Mundie Moms

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Earthquake & Tsunami Donations


Like many of you, we sat glued watching the news at the horrifying images of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan yesterday. I can't even fathom what it's like to be in the path of a tsunami. It's heart wrenching watching those images of the waves claiming everything in it's path.

Feeling helpless I've found a few sites that you can donate to. The first one is one author Maureen Johnson blogged about yesterday called Shelter Box. Maureen has been blogging about Shelter Box since the New Zealand earthquake, in which she raised over $15,000 for! Authors have been supporting Maureen by donating items fans can bid on.

Quoting Maureen, she describes what Shelter Box is- Shelterbox is an organization that goes into areas of the world affected by disaster with large green boxes that contain shelters and the materials needed for people to restart their lives on some level. The boxes always include a top-quality tent, and they usually include stoves, blankets, water purification systems, and tools. This is true, life-saving stuff, hand-delivered by volunteers trained in survival techniques.

You can visit Maureen's site to donate to the cause by clicking on her highlighted name and/or you can go to Shelter Box here and donate.

The Red Cross is another great organization to donate to here

There are so many wonderful causes to donate to, as there has been a lot of horrible natural disasters that have plagued our world lately, from the flooding in Australia, to New Zealand's earthquake, famines, and flooding in our own east coast etc. It's hard figuring out where to donate too and not everyone can donate. Just keeping those affected by these disasters in our thoughts and prayers goes a long way too.

Book Review- Blessed

Published by Candlewick Press
Released on February 8th, 2011
Source- ARC from author/publisher
3 Stars- It's A Good Read

With a wink and a nod to Bram Stoker, New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith unites the casts of Tantalize and Eternal in a delicious dark fantasy her fans will devour.

Quincie P. Morris, teen restaurateuse and neophyte vampire, is in the fight of her life -- or undeath. Even as she adjusts to her new appetites, she must clear her best friend and true love, the hybrid werewolf Kieren, of murder charges; thwart the apocalyptic ambitions of Bradley Sanguini, the seductive vampire-chef who "blessed" her; and keep her dead parents’ restaurant up and running. She hires a more homespun chef and adds the preternaturally beautiful Zachary to her wait staff. But with hundreds of new vampires on the rise and Bradley off assuming the powers of Dracula Prime, Zachary soon reveals his true nature -- and a flaming sword -- and they hit the road to staunch the bloodshed before it’s too late. Even if they save the world, will there be time left to salvage Quincie’s soul? (quoted from Goodreads).

Picking up where Tantalize leaves off, Blessed wraps up the series nicely. I liked how Cynthia brought Zachary and a few characters from Eternal and introduced them into the plot, while keeping the same characters from Tantalize. I liked the twist that's thrown into this book with the original Dracula, and the way in which Quincie learns to accept her blessed status in order to save herself and those around her.

What I missed the most with this story was Kieren's absence for much of the book, which I feel resulted in a lack in the connection that Quincie and Kieren once had. For me I felt that Quincie had moved on. I understand she has a restaurant to run, but other than mentioning once or twice she missed Kieren I felt like she had accepted his absence, and wasn't broken up it. When the two are finally reunited and finally admit their feelings for each other, something I've been waiting for since Tantalize, it didn't seem real to me. Believe me I have been waiting for this moment. I get that Quincie realizes it was Kieren's choice to leave and she understood why, but for someone to have really been in love, there needed to be a little more seeing how broken up she was over his absence for me to really feel that they still have a strong connection.

I really liked Zachary's role in Blessed and the friendship that he forms with Quincie. I really liked getting to know him in Eternal, and I felt Cynthia did a great job with his character here. I felt that with Zachary's help Quincie grows a lot more as a character. She grows into her own and empowers herself when she finally really accepts what she is and will do anything to save those she loves from Brad.

Blessed is a fitting end to the Tantalize series. I think fans of this series will like how Cynthia throws in some darker twists, continues with the action and stays true to her characters. If you're looking forward to seeing what happens with Quincie, Kieren and Zacharcy, I'd recommend picking up Blessed.

**I'm updating my review as Cynthia let me know that there will be a 4th book with Quincie, though she'll be more of a secondary character.

Labels