Recommend A...Book That Kept You Up All Night

Today's Recommend A is for the book that kept you up all night. My pick for this is The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. 

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her-East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.
When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

This book is long, but kept me up into all hours of the night to finish it! It catches you from the first page and keeps you hanging until the last, when you will want to jump right onto Never Fade, the sequel. 

Blood Red Road by Moira Young Review

Summary: Saba lives in Silverlake, a wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms where her family scavenge from landfills left by the long-gone Wrecker civilization. After four cloaked horsemen kidnap her beloved twin brother Lugh, she teams up with daredevil Jack and the Free Hawks, a girl gang of Revolutionaries. 

Saba learns that she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Saba and her new friends stage a showdown that change the course of her civilization.

Review: I actually read this book a while ago, but I wasn't sure how to approach this review. This book was a large book, somewhere around 400 pages. A lot happened in those four hundred pages - every page was packed with action and character development. It was almost overwhelming with everything happening in the book. 

Saba is a strong female character, literally strong. She is the most Katniss-like character I have seen in a female character. If it was Saba vs. Katniss in a fight, Saba might even pull of the win. She is not only physically strong, but mentally as well. She is smart and cunning, a good decision maker, strong willed. Everything about her is likable, but she also has such a strong front that it may seem a little hard to connect with her for the first few pages. Saba really is a character to desire to be like. Even to the way she deals with her love interest is admirable. Loved, loved this character!! 

The action is so well paced and plotted out. Everything is exciting and fun. There is no scene that feels boring or used as a filler scene. The book is long, but never boring. Everything is very well written, from all the fight scenes to the beautiful descriptions of the barren desert they fight their way through. It's really fun to read about. I would compare it to The Darkest Minds or Hunger Games in action. 

The writing style is a little awkward to read. It is written like The Knife of Never Letting Go, in Southern speak with misspelled words and bad grammar. It does add to the story, but sometimes can get a little hard to read. Eventually, it just seems natural, but I suggest reading certain scenes aloud if you can't understand them. It really does fit Saba's character, especially seeing their lifestyle and conditions. 

Overall, this book was a super fun read! I highly suggest it to any fans of action packed dystopias. 

5/5 Stars

Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell Review

Summary: Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it—the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. 

This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow"—as Samantha Jones dubs her—to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined.

With her signature wit and sparkling humor, Candace Bushnell reveals the irresistible story of how Carrie met Samantha and Miranda, and what turned a small-town girl into one of New York City's most unforgettable icons, Carrie Bradshaw.

Review: The last book in Carrie's prequel duology was not as good as the first. The Carrie Diaries was a fun book about Carrie's high school struggles. This one fell short from the first one in a lot of ways. The actual writing was not changed at all. Most of the problems came from Carrie's decisions in the book that really do not make sense with her character. 

The first major problem that I had was with her love interest. He was not a very likable character and the entire book I hated him. Carrie spends most of her time obsessing over him though, making him a major character. It was really hard to read those scenes. It also seemed kind of strange that she would be with someone like that after just having been through everything with Sebastian - who is maybe mentioned a whole of two times in the entire book. 

The second problem that I had was just with Carrie's character in general. Her decisions all seem very risky and wild. I understand the thrill that comes with New York City life, but she really doesn't have her career in mind at all when she comes. She misses so many opportunities in the city to make her dream come true for her friends and boyfriend. There are other ways that the story could have been taken to actually make Carrie a successful writer, someone who really shows talent. Then again, I have never read the original Sex and The City books, so maybe this was done for a reason. I don't really know. 

That being said, I loved the minor characters. Miranda was such a good compliment to Carrie. L'il's story was unique and interesting. Samantha really helped Carrie to grow throughout the book. Capote and Ryan were both interesting characters, both together and separate. I like that we got to catch up with Maggie, Walt, and Dorrit, but they do all just fade away. The plot was also a good concept, but got distracted with all the minor characters and Carrie's bad decisions. 

Overall, this book was fun and a good light read. It was nothing too special, but I do suggest the first book in the series to fans of SATC or The Carrie Diaries television show. 

2.5/5 Stars 

Friday Reads: January 24

Hey everyone! So today is the first in a new series on my blog, Friday Reads. I know some other bloggers do this, but I just wanted to keep you updated with what I am reading each and every Friday, as well as my hopes for reading accomplishments this weekend.

 Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell is what I am currently reading right now. It's super fun and is really making me want the summertime back!

 Enclave by Ann Aguirre - This is a super short paperback, so I am sure I can finish it quickly.

 Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard - Another short paperback, plus I will finish my January TBR with this one!!

That's all for this weekend! Let me know what you are planning to read in the comments.

A to Z Bookish Survey

I've seen a couple of other book blogs do this, so I decided to join in! This was created by Jamie from Perpetual Page Turner.

Author you’ve read the most books from:

Sara Shepard - at 16 books. Then Cassandra Clare and Rick Riordan at 11 and 9, respectively. 

Best Sequel Ever:

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. No explanation needed, that book is pure epicness from cover to cover.

Currently Reading:

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll 

Drink of Choice While Reading:

Apple cider. I know, weird, right?

E-reader or Physical Book?

Physical book, all the way! I do have a Kindle Fire, but it sits on the shelf more than I use it.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:

Percy Jackson. Because he's so adorable and he would probably fit in really well with my friends. 

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. 

Hidden Gem Book:

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano.

Important Moment in your Reading Life:

Finding Booktube. It showed me how many books there were and really changed my perspectives on reading.

Just Finished:

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:

Well - erotica, obviously. Other than that, I'll pretty much read whatever. 

Longest Book You’ve Read:

The Iliad/The Odyssey/The Aeneid by Homer/Virgil - 1648 pages

Major book hangover because of:

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Number of Bookcases You Own:

3. They are more like boxes and I double stack them though...

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. 

Preferred Place To Read:

In bed...also, on the floor.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:

“At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.The hard thing is finding the courage to do it.” - Catching Fire

Reading Regret:

Not reading The Hunger Games the first time I saw it. I waited an entire year after.

Series You Started And Need To Finish(all books are out in series):

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. I'm on book two - Frostbite.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:

Catching Fire, Just One Day, Forgive Me Leonard Peacock

Unapologetic Fangirl For:

Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles. Seriously, we need a bigger fandom!

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:

Cress by Marissa Meyer. See above.

Worst Bookish Habit:

Umm...library fines...yeah, they get pretty bad.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson.

Your latest book purchase:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

The Classics Book Club: An Introduction/February's Pick

Many of you may have made some reading goals and I, for one, have seen many people wanting to read more classics! Including me. Classics are important to the way we read. Too often, I find myself stuck in a young adult rut with no other books to read. A few years ago, I was only reading dystopians. But classics are important to push the boundaries in which we read. 

Therefore - I have decided to start The Classics Book Club! 

Every month, I will be picking a classic book that we will read. The majority of this will be conduced on the Goodreads group, which you can join here! 

For January (I know, a little late) we will be reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll! I will have a review up for both of these books soon. 

In February, we will finally get to reading a book together, not at the super last minute. So, for those of you who wanted to get started buying or reading or making a tbr or whatever else you may do, it will be Aesop's Fables by Aesop. The discussion will be hosted on a Goodreads forum, another reason to join the group. 

I hope you all will join this book club and learn more about classic literature!

Just One Day by Gayle Forman Review

Summary (via Goodreads): When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Review: THIS BOOK! Was so good. Like incredibly good. I'm not really sure how to describe it - a feel good book? Not really. There was nothing incredibly mushy or heartwarming about it, but it still had an overall feeling of hope. It wasn't incredibly sad or happy. It was just like life. And that was beautiful. 

Allyson can relate to many people. She's the classic girl - not one created by movies - a real girl with an extroverted best friend, conflicting dreams, parental troubles, and her own internal problems as she tries to fit into the world. Her double persona of Lulu lets her become the person she has been wanted to be, a person that most people respect for their crazy daringness, like the personification of YOLO. However, Allyson doesn't always fit into this life. When she comes back to the States for college, she is faced with the dual personalities fighting for the way that she lives her life. As much as she wants this crazy part of her back, it will not come. She's haunted by the day in Paris. This day changed her life. First, I never thought one day could change your life before I read this book. One day seemed only a span of twenty four hours. After reading, I could probably make a list of over-looked days that did change my life. And while none of them are as crazy as Allyson's day in Paris, they still are important to the people we have all become. And then I figured - why can't every day be that one day that changes your life? That may seem impossible, but everyday we should do something new and exciting. That was what I took the most from this story.

It's been a while since I could really pull some type of deeper meaning from a book. Most of them, as according to the popular dystopian trend in young adult right now, focus on the same meanings of girl power and strength and heroism and self sacrifice. But after that message being pounded into my head for the past two years since The Hunger Games hit it's peak  and the onslaught of dystopian worlds being changed by one girl, I get the message. And I know what it means - it just seems hard to truly understand that when these people are in some terribly messed up government situations fighting for their life. That's not how I live though (and hopefully it never is). But in Just One Day, the girl and her relationships and her situations are real. They are relatable, even through the stretches of life in fiction. 

Overall, Gayle Forman nailed it with the writing. It was beautiful and flowing, with metaphors filling up every page, but not ever being thrown at the reader to understand them. The book took its reader in the direction it wanted, while letting them openly interpret, which is really how a book becomes meaningful. 

All of the locations were so well written. I could clearly see the various European locations, although I have never stepped foot on that continent. It was such a good idea of every place that they went. The characters were the same way - I felt like I knew all of them. It showed how there are good and willing people to help you wherever you go, just as they all help Allyson on her adventure to get back to Paris and Willem. 

This book is absolutely stunning. I highly suggest it! 

5/5 Stars

Recommend A...Book With a Musically Talented Character

Today's Recommend A is for a book with a musically talented character! My pick is The Selection by Kiera Cass. 

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

America comes from the performer caste, plus her last name is Singer! This is a really fun, lighthearted read that I highly suggest.

Bout of Books 9.0 Wrap Up

Hello! Today I am here to wrap up my first time doing the Bout of Books Read a Thon! I managed to read three books and begin another.

 Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - Days 1-4 - 433 pages - Review here.

 Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier - Days 5-6 - 300 pages - Review here

 Trapped by Michael Northrop - Days 6-7 - 232 pages - Review here.

 Just One Day by Gayle Forman - Day 7 - 59 pages

So, in total I read 1024 pages in one week! That is pretty impressive for me. I have also really been liking Just One Day so far, so hopefully I can finish that one soon and get a review up for you all. I also manged to complete all of the challenges except one! I will definitely be doing Bout of Books 10 in May.

Thanks to you all for joining me on this adventure!!

Bout of Books Sunday 1/12 Day 7 Update

Updates:

• Finished Trapped by Michael Northrop - 79 pages
• Started Just One Day by Gayle Forman - 60 pages

The challenge for today is from Harley Bear Book Blog. This is a Bookish Wedding tag that she posted on her Youtube channel:

And I'm going to do these questions on the blog! Here they are, with my answers:


1. Which fictional character would you marry? Percy Jackson from Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He's so funny and nice and perfect! 2. Who would be your Maid of Honor or Best Man? Tessa Grey from Clockwork Angel. She just seems like a cool person to have and a great friend.  3. Which fictional world would you want to get married in? Hogwarts. No explanation necessary.  4. Who would you pick to play the music at your wedding? Liam from The Darkest Minds. I love his classic rock music taste on their road trips, so hopefully he'd bring something similar.  5. Who would be your photographer? Grover from Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This is mostly just an excuse to invite him to my wedding, but I feel like he would be really good at all those little mustaches and hats and things.  6. Who would you sit at the singles table (and hope they'd fall in love)? My OTPS - Clove and Cato (from The Hunger Games), America and Maxon (from The Selection) and Lena and Julian (from Delirium)  7. Who would be your flower girl or ring bearer? Flower girl - Zu from the Darkest Minds, Ring Bearer- Finnick's child (from The Hunger Games) 8. Who would you want to plan the bachelorette/bachelor party? Magnus Bane from The Mortal Instruments. Seriously, that would be the best party EVER.  9. At the wedding, who would be the first on the dance floor? Well, hopefully me. But otherwise - Kenji from Shatter Me. He would live for that moment.  10. Who would give a speech or toast? Peeta from The Hunger Games. For the obvious reason.  11. Who would catch the bouquet or garter? Gwen from Ruby Red. 
So that's it for the last day of the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon! Tomorrow will be my wrap up post! 

Trapped by Michael Northrop Review

Summary (via Goodreads): The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive. . . .

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision. . . .

Review: This book was okay, but it was the plot and description that really did it. If this book had a little bit more character development, it would probably be stellar. The descriptions of the building snow were all amazing and beautiful. The school was very well described. Every way that they stayed alive was very well written and accurate to what they would do. There were just a few problems in their priorities - like having acne problems and trying to pop pimples, lots of descriptions of the hot girls. Literally, there was nothing else to Julie or Krista except that they were hot and so beautiful, even though they were only freshman. 

As for Scotty, he was okay. Same with all the other characters. I did like Jason a little bit more than the rest for some reason, but everyone else was okay. All cookie cutter types of the high school crew - the bully, the hot girl, the best friend, the jock, the goth, the teenage boy controlled only by getting the girl, the smart leader who comes from nowhere. It was a typical high school - in description, in characters. Even the few encounters at the beginning of the book with teachers were nothing special, and most of them seemed to not care at all about any of the students. 

The plot was well described. While the level of snow was a bit unbelievable, the way that the school building shut down was brilliant. The heat shutting down, the electric, the roof falling down from all the snow. All of this was a very nice process and timed well so that just when they had everything figured out, they would start again with another problem. 

The ending really did the book justice. I will not spoil anything, but it was brilliantly done. It didn't wrap everything up at the end in a beautiful bow - but it left enough that the brain could fully imagine what would happen without directly stating anything. 

Overall, this book is worth the read. It is well written and descriptive, but the characters were a bit lacking and boring. 

4/5 Stars

Bout of Books Saturday 1/11 Update

Updates:

• Finished Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier - 128 pages
• Started Trapped by Michael Northrop - 153 pages

I'm not doing the challenge today, sorry! I'm just thankful I had enough time to read and get this post up. We have one more day of Bout of Books, so I'm going to get to reading. 

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier Review

Summary (via Goodreads): Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Review: This book was so much fun to read. I loved Gwen. She was such an interesting point of view and was really fun and quirky. Having the world revealed to us through her was a really nice touch, especially seeing Gwen's funny reactions to somethings (like when she starts singing the national anthem around the mind readers!) Gideon was okay, but he seemed a little bit shifty. I don't know about his character or not, I guess he has to be a good guy... My other favorite character was Lesley, Gwen's best friend. They both had such a good relationship. I loved how protective Lesley was over Gwen and they always seemed to know what was going on with each other. The other adult characters in this book got a little confusing - there are multiple family lines and people in the Temple. Sometimes, it was hard to remember who a certain person was. However, there is a list of characters in the back of the book which would probably have been helpful if I knew it existed before I finished reading. *sigh*

The book was well paced, but the beginning did start slow. I really wished she would just tell her mother at the beginning and the explanation of the world took too long. It needed to happen for world building purposes, but it seemed too dragged out with all the multiple characters. They were all introduced at once and that was when it started to get confusing. Once the action picked up, it did start to get better - all the time travel was super fun and I loved the scenes where she got dressed before then. Halfway through, the action and the premise really picked up with all the collecting blood. I just wish that it had started a bit sooner. 

Ruby Red was translated from German, which I didn't have too many problems with. Sometimes, translation got a little bit fancy, but that normally happens. The translator took a very straight-from-the-German approach which led to fancier words and degrees than we would normally use in slang English. It wasn't exactly like reading a book originally written in English because of all the high language, but it was understandable. 

Overall, this book was an exciting and fun read with a slow beginning! I am going to read the next two books in this series sometime soon. 

4.5/5 stars 

Bout of Books Friday 1/10 Day 5 Update

Update:

• Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier - 172 pages

The first challenge for today is from Never Too Fond of Books. This is the Create a Story challenge and this are the rules:
 1. Open your current book to the last page you read. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier - page 40
 2. Using the last word of every line, create a poem or story. My Words: car, and, fear, look, suddenly, blowing, night, even, all, the, it, before, corner, looked, seen, out, their 
And my story:

The car suddenly looked all fear. Their night, seen even before the look, and the corner, blowing out.

Okay, that story didn't make much sense...this was a jumbled mess of words and verb tenses! Hopefully, it turned out okay.

The second challenge is from The Book Spines and it is a book spine poetry challenge. Seeing as how I've failed at the past poetry attempts, this should be interesting. :) The goal for this one was to take a picture of your book spines that make a poem.

The books featured were Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, The House of Hades by Rick Riordan, Reached by Ally Condie, and Beneath the Glitter by Elle Fowler. Therefore, the poem was Catching fire, the House of Hades reached beneath the glitter. 

This was a good day of reading for me! Now onto the final stretch of weekend when I hope to finish at least two more books. Wish me luck! 

Bout of Books: Thursday 1/19 Day 4 Update

Update:

• Finished Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - 220 pages
• Started reading Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier - 30 pages

Today's first challenge is from Pen In Her Hand. The first step is to chose a novel from any genre that you have read. For this, I chose Legend by Marie Lu and to pick a number; my number will be 2.

1. Flip to a page at random - p.133 and go down 2 lines, over two words until you get 14 words. Here are my words:

• nothing, grit, off, my, I, the, why, against, wall, if, I, hunting, Skiz, morning

1. Next is to delete two words and add two more. I will delete Hunting and Skiz and add then and now. 
2. Now arrange the words into a poem:

          Nothing if I now,

          Against the wall

          I grit off then

          Why my morning? 

And the second challenge is from Writing My Own Fairytale. You must pick two books that would go well together to recommend, as long as they are not in the same series. Here are my choices and why:

1984 by George Orwell and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

These books are both dystopians in which everyone knows what you are thinking. The first is a classic book that invented the genre and the second is a newer one coming from the reinvention of the genre; but both talk about mind control and knowing everything about personal thought.

Well, today I finally kicked into reading and finished my first book! How did you do? 

Bout of Books: Wednesday 1/8 Day 3 Update

Progress:

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - 54 pages

The challenge for today is from Doing Dewey and it is to pick your favorite genre and recommend some books for beginners to that genre! My favorite genre is dystopian and I have read a good bit of it besides the more popular series like Hunger Games and Divergent. So for those of you looking to more futuristic worlds, my top five lesser known dystopian books are:

 Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano. This is one of my favorite books that I read in 2013 and I am so excited for the sequel! You can check out my full review here.

 Reboot by Amy Tintera. Another first book in a duology, this book is action packed and very exciting. This book was lots of fun!

 Proxy by Alex London. This book was exciting and one of my favorites. Another action packed book with lovable characters! The sequel is also coming out this year.

 Earth Girl by Janet Edwards. This is a British series and it is one of the most realistic futuristic societies. It's a very interesting read.

 The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. This is the first book in an amazing dystopia/fantasy series with a new outlook on vampires. The last book in the trilogy is coming out this year and it will be a must read for me!

Bout of Books: Tuesday 1/7 Day 2 Update

First, a progress report:

• Fangirl - 39 pages... Not the best, but I've been busy with school, so I'll take it. 

The first challenge for the day is from Sarah Says Read. The question is: How do you fit in as much reading as possible during Bout of Books? How do you squeeze in those extra pages?

And my answer is: I try to stay up later at night for reading and fitting it in at random times, just to get in a few extra pages. My favorite times are while I'm waiting for something to boil, in commercial breaks of shows, or while on public transport. 

And the second challenge is from The Geeky Blogger's Book Blog and it is to pick a book and the actors who would play them on a radio show, so just their voices. 

My book: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

My cast: Cath would be Anna Kendrick and Levi would be Liam Hemsworth

That's it for today! 

Bout of Books: Monday 1/6 Update (Day 1)

It's day 1 of Bout of Books! Here's my progress for the day:

• Fangirl - 135 pages

And now, onto the challenges. The first is hosted by Bookish Comforts and it's pretty easy. Pretend you have just won $100 to spend on books - what do you buy? Okay, let's do this:

 Miss Peregrine's Home for Pecuilar Children by Ransom Riggs
 An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
 The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

I think that should be around $100, but I'm not sure. Let's just say it is. Okay? Okay.

And the second challenge is hosted by Cheap Thrills. This is a bookish mad lib, so it should turn out to be very interesting.
character name – Leonard from Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock
adjective1 – True from An Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
adjective2 – Perfect from Perfect Ruin
item – Philosopher's Stone from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
occupation – Fangirl from Fangirl 
act of violence – Poison from Poison Study 
adjective3 – Beautiful from Beautiful Creatures
noun1 – Bone from Shadow & Bone
noun2 – Mockingbird from To Kill A Mockingbird 

The Story:

I just read the greatest book!

This guy Leonard ends up in the middle of a true conspiracy. Turns out his ancestors were pirates, and he/she might be the key to finding the perfect philosopher's stone. It’s a mythic artifact that disappeared centuries ago, and now a shadowy group of fangirls are looking for it. No one knows what uncovering it might do, but these guys are willing to poison for it.

I won’t say anything else. But believe me, if you like beautiful stories with bones  and mockingbirds, you have to read this one.

There you go! How did you all do? I think my Mad Lib turned out pretty well and the rest of my reading also turned out pretty well. 

Recommend A...Book You Want To Reread For the First Time

Today's Recommend A is for a book you want to reread for the first time! My pick is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

The first time I read this book I came into it already knowing everything, so I didn't read it with the best mindset exactly. I would like to reread it again, especially since it is such a favorite!

January To Be Read

My December to be read didn't turn out so well, but I think that this should go much better. Let's see which books I picked:

 Trapped by Michael Northrop
 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
 Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
 Sketchy by Olivia Samms
 Enclave by Ann Aguirre
 Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell
 Blood Red Road by Moira Young
 Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Bout of Books 9.0 Read a Thon Goals

These are my goals for the Bout of Books read a thon! Let's see how many I can accomplish:

Books to Read:

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• Ruby Red by Kirsten Gier
• Trapped by Michael Northrop
• Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard 

Bout of Books 9.0

It's Bout of Books Read-A-Thon time, my friends! And I shall be participating this year! For more information, you can go to their website: here. But this is what it's all about:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I'll also be posting my goals in later post today! See you all then.