Monday, August 31, 2015

ARC Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon


Title: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 320
Add to Goodreads


//I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review//

This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster. 

The first thing I noticed about Everything, Everything was the unique cover! The second thing I noticed was that it was a story with a really unique premise. I saw someone else compare this to The Fault in Our Stars... this story is not that. For those of you who are unaware, I generally cannot stand contemporary fiction unless it has some kind of unique catch, which this one did.

Everything, Everything begins with Maddy watching as the new family (and one gorgeous teenager, Olly) moves in next to her. We also learn about her sickness and that she is unable to have any contact whatsoever with the outside world. The only people she can have any contact with are her mom and nurse, Carla, although some of her teachers are occasionally allowed to come into the house after a lengthy decontamination process. Still, Maddy can't help being interested in Olly. This is there story.

The characters of Maddy and Olly were both amazing. I loved getting to know both of them and could sympathize with both of their plights. Maddy is a strong character who has done the best she can with what she has. Best of all, she's a book blogger (Tumblr, but still one of us!) and has an insane supply of books to pass her time alone. Her character had the potential to be really whiney and "woe-is-me" but went in a totally different direction that I loved. Olly was also really great. Although he was not cut off from the world, he did have his own battles, but remained good in spite of it. Their romance was believable and perfect and I loved it! Well, most of it. I didn't love the times when Maddy decided to completely cut Olly off. I hate it when one half of a relationship makes decisions about what's best for both of them alone.

One thing I'm not 100% sold on is the writing. I had to continually remind myself that Maddy was 18 and not 12. While I did enjoy the tone that this gave to the book - kind of care-free, if that makes sense - there were times when it became a little choppy and strange. I did really like the addition of lists and pictures, though!

Overall, I really enjoyed this story a lot! It was an incredibly quick read, perhaps because of the writing and definitely because of some chapters being a sentence or two long or consisting only of a picture. I finished it in about a day and definitely say it was well worth the time! I won't give away too much, but I didn't find it predictable at all and really, really loved each new thing that happened! My biggest let down was the ending. I was sitting on the bus reading the last chapter, turned the page, and said, "WHAT?!" kind of loud, getting me some strange looks. It was an okay ending, I just wasn't expecting it just yet.

This is a book that I might be purchasing even though I've already read it just because I enjoyed it so much and, really, that cover is gorgeous!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Weekly Recap: 8/23 - 8/29



My Super Exciting Life 

This has been a pretty fantastic week, if I'm being honest! As you may know, it began with a long, 9 hour drive to Disney World on Sunday. I was there for three days, driving home on Thursday, and had a fantastic time! You can read about the first two days here! I met some new friends and ate some great food and just really did not want to come home. Luckily, I may be moving to the area soon!! I was dying to get back to my furbabies though.

Thursday night my mom stayed with me so that I could give her a ride to the airport on Friday morning. We spent the night hanging out on the couch and then I thought I was dying when I had to wake up before 7am the next day!

And then yesterday... the local library book sale was back!! I was there when they opened the doors at 10am. The selection wasn't especially amazing, but I did find some good deals!



New Books

Purchased at library book sale:

      


From the library:




In Case You Missed It

Monday book review of End of Days
The topic was YA Dystopia 101 for Top Ten Tuesday
I featured The Unquiet for Waiting on Wednesday
Thursday mini reviews of Insylum and Crown of Swords
Friday Crane and Sleepy Hollow battled in Paper to Popcorn
On Saturday I posted the first two days of my Disney trip report



This Week I Read

      



Upcoming Reviews

  

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Disney World Trip Report: Days 1 & 2


As you may have noticed, I was pretty scarce last week. I did pop in to comment back every night (I tried to at least), but I didn't have much time for roaming around the blogosphere. This was because I was at Disney World in Florida and disconnected from the internet!


Day One

I woke up early and got on the road around 8:30am. The drive was about 9 hours and was relatively painless. There was some pretty heavy rain (check out that line in the sky!), but it was over quickly. I listened to Crown of Midnight on the way!! I really enjoyed the second book in the Throne of Glass series more than the first, but I'll be posting a full review of that soon.


The Disney World sign came into view around 5pm, so I didn't make bad time at all! I pulled into the parking lot at Saratoga Springs Resort at 5:15, checked in, and got to my room. Once I got there I was so hungry I took the boat straight to Disney Springs (previously Downtown Disney) and grabbed some dinner at Earl of Sandwich. At that point I was spent though, and headed back to my room to turn in early.


Day Two

I woke up at 9am, ate my oatmeal in the room, and got on the bus to Animal Kingdom with one thing in mind - Harambe Market, the new food and shopping area in "Africa." Dinosaur was my first stop! I love this ride! It's a dark ride with lots of twists, turns, and some jump scares. Next I got in the single rider line for Expedition Everest, a really awesome roller coaster inside of "Everest" and got on after about a 10 minute wait in the blazing sun. Finally, I went over to Harambe Market where I got the beef kabob flatbread with broccoli and tomato salad with the African milk tart for dessert! The main dish and side were fantastic, but the dessert wasn't for me.


As soon as I finished lunch I saw the clouds rolling in and basically RAN to the exit and got on the bus just before the massive downpour began. I hung out in my room to wait out the rain and then jumped on another bus for Magic Kingdom and was there by 3pm!

The first stop once I was inside Magic Kingdom was using my first FastPass+ at the Haunted Mansion! I noticed some upgrades from the last refurbishment and the ride looked great overall! Of course, I'll always love it no matter what. Next was Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid. I noticed that the Under the Sea scene has had a HUGE makeover and looks absolutely amazing. There was an annoying woman taking flash photos the whole time though... I did some window shopping until my next FastPass+ at Peter Pan's Flight. This is one of my favorites! I love the neon characters and the flyover!


Dinner was at Columbia Harbor House where I had the (best ever) chicken pot pie and read Everything, Everything while overlooking Fantasyland. Then it was time for Splash Mountain! Unfortunately for everyone else and fortunately for me, the ride broke down just as we were getting ready to go over the second small drop. Eventually the Cast Members rescued us and led us backstage where we were able to see the building the floats are stored for the parades! So cool!! We were also given extra paper FastPasses for any ride except a few of the newer ones. I used mine for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

As I was preparing to leave I found out that a friend of mine, Mary, had just moved to the area and was staying on property for a few days. We agreed to meet at Disney Springs where we had Ghirardelli Ice Cream and did more window shopping. I made it back to my room around 10:30 and relaxed with some Roku before bed.


Days 3, 4, and 5 will be posted next Saturday!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Paper to Popcorn #4: Crane vs. Sleepy Hollow



Welcome to Paper to Popcorn! Paper to Popcorn is not be your typical book vs. movie comparison. The focus is on retellings, although there will be some features of movie vs. the source material. Each chosen book/movie combo will battle it out in a showdown to prove which one is the best on its own merits. Posts will feature reviews of both the film and book, rating scales, a brief outline of differences between the two, and characters, and ultimately a victor will be chosen.

This week I'm featuring two very different retellings of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Crane by Stacey Rourke and Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow.




The Book

Title: Crane (Legends Saga #1)
Author: Stacey Rourke
Narrator: Karen Krause
Publication Date: May 26, 2014
Publisher: Anchor Group Publishing
Add to Goodreads
Purchase on Amazon

The Horseman is unending,
his presence shan’t lessen.
If you break the curse,
you become the legend.

Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle had no choice but to cover up the deadly truth behind Ichabod Crane’s disappearance. Centuries later, a Crane returns to Sleepy Hollow awakening macabre secrets once believed to be buried deep.

What if the monster that spawned the legend lived within you?

Now, Ireland Crane, reeling from a break-up and seeking a fresh start, must rely on the newly awakened Rip Van Winkle to discover the key to channeling the darkness swirling within her. Bodies are piling high and Ireland is the only one that can save Sleepy Hollow by embracing her own damning curse.

But is anyone truly safe when the Horseman rides? 

I've had my eye on Crane ever since I saw that AMAZING cover! I couldn't really figure out what the super weird, painted face had to do with the Headless Horseman, but I knew it was probably good. I'm a sucker for a good retelling and this one was truly unique!

Right off the bat it's obvious that this is not a normal retelling of the classic myth. This is primarily the story of Ireland Crane, a distant relative of Ichabod himself. She's had a rough breakup and moves to Sleepy Hollow to make a new start for herself as a guidance counselor at the local school, but nothing goes quite as she planned.

I really liked Ireland's attitude immediately. She has kind of a "meh" attitude that I can really identify with. Like, "well, this happened and I can't do anything about that so I'll just crack a sarcastic joke and move on." She's a strong character who rolls with the punches and doesn't take crap from anyone. Ireland's love interest, Noah, was not really in the book enough for me to make a real judgement call on him, but I like what I've seen so far. He seems to be very caring and accepting and I can't find much fault with what I know about him at this point. I really hope he'll be a little more fleshed out in future books!

The characters in the flashbacks were also really great! Because they had almost half the book to themselves, I felt like I really got to know them. I didn't care very much for Katrina, but I think that had a lot to do with the time period, to be honest. I loved Ichabod! He was not what we've been led to believe Ichabod Crane is and I really enjoyed his no-nonsense approach. Rip Van Winkle was an interesting addition who I also greatly enjoyed! He was hilarious at places, but still a serious, main player in the story. I do wish there had been more of the book devoted to Ichabod's story though!

The world building was good too, but I wish I had felt a little more dread when the town was being established. It felt a little off somehow, but I never got the feeling of gloom and total creepiness I would expect from Sleepy Hollow.

I can't say too much about the story without spoiling it, but suffice it to say I definitely enjoyed this unique take on a retelling! Nothing was quite as it seemed and there was plenty of mystery in this story that's already so well known to keep it fresh and interesting! I'm definitely planning to read book two and find out what happens next in the saga!


Characters Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Setting Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Writing Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Storyline Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Cover Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Overall Rating 1/5 2/5 3/5 4/5 5/5



The Movie

Title: Sleepy Hollow
Director: Tim Burton
Actors: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci
Release Date: November 19, 1999
Runtime: 105 minutes
View on IMDB
Purchase on Amazon

Washington Irving's tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman gets a few new twists in a screen adaptation directed by Tim Burton. In this version, Ichabod (Johnny Depp) is a New York City detective whose unorthodox techniques and penchant for gadgets make him unpopular with is colleagues. He is sent to the remote town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of bizarre murders, in which a number of people have been found dead in the woods, with their heads cut off. Local legend has it that a Hessian ghost rides through the woods on horseback, lopping off the heads of the unsuspecting and unbelieving. Ichabod refuses to believe in this legend, convinced that there must be a logical explanation for the murders. In time, Ichabod becomes smitten with a local lass, Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), who is the sweetheart of the burly Brom Bones (Casper Van Dien), and he becomes determined to capture the murderer to prove his bravery and win her heart. Christopher Walken, Jeffrey Jones, and Christopher Lee highlight the supporting cast; Lee's appearance is particularly apt, since Burton has cited the Hammer films of the 1960s as a major influence in making this film. Andrew Kevin Walker and Tom Stoppard contributed to the screenplay.

This movie immediately has a few things going for it: Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken. It has been probably ten years since the last time I watched Sleepy Hollow and I didn't remember much about it, so I was really excited to give it a go!

Johnny Depp is spectacular in this film!! (Of course, he's spectacular in everything.) His quirky mannerisms and perfect face (I'm biased) work to make the character of Ichabod Crane truly come alive! I feel like Johnny Depp takes pride in becoming his characters for as long as he is in the role and that really comes through here. A very young Christina Ricci is also a great addition to this film as Katrina! She's definitely a unique character! Christopher Walken is a great Headless Horseman who is equally terrifying with and without his head! Fantastic casting and performances all around!

I love this adaptation of the story! I love the dynamic of the relationship between Ichabod and Katrina. It's so different from the cut-and-dried love story you'd expect! And I loved how Ichabod was incredibly brave throughout the movie, while still being terrified by spiders and fainting at basically everything. There's enough Burton-esque comic relief to make this movie light enough to be appropriate for a broader audience than strictly those who are fans of horror. Still, this is absolutely a horror movie and the mystery keeps you guessing right until the very end!

Sleepy Hollow has the creepy setting that immediately comes to mind when I think of the original story, compliments of Tim Burton's unique style that we've come to know and love. The fog that settles over the town, combined with shades of blue and black and the surreal nature that Tim Burton movies are known for make this movie convey a sense of dread that lingers from beginning to end. It is, in a word, perfection. The music builds tension wonderfully, although it was a bit too loud at times for my taste. The limited CGI that was used in making this film has held up well for the most part, with a couple exceptions. Not too bad for a movie that's 16 years old!

I was a little wary about reviewing such an old movie, to be honest, but this one really holds up! If you're a horror fan and haven't seen Sleepy Hollow yet because you're worried that it's too old school, I highly recommend you give it a shot!

Cast Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Cinematography Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Screenplay Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Performances Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Music Terrible Just okay Pretty good Really good Amazing!
Overall Rating 1/5 2/5 3/5 4/5 5/5



Noteable Differences

  • The most noteable difference is that Sleepy Hollow is strictly the story of Ichabod Crane, while Crane also tells the story of Ireland Crane in the present. 
  • Ichabod Crane is a schoolteacher in Crane, but he is a constable in Sleepy Hollow, sent to the town to investigate murders. 
  • Washington Irving (the original author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) and Rip Van Winkle (a character in a different Irving story) are important characters in Crane, but (obviously) never show up in Sleepy Hollow. 
  • Katrina dabbled in witchcraft in the movie, but this is not an element in the book. 
  • The person in control of the horseman and the way they came by that control differs from book to movie. 
  • The outcome for Ichabod was significantly different between the two. 


The Bottom Line


Whoomp there it is! The first movie to beat a book in Paper to Popcorn. While I did enjoy what the book did with Ichabod's distant relative, I really loved the strict Ichabod Crane retelling even more! Add to that that this movie was directed by Tim Burton and featured Johnny Depp as Ichabod and it's not surprising that the film won out!

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Mini Book Reviews: Insylum by Z. Rider & A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan


Title: Insylum
Author: Z. Rider
Publication Date: June 9, 2015
Publisher: Dark Ride Publishing

Pages: 122
Add to Goodreads
Purchase on Amazon

The Last Ones In...Never Come Out

A.J. changed in boot camp, coming out all straight-backed and short-haired. His best friend Nate hardly recognizes him anymore, especially when it comes to the way he acts. His priorities. Now he’s about to ship out to Afghanistan, and despite the rift growing between them, the two decide to have one last hurrah—at Insylum, the extreme traveling funhouse they’ve been waiting for a chance at for years.

They're last in line on the last night of the show. They are the last two to go in.

And they may never come back out.

Warning: Some tentacular activity. (Also body horror. And maggots.)

I know this may come as a shock, but I'm a huge horror junkie! So when I saw the cover for Insylum and read the synopsis, I was immediately sold! Especially since it was such a short read AND was available to borrow on Amazon Prime!

Insylum was a thrill ride from start to finish! Make no mistake, this is NOT a YA horror book by any stretch. It is gory and brutal right from the start. As I've said, I love horror, but this is the first horror book I've ever read (EVER) that made my pulse speed up! It definitely is not for the faint of heart. The characters were surprisingly well-developed for such a small book and the "funhouse" was described in such vivid detail that, well, it was terrifying.

I love a good 800 page Stephen King novel as much as the next person, but this much horror crammed into 122 pages just works! And there's a twist at the end that I definitely did not see coming! I only wish the ending had been described in a little more detail, but I guess that's supposed to be part of the mystery. In any case, I highly recommend this to any horror fan!



Title: A Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time #7)
Author: Robert Jordan
Narrator: Kate Reading & Michael Kramer
Publication Date: November 15, 1997
Publisher: Tor Fantasy

Add to Goodreads
Purchase on Amazon
Reviews for book 5 and book 6


In this seventh book of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, Elayne, Aviendha, and Mat come ever closer to the bowl ter'angreal that may reverse the world's endless heat wave and restore natural weather. Egwene begins to gather all manner of women who can channel--Sea Folk, Windfinders, Wise Ones, and some surprising others. And above all, Rand faces the dread Forsaken Sammael, in the shadows of Shadar Logoth, where the blood-hungry mist, Mashadar, waits for prey.

I'm going to be really blunt here: I've been putting off this review because I did not like this book and now I don't remember much about it. Looking back at the synopsis, I can recall why I don't remember what happened. Nothing happened. Really.

Okay, well now I'm not being completely truthful. A few things happened. Egwene puts her foot down in her new role among the Aes Sedai, Rand hangs out with some baddies, and Mat gets raped by a queen. Repeatedly. And everyone laughs it off.

I feel like this chapter in the series had potential to be amazing! Unfortunately, it seems as if Robert Jordan really just wanted to milk this cow as long as he possibly could, to the point where we get this seventh book of pure filler. The women argue, even MORE characters are introduced, and other characters are completely absent.

I could complain about a lot in this book, but my biggest complaint is the big battle at the end. There's one in every book and the battle at the end of book six blew my socks off! In my review of Lord of Chaos I said, "I had to literally restrain myself from jumping up and down in excitement!" and, "This book was truly the best of the six I've read so far!" My, how the mighty have fallen.

I'll continue the series just because I am already seven books in and have invested hundreds of hours of listening. I just really hope it pays off in the end.



°o°  Notes on the Audiobook  °o°
I can't say much that I haven't already said about Kate Reading and Michael Kramer. They're fantastic! 

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday #64: The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett


Happy Wednesday, fellow book lovers! This week's "can't wait to read" is:


The Unquiet
by Mikaela Everett
Publication Date: September 22, 2015
For most of her life, Lirael has been training to kill—and replace—a duplicate version of herself on a parallel Earth. She is the perfect sleeper-soldier. But she’s beginning to suspect she is not a good person.

The two Earths are identical in almost every way. Two copies of every city, every building, even every person. But the people from the second Earth know something their duplicates do not—two versions of the same thing cannot exist. They—and their whole planet—are slowly disappearing. Lira has been trained mercilessly since childhood to learn everything she can about her duplicate, to be a ruthless sleeper-assassin who kills that other Lirael and steps seamlessly into her life.

An intricate, literary stand-alone from an astonishing new voice, The Unquiet takes us deep inside the psyche of a strong teenage heroine struggling with what she has been raised to be and who she really is. Fans of eerily futuristic and beautifully crafted stories such as Never Let Me Go, Orphan Black, and Fringe will find themselves haunted by this unsettling debut.

I love the idea of multiverses so this book definitely has my attention! I haven't read any of the books it's being compared to, but I really think this one will be awesome!


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday #58: YA Dystopia 101


Today's Topic: 
Top Ten Books That Would Be On 
Your Syllabus If You Taught YA Dystopia101


YA Dystopia is one of my absolute favorite genres!! If you're not a dystopia reader and you want to be, any of these series would be a fantastic place to start!


        

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Divergent by Veronica Roth


        

Enclave by Ann Aguirre
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.
Monday, August 24, 2015

Book Review: End of Days by Susan Ee


Title: End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days #3) 
Author: Susan Ee
Publication Date: May 12, 2015
Publisher: Skyscape
Pages: 331
Add to Goodreads
Purchase on Amazon
Reviews for book 1 & book 2

End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee’s bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy.

After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They’re both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn’s sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all.

When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?

I'll start by saying that I ADORED Angelfall, I really enjoyed World After... I did not love End of Days. Let me cut to the chase. It was okay, but it was honestly an underwhelming conclusion to what was otherwise an amazing series. My ratings for this series have slowly declined and this one is the bottom of the super amazing barrel of angelic amazingness. That's not to say that I didn't like it, because I did. I just wanted (and expected) so much more.

Penryn and Raffe seem like as good a place as any to begin. In Angelfall, I loved the relationship between these two. They were hesitant and tried to resist any romantic feelings, but the pull seemed undeniable. Still, there was just the right amount of angst to make it a really good underlying romance. The key word there is underlying. It was on the back burner. Before all else were their missions. Each wanted to save their people and that was their top priority, which was why they knew no relationship could work out. This continued into World After, where Raffe was barely present. I hated that he wasn't there, but at least there wasn't any unrealistic romance. And then... End of Days happened. And Penryn lost her freaking mind. In book three of the series, both characters completely go off into left field, making decisions that are totally out of character and put others in danger. I mean, on the one hand I was glad that it ended the way it did. On the other, it just wasn't believable based on the first two books.

My other big issue was the pacing. I actually put this book down a hundred pages in and left it. For weeks. I was just so bored I couldn't keep going. It eventually picked up towards the end, but it picked up almost too much. Things were super slow throughout the first 2/3 of the book and then in the last 80 or so pages just BAM! Everything happens all at once and it's tied up way too quickly. As in HUGE BATTLE and then cut to epilogue. It was a little disappointing.

The world building was also a little shaky in this book. I really did like the descriptions of the aerie and the election. I loved the descriptions that accompanied the final battle and the place it all went down. But I was totally confused by "the pit." What was it? Where was it? It felt like they were in a virtual reality world or something and I just wish it had been laid out a little more clearly.

The whole time travel thing was also really confusing to me. The butterfly effect seemed to be missing completely and it just didn't make a ton of sense.

There were things I did like though! I enjoyed watching Paige come into her own even more than in World After and take control of her meager army. I really liked learning more about Beliel and understanding his character better (even though his character made no sense in light of the time travel). I also actually thought the final battle was really smart although I've seen others comment on how ridiculous it was.

Overall, this was a decent conclusion to the series, but it was not what I hoped it would be. Perhaps this is because it was originally supposed to be a 5 part series and was cut short? I'm honestly not sure what happened but it makes me really sad that I can't give this book the high rating I gave books one and two. I'd still recommend this series because it is incredibly unique, just be aware that the ending is really not on par with the rest.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Weekly Recap: 8/16 - 8/22



My Super Exciting Life 

This week was basically spent in preparation for today because... as you're reading this I'm on the road to Disney World!! Finally! But other than that...

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys came out this week so yay!! I ordered a copy but I'm waiting on it to get to me and who knows how long that will take. We also celebrated my mom's birthday this week! We had cake and bread pudding and there were gifts and it was just a great time!

Grace at Rebel Mommy Book Blog also reviewed one of my candles this week, so thank you Grace for being awesome!

I'll be here throughout the week commenting and saying hi, but I'll probably be a little more scarce than normal. I hope everyone else has an amazing week!!



New Books

Purchased:



From the author/publisher:

  



From the library:

        



In Case You Missed It

Monday book review of Reawakened
The topic was auto-buy authors for Top Ten Tuesday
I featured The Marvels for Waiting on Wednesday
Thursday audiobook review of Talon
Friday I discussed types of Goodreads reviews that annoy me



This Week I Read

  



Upcoming Reviews