Trying Out Vlogging!

Time For A Comeback?

I haven't made a "real" post on this blog for over 4 years. I started reviewing books the summer before high school and stopped during my freshmen year of college. I've since graduated and now I'm in my second year of teaching 10th grade English.

I kind of want to start reviewing again and be involved in the community. I miss it!

Are any of you still out there?

Books Read in 2013

December
46. Life of Pi- Yann Martel
47. When We Wake- Karen Healey
48. Tess of the D'Urbervilles- Thomas Hardy
49. The Master and Margarita- Mikhail Bulgakov
50. Austerlitz- W.G. Sebold

November
44. Adam Bede- George Eliot
45. Henry V- William Shakespeare

October
37. The Book Thief- Marcus Zusak
38. A Midsummer Night's Dream- William Shakespeare
39. Henry IV Part 1- William Shakespeare
40. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
41. Norwegian Wood- Haruki Nurakami
42. Henry IV Part 2- William Shakespeare
43. Hard Times- Charles Dickens

September
33. Richard II- William Shakespeare
34. The God of Small Things- Arundhati Roy
35. Emma- Jane Austen
36. The Trial- Franz Kafka

August
31. The Death Cure- James Dashner
32. Ashes- Ilsa J. Bick

July
28. The Rising- Kelley Armstrong
29. Bitter Is The New Black- Jen Lancaster
30. The Rules of Survival- Nancy Werlin 

June
26. Bloody Valentine- Melissa de la Cruz
27. The Moon and More- Sarah Dessen 

May
21. Left Behind- Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim Lahaye
22. Stung- Bethany Wiggins
23. Trinkets- Kirsten Smith
24. Light- Michael Grant
25. Howards End- E.M. Forster

March, April
17. Me, Him, Them, and It- Caela Carter
18. Death of a Salesman- Arthur Miller
19. On Beauty- Zadie Smith
20. Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell

February
11. Altered- Jennifer Rush
12. Beautiful Creatures- Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
13. Atonement- Ian McEwan
14. Free Man of Color- Charles Smith
15. A Doll's House- Henrik Ibsen
16. The S-Word- Chelsea Pitcher

January
1. Real Live Boyfriends- E. Lockhart
2. Misguided Angel- Melissa de la Cruz
3. The Future of Us- Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler 
4. The Ask and the Answer- Patrick Ness  
5. Return to Me- Justina Chen
6. Perfect Escape- Jennifer Brown
7. Lost Girls- Ann Kelley
8. The Boy Recession- Flynn Meaney
9. Northanger Abbey- Jane Austen
10. Adaptation- Malinda Lo

Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List

 

Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten is...


Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List (basically an auto-buy list is no questions asked..you love this author so much that no matter what they wrote next you'd buy regardless of genre or subject matter)

1. Sarah Dessen
2. John Green
3. Kelley Armstrong
4. Jodi Picoult
5. Michael Grant
6. Suzanne Collins
7. Kody Keplinger
8. Maureen Johnson
9. E. Lockhart
10. Megan McCafferty

Hourglass by Claudia Gray

Title: Hourglass (Evernight Series #3)
Author: Claudia Gray
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 77% or C+
Buy It: Amazon

Bianca will risk everything to be with Lucas.

After escaping from Evernight, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas seek refuge with Black Cross, an elite group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at its hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend—the vampire Balthazar—all her secrets threaten to come out.

Soon, Bianca and Lucas are on the run, pursued not only by Black Cross, but by the powerful vampires of Evernight. Yet no matter how far they run, Bianca can't escape her destiny. Bianca and Lucas have always believed their love could survive anything—but can it survive what's to come?

My Thoughts::

It was so so so long ago that I read Stargazer, the second book in the series. Even though Stargazer ended pretty intensely, and I was really excited for the next book, there were too many things that bothered me that I wasn't in a rush to read the next one. I waited so long to read this book that I had little idea what was going on. I had to read the wikipedia page for Stargazer to get things straight.

The first part of the book was pretty slow. I just kept waiting for something to happen and for them to make their move. I could understand why they were trying to save up money and stuff before they left, but Bianca was in so much danger while she was there. You would think that they would try to escape right away instead of sticking around.

Bianca seemed so slow to realize everything. Her situation was so tenuous that I thought she would pay more attention to what was going on. Her friends bothered me even more. The betrayal part was pretty intense and I couldn't blame Bianca for not seeing that coming. Though she was looking a bit brainwashed..

When it got to near the end I was surprised about what happened, but also a bit annoyed. I guess there are a few things from the books that hinted that this would happen, but it felt more like it was decided while writing this book that this is what would happen. So all developments for this occur super fast when it should have been built up so that it would make more sense.

Overall I think that this book didn't do much for me. It all just looked pushed together and made to work.

Winner: Random Acts of Kindness Giveaway Hop

And the winner of the Random Acts of Kindness Giveaway Hop (a copy of Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan) is.....

Ashley Van Buren

Congrats Ashley Van Buren!! I have already e-mailed you. If you don't reply within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea and turned into a meme by Kristi.


This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

Game by Barry Lyga
  
I Hunt Killers introduced the world to Jazz, the son of history's most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent.

In an effort to prove murder didn't run in the family, Jazz teamed with the police in the small town of Lobo's Nod to solve a deadly case. And now, when a determined New York City detective comes knocking on Jazz's door asking for help, he can't say no. The Hat-Dog Killer has the Big Apple--and its police force--running scared. So Jazz and his girlfriend, Connie, hop on a plane to the big city and get swept up in a killer's murderous game.

Contest Saturday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now in the blogosphere that are book related. Click the links to enter them. I will try to hold my own contest each month.

Enter my part of the Random Acts of Kindness Giveaway Hop HERE. Ends TOMORROW

Win a copy of Fall For Me HERE. Ends 2/28 

Win copies of the books in The Maiden Lane Series HERE. Ends 2/28

Win a copy of Broken Wings HERE. Ends 3/1

Win a copy of Hopeless HERE. Ends 3/1

Win a copy of A Natural History of Dragons HERE. Ends 3/3

Breaking Dawn Part 2

Title: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Director: Bill Condon

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg and Stephenie Meyer

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner

Grade: 85% or B

My Thoughts::
I know the Twilight craze is all over, and it was over even before this movie came out. And even though I'm not really a fan of either the books or movies anymore, I couldn't help but to go and see this movie. I will admit, I was excited for the conclusion to finally be here.

Even though some people complained about this book because it was a lot of build up and not a lot was actually happening, it was more interesting in the movie. It was cool to meet all of the friends of the family. I wish they would have spent more time showing what everyone's abilities are and how hard it is for Bella to develop her power. Besides meeting characters, not much HAPPENS, except a few good Reneesme things and then the battle part at the end.

The most interesting part of the movie for sure was the tricky ending. I don't want to give anything away, but if you read the book you probably won't be tricked. And even though I wasn't tricked, I still cried and felt a lot of emotions. Even more emotions were felt at the end of the movie while the credits started to roll. I started feeling really nostalgic. I've been thinking about Twilight since before I started High School, and now I'm in my second semester of college. So much has changed and it brings me back to an earlier time.

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Title: Dark Inside
Author: Jeyn Roberts
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 82% or B-
Buy It: Amazon 

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everday people into hunters, killers, crazies.

Mason's mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground, and everyone he knows is killed. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police—who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the bystanding crowd.

Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad? These four teens are on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found, this is a journey into the heart of darkness – but also a journey to find each other and a place of safety.

My Thoughts::

This was another one of those books that looked soooo amazing when I first heard about it. Right when I read the synopsis for the first time I put it on my Amazon wishlist. Buuut...then it sat on my wishlist for months and months. The majority of the money that I spend on books goes to sequels that I've been waiting forever for, and it was a while before I bought it. Then I started it not really sure what it would be about because it has been so long.

I started the book with an open mind and a little bit of confusion. I did end up reading the jacket flap because I wanted to know what I was getting into. This definitely eased the confusion. This book had four point of views plus what I like to call the "darkness" POV. I think that this worked really well with this type of book. So many things happen in apocalypse like books but it is hard to say that it all happens to one person. The author was able to spread out different experiences to each character.

The story got pretty intense. In most apocalypse stories you have some sense of control. If it's a natural disaster, you know that it's over now and you just have to move on. If it's zombies or something like that, you just stay away from them or kill them. With this, even if you're not bitten or "exposed" to it, you can still become one of the crazy killer things. That is probably the scariest part, the fact that there is nothing you can do about it.

Several times while I was reading this book I almost gave up. I kept getting annoyed by the characters or it would hit a lull. But the last third of the book really kept me on my toes. I couldn't put the book down. The ending was just so amazing that I will definitely read the next book

To the Cinema #18

This post is similar to a Books to Come post, but will only feature MOVIES that I am excited about releasing. I will include trailers for your viewing pleasure. I'll probably only do this monthly so it doesn't push out reviews that I need to post.

The Call

Upside Down

Trance

 

Top Ten Favorite Characters In the Dystopian Genre

 

Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten is...

Top Ten Favorite Characters In X Genre. Dystopian is my favorite genre, so I went with that one! In no particular order..

1. Sam from the Gone Series
2. Tris from the Divergent Trilogy
3. Day from Legend
4. Finnick from The Hunger Games Trilogy
5. Winston from 1984
6. Saba from Blood Red Road
7. Thomas from The Maze Runner
8. Anya from All These Things I've Done
9. Waverly from Glow
10. Neva from Dark Parties

Random Acts of Kindness Giveaway Hop

See the rest of the Giveaways HERE.

I signed up on I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

 

My Giveaway:: I am giving away a copy of Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan! Here's the summary:

Kit Gordy sees Blackwood Hall towering over black iron gates, and she can't help thinking, This place is evil. The imposing mansion sends a shiver of fear through her. But Kit settles into a routine, trying to ignore the rumors that the highly exclusive boarding school is haunted. 

 

Then her classmates begin to show extraordinary and unknown talents. The strange dreams, the voices, the lost letters to family and friends, all become overshadowed by the magic around them.
When Kit and her friends realize that Blackwood isn't what it claims to be, it might be too late.

Suspicious and uneasy about the atmosphere at her new boarding school, fourteen-year-old Kit slowly realizes why she and the other three students at the school were selected.

To Enter:: Fill out THIS FORM by 1/24 

**Winner will be announced on 1/25 and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea and turned into a meme by Kristi.

Another week of nothing!

Contest Saturday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now in the blogosphere that are book related. Click the links to enter them. I will try to hold my own contest each month.

Win a copy of The Lost Girl HERE. Ends TODAY

Win a copy of The Listless HERE. Ends 2/17

Win a copy of Beautiful Creatures HERE. Ends 2/18

Win a copy of Nobody and Every Other Day HERE. Ends 2/20

Win a copy of Fall For Me HERE. Ends 2/28 

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Title: House Rules
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria Books
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Adult
Grade: 87% or B+
Buy It: Amazon

Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject — in his case, forensic analysis. He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do...and he's usually right. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's — not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect — can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them. For his mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication of why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

My Thoughts::
After reading my first Jodi Picoult book, I find them very hard to resist.They always make me question myself and other morally and legally. I have to look at things from so many angles and see that the world isn't as black and white as we all want it to be. This book was no different.

Since we get chapters from Jacob's perspective, we actually know what is going on in his mind, his thoughts, and his motives. As readers we get frustrated with characters who don't reveal enough information to their friends and family, especially information that could change and help the situation entirely. I wanted to feel this way about Jacob because I wanted to believe that he wasn't guilty. If he just would have given the full story in the right way, he wouldn't be a suspect. But of course he couldn't do that and it wasn't his fault. It was the Aspberger's.

As for the plot, I was amazed. It is crazy how a lawyer can't ask if their client is guilty or not. This was even worse for Jacob, because if he was just asked to tell the whole story of what happened, there wouldn't have been such a huge disaster. I could really see the struggle of all of the characters. There was just so much evidence pinning Jacob as guilty, even though a lot of it was because of his Aspberger's. It shows just how little we concern ourselves with how we perceive each other and how we want everyone to fit the status quo, even those with disabilities.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself staring off to space thinking about it and how the whole situation worked out. The ending didn't really surprise me though which was a letdown. I guessed the ending right away and I spend the entire rest of the book hoping I was wrong so I could get a twist like the end of most Picoult books. Too bad it didn't happen.

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Calling (Darkness Rising Trilogy #2)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 93% or A-
Buy It: Amazon 

A powerful secret. A desperate race for survival.

Maya and her friends are on the run. Having escaped a deliberately set forest fire and a fake rescue team with dark intentions, they were just beginning to feel safe again. Then their helicopter crashes near the Vancouver Island wilderness, and Maya and her friends realize they're about as far from safe as they can get.

But Maya has a secret. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly anyone else. It's part of who she really is—and it has something to do with her mysterious paw-print birthmark. Yet as Maya and her friends face unforeseen dangers, it becomes clear she's not the only one in their close-knit group who has something to hide. And if they're going to survive, they'll need all their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

My Thoughts:: 

I get more and more impressed with Armstrong the more I read from her. I enjoy her books so much. She knows exactly what to do to keep her readers interested, but also doesn't just give everything away too quickly. I can't believe I was able to wait as long as I did to read this book. I read so many books that it is easy to forget how much I want to read certain ones. 

For like half of this book I was so annoyed with Maya. It was frustrating how she wasn't putting the obvious pieces together faster. That she wasn't the only one with some sort of power. It was almost worse that she waited so long to tell the others about her powers. And of course, every time she tried to tell someone, something happening stopped her from doing it. Though, this did add a level of suspense to what would happen when it would be all out in the open.

The more and more referenced that we get to The Darkest Powers trilogy, the happier I get. I will have a super fan girl moment if the two groups ever interact with each other.  At least we get some confirmation that the first group isn't captured or something. I can not wait until we get even a glimpse of Chloe, Derek, and Simon.

It is going to be really interesting once the full extent of everyone's powers are revealed. I also want to know more of the back stories or whatever of how they all got into the program. I feel like we knew the events leading up to the first group being a part of the program, but we don't know much of the sciencey and history details of this group yet.

Overall I think that this was a pretty good continuation but I wish we learned more. I believe there is only going to be one more book, and I just know that I won't get as many details as I crave in it because there won't be enough time or a good reason for it.

Ted

Title: Ted

Director: Seth MacFarlane

Writer: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild

Starring:  Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Seth MacFarlane

Grade: 84% or B
 

My Thoughts::

For my 19th birthday I didn't really have any big plans. My best friends were out of town so I was just going to have a quiet night with my family. But then one of my guy friends wanted to see a movie for my birthday, so we got a couple of friends together. It took a while to decide what movie to see, since at least one of us has seen one of the top choices. But the popular vote was to see Ted, since those who saw it wanted to see it again.

This movie was so funny! I know that they were all pretty cheap jokes and not clever or anything really, but I didn't care this time. I liked that this was pretty much a straight up comedy. There was some romance, but that wasn't the focus. Since it was just a comedy, it was important that we did a lot of laughing, no matter how they got us to laugh. By the end of the movie my stomach was hurting from how much laughing that I did.

Most straight up comedies don't bother with any sort of real plot. It's just jokes on jokes during random scenes just to get as many laughs as possible, But Ted actually has a storyline going on and a sequence of events that lead up to each other. There was actual plot and development! The characters also had more depth than usual comedies. They worked so well together too! Their characters played off of each other's jokes and made it that much more funny.

Overall I think that if you're in the mood for some laughs, especially if you're with friends, watch this movie. It's one of those movies that references from it will follow you around for a while, so you might as well understand what they're talking about.

Top Ten Favorite Romances

 

Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten is...

Top Ten Favorite Romances. Sarah Dessen is dominating this list, so sorry in advance. In no particular order...

1. Macy and Wes from The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.
2. Annabel and Owen from Just Listen by Sarah Dessen.
3. Remy and Dexter from This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen.
4. Mclean and Dave from What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen.
5. Tris and Four from the Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth.
6. Samantha and Jase from My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick.
7. Hazel and Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
8. Echo and Noah from Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
9. Chloe and Derek from The Darkest Powers Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong
10. Astrid and Sam from the Gone Series by Michael Grant

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

Title: One Second After
Author: William R. Forstchen
Publisher: Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Adult
Grade: 92% or A-
Buy It: Amazon 

New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies. Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end.

My Thoughts::
It isn't a surprise to know that my favorite genre of books beyond dystopian are books based in some kind of post apocalyptic world. Some of my favorite books from the most random authors are books that have that theme. There is just something so interesting, frightening, and surreal about how society would react to such a collapse. Just going into this book I was so excited to read it and find out how this specific situation would turn out.

The book takes place in a pretty small community, which is pretty common in books like this. I'm getting a bit tired of that, but this book added a bit of a spin on it by having this town next to another small town and not too far from much larger cities. So even though they started out secluded it didn't last long and they had to deal with all of the problems that come with more people trying to get into their town than they could possibly help or support.

The best thing about this book was how realistic and plausible it all seemed. An EMP is pretty darn serious and there were so many results that I didn't even think about before. Books like this never really address one of the biggest issues besides food, which is disease. Without electricity and medicine people get sick and die so easily. It was scary how little of the population made it through the year.

A lot of moral dilemmas were brought up as well. Is it okay to sacrifice a large amount of people to get supplies that only help a few? If you only have enough food to feed 100 people through the winter and if you feed more everyone will die, what do you do? It was so hard to read this book because the problems that come up are so hard to answer.

Overall this was a great eye opening read that shows that such a simple weapon can destroy most of what we take advantage of everyday. My only complaint is that the book would skip ahead of large chunks of time and then give only a summary of the events that occurred during that time.