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Thursday, July 31, 2014

RRSS14 Final Recap!



All I manged to get read this month for RRSS14 was eight GNs! But I'm happy with that! It was a GN series that I had really been wanting to reread, and I'm happy that I was able to make time for it this month! I didn't manage to get any books read for the shelf sweeper part (I always think I'm going to be able to read more in July than I'm able to.), but I thought overall I did pretty good and I had fun with it!

Total Books (Re)Read: 8

List of Reread Books:
Amelia Rules! Vol 1: The Whole World's Crazy
Amelia Rules! Vol. 2: What Makes You Happy
Amelia Rules! Vol. 3: Superheroes
Amelia Rules! Vol. 4: When the Past is a Present
Amelia Rules! Vol. 5: The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular
Amelia Rules! Vol. 6: True Things Adults Don't Want Kids to Know
Amelia Rules! Vol. 7: The Meaning of Life... And Other Stuff
Amelia Rules! Vol. 8: Her Permanent Record

What did I think of them? As a lot of you know probably know, this is my favorite GN series ever and it lived up to it on my reread of them all! They were as funny and heartwarming as the first time I had read them! :)

The RRSS14 was a lot of fun! Thank you to Shae and Rachel for hosting it, and I hope you do it again next year, too! :)

What Do YOU Think? This or That Edition!


I thought it would be fun to play a little bookish This or That on the blog! 

Hardback or Paperback? Paperback!

A Standalone or Series? Series!

Trilogy or Duology? Trilogy!

Library or Bookstore? Library!

Reread or New Read? New Read!

This was just a post that I thought would be fun! Answer in the comments if you want to! And do you have any bookish This or That? questions you want to answer, too?  :)

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday: Ever After High #3: A Wonderlandiful World

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting On: Ever After High #3: A Wonderlandiful World by Shannon Hale

At Ever After High, everyone is expected to sign the Storybook of Legends, pledging to follow in their fairytale parent's footsteps. But when Raven Queen came along, things became fairy, fairy confusing. Now no one's destiny is certain, not even for the most royal of them all, Apple White.When a mysterious being from Wonderland begins to infect Ever After High with a strange magic, everything goes topsy-turvy. The students transform into animals and objects, palace mice talk, and the beautiful green grounds on campus fade to black-and-white. Lizzie Hearts, Wonderland's future queen, Cedar Wood, daughter of Pinocchio, and Madeline Hatter, heir to the Mad Hatter's Hat and Tea Shoppe, seem to be the only ones who haven't completely lost their heads. It's up to them to save their best friends forever after from a curse that threatens to give their school-and their lives-a very unhappy ending.Don't miss Book #1, Ever After High: Storybook of Legends and Book #2, Ever After High: The Unfairest of Them All!
-summary and cover via Goodreads

I love these books and I'm looking forward to this book a lot! And look! Madeline Hatter, my favorite character in the books, is on the cover of it! :)

This book releases August 26th

Monday, July 28, 2014

Review: Otomen Vol. 18

Mini Manga Review: Otomen Vol. 18 by Aya Kanno

Mini Review: I'm not going to put much in this review, because by volume 18 you're either already reading the manga and don't want to be spoiled about the final volume, or you don't read this manga and don't want to be spoiled because you might want to read it. But I just really wanted to write a review for it, because this is the final book and I really wanted a review of it here on the blog. If you already follow this series you'll definitely want to read this volume because it is just as wonderful and entertaining (And heartwarming) as the previous volumes! The final chapter in it was an unexpected treat that I won't say anything else about, that way you'll be able to be just as surprised and pleased as I was! Wonderful ending to a wonderful Manga! :)

If you have never read this Manga, why not? It's one of the best I have read, and has one of the best and most satisfying endings I have read! It puts a neat twist on gender stereotypes and the characters are all wonderfully developed, all of them are characters that feel real. I highly recommend this Manga to anyone! :)

I checked this book out from my library.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Happy Birthday to Me!


Today is my Birthday!!!!!!! Now, I don't have a giveaway planned for today, but a few blogs I follow posted lists of facts about themselves on their Birthdays, and I thought that might be fun to do on here for mine! If you're not interested in this post, feel free to skip it, alright? :)

I'm turning 19 today, and here are 19 facts that you may or may not know about me! (And that you may or may not be interested in!) :)

1. I'm a Disney fan! Like, a major fan. A few may call it obsessive, but I call it dedicated. (Top 5 Disney Princesses Movies? Tangled, Frozen, Beauty & the Beast, Mulan, and The Little Mermaid!)

2. Vera Bradley purses are my favorite! I Love them! I have been building my collection for years now (My Mom gave me one of her old ones when I was about twelve, and that was my first VB purse!).

3. If you tweet me/read my blog posts you may have realized that I use :) a lot.

4. IRL I'm pretty shy when I first meet someone new, but after I get to know them, I'm a very talkative person! (And I get told a lot that I talk waaayy too fast!)

5. I collect different copies of A Little Princess, which was one of the first classics I ever read. (I have about eight different copies of it now!)

6. Flip-Flops are the best kind of shoes and I wear them whenever I'm able to! :)

7. I LOVE video games! Nancy Drew games (Top 3 are Trail of the Twister, The Deadly Device, and Secret of the Scarlet Hand!) are my favorite, but I love Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, Endless Ocean, and anything that involves exploring a big world!

8. I love those puzzle books you get, but my favorite are the logic puzzles!

9. I love the comics in the Sunday paper,  my favorite are Foxtrot, Sally Forth, and Garfield! :)

10. I love drawing! I used to draw a lot, but the past few years I got out of it.  I began to draw more again recently and I'm enjoying it again! :)

11. I love decorating cupcakes and using icing! :)

12. My absolute favorite soda is Mountain Dew (I kind of love the caffeine I get from it! (; ) and I don't like Pepsi/Coke-Cola at all.

13. I have posters and calendars all over my walls!

14. Ice cream is my favorite dessert! :)

15. I don't ask for a regular cake on my Birthday, I actually like cookie cake better! (With a lot of icing!)

16. History is my absolute favorite subject in school! (My favorite time period to read/learn about is the Revolutionary War!)

17. I love crafting and making things! (I'm learning how to do plastic canvas right now!)

18. I have a dog named Bruno that I love teaching tricks to! :)

19. I think beginning this blog is one of the best things I have done because I have learned about so many amazing books and gotten to talk to so many wonderful people because of it! :)

I hope you had fun reading all those things about me and that it wasn't too boring! ;)

Friday, July 25, 2014

Marvelous Musical Friday 25



Me and My Broken Heart by Rixton


This song gets stuck in my head almost every time I hear it! Do you all like it? :)

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Horse Books!

I have heard people mention that most girls go trough a horse book phase and want to read any book that has anything to do with horses at all! I was one of those kids, except that I never really grew out of it! If I read about a book that features horses, I'm going to probably at least try it!

I thought it would be fun to talk abut a few of my horse books and series from when I was younger, a few that I love now, and talk about one that I want to read! :)

First, the books I loved when I was younger! 









All of the above books I loved when I was younger, but I admit that love all of them today, too! :)

Horse Books That I Love Now!






















All three of the books above are very good! :)


And now, a book that I'm looking forward to reading!



This book looks good!

Were you a fan of horse books when you were younger? Do you still like them? What horse books do you all recommend? :)

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday: The Time of the Fireflies

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: The Time of the Fireflies by Kimberly Griffiths Little

Critically acclaimed author Kimberley Griffiths Little spins a thrilling story of one girl's race to unravel the curse that has haunted her family for generations. 

When Larissa Renaud starts receiving eerie phone calls on a disconnected old phone in her family's antique shop, she knows she's in for a strange summer. A series of clues leads her to the muddy river banks, where clouds of fireflies dance among the cypress knees and cattails each evening at twilight. The fireflies are beautiful and mysterious, and they take her on a magical journey through time, where Larissa learns secrets about her family's tragic past--deadly, curse-ridden secrets that could harm the future of her family as she knows it. It soon becomes clear that it is up to Larissa to prevent history from repeating itself and a fatal tragedy from striking the people she loves. 

With her signature lyricism, Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a thrilling tale filled with family secrets, haunting mystery, and dangerous adventure.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

I already have this book on hold at the library and it looks good! And don't you all love the cover of it? The cover artist (Erin McGuire!) does really pretty work! :)

Monday, July 21, 2014

Review: Moonkind

Mini Review: Moonkind by Sarah Prineas


(Warning! There are spoilers in the summary for the first two books!)

Fer must save her realm from the Forsworn, a group destroying the land with their broken oaths, in Moonkind, the conclusion to award-winning author Sarah Prineas's fantasy-adventure series, which includesWinterlingSummerkin, and the short story ebook Thrice Sworn.

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?

Sarah Prineas combines a brave and resourceful young heroine with a richly detailed fantasy world and beloved folklore into a story that will delight middle-grade fans of Diana Wynne Jones, Ingrid Law, and Rick Riordan.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

Plot: I'm not able to write much in this review, being that it's the third and final book in the trilogy and I don't want to spoil it for you. But I wanted to write that if you read the first two and love them, then you need to read this final book! And if you haven't read the first two, why not?! These are wonderful books that are perfect for Fantasy fans and I think you all need to try them! :)

Characters: Fer is fabulous, and I love Rook! And everyone else in the book, too!

The cover: Love! And look, Rook is on the cover now, too!

Overall: I was hoping that there would be another book, or at least a short story afterwords to show what life is like for everyone now that... Well, everything that happened, happened! And when I finished reading it I tweeted that I love it, Fer, and Rook, the author responded with a tweet that made me happy! She wrote that she plans on writing a Fer/Rook short story for her website! I look forward to it! A wonderful ending to a wonderful trilogy! :)

I checked this book out from my library!

Authors website: http://sarah-prineas.com/
Age Range: Middle Grade
Series?:  Yep! Final book in the Winterling trilogy! :)
Publisher: Harpercollins

Friday, July 18, 2014

Marvelous Musical Friday 24



This weeks pick is...

What Time is It?


I was watching the High School Musical movies this past week and I thought this would be a fun song for this week! :)

Thursday, July 17, 2014

2015 Books I'm Looking Forward To!


Looking at my TBR list, I realize that I already have a lot of books on it that release in 2015! I thought it might be fun to list a few of them here, if any of you are interested! (Emma @ Awkwordly Emma did two of these posts as well, I got the idea to do this post from her. :) Here's a link to Part 1 & Part 2 of hers.)

And now here's mine!
I'm not going to list these in order of release date, because a few of them don't have one. And all links go to Goodreads.

Everything is according to Goodreads, if a books not being released in 2015, I apologize!

The YA:

Between Us and the Moon by Rebecca Maizel (YA)
Looks good! :)

First & Down by Emma "Elmify" Mills (YA)
Pride & Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights? Doesn't that sound awesome? :)

Court of Fives by Kate Elliot (YA)
From Goodreads: “Little Women meet the Count of Monte Cristo in a fantasy world loosely inspired by Greco-Roman Egypt.” That's all the information about it and I'm already interested! :)

For the Record by Charlotte Huang (YA)
Fun looking! :)

Library Jumpers by Brenda Drake (YA)
This summary just sounds amazing! :)

Circus Crush by Alex Kahler (YA)
Looks different and interesting! :)

The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA)
I haven't read all of her books, but this new series looks very good! :)

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West (YA)
It's a Kasie West book, isn't that reason enough to want it?!

The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker (YA)
Looks interesting! :)

Heartless by Marissa Meyer (YA)
I just want this book a lot. :)

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall (YA)
This has a YA 39 Clues feel to me and it looks amazing! :)

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (YA)
This book looks like it is being told in an interesting way! :)

Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold by Katie Finn (YA)
I NEED IT. That is all. :)

Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham (YA)
A mystery? Want it! :)

The Trouble With Destiny by Lauren Morrill (YA)
This just looks fun! :)

The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi (YA)
Neat looking! :)

Kissing Ted Callahan (And Other Guys) by Amy Spalding (YA)
Looks good! :)

Petticoats & Pistols by Various Authors (YA)
I love Historicals, and these short stories look very good! :)

Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein (YA)
Genies? Yeah! :)

Lock  & Mori by Heather Petty (YA)
Definitely a book that I'm looking forward to a lot! Teenage female Moriarty? Teenage Sherlock Homes? Need!

Soldier Girl by Michael Grant (YA)
Very interesting looking! :)

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb (YA)
This just looks darling! :)

Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout (YA)
Love the idea of this book and want it! :)

Love, Lucy by April Lindner (YA)
Italy?! Need! :)

I'm Glad I Did by Cynthia Weil (YA)
Neat looking! :)

Embassy Row by Ally Carter (YA)
It's a new Ally Carter book. That's all I need to know about it! :)

Tracked by Jenny Martin (YA)
Love the idea of this book, too! :)

The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows (YA)
Looks good and interesting! :)

The Boy Next Door by Katie Van Ark (YA)
Love figure skating books! :)

Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira (YA)
The idea of this book is fun! :)

The MG:

The Tapper Twins Go to War (With Each Other) by Geoff Rodkey (MG)
This looks like a fun book! :)

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen (MG)
Beauty & the Beast? Yeah, I need to try it! :)

Confidentially Yours by Jo Whittemore (MG)
Looks fun! :)

Renee Reinvented by Ronni Arno Blaisdell (MG)
Boarding school books almost always get put on my TBR list, and this looks good! :)


I'm With Cupid by Anna Staniszewski (MG)
Looks good! :)

Journey's End by Rachel Hawkins (MG)
This summary had me at Scottish Highlands! :)

RSVP by Jen Malone and Gail Nall (MG)
This looks fun, too! :)

Breaking the Ice by Gail Nall (MG)
Again, love figure skating books! :)

Colonial Madness by Jo Whittemore (MG)
Isn't this cover darling? :)

Uncommon Magic by R. J. Anderson (MG)
Look interesting! :)

How to Outswim a Shark Without a Snorkel by Jess Keating (MG)
Love the first book and look forward to the 2nd book a lot! :)

Dead Air by Michelle Schusterman (MG)
The authors I Heart Band series is very fun, I'm looking forward to a new book by her! :)

Wow, that's a lot of books! And these aren't the only books I'm looking forward to in 2015, and then I know I'm going to read about more before then! It's going to be a busy year for books! :)

I'm lacking a lot of Middle Grade books, though. :( I need to find out about more! Any Middle Grade books you're looking forward to that I might like? :)

Are you looking forward to any of these books? :)

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday: Magnolia

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: Magnolia by Kristi Cook

In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.

But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

This book looks good! And I have read a lot of good things about it! :)

This book releases August 5th 2014 by Simon & Schuster

Monday, July 14, 2014

Top Ten Favorite Movies and TV Shows!

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


When I read about this TTT, I got really excited about it! Then when I began to write it, I realized that I would not be able to narrow down my favorites to ten. But I really wanted to write this TTT anyway! Which led me to listing waaaaayyy more than just ten! :)


Top Ten (More Than Ten) Favorite Movies and TV Shows

(All Movie Posters from IMDb.)

Movies:


All the Disney Princess Movies, but especially:
Frozen
Tangled
Beauty and the Beast
The Little Mermaid
Mulan
The above movies I'm able to sing all of the songs from whenever I watch them. And whenever anyone mentions them. And when anything reminds me of them. I sing the songs a lot, alright? Let it go, let it gooo! Part of youuuurrr worlllld! And I brush and brush and brush and brush my hair! ;)



My Two Favorite Pixar Movies:
Cars
Brave
I want to visit Radiator Springs, and I want to have Merida's accent. And her hair. :)


The Disney Channel Movies:
Teen Beach Movie
High School Musical 1, 2, & 3
No matter how much people make fun of these movies, I'm always going to love them! :)


The Romantic Comedies:
Leap Year
While You Were Sleeping
Letters to Juliet
What a Girl Wants
You've Got Mail
My Mom and I watch these together a lot! :)


The Movie I Have Watched Multiples Times This Year:
Austenland
This movie makes my Mom and I laugh! :)


And Everything Else:
Meet the Robinsons
The Princess Diaries 2
Despicable Me 2
How to Train Your Dragon
Hotel Transylvania
Time Travel! Princesses! Minions! Dragons! Monsters! Oh My!

TV:

(And by the way, I kept this to shows that are still on TV! If I opened it up to past favorites, this list would be even longer!)

The Reality TV:
The Amazing Race
Dancing With the Stars
Survivor
Cake Boss
I like my reality TV, alright?! ;)

The Soap Operas:
The Young and the Restless
Bold and the Beautiful
My Mom and I watch these everyday! :)

The Animated TV:
Phineas and Ferb
TMNT
Avengers Assemble!
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
I love animation!

And Everything Else:
Wolfblood
Heartland
The Middle
Love all these! :)

What's your TTT? And do you like any of the movies and TV shows I mentioned? :)

Review: Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend

Review: Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Kaite Finn

Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!

Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long? 

When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.

Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is? 

Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

Plot: I went into this book expecting a fun summer read that would be enjoyable, but I did not anticipate how much I would love it!  I laughed during it a lot! I think this would make a amazing movie!This book is fun, entertaining, and THAT ENDING! I guessed a little of it, but a lot was a total surprise and I love that! When I got to the last page I was going what just happened?! Not going to mention a lot for fear of spoiling you all, but I want the next book now!

Characters: Gemma is a fun and relatable protagonist that I enjoyed reading about! And Josh! Josh was adorable! And all of the characters were fun! Gemma's Dad, Sophie, Bruce, Rosie, Hallie, and everyone else were just perfect! I would love to read more about Ford and Gwyneth too!

The cover: Love! :)

Overall: If you want a totally amazing book for summer (or anytime at all) then I highly recommend this book! I haven't been finishing many books lately, and the ones I had been finishing were good, just not AMAZING, but this book got me out of that slump and I'm very happy about that! The ending of this book was amazing and I love it and I want the next book now! I know this review was a little incoherent, but I just think all of you need to try it!

I checked this book out from my library.


Would I recommend it?!
Yep! Would recommend to anyone looking for a fun, entertaining book! :)


Authors Website: http://www.katiefinn.com/
Age Range: Young Adult
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday: Lucky Me

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: Lucky Me by Cindy Callaghan


After breaking a chain letter, can superstitious Megan find a way to turn her luck around?

Meghan McGlinchey is the most superstitious girl in her family and probably in the entire state of Delaware. When she receives a chain letter from a stranger in Ireland, Meghan immediately passes it on, taking only a tiny shortcut in the directions.

But after a disastrous day, made complete by losing the election for class president and embarrassing herself in front of the entire school, Meghan realizes that tiny shortcut was a big mistake. Thankfully, her family was already headed to Ireland on spring break, and Meghan makes it her mission to find the original sender and break her extremely unlucky streak.

With the help of an eccentric cast of characters and one very cute Irish boy, can Meghan figure out a way to stop her bad luck? Or is she cursed forever?

-summary and cover via Goodreads

I enjoyed Lost in London by this author a lot, and look forward to this next book by her! :)

This book releases July 15th 2014 by Aladdin

Monday, July 7, 2014

Top Ten Blogging Confessions

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


Top Ten Blogging Confessions

I used to dog ear books. (*everyone gasps* I know. I don't anymore!)

I have not read Harry Potter...

...I have also never read The Hunger Games, Twilight, or any Jane Austen.

I collect bookmarks, but I rarely use them...

...I usually just try and remember the page number.

When I buy a book at the bookstore, I have to look at it and make sure that nothing is wrong with it before I get it...

...But when I order a used book, I don't care how it looks when I get it.

I used to organize my books, but now they just go on the shelf wherever they fit.

Whenever I go in a bookstore with my Mom, I make her go into the YA and MG area with me and point out all the books I love and all the books I want to read! :) (We're usually there awhile! (; )

I like the smell of books! :)

What's your TTT? :)

Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day!!!!!!! I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!!!!!! :)