Reviews by VaBookworm87

VaBookworm87 says "Game On!" about Xbox - 360 Console

VaBookworm87 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:25:35 GMT

I seriously couldn't have made a better investment! My brother had an XBox, and I would frequently play his whenever I was visiting his house. I then decided to put a little money into one of my own. The games are a bit expensive, but you can buy them used for a decent price. The graphics are fantastic and I love the variety of games! I also love XBox Live. It's a bummer you have to pay a yearly subscription for it, but it's incredibly convenient being able to play with my friends online, and watch my Netflix Watch Instantly through my XBox.

My brother got the "red ring of death" (something akin to Micrsoft Window's "Blue Screen of Death") about a week before his one year warranty ran out. They sent him a new system and all was well. I can't say I'm totally impressed by a system that fully dies within its first year, but as long as you have a warranty, you should be good to go!

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VaBookworm87 says "Your run-of-the-mill sweetener" about PureVia All Natural Zero Calorie Sweetener

VaBookworm87 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:06:18 GMT

I recently received a box of Pure Via sweetener to try and review. I come from a family of dedicated Splenda users, so I was interested in trying the new product. I was initially impressed by the packaging, which gives a fresh, light vibe. My only complaint with the packaging is the state in which my sample was received. When I opened the box, Pure Via poured all over my counter. I inspected the box and all of the packages, but there were no tears or breaks in the packaging. I'm assuming, therefore, that the mess was from the packaging process, and not defective packaging.

My parents and I each tried the product with food and solo. According to the package, each pouch is the equivalent of 2 Tbsp of sugar. My dad said he put a whole packet on a bowl of cereal and didn't think it sweetened his cereal very much. I put a packet in my cup of coffee, and I thought it did an alright job of sweetening. Typically I put 2 or 3 packets of Splenda in my coffee (I like really sweet coffee) and my coffee...

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VaBookworm87 says "Check this one out!!!" about City of Ember

VaBookworm87 — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:56:38 GMT

I don't typically review movies I watch (if I did that I'd be posting about 4 reviews per day) but I came across one that I feel has been severely under-appreciated. I have occasionally come across City of Ember on Netflix and finally got around to watching it. I had my brother watch it with me, and even he turned to me and said, "They advertise the wrong movies." We both agreed it was an incredibly unique and enjoyable movie, and of much higher quality than most movies that have come out recently!

The movie is about a city called Ember that was created when the world was ending. The greatest minds of the time gathered and decided the city would be cut off from the rest of the world for 200 years, hopefully enough time for any radioactivity or whatever else to diminish. At the end of the 200 years, a box was to open that would lead them out of Ember and back to the surface. Unfortunately, the box was lost and when the 200 years were up, the citizens of Ember were left in the dark, literally....

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VaBookworm87 says "Another great romance from BBC!" about North & South (BBC version)

VaBookworm87 — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:52:23 GMT

If you're a fan of Pride and Prejudice, I highly recommend you check out North & South!!! Netflix kept recommending it to me because of my tendencies towards BBC romances. I've always been a die hard Jane Austen fan.

Originally I was a bit confused, because I'm familiar with North and South, the American Civil War miniseries. I couldn't figure out why Netflix kept saying I should try North & South because of my previous interest in movies like Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. I never read the synopsis for movies, because I hate ruining the plot. I added it to my watch instantly queue and gave it a go.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised! North & South consists of 4 "episodes" which tell the tale of Margaret Hale (played by Daniela Denby-Ashe) and John Thornton (played by the spectacular and oh-so-gorgeous Richard Armitage). After being uprooted from her home, Margaret and her family settle down up north in Milton, an industrial city known for its production of cotton....

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VaBookworm87 says "The cats love 'em!" about Greenies Pill Pockets for Cats

VaBookworm87 — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 02:19:28 GMT

We've got four cats, and have always had to pin them down and shove the pill down their throat whenever they were sick. When our youngest cat recently was diagnosed with a UTI, the docs gave us a bag of Greenies Pill Pockets to try. We were skeptical, and at first our cat stuck his nose up at it. He tried to eat it, but spit up the pill after eating the treat. I gave him one without the pill later that afternoon, and he devoured the treat. I then gave him another, with the pill inside, and he ate that one too! He was doing well for a couple of days, but he seems to have figured out that those treats smell good but taste bitter after he bites into the pill. I have to trick him every so often by giving him a treat without anything in it. I think the concept is awesome, and I will say it has made the process 110% easier than it had been. I just wish he'd cooperate a little better! I think part of his problem is with the consistency... He struggles a bit with the chewy treat and it gums up...

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VaBookworm87 says "Into the mind of a sociopath..." about Dexter

VaBookworm87 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:44:31 GMT

Netflix has been suggesting for a while that I need to check out Dexter. I finally broke down because I've been hearing from friends how addictive the show is. Within a couple of episodes, I was hooked! It's so interesting, seeing into the head of a sociopath! He's a serial killer, but only kills bad people... murderers, rapists, etc. I love when he starts going on about his inability to form relationships with other people. And every so often you get a flashback to his childhood, which is really great for insight about his personality and why he does what he does.

I highly recommend this show to others!!!

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VaBookworm87 says "An absolute page turner!" about A Circle of Souls

VaBookworm87 — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:16:06 GMT

A Circle of Souls is a psychological thriller about a small girl who is brutally murdered in a small town in CT. Agent Leia Bines is put on the case as the leading expert in cases regarding children, but unfortunately law enforcement has very little to go on. Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Gram, a psychologist working in the pediatric unit meets a new patient named Naya, a seven year old girl who suffers from nightmares. It quickly becomes apparent that Naya is having more than just nightmares, and Peter decides that her problem is beyond medical. Naya appears to be communicating with the murdered girl when she is sleeping and then shares her "dreams" with Peter afterward. Peter shares this information with Agent Bines, who is skeptical about following leads from a seven year old being seen by a psychologist. However, after checking out the information provided by Naya, a series of events unfold that make it nearly impossible to put the book down.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the...

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VaBookworm87 says "I bleed Blue and White" about Longwood University

VaBookworm87 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:50:02 GMT

I recently graduated from Longwood University with a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Athletic Training. Choosing Longwood was one of the best decisions I have ever made! I learned an incredible amount of information from some of the most interesting people I've ever met. My anthropology class went on a dig, my history of rock class developed our own CD, and I was able to travel to Italy to "discover the origins of sports medicine in Rome" through my academic program!

I've always been the kind of student who develops personal relationships with my teachers. One reason I chose Longwood is because of the small class numbers, where a student could be a name, not a number. I grew to personally know all of my professors, even occasionally catching lunch with one of them at a local restaurant. My class sizes varied, from my freshman bio class of about 60 students to my athletic training classes which had 8 students.

Longwood's campus is constantly growing and improving....

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VaBookworm87 says "Ooh! Shiny!" about X-Men Origins: Wolverine

VaBookworm87 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:29:19 GMT

It's always been my opinion that you can really tell the quality of a movie just by the previews. Awful theatrical trailers that make you look at your friends like, "Seriously?" generally indicate a bad movie ahead. This movie was preceded by trailers for movies like Transformers, Night at the Museum, and Ice Age. The whole audience was revved up just by the previews.

The movie had me from the start... it had a brilliant intro. Who knew Wolverine was so interesting?! It starts with Wolverine and Sabertooth as kids, Jimmy and Victor (respectively). After an incident with their fathers, and discovering they're brothers, they run off and stick together throughout all sorts of amazing experiences. Surviving numerous wars, they are eventually recruited by Col. William Stryker, who has put together an elite team of mutants. Wolverine ends up deciding he'd rather have a life of peace and finds himself a woman. Things start getting nasty when Sabertooth and Stryker team up to gather mutants'...

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VaBookworm87 says "No one mourns the Wicked!" about Wicked

VaBookworm87 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:11:57 GMT

Dang straight nobody mourns it... because that show is AMAZING!!! I went with my mom and dad to the preview of Broadway's Wicked, which officially opened the following night. I had been listening to the soundtrack to the musical for a couple of weeks because I'm one of those inept people who can never understand the lyrics of a song the first go through... I had heard of the book, and knew a bit about the story. The taglines are, "The untold story of the Witches of Oz" and "So much happened before Dorothy dropped in." The music is powerful, and the story is interesting... I figured for my first Broadway, this one would be good.

We were in the 4th row, center from the orchestra section- close enough to see the faces and every subtle action on stage (It costs more to sit close, but I highly recommend it). The show rocked my world... I can't even fully articulate it! I love music. I have no talent for it myself, but I love listening to it. My brain was torn most of the show, half...

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VaBookworm87 says "Awful to the bitter end!" about Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)

VaBookworm87 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:10:32 GMT

If you haven't read my previous Twilight series reviews, it may benefit you to read them so you know where I stand with this series.

As with all of the other Twilight books, I didn't enjoy this one. However, this fourth and final installment in the Twilight series was definitely the most interesting. In this book, Bella officially joins the Cullen family. This book is definitely aimed towards an older audience than before. Sex scenes and allusions to sex occur in various parts of the book. From the beginning, it was obvious that this book would be even weirder than the rest. I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to say unnatural surprises and the formation of bizarre relationships were the groundwork of the final novel in the series.

The book had a painfully slow start, and for the first 138 pages I had to fight off immense boredom and force myself to read through. Most thankfully, the book is then interjected with a section told from the perspective of Jacob. In a series...

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VaBookworm87 says "Great concept, bad execution..." about Nintendo Wii Console

VaBookworm87 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:46:54 GMT

I love my Wii! I got one soon after they came out for a Christmas present. I have a few games for it and enjoy them very much! The concept behind the system is completely awesome. There is nothing cooler than being able to swing your Wiimote through the air and seeing Link slash his sword through an opponent, or throwing punches at a guy you've been ordered to kill in The Godfather: Blackhand Edition. I love the amount of interaction you can have with a game, rather than merely sitting in a chair and controlling your character through a joystick. The sports activities are an awesome touch, and I LOVE my Wii Fit! It really is a great work out!

My greatest complaint about the Wii is the game selection. If you are looking for cute little games like Cooking Mama, Animal Crossing, etc- Wii is the system for you. There are the popular norms, such as Madden and Rock Band, but if you aren't into those, you will be limited in your game selection. I tend to prefer RPG type games, such as Zelda....

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VaBookworm87 says "FML too much of a downer? GMH will make you smile!" about GMH: GivesMeHope.com

VaBookworm87 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:29:54 GMT

Are you familiar with FMyLife.com (FML)? People go onto the site and post stories of total bummer situations they've been in. For example:

"Today, while arriving at my best friend's wedding, I accidently ran over her 2 dogs. FML"

While this site is indeed hilarious, it does make you feel like the world couldn't possibly suck more. Well, fortunately we have Emerson Spartz! Do you know the name? He's the guy who started mugglenet.com many years ago. He decided to put his webmaster skills to use, and created GivesMeHope.com (GMH). This site is dedicated to more uplifting stories, such as:

"Today I realized I only have three more finals before I get my bachelor's degree. I'm 39. GMH"

"Freshmen year, there was a crippled girl bound to a wheelchair. For 4 years, she did physical therapy and progressed to crutches. When we graduated a few weeks ago, she handed her crutches to an officer and walked across the entire stage. The applause from the seniors was deafening. She cried the...

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VaBookworm87 says "There are a Host of reasons to not read this book." about The Host

VaBookworm87 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:13:05 GMT

I've never been big on sci-fi books but I've occasionally gotten into a few sci-fi movies/shows... I love me some Stargate SG-1 (Daniel Jackson= hot archaeologist... GREAT combo)! A friend was determined that I give this book a chance, so I decided to have a go. This one had two things working against it- (1) I don't do aliens and (2) If you've read my Twilight series reviews, you know how I feel about Stephanie Meyer's writing skill... However I was willing to hope that perhaps she was just bad at writing the Twilight series.

This book, for those who don't know, is essentially about an alien invasion. These aliens, called "souls", come to Earth and fuse themselves to the spines of humans. They then inhabit the human, obtaining all of its memories and essentially taking over the host's life. The human consciousness is suppressed until it essentially disappears. The souls then live out the lifespan of their host and then transfer to another. They do this on a number of planets, not just...

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VaBookworm87 says "Magical!" about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

VaBookworm87 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:06:24 GMT

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is BY FAR the best movie yet!!!

As with all the Potter movies, there's always the concern about how much damage they'll do to the story line, but they did a fantastic job! There was a perfect balance of funny with serious, which kept the movie from being too ridiculous or depressing. The audience spent a lot of the movie laughing at the antics of Harry and Ron (Ron on love potion and Harry on Felix Felicis were hilarious!). Dumbledore even has his funny moments in this film! The serious and scary parts were also remarkably well done. At one point, you could visibly see the entire theatre jump when something scary happened.

I've heard some people say the end was a tad abrupt, but in my opinion, so was the book. They left out some things, but as with all the movies, they were rather unimportant to the overall plot of the series. I liked the opening, and how it helped to bring in the events of the previous film.

All of the actors did a brilliant...

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VaBookworm87 says "Rhett Butler will capture your heart all over again!" about Donald McCaig - Rhett Butler's People

VaBookworm87 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:56:22 GMT

I haven’t read Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, but I have seen the movie (I know, *scoff*). I acknowledge that there are probably significant differences between the book and movie but in a way it worked in my favor. It allowed there to be a number of surprises in Rhett Butler’s People.

Somewhat to my surprise, I really enjoyed Rhett Butler’s People! It was cool to gain insights as to Rhett’s youth. At certain points, familiar events would pop up that would make me smile. For example, Rhett is waiting on a train and has a conversation with a friend:

“Have you anything on this afternoon? Wouldn’t you like a day in the country? John Wilkes’s son is getting engaged and John is hosting a barbeque. Everyone is invited. Twelve Oaks’ hospitality…”

As soon as it hit that line I knew Scarlett was soon to enter the picture! The story was both romantic and thought-provoking. You follow Rhett’s pursuit of Scarlett, his involvement in the Civil War, his opinions on...

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VaBookworm87 says "Bella is as annoying as fingernails on a chalkboard" about Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)

VaBookworm87 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:15:15 GMT

Why is everyone so obsessed with the Twilight series??? I just don’t get it! As I’m sitting reading Eclipse, I can’t help but think everyone is mental! This whole series SCREAMS abusive relationship!!! He treats her like garbage, decides he kind of likes her and sucks her in. Then, on his own terms, he ditches her in the woods and leaves her depressed for practically a year. As soon as he comes back, regardless of how horribly he treated her, she goes right back to him. Then, he cuts her off from all of her friends, going so far as to take her engine apart and having her abducted to keep her from going to see one of them! And how does she respond? With a disgusting level of adoration! Even Jacob commented at one point that they exhibited all the signs of an abusive teen relationship! Why do people love this story?!

It’s an intriguing storyline if you’re interested in seeing the inner workings of someone who is completely delusional and brainwashed. Bella has been dating...

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VaBookworm87 says "Become part of the story!" about InkSpell

VaBookworm87 — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:41:07 GMT

I finally finished InkSpell. I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed. Not in the story- the story was good! However, for some reason, this book wasn’t able to hold my interest. If I get into a book, I can’t put it down. I will stop all other activities (watching TV, hanging out, internet surfing, etc) to curl up and read my book. My typical pace is 1-3 days to read through a book. This one took me weeks! I don’t understand, because it was a truly good story.

I will admit that Cornelia Funke is the master of dragging things out. Events for which a couple of pages would suffice were chapters long! As with InkHeart, she seems to be determined to kick off every chapter with a quote from a book. Again, a nice idea, but she uses random quotes which are completely irrelevant to the plot. Of the entire book, however, those seemed to be the only things that made me dislike it. I would like to better understand what an "Inkspell" is. It is mentioned almost in passing in the book, "Doesn't...

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VaBookworm87 says "Escape to a world of magic and dragons!" about Eragon

VaBookworm87 — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:43:35 GMT

This book didn't disappoint! I saw the movie, and had been wanting to read the book for quite some time. I'm glad I finally found the time to read it, because it's probably one of the best books I've read in a very long time. It does a great job of filling that gap where Harry Potter used to sit :o) I love the characters, and the creativity of the story. It's got all of the classic elements: farm boy turned hero, romance, adventure, villains, and sidekicks... Chris Paolini is an imaginative writer with impressive skills, considering he started writing this when he was 15. I will definitely read the rest of the series.

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VaBookworm87 says "A truly awesome adventure!" about Eldest

VaBookworm87 — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:42:08 GMT

I finished Eldest, the second book in the Inheritance Cycle. I highly recommend this book! It's GREAT! I actually cried at one part... I loved Eragon, and I'm glad Eldest didn't let me down. I wish they'd continue producing the movies. The Eragon movie is what got me to read the books in the first place. Chris Paolini is an incredible writer. I still can't believe these monstrous books, with their incredible characters, languages, lands, and creatures was created by a guy younger than me! I don't usually read these sorts of books, but I'm glad I did. It's been a nice change of pace in terms of reading material, and it's been an awesome adventure.

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