Monthly Mash-Up[1]

I am trying to go places with my blog. I sat down and really thought about what kind of future I would like for my blog so I have come up with a few ideas of monthly things to post about so that I am not so boring. So, Basically, Monthly Mash-Up will be a monthly post that will be up towards the end of each month. It will consist of my favorite's, randomly pictures of things throughout the month, books and whatever else I come across the I think should make the list. Pretty much... CHAOS! But an organized chaos. So please let me know if you like this idea. Feedback is always welcome! I am also looking for a program or something that I can make banners on. I need a banner for this and 2 other monthly things I want to do. So any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

For some reason I cannot find this video when I try to add it. So here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQzj10DCkWM

DOMO PUMPKINNNN!

I won a.. Kindle!!... Kindle!... OH YEAHHH

 My fiance HATES the Ravens so I went through our old newspapers while he was at work and I made this nice little collage for him. His reaction was priceless.

Stacking The Shelves[15]

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

I am a few weeks behind on my STS posts but I will try to catch up over the new 2-3 weeks. 

 

 

REVIEW Resilient by Patricia Vanasse

Title: Resilient
Author: Patricia Vanasse
Format: eBook
Source: Amazon
Publisher: Pants on Fire Press

REVIEW: I didn't read the synopsis of this book and I am very glad that I didn't. I just dove right in and found myself enjoying every bit of this book. I think I should do this more ofter.

The book is told in back and forth point of views between Livia and Adam.

I love Livia. She is such a strong character. The things so has to go through at such a young age are things that not many other people could deal with. She knows she is adopted. She knows she has these strange powers. Some good, some bad. Then on top of all of that she has to pack up her life and move across the country.

Adam is a very strong character as well. He has his own unique personality that he doesn't change for anyone. Most guys his age could not have said no to Lindsey.

The whole time I was reading this book I was contemplating aliens. But, hey, genetically enhanced humans are okay too.

I really enjoy how the author keeps your guessing. This is one of those books that you really can't predict and I loved that so much. So many newer books are very predictable and are written around subjects that are excruciatingly over used.

Another big thing about this book is the fact that there are other prominent characters. The book isn't strictly centralized around the two main characters. Henry has a huge part in the book and shows up just as much as the main characters. Livia's family is also very prominent. Adams, not so much. Adams family seems withdrawn.

The ending made me want to curl up and cry. The dreams Livia is having make me really worried considering her one dream came true. So right now I'm on edge and cannot wait for the next book.

I have been trying to think of another book or movie that I could use to relate this to but the only thing that really comes to mind is Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. But this book isn't Dystopian or set in the future. So I can honestly say that this book is truly unique.

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 Kitties.

Take My Breath Away (1) October

Here is it guys! The long awaited project I've been working on. This would have been up yesterday but I got a bout of food poisoning.

Basically the project is simple. While reading your YA books there is almost always a certain sentence in each book. The words might be shifted around or changed up a bit but each sentence has the same meaning. The sentence in question is "I release the breath I didn't know I was holding." This was first brought to my attention by a fellow booktuber and I thought it would be fun to test this theory. So once a month I will be posting a "Take My Breath Away" post with any and all quotes I find during my month of reading. This post will consist of the few I have found while planning this "event." Please feel free to take part and use this on your own blog. I would appreciate credit for being the creator of it but that is all.

"Clary let out a breath she hadn't realized she's been holding." City of Bones - Pg 88

"Dan let out his breath, not even away he'd been holding it." Asylum - Pg 173

"I released the breath I hadn't realized I was holding..." Easy - Pg 78


I have found A LOT more but I either forgot to mark them or I read them before I decided to do this project. I hope you guys like this. Thanks for reading!

Another Update!!

So... About that little project I was working on. I will be posting the beginning of it on Saturday. I bet you are all DYING to know what it is. Lol, no you aren't. Admit it. You think I'm boring. -cries and walks away-

This little project was something I heard about from a fellow booktuber and I set out to prove the validity of her statement.

Please stay tuned and check back on Saturday for my first installment.

P.S. There should be a book review sometime before then.(I hope)

REVIEW Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Title: Crank
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Publisher: McElderry Books

REVIEW: My personal belief is that EVERYONE should read this series. I think it gives good insight on the life of not only the girl involved but the parents and friends as well.

I read Crank for the first time when I was a freshman in high school. I loved it then and I have a new love for it now. If you read this book when you were younger then please consider re-reading it. Things I may have missed or interpreted differently as a teenager now have different meaning.

Before "The Monster" Kristina is an amazing character. She is stunning, smart, funny, essentially the perfect daughter. This book is just proof that even the straightest person can be taken under.

After "The Monster" Kristina, Bree, is heartbreaking, immoral and dangerous, not only to herself but her loved ones as well.

Adam is the starting point of chaos. Brendan is the middle mark for spiraling out of control. Then we have Chase. He has a good head on his shoulders but he still partakes in "The Monster". Well, actually, Adam may have been the one who got Kristina hooked but her dad allowed it to happen.

I do give Kristina's mom and Scott credit for trying to help her. I think all kids need parents who pay attention but sometimes the kid is just beyond help.

This book just breaks my heart. I have a few friends who have either died or tried to recover from drugs but never could.

I was hoping that having Hunter would have helped Kristina come to terms with her addiction and finally end it. It doesn't look like that was the case, sadly.

The fact that Ellen Hopkins could sit down and write this about personal experiences is amazing. She wants other to know what its like and hopefully to steer people away from drugs.

Like I said, I definitely believe that everyone should read this series.

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 Kitties.

Kindle Unboxing

I recently won a Kindle Paperwhite from author Patricia Vanasse over on Candace's Book Blog.

The first book I am going to be reading on this beauty is Resilient by Patricia Vanasse. If you click on the picture it will take you to the authors blog.

Resilient by Patricia Vanasse

336 pages

Published: Sept 3rd, 2013 by Pants on Fire Press

 

So thank you very much Candace for hosting the giveaway and thank you very much to Patricia Vanasse for being kind enough to offer the Kindle!

 

 

UPDATES!!

Hello everyone! I am sorry I haven't been around much. I have been reading a lot but I just haven't been feeling like posting anything. Between my laptop slowly dying and my desktop being somewhere I just don't feel like sitting I just haven't been productive lately.

I am working on a sort of bookish project that is just something I wanted to do. I have been collecting my data and will probably have an entry up for my bookish thing sometime this month. I know, vague.

Aside from my lack of ambitions I may also be getting a second job as a security guard at my fiances work. It would be from 6pm-12am. So, basically, I would be working from 5am-12am mon-fri. Sounds riveting, does it not? The only plus side to this extra job would be my ability to save uber amount of money. I wouldn't have spare time to go out and spend anything so it would just keep accumulating. I will use this job to buy a new laptop and it will also go towards moving(hopefully) and more books. Plus when I get to move I will be buying entirely new bookshelves from Ikea. I just need help picking black or white. I love white but I'm so conflicted.

I also started writing my own book but, alas, living in this house with the negative vibes and stress from my parents I have become creatively blocked again so the book will have to wait until I move to my own place where everything will be calm and relaxed.

My goal for the month of October, reading wise, is to read and review 8 books. My fiance gave me a challenge to where if I read 20 of the books I own he will take me on a huge book buying spree to all of my favorite places. So I am going to attempt that goal but I won't be reviewing all of those books because a few will be rereads for upcoming movie releases and I probably won't feel like reviewing certain books.

If anyone has a requestions(new word, requests + questions) for me please feel free to ask. If you would like me to read and review and specific books please let me know but keep in mind I do only read YA books and occasionally a New Adult book here and there.

REVIEW Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Title: Asylum
Author: Madeleine Roux
Format: ARC
Source: Won
Publisher:Harper
Publication Date: August 27th 2013

REVIEW: I did enjoy this book. It was a very quick read for me. But I just didn't LOVE it.

There were a few things I did find myself being happy with. One of those things being that fact that the author didn't try to draw people in with a promise of instant romance. There was a little bit of cutesy stuff but nothing that jumped out and said "oh oh oh look at me, the book is centered around romance."

Mainly this book just frustrated me and the characters annoyed me. A lot of things in this book weren't explained.

Dan goes off to this college prep summer camp, makes instant friends, goes exploring the old asylum building that the kids are staying in and BOOM trouble begins.

Cute artsy girl + gay guy + normal guy = instant best friends?

Felix was strange from the beginning but I still have no idea what he had to do with anything! Why did The Sculptor pick him? And WHAT was this overtaking of Felix's body exactly? A Possession? Insanity? The same thing happened to Dan and I still don't understand why this was happening to them in the first place. And you never find out if Dan IS, infact, related to the warden at all.

Just way too many unanswered questions for me.

And what in Gods name was up with Jordan? Was he possessed as well?

Did Yi die?

And who the hell trapped them in the basement?

It would have been cool to find out that all of the kids at the program were somehow related to the patients and doctors that we part of the asylum before it was shut down. It would have been cool to find out what happened to Abby's aunt, Lucy, while she was at the asylum and why she stayed in Camford. And what about Professor Reyes. She was definitely suspicious.  

The story was good, don't get me wrong. I just definitely needed more than this book gave me.

Overall, I gave the book 3/5 Kitties.

REVIEW What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

Title: What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know
Author: Sonya Sones
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

REVIEW: This is the second book to What My Mother Doesn't Know. It is told from Robin's point of view.

I bought this book for full price at 2nd & Charles because I really enjoyed Sonya Sones book To Be Perfectly Honest so I wanted to read more by her. I picked this book up without knowing that it was a second book. I started reading it but then had to urge to go check Ukazoo for any of her other books. They actually had both of her other books so I picked up What My Mother Doesn't Know and skimmed through it. I soon realized that it was the first book and that made me glad that I had only read about ten pages into this book.

First I would just love to say that I adore the cover changes.

As I said, this book is told from Robins point of view so it is definitely a more coming of age book. It is about sex, love, school, art and finding out who you are and what you really want in life.

Robin never thought he would ever end up with a girl like Sophie. But he does and that is actually a problem. He is used to getting taunted by his classmates but it kills him that they not taunt Sophie as well. And on top of that, Sophies best friends, Grace and Rachel, won't talk to her anymore. It's almost like both Robin and Sophie are lepers.

I have personally never seen this kind of bullying/social out-casting myself but I know it does happen.

Robin is so afraid of losing Sophie that he does some pretty stupid things throughout the book and it makes me frustrated with him. If you think so low of yourself why would you try to ruin your chance at happiness? Why would you cheat? There were points where I really wanted to strangle Robin.

He is definitely your average guy. Doesn't realize how good he has it until he has almost lost it. He takes his amazing parents for granted as well. He should have opened up to them more instead of trying to avoid them.

Tessa was a tramp. That is the cleanest word I can think of for her. When you know someone has a girlfriend you don't push that person to be friends with benefits.

Aside from his ability to draw, Robin is a very boring character/person. Sophie does all the ballsy stuff. She is the one who sticks up for them while he just sits back and watches. She is also the one who came up with the shirt idea which I thought was funny. Never let the bullies win.

All-in-all I did like this book and it was a good ending to Robin and Sophie's story.

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 Kitties.

REVIEW What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

Title: What My Mother Doesn't Know
Author: Sonya Sones
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

REVIEW: This book was adorable. The author is very good with creating believable teen situations.

Sophie is pretty much your normal teenage girl. Shes fifteen, popular, has 2 best friend and is boy crazy and the book is told from her point of view. It is also written in verse.

Rachel and Grace are your typical popular girl best friends. They talk behind each others back to the other friend and they do everything together.

Enter, Murphy. Hardly anyone knows his real name is Robin and even less care. He is the nerdy guy who hides behind his art. His last name has even become an insult that elementary school kids are using. "Don't be such a Murphy."

The book is mainly settled around a 2 week time period over Christmas break where Sophies friends both go on vacations leaving her all alone for the break.

This leads Sophie to go on her own vacation where she actually gets to meet Robin and spend time getting to know him. I don't think anything would have happened between them if it wasn't for this opportunity.

I didn't think Sophie would be the type of girl to go after Robin. Especially after she calls him ugly a few times throughout the book.

This book proves that love is more than skin deep. It's about how fast they make your heart race and the butterflies they give you.

There are other parts of the stories that are barely there. Like Sophies mother being very over dramatic and depressed. And how her father doesn't seem like an affectionate guy. I swear I thought I was reading about my parents at first. This is definitely the first book I have read that has hit so close to home with the parent situations.

On the other hand, Robin has the perfect parents it seems. They love him and care about his life and completely trust him.

It's just odd how these two people would end up together. But, really, is it that odd? I see things like this everyday in real life. I bet people even wonder how my fiance and I ended up together.

As a quick little side type note: Zak got brozoned... That was definitely noteworthy for me.

This book is a very cute and quick contemporary. So if you find yourself in the mood for a nice, easy contemporary please consider picking up any of Sonya Sones books!

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 Kitties.