Feature & Follow Friday (#7)

Hey guys, I am getting a late start to FFF today, I didn't think about it last night until it was already too late! So without further ado, here is my Feature & Follow Friday!

Today is Friday which means Feature & Follow Friday! FFF is hosted by Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read.  It is an opportunity to gain followers and find new blogs in the book blogging community! You can find more information about it here. This week's featured blogs are Mad Hatter Reads & The Fiction Conniption.

If you use bloglovin please follow me with that since GFC will not be available soon! Otherwise, I have made subscribing by email and RSS available also :) Just pick your favorite way of following!

This week's question is: What blogger would you most like to meet in real life? Tell us about him or her.

Ohhh, I like this quesiton :) Lets see... I would love to meet anyone from The Broke and the Bookish. I had found a few book blogs and had started reading around them, but this is the one I kept coming back to! I would say they are the reason I started book blogging. If I had to pick one I suppose I would pick Jamie, who also has her own blog at The Perpetual Page-Turner. I enjoy reading her personal blog a lot as well as TBATB.

One more that I will add is actually a vlog, rather than a blog, but I love it just the same. Her name is Hannah and her youtube channel is Bookworms Talk. One day I was online looking up the Divergent series. This was the first book I have read ALL year, so you could say Divergent and Insurgent are the two books that really got me going on reading again. Anyway, I got the bright idea to check out youtube to see if anyone had posted a review to discover that there is an entire booktube community! It is from this community that I discovered book blogging so I own this bunch a big thank you! Hanna's channel is the first one I found and still my favorite to watch :) Go check her out if you get the chance!

If I had the chance to meet any of these wonderful people, I would probably fangirl like crazy. To me these people are right up there with the authors on the cool scale! Hope you guys have a great Friday :)

Burning by Elana K. Arnold - Review

Burning by Elana K. Arnold 

Book: Burning by Elana K. Arnold
Expected Publication Date: June 11th 2013 by Random House/Delacorte
My rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Genre: YA
Source: Netgalley

*This ebook was provided to me by the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Summary:

"Ben: Having just graduated from high school, Ben is set to leave Gypsum, Nevada. It's good timing since the gypsum mine that is the lifeblood of the area is closing, shutting the whole town down with it. Ben is lucky: he's headed to San Diego, where he's got a track scholarship at the University of California. But his best friends, Pete and Hog Boy, don't have college to look forward to, so to make them happy, Ben goes with them to check out the hot chick parked on the side of Highway 447.  

Lala: She and her Gypsy family earn money by telling fortunes. Some customers choose Tarot cards; others have their palms read. The thousands of people attending the nearby Burning Man festival spend lots of cash--especially as Lala gives uncanny readings. But lately Lala's been questioning whether there might be more to life than her upcoming arranged marriage. And the day she reads Ben's cards is the day that everything changes for her. . . and for him."

My Thoughts:

This book was definitely not what I expected, but it was a great surprise! When I first finished the book I just kind of sat there for a few minuets taking it all in. The longer I look back on the book, the more I love it! I thought it was going to be some frilly summer romance (which I love) but this was so much more. 

Things I loved about this book:

-Thought provoking. This I really didn't expect. I went into reading Burning and thought it would be an easy, breezy summer read. All fluff and nothing else. I was so wrong! At first I was not sure what to think because I was not prepared for a book that would make me think, but it was such a perfect summer book! Although it was not just a light, fluffy read (which is my usual summer pick) I am so happy I picked it up! It has the perfect mix of summer love and growing up!

-Two stories in one. This book is told in alternating points of view. This does not work for some books, but I really enjoyed it in this one. I can't decide which story I enjoyed more, Lala's or Ben's. They were both so great. Lala's story was telling the reader about a life I've never even though of, the life of a Gypsy. The culture differences and family dynamics are so different than what I am used to, it was a whole new world (cue Aladdin music). Ben's story was interesting as well. We really got to know about his friendships and his relationship with his brother. Normally I do not enjoy reading from a guy's point of view, but I really liked Ben as a character and loved reading about his story! Both of these stories come together and tell Ben and Lala's love story. 

-The cover is BEAUTIFUL! Need I say more??

Things I didn't love about this book:

-Lala. You've got Ben, who is obviously the main guy in the book. And then you've got Lala, the girl. Lala. I tend to get stuck on names (if you have read my Spies & Prejudice review you know). So when I saw that the girl's name is Lala, I had a bit of a hard time. At first I though it was because she was a Gypsy. Maybe they all had different names? Nope, just her. The other Gypsies had some unusual ones, but they were mostly names I have seen before with cool spelling. I just couldn't get the name Lala. 

Overall: The only bad thing I really have to say about the book is that the girl's name is Lala. Other than that I really enjoyed reading Burning. It was a great book full of romance and lessons on growing up! I would recommend this to all readers looking for a good summer read :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie - Top Ten Older Books On My TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new top ten list is posted for us bloggers to share the books we love and discuss anything book related! To see more details about Top Ten Tuesday click HERE. 

This week's topic is the top ten older books on my TBR list. I chose this because as I was walking through the bookstore today, I realized just how long it had been since I regularly read. Until today, it had roughly a year since I had purchased a paper copy of a book. Normally I prefer paper books, but since I have not had any spare money until last month when I started working, I have been reading books online and borrowing from friends. I really hate this, but its just how it has been lately. So anyway, other than a few books over Christmas break and summer, I have not been consistently reading for a few years, only picking up a book here and there. How depressing is that?? VERY. So because of that, I have lots and lots of books to catch up on! Here are the books on the top of my list that are not new releases! These are in order of my goodreads list, not priority!

1) Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris: I actually just got this book today, I am so excited!! I just learned that the True Blood TV show is based on this series. I have never actually watched True Blood but I have heard so many good things about it and I love a good vamp book!

2) Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: I have been talking about reading this book since I started book blogging, and I am very proud to say that I bought it today so I can actually make that happen soon :) I am so excited for this book. Everyone I talk to about it is always telling me how great it is! 

3) Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella: Surprisingly  I have not read any Sophie Kinsella. I don't know how and I don't know why, but I am definitely going to change that this summer! 

4)  Graceling by Kristen Cashore: I really have not heard to much about this book, but I just think it sounds really great! I keep seeing it at my bookstore but I have been buying other books over it, hopefully that changes this sumer :)

5) I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1) by Ally Carter: I actually read this book once upon a time, back when it was the only one of this series out. I remember I really, really liked it. That's about it. Unfortunately, when my parents moved it got lost with many other wonderful books. Now that tmore of the series is out I really want to read it! 

6) Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: This is another book that I bought! I am so excited for all my new books :D Anyway, I have been hearing about this since I started blogging and have been interested but hearing mixed reviews. Then I saw this beautiful cover and HAD to buy it. And now, because of the beautiful cover, I cannot wait to read it! Yes, I admit it, I judge boks by their cover. 

7) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare: Even I don't understand why I have not read this series yet. Clearly something is wrong with me. There is no other explanation. 

8) Delirium by Lauren Oliver: This is another one of those that I really can't believe I have not read. I really missed out on some awesome books when I stopped reading for a while. At least now I don't have to sit and wait for the next book. I can read it all at once :)

9) Across the Universe by Beth Revis: Ever since I saw this cover I have been dying to read this book! The cover is absolutely B-E-A-UTIFUL! And I have not read a book that has to do with outer space and whatever else is in this book, so I am seriously intrigued. But since they changed the cover to something lame and not cute, I am waiting until I come across the cover pictured above, I refuse to have anything less. This is possibly my favorite book cover EVER. I need it.

10) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: This book sounds so different and awesome, I have to read it. I have heard wonderful things about this book! I am also really thankful for the book community because this is one of those books that I probably would not have picked up on my own. I can't wait for this one!

There are so many more books I wish I had room for on this list! Why only ten?? As I was looking through my goodreads list to pick out my books, I kept coming across others I wanted to add. I was going to exchange a few but I am feeling lazy and have already typed out all my coments on the books so I did not want to do that all over. So here are a few honorable mentions that were further down on my TBR list:

What older books are on your TBR list??

Review: Spies and Prejudice

Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance

Book: Spies & Prejudice by Talia Vance 

Expected Publication Date: June 11th 2013 by Egmont

My rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: YA
Source: Netgalley

*This ebook was provided to me by the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Goodreads Summary:

"Fields’ Rule #1: Don’t fall for the enemy.

Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She’s busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she’s sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either. 

So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her “nothing amazing,” it’s no loss for Berry. She’ll forget him in no time. She’s more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother’s death. 

But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can’t Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?

With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide."

My thoughts:

What a fun book! This was my first ARC to read and I was super excited about it. I discovered netgalley recently and requested A TON of books thinking I might get one or two of them... I got twelve. TWELVE. As escited as I am to have all these books, there is no way I will be reading them all right away because I already have other books to read as well! But anyway, this was at the top of my list of my netgalley books so as soon as I finished the Slammed series by Colleen Hoover, I picked this up! And I am so glad I did! This book is the perfect mix of cheese and suspense which, in my opinion, makes it the perfect summery read :)

Things I enjoyed about this book:

-Such a fun read! I enjoyed this book so much. Especially because the series I just finished, although great, was a very heavy, emotional series. I was in need of a fun pick me up book and this was just it! It had its serious moments, for sure, but every time I was forced to had to put the book down, I was left with a smile while I tried to figure out what would happen next.

-Veronica Mars :)  For those of you who have not heard of Veronica Mars, go look it up now. Awesome TV show starring Kristen Bell (my girl crush) as a teen PI. Anyway, when looking into this book, somebody compared it to Veronica Mars which instantly made me request it on netgalley. I was afraid nothing could live up to the awesomeness of Veronica Mars, and while this is not quite it, it is probably the closest I will find. So for all you Veronica Mars fans out there, please read this! 

-A little bit of everything! I really love when authors include a lot of different elements in their books. Some are just light and fluffy and some are just dark and depressing. This book is a good light summery spy mystery with just the perfect mix of emotion. The light, fun part, all the boy drama, the gay best friend, and cool spy stuff, mix in with Berry, the main character, trying to solve her mother's death and give us the perfect beach book!

Things I didn't like about this book:

-The names, these poor girls. The main character's name is Strawberry Fields and her best (girl) friend is Mary Chris Moss. Clearly these were intentional, and part of me finds it funny, but the other part of me just can't get passed the names. Every time I would read over their full names and not just their nick names (Berry & Mare) my mind was drawn away from the book and to their crazy names. It's really the only problem I had with the book. 

-I kind of lost track of what was happening during the ending action scene. I am thinking this is more of a personal issue, because it happens in all action packed books for me, but I couldn't follow exactly what was happening in the "final battle" as I like to think of it. You know, that scene at the end of all actiony-spy-mystery books where all hell breaks loose and some kind of action packed scene happens? I just lose track of what is happening, and then I get lost and just push through hoping it is all explained at the end. Like I said, probably a personal issue, but it still bothers me! If this happens to anyone else, please let me know so I know I am not alone!

Overall: With the exception of their names and my personal issues, I really enjoyed this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars! If you are looking for a good summer mystery type of book, or if you loved Veronica Mars, please read this. You will love it! It was great and took me no time to breeze through. The only times I put it down were for work and sleep. 

Have you read this book? What did you think about it?

Feature & Follow Friday (#6)

Hey guys! Today is Friday which means Feature & Follow Friday! FFF is hosted by Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read.  It is an opportunity to gain followers and find new blogs in the book blogging community! You can find more information about it here. This week's featured blogs are Book Junkie Joint & Bookingly Yours.

If you use bloglovin please follow me with that since GFC will not be available soon!

Here is the question of the week:

The #FF is 150 weeks old! And we want to hear from you! What would you change about the hop? What do you like about it? Or just suggest a question to be used for next week!

Well, I have only been a blogger for about a month and a half so I have not been doing this long! I do not have any complaints, I LOVE this feature! I will go with what I like about it...

Since I am a new blogger I have been constantly exploring book blogs and searching for new blogs to follow and awesome new people who share my love of books! This feature really allows me to meet new people and find new blogs. It also has so many participants who read all different kinds of books! 

Hhmmm... I guess a question I would like to ask everyone is If you could reccomend only one book to all of us bloggers reading, what would it be?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Covers of Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new top ten list is posted for us bloggers to share the books we love and discuss anything book related! To see more details about Top Ten Tuesday click HERE. 

This week's topic is the Top Teen Favorite Covers of Books I've Read. I'm excited for this one :) Here are mine:

  

   

1) The Selection by Kiera Cass: What's not to love about this cover?? I really want that dress, its sooo pretty, and I lvoe the color. And the tiara design above the title? Perfection.

2) Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines: My favorite thing about this is all the pretty colors. The pink of 'Fallen' the blues and yellows and the beach background. This just screams summer.

3) North of Beautiful by Justina Chen: I'm not entirely sure what it is about this cover that I love so much, I just think its really, really pretty.

4) The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen: All of her covers are beautiful, at least they were before they all got changed. The colors are perfect, and the pictures are so cute. The covers of these books, are the reason why I started reading Sarah Dessen books in the first place. 

5) The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks: The dark night sky, the tree silhouette, and the ferris wheel. Beautiful.

6) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: This is another one of those covers that I cant really explain, its just so amazing. 

7) Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr: I love the frost covered flower and how it is the only thing in focus. The colors are really pretty. I dont always like dark covers, but I love this one!

8) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer: I think everyone either sees this cover and either gets excited or disgusted because of the book's content. But now matter what the opinions are of the book, I think the cover is awesome. It's so simple. This cover has always stood out to me.

9) A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray: This cover is so beautiful. Without this cover, I probably would never have read this book!

10) Fallen by Lauren Kate: The blue, and the dress, and the forest. So pretty :)

What are your favorite covers?

Bout of Books Read-A-Thon Sum Up

Yes, I realize this is really late. But... better late than never right?? Maybe.. Anyway, here is how my last week was :) 

I was not entirely successful goal wise, but I really enjoyed it and I think that's the most important part!

Here were my goals:
-Read at least 4 books. I read 3 1/2. I was sooo close! On saturday, when I planned to finish my book I ended up getting called into work all day so I was unable to finish reading my last book. Now that the read a thon is over I have kind of relaxed am taking my time with the book, This Girl by Colleen Hoover, but I should complete it this week :) The books I completed are Wait for You by J. Lynn, Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover. You can click on the title for my reviews of the first two!
-Comment on 5 blogs participating each day. I failed miserably at this one. I explored quite a few the first two days but after that, not so much. 
-Read at least 3 hours each day. I did this every day except Saturday and Sunday. I expected it Sunday but Saturday ended up being a really long day so I didn't get to read much. 
-Update daily on sidebar. FAIL. I started to update it Monday and ended up deleting this whole little section.
-Post a review for each book I finish. I am still working on my review for Point of Retreat and I have not yet completed This Girl so they are not up yet, but they will be within the week!
-Update twitter as often as I want :) (At least a few times a day). I did this a lot the first few days and a lot less toward the end of the week. 

Now that I am looking at this I don't think I completed any of my goals! But you know, to me its more about reading and having fun, not just the goals. Also, after doing this now I know what I need to do differently next time :)

How did you guys do on your read a thon?

Book Blogger Hop (#1)

As I was exploring everyone's Feature & Follow Friday (Mines HERE!) I discovered this Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer and thought I would get on board :) (I also feel the need to make myself some coffee...)





This blog hop starts today (May 17th ) and lasts until the 23rd. You can find out more about it HERE at Coffee Addicted Writer's blog page.

This week's question is: What is your guilty pleasure read?

This is a good question, I'm thinking my guilty pleasure read is probably any kind of steamy romance. I love all kinds of books as long as there is some kind of love story in it, but when I am really feeling down, a good steamy romance can cheer me up any time!

Feature & Follow Friday (#5)

Hey guys! Today is Friday which means Feature & Follow Friday! FFF is hosted by Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read.  It is an opportunity to gain followers and find new blogs in the book blogging community! You can find more information about it here. This week's featured blogs are Book Junkie Joint & Bookingly Yours.

If you use bloglovin please follow me with that since GFC will not be available soon!

Here is the question of the week:

School is out! What is your favorite Summer Reading book?

Hmm, I just started my summer reading tuesday so I don't have many yet this summer. I absolutely LOVE Slammed by Colleen Hoover but I don't really consider that a summery read, I just happend to read it during the summer. 

A few summers ago I went to the beach and read a ton of books, of all of those books the ones that stand out are Bass Ackwards and Belly Up and Footfree and Fancyloose by Elizabeth Craft. I can't even remember what they are about, other than 3 or 4 girls going their own ways over one summer and each telling their story. It was very much like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. 

Since I feel like I have done a terrible job of answering this question, I will go a step further and tell you what book I am most looking forward to reading this summer... Okay there are actually a few, here they are:
-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins 
-This Girl by Colleen Hoover (Once again, not a summer book but I'm so stoked to read it)
-On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves
-The Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter

What is your favorite summer read??

Review: Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Slammed (Slammed, #1) by Colleen Hoover

Book: Slammed (Slammed, #1) by Colleen Hoover

Published: January 5th 2012 by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 5 (big bright shiny stars)/5 Stars

Genre: New Adult 

Goodreads Summary:

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.

Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.

Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart."

My thoughts:

This is the second Bout of Books read-a-thon book I have completed :)

When I first heard of this book, it was in a booktube review. I cannot remember who it was, or what they said exactly but I remember thinking I had to read this book. Since then, about a month ago, this book has been on my TBR list. Every time I went to pick out a new book, and I read the goodreads synopsis on this one. Every time I thought, "Eh, I'll read it next week."

I'm not really sure what it is about this synopsis, but I just assumed it would be another insta-love gone wrong book. I was trying to think of all kind of "shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt." I think I had probably come up with a million scary different things that all ended in this being a silly overrated book. I will be the fist to admit it guys, I WAS WRONG. So terribly, incredibly wrong. 

This book is amazing. There is nothing silly or overrated about it. This book tells the story of a love, that even though it seemed like insta-love at first really is not.(Even if it was insta-love, the reader would know exactly what they were getting themselves into with the synopsis. It clearly states "Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection" You have been warned). Will and Layken go out on a date and have a wonderful time, they come home and they are both so happy. Then shortly after, they are forced to end their relationship. Just in this short section of the book, you will laugh, cry, and everything in between. This book brought out emotions I have not felt in a long time due to reading. It was incredibly refreshing.

Things I enjoyed about this book:

- It was a genuinely good book. Not the cheesy, cute but fluffy book that we all enjoy or the super intense type of book that we all love, but a real honest book that reminds us that life happens. It does not stop for us, it keeps moving every day, and to appreciate what we have. If you have read this book, you should recognize these themes, they are clearly stated in the book. It was such a nice change to read a book that was not some crazy paranormal or unrealistic book. It just showed an honest relationship. And not just a romantic relationship  it show a relationship between mother and daughter, siblings, friendship, and so much more. 

-In this book, the character's went to poetry slams. This exposed me to something new that I have not done but would really like to. It was also something I have not read about before. It was cool to read this book and feel like I was experiencing something completely new.

-I didn't see any of this happening. There is so much more to this book, than just a relationship  And I could never have predicted any of it. Everything that happened was unexpected, but not in a "The author did that to trick me" kind of way, but more in a "life happens" kind of way. 

Things I didn't like about this book:

-That I didn't read it sooner. Seriously guys, thats the only bad thing I've got and its my fault, no one elses. It was that good pure genius. 

Overall: Colleen Hoover did a wonderful job with this book, it is a new all time favorite. If anyone ever asks me to recommend a book, this will be it. Hands down, no questions asked. I love this book. If you have not read it yet, drop what your doing, put you other books aside, and read this. NOW. Kay, thanks :)

Bout of Books Update Post

Wednesday Update & Thursday So Far

Wednesday:
Books I have read today: Slammed by Colleen Hoover, Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover
Books completed as of today: Wait for You by J. Lynn (review HERE).
Time spend reading today: 3 hours
Total time spend reading: 6 hours


Thursday:
Books I have read today: Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover
Books completed as of today: Wait for You by J. Lynn (review HERE), Slammed by Colleen Hoover (review HERE)
Time spend reading today: I lost track, but I'm thinking it was about 4 hours
Total time spend reading: 10-ish hours

Okay guys, if you have not read my review by Slammed then you have not heard me gush like a crazy fangirl yet... SUCH. A. GOOD. BOOK. I was  crying  bawling. So many emotions. Like, ughhhh go read it now!!

As you can tell from that^^^^ jumbled mess, I loved the book so much. I can't even form rational sentences about it. Go read the book now, or my review if you have already read the book and we can gush at how good it was :)

So I've been pretty busy this week considering I expected to have no plans, but its been a great week! Hopefully I will get to spend more time this weekend reading and blogging but seeing as its graduation weekend and a lot of my friends are graduating ( I still have one more butterflying year left) I don't know how much I will get to read and blog. But either way, I hope you all have a great weekend and I will update as soon as I can!

Friday update should be coming tonight or tomorrow morning :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright guys, its Wednesday and this is my first update post on how my read-a-thon week is going. I am sorry it's so late! I ment to do this last night but ended up falling asleep first, stupid bed is too comfy! Anyway, I will update this post throughout the week so you guys can check in and see how my week is going!!

Heres whats happened so far this week:

Monday:
Books I have read today: Wait for You by J. Lynn 
Books completed as of today: Wait for You by J. Lynn (review HERE).
Time spend reading today: 3 hours
Total time spend reading: 3 hours

Tuesday:
Books I have read today: Slammed by Colleen Hoover
Books completed as of today: Wait for You by J. Lynn (review HERE).
Time spend reading today: 3 hours
Total time spend reading: 6 hours

Update:
So far I have completed 1 book and started my second. Although I have only been able to read the minimum time I set as my goal so far, I am really enjoying this read-a-thon! This is my first one, and I will definitely do it again!

Monday was the day before my last final. Even though I didn't study nearly as much as I wanted, I didn't hav as much time to read as I would have liked. I had to work and study that day so I only had time to finish Wait for You which I had started Saturday (I think..)

Tuesday after my final, I went to the books store, then the pool, and read. It was great :) The perfect way to de-stress after my hardest final. Tuesday I read Slammed by Colleen Hoover. Since it was the first day of summer I went out with boyfriend to dinner and a movie so I didn't read much that evening. (BTW, we saw The Great Gatsby, awesome movie. You should go see it, after the read-a-thon of course :) )

So far today, Wednesday, I have finished Slammed. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. book. A new favorite. This book was so great! I should have a review up for you guys tomorrow. I plan on changing up my list a little bit and reading Point of Retreat next. Slammed was so good, I can't stop until I have read the whole series. Unfortunately, I have to go to work at 5 so I will not be able to read much of it tonight. It may have to wait until tomorrow. Where I plan to spend all day at the pool reading with boyfiiend. I am so excited about tomorrow :) The plan for the rest of the day is to work, then finish updating this, and hopefully if I don't fall asleep or start reading first, write a review of Slammed for you guys!

That's it so far, happy reading everyone :)

Waiting on Wednesday (#3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. It is a weekly post to show off some books that us bloggers are excited to see coming out soon! Here's my pick this week:

Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton

"I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.

Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.

Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?"

On top of the fact that book sounds really good, I LOVE the cover. It's beautiful. This is definitely a book I need on my shelf. This is expected to be published July 8th 2013 by Flux.

What books are you looking forward to??

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Topics

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new top ten list is posted for us bloggers to share the books we love and discuss anything book related! To see more details about Top Ten Tuesday click HERE. 

I am so behind on all of my posts, and I apologize guys! I had my last final this morning, and have been celebrating that its summer ever since. So now I have come in for the night, and am ready to bang out some new posts, prepare yourselves :)

This week's TTT is top ten books dealing with tough topics. As mentioned by The Broke and the Bookish, this can be anything from abuse, suicide, grief, to whatever speaks to you personally. This week is the opposite of last week's light and fluffy books we discussed (You can find mine HERE). Here is my line-up:

1) Still Alice by Lisa Genova: This book deals with a family member who has been diagnosed with Alzheimers Disease. The main character in Still Alice tells her story of her life with Alzheimers.

2) Fifty Shades Series by E.L. James: Alright guys, don't laugh at me. If you usually read my posts, you probably noticed that this pops up in almost all of my top ten Tuesdays. I really do love this book. In this book the characters are dealing with a rough childhood. I do not want to go into detail for those who have not read it, but those of you that have should know what I am talking about. 

3) The Help by Kathryn Stockett: I am sure most of you know what this book is about, even if you have not read it or seen the movie. Just in case you do not or you want a refresher, this is a book about life as a black maid in 1962. I absolutely love this book, if you have not read it I highly recommend it. 

4) Wait for You by J. Lynn: I actually just did a review on this book! You can see it HERE. In this book, the main character is trying to run away from her past where she was raped. This book was an amazing story. The rape is hinted at a lot in the first part of the book so we, as readers, are able to figure out the basic story of what happened to our leading lady, Avery, pretty quickly but as the story develops it tells you more about what happend to her in her past and what made her run.

5) Slammed by Colleen Hoover: I am actually still reading this book, but I can tell you that it has already made its way up to an all time favorite. I started this book just wanting to read about a love story but got so much more. This book has me going on a crazy emotional roller coaster. I am not sure about everything, even if I was I would not want to ruin it for you, but the main characters in this book have had and are going through a lot of loss in their lives. Their stories are heartbreaking. I can't wait to finish this book and give you a review :)

6) The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks: Really any of his books are devastating, bu this one is my favorite. I always end up crying like a baby with his books, in this one especially. This is a story about a girl and her little brother who go to live with their Dad for a summer. At the end of the summer... Eh, that is too much of a spoiler. Just be prepared to cry if you have not read this one yet. 

7) My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult: This is a book about a young girl who has been conceived and raised to donate blood (and whatever else is needed) for her sister with cancer. In this book the young girl is fighting her parents for the rights to her own body so her parents can no longer force her to donate for her sister. This book had me crying constantly. It is such a touching, yet heartbreaking story about this young girl. If you have not read this, I highly recommend it. 

8) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: This book is the story of a boy who lost his dad in the 9/11 attacks in New York. The main character is on a journey to find lock a key fits into, with the belief that it will help him accept his father's death.

9) Broken by William Cope Moyers: This book is a true story about Cope's drug addiction and recovery. It has been so long since I have read it, that I cannot remember much else unfortunately. I had to read this book for an addictions class I took my freshman year of college, and it was definitely an intense read. 

10) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling: The main character in this book is 11 years old. Both of his parents were murdered when he was a baby. Now he is stuck living with his horrible Aunt and Uncle and their bratty, spoiled son. Every day his life is miserable, the poor kid even has to sleep in a closet under the stairs. Then he gets his Hogwarts letter :) 

Sorry guys, but I had to put that last one on there. I was getting really depressed by my list and thought some Harry Potter would make it better :) Anyway I hope you enjoyed this and it didn't make you too sad. There is a lot of death and loss mentioned here. This was actually a pretty hard topic for me. As much as I love the books with tough topics, I usually go for the light, fluffy reads because they make a good happy escape. 

What books are on your list this week??