State of Emergency

Title: State of Emergency

Author: Mary Hallburg

Publisher: independently published by author

Pages: 158

Genre: young adult, horror

Obtained: from author in exchange for an honest review






Summary: Can Dallas and her friends find shelter from zombies?

Thoughts: Just like modern day zombie movies, this book is the simple story of a teenager and her friends trying to get away from zombies before they are eaten or become zombies themselves.  The writing is simple and organized.  There is humor and gore.  The book is all about the escape, but also about the relationships between the group of teens.  The characters have distinct personalities, but I would have liked to have seen them developed a bit more to add some meat to the book.  The author lets the reader know how the zombies came about which I really liked, but other than that it is basically just the group trying to get someplace safe.  It is a short, quick, entertaining read (if you are into zombies).


                                                                   

Company: Art of Tea

Tea: Endurance

Obtained: gift



I received a tin of Endurance tea for Christmas.  This blend from Art of Tea includes herbs used to increase stamina.  The ingredients are organic cinnamon, organic pu-erh tea, organic eleuthero root, organic goji berries, organic schisandra berries, organic nettle leaf, organic oatstraw, organic ashwaganda powder, and natural flavor.  The tea has a medium caffeine content. 

The leaves came in a good quality artisan tin and there are supposed to be enough leaves to make about 50 cups of tea.  The tin was easy to open, close, and store.  The potpourri of leaves, berries, and other plant pieces was really pretty, as can be seen in the picture on the left.  The leaves had the scent of berries and cinnamon.

I put one tablespoon of leaves into my tea ball, which just fit.  It will be easy to measure next time- one full tea ball.  I poured eight ounces of water that had been boiled over the tea ball and let this steep for five minutes.  The liquid was a cloudy orange brown and had a scent of berries and cinnamon.  The taste was a very flavorful cinnamon and berry blend.  This was a smooth tea and was not delicate like many berry tea blends.  After drinking it I did have a bit of an energy boost, especially a mental one.  Having a cup of this tea would be a great way to start out the day.  It would also be a fantastic way to revitalize in the afternoon to get through work or anything that needs to get done.