Thanks very much to Julie at Manga Maniac Cafe who just passed me the Versatile Blogger Award! I'd never even heard of this award and then I received it twice in two days - wow, guys! I'm honored. Thanks very much!
I just did this yesterday and I haven't found any new blogs in that short time span, so I don't have anyone to pass this one to. :( But I can tell you another seven facts about me...although they may be brief, because I'm tired and I have schoolwork that I'm supposed to be doing.
1. I love roller coasters.
2. I decided last night that I am going to learn German. One of my real-life friends who lived in Germany once upon a time has agreed to help me. My father, who took German in high school, has also agreed to help. I'm very excited. (Fact #2.5: I may be a very good speller in English, but in German, my spelling is pathetic.)
3. My bedroom has green walls and a blue ceiling.
4. I never know how to answer the question "what's your favorite color?" because I really like anything at the blue-green-purple end of the spectrum, and there aren't any colors that I particularly dislike except for certain shades of orange. Not sure why I have this problem with certain shades of orange, but there you go.
5. I adore British accents.
6. The song that is stuck in my head right now is "Love, Save the Empty" by Erin McCarley. It's a really good song. I suggest you listen to it. (The link goes to a YouTube video of the song, but if you like it, please take the time to download it legally.)
7. The most recent movie I saw in theaters was Inception. It was amazing. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely should.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Versatile Blogger Award!
I know, I know, just a couple of hours after I say that I'll be posting less, I post again. BUT it's for a very special, very awesome reason, so I think it's okay.
Alissa at The Grammarian's Reviews passed me the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you so very much, Alissa! I'm honored.
Alissa at The Grammarian's Reviews passed me the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you so very much, Alissa! I'm honored.
There are some rules that go along with this award:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to 15 recently discovered blogs.
4. Contact the bloggers to let them know about the award.
-----------------
Seven Things About Me!
1. I am a horrible procrastinator. Right now, for example, I have oodles of summer homework that needs doing but instead I am on the internet.
2. I spend way too much time playing flash games, usually when I'm procrastinating. The most recent one is Achievement Unlocked 2, recommended to me by one of my real-life friends. (Fact #2.5: Yes, I do have real-life friends.)
3. Usually, I only reread books if a) it's one of my favorite books/series ever, b) there's a new one coming out soon and c) I haven't read the others in a long time. The one exception is the Harry Potter series. I have lost track of how many times I have read those books. It's kind of scary how much of a Potter nerd I am.
4. I love to write, and I write all the time. I'm also a bit of a grammar snob. (I know, I know.)
5. I love learning languages. Once school starts back, I'll be taking AP Spanish and I really love the language - but I only took it because my school only offers two languages. I've always wanted to learn German and Italian. I also think it would be cool to learn French and Chinese and just about every other language ever.
6. I love to travel, but the only time I've been out of the country was to Canada once when I was too little to remember it. I plan to study abroad in college and I've considered being a travel writer because it combines getting paid to see awesome new places and writing about said awesome places.
7. I once got into a debate with a boy two years younger than I am about whether or not I'm a nerd. I said I was, he said I wasn't. I won.
-------
Passing Along the Award!
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be new blogs in general or just new-to-me blogs, but here we go with a mix of both (in alphabetical order, because I'm weird like that):
4. Inkcrush
12. YA Addict
I didn't quite get to fifteen. :( If I saw that someone had already gotten this award, I didn't give it to them, but there may be duplicates on here because I couldn't always tell. Also, I'd include The Grammarian's Reviews on here except that she's the one who gave it to me in the first place. :) Definitely check these blogs out!
Educational Decree Number 24
Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that it may be a little quiet around here over the next few days. I'll still be posting semi-regularly (Tuesday Twins, Waiting on Wednesday, that sort of thing), but because I have so much schoolwork that I need to get done between now and the eighteenth, I probably won't have much time for reading fun books.
It's actually really sad. I hate not being able to read. My copy of The Replacement is sitting there taunting me...I really want to read it. But sadly, with five AP classes to prepare for and a senior thesis to complete, I have to put school first for the next ten days.
I may post some older reviews that I wrote before I started this blog (which I've done a few times before), but if there's a dearth of new reviews, now you know why. And I'll be back to new reviews and fun books as soon as possible!
~Becky
P.S. If you got the reference in the post title, 50 House points for you!
P.P.S. If you didn't get it, it's from Harry Potter.
It's actually really sad. I hate not being able to read. My copy of The Replacement is sitting there taunting me...I really want to read it. But sadly, with five AP classes to prepare for and a senior thesis to complete, I have to put school first for the next ten days.
I may post some older reviews that I wrote before I started this blog (which I've done a few times before), but if there's a dearth of new reviews, now you know why. And I'll be back to new reviews and fun books as soon as possible!
~Becky
P.S. If you got the reference in the post title, 50 House points for you!
P.P.S. If you didn't get it, it's from Harry Potter.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Book Blogger Hop + Awesome News
My answer: I have two younger brothers who like to make a lot of noise, so having noise while I'm reading doesn't bother me at all - but having music on usually does. I love music, and I'll tend to get distracted and pay more attention to the lyrics (or the actual music, if it's instrumental) than what I'm reading.
And now, some awesome news!
One of my favorite series is the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (if you haven't read them, go do that now. Seriously. Don't finish reading this post, go read City of Bones). And she announced the night before last in a web chat that there are going to be more TMI books!
City of Fallen Angels, a Simon-centric fourth book, was already in the works, scheduled for release on April 5, 2011. But now there are going to be two more after that. City of Lost Souls will be released in May of 2012 and City of Heavenly Fire in September of 2013. The Infernal Devices trilogy, a prequel series to TMI, is also going to be released during that timeframe, beginning with The Clockwork Angel at the end of this month.
I am so excited. *fangirl joy*
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Waiting on Wednesday: The Lost Saint
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
As you may or may not remember, I recently read (and loved!) The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (you can read my review here). So this week, I'm waiting on the sequel, The Lost Saint.
As you may or may not remember, I recently read (and loved!) The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (you can read my review here). So this week, I'm waiting on the sequel, The Lost Saint.
There's not a flap copy or anything yet, so far as I know, but there is a cover with a very pretty blue color... Anyway, I'm definitely very excited about this one. I can't wait to find out what happens with Grace, Daniel, and Jude (and April). The Lost Saint is scheduled for release on December 28 of this year. Here's hoping I can wait that long. ;)
What are you waiting for this week? Leave a link to your WoW post in the comments, I'd like to see what everyone else is excited about too!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Good Books vs. Thoughtful Books
As school approaches (two weeks from tomorrow, eeek), I'm having to admit that I really do need to get my homework done and stop reading "fun books" all day long. I've just finished The Things They Carried, the third and final "required reading" book for my AP Lit class, and it's kind of left me thinking about something.
I didn't especially enjoy any of the assigned school books; I found 1984 to be kind of dry and repetitive, A Prayer for Owen Meany went on for too long and I didn't particularly like the writing style, and The Things They Carried had too much gore and swearing with too little concrete plot. None of them were horrible, but none of them made me think "ooh this is really good" like a lot of the YA stuff I enjoy.
But while I would not have told anyone "these are fantastic books and you should read them 'cause they're awesome," they have all made me think. 1984 is a lot about solipsism and the idea of what reality means, plus a lot of stuff about the role of government. Owen Meany has a really original take on faith and believing in something. The Things They Carried is about war. They have these ideas that just get in your head and make you keep thinking about them. They'd be great books to discuss - just not exactly "fun" reading.
Has anyone else ever noticed this? Books that you don't necessarily enjoy but that you would still like to talk about? Let me know what you think. :)
I didn't especially enjoy any of the assigned school books; I found 1984 to be kind of dry and repetitive, A Prayer for Owen Meany went on for too long and I didn't particularly like the writing style, and The Things They Carried had too much gore and swearing with too little concrete plot. None of them were horrible, but none of them made me think "ooh this is really good" like a lot of the YA stuff I enjoy.
But while I would not have told anyone "these are fantastic books and you should read them 'cause they're awesome," they have all made me think. 1984 is a lot about solipsism and the idea of what reality means, plus a lot of stuff about the role of government. Owen Meany has a really original take on faith and believing in something. The Things They Carried is about war. They have these ideas that just get in your head and make you keep thinking about them. They'd be great books to discuss - just not exactly "fun" reading.
Has anyone else ever noticed this? Books that you don't necessarily enjoy but that you would still like to talk about? Let me know what you think. :)
Monday, August 2, 2010
Review: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 343
Rating: 5 stars
From the book jacket:
When you're on a road trip, life is all about the detours.
Amy Curry is having a terrible year. Her mother has decided to move across the country and needs Amy to get their car from California to Connecticut. There's just one small problem: Since her dad died this past spring, Amy hasn't been able to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger, the nineteen-year-old son of an old family friend, who turns out to be unexpectedly cute...and dealing with some baggage of his own.
Meeting new people and coming to terms with her father's death are not what Amy had planned for this trip. And traveling the Loneliest Road in America, seeing the Colorado mountains, crossing the Kansas plains, and visiting diners, dingy motels, and Graceland were definitely not on the itinerary. But as they drive, Amy finds that the people you least expect are the ones you need the most - and that sometimes you have to get lost in order to find your way home.
I read this book on Simon & Schuster's PulseIt site over a couple of hours (when I should have been doing summer homework. This was much more interesting, though). It absolutely kept me hooked - even though I predicted pretty much by the end of the first chapter what would happen, I still was excited to find out how it happened, and it's really more of a character novel than a plot novel anyway. And the characters are great, so it's awesome.
Amy Curry's father died in a car accident three months ago. For the last month, she's been on her own in their California home: her mom is in Connecticut, and her twin brother is in rehab in North Carolina. In all that time and then some, she hasn't driven. Amy doesn't drive anymore, not since the accident. So when she has to get the car from Cali to Connecticut, her mom calls in the son of an old family friend: Roger. Roger's driving the car for her, because he'll be staying at his dad's house in Pennsylvania for the summer, but he only agreed to drive the whole way because he's hoping to encounter his ex-girlfriend, Hadley. What neither of them realize is how much they'll end up helping each other with their issues.
The characters are really relatable; I especially related to Amy, because even though she's very different from me in a lot of ways, her feelings are so real and understandable and human. And Roger, too - he's flawed, he's sweet, he's one of the most real fictional male leads I've encountered in a long time, which makes him really quite awesome. And the story is simple and sweet and cute, just like a fun summer read should be, but it also deals with a lot of deep dark issues.
The five words I would pick to describe this book: heartbreaking, heartwarming, sad, sweet, and smiley.
The phrase I would use to describe what you should do now: Go read this book ASAP, because it's awesome.
Oh! And I almost forgot to mention the playlists! Amy and Roger spend a lot of time on their road trip making playlists. Roger's playlists include Jack's Mannequin - a band I really like that hardly anyone at my school/church/etc ever seems to have heard of - as well as other alternative bands that are awesome (and some I don't know - new music yay!) and Amy's are comprised of show tunes and Elvis. Need I say anything more about how awesome this is?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)