tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87103106118618483712024-02-19T04:55:26.646-08:00The Reading ChicSierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.comBlogger215125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-36228005241542880732014-09-07T12:00:00.000-07:002014-09-07T12:00:00.243-07:00Review: No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uhSNehpupbajjHe7L1XL6TC19lJqPtmQpjbWMmiUc11sh6e5CancMyd_lxH-5-XofdihypEjtdNHGXV1QJEu043uCX2P1tFvd25CFrI4whGsmEqhFTL-PdvQbr9wyQ1KMHqxn6GHwrA/s1600/no+one+needs+to+know.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uhSNehpupbajjHe7L1XL6TC19lJqPtmQpjbWMmiUc11sh6e5CancMyd_lxH-5-XofdihypEjtdNHGXV1QJEu043uCX2P1tFvd25CFrI4whGsmEqhFTL-PdvQbr9wyQ1KMHqxn6GHwrA/s1600/no+one+needs+to+know.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: September 8, 2014</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Flux</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: NA</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 3 out of 5</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 240</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Sometimes, the cost of love is too steep</span></i> </blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Olivia's twin brother, Liam, has been her best friend her whole life. But when he starts dating, Olivia is left feeling alone, so she tries to drive away Liam's girlfriends in an effort to get her best friend back.</span></i> </blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">But she meets her match in Zoey, Liam's latest fling. A call-it-like-she-sees-it kind of girl, Zoey sees right through Olivia's tricks. What starts as verbal sparring between the two changes into something different, however, as they share their deepest insecurities and learn they have a lot in common. Olivia falls for Zoey, believing her brother could never get serious with her. But when Liam confesses that he's in love with Zoey, Olivia has to decide who deserves happiness more: her brother or herself?</span></i></blockquote>
I was instantly intrigued by the idea of this storyline because I have read very few books dealing with LGBTQ protagonists. I have read a few where some of the side characters were gay, but I can't think of any main characters. Sadly, I was pretty disappointed. The relationship between Olivia and Zoey came extremely abruptly, without warning (other than previously knowing what the book was about). If I were to go into this book blind, without seeing a cover or anything, I would have never known that there was growing feelings between the two before the climax of their romance.<br />
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This book is short, and I think that it could have used at least a good 100 more pages. The story could have used a lot more development.<br />
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Although the story development let me down, the character development was brilliant. All of the characters in this novel grew as people (in a good way) and were a lot stronger characters by the end of the book. A lot of them came to their senses, because they were all pretty immature at the beginning of this novel.<br />
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I do have to say, I was fond of the moments when the novel took place at the lake house. I expected more of the book to take place there, considering the cover, but sadly only a small section of the novel took place at the lake house, and those were my favourite parts. I have a fond connections to lakes and I enjoy reading books where characters are having fun at a lake.<br />
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Although I had a few key issues with this novel, it was a fun quick read, and I really did enjoy reading it. I read it in about a 6-hour time period, in one sitting. I needed a cute contemporary read but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it wasn't bad.Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-92101509365572087812014-07-06T12:00:00.000-07:002014-07-06T12:00:00.782-07:00Review: Thirty Sunsets by Christine Hurley Deriso<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgGnCgJUdBV499Jdltl5BrR31o-fj0iYSradFSZIIBcZ13zjJjW6JN6BhTeQAUCMhRBA7JtHIFSPvcP2gmcJM6H2hCD6h5q6lkgxWGZ6Kh3MgEFrctVosQnyVaWXkhM1jm995T6ohhp4/s1600/18579800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgGnCgJUdBV499Jdltl5BrR31o-fj0iYSradFSZIIBcZ13zjJjW6JN6BhTeQAUCMhRBA7JtHIFSPvcP2gmcJM6H2hCD6h5q6lkgxWGZ6Kh3MgEFrctVosQnyVaWXkhM1jm995T6ohhp4/s1600/18579800.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: July 8th, 2014</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Flux</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: NA</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 3 out of 5</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 240</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><i>To Forrest Shephard, getting away to the family's beach house with her parents and her brother, Brian, is the best part of every summer. Until this year, when her mother invites Brian's obnoxious girlfriend, Olivia, to join them. Suddenly, Forrest's relaxing vacation becomes a mission to verify the reality of Olivia's rumoured eating disorder. But the truth behind Olivia's finicky eating isn't at all what Forrest expected. And over the next thirty days, Forrest's world is turned upside down as her family's darkest secrets begin to come to light.</i></span></span></span></blockquote>
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*I received a free e-copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for a honest, unbiased review.*<br />
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Considering that this book is not too lengthy, and I read it over Dewey's 24 hr readathon, I will begin this review by saying that this book was not a difficult read at all. I did enjoy it, however I did have a few issues with the story and the context in it.<br />
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Firstly, this novel is by no means a fluffy contemporary read. This is not a stereotypical romance, which is what I got the impression when I first went into the story completely blind, and is why I actually chose to read it in the first place. This book deals with many dark themes, one of them being eating disorders. In my opinion, they dealt with these themes extremely dismissively. The topic was there, and then the next paragraph it was gone and the protagonist was going off about something else. I did not appreciate that about the novel, especially since the themes are no joke and should have been taken more seriously than they were.<br />
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I did not find very many characters in this novel appealing. I found Forrest to be immature, and in the beginning of the novel she didn't even make an effort to act nice to her brother's girlfriend. I mean, come on, is it that hard to play nice every once in awhile? Also, she was so dependent on this one specific character in the novel, who, may I add, she had only met with a few select times during the entire novel. I could understand it a little bit, but it got so extreme that to a point it just got irritating.<br />
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While I did have some major issues with this book, I wouldn't say that I didn't enjoy reading it. I really did, and it was a nice book to have a breather with during the 24 hour readathon. I just wish that some things would have been fixed that weren't, but overall I did enjoy this book.Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-39419997487388154682014-07-01T09:25:00.001-07:002014-07-01T09:25:21.089-07:00Mid-Year Reading Goals UpdateI cannot believe that it is July already! This means that I am going to update you guys on my reading challenges and the progress (or lack thereof) that I have made with these challenges. You may have remembered that I made an entire post at the beginning of the year stating all of the challenges that I was going to try to do throughout the year, and here is my progress...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">50 Book Challenge:</span><br />
As I am writing this, I have read 32 books total so far this year. That means that I am 8 books ahead of where I should be and I am proud of that! I'm actually hoping to finish off my 50 books by the end of the summer, but we'll see how that one goes!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dystopia Reading Challenge:</span><br />
I challenged myself to read 6 dystopian books this year, and as of now I have read 4. I'm happy with my progress and this hopefully means that I can bump up my goals after this quarter!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Rewind Challenge:</span><br />
Looking back on this, I'm not sure why I decided to put my goals for this challenge so low. I challenged myself to read 5 rewind books... and I have read 20. I am bumping my goal up to 30 books for this challenge because of my progress!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Series Challenge:</span><br />
For this challenge, I mark myself a little differently than the original rules state. I mark every book that is within a series. I have read 14 books in series this year thus far (completing 2 series so far). I am not going to bump this goal up any further as I am happy with my progress.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Back to Classics Challenge:</span><br />
This challenge... I have abandoned. I only have completed one book off my list so I made the decision not to continue the challenge.<br />
<br />
So far I am extremely happy with my progress and I am excited to see what the next half of the year is going to bring me!Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-9962666229812640482014-05-21T12:00:00.000-07:002014-05-21T12:00:02.919-07:00Review: The Voice Inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V1u8z8xVsQ1kbWsj22VANh8_cdzbNshMi8VKsNsdY4Sgu-GUFzNyFewvTdx-5cMYOeJIBS0sQj0wuGY6NJy2jy1jdwX3k_NgZkkW4OQqgtpAXuMlCRPHsOBkywaMV5UHdiXbpk2KdSg/s1600/voice+inside+my+head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V1u8z8xVsQ1kbWsj22VANh8_cdzbNshMi8VKsNsdY4Sgu-GUFzNyFewvTdx-5cMYOeJIBS0sQj0wuGY6NJy2jy1jdwX3k_NgZkkW4OQqgtpAXuMlCRPHsOBkywaMV5UHdiXbpk2KdSg/s1600/voice+inside+my+head.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: March 11, 2014</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Tundra Books</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: NA</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 3 out of 5</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 256</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">A fast-paced mystery, <em>The Voice inside My Head </em>is expected to be a commercial success and a hit with teens.</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"> Seventeen-year-old Luke's older sister, Pat, has always been his moral compass, like a voice inside his head, every time he has a decision to make. So when Pat disappears on a tiny island off the coast of Honduras and the authorities claim she's drowned - despite the fact that they can't produce a body - Luke heads to Honduras to find her because he knows something the authorities don't. From the moment of her disappearance, Pat's voice has become real, guiding him to Utila, where she had accepted a summer internship to study whale sharks. Once there, he meets several characters who describe his sister as a very different girl from the one knows. Does someone have a motive for wanting her dead? Determined to get to the bottom of Pat's disappearance, Luke risks everything, including his own life, to find the answer.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I was intrigued by the plot of The Voices Inside My Head for many reasons. First of all, it is a young adult murder mystery, which is a subplot that I haven't explored much of. Also, it takes place on the island of Honduras, and I like reading novels that don't take place in America because it gives a new scenery. Unfortunately, this book fell a little short for me. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">First of all, I found the protagonist, Luke, annoying. At some points in the novel, he was obsessed with finding his sister and finding out what happened to her on this mysterious island. And then he will do a complete 360 and start obsessing over drugs, alcohol or Reesie. This really got on my nerves because I couldn't see Luke's rational at certain times in the book. All of the other characters fell flat for me. I didn't have one character that I really enjoyed reading about, all of them were just meh for me. I typically can find at least one character that I end up really liking/loving, but not in this novel. All of the main characters were flat and one-dimensional, and all of the relationships were extremely sudden and didn't have a rhyme or reason to them. This made the book unrealistic, in my opinion. You wouldn't just automatically befriend some random drunk on the boat to the island, would you?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Also, as much as I found the plot intriguing, it was extremely unrealistic. Honestly, this type of investigation between three teenagers would not occur in real life. Sure, it was fast-paced and enjoyable, but extremely unrealistic.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I really enjoyed the setting of this novel. I had the opportunity to go to Honduras on my first cruise that I went on a few years back, but unfortunately it was raining so hard that I couldn't go and explore. Like I mentioned before, not very many novels take place outside the United States so it was refreshing to read a novel that was set on a Caribbean island (especially since the area is one of my favourites).</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Overall, this book was enjoyable but nothing that I will remember for the rest of my life. It wouldn't be a book that would automatically come to mind when recommending books to people. It was just... meh. That's the best way to explain how I felt about this novel.</span></span></span>Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-71179223706805329502014-05-19T16:39:00.003-07:002014-05-19T16:39:58.390-07:00Bout of Books 10.0 WRAP UP<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both;">
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Books completed:</span> </div>
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- Fever by Lauren DeStefano</div>
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- No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace</div>
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- The Voices Inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw</div>
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- Sever by Lauren DeStefano</div>
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- Hopeless by Colleen Hoover</div>
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- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn</div>
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- Me Before You by JoJo Moyes</div>
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<b>Books Started: </b></div>
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The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons</div>
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<b>Total pages read: </b>2,176</div>
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<b>Total Page GOAL: </b>2,000 (COMPLETED)</div>
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<b>Thoughts/Notes:</b> Bout of Books was a success! My goal for the week was to finish 5 books and I ended up finishing 5 books, and I surpassed that by 2 books! I also achieved my goal of 2,000 pages with some to spare. I was able to eliminate a lot of books off my TBR pile this week and will be continuing doing that in this upcoming week because I am participating in another read-a-thon!</div>
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How was your reading week? Did you hit your goals? Tell me all about it!</div>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-9186146452699724402014-05-15T18:35:00.001-07:002014-05-15T18:36:13.279-07:00Bout of Books 10.0 DAY 3 + 4 Update! I HIT ONE OF MY GOALS<div align="center">
<a href="http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="Bout of Books"><img alt="Bout of Books" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWbJJz6sVhD-wwvbUiSDucWmv3csrhTTfNPyC9V10FcVAuVjB5LNX8aTJa80ybXMdItBD7V4rIQdYkXV4pHDbjERPA8pKpFXbBLyDWdLegow6QT-0dAydow47wmSuYdG6Gc_jp7mkAxjV/s200-no/BoB10-200x200.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day #</span> 2</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Currently reading:</span> </div>
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- The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons (Started readathon @ page 327, those pages will NOT be counted towards my page goal) <b>CURRENTLY ON PAGE 350</b></div>
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- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn <b>CURRENTLY ON PAGE 48</b></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Books completed:</span> </div>
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- Fever by Lauren DeStefano</div>
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- No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace</div>
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- The Voices Inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw</div>
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- Sever by Lauren DeStefano</div>
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- Hopeless by Colleen Hoover</div>
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<b>Pages read since last update: </b>376</div>
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<b>Total pages read: </b>1,685</div>
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<b>Total Page GOAL: </b>2,000 (84% complete)</div>
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<b>Thoughts/Notes:</b> I hit my goal of reading 5 books this week! I am extremely proud of myself, because this is a lot better than I did at the YearAThon last week. I decided to put these two updates together because I missed yesterday's. I though I had read a lot more pages than I actually did, but I'm still proud of myself because I managed to finish a book and hit one of my goals. The next goal that I am hoping to hit is the 2.000 page goal, which I am well on my way to achieving.</div>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-17741083608407757772014-05-13T17:55:00.003-07:002014-05-13T17:55:50.302-07:00Bout of Books 10.0 DAY 2 UPDATE + Books I'm Looking Forward To!<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both;">
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day #</span> 2</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Currently reading:</span> </div>
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- The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons (Started readathon @ page 327, those pages will NOT be counted towards my page goal) <b>CURRENTLY ON PAGE 350</b></div>
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- Hopeless by Colleen Hoover <b>CURRENTLY ON PAGE 78</b></div>
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- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn <b>CURRENTLY ON PAGE 16</b></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Books completed:</span> </div>
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- Fever by Lauren DeStefano</div>
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- No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace</div>
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- The Voices Inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw</div>
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- Sever by Lauren DeStefano</div>
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<b>Pages read since last update:</b> 273</div>
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<b>Total pages read: </b>1,325</div>
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<b>Total Page GOAL: </b>2,000 (66% complete)</div>
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<b>Thoughts/Notes:</b> Today wasn't nearly as good as yesterday, but I did get a lot done! I finished my fourth book, SEVER by Lauren DeStefano, which means that I am only one book away from my 5 book goal. This means I may be upping that goal, but I'm not sure if I am going to be doing that yet. I will see when/if I hit the 5 book goal, because I'm still not sure what school is going to be like this week. At this rate, I honestly don't think that my goal is unrealistic! </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Books I'm Looking Forward To!</span></div>
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Today's challenge is to list some titles that I am looking forward to reading! For this, I decided to make a list of books that are high on priority to buy right now. These are the titles that I am most likely to put into my Amazon cart next! I have also linked the Goodreads page in case you would like to check these books out.</div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.559999465942383px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18049084-noggin?ac=1">Noggin by John Corey Whaley</a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15749186-to-all-the-boys-i-ve-loved-before?ac=1">To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han</a></span></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8909152-attachments?ac=1">Attachments by Rainbow Rowell</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18140047-love-letters-to-the-dead?ac=1">Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18053060-dorothy-must-die?ac=1">Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page</a></li>
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Did you do a Bout of Books update post? Leave it below!</div>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-3133515513463864102014-05-12T17:55:00.001-07:002014-05-12T17:55:06.736-07:00Bout of Books 10.0 DAY 1 Update + Challenge!<div align="center">
<a href="http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="Bout of Books"><img alt="Bout of Books" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWbJJz6sVhD-wwvbUiSDucWmv3csrhTTfNPyC9V10FcVAuVjB5LNX8aTJa80ybXMdItBD7V4rIQdYkXV4pHDbjERPA8pKpFXbBLyDWdLegow6QT-0dAydow47wmSuYdG6Gc_jp7mkAxjV/s200-no/BoB10-200x200.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day #</span> 1</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Currently reading:</span> </div>
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- The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons (Started readathon @ page 327, those pages will NOT be counted towards my page goal) <b>CURRENTLY ON PAGE 350</b></div>
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- Sever by Lauren DeStefano <b>CURRENTLY ON PAGE 192</b></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Books completed:</span> </div>
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- Fever by Lauren DeStefano</div>
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- No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace</div>
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- The Voices Inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw</div>
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<b>Pages read since last update:</b> 1,052</div>
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<b>Total pages read: </b>1,052</div>
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<b>Total Page GOAL: </b>2,000 (53% complete)</div>
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<b>Thoughts/Notes:</b> Awesome start so far if I do say so myself! Since I didn't set myself a TBR, it is hard to tell the amount of progress I have made but with my goal of reading 5 books this week... I think I'm doing pretty good! Only two more to go and since the YearAThon was a total bust I'm really hoping that this one will end up being a whole lot better! I'm proud that I went strong the first day because I'm not 100% sure if the rest of the week is going to be looking too good reading wise. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Today's Challenge: If You Like X, Try Y</span></div>
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This challenge is recommending similar books/authors to people! I decided I would give it a shot, but I'm not sure if I am going to be doing the rest of the week's challenges!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you like... Try...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sarah Dessen Jenny Han</span></div>
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This recommendation works anyway! If you like Jenny Han, try Sarah Dessen! They both write summery contemporaries and have similar writing styles.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you like... Try...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins/ Wither by </span><span style="font-size: large;">Divergent by Veronica Roth Lauren DeStefano </span>All three of these novels are dystopian, and I feel like if you like one, you'll like the other!</div>
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So that was me taking a shot at if you like x, try y! If you did this post, please leave it in the comments! I would love to see your recommendations.<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-71311877804793249342014-05-12T17:52:00.002-07:002014-05-12T17:52:58.368-07:00I'M PARTICIPATING IN BOUT OF BOOKS 10.0!<div align="center">
<a href="http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="Bout of Books"><img alt="Bout of Books" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWbJJz6sVhD-wwvbUiSDucWmv3csrhTTfNPyC9V10FcVAuVjB5LNX8aTJa80ybXMdItBD7V4rIQdYkXV4pHDbjERPA8pKpFXbBLyDWdLegow6QT-0dAydow47wmSuYdG6Gc_jp7mkAxjV/s200-no/BoB10-200x200.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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I know, I'm crazy, right? I have a massive TBR and really need to work through it, so I decided to particpate! I have no idea how much reading I will actually get done, but hey, it's worth a shot right? My day 1 wrap-up will be up in a few minutes, so watch out for that!Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-15212944076249591892014-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:002014-05-11T12:00:02.578-07:00Review: This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_vyfhOezf2JwAjyLB2x76NtH8W15ObO40x-CT5NNPKq0BYa-RHVn6JWaMcPP7vjS_SUHeqm74X0gK_1q555ROcuc6WdYqIX3OqDCu1hDnoizxNqeXhwpTXzcjNpHtKnMnABkTC-tKGQ/s1600/this+star+wont+go+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_vyfhOezf2JwAjyLB2x76NtH8W15ObO40x-CT5NNPKq0BYa-RHVn6JWaMcPP7vjS_SUHeqm74X0gK_1q555ROcuc6WdYqIX3OqDCu1hDnoizxNqeXhwpTXzcjNpHtKnMnABkTC-tKGQ/s1600/this+star+wont+go+out.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: January 28, 2014</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Dutton Juvenile</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: NA</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 5 out of 5</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 431</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">A collection of the journals, fiction, letters, and sketches of the late Esther Grace Earl, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16. Photographs and essays by family and friends will help to tell Esther’s story along with an introduction by award-winning author John Green who dedicated his #1 bestselling novel </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">The Fault in Our Stars </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">to her.</span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I'm going to say this now. I am having a difficult time reviewing this book, for the sole reason that the contents of it hit a soft spot in my heart. I am a huge fan of John Green, and it was him who introduced me to Esther Earl. I didn't know Esther while she was alive, although I wish I did. I will never have the opportunity to know who Esther was during her short life here on Earth, but I can celebrate that life just like many other Nerdfighters and John Green fans already do.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">For those of you who are wondering who Esther Earl is, she was an active member of Nerdfightaria and was a huge fan of John Green. Have you wondered who the mysterious Esther was who The Fault in Our Stars is dedicated to? You've found her.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">John Green wrote the introduction to this book, and Esther's parents, Lori and Wayne Earl, wrote little snippets throughout the novel and at the end, but this is Esther's book. Esther was an aspiring author but unfortunately, cancer won before she had the chance. And although Esther will never get to experience becoming a published author, she is now. I can not describe the feelings I have when I think about this. Because of Esther's parents and John Green, they have made Esther's dreams possible when she couldn't.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">This book had me crying from the first page. John Green opened up the book and I don't think anybody could have done justice to Esther's beautiful life like he did. Like I said, before I even flipped the first page I was bawling. You could tell that John really admired Esther and an incredible amount of emotion was seeping through his words. I also found myself sobbing during Wayne's parts specifically. Esther and Wayne really did have a special bond and you could feel this father's love for his passed child.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Although I never met Esther Earl, or knew of her while she was fighting her battle, she is no doubt one of the most beautiful souls I have ever been aware of. I hope that this review did this novel justice, because that is my worst fear. Despite being so emotionally attached to Esther (even previous to reading this book), I really did enjoy it for it's beauty and not just because of Esther.</span>Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-31106612658007026342014-04-06T12:00:00.000-07:002014-04-06T12:00:01.186-07:00Review: Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMbHYglGUEJgs0Y7F-ECochbuEf1jKHX04J413Owon1y5Qim2BU1OpoNGRRdut4hYTksCXr-6JjM1926liteqwXkG09XKCeru5ITu5cgXWlMSZTJir24a1DN-8zaD2nF5M5If-nqp6nU/s1600/orange+is+the+new+black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMbHYglGUEJgs0Y7F-ECochbuEf1jKHX04J413Owon1y5Qim2BU1OpoNGRRdut4hYTksCXr-6JjM1926liteqwXkG09XKCeru5ITu5cgXWlMSZTJir24a1DN-8zaD2nF5M5If-nqp6nU/s1600/orange+is+the+new+black.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: April 6th, 2010</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Speigel & Grau</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: NA</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 4 out of 5</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 298</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Adult</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><i>With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424—one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I'm not going to lie, the only reason I would have ever picked up this book in the first place was that I watched the Netflix original series show and had really enjoyed it. If you are one of those people who are going to be picking up this book because you have enjoyed the Netflix adaptation, I feel as though it is necessary to tell you that the book and the show are, in more ways than one, extremely different. They have the same base storyline - a seemingly good woman going to jail for a crime that she had committed ten years prior to when the story is taking place - but that's about where the similarities stop. Some of the characters have the same names and the same base story lines, but the show definitely took liberties with the storyline. The Netflix show is more, exciting I guess you could say.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I am not a memoir person. I'm sure you could have guessed that just by looking at the previous books that I have reviewed before. I'm having a little bit of difficultly trying to explain what exactly it is I felt about this book, because it's not the type of material I usually read. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">After saying that, while I was reading the book, a lot of the time I didn't feel like I was reading a memoir. I have this preconceived idea that memoirs are going to be about the author's tragic life and they are just trying to make the readers feel bad for them, and that is definitely not how I felt reading this book. To be completely honest, this could have been a fiction story based on the way that Kerman wrote it. I enjoyed it written that way - I didn't feel like she wrote it just to have this audience of people who feel bad for what happened to her. I could tell from the way Kerman wrote that she just wanted to tell her story with no strings attached. She just wanted to have her experience of being in a women's prison to be told.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Considering that this book takes place over an entire year of somebody's life - in prison nonetheless - the book is considerably short, and some parts were skimmed over and I wish that those parts of the story could have been explored more than they were. Some parts of the story I feel like Kerman just tried to rush through to get to the bigger parts of the story. The majority of the book take place before she enters prison and in the process of her getting out. I wish her experience in Danbury was explored a little more than they were.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I loved that a lot of the people in this book were really explored and that Kerman wasn't the main focus of this book the entire time. It was refreshing to hear a little bit of another person's story and not just about Kerman. I wish Nora's character was explored a little more, but it is understandable that it wasn't to protect her privacy.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Orange is the New Black was a very enjoyable memoir, especially for my first one. If it hadn't started watching the Netflix series (I absolutely CANNOT wait until June 6 for season 2 to premier) I don't think I would have ever picked this book up. I recommend it to fans of the show and to anybody who enjoys reading memoirs.</span></span></span>Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-78929681160195950562014-03-11T12:00:00.000-07:002014-03-11T12:00:03.514-07:00Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry<div class="separator tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglk4RrR1t7UBWOrc-NUE9xjdAfBKltgzv6V6wwOvnnm6id3L_txKSC1QXo9PTLE7y5PjC0EFh28BlqjbKrR6wVqhegjwsuXtWLFNm28BvaSzmOSd8hYU2KvfwhQAs1MVJ96AuOmlEnxqg/s1600/dare+you+to.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglk4RrR1t7UBWOrc-NUE9xjdAfBKltgzv6V6wwOvnnm6id3L_txKSC1QXo9PTLE7y5PjC0EFh28BlqjbKrR6wVqhegjwsuXtWLFNm28BvaSzmOSd8hYU2KvfwhQAs1MVJ96AuOmlEnxqg/s1600/dare+you+to.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: January 1, 2013</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Harlequin Teen</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: Pushing The Limits, 2</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 4 out of 5</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Source: Gift</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Edition: Hardcover</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 456</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 19px;">This is the third novel in a series. Although I do not purposefully include spoilers in my reviews, I may unintentionally include a spoiler from the previous books. If you have not read Pushing the Limits, I suggest you do not read this review.</span><br />
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<em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."</em><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></em><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....</em><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></em><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">"I dare you..."</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I'm not sure why, but this book took me longer to read than Pushing the Limits, but I enjoyed it just as much. I wasn't has connected to Beth as I wished I had been going into this book, but either way, it was still a really good read. Even with Beth's issues, I didn't find this novel as dark as Pushing the Limits was. In a way it almost felt like they were two separate stand-alone novels but in another way they were definitely very similar. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Ryan is the kind of character that I typically don't like reading about, but he is the exception. At the surface, he is the typical jock, but once you start reading you find that he is a lot more dynamic than that. Ryan and Beth are very different and they do not seem, at the surface, like they should be together. Even with this at the back of my mind, I found myself rooting for them the entire way during this novel. Their romance keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire novel, and those are the best romances.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Katie McGarry's writing style is.... perfect. There is literally no other way that I can describe it other than perfect. It is flawless, and there is nothing bad that I can say about it. I cannot wait for her to come out with more books because I will definitely read everything that she ever comes out with. I really enjoy how she crafts her novels together, and I cannot see myself not enjoying something that she comes out with.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Overall, I really enjoyed Dare You To and I cannot wait to devour Crash Into You!</span></span></span>Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-40610187202367301322014-01-01T12:00:00.000-08:002014-01-01T12:00:00.863-08:002014 Reading ChallengesA new year means a whole new set of reading challenges. Unlike resolutions, these are goals that seem a lot easier to maintain and keep. Through out 2014, I will be updating you on how my challenges are going and the progress I am making. If you want a more in depth view of my progress, you can click the Reading Challenges bar on the pages part of my blog and for each challenge I will have all of the books that I have read that falls under that challenge. Here are the challenges that I will be participating in 2014...<br />
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Dystopia Reading Challenge<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">Rules</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>></b> The challenge will run from <b>January 1, 2014</b> to <b>December 31, 2014</b>. Each month will have its own link form so you will be able to share your book reviews. You <b>do not</b> have to review the books you read to participate, but only those who read/reviewed at least one dystopian book will be able to participate in the giveaway (you can track your reading without the reviews with Goodreads, Shelfari etc.).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>></b> Books that count in this challenge must include any form of post-apocalyptic theme (book sites like Goodreads are good sources of genre information). The books <b>must </b>be <b>full-length</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>></b> All formats allowed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>> </b>Rereads allowed (but not the same book five times in a year!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>> </b>It does not matter whether it's a series or a stand-alone book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>> </b>If you are participating, grab the challenge button from below and post it on you blog. You can also make a post with the header (the code is also below). Please include the link back to this post so others will be able to participate as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>> </b>If you will participate, put the sign-up link to your blog post (about the challenge) or blog (for the button) directly into the linky below. Sign-ups will be open until <b>December 15, 2014</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>> </b>You do not have to list your books in advance, go and do as you please. Read as many as you want and whenever you want, as long as you have fun!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>> </b>Info about the giveaway will be available in December 2014.<br />> Do not cheat with books of other themes/genres/topics because I <b>do</b> check!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">Levels</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Level 1</i>: <b>Recruit </b>(1 to 6 books)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Level 2</i>: <b>Rebel </b>(7 to 12 books)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Level 3</i>: <b>Revolutionist </b>(13 to 18 books)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Level 4</i>: <b>Leader </b>(19+ books)</span></div>
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For this challenge, I am going to aim for the Recruit (1 to 6 books). I am going to begin low because I don't often read dystopia, hence why I am going the challenge!<br />
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Rewind Challenge<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Rules</span></h5>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There aren’t many rules for this challenge…but to clarify things, here they are:</span></div>
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<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Books read for the challenge need to have been published before January 1, 2014, but read and reviewed between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014.</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">ARC’s and galleys received in 2013 for books that will be published in 2014 DO NOT count.</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Books can be any format, any genre, and written for any age group – no restrictions!</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Reviews can be posted wherever you feel comfortable – your blog, Goodreads, Amazon, etc. To enter your review into the monthly prize draw, you must link to your review.</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Reviews do not have to be a certain length to be eligible.</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">You choose your own goals for this challenge! Please be sure to have your number somewhere on your goals post/page.</span></li>
</ul>
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My goal for this challenge is to read 5 books published in 2013 and before. I think I can do it!<br />
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Series Challenge<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>How It Works</b><br />To allow for the greatest level of flexibility, we've separated series into three categories: series started before 2014, series started in 2014, and series rereads.</span></div>
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<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Series started before 2014</b> are defined as series that you have started reading before Jan. 2014 and that you still have unread books to get current in (or finish) the series.</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Series started in 2014</b> are defined as any series that you start reading between Jan. and Dec. 2014, and the second book in the series must be published before December 2014.</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A series reread</b> is defined as books that are part of a series that were read before Jan. 2014 and that are reread between Jan. 2014 and Dec. 2014. A series reread does NOT have to include the full series.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: small;">For each category, there are different levels of seriousness about series that you can choose. Semi-serious is reading 1 to 6 series, seriously serious is reading 7 to 12 series, super seriously serious is reading 13 to 18 series, and seriously spectacular series star is reading more than 18 series.</span><br />
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I am going to aim low for this one because I tend to abandon my series, so I am going to aim to finish 1 to 6 series this year.<br />
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EBOOK Challenge<br />
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<span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.265625px;">Reading Challenge Details:</span></span></h3>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2014 – Dec 31, 2014.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">You can plan your books in advance or as you read them.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2014, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.265625px;">Levels:</span></span></h3>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Floppy disk – 5 ebooks</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">CD – 10 ebooks</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">DVD – 25 ebooks</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Memory stick – 50 ebooks</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Hard drive – 75 ebooks</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Server – 100 ebooks</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b3426; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.265625px;">Human brain – 150 ebooks</span></li>
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I am aiming for the CD level for this challenge, because I have been reading off my Kindle more often than I used to.<br />
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50 Book Challenge<br />
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This one is simple - read 50 books in a year. I have only been able to complete this once, I came close this year, though.<br />
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Back to Classics Challenge<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px;">In my opinion, a classic is a book that has endured for some reason ; therefore, <b>I am defining a classic as a book that was published at least 50 years ago. </b><b>Therefore, any book published after 1964 is ineligible. </b></span><b style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here are the rest of the guidelines:</span></b><span style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br />
<ul style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All books must be read in 2014. Books started prior to January 1, 2014 are not eligible. Reviews must be linked by December 31, 2014.</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">E-books and audiobooks are eligible! Books can count for other challenges you may be working on. However, books may NOT crossover categories <i>within this challenge</i>. <b>You may NOT count the same book twice for different categories in this challenge. </b></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you do not have a blog, you may link your review from Goodreads or other publicly accessible online format. </span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Please sign up for the challenge using the linky below BEFORE MARCH 1, 2014. Please link to your sign-up announcement post (if possible/applicable).</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You do not have to list your books prior to starting the challenge, but it is more fun that way :). You can always change your list at any time. You can read the books in any order (including mixing in the optional categories at any time).</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can decide to attempt the optional categories at any point (you can also bow out of the optional categories at any point as well).</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Please identify the categories you've read in your wrap-up post so that I can easily add up your entries for the prize drawing!</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px;"><b>And finally. . . . The 2014 categories: </b></span><b style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Required:</span></i></b><span style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<ol style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">A 20th Century Classic</span></b></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">A 19th Century Classic</span></b></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Classic by a Woman Author</span></b></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>A Classic in Translation</b> If English is not your primary language, then books originally published in English are acceptable. You could also read the book in its original language if you are willing and able to do so.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>A Wartime Classic</b> 2014 will be the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. Any book relating to a war is fine -- WWI, WWII, the French Revolution, the War of the Worlds -- your choice.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>A Classic by an Author Who Is New To You </b>This can be any author whose works you have not read before. It doesn't necessarily have to be an author you've never heard of. </span></li>
</ol>
<b style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Optional Categories:</span></i></b><span style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br />
<ol style="background-color: #e6ddd0; color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">An American Classic</span></b></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Classic Mystery, Suspense or Thriller</span></b></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>A Historical Fiction Classic. </b><i>This is any classic set at least 50 years before the time when it was written.</i> For example, Margaret Mitchell published<i>Gone with the Wind</i> 70 years after the end of the Civil War; therefore, it is considered a historical novel. <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> and <i>The Scarlet Letter </i>are also historical novels. However, older classics<i>set during the period in which they were written</i> are <b>not</b> considered historical; for example, the novels of Jane Austen.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>A Classic That's Been Adapted Into a Movie or TV Series. </b>Any period, any genre! This is practically a free choice category. However, it's a separate category than the required categories.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Extra Fun Category: Write a Review of the Movie or TV Series adapted from Optional Category #4. </b>This should be some kind of posting <i>reviewing the book read for the previous optional category above.</i> It can be any adaptation -- does not have to be adapted before 1964. For example, if you chose <i>Pride and Prejudice </i>as your the optional classic above, you could review any adaptation -- 1940, 1980, 1995, 2005, etc. These two optional categories go together, but this <b>must</b> be a separate blog posting -- no fair just mentioning it in the book review!</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I have been meaning to read more classics and I believe this is the perfect way to do it! My main goal is to complete the required categories and then if I can, get onto the optional ones. For this challenge, unlike my other ones, I will be making a set list that will soon be posted in my Reading Challenge tab, so check that out if you want to see what books I will be reading for this challenge.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #746c60; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Woo! There we have it! These are the year-long challenges I will be participating in the year of 2014. What challenges will you be participating in? Tell me in the comments below!</span></span></div>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-38666430207986759662014-01-01T03:30:00.000-08:002014-01-01T03:30:00.650-08:00*GIVEAWAY!* Humans of New York by Brandon StantonRecently I was on vacation in New York City, which is one of my favourite cities in the entire world. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of the Blog Humans of New York, and if you haven't, you can check it out <a href="http://www.humansofnewyork.com/">here</a>. It is a blog in which a photographer, named Brandon Stanton, goes around New York City photographing the people that he comes across. He then interviews them and to go along with each photograph he has either a little story that these people tell him or a funny line that he comes up himself. I had the pleasure of attending a book signing that he held while we were in the city. Although we did not get the chance to talk to him because the signing was running late, he was really nice and signed our copies. AND, we picked up a signed copy to giveaway to you guys! <a href="http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/">Twin Spin</a> and I will be giving away one signed copy to one of you. This is open to US and Canada only. <br />
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<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null"><a _553k="" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0a47330/" id="rc-0a47330" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0a47330/</a>" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</span></span><br />
<script _553k="" href="http://d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js" rel="nofollow" src="//<a class=" target="_blank">d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js</a>"></script>Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-33691556741901643522013-12-23T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-23T12:00:04.013-08:00Review: Endless by Amanda Gray<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQ-UNgfOEDpVp1Mw2o9d5tgN1UJ4tZsetriFoMOKFHhrar2jAmF7HhIRBVLfSW3Lv6OIJndVLm_82xajieh2rncxjYZ1rxxrBsjprZZ8RoaPPLCufMTlDfKOt3jtwK31mtguJLJlhzqk/s1600/endless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQ-UNgfOEDpVp1Mw2o9d5tgN1UJ4tZsetriFoMOKFHhrar2jAmF7HhIRBVLfSW3Lv6OIJndVLm_82xajieh2rncxjYZ1rxxrBsjprZZ8RoaPPLCufMTlDfKOt3jtwK31mtguJLJlhzqk/s320/endless.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: September 10, 2013</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px;">Month9Books</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: ?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 4 out of 5</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Source: Netgalley</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Edition: eBook</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 384</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Jenny Kramer knows she isn't normal. After all, not everybody can see the past lives of people around them.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">When she befriends Ben Daulton, resident new boy, the pair stumble on an old music box with instructions for “mesmerization” and discover they may have more in common than they thought. Like a past life.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Using the instructions in the music box, Ben and Jenny share a dream that transports them to Romanov Russia and leads them to believe they have been there together before. But they weren't alone. Nikolai, the mysterious young man Jenny has been seeing in her own dreams was there, too. When Nikolai appears next door, Jenny is forced to acknowledge that he has travelled through time and space to find her. Doing so means he has defied the laws of time, and the Order, an ominous organization tasked with keeping people in the correct time, is determined to send him back. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">While Ben, Jenny and Nikolai race against the clock - and the Order - Jenny and Nikolai discover a link that joins them in life - and beyond death.</span></blockquote>
I am going to begin this review by saying that I really hope there is a second book in this series coming in the near future, because it ended in a definite cliffhanger. I would love to continue Jenny, Nikolai, Ben and Tiffany's unique journey.<br />
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I really enjoyed this book, if you couldn't tell by my above statement. I am not going to lie, the first thing that enticed me to read this novel was the beautiful cover. I know you are not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but in this case it is a good thing and the insides of the book lived up to my expectations based on the cover image.<br />
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I fell in love with Nikolai the minute he was introduced. Jenny did get on my nerves in select parts of the book because I felt like she relied on Nikolai too much but I definitely liked them as a couple. Time travel is a subject that not a lot of young adult novels hit and I enjoy reading these types of novels from time to time. <br />
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The plot was well developed and there weren't holes in the story, which is hard to come by with such a unique and complicated storyline. I never felt like there was something key missing (other than when the story was supposed to have something missing). It felt truly mysterious in a not annoying kind of way.<br />
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I definitely say you should pick up Endless. I really enjoyed reading it and when I really started getting into the story line, it took me no time at all to read it.Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-90555994741545320222013-12-23T09:36:00.002-08:002013-12-23T09:36:52.805-08:00Top 10 Books I've Read in 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today is the first of 5 days of looking back on the books that we read this year. This is where we share bookish lists for the next 5 days! This is the perfect way to close out 2013 and this reading year. These are the top 10 books that I have read in 2013! Here we go!</div>
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To pick these 10, I made a list of all the books I read this year with a rating of 4 stars and above. I had over twenty. All of the books left I gave a 5 star rating, except 1. Here are my final 10! (These are in no particular order).</div>
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A fluffy romance set in my favourite city? You can count me in. Dash and Lily were wonderful characters to read about and kept me flipping the pages to see how their love story was going to continue.<br />
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I've always enjoyed a good dark contemporary novel and that is exactly what this book was. It kept me flipping the pages and the ending totally surprised me. I love it when books shock me in the end, because normally I'm pretty good at figuring out the end.<br />
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I guess you could say that I had a David Levithan kind of year, because you will see him come up three separate times on this list. This was the first and only book that I have read by him alone and let me tell you, it won't be the last. His writing style is unique to him and not like many other authors in the Young Adult market.<br />
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See? I told you. I first picked this book up because John Green is my all-time favourite author. This book is a lot different from his other works, in my opinion. It's a lot lighter read and I liked seeing something different from him. Not to mention that this book has some of the best supporting characters, like, ever.<br />
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I'm cheating a little bit with this one, but I mean... technically it's all the same! I was late hopping on the bandwagon with this one and now I'm knocking my head against the wall because of it. Why did I wait so long to read these books? I am anxiously awaiting to read the rest of the series (I'm really hoping I get the third one for Christmas!).<br />
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This book... wow. It gave me all the feels. It is the definition of emotional roller coaster. It's funny, beautiful, heartbreaking, happy, everything you could ever want in a contemporary. I fell in love with the characters, and that ending! Ugh. Not spoiling anything, but, GAH!<br />
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Again, late on the bandwagon with this one but it was just as good as everybody said it was! I have wanted to read it since it came out and didn't get my hands on it until recently. As awful as the situation is, it was so interesting to read about. Team Linden!</div>
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2013 was my year of catching up on books that I have been meaning to read, and this novel was no exception. This book was heartbreaking and I couldn't help but just sit down and plow through the entire book in one sitting. I need to pick up the second book because I need to know what happens to these characters!</div>
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I was hesitant going into this series because I am not a fan of witch-type books. When my friend picked up the series and loved it, I knew that it was a sign that I needed to see what the hype of this book was about. O M G. That is all I am going to say about that.</div>
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Finishing off my top 10 with the book that I just finished. Wow. One of the best contemporaries that I have read, ever, and that's saying something because I have read a lot of them. I fell in love with the characters and their stories were beyond interesting.</div>
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There it is! My top 10 of 2013! If you made a post of your top 10, please leave it in the comments below and I will be sure to check it out.</div>
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Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-77530422119407451842013-12-15T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-15T12:00:02.556-08:00Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: October 22, 2013</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: Divergent, 3</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 4 out of 5</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Source: Bought</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Edition: Hardcover</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 526</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">This is the third novel in a series. Although I do not purposefully include spoilers in my reviews, I may unintentionally include a spoiler from the previous books. If you have not read Divergent and Insurgent, I suggest you do not read this review.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Just like 99.999% of bookish people around the world, I had been waiting what felt like a million centuries for this novel to come out. I read both Divergent and Insurgent almost immediately after they had come out, so I could not wait to get my hands on Allegiant. I do have to say that while I was beyond excited, I was also slightly sceptical going into this book. The hype had been so high that I had my fingers crossed that it was going to live up to the hype.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Let's just say it did. I am going to warn you now, I may get a little more fangirl-y in this review than in my others.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I'm sure, if you have been around my blog for awhile, you know how I feel about Tris and Four. They are one of my favourite bookish couples so it's always a joy getting to read about them. The Divergent series, I think anyway, have some of the best supporting characters. This is something that I like about the whole dystopian genre in general, they tend to have great background characters. I like how well developed they are and you can tell that Roth took time to not only figure out who the main characters were as people, but the supporting characters also. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Another thing that the Divergent series is know for is the world that it is set in. In this novel especially, you really get to explore the world that these characters are living in and how corrupted it is. It's scary to think that this may be the direction that society is going, yet it is so interesting to read about because it's not the world that we live in.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Let's not even talk about the ending. I wish it could have ended differently, but it was something that now, looking back on the series after reading them all, needed to happen and I don't see how the book could have ended any other way.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I really enjoyed reading this book. I could not put it down, yet I didn't want it to end because then the reality that the story of these characters that I have grown to love would be over. I guess that's something that comes with being a reader, we grow to love characters and follow them on this journey but at some point the journey has to end. Some journeys are gruelling and not enjoyable, and then there are some like Divergent. The kind that always keep you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what was going to happen next. I would like to thank Veronica Roth for taking me on this journey, because without it, I don't think I would be the same reader that I am today.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><b>About the Author</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)</span></span>Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-91144422378034710652013-12-14T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-14T12:00:02.543-08:00Swoon Worthy Saturday<span style="background-color: #f1efe9; color: #6e6c6a; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Saturday is a day for swooning. Swoon Worthy Saturday is a weekly meme where in we present a fictional boy who has swept us off our feet, given us butterflies, made our heart do acrobatics and driven us absolutely crazy!</span><br />
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I'm going to go stereotypical with this one and choose Mr Augustus Waters from John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. He is one of my favourite male, actually, he's one of my favourite characters of all time. He's not your typical male swoon worthy character, he's nerdy in a super adorable way. I'm not going to lie, I put Augustus on my Christmas wish list this year. I'm expecting my own Augustus to be under the tree this year.<br />
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I'm excited to see Ansel Elgort's portrayal of Augustus. I'm torn on the casting, because at first I did not agree with who they casted but when I saw photos of him filming with Shailene Woodley, I felt all the feels. I guess only time will tell, when <i>finally</i> a John Green book becomes a movie! I'm beyond excited but extremely nervous, also. Movies tend to usually never begin to compare to the books so I'm scared that the movie will not live up to my expectations. John's vlogs of the filming and him talking about his experience with the film makes me hopeful that this movie will turn really good.<br />
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What are your thoughts on the TFiOS movie? What do you think of Augustus' casting? Leave your opinions in the comments below. Also, tell me your bookish swoon worthy male or leave your Swoon Worthy Saturday in the comments below!Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-54695900088904536582013-12-13T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-13T12:00:03.589-08:00Flashback Friday<div class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #f1efe9; color: #6e6c6a; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> Join me in highlighting books from our reading pasts! Pick any book you’ve read, published at least five years ago, and write a blog post about why it’s so special to you. Link up and check out other bloggers’ favorite flashback books.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Charlie is a freshman.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The Rocky Horror Picture Show</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.</span> </blockquote>
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<em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The Perks of Being a Wallflower</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.</span></blockquote>
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<i>The Perks of Being A Wallflower</i> is a very important to me, and my reading past. I first read this book in the fourth grade, when I first started getting into Young Adult fiction. I then reread it in the eighth grade, right as I was getting read to embark in the first year of high school, which is what Charlie is going through in this novel. <i>The Perks of Being A Wallflower </i>is one of my favourite books of all time, and it is a book that I think everybody, at some point in their life, should read.Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-51106708068233608152013-12-12T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-12T12:00:03.002-08:00What's Next? Thursday<span style="background-color: #f1efe9; color: #6e6c6a; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Description: Can’t decide what to read next? Make a post with 3-5 books you want to (or have to!) read soon and link up every Thursday at IceyBooks, so your readers can help you decide by casting votes!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6e6c6a; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I am leaving the next book I read after I return from my vacation up to <b>YOU </b>guys! I am going to be posting three in the comments below and you can vote in the comments which one you would like to see me read and review next. Vote away!</span></span><br />
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These are the three that I am letting you guys vote one! Pick which one you would like a review for next!</div>
<span style="color: #6e6c6a; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-28084547592332530942013-12-11T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-11T12:00:06.262-08:00Wishlist Wednesday<div class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #f1efe9; color: #6e6c6a; font-family: Vollkorn, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it’s entirely up to you), that we can’t wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.</span></blockquote>
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I am a huge fan of Sarah Dessen and I can not wait to get my hands on her newest! I wish I had the opportunity to get it sooner but it was on my Christmas list, so we'll see if I get it!<br />
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Leave your Wishlist Wednesday in the comments below!Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-45953521084855153552013-12-10T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-10T12:00:04.028-08:00Teaser Tuesday<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="color: #515151; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" style="color: #515151; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">MizB</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #515151; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> at </span><a href="http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #767568;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Should Be Re</span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" style="color: #767568; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ading</span></span></span></a><span style="color: #515151; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">. Here are the rules:</span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Grab your current read</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Let the book fall open to a random page</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ve</span> given!</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Be careful to not give any spoilers... you don't want to ruin the book for everyone!</li>
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<span style="color: #515151; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Title: Endless</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #515151; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Author: Amanda Gray</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #515151; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><i>the remnants of the dream drifted through Jenny's consciousness. She knew that it was morning, could feel the press of golden light against her closed eyelids, but she wasn't ready to let go of the dream.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #515151; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">I hope you enjoyed! Please post your Teaser Tuesday in the comments below.</span></span></div>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-60185317049411228042013-12-09T12:00:00.000-08:002013-12-09T12:00:01.344-08:00Review: Horse Sense by Lapo Melzi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: October 14, 2013</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Irbis Books</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 2 out of 5</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Source: Author</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Edition: eBook</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 242</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Middle Grade</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">There’s nothing easy about being an eleven year old boy, especially for Jamie. As he takes the unsteady steps into adolescence, his days of knowing who his friends are and trusting the adults in his life are numbered. The only thing Jamie can really count on in this changing world is the love of his best friend, a horse named Acorn. Jamie and Acorn’s friendship has a magic that comes once in a lifetime—but the bullies around them want to rip that to shreds. Can their kindred connection survive as Jamie strives to carve out his identity?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"...Jamie has a lovely story, and Lapo brings it out and writes it perfectly. This is a really good book for anyone of any age to read. Since I know people who have been through this, Lapo did a really good job on getting everything put together, without over doing the subject or making it over sensitive for readers. I give the book 5 stars." -- Serenity Sheild on the Lovely Reads Blog</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"...Every child that has ever been faced with not fitting in should read this book. The young budding bullies out there could also benefit from a read." -- Jackie Anton, author of the Award Winning Series Backyard Horse Tales.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I will begin with saying that I did receive this novel from the author in exchange for a honest review. When I first read the email from the author asking if I would like to review it, I was immediately drawn to the storyline. Typically, I enjoy reading books about real life experiences, including bullying, because I find it relate able. When I began reading it, though, I was shown that I couldn't relate to this novel as much as I thought I could.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I did not enjoy the characters in this novel. They were one-dimensional, and the only personality they did have were all whiny, clingy, and annoying. I especially found this with Jamie, the protagonist. And, the way that the characters communicated to each other was not believable. They spoke way too formally, when it was an extremely informal conversation. The way they were talking to each other would not be what people would say in real life.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I did enjoy reading about Jamie's relationship with Acorn, his horse. I know first hand what it is like to have such a deep connection with an animal, and I don't read a lot about relationships such as these. It was refreshing to read about their friendship.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I wish I could give this novel a better review, but I simply can't because I just didn't enjoy it.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>About the Author</b></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZMWT9-pelLFz9trEpn0tPeR-noRVsrwEBdjnNKOts2RbsZWuDzTSR-fPdEU2Ousc8VoSQAIv3xfpWgqq5aB5hqHZctOdr6m_jVfzTcbfqO3w6AIjc_EfN_9SHL9HAHNKjNbJDgq-CG8/s1600/5808533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZMWT9-pelLFz9trEpn0tPeR-noRVsrwEBdjnNKOts2RbsZWuDzTSR-fPdEU2Ousc8VoSQAIv3xfpWgqq5aB5hqHZctOdr6m_jVfzTcbfqO3w6AIjc_EfN_9SHL9HAHNKjNbJDgq-CG8/s200/5808533.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Lapo Melzi is a poet, writer and filmmaker. He grew up in a little town in the north of Italy and went on to study writing and filmmaking in New York. He received his MFA from renowned NYU Tisch School of the Arts and now spends his time between the United States and Italy.</span></blockquote>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-60492756753666584702013-12-02T16:12:00.002-08:002013-12-02T16:12:45.474-08:00Musing Mondays #1Hello and welcome to my first Musing Mondays! This is a weekly meme where MizB from <a href="http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/">Should Be Reading</a> posts a question and you discuss it! This week's question is...<br />
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<strong style="background-color: #f9f7f5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Do you have a preference between “person” in the books you read? Do you prefer third-person to first-person? Or don’t you care? And, why?</strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Generally, I enjoy reading first person a lot more than any other. I find third-person very difficult to do right, so I usually gravitate towards novels that are written in first-person over any other. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Very short post this Monday, but I hope you enjoyed! Comment down below with a link to YOUR Musing Mondays, I would love to see them!</span></span><br />
<br />Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710310611861848371.post-50380110759652348802013-11-07T12:00:00.000-08:002013-11-07T12:00:00.597-08:00Review: 4 to 16 Characters by Kelly Hourihan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYxkF-sekJajxVfqEK9d2zrSpKXHJ3c1Z1-5-kOYXzU4yADfU1GCfswvkRfjzvXt1-iaLqR5CP3y2SR2QWG_bhyphenhyphen0251QbsZnzA55cgV03VXmp_U9VCkYmQ76GNHFtg2vQlAAOv2HDZXE/s1600/18273649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYxkF-sekJajxVfqEK9d2zrSpKXHJ3c1Z1-5-kOYXzU4yADfU1GCfswvkRfjzvXt1-iaLqR5CP3y2SR2QWG_bhyphenhyphen0251QbsZnzA55cgV03VXmp_U9VCkYmQ76GNHFtg2vQlAAOv2HDZXE/s320/18273649.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Released: November 7, 2013</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Publisher: Lemon Sherbert Press</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Series: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Star Rating: 3 out of 5</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Source: Netgalley</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Edition: Netgalley ARC</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Page Amount: 314</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Age Group: Young Adult</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Fifteen-year-old Jane Shilling’s best friends don’t know her real name. In fact, they don’t know anything about her at all. Jane’s life has collapsed in the last few years; following the death of her mother, her father turned to drinking, and Jane is reeling from the double blow. To escape, Jane devises a number of online personas, each with a distinct personality, life history, and set of friends. But things become trickier when she finds herself drawing close to some of her online friends, and winds up struggling with the question of how to maintain a real friendship while masquerading as a fake person. With the help of Gary, a socially awkward classmate and competitive Skeeball player who is Jane’s only offline friend, and Nora, her therapist, Jane begins to sift through her issues. The only catch is that that involves taking a long, hard look at what her life’s like when the computer is shut off, and that’s a reality she’s been fighting for years.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">One of the main reasons I picked this book up from Netgalley is because it was one that you could automatically load right onto your Kindle and I wanted a cute, contemporary books to balance out all of the paranormal/fantasy books I have been reading lately. Then upon reading the synopsis I was hooked. Even before reading the first page, I connected with Jane with our love for pop culture. I, too, am guilty for 'fangirling' over certain television shows, bands, and celebrities. I knew this was a book I wanted to read because I somewhat connected with the story line (minus the fake persona).</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I did not enjoy this novel as much as I thought I would. I went into this novel thinking that I was going to love it and this was going to become one of my favourite contemporary books of all time. To be fair, I probably should not have gone into this book with that impression. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">This book could have knocked about one hundred pages of story and it would have, in my opinion, been better. While I was reading, I found myself thinking 'this is unnecessary , 'this is pointless', and 'didn't we talk about this three pages ago?'. Also, the characters would constantly be like 'you still there?? omg you left me' thirty seconds after sending their previous IM message. I mean, really? </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I didn't enjoy Jane as a main character. She was very one dimensional, in my opinion. I think this has something to do with we explored Rachel's character more than Jane's, so I never really felt a connection with her at all. Gary was character I had a soft spot for, though. He was quirky and cute. He was always there for Jane, even when she pushed him away numerous times through the book. He was loyal and I really enjoyed that about him. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I do believe this novel was enjoyable, despite the little problems that I had with it. I enjoyed reading it and if you're looking for a cute Young Adult novel that teens can relate to, I do recommend th</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">is one.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>About the Author</b></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJ3QwgTNquf851nb01thut2qVrR7fAvAIJq66LqLk_HrJuLoDXrd94KtWoAq6iK44RJI6VrLzrCZGT0DOpUyAS8vlPPseP4uLbjjWnzqLWpDQQdLgLbk-dJ06P3Vv-o4UogyB_P6TuUI/s1600/kelly3-300x265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJ3QwgTNquf851nb01thut2qVrR7fAvAIJq66LqLk_HrJuLoDXrd94KtWoAq6iK44RJI6VrLzrCZGT0DOpUyAS8vlPPseP4uLbjjWnzqLWpDQQdLgLbk-dJ06P3Vv-o4UogyB_P6TuUI/s200/kelly3-300x265.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5f4f0; color: #363f48; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px;">Kelly Hourihan is an author of YA novels. In 2004, she graduated from Harvard with an A.B. in English. She’s been trying to strike a balance between writing and “jobs that pay the rent” since then. In 2009, she was selected as the </span><a href="http://www.bpl.org/general/associates/priorchildrensres.htm" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.25s ease-in; background-color: #f5f4f0; color: #e47171; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.25s ease-in;">Children’s Writer in Residence at the Boston Public Library</a><span style="background-color: #f5f4f0; color: #363f48; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px;">. Kelly lives in Boston with her wife and two cats. </span> </blockquote>
Sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10103696594873021746noreply@blogger.com1