Here is a list of my top 6 favorite authors as of this posting. Some of these I've loved for many years, while a couple I recently got into because, of course, my best friend told me I'd be stupid not to read them....she was right. Most of these are either fantasy/sci-fi, some have a little bit of paranormal romance or something like that. I'm a woman, I like romance. Ok, actually I find some "romance" cheesy and corny to the point where it almost makes me uncomfortable but some of it it still fun to read ;). So here's the list :) Oh, and these are in no particular order (I don't think I could do that if I wanted to. I like them all too much lol).
1. Jim Butcher...This wonderful Fantasy/Sci-fi writer has brought us wonderful books in the form of the Codex Alera and the Dresden Files series. Amazing. So awesome that even my husband (who is a total D&D geek and video game nerd) loves them as well. In fact, I think I married Harry Dresden because there are an awful lot of similarities lol.
2. Neil Gaiman....as I posted in my last blog, Neil Gaiman should be shown in the dictionary next to the word, Awesome, because he is made up of pure awesomeness. Yeah, he's basically a must read. Some of his books include: American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, Stardust, The Graveyard Book, Coraline....and he also wrote Good Omens with Terry Pratchett who should also be included under the word Awesome.
3. Brandon Sanderson....This is a recent addition (due to my best friend) who I should have been reading from day one. The Mistborn Trilogy is amazing. He would also be under Sci-Fi fantasy. His mistborn and mistings almost make me not want to be a furycrafter (Butcher's Codex Alera). Anyway, he's one to check out.
4.Laurell K. Hamilton...I've been reading LKH for many years now, because my best friend forced me to read the first Anita Blake book one time when I was visiting her. I mean, I think she held me at knife point or something because I kept saying I'd check the books out and hadn't gotten around to it. Needless to say, I read the entire thing that very night. Lately, I haven't been as impressed with some of her more recent books, especially in the Anita Blake series, but because I loved so many of the earlier ones I still include her on here. She writes some sci-fi/fantasy but with a lot more sex ;) haha. You have everything you could possibly want in these books: Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, ghouls, wererats, werehyenas, wereleopards, etc. You name it, it's probably in there. Even swans lol. Let me tell you right now, the whole Twilight trinity that everybody is obsessed with....sorry folks, LKH did it loooooooong before the Twihards ever got their Jacob or Edward tattoos. Honestly, I think Anita, Jean Claude (vampire) and Richard (wolf) were a much sexier threesome. And Jean Claude didn't even sparkle. But anyway, her other series is the Merry Gentry series which I really like as well. It's got faeries in it and of course, lots of sex. But moving on ;)
5. Clive Barker...one of my all time favorite books is The Thief of Always by Barker. He can write some creepy stuff though, let me tell you. The Hellraiser franchise can back me up. Yeah, they got that from Barker's The Hellbound Heart. caaarreeeeepy, but he's amazing so check him out as well.
6. R. A. Salvatore....I was only going to do a top 5 but I simply could not leve Salvatore out. I love love love his books. I don't even play D&D and I love the stuff he's written in the Forgotten Realms world. Come on, who doesn't love Drizzt? or Cadderly? I love his characters. They're so lovable when he wants them to be and you absolutely hate the ones he intends for you to hate. Love his stuff, can't get enough of it. If you're looking for some good D&D type of stuff, he's a good one to read :)
ok, so that's basically my top 6 but I love reading so it's really hard to come up with a list without feeling like I'm leaving some great people out. I also really like Charaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books haha. I've been reading those for years (long before True Blood) and I think they're cute. But as I implied in my last post, I'll pretty much try to read just about anybody.....except Stephanie Meyers (unless somebody is torturing me, cuz at least reading it will be more mental torture than physical). I just can't bring myself to read the twilight books, sorry. If you like them, that's certainly your right. I just really can't get past the first page of the first book. I tried in walmart once. It didn't go over well with my brain. Anyway, try these authors if you're looking for interesting books. Especially with the ones where there are a series of books. I love following the characters through several books. Anyway, that's my little list. Below are some links to some of the books if you want to check them out :) Enjoy.
Hugs,
Tiff
**Disclaimer** All opinions in this post are solely my own. I am not affiliated in any way with the authors mentioned other than as an avid reader/fan of their material. All books mentioned were purchased with my own money. **
Hey hey. Back with my first non-make up related post. Every now and again, I'm planning to post some books I happen to like in the hopes of offering suggestions to those interested in building up there own libraries. I know I am constantly on the hunt for new things to read (which usually ends up with me bugging my wonderful Best Friend, Sophie, for stuff she can suggest. She hasn't failed me yet!) So here are a couple of books. Some of these were actually required readings for my Ancient History course I recently finished. However, since I'm a complete and total nerd, I happened to enjoy what I read. So, take from it what you will and make sure to get your knowledge on in the process.
1. The Bacchae by Euripides
For those of you, who like me, became recently obsessed with the show, True Blood (based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series, which I've been reading for many years now), you'll want to read this play. Why would you want to read a play by some ancient Greek dude? Well, if you recall in Season 2 of our beloved vampire and shapeshifter laden show, Mary-ann was a crazy ass chick who was actually a Maenad. This book will give you some insight into what exactly the heck a Maenad is. These women LOVE Dionysus. Can't get enough of him. Anyway, check it out. It's a short, quick read and you might come away even more confused or you might find you actually enjoyed the horribly tragic tale of a guy who just doesn't get it when it comes to giving a god like Dionysus some proper respect.
2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
So if this book isn't already in your personal library you need to ask yourself, "what the hell is wrong with me?" This book, along with its ridiculously talented author, is something that is a must have. This action packed adventure is filled with all kinds of awesomeness. Read this and follow the journey of Shadow who is thrown into a seriously crazy world where Gods, both ancient and very new are about to get their holy battle on for the soul of America. Really, Neil Gaiman has not written a book that has disappointed me yet. I highly recommend checking him out if you happened to just climb out from under a literary rock to find yourself not recognizing his name. :)
3. The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
So check out that handsome dude on the cover huh? That would be Julius Caesar...you know, the crazy Roman dude that decided it would be a good idea to make himself Emperor for Life? Yeah, that one. This book gives you some wonderful information regarding some of the craziest bastards to ever rule the Roman Empire. Suetonius was kind enough to write for us some information regarding the wonderful Julio-Claudian rulers, including Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero...and a few more that probably not many people remember. So, if you ever want to read something about some of the most seriously screwed up individuals who managed to rule Rome, get this book. If you happened to already watch Rome, the television series, you could read this and then impress some of your friends when you can tell them things that might not be correct in the show. Or you could just be a geek like me and read it because you actually like reading history related books for fun instead of going out on Saturday night.
So that concludes my "Off the Bookshelf" segment for now. I hope to post more in the future and I truly hope anybody who reads this seriously considers reading some of the books I've suggested (If you haven't read them already, that is.)
Hugs,
Tiff
**Disclaimer: All material listed was purchased by me. I am in no way affiliated with anyone representing these books, nor am I being paid or influenced in any way to suggest these materials.**
Labels:
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Euripides,
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The Bacchae,
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I've been thinking almost since I first started to do the whole blog thing (which has only been a very recent thing for me) that, while I love all things beauty/makeup related, I know there are so many blogs already out there and established that have great material. I feel that mine would not be adding much to the beauty world that people couldn't already find on countless other blogs where many readers already turn to. So I've decided that I would like to move my blog in a different direction. I only have 4 "followers" at the moment anyway but I still wanted to make sure everyone knew what was happening and why the content and subject matter is changing. If I do come across something cool dealing with cosmetics or beauty I will definitely be sure to post something. However, I'm thinking of writing about more day to day, inspirational type stuff. I've seen a lot in my 28 years and I've gone through many transformations. I've learned a great deal about both myself and those close to me in ways that only growing up can teach you. I'd like to share some of that with whoever feels like reading this blog. I'm hoping that some of the things I share over the course of this blog, that people can take something away from it to help in their own lives if they are dealing with something I've already gone through. I thank those few of you who have started out as my very first readers and I hope that many others will find their way here and gain some insight that I hope I can provide.
Thanks and Hugs,
Tiff :)
So in the last few weeks I've been trying out some different products to see if I liked them or not. While a few were great, I wanted to blog about a couple of products that I did not find all that great.
The first product is a dry shampoo by Beyond The Zone Pro Formula, Rock On Dry Shampoo. I can't wash my hair daily (due to psoriasis) and my hair tends to be on the oily side so I figured I'd give this product a try to help freshen up my hair on the days I don't wash it. It claims that it soaks up some of the oils but I didn't notice any difference at all in that regard. Also, I can't stand the smell of it. I don't know how to describe it but it's not a fresh smell that'd I'd like my hair to smell like. It claims it will keep your hair looking and smelling fresh and neither of these were true for me. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it was a waste of money.
The other product, unfortunately, is the Neutrogena Spectrum+ Face SPF 100+ sunscreen. It burns my eyes no matter what I do, even though I'm careful to keep it away from that part of my face. Just having it on my face makes my eyes water and burn. Also, one of the ingredients it contains is Oxybenzone which has shown in some studies to actually damage DNA in your skin cells. Considering the use of sunscreen is supposed to help PREVENT that, I did not think that was good to have in a product that I need to apply daily to my face. Regardless of that ingredient, which I recommend avoiding if possible (even though many name brand sunscreens/sunblocks contain it in the U.S.) I did not like how it felt on my face. It made my face shiny and more oily than it already is to begin with. I definitely broke out more while using it. So sadly, I'm in need of a good sunscreen for my face yet again.
Anyway, I hope this information is useful in some way. These are my own opinions based on my experiences using both of these products regularly for several weeks. Some of you may have better luck with them but unfortunately I did not like them.
Thanks for reading :)
Hugs,
Tiff
**Disclaimer** These products were not sent to me and were purchased with my own money. My opinion is solely my own and I am not influenced in any way by the companies that make the above mentioned products. I do not work for these companies and am in no way affiliated with them.
The first product is a dry shampoo by Beyond The Zone Pro Formula, Rock On Dry Shampoo. I can't wash my hair daily (due to psoriasis) and my hair tends to be on the oily side so I figured I'd give this product a try to help freshen up my hair on the days I don't wash it. It claims that it soaks up some of the oils but I didn't notice any difference at all in that regard. Also, I can't stand the smell of it. I don't know how to describe it but it's not a fresh smell that'd I'd like my hair to smell like. It claims it will keep your hair looking and smelling fresh and neither of these were true for me. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it was a waste of money.
The other product, unfortunately, is the Neutrogena Spectrum+ Face SPF 100+ sunscreen. It burns my eyes no matter what I do, even though I'm careful to keep it away from that part of my face. Just having it on my face makes my eyes water and burn. Also, one of the ingredients it contains is Oxybenzone which has shown in some studies to actually damage DNA in your skin cells. Considering the use of sunscreen is supposed to help PREVENT that, I did not think that was good to have in a product that I need to apply daily to my face. Regardless of that ingredient, which I recommend avoiding if possible (even though many name brand sunscreens/sunblocks contain it in the U.S.) I did not like how it felt on my face. It made my face shiny and more oily than it already is to begin with. I definitely broke out more while using it. So sadly, I'm in need of a good sunscreen for my face yet again.
Anyway, I hope this information is useful in some way. These are my own opinions based on my experiences using both of these products regularly for several weeks. Some of you may have better luck with them but unfortunately I did not like them.
Thanks for reading :)
Hugs,
Tiff
**Disclaimer** These products were not sent to me and were purchased with my own money. My opinion is solely my own and I am not influenced in any way by the companies that make the above mentioned products. I do not work for these companies and am in no way affiliated with them.
