8) Paper Covers Rock and 9) Cold Tangerines

Wow, well now i feel like such a slacker (which i am) since K posted and i haven't posted in a while. To be honest, i'm kind of tired of apologizing for my long and unexcused absences, so i'm just going to say now that i don't know when i will next post, but it probably won't be soon. i know me and my laziness--just putting that out there. so, to start this post, i'll give you some background just for the heck of it...

wearing: plaid pj pants and a sweatshirt
location: bed

listening to: "O Children" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (this song was in the movie HP Deathly Hallows Part1 when Harry and Hermoine start dancing in the tent...i looked up the name of the song and put it on my Grooveshark). This will change throughout the post and i'll probably make references to what song i'm listening to, but thats simply because i really like music.

Ok, so onto important business. I have a book to add to the "55 Books in a Year List"!! Finally.

8) Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
It's her first novel and i think she did an impeccable job. I originally grabbed it off the shelf for three reasons:
1) i needed a fun, short read to get my mind off of finals
2) it was on the New Books shelf in the Young Adult section, which i was casually looking at.

3) the cover really caught my attention (yes, i know, how shallow)

Let me just say that it exceeded my expectations, yet was very surprising. It's more complex than one review can include, but here's a link to a review i wrote over this book (yes, i'm being lazy and don't want to type it again...). It's going on the list because it has made it into my Top 10 Books of All Time, and that's pretty hard to do, so congrats Jenny Hubbard. Oh and i would like to apologize for the typo in the review in the link (it should be "running" not "rinning"). i didn't type it; i hand wrote it and then someone typed it and put it up on the website. so, not my fault. i'm just so OCD about things like this that i just had to point it out.

I'm currently reading Pride and Prejudice con mi madre and we are talking through it as sort of a book club and watching clips of the movie (Keira Knightley version). Also, as a free reading book i'm re-reading Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (for like the 2nd or 3rd time). Also, for Biblical Literature (Bib Lit) class, i'm reading parts of the Bible. For example, for last class, i had to read Exodus 13-19. Also, for English class, we were reading Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, but we finished and turned in our papers (thank goodness!) and are now starting a new book, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. If you ask me, it's a very weird book to read for an English class. i feel especially bad for all the guys in my class seing as how it's kind of chick lit. Anyway, my point is, i'm juggling a lot of literature right now and my backpack is guaranteed to have at least two books in it at any given time :) Also, i'm trying to figure out whether to take AP Lit or regular English next year.
Oh! So K and i have come up with an ingenious idea to execute. Every month we will meet at the public library and have a book swap. She will bring a book and i will bring a book and we'll talk about the book we just got finished reading and why we think the other person should read the book we brought. We will meet on the 13th of every month. So, next Monday we will have our first swap, and who knows, we might blog about it and let ya'll know how it goes. This is going to be very experimental at the start, but i'm sure we'll figure it out eventually.
Also, i got to go to a book store today and got two new additions to my collection of books: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen and Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson. Both of these books i've read twice already, but they are just so good that i needed to own them for future readings.

9) Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist

While i was there, i looked for Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. I read her other book, Cold Tangerines, and i loved it. It was a book of short stories about her life and it was very entertaining and enlightening. I highly recommend it. When i heard she had a new book, it immediately went onto my list, but i still haven't gotten to it yet and i'm not sure if my public library would have it or not.

Oh, and i do own Sarah Dessen's newish book, What Happened to Goodbye, but i'm saving it for Spring Break so i can read it on the beach :)

Oh and i forgot to mention it, but i would also recommend the book Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia. It was another New Books Shelf acquisition and it was decent, but not as wonderful as Paper Covers Rock. I think it's worth you reading, but i warn you, because there's some slightly innapropriate content that you should be aware of, so if you're not 14 or older, i wouldnt want you reading this and neither would your parents. On that note, i bid you all adieu.
Happy Reading,
M

P.S. I was the one that added the countdown to the release  of the next Gallagher Girls book. K and I are very excited about this, if you hadn't noticed!!!!!!

Mission M

Hello, my loves!
I'm greatly sorry for my lack of posting. School has been taking up a lot of my time and it sucks! Anywho to make up for my disappearance I'm going to have different postings back to back in the next few hours.
This one is about M, my co-blogger and awesome friend :)
Have you all read the Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare? Well I'm absolutely in love with it!!! Clare is a fantastic writer and her books are beyond amazing. Recently I have been trying to convince M to read it (and failing). I am highly aware that this is usually not the type of book she would go for and enjoy, but I think Clare's writing can change M's mind. Yes I do admit that one of the main characters (Clary) annoys me almost to the brink of insanity, but it's not always from Clary's POV and I love all the other characters. I think that if M reads at least the first book she'll be hooked like I was. However, I'm not going to try to force her to read it, but I will be at her front door in 2 minutes flat if she ever shows any interest in reading the series.
For those of you who were reading this and thinking "Well I haven't read the series either," GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND GO GET THE SERIES....please?
P.S- Quick note for you on that. Read the books in this order and I promise it will make life much easier:
City of Bones (1st book), City of Ashes (2nd book), City of Glass (3rd book) *Clockwork Angel (1st book in her newest series-Infernal Devices), City of Fallen Angles (4th book), Clockwork Prince (2nd book of Infernal Devices series).

Well that's all for this post my loves. Until next time.

Why Hello There

So, how many sorries do I have to say for you to forgive me on my unexcused absence?
I am indeed incredibly sorry! Things have been pretty hectic due to school and other stuffs. So, I do apologize, but hey I'm back!
Anyways, I do have a few books I want to talk about.
Going to Far by Jennifer Echols:
I absolutely loved this book. It was amazing. Going to Far is the perfect book to read on a rainy day and you just want to curl up on your bed with something good to read.
HARRY POTTER SERIES!!!!:
Recently (meaning like a few weeks ago) I started on the Harry Potter series....I fell in love! Okay, so at first I refused to read the series because I thought it would ruin my view on the movies (because that's usually what happens when I read the book after I see the movie), but oh my gosh! No, my view on the movies have not changed at all (so far). I still love the movies, but I slightly love the books more. I'm currently on the third book and I get excited like a little kid on Christmas morning whenever I pick the book up.

Okays, for now I bid you good-bye and I promise I'll try to get better at posting more stuffs on here! Love ya and stay lovely my dears!!!
-K

Hello, Old Friend...

So, it's been a while. A really long while. That's what happens though when life gets hectic. Blame school. That's all I have to say about that. (if anyone got my Forrest Gump reference there, I will be a happy girl.) last time I posted, I was reading the Harry Potter books and in a competition with my friend to see who could watch all the movies in order and read all the books in time for opening weekend. In case you were wondering, I won :) she didn't have time to watch movie #6, so she skipped it and watched 7.1....therefore I won since she did t watch all the movies in order. Boom! Ok anyway, lately my reading slump (which I realize has been a constant topic from me in previous posts) has extended and ive lost hope in reading new books bc I assume they won't live up to my expectations. However, I'm trying to break that mindset. I've basically been doing a lot of rereading bc I havnt made it to the library in a while, so Ive been reading stuff here at home. I read an Agatha Christie which took forever to get through and was pretty disappointing in the end and sort of a waste of my time. I also reread Secrets of a First Daughter by Cassidy Calloway and then read (for the first time) the sequel, Confessions of a First Daughter. They were both very pleasing. Then, I reread Just Listen by Sarah Dessen bc I wanted to read a satisfying piece of chick lit. After reading it, two things went thru my head: 1) I want to start listening to more music, especially stuff I would nvr think to listen to and 2) i wish this book never had to end bc its so addicting and entertaining (and lets be honest,I wanted to see Owen and Annabel's relationship blossom more). I have to say that it's possibly my favorite Dessen book, but Along for the Ride gives it a run for it's money. Anyway, then I found a book on my shelf that I got several yrs ago for my birthday but had nevr gotten around to reading and decided it was time to give it a
shot. It was awesome. You probably want to know what this awesome book was, right? Leap Day by Wendy Mass. I'm glad I waited to read it bc the main character is 16 and I can relate more now than I ever could've a few years ago. The book follows a day in the life of Josie Taylor, an outgoing teen who was born on Leap Day and is, therefore, technically only 4 yrs old since her birthday only comes around evry four yrs. The book takes place on the day of her sweet sixteen and all the drama that could possibly unfold in just 24 hrs. I loved how the book was set up in time intervals throughout the day and the first part of the chapter is from Josie's perspective and the second half is everyone else's POV and we get to figure out people's inner thoughts and motivations.I read this book in two days bc A) it was relatively short and B) it was impossible to put down and I found myself reading at all possible chances. I highly recommend it to y'all bc it got me thinking about perspective and how we judge people and their actions too quickly without really knowing what they are like. In case you couldn't tell, that was one of the 55 (since it was beast and I wrote a rather medium-lengthed summary and evaluation of it). Well, I will keep reading and hopefully make it to 55, altho I doubt it is possible to make it to that goal by January 1st. I'm currently reading Black by Ted Dekker since ive read one of his other books, Kiss, and liked it so figured I would start his most famous series. 'Night all.
-M

Elixir

Well hiya there! I just wanted to do a real quick post on the book Elixir by Hilary Duff. Yes, Hilary Duff as in the actress/singer. I wasn't expecting too much out of her book, but picked it up anyway because it was on sale for a good price. However, I quickly realized I did good by getting the book. I'm not going into any details (in hope that you'll get curious and go get the book), but it was rather shocking how good it was. It was no Sarah Dessen book, but it was still good in it's own way. When you get the free time check it out and let me know what ya think!
That's all for now. Adios!
-K

Eh, What's Up Doc?

If you realized that the title of this post is Bugs Bunny's catch phrase then you are one smart cookie! I've been watching cartoons all morning. It brings the kid out in me :)

Anyway let's get this show on the roll because I'm super excited and have big news (kinda).
Well I just got back from Chicago yesterday. I got five new books (one is a 3 in 1 combo)! I'm super excited. So far I've read two of the books and I'll give you my review on them right now.
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen:

I loved this book. I was expecting a bit more romance (I mean come on it's Sarah Dessen), but I'm glad it wasn't like some other books and it's just one big make out session. It was sweet and honest.
As always it showed real relationships and it was an enlightening story of a girl trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs. What Happened to Goodbye is kinda predictable. I guessed how the book was going to end when I was only six or so chapters into the book. However it also very unpredictable at the same time. I highly recommned this book and comment your opinions on it.

Uncommon Criminal by Ally Carter:
As you guys know (or should know) I've been dying to get this book since it came out (even before then). When I started reading it you have no idea how pumped I was. Well she did it again. Ally Carter wrote another amazing book. I was hooked on the romance and drama of the heists. If you've read the first boo (Heist Society) then you should know the characters Kat (Katarina) and W.W Hale (what the W's represent is unknown is apart of Kat's & Hale's adorable banter). I can't say too much without giving away the ending to this, but I can tell you it's not what you expect and you're in for many surprises. Take the time to get this book (but if you haven't read the first one get that one also of course) and enjoy yourself for a long complicated road of the life that is of a theif's.
That's pretty much all for this post. Happy reading to ya!

HOWDY!!!

Hey I know it's been a while. I've been trying to wait until I got some new interesting books to tell you about. However, sadly that's not the case yet. So, I'll just fill the post with randomness that I hope you enjoy.

1) I have realized that I have slight obsession with not only books, but movies too! Of course I do not like scary movies AT ALL! Anyways, I was thinking about it and I realized when I'm older my apartment (yes apartment, get over it) will be overflowing with books and DVDs. I look forward to my future now haha :)
2) In M's random post she mentioned London. It had me practically drooling. I've wanted to visit London since I was either in 3rd or 4th grade. It would just be absolutely amazing if I got to go. My mom said that she'll consider it for spring break (that's kinda far away, but hey I don't care as long as I get to go to London). It's not just London I wanted to visit. It's all of Europe. I've always wanted to travel around Europe. Of course I had a few chances to be able to see a few places, but my mother always said no. Yesterday the movie Taken was on and she said that's why she always said no (if you haven't seen it go watch it & you'll understand). So, my mom says I can only go to Europe with her. It doesn't matter to me as long as I get to go :)
3) My Sweet Valley High challenge isn't going so well, but I refuse to give up! I'm going to get book four soon (hopefully).
4) I'm going to Chicago this weekend! I absolutely love it there. Plus, my mom is always generous with book giving when we go out of town so I'm hoping I can pick up a few good books (like the new Sarah Dessen book AND Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter-it came out two days ago!)
5) I NEED NEW BOOKS SOON OR I'LL DIE!!!!!.....maybe
6) I go to camp for the first time in a week & four days! woo hoo :D
I'm super pumped. I'm going with two friends of mine and hopefully we'll get the same cabin!
7) Okay I knew this dude in elementary school and I just saw/found him on facebook (totally by accident I promise) and he looks sssssssoooooooooo different. If it was like six years ago and someone showed me that's what he would look like I would not believe them....it's just very shocking....and a bit weird....also pretty awesome though.
8) I'm weirdly in love with the show Covert Affairs. Like I'm not even joking. I'm going to get the first season on DVD & I'm super pumped about it.
9) I went over my friend's house last weekend and we watched the movie The Other Boleyn Girl. It was disturbing...good, but I will never watch it again and will not recommend it to anyone. That's all I'm going to say.
10) Random fact: M is exactly two days older than me. Awesome right? I thought so.
11) Now I'm going to end this wonderful madness of randomness so, I can go watch the last Covert Affairs episode that I sadly missed. Adios, stay awesome peoples!
-K :p