Tea For Me. Tea For You.

I am sitting in the tea shop (shocker) and it dawned on me that I haven't had anything frozen like a frappe in so long.
I decided to fix that. Instead of just a pot of tea, I got a chai tea frappe. It's so frozen and delicious. 

Plus, I've been doing so much better on my diet lately so I figured I deserved something frozen. I've been running every morning (except for this morning) to get in training for the Cheetah Chase 5K at Binder Park Zoo in June. I'll be doing my run closer in the evening tonight when its cooler outside. 

There are two 'races' in the Cheetah Chase. 

One is the Gazelle Gallop (the run). Or you can do the Sloth Walk (the walk). I'm signed up to do the run portion because I feel like I'm going to be so ready to do that. When I started training, I had forgotten how much I loved running. At first, it sucks. You're wheezing and heaving and feeling like you're about to die, but once I hit my stride, I feel powerful and fast and unstoppable. 

I love the burn I feel in my legs when I've reached my limits and can push myself through it. Plus, I have my favorite radio station as an App on my phone so it gives the most uplifting music to listen to ... and that keeps me going too. 

Speaking of the Binder Park Zoo, they just opened up for the season. The bear exhibit is now open and I WANT TO SEE!!! 

I'll bet they're really cute and climbing up trees and having fun because they're so young. I can't help it. I love the zoo. 

I have been reading that romance novel I mentioned in  my last post. I admit it, it's actually really good. I didn't have the highest hopes right away because I've never read Mary Balogh before ... but now I'm hooked. The main guy, Vincent, is blind and the way Balogh describes his world is fascinating. She does a really great job keeping up the fact that he can't see so everything from his perspective is all described by touch, hearing, smell, and taste. It's actually kind of interesting. For example, instead of just writing 'He picked up the tea cup and took a sip', Balogh writes instead something like 'The smell of bergamot assaulted his senses and the taste of the Earl Grey went down his throat like a bitter medicine'.

I made that sentence up, but you get the idea. Focusing on the other four senses instead of sight makes the reading experience that much better. 

However, I can't wait until I get to the next book on my list. I'm FINALLY going to read Cinders and Sapphires by Leila Rasheed. 

It's a Young Adult book about a girl named Rose Cliffe who goes to this house to be a lady's maid to Ada Averley who is about her age. For the first time, Rose has a chance to make a friend, even if that friend is her employer. And when a scandal surrounds Ava's father, they depend on their friendship to get through it. 

I got it for a STEAL from a bookstore in Grand Rapids that was closing down. I HATE when bookstores have to close due to business being slow. I wish I could say that I had a plan to make bookstores come back in popularity again, but I don't. I'm just one person after all. It's one of the things that breaks my heart though. When I was little and my heart set on being an author, I also had this idea that I would open my own bookstore where I could sell my own books as well as other local authors and have my own coffee bar/tea shop and have a stage for poetry readings or author signings. 

But in today's world? I don't know if it'd make it. 

For my SECOND big book recommendation, I wanted to share another book on my To Read List that I found. 

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.

Handpicked to host the first-ever L'eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she'll have inside information about the mysterious L'eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara's blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn't sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L'eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn't seem more alien. She's certain about one thing though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn't just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life-not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

Doesn't that sound good? I thought so. I read this on the cover jacket and was like 'MUST. READ.' I'm on the waiting list for it at the library. I would get it at work but it's not there. Sadness! *sighs* I love Sci-Fi stories. I might have to try and share some more of those on here. I tend to get carried away with other genres for a while and then come back to some of the favorites. Like Terri Pratchett or Neil Gaiman or Ray Bradbury or Brandon Sanderson. 

All right, I'll leave you all for now, but I'll be back and with more inspiration to share with you all. 
Until then, I remain your faithful blogger

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn