Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Review

As many geeks out there I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newest adventure in the Harry Potter Universe. Yes its in play format which takes a little while to get used to. Even though there were plenty of articles and announcements that this book would not be written in the same way the rest of the books were written but people have still be shocked at the format.
Let's make this clear. This story is in PLAY FORMAT. It still gives you the story it just doesn't have the big descriptions and internal dialogue you'd get from the original books. Trying to imagine the story being done on stage makes me really wonder how they pulled some of it off.
The whole story revolves around Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy and their relationships with their fathers. Its hard to be a son to Harry Potter, especially when you aren't a perfect kid and wizard like your older brother. And its hard to be the son of a former Death Eater especially when your parentage is in question.
The children as usual are the stars of the story but it wouldn't be a Harry Potter story without the original crew who are a prominent part of the story.
I highly recommend this for anyone who loves this universe. It may take you a little to get used to the format but once you get through a few scenes it starts to draw you in just like every other book of the series.

Cravings: The Food You Want To Eat

I usually am not a fan of books that models or actors put out because they always seem uppity or unrealistic and out of touch with what people might actually want to eat. Chrissy Teigen is one of the few model/actresses that I find genuine and hilarious and both come through in the cookbook, Cravings. Almost every page is full of her fun craziness along with recipes that sound so good they have to be bad for you! I was pretty excited for this cookbook and it did not disappoint. I really recommend this book to anyone who wants food that tastes good while having a laugh reading what Chrissy has to say. 

I received this book for review from Blogging for Books.

Below

Below is the story of Hokk and Elia. Hokk is an outcast from Below, a dark stormy plain, and Elia is a laundress from Above, where its sunny and beautiful but the lower and upper class differences are great. Hokk and Elia get throw together when Elia falls from Above and must hide from the guards on their flying mounts with Hokk's help. Hokk hopes to use Elia to end his banishment. Nothing goes as planned for Hokk and Elia as they travel across the plains to Hokk's city and avoiding the guards from Above.
It took me a few chapters to really wrap my head around the Above and the Below places. Above floats in the air on a giant mountain of a rock and Below is shrouded in clouds that keep Above afloat. I really hope during the series we find out about how this situation happened. It seems to take place far in the future of Earth. Once I got ahold of how the world works, the story was quite enjoyable. A few times I got annoyed with the characters' choices, but both are young and a bit immature so their choices made sense. And I like that Above seems to be slowly dropping from the sky causing problems for everyone, and that catastrophe that seems to be coming is something I look forward to storywise.
I received this book for review at Edelweiss.

Girl of Myth and Legend

Leonie is a seventeen old girl who is stuck in her routine of life. That is until she falls to the ground and begins to glow, which is the beginning of a brand new life. She is of a race called the Chosen, which her father has been hiding from her her whole life. She apparently is a Pulsar, the first in two hundred years, and everyone wants to control her, and she doesn't even know if she wants to be part of that world.
I enjoyed the world that the Girl of Myth and Legend takes place in. I felt like the pacing of the book was a bit off. The beginning was rushed, I'd have liked to get to know Leonie a bit more before she changed. And the travel to her new land I really enjoyed the wonder Leonie felt and the complexity of Korren, her kytean companion. I look forward to the next book in the series, and recommend this book overall as a good modern fantasy read.
I received this book for review at NetGalley.

Dragon Round

Dragon Round is the story of Captain Jeryon, a naval captain who is on a mission to get needed medical supplies back to his plagued city. While the Comber is underway, it is attacked by a dragon. When dragons attack ships the ships rarely survive, but Jeryon manages to lead his crew in defeating the dragon but they sustain heavy losses. Jeryon wants to leave the dragon carcass behind so they can get back to the city with the medical supplies but his officers have other ideas and mutiny so they can render the dragon for its prized hide and bones. The Apothecary is the only one to stand against the mutiny, so the crew put both the Apothecary and Captain on a dingy with no supplies, oars, or weapons. They call it a "Captain's Chance", which to Jeryon it means his mates were too much of a coward to kill him outright.
I love Naomi Novik's books and The Dragon Round's description made it sound very similar. I really wanted to like it. However after the initial dragon training once they found his egg on the island, it started to lose me. It quickly became a story of vengeance which would have been fine but it seemed too easy. Also the characters who were the main characters throughout the first two-thirds of the book were barely present except in the background during the last third. Many new characters were introduced and took over the story as well. The concept was interesting but it lost me in the end by changing who the story was following. If it had briefly changed and returned to Jeryon or even the poth I could have stayed involved, but alas it did not. I wouldn't say it was a bad book, but when comparing to Naomi Novik's Temeraire series its comes up short.
I received this book for review at NetGalley.

The Indian Family Kitchen Cookbook

I'm a glutton for cookbooks. I can't get enough of them. Some definitely are better quality than others. The Indian Family Kitchen is one of the better ones. The pictures are amazing and make the food look delicious.
This was not your typical Ethnic Cookbook either. I love cooking Indian but many times the recipes seem overly complicated or time consuming. Anjali Pathak takes Indian flavors and some traditional dishes and makes them accessible to anyone wanting to cook them. She twists dishes of other regions cuisines and gives them an Indian flavor profile. She gives you shortcuts to make traditional Indian recipes from an American kitchen with more commonly found ingredients.
There are a ton of recipes I can't wait to try and my mouths waters just skipping through the pictures. Anjali also in her short descriptions of each dish really brings you into her life with short stories of her inspirations for dishes.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Deadpool

So I'm pretty geeky, however I never had an opportunity as a child to get into comic books like so many other geeks. And now in my 30s it seems like a daunting task to start reading comics from the beginning. So going into movies based on comic books I'm limited knowledge wise to what I read on the internet and usually am pleasantly surprised. With Deadpool I tried not to read too much. I went in knowing he was a near immortal wisecracking anti-hero. I watched every trailer available and was really excited going into it.
Deadpool did not disappoint! I was laughing from the opening credits up until the end. It was a hilarious, epic romance action movie. And as an added bonus Ryan Reynolds has quite a few nude scenes which has nearly convinced my roommate's girlfriend to go see it. It is a bit scrambled at times, but it also matches Deadpool's scattered personality so it fits. Anyone who enjoys superhero movies, action movies, or funny movies will enjoy this I think. There is a lot of nudity, graphic violence, and sexual humor so it is definitely not for the younger crowd. You've been warned!