Book Review: Deal Breakers by Laura Lee

ISBN13: 9781311340108
Published: September 1st, 2015
Publisher: LAN Fiction LLC
Read from December 2nd to 10th, 2015
Synopsis from Goodreads:

How were they supposed to know that one night would change everything?
Devyn has life all mapped out. She just needs to accomplish one more thing before graduating college and becoming a full-fledged adult—lose her virginity. And who better to assist her than her best friend, Riley?
Riley is the self-proclaimed king of fling. His college years have been filled with meaningless hookups until the one night that ruined him for all other women. The one night he spends with his best friend, Devyn. Right before he screws it all up.
Balls to the wall, baby!
Now five years later, Riley is determined to atone for his mistakes and prove that he can be the man that Devyn deserves. Little does he know that Devyn’s been keeping a secret from him all these years. A big secret. Now he has to figure out how to win back the only girl he’s ever loved while navigating the pitfalls of her unexpected revelation.
Deal Breakers is filled with lots of laughs, a sexy romance, and an overflowing swear jar. 

Review:

For full disclosure's sake, I didn't finish this book. I read the first few pages and already didn't think I was going to finish the book, but since I hate abandoning books, I kept going. I was determined to at least make if halfway because then I could say I really tried. I actually made it a bit further than halfway. For a while, I thought I might be able to make it, but I couldn't. There was one scene that had be immediately go, "Nope. Nope. No," and close the book for good.

It's hard to pinpoint what I hated about this book because I hated just about everything. I think the character's were the worst though. Riley is so obnoxious. He's more obnoxious at the beginning, but he never stops being obnoxious. It was hard to root for him when I couldn't stand him. Devyn wasn't that great either. She tended to mock other girls for things, which was frustrating. There was a lot of that in this book by every character actually. Everyone kept going on about how Devyn was different from other girls, and they all suck, but Devyn's great because...I don't really know why to be honest. Nothing about her stood out to me.

Aside from all of that, the plot wasn't really realistic. I knew what the story was going to be from the summary before reading the book. It's pretty obvious. But I have a hard time believing that Devyn actually called Riley that many times and then gave up or that Riley didn't pick up once. None of it made sense to me, and I pretty much spent time entirety of the book rolling my eyes.

I genuinely think this was the worst book I'd read in a while.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Life Post: Christmas 2015

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a good one. To be honest, I still feel exhausted from Christmas, so this post probably won't be too long or recount everything from my holiday.

Basically, we had my dad's side's Christmas on Christmas Eve. We were the last ones there because my dad had to go to this out of the way church for mass (he's a deacon), but it was nice. I have half asleep the whole time because I had woken up at three that morning. For that reason, I wanted to wait until Christmas morning to open presents, but I was overruled and we opened them that night. That's not something we ever used to do, but we have for the past three years or so because my siblings team up and convince everyone else to do it. I'll admit that it's not my favorite thing. I'd much prefer waiting.

I got some awesome stuff though, including an Appa plushie like what I've wanted for years. It's sitting proudly on my bed now. I also got new video editing software that I still have to experiment with. And then I got some books, like always.

Afterwards, we went to midnight mass, and I actually had to leave mass early. It got incredibly hot in the church, and not having slept for almost twenty-four hours, I started feeling like I might pass out. We only live a block from church, so I walked home, collapsed in bed, and was out before anyone else was home.

Today is my mom's birthday, so we went out to dinner, and tomorrow is my mom's side's Christmas, so the holiday hasn't really ended for me. I'm honestly just really tired. I'm hoping I can get some good sleep tonight.

After having a lot of uploading problems, I did finally post a vlog from the day before Christmas Eve if you're interested.

Life Post: It's Not Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate! I know it's cliche, but I honestly can't believe that it's already Christmas. I know the weather is at least partially to blame for it not feeling like it's time for this. We had snow up in Indianapolis once before I came home for break, and that hadn't been much of anything. Then, yesterday, we had a tornado here in my hometown. In December! Needless to say, the weather isn't helping convince me that it's the time of year for Christmas.

It's been nearly a week since my last post, and most of what I've been doing since is writing. I'm writing my sister a story for her Christmas present that's been a struggle recently. I already told her she's probably not getting it actually on Christmas because none of her requests involved an actual plot, and I'm quite stuck at the moment. I'm not just working on that though. I've also started working on two new fanfictions since break started, not that I needed to do that to myself. I'm quite excited about both of them though.

Then I've been beta reading quite a bit. I started beta reading for someone new who sent me a much longer draft than I usually get (typically fanfic writers send one chapter at a time), so I've been working through that over the past week. I just sent it back this morning, and now my goal is to get a different chapter back to another author I beta for. She sent me the chapter more than a week ago now, and I haven't finished with it yet because of the other draft. I know I'll manage to get it back to her within the next couple of days though.

Other than that, I've just been using my break to read a lot. I also went to go see The Force Awakens a second time, which was an excellent decision. I picked out a lot more details this time than I did the first. I've also now seen the movie in the front row and in the second-to-the-very-back row. I've got to experience the movie every way I can. I'm glad I saw it a second time before doing my review because it also helped me gather my thoughts together much more neatly. I plan on doing that review soon.

Over on Youtube, I've posted my first video review of Naruto in six months (embarrassing). I also did a vlog that includes plenty of dog footage.

Life Post: Seeing Star Wars Opening Night

Since my last post, I've both gotten through finals week and gotten home for winter break. I am so relieved to say that I'm completely finished with the semester. There were tons of awesome things about last semester, but there's no denying that it was exhausting. Next semester looks lighter (in comparison to the last at the very least), and that is also a relief. (If I start complaining about my workload next semester, someone remind me to compare it to this one.)

While all of that's exciting though, my excitement over it being winter break has been overshadowed since yesterday. I went to one of the first showings of the new Star Wars at our local movie theater. Guys, that entire movie theater was Star Wars showings. Maybe five theaters were playing different movies. The other screens were all Star Wars, and I swear at least half of those were for seven o'clock showings with the others for slightly later showings.

We walked into the movie theater to see a reporter and a camera guy from one of the local news stations right inside the door. We stood in line to give the theater worker our ticket (something that doesn't normally involve a line at this theater), and the line was right next to where they were filming. A bunch of people dressed up as Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, and Kylo Ren were taking pictures with people, and that's what the news people were mostly focusing on. It was exciting. The whole atmosphere of the place was just fun.

I'm going to do a full-fledged review of the movie, so I won't go into that here. No worry about spoilers. What I will say is that I loved it. Aside from a few things I would have changed, I think the movie was overall amazing. BB-8 is amazing, and I feel terrible admitting that he and R2-D2 are warring it out for my affections. I'll just leave it at that for now. That's the initial reaction I've posted online aside from my excited tweets immediately after the movie that boiled down to, "AMAZING. I want to say so much but spoilers." I've calmed down a bit now, but not much. If I let myself go now, I'd ramble for ages about the movie, which I'm borderline doing now. I need to make myself stop. This is why I'm waiting a bit to write (or possibly film, I'm not sure yet) the review.

I also have to mention that there was a Fantastic Beasts trailer before the movie. When we were sitting in the theater a few minutes before the trailers started, it occurred to me for the first time that the Fantastic Beasts trailer had just been released several days ago, and I had an "Oh my God. Is it going to be in front of the movie?" moment. But I forced myself to calm down because it probably wouldn't, and I shouldn't get my hopes up. Then lo and behold it was in front of the movie, and I got way too excited.

Speaking of getting really excited though, one of the greatest things about seeing the movie opening night was the reaction from the audience. I won't go into everything that got reactions because that guarantees spoilers, but the cheering as soon as the trailers started, as soon as "Star Wars" popped up and the music began playing (oddly enough it happened then and not for "a long time ago..."), and at the very end of the movie all helped make the whole thing feel more exciting. I loved it.

Like I said though, I'll keep going on forever if I don't make myself stop. I need to save something for the actual review. (I say as if I don't still have enough thoughts to fill a hundred blog posts.)

The last thing I have to mention is that I posted again on my writing blog. I really am getting better at updating it again, guys! It's just something short and pointless that I wrote during one of those moments where I was just trying to get words out. Then, over on Youtube, I reviewed The China Mirage, which is a book about America's relationships with China (and to a lesser extent Japan) over a long period of time.

Book Review: Lights Out by Ted Koppel

ISBN: 055341996X
Published: October 27th, 2015
Publisher: Crown
Read from November 24th to 30th, 2015
Synopsis from Goodreads:

In this tour de force of investigative reporting, Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared.

Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and law and order are being tested as never before.
It isn’t just a scenario. A well-designed attack on just one of the nation’s three electric power grids could cripple much of our infrastructure—and in the age of cyberwarfare, a laptop has become the only necessary weapon. Several nations hostile to the United States could launch such an assault at any time. In fact, as a former chief scientist of the NSA reveals, China and Russia have already penetrated the grid. And a cybersecurity advisor to President Obama believes that independent actors—from “hacktivists” to terrorists—have the capability as well. “It’s not a question of if,” says Centcom Commander General Lloyd Austin, “it’s a question of when.”
And yet, as Koppel makes clear, the federal government, while well prepared for natural disasters, has no plan for the aftermath of an attack on the power grid.  The current Secretary of Homeland Security suggests keeping a battery-powered radio.
In the absence of a government plan, some individuals and communities have taken matters into their own hands. Among the nation’s estimated three million “preppers,” we meet one whose doomsday retreat includes a newly excavated three-acre lake, stocked with fish, and a Wyoming homesteader so self-sufficient that he crafted the thousands of adobe bricks in his house by hand. We also see the unrivaled disaster preparedness of the Mormon church, with its enormous storehouses, high-tech dairies, orchards, and proprietary trucking company – the fruits of a long tradition of anticipating the worst. But how, Koppel asks, will ordinary civilians survive?
With urgency and authority, one of our most renowned journalists examines a threat unique to our time and evaluates potential ways to prepare for a catastrophe that is all but inevitable.

Review:

I knew very little about the power grid and how it all worked when I began this book, but I admit to being intrigued by the idea of a possible cyberattack. It's such a new thing, so dealing with one is uncharted territory, and as someone who spends a great deal of time online, knowing more about the possibilities interests me.

And I did find many aspects of this book addressed the interest I had. Even when it came to discussion of how the power grid works I was interested, which I wasn't expecting. I'd never given much thought to how the power grid works. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've always just taken it for granted. I got that power lines transported power from power plants, of course, but I'd never stopped to think about the interconnectedness of it all. I don't think I'd ever known that various power plants were even connected through a grid before this book. I enjoyed learning more about how that worked.

I also enjoyed much of the discussion on how a cyberattack on the power grid could potentially happen and the possible aftermath. Maybe part of it is the thrill of reading about potential disaster, but I believe it's true that being aware that such an attack could happen is at least the beginning of being prepared for one.

Unfortunately, those aspects of the book seemed to be far less of the book than I would have expected. A large chunk of the middle of the book (it felt like more than half of it actually) focused on preppers. These preppers are preparing for disaster, but they're not exactly preparing for a cyber attack on the power grid. In fact, the author describes his experience at a prepper convention, and when he mentions that he brought up a potential attack to preppers, he notes that his suggestion was accepted but that he could tell that wasn't a disaster the preppers had on their mind. They were preparing for other things.

That's perhaps why focusing on preppers felt so out of place. It didn't feel like it had enough to do with what the author had set out to write about. I didn't read this book to learn about preppers. In another context, reading about the Mormon church's intense preparation for disaster would have fascinated me, but since it wasn't what I picked up the book for, I found myself bored. I wanted to read more about cyberattacks and what the book was supposed to be about. Instead I was reading about preppers who were preparing for events that could have nothing to do with cyberattacks.

I have no idea why the author decided to focus on preppers so much like he did. It almost felt like he should have just written a book about them and thrown the parts about cyber attacks out or taken what he had and turned it into two separate books on each topic. As it was, I think there was some great stuff on cyberattacks in this book, but I wanted more.

I received this book for review from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.