15 things to do with books: that doesn't involve reading

For when your board this summer here are 15 things to entertain you and your friends with some very uncommon objects. Enjoy! :)

The Power of Six

The Lorien Legacies by Pitticus Lore

The Power of Six

Sequel to the novel "I am Number Four"

A good story with lots of action and twists and turns that kept my interest so I will definitely
be reading the next one in the series "The Rise of Nine".

Summary

After leaving Paradise, Ohio John Smith  (number four)  is on the run from the alien Mogs, trying to kill the Loric and the FBI, for being wanted terrorists. This time the book alternates viewpoints from John's point of view, to number Seven -- called Mariana -- who lives in Saint Teresa's covenant in a small town in Spain.

Although I was skeptical of this alternate view point in the beginning, Mariana's story is quite interesting I enjoyed very much, and was a nice way to change up the story from the first book. What Mariana's story lacks action it makes up for with her interactions with the fickle nuns at the and her lovable friends Ella and Hector.

Especially towards the end John's story did have a couple unexpected plot twists that I did enjoy. But for the most part his story was much of the same through out the majority of the book. John, Sam and Six had a close call with either the Mogs or the Feds, but would escape, nearly loosing John's special chest. After training for a couple of days in a safe-ish location the cycle would start again.

Character Development

I also tired of John's struggle of being 'hopelessly' in love with Sarah, but he also can't stop thinking about Six, whom he knows Sam also has a crush on, but will still shamelessly flirt with her in font of Sam. But the chemistry is absent between any pair in this trio, and any crushing seems to be due to proximity.

I did really enjoy the bad-ass Six. In "I am Number Four" She was a minor character, and I really enjoyed her character development this time around. Her back story was interesting and she is a pleasant addition to the team. Personally out of all the Loric Legacies reveled thus far Six by far seems to have the coolest.

The last bone I have to pick is the fight scenes. Now I like a good action packed fight sequence just as much as the next person, but there were sooo many and they all seemed to be the same. The ending fight with Six and Mariana was notable and fun to read even after all the other semi-dragged out fights. Some of the fighting I felt took away from the actual story, glazing over what could have been some potentially interesting plot twists.

Rating - 7/10

In the end I would recommend this book to a friend who likes action or sci-fi, with the comment of "yea it was decent." A good summer read. And like I mentioned before it did keep my interest enough for me to check out the next book. The author is good at leaving a slight cliff hanger at the end of each chapter/section, and at the very end to keep us readers interested.

Newspaper Nails

Over the weekend I painted my nails and pasted newspaper text onto the polish. I always get lots of complements on these nails and people are always asking me how I did it. So today I thought I would explain how I make newspaper nail polish.

Things you will need:

• newspaper,
• rubbing alcohol
• a light colored nail polish
• clear nail polish

Things that will be helpful (but not strictly nessicary):

• q-tip
• nail polish remover 
• a towel

First you  need to coat your nails with a base coat of any lightly colored nail polish. The newspaper text won't show up on dark nail polish. Make sure the polish is completely dried all the way through. If it is even a little wet still it will stick to the newspaper when you try and apply the lettering.

Then you will need to cut small squares of newspaper (about a half an inch - needs to completely cover your entire nail) with lots of text spread evenly across the square.

Next take your first finger and dip it into rubbing alcohol for 10-15 seconds.

Then take a small piece of newspaper with lots of text on it and lay it on top of the finger and gently press for about 10 seconds. 

Peel the newspaper carefully off the finger.

The newspaper text will have been transferred onto the nails but it also may have gotten on your skin around the nail. This is where the nail polish remover and q-tip come in. dip the q-tip in the nail polish remover and rub it around your nail on the skin to get rid of the ink.

Lastly cover the nail with a thin coat of clear polish to keep the ink on your nail from rubbing off. Be careful not to use too much clear polish or the ink will start to smear.

Repeat this with all of your other fingers.

And enjoy your newspaper nails.

 

You can also check out my YouTube video of how to make newspaper nails as well. Remember to like and subscribe!

Comment to let me know if you liked how to's like this and if you want more nail explanations, and share pics of your finished newspaper nails!

Field trip to Georgetown

Watergate Hotel

Here's a llama

Hears a llama...

There's a llama...

and another little llama

Sleeping on your exercise equipment I see...

Elephants at the Zoo

Yes, there was a Pigeon in the elephant cage.

National Zoo Aquatics

Last hues of spring

Easter Cupcakes

My sister made honey cupcakes a couple weeks ago for Easter. I was only allowed to ice two. I wanted to do something springy for Easter and decided to make bees. It didn't turn out well for two reasons that I can think of. 1) The icing was a bit too runny for piping and was very aerated making it constantly spit bubbles out of the piping bag. 2) I was working with a tablespoon of icing per color. I feel that it would have turned out better if I could actually get some icing out of the bag rather than sticking to the sides Anyway, they still tasted good and what counts is that I am still practicing icing skills. :)

National Park Pencils:Fish bowl lens...