Book Review:- Live & Learn by Vance Pumphrey

This is the first book I am reading in the series and the first by this author. This is the fifth book in the Valdaar’s Fist saga, the first in the second series under that story arc.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

“Live & Learn :- Defense of the Land Book One, Book Five in the Valdaar’s Fist saga”

I hadn’t read any books by Vance Pumphrey prior to this one and I went in with no presumptions, just the excitement I usually have when I am presented with a new book in a genre I particularly enjoy reading due to its ability to literally transport you to a different universe created by the Author.

There will be no spoilers in this review instead I will be talking on why you should read this book.

Throughout this reading journey I never got the feeling that I was reading the fifth book in a series because of how well the Author placed this one as the beginning of a new arc in the series, so it’s safe to start reading the series from this book without feeling like you were lost. I do however after reading this book want to read the previous ones in the series because of how well this book is written a true testament to the Authors abilities.

Also, I thoroughly appreciated the fact that I wasn’t plagued by grammatical or tense errors as some books tend to not spend enough time in the editing stage this book does not suffer that fate. And where others fail in building the world the characters dwell in, this Author successfully did so and I truly felt like I walked this quest with them and even visualized the clothing, dwellings, paths and keeps due to the Authors exceptional story telling.

Furthermore, when I finished reading this book I was sad to put down as the book ended in such a way that made me wish I had the next book in the series ready for me to dive into. I had come to expect Sharna’s sarcasm, Jaramiles strength, Dolt’s endless anecdotes and moronic behavior, Ogmurth knocking him out, Meso’s quiet wisdom and Goldie’s stealth. These character made this book an amazing adventure and I had quite gotten used to them.

However, my only issue/ criticism is that there were parts of this book that dragged a little bit and I understand from other reviews that it is more appreciated by those who are familiar with RPG games but to the rest of us it comes across as endless dialogue or break from the story. There were times I wanted them to move on to the next thing but alas it wasn’t meant to be.

All in all I really enjoyed the story and recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy books.

Loving my ‘Creative’ Self.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved seeing things come to life and creating new things out of old, existing or even brand new things. And the funny thing is through all this I never thought of myself as a creative person. In fact, I was more in awe of other people’s creativity and their abilities to present their thoughts and skills/ talents.

It’s amazing how subconsciously we bring ourselves down or even lower our esteem without even realizing it. We always compare ourselves, our looks, our gifts, our intelligence and even relationships to that of someone else and somehow ours comes up short in our minds.

So this might not be true for everyone but it was for me and when I finally realized what I had been doing to myself, I had to make deliberate strides to stop doing it and to consciously correct that pattern of thinking because it’s not healthy. Yes people will be better at things but that doesn’t mean I have to feel inferior or even act inferior and I can also appreciate others now without taking it as a competition.

However, loving my abilities or talents didn’t happen over night and sometimes I still beat myself up but in doing this, I have also realized that it has caused me to fall in love with myself more and all my various facets.

Self love is beautiful, it has nothing to do with pride or narcissism. I hope everyone gets to a point in their lives were they fall in love with themselves daily.

Crochet/knitting 🧶…

FOOD 🥘…

Keeping busy

This year I sort of fell into the new year. We all have hopes and dreams and we make a ton of plans when we have the opportunity to start over or experience newness.

That’s usually the case for me whenever the new year approaches but this time around, with 2019 looking over and 2018 making a quick exit, I found myself with nothing in the way of resolutions or plans for the new year.

Obviously I want to to be beautiful, peaceful, full of love and goodness but I didn’t sit down to write what I would like to achieve this year.

And the weird thing is it didn’t bother me at all that I hadn’t made resolutions and stuff.

I do have goals which I am working towards but these are things that I had going in 2018. So I guess my question is how are you doing this new year? Did you make plans or resolutions?

Oh and here are some of my projects

Not Culture Shock.

I am always looking out for things I might have missed since moving here. It is easy to have a preconceived idea about a place or people which is something I have come to realize a lot of people have about me ( Nigerians and Africans in general) and I have decided that rather than be offended, I guide as correct if it’s welcomed.

I am always surprised when people don’t expect me to speak fluent English or are surprised when I do and do it with a clear understandable accent.

I have come to learn the difference in culture also that’s can be seen here also in respect to race, age , religion or the lack of it and geographical location.

It’s been an eye opener for me and I am glad to have the opportunity to learn about the way of life of others.

Have you experienced culture shock recently or in the past? What was your experience and how did you deal with it?

Seasons

This year has been a whirl of Ups and Downs but at long last I am finally where I am supposed to be. We go through seasons and each of them are geared to show and teach us something. Doesn’t mean the lessons will be easy, kind, good or even bearable but when we come through on the other side we end up forever changed. One thing to keep in mind is to ensure we come out the victor rather than letting the process break us.

What’s bee happening (if you’ve been wondering)

So for those of you who’ve been following my adventures, I am sure you’ve been wondering why my posts have been sporadic and all over the place?

Well I just recently moved! More like relocated really 😁 to a different CONTINENT!

If you’ve read any of my long distance relationship (Ldr) posts, you would know that my husband and I dated long distance and this spilled over into the first 2+years of our marriage with a lot of juggling of time difference, finding cheap flights and trying to squeeze as much quality time together while still trying to make a living or be functional members of society if you may lol

So the BIG move happened recently after going through more than a year of immigration processes, rejections and validations to finally bring us to today. Today represents our current state of finally living together and building the life we’ve always dreamed and planned for. It’s been just over a month since the move and I would love to say it’s been all sunshine and rainbows but no it’s not!

Transplanting your life isn’t as easy as they make it look and sound in the movies, books and songs. There’s a lot of back work involved. Documentation, work/ possible career change, money differences, shopping and food diversity, a different system and all that.

But all that is a walk in the park to finally have “Today”. We don’t have 6000+ miles between us anymore, no sleepless nights, no time difference, no horrible network problems and so forth. It’s not perfect but it’s still paradise.

I get asked if I would do it differently and change our process. I would love to say yes, but my answer is I don’t know if having the opportunity to do it differently would make us as strong as we are and as purified going through the fire (our process) as we have.

It’s our process and I am happy that we conquered it and made it to the other side.

Our story isn’t over by any means, it’s Just starting a new chapter ❤️.

Poetry prompt:- Light keeper

Poetry prompt:- word “Exulansis”

exulansis

n. the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it—whether through envy or pity or simple foreignness—which allows it to drift away from the rest of your life story, until the memory itself feels out of place, almost mythical, wandering restlessly in the fog, no longer even looking for a place to land.

The Search

Book Review :- Elle Burton and the reflective Portals By Peggy M McAloon and Anneka Rogers.

I am always open to reading books of different genre but not always of the children’s book variety. Reading Elle’s story pronounced (Ellie) I quickly forgot that it was for children. The character is one we can all identify with through the various struggles and challenges she faces and later overcomes. It’s a book about Love, loss, hope, healing, kindness and a lot of things we sometimes forget to teach or remind our children to be. Though this tale is woven through fantasy, it can’t help be anything but real. Elle Burton reminds us to be brave,honest and even believe in the magic of people, friends and family. Be sure to join Elle in her adventures in this first installment.