Vas happening?!?

If we have any One Direction fans out there then you'll probably know that's what Zayn says in a lot of their youtube videos (M I know the look you're giving me, DON'T JUDGE ME!!!) At least I'm not one of those girls who are completely obsessed with them and get mad when they get a girlfriend. Plus I'm not convinced I'm in a relationship with them so it's all good. ANYWHO, I told M I was going to post last weekend, but as you all can see I didn't exactly get around to it :p This won't be a long post, but I have exciting news so let's get to it!
1. I watched this super adorably awkward movie called Return to Me and I absolutely adored it >.<
2. I re-read This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen and was again reminded of how much I love the main male characters in Dessen books <3
3. The exciting news is this: a book that I've recently read my 55 books list!!! It was a book that always caught my eye when I went to the public library and always debated on checking out. So after M's and I last book swap I checked out Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson and usually it's not the kind of book I would go for, but I was absolutely thrilled by it. I guess because it had some amazing aspects such as:

• a road trip :D
• romance
• humor
• over coming obstacles/doing what K wants to happen <3

It was amazing and it makes number 6 on my list of 55.
So now I must bid you all a farewell until next time *tips hat*

book swap numero cinco

setting: insanely dead/quiet library computer lab.
song: none, as of now. (this may change as i hate the sound of silence....hehehe simon and garfunkel anyone?)
ANNNNDDDD GO!
why hello there! So first off I guess I should apologize for my lack of posts. i've been pretty busy lately and currently our internet/cable is not on so that means no posts. however i'm posting now so we're good right? please? okay good. let's move on. i got the book gift from the sea by anne morrow lindbergh for the last book swap. my opinion of it you ask? well, i'm not entirely sure yet...my feelings kind of contradict each other. i loved the book, but at the same time disliked it (of course I didn't hate it because i did love it also...confusing? yeah well that's me). anyway i loved the gist of the book. it felt sorta informative, but very helpful if you're struggling with life. it was one of those books where it helps push you along in life no matter what your current situation is. i'm not sure if M agrees with that, but that's just how i read it *shrugs* however, i didn't like the book because i had to actually focus fully on it. i know that sounds weird because you're supposed to focus on any book you read, but for this book i felt like staying on task was much more difficult. i'm not sure why...maybe it was the timing (my family just moved so that kind of takes a lot of your time). i think it was more of a me thing then the book. chances are that at some point i'm going to re-read it and most likely come up with a totally different perspective on it. so you guys should look out for that post in the future. now throwing the keyboard over to M (not literally of course).
sorry, i'm a perfectionist. my apologies. (directed at K, not the general populus, although you guys sorta deserve that apology too...) anyway, in response to K's review of Gift From the Sea, i would just like to say that it's been at least four or five years since i last read that book, so i have no way of knowing today what my opinions would be. i simply gave you this book for the swap because i wanted to know your opinion. it was probably a poor choice seeing as how i normally like to make absolutely sure a book is top-notch before handing it over to someone as critical about literature, but honestly the night before the swap i was staring at my bookshelf wondering which book i would give her and had no clue. therefore, i grabbed Gift From the Sea without another thought. needless to say, i probably won't be doing that again. as for the book i was supposed to read, i did read it this time! YAY! however, i'm pretty sure i already blogged about it...for a refresher, click here and go down to the "BOOK SWAP ALERT" bullet point. i've come to the conclusion that Susane Colasanti just isn't for me. also, Deb Caletti is very hit or miss with me. For example, i loved The Nature of Jade, but hated The Secret Life of Prince Charming (i couldn't even finish it). Also, i had mixed feelings about Wild Roses, although i still recommend it to K simply because i want to hear her take on it. I tried to read The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, but got to about the second chapter and quit. i honestly can't remember my reasoning at the time. however, i decided to give her another shot and while at a local bookstore (i think that was last week?) i picked up Stay by Ms. Caletti. we'll see how that goes once i get around to reading it. also, during said trip i grabbed One Night That Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt. i had previously read The Secret Life of Devon Delaney and Two Way Street by her and loved them both, so i took a chance. (also, the back cover and inside flap were very convincing AND it was only like 3 dollars...i know i'm weak) however, before i can start reading my new acquisitions, i have to finish reading all the library books sitting in a pile at my house (including a certain Cassandra Clare novel....i'll get around to it). however (wow this is a lot of howevers), i'm currently reading 1984 by George Orwell (such a creep) and it has to be done by wednesday. soooo i've been reading nothing else since i started it about a week ago and i keep procrastinating and putting it off. i'm currently at page 160ish out of 300. yeah, i'm really gonna have to step it up which brings up the point of WHY ARE WE POSTING THIS SO EARLY IN THE MORNING?? well, i need the rest of the day to spend with my head in a book that i don't even like. oh, the irony. yup that's all.
okay first off i would just like to mention how freaking happy i am that M finally picked up city of bones by cassandra clare :D
oh and by the way M, ms. colasanti isn't for everyone and of course i respect your opinion on those two books. plus, your posts about them made me laugh sooooooo all is good in the world :) including world peace? no, but thanks for the effort.
now on to the swapping! i picked this book (not going to say the name yet. just bare with me) mainly because i read it and liked it. for the most part at least. then when i was scanning my bookshelf for a book to give to M for this swap i was hit with a huge problem. when someone has very similar taste in books as you it's pretty darn hard to find a book that they haven't read also :p (i hate this keyboard-random note for you guys). The book i was set on giving her for this swap was two way street...then I found out she read it..oh joy haha. anyway i came across this one and i have to know what her thoughts on it will be. i must warn M though that she may be able to guess what happens...not entirely sure, but she's pretty good at guessing so who knows? so without further ado i give you.....girl vs boy by yvonne collins and sandy rideout. i don't want to give anything away so i'm not going to say anything else about this book and wait to find out what M thinks. i'm really looking forward to one of her rants (good or bad). i'm rather confused at what M wants me to do so i'm going to keep typing like i have important stuff to say....la-de-da-lalalalala!!!!!!
ok enough of her rambling. on first glance (i was going to say first look, but that's the thing at Regal Cinemas "Regal First Look with a behind the scenes look at all the childrens movies you will never go watch!") i thought the guy on the cover looked like Nigel Barker "noted fashion photographer" in Tyra's words from ANTM (america's next top model). i'm still unsure if this is him or maybe he has a son?? who knows...anyway, i read the back and am intrigued. (i'm also kind of intrigued by the mix of interesting people here in the computer lab with us. as a sidenote let me outline them for y'all:

• to our right we have a middle aged man balding who's doing some internet research on books and seems to enjoy clearing his throat.
• next to him we have a woman in old fashioned headphones with eyes glued to the screen 
• to my left i've got a maybe 38 yr old man strawberry blonde hair checking his email
• next to him is a preteen boy with dark hair with white headphones in. while he's on the computer he doesn't really seem to be doing anything productive....he seems bored
• then we've got a man in his 50's maybe wearing something you might wear to the gym and typing using the hunt and peck method that is often popular with older generations.
• down the center aisle we have a kid...teenager? i think so (it's hard for me to tell at times) he was in my summer gym class. he's in our grade. i've got him pegged as an Owen type. musically inclined. carry on. now i'm intrigued with this fellow. anywho, he has light brown hair and appears to be very focused on whatever he's doing. i'm trying really  ****update: mr. 38 yr old male seems to be blogging same as us! if i could only figure out which blog, i would look it up just to be super creepy.*** hard not to look back at the guy too many times....yeah so let's just go on from here
• aren't there like 2 more people down the row? mhm, i thought you would want to give them a shot? no? i'm less discreet when it comes to turning around and glancing. you always seem like you're stretching or at least have some good reason for turning around. i on the other hand just come off as creepy. hahaha, okay point taken. so while she was typing that i pretended that i was trying really hard not to laugh and took in the crowd. next to the teenage boy there is an older lady...40ish? she has short red hair and glasses you would most likely see your grandmother wear...she seems pretty capable of handling modern day technology, but i can't really see her typing technique to justify this.
• **update: strawberry blonde 38 yr old is now reading about the amish? ummm ok then. he really is checking everything from Facebook to emails to the amish...**
• wow, two more people walked in...they're trying to make this difficult on me :p anywho, the next person i "checked out" is also an older fellow who if i do say so myself, rather creepy looking...friendly, but still kinda scary...left or right? uh, your right (very far down) middle aisle? yuppers. okay so M casually tried to look back, but it was a failed attempt...however, i admire the dedication. haha, she's trying to get a picture of him, but is not doing a great job of that either...i did get a good picture of K though! wow i really suck at surveiling people....well, the creepy guy seems to know what he's doing (looking up how to hide a body perhaps? no? too far? okay). he's balding & greying a bit in the front, but has his longish hair combed back I AM SCARED FOR MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! i finally got a good look at the dude and OMG. he looks like FILCH from HP!!!!!!!! what a creep! i agree with K about the whole "how to bury a body thing". wow. haha, to keep with the whole "silent" thing the computer lab has going i had to struggle really hard not to laugh at M's reaction of him. i totally agree though! he does look like Filch!!! that was a good description :)
• a 20-something yr old girl just left. we also have a new addition right behind us. a girl about mid to late twenties. we can't see her screen so we have no idea what kind of mischief she's getting into.
• also, next to Filch we have a 50-ish guy who's obviously aged well and has fully intact hair. no creeper tendencies so far. seems pretty normal. oops he's gone now. i did just realize though that we 2 teenage girls are kind of outnumbered. ummm this is the point where my brain does silly things and i start looking around for all the exits and possible weapons. i think the computer would be easy to lift and throw at someone's noggin...other than that we've got a decently heavy chair (i would know, i lifted it earlier). i think we'll be ok if strawberry blonde, Filch, and Mr. Throat-Clearer ever get together and hold us all hostage or something. i have a feeling Preteen and Owen and new mid twenties girl would join our cause and fight to the death. hopefully it doesn't come to that, though. wow, reading that would be another good reason of why and how we're friends. just thought i'd throw that out there.
• an older lady entered not too long ago. she has short hair (that was once a dark blackish color) that is pretty much all grey now (you can see the underlying dark color...i'm not crazy for knowing that :p). she too has glasses, but not as... grandma-ish? as the other lady's (who has now left the lab).
• now that my mind is on it, i can't stop thinking about this whole theoretical hostage situation. who would be the mastermind? do the 3 men know each other and just chose their spots apart from each other in order to appear as if they've never met? their varying ages also would reduce suspicion (except from me of course). my mind really should just stop daydreaming and carry on (my wayward son...sorry). K, wouldn't this be a really cool idea for a story?? wow, seriously? since when can you read minds and better yet why didn't you tell me?!?! hehehehe there are lots of things you don't know about me....muahahahah jk you know that's what people always say and they turn out to be super heroes....just saying....i assure you, the closest i've come to being a super heroe would be when i was about 6 i wore a snow white costume and it included a cape. that's it. sorry to disappoint. you haven't disappointed me entirely....i mean even at the age of 6 i'm pretty sure you make a better snow white than kristen stewart did...just saying. KRISTEN STEWART DOESN'T DESERVE TO HAVE THAT ROLE! i'm sorry but when you can't even show emotion, what's the point in acting?? ok onto the swap please. i think we're done creeping on our fellow labbers? we may have updates later on their status (not relationship....at least i don't think so. well we might see them change their facebook page or something, but other than that. oh whatever you know what i mean!).

oh yeah i was intrigued by the back cover of the book. First of all, it has to do with journalism. Check. Battle of the sexes. check. Anonymous columnist. check. (i've always wanted to do that...oh wait maybe i shouldn't disclose that because now K will know if the school newspaper ever gets an advice column or something.) however, K was right when she said i would probably be able to guess the ending. i already have my guesses. i just love being able to figure it out before the main character. (that was sarcasm, people. look alive!) i have a feeling this will be one of those books where i just want to hit the main character with a blunt object so that she/he comes to his/her senses and realizes that the person in front of them is the one for them. ARGHH. oh well. i'm reading it anyway because it sounds good. also, i've read stuff by these authors before. the entire Vivien Leigh Reid series. it was ok but not really my thing because she was kind of a stuck-up actress. not very relatable. if i wanted to read about stuck-up brats i would just read oh i don't know Gossip Girl. which i won't so dont get any ideas about a book swap in the future, K. however, underneath all the stuck-up-ness the main character really was likable and i enjoyed the one when she got to travel to Ireland. oh and there's a good romance that blossoms. if K ever feels like reading it i would still recommend it. **update: strawberry blonde amish lover is gone and at his formerly vacant computer is a 40yr old male with a baseball cap looking at....(he's clicking a bunch but the screen isn't changing...hmmmm) it looks like maybe an AOL home page? i honestly have no clue what he's doing so my guess is as good as yours. oh, but hey the page finally changed. his body is blocking what he's viewing, but it looks like a comment page...interesting...btw Throat Clearer left. wow, all 3 of our killers have left....hmmm suspicious. we now have two youngish looking guys where Filch was.

• well the one closest to us looks like he just left work (dress shirt& tie, check). he has short dark brown hair and is slumped in his chair like he just can't stand to do whatever it is he's doing...sucks for him.  he looks a lot like a guy that was in my Bib Lit class this past year. he was a senior. i'm not completely sure if this is him or not, but there's a good chance.
• next to MR. I HATE LIFE is another young looking guy who also looked like he just stepped off the "I have a job that requires me to look nice" train. if i do say so myself he is quite the looker ;) hehe, okay sorry i'll move on. ehh he's ok. i prefer MR. I HATE LIFE or Owen-prodigy myself. haha, duely noted :) well, mr. i look like i just left work guy also has dark brown hair
  (a bit longer than a buzz) and nicely tanned skin (i hate when people look freaking orange because they think that, that's tan...no you idiot that's "i just rolled around in a bag of doritos"..okay sorry i'm done) THIS COMPUTER SUCKS (or rather the keyboard sucks and the computer simply annoys me.) nicely put M. i honestly just want to smash this keyboard....but i don't want to pay for a new one so i'll leave it be. if we had been hostages i would have totally let you smash it over Filch's head. just saying...awww :) i feel flattered. thank you! ah! did i tell you about the time where i was having a sleepover at my friend's house (there was like four girls there-including me) and we thought there was a murderer in the house...granted we had just got done watching a scary movie, BUT there was foot steps upstairs like someone was creeping around and the next morning when we asked her parents about it they said they didn't leave bed that night (creepy). however, in the moment i was in a corner holding a rather heavy stool to beat the person with if they happened to come downstairs...see! i'm not the only one with an overactive imagination when it comes to murders and such. she grabbed the nearest weapon as i've been planning to do for the past hour. Oh and btw back to our evaluation of the guys in the room, please tell me i wasnt the only one that noticed the guy walking in front of us as we entered the library this morning. i wish i could tell you that, buuuuuuuuttttttttt i can't. i was not being very observant while entering this wonderful place....sorry? oh, darn. he was really cute. better than the selection in here, at least.

OH and i still have to give you a book! that would be really sad if we walked out of here and you still didn't have a book...wow. the book i chose for you i hope you haven't read yet. as stated earlier, we have a very similar taste in books so this might be possible. i've read this book about 3 or 4 times and each time it's as good as the first. a very predictable chick lit book, but worth it. so, i give you **WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT! i think we've got a rogue printer here that's just trying to mess with us.** anyway, before we both freaked out i was about to give you something...............*insert silent finger drumroll* Girl At Sea by Maureen Johnson. i love the girl's name and just the book as a whole. i normally save it for Spring break so i can read it on a beach somewhere, but you'll love it just the same. also, maureen johnson is awesome. i think you read my post about The Name of the Star a couple weeks ago and how i was freaking out about her and her awesome twitter account. she's the weirdest person you'll never meet. that's the only way i can describe her. however, that's not really reflected in this book.
well after reading the back of the book i must say that i'm looking forward to reading this book. the only book i've read by maureen johnson was 13 little blue envelopes and i wasn't a huge fan of it...however i won't hold it against this book. i'll get back to you with my opinion when i have come to a conclusion on how i feel about this novel. i kind of felt the same about 13 little blue envelopes, but there were parts of it that i really enjoyed. as a whole, though, i wasn't thrilled. well, i think we're about done here. unless K wants to do some more creeping...haha no i think i'm good. especially since i'm going to get the paper stuff to get a library card! :D  (yeah, i know. me not having a library card seems crazy. DON'T JUDGE ME!!!) i guess that's all for now. adios!
as in all book swap episodes, i must end the same way......
...........................beep.......................................................beep..................................................................................beep............................................................................................................................................

you know you're a freak when you'd rather read than watch the olympics

Song: Black Hole Sun- Soundgarden. Well, it's been close to two weeks since my last post and i've been doing some pretty serious reading and judging (not only books, but the performance of the Olympic athletes). When I last blogged, I hadn't yet started The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. So, that is where i will start and move onward from there. Ok? (If you're not ok with this, then I have some choice words for you including the fact that you should just stop reading now and get a personality :P )

• The Truth About Forever....This was either my second or third time reading this book and the last time i read it was probably 3 or 4 years ago. (If You Could Only See- Tonic) My point is that it's not one of the Dessen novels that i keep in my room and read every year, so I had forgotten a lot about it when K and I mentioned it at our book swap. So, i felt the need to check it out and do a quick re-read. I loved it. I don't remember enjoying that book as much the first 1 or 2 times. Wes is simply awesome as are most of Dessen's male characters. It had a decent but slightly lacking ending. (On a Plain- Nirvana) However, i do like the fact that Macy used to be a runner which is easy for me to relate to. Also, Kristy was a very fun character. However, it, like all Dessen books, had parts where i just wanted to reach out and shake the main character because they were acting stupid and isolating themselves from those they care about for whatever reason. (Mr. Jones- Counting Crows) This seems to happen a lot in Dessen novels: in Along For the Ride, Auden starts to like Eli and then she freaks out and isolates herself and dives into academics and her loser ex; in Keeping the Moon, Colie tries to run away from Norman because she gets freaked; in What Happened to Goodbye, Mclean kind of isolated herself and was going to accept moving away again; in This Lullaby, Remy breaks up with Dexter and later stops talking to him altogether and goes out with some jerkface; (I Miss You- Blink182) and finally, in Just Listen, Annabel pulls away from Owen for two months after the concert (although, i don't know why you would every do that!). Officially, in my order of Dessen guys it goes: Owen, Eli, Wes, Norman, Dexter, Dave. (i didn't include guys from That Summer or Someone Like You because i haven't read them. i didn't include the jackass from Dreamland because he wouldn't even make the list. i didn't include the dude from Lock and Key because i didn't like that book and honestly don't remember much about it.)
• Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler....I chose to read this book after a Dessen because i thought it might be similarly written. Boy, was i wrong. Ms. Ockler has nothing on Sarah Dessen. I hated this book. (Scar Tissue- Red Hot Chili Peppers) It's as simple as that. The main character was relatable, but the ending wasn't satisfying, the best friend was super annoying and i honestly don't know how Anna (main character) puts up with her for so long. Also, the guys in the book aren't exactly likable. Matt is awesome and I could definitely see the appeal. However, Sam and Jake seem like jerks to me. Also, i hated how the whole focus of the book seemed to be on Anna's virginity. I'm sorry, but i have better things to be reading about than a girl who's complaining about never having sex and a friend who's practically throwing herself and Anna at every boy that crosses their path in hopes of changing that. I really hated this book. Except for the stuff about Matt. That's all i have to say about that.
• After reading Twenty Boy Summer, i was being super picky because i wanted a good book after a crappy one. So, i started Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison because i'd heard that it was a really good series. However, i couldn't get past the third chapter because i didn't like the main character (which is always an issue), couldn't follow the heavy British slang, and didn't like the fact that the book was written as a series of journal entries. (About a Girl- Nirvana) So, i stopped reading it because, as my mother always reminds me, "So many books, so little time! Don't waste your time reading something you don't enjoy." After that, i picked up Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler. These are the same authors that wrote Dream Factory, which i love dearly, so i thought that this book would be on the same level. No. i got through less than one chapter before quitting because i don't like stuff about Renaissance Fairs and i hated that the girl called her mother by her first name and then proceeded to call her a wench. Also, it takes place at a fat camp, which i didn't exactly want to read about. So, for the second time in one day, i put  it down and started another book: This Lullaby.
• This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen....The first time i read this book, i had a lot of homework and stuff going on, so i was only able to pick it up about twice a week, so i would often forget the dynamics of the book and forget most of what had happened. So, i ended up quitting it because i got bored by it. However, i told myself that i would read it again some day in its entirety simply because i owed it to Ms. Dessen to not give up on her books. So, i read it and finished it two days ago. Ahhh so good! It was a much needed change of pace after the depressingly terrible Twenty Boy Summer that i had just suffered through and my two failed attempts at starting a book that followed. (Hotel California- The Eagles) I loved Remy's attitude, hated her mother even at the end, got irritated by her brother and especially her brother's girlfriend, HATED Don, loved Dexter, and got confused often by which friend was which and which bandmember was which. However, as a whole, it was a great book. I still don't know why i stopped reading it the first time, because this time, i couldn't exactly put it down. I was intrigued by Remy's slightly bitchy attitude and heartbreaker streak. This book also included, as stated above, a part where i wanted to beat some sense into the main character and make her get back on the track again after doing something incredibly stupid, usually like 3/4 of the way through the book. The ending was kind of disappointing. However, when i was doing my analysis above with all of the Dessen books, i had to flip back through the concert scene in Just Listen and spotted a cameo of Remy and Dexter and the rest of Truth Squad, which slightly made up for the fact that This Lullaby ended on a not-so-satisfying note.
• Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta....So, on one of my many library visits, I asked one of my librarian friends for some book suggestions, as i was almost done re-reading all the Sarah Dessen books :). She told me that someone she'd talked to had said that Melina Marchetta's books seemed a lot like Sarah Dessen's. So, she handed me Saving Francesca. Also, she suggested a book she just finished called The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman, which i have a bookmark in but haven't yet started. I was very skeptical going into it because i didn't think anyone could even come close to comparing to SD because of my fierce loyalty to her books. In a way, i was right. I don't think that Marchetta writes like SD. However, she is a good writer and i loved her book. Francesca is one of thirty girls in a formerly all-boys Catholic school in Australia. She spends her junior year of high school dealing with heavy family issues, making and breaking friendships, and finding a special someone. I realize i'm being very brief, but i just don't want to give away too much. It's a book about girl power, family bonds, craziness, and cliques. (Fine By Me- Andy Grammer *I GET TO GO SEE HIM IN CONCERT TOMORROW!!!) What i first liked about the book was the narrative by Francesca. She's a very opinionated, headstrong character and i loved her for that. Also, there was cussing all throughout which i actually liked because it made her seem even more in control. Another thing i really enjoyed was the humor. I constantly found myself grinning, chuckling, and even laughing while reading it. Although the ending wasn't what i would've preferred, it made sense and it was do-able in my opinion. Well, that was super vague, but i just think you should all go out and read this book then tell me what you think! (especially you, K) This book obviously made The List which makes this number 17. Oh, and as far as my goal of 10,000 pages by the end of the summer, i'm at 9,672 so i have 328 pages left. (The Scientist- Coldplay *my favorite Coldplay song) Ideally, i'll just read The Book of Blood and Shadow, which is 432 pages long, and be done with my goal. However, i know me and i'll probably end up quitting this book and picking up a different one, so you never know. Also, for school, i'm being forced to read 1984 by George Orwell which i'm just THRILLED about reading. I made it to page 5 before getting bored and i decided to pick it up another time. I'm such a slacker, i know ;) Yup, that's all i've got for now. (Come On Get Higher- Matt Nathanson)

Enjoy your lives, soak up the sun, always keep your earbuds blasting.
-M