Monday, March 31, 2014

My Soon To Be Sex Life Cover Reveal

Add to Goodreads

 Charlie is down to her absolute. Total. Last. Resort.

Despite a thoroughly comprehensive list of potential cherry poppers, er…suitors, and careful plotting, Charlie is three weeks into her devirginzation campaign, still untouched, and getting desperate. In the movie of her life, this aspiring screenwriter is giving herself a PG, for please, get some.

Her project goes into freeze frame when her mom checks herself into rehab and packs Charlie off to live with her estranged, or just plain strange, grandfather, Monty. How is she supposed to get a date when she has to go pick up his Depends?

Enter Eric, a hot rehab grad on the road to redemption, and the only one who can make Charlie rethink her strategy. The more she gets to know him, the more convinced she becomes that is the one, and not just another to add to the list of people who will abandon her.

In this hilarious and heartbreaking story of one girl’s detoured road to womanhood, Charlie’s list develops a life of its own – right when she realizes there’s so much more to lose.


About the Author:
Multi-published, award-winning author, screenwriter, and playwright, Judith Tewes resides in small town Alberta, where she: writes, sings, plays bass guitar in an all-woman band, walks her three crazy labs, and suspects she's living the life of a superhero's alias. A commercial writer writing under several pen names, Judith’s work includes: paranormal, steampunk, and contemporary young adult fiction, as well as thriller, horror, and dramatic comedies for the stage and screen.


Find the Author:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Saturday, March 29, 2014

My Bookish Wants & Gots (81)


My Bookish Wants & Gots is a feature over at The Book Vixen. I list the books I want - which can be old, new, or upcoming releases - and the books I recently got.



Night Diver by Elizabeth Lowell
After a family tragedy, Kate Donnelly left the Caribbean behind forever. But a series of bad management decisions has left her family's diving and marine recovery business drowning in red ink. Now her brother pleads with her to come back to the island nation of St Vincent. Without Kate's financial expertise, the iconic treasure-hunting enterprise started by her grandfather will go under. Unable to say no to the little family she has left, Kate heads back to the beautiful and terrifying ocean that still haunts her nightmares.

Holden Cameron was addicted to the adrenaline rush of active duty--including narrowly surviving an underwater explosives accident. The last thing the former British military diver wants is to babysit a family of thieves on a tropical island--even if they are the world-famous Diving Donnellys. But in his new civilian job, Holden must investigate the suspicious activity surrounding a Donnelly dive to recover treasure from the ancient wreck of a pirate ship.

When equipment, treasure, and even divers begin to disappear, Kate and Holden form an uneasy alliance to uncover the truth. But the deeper they plummet into the mystery, the closer they come to each other. Soon they are sharing their deepest fears and darkest secrets--and a combustible chemistry too hot to ignore.


Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?
Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!





The Unbound by Victoria Schwab
Goodreads
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Last summer, Mackenzie Bishop, a Keeper tasked with stopping violent Histories from escaping the Archive, almost lost her life to one. Now, as she starts her junior year at Hyde School, she's struggling to get her life back. But moving on isn't easy -- not when her dreams are haunted by what happened. She knows the past is past, knows it cannot hurt her, but it feels so real, and when her nightmares begin to creep into her waking hours, she starts to wonder if she's really safe.

Meanwhile, people are vanishing without a trace, and the only thing they seem to have in common is Mackenzie. She's sure the Archive knows more than they are letting on, but before she can prove it, she becomes the prime suspect. And unless Mac can track down the real culprit, she'll lose everything, not only her role as Keeper, but her memories, and even her life. Can Mackenzie untangle the mystery before she herself unravels?

With stunning prose and a captivating mixture of action, romance, and horror, The Unbound delves into a richly imagined world where no choice is easy and love and loss feel like two sides of the same coin.


17 and Gone by Nova Ren Suma
Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.

With complexity and richness, Nova Ren Suma serves up a beautiful, visual, fresh interpretation of what it means to be lost.



Thursday, March 27, 2014

Thursday Thirteen (36)


Thursday Thirteen is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it.
*All of my lists are in no particular order.*
 

Must Read Fairy Tales

1. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

2. Tithe by Holly Black

3. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

4. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

5. The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

6. Wings by Aprilynne Pike

7. Need by Carrie Jones

8. Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

9. The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton

10. Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby

11. Switched by Amanda Hocking

12. Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan

13. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Why Haven't I Read You? (45)

Every Wednesday I’ll choose a book off one of my (many, many) shelves that I haven’t read for some reason or another, and include the first few lines from the first page.
Feel free to join in, and comment about the books I feature if you have read them!

Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amélie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings named Louis. I’m not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day. The art museum is called the Louvre and it’s shaped like a pyramid and the Mona Lisa lives there along with that statue of the woman missing her arms. And there are cafés or bistros or whatever they call them on every street corner. And mimes. The food is supposed to be good, and the people drink a lot of wine and smoke a lot of cigarettes.


Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins



Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Future Favorites (160)

Future Favorites is an awesome blog feature created by Alex over at Electrifying Reviews. I post about a book that is yet-to-be-released that I can't wait to read!



Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release Date: October 28, 2014 by Harlequin Teen

Every touch has its price

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…


Monday, March 24, 2014

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (172)



Books I read last week:
Fallen by Traci L. Slatton
Cold Light by Traci L. Slatton
Fateful by Claudia Gray

The book I’m reading now:
Deadly Little Voices:
High school junior Camelia thought her powers of psychometry only gave her the ability to sense the future through touch. But now she’s started to hear voices. Mean voices. Berating her, telling her how ugly she is, and that she’d be better off dead. It’s a troubling development that has Camelia terrified for her mental stability, especially since her deranged aunt with a suicidal history just moved into the family house. More torturing, ex-boyfriend Ben, who has similar psychometric abilities, has been spending more time with their classmate Alejandra, even as her own feelings for Adam grow stronger. Still, the bond between Camelia and Ben is palpable.

With the line between right and wrong fraying, Camelia turns to pottery to get a grasp on her emotions. She begins sculpting a beautiful figure skater, only to receive frightening premonitions that someone’s in danger. But who is the victim? And how can Camelia help them when she is on the brink of losing her own sanity?


Books that spark my interest this week:
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
Dark Predator by Christine Feehan

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Fateful by Claudia Gray

Fateful:
Eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, troubled family she serves. It's 1912, and Tess has been trapped in the employ of the Lisles for years, amid painful memories and twisted secrets. But now the Lisle family is headed to America, with Tess in tow. Once the ship they're sailing on--the RMS Titanic--reaches its destination, Tess plans to strike out and create a new life for herself.

Her single-minded focus shatters when she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets of his own. He's in a hurry to leave Europe, and whispers aboard the ship say it's because of the tragic end of his last affair with the French actress who died so gruesomely and so mysteriously. . . .

Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec's past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves exist and are stalking him--and now her, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.


Fateful by Claudia Gray was a quick, easy read that was brimming with romance and a menacing villain that kept me drawn to its pages. Fans of the paranormal and Titanic movie will love Claudia’s characters, and while there were a few similarities between this book and the movie, Fateful still manages to stand on its own. Claudia put her own unique spin on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic by adding werewolves and a secret society that will stop at nothing from gaining more wealth and power. Tess was a great heroine, working as a ladies maid for a wealthy (and sometimes unkind) family. She was driven to make a better life for herself, and was determined that opportunity would greet her in America. Alec, the hero of the story, was turned into a werewolf against his will and is being pursued by a secret society of werewolves called: The Brotherhood. The Brotherhood wants Alec’s wealth and connections, but Alec is determined to avoid them, because they kill humans for sport. A chance encounter between Alec and Tess sparks their attraction. When it becomes apparent that she is in danger from The Brotherhood, Alec becomes her protector. Their love for one another saves Alec from succumbing to his wolf and from hurting people against his will. Inevitably the Titanic sinks and Tess believes she has lost Alec for good, but it is his wolf that ultimately brings him back to her.


Saturday, March 22, 2014

My Bookish Wants & Gots (80)


My Bookish Wants & Gots is a feature over at The Book Vixen. I list the books I want - which can be old, new, or upcoming releases - and the books I recently got.



The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
The enchanted place is an ancient stone prison, viewed through the eyes of a death row inmate who finds escape in his books and in re-imagining life around him, weaving a fantastical story of the people he observes and the world he inhabits. Fearful and reclusive, he senses what others cannot. Though bars confine him every minute of every day, he marries magical visions of golden horses running beneath the prison, heat flowing like molten metal from their backs, with the devastating violence of prison life.

Two outsiders venture here: a fallen priest, and the Lady, an investigator who searches for buried information from prisoners' pasts that can save those soon-to-be-executed. Digging into the background of a killer named York, she uncovers wrenching truths that challenge familiar notions of victim and criminal, innocence and guilt, honor and corruption-ultimately revealing shocking secrets of her own.

Beautiful and transcendent, The Enchanted reminds us of how our humanity connects us all, and how beauty and love exist even amidst the most nightmarish reality.


Always in My Heart by Catherine Anderson
Two years ago, Elbe Grant would have fallen apart at any reminder of her ex-husband, Tucker. But now she doesn't bat an eye when "their song" comes on the radio. She's unfazed by the thought of Tucker's perky new girlfriend. Ellie Grant is over him. And things are better for Tucker as well. The single life agrees with him. And certainly they've both done a good job of being civil to each other, for the kids' sake.

But the kids aren't buying it. Zach and Kody are convinced that deep down, their parents are still meant to be together. Up to their elbows in scheming and dreaming, the brothers hatch a plan. They'll run away from home into the Oregon wilderness and stay there until their parents agree to get back together. Surely Ellie and Tucker will come to the rescue --- and to their senses.

Let the games begin and the sparks fly ...





Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Goodreads
There’s always one more grave to dig.

Lately, life has been unnaturally calm for vampires Cat Crawfield and her husband Bones. They should have known better than to relax their guard, because a shocking revelation sends them back into action to stop an all-out war…

A rogue CIA agent is involved in horrifying secret activities that threaten to raise tensions between humans and the undead to dangerous heights. Now Cat and Bones are in a race against time to save their friends from a fate worse than death…because the more secrets they unravel, the deadlier the consequences. And if they fail, their lives—and those of everyone they hold dear— will be hovering on the edge of the grave.


Legend by Marie Lu
Goodreads
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Forgotten Friday (86)

I invite and welcome anyone interested to post their own Forgotten Friday and join in the fun! I feature a book that I have read and have forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Some books might recent reads and some might be older reads, but I hope this helps these (sometimes forgotten) books earn a spot on your own TBR pile!


Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
First Published: April 2005
Goodreads
My Review

WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE.
Do not put this book down. I'm dead serious - your life could depend on it. I'm risking everything by telling you - but you need to know.

STRAP YOURSELF IN for the thrill ride you'll want to take again and again! From Death Valley, California, to the bowels of the New York City subway system, you're about to take off on a heart-stopping adventure that will blow you away...

YOUR FAITHFUL COMPANIONS: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Six kids who are pretty normal in most ways - except that they're 98 percent human, 2 percent bird. They grew up in a lab, living like rats in cages, but now they're free. Aside, of course, from the fact that they're prime prey for Erasers - wicked wolflike creatures with a taste for flying humans.

THE MISSIONS: Rescue Angel from malicious mutants. Infiltrate a secret facility to track down the flock's missing parents. Scavenge for sustenance. Get revenge on an evil traitor. And save the world. If there's time.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Thursday Thirteen (35)


Thursday Thirteen is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it.
*All of my lists are in no particular order.*
 

I Quit :) 
(for no other reason than I've lost interest)

1. Mageverse series by Angela Knight

2. Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown

3. Drakon series by Shana Abé

4. Alien Huntress series by Gena Showalter

5. Birthright series by Gabrielle Zevin

6. Bayou series by Stella Cameron

7. Halo series by Alexandra Adornetto

8. Moonlight series by Nancy Gideon

9. Jaguar Warriors series by Juliana Stone

10. The Forest of Hands and Teeth series by Carrie Ryan

11. Numbers series by Rachel Ward

12. Lightworld/Darkworld series by Jennifer Armentrout

13. Shadowdwellers series by Jacquelyn Frank


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Why Haven't I Read You? (44)

Every Wednesday I’ll choose a book off one of my (many, many) shelves that I haven’t read for some reason or another, and include the first few lines from the first page.
Feel free to join in, and comment about the books I feature if you have read them!

”My name is Gin, and I kill people.”

Normally, my confession would have elicited gasps of surprise. Pale faces. Nervous sweat. Stifled screams. An overturned chair or two as people scrambled to get away before I buried a knife in their heart—or back. A sucking wound was a sucking wound. I wasn’t picky about where I caused it.

Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep



Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Future Favorites (159)

Future Favorites is an awesome blog feature created by Alex over at Electrifying Reviews. I post about a book that is yet-to-be-released that I can't wait to read!



Unbinding by Eileen Wilks
Release Date: August 5, 2014 by Berkley Sensation

After questing through the sidhe realms with her ex-hellhound lover, Nathan, Kai Tallman Michalski has finally returned home. But she knows Nathan will eventually be called back to serve his queen—and Kai will have to decide whether to enter her majesty’s service as well. Sure, the job comes with great bennies, but there’s one big downside: she would have to swear absolute fealty to the Queen of Winter.

For now, though, Kai is glad to be home, and glad that Nathan completed his mission for his queen with surprising ease. But what seemed to be a quick conclusion turns out to be anything but. The two of them helped thwart the sidhe god of chaos—and he is not happy about that. He’s got plans for them. Plans, too, for the sidhe who killed him some three millennia ago. Nor has he abandoned his plans for Earth, as they learn when chaos begins bursting out all over...


Monday, March 17, 2014

Cold Light by Traci L. Slatton

Cold Light:
The end of the world brings chaos, madness, and psychic powers. For Emma and Arthur, separated by an ocean, it brings a love that demands everything. Emma's beloved daughter is kidnapped by vengeful raiders, and Emma embarks on a soul-crushing journey to rescue her. When Arthur finds Emma, can she trust him? Against impossible odds, Emma draws near the rogue camp, where she also confronts the deepest choice of her heart....










Cold Light takes its readers across the cold plains of Alberta with vivid scenery, and it was full of action and fast paced storytelling. This is the second book in the After trilogy by Traci L. Slatton, if you haven’t read the first book, Fallen, you really need to in order to understand what is going on in this story. While I did enjoy most of the story, I still had a lot of qualms with Arthur and his controlling, demanding ways. There were a few points that I took issue with, for example: Emma goes off alone (her husband promised to stay with their youngest daughter so she wouldn’t be without at least one of her parents) into sub-zero temperatures to rescue her oldest daughter, but after teaming up again with Arthur (who left Europe in order to get Emma back) suddenly they cross paths with her husband—who miraculously “saw” that the path to rescuing their daughter was open, and he should be among the rescuers. It felt like a very forced love triangle and took away from the story for me. On the other hand, Traci wove a successful tale of heartache, sacrifice and survival. Emotions run high as well as the danger and tension surrounding the characters. Emma is successful in rescuing her daughter but now she has to make a decision: return to Europe with Arthur, the man she has fallen madly in love with, while he tries to destroy the mists forever. Or stay in Canada with her husband and children.  While to me, this wasn't a very strong second for a trilogy, I am interested to see what happens to Emma and the world in the final book: Far Shore.



Sunday, March 16, 2014

Sundays with Sarah (42)

To find out more about Sarah and this feature go here.


Hi everyone, welcome to another Sundays with Sarah the sporadic blogger on A Simple Love of Reading.

This week I want to talk about something that is affecting more and more youth today. With the increasing need for highly skilled youth to replace a lot of the aging workforce, more and more youth believe that they don't have to work as hard in school to achieve their dream jobs.

Someone, whom I know fairly well, is a hard worker but complains every time they have to do more and more school work. The list of excuses can seem endless: “I don’t have any homework today.” “My teacher never looks at my homework anyway.” “That assignment was optional.” “I did it at school.” If only your child could be that creative with their actual homework, getting good grades would be no problem!

Teenagers often insist that they have "no homework" even when they actually do, or tell parents that they’ve completed their assignments at school when they haven’t. If your child’s grades are acceptable and you receive positive reports from their teachers, congratulations – your child is doing just fine. James Lehman advises that students who are doing well have earned the privilege of doing their homework whenever and however they see fit. But if their grades reflect missing assignments, or your child’s teacher(s) tell you that they’re falling behind, you need to institute some new homework practices in your household. For those classes in which your child is doing poorly, they lose the privilege of doing homework in an unstructured way. For the classes they are doing well in, they can continue to do that homework on their own.

But the million dollar question is: "How do you get them to do homework?"

Most students don't like homework as they feel that because they are in school 8 hours a day that they shouldn't have to do it during their free time. True that some may have behavioral issues and or learning difficulties but for the majority, it is a lack of motivation. Sticking a torch under their asses doesn't work any better than bribing them to do their work.

Motivation is difficult at best to get your child to do homework. Confidence is another. When a child lacks both, getting them to study harder or pushing them might make things worse. Youth today do not comprehend just how much work they are doing in school compared to how much work is involved in the real world that they will do for the rest of their adult lives. School prepares us with the knowledge we need to achieve what we want to do in life. When external factors create barriers to learning or goals later in life, it lowers the ability to learn and decreases both confidence and motivation in teens. If they have the skills, and add in practice then they will become successful. No skills, no practice, and they will fail.

Fighting with your child to get homework done isn’t about having your child jump through hoops in order to get something they want. It’s not even about making them take something seriously, when they don’t see it that way. It’s about helping your child learn the skills they need to live life successfully. All of us need to learn how to complete things we don’t want to do. We all have occasions where we have to follow a rule, even when we disagree with it. When you create mandatory, daily homework time, you help your child practice these skills. When you tie that homework time to daily, practical incentives, you encourage your child to succeed.

Now unfortunately, we also don't live in a perfect world.

As I was saying earlier, external issues can cause additional stresses on your child that will make them less inclined to do their homework. Instilling old style beliefs on a child who is more caught up in a modern world will cause them to question your own practices. Sadly children today are so wrapped up in technology, social media, boyfriends/girlfriends, dating and popularity that they neglect the real reason why education exists in the first place. Youth that experience a form of mental, social, or psychological trauma use their feelings as a means of not complying. This can lead to a form of ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) in where they just won't do what you ask. They will sulk until you give in.

Youth today, who actually do homework without complaining or being nagged by their parents might simply just do it because they want to get good grades (which in today's culture is not the normal case), and some youth, just don’t want their parents to get crazy and go postal at them for not doing their homework. Those are the parents that actually cause more problems in the end. As for those youth who just utterly don't want to do their homework, a child behavioral therapist named James Lehman believes that "it’s not that kids that aren’t motivated, it’s just that they are motivated to do the stuff they want to do. What they want to do might not involve doing homework, or more so, become overly defiant in doing it.

In today's culture, the biggest blame for kids not doing their homework: Social Media and technology.

Don't get me wrong, but although technology and social media have their uses, they are more of a priority for teens than homework.

Because a teen’s biggest and most priorities don’t always include doing homework, it doesn’t mean they lack motivation in general, because at times they are just motivated to not do homework either. Teens see things other than schoolwork as being more important. Social activities, dating, sports and part-time jobs often take up more of a teenager’s time, pushing homework to the bottom of his to-do list. The problem is that by the time teens enter high school their teachers give them more homework, and they need good grades to get into college or university or even more so, a career in a field they want to pursue. Most companies today want employees who have shown that they can do the work because, proving they have good grades is an indicator that they can apply themselves independently in a work environment, youth who have lower grades tend to been seen as individuals who cannot apply themselves and as such, can't apply motivation for the job they are in later in life. Ok that was more of a generalization because there are those out there with learning disabilities who are also very hard workers but lack the grades because of a barrier that would cause them difficulty in learning. Unfortunately, not all employers care about this as most employers only care about the corporate bottom line and fiscal investments, in other words, most companies care more about profit and money than the health and stability of their employees. Child development experts, say parents can help by explaining the benefits of why schoolwork needs to take a higher priority over other activities even though it takes time to do. Parents need to explain more of the reasons as to why preparing yourself now will get you better things in life.

Sometimes it is appropriate that teens may perhaps need some incentives to get them to buckle down and do their homework every night and why it is important to do so. Besides rewarding them with extra privileges for completing all their assignments, parents also need to make it understandable the consequences will be if they don’t study when they are supposed to. Creating rules for doing homework teaches teens to be more responsible and self-disciplined as they prepare for life in the real world. The "Focus on the Family" website points out that parents need to follow through on the rules and consequences they establish or else they aren't likely to see positive results.

Nagging your teen to do their homework can have the opposite effect from what you want. Instead of doing what you tell him to do, your teen might not do their homework and it will get to a point where it will just to infuriate the hell out of you. Sometimes, negotiating may help but at the same time it can also hinder. Parents need to make their children understand that although they might stop harassing them to do their homework, parents will still expect them to get it done on time. Give them a time to do their homework in which they are not allowed to be on the computer or talking on the phone with their friends until it’s done.

There is a reason why assignments in school have to be in on time. School prepares youth for many tasks and skills they need in life. Handing assignments in on time and completed is the same as handing in a business report, filing a claim before the deadline or even getting taxes in. Unlike school where sometimes teachers may extend the deadline to have an assignment completed doesn't necessarily work in the real world because once a deadline has passed, it can cost large amounts of money for that company, or even get you fired if your consistently not meeting deadlines for projects or tasks. This is but one major example as to why school is important. It isn't just learning about why Jacque Cousteau came to Canada, it's also about using skills of deductive reasoning, formulation of theories, understanding history and why things happened and how they have changed to even learning from mistakes of the past to benefit the future.

Teens who don’t like being told what to do, sometimes they use homework as a way to show their parents who is boss. Teens need to learn that, that level of thinking is wrong on so many levels. Imagine if you did that to your boss at your place of work? You'd be fired on the spot. In the case of homework and who is boss and who is ultimately responsible, your child -- not you -- is ultimately responsible for their education, all parents can do is help them learn to understand why it is important and also help guide them with homework Sometimes parents also need to learn and show by example. Sometimes but not all the time, giving your teen choices, yet at the same time letting them know that they are responsible for what comes of the choices they make and the consequences the come out of those choices -- good or bad -- can result in better decision making as a skill in their lives. Youth today are the ones who have the most to lose in the end if they don't do her homework.

They will not have as successful careers if they cannot apply themselves now, they will have lower self-esteem and confidence in what they can do and most of all their value of their self-image/worth will greatly be affected for a long time.

Although, a lot of this is good in theory, it is even harder in practice because of the way the world is changing. Technology doesn't make it any easier today as it was say 20-30 years ago. When I was a child/teen, we didn't have social media or even internet really. People talked on the phones and went out socializing instead of just texting their best friend that is sitting next to them. I have always said that one day technology will destroy the world. Not by the physical means but by the technology that we now take for granted. Teens today are more technologically savvy than their parents are and in a lot of cases, (and my personal opinion), believe that social media, and technology and the messages in media to youth create for them that education or homework should not be a high priority.

One thing I am grateful for, is that my parents did not always "bail" me out, but it was their way of teaching me that at times I need to make decisions for myself and not always relying on others to do things for me. Teens today rely too much on others to do things for them that in most cases, I don't think they can do things for themselves as they do not possess the skills needed to cope in the world. More and more teens are still living at home because the education system is no longer properly preparing them for the world ahead, but at the same time, teens today are no longer understanding the real importance of education, why homework is important, and why the world works the way it does.

Homework and school, teaches us many of the skills and tools that are needed in the real world. Maybe it is time for a change to go back to the basics of not just education, but educating youth in the world around us.

I know this as truth because I am very grateful for my own dad (David), who always told me why school was important and left it up to me to be responsible for my own work but at the same time, I am also infuriated that my parents didn't push me harder to do my homework. They may have always been there to help (seeing as my mother was a teacher herself and my dad in education), I still wish, they would have helped me understand back then why homework was important, or even pushed to help me with it. I might have been better off.

Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope to have another post soon...just don't know when as even I need to learn from my own saying of being "motivated."

Take care.