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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Wonder--The Review



August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school--until now. He's about to enter fifth grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid, then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances? (Taken from Goodreads.com)

*5/5 Stars*

This is officially one of my favorite books. I LOVED this book soooooooo much!! I laughed, I cried a bit, I sympathized and empathized with the characters and smiled though the entire book. I thought it was brilliant. And the little Auggie/additional character doodles are sooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute!! I originally heard about this book from Little Book Owl's channel on Youtube, and I bought it on a whim...actually it was a cover buy. I love this cover!! >w<

Through a majority of the book, Auggie is the narrator. Auggie is hilarious. He is sarcastic, funny, takes things in stride, is incredibly deep and is OBSESSED with Star Wars. I loved all the nerdy Star Wars references and they even played a role in the story! XD That makes me super happy. XD Auggie knows he is different and he knows that his look is hard to get used to, but he takes everything in stride. He kids around with the way he looks and uses it to make other people more comfortable with him. We do see him lose his cool a couple of times though out the book, but we also see how strongly he bounces back from the issues. I think a lot of people could learn a lot from Auggie. 

One thing I wasn't sure about was the fact that the book was written in multiple points of view. I ended up enjoying it because it gave us some insight into the characters who interact with Auggie like; his sister Via, his friends Jack and Summer and some of Via's friends. I thought they would be annoying (Justin, Via's boyfriend was kind of annoying because he didn't use capitol letters or much punctuation, but he did end up being awesome XD), but they added a lot to the story. 

I honestly can't think of any problems with this book...at all...It is currently on my favorites shelf and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary and a feel good, heart warming book. READ THIS BOOK!! That is all. XD

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

I was bad...MASSIVE June Book Haul 2014

So, I have been hella thrifting lately, and in doing that, I have acquired a lot of books.....oops......XD A lot of the books are from Goodwill. Some are from our annual flea market and the rest are from Half Price Books (which isn't really thrifting, but it IS second hand). So let's do this thing!!


The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan: I have never really read an Amy Tan book before, but I am really trying to read more books that have different cultures than mine. I am an Asian Studies Major, so what a better book to read. XD

 
I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella: This will be my second Sophie Kinsella book, and I am kind of excited for it. It sounds like it is going to be a hilarious mess!! I need some hilariously messy book. ^^ It's a nice break from my complicated dystopians and fantasy books.



The Ear, The Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer: This book had been plaguing me for weeks. Always in the wrong spot...I always had to move it. So I finally picked it up to see what it really was. Nancy Farmer? She wrote a book Regan from Peruse Project loves. Futuristic Zimbabwe? Uh.....yes please!! This book is beautiful and full of mythology...All of the hot shapes!! 



The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: This book has been floating around the interwebs a bit and I just saw that I recognized the title and put it in my shopping basket. It looks like it is going to be a good book. Hopefully a bit suspenseful!~



Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton: I...don't really know why I bought this book....Something new? I like pirates and I have heard Michael Crichton's books are really good. Also, this book reminded me of Erika from The Perks of Books. I don't know if she's read it, but I just thought of her when I saw it. ^^




Black Star, Bright Dawn by Scott O'Dell: This was my favorite book by Scott O'Dell. I have always had an obsession with Huskies, Eskimo culture and the Iditarod, and I could never find this book in any library when I was younger. They had to send for it...and I devoured it. I am currently reading this now and loving it!! It's beautiful!~




Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell: I don't remember if I read this book. I also love Native American culture and I'm sure I will love this book. This seems a lot darker than the other books I have read by him, so I am totally intrigued.





The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan: I have book three now!! Slowly getting the rest of the series!! Found this one at Goodwill and it was in really good condition, so I was very happy to have it. ^-^


Magyk by Septimus Heap: Another book from Connor's channel. I don't know what it's about, but I know it is fantasy!!! Yay!!




To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han: I thought the premise of this book was hilarious, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. I am not a huge fan of contemporary books...but I saw it at Half Price and decided that I wanted it. So it was totally an impulse buy. XD


Graceling by Kristn Cashore: This is a book I have been lusting over for a long time, and I could never find it at Half Price. But this time I just happened to look up and there it was! Yey!!


Mr. Popper's Penguins: This used to be one of my favorite books when I was little. I also have an obsession with penguins...and it's probably because of this book....XD Well it helped at least. XD $1.99...I couldn't resist. Plus I'm have been wanting to read books from my childhood lately, so I thought this fit in perfectly!




The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson: Another book I had been lusting over for a long time and always hear Regan talking about and could never find it. Well I found it!! Totally randomly!!! I was so excited I squealed!




Daughter of Smoke and Bone: Again another book I have been lusting over for a long time and finally found! $4.99!! Yay!!! It's brand spanking new, but it has this weird scuff on it, which is why I think it ended up at Half Price, but it doesn't bother me any! So excited!




The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan: Oh yeah! I finished my collection!! XD I was so excited when I saw this for cheap at Half Price! Now I have them all!!! Horray!!! I want to re read this series again sometime soon...I don't know when, but soon. ^^




Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella: I have already read this book a long time ago, but for some reason, I gave it up. I don't know why because I really liked it. I found it at a rummage sale for 50 cents and decided to put it back in my collection. I do want to read it again at some point..probably this summer. XD 


Well, those are all the books I got so far. I am going to try and read more than I buy...actually I'm going to try and not buy any books at all...it's going to be really hard, but I'm not going to buy any more for a while. A.) because I have no more room in my book shelves and B.) I need to save my money. That's all for now, so bye!! 

Erika's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ThePerksOfBooks/featured
Regan's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PeruseProject/featured
Connor's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NodinBookinIt/featured

Monday, June 2, 2014

WAKE by Lisa McMann--A Review


For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can't tell anybody about what she does--they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She's a participant...

*4.5/5 Stars*

I picked this book up at Goodwill not really knowing too many other people's thoughts about it. I had also never read anything by Lisa McMann before, so it was a gamble. I had just finished The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson and I wanted something short and quick. This book was calling to me so I read it. XD

This book turned out to be much different than I had expected. I didn't expect the book to be told in third person, but that was actually kind of nice. I also didn't expect the story to play out as it did. I thought this book was going to be kind of scary, especially because the back of the book talked about her participating in nightmares. But that's not really how it went. I mean yeah, there were nightmares that she saw...and they did play a part in the story...but they didn't play the part that I had anticipated. I thought Janie was going to get trapped in a nightmare and not know how to get out and the next couple of books were going to deal with her going through the nightmare and getting out, or not knowing whether she was in a dream or if it was real life (like Inception) and she was going to have to figure out which was which...but that's not AT ALL what happens. Not even close.

I won't spoil what happens, so no worries. Also, now that I think about it, the story wasn't really all that deep. We don't really get too much back story about Janie's life, and it's pretty jumpy. But I still enjoyed it (though I'm probably going to drop my rating to a 4). I have the other two books on my Amazon Wish List so that I don't forget about them.

I guess my real attachment to this story is that I guess I can understand how Janie feels. Having to hide a major part of you because you are afraid that you'll be seen as crazy, or a freak, because that's pretty much my life (not Janie's exact problem, but yeah). 

*Revised to 4/5 stars*

Well those are all my thoughts on this book. I do plan on finishing the trilogy once I collect the other two books, just because I'm curious as to how things go. That's all for now! Tootles!

May Wrap Up 2014

May was a pretty slow month for me. One of the books I was reading was kind of slow (which I will talk about later) and we had to put another sick cat to sleep. That was rough....but enough about that. Let's get on to the very short wrap up! I read two books! XD


The first book I finished was A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony. This book was lent to me by a friend of mine who is in love with this series. He's been trying to get me to read it for FOREVER, so I finally read it, and if you haven't read my review on it, I loved it. ^^ I literally (like just a few minutes ago) ordered this book for my own collection. I don't know if I hauled it, but I have the second one as well. XD Yay!!



Then as soon as I finished Chameleon, I wanted some Sanderson. I had heard a lot about The Well of Ascension from Regan at Peruse Project and Connor from Connor O'Brien, so I decided that was all the push I needed to read the second book. They both raved that it was better than the first one, but I have to disagree with both of them. I'm not going to do a full review of it, because it is the second book in a series, so I'll just share my thoughts here (especially because this is a small wrap up anyways). I thought there was way too much politics and not enough action. The last 100 pages though....holy hell, those were intense. I hated that I had to wait that long for action to happen...This is also book 8/10 in my fantasy book challenge! Yay!!

Well that's all that happened this month. It's not much, but I do still feel like I accomplished quite a bit (especially because I finished the Sanderson book 1/2 an hour before midnight XD)! Next up is my TBR!~ I'll see you then!!

Regan's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PeruseProject
Connor's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NodinBookinIt

May Book Haul

So, I did get some books in May...All of them were from Goodwill, so that's good. I am actually really excited about the books I found (well obviously...I bought them. XD).


The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman: I had first heard about this series from Cat's channel, Little Book Owl a couple of months ago. She raved about the series soooo much and I thought it sounded interesting. THEN I found it at Goodwill the day after I saw one of her videos about it, and I was like, YES PLEASE! So now it's mine. Though, I do think the cover is a bit creepy.......just saying.


Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead: I FOUND THIS!!! I have been wanting to read this series for a while, but I could never find the first book at a discounted price..or at all...I found it at work...for 87 cents...Can you say f'yeah!!?? I sure did! I squeed when I found this. I don't know when I'm going to get to it, but I am excited to!!


Wake by Lisa Mcmann: I actually just finished this book yesterday and I enjoyed it very much. I had heard of the author and the book, but I haven't really heard anyone talk about it too much. I decided why not and brought it home. I wanted a quick and uncomplicated read, and devoured this book in a day. But more about that in my wrap up for June. XD


Wildwood Dancing by Juilet Marillier: I have been lusting over this cover for a while. It was one of the first books I added to my 'to read' list on Goodreads. I found it at my Goodwill and well, you know what happened. XD This. Cover. Is sooooooooooo much prettier. In person. It's soooooooooooooo beautiful!! It has so many different things on the cover to look at. Creatures, intricate designs on clothing and the animals....beautiful. Almost like a Baroque/Rococo painting...It's gorgeous.


Tithe by Holly Black: I have been wanting to try a Holly Black book for some time. I had heard of this series, but I haven't heard a lot about it. So when I saw that the spine said Black and had a name I kind of recognized, I was pretty excited. THEN I saw this:


 Well, those are all the books I got in May (at least I think that's all of them...oh well XD). I have two book reviews, my May wrap up and my June TBR yet to post. Hopefully I'll get those done today. Hope to see you then!! 



 Cat's Booktube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LittleBookOwl