Review: Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross

Hi everyone!

Yes, I'm alive. I guess I jinxed myself in my last post when I said that I was doing "quite good" ^_^; On Tuesday, I noticed a rash under my left armpit and after a visit to the doctor, the diagnostic was shingles. Sigh. Gotta say though I wasn't too surprised. Shingles is basically the reactivation of the chickenpox virus that lies in you dormant. It usually occurs when the immune system is weakened. Let see, hmmmm. Ruptured appendix, antibiotics treatment, possible allergic reactions, allergy test, stress from every twitch and twinge, lack of sleep and start of curling season... Yep, it could be that my immune system was a bit weakened. Luckily, I went to the doctor promptly and started the anti-virals within the three days the rash appeared, which is when the drug is most effective. As a result, my rash didn't spread - yay! - and I was also lucky that it wasn't painful nor itchy. Today is my last day of anti-virals and the rash has lost its redness :) Hoping to play curling this week!

With everything going on, I haven't really been in the mood of blogging. I'm so far behind in my reviews, it's kind of getting overwhelming. Plus, I'm not really sure what I'm in the mood to read. I was waiting for today impatiently!! Need to replenish my pile of new releases LOL. Despite everything though, I was able to put together a buddy review with Ames over at Breezing Through. We both read Letters to Nowhere and wanted to share out thoughts with everyone. Be sure to check it out because we're also doing a giveaway! Click here for the review :)

Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross
self-published in August 2013

Set in the tough world of Elite Gymnastics... I've gotten used to the dead parents face. I've gotten used to living with my gymnastics coach. I've even adjusted to sharing a bathroom with his way-too-hot son. Dealing with boys is not something that's made it onto my list of experiences as of yet. But here I am, doing it. And something about Jordan--being around him, talking to him, thinking about him--makes me feel like I can finally breathe again. That's something I haven't been able to do lately. He knows what it feels like to be me right now. He knows what it's like to wonder--what now? I think about it constantly. I need answers. I need to know how to get through this. In the gym, if you're struggling, you train harder, you do drills and conditioning. How do I work hard at moving on? At being on my own? And what happens if I might be...maybe...probably falling for Jordan? I mean we live together now. That can't happen, can it? But kissing him...well, let's just say it's not an easy activity to forget.

Genre: Young Adult/New Adult, Contemporary
Series: Letters to Nowhere, Book #1

Things on my mind...

So here are things on my mind...

Roar to the Rings - Canada has finally decided on its curling representatives for Vancouver 2010. I'm a bit disappointed with the results - I was really hoping Jennifer Jones and her team would make it... but the team got off to a bad start. Then, during the tie-breaker, I was rooting for Stephanie Lawton, but she got eliminated... then, Amber Holland... and Krista McCarville... In the end, Cheryl Bernard won. I'm happy with the results. She proved to be the best during the trials and so, she deserves her spot. However, this bodes badly for me - if everyone I root for ends up losing ^_^;

On the men's side, I was rooting for Glenn Howard... just because this would have been his first Olympics. It was between him and Kevin Martin and Martin won. Ah well, it was kind of expected.

So overall, I'm a bit disappointed, simply because my favorite teams didn't make it... but can't complain, because both Cheryl Bernard and Kevin Martin's rinks are good... and I had a lot of fun watching the trials :)

***

Speaking of sports, unrelated to the Olympics, but still noteworthy... Justine Henin, my favorite tennis player, is back!! Woohoo!! I'm so glad to hear this :) So far, she won a few exhibition matches... and that's good :) Can't wait till January when the WTA season starts again :) Really looking forward to Australian Open now :)

I kind of lost interest in tennis a little last year... but with Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin's comebacks, things should get interesting again :)

***

I really don't understand how publishers price their books. Seriously. Some books are now 10.99$ CAD. Let me repeat, 10.99$ CAD. Last I checked, the 1$CAD = 0.94$US. So can someone explain to me why a book that is priced 7.99$US = 10.99$CAD?!?

With the Canadian dollar being so strong, pricing on books should decrease. However, it's not the case! It's actually increasing, so I really don't understand the publisher's reasoning. I could accept 1$ difference... but 3$ - that's way too much. This what actually what I was paying 1$CAD = 0.50-0.60$! So I really hope prices come down soon...

And please, don't bother pointing out e-books. Not interested.

***

S, my friend/co-worker, finally deposited his thesis today. Yay!! It's finally over, finished, done!! Sure, it's not perfect, but at this point, you cannot ask for miracle. Today was actually his deadline and he had till 5pm. My other co-worker, J, and I were joking and telling S that if by 4.45pm, he wasn't going to make it... to jump in front of a car - that would give him a good excuse LOL. In the end, he called us at 4.50pm to tell us it was all done (the printing and binding). So happy for him :) Now, we'll have to see whether he passes or fails, but it's out of our control.

It was a bit crazy the past few days, proof-reading his thesis. Luckily, J is fluent in English... Our boss corrected the content, I proof-read and I had J proof-reading after me. So S still had a lot of corrections to do today and a 150 words abstract... and he had to translate it in French!! Oh gosh. Seriously, scientific writing in French is hard and impossible. I can't imagine people going into sciences in French... It sounds so weird. There was no way I could translate a 150 words abstract in English to 150 words abstract in French. We reached 198 words and I was really proud... and then, you had our boss making changes and stuff. Every hour, he would call S up to talk and every time, for about 30 minutes. At 2pm, he still had S changing his rationale of the study! I mean, are you kidding me?!?! Just let it go!

Anyway, it's all done. S now owns us a meal LOL :)

***

Speaking of work... My boss is going to Cuba with his family from Dec. 24 to Dec. 31!!! Woooohooo!! You know what that means, right? It means, I'll have some time off :) I might have to come to the lab one or two mornings, but it shouldn't be that busy :) So that's some good news :D

***

Oh, I almost forgot... I know, how could I really forget books?

I need some books suggestions... what was your greatest reads lately? I have all those coupons and I have nothing to buy :( It's just sad.

I was actually thinking of buying the Dante Valentine's series by Lilith Saintcrow. Anyone have read this? Lately, I find myself reading a lot of urban fantasy... and this has caught my attention... Especially since the series if finished.

I've also seen a few other books... The Sweetheart's Knitting Club by Lori Wilde... A Zebra release about vampires... but I can't remember the author right now.

I need to check Li's blog, Me and my Books, because I remember she mentioned Moira Moore. Now would be a good time to buy one or two of this author's books.

By the way, anyone knows whether Jordan Summers's Dead World series is finished or not? I can't find that information. I recently read Red and it was okay. I do have Scarlet in my TBR pile already and I've skimmed through it... and meh. Not too sure about it. Crimson, the third book is out, and I'm debating whether to buy it or not. If the series is over, I might cave... but if not, I think I will just stop.

***

Okay, I should be going to sleep. Haven't had much sleep lately... and I think that I caught a cold again because of lack of sleep. I should know better by now.

Tomorrow is TBR challenge. I read the book, hope I'll have time to write the review :)

What's up with me...

Sorry I've been MIA in the last few days. Real life has definitively intruded ^_^; If you've left any comments on my posts, I will get back to you... and I will try my best to blog-hop tomorrow.

So what's up with me? Well my parents are really enjoying my dad's retirement and as a result, my sister and I have been cooking in the past few days... For those who knows me, they also know that I don't cook. LOL. It's not that I don't enjoy cooking, it's just that I never had the opportunity to learn... The kitchen is really my mother's domain and she guards it well :) And when I was younger, my grandmother used to live with us... so she was the one in charge. The most difficult I find is that me and my sis, we're not familiar with what we have and what we don't have... so we end up almost everyday at the grocery store ^_^; We also buy in very small quantity so the food don't spoil... Figuring what to eat, buying everything, cooking, etc... it's a lot of work LOL... which reinforce what I've been saying when people are impressed with the amount of books I read - reading is all I do. I don't have a family to take care - so no cleaning, no cooking, etc. Have to say, cooking as really cut in my reading time ^_^; As a result, I've been re-reading a lot for the past week - takes less concentration.

Here are some pictures of what we've been cooking... and yes, I did take pictures. Proof! LOL :)

For those who are wondering, yes we've been eating lots of chicken... the reason is, we bought a pack of chicken breast at Costco... Let me tell you, it's A LOT of chicken ^_^;

Another thing that has cut in my reading time is tennis with the US Open. I have to say, I haven't been into tennis much this year... especially after my favorite player retired last year... but I ended up really watching the US Open... and it was a great tournament this year!! I'm so happy about the winners, Kim Clijsters and Juan Martin Del Potro! I love Kim and am so happy that she's back. As for Del Potro, he's quickly becoming one of my favorite players... and also, finally, some new contenders!! You have to mix it up to keep it interesting!! Anyway, great tournament this year...

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to catch up with things this week-end, since my sister and I drove to Quebec City. We went to visit my uncle and his family. Basically, just spend time together. I always felt sad that me and my cousins (on either side) aren't very tight. Sure, it's fun when we see each other, but we don't go out of our way to e-mail or call each other :( Sad... and while Quebec City is only 2.5 hours away, it's all about scheduling... My cousin works part-time on the week-end, so she's always busy. My parents are busy at the temple on Sunday and I work Saturday nights :( Anyway, I did make some time so we could see them... This was the first time my sister and I went on our own. It wasn't too bad.

The weather was gorgeous, and lucky for us! Because my aunt had a surprise for us on Saturday: a canoe outing! Basically, it was a 17.3km long canoe trip... We went bright and early - she booked us at 9.30am... My aunt and sis shared a canoe while I was with my uncle... the only problem is this was my first time driving a canoe... It's not that easy. Something else my aunt didn't predict... the river water level...

Let just say it hasn't rained much in the past few weeks... so it was low... the lowest it's been in a very long while!! People stopped on the side and told us how brave we were LOL! Oh, it was fun, don't get me wrong... but let just say my uncle got out of the canoe a couple of times to pull us through the rocks LOL. After 5.5 grueling hours though, we had enough and we were quite pleased to get there :) (I don't have any pics of me, because I was the one with the camera... but hopefully, my aunt will send her pics soon...)

Overall, I had a great week-end... which kind of makes up for today... Shitty, sucky day at work :( Ugh!!! So frustrating and stressing - my boss is back from vacation and it shows. Also, I hate cell phone companies. There there simply to steal our money!!! Ugh.

But let's not think of that... let's think of the good times I had... and what I'm going to eat tomorrow! LOL :) I'll also try my best to work on some reviews :D So how have you all been lately?

Go Andy Murray!!! and a rant about work...

Hi everyone!! How have you been doing all? Sorry for the lack of posts!! I really miss you all, but I'm still adjusting to my new schedule at work. Since I start later, well I don't wake up as early and that means I come home later... and instead of blogging, I read. I have a bunch of reviews that I have yet to write... I'm thinking of writing them all in one shot and schedule them... I just hope that I'll have more time at the lab...


New job is okay... it has lost a lot of its newness and luster though. See, what we do is study prostate cancer. For that, we have to extract RNA from urine... So far, we've been practicing on my colleagues' pee LOL (As I'm a woman and have no prostate... I have yet to provide a sample... but soon, I guess, as I'm going to serve as negative control). Anyway, long story short... we've run into some problems with the extraction and it wasn't working. Hasn't been working for the whole week... which was bizarre giving that it was successful last week. At first, we thought the resident was doing something wrong... but then, everyone ran into the same trouble. So yesterday, I was at the lab from 9am to 4pm :(

Seriously, I don't mind working hard and a lot. I don't mind coming in during the week-end. Problem is my new boss is getting on my nerves. See, the previous research assistant was crappy. Not only was he stalking a woman on the floor, but he also caused a lot of contamination and so on. As a result, my boss is being paranoid and treating me like I'm incompetent and I think it's unfair... I'm getting the consequences from the previous guy and seriously, not happy about it. I hope it's just because I'm new. Also, he should have told me what I was in charge from the beginning. I've been working for two weeks and he's locked away in his office writing a proposal for a project so we can get urine samples from patients. So I'm a bit frustrated... Hopefully it's going to get better... Good news is I finally got my parking pass!! Yay! and the boss had an extra pass, so I can now go as I wish :)


By the way, if you're wondering about the title of the post, well it's because I've just watched the end of Andy Murray vs. Rafael Nadal semi-finale at the US Open. Murray won!!! It was great tennis in my opinion and I'm so glad he won :) Now the finale tomorrow... I hope he's going to win :) As for the women, it's Jelena Jankovic vs. Serena Williams. Go Jankovic!!! She's worked hard to get into her first grand slam finale... it'd be nice for her to win :)