OTL: Smartfood Selects

BzzAgent and Smartfood Selects sent me three bags of snacks to try. I received a full sized bag of Sour Cream Onion Puffed Corn and snack sized bags of Garlic Tomato Basil Hummus Popped Chips and Cinnamon Brown Sugar Multigrain Popped Chips. Smartfood is best known for its awesome tasting White Cheddar Cheese Poppcorn which is completely addictive and easy to eat an entire bag in one sitting. Now they are offering a larger variety of snacks with their Selects line. This line of popcorn, popped chips, and puffed corn highlights the flavor combinations of herbs and spices. Just as important as what has gone in to these snacks though is what has been left out. There are no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, 0 grams of trans fats, and no MSG. The snacks are Kosher and the bags are resealable.

Now that I've given you the facts, how do the snacks taste? Well, unfortunately, this review will be slightly biased simply based on the flavors I received. While I know it is unrealistic to expect a company to be able to send everyone their first choice in snack flavors, I do with there had been some way to indicate a preference when signing up for this event. I am not a fan of Sour Cream Onion flavored anything so I would not have chosen this product to try. My husband did try the Puffed Corn but he was not a fan. I think this was in part due to come confusion on what to expect. I'm pretty sure he thought he was getting a pop corn snack and the puffed corn texture was not at all to his liking. He said the flavor itself was fine but he associates it more with a potato chip and a crisp texture.

My favorite was the Garlic Tomato Basil Hummus Popped Chips. I loved the flavor and the chip texture was light yet crunchy at the same time. My only issue was that since I received a snack size bag, it was gone in very little time. I didn't find the amount I received to be very filling even though it was exactly a serving size for that product. The Cinnamon Brown Sugar Multigrain Popped Chips had the same texture as the hummus chips which was pleasing. I'm not sure about the flavor combination for this one though as the multigrain chip did not work as well with a sweet coating in my opinion. I think I would have preferred the Italian Herb Multigrain Popped Chip.

Overall, I like the Smartfood Selects concept but I would stick to the savory popped chips. I think I will use my $1 off coupon on the Parmesan Herb Popcorn because that sounds like a flavor I will really enjoy.

Have you tried any of the Smartfood Selects snacks? What do you think of them?

Note: All opinions presented in book and product reviews are my own. Opinions presented in posts authored by others reflect the view of the author only and not necessarily my view or opinion. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Amazon and Book Depository links are affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

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Crown Phoenix Series by Alison DeLuca

I featured author Alison DeLuca and the Crown Phoenix series on the blog back in June and I'm excited to have her back as part of her fabulous tour run by First Rule Publicity. Alison's books have beautiful new covers so we are showing off a bit plus she has a HUGE giveaway for a new Kindle Fire HD and other prizes. There is so much going on with this tour that it simply cannot be contained in one post. Please visit the Crown Phoenix Tour Page to see all the tour stops, read the full book descriptions, and see pictures of the giveaway prizes.



Today Alison stops by to talk about her childhood and share an excerpt from the third book in the Crown Phoenix series, Lamplighter's Special. For excerpts from Night Watchman Express and The Devil's Kitchen check out this post.

Alison DeLuca, the Early Years

My childhood was rather unique, I suppose. For one thing, our family did a lot of packing up and moving. There was a series of years where I went to a new school every September, which is pure torture for an introverted child.

To add to that, my parents were both born overseas. My mother grew up in Ireland and my father in England. They took us to visit their parents every summer (more packing up and moving) so my sister and I developed British accents. We kept them until they were well and truly teased out of us in middle school.

The unsettled life was a curse and a blessing. I’m fluent in American English and Britspeak, a godsend for an editor and a writer who sets novels in England. However, I never developed that one special setting – the one place where my books can take place, the village or town that I know inside and out, like Stephen King’s Maine or JK Rowling’s London.

With all the school hopping and teasing, our grandmother’s house near Dublin was something of a refuge. My sister and I played with our cousins and were spoiled by our grandparents. They didn’t own a television, only an old-fashioned radio that we were allowed to listen . For entertainment, my sister and I had to make up our own games. We put on plays for each other, pretending to be explorers and princesses on the long, smooth lawn that extended to the rocky, frigid Irish sea.

There weren’t any toys except for our grandfather’s Barbies (he couldn’t resist buying them, and they were kept on the top shelf of his closet – never, ever to be played with.) Instead, we created ballerina dolls from fuschia blossoms and matchsticks.

In those days Dun Laoghoire was very safe, and we were allowed to explore on our own. There was a tiny park filled with what we called secret passages – little paths that led to park benches and miniature circles of grass. Alas, that park is a haven for addicts now.

Our grandmother’s house itself was a divine portal to another world. There were forgotten doors and creaking floors. The house wasn’t very comfortable – the loo was miniscule and very, very cold. Ivy grew all over the walls and covered the windows. In the room where my sister and I slept, the leaves had succeeded in pushing right in through the antique, wavy glass panes.

The windows themselves were set very close to the ground and had deep sills. It was a perfect place to escape with a book and a Crunchie bar. While I stayed there, I discovered the delights of Enid Blyton and Angela Brazil – authors hopelessly behind the times, but fascinating to my ten-year-old self.

Certainly those summers were very influential in my writing. That old house still haunts my dreams, even though the ivy is stripped from the walls and the lawn has been “landscaped.” The old Barbies were discovered and played with – the tiny shoes lost, the careful hairdos destroyed. My old books had to go in the bin. Saddest of all, we had to say goodbye to our grandparents.

They live on, however, in my mind and, to some extent, in the books I write.

About Alison:
Alison DeLuca is the author of several steampunk and urban fantasy books. She was born in Arizona and has also lived in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mexico, Ireland, and Spain.

Currently she wrestles words and laundry in New Jersey.

Check out Alison's full bio.

Connect with Alison on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Goodreads, and her Blog.

Excerpt from Crown Phoenix: Lamplighter's Special

The Manor where Squire Bisselthwaite lived was in the center of Grimstead Compound. The thirteen farms that made up the rest of the Compound fanned out from the large, old house. Most of the fields touched the edge of the Manor grounds at their narrowest points, although all the farms were separated from the Bisselthwaite property by a dark, crumbling wall.

As Lizzie and her family rode through the huge, rusted iron gates set into the stones, she glanced up at the rooftops of the Manor. Her hat slipped down her neck, and she clapped one hand to hold it on as she squinted up at the dark front of the house.

There was a rather grand entrance, but of course the carriage took the family to the back of the house to the kitchen gardens. As the cart jostled over the pebbly drive, Ninna murmured in Lizzie’s ear, “Did you see that?” She pointed up to one of the windows on the third or fourth floor.

“What?” Lizzie squinted again. It was all a gray blur to her.

“Oh, nothing. Just thought I saw a face in one of the windows upstairs.”

The Giveaway

Please note that this giveaway is sponsored by Alison DeLuca and First Rule Publicity. Library Girl Reads & Reviews is not responsible for selecting winners or awarding prizes. If you are reading this post via email or a feed reader, you will need to click the link or visit the blog to enter the giveaway.

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Note: All opinions presented in book and product reviews are my own. Opinions presented in posts authored by others reflect the view of the author only and not necessarily my view or opinion. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Amazon and Book Depository links are affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

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Online Couponing in a Day for Dummies by Beth Montgomery

Title: Online Couponing in a Day for Dummies
Author: Beth Montgomery
Publication Date: July 2012
Publisher: Wiley
Source: Publisher
Available Format: eBook

Beth Montgomery runs the website In Good Cents which is one of my favorite sites for money saving tips and coupon matchups. When I found out she was putting together a book about online couponing I knew I needed to get a copy. Beth is known for presenting great information in an easy to use manner and this book is the perfect example of that.

Online Couponing in a Day for Dummies takes a potentially overwhelming subject and breaks it down in to manageable information bites. One of the things that I love about Beth's presentation is that she is completely realistic. She knows that she can provide the road map for navigating the online couponing landscape but she cannot take the trip for you. She gives you the background information you need and the steps you can take to do the work to discover the best way that coupons can work for your family. She also has realistic expectations about the level of savings one can expect to achieve on a regular basis.

As with other books in the For Dummies series, Online Couponing in a Day for Dummies has a great layout with lots of white space, bold headlines, bullet point lists, and graphic reminders throughout the book. This keeps the information to the point and easy to digest. One thing that I loved about having this book in the electronic format was that I could click the links and go right to additional information and supporting sites. That instant access makes it much more likely that I will utilize these resources rather than having a list of web sites in a print book.

Online Couponing in a Day for Dummies is a quick read but it is packed with information that will take some time to work through. I am confident that by following Beth's tips about sale cycles, coupon matching, and stockpiling commonly used ingredients I will be able to get a better handle on our grocery budget. I also have a much better feel for where to look for coupons on products that we actually use in our household.

Note: All opinions presented in book and product reviews are my own. Opinions presented in posts authored by others reflect the view of the author only and not necessarily my view or opinion. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Amazon and Book Depository links are affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

Connect with Library Girl Reads & Reviews

I want to make connections with those of you reading my blog. I want to engage in book conversations, introduce you to great books and authors, hear about what you are reading, and talk about the random stuff going on in our lives. Unfortunately, the blogging platform isn't working for that purpose as it seems people read blog posts and then go discuss them elsewhere because the comment system doesn't promote conversation.

In the hope of creating a bit more community, I recently started a Facebook page. I'm also on Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. I hope that you will join me in one or more of these social locations so we can connect and chat.

Follow Me

Did you know that you can also get my blog posts in your email? Now I've heard rumors of Feedburner's demise but as far as I can tell Google is just removing the option to have advertisements in the email feed later this year. Of course if I'm wrong about that I will have to come up with another email option but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

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Note: All opinions presented in book and product reviews are my own. Opinions presented in posts authored by others reflect the view of the author only and not necessarily my view or opinion. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Amazon and Book Depository links are affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

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Join #MillicentMarie on Twitter Today! (10-11-12)

Today is the day - the official launch of Millicent Marie is NOT my Name by Karen Pokras Toz! To kick things off you are invited to a Twitter Party. Join award winning children's author Karen Pokras Toz at 10 am, 11, am, and Noon EST and then again at 10 pm, 11 pm, and Midnight EST for 30 minutes of chatting, fun, and prizes.

The easiest way to join the conversation is with tweetchat.com Login with your Twitter account, then enter #MillicentMarie to join the room.

The Twitter Party is just the beginning of the fun. Karen will be on tour for the next 21 days. Check out the full schedule here.

Summary:
Twelve-year-old Millicent Marie does not like her name. After all, she was named for a woman who died more than fifty years ago and was not the most loveable member of the Harris family. Her friends call her Millie, but when she writes in her diary she refers to herself as Amanda – the name she always wished she had.

When Millie’s younger brother finds her diary on her computer, he decides to publish it as a blog for the entire world to see, including the boy Millie has a crush on. In the midst of all the mayhem, Millie/Amanda discovers she is suddenly Springside Elementary’s most sought after sixth-grade mystery gossip and advice columnist.

But not all is fun and games, as Millie quickly learns, once she realizes feelings are at stake. Nobody, least of all Millie, expects things to turn out as they do in this tale of friendship and respect.

Learn more & get your own copy (ebook and paperback):  

Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, Amazon

 
About Karen Pokras Toz:
Karen Pokras Toz is a writer, wife and mom. Karen grew up in Connecticut and currently lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and three children. In June 2011, Karen published her first middle grade children’s novel for 7-12 year olds called Nate Rocks the World, which won First Place for Children’s Chapter Books and the Grand Prize Overall in the 2012 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, as well as placing first for a Global E-Book Award for Pre-Teen Literature. In 2012, Karen published the second in the Nate Rocks series, Nate Rocks the Boat, followed by middle grade novel, Millicent Marie Is Not My Name. Karen is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI).

Follow the tour on Pinterest 
and don't forget to check out Millie's blog.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

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