To Read or Not To Read

As always, the link on the book title leads to Goodreads, and the link on the author's name leads them to their website, blog, Twitter, or a page about their life. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows  -  J.K. Rowling Lady Midnight - Cassandra Clare Lord of Shadows - Cassandra Clare Peaches - Jodi Lynn Anderson Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie Avalon High - Meg Cabot Who What Wear - Olivia Bennett Peter & the Starcatchers - Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins A Million Junes - Emily Henry Demonglass - Rachel Hawkins Ready Player One - Ernest Cline 99 Days - Katie Cotugno Something in Between - Melissa de la Cruz These Shallow Graves - Jennifer Donnelly The Jewel - Amy Ewig The White Rose - Amy Ewig The Black Key - Amy Ewig The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern Between the Lines - Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer Off the Page - Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer It's...

I think it's hard to stay haunted after a book ends. I take a book, read and finish it, then move on to the next. I reflect a little bit about it when it's over, but I usually find myself thinking about that book a couple days after I finish it, long after I've read a couple more books. Jennifer Donnelly and her books break that curve. It was hard to put A Northern Light down, and harder to look at These Shallow Graves and not pick it back up. In this post, I'm going to review two of Jennifer Donnelly's books. I'll list them below and then they'll each have their own section and review. If reading her books have taught me anything, it's that she's probably one of my favorite authors now. Her writing inspires mine. I can't quite put my finger on what makes it so awesome, but I'm glad she's set the bar so high. I'll continue to sing her praises below, so enjoy. In order of publication: A Northern Light - 2003 These Shallow Graves ...

I thought this was fun to do a couple months ago, and I've decided to do another post like it. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2017 so far. THE GOOD: Ready Player One   by Ernest Cline  was surprisingly intoxicating. I'm not a gamer, and never have been, but I found that I couldn't have cared less about the gamer-basis of the story. I liked it, don't get me wrong, and the concept was great. I really loved how the book addressed the difference that technology can have on our lives. I also enjoyed how the main character realized that our lives can't be a game, and that we have a duty to the real world, not a world that was created to be an oasis for us. Lastly, I liked how the main character and all the other characters learned that it's not about what we look like that's important; it's the make up of our minds and thoughts that make us who we are.  Lord of Shadows   by Cassandra Clare  was an engaging read. The second book in ...

Late reflection time! Books that I read from the New Year to the end of May are listed below. As always, the link on the book title leads to Goodreads, and the link on the author's name leads to their website, blog, or (in Charles Dickens's case) to a page about their life. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy - Cassandra Clare A Thousand Pieces of You - Claudia Gray Ten Thousand Skies Above You - Claudia Gray A Million Worlds with You - Claudia Gray Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs Hollow City - Ransom Riggs Library of Souls - Ransom Riggs Tales of the Peculiar - Ransom Riggs Legend - Marie Lu Prodigy - Marie Lu Life Before Legend - Marie Lu Champion - Marie Lu Dangerous Lies - Becca Fitzpatrick Bone Gap - Laura Ruby A Study in Charlotte - Brittany Cavallaro Infinite in Between - Carolyn Mackler Kids of Appetite - David Arnold First & Then - Emma Mills Fangirl - Rainbow ...

Now let's take a visit to the future . . . of books! In this post, I'm going to list a few of my most anticipated books of 2017 (in no particular order), and you might find something that catches your eye too! Here goes: 1. Strange the Dreamer - Laini Taylor Expected publication: March 28th, 2017 Quick summary: Basically, the dream choses the dreamer and not the other way around so when Lazlo Strange dreamt of the "mythic lost town" of Weep, he has to jump at the chance of discovering why this town because mythical and lost. I am excited for a number of reasons. First of all, I've not read Laini Taylor's works, but I did read her little story in My True Love Gave to Me (Twelve Holiday Stories that I totally recommend for those who love amazing holiday stories), titled "The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer" and it is such a good story. I loved the concept, and I like this concept as well, but it was also well-written so I'm excited to read this boo...

Things I Learned Last Year Friendships can form from The cracks of a previously broken past "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" But don't take too long to text back It may be cold for harsh periods of time But it will warm up soon So until then, You better get cozy Who knew you could learn to love something You thought you would hate? We believe, we achieve, we believed, we reflect We get paid, we move on, but we never, not ever, forget Don't be so anti-people When there's so many to hold onto tight But when do you draw that line? You can't like everyone I have the same rights as you, me not nearly 18, But I understand, I persevere, I learn and I evolve, While you preach on a glittering stage about something you can't change. Reflection:  Welcome, friends, to yet another imitation of William Stafford's Things I Learned Last Week ! I figured it would be fun to do what I did last year, and create a new imitation of the...

Happy New Year! Before I explain anything, let me list out all the books I've read this semester (all 42 of them!): Dumplin' - Julie Murphy The Lifeboat Clique - Kathy Parks Catching Jordan - Miranda Kenneally This is Where it Ends - Marieke Nijkamp Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell Stealing Parker - Miranda Kenneally Things I Can't Forget - Miranda Kenneally Breathe, Annie, Breathe - Miranda Kenneally Racing Savannah - Miranda Kenneally Jesse's Girl - Miranda Kenneally Defending Taylor - Miranda Kenneally The Comeback Season - Jennifer E. Smith Until Friday Night - Abbi Glines Open Road Summer - Emery Lord Under the Lights - Abbi Glines Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir A Torch Against the Night - Sabaa Tahir The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman The Iron Trial - Holly Black and Cassandra Clare The Copper Gauntlet - Holly Black and Cassandra Clare This Adventure Ends - Emma...