Mind Over All- Review

My Review of Mind Over All:

Honestly I am ashamed to say that I had finished this book a long time ago and just forgot to go back and review it! GAH! Anyway...

I unabashedly give this book a full 5 stars!!!

Its the third in a trilogy but the whole series is absolutely great! The characters come to life right off the page. I couldn't put it down! Filled with the magic and mystery that makes science fiction so awesome, Karina’s Mind Over All takes you from Earth right down into another planet. Deryl, the main character, is a psychic with abilities he doesn’t quite know how to use yet who has been enlisted to help save two worlds from certain destruction. In the meantime he tries to help his friend work out his problems with his fiance. I LOVE these books! They will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat!

I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for an awesome science fiction adventure!

I can't WAIT to read the Hearts Over Mind novella next!


Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1897492855


About the Book (from Amazon):

At long last, Deryl has it all.

He’s mastered his psychic abilities, escaped the asylum on Earth where he was being studied, and thwarted the alien Master who would have forged him into a weapon. He has gained a new home among the psychics of Kanaan and, with the coming birth of his son, a family as well.

But darkness still looms, as the enemy prepares to invade Deryl’s new homeworld. With planets set to collide, Deryl will have to accept his role as savior of both worlds, and push his mind’s powers to the limit in order to save those he loves.

I've also written reviews on the first two... Mind over Mind and Mind over Psyche

Just Finished The Final Season Of Star Trek Voyager

Loved this crew!

My husband, my kids, and I have all been watching Star Trek Voyager over dinner on most nights, thank you Netflix for having them all send to our house by disk! So far we have watched the Original Series (Capt. Kirk), Next Generation (Picard), and now Voyager (Janeway). When I was a teen I watched all of the 'Enterprise' (Capt. Archer) episodes as well. I can't say yet with honesty that I enjoy any of the editions over the others yet but I do have one confession to make...

I think the final episode of Voyager season 7 truly takes the prize for best finale ever!

One of my favorite things about watching the Star Trek series' is watching the crews grow, and learn, and discover their own potential. Seven went from being a Borg drone to being completely free of the collective and learned what it means to be human again. The Doctor explored what it means to be a sentient life form in holographic form, and even asked himself whether he would ever want to become human given the chance. Tom grew out of his rebellious ways, and even Tuvok learned to make friends even with the illogical Neelix.

Season 7 wrapped up all the stories from all the main crew members and in the end every story ended in a satisfactory way.  Seven of Nine found someone to have a relationship with. Tuvok got his cure. B'lana and Tom got to have the doctor birth their baby. We find out that Harry Kim may eventually become a captain of his own ship, and the Doctor may eventually pick a name for himself and perhaps even get married; all of this being up in the air of course since they rewrote time again but... check it out and you'll see!

Yeah its all a bit Timey Wimey but we've also been keeping up with all the Doctor Who episodes so we are totally used to all that.

I'd have to say the only thing I was disappointed by is the fact that 7of 9 didn't finish her codiscot game (or however you spell that) with Neelix, AND the fact that they left him behind. I am glad that he found the rest of his people and a family, and I guess if Star Fleet can communicate with voyager on the rare occasion than they can still keep in touch with Neelix too.

So overall, unlike the series finale of 'Enterprise', I was very satisfied with the way Voyager ended.

And I'm not the only one who loves Voyager! Author Travis Simmons has even gone against the typical geek grain and professed his love for Capt. Janeway on his blog along with a pretty well thought out list as to why he enjoys Captain Janeway over the other Star Trek captains!

We've been dipping back into re-watching the episodes of Smallville from the beginning, and Breaking Bad (though the kids don't watch Breaking Bad with us of course). We are also anxiously awaiting the new season of Doctor Who, Green Arrow, and Walking Dead.

Its a great time to be a geek! :P

Review of Star Trek TNG and Doctor Who story Assimilation 2

Assimilation 2 Vol 1 Image from Amazon.com

Assimilation 2 Vol 2 Image from Amazon.com

My hubby gave me books for Christmas! Not just any books, graphic novels! (- funny story, I once had someone ask me if 'graphic novels' were too 'adult' for children.... umm- unless otherwise stated, graphic novels are just comics made into book form.)

 These particular graphic novels are part one and two of Assimilation 2 (not quite sure what assimilation 1 entailed, but that is neither here nor there). Assimilation 2 is a mashup of the characters from Star Trek Next Generation (for those non Trekkies out there.... that's Captain Picard's timeline) and the characters from Doctor Who during 12's (bowtie doctor) regeneration. Also found in this story line are the 4th Doctor (long scarf doctor) along with Captain Kirk and crew. In this story line the Cybermen team up with the Borg to attack and attempt to assimilate Captain Picard's universe.

For the Trekkie and Whovian that I am I absolutely LOVED this story! It felt just like every other Doctor Who episode. Complete with a few jumps back and forward in time and the Enterprise crew getting a peek into the Tardis- "Yep, its bigger on the inside!" It was also hilarious to find that both The Doctor and the Cybermen were impressed by Data who even manages to save the Tardis from the Borg!

I won't go into further detail here as it would spoil the story but it really was an entertaining read!

 If you'd like to check it out for yourself you can find it on amazon.com in both e-book and paperback- I'd personally recommend the paperback copy! http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Next-Generation-Doctor-ebook/dp/B009H8LUZ0

Hubby also gave me a book of Sherlock Holmes puzzles- when I finish that one I'll be sure to let you know how it was! It's intriguing so far!

Turbo Roaster Review

Turbo Roaster Box image from Walmart.com

My husband gifted me a Turbo Roaster for Christmas about two years ago. I like to try something out thoroughly before I write up a review for it. Honestly, I love this thing! I've used it about 5 times so far. The Turbo Roaster has made my holidays so much more enjoyable and cooking so much more efficient!

I cook a turkey for both Thanksgiving and Christmas most years. Typically this entails getting up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven while everyone is asleep. Finding a way to get it in the oven without waking up my kids on Christmas morning has always been a major hurdle.

No longer! I haven't gotten around to timing the cooking EXACTLY due to various holiday distractions... but I do know that the cooking time is cut in HALF! I no longer wake up at the crack of dawn to prepare my turkey. This year I was up by 8 and the 17lb turkey was done in about two hours! Normally I am finished with all my other cooking and waiting on my turkey to finish so we can eat dinner. This year- my turkey sat cooling while I rushed around to finish the rest of my cooking!

Tony Chachere's Injectable Turkey Marinade
 image from Walmart.com

Most of the time the turkey seasonings you add to the outside only help flavor the top little bit of the turkey meat. I've tried and tried and tried again and no matter how I prepped it my turkey always ended up dry on the inside. Using the Turbo Roaster, along with Tony Chachere's Injectable Turkey Marinade made my turkey come out very juicy and flavorful. Even the cold leftovers were finger licking good!

What is the Turbo Roaster?

Its a glass jar attached to a curvy metal tube with a canning lid and a plastic gasket. You fill the jar with water, attach the lid/tube set up and stick the end of it in the turkey before cooking. The oven heats up the water and causes steam to rise through the tube and cook the turkey from the inside while the oven cooks the turkey from the outside. Thereby cutting cooking time in half.

It does work with a stuffed turkey... just not as well.

Tips on using the Turbo Roaster

-I use a turkey pan rack to elevate my bird so that the jar can sit mostly flat in the oven- this helps.
-Leave the turkey unstuffed for best results (though I have done it both ways)
-Put glass jar directly on stove rack- it does not need a pan under it.

-*DO NOT FILL (even with HOT WATER) until the jar has cooled!

Ok... so for the bad news...

The jar on my turbo roaster smashed this Christmas... my own stupid fault- I forgot to let the jar cool before refilling it with hot water -.-

See... I did know better... the instructions are really rather clear on this point. However, I was battling a sinus infection and apparently my brain was all mush from it. (It even took me three separate tries to figure out how many chairs and plates we needed at the table- that's how bad my head felt.)

And now the jar for my turbo roaster sits on my counter in two pieces. *facepalm!*

So... now for some Real World Speculating

The jar mouth for the turbo roaster is the same size as a regular canning jar. So, I'm wondering if I could just switch out the broken jar with a regular wide mouthed canning jar instead. To know that I needed to look up online as to whether the canning jars could even be put in the oven or not.

That's when I stumbled on this Pie in a Jar recipe:

Single serving pie in a jar recipe

Seriously... even if you don't plan on cooking your pies in a jar, you just HAVE to check out these pictures! Tiny pies! The cuteness!

My favorite is when the blogger slides the baked pie right out of the jar and onto the plate- UBER CUTENESS!

Anyhow... Apparently you CAN put mason jars in the oven.

So next year (or the next time I cook a whole bird) I will swap out the broken jar for an ordinary canning jar and be sure to come back and report the results to you!

If it doesn't work, oh well... I will certainly buy another Turbo Roaster! 

Reviewing Jasmines Got Talent

Book Description:

Jasmine the miniature-schnauzer returns in another dreamy adventure! In this one, she's going to show off her talent and maybe win a prize! Join her as she takes the stage in third Jasmine Dreams book.

***** 5 Stars! Perfectly Delightful! *****

I give Jasmine's Got Talent 5 stars for quality, entertainment, and adorable illustrations!
Jasmine's Got Talent is a charming and delightful story written for young children by author Maria Rochelle. This book features awesome 'squeal worthy' illustrations by illustrator Jo Linsdell. My favorite of the characters was the cat, Diamond! Jasmine will surely inspire your little ones to want to be the star of the show too!



Find out more here!

Kindle http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PO3Y3JM

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23593299-jasmine-s-got-talent

Author website: http://writermariarochelle.blogspot.com

Illustrator website: http://www.JoLinsdell.com