This may be late, but I’m doing it anyway! I had a pretty great August, bookish and non-bookish! I cannot believe that we are already almost halfway through with September though. Where has 2016 gone?!
BOOKS READ
I read a total of six books in August!
A Long Way From You not pictued because it was overdue from the library! haha
– A Long Way From You by Gwendolyn Heasley \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
– Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
– The Program by Suzanne Young \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
– Dance of Fire by Yelena Black \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
– The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
– The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
STANDOUT BOOK OF THE MONTH
I’ve decided I’m going to start featuring a book or two each month that really stood out to me. Maybe it will be one I found to be surprisingly good, or one that I knew was going to become a favorite. This month I’m going to feature:
The Importance of Being Earnest
and
The Program
I was so pleasantly surprised with both of these books! I did not expect to like them nearly as much as I actually did.
BOOKS REVIEWED
Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Program by Yelena Black \\ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CLASSIC READ
For the Pretty Books 2016 Classic Challenge, I read The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Be sure to look for my post about it, coming soon!
BOOK HAUL
I only bought one book in August: The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey! I loved The 5th Wave, so I cannot wait to read this second book in the series and find out what happens next. 🙂
MISCELLANEOUS
I also participated in the #ReadThemAllThon that went from August 14th through September 3rd. Click here to find out which books I was reading, and my progress for that read-a-thon!
I also started a new feature called Movie Monday! I’ve only made one post, so far, about it. To hear my thoughts comparing Matilda by Roald Dahl to its movie, click here. 🙂
I finally, very slowly, started to catch up on tags! I was nominated for the Liebster Award a couple months ago, and I finally got around to doing it.
That wraps up my August! I had a really great month filled with swimming, the fair, and camping, along with some really great books. I hope you all had an excellent August as well, and I hope your September is going great, too! 🙂
Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram to continue to stay updated on what I am reading in between blog posts.
Title: Beastly by Alex Flinn
Pages: 304
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Retellings
Published by: HarperTeen (January 1, 2007)
Summary
I am a beast.
A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.
You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.
What I Thought
I was pleasantly surprised with this book! Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from it. I had heard about Beastly, and I knew there was a movie, but I hadn’t heard a lot about what people actually thought of it. All I knew was that it was a modern-day, Beauty and the Beast retelling, and its cover looks like it was designed for fans of Twilight. I recently saw this book at the thrift store, and at only $0.40, I figured I had nothing to lose!
Last week was the last week of the read-a-thon, and while I wasn’t able to actually complete the entire challenge, I think I did pretty well, and I had so much fun!
Badges Earned
The first book I read this week was Into the Wild (Cat Warriors #1) by Erin Hunter. My sister has been a huge fan of this series for a while now, and since we both love cats so much, she knew I would like it, too! I did not manage to get a review written in time to count for the read-a-thon, but be on the look out for one soon. 🙂
The second book I read was Beastly by Alex Flinn. It was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I ended up enjoying this book a lot more than I expected to. You can look forward to a review for this book in the coming weeks as well. 🙂
CP Earned
Dance of Fire Review | +20CP
Into the Wild |+28CP
Boulder Badge | +20CP
Beastly | +30CP
Soul Badge | +20CP
Tweets | +20CP
My pokemon’s final CP is at 338! He didn’t make it into a Venusaur this time, but maybe for the next read-a-thon. 🙂
This read-a-thon was so, so much fun! Overall, I ended up reading 4 really great books. I may not have been able to finish all 8 books, but I know if it weren’t for the challenges, I probably would not have read any of these books yet, and they would have just sat on my TBR pile for who knows how long.
I just wanted to say thanks again to Aentee from ReadAtMidnight for creating the #ReadThemAllThon, and for all the hard work and thoughtfulness she put into it.
I hope you all have enjoyed seeing what I’ve been reading! 🙂
Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram to continue to stay updated on what I am reading in between blog posts.
Title: Dance of Fire by Yelena Black
Pages: 321
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (March 12th, 2015)
Summary
All dancers dream of the chance to try out for the Royal Court Ballet Company. Only two dancers from the elite New York Ballet Academy will have this honour. Vanessa is one of them. She dances with grace and elegance, and a fury that is unmatched. Justin – strong, sexy and caring – will be her partner. But the thrill of travelling to London for this once-in-a-lifetime competition is shrouded by their past and the demands of an ancient organisation. The Lyric Elite needs them to win the contest and to infiltrate the Royal Court Ballet in order to seek out a dark society of Necrodancers. Vanessa will dance like she has never danced before, but not for them. Vanessa is there to find her missing sister, Margaret, and she won’t let anything get in the way of that …Fierce rivals, dark forces and hidden motives weave together in a gripping thriller for fans of Black Swan and Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments.
What I Thought
First, you should know that this book is the sequel to Dance of Shadows. You can check out the review I did for that by clicking here. 🙂
I read Dance of Shadows back when it came out in 2013. It wasn’t a super hyped up book, but, of the few bloggers I knew back then, people talked about it. There was definitely some media hype, and as a dancer, I just new I had to get that book. So, after finishing it, it was quite clear there was going to be a sequel. So, I kept waiting, and waiting, for any type of information concerning the next book in the series. Finally, Dance of Fire was quietly released in 2015, straight to paperback, and only available in the UK (I bought my copy from The Book Depository). I’m saying all of this, because I feel like this book is highly underappreciated, and I want to know why there were absolutely no announcements or hype about the release of this book. In fact, the only way I found out about its release is because I had marked it on my to-read shelf on Goodreads, and one day there was a release date on it. That was it. This book was good! Was it the best book I ever read? No. That being said I really did enjoy it, and I cannot figure out why its release is so quiet and shady. Okay, random, mini-rant over; I’m going to talk about the actual content now!
Dance of Fire had a different vibe than book 1, and I think that worked really well for it. In this book, Vanessa is in a new location, with new characters – and a few old ones – and everything just felt very fresh and new. The dancing, as always, was super fun to read about, and I loved how Yelena Black incorporated the paranormal aspect of the novel in the actual dancing. I loved getting to know Vanessa’s mom in this one, because I don’t remember her in Dance of Shadows very much, if at all, too. I also found myself liking Justin’s character a lot more than I remember. I did miss Vanessa’s friends though.
Something I did not necessarily care for was the dual perspective. In this book, it alternates between present day, and Margaret’s diary from 2 years ago. I appreciated the insight from the past, but sometimes things felt a bit disjointed because of it. Overall, this book just did not feel as strong as the first. I also found this book struggling in the same way Dance of Shadows did. The beginning was exciting, and the ending was great, but the middle was a bit lacking at times. I felt like things should have been progressing more, when nothing was really happening.
I really did enjoy the ending though. I thought it really tied the two books together, and wrapped up the mystery well. It also left just enough loose ends open for the series to feel complete, but also stay available for more sequels in the future, if the author decides to do so.
Overall, while I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the first one, Dance of Fire was a very entertaining, mysterious read. I would recommend this series to anyone who is a lover of both dance and the paranormal.
Also, can we just appreciate that gorgeous cover?! *heart eyes*
I was tagged by, the always so kind, Lashaan & Trang over at Bookidote for the Pokemon GO Book Tag! Thank you so much, you guys! 🙂 This tag was created by Aentee @ Read at Midnight.
The Rules
There are no real rules; simply have fun! A link back to Aentee’s blog is always nice though. You can also use the graphics. 🙂
Okay, let’s get started!
Honestly, I don’t ever remember a time where I did not love to read. I’m pretty sure I came out of the womb loving books! That being said, the Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Park were the first series that I absolutely fell in love with, and they are one of the first books that I remember reading all by myself. I still have a distinct, random memory of me sitting on my older sister’s bed reading Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket, and asking my sister what glum meant! Hahaha
This one is a no-brainer for me: Nancy Drew! After I outgrew Junie B. Jones (which, honestly, I’ll always love, too), I discovered Nancy Drew, and I fell in absolute love! I don’t know what it was about this series that enticed me so, but I just couldn’t get enough. To this day, I still love to read Nancy Drew books. I’m obsessed/addicted to all things related to Nancy Drew, and even though I’m older now, my love is still just as strong.
I’m probably going to get a lot of disgruntled comments for this one, but, I think I’m going to have to go with Harry Potter. Now, hear me out! I’ve only read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and I did really enjoy it a lot; I plan on finishing the rest of the series. The thing is, I hear about Harry Potter literally everyday. I can’t scroll through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., for more than a few minutes without finding something related to Harry Potter at least once. Because of this, I feel like there are a lot of things I’ve been spoiled on. Plus, because it has such huge hype, I feel like it’s always going to be there. Harry Potter is iconic; 5 years from now, it’s still going to be everywhere. So, it’s not really that I’ve lost interest in this series, it’s more like I’ve sort of just put it on hold.
I think I’m going to go with the Matched series by Ally Condie for this one. This series reminds me of a lot of other YA dystopian books out there, but despite that, I still think this series is so entertaining!
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray!! I really enjoyed the first two books in the A Great and Terrible Beauty series, but I have not read the final book yet, because it is HUGE! Coming in at 816 pages, aside from the Bible, it is the largest book I own. I want to read it, but…it’s size scares me!
I’m going to go with another Libba Bray book: The Diviners! This book was super creepy! Story time: While reading this book late one night – I was the only person up, mind you – I heard someone whistling outside. If you’ve read this book, you know what whistling means. Needless to say, I never read this book when I was the only one awake again!
This one is another no-brainer for me! Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley will forever be my ultimate bookish OTP. Just look at them! *heart eyes*
I have to choose The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. This is a bit of a bigger book, but despite that, I absolutely flew through this one! It is so action-packed and fast-paced, it’s one of those reads you just cannot put down.
I think I’ll go with Nancy Drew again, for this one. While I don’t think all the spins-offs are necessarily equal in quality, I do love that there are so many different series, spin-offs and merchandise. After over 85 years, the fact that Nancy Drew is still, for the most part, a household name, is so incredible!
The Program by Suzanne Young definitely surprised me. I figured I’d enjoy it, because I enjoy a lot of YA dystopian, but I ended up loving this book a lot more than I thought I would! It felt very fresh, and I cannot wait to read the sequel and see how this series ends!
This was a tricky one for me, but I’m going to go with the Selection series by Kiera Cass. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the later books, but people seem to just love this series, and I think it sounds like a lot of fun, too!
I’d love to have the Barnes and Noble leather-bound classics…as in all of them! Those books are seriously so gorgeous. I have Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and a Little House bind up, and two books are just not enough. I mean look at it!!
I actually can’t think of one for this?? I know there are books that are coming out that I want, but I just can’t think of any right now?
All of these authors I wish could be auto-buy, but I love the library, and since I’m not a billionaire some of these are auto-checkout from the library: Ransom Riggs, Meg Cabot, Sarah Dessen, and Stephenie Meyer.
I have been waiting for Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs ever since it was announced, and tomorrow is finally the day (even though I probably won’t actually buy it tomorrow)!!
This was so much fun!! I’m not going to tag anyone, because I don’t know who has already/wants to do this, but if you haven’t done this yet, and it looks like fun, I tag YOU!
I was nominated by Monique from That Wild Soul for the Liebster Award! Thank you so, so much! I was nominated over 2 months ago, and I’m just now doing this…oops? Despite my delay, I am super excited to be doing this!! 🙂
Check out the 2016 Official Liebster Award rules for more logos and information.
The Rules:
1. Acknowledge the blog that nominated you and display the award.
2. Answer the 11 questions that the blog gives you.
3. Give 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 5-11 blogs that you think are deserving of the award that have less than 200 followers.
5. Let the blogs know you have nominated them.
6. Give them 11 questions to answer.
The Questions
What is your favourite series?
Ooh! This is such a hard question for me…I’m going to have to go with the Nancy Drew series. Those books were the first ones that I ever became really obsessed with, and they are just really special to me to this day.
Do you ever read the ending of a book first to see if you’ll like it?
Never! I’ve been accidentally spoiled for books before, and it’s a horrible thing. I would never intentionally do that to myself.
Is there a book you liked but think could do with a rewrite?
The Death Cure by James Dashner! I love the Maze Runner series, and I think the series ended well, but it could have ended so much better.
Which book has your least favourite cover?
I know there are covers that I don’t like, but honestly, I cannot think of any right now?
How often do you unhaul books?
…never…I really, really should, but I hate getting rid of books! I going to have to unhaul a few soon though, because my bookshelves are pretty much at their max. capacity!
Do you feel pressure to update your blog regularly?
I do! I know my blog isn’t very big, so it’s not like I have any “fans” waiting for me to post or anything, but even though my blog is small, I want to be consistent. I want to be able to look back at my old posts and see what I thought, too!
What is one of your favourite bookish items?
I have this Nancy Drew fleece sweatshirt from Out of Print Clothing, and not only is it super cute, it is probably the coziest shirt I own!
What are the top 3 things on your bucket list?
I think it is super important for every one to have goals, but honestly, I don’t know. I’m still figuring out what I would like to do.
Which book would you sacrifice in an apocalypse to save the world?
Fifty Shades of Grey; I’ve never read it, and I have no desire to.
Would you like to travel to the past or the future?
The past! While realistically, I know I wouldn’t want to stay there permanently, there are so many places I’d like to see in the past. I’d love to see what life was like on the prairie, like Laura Ingalls, I’d love to experience life from the early 1900’s, as well as experience the ’50s and the ’60s.
What is your favourite song? (Include YouTube link)
I don’t have a favorite song of all time or anything like that, but lately I’ve really been enjoying Happiness by NeedToBreathe.
My Questions
- What is the book that made you fall in love with reading?
- Best book you’ve read in 2016?
- Worst book you’ve read in 2016?
- If you could travel anywhere, free of charge, where would you go and why?
- What book to movie adaptation is your favorite?
- Which one is your least favorite?
- Favorite non-bookish thing to do?
- What is your favorite food?
- If you could live in any other time period, which would it be?
- What is your favorite season?
- What new book release are you most anticipating?
Nominations
I’m not going to nominate anyone in particular, but instead, I’m going to nominate everyone who has not done this yet!
Reading wise, this week was not great. I only finished one book. However, I had a super busy, fun-filled week, so that is okay!
Badges Earned
This week, I only earned my Marsh Badge, with Dance of Fire by Yelena Black. For some reason, it took me forever to read this book – I only just finished it today! I had planned on having it finished early last week, and the review would have been up for sure last Saturday, but that, obviously, didn’t happen. You can look for the review to be up in the next day or two!
Like I said, I didn’t get that much time to read this past week. However, I am okay with that, because I had a really great last week of summer break! 🙂 My family and I bought week passes to the fair, and so I ended up going 5 times this year! I always have so much fun at the fair, and it’s really nice, because we have a trailer we go camping at in the summer, and the campground is literally right next to the fairgrounds. So, my family and I went camping there a couple of times last week, and then we would walk over to the fair, too.
Because of my lack of reading, however, I realize the chances of me being able to complete this read-a-thon are now super slim! So, my goal now is to just complete at least 2 more books, which would bring me to at least the halfway mark.
CP Earned
Dance of Fire | +32CP
Marsh Badge | +20CP
Tweets | +2CP
My Pokemon is now at 150 CP, which means he can finally evolve into an Ivysaur, gaining me an extra +50CP, which brings us up to 200 CP!
Okay, so like I said, my goal for this final week of the #ReadThemAllThon, is to read at least 2 more books. I also want to have all my reviews for these books, as well as Dance of Fire, written and posted before the read-a-thon is over. Wish me luck!! 🙂
Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more day-to-day updates!
Hey everyone! Today I am starting a new feature on my blog called Movie Monday. Basically, I’m going to discuss and compare the movie adaptations of various books that I’ve read. The goal, for now, is to do this at least twice a month, but I may do more! 🙂
Today’s book to movie adaptation I’m going to talk about is the 1996 movie Matilda, based off the book of the same name by Roald Dahl.
Also, please be aware that there will be some spoilers!
Matilda by Roald Dahl is one of my favorite books, and it is one of my absolute favorite movies as well. Like most of the people I know, I watched the movie before reading the book. I honestly don’t remember the first time I saw this movie, because, basically, it feels like I’ve always known and loved it. Because of that, my opinion on this movie adaptation might be a bit biased. 😉 My love for the movie is actually what led to me reading the book. The first time I read it, I was around 10 or 11, but I just recently reread and rewatched Matilda, which is why I chose this book to movie adaptation for my first Movie Monday!
Okay, so I’m still working on how I want this segment to be formatted, but for now, I’m going to organize this into three parts: Differences, Similarities, and Conclusion.
Differences
- One of the biggest differences between the book and movie is the setting. The book takes place in the UK, and is very distinctly British, whereas the movie takes place in the United States.
- Another huge difference is Matilda’s powers. In the movie, her powers play an extremely important role, and are discovered fairly early on in the movie. The book, however, doesn’t even have Matilda discover her powers until halfway through. She even ends up losing them in the end!
- I also found Matilda to be distinctly more naughty in this book than in the movie. She took the whole punishing the parents thing to the next level, which I found to be so funny.
- The book also goes further into Miss Honey’s life. She has it much harder off in the book than in the movie!
Similarities
- All of the characters are incredibly accurate. Miss Honey, while her character has a bit more depth in the book, is just as sweet and lovely, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood are absolutely awful and yet hilarious, and the Trunchbull is the worst.
- Books and Matilda’s love of reading and knowledge are still very prevalent in the movie.
- There may have been some differences between the two, but the movie absolutely carries the same essence as the book!
Conclusion
Overall, I think Matilda is a really good book to movie adaptation. This movie is witty, clever, and so much fun. There are differences, but the movie still manages to give the same message. This adaptation gets two thumbs up from me!
That’s it for this time! Thank you so much for reading. I’m still figuring out how I want this blog series to go, so if you have any suggestions or ideas for Movie Monday, please let me know! I would really appreciate it. 🙂
Well, we are one week into the read-a-thon already, and this week went okay, but I need to hustle a little bit if I want to get all my badges!
Badges Earned
This week, I earned my Earth Badge with The Program by Suzanne Young. I really enjoyed this one, and it only took me about 2 days to finish, which is really good for me. My review for it went live yesterday, and you can check it out by clicking here!
I’m currently working on my Marsh Badge with Dance of Fire by Yelena Black. I’m almost halfway through, and plan to have it finished in the next day or so!
CP Earned
The Program | +40CP
Earth Badge | +20CP
The Program Review | +20CP
Tweets | +6CP
My Pokemon is now up to 96 CP (if I did my math correctly 😉 )!
That about wraps up what I’ve read for the read-a-thon so far! My goal for next week is to have completed at least 2 or 3 more badges…let’s see if I can do it.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more day-to-day updates!
Title: The Program by Suzanne Young
Pages: 405
Genres: YA, Science Fiction/Dystopian, Romance
Published by: Simon Pulse (April 30th, 2013)
Summary
In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.
Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.
Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.
What I Thought
What a page turner! The Program was one of those books that had been sitting in my TBR pile for a very long time. I had always been super intrigued by it, but for one reason or another, I just never bothered to pick it up. I finally decided to read it for the #ReadThemAllThon, and I am so glad I did!
the calico books 