Mama Bear Reviews

I received a copy of Breathe: The Simple Revolutionary 14-Day Program to Improve Your Mental and Physical Health by Dr. Belisa Vranich from St. Martin's Press. I pulled a muscle in my neck right before Christmas and have been doing yoga to help work on that stiffness and pain. This book claims that it is also good for neck pain along with a myriad of other ailments so I was eager to give it a try. I have not yet done the 14 day program but I have done all of the stretches and breathing exercises in the book and they feel really good! Most of the movements are very similar to yoga but the focus is really about getting a person to breathe properly as we once did when we were children. There are quite a few testimonials throughout the book that talk about different conditions that have been helped by following this practice and I found it really fascinating. Here is a link if you want to check it out on Goodreads . I think this book would be great for anyone but really for those that ...

I finally finished the Raven Cycle series! I really loved these books but just didn't have that much time to read in the last week so it took a long time for me to get these up. Even Goodreads was telling me that I was 1 book behind on my reading goal. Guess I need to get on that! These last two, Blue Lily, Lily Blue and The Raven King both by Maggie Stiefvater, were my favorites of the four. I really liked how the story developed for the entire group so they all had a chance to really find their own strengths. It felt like the magical component of the book seemed to grown with each one as well and that just made that even more fascinating. If you are looking for a book about friendships, love and magic then I highly recommend this series!

I just saw a notice in my feed on Goodreads that Caraval by Stephanie Garber will be releasing on January 31st! I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book last summer. I really love the story that Stephanie Garber has created with this series. This is a story about sisters that need to find a way to escape their father and end up on a journey to Caraval. As one of the sisters disappears the other tries to find her and along the way has to decide who she can trust and if what she is seeing is real or magic. I am excited that the world will be able to share in my love of this book soon and I cannot wait for the second one to come out!

We are in the middle of a snowy/icy mess right now. The temperature is warming up a bit so it is turning to rain but everything is still covered in a bit of ice. This week I have been working through the Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater. These books were listed as another inspiration for the February Bookish Box as they are about friendship. I have currently finished The Raven Boys and am in the middle of The Dream Thieves. There are two books after these and I have a feeling that I will be going through them very quickly because these are great reads. There is a really interesting combination of magic and friendship in these books and I am really enjoying this series. And as you can tell from the picture I am reading library books. The library is awesome because I can binge read books without going broke. I also know that the next two books in the series are available and I won't have to waste any time between them. What are you reading this week? ...

I received a book of poetry this week from a Goodreads giveaway. Break The Chains, Be Freed Within by Cristina Isabel is a collection of poetry that is meant to help inspire people to move from whatever dark place they are in or to "break the chains, be freed within". Reading these poems you can feel that desperate place that depression can drag you into. The author does a good job of describing how that darkness feels. She also talks about hope and being able to escape those feelings. This book is great for anyone that is going through a difficult time. You can find the author's website here  to find out more about this book and upcoming works that she has.

I didn't make any resolutions this year. I never stick with them anyway. I'm not sure that anyone ever really does. I did cut out sugar but I did that right after Christmas so that it did not feel like a resolution. I want that to be permanent and there is just something about making goals at the beginning of the year that makes them more difficult to follow. There is one goal that I have decided to sign up for and that is the Goodreads reading challenge . I said that I would like to read 150 books this year. I feel a little behind as I have only completed 3 books the first week and know that my life is about to get busier as school starts again in a couple days. This somehow feels different to me as I know there will not be any guilt if I do not hit this number but it sounds like a good amount to shoot for. What are your goals for the year?

Well, I said that I was going to get to Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and I just finished it. I am honestly a bit of a wreck from this book. That ending, oh my! I started reading last night and kept reading with every free moment that I have found. I loved that this story went back and forth between Eleanor and Park and also that it was set in the 80's. The time period made things just seem more simple about the book. Eleanor didn't even have a house phone so making phone calls was a bit of a novelty. That can be hard to imagine now but takes me back to my own childhood. I kind of miss the days of being able to leave the house without a phone. I really liked how the relationship between Eleanor and Park was built up all the way from the beginning when they first saw each other. I also really loved how raw this story was with Eleanor's home life and everything that she was going through. I think the author did an excellent job of talking about young relationships a...

I just finished my first book of 2017! I actually feel a bit behind since it is already day 4. I read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. This book has been out for a couple of years and has been on my to be read list but I actually pushed it to the top after signing up for the February Bookish Box. I love Bookish Box! It is a monthly subscription box that includes different literary themes. The photo below shows the bookmark that I received from my December box that had a Yule Ball theme from Harry Potter. In that box I also received a cute Christmas themed Harry Potter shirt, a tumbler with one of the bands that played at the ball and a wonderful candle that smells like pine. The February box has a theme of GALentine's and is about literary friendships. I of course am a huge fan of Leslie Knope and love the Parks and Rec reference. Fangirl was one of the listed inspirations so I had to jump this book up to the top of my list before my box comes next month. I really enjoyed Fangirl. Cat...