakespeare- 14 books. Ah, you are surprised by this one aren't you? Well, I was an English Literature major and took 2 different courses focused solely on Shakespeare. So of course I've read a good number of his plays. Some I've read 3 or 4 times (or 7 in the case of Hamlet...this one not by choice). So good old Willy making an appearance on my list seems rather appropriate.

I'm Back!!

Photo by Martin Vorel 

Ok so I've been dying the last two weeks with no laptop or PC. I've been itching to post reviews for all the books I've read. I also have such a backlog of emails to go through. Still no laptop but at least I got the PC up and running. Though I miss my laptop so much. It is sad just how much it broke my heart when I spilled that cup of juice on it. Of course if this had been the first time I had killed a laptop that might have been on thing. But we have a whole graveyard of laptops all murdered by this clumsy chick right here. I think this might have been laptop number 5 or might have been number 6. Either way thankfully the price of laptops has gone down dramatically and hubby has promised that we will get a new one. So till then I'll have to settle for the old desktop computer. Hopefully there will be no killing of that.  The plan for now is to get caught up on posting all my reviews and responding to the overwhelming amount of review requests I've recently received. I'm saying no or putting a hold on most for the time being. Never know when the next problem will crop up...and in my life problems constantly arrive.