So You Think You Can Dance: Cardio Funk Review

It's about time I start reviewing things other than books. I really do things other than read.

I really like to mix up my workouts by either going to group fitness classes at the gym or doing fitness DVDs at home. I have a nice collection of DVDs that include everything from kickboxing to dancing to yoga. One of my favorite new DVDs - not because it's the hardest but because it's the most fun - is Cardio Funk. Three former contestants of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance teach you three different dance routines. Lauren teaches hip hop, Travis (who I love) teaches contemporary, and Courtney teaches disco. The hip hop and disco dances are fun and good cardio workouts. They walk you through the dance step by step then you get to run through it enough times at the end with music that you're exhausted.

And then there's Travis' contemporary workout. There is just something about the "quality of movement," as they put it on Dance, and the music you're dancing to that just makes you feel so powerful. It's a lot of toning/strengthening movements (aka slower), but it's definitely my favorite of the three (and of the six dances between this DVD and another one). And no, you definitely do not need to know how to dance. I can't and know it. But this DVD makes you feel like you can.

My only complaint about this DVD is that you can't do it very often or it's not as fun (since you already know the dances). I wish that there were somewhere I could go to pick up weekly routines to learn and do the same thing. So in summary, if you're in need of a good new workout that is both fun and somewhat challenging, this is a good one. 4 stars.

Over or Under Giveaway

Next time you're in the bathroom rather than reading the writing on the wall or checking your email on your Blackberry (or am I the only one who ever does that), think about this great question Cottonelle® is asking Americans as part of their Get Your Roll On Campaign - do you roll over or under? I've never thought about it before but you better believe I will now.

After I figure out if I'm an over or under person, I'm going to to CottonelleRollPoll.com to vote on which is the right way to roll. You should too because at the end of the voting period on March 7th, Cottonelle® will unveil the way that Americans prefer to roll. And don't you want to be on the winning side?

If that's not a good enough reason, then how about this? As part of the Over and Under campaign I get to give away a 24-pack of Cottonelle® Toilet Paper and a $50 Walmart gift card to one of my readers. All you have to do is comment on this post and tell me how you roll (whatever that means to you). I'll choose a random winner from all of the comments. Giveaway closes on Sunday, March 7th at midnight EST. Open to US residents only.

**This giveaway is being provided, at no cost to me, by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. Everything is this post is my honest opinion.**

The Associate by John Grisham

I've always read a lot. In high school I read a lot of John Grisham and loved it. I read through pretty much his collection - The Client, The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief, The Runaway Jury. If it was written by John Grisham I read it. Then somewhere in the middle of my college experience I found other authors and hadn't picked up any John Grisham novels since then. Today I picked one up for the first time in five years, and I remembered both why I loved his writing and why I hadn't picked one up for a while.

The Associate is about a first-year associate at the world's biggest law firm that is being blackmailed by a thug to steal documents in the biggest case of the century. The first half of the book scared me being the wife of a 3rd year law student about to take the bar and about to start his first year at a big firm. However, after I got over the worry about my husband billing 2000 hours a year I started enjoying the book. It was a quick read (probably took me somewhere between 4-6 hours) and an easy read. The story was compelling and kept me reading up until about the last 50 pages. I was hoping for a lot of twists and turns in the last 50 pages, but they juts weren't there. The end of the book was exactly what I'd expected and gave me nothing new. So not my favorite John Grisham book but worth the four or so hours I spent reading it. 3 stars.

The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

I read The Other Boleyn Girl a couple of years ago, and it really sold me on historical fiction. I loved the stories mingled in with the history so I decided I would try out another one of Gregory's books. The Queen's Fool follows a girl named Hannah who is begged to be the king's fool (jester/advisor) because she has the gift of sight where she sees things in the future. The king quickly dies and Hannah is passed around between Queen Mary (bloody Mary) and Princess Elizabeth as their friend/servant/advisor. The book follows through Mary's reign including Elizabeth's imprisonment, Mary's torture and burning of heretics, and Mary's eventual death.

The book was written well, and you really felt engrossed in the historical story. The biggest problem that I had with the book was that the history itself just wasn't that interesting to me. I knew the story of bloody Mary and kind of predicted everything in the book because of it. Unlike Cleopatra's Daughter or The Other Boleyn Girl, I knew too much about this story for it to be that interesting. On top of that, I didn't find Hannah that intriguing of a main character, quite boring actually. I would recommend this book for someone that likes historical fiction, but it definitely wasn't my favorite. 3 stars

Gone With the Wind

Before reading Gone with the Wind this weekend I only knew two things about it - the names and the famous phrase at the end of the book. I figured since I was snowed in all weekend it was the perfect weekend to read it. I finished the book in three days.

Now what can I say about Gone with the Wind? It's a classic. It's a masterpiece. And I loved it. The characters are so well developed over the 1000 pages that by the end if I felt like I knew them all and had images of them in my head. I had a love hate relationship with Scarett. She was just so greedy and oblivious to everything around her but at the same time she was terrified and acting out of her fear. The good balances out the bad. Even though it was set years ago, Melly was one of those great ladies that I could only wish to be at some point. Forgiving, loving, and ultratrusting. And then there were the men. Weak and silly Ashley and Rhett who was everything Ashley wasn't. Yes I loved the book and was so glad that I finally sat down and crossed this off my list. Definitely 5 stars.

Monday (on another snowy day), I sat down to watch the four-hour movie with all of the glamorous images and stories in my head. And I despised the movie as much as I liked the book. I felt like it was just a slideshow of photos from the book without any captions or explanations behind the photos. The movie made Scarlett into an even more horrible person than she really was, and it missed the boat on all of the connections I felt to the storyline and characters. And handsome Ashley wasn't handsome at all. Another great book turned into a disappointing movie.

Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

Have you ever wondered what happened to Cleopatra's twins when she died? Didn't even know she had twins? Me neither. That's the beauty of historical fiction, you learn things while engrossed in the depth of a beautiful story.

Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran is the story of Cleopatra's twins, Alexander and Selene as they are taken to Rome after Egypt is conquered. The story is told from Selene's point of view and a fascinating look at Roman rule and Egyptian culture. It follows Selene and Alexander from the moment Egypt is overtaken to the time Selene becomes queen. Moran is an archeologist turned author that used her research to write this captivating work. The characters come across as real, relatable people rather than the rulers of Rome or the princess of Egypt. The boys go to the circus to gamble, the women worry about the jealousy of other women, and the slaves rebel against the Roman rule. Moran teaches you about Egyptian and Roman culture without even trying, and I just wanted to read more.

If you're a fan of historical fiction, or even if you're not, this is a book I would recommend to everyone. There were times I just forgot that the book was historical fiction and read it as a romance or a thriller. For me that's what makes good historical fiction, something that makes history real and relatable. One of the best books I've read in the past few months; I'll definitely be picking up her other books as well. 5 stars.

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

It's been a while since I've just picked out a book to read because I felt like it and not because I was asked to review it or because it was recommended to me by someone else. As part of my 100 in 2010 adventure, I ordered a bunch of books from paperbackswap.com that fit into my categories, and this is the first one that arrived. One of the many books on Oprah's book club list, this was just wanted to be read.

The Pilot's Wife is about a wife of a pilot (surprising huh) who finds out her husbands died in a plane crash. And then finds out that her husband isn't who she thought he was at all. The story follows her in the days and months following the crash as she learns startling and mind-numbing things about this man she thought she knew.

This book is a very easy read text and language wise but a little heart-breaking subject wise. I read it within two days and couldn't put it down once I started. All I wanted to know was what else was Jack really doing with his life when he wasn't with Kathryn at their home on the ocean? Anita Shreve's writing style is addictive and descriptive; she goes back and forth between Kathryn's memories and present linking them with specific imagery like a wedding ring or birthday. I think the book is supposed to be full of twists and turns, but it was pretty easy for me to figure out by about a quarter of the way into the book so no real big surprises. But even if it was predictable, the ending still satisfied that all stories should have happy endings believer in me. 3 stars for good writing and an intriguing story.

If Tomorrow Comes by Sydney Shelton

This is book five on my read 100 in 2010 challenge, and the first I've read that was published in 1985 (the year I was born). If this book is any indication of books that were published then, I am excited to keep reading.

If Tomorrow Comes is about a girl whose about to perfect life is turned upside down when she is conned by the New Orleans Mafia. After the con, Tracy vows to get back at the men who wronged her, and she does so in very creative ways. This book was like Catch Me if You Can meets Ocean's 11. Tracy is the perfect heroine that I would love to watch in a movie, and I was rooting for her all the way.

The first few chapters of this book were a little hard to get through with rough language and vulgarity but once I got through those few chapters, I could not put this book down. I just couldn't get enough of Miss Tracy Whitney and her adventures. I will definitely be picking up another book by Sydney Shelton, especially if there are any others written in 1985.

I really want to give this book 5 stars but because of the few bad chapters, I can't do it - 4 stars.

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Another book down in my 100 in 2010 challenge, my first from the 2009 best-seller category. All books I've ever read by Nicholas Sparks are fairly similar; boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy, and they somehow even though there may not be a happy ending, the book resolves itself happily. The Lucky One is not much different, but the ending was a lot less predictable for me than most of his books, and this one was less forgettable for that specific reason.

The story is about a man named Logan who finds a picture of a beautiful woman while serving in the marines in Iraq. The woman in the picture is wearing a shirt with the word, "Lucky," on it. After Logan finds the picture, his luck turns and he ends up staying alive through the war while many of his friends and colleagues do not. Logan sets out to find this woman, Elizabeth, and the real story begins when he does.

This book has a lot more than just fluff and romance behind it. It deals with a lot of different types of relationships, and I really enjoyed it. And I'll probably go see it when they make it into a movie (because that's what they tend to do with Nicholas Sparks' books). 4 stars.