Banned Book Week: #bookphotoaday 9.27&28.2013

#bookphotoaday is hosted by Megan at megancstroup.blogspot.com

Thanks Megan!!!

I'm really disappointed in myself because I was doing so well on posting every day for this activity and then I totally botched it the last two!

Tonight I had book club and we were reading Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys. I was listening to the audio version but I hadn't listened to more then just the first few hours by last night so I had a lot of last minute listening to do. So last night I set to trying to get farther into it 

....and ended up falling asleep.

I meant to post yesterday and even had my photo ready to go! Since the theme was "currently reading" I had taken a screen shot of my phone showing me listening to Out of the Easy.

Even though the time only says 9:24 PM I fell asleep not too long after taking this image and was unable to upload it. 

Then today I needed to take a picture of the library but it was pouring rain this morning so I couldn't go by and then after book club I had to race home and complete my assignments for my online class before midnight. 

But anyway, here is a photo I found online of my local library. 

I have many fond memories of this place! 

Abducted by Eleanor & Park

THE HEADLINE: “Two misfits, one extraordinary love.” Taken from the inside book jacket because I couldn’t think of a more fitting headline!

THE ABDUCTOR: Eleanor! I’m feeling horrible right now because I can’t remember Eleanor’s last name and I couldn’t find it on Goodreads and I only have 45 minutes to try to get this post up so I don’t have time to hunt for it, but yes! Eleanor completely abducted me in this story! I could relate to her in so many ways that it was scary!

TIME IN CAPTIVITY: Sometimes the hardest reviews to write are for the books you love the most! And my love for Eleanor & Park knows no bounds so this review is almost painful to write!

So here is what you need to know…

The story is about two teenagers who meet in high school and fall in love. Eleanor is trying to deal with some troubles at home and because of this she is struggling with stress and fear but also some insecurities. She meets Park and together they form a friendship and a relationship that is real and honest.

Rainbow Rowell is an amazing author who created compelling and genuine characters and featured them in a story that, as Booklist said, was “breathtaking and, of course, heartbreaking, too.”

PICK UP LINE:

He made her feel like more than the sum of her parts.

POINT OF ABDUCTION: For me the point of abduction was the moment on the bus when Park realized that Eleanor was reading his comics over his shoulder. I loved how innocent their relationship started. I loved how the first few gestures of friendship were as small as him waiting a beat longer before turning the page so that she would have time to finish reading the page as well.

ABDUCTION RATING:

I'm giving this book a double rating of 5 making it a total 10 because I loved it that much! I can't wait to read it again!

Banned Book Week: #bookphotoaday 9.26.2013

#bookphotoaday is hosted by Megan at megancstroup.blogspot.com

Today's photo is of cover art. I had trouble picking out my "favorite" so I decided to feature a pic of a book that I specifically bought because the cover art caught my eye. 

The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter is one of the many books on my to be read shelf that I have actually bought and haven't read yet. In fact I still have the receipt inside the book and it shows that I bought this book on February 9th, 2011! 

I remember walking through Hastings while talking on the phone with my friend Kate who was telling me about how she had just found out that her niece Sam was pregnant! I wasn't really looking for anything in particular I was just randomly looking at books while talking on the phone. I came across The Kneebone Boy and the gothic looking cover art really caught my eye. 

Here is the blurb on the back: 

I was the one voted to tell you this story because I read the most novels, so I know how a story should be told. Plus, I'm very observant and have a nice way of putting things, that's what my teacher, Mr. Dupuis, told me. I can't tell you which Hardscrabble I am - Otto, Lucia, or Max - because I've sworn on pain of torture not to. They said it's because the story belongs to all three of us, and I suppose they're right, but it seems unfair since I'm doing all the work. No one can stop you from guessing though. 

Doesn't that sound like a fun book!?!

I really should read it one of these days!

Banned Book Week: #bookphotoaday 9.25.2013

#bookphotoaday is hosted by Megan at megancstroup.blogspot.com!

Today's photo is of our favorite quote from a book.

Now normally my go to answer has always been the classic opening of David Copperfield...

I love this quote...there is just so much possibility that goes along with it.

But the truth is that I've never actually read David Copperfield.

And there is another quote, one that I have also always loved and one that the truth of it lingers with me in my daily life...

"Such anger is the fluid that love bleeds when you cut it." 

Sometimes when you are fighting with someone and you are so angry that you think you want to kill them, it is hard to remember why you care in the first place. But the truth is, you do care. And such anger can't exist without being rooted in love. 

Anyway, thanks to Megan for hosting such a fun activity for Banned Book Week! My schoolwork is keeping me pretty busy so even though I have started A Wrinkle In Time, I am starting to doubt if I'll be finishing it by the end of the week. Posting these photos is a great way for me to still feel like I'm participating.

Banned Book Week: #bookphotoaday 9.24.2013

#bookphotoaday is hosted by Megan at megancstroup.blogspot.com! Thanks Megan!

Today's photo is of a bookmark. My favorite bookmark is the one featured bellow that my dear friend Andrea picked up for me in Italy! It is beautiful and red (my favorite color) and it has my initials on it, and it is currently holding my place in The Two Towers!

I had wanted to complete a readalong of the Lord of The Rings prior to the Hobbit coming out, however I never made it past the Two Towers and in fact my last post about it went up on September 18th 2012!

According to my trusty bookmark I only had 117 pages left to go!!! I should really finish that one of these days!

Banned Book Week: #Bookphotoaday 9.23.2013

#bookphotoaday is hosted by Megan over at megancstroup.blogspot.com and today's pic is of where we like to read.

Usually I like to read sitting up on my couch or in my chair in my living room. But I've recently had a friend come to stay so the living room has sort of become her room so now I've taken to reading in bed...

I didn't intend for my picture to be so small, and believe it or not I actually do know how to fix it, but it is almost 10:30 at night here and I'm really tired and have a big test tomorrow, so I think this one will do just fine. 

Banned Book Week: #bookphootoaday 9.22.2013

The photo a day challenge is hosted by Megan at megancstroup.blogspot.com

Today’s challenge was to feature your favorite banned book.

This could get complicated because so many books are challenged and banned in so many different states, but I chose to narrow it down by picking my favorite banned book from the list of Top 100

Banned/Challenged Books:2000-2009 featured here:

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

So once I looked through the list I pulled out all of the books that I owned that are featured on the list and here is what I got:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossenini
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
Angus Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

and I threw in Looking for Alaska by John Green because even though it wasn’t on the list I know it is a commonly banned book and it is also my favorite Green.

Out of those books it feels like Harry Potter is the obvious answer. Everyone loves Harry Potter and it is such an engaging book that it is crazy that it still gets banned.

But when it comes to these kinds of challenges it almost feels like Harry Potter is also the easy answer.

So, not including HP I would say my favorite banned book is…



It may not be as dramatic as The Kite Runner or stand the test of time like To Kill A Mocking Bird, but I loved Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging! It is such a sweet book and it really made me laugh!

Sundays in bed with…9.22.2013

Sundays In Bed With…is hosted by Kate over at Midnightbookgirl.com. It gives us a chance to share what books we are reading on Sundays, or which books we wish we were reading!

I woke up this Sunday with a slight crick in my neck which has lead to me getting a later start then I had planned. Which sucks because I have a lot of stuff to get done today!

First of all…the books!



This past week I started reading The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. Just last night I got to my abduction point so now I can’t wait to get back to it. I’m hoping to get in another three chapters today but I have so much other stuff to do that I will have to be careful.

The other book I will be starting today is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.

I am reading this one as part of Banned Book Week so my hope is to start it today and be able to finish it on Thursday so I can write my review and post it that day. It is only 230 pages so this is very possible…if it wasn’t for the other books I want to read and that pesky thing called school.


In my search for a Banned Book Week graphic to add to this part of my blog I came across this…




This sounds awesome so I am totally going to try to participate!



Anyway, another book I have to start today is Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys.

This is the book chosen by my book club for this month and we are meeting this coming Saturday so I must finish this one by then!

And on top of all of that I have a Spanish test on Tuesday so I must estudiar mucho!

So, I guess with all of that stuff to do I better go get started!

Tener un buen Domingo!

Abducted by Monster

THE HEADLINE: When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call…Monster

THE ABDUCTOR: I was abducted by all of the demons in this book. Every chapter there was some new creature attacking the different characters and each one was crazier and more creative then the next! Maybe it is because I have been watching so much of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel lately, but I was eating this up!

TIME IN CAPTIVITY: Monster was the first book by A. Lee Martinez that I read but it will not be my last.

It is the story of a guy, Monster, who is a demon catcher and Judy, a girl who seems to be attracting a lot of them…demons that is. Their paths cross pretty early on and continue to intersect as the story unfolds.

According to Martinez, magic is all around us, we just can’t always recognize it and tend to forget about it

once it passes. I loved the way that Martinez incorporated the magical elements, mythical creatures, and ancient ruins into our world.

Monster is a fast paced, action packed, funny read. I was sucked in pretty fast and was enjoying my time with it, but towards the end it started to lose me a bit. There was this crazy cat lady and her story line just seemed a bit ridiculous. Which I guess is saying something considering my favorite character was a talking paper gnome named Chester who can fold himself into any shape his boss needs and lives in another dimension.

PICK UP LINE:

The universe was filled with secrets, and he understood now that one of the biggest was that no one needed to know them all. 

POINT OF ABDUCTION: From the moment someone said their was a yeti eating all the ice cream at a grocery store.

ABDUCTION RATING:  I gave Monster by A. Lee Martinez an abduction rating of 3. Because like I said, it was a fun read but the climax of the novel lost me.

Top Ten Tuesdays…Sept 17th

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

This week’s list is all about our Fall To Be Read books.

I’m horrible about making a TBR list for certain time frames and actually following through with them, but this one I think I might actually keep.

These are the 5 books that I plan on reading during the October 12th read-a-thon!

1. Heroes Volume 1 graphic novel

2. Misery by Stephen King

3. & 4. House of Odd and Odd Is On Our Side Dean
Koontz’s Odd Thomas graphic novels

5. Maybe a Miracle by Brian Strause



And here are the rest of the 5 books I hope to finish this fall…



6. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I’ve already started this one so hopefully I’ll finish it soon.

7. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. This book is commonly a banned book so I hope to read it next week during Banned Book Week.

8. Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella with the World Series just around the corner I’m feeling very basebally so I’m hoping to make time for this one in October.

9. & 10. Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers and Startled By His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison, seriously will I ever finish this series???

So those are the books that I am hoping to finish this fall. I have high hopes for the October read-a-thon so I’m feeling very confident about this list.

Sundays in bed with 9.15.13

Sundays In Bed With…is hosted by Kate over at Midnightbookgirl.com. It gives us a chance to share what books we are reading on Sundays, or which books we wish we were reading!

I know this post is going up pretty late but I did literally spend my Sunday in bed with a book so I wanted to go ahead and post about it.



I spent my Sunday in bed with Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Okay friends, I have a confession to make.

I broke my New Years Resolution.

I made a resolution that I wouldn't buy any books this year. And for the most part I have been remarkably good about this.

Until Thursday.

I borrowed an ARC copy of Eleanor & Park from Andrea who borrowed it from Jessie (thanks again girls!!! seriously, THANK YOU!!!)

I had read a few pages but had to put it on pause for a few weeks while I got settled into school and then I was finally able to pick it back up on Tuesday. I read until 2 in the morning that night and then picked it back up as soon as I got home on Wednesday.

I finally finished it at 1:30 in the morning on Sept 12.

I woke up the next day, went to class, tried to study, tried to watch Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I couldn't stop thinking about this book.

I related to Eleanor in such a personal/intimate way that it physically pained me to not own this book. So that night I went to Hastings, and panicked when they didn't have it. Then I went to Barnes and Noble and was able to start breathing again as soon as I was able to get my hands on my very own copy.

So I paid for it, full price I might add, went home and immediately started re-reading it. And I didn't even just start from my favorite parts either. I started from the very beginning and devoured it all over again!

I woke up this morning and stayed in bed all day finishing it!

I finally forced myself to get out of bed around 2 or 3 so that I could continue watching Angel and Buffy and semi-clean my apartment.

And for those of you keeping up on my Angel and Buffy progress I can report that I am on season 2 of Angel and season 5 of Buffy and I have 5 episodes left of each.



I hope everyone else had as great a Sunday as I did!

Abducted by First Light

THE HEADLINE: When Peter agrees to go with his father on a research trip to study glaciers in Greenland, he is unprepared for what he might find below the ice.

THE ABDUCTOR: To be perfectly honest, no one in this book really stuck out to me. I mean, if I had to pick an abductor I guess I would say the character of Thea because her world was unique. But all of the characters were just basic good characters. I didn’t hate anyone in the book, which is good, but I didn’t love anyone either.

TIME IN CAPTIVITY: The novel First Light is told through alternating perspectives between two kids in their early teens, Peter and Thea.

Peter lives in New York City with his parents who are both scientist, and his father studies glaciers. When he gets an opportunity to go to Greenland for the summer he decides to bring the whole family with him.

Thea lives in a village called Gracehope which is located inside the ice. Thea believes that it is time for her people to migrate to the wider world but is met with some opposition from the elders. One day, Thea suspects that she might have found a path to the surface and takes her cousin Mattias along with her to investigate.

They reach the surface at the same time that Peter is out for walk. These two worlds collide in a moment of climactic circumstances and the stakes are raised as they begin to realize that this chance meeting may have been destined before either of them were even born.

Like I said before, the world that Thea comes from is very unique and I enjoyed the creativity that came from it. In a way it was almost steampunk because even without technology they found ways to power their devices that could be considered modern, using the rustic natural means that they had. However, they did not use actual steam, because since they live inside a glacier that would be bad.

I appreciated the myths and legends that were found in Thea's world but found Peter's world to be somewhat bland. A lot of the dialogue felt forced and unnatural and because both of Peter's parents are scientist there was a lot of exposition about what research they were doing that just seemed unnecessary.

PICK UP LINE:

But every person has to learn to accept what has happened in the past. Without bitterness. Or there is no point in continuing with life. 

POINT OF ABDUCTION: I struggled with this book in the beginning so it felt like it took me a long time to finally become abducted. However, the moment when it did finally happen was last Sunday when I read the part where Mattais and Thea were making their way through to the surface, and water started rushing into the tunnel.

ABDUCTION RATING: My abduction rating for First Light will be…

It was good but not great. It took a while to get into it but once I did I finished it pretty fast. But Rebecca Stead was so completely charming when I met her last October that I can’t wait to read her other two novels.

Sundays in Bed With...9.8.2013

Sundays In Bed With is a meme hosted by Kate over at Midnightbookgirl!

I hope everyone else is enjoying a happy lazy Sunday!

While I did spend all of my Sunday morning in bed watching season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I will now be spending the rest of my Sunday in my living room watching the Red Sox kick some yankee booty!

The awesome thing about Baseball though, is that you can always multitask while watching a game! It isn't like any other sport where there is constantly a ball in motion that you have to keep your eye on. I mean there is a ball in motion, but there is a lot of down time in between.

That means that while watching the game I will also be writing this blog post, writing two other blog posts that will be reviews posted in the weeks to come, give myself a pedicure, give my dog a bath, study for my Spanish test, and I will also spend some more time with Eleanor and Park.

I can't wait to hear how everyone else is spending their Sundays!

Abducted by books!!!!

This morning I got to sign up for the October Dewey Readathon and for the first time I am actually pretty high up on the list! I’m number 20! And I’ve already put in to get the day off of work! I’m on top of it this year!!!

In other news…

I spent my entire Labor Day the best way I knew how, reorganizing my bookshelves!!!

My family recently cleared out their storage units and in the process managed to find two bookshelves that no one had been using, so I got them!

And my dear friend Kate convinced me that it wouldn’t be boring to write an entire post on how my books are now arranged! So here we go…



This is the desk that is in my bedroom. My TBR books start here (A-F) and the two books I am currently reading our laying on top.


This bookshelf holds all of my books that are part of a series. On my regular book shelves I like to showcase variety. So I don’t like to have series on them because they take up to much  space. I mean take the Twilight books for example, put them together on a bookshelf and they look like a big block of black books (say that three times fast). Anyway, that is why I like to keep my series books separate from my other books. And on top of that bookshelf is the continuation of my TBR books with F-K.


My next bookshelf is filled with all of my devotional books and bibles. And all of my reference books underneath. And on top is the continuation of my TBR books with just the L’s.




Next we make our way to my living room where I have all of my novels in a built in bookshelf. They are all in alphabetical order except the ones that are too tall to fit in the shelves are all on the bottom.




This cabinet space holds all of my dvds but on top it holds the continuation of my TBR books with M-R.




Then on my living room wall I have my invisible bookshelves which are always a huge hit when people come over for the first time. The first shelf is for John Green, the one in the middle is David Levithan, the one on top is Maeve Binchy, and down low we have Nick Hornby! They are all my favorite authors except C.S. Lewis has a separate spot.


Then we have my second dvd cabinet with the conclusion of my TBR books on top of it, that is S-Z!




In my kitchen I keep all of my mass produced paper backs on my window sill and they are divided so that the ones I have read are on the left of the picture frame and the ones on the right are TBR.



And lastly my bookshelf in my kitchen! Okay the top shelf only shows my collection of my favorite book, The Silver Chair. The second shelf has all of the rest of the C.S. Lewis books I own, plus the biographies that I have on him and then my collection of U2 books, cds, and dvds. I feel like this is acceptable because I know Bono is a fan of Lewis and even though Lewis died over 10 years before U2 was formed, I still believe that he would be a fan if he was around today!

Anyway, the last shelf has my graphic novels and my cook books!

I know it might seem crazy that all of my books are in so many different spaces, but I like it. When you walk in it definitely looks like my apartment is overrun by books and that is very fitting for a book lover like myself. I also like that all of my TBR books are on top of over bookshelves. I feel like it is very symbolic to the fact that they don't really belong until they have been read.

It should also go without saying that they are all in alphabetical order. However, my bookshelf that holds my reference books is the one and only shelf that is not in any order at all. Even though I end to be very anal about how I organize things, for some reason I love that I have one shelf that is in total disarray!

So that is how I keep my books in line! I hope this wasn't too boring of a post!