Quirky, artsy, and a little nerdy

I had so much fun with Matt Sewell's "A Charm of Goldfinches and Other Wild Gatherings."  As a bit of a grammar-nazi and a nature lover, I enjoyed learning new words/collective nouns for animals.  The book itself is very well presented with cute, well-drawn illustrations.  I also appreciated the cover of the book:  it's hard-cover and accurately represents the contents of the book.  It would be appropriate as a gift, and a versatile gift at that - for the art lover, the language lover, or anyone who enjoys a fun, quirky read!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this honest review.

"The Mountain Between Us" (Charles Martin)

The original reason why I was so intrigued by this book was the fact that it is a movie tie-in.  Normally, I see a movie come out that was based on the book, and very rarely, there's a book that comes out based on a movie.  However, how strange it is that a book and movie come out at the same time!

But once I started reading, it was more than the first intrigue that drove me to keep flipping the pages.  Could not put it down!  A doctor and photojournalist, victims of a plane crash in the middle the harsh High Uintas Wilderness, rely on each other for survival, and a love story with a lurking tinge of nostalgia results.

I can't wait to see it in theaters now - it stars Idris Elba and Kate Winslet (my two favorite actors)!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Customizable Planner

I get extremely picky when it comes to buying a new planner; it's always my first battle during a new year.  I realize that my personal taste may be totally different than others, and I have rarely found another person who is as particular down to the tiny details.  So, it means a lot to me saying that I was overall satisfied with Meera Patel's "Start Where You are - Week-at-a-Glance Diary."

The first thing I noticed (and I know this sounds weird) was the "hand feel" of this planner.  It's almost like a rubberized surface for the front/back covers, but extremely smooth rubber (not sticky rubber).  The cover itself is beautiful (a little on the girly side for me, but regardless, still beautiful).  The BIGGEST con for me was that the planner does not open flat.  If it were a book, I would not bring this up, but as something that I am planning on writing in a lot, it is annoying to have to keep the thing open constantly.

For people who do not use a planner every single day/month, this is VERY useful!  Have you ever bought a yearly planner and only ended up using a few months and wasting the rest of the space?  Patel's planner allows you to utilize as much space as possible depending on your needs.

Other cons:  8 wasted pages on "contacts" (which are much less relevant these days), paperback and not something more durable, monthly quotes are a little on the cliche side, the cursive font doesn't stand out.

Considering all of my personal (extremely) nit-picky tastes with planners, I am still overall happy with this product!  It really is a very innovative usage of space for a week-at-a-glance, given how customizable it is.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.