Let the Madness Begin...

Its tourney time!! for all those that follow basketball, this is the best time of the year-getting to watch the buzzer-beaters, upsets, and bracket-busters of the NCAA Tournament. I know i've filled out my bracket and busted out the yellow highlighter (and the red pen) for the occasion. want an idea for a good book to read that relates to March Madness? Last Shot by: John Feinstein. i read it several years ago, but its a basketball mystery for the true lovers of the game. also, if you know who Jimmer Fredette is and respect him, watch this video. wanna share your picks and predictions? go right ahead and comment.

enjoy the madness,

-M

Hey

Hey, what's up people out there? Well, if you couldn't tell by the way I'm writing this is not M, this is her friend K. I'm also a fellow book lover. No really, I'm one of those people who'll walk in a book store and realize I've already read the majority of the good ones.
M convinced me to do this blog with her (this is a very awesome blog btw if I do say so myself).
So, yeah I'll talk more about books in a moment :)

Addition to this blog...

I would like to welcome K, my new co-writer of this blog and fellow lover of books, music, and writing. She will be joining me in blogging and talkin about books, life, and whatever we feel like, as is the custom on this blog. welcome aboard the black pearl, mate :)

New Sarah Dessen Book :) :)

Who's super excited for the new Sarah Dessen book (besides me, of course)??? it's comin out may 10th and it's called What Happened to Goodbye. I got an email from a bookstore who's name i'm not revealing that said all the new books coming out in the YA section and it was on there so i'm rlly excited :) as you can tell from my SB 11 list, i'm planning to read the majority of her books while on vacation (even tho i've already read some of them.) Here is a link to the website if you want more info and a brief summary that has been released. well....yea that's about it for now.
-M

SB 11 Reading List :)

For the books i read on Spring Breaks i hav higher standards than normal. I only read books that are chick lit and they better be good. Also, i especially love reading books that take place on the beach (u know to match my surroundings). So, this leads me to be very selective of which books I take with me. SB is also a great time for me to reread books that i know i loved so that my experience at the beach isnt spoiled by a depressing book or one with a bad ending. So far, this is my list of books i'm taking this year (i'll probably add to it; the ones in red are the ones i plan to reread):

• A Kiss in Time-Alex Flinn
• Beastly-Alex Flinn
• Girl at Sea-Maureen Johnson
• Along for the Ride-Sarah Dessen
• Keeping the Moon-Sarah Dessen
• Someone Like You-Sarah Dessen
• That Summer-Sarah Dessen
• This Lullaby-Sarah Dessen
• 20 Boy Summer- Sarah Ockler
• The Last Song-Nicholas Sparks

Anyway, that's what i've got so far and yes, i know that i wont get through them all, but oh well. You never know. i could be on a reading streak on the drive there and get through three books and then be on another streak on the way back which would only leave four books for when i'm laying out or waiting on a table at a restaurant or something wonderful like that. Oh and btw last time i went to the beach (2 SB's ago) i read Keeping the Moon for the first time and it impacted me so much and i loved it so much that i HAVE to read it again this year. It's going to become my own personal tradition! :) sorry i get excited just thinking about reading these awesome books. Plus, i will probably get to add some of these new reads to my 55 Books in a Year list (which hasnt been added to in a while for two reasons: a) i havnt been picking very good books lately and b) i don't have a whole lot of time to read anymore :,( anyway so yeah) because ive got a feeling (woo hoo that tonites gonna be a good night....srry got it in my head now) that these new books are gonna be great and worthy of "THE LIST". i mean they better be since they made the cut to go on SB with me. oh and btw if the shorthand, abbreviations, misspellings, text language, and lowercase letters in this blog bother you, TOO BAD. jk....or not? no but seriously if it bothers u i'm sorry but i'm not changing the way i am. i tried for the first couple blogs to make it look nice and stuff but that's just ridiculous bc that's not me. this right here is my pretty boy swag. sorry idk why i thot of that. anyway but as i was sayin this right here is me, so get used to it or not, the choice is yours. btw if you're wondering why i'm rlly random today, it's because this is how i am-the other posts i was trying to be all formal and correct. as i said earlier: not me. sorry for ranting about this for the past paragraph and a half, but i just had to get that straight. so i've been thinking and i'm also just gonna blog about life too-not just books (altho i will continue blogging about books). k? wait why am i asking u for permission to do something on my own blog? i have issues, i know. people tell me that. until next time, happy reading and enjoy life.
-M
btw: if anyone actually reads this (which i kinda doubt) please post and let me know of your suggestions for SB books. (altho be warned i may or may not take those suggestions.)

5) The Espressologist

Ohmigosh i just LOVE this cover; it makes me want to go to Starbucks :)
Okay so on to the book (let's stop judging it by it's cover...although both are great). I finished this book a  weeks or two ago and I've just been so busy lately that I haven't had time to write about it. Let me just say, though, that the book was amazing. I still remember it and the story was heartwarming and made me smile and, not for the first time, made me wish I were a barista. Ok so the main character, Jane, has been working as a barista for a while and she's started to notice links between the type of person someone is and the drink they order. She records all of her observations in a notebook which she keeps on hand at all times. She's even gotten so good, that she sometimes silently guesses the type of drink someone will order before the words even come out of their mouth. Her guy friend just got through a tough breakup and is looking for someone new. A mutual friend is single and just the right type of girl for him. Jane consults her notebook then matches the two with great success. She later matches up her best friend Em and Cam, the guy who sits behind her in a college class she's taking. Soon, her boss Derek hears about her successful matches and gives her a job to do: every Friday night for 4 weeks she has to match people up based on their drink orders as an attempt to get more business. The events grow more popular and Jane soon finds herself matching people she never would've thought of helping. However, the question is, can Jane find her perfect match?
The Espressologist was a great read and lots of fun. A true chick lit novel :) happy reading peeps!

Jane Austen Book Club and Other Thoughts and Stuff

Ok, so I had every intention of following through with the Jane Austen Book Club blog that I had, but several things happened...

• no one joined or showed interest in participating
• i dont have enough time to read the books
• it's too much to take on right now

So, with sadness I must say that the Jane Austen Book Club blog is done, deleted, and history. Maybe someday it will work out, but just not today.

Which means that I've stopped reading Emma and have moved on down the stack to The Espressologist by: Kristina Springer (which is based off of Emma). It takes place in Illinois i think so that can check off my 50 States Challenge when/if  i finish it. I'm hoping that this modern-day version will be an easier read and a quicker read as I feel like I've been reading Emma forever and am only on page 12 or so. Just an FYI, if you ever see a book disappear from "the stack" or "currently reading" without reappearing on the "books i've read" list, that means that i've stopped reading it or that i've returned it to the library.

So lately I've been kind of discouraged when I think about this blog because I'm beginning to think that the words I type are for my eyes only and that no one else actually reads. is this true? honestly, yes probably. however, until now i've tried to remain optimistic about it. well that's obviously working well. it kind of reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite movies, Sydney White:

"The People’s Punisher is not about being read, it’s about being written.”