The Constellation of Moon

Help, Thanks, Wow Review

Posted on December 20, 2018

This will be a short informal style review, with “spoilers” as this is a non fiction book.

I don’t talk much about religion because I believe religion is a personal choice and if someone asks I am happy to talk about it, but in general I don’t really feel like pushing my thoughts and beliefs to others (nor do I want them to push theirs to me, thank you very much). However, this review will talk a bit about religion, so feel free to skip it.

Before I bought this book and it arrived I had been in a bit of a rut. I felt sad, kind forgotten and felt like I wanted to believe more, but at the same time, I am not big on churches, so wanted something that would refresh my faith and my brain. I prayed that the next book that I decided to read of non fiction would be the right one.

It was. Help, Thanks, Wow is written by Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird (one of those books that are recommended reading about how to write). And mostly it explains what she calls the 3 essential prayers. You can “sum up” all prayers into one. And I have to say it makes sense. I have never been one to pray a long flowery litany of words out loud. My prayers are full of doubts, questions, anger, pleas and so much more, they are raw. And I kept thinking this was not the best as I couldn’t pray the way others do.

This little book however explains that your prayers can be so simple. A “Help me God/being/universe/whatever, I just can’t cope with the world today” is perfectly fine. It also reminds you that each day is a new day and that things don’t work perfectly, so your prayers aren;t answered the way you want them to. This made me smile, because I hate it when people tell you that your prayer wasn’t answered because you didn’t pray hard enough or something is wrong with you, or things like that.

It can also be a “Thanks for letting something happen (or not)”. Which I tend to do a lot for example I pray “thanks for letting me catch the bus in time”. They are really short, and I do them throughout bthe day (peppered with the Help ones too).

The final prayer is “Wow”. This is are for the breathtaking, for the surprises, for the sunset or sunrise that is just amazing. For that letting out the breath you didn’t realise you were holding…

Reading through it all was refreshing and made me feel like I wasn’t all the wrong and that having questions and challenging beliefs (in my own beliefs) is not a problem or something to be afraid of. Questions, pleas, anger, are good. It means it is a faith that is alive. And I like that. This little book gave me a new breath, a refresh and it was quick and easy and good to read.

I am glad I read it and I have got some more of her books to read once I need a pump of energy and faith.

Subscription Boxes

Smugglers & Thieves Book Box Club Unboxing

Posted on December 18, 2018

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What do we do with a drunken sailor? Early in the morning! ♪♫

Now that you have great background music for this unboxing, let’s go matey! Starting from the book on the top left, and going clockwise:

Only The Ocean by Natasha Carthew. I haven’t heard much of this book but it looks interesting and I am intrigued by it.
A Six of Crows Kaz and Inej tea towel, as if they were part of a card. I love the depiction of them and tea towels are one of those things that are usually a welcome item in a book box because it is hard to have too many teatowels (though I admit, the fabric of this one is a tiny bit not as absorbent as I’d like but oh well).
A quote and waves hanging banner. I am not the biggest on hanging stuff but I like somehow the simple yet soothing effect of it.
Print of the cover of the book. I do love that cover, it is gorgeous!
Promotional bookmarks from publishers.
Theme card and Clubhouse invitation (as always, the personalisation part of it is one of my favourite things.
Ship to neverland pin. Really dreamy gorgeous.
Wish bracelet. I adore receiving them and am happy that the girls keep sending one every now and then!
Promotional postcard..
Jack Sparrow chibi version magnetic bookmark.

A very blue box, and I liked it quite a bit. I am now eagerly awaiting for my next one to arrive and to see what the last box of the year is. Do you like bookboxes? I definitely recommend this one as you can get to chat with the author and ask questions later on.

Book Review

Easy Prey Review

Posted on December 16, 2018

Easy Prey by Catherine Lo

Only three students had access to a teacher’s racy photos before they went viral. There’s Mouse, a brainy overachiever so desperate to escape his father and go to MIT that he would do almost anything, legal or not. Then there’s Drew, the star athlete who can get any girl’s number—and private photos—with his charm but has a history of passing those photos around. And finally there’s Jenna, a good girl turned rebel after her own shocking photos made the rounds at school last year, who is still waiting for justice. All three deny leaking the photos, but someone has to take the fall. This edgy whodunit tackles hot-button issues of sexting and gossip and will have readers tearing through the pages to reach the final reveal.

Rating:

This book surprised me. In a good way, of course. I started reading it and wasn’t too sure what to expect, the premise is interesting. Someone has leaked “nudes” of their teacher and it appears it has to be at least one of them (who had a project together), but the question is who is it?

The book had me guessing for a big part of it (mostly because I kinda suspected who it was, but I kept telling myself that wasn’t what was happening, there was no way… well, yes way!) but it kept me wanting to read more, to find out how exactly they went from becoming a team to this disaster.

Why would anyone leak the pictures? Was someone outside of them trying to frame them? So many questions, and it was nicely wrapped up at the end.

One of my favourite characters was Jenna’s mother. And it was interesting to see what family and life situations were behind each of the three main characters. I liked that it wasn’t just doing cliches, but rather asking why do we follow the cliche? And it was a good read.

(This is so hard to review because I want to gush about the ending and who actually did it, but I can say that it was a genius idea and I really really loved it).

What I can say is that it is a very feminist read. It was in a way empowering and it also questioned a lot of what happens when nudes are leaked on the internet. How it affects the parties involved in different ways. And how it is usually the girl’s fault for letting someone take the pictures (which is very unfair! this is done under trust and there is not a consent on them being shared online to everyone) with little consequences for the one who took them and the one wo leaked them. It does well in making you ask those interesting questions about gender roles and gender expectations, specially during teenage years, when you define your “role” in life a little more and try to find who you are and where you stand.

All in all, this was a good “mystery” and it was also a good “thinking” piece, and feminist.

Moon recommends

For feminist reads and the mystery, Easy Prey definitely wins. I would also recommend One of Us is Lying (it touches more on the effects of expectations and social media and relationships) and It Ends With You (it touches on social cues and prejudices, more scary).

Subscription Boxes

Clever Ruse Illumicrate Unboxing

Posted on December 14, 2018

This is the full unboxuing of Illumicrate and it’s still one of the first few themed boxes they make. I am a bit undecided about them. I love the special edition boxes they make, however I think I loved the non-themed boxes more than the themed one. I feel a little like trying to stick to the theme adds items that have less value. But I blable, let’s unbox it!

Starting from the banner on the top left and going clockwise:

Caraval/Circus inspired Banner. This one was very much a “why?” item. I do not use banners, bunting is even a bit too much (who has all the wall space and everything for all of it?) And it didn’t feel special enough, I even initially thought it was a Hufflepuff inspired item rather than circus, which doesn’t really help the item sadly.
Underneath is an utterly striking gorgeous Mulan isnpired scarf (it is silky, soft and it is more one of the old “bandana” silk squares that can be used for hair or as a scarf, or many other uses) and I do love it very much!
Wooden bookmark. I am also on the verge of this item, don’t get me wrong it is lovely, but I prefer paper bookmarks. Woodmarks are too thick for most books and crack more easily than paper bookmarks.
There was an envelope with the origami instructions for This Mortal Coil promo stuff. I had preordered This Mortal Coil, so I had on my bookcase one already made to showcase how it should look once completed 🙂 I liked it.
Poppy War promotional bookmark.
Stag (I am told it is Sarah J. Maas books inspired but I thought more of The Light Between Worlds and Narnia than of her books when I saw this) necklace.
Coffee cup “wrap”. I was pleased to get this one (though I know others weren’t). I have several travel mugs and only one has a “heat” protecting wrap, and now I have this one to use too! Welcome item that wasn’t the usual (and this made me think a lot of the core of Illumicrate and why I have been subscribed for so long to them).
Two books!!!! Tamora Pierce’s Wild Magic (I am told this is a good book and I am eager to read it soonish) and the main event, Empress of All Seasons, which I am very excited about (and it came with bookplate and letter).

All in all I liked the box, though I would’ve prefered a bit more variation and less sticking to the theme, but that’s the way most book boxes work nowadays (I loved the randomness and non themed bit of Illumicrate, but that’s my opinion, doesn’t mean I will stop getting them now, I won’t until I am not getting happy feelings out of receiving and unboxing my boxes).

Discussion

Spill the Tea: University and “Careers”

Posted on December 12, 2018

For some odd reason this topic keeps coming back in conversations I have had in the last few weeks.

TwitterEngineer

Hi, I am Moon. I am a blogger. I am an engineer. I have published research in international journals and book compilations. And I draw and write.

The Twitter insert above is genuine some of the classes I had during my engineering major. But let me start at the beginning. Or rather do a “summary”.

Summary: Don’t worry too much about what you study or if you go to university/college. Even the best of plans can change by things out of your control, and sometimes you change.

Now to the longer version. I don’t remember what I wanted to be when I was a child. I know I wanted to write and create since I was 11 (when I wrote my first “novel” according to me at the time, filled a notebook with my mystery story). And I had the delightful benefit of being smart. The kind of smart that means your teachers send you to national competitions on topics and the like.

Everyone that knew me expected great things of me. My parents refused to let me study fashion design or to archivology (? this exists in Mexico), and I knew in the back of my head that they wouldn’t. So I chose an engineering major, and you know what criteria I used?

I chose the university first, because we had had one of those university/college fairs come to our school, and we were able to visit some of the universities. And I fell in love with the one I ended up choosing. It was relatively small, focused on making sure the graduates left ready to work in the industry, with more practice and certifications than just filling them up with theory.

So, university chosen, now what to study? I grabbed a pamphlet for each major they offered and read what actual classes they offered, alongside the certificates you could get for free and I chose the one that intrigued me the most and sounded more fun. That was it. And I don’t regret it.

However, I have never ever worked as an Engineer in Telematics.

Don’t get me wrong. The major helped a lot and it is because of what I learned in it that I have gotten several jobs. I have worked in cybersecurity, in supercomputing and clusters. I also did a lot of research. Because life happens I ended up working as a carer for people with dementia, autism and/or palliative care. It is because I knew what SCMP was (alongside other things) that I got the job I have now (and which is one of the best things ever).

I had great plans for my career. And I have done none of them. But as I look back, I can see that I haven’t missed out. I am actually probably better.

Yes, it wasn’t a straightforward path of “start as a newbie in X company, move up to be CEO”, and everyone kinda expected me to do the CEO thing. But once I shed all the expectations, I managed to stumble and find the job I have now. I love it.

So don’t give up on your future, or stress about the choices you make when choosing a major, or when going for a job. Sometimes we choose jobs outside of our “scope” (like me being a carer) that may give us unique skills that can help us get a much better job (like my people skills and emergency reactions thanks to that carer job). And you’ll find your way, one way or another. There isn’t only one way to do it.

Book Review

Raven Child and the Snow Witch Review

Posted on December 10, 2018

Raven Child and the Snow Witch by Linda Sunderland and Daniel Egneus

Anya lives with her mother and father in the shadow of the icy glacier where the Snow-Witch reigns. Every spring, Anya’s mother journeys to the glacier to pick the blue gentian flowers that grow there. But this time, she does not return. She has been captured by the Snow-Witch and imprisoned in the ice. Anya and her father set off with the ravens to rescue her. It’s a treacherous journey, and there is no knowing what they will find…

Rating:

You can see it, but the snow is all glittery and delightful and all through the book there is glittery snow in it and it is gorgeous and just made my heart happy (even though in general I am not a fan of glitter, but somehow it fit so well in here). And of course, there is a fox in this story, which is probably a big part of why I got it, but also the title sounded great and the story seemed sweet.

The illustrations aren’t over defined, they’re more “blocky” but that gives it a very personal flavour and it also goes well with the whole snowy crafty theme of the book and it is good.

Anya loves where she lives and loves her mother and father, but when her mother goes out to pick flowers, she has a dream and suddenly wakes up. She feels like her mother spoke to her through the dream about being imprisoned by the Snow Witch.

So both Anya and her father set off (this made me fall for this book, the father was involved, he was part of the adventure!) and as they make their way towards the town closer to where mother has gone and disappeared, Anya rescues a Raven and a Fox.

It is a lovely adventure and there’s an IT vs Meg Murray kind of moment (and I liked that) and in general I liked it. When it came to an end I wished for a little more but it still was a good short read.

Moon recommends

Definitely try this one out as it is gorgeous and will make you smile as you read it. I would also recommend (for older readers, but still MG) The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell.

Book Review, Books

Dragon Post Review

Posted on December 8, 2018

Dragon Post by Emma Yarlett

A fiery story about friendship and asking for help from award-winning author-illustrator Emma Yarlett.

One day Alex finds a dragon living under his stairs. He isn’t sure what to do – but luckily he knows just who to ask for help. Open the envelopes and read the hilarious letters Alex receives from the fire brigade, the butcher and more as he tries to take care of his new friend. Who would have thought having a dragon for a pet would be so tricky? A joyful, touching and vibrantly-illustrated interactive book.

Rating:

I can’t remember how I stumbled unto this cute book (probably suggested by Amazon or Wordery due to all the dragon books I buy plus some of the MG and younger reads I get too. I do not have children, those book have all been for me) but I am glad I did.

Alex finds a dragon in his house (who doesn’t want to find a dragon in their house, right?) and he starts asking for advice, first to the fire department. What do you do to avoid the dragon burning the house down? And there comes the reply (which is in a cute envelope, and you take it out, open like a real letter) suggesting something to fix it. Then he wonders what to give his dragon to eat, and there also comes a reply.

And so it goes, until we end up with a postcard.

I loved the interactive part of this book. It was fun to “open” the letters, and to read the replies. And some of them are double sided, so that’s a lot of effort. The story is cute and made me smile. And the artwork was colourful, encouraging and just right for the story.

Moon recommends

Read this super cute interactive book about a boy and a dragon! I also recommend Franklin’s Flying Bookshop, and The Boy Who Grew Dragons as fun reads about dragons for children (and for those of us who have a child’s heart too).

Subscription Boxes

Magical Creatures NPC Crate Unboxing

Posted on December 6, 2018

The baby Nifflers got into the box, they surely could smell some “gems” in it. So here’s a quick unboxing (because we don’t want them to get sick by eating candles or a shiny pin).

All NPC crates come with three candles, a pin and a bookmark. (Nifflers not included or the jigsaw behind as background)

The candles are Thunderbird which had a fresh smell, citrusy but also “clean”. Probably my least favourite of the three (but it doesn’t mean I don’t like it); Jewellery Mole (the Nifflers really loved this one, wonder why?) which was the yummiest home baked chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven smell, absolutely delicious, no wonder the Nifflers wanted to have it all to themselves. Finally we have the Magical Zoologist, which has a more natural smell, and of course it has bergamot which automatically makes it a winner in my books, so loving it too.

And of course there was the shiny enamel pin, which is a luggage case with the words “Just a Smidge” and the bookmark with a quote and on the back of it the Quest/Challenge unlocked and the ingredients/scents of the candles in detail.

I love this crate even if it doesn’t have books and usually burn the candles on the days I work from home (I am on my last one from the previous crate), and it makes the time working just that little bit more special and nicer. They’re not over pungent in scent but also they aren’t too discreet, you can smell them, and it is nice.

Highly recommend it 🙂

Books

Book Tag – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!

Posted on December 4, 2018

Since I have been a bit tired to conjure a full review (and you got a really long one on Friday) I stole this lovely tag from Asha! This is super cute (Nifflers everywhere!)

Newt – If you had a fictional job, what would it be? And why?

I would love to be a dragonrider (a Queen if possible) or to be a Master Harper from the Pern universe. I wouldn’t mind being a healer in Damar either. [First job is from Anne McCaffrey’s books, second one from Robin McKinley’s].

Nifflers love beautiful shiny things. What book did you buy because it’d a beautiful cover?

Can’t remember. I know I was tempted by The Surface Breaks, because that was a gorgeous one, but I am not that much of a “cover buy” kind of person. Covers do “attract” me to the books, but it can have a gorgeous stunning cover and I won’t buy it just because of it. Not enough bookshelf space for that *cries*

Credence – Name a favourite character who is a tortured soul.

Chiyo/Sayuri from Memoirs of a Geisha has so much hardship in her life, but she’s such a strong person. <- stealing this one from Asha because she’s one of my favourite “tortured souls”, and that reads wrong somehow…

Bowtruckles are one of Newt’s smallest creatures. What is the smallest book on your TBR list?

An introduction to Archery that my boyfriend lent me.

Graves – Name a character who turned out not to be who they seemed.

Tricky one… I think the Butterfly in “White Rabbit, Red Wolf” definitely was a big surprise and not what I thought (and even after talking to the author, I have so many unaswered questions, someone please read this book, I need to talk about it!)

Erumpents are one of Newt’s largest creatures. What’s the largest book on your TBR?

Well, we have both of Laini Taylor’s newest series (Strange the Dreamer, and Muse of Nightmares), Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, City of Brass… they are huge books and the reason they haven’t been read is basically they’re not portable. Publishers, what happened with the delightful portable indie paperback, the size every paperback used to be about 10-20 years ago?! I need those back.

Queenie – Which fictional character would you like to get inside the mind of?

Aidan. From the Illuminae series. Or Ferrius’ from the Spellslinger series.

Demiguise can see the future, unless someone does the unexpected. What book did you enjoy that was unexpected? Or, name a book that turned out different to what was expected.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone – no spoilers, but at one point the story takes a vastly different turn, and it’s amazing! <- Also stealing Asha’s answer because I loved that twist, and because my mind went stupidly blank and could only remember one I hated which I didn’t want to write down here…

Jacob – what piece of food that you’ve read about would you like to try in real life?

Most of them? Like, do you follow FictionFood on instagram? She reads books then tries to make food inspired by them or mentioned in them and it sounds delicious. I want it all!

Obscurials are feared in the wizarding world. What is the scariest book you’ve read?

I don’t really read any horror, but a book that really impacted and I enjoyed but made me feel “scared” was “It ends with you” (And I totally recommend it!)

Tina – Name a character who grows on you, or who you feel redeems themselves.

Recently Phil from The Light Between Worlds.

Swooping Evil – Which book would you like to reread for the first time if you could?

Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s magic from the first line. <- same, though I also would reread the whole Redwall series, Dragonriders series, Damar duology and anything by Madeleine L’Engle. Maybe After the Fire, because I loved that book.

Grindelwald – Name a character you grew to hate.

The only ones I can think of, I do not want to mention because I didn’t even bother to review the book here. I hated Ella Black, and actually didn’t finish the book, it left me with such a bad flavour (but not as bad as the un-named one)

No Maj – Name a contemporary book that you think everybody should read.

Easy! I don’t read a lot of contemporary but I actually have to books to recommend. First Emergency Contact, because it somehow touched all the feelings and was just beautiful. The second one is Lovely, Dark and Deep because it touches on photosensitivity and there aren’t really many books with MC that have this and I have it so it is a good rep one.

Consider yourself tagged if you want to do this one!

Subscription Boxes

November YumeTwins Unboxing

Posted on December 2, 2018

YumeTwins still seems not that well known here in the book blogosphere but I find it a nice cuteness dose. The theme for November was about Transforming things, so they tried to include items that stuck to the theme.

A super ultra cute dog dressed up as a duck plushie. There were other choices, but come on, isn’t this one adorable? Definitely has “puppy” eyes, and you can take the “duck” hoodie off and see the dog ears.
A set of notes to change and transform someone’s day, which I thought was a cute idea even if the notes are tiny and not sticky (but mine has four different cute animals and it was lovely)
This was supposed to be a sparkly change when you rub pencilcase but somehow mine is just a cute pencilcase, but it is quite sturdy.
A bonus good luck charm/bag
Note spins (or note holding clothespins), they’re super cute and could totally see them going alongside some bunting and hanging pictures or something with them.
A charcoal duster sheep. It can be used to dust and to take smells away, very handy indeed!
Last but not least eh super cute “Sailor Moon” glasses/screen cleaner. I am loving it so much that I kinda don’t want to use it, but at the same time, I have glasses and this is extremely handy.
All in all it was a cute fun box that made me smile, so points for that.