Things to come

Without giving too much away, I wanted to let everyone know that I am in the middle of working on my new book. My novel, Running From Fate is still being worked on but, honestly, I get so bored with it that I can't seem to continue it. This new book is titled Lost Prince of Waydale and it is 25 page so far. I have my sister working on the art for the cover and the art inside. My target audience is around 12-15 years of age. Here is an example of what I have written on the back of the book.

          After 13-year-old Collin loses his family in a tragic fire, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in North Dakota. While visiting his old burned down home for the last time, he finds a mysterious book that appears to have escaped the blaze. Once in his new home, Collin gets the chance to open this strange book. Before he knows it, Collin finds himself sucked into the magical kingdom of Waydale. Not only is Collin stuck in an unknown dimension, the local villagers are convinced he is their long lost prince! Will Collin stay and help his people, or will he choose to go back to live the normal life his parents wanted for him?

This summary isn't perfected but that is the main idea of the story. Stay tuned for more updates on it, I have been working on it as much as I can considering I have a huge paper due on Friday.

To Kill a Mockingbird-Book Review 12

This book is such a timeless classic that I cannot help but to review it. So if you were hoping for a negative review this is not your day.

To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in a fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The story is seen through the eyes of Scout Finch who lives with her widowed father and her brother Jem. Scout is 6-years-old when the story begins and is 8-years-old by the end. There are a few other characters involved such as Dill, the children's friend and, Arthur "Boo" Radley. Arthur Radley lives in a creepy old house and he hasn't been out in years. Without going into too much detail about the actual plot, I will move on to my official review.

         Not only is the book well written,  the character of Scout is so well developed and she grows along with the story. Readers follower her as she learns important lessons about life and society. For example, after her father's client (a black man) gets accused of raping a white woman, he gets convicted despite the evidence saying he didn't do it. Since the jury was all whites, he knew he was not going to win but the father fought anyway because it was the right thing to do. After this, the children Jeb and Scout learn about the unfairness of society and how biased their community is. I think this scene is important for the characters development as well as the scene with Arthur Radley saving the children from the father of the rape victim. During this time, Scout and Jeb realize that "Boo" Radley isn't anything like they pictured, he is a good person. I love the character of Arthur Radley because he represents those who are different. Just like the mockingbird, Radley symbolizes innocence and not taking advantage of anyone who is weak or defenceless.
          This book is definitely timeless and I would highly recommend it to anyone despite what kind of books you enjoy. There is a second novel written by Harper Lee titled To Catch a Watchman, that I am not sure if I will read yet. But if you are looking for a classic to read this summer, I highly recommend To Kill a Mockingbird.

Chinchilla-Diet/Treats

Chinchillas, if fed the correct diet and given accurate care , can live up to 10 years! I am sure everyone (I know I do) loves to give their pets treats and toys. I would like to inform those who are interested, what treats and food is acceptable for chinchillas to have.

Safe treats for chinchillas include, Goji Berries (not in large amounts), Rose hips (crushed or regular), Organic Barley Biscuits (Oxbow brand), shredded wheat, and my chinchillas personal favorite, Cheerios! Never give your fur baby raisins or any other gummy/wet treat. This can cause severe tooth issues and diabetes. Goji berries can be given in moderation and are a healthier alternative to a rasin. My chinchillas love Cheerios and they are safe as well as healthy for them. I know of some owners who have fed their chinnies popcorn, pretzels and chips, and I know they might enjoy it but this really is not good for them. A lot of the treats at the pet stores are unsafe and full of fat and sugar. I would suggest going with the Oxbow brand  treats or just ordering treats from chinchilla focused websites. I can put links at the bottom. Here are examples of treats that are acceptable for a chinchilla to have.

Goji Berries

Crushed rose hips

 As far as chinchilla food goes, it is important that they are fed a plain pellet food with minimal "treats" in it. This includes food with nuts, seeds or fruit. Two very good brands of chinchilla food includes Mazuri and Oxbow. They sell it in bulk online or you can buy Oxbow in stores. Remember, just because it has a picture of a chinchilla on it, does not be it is okay for a chinchilla. Below I am posting good food vs bad food so you can see the difference.

Bad food

Good food

 Chinchillas also need hay to eat on a daily basis, this includes Timothy Hay or Botanical Hay. Never feed your chinchilla Alfalfa Hay. Just an added fact, if your chinchilla is suffering from diarrhea, give them only hay for a few days. You can also give them burnt toast but it is very hard to get them to actually eat it. So remember, no treats with sugar or seeds and keep the food plain and simple!
Chinchilla City and Whimsy

Chinchilla Care-Toys

Chinchillas absolutely love to play with toys, they can have a variety of goodies made of wood, pumice, bamboo and loofah. My chinchillas also enjoy vine balls, safe kinds of cardboard and apple wood sticks. Most of the toys for chinchillas at pet stores are not safe. The main reason they are not safe is because they use hot glue to hold the toys together. For example, my chinchilla used to love chewing on the hanging toys that look like a sish-kabob, but I noticed they used hot glue to put the pieces together! Below is a picture of safe vs. not safe chinchilla toys. Not all of the pet stores sell toys that were put together with hot glue, but most of them do so just make sure you check your toys carefully.

Good toy

Bad toy

Keep in mind that separately the toys on the right can be considered acceptable if they are taken off of the middle stick and given individually. As long as you give your chincilla the correct toys, your chinchilla can live a long time! Aside from chinchillas enjoying their toys, they also love to cuddle in hammocks and wooden huts, (not plastic ones), these can be bought at any pet store. Below I listed two fantastic chinchilla focused websites where I frequently purchase toys, food, treats and accessories for my chinchillas. You can buy bulk chinchilla toys for pretty cheap and it lasts a long time. There are two types of chinchilla toys "toss toys" and "hanging toys." Toss toys are ones like the good toy as seen above and hanging toys are like what is seen in the "bad toy." This certainly does not mean that hanging toys are bad, you just need to get them from a reputable place. The same for toss toys, some toss toys are put together with hot glue so keep an eye out!
Chinchilla city and Whimsy's Menagerie.

Just a heads up

Just so everyone is aware, I will be occasionally posting chinchilla facts and information as per a request. This is not going to affect my book reviews I just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

Update on Bride by Mistake

I finished the book a few days ago and I have to say I was kind of disappointed in the ending. Unfortunately it was cliche and fell short. The author created so much potential for a good, solid ending. I usually (i've noticed) write positive reviews on books but this time I have to say something negative. Although it was a cute story, I have to say the ending ruined it for me. It was too abrupt and seemed very rushed to me. I understand it was considered a "novella" but I have read countless novella's that did not have rushed endings.

Other than the weak ending it still was a fairly cute story and is worth the read if you don't want to get too invested in a story. I am currently looking for another story to review by next week although, I do have a 15 page paper due soon.

Stay tuned.

Bride by Mistake-Book Review #11

Bride by Mistake by Nicole Helm is a book that was recommended to me and although I am not finished with it I got far enough into it to give my opinion so far. Bride by Mistake is about a mid-twenties woman, Kaitlin, who goes to the wedding of her sister and the man Kaitlin loves. After the wedding, Kailin is upset because she watched the man she loves marry another woman. So Kaitlin turns to her brothers friend and business partner, Beckett.

Beckett is the "bad boy" whereas Kaitlin is a responsible virgin who always has to plan everything.  Kaitlin and Beckett have known each other growing up but they never could seem to get along. Beckett always seems to get on Kaitlin's nerves and they couldn't be happier being enemies.

On the night of the wedding, Kaitlin decides she doesn't want to be a predictable, good girl anymore. She wants to make a bad decision just once in her life so she follows Beckett out of the reception, hops on his motorcycle and heads to a bar. After a few drinks they go back to Kaitlin's house and of course end up sleeping together. After not speaking or seeing each other for a month, Kaitlin finds out she is pregnant and Beckett decides he wants to be a part of the babies life and thinks they could get married.

That is as far as I am so far in the book so I don't know how it turns out but I will be sure to (attempt to) remember to update on the ending. So far it is really well written but it can be very sexual and X-rated so it is mostly for adult readers. I love the character of Beckett and I can definitely relate to Kailin since I am pretty reserved as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good love story that grows with each chapter mixed with light smut.

Way too long.

I know it has been forever since my last book review and I promise I have a good excuse. First, my boyfriend and I just moved into our first apartment together on May 21st and I have been pretty busy with that. There was a lot of packing, unpacking, setting up and cleaning over the past few weeks. Also, I graduated from college May 18th and am getting ready to transfer for my BA in English beginning in August. In the meantime I am taking a summer course to get ahead and save myself quite a bit of money which started on May 23rd. Unfortunately I have a horrible professor who makes the class write 15 page papers due every other week. For the whole summer, we have a total of four, 15 page essays due. So as you can see I have not had any time to read anything other then the Anthology of Literature by Women.

 I am however finally working on my next book review that will be out shortly.  If I manage my time wisely then I will have my next book review out by next week, maybe by this weekend since my paper is due on Friday I don't have to worry about it over the weekend. Since my time is up on my domain for www.thoughtsofjessilynn.com, I have to purchase it for another year. Keep checking back and I will post as soon as I can.