October 2013 Recap

Reviews:
Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills
Gone Fishing by Tamera Will Wissinger

TTT and WOW Posts:
WOW: Royally Lost
Top Ten Best Series Enders
WOW: My Faire Lady
Top Ten Books I Feel Like People Are Trying to Force Me to read
WOW: Moonkind
Top Ten Character Names I Love
WOW: The Promise of Amazing
Top Ten Best Books to Read On Halloween
WOW: Otomen Vol. 17

Other Posts:
Fan Art 5
Blogoversary
What Do YOU Think? Favorite Books When you Were Younger (A post that I had a lot of fun writing!)
Marvelous Musical Fridays 1 (A new feature I started, where I will feature a song I love every week.)
Happy Halloween! Post

Song of The Month:

Story of My Life by One Direction

This song just released not that long ago, but I already love it!


What Happened This Month:
Well, I had my sixth month blogoversary!!!!! :D It's still weird to think I've been blogging for that long now. I also decided to participate in NaNoWriMo! I'm very excited, but nervous too.


What books were your favorites this month? Do you like the song I posted? :) And are any of you participating in NaNoWriMo?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope your Halloween is frightfully fun! :)

Waiting on Wednesday: Otomen Vol. 17

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: Otomen Vol. 17 by Aya Kanno

Asuka Masamune is a guy who loves girly things--sewing, knitting, making cute stuffed animals and reading shojo comics. But in a world where boys are expected to act manly, Asuka must hide his beloved hobbies and play the part of a masculine jock instead. Can Asuka ever show his true self to anyone, much less to Ryo Miyakozuka, the girl that he's falling for?

In her quest to get Asuka to turn away from his otomen ways, Asuka's mom, Kiyomi, cancels his favorite shojo manga, Love Chick! What's worse, she plans to break up Asuka and Ryo! Will Asuka succumb to his mother's anti-otomen schemes?!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.
-summary and cover via goodreads

This series is hilarious! Yes, it may sound really weird. It is. But that does not make it any less enjoyable! This is the second to last volume, if I'm right. Which makes me very sad that it is almost over. But I still have two more books to read before that happens, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it is all wrapped up!

This book will be released January 7th 2014

Top Ten Best Books to Read on Halloween

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I don't really read scary books, because I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat! Spooky and creepy don't mix well with me. I much prefer quirky to terrifying. :) That's why I decided for this week I would list top ten seven best picture books for Halloween for all the people like me who don't really enjoy being scared! I still read a lot of picture books, even though I'm well past the intended age for them. They can be really fun! And some of them are pretty hilarious! You're never to old to read them! In fact, my mom and I read them together! Hope you like this list, and decide to try at least one of these!

Top Seven Best Picture Books to Read on Halloween!

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween by Melanie Watt
Out of all of the books I'm recommending in this post, Scaredy Squirrel is the one I would recommend the most! All of the books in this series are adorable. Basically, he is a squirrel who is scared of everything. Especially germs (I share this same fear with Scaredy Squirrel) These books are hilarious!

Monster Mash by David Catrow
I love reading this book! It's the lyrics to the song, Monster Mash told in story format! It is very fun!

Boris and Bella by Carolyn Crimi and Illustrated by Gris Grimly
This was a cute book!

Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
Very fun! I like the illustrations in it a lot! This is a very quick read!

Happy Halloween, Biscuit! by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Pat Schories
A very cute book. Biscuit is adorable!

The Monsters' Monster by Patrick McDonnell
I love the illustrations in this one!

Little Goblins Ten by Pamela Jane and Illustrated by Jane Manning
Next to Scaredy Squirrel, this is the book I would most recommend on this list! I first read it last year, and had to check it out again this year because I loved it! It is a really fun rhyming book and I really enjoy reading it!

And to make this truly a Top Ten Tuesday, here are three books that I want to read for Halloween!

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever (Technically, I read this book already. But it was a while ago, so I don't remember much!)

Fancy Nancy Halloween... Or Bust! (I love the Fancy Nancy books!)

Pinkalicious: Pink or Treat! (The Pinkalicious books are very fun!)

There's my Top Ten for this week! Have you read any of these? Did you like them? And if you haven't read any of them, are you going to try one? :)

Mini Review: Gone Fishing

Mini Review: Gone Fishing by Tamera Will Wissinger

Review: I really enjoyed this book! It was a very quick read! It was adorable. I don't read very many books in verse, but occasionally I find one that I really like and this was it! I go fishing with my dad a lot and it was fun to read a book that is just about two kids going on a fishing trip with their dad. Even if you don't like books in verse, I would recommend this book! Give it a try!

Waiting On Wednesday:The Promise of Amazing

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

This Wednesday I'm Waiting on:The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how. 

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.
-summary and cover via goodreads

This book sounds so good! And the cover is adorable! I'm really looking forward to this one! :)

This book will be released December 31st 2013

Top Ten Character Names I Love

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish blog

I wasn't really sure what names to put on my list this week! But, I just decided that I would pick names that I like, either because, I think they sound pretty or for some reason I just like them!


Top Ten Character Names I Love

Veralidaine - From The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce

Audra - From Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Vane - From Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Caymen - From The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Madison - From the Madison Finn series by Laura Dower

Isadora - From The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Hadley - From The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Sapphire - From Ingo by Helen Dunmore

Skye - From The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall

Cadmium - From the Casson family books by Hilary McKay

Are any of the names I picked on your list? :)

Marvelous Musical Fridays 1

This is something new I've been thinking about doing for awhile! I love music so much, and thought it would be neat to feature a song every week that I love! I know this is not book related, but I love when bloggers post what music they are listening too! And I thought it would be neat to do it myself! The song I feature may be an older song or a newer one, a more well known song or one that you may never have heard of, or whatever I just feel like posting that week! To start it off, I have to feature a song by my favorite singer! And don't make fun of me over it! :)

Holy Ground by Taylor Swift

I love that so much! What do you think of it? What are you listening to this week? And do you like this feature on my blog?

Waiting on Wednesday: Moonkind

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: Moonkind by Sarah Prineas

(Spoilers for the first two books in the series in the summary!)

As the Lady of the Summerlands, Fer has vowed to serve her people without the deception of the glamorie and she had trusted other leaders to fulfill the same promise. But not all the Lords and Ladies want to keep their oaths, and they've unleashed the consequences of their betrayal onto the lands. Only Fer, with the help of the puck-boy Rook, can fight the stillness invading the lands. But can she trust Rook? And can she protect her people before it's too late?
-summary and cover via goodreads


I loved the first two books in this series, and I'm really excited to see how the trilogy ends!

This book will be released January 1st 2014

Top Ten Books I Feel Like People Are Trying to Force Me to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog

Okay, instead of doing Top Ten Books I've Been Forced to Read this week, I've decided to do Top Ten Books I Feel Like People Are Trying to Force Me to Read! Because I don't actually get forced to read books. Some of you may stop speaking to me after you read this list and see some of the books I have not read that people have recommended to me. Especially since some of you are the ones who threatened me about them, I mean recommended them to me in the first place. *looks around nervously* but I think you might all be okay with it. We will see. :) Some of these are ones that I do want to read. Some of these are not.

Top Ten Books I Feel like People Are Trying to Force Me to Read

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (Do I even need to put the authors name for this one!?)
*ducks flying objects* I have to start with the one that gets the biggest reaction. I have not read Harry Potter. I'm not quite sure why, but I have not read it. And the more time goes on, the harder it gets for me to read it. And the more people recommend it to me.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Same as above, do I really need to put the authors name?)
Yes, I have not read this either! I've seen one of the movies, which I know, so does not count. At all. I get a horrified look when I say I've never read it. And them I'm immediately told too!

Divergent by Veronica Roth
I tried reading this book, I really did! It was just not something that I loved. I still can not tell the youth librarian at my library that. :( She was the one who kept recommending it in the first place. It's her favorite book.

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
I just talked to someone on twitter about this series the other day. I want to read it, I just have not had time yet! So many people have recommended it to me!

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
I love MG fantasy and yet I have not read this series. Many people have told me I should. And have I? No. Not yet, at least.

Code Name Verity by by Elizabeth Wein
I DON'T LIKE BOOKS THAT MAKE ME CRY ALL RIGHT!? And from what people have told me, if I read this book I will cry. A lot. People keep telling me I should read it anyway.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
This is one that people recommended to me that I actually started! And then I lost the copy I was reading when we moved...and have been to lazy to get another one...

Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
I did try this book! And I didn't really like it...Which seems to upset a lot of people who say I need to try it again.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
No, I have not read this one either. I refer you to my thoughts about crying above.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
A major classic that I still have not read. And that people will continue to recommend to me until I do.


*peers out from behind stack of books* Do any of you still like me after that list? Will you still tweet to me? :)

Now that you have seen the books I get recommended the most and *coughs* threatened about! Have any of you been recommended these? Or are you the ones recommending them? Are you going to recommend them to me now? :) Let me know in the comments!

And by the way, I think this was the easiest TTT to write ever!

What do YOU think? Favorite books when you were younger

I was thinking recently about some of my favorite books from when I was younger and then I started wondering what everyone else read when they were younger and then I decided that would make a good post! Below I'm going to list some of my favorite books from then and put my thoughts next to them! And then I want to hear your thoughts in the comments about them!

The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin
I loved this book series, the TV series, the spin-off books, anything about it I would read!

Phantom Stallion series by Terri Farley
I was obsessed with this series! I thought Sam was one of the best main characters in books and Jake was just adorable! And horses! If the book had a horse on the cover I was pretty much guaranteed to read it! (Kind of still will!) And aren't the covers beautiful in this series?

The Saddle Club series by Bonnie Bryant
Again, horses! I remember going to the library one day and being so excited because someone had donated the whole series to them, and being really happy that I would get to read all of them!

Nancy Drew Books
I think pretty much everyone has read a book in this series at some point! I still go back and re-read some of them! And I'll read the new ones too! These books also paved the way to the Nancy Drew computer games I love! And mysteries! I love mystery books because of Nancy Drew!

The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes by Anne Mazer
The main character was awesome in this series! And I remember loving that it went through a few years with her in school instead of being forever stuck in one grade. About the character herself, I remember that she loved the color purple, collected calendars, (Like me!) and that she had red curly hair cut into a bob (And that she called her haircut Bob!) :)

From the Files of Madison Finn by Laura Dower
I was completely, a hundred percent obsessed with this series! I remember my mom showing me one of the books at the library, and saying why don't I try it?, reading it, and then going back to the library checking out all the other books in the series! And then buying all the books that came out after that because the library didn't have them. I just loved this series a lot! (I just found out as I was writing this post that the author has re-released them as e-books!)

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Books
They had a mystery series based on the VHS tapes that I watched and liked. I remember absolutely loving the books and loving that they were themed!

Trixie Belden Books
Love. Love. Love this series! She was Nancy Drew, but a little bit more of a tomboy. I loved (And still love) these books and all the characters in them! And I remember loving that each book was connected, because characters from past books would come back into the series and characters would leave. I also remember loving Jim in the books! <3 :)

The Boxcar Children Books
I liked these books, but especially the first one! I just loved the idea of living in an old boxcar in the woods!

American Girl Books
Okay, a lot of you probably read these books! My favorite was Felicity! And my friends favorite was Samantha! I loved these books. They are probably one of the reasons History is my favorite subject! I was fascinated with them and I love the mysteries they came out with too! The ones that were stand alone and had brand new characters in each one!

Camp Confidential Books by Melissa J. Morgan
I remember my mom telling me I should try them and myself saying I didn't think I would like them. I read one and then had to go and read all of them! (My mom was right! Actually she still is with books, she will randomly pick up a book, read about it, hand it to me, and I usually end up loving it!)

Beacon Street Girls by Annie Bryant
I just remember that I loved this series and I know I still own some of them!

Main Street Books by Ann M. Martin
I don't love these as much as the BSC books, but I remember that I did enjoy them. Even though they were very sad in some parts.

Disney Girls Books
I actually don't remember much about these, other than at the time I loved them!

Multiple Books by Gordon Korman
I loved a lot of his books and recently have started reading some of his newer ones! It's fun to revisit a favorite author!

 

Heartland Books by Lauren Brooke
These books. I don't even know what to say about them. I loved them. I remember they were some of the first books to make me cry while reading them, and I usually avoid that. But these books! They were just really good! And of course there are horses on the cover of them. They actually started making a TV show a few years ago based on them and I love it! My mom does too! I haven't seen all of the episodes yet, but I've seen like, three seasons and they are awesome!

 Winnie the Horse Gentler by Dandi Daley Mackall
This was a Christian book series that I loved! And by the title you know that horses played a big role in it! :) Other animals were in it too though! The books were really good!

The Fudge Books by Judy Blume
I remember my mom buying them for me, and I really liked them!
 Dolphin Diaries by Ben M. Baglio
The main character traveled the world with her parents researching dolphins! That's really awesome!

Okay, now that I finished listing all of those books I really want to go re-read some of them! Especially, Phantom Stallion, Madison Finn, Heartland, Trixie Belden, and the Winnie books!

What are some of your favorite books from when you were younger? Did you (Or do you?) love any of these books? Tell me! I really want to know!

Waiting on Wednesday: My Faire Lady

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten

Rowena Duncan is a thoroughly modern girl with big plans for her summer—until she catches her boyfriend making out with another girl. Heartbroken, she applies to an out-of-town job posting and finds herself somewhere she never expected: the Renaissance Faire.

As a face-painter doubling as a serving wench, Ro is thrown headfirst into a vibrant community of artists and performers. She feels like a fish out of water until Will, a quick-witted whip cracker, takes her under his wing. Then there’s Christian, a blue-eyed stunt jouster who makes Ro weak in the knees. Soon, it’s not just her gown that’s tripping her up.

Trading in the internet and electricity for stars and campfires was supposed to make life simpler, but Ro is finding that love is the ultimate complication. Can she let the past make way for her future?
-Summary and cover via goodreads

This book sounds really fun and it looks like a great summer book!


This book releases June 3rd 2014

Top Ten Best Series Enders

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog

Top Ten Five Best Series Enders

I've obviously not read very many series (or at least, I'm not finishing very many series) Because I could only think of five for this weeks TTT. I'm currently reading a lot of series books, but the endings for them are not out yet.

Run Away Home by Terri Farley
I LOVE this series! It was my absolute favorite when I was younger. The ending was perfect to this series, and just thinking about it makes me want to re-read this series again!

Ouran High School Host Club Vol. 18 by Bisco Hatori
One of (If not my) favorite manga series ever! It is hilarious and makes me laugh! The ending (Which I will say this about every book on this list) was perfect! I was worried about how the author would end it, but I shouldn't have been. I LOVE how she ended this series.

United We Spy by Ally Carter
You all knew this book would be on this list, didn't you? :) I think the author ended this series (Wait for it) perfectly! Ally Carter is an amazing author and she didn't disappoint in this book. The ending was just...wow! I was very surprised with how she did some things in this book, but I loved it!

Her Permanent Record by Jimmy Gownley
My favorite GN series of all time! I was very sad to see this series end, but the ending was perfect for this series. I love all the characters in these books and was happy with where the author left off. Though I would gladly read more books in this series!

Miki Falls Vol. 4 by Mark Crilley
This series was great! I usually re-read this GN series once a year, because I love it! It's a very fun series! :)


Have you read any of the books on my list? Did you like them? And since I apparently don't read very many series books, what would you recommend me reading?

Review: Zero Tolerance

Review: Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills

Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that she accidentally brought her mother's lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise, her beloved principal places her in in-school suspension and sets a hearing for her expulsion, citing the school's ironclad no weapons policy. While there, Sierra spends time with Luke, a boy who's known as a troublemaker, and discovers that he's not the person she assumed he would be--and that the lines between good and bad aren't as clear as she once thought. Claudia Mills brings another compelling school story to life with Zero Tolerance.
-Summary and cover via goodreads


Plot: I thought this was a interesting book. I have to admit, I wondered if what happened in this book (A perfect student accidentally bringing a knife to school, turning it in immediately and then facing expulsion because of that.) could actually happen in real life? I went to the authors website and found out she based the story on a similar case that happened not far away from where she lives. I thought it was a very interesting book, and I read it in an afternoon because I wanted to find out how it would end!

Characters: I really liked the characters in this book! I liked Sierra and thought she was very easy to relate too.  I liked Luke also! I loved that her parents played a big part of the book and were actually important to the story instead of just being in the background and rarely mentioned, like a lot of MG books.


The cover: I really like the cover of this book! I love illustrated covers and this is one that really catches your attention with the colors of it!


Overall: I really enjoyed this book! It was thought provoking and interesting! I really recommend this book!

Blogoversary!

TODAY IS MY SIXTH MONTH BLOGOVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

*ahem* 

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I would like to thank all of you who follow my blog for reading it! I can't believe it's been sixth months, guys! Time really does fly! I mean, that's half a year now that I've been blogging. That's insane. 

 I have a lot of fun talking to you all about books, here and on twitter! I've talked to a lot of wonderful people because of my blog, I've never would have before!

Again, I just want to thank you all for following my blog and reading it, and I hope you will continue to stick with me and my blog!  *hugs everyone*

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Fan Art 5

My fan art for this week if Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger! I LOVE this book! It's awesome, you should definitely try it even if you don't normally read MG. I've been wanting to make fan art for this book for awhile now, but decided to make it sooner than planned because of this contest here. Awesome prizes, you should enter! Okay, here's my fan art! I tried to capture the feel of the book, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! I also tried to pick the perfect font for it, which was very hard actually! Hope you all like it!

What do you all think?

Waiting on Wednesday: Royally Lost

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: Royally Lost by Angie Stanton

Dragged on a family trip to Europe’s ancient cities, Becca wants nothing more than to go home. Trapped with her emotionally distant father, over-eager stepmother, and a brother who only wants to hook up with European hotties, Becca is miserable. That is until she meets Nikolai, a guy as mysterious as he is handsome. And she unknowingly finds herself with a runaway prince.

Nikolai has everything a guy could ask for-he's crown prince, heir to the throne, and girls adore him. But the one thing he doesn't have...is freedom. Staging a coup, he flees his kingdom and goes undercover on his own European tour.

When Nikolai and Becca meet, it’s their differences that draw them together. Sparks fly as they share a whirlwind of adventures, all the while dodging his royal guard. But Becca's family vacation ends in a matter of days. Will Nikolai and Becca be forced to say goodbye forever, will his destiny catch up to him, or will they change history forever?
-summary and cover via goodreads

This book sounds adorable! And I love the cover too!

This book releases May 6th 2014