Title: Thief
Author: Cassie Mint
Publisher: Black Cherry Publishing
Genre: Romance
Pages: 64
My Rating:

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Thief

Tabitha is a thief, and she steals from rich people. This time, she is planning to steal a very expensive sapphire from Spencer. She has planned everything carefully and manages to get into his apartment by hiding inside a suitcase.

Spencer isn’t supposed to be at the apartment that night, or at least, that’s what Tabitha thinks. But when she opens the bedroom door, she finds Spencer in his bed. He has already called the police because he heard someone in his apartment.

Tabitha mentally prepares herself to be taken to jail, but to her surprise, Spencer decides that he likes her and doesn’t want her to go to jail. Instead, he wants her to stay with him.

Review

I was looking for short romance stories. I think this was listed under dark romance, but honestly, it wasn’t dark at all. It’s more of a romance with comedy, I guess, because it actually made me laugh.

This review is going to be short because the book is literally only 65 pages. This is the first time I’ve heard of Cassie Mint. I read some of the other reviews of this book, and apparently, she writes a lot of short romances like this. So I’ll definitely keep her name in mind because sometimes I just want to read something short that I can finish in an hour or so.

I’m still not sure how I feel about this book. It was very easy to read, and you fly through the story. I finished it before I even realized it. That’s usually a good sign. This book also made me laugh, which is usually a very good sign. But this time, I’m not 100% sure if I was laughing because the story was actually funny or because it was kind of ridiculous. But maybe that’s a me-problem because apparently Cassie Mint is the queen of insta-love novellas. Apparently, I’m not the kind of woman who believes in love at first sight because I rolled my eyes so hard while reading this.

I think Spencer was an interesting character because he is a rich man who gets robbed, and he obviously doesn’t like that. But when he sees the burglar, Tabitha, he suddenly changes his mind because she is gorgeous. I’m not sure if I would have the same reaction to a handsome male burglar.

On the other hand, it was just a very short love story with an interesting setting. She is stealing from him, and he falls in love with her. It still made me laugh a couple of times. Maybe I thought it was kind of ridiculous that they fell in love at first sight, but I was still entertained.

Overall, it wasn’t that bad. I think it was good enough for a short story. It felt a bit rushed, but this novella is only 64 pages, so what else do you expect? It was an interesting book that could make you laugh, whatever the reason may be.

This is the first book in the Sweet Little Sinners series. Apparently, the other books are going to be about different characters.

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Title: The Third Gilmore Girl
Author: Kelly Bishop
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 244
Genre: Biography
My Rating:

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The Third Gilmore Girl

This book is all about the life of Kelly Bishop, best known as Emily Gilmore in Gilmore Girls. In this book, Kelly Bishop tells her own story, from her earliest memories to how she started dancing and acting. She also talks about her relationships and the different experiences that shaped her life.

Review

I’m a huge fan of Gilmore Girls. It is my favorite show ever and my comfort show. I love watching it every year during the colder months. I love all of the characters on the show, including Emily, so it was time to read her biography and learn more about her.

And I learned a lot! To be honest, I only knew her from Gilmore Girls. I thought I had never seen her in any other movies or shows. I just didn’t know much about her. But this book tells you all about Kelly’s life. Did you know that Kelly isn’t even her birth name? That was so surprising and interesting to me.

Kelly started out as a dancer, and she was incredibly talented. She eventually went to Broadway and even won a Tony Award. Funny enough, the actor who played Richard Gilmore, Edward Herrmann, also won a Tony that exact same day. That was just mind-blowing. And when Kelly got older, she started acting more and appeared in a lot of shows and movies, including Dirty Dancing. Yeah, so I have watched that movie so many times over the years and never recognized her?!

She also talked about her time on Gilmore Girls, and when she described certain scenes, I immediately knew which scenes she was talking about. I guess I’m a Gilmore Girls expert now. She talked about how everyone was so relaxed and friendly behind the scenes. I think that is part of why Gilmore Girls became so successful. You can sort of feel the good chemistry between the actors. She is still friends with the writer, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and Lorelai, played by Lauren Graham.

I also got the sense that Kelly was a genuinely good person. She was supportive of other dancers and actors. And apparently, Kelly Bishop is really good at manifesting because whenever she wished for something, opportunities seemed to show up. She was also quite spiritual.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this biography. I don’t read books like this very often, but sometimes I want to know more about a person. If you’re expecting her to only talk about Gilmore Girls, you will be disappointed. Her time on Gilmore Girls was just a small part of the book. But honestly, the rest was pretty interesting too. I discovered so many things because I had no idea she had won a Tony Award or that she played Baby’s mother in Dirty Dancing.

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We all know what hormones are, and you’ve probably heard that there are a few happy hormones that can actually make you feel better. These hormones are serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins. And the good news is that you can boost all of these hormones naturally, which can help you feel a little bit better. In this blog post, I’m going to explain what these four hormones actually do, and I’ll give you a few examples of how you can boost them.

Serotonin

Serotonin plays an important role in mood, emotional well-being, sleep, appetite, and digestion. A healthy serotonin system helps regulate many processes in your body and brain. Serotonin is often associated with feelings of calmness, stability, and contentment. It isn’t as simple as saying “more serotonin = more happiness,” because the relationship between serotonin and mood is much more complicated.

Interestingly, most of the body’s serotonin is actually found in the gut, where it plays an important role in regulating digestion. So boosting your serotonin starts in your gut. Eat the right foods, get enough daily sunlight and move your body.

Dopamine

This is the most known hormone at this point. Dopamine is strongly connected to motivation, reward, pleasure, and learning. It helps your brain recognise when something feels rewarding and encourages you to repeat behaviours that you find satisfying.

For example, when you accomplish a goal, eat something you enjoy, receive a compliment, or complete something you’ve been working toward, your brain can release dopamine. It can give you that feeling of “Yes, I did it!” and motivate you to keep going.

Dopamine isn’t simply the chemical that makes you happy. It’s also heavily involved in anticipation and motivation, the feeling of wanting to achieve or experience something. But make sure you get the right dopamine: Setting goals and achieving them, massage, Learn something new, listen to your favourite music.

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is often called the “love hormone” or “bonding hormone” because it’s strongly involved in social connection and bonding. Your body can release oxytocin during experiences such as hugging, cuddling, physical affection, childbirth, breastfeeding, and positive social interactions. It can help strengthen feelings of trust, closeness, and connection with other people.

Oxytocin isn’t only about romantic relationships, either. It can also play a role in friendships, family bonds, and social connection.

Endorphins

Endorphins are chemicals produced by your body that act as natural pain relievers. They can be released in response to things like exercise, laughter, excitement, and physical stress.

This is one reason you might feel amazing after a good workout. Your body releases endorphins in response to physical activity, which can help reduce your perception of pain and create feelings of pleasure or even euphoria.

That post-workout feeling people sometimes call a “runner’s high” is partly associated with changes in endorphins and other brain chemicals.

And these are your four happy hormones. If you start naturally boost them, you will feel a different.

Photo

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A long time ago, when I first discovered manifesting, I bought a book called Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks. The book teaches you how to manifest your dream life, and it includes more than 20 different manifestation techniques. One of them quickly became my favorite: The Book of Positive Aspects.

This exercise completely changed my life. In this blog, I’ll explain what it is, what the benefits are, and how it can help you manifest everything you want.

What is The Book of Positive Aspects?

The Book of Positive Aspects is pretty simple, and you can do it almost anywhere and anytime. All you need is a pen and paper, but I reckon you could also use your phone instead.

All you have to do is pick one subject, and it doesn’t matter what it is. It can be your job, a person, an item, or even food. It really doesn’t matter. Write that subject down at the top of the page. Then, simply write down all the things you like about this subject.

If you choose your job, for example, you could write: The people I work with are kind, my job pays well, or I do something that I love. Keep writing until you fill the whole page. Don’t try to force it; just let everything come to you naturally.

By doing this, you slowly become more positive. If you were feeling a lot of negativity at first, you might notice that you start to feel much lighter. You can do this for as long as you want. Once you’ve filled a page, start a new one with a different subject.

How does this help with manifesting?

Thoughts are the things that are manifesting. If you are having a lot of negative thoughts, you are going to feel that in your body. You experience stress, anxiety and so on. And negative thoughts aren’t the enemy, they are helpful in figuring out what you DO want and what you LIKE. But when you start writing the good things about a certain subject down, you shift your focus and your thoughts become more and more positive. 

My Own Experience

I remember one of the first times I tried this. I was feeling stressed and anxious, so I simply picked one subject. I don’t remember what it was. At first, it wasn’t easy to write down the good things about it. That’s why I would recommend starting with a fun subject—something you already like. This makes it much easier.

Once you’re done, you’ll feel much more positive, and it will become easier to find the good things about a more challenging subject. After a couple of minutes of trying, I noticed that it became easier and easier to name all the positive aspects.

So, every time you experience a lot of negative emotions (meaning you have a lot of negative thoughts), try to take a few minutes for yourself and focus on all the good things about something. You can do this without writing anything down, but I would recommend using a pen and paper. It helps you stay focused.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

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First of all, I want to say that I’m starting something new on my blog to add more personality to it. I’m going to try to write more personal blog posts and share my opinions on different topics. This time, it’s all about physical media.

Physical media includes VHS tapes, DVDs, CDs, magazines, and books. But my favorite types of physical media are DVDs and CDs.

Streaming versus Physical Media

When I was growing up, we still had VHS tapes and later moved on to DVDs. I loved going to the store and renting a DVD for the holidays. It was something we did every single year. Everyone could pick one or two movies, and then we would watch them together. I loved it. It was exciting.

Then, eventually, illegal downloads became a thing, and slowly streaming became more popular. These days, streaming is huge. When it was still up-and-coming, I was pretty excited because I thought it meant having easier access to a lot of movies and music. I mean, I’m even listening to Spotify right now while writing this (without a subscription).

But over the last couple of years, I have become more critical of streaming services. First of all, there are so many platforms, and it can feel overwhelming. If you want a subscription to all of them, you have to pay a lot of money every single month. I have only had Netflix, for the record, but even with Netflix, I have my issues.

When you want to watch a certain movie, it’s possible that it isn’t available on the platform at that moment. They can also remove certain titles whenever they want. You are paying to use the platform, but you don’t actually own anything.

The other day, I read the news about Sony and their decision to stop producing physical media. Everything will become digital, and they also removed a lot of movie titles. I even heard that, even though you paid for a certain movie, it could be removed and become unavailable. Paying for something digitally basically means that you still don’t own it.

With physical media, it’s completely different because you pay for it and then own it for the rest of your life. They can’t take it away from you. That is why physical media is top-tier. And that is why I started my physical media collection, which includes DVDs and CDs.

Physical Media is Fun

Remember when I said that I loved going to the store and finding a DVD to watch? Well, I get that same feeling again from buying and owning DVDs. Streaming movies was cool at first, but now it doesn’t excite me anymore. Physical media is more fun because you can actually hold it, look at it, and it’s so much fun to add more items to your collection.

I love going to thrift stores and finding something special. The other day, I went to a thrift store and found a lot of amazing DVDs that I love. (You can watch my physical media haul down below.) Sure, sometimes you don’t find anything at all, but when you do find something, it feels amazing.

Plus, if I want to listen to music right now, I just have to turn on my CD player, and that’s it. I don’t have to use my phone or laptop to play music anymore, which is great since I’m trying to reduce my screen time. And there are so many reasons to go back to physical media.

How do you feel about physical media? Or do you still prefer streaming services?

When the video doesn’t work, click here

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Title: How to die Famous
Author: Benjamin Dean
Publisher: Little Brown books for young readers
Genre: thriller YA
Pages: 384
My Rating:

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How to Die Famous

Abel Miller is a rising star and just landed a role on the hottest reboot of Sunset High, produced by Omni Channel. But he is not there just for the acting role he landed. He is also on a mission. It has been no secret that there is a so-called curse on Sunset High, because terrible things happened to the actors in the past. Abel’s brother died while he was working on Sunset High. And Abel is now there to figure out what happened. And if Onmi Channel is the one to blame.

Review

First time I read a book by Benjamin Dean. I don’t read thrillers that often, even though I love them. I love my Freida Mcfadden books and I have also read other thrillers by different authors.

I liked the plot idea. Abel is sort off going undercover to find out what happened to his brother and if someone killed him and if Onmi channel is the one to blame. Omni channel was giving me Disney Channel or Nickelodeon vibes for the record. They all produce all young adult shows. Abel is not alone of course, he has three other co-stars: Lucky, Ryan and Ella. The curse everyone was talking about was interesting part. It wasn’t the first time something bad happened to people from Sunset High. And it is still happening. Bad things are happening to them right now.

But there was a huge reason why I didn’t like this book and I was sort off surprised. From the beginning the author makes it very clear who could be the bad person, the on who is stalking and murdering. But I have read other thriller books and I also know there will always be a plottiwst,except that never happened. By  2/3 of the books they made it very clear who the killer is. No plottwist came. That ruined the whole book for me honestly. I want to read thrillers and then be surprised who the killer actually is.

Sure, there were still interesting things happening at the end, but for me personally the whole story was already ruined. I want to figure out on my own who the killer is, not that the author makes it clear right from the beginning. That’s no fun.

Overall, I am just really disappointed. I really hope Benjamin’s other books do actually have plottwists, because this wasn’t fun. I still gave it 2/5 hearts, because I still like the plot idea. Or maybe I am just getting too old for YA thrillers at this point.

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I think we can all agree that some people really do overconsume. And the problem is getting bigger and bigger. One moment, Labubus are incredibly popular, and everyone is buying them. Then, two months later, everyone has moved on to something else.

And that’s a problem because it’s bad for the environment. Overconsumption has a terrible impact on our environment because, most of the time, everything ends up in the trash. We just throw everything away when the trend is over. I’m not perfect either. I’m on social media too, so I see all of the trends, and I also get the urge to buy all of those things. But these days, I’m trying to stop overconsuming, and in this blog post, I’ll share my tips on how I’m doing that.

What is Overconsumption

But before I give my tips, I want to explain when something becomes overconsumption. Because simply buying something you love isn’t always overconsumption. I think there are two aspects to it.

The first is buying something just because it’s trendy. Maybe you don’t even care about it, but you don’t want to feel left out. We humans are a bit like sheep; we tend to follow each other. That also means that when a lot of people are talking about buying Labubus, more and more people suddenly want to buy one too.

The second aspect of overconsumption is buying way too many of the same thing. I’ve seen people own 30 Stanley cups, dozens of Labubus, and these days I also see a lot of people buying bags full of NeeDohs. You don’t need that many of the same item. Because if you suddenly decide you don’t like them anymore, you’ll have to throw them away (or hopefully donate them). That’s a lot of waste.

The Difference Between Collections and Overconsumption

I also think there is a difference between owning a collection and overconsumption. Let’s say you’re a fan of Pokémon, and you started collecting Pokémon items from an early age. Over the years, you slowly add more and more pieces to your collection. That’s a collection; it grows gradually over time.

For example, I love physical media, and it’s become a collection of mine. I enjoy finding DVDs and CDs, but I’ve been collecting them for a few years now. With overconsumption, it’s different. Some people buy 30 NeeDohs in one shopping trip and call it a collection. But I think a collection has a certain value to you. It means something. Maybe you’ve been a Pokémon fan for a long time, and your collection reminds you of those good old days.

How to Stop Overconsumption

I have two tips that can actually help you stop overconsuming. Stopping overconsumption also means your home will be less cluttered, you’ll save more money, and you’ll learn to make better purchasing decisions.

Spend less time on social media

I like social media, but it’s also one of the main causes of overconsumption. One influencer shows something they love, and before you even realize it, everyone wants it too and starts buying it. Then, a month later, everyone has moved on to something else. It’s one of the reasons why I spend less time on social media. I used to see all those videos of people showing off what they had bought, and suddenly I felt the urge to buy those things too. Now I spend less time on those apps, and I don’t feel that urge anymore.

Put it on a wishlist

My best tip is this: when you see something you like and want to buy, put it on a wishlist instead. Create a wishlist on your phone or make a separate folder with screenshots of the things you want to buy. Then wait. Maybe wait a couple of weeks or even longer. Sometimes I even wait for months. If I still really want the item after that, then I’m allowed to buy it. But the funny thing is that, most of the time, I don’t even want it anymore after all those weeks or months.

And that’s how I stopped overconsuming. Do you have any other tips?

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

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Title: Enola Holmes
Actors: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and more
Director: Philip Barantini
Writers: Jack Thorne, Nancy Springer
Genre: Adventure/Mystery
Length: 1 hour and 45 minutes
My Rating:

Watch Enola Holmes 3 now on Netflix

Enola Holmes 3

Enola Holmes is getting married, but on her wedding day, she starts having doubts. While Tewkesbury is waiting at the altar, she is still at the hotel. Eventually, she decides she can’t keep him waiting any longer and finally makes the decision to get married.

But on her way to the ceremony, Dr. Watson catches up with her and brings her some bad news: her brother, Sherlock, is missing. A day later, she discovers that Tewkesbury’s mother is also missing. Enola must solve the case and find out who abducted them and why.

Review

This is the third movie in the Enola Holmes trilogy. I also think it is going to be the last movie, because it ends with a wedding, and I feel like almost every trilogy ends with a wedding. I really loved the first two movies, so I couldn’t wait to watch this one as well. Did it live up to my expectations?

The short answer to that question is no, it did not live up to my expectations. While I really enjoyed the first two movies, I wasn’t feeling this movie at all. But let’s start with the positive things. I still like the way she narrates throughout the movie, and some of the lines were quite funny. The visuals and performances were great again.

However, it felt to me that the story was quite boring compared to the other two movies. While I was invested in the other movies, it was hard for me to stay focused on the story. It was lacking something; I think I needed a bit more action and adventure. Most of the action happens at the end of the movie, which is why I started getting bored. I was expecting a lot more after watching the first two movies. The pacing was also a bit slow.

Unfortunately, it was one of those movies I will forget about in a day, which is sad because I really enjoyed the first two movies. This movie was definitely my least favorite in the series. I honestly think it might be better not to make a fourth movie, although, as I mentioned, I think this was already meant to be the last one because of the wedding. It is time for Millie Bobby Brown to focus on different projects, because I still enjoy watching her in movies.

It was not any of the actors’ fault that this movie felt a little dull or boring. It was purely the script and the story. But if you are a fan of the other movies, maybe watch this one anyway. I mean, some parts are still fun to watch.

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Imagine your dream life right now. What kind of job do you have? What kind of house do you live in? Imagine every single detail of your dream life. Are you feeling excited? Good! Because you can have it all if you want to.

I’m sure you’ve heard of manifestation by now, whether you practice it or not. By using your mind intentionally, you can transform your entire life. It is possible for your dreams to come true. In this blog post, I’m going to show you how to manifest your dream life.

Manifesting is very easy

And I’m here to tell you that manifesting is actually easy, and it’s something you do all the time, whether you realize it or not. A lot of people don’t even realize they’re manifesting everything in their lives, from the good things to the bad. You are always manifesting, and you do this through the thoughts you have.

Have you ever had a bad day when one bad thing after another kept happening? That probably happened because something or someone annoyed you, and you started focusing on that negative experience. As a result, you attracted more situations that annoyed you or made you feel bad.

Your thoughts create your reality. The good news is that you don’t have to worry too much about having negative thoughts. If you have around 50,000 thoughts a day and only 10 or so are negative, nothing bad is going to happen. It all comes down to what you’re focusing on with the majority of your thoughts.

How to Start Manifesting your Dream Life

So, now that you know your thoughts create your reality, how can you create your dream life?

Most people simply react to what is happening around them. Let’s say someone doesn’t like their life. They don’t have much money, they don’t like their job, and their colleague is annoying and stresses them out all day. So when they go to work, they probably start thinking about how they don’t want to be there and how they don’t want to see their colleague. Then, when they get to work, their colleague reminds them how much they hate their job, and the cycle continues. They are just reacting to the things happening around them, which means they will keep manifesting more of the same.

If you actually want to manifest something different from your current reality, you have to start thinking differently. In this case, that person has to start thinking about their dream job and having enough money. And you have to do this consistently throughout the day. Because if you only think about what you want for 10 minutes and then spend the other 23 hours and 50 minutes thinking your life is terrible, nothing is going to change.

Become aware of your thoughts. Meditation can help with this. Every time you notice a thought that doesn’t align with what you want to manifest, calm yourself down, bring your awareness back to the present moment, and then redirect your thoughts to what you want to manifest. Ask yourself why you want to manifest it. As long as you keep focusing on it, you’re moving in the right direction.

And that’s how you manifest. You simply change your thoughts and focus on the things you want to manifest. You don’t have to use every manifestation technique. You can if you want to, and if it helps you focus on what you want, then go for it. Don’t stop.

Photo by Faustina Okeke on Unsplash

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Title: Voicemails for Isabelle
Actors: Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson
Director: Leah McKendrick
Writer: Leah McKendrick
Genre: Romance
Length: 1 hour and 58 minutes
My Rating:

Watch Voicemails for Isabelle on Netflix

Voicemails for Isabelle

Jill has always been very close to her sister, Isabelle. When Isabelle passed away, Jill struggled to let go of the bond they shared. She used to tell her sister everything, and even now she leaves voicemails for Isabelle, updating her on the events of her life.

What Jill doesn’t know is that Isabelle’s old phone number no longer belongs to her. The number now belongs to Wes, who has been receiving all of Jill’s messages. Rather than telling her, he finds himself looking forward to each voicemail. Through her stories, humor, and honesty, he becomes fascinated by the woman on the other end of the line.

Determined to meet her, Wes travels to San Francisco. As they get to know each other, they slowly fall in love. But there’s one thing Wes hasn’t told Jill: he’s the one who has been listening to all of the voicemails she thought she was leaving for her sister.

Review

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