A little birdy told me that I made a mistake in my previous posts. When I mention my "friend" in my posts, I'm talking about my friend Maddie. She's usually responsible for my SOP's of any other criticisms or ideas. She's also reading my blog now so that means she knows how weird and nerdy I am. She's also the one who scolded me about not specifically mentioning her in my blogs. So there you go, Maddie.
She also gets to put up with me all year next year because we are roommates. She'll have to live with my nerdiness and weirdness. MWAHAHAAHAHA. I can also be really annoying sometimes (my sister can vouch for that) so she better watch out.
She's also visiting me in a few weeks so thats exciting!
And this is me scolding myself because I am behind on my Goodreads reading challenge (a whopping 1 book). It's been a struggle because for a while I was 2-3 books behind and it was stressing me out. I'm 34/52 checks complete in my 2015 Reading Challenge. Now that I'm doing the calculations doesn't stress me out as much as I was like twenty minutes ago.
But if you have any quick reads that are decent and will take me max 2 days to read please recommend them to me. Post a comment, send me an email, a message on Goodreads, send me a carrier pigeon with a note attached to its claw, whatever floats your boat. Because I like recs and am in major need of them right now.
I've also decided that my next book to read is Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell so I'll need some quick books to read while I trudge through that monster of a book. :) hehe
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Started: June 19, 2015
Finished: June 20, 2015
Stars: 4/5
I have seen this book at Barnes and Noble since May and from the first time I saw it, I was thinking that is a book that I'll like. But it took me a while to pluck it from the shelf. What I thought the book would be delayed my reading it. But it wasn't anything that I expected. I was expecting something that revolved around the romantic relationship between the two characters (like the typical fantasy/dystopian books these days), which isn't to say that those are bad, I'm just tired of them for now.
It didn't focus on the romantic part until closer to the end and it was only for max 15 pages.
It focused on decisions and coming of age. Find out who you want to be and the legacy you want to leave. It focused on being scared and angry and using those things to make decisions and change not only your own life, but the world around you. The fantasy world was so well developed and complex that I didn't need to reference the maps as much as I usually do. I was enraptured by the plot and the characters.
I really enjoyed it. Another series that I started this year to pine over until the next book comes out... Yay.
[this book was my "book by a female author" for my 2015 Reading Challenge]
The Night Circus by Erin Morgentstern
Started: June 20, 2015
Finished: June 23, 2015
Stars: 3/5
I loved this book while I was reading it. Throughout the book it talks about experiencing something that feels like a dream but is actually reality. And that's exactly how reading the book felt like.
The mystery and the magic of the book is what hooked you and made you want to keep reading. There wasn't much character development per say or dialogue, at least not as much as I was expecting.
I did feel like some of the events were under described so I was confused during a couple parts of the book. The ending also irritated me. I don't want to spoil the book by saying why, but I just thought it was like the author didn't know how to end the book or was tired of writing it and just picked the easiest way out.
This books isn't character driven and not really plot driven. It mostly revolved around the descriptions and the extravagance of the book. It was still beautiful to read and really well done.
[this is my "book with magic" for my 2015 Reading Challenge]
Into the Afterlife by Alexandra Bracken
Started: June 28, 2015
Finished: July 1, 2015
Stars: 5/5
I forgot everything that happened in the previous two books before I read this one. All I could tell you was the character's names. So naturally, I had to read the first two books before this one. And I modified my Goodreads so that the two re-reads counted for my challenge for this year. Oops.
I forgot how good this series was. Why did it take me so long to pick up the finale???
Even though this book is dystopian/futuristic/sci-fy, it was realistic and believable. The sad thing is that everything that happened in this series could potentially happen. Plus, every decision the characters faced were decided with reason. There wasn't anything ridiculous in this book: their actions, plans, words, expectations, emotions, thoughts, everything.
It even touched on issues like PTSD, anxiety, and depression without blatantly stating it. The usual character tropes that are being used in most modern books are twisted in this book. Each character is strong and different and each one has their faults. The author doesn't cover up the character's faults, but describes and explains them.
This was the perfect ending to this series. The ending left me satisfied and happy. There wasn't anything wrong with this book.
[this is the "book that made me cry" in my 2015 Reading Challenge]
I really didn't cry, more like tear up. But I almost never cry in books so that category has been tricky for me. This counts.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Started: July 2, 2015
Finished: July 3, 2015
Stars: 2.8/5
This book is in the style of a journal, narrated by high school senior Greg Gaines, and it told after the events have happened.
Greg annoyed me. His narrating was annoying. He kept disrupting the story to tear his writing down and say how bad of a writer he is. And I get that it factors into his Excessive Modesty Mode, but it was annoying to read. Mostly he talked about himself and his senior year, which is fine. But the Dying Girl maybe took up a third of the book, maybe that much.
As I was reading, I was waiting for plot development or for something exciting to happen, but it was a majority of backstory and narrating the high and low points of his senior year.
I had high expectations for this book and it wasn't really what I was expecting. It had the right idea, but the execution was lacking.
[this was the "book set in high school" for my 2015 Reading Challenge]
SOP: Unkiss Me by Maroon 5
